Nokia Camera Comparison

Hey there.

Nokia Connects were kind enough to lend me a Nokia Lumia 920 for the holidays. One of this device's selling points is its camera. And its also the only consideration my other half looks at when buying a mobile phone. Taking pictures is the only thing she cares about. Not the screen size or resolution or email or built-in Facebook integration. Just how good the pictures and videos are.

So whilst I have the 920 I thought I'd do a picture test between the 920, my current handset a Lumia 800 and the better half's N8.

So you can make up your own mind which has the better camera!

920 first

then the N8

and lastly the humble Lumia 800

I'm no camera expert but in these crudely taken samples the N8 doesn't look all that good and the 800 for my money isn't that far behind the pick of the bunch: the 920.

Battlefield 3 Aftermath: 70s trailer

Battlefield 3 Aftermath: 70s trailer by igirisushinshi
Hi Guys,

Everyone seemed to like the original 70s trailer I did so I thought it worth doing one for the recently released Aftermath DLC.

Thanks for watching and I hope you guys enjoy it!

Previous video: http://youtu.be/U1r6jKS3xLs

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Smoke These Fools Proper version

Battlefield 3 Aftermath: Live Commentary

Battlefield 3 Aftermath: Live Commentary by igirisushinshi
Hi Guys,

Live commentary from last week playing Rush mode on Talah Market on the new Aftermath DLC. Which is very good by the way. Almost as much fun as Bad Company 2 :-)

Thanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe.

Previous video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIL4VQFDhg8

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Gaming blog: http://igirisunogema.blogspot.co.uk/

Battlefield 3 Aftermath: Let's Smoke These Fools

Battlefield 3 Aftermath: Let's Smoke These Fools by igirisushinshi
Hi Guys,

Played Aftermath for about 2 hours on Friday night. And this was the best round amongst many enjoyable ones. So 10 minutes and 38 seconds of unedited gameplay with our team steam-rolling the opposition. And I played pretty good too.

The audio comes courtesy of MuseOpen (http://musopen.org/) and Incomptech (http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/). If you needs the link then send me a message on YT or twitter and I can point you in the right direction.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/wb5fsN4FUno

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Gaming blog: http://igirisunogema.blogspot.co.uk/

Friday Funny: Trolling 70s Style

Friday Funny: Trolling 70s Style by igirisushinshi
Hi Guys,

A little video to make you all smile on this Friday afternoon :-)

Previous video: http://youtu.be/b6ZIu9ce-58

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Gaming blog: http://igirisunogema.blogspot.co.uk/

Say Hello To My Little Friend

Say Hello To My Little Friend by igirisushinshi
Hey Guys,

Not sure if the audio works on this but I do love my AN-94.

Hope you enjoyed it.

Battlefield 3 Aftermath highlights

Battlefield 3 Aftermath highlights by igirisushinshi
Hi Guys,

The more I play Aftermath the more I enjoy it. Scavenger is great because everyone is equal. And Rush mode now feels more balanced and *almost* as fun as Bad Company 2.

Music courtesy of the awesome Incomptech website.

Thanks for watching.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/E9egiI7XOD8

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Gaming blog: http://igirisunogema.blogspot.co.uk/

Battlefield 3 Aftermath Rush on Epicentre

Battlefield 3 Aftermath Rush on Epicentre by igirisushinshi
Hi Guys,

A few thoughts on Rush mode on the new Aftermath dlc. And my opinion so far is pretty positive. I've played a few more rounds since I recorded this and my opinion is that it $h1ts on Armored Kill rush for sure.

And the map is definitely Epicentre, not Markaz Monolith as I claim over and over again at the beginning of the video.

Played Azadi Palace on Rush last night and it's also an excellent rush map in my opinion. Unlike Alborz Mountain where I spent most of my time running and not shooting!

Thanks for wathcing guys, I hope you enjoyed it!

Battlefield 3 Aftermath Scavenger commentary

Battlefield 3 Aftermath Scavenger commentary by igirisushinshi


Hi Guys,

With a few rounds on Aftermath under my belt I thought I'd share a few early thoughts on this pretty awesome new DLC from DICE.

Map is called Talah Market and its very promising so far. I'd say Armored Kill was like DICE were hungover when they decided what it was going to be about. Aftermath is like DICE have spent the last two months playing Bad Company 2 and have figured out how to put the fun back into Battlefield 3.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/u9O1Ke8ZFTI

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Gaming blog: http://igirisunogema.blogspot.co.uk

Battlefield 3: Scavenger mode

Battlefield 3 Scavenger mode by igirisushinshi


Hi Guys,

No commentary I'm afraid on this video just raw gameplay. The map is Azadi Palace. I wanted to upload this as quickly as I could because most of the Aftermath footage I watched yesterday was poor quality. So I wanted to show that the PS3 can look pretty good sometimes ;-)

My first match on Scavenger mode. Interesting and very different to Rush. Mainly its Conquest Domination with random weapons. More spawn points on similarly sized maps. Which makes the matches pretty frantic! At least the idiots can't camp with a sniper rifle either.

Have another match to upload which I will do a commentary for. Can't wait to try Rush mode on these maps, from what I've read and watched they're a lot of fun.

Thanks for watching and I'll have the next video up soon.

The Killzone video I wanted to make...

Slightly different music than the version on DailyMotion...

Killzone 3 Is Boring?

Killzone 3 Is Boring? by igirisushinshi

Hopefully this video proves otherwise ;-) Hope you enjoy it and thanks for watching!

You know its going to be a long day when...

You know its going to be a long day when... by igirisushinshi

Another Dishonored Update

Another Dishonored Update by igirisushinshi Have decided from now on in my first play through am going to murder everyone I can find!

The Good Old Days Of Gaming

The Good Old Days of Gaming by igirisushinshi Hey Guys,

A look back at how I remember video gaming in days gone by. With some Hunt For Red October gameplay . And some Mercenary Force with a bit of Super Mario Land at the end.

Thanks for watching and I hope you enjoy!

Monday Humour - A Battlefield WTF? Moment

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My PSN Portable ID

A Very Short Dishonored Highlight Video

Hey Guys,

I was thinking my update video earlier today may have given the impression Dishonored was a bit dull. So here's a very short highlight video of about an hour's play. And I have managed to pick just about the dullest hours worth of footage to pick from.

Hopefully this will assure you that Dishonored features plenty of death and destruction!

Thanks for watching!

Previous video: http://youtu.be/PAFszn8XDyQ

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Dishonored Update

Hey Guys,

a quick update on my progress so far on Dishonored. Which remains an awesome game.

Thanks for watching!

Previous video: http://youtu.be/CriKbGnk1DU

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

A rusty return to the Battlefield

Hi Guys,

Thought I'd give Battlefield 3 another go. And I did rubbish. But I would like to hear of you think I played shit or they played really well. So let me know if you want.

Thanks for watching, sorry its a bit long!

Previous video: http://youtu.be/o2aAjlwmLgk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Retro Review: Super Mario Kart (SNES) - HD

One of the last reviews in my retrospective look at 16-bit racing games. Only Nigel Mansell F1 and Stunt Race FX left to go until we find the SNES's champion racer.

Tips on uploading to Youtube

Hi Guys,

I wanted to do a post on uploading videos to Youtube - gaming or any other category. And hopefully some of my experiences can help you avoid some of the pitfalls I have fallen into.

My setup is amazingly simple. I use an AverMedia Game Capture HD C281. This has in my opinion a number of advantages over the Hauppage devices. Number one it allows playthrough when switched off. Number two - most important of all for me - it that it supports two storage methods, neither of which includes linking it directly to your PC. I have an 8gb SSD installed inside. Which is enough for two hours recording on medium settings. Which is plenty good enough for Youtube or DailyMotion. Or - and I love this - it can record straight onto a USB memory stick or external drive. No messy wires.

One tip for anyone using an AverMedia is that it outputs .avi files. Which for some reason Premiere Pro doesn't like. I can't say whether they play nicely with Sony Vegas as I have never used it. There is some good news though. AverMedia themselves have released an official MP4 converter which outputs mp4 files (amazingly enough) which Premiere Pro does like.

Then I use Premiere Pro and sometimes After Effects to produce my videos.  I wont go into tips on using Premiere Pro as there's already a plethora of stuff out there on the internet.

But I will tell you the settings I use on Premiere Pro. Video size is 1280 x 720. I have it set to 59.97fps (why can't we have a straight 60fps?). Then when I export it I use H.264 mp4 with a video bit-rate of 5mbps. Not sure what the audio bit-rate is. But I did at first have the bit-rate at the default 10mbps but the videos looked horrible once uploaded to Youtube. Having spoken to other YT people the consensus is 5 is about as good as YT will allow.

So far so straightforward.

The difficulty in my opinion of Youtube comes from content. More specifically if you want to monetise your account. Anyone can monetise their account. Which is good news.

Youtube though likes to keep you on your toes and throw the odd hurdle or five in front of you.

There are a number of lessons I have learned on this score. Video content can only be monetised if either it's your own work (like say a video you've recorded of some fireworks) or you're partnered with someone like Machinima or Pixel Enemy. But the scope of what game footage you can monetise is also badly defined. I for example also upload retro videos - Gameboy, NES and SNES games - which can for some reason be monetised without a partnership with one of the big channels. I have to presume (though I stand to be corrected) its to do with the age of the games. PS3 game footage can be posted to Youtube but not monetised without a partnership. I did email EA (for Battlefield 3) and Geurrilla (for Killzone 3) directly. EA denied my request. But at least they replied. Guerrilla have never acknowledged a single tweet or email I've ever sent them.

You can also be pulled up on your audio. Obviously you own the copyright to your own voice. So for me uploading a review of F-Zero on the Super Nintendo for example means I can monetise it.

There can also be problems when adding music to a video. I have posted a number of videos with music and never had a problem. But this was because I expected there to be a problem. So my music is almost exclusively taken from Kevin Macleod's awesome website. And to press I have never been pulled up by the Youtube police for using any of his tracks. This might also be to do with the fact I use his music on Battlefield 3 and Killzone 3 videos so I don't attempt to monetise them.

But the one time I use a track from somewhere else was on the firework video I've linked to earlier in the article. I was at Alton Towers during a firework display. Whilst the fireworks were being let off they played some music. Called "The Hall of The Mountain King" by Edvard Grieg. The audio on the video was quite tinny so I decided to replace the audio with a proper copy of the music track. The copy of this track I got was from MuseOpen and all their content is 100% public domain and exempt from copyright claims. This hasn't stopped the Youtube police though. Within 10 minutes of the video going up I got a claim on my account from some Rights Management cowboys. So I put in my appeal the same wording I used on the video description. I didn't expect it to end well for me even though I was 99% sure I was ok to use the track without paying royalties. Low and behold though two hours later these cowboys "released" their claim on my video. But once  the rights management cowboys had finished Youtube decided to step in of their own accord. I had to provide proof of my freedom to use (read:monetise) this track. So I repeated what I had said earlier and also added a link to the MuseOpen page about public domain use. Three days later I am still waiting for them to monetise the video. Which is pissing me off as Nokia UK retweeted my link to the video so it currently has 134 views. I don't expect to make my living off Youtube but a couple of quid here and there wouldn't go amiss. But I can't make any money off the video as Youtube still haven't decided that I'm allowed to use the audio. Which sucks. A fellow YT uploader told me he got pulled up on a Chopin track.

The music industry is well behind the digital times (which might explain why gaming generates twice as much money as music in the UK...) and their draconian approach to trying to limit what we make money on is piss poor. Edvard Grieg wrote this track in 1867. He's unlikely to claiming copyright anytime soon. But someone always owns "it" when it comes to music. So just be careful about what you upload. Or just get it from InComptech :-)

Retro Review: F-Zero (SNES)

The Games I Used To Play

The Games I Used To Play by igirisushinshi

Which is better - Killzone 2 or Killzone 3?

Before I get stuck into the main meat of this post I just wanted to clarify this piece ONLY relates to the multiplayer parts of the games - I haven't played either single player campaign so can't comment on those.

Right, that being said I wanted to share a few thoughts on the question of which game is better? Killzone 2 or Killzone 3?

I played a couple of rounds of Killzone 3 last night. It shocked me that I was in a match that was 12 v 12 - something I haven't seen on Killzone 3 for months.  But it also brought up some of the issues I have with both games.

Graphics
This one belongs to Killzone 3. Without doubt. It's a step ahead of Killzone 2. It looks that bit sharper in my opinion. And brighter. Which for me makes it that little bit easier to see what the hell is going on. One complaint I had against Killzone 2 (and World @ War on the Wii while we're at it) was that in places it was so dark it was very hard to differentiate between backgrounds and enemies.

Guerrilla made a big deal about the snow effect in Killzone 3. Quite rightly, in as much as it looks very convincing and does obscure your view. But that's why I don't like it - on Akmir Snowdrift in particular it just gets on my nerves rather than enhancing my experience in any way.

One small point I would make about Killzone 3 is the screens you get when you load up and try to get in to an online match etc... are far too red. They're awful. But it wouldn't stop me recommending you buying the game.

Sound
I'll cover this one quickly. Which is easy as they're both aurally excellent. Good effects from what's going on around you and meaty sounds to all the guns. Good. Next.

Gameplay
The two games are pretty close on this one. That's because not much was added to Killzone 3. You get the new Operations mode in KZ3 which is in essence Rush mode from Battlefield: Bad Company 2. And that's the only difference.

A quick note on Operations - I rarely enjoy a match on it. That's because in my humble opinion the maps are rubbish.  It only works on 3 maps - Akmir Snowdrift, Frozen Dam and Mawlr Graveyard. And none of them are any good.

But Warzone is present on both games and I love these matches. Guerilla Warfare is straight TDM which doesn't really light my fire all that much but each to their own.

The one thing (which I've mentioned more than once) that makes for better matches in Killzone 2 is the inclusion of a server browser. This means you can gurantee a full server when you join a match. Which is something you can't do in Killzone 3. I would love to hear from the devs as to why they took it out in KZ3 but despite numerous attempts to find out on twitter and the like I'm none the wiser.

One of the few downsides to both games is the lack of kill-cam or even the kill screen you get in Battlefield which does at least give some clue where your opponent is. But in these games you get nothing which means the cloaking snipers can basically hide/snipe with impunity for as long as they want. 

So overall Killzone 3 wins because it has the game modes from KZ2 and adds Operations mode. It adds jetpacks and exo skeletons. Which are f***ing awesome.

Alton Towers Fireworks Grand Finale

Last couple of minutes of the fireworks display - the grand finale.
Alton Towers Fireworks Finale - Sunday 4th... by igirisushinshi

My Dailymotion channel

igirisushinshi's videos on Dailymotion

Retro Review - Street Racer (SNES)

Retro Review - Street Racer (SNES) by igirisushinshi

Retro Review: Rock'n'Roll Racing (SNES)

Hey there retro fans,

Time for another installment of Retro Review. Today we have a look at the highly enjoyable Rock'n'Roll Racing on the Super Nintendo from 1993.

This will be part of a short series where I try to find the 16-bit era's best racing game.

Previous video: Killzone 4 - What I'd Like to See http://youtu.be/xjkAlAGsFnk

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

PSN: r_o_s_s_7_7

Killzone 4 - What I'd Like To See

Dishonored - Initial Thoughts

A shift in attitude

I've been playing online FPS almost exclusively for the last 18 months if not a bit longer. Going back to February 2011 when I bought Killzone 3 I haven't played much else other than online FPS games - Bad Company 2, Battlefield 3 and even Modern Warfare 3 occasionally.

But in the last few weeks I've grown weary of these. Mainly I suspect because a I don't get much time online these days - maybe 2 hours a week - which means I'm not very good.  So I get my as kicked an awful lot.

I can't for example remember the last time I won a round of Rush on Battlefield 3. Or even went plus figures on BF3 in Rush mode.  I don't expect to win every match or normally care that I don't finish in plus figures. But to repeatedly keep losing and taking a thrashing at the same time has gotten boring.  The only game type I enjoy on BF3 these days is Conquest Domination. Which I still seem to do well at.  As for all the other game types I'm either really shit or just get crap team-mates who don't go for the objective. Either way when I'm the only one pushing to get to the m-coms it gets tedious. And in fairness I've never really enjoyed Conquest all that much unless playing with friends where talking on the headset distracts from the monotony.

Likewise in Killzone 3 - last time I played it was 2 vs 5 and my one and only team-mate stood right to an opponent and neither of them was shooting their "enemy". Instead they BOTH shot me. So that was a waste of time. Which is a shame as KZ3 is still a very pretty game and plays beautifully. When its more than 4 a side that is.

So I'm shit at Battlefield 3 and no one plays Killzone 3 any more. And until COD gets dedicated servers I wont be putting any time into that game either.

So what does this mean?

Well I just acquired a copy of Dishonored from a colleague. And I've also got InFamous 1 & 2 on my hard drive. And Just Cause 2.  So I'm going to stick to offline single player games for a while. I had considered a look at the new Medal of Honor game but EA decided to shaft us PS3 owners and make the beta Xbox only so I wont be bothering with that.

I'm about an hour into InFamous at the moment and am enjoying it on the whole. I like the fact I'm enjoying a game without guns for a start...  I've already reviewed Just Cause 2 a while back but am also going to finish it some day soon.

But for the foreseeable future I'll be playing Dishonored. Its received excellent reviews and I'm looking forward to playing it. From the videos I've seen it reminded me in some ways of Tenchu back on the PS1. Stealth kills (which is what I'll be aiming for) require patience and sometimes even planning.

So I'll be leaving the battlefield alone for a while. See you guys in Dunwall!

Remembering Battlefield

Hey Guys,

I know its been a while since my last upload. This video was originally submitted to Pixel Enemy Revive. Sadly it didn't make the cut. But here it is - I did spend quite a lot of time on this cutting it together and choosing the music so it seemed madness not letting you guys have a watch.

The second audio track (the bit behind the Battlefield 3 clips) comes courtesy of Fixate Records. The track is called Broken Bone by a guy called Jim Ross and can be bought at a very reasonable price from here: http://www.beatport.com/track/broken-bone-original-mix/3285260.

Not sure about my next vid - been playing a lot of single player games recently and Dishonored arrived in the post today so I suspect some action from that will be next.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/d4oLdaSjFR4

Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

PSN: r_o_s_s_7_7

Battlefield 3 - The 70's trailer

I had a lot of fun making this video so I hope you guys enjoy it!

Killzone 4 imminent?

Hey guys a short video with my thoughts on why I think we'll see Killzone 4 next February. Some gameplay from the under-rated Mobile Factory map from Killzone 3.

Armored Kill - Live comm on Death Valley (Rush mode)

Hey Guys, thought I'd a live comm on my first decent stab a round of Rush on the new Armored Kill map Death Valley. Plus a few thoughts on the crushing defeat I suffered twice on the trot on Bandar Desert - the biggest Battlefield map ever.

Armored Kill - Armored Shield Conquest gameplay

Hey guys, in an effort to get this uploaded as quickly as possible I haven't done a commentary - it was my first game so I didn't a lot to say. But will do some commentary for the stuff I record tonight.

Ambushing tanks on Operation Firestorm

Hey Guys, a very short video of me attempting to ambush a tank on Op. Firestorm whilst VERY bored playing Conquest. Apologies for the abrupt ending. Hopefully some Armored Kill or Killzone 3 next.

A short highlight reel from a recent Oasis match

Hey guys thought I'd try something a little different. I can't do montages because I'm not that good a player. So instead here's the highlights of a recent match on Oasis in Bad Company 2. The best bit for me was getting 5 out of the first 6 m-coms. And I want to apologise for the music - it was the best I could do. Getting free royalty-free music is harder than it sounds. Pardon the pun. Its not great music but its not awful either.

More ramblings with Bad Company 2 gameplay

Hey guys, some thoughts on playing Bad Company 2 over the last week or so and then a few thoughts on the latest currently Battlefield Premium only video demonstrating the four new maps in Armored Kill.

Just Cause 2 - live comm and review

Hey guys a quick live commentary of one the earlier missions (my second I think) and my review and thoughts of this game. Its a bit old but now free on the Playstation Store for Playstation Plus members.And its also a game I've wanted to play (but no necessarily complete) for a long time since the demo.

Anyhoot I hope you guys enjoy. Next up will be some Oasis gameplay on Bad Company 2 which I recorded last night. Its 25 minutes long so I suspect I'll need to cut it down as you lot don't want to listen to me for twenty five minutes.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/5z-IP2P8O8k

Find me on Twitter: http://twittter.com/77roscoe

Not Black Ops 2: some thoughts on Gamescom and other stuff

Hey Guys, sorry its been a while but some thoughts on MOH: Warfighter, Black Ops 2 and a few other odds and sods. Just Cause 2 live comm/review coming up next.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/dKbIyT2EEV8

Find me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Battlefield 4 - My thoughts and some other news

Hey Guys, just a few thoughts from me about the recent announcement of the existence of Battlefield 4. And more importantly the lack of Bad Company 3! And a few words on why I haven't been uploading as many videos as I'd like recently.

Previous video: http://youtu.be/sHeHCL9bPjw

My Twitter: http://twitter.com/77roscoe

Life in the real world

Hey guys,

I don't often mention my real life on Youtube but I thought this warranted a quick mention.

In November I'm doing an event called Tough Mudder. I'll hopefully raise a few bob for a local hospice too. But in the likely event you've never heard of it here's a quick taster....

A Public Service Announcement for Battlefield 3

Nostalgia Corner: NBA Jam T.E. My review

Bad Company 2: Rush Defence on Valparaiso

Will We See Killzone 4?

Where did it go wrong for Nintendo & Sega - Part One

In this series of blog posts I want to discuss where its all gone wrong for Nintendo and Sega.  As you are probably already aware Sega pulled out of the hardware business after the Dreamcast tanked.  That wasn't to say it was a particularly bad machine but I personally think it was released too soon after the Saturn. But these days Sega now concentrate on software - more specifically games - rather than hardware. It has to be said Nintendo seem to be heading in the same direction.

But why? My own thoughts are that this had been coming to Nintendo for some time.  The reasons Sega ended up pulling out of making hardware was, in my opinion, that they were a little bit too adventurous and expensive. Going all the way back to the Genesis and Game Gear, Sega were always keen to produce gimmick add-ons that whilst they did provide extra functionality they were expensive and often poorly supported. Examples of this would be the Game Gear's TV adapter and the Genesis' 32X and Mega-CD.

Nintendo have shown glimpses of the same behaviour with devices such as the Virtual Boy which was a disaster in every possible way.  But that isn't the reason in my opinion. For me the reason Nintendo's profits are now on the skids is because they are too conservative with hardware.

I will try to qualify that now. For as long as I can remember Nintendo seem to sell their hardware for slightly less than the comparable Sega product. The Gameboy I seem to remember was similarly priced to the Game Gear but it had much better battery life due to it sporting a black and white display and had an arguably better catalogue of games. The NES obliterated the Master System everywhere except the US where sales were moderate for the Sega machine. The SNES was cheaper than the Genesis and was better in a couple of areas - it had a superior sound chip and it had dedicated graphics capabilities for rotating backgrounds - the famous Mode 7.

The slide downhill in Nintendo's case begins with the N64. Whilst it did have revolutionary games like Goldeneye and Mario 64 the biggest problem was that it was cartridge based.  The N64 was released in 1994. Sony had released their Playstation two years earlier and whilst arguably comparable in terms of graphics the Playstation, being CD-Rom based meant the games were cheaper to manufacture and also allowed the owner to listen to music CDs and play video cds.  By being two years late bringing their products to market and handicapping it by making it more costly for everyone they were simply shooting themselves in the foot. Ironically the Playstation was created specifically to annoy Nintendo after a partnership project between the two to produce a CD-Rom attachment for the SNES fell through and Nintendo turned Judas and opted to work with Philips.

I have always found Nintendo's excuse - sorry - reason for sticking with cartridges with to reduce piracy - something quite laughable when we look back now at the DS which has had virtually it's whole library ripped onto the internet and loaded onto countless R4 and DSTT cartridges...

Part Two. 

Street Fighter II Turbo The New Challengers - My Review

Street Fighter II Turbo The New Challengers - couldn't Capcom think of a longer title? ;-)

Anyway my thoughts on this seminal scrapper even though I'm terrible at fighting games. As you'll soon see.

Modern Warfare 3 - Live Commentary [HD]

I don't really enjoy Modern Warfare 3 - or 2 for that matter. Call of Duty peaked in my humble opinion with Modern Warfare 1 and World at War. But a quick video of me "enjoying" Modern Warfare 3. Hope you enjoy. Subscribe if you want ;-)

Sometimes I really love Battlefield 3. When it plays well it's by far the best game around at the moment for my money. Sadly it doesn't do this very often for me... For my money Bad Company 2 is a better, more balanced game and plays consistently well. For me at least.  But here's a quick video illustrating one of the examples of why I get p***ed off now and again. Enjoy.

My Youtube channel

Hey there fans of games old and new! If you want to have a look at my handiwork on trusty Youtube then you can find my channel here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/IgirisuNoGema

And I hope you enjoy the videos!

Super Mario Land (Gameboy, 1989)

The whole series of Super Mario games is synonymous with platforming. If you’re over the age of 15 and into games in any way then the chances are you’ve played one of Nintendo’s many fabulous platforming games.

Super Mario Land on the Gameboy - because of the limitations of the hardware - had to strip down the Mario experience to its core. That is perfect platform action.  As far as the gameplay goes on this game its virtually perfect. Every press of the D-pad or button does what you want (and indeed expect...) it to do.  Everything “feels” solid and reliable and pixel perfect. There’s no clipping or dodgy graphics (see my Mercenary Force video for an example of how not to code graphics on the Gameboy) all the sprites are animated perfectly.

Audio wise it’s fairly middling stuff. Plinky plonky tunes that (even though there were made into a music single) aren’t really on the same level as the Castlevanias of the world. Its not to say it bad - it just isn’t anything remarkable either. Castlevania showed that Gameboy can pull off some half decent tunes if the programmers have the time/skill to do them.

Replay value for my money is quite high. The game is both short enough to finish on your lunch break but at the same time long enough to last longer than the blink of an eye. Last time I played through it took me under 30 minutes. And there’s the level select you unlock when you’ve completed the game twice in a row.  The game is enjoyable enough that even though I’ve played it over 100 times I still like going through it all again. For me that’s a hallmark of programmers who know how to code a good game. Unlike Mario Kart for example which I personally find infuriating.

The one thing I would criticise this for - that I only noticed recently playing through a number of other GB titles - is that I think the graphics are quite lacklustre. They move perfectly but the backgrounds are on occasions fairly bland. The enemy sprites look ok but Mario is a little blob of pixels with no detail. If you compare this to Navy Seals which has very rich backgrounds and characters - it looks almost amateurish. For my money at least.


But whatever you do - if you have the means - you should play this game.  Its a classic, it was perfect for the gameboy and there’s plenty of secrets in there if you have the time to look for them. It definitely worth a few Pounds, Dollars, Euros etc... of your money to play this classic game.

Konichiwa!

Hey Guys & Gals,

Just a quick hello for now. I will be uploading stuff to Youtube in time but for now I'll answer the most obvious question - what does Igirisu Nogema mean? Well its Japanese for English Gamer. What do you mean you didn't know?

Ross