Echo....

My this space seems a bit dusty.

Aion Life

So I'm back on Aion, after picking up a 60-day time card for only £5! What a deal! But anyway i stupidly re-activated my account during the last few weeks of my college course which means I'm too easily distracted by simply logging on and taking off into the Abyss.

HOWEVER, i do not care because i simple am in love with this game for a second time. And hopefully this time for a bit longer. What threw me away on the first date was the incredibly difficult levelling curve and also the difficulty. I'd never played anything like it before! Alot of the early quests require groups (By early i mean around level 20, which i guess in the big picture is early). I wasn't put off by this, but the fact that they were so hard, the mobs were packed together and the amount you needed to rely on healers was just stupid. They've fixed this allot now, making it easier since launch. Unfortunately there were less people at this level since launch so i kinda lucked out on finding a suitable group who can at least speak English and not some form of Scandinavian.

One thing i love about Aion is its inconsistency too, kind of like this blog. On my journeys I've encountered so many bugs it's almost funny. But one I've come across today was quite a big texture bug. As you can see in this very badly inserted image, it is just a laughable shade of brown, and this appears on all paths throughout the region. Either i haven't looked at the ground enough or this is definitely new. Anyway i lol'd inside.

I know i should be leveling old characters because of the 1.9 patch and its whole 3 gigs of content, but after realising some of the initial features of Aion i never even saw i really wanted to level up an Assassin. Fairly simple, two daggers, fuck load of melee skills and BAM i can kill things. I'm surprised how many unintelligent people i have seen play this class. It makes me sad. Because for a start, you need to at least have a GCSE qualification to play this class i swear. As soon as it introduced Runes and Signets my mind was blown.

I'm kidding, it's a piece of piss.


BUT ANYWAY! His name is Arysar, he is now level 20 and i wuv him so much :DDD As much as a man can wuv his virtual character. I don't have problems i tell you, now shut up.

Since last playing i have also updated my graphics, CPU, RAM etc, and the game looks as stunning as it did! I'm running around 40 FPS on a bad day i think, though I'm not too delighted to check as I'm still annoyed by the increased lag or rubber banding I've received since installing Vista. I've minimized that now so the game is as smooth as my chin, or something. How does it go?

In other news! E3 starts today at 6pm, or at least for me. Microsofts conference is kicking off with a pretty skanky Co-host. Some girl from the hit show iCarly on Nickelodeon. I must admit I've watched a few times. And the movie. And know the theme song. And laughed at most of the puns. But that doesn't mean anything. It's still shit. I'm not expecting too much from MS this year since their announcement of Natal last year is still an on going crusade in the fight against Move. All i hope to see is a re-branding of the Xbox from what I've seen of many various box-arts from Rock Band 3 and other games scheduled for release. I really want them to cock up a live demo of Natal, maybe Milo and Kate. That would be good.

Skanky C-host: "Hey Milo, what you up to?"
Milo: "Input error detected, please retry input"

Something along those lines. Think of that as a Pseudofail.

ANYWAY, time for sleep! A good day ahead of me as i work on my final assignments for college! Expect more news soon and maybe a couple of flashbacks to old games I've completely forgotten about. Should be a luff.

P.S Fish will be retraining soon.

Oh Noes!

I missed May D:

P.S Feed the fish!

Wooooaaaahh Woah WOAH

Stop. Almost E3 time. Let's think about this. Games convention, lots of work? Lots of work or games convention? Fuuuucccckkk.

It's going to be good, glued to my chair for 4 days staring at a screen filled with live streams from the event. I have high hopes for this year. Although Sony have let out about Killzone 3 and inFamous 2 only a few weeks before their conference, I'm sure that they will surprise us. I've seen a few rumours that it could be the PSP 2. Now I'm a fan of the PSP and still have my original 1001 (White version from Japan because i was an impatient bastard) and will hope that a next generation PSP will be packed with so many features that it won't even be portable.

The PSP Go, though I've not handled one yet, was quite a step forward, but not enough for it to feel like a new product, something actually worth showcasing. With a lack of UMD drives and the introduction of downloadable games, the PSP 2 should defiantly be able to add more such as a freaking SECOND ANALOGUE STICK. Not that I'm complaining or anything, it's just trying to play Coded Arms with the face buttons is almost impossible if it wasn't for auto-aim. I'd love to see a nice big hard drive on it as well, throw on some movies and all my tunes. Whack a camera and a phone in there and i won't need anything else on my many travels. Also with their new screen technology, I forget the name but it was so awesome, they were able to bend a screen showing video footage of GT5 round a cylinder, and roll it out again. This just screams portability. Though it would be pointless on a portable console...must think things through before i type....

I've constantly been asked by my friend my predictions on E3, though i haven't said the PSP 2 (Only just come to mind after seeing recent rumours) I really want to see the following:

• Motorstorm 3: You know that really good racing game with the most over the top physics I've ever played. From rumoured screenshots I've seen of speeding through a city, even the new locale is giving me stained pants.
• Resistance 3: OK so i traded the first one in because i really didn't like the feel of the game, felt to clunky and it was too hard! Also i didn't like the online. I didn't enjoy it. But the second one comes out and I played it. Multi player was good, Co-op and Competitive. Makes me consider buying or at least look into the third installment.
• Uncharted 3: Now this is a long shot. One of the best single player games i have EVER played. From start to finish i was hooked. Hooked to Drakes sexy arse as if were ./dumpmouthing. A third one would be a long way out considering the second only came out around 8 months ago with extremely good scores overall and achieving GOTY.

Mostly though i will be on the look out for any new MMOs to the scene. I have one on my radar called TERA and it seems like a promising prospect. I want something that has the smoothness of WoW, with the style of Aion, and the bounty of LOTRO. Too much to ask? Oh well, we shall see.

Expect to see some posts about E3, probably allot. Also i will be posting about my venture in Aion 1.9 once i have earned my wings for the hundredth time i swear. Ciao xo

Feed my god damn fish.

Microsoft, Monsters and Massive Improvments.

Been a while.

So first off, my Xbox account has been suspended. For reasons so unbelievably shocking. Remember when we had Silver and Gold? Well now it's Gold or instaban. Now I'm a poor person, and i don't have enough money to my name to play Modern Warfare online anymore, so I expect to get the usual revert to Silver protocol like i've experienced before. However, i get Gold for a whole month while being spammed with e-mails to update my credit card details for payment (You should instantly revert to Silver if you have insufficient funds). Come April, i turn on my Xbox to find i'm suspended. No longer am I enlightened by Andy and Dan, nor able to jack up my gamerscore. Disappointed face. This serious issue with Microsofts service has really shifted my position in the console war. If Microsoft expect their customers to put up with this then sorry, I love Playstation.

Even cancelling an account is a battle. The only way known is to phone Microsoft support and get it cancelled like that. Surely you'd have an option online, considering that that is where most of your settings are changed. It's just really done my head in.

In other news Monster Hunter Tri (3) is released this week on Wii! Now, to find some money to get it! I can safely say this is one of my most anticipated titles for 2010. I played the PSP versions to death, clocking in over 300 hours on both. Monster Hunter to me has always been an unstable franchise however, especially in the west. Either it's bad marketing strategies or people aren't fond of the grinding game play style. But with the release of the third one, it seems to be doing alright. I saw a magazine today with Monster Hunter all over the cover. Apparently adverts are shown in cinemas too. Capcom are really pushing for it's success over here. The console seems to be the right target audience too. I can't imagine CoD fans playing this for extended periods of time required for the real Monster Hunter Experience.

Finally, the new patch for Aion has been announced for a May release. 1.9 has really persuaded me to play it again. NCSoft have really taken on board the elements of the game that caused it's flaws. Long leveling time and little quests around the world indefinitely affected my departure from Atreia. Maybe i can finally get my characters to level 50 and own some noobs in the Abyss. Fat chance.

Looking Good

Recently I've been playing Crysis, that infamous devil that renders almost any ones PC inferior to Crytek. Although it is only the demo, i am pleasantly surprised with how this was not just a tech demo which was Far Cry. You could say it was its predecessor, being based on CryEngine 1, and Crysis yousing CryEngine 2. It makes me wonder what CryEngine 3 could have in store, and also what Crysis 2 will bring in terms of gameplay. Now i haven't played the game fully, though i hope too, so thinking ahead in plot is pointless. But gameplay i can manage.

The current function of your suit is a nice touch, with the speed, strength, default being armour. This should definitly be kept for starters because not only is it a part of the story, or lore, it's unique i feel than to any other shooter. Crytek must of really thought about how to make a good looking game have some extra depth to combat. It's showed. Stealthing behind a group of Koreans, switching to strength and punching them in the face, making a quick get away with speed. Nice and fast paced.

Keeping the game as open world as possible would be great. I was easily distracted by the palm tree pyhsics and the graphics of the water in between shooting enemies and completing objectives.

Now after seeing some screenshots of CE3, i'm very excited because not only is it easily the best looking game i will ever lay eyes on, apparanty the system specification to run it will be lower or equal to CE2. Whether this is true or not is yet to be confirmed, but i bloody hope it's true. Smooth frame rates here i come.

Blur Beta & GDC

So only 8 minutes to go before Sonys big announcment at the Games Development Conference. I'm pretty hyped for what it could be. I've read several rumours that it will be Killzone 3. If so then i've basically wet myself already. If not then i'm sure it will be fine. Just no creaminess involved. So that's my plan tonight.

On another note, i've been playing the Blur beta on the Xbox 360. I have many thoughts on the stability of this game at the moment. Will it do well? Flop? Personally i think it will flop. It just doesn't seem that in depth. Given that you only get to play on 4 tracks and reach level 15 of what?...40? (I hope i wasn't optimistic there.) in the beta, my first impression was bad.

My main nag about the game though. And in all seriousness. The driving sucks.

It feels like rubbing a brick on sandpaper when you attempt to drift around a corner. It feels like it is based on timing rather than judging distance. It feels weakly implemented to add points. If i were to suggest one way to improve it, i would say just add weapons to Burnout 3. Simple. Infact, most games that make a decent attempt at arcade racing should really look into Burnout as an idol. Its drifting mechanic is just so perfect.

Apart from that, the game seems well balanced in terms of weapons and i've only experienced the infamous 20 player race once. And it was really good. It's that sort of intesity of multiplayer which games need. But as i said i feel it will flop because of its lack of depth. I don't know, i may be wrong.

Halo: Reach Multiplayer Trailer

So i saw the new multiplayer trailer on GameSpot. I must say, it does look like a massive improvment over Halo 3. Not just graphically but in terms of gameplay. Jetpacks and a third person perspective? I'm pretty much all game now.

However, it depends purely on what else i see. If the third person is on the fly such as mods for Unreal Tournament 3, or only in fixed game modes. Then there will be very little choice for me.

New weapons look beastly and the assassinations could be a good concept. Let's hope they are implemented better than AvPs system. I may have only played the demo but i found it horrendous. I'm sure many will disagree with me but who cares, AvP in general went downhill after AvP2 on PC all those years ago (May break out my old copy for the lols and gore).

So yes, after seeing Reach's new multiplayer benchmark, i'm definitly interested in this title and looking forward to more news on it. Unfortunatly, i didn't buy ODST (sucks(!)) so no beta for me!

Oh well, bring on the Blur multiplayer beta beginning 8th March!

PSN Rage. I agree.

This man is a legend.

Oh Hai, u k?

So this is it, i've finally made my way into the world of blogging. Will it be one to remember? i sure hope so. Are we sitting comfortably? Then i will attempt to entertain you with my bad witty humour and sarcasm. Because i know, deep down, you will be thoroughly entertained. My name is Leigham (Liam to anyone else apart from me), i'm 18 and live in the middle of nowhere. I am an avid gamer. Love them, can't live without them. It's been my ambition to become a part of them since i was a child. Seriously. Going into secondary school i wanted to become nothing more than a games designer of some sorts. I'm starting University in September with that dream coming ever closer. Posts will be popping up now and again. I'll see how this goes but i'm never too optimistic about these sorts of social interactions. RAWR.