Another bolt-on wonderboy looking to get smoked?

I don't usually like racing games at all, they have to have something else to them for me to like them. Here are the 4 racing games I like, in no particular order:

Super Mario Kart, Wipeout 3, Mario Kart DS, Wipeout HD

But a 5th game comes to the fold, one that has actual cars and no weapons. Burnout Paradise. I have no real idea why I like it. Perhaps that it is basically Grand Theft Auto without those annoying on foot bits and no story that is like The Sopranos written by a 14 year old. Perhaps it's because when I see a list of things to do that needs ticking, I just can't help myself. Most likely though, is that when you're not in a race, changing the viewpoint to first person and just driving at high speeds with no consequences around an exciting and intriguing city is a lot of fun.

I played the game for a little bit earlier on in the year as a rental, way before all the updates and extra trinkets and didn't think that much of it. Later on, with the promise of extra content, trophies and being on offer at 20 dollars, I gave the game another chance. After 10 hours of playing on and off for the last month (now with a total reset for trophies), here is a list of what I like and dislike about the game.

Dislikes (getting these off my chest is cathartic, sorry):

1. No ability to restart an event when you've finished or failed or just know that you've fluffed it. You have to drive half way across the map to try again.

2. No ability to restart an event when you've finished or failed or just know that you've fluffed it. You have to drive half way across the map to try again.

3. You're doing well. You're doing really well! You're going to win this extremely complicated and stressful 5 minute race!
It's the final corner, you look at the map to check the turn.
You turn.
You go over the finish line as seen on the map and you whoop with delight!
Nothing is happening...
Your position ticks down to 4th, 6th, 8th.
You realise that you've gone down the road 1 pixel down from the finish line or the road above or below it.
Tears well up in your eyes with sheer frustration and...

4. ...you have the indignity of driving around to correct yourself and find the finish line because the game will not let you do anything else until you've finished, even if you're in last place. And then...

5. ... DJ Atomica pipes up with some ridiculously patronising patois. You can't turn him off, ever.

6. Now see points 1 and 2.

7. You can replace 'turning the wrong corner' with clipping a bollard or corner without triggering the crash sequence and just getting stuck there while you painfully slowly reverse and drive around to get back on track with great loss to maneuverability and end up 'fluffing' the race i.e. have no chance, but still have to finish the race to continue.

Beep beep! Mr Lakitu, where are you? I has coins, put me back on the track pls!

8. The in-game GPS and the flashing road signs that go #noing noing noing# completely lie half of the time, the latter sometimes leads you way way off track. I have to rely on the beacon on the compass and trial and error.

9. The in-game GPS does not rotate the map, making it very confusing. Trying to concentrate on that, the beacon and the road constitutes half my crashes.

10. The other half are from citizens that never read the chapter in the driving theory book about Right Of Way at a crossing.

11. The bike pack constitutes 109 mind numbing events that are up to 10 minutes each and still adhere to points 1 and 2 despite their complexity and length. It wouldn't bother me as it's free and optional content, but not doing them (as I have decided to do) means you miss out on 30% of the trophies, making them and the platinum trophy pointless.

11. Pile hard into an enemy car, #BOOOSHHHHHH! kwah kwah kwah!# they die in a spectacular way and you go unscathed. Even slightly clip a pedestrian car... #BOOOSHHHHHH! kwah kwah kwah!# your car freaks out and flips 30 foot in the air spinning and bits flying off in slow motion, while the pedestrian car drives on like nothing happened.

Like:

1. The trophy objectives are fun and rewarding.

2. The city itself is really exciting and pretty, especially now that there is a day to night cycle. It's very atmospheric, especially when you have all music off at night-time with just the powerful roar of one of the sports cars.

3. Driving around like a maniac doing stunts for points in bizarre and well designed industrial areas is utterly excellent.

4. You can turn off the god-awful EA-Trax and put your own soundtrack on. Side-swiping another car at 130 miles an hour while Utada Hikaru earnestly sings #My darling, Stay Gold. Please smile innodently forever..# is a work of ultimate dark humour.

5. The events that are not ruined by Dislike points 1-8 becoming a great inconvenience are very satisfying and make you feel like you're living those driving sequences in The Blues Brothers.

6. Destroying that cock that drives around like an idiot while listening to techno or drum and bass too loud when you're not in an event never gets old.

The likes outweigh the dislikes on this game as long as I avoid them, so this game gets a thumbs up for me. This is especially impressive seeing as this simply isn't my genre.

Four Grand, FOUR GRAND! out of Five.

Hi everyone!

I made it into the final of the Gamespot UK LBP level building competition!

My level (click to enlarge):



The competition:

http://uk.gamespot.com/special_feature/littlebigplanet-contest/index.html?tag=topslot;img;1

I really don't stand a chance against level 13 who not only has the ability to draw extremely well on the computer (something I lack) but also made a much better level. I'm just proud that I got this far

'Nintendo has taken the wraps off its new DS system, the DSi, during a press conference in Tokyo today.

The handheld will be priced at JPY 18,900 (USD 179 / EUR 129 / GBP 101) and will be launched on November 1.

The DSi features a built-in web browser, enabling users to download games and store them on the console.

An online DSi Shop will allow users to purchase DSiWare priced between 200 and 800 points, with customers getting 1000 points free until March 2010.

The handheld boasts a three megapixel camera, and better audio capabilities including the ability to adjust pitch and playback.

With a slot for SD memory cards, users are able to take photographs on the DSi and transfer them to the Wii home console.

The new model has slightly larger screens at 3.25 inches and is 12 per cent thinner, but the slot for Game Boy Advance cartridges has been removed.

The new model will come in black and white colours.'

Nintendo DSi

I'm not quite sure what the point of this new console iteration is. It's all very neat and the price is only $180, but the more there is to a console the more can go wrong. Also, I see the price almost doubling in Europe. It's interesting to see that it has internet capabilities and [Edit] two measly 0.3 megapixel cameras, but what will be done with that? Probably just 1 Wario game where you poke your own face with the stylus. The internal SD card capacity is just asking for more piracy, the camera is asking for DSes to be banned on trains (think about it). A console of this magnitude will not be able to avoid stuff like that.
I'm pretty sure it's asking too much of the DSi's software that you could take a photo, record a videos, write a blog and attach the photo and video and edit and upload it all, but that's the only use I can see for all this stuff.

Another -Ware channel? I think that might be a mistake considering how badly the Wiiware channel is doing, both in sales and critically. Will this one highlight the existence of the Wii one?

Official website:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/dsi.html

Source:

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/nintendo-unveils-new-dsi-console