buttonmashing

Mashing buttons since 1984

Tony

Team Quad Rock

by 3 Comments

I don’t post local-to-me (Columbus, Ohio) stories like this very often, but I had no idea I was living this close to greatness.

By day, the four 20-something friends work with or around computers.

By night, they play on them — so much so that they’ve amassed a combined 72 video-game world records.

Ladies and technophiles, meet Team Quad Rock.

This makes me want to get down and dirty with a game of New Super Mario Bros. Wii:

“We go level by level and analyze it,” explained Lowe, who holds records in mostly vintage games — both popular (BurgerTime) and obscure (Splendor Blast).

“Russell figured out that on the third level of the game, when the clock reads 396 seconds, you can use Mario’s propeller cap and get an extra 16,600 points every 25 seconds. I have a spreadsheet breaking down every level like that.”

A single game of New Super Mario Bros. Wii takes about two hours and five minutes to play, Lowe said.

Maybe I’ll just go watch The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.

FUNd Raising (yeah, I got nothing)

by 1 Comment

FotB (Friend of the Blog) Corvus is working on a game called Addicube and is looking for help funding his project.

What is Addicube?

Addicube is a virtual-pet sim that challenges you to maintain balanced diets for an ever increasing family of tiny cubes in a petri dish. If their diets become to unbalanced, they begin to act out emotionally and as you progress you’ll unlock tools that help you keep control over their intake.

An emotional petri dish game? Corvus is starting his own genre. A genre we can all get behind.

I hope everyone can give a little to help them out. This is a do as I say and as I do situation, as I’ve put my money where my mouth is. Let’s all pitch in.

Violence and video games together again

by 2 Comments

Most be another one of those violent video games, right?

An Italian man who argued with his son over Sony PlayStation tactics was recovering in hospital on Monday after the teenager stabbed him in the neck with a 15-inch kitchen knife, police and hospital officials said.

What was he playing? Grand Theft Auto IV? Modern Warfare 2? God of War?

The man, identified as Fabrizio R., suffered a deep cut to the throat after his 16-year-old son, Mario, attacked him during an argument on Sunday over the soccer video game FIFA 2009.

Huh. So it wasn’t a violent video game that led to this violent outburst. My world view = shattered.

It’s Mass Effect 2 Eve!

by 4 Comments

It’s my favorite time of the year, the hours before a new, highly anticipated title is launched. Ever since finishing the first Mass Effect (two years after it was released), I have been anxiously awaiting the sequel to drop. I came home to the most awesome email ever:

(My Gamefly Ninja move has worked again. I could keep Mass Effect 2 for 45 bucks right now. I am a Gamefly Ninja!)

For whatever reason, I avoided most of the pre-launch info with a righteous zeal. I’m not sure why. I’d peep the occasional screen shot or watch a video, but I ignored most coverage the various sites have had. Was that a mistake? I wanted to avoid all spoiler talk and go into the game “pure.” This is actually something I’ve thinking about (spoilers) lately and hope to talk about that more in a future post.

Due to not keeping up with the previews and coverage leading up to launch, I don’t know exactly what changes have been made to the sequel or what to expect. So here is my short Mass Effect 2 wish list:

  • Let’s get this one out of the way first: no more elevators. Duh. The shorter the loading waits, the better. Early in the original game, there were dialog between the characters during the elevator rides, which made them bearable. If I have to sit in an elevator, I need more of these.
  • Make the side-quests mean something. I was never really interested in doing in any of the side-quests in the original because there wasn’t any real compelling reason to do so. I started finishing them near the end, which unfortunately turned out to be too late in some cases. I hope the new side-quests will enrich the main story and flesh out the new characters.
  • I loved the first person conversations from the first one. I’m not a big fan of how the main character in Dragon Age never talks. I hope Mass Effect 2 continues the great BioWare tradition of meaningful conversations.
  • Finally, I hope I can bring over my saved character from my finished game but use Shepard’s original model. I tried to make a “new Shepard” but he ended up looking like an extra from Planet of the Apes. I’d really like to revert back to the original Shepard. I did notice on today’s Penny Arcade post that Tycho mentions that there will be a way to maintain your character, even if you don’t have access to your save file, so it’s good to know I’m covered. Scratch that, reverse it.

As a service to you, fellow Mass Effect 2 fans, I posted a bunch of screen shots on Flickr to prime the pump. This game looks great. I’m hoping it is great

Mass Effect 2 01

Dragon Age First Impressions

by 6 Comments

Now that I’ve spent a little time with Dragon Age: Origins, I thought I’d post a few impressions.

Initially, I didn’t think Dragon Age: Origins was going to do it for me. Things started out really slow. I didn’t care for what at first glance appeared to be a rather generic story. Some of the graphics were distracting. Controls didn’t feel right. I was not impressed.

Now that I’m about five or six hours into the game, I’m happy to admit things get much better. The story, now that I’ve read some of the background (via the Codex) has me buying in to what’s happening. I quickly became comfortable with the controls.

Graphics are still a bit of a disappointment. It’s probably nit-picky and petty, but some of the character models look really bad. I know the game has been in development for a long time, but it’s surprising that Mass Effect, a game two years older, looks just as good (if not better) than Dragon Age. Maybe that’s due to the fact that this game was obviously designed for PC first, consoles second, but some of the models are very distracting.

I had read in more than one place (Josh most recently) about how Dragon Age had a potentially steep learning curve but I thought I was good enough to start the game at a higher difficulty level. WRONG. After an hour of dying needlessly I set the difficulty back to normal and moved on. I don’t know why I have this need to do things the hard way but I’m getting better. I’ve decided that after I gain a few more levels I think I’ll give the next difficulty up another try now that I’m getting the hang tactics system and my guys aren’t as squishy.

And one last thing. Normally with BioWare games, I’m almost always go with the “good” options. In conversation I say the “right things” and when offered a moral choice I “do the right thing”. This game, I’m trying to be a “bad guy” or at least not a knight in shining armor. It’s hard. On more than one occasion I’ve felt a twinge of guilt as I send an orphan packing or see a “-10 Alistair” after I make a decision. If nothing else, that’s got to count for something in terms of emotions in a video game.

Set your DVRs

by 7 Comments

Got this note from EA’s PR peoples and figured some of you would be interested. I know I am, but I’m also torn. I’ve been avoiding any and all info about Mass Effect 2 to go into the game pure and unsullied as possible. I have seen a few of the teaser videos for the game, so maybe I’m already corrupted. Either way, check it out:

Tonight the SyFy Network will debut the special TV documentary, Sci vs. Fi: Mass Effect 2 , featuring celebs, creators, and experts discussing 2010’s first blockbuster videogame, Mass Effect 2 and its place in the sci-fi pantheon. Tune in to the Sy Fy Network for the premiere airing on Tuesday January 19th at 11 PM EST/PST and 10 PM CET. The show takes an in-depth look at both the science and fiction of Mass Effect 2, and features interviews with in-game voice talent Tricia Helfer and Yvonne Strahovski, Sci-Fi fan favorite Wil Wheaton and journalists Jessica Chobot and Adam Sessler among others.

Weekend Gaming

by 6 Comments

Another weekend is upon us. This weekend may not present many opportunities to game for me, but when they do I’ll be engrossed in Dragon Age. So far I like what I’ve seen and am looking forward to seeing a whole lot more. If I only get a moment or two for gaming it will probably be some Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer. I’d also like to get back to Borderlands, so that is always an option.

What are you playing?

Modern Warfare 2 is a Japanese RPG

by 6 Comments

Or maybe it’s an MMO. Either way, who knew? (Probably a lot of people, but not me)

I mention jRPGs because right now, I am in the thick of “leveling up” my weapons and all I could think of was Disgaea. In Disgaea, items are actually places you can “enter” and by progressing through the levels of the item, you actually make it stronger. You can also increase its attributes by taking out certain monsters (both specialists and bosses). In Modern Warfare 2, every weapon has a set number of challenges that systematically increase the “power” of your weapon. You can unlock things like sights, camouflage, and stronger ammo. It’s addictive, just like Disgaea was.

The beautiful thing about MW2‘s system is that, as far as I can tell, the improvements are small enough that they don’t knock the balance of the game out of whack. While I may have unlocked the thermal scope, heart monitor and grenade attachment, I am limited to using two (after unlocking another perk) attachments. It works perfectly. And even if I do happen to fully upgrade/unlock my current weapon of choice (A SCAR-H) I will probably move on to another weapon to continue the process.

Therein lies the hook. Raph Koster definitely had it right in his book, A Theory of Fun for Game Design. I know it’s is more complex than this but it it turns out that our brains are wired to enjoy doing repetitive things that we perceive as being fun. The designers at Infinity Ward have honed this to a razor’s edge. It’s like they looked inside my brain and tailored Modern Warfare 2 to pretty much inject fun directly into my brain.

I am a simple man who has simple (gaming) needs. I was actually going to discuss these things in conjunction with Torchlight and Borderlands, but this is just as good a time to talk about it as ever. I only need a few things in my games. I need to see little numbers popping up off the bad guys (multicolored numbers, if you are really trying), I need lots of things to unlock and I’ll take some leveling up (the more the better). Take all those simple things and throw in a robust statistic tracking system and I am in heaven. I haven’t played a ton of jRPGs, but I have played a ton of MMORPGs. Both of those game scratch that numeric itch.

So while it has its flaws, Modern Warfare 2 is almost the perfect game for me. It has these simple things I like, in spades. To recap: I need: Stats (check), Little Numbers (not quite what I want, but I’ll let it slide), constant progression (Leveling up (check)), and Unlocking (that’s a gigantic CHECK).

So I think I have a new favorite FPS on the 360. Halo 3 has been unseated and I’m not sure it (or Halo: Reach) can regain the throne. I don’t know how much I really believe this, even as I’m typing it, but if Halo: Reach doesn’t incorporate some these mechanics, I don’t know how much it will grip me.

In my Hands

by 6 Comments

In my (overflowing) hands:

You would think I already have enough games to play, and you would be right. Gamefly, however, would like to disagree with you and sent me a copy of Dragon Age: Origins for the 360. Of course I’m excited about this, but I really just want to play some Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands. But I’ll make the sacrifice!