Goodbye Megaman

When it was announced that Keji Inafune was leaving Capcom; I, and other fans were quite sure that Capcom would continue to expand on the Megaman franchise.

It seemed that way.

After his departure; Capcom began the systematic abandonment of several Megaman projects. Most notably, Megaman Legends 3, and Megaman Universe.

It is my opinion that Capcom will eventually phase out the blue bomber completely.

Why?

It's not in Capcoms interests to continue making Megaman games. All of their attention is being poured into much more lucrative projects.

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Microsofts next console "The loop"

I will start off this blog post by typing something in continous caps lock.

MICROSOFT NEEDS TO LAUNCH IT'S NEXT ITERATION OF THE XBOX.

Why? Well, there are more than a few reasons, but I'll cover the obvious.

Hardware: The hardware itself has become constricted to developers. This leads to developers toning down titles that rely heavily on superb graphics to create fascinating worlds with actual substance to them.

The PS3: Sony's console has finally managed most of the issues that prevented it from hitting a collective stride. In doing so; it will catch up to the Xbox 360, and eventually surpass it. It would be in Microsofts best interest; to launch their next machine in a sizeable timeframe before Sony's own plans for the PS4 begin to manifest.

Reveal it at CES 2012.

It's either this, or you can go back to square one.

Fusion Genesis: Sentient FAQ/Guide

This is a guide for Sentients within the game "Fusion Genesis" for the Xbox 360. The game is a downloadable title on Xbox live arcade.

This guide will cover the "Sentient" aspect of the game.

Sentients are small AI driven comrades that accompany your ship, and provide invaluable support in more than a few ways.

First; a look at the main types of Sentients available.

--Tank Sentient

The Tank Sentient features defensive buffs that can help the players main ship become a collective fortress. If the Sentient identifies any threat; it will go on the offensive with it's concentrated beam-like weapon.

Tank Sentient Skill list: Skills can be upgraded by allocating skill points.

Shield Short: This skill will allow your Tank Sentient to nullify enemy shields for a specified amount of time.

Taunt: The Sentient will become the main focus of all enemy threats.

Tractor Beam: Sentient will shoot a beam that will stop an enemy in it's tracks.

Armor Increase: Sentient will send out an ion beam that will absorb a percentage of damage for a specific amount a time. This beam can also be used on nearby friendly units.

Shield Regeneration: Increases shield regeneration rate by a percentage.

--Healer Sentient

The Healer Sentient repairs the players ship. It can be used in many different strategies. When threatened; this Sentient will use homing missiles.

Healer Sentient Skill list: Skills can be upgraded by allocating skill points.

Repair: Once activated; the Healer Sentient will repair the hull, and reboot shields.

Recharge: Recharges bot your own shield, and that of any units within the vicinity.

Knockback: The Sentient will keep enemies from getting too close.

Energise: Increases the energy capacity of all nearby friendly units.

Hull Regeneration: Increases hull regeneration rate by a percentage.

--DPS Sentient

The DPS Sentient is an offensive Sentient. When alerted, it will fight back with a rapid fire double-laser.

DPS Sentient Skill list: Skills can be upgraded by allocating skill points.

Primary Weapon: Increases the power of the Sentients main weapon.

Power Weapon: Increases the power of the Sentients secondary weapon.

Disable: Negates an enemies ability to use special abilities for a specific amount of time.

Damage Increase: Increases the damage of nearby friendly units by a percentage, and time.

Energy Rengeration: Increases the regeneration rate of the players ship by a percentage.

This covers the skills that are exclusive to each Sentient. However, there are three more skills that can be used by all three types of Sentients.

They are as follows:

Mining: The Sentient will mine whenever it is given the chance. If this skill is upgraded; it will allow the Sentient to mine at a faster rate.

Looting: The Sentient will seek out items that are within it's range. Once upgraded; the Sentient will seek out items that are at greater distance from it. (In example; if the player destroys an enemy ship, and it drops any item; if the Sentient is within range it will quickly move towards it, and recover it.)

Trading: This skill will allow your Sentient to sell the contents of your cargo. It will travel to the nearest station, and sell the items. If upgraded; the Sentient will complete this task at a much quicker rate.

All Sentients can be given three specific commands. Aggressive, defensive, and passive.

Aggressive: Sentient will actively seek out enemies.

Defensive: Sentient will engage the enemy if the player, or itself are attacked.

Passive: Sentient will not engage enemies at all.

----Feeding crystals to your Sentient----

It seems as though the game is a bit vague on this information; so I will cover the basics on how to increase a Sentients stats via crystal feeding.

Crystals can be found in just about every mineable item in the game. There are four types of basic crystals; blue, red, green, and yellow. After you have collected a decent number of each basic crystal type; you can begin to combine them, and create black crystals. Black crystals are used to upgrade your Sentients stats, and attributes.

Remember to access these important menu items by pushing the back button. Once you are on the menu; push the left thumbstick, and highlight the Sentient Section on the bottom left portion of the menu. This will lead you into another menu. Once there; you will see a section titled "CRYSTALS" highlight it, and press the "a" button. You will now be able to toggle the auto-feed option. It is my suggestion to turn it off.

Next, highlight the Sentients portion of this same menu. You will see a list of your currently owned Sentients. Push the "a" button, and select one of them. This will lead you to yet another menu. From this menu, you will be able to set the Set the Sentients mood, it's slot location, and allocate skill/stat/attribute points.

Before all of this; you must create black crystals. These are used to feed the Sentient itself; thus giving points for distribution. To create a black crystal; highlight the bottom left portion of this menu, and push "a" then pull either the left, or right trigger. Use the d-pad until "Create black crystal" is highlighted, and push the a button.

A black crystal has now been created. However, the process is not yet complete. You must now feed this black crystal to your Sentient. Highlight, and press a on the "Crystal" section of this menu. You can now select individual crystals, and feed your Sentient manually. Doing so will increase it's overall level. Next; scroll down to the black crystal that was created, and push a. You can push left, and right on the d-pad to select the desired amount of black crystals that you wish to feed to your Sentient.

Push a one more time, and you will recieve a prompt. Choose yes to feed your Sentient the black crystals. You will now have points to allocate in the "Stats" portion of this menu. Highlight, and distribute these points as you see fit.

CastleMiner Z (Xbox Live Indie Games)

CastleMiner Z is the latest in a series of block building games that has hit the Xbox Live Indie games section.

I was skeptical at first, but this game is indeed something different. Ideas are borrowed from Minecraft itself, but what sets this game apart is the survival element. You MUST find better tools, build a shelter, and craft better weapons in a bid to survive. If you do not; the price of being neglectful will be steep. You will be marauded by endless waves of zombies, and other baddies.

This is what I admire about this game the most. The way it forces you to survive. To me; building a giant fortress is not the number one priority in this game. Survival.

Currently there a three game modes: All of them can be played online with three other people. (Another fantastic feature to this Indie Game)

-Endurance

My mode of preference. The main goal is to travel across the vast landscape, and rack up distance. It may seems simple, but it can become quite the opposite. I enjoy scoping the landscape in a bid to find a suitable location to build, spend the night, and be safe from the incoming mass of zombies. It also forces the player to seek out valueable ores are of great use in making new weapons, and tools.

--Survival

The object of survival is simply that. Build a suitable shelter, make powerful weapons, and fight nack against the zombie hordes. Once you have built a massive fortress; it can get kind of boring. Which is why I prefer endurance.

--Freebuild

In freebuild; the play can build anything they wish; without worrying about the zombie hordes. This mode is great if you'd prefer to build locations, and the like.

It doesn't end there. No, not at all!

Updates are planned for this game, and they aren't just bug fixes.

These are some items that are currently planned for the 1.01 update:

-Storage chests.

-All items, and weapons will remain in your inventory after exiting the game.

It may seem trivial, but this is the first of several updates. Not to mention that they make the game THAT much better.

All in all, I'm glad that CastleMiner Z has brought something different to the table. If you own an Xbox 360; this is an absolute buy. It's only 240 Microsoft points(three dollars), and is located in the indie games section of Xbox Live.

What are you waiting for?

Banjo, and Kazooie Nuts, and Bolts 4vs4 Sumo Tournament winner announcement!

Ah, what a fantastic title for this post.

ANYWAY.

It was obvious who had won this tournament. The objective was simple: stay within the sumo ring as long as possible.

The rules were as follows:


--No laser weapon. Anything else was fair game.
--If a player left one of the five matches; they were disqualified. Thankfully no one had left.

The winner is MVPSOLIDSNAKE, and his "Dual Wedge" Vehicle.


Congratulations! The code has been sent, and you will be able to redeem the 1600 microsoft points as soon as you log into your Xbox Live account.

Enjoy!

Monster Hunter 3G (3DS) /Monster Hunter 4 (3DS)

Your eyes do not deceive you. New titles in the Monster Hunter franchise have been announced, but eager PSP/Vita owners will have to wait; as these games are EXCLUSIVE to the 3DS.

This is great news, but quite a few people have been asking some questions.

1) How long of a time frame will Vita owners have to wait before this is released on their platform?

A: Currently, no party is aware of a prospective Monster Hunter release on the Vita; much less the original psp itself. It was a great move by Nintendo, and it if they manage to keep it as an exclusive; it will undoubtedly hamper the Vita in Japan.

2) The 3DS has one analog stick. Will we continue to force ourselves to use the dreaded "claw technique"?

A: Yes, and no. It depends solely on the user. A new peripheral has been unveiled that will add another analog to the 3DS. Buy it = No claw technique. Don't buy it = Claw technique. Below is a picture of said item.

3) Is monster Hunter 3G a completely new game, or an expansion to an existing game?

A: I would happen to think that 3G is a sort of expansion to Monster Hunter TRI on the wii. As for Monster Hunter 4; I would imagine it to be a new game.

Note: Both of these games are currently slated for release in Japan. It is unknown if they ever will see a North American release.

From Dust (Xbox 360)

Finally, something different.

Recently, the entire gaming industry has been swamped with a myriad of shooters, and it's great to see a change of pace. Leave it to Ubisoft to make something new, and exciting.

The game itself can be somewhat hard to describe to others that have not had any first hand experience with it. Essentially, you are playing as "The Breath" an entity that has the ability to manipulate the elements, and in the process; help the villagers unlock the mystery of the ancients.

Initially, you have the power to absorb different materials, and place them at suitable locations that will help your villagers. In example; you can form a bridge out of earth, and the villagers themselves will be able to move across it.

As the game progresses; you will be faced with much more intimidating natural disasters that will force you to think, and be quick with your actions. This forces the player to develop, and deploy strategies that are quite worthwhile, and rewarding to watch.

Thankfully, the game itself has sold rather well, and a sequel should be in the works. I strongly urge everyone to download the demo! You'll be more than happy with the results.

Free Microsoft Points giveaway! August 2011: CLOSED

It's time once again for our daily giveaway!

400 Microsoft points are up for grabs, and all you need to participate is your gamertag!

Just leave a comment right here, and give me your gamertag! You will automatically be entered into the contest once you do so!

Please note that your gamertag must be in gold status to participate! Good luck!

Monster Hunter 3rd: Felyne Temperament Guide!

Those love-able felynes have returned in Monster Hunter 3rd!

In this post; I will explain the different temperaments, and the quirks that make them different from each other.

Courageous: This Felyne will attack large, or boss monsters with complete disregard of it's own health meter. This is good; if you want a comrade that will launch an unrelenting assault upon the boss, but it also means that it is more likely to sustain a critical knock-out, and thus spend a longer time underground.

Cunning: When the boss enters rage mode; this felyne will do everything in it's power to attract the monster toward itself. It will prove useful if you have low health at the beginning of the boss monsters rage mode, and thus saving you. This felyne also has a more strategic attack pattern.

Timid: These felynes will always avoid a fight when given the chance. They usually disappear underground, and leave an item for the player in the form of a shiny. These are usually health recovery items.

Loyal: Once the players health is low; these felynes will attack the monster with gas bombs. Useful if you know how to use this to your advantage.

Chancy: These felynes are quite the opportunist, and will attack without hesitation once the monster itself is in either a dying state, shocked, or flinched.

Persistent: These felynes will increase their regeneration rate when either the monster has entered rage mode, or if they are in a current state of low health.

Pacifist: Will not attack anything. These felynes are good as support comrades, and are suggested for use with support skills such as health flute, armor flute, and antidote flute.

I've imported Monster Hunter 3rd for PSP.

It had to happen sooner, or later.

Don't get me wrong; I'm still very angry at Capcom for not bringing this game over stateside, but I couldn't hold it off any longer.

I won't go into details, but I will say this.

This is a fantastic game. It boggles the mind; not only the game itself, but the fact that Capcom has kept this gem away from adoring Monster Hunter fans in North America.

Personally, I'd urge any great fan of the MH series to consider importing the game. It's worth it.