Tuesday, January 29, 2008

The Gamer's Utopia Preview: Super Smash Brothers Brawl!


Posted by:Maxx
Ah...Midterms are done and I can get back to the gaming community, hope you guys didn't miss me. Well this time I'm reporting on a game that I'm having a major nerdgasm just waiting for the release! Yep, reporting on Super Smash Bros. Brawl!!! If ya haven't heard some of the new additions this time around, I'll gladly inform ya! And if you didn't hear of the series before, I have one thing to say... What the hell is wrong with you?! GO and get a Gamecube or N64 NOW and buy Super Smash Bros. or SSB Melee!

Ok I'm good now... Anyways there are a lot of new things this time around! New characters, items, stages, and game mechanics! Nintendo certainly aren't pulling the punches in this game! (No pun intended). Well let's stop screwing around and go straight to the good stuff!

Characters...ah the new characters.... Well from what I’ve heard, all of the characters present in Melee are in it except for a few, like Mewtwo and such. But they replaced those with much better characters. Some that are coming into the fray are Meta Knight, King DeeDeeDee, Pok'emon Trainer, Diddy Kong, Wario, Ike, and Pit. However, here's the cool thing. There are also third party characters! Only two have been released right now and they are Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series (whom uses CQC fighting and explosives) and (the one I'm squealing like a fangirl about) SONIC!! Yep the speed demon is in the upcoming game and now all the people who lived through the first console war finally get to pit Sonic and Mario against one another! There are also arenas for each character! Awesome things happen in them too, like Gears popping out of a base or the stage crumbling apart!

And some of the new stuff they have! Nerdgasm right there! Well let see, there are new items, like Assist Trophies (I think pok'eballs but with characters from different series like the hammer throwing Koopa and Ninja from MGS). There's a new pesky hammer which is stronger, faster, and lets the user run off the stage without dying! Then there is the big item, the thing everyone will fight for! This is known as the Smash Ball! Basically it's this orb floating randomly around the stage and the players try and break it open: once they do, they can unleash a super attack, known as Final Smash, and cause massive damage, if not a k.o.! Some of the Final Smash actually transform characters!!

If you’re not excited about this game, then damn boy, you're not a gamer! This game is one everyone's list if they own a Wii! It's coming out in March so keep an eye out! Till next time folks, ciao!

Links to Music From SSBB!

Super Smash Bros. Brawl: Main Theme

Fire Emblem: Fire Emblem Theme

Kirby: Meta Knight’s Revenge

Sonic The Hedgehog: Angel Island Zone

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Medley


Monday, January 28, 2008

Kirby! Break it down now! Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, do do dodo do do


Posted by:Maxx
It's funny when you find a classic on the interweb! And I found this awesome video for Super Smash and Kirby fans alike! Enjoy!


Tuesday, January 22, 2008

The Gamer’s Utopia Preview: Top 10 Most Anticipated Video Games of 2008 (Five-One)


Posted by:Kal
This is, of course, is the continuation of my last post. If you did not read the one before this one, you can read it here. For all those people that already read that one, I’ll just jump into the list.

5. An apocalyptic world has been the setting for movies and games for the past few years. Maybe it’s an omen, maybe it’s not. Whether it is or not, the next few months will be filled with apocalyptic anticipation since Fallout 3 comes out in 2008. This game is centered on a Vault 101 member, who one day, wakes up and finds out his father has left the vault to wonder the wasteland that was once the United States. Wanted to find his missing father, the main character leaves the safely of the vault and starts his journey in the nuclear harsh environment. Surfing the internet, I came across many disgruntled internet users complaining how Bethesda Software will ruin the game. And like anybody, I have an opinion about that. Bethesda Software has the rights to do whatever they want with this game series and if they contracted Liam Neeson for the father’s voice, then they must know what they are doing. Check out Fallout 3 later in 2008.

4. The next game on my list, I really never understood. I’ve watched all my friends play this game and laugh when “things” happen. So this must be a hit, right? I’m sure that Rockstar has great pride in creating such an interesting game such as Grand Theft Auto IV. GTAIV centers on an Eastern European who travels to the United States to live the American Dream. However, there is some tension with his cousin, as well as his roommate, which causes the story to unfold.

3. *tap tap tap* hallelujah, hallelujah!! Hallelujah…Hallelujah….Hall-e-lu-juh!! Here at last, the flagship for the playstation 3 has arrived! That’s right; Grand Turismo 5 will be hitting stores March 18, 2008 and I am sure that many, many people are excited for this game to come out. Coming new to the game series, GT5 will include the possibility to race up to 15 cars in arcade mode (plus yourself for a total of 16 cars). The racing isn’t the only exciting thing about this game; it’s more about the different amount of cars. The producer of GT5 have confirmed 37 cars from 21 manufactures, including Nissan, Ferrari, Ford, Dodge, and Audi. With that much selection, the possibilities are endless. The long-due arrival of GT5 could not come at a nicer time for sony’s playstation, which doesn’t seem to be much of a success.

2. This game, by far, is probably my favorite game series of all time. When I was a kid, I played this game endlessly and I can still remember summers “wasted” sitting in front of my television trying to master and collect all the characters. If nobody knows what I’m talking…what is wrong with you people? Super Smash Brothers Brawl is coming out this year to millions and millions of fans everywhere, whether Chinese, Japanese or English. The new features that will be included in SSBB will be insane music, a huge amount of characters (even third party characters), and Internet connection to battle friends and foes online. Just thinking about this game makes me drool and wanna go by a Wii.

1. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, of course, gets number one in the Gamer’s Utopia Most Anticipated Game of 2008. This number one game has amazing music, insane online play, and intense story. The setting takes place in 2014, five years after the Manhattan Incident and after the end of MGS2 with an adversary that could take on the United States. So far, there were three locations that have been released by the game designers, which include the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and South America. Not only will this game be packed with story, but also awesome voice actors. I am sure that this game will be the top game of 2008 and will jump start the sales of PS3.


Thursday, January 17, 2008

The Gamer’ Utopia Preview: Top 10 Most Anticipated Video Games of 2008 (Ten-Six)


Posted by:Kal
Having 2007 recently come to a close, I searched the internet gazed into the future to see the upcoming games for 2008. I was rather impressed by the creative games of 2007, but the anticipation for the new 2008 strikes me harder than I ever thought possible. So with that in mind, I created a list of 10 games that strike my fancy (or the fancy of others) and I’m sure that they will interest you as well.

10. Will Wright is probably one my favorite game designers geniuses of our time…at least I think he is a genius. But with games like The Sims and SimCity, who would doubt that claim. His success is shown by the popularity of the games he designs and Spore will not be out of that loop. Though Spore is still TBA and there is no guarantee that it will be released in 2008, the gaming community has already become restless for the arrival of this game because, we all know, there is nothing like a game that lets you create your own world and fill it with your own creatures that someday will blast off into space. This game includes several different phases to conquer, including tide pool, creature, tribal, civilization, and space phases. *sigh* All those different sections of this game will make it interesting and difficult to master. That’s why I’ll keep playing it for several years after its release.

9. Seems Namco is at it again. “Transcending history and the world, a Tale of souls and swords, internally retold.” Isn’t that what the narrator says? Well, it doesn’t matter because he’ll soon say it again, possibly for the last time, in Namco’s release of Soul Calibur IV. I’m not going to go into much detail because you could read the post about SCIV but I’ll quickly recap. They are bring back the Create-a-Soul feature from the third SC, supposedly, IV will have more of a II feel to it, and finally, there will be a “finishing” type move, kind of like Mortal Combat. All I can say is that this will be better than all the rest!

8. Another game title that has a TBA state is probably the most famous “series” in video game history and has several titles on the “Best Video Game of All Time” list. This series, of course, is Final Fantasy. FF13 will hopefully come out in 2008, but at this present time, it’s up in the air. The basic setting of FF13 is a world divided into two areas (one is floating on top of the other). The top civilization, Cocoon, is very technologically advanced and they perceived Pulse (world below them) to be dangerous and have a great fear of what is down there. Like many of the recent FF games, the plot has a government against the people, blah blah blah, and there is rebel leader going against them. This leader in this game is codenamed “Lighting” and for all you female gamers out there, Lighting is a chick. Can’t really put to words the excitement I possess.

7. Personally, I’ve never played this game but I have a lot of friends that have enjoyed it for all the years it’s been sucking the lives out of people. By just saying “sucking the lives out of people,” I am sure that everybody knows that I am talking about World of Warcraft. There is nothing bad about Warcraft and that’s why they are making an expansion pack, a second to be more accurate; the Wrath of the Lich King will surely keep Wow players coming back for more…kind of like they do now. The expansion pack is stuffed with new features such as raising the level cap to 80 and introducing a new hero class: the Death Knight. Watching the trailer, to this expansion pack, makes me wanna go out and grab a copy myself and see what this game is all about.

6. August 2008, in a land called America….God…that wasn’t even remotely cool but the upcoming video game Star Wars: The Force Unleashed will be insane. The multiplatform game will include many different systems such as PS3, Xbox 360, PS2, and Nintendo DS (as well as many others). The game takes place between Star Wars Episode III and Star Wars IV. In that time period, the player will take the role of Darth Vader’s apprentice and is sent across the galaxy to destroy any remaining Jedi. The people that buy the game for the Wii, will have the ability to use the Wii remote as a lightsaber (which, all in all, is pretty cool). Hopefully, you’ll check this game out, even if you have never watched any of the movies, because I’m sure this game will be the talk of many of your friends.

For now, I’m out. This post will continue on my next post. Be sure to check it out, Im sure you’ll be surprised when you find out which game is number one.