I still strongly dislike COD:Black Ops.
Probably always will. Sadly you won't be able to change my mind about it. It's not the game itself, it's the following.
Twilight isn't a horrible book by literature standards (there are hundreds of worse books, trust me), but it's the following that bothers people. Nickleback isn't a horrible band, it's just their fans that are of questionable nature.
My problem with COD, and I've said it before, is the following it's created. COD players are less gamer and more.... hobbyist? If you don't believe me, simply look at their playercards, ratios, and time spent playing. It's a hobby.
However, this blog isn't to bash COD, but rather to tell you of my more recent experiences with it, and the laughter it created. I love Brink, and I love Team Fortress, but it's hard to get COD players to try any other multiplay game without a little encouragement. Had some friends over, so I made both of them an even deal. There's a way in COD to use a player who isn't too concerned about their score as a whipping boy of sorts. I would play the whipping boy, and in turn bumping up their scores, if they tried Brink.
Now mind you, I was approaching going back into the Black Ops multiplay, or simply Duty as the cool kids call it, not too concerned about my score, so I wanted to see how I'd enjoy the game.
If they have a kill ratio for each match, they should have a killed ratio for each match, I'd win. I probably died 10 times each team deathmatch match. Impressive to say the least. Each death was more hilarious than the next. Attempting melee kills from yards away, pistol whipping a dead body only to be headshotted (??) by someone right behind me. The entire time I'm simply boosting my friends score and laughing hysterically at the killcam.
Then it happened.
I was voted and kicked out because I died too many times. I was asked to leave because I wasn't any good. So I looked at the playercard of the guy who initiated the vote. He has a custom emblem, custom gamertag for his clan on Duty, and about 20 days of gameplay time. Days. That's some 500 hours into the game. I've never put 500 hours into a game. These guys take it way too serious.
So in turn, my friends decided to get back into the game, I log into a different gamertag (yes I have 3, don't you judge), and we all decided to gang up on this guy. Suddenly his mic sign comes on, and begins to talk. The kid couldn't have been more than 12 or 13, screaming at us all sorts of words I don't think I even knew or could spell at that age. Hilarious.
It was decided that we should leave the poor bastard alone, and try some of the rarely played game modes. Finally I was able to play something else other than the solider, I got to play a medic, and surprisingly, I got a ton of XP from it. I might not be an excellent shooter, but put me in a DD role, or a support role where I'm away from the main fracas and I tend to hold my own.
I think I instantly bashed Duty because of how serious it was taken, I still think it's way too serious. But there's something about having a bunch of people you're friends with on a headset, all on a team, and just running around not worried about the score, but rather about having fun.
At the end of it all, I think I gained 3 levels and did horribly as far as scores were concerned, but I had fun. Which, like I always say, is the point. I knew when to quit when I started to get frustrated. That's more than a lot of people online could say. They tried Brink, and for the most part liked it.
Will I play Duty again? Maybe. It's fun when you aren't concerned about winning, but that enjoyment can be short lived when people pick you out to hunt down. Still, it has it's place in the gaming world.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Do you want to get the strategy guide with that?
Honestly, I hate the question. I hate asking it, and I hate the way it makes me feel when I do have to ask it. Simply put, the kind of people who want to use the guide know they want it, and either pre-order it, or take the steps to making sure they get in early to get one with the game. I'm not asking in an attempt to promote sales, I'm simply letting you know that they are available if you'd like one.
So L.A. Noire came out, and all other games have ceased to be played (in my case). It's that good. But when I was picking up my copy, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that I'd also be getting the guide with it. Not just because you stand to save a good $4 when you get the game and guide together (too much work, not enough theatre obviously), but because LA is also about collectibles and side-quests.
A regular who often gets the guides came in on Tuesday, and asked "Do I really need the guide for this game". Well, in the case of LA, you should. In the guide they package-
- All main storyline questions and answers and evidence lists.
- Side mission guides
- Collectibles maps
- An online PDF you can download for free for all future DLC
Not a bad deal. Except he was asking more philosophically. "Do I need the guide for this game?, Is it something I'll use and benefit from, or will it just remain on my shelf for good?"
Tough call. I know for myself, I've used the guide every step of the way. I'll explain when and if I review LA, but suffice it to say, it's made advancing in the game easier in a way different from most games on the market.
A strong opposition to the guide is "I'll simply go onto the internet and find the answer". Sure, but at the same time, the book would be right there, easier than the internet if you could believe it. Furthermore, looking on the internet isn't always easy. You can usually find an answer like "where is the red key" pretty quickly, but for more specific or more vague questions, the guide can let you go back a few steps if needed. Sure, there are online guides, but these are usually written by gamers after the game comes out, so it's their testament to how they played the game, not necessarily correct.
"Is it cheating?" Well. I suppose it is. Although cheat codes have since left us years ago, and back then guides were seen as help more than anything. I'd say it's just as much cheating as setting the game to easy. It really matters as to the game itself if it's cheating or not.
"I'd rather figure it out for myself, otherwise it ruins the fun". Eh. This was true years ago when you only had one or two games to play, and that game was the only game you'd have for months, and 100% completion was a necessity less than a desire. Get your moneys worth. There have been quite a few games in my day I've simply stopped playing because I got stuck and wasn't sure what the problem was, a strange glitch, poor foresight or just dumb luck. Whatever the case, the game stopped me. Games are meant to be enjoyed, so being stuck and frustrated is much different than being stuck and puzzled. Frustrated gamers are less likely to continue to play if it seems there's no easy path.
Portal 2 and Uncharted are a perfect example. You know in both games there will always be an answer. Portal 2 you usually just need a hint if you get stuck, or take some time away and go back to it and you're almost certain to figure it out. Uncharted is the same way, but in Uncharted's case, if you do manage to get stuck, the game realizes it and shows you where to go, only after a long time in a single spot. Both are puzzle games, and both know they can become frustrating, so it's never too difficult.
Fighting games have guides that are usually required for any hardcore gamer, it'll show the combo setups, the special moves, and the basic controls of every character. Even though it's also usually in a menu of the game, they simply prefer to have the book. No harm there.
Most shooters have guides, but the multiplay aspects are the obvious benefit. Know the map, win the battle. Racing and sports games have guides mostly for stats, and rpgs have guides for drops and mob ratings. The games that almost always have a guide, and almost always benefit from those guides are the action/adventure and puzzle games. Your Uncharted, MGS, Assassin's Creed, Portal, LA Noires.
If I'm stuck, I want to try to figure it out. If I start to get frustrated I know I need to be told the answer sooner rather than later when it comes to video games. I'm also a completist whore. So I have to get everything possible in some games. Every bobblehead and badge I possibly can, the guide helps me with that. In this fast-paced day and age, it shouldn't be a surprise when people need strategy guides. I personally use them sparingly if I can help it, unless I know I'm going to play through the game a second time (like L.A. Noire), or if I want to become better at the game (like Borderlands).
As far as those of you who say it's cheating or makes the game easier. Well... lot's of things in gaming today are made to make the game easier. In my mind, I'd rather the game be fun regardless of if I'm cheating or how difficult it is. Games are meant to be fun. Sure beating Goldeneye on 007 mode was a great success, but doing it with dual paintball gun moonraker lasers with bighead mode on and the enemy accuracy at 0% is fun too. That's the point, ain't it?
So L.A. Noire came out, and all other games have ceased to be played (in my case). It's that good. But when I was picking up my copy, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that I'd also be getting the guide with it. Not just because you stand to save a good $4 when you get the game and guide together (too much work, not enough theatre obviously), but because LA is also about collectibles and side-quests.
A regular who often gets the guides came in on Tuesday, and asked "Do I really need the guide for this game". Well, in the case of LA, you should. In the guide they package-
- All main storyline questions and answers and evidence lists.
- Side mission guides
- Collectibles maps
- An online PDF you can download for free for all future DLC
Not a bad deal. Except he was asking more philosophically. "Do I need the guide for this game?, Is it something I'll use and benefit from, or will it just remain on my shelf for good?"
Tough call. I know for myself, I've used the guide every step of the way. I'll explain when and if I review LA, but suffice it to say, it's made advancing in the game easier in a way different from most games on the market.
A strong opposition to the guide is "I'll simply go onto the internet and find the answer". Sure, but at the same time, the book would be right there, easier than the internet if you could believe it. Furthermore, looking on the internet isn't always easy. You can usually find an answer like "where is the red key" pretty quickly, but for more specific or more vague questions, the guide can let you go back a few steps if needed. Sure, there are online guides, but these are usually written by gamers after the game comes out, so it's their testament to how they played the game, not necessarily correct.
"Is it cheating?" Well. I suppose it is. Although cheat codes have since left us years ago, and back then guides were seen as help more than anything. I'd say it's just as much cheating as setting the game to easy. It really matters as to the game itself if it's cheating or not.
"I'd rather figure it out for myself, otherwise it ruins the fun". Eh. This was true years ago when you only had one or two games to play, and that game was the only game you'd have for months, and 100% completion was a necessity less than a desire. Get your moneys worth. There have been quite a few games in my day I've simply stopped playing because I got stuck and wasn't sure what the problem was, a strange glitch, poor foresight or just dumb luck. Whatever the case, the game stopped me. Games are meant to be enjoyed, so being stuck and frustrated is much different than being stuck and puzzled. Frustrated gamers are less likely to continue to play if it seems there's no easy path.
Portal 2 and Uncharted are a perfect example. You know in both games there will always be an answer. Portal 2 you usually just need a hint if you get stuck, or take some time away and go back to it and you're almost certain to figure it out. Uncharted is the same way, but in Uncharted's case, if you do manage to get stuck, the game realizes it and shows you where to go, only after a long time in a single spot. Both are puzzle games, and both know they can become frustrating, so it's never too difficult.
Fighting games have guides that are usually required for any hardcore gamer, it'll show the combo setups, the special moves, and the basic controls of every character. Even though it's also usually in a menu of the game, they simply prefer to have the book. No harm there.
Most shooters have guides, but the multiplay aspects are the obvious benefit. Know the map, win the battle. Racing and sports games have guides mostly for stats, and rpgs have guides for drops and mob ratings. The games that almost always have a guide, and almost always benefit from those guides are the action/adventure and puzzle games. Your Uncharted, MGS, Assassin's Creed, Portal, LA Noires.
If I'm stuck, I want to try to figure it out. If I start to get frustrated I know I need to be told the answer sooner rather than later when it comes to video games. I'm also a completist whore. So I have to get everything possible in some games. Every bobblehead and badge I possibly can, the guide helps me with that. In this fast-paced day and age, it shouldn't be a surprise when people need strategy guides. I personally use them sparingly if I can help it, unless I know I'm going to play through the game a second time (like L.A. Noire), or if I want to become better at the game (like Borderlands).
As far as those of you who say it's cheating or makes the game easier. Well... lot's of things in gaming today are made to make the game easier. In my mind, I'd rather the game be fun regardless of if I'm cheating or how difficult it is. Games are meant to be fun. Sure beating Goldeneye on 007 mode was a great success, but doing it with dual paintball gun moonraker lasers with bighead mode on and the enemy accuracy at 0% is fun too. That's the point, ain't it?
Friday, May 13, 2011
Brink and you miss a sprint.
I don't think Sebastain Coe had the game Brink in mind when he said his quote. I also don't think he'd do a cheesy Asian accent while saying it either.
What does a first person shooter have to do with an Olympic gold medal runner?
Oddly enough tons.
BRINK.
I'd been excited about this game for some time now, and when they announced that it would be arriving a week ahead of schedule, that could only mean one thing- Bethesda had a treat for us.
And sure enough they did. Now let me preface this with "Brink is not for most people". It's a combination of the less popular shooters. Sorry, it's true. I personally love the games that inspired Brink, however the sales prove I'm one of the few people.
Take one part Unreal Tournament, one part Mirror's Edge, and mix that with equal parts of Team Fortress. Add a dash of the modern COD xp ranking/upgrade system and you have Brink.
Basic story- There's an island, there are security forces on it, there is a rebellious group on it. The security wants everyone to stay on the island, the rebels want to search for better lands.
Honestly they could have scaled back on the story a bit, and it wouldn't have changed much. It's nice that there are in-game cut scenes. Killzone had the same elements. Honestly I think I just enjoy it because it lets the entire match take a break for a few seconds. That's my segway into how fast paced the action is, did you like it? Good.
The action is fast-paced. Moving on.
Jokes. Here's the deal. Your team is fighting another team. You both have a list of objectives. One might have to defend a door, and the other destroy the door. If the door is destroyed you might have to escort something through it, unless you let the door be destroyed, then you might have to start building up a secondary barricade. As the match progresses you find yourself either backpedaling to save your bacon as the defense gets cut more lean, or adding more fat to the fire and boaring your way through the defense. Pig jokes aside, this concept isn't new necessarily. Team Fortress and Unreal Tournament both had these, just not in the same scale that Brink pulls it off.
who am I, and what am I doing here? Well, you can pick from 4 classes. Solider, Medic, Operative, Engineer, and have 3 size modifiers (light, med, and heavy).
So if you're annoyed they left out the heavy and medic combo from TF2, simply get a heavy solider, and a light medic and ta-da.
The different sizes are a nice change to the standard plan. You can be a successful light fast-moving operative, but change your character to a heavy operative and the game takes a more sneaky swing.
Soliders use guns, and can pass out ammo to their friends. The medics heal and can revive, the engineers set up turrets, and the operatives dress up like enemy agents. A well-known and well-enjoyed format. Snipers and Pyros wouldn't fare well in the environments, so they aren't too missed.
Now for the twist. You can climb, sprint, slide, and jump to your hearts content. Why's this useful? Let's say you respawn on the other side of the map? You have dozens of ways to take. Sprint over a walkway, only to jump down two levels and slide down a staircase, or do the opposite. Whatever. The new controls allow you to escape danger quickly, or pull off a "last second save" to your objective once you start using the parkour elements of the game to your ability.
The characters? They look weird right? Quadrillions of combinations. Seriously. With each level you complete you unlock more and more apparel and swag for your guy. I've played about 10 hours so far, and have yet to see anyone who even looks remotely like me. It's a nice change to the cookie-cutter looks of the COD/MOD/BBC games out there. Your character (which you play as in the single player, the challenge modes and the online mode) becomes a personal thing. You select your favorite weapon load-outs, you select your special skills, and you choose how he looks. It's a small detail, but makes for a more dedicated play. You can instantly recognize the teammates you work well with, and the ones who are good for a health boost or some extra ammo.
One of the best reviews I've heard about this game so far "It's like if someone was willing to re-create Team Fortress, and that someone was Bethesda, and they just wanted you to have fun".
Excellent game. I'll be playing it for quite a long time. Might not be for all, but if you're looking for some online fighting that isn't deathmatch based, or if you want to get into online gaming but aren't the best at KTD ratios, come on over to Brink.
What does a first person shooter have to do with an Olympic gold medal runner?
Oddly enough tons.
BRINK.
I'd been excited about this game for some time now, and when they announced that it would be arriving a week ahead of schedule, that could only mean one thing- Bethesda had a treat for us.
And sure enough they did. Now let me preface this with "Brink is not for most people". It's a combination of the less popular shooters. Sorry, it's true. I personally love the games that inspired Brink, however the sales prove I'm one of the few people.
Take one part Unreal Tournament, one part Mirror's Edge, and mix that with equal parts of Team Fortress. Add a dash of the modern COD xp ranking/upgrade system and you have Brink.
Basic story- There's an island, there are security forces on it, there is a rebellious group on it. The security wants everyone to stay on the island, the rebels want to search for better lands.
Honestly they could have scaled back on the story a bit, and it wouldn't have changed much. It's nice that there are in-game cut scenes. Killzone had the same elements. Honestly I think I just enjoy it because it lets the entire match take a break for a few seconds. That's my segway into how fast paced the action is, did you like it? Good.
The action is fast-paced. Moving on.
Jokes. Here's the deal. Your team is fighting another team. You both have a list of objectives. One might have to defend a door, and the other destroy the door. If the door is destroyed you might have to escort something through it, unless you let the door be destroyed, then you might have to start building up a secondary barricade. As the match progresses you find yourself either backpedaling to save your bacon as the defense gets cut more lean, or adding more fat to the fire and boaring your way through the defense. Pig jokes aside, this concept isn't new necessarily. Team Fortress and Unreal Tournament both had these, just not in the same scale that Brink pulls it off.
who am I, and what am I doing here? Well, you can pick from 4 classes. Solider, Medic, Operative, Engineer, and have 3 size modifiers (light, med, and heavy).
So if you're annoyed they left out the heavy and medic combo from TF2, simply get a heavy solider, and a light medic and ta-da.
The different sizes are a nice change to the standard plan. You can be a successful light fast-moving operative, but change your character to a heavy operative and the game takes a more sneaky swing.
Soliders use guns, and can pass out ammo to their friends. The medics heal and can revive, the engineers set up turrets, and the operatives dress up like enemy agents. A well-known and well-enjoyed format. Snipers and Pyros wouldn't fare well in the environments, so they aren't too missed.
Now for the twist. You can climb, sprint, slide, and jump to your hearts content. Why's this useful? Let's say you respawn on the other side of the map? You have dozens of ways to take. Sprint over a walkway, only to jump down two levels and slide down a staircase, or do the opposite. Whatever. The new controls allow you to escape danger quickly, or pull off a "last second save" to your objective once you start using the parkour elements of the game to your ability.
The characters? They look weird right? Quadrillions of combinations. Seriously. With each level you complete you unlock more and more apparel and swag for your guy. I've played about 10 hours so far, and have yet to see anyone who even looks remotely like me. It's a nice change to the cookie-cutter looks of the COD/MOD/BBC games out there. Your character (which you play as in the single player, the challenge modes and the online mode) becomes a personal thing. You select your favorite weapon load-outs, you select your special skills, and you choose how he looks. It's a small detail, but makes for a more dedicated play. You can instantly recognize the teammates you work well with, and the ones who are good for a health boost or some extra ammo.
One of the best reviews I've heard about this game so far "It's like if someone was willing to re-create Team Fortress, and that someone was Bethesda, and they just wanted you to have fun".
Excellent game. I'll be playing it for quite a long time. Might not be for all, but if you're looking for some online fighting that isn't deathmatch based, or if you want to get into online gaming but aren't the best at KTD ratios, come on over to Brink.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Shoot, reload, Shoot, reload
Rapid Fire Time!
I have a lot of blog ideas that have been on my mind, so I’m just going to hit you with several at once, since none of them are especially important long enough to be full blogs.
1. A large amount of tech journalists are claiming that the 3DS will be a failure because the older PSP is currently outselling it and some people hate the concept of a 3D screen. Here, literally Game Design 101 (as in, this was a topic in my first Game Design class): Consoles don’t win console wars, games do. The 3DO, though powerful as can be, failed because of a lack of games and developer support. The Dreamcast was years ahead of it’s time with features we take for granted today: Online play, DLC, freaking’ voice chat in game! But, alas, Sega fu**ed over their third party developers by almost secretly releasing the Dreamcast only two years after the Sega Saturn, making third party developers sick of Sega’s constantly changing console BS and moving on to other places, like Sony and their PS2. As I said a couple months ago, the regular DS has been outselling the PSP year after year by almost double because it has a good library. This is taking into account that the PSP is twice as powerful as the DS.
Point made simple, the 3DS is a good console, but it was rushed to market (for what reason, I still don’t know) and it is a half-baked system. As of me writing this, the 3DS is still missing the following: An internet browser, Virtual Console support, and DSiWare support. Also, the launch line-up was, umm, lackluster. Street Fighter IV and Ghost Recon may be the only games right now worth playing on it. Nintendo should have released this console on the same day the Ocarina of Time remake was done, or packaged in Pilot Wings Resort as a free game, like Wii Sports, and then this console would have sold like gangbusters. Give it until this fall, and the 3DS will be in a lot more hands once decent games for it come out.
2. Speaking of consoles, the Kinect seems to me as a waste of time and money, right now. This thing was released on November 4th, and as of May only 25 games exist for this add-on, and 17 of them are sports, dance/fitness related. So far, it seems like that is all we have to look forward to from this item, Dance games and workout simulators. At my local Gamestop, I counted 10 used Kinects just hanging from the sales wall, waiting to be bought. My only guess why there wasn’t more is because the wall didn’t have any more space on it, but I am sure there was more in the back. Listen, I am all for game innovation, but motion control gaming is becoming a slight fad, like 3D TVs. The best games I have played in the last 4 months (Dragon Age 2, Dead Space 2, Dissidia 2) have all used standard controllers. The worst thing is the Microsoft has yet to announce any new games for this system. It’s like they are personally giving up on it. I realize it was the fastest selling console ever, but I wonder how many people kept the damn thing or were still using it after two months. Dear Microsoft: support games, not peripherals.
3. The Playstation Move is a failure in my view. First off, the cost of entry is expensive as hell.It costs $210 for a two-player set with one game, barring that one already has a $300 PS3 in their home. You know what you can get for $210? A New Wii, two-players worth of controls, and an extra game. Hey, and the Wii has a MUCH larger library of games with motion-control specific games, where as most of the Move games are Motion control OPTIONAL. This means their perfectly fine games without motion controls (MAG, Killzone 3, Sly Cooper Collection), but Sony wants you to feel justified for spending an inordinate amount of money on this add-on. Fair enough, since the entire collection of Move-specific games are Wii copies anyways. Dear Sony: Support games, not over-priced peripherals. Hell, just get the PSN system to NOT FAIL at every step of he way.
4. I love American Football (been a Steeler’s fan since I was 8), but nothing pisses me off more than a sports strike. I used to love the NHL, but when they struck for what seemed like years, I lost ALL interest. I haven’t watched an NHL game in going on a decade and I have no regrets. I may just do the same if the NFL teams don’t play this year. You know what the league minimum of the NFL is? $300,000! Since a football season is up to, and including the start of training day, about 7 months, that means that even a rookie player makes about $42,000 A MONTH for one season. The average American makes that a YEAR, according to the 2006 GDP. Here’s something else to boggle the calculator, the average NFL player makes 1.2-1.5 million dollars a season. Michael Vick, before he became an animal abusing douchebag, made 25 million a season, making him one of the highest paid athletes in the world. So, I think we can all agree, that when the players want to strike because they “aren’t getting paid enough to play two more games”, it screams ludicrous greed to me.
Don’t get me wrong; I think players deserve to be compensated for their time, but a strike? Gimme a break! At what pay ratio is it no longer the “love of the game” and it becomes “I am already making money hand-over-fist for throwing and catching a ball or blocking/tackling pretty well, I deserve thousands more!” It’s ridiculous to me. Sports athletes are overpaid, they know it, I know it, the whole damn world knows it, and yet we allow these strikes to happen.
SPOILERS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
5. My wife forced me to watch every Harry Potter movie made thus far so I can take her to the premiere of Deathly Hallows, Part Two and appreciate it. After watching every single one in secession, I have only one thought: I still don’t care. What the hell is the big deal with these movies/books? Yes, I am all for character development and I can appreciate it, but why is it every one of these 2 ½ hour movies dedicates 2 of those hours JUST TOWARDS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. All of the “good” parts of Harry Potter can be described in five words: first and last fifteen minutes. The rest in-between is tween middle-high school drama about “who likes who” and how unfair is this teacher!” and “even though he has killed people,is Voldermort real?” Am I the only one that saw Dumbledore being killed from, like, the first book on? These books follow the bare-bones basic archetypal models established years ago be Carl Jung almost to a fault. As a matter of fact, almost every archetype and every step of Jung’s “The Hero’s journey” is followed here, and maybe that’s why the books did so well, because they are formulaic and in plain enough English even kids can understand them. It’s not that I don’t think the movies are terrible, I just think they are woefully predictable. Heck, I enjoyed the first Deathly Hallows, for whatever that is worth. I actually want to see the second. As for reading the books, no thank you, sir.
SPOILERS END HERE
And so does my ammo count.
I have a lot of blog ideas that have been on my mind, so I’m just going to hit you with several at once, since none of them are especially important long enough to be full blogs.
1. A large amount of tech journalists are claiming that the 3DS will be a failure because the older PSP is currently outselling it and some people hate the concept of a 3D screen. Here, literally Game Design 101 (as in, this was a topic in my first Game Design class): Consoles don’t win console wars, games do. The 3DO, though powerful as can be, failed because of a lack of games and developer support. The Dreamcast was years ahead of it’s time with features we take for granted today: Online play, DLC, freaking’ voice chat in game! But, alas, Sega fu**ed over their third party developers by almost secretly releasing the Dreamcast only two years after the Sega Saturn, making third party developers sick of Sega’s constantly changing console BS and moving on to other places, like Sony and their PS2. As I said a couple months ago, the regular DS has been outselling the PSP year after year by almost double because it has a good library. This is taking into account that the PSP is twice as powerful as the DS.
Point made simple, the 3DS is a good console, but it was rushed to market (for what reason, I still don’t know) and it is a half-baked system. As of me writing this, the 3DS is still missing the following: An internet browser, Virtual Console support, and DSiWare support. Also, the launch line-up was, umm, lackluster. Street Fighter IV and Ghost Recon may be the only games right now worth playing on it. Nintendo should have released this console on the same day the Ocarina of Time remake was done, or packaged in Pilot Wings Resort as a free game, like Wii Sports, and then this console would have sold like gangbusters. Give it until this fall, and the 3DS will be in a lot more hands once decent games for it come out.
2. Speaking of consoles, the Kinect seems to me as a waste of time and money, right now. This thing was released on November 4th, and as of May only 25 games exist for this add-on, and 17 of them are sports, dance/fitness related. So far, it seems like that is all we have to look forward to from this item, Dance games and workout simulators. At my local Gamestop, I counted 10 used Kinects just hanging from the sales wall, waiting to be bought. My only guess why there wasn’t more is because the wall didn’t have any more space on it, but I am sure there was more in the back. Listen, I am all for game innovation, but motion control gaming is becoming a slight fad, like 3D TVs. The best games I have played in the last 4 months (Dragon Age 2, Dead Space 2, Dissidia 2) have all used standard controllers. The worst thing is the Microsoft has yet to announce any new games for this system. It’s like they are personally giving up on it. I realize it was the fastest selling console ever, but I wonder how many people kept the damn thing or were still using it after two months. Dear Microsoft: support games, not peripherals.
3. The Playstation Move is a failure in my view. First off, the cost of entry is expensive as hell.It costs $210 for a two-player set with one game, barring that one already has a $300 PS3 in their home. You know what you can get for $210? A New Wii, two-players worth of controls, and an extra game. Hey, and the Wii has a MUCH larger library of games with motion-control specific games, where as most of the Move games are Motion control OPTIONAL. This means their perfectly fine games without motion controls (MAG, Killzone 3, Sly Cooper Collection), but Sony wants you to feel justified for spending an inordinate amount of money on this add-on. Fair enough, since the entire collection of Move-specific games are Wii copies anyways. Dear Sony: Support games, not over-priced peripherals. Hell, just get the PSN system to NOT FAIL at every step of he way.
4. I love American Football (been a Steeler’s fan since I was 8), but nothing pisses me off more than a sports strike. I used to love the NHL, but when they struck for what seemed like years, I lost ALL interest. I haven’t watched an NHL game in going on a decade and I have no regrets. I may just do the same if the NFL teams don’t play this year. You know what the league minimum of the NFL is? $300,000! Since a football season is up to, and including the start of training day, about 7 months, that means that even a rookie player makes about $42,000 A MONTH for one season. The average American makes that a YEAR, according to the 2006 GDP. Here’s something else to boggle the calculator, the average NFL player makes 1.2-1.5 million dollars a season. Michael Vick, before he became an animal abusing douchebag, made 25 million a season, making him one of the highest paid athletes in the world. So, I think we can all agree, that when the players want to strike because they “aren’t getting paid enough to play two more games”, it screams ludicrous greed to me.
Don’t get me wrong; I think players deserve to be compensated for their time, but a strike? Gimme a break! At what pay ratio is it no longer the “love of the game” and it becomes “I am already making money hand-over-fist for throwing and catching a ball or blocking/tackling pretty well, I deserve thousands more!” It’s ridiculous to me. Sports athletes are overpaid, they know it, I know it, the whole damn world knows it, and yet we allow these strikes to happen.
SPOILERS OF THE HARRY POTTER SERIES
5. My wife forced me to watch every Harry Potter movie made thus far so I can take her to the premiere of Deathly Hallows, Part Two and appreciate it. After watching every single one in secession, I have only one thought: I still don’t care. What the hell is the big deal with these movies/books? Yes, I am all for character development and I can appreciate it, but why is it every one of these 2 ½ hour movies dedicates 2 of those hours JUST TOWARDS CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT. All of the “good” parts of Harry Potter can be described in five words: first and last fifteen minutes. The rest in-between is tween middle-high school drama about “who likes who” and how unfair is this teacher!” and “even though he has killed people,is Voldermort real?” Am I the only one that saw Dumbledore being killed from, like, the first book on? These books follow the bare-bones basic archetypal models established years ago be Carl Jung almost to a fault. As a matter of fact, almost every archetype and every step of Jung’s “The Hero’s journey” is followed here, and maybe that’s why the books did so well, because they are formulaic and in plain enough English even kids can understand them. It’s not that I don’t think the movies are terrible, I just think they are woefully predictable. Heck, I enjoyed the first Deathly Hallows, for whatever that is worth. I actually want to see the second. As for reading the books, no thank you, sir.
SPOILERS END HERE
And so does my ammo count.
Friday, May 6, 2011
Nook Color is pretty nice for exactly what I want from it.
So you probably know about the Barnes and Noble Nook Color. It's an E-reader with an LCD screen instead of e-ink. You may be saying to yourself, "that just sounds like a small tablet," and you'd be pretty correct! It's OS is (as of this April) 2.2 Android "Froyo" that has what is essentially a skin layered over it that makes it more distinctly an E-reader. The latest update to 2.2 also included the addition of a Nook Apps store, as well as the addition of Flash support for the browser. All around, it's a functional tablet that is specifically catered for people who are going to use it to read.
I'm finding that I'm enjoying reading on it, but I do have a few gripes. When reading a book on the NC, you have many formatting options with regard to text size, background color, line spacing and so on. I'm finding that I prefer the publishers default settings on these things, and so I try to keep it set on those. However, occasionally the settings will actually reset back to the customizable option, which throws off my page number where I left off. Thankfully, there is a bookmarking function, because otherwise I'd keep losing my page. This reset typically occurs when I turn the device FULLY off, as it spends most of it's time in a sort of sleep mode, this doesn't cause the problem to happen. I get the feeling that turning it FULLY off is something B&N doesn't intend for you to do very often, as the sleep mode is essentially off/hibernating, but still it's annoying.
I found this out because I learned that in order to get photos that I download to be available to use as a wallpaper image, I need to power it down completely, which is also a big hassle. I don't know why it's so buggy like this, it seems like a simple error to fix.
The Nook Apps store isn't my favorite. Mostly because B&N is doing their own app store just because they don't want anyone to think of the NC as a tablet. They want to keep it an E-reader, and so the apps that they have chosen to release to their store are specifically picked to make sure that they don't overshadow the "main function" of the NC. This seems strange to me that they don't embrace the full Android market, just because they want to keep the NC as a reader. Not to mention that Angry Birds (one of the only games in the 140 or so Nook Apps they've released) costs 3 bucks whereas it's free in the standard Android Market. The three dollars couldn't possibly be the cost of porting the game to the NC's specific 2.2 skin, right?
All that griping said, I still really love the damn thing! Reading is very pleasant on it. Not to mention that because it is a back-lit LCD, I don't need to have a lamp on to read in the dark! This is perfect for laying in bed whilst my lady is asleep. And now that the browser has flash, it's very functional for reading blogs and news that have embedded videos (not to mention all the porn sites that it's just opened up for viewing.) And because of the size of the screen, the soft keyboard is REALLY COMFORTABLE to type on when holding the NC in the upright position. Your two thumbs can go to town just like on a full keyboard Blackberry. I also shelled out the 3 bucks for Angry Birds, just to see how good it runs, and it's nice and smooth. No jitters, no stutters. The Pulse news app is really nice too, very easy to read, and that one is free!
The thing is great. Go play with a demo model in the store and you'll see what I mean. And if you don't like it, still get one, as you can just root it and boot Android 3.0 Honeycomb on it!
I'm finding that I'm enjoying reading on it, but I do have a few gripes. When reading a book on the NC, you have many formatting options with regard to text size, background color, line spacing and so on. I'm finding that I prefer the publishers default settings on these things, and so I try to keep it set on those. However, occasionally the settings will actually reset back to the customizable option, which throws off my page number where I left off. Thankfully, there is a bookmarking function, because otherwise I'd keep losing my page. This reset typically occurs when I turn the device FULLY off, as it spends most of it's time in a sort of sleep mode, this doesn't cause the problem to happen. I get the feeling that turning it FULLY off is something B&N doesn't intend for you to do very often, as the sleep mode is essentially off/hibernating, but still it's annoying.
I found this out because I learned that in order to get photos that I download to be available to use as a wallpaper image, I need to power it down completely, which is also a big hassle. I don't know why it's so buggy like this, it seems like a simple error to fix.
The Nook Apps store isn't my favorite. Mostly because B&N is doing their own app store just because they don't want anyone to think of the NC as a tablet. They want to keep it an E-reader, and so the apps that they have chosen to release to their store are specifically picked to make sure that they don't overshadow the "main function" of the NC. This seems strange to me that they don't embrace the full Android market, just because they want to keep the NC as a reader. Not to mention that Angry Birds (one of the only games in the 140 or so Nook Apps they've released) costs 3 bucks whereas it's free in the standard Android Market. The three dollars couldn't possibly be the cost of porting the game to the NC's specific 2.2 skin, right?
All that griping said, I still really love the damn thing! Reading is very pleasant on it. Not to mention that because it is a back-lit LCD, I don't need to have a lamp on to read in the dark! This is perfect for laying in bed whilst my lady is asleep. And now that the browser has flash, it's very functional for reading blogs and news that have embedded videos (not to mention all the porn sites that it's just opened up for viewing.) And because of the size of the screen, the soft keyboard is REALLY COMFORTABLE to type on when holding the NC in the upright position. Your two thumbs can go to town just like on a full keyboard Blackberry. I also shelled out the 3 bucks for Angry Birds, just to see how good it runs, and it's nice and smooth. No jitters, no stutters. The Pulse news app is really nice too, very easy to read, and that one is free!
The thing is great. Go play with a demo model in the store and you'll see what I mean. And if you don't like it, still get one, as you can just root it and boot Android 3.0 Honeycomb on it!
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Transformers, not as great as you may remember
My apologies for my hiatus last month. You see, last month my class was Game Design and Development Analysis, which was an examination of videos and media in a very dissected manner. In short, my entire class consists of writing games reviews for a month straight. For once, I had a class that made writing game reviews or any reviews a form of graded torture. Ok, it wasn’t that bad, but it definitely restricted my free time of playing the games let alone speaking of them.
So, onward and upward, my first thoughts to be posted in a while is that American animation have become stagnated. Don’t get me wrong I love and watch The Simpsons on a regular and almost sadistic basis; the reason is because I find it hilarious and all shows lately seem to be a copy of it. South Park deserves honorable mention for keeping the ideas fresh while maintain their rooted animation style and Archer, well, the dialogue in Archer is the glue that holds the show together, and Jon H. Benjamin is awesome for this role. But when it comes to pure hand-drawn, fluid animation, well, the last thing I have seen that was any sort of good was the Secret of Kells, and the story for that felt only ok for me.
I believe I have made it no secret that I love Anime. Yes, pure Japanese Animation, preferably with subtitles and the original Japanese voice actor’s voices. Not bad anime, either, that good stuff. I realize when I say anime, the first thought that comes to many American’s minds are Dragon Ball Z, Pokemon, and Bleach (shudder). That seems likely, since those are those are the most prevalent ones on TV. The stuff I am talking about though is Neon Genesis Evangelion, FullMetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Gundam Wing, and to a lesser extent even Trigun. You know what these series have? Hand-drawn animation with fluid action scenes and most of all, deep, emotionally involving storylines and mythic stories that force that continuously capture my imagination.
Today though, kids, we are talking about Two specific animated shows: Transformers and Robotech. Ok, that’s kind of a lie, not Robotech but Macross, if one was to be proper. Let me explain…
The Robotech series is an amalgam of 3 separate anime series, because for some reason the standard anime length of 26 episodes was not enough for syndication in the USA. So, we have Macross, Calvary Southern Cross, and Genesis Climber MOSPEADA all shoehorned into one saga. On paper, I’m sure this made a ton of sense, but in practice, it was dumb as hell, as far I thought. The only one worth watching is the first 36 episodes, known as Macross. Ok, on to Transformers.
Transformers is a Saturday Morning Sci-fi cartoon about two robot races in a civil war with each other over, I dunno, dominance? Transformers seems more relative a series to the US public, so my explanation will end at, they are robots on earth, in disguise, and can transform into vehicles, animals, or dinosaurs, depending on circumstances. They fight the Decepticons, who are essentially the same thing except evil. Classic good vs. evil story with transforming robots, which was based on a toy line that did the same.
And you know what, Macross is light –years better, and somehow gets lees attention. Macross is the story f humans finding some kind of otherworldly huge space battleship that crash lands on an island. No aliens are present, so the humans reverse engineer the technology to re-fit the battleship. The also create Valkyrie jets, which are based off of the real F-14 Tomcats, and they can also transform. They all transforms in giant gun wielding mecha, or a halfway between the design called Gerwalk/Guardian modes. So, the original aliens that where chasing this giant battleship warp in and begin attacking Earth. Series= Start.
What makes Macross better? The mecha designs for one. Look at these pictures of Optimus Prime pre and post transformation:
And now look at the transformation scheme of a Valkyrie from Fighter to Gerwalk to Battroid mode:
Look at the transformation of the Valkeyrie! The thrusters become the machs “legs”. The cockpit of the fighter eventually becomes covered by a large armor plating for the pilot. Even the gun pod has a definite place where it came from, the under carriage of the fighter. What about Optimus? How about that trailer behind him? Gone. You see, in the series of Transformer’s, even n the recent movies, Optimus’ trailer disappeared into thin air. It sometimes even appeared when he transformed right back on him. That is what I am getting at here. Please, even if you have profound nostalgia of watching the show, I implore to go watch Generation One (1984-1991) of Transformers. Seriously, it plays regularly on a Disney channel called Hub. My wife and I watch it sometimes and you know what? We laugh our asses off! The show’s premise revolves around jokes only a ten year old could laugh at, and the mythology involved with the show was a constant back and forth of Autbots and Decipticons barking and shooting at each other, with very little effect to one another. Macross? Go watch Macross on Netflix (remember, the first 36 episodes of Robotech). Do yourself a favor; don’t get attached to any characters either.
OK: Spoiler warning here: Since the series is pushing 30 years old, I am going to make some parallels here. Three-fourths through Macross, Earth is destroyed. And I don’t mean that in some sort of metaphorically way. I mean every 90% of the entire human race and most of the flora and fauna was completely and utterly destroyed. Even when the SDF-1 Macross (the name of that there battleship) destroys the entire alien race orbiting Earth, the return to Earth as the most somber thing. I have ever seen in a cartoon.
What did Transformer’s have that Macross didn’t have? Umm….more characters and model designs. Don’t get me wrong, I liked Transformers growing up and cold think of nothing better. But seriously, my problem is Transformers get so much more attention because it was based off a popular toy line. Macross had toys, but they were nowhere near as popular in this country as opposed to Japan.
I want a proper Macross Movie I am tired of this:
What in the hell is that even? I asked my wife, who had a teacher in one of her compter animation classes that assisted in making the first Transformer's movie (plug: Full Sail doesn't f**k around when it comes to staffing). You know how that thing up there becomes a robot to a jet? In short, it technically DOESN'T!!! Watch the new version of Starscream transform, then do it in slow motion. Some of a Transformers' mass is purposefully hidden because the mecha design is so complex that it technically doesn't make sense. The story is just not there, even by the cartoon's standards. The story of both movies revolve around Shia LeBouf life and how he coups with giant robots living in his world. That's crap. The cartoons where about civil war between two completely dissenting groups and Earth just happens to be a new battlefield.
So yes, I want a Macross movie, because Macross has a very simple story laid out. F-14 Tomcats Jets (or retcon them to F-22 Raptors, like the Starscream, I don't care) that turn into mecha fighting an alien force bent on destroying Earth, for no better reason than they are afraid of the effect of human culture on their military super machine. BOOM! Make that crap! The movie writes itself!
So, if anyone from Hollywood is looking to make a retreaded Saturday morning cartoon movie in live action, as seems to be the trend so far, then somebody get on that yesterday. Here are the facts of Saturday Morning Cartoon remakes I stand behind:
-I don't want a Thundercats movie. Thundercats sucked. It always did.
-I don't want a Master's of the Universe Movie. I mean, really, do you really want a damn Heman movie? We got one of those in the 80's. It wasn't good then, it's wouldn't be better now.
-We already got a G.I. Joe movie. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but I am so glad i didn't pay for movie tickets to see it.
-We already have FOUR Teenage mutant Ninja Turtles movies. That'll be quite enough, thank you.
Now yes, I know Transformers was anime, it being animated in Japan, but every thing else about it (writing, production) was US made, which might explain the overall episode to episode story being bad. But Macross, genius....
Please writers and directors, stop looking in this countries past for material and looks toward the East for much more powerful stuff. Macross predates Transformers by even two years, and for my money, I would rather say the trailers alone for this movie would attract more people to it than Dark of the Moon.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Rolls, slow em.
I have like 4 other blogs waiting in the wings, so if you missed me well we're back.
(Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, Conduit 2... just look, a bunch of stuff came out this week, SORRY).
Phone rings.
Me- Gamestore blah blah
Caller- Yeah, I just beat Portal 2, and I want to sell it.
Me- Did you do everything in it? Like time challenges and co-op?
Caller- Nah, I just did the single player.
Me- Did you like it?
Caller- it was alright. I got stuck a few times but there was a youtube video for it.
Me- Well, you'd get $____ for it.
Caller- That's it? I really wanted to finish it so I could sell it early and get my moneys worth for it.
Me- Yep.
Caller- So you're sayin if I beat a $60 game in like 8 hours I won't get my moneys worth?
Me- Well there are a ton of other things to do in the game, and some DLC stuff coming out soon
Caller- Seems like a waste of money, just sayin.
*click*
Ok, well sir. What I avoided saying was that you haven't actually gotten your moneys worth out of the game. Here's why-
1. A $60 game usually gives you a decent single player story, some multiplay, and a few extra challenges.
2. That same game, when sold back within the first week of it's arrival, will fetch you about $20-$30 clams. So you'll get about half your money back.
3. The gaming companies don't want you to sell it right away, for 2 reasons.
A. They won't make money on the pre-owned game
B. They want you to continue buying their games, and mostly A.
4. There's almost always a future DLC.
So no, you probably won't get your full $60 experience after beating the single player. But a game is meant to be kept and enjoyed, until you get your full experience out of it. Now I'm not telling you to be a trophy/achievement whore, I'm just sayin a full playthrough is good, but most games full playthroughs aren't "full", you get me?
I still have Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age 2, Metro 2033, Sabetour, Red Dead. Just to name a few. These are games that I've stopped playing, maybe finished the single player storyline, but that's it. I'm either waiting for more DLC, or waiting until one day I sit down and play it until I think I've accomplished every realistic goal in the game.
Had a kid the other day ask when they would come out with the GOTY Fallout: New Vegas. I told him "when it wins GOTY". He was frustrated that he hadn't gotten to play it yet, and wanted to wait until all of the expansions. Look kid..... its $18, buy it now.
Borderlands GOTY, it's $19. I played through the single player once, but now it comes with expansions. So fine... I'll buy it again.
The point? It's fine if you buy a game brand new, and keep it for a while. If you sell it the same week it came out, you won't be happy at the lack of return moneys you get, you'll be mad if the game releases DLC (which they usually wait a few months to do so) and you might go back to liking it. Now don't pull a me, and have a giant 40+ stack of games you'll "get back to eventually", that just won't happen. I sold my Marvel V Capcom once I knew I did everything I was capable, but it wasn't the week after, that's for sure.
Moral of the story, keep the game around. Don't try to finish it the week of. You actually don't get "first finished" achievements. It's like the midnight launch parties on the west coast... you do know that in the east coa...nevermind.
(Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, Conduit 2... just look, a bunch of stuff came out this week, SORRY).
Phone rings.
Me- Gamestore blah blah
Caller- Yeah, I just beat Portal 2, and I want to sell it.
Me- Did you do everything in it? Like time challenges and co-op?
Caller- Nah, I just did the single player.
Me- Did you like it?
Caller- it was alright. I got stuck a few times but there was a youtube video for it.
Me- Well, you'd get $____ for it.
Caller- That's it? I really wanted to finish it so I could sell it early and get my moneys worth for it.
Me- Yep.
Caller- So you're sayin if I beat a $60 game in like 8 hours I won't get my moneys worth?
Me- Well there are a ton of other things to do in the game, and some DLC stuff coming out soon
Caller- Seems like a waste of money, just sayin.
*click*
Ok, well sir. What I avoided saying was that you haven't actually gotten your moneys worth out of the game. Here's why-
1. A $60 game usually gives you a decent single player story, some multiplay, and a few extra challenges.
2. That same game, when sold back within the first week of it's arrival, will fetch you about $20-$30 clams. So you'll get about half your money back.
3. The gaming companies don't want you to sell it right away, for 2 reasons.
A. They won't make money on the pre-owned game
B. They want you to continue buying their games, and mostly A.
4. There's almost always a future DLC.
So no, you probably won't get your full $60 experience after beating the single player. But a game is meant to be kept and enjoyed, until you get your full experience out of it. Now I'm not telling you to be a trophy/achievement whore, I'm just sayin a full playthrough is good, but most games full playthroughs aren't "full", you get me?
I still have Fallout: New Vegas, Dragon Age 2, Metro 2033, Sabetour, Red Dead. Just to name a few. These are games that I've stopped playing, maybe finished the single player storyline, but that's it. I'm either waiting for more DLC, or waiting until one day I sit down and play it until I think I've accomplished every realistic goal in the game.
Had a kid the other day ask when they would come out with the GOTY Fallout: New Vegas. I told him "when it wins GOTY". He was frustrated that he hadn't gotten to play it yet, and wanted to wait until all of the expansions. Look kid..... its $18, buy it now.
Borderlands GOTY, it's $19. I played through the single player once, but now it comes with expansions. So fine... I'll buy it again.
The point? It's fine if you buy a game brand new, and keep it for a while. If you sell it the same week it came out, you won't be happy at the lack of return moneys you get, you'll be mad if the game releases DLC (which they usually wait a few months to do so) and you might go back to liking it. Now don't pull a me, and have a giant 40+ stack of games you'll "get back to eventually", that just won't happen. I sold my Marvel V Capcom once I knew I did everything I was capable, but it wasn't the week after, that's for sure.
Moral of the story, keep the game around. Don't try to finish it the week of. You actually don't get "first finished" achievements. It's like the midnight launch parties on the west coast... you do know that in the east coa...nevermind.
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