I have to say this – Robert Ludlum’s Bourne Trilogy is way up there on the list of my favorite reads. (Yeah, I like reading.) When they came out with the movie, I was quite skeptical. You know how those movies based on books usually end up butchering the original work. I was not far from wrong but then they didn’t turn out too bad either. I still prefer the books.

Then came the video game based on the movies. Apprehension made itself felt once again. We all know how disappointing a lot of video games based on movies are. I don’t even want to get started on this. Still, I downloaded the demo from the PlayStation Store.

Lo and behold, was I in for a surprise! The game was actually fun and challenging – at least the demo. It took me several tries before I was able to complete the first mission. The game play is seen from a third person perspective and the graphics are impressive. What I particularly like about the game are the moves that you can do as Jason Bourne.

The downside? Well, it is not really a downside but I do not think that this game is for kids at all. My little cousins – aged 8 and 12 – tried playing the demo but got tired real quickly because they found it too difficult. It is just perfect for older teens and adults, though.

Photo courtesy of nickstone333

Ever since the talk about Sony releasing PSN cards came out, PS3 fanboys have been waiting for the time that they could actually get their hands on one. Well, it seems that the time has arrived! According to Kotaku, someone has spotted price stickers for the PSN cards in a local US store:

Reader Josh was doing a spot of shopping in his local Meijer the other day and came across a couple of price stickers - for the long-awaited PlayStation Network pre-paid card - sitting in the aisle of the gaming section. No cards, just the stickers. The one pictured is for a $20 card, while Josh says there was also a sticker up for a $50 card as well. Sony are still quiet on a precise release date for these, but with this information heading out to retailers they hopefully won’t be too far away.

When I first read other blogs and news reports on the PSN card, I thought that someone had actually gotten his hands on one. Apparently, news becomes a bit different unless you go back to the original source. Anyhow, price stickers must mean that the product will be on the shelves pretty soon, right?

For those who are unsure as to what the implications of the PSN card are, it is basically a cash card which you can use to purchase downloads from the PlayStation store. This is perfect for those who do not have credit cards – yes, not everyone has one – and for those who are in other countries and cannot use their credit cards for the store.

I can’t wait to get my hands on this game. After having finished GTA IV several times over, I need a new game to keep my gaming self busy. Hopefully, I can have my copy of MSG4 in a week’s time. Until then, I cannot say anything about it out of personal experience BUT there are a lot of things being said about the latest in this franchise. I particularly liked the article written by Joe Juba of the Game Informer Magazine. He writes:

After years of playing “Metal Gear” games, I thought I knew the drill: Infiltrate the base, rescue someone, destroy “Metal Gear” and fight the last boss. This time-tested approach has won the hearts of gamers and earned “Metal Gear Solid” a spot on the industry’s short list of premier franchises.

But for a game as ambitious and groundbreaking as the new “Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots,” sticking to the formula simply isn’t good enough.

As the crowning achievement of the series’ 20-year history, Hideo Kojima’s final “Metal Gear Solid” title might not be what you expect, but it is everything you could hope for in a video game.

Is that good or bad? If you continue reading his article, you’d find that is GOOD:

This series has always showcased amazing depth, but “MGS4″ accommodates a breed of player choices unlike anything I have ever seen, providing you with the tools to overcome obstacles in any way you choose. Many titles claim to have this feature, but its implementation in “MGS4″ is truly remarkable. There is no longer just “stealth” or “not stealth” — you devise your own solutions.

Now that’s what I am talking about. I can just imagine wracking my brains while playing this game. Anyone out there who has played MSG4? Your thoughts?

I went on a vacation a couple of weeks ago and though I was very excited about the prospect of being at the beach for a week, I was having mixed feelings at the same time. This was due to the fact that I had just received my copy of GTA IV a couple of days before we were set to leave for the beach. I did have a chance to play – believe me, I took every chance I could get – but that was not enough to whet my appetite. I was mulling over the possibilities and came up with three:

-Postpone the trip.
-Take my PS3 with me.
-Forget about gaming for a while.

The second option was very very tempting. Until I realized that I had to take a ferry boat to the island and I didn’t really want to risk damaging the console. So option 3 it had to be.

It was not that bad, really. During the first day, I would think about gaming every now and then and wish fervently that I was at home in front of the TV. Those moments became rarer and rarer until they were totally gone by the 3rd day. However, when the 5th day came around, I was itching to play so badly I just couldn’t wait for the ferry boat to arrive.

So I guess that’s my figure – 5 days without gaming. I survived – and no scars to show for it. How about you, how long can you go without gaming?

Sony is coming out with a new game for the PS3 but it is quite unlike the run of the mill games that PS3 fan boys have come to expect. Dubbed Shiki-tei, this new PS3 game seems to be nothing more than having a garden on your PS3. Don’t get me wrong – I have nothing against gardening. In fact, I have tried my hand at it for more times than I can count. The problem is that plants – and anything remotely resembling a plant – do not seem to like me. If there is such a thing as a black thumb, or a brown thumb, then I have one!

The basic idea of the game is to create your own garden. You plan flowers, trees, and other shrubbery. You can also set stones and other ornaments that you would like to be present in your garden. Then you watch it grow. You can even set your own music – anything that you have in your PS3 – to play as you watch your creation bloom. That should make for a relaxing time, I think.

Anyway, this new video game is set for release only in Japan. The chances are that the rest of the world is not going to get their hands on this PS3 game but then again, since when has that stopped anyone from getting anything they wanted? I suppose the question is whether or not Shiki-tei will be fun enough to entice the countless PS3 fan boys all around the world.

We had two boys aged 7 and 12 – I never knew how creative you had to be in order to keep little boys occupied for 2 days! Anyway, it was kind of a good thing that we have several toys – gaming consoles and computers, that is – that the boys loved.

There were moments of uncertainty for me, however. I had not finished GTA IV then (yes, I have finished it now – I finished it yesterday, to be exact!) and really wanted to play. I tried to avoid it but just couldn’t. So it was not really surprising that after watching me play for a while, the boys were clamoring to be able to play.

GTA IV for kids? I don’t think so! It is not only about the violence and sexually explicit content, really. Following the dialogue and completing the missions are quite complicated activities in themselves. But I gave in – ok, boys, each of you can play for 30 minutes and then go back to the GameBoy or the PC.

Boy, did they have fun! At first they had difficulty controlling the cars. After a while, they were able to do a decent job out of it. Of course, they didn’t really follow the storyline. All they wanted to do was to drive around, get nice cars, and shoot people.

So should kids play GTA? I think that it’s not all that bad. You just have to explain to them the difference between reality and the game. And I really didn’t even have to explain that much – they themselves stated the difference. The only thing I am slightly worried about is that they might become desensitized to violence.

It’s been out for a week now and what are people saying about the latest installment in the GTA series? I seriously have not heard anything bad. Well, there is the fact that the game freezes for some PS3 units and for the Xbox but Rockstar was able to release a patch within days of the first reports. It hasn’t happened to me yet – and I am crossing my fingers that it never will, but in case it does, I am glad that the patch is available.

As for the game play – I have nothing to complain about really, at least for now. It is everything that I have been expecting. I think I am about at 20 something per cent of the game and I have been having all sorts of fun. No doubt that it is quite harder than the old GTA installments. Driving a car or a bike is not that easy – controlling that helicopter with the movements of the controller is worse – but it is all part of the challenge!

No more to say about that for now – GTA IV rocks!

Something on the lighter side – have you read Jeremy’s post on how his wife ruined GTA? It is quite hilarious, really. He writes about his wife tried her hand at it and obeyed ALL the laws! You should read it for yourself.

I downloaded a new demo from the PlayStation Store last weekend and got a few surprises. Talk about Echo Chrome has been circulating for quite some time now but it was not until I tried it for myself that I was able to appreciate the game. Echo Chrome is so simple when it comes to graphics. It is like comparing a child’s art doodles to a masterpiece by Picasso.

Yet it delivers a different kind of gaming experience. Imagine black and white drawings (simplistic drawings – lines and curves) in 3D. That’s it! The beauty of the game lies in the 5 different laws that apply to the world of Echo Chrome. At the beginning of the demo, you are introduced to the 5 different perspectives – I forgot what they all are (too lazy to turn the PS 3 on as I write). You have to remember these perspectives in order to succeed at the game, though.

The challenge is in you, the player, being able to manipulate the environment so as to utilize the different perspectives and guide your character through the pathways in the game. The game seems easy and simple enough – until you actually try it. I think the graphics and the simplistic explanation of the perspectives are cunningly deceptive. They give you this false sense of belief that everything is easy. Trust me, it is not – and that is the fun of it!

The game will be released for the PS3 and the PSP.

We’ve always known that GTA IV would create a lot of noise and the nearer the release date is, the louder the noise will get. I know I shouldn’t have been surprised when I read several blogs announcing a pirated version GTA IV being released. Kotaku excitedly announces:

At around 11:50am Greenwich Mean Time, the PAL version of Grand Theft Auto IV for the Xbox 360 was ripped and leaked to various torrent sites by a ground called iCON. This would of course enable burning a copy for the home console. Meanwhile, the NTSC version is expected within the next 48 hours. YouTube clips have been popping up online of the game’s opening and early missions — but as of posting, many of the clips have been taken down. The retail release is a mere six days away. This isn’t the first GTA game leaked as San Andreas was as well. And it was leaked a week before, too.
We haven’t verified whether the 6.32 GB file really is the full game, but there are plenty of listings on torrent sites now and we contacted Rockstar for comment.

Can’t wait to see what Rockstar will say – not that I can make any use of the version as I don’t have an Xbox 360.

Another piece of news to make waves comes from Amazon, which just released the revealed the soundtrack for the game. News For Gamers lists the tunes down:

Soviet Connection (Theme from GTA IV) by Michael Hunter
Dirty New Yorker by Mobb Deep (feat. Havoc & Prodigy)
No Sex for Ben by The Rapture
No Fraid A by Munga
Where’s My Money by Busta Rhymes
I Want You by C.J.
Rocky Mountain Way by Joe Walsh
Stand Up Jamrock by Bob Marley & The Wailers and Damian Marley
Liberty City: The Invasion by Seryoga
Vagabond by Greenskeepers
On a Journey by Electrik Funk
Nickname by Qadir
Holy Thursday by David Axelrod
War is Necessary by Nas
Zombie by Fela Kuti
5:23 (Maiden Voyage) by Global Communication

A few more days to go…

Only a few more weeks and GTA IV will finally be out! I am sure that countless gamers all over the world are impatiently waiting for the day that they can get their hands on the first copies of the latest in one of the greatest game franchises in the history of video gaming.

Well, here is something more to whet GTA enthusiasts’ appetites – the GTA Social Club. What is this all about? It is basically an online home to anyone who plays GTA. Here’s more information from Gaming Bits:

Grand Theft Auto IV has gone gold for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 . Take-Two CEO’s Ben Feder said GTA IV is “in production and in trucks en route to retailers” during Take-Two’s shareholders’ meeting. We’ll see how tightly retailers can keep the game under wraps. I wouldn’t be surprised that random leaks and early eBay auctions surface.

In addition to GTA IV going gold, the Rockstar Games Social Club has launched and is now taking early registrations. There’s a nice giveaway sweepstakes contest if you register before GTA IV’s release.

From the Social Club: “The Rockstar Games Social Club is now open for pre-registration. This is a members-only destination for leaderboards, statistics, tournaments, ongoing special competitions, virtual events and more for Rockstar titles beginning with the launch of Grand Theft Auto IV on April 29th. Register your membership now to set up your profile and ensure that you will be able to check your stats and participate on day one of game release.”

Register on the Social Club website before the release of GTA IV (4/29/08) and you’ll be entered for a chance to have your portrait illustrated by Rockstar Games in “Grand Theft Auto style.” One Grand Prize Winner will be selected.

I scrambled to pre-register in the hopes that I would be one of the first to do so. Unfortunately, I was way up in the 20 something thousand…still, I have the chance to get my portrait drawn!