Megaman 9 is finally here!

All the bosses in Mega Man 9

Finally, the endless waiting is over. Mega Man will be hitting North America next week and every next gen console owner should be rejoiced as it will be hitting Wii, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 on 22th September 2008. According to this, you can get the Wiiware version at 1000 wii points while both Playstation Network version and XBLA version will cost you usd9.99 and 800 points respectively. Hehe, every next gen console owner will not be left out but I have yet to own either one home console, so I cant really play this game!

And for those who are still still on the fence considering whether they should get this title which has opted to go in different and radical direction(or should I say old school?), a video review and review by IGN has popped up. These shall really clear up your mind and I know I will be getting it if I own either one of the next gen consoles.


The review could be found here. This review is actually for the XBLA version but those 3 versions dont really have any major differences and the reviewer actually pointed out that the Wiiware version is the one closest to NES version as it has the "blockiest" graphics and it succeeds in term of mimicking the whole NES feel. So if you feel like going for the version which is close to the NES games in terms of presentation, you should go for the Wiiware version and for clearer and crispier version, XBLA and PSN versions are definitely your choice.


And what more exciting is the DLC that has been confirmed for this game. Finally in the first time of series, Proto Man is a playable character. I have been itching to control him since the first time I saw him in Mega Man 3. He is always shrouded in mystery and I always feel that he is and should be a better character than Mega Man to tinker around with. Now that it has come to fruition, all Mega Man fans should wet themselves in their pants! According to this, this paid DLC will arrive the week of October 6 for for 200 Wii Points, 160 Microsoft points and usd1.99 on PSN.

Some info of Proto Man:
-He has the ability to slide and shoot charged up beams.
-He can deflect most bullets with his shield but larger bullets can still inflict damage to him and on the downside he will be pushed back twice as far as Mega Man.
-He will stop charging once he is struck by enemies.
-Rush will not be assisting him instead all the Rush adaptors have been changed to Proto adaptors.

Oh well, after this character is available, who should we look forward to become available? I hope Roll can make the cut as I am not satisfied of controlling her in Marvel VS Capcom series and it is time for the her to get some credits for saving the world instead of helping Mega Man only! And how about controlling Rush? This robotic canine has always been a great helper for Mega Man but I think it is time that he deserves to save the world on its own as it can do so many things normal dogs arent capable of like flying, providing a platform to jump higher. I have a suggestion if Rush can indeed be a playable character. Dont make him like Proto Man where he can obtain and equip weapons from bosses just like Mega Man. Instead, just make it stick to one exclusive weapon(whatever it is, I will leave it to Capcom to figure out) and this can easily be the most difficult mode in Mega Man 9. Imagine going through the whole game with just a weapon and most importantly, you are Rush. Sweet indeed!


What we can do in the mean time while waiting for the game to be available next week? I have a couple of suggestions here. First, go through the ultimate Mega Man retrospective. I have posted it here before but in case you missed it, you can catch up with it here and it really makes up as a good reading as it has tons of details of every single Mega Man that is out there currently. Secondly, go through the every single boxart available for Mega Man game here. It only has the boxart for Mega Man games and not the other series like Mega Man X, Mega Man Zero etc, but still there are already so many unseen boxarts(for me at least). Who can possibly forget the horrendous boxart above for the first Mega Man?

So guy, dont miss it. Next week is certainly the week of Mega Man 9!

Metal Gear Retrospective

Well well, it has finally been the day that Metal Gear Solid fans have been waiting for. Fans can get their copies of Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns Of Patriots today. Hopefully this mega game lives up to their expectation. For those who are just caught up in the recent hype with Metal Gear Solid 4 and eager enough to secure yourself a copy, you might have some difficult time understanding the storyline if you never played any previous versions before although you might still be astonished by the intricate gameplay that this game provides and immediately hooked up by this game. But still, if you understand the story, you will indulge more in the series, right?

So I am here to provide you three ways to go through the history of this series and simultaneously have a grip of the intricately woven storyline. You will be amazed at how complicated the story is.

First of all, you can head to 1UP site to browse through the Gear Up!Metal Gear Solid Retrospective here. 7 pages in total but not really that much if you are interested to find out every game of the series. That makes a good reading but I dont think it can stand up to......

Watching it. What is the best way that you can get other than watching the whole retrospective from Game Trailer?It is easier to understand(at least for me, duh!) if I can listen to someone explaining and at the same time I can watch some pertinent videos. I myself have downloaded all the video clips and I have been watching them over and over again even though I wont have the chance to play MGS4. Well, this does not stop me from being a MGS fan right? Here are the links to download them.

• Part 1- Metal Gear, Snake Revenge, Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
• Part 2- Metal Gear Solid, VR Missions, The Twin Snake
• Part 3- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty and MGS2:Substance
• Part 4- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, MGS3: Subsistence and story of MGS Portable Ops
• Part 5- Some portable spinoffs that are not included in the canonical storyline but nevertheless still have amazing gameplays which are handheld missions of Ghost Babel, MGS Portable Ops and both MGS Acid 1 and Acid 2.
  

I would say dont bother to watch it online as the speed of Streamyx in Malaysia is not up to standard, so it will be extremely laggy and it does hamper the whole experience. Just download it as the speed is very fast and those videos certainly deserve a spot in your hard disk. Dont worry, they are certainly worthy enough to be stored.

Lastly, if you are those who cant bother to go through any reading or video watching and you would like to experience all the games by playing them, I have a good news for you. You can go here and purchase a copy of Metal Gear Solid: The Essential Collection which includes the original Metal Gear Solid for Playstation and director cut of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence for Playstation 2.

Well, if you plan to play MGS4, I am sure you will own a PS3 and since PS3 is compatible with PS1 and PS2 games, you wont have any problems accessing the game that you will get. It is only Usd 34.90 and even though unlike other games which have the free shipping option (maybe due to its larger-than-average game package), you will be charged usd10.40 for shipping but still it is still very cheap considering that you can get 3 greatest games of all time at usd45 only. That is practically usd15 per game only, so dont miss it.

So do you find the options I recommend above useful to you or you have other suggestions? Please drop by your comments so that others will have better alternatives.

Preordering Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of The Patriots

PS3 has been lambasted for deficiency of good games that can truly utilize the overly powerful specification of PS3. While some of the PS3 owners lament the fact that some of the killer games are going multiplatform like the recent Grand Theft Auto 4, a lot of them only treat PS3 as a mere blu ray player(well, it is still one of the cheapest Blu Ray player in the market now) because lack of quality games. The rest will just adapt the "wait and see" attitude before jumping the bandwagon as we know the console is currently the most expensive among the 3 next gen consoles.

Well, I think that is going to change in a few days. There are 7 days to go before Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of The Patriots is released for PS3(12 June 2008). Undoubtedly, Metal Gear Solid 4 is one of the 2008 killer games for PS3. It is surely one of the highly anticipated PS3 games that the owners have been waiting for. For the rest, this is the sole reason they will just go out and get themselves the spanking new PS3 consoles.

I myself am pretty excited for this game too even if I have yet to own a PS3(oh well, I am not too keen to get myself a home console yet). I played the first Metal Gear Solid and I was pretty hooked up by the unique gameplay and later I also managed to complete the GBC version of Metal Gear Solid. It seems like Snake has aged well throughout the series and in the latest iteration he is already an old man(well, no pun intended). And also note that this shall be the last game in the Metal Gear Solid series that will be helmed by Kojima, so Kojima fans out there should not miss this masterpiece.

For those who are interested, you must be eager to preorder this game. Many prefer online sites like play asia or yesasia but for this game, I personally suggest you to get it from our local retailer, Djinn. Why would you say? Firstly you will stand a chance to win yourself a brand new 32 inch Samsung LCD TV if you preorder the game. Some may say"ah, I am not that lucky enough la" but well, if you just get it online, you will get nothing except the game but you wont lose anything if you preorder it from djinn and you dont manage to win anything. Well, there is always a chance for the great prizes if you preorder from him. Secondly, if you preorder one copy from him, Djinn will donate rm5 to the recent terrifying China earthquake victims. It may sound meager but you still manage to do something to help those victims. It is better than those who never donate at all. Thirdly, you can get the game on the official releasing date if not earlier. It seems like those who preorder can get it on 11th June according to this. If you preorder it from online sites and wish to get the game right after it is released, you have to pay for some shipping fee which in this case it doesnt matter as you just have to head to Gamer Hideout on 11th June. Lastly, you are supporting the local gaming industry if you preorder from Djinn. As we know, our local gaming industry cannot flourish due to the rampant piracy problems. But luckily gamers are getting more and more educated and they are trying their best to support original games now. Metal Gear Solid 3 is the biggest game of the year, so if you plan to get a pirated copy, shame on you(but if not mistaken, PS3 is still free from piracy problem, right?)

4 solid reasons enough to warrant a purchase from Djinn, so what are you waiting for if you are interested in this game?

Edited: Apparently there is an official launch for this huge game and if you go to this event, you will have greater chances of winning greater prizes like the limited Metal Gear Solid 4 bundled console version and a 32inch Sony Bravia LCD TV. Check here for more details.