Now Playing - Februari 2019

Metal Gear Solid V Ground Zeroes (PlayStation 3)
Started a new game, it's a good game even if it's a bit small. The problems are frustrating at times but the fun you can have make up for them enough.

played some demos that were already on the PS3 Slim I bought, the two I tried out were Eufloria and Urban Trial Freestyle, both were good

Killzone HD (PlayStation 3)
Started a new game. Still my favorite in the series, though Mercenary on Vita is really fantastic too and I will play that again soon as well.
Shadow Fall on PS4 is another great one but I don't have a PS4 to play it on right now.

Killzone 2 (PlayStation 3)
trying it out, it's a LOT glitchier than I remember, but the extreme amount of invisible walls all over the place keeping you from exploring even a tiny amount are just as plentiful and claustrophobic as I remember, also I had forgotten you could carry less weapons than in the original Killzone, you can hold literally just one single weapon of choice, beise that you have a permagun with infinite ammo and grenades, if you want ANY other weapon than the one you already picked up you're gonna have to swap that one for the new one no matter how much you don't wanna drag that infinite pea shooting pistol around, no exceptions, ever, it sucks! This was a very big drop down from the quality of the original game on PS2, the only real upgrades are minor visual things like the polygonal detail, some special effects like bump maps and lens flares etc., higher screen resolution, bigger color depth and better framerates, but textures are actually much lower res than were in the original on PS2, so it's not all better (it fucking should be!).
Also the ability to play as different characters by choice (after they were unlocked) is gone as well, this really sucks as I loved being able to replay levels as the different characters to see what different paths they took and what they got to do when I was doing my thing elsewhere last time.

EyeCreate (PlayStation 3)
recorded some silly things

Sly Cooper Thieves in Time (PlayStation 3)
started a new game

Superstars Racing V8 (PlayStation 3)

SuperCar Challenge (PlayStation 3)

BAJA Edge of Control (PlayStation 3)

Columns (Master System)

Columns (Game Gear)

Columns (Mega Drive)

Total Carnage (Midway Arcade Origins, PlayStation 3)
played through it, got bad ending, not a great game to be honest, unbalanced and focused far too much to steal your money by artificially making it frustrating and unfairly hard, doesn't flow well at all, extremely repetitive, stiff and slow controls, it has some good visuals but that's about it

Loaded (PlayStation)

Tomb Raider Legend (Tomb Raider Trilogy, PlayStation 3)
Finally got to playing this and so far it's not very good, some visual problems with the new lighting and shadows engine are very apparent and don't look good at all and there have been some odd control glitches where stuff happens without me pressing anything, grandes have been tossed and weapon changes have happened mid combat when all I was doing was moving in a single direction and shooting with default guns normally, no other buttons being pressed, very annoying. It also seems to have missed some of the treasures I know for a fact I picked up, I had to replay Lara's Mansion 5 times already to pick up the same damn treasure it kept ignoring when I picked it up.
I'll see it through to the end though as I know this game very well having played through most versions of it over the years. Not a good start though, not good at all, so far it's the worst port of this version of the game I've played, not counting the GBA or DS versions as they are not ports of this version but entirely different games made from the ground up for both those systems respectively.

Gaming Purchases - December 2018

01:00 at night from Friday, 30th November to Saturday, December 1st:

Ordered some awesome stuff online, should arrive later next week.
UPDATE: It's Friday 7th today and it still hasn't arrived, maybe next week?
UPDATE: It arrived and I went to pick it up on Saturday the 8th

Intellivision:
INTV System III (console, both hardwired controllers work, power cable and RF cable with RF Game/TV switcher box)
Soccer (complete in box with manual and two overlays)

Game Boy Advance:
Smashing Drive (cartridge only)

PlayStation:
Space Debris (complete in box with manual)

PlayStation 2:
Sub Rebellion (complete in box with manual)

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December 13th:

ordered online today
UPDATE: it arrived in my mailbox on the 18th

PlayStation 2:
a third party Dual Shock 2 replica controller

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December 14th:

at the local GameStop

3DS:
Shinobi (pre-owned)

PlayStation 3:
BlazBlue Calamity Trigger (pre-owned)
The Last of Us (pre-owned)

PlayStation 4:
Redout: Race Faster Than Ever - Lightspeed Edition

Collectibles:
Totaku Collection: WipEout AG-SYS (First Edition)
Starlink: Battle for Atlas - Starship Pack: Pulse (ship) + Volcano (gun attachment) + Calisto "Chase" da Silva (character)

from another store

Electric Bug Zapper Lantern (green)
Mickey Mouse comic + LEGO Star Wars Imperial AT-Hauler ship polybag
LEGO Nexo Knights magazine + Princess Macy with her Thunder Hammer

and from a third store

a small portable battery powered LED light chain (black)
a small regular electric powered LED light chain (black)

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December 20th:

some secondhand finds

DVD:
Aladdin och Rövarnas Konung (Disney)
Barbie i Svansjön
Barbie - Fairytopia
Barbie - En Perfekt Jul
The Bunker (2001)

HDDVD:
King Kong (Peter Jackson)

Vinyl Records:
Bernard & Bianca i Australien (Disney)
Den Lilla Sjöjungfrun (Disney)
Göstas Skiva
Juletid
Juletid
Jul

CD:
Hassan (P3)

Books/Comics:
Hassan (P3)
Kim Possible - Rädda Världen (Disney)
Sabina - Serier för Tjejer (1990)
Sabina - Serier för Tjejer (1991)

Other:
a hand carved alabaster stone egg (made in Italy)
clothing blueprints (five different, women's clothing only, with illustrated art covers)
a 1x2x3 Rubik's Cube (McDonalds, Secret Life of Pets)
a 2x2x2 Rubik's Cube (McDonalds, Minions)
a yo-yo that lights up when it spins (Skittles)
a wallet (Disney's Cars)

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December 21th:

some movies

DVD:
Barbie - Delfiner och Magi
Biet Maya - På nya honungsäventyr
Encounter
Grottmannen Dug
Maze Runner - The Death Cure
Peter Rabbit
The Titan

Bluray:
The Titan

Now Playing - Januari 2018

Lego Batman 3 Beyond Gotham (3DS)
beat it 100%

Lego Marvel Avengers (PlayStation Vita)
beat story mode

Lego Batman The Videogame (Xbox 360)
beat it 100%

Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens (PlayStation Vita)

Lego Batman 2 DC Super Heroes (Xbox 360)
beat it 100%

Lego Star Wars The Force Awakens (3DS)
Now I see why the Vita version was so mediocre and lackluster, it's sadly just a port of the 3DS version rather than a properly made and optimized Vita original version or stationary console port like it could've easily been seeing as the Vita is literally PS3 hardware and there are games on it that surpass even the best technical achievements on the PS3, like the incredibly impressive Killzone Mercenary that far surpasses games like Killzone 2 and 3 and Resistance 2 and 3, four of the very finest shooters the PS3 has to offer! not saying this is a bad game, it's just a shame the low tech 3DS (it's weaker than the old PSP) got a custom version when the vastly more powerful Vita just gets a slightly polished up port.

Yoshi's New Island (3DS)
Unresponsive, stiff, forced motion controls during certain segments, one-way levels that force you to replay the level from the beginning if you missed something, plain and simple this game feels like it was designed in the mid 80s.

Battle Frenzy/Bloodshot (Mega Drive)
An FPS in a similar vein to Wolfenstein 3D only in a sci-fi setting and it has a 2 player split-screen multiplayer mode.
It's a good game for the time and I like it, it gets a bit choppy and the countdown at the end of every level is almost a greater enemy than the nasty killer machines you face along the way.
It's a very tough game but it's cool enough and still enjoyable.
I got the european version titled Battle Frenzy but in the game the title screen still says Bloodshot.

Disney's Kim Possible Global Gemini (DS, played on 3DS)
Very similar to the PS2 game Kim Possible What's the Switch?, it actually does a really good job with the visuals and gameplay alike, its' smooth, responsive, you got good moves and I like the visual style with some flat shaded polygonal stuff, it fits with the cartoony look perfectly and helps the DS keep up a nice level of detail and a brisk framerate at the same time, a very well crafted game overall so far and I'm enjoying it.
UPDATE: The on-rail segments with snowboard and moped suck, they use the touch screen as a pseudo analog steering tablet and it's awkward as fuck to hold the DS/3DS while playing a game that way, those are by far the worst parts of the game so far, also the matrix type levels aren't very good either, it's just a gauntlet of dodging laser beams and a lot of grapple hook swinging, neither of which are this game's strong points, also they look really generic with the same blue grid pattern on everything.

WinX Club (PlayStation 2)
Finally I got hold of this for PS2, I've had the PC version for a few years but as both a fan of WinX Club and an avid console gamer I've always wanted the PS2 version specifically. It's virtually identical to the PC version. A good action platformer and great game for WinX Club fans.

Gaming Purchases - November 2016

November 1st:

Today's second-hand finds.

Game Boy Advance:
Dogz 2 (game cartridge and instruction manual only)

DS:
Guitar Hero On Tour (+accessories)

PlayStation:
Checkmate

PlayStation Portable:
Daxter
Tekken Dark Resurrection
LEGO Star Wars II The Original Trilogy (Platinum)

Xbox:
Amped Freestyle Snowboarding
Need for Speed Most Wanted
Scooby-Doo! Mystery Mayhem
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic II Sith Lords

Vinyl:
At The Hop (1976)

DVD:
Barbie in a Christmas Carol
Denver The Last Dinosaur - On The Golf Course - The Crocodile Hunters
King Arthur and the Knights of Justice - from Quarterback to Knight of the Round Table
My Little Pony (G3) - A Very Minty Christmas

UMD Video:
Sahara (2005)


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November 10th:

No games today but I got some other stuff.

Second-hand:

DVD:
Transformers Prime - Season 1 - Vol. 1

Comics:
Archie
87:an Axelsson
W.I.T.C.H.

Other:
various figures
3 VHS-C Videocamera tapes (still factory sealed)

New:

DVD:
Minions
Penguins of Madagascar
The Book of Life
Tom & Jerry the Lost Dragon


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November 15th:

No games today either but again I got some other stuff.

Second-hand:

DVD:
Hello Kitty Xmas Tales
Tekkonkinkreet

Comics/Books:
Disney Christmas Special
Disney Princess Christmas Album
Disney Princess Christmas Album
other various

Other:
Christmas Rat/Mouse Girl

New:

LEGO:
Nexo Knights magazine + bonus set Kid Clay


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November 17th:

No games today either but today I at least got something gaming related in my second-hand finds.

Second-hand:

PC hardware:
USB stereo speakers

DVD:
Disney Princess - Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Epic
Hot Wheels Accelerators: Breaking Point
Who Framed Roger Rabbit - Special Edition

Other:
Mega Bloks 91014 World of Warcraft Goblin Zeppelin Ambush
Minnie Mouse pink racing car

New:

LEGO:
Ninjago magazine + bonus set Ronin with Aeroblades


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November 24th:

Today's second hand finds include a couple of Wii U games of all things! I don't even have a Wii U!! THIS IS CRAZY!!!

Wii U:
Disney Infinity
Skylanders Giants

DVD:
Ah! My Goddess
Dune
Cube 2 Hypercube
Mad Max Fury Road
Star Wars Episode I The Phantom Menace
Stephen King's The Mangler

Books:
Cinderella's Magic Adventure
Picture Facts Future World


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November 29th:

Today's GameStop finds include some DS games I will use the covers from to house rogue GBA cartridges.

DS:
C.O.P. The Recruit
FIFA 08
High School Musical 3: Senior Year

PlayStation Portable:
Burnout Legends
EyePet Adventures
Mega Minis Volume 2

PlayStation 3:
Earth Defense Force 2025

Books:
Lilo & Stitch: Härligt stökigt!


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Now Playing - January 2016

I have it as a tradition to start a new playthrough in a game I love to start off the new year, this year I created a new save file in CastleVania Symphony of the Night. I completed it with 198% on the 13th which got me the best ending.

I've been playing a lot more Race Pro and some of the other games from last month too.

I've also been playing some of my recently purchased games like Pro Rally and Red Faction.

CastleVania Symphony of the Night (PlayStation and PlayStation version running on PlayStation Portable)

The classic and often regarded best game in the series. I've never been that huge a fan but I still like it enough to warrant a playthrough every few years. It's a great game but I feel the difficulty curve is unbalanced due to the open nature of the game. You mainly play as Dracula's half human son Alucard, and your mission is essentially to find and kill Dracula. It's a platformer adventure with RPG elements like leveling up, getting new equipment and lots of free roaming exploration. The problem is if you accidentally go down the wrong path you'll have a much harder time and a much more frustrating experience than you would if you randomly happened to go down another path instead, that's pretty much the case throughout the entire game. Only if you've done it before and have an idea of what areas pose the fairest challenge and where to go to get the good stuff early can you get a balanced playthrough without too much low level grinding and insta kill rooms of death. It's a gorgeous game though and there's plenty of stuff to love in it despite some of the issues it has. It's not a perfect game but it is one of the greatest games of all time and I would urge everyone who sees themselves as gamers to play through it at least once. It's absolutely a case of the good outweighing the bad.

Armored Core (PlayStation version played on PlayStation Portable)
Picked up where I left off last time i played. Got through a few missions and got some new parts.

Rapid Racer (PlayStation version played on PlayStation Portable)
My favorite boat racing game. I know Hydro Thunder is more well known but this is the one I loved back in the day, Hydro Thunder didn't have the precision this game has, it felt sloppy and fake in comparison, like a wannabe who didn't know how to be good enough but pretended that he was and expected everyone to agree because he was popular, it naturally failed to impress me, Rapid Racer was the real deal and is still fantastic to play to this day while Hydro Thunder has aged horribly when seen side by side with this game. Thanks to the optimized design it runs silky smooth at a rock solid 50/60fps framerate (PAL/NTSC respectively) and handles great because of it, a true joy to play.

Battle Engine Aquila (promo) (PlayStation 2)
I've had this on Xbox since back in the day but since my Xbox is broken now I thought I'd get the PS2 version to play instead. I could only find a promo version but whatever, it's still the same game as the regular retail release as far as I can tell. I love mech games and this fits in nicely alongside Armored Core 2, Frame Gride, Gundam Side Story 0079 Rise from the Ashes, GunGriffon Blaze, GunGriffon Allied Strike, Gun Metal, MechAssault, Metal Wolf Chaos, Murakumo Renegade Mech Pursuit, Phantom Crash, Ring of Red, Robot Warlords, S.L.A.I. Steel Lancer Arena International, Slave Zero, Steel Battalion, Virtual On Oratorio Tangram and Zone of the Enders as one of the classic mech games of the 128-bit generation.

Red Faction (PlayStation 2)

An old favorite I haven't played since it was new on PC. This is my first time playing it on PS2 and I'm glad to report it's just as good as I remember. The PS2 doesn't downgrade the experience one bit, unlike for example the PS2 port of Quake 3 Revolution which was a rather sad and awful experience despite having such an excellent port on the Dreamcast. Red Faction for those unfamiliar with it is a first person shooter with destructible environments, which was most unusual back the day, and even today is uncommon at best. I remember when I played it the first time how impressed I was at how you could blow new ways through the levels with your more explosive weapons, and it still feels great doing it today. I wish more modern games would do stuff like this instead of the same old "cinematic experience" that honestly overstayed its welcome well over a decade ago.

Pro Rally 2002 (GameCube)

It's an arcade rally racer in similar spirits of Sega Rally 2. It's mostly your standard rally fare but what makes it special is the physics engine, it's very bouncy and exaggerated, making racing a lot more interesting than most other rally games. I've been having a lot of fun with this one, getting many good laughs at how silly it gets sometimes. It's also rather glitchy, adding to the overall sillyness. It's definitely not a game I'd recommend to anyone wanting a realistic rally simulator.

Alone in the Dark (Xbox 360)
I bought this about a year ago but never got around playing it properly until now. I've had the PS2 game since it came out many years ago and I've played through it a few times over the years. Playing this version brings back a lot of memories, both good and bad, but it's not exactly the same game as it is on PS2, they're essentially the same game but made from thr ground up each, so it's like two very similar versions of the same idea. What's funny is how they both suffer from the same kind of glitches and bugs and thus have most of the same problems and issues. It's hard to say which is the best version because of this. They're both good in the good parts and bad in the bad parts, many of the ideas that went into the game are interesting and I like the overall story but the execution leaves a lot to be desired. They simply failed to implement the ideas they had and the game ended up a mess as the result. I still mostly enjoy it, I just need to take many breaks to calm myself when the game repeatedly get on my nerves.

Shadow The Hedgehog (GameCube and Xbox (Xbox version played on Xbox 360))

V-Rally 3 (Game Boy Advance)

LEGO Drome Racers (Game Boy Advance)

Asterix & Obelix XXL (Game Boy Advance)

Race PRO (Xbox 360)

Sly Cooper - Thieves in Time (PlayStation 3)

Now Playing - December 2015

Been focusing mostly on the new games I got at the end of last month so far.

Gift (PlayStation 2)
An obscure classic that was hyped for the impressive lighting and shadows back in the day. I was looking forward to it but sadly never got hold of it, at best I got to play the demo of the PC version. But that's all changed and now I finally get to experience this forgotten piece of videogame history! I have to say, because of how impressive it was back then it maganes to still look good today. It's your standard 3D platformer for the most part but with a strong focus on light and shadow puzzles, many enemies are light and shadow based and your weapons and attacks are as well. The humor is a bit of a swing and a miss sometimes but mostly I like the cheesy story and cutscenes, it's like a reminder from a simpler time when all games didn't have to be Oscar winning movies. One problem so far is that it refuses to recognize my memory card having plenty of free space, probably because it's a third party memory card, so if I wanna save I'm gonna have to dig out an older 8mb Sony original memory card. And I don't think I have one with any free space left. Very annoying as I want to play more but can't as I'm forced to restart from the beginning every time.

Headhunter (PlayStation 2)
Has some problems loading the main menu, most likely due to some minor scratches on the disc, but once in-game it works fine. It really doesn't hold a candle to the original version on Dreamcast, gone are the crisp textures and detailed shadows, replaced with muddy low-res textures and simple blurry shadow blobs that seem taken directly from an early N64 game. It still plays the same, which isn't that great either as that means it doesn't use the second analog stick very well, instead of adding camera control (missing in the Dreamcast original as Dreamcast only has one analog stick) they just use it to cycle through items and weapons, in other words a total waste as that could've been done better in many other ways. As it stands Headhunter on PS2 is a disappointing port that leaves a lot to be desired. No wonder some people thought the Dreamcast had so much more to offer than PS2 back in the day when poor ports like this was part of their comparison.

Wreckless The Yakuza Mission (PlayStation 2 and GameCube)
I love Wreckless on Xbox, it's an arcade style mission based driving game with visuals that were jawbreaking at the time and still impress to this very day. Shortly after the Xbox exclusive version came out we got the two altered ports I've finally added to my collection after so many years. The ports seem to have been first ported to PS2 and then ported over to GameCube using the PS2 port as basis. I say this because the PS2 port is superior in just about every way and the GameCube port is more or less a poor copy & paste job. They share the exact same content but with more glitches and much uglier visuals on the GameCube. Neither versions compare to the Xbox original visually but at least the PS2 version still has quite a lot to offer, much thanks to the added content but also because it still looks and plays great in it's own right. Sadly some things are missing from the Xbox original, the missions with tanks are all gone, including the mission where you get to drive a tank yourself blowing stuff up, instead all cars now fire rockets and have a slow motion feature, this adds some variety to the gameplay but it's got very limited ammo so it's only something you can use sparingly unless you activate the cheats, so the gameplay still remains very much the same as it always did. The Xbox original didn't have cheats, just unlockable stuff, these ported version unlocks both cheats and other stuff, but again some Xbox stuff is missing, you can no longer mix the scenarios with vehicles from the other scenario or use different screen filters, instead they've added all the normal traffic vehicles and a whole list of brand new missions to be unlocked. There are also unlimited this and infinite that cheats for time, weapons etc. and even a get out and walk around and hijack other cars cheat, ultimately making the ports more like an open world vehicle combat game if you so please. Overall I like how the PS2 port is and I'm disappointed at the GameCube version. On GameCube it loads a little faster than it does on PS2 and it has better anti-aliasing, but with much uglier textures, visual glitches galore and special effects that are so poorly done you can't even see them properly it's easily the worst of the three. Additionally, in PAL regions the GameCube can be enabled 60hz playback with some games like Metroid Prime 2 Echoes and The Legend of Zelda Collection, which can then be used to prompt a question in other normally 50hz limited games if you wish to play them in 60hz as well. Well, turns out some select few games automatically override the question and force 50hz no matter what and Wreckless on GameCube just happens to be one of those games, as if it wasn't plagued with enough shortcomings already.

XGIII Extreme G - Extreme-G 3 (GameCube)
Speaking of select few games that force 50hz no matter what, here's another that does just that! Because of this it's basically identical to the PS2 version only with 4 player split-screen multiplayer instead of just 2. It even plays in NTSC50 with black borders on top and bottom, so not even PAL50 like other 50hz GameCube games do. So yeah, I already have the PS2 version since many years back so this version will probably never get played again. I guess if you don't have a PS2 this would've been fine but considering PS2 and Extreme G 3 on PS2 are both more common and cheaper to find and get hold of there really is no reason to ever bother with this version. Unless you're really desperate for that 4 player split-screen multiplayer there is no reason to ever buy this on GameCube and a waste of your time and money.

Shadow The Hedgehog (GameCube and Xbox (Xbox version played on Xbox 360))

Starsky & Hutch (Game Boy Advance)

V-Rally 3 (Game Boy Advance)

Tomb Raider The Prophecy (Game Boy Advance)

LEGO Drome Racers (Game Boy Advance)

Star X (Game Boy Advance)

B-Movie (PlayStation)

Star Ixiom (PlayStation)

Twisted Metal (PlayStation)
Decided to play this old classic a bit. Played as Roadkill and defeated Minion, it was a good playthrough. I still love this game the most of the entire series. Been thinking about maybe trying to get hold of the PS3 game but I'm on the fence about if it's worth the asking price, it doesn't seem that great to be honest and the extremely censored PAL version of Twisted Metal Black fiasco has never truly been forgiven despite the excellent Twisted Metal Head-On on PSP, the trust that was lost has simply not been regained.

Frogger (PlayStation)
I really like this game despite how unforgiving it is, it's a nostalgic classic I felt like playing again.

Final Fantasy VII (PlayStation and PlayStation version running on PSP)
Picked back up on my two newly started games. On PSX I'm just out of the Mythril Mine, having recently calmly walked across the soggy marshes and defeated the Midgar Solom with ease thatnks to some time being spent leveling up and getting some more practical Limit Breaks, before either visiting Fort Condor for the side mission or going directly to Junon (I'm heading for Fort Condor first, of course) and on PSP I'm outside Midgar, aquired Matra Magic and a whole bunch of Atomic Scissors that will later sell at a high price, just about to enter Kalm to do the first lengthy flashback.


UPDATE 1 - December 22nd

Asterix & Obelix XXL (Game Boy Advance)
As far as I know this is the only 3D platformer on the system. I've played a few other platformers with 3D visuals but they've been 2.5D type games, like that one atrocity based on Osmisis Jones... the less said about that game the better. This is instead something so rare as a not just competent but genuinely good 3D platformer on the Game Boy Advance. It uses the same impressive game engine that powers V-Rally 3, Stuntman and Driv3r on GBA so if you've played either of those you'll know the level of technical quality I'm talking about. As a game it's like most platformers, you play as either Asterix or Obelix, selecting between the two by pressing Select during gameplay, as you run around bashing romans, viking, greeks etc. doing some platforming, door unlocking and stuff on the side to advance through the levels, the usual repertoire. You get to buy upgrades like more health and new attack combos for the helmets you collect after defeating enemies and collecting throughout the levels. There are also some on-rail levels thrown into the mix to break the monotony. It's impressive to see a 3D platformer executed so well on the GBA and I've had a blast playing it so far. I'm currently about half way through the game and I'll definitely keep playing.

Warzone 2100 (PlayStation)
A 3D real-time strategy game where you get to design your own troops and control them each manually if you so wish. Sound too good to be true? Well, it's true, and what's even more impressive is that it's all done on good old PSX. I loved playing the demo of this back in the day and finally I have a copy of the full game to call my very own, and I gotta say it's every bit as great as I remembered it to be, maybe even better.

Crimson Skies - High Road To Revenge (Xbox (played on Xbox 360))
A flight sim arcade hybrid action game set in an alternate timeline where WWII wen't down a different path and old school propeller planes and zeppelin airships became the norm and the polar ice caps melted and covered earth with water or some Waterworld wannabe plot like that, I forgot to pay attention to the story as I took to the skies and started blasting everything in sight. It's a good game, looks great for an Xbox title and could easily pass as next gen in most regards. I like the way it plays, it reminds me a lot of other great games like WarHawk - The Red Mercury Missions on PlayStation, AquaNox and AquaNox 2 Revelation on PC and Yager, also on Xbox.

Race PRO (Xbox 360)
An Xbox 360 exclusive from 2009 that in my opinion does what the Forza series has failed to do all these years, it makes racing fun. Sure it lacks the size of a Forza game in sheer content and stuff to do like advanced car customization and a decal editor but it nails the driving and has some really welcome sound options where you can tweak what you want to hear and not better than any other game I know. I personally love the roar of the engine and can live without the sound of the clutch and gear changes, this game allows me to have the engine louder than anything else and the gears etc. turned off completely if I so wish, I don't take it to that extreme but it's nice to be able to tweak the sound experience in such detail for once, especially in a racing game. It didn't take long to get used to the driving physics in this game, they're very consistent and once I got the hang of one car the rest followed despite being wildly different in performance, it's all about how they handle within the game engine that does it for me, again something that games like Forza and Gran Turismo's never done right for me. It looks good too, the only real issue I have is the screen tearing, it's not so bad it ruins the game but it's one of the worse cases I've seen in an Xbox 360 game, nowhere near as bad as Alien Isolation or anything remotely close to that degree but for a racing game it's still notable. It's still a fun game, I like that you can really crash, with flips in the air and everything, unlike virtually all other sim racers that heavily restrict car damage and crashes or sometimes even remove it altogether this is most welcome. For once I'm even enjoying the carreer mode, something I rarely enjoy forcing myself though in racing games otherwise. This game had a lot of content available at the start too which was great as I love jumping into new racing games with Time Trials or other free racing modes just to get used to how the game handles as no two games handle quite the same, this game allowed me to do so without obstacles, only a select few high performance cars were locked away. There's even a split-screen mutliplayer mode with co-op and stuff in this game, I haven't seen luxury like that since the generation before it!

Sly Cooper - Thieves in Time (PlayStation 3)

Gaming purchases for November 2015

Due to a death in the family my gaming (along with pretty much everything else) has been on hold recently, but I did get to order some stuff online and shop for some stuff locally and ended up going on a minor shopping spree as far as videogames go, also some other non-gaming items but I'll just cover the gaming stuff here.

In total so far during the first half of November I've bought over 30 games and some additional gaming related stuff, most for Xbox 360 and PS3 but also some for Wii and even a couple for PC and one for PS2, well kinda, the one for PS2 was an old demo disc I didn't have with some games from 2001 to 2003. It was interesting to see demo versions of some of those games that I've had the full version of for so many years.

Here's what I got so far, November's not over yet so I may update this again if I end up with anything else before the month is over.

PS2:

*a demo disc

Wii:

Cursed Mountain

Dead Space Extraction

Disney Princess Enchanted Journey

Monster High 13 Wishes

Monster High Skultimate Roller Maze

Xbox 360:

Armored Core V Verdict Day

Killer is Dead Limited Edition

Section 8

Syndicate

The Darkness

The Darkness 2 Limited Edition

Winter Sports 2011 Go for Gold

PS3:

Battlefield 3

Deception IV Blood Ties

FIFA 08

Ico & Shadow of the Colossus Classics HD

inFamous

Killer is Dead Limited Edition

Mindjack

MotorStorm Pacific Rift

MotorStorm Apocalypse

**PlayStation Move Starter Disc

Sly Cooper Thieves in Time

Split/Second Velocity

The House of the Dead Overkill Extended Cut

The Shoot

The Sly Trilogy

PC:

Need for Speed Porsche 2000

Riverworld

Other:

Disney Infinity 3.0 Inside Out Disgust figure

Skylanders Drobot figure

Skylanders Stealth Elf figure

*Among much else the PS2 demo disc contained demos of for example Ratchet & Clank, a This if Football game, a WRC game and Stuntman and also video trailers of for example Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness and an Ape Escape game.

**The PS Move Starter Disc is a demo disc of PS Move games that usually follows the purchase of the PS Move Starter Pack.


UPDATE from 19th November

I went ahead and ordered some more games online.

PSX:
*B-Movie
Star Ixiom

PS2:
Dragon Rage
Gift
Headhunter
Wreckless - The Yakuza Missions

PSP:
Invizimals Shadow Zone (incl. Go!Cam)

GBA:
Madagascar
Star X
Tomb Raider - The Prophecy
**V-Rally 3 & Stuntman

GameCube:
XGIII Extreme G Racing (Extreme-G 3)
Shadow The Hedgehog
Sonic Adventure 2 - Battle (Player's Choice)
Wreckless - The Yakuza Missions

Xbox:
Rally Fusion - Race of Champions
Shadow The Hedgehog


*known as Invasion from Beyond in USA

**V-Rally 3 & Stuntman was a double pack with both games on one cartridge


I'm planning on making one more online order soon, maybe before November ends, otherwise it'll be part of the December purchases.