Until I can write more.. ..Later!
* XBX GT: Dontkillscoop
* Wii Code: 4901 7040 5193 7122
* Steam: http://tiny.cc/Krk6e
I have not read much else other than mags from my PC Gamer subscription but no fiction novels. But, my Zune has allowed me to tap back into audiobooks once again so I've been listening to a few here and there. I have found that while at work I find myself torn between listening to podcasts, music, and audiobooks. I usually choose podcasts because there tends to be a variety and I don't have to do much searching. Subscribing to Zune Marketplace has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that I only pay $15 to download as much music -- ready to go playlists and mixtapes as a want. A curse in that the service will download duplicates of music I already own and that searching for stuff by artist can be discouraging due to the long list of people to look through so I usually just play music if only through playlists/mixtapes or if I know which artist/album I want to listen to. I wish there was a better way to distinguish between music I already own and music downloaded through the service -- that would make things so much easier for me. I don't even bother to make my own playlists any more because there is too much music to deal with.
[More coming.. ..blogging and working at the same time.]
I've been missing in action -- that's primarily because RL has taken over. The good news is that I'm now officially a year older at the ripe age of 26. My birthday was on March 8th. With birthday celebrations comes gifts and other various tokens of appreciation/affection. I saw Watchmen for my birthday and thought it was awesome. But, it only made me want to finish the graphic novel I started over a year ago (sigh!). The coolest thing I've received was a Zune. Gasp! Yes, a zune and I love it to death. So much so that I've subscribed to the music service and have downloaded over 80GB worth of music in less than a week. I also got a cute t-shirt with "SheGeek" across the front and moohlah from my parents (gotta love 'em). Outside of that not much gaming has been going on.
I've enjoyed a few small battles with my boyfriend in Multiwinia which have been a blast since I generally suck at strategy games. I've been tinkering with other small casual games such as Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble, The Maw, and even messing around with the Wii Fit. As you can see there has not been much time dedicated to "hardcore" gaming although I'd really love to find some time to finish up The Witcher once and for all and see GTA IV to the end.
I've been excited about the pending release of the Palm Pre though. I've been holding onto my original Motorola Q for the past 3 years now in the hopes that another smartphone will come along with the features I would like and this appears to be my golden ticket. I'm trying to decide if I want to be an early adaptor or wait for 6 months or so after its release for any kinks to be totally ironed out. I already spent some time this morning trying to determine what would be the best way to get my Outlook calendar on Google. So, I'll wait to see how that goes down.
For the time being it's back to RL hopefully I'll get more time to game soon. I also started a twitter that I generally remember to post to when I'm at work bored to tears. And, I'll post my zune card here as well so feel free to add me as a friend to either or both.
Gaming time has been rather limited when I managed to get an hour to myself I'll play through a mission of GTA IV. I've now unlocked the final island but have yet to acquire the safehouse from Ray. Although, I've accidentally stumbled upon some spoilers I still want to see the story unfold for itself. Some of my favorite characters thus far are Brucie, Carmen, and Roman. While in the car I find myself talking like Carmen to assume myself -- she's pretty hilarious but Brucie is even funnier.
Not much portable gaming other than pulling weeds in Animal Crossing on DS.
Until next time.
Things have been moving along since the start of the New Year.
I've returned to school which seems to be going okay. I'll be taking my first quiz soon to see how I'm doing with the material. And, I've been able to put in some time gaming. I've been sucked into the world of
I get the game on release day. I install it which was rather strange because I could not tell if the install was coming through a download via Steam or if the game was in fact being installed from the disc for the simple fact that the install would not launch without Steam and it being connected to the internet and also due to the fact that a timer came up saying it would take over 2 hours to install the game. WTF?!? I'll cut to the chase since I'm sure that everyone knows by now -- but the PC version of Saints Row 2 is poorly optimized. And, it looks very much so on par with GTA: San Andreas (seriously). The frame rate and in-game stuttering is horrid but I just can't stop playing because it's just that much fun.
So, I've been hanging out on the developer's forums to see if there are any updates from their end or a possible user fix -- nothing thus far other than Volition acknowledging there is something terrible wrong and that they are working on it. But, there have not been any official statements released. Reviews of SR2 for PC have been suffering horribly all because of their performance issues. If and when this ever gets fixed there is a definite gem out there. Until then I'll continue to enjoy my picture show until I tire of it which may be very soon. I've been considering taking a chance on GTA: IV for PC but then again I'll hold onto my peanuts of The Sims 3 -- they have never failed me!
Until next time!
I'm not able to breathe a little easier now that the holiday season is past me. I've been spending the time trying to relax and play through the pile of games that I have waiting before me. I've pushed Left 4 Dead aside somewhat and have been playing through Kane & Lynch: Dead Men for PC. I know this game got horrible reviews for all of its many mistakes but since I was able to get a copy for very cheap I went ahead and gave it a whirl. The gist of the story is that you are part of a very crooked and criminal duo - you have the ability to kill everyone from innocent bystanders, the cops, and other crooked criminals. Your task is to locate a package for the criminal organization you once were part of while they hold your ex-wife and child hostage. So, your goal is to free your family that absolutely hate your guts.
The game play itself was very simple with the controls and having the ability to control others. I liked the fact that they were not complex. But, aiming does not feel as streamlined as some other games so it can become annoying to shoot and aim at the cops (which were idiots anyhow, the A.I. was not all that great). So, I turned the difficulty to the easiest setting to make things a lot more fun for myself. Some of the most annoying things about the game were the checkpoint system --- you'd have to play through the entire chapter in order to save your progress and there is no quick save feature whatsoever.
The story itself was a little interesting it would have been even better if it was ever revealed exactly what the "package" was, whether or not Kane really was the double-crossing jerk everyone said he was, and Lynch were a little more fleshed out as to how he was contacted by The7. There were a lot of loopholes but for most people who've seen enough crime/screwed 'em over vengeance type movies you'll get the story. I think the biggest downside is that the story tries to make you like the characters towards the middle I think that's a mistake. The characters should have consistently continue to be baddies in personality throughout. Overall, I actually liked it despite its many flaws. I'd say it’s about average for a video game but it isn't the blockbuster as all the hype that was originally around the game during its initial release.
..I have way too many games to play. And, I'm very gulity for going out and buying another -- Prince of Persia for the PC. I played through the initial demo and the entire time my mouth hung open. I'm totally in awe of how beautiful the game looks but I'm awaiting the dreaded lack of story and game play mechanics I've seen come up in several reviews. So, I'll write more once I get along further but for the most part other than work and my personal life I've been playing TONS of Left 4 Dead. You would think of all the other gaming options available to me why do I keep going back to play the same maps over and over again? Because I love screaming, running, gunning, and planning with other people. Lets face it -- playing with other people is absolute fun!
Until next time!
There have been a ton of games coming out and I've been trying my best to play them all :o)
I intend to back track some before writing about anything else now that I have officially completed the solo portion of Guitar Hero World Tour. As I had written previously I enjoyed playing through the solo tour and I liked the premise behind being a solo player because it functioned in the same fashion as the previous titles in the franchise. The most annoying part of playing the drums in GHWT is that some songs were rather awkward to play on the Rock Band drum set. I would find myself going from blue/green combinations over to red in a sequence. Okay, I won't drag this out but Rock Band vs. Guitar Hero World Tour.. ..Rock Band wins but if you just have to have GHWT and like rhythm games you might enjoy GHWT especially the fact that they have some fairly popular songs past and present -- I was happy to see Misery Business by Paramore, the Mars Volta track, and most importantly Michael Jackson's Beat It.
I have also been loving on Fallout 3 and Left 4 Dead over the past couple of weeks. I had to take baby steps into playing Fallout 3 simply because some of the creatures are just so icky looking but overall it is a fun game to play. My favorite and what I find to be the most enjoyable part of the game is the V.A.T.S. system. I can't get enough of watching body and insect parts flying through the air. I have run into several frustrating issues with the game thus far - the first would be disappearing and suicidal NPCs. I actually saw Nathan falling from the overpass outside of Moira's Cater Supply. It took me by surprise and I just bust a gut laughing. I tried several times to go to previous saves to see if that would help prevent his untimely death but each time poor Nathan ended right over the side of the railing. So, I got bored with trying to fix the problem and just took all of his things. My next gripe of sorts is dealing with Dogmeat. I confess I was very jealous in seeing how the dog companion worked in Fable 2. So, I was determined to have Dogmeat function in the same capacity.
But, he just kept getting himself killed -- even when I told him to stay in one spot somehow I'd find his butt somewhere he should not have been trying to attack a creature or raider more powerful than himself. Having him around was more of a liability than help especially since I really wanted to see if he'd help me uncover some cool little treats but it was obvious that Dogmeat wasn't implemented all too well. My last real complaint is that the third person view isn't all that appealing to the eye -- my character looks very disjointed and awkward. I usually enjoy playing games in first-person if the option is presented to me but since the anticipation of being scared shitless or grossed out is a little unnerving I play 80% of the time in third-person and the rest first-person. I do look forward to eventually working my way through the main storyline but for the time being I'm working on several of the side quests.. ..well, when I can find the courage to face those gross looking Centaurs.
Zombies don't scare me though -- at least not in the same capacity as Centaurs do. I can't get enough of Left 4 Dead. But, I have noticed a few subtle differences from the original launch of the game and what I've been playing through now with friends. During the initial launch of the game (which I purchased through Steam) play through on advanced was not all that difficult but it was a little challenging. I found that if you've played through a map enough times that you were able to predict where boss zombies spawned and you could guess as to the general location of pain pills (temporary health boost), ammo, and the areas advanced weapons would be available. That isn't so much the case. Playing through on advance everything is a scarce commodity to be horded and used at the proper time which has made the game just that much more fun to play with others. One of my Steam friends put it best -- "The developers must have gotten tired of us beating their game so they decided it was time to show us who was boss." In a recent play through 3 smokers, 2 boomers, and 2 hunters were spawned all within the first 5 minutes of playing all near the safe house. It took the group I was joined with totally by surprise and taught us we couldn't relax even if we wanted to. If it isn't obvious -- I enjoy the game play. The one thing that I would have liked to have seen are better graphics but I understand that the game was created so that low-range systems could run it as well. My one complaint has been with the server system -- it can be spotty at times and I have been auto-disconnected several times during games.
I would have liked that if someone were kicked from a game due to connection issues that their spot in the game was held for a period of time so that they could restart their PC and come back into the game. Another portion of the game that some people enjoy is the Versus mode. I don't like it so much because I'm horrible as a boss zombie. Overall, Left 4 Dead is fun and engaging and it is a blast to play with 3 other individuals but I think this would have been best sold for $40 as a PC title rather than the $50 price tag that it is sporting following the pre-order sale of $45. And, this is simply due to the lack of content this is similar to Team Fortress 2 in the sense that it is an online multiplayer game but it is different in that the game forces more cohesion in order to reach a common goal -- survival.
"Do you know what Capitalism is? It's getting fucked!"
I've been waiting for this moment.. ..you know the arrival of Grand Theft Auto IV to PC and I didn't even have to wait an entire year (I think we are on to something here Microsoft). I watched a really cool trailer for the game on my PSP today and I think it is the first time I'd seen it. If I manage to find a copy or upload it to YouTube I'll be sure to post it because it is the only exciting trailer I've seen for the game -- ever. But, in anticipation of getting a copy I decided to watch Scarface and play GTA: Vice City. I'm looking forward to playing and I'm hoping that it was worth the wait.
I've always played some demos since I found myself having some free time which included Command & Conquer 3: Red Alert -- I thought this was fun even though RTS games generally don't hold my attention for long. I believe the full motion videos were used cleverly throughout the demo. James Bond: Quantum of Solace -- This is rather ho-hum and it was not much fun to play. I also fiddled around with some games that have been sitting around such as Brothers In Arms Hell's Highway -- This is a beautiful game but I have to get used to commanding my units and moving them around. I feel soooo damn guilty when I lose troops. I spent my first time playing trying to figure out if there was a way to revive one of my fallen men but I didn't find a solution so I restarted from my checkpoint. Kane & Lynch -- This isn't good at all but I'm trying my best to give it a fair shot. Dungeon Runners -- I decided to give this another shot since I don't have the money to sink into a monthly fee for World of Warcraft. I think it is a cute little game and I intend to play through it more when I find the time.
There has been so much going on as far as gaming is concerned that I have not had the time to sit down and blog. I'll start with the bad news - I had the flu and was out for the count this past weekend. I felt so bad I didn't play anything! I do feel a lot better now but still have a lingering cough. Latest games on the list to be played or for me to continue playing are Guitar Hero World Tour in which I've played through what I believe to be the majority of the solo drum portion of the game and Fallout 3 in which I've only created my character and have watched being played by Eric in bits and pieces. So, I have a lot to write about but I won't be able to touch on everything today so I will deliver my first impressions of GHWT.
First, everyone will say that GHWT is chasing after RB's glory and that could be true but lets face the facts - before we were all playing in pseudo bands we were ALL shredding away on our plastic guitars. I'll never forget my first experience with Guitar Hero. Every moment I was yelling, Wow! because I beat a song or because something cool happened on stage for an encore. And, later on with GH: Rock Legends I was hyped to have guitar boss battles against Tom Morello of Rage Against The Machine and Slash to play the great "Welcome to the Jungle." So, I wonder why is everyone dumping on the GH franchise and what they would like to move onto?
The fact is RB made it fun to play with others and party with your friends and family - I for one have already had an official rock band party with my family and they enjoyed themselves. But, I've been enjoying GHWT so much more because I'm reliving and loving everything thus far that I had the first time I played GH - the Wow! factor. Only in GHWT can I play alongside music artists I like such as Jimi Hendrix and Hayley from Paramore their movements are very authentic and the stage antics are awesome.
[More to come.. ..I'm at work]
I was very impressed with the polish of the menus but the actual gameplay and in-game graphics were horrid. Now, I'll say this - yes, this is a demo of the game and yes, I acknowledge that it could just be my PC setup altogether but my overall PC gaming experience with next generation games has been pretty awesome. The one thing I did not do was turn off ALL background processes while playing the demo so I'll do that sometime this weekend and see if that provides a better experience but I say for the time being: Avoid the Mercenaries 2 PC version like the plague!
On the other hand, Pure I found to be a lot of fun. The demo thrusts you right into the game not providing much of a tutorial and it is obvious that this is a port from the 360 version. The keyboard controls felt very uncomfortable for me so once I plugged in a control pad I was good to go. The graphics are nice and everything flowed together nicely but I wouldn't consider this something to sit down and play for hours. It's definitely a pick-up and play kind of game. I confess this would feel more at home on a console sitting on the couch. But, to my surprise I fell in love with Sacred 2: Fallen Angel.
[More to Come]
Where do I start? My DS has been like crack lately. I can't stop playing Hotel Dusk. While sitting here at work I did read that Nintendo is releasing a new version of the Nintendo DS that has been dubbed the DSi.
Personally, I think the cameras and MP3 feature could have been left off. Companies always feel the need to shove cameras on every damn device out there. Right now I have a camera on my Motorola Q but I had to get rid of my Palm Z71 because I hated the idea of having a camera in my PDA. My PSP has photo viewing capabilities which I actually like because sometimes I feel I need to be reminded that there are people in my life that I care about so I'll just glance at photos of my family when I'm feeling introspective. But, I would never want to use it to take photos.
My views on this multimedia DS are skewed because I have grown attached to the functionality and reliability of my PSP being my all-around portable multimedia device. I don't game on it as much and that is simply because my new toy (DS) has me enamored. Would I buy the new DSi come 2009 even considering I just brought my first DS. The chances are that I probably will but it would be for the DS store and SD slot. But, I wouldn't want Nintendo to get the wrong idea and think that adding some tacky cameras and MP3 feature is what is helping the device sell at least not in my case if I do in fact get one. Because, lets face it.. ..built-in cameras and MP3 add-ons are so '01.
I love rhythm games - the guitar heroes, rock bands, and dance dance revolutions of the world have always kept me happy. So, the recent software release of Rock Band 2 is rubbing me the right way now so much so that my anticipation of The Witcher Enhanced Edition has subsided quite a bit. But, before I get into my gaming babble I wanted to note a correction to my previous post about PAX 2010.
It will be held in.. ...Boston, MA.. ..not NYC. Now, I don't know if Boston will be any better but my guess is that there won't be as much miscellaneous tourist traffic as there would have been in NYC. Whew is all I can say to that!
But.. ..back to the goodness of Rock Band 2 and all the other huge releases that are coming for the Fall and Winter. Personally, I'm so excited that I've complied a list of games that I'd love to buy for my systems. I've started a solo band where I'll sing and play either drums or guitar which is awesome called One Wom@n Show. I don't think I'll ever be good enough to do the Battle of the Bands and win but I'm enjoying the new World Tour Mode with the ability to either play solo or with others. This is a huge improvement and one of the features I like the most because I was so disappointed with the first and not having the ability to earn fans, money, and just enjoy the overall rock band experience.
Another improvement that I like is that with online band quickplay the song selection is a round robin. Thank god! No more Bon Jovi 100 times in a row because of a boring band leader. On the other hand, I've had the pleasure of playing with people who will intentionally fail a song because they don't like it so I'm now trying to find people who want to play because they like playing with others.
More to come soon...
With that said I am looking forward to the VGXPO which is a video game expo being held in Philly coming November. Since Philly is only a few hours from me I'm going to totally bum it and go as cheap as I possibly can but I'm guessing I won't be as a game shy as I was for PAX.
So, I haven't been playing much except for a lot of handheld games for the PSP and I also went out and brought a Nintendo DS. I just couldn't resist the temptation. So, I've been fiddling with Cooking Mama and I've grown fond of Professor Layton and the Curious Village.
All in all.. ..I enjoyed PAX and I'd recommend the trip to anyone who has ever been hesitant in going.. ..just do it!
So, I didn't spend much time around the computer as I thought I would to log my thoughts on PAX so I'll share them now. The 29th was the first day of PAX and I must say it was crazy nuts. First off the convention center was nice and the staff that worked the convention center were very friendly and awesome. Woke up Friday morning and grabbed a bite to eat from the hostel and then walked around the Pike Place Market and eventually found my way towards the convention center. Got there around 10 to 11 something and there was already a huge line of people! Received our official PAX swag bag and you could see everyone eagerly rifling through everything in it. The program is sweet looking I wish mine went a little more unscathed but I needed it to keep up with the wide variety of things that were going on throughout the weekend. The swag bag included a DTS kit, a bunch of ads and booth ads for the expo, and demos for OTRSPD Episode One and WoW trial. Outside of the program I appreciate the DTS kit which consisted of two PAX '08 buttons and instructions to acquire as many as you can by challenging others at games - at one point the most I ever had was 5 I left with 4. The Top 20 people were to turn their buttons in for prizes. I thought DTS was a great way for people to interact with one another but I'm shy so I didn't challenge anyone but come across a few who wanted to challenge me.
Once the gates opened and the nerd herd was let go to roam freely the craze ensued. I went into the expo hall but didn't get my hands on much during the first day since everything was super busy. The first booth I visited was for Fantasy Flight Games where several board games were being demoed. I got the chance to play a few rounds of Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game, which is FFG's unreleased take on the series. And, as someone who doesn't care much for board games I enjoyed this one quite a bit but it sucked that the demo ended once I received my cylon card -- I was ready to wreak havoc. So, I spent some time walking around and looking over people's shoulders at some of the games being played.
Several of the big demos that garnered huge lines were Fall Out 3, Gears of War 2 (played), Puzzle Quest Galactrix (played), Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe (played), Mercenaries 2, Rock Band 2, and Guitar Hero World Tour just to name a few.
I've been in Seattle for a total of 3 hours now. I must say my first trip cross-country has gone smoothly this far. But, I did suffer from some motion sickness once I hit the ground. I have not seen much just yet outside of the Pike Place Market which is pretty neat. It's a huge place that's for sure. I got a pretty awesome candy apple from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory. I'll get some pictures taken soon (I hope). And, the first official day of PAX starts tomorrow! Woot!
I've been up to my ears in gaming but the sucky part is I'm sooooo sleepy. The Witcher is like crack.. ..I just can't get enough of it right now. I'm so looking forward to the Enhanced Edition fix that should be coming out soon. And, once again..
..PAX is almost here! I leave in the morning for my flight out of BWI I wonder if I'll be able to function once touching down at SEATAC considering the huge time change. The only downside to the trip thus far is me missing Big Brother's double elimination on Thursday (sad face). So! If you are going to PAX hope to see you there and if you are not hopefully you'll be able to next time around.
Woot!
For a moment I totally fell in love with Soul Calibur IV then I had to take it back to Blockbuster after holding it hostage. As a kid I loved fighters such as games from the Street Fighter franchise and hands down games from the Mortal Kombat franchise. Super Nintendo FTW! Anyhow, SCIV is probably one of the few fighters I've played since SF and MK and I loved every effin' minute of it. The plot and side-stories for the characters were hard to follow partly because of all the text and dumb dialogue of the characters but also because I've never played any of the previous SC games. That aside the game is totally jaw dropping to look at and I'm not talking about the swollen boobs on many of the toons.
There are several modes to the game: story, arcade, tower of souls, training, and museum. I played through several of the story modes and tower of souls which was so damn awesome. The story mode is your typical fare - you choose a character and battle through several different toons in a progression until you reach the boss battle at the end. The tower of souls however I felt to be more rewarding. You fight your way through different levels of a tower fighting baddies (other toons) for loot. At times you were given the ability to bring other toons. The online matching works very well also. I enjoyed the style in which it is presented -- a round robin. I think online I only won one match but I did get my ass handed to me more than enough that I didn't really bother going back to play online. But! I loved having an opponent to play against.
There were many nights that Soul Calibur duels went down and I came out victorious. This game definitely led to many "Oh sh!t! Did you see that?" and high-five moments. Eventually, I will purchase the game but right now it ain't in my budget but I definitely give it a 9 out of 10 - a deduction for all the text and cheesy dialogue.
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