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September Releases

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We’re starting to roll into holiday season, which means we’re approaching Peak Video Games. September is still not flush with games like October and November usually are, but it’s shaping up to be solid. With that said, on to this month’s releases:

Xbox One

Week of September 2nd
WARRIORS OROCHI 3 Ultimate

Week of September 9th
Destiny – September might as well be Destinytember, it’s launching on all platforms and it’s going to be the most played game for a while. I am debating on the PC version or the 360 version, but I think I’ll be giving Destiny a try, for sure.
NHL 15

Week of September 23rd
FIFA 15

Week of September 30th
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor – Assassin’s Creed: Middle Earth was showing really well earlier, but the news about this game has slowed to a trickle. Not sure that’s exactly a good thing.
Forza Horizon 2
Crimes and Punishments: Sherlock Holmes

Week of September 9th
NHL 15

Week of September 16th
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution: Day 1 Edition

Week of September 23rd
FIFA 15

Week of September 30th
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Forza Horizon 2
Crimes and Punishments: Sherlock Holmes

Week of September 23rd
Hyrule Warriors – Not a great month for Nintendo this month, but I’ve read a lot of positive buzz coming out about Hyrule Warriors. I don’t think it will be a game for me, but will it be a boon for Nintendo?

Week of September 16th
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Curtain Call
Cooking Mama 5: Bon Appetit!

Week of September 23rd
FIFA 15

Week of September 2nd
Planetary Annihilation Collectors Edition
Gauntlet
The Sims 4

Week of September 16th
How to Survive

Week of September 23rd
The Vanishing of Ethan Carter
FIFA 15
Stronghold Crusader 2 – This font and title look dangerously close to Crusader King’s logo. Like “let’s see who we can trick into buying our game because they thought they were getting something associated with Crusader Kings” dangerous.

Week of September 30th
Crimes & Punishments – Sherlock Holmes

PS4 Banner

Week of September 2nd
WARRIORS OROCHI 3 Ultimate

Week of September 9th
Destiny
NHL 15

Week of September 16th
Air Conflicts: Vietnam

Week of September 23rd
FIFA 15
NAtURAL DOCtRINE

Week of September 30th
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Crimes and Punishments: Sherlock Holmes

Week of September 2nd
Darksiders II

Week of September 9th
NHL 15
Destiny

Week of September 16th
Fairy Fencer F
Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution: Day 1 Edition

Week of September 23rd
NAtURAL DOCtRINE
Ar Nosurge: Ode to an Unborn Star
FIFA 15

Week of September 30th
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Crimes and Punishments: Sherlock Holmes

Week of September 2nd
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair

Week of September 23rd
FIFA 15
Arcana Heart 3: LOVE MAX!!!!!

Week of September 30th
NAtURAL DOCtRINE

What are you picking up this month?
(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

August Releases

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August is traditionally the last month before the glut of game releases begins in earnest. It’s usually when Madden is released and a whole bunch of shovelware that studios want to get out the door before they start launching their heavy hitters in anticipation of the Fall and Holiday seasons. This year, August actually has a few games that aren’t Madden that are still worth a look or two.

With that said, on to this month’s releases:

Xbox One

Week of August 19th
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition – I’m still not sure why Diablo III didn’t do it for me the way Diablo II did. I also wonder if the console version is worth the time. Either way, Diablo III has a faithful fanbase and they love them some console Diablo.

Week of August 26th
Madden NFL 15 – With everything that EA is dealing with concerning the Ed O’Bannon case, this year marked the first time in over a decade that they didn’t release an NCAA version of their football game. Even though it was Madden’s neglected younger cousin, it was a fan favorite among college football fans, myself included. And since last year’s cover was graced by Denard Robinson, a former University of Meatchicken Skunk Weasel, I guess my run with EA’s NCAA ended two years ago. That’s all to say I loved NCAA Football and never cared for Madden. I don’t think I’ll care this year, either.
Metro Redux

Week of August 5th
Darksiders – Collection
Ultra Street Fighter IV – One thing Capcom can never be accused of is being unoriginal with their iterative titles.
Sacred 3 – Sacred 3 is intriguing to me. Way back in the day, (five years ago, to be exact), we were provided a copy of Sacred 2 for review. James reviewed and gave it a solid “BUY” rating back then. I’ve played it, and while it was rough around the edges, it had its moments. With the eminent release of Sacred 3, I am intrigued. I don’t think it will have the tactical depth of Divinity: Original Sin, but I think it could be a fun hack-and-slash romp. I’m putting this on my “definitely maybe” list. (But I’ll probably pick up the already released PC version)

Week of August 12th
Risen 3: Titan Lords
World of Tanks

Week of August 19th
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition

Week of August 26th
Madden NFL 15

Week of August 5th
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Week of August 26th
Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney

Week of August 5th
Ultra Street Fighter IV
MX vs. ATV: Alive + Supercross
Red Faction – Collection
Darksiders – Collection
Weather Lord: In Pursuit of the Shaman – (Included for completeness sake, and a totally bonkers name of a game. Weather Lord? Seriously?)

Week of August 12th
Risen 3 – Titan Lords

Week of August 19th
Week of August 26th
Metro 2033 Redux
Metro: Last Light Redux
Metro Redux

PS4 Banner

Week of August 19th
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare

Week of August 26th
Madden NFL 15
Metro Redux
inFAMOUS First Light

Week of August 5th
Darksiders – Collection
Red Faction – Collection
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Sacred 3

Week of August 12th
AKIBA’S TRIP: Undead & Undressed
Risen 3: Titan Lords

Week of August 19th
Diablo III: Ultimate Evil Edition
Plants vs Zombies Garden Warfare

Week of August 26th
Madden NFL 15
Tales of Xillia 2

Week of August 12th
Disgaea 4: A Promise Revisited
AKIBA’S TRIP: Undead & Undressed

Week of August 26th
Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth1

(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

Weekend Gaming

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phantom_lancerIt’s been a while since we’ve discussed what weekend gaming plans you have, so here’s a weekend gaming thread to plan out your weekend!

For me, I am about 3 hours in to Divinity Original Sin and I’m starting to get into a comfortable groove with it. I like the turn-based RPG mechanics, I like the setting and the story doesn’t make me roll my eyes (even though it took a weird turn early). I plan on putting some serious time in with Divinity.

I’m also hyped because this weekend is the finals for the Dota 2 Championship, The International 4. It may be a sign of things to come, but ESPN will actually be broadcasting the Finals and showing a Dota 2 Special Sunday night on ESPN 2.

So ya, in addition to playing Divinity, I’ll be watching Dota 2 as well.

I also dusted off my 3DS and plan on visiting my Animal Crossing town, which almost certainly has fallen into disrepair. I hope the animals recognize me.

What will you be playing?

In My Digital Hands

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divinty_original_sin

I missed this when it was being Kickstart’ed, but have been hearing great things about it.

I’m hoping to do a live stream and hopefully turning that into a Let’s Play video. The first of hopefully many such video endeavors. Check back for more info, hopefully later this evening!

July Releases

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Summer is traditionally a slow time for video game releases, but this July is pretty threadbare. Unless you like shooting people with sniper rifles (and honestly, who doesn’t?), this month has pretty slim pickin’s. With that said, on to this month’s releases:

Xbox One

Week of July 1st
Sniper Elite III

Week of July 1sth
Far Cry Compliation
Sniper Elite III

Week of July 22nd
Wii Sports Club

Week of July 8th
One Piece Unlimited World Red

Week of July 29th
Scooby Doo & Looney Tunes Cartoon Universe: Adventure

Week of July 29th
Metro Redux
Metro 2033 Redux
Metro: Last Light Redux – Updated, up-rezzed versions of Metro aren’t a bad way to spend your July gaming budget…

PS4 Banner

Week of July 1st
Sniper Elite III

Week of July 29th
The Last of Us Remastered

Week of July 1st
Sniper Elite III

Week of July 8th
One Piece Unlimited World Red

Week of July 29th
LEGO Ninjago Nindroids

So yeah, not a whole lot to be had here. What are you picking up this month?

(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

June Releases

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Well, this is rather embarrassing. It has been over two months since our last post. That means I’ve missed two monthly release posts and even though I have been mashing buttons, I haven’t written anything of substance. (More accurately, I’ve been mashing the right button on my mouse, because Dota 2 still has a stranglehold on my gaming time). But with that said, let’s get on to this month’s releases:

Xbox One

Week of June 3rd
Murdered Soul Suspect

Week of June 17th
UFC – Nice to see EA eschewing adding a number to each one of their franchises. Sometimes simple is better.

Week of June 24th
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark – The last Transformers video game got some decent sleeper-status buzz. Will Rise of the Dark Spark get it, as well?

Week of June 3rd
Murdered: Soul Suspect

Week of June 10th
Enemy Front

Week of June 24th
GRID Autosport Black Edition
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark

Week of June 24th
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark

Week of June 3rd
Tomodachi Life

Week of June 24th
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark
Farming Simulator ’14 – If it was like this (questionable content alert), I’d be in on Farming Simulator for my 3DS.

Week of June 3rd
Wildstar
Murdered: Soul Suspect
Legends of Persia

Week of June 10th
Enemy Front
SPINTIRES – The description of this game includes the sentence “Fasten your seatbelt and become the driver of unique vehicles that have been based on Soviet off-road classics.” I don’t think you can get a nicher than a driving game based of Soviet off-road classics. The audience is narrow with this one.

Week of June 17th
Black Gold Online – I’ll take games I’ve never heard of for 500, Alex.
MotoGP 14
Tropico 5

Week of June 24th
GRID Autosport

PS4 Banner

Week of June 3rd
Murdered Soul Suspect

Week of June 17th
UFC

Week of June 24th
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark

Week of June 3rd
Murdered: Soul Suspect

Week of June 24th
Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland
Xblaze Code:Embryo
Transformers Rise of the Dark Spark
GRID Autosport Black Edition

Week of June 3rd
Hyperdimension Neptunia PP – Nope, this title wouldn’t make ten-year old me laugh at all. Not at all!

Week of June 24th
Xblaze Code:Embryo
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma

(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

Weekend Gaming

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After a week away from gaming while on a family vacation, I’m ready to get back at it. As you surmised from my latest “what I’ve been playing” post, I have been spending the bulk of my time playing Dota 2. I can see that progressing for the foreseeable future. I’m now “competent” with four or five heroes and I’m looking forward to dabbling with a couple more this weekend. So ya, I’ll be playing Dota 2 this weekend.

But in talking with my fellow bloggers, we are looking at ways and topics we could write about on the topic of Dota 2. When we pull ourselves away from the “crack”, maybe we’ll get something up. No promises.

What are you playing this weekend?

What I’ve Been Playing

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dota2

That should clear up any doubts.

(In all seriousness, my gaming time has pretty much been all consumed by Dota 2. I hope to actually write some words about it one of these days. Maybe their servers will go down for a period of time and I can come up for air.)

March Releases

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(I’m a little last this month, but since there wasn’t anything released the first week of March, all is forgiven, right?)

I’ve seen some bad March release lists, but: Buzz — your release list: WOOF! Here are a bunch of games you probably won’t be playing in March (and a couple you almost certainly will be):

Xbox One

Week of March 11th
Titanfall – Microsoft is clearly planning on riding the coattails of Titanfall to tide over any and all Xbox One owners. From all accounts, it’s a great game.

Week of March 11th
Dark Souls II (Collector’s Edition) – I know one buttonmasher who is very excited (and afraid) that March is Dark Souls II month. Very excited.

Week of March 25th
Titanfall

Week of March 25th
Cut The Rope: Triple Treat

Week of March 11th
Titanfall

Week of March 18th
Men of War : Assault Squad 2

Week of March 25th
Rambo The Video Game – I’m not saying this is an obvious budget title or anything, but it does say it’s compatible on Windows 95.
MXGP
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls – If I pick up anything this month (and that’s a big IF) it will be the Diablo 3 expansion.

PS4 Banner

Week of March 11th
Putty Squad

Week of March 18th
inFAMOUS: Second Son
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

Week of March 11th
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky
Dark Souls II (Black Armor Edition)

Week of March 18th
Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster Special Edition

Week of March 25th
Rambo The Video Game
Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
The Witch and the Hundred Knight

Week of March 18th
FINAL FANTASY X|X-2 HD Remaster

Week of March 25th
Deception IV: Blood Ties

(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)

Read In 2013

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(This has been sitting in my draft folder for over a month. Better late than never, I always say.) I am blatantly stealing this idea from Zack. I love reading his post every year and use it to add books to my ever-growing list of “To Read” on goodreads.com. While my list of books read in 2013 isn’t as long as Zack’s (I just don’t have time to read as much as I’d like), hopefully it’s still interesting:

Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett (228)

This is the third book in the Discworld series and just like The Light Fantastic, Equal Rites didn’t live up to the fun I had reading The Color of Magic. There were a couple moments that elicited more than a chuckle from me, but not many. I just wasn’t into these characters. The premise (mistaken gender identity) had promise (sorry) but it fell flat for me.

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny (296)

Indian and Eastern Gods duke it out in a battle on some far off planet where men discovered the secrets of technology not available to everyone and became more powerful than other. I had no idea what was going half the time but I still tore through this book. I had to go to Wikipedia after I finished just to make sure I understood everything I had read (I’m not too familiar with the Hindu/Buddhist pantheon of deities) and kept every character straight.

Mort by Terry Pratchett (243)

As the last kid standing on the day everyone gets chosen as an apprentice, Mortimer gets picked by a skinny guy in a black hood, riding a pale horse, wielding a scythe. Death, you might say. Get it? Mort — Death? Clever, that Pratchett guy. Mort zigged where I thought it was going to zag. I enjoyed it thoroughly.

After being a little letdown by Equal Rites and The Light Fantastic, Mort was a nice return to the humor I had enjoyed in Color of Magic.

Genesis by Bernard Beckett (150)

I picked this one up strictly on Nat’s suggestion and loved it. It is a quick read (which really doesn’t mean anything with the time I actually set aside for reading. It took me over a month to read this, my wife read it in less than a week). It would betray any charm to say anything substantial about Genesis so I’ll just say I thought I had it figured out about halfway through.

I did not have it figured out.

Lucifer’s Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (629)

(Technically, I finished this in 2014, but I read 90% of it in 2013 so I’m counting in last year’s list)

Lucifer’s Hammer is the story of what happens when a meteor heading for earth actually splinters and ends up hitting in more than one place, causing destruction on a global level, wiping out millions of people and plunging the world back into the dark ages. It’s a grim apocolytpic future humanity has in front of it. Faced with the base need simply to survive, it’s pretty shocking what people will become.

I found it interesting that while reading this book and the clashes between the survivors, I couldn’t help think about the popularity of the recent rash of survival games like Rust and Day Z and the awful things people are willing to do (even in a digital escapist sort of way). Let’s just hope civilization never reaches that point.

I also started but didn’t finish a couple books. Like a video game, you usually know when you’ve started a book whether it’s going to hold you attention or not. This doesn’t mean these books aren’t good. They just won’t for me.

Stopped reading in 2013:

Drop Dead Healthy: One Man’s Humble Quest for Bodily Perfection by A.J. Jacobs

Jacobs has a reputation of doing “experimental books” where he tackles a subject and changes his life to fit some regiment of a lifestyle. He becomes focused (read: obsessed) on something and for a year, dedicates his life to this topic. The problem is with a topic like healthy living, there is so much to cover, that there’s just no way to hit everything in 400+ pages. You end up with a shallow book that doesn’t cover any particular subject with sufficient detail. I got a few chapters in and shelved Drop Dead Healthy.

A Brilliant Darkness: The Extraordinary Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Ettore Majorana, the Troubled Genius of the Nuclear Age by Joao Magueijo

I picked up A Brilliant Darkness on a recommendation from Bill Harris. It should be everything I like in a non-fiction book — science (specifically quantum mechanics), Europe and a little mystery. Unfortunately, the story started out slow and the explanations of the science were a little muddled. I wasn’t looking for graduate level science discussion, but those scientific sections didn’t hold my attention. It was time to shelve this one as well.

So that was my reading list for 2013. A total of 1,546 pages. I continue to make my way through the “classics”. It’s fun to see what holds up and what doesn’t.

What did you read last year?