Greg and I are getting a divorce, a blog divorce! Did I scare ya?
If you haven’t noticed, then you’re dumb, but we stopped posting here, and each have our own separate blogs, because we hate each other.
I’m blogging at http://spincookie.blogspot.com
Greg is at http://picklechu.blogspot.com
Be sure to check those out from now on, and tell all your friends!
- Ryan
Wow. Where do I start. Well first let me say that this is my first ever God of War game, my introduction to the series. I had always been interested in playing them but had gotten rid of my PS2 before they game out. I went into this knowing that it was the prequel to two of the best PS2 games ever made, one of which only came out a year ago, when the 360, PS3, and Wii were already out. That’s a lot to live up to.
Developer Ready at Dawn nailed it. I’ve never seen a prettier came on the PSP. While I was playing I swore I was staring at a game from the early life of the PS2, it looked that good. The backgrounds, lighting, blood effects, animations, everything was crisp and perfect. Even the camera angles were fantastic, it was very cinematic and at some moments would scale back as you were still running forward to show the epic scale and architecture of the structure you were running towards. It was truly impressive. The weapons and magic attacks were very fun to use and felt awesome when you connected a hit. The sound and music in the game is also some of the best I’ve heard on the PSP, or any console for that matter. The production levels were through the roof for this game, it is one of the most polished games I’ve ever played.
All in all in was a short game, taking me about 6.5 hours to beat. However I cannot wait to jump back in and play it again on Hard, then on God mode. I found some of the boss battles to be pretty easy, and I’m terrible at games, so Hard mode should be fun. I can’t wait to go back and play the earlier God of War games now, and am greatly looking forward to God of War 3 on the PS3, which was teased at on the back of the PSP manual for the game. I’d like to see Ready at Dawn do some more work on the PSP, but they said they’re moving on to home consoles now, including the Okami port for the Wii. After putting Daxter down for a while, another Ready at Dawn game for PSP, I think I might start playing it again just because they blew me away with God of War. I’ve already posted many screen shots for this game in other posts, so below you can see some concept art for the other God of War games. Pretty awesome stuff.
- Ryan
I recently picked up God of War: Chains of Olympus for my PSP the other day and man is it one fun game. I’ll be reviewing it after I beat it so I’ll leave the specifics to another post. What I want to talk about now is the type of game that God of War is. It’s a hack and slash game where you string combos together to take out all the bad guys on screen, these are generally called brawlers. Another game recently came out that you might have heard of (Super Smash Brothers Brawl) which has a similar adventure mode. Playing these games has really made me want to go back and re-visit other classic brawlers I played when I was younger. Even more than that it makes me yearn for developers to make new brawlers for the current system, much like God of War and Ninja Gaiden, but with an old school feel. How awesome would a remake of Double Dragon be, or Ninja Turtles 2 the Arcade game (which I’ve already talked about in another post).
There are so many classic brawlers that I used to play as a kid that I would love to play again now. Games like Double Dragon, Renegade, Final Fight, and River City Ransom are just a few. After playing hardcore shooters and epic tactical RPG’s it’s great to just have a break and smash as many bad guys as you can. I know that some of these are available on XBLA but I don’t have a 360. I’m going to look into some brawlers that I can get on the Virtual Console for the Wii.
There is another genre that God of War and other brawlers remind me of, the “run and gun.” Instead of smashing all bad guys on screen, moving to the right and sometimes up and down, these games are usually just side scrolling with tons of fire power. Classic examples of this are the Metal Slug and Contra games. I haven’t played any of the Metal Slug games but I plan to pick up the anthology collection on the PSP sometime. I am a Contra veteran though. I remember the massive amounts of frustration this game caused as well as the amount of twitching back and forth, smashing every button as fast as you could to make sure you got all the enemies and strayed away from their bullets. Contra 4 recently came out on the DS and although I know it will lead to many nightmares, I really want to try it.
There are some games for the current gen systems that take advantage of this genre pretty nicely. One of them is Ninja Gaiden. This first remake of this game came out on the original XBOX. I played it back when it came out and had some fun with it, although it was very very hard, I plan to pick it up again sometime to revisit the classic combo’ing and slashing. There is a new Ninja Gaiden game for the DS called Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword. It is completely controlled by the stylus, you hold the DS sideways like a book, and you just slash the screen to cut through the enemies. It looks like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to try it out.
There is also a new Wii game that I am very interested in, called No More Heroes. It is by niche game developer Suda 51 and is his follow up game to the Gamecube and PS2’s Killer 7. It has a very unique visual style reminiscent of old pixelated fighting games like the virtual fighter series. Some area’s of the game are said to be slower than others, but when it comes down to the boss battles, get ready for some epic blood filled fights. The game is very much the Wii’s version of Assassins creed, in the sense that you have to run around an over-world and do a few tasks until you find out who you have to assassinate next. The goal of No More Heroes is to be the number one ranked assassin.
Any game that reminds of the fun I had playing videogames as a kid is OK in my book. Be it brawlers, side scrollers, shoot em ups, platformers, or fighting games, those were some of the best games I have played, I’ll take any chance I can get to revisit them.
- Ryan
According to his official website… the former!!!I can sum up Gallagher in one word. Fail.Good work buddy. People really respect you for your offbeat political humor, they don’t just come to your shows to see you smash shit. Why do you think they don’t have comedy hour at the destruction derbyAnd speaking of the jokers who go to see Gallagher… what the fuck? Who are these fools who sit through an hour of his set, just so he can blow his watermelon load in your face.Congratu-fucking-lations, your watermelon-pregnant, bitch.I have a sample script of one of Gallagher’s shows here.”Why’d the chicken cross the road? (from the crowd “smash it!”) Aww fuck it.” SMASHGallagher once sued his brother Ron for trying to make his life NOT a complete failure, doing a comedy tour of his own as Gallagher Too! He even smashed stuff with a sledgehammer. Can you trademark that shit? About as much as you can trademark being mentally handicapped. Give the man a break Leo, he is known as the uglier brother of the guy that smashes produce with that big hammer. Good work Gallagher, you’re family hates you now for suing your brother (true story).This post is terrible so I will wrap it up with this. On a recent Comedy Central special “100 Greatest Stand up Comics” Gallagher came in 100th… just behind Janeane Garofalo. He got in a tiffy over this and had another survey on his OWN WEBSITE and came in 9th. Congratulations buddy, the only people dumb enough to visit your site (other than me) are your biggest fans, and they barely put you in the top ten.If this post seems nuts, and someone wants to argue that he IS a comedy legend, then I challenge you to name me one joke that Gallagher ever said, and smashing fruit with a fucking hammer doesn’t count.Picklechu2000 (the robot, not the year)
This is more of my history with Zelda games than it is a review.
I only got my Wii last summer, so I missed it when Zelda came out back in 2006. I didn’t get Twilight Princess until Christmas of 2007. Now there’s something you should know about my history with Zelda games, the only one I have beaten is Phantom Hourglass for the DS, and even this gave me problems. This is something I’d like to call “The Curse of the Water Temple.” I know this sounds like an awesome new Indiana Jones movie, but it isn’t, sorry.
I played the Zelda games on the NES and SNES in little snippets and only at friends houses, I never really got into them, but didn’t deny that they were fun. The first Zelda game I got was Ocarina of Time for the N64. I played and played it and played it. Then something started to happen around the Water Temple. I had never played any game this long, and was growing sort of bored with it, and found the game play redundant. I honestly don’t remember how far into the game the Water Temple was, but that’s where I stopped. I put the game down thinking I’d pick it back up again some other time, that never happened. Ocarina of Time went
unfinished.
When the Wind Waker came out I was so excited, I loved the visuals and couldn’t wait to get back into another Zelda game. I felt bad for not beating Ocarina of Time, and I thought I could make it up by beating this. As you can see, this didn’t happen. I accidentally deleted my save file. Now there was no “Water Temple” per say in this game, but the whole game was based off of sailing around to different islands, so my theory still holds up, water was involved somehow. I was right at the part were you navigate your boat into the “Tower of the Gods” so it pretty much was the water temple anyway. I did not want to have to do all of that over again, so I never played it again. Now after beating Twilight Princess I do want to go back to it, but thats another story.
I picked up Phantom Hourglass simply because I loved the Wind Waker’s visuals, and this was a direct sequel. I played it for a while and loved how the controls were working on the DS. Then came the Ocean temple, or what I like the call the “Water Temple” for the DS. The game makes you go back and do the Ocean temple after each major boss fight. There is only one checkpoint about halfway through it. I got so frustrated with having to purposely re do this temple multiple times, that I thought I was going to break my DS. It’s not an easy task, although you do start to remember where things are after doing it 4 times. I didn’t think I was going to beat it, the curse remained. I wanted to smash everything that had to do with the Ocean temple. But I pulled through, somehow I got past it each time and managed to beat the game. My first Zelda game finished! The curse had been lifted. I was thrilled.
When I got Twilight Princess I thought I could definitely complete it, no problem, it would just take a while. 44 hours later and I finished it. I loved it, some parts did get repetitive and frustrating but if you just stick with it you will be rewarded. This game had some of the most epic battles I’ve ever seen in a video game. The weapons were great, and the conrtols worked pretty well with the Wii remote. The graphics looked outstanding at times, and gamecuby at other times, which wasn’t really a bad thing. The music in the game was also pretty great, it wasn’t fully orchestrated like Smash Bro’s or Mario Galaxy, but the compositions sounded awesome. It was by far the longest amount of time I’ve ever spent playing a single game. I’m surprised myself that I managed to stick with it and not give up. I can’t wait for the next Zelda game, and in between Smash Bro’s sessions I plan to pick up a copy of the Wind Waker and give that another whirl.
- Ryan
I have been watching Ryan doing a lot of posting about video games, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to tell everyone out there about a game I am really excited about. It’s an action adventure game from a well respected studio on a platform that just can’t seem to fail! I’m talking about the one… the only… GRABBED BY THE GHOULIES ™ (… more like TMI !!! HAHAHH, LOL)
Grabbed By The Ghoulies is a video game that is being released on the Microsoft XBOX Entertainment Platform Console System ™. It is from Rare, the makers of Donkey Kong Country ™ and Banjo Kazooie ™ according to the cover, and duh, Goldeneye. Goldeneye was an incredible game, Donkey Kong let you run left AND right, and Banjo Kazooie was… its… wasn’t Goldeneye awesome? Remember the time you shot that dude in the game and he was like “blah!” and then he was dead. Yeah, that was my favorite part too.
Yeah, Rare is like the Jesus of video game creators, and guess what, on the 4th game, they rose (raised? Raisinged?) again!!! I could tell you more about Grabbed by the Ghoulies, but why don’t I let video game super sight IGN do it for me?
According to IGN Grabbed by the Ghoulies is “ Grabbed by the Ghoulies is a humorous beat-’em-up action-adventure game that takes place in a haunted house full of crazed ghoulies.“
’nuff said! Where do I sign up?
“Gamers take the role of Cooper,”
This is a picture of Cooper on a ghoulies’ back. Just kidding! Did I fool you?
“ a kid on a mission to rescue his girlfriend, who has been “grabbed by the ghoulies.“
Seriously? Is this a video game or a high production Hollywood movie? (I checked, it’s a game!)
“Players venture through more than 50 rooms and 100 levels within haunted and ominous Ghoulhaven Hall, battling it out with a variety of monsters while trying to escape the many tricks, traps and shocks awaiting them along the way. “
There are so many things about that previous quote that give me boners for this game, I don’t even know where to begin! Did that quote just say 5 rooms? It certainly couldn’t have said 50 rooms, thats just way too much. Let me read it again. 50????? Holy crap, this game must have cost a hundred-billion dollars! How long was this production cycle, infinity? 100 levels? This is like the War and Peace of video games! Ghoulhaven Hall, nothing could go wrong there! (Rare- “Gotcha!”)
Cheeseburgers AND pirates? Rare, you cooky nuts, you’ve done it again!!!
Boxing skeletons? Now I’ve seen everything! You win again Rare!!!
Dave knew it was a bad day to do his laundry. (thanks Far Side’s Gary Larson, you are still an inspiration)
Well if you are reading this post, have seen these screenshots and are NOT excited for this game, then you must have gotten brain damage in a major car crash or swimming pool accident. Grabbed By The Ghoulies is THE next-gen game that would make me go out and buy an Microsoft XBOX entertainment platform console system ™.When this comes out, buy it, or face the wrath of THE GHOOOUUUULIES!!!!!
Picklechu 2000 (the robot , not the year)
PS- Upon further inspection, this game came out in 2003 to generally terrible reviews. Shows what video game reviewers know!
PPS- There is an also a sequel to the Microsoft XBOX Entertainment Platform Console System ™ Called the Microsoft XBOX Entertainment Platform Console System 360 ™. It’s a revolution baby!! (revolution…360…get it? Thanks again Gary Larson!)
Not yet at least.
So Super Smash Brothers Brawl came out this weekend, and it’s awesome. I played it all day yesterday (after beating Zelda Twilight Princess in 44 hours on Saturday) and finally unlocked Solid Snake, the character I wanted to play with the most. He’s pretty good and powerful, has a missile launcher with missiles you can guide, he can plant mines, and throw grenades, all in all he’s a great addition and pretty powerful from a distance. I find myself using Ike, Meta Knight, and Samus the most. I’m a big fan of Ike just because he’s a character I never thought I’d get into and has a pretty solid move set.
But what I really want to talk about is the online mode. You have two options “With a Friend” or “With Anyone.” With a friend requires that you have the persons friend code, since none of my “wii-friends” have the game yet I’ll have to wait for that. I tired “With Anyone” yesterday and got it to work twice, out of 50 attempts. You select your character and stage and the game puts you into a practice lobby where you can fight a punching bag while you’re waiting for other players to join, the only problem is you get a different error each time and end up getting disconnected. I’m thinking there are just too many people trying to play, causing the servers to flood. Hopefully after some time has passed this will get fixed. I can’t wait to do some more online Brawling. The two matches I’ve done so far were pretty fun.
- Ryan
I’ve recently been following a puzzle game for the PSP and PS3 called Echochrome. It’s an MC Escher inspired puzzle game where you guide your little guy around a maze while by rotating the maze itself, the guy on screen moves by himself and will turn around once he hits a dead end. The goal is to transform the maze, block holes, and change perspectives all by tilting and turning the maze. It’s confusing at first but if you look at the puzzle from different angles you can see different things sort of like those pictures that one way look like a girl and the other way look like some bearded dude (didn’t even know what to google to find a pic for that, sorry). As of now the game is not announced for the US, but it is coming out in Japan and other Asian countries. Luckily one of those versions will have an English language option, although it isn’t too necessary. The demo I played last night was in Japanese and I have no idea what I was reading, but the general idea of what must be done was conveyed through a tutorial video before the game started. I liked it a lot and will be importing it from play-asia if it is not going to released here. Below is a video of the game in action from IGN.
- Ryan
Reading Digg lately I came across this image which shows the evolution of nintendo characters through the ages. It made me think about the upcoming Street Fighter game that’s coming out hopefully this year. I really want this game to come out on Wii, which I don’t think is impossible, but I don’t have high hopes. I plan to get a PS3 anyway this summer so I will probably get it for that, but thats another story. I’d still like to see Capcom putting some new games on Wii besides Resident Evil ports.
I’m here today to talk to you about the visuals of the Street Fighter series. I’m sticking with the main games, not the 90 gabillion spinoffs and alpha series games (besides the upcoming XBLA game) so deal with it. I came into the franchise with SFII on the genesis. My brother and I would play countless hours of that game, he would usually be Ken or Ryu and I would be Guile or Blanka. Our fingers were sore by the time we were done playing. We played that game into the ground, that is until our friends dog decided it would be a good idea to eat half of the cartridge. Here’s a reenactment courtesy of Fail Dogs. The dog on the left is my copy of street fighter, the dog on the right is our friends dog.
The genesis didn’t like that when we tried to put it back in. Oh well. The style of SFII was fantastic, the sprites looked great and the backdrops were gorgeous, that is for the time. I’ve always been a fan of cartoony visuals which is why I stuck with this franchise over Mortal Kombat. When SFIII came out with the “anime” type characters I thought it was great. I loved the look of it then and still do today. Everything was crisper and smoother than SFII. The shading was better, and they were able to fit more animations on screen. There is an upcoming XBLA and PSN game coming out which is an HD remake of SFII. It looks great, every character and backdrop has been re drawn and is crystal clear. Finally Capcom has announced SFIV for the arcade, but no specific consoles as of yet. The graphics for this game blew me away when I first saw them. The shading/lighting, detail, and the new character models, all looked fantastic. I can’t wait to get my hands on this one. Here’s a look at the graphics from the Street Fighter series.
SF I:
SF II:
SF III:
SF II HD:
SF IV:
- Ryan
Pickle’s Bucket(head) list
I gotta be honest here, I got nothing. I don’t know what I am doing here. So here’s another random post. Read it, or don’t!!
Have you seen the movie “The Bucket List” recently with Jack Nicholson and Lt. Roger Murtaugh? Yeah, me neither.
Here is an image of Murtaugh’s auditions with the Predator for the movie “Titanic”.
Well anyway, the movie is about your list of things that you want to do before you die. I know this is the worst post ever, so I will make that first on my list.
1. Write posts that aren’t retarded. I’ve got to be honest with you, this isn’t going to happen.
2. Approach a couple in a bar. It’s probably best to pick one with a guy that I could beat in a fight. This eliminates 99% of couples, so I would have to be patient with this one. When I find the right pair, approach them, only making eye contact with the girl and ask
“You wanna make five dollars the hard way?”
3. Fight a zombie. Is this too much to ask? Is it bad to wish for a zombie apocalypse? Is it too much to ask to be be running down an alley and have a zombie pop out and attack me and try to bite me and I punch him in the eye so he falls off and I stand up and pull out a gun and he is all like “braiiins” and I’m all like “Over YOUR dead body!” then I shoot the wall and the bullet ricochets off the wall back towards me and in slow motion and I bicycle kick the bullet into his fucking brain. Epic.
4. I would like to push someone down a flight of stairs. Threatening this all the time is just so shallow.
5. Befriend the robots now BEFORE they take over. Me and SKYNET are going out for a beer tonight if anyone who values their freedom or their innards cares to join us.
6. Play a Pokemon game (this is just an excuse so I can and rationalize it.)
7. Fight a group of Raptor Terrorists trying to hijack Air force One. “Get off my son! GIVEMEBACKMYPLANE!” ( Holy shit, I have to draw a picture of this. Tonight!)
8. Just once I’d like to wear something thats been ironed.
9. I’d like this list to end.
10. Uh… not die?
11. I quit this blogging business. I’m too old for this shit. Bye everyone
picklechu2000 (He’s dead)