buttonmashing

Mashing buttons since 1984

You are here: Home / Archives for Gaming

Gaming

NCAA 2005 and an Xbox?!

by Leave a Comment

I just listened to my messages, Trading Zone has my copy of NCAA 2005! I’ll be heading over there as soon as the buttonWife gets home to pick it up. Picture and preliminary thoughts will be posted soon.

I also am contemplating a trade with a friend: an unused set of my golf clubs for his Xbox (and stuff, maybe 2 controllers, a game, etc). He hasn’t had any issues with his box so I don’t worry too much about that but I wonder if I’m better off selling the clubs and buying my own, new, Xbox. If I get one from Game Crazy (probably a refurb’ed model) I would also get 12 free game rentals, so that’s something I need to think about. Either way, we’d both be getting a great deal, it’s a win-win situation. We’ll be Halo’ing at his house this Friday, that’s when all the details will be ironed out.

Needless to say, I’m pumped! So much gaming goodness going on right now.

Memory Card 1019

by Leave a Comment

B0001YYNLM.01._AA_SCMZZZZZZZ_.jpgI just picked up my big fat 1019 memory card today at Gamecrazy. I’m not a big fan of that store but they usually have plenty of TVs set up to play new games and they have a decent selection of games, it’s just the staff that works there. They’re either fanboys (XBox, usually) or clueless kids. I guess I shouldn’t hold that against them. They all can’t know as much as I do.

I got the card in anticipation of my copy of NCAA 2005 tomorrow. The guys at Trading Zone (my local used game store) said they’d call tonight when they knew what time their shipment was coming in, but I didn’t hear from them, hopefully there won’t be too much of a delay. I haven’t tried the card out yet, I’m letting the wife get in as much TV as she wants because when NCAA arrives she get’s relegated to the 13″ in the bedroom. Sorry hon, them’s the breaks.

Saying goodbye to Neocron

by Leave a Comment

Alas, the time has come to close the Neocron account. It has been a fun ride and quite a good game to play, I just don’t have the time to invest in it right now. I may pick it up again when the Dome of York expansion comes out, but for now I am going to say goodbye. I have definitely played my money’s worth (I picked it up for 4.99$ at CompUSA) so even after a few months of paying the monthly fees it still ends up being less than the full price for a new game.

Overall, my experience with MMORPGs has been positive. I played Everquest for a month but lost all my items in some forest somewhere and never logged back on. I played a ton of Diablo 2 (not really an MMORPG, but who cares) and had a good group of guys to run around with so we good avoid the lusers on battle.net. Unfortunately our group slowly dwindled to just two of us (me and Bob). I played in the Planetside beta, that was okay but not my thing. After picking up Neocron I really got hooked. I really liked the crafting system (I have a high level constructor that has made some sweet stuff) and I liked the dependence on other players, but in the end it slowly degraded into the dreaded level treadmill. “…I just need one more level to use that new weapon…” I will say that the leveling system and skill points scheme is done well in Neocron. Since there weren’t a ton of players (300 players on Saturn would be crowded) most of the people were cool to play with but of course NC had its share of PK’ers and that just sucks. I’m not leaving because of that but they won’t be missed.

I’m quitting for a number of reasons, but mostly because NCAA 2005 is a week away and I will be deeply engrossed in that for a while. After that, we’ll see. I still have to have a chat with Greta about that monitor I want and maybe an XBox.

NCAA 2005 is only 11 days away!

by Leave a Comment

I posted that earlier link from work, I don’t think I’ll be doing that much anymore. Probably wouldn’t be the most appropriate activity, even though I was at lunch. Either way, I probably won’t post much from work.

NCAA 2005 is going to be sweet! Some say the pump-up-the-crowd angle will be done poorly but I have been to the Horsehoe during an OSU/Michigan game and after a Buckeye defender lights up a Wolverine, that place explodes. It might not be the loudest stadium out there but it is still a spiritual experience. And then the band blares the fight song and it’s surreal. The world around fades and nothing else matters. And this is just from a lifetime fan’s perspective. I can’t imagine what it’s like to be down on the field. Ahhh, that’s where NCAA 2005 comes in. College football season starts July 12th!

I’m still not sure if I’ll pick it up the first week. I may, I dunno yet. To me it just doesn’t seem right to start the football season until August. But I’m sure my brother-in-law will pick it up and tell me how awesome it is and then I’ll go and pick it up, too. Man I can’t wait! And with the new Memory Card, it’s like heaven has open its gates and rained a little love on us all.

My gaming pedigree

by 2 Comments

One’s gaming experience, or as I like to call it, “gaming pedigree,” is often a source of pride for us old-school gamers. We use it to give creedence to our opinions and it gives us a sense of superiority over the casual gamer. So before I spout off any more gaming knowledge, I thought I’d share my gaming pedigree. I’ll list a handful of my favorite games here but look forward to top five lists in the future.

Updated (2/24/2005)

1984-1986

Atari 2600 – This is where it started for most of us. I still remember that frigid Christmas morning, seeing the wood-trimmed piece of hardware, thinking I ruled the world. I played the heck out of my 2600. Favorite games included Space Invaders, Missile Command, Pitfall, and many others. I think my favorite 2600 game was Kaboom! I played that game at every chance I got.

1986-1990

NES – Definitely a big change for me. Christmas of ’86 brought me the cherished Nintendo Entertainment System. I played my NES past “Nintendo Thumb”. It was more like Nintendo Raw, Cracked, Blistered Thumb. I don’t think I could imagine what path I was taking as I played countless Nintendo games. If you would have told me twenty years from then I would still be playing video games I would have said you’re nuts. But here I am, playing away on a my Gamecube.

Trying to choose favorite games would be foolish, there are so many, but a few of my favorites were Baseball Stars, Rygar, Bionic Commando, Contra, any Super Mario Brothers, many many more.

1988-Present

PC’s – While PC gaming has always taken a backseat to console gaming I still take time to get in as much PC gaming as I can. I started out on a whimpy 286, playing Sierra adventure games on my 4-color CGA monitor, but I also played my share of Commodore 64 (even though I never owned a C64), Apple IIe, TSR 80, and others. I played most of the D&D Forgotten Realms and DragonLance games. I played Doom before it was released, when all you could play was the first level, with no weapons or monsters. My favorite genre of PC games is either RPGs or RTS games. I love Blizzard games, played the Age of Empires series to death, and currently play Neocron. While MMORPG appeal to the most basic needs to me, I don’t play them as much as I wish I did.

1989

Game Boy – While I owned the Classic Game Boy I didn’t play it much. I played Tetris on the crapper a lot but I would much rather play on the TV so Game Boy didn’t have much of an impact on my gaming repertoire until much later in life. Tetris still logged hundreds of hours and my mom still plays my original Game Boy.

1991-1994

Super NES – Like many people, I consider the SNES to be the pinnacle of gaming. I hold dear my memories of playing my SNES. I actually remember when my friend rented an imported Super Famicom months before the SNES was released on the masses. We played F-Zero and Mode-7 owned me. I had a crap-load of SNES games. Some of my favorites included Act Raiser, the Final Fantasies, Final Fight, Street Fighter 2, NBA Jams, Super Mario World, the list goes on. Man I loved that machine. I am still waiting to find a good deal on a used SNES with a handful of games on eBay to relive those days. (Update: I purchased a SNES this past November, along with Super Mario World and NBA Jams SE. I am always on the look out for games to add to my collection)

1994-1996

I lived in Spain for two years as a Mormon Missionary, effectively cutting me off from gaming from May 1994 to May 1996. I did get a chance to play a Playstation in one area I lived in, but I didn’t do much gaming from 1994-1996.

1996-2002

Nintendo 64 – I was first in line to get my gaming on after returning from Spain. I got my N64 the day it was released, along with Mario 64, easily one of the greatest games ever. Words don’t do that game justice. I played a handful of games on my N64, but my interest sort of waned as my interest in a certain lady-friend grew. I paid more attention to her and less to the N64, and we were married in August ’97. The N64 came along for the ride down to Columbus but only got pulled out occasionally to play Killer Instinct. I missed out on most of the seminal N64 games, like Perfect Dark, Ocarina of Time, Goldeneye (I played this a couple times) and others. I spent most of this time on the PC but my interest was sparked by the release of the Gamecube. My N64 was sacrificed as a trade for my Gamecube. I will own another N64 and go through some of the games I missed.

2002-Present

Gamecube – Ahhh, the Nintendo Gamecube. I hold the Gamecube near and dear to my heart. It was what made console gaming relevant for me again, easing me back into the gaming scene. So many good games for the little black box. My favorite Gamecube game is easily The Legend of Zelda The Wind Waker. I think there is so much detail and beauty in that game that gets overlooked by the A.D.D.-generation. Scenes in the underwater Castle are breathtaking. Easily my number one game, EVER. Metroid Prime is top ten, as well. NCAA 2004 has consumed many hours of my time (I am a HUGE college football fan). There are countless others: Viewtiful Joe, Prince of Persia, NFS:Underground. The list goes on.

2003-Present

Game Boy Advanced SP – I don’t know why I waited so long to pick one of these up, but the GBA-SP is an amazing piece of hardware. I have a back log of good games, so it will take me a while to catch up but I am currently playing classics like Advance Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. Doom on the GBA takes me back to my old PC Doom days.

2004 and beyond

Don’t get the idea that I have only played Nintendo Systems. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve played all the Sega Systems (Man I was jealous of Altered Beast when the Genesis came out), I have played PS1/2, they don’t do much for me. I played the ill-fated Turbo-Grafx 16, the Neo-Geo, sheesh, I could go on but you get the point.

Who knows where I go from here. I am still contemplating the XBox angle. (Update: I picked up an XBox and have played the heck out of Halo 2. I also played the very disappointing Fable but traded that away a while ago because it SUCKED SO BAD. I’ve got other XBox games, I’ve just got so many games that I need to play) There are a handful of games that look good that I want to play and I can’t deny the allure of Halo 2. I’ve never been drawn to the PS2, I don’t know why, but I doubt I’ll ever pick one up. But if I can convince Greta of that XBox, mmhhmhmmm.

Wario Ware Mega Games

by 2 Comments

This game is awesome! I read the countless reviews praising it on the Game Boy Advance but it came out before I got my SP so I never picked up a copy, but I rented the Gamecube version and it is a riot! My friends and I are always looking for games that are “wife-friendly” since playing games with the wives scores brownie points that we can tuck away for future guys-only games. Mario Kart and the Mario Parties are good but aren’t the easiest to get the hang of but W.W.M.G. is easy to learn and fun to play. I’ve never laughed so hard watching my wife try to pick a pixelated nose with a pixelated pinkie. That is good stuff.

Graphics are good, on par with a game ported from a handheld, music and sound is up-beat and perfect and the controls are simple. I can see the overall lifetime of the game being short since there are only so many mini games and once you’ve played them a bunch of times they would get old, but this is a definite rental and can probably be picked up cheap, so I recommend it!

4/5 buttons mashed!

A gaming crossroads

by Leave a Comment

I stand at a fork in the proverbial road of video games. Of the current console systems, I only own a Gamecube and a Game Boy Advance SP . I have a fairly good PC which can handle any of the current games out there. But I don’t play many PC games, the only one I’m playing right now is the MMORPG Neocron. I’ve enjoyed this game so far (you can read my review here) but I could easily walk away from it tonight and not miss it. So I’m at a crossroads. Do I continue playing Neocron and when World of Warcraft comes out, play that, or try and talk Greta into letting me get an XBox and get Live. I don’t know yet.

We shall continue to ponder our next move.

Portal: The Exit

by 1 Comment

Notice you’re in a different place, but you can see back to the place you started from?

Yep, that’s Portal. If you don’t have The Orange Box for the 360 or PC yet, you must stop reading this a get it now. It is absolutely the best gaming value out there.

Note: if you are here, it’s probably because you came through a web example of a portal.