Yes we have some weird friends. But weird friends that make amazing videos when they get drunk. Their last work cracked me up like all the others, so let me just post them all for you to enjoy!

Yes, it’s been quiet on the PS3 front. But, as with every console launch, you can’t expect the first year to be great. We’ve only had a hand full of good titles on 360, and the great games are still for late 2007.

So, both consoles are not getting much love. But there are still small gems that get released once in a while and I’d hate to miss out.

First up, Pac-Man Championship Edition. Honestly, I’ve never enjoyed playing Pac-Man, but after seeing the 1UP show of last week, I had to give this complete make-over a try. And I love it! It’s got that same short adrenaline rush experience as Geometry Wars:Evolved used to give.

As for the PS3, not much new happened on the games front. It’s still a beautiful machine, made by people with good taste (awesome gui/music visualizer/etc .. it has Sony written all over it) and the cheapest Blu-Ray player out there. And damn, how could we ever have lived without!

I bought the BBC’s documentary Planet Earth on Blu-Ray. It is jaw-dropping. The most beautiful scenes of nature you will ever see, things you’ve never witnessed before in amazing high resolution detail. One negative thing though,… DVD will always look crap from now on… Now let’s hurry up with more BR releases plz k tnx!

And after a long wait, Calling All Cars, a PSN game by the creator of God of War, finally arrives in Europe. It’s supposed to be an awesome multiplayer game (preferably with everyone in the same room), with a sort of NBA Jam feel to it… I think we can’t go wrong with that! Also, WipEout, the PS1 original, is available and will be tried again just for its soundtrack alone.

Work has been keeping me quite busy lately and when I do get home, I just end up crashing in the couch. So, sorry for the lack of updates ;)

Elke is still playing Tales of Legendia, so access to the tv is limited ;) But here’s what I’ve been trying to play etc anyway… in short (no time!):

/played
Okami (ps2)
Beautiful! It’s the Viewtiful Joe engine on acid. The ps2 didn’t really have an adventure game that comes close The Legend of Zelda, but this is it! The Japanese music and graphic styles make it an amazing experience! Dare I say better than Zelda?

Yakuza (ps2)
Japanese neon is cool. Enough said ^^.

Final Fantasy Tactics (gbmicro)
With Final Fantasy XII nearing and the tv being occupied, I thought it might be nice to visit the world of Ivalice in lovely 2D isometric sprite style before drooling over the jaw-dropping 3D version. If I really start digging SRPGs, I might give Disgaea 1/2 a chance.

/listened to
Marylin Manson
Guns n’ Roses
Korn
Limp Bizkit
Sum 41
Blink 182

/seen
The Forgotten
Pretty fun movie… Had to rent an older one because nothing decent is released lately.

As you can see, not that much happened. I’m mentally preparing for the crazy list of games heading our way. With DOAX2, Gears of War, Final Fantasy XII, God Hand, Phoenix Wright 2 (already shipped! Jap version has English FTW!) and much more… it’s going to be a filled end of the year. Not to mention a poor one ;) .. I’m not even talking December (Wii + Zelda.. pre-ordered.. /sigh).

Any financial support (/points at Paypal Donate button) is appreciated ^^

Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve updated you all on what I’ve been up to. I presume the previous posts did give you some ideas ;) but to keep this site a bit consistent, it’s time to list it anyway. So, 2 weeks… here we go!

/played
Dead Rising (360)
Although an awesome game, with amazing graphics and my favourite enemies in of time… zombies, I didn’t play that much yet. It’s worth getting a 360 for though. It’s Dawn of the Dead, the videogame. No better way to describe it. You’ve never seen such a realistic shopping mall and such perfect representations of zombies in a game ever!

Phoenix Wright (DS)
I’ve played the hell out of this game. For an adventure/detective/lawyer game, it’s very addictive, not to mention LONG! The 4 first cases take a lot of time and are just ports of the old GBA version, but the last case takes as much time as the entire GBA game together! It’s nice to see how Capcom added the DS specific extras to this case, with 3D animation and dusting for fingerprints, which requires you blowing in the mic and using the stylus. They knew such a long extra case might get the player yawning and with all these additions to the gameplay during this final case, the crazy characters you meet and the twisting and turning of the plot, it keeps you excited until (and after) the credits roll. Probably the best title to date, on the DS. The sequel can’t come too soon.

Xenosaga 1 (ps2)
Getting back into an RPG is hard after not touching it for weeks, but the story pulls you back in quite quickly. Just a pitty I don’t have that much spare time for an 80 hour RPG. Certainly not 80 hours episodes…

Ultimate Ghosts n’ Goblins (psp)
It’s beautiful, but it’s dead hard. It does make you want to throw that PSP out of the window, but instead I just put it aside :P. Maybe some day I’ll try again. Only because it’s soo pretty.

Metal Gear Solid: Digital Graphic Novel (psp)
I really suck at stealth games. The stories of the MGS series always intrigued me, but I could never get far before getting frustrated. This solves it however, a digital comic explaining me the world of Snake, without the annoying gameplay (this sure won’t make me friends with the MGS hardcore :D)

Lego Star Wars 2 (ps2)
I love the old Star Wars movies and I love Lego. It’s a perfect combination! It’s really funny and even fun to play, but trying to stay awake? Coffee might help. It’s not that interesting, except for the fact you are replaying all the movies in the Lego universe. Although quite entertaining, only advised to the Star Wars hardcore.

Tales of Legendia (ps2)
I’m not technically playing it, but it’s keeping me from playing anything none portable :D I got Elke addicted to the damn game. It has beautiful music though and the cartoon sequences are drawn by people from Ghibli, so you can’t go wrong there. Although I didn’t like the combat system, Elke doesn’t seem to mind. She’s in for about 15 hours now. Dunno how much to go before I get the TV back ;)

/watched
Family Guy
Some random episodes. Still cracks me up.

Futurama
Same. Funny. One day I’ll get all on DVD. Or Blu-Ray ^^

The Big Lebowski
My kind of movie. Due to being sick last week I could catch up on some dvds lying around here, and although not amazing, still very much worth a watch.

Super Size Me
Watched it a second time, best way to keep yourself away from fast food and anything else that’s bad for your health. Awesome documentary.

House of Flying Daggers
I had this dvd here for way too long. Finally, also due to my sick days off, I found the time to watch it. Although I did prefer Hero, it’s a great movie none the less. The bamboo scene was just “wow” :D

Pirates of the Carribean 2
If you love the first, you’ll love this one. It keeps you on your toes for the 3rd though, but it’s the first time in months I gave money to go to the movies and it was worth it!

/listened to
My Neighbour Totoro OST
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence OST
Various Aerosmith songs
Some Xmas songs (if you know me, you’d say I’m late :P)

That was exhausting… Anyway, I’m back on track with my gaming! The PSP finally has some fun titles again, the DS got recharged a zillion times thanks to Phoenix Wright and both 360 and ps2 have some nice titles waiting for me to finish.

Speaking of consoles, I went ahead and pre-ordered me a Wii. And sure, you’re all invited if you bring your own Wii-mote! ^^ 2 months to go!

He ain’t no kitten no more! Since Myuu joined the family he’s acting more like daddy kitten ;)

/played
Nothing!
As odd as it may sound, I didn’t play anything this week. Not a single console got booted. Except for Xenosaga and some other games of my backlog, there isn’t anything worthy of wasting time on. But that’s soon to change, with a big list of games on my “to buy”-list.

This month alone has already gotten a few nice releases:
Dead Rising (360): The wait hasn’t gotten me more excited but actually more bored of it. I’ll be buying it though and hopefully loving it.
Gitaroo Man Lives (psp): Played the Japanese version, never played the ps2 version. Finally it’s arriving in our silly little country!
Ultimate Ghosts n’ Goblins (psp): Who said the PSP doesn’t have good games. A second one in one month! :D Not sure whether I want to buy it, since it’s supposed to be so hard you’ll throw that PSP right out of the window. 1UP gives it 4, Edge 9. The only two sources I have faith in contradict eachother! Help :D
Contact (ds): Harvest Moon team meets Killer 7 team can only be a win-win situation. Must-have!
Okami (ps2): Finally a Zelda game on the Sony console. I’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time and so has Elke. The Jap-whore I am, I’m sure I’ll love this game.

Crap, quite a list. Luckily I was prepared and didn’t waste my money on crap last month :P

/watched
Lost Season 2 Episode 13 - 21
No Flemish VT4 viewer can spoil it for me anymore. But my Walloon colleagues still can :/ Still 3 episodes to go to catch up to the rest of the world!

/listened to
My Neighbour Totoro OST
Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence OST
St. Germain - Various albums

/played
Xenosaga Episode I (ps2)
13 hours in the game. The story still stays interesting even though people told me it doesn’t. 70 hours to go I presume. I’m still wondering how I ever reached 900 hours of boring WoW ;)

Phoenix Wright (ds)
Got a little further in my next case. It still is one of the best DS games, just have to find new moments in the day to pick it up and actually play (the fact we can’t play in the office no more doesn’t really help. I demand a refund of my portable devices from whoever made that new rule).

Rhythm Tengoku (gba)
I haven’t had this much fun on my Gameboy Advance (micro now) since Wario Ware! Simple, cute music games have you pressing buttons on the rhythm! Funny and insane!

Dead Rising Demo (360)
Can’t wait for the retail! Still playing the demo. Does it show that us 360 owners really lack good games? :D

The Secret of Monkey Island (scummvm)
Played a bit more. Lack the patience though. Maybe I should rush through it with gamefaqs.com but I think it would be a waste :/

/watched
Dawn of the Dead
Dead Rising made me do it!

Lost Season 2 Episode 5 - 12
Must hurry, colleagues have no respect for spoilers! 12 to go!

The Wedding Singer
Got to get this one on DVD. Already own the soundtrack,… Love it!

It’s retro time, with a bit of next-gen :P

/played
Xenosaga Episode I (ps2)
This game has interested me for a few years now (it dates from 2001), and with Episode III around the corner, I wanted to give it a try. I’m only 10 hours in Episode 1, so with 80 hours of gameplay per episode, I’ve got quite a way to go. Still, this game aged very well, with its cinematic cutscenes showing many games even today how it should be done. First game with mechs I actually like ^^

Grim Fandango (pc)
I’m trying to get my hands on all LucasArts classic graphical adventures, especially this one, since it’s rumored Tim Burton might make a movie out of it. Windows XP nor MacOS can play it decently though, with the game crashing ever x minutes. Must find another way :/ Voice acting rocks again, as we’ve come to expect of these series.

Psychonauts (ps2)
Progressing slowly. You notice the relation with the game above, but point & click is just more fun than jump and fight.

Dead Rising Demo (360)
Played this thing to… death. This 15 minute demo is just awesome, smashing zombies is gory bits never gets boring! Reminds me of the movie Braindead, but in HD ^^.

The Secret of Monkey Island (scummvm)
Yes I know, shame on me for missing out on this one. But I’m catching up! The entire series even, if I get my hands on them! Until now? Hilareous. I miss funny games :/

/watched
Sin City
Loved the style, love the director, love the actors, love it all. Bring on nr2!

Troy
Sure it’s all the pretty boys thrown together in one flick, but it’s pretty good anyway. Achilles ftw! :P

Back to work and more gaming than ever!

/played
Donkey Kong Jungle Beats (gc)
Got this from Wim and it really is awesome. Hitting those bongos like crazy to make Donkey Kong run, jump, clap etc, exhausting but fun. Boss fights can get complicated, you’ll clap when you’re supposed to drum, but there is no frustration since you’ll be laughing all the way through. It really makes you look forward to the Wii though.

New Super Mario Bros (ds)
Finally picked it up again and rushed 3 worlds, making me appreciate it more. It’s more of a tribute to the old Mario games than it is a new great game, but worth it if you loved the original.

Psychonauts (ps2)
Haven’t got far yet, but if there’s one thing that’s amazing about this game, it’s the voice acting. Every single NPC will have something to say and most of them are even funny while doing it. The level design is just craaaazy. Still lovin’ it ^^

Ninety-Nine Nights Demo (360)
Beautiful music, amazing graphics, but soooo poorly executed. We’ve come to expect quality from Q! Entertainment, but they should’ve stuck to their Lumines, Rez, Meteos, etc. I’ve had high hopes, but I guess I’ll skip.

Table Tennis Demo (360)
Talking about failures, this game isn’t even worth its budget price. 10 minutes of demo play made me yawn and fall asleep. The fact that it’s based on one of the most boring sports doesn’t help a lot of course.

/watched
Madagascar
I never liked Shrek but this movie wasn’t too bad. The best are still the psychotic penguins, who have their own movie on the bonus dvd. They make you LOL :P

Scary Movie 4
Not great, but entertaining none the less. Makes me want to watch War of the Worlds again. And The Grudge (NOT the US version thank you very much).

The Hot Chick
While checking what our crappy cable tv had to offer, we ran into a movie with Rob Shneider! You either love or hate this guy, and we’re more in the love camp. A silly film, nothing special, but funnier than Scary Movie 4. Worth a watch.

/irl
Drinking
Went out for dinner to celebrate my bday, got drunk, saw people fight in the restaurant. Good times ^^

/played
LocoRoco (psp)
Animal Crossing DS (ds)
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (ds
New Super Mario Brothers (ds)
Prey Demo (360)
Shadow of the Colossus (ps2)
Ridge Racer 6 (360)

/listened to
Freezepop
…more podcasts

/watched
The Island

/IRL
Inline skating!

Yes more skating! This time, we joined the Rollerparade in Sint-Niklaas for a nice little tour of 20km. Seeing as I can’t brake (I’m getting better though :P) and have only been rollerblading for a few weeks, it was quite an achievement ^^.

And even watched a movie, The Island with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson. Very nice! Can’t say much about it without spoiling so, just go rent!

An amazing amount of handheld gaming took place though, with Animal Crossing for DS being played till both DS’ batteries died. The online feature got abused, having Wim visit our town and vice versa, importing and exporting fruits. Silly game, but oooh so cute.

LocoRoco still keeps amazing me. Clocking at 6 hours of gameplay already, new enemies and original level design keeps popping up. PSP is back from the dead I say!

I also threw Shadow of the Colossus back in my PS2, starting where I left off months ago, now 7 colossi to go! The Prey demo was quite impressive, single and multiplayer, but it got boring very quickly. We ended up quiting and playing some online Ridge Racer!

In real life, work was a pain, deadlines demanding a lot of our dev team. But… last week of work before we got a week off! And one of these days we’re heading to Sweden to say hello to Donw (good ol’ WoW friend)… aah finally things are looking up! :D Good times! ^^