Yesh. I am alive. I just don't do much >_>

Lesse, anything interesting...

Had my two weeks free house at the start of June. I'm quite proud how it turned out; two TVs, a PS3, Xbox 360 Elite and Nintendo Wii all in the same room, as well as laptops, HDDs, and many other electronics. Also, lots of booze and green. Overall, sick shiz. It's a good thing DBZ: Burst Limit came out during that time, since Brawl TOOK IT'S FXXKING TIME getting over here to the EU. I have to say, it's great fun to play, although I'm new to the Budokai style of DBZ games which Burst Limit very much plays like. Still, I'm pretty damn good with Son Goku of course; that <+smash owns.

Oh yes, at the brink of the verge of the time nearing the end of my free house, Metal Gear Solid 4 also showed up. Now, I hadn't followed any of the hype for MGS4; the most I'd seen was skipping through a video of the cutscenes, where I quickly jumped off on time seeing Raiden breakdancing with two Gekko attached to his legs. Since I have the ability to travel through time thanks to preordering, I was able to precure my copy of MGS4 a day earlier than its release, and ended up finishing it for its release day. A straight twenty-something hours of gaming and probably an eighth has contributed to one of the most fantastic gaming experiences of my life. I feel it's fair for me to give my opinion about MGS4, in order to enter the debate of exactly how good it is.

Not being a hardcore MGS fan, the idea of Tactical Espionage Action has never truly stuck with me in earlier games. I remember sucking horribly at MGS1 because I'd played 2 first and couldn't deal with crouch-into-crawl as opposed to crouch-walking, sticking to the walls by holding against them (some of those angles are kinda ridiculous) and most of all that awful top down camera. MGS2 was kinda the same experience mainly because I was shit at it and being unfamiliar with the whole Big Shell layout, I pretty much stumbled to the end.

MGS4 however is a much different affair for me. Controls are tight, since Konami are basically integrating control schemes established in various games and neatly splicing them into its own controls. Now, sticking to walls is a toggle, the camera is perfectly movable, and best of all you can SHOOT WHILST MOVING AND ROLLING yes! Saying that, the aiming features both over-the-shoulder and first-person, which are toggled between with a press of triangle, making it pretty easy to actually see what you're aiming at rather than plastering the reticule over the area with spray and pray in mind.

Stealth is much easier now too; there's lots more non-lethal takedown options, and since I hadn't played MGS3 (is assassinated by The End O_O) the number of CQC moves were a new and fun experience in close-combat ownage. CQC slams for instant KOs, frisking an enemy for items and ball grabbing (nice to see the ladies kick the shit out of you if you try to touch them down there; Snake you perv! xD), and the general throat slit. The Metal Gear Mk-II is another welcome addition, armed with Stealth and capable of non-lethal takedowns, wall knocking, and even disarming traps.

While the cutscenes can be lengthy, the overall choreography means you're not left sitting listening dribble, you get to obvious the characters in a much more human way. The body language conveyed is excellent, and makes you feel that much more for Snake, especially when you come to the series' signature torture sequence in this game. Maybe he is Old Snake, but for an old guy he still kicks ass. To you Snake, a great soldier who became free in the end...

We still got time left? Well then, a quick rundown of everything else. If you haven't played Okami, the Wii version's okay, although the controls can take some training (goddamn gimmicky motion sensing and drawing controls), and I understand that they took out the end credits which were apparantely kick ass. Why? There's still clovers in the game, and they still make the classic Clover noise, so why was it such a big deal with the credits? Dammit.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl, over my way we (We? Pnub, Jack, Sam, Mark, Frasier, Mick, that's who!) feel it's a pretty good evolution in the series. Perople argue it's the same thing, or it's changed too much, or some people plain don't like it but presume all such games are the same simply because their opinion outweighs the world and Narnia (Yahtzee, looking at you). The characters are a little floatier, yet the pace is still as fast as Melee. The clones are much better, usually with lots more different animations and actual differences in both attacks and effects. Throw in Snake, Sonic and the Smash Balls; I'll tell you, the first night we played this wasn't a resounding MWEH, it was a bloody brilliant YEAH as we had Snake Wars, found our new mains, and proceeded to a new dawn of Smash.

Finally, yes amazingly I do still draw. Actually I draw a lot, but 50% of my output has been graphic hentai art, and the rest are sketches to forward Emotion's Chronicles, which I might say may actually start its pilot chapters soon. How about New Generation Adventure: Captain N The Games Master? Well yeah, I'll do that one too. After all, my fourteen year old self always felt the need to be a Games Master, not to mention I did figure out what that clip on the back of the Classic Controller is for. Heeheh.

Anyways, no idea when I'll next update, but hey, hopefully it'll be a big one. See you then.

-Noodles