The Grumpy Gamer

The House of the Dead 2 trifecta

2012-02-11T19:56:00.000-05:00

A lot of video games have their own spinoffs; not sequels exactly but games that have the same characters and sometimes plot points. The Kingdom Hearts series, for example, has only two real games in the series but about 20 different spinoffs (give or take.) Actually, I think KH3 is just a myth created by SquareExix, a carrot to drive the horse so that the company can make spinoffs forever.
Nintendo is master of the video game spinoff, so much so that they have gotten it down to an art form. Mario has been whored out to so many different games that don't require jumping and butt stomping goombas that it boggles the mind. Me, I'm waiting for Cooking Mario. It will happen soon, trust me.
No video game has had spinoffs as eclectic as The House of the Dead 2 for the Dreamcast, however. To date there has been only two, although Zombie Revenge could be a gaiden (side) story for The House of the Dead 2. That's never been proven, however.
Mind you, the spinoffs I am about to mention are both based on HotD 2. There is the original House of the Dead for the Saturn, which most people of would rather forget about, as well as House of the Dead 3 for the Xbox and House of the Dead Overkill for the Wii and Playstation 3.
Several pinball games have been 'spun off' from different series, such as Sonic Spinball and Metriod Prime Pinball. And so too does The House of the Dead 2 have Pinball of the Dead for the Gameboy Advance. A light shooting game with zombies having it's own pinball game? Yes, and a pretty good one too.
This game reminds me of the the old Turbographx chestnuts Alien Crush and Devils Crush, and since I adored these games, that is a very good thing. There are three tables to chose from, all loosely based on a chapter from HotD 2, including Boss battles. There are sound bites taken from the game too, complete with horrible voice acting, but they do add to the game. I was lucky enough to get this rare game for 10.50 from amazon, and if you have a GBA, like a pinball and are a fan of HofD 2, then it's highly recommended.
Can there be anything more different than shooting zombies and typing...never mind typing so that you can shoot zombies? Well, that's what you do in The Typing of the Dead for the Dreamcast. Also based on The House of the Dead, instead of using a gun, you use a keyboard to type out letters and phrases to get rid of the zombies. It doesn't sound like that much fun...but it is, as well as being hilarious. Your in game character has a keyboard strapped to his chest instead of packing a gun, and some of the zombies, instead of bloody axes, have toy hammers as weapons. Typing of the Dead is almost a direct port of The House of the Dead 2, except that words can kill. Also recommended, but both the game and the Dreamcast keyboard are hard to find. If you can though, learning to type has never been so much fun.
So from The House of the Dead 2 comes two unlikely but ultimately fun games. Got to hand it to Sega, making these instead of the usual kart racer. Wait a minute, has there ever been a cart racer made that has zombie drivers? And why hasn't that been made yet, with every other video game featuring zombies? Perhaps The House of the Dead 2 well has not dried up just yet....

Enough is Enough

2012-02-02T08:15:00.002-05:00

I was digging through the huge amount of video games I own so that i could find a bunch to play instead of just buying game after bloody game, and found so many that I had barely played...I mean only 5 minutes so I could see if the game actually work (the bulk of the games I have are used since I have last generation systems, although they are a hell of a lot cheaper than current gen games). I was throughly disgusted with myself, and promised myself I would not get another game for quite some time. I mean, I have these great, wonderful games stacked atop each other and what do I do? Buy more games that I don't bother to play.

I like to fancy myself a collector of video games, but I also love to play the damn things. If I comtinue this way, I will have stacks of games taller than myself, and one day they will collapse on me and I will be unable to free myself and die of starvation. I can see the headline now: "Idiot man dies after his collection of video games falls on him. What a bloody git." That, or I'll end up on the show Hoarders.

So I'm going to bucke down and FINISH some games before I buy more. This is also the reason I will not buy any new consoles for awhile, I am really, really far behind. Like 2005 behind. Probably for the better anyway. More systems means more games that I can't afford and don't have the room for anyway.

So if you will excuse me, I am going to play this interesting looking game call Halo:Combat Evolved. I heard it was quite good.

Shadow Hearts:An underated JRPG trilogy

2012-01-25T00:07:00.000-05:00

Among the many, many great JRPGs for the Playstation 2 are three great ones that are very unique. Mix an RPG with horror elements, humor, a unique battle system and general wierdness, and you have the Shadow Heart series:the original Shadow Hearts, Shadow Hearts Covenant and Shadow Hearts From the New World.

Shadow Hearts could be called a "spiritual successor" to Koudelka, a PS1 JRPG that was part survival horror, part RPG. I own and like the game, but it has some problems, not the least of which is that the developers put save points after, not before, major boss battles, leading to a lot of frustration. Shadow Hearts is a definate improvement, adding one of the best ideas in the form of the Judgement Ring.

Imagine a stylized clock face, only having one hand that spins around very quickly. In order to fight, use an item, or use magic in battle, you have to hit one or several pie shaped highlighted sections on the ring. Miss one or more and you lose your turn (in attacking, if you do miss one of three sections, you still get to attack, you just don't get as many hits in.) In addtion, there are tiny slivers of red on the judgement ring that, when hit, cause more hit or magic damage, or in the case of healing spells or items, more hit points back.

It takes a short time to get used to, but it's an awesome addition to standard turn based battles. And it's not a matter of fast reflexes, just a matter of getting the timing right. Instead of just hitting attack and targeting an enemy, you also use your own skill with the judgement ring to cause damage, making battles more interactive. Do you try to hit the red section to cause more damage, or lose your chance to attack?

Shadow Hearts Covenant brings this idea even further, in that you can link judgement ring attacks of different party characters. As long as you keep hitting the right spots, you can get a chain going and beat the crap out of a monster (almost all the enemies and bosses you face are monsters, which get weirder and more groteque.)

Add to this a main character in the first and second games who is a harmonizer, or a person who can transform into 20+ demons once he defeats them, each with their own special attacks. (In the third game, there is a character who can also transform into demon forms, except it is a she this time.) Other party characters throughout the series are a vampire wrestler, an old man named Gepetto who attacks with female dolls, a cat who knows martial arts, and a ninja names Frank. Told ya this series was weird.

The games also hit all the other marks:great graphics wonderful sound and engaging stories. I really can't recommend these games enough. I managed to find SHC and SHFtNW at Gamestop for reasonable prices, and found Shadow Hearts at Blockbuster. Amazon or Ebay are probably the best bet to find these wonderful games. I would probably buy a PS3 if they ever came out with a fourth gamein the series, but with JRPGs being in the state they are in, that will probably never happen. One can dream...

The things we leave behind

2011-11-14T00:19:00.001-05:00

I'll freely admit it, I am a video game collector as well as a video game player, as my huge piles of game cases in various parts of the house will attest to. But I enjoy looking at all the various games I have collected over the years, admiring the box art paging through the game manuals (even if I am not going to play that game at the time.) I love the physicality of it, to hold in my hands a work that someone (often many, many someones) has put a lot of time, imagination and work into. Something that, save for some factors (taking care of the disk or cartidge, having a working machine to run it on), will last for a long time. something I own and can show to others.
Having physical media is something that it is rapidly changing, and someday soon will cease to exist entirely. That will be a very sad day for me.
Progress can not be stopped, like an unrelenting tank. And like like a tank, it does not care who it grinds under it's treads. Digital media does have its good points...and its bad. Games are more and more becoming piecemeal affairs, as downloadable content allows companies to sell characters, quests and clothing(!) even after the game player has bought his/her 60 dollar game. Do you have buy the DLC? Of course not. More and more though, it seems important parts of the games has been stripped out to sell later to gamers, something companies wave over the grasping hands of the masses, just out of reach. Already payed 60 dollars for your game? Too bad, you have to pony up an addition 20 dollars to REALLY enjoy the game.
Aside from DLC, and which saddens old time gamers like me, is that soon there will only games on a consoles' hard drive. No case to admire, no manual to page through, nothing. Only....air, really. In the future, all gamers will own basically air. Or a series of ones and zeroes. Whatever the hell downloaded stuff is. Yes, it's a game that can be played on the console of your choice...but you don't really have it, do you?
This has a lot to do with my age, of course. For over twenty-five years I have bought and rented (and returned) video games. I enjoy looking through cases, putting disks or inserting cartidges in consoles or handhelds. Eventually going fully digital is a HUGE and difficult thing for me to do, which is patially the reason I am stuck at last generation games/consoles. Sure, many games are still made into physical format, but the whole DLC format is putting me off.
While I am still negative toward digital media, I think independent game studios who would have a snowballs chance in hell of ever getting their unique work published have enbraced the much cheaper digital route to great success. This in my mind is a very, very good thing. While the big studious rehash the same old thing because they cannot afford to take risks, independent studious take risks all the time to great success. Independent games are the reason video games should be labeled art:they are imaginitive, thoughful and emotional. Not just yet another first person game where you shoot the bad guys in the head.
So, while I still have my psychical games, I want to game for years to come, but the future of the media itself disheartens me. In order to continue my hobby I love so much I may have to embrace digital media; but I will yearn for what I have left behind.

Keeping it simple

2011-10-11T00:15:00.000-04:00

When did games get so complicated?
Honestly, I don't know, that's why I'm asking. It's not been a recent thing, that's for sure...but over the last several years it's gotten worse. It's not just playing the games themselves that has gotten complicated, though they certainly have. Even before one can start a new game, there is the matter of installation, of patches, of DLC, whether or not multiplayer is good or not. Once a game is installed to the hard drive, has been patched to fix numerous glitches, you make sure you have the latest DLC, and you have good connection with no lag in multiplayer, THEN you can enjoy your new game. Once you get used to the control scheme on the gamepad after re-reading the instruction manual twice (if the game even comes with one.)
This is why am very leery of jumping into the very deep waters of this current console generation and enjoy splashing around in the shallows of the last console generation, to take the beach metaphor a little too far. Plus there are sharks (teenagers very adept at head shots and swearing) in those deep multiplayer waters. (Ok, definately too far.)
Video games, in the beginning, were simple in nature and content. They had to be, of course, the tech was just not there. Yet since they were simple, pretty much anyone could play and enjoy them, as long as their reflexes were not shot to hell. I believe gaming in the beginning was pretty much all casual, pretty much pick and play:simple. Unfortunately this simplicity made video games seeming only for kids, a misconception that has dogged the industry to this day with the government trying to keep mature rated games out of the hands of the young and impressionable while also trying keep them out of hands of those old enough to play them! But that is a rant for another day.
Anyway, I was thinking about how video games have gotten complicated in that I often have to restart a game, and usually read the manual again, if I want to go back to a game I have not played in a while. Granted, I think my memory is already getting spotty in my early forties, and I often jump from one game to the next willy-nilly, so that when I come back to an older game, I wonder 'why am I standing here? What should I be doing? Who is that guy and how do I shoot him in the head'?(come to think of it, I often do that at home, minus the shooting part of course.)
Ever wonder why ipad, iphone and independent games are so popular now? Because they take simple, back-to-basic approaches to gameplay. Easy and fun. Granted, these games cost in the 5 to 10 dollar range, while a new console game is 60 dollars new. One would want a lot gaming for that much money...but does it have to be so complicated?
Maybe it does. Gaming has been around for about 30 years, and in those years, the technology that enables one to interact with the television (or computer, or phone, or handheld, or pad) screen has evolved incredibly. Maybe the technology has surpassed me, and I should just stop gaming.
Nahhh. I love my hobby too much.
I know I will jump into the deep waters one day. I will either sink, or I will swim.
It's as simple as that.

Knees and JRPGs

2011-10-04T01:43:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have not blogged in while, my wife just had major knee replacement surgery, which she has been wanting to get for a while. We wanted to make sure insurance paid for it, which it seems it will. Two accidents severly damaged her right knee, and arthritus destroyed what was left. The knee has been caused her considerable pain for years; so the operation is a very good thing. The flip side is that it may take a while for her to walk on her own, and she will need some rehabilatation. The knees are the most important joints in the body after all!
After this I am going to get myself checked out, as I have pain in the left side of my back, shoulder, and hip. I think it may be crushed spinal nerves, kinda afraid to find out. Getting old sucks!!
In the meantime, I have been playing Atelier Iris:The Azoth of Destiny on the PS2. I love this game so much I want to give it a hug! Great sprite graphics, wonderful combat, good story...the kind of JRPGs they don't really make anymore. Plus it's fun finding recipes and making stuff using alchemy. This game is both fun AND funny, and better yet I also have the sequel, AI 3:Grand Phantasm. Now if I can just find the first game...
Anyone else enjoying a sweet JRPG?

One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

2011-09-17T02:05:00.002-04:00

Well, I'm trying not to get any more games for awhile...but while I was out and about with my wife we came by a Blockbuster Video that was closing, so everything had to go. Kinda sucks that,as that was the last Blockbuster within a 15 mile radius of where we live. Got a lot of cheap games and movies from that rental chain. Anyway, I did get two used PS2 games from this Blockbuster for only 3 bucks each:Rogue Trooper, a game based on a UK comic, and Tomb Raider Anniversity Edition, a PS2 remake of the first Tomb Raider.
I haven't played them yet, hope they work, although that is moot, since for obvious reasons they can't be returned.
Also got stategy guides for Kingdom Hearts II and Golden Sun Dark Dawn for 6 bucks each at a closing Borders bookstore. That's nice, but does make me sad as although there will still be Blockbuster Videos that will remain open across the counrty (except anywhere near me). All Borders are closing, victim of the Kindle, internet and the lousy ecomomy. Yeah, and the irony of the internet being a cause is not lost on me, this being a blog post and all.

Disgaea:The tiny version

2011-09-16T03:02:00.000-04:00

Been playing Disgaea DS (aka Disgaea:Hour of Darkness) recently on the DS (duh!) I got this game for the Playstation 2 a while ago, but did not get that far as I was overwhelmed by how many things you can do in this strategy RPG. What I played was great though, and as I do with far too many games in my collection, promised myself I would play this game again. Still haven't gotten back to that version....
I liked the game enough that when I heard there was a DS version out that was a port of the PSP version with the new Etna mode, I wanted to get it. I somehow managed to get a copy sans booklet and case at Gamestop (I was lucky to find even that; I don't think I have seen that game used since.) I had the booklet from the PS2 version for reference if I needed it. I figured since I could play the game anywhere, I could get into it more readily.
I'm still ttrying to figure out a lot of Disgaeas' nuances, but damn if it isn't fun:quirky, imaginitive, and often hilarious. The only problem I have is that you can't save mid-battle, only at the castle.(At least as far as I can tell.) Not good for a portable version of the game.
At this point, I'm pretty much grinding a few maps to power up some of my characters, as I was soundly defeated by a mid boss (who is called, appopriatly, Mid Boss.) Plus I need to level up some created characters because as of right now, they fall over in stiff breeze.
Oh, and I do plan to go back to the PS2 version. There is so much to do in the game that I'm sure I would have a totally different experience from the DS version. Now, if I could just find that illusive Disgaea 2....or maybe I'm getting way ahead of myself there.

Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me

2011-09-15T01:24:00.000-04:00

I have long been a fan of video games coming from the Land of the Rising Sun, Japan. Ever since I played the the original Final Fantasy, when it first came out well over 20 years ago, on my NES, I have been hooked on the crazy, quirky, and most of all fun games made by these crazy, quirky and most of all fun people. My favorite game genre is the RPG, and nobody, but nobody, can make great RPGs like the game companies in Japan can. The Japanese excelled at most every other genre, too.

But times change, as they must, although I certainly do not have to like it. Fewer and fewer Japanese games are making it across to America; for just one example, look at Project Rainfall, a well-meaning failure. The boon of Japanese games that came out for the PS and PS2, for which I shall be forever grateful, has slowed down to a trickle. There are many reasons for this, some of which have been discussed on 1UP, and I won't get into them here. I'll say it has to do with money and Japan still being a closed-off nation, and leave it at that.

I am not saying that the quality of Japanese video games has gone down, far from it from what I can tell. It's the quantity. American tastes have also changed, favoring home grown games, which have pushed back the amount of Japanese games coming here. But I'll be perfectly honest here:all I see is a vast wasteland of FPSs. Now I like FPSs, don't get the wrong idea. It's just that there is a glut of brown- and grey-colored shooters that all blend into one another. I miss the bright colors of Japanese games. And the polish, which still exists. When is the last time a Japanese game had to be patched? Has there EVER been a need? So many American made games, high profile and expensive, have been put out as if no one actually play tested the damn games. Does anyone do QC anymore?

It may sound like I am knocking American games, well, maybe I am. A little. With the domination of Western games and the seeming fall of Japanese games in America, it is the end of an era for me, and I may not be alone in this. And if I come off as bitter and sad, well, then that's because I am.

As for RPGs, I still vastly prefer JRPGs. Despite what detractors may say, to me JRPGs are fun, imaginitive and exciting experiences. Games like Dragon Age, Fallout, Mass Effect and Elder Scrolls just flat out bore me. Like American FPSs, they all seem like the same damn games. Have I played these games? Truthfully, no, so you could say that I am talking out of my ass, and you probably would have a valid point. Still, from what I have seen and heard of these games through the magic of the interwebs, I have zero interest in ever playing these games. They just don't look FUN to me. Except Bioshock, which seems like a FPS/RPG hybrid. THAT game I would like to play one day.

A lot of you younng uns' were not around before the Great Video Game Crash and the NES coming to the rescue, creating a Japanese video game dominance that has existed until a few years ago. There was great American innovation then; there had to be when you were making games for the Atari 2600. Where is that frontier spirit now? It seems that Japan has paved the way and America has simply followed along behind, until Japan was no longer needed. Now Call of Duty tops the charts, and the world is poorer for it.

I did mean for this blog to be a diatribe against Western video games (ok,perhaps a little.) I am saddened at the thought that there will be many less Japanese games coming here. Oh, we'll have our Mario and Final Fantasy games and the occasional wonderfully Japanese game that by some miracle came here, but that will be it. The sun is setting, and in the gathering darkness I wish I could see a bright light as the colors fade to grey and brown.

I'll miss the sun shining on my face. I'll miss it a lot.

Transforming Vampires

2011-09-08T02:27:00.000-04:00

Hello there, not been doing much gaming lately. I'm broke so I haven't been buying any games, and I haven't been gaming much because I've been depressed since I'm broke. Eh, what ya gonna do?

Have been playing Castlevania:Dawn of Sorrow on the DS. I was reluctant to get the game in the first place since it seemed too much like it's prequel, Aria of Sorrow, on the GBA. (Although that is a damn fine game.) Of course DoS is just as good as AoS, plus with better graphics and a very handy castle map on screen at all times. Plus, does collecting demon souls for powers and abilities ever get tiring? No, it does not.

Another game I've playing is Transformers:War for Cybertron Decepticon version. Got this for 10 bucks on the way back from Maine. Got off an exit to get something to drink (air conditioner can really dry you out.), and I was very excited to see a Blockbuster Video! I'm not sure there are any left in Massachusetts. My wife let me run in see if there were any used games for sale, and there were some DS ones. I'm a big Transformers fan and would get the console T:WFC if I had a PS3 or 360. Which I do not. This seemed like the next best thing, and the game seems pretty cool so far. It's mostly run and gun with some platforming, which is fine by me, with about 15 Decepticons to unlock (I think), and the ability to transform on the fly. Works for me; might even get the Autobots version when I'm 1) not broke and 2)It's relatively cheap, say 10 bucks.

On a final note, what does everyone think about the 3DS attachment? Is it a bad idea, and why did they not include the second stick right out of the gate? Nintendo is really flailing right now with the 3DS, IMHO....

Finish it!

2011-09-04T00:59:00.000-04:00

I read on the internets somewhere that only 10% of game players actually finish the games they play. I am definatey NOT one of those 10%. My so-called 'pile of shame' is more like a 'mountain of shame.' I did finish the excellent Darkwatch on the XBox a few weeks ago, and yes, that game is over 6 years old. Before that, I cannot remember when I have beaten a game. (Except for FFVII. See below.)

It's never the game itself; I usually either get stuck at a certain point where I keep dying and give up. I then fire up another game which I hopefully won't suck at (those are very rare.) This is often a game I just bought at a cheap price. (I enjoy buying cheap video games for the PS2, XBox, Gamecube, and DS just as much as as I enjoy playing them...to a point, obviously.)

Although knowing that close to 90% of gamers don't finish the games they buy, I still feel like a loser. I sure as hell will never finsh current gen games if/when I get a 360 or PS3, as I would never take the time or effort to get all the trophies or achievments, which seems to be the mark at which the game is finished. Not that I have anything against trophies or achievements, I'm certain they add to the gameplay.

Also, in my case, I love JRPGs, but most of them take 40-60 hours to complete. That's a lot of time for me to get bored, stuck, or distracted by another shiny disk. In fact, last JRPG I finished was FFVII...no joke...and I have at least 50 excellent JRPGS that I have barely gotten into. Sounds screwed up...and it is...but damn I like JRPGs. (And since fewer and fewer are being made, never mind being ported to North America...well, at least I have a stockpile that I can enjoy in the meantime. Gotta think positive.)

Then there is the ongoing debate of whether games, especially open world ones, just take too long to finish, and many people can't because of time restraints. That seems like a good topic for another blog, though.

So are you able to finish most games you have? If not, why do you think that is? I could chaulk it up to Adult ADD, or the fact that as I've gotten older my reflexes have gotten slower, or I have less time to play....

.....

Yeah, I just suck at video games.

Duel Masters:The Red-Headed Stepchild

2011-08-30T22:56:00.000-04:00

Has anyone heard of the card game Duel Masters? Not as cloyingly cute and childish as Pokemon, nor as mind-boggingly confusing as Yu-Gi-Oh, Duel Masters is a fun game which shares a lot with Magic:The Gathering, which is a good thing IMO. Actually, I have never played the physical card game, but I do have three very fun video game versions of the game:Duel Masters Sempai Legends Limited Edition and Duel Masters Kaijudo Showdown for the GameBoy Advance, and Duel Masters Limited Edition for the Playstation 2.

Very recently I stole...ummm bought Duel Masters Sempai Legends for 50 cents at FYE. Yes, 50 cents brand new. I could not remember if I already had the game (it was Kaijudo Showdown I had), but figured at 50 cents I'd get it anyway. That's less than a candy bar, for cryin out loud.

Anyway, I got all three games for very cheap, and if you have a GBA, DS Lite and/or Playstation 2, you can get a all three of these games for less than 5 bucks, I'm sure. And if you like card games like Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic:The Gathering, you will probably like Duel Masters. I know I do.

As I mentioned, Duel Masters plays out a lot like Magic:TG. You have a deck of 40 cards consisting of spells and creatures from 5 alignments:nature (green), light (yellow), water (blue), darkness (grey), and red (fire). Each alignments has it's own strenghs and weaknesses. When you duel someone, you sacrifice cards in your hand to build up mana of each of the five colors. This mana is permenent, and when you have enough, you can tap the mana to summon creatures to battle for you and spells to cast. Creatures have defensive and offensive stats which are compared when two creatures battle. Sounds a lot like M:TG so far, right? Well, instead of hit points, your duelist has five shields for protection which need to be broken. Once that is done, your duelist only needs to be hit once and it's lights out. Also, like M:TG, there are creatures that block attacks and ones that attack only. Duel Masters also has creatures called slayers which win the fight no matter the stats of the creatures.

In the games you play this spikey-haired kid who basically goes around towns and challenges random passerby to duels. You can also enter tournaments and buy or trade new cards. There are 'stories', but I don't pay much attention to them. I'm here to duel.

The creatures are extremely imaginative; light years better than the teletubby like Pokemon and at least on par with the creatures populating the Yu-Gi-Oh world. You get to see them battle it out on the field with different attacks, although obviously the PS2 version has much better graphics for monsters and spells.

It is unfortunate that Duel Masters never became more popular than it did. The game was created by Wizards of the Coast, and the games were put out by Atari. Still, for anyone who likes stratagic card games in video form, starring creatures with strange but also awesome sounding names, I highly recommend Duel Masters. The price is certainly right.

No $100 PSP for you!!

2011-08-26T01:02:00.000-04:00

I was very excited to read recently about a new version of the Sony PSP at a $100. I believe this was revealed at Gamescom. The only major difference between this one and the current PSP versions was there would be no Wi-Fi. This doesn't matter to me, as I would just use it to play games....I still don't care for online shenanigans.

I was later disappointed to learn that the new PSP would only be released in the European market, and not in North America. Apparentely, Americans love their Wi-Fi too much to part with it. Phooey. Does anyone know if this version of the PSP is real, that it really isn't going to be sold here, and if so, agree with me that this is a damn shame?

Good stuff:Atelier Iris

2011-08-25T02:12:00.000-04:00

Me and the missus are at the vacation house in Maine. So beautiful, so relaxing, so quiet. Nice thing about it is that we only spend money on gas, tolls and food....so even though we don't have much cash, it's a pretty cheap "vacation."

Anyway, I started playing Atelier Iris:The Azoth of Destiny, the second in the Atelier Iris series, and I LOVE it. It's part turn based RPG/part alchemy game. Fight monsters, gather materials, and make all kinds of cool stuff. The sprite graphics are absolutely gorgeous, and fighting and alchemy is fun. I also have the third game in the series, Atelier Iris:Grand Phantasm, and if it's as good as Azoth of Destiny, I've got a lot of alchemy to do when we get back.

Ah, Playstation 2, do you ever stop giving?

So you want to be a doctor...

2011-08-17T23:03:00.000-04:00

Got this game:Trauma Center Under the Knife 2 at Sears for the sweet, sweet price of 6 bucks. I've been interested in trying one of the Trauma Center games and no way could I pass this up at that cheap price. Haven't played it yet but have looked through the instruction manual (I love that new game manual smell!) and operating using the stylus looks really cool. Good thing I have a steady hand...must be from all the video games I play.

Good portable shmups (for cheap!)

2011-08-17T22:56:00.000-04:00

I love me some shoot 'em ups, or shmups for short. Used to be called shooters, but 1st person shooters took that monicker away. Used to be during the 80's and early 90's that the still thriving arcade environs had several shmups. Soon Street Fighter clones became more popular, and soon after THAT most arcade machines were racers or Dance Dance Revolution. But I still remember guiding that one spaceship (or two, if you were playing with a friend) against an enemy armada tossing millions of bullets at you. And the explosions. The wonderful, wonderful explosions.

Nowadays shmups are few and far between except on XBox Live Arcade. Since I don't own a XBox 360 yet (and am still leery about downloadable content, something for another blog), I have found barely any relatively new shmups. For those interested, I have found 4 really good shmups, and they are also very cheap if you can find them...I also got them sans box or instruction manuals, but since they are shmups, it's pretty easy to figure out what to do:shoot everything and don't get hit!

For the Gameboy Advance, are Iridion 3D and Iridion II. Iriidion 3D is pretty good; the graphics give the impression that you are moving into the screen and the enemy is coming at you. Again, good game, but it relies a lot on it's 3D 'gimmick' and is somewhat bland as a result. Iridion II is a huge step up though, with simply amazing graphics, incredible sound (I was surprised to hear such great music coming from the GBA speakers) and great gameplay. This top down shooter is a gem if you can find it

For the DS (of course, you can play the Iridion games on it if you have the DS Lite) are Nanostray and Nanostray 2, both great, great shmups. The first game is a top down shooter; you have four seperate weapons you can change on the fly using the touch screen. Each weapon also has a powered-up version which uses up energy, although this can be recharged by picking up blue coins. The game has eight levels each with a tough boss at the end. The visuals are excellent, some of the best on the handheld,and the music gets your heart pumping.

Nanostray 2 is just as good as the first, with a few differences. Now there is a sub boss in each of the eight stages as well as an end boss. You also have a standard shot that cannot be powered up, but you do have a secondary weapon that you pick before you start a level (out of seven different weapons). These use energy, but are more powerful than you standard shot. The screen scrolls from left to right and the action occurs on the bottom screen, so you can use the stylus to move your fighter. This works much better than you would think and is the way I play the game, but you can use the buttons if you want.

These are all highly recommended for shmup fans, but as I mentioned, are pretty hard to find. I did find all four at local Gamestops, although you may have better luck finding them online. Happy shooting!

Is that a zombie at my door? Plants vs Zombies

2011-06-27T02:20:00.000-04:00

I'd been wondering why the game Plants vs Zombies had been so popular for years now (since supplanted by Angry Birds, which I honestly don't think is that great a game.) Starting on the PC and then ported to virtually every other game system, I recently got the game for the DS, and now I realize why this Popcap-created game is still popular...it's very. very fun.

An organic version of the tower defense formula, you use dozens of imaginatively created plants to defend your house against waves of many different types of zombies who want to snack on your brains. By gathering sunlight beamed from the sun or generated by sunflowers, you can plant peashooters and walnuts to fire upon or block the zombies advance on your house. However, you can only have a certain number of plants on which to call upon in each level, although you can buy more spaces to hold plants (or 'seed packets') as the game progresses.

As I said before, this game is a hell of a lot of fun, not to mention very funny. There is an in-game encyclopedia that describes all of the plants and zombies in the game, and it is well written and hilarious. The game can be nerve wracking, as you frantically gather sunlight and plant plants to stop the zombie hordes. Although it seems limited, with the playfield only being around your house, there are different scenarios that keep gameplay fresh, such as zombies attacking at night (in which you use deadly fungi and mushrooms, since they don't require sunlight, although they need to 'recharge' before another one can be planted). Or the zombies try to attack from the backyard, where you have a pool and need to put down a lily pad before you can set another plant on it.

The game uses the stylus for everything,and this works very well, in my opinion. There are also minigames that can be unlocked as you progress, and even a mode where you can create your own custom made zombie, or 'zombatar'. If you still have not played this game yet, I highly recommend this version. Now if you excuse me, I hear some zombies coming, and I've got some planting to do.

Predators

2010-07-20T21:55:00.000-04:00

AWESOME MOVIE ALERT!

Saw Predators in the theater today. I am a huge fan of Predator and this movie is as good as, if not a little better, than the first movie. They even reference the first movie in the new one, kind of making Predators the "true" sequel and pretending the 'meh' Predator 2 does not exist.

Lots of action and gore, good acting and script, and both the humans and Predators hunting them are badass. Also a cool plot twist near the end I did not see coming.If you are at all a fan of the first movie, or just good action/horror movies, go see it. Four stars.

Also:Predator 'dogs'.Really nasty f***ers.

Die Dracula Die!

2010-07-17T21:44:00.000-04:00

I have been a fan of the Castlevania series since the first game came out on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I think I passed on Castlevania:Simon's Quest (although I rented it), but really enjoyed Castlevania III, which I still believe is one of the best Castlevanias behind Symphony of the Night. I played Caslevania IV on the Super NES and the excellent Genesis version. I also played Castlevania 64 (certainly the weakest in the series) and the two recent 3D versions for the past console generation, which unlike many people I liked a lot. I have all three Castlevanias for the Game Boy Advance, and when I got a DS I got Castlevania:Portrait of Ruin. I was not sure, after playing the GBA versions, if C:PofR would just be more of the same 'Metriodvania.'

I'm very glad to say that I love C:PofR. The graphics are noticably better, the demons you fight are as imaginative as ever (there are some returning faces, though. Horrible, monstrous faces.), there are great boss fights, and the fact you can switch between two totally different characters on the fly (or have them fight together) is great. Plus the titular 'portriats of ruin' add some scenic vareity to the game. So yeah, Konami has done it again. Once I'm working again I'd like to get the two other DS Castlevanias, I haven't gotten tired of whipping demons yet.

On a related note, what do you think about a 3D Castlevania on Nintendo's 3DS (come on, you know it's coming)? And anyone excited for the upcoming Lords of Shadow?

Games for makeup!

2010-07-08T15:23:00.000-04:00

My wife goes to this forum called Makeup Alley, where women, and the occasional gay man, obsess over, well, makep. They also do swaps, usually for makeup, but for other stuff too. A woman was swapping a bunch of GBA games, and my wife, knowing my own obsession with video games, asked if I wanted anything off the list. Many of the games were serious under 10 kiddie games, but a few looked very interesting, Namely the three games pictured up top. Now anyone who reads this blog knows I'm not a big Mario fan, but Super Mario 3 IS a fun game, and I'd never played a Mario Kart game before. And I've always loved Sonic, even though the poor guys' last 10 games were terrible.

So Donna was willing to trade a limited edition Mac lipstick (which was pretty expensive, so she tells me) as well as some hair product samples. The woman who was swapping the GBA carts agreed to the three (I had actually been expecting one, which would have been fine for me, as none of these games are cheap, even used. But Donna assured me that the lipstick was NOT cheap by any means, she just happened to have gotten a duplicate for Christmas.)

So I got the games in the mail last week, and they are all pretty cool. We have not gotten a response from the woman who got the lipstick, I hope she likes it, honestly. And thanks to my wife, I got 3 good GBA games, technically free. She's even played some Super Mario Bros. 3, which is just as hard as I remembered it. (I played the games as part of Super Mario All Stars for the Super Nintendo.) All in all, pretty cool.

In movie news, I saw Knight and Day at the movies and liked it a lot. Lots of action with some funny dialogue thrown in. Also saw the Wolf Man remake (re-imagining?) on DVD. Thought it was pretty good, can't compare it to the classic original 'cause I haven't seen it! Really should get on that.

Oh, and I got the 20th anniversary Transformers The Movie soundtrack on cd with bonus tracks for only 5 bucks at half.com. I also have the soundtrack on tape, but that's 20+ years old and probably melted by now. I heard The Touch on that Transformers:War for Cybertron commercial and remembered how much I love that song and the rest of the soundtrack. Gonna rip the songs from the cd to my MP3 player so I can listen to them anywhere, too.

And yes, I really want T:WfC, but don't have a PS3 or X360 yet. I'll just have to wait till all are one...I mean, till I get a new system.

By the way, is it really freakin' hot, or is it just me?

Shootin' In Style

2010-07-04T15:43:00.000-04:00

I recently played the game P.N. 03 after having bought it a year ago (yeah, I'm retarded) for about 4 bucks at Gamestop. I had read horrible reviews of the game when it had come out, as one of the infamous "Gamecube-exclusive Capcom 5". We all know how that turned out.

Anyway, I did not have any great expectations for the game, having almost stole it from Gamestop. But I quite like it. Basically, you're shooting bunches of robots wearing one of several versions of a mechanical suit, called an Aegis suit. Each suit having one "special attack" at the onset, although you can buy more special attacks for the suits. You can also power up the suits in different parameters and even buy extra continues at a shop. (Yup, this game has limited continues.)

You're "currency" is points you get by blowing up robots, and if you shoot a bunch of them in an alloted time limit, you rack up a "combo" and get bonus points. Frankly, this hooked me, as points mean something, and there is plenty to buy from the store (much of it expensive.) You can even do trial runs between missions to rack up extra purchasing points.

The graphics aren't anything spectacular, but they are well done, and the techno sountrack is nice to listen to while blasting various robots. What I really like about this game, besides the point system, is it's simplicity. You shoot and dodge missles and lasers, (or duck and take cover), and blast the 'bots with your own laser or special move (which are like the special moves in street fighter:up, down, shoot or something to that effect.) I am just so tired of all the overly complicated games made nowadays where you have to remember 20 different button combinations to play a damn game. With P.N. 03, I can just zone out and trash some bots, trying to get enough points to get the next cool Aegis suit.

Also, the heroine of the game, Vanessa, seems to be dancing along to the beat of the music as she turns robots to scrap. That's just cool.

So yeah, I recommend this game if you have a Gamecube or a (yuck) Wii. It's cheap enough, just don't expect to get your mind blown, and just enjoy the dancing. And shooting.

Flying the Unfriendly Skies

2010-06-28T17:12:00.000-04:00

So, how's everyone doing? Man, it is hot here. Can't sleep, it's so hot. So I'm playing video games naked. (Kidding. Not wearing a shirt, though. My pale skin doth glow in the light of the television screen.)

So I'm playing Taito Legends 2, which is not only an awesome retro compilation, it's chock full of shoot em-up (shmup) goodness. I remember when the arcades were full of shooters, and I loved pumping quarters into those, even though I usually sucked at them. Still had a blast...um, blasting stuff. And sometimes I could get into the groove of the shooter...dodge, shoot, dodge, shoot, mega bomb, shoot, oh crap here comes the boss aaaannd I'm dead.

Now shmups, like arcades, are pretty much on life support. Xbox 360 live arcade does have a bunch of them, many new, so that's good. Don't have one of those yet,(new slim model looks cool though) so I make due with what shooters the PS1 and PS2 have in their library.

Does anyone here have a favorite shmup, either from the glory days of the arcade or on console? Or a series of shmups, for that matter?

Back to Taito Legends 2. There are a couple of bosses that are really ticking off.....

Two DS games that don't suck

2010-06-25T14:58:00.000-04:00

Let's face it, a lot of DS games suck, and suck badly. Any of the dozens of Imagine titles, for instance, or anything with 'baby' or babyz' or whatever in the title. They kind of make me puke in my mouth a little, and also make me very embarrassed to look at the wall of DS games at Gamestop. I'm 41, makes me kinda feel like a perv or something to even glance at that crap.

Fortunately, there are a whole lot of good games for the DS that don't involve babies. I was very lucky to get some GS giftcards and a little money for my birthday, so I recently got two very good DS games:Glory of Heracles brand new for 15 bucks and Portrait of Ruin used for the same amount.

Glory of Heracles got mediocre reviews when it came out, but it's a pretty decent little RPG. Yes, you play a character, apparently an immortal demigod, with amnesia (an incredibly overused JRPG cliche), but the story is interesting and quite funny. The battle system is the standard turn-based affair, but each character has different passive and aggressive skills and magic abilities, which you can choose to 'soup up' by performing minigames on the touch screen. The music is nice, and the graphics are a little better then those you'd see on the PSOne, which is definately not a bad thing.

Overall, this JRPG does nothing radically different, but I am very much enjoying playing through the adventure and highly recommend it to anyone who like JRPGs, especially for the sweet $15 price.

Castlevania:Portrait of Ruin is your standard 'metriodvania' game, but when is that ever a bad thing? I've been wanting to get this game for quite a while, and when I saw it used (with case and instructions!) for $15, I snagged it. Haven't gotten very far, but what I see I like. The graphics are definately more detailed than than the GBA trio of Castlevania games (I have all three), and I like the fact that you can 'swap out' the two main characters, or even play with both at once, a nice touch. Plus the titular 'portraits of ruin' are a cool gimmick enabling players to visit different locations other the usual dreary old castle. I even like the story:set 1944, a really bad vampire dude named Brauner brings back Dracs' castle by collecting the tortured souls of those who died in World War II, and thus got his magical vampire powers back. Plus a whole bunch of hideous monsters to loot and pillage as a bonus!

I recommend this game also, but at this point anyone who is a Castlevania fan probably already has it. I have about 20 bucks left from my birthday, anyone recommend a good DS RPG? What about the other two DS Castlevanias?

Mario is not my hero

2010-06-03T14:52:00.000-04:00

If there is any video game character that is iconic, it's Mario. The fat, mustachiod plumber is virtually synonimous with the medium itself. Even people who have never played a video game seem to recognize Mario. I don't doubt that some people worship at the alter of Mario, build shrines to him, buy every single game he is in and call them works of art. In fact, he is often integrated into art. In short, he is everything wonderful and great about video games.

Sorry to disagree, but I really could not care less about Mario and his games. Who died and made him a virtual god?

I may very well be missing the point, as I'm sure others will angrily attest to. I just have never understood what is so 'alluring' about the Mario character, and there is not one game that he is in that have ever liked. And that icludes Donkey Kong, when Mario is known as 'Jumpman.'

I have not played every Mario game, granted. I have played Super Mario and it's two sequels, and Super Mario 64. I have found most of these games far too hard, and thus aggrevating, as well as just plain boring to me. The only game I kinda-sorta liked is Super Mario 2, and that is not even a true Mario game! As for the others, I just usually give up in disgust, never to play the game again.

Plus it annoys me that Mario is whored out so badly by Nintendo. He's been in games of every sport imaginable, kart racing, RPGs (ok, I have played and enjoyed Mario and Luigi:Super Star Saga and Paper Mario:The Thousand Year Door. I will admit that.), educational games, dancing games(!), puzzle games, the list goes on and on. Most of these games are gobbled up by the gaming public, so of course Nintendo whores Mario out some more.

Don't get me wrong, I don't hate Mario. He is a likable character. I just don't understand how he is so bloody popular. Then again, I still don't know why Hana Montana/Miley Sirus is so popular, with literally thousands of products on the market. The girl seems nice enough, and she can sing, but how is she so popular? And why?

The only answer I can think of is age difference. I am 41, and was in my early to mid teens when the first Super Mario game came out and kick-started the video game industry after the crash of '83. Now there may be part of the answer:this game, and by proxy Nintendo, helped revive an all-but-dead-industry. That is a good thing, of course, but that was close to 25 years ago, and Mario is still, if not more so, as popular as he ever was. One could say that of Nintendo, who has been leaning on the 'we saved video gaming!' crutch for a very long time, and have been arrogant ever since. (Since Mario is pretty much representative of Nintendo, I had to put that jab in. Yeah, I'm not a big lover of the company right now.)

Anway, the age difference:a lot of people who were pretty young at the time played Super Mario as their first game (it did help that the game was a pack in with the NES.) As their first game, it had a big influence on them as budding video game enthusiasts. It was a fun and enjoyable experience for them, and so Mario became ingrained in their memory as a happy time in their young life. The ingredient of that magic called nostalgia, which I am certainly not immune to.

But I cut my teeth on the Atari 2600, before the crash, and gaming on that system formed the foundation of my nostalgic memories. Atari never had an official mascot or defining game, unless maybe it was Pac-Man (and everyone knows how badly that game turned out on the system.)

So can anyone explain to me why Mario and his games are so popular? I'm not trying to be a hate magnet here, I really don't get it. What am I missing? And does anyone agree with me, or am I alone in this?

XBox Love

2010-05-27T15:37:00.000-04:00

I wrote a long blog last night, but somehow 1up deleted it. Pissed me off. I'm trying again, but this will be much shorter, in case it happens again.

I love my XBox. While most have forgotten about the original in lui of their shiny new 360s, I am still enjoying my big black box with the big green X on it.

I still play it almost every night. Granted, I got the XBox about the same year the 360 came out. So I was able to get a crapload of games at really cheap prices, new and used. Some bad, many very good. It seems very sad to me that the 360 did a half-assed job of emulating original XBox games. It's like Microsoft did not care that the XBox paved the way for the 360; that is was system better forgotten for 'bigger and better.'

I almost feel the XBox is like a latter day Dreamcast:both are excellent systems with quality games. Granted, I think XBox did last longer then the Dreamcast, which was around only a little more than two years. But the XBox didn't seem to last much longer.

Is it me, or have people forgotten what a trailblazer the XBox was? It was the first truly online system (although not the first. That was of course the Dreamcast.) It was also the first console to have a hard drive out of the box. Just two things that have become the pillars of this console generation.

I may get flak for this, but you guys can keep your 360 consoles that seem to be prone to burning out. I'm going to enjoy my still-working XBox (three years and counting) and play a little Far Cry. No achievements or leaderboards? Don't care.

Lookie what I got! Chaos Wars and EGM!!!

2010-05-18T20:40:00.000-04:00

Chaos Wars for the PS2 and the first issue of the back from the dead EGM!!! Wheee!

Chaos Wars is a Gamestop only exclusive (I think.). It looked cool from previews and reviews, and best of all was only 10 bucks new! I managed to get the only copy left at the nearest Gamestop.

Haven't played it yet, but it seems interesting...a SRPG with characters from Gungrave, Shadow Hearts and various other Japanese series. I'm actually surprised this game made it over here, but I'm glad it did...games for the PS2 are slowing to a trickle, although that's to be expected. The system is close to 10 years old, after all.

I also got Lego Batman for the PS2 at Target. Normally don't care for the Lego games (they seem too childish), but I have played a little of the game and it's quite enjoyable. And it was on clearance for 5 bucks....can't complain about that! I also like the fact you can play as various Batman villains,albiet in cute lego form!

I am very happy that EGM is back. I got the first issue at the newstand, and although a subscription is only about 25 bucks, I'll wait until I'm working again. Which will be soon, I hope. The new EGM looks just as good, if not better, than it's last incarnation.

Below is a picture of the game and mag...I forgot to add Lego Batman (whoops!)

Two Great Artists Gone

2010-05-16T15:43:00.000-04:00

Recently, two artists who dealt in fantasy passed away. One painted beautiful females and muscular barbarians with lifelike clarity, and another sang metal songs of the eternal battle of good verses evil.

Both men had a great influence on my imagination since I was young. I marveled at pictures that seemed so lifelike, even if they had dragons in them, that I could reach out and touch the scaly skin. A song called Sacred Heart become one of my favorite songs ever, with wizards and magic and a powerful talisman called the, curiously enough, sacred heart.

You may have known these artists, maybe not. It matters not; the passing of Frank Frazetta at 82, and of Ronnie James Dio at 67, affects me deeply. If you have ever loved fantasy or metal, or in my case both, the loss of these great artists is a saddening loss indeed.

Still, these great artists have left their own legacies behind:one in pictures, one in song. At least we will have those.

Rest in peace, Frank and Ronnie.

Ticked off, pissed off and generally annoyed

2010-04-23T15:49:00.000-04:00

Sorry if this blog has zip to do with videogames, but there were a couple of things on the internet that make me just hate my fellow man, with a passion. And I'm really not fond of people in general.
Lane Bryant Lingerie add banned by Fox and CBS:
As you may or may not know, Lane Bryant makes clothes for 'larger women', or to put it another way, for women who actually look like normal, healthy women but in this ass-backwards society would be considered 'fat,' I quite honestly find such women very attractive, since, you know, they actually look like women instead of the size 0 bobbleheaded skeletons that are considered attractive nowadays. Lane Bryant did what I consider a very tasteful add of a very pretty 'full-figured' woman trying on different underwear before going on a dinner date. I think they show more skin on 'The Hills' (also full of bobbleheads). Check it: http://www.buzzfeed.com/peggy/banned-lane-bryant-lingerie-ad?cb=1272024994984&contribution=false
Fox and CBS basically banned this commercial because the model was 'showing too much cleavage'. WTF?
OMG! We can't have little Billy see this much cleavage on television! It will turn him into a raging sex pervert!!
Another excuse is that her breasts are too large. Let me type that again:her breasts are too large. I may be biased, being a straight guy and all, but what is the problem with a pretty girl having too large breasts (that I am sure are real, not fake? ).THIS can't be shown on television, though, oh no.
K'now how I see it? The fuckheads in charge of adverising do not want show happy, full figured woman in cute underwear. Replace the model in the commercial with a skinny bitch with fake boobs and everything would be hunky dorry, right? God forbid girls love their body's, no matter what size they are. And so the discrimination against women look they are supposed to, or even slightly overweight, continues.
I would like to hear comments on this matter. You know where I stand. There was another subject I wanted to rant about (IGN and their list of "Funniest movies of all time.:) I have problems not with the list, but with the morons who commented on the list. Almost all consisted of "Why isn't Dumb and Dumber on the list?" Because it's an insult to comedy, moron. http://movies.ign.com/articles/674/674712p1.html

Two new (ok, technically used) DS games

2010-04-20T00:30:00.000-04:00

Y'know, I really hate Nintendo with their "we know what the consumer wants, let's not bother asking them" attitude and yet making barrels of cash from it, and the Wii is a piece of garbage fit only for very young or very ancient people to "play", but damned if I don't like the DS. Granted, there is still too much kiddy garbage "games" floating around for my taste, but I find myself using my shiny silver DS lite quite a lot.

I got two used games from Gamestop yesterday (not gonna pay 30-35 bucks for a new game, can't afford it, but damn I would love to get Dementium II, coming out next week. Oh well.) Those games are Lunar Knights, which came out several years ago and got (warrented) excellent reviews, and Big Mutha Truckers (say what?) which I did not even know there was a DS version of (I have BMT 2 for the XBOX, so I am familiar with the game.) I had not seen those games anywhere else, so I had to snap them up or probably only get them online for ridiculous prices.) Lunar Knights was only 10 bucks, and BMT was only a fiver.

Both are great games. LK is a dungeon crawler/RPG/shooter made by the same guy who did the Metal Gear games (seriously) and is as fun and well done as you would think. BMT is a fun little game with 3D graphics where you drive a truck and make deliveries to make money to improve your truck. It's more fun than it sounds.

Gotta love it when you find games you never expected to find at a good price. Never gets old.

Going for the gore

2010-04-12T00:28:00.000-04:00

With the remake/reboot/rethinking of Splatterhouse coming out soon (ok, this September, but it's been in development hell forever)and looking gruesomely awesome in screenshots, and the remake/reboot/rehiring of A Nightmare On Elm Street coming out at the end of the month and looking like it's gonna kick ass, I thought I'd ask the age old question of what youse guys favorite horror videogames are. Not just the ones that almost made you crap your undies, also those that are not necessarily scary but are overflowing with gore and other assorted body parts. I thought I'd mention that I played and loved the original Splatterhouse on the PC Engine and loved it; I'm thinking good thoughts about the new game, and also think the original NOES is a horror classic, although the remake looks pretty sweet. Just so I could, y'know, date myself.

So what are your faves? Remember, not just scares, but could wholesome gory fun. To get the blood flowing, here are some of mine:

Scary:Fatal Frame 2:Crimson Butterfly

Gory and fun:Obscure:The Aftermath

Scary and Gory:Manhunt

So, who wants to put their heads on the chopping block?

The Evil That Men Do

2010-04-10T00:58:00.000-04:00

There is a show on television, a very good show, that you may have seen or heard of called Criminal Minds. It deals with a group of CSI profilers who have to get into the minds of criminals, most often murderers, in order to catch them. This show is not just dark in tone; it's pitch black. But that is the nature of the beast, as the bad men are often very sick and twisted. The sad thing is that the show is very true to life, in fact some of the episodes are torn right from current happenings.

Anyone who has played video games for any length of times knows of the forever ongoing debate over whether video game violence causes the player to become violent himself. In 99.9 percent of the many acts of violence carried out every day in the world, video games are not a factor. In the very few cases that playing video games can be factored in, there are other forces at work and violent video games is just one of the reasons a person hurts or kills others.

Myself, I play and enjoy very violent games, yet cannot even think of hurting or killing another living being, animal, or even insect. Yet I find it cathartic to shoot 'people' on the screen, I enjoy it, for the most part. There are two factors that make this so:I am shooting/killing 'bad guys', and those 'bad guys' are basically light on a screen, put there soley to be destroyed. They are bad men who have done bad deeds, and you are the judge, jury, and executioner. I hold this same reasoning for action/horror movies, two genres I enjoy. None of the bloodshed and death is real, it is simply special effects and acting. The dead men get up after the director yells "cut", and wander over to catering to have some lunch.

The thing is, the urge to kill is in all human beings, me included. Most of the human race can supress it, as any civilized person should be able to do. Yet, it is there, or why else would violent video games be so popular. Right now wargames are very popular, which basically boils down to one 'soldier' killing another, for (insert reason). Hundreds of fake men and women die, and it is enjoyable. Unlike real war, there is no real pain, no families losing loved ones. No death.

Make no mistake, I am for violence in games. These games are for adults, not children, and even then, most would be fools to believe that even kids can see the wrongness of killing a REAL human being, as long as they are taught that by parents. Yes, it comes down to parenting, always has. Violence and death is part of life, sadly, and kids should never be coddled against it. If they watch the news, they will learn the world is a dark, frustrating place, and very unfair.

A dark place, yes, but one learns to deal with it. Videogames help. Anger and frustration can be channeled into 'killing' bad guys that are not real. Death is unfair, it can happen to anyone, at any time. Death has no real meaning in videogames, one can magically come back to life and the bad guys never really stay dead.

Videogames are a form of fantasy, of escapism. It can help people deal with the darkness deep in ones soul. It is cathartic. One can shoot apart or tear apart an enemy, and perhaps even feel good about it. No one has died, no real blood is shed.

Society will always have to deal with those who have allowed the darkness to overtake them and allowed them to commit terrible acts, sadly. Shows like Criminal Minds (I will once again re-iterate:this is very good, albeit a very dark series) will continue to show those who have gone down a dark, dark path. Why do they do these men do such bad things? I am always wondering this, appalled and fixated at the same time. My wife especially loves the show. She has a psych degree and might make a good profiler herself.

Maybe some men are born twisted, or grow up that way. I don't know. All of us have that dark seed in us. Some let that grow. Most let it wither and die.

We kill in videogames, knowing it is not real, and acts performed in games will not translate to real life. It is just a game, after all. Just a game.

Isn't it?

The Playstation 2 Is Dead....Long Live The Playstation 2

2010-04-10T00:47:00.000-04:00

The Playstation 2 is almost 10 years old. It's not quite dead, but it does have one foot in the grave and toppling forward into the hole. Games are still being made for it, but for all intents and the PS2 is done.

Which makes me sad, because I believe the PS2 is one of the best consoles ever created, with one of the best libraries of any console. As of this point in time, the PS3 (and the XB360) pale in comparison, fancy HD graphics and trophy acheivements notwithstanding. And the Wii is a Playstation 2 with waggle, worse graphics and crap games.

I have had many games systems in the past 30 years, and no console has made me happier to be a gamer. The original Playstation is a great console, but the PS2 is 10 times better. And the games...the great games...I won't bother listing them, you know what they are.

And what disturbs me is Sony's half-assed backwards compatibility with PS2 games (although Microsoft is guilty of this also.) Most likely this is so, eventually, Sony can sell PS2 games on PSN...after they have sold the entire original Playstation library, of course.

I know this blog seems overly negative, and I still have my PS2 and 100+ games to enjoy on it, but the great ride that was the PS2 is over. Like riding a rollercoaster, it was an exciting and awesome ride. Too bad the PS3 is more akin to a merry-go-round.

RIP, Playstation 2. You deserve it

Games to Movies

2010-03-29T07:29:00.001-04:00

I was watching a preview of the coming movie adaptation of Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time on tv (it really does look awesome), and I got to thinking of videogame movies (or rather, the good ones). There are not that many, but two of my favorites (which I own on disc) are Silent Hill and Doom. Yes, Doom. A lot of of critics and game players hated on the film, but I quite enjoy it. Sure, the monsters are mutated humans, and not demons from hell, but that doesn't make them any less dangerous. And the five minute 1st person section of the film is pure genius, IMHO.

Silent Hill is also well done, and pretty frightening actually. Other than the ending (they're ghosts now? What did I miss?) I really like this film.

So what about you guys? Any video game movie adaptations that you enjoy? Disagree with my faves? If you don't have any faves, which ones do you hate? (And writing 'anything by Ewe Boll' is a very good answer.) :P

Games to movies

2010-03-29T02:43:00.000-04:00

HD? No Thanks

2010-03-25T21:49:00.000-04:00

One of the many reasons I have not gotten a PS3 or XBox360 (a major one having no job at the moment) is that, apparently you should get an HD television in order to fully enjoy the graphics of the games. It's not needed, but highly recommended.

To this, I say:screw that.

Basically, if I were to buy one of the aformentioned systems for approx. 300, I SHOULD also get a an HDtv, which costs, what, 300-400? Why would I spend that amount of money when I have several perfectly fine standard definition tvs to play games and watch movies on?

Frankly, the thing about HD tv is I simply do not give a flying fig newton about it. I've heard watching sports on it is WONDERFUL, but the thing is, I don't watch sports. And I've heard many people having problems with their HD televisions. I just turn on my 20 inch standard definition tv and I'm ready to go. I quite like it. I even have my XBox and PS1 hooked up to a standard 13-inch. I bet that blows some people's minds. And am I wrong, or does one have to pay a monthly fee for the privilage of HD?

Maybe I'm just getting old, but I don't see the greatness of HD or Blue-Ray, for that matter. (Again, were I to get a Blue Ray player, I would need an HD tv to really enjoy it. I suppose. I'll stick with DVDs for now, thanks.)

Right now, I am very much enjoying (and often being blown away by) my last gen systems and games. Sorry to repeat myself, but I do not see the point of HDtv right now. I really don't.

Does this preclude my ever getting an HDtv, X360 or PS3 in the future? Hell no. When prices go down more (and they will, trust me) and I need a new tv, maybe.

Am I forgetting the Wii, which still has standard definition graphics? No. It's just the Wii is a piece of gimmicky crap. It would still be gimmicky crap if it it did have HD graphics. Nuff said.

Sick day games

2010-03-15T14:15:00.000-04:00

I and wife are both very sick (may be strep throat), so I'll keep this blog short. But it got me to wondering if anyone out there plays video games when they are unwell, and if you have any favorite video games you play to make you feel better. Or do you just chill and watch television or movies? I have been playing very simple video games since I got sick , the more complicated ones give me headaches (literally.)

Hope everyone else is well!

GAMER The Movie

2010-03-13T02:49:00.000-05:00

Just wondering if anyone saw/liked Gamer. Just saw it a few days ago and quite liked it. There was a lot of action and gore, which is good, but the movie also dealt with themes of control and freedom. And there is a song and dance number/fight scene which is as cool as it sounds. Really, no sarcasm.

As long as I'm mentioning 'game movies', did anyone but me like Doom (which I own.) Sure, the monsters are genetic human mutations rather then demons from Hell, but I just really love this movie. And the '1st person' section of the movie is pure genius.

Finally, I also really like Silent Hill. The only problem I have with the movie is the WTF happened ending? Anyone figure out exactly what was going on there? Anyone? Bueller?

The DS:Lost Potential

2010-03-12T17:37:00.000-05:00

I got a DS Lite from my lovely wife this past Christmas, and I love it. It disheartens me that there are so many games for the under 10 set. (Especially the Imagine series. I know they are serious money makers but...blech.) There are also many 'extremely casual' games, such as crosswords or sudoku, but I don't mind those so much, these 'games' create a bigger older target audience, and that's cool with me.
It just bothers me that the DS may turn out to be the best selling handheld ever, yet the games for it are so limited. Nintendo and developers of games for the DS seem to believe that the vast majority of people who own DS are really young kids. If that were true...and I believe it is most definately not...why is Nintendo debuting the DS XL next month? It has a bigger screen for older people whose sight is fading, and a bigger stylus made for adult hands.
What pisses me off is that I am certain that Nintendo beleives the DS, like the Wii, is a toy fit only for the young 'uns and families with kids. If that is so, why is the DS so damn popular? Adults like me like the DS, and Nintendo knows this hence the DS XL here and DS LL in Japan.
Why are there not more M-rated games? More hardcore games? Why aren't more 1st person shooters made for the DS, even though the system is perfect for them? (I should know, I own two of the three 1st person shooters made so far for the DS, and they control perfectly.)
Nintendo seems content as always to fart out dozens of Mario games and kiddie fodder for the DS. It is a unique systems that took risks..two screens and touch control....yet in it's fourth year, games for the system are 80% crap, 10% Mario, and 10% good games. I wish Nintendo would, just once, see the forest for the trees full of money.
You can do it, Nintendo. You have the potential to exploit the DS. Exploitation is what you are good at.

Pure Imagination

2010-03-11T23:28:00.001-05:00

'Come with me,and you'll see, a land of pure imagination...'

I love this song, one of the best parts of the original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and sung awesomely by Gene Wilder. The remake is good, but I was saddened by it's being excised from the movie. Johnny Depp would have nailed it. Oh well.

One of the reasons I love playing video games is not just the chance to blow someone's head off with a shotgun without actually killing anyone, it is a chance to see the remarkable worlds and creatures created by some incredibly talented people. There is and will be for the forseeable future a debate on whether video games are art or not; I stand firmly in the 'games are art.' section.

I have seen incedible worlds on the television screen that I have only seen in my dreams, and better still, I can interact with these worlds. It is an incredible feeling, one I am sure a lot of other gamers have felt that way. I will not mention any particular games in this blog; I know what they are, and you know what they are.

Gaming is not all about violence and death, although right now that is a big part of the gaming landscape. Gaming is about unleashing the imagination, for the creators and for the players. Since I was a child, I have wanted to be a comic book writer and/or illustrator. That is a dream I still have but will probably never realize for a multitude of reasons. But now there are videogames, which are each generation creating more realistic but breath-taking worlds. This is also happening in movies, which I think is wonderful, through the use of Computer Generated Images. Now the dreamakers can put their dreams up on the big screen, so we can wonder at them.

In videogames we can go one better, though. We can take part in and explore the dreams and imaginations of others. And in so doing, be inspired ourselves. We can play in a land made only of confections, in land full of dragons and demons, on a world far, far away. It is a good time be a videogame player.

So come with me, to a land of pure imagination...because we can.

And thanks to all the once and future creators of video games, because not only are they the dreamers of dreams, they are the the makers of dreams.

Tonight We Try To Take Over THE WORLD!

2010-03-10T00:08:00.000-05:00

At Acme Labs....

"What in the 8 planets in the solar system are you doing, Pinky? You're cavorting about like a spastic orangutan!"

*Zoink* I'm playing with the Wii, Brain! It's fun!"

"Ugh, Pinky, I don't need any information about your carnel desires..."

"No, Brain, THE Wii. It's really popular with human people. You use a remote-whatsit and nunchucky to play games and stuff.*Narf* It's really hilarious."

"Hmmmm. Well, I have no doubt that your small mind would find this ridiculous pastime enjoyable. As for me...wait, did you say this 'Wii' is popular with humans?"

"Yup."

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?"

"No Brain, I've never been in a pool full of pudding, either."

"No Pinky, you mentally challenged ignoramous. Remind me to slap you later. I'm thinking we could use this "Wii" to take over the world! Any who played the Wii could be hypnotized to be my slave! They would dance like puppets holding those...controller whatsis. I just need to spread a virus through the internet..."

*Narf* "Sorry Brain, I don't think it would work."

"And why not, my microceleptic friend?"

"Well, the Wii isn't really connected to the 'internut' very well. And you need these friend codes that I still can't figure out, and mostly old people and children play with the Wii. That wouldn't make a very good army, would it, Brain?"

"No, I suppose you've got a point, Pinky. Oh well, I still have plans involving the XBox and it's 'Red Ring of Death. That might work."

"Scuse me Brain, all this talk about the 'Wii' makes me want to take one."

"You do that in the corner this time, Pinky, not the water dish. And get some rest for tomorrow."

"Why? What are we doing tomorrow, Brain?"

"Same thing we do every day, Pinky:Try to take over the world!!"

DLC and Patches? F@@k that!

2010-03-09T22:00:00.000-05:00

Back in my day, we would insert a cartridge or disk into a game console, and viola! you played the game. I LOVE that. Games were whole and complete unto themselves, nothing more needed. That is not the case any more.

Now we have down loadable content, or DLC for many games. Now you not only pay 60 bucks or for a game, now you can pay extra money for new maps, new weapons, new outfits or what have you. A lot of people seem to enjoy doing this, and it is supposed to 'extend' the 'life' of certain games. Maybe it's just my generation, but isn't that what sequels are for? For the money one can put into DLC for one game, one might be almost be able to pay for a sequel, probably with a new story, weapons, characters, enemies, etc. But in this economy, why not throw more money into buying stuff THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ON THE DISK ALREADY. Remember, in my day, everything was on the cartridge or disk...and stuff the developers could not fit on this game, they could put on the sequel.

And now it seems that develpers not only have money coming in from DLC, they don't even need to put money into quality control. Something screwy in the game? Fix it with a patch! I'm kind of surprised that publishers do not force players into paying for patches....although Activision will probably start doing that soon, evil empire that it is.

I admit that much of this bile comes from the fact that game consoles are now connected into the internet 24/7. My belief is that the internet on computers is a good thing; on consoles, not so much. It seems apparent game consoles connected to the web, while a necessary evolution I suppose, is just away for game developers to siphon even more money from game players' pockets. Although one could argue that for the web in general, I suppose.

Don't even get me started on how popular downloadable games have become. Topic of another blog, for sure.

Maybe DLC and patches just make my favorite hobby that much more complicated. I yearn for the simpler, less expensive and patch free times, but one does get that way when one reaches my advanced age.

What say you? Love the concept of DLC? Are patches a now necessary evil, or should they not exist at all?

Why All the Army Games?

2010-03-09T01:58:00.000-05:00

When I played the first Medal of Honor game on the now-ancient PSOne, I loved the WWII first person shooter. I still own it and dive into it once in a while. At the time, a WWII shooter seemed special and very unique.
Fast forward about fifteen years and just about every other game on the PS3, X360 and even the Wii is a military shooter. Now, I enjoy 1st person shooters, and always love me killing a bunch of dirty Nazis, but it seems to me that this genre has not only reached it's saturation point, but gone beyond it.
I suppose the fact that online multiplayer is so popular is part of the reason why military shooters are so popular. Yelling military tactics to your friends is just so cool. But there seems to me there are just so many ways to make a military shooter. The thing is....
It seems that recently, if someone tries something different then a military shooter, say with aliens or monsters, the critics piss all over them, while just every cookie cutter military shooter often get glowing reviews. But just how many variations can be made of 'shoot bad guys with guns, not shoot fellow soldiers' can be.
Apparently, as many as the public wants. Which is a lot. Back in the early 90's, there was a huge glut of fighters spurred by the phenominal success of Street Fighter II (which, while it is a good game that has withstood the test of time, it is not one the best games of all time in my belief, one that does jibe with many others) The fighter genre pretty much died out, at least till now, with the release of, ironically, Street Fighter IV. Perhaps fighters will rise again to supplant military shooters...although I'm not sure this is a good thing,
I do have to mention that the game Borderlands, which has been well recieved, thinks outside the militarty shooter box, however the game could be, and has, been labeled an RPG shooter. Nothing wrong with that, I just hope it does not drown in the sea of brown and tan colored military shooters. Look, people enjoy these games, and companies make millions off them (or billions, in the case of Modern Warefare 2.), just, enough already. This steady stream of soldiers games need to be slowed, if not stopped. It is certainly putting me off of getting a new system.
As for the equal surplus of zombie games, I have no beef with that. Shooting zombies NEVER gets old.

The next console I get will be a Playstation 3, and I'll tell you why

2010-02-28T01:02:00.000-05:00

A couple years ago, if someone had asked if I were going to get a PS3, I would have have said "no freakin' way, that thing is too expensive", but it would be my only problem with the system. Now that the PS3 is around $300 (and liable to go to $250 by the end of the year), I think this is the next gen system I'd like to have. Why not a X360 or (ugh) Wii? Here's why:

Red Ring of Death (or 3/4 ring of death):Why get an X360 when it has over an 80% chance of farting out. I've read of people buying multiple X360s when each one 'red-ringed'. It's their money, they can do what they want with it, but I can only afford one system, which I would hope would last longer then six months.

You have to pay to go online on X360. As of now, with the PS3, going online is free. Nada. Sure, everyone says that XBox live is awesome, but being online is extremely low priority for me. I don't see the fun playing online matches with potty-mouthed 16 year old males who have time to play games multiple times and win every achievement so they can utterly destroy people like me, who dabbles in most games. And pay for the privilage.

All the good games are cross platform anyway. The only game exclusive to X360 that comes to mind is Gears of War. And sorry, I could give two farts in a high wind about that series. Mountains of man muscle shooting all kinds of monsters, some bigger than buildings? Whatever. I'll play Resistance:Fall of Man instead, which actually looks far more interesting.

The Wii:where do I start? I hate this system with the heat of a thousand burning suns. It's a system for kids, or couples who have kids. Since I'm neither, the Wii can suck it. Nintendo is doing what they have done for three generations going:taking giant backwards instead of going forward (the waggle remotes are a gimmick, people, not an innovation), only this generation they are making bundles of money off of it, which makes me very, very sad. No HD, limited online (what's with the friend codes?), those stupid avatars that make everyone look retarded, 90% of games are pure kiddie drool or a bunch of mini games. Oh, and companies have tried to make interesting, adult themed games, but not a one of them sold well, so much so that it looks like there will be no mature (ie good) games for the system ever again. And Mario is a cmplete douche, I've always thought that. A fat, mustachiod plumber is gamings most famous icon and has sold the most games ever. Someone shoot me in the head. (Nintendo fanboys, ready your guns)

I do like the DS Lite, though, I have to admit. WAY too many games made for brain-impaired five year olds, which also makes me sad, but at least there are quite a few games I'm not embarrassed to play in public. Touch screen>waggle, also. Just thought I'd mention it.

So, yeah, Sony and the Playstation 3 may have some problems (which I'm sure people will mention), but right now, I'm going with them. Granted it won't be for a couple years, so my opinion could change.

But I will never get a Wii. Just the name makes me want to projectile vomit. Wheeee!

What is video game addiction?

2010-02-28T00:43:00.000-05:00

I recently made a youtube video showcasing all the systems and games I currently own, which I consider is a lot...the link is at the end of this blog if ya wanna check it out. Anyway, I wonder if I am a videogame addict. I'd like to believe I am not...I only play 1 to 2 hours a day, and sometimes not for days at a time. However, I do enjoy BUYING video games, especially if they are cheap (one of the reasons I have not gotten any next gen consoles is the price of new games at 60 dolllars a pop...I can get 3 new PS2 games for that price.) I did get a DS Lite for Christmas, which I love, but I refuse to pay 30-35 bucks for new games. Hell no.
Regardless of my frugal ways, I still buy inordinate amounts of games, even though my total collection has exceeded the 300 mark, easily. I absolutely love buying video games, new or used, even though I probably have not finished 80 percent of the games I own. I love playing video games (any genre save for sports, and many games that would be considered 'crappy.') I have low standards for video games; I consider it a good thing.
My wife (quite rightfully and fairly) told me I could buy one game a week, especially since I am currently between jobs at the moment. Last week I got 4(!) games, all very cheap, and my wife was ok about it, but I still felt lame. I have dozens of good games I've barely touched, for cripes sake!
So my question is this:do I have an addiction because I buy too many videogames when I own a ridiculous amount already, or would I have one if I played video games 8 hours a day, every day? I don't do that, but videogames are a big part of my life...I buy them, play them, read a lot about them. Am I just 'hardcore'....or do I need serious help? I welcome any comments and observations on what constitutes 'addiction', videogames or otherwise.

I'm last gen and I like it!

2009-12-02T01:22:00.000-05:00

I am the proud owner of a Playstation 2, XBox, Gamecube, Dreamcast and Game Boy Advance. I do not own a Playstation 3, XBox, Playstation Portable, DS, or (god forbid) a Wii, and I like it that way.
Maybe it's my advanced age; as people get older, they tend to resent change. I've been excited for each new iteration of gaming systems since the heyday of the Atari 2600. But this is the very first time an entire generation of consoles and handhelds have left me pretty much cold.
I love gaming as much as I ever have, goodness knows I have a huge collection of games that will prove that. And as I keep up with what is going in the current gaming environment, I have seen many games (several many years in development) that look really good. But no game that would provoke me to buy a next generation system. I have several reasons for this.
If I were to get a PS3 or XBox 360, I would (if I wanted to get the most out of the incredible graphics, which often seem a micro step up what the PS2 or XBox) have to get an expensive high-definition television. So if I pay 300 for a new system, I would have to pay at least 300 more for hi-def. I wouldn't HAVE to, but I suppose it would be highly recommended, as I would lose the inpact of the very slightly better graphics.
Games for those systems are also averaging 60 dollars, and I'm not sure why. Is it because every damn game has to have a multiplayer online option, or extra time is needed to put in achievements and trophys? Is that what the extra 10-20 is for? Of course, I don't give a shit about these things; in my day I just games didn't need all these extra bells and whistles, even as recent as the last generation. Maybe the kids today get hard-ons for online multiplayer or achievements, although they could simply bullet points on the back of the game box.
Games seem to have become much more complicated in the last 3 to 4 years, and so have the new systems. I had always enjoyed console gaming much more then computer gaming because you didn't have to be a computer expert just to get a game running. I always liked the fact that you could just pop in the game disk and bam! you were ready to game. Now you need patches and updates and DLC in order to enjoy many video games. Maybe they just get rid of the "video" and just call all games "computer" games now.
Let's not forget the XBox 360s 'red ring of death', which Microsoft swears has been almost fixed, but I have heard quite the opposite. XBox Live has been touted as the greatest thing ever to happen to gaming, but if wanted 16-year-old boys yelling and swearing at me, I would have taken a job as a high school teacher. The PS3 is now half the price of it's ridiculous original asking price of $600, a step in the right direction, but in my opinion, there are only a dozen or so games that I would waste money on, unless you are really into first person army games (I'm not), in which case you have about 200 games to chose from. Who says originally is dead.
As for the Wii and DS, there are thousands of games to chose from, if you are a child or soccer mom. And the amount of shovelware Nintendo has allowed to be put out for these systems could fill a suburban in-ground pool owned by a family with two and a half kids and a dog. Waggle a wii-mote or sqiggle a stylus, it's the in thing to do!
What do I know? I'm just a grumpy guy who doesn't like change, and perhaps the gaming industry has to change radically in order to keep with the young un's whose attention span has become shorter and shorter. Maybe games and systems need to evolve and add more and more extras or teens (and soccer moms) will go back to tweeting. Or is tweeting already so last week?

Lights, Quarters, Action:The Video Arcade Experience

2009-10-14T01:19:00.000-04:00

The era of the video arcade was a great time, one that many young game players of today will never experience. Most video arcades are gone now, lost to the mists of time, and although they still exist (there is one a few towns over from), it is a pale imitation of the splendid places I frequented as a young geek.
There is nothing wrong with playing games on a console, far be it from me to argue against that. But I truly miss the magic, yes I said magic, of the video arcade when it was in its heyday. The demo screens of the upright cabinets flashing interesting bits of gameplay so they could steal your quarters away (sometimes 2 or 3 at a time), almost calling to you, come play me, it'll be fun. The smells, surprisingly in my memory lacking of B.O., although in my mind I may be romantisizing it; the smells were clean, maybe a little ozone in the air from arcade machines working 12 hour shifts. There was the matallic rattle of quarters, of course, and the omnipresent beeping and booping.
To me, each screen was like a looking glass into another world, a world that I, for the price of a shiny quarter or perhaps ten, could be a part of for a short while. This feeling still exists even now with the multitude of console video games I possess now, and is part of the reason I play them to this day. The feeling was much stronger then, either because of my youth, the relative newness of video games, or because I was surrounded by others who also shared my addiction.
Strange thing is, then, as today, I am a 'lone' gamer. I don't mind playing video games with others, even complete strangers in arcades, but I had just as much fun playing with myself (yeah, hardy har, snigger all you want), as playing with others. I never got very far in any one game, either because I did want to spend tens of dollars mastering one game, or the bright lights of other cabinets beckoning me. Or I have ADD, could be that. Squirrel!
Thing is, I spent as much time watching people play arcade games as playing them myself. And, if you wanted to watch most if not all of an arcade games gameplay, get behind an asian person and watch him play. I kid you not, I have seen the ending of games I would not in a lifetime finish. I don't know if they try harder or it's a cultural thing , but thanks to the nice asian fellows who allowed me to watch over their shoulders as they played. I would have missed a lot of cool stuff otherwise.
As a young man uninterested in sports and basically a friendless loner, the arcade was a wonderful place to hang out. I never found it to be a den of sin, as many adults may have thought at the time (and God bless my parents, for never thinking that.) It was, and always will, a great part of my life. I still love videogames with all my heart, but the loss of arcades took that bit of joy I got from wiggling joysticks and slapping buttons, trying to beat that end boss that just won't die, dammit. And I admit that this is painfully cliche, but it was a simpler time. Games have become too complicated,a subject I will rant on in a seperate entry, I assure you. Thankfully, a lot of this simple=fun equation has come back in the form of downloadable games (I know, I own none of the new systems and don't care to yet, but I still read gaming mags and internet gaming sites)and I always have retro compilations to fall back upon to get a little of that magic back (thanks Capcom! Thanks Taito!)
But seeing row upon row of arcade cabinets, worlds upon worlds inn which I could be a hero, for just one day...that day has long passed. Still, it was fun while it lasted, and I will never forget. RIP, arcades.

I'm Getting Too Old For This Shit

2009-05-15T20:12:00.000-04:00

I went to Best Buy today (RIP Circuit City) looking for new XBox, Gamecube or Game Boy Advance Games, and noticed that there were very few of any types of these games left. There were only 2 Gamecube games left. Two! Of course, these games are being phased out for the current gen systems, but it still made me sad. All the systems I mentioned have been "dead" for years, so it makes sense to make room for all the Wii and DS shovelware so Nintendo can another 100 million. I still play those systems daily, however. And for the moment, I could care less about any of the current generation systems. The amount of games I would care to play of the current generation, I could count on one hand.
I guess what annoys me is that for the first time, I am pretty much ambivalent about current games. I love videogaming as much as ever, but the future of gaminbg no longer seems exciting to me. HD graphics, online gaming, DLC, and waggling a controller all mean dick to me. Is it my age, perhaps, as I look down the barrel of 40? Maybe. I am definately old school. The phasing out of the last generation feels like a great loss to me, and the future does not look bright to me.
I am sure I am in the minority in this, and if I want to get games, I can still get them used at Gamestop. PS2 is having new games made for it, but less face it, the system has one foot in the grave. It's one of the best systems I have ever owned with some of the best games I have ever played, but it's days are numbered.
The torch has been passed. I just wish it had been passed to something worthy. Maybe time will change my view, meanwhile I'll enjoy the past,and lament for it also.

Taking Turns and Grinding Away

2009-04-11T22:43:00.000-04:00

Being the old fuddy-duddy that I am, and being a lover of RPGs, I'm really not sure what to think of the new crop of RPGs coming in. For instance, it seems that a lot of the new RPGs have done away with an overhead map, meaning you just go from place to place, town to town in a very linear fashion. This dicourages a lot ofr exploration, which is one of the fun factors of RPGs. I also don't care much for controlling the main acharacter and then having AI for the other characters in your party. Sure you can tweak the AI of the party members to do what you want, attck aggressively, heal or just stand around whistling, but that often seems like too much work forme, and besides I would rather control the characters myself.
Gone are the days where your party would take a turn, then the bad guys would take a turn, etc. I know RPGs need to evolve, as Japanese RPG makers are scolded for NOT evolving, and thus the boring western RPGs are taking over. By boring I mean overly complicated, as most western RPG are huge open worlds where you can tweak every damn thing in your character, party, weapons, on and on. it's too goddamn complicated. For instance, in the critically acclaimed Morrowind, there were a thousand different options for what you could do, I got completely lost within 30 minutes of walking around the land, and got killed by some pissed off bitch with a stick.
I stopped playing after that and haven't played since. I don't fucking care how awesome Oblivion is, if it's like Morrowind, I'm not touching it.
Basically, I miss the simpler days of japanese RPGs that had good stories but were not unbearably complicated. It seems that I am not alone in this thinking, as the Nintendo DS seems to have remade, or will remake, every Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, at least twice, as well as remaking many other old-school JRGs, many of which have never even made it overseas. As the DS is the most popular gaming system in the world, this is telling.
For once in a very long time, I could care less about a new Final Fantasy (number 13. Well, besides FF11. I detest MORPGs). The game seems to take every bullet point western RPGs have and place them in a Japanese setting. This may be out of necessity, but it still makes me yearn for the days RPGs were simple AND fun.
When I first played Final Fantasy on the NES, I was blown away and played it until I finally finished it. That will never happen again, and I am sadder for it. For myself, and for generatoins of video gamers to come.

Goodbye Old Friend

2009-04-04T00:31:00.000-04:00

As many people who enjoy and play videogame already know, the magazine Electonic Gaming Monthly has ceased publication. I had been reader of this magazine for almost 15 of it's twenty years, and still consider it one of the best magazines about my favorite hobby. I was shocked and saddened when I found out earlier this year that EGM was gone. It actually felt like part of my childhood had been stripped away, even though I am almost 40.
No particular reason was given as to why EGM ceased publication, at least none I could find, but it's pretty easy to figure out. The horrible economy had much to do with it, I'm sure, even though by all indications the magazine was doing quite well. So much information now being now found on the internet is another factor. Magazines are becoming archaic. Of course I am also to blame;witness this blog. But I miss the feeling of a magazine in my hands and turning the pages. The internet is in some ways better than a magazine (you can show video of games,, for instance, and can get up to date information),but it's just not the same.
It's just not that I'm old and still getting used to getting plugged into the interweb, it was the simple fact that EGM was, since I started reading it, an excellent, well-done, and informative magazine cut down in it's prime. I believe the magazine could have lasted another 20 years easy.
And call me niave, but I never expected EGM to be there one month and gone the next. To be honest, I don't believe the writers did either.
RIP, Electronic Gaming Monthly. You will be missed.

The Download Generation

2009-02-20T21:36:00.000-05:00

Downloading stuff is all the rage right now. Music, movies, books...and videogames. Pulling electrons from the ether and assembling them into entertainment. It sounds cool, and in some ways it is, but I just don't know about it. I'm from the generation that needs and wants a physical object, such as a disk with the information on it. It makes me feel safer, somehow. Whereas if I were to download something, I would be afraid of it getting lost somehow, back in the ether. Call me old school, or just old, I'm not part of the download generation.
Downloading is becoming a big thing in videogames, with entire videogames able to be downloaded to hard drives and downloadable content (or DLC) for games that are sold on disk. I have to admit that downloadable games have their good points; mainly that games that would not have a chance of hell of ever being published because they are too quirky or not a sequel, can be distributed electronically at a fraction of the price. These games are the indie films of the gaming world, and that is a very good thing as developers fall back on sequels and blockbuster games that need to guarenteed they will make back the cost of developing the game, which is averaging 20 to 30 million and only getting higher. The downloadable/indie games are needed if there is to be any creativitity and imagination left in games.
What really bothers me is DLC. It allows game makers to be lazy, either by releasing patches that fix bugs that should have been fixed before the game was released, or by adding stuff that should have been in the original gane to begin with. Sometimes the DLC is free, and sometimes you have to pay for it. So let me get this straight:I pay 60 dollars for a buggy game and then pay an extra 10 for an extra level or new skins? You know what:fuck you and your game.
I long for a simpler time when you had a cartridge or a disk and that was it. Granted, I'm still not sure how they become games when inserted into the game system, could be some kind of weird gaming magic mojo for all I know. But you still have a physical object that own. If you download something, what exactly do you own? Air? Electrons? And you don't have to concern yourself with downloading more crap to your hard drive to fix bugs or race an extra track.
Still, I'll try not be completely negative. Indie games are good and a balm to the sting of expensive videogame sequels. It would be nice if they could be on disks though. In a kinder world...
(And yes, the irony of these words being in cyberspoace and not typed on paper is not lost on me. But who would read my rants if they were typed on a typewriter at home? Not that I expect these blogs to be read either. Ranting into the dark void, I am.)

It's too big!

2009-02-19T18:08:00.000-05:00

The big thing with videogames now is the term 'open world'. It's where you are free to do just about anything you want in the game world. Examples of this are the Grand theft Auto series, Elder Scrolls:Oblivion, and the recent Fallout game. In these games there are hundreds of things, maybe thousands of different things to do, decisions to make. You have the ultimate freedom.
For me, this freedom sucks.
I make enough decisions in the real world. What show should I watch? What do I eat for lunch? Do I have to go to work today? In a video game, the only real decision I want to make is, what bad guy do I shoot next? I don't really want to think all that much in a video game.
I played Elder Scrolls:Morrowind on XBox, excited to start an epic journey, only to be confronted by dozens of different missions and decisions. I wandered around the huge landscape, got completely, utterly lost, and ended being killed by a peasant by accident. I gave up. I may try the game someday,when I'm not looking for fun.
Everyone says ES:Oblivion is an awesome RPG, which is really big, man. The game looks cool, but after Morrowind, I'm not sure if I want to waste 500 hours of my life playing it.
Western RPG, which are becoming more popular than Japanese style RPGs, are famous for being open worlds. JRPGs are too linear, some say, they don't give you an EXPERIENCE, they follow a storyline too closely for that. Well, fuck that, I want the story, I want the linearality. If I want create a story, I'll write a story, and writing a story is HARD.
So in my book, open world games suck, linear games, like JRPGs and most FPS, rule. That's my choice and I'm sticking to it.

Games are for Children

2009-01-25T20:07:00.000-05:00

For a long time, a very long time, videogames have been seen as "childrens' toys". For a long time, they were. But in the past 10 years or so, the medium has matured, and not just in the level of violence (which will always be a sticking point for those who still think of video games as kids play), but in storylines, plot and characterization . More games have been made with the 'M" rating than I have never seen before. I consider this a very good thing, as video games need to mature. There are books for adults, movies for adults, why can't video games be for adults as well as for kids?
Video games are a unique medium, in which the player is in control of how the game and the story plays out. Sure you are often on a set path, but the fact is that you are the hero/heroine, and what you do wrong or right effects the game positivily or negatively. This experience should be experienced by any age, young or old, without the stigmata of others saying 'grow up', games are for kids.
As I mentioned, video games have been taking great strides in maturity, as those have been playing video games, like me since the atari 2600 have gotten older but still enjoyed our, in my belief, unique hobby. That is why I am frankly pissed at Nintendo's unwavering stance to make video games only for kids and neglect, and almost put a stigmata on those who with houses, jobs and kids but still enjoy video games as a hobby.
Nintendo has marketed the DS and the especially the Wii as game machines that the 'casual gamer' can play. That has worked very well so far, but there has been a glut of simple games, many aimed at children; worse many of these games are not very good. Yet, they sell well, because of the 'gimmicks' that the DS and Wii have:the touch screen, and the Wii remote. Children love gimmicks. They love waving their arms, love tapping on things.
this would not bother me so much if I did not feel that Nintendo is not adding and growing to the medium of videogames, instead, they are making videogames take a giant step backward. While the PS3 and the XBox 360 have games that try to improve, evolve and mature the medium, Nintendo does the opposite, infantalizing and stunting video games, which as a whole are trying to be as viable and important as movies as storytelling mediums. There is a ways to go yet, but Nintendo sure as hell isn't helping.
To be honest, as a lover of all things videogame, Nintendo to me is an embarrassment to the industry at this point. To underscore this, I will only say this 'Wii music.'
It is a sad state of affairs when the company that jump-started the videogame industry in the 80's is now the company dragging it back down. Nintendo is doing quiet well, but for quiet some time now, they have cared for nothing but themselves. Like an evil Pied piper, children follow them, their eyes glued to the hypnotic back and forth sway of the Wii remote.
If you diagree with this blog, and I'm sure many do, please email me at grumpygamer@yahoo.com. No swearing please, that would be childish.