Blogs - Karuto

I am contemplating whether to get actively involved on modDB again, considering I finally got an internship in the gaming industry, and at least have a little knowledge to spread around considering I have tried many times in the past to get a modding project finished (had one underground for a while that reached alpha, but never surfaced into a final product). I have only seen a few old timers still actively posting on the forum anyway, so maybe it is time to come back. Who knows?

Yeah, don't really like visiting this site as much as I used to. I only show up to check my mod watch (which is giving me errors so I can't clear the ones I've already seen), and to check my Anime club, which has 116 members -- making it the fourth-largest group (and currently sitting at the 16th spot for most popular group). The forum is a pile of unmoderated garbage, so I'll stick to what actually makes this site good.

Important Updates:

• Greatest Hits titles will be available at $29.99 retail later this year. Games include Resistance, Motorstorm, Warhawk, Call of Duty 3, Fight Night and Need for Speed Carbon, Rainbow Six Vegas, Assassins Creed, Oblivion, Ninja Gaiden.
• Universal access to PSN, via PC later this fall. Access Friends lists and more on your computer, even when you're not on the PS3.
• Ratchet & Clank Quest For Booty coming to PSN this Summer. A new concept: shorter game at a lower price. A big summer blockbuster film: it's everything you expect from a Ratchet game, and it's a continuation of the franchise. It leaves off where Tools of Destruction leaves off.
• New PSN games includes Rag Doll Kung Fu sequel.
• Movie and TV downloads. Major studio supports from Sony, Fox, MGM, Lions Gate, Warner, Disney, Paramount, Turner, Funimation will offer support for PlayStation video. Will offer SD and HD content. TV shows start at $1.99 per episode, movie rentals start at $5.99 per rental. Not only can you play the content on the PS3, you can play it on PSP. It can be placed on multiple devices at the same time.
• Ratchet & Clank Size Matters Entertainment Pack includes Size Matters, Nation Treasure 2, 1GB Memory Stick, echochrome for $199 later this year.
• PSP Resistance Retribution announced. Third person action game. The Resistance is now in your hands. Uses over-the-should view. From Sony Bend, developers of the Syphon Filter PSP games.
• PSP Software highlight reel includes Loco Roco 2, Super Stardust Portable. Valkyria Chronicles on PSP!
• Life with PlayStation also on display. Will be available at the end of the month.
• First look at DC Universe Online for PS3. Experience the DC Universe as never before. Fight against or alongside favorite DC heroes and villians, like Batman, Superman, The Joker. Build your legacy against superpowered enemies.
• 80GB Core Pack at $399.99. Twice the storage capacity at the same price. New SKU, most likely will not feature PS2 backwards compatibility.
• God of War III coming to PS3! Trailer showcased.
• inFamous coming Spring 2008.
• Andy Beaudoin from Zipper's new game. (Zipper worked on SOCOM on PS2.) MAG will support up to 256 players.

I figured I'd kick off a feature for my blog where I'd run through a couple of the latest video game releases of the week and let you guys know what I think about them. I'm calling it "Karuto's Flavor the Week", although the title is tentative. Who knows? I might throw up some flashy, eye-catching art or something. Let's get started.

---

Requiem: Bloodymare

 Reqiuem: Bloodymare is a brand new PC MMORPG from the creator of the wildly popular Ragnarok Online, Gravity. Now, when you think of Requiem, the first thing that would pop into a lot of hardcore gamer's heads are the  Requiem computer games from the 90's, and honestly, the concept of this game isn't far from that. It still mixes homosapians and beasts together in a fantasy world. Likewise, it also takes into consideration the much more mature themes, and it shows in this heavily Western-influenced title. This game is certainly not meant to be played by children, as is evidence with the ability to hack off limbs and decapitate your foes.

From my experiences in the beta, the game does remind me a lot of another popular MMO, Lineage II (at least, as far as the art style and some of the gameplay is concerned), but it does do a lot to set itself apart, such as a "Nightmare" mode (where stronger monsters come out at night), the ability to transform into this bloodthirsty beast, having full control over the evolution of your character, and the absolutely ginormous PVP battles (up to 192 people fighting on a single battlefield) makes this at least a try. Hell I played it for a few days, and I usually give up on online games sooner than that.

---

Spore Creature Creator

 Thanks to a preorder at GameStop, I was able to pick up this exciting little "mini-game" for free. The soon-to-be multi-million dollar franchise Spore has been building a lot of fervor since it was announced back at E3 2005, and now we''re less than 3 months away from the full game's official release (September 5th in Europe, September 7th in North America and elsewhere), but here we have the precursor to the penultimate God simulator, Spore Creature Creator.

The Creature Creator is really the second step you take in the game (the first is the Cell phase, where you'll be running around gobbling up microbes and protein while avoiding predators and other dangers). You basically start off with a spinal cord with the ability to freely morph and stretch like clay into whatever shape you desire which hopefully resembles something close to beast-like (although I'm sure there will be plenty of risque creations as well). Using this utility, it basically allows Maxis to populate the universe of Spore before the game's September release, which I think is a great idea. I can't wait to build my race up to the Space phase and go around blowing up my friends' planets!

This extremely ambitious project will certainly be EA's new cash cow in the future like with The Sims, but let's not talk about that.

---

Space Invaders Extreme

 What's old, fun, and makes you feel like you've just had too many hits of acid at a Rave party? Why, Space Invaders Extreme, of course! This trippy game is evidently an update from the classic arcade game from the late 1970's, released for both the Sony PSP and the Nintendo DS. With updated graphics and a techno-filled soundtrack that is synched directly to what's happening on screen, the series has certainly been giving a huge injection of adrenaline with this latest title, breathing new life into an old property. For example, a great first for the series is the ability to dual it out in the new multiplayer mode.

I highly recommend the DS version when it comes to this feature, because not only can you share the game with someone who may not own the title using the system's Download Play function, but you can also go online and upload your score to the Worldwide Rankings board, while also playing against friends and strangers alike.

The best part is that this game was developed by Taito, the original creators of Space Invaders, so there is definitely a healthy amount of authenticity to be had here, and this is by far the company's best effort at modernizing an arcade hallmark.

---

---

So, what do you guys think? Good first effort? Let me know what changes or additions you think I should make!

I don't really know how this rating system works. I'm level 10, which makes me barely a member who can vote on MOTY. Yet, here are my contributions:

1) A former staff member with three articles, who participated in a MOTY, and worked as both a Game Auther and Forum Moderator (with three stickied threads).
2) A group in the Top 20 (and was in the Top 6).
3) A tutorial that was at one time the third most viewed tutorial on the site.
4) A member on the site for over 4 years with over 12,000 posts, belonging to 24 groups and having 37 friends and starting (granted, never finishing) several different mods.
5) I have posted 20 different news articles, 8 since v4 came about.
6) Holding userbars as Ex-Staff, Senior Member, and Old Timer, which are labels not chosen by me but by INtense.

So I don't know how things are calculated, but doesn't this amount of activity account for something a little more?