Just when I thought I could get all the coolest press badges from around the world to get into conventions, DragonCon punches me in the nose.  Yes, the Third year in a  row, DragonCon has ignored my request for a press badge even though I pass ALL of their requirements.  This year, I am actually attending, though.  The years before, Blizzcon and other big conventions that I GET PRESS BADGES WITH have been my priority.

I have met a lot of good people over the past year and have decided to go with them, camera in hand.   Matt, from Dim Horizon Studio and the talented steampunk Boba Fett and Meredith Placko will be the crew I tag along with.

The only thing that annoys me about not having a press badge is the THOUSANDS of people with their silly camera phones trying to take pictures and blocking shots.  I may end up punching a Darth Vader if I don’t control my temper.  FORCE, DON’T BE WITH ME – ?  Okay, yeah that wasn’t as funny as it sounded before I typed it… and now I am too lazy to hold backspace.

Irritations aside, I will be attending this HUUUUUUGE convention for the first time this year.  I’ll be trying my best to get the good cosplayers to the side to get some shots with me, but just like Comic Con, it will likely not happen!  This year, though, I do have my new telephoto lens for some great zoom shots – maybe I will get lucky this year?

Either way, stay tuned to BGZ.TV for my daily posts of the convention and cosplay artists.  I will also be holding a community vote for “Sexiest Cosplay of Dragoncon” – Prizes will be awarded to winners!

This weekend is going to be nuts! – I’ll be posting all the awesome pictures right ehre at BGZ.TV – Stay Tuned!

Oh how I hate you so, Square Enix.  Why is it that people all around me get to have their FFXIV beta’s and I don’t?  I never everrrrr get chosen for betas.  WHYYYY?  Okay enough of that.  I can wait.. Least I think I can.

I have been watching a ton of Final Fantasy 14 beta videos since the NDA lift.  Youtube has been flooded with them with the commenter base being all WoW kids bashing it.  To really sum it up, it looks like Final Fantasy XI beefed up version.  Majorly beefed.  The game still looks as if it has the feel of the thought-processing battle system that i absolutely adore from XI.  That is key when it comes to drawing me in, at least.  I enjoyed FFXI tremendously and I am suuuuuper excited about Final Fantasy XIV coming out September 30th – which is very soon.

Early next year (apparently), there will be a PS3 version of the game – which I think is totally cool.  Consoles need a great MMO and FFXIV keeps the console feel from XI but still making it enjoyable for mouse and keyboarders.  I will likely get it for both.  Having the choice to go out in my living room on the couch while having my ps3 controller in hand and playing an MMO with friends sounds like a blast really.  If needed, I can always switch to my PC or even just plug in a keyboard into my Playstation and have at it from there.

I haven’t preordered yet (damnit I should probably do that today)  You get an EIGHT day head start if you get the collectors edition.  Yes.. 8 freaking days – not 1 day.  EIGHT.  That is pretty substantial – I am pretty sure it gives zero reason to get the standard edition – all your friends playing over a week before you?  Yeah, no thanks.

Well, facts aside, lets see some of the videos I have been watching lately.  This video series shows the first 10 levels of a Lalafell Marauder.  From character creation, to emotes and questing as a starter noobie.  Of course, you will notice that he levels really, really fast.  This is probably due to SE making the beta give much more EXP than it will live – for testing purposes.

I really wouldn’t call this “spoilers”.  It really doesn’t get into how the story unfolds or anything.  It is safe to watch :)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7

Part 8

Part 9

Part 10

Shiva surprised the hell out of me when this one arrived at my door – the box is HUGE. I honestly did not think the figure would be this big.  It was kind-of a bittersweet moment opening this Shiva up.  She was gorgeous and huge – but a thought passed my mind that basically screamed “Nope.. aint going to fit in your display case, sucker!”

Got them setup on their stands first.  They came in the box in their Bike form and that is really how it was broken in many places…

Joints don't move all that well really..

The details on their Alien-esque head are very impressive!

Here they are together - They are about 12-13 inches tall on their stands..

See Styria's right leg? I couldnt get it to look correct - She has to 'spread her legs' for the bike position (kinky?) and I didn't want to compromise breaking ANOTHER leg.

See what I mean by Alien head?

Back of the head - gorgeous artwork on the wheel and rims. Also, these wheels move.. they are full rubber and are pretty hefty feeling. Big plus for the concept!

The back of her in done quite well.. Notice the paint distortion on ehr leg? It's really all over her like that.. I didn't like it.. But I guess it was to portray an old-metal look? That's my only guess...

The bases were pretty sturdy.. The only way it holds them is placing the super-heavy wheel on the socket on top.

That stupid leg is driving me nuts...

Tog et her to stand up correctly on the stand, she has to literally use her feet to keep her up, otherwise she sags.. I think it has something to do with that leg socket..

Her legs would be hottness without those metal plates..

I'm going to call them her nuts..

Other side of the wheel on Styria.. gorgeous.

This is what happens if she doesn't support herself with her "feet"

The giant stand.

Now onto Nix.. who had the most damage..

Giant paint mark on her face.. see it?

Focus of her helmet thing..

Her alien head is similar to Styria's

Horrrrible joints. They could break easily if you're not careful, trust me.

This is her legs together in one piece (2 pieces?) She had 3 legs in the package.. You'll see..

Here is the socket where Styria's legs attack for the Bike Form

Styri'as "feet"

Her right leg was in 2 pieces and had to be glued - Many times..

Nix's face

The chains are awesome!

Nix supported herself much better on her stand than her sister..

Other side..

Stupid paint mark...

Handlebars for the bike.. they come out for the bike form. One of them were broken on arrival, sadly.

Now to get them in Bike Form, shall we?

Styria kind of sprawns over Nix to connect to her head - awkward, but it does work.

Tuck Nix's hands under her

Bike View from Nix

Another shot of the wheel - in Bike Form

Styri'as foot attached..

The details on the figure were done quite well.  The biggest problem is how fragile the figure is because it is SO FREAKING BIG.  This figure came in numerous parts that should of been attached to the figure.  Her leg was broken in half, the handbar was busted and the foot bar on Nix was broken as well.  Play Asia is awful at accepting returns – I tried for months and gave up.  I glued it all together and decided to display her.   These problems aside, the figure is quite gorgeous.  The details they put on the bike and wheels are astounding.  I love their efforts to bring the character to life.  There was just too many bad things and bad experiences that this figure caused that has me irritated.  Hey, if you were one of the ones who got lucky and din’t get a broken one, I am sure you feel the opposite of me.. and that’s cool.

This figure is pretty much sold out everywhere – everyone was excited about the Shiva figure – I am extremely disappointed.  Broken pieces and poor craftsmanship.  I canceled my Odin figure which is similar to this one – I am not going to go through this again!  I wouldn’t reccomend getting paly arts figures anyway.  They have never really impressed me.  Why did I spend $260 on this one?

Name: Play Arts Shiva Figure
Series: Final Fantasy XIII
Manufacturer: Play Arts
Scale: 1/6 Scale
Category:
Release Date: March 2010
Approximate Height: approx – 10-12 inches
Overall Personal Rating (out of 5): 3 out of 5
Estimated Cost: USD $190 – $320
Availability: Sold out everywhere

As you may have already known, I have MVC3 on my list of NEED TO HAVE RIGHT FREAKING NOW games list thing that you guys don’t really see.  Anyway,  How about the first full battle video starring Deadpool, Captain America, and Iron Man versus Dante, Chris Redfield and Felicia?  Yeah, it’s time to watch.

Dante is looking extremely badass as expected.  The super moves are really amazing looking and I just can’t stop watching the ridiculous air combo moves of cheesyness.  Chris Redfield doesn’t look like he sucks either! This looks absolutely amazing and I cannot wait for this release (next year or something? damnit!) I shall refresh my combo skills and buy Marvel vs Capcom 2 on Xbox Live until then!

You can get the other promo videos at the Famitsu site.

Here are some awesome screenshots pulled from the sega jp site this morning.

According to the screens, there seems to be 4 player vs split-screen and I even see 2v2 screens there too.  Please be over xbox live!

]]> http://bgz.tv/virtual-on-force-fresh-and-juicy-screenshots/feed/ 1 http://bgz.tv/most-realistic-tf2-soldier-cosplay-ive-seen-medic-and-soldier-cosplay-photoshoot/ http://bgz.tv/most-realistic-tf2-soldier-cosplay-ive-seen-medic-and-soldier-cosplay-photoshoot/#comments Fri, 04 Jun 2010 22:16:58 +0000 BGZ-Durel http://bgz.tv/?p=2663

A little late on my findings here, but there needs to be a medal awarded to this Soldier for the amazing cosplay he is doing in these shots.  This was originally from October 2009 when Ryan and Greg decided to make some really realistic looking costumes for Halloween.

Looking at the picture above, my first thoughts were “holy shit, Valve is making improvements to the source engine?!?!”  Looks absolutely astounding.

Ryan, the one wearing the medic outfit, explains some issues he had with wearing it – Although, I still thinks he got as close as anyone could possibly get to the real medic.

The medic costume I have to admit is the biggest bitch to wear. The biggest problem being the backpack. Its heavy and the fact that the belt doesn’t loop into anything makes it ride up, constantly. I also had a little medical incident recently which means I periodically have excruciating abdominal pain, which I was enjoying for about half the photos we took (whats above is only a small portion of the photos we took.). So blahh. I also had to make a few design concessions because life of course gets in our way as it does and time became an issue but i still think I did pretty good and greg got his spot on.

They both did great – I want to see some Heavy cosplay goddamnit!

My biggest question is – are those just stickers slapped on the DS?  Or is it embedded into the plastics?  Why am I asking this?  Because this is tempting.  I cannot read Japanese and I can’t even play the game that I long for, but the fact that they are plastered all over my game system would make me a happier person.  Or, to other people – a complete freak.  ”HAY GUYS YOU CANT SEE WUT IM PLAYING – BUT YOU SEE THIS CHICK ON MY DS?.. yeeeeahhhh!”

The unpictured deluxe version of this bundle comes with Love Plus + DSi XL + drama CD + mini fans with each of the girls + three character charms + a book called Eternal Watcher Love Plus.  That is a lot of fucking pluses.   All for the price of about 28,000 yen, or $312.   This would be the bundle I’d likely get – just to have it.

The fact that the game just will never show itself on shelves here in the west is an entire different story – This DSi XL will work just fine here in the US, though.  Whenever someone finds a sales page, in freaking English, let me know.

The cause?  These freaking sweet Marvel vs Capcom 3 screens in lovely high-res.  The art style they have adapted looks amazing and is totally making this a day 1 for me.  Marvel vs Capcom 2 was one of those few fighting games that I was ACTUALLY GOOD AT – maybe my skillz will pass on over to this sequel.  Probably not – I got my ass handed to me in MVC2 to the people who knew the infinite air combos.  Who did I play?  Sakura, Cable and B. B Hood of course!.. yeah I know.. weird combo.

Click on the images for the full 1280×720 versions.

Badassawesomesauce is smeared all over those – I am liking the art style they have put in – a LITTLE bit too colorful/flashy – but it looks overly zoomed-in to show you that kick to wolverines chin – who knows.  I can’t wait to see all of this in action!

I am pretty sure I am not the only one who has payed attention to a game that was once gorgeously created in Japan and then translated for us westerners to be surprised with not only language translation, but quite a bit more than expected.

More and more often than not, censorship seems to pop up in the most unusual spots in video games these days. I have been recently playing Monster Hunter Tri for Wii with some friends online(which i am enjoying very much, awesome game!) and just got through farming enough Qurupeco scales for my Qurupeco armor set for my female avatar in the game.(something about female hunters turns me on)

I took a peek online to see the materials needed and even what it looked like – Hey looks pretty sexy, eh?

Qurupeco Set Japanese MH3

I did my farming, got it all made, got it equipped and to my surprise, I had like %4000 more clothing than what i expected.  WTF?

Qurupeco Set American MH3

Was that belly skin too much?  What dick-head gave the word and said “OMG THATS OFFENSIVE TO WOMEN COVER THAT SHIT UP!”  Now, I don’t mind some censorship when it comes to children’s games coming over from japan.  I have seen many box art changes when it comes to DS games specifically.  What I mean by this is perhaps a girl running in a picture and her skirt comes up just a little bit to show, you know, the same color of the skirt but under it??  I wouldn’t call them panties really.  Panties are a different story.  But anyways, Nintendo covered it up and made her skirt not flow so much in her running pose.

It is understandable to a point.  The younger crowd who’s parents have not introduced them to the birds and the bees shouldn’t have to see it and that is cool with me.  But, stupid censorship like in Monster Hutner Tri steps way over the line.  The line that I magically created because I want skin on my ladies, of course.

Now, this is what doesn’t make sense to me.  When it comes to the games released here in the US, they seem to have hit a censorship block on Japans end, also.  Take Left 4 Dead for example.  Take a look at the box art that was censored for the release in Japan.

Does that make sense to you?  We are talking about a decayed-looking thumb being replaced with a.. uhh.. thumb.  It is a damn zombie game!  Not a carpel tunnel syndrome rub-on lotion.

We are talking about a country that made games like Love Plus and is famous for every Eroge-type game on the market.  Why do we not see that here in the US?  We Americans don’t like sex but instead we like blood guts and murder?  Vise versa in Japan maybe?  It boggles me.  I’d rather have less clothes on my animated women, imho.  In short – Why wasn’t I born in Japan?  DAMN YOU MOTHER.

Yeah, this is very opinionated and one-sided and it is really all about what specifically you enjoy in a game.  I was not a fan of the Grand Theft Auto games – I don’t find it entertaining to murder people in a gang just because he flipped his toothpick on the ground incorrectly.  Instead, I lean towards the creepy side.  Let me see some panties and bouncing bewbs and I’ll buy it.

Do I want my character to have less clothes?  Am I some perv guy who wants to see my avatar as sexy as possible?  Yes to both, please.

Nintendo has been famous for censoring stupid shit since back in the day of Castlevania on NES.  Those ancient statues needed to be covered up.. or the people slaying dracula and demons might find it offensive.  The fear of boobies being seen by someone who should know what the hell boobies are is making me facepalm over just thinking about it.

Why is America afraid of bewbs?  The point of covering them up could mean an easier rating by the ESRB but, is the company/developers doing that?  Or the publishers?  Did Castlevania sell more copies because this ladies chest and ass was fully covered by a  robe?

I don’t think so.

Perhaps it is just a Nintendo thing?  The recent release of Record of Agarest War: Naughty Edition might lean towards just that.  How did this game get passed through the lines?  Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love the fact that it did.  It could be the start of getting pantie shots uncensored for RPG translations.  Something I have longed for since I was born. (I came out the womb with a full set of Queens blade figures in my hands)

Agarest War came to the US uncensored – even with a boobie mouse pad.. and a pillow case.  We are talking high quality otaku-only stuff here!  Their marketing was all sex appeal and I haven’t really seen any gameplay at all for the game.  Apparently you are supposed to win over some girl and you guys have some baby hero at the end.  Thats good enough for me to buy – and the mouse pad – and the pillow case.

Surprisingly,  in its uncensored state, Gamestop retailers are refusing to put the box on the shelf.   Anyone wanting to get the game has to painstakingly ask the clerk to get it out the back room (bow chica wou wouuu).  This, in turn creates much less sales – The box art itself could easily grab a bunch of attention – unwillingly or not.   Given Teen rating by the ESRB for “partial nudity,” “suggestive themes” and “mild fantasy violence” doesn’t really make it sound that bad.  Obviously ESRB aren’t the ones censoring stuff here.  Either that or whoever came across this thought the side pictures of the box with a girl eating a sausage in a.. suggestive way, was just.. a girl eating a sausage.

If this game sells, it would mean a lot for companies to start bringing over uncensored games.  That is really the reason I am giving them my 60 bucks.  But really, this is the first game I have seen that has not been slapped by some political dumbass out there.  If Monster Hunter Tri is not allowed to show a friggin’ belly button on my avatar, why can I rub my face on a boob mouse pad?  BRAINSPLODE!

]]> http://bgz.tv/american-video-game-censorship-is-getting-ridiculous/feed/ 4 http://bgz.tv/mike-fahey-video-panel-why-would-you-want-to-be-a-video-game-journalist-momocon-2010/ http://bgz.tv/mike-fahey-video-panel-why-would-you-want-to-be-a-video-game-journalist-momocon-2010/#comments Thu, 22 Apr 2010 08:09:22 +0000 BGZ-Durel http://barngamerz.com/?p=2256 *Please see Edit caption below the videos*

I was pretty excited to know that someone from Kotaku was coming to talk about video game journalism.  It kinda seemed like no one knew who Mike Fahey was.  The start of the panel was pretty small in audience but grew a bit over time.  The real gamers there knew who he was and was there an hour early, like myself, to make sure we had a seat.. to our surprise, there was plenty of seats!  I hope Mike comes out again sometime because his talk was hilarious and informative.

This is a 90 minute panel and has 3 parts. Sit back and enjoy the laughs.  You can also find this in MP3 format on iTunes so that you can listen to it like a podcast.

He did indeed use puppets!

Includes:

-Working with Jessica Chobot
-How he got the job writing for Kotaku.com
-Meeting Industry legends
-Traveling around the world
-ESRB Ratings
-Making someone fall out their chair
-Relationships with other websites
-Getting drunk at E3
-Where to go for jobs in the gaming industry
-Kotaku.com’s comment section

{democracy:7}

Edit: (April 4/22/2010) – After 37 Emails sent back and forth to Mike Fahey, I have decided to make this video set public. Although this is edited per his request during the first dozen emails we traded eachother, this does not have any edits after that. Mike has refused to respond to emails for 4 weeks straight after taking them down per his request due to “what he says about certain people may jeopardize his job”. I respected his requests until he ignored emails for a month. Perhaps this was his plan all along?

Almost 100+ hours of work went into capturing, editing through 1080p video and cutting segments out. Although Kotaku will refuse a backlink to this post, I cannot sit and let some “big timers” try and bring me down. This is the part where i say.. “don’t screw over the guy who has respected your wishes and waited for responses for almost a month”? Yeah, sounds about right.

To spare the dramatic details, he basically didn’t want the videos up at all. I own the videos, since I recorded them, so it is really my decision to post them or not.

Anyways, enjoy the videos.