GDC 2010: Monster Hunter Tri Preview

Even though I expected to have my brain stimulated at GDC, I couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by all the tech demos and game production software on display. I love checking out giant human hamster balls and emergent physics engines as much as the next person, but whenever I needed to get "grounded" again, I would head over to the Nintendo booth and relax on their couches that included a nice little demo of Monster Hunter Tri. After getting disemboweled by giant raptors a few times, I finally started to get the hang of it and BOOM; a preview was born!

Read: Monster Hunter Tri Preview

Bottom line: If you're a Monster Hunter fan, there's no reason you should skip over this.

GDC 2010: Darkstar One: Broken Alliance Preview

A couple weeks before GDC, I had the pleasure of watching the producers of Darkstar One: Broken Alliance demo the latest build of their epic space simulation for GameShark. Hardcore PC gamers out there might remember the original game from 2006, but this time around it's been optimized for the Xbox 360. Porting a nuanced PC simulation to a mouse-and-keyboardless system is always a tricky move for publishers, but from what I saw (and briefly played) here, Kalypso Media seems to be doing a solid job staying true to its source material.

Check the link, and let me know if you're one of the few that's dying to micromanage your galactic empire.

Read: DarkStar One: Broken Alliance Preview

GDC 2010: "Micro or Massive: It's Fricking Tough to Achieve a Vision"

This little summary of a panel I attended at GDC was supposed to make its way over to 1up's Chiptuned blog, but it ended up getting lost in the hustle and bustle of the conference and never made it past my 1up page. Usually, I'd just remove the post and hold onto it for later, but I so enjoyed listening to/talking with PixelJunk Eden creator/multimedia guru Baiyon and Uncharted Co-Lead Game Designer Richard Lemarchand that I couldn't help but leave it up on 1up. Even though I'm not entirely sure anyone read it, it's still one of my favorite things that I've contributed to the site. Funny how that works, huh?

"Hey dudes, do we have these boxes backwards?"

Read: "Micro or Massive: It's Fricking Tough to Achieve a Vision"

GDC 2010: Pocket Creatures First Look

One of the games I was able to spend a fair amount of time for 1up with before seeing it at GDC was Pocket Creatures -- an iPhone app created by one of the producers of Crysis that can be quickly described as the lovechild of a Tamogatchi and Pocket God. Even though I've grown out of my love affair with taking care of virtual creatures, I liked the way Pocket Creatures gave you a sandbox to play with that was extremely interactive and nuanced. If Asbjørn & co. can keep the content coming and the "wow!" moments flowing, this game could be a lot of fun for anyone who loves to have total control over the life of their creatures.

Read: Pocket Creatures First Look

1UP's "The Grind" - Ar Tonelico II Problems

When I first started writing for 1UP's iPhone blog, I only had about two weeks of accomplishment before the tragic UGO/1UP merger that sent half of 1UP (a.k.a. EGM) packing. Because of this, it took me a little while to get truly "stoked" on my new digs, but I think it's slowly starting to set in. Yesterday marked my first post over at 1UP's dedicated RPG blog "The Grind" - arguably my most anticipated of the 1UP blogs due to my longstanding love of all things RPG - and I think things went rather well.

I started off my stint with an in-depth look at Ar Tonelico II and the myriad problems facing it. From a lackluster localization, to a handful of game-crippling bugs that cause freezes in some rather unfortunate places, the game came out a little rougher than intended. Even though NIS America's quality control hasn't been the hottest lately, I still feel that they deserve credit for being one of the few developers (and arguably the smallest) to put out JRPGs that would otherwise never see the light of day in the US. Let's hope they can bring the quality back to future releases, or else things are going to get rather hairy in the future.

Regardless, you should take a peek at the link below. It's a decent little post that will enrich your life beyond compare! Or, uh, it'll not suck as hard as some of the other stuff around here. Yeah, that sounds about right.

Read: Damage Control: Ar Tonelico II

Star Ocean: Second Evolution Review

Keeping with today's abnormal burst of productivity comes my first true "review post" in quite some time, and it's a doozy. When I started out as an aspiring games journalist (and, conversely, an RPGamer) a little over a year-and-a-half ago, I always had the dream of getting a pre-release ROM of a Square-Enix game. Call it nerdy, call it silly, call it what you will; but I couldn't have been more happy (nay, proud?) when my editor Bill sent me a preview version of Star Ocean: Second Evolution for review. For that very reason, this game will always have a special spot in my heart, but luckily it's a good game too!

As much as I love RPGs, I can hardly ever find the time (or the energy) to replay them after sinking in 30-60 hours playing them to completion. With that said, my unsavory "tradition" looks to change with this one game. Second Evolution simply exudes replayability through its multiple characters and optional party members, and the game simply begs to be played "right" with a strategy guide by your side. And as such, I think I shall - especialy since my friend Dan put all his love into making the official guide a few weeks back.

Either way, it's a great game and a totally worthy successor to one of my favorite PSP RPGs of last year. Check, check-check-check, check it out!

Read: Star Ocean: Second Evolution Review

GameShark - Reviews

And now, for the reviews! As you can see, I was far from complacent throughout the latter half of 2008. And here are the links to prove it:

• N+ (PSP)
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS)
• Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia (DS)
• Kirby: Super Star Ultra (DS)
• Chrono Trigger (DS)
• Eternal Sonata (PS3)
• Star Ocean: First Departure (PSP)
• Animal Crossing: Wild World (Wii)

Wow! That's more than I expected. Feel free to check them out, and leave comments as you see fit!

GameShark - Previews

Throughout 2008, I was able to make it out to a handful of press events for GameShark and get a little hands-on time with some of the year's hottest games. Even though I missed out on the Mirrors Edge press event, most games were awesome enough to write about. Well, save for Damnation, but that was more the fault of the awful venue. Ho-hum.

• Saints Row 2 - Multiplayer Hands-On (360/PS3)
• Damnation - Multiplayer Hands-On (360)
• Animal Crossing: Wild World (Wii)
• StarCraft II - BlizzCon Impressions (PC)
• Prince of Persia (360/PS3)
• Star Ocean: Second Evolution (PSP)
• Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero (PSP)

That about wraps it up. Feel free to leave comments; I get none via GameShark. :(

And now, onto the reviews!

RPGamer Update - Nintendo Fall Media Summit & BlizzCon Impressions

Back in October, I had the privilege of attending Nintendo's Fall Media Summit and getting some much-needed hands-on time with some upcoming RPGs for RPGamer. I dutifully wrote up my impressions of the games, which can be found below:

Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon DS
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia DS
Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia DS

All games were great fun to play, and Nintendo was more than accommodating during the entirety of the event. This was where the DSi was first premiered to the US, which generated relatively mixed reviews from those who had a peek at it, but I remain optimistic until I get it in my hands. I'll miss the GBA slot, though! I was also able to make it down to BlizzCon, which netted the following impression:

Diablo 3 - BlizzCon Impression

Woohoo!

Long time, no update!

Well, hello again! Long time no see! It looks like I haven't updated this newfangled blog since last August, which was right about when things started getting good! Seeing as this is quite the "monumentous" day, with the whole Presidential Inauguration going on in the background and all, I figured it was time that I finally unleashed the wealth of last year's writing on my poor, defenseless blog.

Now for the status update. Currently, I write reviews and previews for GameShark.com, and blog for 1up.com's iPhone and Apple gaming blog. Between those two websites (and the games that come with each) I'm kept quite busy, although I still have my position at RPGamer for the occasional press event or random preview, and hope to write more for GameSpite in the future.

I'll go ahead and update this with massive categorized updates, so that if someone happenstancedly stumbles here looking for some reading material, they won't be disappointed with last year's offering. But that's enough talk; have at you!

GameShark - Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon Review

After a bit of a drought, I'm back with my first of a few pieces posted over at GameShark! I've been playing Chocobo's Dungeon every second that I had for the past week or so, and I have to say that it's the most enjoyable RPG experience I've had on the Wii yet. While Opoona nudges ahead in terms of music and artistic style, the way that Chocobo's Dungeon makes the dungeon crawling experience palatable is worthy of a Nobel Prize. Seriously.

Give it a looksee and tell me what you think. I have a preview for Need for Speed Undercover coming up shortly, so stay tuned for that!

Read: Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo's Dungeon - Review

GameShark - Guitar Hero: On Tour Review

Well, it's finally here! My first review for GameShark has just gone live, right before the big E3 rush that will surely knock it off its pedestal within days. If the article feels a little awkward at first, it's because the longer introduction had to be cut short due to length limitations. Oops! It basically drew an analogy between real life guitar and GH:OT since they both are extremely painful and embarassing at the beginning. Once you get the hang of them, they're great, but it may not be for everyone.

If anyone wants to see the full review, just let me know. It's not a monster, but it is about 300 words longer.

GameShark: Guitar Hero: On Tour Review

Long time, no update!

While it might initially appear that I've been a sloth-and-a-half, in reality, I've been crazy busy trying to keep up with life and its many transitions. As of July 16th I'm officially a college graduate of UCSB, and conversely another member of the "unemployed workforce." I traveled to the East Coast for a week to see my father, and am currently on another trip to Colorado with my girlfriend to see her family and enjoy the finer things in America (read: tourist destinations, traps, and everything in-between).

Because of all the life transitions, I'm currently looking for more paying positions. I've recently been hired over at GameShark.com for reviews and other miscellanea, and hope to find a few more positions or internships in the nearby future. Until then, I'll keep toiling away at my few websites, hoping to see where things take me over the next month or two.

If you ever need to reach me, you can do so by leaving me a comment or sending me an email (found here).

Thanks for reading,
Cole

RPGamer – 2008 NIS Press Event Impressions

Almost a month ago (!) I had the privilege of heading up to San Francisco to cover the 2008 NIS press event for RPGamer. I bumped elbows with some internet friends and rivals, enjoyed some delicious food on the house, hosted an interview, and was lucky enough to get my hands on a few new RPGs from NIS that are coming stateside this year. I wish I could have broken this into a few separate updates to make myself seem more productive, but since this event occurred three days before my last final and graduation, I obviously had no time for that.

Anyways! Take a look at the impressions below. It's always fun actually playing something before writing about them and I think they turned out rather well. Especially A Witches Tale, considering I saw no actual footage of the game. Enjoy.

• Disgaea DS - Hands-On Impression
• Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure (DS) - Hands-On Impression
• A Witches Tale (DS) - Hands-On Impression

(I also covered Disgaea 3 again, but I wanted to save those impressions for the big preview of the game I'm writing this month. Now that I can go in-depth into the storyline, churning out another "I walked here and threw this" impression would be absurdly redundant.)

GameSpite - Link's Awakening Review

I thought I posted this a while back, but I was wrong! Here's my article about Link's Awakening posted over at GameSpite. It's a bit short, but has some good stuff in it. Peek if you dare.

GameSpite: Link's Awakening Review

RPGamer - Disgaea 3 Impressions

The second half of the Run to the Sun meetings I was able to attend consisted of a trip to NIS America to meet up with a few staff members and play an early build of Disgaea 3. While embargoes forbid me from going into too much detail at this time, things are certainly shaping up well for fans of outlandish Tactical RPGs. Disgaea 3 was rough around the edges, but left many of us happy with NIS's progress so far. While it didn't score too high in our overall rankings, a lot of that can be chalked up to the early build we played and the ways that D3 can't really be picked up and enjoyed like a good shooter or fighter can be. I have high hopes for August.

Here's my impressions. A in-depth preview will be going up sometime during the first week of June, and I'll be attending a press event for NIS to spend some more time with their upcoming lineup and do an interview. Things are looking up!

Read: Disgaea 3 Impressions

RPGamer - Summon Night: Twin Age Impression

Yikes!

In one of my more memorable strokes of luck, I had the chance to meet up with a few other fun fellows from RPGamer down in Southern California to talk videogames with two huge RPG publishers - Atlus and Nippon Ichi Software (NIS) America. The latter was a complete stroke of luck, as I was only originally planning to meet up, talk with Atlus, and help relieve some of the coverage pressure from the publisher's eight+ games. Luckily I was able to tag along and go to dinner, and even get asked to go to a press event in SF next month. Exciting!

Here's the first game Atlus let us get our hands on, Summon Night: Twin Age. It's an Action RPG through and through, but looks to be surprisingly fun and fresh, allowing for neat exploration, item conjuring, and other interesting things to do in comparison to your usual hack-'n-slash. I wrote up more of my impressions over at RPGamer, so go take a look over there.

Read: Summon Night: Twin Age Impression

MyWiiNews - WiiMiidia Homebrew, and Wiikly Wii Releases

Finally found the time to update this thing with my two latest pieces for MyWiiNews. Both are news stories, one tells the tale of a homebrewer's valiant efforts to port XBMC over to the Wii, while the other is simply a quick Wii release update. Both are solid and worth a peek.

I'll be heading down to Irvine tomorrow to meet up with Atlus for RPGamer. It should be fun! Time to dust off that copy of Etrian Odyssey!

Read:

• Want to Watch Movies On Your Wii?
• Wiikly Wii Releases : 5/4 - 5/17

DailyNexus - "Wii Kart Unites Casual and Hardcore"

My latest Daily Nexus article went up today, and it was actually featured in the physical newspaper two days ago as well!

This is my second article to be promoted from an online-only column to an actual piece within the opinion section, and I was even asked to join the columnist staff for the next year. Unfortunately I won't be around UCSB to work for the Nexus, but it's nice to know that my words are appreciated.

This piece did two things I had been meaning to do for a few weeks: talk about Mario Kart and casual gamers. I had a complete article on casual gaming all edited up and ready to turn into the Nexus two weeks ago, but I restarted my computer and everything instantly vanished. Apparently my hard drive decided to die without giving me any real warning, taking the last five months of data along with it into the depths of Hard Drive Hell. Along with this completed article went my Summon Night DS preview, and a 80% piece for My Wii News on the Wii's rechargable battery problem, making for quite the depressing past two weeks.

I just got my Mac back with a fresh HDD and I'm ready to get back to blogging business. Expect a lot more from me in the next few weeks, and I'll be sure to back everything up before submitting articles and restarting computers. :(

Rant aside, the article is a goodie. I talk about the prevalence of casual gamers, the ways in which Mario Kart Wii is Nintendo's first forray into kart-driven Communism, and even namedrop Ghosts n' Goblins and the real SMB2 to show how cool I am (yeah, right). It's always nice to get printed in a real publication, so take a peek and enjoy!

Read: Daily Nexus - Wii Kart Unites Casual and Hardcore

GameSpite - Golden Axe Warrior Review

Woohoo! Another review! I can't help but get excited whenever something I put a lot of work into sees the light of day, and this Golden Axe Warrior (GAW) piece pretty much personifies this feeling. Jeremy Parish decided to switch over to a weekly digest format after I submitted this piece; making it sit all alone for almost a month. This was actually a blessing in disguise, as the initial draft I wrote up was extremely rough and needed a good amount of polish to get to the stage it's in today. Jeremy did a good amount of edits, but most everything stayed true to my original words and visions.

I thought GAW was a really neat, if unoriginal, game that deserves more attention than it seems to get, so go and read the darn thing and find out for yourself! I promise you'll giggle at least once at the screenshots.

Read: Golden Axe Warrior Review

P.S. I have a preview for Summon Night: Twin Age DS coming up at RPGamer soon. The game just got pushed back, so I couldn't have picked a better time to do a preview! Woohoo!