Post-E3: Thoughts and Opinions

E3 is a big event for gamers. E3 is as important to gamers, as the FIFA World Cup is to Soccer fans. While I obviously didn't attend E3, though I would definitely love to in the future, I thought I'd do a write-up on this years E3 event from the perspective of a fan, an onlooker from home excitedly watching the live streams. I know it's not a review, but I wanted to voice my opinions and thoughts on how E3 went and how the future of video-gaming looks for a gamer like myself.

Red Dead Redemption Review

The Western genre for video games is an interesting one. It was never really well expanded on and games based on it weren't rated very highly. I thoroughly enjoyed Gun, the only other open-world Wild Western game I've played. Yet it was too short -- 100% accomplished in under a week. Red Dead Revolver is another Western game that was initially being developed by Capcom, but then Rockstar grabbed ahold of it. It gained average to positive reviews but it wasn't anything special. Now, from Rockstar San Diego, comes Red Dead Redemption. Built on the same engine as Grand Theft Auto IV, Red Dead Redemption boasts a vast open world, an exciting story-line and definitely plenty to do.

Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? Review

Disgaea is a fantastic series. The original, Disgaea: Hour of Darkness, was released six years ago and brought a colorful and hilarious world to gamers across the world. With lots of grinding (up to level 9999 per character!) and a gigantic amount of weapons and dungeons to trawl through, Disgaea provided a ton of replayability and fun. While the main character of the original was Prince Laharl, NIS have released a PSP-exclusive 2D side-scroller action game which instead stars the lovable and explosive side characters of the series: the Prinnies.

Harvest Moon: Hero of Leaf Valley Review

Harvest Moon is an addictive series, there's no doubt about it. The first Harvest Moon came out for SNES in 1996 and its been drawing people in ever since. The premise of Harvest Moon is simple: Manage time, make money, become friends with the villagers, harvest crops and make home improvements. It's compelling stuff and every Harvest Moon game has hundreds of hours of content to keep you hooked.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade Review

I've never been that much for the "video games as art" argument. Beside games like Shadow of the Colossus and Okami which definitely took my breath away with their unique and attractive imagery, I've always thought of a game as being a form of entertainment and nothing more. Muramasa: The Demon Blade is a work of art and a fine one at that. If it were possible, you could hang up a screen in an art gallery, allow people to play Muramasa and it would blow their minds.

JU-ON: The Grudge Review

Today I thought I'd review JU-ON: The Grudge. I played it on my birthday with a group of friends and we had a great time! Really! It was a terribly average game, but the morning we played it was unforgettable. While not terribly scary, one moment that stood out was where we were eating birthday cake, my friend was on a second playthrough and he examined a door that I had yet nothing had happened. I think that I hadn't looked up high enough to trigger it because when I was playing, while I had the audio cue for an event, nothing happened. Needless to say, a hand grabbed him and we were so unexpecting of it, that we both leapt. And I dropped my cake. Thus the phrase, "it was so scary I dropped my cake" came into creation ohoho. Oh I'm ranting, sorry, I'll let you read my review. Thanks!
~Dom

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I've always been fond of The Grudge film series. Sure, each film got worse with each sequel, but they had this unique charm to them. A malicious force where people killed in a fit of rage come back as a violent spirit. It's a curse that grows more and more powerful and spreads like a disease. No one is safe, it cannot be killed, it doesn't stop. If a character becomes involved, they're going to die. As shown by the films, there isn't a protagonist in the series that survives. In honor of the 10th anniversary of the JU-ON series, a video-game was created exclusively for the Wii. So just how does it fare?

Alan Wake Review

Remedy Studios are most well known for their Max Payne games. It got a film deal and they sold the rights on, so what exactly have they done since? The answer being Alan Wake, an interesting title that was actually announced five years ago in 2005 as a PC and Xbox 360 game. Recently, they announced it would be an Xbox 360 exclusive. Now that it is out, the question on everyones mind is, was it worth the wait?

Yakuza 3 Review

I stayed under 1000 words! I think I'll keep it that way from now on. TEXT WALL K GO. Oh sorry, please read. Ty :3

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Yakuza is an odd series. You would think that it's an all out brawler by looking at the back of the case, but it really is so much more. At first glance you could compare it to the Grand Theft Auto series due to it's free-roam nature, but that would be wrong too. If anything, it's like a more action orientated version of Shenmue. While the two games were made by SEGA, don't get the two mixed up. Yakuza 1 and 2 were both PS2 games and received a good amount of attention in the West, while it definitely shined the most in Japan. Approximately a year after Yakuza 3 was released in Japan (with Yakuza 4 being released at the same time we get Yakuza 3) gamers in the West have a chance to step into the shoes of Kazuma Kiryu, the dragon of Dojima, as he once again takes on the Japanese underworld.

Monster Hunter Tri Review

Monster Hunter has been a relatively unknown series to us in the West up until recently. A hugely popular game in Japan, it was originally released on Playstation 2 and while the rest of the world did get the game, it received little-to-no advertising, no media attention, relatively bad reviews and once it was sold it was never seen again. Because of its failure in the West, we never got a chance to play Monster Hunter 2. It never left Japan. Around that time however, we got Monster Hunter Freedom on PSP. The game was a straight port of Monster Hunter G, a Japanese-exclusive expansion to the original. The game didn't do too well but Capcom wasn't swayed. Later on, Monster Hunter Freedom 2 was released on PSP in the West. It was a straight port of Monster Hunter 2 and received a larger amount of fans. Last year, wereceived Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, an expansion of Monster Hunter Freedom 2 with additional features, levels, weapons and armor. It received television and internet advertising and gained a huge amount of fans outside of Japan.

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories Review

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is not a sequel to the Silent Hill series, nor is it a prequel. In fact the only thing you could associate this Silent Hill with any of the other games in the series are the character names from the first game released in 1999. Shattered Memories is a re-imagining developed by Climax Studios, the same company that created Silent Hill Origins for PSP and PS2. Now don't confuse this with a re-make, the game is not a re-make. Not associating this game with any of it's predecessors the first step to enjoying it.

It's snowing heavily outside, a well dressed man tosses a few ice-cubes into a glass and pours himself a whiskey. The intercom buzzes. "The new patient is here. They're early." The man accepts the person in, saying they can start. Straight afterwards, a car veers through the snowstorm and off the road, through and fence and into a ditch. A man with glasses unbuckles his seatbelt, and falls into the snow. It's dark. It's quiet. It's cold. "Cheryl!" the man cries out. Your daughter is missing, and you're in Silent Hill. Not a good start.

Back in the initial room, you're now face to face with the now revealed to be psychiatrist in first-person. You take a test, which reveals your personality. "Do you enjoy role-play during sex?" and "Do you make friends easily?" being a few examples of the questions. These questions are important, as it defines you, it develops your character, it makes your character... you. Your name is Harry Mason, and how your Harry reacts to the world of Silent Hill around him and how he treats other characters he meets depends on how you play and and how you answer the psychiatrists questions at important intervals in the game. Be truthful, and you might now like how your character becomes...

Fatal Frame IV Review

This was a pro review I did for Neoseeker.com. The review can be found here: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/fatal_frame_4/

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If anyone was still wondering whatever happened to the Fatal Frame series after the third game on the PlayStation 2, then you're sure to be disappointed. Zero: Tsukihami no Kamen -- aka Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse -- was never released outside of Japan. While it was hinted at multiple times of having an overseas release, Nintendo eventually decided against it.

But have no fear: a group of hardcore Fatal Frame fans have released an unofficial patch which allows owners of the actual disk to play the game with full English subs, simultaneously circumventing the Wii's pesky region lock. Patch in hand, we got to work.