2011 Gaming Progress

Gamerscore Earned This Year
17,960

Trophies Earned This Year
5 Platinum
32 Gold
104 Silver
341 Bronze

Games Working On

World of Warcraft (PC)
Star Wars The Old Republic (PC)
Assassin's Creed Revelations (Xbox 360)
Pokemon Rumble Blast (3DS)

Games Completed In 2011

1. Fable 3 (Xbox 360)
2. Command & Conquer 4 Tiberium Twilight (PC)
3. God of War: Ghost of Sparta (PSP)
4. Ghost Trick (DS)
5. Batman Arkham Asylum (PC)
6. Plants VS Zombies (Xbox 360 Arcade Live)
7. Professor Layton and Pandora's Box (DS)
8. NHL 2K6 (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
9. Mass Effect 2 (Playstation 3)
10. Transformers War for Cybertron (Xbox 360)
11. Resistance Fall of Man (Playstation 3)
12. Call of Duty World at War (Playstation 3)
13. Bulletstorm (Xbox 360)
14. Eat Lead: Return of Matt Hazard (Playstation 3)
15. Batman Arkham Asylum Game of the Year Edition (PC)
16. Homefront (Xbox 360)
17. Command & Conquer Red Alert 3 (Xbox 360)
18. Lego Star Wars 3 Clone Wars (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
19. Ben 10 Ultimate Alien Cosmic Destruction (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
20. Portal 2 (Xbox 360)
21. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 (Playstation 3)
22. Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
23. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
24. Brink (Xbox 360)
25. Spiderman Shattered Dimensions (Xbox 360)
26. Lego Star Wars 3 Clone Wars (PlayStation 3) - Platinum Trophy 
27. Resistance Fall of Man 2 (Playstation 3)
28. Batman Arkham Asylum (Playstation 3) 
29. Megamind (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
30. Uncharted (PlayStation 3)
31. Green Lantern Rise of the Manhunters (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
32. Bulletstorm (PC)
33. Professor Layton and the Lost Future (DS)
34. Uncharted 2 (PlayStation 3)
35. Megamind (PlayStation 3) - Platinum Trophy
36. Starcraft 2 (PC)
37. Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (Xbox 360)
38. X-Men The Official Game (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
39. Dawn of War 2 Retribution (PC) - All races campaigns completed
40. Deus EX Human Revolution (Xbox 360)
41. Gears of War 3 (Xbox 360)
42. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (PlayStation 3) - Platium Trophy
43. Shadow of the Colossus (PlayStation 3) - Normal/Normal Time
44. Batman Arkham City (Xbox 360)
45. NCIS (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
46. Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360) - Hard mode
47. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360) - Veteran Mode
48. Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
49. CSI Fatal Conspiracy (Xbox 360) - 1,000 Gamerscore
50. CSI Fatal Conspiracy (PlayStation 3) - Platinum Trophy
51. Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call (DS)
52. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception (PlayStation 3)
53. Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 (PlayStation 3) - Platinum Trophy

2011 Releases Completed
- 24/78 - 31% -

1. Ghost Trick (DS)
2. Mass Effect 2 (PS3)
3. Bulletstorm (X360)
4. Homefront (X360)
5. Lego Star Wars 3 Clone Wars (X360) 
6. Portal 2 (X360) 
7. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (X360)
8. Brink (X360)
9. Lego Star Wars 3 Clone Wars (PS3) 
10. Green Lantern Rise of the Manhunters (X360)
11. Bulletstorm (PC) 
12. Dawn of War 2 Retribution (PC) 
13. Deus EX Human Revolution (X360)
14. Gears of War 3 (X360)
15. Lego Pirates of the Caribbean (PS3)
16. Shadow of the Colossus (PS3)
17. Batman Arkham City (X360)
18. Battlefield 3 (X360)
19. NCIS (X360)
20. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (X360)
21. Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 (X360)
22. Professor Layton and the Spectre's Call (DS)
23. Uncharted 3 Drake's Deception (PS3)
24. Lego Harry Potter Years 5-7 (PS3)

Fifteen Hours to Go

Morning Gamers,
Well only fifteen and half hours to go until Sony's big announcement happens, I'm very excited to see what they announce today. We all know it's pretty much their new console thanks to the teaser trailers talking about their past consoles plus with the advertising say it will change gaming you know it's got to be a new console. That or they announcing a brand new exclusive game but it would be a little too much hype just for that.

Anyway I thought I would put down a post before the event with what I'm hoping to see, plus I needed to do a general update. Well I'm hoping the rumours are trouble with the new controller design, I like the Dual shock but I hate the triggers, I find it annoying that I had to go and buy Gioteck clip on triggers to stop my finger slipping. Also the analog sticks need a better grip for your thumbs, maybe a slight indent could help there. So yeah I'm hoping for those two things to change and that's it for me, long as the pad is comfortable I'm happy.

The Console itself, well I'm not sure what I want it to do just as long as the download/install speeds improve because the PlayStation 3 is a joke when it comes to that. It's like being on dial up all over again and there is no excuse how it can be so bad. Oh yeah there is something I don't want, constant Internet connection and no Pre-owned. Now don't get me wrong all my consoles are pretty much constantly connected to the Internet but what happens if the net goes down, everyone has had that problem at least once. I don't want the net going down and then making my console useless to play while I have to wait for it to come back on. What happens if it happen suddenly in a middle of game, does it shut off and not let me save? if they going to do this they need to really look into properly since no Internet Provider is 100% up.

Pre-owned is a tough subject for everyone, I can understand completely that the Publisher and Developers get zero of the profit made from Pre-Owned. But on the other hand you got to expect a decrease in sales if you wipe out the Pre-Owned business, too many games are released in the same time frame and most people cannot afford all of them. Without trading in old games there be no way I could get all my new games, plus what if a game sucks? I'm stuck with it forever? then I won't be taking chances with games I'm not sure on. As I said it will decrease sales no matter what anyone says but I do understand something needs to be done so they see some of the money, hell they made the game.

Think I'm getting off track right now, basically I want an awesome console announced tonight with lots of new sparkly features to keep me entertained. I would also love to see a release date and that it will be this year, plus if we lucky some games to go with it. Uncharted 4 for launch will make it a day one purchase for me.

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Actually before I change the subject fully away, the event is at 11pm GMT tonight so what the hell! typical since I will be at the Gears of War Judgement Lock-in at that time. Will have to take my iPad with me so I can stream it in the background, multi-tasking for the win although it is a Microsoft event so wonder how that will go down. So yeah subject change, Gears of War! cannot wait to play it tonight and see it in action although in another way playing it a month early will only make me want it right now. I played the God of War the other weekend as well, wasn't it a lock-in event more of a demo pod but my god the level was fun. Also walked away with a free Kratos Sackboy keyring as well which is awesome. As I said the other day it's going to be a busy day, since I will have a few hours after work and before the event I'm not sure what I will be playing.

I clocked Call of Duty the other day so I'm now balanced again with my challenge, I ordered Hitman HD collection for the PS3 since it was in the Mega Monday sale on Zavvi for £15. £5 for each game was a steal to me so had to order it, actually I could work on that. Also still got Saints Row the Third and Ni No Kuni to work on as well, the PlayStation 3 is really getting some love lately. Probably because I do love the Trophy system and a lot of my friends have moved over from the Xbox, of course it does not mean I've given up on my Xbox.

Think my challenge is going to struggle over the next few weeks since the March line up will be starting, not sure how I had originally planned to complete that many games to get all that lot. But I will be trying my best to keep clocking as much as I can, cannot allow my Pile of Shame to get any bigger. Well on that note I'm going to head off, too much rambling on this post so I think it's time to end it. Have a good one folks and no doubt I will be posting later or tomorrow with the outcome from today.
~Iznic

Early Morning

No idea why I woke up at 6.50am this morning, I do have to go out early this morning but I have plenty of time to get ready. Anyway thought it would be a good time as any to update the blog with my weekend adventures. Well the big thing yesterday was finally hitting level 90 in World of Warcraft, I was aiming for it since I had only 30% to go and then forgot. Trying to get a dungeon group was a pain all day, people kept quiting mid fight or would be put in a group who was already half way done. So yeah I was surprised when the level 90 hit half way through a boss fight, nearly got myself killed because I was jumping for joy.

Other then that I did have a huge blast on Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, completed another four levels maybe more. Might try and finish that today since I think I got be at the end game now plus once it's done I can post it back to Lovefilm for another game. That was it really other then a few multiplayer matches in Battlefield 3, oh man was that awesome. Got myself into an awesome squad and team, four of the five matches we won. Clocked a few achievements and got to level 3/4 so it was a great session, also I love the base jump map. I had no clue what was happening since we took the base and there was no one around and the markers for the next attack was below. Bit scary when you walk to the edge and look down, proper "oh shit" moment although it was funny because I looked down then next thing I know one of my team drives his tank right off the edge and jumps out mid fall. Got to be the best base jump I've seen so far and I cannot wait to play that level again.

So anyway that was my weekend in a nut shell, I did lose a few hours yesterday evening due to the Destiny reveal but I was expecting that. So plans for today is to try and clock Call of Duty and everything else is just a bonus. I want to say I will get some more blog posts up since I do owe you guys a few but no promises. I will update the blog stats a little later but for now I'm off to go get ready so have a good one folks.
~Iznic

Destiny

Wow!



The potential for this game is incredible and I cannot wait to play it, if it stays on track this could be one of the best games ever released. The only problem with this announcement? not a lot of game play or information given about how it plays. But what we do know is that it will be always connected to the interest since it will be a MMO'ish FPS. There will be a story campaign that you can do co-op but a world you can connect to like World of Warcraft, it's very sketchy on these details.

Story is man kind spanned the stars but something happened and now what's left of Humanity is based in one city that is under threat from, well every bloody thing in the universe from the looks. We must had annoyed few people in the past to get this level of attention.

Anyway how awesome is the documentary, it looks amazing and the potential it as blows my mind. I love the bits you see with the app as well, they really want this game to be big part of your life. Hopefully we will be seeing a lot more at E3 and maybe before, say the next generation consoles announcements?.

One interesting thing that was pulled from the trailer that is going crazy on the Internet right now was a picture of a new Xbox logo. Xbox Infinity in fact was the title, so could do this be the next generation Xbox, or a brilliant prank on the gaming community. Time will tell but either way this game will be going on my "want list" and expect more posts once they put more information up.
~Iznic

Destiny Reveal Soon

Afternoon folks,
We are now about thirty minutes away from finding out about the new Bungie game "Destiny" and I got to say I'm very excited. It looks IGN is doing most of the reveal stuff so pop over to their main Destiny Hub page which can be found here.

There is also mean't to be a youtube channel somewhere as well but not got a link for that, but I'm also hearing the dashboard on Xbox Live will be streaming a special IGN preview as well. Also there is the official twitter account and facebook account for Destiny as well so keep an eye on those as well.

Well I'm ending this post since I'm going to go make a cup of tea then comfortable ready for the live stream, will do a post after with my thoughts.
~Iznic

Valentine Events

Just a quick one folks but a few games have been setting special events for Valentines day, first up is Simpsons Tapped Out where you can get five free donuts today. That's in the game special currency that you normal swap your cash for so getting some for free is always awesome. Plus I'm hearing they done another update today and increased the town level from 25 to 26 which adds the Wiggum's house which will unlock Ralph and of course a new storyline quest. Will be checking that out in a minute myself.

Onto other games Borderlands 2 have posted up "Loverpalooza" and given out a shift code to redeem, if you not signed up for shift codes then you need to. Most weeks the twitter account for Gearbox Software post up shift codes to unlock Golden Keys, in fact I will try and post up here when a new code goes up. You can also follow Gearbox on twitter yourself and the link is here. Anyway back to the point, Loverpalooza code gives you a special skin for each character (think pink and see above) and Moxxi's "Heartbreaker" shotgun which will adjust to the level of the first character you login with. Bit gutted about that since my character is quite low level since I've not been working on the game, but my own fault really. Anyway the full details can be found on the Gearbox software community page right here but I've been nice and put the codes below as well, you have until February 17th to redeem.

PC / Mac Loverpalooza SHiFT Code: W3KJ3-69JR5-9CXT3-JTJJT-WSCK5
Xbox 360 Loverpalooza SHiFT Code: W3W3B-BHX9K-3TSTX-WXJ3J-XCHKH
PlayStation 3 Loverpalooza SHiFT Code: WJCJJ-HCBFB-CCKC3-H3CJT-6FBHW

So that's it for now but if I see anything else interesting I will do another post, have a good one folks and Happy Valetimes/Loverpalooza!
~Iznic

Happy Valentines

Hello all,
Happy Valentines everyone! hope you all having a great romantic day with your love ones or spending a great night with your favourite game. Thought it was about time I posted up an update with what's been happening which is not a lot to be honest. It's been one of those weeks where I was too busy to do anything really, in fact the only gaming I have been doing is keeping my Simpson's Tapped Out up to date and doing the quick Love is in the Air dungeon for Warcraft.

Made up for it today though with two more levels completed on Veteran for Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 PS3 (current rental) and did one of the quest story missions on Saints Row the Third PS3. This weekend I will be playing some more multiplayer again with COD Black Ops 2 and Battlefield 3, been really getting into those two games and I probably will be picking up the season pass for Black Ops at this rate. Anyway my goal for this weekend since there is really not much left of the week, is to finish my rental which would be my tenth game for my challenge. Now I would jump for joy since that would give me a credit so I could buy Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires next week, but well...yeah I caved again on Monday. Hitman HD Collection for the PlayStation 3 was only £15 which is amazing price so I put a order down, plus three platinum trophies! how could I say no.

Also that reminds me I'm counting the game as one credit to purchase but it will be worth three games for completing since they all full games, well except the Xbox one since Blood Money I've already done on it so two for that version. Back to topic anyway so I'm currently minus again for my challenge so I need to finish one more game to cover the purchase then clock two more for next week, who's bright idea was it for this challenge? Just thinking after that is the March line up with at least four to six games at least.

Anyway that's a depressing thought and let's talk about something more fun, well let's start with next week with lots of announcements about to happen. Got Bungie on Sunday with their new game Destiny which could be awesome if the rumours are true, then on Wednesday with got Sony announcing something which everyone is banking on the next console. So it's going to be an interesting week, in fact Wednesday is jam packed since Assassin's Creed 3 is launching the first DLC episode and I've got the Gears of War Judgement lock-in if I can sort out getting their and back. It's going to be awesome next week and I've just realise there was a Nintendo Direct today with 3DS/Wii U games so I really should go sit and watch that. In fact I will do that now before I end this post and then I can add my thought's.

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Got to love the Luigi hat at the start, I want one of those when I'm playing on my 3DS. Got to say the Luigi mansion 2 does look but it's not up my street, OK readers check out the video above for the full thing I'm only going to talk about games I'm interested in, sorry but the blog is about my gaming adventures lol. 

Damn March 22nd for Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, I'm still not picking up a Wii U yet but I am tempted for the 3DS version. Nearly had an heart attack when the video showed off the consoles bundles, my first thought was "OMG! Limited Edition consoles". Thank god they are just normal consoles bundled with a copy of the game, bit disappointed they not doing some kind of special console with Monster Hunter artwork but then at the same relieved since I would not able to afford them.

So they will be releasing the circle pad extension for the XL finally, might be tempted if I do get the game since I would play it on my Pikachu XL. Although I did get the circle pad cheap for the 3DS and I've still got my Toad console, would save me some more money but the bigger screen would be better. Very tough decisions that one and oh damn that looks awesome, the part for connecting the 3DS and Wii U just came up. It looks awesome on the big screen with the Wii U version, stop tempting me Nintendo! although the footage on the 3DS xl looks awesome as well. Ah sweet a demo is coming next week, just another thing to add to the list of things to do next week.

Well personally I was hoping to hold off getting it straight away but I can tell it probably will be a day one purchase with how good it looks. Ohhh April 19th for Fire Emblem, I've heard so many good things about this game and all my American friends have pretty much sold it to me. Against this was another game I was hoping to hold off on when I first heard of it but over the past few weeks it's been crazy how many good things I've heard about it.

Oh bugger! Fire Emblem special edition XL is coming to Europe, should had known when he said he was sorry for the huge delay. Hmmm do I want it is the question and it's the month after all the huge line up, plus I'm sure there is quite a few games hitting in April as well. I swear the Gaming Gods don't like me right now since they trying to bankrupt me. Whoa hang on the original special edition was a normal 3DS, we getting an XL?? took me a minute to realise that. Not sure what to think now since I've just looked it up on google and it seems to be missing the edge corner artwork but in it's favour is the matt finish which I prefer over the shiny finish which all the normal 3DS come as. Although sometimes it does look good and can be pulled off, think I really need to see a version and not a picture. OK I just pressed play again and he's showing one off in his hands, it looks a lot darker then the picture and hard to tell the image. Wow the cut scene animations look beautiful for the game and the game play is nicely done. Free DLC as well so I'm pretty much sold on this, although I was already pretty much sold before even watching the video. Not sure on the console though now after seeing more of it, see what happens over the next few weeks and which stores will be supplying it.

Blimey I forgot there was a Etrian Odyssey coming out for the 3DS, now I did play the DS one since it was quite cheap in the Pre-Owned section once. It was an unique game where you basically explored a giant labyrinth, I did not get too much into it since well I have a lot of stuff to play but it was a good game from what I saw. This could be interesting but it depends when they release it since it's listed for Spring. Same goes for Project X Zone from Namco, tactical RPG is usually up my street but I'm normally not a fan of crossover games because well, the story usually sucks. Will be adding both of these games anyway to the watch list and in fact I could do with a blog page for this list because no doubt I will forget them.

Wait wait wait! the Zelda concerts was held in 2011? it's been nearly two years? are you serious I thought that was last year, dang I'm losing track of time. Sorry I know that was a bit random but it was kinda shocking when he said how good it was in 2011, I really did not think it was that long ago. Anyway back to talking about the games and I see they finally releasing the next Mystery Dungeon in the Pokemon series. Never finished one of these yet and I don't think I picked up the last one as well, hmm I like the new AR system but not sure if I will be picking up. If I'm not going to play it like the rest then I'm just wasting my money, but I have until May at least to think about it.

Ohh a new Mario vs Donkey Kong, I love these games since they remind me a lot of Lemmings back in the day. Ah it will be a download title so that's put me off slightly since I've not been a fan of Nintendo with their digital section, mostly with the lack of being able to recover stuff if the console goes faulty or getting a new one. I've heard they have improved but still weary about it, will have to see when it comes out anyway. Anyway that it's for me and Nintendo Direct for the day, plus the end of this post as well. Sorry it's been a huge long post of really random stuff but oh well.

So have a good one folks and I will catch up with you all soon,

~Iznic

Splinter Cell Blacklist Special Editions

If you not seen the big collectors edition announced for Splinter Cell then I got ask what rock you been living under. Before I start talking about it though there is another special edition that as popped up and not many know about it.

First up I know only of the UK information so sorry for those in Europe and America, check out this awesome site (collectorsedition.org) that's dedicated to gaming collector editions and see if they have any information. Anyway it's a special pre-order bonus for the normal edition from Amazon.co.uk so if you not into your big collectors editions that cost an arm and a leg then might be up your street.

Looks cool does it not? exclusive steelbook which looks awesome, golden goggles for the game, in-game armour suit "Upper Echelon" and a bonus mission to play. Plus a A2 poster is also thrown in which looks to be a map of the world. Not bad to say all that's free when you buy the normal edition, I've placed an order down myself since I doubt I will be getting the collectors edition.

Say hello to the Paladin Aircraft Edition which comes with a Paladin RC aircraft to play with, in the game the Paladin Aircraft is the base of operations. It looks cool and as to be said that's how to make a collectors edition but the price is ridiculous, right now it's only announced for America and its $169.99. You got to hope the RC aircraft is good quality and not like the Black Ops 2 drone, which by the way was made of polystyrene (comes with stickers to repair it as well). If it came out in the UK and was at a decent price then I might be tempted but right now it's not on my radar.

So personal opinion aside lets talk about what you get inside, well of course the remote controlled aircraft is the main item. Graphics novel (88 pages) to tie into the story plus a co-op map then the Upper Echelon pack which is the gold goggles, mission and suit which is what you get in the pre-order edition above.

Well that's it folks for this post, anyone tempted by the Paladin Edition? anyone actually getting the game? I loved Double Agent and did enjoy Conviction.
~Iznic

Start of the Weekend

Morning folks,
Got an hour or so before I need to leave for work so I've decided to get on with some my jobs for the weekend, of course I made to sure put on my to do list blogging posts so here I am. Just updated my 2013 stats page so it's now 100% up to date finally, big thing to announce is that I finished the story yesterday for Medal of Honor Warfighter.

It's an ok shooter but I wouldn't say it's anything great, quite a few bugs and I really could not get into the story at the start. In fact most of the game I had no idea what I was doing or why I was doing it until the last few missions. That being said if you do look your first person shooters do give it a try when it's cheaper, it does have a few nice elements to it. Anyway that was my 8th game to be completed this year so I'm off to a really good start and my 9th for my challenge so I just need one more clocked and I can buy Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires at the end of the month. Lovefilm have sent me Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 for the PS3 so I'm currently playing through that on Veteran difficulty, hopefully I will have that done soon.

You probably wondering why I've not been playing Ni No Kuni though, am I right? well I have to be in the mood to play huge games like RPG's etc. Right now it's been a stressful week so I really did not want to get into anything that I had to remember a lot of stuff to play, shooting games are pretty much easy to pick up and play without having to remember much. But anyway I do have plans to give it a good old bash this weekend plus with several other games, in fact my want to play list is huge and I would say don't be shocked if you see a ton of games appearing on my play lists.

Also throw in the fact I just hit over 148,000 gamerscore so I'm very close to the 150k mark I really want to push for it now, then in a few weeks we have March and the wave of new releases will come crashing down. So yeah I've got a lot to do and no idea where to start, my plans are to play all weekend with tomorrow being more multiplayer again. MMO's in the morning and midday then console gaming on the late afternoon evening, cannot promise I will stick to that but fingers crossed anyway.

Well that's it for this post anyway since I really could do with getting ready and setting off, maybe attempt to do one more job before I go. Oh that does remind me though, remember I said I was shocked that I had not done an unboxing post in ages? well I found the folder with my photos for two of my collectors editions. I knew I had planned some posts and was working on them, just not sure what happened after that but anyway I'm hoping to get a post up later so keep your eyes open for later.

Anyway now I'm off, so take care all and happy weekend!
~Iznic

Friends are Trouble

As the title says friends can be trouble and a pain in the ass, especially my friend Wes. Now don't get me wrong he's like a brother to me but I swear his soul purpose in life is to keep me addicted to games. It was his fault that I got into games so bad all those years ago, one simple party at his house won't hurt yet some how the next day I was several hundred pounds poorer and the owner of the new Xbox 360 with a stack of games. I'm also sure it was his fault that I got addicted to achievements but not been able to prove it yet.

Anyway so you probably wondering why I'm ranting about him, especially when this blog is about gaming. Well there is a game coming out in April called Defiance, if you not heard about it then let me explain. It's a shooter MMO that will tie in with a TV show of the same name and both will tie in with each other, so if something happens in game thats big it will effect the tv series and vice versa. Now soon as I heard that I was put off it, don't get me wrong it sounds awesome on paper but to me it screamed "gimmick" and we have had a ton of games with gimmicks.

I was doing ok until I saw Wes post up that it's the game he's keeping an eye on, now I know Wes quite well so when he says that I knew I needed to take a look. Two trailers plus some information reading and I am pretty much sold, might even go pre-order the collectors edition. Of course I cannot help but curse him for making me want to buy another game. So first check out the live action trailer to give you a rough idea..



Then there is the main gameplay trailer below from GAME which looks awesome, but at the same time I cannot help but think of Crackdown with the high tech suits near the end.



Hopefully some more information will come out soon since I want to see if it will be a monthly subscription or free to play with addon on content to buy. If you want to see some more information on the game check out Wes on VGI for his post about the game with the link just here. On that note I'm off to go play some games and I must remember to stop reading his posts, he costs me too much money.
~Iznic

Strategy Games

Morning folks,
This is a post I've been meaning to do for the last I don't know, four months maybe? five? could be six actually. Either way a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away ... oh wait sorry, so yeah two strategy games was announced last year that I cannot wait for. Total War Rome 2 and Company of Heroes 2 are the culprits that got me hyper, at the time there was only a few screen shots for Rome 2 but from what I heard, I knew I might need a new graphics card.

Sea warfare mixed in with land battles, ships landing on the beach and unloading a invasion army. I'm excited for it I really am, although I really could do with playing the Total War games properly. I always buy them and just play skirmish matches and not a lot of them, I've never started any of the campaigns so I really could do with changing that this year. Could do with making a list of things I want to do this year and one of them is to play the Total War games properly.

The image above is the one that screams to me new grapics card to cope with it, looking forward to seeing some gameplay trailers soon. Anyway onto the second game Company of Heroes 2 and now that's a game I enjoy, I loved the Dawn of War series so when they did Company of Heroes 1 I was all over it. It was amazing and again though I don't remember finishing it, I know I got really far into it because I remember spending hours on it. In fact isn't there like two expansions for it? I remember buying one but not the latest. Something else to add to the list of things to do this year, anyway this time we will be seeing the Russian side of the war. This could be awesome and I am excited for it but there is one major problem, it's made by THQ who if you don't know by now have closed thanks to bankruptcy.

Think SEGA picked up the rights for Dawn of War and Company of Heroes which would be amazing since they make Total War, they would own pretty much most of the strategy market. But it does leave me wondering if we will still see Company of Heroes 2, fingers crossed since I do have order down for it. Was such a shame to see THQ to go like that, they made so many great games and I know most of the rights have been sold so it might not be the end of the games but it's sad to see a good Publisher go and you got to feel for the staff.

Anyway on that sad note I better go since I need to leave for work in ten minutes, too much blogging is going to get me into trouble.
~Iznic

P.S. I just looked up the teaser trailer from last year to show you guys and found a gameplay trailer, omg! why did I watch! I want it! praying that it will be released now. Soon as that tank crashed through the ice into the lake my mind was blown.

Free Ni No Kuni & Far Cry 3 DLC

Sorry folks but this is for PlayStation 3 fans only and I'm only sure of Europe right now but check out your PlayStation store anyway. So for the Ni No Kuni fans there are two companions free to download right now, Draggle and Golden Hurley. Make sure to download them ASAP before they gone, especially Hurley since originally the only way to get him was through the code included with the Hardback of the games strategy guide.

Cannot find any dates of this ending so take it as soon just in case, but did find that North America will be getting Draggle on the 12th February. So good news there but no idea on Golden Hurley so just check anyway.


Last piece of free DLC is for Far Cry 3 and exclusive to the PlayStation 3, called High Tide and it's a couple more co-op levels to the game. Nice added bonus right there and especially with it being free, again make sure to download it while you can. If you not got Farcry 3 yet like myself, it still does not hurt to download it for future use. 

Ok I just tried to see if I could find any more information about the new co-op levels and went on the Facebook page for the game, seems the DLC just went up for the PC version and is also free. So it's not just exclusive to PS3 any more.

Anyway that's it for this post folks, go download and enjoy the free goodies!
~Iznic

Killzone Mercenary

Last week I missed out the trailer for Killzone Mercenary, one I was really busy and stressed to high end. Two well to be honest I did not have my hopes up for it since so far the shooting games are struggling on the Vita. Anyway since I'm waiting for the downloads to finish on the Xbox I thought I would take a look, check it out below if you have not seen i yet.



I'm shocked, I'm really really shocked, we might actually get a decent shooter finally on the Vita finally. After hearing how bad Call of Duty was (not played it yet so I will hold off on judging it) I did not take the plunge and fork out the £45 for it, in fact it's on my rental list right now. Resistance was just ok but nothing to scream about so I can honestly say I'm now looking forward to seeing Killzone.

I like the idea that you can choose the side to work for, the store system looks awesome does give it that mercenary feel to the game. I will add it to the watch list anyway and the rumour date is September so that's a positive, was dreading it would be in March.

What's your thoughts my readers?
 ~Iznic

Battlefield 3: End Game

Evening,
Well I caved in and bought the Premium pass for Battlefield 3 multiplayer, why you ask? well I loved the session I had on that Sunday over a week ago. I did say I would make the multiplayer day a more regular thing but this weekend just gone was crazy and Ni No Kuni had just been released as well, can you really blame me if I wasn't playing anything else.

Anyway it was on offer and as I said I loved the matches I played, although I really could do with some levelling up to get the better weapons and gadgets. Battlefield Bad Company 2 was one of most favourite games for multiplayer and I sunk in hundreds of hours with my mates, hopefully the same can be said about Battlefield 3. So right now I just set up my Xbox to download the 3GB+ worth of data for the expansion packs so while that is happening I thought I would put this post up since they just released some information about the finally expansion End Game.



How awesome was the vehicle chase? I'm not a big fan of capture of the flag but that looked awesome and I will be giving it a try at least once. Not sure about the new aerial combat mode since I normally suck at controlling flying vehicles, but I will give it a try none the less.

So it's meant to be hitting in March which is just typical because it's not like anything is coming out that month. Four new maps will be added that will be based on the season of the year, that should be interesting to see and I do love my snow maps. New vehicles which you already seen in the trailer and I love the sound of the dropship which allows to reinforcements to drop behind enemy lines.

Of course the two new modes, Aerial and Capture the flag and a stack of new dogtags, achievements/trophies etc. Overall sounds like you getting a lot for your money and I'm excited for it, although I've still got the other four expansions to play first but it's good to know I've got plenty to play. On that note I'm off to go play some games, probably on my PC and allow my xbox to download in peace. Before I do though you can find the full details for this new DLC on the DICE blow where it was announced, link is here.
~Iznic

Ni No Kuni Wizard Edition Unboxing

Evening folks,
It's been a while since I did my last unboxing post and in fact I cannot remember where I got up to (quickly checks). Wait what?!? seriously I've only done two unboxing posts, Diablo 3 and Uncharted 3 collectors editions. Wow I am sorry folks I thought I had done a lot more then that, in fact I thought I had only missed the latest new stuff and few old ones.

Wow I really am shocked and I have no idea how I slacked off so badly, well to make it up to you guys here is the Ni No Kuni Wrath of the White Witch Wizards Edition unboxing.

The outer box

If you follow my blog then you know that over the last week I've had a nightmare to get hold of this rare, wait scratch that, super rare collectors edition. Although the funny part is I ended up with two being sent and a third allocated to me, amazing since a few days before I was on pretty much getting nothing sent. Anyway two friends are very happy now and I'm happy to finally have one and all this put behind me. Not had chance to play the game yet but I will be making up for that in a few minutes once I've finished this post, ended my multiplayer day short to give it time.

Companion artwork

So as you can see in the post above is the outer box,  plus to the right is the edges of the box. I love how much detail has gone into the artwork around it. The only thing I don't like what the fact the cardboard is very thin compared to normal, every time I open the box I worry I might damage it. Although to be fair in their defense it's not like the box is really important unless you are a collector.

Anyway onto what was in the box, the contents of the Wizard edition was of course a copy of the game. Plus a DLC code for two gold companion characters, Golden Mite and Golden Drongo. I have no idea what's so important about them being golden other then they look cool. In fact before I continue writing this post I'm going to go look that up, think it might be good to know. Ok I've just spent five minutes looking and no information yet, so if anyone does know just drop a comment below. So back to the unboxing and check out the below picture which shows the box finally opened.

Contents

I will mention that was already opened before I took the pictures and is why there is no wrappings etc. Anyway as you can see is Mr Drippy plushie and the Wizard book, the two main items that make this collectors edition. The plushie is quite soft and well made, I was bit worried when I first opened the box since that was thin and flimsy that the rest of the stuff would be cheaply made but I was wrong.

The thing that made this edition special for me was the Wizard book, the detail gone into it was amazing, breath taking even. As you will see in the pictures above and below they have gone into major detail with it, the whole book is done like a walk through guide. Dedicated sections for casting spells, what monsters you might encounter with detailed information plus a huge section just dedicated to stories. Every page is beautiful illustrated and the cover is a premium hardback, this book as made the Wizard edition worth every penny in my eyes. I wish publishers take notice and make more stuff like this.

I will be spending a few hours reading it through in the week but right now the game is calling and I think it's time to give it a bash. So on this note I will love and leave you folks, hope you enjoyed this unboxing and I will make it my mission to get another one by the end of the week.
~Iznic


P.S. I would love to hear from you on any feedback about my unboxing posts and what you like or what I could improve on.

2013 Games List

Here you will find the complete list of this years releases that I have bought so far, fingers crossed that I can get a 50% completion rating this year.

1. Hitman HD Collection - Hitman Contracts Xbox 360
2. Hitman HD Collection - Hitman 2 Silent Assassin Xbox 360
3. Ni No Kuni PlayStation 3
4. Hitman HD Collection - Hitman Contracts PlayStation 3
5. Hitman HD Collection - Hitman 2 Silent Assassin PlayStation 3
6. Hitman HD Collection - Hitman Blood Money PlayStation 3
7. Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires PlayStation 3
8. Tomb Raider Xbox 360
9. Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm PC
10. God of War Ascension PlayStation 3
11. Gears of War Judgement Xbox 360
12. Defiance PlayStation 3
13. Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen Xbox 360
14. Bioshock Infinite Xbox 360
15. The Last of Us PlayStation 3
16. Company of Heroes 2 PC
17. Plants vs. Zombies 2 iOS
18. Disney Infinity Xbox 360
19. Splinter Cell Blacklist Xbox 360
20. Saints Row IV Xbox 360
21. Diablo 3 PlayStation 3
22. Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix PlayStation 3
23. Payday 2 PlayStation 3
24. Grand Theft Auto V PlayStation 3
25. The Bureau Xcom PlayStation 3
26. Pokemon X Nintendo 3DS
27. Skylanders Swapforce PlayStation 3
28. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags Xbox 360
29. Battlefield 4 PlayStation 3
30. Batman Arkham Origins PlayStation 3
31. Beyond Two Souls PlayStation 3
32. Ryse: Son of Rome Xbox One
33. Battlefield 4 Xbox One
34. Puppeteer PlayStation 3
35. Battlefield 4 PlayStation 4
36. Killzone: Shadow Fall PlayStation 4
37. Lego Marvel PlayStation 3
38. Lego Marvel PlayStation 4
39. Lego Marvel Xbox One
40. Minecraft PlayStation 3
41. Wonderbook Book of Potions PlayStation 3
42. Total War Rome 2 PC
43. Splinter Cell Blacklist PC
44. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags Xbox 360
45. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags PlayStation 4
46. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags Xbox One
47. Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flags PC
48. X-Rebirth PC
49. Call of Duty Ghosts PlayStation 3
50. Call of Duty Ghosts PlayStation 4
51. Knack PlayStation 4

Medal of Honor Pulled

As I was writing out the Pokemon blog post I was shocked to see on Twitter that EA had announced they will be pulling Medal of Honor out the regular rotation. Not sure what that means? well it was setup that every other year there would be Battlefield game then in between a Medal of Honor game. EA have now cancelled Medal of Honor for good for the time being, seems the sales/reviews was not good enough for Warfighter to warrant a return to the series.

I'm both surprised and not surprised since when I played the one before it was ok but the story was short and a little hard to get into. It did not really grip me or make me want to care about, I cannot even remember what the storyline was in fact. I remember the multiplayer being a bit bad and trying to work out how it got so bad yet Battlefield Bad Company 2 was amazing.

What has made me laugh is that I have ordered Warfighter the other day from Play.com since they had the limited edition up for £15. After playing Battlefield 3 on the weekend I fell in love with the game again so I wanted the Beta access for Battlefield 4 this year. Bad point is that means I've bought more games then I have completed in my challenge, need to work super hard to correct that.

Anyway check out the full story over on IGN.com and hopefully Warfighter is not too bad when I get around to playing it when it arrives. Shame they don't try and learn from their mistakes, give it one last shot with the next one but then I guess it costs quite a bit each time.
~Iznic

Keldeo Event

Keldeo is back up for download again and this time its for Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 versions, non Japanese editions. Just hook up your game to your wireless Internet to download it then pick it from the Pokemart in-game.

It's level 50 and comes with the moves Swords Dance,Sacred Sword, Aqua Jet and Hydro Pump and you have until February 12th 2013 to download so don't miss out. Just downloaded mine since I nearly forgot again, typical as well since I had packed up for the night but I knew if I did not write the blog post now I would forget tomorrow. Anyway have a good one folks and make sure to download if you have the game.
~Iznic


Source:Serebii.net for all things Pokemon

New Release Nightmares

Evening folks,
Well the last twenty fours for me have been very stressful for me but it's over and sorted, well for me anyway. So what happened you asked? Ni No Kuni happened! and I bet a lot of you will have already heard of the many problems.

Not sure what happened over in America but the story is that the Wizard edition was over ordered and not enough stock was made. Of course the Internet has been swamped with complaints for the last week and with the Europe version being a week late I was a bit nervous with our version. Everything seemed fine at the start of the week until yesterday evening, you see I placed an order with Zavvi back in October. Originally I had an order with GAME but Zavvi was offering it for nearly £20 cheaper so I could not refuse that. Well anyway an email arrived from Zavvi saying there was a payment issue and that my Wizard edition was sitting in the warehouse waiting to be shipped. After ten minutes of trying to sort the problem I finally found out it was on Zavvi's side and the worst part was a lot more people was in the same boat with me.

It took Zavvi nearly twenty one hours to finally say they looking into the problem and to be honest I was disgusted with the lack of communication from them. Direct messages on their website was sent, e-mails and tweets and still nothing was replied to until this evening. But lady luck was on my side and Shopto.net posted up on Twitter at lunch time they had a few Wizard editions left in stock, so I quickly put an order in and an hour later my dispatch e-mail arrived from them. My order with Zavvi was cancelled straight away, it will take a lot to place another order with them in the future when it comes to limited edition items. Got my fingers crossed for all those still waiting to see if they getting the game since they have still not confirmed they have the stock. Play.com has posted up this afternoon they over ordered but that was because they was still taking orders this morning.

It's things like this that can ruin a good game launch, how many disappointed gamers will not be receiving their copy after ordering months ago all because a company was not keeping track properly of their allocation stock. What was annoying for me I nearly missed out and only by sheer luck did I get a copy, in the past I use to place a few back up orders just in case but lately I've been good and only ordering one to allow other fans to get a copy. After today though I think I will go back to making back up orders just in case of problems when it comes to rare limited editions, I really don't want to go through this again.

Least it's over for me now and I wish everyone still waiting for their orders good luck in getting one. On the positive side my Hitman HD Collection arrived this morning and I've got stuck into contracts. I forgot how amazing this game is! the HD game play is amazing but I cannot help but cringe at the original cut scenes though. Anyway I'm off to go play some more games and I hope you having a better few days then me, have a good one folks.
~Iznic

Multiplayer Day

Morning folks,
Well I just got back in and now about to sit down for my gaming marathon for the day, but first I thought it would be a good idea to do a new blog post. I said in the week I would finally put some into Warcraft on my the next day off so that is what I will be playing first today. Hoping to do a dungeon or two while I'm at it as well, doubt I will get level 90 today since I only just hit 89 but you never know. After that I want to make today a multiplayer gaming day, thinking Old Republic, League of Legends then this afternoon/evening jump on Call of Duty Black Ops 2, Battlefield 3 and finishing off with Assassin's Creed 3.

Not a big fan of multiplayer stuff unless it's with friends mostly because I'm anti-sociable and cannot stand idiots who scream down the microphone. But it seems most games are now adding multiplayer and I would like to fully clock some achievement/trophy lists. So that's my plan today to try and get some multiplayer "fun", if it goes well then I will make this a permanent thing and have one day a week dedicated to multiplayer. I want to go back and clean up some games as well like Battlefield Bad Company 1 and 2, Gears 1, 2 and 3, Assassins Creed Brotherhood/Revelations and of course Uncharted. Got plenty of games to keep me occupied with when it comes to multiplayer, anyway so that's today planned out and if I do have time later I probably will continue with Mass Effect on the PS3.

Changing the topic to what's new for me, Lovefilm have sent me Family Guy for the PlayStation 3 so I will be playing that on the side this week since it is a quick game. Not sure yet if I will try for the platinum trophy yet since Ni No Kuni and Hitman HD collection are out this week, might just finish the story and send it back then re pick it up at later day to get the rest of the trophies but we will see later. Very excited anyway to finally play Ni No Kuni and very excited to get my hands on Hitman Contracts again, that was the game that got me into the series and I spent hundreds of hours playing it over and over again. I'm hoping that Zavvi and Shopto will send it out early so I can get it Thursday but as long as I get it in time for Friday I really don't care. Shame my weekend is proper packed with loads of events so my game time will be going out the window, hoping next Sunday will be back to normal.

Anyway on this note I'm going to go play some Warcraft, I love writing blog posts but I want to get this gaming marathon started before I lose any more time. So have a good one folks and I will see you all soon.
~Iznic

2 for 1 Challenge Results

Current Standing: 0
Credits Earned: 5
Games Bought:5

Games Completed

1. Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask (3DS)

2. Lego Lord of the Rings (Xbox 360)

3.  Hitman Absolution (Xbox 360)

4. Halo 4 (Xbox 360)

5. Saints Row the Third + DLC (Xbox 360)

6. Lego Batman 2 (PlayStation 3)
7. Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (PlayStation 3)
8. Hitman Contracts HD (Xbox 360)
9. Medal of Honor Warfighter (Xbox 360)
10. Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (PlayStation 3)

Games Bought

1. Saints Row the Third (PlayStation 3)
2. Hitman HD Collection (Xbox 360)
3. Ni No Kuni (PlayStation 3)
4. Medal of Honor Warfighter (Xbox 360)
5. Hitman HD Collection (PlayStation 3)

More thoughts for the day

Afternoon,
Well I did promise that I would return to finish off my posts for the day, so here I am and ready to write. What I did not get to finish off in my post this morning was the current update for my Two for One challenge. The stats have not been updated since Halo 4 and since then I've completed two more games, first I finally sat down and grinded out the last achievement in Saints Row the Third which I posted about and of course all the DLC was 100% completed. Then shortly after that I finally sat down and finished off my rental Lego Batman 2 for the PS3 which clocked me my first Platinum trophy for the year.

Of course completing these two games now allows me to buy another game, in fact from now on I'm going to call it a credit. Anyway so far for the challenge I've completed six games earning three credits but I did buy Saints Row the Third on the PS3, so I'm down to two right now which is perfect since next week sees Hitman HD Collection and Ni No Kuni launching. I am worried though since at the end of February/March a stupid amount of games will be released, it's like Christmas all over again.

Off the top of my head I know Dynasty Warriors 7 Empire comes out at the end of February, then at the start of March is Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm. Then in the month is Tomb Raider, Company of Heroes 2 (if it gets released since it was made by THQ), Gears of War Judgement, Bioshock Infinite, Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, God of War Ascension and probably some others that I cannot remember at this moment in time. So that's what eight games I just named out so I need to clock, oh bugger! sixteen games over the next month. Plus I could do with saving some money since there is a high chance that at the end of the year we could see the new Xbox and PlayStation. I think I'm going to go bang my head against the wall for a little while.

I could go through all the games and be picky with which ones I want, but they keep releasing awesome new trailers. For example I was prepared to wait to pick up the new Gears of War game since there as been no real marketing for it or big shout out about it, then they release this trailer (see below) a couple of days ago and now I want to go to the lock in next month to play it.



The new horde mini beserker looks amazing! and the fact you can now use most weapons with the shield, it's heaven. I love the idea of a version of horde in the single player plus the challenges being thrown, gives it more replay value and the spawn changer was a nice touch. So yeah I'm now excited to play the game and there is no way I'm going to wait for this game.

I would like to say I have a plan but I really don't, every day I swear the industry announces a new game or collectors edition just to tempt me. In fact expect a few more posts over the next few days showing off the different trailers and games, I would put them all into one post but it would be too much awesome for one thing and could end the world. For example check out the cinematic trailer for Starcraft 2 Heart of the Swarm because that is one amazing trailer!



I'm really looking forward to playing the Zerg and seeing the story span out with the Queen of Blades, multiplayer really does not bother me since it's of my league. I love watching the E-Sport streams and live streams but I couldn't keep up if I tried, maybe if I practised with Skirmish mode and some mates I could attempt it. You never know but for the mean time I will stick to the story, anyway on that note I'm going to end this post for the day and get some gaming on the go. Thanks for spending the time to read this and hopefully you are having a better time manging the amount of games that are coming out.

Until next time have a good one folks!
~Iznic

Thoughts for the day

Good morning readers,
Have to laugh right now because I made to get ready for work in advance so I could have some time before I go to write a post or two for the blog. I had good hour before I need to leave when I sat but yet some how I've now only got less then twenty minutes before I need to pack up and I've only just started typing. How did that happen? but oh well I can continue writing when I get back since I'm only doing a short shift today.

Anyway onto gaming news and I've got plenty to talk about today so to start off with let's talk about what I've been playing. Well over the weekend I finally started League of Legends, when my computer was down a friend at work kept telling me about it so I started watching a few live streams and well it looked amazing. Reminded me of Warcraft with the art style and skill trees but with tower defence game play, so since I rebuilt my PC I've been wanting to play it and I did download the game on the first day but just never got around to it. Getting off topic here but yeah I've started getting into it although I've not done any player vs player yet, just been doing full bot matches to get some practise in. The one problem I keep hearing is that League of Legends is terrible for trolls, bad language and unsporting behaviour. Amazing enough a post appeared the other day about the developers banning two pro players for having to many complaints against them, the words "again" was used so they not the first pro players to get banned.

So yeah I really want to get some practise in before I have to throw myself into the deep end with some of the worst gamers out there. Have to say though the bot matches are hard, you be amazed how life like they play. After watching the streams and how people play you really cannot tell the difference and the difficulty setting is set low as well.

The picture above is the Champion Ashe a snow ranger and my favourite character so far, I had to unlock her with some of my points. Good news is you don't have to keep paying for points to unlock the extra content, there is a second set of points that you earn from playing games that can be used as well. Takes a lot longer but saves on the pennies none the less and right now I'm not really wanting to be spending anything on extra content just yet. Anyway I unlocked her and loving her play style, long range with slow down abilities equals a win in my book. Her defence is a bit terrible but I make that up with getting specific items in the match, that's what I'm still learning since there are tons of items you can buy during the match to boost your champion up with. A lot of trial and error to be honest but as you can see League of Legends as pretty much sucked me in, although in my defence I have had two days without playing. Trying to be a little good but I did destroy my MMO time last weekend, I did nothing on Warcraft which I'm kicking myself for. I did get time on Star Wars the Old Republic and cleaned up a few more quests and levelled up to 18, I had to laugh though I found out I had over twenty new skills waiting at my trainer which explains why I been struggling with certain fights.

Because I've been playing the game on and off I kept forgetting to visit the trainer when I levelled so they just built up, had a ton of new improved damage skills and self heals! could had done with those so many times. But I'm now sorted and back up to date, will be playing again on my next day off with the mission to finish my last group quest in my log which has been bugging me for a while. Although my main plans for my next day off is to make up for lost time with Warcraft, I'm only one level away from 90 and I've still not done any dungeons since I've had my PC back. So that will be my main goal for my next day, couple of dungeons and hit level 90!.

So that's it for my PC adventures but I have been playing one more game, well I did dabble on some other games but I'm now one hundred percent focused on Mass Effect one for the PlayStation 3. Been wanting to replay the series for a while so the trilogy was a great excuse plus I get trophies for my trouble as well. I had a three hour plus marathon session yesterday evening and unlocked my Spectre status and rescued Liara from the Geth.

I'm currently playing the Engineer class for the first time since there are quite a few trophies linked to the abilities so thought it would be good to go with that first. Decided on my squad being Liara and Tali since when I first played the game they seemed the weakest two characters, right now I'm playing on a normal difficulty so I can enjoy the game and clock a ton of trophies at the same time. Plus the insane difficulty will not unlock until I've done one play through at least. Really enjoying the game so far and it's brought back a lot of memories but I got to say there is a lot of bugs, more so then I can remember in the Xbox original version. Freezing when moving, visual problems, lag jumps and sometimes even voices out of sync with character lips. Had a nightmare last night where the camera de-synced with the talking, so while the commander was talking my camera was stuck focused behind his head so I could not see anything.

Hoping for a patch or two to fix some of these errors since it seems this was a bad port over but at least they don't happen all the time, just a little too often for my liking though.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well that's it for what I've been playing and this as got to be one of my longest posts I've done in a long time, it's nice because I usually struggle to get a post done. Now the thing is I still got a lot I want to talk about so not sure if to continue with this post or split them up to make it a little more easier to read. Ok I just previewed the post to see what it would like and yeah it's a bit long so I will end this section here and continue in a second post, fingers crossed I will stick to my word and get a second post done. You know what I'm like with these things but anyway take care folks and don't forget to drop a line with what you been playing, I'm always up for hearing about your adventures.

~Iznic

Snow Day

Evening folks,
Having a wonderful snow day today, well I did have to go to work earlier but enjoying the evening now by staying warm and playing games. Hope all those in the UK are safe and sound, plus having a great gaming day as well.

Well in the week I finally clocked all the challenges to get the last achievement in Saints Row the Third which got me the full 1,000 gamer score. Was really chuffed with that since I could finally download the DLC (picked up the season pass ages ago but refused to download anything until I did the original achievements), anyway clocked all those as well the day after since they was really short. Took about an hour for each one but they was fun so I was not too disappointed.

Forgot how good this game was and I really wanted to play the story again, so yeah I caved in the day after and bought the PlayStation 3 version. If I'm going to play through it again I might as well get the trophies for it, got the complete edition with all the DLC on the disc as well.

So of course with my challenge I now lost one of my game credits, I was up to five games completed thanks to finishing off the Xbox version which meant I could buy two games. So now I can only buy one game which of course will be Ni No Kuni at the start of February. Hitman HD Collection is meant to be coming out around the same time so I need to get another game completed, I'm on 42% with Lego Batman 2 so fingers crossed I can get that done soon.

Well that's about it for me, well actually I did start Mass Effect as well but I'm trying to be good and get Lego Batman done first before continuing with Mass Effect. Anyway I'm off to go play some games, see you all soon and have a good one.
~Iznic

Game of the Year 2012

Morning folks,
Woke up to a winter wonderland this morning so I'm staying inside today, forget getting my haircut it's too bloody cold for my liking (also knowing my luck it will get worse and cancel my buses leaving me stranded). So this morning I decided that it was about time I sat down and have a think about what could be my Game of the Year for 2012, I got to say it was a tough one.

So no beating around the bush, my game of the year is .... drum roll please.....

Mass Effect 3

Finding it very hard to put into words what made this game great, what made it game of the year for me was the story. I felt apart of the game all the way through, here we have this alien menace that was destroying the entire universe. You felt hopeless as world after world fell apart while you try to muster everyone together to fight back. Every where you went you felt the effects of the war, several moments stood out to me. The one that was at the top was a teen girl in one of the refugee areas talking to a guard about how her folks had sent her on the first shuttle and they would catch up with her. We all know what happened but you could not help but feel a little chocked up, what was amazing though if you kept going back through out the game the story would progress. The guard would take pity on her and look after her, it was the small details like that made me impressed with this game.

But it was no just the small details that made it happen, the bit cut scenes as you watched different species finally put aside their differences to work together. Of course it was not just the story that made this game brilliant, the graphics were beautiful especially on some of the new planets (Asari home world for explain). Game mechanics with the theatre of war, I love how everything effected the outcome. It was not just a simple get all the main armies there, you needed everything from engineers to food supplies, even taking part in the multi player could help effect the stats. 

It was brilliant game and yes I was one of those who was not a big fan of the ending but only because it was just dropped in your lap with no real explanation. The new ending which is just the same with a bit of back story added on was much better. But anyway Mass Effect 3 was my Game of the Year for 2012, great graphics, good mechanics and a brilliant story. Still a few more posts to come folks since there was quite a few great games last year that deserve Outstanding Awards plus I've got planned a post about the year ahead.

~Iznic

P.S. What was your Game of the Year?

Remember Me Trailer

Over the Christmas holidays I noticed quite a few leaflets appearing in Capcom games for their future titles, one half was dedicated to Lost Planet 3 which I have high hopes for but the other half I had no clue about. The picture showed this futuristic looking girl with bright orange colours and the giant logo of "Remember Me", so I finally sat down to find out what this game was about. Well actually I did not really since when I got back in Twitter had the trailer posted up waiting for me, check it out below...



So from the looks of it an action pack game with elements of stealth that remind me of Splintercell and Assassin's Creed, could be an RPG but not sure. So this morning I'm currently researching the game to find out what is the story for this game and what type it's meant to be. Which was not too hard since the youtube channel had everything, here is the quote for the background story.

"Neo-Paris, 2084. Take on the role of Nilin, a former elite memory hunter with the ability to break into people's minds and steal or even alter their memories. Arrested, and with her memory wiped clean Nilin must now set out on a mission to rediscover her identity"

Could be a brilliant story if done right and after watching the official trailer I'm quite excited to play this game now, check it out below.



Looks like 2013 is going to be another great year for gaming with the way these trailers keep coming.
~Iznic

Cyberpunk 2077 Teaser

I had no clue about this game until I saw the trailer over at Xbox360achievements.org, my god it looks awesome and yes I know it's just a teaser and the graphics won't be in game. But this could be a great game if this teaser is to go by, check it out below...



It's going onto my "To Watch" list anyway and hopefully over the next few months we will see more, although the ending saying "when it's ready" could mean years but fingers crossed. According to Xbox360achievements.org the game is an action RPG and the story is about a special unit of the Police force hunting down individuals known as "Psychos". They are individuals that have gone overboard with implants, drugs and anything else that can push them beyond their mortal forms which leads them to go crazy and go on a killing spree. 

It as potential to be a good story, be interesting to see how they do it and what they will do for the main theme. Anyway only time will tell but I'm hoping to see more at this years E3, what do you guys think? good? bad or not interested.
~Iznic

Professor Layton and the Azran Legacies

Afternoon folks,
Well it seems the 3DS is getting a bit of love this week, with Pokemon announced the other day it seems the date for the new Professor Layton was announced for Japan which was 28th February 2013. Really hoping we will get to see it this Christmas like the past ones but I'm bit gutted that this will be last of Herschel Layton, wonder if they will do a spin of series with one of the other characters.

Anyway the date was announced a few days ago but today a teaser trailer as gone up for it, it is in Japanese but it gives you a clue of what to expect. Hmm ok for some reason I cannot find the trailer on youtube so here is the link to VG24/7 article which has the trailer.

But I did find this other trailer which I'm assuming was the older announcement trailer which is English subtitled.




Either way I'm looking forward to seeing the conclusion to this story and cannot wait for this game, fingers crossed for this Christmas.
~Iznic

Pokemon X and Y Announcement

Evening folks,
Very shocked to see what I hoped for announced today, finally a Pokemon game set for the 3DS. If you not seen the announcement then take ten minutes to watch the full Nintendo direct video (link here), if you not got the time the game trailer is just below which is only a few minutes long.



Graphics look amazing and I'm excited to see what the new Pokemon will be, the two new legendary Pokemon look awesome though. The only problem I've got with the new games is the release date, October is ages away! swear I'm going to be like a little kid "is it October yet? is it October yet?". Of course it leaves plenty of time to make lots of announcements about new Pokemon and battle features.

How about you my readers? excited or not bothered?
~Iznic

Patch 5.2 Teaser

Blizzard have posted up the teaser trailer for the new upcoming patch 5.2 The Thunder King. The dinosaur mounts look amazing and I'm assuming the boss monsters for the new raid/dungeon? although I really do feel out of sync with Warcraft right now. Two months with out the computer and there's a new big patch coming up and I can honestly say not sure whats it about or what to expect, well other then dinosaur mounts.



You know it just came to that I was on Patch 5.0 since Mists of Pandaria had just come out so I need to look up 5.1 as well. Blimey plenty to keep me busy for the next few weeks from the looks, anyway Warcraft readers are you excited for the new patch? the mounts look amazing.

~Iznic

Pokemon Announcement

Nintendo Direct is doing a special Pokemon version tomorrow, starts at 11am GMT, 6am EST and 8pm JST and will last ten minutes. Everyone seems to be expecting a Wii U announcement or a remake of the 6th generation games (Sapphire/Ruby/Emerald).

Personally I do think the remake of the 6th generation games would be more likely since its been a while when Heartgold and Soulsilver was released. Plus the direct is meant to be only ten minutes long so not expecting anything big announced, although it would be great for a 3DS Pokemon game to be released. One can dream but anyway don't forget to check it out tomorrow and let's hope for something good.

~Iznic

January Fun

Morning folks,
Well so far the challenge is going great, as you know I finished Professor Layton at the end of December. On the first day of January I finally clocked Lego Lord of the Rings for the full 1,000 gamer score and now yesterday I clocked Hitman Absolution (just the story this time). So I've covered Ni No Kuni and I'm half way to covering the Hitman HD collection, currently working on Halo 4 right now so hopefully I should get that done by the end of the week.

I say hopefully since my PC is back, spent the weekend rebuilding it and installing the software back on. It's so fast thanks to my new Solid State Hard drive, really kicking myself for not getting one sooner. Cannot play any games yet since my current monitor is out of date and not supported by Windows 7 (even though I had Windows 7 for most of last year and it was working fine), got a new one coming tomorrow so I should be back on Warcraft tomorrow.

Need to make sure to balance my time so my PC does not take over my two for one challenge will be impossible, although I do have a huge line up of games I want to play right now. Finding it very hard not to keep switching games and trying other ones, I know if I do that then I won't get anything finished by the end of the month.

Anyway that's it really for an update, I just wanted to pop on to make a quick post about how the challenge is going. I might post later if I can get the list done, but I want to write out all the games I want this year to get an idea of what to expect. Knowing my luck it will be two pages long or something, god help me if they launch the next generation consoles as well.

~Iznic

P.S. Updated the year progress stats this morning and yes I'm aware of some of the display issues with the site, will be looking into this over the next week.

Happy New Year

Evening folks,
Hope you all had a great New Year Eve last night and not too hung over, I spent the night watching movies and had a great time with the girlfriend.

Now it's no New Year with out some resolutions and so for my new years resolution I've decided to do a challenge. The2 for 1 challenge has started for me today, well actually it started last Saturday but who care about the minor details. Anyway the rules are simple "I cannot buy another game until I've finished two out of my pile of shame", originally it was 1 for 1 but a work friend changed my mind.

Of course I'm kinda now regretting that decision since I just realised how many games are coming out across the next few months, so I really could do with getting my ass into gear and get something finished. In fact I'm very close to finishing off Lego Lord of the Rings for the Xbox 360 which will be my first game of the year, plus it would be the second game of my challenge. So I'm off to a nice start which will cover me for Ni No Kuni at the end of the month but still need another two since I've heard the Hitman HD Collection is out as well at the end of the month.

If I stick to one game at a time I have no doubt that I will get through my collection, my problem as always been there are too many games I want to play at the same time. So a lot of stuff gets pushed to the side or half finished, so I need to cut down on how many I'm playing. Also would be wise to try and clock the new games I buy instead of letting them gather dust, though to be fair I did well this Christmas with a good chunk finished.

It will be a interesting year anyway, just made a quick note on the games coming out the first quarter and I'm now really regretting making the rule two games.

Dynasty Warriors 7 Empires
Starcraft 2 Heard of the Swarm
Ni No Kuni
Hitman HD Collection
Gears of War Judgement
Tomb Raider
Last of Us
Bioshock Infinite
Crysis 3
God of War Ascension
Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII

That's a lot of games for the first three/four months, well wish me luck and lets hope I get that pile of shame down.

~Iznic

P.S. Any gaming new years resolutions readers? drop a line with what you got planned