.hack.//G.U. Part 1 Rebirth (ps2) Preview

Just shipped to Japanese stores, the first of a trilogy featuring an all new central storyline and characters. Following on from the critical success* of the ealier Quadrilogy (thank you Alien) the storyline in G.U. takes place seven years after the end of the first series.

An RPG within an RPG, the original series (.hack) is set in the near future, when seemingly everyone is addicted to a massively multiplayer online role-playing game called "The World", which by the end of the series is destroyed.

For .hack//GU the World has been rebuilt (rather handy), an you play as Haseo a young man attacked by "player killers" and intent on revenge (as you would) the story follows you as you unravel the identity of a nefarious enemy.

The game is being released with a catch up disc telling the story to date and your original game saves can be used to unlock a "surprise" element in the new series .


*the original series of four games sold 780,000 copies in Japan and 1.73 million worldwide

1up preview
Gamespot preview
Original series .hack//infection review
Trailers from gametrailers.com
Screenshots from IGN
Official Website
.hack japanese portal
.hack//G.U. japanese website

Dear Sony
Yes I was too stingy to buy the first series as individual titles, so I am patiently awaiting the original titles boxed in a platinum set as promised. Please remember Europe is only a hop skip and jump (with feather and levitation spells) from the US.

I ain't getting any younger.

Yours the elderly

TV Advert from Tarvus on youtube



elderly tags ps2 hack GU rebirth website preview screenshots .hack//G.U.

Rogue Trooper Walkthrough (ps2)

Walkthrough from Gamefaq.com

Official Website

Screenshots from gamespot

70% from 18 reviews on Metacritic

...........................another predictable post from the elderly, following the mantra that posting dosen't have to be painful. Boring? now that's another story.

elderly tags ps2 rogue trooper walkthrough hints tips cheats walkthru website review screenshots

Xbox360 gets it's "eyetoy" this September

Gamesindustry.biz have reported that the Xbox Live Vision Camera is set for a simultaneous release in Europe and the US on September 19th, Gesturtek (the people behind the technology) have confirmed the camera will allow gamers to control the action in much the same way as Sony's eyetoy.

The camera features
· High-end online camera supports up to VGA 640x480 video at 30 frames per second and takes 1.3-megapixel still photos.
· The camera includes a microphone that connects to the controller, so everyone in the room can chat online with their grandads
· The camera supports built-in video chat and video messaging on Xbox Live.
· Your face can be imported into games (god forbid) and can also be placed next to your name on leader boards for even more recognition, fame or infamy

Now what are we going to call it?

elderly tags xbox360 xlv eyetoy camera webcam release date specs

Assassin's Creed First Look

1up's Best of E3, Gamespy's ps3 game of the show, IGN.com Best action game of E3, Gamespot's editor's choice winner, Gametrailers best of E3.

Impressive I think you'll agree, and while at present only tagged as a ps3 release, there is increasing speculation (given that the game is set for a 2007 release), that Ubisoft will announce a xbox360 version in due course.

Chief executive officer at Ubisoft’s Montreal studio said about the franchise “Assassin’s Creed’s ..... will captivate audiences and affect them on the same level as an epic novel or film.” Course he would say that, but given the accolade's above it appears he may not be too far off the mark.

The first game in the Assassin's Creed franchise is set in 1191 AD (ah! I feel right at home), when the Third Crusade is tearing the Holy Land apart. Shrouded in secrecy and feared for their ruthlessness, the Assassins intend to stop the hostilities by suppressing both sides of the conflict.

Eurogamer have compared the game to "the best bits of Oblivion, Prince of Persia, Splinter Cell, Thief, Hitman and even GTA" rolled into one. Time to start another piggybank then.

Eurogamer impressions
IGN impressions
Gamespot's impressions
Official Website with screenshots, trailer and wallpaper
Dailygame impressions
The 360 speculation from teamxbox

Update latest screens August15th from playfrance.com

elderly tags ps3 assassin's creed assassins creed preview website wallpaper screenshots trailer

Rockstar Table Tennis Review (xbox360)

Scoring a rather spectacular (for a table tennis game) 81% based on 13 reviews
from Metacritic.com

Reviews Summary
This is brilliant, whichever way you spin it
Not that much to say, it's ping pong
Instant accessibility, rewarding depth, immensely entertaining and addictive
Not much behind the standard exhibition and tournament modes
Tremendously fun, fast paced, hard to put down
Addictive, but lacks a reasonable single player mode, shockingly sparse.
Extremely intense one on one compensates for lean options
Focus, polish, accessibility, depth
A true triumph as an implement for having fun

Official Website
Screenshots and trailer from IGN


elderly tags xbox360 xbox 360 table tennis rockstar games review website screenshots

Resistance: Fall of Man First Look

Tagged for Ps3 launch day release, from the team that brought us Spyro, and Ratchet and Clank comes this next gen "call of duty with aliens in it". The game takes place in a fictional 1951 in which World War II never happened because a monstrous race called the chimera are intent on wiping out humanity.

Screenshots (17) from IGN
PS3 Teaser website with high def trailer
hands on from dailygame
hands on from IGN
hands on from gamespot

elderly tags ps3 resistance fall of man trailer screenshots teaser site hands on preview

Cosplay Lara Croft

From top to bottom

Pitchoonett
Cosplay Underground
Adventureplace.com
Ellen Rocche (popups)
Cosplay Angel

elderly tags cosplay lara croft tomb raider

Ice Age 2: The Meltdown Walkthrough

Gamefag.com Walkthrough from a heavenly body

Ice Age2 Wallpaper from moviemaze

Official Game Website

Unlimited pebbles and energy from IGN

elderly tags ps2 ice age 2 the meltdown walkthrough cheats hints tips website wallpaper walkthru walk through ice age2

Eyecandy C

Call of Duty2 Amateur vid

Call of Duty2 xbox screens

Call of Duty 3

Carola "Invicible"

Chromehounds Xbox360

Culdcept (360)

Wii tops Most Wanted in Japan

Results are in from Japanese games mag Famitsu ,who ran an opinion poll on what consoles and games their readers are most looking forward to after E3 2006.

The most anticipated game console, with a whopping 68% is Wii, and runner up the ps3 with a paltry 21%. And if we were left in any doubt as to how Japanese gamers have reacted to the ps3 entry price, Famitsu had it covered:

88.4% of those polled said the Ps3 pricing was too high.

Watch for a Ps3 price drop or cost beating bundle any day soon.

More details including most anticipated games from moz la punk

elderly tags wii ps3 cost famitsu poll price pricing console battle

FFXIII updated Screenshots

Nine pages of FFXIII loveliness from the Magic-Box

FFXIII Battlesystem from gamespot

elderly tags ps3 ffxiii battle system screenshots final fantasy xiii ff13

Gamer Tattoos #5

top to bottom
Ye old commodore logo from geektatoos
Umbrella logo from leons on gamespot
Zelda Back tatoo from hot dancer

elderly tags tattoo tatoo tattoos tatoos gamer tattoos Zelda commodore umbrella

FFX2 Ruslana Wild Dances

Humour me while i work out my game music video fixation. As to why there are no great music videos for other game classics, eludes me ( or highlights my poor search skills). Eurovsion winner Ruslana and some clips from FFX2 seems to hit the spot this time. So if your ready for more Yuna microphone fun hit the play button.

Ruslana Official Website
video from kochet on youtube



elderly tags ffx2 music video ruslana wild dances game music yuna final fantasy

Trawling Japanese Fan Sites May

The pictorial ramblings of an old person as he meanders through the undergrowth of japanese fan sites. Watch for pop ups (or disable your pop upper)

Top to bottom

Witchblade comic, tv series, the game, (which appears to have drifted of the face of the planet)
resource site and now anime series (japanese)

Batgirl from Cecielle the Muty (censored for pacemakers)

Xenosaga III mockup cover, official website

Final Fantasy XIII magscans (2) from dreamwiz (japanese)

Bullet Witch screenshots (32) from dreamwiz (japanese),
Bullet Witch Official Website

Mario and the doa ladies
mario on wikipedia
Mario r&br

elderly tags bullet witch mario final fantasy xiii doa bat woman witchblade

Hitman Blood Money Review

Seems IO interactive have just managed to scrape over the bar again, with generally favourable reviews for both the xbox and ps2 versions. With only two reviews to date for the 360 format, one wonders whether "generally favourable" is worth €74.99*/£51/$95 for the next gen version. Reviews based on Metacritic analysis

Xbox 77% based on only 5 reviews
If your a hitman fan, this will make you fall in love all over again (?)
Wade through mission after mission of trial and error gameplay
Better than the last, but not by much
Dosen't offer the subtlety necessary for a great premise to be really satisfying
AI could do with improvement, save system gets a minus point

PS2 78% based on only 5 reviews
Blood Money is without question the best Hitman yet
New features make it feel like a real sequel: money, notoriety, and publicity
Can be punishing at times, but hugely compelling and stylish

* based on prices gleaned from HMV/Game/Virgin retail stores in Ireland.

Official website
Screenshots from gamespot

Heavy Rain Trailer

I must thank Deitrix for putting me on to this, a quite unique piece of animation from French developer Quantic Dream (the team behind Indigo Prophecy) part of a demo from an upcoming next gen release called Heavy Rain.

Called "The Casting", this video demo features a young actress attending a casting for the game. "The Casting" features many Next Gen advances including full body and facial motion capture

113mb and 38mb versions from gametrailers.com

ps3 demo impressions from IGN

Screenshots from gamespot

Updated! 10th June: Developer Interview (thanks Deitrix)

elderly tags ps3 heavy rain the casting trailer video animation

3d Model Carmen 99

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Barbie signs new games deal

She may be pushing 47 years of age, but theres life in the old girl yet.

Activision have signed a deal with Mattel, which grants the company exclusive worldwide distribution rights to new video games on all platforms based on Mattel, Inc.'s Barbie brand. The video games are expected to be available at retail stores worldwide this fall.

With 15 million game units sold to date, it's no wonder Activision are "excited" at the deal.

The first two games are games based on Mattel Entertainment's upcoming movies, including
"The Barbie Diaries" PC, Nintendo GBA.
"Barbie In The 12 Dancing Princesses" Ps2,PC,Nintendo,GBA.

Activision will also distribute titles based on some of Mattel's best-selling video games including
"Barbie Fashion Show,"
"Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus"
"Barbie Beauty Boutique"

Activision press release

elderly tags barbie game activision mattel video games

Mortal Kombat Fanart

From a talented Manny Fresh on otaku.com
Click image for larger pic

elderly tags mortal kombat fan art fanart