How to...

This is not gaming related, so forgive me on this.  I don't know if I'm surprised or shocked on this, but I was on youtube, trying to see all the latest MW2 glitches out there. (Mazen recently told me about this crazy one...)

Anyway, I typed in "How to" and I was then able to see the top 10 searches that began with "how to".  The list is as follows...

How to jerk
How to kill
How to be gangster
How to be emo
How to be ninja
How to save a life
How to make a smoke bomb
How to tie a tie
How to play guitar
How to make a paper gun that shoots

Thoughts? "Paper gun that shoots?"

iPhone What???

Today I fell in love with my Droid all over again. It is already the best phone I have ever had (for those that don't know me, I work in the wireless industry), but now it's even better. What made today so special is that I just installed a fully functional and working direct PC port of Quake 3. Ye,s the controls may be a bit wonky but for a PC game running at an average 25-35 fps (with sound!!), I would say that that this phone has some horsepower. It gets even better... the Multiplayer aspect of it is fully functional!!! I haven't played around with that yet, but I'm assuming it will only work over WiFi with is too bad cause 3g MP would be PHENOMENAL, especially since I have several friends with Droids.

This is not the first time I've tried messing around with PC games on mobile platforms. Doom is fully downloadable on the Android Marketplace and I was able to get Quake 3 to load the main menu on my old HTC Touch (but that was as far as I got).

Check out a video of the game in action here.

For instructions on how to do it, click here.

***Although I may be pumped about this, it still doesn't measure up to having Sunset Riders, Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and A Link to the Past OR the 700+ NES games with me at all times... that was my little bragging moment***

Anyone else have a Droid out there?

UPDATE: decided to check if there were any active MP games and to my surprise it found OVER 2000! Granted, I would be pitted against a PC user but its still amazing it works over 3G too!!!! I was able to successfully load into one game but after 5 deaths in 30 secs I gave up.

Growing up.

Something that has been weighing on my mind a lot lately is the simple fact of growing up and getting older. I just had my 27th birthday and I love video games more now that I have at any other time in my life. I feel so blessed to be married to the woman of my dreams that's pregnant with my son, Mason (lil' 3N3MY), working a good job and being able to play games as much as I do.

I've known a lot of guys that get married and lose gaming altogether. Their wives deem them stupid or a waste of time and money and put the kabash on the whole thing. My wife, Mrs. 3N3MY, understands that video games are an important outlet for me to unplug the mind and unwind after a day of work. She also gets that they're an important way to hang out with some of my best friends that don't live anywhere near me geographically.

I'm feeling sentimental about growing up because lately because I'm going to be a dad myself and I've had very little time to play much of anything for the last several weeks and I feel it's a trend that is only going to continue for many years ahead. It's not that I'm scared of this or dreading it, but rather view it as an essential part of "growing up" and being a good husband and father.

I work 40-45 hours a week. I'm taking 2 classes at Indiana University Northwest that give me between 10-15 hours of extra work a week, because I'm trying to get my MBA, and I'll be in school for the next 2 and a half years at least. I have commitments at my church for Small Groups (which are some of the highlights of my week because the people I go to church with are some of the coolest peeps I have the joy of knowing) and I have recently become an addition to the praise and worship band there.

During all this busy time I still find hours of time a week to play the games I love. It irks the hell out of me when people tell me that they think I don't play too much or that I could always play more when the people telling me this have very few responsibilities or bills to pay. Even as understanding as my wife is about me playing games it's more important for me to spend time with her and make sure I'm fulfilling my duties as a husband. What kind of a husband would I be if I just ignored her when I came home from work or school or whatever and played games till bed almost everyday? I get home late enough from school and everything else as it is.

I'm not saying that I'm the busiest or hardest working person out of anyone that reads this blog because I don't believe that to be the case. I'm just aknowledging my inability to play games as much as I'd like to or want to because of my responsibilities and obligations that come along with growing up. Does this make me a baby? I don't think so. I think it just makes me a guy realizing that he's not a kid anymore, but he'll always love his videogames.

Wolverine

So I've been playing through Wolverine and it's a suprisingly fun game. Kind of what you'd actually expect Wolverine to be in real life. A relentless killing machine that dismembers foes with the greatest of ease and fully enjoys taking his abilities to the limits.

It's been a good time for sure, but it can get repetative. The real time skin regeneration is flippin awesome! You see skin torn away and can see his skull and organs...so yeah that's awesome for sure.

My point in this post is that last night I got to a spot that was almost a game breaker....the fight with Gambit. The problem doesn't sit with Gambit himself, but rather the stage of the final fight. You're battling on top of these huge letters of a sign on the side of a skyscraper that break away at certain points in the fight. It's a pretty long fight and I think the 4th time you actually fight him before getting to this "final showdown." The problem kept occuring that when letters of the sign would fall and the game would glitch. Leaving Gambit a statue or trapping me on one side of the stage with nowhere to go, but down. The QTE didn't help either when these where going on. Bottom line is I was screaming at my TV because I had to fight him 6 times! Every time I had to restart because it glitched out.

Have you guys ever in your gaming lives run into a game breaking glitch? The last one that actually stopped me from playing the game further was Juniper's copy of the original Half Life for PC. Glitched out with no save point to revert to before the last boss.....took me many months to finally find out how to use PC lingo to hack the game and get to that point in the game.

Suicide mission **ME2 spoilers**

So i'm just mentally preparing myself for the jump through the Omega 4 Relay which will inevitably lead to the completion of ME2...i thought i'd take this chance to write up some quick thoughts on the game. currently as much as i'm enjoying the game i just feel it's lacking something and i think i've narrowed it down to the underlining storyline and the way that's effecting the progression of the game. I just feel like the story just hasnt got going at all really, i dont think there's been enough main missions only a handful sprinkled in between the numourous side quests and recruitement missions i've completed. Maybe it's just the way i've chosen to progress through the game but it's just felt a bit repetitive and the pacing of the game jsut doesnt match up to the brilliance of the gameplay. Of course this might all change once i do the jump so i'll update my thoughts once i'm through with it...

*Update*


So that was short and sweet, ploughed through the final mission and it didnt dissappoint, very enjoyable but just leaves me wanting more..more big battles like that certainly wouldnt go a miss. I think i might have to do a second playthru as i wasnt particualry happy with my outcome...not for a while mind i'll let the dust settle a bit first, still that was a solid and entertaining 28 hrs i put into that game, most i've put into a single player game since GTA4, AC2 probably came pretty close mind you.

Guides

So I just wrapped up Batman: Arkham Asylum and only needed help on 3 of the 240 riddler challenges. I was extremely proud of the percentage of them that I found without aid. Which brings me to my point of argument...

What are your feelings on using guides, either ones that you purchase or free guides online? I rarely use them for missions, unless I am really stuck, and I rarely purchase them anymore. Depending on the game, I might purchase a full guide, such as for Oblivion or Dragon Age. But usually, if you wait a couple weeks, there will be numerous achievement and easter egg and super secret guides online for free.

Personally, I don't want to search 3 large cities for 100 feathers in Assassin's Creed II so I find some maps online, print them out, and viola, I can find all the feathers!

Gamers seem as split on guides as they do on PS3 vs. XBOX360. Are guides wrong? Do they take away from accomplishment and bragging rights or do they merely eliminate long searches?

FFXIII

Just read on MaxConsole that Square Enix has confirmed that FF XIII will have 10 hours of cutscenes. 10 hours!

I just don't get it personally. We've recently touched on Kojima just briefly, but it's obviously a Japanese thing to do in gaming....like cosplay (j/k). What's the draw of having a 40 hour game and 10 hours of cutscenes? At least the "movie" vs actually playing the game part ratio is better than MGS4.

Is it vanity? Do the characters really have that much to say? Is it laziness? Bringing up Bioware again they have very few cutscenes in their games. You learn the story of the game and characters through dialogs that you at least partially control.

Playing through Blue Dragon was a very rewarding experience and I'm not sure what the final count of cutscene time was, but I'd be lying if I said they didn't have the tendency to drrrraaaaaaaagggggggggggg.

Thoughts? Is it even justifiable to have this much movie time in a game?

P.S. For our resident Kojima lovers I'm not bashing and I truly marvel at the guy. Just trying to wrap my head around the reasons for the lengthy movies.

P.P.S. As much as I hate quoting Cliffy B. (Gears of War fame) for anything I really feel he had a very valid point about cutscenese when referring to MGS4. He basically said, "When you start watching a cutscene, you stop playing a game."

Bioshock 2: A Review (and my first!)

To my surprise, I found that I am the only person amongst my immediate gamer-friends to buy Bioshock 2. Although I may be a bit disappointed in several of you (ahem… 3N3MY), I consider it a privilege to have played it and to be the one to write a review on it. So, without further ado…..

I had very high expectations going into this after the phenomenal experience I had with Bio1. Plus, no matter how this game ended, it could only get better after how the first one ended. Those who have played it know exactly what I mean. Right from the beginning you get the feeling that the developers understood they had something great in the first one and that change is not necessarily a good thing. And that is essentially what you get: more of the same. I'll try and summarize my feelings in different sections and do my best not to give away anything (don't worry, I'm just kidding)

Gameplay: More of the same is exactly what you get. It feels like Bioshock except you are a Big Daddy from the get-go. I'll admit that I was worried about this going into it but luckily it works. The only time your really get a feel for your size is during jumping or falling. They made two major improvements to the controls: 1. they removed the Eve Hypo and Health Pack button mapping from the standard A,B,X,Y (don't remember exactly which it was), preventing you from accidentally wasting all of your stash. You can still use them but it is done when holding down the weapon or plasmid selection screen and pressing a button (or pressing right on the d-pad for health). 2. THEY ADDED A MELEE BUTTON!!!!! The last thing I want to mention in terms of gameplay is they fixed that damned camera from the first one. It is still there but a hell of a lot better. It is now in the form of a movie camera that doesn't require to scavenge for film. You equip it as you would have the original, but once you click it, the game automatically switches you back to your weapon and you then get research points based off of how it was killed. It's very unobtrusive, and since it isn't plot essential, it never becomes a nuisance.

Graphics: The game looks amazing, but unless I would do a side-by-side comparison, I would say without hesitation that the Bio1 and 2 look almost exactly the same. I'm sure there are some details, draw distance, texters, etc that are increased but I didn't notice.

Plasmids: I give this a separate category because of how significant they are to the game itself. All the plasmids from Bio1 are back with only one new being added (that I could find). The biggest change is that as you upgrade them, a new power/feature is unlocked. For example, the Electro Bolt plasmid upgrades from your standard electrical shock to chain lightening and finally to what I will only refer to as "The Emperor". I was pretty disappointed in the choices but the upgrades easily made up for this.

Story: My opinion of the story is still uncertain. In short, it was good. The ending.... a lot better than Bio1. What I was looking forward to the most was to be shocked and awed by the twists that were constantly thrown at you in the first one. Bio2 definitely has its moments including 3 different times where I could have sworn I was heading into the final events of the game only to have it open up into another task or even an entire new level. What this game was missing was the sinister characters like Sander Cohen and Andrew Ryan. Although Ryan is present throughout the game in the Audio Diaries, the main antagonist, Sophia Lamb, lacks.... something. You just don't find yourself drawn/attached to her as you were to Ryan. Also, the other character bad guys you find in the different levels just don't have the same feel as Cohen did in the Bio1. One of them specifically I killed without even realizing I was fighting him (sigh... could have been such a good character too). What makes the story so great is how they dive into the history of the Big Daddies and their attachment to the Little Sisters. They way this unfolds throughout the game really makes you feel for your character and the Big Daddies in both games. I won't say much about the Big Sisters besides that they are AWESOME.

In summary, I really enjoyed the game and I definitely recommend it to anyone. Its a FPS that actually is focused on telling a story. It had its moments, and I left feeling very satisfied with the experience. As for the Multiplayer.... I have played 2 games so far and it is very different. I will write more on that after I have played more. But from the bit I've played you can tell it was made by another developer but not so much that it doesn't feel like Bioshock.

Oh, one last thing... the music in this is phenomenal.

Play-through time: 23hrs.

"What the... ?" a.k.a. "Battlefield Bad Company 2 Concerns"

I've been playing the demo for a while now, and as excited as I am for Bad Company 2, there is something not sitting with me.  It's hard to articulate, partially because it's a demo of one level and one playlist type (one I never intend to play again), but also because I feel like there are bigger design elements that are awry. 

Those who haven't tried it, it's a one-sided objective based gametype where the offensive team tries to destroy 2 objectives that the defense has nestled in to defend.  If both are destroyed, then the defense falls back to another portion of the map to defend 2 new objective points.  This continues until the time expires, resulting in a win for the defense, or all the objective have been destroyed, creating a win for the offense.  Objectives are generally destroyed by offense planting bombs at the aforementioned locations.  not surprisingly, the defense can protect their locations by defusing the bombs.  A simple enough premise, putting a really neat context in the world.  It's not too much different from variants found in other shooters, but the moving of the playable area in the map by the defense falling back, really creates a cool mood for the game.

Bad Company's desire to see things exploded and fall over, really makes for a rough time.  More than one match was lost by the other team hanging back (way back) with vehicles pummeling their attack locations.  At first, I thought nothing of it - "fine, go ahead and keep killing me, you'll never capture this point from way up there." Wrong! Apparently, you can destroy objectives by destroying it externally as well.  No need to fight your way up to that point, just camp a tank on top of the hill and give it to em'.  The class based weapon load-out isn't helping either.  That far back from where we get to choose to spawn as defenders, we have no real effective way to stop those tanks, or to kill the vehicle fixing engineer who is just sitting behind his friendly tank, well out of harm's way, who is perpetually healing his tank making it nearly invincible.

Normally, I'd blame this on me/us.  We love to bitch about getting our butts kicked, but aren't there some design problems happening?  Maybe I'm not understanding something about the game type.  the classes feel balanced, not too many people running around as only one class.  The maps feel pretty well designed, multiple ways to enter in an objective point, not to mention the ability to rip down a wall with your grenade launcher if you so desire.  It seems like some simple choices or tweaks could really make the difference.  Like... not respawning vehicles.  Or not putting capture locations in buildings that could be completely demolished.

It worries me that this gameplay style is gonna effect my first (and essentially only) love in the Battlefield series, Conquest mode.  Conquest mode allows for some great ebb and flow between offense and defense, really making team communication pay off.  If conquest points could be captured, or removed off a map by completely blowing them up, then the game is just gonna turn into some free-for-all sloppy mess of grenade launcher chaos.  Again, this is just a concern, but I think it's a fair question.

I know there are some huge lifelong Battlefield fans amongst us, but if this is what the gameplay boils down to, I don't understand what all the hype is about.  I loved Bad Company 1 for it's level of destruction, but somehow, I have to assume through brilliant map design, demoing a majority of a building didn't seem to effect the overall outcome of a game, only how individual skirmishes on the battlefield played out. 

Also, Enemy and my mind's were blown when we checked the leaderboards on our 360s.  At the time we checked (which I can only assume has increased since then) there was a player in the top 10 worldwide, that had clocked in over 245 hours in the demo.  That seems high but let me break down the math for you. The demo has only been out for about 4 weeks now.  Giving him the benefit of the doubt, and assuming he hasn't played at all since we last checked in on him, that means he has been playing for just under 9 hours a day, every day.  I'm less worried about the time consumption, but what the particular obsession is with this game.  It's only one map! and it's only one gametype!  What could possibly be happening that causes this dude to spend more time on a single level and single gametype than most of us spend on a full-time job? Yikes.

I owe Bioware a lot...an awful lot.

I think it was the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college when I played my first Bioware game, Knights of the Old Republic, and little did I know how much that game would affect me in the long run.

First of all at that time I hated RPGs and it was mainly out of ignorance more than anything else. Let me start at the beginning. As a kid I rented a PSOne from Box Office Video to play FFVII because the graphics were unbelievable in the tv commercials (not realizing they were the cinematics from the game and not actual gameplay). I still remember the tag line: "If you fail, you can always hit the reset button." I thought that was awesome! I rented the PSOne and the game. Put the disc in and started it up. What did I get? Totally let down. The graphics were atrocious (mind you I was expecting the graphics from the commercial and up until that time the best system I had was still a Genisis) and why can't I swing my sword?! He's right there!!! HIT HIM!!! WHY ARE YOU LETTING YOURSELF GET HIT?!?! DO SOMETHING!!!!

I shut the game off and was totally upset. I didn't get why the game was a big deal and vowed never to be sucked in by anything Final Fantasy ever again! EVER!

So out comes this neat looking Star Wars game for the XBOX and I bite. I take what little money I have and buy it. I put it in the tray start it up. Looks epic. Start playing. How do I fight? Why can't I shoot my gun?! He's right there!!! HIT HIM!!! WHY ARE YOU LETTING
YOURSELF GET HIT?!?! DO SOMETHING!!!!

Pissed off and disappointed don't describe my feelings, but since I had plopped down 50 bones I kept at it and was rewarded with the greatest game I had ever played up until then. I was changed. I appreciated a slower game. Walking around and exploring a living breathing world. I didn't even know what leveling up was before then. Looting. Building relationships with NPCs. Changing the world I was playing in and taking a direct part in the lives of my squad and whether they lived or died. I gained an entirely new perspective on a medium from one game.

Nobody builds up a character like Bioware. Nobody. Take Shale from Dragon Age for example. Shale is a giant golem that was frozen as a statue for almost 30 years. He'll fight anyone, is my most powerful squad member and is afraid of nothing...except birds. He's terrified of birds because they landed and pooped on him for 30 years. How friggin hilarious and well thought out is that for building a character?

Since KOTOR I've played Jade Empire (phenomenal), Mass Effect 1 and 2 (words can't describe my love for this series) and now I'm playing Dragon Age (a super awesome game in the vein of KOTOR). Every one of these games is an absolute delight to play and never fails to thrill me.

Thank you Bioware for changing my perspective on gaming from video games are a lot of fun to viewing them as their own form of art and a credible medium for story telling while still being a blast to play.

Sorry Kojima...you just don't thrill me...at all.

Apologies

I deleted the last post, not because of what anyone else said, but because after a day at work, not being able to continue the highly emotional discussion, I realized that what I wrote was mostly out of frustration due to issues in my own life - not the choices anyone else makes.

It was unfair, I apologize for expressing my points from an emotional persepctive, not a well-considered one.

I also worked it out to be able to get BF:BC 2.  I look forward to playing with anyone who will be there.  Hopefully you'll still be willing to play with this asshole (me).

Halo Reach

First of hopefully many ViDoc for Halo Reach...consider me quite impressed...and the hype machine is certainly building already. I'm sure it's still going to be plagued by the usual Halo MP shananagins but i cant help but get excited already for this. There's some nice little gameplay elements revealed within the vid too. Yes they keep talking about polygon increaes but gotta hand it to them personally i think it looks very good, maybe just in comparision to halo 3...anyway go watch.

Link

Beta May 3rd btw.

Operation Flashpoint

Anyone played this? I remember reading about it a while back and the open world, do it anyway you can, super realism, 4 player coop seemed really awesome. From everything I read the AI is terrible, but the game is really fun coop and is unrelentingly punishing.

Me thinks it could be a good time down the road???? Thoughts? 4 players coop in realistic military shooter/simulation? I read that even the bullets ARC over long distances.

Could be fun....

Goozex Point Sale Liquidation!!!!!!

My words will fall on deaf ears, but Goozex is having a bitchin sale! 1000 points and 5 trade tokens for only $27.50. Buying this many points and tokens separately outside of the sale would run you $55.00.

Think of it as buying a new game for half price. Let me know if you’re interested and I’ll shoot you an invite so I get credit for you guys joining.

Ghost Recon trailer & MP rant

So a trailer for the new Ghost Recon has been released...now i'm a big fan of the GR series, GRAW & GRAW 2 go down as some of my fav titles on the 360 to date. i love squad battles so i'm hoping it's more of the same..not so sure about the futuristic'ness of what the trailer is hinting at but i'm giving them the benefit of the doubt for now. MP beta this summer adds to the long list of games to look forward to this year (could it be the best year yet?)

What i'm really hoping for is MP gameplay that really encourages and rewards teamwork, it doesn't necessarily have to come from this particular title but since it's got such a strong emphasis on teamwork in the SP games i'd hope it would follow through. I'm a bit sick of these MP games and gametypes which are labeled "team" deathmatch, ctf etc yet there's a distinct lack of teamwork involved and the games are too heavily rewarding to those who can get the most kills (*cough MW2 cough*). So using MW2 as reference...dont get me wrong i love a bit of run and gun now and again but i really love objective gametypes but find it hard to form a "team". So often i play and i'd say 99% of the Live community have got mic's but nobody uses them for informative communication...one the rare occasion i have played with a "team" i've found the game a much more enjoyable experience. How about removing individual leaderboards altogether and only displaying a team score for matches, or on objective gametypes boost the points and rewards for capturing, 'capture streak awards' to replace kill streaks anyone?

My hat goes off to Zipper, the guys behind MAG on the PS3 the game might not play as nice as MW2 but there's so much more emphasis on teamwork and rewards..just incase anyones missed this one, it's basically a 256 player battle and it's not a total mess like you'd think. each teams broken down into squads which have leaders and these leaders can issue commands, like capture point A and if you do so as you should the willing team player you are, any kills around that point you get bonus XP, it's little incentives like this which might help combat this lonewolf mindset so many players have.

Maybe i'm just not hanging/playing with players with the same motivations as i have, i like to think of myself as an 'active' player in online gaming, i'll hold my hands up and admit i have my occasional rant and rave about lag etc but majority of the time i'm spewing out locations of enemies, asking for backup etc.

So anyway wat initially started as a post about Ghost Recon games has turned into a full blown rant, was just posting to take my mind of work for a few mins...which has now turned to well lots of minssssss. back to work and interested to hear any thoughts.

"Won't Sell" just burned me.

Brjahu recently posted an article on games that you "Can't sell" or "Won't sell." "Can't sell" is where the game is digital and there is literally nothing physical to resell. "Won't sell' is where the developer and publisher come up with ways to keep you from selling a game by keeping you attached to it by releasing new DLC over a long period of time or by giving you freebies at launch.

These are both ways for developers and publishers to combat used game sales. 3 recent games have fought this by offering DLC at launch. Mass Effect 2, Dante's Inferno and Dragon Age. I just got Dragon Age from goozex (best site....evar!) and have been having a blast with it. Problem is I got it used and there was free DLC for buying it new. I traded out 2 games to get enough points to get Dragon Age for 1000 points (50 bucks). It's just a bummer now because I spent 50 bucks in points and now I have to spend another 15 bucks to get the "free" DLC that came out for free to people that actually bought the game new.

I don’t regret getting Dragon Age at all, but knowing what I know now maybe I would’ve waited another month and just got the game new for my birthday. This strategy has put a different perspective on me buying games that I’m on the fence about. Take Dante’s for example. I’m on the fence about it and I would def pick it up used, but now maybe I’ll just get it new.

Well played EA. Well played.

Assassin's Creed 2 aka thanks for the borrow, 3N3MY

So 3N3MY let me borrow Assassin's Creed 2, saving me $60, and I just had to post up about it. It is the most improved sequel I think I've ever played. I know this came out a little while ago and I think he even posted up a review...

But I just had to make a post stating how impressed I am with the game. As great as the first one was, it had some serious flaws. They appear to have corrected almost all of them and added so many great improvements. The story is better, some cut scenes are interactive, it flows more seeminglessly, climbing seems faster, side missions actually seem like side missions, new ways to kill like double assassinations and air attacks and killing from a pile of way, there is treasure to find, money to earn and upgrading your villa is a great concept, and raiding tombs made me remember some good old PSONE Tomb Raider action.

A great "oh, snap" moment was when I walked up to a guard, attempting to assassinate him and then take on his fellow guard. Instead, I assassinated both of them with two hidden blades without even meaning too... great game moment.

Never been so impressed by a sequel's improvements...

Pre Mass Effect 2 - Advice

So i haven't been fortunate enough to be part of the ME2 release hype, holidays/work commitments etc, infact i've barley found the time to play much recently...however with the next couple of weeks free to myself I going to dedicate myself to some gaming goodness which leads me to my topic.

I've completed ME1 once so i know the story line etc, i kept meaning to go back through again pre ME2 release but never found the time, but here's the thing i no longer have the ME1 save game to continue over...so the burning question is how much does having the previous save enhance the ME2 playthru?

I'm considering started a fresh ME1 playthru (Amateria you're doing the same rite?) but i'm afraid i might have a bit of a ME burnout once it comes to completing the 2 titles back to back and i dont want to spoil it...I feel the same way about the God of War games too, which i wanna replay again before GOWIII hits. Any thoughts and advice from the Mass Effect junkies out there?

Public Notice: General Suggestion

I think something that would really add some life to this blog/discussion, would be if we brought more of our personal insight and experience to the table.  I'm all about sharing cool things found on the information superhighway, but a majority of our posts are just links to other news sources, that generally link to some other original source.  I'm not suggesting that we remain ignorant otherwise, but we all know how to link to Kotaku.

This continues on into the comments as well. Everyone was invited to participate in this blog because we all are very passionate about the subjects at hand.  Our conversations in real life have been from casual, to giddy, to professional, to heated arguments. Where are those principles at work if we respond with nothing deeper than "cool link" or "awesome"?

I'm guilty as well, to be sure.  I was just doing some personal reflection this morning at work, and one of the places my mind went was this blog, and how we all could take more... "personal ownership" of it.  I firmly believe though, that the process begins with us all making a more personal investment in it.

That being said -

I'm on a huge single player kick, and it's a real good feeling.  3N3MY's been trying to get me going again for a long time, and I feel like I've finally found some balance in it.  I'm patiently waiting until I have a good chunk of time to devote for me to start Mass Effect 2.  It's not a lack of excitement, but I know how late I stayed up finishing the first one when I intended to just do a quick side quest, and I want to make sure I'm doing 2 justice when I finally start.  After that, both Uncharted's are in the line-up, possibly followed up by the God of War Collection.  In the middle of all that, my beautiful fiance gave me an amazing gift for my birthday, and a new pokemon game is on the way, filling up my hours at work, on my lunch breaks, or on the toilet.  God bless handhelds...

I suppose as a closing thought to my rambling, I'd like to do a quick poll concerning a habit of mine I've had for quite some time, and was curious if anyone does too - who reads game manuals on the toilet?  I caught 3N3MY reading the game manual for Halo:CE when we were in college, and I always thought that it was something sacred we shared about gaming, but I think I might be wrong.  I gave Lead Salad the Gears of War guide to read when he went at my house on his recent visit. Who else is guilty out there?

+1 for Bioware

Oh Snap!

SPOILER: Do not go to this page if you plan to court Miranda and don't want to see her hoo-haa's a little "prematurely". Ha... I'm too funny.

101 Free Games 2010

This list is making some pretty big noise across the interwebs. Give it a look and share any that you find particularly good or worth taking a look at.

"Avatar" History

Whether you loved or hated the movie you have to admit the world itself is quite astounding. Here's a link to a ton of info on the backstory of Pandora. LLLIIINNNKKK

SEGA's biggest sellers...

Here's the link. What really caught my eye was a comment a reader made:

"I remember a customer asking me "Do you have any games with Mario's little friend in it? My kids really love him!""Little friend... you mean Yoshi? The green dinosaur?""No, that doesn't sound right...""Wario, maybe? The 'Smooth Moves' and 'Shake It' games are pretty popular...""No, that's not him either... oh, here he is! *points to Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Games*""Oh, wow, Sonic. I would have never guessed."And I died a little bit on the inside. The guy that used to be Nintendo's biggest thorn in it's side, the guy who used to convince us that Sega does what Nintendon't, the guy that made us all convinced "Blast Processing" was what made the Genesis superior to the Nintendo... is now reduced to "Mario's Little Friend".What happened, Sega?"

Poor Sonic. Used to be awesome, but your own creators ruined you.

One last game...

On April 15th, Microsoft will pull the plug on the Xbox Live service for all original Xbox games—which affects both Xbox 1 games played on both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360.
So say you downloaded an Xbox Originals game onto your Xbox 360. That game will still play just fine, but don't expect to go online with it. The same general rule applies to every vintage Xbox title no matter the grander Xbox platform.
But by cutting off these older titles (aka pissing off a bunch of Halo 2 fanatics), Microsoft will gain much more flexibility with the Live platform through announcements coming "in the next few weeks." [Gamerscoreblog via Kotaku]

Original Post

So... who's up for one last go at Chrimson Skies?

Sorry brjahu...

This is written from a PS3 fan's perspective. I still want to play Drakes though.

Sad news. No Unreal Championship...ever...amongst other things...

Kill me. At least Natal is coming out...kill me more.

Finished Part 1

3N3MY is just plain right about Mass Effect. Absolutely amazing on every front.  I already am looking forward to my second (and future past that) playthroughs.  I do feel a little bit mislead though by this trailer. It was definitely the first commercial that got me pumped about this game before it even came out, and I feel like it's a tad... not true.  Although difficult decisions did lie ahead (who knows how many times I took a break to think about who to let live or die...) I don't think it ever felt nearly as epic as this trailer made it seem.

"O Captain, O my captain..." 

...What?!

New Vegas

I may be jumping the gun by saying this and despite not knowing much about it yet or even what the gameplay will be like, I will definitely be purchasing Fallout: New Vegas this fall.

Check out the new trailer.

The Games You Won't Sell, The Games You Can't Sell

Kotaku has a very interesting article regarding the increasingly popular used game market. As two of are writers are heavily invested in this (Amateria - professionally, 3N3MY - religiously), this article is very relevant and should spark some interesting conversations.

Its long but give it a read.

You can't unsee Bomberman in BioShock 2

This will forever change the way you look at Bio2's cover art.

Anyone wanna talk about Heat?!

So I'm finally seriously playing through Mass Effect (the first) and I'm loving it. I appreciate any and all forms of encouragement as it's a rare moment (3N3MY can testify to this) that I find myself on a single player kick, and continuing as long and as consistently as I can would be awesome.

I feel like posting a review or something, but I really don't have anything specific to talk about.  The best part of the game is the conversational system.  It's really an engaging process, as predictible as it can be sometimes.  Dialogue trees have been along forever (ME even calls them "trees") but the conversational wheel adds a small subtle flavor of creation to the process that a list doesn't do.  The principle might be the same, but the execution is much more engrossing for me.  It makes me really excited to eventually get my hands on Heavy Rain, which looks like it's basically built a game around the premise that making choices and dealing with those consequences are the most interesting parts of open-ended gameplay.

It's an interesting personal belief intersection that I've arrived at.  It would be quite logical to assume that if one likes open-ended choices, that I would dislike linear processes - not true, however.  I know I've enjoyed the story-telling in simple, linear games - Halo, Bioshock, Half-Life 2, etc.) and those are anything but open-ended. The common thread in them all is how the experience draws in the player, i.e. immersion.

This isn't new, so forgive the revelation.  It's just so amazing to me how these games we play... they draw us into their worlds.  We let our character's lives become our lives. We let their world become ours.  Sony even tried marketting their share of the industry with a slogan to this effect (For the PS2  - Live in your world, play in ours").  It can be an intense experience at times. We trivialize it all the time with statements like "it's just a game", but the things that are going on in our minds are so much more real than that, and thus deserve a better treatment. 

I have experienced this before, though, and it's on the stage.  I was an actor (Theatre Performance major) in college and high school, and it's an amazing thing to, well, become another person for a brief period of time.  It's something to watch Hamlet, but it's another thing altogether to be Hamlet.  I get to be the Master Chief and save Earth.  I get to be Commander Shepard and save the galaxy.  I get to be Mario and rescue the princess.  Obviously the principle isn't the exact same, but I bet the narrative treatment a game company gives a story would change dramatically if the design team was made entirely of Actors.

I've rambled long enough.  This post was to let some of my thoughts about games out, and to prove to 3N3MY I was still alive. Done and done. Thoughts?

16 games that are going to blow you visually in 2010

Here is a list of games that are supposedly going to blow us away visually. There wasn't too many surprises on this list... that is until I saw the 10th one down. Almost vomited in my mouth. Not saying it isn't going to look phenomenal but COME ON... you cannot put anything Halo on the same list as Crysis. This alone discredits the entire list.

Duke Nukem Forever Lives!!!

... or does it?

A distraction until I can share my final Mass Effect 2 thoughts. More on that coming soon!