I’ve been playing Super Smash Brothers Brawl for the past 2 weeks or so and boy, sleep has become a whole lot more irrelevant.

Hmmm in case you didn’t know, SSBB features characters from almost all Nintendo games to duke it out for multiplayer glory. Plus, it features Snake and Sonic. How awesome is that?

Ehermmm back on point. After the 4 trillionth match, a sharp realization has occured to me (just after hearing the news of a new Mario Kart):

NINTENDO NEEDS A NEW FRANCHISE.

The Wii’s only notable games right now are just revitalized franchises that carried over from its predecessor, the Gamecube - which is the sucessor of the N64 which followed the footsteps of the SNES (you get my point) . These are:

1. Super Mario Galaxy - which came from Super Mario Sunshine which came from Super Mario 64

2. Super Smash Brothers Brawl - which came from Super Smash Brothers Melee which spawned from Super Smash Brothers

3. The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess - from the Phantom Hourglass, Wind Waker, Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time… and yes, if you want to be a nitpicker, The Legend of Zelda of the NES.

4. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption - which came from the Metroid Prime series for the Gamecube and of course, Super Metroid for the SNES.

5. Mario Kart - Mario Kart -> Mario Kart 64 -> Mario Kart

If you think about it, (with a little research) the last "new" franchise Nintendo gave birth to was Pikmin, which was released during 2001, later followed by Pikmin 2. It has been almost 4 years since the release of Pikmin 2 and Captain Olimar and his brightly colored allies are nowhere to be seen.

Will Pikmin be revitalized? Hope so

Sure, you might argue that maintaining franchises is the lifeblood of the industry and quite honestly, I agree wholeheartedly. The 360 wouldn’t be the 360 without the solid fan base created by Halo. People stand by their PS3s with the hope and glory that Metal Gear Solid 4 will bring to the beleaguered console. The Wii, on the other hand is running out of cows to milk. By my count, all that is left is the Mario Kart series… well, unless they try to revive the Donkey Kong, Kid Icarus, and God-willing, the Pikmin series.

As ironic as it is, perhaps Nintendo requires a new "Mario Killer", don’t you think?

Not THAT kind of Mario Killer…. ugh. 

Bottomline is… You can only cannibalize yourself for so long before you run out of limbs to gnaw on….

Madness?!

Okay I’ll stop right there. I’m a frequent Ebay shopper and seeing bizarre things everyday on the site is nothing new. Today, I came accross something so eccentric I don’t know if this art should be hated or appreciated. Halo’s mighty green-armored Spartan, The Master Chief, has become…a pony.

Optimus Prime: Hey! You’re no Transformer!

Anyway, buffoonery aside, this piece of “art” is being auctioned on Ebay. So if ever you have a friend who’s a Halo fan at the same time crazy about ponies, give them a heads up about this customized figure. Here’s a short description by the seller:

“This is a OOAK Master cheif [sic] in His MJOLNIR IV armor as seen in HALO 3.
He is fully sculpted with Apoxie sculpt. The armor has been weathered, to give it an authentic battle look.
He also won second place in the Kentucky anime/gaming/comic custom pony contest.”

W-h J: Imagine Barbie riding on a Master Chief Pony…

(Sources: Gaming Today, Ebay)

Whether we like to admit it or not, ripping off is an integral part of the video game industry — well that and innovation. From that natural pairing of contradictory ideas comes the most coveted concept of all: originality.

So if John Carmack and John Romero didn’t rip-off Super Mario Brothers to make Commander Keen, then childhood videogame memories wouldn’t be as vivid now would it? Heck, Pokemon spawned a lot of catch-monster-train-and-duke-it-out-with-other-wanna-be-trainers games such as Digimon and to some extent, even Monster Rancher.

And they still garnered success.

So what’s the point in all of this?

I was cruising Gametrailers today and found THIS:

Hmmm… Okay sure. Obviously, the game looks like World of Warcraft up close and a whole lot like Diablo from afar. Although honestly, if you were going to rip off a game formula, why not steal from a company whose games have become industry landmarks (it’s BLIZZARD by the way in case you didn’t know). Regardless, I was intrigued enough to look into the game some more. It turns out that Mythos is a free MMORPG that is still under closed beta.

Hmmm this game looks promising. Let’s just hope that Mythos doesn’t go down the toilet like most Diablo wannabes..

(This is not a news article)

Because Tingal mentioned toys…I’ll give her toys.

Lol! This is my desk at work. These toys inspire me when I feel tired. It’s my hobby actually. Can you name some of them? My favorite figures there are Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Vash the Stampede of Trigun, Jill Valentine of Resident Evil and Sakura of Sakura Wars

Oh and those pictures from my wall were taken from a video game convention our team went to. I took a picture with Tifa from Final Fantasy VII, Freya from Valkryie Profile, Yuna from Final Fantasy XII, and Ling Xiaoyu from Tekken.

Yup, those are katanas.  They’re only for display though cause their blade is very, very dull.  The real ones I keep in my home of course.

Looks like sea battles take semi-center stage (of course there’s still land and air). Looks like Red Alert 3 is going all-out naval warfare. Always good, of course. Graphically, Red Alert 3 looks like it’s going to kick it up a notch.

BAM!

BAM!

BAM!

Those tesla ships better do AOE damage, considering that electricity + a whole body of water = lots and lots of dead fish and sailors.

Look! Look! The destroyed naval structures and units underwater is a fine, FINE touch.

The water looks wet. Nice nice nice. The waves slapping the shore walls look real. EA really did a nice job with the water physics *looks at the wake following the purrty speedboats*

Ohhh looks like the Kirov are back!

The allies now have an "amphibious battleship"! Sweet.

This may be a long-shot but I think that EA is going to release this game around the same time that Blizzard unleashes Starcraft 2.

How come there are no Armored Bears?!

Thanks kotaku!

As if playing Puzzle Quest isn’t addicting enough, D3Publisher announces Puzzle Quest 1.5, and expansion pack due for Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords.

FOR THE XBLA… great.

Eeeek!

This time around, the game is centralized in the southern area of Etheria and the plot involves a lot of smelly ghouls, a cranky sorceress from beyond the grave, oh and Lord Bane’s big bro, Antharg - The Lord of the Plague.

Man, Lord of the Plague, the other is the Lord of Death. That’s a pretty sick family.

Back on point, the ultimate selling point of this game is the four new classes: Bard, Rogue, Ranger, Warlock. Of course, there are new items to play with and around 50 new spells to chuck at opponents.

Man, it sucks that this is going to the XBLA first. I hope they release this for all other consoles as well.

Oh oh oh by the way, D3 Publisher posted this on the game’s website:

(Don’t forget to turn off your pop-up blocker)

In conjunction with this announcement, D3Publisher is reaching out to fans to help name the expansion pack! The winner of the contest will have their submission used as the official name of the expansion pack, as well as receive a free download of the content. Two runner-ups will also receive a free download.

Isn’t that cool? They’re giving their fans the chance to emblazon their legacy on the game.

Man, that Ranger looks mighty tempting. And the bard’s gonna swoon your enemies better than Steven Tyler. Yowza!

Hmm if you’ll excuse me, I need to think of a good name.

Puzzle Quest: The Sumodownload Love.

hmmm scwatch that.

I’ve been away for a long, long time. A BIG, BIG, BIG project required an ungodly period for PLOWING.

Yes, PLOWING…

I feel like a jaded ox after a long day’s work. Ugh.

Anyway, what kept me sane was this game.

I’m a huge RPG nutbag but the whole formula of hero, slay monsters using uninspired battle system, farm, farm, farm, loot, craft, farm, random encounters… ISSSS getting a little too stale for my taste.

In comes Puzzle Quest, a unique puzzle-rpg hybrid that totally blurs the line between genres. The story is simple: A huge bad-boy by the name of Lord Bane is threatening the land of Etheria and you, the ever-so-gullible hero, set out to gather allies, forge weapons, train epic mounts to reach that climactic Washowski-ly epic final battle.

So yeah, I got this for the Wii first (how I wish I had a DS or a 360 for the better version but what can I do?) and after 15 hours or so, I still can’t pry that Wiimote out of my nerd fingers.

I can’t remember the last time I left such a dent on my beanbag. Yum.

Imagine my glee when I found out that this game is available on the PC.

Better graphics.

Easier controls (the Wiimote is a bit too clunky for me, really)

AAAAAAAAAAANDDDD I get to use YM while playing

Win.

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS GAME. THIS IS THE DELEORAN OF GAMING.

Before you know it, it’s already tomorrow.

I can’t believe my eyes but this piece of Game Boy just doesn’t know when to give up! This "artwork" was just minding his own buisness sitting inside a barracks when the place was bombed.  Who would’ve thought that it would survive the impact and still be able to play a game of Tetris? Nintendo sure knows the word durability.  Probably every Kevlars should be made with a little piece of Nintendo?

Via Gaming Today

Yup, and it’s called FusionFall.

"I’ve worked at Cartoon Network for eight years and this game has been my dream for quite a while now." - Chris Waldron, FusionFall executive producer

Looking like a promising MMO game, FusionFall markets their game with Cartoon Network characters with a twist.  Imagine Dexter with a touch of Manga, wielding either a bubblegum machine gun or a parking meter on an environment full of secrets and surprises.  Exciting huh? And even though it’s targeted for ages 8-14, it’s not the usual game where children would just breeze through it. Check this out and see what I mean when the author of the article got his butt kicked when he wasn’t expecting the expected. 

Check out their official page too.

(Source: GamingToday)

Actually, buy both if you can. 

Hello everyone! I missed you guys.  It’s me, and I’m back. 

During my absence, let me prove to you that never have I sidetracked into the diverse, fun and complicated world of gaming.  In fact, it even gave me good training in broadening my perspective on how games and consoles should be treated as most of my free time was spent holding a DS to my right and a PSP to my left.  If the batteries go out, I spend my time whacking evil with my Wiimote and Nunchuck, rock out with Tom Morelo in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, and sometimes lay on the couch reviewing whom to assassinate next (chill, I’m just playing Assassin’s Creed) XD.

But let’s narrow down the topic to PSP and DS.  I want to lay out the facts and help the still undecided which to buy. 

For starters, let me say this: I challenge the general assumption that the DS is ONLY for casual gamers and the PSP is ONLY for the hardcore ones.  And to make it clear, I’m not saying that hardcore gamers don’t enjoy playing casual games cause I’m a living proof of it.

I remember when I was 4, I played Contra for countless hours after doing my homework.  As I grew older, I started playing out different genres and among my favorites were RPG and Action games.  As I assess myself now, I think it’s quite safe to say that almost every game that came out in different consoles were familiar and played by me, making me fall under the hardcore gamer category.  Yup, I am one of those people who spend countless hours in the arcade and as if I haven’t had enough, spend a lot of time playing video games upon arriving home. 

As a hardcore gamer, I find it hard to ignore the fact that many believe that the DS wouldn’t appeal much to the hardcore gamers out there.

The DS, I must say, really appealed to me.  Games like Phoenix Wright, Nintendogs and Harvest Moon were reasons enough to buy a DS.  Though graphics wise it isn’t as advanced as the PSP, the games I mentioned have game play that is enough to make you sit on the couch an entire day or make you miss your stop when you’re on the train.  During my gaming experience, I see no reason why the stylus-driven handheld should only focus on the casual market.  

PSP on the other hand (yeah, literaly on the other hand), rivaled the DS with it’s ginormous capacity to hold features like being able to play quality movies and being able to use Skype in an IT area.  What’s more, is that you can play games in a bigger screen without sacrificing the quality of the video like what happened in Resident Evil 1 when it was ported to the DS.  But how about the games? Did they release a generous amount to be enjoyed by gamers? Dang right they did.

Final Fantasy: Crisis Core and Dracula X for me were reasons enough to buy a PSP.  Me and my Katamari and Patapon were nice alternatives if you want a break from the heavier games.  The inital games that were released for the PSP may be for the hardcore market, but slowly, it seems that PSP is slipping in games for the casual market as well with Lumines Plus, Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law, and the two alternative games I mentioned above. 

So, should it be the DS or the PSP?

Get the DS if you want something fresh.  Fresh meaning game play you’ve never seen before.  Poke the screen, speak through the mic, make it your personal organizer, a health checklist by playing Brain Age, etc.  From what I can see, it has the same concept with the Wii, breaking the traditional wall of game play experience.

Buy the PSP if you’re happy with having a gadget that can do a lot of things other than gaming and if you’re already satisfied with the traditional way of how games are made. 

What I’m really trying to say

Don’t base the games to be played solely in deciding which handheld is for you if you’re confused with what to get between the two.  Instead, a better way of discerning which is which is to study how the console works and decide which fits your lifestyle, because both has an outstanding library of games you’d really want to play.  Unless of course your mind is already set on that particular game as a "reason enough to buy the DS or the PSP," considering the handheld’s prowess might be a better idea to help you out.