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Apr. 26th, 2008 @ 11:15 am Vadrum Meets Super Mario Bros (Drum Video)
Iamawesome
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Holy shit. This video added something to my life I never knew I needed.

A WHOLE FUCKLOAD OF AWESOME.

.:Dominitus:.
Oct. 9th, 2007 @ 06:35 pm Chickin' Bashin'
Dominitus
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Wahaha... hey [info]tahnee, have you tried bashing up the chickens in the main village in Phantom Hourglass? Keep using your batarang on 'em... bloody funny. :D This only reinforces what I already knew.

.:Dom:.
Sep. 28th, 2007 @ 04:07 pm Stuntman: Ignition
Dominitus
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Current Music: Rock This Town - Stray Cats
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Supposed to be out on either the 27th, today, or October 1st for PS3. I bounced around the CBD at lunchtime, but no one had it on the shelf.

The 360 version of Stuntman: Ignition is the first game, alledgedly, to use the Live headset as a game mechanic (others, including me, would say gimmick) instead of just for Live online chatter.

I don't think the PS3 version of the game supports this feature, and it maxes out at 1080i as opposed to 360's 1080p.

I think I'm going to skip this title for the PS3 and buy it on the 360... when I own one. The reasons for owning one keep piling up though, so... maybe post-Christmas or something.

.:Dominitus:.
Sep. 12th, 2007 @ 06:45 pm I am not famous on teh internets
Sin - Trigun
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But I got a submission posted up on Kotaku for the very first time today, regarding the upcoming firmware release for PS3 and PSPs. It's not much, but it leaves a warm feeling in my stomach! ^_^



... of course, that could also be the wine. Hmm. Either way! :D

.:Dominitus:.
Sep. 9th, 2007 @ 10:05 am Madness?
Dominitus
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I'm playing Phoenix Wright 3, and this is the joke I just got hit with:

Maya: "Umm, would you mind taking a look at this?"
Basil: "I'm sorry. That data is SuPer-Admin Restricted Desktop Access password-protected."
Maya: "SuPer-Admin Restricted Desktop Access password-protected!? What!? This is madness!"
Phoenix: "No, Maya, that is SPARDA."

I laughed and groaned, all at the same time. :)

.:Dominitus:.
Aug. 19th, 2007 @ 11:04 pm PS3: Overview so far.
Dominitus
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Current Music: Motorstorm
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Right, so I suppose it's about time for the update regarding the PS3. Forgive the randomness, I'm just gonna talk about stuff as it comes to me.

Thankfully, I'm struggling to find bad points about the machine. At the moment, there is a lack of above-average games. There are five that interest me in some way, and I already own two of them: Resistance: Fall of Man, and Motorstorm. The other three are Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Ridge Racer 7 and The Darkness. Racing games come low on my list of wants, so although Ridge Racer 7 would be a worthy purchase, I won't be owning for quite some time (if ever). Ninja Gaiden Sigma, while really fun, is a re-hashed version of an Xbox game and doesn't sport next-gen graphics, so it's not really worth the current price tag. The Darkness would be the only game I'd buy right now, but it still has its drawbacks - I don't like the time/ammo wasting of having to bust all the lights, and I find the controls a little awkward. But it looks and plays great aside from that, so if there were no promising titles once I'd finished with Resistance, it'd be the one I'd go for. But I have friends who have it on their Xbox 360... so I might not have to buy it to play it.

Integration of online gaming and the Playstation Store for free is a massive bonus. There's already a fairly extensive number of videos, music clips, game demos and addons to download, and enough free content to keep me satisfied. I played Resistance online already, and it was just smooth and flawless... plenty of servers and players, excellent pings... so I'm extremely happy about that.

Limited web browsing is also welcome and handy although it isn't foolproof - I can't access yahoo mail, but it's the only site I've had a problem with so far. Also you can only open 6 browser windows for some reason.

Can also plug my USB mouse and keyboard in if needs be - good for online chatting (although I haven't tried that aspect of it). It also recognises all the USB devices I've used so far, but to be fair that's not many. It gives every indication of reading most any USB key/storage device, though.

Charging the wireless controller is easy - just plug it in via USB and it begins to charge. You can use it whilst it charges. It doesn't seem to take a long time to charge either, but it lasts for 2 or 3 days' worth of playtime. Unplug when it's done and the wireless kicks in. No fuss.

It's whisper quiet, and looks nice, sleek and sexy. Black with silver trimmings, just like all my other electrical appliances. ;)

Haven't had a chance to play any Blu-Ray movies on it yet, but I plan on picking up a couple this week.

I've been playing a lot of Resistance. Initially I thought it wasn't a Gears of War killer, and chalked it up as below that. But it's been deceptively entertaining - the more you get in to it, the better the game becomes. So I've decided that in a lot of ways it doesn't match Gears, but it's still an excellent game in its own right. I'll be interested to try out the co-op option at some point. The multiplayer is top-notch, and I'm looking forward to playing a lot of it.

Motorstorm really looks fantastic! It has a great soundtrack, and good racing, so I'm glad to own it. Up until tonight, I had been unable to connect to the Motorstorm online server to play online. Tonight I managed to get through, but I need to download a game update, thus I'm here typing this while that runs in the background. I'll give online play a bash before I head to bed.

There's some good titles coming out in two to three months, as well as the release of the Home online network, and a massive Battlefield 2-like game called Warhawk, which I believe is free with the Home update. So I'm really looking forward to that, as well as some new games.

All in all, I'm happy with my purchase. I'm happy with the deal I got, and I'm happy with where the console seems to be heading. I won't deny that I wish I could be playing Gears with my mates - all who seem to own 360s - but you can't have everything! And as [info]nsanity_au pointed out, we can console-swap now, to maximise our game time on all the decent titles. w00 w00!

Back to gaming before bed. :)

.:Dominitus:.
Aug. 14th, 2007 @ 06:38 pm You decide!
Dominitus
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Vying for the title of both "most stupid" and "most awesome" things I have ever done, ever, hot on the heels of my purchase of $500 5.1 speakers and a $1,000 hi-def monitor/TV...

I bought a PS3 today.

And now I'm off to set it up... giddy with excitement and anticipation...

.:Dominitus:.
Aug. 1st, 2007 @ 05:16 pm If you like Guitar Hero...
Dominitus
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...and you haven't read this thread over at scorehero.com, go read it.

In other news, I think I now want a modded PS2 solely to try out custom songs, and the making of. *drools at the idea of playing Tool, NiN and APC songs...*

That is all.

.:Dominitus:.
Jul. 26th, 2007 @ 12:25 pm MGS4:GOTP and MGSO video/article
Dominitus
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Current Music: Woman - Wolfmother
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Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots gameplay video, and by far the most impressive one I have ever seen:

http://www.jeuxvideo.tv/metal-gear-solid-4-guns-of-the-patriots-video-40810.html

My new reason for wanting a PS3. Apparently Metal Gear Solid Online runs on a similar, if not the same engine. Yet another reason.

If you're a fan of MGS, or of game engine/tech videos, watch that first link.

.:Dominitus:.
Jul. 13th, 2007 @ 10:56 am Accidentally Rez
Dominitus
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Oh, I forgot to mention I accidentally won an auction on eBay (accidentally for eBayers is when you put in the first, minimum bid and then forget about it, because you assume people will try to outbid you) for a copy of the PS2 game 'Rez'. It's a promo copy, so it doesn't have the proper disc artwork and it doesn't come with a manual, but other than that it's the full game. It cost me $44 AUD all up, and it normally goes for $80 - $100 (before postage) on eBay, because it's a 'rare' game.

Rez makes it on to a few 'top PS2 games' lists, and ever since I first read about it I thought it would be an interesting game to play. So... yay. Another cool game to add to the PS2 pile. ^_^

.:Dominitus:.
Jul. 13th, 2007 @ 09:11 am Is that a 24" in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?
Dominitus
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Current Music: 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2) - Tool
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Took the monitor home on public transport, carried it two blocks home. My arms are really, seriously killing me today... but here I am sitting in front of 24" loveliness, and I decree it worthy of some pain.

Getting rid of the two CRTs gave me a lot of room - putting the PC under the desk as I've been planning to has given me even more space. I vacuumed up all the dust and cleaned up a bit, then set up the new monitor. It's pretty sweet. Colours aren't spot on, but I'm running the PC via analogue and I can make adjustments. I'll run the Mac via DVI for editing purposes, so colours will be accurate by default. And I'm still getting used to the native brightness of the panel itself. But it's great.

Played the obligatory game of Quake 3, which of course kinda looks like ass in a huge resolution that's not native to the monitor (I think the highest Q3 will do is 1600x1200), so I threw on Half-Life Episode 1 at 1920x1200, 4xAA and 16xAS, and that was pretty cool. The colour shift was bugging me for a bit, but as I said I'll adjust it later. Also checked out some xvids, both from DVD and HDTV sources - I really love the way the HDTV stuff looks. Full-screen and not terribly compressed, it's really nice.

The monitor acts as a USB hub as well, so I'm wondering whether instead of a KVM I could get a USB hub and plug the keyboard and mouse in to the monitor, and the monitor in to a hub, and the hub in to the PC and the Mac? Don't know about the compatibility of all that, nor whether I can feed a hub in to two machines, but if I can't find another solution it looks like I'll be shelling out ~$250 for a KVM.

Still undecided on sound... 5.1 would be lovely, but I don't *really* need it, plus I'd like the ability to play sound from two sources at once, and I can get that from a pair of monitors for about $80. So yeah, undecided.

Anyhow, as usual I'm late for work, so I'd best get moving.

.:Dominitus:.
Jul. 11th, 2007 @ 01:08 pm God of War 3
Dominitus
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Current Music: God of War 2 music in my head
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If Sony wanted to shift a billion more PS3s, all they'd need to do is throw some money towards God of War 3.

Seriously. If it came out right after E3, I would practically be forced to purcahse a PS3 just for that one game.
Jun. 10th, 2007 @ 03:56 pm Placation Through Extreme Violence
Dominitus
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Current Music: The epic score of God of War
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"I'd be blaming EB for your troubles, not the PS2. Either way, god of war 2 will kinda belay your rage for most of the day. I mean... All of it." - [info]nsanity_au

Quoted for truth. Only, God of War 1, not 2.

Definitely one of the best, most entertaining, engaging, cinematic and above all FUN games I have ever, ever played. And God of War 2 is even better.

Ah, the good old days of blisters on my thumbs and aching hands and wrists...

I welcome them.

.:Dominitus:.
Jun. 10th, 2007 @ 12:24 pm The great PS2 debacle of 2007
Dominitus
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I need to vent, but I'll try to keep this one short. Short in relation to the way I normally post. ;)

[info]nsanity_au alerted me to the fact that Electronics Boutique were having a special on pre-owned PS2s. At only $109 AUD, it was too good to pass up, especially as they were giving a 12 month warranty.

So I managed to nab the last one from the closest EB on my way home from work, as well as three games that I want to play - Canis Canum Edit (more commonly known as Bully) and God of War 2, both brand new and half-price. I also picked up a used memory card and a pre-owned copy of God of War. The whole kit set me back $255, and I was quite happy with that.

Fast forward to this long weekend. All I wanted to do was play God of War all weekend, but it turns out the console's drive is stuffed. It won't read the disc, nor will it read GoW2, so I know it's not the pre-owned disc that's at fault. Bully, ironically, runs fine - I wanted to hold off on playing it, but since it's all I had I've been playing it non-stop (and it's brilliant, by the way, but that's off topic).

I called EB and told them of my predicament. They said they didn't have any more pre-owned PS2s, and neither did the Elizabeth Street store. So I could either wait for another one to come in, or I could pay the difference and get a brand new console.

Now, even though I agreed to pay the difference, I was pretty pissed off - moreso when they wouldn't even offer me an iota of a discount or anything for my trouble. I mean, what it felt like is that I'd been suckered in by the promise of a cheap PS2, shafted when I found out it was faulty, and then forced to buy a new one because who knows when another pre-owned would be handed in, and who knows if it won't have the same problem? If I had've waited, I could've got the same deal or better off eBay or the like. Hell, even a pawn shop. And they probably would've given me a similar warranty.

To make matters worse, the girl who served me both times - when I bought the original console and now today the new one - really acted like a complete and utter bitch. Now, I've worked in customer service. I'm an easy guy to please. Even if you say that you are REALLY sorry but that your hands are tied and you really can't offer me anything at all, I'll be likely to say sure, no problem - I know it's not your fault, you're just doing what you're told and covering your ass. Hell, even if you're lying to my face - but lying to my face POLITELY - I'll be likely to be agreeable.

But to turn your nose up at me like I'm some second-class citizen because YOU have fucked up and all I want is a good deal and some recompense for my troubles? Fuck you. You're the reason I try not to shop at EB; you desk monkeys who know nothing about gaming, but at least SHOULD know something about customer service - and you can't even do THAT right. It was all I could do to force the word "Ta" out of my mouth through my clenched teeth when she handed me the console, all "ta-dah!" like.

So the way I'm feeling right now is mixed. On the one hand I'm happy to have a PS2, and I don't mind spending my money on the console and the games, because heaven knows I've bypassed spending a lot of money on software in my life. I have no qualms about doing some legit spending. But on the other, I feel like I can't really enjoy my purchase, because I can't help but feel I got screwed in the deal. I ENJOY shopping around, squeezing the best deal - it makes the eventual purchase, something I've waited a long time for, all the sweeter. But not this time. This time I feel like I got a dick in my ass - which ironically enough is exactly what I feel that girl behind the EB counter hasn't had enough of.

Gonna go fuck some shit up in GoW - nothing like venting my anger on the very machine I'm angry about.

.:Dominitus:.
Apr. 18th, 2007 @ 02:08 pm My new toy...
Dominitus
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Current Mood: satisfied
Current Music: God Given - Nine Inch Nails
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I just bought a white Nintendo DS Lite from Electronics Boutique. $189, came with a choice of four free games. I took Sims 2 because it was the best of the lot according to metacritics and other reviews. (That's right Rose... now I can play Sims 2 where-ever I go. It's like your dream come true, only it's happening to me. :))

Also put an order in for an R4 modchip and will soon start shopping around for a 2gb microsd card with which to complement it. I shall soon be an unstoppable DS-playing machine.

.:Dominitus:.
Apr. 4th, 2007 @ 02:29 pm Crysis and Cry Engine 2
Dominitus
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If you're at all in to gaming, particularly FPS's (First Person Shooters), you've probably heard about "Crysis". If you haven't, it's Crytek's new game coming out hopefully in the not-too-distant future. Crytek made "Far Cry" which was an unexpected hit for various reasons. This time around, many people already predict that Crysis will be a massive hit, if not for its game-play then, as was the case with Far Cry, the technological breakthroughs of their engine, the brand new Cry Engine 2.

If you'd like to view some of those technological breakthroughs, I suggest you hit up the Crysis Media Page on Gamespot, and check out the newest video, "Crysis Official Trailer 5", added March 30th, 2007.

If you're not a big gaming geek then it might not have as much impact on you, but I was literally stunned at some of what they've been able to achieve with this engine. The potential is absolutely massive, the immersion levels are unprecedented.

The older trailers, which show more gameplay footage, were good, but didn't convince me that Crysis would be worth spending money upgrading my computer just to play. This technological video, however, is really making me think twice. And with Bioshock just around the corner... my hand may be forced.

In any case... go watch that video. It's crazy.

.:Dominitus:.
Dec. 13th, 2006 @ 01:59 pm Travian
Dominitus
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It's about time I posted about Travian.

Travian is this funky little web game that I've been playing for a few days now. You have to build up your village, get the supplies flowing in, build buildings, build armies and go and conquer or raid other player's villages.

It starts off fairly slow, as you have to get resources flowing in steadily, and this takes a few days. I haven't even finished it to my satisfaction yet. Resources (timber, clay, iron and food) flow in at a rate per hour, and each upgrade and building requires a certain amount of resources. If you take the time to build them up in the beginning, it should make the rest of your planned upgrades and game-play easier and quicker. At least, I hope - since I'm still building up my resource flow.

Every building and upgrade also consumes a certain amount of your crop, and the game won't let you get in to a position where you're consuming more crop than you're making. So building up your crop resource at the start of the game is extra important.

Once you gain a higher level, you're able to join and create alliances between players. That's ultimately what I'm hoping to do with my circle of friends, if they end up playing and liking the game - starting a little alliance with them.

I'm not sure whether you need to be the same race to ally, but either way - I'm playing as the Gauls on Server 2. If any of you join the game, let me know what your user-name is. Once I've built my own resources up, I'll start an alliance that everyone can join.

Have fun!

.:Dominitus:.