Banzaii - The blog of online games and games of Jorge Mediavilla

After much promise, good hype galore, marketing bag and a few performances in the playroom, Sony has come to our hands a copy of Heavy Rain (I mean when I say the original copy. Not scare me!). It will be difficult to analyze this game without tearing up the story because the game is its script (in fact, is more interactive movie game as we know it), but let's try.

Although it comes packaged as video game sold it as such and has been developed as a video game, it's an interactive movie in which your actions influence the development of history, like a book of those choose your adventure own question. The script speaks about the murderer of origami and is the "classic" Hollywood script of a psychopathic murderer who blindly meets the profile. From four different perspectives, four playable characters, we will discover the details of the story.

Sony told us, our choices, even the most minimal, influence history. As in real life, do not know if you made the right decision or not. Just take it and life goes on and leads to consequences that might not expect or could not foresee. It appears that most affects the story is that one of your characters die at some point or is retained and can not accomplish your mission. In total, it is said on the forums, there are 18 end (epilogue) different.

Obviously, no multiplayer, and the big question is if Heavy Rain is "replay". There are many people playing it again to discover new endings, but I think that once you know who the murderer, the subject loses much grace. Perhaps at some point I try to play again to see "what would have happened if ...", but certainly not going to swallow me from the beginning because, prepare scrambled eggs airplanes or playing with the kids is not exactly fun.

The overall impression was very good. The best of the game, such as interactive movie is, is history, still good, has some gaps and turns a bit forced I would like to expand on the comments but not here so as not to ruin the game to anyone. Finally, the script is not perfect, but it does, engages and interests.

As for the gameplay, the experience is reduced to a bunch of "quicktime events" that have been so popular God of War, Tomb Raider odd or Ninja Blade. The "quicktime" confined to cutscenes usually more impressive than the game itself in which the user has to hit the button combination that is proposed on the screen. Basically it is a test of reflexes. I'm not a big fan of this type of gameplay but I think it affordable for everyone and suitable for a "game" like this.

What sets Heavy Rain from other games that use this type of gameplay? Besides the already mentioned, the no "linearity" of history, and it flows whatever you decide, the other big difference is the ultra-realistic graphics, are those who give credence to the story, but here the game is not perfect. Stresses in the facial animation (not always, sometimes, seem grotesque) and worse, some textures and especially when the characters put on the clothes ... There are some frame rate drops quite remarkable ... and there is a patch available that fixes some of these bugs ... Bajároslo before playing.

The sound also helps, follow the guidelines Cinematograph at the foot of the letter and tells us next to the "nerve" to be the on-screen action the moment where we are and how nervous he is our hero. Good tunes and good score here too.

Another objective of David Cage, writer-director of Heavy Rain, was that we became familiar with the characters, we conducted with them daily tasks, we felt what they felt and we finished we identify with them, so that their joys and sorrows not leave us indifferent. I think this has also been achieved, at least to me has happened with 3 of them ... In my end only lost one and was just in that I did not connect ... Coincidence? I think not ... Just do not moved me as Peter Molineaux ... LOL

In short, and not "brasearos" more, I recommend everyone to enjoy this experience. Despite some failures and unexplained things, the script is interesting, keeps you stress and get your goals. It's actually better than many "movies" of shit that I've swallowed lately ... I applaud Sony and Quantic Dream for funding this project and innovate. I think another essential for PS3 with God of War III, Uncharted 2 and a few others.

I think Heavy Rain is the first great exponent of a new trend in video games games, the closest to the film. I think we will see many "children" of Heavy Rain in the near future and that this game opens a new line that will target the mass market in systems that do not require as OnLive console and the like. There is a lot of ground and big business to explore in that direction. I also believe that a good Heavy Rain in the Cinegames with a lot of people deciding where the story goes at a time can also be a good avenue to explore.

PS: If you want my opinion on the controversy of the nude free in the game, I think if you paid 70 bucks, free of anything, either pay yourself ... lol We are out to 10 bucks a naked! I remember a game for adults, and has a PEGI +18, not worth shocked by a nipple.

This weekend I've been enjoying Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, a major PS3 releases this year and nominated for Game of the Year (GOTY) by many. After finish my single player mode is my impression that this is a game of games, whose great virtue is to take the best from here and there in a rather successful. Let me explain:

Uncharted 2 is many things, but certainly not an original game. From the first 5 minutes I had the feeling that is what could have been Tomb Raider and never was. But also saw clear references to other titles, with the system to seek coverage of Gears of War and, most importantly, Drake has emulated the way down stairs Nico in GTA IV! It's something I really did not think it would be back in a game, I assure you J

Out of silicones, the most impressive of the game, except for the beautiful female, are certainly scenarios, perfectly textured, full of details and possibilities. It has lost the habit of distinguishing clearly between those that are interactive scenario of no and a server, overwhelmed, sometimes I was not sure where to shoot. Luckily the guys at Naughty Dog are all over and show you the way kindly if they see you're flying blind.

Uncharted 2's script moves away from the seriousness of Tomb Raider. Although Drake is saving the world, that does not stop to notice Chloe's ass or do the joking comment of the day. Style save the world "I have not seen you yell" is always more fun, right? Dialogue glorious end. Let me know, as Nui Muchachada I've seen in a videogame.

The mixture of genres, from various video games that have nothing to do with each other makes the game not be all good as it should in some respects. For an addict to Modern Warfare 2, Uncharted 2's action is somewhat watered down, although they have taken part in this spectacle that makes it so special single player mode of the last Call of Duty. Other times the game twisted and reminded you a good adventure film Indiana Jones, running under the doors before they close, or a miracle saved from collapse.

The problem of video games as ambitious, who wants to give the best of the platform genre, action adventure, it's hard to find the proper gameplay. Do not believe I pulled into the abyss for pleasure, no, is that control, being good, sometimes playing tricks on you. The rest is more or less the same thing: exploration phase and action phase seasoned with some other particularly spectacular or unusual because you have to cover an injured person and back again until the final fight.

After finish my Modern Warfare 2 in about 6 hours long I think any video game. At least Uncharted 2 has lasted me a whole weekend ... It is definitely too long, but intense, action-packed epic moments. The taste that makes the end is good, having lived a good adventure game with a carefully worked really. Also few days ago has been at the center Game € 39.99 and has risen again to 66. For 40 euros was a huge purchase.

Finally I just want to ask you: Chloe or Elena? I definitely Chloe, much better in every way, with more personality than Elizabeth prude.

To your left, Elena, right, Chloe

The creators of Lara Croft want to reinvent the myth (which I have already made or attempted on several occasions) and it could follow the path of the new film, which explores the origins of a very young Lara would no longer be played by Angelina Jolie but by Mega Fox or another renowned actress younger. Thus, we can "enjoy" a young and inexperienced Lara taking its first steps.

Some art on this game has been leaked and judging by the legal actions undertaken Nielsen , who was probing whether the new face of Lara was liked or not the people, seems to be true. You can see the images on other sites as akihabarablues.com .

I think a Lara Wilder, disheveled, most primary and young. I like it.

I say go to a better life because not disappear, but because they are integrated into a larger structure, the Square Enix Eidos in the case, and that of Namco Bandai Atari in Europe.

RIP

Atari disappears again as brand new. Namco Bandai now called Partners after Namco Bandai has completed the acquisition of Atari's distribution operations in PAL territories around the world, leaving out the United States and Japan. In Spain now have to talk about Namco Bandaii Partners, a company that will market in our country RidgeRacer, Tekken, Soulcalibur, Dragon Ball and Naruto, among others.

As for Eidos, Square Enix is ​​now called Europe and published the famous role-playing, among others, in Europe under the leadership of former CEO of Eidos. Let's see if we have a Final Fantasy Croft soon! They did not want to give it another go to Lara?

All these changes will mean further redundancies and restructuring in an industry that is gradually being affected by the economic situation inevitably.

The well-known British retailer Gamestation coming into our country. Next Monday will open its first store in Spain, in Madrid's commercial center of La Dehesa, in Alcala de Henares. It seems that encourages competition, which is always good news.

With the success of last year and a market share of around 9% in UK, Gamestation coming into our country with two clear signs of identity: good customer service and are themselves "gamers" who sell games to other players . The services we provide are the classics: Sale, rental, reservation of news and membership card. Nothing new noteworthy in this regard.

At the moment I can not find your Spanish website, but in English there are some attractive offers to change:

• House of the Dead Overkill: 22.99 pounds (24.7 euros).
• Tomb Raider: Underworld: 19.99 pounds (21.5 euros).
• Prince of Persia: 26.99 pounds (29 euros).

The solution to the crisis in the retailer internationalization seems to be, but the Spanish market is fairly cornered by the Game center and to a lesser extent, Gamestop stores. Either way is good news since their prices are very competitive.

As a curiosity, commenting that now has the two largest video game stores in Europe, located in Birmingham and Hull.

* Visit the official website of Gamestation .

* More information in Spanish Real State .

After the last game of Lara Croft have not had the desired effect, as I had a few days ago , Eidos arises a radical change for the series, making it more casual, more designed for women ( especially for girls Egirl ). Well, in Banzaii we already have the first screenshot of what the new Lara game and its code name yet definitive: My Lara Kingdom.

The missions are now more varied ...

More details of the terrifying plans Eidos ...

Update: I'm glad to see an opinion in favor of the current style of the series. The former creative director of Tomb Raider defends the style of the series and blamed poor sales to other factors.

Well, Lara is as always, is "depression" is Eidos, the creator of the game, it just has sold 1.5 million copies of his latest Tomb Raider Underworld worldwide advertising despite a somewhat libertine, who translated a while back with some bad milk

It seems that the claim of a well mojadita Lara and super sexy is already enough to raise sales ... The game is not bad at all, but perhaps the PS3 Uncharted left him somewhat dated even before seeing the light. For my part, I have it on the waiting list, is a game that I play, but not before other much better bill as Fallout 3 or Dead Space.

It appears that the culprit is mainly the United States, which has not bought enough sets of Lara, which has caused Eidos have to lower their expectations of business. More and better marketing luck next time! Why be a next time, right?

It is on sale, if you had not you heard ...

* Seen Gamesindustry

Update: Nothing more to end this "post" I see you posted on my beloved Gamesindustry that Eidos shares have dropped 25%, which makes it even more appetizing candy for Time Warner and other large multinationals that have set their sights on Now the video game world that is maturing.

Why have a meeting of creative brainstorming, etc. when you have a game starring Lara Croft? It's a waste of time. Lesson 1: Because nobody will look at the face of Lara, better cut it off. Lesson 2: The game? Neither good nor bad nor regular, but very wet Lara says: "Explórame all."

We comment only. Thanks to Manu for comentármelo.

I read on Gamespot , a site that may not know but that is the source of almost everything you read in Spanish web pages that SCI (Eidos), which owns franchises such as Tomb Raider or Hitman, through bad times, including layoffs and restructuring. One of the most striking changes is the creation of a new casual games division, to be called Eidos Play. SCI keeps up the way other companies like Electronic Arts and Take Two.

My opinion is that casual games are not the goose that lays the golden egg, the great decision that will remove the hook, but a step in the right direction, a step that is consistent with the philosophy imposed Nintendo today and remoteness of the industry of those games that generate violent rejection and bad press. Casual games are games of direct and immediate gameplay aimed at players unusual that occur with low costs and revenues which, if the game becomes a huge success, can be spectacular.

How will this line of strategy games? What is clear is that either these games out for Wii or download on the PlayStation Store or Xbox Live Marketplace. I do not think outside of Wii make much sense to flood the Game shopping with these products. Some may make sense, as those who have already succeeded in Intenet and are well known as Diner Dash or Cake Mania, but not all.

Internet should be a key player when it comes to market and sell these games. What I do is a flash version of the game, as Sony has released Patapon , and would promote, without eliminating conventional advertising in social networks using new marketing techniques of Web 2.0. So put on sale over the Internet with systems of digital rights protection. The strategy and distribution of casual games by these large corporations, therefore, should differ from the games "hardcore" and, of course, do not forget the mobile version.

In line with what I commented the other day about Tomb Raider Anniversary, is the entire video game industry that is trying to find new sources and forms of business. Most of these experiments aim to expand the target audience, and to do nothing better than using casual games that succeed on the Internet. Leo Baquía that this shift towards casual games also trying to combat the issue of violence in video games. So kill two birds with one stone.

As indicated by this article Baquía, Konami, Ubisoft and Skype are betting on casual games, but I must also add the recent reorganization of EA into four main sections, one dedicated to the casual and mobile games. In addition, Take Two will turn next year to Wii and Nintendo DS due to its success.

- More on casual games .

The new Tomb Raider Anniversary, the remake of the first adventure of Lara Croft done with the engine of his latest Tomb Raider Legend, is proving to be a balloon-catheter Eidos to explore new digital distribution channels that are open both online and consoles over Xbox Live and the like.

Tomb Raider Anniversary was released simultaneously in stores and digital distribution, which is a good experiment to see what they can sell online and whether such sales impact their sales expectations in the normal distribution channels. This was a first step and now the second is to try to put the game on the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live episodes. I am a firm supporter of episodic games, as I explained a while back, partly because it can be much cheaper and I do not like the idea of ​​paying for phases to which I will not ever reach.

The complete set consists of four episodes. In September it launched the first two episodes, and will be available shortly after the other two episodes. The final game for the Xbox 360 also will be available in stores soon.

Nothing is known about whether the same or similar initiative will be released for PlayStation 3 or Wii, which could accommodate this type of distribution is finally confirmed the launch of its new hard drive.

I applaud these innovative initiatives and wish you every success.

- My article on Video by chapter .
- More about Tomb Raider

Ten years pass very quickly. From that SIMO 1997 in Tomb Raider I discovered it has rained a lot. Within days, on June 1 will launch the new adventure of Lara Croft, Tomb Raider Anniversary, a remake of his first adventure with the graphic engine made its last Tomb Raider Legend. The game will be available June 1. For now, you can do like me and go downloading the demo:

- Download the demo of Tomb Raider Anniversary.

There are many images and videos that have been released, but now comes the real test of the demo. In short I would give my initial opinion about the game

- More news from Tomb Raider on the blog.

The guys Proein warn us that there is available a new video of Tomb Raider Anniversary, the remake preapan Eidos and Crystal Dynamics of the first adventure of Lara Croft with the graphics engine of the latest Tomb Raider Legend. This trailer, though in English, shows ingame and real images of the game.

For me Tomb Raider is a game that I keep with love. I discovered it in the SIMO almost 10 years ago and I was amazed with the game. After I got it and I ended up. It will be a joy to relive the adventure.

The website is also fresh from the oven and in perfect Castilian:

- Official website Tomb Raider Anniversary