ALIVE with my new Qanba Q3 Fighting Stick

I have return! To bring my dead back frm hell! Along comes with my newly acquired Qanba Q3...... which i purposely bought just to play Super Street Fighter 4.

Final Fantasy 13 Chinese Edition

I have been playing SquareEnix RPG since the early days where they were still call Squaresoft in the SNES. All the time i have been gaming in English since i dun understand JP that well, and finally yesterday SCET announced that a Chinese Version FF13 will be release on the coming May!!! What a shock.... first time i get to have a great JP RPG ported to the PS3 in Chinese.

One of the reason of this out rages announcement is because of the great anti-piracy system that PS3 had, and the rise of sales of original software in China. Finally consumer that understand Chinese dun need to choose in between JP and English, they can have their own language version.


Anouncement during 1.20min onwards

Ok info frm SCET has confirm that the FF13 Chinese version will be in Chinese Text + Sub while all the VA will remain in JP. What great news for all the Chinese Literate gamers, it would be definitely better than the English dub version which i think most ppl complain about.


GOOD JOB SquareEnix and Sony!!!

Final Fantasy XIII East VS West Theme Song

Guess by now all the fans or non-fans of Final Fantasy XIII have already know that Leona Lewis will be singing for the English or International Version Final Fantasy. However does it really fits into the game or just pure propaganda for the game itself so it can be more famous?

I wake in the morning
Tired of sleeping
Get in the shower
And my make my bed alone
I put on my make up
Talk into the mirror
Ready for a new day, Without you
And i walk steady on my feet
I talk my voice obeys me

I go out at night
Sleep without the lights
And i do all of the things i have to
Keeping you on my mind
But when i think I'll be alright
I am always wrong cause


My hands
Don't wanna start again
My hands
No they don't wanna understand
My hands
They just shake it try to break whatever piece i may find
My hands
They only agree to hold
Your hands
And they don't wanna be without
Your hands
And they will not let me go
No they will not let me go


I talk about you now
And i do without crying
I go out with my friends now
I stay home all alone
And i don't see you everywhere
And i can say your name easily
I laugh bit louder
Without you

And i see diferent shades now
And i, I'm almost never afraid now
But when i think i'll be ok
I am always wrong cause


My hands
Don't wanna start again
My hands
No they don't wanna understand
My hands
They just shake it try to break whatever piece i may find
My hands
They only agree to hold
Your hands
No they don't wanna be without
Your hands
And they will not let me go
No they will not let me go


Sometimes i wait
I see them reaching out for you
Quietly break
whatever sheilds i spent so long building up
I cannot fake
Cause when they cry im almost broken ..??..
They miss holding my baby

My hands, My hands

No they don't wanna understand
They just shake it try to break whatever piece i may find


My hands
Your hands
They don't wanna be with us?
And they will not let me go

No they will not let me go

Here is the JP version theme song Kimi Ga Iru Kara (dont mistake this with another anime theme song)

Because you suddenly said, “it’s alright to cry”
I was somehow happy and smiled without a tear
Unfortunately, I’ve hurt you with overly clumsy words
Nevertheless you haven’t left me, but keep
supporting me in this way even now
surely…

The wishes and dreams I want to fulfil
All the feelings I want to send out
That in which I keep believing, summons a miracle
And will be connected to the future
I want to watch over you, always, yes always
Dear, my friend

Because you told me, “you will be alright”, at the time of our parting,
the loneliness I felt, disappeared beautifully with that single word
Opening a new door is something everyone is afraid of, but
when I remember how you've always encouraged me, I am filled with strength

I won’t surrender my honest feelings
All these honest words
If I can convey them with my voice, the future will spread out
Because you are in my heart, forever, yes forever
Dear, my friend

Even if I stop or seem to forget
I vow that I will always keep moving forward
The sky above me is shining a light
until the day I can meet you

I won’t surrender my honest feelings
All these honest words
If I can convey them with my voice, the future will spread out
The wishes and dreams I want to fulfil
All the feelings I want to send out
That in which I keep believing, summons a miracle
And will be connected to the future
I want to watch over you, always, yes always
Dear, my friend

This 2 song are quite different. Different not just in terms of the rhythm but also the situation they are describing.

My Hands is like a girl trying to forget her boyfriend but fail to do so, and keeps recalling the situation when both of them are together. Kimi Ga Iru Kara is like something separated the couple which are deeply in love but without giving up they continue go on and belief in the future.

Since i havent play the game and dont have a clear are the main plot of the story, i cant commend which is more suitable. However i feel that the JP version is on a more correct path, it is like describing Serah and Snow.

Leff 4 Dead 2 (L4D2)

Just got my copy of L4D2 from The Software Bontique which is a day early! Yeah maybe they know that it is my birthday today.... hahaha

This time no mousepad like L4D... instead it came with 5 poster. Beside that they is this Member card i dunno is for what magazine and some coupon for discount on purchasing some Steel series mouse, guess i will be spending more money.

Tonight will be Zombie killing night... COD MW2 will be thrown aside.

HRAP3 + Sanwa Buttons

Finally i have gotten my Sanwa buttons and finally i have modded them on to my HRAP3 arcade stick. Now i am really satisfy with the outcome of my HRAP3 + SANWA button, it feels and play just like the arcade arcade stick.

The buttons looks so simple... but they are definitely quality buttons.

It aint hard to mod the button since they are not welded on to the board, you just need to pop the board open with a screwdriver from the bottem.

After opening the bottom metal plate. You will require to use those star shape screw to open up the screw holding the front metal plate that hold the button and joystick.

Then all you need to do now is to remove the wire frm the button and pop the button out of its fitting. Simple and Easy.

The button are quite tight to fit in the plate. You need to force them in quite a bit until you heard a tick sound. Now I think removing it is quite hard later on.

Now everything is finish and can start playing Tekken 6.

Final Fantasy XIII English Voice Acting

A month of silence with zero post and the English Voice Acting frm Final Fantasy XIII broke it. Square Enix (SE) proudly bring us their new achievement..... English version trailer with some dreadful and up to par voice acting (VA), man i nvr expected any great English VA frm SE the first place....




They is an official trailer on SE site but guess most of you already seen the JP version few days ago. Overall it is still acceptable but i still notice that frm the trailer are some character arent really in the mood.

First we see Serah talking to Snow.... this part was OK but when Snow talk.... i was like OMG this dude sound really.... how to said.... not serious. It kind off spoil the mood there for me.

Then is Miss pig tail girl Vanile, her voice is like all those children cartoon u see in the early Sunday morning. I personally think it is the worse in the overall trailer.

Next is Mr. Lieutenant Yaag Rosch, oh this baddy sound bad in the first appearance in the trailer.... but later in the trailer was ok. His voice is quite unique and really works well as a baddie.

Overall it sound ok and acceptable, but then it is still not as good as the JP version. The best English Dub console game is still MGS for me. What those English dub game is lacking is not those 'A' class Holywood actors to voice over but is the lack of some serious Voice Acting Director to direct the whole thing, pls do it seriously like what the MGS series have done.

Panasonic 42" Plasma TV TH42S10K

Purchase this TV about 2 weeks ago, the price of Plasma and LCD this day are getting cheap. Now i can finally said goodbye to my good old Dell 24" LCD monitor, and no more see 6ft in front of the desk to play games and watch movies/anime.

Remember 3 years ago i bought my Dell 24" LCD for RM2.4k+- and back then it was the only LCD monitor in the market that supported FullHD, why i choose it.... mainly because Plasma and LCD TV that has FullHD cost about RM6 - 9k.

Now why Plasma over LCD, I would said that i have no special reason choosing so... although i heard that Plasma TV got lots of issue with IE Ghosting and Burn in.

To be honest ever since i got my TV i havent actually play any nice HD game on it yet... reason is there is none currently... the most i play is the Fat Princess which is a cute 3D cartoon type game, most if the time i am spending time watching downloaded anime through streaming.

PS3 is really and entertainment system that gives you everything, streaming all those video frm my PC to my PS3 is easy with the help of Tversity and PS3MediaServer.
You will need this 2 software on your PC to enable your PS3 to play every format of videos files.


Tversity is good for watching RMVB files which PS3MediaServer fail to do so (It is freaking hard to setup the PS3MediaServer to run the RMVB file smoothly), no setup is required just add the file in your library and press share it then you can view those video on your PS3.

PS3MediaServer requires more setting than the Tversity but the pros of doing so is you get better result... but still i cant find anyway to run my RMVB files on it without having it to stop every 3 sec. Then again MKV files are fully supported along with surround and subtitle function. Hope the newer version will solve the problem with RMVB so we wont need to have both software running on the PC.

Soon i will be playing the upcoming Batman Arkham Asylum on my precious Plasma then i can finally feel the great effect and graphics on my TV.

Diablo III's Monk

The Monk the new class of DiabloIII (D3), just announce last week on the Blizzcon. I know this is quite some old news by now I am just so happy to see some progress of D3 although i would be happier if Blizzard would just declare on when they gonna put Starcraft 2 on shelf.




Remember on the previous Blizzcon, we already have 3 classes announce, Barbarian, WitchDoctor and the Socerror/Wizzard. They did not show much different from the previous installment D2, all standard hack and slash movement plus some new skill. But this Monk seems to be different it has its own unique combo system, and the skill you used will have 3 stages each and can interchange with each others making it like something unique (Something like those combo in DMC series).



I guess this monk is some ShaoLin Monk, his skill are awesome and full surprise... who wont want to try the explodding palm.



This is any finish product yet... so who know wat Blizzard will do later on, we wont know what they would do to this D3 project... they may even cancel it (just like SC Ghost) and we wont see a launching of this game for years to come. I am guessing at least 4-5 years time because SC2 havent launch and may be launch next year 2010, then its 2 expansion will come after it with each using 1 year time, then after that will have some Beta testing of D3 and debugging... so guess will be around year 2014 onwards.

Hori Real Acade Pro 3

I just bought an Hori Real Arcade Pro 3 (HRAP3) arcade stick as an upgrade for my Playstation Fighting Stick 3. Main reason is my Fighting Stick 3 isn't responding well enough for the 7 and 9 hopping direction (Fighting game lover will know wat 7 and 9 means as for those tat dont it is the direction of the stick similar to the numpad).

Why HRAP3 instead of better stick like the MadCatz TE stick, reason is it cost a bomb with all all those Sanwa parts in it... and the HRAP3 is only half the price of it and if i upgrade the buttons and stick of my HRAP3 to Sanwa parts it will as same as the TE stick and still RM300+- cheaper than it.

Comparison of size between the 2 sticks

Why not upgrade my Fighting Stick 3 to Sanwa parts... reason is it really troublesome to do so, the button and the joystick are soldered on to the board and the size of the parts does not really fit in the small body of FS3 forcing you to mold the housing.

Seal back into its box and ready to be frozen up

This coming few months are fighting games heaven... first we get BlazBlue early this month (or was it previous) then end of this month we get Kings Of Fighter XII (KOF12) then later this year Tekken 6.

Now sticking with Blazblue which proof to be one revolutionary 2D fighter game from the developers of Guilty Gear.

Ok now i am still awaiting for my paypal funds... need to top up some more to purchase the Sanwa parts i need frm Arcade Spare Parts. Still training on how to used Taokaka Air Combo more fluently.

Resistance 2 and Valkyria Chronicles

My latest 2 PS3 games. hardly brought any PS3 game ever since i got my Eternal Sonata and now most of the time i still spend on playing SRWZ. This 2 title Resistance (R2) and Valkyria Chronicles (VC) can really tell you the style of Westerner and Japanese game.

R2 is a typical FPS game for PS3, it is the sequel to the PS3 launch title Resistance 1 Fall of Mankind, develop by Insomniac. Graphics does improved frm the first game, and certain upgrade has also been done to the controls and play style. You now get to sprint by holding down the L2 button and you can carry only 2 weapon instead of having them all on your back.

The manual book for R2 has a 50-60s look and does remind me of the recent title Fallout 3..... anyway those are less important.

Insomniac did a great job with their online play, now it can have 60 players competitive and a maximum 8 player online cooperative. As for the offline cooperative you get to have 2 players games but it aint the Story mode 2 player co-op

Cooperative mode.... the offline game aint the single player campaign

It is now some sort of alternative view point of the war frm some other grunts. But i really miss the single player story mode coop like the first game.... that was the best coop game i had.

Now lets have a look at VC, this is an innovative SLG + FPS + RTS type of game. First ever in the market. It has those beautiful Japanese design character great voice over and for those Europe or USA region game you get to choose the voice over as JP or English. The JP voice over senyuu for Alicia is Marina Inoue (known to be the senyuu of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann's Yoko & Kana Minami from Minamike). VC is also gonna be produce into an anime next year by A-1 Pictures.

The install function which will increase your loading speed but required 4gb HDD spaces

Anyway lets talk back about the game Valkyria Chronicles. It was develop by Sega and it was one of those PS3 exclusive title (yah exclusive title just like Resistance 2 up there). The style of the art is like those cartoon 3D (like Okami or Dark Cloud 2 frm PS2). The game story is play through a book, where you get to watch those nice animated character doing the story telling.

Alicia, Isara and Welkin (from left to right)

Unique art style

VC is really unique in its own way, the battle system is like what i said earlier SLG + FPS + RTS, you get the standard JP SLG style of choosing and planning your move at every turn, but once you choose a character you need to move him/she in real time mode which enemy will shoot you and you need to dodge them and take cover, when you choose to attack then you will enter those FPS mode where you need to aim the gun yourself.

FPS mode? This is some type of hybrid game....

Superb game and definitely one that most PS3 gamers that like Japan anime and games must own! Strongly recommended.

This two game are really a good comparison of Westerner and Japanese games. And if you said i were to choose between this 2 game, my first choices will go for Valkyria Chronicles.

Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of Patriot - Personal review 1

Got the game yesterday, took the normal version instead of the Limited Edition becoz the Asia Limited Edition seems to be a big ripped off with just an additional "The making DVD" u get to paid another RM100.....no OST, Dog Tags, and MGS tin can....as free gift.....even the box art looks 100% similar to the normal one.

Front and back cover art

Got myself a poster for free along with the normal edition, the poster is quite nice and definitely something a fan should not have missed (it is given for free why on earth would you want to missed it).

A poster of Snake fading into pieces

This is also the first PS3 game that got me hook straight for 5 hours....non-stop gaming until 1am, this havent happen to me since i graduated frm my University. To be honest havent played any game that good and attractive on PS3 before, the graphic pawns every single next-gen (now current-gen) game. DMC4 and GTA4 (lol all in their fourth) are nothing in front of it.

Now no more watching online, watch it in the game

The manual for the game is really nice too, although the cover art was just the same as the cover of the box but the inside is fill with goodies that are nice and easy to read. It is the thickest PS3 manual i ever have so far. Full of comic style description and tutorials for you to understand the controls and mechanism of the game.

Manual book

The manual is full of comic

CQC walkthrough

MGO comic and some instruction

At the last section of the manual it even comes with a comic on the upcoming MGO (metal gear online) and it has some instruction on acquiring an account for the MGO so you can start playing the Beta game (is it beta?) before it is launch at year end.


So like almost all those current high quality PS3 game, it also required us to install some stuff into our PS3 HDD and it take 8 minute and during that time you can look at Old Snake taking his Cigarette.....this is the game that you can see smoking non-stop and up close......

This warning sign arent really persuasive with Snaking smoking at the back

Ok finally into the game, now after 4 years of waiting we no longer need to feed ourself with those online trailers and irresponsible spoiler review video anymore. We get to feel the game graphic and cinematic by ourselves. All I would have to said is man this game looks great and just like wat Kojima has been telling us, those cinematics scene are real time gameplay....and the quality of those cinematics are CG alike with godlike expression and background movement.....it pawns wat we saw in the DMC4.

Like all recent game, the starting menu part is render in real time, press start and you get to see a list of selection. One of them are Metal Gear Online, by pressing this, you will start installing the MGO into your PS3 which take another few minutes.....but this is not in my today story.

MGO ver1.01 is now out

The new VR training here is call VR Range....in this section you will bring into a virtual reality with lots of foe standing still and waiting for you to shoot them. You can tried it with the default weapons you got or some others frm the battlefield tat you manage to pick back.

This time during the gameplay you can listen to Ipod....you can browse the manual just like a real Ipod. There are some podcast to listen to but it is just to noisy and spoild the game mood, still prefer the original BGM. Wonder if later I can listen to songs of my own in game or not?

Listen to some music duting VR serction

Ok ok ok From here onwards it may contain SPOILERS so view at your own risk....
First right after you start the game....you get to view some real live video scene....and guess whose there! David Hayter himself wearing and MGS Solid Eye! The woman asking him question sure looks like the Old Ada!

Dun get wat this is for! But said hello to David Hayter.

The woman interviewing David.....

In game scene with Snake in the middle east outfit, there are really a lot of cutscenes in this game but it wont take any loading time....and like wat i said earlier they are all in CG quality. U feel the earth shake, dust blowing, dirt on the screen....

Being chase by some metal COW (becoz they mwhuu like cows), and end up seeing this funny scene....No Place For Hideo...

Is his staff not happy with him and want him squash in the box?

Some flashback during the game, and snake is really old now. Otacon now looks so details but Mr Campell looks younger now is it becoz of her new wife??? Rosemary (I think you guys who play the game know who she is).

Do you guys agree that he look younger?

Now the codec for the Snake is so nice, it even comes with video and color screen....technology sure has advance. You can still look around using the Right Analog.

After continues playing non-stop for 4 hours plus and finish of Act 1....It bounce another install screen....so funny one this game needs to install separately??? While it kept you waiting it bounce a message on the screen saying that it is now 0.00am for your own health take break....lol...how thoughtful.

How thoughtful but still smoking is bad for health

Spotted ZOE2 Wallpaper and a mini Metal Gear in the screen.

Now now now, besides the PS3 controller for Metal Gear MkII, look at wat Sunny here is playing with.....PSP!!! By the way i cant get a view of what she is playing but the BGM sound like the Metal Gear game frm SNES.

Scouting around with Metal Gear MkII during briefing

So far havent test any other stuff in the game, Drebin gun modding and loundering. Playboy Magazines, rolling in the Drum (man i cant hit ppl in it), all CQC tactics, Easter eggs, and Metal Gear Mk II.....man too many stuff! Now still playing the Normal difficulty maybe after i finish the game i am gonna challenge The Boss Difficulty!