Gamer's Locker

Spire's Guide to Invizimals Pt 1

2010-07-13T00:33:00.001-07:00

To be very honest, that is all that I've been playing lately (along with Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, just gotta love hunting the Yian Kut-Ku) so here's a nice guide to Invizimals, since I haven't really seen an English guide anywhere not the 'net yet. For those of you who don't know what this is, its an augmented reality game that's kinda like Pokemon or Digimon, depending on how you look at it. You're expected to scan around to capture monsters, battle them and generally have fun with friends. Anyway lets move on.

Depending on preferences on custom firmware or running on official updates from the PSN network you have two choices on what to get:

1. Choice one : Full Set

Just walk in to any Sony Centre or store that sells PSP games and you'll find the entire set, it comes with a black camera (code PSP 450) that will ONLY run on official firmware. Sorry homebrewers, but this is tried and tested.
However, if you'd want to get the game WITH a PSP there's also the option to buy the PSP set bundle with it, though the PSP inside dosen't really look much different from the regular Piano black version.

2. Choice two: With Homebrew firmware

For this, you will have to make two separate
purcha ses. One would be the Invizimals game, though most come with the camera, its possible to find one second hand that only includes the UMD, nothing more. However, since the PSP 450 black camera does not work with homebrew, you will have to go for the older PSP 300 camera, the little fat silver one.

If you're lucky enough to be in Japan or wherever else it's imported you can buy the camera on its own, but for me I had no choice but to get the Chotto Shot editing software which comes bundled with the camera. I was lucky that I could get both 2nd hand, it only came up to about 120 bucks-ish.

Stay tuned for part 2!

Shot in the (censored)

2009-11-19T00:32:00.000-08:00

Normally I don't bother just posting a random screencap but this one got me. Its from Darkest of Days, somewhere in the game's starting chapter.

Here it is:

Somehow you get shot in the leg by an arrow (it looks more like a javelin to me) though by position, I wouldn't say it shot his 'leg' per se. And somehow by sheer force of will you can bend upwards and still keep shooting those 'injuns. I LOL.

Dream Chronicles : Chosen Child

2009-10-02T01:42:00.000-07:00

Dream Chronicles 3: The Chosen Child

Picking up where The Eternal Maze left off, the Chosen Child finds Faye in yet another adventure towards rescuing her kidnapped daughter and husband. As far as hidden object games go these days, Dream Chronicles 3 is more of a point-and-click adventure rather than just a hidden object game. Granted, it’s a bit too easy for a point-and-click adventure, but as far as Player One is concerned, she’d give anything a try if it appeals.

Basically, the game revolves around you finding and picking up objects that are important to advancing the plot. Generally the most important stuff would be objects (like doorknobs and keys) to things which will help advance the storyline, but you do not need to pick up, like dream jewels and the bits o’ gold you find strewn across the landscape in abundance. Of course you can pick up every last one you find, but this will only add up to your end-game score tally, which Player One thinks is not all that important.

As far as the eye-candy goes, Dream Chronicles 3 has taken quite a step, compared to its predecessors. Animations are a lot more smooth now, dream jewels no longer stick out of the screen (but instead, blend in very well) and the general massive detailing that the series is known for, has also received an upgrade in the right direction.

Sadly, this game is barely hard to finish, taking Player One roughly 4 hours to finish the entire thing (being extremely thorough not to leave any stone unturned) while the game does encourage you to replay it for a larger end score, it also promises that the locations of items will change and so will certain objects, though Player One did notice some *tiny* changes, it barely made the game any more interesting. The puzzles didn’t change one bit, items changed locations ever so slightly. Dream jewels and gold didn’t even move at all.

As the puzzles go, they’re barely challenging. Half the time, finding the components for the puzzles is more taxing then the puzzles themselves, though we do find some of the puzzles making a comeback from the previous games, like the ever present music puzzle (which usually involves some kind of large organ-like instrument)

On a whole, if you don’t really mind the adventure being way too short or not too complicated, this game can be considered pretty decent. It’s also great for the kiddles as the game isn’t too hard, and the learning curve practically nonexistent.

(Hey where's that last image go?)

Now what we’d like to see is the entire trilogy remade into one LONG game. Then Player One would REALLY have a reason to go missing for a few days.

Machinima of the Week :Meet the Sandvich

2009-05-31T09:52:00.000-07:00

As unlikely as you think that a sammich can make a difference in war, you've got
another thing coming. Subway!

The Sims 3 Collector's Edition

2009-04-30T02:32:00.000-07:00

The Sims 3 is gonna be out soon somewhere in June, and with it will be this awesome Collector's Edition package.

The package will have :

1. The Sims 3 for PC

2. Exclusive In-Game European-Styled Sports Car

3. Tips and Hints Guide

4. The Sims 3 Plumbob Stickers

and (wait for it)

A 2 GB the Sims Plumbob USB Drive with matching Green Carabiner!!

The last option is enough to get the set in itself :P but as for us, we aren't exactly sure when it'll arrive here at our shores, but I'll be sure to put up an unboxing the moment I get mine *thumbs up*

Little Big Planet

2009-04-20T03:09:00.000-07:00

Okay, we know that platform games aren’t exactly the newest, most outrageous thing that’s happened to gaming since the ’90-somethings, but Media Molecule has managed to bring the genre back into the limelight with this ‘Sony Exclusive’ title, Little Big Planet.

You see, usually there’s nothing much that’s addictive about any game in the plat former genre, 3D or otherwise, but there’s a certain charm to the game that keeps you coming back for more over and over again.

Given the game’s rather whimsical feel, springs, massive flowers and all, you get to play this little sack-person effectively called either a Sack-Boy or a Sack-Girl, depending on your preference. Using the sack-person, you are expected to navigate through the world to collect little customizable bits and bobs that you can use on your sack-person and to decorate your ‘living space’ which is effectively a cardboard box in space. This place acts as a kind of control panel where you navigate between different levels and other user made content.

Moving on, at every level, you’re transported to one of several themed areas of each level where you continue to search for other bits and pieces of customizable stuff to stick on your sack-person or to pepper the landscape (when it comes to stickers anyway) as you go along. Here is where the beauty of the game lies. The game, simple as it may be, operates on full blown physics. Yes, you heard me, physics!

The physics make the game all the more fun, but otherwise it can get a bit annoying because the controls are rather slippery. Sure, it’s fun to watch stuff bounce around and break down, but slipping off a ledge just because you had a wee bit too much inertia isn’t exactly what we’d call fun.

But what’s really fun is watching a bunch of friends falling off said ledge because of the games multi-player mode. Since there are only certain contents that you can only get to when you have a helping hand from another sack-person, the game really encourages that you get some friends to play with you. Assuming you’re so sad that you don’t have any of said friends, you can always go online and get some there. There’s nothing more fun than watching your buddies get melted, torched, squashed and skewered just because they forgot this game had gravity.

I won’t really go into the map building for the game, but let’s just say that most of it includes some powerful customization and building tools and your sack-person’s lasso doing all the positioning.

Oh, not to forget, you can customize your sack person too. Most of the stuff you’ll get to do it is found around the game in hidden spots or places that require a little bit of help from another sack to do, but we’ve seen what stuff you can get so you can literally let your imagination go wild. Had we the screenies to show you what getups we made or sacks wear a couple of parties ago, you’d be wondering what we were smoking.

Everything considered, Little Big Planet is fun for the family and all the more. Heck, its reason enough to get a PS3! So if you do own one GO GET IT, if you don’t, maybe you have a mate somewhere who does, after all, if they want to complete the whole game, they could use a couple more sacks to do the job.

And then, here I am again.=

2009-03-29T23:39:00.001-07:00

It’s been a whopping eight months since I last posted here, which sadly is way too long for any blog to just sit around*cough* like my other one *cough* in which case I do have some new and not so new reviews sitting around on my desk (un-played as they are, unfortunately) because I got myself a job, but hey, I’m surprised that there’s 600+ site visits, despite it just sitting around like this.

Considering that I’ve managed to nick myself a 8800GTX for me PC, I can finally get the lowdown on the more demanding games, like Dragon Age Origins (when it blinking comes out) and the rest of its demanding ilk.

So, we are back on track now and expect a layout change soon, because well, putting a PS3 layout for a PC gaming site is just plain wrong....

Machinima of the Week : Meet the Sniper

2008-08-18T09:20:00.000-07:00

Trust us, you wouldn't know what hit you.
(And if you look hard enough, you might just see the joke about the Spy)

Viva Pinata : Trouble in Paradise

2008-08-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

It might be a bit of old news but Rare is planning a sequel to Viva Pinata, that is, Viva Pinata : Trouble in Paradise.

The game's premise is that Pinata Island's number one enemy, Professor Pester and his Ruffians had once more struck our island of beloved pinatas. While stealing information about the pinatas, Pester accidentally deleted all the of the data stored in the Pinata Central computer. Now all knowledge of the pinata species and which pinatas are needed for which parties has been lost and you, the player has to rebuild the database by attracting pinatas to inhavit your garden, filling them with candy and sending them off to parties around the globe.

There's quite a few changes that have been done to the overall system, but we're quite sure that the game would be as eye-candy-coated as the last one.

The game itself is due to be released in September 2008.

Gamer News: Spore Creature Creator

2008-06-23T06:34:00.000-07:00

The long awaited Spore has yet eluded us by releasing later in the year, but they have allowed us a tiny portion of fun by releasing their Spore Creature Creator. Originally we all thought it would come with Spore itself, but here it is.

The Spore Creature Creator allows you to mix and match whichever parts of your Spore creature creation you want, allowing you to have some fun while waiting for the actual game to come out (or) just to fiddle around and make some whacky insane creature if you've got nothing better to do.

Below is a link to a trial version of the Creature Creator. Have fun making your abominations!
http://www.spore.com/trial

Game Trailers : Beyond Good and Evil 2

2008-06-19T06:03:00.000-07:00

I never thought I'd see the day when they would actually make a trailer for Beyond Good and Evil 2, which promises us a sequel! Of course, when a game ends with a cliffhanger you do sort of expect that, but graphics wise it looks promising (prays it gets released for PC) so without further ado, here's the trailer.

Video from Machinima.com powered by Youtube

Site News : All Systems are Go!

2008-06-19T06:00:00.000-07:00

Hey all, the site will be up and running again soon since Player One's command centre is fully functional again!

Stay tuned for more updates!

-Player One

Site News : Breakdown

2008-06-07T00:47:00.000-07:00

I'm real happy that the site has gotten as many vies as its had in such a short time, but I'm sad to say that this site will go on hiatus temporarily.

Due to a freak electric storm, Player One's base of operations is shorted out bearing minimal electric power and at loss of communication equipment (aka the internet is fried) along with a monitor and sound equipment.

Player One has no idea when the equipments will be fixed so there won't be anything big here for awhile. Player One is truly sorry.

Signing out,
Player One

Machinima of the Week : Meet the Scout

2008-05-27T06:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, okay this isn't really a machinima of sorts, but I know most of us Machinima watchers have at least watched one of Valve's 'Meet the Cast' trailers, and I think we all find them very entertaining. This one is the lastest in the series of videos, Meet The Scout. And no, there ain't no spy sapping me sandwich this time...

Machinima of the Week Dead Fantasy 1 + 2

2008-05-21T19:30:00.000-07:00

This is a fan favorite among the gamers out there. Fantastic mash up of many popular figures in gaming (specifically Tecmo and Square-Enix) in a brawl of epic porportions! Watch it!

Thanks to blogger Aliff for pointing this out.
Read his blog here : kveats.blogspot.com

Audiosurf

2008-04-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

As far as I'm concerned, this is the best music game I've seen so far. Its like a spiritual sequel of Amplitude and Frequency mashed up with a simple Tetris-like puzzle system plus your own music.

Basically the game's objective is to reach the end of the track whilst picking up coloured blocks and avoiding grey ones. You can use music of any format (Mp3 being the favorite) from your drive or use the Orange Box soundtrack attached with the game to create a 'track' that serves as the basis of a fast-paced puzzle.

In terms of looks, I'd say it looks great. The sleek futuristic look of the whole thing just adds to the experience.

There are multiple modes available, each with their own ship to use. Each ship has their own special abilities, like Ninja Mono can destroy blocks (with shurikens, lol) and Vegas can reshuffle blocks (and hope) to get a combo.

The system requirements are relatively low, basically a 1.6 GHz processor, 512MB RAM, 32MB video card and DirectX 9. The game costs 10 bucks on Steam. Pretty cheap.

While Audiosurf isn't as nearly as flashy as games like Guitar Hero and the like, it still makes for a pretty fun (albeit slightly brainless) fast and customizable music game. I mean come on, how often do games tailor make its gameplay for you?

To top it off, we have some videos too!

Machinima of the Week : Mine

2008-04-16T09:40:00.000-07:00

This time we're looking at a Battlefield machinima by Snoken. While you probably won't get ALL of the jokes in this one, this nicely done machinima references a lot of classic jokes, especially those of the Monty Python fame. Please, do watch!

Final Fantasy Tactics A2

2008-04-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

Well, as Final Fantasy Tactics Advance was a smash hit, we see a sequel coming out: Final Fantasy Tactics A2 : Grimoire of the Rift, for the Nintendo DS.

The story is basically the same, the protagonist finds a special book, which after reading said book and writing his name in it, transforms his town into the fantasy world of Ivalice the world of Final Fantasy Tactics Advance and Final Fantasy XII . While the Japanese version is already out, the North American one will only be released in June '08.

Hopefully we'll be able to get our hands on a copy for review *cough*allnightgamingsession*cough* when the english version is released.

Read more here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_Tactics_A2:_Grimoire_of_the_Rift

Machinima of the Week - Melon man and the Melon stand

2008-04-06T09:39:00.000-07:00

This week's pick is the third installment of the Melon man and Thundermelon series by Mighty Crane Films and LitFuse Films, be prepared for the series unusual obsession with melons, humourous dialogue (with fantastic voice acting) and great effects. If you'd like to download the soundtracks, they can be bought at www.litfusefilms.com for a buck or so each.

Be sure to check out the Thundermelon and Melon man series by Lit Fuse Films!

That melon is dangerous, a force of...evil - The Melon man.

Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor

2008-04-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor is yet another casual game aimed at sharp eyed point-and-click enthusiasts with a slight twist to the norm.

While most run of the mill item searching games just have a list of items to be found in a level, a timer or maybe some riddle as to what you should be looking for, MBSM is a little different. For one, the items you have to find are usually found in pieces of four or more.

These are strewn througout the environments hidden between the clutter that is all over Spooky Manor. Each area has roughly four items that need to be reassembled and put back in their respective places in order to reveal clues left behind by Mortimer's uncle. Certain items need to be returned to their places in other levels or are needed as a catalyst to opening the puzzles to open the next level. There usually are clues regarding these important items in Mortimer's guide book, accompanied by a picture of it and a riddle describing what it could be used for.
The puzzles in general are quite simple (like feeding a hungy ghost a slice of cake) and usually uncover some hidden item piece. You can use the hint system to find these hidden pieces as well, but you have a limited number of hints on every level. Fortunately for us, if there's an item that can only be revealed by solving a puzzle, the hint system will notify you of this if you try to use it.

Then there's the restless spirits of the house. If you're the type who has no patience to search for the carefully hidden thingamajigs hidden in the house or are just the kind that likes to randomly click until you find something, you're in for some problems. If you randomly click over five clicks or so, a restless spirit will appear and float about your screen. Not only does this distract you, if the ghost gets in the way of your cursor, you cannot click that area. And this isn't just one ghost we're talking about here. For every few clicks you make, another ghost shows up and this can carry on till your whole screen is covered in the disgruntled spectres. Lucky for you, if you go to another room or wait long enough, the ghosts will settle down again and leave you to your (or their) business.

In terms of graphics, MBSM has the same standard as most games of this type.
It's not fantastic, but isn't too bad looking either. Of course the game goes for a slightly more cartoonish look compared to some other games of this genre, what with it's comic page like opening sequence.

Sad to say, this game has absolutely no replay value and was far too short for my liking. It took about two hours to breeze through the whole game. As for the replay value, the puzzles and item locations stay exactly the same even after you've beat the game before.

Overall I'd say its a pretty decent game for kids, but not so for (most) adults. But hey, it's still one of the better search games I've played so far.

Player One logging out.

Machinima of the Week - Pyro Love

2008-04-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

This week's machinima pick is sort of an emotional story of a lonely Pyro who meets and loses friendship. The coordination is great, the soundtrack fitting and it's plain heartwrenchingly good so give it a watch. Video link is down here --->