Telefrog

How time flies when you're... Um... Completely neglecting your blog. Yeesh! Is it already May of '08? Yikes! Okay, so I'm not the best updater in the world. Sue me.

The big game news would be Grand Theft Auto IV. It's an almost perfect fusion of debauchery, action, and pop culture. Despite the controversy, Rockstar has once again proven that no one lampoons America's fascination with organized crime like the GTA games. Previous incarnations of the game had you playing hedonistic socipaths embroiled in zany over-the-top crime sprees. This time, your main avatar is Niko Bellic, a man with a stain on his soul from Eastern European wars, ready to begin a new life in the land of opportunity. Liberty City offers redemption, but it also tempts Niko with a chance at revenge and further damnation.

It's a more somber GTA this time around. Sure, there are still hookers, drugs, comedic violence, and F-bombs galore, but Niko actually seems like a decent guy. You really wouldn't mind meeting him in real life, unlike Tommy Vercetti of GTA III, who was cut from the same cloth as mad-dog killers like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas. Having just come from a desperate war in Europe, Niko regrets that the path his life has taken him.

I've also been playing some Assassin's Creed for the 360, and Quake Wars for the PC. Meh.

Happy Holidays, everyone! I apologize for the tardiness of this update, but it's been a hectic yuletide season. Whew! It's almost over, and that's a good thing because we have way too many awesome games to play. It's like a smorgasboard of sweet gaming bliss and I want to tuck in for a feast.

On the Wii, we got Super Mario Galaxy, Tomb Raider Legend, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground, and the Wii Zapper with Link's Crossbow Training. We also got the Bee Movie game, but the less said about it, the better.

On the 360, we got Assassin's Creed, Guitar Hero III, Beautiful Katamari, Orange Box, skate, and Mass Effect. Beautiful, beautiful Mass Effect! BioWare's last hurrah as an independent studio contains all the lessons learned with past RPG greats like Knights of The Old Republic, Jade Empire, and Neverwinter Nights wrapped in a new IP and slathered in Unreal Engine 3 jaw-dropping vistas.

I'm all over Mass Effect (obviously) while my wife and step-daughter are all over Assassin's Creed. Thinking about the plot of Ubisoft's anti-Crusade historical parkour sim, I've decided that all that free-running and flag collecting is directly responsible for the current unrest in the middle east. Thanks, Altair!

Seriously though, we have way too many games in my household to catch up on. We need a time machine to make more off days so I can get through them all.

The long-awaited Zune firmware update and software revision for Microsoft's beleagured media device went live last night. So far, it seems like a monster hit amongst the million or so Zune fans. The update completely revamped the clunky URGE-based player of old and replaced it with a very nice minimalist approach. Very cool!

The software has a few hiccups. As of this time, there are users that have issues during the upgrade. It seems like some people had their metadata tags on their songs and videos screwed up. Others are reporting that the update just won't download or install at all. I suppose it's to be expected with any large rollout, but it's a shame anyway.

The firmware update to the Zune player finally added wireless syncing and the new menu. Most people agree that it's aesthetically more pleasing and generally faster to use.

The big change for me is the new Zune Card feature. Microsoft took what they learned with the Xbox Live Gamertag and created social function out of someone's music listening habits. It really is a great community builder. I think this is going to turn out to be the stealth app that really makes the Zune catch on.

Okay, so I'm one of the last people to start my Halo 3 career, but I've finally donned my Spartan armor and have taken the fight to those Covenant bastards. This game is completely awesome so far. (Yes, I'm only on the sixth mission. It's still damn good.) The co-op gameplay in this game is about as close to perfect as you can get. It makes me wish there had been a co-op storyline in BioShock. Can you imagine the sweetness of setting up plasmid based traps as a team? "Would you kindly hack that turret so I may lead the splicers to their death?"

Despite naysayers accusations that this game is just Halo 2.5, this third entry in the venerable Bungie franchise is a completely worthy sequel. The graphics maintain the Halo style, yet have nice new effects like HDR lighting, shaders, and reflection mapping. Look at the difference between the Halo 2 and Halo 3 versions of Cortana, your sexy A.I. partner:

The one on the left is from Halo 2 and the one on the right is from my dreams. (Okay, so this was just an excuse for me to post a picture of the sexiest A.I. ever.) I guarantee that someday a complete nerd scientist is going to develop a real virtual A.I. and he will name it Cortana because it was the only female that would talk to him when he was a teenager. That will be awesome!

The other great thing about Halo 3 is the replay theatre. After you play any game, be it single player campaign, co-op, or multiplayer, the game automatically saves a file to your hard drive withe all the data from the match. You can then pull it up in the theatre and watch it, edit it, and share it with your friends. (Here's my first film. It commemorates my first newb kill in Slayer.) The video replay feature is the kind of thing that, once you see it in action, you wonder why it was never done before. I predict we will see this feature copied in many AAA games in the future.

My firend and I went to the World Cyber Games 2007 event in Seattle this past weekend. It was pretty cool. The day's events really showcased how big-budget the world of professional gaming is nowadays. My friend and I got to the WCG event at about 2:30 and by that time it looked like there were about 400 people attending. Not a huge crowd, but enough to get a good whiff of unwashed gamer.

The hardware vendors on hand included Microsoft, Kingston Memory, Razer, Samsung, Phillips, Circuit City, AMD/ATi, and Thermaltake. Microsoft was all over the place. They had separate areas for Xbox Live, Games For Windows, and areas for each of their AAA titles this season. There was lots of Halo 3 and PGR4 being shown and played.

Gears of War for PC was showcased fairly heavily. It looked gorgeous and played very smoothly. I didn't get to see any of the new levels, but the stuff I did see looked as good (if not better) than the 360 version. It looked like it was a hit amongst the crowd. The mouse and keyboard controls seemed to be screwing a lot of people up as they all looked like they were used to the 360 controller. Most people fumbled with the mouse and keyboard for a few minutes before picking up the control pad nearby. I don't know if that will be an issue going forward, but it's something to consider.

A playable build of Crysis was on hand to wow the gamers there, and it really looks like the folks at Crytek have nailed it. The areas I played included a beach Hummer battle and an infiltration into a small dock and supply camp. The A.I. on the enemy soldiers looked as good as ever and the environments were simply stunning. The water effects had a really nice flow to them and instantly reminded me of the shallows off the coasts of the hawaiian islands. The only concern was that the framerate looked like it was consistently less than 30 fps. I'm certain they had beastly rigs under the stations, so hopefully they'll get the framerate improved. The stations did have signs stating that the Crysis builds were alpha code and did not have optimized drivers.

Valve had an area where they were showing off the Orange Box contents with Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, Portal, and Left 4 Dead.
Portal was exactly the way the videos have made it out to be. Mind-bendingly difficult and incredibly fun at the same time. I can't wait to play the full game.

The zombie horror multiplayer game, Left 4 Dead made me want to crap myself. Turtle Rock Studios has really captured the frantic, desperate feel of the urban zombie combat sequences in movies like the Dawn of The Dead remake and 28 Weeks Later. If you're not a fan of running, leaping, snarling zombies, then this game isn't for you. The four player mechanic worked very well. It's the type of game that made you shriek in fear and laugh at the cool shit going on at the same time.

Ratatouille was being displayed in the Games For Windows area which seemed like a marketing misfire. I mean, really? Is the hardcore PC competition gaming crowd really going to be interested in Ratatouille? It seemed like an odd choice to show off the coolness of GFW.
Pirates of The Burning Sea had a booth, but it was about 25 feet away from everything else. In the old E3 venue it would've been the equivelant of Kentia Hall. Nothing was playable. They were just handing out beta keys and brochures.

Finally, I should wrap up by warning all of you to stay the Hell away from this product. After we left the Qwest Event Center, my friend and I went to the asian market nearby and picked up this horrifying chinese treat. It consisted of pickled seaweed fronds that were covered in the Sourpatch Kids stuff. It was like fishy, sweet & sour gum. Awful. As a half-asian, I've eaten some pretty foul stuff, but this was just terrible. If anyone can translate the writing on the box, I'd be really grateful.