CORBIE'S GAME BLOG

Well for all those of you who emailed me wanting a close-up picture of the Blue Dragon figures, I got mine in today and I snapped one for you. Enjoy! I'll have the close-ups of the Blue Dragon faceplate tomorrow afternoon. ** Click on the little pic to the left to see the full-size image **

John Carpenter's "The Thing" is one of my all-time favorite movies and by far and away my favorite horror movie ever made. So it's no surprise that I had to snap it up once it made the jump to HD-DVD. Since the movie was filmed in 1982, almost 25 years ago, I didn't expect the picture quality to be that great but boy was I shocked when I watched it on HD-DVD. Not only does the movie look better than it ever has, it looks as good, if not better, than many of the newer movies that have been released on HD-DVD. It's obvious that a lot of attention to detail was used in bringing this movie to HD-DVD. It's also got a lot of great extras such as the "Making of The Thing" feature as well as cast commentary with John Carpenter and Kurt Russell. It's worth noting that the Dolby 5.1 sound is also fantastic. If you're a fan of the movie do yourself a huge favor and pick this on up on HD-DVD. You'll see things you never knew existed before.

Well here it is! The Blue Dragon preview I promised you. I've got to be honest, I'm extremely excited about this game, and judging from my early impressions, not to mention the reactions of the media, Blue Dragon could be one of the best releases for 2007 here in the US. Click on the Blue Dragon logo to visit the preview.

Every year just before Christmas, I sit down and list the 5 of my most-wanted games for the upcoming year. Some years it's tough to narrow it down to 5, and other years it's tough to even come up with 5. This year was pretty easy as these games have been on my wish list for some time now, and barring un-forseen circumstances, these 5 games should make it to release this next year. The only one that's really up in the air would be Banjo-Threeie as Rare always keeps a very tight lid on their releases, and they've also been known to take 3+ years to develop a game before. Below you'll find a small paragraph on each game and why it's so high on my want list. Enjoy.

1. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii) - I'm a huge fan of the Super Mario series of games but Super Mario Galaxy has me particularly excited. Maybe it's the new style of play control, or maybe it's just been so long since we've had a new 3-D Super Mario game, either way this is one game that is at the top of my wish list for 2007. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we get it sooner rather than later. I got to play a small bit of this game at the New York event and I can safely say that this game was heading in the right direction.

2. Blue Dragon (Xbox 360) - Since Chrono Trigger is my all-time favorite video game and part of the development team from that game have formed Mistwalker, you'd have to know that this game was also in my top 5. And having Nobuo Uematsu writing the soundtrack for this game was just icing on the cake for me. This could be the first top-tier Japanese RPG to hit the Xbox 360 and nobody has higher hopes for this game than me. Heck, I even sprung the $50 for the Blue Dragon faceplate for my Xbox 360, which is something I normally don't do.

3. Parodius Portable (PSP) - I've long been a huge fan of the Parodius series of games, and these games are the main reason I've hung onto my Sega Saturn system for so long. It's great to finally have these games being packaged together on one game disc, and even nicer that they're coming to the Sony PSP system that's struggled with quality releases as of late. No word on whether or not this game is coming to the US or not, but since the PSP is region free with games, you can do what I did and order you a copy from Play-Asia. With 5 classic Parodius games on one disc, you just can't go wrong with this one.

4. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS) - It seems like we've been hearing about this game forever, but it seems the release date is finally getting within reach. Taking advantage of the DS systems's touchscreen function this game is really shaping up to be one of the best 2-D Zelda games yet. More and more information is finally beginning to leak out and early videos and screenshots of the game look fantastic. No Zelda fan should be without this one. I'll try to post some more information as it becomes available. This could be a huge DS release for next year in an already outstanding game library.

5. Banjo-Threeie (Xbox 360) - We know very little about this game and that's no surprise considering how Rare tends to do things with their high-profile releases. While this game might not even see the light of day in 2007, I remain hopeful. If this game is even remotely close to the previous two Banjo Kazooie games, we all have a lot to look forward to. Keep your eyes peelded on Rare's web site for any new developments with this game. This could be a killer Xbox 360 release next year.

Elebits is one of those games that's very difficult to explain to people that haven't played it. For the most part, you'll spend most of your time moving things around onscreen trying to get the Elebits to run out from hiding and then you basically zap them with your wand. Capturing these Elebits is the key to turning the lights back on in each room. Think Luigi's Mansion but without the vaccum. In fact, after spending several hours with Elebits, the game has a lot of resemblance to Luigi's Mansion, although I tend to find Elebits a little more open-ended and challenging. Same principle behind the game though.

I highly recommend you go through the tutorial at the beginning of the game as there is a lot to the control and it's a good idea to get your feet wet before getting thrown into the deep end of the pool and not knowing what to do. The control in the game is very solid. This was one area that I was initially worried about, knowing that the game requires some precise control at times. The levels start off easy, with only minor things to toss around and open, but as the game progresses, the levels get more intricate and challenging. Some to the point that you'll wish you had two more hands. While some Elebits are very easy to locate and capture, some of the more rare elebits are extremely difficult to find and will require you to put that thinking cap on. This game may feature some arcade-like control, but there are plenty of puzzle-style elements to deal with throughout the game as well.

The visuals are great in the game and show a great amount of detail. I especially like the use of bright colors throughout the levels. It really makes the levels jump off the screen. The music is about the only area of the game that I found a little lacking. It's not bad, it's just nothing terribly interesting and tends to grate on your nerves after long playing sessions. It's just a little goofy at times and not in a good way like the Katamari tunes were. In all honesty, the game's not about flashy visuals or inspiring tunes, it's about learning to use your wand to navigate the levels and capture the little Elebits. This is easily one of the most playable Wii games to date and does a fantastic job of showing off the new style of play control that the Wii brings to the table. Nintendo should really be pushing this game because it's a great show-off title for the Wii much like Luigi's Mansion was for the Gamecube.

If you're looking for something a little different and equally challenging, pick up Elebits. It's a very well constructed game that has tons of levels and enough difficulty to keep you coming back time and time again. Hopefully a sequel is being developed as this game has a lot of potential to get even better and more complex next time around. Until then enjoy catching the little guys and try not to get overwhelmed with all of the things going on onscreen at once. Overall a terrific game and one of the best out there for the Wii so far. (Rating: 8.8/10)

Well my boredom seems to know no bounds here lately. Our power went out for 2 hours today and I was bored so I used a flashlight and took one of my Wii Remotes apart. It's not nearly as complex as I would have expected it to be. And as surprising as it sounds, I didn't even have any trouble getting it back together and it works perfectly. As you can also see, the little rumble pack is tiny, so it's no wonder the Remote doesn't rumble much. On the other hand, the speaker is much larger than it sounds. Looks like a mini woofer. : ) Well enjoy the pic. I had some time to kill and I'll get the Elebits impressions up tomorrow. IF the power will stay on long enough, that is.

Well I picked up Super Swing Golf and Elebits this afternoon, and although I really wanted to play Elebits, I decided to give Super Swing Golf a try first so look for Elebit impressions tomorrow. Let me start by answering the question that is probably on most people's minds. Does Super Swing Golf play like Wii Sports Golf. The simple answer is, not really. It really doesn't have anything to do with how hard you swing, it's how accurately you swing that counts. You set the swing power by drawing your Wii Remote back like you would a golf club. The farther back you go, the more the power meter fills up. Once you've got the amount of power you want you then press the "A" button and it locks that power in. Now you must swing through the ball just like you would with a real golf club and you have to try to get your swing perfect. If you hit the ball with a great stroke you'll see the words "PANGYA" on the screen. If you hook or slice the swing, your ball will drift off to the right or left depending on your mishit. It's trying to figure out the perfect swing that will keep you coming back for more.

The game has a lot of personality and tons of golf courses with different settings. You'll play by moonlight, in the snow, and just about every other way you can imagine. The main game is sort of a "story" mode type game that follows you and your caddy as you both go through different tournaments. You earn "PANG" by winning tournaments and this will allow you to level up your character. You can also purchase better equipment at the clubhouses. Trust me, this game makes the 9-hole Wii Sports Golf look like, well the tech demo it pretty much is. While I still like the swing style of control in Wii Sports Golf, once you get used to the new type of control in Super Swing Golf, you'll probably prefer it much like I do. I'm afraid reviewers aren't going to take adequate time to get used to these new controls before they start criticizing the game too harshly. And it's a good idea to go through the tutorial before you begin playing.

While I still haven't done much in the multi-player part of the game, I'll try to post some opinions on it tomorrow with the Elebits impressions. It's safe to say that if you like Wii Sports Golf then you're most likely going to love this one. It's got enough to do to keep you busy for a long time. And the game just has so much personality, it makes it impossible not to like it. A definite must buy in my opinion. (Rating: 8.2 / 10)

If you've gotten the 1.30 or 1.31 firmware updates for your Playstation 3 and you own a 720p LCD HDTV, you've likely encountered the problem already. In 1.30, Sony has given priority to 1080i over 720p. What this means is that if you select 1080i as an output yout TV accepts, it will play all Blu-Ray discs and all PS3 games at that output even though 720p is a better resolution for your TV. In order to play a game at 720p, the user has to go into the DISPLAY menu and de-select 1080i. While this does make your games play in 720p, if you pop in a Blu-Ray movie, which will only output on the PS3 in 1080p or 1080i, it will downscale that movie to 480p which is a shade above a regular old DVD. So to prevent this, you have to go into the DISPLAY menu again and re-select 1080i in order to watch a Blu-Ray movie. Now this becomes a pain very quickly and I only hope that Sony releases a fix that allows the user to give priority back to 720p again. If not, I may be selling this PS3 and just sticking with my Xbox 360 which can output HD-DVD movies at 720p, something the PS3's Blu-Ray player cannot do. It's becoming more clear that Sony was just not ready to launch this console when they did.

Okay I promised to post a pic of the rig once I got all three next generation systems and the HDTV all together and here it is. If you click on the picture it will take you to my Game Rig Page that has more pictures and full explanations of everything I used in the gaming rig from the HDTV to the cabling and Dolby Sound System. It's all explained in full detail. If you do have any more question that aren't covered on the page, please feel free to leave a post or email me.

As I went through the eBay Playstation 3 listings once again today, I noticed that the selling prices have dropped off quite sharply over the past few days. The 20GB systems are barely selling above retail, and those who have these systems priced too high using the "Buy it Now" function of eBay are watching auction after auction end without a buyer and I have to say I'm finding this pretty damn funny. And not because I think there's anything wrong with making yourself a tidy little profit. What's funny is that many of the people that still have Playstation 3 systems up for auction were the ones that initially priced their consoles at astronomical prices. You know the ones that were asking $5000+ for a system near launch day. These are the very people that have now missed the window of making $400 or $500 dollars profit because they got too damn greedy. My philosophy is that anything that's priced at more than twice what it retails for, is way overpriced and many of these people are finding out that sometimes when you get greedy, it comes back to bite you in the ass. Maybe that's why I'm enjoying visiting eBay each night to see how much lower the prices are going and how many of these desperate people are still trying to get too much bang for their Playstation 3 buck. Maybe the next time they find themselves sitting out in the cold for 20 hours they'll think about that.