Happy Quinceanera, Final Fantasy 7
Final Fantasy 7 turned 15 today. In many Latin American cultures, it is now a young woman.
2012: The year of Square-Enix?
2012. The year of dragon. The year of the apocalypse. An Olympic year. An election year. The year that vampires inherit the earth
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: The Greatest Beta Since Oblivion
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Skyrim takes place 200 years after Oblivion, and Tamriel has changed. It's now the Fourth Era, and the Empire has weakened. The Septim bloodline is gone, and the Empire has survived a bloody war with the Thalmor, an alliance of elves that broke away. Now they have peace agreement that keeps the Empire under some rules, including banning the worship of Talos, the first Emperor and the Ninth Divine. The people of Skyrim aren't happy about that, so Ulfric Stormcloak killed the High King of Skyrim and started a bloody civil war in the region. Also, dragons are back, and no one knows why. You start as a prisoner who escapes and has to find out why he has the power to speak in the words of dragons and absorb their souls. Begin the game.
Saints Row: The Third: Awesome Through Chaos
Saints Row: The Third isn't a sandbox crime game. You don't play a criminal. You don't run around committing crimes. You play a freaking supervillain. This isn't an exaggeration.
By the time I got through the game, I lived in a nuclear plant, had an attack helicopter, an army of ninjas, and dressed in a green waistcoat and top hat like a steampunk Riddler.
How am I not a supervillain?
The Huge World of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim Extends to Morrowind and Cyrodil (Sort of)
This is pretty big, if not specifically useful yet. Jesse from Finland on Tumblr went to the edge of Skyrim and beyond, and found that the game has land masses modeled all the way to Morrowind and Cyrodil. You need to turn on no clipping after you go east of Stendarr's Beacon, but from there you can find the landscape of Morrowind, with Vvardenfell and the Red Mountain. If you go south of that, you can find Cyrodil, and even the island where the Imperial City should be located.
There's no content there, or even any foliage, but the fact that the land masses are modeled could indicate ambitions for remakes of Morrowind and Oblivion, or expansions into Morrowind and Cyrodil. Modders now have big land masses ready for them to get started with their own remake projects, and that could mean some great things for PC users (and me kicking myself for getting the PS3 version). Skyrim's already a massive game, but if you can move out to the other provinces? Best RPG ever. I want my Telvanni wizard tower back.
[Source: Destructoid]
This is What the Saints Row The Third Headphones Sound Like
These are the headphones from the Saints Row: The Third Platinum Pack. I'm a sucker for collectors editions, and when I heard Saints Row: The Third would have Saints Row headphones that autotune your voice, I knew I had to get it.
They're pretty cool, but they feel cheap. For a $99 collector's edition of a $60 game, you can't expect high-quality headphones. They're decent, and they look great, though. The vocoder effect is pretty great, but the mic picks up a lot of background noise. I could describe it to you, but instead, here's the first Aggrogate micro-podcast, Saints Row Edition!
If the buzzing drives you nuts, here's a version I cleaned up in Audacity, for the pure autotuned goodness.
Final verdict: Pretty cool. Worth it, if you like messing with your voice and have low standards for headphones.
I’m Going to Ruin Skyrim For You Without Spoiling Anything
I should warn you, this will taint Skyrim for you. Click only if you're ready for it.
WH40K: Space Marine: A Solid Shooter/Brawler FOR THE EMPEROR!
The Warhammer 40,000 universe is a grimdark place, where a corrupt, crumbling empire rules over millions of worlds, endlessly warring with aliens, demons, and other nightmarish creatures (and said empire is the only "good" faction, save for the psychic space elves of the Eldar). Life is short, brutal, and often meaningless except as fuel for the for the Imperial war machine. Few aspects of this setting are as emblematic as the Space Marines: immortal, genetically enhanced, psychotically xenophobic super warriors clad in power armor and charged with defending humanity from terrible threats both without and within. As such, it's no surprise that an action title featuring Space Marines prominently would appear at some point, especially after nearly every sci-fi shooter since Doom has effectively involved less badass versions of them. Relic and THQ's Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine is the game fans have been waiting for, since it finally puts them in the power armor of an actual Space Marine.
Space Marine is a third person action title that follows Captain Titus of the Ultramarines as he attempts to secure a valuable strategic asset on a world ravaged by Orks. The greenskin horde has shattered the planetary defenses and what few defenders are left are fighting a desperate, losing battle for survival. Players are immediately thrust into the action with little exposition, starting with Titus' arrival to Forge World Graia.
How You Can Still Sue Sony
As you may have heard, the latest PSN update, among other things, opted you out of any "collective legal action".
"Any dispute resolution proceedings, whether in arbitration or court, will be conducted only on an individual basis and not in a class or representative action or as a named or unnamed member in a class, consolidated, representative or private attorney general legal action, unless both you and the Sony entity with which you have a dispute specifically agree to do so in writing following initiation of the arbitration. This provision does not preclude your participation as a member in a class action filed on or before August 20, 2011."
What that means is that you can't be a member of any class action lawsuits against Sony if you intend to keep using PlayStation Network. However you are able to opt back into class action law suits and all you'll need is a stamp. In order to opt out of the class action waiver, you need to confirm it with Sony in writing within thirty days. You need to include your name, your address, your PSN account number, and a clear statement that you do not wish to resolve any potential legal disputes with Sony through an arbitrator. The catch is finding your PSN account number. Thus far, no one has located said number; when called, a Sony phone rep said that the email address, PSN ID, and PS3 console serial and model numbers for your PS3. To streamline the process, a PSN forum member made this letter template; all you'll need to do is fill in your info, print and mail the letter to:
SONY NETWORK ENTERTAINMENT INTERNATIONAL LLC
ATTN: Legal Department/Arbitration
6080 Center Dr. 10th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90045
Remember, you have to send your letter within 30 days, else you'll only get to sue Sony by your lonesome.
Disgaea 4: Another Disgaea, Another 400 Hours Of Weird Japanese Tactics Fun
There are two types of tactical JRPGs. One type is the unforgiving, tactics-minded, chess-like game where you can lose units permanently and will reset maps hundreds of times just to get through them. These games include Fire Emblem, Tactics Ogre, and Final Fantasy Tactics (the original one). The other type is the grind-heavy, brute force, wacky, full-scale war game where you build tons of powerful units and steamroller through enemies as you build levels in the four digits range. These games include anything NIS America makes, including Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten
Yes, I'm calling Disgaea 4 video game junk food. It's not good for you, but it's so damn mindlessly enjoyable. After you've beaten all of the secret bosses and realize that you put hundreds of hours into a game that really doesn't have "tactics" so much as endless grinding and massive squad building, you'll feel guilty. And you'll know that when the next Makai Wars (that's the Disgaea series, including both the main Disgaea games and side games like Makai Kingdom, Phantom Brave, and others) game comes, you'll do the same thing.
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