Minibosses/Persona 3

I can't really decide which news is better, but I'll start with what happened first. This past Thursday I finally got my Minibosses cds! These guys are fantastic (my personal favorite video game band) and they are really talented musicians. I was surprised that they still had cds available and the two month wait was well worth it. I have good news for anyone who wants some great free music...you can actually download all the songs for free off of their website http://minibosses.com ...my personal favs are "Mike Tyson's Punch Out", "Double Dragon", and "Ikari Warriors"!

Go and check out the Minibosses already!

http://minibosses.com

Minibosses' Myspace

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Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 amazingly found its way into my hands and it's all I've played since Friday (the day the miracle happened). I am about 9hrs in so far and I really love this game. The story is interesting and all the characters have their own unique personalities. The battle system is great too, though I really don't have much experience with the turn-based RPG genre. One of the things I love most about the game is the setting; the fact that it takes place with HS students who go to school everyday and kick ass every night...that's just interesting to me. I don't know if previous games in this series were in similar places, but if they are then I would be inclined to go back and check out some of the older games too. I just really like the mature themes of the game and the stupid humor of some characters; I found myself laughing at the dialogue more than once and it really did remind me of high school. Next time you hear me talk about Persona 3 will be when I review it. This could be a while because I have no idea how long the game is and don’t know how much free time I’ll have in the coming weeks.

...One last thing. Gus, the game is friggin' Awesome!!! :)

New Logo +

Well I wanted to say that I put up the new logo I worked on and that you will also find that the review scores have finally been set up the way I planned them originally (go and check them out to see the new score system). I also doubt that anyone who went to the Chicago AGI get-together visits the sausage, but I want to apologize for not being able to make it out...My grandpa was admitted to the ER late last night and he's still there and will be there for a minimum of 72hrs so I really wouldn't have been in the best state of mind for the night. I hope everyone there had a good time and if there's a next time here's to hoping I can make it.

-New review system is simple

...games score between 1-5 sausages, with 5 being Awesome and 1 being horrible...and on rare occasions *cough* Jumper *cough* some games will even get 0 sausages! That's right some games suck so much that they don't even deserve any sausage! I hate you Jumper.

Some Updates

Well there are a few things I plan on getting done in the near future...a few reviews among other things. I might not get around to everything because I have had two great days in gaming these past few days. Yesterday I finally got my Minibosses cds and today I found a copy of Persona 3! (I'll go into more detail on both of these in a post tomorrow) I have to say that Persona 3 from the few hours I've put into it so far that it's amazing! I am really loving so much about it and I think it will be a great game to hold me off until GTAIV gets here.

Anyways here is a list of what I hope to get done soon...

- MLB 2K8 (360) Review
- Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360) Review
- Bru Krew Designs :P

...I don't know if I'll get all of that done, but I will try. Persona 3 is calling me and I'm so glad I have the game. Boy is it amazing!! You don't know what you're missing Gus!

:)

Zombie Genocider: Is the sausage worth it?

Zombie Genocider: Defeat at least 53,594 zombies
Is it one of the most annoying achievements ever? Yes.
Is it worth it? Yes.

Anyone who has this achievement will likely be considered a whore, a real juicy, nasty whore. I recently went through the agony of running over zombies over and over and over. I hated it, but it was all worth it to me. The reason behind this is because you actually get something in-game for doing this. Have you ever wanted to beat down some zombies as Mega Man!? Well you can't do it in this game, but you can blow some heads off! Is that good enough for you? No...then you can go eat a sausage!

I just want to tell anyone who attempts this amazingly horrible feat that you will hate this game immediately after it's done. You will want to take the game and set it on fire!.... Right after that you will want to take a massive corn-filled dump all over it...and then once all that has had time to settle in; you will finally be able to clean it up and start playing once again, but now you will have the aid of the real Mega Buster. Now take that weapons of mass destruction and bust some zombie sausage!

*EDIT*

I HATE YOU Dead Rising! Why did you freeze on me during Infinity mode? huh...you are a dirty bastard and I truly hate you. You do know I can't save in this mode and thus would have to start from the beginning if I want to make a second attempt. What's that...you think it's funny...STOP LAUGHING! I hate you Dead Rising and I hope you burn in hell!!!

Gamestop.com Changing Things Up

Well for those of you who don't hate Gamestop/EB you'll be happy to learn that their website is undergoing to much needed changes. Some of the major changes are things like: The ability to get your EDGE card discount when purchasing used products online, The ability to pre-order online and pick up in-store, and a community aspect (such as forums and reviews...).

The list of new features is rather long so I'll just link it for those who want to read up on all that's in store for the updated site. I must say that I do not love GS or hate GS, but these additions are great and something that they have needed for a long time.

Gamestop.com New Features

*EDIT*

The site went live on March 30th so everything should be functioning as well. The link has been fixed (It didn't work after the site went like because they moved the page). I have a few issues with some new features that I will talk about at a later date...

EA/Take-Two Possible Takeover

I was recently thinking about the whole EA/Take-Two takeover and it really got me thinking. I know a lot of people (me included) don't want to see this happen and there are many different reasons for this reaction. If this takeover were to happen then there wouldn't be any competition in the sport's market (at least between third-party developers). Then there's the group who thinks that Rockstar will be completely tainted by this possible transaction. I personally never believed that EA would do anything to ruin what we we've come to love about Rockstar, but I recently just thought of something that I think EA would heavily pursue if the transaction unfolds in their favor.

In-game advertisements; I think that is the simple change that they would want to add to a game like Grand Theft Auto. Just imagine how much money they could make selling ad space for one of the biggest (if not the biggest) game franchises out there. I think that would be a horrible outcome if it were to happen. For one we would be losing out on all the great humor that Rockstar North puts into their false ads. Second, the press may try to turn this into something bad like always. I say that because some people may say that real-life ads give the game a more "real-life" feel. I can’t say that I would be able to deny that fact either; seeing a McDonalds on the street, or ads for major retailers would give the game a more “real” feeling. Those two reasons are enough for me to hope that this will never happen, but the way EA works; I can't say that it's really that far-fetched.

*Update*

EA has extended their offer until April 18th, which is the day after Take-Two's annual meeting to discuss all their business. So right now the whole deal is at a stand-still at the moment...

GTAIV: The Sausage Cometh in a Montheth

Today has been an interesting news day for Grand Theft Auto IV and Rockstar. We got the final trailer (which we knew was coming) and we heard about a new community site. The Rockstar Social Club (rockstargames.com/socialclub) sounds very interesting to me, being the huge GTA/R* fan that I am. It's basically a community site where all Rockstar-whores can fight to get on top of the leaderboards and just be a wonderful retarded community. I've already been reading different people's thought on this news and some think it's a great idea, while others think it's horrible. The argument these “haters” use is that this site will take away from people enjoying the experience, that it will make everyone just strive to be numero uno. I don't think that's the case at all; this site is pure choice and if you don't want to be a part of it then you don't have to. It just really gets on my nerves when supposed GTA fans bitch about absolutely everything; the graphics suck, this site sucks, you suck, I suck, we all suck-a-lucka ding dong. Shut up already! The site will go live on April 15th allowing people to register before the game actually ships...though remember this isn’t just a GTA thing; it’s a Rockstar thing! So let’s all become rock stars together!

Now let’s go to the trailer of sausagedly goodness (which I posted below). I must say that Rockstar North really knows how to make a trailer. The music, the cinematography, the cuts...basically all that goes in this presentation is fantastic. The trailer really shows off some cool parts of the game that we haven’t seen much of yet. The physics on the guy falling down the stairs was great as well as when the news stands exploded. I don't care what anyone tries to say, this game looks absolutely gorgeous! The fact that there is so much in this game and that it looks as good as what we've seen just blows me away; not to mention the fact that from what I hear it runs pretty smooth too. Oh why must you tease me Rockstar, why!?

So GTAIV will be in our hands in just about a month now. Are you excited because I'm pretty excited (and yes Kadosho I know you're not excited). Hey Rockstar...release another Kubrick set so I can add to my collection!

Rockstar, "You're weird Kush"; Kush, "I can't quit you!!!"

 I am not ashamed to admit it and you shouldn't be either! Come on, let's all stand up and say it… I am totally gay for GTA!

Playsation Store...Hacked!?

"We have found out that there has been a possibility of unauthorized access to personal information" of PlayStation Store users, reads the notice posted by Sony today. Since PlayStation Store accounts don't portray entire credit card numbers, Sony asserts it is "highly unlikely" that any credit card information could have been stolen. Still, Sony also states that there is the possibility passwords could have been changed for a small percentage of users, "making it possible to view users' personal information and/or use the Wallet for the [PlayStation Store]."

Well this is a bit of interesting news and I’ll be interested in seeing how this pans out. I would really like to see people start back lashing on the PSN again (sorry fanboys) because the recent bitching over XBL by all the PS3 nutcases has been driving me crazy honestly. So I hope that it turns out to be a big issue just so I can laugh at all of you guys!

On a serious side I really don’t wish this to be any kind of big deal. I don’t want people to have deal with these kinds of shenanigans. Thankfully there is no way that I can be compromised and hopefully the 2 readers of my little sausage project here aren’t affected by it either…

Frontlines: Fuel of War (360) Review

Yes, Frontlines looks like every other shooter you've ever played.

• Game: Frontlines: Fuels of War
• Developer: Kaos Studios
• Price: $59.99 (Buy it)
• Release Date: 2/25/2008

I remember when Frontlines was first announced; it was my most anticipated shooter (before COD4 existed in any form) and I have had high hopes for the game ever since. Sadly I can't really say many good things about the game. I can say that it has a lot of potential, but I wouldn't take that as much of a compliment.

Click to read more ...

The Upcoming Week: Full of Sausage

Here is just a quick summary of what to expect this upcoming week…

Reviews

• Frontlines: Fuel of War (360)
•  Rainbow Six Vegas 2 (360)
•  Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune (PS3)
•  Army of Two (360)
•  Brain Challenge (360)

Features

…I am planning to do a Top 10 list for all the consoles I have ever owned, all the way back to the NES (I can’t remember my Atari 2600 that well…I’m a young boy *cough* I mean man…). So I am not sure how I will work this out, whether I will post one a day or one a week. I have my lists written up already so I’ll just wait and see…

Here are the platforms I’ll be working with…

NES, Sega Genesis, PC, Playstation 1, Sega Dreamcast, Playstation 2, Nintendo Gamecube, Xbox and Portables (no reason to break all systems up imo). I may also do a “360 so far” list as well.

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Other than that I plan to hopefully get a preview on Dark Sector if I can find the game to rent. Possibly a review of Condemned 2: Bloodshot if I find the time. Lastly I will start work on character concepts for the Distributed Failure poster…starting first with Rob “Big Daddy” Wood!

So stay tuned for many updates to the Sausage this week and remember to check out the Distributed Failure podcast which is recorded every Wednesday at 6pm CST and posted around 10pm. So give it listen: Love it, Hold it, Squeeze it, Want it, Have it, and Share it will everyone you know. Our Failure is your sweet, sweet listening pleasure!

And always remember “The cake is a lie, but the sausage isn’t”