Tag Archives: Video Games

Feb 04 2008
Uncategorized

Uru Live to Discontinue in 60 Days

Cyan Worlds and Gametap have just announced that they are not going to be producing a second season, and that Uru Live will be removed from the Gametap servers in 60 days. I’m going to cancel my subscription in 60 days in protest.

Hi Everybody,

I have some news that some of you have probably not been looking forward to. GameTap has decided to discontinue the operation of Myst Online: Uru Live.

The decision was a very difficult one and was made for business reasons rather than due to any issues regarding the design and vision of the amazing world that Cyan Worlds and Rand Miller have brought to us. Despite the great Myst Online experience coming to a close, Cyan is still a very valued partner of GameTap, we are on excellent terms, and we look forward to continuing our relationship in the future.

Many of you have made good friends while playing Myst Online, so here is the bittersweet part. Although Myst Online: Uru Live will be completely shut down in the near future, the game servers will remain live for the next 60 days. During that time, both newcomers and existing players can continue to experience the amazing world of Myst Online, explore the game’s many Ages, and interact with other players in the game and on the MystOnline.com website and forums. After 60 days, the title will be removed from the GameTap service, though MystOnline.com will remain live and active for fans to continue to share their passion for this important game franchise.

I know this is not the news fans of Myst Online wanted to hear. I want to thank all of you who have been extremely supportive of the game and made this grand experiment in an alternative MMO format so much fun. All of us at GameTap also want to thank you again for your tireless enthusiasm for the title.

There has been a clamor for information about the status of season 2 for some time, and the reason we haven’t announced anything sooner is because we have literally been examining a wide variety of possibilities for maintaining the game, but in the end, we had to bring the exploration of the great cave to a close.

So thanks again for supporting us as we launched this truly unique game. GameTap is still committed to exploring new genres of gameplay and encouraging bold visions. If you haven’t already tried Season 2 of Sam & Max, give it a try, it is as anarchic as one could hope. And I can tell you from first hand experience that the upcoming Grimm is novel and exciting experiment as well.

Ricardo Sanchez
VP of Content and Creative Director for GameTap

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Dec 16 2007
1 Comment
Life in general

Lots to Write About

Gah! I need to update more x_x

Ok let’s see…Most importantly, I got an iPod Touch for Hanukkah. It’s awesome. Yes. I also got Flash CS3, here’s my current project…yees…what else? 😛 Oh yeah Got a Wii too, and Mario Galaxy. Very fun game, looks very good for the Wii. It comes very close to satisfying my somewhat snobby graphical wishlist, but falls short because of an utter lack of anti-aliasing and not being HD, so looking very stretched on my TV…Oh well, it’s still the best Wii game out there so far.

I’m rewatching Dr.Who because my girlfriend is watching it now, so I wanted to watch with her kinda…Yeah, its pretty awesome.

Last night of Hanukkah brought me a Laser Screwdriver ^^ Such a nerd….

Laser Screwdriver

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Dec 16 2007
1 Comment
Life in general

Lots to Write About

Gah! I need to update more x_x

Ok let’s see…Most importantly, I got an iPod Touch for Hanukkah. It’s awesome. Yes. I also got Flash CS3, here’s my current project…yees…what else? 😛 Oh yeah Got a Wii too, and Mario Galaxy. Very fun game, looks very good for the Wii. It comes very close to satisfying my somewhat snobby graphical wishlist, but falls short because of an utter lack of anti-aliasing and not being HD, so looking very stretched on my TV…Oh well, it’s still the best Wii game out there so far.

I’m rewatching Dr.Who because my girlfriend is watching it now, so I wanted to watch with her kinda…Yeah, its pretty awesome.

Last night of Hanukkah brought me a Laser Screwdriver ^^ Such a nerd….

Laser Screwdriver

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Dec 07 2007
1 Comment
Life in general

Assassin's Creed

So, it’s Hanukkah and stuff. Wewt. Anyway, on the first night I opened the game Assassin’s Creed for the PS3.

I had heard that it was a great game, but hadn’t bought it yet because it didn’t seem like my kind of game, exactly…But if it’s a gift, sure I’ll play it. And what do you know, it’s an awesome game. Graphically stunning, very intuitive controls, and great storyline and such.

…Yes. Good game. ^_^

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Dec 07 2007
1 Comment
Life in general

Assassin's Creed

So, it’s Hanukkah and stuff. Wewt. Anyway, on the first night I opened the game Assassin’s Creed for the PS3.

I had heard that it was a great game, but hadn’t bought it yet because it didn’t seem like my kind of game, exactly…But if it’s a gift, sure I’ll play it. And what do you know, it’s an awesome game. Graphically stunning, very intuitive controls, and great storyline and such.

…Yes. Good game. ^_^

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Nov 21 2007
Life in general

Gametap Expired!

My Gametap subscription just expired, after a year of having it. I hadn’t even been thinking of it as a subscription-based service, because I bought a whole year’s worth. Now I have to fork over $60 to keep playing…Bummer…
Uru, bugging me to re-subscribe

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Oct 14 2007
Uncategorized

Ratchet & Clank: Future Demo

The PS3 demo of Ratchet & Clank: Future came out a few days ago, and I just got around to downloading it. It is pretty amazing, with a very short load-time accompanying a very expansive, good-looking city level. You are thrust into the action almost immediately, after a brief cutscene with a bit of comedy from our heroes. Basically, they need to get to the Planetary Defense Center, but their ship breaks down, so they are forced to traverse the city on foot. Convenient.

Anyway, the gameplay ranges from annoying (it’s very easy to fall off the platforms and plummet to your death) to quirky (there’s an item named ‘The Groovitron,’ which is like a music-playing disco ball, which causes all the enemies on screen to dance and completely ignore you), to really fun (rail grinding, with entire buildings collapsing behind you). It even ends the demo with a cliffhanger.

Graphics-wise, it is stunning. The whole world is slightly cartoon-y, but the quality is amazing. I really cannot figure out if the cutscenes are pre-rendered or not…

Ratchet & Clank: Future looks like a pretty good game, and I’ll consider buying it when it comes out.

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Oct 06 2007
Life in general

The Simpsons Game (demo)

The Simpsons Game (what little I’ve played of it) is really really awesome. It’s definitely the best cell-shading I’ve ever seen, and also the best Simpsons game ever. Using the giant homer ball is really really fun, same with El Barto. If you have a PS3, definitely download this demo.

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Sep 24 2007
Life in general

Halo 3

I promised myself (and others) I was not going to write a post about Halo 3. But it’s like an elephant in the room or something. And the room is a closet. A closet in a small shack. And the Elephant is actually one of those freakin’ gigantic elephants from Lord of the Rings. So I’m writing about Halo 3.

The third game in the Halo mega-series (for the xBox and xBox 360), simply entitled Halo 3 is coming out tonight at midnight, local time. Those kind of release times are usually reserved for movies and iPhones, but this game is one of the most anticipated games of all time, so it gets a fancy release time. Midnight local. I (not owning a 360) sure as hell won’t be there, but if you own an xBox 360 you do not have an excuse not to buy Halo 3.

It already has some of the best ratings ever attained by a game on some review sites, with scores like a 9.5 on Gamespot and IGN, a 10 on GamePro, and a 98 on GameInformer. The marketing budget was gigantic, rivaled pretty much only by its predecessor, Halo 2. There have actually been some really great ads for the games, making themselves out to be post-Halo-war documentaries. “Museum”, “Enemy Weapon”, and “Hunted”. There are 2 more coming soon, and I’ll be watching.

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Sep 23 2007
Life in general

Heavenly Sword

In an almost total contrast to LocoRoco, I also recently acquired Heavenly Sword, the cinematic sword-slasher recently released for PS3.

The game is epic, and very fun. The battle system is not that hard to use, though combos require perfect timing to get them right. ‘Forms’ (Speed, Power, and Regular) are a bit confusing at first, but once you realize that an enemy with a blue aura needs to be fought with Speed, and one with yellow needs Power, it’s pretty simple to use the forms. It takes a bit of messing around (and a lot of dying) to figure out that an enemy glowing red is doing an unblockable attack, and you need to move or you’re gonna take serious damage.

The AfterTouch features are my absolute favorite thing in the entire game. This is when you are using any sort of projectile (arrows, cannonballs, or actually anything you pick up and throw), you can use the SIXAXIS to guide it as it flies though the air. The first time you get this option (or the first time the game explains how to use it), you are playing as a sniper, guarding your clan’s fort. It’s pretty fun, except that the area is too dark to pick out your enemies, and you are at too close a range for the AfterTouch to work. In the next episode, however, Bohan is moving catapults towards your base, and you have to use a cannon to destroy them (via the handy weak points on the front with giant red targets painted on them). This episode is where you get SIXAXIS awesomeness, since the cannonball has something like 20 seconds in the air before making contact, allowing for plenty of AfterTouch corrections.

The storyline in the game, like I said before, is cinematic. As in, the game is like watching a movie. You play through a very fluid chronology of events surrounding the end of Nariko’s life (or…is it?really, really creepy animated using motion capture, meaning that they move and speak very realistically. All the directing for the mo-cap actors was done by Andy Sirkus, the actor famous for doing the voice and mo-cap for Gollum/Smeagol in Lord of The Rings, and pretty much every feature involving mo-cap since then. He also plays the villain of the game, King Bohan.

Anyway yeah, very fun game. I’d recommend buying it to anyone with a PS3.

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