Here is the message I tried to leave on Netflix's blog bu couldn't because apparently you have to have a Facebook account:
"It galls me to see the sense of entitlement people have. Netflix is a business. They offer a product for the price of their choosing. If that product for that price does not satisfy you, then don't buy it. Those people saying they will do that in a rational manner, you are fine. People who are freaking out about this calling Netflix "greedy" need to calm down. A few years ago you didn't have this service at all. You had to pay 50 to 100 dollars a month for cable or satellite and only got to watch what they put on the air. You had to pay 5 or more dollars for a SINGLE new release at a video store. Our selection today via services like Netflix and Hulu is huge and instantly available. For me they have completely replaced cable in my home. Even at 16 dollars a month I can watch more movies and TV shows than I ever could before, and they add more content every day. It sucks that costs a little more but it's still well within tolerable levels for me."
I never fail to be amazed at how pissed off people get over stupid shit like this. Netflix for 8 dollars a month is not some inalienable fucking right handed down to you by the founding fathers. People are acting like Netflix killed their mother! Get over it.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
The 6 Most Ominous Trends in Video Games - Cracked.com
This is a great article on the future of video games. It's mostly pessimistic, as you can tell from the title. He's editorializing a bit but I found this to be one of the most thoughtful articles on the topic that I've read recently. I'm a bit more optimistic than he is but I agree with a lot of what he says.
Monday, June 20, 2011
Art Part 3
Part three of my Black Ops emblem gallery!
I made this one a couple weeks ago and forgot about it. This was the very first idea I had for a Black Ops emblem but I didn't have all the parts unlocked that I needed so my first emblem was a lamer version of this with just the A, 8, spade, and a club. I kind of wish I had saved this because I actually like it better than the Death Card emblem. That's OK though because tonight I made a new emblem...
As simple as this looks it actually took me a while to figure out. I'm not really a long time fan of the Ghost Recon series, but recent developments have given me a vested interest in it. I think it's cool that you can duplicate the logo for a more-or-less competing game and nobody gives a damn. Well there's probably some lawyer or bureaucrat who's chaffing at it but they haven't been jumping on people for this kind of thing as far as I know. It makes the industry feel more like a community when everyone gets along. GRFS represent!
Dead Man's Hand
(Aces backed with eights)
I made this one a couple weeks ago and forgot about it. This was the very first idea I had for a Black Ops emblem but I didn't have all the parts unlocked that I needed so my first emblem was a lamer version of this with just the A, 8, spade, and a club. I kind of wish I had saved this because I actually like it better than the Death Card emblem. That's OK though because tonight I made a new emblem...
Ghost Recon
As simple as this looks it actually took me a while to figure out. I'm not really a long time fan of the Ghost Recon series, but recent developments have given me a vested interest in it. I think it's cool that you can duplicate the logo for a more-or-less competing game and nobody gives a damn. Well there's probably some lawyer or bureaucrat who's chaffing at it but they haven't been jumping on people for this kind of thing as far as I know. It makes the industry feel more like a community when everyone gets along. GRFS represent!
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Art: Part 2 and Black Ops Tarot
Time for more Black Ops emblem fun. First up is an idea that came to me one night lying in bed trying to sleep, as the best ideas often do:
The P0wn Shop
(Open for business)
I was pleased to no end when I got that one to work! I also had the desire to make a more aggressive emblem that would put forth the enormity of my bad-assedness. But I wanted to do something a little more high-brow. Then I thought of this:
Death
Look familiar? It's my interpretation of the Death card from the classic tarot arcana. "What the hell is that"? you might ask. You can read about it here. Each tarot deck has a little different image for each card but all of them are variations on the same theme. Basically this depicts death trampling a king, and shows that death comes for us all. Now that I've made this I kind of want to do one for each major arcana. I'm up to level 29 first prestige so I've got plenty of cash for a project like that.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Why Brink Sucks
1. Implementation of menus:
They really tried to reinvent the wheel here. My biggest problem is that it's too hard to figure out what's going on. In campaign mode if you are at the mission select screen you can see little dots next to each mission. If they are filled in it means you completed the mission. That's great but there is nothing to tell you what difficulty they have been completed on, which is important since they put an achievement in the game where you have to beat every level on hard or in adversarial. The challenge menu doesn't even tell you which challenges you have beaten.
2. Speaking of challenges:
In order to unlock any weapon or weapon related attachment you have to complete challenges. Each challenge has three difficulty levels. Levels one and two unlock weapons and attachments while level three will unlock the privilege of being on the leaderboard. Wow, I get to be on another leaderboard where I can be 349745th? Sweet. That's a great incentive to sit through this frustration. The challenges are punishingly hard. You really have to level up your guy a lot before you can do well in them. That's not the stupid part though. Brink is a game designed to be multiplayer co-op. The challenges can be played with friends and are much easier if you do so. But you don't unlock anything unless you play solo! What the hell.
3. Multiplayer implementation:
Playing the game with other people is actually fun. But getting the game set up right can be tricky.
Here is how the rest of the world does it: Start a multilayer lobby, invite your friends, pick a map/game mode, the game then matches you with other parties and individuals, play the game.
Here is how Brink does it: Pick a map/game mode, load into a match, bring up the lobby menu, hit the "invite party" button, realize that you are already in a full game and your friends can't get in, back out to the main menu and try again.
4: Bots. Oh sweet Jesus the stupid, stupid bots:
This isn't a problem with just Brink. A lot of team based multiplayer games have this problem. You need bots to fill in when you don't have other people. Bot's are great at doing exactly what they are programed to do, which never includes strategy or thinking intuitively. This is a problem in a "thinking man's FPS" as Brink likes to style itself. FYI bots, if I'm sprinting towards an objective to get there before the enemy does and you are supposed to be escorting me, it might be a good idea if you sprinted too! And I don't know, maybe get BETWEEN me and the enemy while I hack the door or whatever, you know, so I don't get shot?
Brink isn't a bad game necessarily but it's designers made some decisions that were questionable at best. I do enjoy and applaud the character creation. It's deep an well executed. I was running into a bug though were my friends an I were seeing default models instead of our own for about half the match. Even so, well done on the characters.
They really tried to reinvent the wheel here. My biggest problem is that it's too hard to figure out what's going on. In campaign mode if you are at the mission select screen you can see little dots next to each mission. If they are filled in it means you completed the mission. That's great but there is nothing to tell you what difficulty they have been completed on, which is important since they put an achievement in the game where you have to beat every level on hard or in adversarial. The challenge menu doesn't even tell you which challenges you have beaten.
2. Speaking of challenges:
In order to unlock any weapon or weapon related attachment you have to complete challenges. Each challenge has three difficulty levels. Levels one and two unlock weapons and attachments while level three will unlock the privilege of being on the leaderboard. Wow, I get to be on another leaderboard where I can be 349745th? Sweet. That's a great incentive to sit through this frustration. The challenges are punishingly hard. You really have to level up your guy a lot before you can do well in them. That's not the stupid part though. Brink is a game designed to be multiplayer co-op. The challenges can be played with friends and are much easier if you do so. But you don't unlock anything unless you play solo! What the hell.
3. Multiplayer implementation:
Playing the game with other people is actually fun. But getting the game set up right can be tricky.
Here is how the rest of the world does it: Start a multilayer lobby, invite your friends, pick a map/game mode, the game then matches you with other parties and individuals, play the game.
Here is how Brink does it: Pick a map/game mode, load into a match, bring up the lobby menu, hit the "invite party" button, realize that you are already in a full game and your friends can't get in, back out to the main menu and try again.
4: Bots. Oh sweet Jesus the stupid, stupid bots:
This isn't a problem with just Brink. A lot of team based multiplayer games have this problem. You need bots to fill in when you don't have other people. Bot's are great at doing exactly what they are programed to do, which never includes strategy or thinking intuitively. This is a problem in a "thinking man's FPS" as Brink likes to style itself. FYI bots, if I'm sprinting towards an objective to get there before the enemy does and you are supposed to be escorting me, it might be a good idea if you sprinted too! And I don't know, maybe get BETWEEN me and the enemy while I hack the door or whatever, you know, so I don't get shot?
Brink isn't a bad game necessarily but it's designers made some decisions that were questionable at best. I do enjoy and applaud the character creation. It's deep an well executed. I was running into a bug though were my friends an I were seeing default models instead of our own for about half the match. Even so, well done on the characters.
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Art
I've been meaning to post some Black Ops emblems for a while now. Here are two that I made.
I was rocking this one for a long time. I didn't set out to make it, it just kind of sprang fully formed onto the screen.
This is the one I'm using now.
That one also just kind of came together out of no where. I have some great ideas for future emblems. If and when they come to fruition I will post them here.
I was rocking this one for a long time. I didn't set out to make it, it just kind of sprang fully formed onto the screen.
 |
| Donky Kong |
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| DJ Barebones |
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Oh I Almost Forgot...
...I am now employed in the game industry. The next step on my journey to total awesomeness has been taken.
I think I'm now at TOTA. Only 12 more steps remain.
I think I'm now at TOTA. Only 12 more steps remain.
Saw That Comming
I beat Castlevania: Lords of Shadow today. The ending was fairly epic. As I mentioned before the story is very well written and has plenty of twists to it. I knew there was supposed to be a big plot twist at the end because of a Game Informer article about the top ten moments in 2010. Number one on the list was an entry for LoS subtitled "Didn't see that coming". I immediately screamed and shut the magazine. I HATE spoilers or even hints about spoilers, or even knowing that there is something to spoil. I'm rarely surprised by movies/games/etc. and I like it when I get the chance to be. I had a feeling I knew what it was but I wasn't certain. About half way through the game I started to get a feeling about where certain things were headed. But then I accidentally found out who the last boss was which would have been a great surprise! I thought maybe that was what they were talking about. Turns out there are two big ending surprises, and the final boss was not the big one! It also turns out I was right. I love being right.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Vampire Killer
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow is turning out to be a really good game. I have discovered that the key to its enjoyment is to play on the lowest difficulty. I was originally playing on "warrior" but I was pulling my hair out with frustration, so I dropped down to "squire". I know, kind of embarrassing to be a mere squire but that's how it is. The difference as far as I can tell is how much damage enemies do to you and (most importantly) how much life you restart with after a death. On warrior if you restart at a checkpoint you have as much life as you had when you got there. The problem is that I was being pushed into boss fights with 30% health and dieing almost instantly, over and over. Add in the fact that I had to look at a goddamn load screen and have to pause and select "skip cut-scene" every time and a controller throwing event was imminent.
Lords of Shadow handles health in such a way that the better you do the more health you can recover. Let me see if I can explain. Initially, the only way to heal is to find a health shrine and absorb all of its glowy green goodness. These are few and far between however so in the beginning of the game you're really playing to survive between these shrines. This wasn't too much trouble though because they place them before major encounters. Then you get light magic which you can use to heal yourself but it's not as simple as just casting "heal". Here is were it gets complicated. For most of the game you have two gauges, one for light magic and one for dark magic. These magics let you perform certain moves and abilities buy activating the magic and then performing the move. You have a limited amount of magic and you have to replenish your magic by absorbing neutral energy orbs. These orbs are dropped by enemies and can then be sucked up into either magic gauge with the left and right stick buttons. The problem is that you can't just defeat the enemies, you have to have a high focus. Focus is yet another gauge that fills up the more you hit enemies without getting hit yourself. It fills faster if you use a variety of combos. The higher the focus the more orbs the enemies drop. If you want to heal you have active your light magic and then hit an enemy. Some of the damage you do will be converted into health.
See the problem yet? If you want to heal yourself, you have to hit enemies without getting hit yourself long enough to make them drop orbs, stop to absorb the orbs (which makes you vulnerable for a second), then active light magic and hit some more enemies to actually get the health. And no, enemies hit while light magic is active will not drop more orbs. So you can see where entering a boss fight with low health and no light magic would be an issue.
Anyway, on "squire" the game feels right and balanced. All that bullshit I just explained above flows more naturally and is actually kind of fun. A lot of people point out (our maybe even complain) that this is a God of War rip off. I can see why people would say that, both games are overhead action games involving a chain weapon. But that's like saying Sonic the Hedgehog is a Super Mario Bros. ripoff because you run from left to right and jump on enemies' heads. God of War doesn't own the bloody action game genre. I would also point out that Castlevania has been around since 1986 and has always involved a whip. So who's copying who? Another comparison people make is Shadow of the Colossus. This is because of the Titan bosses that you have to climb up to defeat. I think it's also an apt comparison because both games are beautiful! Really both GoW and Shadow are great games so who cares if LoS is similar? That to me it's a good thing.
I do want to mention the story before I wrap this up. Much like Black Ops I didn't expect the story to be as good as it is, but finding out what happens next has become a real motivation for me to keep playing. Just like Black Ops I feel like I know how it's going to end, but at the same time I'm not sure. It seems like anything can happen. Lost did that very well, baiting you with little bits of subtle foreshadowing that you knew were somehow important but it wasn't clear how. I watched that show rabidly. I wanted to find out if my theories were correct. We've reached a point where more and more video games are able to deliver that same kind of storytelling. Having read comments from others I know I'm in for some surprises with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I can't wait to see what they are.
Lords of Shadow handles health in such a way that the better you do the more health you can recover. Let me see if I can explain. Initially, the only way to heal is to find a health shrine and absorb all of its glowy green goodness. These are few and far between however so in the beginning of the game you're really playing to survive between these shrines. This wasn't too much trouble though because they place them before major encounters. Then you get light magic which you can use to heal yourself but it's not as simple as just casting "heal". Here is were it gets complicated. For most of the game you have two gauges, one for light magic and one for dark magic. These magics let you perform certain moves and abilities buy activating the magic and then performing the move. You have a limited amount of magic and you have to replenish your magic by absorbing neutral energy orbs. These orbs are dropped by enemies and can then be sucked up into either magic gauge with the left and right stick buttons. The problem is that you can't just defeat the enemies, you have to have a high focus. Focus is yet another gauge that fills up the more you hit enemies without getting hit yourself. It fills faster if you use a variety of combos. The higher the focus the more orbs the enemies drop. If you want to heal you have active your light magic and then hit an enemy. Some of the damage you do will be converted into health.
See the problem yet? If you want to heal yourself, you have to hit enemies without getting hit yourself long enough to make them drop orbs, stop to absorb the orbs (which makes you vulnerable for a second), then active light magic and hit some more enemies to actually get the health. And no, enemies hit while light magic is active will not drop more orbs. So you can see where entering a boss fight with low health and no light magic would be an issue.
Anyway, on "squire" the game feels right and balanced. All that bullshit I just explained above flows more naturally and is actually kind of fun. A lot of people point out (our maybe even complain) that this is a God of War rip off. I can see why people would say that, both games are overhead action games involving a chain weapon. But that's like saying Sonic the Hedgehog is a Super Mario Bros. ripoff because you run from left to right and jump on enemies' heads. God of War doesn't own the bloody action game genre. I would also point out that Castlevania has been around since 1986 and has always involved a whip. So who's copying who? Another comparison people make is Shadow of the Colossus. This is because of the Titan bosses that you have to climb up to defeat. I think it's also an apt comparison because both games are beautiful! Really both GoW and Shadow are great games so who cares if LoS is similar? That to me it's a good thing.
I do want to mention the story before I wrap this up. Much like Black Ops I didn't expect the story to be as good as it is, but finding out what happens next has become a real motivation for me to keep playing. Just like Black Ops I feel like I know how it's going to end, but at the same time I'm not sure. It seems like anything can happen. Lost did that very well, baiting you with little bits of subtle foreshadowing that you knew were somehow important but it wasn't clear how. I watched that show rabidly. I wanted to find out if my theories were correct. We've reached a point where more and more video games are able to deliver that same kind of storytelling. Having read comments from others I know I'm in for some surprises with Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. I can't wait to see what they are.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
February Made Me Shiver
Almost a month since the last post. School has been kicking my ass. I really bit off more than I could chew with this semester and I've already had to withdraw from one class. So that's more of my money that Wake Tech gets for nothing.
Last month just kinda sucked. My new (to me) car broke a week after I got it and it's been in the shop since, getting one transmission part or another replaced, my mechanic's shoulders hung in a perpetual shrug. Then my computer got fried. Like the mother won't boot to BIOS fried. On the up side I bought this to replace it:
Samsung RC512. I spent waaay more than I wanted to but my desire to finally have a machine that could handle everything I needed outweighed my usual obsessive thriftiness.
I'm sure there was some other January bullshit but I'm too tired to remember any of it right now which I suppose is good. The TV and headphones (see last post) are awesome. I had heard some recommendations against the wireless version of the X11s but I'm kind of wishing I had gotten them. The cord is really long which is awesome but it gets in the way sometimes and I end up bumping the volume knobs accidentally. Also I have to take them off to go make a sandwich or take a bathroom break. That's right, I used to party chat in the bathroom. It happened and I'm not sorry.
So despite all the work I have to do I've made plenty of time for my habit. Lords of Shadow is an impressive game but it's god-awful hard. I have yet to turn that game off in a fashion that didn't involve screaming. The free download of Symphony of the Night was way more fun. I'm still trying to beat the game as Richter. Difficult but not to the point where I want to stop playing.
The last couple of days I put my borrowed copy of ES4: Oblivion in and quickly sacrificed some hours of my life to its beautiful altar. It really is a fantastic game! I never want to turn it off, to the detriment of sleep (always badly needed at this point) and food. I don't even know who's game it is. One of my wife's co-workers lent it to her months ago thinking she might play it (yeah right) and I tried it out. Thinking they would want it back I didn't let myself get too into it but it's been a while and they never asked for it back so... YOINK! Maybe It's like the monkey's paw, and they were just trying to get rid of it on some other doomed soul with a wish in their heart. A wish for awesome video games.
Last month just kinda sucked. My new (to me) car broke a week after I got it and it's been in the shop since, getting one transmission part or another replaced, my mechanic's shoulders hung in a perpetual shrug. Then my computer got fried. Like the mother won't boot to BIOS fried. On the up side I bought this to replace it:
Samsung RC512. I spent waaay more than I wanted to but my desire to finally have a machine that could handle everything I needed outweighed my usual obsessive thriftiness.
I'm sure there was some other January bullshit but I'm too tired to remember any of it right now which I suppose is good. The TV and headphones (see last post) are awesome. I had heard some recommendations against the wireless version of the X11s but I'm kind of wishing I had gotten them. The cord is really long which is awesome but it gets in the way sometimes and I end up bumping the volume knobs accidentally. Also I have to take them off to go make a sandwich or take a bathroom break. That's right, I used to party chat in the bathroom. It happened and I'm not sorry.
So despite all the work I have to do I've made plenty of time for my habit. Lords of Shadow is an impressive game but it's god-awful hard. I have yet to turn that game off in a fashion that didn't involve screaming. The free download of Symphony of the Night was way more fun. I'm still trying to beat the game as Richter. Difficult but not to the point where I want to stop playing.
The last couple of days I put my borrowed copy of ES4: Oblivion in and quickly sacrificed some hours of my life to its beautiful altar. It really is a fantastic game! I never want to turn it off, to the detriment of sleep (always badly needed at this point) and food. I don't even know who's game it is. One of my wife's co-workers lent it to her months ago thinking she might play it (yeah right) and I tried it out. Thinking they would want it back I didn't let myself get too into it but it's been a while and they never asked for it back so... YOINK! Maybe It's like the monkey's paw, and they were just trying to get rid of it on some other doomed soul with a wish in their heart. A wish for awesome video games.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
(new).jpg)
December Recap part 3
I got the duluxe package which came with a very nice art book, a CD with the game's soundtrack, and a free download of Castlevania: Symphony of the Night for XBLA. I had some things to say about C:LoS but cares? I got Castlevania: Symphony of the Night! It's all I've played. I've come to the conclusion that there is no reason to make more Castlevania games. This is it. I have no problem putting it in the top ten best games ever made. EVER. How much do I like this game? I've played through it three times on the original PS1 version. This is my fourth playthrough. I spent eighty bucks on the collector's edition of this game. Every dollar worth it just to play SotN.
OK Enough gushing, it's pretty good but.... grklhrk... cruun!!...hruklemurrkk!! I WOULD HAVE THIS GAME'S BABY!!!! I WOULD GET DOWN IN FRONT OF IT ON MY KNEES AND SERVICE.... No! Focus! Control! Get a hold of yourself! You swore to leave that life behind you and you're not going to mess it up now!
So yeah Lords of Shadow is a game that I have, the end. Actually funny story, my wife had intended to buy it for me for my birthday. I had not asked for it nor even mentioned its existence to her. She was annoyed that I bought it but I was very impressed that she's learned my tastes to that extent.
December Recap part 2
I'm not going to write a full review of Black Ops. It's sold a bajillion copies and it's a great game. This you already know. I do want to talk about it though because a bajillion-selling game needs to be spoken of, the way an exploding gas main or nude co-worker needs to be spoken of. The situation demands commentary.
First I'd like to praise the campaign's story. It's not often I want to keep playing a game to find out what happens, and it's certainly rare for an FPS. It's not that Black Ops wasn't predictable. I had an inkling of the outcome and I wasn't far off. I think I wanted to keep playing to find out if my theory was right. The campaign itself had some bumpy spots where fun gave way to frustration but for the most part I enjoyed it.
I was disappointed to hear that titles and emblems would not be unlocked in multiplayer via the completion of challenges. One of the things I liked most about MW2 was that not only could you customize your title but you got those titles by feats of awesomeness. In this way your title/emblem was both an expression of your personality and a way to show off what you'd accomplished. My title/emblem combined the following:
"Kill every member of the enemy team without dying (at least 4 enemies)."
with
"Kill an enemy, Pick up his weapon, then kill him again with his own weapon."
I felt that was a combination that both spoke of who I was and what I was capable of. While I was disappointed that you would be able to have whatever you wanted I was excited that emblems would be custom creations using a layer system similar to Forza's. Once I unlocked the emblem feature I went strait to work to create my dream emblem... only to find out how limited it was. You only have 12 layers, the color pallet is shallow, you have to buy layers AND shapes, and shapes cannot be skewed or warped, only turned and resized. Even as limited as it is it's fun to create emblems, and there is a prestige element in that you have to pay for everything, and shapes are unlocked by level a little bit at a time. So you can't have a bitch'n emblem without spending some time in the game. I've seen some pretty impressive emblems, and I'm going to try to take some pictures and post them here.
Gun Game. The wager match thing is a cool idea but it's overshadowed by the best of its 4 gametypes, gun game. Holy crap this game is fun. It's got the raw feel of bare bones deathmatch but you get to use 20 different guns in one match (assuming you do well)! There is no thrill greater than scoring that final tricky kill with the ballistic knife. There is no agony like the sting of someone's backstab sending you back to the crossbow at the last second. The first time it happened to me I howled like a grieving mother over the corpse of her child. It was... bone chilling, unreal, amazing.
Also, glitchy networking. Fix it.
Finally, how cool is it that you can play with the old DOS-esq computer? It has ZORK!
cd C:FUN
First I'd like to praise the campaign's story. It's not often I want to keep playing a game to find out what happens, and it's certainly rare for an FPS. It's not that Black Ops wasn't predictable. I had an inkling of the outcome and I wasn't far off. I think I wanted to keep playing to find out if my theory was right. The campaign itself had some bumpy spots where fun gave way to frustration but for the most part I enjoyed it.
I was disappointed to hear that titles and emblems would not be unlocked in multiplayer via the completion of challenges. One of the things I liked most about MW2 was that not only could you customize your title but you got those titles by feats of awesomeness. In this way your title/emblem was both an expression of your personality and a way to show off what you'd accomplished. My title/emblem combined the following:
"Kill every member of the enemy team without dying (at least 4 enemies)."
with
"Kill an enemy, Pick up his weapon, then kill him again with his own weapon."
I felt that was a combination that both spoke of who I was and what I was capable of. While I was disappointed that you would be able to have whatever you wanted I was excited that emblems would be custom creations using a layer system similar to Forza's. Once I unlocked the emblem feature I went strait to work to create my dream emblem... only to find out how limited it was. You only have 12 layers, the color pallet is shallow, you have to buy layers AND shapes, and shapes cannot be skewed or warped, only turned and resized. Even as limited as it is it's fun to create emblems, and there is a prestige element in that you have to pay for everything, and shapes are unlocked by level a little bit at a time. So you can't have a bitch'n emblem without spending some time in the game. I've seen some pretty impressive emblems, and I'm going to try to take some pictures and post them here.
Gun Game. The wager match thing is a cool idea but it's overshadowed by the best of its 4 gametypes, gun game. Holy crap this game is fun. It's got the raw feel of bare bones deathmatch but you get to use 20 different guns in one match (assuming you do well)! There is no thrill greater than scoring that final tricky kill with the ballistic knife. There is no agony like the sting of someone's backstab sending you back to the crossbow at the last second. The first time it happened to me I howled like a grieving mother over the corpse of her child. It was... bone chilling, unreal, amazing.
Also, glitchy networking. Fix it.
Finally, how cool is it that you can play with the old DOS-esq computer? It has ZORK!
cd C:FUN
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Deep Thoughts
I started this post a month ago and then forgot about it, but I felt like it would be good to finish it today.
I am sometimes afraid to tell people that I play video games, or any game for that matter. In my mind the public still views video games as childish and if I reveal my activities to them I will be diminished in their eyes. Some times even I see myself as a child, sitting cross legged on the floor gripping a controller. But the truth is I am a child. Foolish and naive, I am brand new over and over again. I am deaf to the hidden language of the adult world. I am helpless, dependent, always grasping to suckle from any and all passing source of nourishment. And I am blind, floating in utero, unborn, waiting for the promise of life.
Wow, that got heavy.
When I find myself questioning the value of games and my never ending obsession with them and whether or not I should be wasting my time on them, I have to also ask why not? Is there some better way to waste time? If my brain cells are occupied what does it matter the focus of their attention? Why do we have hobbies if not to pass the time between the necessary tasks of our life?
What I worry about is that I spend too much time on this one thing, rather than some other avocation. I could be reading the classics or cultivating wild honey bees. I could be spending more time balancing my checkbook or cleaning my home. I could be on Conney Island bird-dog'n chicks. I give myself a lot of grief for not having achieved more in my life, and I know that my dedication (or addiction) to gaming has taken thousands of hours away from other pursuits.
On the other hand if I abandoned gaming would that not be like abandoning part of myself? And shouldn't everyone have that one thing that they are "all about"? People are always saying how the world needs specialists more than it needs generalists. But does the world need a guy with a collection of old consoles, an in-depth knowledge of the Castlevania timeline, and a really strong thumbs? No one throws awards banquets for people with big gamerscores.
I'm 29 years old today... who am I and what the hell am I doing here? What are ANY of us doing here? Has anyone else noticed that this shit is crazy?
I am sometimes afraid to tell people that I play video games, or any game for that matter. In my mind the public still views video games as childish and if I reveal my activities to them I will be diminished in their eyes. Some times even I see myself as a child, sitting cross legged on the floor gripping a controller. But the truth is I am a child. Foolish and naive, I am brand new over and over again. I am deaf to the hidden language of the adult world. I am helpless, dependent, always grasping to suckle from any and all passing source of nourishment. And I am blind, floating in utero, unborn, waiting for the promise of life.
Wow, that got heavy.
When I find myself questioning the value of games and my never ending obsession with them and whether or not I should be wasting my time on them, I have to also ask why not? Is there some better way to waste time? If my brain cells are occupied what does it matter the focus of their attention? Why do we have hobbies if not to pass the time between the necessary tasks of our life?
What I worry about is that I spend too much time on this one thing, rather than some other avocation. I could be reading the classics or cultivating wild honey bees. I could be spending more time balancing my checkbook or cleaning my home. I could be on Conney Island bird-dog'n chicks. I give myself a lot of grief for not having achieved more in my life, and I know that my dedication (or addiction) to gaming has taken thousands of hours away from other pursuits.
On the other hand if I abandoned gaming would that not be like abandoning part of myself? And shouldn't everyone have that one thing that they are "all about"? People are always saying how the world needs specialists more than it needs generalists. But does the world need a guy with a collection of old consoles, an in-depth knowledge of the Castlevania timeline, and a really strong thumbs? No one throws awards banquets for people with big gamerscores.
I'm 29 years old today... who am I and what the hell am I doing here? What are ANY of us doing here? Has anyone else noticed that this shit is crazy?
Saturday, January 1, 2011
December Recap Part 1
Lots of new games acquired and played last month.
Lets start with Halo 3 ODST and Forza 3. About every year Microsoft makes a double pack of games to put in with their new systems. I got Lego Indiana Jones/Kung Fu Panda with my system. Those seem like an odd choice when you look at the other options but they're decent so whatever. I also got the Froza 2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle which is way better. The funny thing about these packs is that they usually go for less (used) than buying the games individually (also used). I got the Forza/Marvel pack for $9.99. Can't beat that.
I was thinking about getting Forza 3 for a while but since I never finished 2 to my satisfaction I held off. After speaking with my brother-in-law about hanging out over the Christmas weekend, I got the idea that I would buy 3 and bring it with me and we could have a Forza marathon. Those of you who are fans of racing games know the special joy that comes from starting with an empty garage and working your way up the ranks until you have millions of credits and a fleet of supercars. We didn't end up playing as much as I wanted, mostly because we had to leave early but we still got some racing done. Forza 3 is pretty phenomenal. BIL has Gran Tourismo 5 and was constantly saying how much better Forza is. There aren't much differences from 2, just more of some things and tweaks of others. The thing I like the most is how they organized the career mode. Instead of moving up a ladder of unlocking events you play though 6 "years" of a career. Each week you pick a race event with 3 or more races each. The events offered are somewhat random but are based on the car you are in, and what you have in your garage. Then on the weekends you do one race from a championship event. At the end of the season you will have completed the last championship race. The cool part is that you don't have to win to continue, just like in real life. If you do loose a race you can go to the event menu at any time and race any of the events you've unlocked at that point. Basically you could just play though the seasons to unlock all of the races and go back and play through in any order you want. There are a LOT of events, way more than Forza 2. This is one of the problems I've had in the past. I think it would be great to be able to make custom events to see what a showdown between cars X and Y would be like. Well you still can't do that in Forza 3 but with the number of events they have, most of your fantasy scenarios are covered.
I didn't play Forza until I got to my wife's parents' house, but I did dig into ODST right away. This is actually my first Halo game. I don't know how I've avoided the series until now. I guess I initially had some distaste for Halo early on, and since I've had an Xbox I've been more interested in military shooters like COD. Anyway ODST is a pretty good game. I played through the campaign in about three sessions and it felt a little short but the gameplay was solid and I liked the way they told the story. I heard that a lot of hardcore Halo fans didn't like it. Maybe it's good that this is my first one? I haven't played online yet, not that interested really.
In part two I'll talk at length about Black Ops and Castlevania and another big Christmas gift I got.
Happy New Year!
Lets start with Halo 3 ODST and Forza 3. About every year Microsoft makes a double pack of games to put in with their new systems. I got Lego Indiana Jones/Kung Fu Panda with my system. Those seem like an odd choice when you look at the other options but they're decent so whatever. I also got the Froza 2/Marvel Ultimate Alliance bundle which is way better. The funny thing about these packs is that they usually go for less (used) than buying the games individually (also used). I got the Forza/Marvel pack for $9.99. Can't beat that.
I was thinking about getting Forza 3 for a while but since I never finished 2 to my satisfaction I held off. After speaking with my brother-in-law about hanging out over the Christmas weekend, I got the idea that I would buy 3 and bring it with me and we could have a Forza marathon. Those of you who are fans of racing games know the special joy that comes from starting with an empty garage and working your way up the ranks until you have millions of credits and a fleet of supercars. We didn't end up playing as much as I wanted, mostly because we had to leave early but we still got some racing done. Forza 3 is pretty phenomenal. BIL has Gran Tourismo 5 and was constantly saying how much better Forza is. There aren't much differences from 2, just more of some things and tweaks of others. The thing I like the most is how they organized the career mode. Instead of moving up a ladder of unlocking events you play though 6 "years" of a career. Each week you pick a race event with 3 or more races each. The events offered are somewhat random but are based on the car you are in, and what you have in your garage. Then on the weekends you do one race from a championship event. At the end of the season you will have completed the last championship race. The cool part is that you don't have to win to continue, just like in real life. If you do loose a race you can go to the event menu at any time and race any of the events you've unlocked at that point. Basically you could just play though the seasons to unlock all of the races and go back and play through in any order you want. There are a LOT of events, way more than Forza 2. This is one of the problems I've had in the past. I think it would be great to be able to make custom events to see what a showdown between cars X and Y would be like. Well you still can't do that in Forza 3 but with the number of events they have, most of your fantasy scenarios are covered.
I didn't play Forza until I got to my wife's parents' house, but I did dig into ODST right away. This is actually my first Halo game. I don't know how I've avoided the series until now. I guess I initially had some distaste for Halo early on, and since I've had an Xbox I've been more interested in military shooters like COD. Anyway ODST is a pretty good game. I played through the campaign in about three sessions and it felt a little short but the gameplay was solid and I liked the way they told the story. I heard that a lot of hardcore Halo fans didn't like it. Maybe it's good that this is my first one? I haven't played online yet, not that interested really.
In part two I'll talk at length about Black Ops and Castlevania and another big Christmas gift I got.
Happy New Year!
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