The latest, updates, "teasers" and more

Hi guys!

First, I'd like to make clear that this silent service I've had going on for weeks is not an actual hiatus or a break. It's just that I've worked my ass off lately, and the little spare time I've had for my favourite hobby, I've dedicated to the HD version of Final Fantasy X. I finished the game yesterday and I'm heading straight into the second part of that HD collection, so I can't promise you any reviews in the near future. ...What about these games, you ask? Well, I read my reviews of both games (from late 2010), and there really ain't nothing more to say. I even tried to get started with a new review of the first one, but it just didn't work. All I can say is that Final Fantasy X hadn't aged a day, it looked and sounded better than ever - I wish they'd done something about the voiceovers, though - and played out just as grand as ever. I've played X-2 HD for about an hour, and already I can say that the game hasn't gotten any better with time, not like VIII and IX. This HD (International) version has a lot of features the European version I'm accustomed to doesn't, but they're not very interesting, and not reason enough to re-review or -rate the game.

Outlast. The latest attempt to revive true horror in video
games.

I ordered the PS4 last week, on a sudden whim. Like I wrote earlier, I already pre-ordered Batman: Arkham Knight weeks ago, but I wasn't supposed to buy an actual PS4 before Batsy's release date drew nearer. Well, since the PS4 is still very new and still very randomly available, I thought I'd do well to seize the moment. The problem right now is that there still aren't any interesting games available. To me, inFamous: Second Son is probably the most interesting PS4 game out right now, and that's not saying very much. So, I got Rayman Legends - I've never been a Rayman fan, but the PS4 version was on pretty good sale, and at least it's simple, accessible fun. It has had good reviews to its credit, too, so I think I'll review that game as soon as I can, to break PS4 into the system menu. That, or one of the digital downloads I'm planning to buy as soon as my PS4 gets here. Definitely the most interesting download out right now is Outlast, which is supposed to be THE survival horror game of recent years. I'll be the fair judge of that. I'm definitely getting that game, first-person or not. Blame my friend, who praised the game over any Resident Evil, Silent Hill or Dead Space game ever made.

I've got mails from some new readers who can't really make heads or tails of that age-old FAQ, and are asking me to shed some light on general things. I agree, that FAQ is shit, and I'm renovating that as well as the whole blog as soon as I have just a couple of days with no other plans. The other thing that's been bothering many a mind is my "incapability of making decisions about marathons", more or less a direct quote. Yeah, that was a problem some time ago, but I'm still doing the Marvel marathon as long as I've got games left, that one's been on a break mostly because of new arrivals. I will continue, hopefully this time to the hilt once and for all, once I'm done with my current, non-applicable project. The third thing also relates to marathons, and this one's the "teaser", the most important part of this update. Since people have asked me so many times when I'm going to do this, or that, I thought I'd share what I've got planned for annually recurring "features" this year (and/or the next), and some marathons which I've not necessarily planned ahead, but which are perfectly possible and potentially fun to do. Who knows, pick your favourite and I might be a bit more motivated to do that, as soon as I'm done here.

Round-up is the title I've given to what I've previously referred to as "loose ends". When I started this blog, I had very limited access to different systems, and to different games. I reviewed a whole lot of games from big franchises, such as whole bulks of Mario games, Mega Man games, Castlevania games, all those classics - just name it - but simply didn't have the chance to do a definitive collection of reviews at once. Now the variety of games at my disposal is much larger; even after a million Mario games, there are a couple of games on my list - aptly entitled "THE LIST" - which are yet to be reviewed. Round-up mostly fills gaps, when there's simply nothing else to play, and/or review. In a way, it's the most important, AND the least important recurring "marathon" here.

Monster Mash is something I do every year, at least once, and if it has to be just once, my choice is Halloween week. Monster Mash contains survival horror games, otherwise psychologically disturbing games and even simple, maybe even comical platformers as long as they have some strong, ghoulish theme - like Monster Party on the NES or Aaahh!!! Real Monsters on the SNES. There are literally TONS of games which I consider good material for a Monster Mash, so I can't really say what I'll do this year, but I assure you that it's going to be a whole lot bigger than last year's flop of a Mash.

RPG Time! is centered on my favourite video game genre. I got it running better than I expected during the last year, but there are still so many RPG's in my collection just waiting to be unfolded and judged. Especially Japanese ones - Ni no Kuni really got me looking into happenings of the last decade in the J-RPG genre besides the constantly degrading Final Fantasy, and although I haven't found anything explicitly awesome, I've found a few games I might have interesting and positive things to say about. I can't really say if there'll be a true RPG Time! this year; the thing I dislike about doing RPG marathons is not that the games are difficult to review (that's the fun part!), but the fact that just one game takes so damn long to present itself in such a way it's ripe for a review. As you can see right now, RPG's do severe damage on the pace and schedule. Even South Park, and that wasn't such a long game at all, relatively speaking.

OK, so here are some of the marathons I've thought of doing, some of them for years.

Apparently the most popular choice of what has never
been done before.

First, "sequels" to what readers consider their favourites thus far: Star Wars and Disney. I have about ten Star Wars games that were missing from the original equation, while I have enough Disney games left in the back to cover for a whole new marathon of the same size as last time, if not even bigger! Then, something I've been harassed with for years: a Warner marathon for the Disney haters out there. Now this one is to be taken seriously; to my recollection, I've not reviewed one single Warner game, and there's most definitely entertaining stuff in there, something you might've completely forgotten about, stuff which I myself might've completely forgotten about, or was really interested in as a kid. This one's probably the most realistic marathon to pop up sooner or later, probably sooner.

Clashing through THE LIST - especially the 8-bit portion of it - I've stumbled on game titles that are so stupid that the first time I heard them, without necessarily knowing what the game was about, I laughed out loud. I've toyed with the thought of searching the list for the Top 15 stupidest titles and taking them for a spin. The Xbox LIVE Arcade and PSN are filled with interesting titles that have become just as important as retail releases in recent years, but in the end, they're still widely regarded as cheap entertainment, and I aim to change opinions with a marathon dedicated to games that are only available via digital download.

The most recent marathon to pop into my head is doing a number on action film's greatest stars, thanks to the fact that our band is working on an album thematically dedicated to guys such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. This would mean a God damn lengthy string of outright shitty games... but they usually provide for the most fun reviews. Finally, as I see it, I've still got some ways to go with both Legend of Zelda and Metal Gear, and the next reviews in both franchises have been under construction for ages - even Ground Zeroes didn't help me with my motivation to continue on with the latter, but The Phantom Pain might. We'll see.

So, favourites? Other ideas or suggestions? However it goes, I'll be back - hopefully within the next two weeks.