Strawberry cheesecake truly is the food of the gods.

It's too good to be a mortal creation.

Zico, he has been beaten.

Finally managed to get the Beat Zico trophy on WipEout HD with a time of 30.81! Did it without the Fury ship too =D. This is likely the hardest and most infuriating trophy I've ever managed to attain and considering it's the easiest of WipEout HD's 'big three' gold trophies, I am not looking forward to the frustration of getting the other 2.

In other news, I did eventually get Bioshock and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune platinums, plus picked up the Borderlands platinum along the way. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves will likely be my next, with only Charted! Crushing still to get.

Reisen

Needs more.

Mixtuality #1

Might do more of these in the future, I don't know. Simply just a selection of songs from my library chosen at random and uploaded for whoever happens to wander past here. Enjoy!

Link: MediaFire

More info about the songs:

#1 - Rei Kondoh - The Tribe of Heavenly Gods' Theme - Okami OST

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: Japan







#2 - Knoxs Korner - Yellow Book - Knoxcast Music

Genre: Humour

Origin: United States of America, I think... can't remember.








#3 - Harry Gregson-Williams - Metal Gear Saga - Metal Gear Solid 4 OST

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: Great Britain








#4 - Saishuu Heiki Kanojo - Sayonara (Acoustic Version) - Saikano OST

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: Japan







#5 - Christophe Heral - Violent Jade Suite - Beyond Good & Evil OST

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: France








#6 - Soul Position - Keys - Things Go Better With RJ and AI

Genre: Rap/Hip-Hop

Origin: America








#7 - The Delgados - Primary Alternative - The Complete BBC Peel Sessions

Genre: Alternative Rock

Origin: Scotland








#8 - ルルティア - 青い薔薇 - ミーム

Genre: Jpop

Origin: Japan








#9 - Ozric Tentacles - Vita Voom - Jurassic Shift

Genre: Psychadelic Rock

Origin: Great Britain








#10 - 植松伸夫 - Johnny C. Bad (Piano Version) - Final Fantasy VI Piano Collections

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: Japan








#11 - The Angelic Process - Burning in the Undertow of God - Weighing Souls With Sand

Genre: Drone/Shoegaze

Origin: United States of America







#12 - Rammstein - Spiel Mit Mir - Sehnsucht

Genre: Metal

Origin: Germany








#13 - Iron Attack! - Never Rust - Dead Heat Refrain

Genre: Instrumental Metal

Origin: Japan








#14 - Garry Schyman - Mr Bubbles Little Sister - Bioshock OST

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: United States of America








#15 - Nahemah - Like a Butterfly in a Storm

Genre: Progressive Death Metal

Origin: Spain








#16 - UI-70 - バトル2 - ダメ人間の軌跡 1999～2003 DX

Genre: Electronic/Metal/I'm not even sure

Origin: Japan








#17 - Devil Sold His Soul - The Starting - A Fragile Hope

Genre: Post-Hardcore/Post-Metal

Origin: Great Britain








#18 - PPK - ResuRection (Perfecto Edit) - ResuRection

Genre: Trance/Electronica

Origin: Russia








#19 - Eluvium - Indoor Swimming at the Space Station - Copia

Genre: Instrumental Ambient

Origin: United States of America








#20 - Jem - Finally Woken - Finally Woken

Genre: Pop

Origin: Wales








#21 - Street Sweeper - Clap For the Killers - NINJA 2009 Tour Sampler

Genre: Rapcore/Hip-Hop

Origin: United States of America








#22 - Insomnium - Mortal Share - Above the Weeping World

Genre: Melodic Death Metal

Origin: Finland








#23 - Comatose Vigil - Mirrors of Despair - Not a Gleam of Hope

Genre: Funeral Doom Metal

Origin: Russia








#24 - Free*Land - Big Wednesday - Animatrix: The Album

Genre: Soundtrack

Origin: Great Britain








#25 - IOSYS - コミカルなミシャグジとラジエーション - 東方氷雪歌集

Genre: Electronica/Jpop

Origin: Japan

Julie Christmas

Such a unique vocalist, she did the vocals for Battle of Mice and is the current vocalist for Made Out of Babies. Even her normal singing is different, with a whispery, somewhat melancholic tone to it, whilst her screams are full of energy and emotion, you can really tell she's putting everything into her vocal delivery to ensure she sounds just as she wants. I don't have much of Made Out of Babies' stuff, but I have Battle of Mice's discography and she does a great job throughout.

Songs I'd suggest: Sleep and Dream, Wrapped in Plain, At the Base of the Giant's Throat - All by Battle of Mice.

...and Kratos cast himself from the highest mountain in all of Greece

I have finally played God of War III! The E3 Demo is available on PSN if you get codes for it through the newsletter thingie, although some people don't seem to have got them... hey, sucks to be them.

The graphics look incredible, it's gorier than ever and the gameplay is nice and smooth. Great thing is, there's no more button mashing whenever you open doors and orb chests, which seemed a bit pointless in the previous games really... The Cestus seem a little weird to use and it'll be interesting to see whether they'll be useful or they'll end up like the other weapons in the previous games: unused in most situations if not entirely useless. The harpy thing is a little weak but hopefully that won't be relied upon for too much of the gameplay and it's not really that bad...

The quicktime events for the final killing moves seem to be a little more variable now rather than having the same input code every time which is probably a good thing, even though QTE's aren't exactly great. They've been in the series since the start as both optional ways of killing basic enemies and boss killmoves, so they can't really be removed or it wouldn't really be God of War after all. Now all there is to do is wait until God of War III and the Collectors edition of the first 2 games is released (in shiny 720p and with trophy support, I must add). And what a long wait it will be.

And the third platinum is mine! This time for Killzone 2...

My fictional shelf of pixelated platinum trophies existing somewhere within my PS3's cyberspace has welcomed Killzone 2 to it's ranks. He is currently fitting in well and making friends with Master Dead Space and Fallout 3-chan and having a discussion about the rumours that another couple of residents will soon be moving in, one shaped mysteriously like a diver in a suit, the other a highly sarcastic treasure hunter. Only time will tell...

Bayonetta!

Fear the power of the hair boot!

I got to play it at London MCM Expo and it was FUCKING AWESOME! Unfortunately it was only a demo version so there was only a small segment of gameplay (which makes sense really, since everyone wants a go and there's a LOT of people there) but got to kill a bunch of various enemies and a couple of bosses. Bayonetta's moves are varied enough and the executions fit right in with the flow of battle, plus you can pick up special weapons from enemies and do some rather brutal attacks with them, including a weapon where you spin around using the analog stick doing damage to everything around you with a larger radius depending on how fast you move the stick. Was certainly fun, that's for sure.

The whole thing practically bleeds Devil May Cry in design and gameplay and as a fan of the first couple of DMC games I wasn't disappointed with how Bayonetta plays at all, everything just flows perfectly. It looks beautiful, the locations look great, the enemies are well designed and it's totally over the top in the best way, especially for the execution moves. Must admit that picking up rings after killing enemies reminded me a little too much of Sonic the Hedgehog, which isn't a bad thing in itself but felt strange considering the extreme differences between the games. Now if only the release date was nearer...

RAGE.

You know what I hate? People on Killzone 2 who use RPG's. Use a proper gun and learn to aim you fucking noobs.

Happy Christmas

Because listening to Christmas music in the middle of August is just that awesome.

Luna Lovegood

I feel kinda sorry for her, being so unique and awesome in such an average series. Still, it gives me a reason to watch the films. Evanna Lynch is also strangely attractive, which probably helps too. Why the rest of the female characters are so incredibly generic I have no idea but it helps me love Luna that little bit more.

P.S. Whoever's directing Deathly Hallows, it's already obvious you'll screw the script around anyway so why not throw in some more Luna goodness for all us fans aye?

BioShock 2, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption delayed...yay?

Take-Two: "The decision to shift a release date is never an easy one, especially with a product as highly anticipated as BioShock 2. We felt that it was essential to invest the additional time to ensure that this title will deliver what its fans expect and deserve. As a result, we will now be launching sequels to several of our strongest franchises - including BioShock 2, Mafia II, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption - during the next fiscal year. These titles will anchor our lineup for fiscal 2010, and along with other products planned for next year, provide a platform for enhanced financial performance in what we hope will be an improved retail environment."

FUCK. Hopefully it'll give them a little extra time to make sure everything is perfected...

So God of War III, Final Fantasy XIII, BioShock 2, Max Payne 3 and Red Dead Redemption have all been put back to 2010. There better not be any more screwups in release schedules for potentially decent games or the market isn't going to be getting much money from me this year. Just have to see if Infinity Ward keep up their promise that Modern Warfare 2 will never have its release date shifted and that it doesn't cause them to release an unfinished game. Don't want another Haze occurance happening.

Noobie Noobinson

Noobie Noobinson (sometimes known as Noobie Noobinson and the Double Boomskees) are a strange bunch, mixing various music styles to create something quite different to what people are used to hearing.

Some people may have heard Meridian Nights (Noobie's Grim Dark Future Mix) at the end of the Dawn of War II OST available for free download on Steam (here, bottom of the page), but the artist's other work is pretty decent as well.

Their first album is available for free download on their site here, which has the occational good song but isn't really anything special. Their second album, which in my opinion is far better, has a few select songs available here.

The second album was originally fully downloadable, but now it isn't for some reason. Still worth checking out the available songs however.

I say everyone should buy a PS3. Why? This is why.

Bayonetta Fanart

Yeah, it's not even out yet but there's already some rather shiny fanart around and frankly, I have nothing better to be doing. So here we go =). Click to enlarge the pics.



























































































































Dante and Bayonetta together, could be an interesting combination. *throws a hint at Capcom which gets buried amongst countless requests for an Okami sequel (which we all still want, damn it!)* Wonder what the children would be like...
























Anyway, back to fanboying over Bayonetta. Wait, I just did that. Might as well continue.

LittleBigPlanet, Bayonetta and Bioshock 2: Currently what's on my mind.

Firstly, I've finally got my chance to buy and play LittleBigPlanet, which has proven to be a highly enjoyable experience both in single player mode and in the expanse of the online community; where the game truly shines. Many levels available of differing qualities with different ideas: some based on other games whilst others have their own unique ideas which continue to outstand. Anyone who has yet to pick up this LittleBigGame has no real reason not to, at minimum it'll provide a good few hours of fun simply doing the story mode, no friends or internet required.
If this is the case, why don't you have the internet in this day and age and what backwater place do you live in to not have any friends? Surely everyone has friends these days, be it a couple of people who you've known for your entire life or a large group of mates for those out there who have the ability to make friends with nearly everyone. If you really want the full experience from the game, get some buddies round and play through the game, laughing at each other's occational mistakes and failures and generally having a fun time all round. Nobody available? Get online, find a random bunch of people who're accepting and kind enough to not try and push your sackboy into spikes at any chance they get and let the fun reign across whichever levels you fancy playing on.


Ever wondered what would happen if you got the remnants of Clover Studios, the company responsible for the almost-ignored-but-incredible cel-shaded game Okami, added in a bunch of Devil May Cry, a dose of God of War, inserted a hot glasses-wearing female, added a ton of gore and allowed you to kill angels in many different ways ranging from guns attached to your feet to using your OWN FRICKING HAIR as a weapon?
Well this is it. Not only that, but the better combos you pull off, the more flesh your character reveals and the more insane your moves are until you're beating the shit out of some poor misunderstood creature with your locks whilst dancing around nearly naked. Kinky. This sounds like it could turn out to be something rather damn shiny. Bring on the release date.

Ah... BioShock, what an incredible game. Sure, it gets a little bogged down with the entire Lot 192 section but the overall storyline is good enough to cover up that little blemish. Those who've played it (and if not, why?) will know of what I tend to call the 'Would You Kindly?' event near the middle of the game and, if you are like me, would've been quite impacted by it. Excellent voice acting and graphics amongst other things made BioShock one of the best games of this generation, seems somewhat fitting following on from the similar impact left by its predecessor System Shock 2. But now, BioShock is getting a sequel too as anyone who is interested in games or has even been into a magazine store recently would've known since it's plastered everywhere for all to see.
Not only does it promise a sequel set after the fall of Rapture, but also a prequel in the form of a multiplayer mode. The single player game puts you in the boots (listen to the Missing Boots diary by Suchong right at the end of the first game, the way he says Big Daddy Boots amuses me.) of the first created Big Daddy, a prototype that comes not only with the iconic-but-rarely-actually-fought-against drill used by the Bouncer type, but also access to the Rosie's Rivet Gun and a lashing of plasmids, including a few new ones that've been announced. There's also hints to new enemies besides Daddies, the Big Sister and Splicers, which'll be interesting to see. Maybe the outdoor sections will get us attacked by plasmid infected crabs or sea cucumbers or something.
The multiplayer game seems solid from the information released so far and could well redefine FPS once again with the off-hand plasmid/weapon combination attacks available to every player. You get to play against other people in the shoes of a bunch of splicers testing out plasmids, including a very Call of Duty 4-esque experience and levelling system. Currently, a (seriously) small selection of game modes has been announced, consisting of Deathmatch and... well, Team Deathmatch. Apparently there is a Little Sister based 'mystery' mode that 2k haven't revealed. A TimeSplitters style BagTag game is a possibility and would add variety to the available game modes rather than 'kill shit and then blow shit up, Michael Bay style'. More importantly, 2k decided to bring in members of the Unreal Tournament team to help them work on the multiplayer mode, and considering my own personal love of the UT series, this is highly promising. Just have to wait until release and see if it's as good as the original, or maybe it'll prove even greater...?