I got this email today. Why would I want to pay $12 a year to update my PSN trophy card?
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Possibly the lst time controller1.com posts about god damned Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. We’ve reviewed it. We’ve focus tested it and now we bury it. I post about it because it its now gone. The spectre of playing it any more has lifted and now we can concentrate on the road ahead.
So I guess I’ve been dividing my game playing time between CoD WaW on 360 and CoD4 MW again on PC. Yes, I’ve got back to playing Modern Warfare. This is about the 6th time I’ve resumed playing it. Through a set of circumstances too circumspect to subscribe to in order to circumvent the circumference of, er, um. Basically, on PC, I’ve had to restart several times, so I’ve never reached level 55. I think the highest I got was about level 40 on 360 but on the current PC install, I’m at 35. I still don’t have any of the fancy guns like the Barret 50 cal or the P90 or the G3K. I still don’t have the three frag grenades perk which makes Wet Work such a ‘nade fest. I also don’t have my favourite perk, overkill- which gives you two primary weapons.
I’ve written way too many times about CoD so here’s some Peggle. Peggle
I am still playing Peggle. I’ve barely touched World of Goo so far and I’d like to play more of it. How do I break the Peggle hold? Are there Peggle interventions? Peggle Exorcists? Peggaholics Anonymous?
“Hello my name is George and I’m a unicorn.”
Prince of Persia is the last 2008 single player game on my pile. It sits worryingly unplayed. The little I have played was good, but not enough to suck me in. Maybe over Easter. Maybe not.
This week we play Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts. Do we end up opening up the DS half way through? Only by listening to this podcast will you find out.
Reviewed on Xbox 360. Developed by Rare. Published by Microsoft
Banjo Kazooie is one of Rare’s original megahits from the late 90′s when they could do no wrong. Now, not so much, but at the time, even a tech demo slapped onto a cart sold millions. Banjo Kazzoie and its sequel, Banjo Tooie where some of the finest 3D platformers of the 32/64 bit era. A decade later a sequel has been released to a wave of indifference and is a typical Rare product of this decade. Let’s have a squizz.
Nuts and Bolts is a game about vehicles as much of what you need to accomplish is done so with vehicles that you can build and modify at any time though the game. You collect new parts and blueprints as you progress. You might need a vehicle that is fast in one level, strong in another, one with a large carrying capacity at times, or one with passenger seats. There are races, timetrials, collection, demolition derby fetch quests etc. There’s a lot of breadth and range in what you can do in the game.
The graphics are very colourful and pretty though the framerate seems to occasionally have its mind on other things. There are lots of loading times that can be a little excessive, though installing the game to disc DRAMATICALLY cuts the length of theses down to ‘not an issue.’ Sound is typical Banjo, gibberish vocalisations rather than voices and overuse of the Hanna Barberra sound effects library. And it has fantastic music. New orchestrations of classic Banjo music abound, so good in fact that I’d love a soundtrack album.
But while its ambitious, technically impressive and has a lot of things to do, it has a problem. Its overly complex for what the target market is. Its the 360 equivalent of hooking up your PSP version of Resistance to your PS3 version of Resistance. It sounds impressive until you try and find a use for it. The visuals are overly busy to the point where its all a jumble of colour. The game is basically a mess and stops being fun very quickly, as in “this is shit,” is audible to anyone living nearby as you hurriedly eject the disc and put it back in its case while you scramble to recall where you left the receipt.
It should have been a lot of fun. Rare used to be able to make fun games but now they just make games for no audience. It looks like a game kids (or kids in their mid-30′s) would like but it plays like a game that no one can find any fun in.
Controller1.com rating 0/3 (I wanted to love this game so much. I am heartbroken)
We have a look at Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix and Peggle.
updated so missing audio file is present
As someone who writes a blog about videogames, my knowledge and experience of games is not all encompassing. I have tastes, as does everyone else, and they are tastes that don’t always gel with most gamers. So I thought I’d mention some of the many types of games I have never played, or at least not played for more than five minutes.
Mega Man. I have never ever played Mega Man in any for. Ever. It has just never been on my radar. Even when I would have played a game like that. So when Mega Man 9 came out last year, I was thinking? Wat?
a Commodore 64 game. I never have ever played a game on a Commodore 64. I have watched as we Focus Tested an emulation of a C64 title on a laptop but never played an actual C64 game. We had Atari 800 computer in our house (which meant we didn’t have a 2600 either though you couldn’t grow up in the early 80′s without knowing someone who had one).
Final Fantasy. I tried to play FFX on PS2. I lasted about 10 minutes before I gave up because I couldn’t see anything that interested me. JRPG’s long ago lost their hold on me (I was into games like Y’s on the Master System and a few others on the MegaDrive/Genesis).
Sports games. I have never played Madden, FIFA, Pro Evo, Tiger Woods, Hot Shots, Mario Tennis or any of those games based on actual sports. 10 minutes of Track and Field back in the day was all the rapid tapping I could handle.
One on One Fighting games such as Street Fighter, Dead or Alive, Virtua Fighter, Tekken, Soul Calibur, Smash Bros, et al. They’re just not my bag, baby. The common theme among the Never Played Library is that I suck hard at these games.
Quake multiplayer. Have never ever played multiplayer of any Quake game. In fact, the only Quake game I’ve ever played is N64 Quake (and a bit of Quake II on the n64). This means I have never played Quake III Arena and it also means I won’t touch Quake Live.
The Commodore Amiga. My bro had one and as such I rarely played the dozens of games he had on it. I have memories of him having to swap 40 disks to load games. A lot of stuff looked cool but access was an issue. I tended to play more with ProTracker and Deluxe Paint when I had an opportunity.
World of Warcraft (or any MMO). I never had any interest in playing these games. There’s nothing more boring when you turn up for work and the MMO players are standing in the corridor talking about the raid they went on last night. The South Park episode sealed the deal and my antipathy for the genre means I can’t be assed watching The Guild because it makes no sense to me.
I guess I’ve played or at least tried pretty much everything I’ve wanted to play. There’s no game I haven’t touched that I ever think “Hmm I wish I played that.”
