Much like E3, it's safe to say that Microsoft have 'won' TGS (as much as I think it's stupid to say such a thing). One needs to look at their press conference at said event, which started off poorly, then ended with some megatons. Suffice to say, my reasoning for wanting an Xbox 360 has increased, what, with the confirmations of Metal Slug 7, King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match and Space Invaders Extreme as XBLA games (though I can't help feeling there's something wrong that I want it JUST for the downloadable games).

Oh, and then there was some more confirmation about the new Halo game, but who cares about that? I'm more interested in the new No More Heroes game, complete with awesome trailer (look it up - it's rad).

However, I want to spend some time talking about one particular announcement. One which I've used the E3 analogy for. You know the one.

Err...no, not that one. Though the trailers were cool.

Ahh, there we go.

So yeah. Tekken...on an Xbox. Who'dve thunk it? Who'dve forseen it? Who'dve think that it would have actually have happened?

This is where I'd be saying that upon learning this info, I went to various forums and cried fould over Microsoft and Namco for doing such a thing, and crying into my pillow - like the Tekken fan that I am.

I didn't.

Was I angered? Well, yeah. I mean, we're talking about a game here that I've read multiple reports that people BOUGHT a PS3 for, and will now happily trade away their PS3's to get a 360 so they can get some ACHIEVEMENTS LOL~! (no, not really). But to be honest, none of this wasn't a shock - if you think about it.

I mean, we are talking about Namco Bandai here. We're talking about the same company that has eschewed Sony exclusivity for Microsoft (Ace Combat, Katamari), as well as completely ignore the point of DLC (where do you want me to begin?) . Then there were the rumours and all that have been floating about for over a year now.

Still, I can't get all the complaining. Does the fact that it's going to the 360 suck? Kinda. Though if you're an embittered PS3 owner, let me offer you a sound bit of advice here.

You're still getting the superior game.

Let me explain my point here. This is by no means a fanboyish rant or plea or whatever. I'm not trying to troll 360 owners. Just give me a moment to explain.

First reason - it's still a Playstation game. There's a YouTube video floating about showing off the game being booted up, showing off a XMB interface akin to a PS3. Then there's the fact that all the previous Tekken games have effectively been built on Playstation technology. Granted, we haven't seen any comparison shots (or anything, really) of both versions of the game, but you can't help but wonder that this gives the PS3 just that bit of an advantage.

Then there's stuff like online play and achievements. Online's been confirmed for the PS3 version, and safely saying, the 360 game. Achievements is a no brainer for the 360 game, and there is a chance that the PS3 version will be receiving trophies. Nothing entirely confirmed at this point, but there's a chance that it'll still be the same game.

The other big reason? Controlling it. For those who aren't familar with Tekken, you've always had to input directions using the D-Pad. It's never really been a problem (except on the PSP's Dark Resurrection) on a Playstation console, but for the 360? Yup - that'll be a BIG problem. Though there is the fact that D-Pad issue always has the possibility of being fixed in the future (and can be now, unofficially). Or has it been confirmed that it'll be fixed? Let me know if you do know.

If you're the kind of gamer that plays with sticks, then that makes it slightly more even. I can't talk too much about this, because I have too little experience with it.

The one real kicker here is the release date. FALL 2009. If you want to blame Microsoft and Namco for something justifiably, then you can blame them for that. Why does this suck? Well, the arcade game would have been out for nearly TWO YEARS at that point. I can't think of any other fighter that's had a home port delayed for that long.

Though it will be quite unreal to read that the 360 version outselling the PS3 version.

Look on the bright side though, at least Street Fighter IV will be out by then, now with added SAKURA. Yay!

Still not happy? How about this?

:3

I know I am.

Later.

Not too long ago I blogged about my attempts to become an achievement whore in Steam with TF2. I kinda wanted to go back to it, see if I can earn some more achievements, but for some reason, I couldn't. Not the game that stopped me - I just couldn't do it. Didn't feel like it you see.

Ever since 2.40 hit, I've been waiting for a shot to earn me some trophies, but it seemed for a while that I was unable to. I didn't own Super Stardust HD (though I really need to - fun game is fun, after all), and for the longest time, hadn't owned any of the games that were starting to support trophies via patches (also need to buy Uncharted).

With that being said, I was hankering for an excuse to get back into Burnout Paradise. After all, who can say no to free content? And I was looking for an excuse to score some trophies. Granted, I had to start again (thankfully copying over my 13hr+ save game to a USB stick) to get the trophies, which sucked. Anyway, the results?

I'm shocked. They're kinda stupidly easy to get. The names of each of the trophies are basically the objective, and range from mindnumbingly easy (repair your car, get a paint job, beat a marked man event, get a showtime/time road rule), to kinda challenging (get an 4X boost) to just time consuming (hit 60 billboards, 200 smash gates). You'll also get a silver trophy every time you get a license, which is cool.

I've gotten around 30% of the trophies so far, and generally, within a small amount of time. There have been moments where I've gotten trophy after trophy after trophy for just hitting targets (namely billboards and smash gates), which felt really satisfying. Granted, it's mostly been bronze, but hey, it's not like I was expecting golds for everything.

What I seriously need to sit down and do is get all the online trophies, which again, are easy enough to get. Though I'll need a camera to actually send some pictures (it's a trophy, which is neat).

So yeah. Just something quick and easy. I'm planning something else which could be kinda cool, but it's also pretty intensive. And I hope to make this into a series of sorts.

Later.

I've made it little surprise to anyone that I'm planning to record a podcast during the eGames Expo in November. It's going to be the most ambitious podcast that I've wanted to try out for a while, and I'm hoping to get interviews/perspectives with a whole bunch of people - be they media or otherwise.

But yet, this little dream of mine has been hit with problem after problem.

The first problem was that format. Initially, the plan was to do three podcasts - each for the individual day of the expo. The idea for these were to basically be hour long chats about the expo and whatever came into our heads. The plan was to get special guests on two of the three days, and on the third, all the Level 3 crew sit down to wrap up the expo.

It worked fine....except for one problem. Whoever was on the first day wouldn't have much to talk about the expo - we'd be recording the podcasts around lunchtime, and we'd be eating at the same time (i.e. recording a conversation over lunch). Granted, we could fill up a lot of time talking about how the guests got into to what exactly they were doing and some other random stuff. Fun and all, but not what people woud want to listen to.

Going back and listening to some podcasts for PAX, I got some more ideas. 1UP Yours did a live show, in front of a packed audience. Granted, it'd be nice to do, but I can't see it happening. Granted, the AusGamer guys would probably do it, and hey, if anyone's going to do it, might as well be them.

Then I heard Player One's take on it. Basically, the guys did a three hour podcast compiling a "whatcha been playing", and various interviews. Hell, they also did podcasts before that - when they were getting lunch and such. I love the idea of just doing an interview based episode, where we can talk to a variety of people for various amounts of time and what not.

What's the problem? It's going to be difficult for me to attend. My exam for this semester just happens to be on the first day of the show. And it's late in the afternoon also. Lovely.

How this'll conflict with the recording of the show, I don't know. But again, this is stuff two months away. There's always time to think this stuff through just that little bit more.

So yeah, that's just some ramblings and thoughts for the future.

Later.