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Friday, November 21, 2008

Tactical RPG - Soul Nomad and the World Eaters

This game by Nippon Ichi Software (NISA) is a fairly obscure Tactical RPG that just drips with awesomeness. Even among fans of NISA games it seems like this one RPG seemed to have just slipped by. It even slipped by me at first! The truth about this game, though, is that it is a really cool Ogre Battle clone. If ever you've played Ogre Battle, you know how cool it is... or how frustratingly complicated it is (the SNES one, at least), unless you devote some serious efforts and time into understanding what's going on in it.

First let me give some background info about Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen, and a bit about its system, then I'll explain what Nippon Ichi did to swap things up for Soul Nomad. Ogre Battle was a game developed by the now defunct Quest, and was published in America by Atlus as a somewhat limited edition game. Its combat system involved setting your units in row formations which would alter what attacks they could do, as well as how many times they could attack per battle. The movement system was a real-time system with small chess-piece like characters moving around on the map, meeting up with enemy units and engaging in combat. The game was essentially a drawn out campaign to defeat an evil empire and save the world. The story was very compelling, but I won't tell you much about it just in case you happen to play and don't like spoilers.

Fast forward to the N64 era. The N64 version of Ogre Battle was a watered down version of the game, which was much easier to manage and handle. The reason it was so easy to handle was because the alignment system got dumbed down a lot. The system in the original Ogre Battle on the SNES was incredible fickle and a single mistake or mismanagement of a unit could spell doom for your alignment rating for a very long time. You needed to manage this fickle system very closely, and make sure you didn't make any mistakes, lest you face the consequences. Ogre Battle 64 made the alignment requirements for class upgrades a lot easier to keep in check, causing the game to go more closely to the way YOU wanted it to go, as opposed to going how you allowed it to go through poor unit management and bad Tactical planning.

Fast forward this time to Soul Nomad. The Ogre Battle main series has not had any other incarnations since OB64, sadly, and I thought its battle system would disappear from gaming forever. Of course, NIS had something to say about that... Because they're so awesome. NIS brought out Soul Nomad, which is a game whose battle system, anybody could tell you, is very much like that of Ogre Battle : March of the Black Queen. If anybody disagreed with you on that point they were either wrong, lying, or never played Ogre Battle. The game basically uses a standard Tactical RPG movement system, and implements the row based combat from Ogre Battle.

I will be going into more detail about Soul Nomad and the World Eaters when I have time to make a bigger post about the system and how to break it. I will push it up in my schedule if requested, so leave a comment or email me at alsburyt at gmail dot com if you have a request for me to push up my article on Soul Nomad.

Beyond RPGs
http://beyond-tactical-rpgs.blogspot.com/

Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton attend a campaign rally in Orlando, Florida, in this file image from October 20, 2008. (Jim Young/Reuters)Reuters - New York Sen. Hillary Clinton has accepted an offer from President-elect Barack Obama to become U.S. secretary of state, joining her former Democratic rival to help guide U.S. foreign policy, the New York Times said on Friday.

Grand Theft Auto IV(4) PS3 - Liberty City Has Never Looked So Good

A great social experiment gone wrong, that's how Rockstar describes their PS3 game "Grand Theft Auto 4" This game has evolved from the original PC version over the years and it's now ready to be launched a state of the art product where entire cities are simulated, this game is also available for Xbox 360. This game is actually rated 18+ so no youngsters should be allowed to play this game since there is a lot of violence, language and inappropriate situations; besides the ratings and restrictions those who are able to play it will definitively enjoy the great deal of detail the guys at Rockstar North put on this game.

Liberty City is a fictitious multi-cultural American city where all the action takes place. Then main character Niko (player) comes to America after being invited by his cousin Roman in order to find wealth and improve his life style, in other words he comes to live the American dream, however things turn out quite bad when he gets in debt and its dragged into the criminal underworld. Life can be quite miserable when you owe bad people something and the entire city worships money and status, this is the whole scenario Niko Bellic (the player) will have to face. Also, you might find some similarities among Liberty City and New York City as well as New Jersey.

Grand Theft Auto is known for its great deal of violence and shall we say "action" but this time around the guys at Rockstar are being congratulated for the incredible work done by the graphics team. Liberty City has been created and rendered with amazing precision and detail, so much so that it is said that everything to the last pothole and rooftop vent was carefully designed.

Among the many likable characters you will find in GTA 4 we have to mention:

Phill Bell: An Italian business man who works for the big guys in Liberty City and "takes care" of the small fries who give problems or don't pay their dues on time.

Roman Bellic: This is Niko's cousin who is very ambitious and wants to "earn some money" and make a name for himself in Liberty City. He likes alcohol, women and works in his car shop business which he refers to as "Roman Bellic enterprises"

Vlad Glebov: Amusing Russian mafioso.

Many Escuela: This guy adds some latin spice to the game, he is better known by is accent and the reggaeton music which always accompanies his rampages.

Words simply can't describe what you will have to do in Liberty City, this game is sure to keep you hooked for hours because of it's amazing graphics and yes, all the "things that go down in this place" (slang).

Get more information about Grand Theft Auto IV(4) PS3 as well as several other PS3 games Visit us today and expand your gaming world.

Does Angelina Jolie Manipulate the Media?(E! Online)E! Online - Is the New York Times on Team Aniston? It would seem so, judging from this article that examines Angelina Jolie's crafty ways with the media.

Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto San Andreas is an action-adventure sandbox style action adventure computer and video game, produce by Rockstar North. It is the third 3D video game in the Grand Theft Auto Video game series.

This game was originally release for the Playstation 2 in October 2004, the game has since been ported to the Xbox and Microsoft Windows, and has received wide acclaim and very high sales figures on all of the afore mention platforms. Sand Andreas was preceded by Grand Theft Auto: Vice City and is succeeded by Grand Theft Auto IV.

The game revolves around the main character Carl "CJ" Johnson returning home from the Liberty City to Los Santos after learning of his mother's murder. CJ finds his family and his old gang, the Grove Street Families, in disarray. Over the Over the course of the game, CJ gradually unravels the plot behind his mother's murder while reestablishing his gang and exploring his own business ventures.
Like the previous entries inn the Grand Theft Auto Series, San Andreas's critical and commercial success has not been without controversy. Most notably being over the explicit" hot Coffee" sex minigame, which was disabled but left within the game's code. This discovery led San Andreas to be re- rated for a short time as an adult game and thus it was pulled from the shelves.

Grand Theft Auto IV is structured similarly to previous games in the series. The core game play consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open environment in which to move around.

On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, running, swimming, climbing and jumping, as well as utilizing weapons and basic hand to hand combat. Players can steal and drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, boats, helicopters, and motorcycles. So that's a brief on Playstation 3 newest video game so enjoy.

Juni Daniel is the moderator of the website Playstation Video Game.

Economic advisor Penny Pritzker, CEO of Classic Residence by Hyatt, attends a news conference by President-elect Barack Obama in Chicago, November 7, 2008. (Carlos Barria/Reuters)Politico - Chicago businesswoman Penny Pritzker, national campaign finance chairwoman for the Obama campaign, has taken herself out of the running to be secretary of commerce, a Democratic official said.

Top Secret Area in Super Mario World

This is the biggest secret in Super Mario World. It is called the "Top Secret Area". I completely missed this the first three times I played Super Mario World. Then out of boredom the fourth time playing Super Mario World I discovered it.

It is very simple to find. First go to Donut Plains #1 and get a cape from one of the Caped Koopas. Then go to Donut Ghost House #1. At the very start of the stage fly up to find a ledge. Follow this to be rewarded with several 1-ups. Then finish the stage and it will open a level called "Top Secret". It isn't actually a level but just a screen like Yoshi's House.

Every time you enter this level you will be rewarded with your choice of two capes or two flowers and a green Yoshi. This makes the game much easier as it is accessible before the second castle. Since it is so unknown for first time players and even veteran players it is very easily missed. It seems too easy to find to be such a unknown secret.

Another reason people often miss this secret is because they look at the World Map and think the Ghost House can't branch off to another path other then straight to the castle or into the lake. The other reason is because you can't get a cape in the levels previous to the Donut Ghost House #1 besides Donut Plains #1 which is two levels before it.

You follow the directions above and pat yourself on the back for finding the Top Secret Area in Super Mario World.

Play Nes Games Online Free at http://www.originalnintendo.net

World Record Speed Run for Mario Bros. 1 at http://www.originalnintendo.net/mario-bros-1-online/2008/05/mario-bros-1-speed-run.html

This NASA Hubble Space Telescope image released in 2005 shows Mars. NASA scientists have discovered enormous underground reservoirs of frozen water on Mars, away from its polar caps, in the latest sign that life might be sustainable on the Red planet.(AFP/NASA/ESA/File)SPACE.com - Mars has vast glaciers hidden underaprons of rocky debris near mid-latitude mountains, a new study confirms,pointing to a new and large potential reservoir of life-supporting water on theplanet.