It’s funny, we hyped the absolute shit out of Metal Gear Solid 4 around these parts, and since the actual game has dropped we haven’t written a single Nerdlog post about it. I’m here to remedy that.

Steve and I have already beaten the game. We’ve talked about it at length through the Smorg and through IM. To cut to the chase, we love it. Frank is currently in the middle of it, and I let Sith borrow my PS3 and the game so he can play catch up. I guess that’s the thing about MGS4, it’s hard to talk about the game without going into specifics. Once you go into specifics, you go into spoilers.

I’m sorry, but I’m calling bullshit on Adam Sessler, Stephen Totilo and pretty much anyone else running the Konami restrictions story. I just caught a rerun of X-play where Sessler and Totilo had a conversation regarding the limitations on reviewers imposed by Konami in regards to Metal Gear Solid 4. Combined with the “Sessler’s Soapbox” that ran earlier this week, this is the second time Sessler has made an issue out of this publicly. Now, don’t get me wrong I’m a big fan of Mr. Sessler, I have been since the Extended Play days on TechTV. I guess this is why I’m so disappointed to see him making a big stink out of something that may or may not be a big deal and spouting half-truths to make his point. I don’t really know much about Stpehen Toilo’s work so I’m not gonna rag on him too hard. I will say however that whenever I see the brand-name MTV attached to something I immediately lose any confidence in it’s authenticity.

I have the latest issue of EGM sitting here right next o my keyboard. The magazine is open to page 87 which is the beginning of the controversial ‘non-review’ that everyone is so up in arms about. Now, the backbone of this argument that is being made is that EGM is not doing a formal review of MGS4 because of the limitation Konami put on reviewers in regards to things like: cut-scene length, mandatory hard-drive installs, and other technical aspects of the game. I’m starting to wonder if anyone at X-play or MTV actually read the EGM article because I’ve now heard Sessler say (on-air) on two occasions that EGM is not going to do a formal review of the game because of these limitations. Really? Because here’s what it says in the opening paragraph of page 86’s article:

So why don’t we have a full review this issue? Simply put: We weren’t happy with the limitations Konami wanted to impose on our comments, and rather than publish compromised reviews in the interest of being first to rate the game, we’d rather wait until next issue, where we can be completely open and thorough with our thoughts. (Page 87 EGM 230 -July 2008)

This morning when I woke up I saw my Wii flashing. I checked my messages and found that the Nintendo Channel has been launched today, so I jumped in the Shopping Channel and nabbed the free download.

The first thing I saw when I got into the Nintendo Channel was a video clip being played welcoming me to the new channel and telling me what to expect from it. After its over, I’m brought to the main menu which is essentially a list of trailers and video clips of some new and a handful of older games. WiiFit was in the front of the pack with Smash Bros Brawl and Mario Kark Wii taking center stage as well. Clicking through a hanful of the clips here, it reminded me of what they did last summer when Metroid Prime 3 was nearing its release. Nintendo hosted a Metroid Prime 3 Preview Channel that gave weekly tidbits and sneak peeks of it in a similar manner to how this part of this new Nintendo Channel works. The video quality is fine and passable, and clicking on the clip will scale it up to full screen which is a nice little touch. Everything loaded up a decent pace as well, so the browsing experience went smoothly.

Relatively early on in GTA IV, Niko is introduced to Roman’s good friend Brucie, a bald-headed ‘roid junkie who can’t stop bouncing off the walls. The thing is, any Pure Pwnage fan may immediately recognize some of Brucie’s mannerisms from FPS Doug. Even my wife who has a very casual knowledge of Pure Pwnage noticed the similarities before I even said anything about it. Now, obviously Brucie isn’t spouting off Doug’s well-known catch phrases like “BOOM Headshot” or “I can dance all day!”… but a lot of things he says and the delivery sounds just like him. Of course it might just be a coincidence… but is it possible that someone at Rockstar was making Brucie a subtle homage to FPS Doug?

Take a look at these two YouTube videos (NSFW Language) and decide for yourself, after the jump. The following contains very minor GTA4 spoilers that occur about 6-7 hours into the game.

If you keep up with game news like I do, you’ll have seen that yesterday Telltale games (the company whom have recently revived the old point and click adventure series Sam & Max) have announced an episodic WiiWare title “Strong Bad Cool Game for Attractive People” which is based on the Homestar Runner flash series.

From what I have read on a handful of message boards, people think that this upcoming series is garbage or that Strong Bad is way past his prime. I’ll admit that I don’t really keep up with Homestarrunner, but I totally respect what the Brothers Chaps have created over the last 8 years. These two have crafted a completely respectable series which in turn has become their living. It’s no secret that we at the Shamoozal have that same desire.

This is obviously an April Fool’s joke featuring a mash up between Assassin’s Creed and MGS4. Kojima and the lovely Jade Raymond have actually interviewed each other before in regards to game design, so this clip isn’t all that surprising. However, what it does give us is a hint as to what to expect from MGS4 when it comes out in June. If actual game play is ANYTHING like this, I will loose my mind.

Well it’s that time of year again, when we look forward to the coming year and realize that E3 isn’t what it used to be. In desperation many gamers cling to the notion that other conferences and trade shows are going to rise up, triumphantly pulling the E3 sword out of the stone. Well guys, you might want to get that bottle of Paxil ready for a hard fall. We’ve already been through a rough time at CES and I’m not sure if some of you can handle the pain of another letdown. If last years nonsense was any indication, I’m sure there are a lot of people out there clinging to the idea that something crazy is going to happen.

The fact of the matter is this: GDC is not a conference to drop megaton announcements. Its a place where people who do the same job get together and meet about the future of their industry. Sure, sometimes someone sneaks in a big announcement, but its usually in the context of how its going to push things forward. Some new games will probably be shown in varying stages of development, but its not going to be a bombshell, it will most likely be something you already know about.

With the year wrapping up, Steve and I decided to write about the games we‘ve played this year that really won us over. In other words, the two of us have decided to choose our personal Games of the Year. This year started off slow, but the amount of highly rated games that came out after July is nothing short of astonishing. We at the Shamoozal have not been able to play them all (obviously), so these lists are based solely on what we have played.With that noted, continue on to find out what stole a spot in our hearts in the year Oh Seven.

Find out what took top honors after the jump….

I caught this story over at Kotaku this morning about how ‘No More Heroes’ creator Goichi Suda and executive producer Yasuhiro Wada had an event at a game shop in Akihabara to promote the title. According to Kotaku, the duo was trying to hand out NMH themed toilet paper, and hopefully sign copies of the game. After about 20 minutes and no buyers, a member of the Japanese game press gave the two a pity buy, and purchased the game so they could sign it for him.

Poor Suda (located on the right), the guy just can’t seem to catch a break and it looks like he could cry at any second. Meanwhile Wada could already give two shits about what he’s doing at this event. Considering the amount of Wii’s that have sold over in Japan, and the shortage of quality games, you would think that gamers over there would be more interested in this product. Though I guess Japan just isn’t into games like they used to be. Though another thing I heard is that this event took place on a Thursday morning, so most of the population was probably at work or school. No matter which way you slice it, the whole scene is still a little sad.

This is just the warm-up round for Friday night (SRP#11), but seriously… This shit makes me disgusted to play video games. I mean, it’s not like I expected anything worthwhile from Spike TV, but jesus christ…. this is just total garbage. So sit back and get fueled up with some hate… make a game out of it. Smash a Halo 3 flavored can of Mountain Dew on your head every time someone makes a joke about the fact that she show is in Las Vegas. You should be out of Mountain Dew by the time this 9 minute clip is over.

And for shit’s sake… what are the friggin’ assholes from The Hills doing there!? I’m going to go slash my wrists now.