Toomanywires

In Case You Missed It: Accumulating Games / Bionic Arms & Plastic Statues / War Has Changed? / Back on the Hunt March Playlist 1. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate: It gets better with each passing hour. 2. Bloodborne: It's been far too long since I was excited about an original, PS4 game. I'm only an hour in, so I'll save my impressions for another time. 3. Odds & Ends: Rogue Legacy is not for me and I'm starting to tire of retro-style graphics on current gen systems. OlliOlli 2 is much like the first game, which is great, and 3D Out Run looks and plays beautifully on the New 3DS. Words: Uncharted 4, Re-masters and VR Between Uncharted 4's postponement and Hideo Kojima's exit from Konami, it's been a rough month. I've already written about Kojima and the end of Metal Gear Solid, so I'll refrain from upsetting myself further. Uncharted 4 being pushed back to 2016 was both a surprise and a disappointment, as the PS4...

It takes at least ten hours to get over the Monster Hunter hump. As trite as that statement may be, it is completely true. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate might be the most user and newcomer friendly of the series, but it’s still rough going early on. With the exception of the opening skirmish, early missions are comparatively mundane and fail to convey the brilliance of Monster Hunter. I'm no stranger to the series, yet I initially struggled with the latest instalment, before finally getting into the swing of things around the ten hour mark. No surprises there then! Once you get over the initial hump, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate is sublime. There is a huge selection of monsters, and you are constantly having to learn new techniques and craft better equipment in an effort to remain at the top of the food chain. Creating and wearing new sets of armour, forged from the materials harvested from your prey, is the best part of Monster Hunter; it is a morbid fashion show, a hunt hist...

I didn't believe Hideo Kojima when he said that The Phantom Pain would be his last Metal Gear Solid. After all, he has claimed on numerous occasions that he is finished with his well-loved series, but he has always come back for more. This time however, it looks like he may have actually meant it. Rumours have been circulating all day that Kojima has left Konami and that his studio, Kojima Productions, is no more. KP logos have been removed from the Phantom Pain's website, Koji Pro's site now redirects to Konami's MGS portal and references to Kojima and his studio have been removed from Phantom Pain marketing materials. To top it all off, earlier today Kojima tweeted an image of Snake about to enter a helicopter, with the comment "heading off". There are so many questions, many of which may have already been answered by the time you read this. Has Kojima really left Konami, or is this simply a reshuffling of talent? Has Koji Pro been dissolved, r...

Do I really need a half-scale, bionic arm? As I write this, I have a tab open on GAME's website showing the £100 Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Collector's Edition. Double the price of the regular edition for an extra box (looks cheap), a steelbook case (couldn't care less), a map (will I get lost?), some bollocks in-game content that I'll never use (bollocks) and a half-scale replica of Snake's bionic arm (useful). Do I really need a half-scale, bionic arm? The answer is no, but at the same time yes. Hideo Kojima wants me to buy a replica of Snake's bionic arm, half-scale, and since Phantom Pain is 100% absolutely his last Metal Gear Solid, who am I to say no. My MGS3 Snake Eater Premium Package is one of my favourite video game possessions, and I also have the HD Collection Limited Edition set, so I do have prior history when it comes to Kojima and oversized boxes. However, the big difference is that I bought both of those when they were heav...

I've bought my fair share of games over the years. My Billy bookshelves are bursting with bits 8, 16 and 32, and stacked with discs of varying formats. I must have well over 500 games, a mix of current and retro, PAL and import, and a nice little stash of hardware and unnecessary peripherals. However, I wouldn't call myself a collector. Rather, I accumulate games. I don't peruse EBAY looking for retro gems, or raid carboot sales at the weekend, but almost twenty five years of buying and playing has left me with a decent assortment. It helps that I don't trade-in and, with the notable exception of my original Saturn, have never sold-on any of my gaming possessions. I threw out a couple of over-sized peripherals when we left Japan, including my Densha De Go controller, which I deeply regret, but otherwise I have retained all my shit. The weekend before last, I had to lug my game shelves across the corridor to make room for my daughter's new nursery. ...

In Case You Missed It: Back to Blogging / Revisiting the Mansion (RE1 HD) / In Praise of Yakuza / The Correct Length February Playlist 1. Resident Evil Remake HD:   I’d forgotten just how good the first Resident Evil was. I’m gradually making my way through Jill’s campaign, having finished with Chris’ earlier in the month - I achieved the best ending where Jill and Rebecca fall asleep in a helicopter. I will do everything in my power to ensure that Barry also has the chance to nod off in a chopper. 2. Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate:   I’ve only played a measly five hours, as of late I have been struggling to go more than fifteen minutes without falling asleep and dropping the 3DS on my face. Still, I’m sure that I’ll be playing this for months to come. Words: New 3DS XL, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate and Dragon Age Inquisition This month I bought my third 3DS, because I like new things. I marked the release of one of my most anticipated games of 2015, Monst...

Five hours is not the correct length for a game about steam-punk, Victorian werewolves, especially one that isn't very good and might actually be seven hours. £40 divided by five is a lot of money per hour for a game on a per hour basis, at least when evaluated at a per hour rate, which is what I'm doing. Five hours is the equivalent of three Journeys, but Journey was a lot cheaper and was also art * , which meant that it was fine. You can't put a price on art, but if you had to then £15 would be about right for an hour and a half of it. Steam-punk werewolves are not art and therefore five hours is unacceptable. Just to be clear, I was referring to The Order: 1886 in the above paragraph. Apparently, it’s only five hours long. In this time of austerity, we have to make sure we are getting plenty of bang for our bucks, pow for our Pounds or something for our Yens. If a game is running short, developers owe it to their customers to pad that shit out. Recycle a bo...