buttonmashing

Mashing buttons since 1984

xbox 360

June Releases

by 11 Comments

Once again, I missed a month of new releases. What better way to make it up than to get out June’s releases a day early!

Xbox 360 banner
Week of June 3rd
Ninja Gaiden II – Man, I’m torn on this one. I’ve heard mixed reviews so far and I’m not really one for punishingly hard games, so this may be a rental for me.
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy – The report from the brother-in-law on the Bourne demo was a meh, so I doubt I’ll get this one.
GRID – This one looks amazing but unfortunately will probably never make it to my 360. It’s a shame.
Incredible Hulk – I’ll see the movie, but I’ll probably pass on the game.
Kung Fu Panda – Ditto.

Week of June 10th
Deadiest Catch: Alaskan Storm – Seriously? A show about catching crabs? I don’t see how this can be a game, let alone a fun one.
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit
NASCAR 09
Don King Presents: Prize Fighter – I smell a GTA IV/Don King Boxing crossover here!

Week of June 17th
Supreme Commander – I thought this game already came out. Or maybe it has just been marketed like crazy or something. Not really sure.

Week of June 24th
Battlefield: Bad Company – I’ll be giving this one a try soon, thanks to Josh.
Guitar Hero Aerosmith – Where’s Guitar Hero Joe Satriani?
Top Spin 3
Alone in the Dark
Operation Darkness
Command & Conquer 3: Kane’s Wrath
Hellboy: The Science of Evil – I’m a huge fan of Hellboy. I like science, a lot, too. I will not, however being seeing how the two mix.
Wall-E – Again: movie, yes. Game, not so much.
Hail to the Chimp – No comment.
Hei$t

Wii banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk
Cabela’s Trophy Bucks

Week of June 10th
Backyard Baseball 2009
Blast Works: Build, Trade & Destroy

Week of June 17th
Rock Band
Wacky Races: Crash and Dash

Week of June 24th
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Top Spin 3
Big Beach Sports
Alone in the Dark
WonderWorld Amusement Park
Wall-E
Monster Lab
Cocoto Kart Racer – My brain read “Coconut Racing”. I assume that would have been more exciting
Purr Pals – Kute Kittens! At least they didn’t spell it Purr Palz.

Nintendo DS banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Summon Night Twin Age
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk
Paws & Claws Pet Vet 2 – 2?! How did I miss the first one?

Week of June 10th
Jake Hunter: Detective Chronicles
AMF Bowling Pinbusters – I’ve played a lot of bowling in my days, and I’ve never seen a pin bust. Those suckers are hard!
My Fashion Studio – Pre-ordered!
Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor

Week of June 17th
Guitar Hero: On Tour – This just really seems like a poorly thought-out idea. It does not look fun to play. At all.
Etrian Odyssey II: Heroes of Lagaard
Imagine Rock Star
Space Invaders Extreme – This one has been getting a lot of rave reviews. For 20 bucks, it seems like a good pick up.
Arkanoid – Same here. Seems like a lot of people are high on Arkanoid.
1 vs 100 – Words fail me.
Pocket Pets (Dogs, Cats, Hamsters more)
Tamagotchi Cornershop 3 – 3?! I missed the first Vet game, and now I learn I’ve missed the first two Cornershop games? I am ashamed.
Wacky Races: Crash and Dash
Black Sigil: Blade of the Exiled
Petz Dogz Fashion – TOO MANY ZEES! Whatever you do, do not look at the box art for this game. It’s like staring into the portal leading to The Nothing.
Suzuki Super-bikes II: Riding Challenge
Pony Luv – Must… not… snark…

Week of June 24th
My Weight Loss Coach – We already have Wii Fit. Why do we need another Nintendo product to tell us what we already know — that we’re a bunch of fatty-fat-fats?
Final Fantasy Tactics A2 – Finally, a game that doesn’t make me ashamed to own a DS. I will most likely get this one to pass some lonely nights while I’m on business travel this summer.
Cake Mania 2 – I’m getting mixed signals. Should I be trying to lose weight or gorge on cake?
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Ninja – Can anyone keep these Mega Mans (Men?) straight?
Midnight Play Pack
Mega Man Star Force 2 Zerker X Saurian – I give up.
Wall-E
Gourmet Chef – Again, with the fattening cooking games. Where is the “South Beach Diet DS” game?
Top Spin 3
Monster Lab
Shining Stars: Super Starcade

PC banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
GRID
Alice Greenfingers – Hey, it’s compatible with Windows 98. That’s gotta count for something, right?
Game of Life – Path to Success
Club Vegas Casino – Windows
Immortals of Terra – Windows DVD

Week of June 10th
Backyard Baseball 2009
Crazy Machines 2
Belief & Betrayal
Solitaire 1,000,000 – AKA Microsoft Windows ever since 3.1
Belle’s Beauty Boutique
Puzzle City
Bubble Burst
Purrfect Pet Shop
Strike Force Red Cell
Teddy Factory

Week of June 17th
Spore Creature Creator – Try as I might, I can’t get excited about Spore.
Supreme Ruler
Incredible Hulk
Hawaiian Explorer Lost Island
History Channel: Monster Quest – I can’t even imagine…
My Electric Guitar

Week of June 24th
Dungeon Runners – Here’s another one I thought came out months ago.
The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff
The SimCity Box
Alone in the Dark
Wall-E
Elements
Hei$t

PS3 banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
GRID
Robert Ludlum’s The Bourne Conspiracy
Kung Fu Panda
Incredible Hulk

Week of June 10th
Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots – The first game that makes me wish I had a PS3.
Dragonball Z: Burst Limit
NASCAR 09

Week of June 24th
Battlefield: Bad Company
Top Spin 3
Guitar Hero Aerosmith
Overlord: Raising Hell
Wall-E
Hellboy: The Science of Evil
Hail to the Chimp
Hei$t

PSP banner
Week of June 3rd
Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures
Hot Shots Golf: Open Tee 2

Week of June 17th
Secret Agent Clank
Space Invaders Extreme
Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity

Week of June 24th
Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes 2: The Phantom Fortress
Hellboy: The Science of Evil
Wall-E
Pipemania

Looks like another pretty decent month. I’m not sure what I’ll pick up, outside of Final Fantasy Tactics A2 but there look to be a few solid offerings.

Are you planning on picking anything up this month?

Needful things

by 7 Comments

GTA IVWe need things like air, water, food and shelter. We want things like T-bone steak dinners and down comforters. All of us have the things we need. Luckily, most of us have a lot of things we want.

Somewhere around the 20% mark of GTA IV, it went from being a want to a need. I have become thoroughly engrossed in the story and I’m anxiously doing missions so I can see what happens next. I need to see how things end. It’s no longer a matter of wanting to. My well-being depends on it. Which is the main reason I’ve been so sparse around here lately.

I’m working on a bigger post for GTA IV, but I do want to point out a couple things, one good and one bad. The bad — almost all of the humor, the “jokes”, the throw-away details are puerile and immature. It’s not fratboy-humor, it’s 13 year-old, giggle everytime someone says “Hancock” humor. It gets old fast. The citizens of Liberty City are unnaturally foul mouthed and hot-headed. They will throw-down at the drop of a coffee cup. It also gets old. I could do without a lot of these “details”.

The good — the main character, Niko, is really well done. I don’t know if Robert De Niro was an inspiration for this character, but I see a lot of him in Niko. The facial expressions, way he talks, the hand-gestures and posture are all spot-on. Even though the guy is morally bankrupt, he is still interesting in a “The Professional” sort of way. I am anxious to see more of his character.

So with that, I must away with myself. Liberty City calls.

Where I’ve been

by Leave a Comment

I have literally fallen off the grid the past couple of weeks, and the culprit is obvious: A little 360 game you might have heard of.

If you’ve been following my Twitter feed I’ve been playing a lot of it. I was also out of town this weekend and haven’t played for a few days, so now I’m jonesing again. As soon as the Cavs/Celtics game is over, I’ll be back in the comfortable confines of Liberty City.

I have a bunch to write up about the game, but I’d rather be playing it then blogging it. Sorry about that.

Why I Am Not Playing GTAIV

by 14 Comments

Gamespot: 10 out of 10. Game Informer: 10 out of 10. X-Play: 5 out of 5. IGN: 10 out of 10. 1UP: A+. Gamespy: 5 out of 5.

I would not be surprised if GTAIV is Game of the Year. I’m not playing it, and I probably never will.

Here are my reasons in no particular order:

There are just too many reasons not to.

I’ve changed. In the past, I would play any game that was popular or a triple-A title without any regard to content or subject matter. I just cannot play a game where it’s good to be bad. I pretty much avoid games where you are a serial killer, psycho, or just some crazy going postal. The GTA games let you do just that. You’re rewarded for being evil, and not just a satiric or comedic type of evil. Generally, the worse you are the better. I’m not against violence. I like playing Crackdown and Assassin’s Creed, but even then I don’t play them all that much anymore. Now, someone will argue that I really don’t know the game because I’ve never played it. However, there’s so much about GTA in popular culture and reviews that I’m pretty sure I’m not too far off the mark.

Violence and language affects you. Argue this as much as you want, but playing games influence you. Any game. There is no way around it. Another argument is that anything we watch, do, hear, and feel influences a person. Over the past year I’ve come to realize that when I surround myself with violence I tend to be more agitated and have a shorter fuse. I’m also tempted to use language I shouldn’t when I hear a lot of it. That’s not good. I generally avoid movies, comics, books, and games with over-the-top violence and language.

I have two kids under the age of five. Why even fall into the trap of exposing my boys to this? Will I be able to protect them from everything? No. This is me being a responsible parent. By the way, the adult games I do own and play are put up and out of sight from the kids. I don’t watch movies or play games until after they are in bed.

My job. In working with teenagers, I am appalled at how many of them know about games such as the GTA series or any other type of game that the ESRB says they shouldn’t play. It’s only too obvious: they’ve played them. Gamers, publishers, and designers can scream all they want, but these type of games are being played primarily by kids. Who’s to blame? Parents? Retailers? Gamers? Publisher? Designers? You? Me? No one really knows, and that debate will go on forever. I’m trying to influence kids to live good, clean lives and uphold at least a modicum of morality. It gets difficult when I’ve got to break up a group of kids sharing gaming tips when it’s time to teach them. Oh, and it’s not just games either. Movies like Superbad (Quality matches title? Brilliant) and their ilk are just as to blame.

I know some of these reasons are tied together. Do I think anything negative about people who play these type of games? Not at all. Each person is allowed to set their own standards. I just feel that if no one at least stands up and reminds us what we’re really surrounding ourselves with and sucking into our lives what it is we might become. If not, we may see games where you can drive spikes through a person’s skull, come up with creative ways by killing a person by cutting their genitalia, and exploring all ways to strangle a man. Oh, wait…I think we’ve got that on a couple of titles.

In my hands

by 4 Comments

GTA and MK in the house

Impressions and Mario Kart friend code to be posted soon. Post yours so we can throw red shells at each other!

Update
Mario Kart Wii is that awesome. Here’s my friend code:

2750-1585-9944

…Nat cutting in. Here’s mine:

1762-3222-0503

back to Tony…

I’m throwing GTA IV in now that the kids are in bed, so I won’t be going back to Mario Kart for a bit.

Weekend Gaming, at last!

by 1 Comment

I have been swamped (SWAMPED!) at work the past couple of weeks on a project that has sucked up a large portion of my free time. When I finally to get a free moment, I’m so spent from my other duties that I haven’t had a desire to do much gaming. I’m finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel at work and my mood is already lifting. I’m ready to pick up the familiar controller and get back in the game.

In order to gear up for a great week of gaming when GTA IV and Mario Kart Wii are released, I figure I should knock out another game in my queue before everything gets pushed back to make room for the newcomers. I got very close to finishing Bioshock last year, so I figure now would be a good time to get back to that and finish it up. I really want to see how it ends.

I’m also making my way through Super Mario Galaxy, which I am still thoroughly enjoying. The kids love to watch me play it, so that’s our bonding game. I can’t get over how much fun platforming is again.

I’m also eying a couple DS games, but I’ll probably hold off on those until the real gaming lull hits this summer. I’ve got enough on my plate.

What are you guys playing? Planning on picking up either Mario Kart Wii or GTA IV?

What we’re playing (Weekend Edition)

by 6 Comments

It’s the weekend and it’s time to get geared up for a great weekend of gaming! It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these so I’ve got some catching up to do. I know Nat hasn’t been feeling well, so I’ll let him fill us in on what he’s been playing whenever he feels like it.

As for me, I’ve been pretty busy. After reading Nat’s (and everyone else’s) attempts to actually finish a few games, I took it to heart and placed a self-imposed rule that I had to finish something, anything, before I picked up a new game. I really wanted to get Burnout Paradise, so I gave it the college try and decided to wrap up some loose ends.

Even though you never really “finish” Pokemon Diamond, per se, there is an end to the game, which after consulting GameFAQs once or twice, I finally made it to. I found and finally finished off the last bad guys. It was fairly easy and quite anticlimatic. But it is the first Pokemon game I’ve “finished” so there’s that. I think my Pokedex was more than half full which flies in the face of the mantra of collect them all, but I’m only human. I’m not waiting around for a convenient Friday just to catch a pocket monster.

I also managed to finish the single player campaign in Halo 3 (On Heroic, mind you). I hated the sphincter level, but the last level was most enjoyable. A true homage to the Halo series. The ending was infinity times better than Halo 2’s ending.

Halo 3

Yes it was.

But now I’m done with those two games. Sure, I still play Halo 3 multiplayer like it’s my job, but I doubt I’ll be doing the single player much more except to find the skulls. Maybe I’ll do co-op with someone to get the achievements, but that’s about it.

So here’s what I’m playing:

Burnout ParadiseBurnout Paradise: I’m a few months behind the curve on this one, but I am loving Burnout Paradise. Burnout’s trademark speed and pedal-to-the-metal is still there, with the added open world. I haven’t stopped grinning since I started playing this one. I haven’t played with anyone online yet, but I can definitely see that being a blast. I miss crash mode but showtime mode is a decent replacement.

Super Mario Galaxy and NSMB: Again, I’m a few months behind the curve with SMG, but I can’t get enough of this. A little while ago, my 3 year-old started watching me play NSMB on the DS and wanted to try it. He isn’t bad (for a 3 y/o) and he really likes the Mario character. My daughter loves Princess Peach (duh) so our new past time is to play Super Mario Galaxy. This is another one of those games that are just plain fun. The platforming has been taken to another level with the galaxy concept. I love it. Being able to have my daughter join in the fun with the other Wii-mote is perfect. I’ve gathered 22 stars so far and I don’t want to stop any time soon.

I’ve also been playing a handful of web-based flash games (a few I’m too ashamed to admit to playing, others I’m saving for future blog posts) all in the name of “research”. And of course I can’t go to bed until I get in a game of Spider Solitaire and Tetris.

This weekend I’ll be playing Burnout and SMG, and hopefully getting back to my Mass Effect save. Should be a busy weekend.

NAT: I’ve been playing the “stay hydrated and gain my weight back” game (PSA: wash your hands). Actually, two nights ago, I finally took the cellophane off my copy of Mass Effect. My initial impression is that it’s cinematic. Even though we purchased Brawl, we must be the only home in America that’s just not sucked in by it. We’ve played it a total of two nights. My son has been keeping me busy with a few racing games: Cars, Cars:Maternational, Forza 2, and a couple of the Burnouts. However, mostly, I’ve been playing Bully: Scholarship Edition. It’s been a hoot. Last night, I popped Geometry Wars Galaxies into the Wii and now I have an itch to play a lot of that. This may seem like a lot of titles, but for me, it’s only been 5-15 minutes at a time.

What are you playing?

Time to Purge (“The List”)

by 5 Comments

In light of all I’ve gone through and with giving up (actually, changing perspective) on “The List,” it’s now time for me to get rid of all the games I no longer want or need. What does that mean for you, oh, inquisitive reader? Simply put, you get first dibs.

Here’s how it works. I’m going to list all the game I want to get rid of. (All of them come in their cases). I could just take them in to Gamestop, but they are idiots (There’s a guy in our local store that deserves a plethora of posts. I feel sorry for uninformed customers.) and they would give me a pittance for the trade-in anyway. I will sell the game to you at half the price Gamestop sells it used (look it up on their site and email me the link). That way, you get a game cheaper than used list and I make more off it. Make sense? Let’s eliminate the used store middleman and save on their fees.

Just email me (agentgray at gmail) what you want and we can work all the other stuff. I’ll probably use Paypal and ship the mail via USPS (US or Canada) Here’s the games (with commentary):

Gamecube:

  • Metroid Prime – It’s a little past it’s namesake, but an excellent game. Good for a single play through.
  • Metroid Prime 2: Echoes – echoing what’s above
  • SSX Tricky – I loved this game. One of the few I did everything with. Now? Meh.
  • Pikmin – If you like telling flowers what to do, then this is for you.
  • Mario Golf Toadstool Tour – I consider it to be the best sports game for the ‘cube.
  • Super Monkey Ball – A party game before they were popular. You unlock the party game part.
  • Prince of Persia The Sands of Time – I had a blast with this, the grandfather to Assassin’s Creed.

Xbox

  • Lego Star Wars – I have the new version. No need here.
  • Panzer Dragoon Orta – I guess this game may be rare? Good for a single play through.
  • Psychonauts – Just a smidgen overrated, I think, but very funny. Might be a little rare in Xbox form.
  • Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – A classic. Might be the best Star Wars story since Episode V.

Nintendo DS

  • Dragon Quest Heroes Rocket Slime – a fun diversion that’s easy to play.
  • Brain Age – my age dropped the more I tried to complete “The List”
  • Contact – what a quirky game. Almost like a new Startropics.
  • Hotel Dusk Room 215 – one of the best uses of the DS ever, an interactive book.
  • Metroid Prime Hunters – cramp inducing? At least for this lefty.
  • Meteos – From what I understand it may be rare now. A fun puzzle game.
  • Electroplankton – I love this quirky off the cuff stuff. NOt really a game, but interesting. Rare.

Xbox 360

  • PocketBike Racer – I will give this away. The King creeps me out.
  • Lost Planet – the constant falling down lost me on this.
  • Dead Rising – A frustrated love? The timer, the inmates (that keep coming back), the bad survivor AI, and weird save system. I need to move on.

Nintendo Wii

  • Zack & Wiki – I had fun with this quirky adventure game. Hilarious unintended Wiimote motions too.
  • MLB Power Pros – I wish I had the time. I really do, but this is the most interesting, time consuming baseball game on any console. Stat tracking is amazing.

There you go. There are some more titles I may add to this, but I am very close to completing them. Plus, I have some PC titles, but I need to make sure license keys and stuff are OK.