LANCOZA Blog

The latest World at War Map Pack launches tomorrow. And despite all the hatred for Treyarch, they certainly seem to have redeemed themselves with the great map packs that they have released for World at War.

I am a huge zombie fan but I don't really like the new level as much as I do the first two. However the Bowie knife, weapon upgrades and exploding monkeys certainly grabbed my attention.

First we have the ongoing rumours of a PlayStation 3 price cut. This has been further fueled by stories of the a PlayStation 3 slim being released. Now there is speculation that Microsoft will discontinue the Xbox 360 Pro edition and keep the Arcade and Elite, which could be timed to pre-empt the PlayStation 3 Slim and it's price reduction. As always only time will tell.

The blog updates are a bit late because I was ill for a few days. The doctor said that it was a combination of allergies and bronchial spasms but I maintain that it was a rare strain of flying pig flu . Either way, there has been alot of gaming news in the past week that I have to catch up on.

First up, Comztek , the guys that were appointed the temporary Xbox 360 distributors will continue as the stand-in distro until the end of this year. When they were initially appointed, they were only intended to be the fulfillment agents for three months. Someone has yet to explain why Microsoft cannot be the official  distributor of their own gaming product. Then again Ster Kinekor does Playstation, so who knows how these agreements work in the rarified atmosphere of multi-national corporations.

This might be the coolest vending machine in the known universe.

 In addition to Kiefer Sutherland and Gary Oldman, Mickey Rourke is also muscling in on the game voice acting. Rourke will be the voice of the lead character, Richard  Marcinko in Rouge Warrior. Rouge Warrior is the new shooter from Bethesda.

 

With the impending launch of retail Microsoft stores , by all accounts Old Bill is trying to out-snob Apple. It's a direct attack on the Apple stores with plans to open shops in close proximity to the temples of Steve Jobs. The guys at Penny Arcade have their own unique take on the stores.

In case you haven't noticed, I am not an Apple fan. An over-priced, dumbed down computer is not my idea of a good time.

Infinity Award have spared no expense with no less than three flavours of CoD Modern Warfare 2 to satisfy your taste. There is the ordinary version in a standard disc case, the tin box version, also known as the Hardened version and the Prestige version. The Prestige could also be called the 'are-you-out-of-your-fucking-mind' version. The reccommended retail price is R1500 , granted it has a tin box and night vision goggles, but it still costs more than three copies of the game. I would like to know what kind of night vision goggles you can buy for a few hundred rand. If they are this cheap then we should be selling them to peaceful countries like Iraq.

I can see the attraction of a special edition that has a figurine, bobble head, or even a tin lunch box . But an over-priced children's toy is going a bit far. Will someone please ask the Activision marketing department to take the seeds out before they smoke.

We have been informed that the interim Xbox 360 hardware and software vendor is Comztek . Microsoft is still in the process of finalising the selection of a new distributor.

I will update the post as I receive additional information.

My giant robot love know no bounds. In all honesty it started with a MechWarrior game trailer and simply veered out of control. As much as I love the idea of piloting a giant robot, MechWarrior's controls made it all too clunky. It was more robot simulator then arcade action. I want my Mech combat to be more Shogo than simulator.

I hope the new MechWarrior game that's in development allows me to simply run around and blow things up without having to worry too much about over-heating weapon systems and depleted jump jets.

And lastly, in the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' news , Infinity Ward have reverted to the Call of Duty part of Modern Warfare 2 . Just goes to show that if you have spent a ton of cash creating and marketing a brand, it's not very helpful to then de-brand it .

I am Timber Wolf

I am not a fan of the comic style, the illustrations are not really to my taste. But if you are a Star Wars fan and like Dark Horse comics, then this two for one special is for you.

As a dyed in the wool , world war fan, I like to find new and interesting ways to kill Nazis. Saboteur looks like an interesting concept in the works, it is coming from EA's Pandemic Studios so we should hope for good things...

Unchartered 2 is looking very pretty, hopefully this time they can stick to a consistent story line and turn down the monster hunting a bit.

There are a few news reports doing the rounds that MI Digital has closed down.

 The nature of liquidations is that they are kept secret until the very last moment, I learnt this first hand from the Light Edge liquidation. We did not receive a formal announcement from a Light Edge exec, we learnt it from a low level tech and had to scramble to salvage our equipment before the doors closed.

It may be the same for MID.

 The good news may be that Microsoft takes over distribution directly and we have improved service or that they appoint a new distributor that knows the meaning of customer service.

In the interim  Microsoft will most probably take over the warranty claims for hardware problems. I doubt that the new distributor will take long to be appointed, the existing distributors can smell the money in the water and will be scrambling to take over where MID has failed.

Let's just hope that it's not Core. 

Some things that are done in Japan are just plain wrong and then others are all kinds of right . What is better than a 60foot tall robot? A 60 foot tall robot that lights up and has a moving head!

 In other giant robot news, there is a new Macross game out for the PSP. You that you want it.

And yes, my name is Ebrahim and I have an unhealthy love of giant robots.