Sunday, July 11, 2010


QTE Tweets Of The Week

This top 10 shows the most clicked tweets from my News in brief Twitter stream. The clear winner was the number 1 post. it was picked up in a few places and got alot of hits. The PS3 surround system also got some attention, whilst the number 3 post was also clear ahead of the rest. from 4-10, they were clicked around the same amount.

10 360: Microsoft have changed their name in Japan from Microsoft Co., Ltd. to Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. (Microsoft Japan) http://ht.ly/27yM9

9 360: Kotaku have got hold of Kinect marketing material. solo unit and 360 bundle show products, games clearly different http://ht.ly/277gN

8 360: Microsoft is teaming up with Burger King to have small interactive Kinectimal animal plush toys in their meals http://ht.ly/2882H

7 PSP: A Tales of Phantasia X Demo is coming out this Thursday on the PSN http://ht.ly/27ySX

6 UK Game Charts, Lego Harry Potter: 1 -4, Red Dead Redemption, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Tiger Woods 11, Dance On Broadway http://ht.ly/277nq

5 Sony's Shuhei Yoshida reveals they're working on secret Playstation project Developers playing a big part PSP2 speculated http://ht.ly/27yPU

4 PS3: Japan Announce Move Launch games include EyePet, Sports Champions,Beat Sketch, Kung Fu Rider, Big 3 Gun Shooting http://ht.ly/27wm0

3 3DS: Play.com say the release date for the 3DS as November, Dragon Ball as 19th November, Gundam 25th march http://ht.ly/277qb

2 PS3: Sony Japan announce the PS3 Surround System is coming out 30th September http://ht.ly/27w7H

1 Wildstorm Comics announce they are releasing a Ratchet & Clank Comic on 8th September that'll span 6 issues http://ht.ly/29Bux



What Have You Played This Week?

I got a lot more in this week. Well it maynot look like i've played a lot but I spent most my time playing Transformers: War For Cybertron. The site was fairly busy but I do feel i've played a good amount this week. Next week I'll try to finish Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2, the game i'm currently renting.

Football Manager 10 – PC – After a poor start to the season I had a very big rally just before Christmas and ended up finishing 3rd...and promoted to League 1. at the moment i'm still getting the team ready for my first season in league 1. I'm not aiming to get promoted as I need to build a squad for the championship as well as get a bigger stadium and facilities.

Transformers: War For Cybertron – PS3 – I Managed to finish both the Autobot and Decepticon campaigns over the week. I'm a huge fan of Transformers and have seen many different series over the years, so playing through both campaigns was very interesting seeing how they fit into the grand Transformers story. What's clear, by the end of the game, is that no one series is dominant. There are Transformers from a few different series in the game, and the overall story is mostly from G1 but with popular aspects from other series. For me the story was great and there is a great shout out in the credits that's worth waiting for.

Playing the game though was something else. The gameplay is fine, very accessible, and it flows very well. But technical issues really started to be annoying. Loading times are long, even after the 5gb install, maybe around 10-15 seconds. But on several occasions the game would stop and load mid-level. The game runs on the unreal engine and it shows. Sometimes there is no texture pop-in, but on other times i've watched a cut scene and the textures never loaded. I'm still having multiplayer issues, where it says there's people online...i go to play a game only to find the game says there's no-one online. Having played the game several times now, a new annoying is the load on the main menu. The game checks the install data and it takes a while to check the 5gb. Perhaps the most annoying issue was with the dialogue in the game. there's nothing wrong with the voice work but i do believe i missed over a quarter of all dialogue spoken in the game. its hard to describe why it happens but regularly in the game, characters are talking to each other but fade in and out. sometimes its cause i'm not near the person talking but even moving near them doesn't solve the issue. to try to hear it i basically had to not move the character or the camera but even this didn't work all the time. the worst issue was the final boss batter for the Autobots. as its hard i had to do it a few times and yet i heard hardly nothing of what was said. Whole plot points, battle tips, what/where to go were missed completely.

For me the story is brilliant and the gameplay is also great, but having played the game a lot, completing the single player story and getting all characters online lvl 10/11, the technical issues really do start to become an issue and can detract from the game by the end. its easy to see why its marked soo high and low by reviewers.

Dissidia Final Fantasy – PSP – this was the only game I got for my birthday I hadn't played as yet. What's clear from the off is the game looks amazing. The cutscenes are very impressive and the in-game graphics are some of the best on the system. It is soon clear that there is more to the game than just fighting as Square Enix have added interesting RPG elements to the game as well as an interesting way to create items. I'm not that far to comment on the story, but so far its competent and explains good enough why all these Final Fantasy Characters are together. The fighting works very well on the PSP. The controls are simple but offer a lot of depth to gameplay. The levels are also great and its easy to play the same level several times and use it differently every time. The game slowly introduces the RPG elements and explains them fairly well as you unlock them, plus there's a help button. This game has been clearly designed to be played either in short burst or a lot in one go and it succeeds in both.

Did you manage to play more games than I have over the week, or do you have any comments on my experiences or questions about the games i've played? If you do, feel free to add them in the comments section.


Saturday, July 10, 2010

Namco Bandai Have Released New Screenshots For The Nintendo DS Version Of Puzzle Quest 2

Namco Bandai have released new screenshots for the Nintendo DS version of Puzzle Quest 2. these screenshots focus on the Sorcerer character, showing her moving on the over world, battling, and using magic. A mini game is also shown, the aim of which is to open a door by lining up shapes using the traditional Puzzle Quest mechanics. 2 level up screens are shown, showing that sometimes when you level up you can gain new spells or stat increases.

Screenshots



Namco Bandai Announce Enslaved: Odyssey To The West Is Coming Out Across Europe On 8th October

Namco Bandai have announced that Enslaved: Odyssey To The West is coming out Across Europe, The Middle East, and across Asia-Pacific on 8th October. Namco Bandai have also released new screenshots for the game, highlighting the colourful world and environments. characters, combat, and platforming are also shown in the screenshots.

Screenshots


Press Release

NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe S.A.S is very pleased to officially confirm the EMEA and Asia-Pacific release date of ENSLAVED™: Odyssey to the West™. The anticipated tactical action adventure by acclaimed development team Ninja Theory will launch for PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360® on October 8th 2010.

To mark the date announcement, a new set of screenshots has been published detailing even more of the lush game universe and unique combat of one of the most original action adventure games of 2010.

A cinematic gaming masterpiece inspired by the classic Chinese novel “Journey to the West,” ENSLAVED features Andy Serkis (Lord of the Rings, King Kong) as dramatic co-director and lead character Monkey, a story co-written from the pen of Alex Garland (The Beach, 28 Days Later), and music by acclaimed composer Nitin Sawhney.

ENSLAVED takes players on a gripping, surprise-filled journey as two dissimilar characters, Monkey and Trip, form an uneasy union in order to survive their way through a perilous, post-apocalyptic America. A tactical action-adventure game, ENSLAVED centers on the complex relationship between the two main characters and challenges players to employ a mix of combat, strategy and environmental exploration.

Follow ENSLAVED at the official website, and become a fan on Facebook.

This Weeks UK WiiWare, DSiWare, And Virtual Console Releases

Nintendo's UK Website has revealed the games that have come out yesterday on the Virtual Console, WiiWare, and DSiWare. i have added screenshots for the games that i have, but Nintendo have released a video on the website, linked below, showing in-game footage of most of the games.

Virtual Console

Shadow of the Ninja - NES


WiiWare

Toribash

Zenquaria: Virtual Aquarium

DSiWare

SteamWorld: Tower Defense


Crazy Golf


2Puzzle It - Fantasy

Hair Salon Pocket Stylist

16 Shot! SHOOTING WATCH


From Nintendo UK


Hit X: The News Recapping Podcast For Friday 9th July

This is all the news from Friday 9th July.

You can subscribe to the Hit X: The News Recapping Podcast on iTunes and if you do or are already a subscriber, it would be very helpful for me if you can rate and review the podcast.

A podcast is available on iTunes from:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=328547861

A RSS Feed from Podbean:
http://qtegamers.podbean.com/feed

And on qtegamers.blogspot.com:
http://qtegamers.blogspot.com/search/label/Audio Re-Cap


Re-Cap of Yesterdays News (oldest to newest)


  • QTE Blog: Re-Cap of Yesterdays News (oldest to newest) http://ht.ly/184221
  • GameStop has a listing for Borderlands GOTY Official Strategy Guide, coming 9th September. game speculated http://ht.ly/29cyS
  • QTE Blog: Hit X: The News Recapping Podcast For Thursday 8th July http://ht.ly/1846XY
  • Yuji Naka, the creator of Sonic, has said he's not interested in working on a Sonic game, wants to create new things http://ht.ly/29eSU
  • Its reported Atari won't be shutting down Test Derive Unlimited Servers next year http://ht.ly/29fjf
  • Idol Minds, Pain Devs, have a job posting up for a PS3 and 360 designer. shows they're going multiplatform http://ht.ly/29fli
  • PC: Firaxis confirm that around 20 employees have been laid off, cost cutting measures, Civ 5 not effected http://ht.ly/29fo4
  • JP Consoles, DSi LL 32.661, PSP 24.685, Wii 21.964, PS3 20.077, DSi 18.271, 360 7.303, DS 5.339, PS2 1.594, PSPgo 1.024 http://ht.ly/29fsn
  • QTE Blog: Sega Have Released New Sonic The Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 Screenshots http://ht.ly/184cnp
  • PS3: ESRB Rates Japan Games Blockids and Magical Drop F,Natsume devs, as coming to PSN as a PS1 Classic via MonkeyPaw http://ht.ly/29jev
  • PS3: Sony say Move has been priced so they will make a profit on each Move unit sold as soon as its released http://ht.ly/29jzk
  • 3DS: THQ admit DS piracy stopped them releasing many games on it. 3DS has the tech to stop piracy http://ht.ly/29jCb
  • PC: 2K have released the PC Minimum/Recommended Specs for Mafia II http://ht.ly/29jEM
  • 38 Studios announce they are revealing "Project Mercury" at San Diego Comic Con on 22nd July http://ht.ly/29jHB
  • DS: Pokémon Black and Pokémon White will be available for pre-order in Japan on 31st July. the game costs ¥4800 http://ht.ly/29jPK
  • QTE Blog: EA Have Revealed The Boxart For Dragon Age 2 http://ht.ly/184iD8
  • QTE Blog: 505 Games Announce They Are Publsihing Deep Black, Releasing It Q1 2011 On The Xbox 360 And Playstation 3 http://ht.ly/184kBX