28
Feb

A further look at eco-box types… (aka the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)

It’s been almost a year now since I first visited these nuisances to DVD (and occasionally video game) kind, and I figured I’d review some of the different types of cases I’ve noticed lately because obviously I have nothing better to do than ramble on about these types of things (if you don’t like it or don’t care anymore I believe Google can find you something else to waste your time, kthxbye). Why there are this many variations of DVD cases I don’t have the slightest clue, but here’s a few of them in what I like to call…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…of Eco-boxes

The Good:

I would love to shake the hand of the person who came up with this design. It’s the best balance between cutting down on plastic and regular DVD cases I’ve seen thus far. Dubbed a “eco-lite” (or atleast that’s what it says on the spine), you should notice that there are rectangle-ish and square areas on the left and right sides respectively in the plastic that are cut down lower than the rest of the case. As far as eco-boxes go, I’m just fine with this type of case since it doesn’t risk the integrity of the case by punching damn holes in it. I haven’t run across that many of these ones yet which is a shame because these are the only ones that are completely A-OK in my book.

The Bad:

This one I really don’t know what’s going on. It’s like it’s trying to be a hybrid of the lite and regular eco-box cases that’s not quite at either side of the spectrum. I would also technically file this under Ugly because it just plain looks fuglier than the regular eco-boxes with the recycle symbols (in my opinion). In the words of my favorite Boris, “Better luck next time, slugheads!”. I also haven’t seen all too many of this type (thank God…).

The Ugly:

Well, these ones are just your run-of-the-mill recycle symbol type with holes punched left and right and every which way. These are by far the most common now (among any DVDs really) so I’m sure you’ve run across atleast a few of them. I already talked about them in my first post about the dreaded eco-boxes so I won’t bother posting another picture.

Honorable mention of annoyances in DVD cases – The case clasps…

These things have been around for God knows how long now and are among some of the biggest random annoyances to DVD kind. I don’t know what possessed anyone to invent these clasps in the first place but they must have been pretty paranoid about case security. If you haven’t seen them yet then you’re quite lucky to not have to be bothered by them. They’re just plain annoying that’s all for something that is just completely unnecessary.

That about wraps up this installment of eco-box ranting. If you’ve noticed any different types of the “eco-box” that I haven’t listed yet then I’m all ears to hear about them.

- DGM-payne

(P.S. – look for another Heavy Rain post soon…)

23
Feb

How far are you prepared to go to save someone you love? (aka Heavy Rain day 1)

Just a head’s up : This post might contain slight spoilers about Heavy Rain. Nothing major considering I just started, but just so you know…

The wait for Heavy Rain is finally over, as soon as I got my copy today I eagerly popped it into my PS3 to get right into it. Before I get to that though I found a little piece of what appeared to be origami paper, containing lines and writing on it, which puzzled me a bit at first. First after loading that bad boy up we had a bit up installing to do, but…BANG! Would you look at that, some step by step instructions for our own little origami bird just like the one you’re probably familiar with if you’ve seen any of the posters or cover art for the game. It’s a good little way to pass some time during the install and I’m definitely in favor of it, although I kinda failed at making him initially. Things like that still beat the hell out of watching Old Snake smoke (see MGS4) over and over again during installs (even given the fact that they were awesome ass smoke graphics). With the help of a little online video later I was able to finish him though (hey, I never claimed to be good at making origami…my sister is definitely better in that category). Before I get too off track let’s get into the actual game, shall we? (and check the pic below if you wanna see my masterful origami…hehe)

Starting out in the game we had a pretty straightforward (albeit also a bit tedious…although tutorials often are, no?) playing of one Ethan character’s daily morning routines introducing the player to the various context sensitive actions used throughout the game. This thankfully moves pretty quickly into preparations for one of his two son’s birthday party and some pretty playful moments outside with the sons (concluding with a pretty epic sword fight! Haha…well, atleast as epic as toy sword dueling can get). Just as things are looking pretty bright and cheerful though, the prologue closes out with some pretty tragic events. Things go pretty sour when his older son gets lost in a mall. Here’s a part that I just loved. They captured complete and utter powerless by sticking the character in a massive crowd of people while you desperately seek your son out. Pushing my way through the crowd made things a bit difficult and frustrating…but that just made me love it even more (somehow). It was the kind of utter helplessness that was quite unique and you don’t see all that often in video games, which is probably why I enjoyed it. It doesn’t end well though as the son’s life is taken by an unfortunate accident outside the mall. End prologue.

Welcome to the interactive drama, folks!

Flash forward 2 years to a Ethan who is trying to reconnect to his remaining son (and himself even) after a coma, from the same accident that took his son’s life, and a separation from his wife. If that wasn’t depressing enough for ya, worse yet he’s also dealing with blackouts (as a result of his coma…?) and a rather constant downpour of rain. This is when 2 more playable characters, Scott and Norman, start to enter the chase of the Origami Killer. First up is Scott who is a private investigator who is hired by the victim’s families apparently. He enters a hotel seeking a prostitute for some information. She’s pretty cold at first but after saving her ass from a violent ex-client (and the first major quick time event fight ensues), who knows? On a related field we have Norman, an FBI investigator, who introduces himself by sweeping a crime scene for clues of who other but the Origami Killer. This is all pretty easy with the help of his spiffy ARI (Added Reality Interface) sunglasses and glove equipment that help him record and analyze data from the scene. These 2 were in the demo so I was ready for them. Cut back to Ethan though and things start getting even more desperate when he finds out that his son might be the next target of the Origami Killer. Is it heating up in here or what? (and I still have one more character to meet)

All in all, it’s definitely turning out to be an emotional ride like no other in gaming. This all already and I’m still just getting started…

- DGM-payne

15
Feb

Looks like a pretty tasty Spring coming up…

…and by that I mean video game wise. Although by this point I’m ready for Spring weather wise as well. (thankfully out of the major recent snow storm areas atleast…for once Buffalo pulls some luck)

First things first, I’m quite excited that Alan Wake FINALLY has a release date. It was recently announced for May 18th this year. Another game that I had been following for god knows how long (atleast as long as I had been waiting for RE5, probably longer). I also took a look at the Collector’s Edition today and it looks quite tempting I must say. Not that it’s that hard to tempt me with them, as I’ve always been into the collector’s editions. Also coming out this day will be Lost Planet 2, which should serve up some good ol’ co-op action if the demo was any indication of the final product.

Even earlier in April, Splinter Cell Conviction will finally (I say finally because this one was also delayed quite extensively) will be hitting stores on the 13th. The most interesting thing to me about the newest installment is the co-op prologue campaign, which you can currently grab a trailer of as well. Hope they get it right. Closing out April will be Red Dead Redemption on the 27th which, if you’ve been watching the trailers as I have, might just have you as excited as I am for it.

In the meantime we have the first Resident Evil 5 add-on this week (YAY!), Heavy Rain next week (demo out now if you didn’t go for the pre-release one), Perfect Dark for the XBLA sometime in March (thank god…remember the winter ‘09 release estimate? I do), and another RE5 add-on in early March (double YAY!) to look forward to as well.

- DGM-payne

11
Feb

Fan page whoring (Facebook edition)

If you have facebook account I’m sure you’re familiar with the pages that you can become a fan of things from this to that and God knows how many different pages are out there. Weeeeeeell, let me get to the point. Riskening’s  jumped on the bandwagon and has it’s own page as well now.

Show your support for the site, give feedback, etc. on our new fan page – Riskening.com Facebook

Also, a Da Gaming Mafia one as well.

Thanks for your support!

- DGM-payne

06
Feb

Early Heavy Rain Demo

That highly anticipated Playstation 3 title (even featured on our list *wink, wink*), Heavy Rain, is due out on the 23rd and a demo is officially releasing the 11th. Why wait until then when you can try it out now? Well, starting yesterday there’s a website that’ll let you do just that.

All you have to do is sign-up for an account and play a little detective game here - Precinct 52

A good fellow at Kotaku has even posted the answers to make things even easier :

• Short cigarette (117b)
• Origami bird
• Coffee shop C (it says “diner”)
• 117h (tyre tracks).

Enter those 4 into the evidence folder and given you did it correctly you should recieve a code to redeem on your PSN account.

Those links above are for US playstation accounts. (For our UK buddies : Sign-up , Precinct 52 )

Happy hunting!

I’m downloading my copy right now as well…

- DGM-payne

(Thanks to the original Kotaku post and Slickdeals for making me aware of it)

EDIT (post-playthrough) - I don’t know about you but I found it quite enjoyable. More quick-time events than I’ve ever been used to and although I found some to be a bit clunky and overdone (such as the climbing up the hill behind the crime scene), it was an overall interesting and unique experience. Here’s hoping that the full game can deliver on the suspense and detective work on a whole.





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