Let's see a show of hands here: who remembers the Dreamcast? And I'm not talking about just knowing about it and remembering that it was a thing, but who actually remembers the most before-its-time gaming console ever? Aside from not being able to actually see who is raising their hand, I'm going to assume that there isn't many people who owned one originally, or played it extensively. Maybe I am totally wrong, but it seems like people's memories of it usually consist of just remembering it came out, or a few specific games, not actually investing tons of time (or money for that matter) into the console itself. Well, I never owned one before, back in the day, but one of my good friends got one when it first came out, and I spent a LOT of time over there playing all the coolest games that no one else had, like the NBA and NFL 2K games, Crazy Taxi and of course, Jet Set Radio (or Jet Grind Radio as it was known back then upon it's initial release). Tonight, I played Jet Set Radio. But I didn't play it on Dreamcast, unfortunately. While I have the system now (thanks to my good buddy James, @SirJamezTown), I don't own the game for it. I have it on my Vita, however, thanks to PS+, but tonight, I played it on Steam. I got it through Steam thanks to an awesome dude and a huge reason that I am where I am today in this crazy internet universe, Eric (AZrockslide) from Everyday Gamers. He was awesome and gifted me the game for no reason whatsoever, other than he thought I would like it. Well, Eric, you were right. I love this game, and I love that I now have it on PC as well. The game play itself is fun, rolling around the streets on your sweet roller-blades. I love skating around, tagging things as I go, as it makes me feel so rebellious. Actually, I have always enjoyed and appreciated the art of graffiti. If it wasn't done illegally, I think it would be more widely accepted. Better than all of that, however, is the soundtrack. What an amazing mix of music. I just ride around the game, not even worrying about missions, just to hear the soundtrack. By far, it is the highlight of the gaming experience. So go dust of your old Dreamcasts if you got them, and fire up some Jet Grind Radio. Or buy it on PSN, XBLA or Steam, if you wish to be more "modern." Thanks again, Eric. Keep up being awesome.
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Puzzle games are perfect for the 3DS, and any handheld gaming system for that matter. Sure, they work decently on consoles, but most true puzzle games focus more on making the puzzles challenging and fun than then they do on a storyline, graphics or additional features. It's just the nature of the beast an the main backbone for the genre as a whole. This was all true up until Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move was released on the 3DS this week in the eShop. And I am happy to report that the tried and true formula remains consistent throughout this game as well. For those of you who played the original BioShock and hacked anything in the game (honestly, is it possible to play the game at all without hacking something?), you will be very familiar with the type of puzzles in this game. Mario is poking his head out of a warp pipe, and his only goal in life is to get to the star on the other side of a block obstacle coarse. There are missing blocks along this path, and you have to fill them in with blocks that fall off to the right in another warp pipe, by dragging the correct ones into place. Trick is, they have to have the correct direction of path on the block you place in order for Mario to continue his journey. A poorly placed block or too much hesitation in your decision making process will lead to Mario's demise. And that, my friends, is a bad thing. Unless your sadomasochistic, or just really hate Mario. Don't worry, though. The game isn't too hard right off the bat. The first world has 10 stages in it, and at the start of each level, they introduce a new ability, challenge or gameplay mechanic to the mix. It feels daunting to remember each one as they keep piling up it seems, but honestly, I would rather ease into the cold pool than jump in all at once. That might just be me, though. So the pipe mechanic from BioShock... I know most people hated it, and that's why I brought it up. While this has more to it than just fitting pipes together, it's essentially the same thing. So if you hated it, stay away from this game. Don't say I didn't warn you. Of all the Mario/Donkey Kong games in the series (this is officially the fourth), this might be the funnest. Well, to me it is, because I absolutely loved the pipe game mechanic. Oh, and I love Mario, and the whole universe he comes from. I guess I am slightly biased when it comes to things of this nature, but hey - Mario can do no wrong in my book. Oh, Dead Island. Where do I even begin? Yes, I played the original Dead Island game today, and with good reason to. Well, I like to think it's with good reason, but in all honesty, it just proves further that I have a serious habit that is only growing by the day. You see, this isn't my first time playing this game. But it is my first time playing it on the PS3. I bought the game on release day back when it came out, but on the Xbox 360. I remember I even got a Blu-ray copy of the movie Zombieland from Best Buy for buying the game, which I thought was awesome, despite the fact I didn't have a Blu-ray player (or my PS3 for that matter) at that time. But hey, free is free, and free is awesome! Anyway, so I had it on the 360 and it was awesome. I thoroughly loved every minute of that game, start to finish. A few friends of mine even bought it, and despite my disdain for multiplayer or co-op games, I actually had a lot of fun playing this with my buddies. It was even better when all of us were on the same page as far as how we approached the game and in which way we wanted to play it and the missions. One game in particular, with a friend I won't name, was especially frustrating because all he had it in his mind to do was to run as fast as he could from mission to mission, point to point and complete the game as fast as possible. He wasn't looting, crafting weapons or taking on side missions for the sake of leveling up. He just wanted to blitz through it like there was a time limit or something. Like I said, I loved this game. I realize it didn't win over the hearts of many in the game review industry, but it never set out to be a defining moment for video games. It's entire goal was to be a fun, not-so-serious zombie-smashing game, and I think it accomplished it well. Where it went wrong (aside from the many bugs in the game that needed worked out), was the level of hype if put itself up to the challenge of trying to live up to. When the very first trailer came out, it sent the internet and the entire video game universe into a frenzy. It was the coolest, most well-done trailer for a game like this probably ever, and has since set the gold standard for video game trailers. Don't remember which trailer I'm referring to? Well, you're in luck: Yeah, that trailer. Because of this cinematic, everyone thought the game would be deep, meaningful, emotionally gripping and powerful. Hats off to Deep Silver for drumming up amazing hype with a fantastic video, but they did themselves a disservice by it as well.
So why am I playing it again, on a different platform you ask? Well, for one, I bought Dead Island Riptide (the sequel to Dead Island), and got it for the PS3. Because you can use your save file from the original game to start with your beefed up character in Riptide, I wanted to go back and complete the game on the PS3 so I have that option, In truth, however, I just want the trophies. It's all about the trophies for me at this point. Playing the game today, I realized that a lot of the initial bugs in the game have since been patched, and the overall experience seems less choppy and more fluid than I remember it being before. And that is awesome. I can't wait to plow though this game so I can finally get to Riptide. I'll be sure to keep you all posted when that time comes. Until then, I have some zombies to brutally murder with an electrified machete that I so eloquently crafted for this special occasion. Sometimes you can't avoid things all around you, no matter how hard you try. For me recently, that has been the NHL playoffs. You see, as big of a sports fan as I am, I'm not exactly a hockey fan. I honestly couldn't care less about who wins, loses and all that jazz. Because of my general interest in sports as a whole, I find it impossible to not paying a little attention to it, just so that I can feel apart of the conversation, not an outsider looking in. It seems like my Twitter feed recently has been dominated by NHL playoff chatter, my local sports radio has spent more time than usual discussing it and everyone around me seems to have the playoff hockey fever. Because of that, I decided to give NHL '13 a shot tonight, on the PS3. I can't remember the last time I played a hockey game was. I'm guessing it was probably around the Super Nintendo era, but I could be wrong. Without being a fan of the sport, there has been little motivation for me to play a game about the said sport. Because of my lack of knowledge in this genre of games, I was tempted to play the tutorial, but I instead chose not to. I just jumped into a game, expecting to be able to wing it and figure it out as I went. Well, I was plenty wrong on that front. A few minutes into the game, I had to pause it check what the controls were, since they weren't even remotely easy to figure out. I actually had to do it a couple more times after that, because that's how confusing they were. I'm sure anyone familiar with the franchise could pick it up easily and get going without any problems. For rookies, however, the tutorial is probably necessary. The game was fun, but by the end of it, I felt like I do with regular hockey. I got bored by the end. For hockey fans everywhere, this is probably an awesome game for them. For me, however? Not so much. I hate getting derailed throughout my day. I like to plan my day out as much as possible (not taking in to consideration the stuff that pops up for work, however), and I like to stick to my daily plans as much as possible. With this blog and the project that I decided to take on, I have really tried to coordinate my game playing time. Not necessarily what game to play (although I do put some thought into it), but when to fit my gaming in. Today, like many other days this year, was one of those days. I stumbled upon a new iOS game out that is set to take America by storm. Now, it might be out for Android too, but I don't know for sure and frankly, don't care. This game shouldn't exist in the first place, if only because it is bound to derail me many more times in the future, along with anyone else unlucky enough to download this new, free hotness of the mobile gaming universe. Dots is as straight forward as it gets. There is a screen full of different colored dots, there is a timer set and your only goal is to connect two or more dots of the same color by tracing a line with your finger. You want to connect as many dots as possible in the given time limit. Once your time is up, it gives you your score and you compare it with your previous high scores and other friends' scores that might be playing it as well. Then, you do it again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And ... you get the point. I have tried to stay away from mobile gaming. I have so many great, amazing games on consoles sitting there on my shelf, waiting for me to play and enjoy them. But no, I keep getting sucked in by these stupid, annoyingly addicting mobile games that are keeping me from the actual game playing I want to do. Today was one of those days. Stupid Dots. I hope you all go out and download it and get sucked in as well. Maybe then I won't feel as bad. Just don't try to beat my high score, because I don't have any more time to spend with this game. I have real games to play. Hopefully. Maybe tomorrow. First off, let me start out by congratulating the guys from EverydayGamers.com for reaching the huge milestone of their 200th podcast. I was first introduced to them a few months ago, and was lucky enough to be invited on to episode 193 of their podcast. Since then, I've been riding a wave of momentum, have connected and met a LOT of awesome people and overall fell in love with the independent gaming journalist community. I owe them big time for all of this, and that's the truth. So on their 200th episode, they were recounting memories and moments over the years, some they had and others that all the listeners. Imagine my surprise when I heard my name mentioned as a favorite moment, when I joined them for the episode. The guys had nothing but amazing things to say about me and my little old project here, and honestly, I couldn't be more proud to call them all my friends. But back to their listeners. One of them, Timothy, or @WiiR4Him as he is known on twitter as, did something for me completely out of the blue a couple of weeks ago. You see, when I got my new laptop and created my Steam account and invited everyone to friend me, he was one of the first to do so. On top of that, he sent me a Steam code for a game he so generously gifted me as a way to welcome me to the wonderful world of PC gaming. That game, is the game I played tonight: Dynamite Jack. First impressions of the game is that it's Bomberman, in a slightly more realistic setting, with a lot darker of tones than the upbeat cartoonish style of Bomberman. Also, it's darker in the fact that you are in caves and need a flashlight to navigate. But don't let the bad guys you are sneaking around and away from see your flashlight, or you will get riddled with bullets. This was a lesson I had to learn the hard way, about eight times in a row. Another thing I noticed, thanks to the lack of support for my Xbox controller, is that I suck horribly at controlling a character with the up-down-left-right keys. Or any keyboard keys, for that matter. This is the exact reason why I insisted on playing PC games with a controller, because I am far from being adequetly trained or accustomed to controlling a game with kep First of all, let's be perfectly clear about this: I know my blog posts have been lackluster the last couple of nights. I can't sit here and pretend like they haven't been. But in my defense, writing blog posts on my phone is harder than it seems. Along with everything else I've had to deal with this weekend, not having Internet has been quite an inconvenience. This should be the last night, however, so bare with me as I struggle through one more post. Tonight, I went out to dinner and a movie with my cousin, our buddy from work and his date. Turns out, she is a huge gamer, which of course led to me doing a little shameless self-promotion and pimped out my blog. She brought it up immediately on her phone, and while she didn't want to read it while sitting at the table, she browsed it quickly and asked a few questions about it. One of the questions she asked was, "What game are you writing about tonight?" At first I told her I wasn't sure yet, to which she reminded me that time was running out. She was right. I mentioned how I had played a bunch of Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon today, but wasn't sure if that's what I wanted to write about. Well, here we are. When I got home I played some more Blood Dragon. Clearly, this was the game I was going to write about. So let me clarify one thing. I usually wouldn't consider a DLC episode of a game as a different game for the sake of my project, but this is different. While it seems like DLC, it's actually a stand-alone game that just happens to use the Far Cry namesake. It was developed by the same team, and uses the same engine, but other than that, it's just it's own thing. Blood Dragon is basically an 80's action movie that takes place in the future. It's jam-packed full of neon, cheesy one-liners and over-the-top EVERYTHING. It has lasers, cyborgs, giant mutant radioactive blood dragons, sarcastic AI, and cyborg panthers. Really. I can't make this stuff up anymore. It's plays, feels and has a lot of the same type of game play that Far Cry 3 does, which is a good thing, because Far Cry 3 was AWESOME. Now just take that awesome, skin it in neon, add a stereotypical 80's action hero and you have Blood Dragon. So far, it's great. Honestly, it just felt to do some actual gaming, finally. I'm pretty much all settled in now, and once Internet is hooked up tomorrow ... Watch out. Oh, and hello to my new gaming friend, if she reads this as promised. Good luck with getting your own blog started. Sometimes you just have to take the leap. Finally, Iron Man 3 was amazing, and worth every bit of hype it has received. Let's get down to it. I've spent all day at multiple baseball fields, moving, and putting together more furniture. It has been an exhausting weekend this far, mentally, physically and emotionally. I'm still grumpy that I don't have Internet, but I did get my gaming situation all set up. So, because of that, I'm just going to give you a bunch of photos for tonight's entry, and call it good. I played Zombie Tycoon 2: Brainhov's Revenge. It's a tower defense kind of game. I think that's what you would classify it as. So without further adieu... Today I played the fun game called "Moving." I moved out all of my belongings from my old house and moved into my new apartment with my cousin. Aside from just moving, however, I also had to go to Ikea and pick out, buy, haul around and assemble a bunch of new furniture. Despite having the day off and a three day weekend, everything I did wasn't exactly my idea of fun. I didn't even get my game systems all set up for crying out loud. No Internet until Monday and no TV until next Friday. So what's a guy to do? Play his portable gaming system, of course. So tonight, in between building a nightstand and putting clothes and stuff away, I played a little Patapon on my Vita, which was actually an old PSP game that I got for free on my Vita thanks to the amazing PS+ membership. It's a fun little game. It's a rhythm game, and one that requires sound to actually participate. This was hard because my cousin was watching Halloween 2 super loud. I made it work, however, because that's how I roll. You have to push the buttons in rhythm to get your characters to march on into battle, escaping enemies and recruiting new soldiers along the way. It's a fun little game, but not one that would hold my attention longer than a level or two. Maybe I'm just too tired, though. I mean, really, that furniture wasn't going to build itself. Over the last month or so, in the midst of all my personal issues, I have learned to rediscover and rely on Netflix to keep me entertained in the wee hours of the night. My insomnia has reared its ugly head back into my sleep habits, and while playing games is extremely difficult when you're tired and still unable to sleep. In lieu of late night gaming sessions, I have instead turned to Netflix to keep my mind from wandering and attempt to keep myself somewhat sane. One specific category I have gravitated to is the Documentary section, as I have found several interesting documentaries to watch that are far and beyond more interesting and entertaining than half of the garbage movies found on Netflix. One of these hidden gems I stumbled upon was a film called Indie Game: The Movie. It is a documentary that focused on the development team of Super Meat Boy as they were finishing up the game, as well as Phil Fish, the developer of FEZ, on his struggling journey of developing the long-awaited and highly-anticipated game. The movie doesn't cast a warm and fuzzy light on the indie game industry by any stretch of the imagination. The developers that they follow are sad, depressed and desperate to finish their games. Fish, who is shown in the middle of a viscous legal battle for the rights to continue developing and showing off the game with a vindictive ex-business partner. FEZ, the game he is shown working on, had one problem after another. It was first shown off one year, and went several years after that before any new information, screens, videos or demos ever came out again. He ran into one problem after another in the development in the cycle, and people started to question whether it would ever come out. Well, it did, last year on the Xbox 360, and I gladly bought it then. I played it, beat it and loved it immensely. The long wait and hard work paid off for Phil Fish, as the game was an instant success and one of the true masterpieces of the XBLA. Well, FEZ was re-released for the PC this week, and because Steam is a vicious, unforgiving money-grabbing rabbit hole, I bought it - again. Tonight, I plugged in my Xbox controller, fired up my laptop, opened up Steam, and jumped back in to the beautiful, imaginative world that Gomez (the character) is discovering for the first time. Playing this game tonight made me think of something profound, and literally by sheer coincidence. You see, last night, as I was playing Thomas Was Alone, I was also helping my cousin write a paper for his English class in college about whether or not the college education experience is meant to simply guide you along a career path and tell you what to think, or to open your mind and teach you how to think. There was one analogy in the book he was reading that struck me as powerful, and was the core concept of the paper being written. It was a story about a group of fish, where the older fish looks at the couple of younger fish as they are swimming along and asks them, "How's the water today?" The younger fish look at each other confused, turn back to the older fish and ask, "What's water?" The principle idea is that people are so focused in today's society, especially in college, in figuring out their path through life that they don't ever really see or notice the world around them. And that, folks, is EXACTLY what the game FEZ is about. Living in a world where you think what you see is the only thing that is reality, until someone opens your eyes and you see the real world around you for the first time. Now I could go on and on about what the game is about, how it plays, how fantastically gorgeous it is - but that is exactly what you want me to do. Instead, I challenge you to go play the game - whether it be on XBLA or Steam - and discover what it's like to learn how to think. Go, be the young fish and discover what water is. Besides, these indie developers need your help. They are a depressed group of talented people, and every dollar you give them will help bring them a little bit closer to happiness. |
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Games played for project : 365 Archives
February 2014
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