It's a Modern Warfare 2 PS3 controller. Whatever game it is based on, PS3 needs a new controller to brush up the FPS experience and this controller fixes my core concern, the lack of a trigger button on the PS3 controller. It does now thanks to this new MW2 PS3 controller

Don't we sometimes ever dream of shooting webs out of our hands, fly across the sky wearing a modern war suit, or have a retractable claw? Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 lets you do all that again, for the second time!! Let's roll Spidey

Graphic

MUA 2's environment is pretty bland. You will feel that it's the same place over and over again. The only place that feels different was the rooftop level but even the prison 42 did not help me to enjoy my stay longer. The level's design bleeds out quickly and fussy gamers might complain about it longer, I, have other reason to love this game.

Marvel Characters looks great but that is how they are supposed to look like anyway. My main complaint is the lack of awesome looking secondary outfits. Each characters have only one alternate outfits, unlike the previous MUA where a characters have up to four. To make matter worst, most alternate outfits looks more like Paris Hilton's wardrobe. It is either fashionable ugly or just too horribly ugly. Even my PJs look much better.

From left to right: Deadpool, Daredevil, Iceman and Gambit. Seriously? These are the whackjob alternate suits they gave us?

With great powers comes dreaming about using those powers on helpless goons. Marvel characters have awesome powers but if the graphic does not help to translate those powers as incredibly destructive and cool looking, the MUA 2 would have suck, big time. Fortunately, I enjoyed playing most characters in MUA2 just because they unleashed cool looking, destructive powers. Whether I was torching, slamming, psychic-ing, slashing or just shooting, I felt a wave of euphoria as I mow down a battalion of enemies. Solo journey too can be gratifying if your powers looks cool and powerful.......except for Mr Fantastic. It's hard not to mistaken him for a clown with flexible body.

Storyline

MUA's 2 storyline is more serious as compared to the fantasy of MUA1. In MUA2, the storyline is taken from the Civil period in Marvel timeline. As the Superheroes actions are being questioned following various disasters caused by superpowers, the United States government has laid down Superhumans Registration Act (SRA) that requires people with superpowers to register and work with the government to fight crimes. SRA splits the superheroes into two factions, those that register and those that opposes and eventually being hunted down by those that register. I like MUA2 storyline's as compared to MUA1. For once, in a superheroes game, it got me thinking who will actually win the war (Yes, I did not read the comic).I enjoyed my ride across this topsy turvy marvel superheroes civil war.

Good vs......umm...good!!

This is the part that I dislike. I prefer to see some superheroes characters performing the real briefing instead of some crappy PowerPoint presentation. Bad decision from Vicarious Vision. Minus point for you. More CG would be good for my Marvel souls.

Gameplay

We could not make out what genre would MUA2 falls into. Some says its an action RPG, some says its a button mashing game, some says its a party game and I says its a Marvel Superheroes games where you can obliterate an entire platoon of army with awesome looking powers. Why? Read On

MUA 2 truncates its power lists. You have only four powers for each characters and each powers is map to a face button. Each level you gain, you obtain one skill points that are used to increase the power of your powers. You also gets points to to be put into passive boosts by destroying boxes. You can readjust any points anytime you want, even during boss fight when you find out the 'clearing' power you are using is ineffective against the bosses. Each power can only be powered up to a certain extent until you reach the required level to power up further and this makes it easy to have 2 out of 4 powers at its maximum potential most of the time. The lack of punishment for lack of judgement during levelling up makes MUA2 less of an RPG. It is up to you to decide whether its actually a problem for you. For me, I just enjoy obliterating foes with my favourite power and I appreciate having my power at full blast. However, deep inside me, I do wish to play a marvel superheroes game, oblivion style. Someday, but not today.

Just a cool picture, ain't it?

Yes, at some point, you will have to choose which side to choose, to support or oppose. I supported initially and opposed for a little while. I found both side of the coin to be rather similar. The differences lie only in the briefing and objectives. Plus, only only 3 characters (which I do not mind losing) were so adamant to choose a side that they are locked for the other side. Ironman, Mr Fantastic and Songbird supported the RSA while Captain America, Luke Cage and Ironfist chose otherwise. Trust me, you won't miss any of them.

How good is MUA2 may be down to character selection. The current lineups has quite a few powerhouse and likeable characters with Wolverine, Gambit, Spiderman, Jean Grey, Human Torch, Iceman, and of course Deadpool leading the line of characters we love. Plus, each and everyone of them is nice to use in a way. Characters that we don't care like Luke Cage, Ironfist, Songbird are also in. It didn't make much difference if they are in or not but we do hope that more known and loved characters are in instead of these stooges. We would like to see War Machine, Bishop, Cable (all these in the story but unplayable), Cyclops, Nightcrawler, The Punisher, Magneto (DLC content not counted). More famous characters will make this a much better game.

Part of the party but we do not care about flexible boy

The game claimed to have over 200 fusion powers but truth be told, most looks the same and have the same effects. However, that doesn't detract the fusion powers are actually the plus points of MUA2. There are 3 distinct types of fusion powers  that have 3 different effects. Clearing: to clear a large amounts of enemies that are simultaneously kicking your arse. Guided: to guide 2 heroes to destroy everything in a guided path. Targeted: to cause massive damage to a single enemies. The fusion powers are a great addition to the game and the is nonetheless cool and destructive, just not as varied as they claimed.

Teamwork never feels so cool....or hot

Yes, I found some glitches and they are downright annoying because it caused me to restart from previous checkpoints which is quite a distant.

Instant 1, an NPC refused to open a gate for me. Darn it, open the damn thing. I replayed from previous checkpoints and she did answered my prayers and open the damn thing for me

Instant 2, the boss disappeared and I fought waves and waves of goons spending almost half an hour. In reward for my patients, I found him stuck behind a wall. No idea how he got out of the sealed room but my powers were able to penetrate wall without destroying them. If I restarted from the previous checkpoint, I would have choke the person beside me

Instant 3, the game freezes but this might be caused by my Xbox. Box oh Box, never die on me, please!!

A paragraph has to credited to this insane guy who thinks he is in a video game. Can anyone doubt him? His smart mouth and wisecracks makes playing solo more bearable and fun.He is the cracker of the party. We should have him in every game!!

Bahahahahahaha......I have no idea why I laughed

I like Marvel Ultimate Alliance, 2 a lot and I daresay more than the first just because the powers looks more destructive and cool. My other partner in crime dislike the step back Vicarious Vision took in chucking out the optional costumes with different perks system and truncating the power list but I look this as more of a action game rather than RPG. That being said, both of us did enjoy playing the game, even on the solo journey and we believe you will too. Roll on the power, baby. Boom, Kapow

The PS3 and Xbox 360 have been out for years now but there are still a lot of people out there who still have neither, and probably wouldn't want to spend their cash on both. So here's a quick primer that , if you're looking to get a console, might help you make your choice a little easier this coming holiday season.

Graphics
Both are amazing, but the PS3 has the edge on this one. You will see stuff like Uncharted 2 and Killzone 2 on the PS3 that even the finest looking 360 games couldn't match. Multiplatform games though usually don't differ much between platforms.

Games
As most games, including the old heavy-hitters such as Final Fantasy and Tekken, are multiplatform now, you'd get to play most games on either platform. The deciding factor is are you a Halo or a Killzone person. A Forza or a Gran Turismo fan. Of course, I'd go with both.

You might also bear in mind though that PS3 games are a good RM30 (and above) more expensive than their 360 counterpart.

Online
As I have never played a PS3 online since Resistance 1, I can't tell much about the PS3's online play. I will say though that while Xbox Live is an awesome online service, you'll have to pay a subscription fee (which totals to RM 170 annually) to play online whereas the PS3 offers it for free.

Price-point
Currently, you could get a PS3 slim with a 120gb hard drive and a 120gb Xbox 360 Elite at the same price of RM1299.

Value
Since the PS3 has a built-in blu-ray drive as well as wi-fi (which the 360 doesn't) it can be argued that you get more for the PS3 now that they're price-points are equal.

Ending Comments
The PS3 and 360 are as good as equals. What the PS3 lacks, to me, is the addictive achievement system on the 360 that keeps me playing a game more than I would on a PS3. Yes, the PS3 has a similar trophy system, but somehow that just didn't do it for me. That's the prime reason why I have more games on the 360 rather than the PS3 even when I have both.

The answer is none of the above. Actually, this is a company photo of Kojima Productions, the company, well known for their stylistic over the top presentation in video games that gives Holywood a run for its money (think: Metal Gear Solid) and its look they're just as stylish in the real world. This pretty much makes them the best game developers in my book.

That, or maybe they're just auditioning for the Japanese version of Heroes.

Video courtesy of Ign.com

VS

Fifa and PES will fight it out every single year to claim new supporters and win the old ones over. This year, both Fifa and PES have each released a demo to allow Gamers to test out which franchise ticks their bones. I have downloaded both demos through PS Store. Having played both, I have decided which one is the eventual winner. The decision is clear and it did not take long for me to decide. This year, Fifa 10 has emerged the winner, at least the on the pitch gameplay department.

Fifa's footballing skill has changed a lot since the last time I played it and I believed it was around 2 years ago. The on the pitch gameplay now seems smooth and fast paced unlike the 2008 and before iterations. The players' movement seems real and believable. Their tackle seems powerful and precise. The players now shoot with a purpose and connects with the ball nicely. The game does not seems slow at all now. It is fast paced and players move very fluidly.

So what about PES. Well, it feels like PES. It feels unchanged and the same ol same ol game. PES has improved in the graphic department and it was improved superbly. PES's graphic is now on par with Fifa, if not better. However, their decision not to fine tune the gameplay will surely causes Konami to lose out to EA. The only thing that I like more about PES was how the field looks. I like the darker pitch in PES but does that really matter?

PES 2010's graphic has really improved, a lot.

PES' unpredictability was one of the factor that makes PES so nice to play. Now, Fifa's matches are also unpredictable. The ball moves unpredictably. It's direction changes with the slightest touch and/or deflection. Now, the keepers do not punch the ball in the same direction, the ball moves in different direction following a tackle. The tackling game, the fluid movement and the fast-paced game all make up a game that plays better and more importantly feels more exciting than PES.

Fifa's on the pitch gameplay seems like a wake up call for Konami to buck up as Fifa has now matured. As of now, Fifa 10 has been reviewed and it has received more than good reviews across various game sites. PES has yet to be released. If the gameplay was to be the same as the demo, my money will be on Fifa 10, literally.

10 - We do not care if it slides PSP can slides. WOW. We don't care. We just wanna have good ol fun and not worry about the screen slides back and forth.

9- No touch screen
Good on-the-go games needs touch screen and Sony does not understand this after so long.


8 - No UMD
PSP is the first handheld console to have digital distribution but really, do we really have to sacrifice the good ol disc? Sometimes, we like to touch the covers, read the labels, and be excited with the booklets but its all gone now.

7 - No conversion from UMD to software game
Due to various problems, somehow, Sony cannot help those that have ol gamers to convert their already bought UMD to the software version of the game. This is a preposterous treatment for early PSP owners.

6 - Positioning of the hand is worse
Just look at the picture. Would you like to be holding your handheld like that? The owners of medium to big sized hand will suffer. I will suffer.

5 - Poor battery life
PSP Go's battery life sucks. Playing games can lasts for 3 to 4 hours and playing videos can only last up to 4 to 5 hours. How is it the latest version of PSP can be inferior to the past versions?

4- Battery can't be replaced by yourself
Poor battery life is one thing. Not allowing you to replace it yourself is a blasphemy. There is even a warranty void sticker to prevent your from replacing it. Why such decision, Sony?

3- Difficulty with analog button is not solved
I like FPS games but I hate playing it on the PSP as my thumb struggle with the analog button. New design, same problem. What is the point of making a new version then?

2 - USD 250
The price of Xbox 360 and PS3 ia USD 299. Wii's price has dropped to USD 199. Except for being lighter and smaller, which isn't much of an issue since PSP-2000, PSP Go has more issues compared to its predecessors. Now, PSP Go is even more expensive than Wii. Seriously, what does Sony takes us for? Idiota?


The price of PSP Go is ridiculous. With such price, buying a console would be better off. The price being the most ridiculous part of this new handheld, what else can top the reasons we hate PSP Go

Do not be fooled by Shadow Complex being a labeled as a downloadable arcade game. This is a game that might as well have been a full retail game, and an extremely exciting one at that.

A group of technologically advanced militia is planning a coup one the USA, and Jason (that's you) and your date just happened to wander right into their cavern base. The girl gets captured right away and just like any good hero would, it's your job to rescue her from certain doom. As you progress, the story gets a little less personal. The story element is pretty light but not entirely without merit.

A new trailer for Neverending Final Fantasy 13 was released during the Tokyo Game Show 2009. This trailer shows us more of the good stuffs from Final Fantasy 13 (the cute girls, really) and a little details on the direction of the storyline. For those that really want to be kept in the dark about the story, don't load the trailer but if you are even a bit curious, like me, take a look. I like it. Do you?

I've been asking around the local video games stores lately on the consoles' prices. It seems that the recent price drops indeed made their way into our piracy-ridden market.

The PS3 slim is now priced at RM1300, while the Xbox360 (Elite model) is surprisingly RM100 more expensive than the PS3. The normal pro bundle should be much cheaper, but I couldn't find it anywhere. As for the wii, it seems it's price drop has yet to take effect here.

The price drop isn't as much as it should have really been, but it's still a very significant drop, so if you've been holding back to get one, now's as good a time as any to make a purchase especially considering the wave of games to be released in the next few months.

Pardon my ignorance but I did not know about this game until Najibu puts this up on our 'games that we want to play so much' list. Therefore, I hit a youtube search and saw the potential of Dragon Age. EA posted 4 videos narrating the features of Dragon Age as the narrator played through the demo. I saw, I heard, I want to play. See for yourself if this upcoming medieval RPG checks all your boxes. It did mine except for one box. If only there is an option for co-op multiplayer! Here are the videos

Storyline

The second game in Gamer is worse and defies all moral values know to mankind. Named 'Slayers', gamers will take control of a a real prisoner and take him into a warzone. Imagine Massive Action Games but instead of controlling customised characters, gamers are controlling prisoners in their flesh and blood. If he dies, he dies and somehow, cruelly. Their reward is freedom but that is only if they win 30 battles without dying.

We, gamers sometimes define a game through its polygons and pixels. We marvel at top notch high definition graphic with lifelike movements. However, we, gamers have not and will not ever think of controlling another human being in their flesh and blood. What's more ridiculous is that there seems to be no resistance to such sick gaming concept. Even the government consented such ridiculous, morally degrading concept. The movie did not highlight any such sickness or any conspiracies behind the approval of such immoral games but rather how people enjoy such deranged games. Are we, human, really that low and have no sympathy and/or empathy?


Presentation
The cinematography of this movie is another negative point. As a matter of fact, it is a lot of negative points. The way the camera moves (or jumps) and the constant sense of 'signal failing' images (imagine your TV channels losing signal every now and then) do not create that sense of gaming, at all. As a matter of facts, games do not have signal failing on us,. We just go through lags.

The cinematography is confusing, annoying and puke-inducing making the actions scenes a punishment to watch. Actions are blurred and cut around too often. I am so much annoyed that I did not enjoy the shooting and the fighting at all. The only good action was the dancing and singing. Yes, there are dancing and singing amidst all the crazy shooting. Its a good moment too, ironically. The cinematography makes no effort to help people to enjoy the actions. It only intends to make you puke. I once have to close my eyes when the camera follows the back tyre of a bike while the background fades with speeds. Cinematography arts is one thing. Making us annoyed and sick is another.


I am a person who would go through a movie no matter how boring or ridiculous it may be. However, Gamer has crossed that fine line that separates the maybe and downright not going to happen, at all. The ridiculous storyline could be made sense if huge, deep-lying conspiracies are explored but since no such thing were done, we assumed Neveldine and Taylor just want to shove it into us that gamers are ridiculous and would do anything for such things called entertainment. We, gamers, have never thought of being such low-life and find enjoyment through such morally unacceptable method. It is hoped that any future movie that will depict the hobby of gaming will have more sensible concepts or at least more thoughts put into it before laying the movies for us to enjoy. Gamer has certainly not and finally killed us with annoying cinematography.

Verdict: 1 out of 5

ps: the cinematography is so confusing and annoying that the Malaysian Board of Censorship failed to notice a couple of seconds of boobs shots here and there. That still does not make Gamer watchable. Stay away at all cost.

Band Hero, a more family friendly spin-off to the wildly successful Guitar Hero franchise doesn't seem all that bad. The featured songs are catchy pop songs that just about everybody could have fun playing it but it just doesn't make much sense. It could have just as easily been a 'pop music pack' DLC for Guitar Hero 5 so you don't have to buy 2 separate but actually very similar games. The fact that it isn't goes to show how much Activision is trying to milk profit out of the 'Hero' games. Shame on them. And shame on me for having a fleeting evil thought of actually wanting to buy this game.

Oh by the way, Beyonce deserve to be in this game, because she got like the best video ever!

What would you do if you want to propose and too chicken to propose at a game (and by game, i means those outdoors sports, really) and your other half (possibly, maybe, hopefully) is really really into games?(and this time, I mean those games that make people fat) Maybe you can try to make/request for a mod to make a new level in a game so that you can stun your gamer when the character (which looks like you, of course) in the game suddenly gets down on his/her knees and ask you to marry him/her. Cool? Romantic?

This is exactly what a girl did when she proposed to her Gamer. This level is a mod for Fallout 3. One would have thought maybe a proposal should be in a more romantic setting as compared to a post-apocalyptic, mutant-ridden world. However, this doesn't seem to matter to them as they start they journey of matrimony in a post nuclear war world. How sweet. So in what game would like to propose to your gamer? Or, repropose for those already married!!

Licensed games have had a really bad track record and superhero games in particular didn't fare much better. Yet, Arkham Asylum comes out seemingly out of nowhere and smashes that stigma. Developed by the equally obscure Rocksteady studios, Batman: Arkham Asylum sets the bar on how a proper licensed game should be made.

The game begins with Batman capturing the Joker, and he intends to hold his eternal nemesis in the supposedly safe walls of Arkham Asylum, the madhouse which houses some of the most notorious supervillains in the Batman universe. As it turns out, this had been the Joker's plan all along. Without giving too much away, he immediately escapes custody and it is up to you as the Batman to stop whatever nefarious plans he has cooking.

There are three main elements in the game - exploration, combat, and stealh - and all three of them are executed extremely well. For the most part, you will be roaming around the vast land of Arkham Island. Ths island is separated into 4 different areas and each area gives you access to at least one of the asylum's many facilities. This isn't a free roaming game as you aren't exactly free to go about anywhere you please. Rather, the story will dictate where you have to move next. This makes the game somewhat linear, but it makes for a much more interesting pacing than open world games do.

It is also fortunate that the story is worth following. Besides the standard cutscene to highlight important events, the story is moved by videos on the screens, or announcements from the speakers littered all over the facilities, as well as audio recordings, much like the story telling method employed in Bioshock. The announcements though tend to repeat itself too much over a period of time that it gets a little annoying, but that's just nitpicking.

As you play the game, you will come across areas which you won't be able to access...at first, but as you progress through the game, the Dark Knight will have much more gadgets in his arsenal. These gadgets not only open up new areas but most of them are also interesting gameplay additions in the game's combat and stealth aspect.

The combat, to me, is easily one of the most noteworthy aspect of the game. Dubbed the Freeflow combat system, it really is just an improvement over Prince of Persia's Freeform combat (see, even the names are similar!) but what a world of difference the improvements make. The combat isn't just a dumb 'hit the strike button repeatedly till the enemy dies'. It's really easy to learn and get into, yet has a layer of depth that makes it pretty hard to master. Arkham Asylum is a thinking man's action game and the combat show this fact well.


Regardless of how good you get at the combat though, Batman animates really well during combat, the various strikes and counter moves are just really nice to look at, even if you'll be seeing those moves again and again throughout the game. As good as the combat feels, it's neat that combat isn't all there is to the game.

Occasionally, you'll run into enemies with guns. Despite being armed to the teeth, even Batman wouldn't last long in a head-on confrontation against assault rifles .This is where stealth kicks in. Batman can use his state-of-the art cowl to go into detective mode which allows him to detect his enemies no matter where they are. The stealth gameplay requires you to silently dispose of your enemies one by one. There are always more than a single way to do this, so it's up to you to experiment ways that best suit your liking.

You'll almost always be safe and unspotted if you hang around one the gargoyles looming in the stealth sections. It's indeed a bit stupid that the enemies can't seem to spot you there, but it eliminates most of the frustration found in other stealth games. Perhaps the best thing that can be said about the stealth element is that unlike other stealth games, you don't feel vulnerable at all. Batman is completely in control of the situation. You'll hardly be in a position where you worry too much about getting spotted. Instead, it is you who instill fear in your enemies.

Even in stealh, the Bat is still a badass

The game would have been awesome anyways with such well polished gameplay, but the impressive visual brings everything to a new height. The game runs on the Unreal Engine 3, which powers last year's Gears of War. In terms of graphics, Arkham Asylum is about on par with Gears. That statement is more praise than anything I could say about it. (Note: The characters in Arkham Asylum is also as burly as those in Gears).

The game is also satisfyingly long. Even if you just want to bust through the story, it should take you anywhere between 13-15 hours. If you're into full completion, solving all the Riddler challenges should add a good amount of gameplay time. And then there's the challenge mode which focuses on combat and stealth. It actually is just taking key moments in the story and put it out of context, but it is a welcome addition, especially if you're the type to climb your way to the top of the leaderboards.

I think I've made my point clear on just how exactly awesome this Batman game is, and if you still haven't figured it out, I just said it. Batman: Arkham Asylum is an amazing superhero game. The game's crowning achievement though, is that even if you take Batman out of the equation, it would still be an amazing game.

MAG, massive action game. The name says it all. Now the action of 256 soldiers online shooting at each other. 256 players. This is OMGIARMAG

I like Nathan Drake. Uncharted would be half the fun without this wise-cracking Indiana Jones wannabe. Apart from that, the trailer for the sequel of the first Uncharted is quite awesome looking. I love how games trailer is looking more and more like a movie trailer. If you used to like Indiana Jones and/or National Treasure with more explosion, have fun with the trailer. The gameplay action looks intense too. One guy against a chopter and bunch of ak-47 wielding honcos? What are the odds of winning?

It's been a while that Sony has announced that PS3 will have its own iteration of a motion controller. The Playstation Blog has just released a video that shows us behind the scenes of the research and development of the motion controller (a shorter name, please). Take a look for yourself as I deem this stick-with-a-ping-pong-ball-stuck-to-one-end an interesting gaming tool when it does come out albeit its weird shape. If you do look closely, it does look like something else......hmmmm. Good for lonely gaming??