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Weekend Gaming

August 19, 2011 by Tony 1 Comment

Games, games every where but not a lot of time to play them. This past couple weeks the Buttonmashing Homestead has been a beehive of activity as we got ready to unload eight years worth of accumulated “stuff” in a garage sale. We were successful in getting rid of about 75% of it, with the rest going to Goodwill. We now have an empty basement and a feeling of accomplishment. But last weekend didn’t leave too much time for gaming. This week, however, we’ve been kid-free as they enjoy their last bit of summer vacation at their grandparents’ house while Mrs. Buttonmasher and I have a few days to ourselves. Which means, after the honey-do list is done, MORE GAMING!

So what have I been playing? I finding myself on a small screen (compared to my 50″ Samsung) and an even smaller screen than that. On the PC, I’ve been playing with a couple free-to-play (I have decided to eschew the F2P acronym that I despise) — Age Of Empires Online and League of Legends. I played in the Age beta but I’m a complete newbie to League of Legends (another acronym I refuse to use) and I’m not sold on it yet. I’ve played the tutorial twice and the first training battle twice and I’m not quite sure I get it. Yet, at least. I’m giving it a fair shake, though. I’m TheGreenDestiny if you want to play. I’m also playing a few iPhone games. I still can’t give up Tiny Tower, I’m loving Groove Coaster, and I’m trying to make a go at Trade Nations.

And I think I’ll finally settle in to some 360 gaming this weekend. I still have Bastion and Crysis 2 to play. What are you playing this weekend?

Filed Under: Gaming

Torchlight II too big for Xbox Live Arcade

August 8, 2011 by Tony Leave a Comment

I haven’t decided if I’m gutted by this news or if this is a “meh” kind of story. From Eurogamer:

Super-sized PC action RPG sequel Torchlight 2 is too big to fit on Xbox Live Arcade and will need to be “comprehensively redesigned” if it’s ever to see a console release, developer Runic Games has revealed.

I mean, Torchlight is a PC game at heart, that’s where I played it first and fell in love with it there. Sure, I’ve probably played the Xbox Live version more than on the PC, but that’s more of a convenience thing than a quality thing.

I will play Torchlight II on whatever platform it’s available on. If it makes it to the Xbox Live Arcade, that’s just gravy.

(via That Video Game Blog)

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Torchlight 2

August Releases

August 4, 2011 by Tony Leave a Comment

August, what have you done? Where is the marque game? I know Madden comes out, but it’s not till the end of the month! Deus Ex is a good start and everyone excited about El Shaddai but that’s it. I guess I’ll go play some more Bastion.

Xbox 360 banner

Week of August 1st
Saint’s Row Double Pack Limited Edition

Week of August 15th
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

Week of August 22nd
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Week of August 29th
Madden NFL 12 – I may pick up my first copy of Madden since I bought Madden 2003 for the Gamecube. All because of the cover athlete, Peyton Hillis, who plays for my team, the Cleveland Browns.

Wii banner

Week of August 1st
Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension

Week of August 29th
Gunslingers
Madden NFL 12
Sing4: The Hits Edition w/Microphone

Nintendo DS banner

Week of August 1st
Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension

Week of August 15th
Pucca Power Up

Week of August 29th
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 – The real question is: will someone play this for 700 hours?

Nintendo 3DS

Week of August 22nd
Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked

PC banner

Week of August 8th
PC Railway Simulator

Week of August 15th
Age of Empires Online – This is probably my only other pickup for August. I really enjoyed the Beta and I was invited to get in early, so I’ll be jumping at the chance for that.

Week of August 22nd
Sail Simulator 5 Deluxe – If I’m going to list Rail Simulator, I gotta list Sail Simulator. I’d really like to meet someone who’s played the first four games. Can it be that popular that they’re working on #5?!
Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Lord of the Rings: War in the North

Week of August 29th
The Sims Medieval: Pirates and Nobles
Patrician IV Gold Edition
Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad
Tropico 4

PS3 banner

Week of August 1st
Bleach: Soul Resurreccion
Phineas and Ferb: Across the 2nd Dimension

Week of August 15th
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
No More Heroes: Heroes’ Paradise

Week of August 22nd
Lord of the Rings: War in the North
Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Week of August 29th
Bodycount
Child of Eden
Madden NFL 12

PSP banner

There are a ton of Japanese Importsavailable for the PSP this month, but the only game I recognize coming out this month hits at the end of August:

Week of August 29th
Madden NFL 12

What are you picking up?

(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.)

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Monthly Releases

DQ IX’s Marathon Man

July 28, 2011 by Tony 1 Comment

I recently located my previously-believed-to-be-lost cartridge of Dragon Quest IX. I loaded it back up and gave it a go just to keep my familiarity with the game fresh before it goes dormant again for another month or two when I pick it up to play it again for another couple hours and set it aside once again.

Anyway, I noticed that I had logged about 40 hours in the game. That’s quite a few hours for any game, but DQIX has a lot to do and see so it’s not uncommon for gamers to log quite a few hours playing it. But my 40 plus hours? That’s nothing:

Steve Tolin has been playing since the beginning, plucking away at the cartridge’s every nook and cranny. The last quest finally allowed him to complete his ultimate objective of exploring every part of the game.

He had originally projected this ambitious task to take him 100 hours. As it turned out, not quite.

It took him 773 hours–just over 32 days–of game time to cross the 100% completion threshold.

(via Giant Bomb)

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Dragon Quest IX

In My Digital Hands

July 21, 2011 by Tony 3 Comments

So I had heard good things about Bastion from people I trust so I figured I’d pick up a copy as soon as I got a chance. Luck would have it that if you purchased it on the Microsoft Store online, you also got a free copy of The Maw:

And speaking of good deals, I also picked this up last week when it was half off:

Got to get my Dead Rising on whenever I can.

So I am once again stock piling games. I only grabbed a couple games during the Summer Steam sale, but I’m starting to get my inventory stocked before the cold rolls in in a few months.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Bastion, Dead Rising 2: Case West, The Maw, xbox 360, Xbox Live

In My Hands

July 12, 2011 by Tony 2 Comments

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Crysis 2, xbox 360

Flea Market Haul

July 9, 2011 by Tony Leave a Comment

20110709-044133.jpg

I’m testing the WordPress iPhone app and showing off a recent purchase I picked up at the Hartville Flea Market (in Ohio). I know I’m just serving as an extension to their app marketing, but they deserve it.

Ivan “Ironman” Stewart’s Super Off Road is one of my all time favorite arcade games. I never played the SNES version so I am definitely looking forward to firing this one up.

Why this game hasn’t had a remake recently boggles my mind. I would buy this on any and all platforms: XBLA, Steam, iOS. You name it, I’d buy it.

What are you playing this weekend?

(This was accidentally posted at my other site first. I guess I haven’t totally figured out this WP iPhone app out yet)

Filed Under: Gaming

July Releases

July 8, 2011 by Tony 1 Comment

It’s that time again, the long list of monthly releases. Thankfully, besides NCAA 12 (for me), July is mercifully bereft of top-tier games, so we can play catch up with all the good gaming that has come out recently.

Xbox 360 banner

Week of July 5th
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon

Week of July 12th
NCAA Football 12– I’m still waiting for my iPhone recruiting app, EA. Is this the year?
Oblivion 5th Anniversary ed.– Wow, hard to believe it’s been five years. I guess a little Elders Scrolls nostalgia to get the pump primed for Skyrim?

Week of July 19th
Captain America: Super Soldier
Call Of Juarez: The Cartel– As a Mexican, should I be offended by this game? I feel like I should.

Week of July 26th
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron– Okay, maybe this month is totally bereft of good games. This one looks really interesting.
Catherine– I think I’ll be passing this one up.

Wii banner

Week of July 19th
Just Dance Summer Party

Nintendo DS banner

Week of July 5th
Mystery Quest: Curse of the Ancient Spirits

Week of July 26th
Match 3 Madness– I think this was inevitable. MATCH 3! MATCH 3!

Nintendo 3DS

Week of July 26th
Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions– 30 years old and still going strong!

PC banner

Week of July 5th
Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition– Something just feels wrong about Street Fighter on a PC

Week of July 12th
Oblivion 5th Anniversary ed.

Week of July 26th
The Sims 3: Town Life Stuff

PS3 banner

Week of July 5th
Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon

Week of July 12th
Oblivion 5th Anniversary ed.
NCAA Football 12

Week of July 19th
Call Of Juarez: The Cartel

Week of July 26th
Catherine
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron

PSP banner

N/A

What are you picking up?

(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.)

Filed Under: Gaming

Happy Belated Birthday and Weekend Gamer

July 1, 2011 by Tony 2 Comments

For two years running now, I have neglected to mention the SEVENTH anniversary of Buttonmashing Dot Com. Frequency (and frankly, quality) of the posts has declined gradually over the last few years but we’re still chugging along here. Thanks to all you guys who read and all you guys who have pitched in with posting and reviews. I couldn’t have done it without you!

This weekend is a big holiday weekend for my fellow Americans. Do you have any big gaming plans? Since we’ll be travelling for some of it, I don’t have too much planned outside of mobile gaming. I may finally make some progress on Dragon Quest IX, having let it lay fallow for a few months now. Past that, I don’t know what I’ll get to.

One thing I am trying to do is avoid the Steam Summer Sale. I’m weak.

Do you have any gaming plans this weekend?

Filed Under: Gaming

New Kid on My Block

June 27, 2011 by Tony Leave a Comment

I haven’t done one of these in ages (almost 3 years, to be exact) because there is a proliferation of video game blogs now at a staggering rate and I just don’t find a ton of new interesting stuff to follow. Maybe I’m curmudgeon in my old ways, but it takes a lot to get me to add a new blog to the old feed reader.

Plus, with the advent of Tumblr, Twitter and other offerings, new, thoughtful video game blogging just isn’t happening very often now. I have my old standbys and I’ll stick with those.

So I don’t know how many more of these I’ll do.

That being said, an occasional stunner will pop up now and then and I want to do my part to highlight these as I come across them. I try to keep these relatively fresh, but remember that these sites are new to me but they are not necessarily new blogs.

This week’s New Kid on My Block is Electric Blue Skies:

(this is one you need to see full-size)

This scene is one that you certainly passed through if you played Halo: Reach. It’s a scene of beauty and vibrancy but something you didn’t have time to notice because you were too busy sniping grunts and running to the next check point. You never too the time to stop and smell the wildflowers.

Luckily the Emalord over at EBS is stopping (and cropping) all these beautiful vistas in numerous video games. I happen to be playing Halo: Reach at the moment and I’m really loving Chronicles of/Postcards from Reach. But the entire site is good. Take a look around and soak it all in.

I’m not saying these gorgeous screenshots are proof that games-are-art, but they are a pretty darn good starting-off point in the discussion.

Filed Under: Blogging, Gaming

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