Shine on you crazy diamond!

• 23Sep 12

  Hey look, its been 6 years...

  Wow, I havent clicked the "Post Blog" button in a long while. Its strange how I find myself browsing this site, looking at old MMO screenshots on the night of 23th/24th of September.

  6 years ago I registered here - mainly to create a game's list - a list that would hold all of the games I owned to date. Interestingly enough, GameSpot still offers that feature. And wouldnt you know it, I still own most of the games on my games list. Initially thats why I registered, I stayed because of the wonderful community and met a lot of people on here. I've seen all of my E3's here, got my gaming news, videos, images, cheats, walkthroughs and got all discussions of new games and consoles I needed. GameSpot definitely earned a place in my bookmarks tab.

  

  Now i'm running out of nice things to say... I havent been (really) active since... probably my last blog post (which was for a contest!) a year ago. I have to say, a lot of people working for GS I really liked left the site and it didn't feel the same ever again. Its safe to say that the next news piece I'll read here, the next review written will be by someone I've never seen before. I have no interest anymore to stick around to get to know them. I've always been a big fan of the emblems on this site, now I can hardly even bother to see if any new ones are available. Its time to move on, though I'm not sure to where really - in fact I'm still searching for something but I'm not sure where to look.

  I hope I convince myself to make another one of these soon. Its been a good 6 years with its ups and downs. I'm glad I've been a part of the site for that long and I hope to be a part of it for a while still.

  It will never be the same and I never have been good at moving on. Till the next one.

  • Posted Sep 23, 2012 6:46 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 19Sep 11

  My JRPG

  Title: Andromeda Chronicles

  
  The Galaxy
  Andromeda galaxy in the 29th century is divided into 3 primary sectors: the inner ring, the middle ring and the outer ring.

  

  -Inner ring-

  The political system within the inner ring can by today's standards be called neo liberalism or capitalism. About half of the solar systems inside it are controlled by large corporations (Ipsum sector) where competition and backstabbing is key to staying alive. Living standards are normal with about 1% of its population belonging to the extremely wealthy **** The other half (Habenae sector) is controlled by corrupt governments. This part of the galaxy is home to very poor living conditions and planets being exploited for their resources by Ipsum corporations. Its residents are slaves but blinded by Ipsum media. The Ipsum armada is present in the inner ring. They are what is left of a functioning government. They provide security for its residents and try keeping corruption to low levels.

  -Outter ring-

  • 40% of the outer ring is controlled by the Omnis. Their political system is something related to that of today's socialism or communism. Everything within the Omnis zone is indirectly controlled by its residents with an established government to keep order and provide protection. Trade with other sectors is mostly regulated and very limited.

  • 10% of the outer ring's territory is controlled by Fatuus rebels. Their primary goal is to take over the Omnis and execute every non-human. They see other species as a threat to man kind and believe a Utopian universe is impossible with aliens as they will seek their destruction. Their master plan involves taking over the middle and inner ring after Omnis falls.

  • The other 50% is no mans land. Half of it, the Ignotus corridor, is not controlled by anyone, it is home to various outter space colonies and is largely unexplored. The other half is Spumae space and is largely uncontrolled and lawless. Populated by pirates, fugitives and other criminals.

  -Middle ring-

  The middle ring (70% of it - Profectus space) is controlled by various governments. It is known for its high technological advancements in every field imaginable and for its high standards of living but has large problems with drug trade and is home to some of the ruthless criminals in Andromeda. Mito sector is uninhabited and unexplored while Tellus is overrun by pirates. Prava is a small part belonging to Profectus corporations. Systems there are highly protected with state of the art technology. Rumors say that planetary weapon testing is done there.
  
  Story
  Set in the year 28xx, you play as a prototype robot built for Hoshida Industries. Your primary job with Hoshida is in its logistics sector. You see, Hoshida is a well founded organisation that deals primarily with fuel production. They are the biggest manufacturer and distributor of fuel in the Andromeda galaxy, controlling nearly 90% of the fuel trade in the inner ring. You, the prototype robot, are one of their cargo ship drivers. You were designed by Ming Tech, a one man technology company based on the upper borders of Profectus. One day, while transporting cargo, your ship is attacked by pirates and after a long battle your ship is leaking the cargo you were transporting. At that moment you find out that you were not transporting fuel at all - your cargo was NCx9 gas (highly dangerous for organic life forms). After returning to Hoshida HQ in the H1 system in Ipsum, you try to inquire information regarding your cargo. Your AI is highly intelligent and specialises in decision making based on experience instead of statistical calculations, this is the driving force for your need to question your assignments. At HQ you get no answers and are told you will be deactivated. At this point you become self aware - an AI flaw triggered by highly improbable circumstances but your way of thinking(based on experience) ables you to think more like organic creatures. You refuse deactivation and are faced with your first boss Gonmul. Gonmul is basically a building that can transform into pretty much anything you dint want it to transform into. His size is his weakness though.

  In the case of becoming self aware you were designed to return to Ming Tech and upon lading on the lone planet, where you were 1st activated, you find the lab you were made in is destroyed and your maker nearly dead. Before he dies, he tells you Hoshida did this and that they took development plans for your ****of android. You start travelling across the galaxy in search of answers while Hoshida is constantly on your tail.

  After a while you find out you were actually designed to take over fuel production in Hoshida production plants in Habenae sector. Currently all workers in their plants are organic species and Hoshida aims to replace them all with the final robot product (of which you are a prototype). You were designed for that purpose and your first assignments transporting NCx9 gas were tests conducted to see if their plan was viable. The most disturbing plan however, involves the NCx9 gas. Hoshida wants to release it in their plants and planets all over the Habenae sector and effectively killing every complex organic life form - Hoshida just sees them in getting in the way of profit.

  At this point you have made some friends and enemies in Andromeda. They will serve you well and your next step is to decide who you will side with. Your can side with:

  1. Omnis - destroy Hoshida and liberate the Habenae sector
  2. Fatuus - destroy Hoshida but release a similar gas to destroy every non human in Habene
  3. Ipsum armada - lock down Hoshida and effectively stop their operations
  4. Hoshida industries - side with Hoshida and complete their plan and effectively start a war between Omnis, Ipsum armada and Hoshida

  Other stuff + gameplay
  

  -> You have a pet cat called Mittens that is always on your ship. Mittens can talk and has an IQ of 233. He is your sidekick but due to being a cat can not help you on the ground.

  -> After beating the game you are free to roam the galaxy, go to every system you wish and do whatever you wish.

  -> The game is an open "world" environment. You can always go wherever you wish and do whatever you wish.

  -> Besides the main story you can complete side quests and become a freelancer - merc - trader - smuggler - pirate - bounty hunter.

  -> You can change ships, upgrade them, upgrade weapons & shields

  -> Gameplay is largely based in space flight - shooting (X3, DarkStar one, Freelancer, Eve Online) and not on the ground shooting (Mass Effect)

  -> Your actions have consequences, the galaxy is very dynamic and factions will treat you differently depending on your previous actions

  -> Multiplayer acts as an MMORPG and has MMO elements

  ---

  And that is Andromeda Chronicles. Out in 2013 on Steam, 360, PS3 and WiiU.

  • Posted Sep 19, 2011 10:00 am GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 17Sep 11

  TGS Puzzle activity

  Full image from the latest GS puzzle activity!

  ***SPOILER***

  

  PS: I will know if you steal it!

  • Posted Sep 17, 2011 1:44 pm GMT
  • Category: Other
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