GGF#11: A gamer’s lot in life is to wait

[Gamer Girl Friday]

I am drooling at upcoming games while my current games lie untouched.

Because a gamer is greedy. She wants to play all the games available now and she wants to play all the games not available now.

Her brain has suffered a slight permanent damage from having to endlessly wait for games that refuse to come out of development phase. (For example, can you believe that Warhammer Online has been in development for eight damn years?!)

But I’m not going to talk about WAR today; it’s overhyped anyway. I’m introducing a few of my favourite upcoming games. (Only a few because I don’t have space for everything.)

Don’t complain if your favourite isn’t mentioned. I can’t possibly read your mind, wot. So, if you want to read about or see a particular game in action, tell me. I’ll do my best to humour you.

Rock on, baby!!

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Table of Contents

  1. Guitar Hero World Tour drums special
  2. Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe
  3. DC Universe Online
  4. The Goonfather plays Happy Tree Friends
  5. A game that forces you to walk
  6. Invitation to beta test FIFA Online 2
  7. Ask Sheylara
  8. Win a Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 USB headset!!

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Guitar Hero World Tour drums special

Celebrity drummers Travis Barker (Blink 182) and Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers) are co-conspirators in the making of the drumset for Guitar Hero World Tour!

Watch video!

I love Travis Barker. He’s my second favourite drummer next to Lars Ulrich (Metaliica).

See, I have his drumsticks!! *blush*

These are Travis Barker signature sticks from the Zildjian Artist Series. But they’re just for show. I can’t use them (to play real drums) cos they’re too heavy for me.

I mean, I could technically use them, but then I wouldn’t be able to play very well.

Back to the game.

Guitar Hero World Tour seems all set to kick Rock Band off the music charts! (Of course, there is Rock Band 2 brewing in the wings, so don’t lose your stock options yet.)

Travis Barker says about the GHWT drums: “Especially on the expert levels of Guitar Hero, where you’re nailing every note for note, it’s absolutely like playing what the drummer in that band is playing.”

That’s some incredible endorsement.

I’m ready to jump ship from being pro-Rock Band to being pro-Guitar Hero.

Who’s with me?

Guitar Hero World Tour is slated for an October 28 release for Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 and Wii.

Not sure when we can expect to see it in Singapore, though.

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Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe

There’s something very attractive about seeing a bunch of wholesome, sunshine, role-model superheroes thrown into a dark and violent place.

I don’t like fighter games, but I was immediately drawn to Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, compelled to drop everything I was doing to watch the trailer, because it’s just such an unlikely matchmaking.

Raiden vs. Batman in the depths of hell! If it weren’t really cool, I would have found it immensely amusing.

Will try to get a copy to play when it comes out, even though I suck at fighters. November 3, 2008 is the date. Duh, I hate waiting, but that’s a gamer’s lot in life, wouldn’t you say?

Available for Xbox 360 and PS3.

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DC Universe Online

Yay, here’s another superhero MMORPG, although this one is console-specific (PS3).

DC Comics sure is ambitious, franchising its heroes out everywhichway.

This game reminds me of City of Heroes very much and I had a lot of fun playing that. Of course, we won’t be seeing DC Universe Online until next year, so have fun waiting.

In the meantime, we can dream about the kind of superhero we want to create.

In COH, my character was named The Daughter (inside joke):

I also created a Lara Croft lookalike just for kicks:

Me and my friends shared many good times and many a bloody, violent battle.

Aww, I miss my superhero friends so much. I can’t wait for DCUO!

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The Goonfather plays Happy Tree Friends

Due to my recent busy schedule, I’m turning to Xbox LIVE for quick gaming fixes. LIVE has tons of fun arcade-style games that you can download (for a small fee) and play almost immediately.

Plus you can earn gamerscore and achievement points on them. People can be such sluts for virtual points.

So, I made the Goonfather help me download Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm while I finished up my work. He sampled a few levels before I went to join him (to secretly videotape him playing)! Hehe!

Well, it’s a silly game. But it might appeal to sadistic kids who enjoy seeing cute cartoon animals get mashed to pulp.

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A game that forces you to walk

This is a funny little gadget. I wonder if we’ll ever see it in Singapore.

The Jinsei Game of Life pedometer will beat the couch potato out of you because you can only advance by leaving your sorry couch.

This tiny little gadget contains a simple version of the Game of Life board game we’re all familiar with. The catch is that you have to take 300 physical steps in the physical world in order to spin the wheel and take a turn. If not, the gadget simply won’t allow you to advance.

Pretty neat!

You might not want to buy it for your kids or nephews or nieces, though. It’s not like they’re not already way too hyper. With this, they’re gonna have a legitimate excuse to zip around the house maniacally, getting underfoot unnecessarily and just generally drive everyone nuts.

Buy it for your lazy ass spouse or sibling or colleague, instead.

Releasing end of July.

Source.

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Invitation to beta test FIFA Online 2

Thanks to IAHGames, FIFA Online 2 will be launching in Singapore soonish.

It will also launch in Thailand at the same time, although a date hasn’t been confirmed yet. Other regions — Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia and the Philippines — will get it later.

You can sign up for the closed beta test, which commences on August 5. Not much longer to wait!

Thai players can sign up here for the Thai version of the game. But I don’t think I have any Thai readers, so this will have been a few lines of wasted pixels that can never be recovered.

Here’s a photo taken at the recent FIFA Online 2 press conference in Thailand:

I’m sure you don’t really care who the three blokes in the middle are because the models on the sides are grabbing all your attention.

So, here’s a close-up for you because I’m nice!

Awwww.

Well, this is the only picture I have, so stop gawking already and go sign up for the CBT!

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Ask Sheylara

Ask me any gaming-related questions! Post them in the comments or e-mail me, I don’t really care. I will try to answer all questions.

jesse5762 asks an Initial D Extreme Stage question:

Would you happen to know if it works with the Logitech G25 Racing wheel?

Sheylara Says:

It does, partially, which means that the game will only recognise the wheel turn for 90 degrees either way. So, maybe it’s not that good an idea to use that wheel for this game.

sdutango asks a similar Initial D Extreme Stage question:

So I read your blog, you said it partially works with G25. But will that work with 900 degrees? Thanks.

Sheylara Says:

Nope, the Logitech G25’s 900 degrees is wasted on this game, sadly. Like I said above, you can only go as far as 90 degrees.

liting asks a Wii question:

I just bought my Wii 2 days ago, mod Jap set. It was doing fine on the first day but after I tried connecting to the Internet and did a Wii update, I received an error message: “Error Occurred. Press the eject button and remove the disc. Turn the power off and follow the instructions in the console manual.”

When I try to play some games, it only happens to a few games and the rest are not affected. I am sure its not the disc problem cause i was playing it on the first day I bought my Wii. May I know how to resolve this? =((

Sheylara Says:

Sorry, but I wouldn’t know what your exact problem is without being there to see it for myself. My guess is that when you did an online update, you updated a security feature which prevents the console from playing modded games.

If anyone has the definitive answer to the above question, feel free to share in the comments section! :)

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Win a Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000 headset!!

Ooh, I’ll bet you want!!

I’ve used it and I really like it. It’s comfortable and sounds good and is so easy to use (just plug into USB port).

I used it to record my song for the shower singing video!

No, no, I’m not giving out a used set. The winner of this week’s contest will receive a brand new Microsoft LifeChat LX-3000, never before opened and touched by human hands.

HOW TO WIN THIS BABY!

Starting today, up till July 31, vote for me DAILY in the S’pore Blog Awards!

(You knew that, somehow, I would work this voting thing in, didn’t ya?)

Then, post a comment in my blog each day to let me know that you’ve voted for me!

One vote per day, one comment per day, until July 31!

You’ll go into the draw for the prize if you do that!

Note: If you don’t live in Singapore, please agree to bear the cost of postage and packaging if you win the prize. This thing is heavy and I’m going broke mailing out prizes every week!

Feel free to e-mail me if you don’t know what the hell I’m talking about.

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Woot! I love GGF!

Oh, wait. That didn’t sound right.

I mean I love writing about games for my GGF column! I love games.

Don’t you?

Now, you have a whole weekend ahead of you to devote to gaming. How nice for you!

Happy gaming!

[Gamer Girl Friday]

GGF#10: Updates from the gaming world

[Gamer Girl Friday]

These days, I’m spending more time being a “journalist” than a gamer! I guess it comes with the territory of writing a gaming column.

Quite ironic that writing about games because I love playing games is deterring me from playing the games that I love writing about.

Hmm.

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Table of Contents

  1. WCG interviews Sheylara!
  2. WCG to attract female gamers
  3. Centrino 2 for enhanced laptop gaming
  4. Neopets creators announce a new MMOG
  5. Guitar Hero: World Tour plays on Rock Band
  6. Ninja Gaiden II t-shirts won!
  7. No one Asked Sheylara anything

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WCG interviews Sheylara!

So, there I was, innocently attending the World Cyber Games press conference as a member of the press, and then some peeps came up to me and said, “May we interview you, please?”

Which was kinda amusing, because press doesn’t get interviewed, press interviews. LOL.

Here’s the interview:

I should have told them about Gamer Girl Friday so they can mention it! But I kinda didn’t know at that time why and for what they were interviewing me. I just answered questions. Haha.

When I showed this to a friend, he rightly pointed out that I don’t speak like what’s reflected in that interview. A lot of what’s written has been dramatically rephrased from what I actually said (since there was no tape recorder present).

Guess I’m alright with that, as long as there are no scandalous misquotes.

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WCG to attract female gamers

World Cyber Games, the world’s first global cyber games festival and perhaps the most well-known, is doing something right this year (in my books.)

In an attempt to attract casual and female gamers, WCG has included Guitar Hero 3 (Xbox 360 version) in its 2008 lineup!

I can’t tell yet whether this strategy has been successful so far, but it’s certainly gotten my attention. I want to take part in it, except that I haven’t got time to practise. Argh.

Here’s the lineup of official WCG games for 2008:

I believe some of the games still have slots left for registration if you want to take part. Sign up here for the Singapore National Finals, which will be held on August 7 and 8 in Suntec Convention Centre.

The Asian Championship will be held in Singapore on August 9 and 10.

Incidentally, there was an F1 simulator at the press conference so I did me some F1 racing.

Got pwned.

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Centrino 2 for enhanced laptop gaming

Intel has just released its new Centrino 2 processor, which is set to own the next generation of laptops.

Until now, there’s been a lack of gaming laptop choices. Not anymore!

Well, the chip wasn’t built specifically for gaming, but it’s been built to cater to gamers, too.

You can start checking out computer shops now for laptops with an “Intel Centrino 2 inside” sticker. But give it a few more months maybe, and more models carrying this chip will probably be released.

Intel took a bunch of journos out to sea to show off their new baby. These people sure know how to party!

But that’s not really relevant for this article, so let me show you something more relevant.

A powerpoint page showing you the improvements of the Centrino 2 over its predecessor:

So, anyway, everything about the Centrino 2 is good. Faster, better, cooler everything. I don’t really want to elaborate on it because I’m not trying to be a salesman about it. So, go read about it yourself if you’re interested!

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Neopets creators announce a new MMOG

Don’t judge me but I’m a huge Neopets fan.

Well, it is a good site and a great concept, even if it’s mostly for kids.

Neopets has constantly evolved over the years to meet new demands, which is good, although I didn’t like the last major overhaul when they commercialised almost everything. But I can’t blame them for doing that. A business has got to grow and make money.

This new MMOG is called Twin Skies and it will feature a persistent world, pets and mini games (which you play to affect what happens to you in the persistent world).

According to the FAQs, the game might impose a monthly fee to keep it ads free, but it’s still undecided.

I like the game concept, anyway. I might try it out when it’s launched goodness knows when, time permitting.

I said, don’t judge me!

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Guitar Hero: World Tour plays on Rock Band

Much buzz has been generated from Activision’s recent announcement at E3. Apparently, you will be able to use Rock Band instruments to play Guitar Hero: World Tour.

That means Rock Band fans will be able to play GHWT without having to shell out ridiculous amounts of money to acquire yet more instruments.

This is a good direction. I was getting kind of worried that, by the time GHWT and RB2 releases, I’m going to have four guitars, three drum sets and three microphones fighting for space in my room.

The only duh spot in this is:

I don’t really want to play GHWT with RB1 drums. The GHWT drum set has five pads. RB1 only has four. Duh. One extra pad can make a lot of difference in terms of fun.


Guitar Hero: World Tour instruments

But it seems like Activision developers have hinted on the possibility of releasing updates to make GHWT and RB2 instruments compatible. Sweet if that happens.

Read more here.

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Ninja Gaiden II t-shirts won!

I have come to dread announcing contest results weekly.

I know that when I make an announcement, one person will be very happy but more will be disappointed.

I know the disappointment is minimal because, after all, my giveaways are small items. But disappointment is still disappointment, right?

But its still gotta be done. So, this week’s announcement:

Chong wins two Ninja Gaiden II t-shirts!! Wootage! Congratulations! Ding gratz!

I will be contacting you via e-mail soon about the collection of your prize.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Hope you win something next time!

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No one Asked Sheylara anything

Sheylara is taking a break from answering questions this week because no one asked her anything, can you believe it? Hah.

Good. People are learning the power of Google! ;)

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But there is no contest this week.

Sorry!

No, I haven’t run out of stuff to give away. It’s just that running even a simple contest takes a lot of time and I am swamped this month. I even considered postponing GGF this week, but then I had so much news I wanted to share.

I’m sure you understand. GGF is a personal project at this point of time and real life (paying jobs) have to take precedence.

By the way, Gamer Girl Friday recommends that you vote for Sheylara in the S’pore Blog Awards! (Yes, there is no escape for you until the voting periods ends with July.)

Thank you all.

Have yourself a great weekend and we’ll see you next week!

[Gamer Girl Friday]