Kenjis Blog

[NoelEdwards]

Welcome to my blog.

First things first let me introduce myself. My real name is Noel and I?m from Blackburn, I work for a IT company installing Servers it?s not the best job in the world but it pays the bills and keeps in me in games.
I?ve been gaming since the early 80s when my dad bought me a ZX81. I only had one game and that was Gulp which was a very poor pac-man clone.
It wasn?t long before I managed to get myself a Spectrum 48k which lasted me right up till Christmas 1988 when I got a Master System. Since getting the Master System back in 88 I?ve pretty much been console gamer ever since.
I?ve had Amigas and used PCs for gaming but I find they lack a certain something that console games give me; the only exception being is Final Fantasy XI on the PC which I still play.
My favorite genre of game is RPGs which you?ll no doubt find out as you read more of my blogs in the future. I hope you enjoy reading my future blogs - all comments will be appreciated.


Current console owned:- Xbox 360 (pal), PS3 (US), Wii (US), GC (US), PS2 (US & JPN), DC(JPN), N64(JPN), Saturn(JPN), Xbox (US), DS Lite, PSP, SFC, Megadrive(JPN).

[NoelEdwards]

Chrome Hounds, Call of Duty 4 and Disgaea ? Afternoon of Darkness in the post.

No sooner had I signed in to Xbox live tonight when message came thru from Katsujinken asking if I fancied a game on Chrome Hounds.
I?ve had Chrome Hounds since just after it came out last year but I never got round to playing it online till summer time this year due to NTSC squad being and having no room for me : ( . We played about half dozen or so games I was getting a bit frustrated with the unable to communicate to Xbox live server errors we kept getting after finishing a mission.
I do enjoy playing Chrome Hounds online I wish I was around when more people from NTSC were playing it. Hopefully me and Katsujinken can get a few more to join in the online shenanigans.
Next up on the play list tonight was some multiplayer Call of Duty 4 with Blazing-Star. We had problems with us both getting in to a game at the start once we got in we had some good games but after awhile frustration set in with how the game respawns you when you die.
In one game I died five times due to being respawned next to team mates in combat & taking a stray bullet in the head or I?d respawn in the of my team being on the receiving end of a air-strike still war was never meant to be fair.
Annoying as the game may be at times you can pretty much guarantee I?ll be back on the day after with Blazing-Star and my brother if he shows up on live for some multiplayer team deathmatch fun.
I also received Disgaea- Afternoon of Darkness for the PSP today I?ve not tried it yet I?ll spend some time on it over the weekend I?m no real rush to play it since I?ve played the PS2 version of the game. Afternoon of Darkness is just a expanded port of Disgaea - Hour of Darkness which came out on the PS2 back in 2003.
It?s now 1am in the morning I had enough time to write this blog up and watch an episode of Ghost in the Shell SAC 2nd Gig.

[NoelEdwards]

Wallet Abuse and Overlooked Games.

One thing about the festive season is the amount of games that come out - and it seems to be getting worse each year. It starts in October each year and then carries on until about the end of November or the first week in December. This year so many triple A titles are being released across all formats including the PS3 ^_^ that I?d need all six numbers on the lottery to be able to afford them all, and to jack my job in so I had time to play them all.

While it?s great that so many different games are being released around Christmas, I always feel like I miss out on the little gem that seems to get released at this time of year. The reason for this is because I?ve been sucked into buying all the big games that have had the hype machine running in full flow since summer time.

An example of a game I?m going to miss out on this year is Endless Ocean, even though I own a US Wii and it?s not out till January next year in the US.
Despite this, I?ll still miss out on it because I?ll still be working through all the games I purchased in October, November and December. I feel quite a few people will overlook this game for the same reasons I am.

With games needing to shift more numbers than ever to break even on the development cost it does make you wonder why game like Endless Ocean would be released in the run up to Christmas time when it?s going to be mainly over looked by the public.

Anyway I?m off to check my bank balance once more ^_^

[MarioMark]

Funny thing is, there's no need to buy them all now but for some reason we HAVE to! We could wait until January and get some of them then when they are cheaper, but you still feel like you're missing out when waiting after launch, especially the online games.

[Paulos G]

I'm so glad I only have one console this generation. Mind you, Mrs G has been making noises about liking the Wii. I may have to buy it for her. I may then have to borrow it and buy loads of games for it. It's a curse alright!

[NoelEdwards]

Funny thing is, there's no need to buy them all now but for some reason we HAVE to! We could wait until January and get some of them then when they are cheaper, but you still feel like you're missing out when waiting after launch, especially the online games.

Yeah we could wait till January but I hate reading about other people playing a game when I could be playing it myslef. For online games it even worse when you look at your friends list and see most of your mates playing the likes of COD4 in multiplayer and your left all alone.

[tbm]

its always good to read about noel`s exploits in gaming. how he manages to work AND find the time to play all those RPG`s is beyond me

[NoelEdwards]

First of all, let me apologise for the lack of updates. I've been quite busy at work the past week or so and not had much time at night due to getting home late and playing games.
Since I last posted in here I've played quite few of the new releases: Assassin's Creed, Mario Galaxy and Kane & Lynch. I'm not even going to bother talking about Kane & Lynch - the less said about that the better.

So I'll move right on to Assassin's Creed & Mario Galaxy. First up Assassin's Creed: my initial impressions of this weren't too great. I found the combat to be arsey and the game overly repetitive. However, as I played it more I started to enjoy it more. Yes, the repetitiveness is still there but I was enjoying playing a game in single player for a change without the pressure of playing it online with friends.

Of the games that I've played over the past few months quite a few have felt at times as if I've rushed single player or overlooked them because of the online side of the game. I felt the same with Call of Duty 4. I pretty much blasted thru the game on normal to get it out of the way so I could get online with my friends.

Now on to Mario Galaxy; here's a game that just feels so right in every department. I tend not to play many platform games these days to be honest. The last one I really played and enjoyed was Klonoa on the PS2. Playing Mario Galaxy was like opening my Nintendo 64 and playing Mario 64 again for the first time - I was grinning from ear to ear when I was playing it. Mario Galaxy is some of the purest gaming fun I've had for awhile now.

So there you have it - that's me for the past week or so.
Closing comment:-
Does anyone else feel the same as me regarding single player vs. multiplayer? While I do enjoy multiplayer fun, I feel it is taking something away from single player. I'd be interested in anyone's comments on this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Kenji ( Noel )

[Paulos G]

Closing comment:-
Does anyone else feel the same as me regarding single player vs. multiplayer? While I do enjoy multiplayer fun, I feel it is taking something away from single player. I'd be interested in anyone's comments on this.

Hey Noel

I feel that way sometimes. I took the time to finally finish the single player of Lost Planet today and really enjoyed it. There are plenty of games where I haven't completed the single player so I'm hoping for a gaming lull to play some catch up.

I prefer games which have a co-operative multiplayer element rather than just adversarial (Rainbow 6, GRAW 1 + 2, Crackdown, GoW and the almighty Chromehounds (of course)(although that can be (rather splendidly) both co-operative and adversarial at the same time)).

Cheers

Paul

[prinnysquad]

The single player on R6V was totally ruined for me by some total ringpiece who, everytime I switched the game on, insisted I dropped everything, and trawled through the LVU Campus on terrorist hunt twenty-odd times. Still haven't finished it. Said arsehole takes every opportunity to complain that my R6V score is 'scandalous'.

[Paulos G]

Glad to see you haven't mentioned any names *cough* vanpeebles *cough*

[NoelEdwards]

Back to Vana?diel.

Not a great deal has happened since my last blog. I?ve found myself playing Chrome Hounds online a lot thanks to a bit of resurgence from a few people off NTSC. I?ve been playing Forza 2 a bit more this past week or so, and I?m slowly chipping away at the career races.


The only other thing to report is that after almost two weeks since it came out I?ve at last got my US PC copy of Final Fantasy XI Wings of the Goddess expansion pack. I?ve been looking forward to getting back into playing FFXI again - I?ve not really played since July/August due to all the games that came out. Installation didn?t take too long nor did the update, which was surprising, so was I ready to enter the world of Vana?diel once again. I logged back in to find myself still stood in Fei'Yin I was left there after a failed attempt on Archlich Taber'quoan which is the boss for the Mission 5-1 story. I had nice long walk back to Jeuno >_<. Upon entering Jeuno I was surprised to see how quiet it was. Normally you have people shouting for all sorts of things from wanting help with a mission, artefact armour or trying to get you to play their casinos. I logged in again the night after, and while it was a bit busy in Jeuno, it was the same as I remembered. I sat for an hour and half with my party flag up and not one invite came my way. I was even trying to make my own party while I was seeking, without great success. FFXI is like that some times, some nights no sooner have you logged and said hello to people you?re getting invites from all over the place. So that?s me for the past week - you?ll be hearing a lot from the world of Vana?diel.

[capcom_suicide]

First of all, let me apologise for the lack of updates. I've been quite busy at work the past week or so and not had much time at night due to getting home late and playing games.
Since I last posted in here I've played quite few of the new releases: Assassin's Creed, Mario Galaxy and Kane & Lynch. I'm not even going to bother talking about Kane & Lynch - the less said about that the better.

So I'll move right on to Assassin's Creed & Mario Galaxy. First up Assassin's Creed: my initial impressions of this weren't too great. I found the combat to be arsey and the game overly repetitive. However, as I played it more I started to enjoy it more. Yes, the repetitiveness is still there but I was enjoying playing a game in single player for a change without the pressure of playing it online with friends.

Of the games that I've played over the past few months quite a few have felt at times as if I've rushed single player or overlooked them because of the online side of the game. I felt the same with Call of Duty 4. I pretty much blasted thru the game on normal to get it out of the way so I could get online with my friends.

Now on to Mario Galaxy; here's a game that just feels so right in every department. I tend not to play many platform games these days to be honest. The last one I really played and enjoyed was Klonoa on the PS2. Playing Mario Galaxy was like opening my Nintendo 64 and playing Mario 64 again for the first time - I was grinning from ear to ear when I was playing it. Mario Galaxy is some of the purest gaming fun I've had for awhile now.

So there you have it - that's me for the past week or so.
Closing comment:-
Does anyone else feel the same as me regarding single player vs. multiplayer? While I do enjoy multiplayer fun, I feel it is taking something away from single player. I'd be interested in anyone's comments on this.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Kenji ( Noel )

This is great! I don't need a blog, as noel writes all my thoughts down for me.

Splendid!!

Now.... Back to Mario.