PS3 fixed

Btw, after talking to Sony Canada it seemed I could either mail the broken PS3 back and have them fix it ($150) or try something on my own. After holding down the start button for a hard reset (you can hear beeps and it resets the output to analog from HDMI) so I had to find the old analog rca cables that came with the PS3 to see if there was a signal, but it was completely dead.
I took that opportunity to get a 250G hard drive and replaced the smaller drive by simply opening the HD bay, sliding the bad harddrive out and to the left, removing the 4 screws (2 on each side) that hold the hard drive to the carrier, replaced drive with same drive type (but bigger capacity), screwed the 4 screws back in and when I went to start it up, it asked if I want to format the drive and now PS3 works again and I have more memory. Although I lost my PS2 game saves for some of the recent games I was reviewing, the system works fine again so will be reviewing more PS2 and PS3 games again shortly.
Meanwhile have put a trailer for the new Sonic Winter Olympics game on the website, http:www.giftedgamer.com
GiftedGamer

PS2 is Coming Back!

Hi All. Can you believe the PS2 is actually experiencing a boom in sales?
Despite the "outdated graphics" of the PS2 mainly because of the lower memory capacity of the games and the system which requires smaller file sizes to run, the PS2 is enjoying a recent boost in popularity because of recent price drops.

The best selling systems are still the Ninendo DS and DSI as well as the Wii. Trailing the field is the PSP with the worst sales. PS3 is not doing so great either but still offers great quality games and is close to XBox 360 in sales. The PS3 will also most likely get a price drop in early June when it is expected to be announced at E3 and that may fuel PS3 sales along with a slowly improving economy.

So we will continue to rank, rate and review our large collection of PS2 games as they become more popular once again. Many PS2 games do offer great gameplay despite some limits on graphics relative to the PS3, and even having a PS3 there are still many times a PS2 game will find it's way into the drive bay. Check out some of the PS2 reviews and enjoy the newer low prices on the gaming systems.
GiftedGamer.com

Ratchet and Clank - Up Your Arsenal - Gifted Gamer Review

Ratchet and Clank - Up Your Arsenal Review

This third game in the Ratchet and Clank series is markedly different than the first two. Captain Quark starts off as someone who lost his mind in the jungle and turns into your team leader and doesn't try to kill you. Half of the game you are helping the Galactic Rangers fight off an alien space menace known as the Tyranoids. The Tyranoids were created by a robot called Dr. Nefarious. You are back at Gadgetron again.

Your home base is called the Starship Phoenix. You get a lot of missions from there. You can buy armor and weapons. You can train in a special training facility and you have your own room which you can play Captain Quark video games at.

One thing about this game is that at the higher levels you get hit harder and die faster. One level for example, is impossible without the Shield Charger. There is no way to destroy all of the enemies without being destroyed. Therefore you must run through it and have the Shield Charger up to make sure you make it through. Something that is mandatory for the last boss would be the Bouncer. It did half of the overall damage during the boss fight.

The enemies take a lot of hits later on in the game. This game is better than the first two games in the series, other than the lack of save spots in some places and how high the enemies can do damage.

Overall I rate this game an 8 (but I really hated that one part that requires the Shield Charger to get through).

GiftedGamer.com

Ratchet and Clank Going Commando - Giftedgamer Review

Ratchet and Clank Going Commando - Giftedgamer Review

This game is pretty much like the original Ratchet and Clank version 1 with a few minor differences. The first difference is the story line which has a small blue ferocious pet sweep over the galaxy as a deadly experiment. Another thing is Megacorp has taken over for Gadgetron. If you played Ratchet and Clank 1 and beat it, then at the planet Barlow there is a Gadgetron Vendor which will give you free weapons from your last game. The RYNO unfortunately is not included in that cache therefore you need to pay the 1,000,000 bolts to get it although it is not necessary to have it in order to beat the game.

There are many new weapons in this game as well as the fact you can upgrade a weapon you bought by frequently using it. In the final battle which is the one where you face a giant Furball that Quark has created.

The weapons and items I have used were the Heavy Bouncer, which was is the upgraded version of the Bouncer; Megaturret which is the upgraded version of Mini-Turret; Synthenoids and a Charger Shield. By the time I was out of ammo with my Bouncer, Mini-Turret and Synthenoids, the mutation would be dead. The Charger Shield is important because the Giant Mutation Thing can do high damage.

There is also a Hover Bike in this game which is supposed to be the upgraded version of the Hover Board. In this game you also play as Clank alot more.

Some parts can get quite annoying in this game because it takes long to kill some of the levels, needed a Megacorp machine or takes too long with no intermediary save points which can get unnecessarily frustrating. I would recommend this game for ages: 6+

Overall I rate this game a 7.

GiftedGamer.com

Ratchet and Clank - Gifted Gamer Review

Ratchet and Clank Review:

This classic PS2 game is the first in a series and still stands the test of time when playing it again.

I first played this several years ago and I still enjoy it.

The game revolves around Ratchet who finds a small robot named Clank that crashes into his world. Clank helps Ratchet get his ship up and running and Ratchet must take him on an adventure to many planets.

This game has many diffent weapons and tools like Swingshots, Blasters, Drones and of course Ratchet's Wrench. You go through the levels and collect bolts which is the local currency. You can then buy ammo and weapons from Gadgetron vendors stationed throughout the maps. There is also a person who sells the R.Y.N.O. That is a powerful missile launcher that shoots 9 deadly missiles at once with autolock which really helps in the last level when you return to Ratchet's home planet. You can also buy health upgrades from planet Orxon nanotech vendor.

The main bad guy in this game is Drek although Captain Qwark is annoying as well. The levels feature many adversaries such as robots, frogs, flying ships and other space enemies to beat as you make your way through each level.

This game is great for all ages. There are also ship battles in the sky where you have to shoot things down and you also have to go to two teleporters in the game, one is the teleporter right before the last boss and the other turns you into Giant Clank. The other one has a ring nearby which spawns giant robots. If you kill these continuously, then jump off into the abyss and keep doing it over and over, then you will eventually have enough bolts for the coveted RYNO and the Nanotechs. This is the fastest way in the game to collect bolts as you get over 1500 bolts every time Giant Clank battles the robots in this circle.

My only critisism is that the last level could have used a few more checkpoints so you do not have to start all the way at the beginning of the relatively hard level. The RYNO could have also been a bit cheaper!

Overall for a PS2 game, I rate this game an 8.5.

GiftedGamer

PS3 broke

Well I never thought it would happen this soon. Granted I have used my PS3 quite alot and have owned it since launch, but today it broke. It started with just showing the background screen without any of the menus (seems like a HD problem). I did the hard reset by holding the power button down on restart and waiting for the second beep and then letting go. This should have set it back to the normal AV outputs (as I had it hooked up via HDMI), but now the screen was black.

Tried many combinations of cables, inputs, restarts, but it seems the HD died. Next step is that I will try to put in another HD and see if I can get it to format. (So this ends up being an opportunity to upgrade the drive from the original 80G to a larger laptop hard drive). I really did not want to lose all of my saves though (including the current game I was playing, Suikoden Tactics which is actually a PS2 game played on my PS3).
Will update this post as I go through the self-repair options with sending it in to Sony at $150 as my last resort.
GiftedGamer

Pirates- Legend of the Black Kat- Gifted Gamer Review

PIRATES- LEGEND OF THE BLACK KAT –
Gifted Gamer Review

This classic PS2 game was one of the first games that I ever played on PS2 and the first time playing it, I spent over a month on the game as there are so many islands to visit and many chests to open and puzzles to solve. This game is not a game that you would rent, because of the long game play. It is a pretty basic storyline with your objective to visit the five different isles. Getting all of the pieces of the chart to unlock the final place where Hawk waits.

During the game you can level up your ship and collect different weapons in addition to the loot from the treasure chests. This is an exploration/roll playing game and you can immerse yourself in the experience for days. The bosses in this game are somewhat challenging with my favorite being either the last boss the Volcano guy or the Voodoo Master. Save your game at the parrot whenever you get the chance. Refill on grog to restore health. There are a variety of cheats posted on the net to make this game easier to get through without having to constantly restart levels. So if you find you are stuck, it is not too hard to find an online walkthrough that will help get you going again.

Overall this game is a classic exploration game with pirate chart of islands that you can freely roam around and explore. Considering this game is almost ten years old, when it came out it was one of the best graphic games but since then of course graphics have improved significantly, nevertheless it is a true pirate exploration game and for PS2 and Xbox players I rate this game a 7.5 because I am gauging this more toward todays game play rather than 8 years ago when I would have given this game a 9.
GiftedGamer
www.giftedgamer.com