Site Update: Vacation calls, updates to resume in a week

You may have noted that the site hasn’t been as active with updates, but for anyone concerned it isn’t for a lack of care on my part. Big things are happening in my life right now; things diverting my attention and stealing my time. Don’t worry, for the few of you who do care, I’m absolutely not ceasing operations – not at all.

What will hit this site in the coming week (singular) is me getting married. That’s right, I’m selling my soul to a lady. Like nearly all marriages, we’ll be heading out on a honeymoon meaning I won’t be around to update the site.

Having no one to cover for me, updates are going on a brief hiatus until December 2, which is a full two Tuesdays away. It’s a long time, and I’ve got a bad feeling some of you won’t be sticking around, but to those who do, thank you. Even with the small amount of hits I get, it’s nice knowing someone out there is reading the content.

See you on the other side.

THQ’s apocalypse involves siders, not striders

So it’s Darksiders and not Darkstriders? Learn something new every day.

Back at E3, former poster Michael told me Darksiders was nothing to write home about after playing the demo.

Even taking that into consideration, I can’t help but be intrigued by THQ’s upcoming brawling adventure hybrid. The color palette is a bit brighter and there’s almost a touch of Warcraft’s cartoony graphics in it, though it’s still a little darker. It makes for a pleasing aesthetic.

A new trailer is out and while it looks a little rough around the edges, it’s at least looking like a good rental. We’ll see early next year.

Smacked down by Sony, Estavillo goes for Microsoft, Nintendo

Sometimes the word douche is just too fitting not to use. Erik Estavillo is a douche.

He’s the guy who tried to sue Sony over getting legitimately banned for being an asshole online. When things fell through and he wasn’t compensated in any form or fashion, he decided giving up wasn’t in his best interest.

Instead, Estavillo decided to get even more absurd and target Microsoft and Nintendo with suits that make even less sense, his claims against Nintendo being the worst.

On Microsoft’s part, Estavillo is looking for $75,000 for his 360 which supposedly just got the Red Ring of Death error. I say supposedly only in this case because we’re dealing with a clear scam artist failure. The price to fix it is “well over $100” and he is seeking the $75,000 because the situation has caused him “undue stress” and “sadness he will have in the mean time of finding one he can afford,” reports Destructoid.

As if his laughable cases against Sony and Microsoft weren’t bad enough, here’s where Estavillo truly earns his title of ultimate douche.

Estavillo is suing Nintendo of America for the recent Wii firmware upgrade. It’s not for bricking his system or anything regarding hardware failure, it’s because it knocks out the Homebrew Channel and doesn’t allow him to pirate software. Destructoid says Estavillo can no longer pirate Super Mario Galaxy to unlock a character in Mario Kart Wii, costing him his “pursuit of happiness.” He’s seeking $5,000 from Nintendo, destroyer of happy times.

Here’s to hoping he gets in some major shit for pirating software then asking for money in return for Nintendo’s anti-piracy practices.

Source

Brazil enters the world of the PS2

Breaking: PS3 is a go in the home of Blanka. Oh, wait, that’s the PS2? Really?

The PlayStation 2 is all set to launch in Brazil for the super cheap price of R$799 ($445) with games costing anywhere from $55 to $66. The PS2 launches this month alongside 14 games, including Gran Turismo 4 and God of War II.

“The launch highlights SCEA’s commitment to expand the PlayStation business in Latin America and marks the beginning of a two-phase operation to roll out PlayStation products and services to consumers across Brazil”, Sony said. “Brazil is home to a large community of gaming enthusiasts, making the country an ideal opportunity for SCEA to introduce the PlayStation experience to a new legion of fans.”

For as sucky as that might sound for us, it might not be so bad for Brazilian gamers who’ve never had the luxury of owning a Sony console of their own. It’s hard to get in that frame of mind, however, so it’s just sort of sucky to me.

The other side of this is that Sony is still finding ways to sell the PS2 – eventually I imagine everyone in the world will own one.

Source

A quick look back at Mother 3; clip of unreleased Earthbound 64

I’ve been doing a nice amount of Mother 3 research since finally beating it about a week ago. The gaming world is full of too much hyperbole for me to start spewing out “greatest of” accolades, and I’d rather sit on the experience for a while before placing it in some arbitrary ranking list.

But, I will say that my outlook on the series has significantly changed. I’ve never experienced an Earthbound/Mother title before and it’s hard to fully appreciate something you have no background with.

Suddenly the two striped shirt kids in Smash Bros. have a lot more meaning for me, and choosing Lucas as one of my main characters seems instantly more appealing should I go back to Brawl. The narrative is so good and genuinely emotional without ever relying on romance to get the job done – it focuses on the hardships of a loving family.

Rather than focusing on 20 towns spread across an ever expanding map, it keeps things focused around a lone village that fast becomes dumped for the big city appeal (or so everyone thinks) of New Pork City. READ MORE

Cue the Vampire Killer

Undoubtedly some people find the Angry Video Game Nerd’s style of humor a little overbearing, or maybe even forced, but I’ve been a fan since discovering James Rolfe’s videos a couple years back.

If you aren’t sure who I’m talking about, he’s the foul mouthed old school gamer who rips into shitty games of the past. Also, he has hilarious one liners.

Despite all of his cursing rampages, dude loves games. But I’m not here to educate you on the AVGN, I’m sure you know who he is. READ MORE

Sony drops 4D, looks to 3D once again

I have to give Sony credit for one thing, they’re always looking to integrate the latest piece of tech wizardy even if they neglect some of the basic features a console should have (mostly when it comes to online).

If you haven’t heard yet, you should probably prepare for the big 3D boom the likes of which we haven’t seen since, like, a long time ago. Technology has far surpassed the days of blue and red colored lenses, however, and results are much more compelling.

Sony’s on board, too.

“We see 3D as a pillar of our strategy,” a senior Sony executive Hiroshi Yoshioka said. READ MORE

No More Heroes in high definition glory

No More Heroes may be my favorite Wii third party game, which may not be that crazy of a statement considering its competition. It’s not without its share of flaws, but – and I feel like I’ve been saying this a lot lately – it’s a game that overcomes that by being purely awesome.

I posted some scans yesterday that made it hard to discern the difference from the Wii version and the upcoming PS3 and 360 versions of the game, but now with some official screenshots the difference is obvious (more shots here).

It’s not pushing the full extent of either console I imagine; it is a Wii port after all. Still, it’s looking gorgeous and I will be guilty of double dipping. It’s funny because I’ve been promising myself I’d replay it to take in the experience and get prepped for Desperate Struggle, but I’ll just wait on this version.

Now comes the hard part for Grasshopper: reaching an audience. READ MORE

Witcher 2 leaked footage shows village, giant octopus battle

Another Witcher 2 leak just happened and I’m starting to wonder if CD Projekt is letting these internal leaks go on as viral ads. The game looks gorgeous, and any rough spots can easily be overlooked because the project is early on and after all, we’re not supposed to be seeing these.

Whatever the case, it looks great and I can only hope there are no issues bringing Witcher 2 to consoles, unlike its predecessor.

The video is lengthy, but if you want to see more than just a character running around town, zip forward to 3:42 for an epic battle with a giant octopus thing.

Please CD Projekt, make it happen on consoles.

Zelda Wii likely to be unveiled at E3 2010, expect surprises

With nothing to go on, the upcoming Wii Zelda is building a staggering amount of hype amongst the Nintendo crowd – it almost seems as if Spirit Tracks doesn’t exist at times. I guess it’s to be expected though, Wii has yet to see its first proper Zelda so people are going to gobble up anything they’re given.

I can’t say I’m not excited about it, I just want to see something outside of a lone piece of art before I dedicate my heart and soul to the God of Zeruda.

We’ve still got a little wait, but it shouldn’t be too much longer – think E3 2010. I know that sounds terribly far away, but it’ll come faster than you think.

“I hope that we can show you something at the E3 show next year and it is something we are hopeful will be surprising,” Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma told ONM. READ MORE