Fun Friday: Giving In Edition

I've discussed at some length why I hesitate to play Resident Evil 5. However, I broke down and started playing the game today. On one hand, this game creates an absolutely atrocious first impression with frustrating controls combined with an opening sequence that gives the player no time to come to grips with them. Even playing on the easiest difficultly so I am not punished as quickly and so I can try to enjoy the game somewhat, but that initial "boss" with the axe is still ridiculous. On the other, once I finally got past him, I started to get some of the same feelings that I remember Resident Evil 4 evoking.

Yahtzee does have a point about the inventory system; it makes absolutely no sense.

Fun Friday: Comics Are Cool Too

Most of my Fun Fridays are videos, and while this week's saw Zero Punctuation rip into Super Smash Brothers Brawl, this comic from Dueling Analogs really tickled my funny bone. Enjoy!

Fun Friday: I've Been Busy Edition

I haven't been posting much over the last month because, well, I've been rather busy. On Wednesday, I closed escrow on a house. Almost every day leading up to that moment was spent working towards and stressing over what I've been looking forward to for a very long time. It was probably for the best that my Xbox360 had moved on to the afterlife, as it wouldn't have garnered any attention anyway. Oh, I'm only about a month away from being a daddy as well. And everything is changing at work, hence the title change in my profile. I will be amongst a group of testers who are spearheading a new direction for QA at THQ and it has us all very excited. I hope to talk more about that soon. In the mean time, here's this week's Zero Punctuation review. He looks at No More Heroes and quite enjoys it. I absolutely fell in love with the game right out of the box, but quickly feigned interest. I must buy a Wii so I can play these games at home instead of on my lunch breaks, it's killing any sense of enjoyment. At least I think that's the problem, as I had the same issue with Killer 7 as well.

Fun Friday: Larry King Edition

I was going to post Zero Punctuation's review of Zack and Wiki, but then I found something way cooler. One of my friends at work created Larry King, including his entrance and custom move set, in SmackDown! vs. RAW '08 for a television interview between himself and WWE stars, including Vince McMahon and Triple H. The highlights are quite funny. You can also see more of the action here with commentary from the man himself.

Fun Friday: Zero Punctuation at GDC Edition

I haven't posted anything from Zero Punctuation in a while because he's become ridiculously famous and his videos are everywhere. Anyway, he was featured in Ken Levine's Bioshock lecture and is was hilarious as usual. He also did a 2007 Year in Review video for the Escapist which is rather good as well.

News Round Up

PAX and the holiday weekend threw off my posting schedule, so here’s a rundown of things that have caught my attention over the last couple of weeks as I play catch up.

• Manhunt 2 is Dated for a Halloween Release: I was off by a couple of months as far as the release of a ‘modified’ version, but I think they have achieved the desired effect – buzz.
• Guitar Hero III Achievements Unveiled: I love achievements but these suck. I know, I know, you should have to achieve something to earn them. But for the love of all things holy, I can understand a few, but not the majority of them. I initially thought that these achievements were fake. Firstly, they are way too specific and require unnatural skills at the game. Secondly, some of them have errors in them, like the ‘Now That’s Impressive’ achievement that states 750,000 points on a song with a 1 million point image. Thirdly, there are no achievements for progressing through the game past the bosses, like Slash and the recently announced Tom Morello. Finally, I noticed that there were 59 achievements. Juiced (a THQ game) had submission problems because they had 60 achievements but was then passed, maybe because of Guitar Hero. But, come on, look at the requirements for Tone Deaf and Button Masher. Seriously?
• Sequel to The Ship is Coming to 360: I love the premise of this game. You are given a name and must find this person on a cruise ship full of people and kill him – all while avoiding the unknown person who has yours. Quite a departure from most online multiplayer games, this one requires some stealth and skill, not just run and gun. Awesome!
• Pit’s Intro in Super Smash Brothers Brawl: I don’t care about SSBB. Not one bit. But if Nintendo finally went ahead and created a new Kid Icarus game, I would finally have enough reasons to own a Wii. It looks like they have the assets. Come on Nintendo, let’s get this done.
• Zero Punctuation Reviews Bioshock:

Fun Fridays: Two For One

First up is a Penny Arcade comic from Monday. This was absolutely hilarious to me on many levels. Firstly, it caters to my insatiable appetite for achievements. Secondly, in one week's time I'll be at the Penny Arcade Expo so I probably won't be able to post next Friday.

The comic is influenced by last weeks Stranglehold demo. I downloaded it and played through it once. Then I deleted it. A lot of people I talked too really enjoyed it. They pointed out that it really fits John Woo's style (flying pigeons and all) and it was a lot of fun. I agree for the most part on both points. However, I had a really hard time suspending my disbelief as Chow Yun Fat's character's stiff animations slid awkwardly across every surface like Hong Kong was covered in a thin layer of very slippery ice. The graphics had that really shiny 'next-gen' look that really creeps me out. And the action was so loose, the aiming reticule flew all over the screen looking for enemies that seemed to pop out of every nook and cranny imaginable. I did like the concentrated aiming bits, but the rest just ruined it for me. Thankfully I will pass when this game comes out.

The second offering is a video clip from Yahtzee Crowshaw. His pointed and uproarious commentary was first brought to my attention on Game|Life and he has been quickly snatched up by the Escapist Magazine to do a weekly show, called Zero Punctuation. The first video explores the Heavenly Sword demo and the Resident Evil 5 trailer. Do your self a favor and watch his other videos as well. Below he lambastes Fable but the Darkness video is great as well.