A New SF Movie?

With Street Fighter IV coming up, I was digging into some news on Street Fighter related info and bumped into one movie that I never knew was coming. Remember the disastrous Street Fighter movie made years ago? If you are old enough as a gamer, you won't forget it.

Anyway, apparently, a new SF movie is coming out but focusses only on one popular female character (you've guessed it) Chun-Li. Titled Street Fighter: Legend of Chun-Li, the movie filming in March, 2008. Kristen Kreuk of the popular TV series Smallville will play Chun-Li.

And umm... here's something else for you. Happy holidays!

X360 Gathering, GH3 Tourney

I'm pretty much in a holiday mood at the moment. Been busy going here and there, spending time with my wife, family and friends - which is why there is lacking news and posts from me and more from Syazwan. New years is coming and there really isn't much news left. Just thought I'd let you guys know that there is an xbox 360 gathering at The Mall this coming Sunday from 1.00pm - 5.30pm. A mini Guitar Hero 3 tournament will be held in between but limited to 16 participants only. Check it out for fun!

Hopefully, I'll be free to go and see the gathering. That's my family day out but we'll try to report what we can.

BruGamers Official Logo

So we, the authors of BruGamers, sat and discussed where BruGamers.com is headed and where we want to bring it. We held on to our pens and papers, started scribbling some ideas, talked about potentials and contacts for hours, drinking cups after cups of hot coffee - and we ended up with nothing.

Okay, I'm kidding. We didn't do that. But what we really did was sat down and discussed about a BruGamers logo. For over two years of BruGamers' online life, we had no logo. I've thought about it a number of times but never really did anything. Now, finally, we have the time to actually see the future of BruGamers. I mean, we've already got domain names, three to be exact, BruGamers.com, BruGamers.net and BruGamers.info, so before making anything really official, we thought, it's about time that logo appears and we decided that it would look retro. And so it did. Lo and behold...


Yes, it's the logo you see up there on our new banner. Like our new banner? Here's a bit more info on it.

• Red thing in the middle: A couch or sofa to represent where gamers are.
• Character with black outline: A typical classic game character to represent gaming.
• Select, Start: Represents the Gaming Industry as these two words can be found in all gaming medium.
• The "waves" on both sides: Yes, they are waves. They represent communication. One, games nowadays are live online and rarely you get games that doesn't connect with others. Two, communication between our blog to you guys, sharing news and stories.
• Black, Red, Yellow colours: Represents Bruneians, taken from the our own Brunei flag.

Watch out for this logo out there...

So what do you think?

Brugamers Review: Mass Effect

It’s an action RPG in same vein as BioWare’s past effort, but more streamlined than I care to remember from the last game. Exploration, traversing worlds is fun, choosing the things to say in conversations trees opens up the option whether to be a bad ass or a boy scout – this game encourages you to make your own decisions.

The story might not be original, but to an extent it is quite entertaining in a lot ways, it’s along the lines of Battlestar Galactica episodes added with some other sci-fi fodder. It won’t win any awards, but it will make up for some really interesting story and makes you want to go on further just to delve into the mysteries of Mass Effect’s universe.

Some lags in the framerate during heated skirmishes but it won’t hamper the overall experience of the game. My only complaint is the flipping controls while driving Mako (the vehicle you use while traveling to other planet) add to the non-existent explanations on how to control the vehicle, this thing is definitely no Warthog. Fortunately, you only really have use the Mako on a few of the main missions, so it can be tolerated.

30 hours plus of gameplay. A set of interesting characters to interact with, beautiful worlds to traverse as well as equally sweet graphics and with the game setting itself up for a sequel, I think we can expect a lot from this game in the future.

More on the horizon: Games to look forward to!

With most of the main releases for games are now out and most gamers are now curled up with their Halo 3, Super Mario Galaxy, Castlevania Dracula X, Guitar Heroes, Uncharted, Assassins Creed… and so much more, let us not forget to look forward into the distant future. Well, mostly early next year’s game releases on all systems that’s worth looking into.

So which games are you looking forward to?

PSP

01/08 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
02/12 Wipeout Pulse
03/04 God of War: Chains of Olympus
03/25 Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII

DS

01/21 Advance Wars: Days of Ruin
02/18 Professor Layton and the Curious Village
02/19 Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney

PS3

01/15 Haze
01/22 Burnout Paradise
02/05 Devil May Cry 4
02/05 Turok
03/04 Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer
03/04 Destroy All Humans! Path of the Furon
03/04 Army of Two

Xbox 360

02/05 Devil May Cry 4
02/05 Turok
02/12 Lost Odyssey
03/04 Army of Two

Wii

01/08 Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law

Today's Lesson: Speaking French (wk3)

So far now, I’m already half way into the game. I’ve upgraded myself up to third grader status, I’m still having difficulty trying to add the “to be, to have etc” into a sentence, but as for the rest of the lesson, I think this game has enabled me to learn more vocabulary very effectively. I can now read some simple French words and make sense of where and what I want as an added bonus, I know how to arrange a sentence!

However, as I have said, it’s quite different when it comes to constructing your very own sentence. I guess this is where I need to transfer all my lessons into a piece of paper and just write it down until I get it all in my head! Dang it…!

I can’t stress how much this non-game had given me an insight of the language. This is coming from a guy who only knows how to say bonjour and merci beaucoup! More updates on the way!

Bonne année!

Brugamers Review: King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters.

King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters, directed by Seth Gordon, is a mockumentary that portrays a sort of Big guy versus the small guy senario, its like the Empire against a small rebellion faction, where the latter is just one normal guy. The movie is epic in proportion depicting some sort of truth in the realm of competitive gaming.

The story follows a normal joe, Steve Weibe as he tries to beat Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong high score record... a whopping 874,300 points! What follows here is a compelling tale of manipulation and deceit, some bad blood, trials and tribulations and its all wholesome fun.

Now how is this movie relevant to us? Well, if you're the classic gamer who thinks that games (read: Joust, Pac-man, Donkey Kong... anything from the 1980's) are all about the skills, then you would probably like this film with a dose of reality. Normal people may think to see this as a geek fest... but regardless, its a nice movie to watch.

In what most film critics calls as a "mockumentary" I assume people won't be offended how evil Billy Mitchell is... I doubt he isn't. (EGM confirmed it anyway) Anyway! For the Brugamers-movie buffs out there, look out for this flick!

Brugamers Review: Brave Story.

Review: in less than 100 words!

With the lack of great RPGs for the PSP out there this game breathes a refresher, and its just as good. Everything about this game screams typical RPG fare, but when you're on the go, this game will hold your candle. Battles are fast and addictive and with no load times during the fights. The story is nothing to write home about in the beginning, but as you traverse further on, you'll begin to love the beautiful world of Vision and the characters in it. The graphics are up to PS2-like quality, its smooth and almost no hint of slowdown. Despite the ugly cover, any RPG fan should at least have a go with this game, 25+ hours of good gameplay can't be all that bad right?

p/s I doubt that was 100 words.

Demo Review: Welcome To Paradise

Welcome to Paradise, a place like no other. Downloaded the Burnout Paradise demo yet? I did but never got to install it until lastnight. And boy, was I in for a treat.

I forgot how fun the Burnout series have been and how much addicted I was to them. I would replay and replay the games and tracks over and over again for months. The only problem I had then was with the load times. Now imagine this, an open city, free roaming and a huge ass world for your burnout pleasure. You feel me? Yeah!

Although you are limited to a section of Paradise City in the demo, it's still fun looking for ramps, off track areas, hidden passages, etc. You get tons of traffic and best part, the demo includes online play. And this is where the fun part of Burnout Paradise really starts.

Multiplayer in Burnout is always fun. Ramming into your opponents, wrecking their cars and sending them into oblivion is pure joy. Back during the PSP years, wireless multiplayer was introduced and to smack your other people's cars just to see the looks on their faces is one of the things that make you go on. In Burnout Paradise, you get to record that look via a usb camera. But let's rewind back a bit to online play.

While driving around Burnout Paradise in single player mode, it's easy to get online. You don't have to exit your gameplay or go through different kinds of menus again just to get to the online lobby. All you have to do is press right on the d-pad and an online option will pop up. Then all you have to do is select the online option you prefer and next thing you know, you see cars from others playing online! That's how easy it is to get online. You do the same thing as well if you would like to invite your friends into your Paradise City. Via the right d-pad button, you can invite your friends to join your game and play with them. Getting online is as fast as playing Burnout itself! And if you have a USB camera connected, when an opponent hits and wrecks your car, the game will automatically capture a "Mugshot" photo of you at the moment of the crash and sends it over to your opponent! Imagine looking at their crushed face - ooohh~

Now less talk and go get that demo. If you are on PSN, invite me and I'll show you around Paradise City, the Burnout way *evil laughter*

*Narrator's Voice* Get Burnout Paradise, January 2008.

Creating A New PSN Account

Creating a new PSN account might be simple to you but I realise that a lot of people, mostly those new to the online environment in consoles, are struggling in trying to create their own online identity, be it on Live or PSN. Here, I'll cover the basics on creating your own PSN account, in case you aren't able to google it quickly. So here's the step-by-step guide.

1. Create your own user account
First and foremost, you'll need to create your own User account on your PS3 by going to "Create New User" because your PSN ID will be attacted to that user once you've created it. So make sure it's not your brother's user account or someone else's.

2. Sign Up for PLAYSTATION@Network
Depending on your version of your PS3 (version 2.00 onwards have their own PSN icon on the XMB), go to the end and click on "Sign Up for PLAYSTATION@Network.

3. PSN Registration
Select a region of your choice. You can select any region you like so long as you can give a valid address. Pick US if you would like to get a lot of contents weekly and just google for a valid US address.

When it comes to Master or Sub account, select Master.

You'll also need a valid e-mail address.

Online ID means the username that you will be using when you are playing games. So this will be the name other people will see when you play online or when you are on their friends list.

Once you get to the address section, just go and google for a valid address depending on which region you picked. It doesn't have to be someone's home address. Just get an address and you'll be done.

Forget about the Billing Information for now. You can do that later.

4. Done
Congrats! You've created your first PSN ID. Now just go over to the end of the XMB and add friends! You can add me. My PSN ID is sinadam. There you go, one friend for you. =)

Today's Lesson: Speaking French.

Bonjour, comment allez-vous?

I wanted to see the effectiveness of this DS game, and ever since Monday this week, I finally graduated to a "2nd Grader". So far, as I get my pronouns corrected by the hot French tutor and memorizing how to construct a sentence, I think I am learning something. The mini-games included in this game helps in a lot ways, though childish, but it makes you feel the accomplishments you made throughout the lessons.

Let you guys know how I fare in this whole ordeal as I update next week~ at this moment,je suis heureux~!

au revoir!

Mass Effect: Something went wrong here.

Not every game is perfect, because if it was, we would still be playing it till now. Instead, what we look for in a game is the experience of virtual life.

One said event was when my character was on assignment pinpointing a signal which lead him through the financial district and... lo and behold... a man stuck on a ceiling!

Now I figured, the other guy talking to the ceiling must've broke into a quarrel and took out the old spinach and sock it to him. I can't say much about the other guy, but the assailant was taken into custody soon afterwards.

Got a better story to this picture? post it up at the comments~!

FFXIII Extended Trailers

Who doesn't love themselves a Final Fantasy XIII trailer? Woohoo!! These two trailers were taken from a DVD released in Japan. They're the extended versions of FFXIII and FFXIII Versus trailers, apparently the ones shown at TGS a few months ago, which never made it out of Japan. So, we should all say thank you to the guy who ripped it off that DVD and posted it on the Internet!

BBQ Party Dec 07

The photos took some time to be uploaded. I was busy with watching DVDs and finishing this game I meant to finish last week. But anyway, finally, the BBQ party of December 2007 photos are finally up.

How was the party? This was actually the first BBQ that was left to just JuLeZz and me both to get together because my family (besides my one brother) were away overseas. The past ones, especially the ones before I met JuLeZz, were heavily helped by my parents and aunts. So there were a lot of changes this time around.


Besides the preparation, it also started to rain to begin with, so we ended up setting everything inside the house as opposed to the previous ones where we always had them outside. So a lot of last minute planning had to be involved last minute. But thank God this time we thought of preparing the food early, as in having the BBQ food ready before the guests arrived. Well, most of them were - so people ate earlier this time. Which was a good thing for me since I don't have to be outside a lot and actually get to sit and mingle with everyone and just relax. One thing I always ended up with is a tiring body at the end of the party.

Then there were the crowds. A lot of the people I invited couldn't make it due to the rain and a lot of the usual crowd weren't there either. But there were a lot of new faces which was kinda fun too. I could only imagine what it would be like to have all the 70+ people who knew about the BBQ be there (note, we prepared food for 70 - so we ended up with leftovers, lots of leftovers).


Entertainment wise, we set up a lot of PS3s playing Guitar Hero III and Pro Evolution Soccer as well as a corner for Wii. We prepared the usual poker set and card decks. Missing is the xbox but in its place, we turned the living room into a karaoke room - which I kinda missed most of the time since I was outside and around the Guitar Hero area.


All in all, it wasn't such a bad party. Especially since it was prepared by only the both of us. It was fun as always but I knew it could've been better if it wasn't for the initial rain (it only rained for a moment then it didn't rain all night!). Plus, having the party inside didn't really feel like there were a lot of people - like it didn't feel like a huge party as the previous ones - plus most people left early when we used to stay there till late. Then again, some people did stay behind until 5am. JuLeZz and me? We stayed up till around 2.30 playing Guitar Hero, the most popular area of the night. And while JuLeZz and I were ready for bed, we could still hear those we left with my brother outside playing Guitar Hero. Y'know, not a lot of people know this but my BBQs used to be a gaming gathering and once it was called by a really long name, the Xbox Lan BBQ Party or BBQ Halo LAN Party.


Also, we were supposed to have a surprise birthday party too but the birthday girl couldn't make it. So happy belated birthday to Khairunnisa Halim! Too bad you couldn't make it. It would've added to the fun night.

Anyway, I'd like to say thanks to a number of people. My pretty wife especially for the food - we stayed up really late the night before just trying out stuff. Her two siblings and the maid for assisting her. Zeeko for coming early to help out with some of the preparations (lifting this and that). Azz and Ihsan for helping with most of the barbequing. Zool and Ripin for helping out with some of the BBQ as well. Also, thank you Ripin for taking some photos. My mom and brother for the sponsor (I feel like I just won an award). Those guys who brought food to the party, Far for the dessert, Zool for the hell of a lot of sausages, James who left Azz with money for sausages since he couldn't make it and Azz for the bottles of coke. I hope I didn't miss anyone. I didn't really took charge of the food people brought in. So if I didn't mention you, I apologise. And finally, I would like to say a huge thanks to our guests for coming, even when it rained so heavily. Hope you had fun!


Until the next BBQ guys!

Photos can be found at the following:
Karaoke
WiiTastic
Guitar Hero III Stars
The Rest

PS: Crap! I didn't get to take a group photo with anyone at all!!


Posted on Shutter Speech, BruGamers, Sin Adam, Mr Syaf's Multiply and TheExclusives.net.

Internet Radio and DVR for PSP

I love my PSP. And I still do. Owning a PS3 makes me even love the PSP more. Why? Because of Remote Play. Accessing the PS3 via the PSP when I'm at a cafe is pure awesomeness. Accessing my PSN via PSP is just pure greatness, especially reading messages left by you friends. And with the latest PS3 and PSP firmware updates, you can switch on your PS3 remotely via your PSP! Now that's just pure orgasmic. But to each their own.

Now, speaking of firmware updates, the PSP will get a new update soon in the form of version 3.80. With it, PSP owners (and I think it's really strictly in Japan) can record digital videos straight to their memory stick with their 1seg peripheral (its this device that can catch digital signals and view it on the PSP). Digital Video Recording is cool and I wonder if we can take advantage of it?

The update also includes an Internet Radio (as the screenshot shows) and hopefully this will be a great feature that a lot of us might love, though I don't really listen to the radio. But hey, you guys might!

Warhawk's New Dropship

I don't know if you guys have seen this or heard of it but Warhawk is preparing for a 1.2 update which will include the following new dropship. Check out the following video.

TIME picks HALO 3

Usually, I don't really care much about gaming top 10s from places outside the gaming journalism but, I guess, TIME Magazine can be somewhat okay. Somewhat.

In any case, I'm sure a lot of you would be happy to know that TIME Magazine dubbed Halo 3 as their No 1 video games of 2007, calling Halo 3 as the "perfect hardcore first-person combat simulator". I think that's a matter of perspective, I like COD4 better. But I can't argue that Halo 3 doesn't belong there. It's a great game.

Here's the rest of the list:

1. Halo 3
2. The Orange Box
3. Rock Band
4. Super Mario Galaxy
5. BioShock
6. Call of Duty 4
7. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
8. Mass Effect
9. Ace Combat 6
10. God of War 2

Seems like even the PS2 shares the top 10. Seriously, how can TIME Magazine call it Video Game of 2007 when 2007 has yet to end? This is why I rely more on the gaming industry's own journalists to come out with the best top 10s because they wait until next year to try out all games. TIME needs to know that putting games into Top 10s of the year takes time. So I'm going back to my dose of 1up, GameSpy and IGN.

Oddity: Transforming Shoes.

Transformers transcends mostly everything we love about the 80's (GI JOE, Captain Power and Thundercats asides) but nothing screams love when you see your beloved transformers starting to take interest in sports gears... Hells, you have to love it!

PAIN in PAIN

Downloaded PAIN on the PS3 and I'm liking it. Here's a video of a replay I made.

Is It Really Cool?

How do you keep your PS3? In its horizontal position? Or vertical? A lot of people seem to be putting them in the vertical position - mostly because it looks cooler that way. I have to agree. But note, apparently, the PS3 is cooler in its horizontal position - or so someone who used a pair of thermal goggles to look at his PS3 claimed. Check out the following pictures (click on thumbnails for larger images).

Now what can we learn from this? Something that looks cool isn't always cool.

Ninja Gaiden II Interview

Been so busy the past few weeks, what with work taking a lot of my time day and night, especially since the holiday is coming. So I intend to spend most of my holiday time playing games and socialising. I miss those.

Anyway, Ninja Gaiden II rocks! Well, it's not my most favourite game but it still rocks! I watched some gameplay videos over at gamevideos.com but I was too busy to link those here then. By now, they're kind of stale news for you guys if you've seen them by now. So I thought I'd post this video of a Ninja Gaiden II interview.

PS Store for PC

Out and about without your PS3 but you want to check out what's on the PS-Store via a hotspot area? Well, Sony has made your dreams come true! The PS-Store for PC is live and kickin' with games and demos for your PSP too! The PS-Store world is expanding! Watch out world!

Click here to go to the store.

Rocking on Guitar Hero III

Guitar Hero, the game that has proven so popular even until its third installment. These music based games are fun, mimicking musical instruments by tapping buttons according to the beat. It's fun and can test your reaction time pretty well. Usually, I would play such games if they have a good music library. But I never played Guitar Hero before. Not the first nor the second. Why? Because of the fact that you can't get the guitar here in Brunei when it was out for the PS2 without ordering. So it was quite a turn off.

Now, it's a different story. More and more original games are coming into the country. And more and more games are making their way online. Guitar Hero III promises extra downloadable content via PSN and Xbox live and even now, new tracks are already available, such as Foo Fighters, for download. That, and the inclusion of a wireless guitar, made me put GHIII on the top of my most wanted list of games this November. And I finally got my wish.

Today, with my brother, we bought, not one, but two GHIIIs for our PS3s. And playing multiplyer rocks! Heck, my fingers are still aching for the whole afternoon of playing GHIII.


One thing I hate about the guitar is the use of AAA batteries. Yes, no recharging via USB. Which means, you got to stock up on batteries, just like the Wiimote. Annoying.

But all in all, GHIII is fun! And with the great music library, online play, promise of continuous DLC, this is the Guitar Hero to own! Let's rock baby!

View album here.

Proposal in Halo 3

Halo has made a huge impact on a lot of things and now, the latest installment, Halo 3, has helped combine two lives together. Through Halo 3, Moviesign made a Forge Map in Halo 3 and asked his girlfriend, Furtive Penguin, to join in. After asking her to follow him claiming a place where he had put an energy sword, they came to a secret place where Moviesign made a marriage proposal using various Halo weapons. Guess what she said?

A wedding date is yet to be set but furtive penguin said, "We're waiting to see what the release date is for the next Halo game. We don't want any conflicts."

Seems like the gaming world is filled with real romance after all huh?

Upcoming PS3 Firmware 2.0

My posts have been a bit too slow these days. I've been busy with work and extra activities related to work. This might go on in the next few days but I'm hoping to be able to update on a daily basis again once I get the time.

Anyway, the PlayStation blog just updated with great news on the PS3 side. Firmware 2.0 will be released in the next few days with great updates, especially one that allows you to turn on your PS3 remotely via any hotspots using your PSP (finally!). I've summarised the updates below so you won't have to read the whole blog post.

Information Board: A new XMB that gives you PlayStation related news live on your PS3.
Remote Start: Turn on your PS3 remotely via any hotspots with your PSP
Custom Themes: Just like the PSP, you get to change not only your wallpaper but also the icons
Custom Playlists: For both music and photos. You can finally select which songs or photos to play (which should've been there in the first place in my opinion)

Also, a small update, the PlayStation Network will have its own category represented by the new rounded icon that has the four PS buttons on it (shown in the image above).

Update:
View the video demonstrating the new firmware update here.

Update 2:
Just found out that firmware 2.00 also includes several updates. They are:

Additional Canon Printer support
DualShock 3 support
Additional Sorting Options

Have a nice day!

Update 3:
Thought I'd let you know that Firmware 2.00 is available now! Update away!

The Eye Sees You

Have you seen the PS-Eye being sold anywhere around the country? I'd like to get my hands on one and try it out. Heck, video chat would be so cool as well as creating some simple videos out of it just for fun (I doubt it's as advance as the video editing tools I've used but hey, we're aiming for fun right?).

Anyway, check out what the PS-Eye can do. It just came out and it has shown a lot of advancement from the EyeToy.

Cheap "PS3" For You!

Can't afford to get a PS3? Well, now you can get something that looks somewhat the same! The PolyStation 3! (hey, still a PS3 right?)

Top Gear to be on GTTV

This news is a bit late but the all popular Top Gear show of the Great Britain will be put into GTTV which is a part of GT5. BBC, in partnership with Sony, will distribute 40 episodes of Top Gear to GTTV. Now who doesn't love Top Gear?

SSFIITHR Vid: fewh~

Can't wait for Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix? Neither can I! This downloadable game which will be available on PSN and XBL has seen a little light of day. Here is a video of the game in action played on the 360. It's a bit blurry since the guy recorded the game with a cameraphone.

White PS3

Those Japanese are lucky. They seem to be getting a lot of things early such as the PS3 DualShock 3. On November 11th, Japan will see the release of the White ceramic PS3 that's been shown in past PS3 images before launch. Funky. Although personally, I'd rather have the black one. But for collection purposes, I might just get my hands on this... ah~ if only I am rich.

The Return!

I'm back from my week long hiatus and I haven't touched any game until a few days ago when I finally tried out the Ratchet and Clank Future: ToD demo. That game rocks! It will definitely be on my buy list as soon as I can get the extra money.

Anyway, a lot of news have been out while we celebrated our Hari Raya (yes, I didn't stop reading - i just didn't post them) and I thought I'd start posting with the debut of Street Fighter IV. Ah~ finally...

Warhawk Patches

Upcoming patches will be available soon for Warhawk that will resolve a number of current issues in the game as well as add a few new layouts for small scale games. The following is a list of updates for the soon to be released Warhawk v1.1.

Server-side updates
* Stat database stability improvements
* Improved server stability
* Max Clan limit changed from 32 to 64
* Viral Rank-up bug fixed and correct for players that were accidentally ranked up.
* “Time-in-Vehicle” Stats fixed so certain awards can now be granted properly.

Client-side updates for Patch v1.1
* Stat connection, fetch/post fixes
* Significantly improved client connection stability
* Quad “????” Ping display bug fixed.
* Added support for Player-Ranked Servers.
* Game synchronization fixes due to fluctuating network conditions (packet-drop).
* Crash fixes for end of game and split screen.

Version 1.2 on the other hand will include the following updates:

Patch v1.2 includes:
* 5 New layouts.
* Clan game server option.
* Buddy slot reservations.
* Integrated Warhawk Store.
* Updated CTF capture/return behavior.
* Internal stat padder protection.
* Booster Pack status display at join game list.
* DualShock3 integration.
* Separate SIXAXIS motion control on/off per mode (ground, hover, flight).
* Detailed Player Score display at end of game fixed.
* Added new server type filters (player, ranked, dedicated, clan, Official Warhawk, etc).
* Added new server full/open filter.
* Fall damage exploit fixed.
* Dismount into walls exploit fixed.
* Invisible Tank, Turret & Warhawk exploit fixed.
* Auto-kick of idle players.
* Add to Favorites button added to end game screen.
* Increased VOIP volume when not using headset.

For a detailed information on v1.2, check out this playstation blog post which also include the maps of the new layouts.

[Via BruWarhawk]

Raya Hiatus

I'm on a one week Raya hiatus. Wanna spend some quality time with the wife and the family this season. So be back after all the aidilfitri's fever dies down - or might be earlier. For now, I wish you Selamat Hari Raya. Apologies if I've ever offended you in some way or another from this site.

Have a good week from BruGamers!

Have You Got The Eyes?

Graphics today has proven a lot in terms of comparing itself with real life images. The differences between these two have become smaller each generation. Gran Turismo has been known to lead graphics everytime and GT5 has proven to be more than a worthy champion.

Now, do you know how to spot real life image from in-game graphics? Try out this test and see if you have the eyes to see what's real and what's not. Have fun!

40Gig PS3 Official

Those of you who can't afford to get your hands on a PS3 but have enough money for an Xbox 360 should stop crying now as Sony just officially announced the 40gig PS3. Set to be sold in europe for €399, this version of the PS3 will definitely bring those who have yet to get their hands on this big black behemoth.

Note though, the 40gb unit no longer includes its PS3 backwards compatibiliy and the multiple memory card slots. Plus, it only has 2 USB ports instead of the usual 4. But hey, it's cheaper now! Although, I'd still recommend you get the 60gig soon before it runs out.

See What Will Be Your Home

The PlayStation Home's avatar creation tool has been claimed to be very deep and not until recently do we get a video on how this tool works. The following videos show how you can really customize your character in Home in the Beta version as well as how you can fill your Home space with pictures and furniture.

Halo 3 Tops Jap Chart

One of the most interesting jump in Japan is Halo 3's number 1 sale on the Japanese Chart. Interesting how this is happening in Japan, the land where Microsoft is thriving hard to get on top. Halo is no RPG nor is it a quirky game but to achieve number 1 in top sale in the land of their weakest console sale is not short of amazing. Seems like the Halo 3 superhype is really world wide.

Congratulations Microsoft!

Level 1 Uncharted

Here's another video of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Ever since it really got my attention, I went around the Internet searching for it. The video at the bottom of this post is taken from one level of the game.

As I mentioned two posts ago, the graphics look beautiful. Stone walls look old and overgrown with vegetations, looking just like how it would in real life. The lighting looks real, dropping only on certain areas as shadows cover the ground on certain areas covered by trees and buildings. Explosions look different. When a grenade explodes on soft grounds, you'll see earth skyrocketting high towards the sky. When it's on rock solid floor, you'll see little dust flying but a medium size mushroom cloud forming. My favourite thus far from what I see in the video is the blur effect. You make a turn, parts of your surrounding blurs. You enter the shade from the bright lights, the bright areas blur. You get into a large area, the distant area blurs. You get into melee combat, everything blurs but you and your opponent. It's so hollywood! Oh and btw, melee combat looks hot!

Another thing worth noting, you don't get a health bar. When you get shot, blood images show on your screen ala Gears of War style. And when your health is low, the colour on your screen starts to fade. Because of this, you'll see less things on your HUD. Actually, there isn't much of a HUD. Which is great. Then you get to see the environment better.

But, what's the deal with the character animation? It looks good most of the time but when he's jumping from ledges to ledges, it seems so... fake. It looks too fast. I mean, who jumps tenths of ledges and do not get tired? Who jumps ledges to ledges and still get to do it pretty quickly? Tomb Raider's latest adventure did the jumping animations perfectly. I think this game would do good to look at that game. Also, it's not just the jumping animation, the way he walks need some work too. He walks a bit, it looks like he's being pushed. That's old style animation.

Also, I was looking forward to a destructive environment like Heavenly Sword but you don't see it here.

Otherwise, this game looks promising, even despite those little animation problems. Have a look at the video yourself, enjoy and let us know what you think.

Halo 3 is 640p?

I'd like to get my hands on a Halo 3 but I'm extremely broke and I haven't got enough kaching! to spare for another 360. Not right now. Not with the amount of games on my wishlist that's coming out soon for the PS3. Still, I'd go over to my friend's house just to get my hands on Halo 3. But the only friend of mine who owns a 360 is all the way in Malaysia. Even then, the last time he was here, he told me his 360 broke. But I hope to God that when he comes back next week, he'll have fixed that and get himself a Halo 3.

Speaking of Halo 3, there's been a huge amount of talk lately about the game being a 640p native and upscaled to 720p. Apparently, those people who have too much time in their hands at Beyond3D forums figured it out. The reason for all the chaos? The fact that the box said 1080p. Now I've seen 1080p. If you are used to it and you've seen the difference between 1080p and 720p, you'll notice something is funny. But thank God the game is fun - or so I've heard. Halo - oh my old love. I'd like to re-love you again one more time. But I'll stay with Warhawk for now.

The Jungle Is Alive

When Uncharted was first revealed, I never really was into it like everyone was. Re-creating the jungle environtment in a game has never been made great by anyone. There was always a lot of things missing that you would find in the trees. I'm a big fan of hiking and I go through the jungle a lot - heck, walking to Niah Cave showed a good deal of environment that I thought games wouldn't be able to replicate. Note, I thought.

Came Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. I'm not sure whether its the fact that the game is in Blu-Ray that gives it enough space for textures or the great talents at Naughty Dog but the jungle just looks so full of trees and plants and - it just looks like a jungle. It feels like a jungle. Heck, the water in the game looks better than any water I've ever seen in any games, period. Add that to the amazing looking gameplay. Melee combat looks so fun and the transition from gun shooting to hand-to-hand combat just looks so fluid. This has definitely jumped itself onto my wish list.

Here's an inside the game look from GameTrailers for you to wow at it as well.

LBP Character Creation

Finally, something I've been waiting for - well, other than the game itself. I've always loved LittleBigPlanet's videos. They just make you want... more. They just make you want to have the game... now! It's taking too damn long Sony!

Anyway, last time I posted a video of the level creation tools. Now, Gametrailer released a video of the character creation. Check it out!

Cheaper PS3?

Now, I don't usually post rumours because they're not facts and they're just not news worthy but this one's different just because I know some of you wants a PS3 but can't afford it or just can't resist the fact that the xbox 360 and Wii can be *ahem* y'know.

Anyway, this rumour has been around for awhile but apparently, proof has been shown all over the Internet that a US$399 PS3 is bound to be released before or on November 16th. It is up to you to wait until then if you want a PS3 but I am telling you, I am not waiting for you guys on Wahawk. I am flying high baby!

Warhawk in the skies

Sorry for the lack of news lately. Warhawk's been filling up my time and I haven't really been doing a lot of reading on the vast universe we call the Internet. Yes, Warhawk's that good and addicting. And mind you, points don't matter anymore in Warhawk once you've played a heck of a lot of it. It's not about the ranks these days for me, it's about medals, ribbons and badges. Yes, those damn things need to be mine!! *insert evil laughter sound effect*

Anyway, I thought I'd mention to you guys that we've started a Bruneian Warhawk group in Multiply since that hasn't been exposed to the BruGamers.com crowd (I know some of you know not of our multiply group or you just don't want to join) but if you are a Warhawk player or would like to know about Warhawk, please, feel free to join us. It would be great to know other Bruneians in the Warhawk battlefield.

Is Killzone 2 really Halo 3?

Well, well. It seems like some people in the "news" section needs to get their news correct. That or at least put up an effort to try and get to know the Gaming Industry much better.

In the video below, BBC is using Killzone 2's video to talk about Halo 3. How ignorant is that? Not only are they confusing the videos, they're actually combining two "rivals" from two rival consoles. Talk about idiots. In this case, international idiots. Have fun watching!

TGS07: MGS4 with Dual Shock 3

Last week, the Dual Shock 3 was announced by Sony for the PS3. They claimed thet the Dual Shock 3 is no different than the Dual Shock 2 other than motion sensing. But Apparently, 1up seems to say otherwise.

In their preview of MGS4, 1up mentioned that "As explosions rattled around Snake, we could actually feel the direction from which they were coming based on what part of the controller virbated" confirming speculations you find all over the internet about the new PS3 controller.

So who's telling the truth here? And if what 1up claimed is true, why didn't Sony advertise that?

PS: Also, did you know that MGS4 is set in Medina, Saudi Arabia?

Warhawk, A Story of A Respawning Soldier

You find yourself on one side of a battlefield. You look around and you see more people, teammates, joining in on the fight. Everything is silent as everyone runs towards their tactical positions. Picking up ammunitions, weapons, gears. Boarding 4x4s and tanks. Commanding turrets, machine guns. Piloting a Warhawk. The silence only lasted for a few seconds when the first explosion is heard.

You run, looking for something. Anything to survive. Picking up weapons and gears, you see an empty Warhawk at a distance. You get on and the Warhawk starts to hover. You switch into flight mode and a few seconds later you are zooming in the skies of Eucadia. All of a sudden, red lights start to flicker everywhere. Even before you realise what the warning sign meant, your Warhawk obliterates into a million pieces.

You respawn. This time, thinking you are better off driving a ground vehicle. You see a tank parked. You board and you start driving. You look at the digital map and find your enemy's base. You plan to capture their zone so your teammates have more place to respawn. But your thoughts didn't last long. You see a Nemesis flying through the sky, shooting at you. You see your enemies throwing grenades at your tank. And before long, before you can see what's coming at you, your tank explodes, bringing you down.

You respawn. You see a 4x4 and start to drive it. It's fast. It's light. And you think that you can easily outrun all the other vehicles, including soldiers on foot. You see an enemy in front and you ram into him. You see a Nemesis flying towards you, you outrun it between the trees. And finally, you reach an enemy base. And you drive towards their flag. But at the corner of your eyes, you see the shadow of a tank. Next thing you know, you've respawned.

You tell yourself, this is not the end. You respawn yourself next to a turret. You board the turret and start to aim at everything in the sky and the ground. Warhawks, Nemesises, tanks, 4x4s. They fall down to your missiles. You laugh and feel that you have finally conquered it all. But before success was reached, a foot soldier plants a rocket launcher at you.

You respawn. This is war.

The end.

Like my little story? That's the experience you get in Warhawk. Everything is fast. You don't get time to think much. You have to think in advance. Go plan fast. Know where you are going. Know what you are aiming at. Because if you don't, you die. And you will keep dying. And you will keep standing up. And you will try to find that last son of a bitch who just made you cry out fowl in your room.

Get Warhawk. I absolutely love it.

PS: Thought I'd include an old and new Warhawk videos. Look at how long you can survive in the old one compared to the latest Warhawk.

TGS07: That Cowgirl Zombie Hunter

Remember Onechanbara? That girl with the cowboy hat? The one that fights zombies on the xbox 360? In bikini? Yeaahh, now you remember? Well, apparently, as crappy as the games were, somehow it's making another round of zombie slashing, this time for the Wii. Yes, still in bikini.

At TGS, a model was dressed in the heroine's clothing (as seen at the photo above). Famitsu took a lot of shots of the model which you can find here. Personally, I think she's got too much feather on her compared to the heroine in the game. I'm sure you'd agree too.

Anyway, someone at DailyMotion.com managed to grab a video of the game in action. Hmm, I don't know why I'm posting this really...

One Chanbara R TGS 2007

Your Next F.E.A.R.

Not so long ago, the creators of F.E.A.R. held a 'Name Your Next F.E.A.R.' contest at their website. Welcomed by so many, they came up with 3 final names for the sequel to the game and the public gets to vote which one they choose. One of them was Project Origin, which is now the official name for the next F.E.A.R.



PS: I voted for Dark Echo (which was one of the final 3). Project Origin just sounds so... normal. Don't you think?

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days

Welcomed by an enormous long line at the Tokyo Game Show, the Square Enix's booth was packed with a lot of Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts fans. We all know what's coming up for the next Final Fantasy project but what about our beloved Kingdom Hearts?

Fear not, Square Enix announced Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for the Nintendo DS at TGS and God knows what that title really means. I'm betting that the title will change once it gets out of Japan or at least to the US.

Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days will feature, not Sora, but the other hero of KHII, Sora's Nobody Roxas. And instead of Sora's friends, you get the Roxas' from Organization XIII. This game also features four player co-op gameplay so you can play through the game with your buddies.
No release date has been announced so we'll have to wait on this one for now. Let's hope the trailer shown at TGS will make its way to the Internet soon.

Let's Loco Roco!

Loco Roco Cocoreccho was released a few days ago on the American PSN and listening to the song just reminds me of how fun it was to play that little puzzle platformer on the PSP last year when I was so addicted to it, downloading all the demos of different holiday seasons. Note though, I think this "interactive screensaver" is overpriced at USD6.99 but I bought it anyway because I love Loco Roco.

Anyway, I haven't really played Loco Roco Cocoreccho since my hands are full with Warhawk (and trying to play Oblivion in between) but I will try it as soon as I feel like stopping playing Warhawk...

So... I thought, with the release of Cocoreccho, I'd dig up an old post of last year and paste it here. Ladies and gentlemen, the Loco Roco song.

Oh btw, if you are looking for the lyrics, you can view the old post here.

TGS07: Afrika

Remember Afrika? Yeah, that trailer from last year that no one knew what it was all about but beautiful looking rendered animals and environments. Well, another Afrika trailer was released at TGS 07 and it looks - well - still gorgeous and still no idea how it's going to be played. Anyone have any idea what it'll be?

TGS07: PSP Store

You've been waiting for it for so long. You've been wanting it since you got your hands on your little black handheld. And finally, it's here! A PSP Store!

While not as great as its big black brother's store, the PSP Store is open for business accessible via the PC - but only for those lucky Japanese. But, rest assured, the people at PSP-Vault.com didn't sleep for you and me to write a great article on how to navigate through the store. And by the looks of it, there are a lot of things you can start downloading.

Now, when will the rest of us get this?

TGS07: Kingdom Hearts : Birth By Sleep

Been waiting for some Kingdom Hearts news? Me too. But here's what's been released so far in this Square Enix and Disney world. Kingdom Hearts : Birth By Sleep for the PSP.

It may not be Kingdom Hearts III but Birth By Sleep seems to be showing some incredible looking characters. KHIII is a prequel to the KH we love thus far and it seems to tell a story of someone who resembles the recently introduced Zack of Crisis Core. This game, looking to be darker than any of the KH games, will most probably follow the gameplay of its PS2 original.

Anyway, here's the trailer.