My Top 5 PS2 Moments

Earlier in January 2013, Sony announced that they will stop production of the their huge hit, the Sony PlayStation 2 after an incredible run of 13 years of production and the sale of 155 million units sold worldwide.

I got my PS2 around the year 2003-2004, I have a lot of fond memories with the PS2. With so many games to play, from shooter to RPG to sandbox games to racing, it's very difficult to point out which are my best moments playing PS2 games. But I have made my decisions, and these are my Top 5 (in no particular order)

Michael Jackson's Billie Jean in GTA: Vice City

One of PS2's biggest classics,  GTA Vice City is the first GTA I ever fell in love with. Free roaming, violence, the Miami Vice style presentation in the 1980s. And add up to the 1980s-ish presentation, they added some really good and old-school 1980s hits, like the first time you enter a car or a scooter in Vice City when the game started, Michael Jackson's No.1 hit, Billie Jean started playing in the game, that game is on! I'm in love with the game from that moment.

Underground Racing

During the PS2 era, Electronic Arts decided to do a big change with their long lasting Need For Speed series (probably due to the popularity of Vin Diesel's The Fast and the Furious). In the end, they come out with (in order), Need For Speed Underground, Underground 2, Most Wanted and Carbon, with all 4 centered around illegal street racing and tuning. All 4 of them are a huge hit to the Need For Speed franchise. But in all four, Most Wanted is definitely my favourite. I remember driving my Carrera GT down the highway  evading cops just to crank up bounty points and try to get to the "5 Grand" Razor who stole my BMW M3. And then escape after winning back the car and end the game, pure epicness

The Day the name Crasher was Born

This type of racing got me my gaming name known today...

Before there was Crasher, there was just Jia En in the gaming world, or Crash (because I like Crash Bandicoot in his games), but one game came to me one day, it is called Burnout 3: Takedown! Ever since I played that game, the name was born! There was a mode called Road Rage, which me & my bro, Atles a.k.a. played every single time we meet up for game time. It involves the gamer to engage demolition derby in the middle of the city street to see who can crash more into each other to get hits and points. I crashed so much that my bro started to rename my nickname to Crasher, that's how I got my name. And don't get me started to mention another crazy Crash mode, where you initiate accident to earn points! Ant to this day, Burnout 3: Takedown is still the craziest and wackiest racing game I've ever played!

Black!

When EA claimed the Battlefield series is the first to feature realistic destructive environment, I said 'Bitch, Please!", your older game, Black, developed by the makers of Burnout, is the first to do so. Well, the game doesn't stack up to current generation of shooter due to lack of processing power of the PS2, but it did give a glimpse into the future. With virtually unlimited amount of ammunition, you can just press the shoot button and don't let go, and it works and it was fun to shoot enemies off building with explosives!

Odd Physics!

Another moment worth remembering is the odd world of Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction. It looks pale and boring compared to the world of Grand Theft Auto, not as crowded, not as remarkable, but one thing that let me grab this game and wouldn't let go of it, and it was the physics of the game. The physics of the game is so wrong, heavy objects are floating and easily flyable and jeeps that can be turned over just by using melee attack in this nuclear war themed free roaming game. The other stuffs that also caught my attention is the huge amount of airstrikes and arsenals you can use in the game to blow sh!t up!



To sum things up, I really miss my PS2. So sadly, she died a few years back and never came back to life. But one day, I might get one again just to play the huge library of games it offered!

R.I.P. PS2

2000-2013

Review: Skyfall

There's some sense of nervousness before I went to the cinema to watch this movie. First, Daniel Craig's interpretation of James Bond is great. Secondly, his first outing as 007 is outstanding in Casino Royale while his 2nd movie in Quantum of Solace is a disappointment. Then, rounded up everything up in 2012 is 50th Anniversary of the famous fictional British spy on screen sums up the hype surrounding the movie. But, there will be no worries, Skyfall is and will be considered as one of the best Bond films to date.

The movie started off superbly, even better than how Daniel Craig was introduced in Casino Royale, on the street of Turkey. It quickly moved straight to the chase, with Bond chasing one of the enemy on the roof, streets, market, train. You name it, the chase is in it. After the abrupt end of the prologue, Adele's superb voice was introduced as the OST of Skyfall and the classic Bond intro commences. The song has made the movie has that special something.

The performances from the actors are one of the best in recent years for the Bond franchise. Daniel Craig, like his other entries, excelled in his more grittier Bond. Then you have Judi Dench again as M, her performance in Skyfall is one of the best in years, her performance is so good that there are rumours that she will get nominated for Academy Award. Then surprisingly, it is the villain that steal the show at many parts of the movie, Javier Bardem as Silva. His character is comedic and funny, at the same time sinister and deceiving.

Skyfall explores the origin of James Bond and his relationship with M, and cyber terrorism, and M's past. Skyfall also sees some of the classic characters being reintroduced, Q and Miss Moneypenny. One thing is a bit tad disappointing  though, is the Bond girl, Severine, played by Bérénice Lim Marlohe. Her performance is too short and disappointing.

In short, Skyfall is one the best bond films to date, and it is also one of the best films released this year. To sum it up, Skyall is memorable and riveting from start to finish.

Pros: Great performance by Daniel Craig, Judi Dench and Javier Bardem, great storyline, fast-paced and exciting action sequences, great soundtrack, and Adele's OST is awesome!!!

Cons: Bond girl is disappointing, the final third of the film is a bit dark in colour.

Score: 5/5

2012 - Year of Superhero Movies

Summer just ended (I guess, because I'm not from a four seasoned country)! For me, this year is the year of superhero movies.Why? Because my Top 3 movies (not in any order whatsoever) are all from superheroes, only 3 of them are released this year, but all 3 of them are brilliant.

The Amazing Spider-Man

 
If the movie didn't get rebooted so quickly or there's no other Spider-man before this film, it would have been even better. Marc Webb's (500 Days of Summer) version of Spider-Man is much closer to the comics version than the old trilogy, that's what makes the movie stand out. The chemistry between Spider-Man/Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) & Gwen Stacy (Emma Stone) really clicked as a couple and doesn't feel cheesy (probably due to Webb's excellence in 500 Days). Overall, it's an general improvement of the old ones.

The Dark Knight Rises

One of the most epic film of the last few years, The Dark Knight Rises is a little bit disappointing, due to the how great The Dark Knight is. Director Christopher Nolan chose to go bigger scale this time around, it's bigger in terms of battle and casts and it gives the ending The Dark Knight deserved. Plotholes and very obvious mistakes aside can't stop The Dark Knight Rises from being one of the best film of the year.

Marvel's The Avengers

As a superhero movie, The Avengers is the best of them all. A clever marketing by Marvel by releasing some of the most famous superheroes as individual movies before assembling them together in one big movie, and oh boy it works! Joss Whedon managed to compile so many superheroes together, without compromising quality, unlike many movies with ensemble casts. Every heroes have their time to shine.So many memorable one-liners and so many memorable scenes that can keep you excited.

Whether you prefer Batman, Spider-Man or The Avenger, you must know everyone is the winner this year in superheroes franchises...