A list of the assorted crap I bought during the most recent Steam sale: 1. Fairy Tale Mysteries: The Puppet Thief Collector's Edition ($4.75) 2. Midnight Mysteries: Witches of Abraham Collector's Edition ($7.00) 3. The Fall ($5.00) 4. Freedom Planet ($7.45) 5. Aliens: Colonial Marines ($5.07) -- Bought from Amazon 6. Leather League ($7.00) 7. This War of Mine (15.00) 8. Mercenary Kings ($6.79)...
As is a semi-tradition, I spent way too much money on Steam crap this past sale. Not so much on Steam itself, as other sites (Humble Store, Amazon, etc.), but still, the case remains. Here's a list of things I bought/received as gifts/given as gifts. I'm kind of estimating at some of these prices, but it's close enough: 1. Gone Home ($5, Humble Store) 2. London 2012: The Official Video Game of...
I've seen a few movie reviews of World War Z saying that a true adaptation wouldn't work, or at least wouldn't work in a film setting. I don't believe that. Assume, for the moment that the movie is going to be 2 hours long (give or take), which is pretty standard, minus credits/title sequence. Also assume that every story in the book could be broken down into 5 to 10 minute long short films (wi...
If true, this is interesting: http://pastebin.com/uCmdh9jB The idea is that the Xbox One is going to be like Steam, but the problems are readily apparent. 1. Steam has a 30 day check in, NOT a 24 hour check in. A lot of the use cases don't apply to most people, and MS is theoretically right in saying that most people do have online access for some part of a 24 hour period, but it's missing the...
So, if the PS9 is due out in 2078 as the old commercial said, with the PS2 out in 2000, the PS3 out in 2006, and the PS4 out in 2013 (rumored anyway), where does this leave Sony's long-term plans? There's still 65 years between the PS4's release date, and the PS9's. Do they just hope that each new Playstation can hold the line longer? Does that mean a PS5 is due out sometime in 2025? PS6 in 203...
With the Steam Sale being over with, I thought I might to a rundown of the things I got. I'll break it down from gifts from people, games from other stores (Amazon/Humble Bundle), then Steam games I actually bought on Steam. Here goes: Gifts from people: 1. MDK 2 2. MDK 2 HD 3. Don't Starve 4. Starvoid 5. Legend of Grimrock 6. Darksiders 2 The Abyssal Forge DLC 7. Lego Star Wars Complete Saga G...
I'm not going to pretend to really understand how women are treated, in online playing, or with game development (regardless of job/position). I do understand some of the impulse that men have towards women. There are three issues involved primarily: 1. Guys (incorrectly) see women gaming as some sort of encroachment on "their territory", as it were. These are the same idiots who tell a woman t...
Feeling kind of in a blogging mood (more so than Twitter), so I might as well talk about a few things: 1. I reviewed Torchlight 2 here and Dark Souls (PC Version) and Inquisitor here . Short versions: I loved Torchlight 2, reasonably enjoyed Dark Souls on PC, and think that Inquisitor is one of the worst games ever made. 2. My new laptop is still going strong, and can play anything I can throw...
Been a while since I posted here, but I might as well. The biggest thing is that I got a new laptop (on August 3rd). My old laptop was an Asus G72GX. The specs were an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz, 6gb of ram, Nvidia 260M GTX, and a 500gb hard drive. The GPU essentially overheated and Best Buy (whom I bought the laptop from and had a warranty with) decided to replace it. I had to come up with 300$ m...
Games I own for the ol'e PS2: Amplitude, Arcana Heart, Shadow of the Colossus, Dark Cloud 2, DBZ Budokai 3 GH, Digital Devil Saga 2, Disgaea 2, Digital Devil Saga 1, Disgaea 1, Final Fantasy XII, God of War 1, God of War 2, Gran Turismo 4, Grim Grimoire, Growlanser 2: Sense of Justice, GTA San Andreas, Kingdom Hearts 1, Kingdom Hearts 2, MGS 3 Subsistence, Mortal Kombat Shaolin Monks, Namco X C...
1. Them shutting down game servers. As opposed to *every* other game company out there (that uses MS/Sony servers) EA saw fit to build their own for online play (and features). This gives them the power to also shut down the game servers. If you want to, you can go out and buy a copy of Perfect Dark Zero and play it online. You *can't* do that with any EA game older than 2 years old. They conti...
I got AC: Rev a few weeks ago, and managed to beat it a few nights ago. I have thoughts on the game: 1. Their dumbing down of the property/notoriety stuff bugged the shit out of me. Basically, whenever you buy a building (bank, doctor, landmark, etc.) you gain 25% Templar awareness. Every single time! And as opposed to AC2 or Brotherhood, there's no wanted posters to find. The only ways to decr...
On my XDK, I have a few apps, as well as a Debug version of the game 007: From Russia With Love. Here's the Audio Console App (I can't get it past this screen, likely because I don't have the hardware): DolphinClassic App (just a Dolphin swimming around, likely for graphical testing/showcase): Gamepad App (there's 4 parts to this, used as a testing application for all parts of a Gamepad): Secon...
In this post, I'm going to show some pictures of the XDK Dashboard. I also have pictures of the Apps on the xbox, but I'll split that into another posting, so that this doesn't get too huge. Date Menu (when I turned on the console, I was hit with this at the start): XDK Menu (Part 1): XDK Menu (Part 2): Options Menu: Network Settings Menu: System Settings Menu: Certification Menu: Xbox Live Men...
Well, I finally got my Debug Xbox. I found a seller on Craigslist, e-mailed him, and we eventually worked out an ebay transaction. The unit came in today, so I took a bunch of pictures of it. This posting will be the Hardware pictures only. In my next posts, I'll show the dashboard/software pics. All pics were taken with my iPod camera. Front shot of the console: Top of the console: In it's pla...
So, about a year ago, I bought a used copy of Shadow Hearts: Covenant at my local Gamestop. The disks looked fine, had the manual, and original case. A good deal, actually. I didn't play it at the time, because I also bought like 14 other PS2 games, and just stuck it in a drawer to be played sometime in the future. Well, about 3 months ago, my laptop was getting repaired (took about 2 weeks) so...
So, with the Steam sale come and gone, I thought I might go over my poor, poor purchases, both that I made myself, and got friends to make for me. I'll start with what I got myself (title, and price) Fable 1, 2.50$ Cargo, 5.00$ Lego Batman, 5:00$ Sonic Generations, 15.00$ (from Amazon/CAG) Renegade Ops, 3.00$ (from Amazon/CAG) E.Y.E.: Divine Cybermancy, 2.50$ Rainbow Six Vegas, 2.50$ Railworks...
This isn't a gaming blog at all, but it's something that's been on my mind a little. This is fairly political, so just warning you, ahead of time. The 2nd Amendment is both a curse & a blessing. It is a blessing, because, at the time, there was a fear that the British might try and do some chicanery again, so a well-regulated Militia (Army, etc.) check is fine, and a right to bear arms (persona...
Some gaming update stuff: 1. Going through Batman 1 on 360. It's still great. More tightly paced than Batman 2, at least. I just did the first Scarecrow level, so that's ok. 2. Beat Red Dead Redemption. Yeah, my issues remained with it, Marston kind of skating around, for example. Also, I really disliked the health system in the game. I did have a weird thing occur at the end (besides the game...
My usual late-night gaming update is as follows: 1. Got Batman day of launch. Beat it a few days later. It was good, but I think overall, Asylum is the better game. I just mean tonally, and everything. I realize City has better combat, more crap to do, more villains/enemy types, etc. I just had more personal fun with Asylum though. Not sure if I'm in the minority or not though. Also, the contro...
Another game-related update, as well as other things: 1. I've been playing Psychonauts on the PC some, since that Steam update came out. It's still good, and holds up. I did hit a MASSIVE problem though. I was in the wrestler world, fighting the 3rd mini-boss (the vulture/crow wrestler), when the game crashed. "No biggie" I thought, PC games can be a bit unstable, so I restarted my computer, an...
As usual, this'll be a bit of a free-form expression of some of the games I've been playing. I've been too scatter-shot (as always) to really focus on any one thing. 1. Bayonetta -- kind of dumb, but pretty decent. It's interesting how sexualized the character appears to be, but none of that actually occurs in the game (so far, anyway. I'm on Chapter 9) I did some of the "farming 1,000,000 Halo...
So, I got my Wii in a few days ago. I got it in, during my surgery, which is decent. I actually primarily got it, as a rehab tool. Since I'm going to be laid up, even more than normal, I'm hoping it can keep my arms at least a little more active. Anyways, here are pictures (to be jealous of) Console and sensor bar (angled): Closer on the console and bar: Even closer on the console: GC ports/mem...
So, I won a game in Vito's (user: Vito_Raliffe) game raffle on GB, in the form of DBZ: Burst Limit. I'm actually kind of happy to have won it, despite DBZ being a dumb franchise. There's a place for super flashy, shallow fighters out there. DBZ isn't exactly complicated (as a narrative, or characters, etc.), but it's still weirdly enjoyable. Plus, while reviews for Burst Limit have been average...
I tend to blog better at night, for some reason. Anyway, here's a few things going on, gaming-related: 1. Beat Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I really enjoyed the end, where you're basically jumping around in Tron-land. I didn't 100% the game or anything crazy like that, I think I got somewhere around 65% done. I didn't like it as much as AC2, despite recognizing it's a better game. The economy...
In a few days, I'm probably going to blog about the Witcher 2 vs. Fable 3, in terms of story, gameplay, audio, graphics, intent, etc. I think the two are actually fairly similar, but have completely different ways of going about stuff, and the end-all goal. For some completely odd reason, people compare the Witcher 2 to Dragon Age: Origin (or 2), and it's weird to me. I haven't played 2, but Or...
A few of my favorite games, in no real order (might come back to this later) EDIT: Put up some thoughts on each game. 1. Planescape Torment -- For having a masterful story, an intriguing protagonist/plot, and for having an epic feel. 2. Space Rangers 2: Reloaded -- For letting me play however I want, and for being completely bonkers. The "Reloaded" stuff is also pretty good. 3. Vampire: The Mas...
Hoping to pick up RB3 in a few days. It's 10$ at Toys R Us, and at one of the Blockbusters around here. If it's new at BB, I'll get it there (it's closer). The TRU might not work, cause I can't get there easily, but we'll see.
In the world of MMO's (and other MM type things), the idea of Microtransactions seems to be akin to the devil's penis being inserted in a newly formed orifice that every player has grown. What the hell? There is a good, and a bad side to microtransactions, as with everything else. The good: Gives non-serious/hardcore people a reasonable shot Some unique vanity items The bad: Exclusionary (to po...
So, with the Steam sale, in full swing, I thought I'd discuss what I've bought so far. Granted, there's a few days left, but I'm out of reasonable cash to spend, so this is likely it. So...here goes: First day: 1. World in Conflict Complete (around 15 bucks) 2. Test Drive Unlimited 2 (10$) 3. Beat Hazard Ultra DLC (3 bucks) (That day, 27.47$) Second Day: 1. Zen Bound 2, 1$ 2. "Super ID Software...
Well, since I won the press case from PDP/Candace, I figured I should give something back. So, here's my review on it: The case itself: I love the case/stuff inside. The case is solidly built, and looks great. Like an old record case from the 70's. Strong enough to withstand some heavy bombardment. The controls/electronics fit well. It'd be great actually if the case was sold separately, as it'...
I kind of dig the PDP controllers for 3 reasons: The 1st (main) reason, is because their PR person, Candace, is completely nice, adorable, interesting, and, overall, a good person to know Second reason is because I like the quiet irony of the PS3 controllers having a red LED, while the 360 is green. The PS3 test (debug) controllers (DECR-1010E) had a red light-up home button that was pretty goo...
So, I'm going to be buying a Wii in a few days. Ironic, since I just bought two GameCubes. But, this Wii is fairly cool. It has a case-mod, of it being see through. So, here's what it looks like: I like the case, because I can actually see where I'm putting disks into it. I had a Wii earlier, and it was always guess-work, of if I'm putting GameCube games in the right spot or not. But, onto the...
Might blog about GTA (as a franchise) in a few days or so. We'll see when I get around to it. I just bought (well re-bought, for like the 3rd time) GTA: San Andreas for the 360. I talked with Buzz_Clik about it some, and "yeah', I have some thoughts on the series, and which ones I liked/which ones I didn't like. San Andreas literally sucked me in, for like 2 hours tonight, and when I was done,...
So, I got a dilemma, and need some help: I got a DebugStation a few months ago. It's a blue, PS1 (with cords/box), that was for testing/reviewing games. Someone is now interested in acquiring it, and is offering me a trade for it, with an 80GB PS3. Should I take him up on his offer? The DebugStation is nice, and a great historical/cool find, but I'm never going to really do anything with it. An...
So, as some of you may know, I was on the hunt earlier for a GameCube with a few games. I FINALLY found one, and I'm going to pick it up next week. It's a black GameCube (with cords/controller, memory card) for 50$. Comes with 4 dumbass games, but the 5th one is Eternal Darkness. This is *WHY* I am buying this thing. It'll be about 50$, 60, to 65$ with the cost of transportation. Also, I found...
Ok, here are a few of my thoughts: Firstly, I generally don't mind/care about female gamers. I care about gamers. If they have boobs, fine, if they have chest hair, fine, if they have a tail, fine. I ONLY care about gamers, and their ability/enjoyment of games. Second: This video is a COMPLETE FUCKING ABORTION: This single video exemplifies entirely what is wrong with the female gamer/geek cult...
Finished the BTTF Episode 4 "Double Visions". Good episode, but it had a few problems: 1. I missed Jennifer some. Considering she was so integral to the third episode, her short time in this episode was annoying. 2. Some of the camera stuff bugged me, just the way it kept switching, and loosing track of where I needed to go. 3. Citizen's Brown's motivations are lacking. Who really cares about E...
So, I'm trying to determine a list of the best GameCube games. I've been looking to buy a GameCube (or possibly a Panasonic Q), and some games, but I'm having a hard time trying to nail down the "best" games for the system. Here's what I got so far: 1. Animal Crossing 2. Sonic Gems Collection 3. Eternal Darkness 4. Legend of Zelda Collector's Edition 5. Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker 6. Legend of...
So, I like to play Modern Warfare 2 on PC. It's not perfect, but is still fun. I am (well...was...) only level 17, noob-toobing my way up the rankings. I'm really not good at the game, and I usually average a 1:1 kill ratio. So, I may kill 7 guys in a match, but get killed 7 times. Some maps are different, but my ratio is fairly consistent, dipping when I get frusterated, or dealing with good p...
Yet another medical update note thingy, as well as other stuff. We'll see how it goes. As far as the medical stuff, it's a challenge. I have two orthopedic surgeons trying to diagnose my situation. I saw one of them a week or so ago. His basic tactic is to wait it out. He wants me to come back in 4 months (approx. August), and get another scan done. The scan I had with him earlier showed the mu...
A few things in my small world of gaming, as of late: 1. I did a match of MK vs. DC on the recent TNT here on Giant Bomb. I think I was the third or fourth fight Jeff did. He picked Liu Kang, and I chose Captain Marvel. I won the match, but I cheesed it pretty bad. Marvel is a bit of a cheap character, plus Jeff was not at the top of his game, remarking out loud that he didn't know how to throw...
Just a couple thoughts on Dawn of War 2: Retribution, so far. I'm fairly deep (I think) in the Space Marine campaign. That's about it: 1. The DLC/collector's editions stuff really breaks the game in a fun way. My Diomedes was WAY over-powered compared to my other guys. It's a lot of fun really. 2. "The Ancient One" (Spoiler: It's Tarkus) is badass! Seriously, the plasma-shot thing is great. Wha...
I like Torchlight, quite a bit. I have it for the PC, and played the mage guy, beating that game at least twice, and enjoying it. I'm interested in the Xbox 360 port also, since the Diablo PS1 port failed on an epic level. One thing though: Torchlight is NOT a super-unique thing on the Xbox 360. It's a Diablo-style, hack & slash, RPG, to be sure. But a few of those already existed on the 360, n...
Well, at the moment I'm feeling better, but I'm not 100%. For the past few days I've been sick with the Flu, or a stomach bug, or something. Considering I'm immunosuppressed , this isn't exactly a good thing. I actually called up both my oncologist's yesterday to ask if I should go into the hospital, because of how dire I was feeling. Luckily I seem to be over the brunt of it, and except for a...
Was able to get the game Magicka last night. An interesting game, so I had a few thoughts on it; 1. Combining spells/elements is a lot of fun. Creating some arcane/lightning/fire death-ray is cool. All the beam stuff works fairly well. 2. The beam stuff works well, but it'd be VERY helpful if you could aim better. If I create an ice beam, I want to be able to aim it down on the lake, to freeze...
Well, got my PSP in the mail yesterday. It came in a small box, and just had the unit (so pretty), and charger. Well, now that I have the thing, here's my current shopping list: 1. Logitech PSP PlayGear Pocket - Slim -- of all the cases, this looks to be the most durable. Also will fit the extended battery. The only problem is, it looks to be discontinued, so it's a challenge to try and find it...
So, I ordered a copy of Prey (new, PC version) off Ebay a few days ago for about 6 bucks. You might ask "What the fuck?" Well, the reason is because Steam decided to delete the game from their service (to buy, specifically), since they ran out of CD Keys during their Christmas sale from 2009. Since then the title has been unavailable for purchase from Steam, with them later quietly removing the...
Well, finally beat Alpha Protocol tonight (or this morning, at this point). I'd played a lot of it when it first came out, then lost interest, but I bought it when Steam put it up on sale, so I finally completed it. Here are a few thoughts: 1. I cheated (used a trainer) pretty much all during the game. Ironically, not for infinite health, but just to fully max out the skill points, give infinit...
I was thinking about it, and as a plumber, Mario kind of sucks. He doesn't do a LOT of plumbing in any of the Mario games at all, except by exploring the underbelly of pipes. At least in Donkey Kong, when Mario was a carpenter, he used his hammer to bust barrels apart. I've never seen Mario (as a plumber) fixing the Kingdom's water pressure, or unclogging a toilet with a snake. Perhaps that's B...
So, with the announcement of the "Dreamcast Collection", I am going to rant. The main problem is, the choice of the 4 fucking games in the thing. Here's the breakdown: 1. Sonic Adventure -- SA blows. Plain and simple. We were all suckered (me included) on 9/9/99 when it came out, with the first two levels. After that the game fails miserably. Horrible camera, combat, characters (my god, the cha...
So, I have a birthday coming up, the 24th of Jan. With this in mind, a friend of mine said "What do you want?" And I responded "PSP!" So she gave me the money for it. I ordered a PSP Slim 2000 model, Silver color. It only comes with the system, battery, and AC adapter. No USB cord, or games, or anything. BUT, it's a Silver PSP, with old-ish (6.10) firmware. Teehee. Plans for the device: 1. Get...
As with some people, I've been following MvsC3's roster updates, videos, etc. I have some thoughts on it, who they should add/delete, etc. Marvel Side: 1. Captain America -- Should be fine, he was fine in the previous games. Hope they can give him a better chance if he looses his shield though. 2. Deadpool -- might be ok. The "him beating people with a life-bar" thing is cute. Hope he breaks th...
Well, I've been considering whether or not Stardock is a good developer/publisher lately. This comes on the heels of a recent interview with Stardock's CEO/President, Brad Wardell. You can read the article here if you want. I'm not so sure he knows what he's talking about anymore. Why would you really flush more money on Elemental, down the toilet? Doesn't that seem a bit counter-intuitive? Why...
So, I was happily answering Trivia questions, and answered some, and then got booted to the Trivia Leaderboard, with this URL: http://www.giantbomb.com/trivia/leaderboard/?no_more_questions=true I can't get back to the quiz, and when I press the "take the quiz" links, nothing happens. So.....just wondering if I answered all the Trivia questions? Or is this some bug? The Trivia feature is one of...
So I got my new console, like a month ago. But I was in the hospital, and only recently got out. So, I took some pictures of it. It's a Sony Playstation 1 Debugging Station, DTL-H1101. Basically, it's a debugging console, can play normal PS1 games, PAL/Japanese games, and CDR (burned) games. Quite a nice find, for 75$. Here are the pictures I took: The box it game in: I just blacked out the shi...
Ordered a "new" (refurb, or used) pc on a website today. It's a Dell Optiplex GX260. Sppecs are as follows: 3.0ghz dual core cpu 80gb hard drive 1gb of ram Intel GMA video card Win XP, with recovery cd. So...yeah, I know it's not great, by any means. But it was only 185$ (total), so that's fine. I need a replacement while my current gaming laptop goes to Best Buy for repairs (needs a new screen...
So, saw a funny tweet by Victor Lucas (Electronic Playground dude), in which he wants to save G4 on American broadcast companies. Apparently, DirecTV wants to drop G4 on Nov. 1st. His quote is, " Need more geek TV in US not less! " ...yeah... Ok, first thing, I actually like Victor Lucas. I never watched Electronic Playground regularly, because I honestly don't think it's ever been really shown...
So, I'm getting a "new" console. It's a Playstation 1 Debug Unit, Model No. DTL-H1101. I'm pretty pumped about it actually. Will post info/pictures when it comes in.
So, this weekend was kind of fun. "Hooray!" for "Buy 2 Get 1 Free" at Gamestop. I was able to get a whole bunch of PS2 crap: 1. Persona 3: FES (30$) 2. Peraona 4 (35$) 3. Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (30$, but free) 4. Kingdom Hearts 2 (20$) 5. Shadow of the Colossus (20$) 6. Disgaea 2 (20$, but free) 7. MGS 3: Subsistance (15$) 8. Okami (17$) 9. Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (13$, b...
WoW has spent over 6 hours downloading/installing the patch (it's STILL not done, at 83% of install). I'm gonna call that "impressive".
I'm really enjoying the modded PS2 now.
Here is what I want, and is proving to be an impossible task to find: A modded PS2. The modded PS2 can play backups/import games (and dvd's, I got one British dvd). Also, it would have a hard drive, so I could theoretically copy games to it, for faster load times. So, not a huge deal, but it's proving to be such a chore to find. What a bummer.
Got a bunch of games recently. Here are some thoughts: 1. Red Dead Redemption -- looks good, and plays well. Unfortunately I can't play the game, because there's an issue with the horizontal screen size on my tv. A part of the game is cut off (like half an inch on the left side), so when I'm on a horse, I can't see it's stamina meter. It's kind of annoying, since I was interested in playing it....
So, apparently, there's a recent hubbub about how used games are damaging to the market. Well, it's not recent, as the argument has been around forever, but a few people have recently spoken out about it, and I want to see if what they say has any merit, and then talk about the consumers themselves. The big one is from Cory Ledesma, creative director of THQ's WWE games. Here is the quote: "We h...
So, IGN and "Syfy" have, in their inept stupidity, created a website/contest where people can pitch a Syfy movie plot to them, and other people can vote on them, and the "winner" gets made. With this in mind, I think I've come up with a brilliant pitch. Here goes: We meet a nerdy kid in 1995. He's obsessed with a tv channel, let's call it the "Scifi Network". On this network are old/weird movie...
So, I know only 3 or 4 people follow me on here. And that's fine. I like this site fine, but some of the systems seems confusing. I love everyone on the site though. Well, I have cancer. It's either a Sarcoma (Bone Cancer), or a High-Grade B-Cell Lymphoma (Blood Cancer). I haven't been able to walk properly since about February or so. The problem I have is, my left foot/ankle is essentially dea...
Playing SOTN again. It's the best of the "Metroid-vania" games. I like Super Metroid fine. Shadow Complex seemed a bit over hyped to me. But SOTN is still the best.
Can you say fuck on here, in a non-gratuitous use, and it be cool? Just wondering. How about class or style?
So, I guess this'll be my 2nd post on this site. We'll see how it goes. Stuff about the site: 1. It seems pretty easy to add/delete stuff. I added some stuff for the Funhouse pinball machine, and added a page for the Red & Ted's Road Show machine. I dunno if it'll be approved or not, but here's hoping. 2. The image search thing was blocked by Flashblock. So, I couldn't figure it out, until I di...
Yeah....first post. Site seems slow on this ghetto-iMAC. I still need a laptop. This is kind of a bummer to me.