The Guildmasters

Hi all,
Just found this article this morning, enjoy:

Sony’s PlayStation Network is finally (mostly) back up on its feet, and now that gamers have had a chance to hop on, change their passwords, and resume some much-need online gaming, the attention turns to Sony’s “Welcome Back” program — the company’s way of apologizing for the downtime. The program offers a decent selection of free games and services to get Sony back in the good graces of PlayStation 3 and PSP owners.

If you own a PlayStation 3 and were affected by the downtime, you’ll be able to choose 2 free games from a selection of five, including:

* Dead Nation
* Infamous
* LittleBigPlanet
* Super Stardust HD
* Wipeout HD

PSP owners can cherry-pick a pair of games from this list of 4:

* LittleBigPlanet PSP
* ModNation Racers
* Pursuit Force
* Killzone Liberation

In addition to the free games, PSN users will also be granted access to a selection of PlayStation Network movies over an upcoming weekend, the specific titles of which will be revealed later. Also, gamers not currently subscribed to PlayStation Plus — Sony’s premium PSN service that grants game discounts and other perks — will get a free month to try it out, while existing Plus subscribers will get 60 additional days for free. Sony’s PlayStation Home virtual world will offer users 100 free items as well, so if you’ve never given it a try this will be your best opportunity. All of these freebies will begin flowing once the PlayStation Store is back up and running, the timetable for which has not been revealed.

In addition to Sony’s program, streaming service Hulu is offering users who have their Hulu Plus premium accounts synced with a PlayStation 3 a 25-day credit for the inconvenience of not being able to stream due to the network outtage. Hulu Plus subscribers will begin getting emails shortly that contain a link to redeem the credit.

Obviously I have some time on my hands today. I’m probably more thinking out loud and writing rather than concentrating on being creative or informative but i’ve been trying to do a lot of research on what RPG’s are going to be hitting the market in 2011. In turn it started me thinking on what RPG’s i’d played in the past as well as the games i’m playing now and what I can expect in the future.

It’s quite amazing how tight lipped some gaming developers are, you think they would at least dangle the carrot, and the ones that do? well the carrot is so far away you don’t know what to expect.

One of my best RPG’s of all time has to be Morrowind, this was part of The Elder Scrolls, number 3 I believe, and yes even though I am a loyal Sony customer I actually went out and purchased an XBox solely for this game. In turn this got me onto Fable which again was a great game.

After playing Morrowind, and believe or not I still go back to it from time to time, I had to get Oblivion as soon as that came out on the PS3. At the risk of being run out of town for this opinion I actually was disappointed in Oblivion. It was still a great game but it lacked what I enjoyed the most in Morrowind, just little things that seemed to make all the difference, at least for me.

A big part of my experience with Morrowind was taking over different buildings and stashing my stuff, actually decorating the houses exactly how I wanted them, I had one house with all my glass weapons and armor, another house with all my daidric armor etc..and you could be so precise with the way you laid out your pads it was quite enjoyable, some of my boys got really carried away with that aspect of the game.

I missed using levitation spells too, but you didn’t need them in Oblivion and somehow the quests didn’t quite grab me like they did in Morrowind.

So will we see an Elder Scrolls V (5)? Of course, that much we know, and it’s a game I wait for with great anticipation, I really hope they take the best from Morrowind and Oblivion and come up with something a little bit special.

Another really good game on the Xbox was a game called Thief: Deadly Shadows, an amazing game you could really get into. Seriously if you haven’t played this game you should, and you should be able to get it cheap because it’s so old now. The reason I say play this game is because Thief 4 is in development and although that is all we know at the moment i’m sure this is going to be awesome. If they improve even a little on Deadly Shadows I will be amazed and I will buy this one.

Yet another game in the making is Final Fantasy XIV (14) and to be quite honest I have lost track of the Final Fantasy series. I was extremely hooked on FF7 and 8 and i’ve played FF 12 and I don’t know what it is about Final Fantasy but I just can’t bring myself to look into them much anymore.

I heard so many rumors about 13 and how good it was going to be but all i’ve read anywhere is how disappointed people are with it, some to the point of not even bothering to complete the game.

There has been information leaked apparently that there is another Tomb Raider in development for the PS3, XBox360 and PC but won’t be released until around Christmas 2011. I cannot confirm this but it wouldn’t surprise me. This is another series of games that i’m a bit addicted to, I played my first Tomb Raider way back when I owned a PS1 and back then there wasn’t much that could touch it, at that time the graphics were as good as you could expect, the gameplay was fantastic and the quests nearly impossible to complete, a lot of fun so i’ll be looking forward to a fresh Tomb Raider with new quests, as always with Tomb Raider games the locations were amazing and there is always extras that you just got to do like get all the trophies, artifacts etc..

One other game i’m looking forward to will be Resident Evil 6. Again I seem to flow the opposite to most as I really enjoyed RE5, I got so hooked on that one and I loved the online play too, yet many said they preferred the original ones. Personally I think they went the right way with RE5 although from what has been said it is going to change again in a big way with RE6. I think it might just be a good one for all resident evil fans.

Ok gone on long enough for now, what was/is your favourite RPG and what are you looking forward to?

Tony:)

Well I’ve played a lot on the White Knight Chronicles and I think i’ve got to think about moving onto something else soon. I’m still running around with a GR 11 sword which still surprises me, i’m guild rank 15 and I should have been able to acquire a gr 12 sword a long time ago, doesn’t look like it’s going to happen.

What I have decided to do now is to mainly play solo quests and try and get my platinum trophy, i’m still missing the 500 item bind trophy and the 10 million guilder trophy, I can get both of these on my own. I’m not being funny either, it’s a shame but there are surprisingly few players actually playing this game now compared to just two months ago.

Since watching E3 and seeing the new Assassins Creed i’m really waiting for that, it looks amazing and i’m going to be writing a fairly in depth post on this later on next week, any Assassins Creed fans should check back about mid week.

I will still play WKC even when I get the platinum because for me it is as good as some of the major games like Oblivion and Morrowind and I still go back to those and play them from time to time, WKC will also be a game like that for me and I have every intention of getting me WKC 2 as soon as that comes out.

I’m still going to be around WKC for the next month or so as it will probably take me that long to get platinum, i’m just going to limit my play to less days so I can review more new games hitting the stores.

I’ve also got some special stuff planned for the blog over the coming months but that’s for another post so check back from time to time and don’t be shy, say hi, ask questions, give some advice or just tell us what your up to.

Tony 🙂

Wow, that’s what I said when I saw that article in the news, after clicking through to the story it turns out that a lady decided to sell her old Nintendo system along with 5 games, after just a short while the price was over $6,000

By the end of the auction the grand total was a staggering $16,105 and it wasn’t even the system or the games which was worth the large amount, it was actually the boxed game Stadium Events, the box alone being worth a staggering 10K.

The reason behind this really is because there are as few as 10 of these games known to still be in existence, so purely the rarity of a game decides the value.

I know your all going to be hunting through the attic and basements now for your old Nintendo games, sometimes it’s always worth keeping hold of stuff if your one of those who like to keep your gear in good order.

The only other Nintendo game which surpasses this one is Nintendo World Championships which sold for an amazing $17,500 on ebay

The moral here is make sure you look after your new games, especially the boxes and especially those limited editions.

That’s one amazing result though, hoping to gain a few bucks to maybe go to a concert or something and end up being able to buy a decent plasma screen to go with the latest PS3 system and a whole bunch of limited editions,lol

Tony:)

Well I decided to try a couple of the PSN download games and being a fan of pinball I decided to try this one, the full game is $9.99 which is a little on the expensive side for me but at least it is the full game and you can play online and it is trophy enabled.

First the machines, they are about as realistic as you could expect to find in a game, very smooth, lots of features once you understand them and where they are and very fun to play if you like pinball.

The one i’m concentrating on at the moment is El Dorado, because i’m going for the trophies it means really playing the machine, understanding the angles and knowing what the features are, i’ve only got two of the trophies on this one and there are at least four trophies that I know are going to be extremely hard.

Downside is it doesn’t look like there is a platinum trophy which is disappointing as if any game deserved one it should be this one. There are 24 trophies in all made up of bronze, silver and gold and i’ve managed to pick myself up 6 of those, all being bronze.

There are four machines in all and i’d say it’s only worth buying if like me your waiting on other games to come in the mail and you really want a go at some very hard trophies, it goes without saying you would have to be a person that appreciates the pinball game or your going to get fairly annoyed pretty quickly.

Overall this game is easily a 9/10 as it runs very smoothly, the balls act very naturally like a real pinball machine, the features are pretty awesome once you learn how to get them and it runs seamlessly, no glitches from what i’ve seen so far and a nice break from the norm, there is a free download demo of the El Dorado table and you can play that up to two and a half million points to give you a feel of how it plays if your thinking of buying this.

Zen Pinball: available from the playstation store on PSN

If anyone else has played this one i’d like to hear if you managed to get all the trophies, still waiting on Borderlands, seems by the time I actually get it number 2 will be out, lol, it’s obviously popular.

Tony:)

I know I said I would find better ps3 bundles before christmas but it turns out there are better ones out there now.

Since christmas and the new year has come and gone there are better deals as sales take a downward turn and here is the latest ps3 bundle offer for those who acted wisely and saved their money.



This bundle is quite amazing really and I can’t tell you if it’s a limited time offer as yet.

You get to choose your console and yes there is a choice, remember the 250gig ps3 I wrote about a while ago? That’s the choice, either the normal 120gig or the 250gig which i’m sure a lot of people have been looking forward to. If you choose the 250gig you have to add an extra $50 though, let’s face it it’s worth it.

You also get to choose an extra controller and there are four to choose from, the sony dualshock wireless controller in black,red,silver or blue. I’ve updated this part as at first this didn’t seem like a good deal, what makes it worth it is you get an extra controller and it’s my personal experience you need at least two to get the full value out of some of the ps3 games.

You get to choose your game and it’s not just a couple like you would normally expect, 57 in total, although some require an extra $10 added and some an extra $20 added, the reason is probably to give you more choice in the bundle instead of being landed with a game you don’t really want.

My recommendation if you don’t want to pay any more extra would be either fallout 3 or resident evil 5. If you don’t mind paying an extra $20 for a more recent game then you can pick uncharted 2 or call of duty modern warfare 2, I’ll list all 57 at the end of this post and put the extra price too.

Then you have the accessory to choose with your bundle, the accessory available without paying any extra is the sony blueray remote.

If you want to pick one of the other four accessories then it’s extra so I would recommend sticking with the remote, I paid $20 for mine and it was worth it.

So total price is $399 if you choose the 120gig console, the controller color of your choice,one of the slightly older games (which are still cool),and the ps3 remote, that’s pretty good, I wish i’d have had that much choice when I bought mine.

The only extra I would say is actually worth it is the extra $50 for the 250gig, especially if your like me and enjoy the trophy hunting and messing around in the playstation network/home.

Ok here are a list of the games available in this bundle:

1. Skate 2

2. Star Wars:Force Unleashed-Ultimate Sith Edition

3. Fight Night Round 4

4. Cars: Race O Rama

5. Cabela’s Big Game Hunter 2010

6. Dark Sector

7. Fallout 3

8. Cabela’s Outdoor Adventure 2010

9. Overlord: Raising Hell

10. Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm

11. Socom: Confrontation – Game Only

12. Madagascar 2:Escape 2 Africa

13. Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires

14. Resident Evil 5

15. Baja 1000: Off-Road Racing

16. Call Of Juarez:Bound In Blood

17. Mini Ninjas (+$10 )

18. Need For Speed Undercover (+$10 )

19. Saints Row 2 (+$10 )

20. Star Wars:Clone Wars-Republic Heroes (+$10 )

21. Disney Sing It: Pop Hits With Microphone (+$10 )

22. Bakugan: Battle Brawlers (+$10 )

23. Spiderman: Web Of Shadows (+$10 )

24. Sonic Unleashed (+$10 )

25. Prototype (+$10 )

26. F.E.A.R. 2:Project Origin (+$10 )

27. Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs (+$10 )

28. Harry Potter: Half-Blood Prince (+$10 )

29. G.I.Joe: Rise Of Cobra (+$10 )

30. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (+$20 )

31. Dragon Age: Origins (+$20 )

32. Assassins Creed 2 (+$20 ) This was a great game, gave me my first platinum trophy.

33. WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010 with bonus unlockable walmart exclusive code (+$20 )

34. Madden NFL 10 (+$20 ) Huge game this one, never seen so much in one sports game, my son will be writing a review shortly, if he can leave it alone long enough

35. Tekken 6 (+$20 )

36. Little Big Planet: Game Of The Year (+$20 )

37. UFC Undisputed (+$20 )

38. Fallout 3: Game Of The Year (+$20 ) This is the one worth getting as each of the DLC is $10 a piece on playstation store and there are 4 of them.

39. Borderlands (+$20 )

40. Call Of Duty: World At War (+$20 )

41. Dirt 2 (+$20 )

42. Tekken 6 with bonus walmart tattoo arm sleeve (+$20 )

43. Wet (+$20 )

44. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 with bonus comic book (+$20 ) we’ve all seen how marvel comic books increase in value (only if you look after them)

45. Wolfenstein (+$20 )

46. Dragonball: Raging Blast (+$20 )

47. Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 (+$20 )

48. Batman: Arkham Asylum (+$20 )

49. Resistance 2 (+$20 )

50. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (+$20 ) One of the few which are worth an extra 20

51. NCAA Football 2010 (+$20 )

52. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 (+$20 )

53. Need For Speed: Shift (+$20)

54. Fifa Soccer 10 (+$20 )

55. NBA Live 2010 (+$20 )

56. NHL 2010 (+$20 )

57. Brutal Legend (+$20 ) I played the demo for this and it was quite funny and amusing with a pretty cool storyline, dude you gotta try this one.

Ok that’s all of them, I cannot guarantee these items will remain available, all this information was correct at the time of posting.

PLEASE BE AWARE THAT MANY OF THESE GAMES ARE RATED MATURE WHICH MEANS YOU MUST BE 17YRS OR OLDER TO PURCHASE.

Tony

Pre-order price of $49.82 at amazon

Release date:January 12th

Sorry haven’t posted in a few days but i’ve started the walkthrough for Assassins Creed 2 which is going to take quite a while. I’ll be putting my own spin on it and attempt to give a very accurate walkthrough and also try and make it easy to follow so keep an eye out for that in the coming weeks.

I’m also in the process of researching the latest RPG’s which are hitting the market from now until the new year and will be posting the best ones here so check back in a day or two, there are some excellent ones out already with some more on their way.

If your interested I saw an ad the other day that Target has the new PS3 250 gig but I cannot confirm that at this time, might be worth checking if your in or near a Target store though.

I’m writing walkthroughs in a forum which hasn’t been linked to the blog yet and i’m also thinking of throwing some games your way in the new year, or maybe some T-shirts, not sure yet so if you have any ideas i’m all ears.

That’s all for today, please post your thoughts, game experiences, what you’d like to see on The Guildmasters. I”m not necessarily looking for thousands of members, just trying to create a good gaming community where we can chat about our gaming experiences and a place to hang out and arrange some online play, a gaming site which is laid back, interesting, easy to relate to and to chat about what you really want to chat about as far as gaming goes.

Come on, join in, I don’t bite, unless you bite me first,lol

Tony

Lately i’ve been talking a lot about new releases but surprisingly many of the old classics are still being sold.

I managed to get a copy of Doom3:Resurrection Of Evil, yes I know this isn’t a classic but on the disc was the original version of Doom.

It was quite amazing to play and in it’s day was fairly advanced, it also made me realize how far games had come since the old classics.

One of my sons is playing the original Doom and has spent more time playing that than Doom 3 so I would say the older games aren’t dead yet.

To carry on with the classics theme I also visited playstation home last night and what do I find there in amongst all the new releases and top name games? One with all the old classics, space invaders, pacman, asteroids etc…

These real classics are what some would say really kicked the video gaming off, these games are more than 30yrs old and I can vouch for that as I used to play them on the way to school, what’s really unbelievable is that people still play them, how’s that for playability.

I also noticed while playing the copy of Doom 3:Resurrection Of Evil there were mini games within the game and one of them was a version of breakout, talk about a walk down memory lane. I remember when that started out as just a bat and ball, then the more advanced version came along called breakout and I still love that game even now.

As we move along we saw other simple but addictive games like Tetris, even now I see different version of this game, usually on a cell phone but even in some of the newer games.

I think at the end of the day games have come a long way, and for the better, you can play games now that make you feel like your in a movie playing the main character but the old classics still have playability there and are still a conversation starter, we all like to reminisce from time to time and what a better way to do it over a game of tetris or space invaders or whatever your favourite game was way back when, at least for those of us who can remember, or was even around, lol.

What was your first game you ever played? Was it a classic that everyone knew? Let’s reminisce some before christmas when our stockings will be filled with all the latest games.

Tony

Trying to bring the best to a blog for gamers means giving the best choices and our latest affiliation is no exception, Gamestop is probably the best known gaming store in america and with shopping online made easy and safe Gamestop has probably all your needs in one place:

Specials,new releases, store locators for locating those stores opening at midnight for those who must have a game the minute it releases, trade-ins on your old games and more.

Don’t forget to check out holiday deadlines so you get your gaming gifts in plenty of time.