Games and Gadgets: How I see them.

Due to the excessive time from the previous update, the list of games out in MY stores is very long, and I have chosen to simply list the titles without the boxart. Fear not, boxarts will return very soon in the future.

Here’s the long list, most of the big games of 2007 are now in stores, good luck in finding some of them.

PS3:
The Orange Box - (ASIAN) FPS
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - (US) Action Shooter
Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune - (US) Action Shooter
Assasin’s Creed - (US) Action
Time Crisis 4 (with Guncon3) - (ASIAN) Light Gun Shooter
Timeshift - (US) FPS
Soldier of Fortune: Payback - (US) FPS
Beowulf: The Game - (US) Action

Wii:
Wii Fit - (JPN) Fitness
Trauma Center: New Blood - (US) Medical Sim
Soul Calibur Legends - (US) Action
Geometry Wars: Galaxies - (US) Shooter
Ghost Squad - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Link’s Crossnbow Training (without Zapper) - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles - (US) Light Gun Shooter
Tomb Raider Anniversary - (US) Action Shooter
Super Mario Galaxy - (US) Platformer

Xbox360:
Black Site: Area 51 - (US) FPS
Mass Effect - (US) Action
Soldier of Fortune: Payback - (US) FPS
Kane & Lynch: Dead Men - (US) Action Shooter
Beowulf: The Game - (US) Action
Assasin’s Creed - (US) Action
Need For Speed: Prostreet - (US) Racing
Bioshock - (US) FPS

PS2:
Puzzle Quest - (US) Puzzle
Nicktoons: Attack of the Toybots - (US) Action
Fire Pro Wrestling Returns - (US) Sports Sim
Need For Speed: Prostreet - (US) - Racing
Petz: Catz - (US) Pet Sim
Petz: Dogz - (US) Pet Sim

Dual Shock 3 is out in Japan this week, retailing at Yen 5,500. Some PS3 games have rumble support out of the box (Ratchet and Clank Future, Uncharted), while some required updates (Resistance).

And its is rumble compatible with PS2 games too, guess now we know why Sony chose to use the older rumble technology as they rejected the new generation rumble technology from Immersion.

Good luck in finding one locally, but I won’t give up hunting so soon. Else, you can import it as with all PS3 related stuff, its region free.

Pic from Engadget.

PS3:
Clive Barker’s Jericho (US) - FPS

XBox360:

Assassin’s Creed - (US) - Action

Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga (US) - Action

Wii:

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games (US) - Sports

WWE Smackdown! VS Raw 2008 (EU) - Fighting

Victorious Boxers: Revolution (US) - Sports

Lego Star Wars : The Complete Saga (US) - Action

Asterix in the Olympic Games (EU) - Sports

PS2:

WWE Smackdown! VS Raw 2008 (EU) - Fighting

Asterix in the Olympic Games (EU) - Sports

Wii:

Super Mario Galaxy (JAP) - Action Platformer

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Ben 10: Protector of Earth (US) - Fighting

Bee Movie Game - (US) - Action

Namco Museum Remix - (US) - Retro Compilation

PS2:

Ben 10: Protector of Earth (US) - Fighting

Bee Movie Game (US) - Action

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

PS3:

John Woo Presents: Stranglehold (US) - Shooter

John Woo Presents: Stranglehold Collectors Edition
- Inclusive of Hard Boiled blu-ray movie

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Xbox360:

TimeShift (US) - FPS

Naruto: Rise of Ninja (US) - Fighting

The Simpsons Game (US) - Action

Wii:

EA Playground (US) - Minigames Collection

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (US) - Action

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Nights (US) - Platformer

PS2:

Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal (US) - Action

The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Nights - Platformer

Some of the new Guitar Heroes III Les Paul guitar controller appear to have connection problems. The root cause seems to be at the connection point between the neck and the body of the guitar.

In order to save box space and mother earth (but it could be due to saving cost, but what do I know?), the Guitar Heroes III Les Paul guitar controller was “broken” into two parts, the neck and the body. These two parts are to be assembled to resemble a full guitar by connectors, and here is the problematic area.

It seems that the PCB board surface (on the neck) and the pin connectors (on the body) does not maintain contact very well. Several options were posted on the internet by ingenious users, and here are two ways.

The Simple FIX:

As per pix above, affix a 3M Utility Hook on the body and strap a rubber band onto the neck. This will improve the connection, but may not last too long (even if the 3M hooks do have very strong and lasting adhesive backs).

The complicated FIX:

By this method, you will need to loosen several screws on the neck, pry the fret part open, and re-position the PCB board. Its not as complicated as it sounds, but it does take some technical knowledge (using a Torx screw driver) and finesse touch (prying open a plasticky part). Click here to see the instructions and pictures.

Warning, do this at your own risk and success is not guaranteed. But if it helps to improve the connection, try ahead.

Note: The pix are of the Xbox360 controller, there are no information if the PS3, Wii or PS2 versions suffer similar problems, but as the controllers are built similarly, I suppose the problem may exist on Sony’s or Nintendo’s versions too.

Xbox360:

Guitar Heroes III (US - Game only) - Music Simulation

Clive Barker’s Jericho (US) - FPS

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (US) - Action

Wii:

Rockstar Table Tennis (US) - Sports Simulation

PS2:

Guitar Heroes III (US - Game only) - Music Simulation

Here’s the list of games available in local MY stores for the past two weeks. Due to some games being released on multi platforms, I will feature the boxart only on the first format it appears (as they all share the same boxart except for the format header).

PS3:

Oblivion: Game of the Year Version (US) - RPG 

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

SEGA Rally Revo (US) - Driving

DiRT (US) - Driving

Xbox360:

Conan (US) - Action Adventure

The Orange Box (US) - FPS

(Half-Life 2, HL2: Episode 1, HL2: Episode 2, Portal, Team Fortress 2)

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (US) - Sports Simulation

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

SEGA Rally Revo (US) - Driving

Crash of the Titans (US) - Action Platforming

Wii:

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (US) - Sports Simulation

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

Crash of the Titans (US) - Action Platforming

Donkey Kong Barrel Blast (US) - Racing

PS2:

Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground (US) - Sports Simulation

FIFA 08 (US) - Sports Simulation

Crash of the Titans (US) - Action Platforming

Juiced 2: Hot Imports Night (US) - Driving

CSI: 3Dimensions of Murder (US) - Adventure

Rock Band, the game that will have you and two other friends making up a… errr… rock band, will be out on November 23rd in US, for a lower than expected price of USD$169.99 - for the PS3 and Xbox360 versions, while the PS2 version will be your for USD$159.99 come December 10th.

In the bundle will be the game disc, a guitar, a drum kit and a microphone, all the ingredients required for a jam session. Strangely, the Sony’s PS3 and PS2 versions will get you a wireless guitar but not in the Xbox360 bundle.

It’s beginning to be good for gamers in Malaysia, more and bigger games are arriving at our shores:

Wii:

MySims (US) - Social Simulation

Pool Party (US) - Sports Simulation

Xbox360:

Halo 3 (US) - FPS

PS2:

Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror (US) - Action

Juiced 2: Hot Imports Night (US) - Racing

Digimon: Data Squad - RPG

Warriors Orochi (US) - Action