Have a better idea...

Well, I've been thinking about it for awhile and I've made some serious discoveries. I filled out my Rain character a bit and with thoughts from others, I've come up with sort of a bio of his.

Name: Rain

Origin: As a child, Rain was beaten severely by his father. These rash beatings were always followed by a downpour. Nothing was thought of this until Rain ran from his father's home while it was raining. In the rain, he found solace, comfort, healing, and most of all, he disappeared in the rain. Discovering this power prompted him to test his limits. He wondered why he had not disappeared in the rain before. The answer was soon found when a school bully beat the hell out of him outdoors. The rain came, and then Rain himself disappeared. Pain. That was the answer to the problem. If Rain was in pain, the rain that was generated would make him disappear. Experimentation ensued. Rain tried all sorts of methods to cause himself pain. These experiments left him with quite a few scars on his body. Years of testing and study went by all too quickly. Martial arts and weapon training consumed all of his free time between his studies. Rain eventually graduated college with two degrees, one in Chemistry and the in Engineering. His father died from alcoholism soon after he graduated. Not a single rain drop fell that day or during the funeral. Leaving his home town and moving to a larger city, Rain found a job as an accomplished Chemical Engineer. At home is where the real work began. He built gadgets and gizmos to help accomplish his masochists power. Eventually, Rain began to use his power for good. This is where his adventures begin.

More to come, if anyone is interested...

Rain

Odd title don't you think? What if it were a superheroes name? I got to thinking, do Superheroes ever get depressed? If they did, would they try to kill themselves? Take it one further, if they hurt themselves, maybe it would change things around them, like making it rain? One thing led to another and Rain was born. If you are intrigued, then ask me about it later because this is all I have so far.

Conference Review Part 2

Alright, I left off with the so-so games. There wasn't many that really didn't impress me. Most of the games really impressed me or I didn't care for at all. Now onto the bad games...

Bad:

1. Everything else on the PS3! I played three other games on the system: Motorstorm, Tales of Genji 2, Heavenly Sword, and Warhawk. None of these were impressive at all! I can't say that any louder if I called everyone I know and yelled it at them. These were typical, crappy-launch games. Nothing unique. Nothing interesting. Not even that good of visuals. I'll give you an example, the Tales of Genji 2 game is about a Samuria. As a samuria it is your duty to fight random creatures and guys who attack you. Do this is a stagnant environment and let nothing move. Come on! Has anyone else seen Oblivion? Everything moves in that damn game. Why does nothing move in a PS3 title? I thought it was suppose to be far superior technology? Even the crappy launch game Kameo for Xbox 360 had moving environments. Oh, well, all of these games get a big C rating.

2. Mortal Kombat Armageddon: This is the last Mortal Kombat on current gen systems. I'm not the best fighter game fan, but I do love my Mortal Komabat. Part of the reason why I don't care much for this title is that it's too complicated. I really enjoyed the simplicity of the old Mortal Kombat games. My favorite being Mortal Kombat 2 on the SNES. Oh well, there is no going back and I'm sure this game will inspire a lot of people to pick up the controller and "Finish HIM" one more time. Rating C (Probably a good game, just not for me)

3. Every Game Boy Advance game they had there. Isn't that handheld dead? Why make games for it? OH, I forgot, there are a million kid shows out there that are just begging to have terrible games made after them. That's all I saw. Nothing new, nothing interesting, just crap. Kids games all around and make them terrible and contrived as possible. The kids won't know the difference. I give the companies making these games an A because they can sell trash to a garbage collector, but there games suck. Rating on Most Games D.

4. Excite Truck: A Wii title that shows that even next-gen games can suck. If this is the usual stuff from Nintendo, they need a swift kick in the ass. The controls were inventive, but the visuals were terrible. Even by Gamecube standards, they sucked. I hope a lot more work goes into this title before launch. I don't recommend anyone paying money for this one though. Rating D.

Alright, that's just a couple of games or genres that I thought were worth mentioning. Now, here is the big stuff: my system reviews. I know what everyone wants, so I'll start there.

1. Nintendo Wii: There isn't a great way to start this review up. First off, I loved the Wii. I loved almost everything about it. The controller was a lot of fun to use and the games were interesting and inventive. This is truly a revolution in gaming. With that said, the revolution doesn't come without a lot of problems. I was worried about the quality of the system and I did have grounds on this one. The wii-mote is very sensitive. I watched almost everyone have infinite problems working it. For some reason, I didn't experience too many of these issues. The major one that worried me was when I was playing Zelda. I played it two times: once on a tiny 26" tv and again on a 62" tv. Let me tell you, it was a lot harder on the 26". I couldn't keep the pointer at the tv and every time you didn't point it at the screen, it came up with the aweful error message asking you to point at the screen. This bothered me because I can see it making a lot of people frusterated. That's not what Nintendo is going for, but I think it could happen. Also, if you've been playing games your whole life, getting use to the new control scheme is going to take some time. Play the Wii Sports which is in the box. It's a fun game and will really help all of us who want to subscribe to Nintendo's new system. I loved it, but it's a change and I can't wait for everyone else to experience it. There system has the most potential of any of the systems and with Reggie Fis-Amie at the helm of Nintendo of America, I can't see where they could go wrong. Rating A.

Conference Review Part 1

I know most of you are curious about how well my first conference went. Well, I don't know how many of you are actually interested, but I'm going to talk a little bit about what really impressed me there and then I'm going to talk about some random crap. Yay!

The Games:
Conference was really about our vendors telling us the new and exciting things that were coming out and why we should love them. On the occasion, we got to play these wonderful works of art, but most of the time, it was just full of videos that most of us have already seen.

The Good:
1. Gears of War: I know most of you that own a 360 are interested in this one. Even if you don't own a 360, this should be at the top of your list if you decide on buying one. It follows a band of military men in a science fiction world that are being attacked by enemies from underground. It's a complex mixture of sci-fi story telling, third-person shooting, and survival-horror thrills. Put all of this together with unbelievable graphics and simple-fun gameplay, you have Xbox 360's killer app. Oh, by the way, did I mention that the melee weapon for the machine gun is an attached chainsaw? Well, it is, do I need to say more? This game will be an excellent addition to any 360 library and a much needed anticipation factor for those who do not own a 360. Rating: A+

2. Rainbow Six: Vegas: I haven't played a Rainbow Six title since Rogue sphere on the PC. I enjoyed it but I never got into the multiplayer addiction which was Rainbow Six 3. This fall, Ubisoft is releasing this title, and from my gameplay experience, they've got a winner. Imagine repelling down a huge Vegas casino, turning upside down on the line and "tagging" the enemies, terrorists, with some sort of infared beam. Then, climb up the line, go to the other side of the building, repel down this side, get the terrorists' attention by shooting out the glass, while you call in your support team and have them crash into the previous window which you were just at and take out the enemies. Sounds cool? Well it is. A gorgeous looking first person shooter with unique squad based controls. Oh, flashbangs, when they go off, actually imprint the last image you see on the screen for a few moments. This is really cool for multiplayer functions. Rating: A

3. Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: I don't have much to say about this one. I loved it because it was a Zelda game and I got to play it before Sheena, but there isn't more news that we already have. I'll talk more about the Wii in a few paragraphs, but this game is awesome for all the right reasons. Looks good, plays fun, lots of stuff to do, and it Zelda baby! Rating: A (I'll mention why no A+ in a little bit.)

4. Super Mario Galaxy: Another one of those Wii titles that bears a need to talk Wii before the preview. I can say one thing, this title will bring back the traditional platforming of Mario in all new ways. Did you like Super Mario 64? Hell yeah you did! Would you like Mario 64 in space? Can't imagine that one, but the Mario factory has done it again. Rating A+

5. God of War II: What can I say? More of the same from God of War. That's all there is to it, right? Wrong! Kratos comes back with all the hatred of a family slayer and a fallen god to kill every demon, monster, and god that gets in his way. Are you ready for anger management part 2? Well, strap on those blades and prepare for war. I got to rip out a cyclops's eye and ram it into his mouth. I bet Odysseus never thought of that. Rating A+

Meh:
1. Justice League Heroes: You all thought that I would go head over heels in love for this one, but I didn't. I played it on the Xbox and liked it well enough, but I can see where it would get boring. Playing as Superman and Batman was really fun. Superman could fly around with cars and smash badies all day long. Batman just kinda sat there and they batarangs. I'm not too happy with how unimpressive Batman looked, but maybe it'll be better in the final game. I don't know. I really want to play as Green Lantern though, that might be kinda fun. Rating B-

2. Ressistance: Fall of Man: This is the only console envy I have. It's a first person shooter on the PS3. It looked good and it had a lot of cool weapons. The fact that it is a PS3 title is it's only downside. It's made by the developer of the Ratchet and Clank series. These guys know how to make a game. I'm interested in how it will turn out, but what I saw was cool. Not $600 cool though. Rating B

That's all for now. I've got to get to class. I'll probably post later this evening.