It's finally here (metaphorically speaking; mine hasn't arrived yet). It's crazy to think that GT4 came out almost 6 years ago. The wait was long, but it looks to have been worth it. 1032 cars, dozens of tracks and track configurations, track creation, kart racing... It seems to have it all. I can't wait to get mine and start being angry at the simulation and how hard it will be to complete the S licenses.
I'm even considering getting a Logitech G27 wheel + support to play it. Sure, I will use it with other games, like NFS: Shift, F1 2010 and so on, but GT5 will be the main reason for purchasing it.
While waiting for the game, here are some excellent (as always) articles from Digital Foundry:
The last one in particular shows how much the series evolved since its first iteration. The models, the lightning, it's all evolved so much.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit
The new NFS, this one coming from Criterion Games of Burnout fame, is a week from release and the reviews are starting to pop. IGN gave it a 9.0 and praised most of the game. Game Informer gave it an 8.75. Good scores, definitely. But why have I lost interest in the game?
Burnout Paradise is my favourite racing game, ever. I played it more than I played any other game of the genre, and it's so good I could play it right now, years after it first came out. The game was excellent in every aspect, and that got even better with the amazing free DLC that came out after launch, giving us more cars, more events, event restarts (a major game-changing option that corrected its biggest flaw) and bikes. Bikes! Driving a motorcycle in Paradise City was simply amazing. The game had everything I could possibily want: great graphics (which are still great today), an awesome soundtrack and a very fun gameplay. Let's not forget that it was just great to simply drive around Paradise City, discovering new events to try, finding out new parking garages and beating road times. There were dozens of billboards to destroy and hundreds of special gates to run over. And at any time you could start Showdown and cinematically crash at anything you could see. At any time you could press a few buttons and almost immediately join an online lobby and try one of hundreds of great challenges with friends or randoms. I can't praise the game enough. If you haven't tried it, you're missing out, big time. Please get the game and all the DLCs.
All that seems to be absent from Hot Pursuit. There's a new location, Seacrest County, but it looks really bland. Paradise City had a personality, with great, remarkable locations everywhere, from the beaches to the long bridge and the Quarry. Seacrest, from what I have seen, has some great-looking scenery, but that's it. There's no personality in the locations, it's just a bunch of road put together with different background. There's no reason to roam freely around it: you have to choose the events from the main menu in a world map. The events seem to include only racing as a cop, or racing away from them. There are no secrets to be discovered (shortcuts don't count). The new Autolog feature is definitely great, but it doesn't seem to compensate the other faults.
You may be saying "this is a Need for Speed, not a Burnout" and you'd be right. This isn't a Burnout, and that's why I think I'm disappointed. Criterion has so much potential to make a new, awesome Burnout, but their talent was somewhat wasted with a new NFS that looks good, but not great, and not nearly as exciting as a Burnout. Sure, they're probably working on a new one now that NFS is done with, but how long will it take to finish that? A year? Two? That's too much. The world needs a new Burnout, and it needs it now.
Burnout Paradise is my favourite racing game, ever. I played it more than I played any other game of the genre, and it's so good I could play it right now, years after it first came out. The game was excellent in every aspect, and that got even better with the amazing free DLC that came out after launch, giving us more cars, more events, event restarts (a major game-changing option that corrected its biggest flaw) and bikes. Bikes! Driving a motorcycle in Paradise City was simply amazing. The game had everything I could possibily want: great graphics (which are still great today), an awesome soundtrack and a very fun gameplay. Let's not forget that it was just great to simply drive around Paradise City, discovering new events to try, finding out new parking garages and beating road times. There were dozens of billboards to destroy and hundreds of special gates to run over. And at any time you could start Showdown and cinematically crash at anything you could see. At any time you could press a few buttons and almost immediately join an online lobby and try one of hundreds of great challenges with friends or randoms. I can't praise the game enough. If you haven't tried it, you're missing out, big time. Please get the game and all the DLCs.
All that seems to be absent from Hot Pursuit. There's a new location, Seacrest County, but it looks really bland. Paradise City had a personality, with great, remarkable locations everywhere, from the beaches to the long bridge and the Quarry. Seacrest, from what I have seen, has some great-looking scenery, but that's it. There's no personality in the locations, it's just a bunch of road put together with different background. There's no reason to roam freely around it: you have to choose the events from the main menu in a world map. The events seem to include only racing as a cop, or racing away from them. There are no secrets to be discovered (shortcuts don't count). The new Autolog feature is definitely great, but it doesn't seem to compensate the other faults.
You may be saying "this is a Need for Speed, not a Burnout" and you'd be right. This isn't a Burnout, and that's why I think I'm disappointed. Criterion has so much potential to make a new, awesome Burnout, but their talent was somewhat wasted with a new NFS that looks good, but not great, and not nearly as exciting as a Burnout. Sure, they're probably working on a new one now that NFS is done with, but how long will it take to finish that? A year? Two? That's too much. The world needs a new Burnout, and it needs it now.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Kung Pow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kung_Pow
One of my favourite comedies from all time. I just rewatched it, after many years, and it's still hilarious. The sequel is supposed to come out in 2010 according to IMDB, but I doubt it will.
In the meanwhile, watch one of the best scenes in the movie:
One of my favourite comedies from all time. I just rewatched it, after many years, and it's still hilarious. The sequel is supposed to come out in 2010 according to IMDB, but I doubt it will.
In the meanwhile, watch one of the best scenes in the movie:
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