Author: AJ

TF2 that is. Can you smell it in the air?

– Ajguy

Tonight Koji Igarashi was at the EB Games located at the Universal City walk to take pictures and sign autographs for fans. If you’ve played Symphony of the Night, any GBA (excluding Circle of the Moon), or DS Castlevania titles, you might know who Iga is. If not, uh… he made the aforementioned games. He also dresses like a cowboy!

What’s a gaming event without a cosplayer?

Just some shots of the line.

Iga is signing my stuff!

Me and the man himself

Just some more shots of Iga in action.

He actually got really excited when I brought a pristine Castlevania for him to sign. Most people had SotN or DS games.

Today Valve has started taking preorders on Steam for the long awaited Orange Box. For those not in the know, the Orange Box includes Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Team Fortress 2, and Portal. If you preorder on Steam before the pack’s October 10 release date, you save 10% off the usual price of $49.95. Also for preordering, you get Peggle Extreme. Peggle Extreme brings the addicting gameplay of my personal favorite Popcap game to the worlds of Half Life, Team Fortress, and Portal (there’s a unicorn with a headcrab on its head).

But most importantly, preordering gets you into the Team Fortress 2 beta, which starts Monday, September 17. Yes, that’s right. On Monday, after waiting 8 years, I will be playing Team Fortress 2!

And finally, continuing the series of excellent videos, Valve has released their latest TF2 character study entitled Meet the Engineer. Enjoy!

– Ajguy

It was on 9/9/9 that North America was blessed with the Sega Dreamcast. Now, eight years later, we celebrate Dreamcast Day! So plug in your old DC one more time and play some games! Looking over my collection, I think today shall see some Jet Grind Radio, Soul Calibur, Chu Chu Rocket, and perhaps even more! If only the PSO servers were still alive.

– Ajguy

I just wanted to gloat a little. After however many months since the game’s release, I have finally completed the main quest of Oblivion. I have to say, it was one of the coolest endings I’ve ever seen in a game. So now that I’m done, I plan on playing around with some side quests and buying some of the smaller DLC until the retail release of Shivering Isle (with included Knights of the Nine) comes out in October. Anyone else have found memories of that game?

– Ajguy

I didn’t have this info yet at the time of recording the latest show, but Gametap did see some releases this week. Are you ready to be John Romero’s bitch all over again?

• Daikatana (PC) – What was meant to be the most ambitious shooter of all time turned out to be a whole bunch of poorly executed features. Consider this one worth checking out purely for historical purposes.
• Infernal (PC) – This third person action game wasn’t actually terrible judging by the demo I played a few months back. Heaven and hell are fighting again, and you’re in the middle of it.
• Blast Miner (PC) – Some sort of indie puzzle title. I got nothing.
• Morning’s Wrath (PC) – Another Gametap indie title. I guess this is some sort of Diablo clone.
• Startopia (PC) – It’s like Simcity in space! A lot of people say that this game also seems like it could have been an inspiration for Viva Piñata. That would make it Viva Piñata in space!

Have fun, all you Gametappers. Incidentally, I’m Ajguy on Gametap as well, so feel free to drop me a line.

– Ajguy

I got my token, downloaded the beta, and just played it til I reached level 11. To give you an idea of how awesome this game is, let me give you a brief rundown of the last round I played.

Team deathmatch, first to 750 (one kill is 10 points). Our team is down about 690 – 710. I just scored my fifth kill. Using the UAV I sent out, I notice that all the enemies on the map are congregating in one area. I rain down an airstrike on them. We are now up 730 – 710. I call in a helicopter, shoot a guy in the face, and as I’m lying of the floor injured and desperately firing with my pistol, the helicopter clips a guy for the win! One of the most exhilarating moments I’ve ever experienced in multiplayer gaming.

If you didn’t get in the beta, and they start taking people in via pre-orders, go pre-order the game! If my time with it tonight is any indication, this game is going to be awesome!

– Ajguy