Xbox 360 goes Black Baby!

Rumours have been flying around recently with regards to whether or not the Xbox 360 will come out this April in black. It is said through “reliable” sources that stores across Australia have been prepped to receive the new coloured systems in time for the PS3 launch (around the 22nd of March 2007). A move that some describe will offset PS3 buyers because now there is another black system on the market, or just that Microsoft had always planned to launch the system in other colours (black and silver) but when they were going to launch them and where have never been disclosed.

You can read my full article on EL33TONLINE.

At Last, The Precious Wii Has Come!

It was about time that my flipping Wii arrived, I had been waiting for soooo long. So when I got the little note out of the post box that said "There is an international parcel that needs to be collected from the counter" I was over joyed! Unfortunately though the parcel was hit with customs so I had to pay South African tax on what the item was valued at in the states. I didn't hesitate to pay, i just wanted the thing already!

So i quickly rushed home with my beloved, still wrapped up with hundreds of shipping stickers on it, strapped into the passenger seat. I couldent get home quickly enough... but I wanted to stay under the speed limit because of the pain of the speeding ticket (which you can read about further below) was still fresh in my mind.

On getting home I unwrapped her. Her beautifully pale white exterior shone in the warm sunlight, the sleek, sexy rectangular box, yes she was calling, inviting me into her place to open her up, set her up and turn her on. So I did just that, I opened her up, set her up, but unfortunately my equipment was not suitable to turn her on.

Yes for some strange reason the Wii had a slightly different plag fitting then the 240-110v converter I have, so low and behold the system was not getting any power. This was bad considering I had already invited like seven friends over to play. Eeek!

Luckily the one guy that was coming had a travel adaptor thingy with about 10 different combinations of which one suited this weird Wii one. So the power was on and we all started Wii'ing!

More Crazy Wii Inspired Films

Ok, just when is this going to end... Hopefully never! I just can't seem to get enough of crazy people doing crazy things with their Nintendo Wii. Take a look at this, it's another classic!

Ah, First Podcast of 2007 is done and dusted!

We just recently finished our first podcast for the year. It's meant to be weekly but because of the staff going on leave it was delayed a bit. And when we did eventually get around to doing it, the recording was bad so we had to redo the entire thing! eek! But I never get board of talking about games and news.

So take a listen, download the podcast here.

Psyched for Psychonauts

So our "always local" online store decided to have a sale. That I can understand. What I can't understand is that they were selling Psychonauts for the PS2 for only R88 ($12)!! Can you believe it, the utter disgrace! Seeing the opportunity I decided to buy two copies of the game (yes it's that good, well I had heard). Ok, ok, the one copy was for a friend I admit.

I started playing the game last night and all I can say that it fully lives up to it's reputation. I'm about 5 hours in now and I find the story very compelling and funny (just like their previous games Day Of The Tentacle and Grim Flandango). this game needs further investigation, and of course completion before I can review it. Finally a game I can just sit back with and enjoy it's almost animated film like experiance!

My First Wii Game... and no it's not Wii Sports

I find myself in a very bittersweet position today. It has arrived! The game I have been longing for, for so long. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (insert choir ahhh's here). Yes, the Wii version of the game which in my honest opinion looks like a flipping awesome game, and I can't wait to play it.

The only problem is... My Wii hasn't arrived yet :( so all i can do is sit around looking at the immaculate, white Zelda game box and the metallic embossed cover, and read through the manual again and again. It's sad isn't it. Please keep me in your hopes and prayers, prey that my Wii will come soon so I can be relieved of this growing tension of having a monumental game lying here waiting- no calling to be played...

It must come soon, my Wii, it'ses been sooo longs, yesss its had, its will bees mine the wii, my precioussss...

Theme Park Returns!

Remember those days of the awesome simulation games that were FUN to play and had a certain sense of houmor about them. You know, the games that didn't require the latest FX 90,000 D graphics card to run them, just any PC would do? Classics like Theme Hospital, Sim Ant and even Sim City?

Much to my delight, I discovered that Theme Park (the original version) is being resurrected onto the Nintendo DS. Oh I so do hope they have that little Irish bloke in the green top hat and tails again and that wickedly cool intro with the dog going into the television set! I must order this now!!!

Check out the news item here.

Wii is on her way!

After much toil and endless battles with the world in general, I have managed to get myself a Nintendo Wii. This is not an easy task especially when you live in a country that seems to be so disconnected from the rest of the world when it comes to gaming console releases, South Africa. The story of how I came to eventually get this Wii though is one of pain and suffering, of good times and of bad times. It's character building stuff we are talking about here... let me explain.

On the day that the Nintendo Wii was announced and became available to order from the online import shops I placed my pre-order. I must have been at least in the first 100 people to do so, I knew I had a good spot and that when the revolutionary console would launch, I would be one of it's first loyal subjects. The pre-order in which I speak of was placed in November 2005! It seems like such a long time ago now. Time passed. Days turned into weeks and weeks turned into months, the wait for the Wii was devastating. Each new tidbit that was fed to us by the big N made me drool, and when finally hearing that the console would officially be launching in November 2006 I started to cry tears of joy. The long wait would soon be over.

Now I hear you asking "Why has this guy only got his Wii now if he ordered it over a year ago?" and the answer is quite simple yet it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I pre-ordered from Lik-sang, yes the company that closed up shop no more that three weeks before the Wii was to ship! Nooooooo. They had even lead me on by sending me e-mails stating that it would soon be in stock and that I must specify which region I want etc etc... sniff, even writing about it now makes my eyes well up with tears.

It was thus that the worldwide Wii craze began with out me. I locked myself up in my room, shut the light out, got under my covers and cried.

In the many weeks to come we would try to locate a Wii for sale in stores, but because of the shortages and high demand, our chances were low. We had contacts in Florida, Tokyo, London and Sydney all on the lookout for Wiis, but they couldn't find a single one. It is because of this that I turned to eBay. Yes I would taint my soul by bidding for a "scalped" console. eBay is filled with hundreds of people selling brand new unopened Wiis for nearly twice the price they paid for it. Unfortunately there are enough people out their just like me that would be willing to pay this increased price to get the console, so the sellers thrive on our anguish.

For those of you that have never used eBay before, make sure to check out my Step-by-Step Guide to buying a Wii/PS3 on eBay. My Wii should be arriving any day now, yours could be too!

Mario & Luigi Rescue the Princess... Again

Ah, what a great game. Another Nintendo classic, I've just finished playing Mario & Luigi: Partners in time (the sequel to Superstar Saga for the GameBoy Advance) and all I can say is wow... Ok, ok, ok you know me, I've got more to say than just wow. You'll have to read my full review which is now up on EL33TONLINE.

It was the first Nintendo RPG games I've played (I missed out on paper mario), and I was surprised at how well the game turned out. RPG games are usually known for their hard work, level grinding and very technical experience point allocation as well as confusing item combinations, where as this game did all that but just in a fun enjoyable way that only Ninty can do.

Read the full review here .

The Wheel is Turning but the Hamster is Dead

Do you ever feel like you are a hamster on a wheel at work. Continuously running, working like a little slave for your boss, trapped inside your lifeless cubicle with no view. Today I found the perfect thing for you! You can now get your very own USB hamster on a wheel to track your performance! Yes, this nifty little device connects to your Mac or PC via USB and detects key presses on your keyboard. The faster you type, the faster the little vermin runs. So if you're into self pity, get yourself a USB hamster on a Wheel. Heck I'll admit it's a bit gimmicky, but I have no doubt in my mind that you will be the talk of the office!

A Wii Workout

For all the gamers out there who would rather spend their time killing off monsters and saving the world from an impending doom then hitting the gym to work on their physique (and I admit, I'm one of them too) there is hope! It's called the Wii Workout. It has been proven that playing the Wii for just a short period of time each day can actually get rid of that extra weight you've picked up over Christmas, or any weight for that matter.

Six weeks ago, Philadelphia resident, Mickey DeLorenzo decided to start what he would call the Wii Sports Experiment to track any weight gain or loss by playing Wii sports. The idea came to him just after finishing a really intense bout of boxing with his fiancee (Wii boxing not the abuse type). The two of them were sweating like pigs which lead to them wondering about how many calories are burnt by playing this "physical" game.

Mickey, being an avid Netizen, then decided to start a blog tracking his progress. The blog soon became hugely popular amongst other gamers and fitness professionals from around the world, "Could gaming really be a form of loosing weight?" they all asked.

The program soon started to show results. The Wii Workout was working, and now just six weeks after starting the training Mickey has lost 4Kgs. He claims that he has changed nothing else in his life, he still ate the same (even packing in food over Christmas) and did no other additional fitness workouts. All he did was add in 30 minutes of Wii Sports each day and the results have shown.

So all you Wii gamers out there, get ready to shed a few pounds! And with all this documentation I think it's safe to say that Nintendo gamers are healthy gamers.

My First Time & A Metal Slime

Ahh, Dragon Quest is sill holding my attention. Yes, I'd like to say it's because of the intense battling and the in depth item creation that I've just stumbled upon, in the form of the "Alchemy Pot", but mainly because of the lovely new addition to my party. Jessica. Ok and all the other stuff too such as the ever growing epicness of the story and the humorous comments of Yangis! To finding rare monsters and stealing their monster coin.

Onto Jessica (lol, that came out wrong). Shes there to literally whip the monsters back to the place they belong... in the ground. She's pretty good with magic too, but way behind in the leveling compared with my now level 13 Hero and Yangis. I'm sure with a lot of training she'll make a mighty fine warrior.

Also today I came across my first, illusive, metal slime! I was so excited when I saw it that I wanted to get my camera out and take a picture (sad isn't it). The metal slimes only have 4 HP but their defense is something like 100 making it very hard to do any damage. Of course being the little scoundrel that they are, the bloody thing ran away before I had the chance to lay on my second rounds of attack... sigh* For those that don't know, killing a metal slime gives each one of your party members 1000 experience points (a lot at this stage of the game). I have one thing to say... Little slime, a storms coming your way, next time you're going down!

Wii sex? This clip is hilerious!

Ok, the contents of this clip were so funny that I just knew I had to share it with you guys. It does have some sexual connotations so if you're offended by that then do not watch, simple as that. It is very funny though and you'll be missing out if you don't watch.

PS3's everywhere but not a Wii in sight

Over the past two weeks I have noticed something different about the gaming shops that I frequent. Yes, they have PS3's!!! Now I know for some of you reading this you might think, "Well, whats new about that?" and all I can say to you is, you havent experienced the South African gaming industry, or more correctly the timing of the games industry in South Africa.

It is because they are not readily available here that all the import shops have them, and you guessed it, they are trying to milk it for all it's worth before the console gets officially released here. But for the hardcore gamer that doesn't have to worry about cash, they can go right now and pick themselves up one of these beautiful looking machines. Just make sure your willing to fork out a bit of cash.

Today was my first time actually laying eyes on the console itself, not just oogeling at the box, and it made me realize two things. This machine is, and it does not matter what anybody says, beautiful. It really looks like it should be in a gallery somewhere, the sleek shiny black exterior with the crisp chrome PlayStation 3 lettering gliding over it... yeah baby. The other thing is that I finally got to see for myself just how HUGE this thing is! It's massive! Like put two of the original PS2 consoles together and you still don't get an accurate depiction of the size!

Currently they are selling between R5,500 and R10,000 ($770 and $1400) so even you overseas guys can see just how they are trying to rip us off. In my opinion, I can wait for a PS3 as there are no mind blowing games that I feel I HAVE to play right now (Never mind the price tag).

Virtual (Console) Reality

If If I cast my mind back to the days when I was just a little spud, growing up in a world of neon striped stockings, big hair and those really over-sized sunglasses, which seem to be back in fashion nowadays, I cannot recall much. In fact I sometimes think is it a bad thing that I can’t remember anything from when I was that young, is there something wrong wrong with me? Ok, I’m talking about when I was like four or five years old here, maybe there is some leeway to remembering things from that long ago.

What I do remember though is the classic games that my two older brothers used to “force” me to play. Looking back on it now I realize that it was the two of them that sent me down the path of video game corruption, heck they should be the ones supporting my habit today. I really need a Wii, you did this to me! Now you’ve got to pay up!

As if almost bestowed by God himself, the classics from that era have reappeared on the new gaming system from Nintendo. Playing games like Golden Axe, Ecco the Dolphin and even the great Super Mario Bros, are sure to send me into a place of nirvana, riddled and oozing with nostalgia. I can’t wait.

With the current Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console Line Up I would be pretty satisfied, but I know there is still a lot more to come as the big N is making more and more games available on a weekly basis!

A Primal Need for Speed

Has it ever occurred to you why it has come to be that video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Bully (Canis Canem Edit) and many other games of that genre have taken the blame for violence, anger and even in some cases murder, whilst car racing games that promote breaking the speed limit and "Taking Down" other racers are never blamed for the hundreds of road infringements that occur each year? It's something to think about isn't it?

The reason why this has just come to mind is that no more than just a few minutes ago, whilst flicking through my daily mail did I come across the dreaded, ghastly green envelope that could only contain one thing... If you're thinking it's a "You may have already won" letter you'd be wrong (and shame on you, have you not been following?) it was, indeed, no other than a speeding ticket. The unexpected toll had made my heart drop, and naturally I started to look inside and ask the question "Why is it that I drive above the speed limit".

If I were American (and please don't take this wrong) I would sue EA for making games such as Burnout or Need for Speed, because these games have "taught" me that I will be rewarded for beating other vehicles in a close proximity to me (usually in front of me) to a designated point or line (usually the traffic light that has just turned amber). Alas whilst it may shave a few minutes of my traveling time I have to admit, is it worth the increased chance of a traffic fine, or worse an accident?

New Years Resolution #1: Play less racing games*

*This excludes Mario Kart

Pacing Myself

Very much like Peter talks about in his review of The Legend Of Zelda: Wind Waker, the game that I have just started playing (and when I say just, what i'm trying to say is I'm 11 hours in already) Dragon Quest XIII requires one to look within and slow down their gaming, or rather slow down what they have become used too...

Level grinding is a totally new concept to me mainly (I think) because I have never played one of these epic, square enix games before. Yes I know, shock shock, horror horror. Laugh it up, it's just that I've always been the type that would lean towards more "action" types games or even games like Warioware that require very little, how should I put this, mental capasity? No, I think dedication is a better word to use. Games that require a little less dedication. I usually stop playing a game if i feel even just an iota of boredom. But Dragon Quest XIII seems to be holding my attention.

Well this game is something new and exciting to me anyways and I adore the art style, in fact i'd go so far to say that I think cell shaded graphics have been way overlooked by game developers. It's so beautiful without being to processor hungry... like a living comic book! I'll keep posting my experiences with this game, heck it'll be exciting to find out if i actually finish this game or not. Like I said though, for now it's awesome.

The Rhythm is Going to Get You

I'm a man who loves his rhythm games, yes indeed. There is something about rhythm games that I'm intrigued about. Maybe it's just the hyperthetical holiday from your "normal" console games that gets me, esspecially when there is a modified controller involved. I can't even conceive how much time I put into Donkey Konga on the GameCube, what is essentially a fairly quick and simple game to create can become a game that is most played in an entire collection of games (Even when there is Zelda and Smash Bros.) Which leads me to the game I've just come to "finish", Guitar Hero for the PlayStation 2. It is probably one of the quintessential games that all PS2 owners must just simply have.

My review of Guitar Hero is up on EL33TONLINE so click here to read it.

P.S. Your fingers will hate you even more if you buy this game, but it's worth it!

The Anatomy of Mii

It seems that something that may have started out as an innocent way to create a user profile for oneself on Nintendo's Wii gaming console, has now become a global art-form. Mii mania has spread far and wide just like peanut butter spreads from one side of the slice of bread to the other.

Wii users have manipulated the features of the Mii creator to come up with immpressions of Storm Troopers, Opera, Bill Clinton and even Batman. Who would have thought?

You can check out www.miiplaza.com for loads of different Miis, and then if you actually own a Wii you can invite them to come live on your system.