My New Desktop Background

Astrozerk on DeviantArt made this amazing thing above what I'm typing right now. The Avengers AND Pokémon? Very awesome.

I can't recognize who is Captain America though. Pidgeot? Braviary? Articuno maybe?

Thor Raichu is awesome, and Iron Man Scizor is awesome. Mienshao and Swellow as Black Widow and Hawkeye are cool, and Hulk Ursaring is pretty funny. Even Scrafty as Nick Fury and Zoroark as Loki are awesome. Well done sir!

Honor Among Summoners

I know I probably talk as much about League of Legends now as I do about Steam (okay, maybe not), but it's the big ideas and systems that Riot Games is pulling off that is not only making their game famous worldwide, but its community as well.

Just this past week, Riot introduced the Honor System, which not only mirrors the already well-established Tribunal, but gives players a purpose to be "humble in victory and graceful in defeat", as well as friendly, helpful, and work with their team.

As I've said previously, the Tribunal is a player-enforced system designed to punish those who don't display the previously-described behavior, or rather, those who are complete assholes and deserve what's coming to them. This is the internet, so if you're reading this and you have any kind of awareness of the amount of quality control around here...well, you probably know the kind of people that I'm talking about.

The Honor System is the parallel to the Tribunal. Instead of reporting people for abusive behavior, you report people for friendliness, helpfulness, having good teamwork, or your opponents for being good about their victory or defeat. This is amazing because not only does it encourage treating the random players you're grouped with with respect (like you always should because it's common courtesy), but it raises the subject of gamification on the subject.

Imagine if there could be a system like this for, say, the entire internet. Unrealistic? Yeah. Would it ever happen? Probably not. However, the benefits of gamification always shine, because if you can make anything into a system where you work or play for rewards, then it makes it much more appealing and the results tend to be so much better compared to any boring, regular system.

Riot continues to not only innovate the MOBA game genre, but the way they handle offensive players in their loyal community. Even if you don't know or care for League of Legends, you have to admit that the efforts these guys are making are phenomenal.

Another Great Source of Music

Sorry I couldn't post something more substantial this week. I'm a little busy with school work and...work work. I will leave you guys something though: Check out this Youtube Channel. The sheer amount of videos and awesome is mind boggling.

Panda Explosion

Well, it's here. World of Warcraft's fourth expansion has been released into the wild, and with it comes loads and loads of the much-sought-after Pandaren. I have no bad blood or regrets with WoW and me quitting, and yet, here is the boat to Pandaria, sailing away in front of me while I wave a fond farewell.

Aside from my personal reasons as to why I'm unable to play Mists of Pandaria, I'm finding this day a little bit bittersweet. I have fond memories of my guild and all the friends I made through the game over the years, and through good times and bad, I definitely had a lot of fun and I wouldn't have changed a thing if I had gone through it all again. Still, even today, I follow the same news feeds and websites that I always followed when I played, just to keep up with the current times, though I have to admit, I skimmed over the new talent system and some other major features.

Regardless, tell me this: Don't you think it's strange that I'm both glad and sad about not playing WoW anymore, and yet, I'm still following the game along however I can? Why do I even care anymore about recent events and news involving this game when I don't even play it anymore out of boredom?

This is something I think is truly cool about video games, especially games that are designed to last a long time like MMOs or games with a lot of DLC (however expensive and annoying that DLC might be), or even a series of games like Sonic the Hedgehog or the classic Mario titles. Even after you quit playing or you "leave" the series, you're still compelled to follow it along because you loved the time you spent with it. As much as you might deny it, you care enough to see what's going on because it's something that interests you, and you just might want to return some day when something really, really cool happens that cures your boredom.

That is the feeling I have. That is what I want from World of Warcraft. Even today, this god of MMOs rolls on, and even though it may have begun to show its age here and there, like I've said time and again, it's still a fantastically designed game and is loads of fun when you really get into it. Even though I'm bored and I probably won't be there to fight for these newly discovered lands in the name of the Alliance (sorry Horde, but I gotta stick with my friends!), I'll be watching them every step of the way, right here in my computer chair.

Another New Playstation 3

Really tired right now, so this one's going to be a short one. :(

Recently revealed at the Tokyo Games Show is this new, third rendition of the Playstation 3. It comes in two sizes, 250GB and 500GB. The former will cost you $270 and comes bundled with Uncharted 3 (which I will probably never play because I'm not a rich bastard), and the latter hasn't had a price announced yet, but it is being released on the same day as Assassin's Creed III (again, not a rich bastard).

This is pretty cool and all, but I wonder how much time could have been spent on making the theoretical Playstation 4 instead of a second redesign of their console which already worked out alright. Or, even better, create and release this sleek model in the first place instead of a big bulky monster of a system.

Maybe I'm just ignorant or I don't know enough information, but as far as Sony goes, they were never a company to think of the customer first in my eyes.

Games I Haven't Tried Until Now: Ratchet & Clank

I was admittedly not a big fan of the Playstation 2 outside of Final Fantasy X and Kingdom Hearts when it was at it's prime. It was the most dominant console at the time, but I mostly stuck to my Gamecube and my Gameboy Advance. I look back at this time and wonder what I might have missed, and frankly, I'm a bit saddened that I did miss this one.

I've only recently started playing Ratchet & Clank, and while I'm making my way through the game slowly (read: busy college guy), I somehow find it entrancing. Every new level comes with a new weapon that you can only guess at what it does when you see it, and using them all is even more fun. Saying there are too many weapons in this game is ludicrous, because you choose which you want to use the most and that defines your playstyle, which in a way defines your experience with the game. That's amazingly awesome. The platforming, the shooting, the hidden items, and the puzzles all combine into something seriously addicting.

The characters are wonderfully enjoyable as well. Ratchet himself seems a little stubborn but with a good heart, Clank is probably the bravest tiny animated robot I've ever seen anywhere, and Captain Quark, according to one of my good friends that has played through most (or all, I can't remember) of the Ratchet & Clank games describes him as an "egotistical, clumsy oaf, but hilarious". While some characters in some games are remembers by players solely for their heroism and actions, you'd definitely remember these ones not just from that but from their one-liners and ridiculous scenes they get themselves into.

I'm currently still playing though, so I haven't experienced this entire game yet. Good news though, because I also now have Going Commando and Up Your Arsenal, the two sequels that took place on the Playstation 2 alongside the original, and my goal is to finish all three before the end of this school year.

Best of luck to me I guess...

WillU Buy the WiiU?

Yesterday held the well-sought-after announcement of the release date and price of Nintendo's next console, WiiU. It will be available for purchase in North America on November 18th, and will come in your choice of one of two packages. $299 for the console, a touchscreen controller, a sensor bar, an AC adapter for the controller, and an HDMI cable. An extra $50 could net you everything in the cheaper package plus increased console memory, a console stand, a recharge stand for your controller, a subscription for discounts on online game purchases, and a copy of the Nintendoland game.

As always, Nintendo seems to be pulling out all the stops when it comes to launching a console. Bundles and media coverage aside, I am fairly impressed that Nintendo is becoming a little more modern with their home consoles, and I think the touchscreen controller could be used for a ton of innovative games. However, there are some things that I'm finding rather annoying about the WiiU.

First though, the positives.

First of all, Nintendo appears to be marketing the WiiU for more than just "making everybody a gamer". I did like their previous outing with the Wii and how they completely flipped gaming upside down by inviting everyone to be a gamer, but it alienated the hardcore crown to an extent, pushing them away to their competitors. This time around, Nintendo is bringing some well-known genre-specific games to their console early on, like Mass Effect 3, Batman: Arkham Asylum, and even the exclusive Bayonetta 2. Even Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 is coming to the console. If they continue to include the same sort of games that appeal more to the hardcore crowd, then the WiiU might be as successful if not more than the Wii was.

Not only is Nintendo bringing in content for the hardcore crowd, but they're trampolining off the Wii's beginning of third party application usage by having users be able to watch video content. Not only that, but they can watch it directly on the touchscreen controller too! Netflix makes a return, and Hulu and Youtube are now officially on board as well. According to Nintendo, you can even pull up content that you have saved on DVR with TiVo and watch that as well.

Still, as with any recent Nintendo product, and as much as I think they're great, there is always a select few details that are nitpick-worthy. First of all, $300 might be a decent price considering the technology at hand, especially the controller considering by itself it may cost half the entire console (that's another nitpick there). However, this breaks a long tradition of Nintendo consoles launching at around $250 for years. It's understandable considering the innovative and new technology, but it defies the long-standing "affordable" Nintendo console trope that has stood against competitors before. Even the games are going to be $10 more expensive now, which is on-par with Xbox and Playstation titles.

The storage space might be an issue as well. With all the content and files that people must save from games nowadays, I doubt 8 GB will be enough. The deluxe version ($349 bundle) is 32 GB, but that is still in the grey area in my opinion, and even if that is enough storage space for some people, that is nothing compared to the monstrous 250 GB storage of the Xbox 360, which if you remember, is a console of this current generation and not the one the WiiU is kicking off and setting the bar for.

 EDIT: You can apparently attach an external hard drive through USB to the WiiU. Hello infinite storage space! :D Yay for me being dumb.

I'm certain the WiiU will at least be successful, because as nitpicky as I and many fans of Nintendo are, they come pretty close to perfection with their games and hardware. It's a little strange though when we are able to compare this upcoming next-gen console with previous ones and wonder why the WiiU isn't better or at least equal to it in every way. Regardless, I do want one of these, and while I probably won't be getting one straight away (i.e. I'm a broke college student and memories of trying to get a Wii early years ago haunt me still...), I can't wait to at least try it out at the local retailer.

Overreaction

EDIT: Wow, so uh... I guess I was sort of wrong. Regardless,  I still stand by my choice that the vile behavior that was displayed was not the right way to go about doing things for the gaming community. The link above explains that the decision process was out of the creator's hands and in someone else's. Frankly, in my opinion, if you must be a child and throw a tantrum, do it at the new studio bringing it to the console, not the PC guys. Thanks.

The developers of the game Terraria, available on steam for a very worthy $10, announced today that their game will be arriving on the Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network. This is something you don't see every day, that being a very popular, very affordable PC game taking big steps. However, many gamers are angry at this prospect, specifically PC gamers, who in their supposedly all-knowing and "master race" stances, believe that they have been left behind and have been forgotten, and they will now jump ship and cleanse themselves of all things vile, i.e. anything having to do with Terraria and Re-Logic software. WHAT A RIGHTEOUS CAUSE, RIGHT?

This is why sometimes I despise my own kind. We overreact to the most simple things and it extends the life of the most common stereotypes about us, such as being short-tempered basement dwellers that don't know how to properly interact with people. Why must we not think before we speak?

To be fair, I already have a PC copy of Terraria myself, and I love it. Console gamers will enjoy this just the same I feel, and while the advertised "extra content" does sound nice, it seems that is one of the primary reasons that people are angry. I propose to anyone reading this the following extremely simple, logical thoughts:

First of all, Re-Logic isn't a big large corporate giant like EA or Activision. For the love of all that is good, they are selling you their game, which contains hours upon hours of play time, for $10! Being such an independent developer, and a popular one at that, you'd think they wouldn't favor one audience over the other, especially with the well-known conflicting views between hardcore console and PC gamers. Giving one extra content and leaving the other out to dry would be a monumentally huge dick move on their part, and I'm fairly certain that they would not only not want the negative PR, but seeing as how they seemingly care so much for their game and their fans, it would be a huge 180 degree turnaround.

Think about this: You're an indie developer, and in today's world, your game must stand out like nothing else in order for people to notice it. In a world where AAA titles reign supreme on the price charts and many other indie games are set at lower prices. Aside from the lower price, the number one thing that people will notice is how you treat your game and the community that surrounds it. Re-logic has released several updates for Terraria that have added an awesome amount of content to an already vast and time-consuming game, and if they didn't care about their players, then they wouldn't be working on their game anymore, let alone working on a console version.

Anybody who is a passionate gamer with a broad horizon knows about the kinds of issues that happen with big companies and their games, and even though fans often voice their feedback, we don't always see a lot done about them (case-in-point: EA). Indie developers have always been those teams in my eyes that want to change the gaming world from what it is right now, which is a fat, lumbering giant of corporate semi-corruption that spits out sequels and rehashes like there's no tomorrow. Terraria is a game that clearly doesn't embody this, and because of how it's been cared for, it gives me faith in the developer that they will deliver for PC gamers as well.

I fail to understand why some people (not only gamers) cannot think this kind of stuff through. I believe firmly that they're just complaining for no reason. Save the protesting for the time when they announce that the content is console-exclusive (knock on wood of course), and don't be a stupid dick about it. Treating people like this is just wrong, and I don't know why people constantly forget that mutual respect is supposed to be common courtesy.

I'm not saying I'm perfect myself, but I've got the mind to know all of this, and you should too.

The (possible) End of an Era

The days of X-Play, Attack of the Show, and Cinematech will be remembered fondly, because according to Variety, the gaming channel known for the past ten years as G4 might be recreated for "the more modern male", or more accurately, the magazine GQ.

I honestly have mixed feelings about this. While I love G4 even today for what it is and what it stands for as a television channel for gamers, I think it's lost some of its original luster.

The channel had originally launched in 2002 with programs primarily aimed at gamers, but over the years, it seemed like it grew further and further away from that. While still today shows like X-Play are around for gaming coverage and even Attack of the Show for nearly everything related to pop culture and technology, other programs such as American Ninja Warrior with adrenaline-fueled action skewed the channel's target audience away from gamers and more towards SpikeTV's territory. Even with this in mind, their daytime schedule is dominated by reruns of their original programming from the previous day's evening (when new episodes usually happen), and then either lots of gaming-unrelated filler content for the late night, or a string of old pop culture-esque movies, or Cops, or Cheaters, or Cops again, or Cheaters again, followed by a Cops marathon, followed by a Cheaters marathon. Ugh...

Honestly we should have seen it coming after some of the longtime, big named hosts left the network for their own pursuits. Kevin Pereira, Olivia Munn, and my personal favorite, Adam Sessler, were the hosts that I looked forward to every time I watched Attack of the Show or X-Play. With them gone, it's just not the same.

I've grown apart from G4 for these reasons. They still stand today, a shell of their former selves, a channel for gamers, but frankly I'm filled with a bittersweet feeling not only because of their fall from grace, but how the channel as we know it will probably not exist, if ever again, by this time next year.

Farewell, G4. Thanks for giving it your best with all of your video game content, and for the endless amount of Cops and Cheaters reruns.

Nah, just the video games.

The Style of Gangnam

Sometimes I think the differences between my home country of the United States and other countries are just too vast and confusing to understand, and frankly, sometimes that might be correct.

This however...might just be my favorite video to come from Youtube in a long, long time.

It's funny when you think about it, how you can compare the crazy antics in this music video and song to some other things that our country has brought out. Remember the video of Katy Perry in her song with Snoop Dogg? You know what I'm talking about.

Still, I love this video and this song, because not only is PSY funny and entertaining, but his song is so catchy that you'll be wanting to do the trademark Gangnam Style dance down the sidewalk, not giving a damn about anyone staring at you.

Now just think of what South Korea thinks of some of our music videos and imagine how much they're laughing... :P

A Short Letter to Square Enix

Note: This letter is completely hypothetical and entirely ridiculous. Also, much of my information was found here, and other links within.

Dear Square Enix,

I recently saw your revelation of your next Final Fantasy game, and I would be lying if I said I was surprised.

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII is the next game you are planning on releasing in 2013, and while I'm very sure you're putting a lot of effort into it, I am very confused in multiple ways.

First of all, this is the third game associated with Final Fantasy XIII. I understand if you're wanting to take the game in a new sort of direction, as you've now made a trilogy out of the thirteenth installment of your critically acclaimed series, and I'm even fine if it breaks the long standing tradition of a new world with new characters in every game (even if my nostalgic sense feels otherwise). Why though, must we keep enduring these characters from XIII that were just carbon copies of character tropes in the first game? Why did you choose to start making a trilogy out of the installment that everyone and their mom hated? I don't understand at all why you keep battering us with sequels to this game series that I and possibly the rest of your fans don't want anything more to do with.

Secondly, your description of this game is a little strange to me, or I suppose if I were to be more accurate, it sounds hit-or-miss. You mention that Lightning will be customizable and that everyone will have their own version, both aesthetics and playstyle-wise. While I like this in theory (since it was practically absent in XIII; I'm not sure about XIII-2 since I haven't played it), you also mention character control being more dynamic, such as being able to "hang off ledges", "jump", and "pull yourself up". I'm sorry, but even though this is technically uncommon in a Final Fantasy game, I don't like that part of your pitch are features that have been part of other games for decades. That just bothers me personally, and while I guess I can say it's cool you're finally adding more control, there should be more to this game than that. Unfortunately, there might not be, because again, this is the third game about a character that I and many of your fans are having difficulty caring about.

Third, and lastly, I can appreciate you're trying new things such as a Majora's Mask type of "doomsday clock" and a real-time day/night cycle (combined, I wonder if that means the player has 13 actual, real days to beat the game. Uh...wow.), but without a new world and new characters to explore as well as two past games with mediocre to horrible reviews overall, I'm finding it hard to care about them with the aforementioned hanging in my conscience. I'm sure that they are cool in their own right, but right now, with your initial explanation of some supposedly major features, which includes customization of Lightning, the timer, the time cycle, controls, a bunch of possible location screenshots, and heavy emphasis on this being "the end of Lightning's trilogy", I'm nowhere close to being sold. I guess I could wait a ton of months for you to reveal more information, but in my opinion, this wasn't much of a reveal, and as far as gamers go, I'd think first impressions are pretty important.

Look, your graphics look impressive, and you guys seem to have a general grasp on how to make a video game (Note: You can know how to make a game but that game isn't automatically good), but you guys can do better! I'll admit that I'm anxious to find out more about this game, and I really want to like it, but your methods are confusing your fans, including me, and we're in the dark over here as to what is going on. For the love of chocobos, you've had Final Fantasy Versus XIII in development for six years, and yet you're showing us this new game just now that's being released next year when you refuse to tell us anything about Versus!

Please, Square Enix, be a little more informative with your fans. Tell us what is going on, or at least that you're having some problems. Telling us nothing is only making you look worse, and I'm sure that many of your former fans want to enjoy your games just like they used to, including me.

Sincerely,

A Frustrated and Confused Fan

Free to Play, Every Day: Tribes: Ascend

Do you like shooters? Do you like sci-fi? Do you not want to spend $60+ on a console game? Do you hate the angry children on Xbox Live so much that you want to punch them through the internet?

Have no fear, because Tribes: Ascend is here.

Tribes: Ascend is a free-to-play first-person shooter on Steam (where else would I have found it?), and I'm quite enjoying it. Compared to something like Halo or Call of Duty, Tribes is very intriguing because of how well it performs graphically and gameplay-wise, considering it's FREE. Unbelievable? I think so.

Many game modes you find in AAA shooters can be found here as well. Capture the flag seems to be one of the most popular, and there's also a "Slayer" type mode where two teams battle over a flag and have a limited score. Scores go down when members of your team die, but if your team is holding the flag, the enemy team loses their score twice as fast. King of the hill and Territories can also be found, though I haven't tried them myself.

There are a couple of reasons why this game interests me so much. First of all, there is a unique mechanic referred to as "skiing". With the absence of snow in most of the maps in this game, you'd think that would be difficult, but take note of the image below:

Each class (which ranges from glass cannon to tank and everything inbetween) is equipped with a jet pack and hover boots. The jet pack gives you a relatively short elevation boost, and using the hover boots appropriately with the slopes and terrain will allow you to slide across the huge maps with no friction, just like if you were skiing. Combined with moderate jet pack usage, you can climb almost any hill and speed down any mountain to fly across maps at blistering speeds. It's a really cool mechanic and it's core to playing the game, so I highly suggest looking up video footage or tutorials for it, because not only should you learn how to ski properly if you want to play this game, but it's really cool and fun too.

Secondly, Tribes uses a very similar currency system to League of Legends. Just for playing games, you will earn experience that you can spend on new guns, new classes, upgrades, usable items and augments, and more. All of those things are also purchasable with another currency (whose name escapes me at the moment) that you buy with a credit card, in addition to other premium content available only through this method.

It's amazing to me how a game like this exists in light of other games like Call of Duty and Halo. While I have nothing against either of those game franchises, the Tribes series came out before either of them. The original Tribes shooter released 11 years ago was critically acclaimed, and while I haven't played it, I think I can safely assume that this free game is a great successor, and I think anyone who enjoys shooters would love this one.

Short but Sweet

Wish I could make a longer post, but I didn't have a lot of time today because of work and the incoming school year that I'm working on not sucking at.

I currently have mixed feelings towards consoles right now. The nostalgic and comfortable feeling of holding a controller (that doesn't blow chunks *cough* original Xbox *cough*) will never go away and there's just a general feeling about sitting in front of your television that seems right.

The advent and growth of PC gaming, with the advantage of mods and intelligent programmers, can open up new windows and create new content themselves, as well as possibly fix or improve upon things that the developers may not have gotten right.

I think you can see what I mean. I'm not saying I prefer one over the other, because I like video games and I'll play either a console or a PC game with no hesitation. While it may be true that some game experiences fare better on consoles or the PC more than the other, I have no personal preference. To be fair though, because of this feeling of unease, I am playing more games on my PC currently. Steam is still kind of awesome.

The proof is in the players. See for yourself.

The Tribunal

The game that I'm hooked on now is League of Legends. With a community that outsizes World of Warcraft and has more players to boot, it's clear that LoL is a very popular game, and it keeps getting more popular every day.

One thing I can admire about the staff at Riot Games is their seemingly vast kindness they show to their players through effective communication. They aren't perfect by any means, but when they screw up, they come right out and admit it. When they think we, the players, are unsatisfied, they offer an explanation and maybe even compensation. They even start and play games with us on a regular basis! Not all game developers can say they play games with their player base every day and have their players know about it.

What I love the most about Riot though is how they trust their community to do the right thing. This is proven in the Tribunal, a system made for fully-leveled players (read: people who have played enough to understand the team-based gameplay) to judge their own peers on their behavior.

You read that correctly. People read about, judge, and decide the fate of other people based on their behavior. I have NEVER seen anything like it before, and I think it's amazing.

It's honestly a little more simple and a little more shallow than it looks. Basically, if you get reported enough by other players in the games you play, you're more likely to show up in the Tribunal. Players then read the in-game chat logs and other general information about the champions you played during the matches where you were reported. A majority vote is cast among everyone that reads over your case and decides whether you receive punishment or forgiveness. I'm honestly not sure what the punishment is, but I'm assuming it's a temporary ban, with multiple Tribunal trips resulting in more severe punishments.

How cool is that? Players get to decide how they want to shape their own community, rather than leaving it up to moderators and administrators. The majority of the cases you'll find in the tribunal are punishable too, at least for what I've found, so I'd think it's safe to say that the system works, but unfortunately participating is entirely optional. Still, those that play League that aren't taking advantage of this are probably insane, because you get paid small amounts of in-game currency for correctly voting, and they stack up week after week considering you can judge 15 cases every day.

To be fair, the Tribunal isn't perfect. With the knowledge of it existing, people can unjustly threaten others with reports in games in order to follow their rules. There's also the probability that the selected population of players that judge a case could consist of the same players that deserve judgement themselves, such as those that consider calling out and harassing poor players part of the game. There are also those who may not read entire cases and could unjustly punish people, and there's also the possibility of the one single person who was in the right being reported by a bunch of people who were in the wrong. These are considerable issues with the system, and while they can and probably do exist out there, Riot staff have data readily available for any account that is banned by the system, and while I believe that they do keep track of each case themselves to weed out the possible incorrect judgements, for those that are unjustly banned could send a ticket to the Support department and plead their case. This is especially true considering that you are now emailed a "report card" with evidence as to why you were banned. I'm fairly certain that there's no way that this sort of notification system could pass without having some kind of overlooking from Riot staff.

Overall, I love this game, and I love the developers that run it. Their near-constant attention to the game they make and the community surrounding it shows that they really care about it and the direction it drives gaming in. With a little more than 2 years under it's belt and having become so popular, League of Legends is one of the games that drives video games (and eSports) today, and I'm eager to see where it takes us into the future.

Chen Stormstout is a Badass

The above video is the official opening cinematic that players will see when they first install and play World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria.

If there's anything I immediately miss about WoW, it's the fully-rendered cinematics. The fine animators over at Blizzard are incredible with their work on these, and they never cease to amaze everyone under the sun and then some. I honestly wonder how much time is spent making just one of these cutscenes, let alone the six that are in Diablo 3. If you do some real digging, there are even cutscenes with this sort of quality from Blizzard games from ten or more years ago as well! How do they do it?

This cinematic does seem to focus more on the "Alliance vs. Horde" conflict, and the part that the Pandaren are playing in it in sort of a "big picture" kind of way. Some may choose sides, but overall, the two factions must learn to fight for their common purpose and understand why their petty war is pointless (at least to me it is).

I had quit World of Warcraft because of the boredom that rose within me from raiding and finding nothing new. With waning subscribers at the moment, this expansion might just be an important crossroads in the game's history, solely judging by the trailer and it's premise. While I do not plan on returning to World of Warcraft in the immediate future, things like this trailer will always fill me with a sense of nostalgia...and maybe, I admit, a single, tiny, unfortunate drop of regret.

Return to Midgar

Sometimes there's a game that comes along that just steals everyone's hearts away. It compels you to keep playing it, despite it not having a lot of replay value, just because it's so much fun. While it may not have aged well as graphics, gameplay and ideas evolved, this one single game holds a special, nostalgic place in your soul, and without it, you are nothing but an empty shell of a gamer with unrefined tastes and no direction.

For me, this game is Final Fantasy VII.

I played the absolute balls out of this game through grade school. While I may have been too naive to use the internet for guidance or clever enough to acquire and defeat everything, I put countless hours of my childhood into this game. Honestly, even if you don't know what the Final Fantasy series is all about, if you haven't heard or seen anything from Final Fantasy VII and have no idea what I'm talking about, you really, honestly need to fix that. I'm not just being a smart-ass this time around. At the very least, you can watch someone play it on Youtube, but if you want to be even more awesome, you'll just buy it for your PC from Square Enix's online store, like I'm going to do, because it was recently just re-released.

Granted, this is a Playstation 1 game we're talking about here, so back in the days when Sega was meeting it's unfortunate fate and Nintendo was still putting games on cartridges, graphics weren't all that impressive and stories weren't all that compelling either. Yet, as I played through this game, every character was so compelling and the gameplay was just so ridiculously fun that I couldn't care less about how well the game has aged. I'm a sucker for the fantasy-esque, magic-infused games with monsters and swords, and while this game isn't necessarily "medieval", the setting and world it creates is just amazing enough to want you to find out more about what lies beyond the horizon (that is, after you get out of the city of Midgar, which sort of takes a while).

I deeply encourage anyone who passes over this text to at least watch or try out this game. Try your best to ignore the stereotypical fanboy cry-outs of "being overrated" or "it's just another fantasy game" or "OMFG HD RE-RELEASE ON PS3 ZOMG" (Granted that would make Square Enix a literal dump truck of money, but I digress). I'm fairly certain that you won't be disappointed.

Finally, as a personal confession, I have never beaten Sephiroth. Nope. Not once. My younger self was petrified of the damn crater and going deeper and deeper into it.

Games On Steam You Should Be Playing (4)

It's time once again for the games you may not know but secretly love, and therefore you should hand them your wallet before they get second thoughts.

The Binding of Isaac

A bit disturbing, but still stupidly fun and addicting, The Binding of Isaac is a dungeon crawler that will either give you nightmares or make your dreams come true (if your dreams consist of killing monsters and flies with your own tears). You can see many similarities to dungeons from the old Legend of Zelda games from bombs to items that you can use. The gameplay is very similar to that as well except you have a ranged attack all the time and that attack consists of you literally shooting your own tears off your face at them.

To be fair, I haven't played a whole lot of the game yet, but I do love Legend of Zelda, especially the older ones with the top-down dungeons. If addictive dungeon crawling is your thing, this little chunk of humor is rightfully yours.

Poker Night at the Inventory

It's exactly what it looks and sounds like. No, really. Poker Night at the Inventory is a game where you play poker at a club called The Inventory. Plain and simple ehough.

What? Oh, those characters from other famous games and websites? Those are just your opponents. Awesome, right? Gabe from Penny Arcade, Max from the Sam & Max games, Heavy Weapons Guy from Team Fortress 2, and Strong Bad from Homestarrunner.com all sit down at a table and play poker, all while having legitimate conversations with each other. When I say legitimate, I mean they will talk to each other and behave in a manner where their personalities clash or syncronize. Impressive to say the least, but it doesn't even end there. Unlockables for the game and items for other games lie in store for the Hold'em master that can best all their opponents. A really great time waster if you like card games.

Magicka

This is another game where I'm not quite sure why I didn't mention it earlier, because it's probably the best thing there is in gaming for 4-player spellcasting combat as well as griefing the hell out of your friends. 

Similar to a dungeon crawler, Magicka is a top-down adventure game where you play a wizard. You have 8 spell elements that you can combine up to 5 of any order or amount and then proceed to destroy monsters (and/or your friends) with whatever spell you come up with. It's not a bad buy for the price of ten dollars, but there is a LOT of DLC. A LOT. For good reason too, because the gameplay behind Magicka is so wonderful that you will probably replay it over and over despite the prospective boredom. There are tons and TONS of different spell combinations to discover and try as well as an equal amount of ways to gain glory in PvP/ destroy the hell out of your comrades.

There's never a shortage of great games on Steam, and soon, there might not be a shortage of software in general. Intriguing? Damn right.

The Unfortunate State of Sanctuary

When I first started playing Diablo III, I genuinely enjoyed it. I still enjoy it, and I continue to play it every once in a while. There's plenty to do in the game, from hunting for loot to running the auction house to grinding for achievements.

Why am I so bored?

I was talking to a friend of mine recently about how I became bored with D3, and he told me that the game may not have been the exact type of game to satisfy your time-sink needs. While that may partially be true (I like to spend loads of time in other games as well), I have to mostly disagree. The loot hunt was nothing new to me because I can compare it to being similar as the loot hunt in WoW. As you defeat harder foes, they drop higher quality loot to help you kill even harder foes which will drop even higher loot and so on. However, WoW separates it's leveling experience from it's loot hunt experience, while D3 does both at the same time. I suppose there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but we must as a result play through the story multiple times in order to reach level 60 on separate difficulty levels. Not that big of a deal to some, but by the time you reach that maximum level, you're grinding on Inferno difficulty for the best loot through parts of the game you've been through several times before, so not only is it repetitively boring, but it's ridiculously hard too, so you're going to be going even slower through parts you've already been through.

Players on the forums and everywhere else have been citing problems too, ranging from the auction house to the story itself. For me personally, I enjoyed the story, but that might be because I hadn't played a Diablo game before this one, and while it was all intriguing, I can see where people are coming from. They say the beginning is nice at reintroducing us to the realm of Sanctuary, and there aren't a whole lot of complaints other than some digressions that don't make sense, like the part where the sword piece just so happened to be making the goatmen go mad ("Of course!" Deckard Cain exclaims). By the time you reach Act III though, the story is stagnating to your long trips across ramparts and battlefields, and Act IV has you just clicking through some hollow text spoken by ghosts and a few lame minibosses because you want to get to Diablo already.

At the same time, the auction house is there to help you retrieve loot for money or gold to help you get that item that just won't drop, but then the "item hunt end game" becomes pointless because you can just buy everything by earning all the gold necessary. The personally acquired item drops are more than enough for you to complete Normal, but you better have saved some dough for Nightmare, because continuing on through the new difficulty will prove difficult without grandfather Auction House's core advice and assistance.

My point is this: It's not that I'm bored with the vast amount of things that I have available to do in front of me. I am bored with how the game is more about the calculation-heavy meta involving the auction house and it's almost-necessary use for higher difficulty. I've heard from friends that previous Diablo games were fun because finding that one item you've been searching for forever was a wonderful experience. Now, we can just look up the closest thing in the auction house, and most of  the items we actually find ourselves either end up being not worth wearing or vendored, with a select few being good enough to auction off.

The game is no longer about the fun of dungeon crawling for awesome items. It's more about thinking and bartering and making gold. Color me disappointed for wanting to go on an adventure.

Why Didn't I Find This Earlier?

Seriously, why?

I don't believe I've mentioned anything on television on here yet. Normally I don't bother because people usually have very distinct tastes in the shows they watch and not every channel is available to every person, and I find that, among gamers especially, that their tastes in TV shows vary a lot more than the average population.

However, I'll now go against my above statement and say that Game of Thrones could be the one exception.

Game of Thrones is a series that airs on HBO on Sundays in the evening (Eastern timezone), and while there aren't new episodes airing at the moment, I have recently finished the Season 2 finale. Each episode is an hour long, so it was a bit of a time investment, but every minute was worth it, because personally I have never seen such a show such as this. It is set in a medieval-esque fantasy world, complete with magic, knights and kings, and the expansive world. While that may not be entirely appealing to every single person out there, there is something different about this one that I don't believe I've seen elsewhere.

First of all, everything is very serious. Serious might be a vague term, but let me put this into perspective for you: Through the two full seasons, I have seen men having their throats slit open and their guts run through with swords, their blood and entrails on mostly-full display. I have seen both men and women completely nude, sometimes in sexual situations and sometimes even performing sexual intercourse. I have heard very coarse and foul language from nearly every character in the show to the point where the censors would probably piss themselves.

Yet, this realistic, serious tone is what makes the show so wonderful, despite what many have claimed otherwise. It breaks the boundaries of what you would expect from your typical television show, let alone a medieval fantasy.

Aside from that, the actors are ridiculously good at what they do. The world and characters that are created for this show seem like they actually existed at some point in the past, if not today in some sort of parallel universe. This is no "search for the Holy Grail". This is a war, being fought on many, many sides. This is drama being caused through seemingly countless storylines that are all exciting and interesting to follow, always wondering what is going to happen next to the characters you know and love.

This is Game of Thrones, and I think anyone reading this would genuinely enjoy it in its entirety. I look forward to Season 3 next year on March 31st.

Oh, and the opening theme, which not only is the most catchy thing I have heard in a long, LONG time, but every episode's opening is just slightly different than the rest. Awesome.

You'll find yourself whistling this everywhere you go and it will never leave your head. I'm warning you right now. :)

P.S. - Thanks for 2000 pageviews everybody! :D

Breaking Gamer Stereotypes: Gender Distribution

Every time I visit Xbox Live to play online, I hear a lot of crap. Unwanted crap. Needless crap. The kind of crap that you would find in a toilet or a sewage plant.

That said, I'm here to notify those that are unaware that we gamers are not your typical homophobic, basement shut-ins that many media sources make us out to be. We are intelligent, and we are not afraid of you or anyone else who tries telling us otherwise.

Anyway, this is a new series of posts where I bring up a common stereotype amongst gamers and disprove it outright, followed by a quiet burial of said stereotype where afterward it will never be spoken of again, lest we unleash its zombified wrath.

To kick this off, and I apologize if this seems short because this stereotype is very baffling and simple to understand why it's incredibly false, let's state that only guys play video games. They are a man's way of relaxing and entertaining himself, while our wives, sisters, and female companions are off playing with dollhouses, cooking, and cleaning.

Yeah. No.

According to the Entertainment Software Association , 47% of gamers are female. 47%! That is literally almost half of all gamers on the planet. Xbox Live can go suck on that for a while.

If you honestly think that girls are unable to be gamers, then there is something seriously wrong with you. Get off of your "manly" high horse and go back a handful of decades, because there's no place for you here in the gaming community. It's obvious enough that they deserve to be viewed and treated with respect and courtesy just like any other gamer, or person for that matter.

Again, there really isn't a whole lot more to say on this matter. It's a painfully obvious stereotype that some idiots unfortunately believe in and needs to be killed off.

For the record, I typed all this, and I'm male. Grow some balls Xbox Live. Jackasses...

An Update on Pokémon's First "Sequel"

Best trailer yet for a Pokémon game yet.

Last time I mentioned Black & White 2, they had just been revealed and I was very intrigued. The thought of the first sequel to a handheld Pokémon game baffled me at what possibilities that could imply. That was five months ago, and since then, the two games have been released in Japan and we have a literal truckload of information on hand.

In short, I'll still be picking at least one of the versions up, but the summary below is purely from my outside perspective.

First, the good. There's seemingly a TON of new features in this game. Enough to be on the level of a whole new generation of Pokémon games, and yet this isn't.

Essentially, the entire world of the first two games has aged two years, storyline included. Some areas have changed entirely, others not so much, and whole new areas are now open to explore too. This definitely does not look like your run-of-the-mill "Deluxe" version of Pokémon, like Emerald or Platinum. There's a whole new batch of Pokémon to collect, and when I say new, I mean that it's not all just 5th generation anymore.

My favorite new features are as follows:

1. Difficulty levels. I am shocked. Technically, you must unlock them first by beating the game on it's standard setting, but a Challenge Mode exists as well as an Assist Mode, which I assume to be an easier version.
2. World Tournaments. Reading up on these reminded me a lot of the standard mode of the old Pokémon Stadium games, and that excites me to no end, because I loved those and miss console Pokémon games like nothing else, and the day I recognize the stadium-like Wii game as anything but a glorified item shop will never come. Basically, there are multiple types of tournaments you can enter that are reminiscent of some of Stadium's modes, like Rental and level capped modes. There's even advanced modes where you fight gym leaders and champions from other regions! Nostaligia does indeed reign supreme in Pokémon.
3. Hidden Hollows. All around the world there are little hidden areas where you can find items and (possibly rare) Pokémon with their special Dream World abilities. This is awesome, because not only is it something you can be keeping an eye out for as you travel through each route, but it gives a nice alternative to the online dream world that requires a somewhat constrained process of saving your game properly and uploading your Pokémon, then spending half an hour playing games and whatnot just to get a chance at finding the rare one you're looking for. At least with this, you're not forced to stop playing the game while looking.

There's obviously a lot more than these here, and you can find them all on Serebii's page. Big props to them for covering the whole game (and all the others for that matter)

Still, aside from all of these nice, awesome new features, we are still yet again left with the bitter taste in our mouths. Yes, it is a Pokémon game. Yes, it does have lots of new things that make it different than even it's predecessors. It even continues the tradition in terms of having the "Deluxe" version, which you can consider good or bad. However, when it all comes right down to it, we are left with the same speechless trainer and the same eight badges and victory road. This is a sequel in where it takes place after it's previous games, but the nagging, picky side of me just wants to wrongly dismiss it as "the same game, but with a few changes here and there so they could call it a sequel". That's obviously not true, but you can sort of see my point.

I've said before that you shouldn't fix what's broken, and Pokémon definitely isn't boring or broken, which is why I'll be buying at least one of these anyway, but to defend myself from being a hypocrite, wouldn't we all like something new? Spinoffs aside, we can all agree that the formula is getting a bit stale, and while having a main series is fine, for Generation 6 (you know it's coming, come on now), let's hope they can pull something amazing off with something new in the world of Pokémon.

More on Ouya

I mentioned last week the Ouya console, which has long surpassed its Kickstarter goal of $950,000 and might just set the gaming world on fire if it succeeds.

This is why, as referenced by their Kickstarter.

1. It will cost $99. Seriously, this is huge. For everything it can do below, it only costs a Benjamin Franklin. If you're a hacker, then it's even more worth it.
   
2. It's being ran by people who care about gaming's simpler days. While I'm fine with many modern forms of gaming, most of us in our early twenties right now remember the times of console gaming in our living rooms. They acknowledge the future with the advancements of technology, but keeping it simple is not only a good approach, but a fine way to blow the console gaming market wide open.
   
3. It runs on the reliable Android OS. Android has proved to be as reliable a platform as Apple's OS, and with the jump to consoles, it's about to give Apple a run for their massive vaults of money.
   
4. It's even attractive for game developers. Normally, if you're a game developer, you must use some sort of outside software or developer kit that usually requires a license you must throw all your money at in order to use. The folks behind Ouya claim that the console itself is a developer kit, so there's no need to spend anything on any software. Anyone from the biggest company to the lone college student can open their creative toolbox and make a game for it.
   
5. It could change AAA game development. This one is bigger than we know. If the console is successful and big game developers find success on this console, then their competition will definitely notice, especially publishers like Activision, Ubisoft, and EA. Making a game on this console means no fees for publishers, retailers, or even licensing. You own what you make and you get every penny you earn. Just think: The days of overpriced, $60 games could get shot in the foot if this thing takes off.
   
6. The controller looks pretty cool. It looks a little modern, but the 4-button approach is standard now since the days of the Super NES, and the two sticks are a modern touch that most if not all games use today.
   
7. Hackers are welcome. You can basically take this apart and do whatever the hell you want without voiding your warranty. It's like a computer you built yourself, only it's being sold to you built as-is and you're told you can have a field day with it. Make your own peripherals with USB ports or Bluetooth. They don't even care.
   
8. Android is Android. That means any app on any Android device works on this thing. Games, apps, E-Books, whatever! You could watch eSports on Twitch.tv on this thing according to their claims! (my favorite)
   
9. The console is no bigger than a rubix cube. Holy crap. Not only is that awesome, but it's very conveniently stored on a shelf, next to a TV, or even in a backpack or bag!
   
10. They appear to be professionals that want to do good for gamers and gaming in general. They want to change the monotonous system that we have grown tired of year after year. They want money to get production started, and they're even a good amount of the way done with designs! They just need our help! They even plan on doing their own game development in-house!

I really, REALLY want this thing to become big, and I'm sure I'm not alone. If you're looking to help change the gaming industry as we have known it, head over to the Ouya Kickstarter page and join in on the more than fifty-thousand that have pledged money towards this little creation.

Ouya

The implications behind this little device could change the future of gaming as we know it.

With a Kickstarter underway and about twenty days left, over five million dollars has been pledged towards the creation of this little miracle.

All information can be found on the project's Kickstarter page here, and while these guys have some serious balls for inviting hackers and free games onto a television console, if they can pull this off, then the future of video gaming is significantly brighter than I initially thought.

He'd Kill Me if I Didn't Post About it

I'm here to forcefully...I mean, post with an obligation towards a new video game coming out. It's about everybody's favorite Merc with a Mouth, Deadpool, and it looks awesome.

But seriously, it looks ridiculously awesome.

Not only does the game's trailer look amazing, but already the marketing strategy behind this game is awesome and hilarious. The real Deadpool seems to have created his own Facebook page, his own Twitter account, and he even reads his own press release in his own style and finesse.

Below is the uncensored trailer, and holy hell, I laughed, cried, and crapped my pants at the same time.

 

All other information you can find at his website, and you should probably go there, because not only does it have it's own humor and awesomeness as well, but because...well, because Deadpool.

If you don't, he'll probably find you and punch you in the face until you do. So do it. NOW.

Near Perfection

I've gone on and on about how much I love Valve and everything they do, own, and are, but I must admit that even I don't think they're perfect. Nothing ever really is perfect after all, and that's just a hard truth.

Still, for everything that Valve does, from appealing to all of their fans to holding massive discounts on PC games through Steam (there's a Summer Sale going on right now, by the way), they somehow manage to infuriate the masses one way or another. That's not to say everyone else has done it too in some way, but let me introduce to you the concept of "Valve Time".

Valve Time is a term coined by fans that refers to their seemingly always-inconsistent release windows. In other words, if they announce a Fall release date, it will probably come out at the end of next Spring.

Now, I'm not here to kick Valve in the balls for being inconsistent, because delays always happen (especially in the gaming industry) usually due to unforeseen circumstances, and we as loyal customers should give them the benefit of the doubt in theory. However, the great minds working for Valve somehow can't relay any messages other than vague reassurances ("We are working on it" or "It will be here soon") whenever fans query them for answers, which we rightfully deserve in my opinion seeing as how loyal we remain to the wonderful games they produce year after year, especially considering the unfortunate delays we patiently wait through.

However, we never really get any until it's either too late or at the last second. It's always an announcement, an apology, and nothing else. No reasons or explanations.

I understand that a company such as Valve must remain private in several ways, considering they are pioneering what could possibly be the future of cross-platform gaming with Steam, and their secrets in marketing and their figures are very important to them. However, I still believe that they could be a little more upfront with their customers, especially when it comes to game releases or customer complaints and issues, public relations aside. They do so much to show that they really appreciate us and that they really understand what being a gamer is supposed to be about, and yet this one imperfection rears its ugly head whenever one of their game releases rolls around or rumors swirl about what they're working on. Being honest and transparent with us would make them not only one of the most professional companies I know about, but probably the best game developing company I know (unlike some others).

Somehow, I made it through this entire post without mentioning Half Life (Episode) 3.

...Wait, shit!

Heavens to Hades!

Kid Icarus: Uprising is a game that was released several months ago by Nintendo. You know, Nintendo. That one game company in Japan. The one that is infamous for their wonderful franchises and their endless repetition of games.

Well, it's refreshing to see something new finally come out of Nintendo, for once. Well, technically it isn't new, because Kid Icarus is yet another Nintendo franchise, but it hasn't had a game in 25 years since its original game on the NES, and from Pit's popularity on Smash Bros. Brawl, it seemed like a proper foreshadowing of his own modern game.

Now that I've played through it, I can give my opinions. Personally, I love the thing to pieces, but it does have its own problems.

First, the good. The style that Nintendo put in this game alongside some of the marketing done before the games release is just to die for. The humor and dialogue is treated very much like a dubbed anime (almost as if the game was made in Japan or something, go figure), and I was very surprised to see a product like this come out of Nintendo, which usually goes along with the voicelessness of Link or Mario. Most of the jokes and humor was pretty cheesy at times but something I really adore is the fourth wall, which was practically dead from the get-go.

The gameplay is pretty fun, and there's no shortage of content. There are tons and tons of weapons to collect of several different types, online PvP which pairs you up in a team of 3, three different achievement boards and unlockable "trophies" similarly to the ones found in Super Smash Bros., and adjustable difficulty levels for those who want a challenge. A fair warning on the difficulty though: 1 is simple and easy, and 9 is the fires of Hades filling you with burning agony and pain.

Now the not-so-good. Although I really liked the gameplay itself, I can see why many professional critics are citing it as a problem. The controls are a little bit weird, and they are comparable to a previous Nintendo title, Metroid: Hunters. You aim by sliding your reticule around the touch screen with your stylus, move around the screen with the control stick, and fire with your L or R button. It sounds simple in theory, but these default controls are basically making you steer and fire with one hand while aiming with the other, and in this third-person game, it can feel very sticky or unnatural at times. You can change to a couple other control schemes, but trust me when I say that the default one is probably the best out of the three available, unless you think you can steer with the lower D-pad or with the ABXY buttons (i.e. you probably can't without growing another arm).

Aside from that, there would be times when random things would happen in the story for no apparent reason that nobody saw coming, and Pit would have to deal with it for the level while the main plot's characters stood aside and talked/cracked jokes. Granted, you probably don't play Nintendo games expecting a lot out of story progression (except maybe a modern Metroid game like the Prime series) or character development for that matter, but to have all this dialogue with heroes, villains, conflict, and an actual story that's different from "hero saves girl from bad guy", I came out of the game wanting a little more. All that is essentially here is our hero, Pit, flying off with the aid of Palutena to defeat Medusa and the army of the Underworld over 25 levels, and yet, about 80% of that is either flying off to get some macguffin item to help them or defeating some other secondary enemy that just so happened to pop up at this very moment.

Overall, I can see why many find Kid Icarus: Uprising to be a mixed bag. It certainly has the traditional Nintendo flair strewn about it, and it does feel like a lot of effort was put into this game. The kinds of issues I have with it hold it back from me playing it over and over and over despite it clearly having lots of content within that give it a lot of replay value. However, I can appreciate the work that Nintendo put into this game considering that the last installment was 25 years ago, and the type of anime-esque, fourth wall humor is something I really like personally. I had fun playing it, and I don't regret purchasing it. Give it a shot if you wish, because honestly, you're probably going to end up buying the next Mario/Zelda game anyway, so something actually refreshing from Nintendo is something you don't see every day.