See all of these AND MORE on the Weasel Report Photos page, or on my Flickr page!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FF78B82C63427F7

here]]]>

See all of these AND MORE on the Weasel Report Photos page, or on my Flickr page!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FF78B82C63427F7

See ALL EIGHT videos on the Video Reports page, or on my YouTube page!

(For the next week, we will be taking donations for a new video camera, probably a Flip! Please use the yellow donate button on the left hand side of your screen! We really appreciate all of your donations, and will use the camera to bring you new and interesting content to the website!)

One of the first social networking websites that gained massive popularity was MySpace. Ten years ago, everyone had a MySpace page, and used it to keep up with all of their friends and to share music before it became illegal to share copyrighted music. Eventually, when that generation moved on to high school, [... Read more here]]]>

One of the first social networking websites that gained massive popularity was MySpace. Ten years ago, everyone had a MySpace page, and used it to keep up with all of their friends and to share music before it became illegal to share copyrighted music. Eventually, when that generation moved on to high school, they joined Facebook, back when it was exclusively for college and high school students, and required you have a school e-mail address in order to be able to join. Finally, Twitter entered the picture, taking the status update trend to it’s peak by simplifying it and making it mainstream. Within the past four years however, Facebook opened up to the general public, allowing anyone and everyone to join. And within those past few years of it being open, they’ve changed the layout more times than most social networking websites do within a twenty year period. With these changes have come controversy, and the state of Facebook is up in the air, yet, it continues to be extremely popular.

Who? What? Why? (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Facebook)

The latest update, however, completely changed the way the information is relayed to the user, which has annoyed a large audience which has used Facebook for quite some time. The way your friend’s updates were sent to you is the main feature that has changed many times over, until now, where it gives you an information overload. Before, you had the option to just receive your friends’ status updates on the main page, giving you the main information that your friends wanted you to have. Over time, Facebook modified the home page to show you whenever your friends changed something on their profile. Now, you see not only their status updates, but every time they add a friend and when they fan a page or join a group. Most of this is extreme information overload, as you don’t know 90% of the people that your friends are becoming friends with, yet Facebook finds it important to let you know this information anyways.

Following this mess, they also reorganized the top bar and left sidebars in a very inconvenient way. When you first look at the top bar, you’ll notice next to the Facebook logo three images, all which drop down when you click on them. The problem is, unless there is a new update and they are lit up in a lighter blue, you can barely see them as they are a dark blue on blue background. This color choice doesn’t seem to make much sense, as these buttons still can be useful to the ordinary user if they could see them more properly. And even though there is a new button for when you receive new friend requests at the top, you still receive an alert in the right hand sidebar telling you that you have a new friend request, making it redundant in one of the two locations.

An unoriginal design. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Facebook)

The left sidebar was also updated in order to, in theory, organize all of the major functions of Facebook better. However, in doing this, they’ve hidden some of the features that were normally out in the open behind other menus that supposedly make sense. To find the Video section, you now have to first go into the Photos dropdown. While, in an effort to save space, this could make sense, for those who are looking for videos on a whim, they have to go searching through the menus to find it. Another issue which has come with the new sidebars is the size of the page. In what can only be assumed as an attempt by Facebook to appeal to those users who still are using a low resolution on their monitor, they’ve shrunk the page so that it fits into a smaller area. However, in doing this, they also kept all of the previous pages at their same resolution, meaning that pages which were once longer are now squished together to fit into these new dimensions, making them look much less professional than they have been before.

Even though Facebook has all of these shortcomings, there is still one major use for Facebook. Facebook is one of the leading social networking sites on the Internet, meaning they get an immense amount of traffic daily. Small game developers have used Facebook as a platform to host their games, and they can even make money that way, especially when enough people play the game and spend real money in order to obtain in-game items. One of the leading examples of that is Farmville, now an award-winning game in a new category that has been showing up in many video game award shows lately for Best Social Networking Game. They are able to have their company and make a profit just by having their game on sites which use an Application platform which was started by Facebook, and now has been adopted by MySpace, which also has games such as these.

The Weasel Report Fan Page on Facebook. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Facebook)

But another one of the main features of Facebook is for companies and businesses. Just like on Twitter, companies can use Facebook to make a page specifically for themselves, and can update their fans or consumers on the status of their projects, to hold contests, or just to advertise whenever they have an update on their website. It’s a great way of getting your company exposure to a massive amount of people at once. Even the Weasel Report has their own Facebook Page which updates it’s fans whenever there is a new entry here, and even allows fans to comment on those entries there if they don’t want to comment here. For a website or company owner, it makes it hard to not participate in Facebook when you know there is so much potential to communication and connect with your fans on it.

Facebook is, as stated before, one of the largest, if not THE largest, social networking website on the Internet today. However, even while their status update idea which started by saying “Your name is…” and then having the user enter the rest, then allowing the user to remove the “is” and replace it with whatever word they wish, and eventually moving to the current “What’s on your mind?” question which was virtually started by Twitter, the site just has lost it’s originality, and keeps trying to change in order to keep people interested in staying with them. It’s main hook, however, is the ability to keep up with companies that are popular, or to advertise your own if you so wish. It’s a vicious cycle, but when you get this popular, it’s hard to let it go.

Final Fantasy XIII Publisher/Developer: Square Enix Release Date: March 9, 2010 Platforms: PS3, 360

Disclosure: This review is based off of the PlayStation 3 version of Final Fantasy XIII, which may differ from the Xbox 360 version.

Square Enix has finally hit the next generation of consoles with the release of Final Fantasy XIII [... Read more here]]]>

Final Fantasy XIII
Publisher/Developer: Square Enix
Release Date: March 9, 2010
Platforms: PS3, 360

Disclosure: This review is based off of the PlayStation 3 version of Final Fantasy XIII, which may differ from the Xbox 360 version.

Square Enix has finally hit the next generation of consoles with the release of Final Fantasy XIII for the PlayStation 3, and now even for the Xbox 360. Without playing either of them, the only main difference that can be said between each version is the fact that the Xbox 360 version is spread across multiple discs, due to the size of the game. Other than that, it cannot objectively be said which version is the “better” one without extensively playing through them both. None the less, FFXIII brings to the table an absolutely gorgeous game with another new type of battle system, and another new type of upgrade system, both of which are simple to understand, but look to be complex in their own ways. However, even though the game may look wonderful, it falls short in many aspects that previous Final Fantasy games have shined on.

The graphics are once again beautiful for a Final Fantasy game.

The controls are simple and easy to understand, as they always have been. Moving is controlled with the left analog stick, and the camera is controlled with the right analog stick. The camera, however, can be a pain to control sometimes, especially when you’re moving your character and trying to change the direction of the camera at the same time. The camera tends to want to move in the direction that you are running, no matter where you would rather it be, which can sometimes make you sick as it jerks back and forth. Another thing that you’ll note very quickly is how linear the game really is. From the beginning, you are forced down skinny corridors that move you in a single direction, not allowing for any types of exploration. Later in the game you are given a little more freedom as you are given sidequests, but for the first 20 odd hours of the game, you’ll be traveling in a straight line. Treasures are practically not hidden at all, as if they are down a side route, it will be simple to tell exactly where that route is by your mini-map.

To add to how linear this game really is, there are no cities, towns or shops to visit. To buy or sell items, you will access the “Shop” from save points, which electronically connects you to any types of shops that are available at the time. Save Stations, as they are called, are gratuitously scattered throughout the game, so you’ll never have a hard time finding a place to save. Upgrades to your weapons can also be made at these Save Stations, and while it helps, it can be very unnecessary to do, which adds another level of disappointment on to the game.

Abilities take up segments of your ATB gauge based on their power.

The battle system is the biggest change, and will leave you wanting something more. The ATB, or Active Time Battle gauge has returned, but in a different fashion. Each ability that you want to use costs a certain amount of segments in your ATB gauge, removing the idea of magic points or any limit on the amount of spells you can use. When the ATB gauge is full, your character will use the commands that you’ve chosen on the enemy that you selected, creating a chain. Attack chains are extremely important in this game. The more attacks you do in succession, the more percentage of damage you do to your enemy, until at a certain point they become “Staggered”. Once an enemy is Staggered, they become much more susceptible to massive amounts of damage, which can easily turn the tide of the battle in your favor. Ala Final Fantasy XII, you continue to only control the Leader character, while your other two party members are controlled by the AI. This brings to light the final most important battle strategy, the Paradigm Shift system. At any time during battle you can press L1, which brings up a menu which allows you to choose which role each party member plays. These roles include Commando and Ravager, which are attack based classes; Sentinel and Medic, which are defensive based classes; and Synergist and Saboteur, which are support based classes. There are many times where you will be changing your Paradigm every other action, so it’s imperative to be watching the battle to see what the status of your party members and your enemies are. While all of these features are nice, battles are hindered by the fact that they move so fast. While this may appeal to some players, choosing the commands that you want your party to use manually is slow, and can end in your failure, which is why there is an Auto-Battle button, which automatically selects the best commands that you should use. Unfortunately, this makes battles boring and monotonous, as you can sit and just press the X button repeatedly, and be finished with a battle within eight seconds of it’s start.

In addition to all of these features, summons have also returned, under the new name of “Eidolons”. Each character is assigned one Eidolon, and can only summon that one. To acquire these Eidolons, however, you must battle them while under a Doom counter, which counts down the time until you are killed, and the battle is over. Once you have them and summon them, they fight beside you with an SP gauge. Once their SP runs out, they leave the battle. At any time though, by pressing Square, the Eidolon enters Gestalt mode, which turns them into a vehicle which your character rides. This system is odd, and doesn’t really add much to the game other than being flashy.

The new Shiva Sisters Eidolon which... turn into a motorcycle.

Ala Final Fantasy X, levels for your characters don’t exist, and instead you upgrade your character through the Crystarium. After each battle your party earns CP, or Crystogen Points, which can be used to traverse through the Crystarium of each character, unlocking addition stats for your characters, including HP and Magic, or unlocking new abilities for each role that your character possesses. Sadly, CP is earned very quickly, allowing for a rapid traversal of the Crystarium. The challenge of unlocking everything comes slowly, until you unlock more roles for your characters to be able to play as. In addition to this, each character may or may not unlock each ability, so certain characters seems to be obviously better suited for certain roles over others, making it hard to be able to use a certain group and make them well rounded in each role.

As anyone can tell after seeing any screenshot of the game, it’s gorgeous beyond many games seen today. While you can still tell when the game enters a cutscene, the non-cutscene moments when you are learning more about the story look wonderful, with character mouth movement animations syncing perfectly to the voice acting. For the most part, the voice acting is spot on, but the voice actor for Vanille stands out like a sore thumb as something that just doesn’t belong. Given enough time, her voice will wear on you as it moves in and out of what seems to be an Australian accent, and her giggles and squeaks are odd and obnoxious. The music in the game is also somewhat sub-par compared to previous Final Fantasy games. It seems shines with the elegant orchestral beauty that they are famous for, but seems to miss the feeling of some of the scenes as happy, chipper music plays during a scene that just doesn’t fit the mood.

Lightning summoning an Eidolon with the Attack Chain gauge in the corner.

While Final Fantasy XIII is an okay game, it seems to just fall short in many of the areas where the previous games have excelled in. The first two hours of the game are extremely slow and boring and throw you into a story which, at the time, you have absolutely no knowledge about. And you are unable to choose your party until the 20-25 hour mark of the game as well, when the game finally opens up a little more. The battle system, while much faster paced and seemingly more exciting because of it, fails to excite as well when the player just has to continuously use the Auto-Battle function instead of actually selecting their commands. It’s not to say that Final Fantasy XIII isn’t a good game, and it isn’t bad either, but there’s not enough in it to consider it that outstanding RPG that we’ve been looking for in it.

Welcome to YouTube Tuesday, a weekly spotlight of a few interesting YouTube videos to watch! To make up for last week, we’ve DOUBLED the fun! Check out this gaming and short video mix!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfyonN7WC4M

www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3Io9iTUheU

Sadly, we’ve all been a victim of something going wrong, and it costing us an arm and a leg; or if you so choose, a kidney on the black market. However you’ve had to pay for it, you’ve had to pay for it, and in a big way. Afterwards though, you look at [... Read more here]]]>

Sadly, we’ve all been a victim of something going wrong, and it costing us an arm and a leg; or if you so choose, a kidney on the black market. However you’ve had to pay for it, you’ve had to pay for it, and in a big way. Afterwards though, you look at the bill and wonder really if it should have cost that much. Or if charging that much is even a fair price, depending on what the service is that you had to have accomplished. Unfortunately, unless you’ve worked in the industry personally, we as consumers may never really know how much the hardware involved in these tasks cost, but most of us can give a ballpark estimate and assume that it’s just too much for what is being done.

Anyone who owns a car can attest to car repairs being a huge cash suck. And it also just so happens that something will go wrong at the most inopportune times, creating even more of a hassle. But have you ever stopped and read the bill afterwards? The first thing that always stands out is usually the diagnostics. Most of the time, especially when they have to use their computer diagnostic tools, it will cost upwards of $115, even though all they do is hook your car up to the machine and let it do it’s work. The main point though is that that entire cost is in the “labor” category. Usually when a computer does the work, doesn’t one just have to sit back and let it do it’s job? Sure, they have to watch it to see where the issue lies, but the inspection alone costs about half of the price of a fuel pump.

Of course, any of us who live in a winter weather area will understand the plight that can befall us if we are to let our guard down driving in inclement weather, even when it really isn’t our fault, or when we just hit a patch of bad luck (also known as “ice”). As an example, when driving to work one day, a driver is coming up the off ramp of the highway. He needs to turn right, so at a slow speed, knowing the weather is bad and that there is ice on the ground, he gets into the right turn lane. Suddenly, he loses control of the car, ever so slightly, so that the car turns sideways barely to the right and the front tires of his front wheel drive car become stuck on the ice. No damage is inflicted to the car, and the only issue is that he can’t get his tires off the ice. Due to this, he is forced to call a tow truck, which quite simply, spends two minutes dragging the front of the car off of the ice. The total charge? $75. And that, according to the tow truck driver, is the minimum he is allowed to charge! One can understand the cost of gas, and the time taken, which was minimal, in order to drag the car out, but can that $75 charge be justified?

There are, of course, many other things other than our vehicles which can cost us a ridiculous amount. For example, technology can become a huge burden on us, especially when things go wrong. Anyone who has ever had a problem with their computer knows that one of the first places we think of to go to get it fixed is the Geek Squad, and most of us go there even though we know that they charge an extreme amount for what can potentially be the simplest of tasks. For this example, let’s say your computer doesn’t start up one day, without any prior warning, and the error, of which you search online for, doesn’t give you an answer on what the problem could be. The Geek Squad says that they’ll look at it for $70, and if there’s something wrong with the hard drive, and they can get your data off of it, it’ll cost you another $100 to back it up. Once again, one can understand that there’s probably some work involved to find the issue, but a part time job with an hourly pay of $9 an hour would have to work eight hours for that much to be made. And after you find out that the issue is your hard drive, you not only have to pay $75 for the hard drive, but another $50 for them to install it. Mind you, installing something, especially like a hard drive into a computer, is a simple task which requires minimal work. That comes to an approximate total of $200+, after finding out that your hard drive can’t be backed up.

Electronics must be complicated to some people, because even Target is getting into the installation business. Target now has Target Zip, which is a service of blue shirt wearing employees (gasp) who will come out and install your electronics. To have your new HDTV taken out of the box, set on your entertainment center and plugged in, it will cost you $99. Not only that, but they’ll teach you how to use your new television, and even take the box and packaging with them when they leave. That same price can also get you your computer or video game system set up, in case it was a challenge for you. And just in case you get a bigger HDTV and want it wall mounted, as long as you buy the wall mount and HD cables, for a price of $299, Zip will come out, wall mount your television, set it up, connect it to up to three HD devices, show you how to use it, and remove the packaging. For some, particularly those who are unable to due to age possibly, this may be a great deal, but to most, setting this kind of thing up could probably cost you much less to do yourself, and nowadays, it isn’t like this type of thing is that difficult to do.

This article could be considered a rant in some cases, but it’s still surprising to see how many people use these services even though if they had the time and resources, they could probably find a small establishment, or even a friend who did it as a side business, which could do the same types of services at a much lower price. Sadly, most of these companies are so mainstream that we forget to think to look elsewhere, especially when we are in times of need and can’t afford to wait around and look for other places. This is just the way things are, and while we may not like it, we’re pretty much forced to pay it when the need arises. None the less, it’s interesting to think about how much we really are paying over what the actual cost for what they’re doing will provide for us.

Have you been charged an immense amount for a service you’ve needed done? Leave a comment with your story below!

Social networking websites are what make the Internet go ’round, or so it seems nowadays. There are hundreds of ways for people to keep in contact with their friends, share information with them on their life, share events and other important information, keep up with companies that you like, or if you are [... Read more here]]]>

Social networking websites are what make the Internet go ’round, or so it seems nowadays. There are hundreds of ways for people to keep in contact with their friends, share information with them on their life, share events and other important information, keep up with companies that you like, or if you are that company, keep in contact with the people who are your fans or clients. The hard part of all of it is choosing which ones you want to use, or that might be useful to you; or if you should just use all of them. Everyone has their own opinions on which sites are “better” than others, so let us jump into the foray ourselves.

One of the most popular, yet most highly ridiculed social networking websites, is Twitter. Twitter uses a unique system in order to convey information from person to person. First of all, there are no fancy profiles; it’s just your name, your picture, and a small biography on yourself. Secondly, and most importantly, all update that are made can only be 140 characters. Many people ask why that is, and the answer is simple; when Twitter was made, they wanted a quick and easy way of getting information from one person to the other directly via their cell phones. Text messages can have a total of 160 characters, so this allowed for a username and the Tweet, as each update is called, to be sent to them in a single text message.

A sample Tweet. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Twitter)

The team behind Twitter realized, however, that it was being used for much more than just personal updates on what a person is doing. Twitter is also widely used to convey information, such as news stories, company updates, and much more. Due to this, Twitter changed the question that they ask when you update from “What are you doing?” to “What’s happening?”. Doing this shows that Twitter isn’t out to just have you update exactly what you are doing at all times, as it was previously misconstrued to be in the past, but rather as a form of communication to share what may be on your mind, or what is going on at the time that you have something you want to say about.

Of course, this brings on a lot of questions from a lot of people. Many people complain about the fact that 140 characters isn’t enough to properly update people on what’s going on, but let’s think about it. By limiting the amount of characters in your update, it forces you to really think about what you want to say, instead of just posting a long update that will lose peoples’ interest. It makes you keep your update concise and to the point, making it easier for those reading to know exactly what you are trying to say. Not only that, but it makes keeping up with a large group of people easier, as you are getting the meat of the story right away, without having to sift through the extraneous information that just clutters up the web.

The simple update box. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Twitter)

The support for Twitter has grown exponentially as time has gone on. While anyone can access a mobile Twitter site provided by Twitter themselves, there are also hundreds of Twitter Applications, both for your computer and on specific phone devices, which allow you to have a more customized experience when using Twitter. One such application is called blu, and was made using the Microsoft .NET 3.0 platform. Using this application, Windows users are able to use a more visual atmosphere to keep in touch with the people who they follow, follow conversations between peoples’ replies to other tweets, and use most of the features that the website itself provides. Since Twitter limits you to 140 characters, URL shorteners have become much more popular on the Internet. Blu integrates TinyURL‘s services into it, making it so that any link that you post will automatically be shortened, giving you more room to explain what the link is about.

In addition to applications, which you can even find for your phone, there are many websites dedicated to Twitter sharing that have popped up. Some examples are Twitpic, which allows you to share pictures from your computer, phone or e-mail; TwitVid, which does the same thing as TwitPic except with video; and TwitDoc, which allows you to post full documents which can be shared with your follows through a web-based client. Using these, people and companies can share information with each other, or even share important current events which they happen to be capturing and witnessing at the time.

An uploaded picture on Twitpic. (Credit: Screenshot by Weasel Terrahawk from Twitpic)

That being said, Twitter has also become the biggest source of news on the Internet, for the sole reason that it is the quickest way of getting information to potentially millions of people in the matter of moments. Many major news stories, including the plane which went down in the Hudson River in New York, were first known about by a Tweet sent from a passenger’s phone, which was soon followed by the first picture, taken from a man on the rescue ferry (source Tweet from Twitter). Many television news sites, including CNN, used this Tweet and this photo as their first response to this story, and from there, began coverage. Obviously, news sites are able to pick up on these important stories quickly, but with the help of Twitter, they can get an immediate grasp of the situation from the source directly.

Throughout all of this, there are still people who find no use for Twitter, which is completely understandable. Twitter is fully about the spread of communication and information. It’s main draw is it’s simplistic nature. If you are looking for something which has ways to waste your time, then Twitter probably is not the source for you. But when looking at the idea of “social networking”, Twitter fits the bill perfectly. If you ever do sign up for Twitter, start by looking for companies that you deal with day to day. Many companies now have Twitter accounts in order to share information with their customers and fans, which can sometimes contain discounts, or first information on new products. Then, look for people who Tweet about things that interest you. Twitter has hundreds of functions, it’s all up to what you are look for in it.

The Gaming Report Episode 32 is live and ready for listening on the Gaming Report page! Head on over to be able to listen or download the episode, which releases weekly every Thursday, brought to you by the Weasel Report!

Weasel, Brad and Chaz look back at the crazy week the gaming [... Read more here]]]>

The Gaming Report Episode 32 is live and ready for listening on the Gaming Report page! Head on over to be able to listen or download the episode, which releases weekly every Thursday, brought to you by the Weasel Report!

Weasel, Brad and Chaz look back at the crazy week the gaming industry has had, as they discuss the Infinity Ward shakeups and new decisions by Activision at length, while also mentioning the ApocalyPS3, the success of Lego games, and what’s going on with Portal!

Got a question? Have a comment? Need to say something? E-mail the hosts of the Gaming Report at podcast [at] weaselreport.com ! We’ll read your e-mail on the next episode, and answer whatever you’ve got for us! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next week!

Heavy Rain Publisher: SCEA Developer: Quantic Dream Release Date: February 23, 2010 Platform: PS3

There have been a lot of unique ideas that have been thought up of for video games. In most cases, it’s another new shooter, or some sort of role playing game with a new game mechanic. However, every once in a while, [... Read more here]]]>

Heavy Rain
Publisher: SCEA
Developer: Quantic Dream
Release Date: February 23, 2010
Platform: PS3

There have been a lot of unique ideas that have been thought up of for video games. In most cases, it’s another new shooter, or some sort of role playing game with a new game mechanic. However, every once in a while, one game will come out that is so different, it will nearly define it’s own genre. Heavy Rain has been called an adventure game by some, and a psychological thriller by others, but Quantic Dream, developers of Heavy Rain, have called their game an “interactive drama”.

Holding a trigger button allows you to see what your character is thinking.

Heavy Rain lives up to being it’s own genre, as it uses gameplay mechanics that, while similar to some action adventure games in some ways, utilizes them in a way that none of them do. Everything that you are able to do to interact in the game is shown by circles and squares that appear in the world that contain a symbol or arrow within it, which signifies what you have to press or do in order for that action to be taken place. There is no user interface, and no complicated controls, just symbols which trigger an action. For example, in order to open a car door, you are shown a box with an arrow which points to the left, which tells you that you have to push the right analog stick to the left in order to open the door. Depending on how fast you move the analog stick is reflected in-game, as the animation only happens as far as you move. Of course, during fight scenes, symbols appear with a time limit, as the events are all happening in real time. If you correctly press the button shown, you will immediately see the positive results of your actions, and vice-versa if you fail to hit the correct button. However, one of the more broken controls is the movement control. To have your character walk when you have control of him or her, you must hold down the shoulder trigger and move your character’s head with the analog stick, facing the character the direction you want them to move. While this style works for the most part, trying to angle yourself perfectly so that you are looking at the item you want to interact with can be difficult at times, and since the camera stays at a single point most of the time, with the ability to change views with the press of another trigger button, it can become a frustrating task.

Throughout the game, you play as four different characters, each which you cycle through playing as. The transitions from one character to the next are smooth, and loose ends are tied up in the previous scene before it moves on to the next one. One of the unique features of Heavy Rain is the fact that if one of the characters who you play as dies in one way or another, the game continues to progress, just without that character in any of the story anymore. Due to this, the game’s story is very fluid, and will change depending on what choices you make in a previous scene, or depending on what happens to your character. Aesthetically, the appearance of your characters can also change over the course of the game based on previous decisions. This all being said, there are many different endings which are possible to achieve depending on what happens during each of the decisions you have to make throughout the game.

One of the many interesting situations you'll encounter in Heavy Rain.

The main draw of Heavy Rain is, without a doubt, it’s engaging storyline and immersive dialogue that connects the characters to each other, and more importantly the player to the characters. There are many times during the game which will test you on how you want to react; are you going to react as you think the character in the game would, or are you going to react how you yourself would in such a situation. There are also a few times where you really have to consider what feels “right” to you, and what does not. These decisions make the game very dramatic, and keep you on the edge of your seat, as you await what reaction you will get from each of your decisions.

Probably the first thing you’ll notice, though, is the immense visual style of Heavy Rain. Heavy Rain is one of the most beautiful games out there at the moment. It has an ultra-realistic style to it, on everything from the characters themselves, to the rain which constantly falls, creating an atmosphere which has yet to be rivaled. There are, of course, some imperfections with the interactions between the characters and some of the items that they carry and use, but overall, these minor issues are some that can easily be overlooked.

The graphics are unparalleled to others games right now.

To add to the atmosphere of the game, a beautiful soundtrack has been developed for Heavy Rain, making each situation that you are involved in a unique experience. The choice of music during each scene is well chosen, and was created by a special orchestra brought in to create the music specifically for Heavy Rain. The combination of the deep storyline, the engaging characters and the beautiful orchestral music make Heavy Rain a very unique game which is very worth a purchase. The question of replay value, however, is a questionable one. If you are interested in seeing a different ending, depending on how else you could make the decisions posed to you in the game, this game will last you more than the eight to ten hours that one play through takes. The one downfall is that, after you already know the full storyline, connecting with it in a deeper fashion after one play through is difficult. In any consolation, Heavy Rain contains an amazing 57 trophies, with two of them being “See all endings” and “Complete the story with four characters alive”, which are two tasks which will take more than one play to achieve. Overall, if you are looking for a unique, engaging game which will show you something new, Heavy Rain is definitely the game to pick up this year.

Welcome to YouTube Tuesday, a weekly spotlight of a few interesting YouTube videos to watch!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHtzZ9ZNHjg

www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMhUZAq5IxQ