I got into the RIFT beta!

Wont say anything aside from that though.

=x

A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda

A.R.E.S.: Extinction Agenda is in so many words, fantastic.  At first I thought it was going to be a Mega Man clone, which I wouldn't mind in the least.  Mega Man is very near and dear to my heart but as I played this I realized it's nothing like my beloved Mega Man and that is perfectly fine.  However, this game is very much a Gunstar Heroes clones, and a very good one at that.  There are however some evolutions as far as the game goes.  The game is another one of those 2.5d games, where it all the game is happening in 2d, but it is rendered in 3d.  The game looks really good.  It plays well, and to keep this short I fucking love it.  If you want to pick up a game for under 10$ that will give you a few good hours of gameplay go ahead and look it up on steam.  It's 8.99 as of the time of posting and most certainly worth it.  I haven't found a co-op mode though so I think you're going to be stuck playing this solo.  However with any luck this game does the indie developer well and they can return with a sequel offering up such things as multi-player co-op.  Anywho, great game.  Worth the money.  Especially if you liked Gunstar Heroes.

I've been busy. Not playing many games.

Don't get me wrong.  I've been playing.  World of Warcraft like a god damned addict.  It saddens me that MMO's can hook me like this.

I got half way through Phoenix Wright, want to finish it but I find it hard to play my DS sitting around at my own house. 

I made out like a bandit during the steam Christmas sale, and it saddens me that I don't think I've put more than 2-3 hours into the nearly 30 games I bought during it.

I'll be sitting aside some time this week to finish Final Fantasy XIII (yes, I bought it on release and I still haven't managed to push myself to it's finale) and then a battle or two more on Valkyria Chronicles (I bought the sequel, but I never finished the first).  A battle or two on Disgaea for PSP, and then move on to some of my newer (to me) games. 

 Mini Review: I have however made time for one game in the past month.  Super Meat Boy.  This game is so damned awesome that if you don't have it you may want to consider rethinking your priorities in life.  It's a very finely tuned platformer so don't bother with your Xbox Dpad (unless of course you have one of the new ones that pop out).  I've been playing this on steam with my Xbox controller, using the analog.  It works well enough, I'd still prefer a good old SNES pad, or PS controller (pre-crappy triggers of course).

Finally.

After having Amazon dick around with shipping for my copy of the Limited Edition Halo: Reach, I finally canceled my order the moment I saw it for the same price at Best Buy.  Picked it up and now I've Halo: Reach and Alpha Protocol to play through.

Amazon.  We're still friends, but we're having a spat.  I'll call you next week when I'm less mad at you.

Yep.

What I've been doing.

Playing Professor Layton and the Curious Village on my pink (yes, it's pink) DS Lite.

Playing Killing Floor after the new update.  The mac10 makes me play firebug.  It's awesome.

WoW.  You don't want to hear about that.

Played the demo for Sol Survivor.  Unimpressed.  Just another tower defense game.  It looks OK but it was largely boring.

Played the demo for another game called Blade Kitten.  Dumb name aside, it's a total throw back to the 2d style action games.  Reminds me a lot of Strider.  I like it and I think I'm going to buy it.  I highly suggest you try the demo.

The Sacrifice review. *"The Passing" spoilers contained within*

  The Sacrifice.  The new Left 4 Dead campaign for both games.  I have to say that I was a little disappointed after playing this.  First of all, I didn't hear about this until the other night, and second of all, I did no research prior to playing it, not out laziness, but instead I had an opportunity to approach this with little to no knowledge of what the update actually entailed.  I think it put me in a unique position to have my expectations dashed by what I wanted this to be, and what it actually was.  When I heard that it was a campaign for both games, I had hoped that there would be two sides of this campaign that we could play.  One part in the first game where I could play as the original "Tango Mikes" as they were referred to in the online comic which I read between playing the campaign on L4D & L4D2 (which I'm not sure what it's supposed to mean because "Tango Mike" usually means Thanks Much but I must digress), and the second part a role for the new survivor's in the second game, however this was very much not the case.  It was the same campaign, for both games.  This appears to be Valve's try at supporting both games, and give those that bought the original but haven't picked up the second some of that extra content that Valve promised oh so long ago, but it has left a sour taste in my mouth, even though I have both.  I feel that it's not so much Valve supporting L4D1, but more that L4D1 is getting hand-me-downs from the real star of the show, L4D2.  It was the same exact campaign, but when I ran it on L4D2 it looked nicer, had more weapons, and of course had melee weapons.  Sadly overall this campaign, I feel, doesn't live up to the past campaigns that Valve has added to the L4D series, like Crash, or The Passing.  Granted Crash Course I don't recall adding anything to the series, The Passing gave us a chance to run into the original survivor's, revealed to us the death of Bill, gave us the Survivor zombie, and all new survivor dialogue.  A hard act to follow surely, and this could have been something great, but it's a one trick pony and anti climactic as we already know because of The Passing what has happened.  No new zombies, no new weapons, no new dialogue which I have to point out was the real annoyance while playing as Francis and trying to tell my teammates that there was a DeFib kit and all Francis would say was "Stop".  

I must say however, when that moment comes at the end of the campaign, the game play is very tense but ultimately left me unfulfilled. I can't suggest 360 owners buy this, unless you're absolutely starving for another map.  Spend your 560 MS points elsewhere.

Valve, I love you but I'm not impressed and that makes me sad.

The Dante redesign.

    Dante appeared on the scene in 2001 sporting the trench coat, white hair, and enough leather where it would be safe to assume he has a safe word.  However, the trench coat is is tried and true classic look has lent it's stylish look to such legendary character's as Neo of The Matrix, Rorschach of Watchmen, Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine of Casablanca, and Inspector Clouseau of the Pink Panther films just to name a few. It's flowing brilliant crimson beauty certainly helped gamers everywhere fall in love with the fearless private detective and part time mercenary as he flashed across the screen destroying demonic puppets, monsters and shadow creatures alike.  His smartass remarks, flowing combat styles, and fashion sense have certainly secured him a soft spot in my heart for years to come.

    Now Ninja Theory's redesign of the Japanese character that westerners have come to love has received a lot of flack for it's move to a more hipster/emo vibe.  I just want to say that the criticism, in my opinion, is well deserved.  They are throwing out a timeless look and replacing it with the current trends of the youth of today.  Imagine if you will, if Dante was wearing a tie dye t-shirt and bell bottoms, or a basketball jersey and pants sagging below his ass or any other number of ridiculous fashions the youth have come to wear over the years.  Maybe they can sell custom skins for Dante to better market the game to people of differing fashion styles.  Naruto head-band Dante for the Otaku.  Bullet proof vest, jeans and a baseball cap Dante, for the 50 cent fans.  Leopard costume Dante for the furries out there.   Last but not least, Aquaman Dante, for the DC comic fans out there with bad taste in comic book heroes.

    I can't say if this new look, will influence anyone to actually purchase DMC, but what I can tell you is that I wont be buying it.  Why?  Because this isn't Devil May Cry.  That character isn't Dante, and Ninja Theory isn't exactly the best studio for reviving a damaged series like Devil May Cry.  I am not saying it will be bad.  What I am saying is that the cards are stacked against them.  If I hear that the game is worth playing, I'll rent it.  However, I'll be voting against this new Dante redesign the only way game companies can hear me.  With my money.