Gamesomnia

We're three guys who write about all aspects of video games. Offering honest reviews, up-to-date news and a critical opinions, we hope to deliver a unique experience to anyone seeking an entertaining and informational video game site.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

How to ruin picking up the new Monster Hunter:

Me, so full of excitement: I'm here to pick up my pre-order copy Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate! GameStop killjoy: Is that for the WiiU or the 3DS? That being said, Jon and I are looking forward to playing the ever-loving Christ out of this at PAX East this weekend.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

This is how I'll be playing Persona 4 Arena next week. Cannot wait!

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Nintendo E3 conference recap

Remember how I napped through the Microsoft conference this year? Well, I wouldn't have felt too bad if I slept through the Nintendo conference either. Oh, and the tag line I've come up with is "The Land of 1000 Awkward Pauses". Everybody that was on stage just seemed like they have never done a presentation before. And poor Reggie sounded like he was constantly buffering.

There was also an underlying sense of mystery about the Nintendo conference. They clearly stated they weren't going to talk about the Wii U hardware, and when Nintendo gets evasive, that usually means they're just holding off on disappointing their fans. A fact that started to surface in reports later in the day. But I'll get to that in a minute.

There was some good in the conference. Pikmin 3 was shown in action. There's a new rock Pikmin, and you can play with up to 4 leaders, none of whom are Captain Olimar. That's mystery is part of the game, so they weren't talking about it.

We were also promised that the Wii U would have Netflix, Hulu, AmazonVideo, and YouTube. Just like everything else that has a power source these days.

The announcement that got the most positive response was that the Wii U would support two gamepads. Hurray! Only later, talk started to make the rounds that using two gamepads would cut the 60fps in half on each pad. I guess that's why they capped it at two pads. If they let you use four, you'd just be playing a ViewMaster.

The Miis made their presence known in Wii U's MiiVerse. The MiiVerse will be a sort of interactive city, where you can see gaming trends, and other Miis will give you messages either about specific games, or just general messages. You can have your Mii leave short messages (possibly just short, canned messages from a list of options), or you can use a form of Pictochat to draw a bunch of penises a message to your friends.

Then came the games for the Wii U. The New Super Mario Bros.U launched the lineup, because you have to have a Mario title. They showed a new Scribblenauts Unlimited which will allow you to design your own new items and share them with friends. The game will also delve a bit into Maxwell's backstory, which I actually kind of want to know.

The list continued, as Reggie promised plenty of third party support. This was fantastic news, since 3rd party support isn't always present in a big way on a Nintendo console. But for the Wii U, we were shown Batman: Arkham City: Armored Edition, Mass Effect 3, Tank! Tank! Tank!, Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Trine 2, Darksiders 2, Ninja Gaiden 3, and Aliens: Colonial Marines. Batman got the most face time, as the new features the gamepad will allow were highlighted. The rest were all teaser videos, but everything looked really nice. It's good to see Nintendo on the HD bandwagon.

Lego City has been promised on the Wii U, and it's happening with Lego City: Undercover. There will also be a portable version coming for the 3DS, with a completely different story. As a Lego game addict, I have to say this looked pretty great.

The ubiquitous Ubisoft was there as well, to show off Just Dance 4 and ZombiU. Just Dance 4 offers a "puppet master mode", where you use the pad to control what moves your poor friends will have to perform. You can also judge their performance, only this time, it's a required part of the game. ZombiU allows you to take on multiple character class roles in what looks to be a zombie rail shooter. Your gun this time has a screen, though, and lets you do all kinds of other fancy things besides just shooting.

There was a Music and Fitness section that was painful to watch. I know money is tight, but there have to be better actors out there that would cut their rates for the exposure. Anyway, Wii Fit U is more of what you came to expect from the original, only now the gamepad allows you to take your sweating self away from the TV. You can use the camera to record pictures of yourself to observe your progress, and the pad can scan an addition fit meter to upload data on any non-videogame oriented exercise you may be doing. It seemed to work like a high-end pedometer.

The music portion of this segment was represented by SiNG (working title). It's a karaoke style game, but the video took place in some sort of abandoned warehouse with one girl singing in front of the TV and a ring of people in front of her dancing. It all had the horrifying feel of a scene from one of the later Saw movies.

The 3DS got a little love, but really very little. Taskmaster Reggie slows the Wii U propaganda train for no one! Fear not, as there will be a one hour 3DS-only conference tonight at 9PM EDT. In the few minutes that were available for 3DS discussion, we discovered there will be a bunch of bigger titles coming out this year. They include:

New Super Mario Bros. 2 - Not the same as the U game. This one focuses on gold, and has a release date of August 19.

Paper Mario: Sticker Star - This time, you have stickers! They are your attacks in battle, and can alter your environments. You'll have to stick around until the holidays before this is out.

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon - The other brother is back, and the ghosts are trickier to catch. This will also be ready for the holiday season.

We will be watching the full 3DS conference tonight, and will let you know more tomorrow. Unless there is no Monster Hunter news, and then we may be busy drinking away our sorrows.

Finally, we were introduced to NintendoLand - a big theme park for your Miis with 12 different game-themed attractions. By which I mean mini-games based on beloved franchises. Your Mii will don different costumes, and will enter game-themed worlds including Zelda, Metroid, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion, Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, some ninja's hut, and Donkey Kong. The rest will be revealed soon, and the game is promised at launch. I would be surprised if this wasn't the pack-in game for the Wii U.

Nintendo had a lot going on, but it also felt like they were holding a lot back. They have a really good looking console coming out, but my concern is that it is betting its future on a gimmick, like the Wii did. Only unlike the Wii, I don't know that grandma or my luddite parents can pick this up as easily and figure it out. Add to that the concerns about the hardware being somewhat underpowered, the lack of release date and the lack of launch price information on the Wii U, and I'm just a little concerned. Hopefully we'll hear from during E3 that will put some of these concerns to rest, and when we do, we'll report them back to you.

Let us know what you think. Did the Wii U win you over, or are you practicing cautious optimism?

[gamesomnia3-blog]

PlayStation E3 conference recap: The Highlightening

I have to admit that I missed the Microsoft E3 conference yesterday due to an unplanned 6 hour nap. Yes, even a Gamesomniac will sleep sometimes. Nintendo will be having their E3 conference today. With this in mind, I don't think I can declare Sony the "E3 conferences winner" after their show last night, even though they did have some interesting things to tell us. Here's a recap set to numbers, just the way the internet likes it:

1) Beyond: Two Souls, from the makers of Heavy Rain, showed up with a longer trailer and the announcement that the main character will be voiced by Ellen Page. If there is anything in that one sentence or that trailer that still leaves you saying, "I don't know...", then you and I may not be friends. Okay, wait. Psionics. Still nothing? You're dead to me.

2) PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale announced two new characters to the roster: Nathan Drake and Bioshock's Big Daddy. We were also told to expect more characters from 3rd party games in future reveals.

In not-so-breaking news, it was also officially announced that the game will appear on the Vita as well as the PS3. The domain name registration kinda already blew that surprise. Also coming as no great surprise, but still making us giddy as hell, the game will have cross compatibility between the PS3 and the Vita.

3) And speaking of Cross Play (not the kind shown above), a patch is coming to turn your PlayStation Vita into an enhanced controller in LittleBigPlanet 2. No word on cost or date, but plenty of words on how this will ramp up the playability and level creation in this game to absurd levels of amazing. Even more words were used to encourage us to expect this sort of treatment in other games as developers look to use the power of the Vita to breathe new life into their older (and not-yet released) games.

4) The PlayStation Vita love-fest continued with a wave of big announcements. PlayStation One Classics will hit the Vita by the end of Summer. Of course, they revealed this announcement with a picture of Final Fantasy VII on the Vita. Appropriate time was given for fanboy response to die down.

Sony also announced a Vita exclusive - Call of Duty: Black Ops: Declassified. The game will be out by the holidays, and I just got my Christmas shopping done.

Another Vita exclusive announced was Assassin's Creed: Liberation. It will have a female assassin, the open world we know and love, and it will link to Assassin's Creed 3 on your PlayStation 3 to provide exclusive content. This game will hit stores on October 30th, and will also come in a bundle pictured above, featuring a new, Crystal White Vita, the game, and a 4GB memory card.

5) Speaking of bundles, Assassin's Creed 3 has got your bundles right here. You'll be able to buy a PS3 bundle with the game and exclusive content on the game's launch date. Also on October 30th, if you didn't know. I'm waiting to see the mega-bundle with AC3, AC:Liberation, a Crystal White Vita, and a PS3. Make this happen, Sony. Or at least make a one-off prototype bundle, and send it to the Gamesomnia offices. Thanks!

Did I mention that the game will also have naval battles? My Native American pirate fantasy game has been made a reality! Thanks, Ubisoft!

6) The PlayStation Move was present this year, but we weren't choked with it like last year. Wonderbook was announced, and showed us why companies fear live demos. Imagine a book that you don't have to read, but can play with instead. Good! Something else to make kids learn to hate those boring "reading only" books, said the bitter English major.

To seal the deal and open the wallets, the Harry Potter themed, J.K. Rowling supported Book of Spells will be one of the first books available by the holiday season. Call me when the Maugham Wonderbook hits shelves.

7) Remember PlayStation Suite? It was the cross-platform development suite that was going to let you make games for everything, and was partnered in a big way with Google and Android. Ring a bell now? Well, forget it. It's called PlayStation Mobile now. Remember that instead. Sony also announced it has its first official non-Sony phone partner - HTC.

8) God of War: Ascension got a release date of March 12, 2013. I can't muster up anything more about this. The series leaves me so wrought with apathy, and Hot Topic isn't open for another two hours. I have to stop.

9) Sony closed big with some live gameplay from Last of Us. The more of this game I see, the more I want to throw money at Naughty Dog. Take a look, and see if you aren't pelting your monitor with your the contents of your wallet by the end.

Sony will be at it all weekend, streaming from their booth and showing more of the games announced last night. Be sure to check in with them all weekend. And check back with us as we bring you more information on the Nintendo conference today, and other big reveals as they come.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Is Capcom bringing Monster Hunter out of Japan?

We are still less than a week away from E3, and they aren't expected to mention Monster Hunter at all there. There is still a month until the Capcom Summer Jam in Tokyo where they will be talking about the latest news on Monster Hunter 4. But it's pretty unlikely that they'll mention anything about it coming to Western regions.

That's doesn't mean that all hope is lost, does it? Will we ever see anything Monster Hunter related again? Sort of.

You can now download the Monster Hunter weapon pack DLC for Dragon's Dogma on PSN and XBox LIVE for 240 MS coins. Yes, Dragon's Dogma. The game that Capcom keeps waiving around every time you ask about Monster Hunter. It may be a lovely game, but it is not the same no matter how you tart it up.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

An indie game riddle

Q: Why did the indie game developers pick May 24th to June 1st to drastically cut prices on a load of great games?

A: Because We May

Okay, so maybe it doesn't work in joke form. But what it lacks is humor, it will make up for in savings.

The good folks over at Because We May know that self-promotion and the ability to set the prices for your own games are what keep indie game developers alive and developing. They also know that traipsing all over the internet to find all these great prices can eat up too much of the time you could be playing indie games. So they've decided to help everyone by collecting them all for a big sale.

This isn't just a Steam or an App store sale, either. You can buy from a number of sources, such as: Direct from the developer, iOS App Store, Mac App Store, Android/Google Play, Steam, and the intriguingly mysterious "Other". If you're an indie game developer, you can even join them and toss your game into the sale

Head on over now, and buy a lot of great indie titles. It's going to be hot out today, and you don't want to risk getting any sun on you.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

XCOM: Enemy Unknown's release date and hostage mode

Turn-based strategy fans and xenophobes alike are chomping at the bit, waiting to get their hands on XCOM: Enemy Unknown from Firaxis. Good news came earlier this week, when an October 9th release date was announced for the US, and October 12th internationally.

We got to see a gameplay demo last month at PAX East, and as a fan of the early days of the series, I have to say I was not disappointed. While the movement grids are gone and you can't destroy floors and ceilings, everything else that made the series great returns. Base building, equipment and alien research, mad scrambles for cover in turn-based fire-fights, and a crushing difficulty mode for those of us that prefer the old-school spirit breakers. There will be a number of mission modes as well, though 2K wasn't able to confirm many during the floor demo.

They did get a little more free with some info at their panel, and showed a video of a Hostage Mission. They also encouraged us to flip the bird to the PR guys and share it, which is what I have done.

Though the game looks a lot more polished and very slightly streamlined from what you may remember of the original games in the series, Enemy Unleashed is shaping up to deliver in a big way. The reason behind that is clear when you listen to anyone on the development team talk about XCOM. This game is their dream project, and the series was why a number of them started making games in the first place.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

What the Diablo III launch is looking like right about now

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Diablo 3 final unlock page goes live....can you spot the spelling mistake?

[gamesomnia3-blog]

PAX East opens up in just over an hour, but we have a day full of awesome people and Boston adventures behind us.

And there was the PokeCrawl. Hard fought and hard won. Thank you to the sober wranglers who got us places, and thank you to the street meat vendor whose wares kept us in the race.

Now it is time to coffee up, and hit the floor. Follow us here all weekend, and check out our Twitter: @Gamesomnia

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Countdown to PAX East

As PAX East looms ever closer, I find myself as giddy as s puppy with two peters. You're welcome, internet.

In all seriousness, Jon and I are no strangers to nerdly conventions, and yet it is staggering how many great games came out at the end of last year that we totally missed seeing and/or playing at PAX. Bastion is number one on that list for me.

Not this year, Gamesomniacs. Not this year. We have agendas, scheduled meetings, itineraries, weeks of Internet research on EVERY booth that will be displaying their wares. We also have a pound of Highlander Grog (translates closely to "coffee of heaven"), and a Dunkin Donuts right across from our hotel for when that runs out. There will be no sleeping. There will only be games.

I mean, I know the whole "Sleep is for the Game-less" thing is normally what we're all about anyway. But now, we're ramping it up to preposterous levels.

Topping my list of must-see games this year are: playable Borderlands 2, Assassin's Creed 3, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy, the Walking Dead Game, Charlie Murder, a game billed as a "nighttime combat golf simulator", the new Tribes, Orcs Must Die 2 (now with more bears! co-op!), and about a hundred more that I can't list because my bus leaves for NYC in 6 hours and I have to pack.

Of course, that doesn't even touch on the panels, the parties, and the PokeCrawl. Be sure to check back often this week as we share our excitement with you. Live through us. It's okay. We'll drink and game enough for all of us.

What PAX East announcements have you intrigued?

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Another Mass Effect 3 bonus weekend

Congrats to all that joined in Brute-icide last weekend in Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. Our goal was to thin the herd by at least a million. We managed to take down 3 million. Who's a little overachiever? You are! Yes, you are!

That means that we all got our special packs from the store, right? Get 'em quick, if you haven't. They're only good for a week. But doesn't it feel like you should've received more for reaching such a huge goal?

BioWare thinks so, and that is why they're calling this weekend Operation: Fortress. There will be far fewer Brutes on any Reaper maps, and you'll get a 25% XP bonus on pretty much everything you do. And this time, even the PlayStation people get to join their 360 and PC brethren.

Consider this the calm before the storm, hints BioWare. The following weekend will be an even bigger event, and you'll really want to have your favorite troops powered up and ready to fight.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Adventure Time is coming to the DS!

What time is it? Time to dust off your Nintendo DS and locate your charger, because we're in store for some gaming gold later this year. Yes, Adventure Time is leaving behind its long run of web games and is finally entering the portable gaming market.

Last night on Twitter, Adventure Time creator, Pendleton Ward (@Buenothebear), dropped the news bomb that he will be working with WayForward Technologies to bring the land of Ooo from his brain to your DS. And if there is one thing WayForward knows, it is how to make games for the DS. See, because most of their catalog is either for the Wii or DS. So, they get it.

We probably won't hear much more about this game until after WayForward drops Silent Hill: Book of Memories for the Vita this May. Until then, I'll be sitting here in my Finn hat, hitting F5.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Mass Effect 3 weekend: Kill brutes, win prizes

BioWare is holding their first N7 Challenge Weekend starting March 16th at 5PM PST (That's tonight!) and ending on Monday at 5AM PST. Dubbed "Operation Goliath", your goal is simply to slay a slew of Reaper brutes. One million of them, to be exact.

If we manage to snuff out a million of those little darlings this weekend, everyone who participated in the 360 and PC version (Sorry, Sony fans! They promise you'll get your day in the sun soon.) will receive a special in game Victory Pack full of stuff to help you in future multiplayer outings.

But wait! There's more!

If you happen to take on the Reapers in a Silver level challenge and at least one of your squad makes it out of the final round, then the four of you will also receive the Commendation Pack. Along with an assortment of random MP-boosting goodies, you'll also receive one of four random weapons previously only available in single player: N7 Crusader Shotgun, N7 Eagle Pistol, N7 Hurricane SMG, and N7 Valiant Sniper Rifle.

You can only earn one of each pack, and the weapon is random and non-transferable. Access to said packs will pop up on Tuesday the 20th, and you'll have a week to download them. If you end up getting the shotgun (which I can assure you I'll get since I never use them), then you'll be pleased to know that they want to do more of these. And it can't rain shotguns all the time, can it?

If you're on the 360 this weekend, look me up for some Reaper brute hunting fun. Gamertag: Chocoison.

Oh! And don't forget that you'll need to make sure the "Upload Gameplay Feedback" option, otherwise your kills don't track and you get nothing. Nothing! You know. Other than the warm, fuzzy feeling from knowing you basically built a moon out of reaper corpses.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

RUMOR: Monster Hunter 3 pre-order for the Vita

Wily tipsters clued PlayStation LifeStyle into the accidental(?) pre-order posting for Monster Hunter 3 for the Vita on play.com. Could this be the real deal? Will this be one of the new titles Sony will be announcing at their Game Heaven event later this week?

I will be waiting by my computer, credit card in hand to find out the answer. The super-generic box art and the release date "to be determined" (along with Capcom's need to feed on the tears of frustrated non-Japanese Monster Hunter fans) are making me a tad skeptical.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

Get MotorStorm RC on Vita for free!

If you're a fan of RC car racing games and live in the U.S., then 3/6/12 is your lucky day. Yes, because it is the day Mass Effect 3 comes out. But that is just lucky for all of us. RC racing fans get the extra icing on the game cake by getting a free copy of MotorStorm RC for your PlayStation Vita.

If you're trying to think of what good thing you did that would earn this boon for you, then you'll be sad to know that you didn't do anything. This is all because the nice people at Scion like you. And they like the Vita. And they probably see you as being in their target market. But don't let that stop you from enjoying a free game! A free game that is getting pretty great reviews as a launch title in the U.K.

[gamesomnia3-blog]

You'd better sit down. It's the Mass Effect 3 launch trailer.

We are just 4 days away from the game that may well make me single again - Mass Effect 3. To celebrate, BioWare released the official launch trailer. You'll want to be sitting down for this. Having some fresh pants handy would also be advisable.

If you haven't played any of the Mass Effect games yet, you would be fine picking up the series here. But if you do, you'll really hate yourself later for not playing them in order. Not only would skipping over one and two leave you slightly out of the loop on the back story (though I'm sure they'll fill you in on the high points in 3), but you'll be missing the chance to see how the decisions you've made in each game carry over into the rest of them.

You know how the original Star Wars trilogy was way better than the prequels? Now imagine that all three of the originals were as awesome as Empire Strikes Back. Now you're getting close to the epicness that is the Mass Effect franchise. Do yourself a favor. Get these games and play the crap out of them.