How The Recession Plays Into Gaming Habits

Is the recession damaging your ability to play new games?

A lot of folks are losing their jobs these days due to layoffs and the like. Companies are hemorrhaging money and while I do not know any of these people personally, someone does.

These recent times have me thinking about how they affect how people are playing games (it might have me thinking about other topics of course but you are reading a game journalism blog who-sa-whats-it).

These are the few questions that I have been asking myself lately:
1. Is there more time for games because the unemployed are spending more time at home?
2. Are people playing less new titles because they can't afford them?
3. Are people trying to get more out of the games that they currently own because they can afford only so many?

These are all viable questions and they are probably all true, depending on the person and their situation.

I think that the unemployed folks that play are playing more because whatever time that they are not spending to look for a job they are spending in their games. It is quite a natural thing to look for a distraction from the hardships of being unemployed.

The second hypothesis I had was if one could no longer afford to buy new games. Instead we are buying more used games and trading in our games that we no longer have any use for. I think that this has always happened to an extent but I think that over the coming months it will become much more noticeable.

The last hypothesis related to playing games differently is how we are going to end up trying to get more out of our games. Will we try out and eek out every bit of GamerScore and game secrets?

I think this is how all of this is affecting me? It in not in any big way, instead I have other financial woes which may or may not have anything to do with the recession. I refuse to buy used titles and at this time I will not be able to afford to pick up Halo Wars or Resident Evil 5. I have considered selling off some of my property (not land or anything like that) in order to afford Halo Wars but then why wouldn't I do the same thing to pay off the rest of by debts. Instead I will be like option number 3, I will be attempting to master all of the games I own. I own enough.

In reality I think what is happening is that Gamestop is benefiting from this recession. I think that they are buying up more used titles and thus making a higher profit margin from the people are waiting to be able to play these games at a cheaper price. I guess another question would be is how long can GameStop can sustain this without people buying new games.

Here is a list of games I want to get back to:

Dead Rising
Obilivion
Orange Box
Fable 2

Recommend some things that I may have missed in the comments.

What about you? Is the recession affecting how you play your games and how many games you are playing? If so, drop a comment.

Of course the last option is that the recession has oneself playing no games. I'd like to meet that man.

Resident Evil 5 Demo Impressions

I figured that it was only fitting for a Resident Evil entry to be posted on Valentine's Day.

I have already told all of those who will listen that this is my first "real" (and I do say real because I once touched the first game some years ago for five minutes but it did not grab me) experience with any Resident Evil game.

I have enjoyed this experience. My reasons for getting into it are inconsequential but it goes something like, "This is the first Resident Evil game on the Xbox platform..."

After I had adjusted to the control system I was impressed with myself. I was opening my inventory, giving ammo, healing, reloading, running (but not gunning), and of course massacring the zombie-like foes. I was in love.

The game is beautiful to look at and fun to play (though I wonder if this was not my first, would I still feel the same?). This is a different gaming experience that 99.9% percent of games that I play. I now believe that the control system is THERE TO BUILD TENSION (though I wonder if I am being brainwashed).

In the past I would cite the broken control system as a reason for not playing the game, despite never touching it, and it is funny because if the controls were broken one would be lead to believe that CAPCOM would have been smart enough to fix them by now.

I normally do not think in terms of strategically reloading (I either do or I don't) but in RE you have to be strategic about it so as not to get chainsawed.

So go play it, stop reading, because it is a demo and it is free.

Mass Effect 2 Goes Multiplatform

Update: There is newer news that says that ME2 will come out on only PC and 360 to begin with. They are still not ruling out a PS3 version but there is also nothing to say that there will be. Check here for more deets.


Commander Shepard: FALL BACK! EVERYONE FALL BACK!

Liara: Shepard, there are too many Geth, what do we do?

Shepard: We call in reinforcements...

...and that is precisely what EA will have Bioware doing. All consoles will support Mass Effect 2 or vice versa. I suppose the Geth are really a bigger threat than we imagined... or maybe it is something else that treads into spoiler territory.


I have been thinking about this news item for almost a week now and I feel both excited, at the prospect of a new ME game, and shameful, for wanting it to remain on the 360 and PC alone.

I suppose a realistic hope would be improvements on all of the original's shortcomings. I hope they fix the texture pop in, the load times (specifically the elevators), and the handful of glitches that plagued the original. While nothing ruined the game for me (I played it through four times) it would be nice to have those shortcomings fixed.

Again I know that is ridiculous to get upset over platform exclusivity but I am and I know that I do not have a good reason for it. More people will get to experience the series but I do wonder if many PS3 owners will be picking this up or not. A better question still is how many who played the original on the 360 are going to go out and purchase this game for their PS3?

This brings me to the conclusion that the original might come to the PS3. I do not know how probable this is seeing as it was still a Microsoft Games Studio game. Microsoft may still have exclusive rights to the first one but for how long? Just keep this possibility in the back of your mind so as not to be surprised later.

In the meantime we can all fantasize about new "level design" (you know, instead of the same old rooms with different things in them) and adventures with Shepard and Company.

Now if only this Mass Effect 1 section on the Marketplace would update with some new DLC.

[Via Joystiq]

Halo Wars Demo Impressions

I was going to write this up when I woke up but having read Jarvis's own impressions of this demo I decided that I should get mine out there.

This will be the game that changes all of the preconceived notions of how an RTS is to be played on a console. This is what ENSEMBLE wants you to believe but the most important thing is - is it true?

I personally have had no interest in playing a console RTS before this but I can tell you that this feels right. One thing in particular that I noticed was that all item that are base related are all right there on the same pad. It just works.

Despite my lack of interest I also did not go into playing this demo with any skepticism. These are the creators of Age of Empires.

Like I said this game just feels right. Everything clicks and the controls are easy enough to use. The game/demo starts of with a stunning cut scene that just gets you pumped to play another Halo game. And then you are hovering twenty feet above one Warthog and you slowly begin to amass your army.

Be wary though because this is another one of those games that burns time.

Weekly Update, What Have I Been Playing, Random Complaining... Whatever

It has been a good week or so to be a gamer. I am not saying this to hurt the other week's feelings but I am sure it will be a good 10 days to be a gamer come March 3rd and 13th.

This is for the reason that the two games of which demos I have played will be launching: Halo Wars and Resident Evil 5.

Let us talk about the later first since in my last post I was unsure on whether I would be picking it up or not. I have decided, after playing through the demo again - both coop and not - that I will be picking it up. I could honestly care less about the story, which I know is strange for me, but I had a good experience playing it and I would be remiss if I did not want to continue that experience.

But before I say too much I have write ups for both of those demos for your viewing pleasure so now it is only a short amount before you may gaze upon those.

Now the real topic of this post:

You may accuse me of being a fanboy for the Xbox, or Xbot, whichever you prefer, but alas let me point out that I do want to purchase a PS3 but both the price and the game selection are not allowing for that. I have a wife and I have bills... I also am not made of money (despite many attempts by others to debunk this (I'd really rather not talk about it)).

There has been a lot of commotion surrounding Killzone 2. I am sure that it is the best shooter on PS3 to date but I am sure there are better shooters out there. I am just saying that I do not think that the MLG is going to abandon Halo 3 as their primary game in favor of Killzone 2. I believe that the graphics are the best any system has to offer and I am sure it could kill many a 360 but who really cares.

The only thing that people care about is their review score. I'll admit I have been upset by a less than 9.5 review score but not enough to well question the reviewers practices. In this review from CVG the reviewer lists the lack of co-op as a letdown or a negative mark against the game. Well as you might guess, folks have freaked out. I found this comment particularly astounding:

How can you give a game negative marks for not having co-op!!!!! You can only review that content that's there. It's like someone reviewing mario and then deducting points for it not having machine guns!!!

Me: "No it is not like that!?"

I'm sorry to say this but people have come to expect co-op from their shooters. Mario and machine guns have nothing to do with this pointless argument. This makes no sense to me at all. Somewhere in those comments someone said that COD4 did not have coop. Well woop dee doo, it still felt like an innovation from COD2 despite the fact that I didn't like COD4 to begin with. Aghhh I hate the sheer stupidity of some people.

We I have definitely worked myself up sufficiently, I think I am going to go calm down with a cup of coffee. Oh and just in case you PS3 fanboys did not get that... it was a joke.

A40 Audio System Unboxing

This is something that I have been waiting for, for a long time. It was painful to have to unbox it so slow in order to take pictures so I apologize if it is not comprehensive enough. Basically these things are awesome and after I have had enough use of them I will probably throw a review up. For now behold their glory:

Holy Crap

So here is another apology: "I'm sorry."

I have not been on my computer at all as Google Reader can attest to (800+ unread items and counting). I am currently in Massachusetts on a mini-vacation and so I am currently on Matt's computer (my crappy laptop battery makes it not worth bringing my own computer places). I have been at work every day and in my free time I have been playing Fallout 3 like a madman. I finally finished the main story but I will be returning to the game in order to tie up any loose ends that I left (Operation: Anchorage DLC, bobbleheads, etc. I have not been doing anything else of any merit so I guess that is all this post will center around.

Now: more about Fallout.

I'll have to start a new game in order to attempt what I want to do - get all 1000 gamerscore - but for right now I am satisfied with myself [Ed note: I know that there is more gamerscore now with the DLC but let us not argue semantics.]. Like I said, I do have to tie up the loose ends, so that I can feel like I actually had a full play through of the game. I am a completionist and if I were enough of one I would have 100 percent gamerscore in most or all of my games. Lucky for me, I am not that much of a loon. The last thing I have to say about this game is that it had the best story of any game I played last year.

But now seeing as I have completed it, I can allow myself to play other things. I know that I will be returning to Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2 and probably Fable 2 with a vengeance. For Left 4 Dead I'll be playing whenever I get the chance and for Gears of War (since patches are finally coming out) maybe I can finally have some fun playing this game online. I know I will be awful at first but it will be well worth the pain. But Fable 2 got the short end of the stick when it came to play time last year.

I played the first half of the game at my own pace but the second half was rushed because I was completing it so that I could play Fallout (and we all know how long that took me). I need to go back and finish what I didn't get to and perhaps after that I will start a whole new character. Fable 2 is great and I want to get everything that I can out of it.

Last on the docket is the fact that I played the Resident Evil 5 Demo last night. It was a good time mainly because it felt foreign to me. I have never played a RE game before - Sacrilege! - because they have never interested me before. Now the only reason that it interests me is because I have an interest in getting all Zombie related achievements. While I know that this seems to be a lofty goal it is idea that I am entertaining.

But I did play the demo with Matt yesterday and I enjoyed myself. Perhaps I will play the retail copy when it comes out.

Grand Theft Auto Previewsplosion (DS and 360)

On January 21st MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo was invited down to Rockstar New York to check out Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars and Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned. The former has interested me the most seeing as it is "something new" that takes advantage of many, if not all, of the DS' strong suits. The latter is the long anticipated (I guess it could be argued by some) Xbox 360 DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV.

Let me start of by saying that Chinatown Wars looks to be fantastic. From what I have seen of screenshots the graphics look amazing for a DS game and from what I have read the touch screen moments of the game are something that I am greatly anticipating. Let me make a small prediction here: This could very well be the best selling GTA of this generation (I mean seriously, think about how many DS units there are out there).

Here are some key points that I pulled from Totilo's preview (I'll quote the ones I found most interesting and naturally you can just click away on that link to see anything else that might tickle the cockles of your heart).

-900,000 lines of code were optimized for the touch interface alone.

-The missions are scored with medals (Gold, Silver, Bronze) and from your garage you can later go and replay them to get a higher rank.

-It is played from the top down (ala GTA 1&2) but has a full 24 hour cycle and licensed music (with no words)

-You will be playing stylus in hand because there are that many touch based moments.

These few bullet points are just the bare bones of it but again these are elements that I think matter most. I will say though that I am a bit skeptical about the medal system because if is anything like what Sonic games turned into (making it nigh impossible to get a gold medal) then I am going to be pushing holes through my screen with my stylus. Also I do not mind at all that this game is top down instead of third person POV though I am a little sad that we will have licensed MIDI's instead of full tracks (obviously I understand the limitations here and I am sure when I play it I will not mind at all). Lastly I am happy that it looks like I will be equally using the buttons and the stylus.

The last thing that I have to say about this game is that it looks like I will have to hurry and beat The World Ends With You so that I do not feel bad about picking this game up when it comes out.


Next up on the docket is The Lost and Damned which also looks promising. This is the 20 dollar piece of DLC - dropping February 17 - that if it didn't require the GTA IV disc might as well be a whole new game.

I say this because all of the previews that I have read all lead me to believe that this piece of DLC will be in the 10-20 hour range. I paid twenty for Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1 so I will more than likely be paying twenty for this.

Now for the bullet points that I again took from Totilo's preview (that guy is so on top of his stuff huh?):

-Rockstar is calling this a full game that only uses the GTA IV disc to render the city.

-The downloadable episode adds some extra "grit" and "lighting". It all "adds more fidelity to character models".

-There will be new weapons and rewards for riding in formation with your gang.

-The handling of the bikes will be different for the DLC.

-Rockstar says that they are not "milking it".

I am honestly excited about all of these things. I think that this "full game" is just easier for them to make seeing as it renders the city from the disc. To me this looks like a Vice City or a San Andreas to me and though I know it is not as long it does feel like something new. I like that they are improving on an already well done city by adding extra layers of "grit" and "lighting". Perhaps the thing that I am most excited for is the improved handling of the bikes because this was the only thing that I was worried about when this episode was originally announced. And lastly Rockstar says that they are not milking this and I truly believe it. This is what they are good at. One could argue that the whole franchise is milked but they have the quality to go with the quantity.

They will also have my 20 bucks come February 17.

You have heard it before but DLC is truly the way of the future.

An Update From the Train

This will probably be my first and las update from my phone. I just wanted to give it a shot so I apologize in advance for any erroranious mistakes or lack of linkage. Let me know how this went in the comments.

Today was a great day in the Wasteland. I scoured the ends of the DC Wasteland for bottles of Nuka Cola Quantum and explored the wastes of Vault-Tec HQ. I can't tell you how excited I get when I come upon a bottle of Quantum but I can assure you the reaction is one of giddy delight.

I expected more from the Vault-Tec offices but there was still some fun stuff in there (I found a lot of lunchboxes). I have been working on filling my Nuka Cola vending machine and I finally found Dogmeat. The former is just for fun because I have become a Nuka Cola fanboy and the latter usually just points me in the direction of some enemies.

I have since sent him back to Vault 101 for fear of him dying and I only have 7 bottles of Quantum left to collect in the Nuka Cola Challenge. Every bottle after that shall be a Nuka grenade and I shall let one bottle sit on a shelf next to my bobblehead stand. I am all about the trophies from my various quests.

As you can see I love being part of this world. I know that I will be sad to leave when I beat it but alas everyone's day must come, even Fallout's Wasteland.

I know this entry was incredibly short but typing something of any length becomes quite the chore on the iPhone. I'll speak to you quite soon about other escapades in the Wasteland or in real life.

I Feel Like I Have Been Away From the Blog for a Week

For those of you who follow my Twitter (right bar) you know that I said that I would be updating my blog about the NPD numbers a few days ago. Sadly that did not come to fruition. It has also not been as long as I thought it was between updates but still it was too long. I can safely say that work has been getting in the way of my posts and gaming lately and yesterday I just needed to play some Left 4 Dead to unwind.

My job is evil, soul-less, and soul-sucking (if you can imagine such a thing) and I have felt so drained (today is no exception). I know that is no excuse really for not updating the one thing that I am happy to do other than play games, this blog. So this here is my formal apology for sucking: "I'm sorry."

I'll say something about the NPD numbers because I did originally, in some form, promise that post.

It is good to see the XBOX doing as well as it has been since the price drop in September. I think the combination of that, the NXE, and the family oriented games have made it a more viable option to the Wii market. Granted these options to not appeal to you and me, the core gamer, but the health of this market can only mean more of the XBOX brand in years to come. That is enough to make me happy and I am sure it puts a smile on your face also.

[Via Joystiq]

Blogging 4 Dead

I would post more, but honestly, I have no time. But here's the thing about that: I do theoretically have time. I just fill it up. I'm either catching up on TV shows (like Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica) or playing Left 4 Dead all night. And I must say, every night, almost all night, me and a group of kids ply Left 4 Dead together. This sadly does not include Nate because Nate has an actual life and has been mostly playing Fallout 3 these days, but never the less, from hours as early as 8 PM to as late as 4 AM, you'll find me gaming in Left 4 Dead. Of course, this means I sleep until about noon every day and then I'm grouchy for a little while upon waking up, but still... totally worth it (and I don't care how much I have to "grow up" right now with a job and responsibilities, nothing will ever make me give up my late night gaming sessions).

Now, while I will never ever stray from the thought that Fallout 3 was the best game of last year (much to Nathan's own chagrin), I will say that the predictions I made when I put it in my number 2 spot are entirely accurate. I play this game so much that it has since become to first and only game to be installed on my hard drive. I never saw the point of installing a game until now, but now I fully understand the validation. You have no idea how annoying it is to be playing this game for several hours, have a glorious dominating victory in a game, and then your game freezes when going back to the menu. I can sometimes hear the disc spinning in the XBOX, and it was at that point that I realized maybe I'm playing it enough to justify an install.

This game provides such a unique experience. I must say, after playing with the same group of guys last night, I really have no interest in playing with all random people now. It's so much better only playing with the same guys. We are by no means a "clan" (although, in one absolutely hilarious night, we did face a clan member of xUWNx, which I will talk more about later), but rather a group of guys who all know each other and like to play with and against each other. It provides much more amusement having over 7 friends who are all available for gaming. Never have I ever felt such a sense of camaraderie in any game. Now, I will admit, there is a point in every game where I do make a gun for the safe house and leave my team mates to die if necessary, but that's a last second/split second judgment call. One of the guys I play with usually always goes back to save people, and I've seen him get annihilated before due to this. It's the zombie apocalypse, man - I want to survive. That, and at least I get us a good amount of points every round (someone described my gaming as "clutch." I'd say that this is rather accurate). However, as long as we are traveling, I will turn around and do my best to save everyone I can. This is really only because I'm playing with my friends to begin with. If I was playing with random people, I can assure you that I would not care and would only save them if it was convenient for me. I might just say something like, "Learn to play the game!" and run off. But not to my gaming friends! Oh no. I will run the distance, shotguns a-blazing, just to separate them from a nasty smoker or hunter. It's also made me a constant reviewer of XBOX gamers. There are certain things you can do in the game as the infected that are based around glitches and make the gameplay very cheap and unfair. Every time a team does this against my team (unless we know the people), I go and give every player negative reviews and make them avoided players). So good job, Valve. You've made me into a team player (somewhat). Now give us new levels to play Versus on, and I'll be happy.

The final thing I'd like to say about Left 4 Dead is that it brings a great amount of sheer hilarity. I'll offer up two examples. The first is that one night, me and 3 of my friends were in a lobby. This kid joins named xUWNx FOUL, and we all instinctively laugh at him. He, of course, attacks me, and begins spouting of anti-Semitic slurs (if you don't know already, my gamertag is Jewnado, as in a tornado of Jewish hatred). He begins to rant and rave about how much better he is at the game than me and us, so I begin the game. Needless to say, we absolutely dominate, to the point where, in the finale, the other team just gives up and kills each other. Back in the lobby, Mr. FOUL gets a barrage of insults, such as, "Why don't you take your game back to GameStop and trade it in for a Wii and Party Babyz?" Of course he gets apologetic and begins saying, "Well, maybe if I had a better team..." No. You're just a horrible horrible player, and now you're on ignore. The second example is similar. My friends and I played against a team that ultimately gave up in the end, and killed each other. Everyone left but one player and his guest, and we laughed at him similarly in the lobby after the game. The thing was he didn't have a microphone at first, so after a few minutes of insults, he finally put one in and revealed himself to be a 13/14 year old boy. It was about 4:00 AM at this point, so we began saying things like, "Hey, did you remember to do your reading for English class? The Great Gatsby isn't going to read itself!" He finally said, and I quote, "Listen, gay guys, why don't you stop sucking each others dicks and start the game?" This is hilarious on two levels. The first level is "gay guys" - he didn't use any of the millions of slurs, he said gay and guys together in his sentence, and I just lost it. The second level is that he was such a bad player his team mates shot him and quit the game, and he wanted to play us again ... with no new team mates. No one had joined the lobby. It was 4:00 AM! So, instead of playing the game, I leaned over to my bookshelf, grabbed my copy of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American classic, and said, "Ok, are you ready?" When he replied, "Yes," I then began to read The Great Gatsby outloud to him and all my friends in the room. I made it through six pages of the novel before he quit. SIX PAGES. After he quit, we invited him back in the room, at which point I read another whole page before he just turned off the XBOX and the rest of us, laughing, went to bed. There is much debate as to why the kid stayed in the room as long as he did. Some speculate that he really did need to read the book for class, but I like to think that I just have a great speaking voice (which I do). And as much as I love Fallout 3, the one thing it will never have is an opportunity for me to read The Great Gatsby to an angry child.

So good job, Valve. I fully commend you on another job well done. You consistently make online games with endless replayability, and at that you absolutely stand out among the other game publishers. Here's to awaiting the patch that finally gives us new levels to play. Now, it's about noon, meaning it's still day, meaning I have to get out and do all those things that I do in the day time that allow me to be up all night killing the infected, so I bid you a fond adieu until my next entry.

Fallout 3

Today I will make my triumphant return to the wasteland and while that is good news it does leave me with something sad to say: "I will not be making a post proper today." This is all I can offer you. I'll see you on the other side.

Gaming from the Cloud

This is a two-fold entry of sorts seeing as it will be about two different topics. Why you ask? My answer to you is that these topics of conversation these days do no merit posts of their own.

The first topic of the day is the comments recently made by Aaron Greenburg on the size increase of your Xbox LIVE Friends list. He said, “It’s definitely something we’re looking at expanding and, as this social network grows, we’ve absolutely heard the pleas for that. It’s on the list. (Via Platform Nation)” While I personally do not need this increase I have heard it talked about for the past two or so years. I know that it was a common request when the updates to the console were released biannually and I think that if they could finally figure out a way to do party chat then they could figure out a way to bump up that friends list cap (which currently stands at one-hundred).

Now I personally do not care about this feature upgrade because I am constantly weeding out people whom I’ve added but never have played with beyond that one initial time (the time that you liked playing with that person enough so you added them but now they are never on at the same time anymore). There are definitely mainstays on my friends list but until I blow up in the blogosphere I am betting that I will not care about the size of my friends list. How about you? Do you need the friends list increase?


The second and more interesting topic on hand is this. From the floor of CES there are talks about gaming from the cloud. Let me first explain what this could mean. This could mean that one could play a game with the highest of specs from say an iPhone or a crappy PC. I have not fully wrapped my head around this but I think that this is long off. Please click the link above for a better description.

This topic has me thinking (through a completely rationale thought process) about a “one console” future and it is a little unnerving. We need the “big three” to keep competing so that we can have all of these innovations (Avatars, Mii's, Home, etc). I like being a 360 Fanboy and Fanboyism will be threatened if there are no specs required to run a game. Every system will be able to run that game. It will be MADNESS! Okay enough of that, I have worked myself into a tizzy. I am just thinking worst case scenario and I would be willing to bet that the big three will be around for years to come. Thoughts?


Again that is all the rambling I have for you so return back soon for more of my clever and witty diatribe.

Game Diary: Futile Attempts to Play EVERYTHING

Seeing as there has not been a glut of news to talk about I will talk about the glut of games that I still have to finish at least once. This “list” of games that I still have to play does not even include the games that I have consistently been playing which are Left 4 Dead and Gears of War 2.

I haven’t touched Gears’ multiplayer mainly because I just cannot get into a game. Horde has been enough to keep me playing. Left 4 Dead is keeping me from playing Fallout 3. I’ll cite a specific instance: The other day I had at least four hours to devote to get back into the Wasteland but I ended up playing versus mode in L4D with friends. It was the most fun I have had with the game so far and I personally think that is saying something for me.

I feel like I have about 40 hours left to go in Fallout but that is just a rough estimation. This is the biggest game that I need to complete and after that I might be “on track” for the new games coming out in 2009. I want to be able to go back to Fable 2 when the DLC comes out but I do not think I’ll have beaten Fallout. I am also interested in playing “The Lost and Damned” DLC because I honestly think I’ll enjoy the return to Liberty City.

I am on a ticking timeline until Halo Wars comes out which will undoubtedly take up a lot of my time and will because one of my go to multiplayer games of choice. I have until March 3rd to feel as if I have played all of the holiday games sufficiently.

The annoying part of this is that I haven’t touched three games that I would like to play to completion: Mirror’s Edge, Dead Space, and Prince of Persia. I feel like at least one of these games is going to be forgotten for a while and I will bet that it will be Dead Space. Perhaps I could borrow that game from my little brother next time I visit my parent’s house. I am sure that would include trading one of my games for a temporary period of time, an idea I am not too keen on.

Honestly I am hoping for a slow gaming summer so that I can catch up because I just do not see how it is feasible otherwise.

It might sound like I am complaining about all of the games that I have to play but that is not the case. I just wish the publishers would space their games out so a person could actually give their game a shot.

As a last note I have not even touched my DS since I have been playing games again. I think portable gaming does go through spurts.

Next: Perhaps a blog entry that is somewhat news related.

Games Anticipated for 2009

I remember this time last year thinking that there was no way that 2008 could be as good a year for gaming as 2007 had been. As we all know, I was sorely mistaken and 2008 was a grand year to be a gamer and I feel that 2009 is going to be just as good. I only have my eyes and ears on a few games but I have listed other games that I am also interested in playing.


My Personal Most Anticipated

Halo Wars – This game looks deliciously fun and if it succeeds at its main promise, (intuitive control system) I am sure it will be one of my top games of the year.

Mass Effect 2 – If this actually comes out in 2009 I would be surprised. I haven’t heard anything to say that it is coming out this year but I haven’t heard anything on the contrary. Saying that it is coming out this year is just going on the assumption that it is going on the two year development plan (Gears of War 2, etc.) that so many games seem to have adopted.

Brutal Legend – This is my top anticipation for 2009 because Psychonauts was my favorite game of the last generation. Tim Schafer is a genius and I believe that this will be my favorite game of 2009 just based on whom it is coming from.


Games on 1UP’s List That I Will Probably Play

I had trouble remembering all of the games that were mentioned to come out this year so I was browsing Digg and came up with 1UP’s list and these are the few that I am interested in.

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars – This seems like it can be one of the most innovative games of 2009 (for its control system) and that is enough for me to play it. I am so very impressed with a lot of the games that come out for the DS.

Star Wars: The Old Republic – There are so many games that I am considering buying a new PC for and this is one of them. If this is any bit as good as the Knights of the Old Republic Games then I am sold. The fact that it is an MMO does nothing to dissuade me and knowing my addictive personality, once I start playing this game, I will not stop – unless it is awful.

Wolfenstein – I think I have to play this by proxy seeing as Wolfenstein 3D was the first game that I ever played where I started to play games seriously (as in more than just going over to my friends out to play his NES with him).

Diablo 3 – Do I need to even say anything? I realize that I probably do need to say something for all of those that read this who do not know who I am but seriously it is a Diablo game so yes, I do not really need to say anything more. I will say that this is another game that I am going to need a PC for.

Assassin’s Creed 2 – This was a game that I did not find on many ’09 lists but I would like to see where Ubisoft is taking this story.


Games I Might Consider Played Just to Say That I Am Open Minded

Prototype – I know nothing about this game and I probably will not until it comes out and I play it. The name is interesting enough and a friend has told me that he is interested. That is enough for me to be interested in it. How presumptuous is that?

Resident Evil 5 – I have no interest but I think I might rent this one just to say that I gave it a shot. Maybe I will love it. Maybe.


Others

Bioshock 2 – I want this game to be great but like everyone else, I have huge doubts.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game – Read Bioshock 2

Halo 3: ODST – It is another Halo game and I’m not excited.

APB (All Points Bulletin) – I have my doubts on whether this one will come out this year but it is the one out of this set (“Others”) that I am the most interested in. It is from Realtime Worlds, which as we all know made Crackdown. This is also an MMO and if it comes out this year alongside The Old Republic then my time is in trouble.


It looks to be a solid year and I am sure this is only half of the list of games that will be on my games played post come the year’s end. It will be good to see what comes out of all of the conventions this year and I must say as a final note that I am anticipating the year to come.

P.S. - I also wanted to add that I am glad that I am not the only one who is observing this barren blogging wasteland. The only information that came out of CES was the reaffirmation of XBOX LIVE Primetime, a Halo Wars demo/release date that we already knew, some community game the is supposed to be like LittleBigPlanet, etc. Thanks to Joystiq for all of the information but seriously these are not new stories.

Game of the Year 2008 (GOTY)

10. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed – This was a fun enough game that it deserves to be in my top ten. It was the best action Star Wars game that I have ever played and the story could not have been better in my opinion.

9. Too Human – This could have been higher in my top ten if the story parts of the game weren’t so poorly constructed. By no means am I saying that the game itself had a poor story, seeing as I want to see where it goes, but there was so little of it and the cut scenes were almost painful to watch at times because they were so poorly animated and put together. Though it does not really factor in, I am sure anyone who played the game will never forget the death animation. All in all the game was fun to play and when you knew what you were doing you truly felt like a Norse God.

8. Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2 – For this game to not be in my ten would be a crime because this is my go to game when I do not know what I want to play. I might see Fallout or Gears of War in my game tray but if I am not feeling up to it Geo Wars is always what is booted up. The six modes that this game has, offers a game play style for any mood you might possibly be in. This is truly one fantastic game.

7. Grand Theft Auto IV – This is one of the games this year that I sunk a lot of my time into. It had a great cohesive whole. If you were to break off pieces you could see the flaws but still as a whole the game accomplished a lot. I had good fun with this game and though everyone is basically saying that this should be in no top ten I obviously disagree. It is not the greatest game ever made but it still does what does the best and I had a lot of fun with it (though I still want Crackdown 2).

6. Braid – Oh the horror, Braid is not even in my top five. It was a fantastic experience but ultimately I did not want to go back to it even though I am sure I forgot how to solve half of the puzzles. When I was playing it I had the greatest time and I thought it was ingenious. I still do. It does not change the fact that I had more fun with those games that are in the top five. Sorry but at least I can say that I am looking forward to Jonathan Blow’s next game.

5. Castle Crashers – Honest Fact: I absolutely love this game but still not as much as the hype had me wanting to. It is honestly the best game aesthetically that I have laid eyes on all year and definitely the most humorous (sorry Penny Arcade). The ending was unbelievably fantastic and it was definitely long enough. What was missing I cannot say but I expected to never want to play any other arcade game… ever and that is not the case. I probably have too high of expectations but I am a Behemoth fanboy and I cannot wait to see some DLC for this game.

4. Fable 2 – Fable 2 fixed all of Fable’s problems and I could probably leave it right there and that would be enough but alas I do have more to say. This game is clever, witty, and has one of the best campaigns in games all year. I love spending time in Albion but not as much as I love spending time in the Wasteland. Oops.

3. Gears of War 2 – This game is not at number three because of its campaign. It is in this spot because after all is said and done this is the game that will probably have the most longevity for me (that and my number one game). It has multiplayer that will undoubtedly be fixed and therefore be played by many for years to come. Millions purchased it so there will always be someone to play with. Oh yeah and horde is f’in delicious.

2. Fallout 3 – I know I have not completed this game but I also know that when I play it, I feel like I am part of this world. I love this game and that is all there needs to be said about that.

1. Left 4 Dead – This game is at number one because it has provided my friends and myself with an experience never had before. I freak out when I play this game and so does everyone around me. My wife plays this game with me. My wife does not play any game with me. There is not enough that I can say about this game other than the fact that I want more. I am not even worried about not having someone to play with in the future because I know I always have a team of four ready to play.


Honorable Mentions

Battlefield: Bad Company

N+

Penny Arcade Adventures

Professor Layton and the Curious Village


Games Not Finished/Touched Upon

Mirrors Edge

Dead Space

The World Ends With You –
I know I did not say anything about the other games that were not on my top ten but I do not feel that I had enough time with this game in order to properly judge it. I am sure it would have been in my top ten if I had finished it in time.

Prince of Persia

Games Played This Past Year (2008)

These are the games that I played this year regardless of whether they came out this year or not. I am still not convinced that the list is long enough but I put more time into gaming this year than I ever have before. I do not think that this is because I am “more” into gaming than I was last year instead I think it results from the fact that more games came out this year than any other (at least that I wanted to play).

I am going to fully admit to cribbing Stephen Totilo’s style for this entry because I like the way he set up this kind of entry. I’ll list all of the games that I have put my hands on this year and italicize the completed ones.

Games played in 2008:

Battlefield: Bad Company
I completed the story of this game, which I found enjoyable and funny. The multiplayer was good fun but I never gave it the time it deserved.

Mass Effect
Though I know it is a game from 2007 I only completed it at the beginning of this year. Not only did I complete it, I think I played through it a full four times. It may be the only full-length title I have ever done that with (that is including the original Halo (which coincidentally was one of the only games that I had for the original Xbox (I think I have mentioned this before))).

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
Another game from 2007 but the difference between this one and Mass Effect is that I did not complete the single player and I did not play the multiplayer enough. I’ll go back to it but I think that it will be a strictly gamescore venture. I am a little sad that I couldn’t be more into this title.

Grand Theft Auto IV
I did not love this game as some others loved it and I did not hate it as some others did. I liked this game for what it was. I believe that I liked this game so much when I played through it because I am a New Yorker and I felt like I was living this fantasy lifestyle in my own backyard. I think this game always deserved more points if you were a New Yorker. I enjoyed the story but by the end I just wanted the whole thing to be over. Since then it has lost some of its luster but it is still the only GTA game I have ever played to completion. And yes, I will probably be one of those who return to Liberty City for the DLC. I think it is worth it to return and drive around some more in my backyard.

Lego Indiana Jones
This was a game that was bought as a gift for my wife and I as a wedding present. We didn’t make it through mostly because we do not get a lot of time to game together.

Marvel Ultimate Alliance
This game was a gift for my birthday from my fellow blogger. He and I need to play through this since he lost all of his save data. I would like to complete this game but I always get distracted.

Viva Pinata
I’ll highlight this game as completed though one can never really complete it. The reason is that I had purchased this game a while ago and another game distracted me. Earlier this year, in early August, I decided that I needed to play through it to the best of my ability… and I did. I was greatly enjoyable and though I do not think I will go back to it, it has prompted me to be interested in VP: TIP (the sequel). I’ll probably play that when there is another dry spell of no games.

Fable 2
I finished this game albeit a few side quests that I will go back to. I want to play through for the other endings and I am sure I will when I find the time.

Too Human
This really was not a bad game. It had a few problems but nothing that won’t be remedied in an inevitable sequel. I learned something new (in terms of new attacks) about how to play this game until the moment I stopped playing it. The more one played this game the more one understood it and the more it became better and better.

Fallout 3
I have not yet completed this game but it is one of the greatest games I have ever played.

Gears of War 2
I can say that I have completed the story mode, though I am working through it on insane with two other people, but that is about all I can say. I haven’t properly played Horde mode and I haven’t properly played multiplayer.

Left 4 Dead
The only reason I can call this completed is because I played through all four campaigns but I will never “complete” this game because I do not ever want to stop playing it. No game has ever done for me what this game does for me… but more on that later… like next post later.

The World Ends With You
Once again… I have not yet completed this amazing game. It has taught me something else about games – you can always learn something new – how to use two screens at once to create an amazing experience.

Professor Layton and the Curious Village
This game was great fun and occupied a lot of my time. It probably would have been better if I hadn’t spoiled the ending for myself.

Castle Crashers
This was the best beat-em-up that I have played since TMNT. It is incredible and has my vote for the best art of the year. Again, more on this one later.

Geometry Wars Retro Evolved 2
One cannot complete this game but one can have their soul tormented by pink blocks and blue diamonds. This sequel also caused me to have resurgence in interest in the original. I became better at the game and beat all of my friend’s high scores in the original. Now if only I could do the same in all of the modes of the sequel.

Braid
This was one of the greatest game play mechanics of this year and also one of the greatest game stories. It was also one of the most confusing game stories ever. More later.

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
I greatly enjoyed this game but for more on that see my review. I want to play through it again (mostly for gamerscore reasons).

N+
I wish I were skilled enough to be able to beat this game. It is a possibility that it will happen one day.

Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 1
Funny, witty, and amazing! Now I must find the time to play the second piece of it.

Scene It! BOS
Good times with friends but no end in sight.

Games I missed:

Ninja Gaiden 2
I played most of the original so that I could play this one but I have still yet to complete it so until then the sequel remains on hold.

Burnout Paradise
I know that at this point I am just waiting for the Ultimate Box version but I am exited to play it. This one was just a time issue. When it came out I was caught up in the world of Mass Effect and nothing was going to stop me from playing.

Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2
See above.

Prince of Persia
This is another one that you know I have expressed interest in.

Dead Space
I want to play this but I feel like I am not going to like it as much as I want to. Don’t ask I really can’t explain.

Mirror’s Edge
And on the opposite end of the Dead Space spectrum I feel like I will love this game. I played the demo and now I just need to complete some other games and I will come back to play this.

All in all this was a good year for gaming and my next post will be my game of the year post in which you will see just what I thought of all of the games that I have played.

The Week of No Gaming Made Me Feel Accomplished

I finished my week of no gaming at midnight on New Years Eve.

I did not play a game until 10am that morning and that game ended up being Castle Crashers. I later played the demo of World of Goo on the Mac and I think that I will end up buying that game though I do not fully grasp it yet. I think the art and style of the game is what has me sold.

As I was playing I was thinking that playing after not playing for a while did not feel climactic. I think I expected to feel something more than, "Oh, okay, I am playing again." It is possible that I am not as addicted as I thought but I am just probably not reacting to this feeling - the same way it is for me when it comes to everything else in life.

I find that I want to play too many games at the same time still. I want to play Fallout, Left 4 Dead, some Horde in GOW2, Prince of Persia (don't even own it), Mirror's Edge (also do not have it).

I also want to make my GOTY post but I do feel like I am qualified, though in the end I think I am just going to make it based on what I have played. I also want to go through the games that I have played this year/played to completion but that is more for myself than anyone else (though I am sure you are gripping your seat at the prospect of knowing). I do find that I like to see the lists of games played by others, just the same as always hoping that your favorite game made the GOTY post of your favorite blog. It is nice to know that people that you relate to relate to you on an even closer level.

So I am playing again and even though I have no desire to play anything right now (I really still have to finish that book) I'll see you on LIVE.

Day 6: Complete; Day 7: In Progress

Before I say anything about anything else I would like to say that the recent Left 4 Dead news has made me happy. I was fairly doubtful that the news could be this good. According to Kotaku, versus mode is coming to the remaining two campaigns and new campaigns are coming also. The best part of the news is that this DLC is coming out on the same day for both the PC and the XBOX. I am rolling all over the floor salivating because of this and I'll say right here that even though everyone is saying that this content should be free... I will pay at least ten bucks for it. My predictions are two more campaigns and versus on all of the campaigns. Fun, Fun, Fun. F is for friends who do stuff tog-

Okay! Enough of that and more about this.

Yesterday passed uneventful though instead of reading (which I mostly prefer to do on the train) I watched far too much of The Office: Season 3. I feel like I have cheated myself a little bit because I do not know if I am going to have adequate time enough to finish the book. I love the book, don't get me wrong, it is just as though the author is still writing it as I continue to read. I hope that the ending is as good as the rest of the book because I would rather it didn't just end. This is the book that does not end yes it goes on and on my frie-

Okay enough with breaking off into song.

Tonight will be the hardest part of all: New Year's Eve. Rock Band, Scene It!, Left 4 Dead, and others are all up for the playing and I will not be part of it until the ball drops. What a shame.

I will survive... and you will enjoy the festivities.

Matt's Top Ten Of 2008

In all honesty, I thought this was pretty hard to do. I went on to Wikipedia and looked at the list of all games released in 2008 and realized how much I had actually played. I really played a lot of games this year. Furthermore, I was really disappointed by a lot of games this year. Army Of Two should have been much more fun than it was, for example, and don't get me started on Alone In The Dark. After I had gone through the giant list of games into the list of games I thought would stand a chance, I was left with a pretty disappointing list. Honestly, and this might sound odd, but I don't think some of the games on my list deserve to be on my list. The reason for this is that I feel that, while I enjoyed these games, that the games that make a Top Ten list should be much more epic in scale than some of the games I picked. However, when it comes down to it, these really are just the most fun I've had in video games through out the year. So without further ado, I bring you my Top Ten of 2008.

10. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns Of The Patriots

Let me start by saying: I did not beat this game. I have no way to. I don't own a PS3. But I did play it for a short time, and I have watched it being played. A guy I worked with bought it, and we went to his house down the street from where we worked and played for an hour on our lunch break. Now, while I do not know the end of the game, I do know two things about this game. The first is that it is beyond epic. BEYOND epic. The second thing I know is that the scale of this game is so extraordinarily huge that the fact it is not popping up on more top ten lists makes me sad. So I decided it would be my number 10 as a reminder that yes, this game happened, and it's hour and a half long ending owned you. It's not for everyone, that's for sure, but it is a game that is important to remember as it completely aims to blur the line between gameplay experience and cinematic experience. Some might hate that, but I think it's important.

9. Fable II
8. Penny Arcade Adventures Episodes 1 and 2
7. Too Human
6. Mirror's Edge
5. Castle Crashers
4. Dead Space

All of these games are arguable as to whether or not they deserve list status. Two of these games (technically three) are just XBOX Live Arcade games. But I think they all stand the test. I am not a huge fan of Fable II but it was fun. And all of the other games are repeat play through games for me. Dead Space was amazingly fun, as well as Mirror's Edge and Too Human, and I think a lot of people looked over these games. Too Human had it's share of flaws, sure, but that game was amazingly fun and worth multiple play throughs. Plus, both it and Mirror's Edge are just the first of their trilogies, so the bugs in both those games can be worked out for sequels. I have faith.

3. Braid

This game is phenomenal. If you didn't play it, I feel bad for you. It's a bit of a high concept thing, but my God was it a brain challenger. I like puzzle games for the most part, and this one had me feeling bad about how I couldn't do some of the puzzles. I had my girlfriend, who is good with puzzles, sit down and make an attempt at it, and she just faltered. That made me feel all that much better about having completed it. When you beat Braid, you join a special club of braggers. You get to sit there and watch other people play it and say, "Oh, it's not that hard. Look, the answer is right there." Braid is 100% phenomenal.

2. Left 4 Dead

The game known as Left 4 Dead is the game you will probably catch me playing the most in the new year. Talk about being open for multiple play throughs! That's all this game is! You keep playing it with newer and newer people, and each time the gameplay is different. I don't know what else you could want from a game. Not to mention the fact that if you put the game on it's hardest setting you're going to have the most insanely fun zombie experience ever.

1. Fallout 3

If you didn't see this coming, you're an idiot.

And that's just about it. I'd also like to nominated Imagine: Party Babyz for creepiest game of the year. Seriously. Party babys?

Day 5: Thinking About What I Will Be Playing

The best thing that happened today was when I read, "Your Party Stands Before the Cave of Tits." Please pardon my language on this one though I would like to believe that anyone who is reading this is above any age that matters.

Lately - or for the past few days - I have been thinking about what my first game to play is going to be. The obvious go to game would probably be Fallout 3 but I have been considering Castle Crashers since the title update has gone live. Everyone I know who has this game needs to get on board with this because I want to play with four players throughout the whole game... in one shot. I am sure some Gears of War will occupy my time along with some Left 4 Dead with some friends. So I have a fairly good idea it is just a matter of what lands in the disk tray, so to speak, first.

As an afterthought I have also been thinking of playing World of Goo on my Mac.

And another thing that I have also been thinking about is the possibility of using a Zune as extra storage for my Xbox. It would not only give me extra Xbox storage, it would give me an excuse to finally have a Zune.

Day 4: Not Yet Hard, Still Too Busy

Yesterday passed uneventful but the night before that I was asked if a wanted to play Scene It! Box Office Smash.

Naturally I declined but it did not help that the person asking was Matt, the other writer for the blog (ask him where his entries are). He didn't push the issue but I knew it would come up when he came over. We ended the night in a game a Scrabble (the real board version folks) in which I got my hind quarters handed to me before I gave up. In my defense I was tired but what kind of excuse is that?

I have still been following the news daily but nothing is going on so I have been bored with that. The only interesting thing that has been going on is this, this, this and maybe this. For the last one scroll to the bottom to see the picture I am talking about.

I have still been reading my book and I am progressing quite nicely though I still have a good bit to go. I have to buckle down if I am to finish.

I feel like I have less to write when I am not playing but that should not be true.

The Beginning of My Week of No Gaming

Yesterday was my full full day of no gaming. Today was my second.

It has not yet been that hard but I have been busy. This is honestly not how I wanted my streak to start but anything goes.

Yesterday I spent the whole day disinfecting the whole apartment with the wife because the vet told us to. Today I spent the majority of the day at work and we (the wife and I) attempted to catch a Van Gogh exhibit at the MOMA that was sold out. Tomorrow we have to take the other kitten to the vet to get her checked out and then I have to go to work again. I may not have a moment where it truly pains me but I think the point is just to go without it and get some other things accomplished that I tend to neglect.

One of those things was to clean the apartment and though under the circumstances it was not ideal it still got done. I also want have to finish The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. I have watched some TV but again that has been with my wife.

We did turn on the Xbox to watch Netflix (The Office; Season 3) but I honestly would not think that it would count. We went straight to Netflix and nothing else.

Other than that I will continue to update (hopefully daily) on how I am making it through this terribly horribly no good very bad time. Till next time race fans.

WRUP for 12/15 - 12/21 (First One)

This is probably more of a Sunday post but seeing as I did not do this yesterday suck here it is:

Matt: I'm in Vegas... where it apparently snows... so I have not been playing much of anything. Though I do suppose that if I were playing something, it would have to be Rock Band which I have been popping in from time to time.

Nate: I spent at least one day this week getting some really cheap gamerscore which was in all honesty, really really fun. I will probably never play it again but it was fun whilst it lasted (and it did only last about 20 - 30 minutes).

Something that has lasted much longer is Fallout 3 which has taken up the remainder of my time and I am very proud to say that I am the proud owner of Lincoln's Repeater (possible spoiler on that link). I have begun to notice that it may take me more time to finish Fallout 3 than it did for Matt (53 hours).

Lastly I picked up The World Ends With You over the weekend and I am currently learning how to play it properly (though I do feel I am slowly getting better). I do not normally play games like this and it is testing my normally quick learning curve. If anyone has some tips on how to master playing on two screens at once, without using auto, please do send them my way.


That is all I have for you today... check back tomorrow!

I Will Quit Gaming For One Week...

...when my streak ends.

While this may not be that big of a deal to some, for me it will be like taking a part of my life away for a week. It is true that I recently went without my Xbox for roughly a month but I still managed to play something at least once every day. Alas, allow me to explain how I came to this decision.

My inspiration for doing this is Matthew Shafeek, the guy who quit gaming for a year. My rational is that if someone who is a least half as obsessed with gaming (probably more) as I am can quit for an entire year, I can do myself some sort of service by quitting for one week.

The conditions of this period are:

1. Quit playing my 360 for a week
2. No DS or iPhone gaming or gaming of any kind
3. No Television at all unless it is with the wife (this has to be the condition because this is our "together" time and it is what we do in our evenings
4. Finish one book in that week span
5. My streak cannot be lost to www.360voice.com error or xbox.com error (if I played, it counts (this is an honesty system after all)
6. ...though it must be a retail or a paid arcade title

I think that I can do this and not only that, I think it will be easy for some reason, after all, it is only one week. Do you think that I can do it or more importantly, do you think that you could?

This here is something that I did not feel merited its own post but something I wanted to put out there nonetheless. Does anyone feel that Scribblenauts is somehow infringing on Psychonauts territory. The main character even looks like he can be mistaken for Raz.

Alas, that is all I have for you today, check back soon.

New Genre Open Mindedness

Today was the day that we found out if Stephen Totilo bested Soulja Boy or not. Two days ago we saw some pictures and today we found the results. Soulja Boy brought his skills in 'Gears' and beat Totilo nine out of ten rounds. I feel like Totilo needs to not rush into combat and actually come up with a strategy but more on the later.

The reason I am bringing this up is because how it made Stephen feel about multiplayer gaming. Otherwise it is not relevant other than the fact that it is funny as hell.

Before this challenge was brought about and SB picked Gears of War 2 as his title Totilo did not care for multiplayer gaming. This would be the reason he was 'rushing' Soulja Boy in a game that discourages 'rushing'. In order to beat Soulja Boy, Stephen had to practice his Gears 2 skills in order to have a hope at beating SB. As a surprising effect (at least to him) he found that he was enjoying himself.

He went on to write in his blog, "Multiplayer gaming might be for me, after all."

This had me thinking about people who are closed off to playing certain parts of games or different genres altogether. When it comes to fighting games, I am that person (and I did give it a shot with SSF2THDR but open mindedness has not helped me in the fun department there. I think I could be persuaded to play God of War and Metal Gear games if the opportunity arose (and I did not have a long list of other things that I wanted to play). I have also recently wanted to play the new PoP.

But to get back on topic, there was never any point in my owning 'Gears' without a possibility for multiplayer. I do not know how much effect Totilo's recent discovery had on my open mindedness but for some it could probably persuade them to play something new. I think for me it was that he is a games journalist and had not yet experienced something as simple as multiplayer gaming.

Are you finding that as the years of you being a gamer are going by, your interest in other genres are increasing? Oh and better luck next time Stephen. If your new found interest in muliplayer is any indication of things to come, you will be better in no time.

Brutal Legend Hype

Truly awesome games look to make me ecstatic and Brutal Legend is looking to be one of those truly awesome games. I would say that Tim Schafer has always impressed me with his work but I would be lying seeing as I have only played through Psychonauts (sacrilege, I know).

But to my credit, it was probably in my top three original Xbox titles (the others being; Halo: Combat Evolved and Fable). Since then we have seen sequels to two of these games but nothing still from Double Fine. Alas we will have BRUTAL LEGEND which will quite possibly melt off all of our faces.

So now there is face melting news in the Eddie Riggs camp: EA has secured the publishing rights to Brutal Legend and thus secured for me their (EA) state of forever awesomeness.

I would assume that this means awesome things for Brutal Legend in the way of promotion and advertising. A quick and good example of this is the exclusive trailer that appeared at the Spike VGA's. It was a... ahem... rad trailer that got me more hyped about this game.

Brutal Legend has always had my vote and let's just hope that it does not go the way of Psychonauts (amazing critical reception and a sales flop).

Xbox LIVE Groups

We already have Xbox LIVE Parties but now in order to complete the social networking circle we need Xbox LIVE Groups.

I am a regular listener/reader of the Joystiq Network. I listen to both the X3F Fancast and the Joystiq Podcast and I read their respective blogs. Recently on the Joystiq Podcast the subject of Xbox LIVE grouping came up once again as it often does (Chris Grant will always tell you what is needed by your service or game).

While this is Chris' only, and biggest complaint, for both services (the other one being PSN), it is one that he makes sure to clearly express.

For myself I had not thought about the grouping possibility until I had heard about it from them but now, like the Joystiq staff, I am finding that I cannot go without it more and more.

I would imagine that the system would be built sometime like a Facebook social networking system (we have friends of friends but now we need groups). You could have a Left 4 Dead group, a vegetarian gamers group (my little joke), etc. If you could name the group it would most probably exist. Events could be scheduled by the gamers and once and for all you could be playing with the gamers that wanted to play the game like you wanted to play it (or how it was meant to be played). It would also be a clever idea to be able to set one's preferences to only matchmake within that group (though I am sure that would not be possible by Microsoft's standards because of all of their wacky rules about TruSkill).

The system would probably have a more in depth version based on xbox.com where the moderator could admin events (Best.GamePad.Ever group FTW) and members.

It has come to the point where this is how I want to play all of my games. I have not yet thrown myself to the wolves of matchmaking (in L4D) because I think that I am too horrified of what I might find. Perhaps I would find a preteen zombie hunter that might scream as he hops onto my unwilling corpse. Shudders. That alone might be worse than the Zombie Apocalypse.

I really think that the folks at Joystiq are onto something here and I feel that for this idea to not come to fruition would be a missed opportunity. I think that it will happen because though I have not heard about it before, I am sure that it must be an oft-requested feature. What do you think?

Finding Myself Wanting More and More

It would seem that at this point my other contributor is doing more on my own blog than I am. For this, I am sorry. This post was really meant for a couple of days ago but it has been sitting in my notebook without me having the time to type it out.

My lack of time can be attributed to one thing alone: my Xbox has returned home. Seeing as I have done nothing except play, watch, etc, you can see where lack of time has become an issue. It has been such a great feeling and it felt as though I could not play enough to fill that space that has been empty for too long. Even though I have been "playing" every day the quotation marks alone should tell you that what I have been doing has not really constituted playing. But seeing as quotation marks cannot yet speak I can tell you that I have been playing just enough for these past few weeks in order to continue some e-Wang streak.

On that streak I did play some co-op on Insane with my brother-in-law and since my box has returned I have continued to play through more of the GOW2 campaign. It has really been fun but actually somewhat less challenging than I thought it would be. Do not get my wrong here it is still hard at times but those hard times are just magnified of what I found annoying and hard when I played through on Hardcore.

Other than Gears I have continued to be addicted to Geo Wars (both 1 & 2) and I have watched the first season of the Office (along with the first six episodes of season two) on my Netflix instant queue. Sometime in the near future I expect that my wife and I will play Left 4 Dead (go figure) but other than those few things that is all I have been up to on my - once again mine - 360.

But enough about what I have been playing and more about what I am finding myself wanting to play.

As and aside here, the best part about wanting to play something else at this time of year is the fact that I have not yet even finished playing what I already have on my plate. Seeing as this is something I obviously had not planned for it puts me at a disadvantage. Realistically, the last thing I need is yet another game to play.

But still, for the strangest reason, but not really, I have found that I want to play the new Prince of Persia. I suppose that the only odd thing about it is that I have no ties to the series seeing as I have never played any of the games.

And yet the reason that I have found myself wanting to play is that I have just been hearing about it everywhere. It is not that I have not heard about the older games enough it is just that whatever I did hear flew past my ears in indifference. But whatever the reason this new one is feeling different.

Part of that reason though is not the art style, the graphical prowess, or obviously even the name of the game. For me, my reason, is that what I have heard about the game sounds like enough to me to merit at least one play through. What I have found humorous is that I have probably heard equal to or greater negative things about this game and still I want to give it a shot.

I am feeling compelled to play this one probably because I do not feel compelled to play the previous games in the series (though I am sure it would make the experience more rich). In the end I think that this will be a game that I do end up playing if not just for another reliably good gaming experience that one has come to expect from the guys and gals over up at Ubisoft.

After I had finished this entry I went back and looked at my comment about the art style and I found it so compelling that I found the need to clarify:

I actually hated the art style when I had my first look at this game. I thought it was ugly and just plain funny looking. As a generality I thought the Prince looked stupid if not awkward and to state it bluntly I still do. This is not because of the cell-shading because on an often enough occasion I find myself privy to loving this art style (Crackdown, Thirteen (HA, does anyone still remember that game)). But I am keeping an open enough mind and it is possible that I will change my mind when I see this game in action.

Time Magazine's Top Ten Games Of 2008

Recently, Time Magazine released their "Top Ten Of 2008" lists. Naturally, a magazine of Time's stature is sure to release lists of quality films and gadgets and games. Well, I decided to look at their lists of video games, and ... well, let's break it down bit by bit, starting from 10 and going down to 1:

10) Spore
For what I feel is a completely non-understandable reason, people adore Spore. I played this game a little bit when it first came out on a roommate's computer... and so did he. So did everyone. In fact, the main thing I noticed about Spore was that, while it seemed innovative, it got really old really fast. People spent $50 on this game, played it for a week or two, and I haven't heard about it since. No one I know is playing it anymore, and I know a lot of people who spent money on it. This game is by far not worthy of even the last spot on a Top 10 list. To me, a game needs to last or leave a standing impression to be a Top 10er. However, this game is designed for repeat plays and no one is repeatedly playing it.

9) Field Runners
...what? An iPhone game? Really, Time Magazine? Out of all the games released this year, you felt that an iPhone game is worthy of a Top 10 list? What next, a Flash game?

8) Hunted Forever
...wow. Good going, Time. You put an iPhone game and a Flash game on your list. I almost have no real words for this. The only thing I can really think to say is that I completely agree that both of these games are better than Spore. But if you were going to put a game designed out of Flash, couldn't you have put something good on here like Castle Crashers? CC didn't make the list at all, and it is way more deserving than Hunted Forever. I'd like to put a bunch of REAL gamers in a room together, then ask them to raise their hands if they've heard of/played Field Runners and/or Hunted Forever. You know how many people would raise their hands, Time Magazine? Absolutely none of them.

7) Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Ok, now while I do not agree that this game is a Top 10er, I can at least maybe see where Time is coming from. This game is a LOT of fun. I rented it, played through it, and had a great time. I would play through it again. It's got good graphics, good gameplay, a good story. Compared to what George Lucas is forcing (no pun intended) us to endure with his beloved Star Wars series, this is a breath of fresh air (I know someone out there actually enjoyed The Clone Wars, but I did not appreciate it one bit). I especially like the two climatic battle options. In fact, all of the boss battles are quite wonderfully cinematic. SW:TFU takes a page from games like God Of War and allows you to beat the crap out of your opponent, then go through a series of button combos in order to really demolish them in a pre-rendered destructothon. It's great. So maybe I would put this game near the end of my list... but probably not. Either way, at least this is a real game.

6) Dead Space
Dead Space is awesome. Does anyone else remember buying Resident Evil 4 when that first came out, then waiting up until Midnight and playing it with all the lights off in their room? No? That was just me? Well I did the same thing for Dead Space because it is essentially Resident Evil 4 in space, and it was awesome. I love Dead Space and I don't think enough people played it. The only thing that wasn't good about Dead Space was the final boss fight. The whole game is atmospheric and creepy and there are plenty of jump moments (if you play it properly at night with the lights out), but after all of that, you get to the end, fight the boss, and you're just wondering, "...wait, that's really it?" Luckily, I think the game is long enough and filled with enough possibilities that the rest of the game is fun enough to make up for a lacking final boss. I would highly recommend this game, and probably put it near the end of my personal Top 10 list.

5) Gears Of War 2
I have never been a fan of the Gears Of War series (can I call it that?). I played through the first game twice, and I had fun with it, but that was mostly because of who I was playing with. Playing it on my own... I just don't get the same out of it. I haven't even bothered to really try out the multiplayer option, only once or twice. That being said, I have not even played Gears Of War 2. I plan to, but I have not yet. I do not think I reserve the right to comment on it having not played it, so I won't. But, based on Nate's comments on the game, I can see why someone would put it on the list, and no matter whether or not I like the series or not, it's still a more legit choice than Field Runners and Hunted Forever.

4) Rock Band 2
This, in my humble opinion, is another goof up on Time Magazine's part. Rock Band 2? Really? What was so great an innovative about this game? It's Rock Band with new songs and screens. They added a few other nice little things in there, such as that option where you can't fail out of a song (in case you're playing with your father who just doesn't get the concept of pushing buttons after having played an actual guitar for several years), but this is no way a Top 10er, and this in no way should be so near the top. I like playing "Float On" just as much as the next guy, and I've seen the video with the Rock Band 2 Fog Machine, but come on. There are so many better games than this. It would appear that Time Magazine just looked at what games came out towards the end of the year, looked at what got good reviews, and made a list based on that. Oy. Stick to talking about "things that matter" and leave stuff like this for people like Nate and I who actually play video games.

3) LittleBigPlanet
I do not have a PS3. I have not played LittleBigPlanet. I do not have the right to make a comment. That being said, I feel this game would get old just like Spore got old. I could be wrong though.

2) Braid
This is an absolutely legitimate claim. While it's not a claim I would necessarily make, at least I can sit here and say, "Hmm... yeah. Yeah, that's a good decision." Braid was smart, fun, difficult, and all in a very simple design/premise. The settings were wonderful to look at. Rewinding time NEVER got old. I put this game on for people and said, "Solve the puzzle," and then laughed as they struggled just like I did. Beating this game made me feel pretty good inside. Braid was definitely a welcome breath of fresh air in the Arcade market. I do not like most of the Arcade games (I only own 4 (well, technically 5, but who cares about Fable II Pub Games?)), but this is one I bought without even trying based on what I had heard. It was by far one of the best games I played this year, and there is no doubt in my mind that Braidshould be on everyone's Top 10 list this year.

So now we have 10 through 2, so what could possibly be number 1? After going through that incredible list of (mostly) failure created by Time Magazine, what could possibly be the number 1 game of the year according to those (clearly) non-gamers? What is better than a game for your iPhone? The answer, my friends, is:

1) Grand Theft Auto IV
COME ON. This is the best game of the year? Hardly. The best game to come out this year was Fallout 3 without a doubt. Nothing was better. Nothing. Furthermore, GTAIV does not deserve to be on anyone's Top 10 list. This game was NOT that good. Sure, it was fun for the first week or so, but it's so damn repetitive. It got old just about as fast as Spore did! If you didn't beat it in the first week or so, good luck getting the energy to. That being said, I never made it through. I couldn't. I just can't handle it. There was no variety at all. One can be said that this argument could be made for a lot of games. For example, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed is the same on every game through out every level just with a new background. However, THAT does not get old. It's fun to run around with a lightsaber and hack stuff up. Running around with a gun, stealing cars and shooting hookers on the other hand... this is now the FIFTH time we've been given this game. Aside from giving it an amazing graphical over haul, a new city, and new characters, couldn't they do anything else? No. They couldn't. Because there is nothing more to the Grand Theft Auto series. There never will be. And this, ultimately, will be the downfall of this section of Rockstar. Or maybe not. People are dumb.

So there you have it. Time Magazine's Top Ten Of 2008 that didn't include Fallout 3. I apologize for wasting your time, but I felt commentary was somewhat necessary. I hope that whenever Nate and I release our Top Ten lists, it will blow your mind. Or, at the very least, be better than this list. Actually, I have no doubt it will be better than this list. You know why? Because this list included a Flash game and an iPhone game and did not include Fallout 3.

A Travesty Amongst Travesties

I do not often do favors for people unless I really know and/or like them. The odds of me just randomly doing a favor for someone I'm not that close with are slim... but there are the occasions where I will do them. Maybe it's just a good day, or maybe the stars are aligned correctly in the sky above. However, I'm beginning to think this is a horrible horrible idea that I will never ever do again because of the tragedy that has fallen.

You see, dear reader, one of my roommates recently got himself an XBOX360. He created himself a new account and asked me to transfer all of his old files to my memory card so he could have them. Now, while I understand that the files are non-transferable between accounts, but I decided to do it for him anyway. Why not? I pop in my memory card and begin to erase everything on it. It's all going fine until I get to the point where I need to erase my gamer tag from the memory card. No big deal, right? Well, in the words of Lex Luthor in that God awful Superman Returns movie, "WRONG!" A little thing popped up that asked if I wanted to delete just the gamer profile or the save games as well. I said, "Well, I want to make sure the memory card is clean, so let's erase it all." And just like that, in the blink of an eye, all my files were gone.

Now, the thing that upset me was I was erasing off of my MEMORY CARD, not my HARD DRIVE, but in saying that I wanted to delete files off my MEMORY CARD, I ended up erasing all the files on my HARD DRIVE. What?! In what cruel world does this make sense? Did my XBOX suddenly get morphed into a Bizarro XBOX where by erasing one thing, I erase another? Am me talk not good now? And there is no undo button. There is no reset, there is no recover, there is no saving from this. My files are gone and all the work I ever put into any game ever is gone. Vamoosh. Hasta la vista, baby. You've been terminated.

On the one hand, this is not that bad. This gives me a reason to go back and replay some games I haven't played in a while. Motivation and what not. That hand, for the record, is incredibly dumb, and I hate it. On the other hand, the logical hand, this is annoying beyond all belief. Take, for example, my save game in Marvel Ultimate Alliance. I have spent hours playing through that game and getting every little thing. Do you know how hard it is to unlock the Silver Surfer? Getting him is a pain in the ass, but I did it. I had all the best armors, I had all the characters, and everything was at a power level over 9000! Not literally, but if I'm using Dr. Doom, I am unbeatable. And I was 4 achievements away from having every achievement that game allowed. I don't want to do all that work again! I'm going to have to, but I don't want to! What about Mass Effect and Too Human? Those RPGs are designed so that when you beat the game once, you take your awesome character and try the game on a harder level. I had just begun to play through Mass Effect a second time, and I never finished my second play through of Too Human with Nate. And what about all those games that I rented so I could see if I liked them? Time Shift, Mortal Kombat Vs DCU, Mirror's Edge, etc? All of it is gone. I planned to buy these games and pick up doing were I left off. Now I start from scratch.

Boo to you, Microsoft. When I had a chat with my mother later that day about life, the universe, and everything, I casually mentioned that I was annoyed over this. She said that the XBOX is essentially a computer and should have a reset button. But it doesn't. The files are gone, and I wish to God there was some kind of undo button, or some way to back up your files in case of emergency (and I understand that that is what a memory card is for, but for suggesting that you are an ass). Oh, my poor poor files. My poor poor games. I no longer look at these boxes lined up in a row as accomplishments, but rather a series of trials I must once again put myself through. I am strongly considering selling some games now, games that I can not see myself playing through from the beginning again. Assassin's Creed, we had a good run, but do I really want to start over from the beginning right now? Dead Rising, you know I love running through the mall and cutting up zombies with a katana, but can I really take the time to start from nothing and go through all of it again? I could barely get myself through a second play through when I first got my own XBOX, how am I going to do it now?

Oh, woe is me, woe is me. This is something XBOX should look into. Some kind of back up system or save all button that will save poor suckers like me. Either that, or make the system smart enough to know that when I'm erasing my memory card, it doesn't mean to erase the hard drive too.