The blog of Brian Kirsten

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Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock

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Guitar Hero is one of those video games I had heard of, but swore I'd never get into because the thought of "playing" guitar via a video game was just so wrong. Then we downloaded the demo for GH3. Boy was I wrong. GH3 is one of those games that's surprisingly addicting, plus it's seems to have little "frustration" factor. Some folks I know try Halo or other games and generally give up after a couple of minutes because they simply "don't get it". GH3 doesn't seem to suffer from that problem, people pick up the guitar controller, and instead of getting frustrated they want to try again. I know for me, the game is as close as I imagine I'll get to playing "Knights of Cydonia" to thousands of screaming fans. The game is fairly solid with decent graphics (although while playing they could have kittens playing in the background, you'll never notice), and after beating the game it has a fair amount of re-playability as a "party game". I think the only thing that's missing from the game is the ability to add mp3's from my own collection to play with. I don't imagine that'll ever happen sadly, because Activision will never be able to sell game packs to extend the game. In fact they'd probably never be able to sell additional versions of Guitar Hero if I could just load up music until the end of time. I found this video of someone playing the last boss (Lou) on expert mode. It blows my mind.

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Filed under  //   Video Games  

Yahtzee's review of Medal of Honor Airborne

All I can say is the review is friggen brilliant. Zero Punctuation [Escapist Magazine]

Filed under  //   Humor   Review   Video Games  

Portal: The Flash Game

Portal: The Flash Game

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Go check it out just in case Valve shuts them down!

Filed under  //   Interesting Links   Video Games  

Comments on Halo 3

My reactions to Halo 3...or Halo 3:This is it?!?

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In a frenzied marketing mish-mash that not even the evil demons of all of Hollywood could dream up, Halo 3 finally crashed into XBox 360's world wide on September 25th. I traded in nearly every old system, video game and accessory we had in the house, two weeks prior to Halo 3's launch for a new XBox 360. I'd literally been holding off on buying the 360 until I was within a month from Halo 3, knowing full well that there aren't a whole lot of games on the 360 that A) I really wanted or B) I could just buy for my PS3. Without going into too much detail I have my gripes with the XBox, mostly because it feels kind of cheap and the fact that the wireless controllers require AA batteries (what is this an RC car?). Regardless of my gripes, XBox Live's (the XBox internet service) response times blow the Playstation Network out of the water (yes I know, XBL you pay for and PSN is free, but still). Waiting in line at the local Gamestop for my pre-order was definitely a first for me. There was a nerdy frenzy to the whole thing, counting down until midnight so we could, throughout the nation, plunk down a wad of money to pretty much waste the next 2-3 years killing imaginary people with a variety of interesting weaponry. After getting home, my brother and I dropped the disc into the XBox and started up "the king of all games". The startup was a underwhelming experience, I don't know what I was expecting...something...anything, but all we got was the standard Halo startup (ok the startup is a bit more flashier than the others). We entered into multiplayer, jumped into a game when my controller decided that it's batteries were dead. I hunted around the house for two batteries while the opposing team annihilated us. Microsoft (or Bungie, whomever) just a note, when two people are playing a game, please don't block the ENTIRE screen with a message that one of those player's controllers is dead. Got the message? Thanks. We played several multiplayer games, then entered into campaign mode.

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Filed under  //   Ranting   Video Games