Gaming

Keeping It Alive: Gaming Quickies

February 4, 2008 by Nat 5 Comments

I don’t know what it is about the beginning of the year that spurs me to buy a bunch of games, mainly PC games. I guess I don’t want to see PC gaming die. However, I would like for it to evolve. PC games for me anymore have to be extremely accessible and not have a need for me to tweak my system in order to play. Oh, and I’ve got to try before buying as well. Here’s some short mini-reviews of what I’ve been doing since January 1 (in no particular order):

Burnout Paradise [360]: This has been our go to game almost every night. For the first time in a long time, both my son and I got the “you’ve been playing a little too much speech.” Essentially, it’s like riding bikes with your friends and playing Hot Wheels in the dirt at the same time. (I don’t take credit for that analogy).

Endless Ocean [Wii]: Scuba diving in a digital ocean should be incredibly boring. However, this title stands on the premise of discovery alone. Relaxing as well.

World in Conflict [PC]: This game has taken all the conventions of real time strategy games and thrown them out the window. I love the idea of no resource management. I just want to fight. The atmosphere of the game, another plus, is just a little to real and creepy for me.

Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends [PC]: Another RTS from a year or two ago I missed. It’s predecessor is my favorite. This game gets a bonus for a steampunk setting and a mark against it for being steampunk. It’s basically the first game with a few tweaks.

Puzzle Quest [PC]: At $10 I could not pass it up. I was easily reminded; however, that early on the game is stacked in favor of the enemy AI.

Fairway Solitaire [PC]: At $10 and the fact I’ve heard so much about this game, I’d thought I’d give it a try. I hate golf and I’m not much of a fan of solitaire. Barring all that, this game is an addictive blast! I don’t think I’ve ever put so much time into a card game.The game mechanics implore you to just play one more round, and then another, and then another…

I’m curious. Has anyone else played any PC games lately?

A DS Treasure Hunt

February 3, 2008 by Tony 2 Comments

Why can’t we get cool stuff like this?

On a small island near Tokyo, people armed with Nintendo DS portable game consoles are scouring the terrain in search of clues that will lead them to a secret treasure.

via Pink Tentacle

More info here.

Awesome Halo 3 screenshots

January 29, 2008 by Tony 3 Comments

BS Angel has posted some really cool Halo 3 screenshots. Halo 3 may not be the perfect game, but the additional things like the theater are so much fun. I need to be using them more often.

Halo 3 Jazz Hands

In [Nat’s] Hands: Burnout Paradise

January 23, 2008 by Nat 7 Comments

Love. Love. Love. Love.

Burnout Paradise

Initial thoughts:

Get the camera. I may have to. The reactions are priceless.
Soundtrack is actually quite good. Paradise City by Guns ‘N Roses was a nice touch.
24th and 25th 2 car challenge are doozies. Use fast, light cars. Online is fun and seamless.
Achievement point candy?
Watching another player in showtime is kinda eerie, but funny.
Marked man can die a slow death. Don’t ever, EVER stop driving or get stuck unless you like the black cars popping out of nowhere and slamming you.
Forget the races, make them all road rages.
It’s actually not taking as long as I thought to “know” the map.

I also acquired Rise of Legends (PC) and Endless Ocean for the Wii. (More on that later.)

Wii in the house

January 22, 2008 by Tony 7 Comments

We’ve had the Wii set up for a few weeks now, I just haven’t had time to post my initial impressions of this wonderful piece of video gaming goodness. I will say now that I am a full fledged Wii acolyte. It is not gimmicky. This is the future of gaming.

Wii Even now, weeks after hooking it up, I don’t feel like I can really post anything definitive or authoritative because I’ve only been able to play it for about an hour total since it’s been hooked up. The kids have usurped control from its rightful owner and are showing no signs of relenting. I haven’t even broken the seal on Mario Galaxy yet! We have two wiimotes. Ergo, if the kids are awake and the Wii is on, I’m not playing.

When I do get my turn at Wii sports, I’m always surprised at how responsive and accurate the controls are. There is a sense of more than just playing the game. It really takes gaming to a different level.

What’s really fun is watching the kids play. They have no preconceived notions. They’ve both played games on the 360, but that’s it. They have no idea of how a game should be “controlled.” It took them both a few tries to get used to the wiimote, but now it’s second nature. They both love to play bowling and baseball. It’s so simple and so obivous to them. I can’t wait to see them interact with other games.

This little machine is pretty scrappy. I’ve played around with the other channels a bit, I plan on picking up a few games from the Virtual Console (Super Metroid will be the first one) and I want to grab the web browser. I just need some time with it on mu own.

So for now, the Wii is really just a bowling game for the kids, with an occasional baseball game thrown in. Once I get a few hours to dedicate to Mario Galaxy, I’ll be getting down to some serious Wii gaming.

Halo 3 Stats on the Go

January 22, 2008 by Tony Leave a Comment

Because I feel a need to link anything concerning Halo 3, statistics, and the getting of those statistics in divers ways, I must point to iHaloStats, an iPhone app to retrieve your Halo 3 stats at any moment.

Never have I wanted an iPhone as badly as I do right now. (via Aeropause)

January Cabin Fever

January 19, 2008 by Nat 2 Comments

I’ll never buy a PC game again.

The following quote was from a Google Talk chat that I had with Tony a couple of weeks ago. I guess it was a lie. I don’t know what it is about January, but I always become weak this time of year for PC games. It’s like I have to catch up for the year before. Many times I’ll purchase a game in January and not play it until late December or early January (Hello, Civilization IV this year!).

I guess this year was no exception. This silly trend of mine started almost four or five years ago with Far Cry. Then it was Unreal Tournament 2004 (loved it!), Galactic Civilizations (learn..ing curve!), Guild Wars (2500+ hours!), Command and Conquer 3 (meh to good), Galactic Civilizations II (strategy perfection), and Civilization IV. In the last week, I’ve purchased four titles that I’ve had in the back of my mind to play: Unreal Anthology, Rise of Nations: Rise of Legends, World in Conflict, and Rail Simulator.

The Unreal package is kind of a weird misnomer this year. When we moved this last August, we ended up losing one box, just one. This was a box that had some computer games in it. Of course, they were some of the games I played once in a while. The anthology replaces some of those games.

I don’t know where this weakness comes from. I think it has to do with a man needing to have a cave. Our consoles are out in the open in the living room, but the PC pretty much has a room to itself. I find it enjoyable and comforting to go in there from time to time and just veg on a good game. It might even be to that I’m coming down of the holiday high and I want to replace that with something different. RTS usually seems to be the preferred flavor, but I may go all out crazy on some action as well.

I’m wondering if I am alone in this? Do any of you guys have a weakness when it comes to games, console or PC? Do you have a cave as well?

Using a Laptop as a WiFi adapter for your 360

January 11, 2008 by Tony 1 Comment

Connecting wirelessly to the internet is one of the greatest conveniences ever (up there with Micro Magic microwaveable French fries) and is usually pretty cheap. A wireless router now can be had for very little money and setup is a breeze. Connecting your Xbox 360 wirelessly, however, is still expensive due to an overpriced adapter. The adapter costs entirely too much to justify its convenience.

But, if you happen to already have a WiFi-enabled laptop, you may be in luck. Through a little trickeration, you can turn your laptop into a WiFi adapter. Instructables shows you how to do it.

Making the PSP Better

January 9, 2008 by Nat 3 Comments

While checking my daily online gaming news with attitude, I came across an interesting announcement made by Sony at this year’s CES: download movie to your PSP using a PS3 and Blu-ray discs. With the advent of Warner Brothers moving exclusively to Blu-ray (bummer, I just bought an HD-DVD player) and this new download ability, Sony seems to be making some right moves for a change. However, could this mean that Sony is looking at the UMD format as a failure?

Predictions (or what Sony should do):

Redesign the PSP once again and remove the UMD all together, and release games on memory sticks. The memory stick could even be used to save game progress. Sell the PSP at the Nintendo DS price point.
Not charge for this service of copying Blu-ray to PSP (some how I think there’s going to be a money making scheme somewhere).
Release more PSOne games on the PlayStation Network – two a week. (Beats is fun for $5, but it’s pretty much all there is.)

If #1 became a possibility, I’d be all over it like ugly on an ape.

If you want to already copy movies to your PSP (or any device for that matter), check out Handbrake.

January Releases

January 6, 2008 by Tony 6 Comments

It’s time for the monthly video game releases for January. Not a ton of killer titles, but Burnout Paradise is great way to start out the year. Advance Wars on the DS also will probably be added to my collection. Take a look. Think you’ll pick anything up this month?

Xbox 360 banner
January 8th
NFL Tour
Kingdom Under Fire: Circle of Doom

January 22nd
Burnout Paradise
Turning Point: Fall of Liberty – Turning Point looks to be in the running for the worse box-art of 2008.

Wii banner
January 8th
Sonic Riders: Zero Gravity
Balloon Pop
Harvey Birdman: Attorney at Law
Luxor: Pharaoh’s Challenge

January 15th
Endless Ocean: Dive, Discover, Dream
CSI Hard Evidence
Furu Furu Park
Samurai Warriors: Katana
Nitrobike

January 22nd
No More Heroes
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure

Nintendo DS banner
January 8th
Brain Challenge

January 15th
Advance Wars: Days of Ruin – I was not aware we were this close to the release of the new Advance Wars.
Pocket Pets (Dogs, Cats, Hamsters more)
Corvette Evolution GT
Miami Nights
Jackass: The Video Game – This game can’t have a single redeeming quality, but with my love for all things Johnny Knoxville and morbid curiosity, I may pick this one up. Pray for my soul if I actually like it.
Barnyard Blast – With a subtitle of “Swine of the Night,” can you really go wrong with this one?
Command and Destroy