The Last Few Weeks

Things have been a little busy for me the last few weeks. The amount of work I now have to do at University (third year :S) plus a distinct lack of cash has left me rather run down and although I have been gaming I just haven't been in the mood to write about games (outside of uni work).

However I thought I would now let you know what games I have been playing over the last few weeks just to show that I am not dead.

Xbox 360

My Xbox Live connection has been a little iffy the last few weeks to so my online gaming has been limited but I have managed to put in some hours on the new Call of Duty and I love it! The campaign is everything a FPS campaign needs to be and the online is phenomenal. Add to that the special ops missions and I'm surprised I'm not playing it now!

Geometry Wars 2 has been played quite a bit by me and the GF. I hate to admit it but I think in many game modes she is better than me, she just needs to relax more whilst playing.

Bomberman Live is another of my GF's favourites and she is definitely a better player than me at Bomberman. I do however have my moments and do beat her occasionally.

PS2

I have been playing a little Street Fighter II and some Gradius III on the ol' PS2 still getting my ass handed to me by Gradius on the bubble level.

PC

Eve online is still getting played most nights taking up most of my PC gaming time but i have also managed to play some Space Empires V too. a nice slow alternative to all the shooty mayhem in my other games.

Arcade

I got my first 1CC two weeks ago on DeathSmiles Black Label. I was well chuffed :P

I have also been playing DoDonPachi Daifukkatsu and the recently installed Dogyun.

Other Stuff

At Uni we have set up a gaming society so hopefully we can get a good social scene going. There are some good people doing the Games Studies course and as you can imagine it can be pretty competitive.

Well that is about it for now. I really hope normal service will resume soon. I do enjoy blogging and hope some of my posts bing a little brightness into folks lives :P

This week I have been mostly playing... (4)

Its been a hectic week what with moving house and starting my final year at University so understandably my gaming time has been at a bit of a minimum. Never the less I have found time to play a couple of games.



Ring of Red
PS 2

I mentioned this title in the top 5 Mecha games post and have been playing it quite a bit since we moved back to London. It's a nice turn based strategy game with simple real time combat controls.
As a side note, this year I have a final year project I have to complete for University. For some reason I am drawn to this game as a possible source of material. watch this space...



Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu
Arcade

Recently installed in my local arcade. this shmup is slowly beginning to grow on me. Typically for a game by Cave the amounts of enemy firepower on screen are ridiculous but seems fairly well matched by the amount of firepower your tiny craft seems to have. The amount of satisfaction you feel after building up your power bar and letting rip with a hyper attack is fantastic. Anyone visiting London in the near future should try and get a visit to Casino Arcade if just play this game.

A Visit to Casino Arcade and the Trocadero

This weekend I had the pleasure of meeting up with some friends at the notorious Casino Arcade on Londons Tottenham Court Road. Recently some new shmups had been installed that we all wanted to play.

Now shmups (or shoot-em-ups) is a genre that has had it's day. At one time names like Raiden, R-Type and Gradius were as well known as the 2D fighting games Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat and King of Fighters. How times have changed.

During the 16-bit era, shmups were as common as first person shooters are today and it was these very games that truly pushed the capabilities of home systems but the advent of 3D saw the trusty shmup fall out of favour with all but a hardcore following in the west. However all was not lost as in Japan a number of companies continued to produce shooters as each new generation of consoles came and went. It was games by one of these companies; Cave, that I had gone to Casino Arcade to play. The legendary Dodonpachi Daifukkatsu and Death Smiles. Myself and my friends had a great few hours playing these games and we even met a few new fans of the genre so a successful day was had by all. Near the end of the day the few of us that were left wandered into the Trocadero to watch one of our number complete the lightgun game Ghost Squad on its highest difficulty (just because he can!). I also managed a couple of sneaky credits of Ferrari F355 Challenge and an old irem shmup i can never remember the name of.

I love arcades, the few true arcades that are left should be treasured by all, for it was in this environment that the hobby we love was born. To truly experience the social aspect of gaming never mind Xbox Live or the PSN it is in the few remaining arcades that have weekly fighter competitions or where the few shmup fans left gather to play the latest Cave games or where can be found men in their forties still attempting to beat high scores that have eluded them for 25 years.


Here is a Link to the videos made of SMRAEDIS's Almost perfect run of Ghost Squad filmed by Chi.

Blazblue gets PAL release

from eurogamer.net

The highly acclaimed 2D fighter Blazblue is set to land on European shores in 2010. For those of you to impatent to wait there is always the Casino Arcade on Tottenham Court Road which has a beautiful HD cab all set up for you in the basement.

Now lets all just hope we get PAL releases of some nice 2D shooters like Deathsmiles, Raiden IV and Mushimisama