BlogAllAlong » Games

Toy Story 3 Video Game, Just How All Movie Games Should Be

Bashar — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 14:49:37 +0000

How many movie games are released each year? How many movie games have you tried in your life time? How many did you really like? The answer would be I bet very close to zero! Well I can say I added one to mine. The moment I saw Toy Story 3 video game trailer it felt like something different. Like something with a hope of enjoying it. Having gone through the story mode game now, the game really delivered the promise, setting an example of how video games should be made.

First of all, voice actors are all real not a replacement like many other Disney games I tried, this by it self tells you the company is taking the game seriously. Graphics was really great as well, and the game followed the real story to a very good extent, and added some extra fun levels as side stories that won’t really spoil the game, but rather add extra spice to it. Yes there were some critical scenes I thought should be included, like what happened to the bear. They made it look like he was no evil or anything, just a side character you pass by. Other characters were also missing, but nothing that spoiled the joy in my opinion.

What’s the best part for me was the multi-player mode. For the first time I’m really able to enjoy a game with my kid, playing together through the story mode, making our through the obstacles, helping each other, and most of the time, the lack of one player doesn’t hardly affect the other. You die, the other player resumes play until you respawn at next point. So this was for real a family + gaming time in one. I was kinda pushing him to play it over other games toward the end really :).

Is this because of the Avalanche Software? I never liked THQ games, but UP demo sounded a bit nice for kids.

Either way, I hope this isn’t an incidental success but a sign of better Pixar movie games to come. And why don’t other movie studios give such focus to their games? Have you ever heard of a good Harry Potter game? Yes Lego version was probably fun for kids, but that’s a lame shift after the successive failure the movie games have seen. I guess massive movie game failures have given them a bad reputation. It’s just something they have to get done, get quick cash from and leave.

NOTE: Zurg character is playable on PS3 version of the game.

Monkey Island II Tie

Bashar — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 16:23:20 +0000

Remember those Monkey Island sneakers? You do? Wow.. your life must be so empty! But anyways, I got an email that seems from the same shoes designer and you can now wear ties that match your shoes while going to work.

You can read her Spanish page if you like (or use Google Translate). And to bid for the Monkey Island tie (currently standing at 99 EUR!), you can do that here.

Don’t you wish now you wear formal?

Monkey Island 2 Special-Uber Edition

Bashar — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 20:20:09 +0000

I can’t believe I call my self Monkey Island fan and I haven’t heard about this proof of concept for Monkey Island 2 Special Edition with 3D environment. And I haven’t even played the Tales of Monkey Island yet. I shouldn’t blog about this or else… Err, what do you mean I just did? Umm… back to topic.

Enjoy the videos.

PS3 120 GB Slim Officially Released for $299

Bashar — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:19:37 +0000

Today is the official release of the new slimmer PS3 120 GB Blu-Ray player, which can also play some awesome video games. At the cost of $299.99, I really find it a smart buy.

The Force Is Strong With This NERD!

Bashar — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 12:26:33 +0000

I think we should have large scale game of this style. That would be the only fighting game I’m really interested in!

ATI Radeon Video Card Review

Bashar — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 17:49:59 +0000

Isn’t it annoying when something goes wrong with your beloved computer? Be it software or hardware. One should always take care in buying robust stuff that doesn’t wear out quickly. But how can you tell? And how possible is it for a piece of hardware to crash in few years time, after which, the computer is going to be replaced anyways! In my experience with ATI Radeon X600 PRO 256 MB in less than 3 years, 3 out of 3 have crashed! I should be fair and note, they were all using the same PC brand, HP Pavilion, but I don’t see how the box can relate to this type of failures.

First, my PC started rebooting and was not able to run for more than 10 minutes. I did all types of update, followed all Windows advise until they suggested Disable 3D Graphics to fix the problem. Thanks! So I tried to contact ATI Radeon. First register, then specify the problem in very detail. I went through a hell lot of questions, it was like interrogating. The type of questions that tells you go bother someone else. I am talking about questions like:

What were you doing when problem happens? (Playing game)
Game from which manufacturer? (Umm… actually it’s more than one game, but I selected one for example)
What is the name of the game? (Ahhh… I can see where this is going)
Did up try to update? (YES I Swear)

And the list went on and on. At the end, I explained I did all kind of updates, read all articles and knowledge base, etc etc. and the problem is happening with more than one game so it’s not game specific. Submit. Soon after, I got this polite reply:

“Greetings!

Based on our experience, games issues are usually due to improper system configurations, driver issues, faulty hardware or a known issue with the game and the hardware or drivers that you are using.

First ensure your system meets the minimum requirements of the game and that you have any patches from the game vendor installed.

If your computer meets all of the system requirements, please check our Knowledge Base and the release notes of the driver you are using to see if there are any known issues or solutions for the game you are playing. If you are unable to find information on the specific problem you are having in our Knowledge Base, please check with the software vendor for any known issues or problems. If the problem persists, review the full details for trouble shooting game related issues at the link provided below:

http://www.ati.com/online/customercare/solutions/gamesrevised.html

If these suggestions don’t help to resolve your issues, please respond to the ticket and one of our qualified support representatives will assist you. To respond to this ticket you must visit http://support.ati.com and login to My Support.

Thank you for choosing ATI!”

Obviously, they did not take care to read any of all the information they asked for, or else, they chose to pretend not to have read. All the hardware specs were there, it’s not bad at all, and if you are not gonna compare it to game specs, why did you ask for the game name then? Also, I did mention I updated to latest driver and gave them the driver version so there is no way to be wrong about it. I already went through your knowledge base as well, I couldn’t find any information that helps and that’s why I am contacting you. But they have to jump and blame the game manufacturer first, who were so kind and offered a compensation (hear that?) instead of reaching out for help. When the level of support reaches that level, I can hope no more and find my own way out. As one guy said “When there is something that is bad, don’t take the time to see how bad it is”. I took out the video card and later found out the fan is completely jammed and does not move a bit. Blame it on someone else! So I got my self an nVidia wonderful 512 MB Video card with HDMI output and it’s working just fine.

Few months later, my in-law had problem with a similar HP PC and he couldn’t resolve it. Taking it to the store they said you have to replace the video card! (That’s # 2). Then just last week, my family started facing restart problems with a similar PC. Now I’m smart and for once do not have to blame Windows for it. Do you want a new video card I said? Again they went through all types of troubleshooting, and for few hours the game went on. I told them you’re gonna need a new card, and the next day, they did. Problem came back and it’s obviously the same problem.

So that’s 3 failures out of 3. I have another friend with a similar PC but I don’t know if it still works or not. I will just use my logic and assume not. Or else, if he is reading this blog, give us your thought about it. With that rate of failure, and the terrible level of support they have, any PC that comes with ATI, and ofcourse Vista, now is not an option. Is it gonna be hard to pick my next computer then? Hopefully not as MacBook Pro comes with NVIDIA I’m happy to say.

Google to enter in-Game ads arena

Bashar — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 10:46:52 +0000

Two years back or less, Google was solely powered by its online Sponsored Ads. Recently, they seem to have removed the borders of their line of business and are getting into whatever they see a potential in. TV, radio, and newspaper ads have all been touched by Google. So what’s next? The internet online-gaming industry. Google have been in serious talks with Adscape in regards of acquisition. If negotiations go through, the acquisition is expected to be worth between $20 to $30 millions. Red Herring covers the details more.

Santa’s Toy Hunt on Google Earth

Bashar — Sun, 24 Dec 2006 13:09:09 +0000

Starting from Dec 12, up till Christmas eve, every day there will be a clue outside Santa’s north pole, which if you could solve will lead you to the hidden toy on Google Earth. This is the new quest launched by Google, thats sounds really interesting and fun. Education to the end user as well. Google can use it to pin point the hot areas that people might miss otherwise.

Read more about it on the Google Blog or go to the main quest page.

BlogAllAlong » Games

Toy Story 3 Video Game, Just How All Movie Games Should Be

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Monkey Island II Tie

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Monkey Island 2 Special-Uber Edition

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PS3 120 GB Slim Officially Released for $299

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The Force Is Strong With This NERD!

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ATI Radeon Video Card Review

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