Does anyone have a strong opinion about this? I really don't. I would probably care more if not for the ESPN deal that starts in November. That's easily worth $10 more a year to me, but I've been known to watch a lot of sports. I'd like to see more stuff like this to justify the cost, though, considering that the competition has similar online services for free. I thought it was so cool when Netflix first hit Xbox Live and I was kind of like, "Oooh, eat it, PS3." But now the PS3 and even the Wii can stream Netflix.
Well....is anyone highly offended? Anyone going to refuse to renew their Live subscriptions? Anyone going to write to Major Nelson and tell him to suck it?
Monday, August 30, 2010
Nintendo 64 and GameCube
Maybe it's the charm (and sometimes super annoying-ness) of the Nintendo cast or the easy pick up and play, but why the hell can I not get over how much fun my N64 still is?
Allow me to explain. Recently my sister-in-law got married to a very cool guy that some of you on this blog have played with named Silent 1988. Luckily, they literally moved across the parking lot from my wife and I and he comes over regularly and we play Super Smash Bros and NFL Blitz like it's our jobs on 64. When we want to crank up the difficulty of said games we'll play SSB Melee and Mario Kart Double Dash on Cube. These games are every bit as fun years after they've been out and with hundreds of hours already dumped in to them. Why is this?
Is it the local play? Is it Nintendo nostalgia? I think it's because of the super fine tuning and incredible game design on Nintendo's part. Unfortunately, SSB and Mario Kart have been what Amateria wisely put "HALO'ed" on the Wii. They have taken rather simple games to play (but truly challenging to master at times) and neutered them even more for "waggle" play and for the greater masses.
All Star Baseball 2000 for 64 has been getting regular weekly rotation on my 64 with Silent and another buddy on a weekly get together. At the time the game was the top of the line baseball sim, but now they extol the game's difficulty and love the fact that it's not needlessly complex like all newer sports games.
The same can be said of Blitz's bare bones footbrawler. It's probably the most fun I've ever had in a sports game and now that Silent and I are truly awesome at it the tension is through the roof! We've even started a tally sheet much like Lead Salad and I use to use for win record keeping.
I don't feel that my thoughts were well written in this post, but I can't stop marveling at the fact that I have the world's best, newest and brightest games at my disposal and I keep playing all these old games and it's not just on whim. It's because I have someone to play with locally again.
I guess that you just can't beat the classics and that sometimes great gameplay doesn't need any refinements to still be compelling by today's standards.
Sidenote: 64 and Cube have been in boxes for years, but as of these last few weeks space was cleared in my entertainment system and now they are both permanent tenants again. Right next to my 360 and PS3 are two dinosaurs battling it out for my time. Video games are awesome.
Allow me to explain. Recently my sister-in-law got married to a very cool guy that some of you on this blog have played with named Silent 1988. Luckily, they literally moved across the parking lot from my wife and I and he comes over regularly and we play Super Smash Bros and NFL Blitz like it's our jobs on 64. When we want to crank up the difficulty of said games we'll play SSB Melee and Mario Kart Double Dash on Cube. These games are every bit as fun years after they've been out and with hundreds of hours already dumped in to them. Why is this?
Is it the local play? Is it Nintendo nostalgia? I think it's because of the super fine tuning and incredible game design on Nintendo's part. Unfortunately, SSB and Mario Kart have been what Amateria wisely put "HALO'ed" on the Wii. They have taken rather simple games to play (but truly challenging to master at times) and neutered them even more for "waggle" play and for the greater masses.
All Star Baseball 2000 for 64 has been getting regular weekly rotation on my 64 with Silent and another buddy on a weekly get together. At the time the game was the top of the line baseball sim, but now they extol the game's difficulty and love the fact that it's not needlessly complex like all newer sports games.
The same can be said of Blitz's bare bones footbrawler. It's probably the most fun I've ever had in a sports game and now that Silent and I are truly awesome at it the tension is through the roof! We've even started a tally sheet much like Lead Salad and I use to use for win record keeping.
I don't feel that my thoughts were well written in this post, but I can't stop marveling at the fact that I have the world's best, newest and brightest games at my disposal and I keep playing all these old games and it's not just on whim. It's because I have someone to play with locally again.
I guess that you just can't beat the classics and that sometimes great gameplay doesn't need any refinements to still be compelling by today's standards.
Sidenote: 64 and Cube have been in boxes for years, but as of these last few weeks space was cleared in my entertainment system and now they are both permanent tenants again. Right next to my 360 and PS3 are two dinosaurs battling it out for my time. Video games are awesome.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Gaming This Fall
I've had to cheer myself up after the release of Starcraft 2 in all it's awesomeness. Between therapy and constantly rewatching Diablo 3 videos, I've been able to pull out of my dark slump. Then a light descended from heaven and revealed to me several other great games coming out that I'm really looking forward to playing.
1. Fallout: New Vegas - more fallout!? yes, please!
2. Civilization V - Never got into this series until there was a large Steam sale and I picked up Civ IV and a bunch of expansions for dirt cheap. Fun strategy game.
3. Fable III - Not quite as good as some other RPGs out there, still will be worth my time.
4. CoD: Black Ops - The PC edition is getting dedicated servers plus modding abilities so Treyarch is completely redeeming themselves. And another zombie mode! Still hesitant about giving any money to Activision so this may be a Goozex purchase.
5. Max Payne 3 - no release date and probably won't be this year but one of my top 5 favorite franchises. I played through the 2nd game 5 or 6 times.
6. Diablo 3 - Diablo 2 set the standard for years of action/RPGs and this sequel is looking amazing so far.
7. Torchlight II - the first one was a cheap Indy game that sucked up 30hrs of my time. A Diablo 2 clone from several developers behind Diablo 2. 2nd one looks even better.
8. Brink - This game caught my eye just this past week and looks like it has potential to be an enjoyable FPS.
Post up some games you guys are looking forward too...
1. Fallout: New Vegas - more fallout!? yes, please!
2. Civilization V - Never got into this series until there was a large Steam sale and I picked up Civ IV and a bunch of expansions for dirt cheap. Fun strategy game.
3. Fable III - Not quite as good as some other RPGs out there, still will be worth my time.
4. CoD: Black Ops - The PC edition is getting dedicated servers plus modding abilities so Treyarch is completely redeeming themselves. And another zombie mode! Still hesitant about giving any money to Activision so this may be a Goozex purchase.
5. Max Payne 3 - no release date and probably won't be this year but one of my top 5 favorite franchises. I played through the 2nd game 5 or 6 times.
6. Diablo 3 - Diablo 2 set the standard for years of action/RPGs and this sequel is looking amazing so far.
7. Torchlight II - the first one was a cheap Indy game that sucked up 30hrs of my time. A Diablo 2 clone from several developers behind Diablo 2. 2nd one looks even better.
8. Brink - This game caught my eye just this past week and looks like it has potential to be an enjoyable FPS.
Post up some games you guys are looking forward too...
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Resistance 2 review
I played the first half of the game a few months back, and then came back and finished a few days ago. Due to this, I can't really recall the storyline too well (sorry). It's got something to do with the Chimera invading the U.S. after Britain from the first game. Your character, Nathan Hale, is infected with something and goes thru some changes as the game progresses. I think he's slowly changing into one of the bad guys and needs a serum to keep the transformation at bay. Nothing really groundbreaking in terms of story - pretty standard for a first person shooter.
Like
-The weapons in the game are a ton of fun, with the exception of the Carbine, the standard machine gun with a grenade launcher attachment....not too special. But then there's the Magnum, with remotely triggered explosive rounds. The Bullseye fires 'tags' into a guy which serve as a homing point for your bullets. Tag a guy, then hide around a corner and shoot. Your bullets will go around the corner and home in on the guy. Sweet. The Fareye is the sniper rifle with a controllable zoom and the ability to enter a sort of "bullet time" where you have some extra time to snipe. The Auger can shoot through walls and can deploy its own barrier, which you can also shoot through. The Pulse Cannon is sort of a BFG wannabe. Rocket launcher is pretty standard. Mini-gun with a 300 round clip and deployable shield can do some damage. The Spinner shoots saw blades that bounce all over the place. Spike grenades and spider grenades (they create an expanding hot zone under guys where you throw it) round out the list. Lots of variety and lots of fun.
-Coop mode with up to 8 players is fun. Different classes work together to play shortened versions of some of the maps from the single player campaign.
-Bosses are huge, loud, and scary. Unfortunately they're all a little bit too easy, too. The Leviathan is a huge Godzilla-looking creature walking around in a city knocking down buildings but it only takes a few rockets to put him down. There's also a boss that looks like a swarm of bees that keeps picking off your teammates as you progress through one stage.
Dislike
-Worst NPCs ever. There's one point in the game where you get dropped off at the bottom of a ramp that leads into an enemy stronghold. This is towards the end of the game and it's a HUGE firefight with literally about 75 bad guys pouring out of this place in waves....and you have to kill every single one of them. Your AI teammates will do nothing except sit at the bottom of the ramp. They don't shoot, they don't throw grenades, they don't advance until you do. Ridiculous.
-Finicky checkpoints. Sometimes I would pick up a gun, get a checkpoint, die, and then would not have that gun, so I'd have to go pick it up again. Also, if your flashlight is on when you get a checkpoint, it won't be on if you have to reload, so you'll have to keep turning it on. A small gripe, but annoying.
-Objectives are sometimes unclear. There's one point where you clear out a house and then a big T-Rex lookin' thing starts stalking around outside. There's a guy talking into your ear through a headset and he says something like, "Hide....don't let it see you." So I figured this beast would check out the house and then move on. I thought they were mixing up the gameplay a little with a stealth section, because it keeps moving around to different windows. After a couple of minutes and a few deaths later it was still out there and I was wondering what was going on. I paused and the objective said to "Kill the Marauder." Weird. Why didn't the guy just tell me to kill it?
-Multiplayer. I only played one game but it was awful.
Bottom line: A good shooter elevated slightly by its varied weaponry and huge bosses.
Like
-The weapons in the game are a ton of fun, with the exception of the Carbine, the standard machine gun with a grenade launcher attachment....not too special. But then there's the Magnum, with remotely triggered explosive rounds. The Bullseye fires 'tags' into a guy which serve as a homing point for your bullets. Tag a guy, then hide around a corner and shoot. Your bullets will go around the corner and home in on the guy. Sweet. The Fareye is the sniper rifle with a controllable zoom and the ability to enter a sort of "bullet time" where you have some extra time to snipe. The Auger can shoot through walls and can deploy its own barrier, which you can also shoot through. The Pulse Cannon is sort of a BFG wannabe. Rocket launcher is pretty standard. Mini-gun with a 300 round clip and deployable shield can do some damage. The Spinner shoots saw blades that bounce all over the place. Spike grenades and spider grenades (they create an expanding hot zone under guys where you throw it) round out the list. Lots of variety and lots of fun.
-Coop mode with up to 8 players is fun. Different classes work together to play shortened versions of some of the maps from the single player campaign.
-Bosses are huge, loud, and scary. Unfortunately they're all a little bit too easy, too. The Leviathan is a huge Godzilla-looking creature walking around in a city knocking down buildings but it only takes a few rockets to put him down. There's also a boss that looks like a swarm of bees that keeps picking off your teammates as you progress through one stage.
Dislike
-Worst NPCs ever. There's one point in the game where you get dropped off at the bottom of a ramp that leads into an enemy stronghold. This is towards the end of the game and it's a HUGE firefight with literally about 75 bad guys pouring out of this place in waves....and you have to kill every single one of them. Your AI teammates will do nothing except sit at the bottom of the ramp. They don't shoot, they don't throw grenades, they don't advance until you do. Ridiculous.
-Finicky checkpoints. Sometimes I would pick up a gun, get a checkpoint, die, and then would not have that gun, so I'd have to go pick it up again. Also, if your flashlight is on when you get a checkpoint, it won't be on if you have to reload, so you'll have to keep turning it on. A small gripe, but annoying.
-Objectives are sometimes unclear. There's one point where you clear out a house and then a big T-Rex lookin' thing starts stalking around outside. There's a guy talking into your ear through a headset and he says something like, "Hide....don't let it see you." So I figured this beast would check out the house and then move on. I thought they were mixing up the gameplay a little with a stealth section, because it keeps moving around to different windows. After a couple of minutes and a few deaths later it was still out there and I was wondering what was going on. I paused and the objective said to "Kill the Marauder." Weird. Why didn't the guy just tell me to kill it?
-Multiplayer. I only played one game but it was awful.
Bottom line: A good shooter elevated slightly by its varied weaponry and huge bosses.
Bioshock 2
Just started it last night on PS3 and I can already tell I'm really going to like it. Especially with the streamlining of the camera and hacking mini games that were soul crushers after 2 playthroughs in the original.
One major thing I wonder if anyone else has experienced. I can't stop looking around at the amazing environments. I did this in the original Bioshock too. Basically, I progress slow as hell because I don't want to miss a thing or a detail. This is one of the few shooters to ever do this to me. It's awesome and annoying at the same time. I guess it's because after years of conventional shooters with same old same old level design when something comes along with this kind of "eye candy" it's hard to not enjoy the sights. The attention to detail in almost everything should make other developers feel ashamed of themselves.
I'm playing on "Normal" with Vita-Chambers turned off for that "Big Brass Balls" Trophy. Glad I've finally gotten around to playing it. Brjahu has been pestering me about it since launch.
One major thing I wonder if anyone else has experienced. I can't stop looking around at the amazing environments. I did this in the original Bioshock too. Basically, I progress slow as hell because I don't want to miss a thing or a detail. This is one of the few shooters to ever do this to me. It's awesome and annoying at the same time. I guess it's because after years of conventional shooters with same old same old level design when something comes along with this kind of "eye candy" it's hard to not enjoy the sights. The attention to detail in almost everything should make other developers feel ashamed of themselves.
I'm playing on "Normal" with Vita-Chambers turned off for that "Big Brass Balls" Trophy. Glad I've finally gotten around to playing it. Brjahu has been pestering me about it since launch.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (Review)
My story with this game is long and bloody, but the short version is I got this game at launch on 360 and experienced a mindblowingly terrible game breaking unfixable glitch so I traded it on goozex. The game hasn't been doing the best and I found it at Target for 20 bucks new and decided to play it on PS3 because the 360 version is not playable for me.
For those of you that don't know PoPTFS is a return to the old style PoP games. In the timeline of the series it follows "The Sands of Time" and is before "Warrior Within." I've read a lot of negatives about this game and while I can say that some of them do hold true the game didn't get the credit it deserved.
Graphically the game isn't overly impressive, but does look good. For some reason though the Prince looks like a caveman, but at least the original voice actor is back and Nolan North (from the cell shaded reinvention of 2008) is out! There's something fun in hearing the Prince's thoughts spoken out loud and his sarcasm is back in full swing.
I won't bother telling the story aspect in much detail, but as you could have guessed an all consuming sand army was released to help the Prince and his brother, Malik, fight off invaders, but of course it was a terrible idea and now the Prince has to get Ratash and the sand army back in prison.
Combat has been much improved over previous entries and there are plenty of enemies to fight at once. Many times throughout the game you'll fight between 20-50 enemies at once which is a lot of fun, but the combat is never very challenging. This is due to the fact that the enemies are retards and when you take their retardation into account with your ball busting powers they're really no match for the Prince.
Platforming finally isn't super easy! I was let down the first couple hours of the game because the platforming in some ways is very easy. It seems almost impossibly to mess up jumps most of the time unlike the older versions. Luckily, the game throws in some very nice curve balls of freezing water and "memory recollection" to make platforming much harder and makes it feel like your actually working hard and concentrating for perfect timing to nail huge jump sections. Definitely some of the best platforming in the whole series and some of the most "holy crap I made it" platforming I've ever played in any game.
RPG? Unlike previous entries there is a leveling up system to combat and powers and it's not a huge deal, but does add some depth to the game.
While the game does feel "meaty" it's not a long campaign. I clocked in probably around 6 to 7 hours and did everything. It's about as long as the new Splinter Cell campaign, but I liked PoP more overall.....and this doesn't have a tacked on lame coop section.
Overall, I really enjoyed this outing with the Prince and while I can't say it's my all time favorite of the series it's definitely a great game that got unfairly beaten up in reviews. Get it if you're a fan of the Prince.
For those of you that don't know PoPTFS is a return to the old style PoP games. In the timeline of the series it follows "The Sands of Time" and is before "Warrior Within." I've read a lot of negatives about this game and while I can say that some of them do hold true the game didn't get the credit it deserved.
Graphically the game isn't overly impressive, but does look good. For some reason though the Prince looks like a caveman, but at least the original voice actor is back and Nolan North (from the cell shaded reinvention of 2008) is out! There's something fun in hearing the Prince's thoughts spoken out loud and his sarcasm is back in full swing.
I won't bother telling the story aspect in much detail, but as you could have guessed an all consuming sand army was released to help the Prince and his brother, Malik, fight off invaders, but of course it was a terrible idea and now the Prince has to get Ratash and the sand army back in prison.
Combat has been much improved over previous entries and there are plenty of enemies to fight at once. Many times throughout the game you'll fight between 20-50 enemies at once which is a lot of fun, but the combat is never very challenging. This is due to the fact that the enemies are retards and when you take their retardation into account with your ball busting powers they're really no match for the Prince.
Platforming finally isn't super easy! I was let down the first couple hours of the game because the platforming in some ways is very easy. It seems almost impossibly to mess up jumps most of the time unlike the older versions. Luckily, the game throws in some very nice curve balls of freezing water and "memory recollection" to make platforming much harder and makes it feel like your actually working hard and concentrating for perfect timing to nail huge jump sections. Definitely some of the best platforming in the whole series and some of the most "holy crap I made it" platforming I've ever played in any game.
RPG? Unlike previous entries there is a leveling up system to combat and powers and it's not a huge deal, but does add some depth to the game.
While the game does feel "meaty" it's not a long campaign. I clocked in probably around 6 to 7 hours and did everything. It's about as long as the new Splinter Cell campaign, but I liked PoP more overall.....and this doesn't have a tacked on lame coop section.
Overall, I really enjoyed this outing with the Prince and while I can't say it's my all time favorite of the series it's definitely a great game that got unfairly beaten up in reviews. Get it if you're a fan of the Prince.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Games That I ♥
Refusing to be considered a troll on this blog, I thought I'd make a quick post of games that I've loved over the years, since starting out on my little handheld football game whose graphics consisted of blinking red lights. Yes, my gaming career started out on a handheld device, neither on PC or the console. We would laugh at the toy today but it was amazing back then. All this big red dots were the football players and the tiny red dot was the ball. I remember how hard it was but I kept at it until I could destroy the enemy AI with ease. I can't believe I had such determination back then.
Anyways, without getting distracted, I'd like to compile a list, though not complete, of some of the games I've really enjoyed over the years and sunk some serious time into. Some of these I'll lump together...
1. Doom, Doom II, Wolfenstein - I remember spending hours on my SNES or on friend's computers playing these games and how their impact back then has led me to still enjoy the FPS genre today. Buying Doom on the 360 was still just as enjoyable today as it was back then.
2. Marathon (Doom for MAC) - This game was indescribable. My neighbor friend, Steve, probably hated me for coming over to his house and ignoring him for hours while I took up his PC and beat this game.
3. Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger for the SNES - 3 classic RPGs for the SNES (that I went back and purchased a couple years ago just to have). I can still go back and play these and have a blast. Chrono Trigger especially with the time travel and the MAIN HERO DYING! It was so shocking... :P
4. FFVII - another amazing game. The cartoony graphics were awful but the world was huge, the backgrounds amazing, and the story priceless. Sephiroth is still one of the best bad guys ever.
5. FF Tactics - A game that has never been equaled, it was soooo challening in the beginning but once I started getting the hang of it (and bought a guidebook), it became one of my all time favorite games, if not the favorite. By the way, if anybody knows of any games like this one, please let me know. I've considered buying a DS just to play some of the other tactics games (which I've heard aren't as good).
6. GTAIII - this game made me go out and buy a PS2 the very next day after playing it. At the time, it was like nothing that had ever been done before. And then Vice City was better and then San Andreas was even better than the previous two. And let's not forget how much GTA2 was...
7. Tony Hawk 1 to 4 (the early years) - Being one of the worst skateboarders in real life (I could barely ollie though I could pull of a sweet boneless off a ramp), this game let you do all the tricks you could only dream of in real life. Playing HORSE in this game ate of hours of my time a decade ago.
8. Syphon Filter - another great PSONE game. I was able to pull off headshots in this game like no other, a skill that I have lost over the years to my hours spent on the PC. :(
9. Elder Scrolls & Oblivion - A game that was so deep at the time, it blew my mind. Although it was insanely annoying trying to find some locations in this game (objective arrows are a great invention), it sucked me in and wouldn't let me leave. Oblivion built on and expanded the world and just made it all better. They took out flying, a minor grievance, and Oblivion ate up hours of my life anyways.
10. Starcraft - never good at RTS games, I learned quickly when I would have LAN parties with an old roommate who had several PCs set up in his house. I remember finally beating his friend (who rage quit and stormed out of the house, haha) and it was a proud gaming moment for myself. The student had now become the teacher.
I realize how long this list could be so I'll just cut this short of descriptions...
Titan's Quest, Battlefield 2 & 2142, Bad Company 1 & 2, Call of Duty 1 & 2, Half-Life 1 & 2, Diablo, Diablo II, Fallout 3, Rise of Nations, Age of Empires, Freelancer, FEAR, Far Cry, Crysis, Lego everything, FFXII, Gran Turismo, Killer Instinct, Spiderman 2, GTAIV, World of Warcraft, Fable 1 & 2, Starcraft 2...
And the list goes on and on... for every bad game that I play, there's probably several that I enjoy. But there are definitely some games where one tiny feature can kill it for me. One hit kills from AI on the easiest difficulty setting, glaring bugs or glitches, awful physics, bad controls, etc., etc.
Anyways, without getting distracted, I'd like to compile a list, though not complete, of some of the games I've really enjoyed over the years and sunk some serious time into. Some of these I'll lump together...
1. Doom, Doom II, Wolfenstein - I remember spending hours on my SNES or on friend's computers playing these games and how their impact back then has led me to still enjoy the FPS genre today. Buying Doom on the 360 was still just as enjoyable today as it was back then.
2. Marathon (Doom for MAC) - This game was indescribable. My neighbor friend, Steve, probably hated me for coming over to his house and ignoring him for hours while I took up his PC and beat this game.
3. Legend of Zelda, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger for the SNES - 3 classic RPGs for the SNES (that I went back and purchased a couple years ago just to have). I can still go back and play these and have a blast. Chrono Trigger especially with the time travel and the MAIN HERO DYING! It was so shocking... :P
4. FFVII - another amazing game. The cartoony graphics were awful but the world was huge, the backgrounds amazing, and the story priceless. Sephiroth is still one of the best bad guys ever.
5. FF Tactics - A game that has never been equaled, it was soooo challening in the beginning but once I started getting the hang of it (and bought a guidebook), it became one of my all time favorite games, if not the favorite. By the way, if anybody knows of any games like this one, please let me know. I've considered buying a DS just to play some of the other tactics games (which I've heard aren't as good).
6. GTAIII - this game made me go out and buy a PS2 the very next day after playing it. At the time, it was like nothing that had ever been done before. And then Vice City was better and then San Andreas was even better than the previous two. And let's not forget how much GTA2 was...
7. Tony Hawk 1 to 4 (the early years) - Being one of the worst skateboarders in real life (I could barely ollie though I could pull of a sweet boneless off a ramp), this game let you do all the tricks you could only dream of in real life. Playing HORSE in this game ate of hours of my time a decade ago.
8. Syphon Filter - another great PSONE game. I was able to pull off headshots in this game like no other, a skill that I have lost over the years to my hours spent on the PC. :(
9. Elder Scrolls & Oblivion - A game that was so deep at the time, it blew my mind. Although it was insanely annoying trying to find some locations in this game (objective arrows are a great invention), it sucked me in and wouldn't let me leave. Oblivion built on and expanded the world and just made it all better. They took out flying, a minor grievance, and Oblivion ate up hours of my life anyways.
10. Starcraft - never good at RTS games, I learned quickly when I would have LAN parties with an old roommate who had several PCs set up in his house. I remember finally beating his friend (who rage quit and stormed out of the house, haha) and it was a proud gaming moment for myself. The student had now become the teacher.
I realize how long this list could be so I'll just cut this short of descriptions...
Titan's Quest, Battlefield 2 & 2142, Bad Company 1 & 2, Call of Duty 1 & 2, Half-Life 1 & 2, Diablo, Diablo II, Fallout 3, Rise of Nations, Age of Empires, Freelancer, FEAR, Far Cry, Crysis, Lego everything, FFXII, Gran Turismo, Killer Instinct, Spiderman 2, GTAIV, World of Warcraft, Fable 1 & 2, Starcraft 2...
And the list goes on and on... for every bad game that I play, there's probably several that I enjoy. But there are definitely some games where one tiny feature can kill it for me. One hit kills from AI on the easiest difficulty setting, glaring bugs or glitches, awful physics, bad controls, etc., etc.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
John Carmack could be the Jesus of gaming.
Alright look....I'm not the most techy guy, but I'd be lying if I wasn't in awe of the genius of John Carmack. If you follow him at all or know any of his history with games he's pretty much the end all be all tech guy. Just the other day at Quakecon he showed "Rage" running on an iPhone at 60fps....then acted like it wasn't a big deal. He also builds rockets....real manned rockets....just for fun.
I know I was one of the few really big Doom 3 fans in our group, but just watching the id team in some of the "making of" videos was really refreshing because all of these guys really love games and it shows. Plus, they never lost their independent size as a developer.
What prompted this post was this news that the most mind bendingly good looking game engine, id Tech 5, isn't going to be licensed to anyone, but other Bethesda developers. Unlike 80% of the games out today that are made with the Unreal 3 engine this game and developer will keep their distinct look for themselves. I love Epic, but seriously I can't tell you how many games I've played and actually said out loud: "You got Gears of War in my game!"
Fanboyism rant is done.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Fight Club...
I don't think this needs much of an explenation. I know we have several huge Smash Brothers fans on this blog so this is for you guys.(ps. Kotaku has a post on this, so if credit goes anywhere it is to them for taking it from another site.)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Just Cause 2
It's amazing. I highly recommend you run to your nearest retailer and pick it up.
It's the largest game world I've ever seen with jaw dropping draw distances and it's immensely fun! I'm playing on Experienced/Hard so it can be hard at times, but never overly so.
What's been most surprising to me is how you're simultaneously a badass and very vulnerable at the same time. Many sandbox games I've played you're either one or the other. For example there are helicopters a plenty and when you're rocking out a base you're the badass, but if you aren't watching incoming rockets or fighting off other helicopters well you're going to explode and be vulnerable on the ground. When you're on the ground all you have is your grapple hook, guns and explosives.
The grapple hook is incredibly fun because it latches on to ANYTHING and has a very long reach. Nothing is more satisfying in a game than attacking an enemy base with a helicopter, getting attacked from multiple sides and after your copter blows up you jump out to free fall, deploy your parachute, grapple to an enemy helicopter, kill the passenger, then throw out the pilot to steal the copter to continue your reign of terror and it was all done without touching the ground. JOYGASM!
I've logged six hours so far and I can say with confidence that there's easily over 100 hours of game here. Get this game.
It's the largest game world I've ever seen with jaw dropping draw distances and it's immensely fun! I'm playing on Experienced/Hard so it can be hard at times, but never overly so.
What's been most surprising to me is how you're simultaneously a badass and very vulnerable at the same time. Many sandbox games I've played you're either one or the other. For example there are helicopters a plenty and when you're rocking out a base you're the badass, but if you aren't watching incoming rockets or fighting off other helicopters well you're going to explode and be vulnerable on the ground. When you're on the ground all you have is your grapple hook, guns and explosives.
The grapple hook is incredibly fun because it latches on to ANYTHING and has a very long reach. Nothing is more satisfying in a game than attacking an enemy base with a helicopter, getting attacked from multiple sides and after your copter blows up you jump out to free fall, deploy your parachute, grapple to an enemy helicopter, kill the passenger, then throw out the pilot to steal the copter to continue your reign of terror and it was all done without touching the ground. JOYGASM!
I've logged six hours so far and I can say with confidence that there's easily over 100 hours of game here. Get this game.
"Monday Night Combat" from LIVE Arcade
Here's a review from GamesRadar. I played the demo last night and I think it has a ton of potential.
Reminds me of old school Unreal Championship a bit, but it's a 3rd person shooter. Has a "Horde" like mode and 6v6 in tactical play where you have to destroy the other team's money ball. Earn cash to power up weapons and turrets like Counter Strike.
We don't really have "the ONE" game we all love to play together anymore so I just thought I'd throw it out there for something new and tactical in our game catalog that could be tons of fun.
I know that Reach will be fun, but I don't plan to play the MP heavily and I'm pretty sure there are a couple others out there that share that opinion sooooooooo...."Monday Night Combat" could be a good thing.
Reminds me of old school Unreal Championship a bit, but it's a 3rd person shooter. Has a "Horde" like mode and 6v6 in tactical play where you have to destroy the other team's money ball. Earn cash to power up weapons and turrets like Counter Strike.
We don't really have "the ONE" game we all love to play together anymore so I just thought I'd throw it out there for something new and tactical in our game catalog that could be tons of fun.
I know that Reach will be fun, but I don't plan to play the MP heavily and I'm pretty sure there are a couple others out there that share that opinion sooooooooo...."Monday Night Combat" could be a good thing.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Damn my friends!
You all know that I have a kid and that being a Dad is the greatest thing I've ever experienced, but man do I miss game time.
I'm a big single player fan and have been trying to fully replay Jade Empire again and the amazingly badass Just Cause 2. This is hard to do because I have a lot less time for games and I seem to always be incredibly tired my 12am now. To further perpetuate the problem I've been having a great time playing ODST Firefight with my friends!
I want to play my SP games so bad with the little time I can squeeze in, but I can't miss out on the fun of playing with you guys.
So damn you all!
I'm a big single player fan and have been trying to fully replay Jade Empire again and the amazingly badass Just Cause 2. This is hard to do because I have a lot less time for games and I seem to always be incredibly tired my 12am now. To further perpetuate the problem I've been having a great time playing ODST Firefight with my friends!
I want to play my SP games so bad with the little time I can squeeze in, but I can't miss out on the fun of playing with you guys.
So damn you all!
Monday, August 9, 2010
Friday, August 6, 2010
Games yet to play....
I know that over the last several months I have been lacking in my posts... well, lacking might not be the best word but hopefully those of you who know me or have been following for a long time understand my gaming habits. The short version: I keep everything I buy, and play most of them to death. Although, I always argue that I get my money's worth and more out of games, what ends up happenings is that I will pass on some great games because I am still playing a game I bought a couple of months ago. To remedy this, last year I started creating a list of games that I am required to play at some point before I die.
Here are some examples of games that I was "late to the party" but finally played:
Mirrors Edge
Assassins Creed 1 and 2
Fallout 3
Oblivion (kind of... I bought my 360 late)
Mass Effect
Portal
God of War 3
and even... Gears of War (yes, I was late... 3NEMY convinced and now... well, ask him)
It never fails that after playing one of these, I'll message 3N3MY or Skatch and say "why didn't you force me to play this earlier?" Below is the list as it stands today. Are there any games that I am missing?
Half Life
Batman AA
Fable 1 and 2
- I'm missing a game or two, but my coffee hasn't kicked in yet -
*** Lastly, I want to point out that I have harassed a couple of you on some games too. A Thank You will suffice.***
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
The awesome Ken Levine editorial I've been talking about recently.
Original link here, but I've copy and pasted it below.
Ken Levine To The Video Game Industry: Grow A Pair
[This editorial originally appeared in issue 207 of Game Informer and is written by Ken Levine, a founding member of Irrational Games and one of the minds behind BioShock.]
Since Roger Ebert wrote a post a few weeks ago entitled "Video Games Can Never Be Art," the game-o-sphere has been abuzz with a broad range of rebuttals, assents, teeth-gnashing, and spleen venting. Ebert spends several thousand words making it very clear that video games aren't worth his time. Even the developer Ebert name checks in his article (Kellee Santiago from thatgamecompany) gets in on the act. The very first line of her response proclaims "Roger Ebert wrote an article about me."
Now excuse me for asking, Kellee, but you are an accomplished game developer. You are a USC alum. You are feted by your peers and your fans. You are coming off Flower, an impressive release that garnered the attention of the entire industry. You're giving speeches at TED. You're a star. And now you're telling me that a watermark in your career is that Roger frigging Ebert deigned to slow down his chariot long enough to notice you? And not simply notice, but vigorously endeavor to establish that your career, your work, and your passion are essentially beneath his notice.
I read another thoughtful open letter to Mr. Ebert on a prominent gaming blog that, before getting around to effectively saying, "You sir, are a film critic, not a game critic, so piss off!" spends several paragraphs name-dropping great filmmakers, as if to say, "See, Ebert? I know film, so I'm worthy of your respect. Take me seriously!"
Jesus, Mary, and Miyamoto! How insecure are we as an industry that we rush to seek validation not from our own peers, not even from creatives in other fields, but from critics in other fields, to tell us if what we're doing is worthy of notice? Look, I was in high school once. I spent the entire four years trying to match up with what I thought other people thought was cool and worthwhile. And I was miserable because the things I loved were not deemed valuable.
Dungeons and Dragons? Lame!
Video games? Nerdy!
Comic books? Pathetic!
And so I hid my passions. I tried to fit in. I played sports and was terrible at them. I tried to make friends with a collection of people whose only interests in the world amounted to Molly Hatchet records and Marlboro Lights. I tried to make myself a part of things I didn't care about and sought the approval of people who looked down on me.
And I was miserable. The sad truth is that once a new form of media shoots out of the womb, one of the first impulses it seeks to fulfill is validation. Like me! Approve of me! Respect me!
Hey, I get it. I went to Vassar. I like a vigorous round of Socratic wankery as much as the next liberal arts undergrad. But what I can't stand is the insecurity. Are games art? Will they become art? What stage of development are we in as an art form? Are they more akin to George Melies' A Voyage to the Moon or Welles' Citizen Kane? What methodologies should we investigate to make a proper determination between the state of video games, Aristotelian aesthetics, and Robert McKee's definition of good writing?
Here's my answer in three simple steps:
Remove the beret from the top of your head.
Throw said beret out the window.
Light a fire. Into that fire toss your copy of Aristotle's Poetics.
Crack open a two liter of Mountain Dew. Snap into a Slim Jim. Proceed to Xbox Live and shoot your best friend in the head with an M-16.
You're a gaming geek. Be proud of that. You don't need the "by your leave" of Roger Ebert, your loving parents, or the Library of Congress to validate your passion.
The world is changing. I've spent some time around Hollywood people lately, and I've even thought of trying my hand at screenwriting again. (I was a film scribe back in, oh, 1871 or so.) But many studio exec types have told me that their dream is to have some big film director work with me to make a video game.
My response was, "Why on Earth would I want to do that?" The notion is as ridiculous as me calling up an established film director and saying, "Hey pal. I've never directed a film before, but how about I show up on set tomorrow and take you to school?" Do you really want two egos like me and some hotshot film director butting heads over health station recharge rates or jump heights? Honestly, I'd expect that 10 minutes into the first meeting they'd start to look like somebody who realizes they just mistakenly got on the wrong -- and very lengthy -- inter-continental flight.
Consider last E3, when James Cameron spoke at the Ubisoft event. Now, I love James Cameron. He's the man along with George Lucas who really created 90 percent of the methodologies for telling nerdy stories in big budget movies. I constantly name check him and reference his work in story meetings at Irrational. You put him and the Coen brothers in a room, and I'd have trouble deciding which one I'd want to make out with first.
But why was he pitching the Avatar game and not the guy who actually built the d**n thing? Look, if a BioShock movie gets made, I'm sure there might be some people who would be interested in what I have to say about it. But the focus would rightly be on the folks who made the frigging movie.
Why does the rest of the media world put the gaming baby in a corner? Because the game industry has an inferiority complex. We know that the movie, television, book, and even comic book guys look at us like we're some kind of junior varsity version of themselves. "Hey, video games! Aren't they cute? We should make one of them!"
And why do they think of us this way? Because we encourage them to. "The New York Times ran a page 37 story on GDC. Somebody call my parents!" "Roger Ebert said we're not art. Get me my smelling salts!"
Do games owe a debt to popular culture? Absolutely. I can say that I am the biggest media w***e who ever walked this green Earth. But popular culture today is gaming culture. The social networks and forms of interaction of the Internet didn't gestate at some university or film studio. The language of today's youth wasn't created by the Beatles or Public Enemy. The ways people connect to each other through extended networks weren't conceived by some genius at General Electric.
No. All of these things sprang from the nerd-o-scape. They grew up on Usenet and tech blogs. They sprung to life alongside headshots and tea-bagging. They evolved naturally through a group of lonely dorks looking for people who shared their nerdy interests.
We don't owe anything to anybody. The future of entertainment is being envisioned not just by the games industry, but by a confluence of developers and gamers who've interacted on BBSes and the Net since our hobby began. And we're just getting started. Wait until we have had the time to develop that film and television had. We'll either be ruling the world, or we'll be the Eberts, writing dismissive essays about the newest kind of media, which of course will be irrelevant and shallow. That is something that we must not do, because that kind of thinking is the first step on the path to irrelevance.
But today is not that day. Today is our time to realize the power of the medium we all love so much.
To paraphrase the elder Lebowski: The revolution is over, Mr. Ebert. The nerds won.
Ken Levine To The Video Game Industry: Grow A Pair
[This editorial originally appeared in issue 207 of Game Informer and is written by Ken Levine, a founding member of Irrational Games and one of the minds behind BioShock.]
Since Roger Ebert wrote a post a few weeks ago entitled "Video Games Can Never Be Art," the game-o-sphere has been abuzz with a broad range of rebuttals, assents, teeth-gnashing, and spleen venting. Ebert spends several thousand words making it very clear that video games aren't worth his time. Even the developer Ebert name checks in his article (Kellee Santiago from thatgamecompany) gets in on the act. The very first line of her response proclaims "Roger Ebert wrote an article about me."
Now excuse me for asking, Kellee, but you are an accomplished game developer. You are a USC alum. You are feted by your peers and your fans. You are coming off Flower, an impressive release that garnered the attention of the entire industry. You're giving speeches at TED. You're a star. And now you're telling me that a watermark in your career is that Roger frigging Ebert deigned to slow down his chariot long enough to notice you? And not simply notice, but vigorously endeavor to establish that your career, your work, and your passion are essentially beneath his notice.
I read another thoughtful open letter to Mr. Ebert on a prominent gaming blog that, before getting around to effectively saying, "You sir, are a film critic, not a game critic, so piss off!" spends several paragraphs name-dropping great filmmakers, as if to say, "See, Ebert? I know film, so I'm worthy of your respect. Take me seriously!"
Jesus, Mary, and Miyamoto! How insecure are we as an industry that we rush to seek validation not from our own peers, not even from creatives in other fields, but from critics in other fields, to tell us if what we're doing is worthy of notice? Look, I was in high school once. I spent the entire four years trying to match up with what I thought other people thought was cool and worthwhile. And I was miserable because the things I loved were not deemed valuable.
Dungeons and Dragons? Lame!
Video games? Nerdy!
Comic books? Pathetic!
And so I hid my passions. I tried to fit in. I played sports and was terrible at them. I tried to make friends with a collection of people whose only interests in the world amounted to Molly Hatchet records and Marlboro Lights. I tried to make myself a part of things I didn't care about and sought the approval of people who looked down on me.
And I was miserable. The sad truth is that once a new form of media shoots out of the womb, one of the first impulses it seeks to fulfill is validation. Like me! Approve of me! Respect me!
Hey, I get it. I went to Vassar. I like a vigorous round of Socratic wankery as much as the next liberal arts undergrad. But what I can't stand is the insecurity. Are games art? Will they become art? What stage of development are we in as an art form? Are they more akin to George Melies' A Voyage to the Moon or Welles' Citizen Kane? What methodologies should we investigate to make a proper determination between the state of video games, Aristotelian aesthetics, and Robert McKee's definition of good writing?
Here's my answer in three simple steps:
Remove the beret from the top of your head.
Throw said beret out the window.
Light a fire. Into that fire toss your copy of Aristotle's Poetics.
Crack open a two liter of Mountain Dew. Snap into a Slim Jim. Proceed to Xbox Live and shoot your best friend in the head with an M-16.
You're a gaming geek. Be proud of that. You don't need the "by your leave" of Roger Ebert, your loving parents, or the Library of Congress to validate your passion.
The world is changing. I've spent some time around Hollywood people lately, and I've even thought of trying my hand at screenwriting again. (I was a film scribe back in, oh, 1871 or so.) But many studio exec types have told me that their dream is to have some big film director work with me to make a video game.
My response was, "Why on Earth would I want to do that?" The notion is as ridiculous as me calling up an established film director and saying, "Hey pal. I've never directed a film before, but how about I show up on set tomorrow and take you to school?" Do you really want two egos like me and some hotshot film director butting heads over health station recharge rates or jump heights? Honestly, I'd expect that 10 minutes into the first meeting they'd start to look like somebody who realizes they just mistakenly got on the wrong -- and very lengthy -- inter-continental flight.
Consider last E3, when James Cameron spoke at the Ubisoft event. Now, I love James Cameron. He's the man along with George Lucas who really created 90 percent of the methodologies for telling nerdy stories in big budget movies. I constantly name check him and reference his work in story meetings at Irrational. You put him and the Coen brothers in a room, and I'd have trouble deciding which one I'd want to make out with first.
But why was he pitching the Avatar game and not the guy who actually built the d**n thing? Look, if a BioShock movie gets made, I'm sure there might be some people who would be interested in what I have to say about it. But the focus would rightly be on the folks who made the frigging movie.
Why does the rest of the media world put the gaming baby in a corner? Because the game industry has an inferiority complex. We know that the movie, television, book, and even comic book guys look at us like we're some kind of junior varsity version of themselves. "Hey, video games! Aren't they cute? We should make one of them!"
And why do they think of us this way? Because we encourage them to. "The New York Times ran a page 37 story on GDC. Somebody call my parents!" "Roger Ebert said we're not art. Get me my smelling salts!"
Do games owe a debt to popular culture? Absolutely. I can say that I am the biggest media w***e who ever walked this green Earth. But popular culture today is gaming culture. The social networks and forms of interaction of the Internet didn't gestate at some university or film studio. The language of today's youth wasn't created by the Beatles or Public Enemy. The ways people connect to each other through extended networks weren't conceived by some genius at General Electric.
No. All of these things sprang from the nerd-o-scape. They grew up on Usenet and tech blogs. They sprung to life alongside headshots and tea-bagging. They evolved naturally through a group of lonely dorks looking for people who shared their nerdy interests.
We don't owe anything to anybody. The future of entertainment is being envisioned not just by the games industry, but by a confluence of developers and gamers who've interacted on BBSes and the Net since our hobby began. And we're just getting started. Wait until we have had the time to develop that film and television had. We'll either be ruling the world, or we'll be the Eberts, writing dismissive essays about the newest kind of media, which of course will be irrelevant and shallow. That is something that we must not do, because that kind of thinking is the first step on the path to irrelevance.
But today is not that day. Today is our time to realize the power of the medium we all love so much.
To paraphrase the elder Lebowski: The revolution is over, Mr. Ebert. The nerds won.
Kinect
I think one of us on this blog should buy one on release day and give us all a report.
.............................1, 2, 3, not it!
.............................1, 2, 3, not it!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Braid
Here's my quick little follow up post about Braid.
People, myself included, tend to gravitate towards games like Braid in the "Games as Art" discussion, probably due to it's unique visual style, gorgeous musical selections, indedpendent game vibe, and all around pretentiousness of it's creator, Jonathan Blow. Not that those elements are untrue in the argument, but to me Braid rests in the Art category for the way that everything comes together, particularly the gameplay and the narrative.
Braid's gameplay is a simple puzzle platformer, with a layered time-rewind mechanic, creating some of the most "outside the box" puzzle design ever, some to a difficult point of feeling cheap and frustrating. Braid's story is an ambiguous tale about regret, love, selfishness, a princess, and... wait, did they mention the Manhattan Project? Both of these things are woven into each other in such a beautiful way, that the game acts as a visual metaphor for the story (whichever one stands out to the individual player), and at times, the story itself is created and manipulated by the actions that transpire in the game. Once you have played, or seen the game played, it's a little easier to grasp the concept.
Braid breaks some new ground in my opinion, for this beautiful synthesis of these two common game elements. Some games use the gameplay to drive the story forward (like Halo, where the events of the narrative are moved forward by successful play) and others use the story to justify gameplay elements (like in Assassin's Creed, where you don't die, but get desynchronized, justifying the death of the protagonist). Almost like a mobius strip, Braid uses each element to support the other. The narrative isn't as neatly placed in the game as some do, requiring the player to read books in the game to put a context on their actions, but it work's well enough for a 2D platformer.
Braid isn't perfect by any standard, but it's homegrown charm, sublime musical selection, and solid game/story blending, it's worth a look at least. I'm curious about other's thoughts about how their games tell stories, or even if you think they should. Games have so many similarities to other storytelling mediums, it's almost hard to say that one works particularly well over another, but their power as a storytelling device is undisputed... I think. Do games even have a place telling stories, or are they just ripping off other art forms the whole time?
Thanks for reading.
People, myself included, tend to gravitate towards games like Braid in the "Games as Art" discussion, probably due to it's unique visual style, gorgeous musical selections, indedpendent game vibe, and all around pretentiousness of it's creator, Jonathan Blow. Not that those elements are untrue in the argument, but to me Braid rests in the Art category for the way that everything comes together, particularly the gameplay and the narrative.
Braid's gameplay is a simple puzzle platformer, with a layered time-rewind mechanic, creating some of the most "outside the box" puzzle design ever, some to a difficult point of feeling cheap and frustrating. Braid's story is an ambiguous tale about regret, love, selfishness, a princess, and... wait, did they mention the Manhattan Project? Both of these things are woven into each other in such a beautiful way, that the game acts as a visual metaphor for the story (whichever one stands out to the individual player), and at times, the story itself is created and manipulated by the actions that transpire in the game. Once you have played, or seen the game played, it's a little easier to grasp the concept.
Braid breaks some new ground in my opinion, for this beautiful synthesis of these two common game elements. Some games use the gameplay to drive the story forward (like Halo, where the events of the narrative are moved forward by successful play) and others use the story to justify gameplay elements (like in Assassin's Creed, where you don't die, but get desynchronized, justifying the death of the protagonist). Almost like a mobius strip, Braid uses each element to support the other. The narrative isn't as neatly placed in the game as some do, requiring the player to read books in the game to put a context on their actions, but it work's well enough for a 2D platformer.
Braid isn't perfect by any standard, but it's homegrown charm, sublime musical selection, and solid game/story blending, it's worth a look at least. I'm curious about other's thoughts about how their games tell stories, or even if you think they should. Games have so many similarities to other storytelling mediums, it's almost hard to say that one works particularly well over another, but their power as a storytelling device is undisputed... I think. Do games even have a place telling stories, or are they just ripping off other art forms the whole time?
Thanks for reading.
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