PS2 Not Dead Yet

Though with the PS3’s is release right around the $600 corner they have yet to leave PS2 in the dust. With one giant already out there and two more to come the PS2 is yet to be obsolete, though probably never will be. First off a game that is part of one of my most favorite franchise, .hack//G.U. Vol1//Rebirth, G.U. standing for grow up . I have long waited for this game to grace me with its presence, but now I must wait longer for I will be saving for the Wii (though receiving it as a birthday gift would be nice *hint hint*). Well the game will be released on October 24, so for those who plan on getting it, start pre-ordering soon. This is first game of a three part series that launches .hack Conglomerate. Each game of this series is supposedly as long as the previous four part .hack series for the PS2, yes the whole series. This means plenty of game play, possibly replay value as well. Well this game takes place in a game called The World R:2, the successor the ‘The World’ which was destroyed in a fire at CC corp. Guilds has become very large part of the game, but so has Player Killers, or referred to as PK in the game. You take the role of a PKK, or Player Killer Killer, named Haseo, or better known in The World R:2 as “Terror of Death”. Haseo roams The World R:2 searching for Tri-Edge, a mysterious character that greatly resembles Kite, who caused Shino, a friend of Haseo's, to fall into a coma. Next up we have a game that seemed to slip under my radar and was released before I knew it, Ōkami. Ōkami was released on September 19. The title is a pun which can mean great wolf deity because the ōkami (狼) in Japanese means wolf, but the title is written Kanji as 大神, which is also pronounced ōkami, and means fierce deity, thus making the title fierce wolf deity. Just some useless information for you. Years before the game takes place, in a village, by the name of Kamikimura, a festival is being held where a sacrifice must be given to Orochi, an eight headed dragon. Shiranui, a white wolf, comes to villages as a judge to pick which girl should be sacrificed. He chooses the wife of Izanagi as punishment for his constant attempts at driving the wolf away. Izanagi goes to Orochi’s lair to defeat the beast but is nearly killed before being saved Shiranui. Unable to defeat Orochi, Shiranui summons a sword from the sky that Izanagi uses to slay Orochi. After the battle, Shiranui soon dies from poison. The sword was offered to “The Shrine of 16 Nights.” Years later the shrine is disturbed causing, the thought to be defeated, Orochi to be unleashed. Sakuya, a guardian of the village, quickly goes to the shrine dedicated to Shiranui and brings it to life as Amaterasu the Ōkami. The game features beautiful CG art resembling traditional Japanese paintings and the story is played greatly off of Japanese mythology. Okami has been given multiple high ratings making it a must have for any fan of the Playstation. Last and sure as hell not least, Final Fantasy XII. This marvel of a game is to be released October 31, which has also been dubbed Final Fantasy XII Gamer’s Day in New York. This game is also one of only six to receive a perfect score of 40/40 from the Japanese video game magazine, Famitsu. Hmm… possibly a good birthday gift *cough*. Like all the other Final Fantasy titles the battles will still be menu based combat, but also a new form of battle system called active dimension battle. The battles are done in real time. A player can control up to three characters at a time. Also this game has an interesting chain bonus system. In other words the more you defeat the same type of monster in a row, the higher chance of gaining improved items, or simply just more items. Unfortunately money can not be acquired by simply killing an enemy, but instead is earned by doing tasks or selling treasure. Final Fantasy XII takes place in the small city-state of Dalmasca which is placed in the same world as Final Fantasy Tactics and Tactics Advanced, Ivalice. Dalmasca is soon set to the status of a state under Archadia rule, Archadia being a neighboring kingdom which conquered Dalmasca. You play Vaan, a member of the Dalmascan resistance movement who lives in Rabanastre, the capital of Dalmasca. Vaan participated in an attack on the royal castle, occupied by Archadian troops, with the Dalmascan resistance movement which brings him face to with Ashe, the former princess of Dalmasca and the lead of the resistance faction. The game also features Archadian Judge Masters, which are leaders of the Judges in Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. They are the supreme enforcers of Archadian Law. Nobuo Uematsu lends a hand to the games score and contributes a new composition to the game called “Kiss Me Good-Bye.” Keep an eye out for the release of this game along with .hack//G.U. Vol1//Rebirth and be sure to pick up Ōkami as well.

No Jackson in This One

Once again we’ve got a lot of deadly snakes on a high speed mode of transportation, but this time its on a… TRAIN! What I don’t understand is why the train can’t simply be stopped? I guess I must watch the movie to find out. I came across this gem of an idea known as Snakes on a Train, at my local Blockbuster while searching for movies. In fear of wasting my time I decided to do some research on this movie first. Apparently this movie got its idea from “Snakes on a Plane”, obviously, but came out August, 15, 2006, three days before the premiere of Snakes on a Plane. Unlike its more famous counterpart Snakes on a Train has more mysticism to it. A woman has been put under a Mayan curse, which cause of snakes to hatch inside of here then they eat their way out. In order to release herself from the curse she must go to L.A. and get the curse lifted by a powerful Mayan shaman. To get there she takes a train, obviously, from Mexico, but while on the train situations go array and as the tagline says 3,000 snakes are released upon 100 passengers. I may have to check this out.

Still Waiting

Since the release dates of the Wii were announced, gamers around the world frantically flocked to their nearest source of media and begged for answers on pre-orders dates. Unfortunately, no one could answer. Rumors quickly flourished over the whereabouts of areas that housed pre-orders. Forums were poisoned by lies of pre-ordering. After days of searching I have yet to find a location that offers pre-orders for the Wii. After calling every place of retail, within reasonable distance, I could think of, I sadly received the same answers, “No I’m sorry but pre-order will not be given until we know how many units we will receive.” Only one store answered differently, Game Crazy, simply stating that they will not be taking pre-orders, at all. This saddened me, for this was the place I went to pre-order my copy of Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, then almost a year later changed my version to the Wii from Gamecube. Well there are other stores. Ctrl+C has been harshly used as I entered my E-mail address into every website that offered words of wisdom upon this subject. Alas through all my searching the answers still have yet to be found, so now I ask you, “When will Wii pre-orders be available?”

New Twilight Princess Footage

Marvel as Link jumps from tree to tree in wolf form, fly through the air, see figures from another realm, parry an Iron Knuckle, open treasure chest, use new items, and battle on horse in the latest footage for Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

New Player

As you can see, or maybe not, a new team member has been added to Victor FTW. Our new friend, Kevin, or as I call him Red (As you can obviously see why by the picture). Every one a round of a applause for Kevin. I'm not for welcoming speeches so uh... Welcome. Hopefully he will add a sort of range in content instead of always having to read the same stuff by the same person. Well I guess we will see. Till then, later. (Hmm.... I think I need a witty sign off or something.)

Phenomenon

One dollar in quarters, less than half an hour, one of history's greatest games, and an audience of four; all perfect ingredients to making a night. Oh and a side of a near death experience. Due to our town's lack of a video arcade, a visit to the local pizzeria was needed to enjoy one of the greatest games known to man, Galaga. After filling my hunger with an entire pizza I saw it fit that I enjoyed myself by playing said game. First things first, I had to find two quarters to feed the machines needs. I quickly ruined a "moment" my friend was having with his new found girlfriend and asked if he could spare some change. He agreed to give me the money if only I agreed to let him watch. Quarters in, 1 player selected, and the Galaga theme rang. I started off fine, not losing my first life till stage 6, but when I did another soon fell. After around Stage 9 I began to gain a crowd... of two more people from the high school's band. They complimented me and occasionally gave me comments about there Galaga experiences. Unfortunately I didn't give a damn. I was too busy playing. Stage 11 and all my lives have gone. I frantically searched my pockets for change, praying for a miracle. This night the Gods (and Goddesses) of gaming smiled up me and granted my wish. As I repeatedly hit the 1 player to keep the counter on 2 seconds, I raped the coin slots with my coins and threw aside a penny yelling, "Screw pennies." I continued my adventure and soon surpassed Stage 18, being the highest stage I've gotten on with only one dollar. Though I fell soon enough to the speed of my enemies on stage 21. I was offered 2 more quarters by one of my audience members, but refused stating, "No, stage 21. That is how I shall leave it." I'm sure someone enjoyed putting in profanity into the high score list, as I forgot to proudly put in my name. I understand that others have faired far better than me in this game, but this is not a story of boasting this is a story that had to be told. As for my near death experience, the very same friend who had originally lent me his change nearly got us killed in the parking lot. He exclaimed upon start his car, "I could die now I'm so happy. A car could come and hit us and I wouldn't care." As he spoke he began to pull out of his spot and out of no where a truck going 30 in this parking lot appeared out of nowhere, but stopped in time just inches from us. My friend proceeded to carry a smile on his face, as I shook in fear. In the end I made it home safely to tell the tale, which I would not have been able to do if it weren't for my lucky Galaga shirt. Praise be to the Gods and Goddesses of gaming. Amen.

Wii Launch Titles

The following is a list of alleged Wii Launch titles of 20 games. This information will be confirmed with other sources upon a later date.

• Blazing Angels: Squadrons of WWII
• Call of Duty 3
• Elebits
• Excite Truck
• Far Cry: Vengeance
• GT Pro Series
• The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
• Madden NFL 07
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
• Monster 4x4 World Circuit
• Need for Speed: Carbon
• Open Season
• Rayman Raving Rabbids
• Rapala Tournament Fishing
• Red Steel
• Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz
• Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent
• Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam
• Trauma Center: Second Opinion
• Wii Sports
• World Series of Poker

Right, Link, Right

Our beloved Hyrulian hero has abandoned his old ways, and has now reverted to a right handed stance. Of course we all knew this was coming due to the advances brought to you by the Wii. Its disheartening though to see Link grasping his sword, or using his bow to defeat enemies in sight with this new anti-southpaw form. Ah well I’m over it. Now for some real news on our valiant friend and his new adventure, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. This title will be available upon Wii launch, but for those "currency challenged" (Such as possibly myself) the Gamecube version will instead arrive in stores and on shelves December 11. For those who can't wait that long, start making some friends with money.

Wii Will Rock You

And finally our wait is over, and a new one begins. Information has finally been released on the ever elusive Wii during a New York Nintendo Conference on September 14, 2006. First of the release date, which personally made me quite happy since after all it is my birthday, will be November 19 with a price tag of $249.99.As for the Wii itself it will come with a Wii-mote (which includes the nunchuck and strap), AC adaptor, stand for console, A/V cable, sensor bar, stand for sensor bar, and two AA batteries. The Wii will also come with a WiiSports as you can see to the left, but also over 15 titles will be available upon launch with the price of $49.99, for first party games of course. The price for the third party games is entirely up to company though Nintendo has asked to make it reasonable of course. The price for addition Wii-mote will be $39.99 and $19.99 for the nunchuck attachment. As for Wii Channels, respectively known as Virtual Console, will have three games available online at launch and thirty by the end of the year. Games on the Wii Channels can only be bought "Wii points". 2,000 Wii Point cards will be available for $20, meaning for every 100 points you have $1. For example NES games will cost 500 points, or $5, SNES games will cost 800 points ($8) and N64 games will be 1,000 points ($10). Starting January the selections of games will grow by 10 each month. Classic Controllers for easier game play will be sold separately. Lastly, one of the things I found very interesting is the Mii. Mii is an avatar you create to like you or your friends and family. Get it, Mii? Quite "Wii"tty if you ask me. Well what you can do with this Mii is after creating you can use it as sort of a character in some games such as WiiSports or Wario Ware. You can also upload the Mii into you Wii-mote and take it around to your friends house at use it there. Quite the interesting little feature. And now I'd like to leave you with a quote by Mr. Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo of America president."One price, one configuration, one color." Ouch, quite the swing at Sony and Microsoft.

For starters

I'll try to keep this updated daily. Pretty much of stuff I find interesting. For those who stumble upon this blog somehow and do not like what you see, too bad. I will mercilessly rape your eyes with images of choice, but for those in interest I will greet you with pleasant images, random news, and videos that will make you, the viewer, happy in the pants (I promise no porn). Oh and rants. Lots and lots of rants. Mostly about society. So yeah. Enjoy. Try not to leave a mess and uh... I'll be seeing you later.