Now that we've entered the twilight of 2017 and are looking back on all the amazing games that have come out this last year this is just a reminder that the holiday season isn't always as cheerful for some.
I personally have suffered little when it comes to the winter blues but my wife is heavily affected. It can be tough for some to just get out of bed in the morning, let alone get into the holiday spirit. Christmas parties, if they even attend, can be hell for some people and the thought of shopping in a busy mall is enough to give anyone a panic attack.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from depression, anxiety or any mental health issues during the holidays please post here and let me know. No one should be alone this time of year, even if its all you, or they, want.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone and bring on all of that juicy Game of the Year content!
I don't want to sound like I think I'm a bad ass but I wasn't really scared by RE7 VR. Though the early game did give me the creeps and the dark environment throughout is quite overwhelming there are parts of the game that break this experience quite a lot. Now, let me elaborate.
The plantation in VR is second to none. The depth of field in the whole of the area is amazing. The basement crawlspaces feel enveloping and leave me a little claustrophobic. The outdoors feel fantastic and open and even the door opening animation is so good.
This is all unfortunately broken by the characters themselves. There is a long way to go before we can cross that uncanny valley and it is never more prevalent then when Jack or Marguerite appear all up in your grill. Needless to say that happens a lot and really took me out of the world. Like an animatronic skeleton jumping out at you in a theme park the jump is there but you quickly see it's a fake and you really have nothing to be afraid of.
I really did like this game and its story and characters are great. The environment is also awesome but I do really think we have a ways to go before animation can really be good enough to keep you in the world more effectively.
That's my opinion though, what did you guys think? I'd like to know and would love to discuss it with you.
Inspired by Patrick Klepek's story on Waypoint and the subsequent thread on Twitter I thought I'd write this blog in hopes of getting some replies about what's happened in your life since Final Fantasy XV was announced ten years ago. 10 years is a long-ass time and so much has happened and I want to hear some of your stories.
I'm just going to list what's happened to me and you can feel free to do the same in your comments or however you wish to tell your story.
Here's some events that have happened in my life:
- Graduated High School
- Moved to a new city for college
- My step-dad passed away
- Both my Grandmothers passed
- Graduated college
- Met my girlfriend
- Moved into two apartments
- Girlfriend's mom diagnosed with Stage 4 cervical cancer (now 2 years in remission!)
- Bought a beautiful corgi
- My niece was born
- Proposed to my now fiance
What's your story? Let me know in the comments duders!
A lot of people on the internet got mad at at a video game the other day. Business as usual for the most part but, for once, I see where they are coming from.
Though I won't add my voice to the cacophony of angry shouts I just want to explain what might have caused such an outcry when it comes to this particular part of history and it's apparent "trivialization"
I'm going to preface this by saying I haven't played Battlefield 1 yet but from all the reviews I've read and the Quick Look and Vinny's livestream on this site I can say, pretty confidently, that EA and Dice have done a great job showing the horrors of this war (in the campaign at least).
When it comes to this game a lot of people were wary of it already as the First World War is a touchy subject for a lot of people. But low and behold, they did it! A great game that tells the story of the horror of war while maintaining that crazy fun multiplayer we've come to love.
But then their marketing team got a little too comfortable and used the hashtag #JustWWIThings along with pictures of war with quippy lines underneath like this:
I like dark humour as much as the next guy but that might be a bit too far. Notice how I spelled "humour"? Yes I am from the Great White North and I'm pretty sure we and our European brethren were the loudest when it came to the distaste of this unfortunate campaign.
When it comes to the First World War I feel comfortable in saying this war isn't something that's very prevalent in the American historical mind (as a Canadian, I could be totally wrong but being so closely exposed to the US I believe WW2, Vietnam and Iraq are way more ingrained).
In Canada, the Great War holds a very special place in our heart. It's where we earned our stripes as a colony and built the foundation for the Statute of Westminster which gave us our sovereign independence from the British Empire (yes, we asked nicely, typical Canadians). The Battle of Vimy Ridge is arguably one of the most important military victories in our history as it was the first time all three (yes, only three) of our expeditionary forces grouped together and won (the first time a colonial army had defeated an enemy on foreign soil). To this day there is a parcel of Canadian Soil located at Vimy Ridge with a monument commemorating our dead. 172,000 men were injured and 61,000 never came home.
When it comes to Europe, well, there are still parts of the continent that bear the scars of that war 100 years after it happened. For both of us (Europeans and Canadians) its an incredibly important part of our history and, yes, a joke is a joke, but it's definitely something that should be handled with a little bit more tact.
Leonard Nimoy was an icon, a man without measure. Who taught us what it meant to be a true friend and to go where no man has gone before. But to me, he was more than that.
He was afternoons after school, coming home to watch syndicated reruns of Star Trek, the adventures of the Starship Enterprise and his struggles between his human and Vulcan sides, sometimes forgoing logic for emotions.
He was a conversation with parents, one of the first shows we watched together he played a character that spanned generations and brought us together.
Nimoy was my first comic convention and meeting all the cosplayers who dressed as him or other members of the Enterprise crew. Making an appearance via Skype he always seemed to love and respect the adoration the fans had of the series.
He was one of the first dates I had with my girlfriend, going to see the J.J. Abrams Star Trek sequel and seeing his face again after his amazing re-entry into the character in the previous movie. His haunting message about Kahn still resonates with me today.
And lastly, Nimoy was days at home with my loved one, binge-watching Netflix and as much Star Trek as we could stand in one sitting.
Leonard Nimoy meant a lot to a lot of people and he will live on in my memories. He shaped my love of Sci-Fi and I’ll forever be thankful for his trailblazing efforts.
Rest in peace Mr. Nimoy. I have been – and always shall be- your friend.
Recently I've started playing through the Mega Man games after finally beating 9 and 10 when I got them for free with Playstation Plus.
Right now I'm on #3 and I'm having so much fun. The difficulty is incredibly frustrating at times but the platforming and boss fights are top notch. And that music, oh my god, that music. So good.
I recently have been collecting them on the Vita (which is an awesome Mega Man playing machine is you ask me) and I can barely wait to get on the bus or go on break to play them again.
I'm going to start making my way through the rest of them, slowly but surely, and try and beat every one of the core Mega Man games, leading up to Mighty No. 9.
So do you guys enjoy tough, retro games? If so, which ones? I want to enrich my gaming experience so give me some more ideas.
I was not old enough to remember what Grim Fandango was, nor did I have a computer that could play it so I'm glad I've had the opportunity to play this game in all of it's HD glory.
It's so hard! Like super hard, it may be that I missed the adventure game renaissance that happened around this time and my mind doesn't really work that way but my god is this game tough to figure out sometimes.
I love that its not pixel hunting though, everything you need is laid out in front of you effectively enough, but it's like trying to rebuild a rifle you've never touched before.
Don't get me wrong though, I've been having a lot of fun with it, the story and voice acting are really good and the environments are so well thought out I find myself getting absorbed within a lot of the time.
I don't have any of the next gen consoles, or current gen consoles, whatever we're calling them now but I do have a Vita, and this thing feels right at home on this console. I've enjoyed immersing myself in this world while on my hour-long commute to work on public transportation.
Grim Fandango Remastered is a fantastic game, very weird but with its Noire-type story and Mexican inspirations its a really fun, immersive kind of weird.
What do you think? Am I just dumb or are there others having a tough (but good) time with this game?
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