The Rumble Pack Posts

Tom’s still fiddling around with aging PS2 software and Nick is plowing his way through Breath of Fire II and Prime 3. Meanwhile, Kaz played as much Halo 3 multi-player as he could before having to relinquish his 360 to Microsoft’s service department. The final word on Halo 3: “it’s…good?” The crew discusses the legit import scene and how it relates to you. Finally they discuss all the interesting news including, but not limited to, the new 360 chips, the Dualshock shocker and something for the Uwe watch. No shirt, no shoes, all service!

When Twilight Princess arrived on the Wii last fall, it absolutely knocked my socks off. Perhaps it wasn’t the game to prove the system’s potential, but the dungeons were still expertly crafted and there were enough surprises throughout Link’s quest to justify the hype preceding its release. A year later, the handheld equivalent has arrives in the form of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. Though the some of the new control elements feel gimmicky and the dungeon designs leave something to be desired, Phantom Hourglass still manages to be the best handheld Zelda game since Link’s Awakening.

As you’ve most likely read elsewhere (or noticed in any of the screenshots), this is the direct sequel to the Gamecube classic Wind Waker. The characters, the story (*Spoilers* Gannon’s dead), and especially the presentation have all made the transition to the DS remarkably well. Despite hardware limitations, Link, Tetra, and newcomer Captain Linebeck are incredibly expressive and retain that beautiful “Celda” style that was so controversial years ago. Though developers in the past have used compressed FMVs to tell their stories, this cartoony take on Zelda demonstrates that such shortcuts aren’t always necessary despite the hardware limitations. Other than Metroid Prime Hunters, there isn’t another game on the Nintendo DS that’s anywhere near as stunning. The audio doesn’t make quite the same first impression, but the compositional quality is still topnotch as usual and the voice clips are only occasionally bothersome (“LISTEN!”). Nintendo should be applauded for putting so much oomph into a handheld game.

你好 (Hello)! Not even the Chinese government can silence me! I’m back (in my blog, not stateside) after roughly a month in China. Things are finally starting to slow down a bit now, so I can discuss my recent “adventures” in Beijing and Shijiazhuang.

I spent my first week in China touring all of Beijing’s historical sites and chugging can after can of aloe juice. The Great Wall (above, duh), the Summer Palace, the Temple of Heaven…all of them were as impressive as you’d expect. Yeah, there’s not much else I can say about all of these locations, so I’ll let my photos speak for themselves. My only major gripe would be the “Beijing Olympics ’08” signs plastered over everything. It’s fine to be excited for the Olympics, but it seems tacky to advertise at ancient historical locations.

I’ve earned my axe. Now where’s my crown?

So many of you (all 2, 3?) must be wondering why we here at the Rumble Pack don’t update our blogs that often. “Surely,” you think, “it must be because there is no news truly worth blogging about.” Well sir, I must admit that you are very insightful…and horribly naive. See over here in Cleveland we’ve got a huge case of the LAZIES. Sure we can get together to do the cast every week…but update a website? My dear sage, who, pray think, HAS that kind of time?

Well now that I work…I do. Whoopee!

And what more wonderful way to start off my return to the Rumble Pack blogs than with the news of my exciting accomplishment.

You see that screen-shot up there kids?

Do you see it?

That’s right.

Tonight, on Tuesday, September 5th, 2007, I’ve finished something I set out to do in September of last year.

I’ve become a Guitar Hero.

AWESOME.

We recorded this a mere 2 hours before the midnight launch of Halo 3, don’t be offended that we don’t talk about it. The crew played the Playstation 3 and Tom and Nick have mixed feelings. After discussing their worries about the PS3 the crew moves on to all the bright shiny news from the PS3’s future as well as talking about the prettiest thing your Wii might ever display from VanillaWare. After all the TGS talk there’s not much news to talk about, other than the pre-Halo 3 hype and a little video game movie magic. Get ready to finish that fight today!

P.S. Justin says: Not playing Halo 3 is a sad experience.

Nick, Tom and Kaz meet to discuss and do impersonations. Tom has finished Prime 3 and started every RPG under the sun, Nick started Prime 3 and broke out his inner drum master and Kaz has been grinding all over the place and so has his computer and Xbox; to a dead halt. They gang pits the track-list for Guitar Hero III and Rock Band in a fight to the death and dissect the latest NPD numbers, what does the PS3 need to get going? Then some healthy tidbits from Microsoft at TGS and news from around the industry finish this fight. Tell your friends: it’s time to start rumbling!

Pretentious use of punctuation in a game title aside, I can’t stress enough how much skate. made me smile while playing.

Somewhere between the 10th and 30th time I tried to nail a certain trick off a ledge onto a rail the game did cease to be fun in a traditional sense. But fun in a strangely satisfying way. Hitting a spectacular trick wasn’t common like it is in Tony Hawk, wherein you routinely bust out crazy tricks jumping a 200 ft. gap between buildings, but instead a rarity that seemed to be reward all it’s own.

I stopped trying to beat the “story” mode on several occasions and began idly skating around Vanelona looking for interesting ways to test my skill and the game’s limits. It wasn’t until much later in the game when you unlock the mega ramps that the realism of the game breaks down, until then I found myself trying to constantly test the game for when I would see a sign of the old Tony Hawk style automated gameplay.

Nick, Tom and Kaz hit the studio to talk about all the things that are going to make them happy in the next three months. Before getting to calculating how much money will be spent this winter Nick talks about Super Metroid, Tom talks about Metroid Prime 3 and Kaz talks about all the crappy games he has played. Then the crew tallies up all the purchases they will be making this winter. Followed by a news section that covers everything–the Silent Hill 5 footage, Zelda Crossbow Training, the Lair Reviewers’ Guide. Stay tuned after the outro music for a chat with Justin from China. Enjoy!

Tom, Nick and Kaz pile into the recording studio for an epic decisode. Tom’s been playing PS2 classics and Nick accidentally asks Kaz about Bioshock. The Wii has overtaken the 360 in worldwide sales, the gang discusses who they think is buying the system. Accusations of racism in Resident Evil 5 finally get their spot in the limelight. And a healthy dose of some early Metroid Prime 3 love round out this episode, recorded completely in Cleveland. Get ready for your steamer!