The VG-R Blog

Introducing...Maimtron 9000

2009-03-18T09:40:00.000-07:00

You may notice a second gamertag in the blog. It's my second account, which is my personal one that I created at the start of 2009. Agent Superball will mostly be used for reviewing games, while Maimtron 9000 will be used for pure gaming.

Case in point, Maimtron 9000 only has to get the Professional achievement in Resi 5 to get the full 1000. I'm gonna try to give that a go later tonight.

So, just who is Maimtron 9000?
Maimtron 9000 is a robot appearing in Sam & Max Season Two.

After a brief cameo at the start of Reality 2.0, where he is also said to be Max' new presidential press secretary, the Maimtron makes his first true appearance at the start of Ice Station Santa. Sent to Sam & Max as a Christmas present, he kills Mr. Spatula, rearranges the street (moving Sybil's office to be in between Bosco's Inconvenience and Stinky's Diner), and tries to similarly thrash the office. Sam & Max defeat him by distracting him long enough to remove the wind-up key from his back.

While Sam and Max are busy at the North Pole, Jimmy Two-Teeth claims the remains of the Maimtron to set up a rat casino. In What's new, Beelzebub?, Sam uses the AI salvaged from the T.H.E.M. ufo (together with the power source Jimmy installed for casino use) to bring Maimtron 9000 back to life, and then uses him to pick up a coin-sized token from Ms Bosco's apartment.

The Maimtron 9000 often talks in quotes from "hideously middle-of-the road" pop songs (as Max describes it). When not busy causing widespread destruction, he likes to ponder matters of philosophy.

Who Watches the Watchmen? I do!

2009-03-04T17:05:00.000-08:00

I have just come back from seeing Watchmen in London and I really enjoyed it. It's quite long at 2 hours and 40 odd minutes, but did see a few noticeable cuts that fans will notice. If the rumours are true, hopefully it'll be added onto a special extended version for all to enjoy.

The film sticks very closely to the comic book (which I have read and loved) the acting is superb, especially Rorschach's character. I recommend to every fan to see it, forget anything negative you may have heard...it's all BS.

You Want Proof? Here It Is.

2009-02-18T13:56:00.000-08:00

There's been a small few who have accused me of not even having a copy of Killzone 2 for review, saying that Sony wouldnt dare send me a copy. If you must know, I'm respected by Sony for being honest and not a pawn in the industry.

For those who still doubt I got a copy, take a look at this picture I just took:

My arguments about Killzone 2 are valid enough. I liked it, I enjoyed it...I just didn't love it like the fanboys do, even though most of them probably haven't even played it yet. When you do, you'll know that my verdict was quite fair.

So Far...So Good...

2009-02-18T11:27:00.000-08:00

After the madness of the reaction from the Killzone 2 review, things are starting to lighten up. Street Fighter IV got a much deserved 9.5 score for the PS3.

Tomorrow's review will be GTA IV: The Lost and Damned. Friday will see FEAR 2 Project Origin getting its final score from yours truly. Next week I'll be reviewing all Square-Enix's latest titles including Chrono Trigger DS, Star Ocean Second Evolution PSP, Disgaea 3 PS3 and Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride for DS.

Right now, I'm finishing up TLAD for tomorrow and so far, it's pretty damn good. Look out for the review sometime on Thursday.

As Sinatra Would Say "Let It Snow, Let it Snow"...

2009-02-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

This week has been a complete nightmare for the UK. Early hours of Monday it began snowing the worst for 18 years. It's now Thursday and we're expecting even more tomorrow, resulting in me being snowed in yet again!

Luckily my internet has held out, so all is well. I was also lucky to get my PC back after a nice 2GB upgrade of RAM, making it upto 4GB. GTA IV is running much smoother now :)

We'll have to wait and see what the weather brings tomorrow, but chances are it won't be good...

2009 - The Blog is Back!

2009-01-22T02:26:00.000-08:00

I realise that its been months since my last blog post, this has been due to a very busy time reviewing and posting over at VGR. While it wont change dramatically, the blog will get more frequent posts and updates. For today though, I'm off to an event for Warner and wont be able to talk about it for a few weeks....

GTX 280...It's Alive!

2008-12-01T18:04:00.000-08:00

I got round to testing the GTX 280 out on Friday after spending hours trying to recover my files after my external HDD spewed it all out. I got most of them back but lost a ton of videos and music that I had accumulated over the years...:(

Anyway back to the 280. I put it through its paces with Fallout 3 first, which was pretty sweet....I can't wait to go back to it properly and finish it off once and for all. Then I tested it with Crysis and Crysis Warhead....no problems, no cut-outs like before...runs like a dream for a machine that has only 2gb in it.

I'm hoping to start playing LOTRO Mines of Moria soon and review it next week, so be sure to keep an eye out for it.

GTX 280 Fixed?

2008-11-28T12:15:00.001-08:00

Well I just got my PC back from the repair shop, they installed a 1000w PSU that has a combined 12V of 80 amps. So far it seems to have done the trick and is running smoothly, I'll put it to the test later when I've recovered my files from my buggered external HDD.

GTX 280 Update

2008-11-23T11:51:00.001-08:00

Well I finally got my GTX 280 installed....only to discover that my PSU isn't giving it enough power. When I run Crysis/Fallout 3 or any other great PC game, the computer has a heart attack and the card goes into standby.

So the next step is for me to replace the PSU, which I hopefully will be able to do this week.

Damn the GTX 280!

2008-10-16T13:02:00.001-07:00

I had just bought an EVGA GTX 280 for my PC and installed it with no problems…then I turned the PC on and noticed a long continuous beep followed by a shorter one. I check the manual on the CD and it turns out that the card is faulty. So now I have to go through all this hassle of sending it back, getting a replacement and seeing if I can get it working. What a nightmare!

Site Changes

2008-09-23T21:05:00.001-07:00

Over the coming weeks, VG-Reloaded will go over a few changes...we also have a big surprise for you that I'll be posting next week. So stay tuned to the site for all the latest developments!

Summer Athletics Event

2008-08-13T12:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I embarked on to Battersea Park for the Summer Athletics launch event. We had a few events. The first was smashing an original Xbox controller, the second was to see how far we could throw a promo disc (I got silver in that!) a Wiilay(Relay) and throwing an original Xbox as far as possible. ITN were there and got some good footage here

The Wii and Xbox 360 review of Summer Athletics will go live next week.

The Update

2008-07-29T13:04:00.000-07:00

You'll have noticed the lack of podcasts over the recent weeks/months, its mainly because the site is in a flux of changes right now. The forums are temporarily closed while we attempt to fix a few bugs with the site and then begins the campaign to re-launch and entice you into posting.

On a personal note, I went to see Lego Batman and The Dark Knight last week thanks to Warner...it's looking like good old fun from the guys at Travellers Tales and be sure to look for the review in the coming months. Reviews this week should include Pool Party for Wii and Buzz Master Quiz for PSP, so keep an eye out!

Goodbye Forums

2008-07-18T14:46:00.000-07:00

After much debating, I have finally decided to close the forums, effective immediately. This comes after months of inactivity, but I do promise a full revamp and relaunch as soon as possible. Hold on to your hats.

Fitness Update

2008-07-14T06:54:00.000-07:00

It's been a pretty rough week for yours truly. Last Monday, my ankles swelled up so I couldn't walk, but I'm back on the mend and should be active in a few days. But I'm showing the early signs of a head cold, bloody typical! So chances are that I again won't get around to doing a podcast this week, what with E3 and the backlog of games I have to review, sorry about that folks...

MXO chapter 10.3.2 story summary (7/3-7/9) - 07/11/2008

2008-07-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

ZionOS ccc9

Monday, July 11, 2008

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//ID: MXO chapter 10.3.2 story summary //

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Zion found nothing but hostile guards at the Wright Research facility Mauser appeared to have raided weeks earlier. Shortly thereafter, Pendhurst-Amaranth chairwoman Brenda Utley contacted Zion, and revealed that Wright Research was threatening to sue her company; Wright alleged that Mauser broke into their office at Pendhurst-Amaranth's behest, basing this on claims of connections between Mauser and Zion, and between Zion and Pendhurst-Amaranth, dating back to the Unlimit affair.

Cypherites contacted the Machines, confirming Merovingian raids on the Ouroboros Corporation, intended to retrieve information related to the intruders. The Machines located Merovingian forces attacking an Ouroboros office and repelled them, taking care not to harm the corporate guards at the site. Gray noted that Ouroboros had failed to notify the proper authorities of the attack by the Merovingian.

Merovingian operatives kidnapped an Ouroboros network manager, obtaining a list of Ouroboros network passwords from the information he supplied. They began putting the passwords to use, infiltrating Ouroboros systems, but encountered resistance from the Machines.

Zionites assisted Brenda Utley at a court-appointed hearing, attempting to resolve the Wright/P-A dispute. Although Utley and Zion strongly maintained their position that they had nothing to do with any action by Mauser, Wright Research's representative insisted that Wright had information to the contrary, and said that they would continue to press their claim.

An Ouroboros security guard attempted to kick Merovingian operatives out of a parking lot in Lemone. The guard put up a tough fight, and had hopes of being promoted to an easy job in network security, but operative reinforcements put an end to his hopes of landing a dream job.

Machine operatives investigating the disappearance of a SWAT unit encountered and pursued the Twins across Downtown, tracking them all the way to an Ouroboros complex, where the Twins were at work cutting through the company's guards. Machine operatives joined in the security melee around the Twins, who departed without much delay. The operatives were then quickly recalled by Agent Gray, who said that it was extremely important that the Machines avoid engaging Ouroboros security forces, as this could result in an alert being sent back to the real power behind Ouroboros: the Oligarchs.

Flood and Merovingian operatives disguised as Agents attempted to use their assumed federal authority to enter an Ouroboros lab, with the aim of confiscating valuable data. They were surprised when the Ouroboros guard at the site stated that their federal jurisdiction did not apply at the company's facility. A battle ensued, and although the operatives eliminated the guard, reinforcements eventually forced the operatives to join Flood in choosing discretion over valor. A safe distance away, Flood pointed out that Machine authority was evidently worthless when it came to dealing with Ouroboros.

//Datastream Closed//

##Connection Terminated##

MXO chapter 10.3.1 story summary (6/26-7/2) - 07/07/2008

2008-07-11T01:48:00.001-07:00

ZionOS ccc9
Monday, July 8, 2008

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Deciphering a cryptic message found while searching Westview several weeks earlier led Zion operatives to the Camon Heights Exile, Silver, who had already taken the precaution of going into hiding. When checking up on Silver's old business partner, Wright Research, the operatives heard of a break-in attempt at Wright weeks earlier by an individual matching Mauser's description.
Machine operatives took care of problems caused by EPN and Zion operatives, and asked a coppertop meteorologist for an "intuitive" analysis of the heightened storm in the Real; the meteorologist's opinion was that the storm activity could last for some time, possibly growing worse. After hearing the report of these various operations, Agent Gray said that the most efficacious course of action at present would be putting a stop to the Merovingian's disruptive activities.

Merovingian operatives kidnapped an Ouroboros network manager, delivering him to Exiles for interrogation on means of accessing that company's secured data. They also found that they had been observed by a Cypherite spy during the course of this operation.

Operatives delivered data to the Effectuator in Ashencourte, where they encountered resistance by EPN forces. The transfer was completed, although EPN obtained another set of data that had been hidden nearby.

Niobe led a small group of Zion operatives into the Merovingian's chateau, looking for clues about what he was after at Ouroboros. Meanwhile, other Zion operatives sought to distract the Merovingian's attention by battling security forces outside his Hel Club; this battle grew quickly due to an unexpected attack by Cypherite operatives. Niobe and her team were located and chased from the chateau by a Twin and powerful Exile guards, but not before they confiscated some data.

Disguised Cypherite operatives snuck into Ouroboros, seeking to capture a sample of the Oligarch data said to be feeding into hidden computer systems there. During their search, they crossed paths with Merovingian Exiles, possibly pursuing a similar goal. The Cypherites overcame the Exiles and Ouroboros security forces long enough to extract some of the foreign data.

The Merovingian, annoyed by Cypherite interference, tracked down the Cypherite leader, Cryptos, and warned him against further disruptions. Cryptos said that he had wanted to obtain the Oligarch data sample from Ouroboros in order to advance his research into developing a counter-agent to the override codes used by the intruders.

E Pluribus Neo used information obtained from Exiles, including a scheme captured from a Machine mainframe, to decrypt the file they had recovered from a hovercraft terminal found among bits and pieces of dismantled hardware in a maintenance tunnel near old Zion. They found that the file contained a topographic map of the no-fly zone established by the Machines far to the northwest of the Machine city--the same area to which the Merovingian had recently dispatched the General and his Sentinels. In light of this coincidence, Shimada said that it was time EPN looked into the area themselves.

//Datastream Closed//

##Connection Terminated##

Yet, Another Delay

2008-07-11T00:15:00.001-07:00

Sorry folks but the podcast will AGAIN be delayed due to illness. I should be back next week...

Another Podcast Update

2008-07-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

Due to a somewhat heavy workload of games (Currently upto 12 at time of writing) the podcast will be recorded on the 11th July instead of today. But future podcasts should still return the first Friday of every month after that.

MXO chapter 10.2.5 continued story summary (6/19-6/25) - 06/27/2008

2008-06-30T05:19:00.000-07:00

ZionOS ccc9

Friday, June 27, 2008

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Ghost and Zion operatives stopped a Machine attempt to hack a previously undiscovered section of Zion's old restricted-access hardline system in Park East.
The Effectuator was caught by operatives while trying to gather information at Kalt Chemical Engineering in Kedemoth. Kalt herself appeared on the rooftop, warning the group of operatives to disperse. A strong security force appeared on the scene shortly thereafter.

A small group of operatives found Persephone musing at an old bookshelf in a hidden study in the chateau. A conversation about the nature of love followed, and Persephone invited operatives to write down their own love stories to share with others.

Operatives found Ghost standing quietly in Debir Court, near the bench where the Oracle was killed. Ghost and the operatives talked about the war and the views of the opposing sides. Ghost remarked upon Machine insistence on remaining emotionless, and wondered if humans had reason to fear that Machines might become better at feeling emotions than humans, whom they have already surpassed in industry and science.

Disguised Cypherites infiltrated a party held by the Merovingian at the Hel Club. The operatives, in the guise of Exiles, attempted to get the Frenchman to talk about his ambitions in investigating the Ouroboros Corporation, but his replies were light-hearted and insubstantial. Ookami appeared, examined several of the Cypherites, and unleashed an attack of lupines that drove the operatives out of the club.

//Datastream Closed//

##Connection Terminated##

Podcast Update

2008-06-21T08:48:00.002-07:00

After much debating, I have decided to start doing the podcast ONCE a month. I'm toying with the idea of the first Friday of every month, so the next show should be live on 4th July. Keep an eye out for it...

The Matrix Online Story Summary, 10.2.5 (6/12-6/18) - 06/20/2008

2008-06-21T08:48:00.001-07:00

ZionOS ccc9

Friday, June 20, 2008

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//ID: Chapter 10.2, Week 5 Story Summary //

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Zion searched for whoever it was that was in Westview, Mauser or the Morpheus simulacrum, but found only an old disconnected phone line, Cypherites, and a cryptic message on a mysterious computer.

Pluribus Neo detected an unidentified small craft heading north from a deep tunnel location around old Zion. Searching the tunnels, they found a recently used site strewn with pieces of Sentinels and hovercraft. A terminal from one of the hovercraft was found to contain some data, which they set to work decoding.

The Machines located Mauser's RSI, and were moving to lock his signal, when the Morpheus Signal appeared in their scan control room, disrupting the procedure. By the time they could reinitialize the process, Mauser was nowhere to be found.

The General, returning from the Machine no-fly zone, sent back all of the data he had pulled from the mysterious network line found there. The data was found to contain circa-1999 traditional human network headers. These were tracked by Merovingian operatives to a private corporate provider, where they were ambushed by security guards from the Ouroboros Corporation.

A bluepill named Gerald Croyden complained bitterly about the difficulties of moving and coming back to the city, but persevered to attend his son's high-school graduation.

Merovingian operatives pumped Ouroboros tour guide Judie Lahler for information in Club Janus in her off hours. Judie, who leads tours in Ouroboros' corporate headquarters in Creston Heights, indulged in a number of drinks, and seemed unhappy about her job, calling it boring and restrictive. She said that the things she had to tell tour guests about the corporation were just silly lies, that no real work was done there, and that nobody ever told her anything.

Cypherites found the Morpheus simulacrum in a church in Westview. The simulacrum admitted that it had intended to be disruptive in its sudden return, and made mention of the difficulty of achieving peace. The simulacrum directed the operatives to a nearby construction yard, where they found Pluribus Neo operatives in the act of using Code Pulse Devices. The Cypherites eliminated the operatives and defused the devices.

Pluribus Neo shut down the Matrix interfaces to their scanning equipment around Zion's old city, after finding the Machines attempting to hack into the interfaces once again. Shimada said that from now on they would have to rely on indirect communication with the scanning arrays in the Real.

Machinists tracked down a dangerous escaped lupine, Vulg, and eliminated him. Their Exile informant, Rosaleen, startled by the sudden approach of one of the Twins, was killed by the trigger-happy Machine operative BlazinWolf.

//Datastream Closed//

##Connection Terminated##

The Matrix Online Story Summary, 10.2.4 (6/5-6/11) - 06/13/2008

2008-06-21T08:47:00.003-07:00

ZionOS ccc9

Friday, June 13, 2008

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Mauser's course through Zion's old restricted line system ran through Merovingian territory, causing problems for the Zionites tracking him, and for the Merovingian and his Exiles, who found themselves victims of the theft of the topographic data on the no-fly zone they had stolen earlier from the Machines.

The Machines, encountering an unexpected error message when trying to capture surface scan data from EPN computers, resort to the internet black market in order to obtain information on EPN's rescue of Jason Lock, in which Mauser, according to Lock's account, had been involved. Lock's account contained noteworthy discrepancies, however, not the least of which was that Sentinels were supposed to have killed Mauser, in spite of the fact that, according to the Machines, they had no Sentinels in that area at the time. After obtaining a copy of flight data from the EPN ship that had picked up Lock from the ruined building on the Earth's surface where he said he had been hidden by Mauser, the Machines realized that the building was the same lab where, roughly nine months earlier, they had found and killed Danielle Wright, whose connection to Zion's mainframe had then become the key to the Machine destruction of Zion's former city. Agent Gray suggested that Mauser, a highly skilled technician, may have salvaged Wright's technology from the ruined lab, which could explain some of his surprising capabilities in the simulation.

Pluribus Neo, following up overheard police reports of a person matching Mauser's general description in Westview, ran into dedicated Morpheus follower Joshua Maston, who said that police may have had Mauser confused with the Morpheus simulacrum, whom he had just encountered in the area.

A previously unknown operative contacted the faction Temet Nosce, asking for help in reclaiming his former life from a program the Machines had put in his place. His attempt to assassinate the program was brought to an abrupt end by Agent Griffin, who shot him dead, and explained to the operative whose cooperation he had hired that the assassination target was a real bluepill, and that the would-be killer was in fact an exiled program. The Temet Nosce operative was skeptical of the Agent's spin on the story.

Machinists helped guide a team of operatives on foot through the raging electrical storm at the Earth's surface, searching for the fugitive Mauser's broadcast location. The furious storm claimed victims among the surface team, but, guided by operatives analyzing the scans they returned of the area, they succeeded in locating a Zionite "lightning gun" firearm at the edge of a large chasm in the Earth's crust.

Ookami and Merovingian operatives followed Mauser's erratic trail across Downtown, fending off Mauser's former crewmate, Colt, who was also looking for the evasive former technician of The Hammer. The Merovingians found Mauser just as he jacked out in a far corner of Creston Heights.

//Datastream Closed//

##Connection Terminated##

The Matrix Online Story Summary, 10.2.3 (5/29-6/4) - 06/06/2008

2008-06-21T08:47:00.001-07:00

ZionOS ccc9

Friday, June 06, 2008

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Zion began the process of shutting down known sections of the old restricted access hardline system, now compromised by Mauser, and possibly under threat of scrutiny by the Machines. Progress along one of the branches came to a sudden halt when a Decelerator program, one of the intruder overrides, appeared nearby, its command routines scrambling the line.

The Machines began investigating the restricted line system, using data captured from Zion's old mainframe, as well as intelligence gathered by spying on Zion operatives, to determine that an unusual broadcast signal associated with the system--possibly Mauser's Matrix connection--was coming from the vicinity of old Zion.

With the tropospheric ducting effect of the seeded Dark Storm re-enabling communication with the General in the distant Machine no-fly zone, the Merovingian started looking for Machine links that would help unscramble complex data found in the strange network there. Data was obtained, but the General's comm link into the Matrix was severed just after he relayed a report of an incoming missile attack on his forces, from an unknown source.

Pluribus Neo helped the ex-Zion operative Grace work out some personal issues with her nemesis Ginjiro, leader of the Silver Dragon gang, in exchange for whatever she could tell them about Zion's old restricted hardline network. Grace showed EPN the phone line in Furihata that was her appointed emergency exit when she worked there for Zion, but said that she had never used it, and that Zion had informed her that the system was being shut down when the Truce with the Machines went into effect.

Merovingian operatives helped a commando program salvage flight data from the General's downed Sentinels in the no-fly zone. Retrieving the remains of their programs after these were returned to the Matrix by the commando, it was found that just before they were destroyed by missiles, some of the General's Sentinels had detected a distant ship matching the profile of the craft used by the intruders, Carlyne and Halborn.

Now able to access sections of the restricted line system, Zion operatives chased Mauser through unmarked lines across the city. They caught up to him several times, but he did little to acknowledge them, uttering only one sentence in Downtown, and ignoring his old crewmate, Colt, before vanishing through a phone near the Hel Club. A Runtime program appeared where he had been standing, bringing overridden Machine programs that attacked the assembled Zion operatives, and disabling the line Mauser had used to escape.

The Machines captured Pluribus Neo scanning stations on the surface above old Zion, and accessed their control interfaces inside the Matrix to begin using them to help pinpoint Mauser's broadcast. But, much to the surprise of both the Machines and Pluribus Neo, the scanning station network security systems, which had been disabled in the earlier Machine attack at the surface, suddenly re-engaged, forcing the Machines to give up the attempt.

//Datastream Closed//

##Connection Terminated##

Age of Conan Launch Event Video

2008-06-09T12:55:00.000-07:00

The AOC Launch Event in Oslo!