Zomg I can’t wait for this. 2D Mario on the Nintendo Wii with multiplayer co-op!

I have always thought that the 360 is the most all-rounded system this generation. It has an impressive game library, managing to break the PlayStation’s exclusivity on games like GTA, Final Fantasy, and most recently the Metal Gear franchise, amongst other features that it has been constantly rolling out.

With the runaway success of the Wii, it’s not surprising to see both Microsoft and Sony adding motion controls to their own systems.

I think that Microsoft has done a good job of making a good idea great. This is Xbox 360’s Project Natal:

Hopefully it plays out as well as it looks.

1) GTA IV

Long overdue, and it is going to turn a year old in just a few months’ time. I really love this game, and was really excited when it came out, but over the months I ended up spending a whole lot of time just running down pedestrians and causing random acts of violence instead of progressing with the story. Still good fun, but I’ve got to really finish the game’s story at least (I’m not even thinking of 100% completion like I did with GTA Vice City), and do it before the new downloadable content comes out.

2) Gears of War

Even more overdue on the list is Gears of War. It’s now known as Gears of War 1, since Gears of War 2 which is supposedly amazing, but I am not able to play that until I finish this, and I think I just have one chapter left. As you can see procrastination becomes worrying when you put off finishing games.

3) Oblivion

Talking about overdue, I got this game along with my Xbox 360 some 2.5 years ago. The thing is, I have spent over 50 hours on this game, and have yet to scratch the surface of the main quests, or the side quests for that matter. The side quests themselves were engaging enough to keep me occupied, but along the way I just lost interest in the game and stopped playing. I think I will probably play this again just to save money and not buy Fable 2 for now.

Honourable Mentions

Well at least the Xbox 360 gets use on a regular basis even though I have neglected some of the better titles. The Wii, on the other hand, has been relegated to a living room appliance waiting to be used for the occasional Wii Sports session when the relatives come visiting. Although it would probably prove useful come Chinese New Year, I think I must really spend some time on Resident Evil 4 and Twilight Princess. For goodness sake, I have not even started on Twilight Princess, which I have bought with the Wii. This is unacceptable.

Ahhh, you know life is good when you worry about which games to play.

The same is true for people who buy legit music CDs and DVDs for their own personal use. Why the hell am I forced to watch a stupid FBI warning message not to pirate the damn DVD when I bought/rented it with my money?

And apparently ripping music off CDs to put into one’s own digital audio players is a no-go. Someone emailed IPOS (POS standing for, you know) a few years back about the matter and the answer was that it is indeed illegal. I just emailed the same question to the RIAS. RIAS is the local counterpart of the demonic RIAA of the US.

No it’s not Crash Bandicoot or Super Monkey Ball. I bought something that Shuli/Chen Lu would love much more (rhyme!).

Dizzy Bee

It costed me US$2.99. I have not played it much, but the first two levels have left me quite impressed already. The iPhone’s accelerometer navigates the bee, and the objective of the game is to collect flowers and save fruit friends. What?! It’s fun okay.

Gameplay footage:

There’s another quality game on the App Store right now too, and it is at the amazing price of free. Aurora Feint is an excellent puzzle/block game.

Gameplay video:

I think I’m going to get the De Blob and Crash Bandicoot soon. And come September, there’ll be Spore for the iPhone. Madness.

Some, one of which I linked up there because his captcha didn’t work, ironically, with my open-source browser, may argue that Android = open-source = free, but I think that’s a pretty simplistic argument. The iPhone has proven itself to be more than a welcoming environment for free apps, but the fact is, shouldn’t some apps be worth paying for? As if all of Android apps will be free.

I could do without paying for productivity apps, because I’m not really a productive person myself, but I sure as hell am going to buy games:

Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D

Super Monkey Ball

Enigmo

These are full mobile games, be it from big-name developers like Sega or Vivendi, or small-time indie developers. While Apple didn’t really have gaming in mind, I suspect they might very well exceed Nokia’s gaming efforts, and Nokia has been trying quite hard. It might be a stretch to say that the iPhone would stand up to the DS or PSP, but I do believe it’ll do pretty well as a games platform. THQ and Electronic Arts are expected to release games soon as well.

An iPod, internet tablet and a phone, now with capable gaming abilities. The iPhone is the most featured media phone there is on the market. Hell, it already has rumble (due to its phone vibration alert), and control mechanisms that could ride on the success of the Wii and DS Lite. Cooking Mama and Patapon for the iPhone please.

With more than 7 million iPhones sold to date and who knows how many iPod touches, the iPhone platform is also extremely lucrative to develop apps for. I guess it has indeed “failed”.

I am eager to see what Android brings to the table.

This is Spikon, my first creature created using the trial version of Spore Creature Creator. The first decent creature, anyway, after dozens of true freaks of nature that could not walk properly and were practically deformed.

Ahh I can’t wait for the full game to be released.

Yeah I don’t really have a life outside of Liberty City. I was tasked to hijack this helicopter, and the ousted pilot tried to get back in while I flew up into the sky, resulting in him hanging on for a while before plunging and screaming to his demise.

I love GTA.

Tomorrow’s the big day. I have taken a few days off and am declaring it GTA week. Or month.

This is the engine used in GTA IV. I’m sure it’ll make killing the hapless pedestrians so much more entertaining. Two more days! I can’t wait. Euphoria indeed.