tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54884650524712620822024-03-19T05:43:30.638-07:00 these things we call video gamesJ.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-18034481815311804382013-11-19T23:19:00.000-08:002013-11-19T23:19:43.273-08:00MINECRAFT: SKYRIM EDITION (PREVIEW)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chocolate and peanut butter. Chicken and waffles. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Citizen Kane</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Toy Story</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? Okay, two of the best of any given thing might not always go well together. It works sometimes with food. Films could go any direction really. But what about two of the best video games in recent memory? That's what's in store for those who play the Xbox 360 edition of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Similar to the recently released </span><a href="http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/Product/Minecraft-Mass-Effect-Mash-up-Trial/4c8878bd-622f-4a58-a43f-eb359ea4dff8" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mass Effect </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">edition</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the game, 4J Studios and Bethesda have </span><a href="https://twitter.com/Bethblog/status/401466212384661504" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">announced</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">edition to be released on 11/20/13. Last week was the 2-year anniversary of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(remember 11-11-11?), I couldn't think of a better time. The two are among the top of my favorite games of this generation, a perfect trio with </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Red Dead Redemption</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (say, a </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">mash-up with that game would work so unbelievably well - Rockstar would never go for it, but a guy can dream). </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQoeF1wFtw5XLwnlt2u3FpOeMWjSf34ssfSzyJGKNr3HAMHUoQvCT_9xhHh_IfT5JBAv3aS0la-41SR2_8ZpUBQFlfxYFH6U2CkomILt9b57OoJDKXFLgsaAAPkkCwTF_A95KHH_AcSXW/s1600/021521.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMQoeF1wFtw5XLwnlt2u3FpOeMWjSf34ssfSzyJGKNr3HAMHUoQvCT_9xhHh_IfT5JBAv3aS0la-41SR2_8ZpUBQFlfxYFH6U2CkomILt9b57OoJDKXFLgsaAAPkkCwTF_A95KHH_AcSXW/s640/021521.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mass Effect </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">edition it will give players a slew a skins to don for your avatar, switch all the textures, and provide 16-bit renditions of the game's excellent soundtrack by Jeremy Soule (can't wait to hear that main theme!). I tried out the </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mass Effect </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">version earlier this month to get a taste of what this might entail. How big of a difference could this possibly make? A big one! I first tried my own world (Land of Yore) with the mash-up and it was like exploring an alien planet that I was already familiar with. The music from the game was beautifully rendered and even the hud, reticle and menu system was changed to something that </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mass Effect</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">-players would geek over. I then went into the world that comes with the mash-up and I was blown away again. Iconic architecture from </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Mass Effect</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> was towering all around me and the texture pack was utilized to the utmost.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It's no secret that the Xbox 360 edition of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> pales in comparison to its mother PC counterpart. For one one thing the "infinite"-ness that PC gamers enjoy in their worlds is brought to shocking limitations when playing on Xbox. I painfully realized this yesterday after building a mushroom tower past the clouds and taking in the view, only to realize I could see all the borders of the world. Still enough to mine for untold hours, but there's something about unending horizons that speaks to the true adventure of survival mode, the only mode I enjoy playing.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdH29f0sW7PHXwDIUbrsNJrV2zlUSWkapxFTxFIrjkC_fU-5mYsyFkeg5zZyLTQYQH0m7o2hx5JL0bvS2syZjW9t4ozsKesG0xGitz1R5-vZGEnHp1cBWgemH-BZtsPVQLBk7ddjPNLIj/s1600/Skyrim_Screenshot_01-1024x576.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZdH29f0sW7PHXwDIUbrsNJrV2zlUSWkapxFTxFIrjkC_fU-5mYsyFkeg5zZyLTQYQH0m7o2hx5JL0bvS2syZjW9t4ozsKesG0xGitz1R5-vZGEnHp1cBWgemH-BZtsPVQLBk7ddjPNLIj/s640/Skyrim_Screenshot_01-1024x576.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.bethblog.com/2013/11/01/skyrim-mash-up-comes-to-minecraft-xbox-360-edition/">Reportedly</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft: Skyrim Edition </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">will have a pre-made world bearing the likeness of Riverwood, Bleak Falls Barrow and Whiterun, iconic destinations that all </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">players should be well-familiar with as chances are you went there from the start and likely went back to again and again. The game will also have an overhauled UI, but surely not </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">just like</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Bethesda's latest masterpiece because one of my favorite things about it was the lack of HUD and one kind of needs that when in </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'll report back when it has been released and after I've applied the mash-up to Land of Yore and explored the pre-made world that comes with the package. As with most things XBLA-related you can try it for free (you just can't save the game while running </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Skyrim </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">edition without a purchase.) It's probably just mindware, but what </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> mashups would you love to see?</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3URWl8oO3EgjkYcTsJiVT9SnK8Mwe-R0X9ISv0zQ4ojQBQQ3yc9JZFTdz-jiKS4-Bce4xyAdV__s2VkqNVMLYJKjY3ld63hNrT4Koi71dILKYzXKUXzlzF-uY1L5ce8q0pRqlUW68J9y/s1600/HalloweenPack_DashArtLayered3200-1024x576.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv3URWl8oO3EgjkYcTsJiVT9SnK8Mwe-R0X9ISv0zQ4ojQBQQ3yc9JZFTdz-jiKS4-Bce4xyAdV__s2VkqNVMLYJKjY3ld63hNrT4Koi71dILKYzXKUXzlzF-uY1L5ce8q0pRqlUW68J9y/s640/HalloweenPack_DashArtLayered3200-1024x576.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On a similar and final note, I also tried out the trial versions of the Natural and Plastic texture packs and the full Halloween texture pack they gave to all players for free over the holiday. The Halloween pack was quite enjoyable; everything looked different from the brown sky to the green sea. My bed was turned into a coffin, my chests had giant eyeballs, the ladders had a broken rung and the pigs looked half-eaten. While these alterations are purely cosmetic, it's a big deal when it literally changes how everything looks. Still, the Halloween pack is not one I could see me leaving on for extended game time. It's more of a fun diversion to show others and to see what your place would look like if Tim Burton were your interior designer. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdX5_ydFgpj6mH52v0BluUWl1q7vMRrzFBpufQRxrwumWk4CjRfn_OhuVUya_e4OpGniPzPO9G2pWrF7L-kW9CxDaIlAzuXMb8VEvWzoCENMiRrUo7YO0UKuLlEA1goBiWLDsXtrKcGrB/s1600/screenlg2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSdX5_ydFgpj6mH52v0BluUWl1q7vMRrzFBpufQRxrwumWk4CjRfn_OhuVUya_e4OpGniPzPO9G2pWrF7L-kW9CxDaIlAzuXMb8VEvWzoCENMiRrUo7YO0UKuLlEA1goBiWLDsXtrKcGrB/s640/screenlg2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Plastic texture pack is one of the most visually pleasing things I've ever seen. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> is often compared to LEGOS, this completes that relation. The blocks are so smooth and whole (in terms of color and space). An empty field of grass looks like the top of a perfectly glazed cake. Part of </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">'s charm for me has been the imperfections and the limitations of its visuals which this version sidestepped and/or filled. In all honesty, it felt rather empty.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CWGMkjZHXazXPAbBTVTtC8st1RIp6EouUenZ3fUqeFllOoFKWENoPxm0QrcoEnnTauPmd4IcLTKncidPLqAnoIwzL_xwDzTM_rhXqOwEvvqNc3opuPkvXlfbsEqkawzbpAuLLdNlEnBm/s1600/screenlg3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1CWGMkjZHXazXPAbBTVTtC8st1RIp6EouUenZ3fUqeFllOoFKWENoPxm0QrcoEnnTauPmd4IcLTKncidPLqAnoIwzL_xwDzTM_rhXqOwEvvqNc3opuPkvXlfbsEqkawzbpAuLLdNlEnBm/s640/screenlg3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then there's the Natural texture pack which took the classic </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">textures and made them more realistic and lifelike (if that's even possible). This one was quite nice to behold and it did work to increase my immersion into the world itself. Colors and designs are closer to reality and the game's fidelity grows as a result. Of all the texture packs I could actually see myself playing with this one enabled.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/Qw1P-kWL-B4" width="560"></iframe></span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One last thing, over on Rev3Games' YouTube Channel they've posted </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qw1P-kWL-B4" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Adam Sessler Learns </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from a Six-Year-Old."</span></a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> It's an adorable way to be introduced to the game. It seems like many people call it a kid's game or they tell me they have a younger sibling or relative that plays the game. What can I say, it's a hit with the up and coming generation. I would have loved </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Minecraft</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as a kid, but I actually think I love it even more as an adult.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><i>Words by J.S. Lewis</i></b></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span>J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-54889155466383902872013-09-16T20:43:00.002-07:002013-09-17T18:49:07.822-07:00READY FOR GRAND THEFT AUTO V<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Despite being <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/grand-theft-auto-or-how-i-learned-to.html">one of my favorite video game series</a> (perhaps only second to <i>The Elder Scrolls</i>) I have never gotten a <i>Grand Theft Auto </i>game at launch before. Until tonight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In just a few hours I hope to have successfully secured my reserved copy of <i>Grand Theft Auto V </i>from the GameStop down the street from my apartment at its midnight launch. The last midnight launch I took part in was for <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim</i>, despite having school the next morning I played until the wee hours of the morning. Flash-forward to my post-graduate life where now I got work in the morning but sometimes you must make first-world sacrifices.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Over the past week I've been prepping myself for <i>GTA V</i> by playing some of the earlier games in the series, namely <i>Grand Theft Auto III</i>, <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas </i>and <i>Grand Theft Auto IV. </i>Full disclosure, the only <i>GTA </i>game I've actually beat (as far as main missions go as there is <i>always </i>more to do, even after "100% completion) is <i>Vice City</i> - so I left that out of my recent playings even though I remember it fondly and regard it has having <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/crew-post-power-of-music.html">the single best video game soundtrack of all-time</a>. Let me share some brief thoughts from playing these three recently and why each are masterful and vital examples of these things we call video games.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh2SpLUVYN81YipDBw6CB16udQVf2AQPIhhSOFJrCToaD7n9IcpKh1Q-2-6od7OZVsMuLuxWFVZYOjfwcnYVKNvx7mc8WqBotMYqYfys9kOcXhOgVYfXNBf-bwKq3-WML8xJjygpWy741_/s1600/gta3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh2SpLUVYN81YipDBw6CB16udQVf2AQPIhhSOFJrCToaD7n9IcpKh1Q-2-6od7OZVsMuLuxWFVZYOjfwcnYVKNvx7mc8WqBotMYqYfys9kOcXhOgVYfXNBf-bwKq3-WML8xJjygpWy741_/s640/gta3.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get a load of them touch-screen controls for the 10th Anniversary edition of <i>GTA III </i>for the iPad.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've been playing </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA III</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> on the iPad (heaven forbid!) in all it's touch-screen glory. Not a minute goes by that I don't long for an Xbox controller. Sure, I own an Xbox version of the game but I'm committed to this unique hand-held experience. I look at it as a form of sadistic accomplishment. I started my game on the iPad last year and have been stuck on the Sayonara Salvatore mission for months and months, only occasionally trying my hands at it. This week I finally did it!: I parked a firetruck at the front of his driveway and tossed all the grenades I had from a safe distance. When skippity </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Seinfeld</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">-like sting sounded and MISSION PASSED came onscreen I shouted for joy. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA III </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">brought the previously top-down game to a third-person open-city and changed the landscape of video games forever more, paving the long but always inclining road to what we'll have this week in the form of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA V</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. I will always view </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA III </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">as one of the most important games of all-time for what it did it terms of technical prowess and the sandbox experience, but after playing its sequels (especially </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA IV</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> it became clear as day that the game was morally shallow and offered little to stimulate once's intellect and emotional resonance).</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNc2CQ5s4y7ljnstAIA1dsJoC3xOuIwvVrjHns3RPieOJZdx91AxMEbmLSIhtvaJ27xWp9Tzm_xCRL-ryLtb0oMmfbpksmY6w5tneRFnaEQmXsc4qrWhpVpH68tGLqW9Az6elUGViSced/s1600/IMG_3386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRNc2CQ5s4y7ljnstAIA1dsJoC3xOuIwvVrjHns3RPieOJZdx91AxMEbmLSIhtvaJ27xWp9Tzm_xCRL-ryLtb0oMmfbpksmY6w5tneRFnaEQmXsc4qrWhpVpH68tGLqW9Az6elUGViSced/s640/IMG_3386.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken of my game. Found the Chinese Grauman's Theater is Los Santos, can't wait to find it again in <i>GTA V</i>.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>San Andreas</i> built on its predecessors and blasted off into a whole new level. Dozens of new features (girlfriends, vehicle customization, lite-RPG elements, character appearance, etc.) were available to players. It's as if someone told Rockstar to go big or go home and they put their heads together and did the former in a massive way. Three cities to explore and vast country side between them with no load times was boggling to mind then and even a little now. To this day I could spend hours pedaling around (they introduced bicycles which are back again in <i>GTA V!</i>) Los Santos and the hilly(billy) regions north of Vinewood. That's still a game I've barely scratched the surface of...</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9he6QagVtRgOKDjgkXJzB5nzqn8SR5sGQvLl-FluDpJc9riHYJOdWswwZYVEU63dXfwnRDIeNp86Yxrva5niJvw42YicgV9NfAoheVE09iGUXhoCg08bcrQX6PKNFKeuLh2yCpM9St7A/s1600/IMG_3419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_9he6QagVtRgOKDjgkXJzB5nzqn8SR5sGQvLl-FluDpJc9riHYJOdWswwZYVEU63dXfwnRDIeNp86Yxrva5niJvw42YicgV9NfAoheVE09iGUXhoCg08bcrQX6PKNFKeuLh2yCpM9St7A/s640/IMG_3419.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken of my game. Niko Bellic is taking in the view of the Liberty City skyline. I was actually on this ship looking for an armor pick-up but had no luck...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>GTA IV </i>took the series back to Liberty City (i.e. New York) and surprised us all as a rather serious immigrant tale. It's still highly irreverent and full of what we've come to expect from a series with a name like "Grand Theft Auto" but cranked up the realism to a degree that was unsettling to many players. Tom Bissell's treatment of the game (and how it mirrored his personal life at the time) from <i>Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter</i> is a must-read for anyone who wants to treat video games with the maturity and examination that they deserve. Over the weekend I guided Niko Bellic, the player's character in the main game, to the home of an employer for my next job and was surprised to be treated with a cutscene depicting a conversation with his wife where we discussed the effect that killing others would have on the character's soul. "God is very complicated, you must not give up hope," she told us. Us = Niko and me. When you play video games you assume the role of an avatar and become kindred spirits with them. I'm still early in <i>GTA IV </i>as well, which I started anew last week after months of inactivity, but it's a heavy game and story to wade through. It's much less the sandbox that <i>San Andreas</i> delivered and closer to an epic crime saga that you're a thinking character of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Even if <i>GTA V </i>was not coming out tomorrow I would have more than enough to consume my hands and mind for a long while with stepping stones I'm far from finished with. We all play games differently and I'm certain that my way is far from the ideal. It's a rare occasion if ever I finish with a game and I'm never ever just working on one at a time. I'm scatterbrained, always looking backward and always looking forward. At least one thing's for sure, it'll give me plenty to muse over and pen down about my play-through of <i>GTA V</i>.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHRMZvphQvRitLIsgeXsQMUggr_hKeYvlBqaySKUNOe0MfajwwnymJM8_K7JcrnzGeK6w5Cnwmw3Qg0-BVTGNhSoffyhPsIzexRlNdVjck9Z4kPKYOg893DGUfNsJrp-eyS-pAR8GqZQO/s1600/IMG_3422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHRMZvphQvRitLIsgeXsQMUggr_hKeYvlBqaySKUNOe0MfajwwnymJM8_K7JcrnzGeK6w5Cnwmw3Qg0-BVTGNhSoffyhPsIzexRlNdVjck9Z4kPKYOg893DGUfNsJrp-eyS-pAR8GqZQO/s640/IMG_3422.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo I took on the way to work this morning. <i>GTA V </i>billboard where movie ads usually are. It pays to advertise for the most expensive video game of all-time.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Rockstar Games has made it easier than ever to get pumped for their latest offering, which is reportedly one of the most expensive pieces of entertainment ever crafted at some $265 million, second only to the third <i>Pirates of the Caribbean </i>movie. Check out <a href="http://www.rockstargames.com/V/">their robust website</a> detailing many of the people, places and things we can expect to see in the Los Santos and the greater Blaine County area. Everything from the warring politicians to scouting the country club right for you is available to peruse. Oh, and you won't want to pass up sampling each of the 17 radio stations available in the game, a series (must-have) staple.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1nJW06lhS0ghMRXvrbiqGWoG3eIKiKs0WgrV48686JIBA65PV1kSQbcirlcEymRDh6qguWD7Q_qycK_yG5reTjs9NsFNpmzOf6MxOhrj2kNCrXYlxnkDcapBmZV6IJa4On_mtstIJtcU/s1600/Lifeinvader-GTAV.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1nJW06lhS0ghMRXvrbiqGWoG3eIKiKs0WgrV48686JIBA65PV1kSQbcirlcEymRDh6qguWD7Q_qycK_yG5reTjs9NsFNpmzOf6MxOhrj2kNCrXYlxnkDcapBmZV6IJa4On_mtstIJtcU/s640/Lifeinvader-GTAV.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Let the stalking begin.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Then there's <a href="http://www.lifeinvader.com/">Lifeinvader</a>, a mock social networking site that they launched for the game-world. You can actually sign in using your Rockstar Social Club account and get familiar with people and businesses you'll be coming across in the game. "Stalking" (instead of "Liking") Sprunk for example will get you a free drink in the game. Wow.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKK6zQG1uKgVc44Llbfsi8tH7TZaGtsIVlEmbWNiS6hT7X4KxIawe7YZdINv2zykTkKxdr_6Dzh92XpVbAPfepSSCYdxB_G33mOJSjRJlhqtPOgAIT8vIqNHxcBjgpDojfRfTHYePgBLk/s1600/IMG_3427.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsKK6zQG1uKgVc44Llbfsi8tH7TZaGtsIVlEmbWNiS6hT7X4KxIawe7YZdINv2zykTkKxdr_6Dzh92XpVbAPfepSSCYdxB_G33mOJSjRJlhqtPOgAIT8vIqNHxcBjgpDojfRfTHYePgBLk/s640/IMG_3427.PNG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In this mini-game you guide Chop to the Ballas bustin' up Franklin's car, one of three activities you can do in the virtual pet piece of iFruit aside from general pet-care.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I found out just this morning that you can also download iFruit for your iPhone which turns your device into the parody mobile that the characters have in the game. You can access Lifeinvader on there as well as order customized vehicles and vanity plates (which will show up in your garage in-game) or train Chop, Franklin's dog, in a full virtual pet suite. Based on how you care for the canine will actually affect his performance in the the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA V </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last week friends and I spent some time perusing the leaked gameplay footage that was being uploaded to YouTube every minute. This has to be the biggest pre-release leak in game history, but if anything it has only helped Rockstar garner more hype and excitement for the release. Walmart and GameStop employees are such examples of the perpetrators. Who knows if they'll ever be reprimanded, but the rest of us were able to observe some of their exploits. In one video I watched Franklin drive up to the Getty, roll down a mountainside, hijack a bike, run into a deer and then get gunned down by the police. Nobody will ever replicate that same experience which is why video games are so incredible to me.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Last of all, in my preparation for <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> I've been perusing reddit (the front page of the internet) where there are countless gamers just as antsy as I. Here are some favorites of their memes and pictures: </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTbQl8R_Bw0WcyE1ISyKF8fnW3Jock_iFwtN2x2e2RMuWqnNvcFI7zjrpD4aXWZxXFtqAL_yglT9hDFOfpSSLtyRJiBzpVLbBP7ftbe8tYACAIUfbdXvoJ3spHGrKH6ew3XsLNOsYxTTb/s1600/Y1wyslc.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTbQl8R_Bw0WcyE1ISyKF8fnW3Jock_iFwtN2x2e2RMuWqnNvcFI7zjrpD4aXWZxXFtqAL_yglT9hDFOfpSSLtyRJiBzpVLbBP7ftbe8tYACAIUfbdXvoJ3spHGrKH6ew3XsLNOsYxTTb/s640/Y1wyslc.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I can certainly (mostly) relate to this one.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcmSizo56uhu2UEsTUuxGeQDcHgOPe1-QeEjF-V7_BvqEEQgt3VhiBEwlwpnKcvKh07a9JhFWU0ZeDUBUbj188Z1ajBNN1UZo9KMPFH0dXrHy4Re9NsszE0Lh1E3ZvQfdQItO0geNIqiF/s1600/ClCl2Qi.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="356" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQcmSizo56uhu2UEsTUuxGeQDcHgOPe1-QeEjF-V7_BvqEEQgt3VhiBEwlwpnKcvKh07a9JhFWU0ZeDUBUbj188Z1ajBNN1UZo9KMPFH0dXrHy4Re9NsszE0Lh1E3ZvQfdQItO0geNIqiF/s640/ClCl2Qi.png" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, how I hope that's possible in the game!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEX0GL8vUr4lrQvoQ7yU2MlxLNyW-Ud72SUEE7J6VSOehGB_E_wih1zy_GzdtzFQgzl-jzegq9YyAFeJXwTs9gYWwMG4brtOmjX1eXthH5aAUK5wuC2qX-DoY850IgyShXyzuXmPVGWLYl/s1600/NqtW0SR.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEX0GL8vUr4lrQvoQ7yU2MlxLNyW-Ud72SUEE7J6VSOehGB_E_wih1zy_GzdtzFQgzl-jzegq9YyAFeJXwTs9gYWwMG4brtOmjX1eXthH5aAUK5wuC2qX-DoY850IgyShXyzuXmPVGWLYl/s640/NqtW0SR.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A direct message to gamers who were boo-hooing over the size of the leaked map.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkat-tt16TNzFm6pwomNF_aOIjVIqfB008d9kXorpVIDGu7mhmfp7uoIyWXF2bUvf6EZZYFCqddu941xoIP8yS_Hf_h5rRbLNbs2t-f5KXVbyzFDqNZ4Vn-4MQzHPkqAPaLa8icdhCRxy/s1600/5N98nsM.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="350" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWkat-tt16TNzFm6pwomNF_aOIjVIqfB008d9kXorpVIDGu7mhmfp7uoIyWXF2bUvf6EZZYFCqddu941xoIP8yS_Hf_h5rRbLNbs2t-f5KXVbyzFDqNZ4Vn-4MQzHPkqAPaLa8icdhCRxy/s640/5N98nsM.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A co-worker and I were sharing what we would do first when we got <i>GTA V</i>. He was going to bike up Mount Chillead and jump off (with or without a parachute). I was going to try and find that reported submersible. We were both wrong.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The 5-year wait is in its final hours. Next time you hear from me I hope to have a report on some early impressions and what I actually ended up doing first. Until then, live on and game on!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Photo taken of my game. Grove Street. I'll be seeing you soon in HD!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">More on <i>Grand Theft Auto</i>:</span><br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/grand-theft-auto-or-how-i-learned-to.html"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"Grand Theft Auto or: How I Learned To Steal Cars and Love the Series"</span></a></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/10/grand-theft-auto-v-preview.html">Preview</a>, <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/grand-theft-auto-v-preview-ii.html">Preview II</a> and <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2013/09/grand-theft-auto-v-preview-iii.html">Preview III</a> for <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-67801657650976148242013-09-10T23:43:00.003-07:002013-09-10T23:49:38.720-07:00Grand Theft Auto V (Preview III)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">September 17, 2013 (Release Date)</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS3, Xbox 360</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Rockstar North</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Rockstar Games</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Rockstar will both put this generation to bed and breathe new life into it in one week's time with </i>Grand Theft Auto V.</b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">A week from right now I better be playing <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i>. I fear what will have happened in my life if I'm not. Far and away my most anticipated game of the year, <i>Grand Theft Auto V </i>is the swan song for this console generation, not just for Rockstar Games, but for the systems themselves. From all I've read, heard and seen this game is a massive endeavor and will be pushing the envelope in all the ways that the series has become known for. In terms of technology, in terms of content, and in terms of sheer amount of gameplay.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This marks the third preview I've done for the game. I've previously covered <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/grand-theft-auto-v-preview-ii.html">the innovative three main character system</a> that the single player game throws at our feet and <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/10/grand-theft-auto-v-preview.html">discussed how it's (unsurprisingly) the biggest entry in the series to date</a>. What more can be said to increase our collective anticipation? <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/03/welcome-to-grand-theft-auto-v-week-on-ign">Last week</a> IGN posted exclusive <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> content every single day beginning with </span><a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/03/world-first-hands-on-with-grand-theft-auto-v" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">"World's First Hands-On With <i>Grand Theft Auto V,</i>"</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> words by Luke Reilly and a video conversation between IGN UK's Alex Simmons and Daniel Krupa.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Taking from IGN scoops and other recent sources around the web I will now share what has me more psyched than ever for <a href="http://whatculture.com/gaming/gta-v-is-most-expensive-game-of-all-time-at-265-million.php">the most expensive video game of all-time</a> - not that that has anything to do with it, but clearly it does.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzQbPJ0LDcaQtgxJh9jpea0wNd8KR-sUbYE47QULEtrbuJhw3i2ARlJ-DV8OLzSzLtUyLMPj0fp1w-UYKxwYEB_B6Mrtiv9BCxdh2gzAozi5UZRMWntUav1zF0VHzz2xsJL_GOl2w0Uua/s1600/tabletennis11_large.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOzQbPJ0LDcaQtgxJh9jpea0wNd8KR-sUbYE47QULEtrbuJhw3i2ARlJ-DV8OLzSzLtUyLMPj0fp1w-UYKxwYEB_B6Mrtiv9BCxdh2gzAozi5UZRMWntUav1zF0VHzz2xsJL_GOl2w0Uua/s640/tabletennis11_large.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In several ways <i>GTA V</i> is an ultimate Rockstar Games experience, almost a greatest hits collection for them. Not only is it building upon each previous entry in the tentpole franchise, their other games are showing their influence. Everything from the racing of <i>Midnight Club</i> to the mechanics lifted from <i>Rockstar Table Tennis. </i>Even the surrounding country side is what part of </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Red Dead'</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">s territory </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">would look like today. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">For more on this checkout Luke Reilly's </span><a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/09/05/grand-theft-auto-v-the-sum-of-all-peers" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank">"<i>Grand Theft Auto V: </i>The Sum of All Peers"</a><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> over on IGN.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumMsW8nhA_13H363booo6OF_JR3QbZ0ysq9kRnPiLZXGua2rKsX3KXicTko555acqA9LiUcsnt8FCtTGpivMrIzMYPyVDmldvKiDQm5fpumRObBugqpnU6LG4IXpq6LPKQrT6dQ0hgAgZ/s1600/Grand-Theft-Auto-5-Official-Map-Leaked-Shows-All-Sights-and-Locations-381865-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgumMsW8nhA_13H363booo6OF_JR3QbZ0ysq9kRnPiLZXGua2rKsX3KXicTko555acqA9LiUcsnt8FCtTGpivMrIzMYPyVDmldvKiDQm5fpumRObBugqpnU6LG4IXpq6LPKQrT6dQ0hgAgZ/s640/Grand-Theft-Auto-5-Official-Map-Leaked-Shows-All-Sights-and-Locations-381865-2.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I could mention how the game world is <a href="http://www.tntgamer.com/gta-v-map-is-49-square-miles-in-size/">reportedly</a> 49 square miles, <a href="http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Grand-Theft-Auto-5-Official-Map-Leaked-Shows-All-Sights-and-Locations-381865-2.jpg/">the actual map of which is believed to have leaked online</a> (above). What's more, the entire map is available to players right from the beginning with a cloud over unexplored territory similar to modern Bethesda games. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There's 17 radio stations in the game, 2 of which are talk radio. All this in addition to some 20 hours of original soundtrack, a first for a </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">game. There's more cars and weapons than any previous entry as well. </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cops now have a "cone of vision," a much more realistic AI than the radius system we saw in </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA IV </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Red Dead Redemption, </i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">which was already a vast improvement over what came before.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJOYjWRJndCDjuP44mD76rP6bNIw8w8fkOQAZpDh6U3kV3oJlAPp5ZgER55D7Pd8KjJ25SWnkzFbk_nkffdOnH8CtdgATb4TvmHUaSm_O3HC0cfGWvKJLIt65UDhZxW-ZQIIZzJE53pM3/s1600/GTA-5-Characters-Trailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJOYjWRJndCDjuP44mD76rP6bNIw8w8fkOQAZpDh6U3kV3oJlAPp5ZgER55D7Pd8KjJ25SWnkzFbk_nkffdOnH8CtdgATb4TvmHUaSm_O3HC0cfGWvKJLIt65UDhZxW-ZQIIZzJE53pM3/s640/GTA-5-Characters-Trailer.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It appears that y</span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">ou can switch between the three characters (Michael, Franklin and Trevor) on certain missions (heists I'm assuming) and at <i>anytime</i> during non-mission play. Apparently each of the three have a special ability (i.e Franklin has a bonus when it come to vehicle handling) which I won't lie, irks me a little. Giving "game-y" abilities to characters in an otherwise realistic game tends to pull me out of the experience. Such was/is the case with <i>The Last of Us </i>where you have a sensory talent that allows you to see through wall. On a merrier note, gone are the hidden packages and here (though not necessarily in lieu of) are radio announcements leading you to certain side-missions and the like.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Let's see, you can play full tennis and golf, participate in running and bicycles races (and of course a number of automobile races too), commander every type of vehicle imaginable including some type of submersible now, go to the movie theater, play the stock market, invest in real estate, the list goes on and on. And on. And I've yet to even make mention of <i>Grand Theft Auto Online</i>, a recent announcement that is replacing the game's multiplayer and is it's standalone experience. Fear not, it comes as a downloadable feature for all who buy <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i>, available on October 1st. More on <i>Grand Theft Auto Online </i>in its own upcoming preview.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For <i>a lot more</i> information I recommend checking out </span><a href="http://www.ign.com/videos/2013/09/07/grand-theft-auto-v-your-questions-answered" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;" target="_blank"><i>"Grand Theft Auto V: </i>Your Questions Answered,"</a> a video with <span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Daniel Krupa and Alex Simmons. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I leave you with the official gameplay video they released in July, but because I haven't done a post since before that it's time now.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-65368345096448745602013-03-25T00:20:00.003-07:002013-03-25T06:45:20.671-07:00A Review on Reviews and Reviewing: The Review<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<a href="http://www.destructoid.com/review-deadly-premonition-165168.phtml">Judged as a piece of entertainment...It's pretty close to perfect.</a>" Destructoid. Score 10/10.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2010/02/23/deadly-premonition-review">Awful in nearly every way.</a>" IGN. Score: 2/10.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/deadly-premonition/reviews/deadly-premonition-review-6258973/">Entertaining and unpredictable...delivers more shocks than schlock.</a>" Gamespot. Score: 7/10</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These are all reviews from reliable sources and all from different games obviously. Right? No? You mean these are all from the same game, <i>Deadly Premonition</i>?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Well, how about this:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/10/01/resident-evil-6-review">Loses focus and fails to accurately assess which of its elements are truly worthy of being included.</a>" IGN. Score: 7.9/10 (Wouldn't expect that score with that kind of intro would you?)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<a href="http://www.gamespot.com/resident-evil-6/reviews/resident-evil-6-review-6397185/">A mishmash of elements put together without any sense of care or direction.</a>" GameSpot. Score: 4.5/10</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"<a href="http://www.gametrailers.com/reviews/yi42z7/resident-evil-6-review">Big, brash, and full of memorable moments.</a>" Gametrailers. Score: 8.8/10</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">These have to be for different games. What? They're not? They're all for <i>Resident Evil 6</i>? Well that's odd. It sounds like, just maybe,</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Reviews are just people's opinions!</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Think about it: do you have the same interests as everyone else? Does everyone agree with you about what is cool? Does everyone love anime and JRPGs?</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0Kn12Fa2rPlNZIN7cVWpmwSfq0s_NuRKcfBpMiF_HSJLAHpuosX51OakzPFb16EpOgplLlzAsXxmF3HZf_LW888DhGzU-rIDJV_GP980G2KAWWxMKMpy5uPbnWg1aRQb-8-L2EP54eA/s1600/FFXIII.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK0Kn12Fa2rPlNZIN7cVWpmwSfq0s_NuRKcfBpMiF_HSJLAHpuosX51OakzPFb16EpOgplLlzAsXxmF3HZf_LW888DhGzU-rIDJV_GP980G2KAWWxMKMpy5uPbnWg1aRQb-8-L2EP54eA/s640/FFXIII.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Everyone loves this game, right? <i>Final Fantasy XIII </i>(2009)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Sure, these are all people who play and rate video games for a living, but they all obviously have pretty different ideas on what makes a game enjoyable. Some really love certain genres and will be either incredibly critical of any game that fits in that genre or give almost every game in it a pass. Others have that one game or series they compare everything to, even when it doesn't make sense to. And some, for the most part, try and look at what the developers were trying to do and see if they delivered to their audience in an enjoyable and meaningful way.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So why is it important to discuss reviews? Because many gamers use reviews to see if they should spend their time and money on a game. No one wants to plop $60 down on a game that they end up hating. They want to make sure they are getting their money's worth. So they see what the "experts" say. But here, many people run into bad researching habits. I blame the school system personally, but still, it's there.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the largest mistakes is only looking at the score. "8.2? Might be worth a look!" "9.5? Holy cow! Gotta buy that!" "6.1? Eh, probably pass." "3.8? Who would buy that crap?" Sure, scores are great ways to get a quick synopsis of what the reviewer thinks, but it doesn't tell you at all <b>why the reviewer thought that.</b> Maybe he loves any game that has Patrick Stewart? Maybe she wanted the game to focus on the plight of the poor in Venezuela instead of using helicopters to fling tanks into fuel tanks? Maybe he or she is just a moron? But if you don't read it, you have no idea if you agree or disagree with their assessment of the game. You may find that you completely disagree with why someone gave a game a low or high score. Don't believe me? Go read several reviews for a game you played and remember well and see how much you agree with the reviewer. You may be surprised.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO8QMeYafDj5Y8oWGNoKf7K7Vugl3GoTderxzadzMPG0XAxs9k_XVjefORauvCVJfZDl03JxFm7zEnE__H3qcplQcfLvQeiZkb3N-GlU_M5cjPs8C0sby_l0HO2b0kxHHQZ2HdkLQ2gqE/s1600/Merc+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO8QMeYafDj5Y8oWGNoKf7K7Vugl3GoTderxzadzMPG0XAxs9k_XVjefORauvCVJfZDl03JxFm7zEnE__H3qcplQcfLvQeiZkb3N-GlU_M5cjPs8C0sby_l0HO2b0kxHHQZ2HdkLQ2gqE/s640/Merc+2.jpg" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I mean, this is all you really need in a game anyway. <i>Mercenaries 2: World in Flames</i> (2008)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Another common mistake is just to look at the average of reviews. Take the two games mentioned above. <i>Deadly Premonition</i> got a 68/100. <i>Resident Evil 6</i> got 67/100 or the Xbox 360. Pretty average you may say. But let's look at the breakdown for these scores. <i>Deadly Premonition</i> mostly has reviews in the 70 to 85 range, but several reviews rate very low. It appears most reviewers had favorable impressions for this game, but a few people despised it and so brought the average down. <i>Resident Evil 6</i> has a pretty even spread across 60, 70, and 80 with a few scores above that and a bit more below. Seems reviewers have quite widespread opinions about this game. However, you would never gather this just by looking at the average. Even worse, this just compounds the score problem mentioned above. Instead of just reading a synopsis of a review, you are reading a synopsis of a synopsis! Why did some reviewers hate this game while most liked it? Why does this game have a large spread in its reviews? Unless you read the actual reviews, you have no idea. Maybe most of the reviewers' idea of what makes this game good isn't the same as yours? You go into a store, confident you are making a good investment, only to realize, to your horror, you just wasted $50 and 20 hours of your life on a game you would have hated had you only heard a summary of it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So what do you do? Speaking for myself, I have found the best reviews come from people I know. For one, <b>you know the person giving the review<i>.</i></b> It's not just some journalist or blogger telling you this game is great or terrible, it's your friend. Someone whose tastes and interests you know. You can ask questions about what you think is important. You can maybe even just borrow it for a day or so and see what you think.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's great but what if the game just came out? For starters, <b>don't just look at the scores or, worse, the average of the scores.</b> As mentioned, this is a terrible way to determine if you will like the game. Second, <b>look at reviewers who you have had a good track record with. </b>You will find that some journalists have similar interests to you. Maybe run across a journalist and find you both agree completely on what makes a good FPS. Then whenever you see a new FPS, you can see if he or she has done a review and get an idea if you would like it or not. This isn't foolproof of course because no one is exactly the same as anyone else and the journalist isn't a close friend you know well or can question, but it's a good starting point. Finally, <b>read lots of reviews!</b> Obvious, I know, but it's amazing how many people don't do this. Reading a lot of reviews, unlike getting an average score, lets you get many different perspectives. From all these perspectives you can get a better understanding of the game, certainly better than if you just read one person's perspective.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Some of my favorite games that I've played for hours have been games many critics panned. I've also been bored by games that many critics loved. Reviews are great, but they can only get you so far. Research wisely, ask around, and you can find those lost games you fall in love with while avoiding the popular games you know you will hate.</span><br />
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<b id="internal-source-marker_0.1088121416978538" style="font-weight: normal; text-align: start;"><span style="background-color: black; color: white; font-family: Impact; font-size: 64px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> 10 </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In case you just skipped to this.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Words by Joshua Matern</span></b></div>
Josh Maternhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211182587159020321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-23158053838545218742013-03-12T14:26:00.004-07:002013-03-12T14:27:42.140-07:00Coolest Dad Ever?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysVmfCDO1Z0OHLyg6uySlYvxpup6j1OQBtIUNhLa23vxSQiAuaIjujTa23KdXiYARmcq9-uQV42A2C5yANM8-n1xar2qfr1kexdOIERbGffzXpQKq_vSnCJkefihIbtAHg0Dqp9Yj4uRW/s1600/mike_200.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgysVmfCDO1Z0OHLyg6uySlYvxpup6j1OQBtIUNhLa23vxSQiAuaIjujTa23KdXiYARmcq9-uQV42A2C5yANM8-n1xar2qfr1kexdOIERbGffzXpQKq_vSnCJkefihIbtAHg0Dqp9Yj4uRW/s320/mike_200.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You may have already seen/heard this story as it has been running around the gaming sites last week. Mike Mika, a game designer, is now an official candidate for the Coolest Dad Awards. As seen on <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/1a01g3/best_dad_ever_hacks_donkey_kong_so_his_daughter/">Reddit</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JeXDNg7scyU#!">Mike's own YouTube channel</a> he has hacked the classic arcade game <i>Donkey Kong</i> in order to appease his child's desires. Here's the story in Mike's own words:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"My three year old daughter and I play a lot of old games together. Her favorite is Donkey Kong. Two days ago, she asked me if she could play as the girl and save Mario. She's played as Princess Toadstool in Super Mario Bros. 2 and naturally just assumed she could do the same in Donkey Kong. I told her we couldn't in that particular Mario game, she seemed really bummed out by that. So what else am I supposed to do? Now I'm up at midnight hacking the ROM, replacing Mario with Pauline. I'm using the 2010 NES Donkey Kong ROM. I've redrawn Mario's frames and I swapped the palettes in the ROM. I replaced the M at the top with a P for Pauline. Thanks to Kevin Wilson for giving me the lead on the tools and advice."</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 17px;">Behold, the result of Mike's work:</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/JeXDNg7scyU" style="background-color: transparent;" width="480"></iframe></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Should you know of any girl gamers who would also prefer to play this classic game as Pauline instead of the go-to savior Mario you can download the Pauline DK patch from the above YouTube page. For more see <a href="http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/03/donkey-kong-pauline-hack/">Mike's own article over on Wired</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This is the second time that <i>Donkey Kong</i> has brought about a compelling real-world story in recent years. Seek out the much under-appreciated documentary <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/?ref_=sr_1">The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters</a> </i>to know what I'm referring to.</span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-53359120208692979582013-03-11T20:56:00.001-07:002013-03-12T22:59:30.568-07:00An Open Letter to Video Games: Recent Thoughts on Recent Things<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Dearest (These Things We Call) Video Games,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">How are you? I feel like we haven't talked in forever. So many things have happened since I last wrote to you...</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Behold, the future is in your hands... with PlayStation 4.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The inevitable eighth console generation continues with Sony announcing the PS4, due out this year's holiday season. I just got a PS3 last Thanksgiving. Great. Microsoft has yet to announce the next Xbox (surely it won't be called Xbox 720,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">surely</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">), but I suspect they won't let Sony have all the shelves to themselves come fourth quarter. Then there's all this chatter about the Steam Box, which makes very little sense to me. Couldn't you just refer to any gaming PC as a "Steam box"? Not to mention there's going to be a smattering of varying versions and specs... People buy consoles so they don't have to worry about those details. The whole idea behind this is bewildering to me. And how about the Ouya? Worst name since Wii U aside it looks the part of a sleek gift from the future and bears a price that no home console can dare beat. While Android holds no candle to the iOS market it's yet an another option in an industry bent on</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><b style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">giving power to the players</b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. That's important for the health of the industry and to each and every one's personal preference. However, all these systems and, more importantly, the games that run on them are going to be harder than ever to keep track of going forward.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One slice of civilization in an upcoming fantasy open-world. <i>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</i> (2014)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I've been trying to keep up on news (reviews and previews too). Just finished reading the GameInformer cover story for</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. It's a medieval fantasy RPG series that already has two successful (first and foremost critically) games on the market. From everything I've seen/read/heard about the series it's a much-needed maturation to the genre and game-type. I always got an</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Elder Scrolls </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">by way of</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Gothic </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">vibe from it. This third outing is bringing players into an open-world that's 20% bigger than</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Skyrim</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, a game and province I still have much left unseen and undone.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Witcher 3</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is coming out on PC and whatever "next-gen" (that perpetual term) consoles are ready for it sometime next year. Video game generations are only measured by the consoles... Frankenstenian gaming computers just evolve, don't they? I hope to catch up with the first two in</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Witcher</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> series</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">before this one arrives. Also, developer CD Projekt RED's thoughts on DLC and updates brought hope to an otherwise growing and bleak trend in the "additional content" arena. I recommend looking into it if such aspects have ever interested or frustrated you in recent years.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our central characters stagger through the post-apoc. <i>The Last of Us </i>(2013)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Three of this year's biggest releases, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">BioShock Infinite</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Last of Us</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto V</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, have all had their release dates pushed back. In my mind this is usually a good thing. The last thing players want is a game that isn't ready. It's more prone to happen in gaming than any other medium for obvious reasons. (It's not like you'd ever go to a museum and come across a painting that needs to be updated or patched - even if you might think it could use some work.) Rockstar Games and Bethesda Game Studios are notorious for having buggy experiences in their titles on Day One and thereafter. As an open-world aficionado I've come to expect and even tolerate this. I cannot fathom the testing and man-hours required of a developer to get all the kinks straightened out before launch. I am eagerly anticipating these long-lusted-after sequels and I am equally as welcome to the new IP </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Last of Us</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> from Naughty Dog, the famed team behind the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Uncharted</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> series. The previews for each of these leviathan projects is impressive. These are the titles that are pushing our current generation for everything they've got. These are the games that are signaling the future while saluting the past. The passing of the torch from one generation of consoles to the next is always an exciting time for gamers. Our thumbs twitch in anticipation while our wallets shudder at the thought. I was working at a GameStop when we ushered in the seventh generation (Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3) and can attest of the anticipatory spirit that fills the air. That was seven years ago... It's been a good run, but we're ready for the what cometh next.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">NRA blames games like <i>Kindergarten Killers </i>for Sandy Hook. News flash: Nobody has played, let alone heard of, that abysmal game!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'd be amiss whilst addressing the current hour of video game history if I didn't make mention of the hellfire that's been raining down on the industry as a whole since 2012's plentiful gun-related tragedies. The unexplainable events of Sandy Hook begged the need for an explanation. As a result Vice President Joe Biden met with the gaming companies, journalists (gamers and non-gamers) have been debating their respective sides on the issue for months, the social medias I plug into show many are outspoken on the topic while several others remain silent. Nothing is all that new on the video game front. It's just that these outside events have turned over old stones with the same arguments we've heard before... on both sides. I started this site as a place to talk about games on a deep, meaningful and creative level. This site will always be primarily about the games themselves, but it's important to be aware of what is going on in the industry. I sense a future op/ed piece from myself or one of the crew about this issue. We certainly shouldn't turn a blind eye to this but we should always keep an open-mind and can only hope other parties will too. As someone who listens to what any side has to say I am comfortable with concluding that gaming is neither the culprit or an innocent third party, it is merely a factor to consider. By comparison, untreated mental illnesses and the accessibility of assault weapons for those in such a state are much more impending factors. Still, the effect of violent video games on players is an issue I am deeply fascinated by and you can expect more thoughts on it in the months to come.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An actual screen from our server. This was my latest project... <i>Minecraft </i>(2012)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Maybe it's because of recent occurrences that I personally have not been playing a lot of games lately. Though the recently concluded movie award season is also a culprit of my time. Writing and films are my first passions and always will be, but there's an allure of gaming possibilites that ever beckons me. I actually hadn't been playing hardly</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">any </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">games since the New Year, an occasional iOS diversion here and a social multiplayer there, but otherwise none to speak of. That is until last week when my cousin suggested getting another</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Minecraft </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">server going. With his help (I'm a noob is such areas) we got one going and it's been a mostly incredible experience ever since.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Minecraft</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> was my favorite game of 2011 right alongside</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Skyrim</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, but it's a prime example of a title that challenges the definition of "video games." I also hope to find occasion to explain my frustration with the term while addressing my complete adoration of</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Minecraft - </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">whatever it is. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We've come full circle. I write you this letter of recent happenings and my thoughts that surround them to let you know that I have not forgotten about this site, but mostly that I have not forgotten about you, these things we call video games.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Love,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">J.S.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />P.S. One of the reasons I acquired a PS3 was to play <i>Ni No Kuni</i>. This has not happened yet but I long to with each passing day. Studio Ghibli + video games! How can I not? Well, it's the JRPG aspect that wearies me...<br /><br /><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-43238296874012907732013-01-21T12:14:00.000-08:002013-01-23T07:31:11.602-08:00FTL: Faster Than Light (Review)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">September 14, 2012</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Windows, Mac OS X, Linux</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed and Published</b></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> by Subset Games</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Try to command a ship in deep space and survive in </i>FTL.<br /><i></i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Do you like dying in video games? Having your stuff blown up? Watching as your character slowly burn to death or asphyxiate (or both)? Well <i>FTL</i> may just change your mind about that because as they say, "Dying is half the fun! No...really."</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you've never played a roguelike, this is a great game to get the feel for what they are. <i>FTL: Faster Than Light </i>sets you on a mission to explore and survive 8 different space zones as you flee a rebel armada and ultimately face down the most powerful ship in their fleet. You first get to choose your ship, its name, and your crew members' names before setting off. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I must say, it is great fun piloting a ship called "The Blue Ocelot" with Captain Depp at the helm. </span> At first only one ship is available but as you play more ships and layouts for each ship rapidly unlock.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Gameplay is like a real-time strategy with several levels. The most micro is the crew. You must assign crew members to different areas of the ship to either man stations, fix things, put out fires, fight invaders, or stand there doing their best mannequin impersonation. The perspective is top down so that you can see all the rooms on the ship and the whole crew. Each room is either empty or holds a station. There are stations for shields, weapons, and the helm to name a few. Some can be manned, which gives the station a small bonus. These bonuses factor into the next step up in gameplay: the ship. As you play, you will run into other ships that you must fight. You then have to allocate power to your equipment and decide which weapons to charge, how much power to give to shields or the engine, and when to run for your life. A very fun and interesting part of this gameplay is the ability to designate where you shoot an enemy. Do you take out his weapons so that he can't fight back or do you shoot the helm so he can't escape or dodge? You decide what is top priority for surviving and act accordingly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">When you fight, you have to think fast, make tough calls, and deal with disasters. Fires can break out that will quickly wreck your ship if you don't put them out. You can either send a crew member to put it out or open the exterior doors and let out all the oxygen, killing the fire. Enemies might board your ship and start blowing up your shields while the enemy ship destroys your weapons. You have to micro manage your crew effectively in order to survive and it makes for fun and intense gameplay.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">"See, we'll get rid of all the oxygen to put out the fires. Nothing wrong with that plan."<i> FTL: Faster Than Light </i>(2012)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Aside from fighting, the other main aspect of gameplay is exploring. You get a star map and choose which station to jump to next, assuming you are in range. You start on the left and are trying to reach the exit on the right to the next sector, but it pays to explore a bit on the way. Shops are available for equipment and repairs. Distress signals blare out that could give side quests or add a new crew member, but be warned. They could be pirate traps. You may also run into suns and asteroid fields which make combat very perilous. Each new fight can damage your hull leaving you closer and closer to death. And of course, the whole time you have to stay ahead of the slowly approaching rebel armada.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The slowly approaching red wall of death. Fear it's power! <i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">FTL: Faster Than Light </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(2012)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">So why explore? One word: scrap. Scrap equals money and without it you won't survive. You can use scrap to either buy better weapons, fuel up, make repairs, get crew, and other such things at shops you come across, or you can upgrade your ships systems such as making your shields stronger, your engine faster, your doors sturdier, and so on. You get scrap by destroying enemy ships, meeting friendly stations, doing side quests, and selling unwanted equipment. Every sector require a certain amount of "grinding" for scrap or else you will quickly find yourself outmatched in later sectors.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As you explore, you may also run into situations that require choices. Do you save a space station from giant spiders or flip them the bird? Do you accept a pirate's bribe or be a hero? Do you side with the fleeing fugitive or give him up to his pursuers for a reward? Each choice can have good or bad consequences that change with each game. Upgrading the correct system or having the correct species on board will also allow a third, usually better, option to become available.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The final level of gamplay is the sector map. Once you reach an exit, you choose which next sector to go to. Should you go to the friendly Zoltan sector or risk the Pirate sector for more booty? Up to you, but you've got to try and survive all 7 sectors to make it to the final 8th sector and the end boss.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What makes exploration so entertaining is that every game is randomly generated so each playthrough is new. You might have a great run one game only to go out in a solar flare blaze of glory in sector 3 in the next. You never know what surprise the next station will have in store for you. In addition, there are achievements to get for each ship that unlock new layouts and achievements for the game as whole so have fun trying to get them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">All that being said, I should warn you that the game is hard. I mean, really hard. Friends don't let friends start on normal. Start on easy, get a feel for the game, then try normal. You will die more often than you beat the end boss and complete the game, but like the developers said, that is half the fun. The difficulty may turn off some people and I did get frustrated at times, but after a few games, you get a feel for the flow of it and it becomes very enjoyable. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This game may not be for everyone and may be difficult, but anyone who enjoys space, rougelikes, or real-time strategies will find a nice charm from this game. It's an inexpensive game that offers dozens of hours of fun gameplay. Just don't get too frustrated when you die for the fifth time in a row.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Joshua Matern</b></span></div>
Josh Maternhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211182587159020321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-53731631586666603182012-12-04T20:05:00.001-08:002012-12-04T20:05:12.330-08:00Far Cry 3 (Impressions)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">December 4, 2012</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Far Cry 3</i> is a worthy addition into the critically acclaimed series. It is fun and offers a variety of gameplay however, it doesn't match the brutality of the second game that made it a classic.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The first hour of the game I found myself rather disappointed that it wasn't a different game, I wanted it to be more survival oriented. You play Jason, a twenty-something rich-boy who is kidnapped and in a pretty bad spot, he is shocked at the prospect of killing people, skinning animals and the like. I felt fear at first about survival, this guy isn't some invincible navy-seal or high-tech nano-suit, he's just Joe-schmoe. I was ready to have to worry about thirst, hunger, sickness, etc. but even on the hardest difficulty setting it's not overly challenging and is not really a survival game at all, it's just an open-world FPS. Once I got over the comparison to it's predecessor and what I wanted/thought the game was going to be though I started having a lot of fun.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">There are some similarities to <i>Just Cause 2 (2010)</i> except this is less playful and insane but on a positive note, the missions and side-missions feel more purposeful than in <i>JC2</i>. There wasn't a real point or reward in doing side-missions there whereas here, every side-quest has an adequate reward for the player, either allowing fast-travel, more weapons, map of the terrain, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Far Cry 3</i> has a strong narrative and sense of character along with solid game-mechanics that aren't difficult to master. There is a good 30 hours of gameplay with side-missions in the single-player campaign. The multi-player has a co-op mode with its own narrative but I've only played a few times because it wasn't as engaging as single player.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It's a fairly straight-forward FPS with open-world aspects but you also spend time hunting animals (or being attacked by animals while trying to do something else) which can be challenging and sometimes humorous. While playing in-game I was about to attack a group of soldiers who had a bear in a cage. My brilliant plan was to shoot the cage and release the bear who would then dispatch the guards for me and the guards would weaken the bear for me so I could harvest its valuable pelt. Right as I was about to shoot the cage undetected, a leopard attached me from behind which pushed me right into the guards path. I shot the cage to release the bear but that just meant I was being attacked by guards with assault weapons, a leopard and a bear. Needless to say I died fairly quickly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">You will learn to hate Komodo Dragons, Tigers and most of all: Deer; they are fast buggers which seem to be nearly invincible.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The bad aspects of the game is that dying is painful because the game only saves in certain places and often I have lost 20 minutes of gameplay because of this poor design.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of my biggest dislikes of this game is that you are forced to use Ubisoft's UPlay which is their distribution, DRM and social platform. Personally, I hate having to install these garbage pieces of software the likes of which include Rockstar Social Club, Origen, Games for Windows Live, etc., and having to create yet another online account just to play. I'm ranting about this in particular because I re-imaged my machine half-way through playing this game and while I copied my game-saves, when I moved them to my new computer they wouldn't work. I opted out of Uplay's Cloud Save Sync as many people weren't able to access the game when their servers were down. This means I lost about 12 hours of game-play that I really didn't want to redo (but will).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I recommend a buy or rent if 30 hours of single-player gameplay isn't worth the full retail price. Personally, I can't see myself spending too much time in the multi-player.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Trent Allgood</b></span></div>
Trenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17523889095269117613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-46882533044771557662012-12-04T19:56:00.004-08:002012-12-04T19:56:58.782-08:00Far Cry 3 IRL<div style="text-align: center;">
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Guys, guys, check out this fan-made (though clearly Ubisoft sponsored) tribute to <i>Far Cry 3</i>, the last blockbuster of the year that's hitting store shelves today! It features our first-person protagonist storming an enemy camp, rescuing a pretty prisoner, and then making a daring escape... all in <i>live-action</i>. Sure, the green screen effect is overly apparent, but the long takes they had to set up and pull off are undeniably impressive. Gamers are well aware of YouTube producers <a href="http://www.youtube.com/rocketjump">FreddieW</a> and possibly <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Warialasky">Warialasky</a>. Well, now you can subscribe to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/devinsupertramp">devinsupertramp</a> as well. He's done a lot of extreme sports photography, but starting with last month's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Py-yRjM0le8"><i>Assassin's Creed III </i>IRL</a> it's clear he's one to keep on the TTWCVG radar. (Speaking of FreddieW and Far Cry 3, check out <a href="http://www.youtube.com/rocketjump">Far Cry Vacation</a>.)<br />
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Oh, and I think we can all agree that this is loads better than Uwe Boll's vision of "Far Cry."J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-55108068507324280762012-12-03T20:54:00.000-08:002012-12-04T11:44:08.392-08:00Crew Post: Story vs. Gameplay<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">What is more important in video games, story or gameplay? The question is simple and the conversation may be endless (or maybe it will just be monotonous)... Nonetheless that is the query we're thrusting upon the Crew this week. Read some of their thoughts below and please add your voice to the matter in the comments below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>J.S.:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I am going to go ahead a pick a side for the sake and the fun of argument and go with gameplay. I'm a writer (pretentious alert!), and to me stories and storytelling are one of the most important matters under the sun, so you do not need to tell me how crucial it is, but you simply cannot have a great game without the gameplay to match it. Hell, you cannot even have games without it!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAx4yk2vrVYHPVY7Dtm7k-qSiByDRepDQW__z0ibfH_BbBUaVuKNGg9o5CHWkFQnPkKwfHvhRTeCvK3OOXA5ziAHVrDIAw3-A79zAoUtvvYfMMMaphOzYNRcvVMvcRecPMFg6odCcVIz8j/s1600/Pong.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAx4yk2vrVYHPVY7Dtm7k-qSiByDRepDQW__z0ibfH_BbBUaVuKNGg9o5CHWkFQnPkKwfHvhRTeCvK3OOXA5ziAHVrDIAw3-A79zAoUtvvYfMMMaphOzYNRcvVMvcRecPMFg6odCcVIz8j/s640/Pong.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ah, the classic story of the paddle and the ball who loved her. <i>Pong </i>(1972)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Games themselves began without regard for story, I'm talking about </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Pong </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_video_game" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">the 20+ years of possible precursors</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. They are called "video games" because they require an interaction between a player and what they are seeing on a screen, or, to put it simply, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">gameplay</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">We don't/didn't want games to remain in those prehistoric states, so the medium progressed over the years until we were bringing narratives to the experience which also brought the comparison to it's distant cousin, film (the other medium of moving pictures). It's gameplay that sets games apart from animation.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hg7KvTvy46u7PdYU7PZmTtr29mAH3jjEtbqzBfexKDK3iKIaggal4iflakAmaVoSQcux8pIJ1D7Ig0DzckdMA-5o9vhwlLdGjbQTwemCItoRrLg16vSPeD8pNdV2itasFKdA_clvpFFk/s1600/screenshot1.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5hg7KvTvy46u7PdYU7PZmTtr29mAH3jjEtbqzBfexKDK3iKIaggal4iflakAmaVoSQcux8pIJ1D7Ig0DzckdMA-5o9vhwlLdGjbQTwemCItoRrLg16vSPeD8pNdV2itasFKdA_clvpFFk/s640/screenshot1.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A rather promising title marred by its infuriating controls. <i>True Crimes: Streets of LA</i> (2003)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Specific stories, and their virtues, are entirely qualitative. They are an art and are therefore infinitely open to opinions. Gameplay is much less so. Sure, Joe might not have a problem with <i>The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword</i>'s controls while they are so infuriating to Bob that he'd rather spend his weekend milking a cow, but you will find far more people agreeing upon the poor controls of <i>True Crime: Streets of L.A.</i> than whether it's narrative is any good. Gameplay is far more quantitative. It deals with facts from the controls (e.g. "you push 'A' to jump and push 'B' to shoot") to the objectives (e.g. "you jump over the pits and shoot all the Nazis to beat the level"). They are basics and will never be as interesting as the boundless extent of storytelling, but they are required for the experience and the medium itself. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I have been mostly vague here with only a few examples, but </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">hopefully</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> I have set some of the groundwork in place for the rest of the crew to share their thoughts on the matter. Let me conclude by telling you about two very different games I play:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsS1jzyc3jHQorU5QcrWvCEf3BkpQxiW9-1r4ADpfJNMBV4TM8mGwRo3DGcU-xBZDA7p-hkp-i2PvSgAN7mMS76tHgrYW7-uM89rfPQOBkb572I3SR4gcCtbmH1r9tvz4ZaEU3PZnRrMT/s1600/IMG_0354.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJsS1jzyc3jHQorU5QcrWvCEf3BkpQxiW9-1r4ADpfJNMBV4TM8mGwRo3DGcU-xBZDA7p-hkp-i2PvSgAN7mMS76tHgrYW7-uM89rfPQOBkb572I3SR4gcCtbmH1r9tvz4ZaEU3PZnRrMT/s640/IMG_0354.png" width="426" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">With no story to speak of this game is a blast to play! <i>Cut the Rope </i>(2010)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I play </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cut the Rope</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> on my iPhone every so often. The drama of getting a piece of candy into an adorable toad's mouth makes for a very dull chronicle, but I play because the gameplay works so well, frequently introducing new wrinkles to puzzles. I recently and finally started playing <i>Uncharted: Drake's Fortune</i>. It is a glorious adventure with striking locales, stand-out characters, and yes, an entertaining story. If the gameplay (including the shoot-from-cover mechanic) were not in place as is, this would be a disaster of a game that had me only pushing forward to see the next cutscene, which is where games cease to be games really. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Obviously the best of video games excel in both story and gameplay. Hopefully we will continue to have experiences that blend the two so well that this argument will dissolve over time. I am in part referring to emergent narrative, something I would love to talk more about but I am four paragraphs in and ready to pass the baton of this Crew Post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I agree with the end of J.S.'s post. A good game requires both great gameplay and a great story. The two need to compliment one another. Yes you could definitely play a game that didn't really have a good story if the gameplay was good (i.e. <i>Angry Birds</i> anything), but without that story the replayability of a game goes down significantly. I've had this opinion for most of the time that I have been a gamer. But at the same time, if a game has gameplay that you can't stand but a great story it makes it that much more difficult to get through, and I have been known on occasion to give up on such games (i.e. the <i>Assassin's Creed</i> series).</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rwIfhLP5EhCNTCg3kGgC4unnuY00GMXpLyLTAlbI1uIGee9Xb-bJFVPVjwQB3752EIDECpo9nQEDQ_TrAUlPbfUHoDBMhglh5gi4GJU1Zg2RZJBhiILIG62peJfWEMTXZlhyphenhyphentcI1LpQ/s1600/assassins_creed_3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="489" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2rwIfhLP5EhCNTCg3kGgC4unnuY00GMXpLyLTAlbI1uIGee9Xb-bJFVPVjwQB3752EIDECpo9nQEDQ_TrAUlPbfUHoDBMhglh5gi4GJU1Zg2RZJBhiILIG62peJfWEMTXZlhyphenhyphentcI1LpQ/s640/assassins_creed_3.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">With it's frustrating stealthy gameplay, I've never played through an entire game in the <i>Assassin's Creed</i> series<i>.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Assassin's Creed III </i>(2012)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">However, that being said I recently been more converted to the ways of a magnificent game called <i>Minecraft</i>! It truly is the shining example of a game proving that you do not need a story. I'm sure I have spent endless hours on the game that has no story to speak of. It's just a free world roamer where you can do almost anything you could think of. I've built my own waterfall, a giant log cabin on a mountain top, a castle, and even a portal to Hell. There is not one other game that I can think of that you could say that about.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-1KjzQwz_TGcaFzFcvu6qI69zMckSG6kBs7TZ20kS1eM0Z1AVsXxj2pO5kGeceeGXk3F3ANVrUh-IXCPZMsySx6KUjQZls1zZQbyaRLcq_pjicaSfNmveNHpI_wKe8QNAQ5mC0hQzNM/s1600/minecraft1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK-1KjzQwz_TGcaFzFcvu6qI69zMckSG6kBs7TZ20kS1eM0Z1AVsXxj2pO5kGeceeGXk3F3ANVrUh-IXCPZMsySx6KUjQZls1zZQbyaRLcq_pjicaSfNmveNHpI_wKe8QNAQ5mC0hQzNM/s640/minecraft1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Some great examples of the amazing things you can do in the game. </span><i style="font-size: small;">Minecraft</i><span style="font-size: x-small;"> (2011 PC, 2012 Xbox)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With my conversion to <i>Minecraft</i>, I have to throw my hat in with J.S. completely. Without gameplay a game just isn't worth it. You just have to have an open mind capable of imagining all the things that the game doesn't give you, which gives you more of a feel of being a kid and playing make believe. Except in this case you can truly make anything. Now I'm off to play some more <i>Minecraft</i> after finding these inspiring images! Now on to the next member of the crew on this Crew Post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">While I won't argue story isn't important, it obviously is. Think of your favorite games ever and likely they all have amazing stories and characters e.g. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Portal, Skyrim, Bioshock</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> etc. However I think gameplay is far more important. While not limited to this, games are meant to be fun and if the gameplay isn't fun, it's not going to get a lot of love. I thought </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mafia II</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> had a compelling story and good gameplay but it quickly grew tiresome and I never ended up finishing it. Whereas the original </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Borderlands</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> had fun and engrossing gameplay in spades with a very poor and unimportant narrative. Which game do you think got 50 hours of gameplay and which got 10?</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Why is there a giant worm attacking you? It's not part of the story and it really doesn't matter <i>Borderlands (2009).</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The <i>Worms</i> series, <i>Team Fortress 2</i>, <i>Counterstrike</i>, most RTS (yes, they have campaign modes but that's not the fun part), and any sports game have basically no narrative and yet they are great and unique games which have provided countless hours of entertainment. What's more, multiplayer isn't a narrative driven event, it's solely gameplay. Those countless hours playing the original <i>Halo</i> weren't because of the worth of the singleplayer story it was because it was ridiculously fun. I'm not going to dismiss storytelling, but it is clearly backseat to gameplay in my opinion.</span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-39790963512783671732012-12-02T23:04:00.001-08:002012-12-02T23:04:29.830-08:00Humble THQ Bundle: Save Money & Save a Publisher<div style="text-align: center;">
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Earlier this week The Humble THQ Bundle was announced and launched. This was somewhat a surprising for two reasons. 1) We usually get months or more to breathe from <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/theres-new-humble-bundle.html">the last Bundle</a> being sealed; this time it was only a couple weeks. 2) Humble Bundles are typically a batch of independently developed games; after all, it used to be called Humble Indie Bundle. Well, this time they've teamed up with far-from-indie developer /publisher THQ to push six A-list titles, and a seventh (<i>Saints Row: The Third</i>) if you beat the average. (Note: Two of the games in this Bundle are stand-alone sequels to <i>Company of Heroes</i>).</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The troubling trajectory of THQ stock. (Source: Hard Core Gamer)</td></tr>
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It's no secret that <a href="http://www.hardcoregamer.com/2012/11/06/thq-in-trouble-a-financial-analysis/">THQ has been in trouble lately</a>, even on the verge of bankruptcy. As one of the top commenters for the above video on YouTube said, "In this case THQ is the charity." There is a actual charity to select in the payment sliders, but the default is giving most of the proceeds to THQ. This remarkable Bundle has only been running a few days and it is passing the $3 million mark.<br />
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I have no animosity towards THQ even though they've published plenty of real commercial clunkers over the years. The game industry is an industry. By the same token I have personally spent hours upon hours with some of the games they've brought to light, their recent partnership with Double Fine is particular noteworthy. I guarantee any gamer who looks over the list of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_THQ_games">their published works</a> can say the same, for better or worse.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfG4bPbnKkLgGWW8s88FFRV3Cye_aDVuP7YJdSu2rAIpgKDaryqPhHU4J9ujQXffpcD-4MylkzpTeJBRAvjzYoo5G8DbiETZVasg7zSBSWihyphenhyphentElDuPdFMYa-eXnGM7g487_30MKl48Fqs/s1600/metro_2033_12597824141302.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfG4bPbnKkLgGWW8s88FFRV3Cye_aDVuP7YJdSu2rAIpgKDaryqPhHU4J9ujQXffpcD-4MylkzpTeJBRAvjzYoo5G8DbiETZVasg7zSBSWihyphenhyphentElDuPdFMYa-eXnGM7g487_30MKl48Fqs/s640/metro_2033_12597824141302.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The metros of a post-apocalyptic Moscow is but one of the gaming experiences available. <i>Metro 2033 </i>(2010)</td></tr>
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You've got until December 12th to pay what you want for a handful of games, including <i>Darksiders </i>and <i>Metro 2033</i>. You also get the soundtracks for the included games which is worth the price of admission alone, unless you're feeling particularly generous. You will never find a better buy than this and you can directly aid a desperate game company. Yes, it's the games themselves we care about, but somebody has to create them and sell them. For consumers the Humble THQ Bundle is a winning situation no matter how you slice it, I cannot say the same for the company at hand, but this will surely help.J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-45565041129705358132012-12-01T07:56:00.000-08:002012-12-01T18:35:15.965-08:00Are These the 10 Best Games of the Last Decade?<div style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><i>Half-Life 2</i></i></span></div>
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<i>Batman: Arkham Asylum</i><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCPWnuRGEnj0Fo1VHdg8u2dPSbajwPbP2WHJFwQ_YtLgE99hNeubq4lFzBroJclBoEbkf1D_ce2RLAnSxZtBpaMf9bjjNOFHDIoZkI-iWqzJWWNiYHeEy8a8x4ugcgVFMtg8njGJvZ39n/s1600/Top-Ten-Videogames-of-the-Decade_510x317.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="396" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuCPWnuRGEnj0Fo1VHdg8u2dPSbajwPbP2WHJFwQ_YtLgE99hNeubq4lFzBroJclBoEbkf1D_ce2RLAnSxZtBpaMf9bjjNOFHDIoZkI-iWqzJWWNiYHeEy8a8x4ugcgVFMtg8njGJvZ39n/s640/Top-Ten-Videogames-of-the-Decade_510x317.jpeg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Red Dead Portal of the Colossas</i>... I would play the hell out of this game!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Are these the 10 best games of the last decade? Maybe. It's a very well-rounded list in my opinion, even if they are all triple-A titles, with the possible exception of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Wii Sports</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. I'm not sure what you'd call that one... These are the 10 choices that make up the </span><a href="http://popwatch.ew.com/2012/11/28/best-videogames-decade/" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">new poll up on Entertainment Weekly</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> that simply asks, "What is the best video game of the last ten years?" It's immediately clear that </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is missing from this list, and not a single </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, but I suppose Red Dead Redemption fills that void nicely and then some. The Big 3 (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) and the PC are represented, though not a one is an Xbox exclusive. No Halo to be found. But what else is missing from this list? The unprecedented emergence of indie games this last decade has truly been a life-force for hardcore and casual demographics alike. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Minecraft</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Braid</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Cave Story</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">? Is there one worthy to represent all of them? And even then, why just one? And what about hand-held gaming including the iOS and Android explosion of downloadable titles? To be fair, Darren Franich mentioned most of these things in his accompanying article: "In the end, </span><a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/gallery/0,,20651639,00.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">we picked 10 games</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> that represent an industry simultaneously hitting its peak while staring down a brave, scary, fascinating new era." There's all very well, but </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Minecraft</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> still needs to be on here.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Which of these 10 would you vote for and which game can you not believe they left off?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baby Hands Sammy Jackson: the host of this year's Spike Video Game Awards.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Franich announced that the results of this poll will be revealed at the 10th Annual Spike Video Game Awards next Friday (December 7th). I think I'm one of the only people I know who has actually watched those. They're no Oscars, that's for sure (and that's doubly damning because of how many people hate on the Academy Awards), but they are the biggest ceremony of its kind that the medium currently has. I just wished the producers cared less about celebrities and more about the bloody games. <a href="http://www.spike.com/video-clips/ergvvi/video-game-awards-samuel-l-jackson-to-host-vga-10">Samuel L. Jackson will be hosting</a> the Awards this year... Yep, it's going to continue to be about the celebrities and not about the games isn't it?</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The nominees for Game of the Year...</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">At least this year's nominees for Game of the Year had </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">some </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">variety, including two downloadable titles: </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Assassin's Creed III</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dishonored</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Journey</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mass Effect 3 </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Walking Dead: The Game</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I'll attempt to watch the "ceremony" again this year and will likely blog about the winners of the poll (decade) and the top prize (year).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span>J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-50605593941889481542012-11-28T01:17:00.000-08:002012-11-28T01:17:54.959-08:00Splinter Cell: Blacklist (Preview)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spring 2013</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U, Windows</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Ubisoft Toronto</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Ubisoft</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Join Sam Fisher again as you protect the country from terrorist scum in </i>Splinter Cell: Blacklist<br /><i></i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The <i>Splinter Cell </i>series has been one of my favorite game series for awhile now. I love being stealthy, even in games that don't focus on stealth, and <i>Splinter Cell</i> has always done a great job with stealth gameplay. The most recent entry into the series, <i>Conviction</i>, focused more on mobility and stealth rather than the pure stealth of earlier games, and this new entry into the series is continuing that theme.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This latest foray into the <i>Splinter Cell</i> universe has the previous covert organization that Sam Fisher, the protagonist, worked for dissolved only to have a new organization created with Sam as the boss. A new terrorist threat called the Blacklist has emerged in which twelve terrorists have created a deadly countdown of escalating terrorist attacks, and the President has given Sam and his team full freedom to stop this threat using any means necessary. I've loved all the other <i>Splinter Cell</i> main plots and this one sounds very promising too. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfTAGHXX7gFTBFMGd9hLcWdfmXd6z39npssOvF8kb0MUszRyAGZOnFe4QYZpeH9BnF9DnJAkRkkWDVjJPdshm_tWMEE3bNcilijIrl0fvT2UgUaq7KMWMvBPFJMpOBYYd59oXoXIPP9A/s1600/SC6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="358" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEfTAGHXX7gFTBFMGd9hLcWdfmXd6z39npssOvF8kb0MUszRyAGZOnFe4QYZpeH9BnF9DnJAkRkkWDVjJPdshm_tWMEE3bNcilijIrl0fvT2UgUaq7KMWMvBPFJMpOBYYd59oXoXIPP9A/s640/SC6.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">If you'd just told me where the bathroom was, we wouldn't be in this mess. <i>Splinter Cell: Blacklist </i>(2013)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Watching any preview for this game, players of any previous <i>Splinter Cell</i> games will notice an immediate difference, namely that Sam Fisher has a new voice actor. The previous voice actor, Michael Ironside, decided he should "pass the torch" onto a new actor with Ubisoft choosing Eric Johnson to reprise the role. Now, I am saddened that Mr. Ironside will no longer be voicing Sam and I will forever feel that he is Sam's "real" voice, but I understand that these things happen and Eric Johnson does a good job, at least in the material I have seen.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The gameplay footage above shows a very mobile, combat-heavy run through of a demo level. A lot of fans have been up in arms about this because it seems like stealth has been sacrificed for action<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;"> (which many fans also complained about in <i>Conviction</i> but still enjoyed it anyway)</span>. While the game can be played this way in many instances, this is not a valid criticism of the game as demonstrated in the video below.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">The developers decided to give the player a lot of choice in how to play the game. You can either be very stealthy and slip by without disrupting anyone, or you can go in guns blazing and leave corpses as your call sign. It's your choice and I'm glad the developers gave players that option. Now whether there are any benefits or bonuses to being stealthy we will have to wait and see, but I wouldn't be surprised if they included some just to encourage people to play more stealthily than they otherwise would.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", serif;">I'm looking forward to this game and am definitely putting it on my watch list. We still have several months before the game comes out so expect more videos, news, and screenshots to be released. I hope they show off improvements to the NPC's AI and whether the player makes any story choices like in <i>Double Agent</i>, but so far it looks fun and it will be great to take control of Sam Fisher again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Josh Matern</b></span></div>
Josh Maternhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211182587159020321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-20043060762944814302012-11-20T11:25:00.004-08:002012-11-20T11:25:56.938-08:00Grand Theft Auto or: How I Learned To Steal Cars and Love the Series<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rLpvThA8kxezI-XGkKMGI3ntycP8HT_-QxpUlyy0Onov8CxWhf8SEHnX6vGj0deKI0SicT1JvivjZ7DT9dNFqYtVS4IPVdUzuSnwH-mwhescc3-4Kg7AqSElKJmANmQW1vyOyjpF-ulS/s1600/ts.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="341" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_rLpvThA8kxezI-XGkKMGI3ntycP8HT_-QxpUlyy0Onov8CxWhf8SEHnX6vGj0deKI0SicT1JvivjZ7DT9dNFqYtVS4IPVdUzuSnwH-mwhescc3-4Kg7AqSElKJmANmQW1vyOyjpF-ulS/s400/ts.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Last week I posted </span><a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/grand-theft-auto-v-preview-ii.html" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">another preview</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> for </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto V</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. After basking in the new trailer I am more excited than ever for Rockstar's upcoming game in the (in)famous series. With this latest (and I predict greatest) installment of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> approaching, I've thought about the games that brought it to where it is today and my personal relationship with them. What follows is my love letter to the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> games. There will be </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">some</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (constructive) criticism, but mostly this is exploring how the series has evolved over the years and the experiences I have had playing several of them.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You could run down the sidewalk with an assault rifle and body armor from the very beginning. <i>Grand Theft Auto</i> (1997)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">This year we celebrate the 15th anniversary of the original <i>Grand Theft Auto</i> developed by DMA Design (now known as Rockstar North). It was first released on computer in Europe. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From the series' top-down roots, it had the same sandbox feel that that attracts so many players to its shores even to this day. It was always a game where you were a thug on the streets who could work his way up the ranks of gangsterdom through "missions" or you could just run amok throughout the city, blowing up cars, running over pedestrians, and getting the attention of the police. And of course, hijacking a car was just a button-press away. By always having a control devoted to stealing vehicles, it's no wonder the series has always kept the name <i>Grand Theft Auto</i>.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Exploding cars was a class back in "old school" too. <i>Grand Theft Auto 2 </i>(1999)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I did not have a PS2 when so many were ranting and raving about </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto III</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">, though I realized the number on the end must mean there were at least two before it (how about that assessment Sherlock?). </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> Plus, I am somewhat of a completionist as a gamer. I like to play from the beginning of a series (as we almost always do with literature and film) to see firsthand how story, game mechanics and technology progresses. And so m</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">y personal devotion to the series goes back to </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto 2, </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">but even after that I've gone back to sample the original and even its British-based spin-off, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">London, 1969</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. The phone-booth based missions of these earlier games are easily overshadowed in my memories of a nighttime street strewn with the smoldering remains of Beamers and taxi cabs. Years before <i>Grand Theft Auto 2, </i>a friend and I used to cause pile-ups in imaginary intersections on the living room floor with our Hot Wheels. This game let us cause similar havoc in a fully simulated sandbox. We had grown up, but so had our toys. Even today it's fun to play.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aerial views, animated frames for cut-scenes, and touch controls. <i>Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars</i> (2009)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In recent years they revisited their own past with <i>Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars</i>. It is somewhat of a callback to the earlier games with its aerial viewpoints, though it brought along plenty of change to the experience. For one thing thing, you use touch controls to perform any number of tasks, including jacking a car (see above). Also, for the first time you get to assume the role of an Asian protagonist, Huang Lee. Chinatown has frequently appeared throughout the series, though this time it is all the more meaningful. <i>GTA: Chinatown Wars</i> is widely considered among the best handheld games of the last generation.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You play as silent protagonist Claude on the streets of Liberty City. <i>Grand Theft Auto III</i> (2001)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I will always consider <i>Grand Theft Auto III</i> to be one of the most influential games of all-time. It appeared on the PlayStation 2 (where the next two games would debut before better versions would later appear on Xbox and PC) back in 2001. <i>GTA III</i> set a new standard for open-world (though "open-city" is far more appropriate a term in this case, more on these semantics in that future post that I will reference at the end) and sandbox game experiences. We were no longer an omniscient yet distant player looking down at ant-sized action, we were <i>down and in</i> the game leading a character around though intimate third-person perspective in a city that seemed to function whether or not we were there. Does a falling member of a forest make a sound if no one is around to hear it? Does Liberty City keep on keepin' on when I'm in the corner of the map, inside a building, or even have the game turned off? A decade ago this New York-esque city was alive, vibrant, and exciting. Games have come so far since then, but I see this as trailblazer for countless titles and I am not just referring to the large array of <i>GTA</i>-clones (though many arise above this stereotype, see the <i>Mafia</i> series for example). Once we've reached greener pastures we ought not forget the bridge that brought us there.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A look at the cluttered interface on the iOS port of <i>Grand Theft Auto III</i> (2001/11)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I recently purchased <i>GTA III</i> for the iPad during a Halloween sale and had a hard time putting it down. For a game that worked so well on the controller I was pretty shocked by how well implemented and easy-to-use the touch screen controllers actually were. Even driving is very doable! </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rockstar released </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA III </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">for iOS last year in a special 10 Year </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Anniversary</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> edition. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">They've announced a </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto: Vice City </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">port to iOS as well, which should release sometime next month.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tommy Vercetti, reporting for duty Vice City. <i>Grand Theft Auto: Vice City </i>(2002)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Speaking of which, here is a far-and-wide favorite of the series, <i>Vice City</i>, first seen in 2002. You play as Tommy Vercetti who is not only fresh out of jail but fresh out of Liberty City. Vice City is a Miami-inspired island setting and pink and blue color scheme. This entry took leaps and bounds in the story department with a colorful character and cinematic cut-scenes. I cannot talk about <i>Vice City </i>without talking about its music (even though I already did so in <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/crew-post-power-of-music.html">last week's Crew Post</a>). This is the single greatest mix-tape soundtrack of all-time with 100+ hits from the '80s, from Michael Jackson to Nena's "99 Luftballoons" and including Rockstar's own Lovefist, the seven iconic radio stations are an instant classic in whatever you're driving in the game to whatever you're driving in real life.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Runnin' and gunnin' through South Central. <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andrea</i> (2004)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Two years later (2004) <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</i> changed the game again. You're Carl Johnson (CJ), a young and insignificant gangbanger who has returned </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">(once again from Liberty City)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to his ghetto hood in Los Santos (Los Angeles) after the tragic death of his mother. Calling it </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Boyz n the Hood: The Game </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">is not far off. On the surface it appears full of "life on the streets" complete with gangsta rap and all the disrespect that seems to come from it, but it turns out to be a game all about respect. Most of the early missions are about sustaining a reputation amidst your own before improving your monetary situation is even an option. As our first African American protagonist in the series we experience his plight especially how "the Man" (in the embodied form of crooked cops) keep pushing him down. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It seems to me that <i>San Andreas </i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">is one of the more divided games in the series. Some felt there was too much going on that distracted from what these games were initially about. However,</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> if I had to choose a favorite of the <i>GTA</i> games this may be the one. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is so much to do in the game that is spread out over three full cities and all the countryside in-between. All the car-stealing, mob-hunting and racing you've come to expect from the series is in tact if you want it, but I see the dozens of other activities (from basketball to base jumping) as more toys in the sandbox that are there if you want them.</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>San Andreas</i></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">even brought some </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Sims</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">-like light-RPG elements to the table where you had to keep an eye on your body fat for example.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Liberty City skyline in the richest detail yet.<i> Grand Theft Auto IV </i>(2008)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Four years later and with a new console generation well underway and we were treated with the highly-longed-for release of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto IV</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, which brought us back to (surprise, surprise) Liberty City, this time looking more like Manhattan and company than ever before. Speaking of looks, we were finally able to get a game that approached realism in its graphical design. </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA IV</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is a solid and polished game with the series' richest storytelling and protagonist. You are Niko Bellic, an immigrant from Eastern Europe who has shipped himself to American to find his cousin and join in the American dream. When he arrives he finds a city that is cold and unwelcoming. His cousin's emails were pleasant exaggerations and Niko, an experienced war veteran, finds himself mixed up with wrong crowd and wondering how now to improve his situation. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">With impressive physics and tight controls (including the long-needed cover mechanic) this game continued the tradition in improving upon what had come before it. Many extracirricular activities from <i>San Andreas </i>were shed, though more true-to-life elements were added: a usable cell phone, email, and a vastly improved relationship system. Those who were just looking for a good action-packed time found these to be annoyances as well. Regardless, I think anyone who has experienced any of the game's vast multiplayer modes is thankful for its addition.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bicycles return in a gloriously looking Los Santos. <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> (2013)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This was not a comprehensive history of all the the games in the series (</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">though I would love to write one someday when I am more qualified)</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, just lightly touching on the standouts and what stood out in each. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">From everything I have read and seen about <i>Grand Theft Auto V, </i>I truly expect it</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> to be both the best and my new personal favorite in the wildly popular franchise. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">In these months before the game, I will publish more posts about the series here on These Things We Call Video Games. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Besides previews, reviews and other features, the </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> games themselves will surely be referenced in explorations and analyses of open-world/sandbox games. This may very well be my favorite variety of game and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">put that "genre" on the map. Furthermore, there is much to discuss about morals in video games. Has </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> gotten a bad rap over the years? Yes, but in many ways it merits and calls for that status. More on these pertinent topics to come, though you may have already sensed whispers of them in this post.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-18247681414633684972012-11-15T00:15:00.000-08:002012-11-15T00:15:31.423-08:00Grand Theft Auto V (Preview II)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spring 2013</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS3, Xbox 360</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Rockstar North</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Rockstar Games</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Grand Theft Auto V <i>is the best way to end a console generation.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An entire year has passed since the first trailer for <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i>. Today we got the second. I have watched it several times including the <a href="http://www.ign.com/videos/2012/11/14/rewind-theater-gta-vs-new-trailer">shot-by-shot study session</a> with the analytic folks responsible for IGN's Rewind Theater and I am immensely and thoroughly impressed. The presentation is pristine, the writing on par with Rockstar products of late (<i>Red Dead Redemption</i> and <i>Max Payne 3 </i>for example), and most importantly, it looks like it is going to be a blast!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">December cover for GameInformer, first look at the three protagonists.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There has been so much news for </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA V</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> as of late that even attempting a preview at this point is overwhelming. With the </span><a href="http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2012/11/08/december-cover-revealed-grand-theft-auto-v.aspx" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GameInformer cover story</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> (art above), </span><a href="http://kotaku.com/5959043/the-biggest-change-to-grand-theft-auto-v-may-well-be-musical" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">word</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> that it would be the first in the series with a full orchestrated score (of course this is addition to the music on the radio), and explanations as to why they did not hold it over for next gen. Gamers, expect the industry's spotlight to remain focused on this game for the next several months until its colossal release.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jets are back baby! <i>Grand Theft Auto V </i>(2012)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">We are returning to Los Santos this time around (the city we start out in in <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas</i>) but will also have access to the surrounding countryside.<i> </i>In fact, </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rockstar announced that the world in </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Grand Theft Auto V</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> is bigger than those of </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA IV</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Red Dead </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, and </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">GTA: San Andreas </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">combined. Combined! Some are concerned that it is going to be too big for it's own good. Such a thought never enters my thinking, but it is a point worth bringing up. Dan Houser (co-founder of Rockstar) </span><a href="http://kotaku.com/5959724/dont-worry-about-gta-v-being-too-big-rockstar-says" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">revealed</a><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> plain and simple that the map was this big to better support the flying the player would inevitable be doing. And how about that scene in the new trailer where Trevor, it looks like, takes a jeep out of a plane only to eject himself and free-fall... This could be the most fun of its kind since </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Just Cause 2</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left to right: Franklin, Trevor and Michael: the three playable protagonists. <i>Grand Theft Auto V </i>(2012)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Possibly the highlight of this trailer, recent demo discussions and news is that you will play as three different characters throughout the campaign. Sometimes they will be together, sometimes each doing their own thing. Each are distinct in their situations and skills. You can get a glimpse of them above, but watch the trailer for more. Michael seems to be the main character, a middle-aged man who has come to Los Santos to stay out of trouble, but obviously that is not what happens. While watching the trailer I got a strong <i>Breaking Bad </i>vibe from the scenarios our characters got themselves into and the relationships between them. That's not a good <i>bad</i> influence to have. Off the top of my head I cannot think of another game that has done something quite like this character system, certainly not on this large a scale. This is something they first explored in <i>Grand Theft Auto IV</i> with <i>Episodes from Liberty City. </i>And not to give too much away but your campaign was not limited to the main character in either <i>Red Dead Redemption</i> or <i>L.A. Noire</i>, the latter being published by Rockstar. I am eager to see the character-switching in action.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Don't worry, helicopters return to. Also, take in the view of "Vinewood" Hills. <i>Grand Theft Auto V </i>(2012)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Finally, we are all terribly curious as to what the game's multiplayer is going to entail. Both <i>GTA IV </i>and <i>Red Dead Redemption</i> brought something new to open-world multiplayer, these are experiences I still throw in to my system today. No doubt Rockstar is going to deliver the high quality gameplay series preview they've become known for to both inform and further intice us, though it's not like they need to... This is hands down the game I am most anticipating from this point forward folks. Likewise you can anticipate to hear more about <i>Grand Theft Auto V</i> before and after its Spring 2013 release! Next year will likely be the finale for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, games like this are pushing the systems for all they can muster. I cannot think of a better way to close the curtains.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Oh, and just for the fun of it, here's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY6Jrg_wTXk&list=PL8526454647FECE11&index=1&feature=plcp"><i>the </i>Adam Sessler discussing the trailer</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-73175405088333701352012-11-14T19:12:00.000-08:002012-11-14T19:12:05.221-08:00There's A New Game Music Bundle<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption">The Game Music Bundles are packages of joy.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Hot off the heels of our explosive <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/crew-post-power-of-music.html">"Crew Post: The Power of Music"</a> I received a most welcome piece of mail in my inbox yesterday morning, a notice that the Game Music Bundle 4 is up and running! Not unlike the Humble (Indie) Bundles that <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/theres-new-humble-bundle.html">I praised to high heaven last week</a>, this is a package deal where you choose the price (starting as low as $1.00) for five original soundtracks. You may want to note that if you go up to $10 you will unlock the second tier with five additional scores!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">For the first time a film's soundtrack is included in the Humble Music Bundle: <i>Indie Game: The Movie</i> (2012)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Included in the bundle are some of the top indie games of 2012: <i>Spelunky</i> (currently my favorite XBLA title to release this year), <i>Dear Esther</i>, and <i>Retro City Rampage</i> (one I am patiently waiting for its XBLA release, it is currently available on PSN and Windows). This bundle also comes with soundtrack for <i>Indie Game: The Movie</i>! This is one of the best documentaries of the year and surely one of the best films <i>about</i> video games I have ever seen. Jim Guthrie, the virtuoso behind the music for <i>Sword & Sworcery</i>, composed the climate-controlling score for <i>Indie Game</i>. Seek this film out folks (currently available on Netflix Instant by the way), but also seek out the music of Jim Guthrie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">If you collect game soundtracks this <i>small</i> purchase is a no-brainer. If you haven't been paying attention to the OSTs of what you play then there is no better time to start. Head over to the Game Music Bundle site and check out the goodness that be. This current bundle looks to end on/around Monday, November 19th, so make sure you tell the gamers in your life!<br /><br /><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span>J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-82554156367621464962012-11-12T21:45:00.000-08:002012-11-13T11:17:59.695-08:00Crew Post: The Power of Music<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Music has been in video games since, well, at least <i>Donkey Kong</i>. That is to say, a long time. It is as much a part of the industry as graphics. But how important is it? How does it affect the gameplay experience? What are some of your favorite (and least favorite) soundtracks or songs? The crew weighs in with their opinions:</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">Josh: </span></b></span><br />
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Beautiful music is becoming a key factor in many games and for good reason. They add to the gameplay experience. Whether it is a powerful rock song as I blow apart buildings or a soothing lullaby as I put farm animals away for the night, music helps me be more immersed in the game and intensifies my emotions. Some songs are fantastic by themselves and I love buying them just to listen to them whenever.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Some of my favorite games are well known for their music. The <i>Halo</i> series has beautiful music done by an excellent composer. The <i>Halo</i> <i>2</i> soundtrack was the first soundtrack I ever bought. <i>Prince of Persia</i> used music to influence the feel of the game. For instance, <i>The Sands of Time</i> has amazing Persian influenced music that adds to the mysticism while <i>Warrior Within</i> has heavy metal to emphasize the brutal attitude of the Prince. And anytime I hear the <i>Super Mario Bros.</i> theme, I smile with memories.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Persian influenced rock always makes slicing up sand creatures more satisfying. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i>(2003) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Of course not all games have good music and it can detract from the game, but I will admit that I will keep playing a game that has great gameplay even if the music is terrible. However, very rarely will I consider a game a favorite if the music is bad and it definitely detracts from the experience. I respect any studios that go the extra mile and spend the extra money to include wonderful music in their games because without it the game will always feel like it is missing something important.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Trent:</span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Music is an integral component in all forms of media, it can heighten or break tension, it can add emotional resonance or establish time and mood. Great examples of the use of music that immediately come to mind include <i>Halo 2</i>, <i>Half-Life 2</i>, and <i>Skyrim</i>. The first two are linear games and the music comes in at the exact intended moment every time, it is used to great effect but with <i>Skyrim</i>, it is an open-world and certain events trigger the music. When you start battling a dragon, the music is right there with you to increase the intensity and adrenaline and it is immensely satisfying. The three examples above are all scores written specifically for the series by very talented individuals but often music groups are featured in video games and enhance the experience as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">One of the biggest influences in my musical taste occurred because of a video game. <i>Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines</i> featured gothic-rock artists such as Lacuna Coil, Type O Negative, and Darling Violetta among others. Because of this game I fell in love with this genre which I still enjoy today. <i>Fallout: New Vegas</i> is also a game I cherish because of its great score but also because of its in-game music featuring such talents as Nat King Cole, Dean Martin, Frank Sinatra and The Ink Spots. This music solidifies the 1950's & 60's feel it is going for.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The Ink Spots lull us into a false-sense of security and time with music. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Fallout 3</i></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i> </i>(2008) </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I think it's an easy thing to under-appreciate but it would be a grave error for game-designers to overlook the music aspect of a game, even for simple apps.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;">J.S.:</span></b></span><br />
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Obviously this is a <i>huge</i> topic to attempt to tackle in one sitting, but I want to play along! My abiding love of video game soundtracks stems from the late '90s when I started building my personal library of film scores. The feelings I felt while watching the movie could be taken with me wherever I went. Overtime I paid more attention to the soundtracks of what I was playing and found the reserves to be just as rich. Harnessing the power of music is an ineffable tool for accessing memories and the emotions that accompanied them. But of course hearing them in their element (i.e. while playing the game) is where the magic is complete.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">This plays at a crucial moment during the single-player experience. <i>Red Dead Redemption</i> (2010)</span></div>
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It is no coincidence that my favorite soundtrack of late comes from one of the best games of this generation, Rockstar Games' <i>Red Dead Redemption</i>. Like the game itself the original score is clearly influenced from nearly a hundred years of Western movies, most notably those scored by genius composer Ennio Morricone. It instantly elevated itself to legendary levels, praise be to composers Bill Elm and Woody Jackson. I could gush about any given track from the game, but listen to "Far Away" by Jose Gonzalez. Most of the game has a classic instrumental score, but when this lyrical Southwest lamentation plays when you first reach Mexico... the effect left me awe-struck. You can watch this moment of the story-driven game above.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">One of the many great songs you can here on the car radio. <i>Grand Theft Auto: Vice City </i>(2002)</span></div>
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Speaking of Rockstar, I would be absolutely amiss if I didn't mention the "mix-tape soundtracks" of their <i>Grand Theft Auto </i>series. Starting with <i>Grand Theft Auto III </i>every time you "commandeered" a car you had access to the radio and several different stations. The songs, (some familiar, some new) became dear friends. Whether it was "All My Exes Live in Texas" as heard on K-Rose in <i>Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas </i>or the iconic "I Ran (So Far Away)" on Wave 103 in <i>Grand Theft Auto: Vice City</i>, my tastes and horizons were widened as a result. Not to mention it created a needed diversion from the rest of the gameplay. The 7-disc <i>Vice City </i>soundtrack is something I still play in my car to this day. Corey Hart's "Sunglasses at Night" (above) plays great as your cruising around in Vice City or where you drive in the real world. This brilliant mechanic was duplicated to fine results in <i>Mafia II </i>and even this year's <i>Sleeping Dogs</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">An old-school styled soundtrack helps set the stage and breathe mystery into the game world. <i>Sword & Sworcery</i> (2011)</span></div>
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Video game themes are now just as iconic as those of films. <i>Halo, Uncharted </i>and even <i>Angry Birds</i> are recognizable in the first notes. Then you have something like <i>Sword & Sworcery </i>trailblazing a new route and creating a unique ambience that is iconic in its own way (above). The resurgence of 8 and 16-bit (chiptune) soundtracks in today's indie games is also quickly worth noting. Check out <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dclghhnW4oU">an example from </a><i><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dclghhnW4oU">VVVVVV</a>. </i>Christopher Tin's Grammy-winning score for <i>Civilization IV</i> is downright inspiring. Listen to it in its entirety <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR_rKSTM43I">here</a>, makes for excellent background music while you surf the web. There are many more soundtracks I want to spotlight, but I will have to find occasion to do so in future posts!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">Ritchie:</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Music in games... Where do I even start? I could write a book- no no no, I could dedicate my life to the impact music has on games. But seeing as I'm only given a few paragraphs I'll just brush the surface. Seriously though, I advise every crew member to write their own feature on game music, the topic deserves it.</span><br />
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Music is probably my most important component of games. Seriously! I value good music more than gameplay, more than art direction, more than level-design, more than dialogue, more than EVERYTHING. I am willing to play a game with broken controls, repetitive gameplay mechanics and a predictable plot, as long as it has damn good music. Does that mean I play games like that? No, because there are plenty of games with flawless controls and gameplay PLUS fantastic music. Most of the games I choose to play are games whose soundtracks I've been listening to over and over weeks in advance. Half of my music library is filled with game soundtracks... and that's over 100Gb of music. I think I've proven how much I love game tunes. </span><br />
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I'm not going to list what games I think have spectacular soundtracks because I don't feel like writing an encyclopedia; I'm not even going to list my favorite composers (but I will mention Koji Kondo is a god). Instead I'm just going state a bunch of random things about game music I feel is important.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Koji Kondo being a god. <i>Mario Galaxy</i> (2007)</span></div>
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Music is the one aspect of games you can appreciate outside of games themselves. You can't take a game's art or gameplay with you to the store. But music? Music you can enjoy anywhere. Game tunes are perfect for when you're studying, driving, and obviously, playing games. </span><br />
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Game music is almost its own genre. Sure, in recent years the big-budget games have been sporting more orchestrated soundtracks, similar to what you hear in movies. But at its core, game music is built around something more simple: melodies, buckets and buckets of melodies. Memorable game soundtracks have a memorable melody. Something catchy. Something you can hum and just can't seem to get out of your head. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Chrono Trigger</i> (1995)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Back in the dawn of games, technology didn't allow for high quality sounds, so composers had to resort to low bit forms or music. And the main method, really the only method, a composer could make a good tune for a song was by making it more melodic. Stringing basic sounds together to make tune that could both fit in a game's memory and stick inside a child's head all day. THAT is what game music was. But as technology advanced games were allotted more memory to dedicate to music; tunes didn't have to be melodic or catchy to be good anymore. Games could have tracks that were more ambient/moody. Or they could borrow popular music of the time. The type of music completely depends on the type of game. The <i>Silent Hill</i> games need those dark, ambient tracks; anything else just wouldn't be setting right mood. Likewise, games like <i>Guitar Hero</i> and <i>FIFA</i> really benefit from using songs from popular musicians. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Not the most catchy tune, but its not supposed to be. It's meant to set a mood. <i>Minecraft</i> (2011)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">So game music isn't limited to melody heavy soundtracks anymore. The technology isn't holding it back and the shear number of game types allow for any genre of music to be used, so long as it fits the game. But I still have a sweet spot for those melodic tunes that stick in your head. They really make games just that much more memorable.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><b>Casey:</b></span><br />
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I wish I could talk about every game that I loved because they all had a soundtrack that swept me off my feet and carried me to a love hotel, but we'd be here for hours. So I'll just talk about a few.</span><br />
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Music has always been a huge part of my "immersion factor". For me, a game without quality tunes might as well be garbage. I have been known to even play bad games just because they have good music. <i>NieR</i> for example, that was a confused game. <i>NieR</i> was trying to be a "bullet hell shooter" and an action-adventure RPG. More importantly though (to me), was the music it had; the music made it all come together, making me not care one bit about it's flaws. The music in <i>NieR</i> immersed me to the fullest.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">I still have a gameplay save just to boot up and listen to this now and again. <i>NieR</i> (2010)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Okay so maybe <i>NieR</i> isn't a "bad" game but it is confused and definitely one of the underrated games of the last few years.</span><br />
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Square Enix sure knows how to make a good soundtrack. Back in high school I played a lot of <i>Final Fantasy XI</i> (<i>FFXI</i> for short) which is an MMO that game out before <i>World of Warcraft</i>. <i>FFXI</i> had, hands on, the greatest MMO sountrack I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing first-hand. In fact, to this day I feel it was the music that kept me enthralled for years of my life. Until <i>FFXI</i>, there was very little music in MMOs to make you feel as heroic as a player in Vana'diel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">FFXI is filled with music like this. <i>Final Fantasy XI</i> (2003)</span></div>
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I'll end on a couple of my top moments that has to do with the music bringing it all together. They are both in <i>Metal Gear</i> games. As a huge fan of the series I have been playing these games since I was a tiny man. I feel as though Snake's battles were fought in good places in my life. When his struggles reached an end I felt an empathetic relief, you know what I'm saying? The first scene is from <i>Metal Gear Solid 3</i> near the end.</span><br />
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(Spoilers) Watch until 2:15 if you don't want to see the cutscene:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Another moment I keep a game save for. I love to play this fight over sometimes. <i>Metal Gear 3</i> (2004)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">(Spoilers) The other is from <i>Metal Gear Solid 4</i>:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-small;">Brothers face off at the end the same way it began. <i>Metal Gear Solid 4</i> (2008)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The beauty in that last video is how as the fight progresses it changes the music from <i>Metal Gear 1 </i>to<i> 2, 3 </i>and finally<i> 4</i>. This moment of closure brought together by music!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As you can see music plays a huge role in my gaming experience, and I don't see that ever changing. My name is Casey Holt and I am a video game music addict.</span></div>
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Josh Maternhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211182587159020321noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-60102530906346060492012-11-12T13:06:00.000-08:002012-11-12T13:06:39.489-08:00Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons (Preview)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Spring 2013</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS3, Xbox 360, PC</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Starbreeze Studios</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by 505 Games</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons <i>is a breath of fresh mountain air in its setting and concept.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Swedish developer Starbreeze Studios has been on my radar ever since their first game (under this studio's name) back on the original Xbox, <i>Enclave</i>, which is an overlooked classic of fantasy action comparable to <i>Dark Souls</i>. The company went on to put themselves on the map with their releases of <i>The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay </i>and <i>The Darkness</i>. I have been eagerly anticipating what their next project woud be, their trajectory had me expecting an A-list game of significant caliber, but instead I learned about <i>Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons</i>, slated to be a downloadable title next year.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Josef Fares, a Swedish filmmaker, has boarded this project as creative director. A fresh set of eyes to the medium seems to have done the game a great service. <i>Brothers</i> stands out from just about everything I have seen before despite being set in a Medieval-esque mountain village. You play as the title characters, but instead of switching between them like you might think you control both at the same time, but separately. The left thumb-stick and triggers guide the older brother while the right side is used to lead the younger. It may sound troublesome but watch the gameplay video above to see how smoothly it seems to operate. The story is primarily told through the uncluttered visuals as you interact with NPCs and solve puzzles in an effort to find a cure for your father's illness. Slated for release in Spring of next year, <i>Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons</i> is fresh face on the digital store front.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-33935948025527872742012-11-11T22:28:00.002-08:002012-11-11T22:28:20.689-08:00The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Review)<br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">November 11, 2011</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>PS3, Xbox 360, PC</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Bethesda Game Studios</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Bethesda Softworks</span></b><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A new open-world to explore, forever more. <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim </i>(2011)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Skyrim<i> is as engrossing an experience as the medium as ever seen.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today marks the 1-year anniversary of the most memorable launch date of <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim</i>. On 11/11/11 I was in line (like many fans across the country) for the midnight release of the latest installment in Bethesda Game Studios' successful franchise. <i>The Elder Scrolls</i> is the quintessential medieval-fantasy role-playing game for the Western world. Many players jumped aboard during 2006's <i>Oblivion</i>, less discovered <i>The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind </i>back in 2002, and so on to the series' launch in 1994. I still cite <i>Morrowind </i>as my favorite game of all-time for reasons both nostalgic and ground-breaking despite the game's infuriating mechanics (then and even more so now). With nearly two decades of related games before it I am confident in ascribing <i>Skyrim</i> has not only the greatest entry in the series but among the crowning achievements of our current generation of video games.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I write this review even though I have yet to complete all that there is to do. It's debatable if that is even possible as Bethesda programmed ways for the experience to literally be infinite. There are entire quest lines I have yet to touch and all this even after clocking in some 80 hours into the game over the past year. So please keep in mind as you read this review that I am far from being done with <i>Skyrim</i>; and I like to think it is far from being done with me. Of course I have completed the main quest, which happens to be the first time I have done so in the series. I believe this is primarily because <i>Skyrim</i> is the most accessible of all <i>The Elder Scrolls</i> games. The technical advances in gaming since previous installments have certainly helped make the story in an open-world game such as this more detailed and thus more personable.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A map of Tamriel. This time we are in the appropriately white province of Skyrim.</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Skyrim is one of the nine provinces of the empire of Tamriel. As the above map displays it is centered and Northward. It is a land mostly covered in a permanent winter, a place that is sometimes a wonderland and at other times a terribly bleak existence. It feels fairly compact, but the mountain ranges and windy terrain give you plenty to work with. Skyrim is roughly 14 square miles in size. You could probably run across the whole thing in an hour of real-time which would last a day or two in game world's time. Even so I am <i>still</i> stumbling upon caves, ruins, and even an occasional settlement that I have never seen before. When you pull up the game's map it is littered with the destination markers of every place you have been. It's staggering to take it all in.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Character creation has more details than you could ask for. <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim </i>(2011)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In such a large and lived-in world you play but a single role. Nevertheless you are one capable of mighty action (for good or for evil or maybe something in-between). Like every previous game in the series <i>Skyrim</i> is single-player only (though <i><a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-elder-scrolls-online-preview.html">The Elder Scrolls Online</a></i> is in the works). </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You begin the game as an unknown prisoner (a classic RPG trope if ever there was one) awaiting execution. Before your head is put on the chopping block you get the luxury of deciding what that head and its body looks like. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Like</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Oblivion</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> before it there is a robust character creation process that takes wherein you choose from nine varied races (with different abilities), select a gender, and then further customize your looks (these choices are entirely cosmetic). You could easily spend a half hour deciding things like the postion and length of your nose. Immediately the detailed character models of the game are showcased. They start to pale in comparison to something like </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Mass Effect</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, but wow, we've come a long way since </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Morrowind</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">!</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> You make the character you want to play as and after your inevitable though exciting escape from imprisonment you are given an open-world to explore at your own pace and digression.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">This time you play Dovahkiin (or Dragonborn), a being with the body of mortal and the soul of a dragon. As such you are capable of using "Dragon shouts," one of the new additions to player's arsenal. These let you do anything from summoning a terrible storm to take place over your battles (did I mention the game has a vibrant weather system?) to slowing down time itself. The force push shout "Fus-ro-dah" has gained Internet meme status as it is among the first you learn to use. It bears some of the funnest results as you send your enemies flying, even the giants go head over heels for it.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look up "epic" in the dictionary and you will find this screenshot. <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim </i>(2011)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">It is a good thing that a Dragonborn has appeared on the horizon because actual dragons, those wicked worms, have once again started appearing throughout the land of Skyrim, much to everyone's surprise. They terrorize the tundra (some with fire, some with ice) and occasionally choose to take on a town. You are Skyrim's greatest hope in taking them down (though I did watch a giant and his wooly mammoth do a pretty good job at it). The dragon battles are possibly the highlight of the game and can take place anywhere outdoors. They are random and seemingly infinite, but are more majestic manifestations of this epic experience than anything else. Watching dragons circle a mountain in the far off distance is a breath-taking sight. One flew right over me once, his shadow completely overtook me out of nowhere, but I sighed in relief as he flew on his merry way. Maybe he was late for something... </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">It is more than luck that the Dragonborn's appearance coincides with those of the dragons. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">A wise group of sages known as the Greybeards reside atop the highest peak in all of Tamriel. You seek them out to understand your potential as the Dragonborn and further the game's primary story. I say "primary" because there are many. Each person you come across in Skyrim has something to say, many of which have favors to ask. Children will want to play tag with you, a fugitive will ask you to keep quiet about their whereabouts, and every city's Jarl (a mayor of sorts) seems to have a bandit problem. There is so much to do in Skyrim that your menu will soon and fast fill up with quests.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can examine every item in you inventory, even the salmon meat. <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim </i>(2011)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The user interface is general is simple as can be for an RPG as massive as </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Skyrim</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">. One thing that is easy to overlook is the clear and clutter-free HUD (head-up display). Besides the ever-present compass at the top of the screen there are no other items onscreen outside of combat. When you are physically engaged the health, magic, and fatigue meters fade onscreen to let you keep track, but they just as subtly melt away so that the entire screen is dedicated to the impressive visuals, from the scenic views outside and to details of every shelf inside. Every building you see can be entered, expect a load time when you do though. Furthermore you can interact with most items in the game. Read books, cook food, repair armor, </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">make </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">armor, chop wood, arrange all your belongings (whether they be ill-gotten or rightfully earned). The menus (especially when you open up a filled chest) could desperately use some customizable organization, but they stay true to simple menu scheme. You can manage your inventory, view your stats, check the status of your missions, and study the map with simple flows through the menu.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Part of the reasons I have left some aspects of the game untouched is due the character I am playing as. I am a Wood Elf named Zar Vular and I am trying to remain a "good guy." I have dabbled in the Thieve's Guild but have avoided the Dark Bortherhood and Vampirism. I sided with the Empire in the fierce civil war that is ever-felt in this cold provence. These are all choices that you make as a player. It's not that I am not opposed to playing in some of those ways, but this character has a personality and a code of ethics. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In fact, I have eager plans to start a second character soon. She (yes, <i>she</i>) </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">She will be a naughty girl who excels in black magic, seeks out the Dark Brotherhood, and would slice up a farmer's wife just for looking at her sideways. Hei Mao will be a</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> dark-furred Kajhiit, a cat-like yet humanoid race of Tamriel. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Some gamers might not care to make a psychological-rounded character and will play as someone who bends as easily as reeds in the wind, but I like to think that games like <i>Skyrim </i>are progressing how we think and ultimately how we play. The topic of morality in video games (or lack thereof) is one I will address in future posts, but I had some truly tough choices to make in my play-through.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Skyrim</i> would not be a Bethesda game without its bugs, and I'm not talking about the butterflies they you can catch and use in potions. The game has its fair share of technical hiccups and even glaring glitches. I experience an unbeatable dragon during the main quest which took troubleshooting to get pass. When making something as ambitious as <i>Skyrim</i> I let many of these annoyances slide as I try to realize it is impossible to test every aspect of an open-world game that gives the player this much freedom. To me the adventures are worth the consequences. We all deplore them and wish we could have an experience without them. My hats off to the fine team at Bethesda for continually updating and patching the game to ensure smooth gaming in the future.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shepherd giants and their flocks of mammoths are a wonder to behold. <i>The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim </i>(2011)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">There is much more to tell you about my time in </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Skyrim</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. The people I have met, the creatures I have slain, and the flowers I have picked. There is a bard college I am thinking about joining. This one time I resurrected a bunny after I killed and it attempted to fight along my side. And I am still deciding which lucky lady is going to be Mrs. Zar Vular as you can even get married. This week I began </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dawnguard</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">, the first DLC available for the game. I eagerly await next month's </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-dragonborn.html">Dragonborn</a></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. I will not be finished with it until </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The Elder Scrolls VI</i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"> because that is the kind of a game we have here: An endless showpiece of atmosphere, a rich history of lore, dangerous dungeons and dragons, and... you. This is what video games can be all about.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-56244063280741052332012-11-11T09:56:00.001-08:002012-11-11T09:56:30.156-08:00Assassin's Creed 3 (Impressions)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">October 30, 2012</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Windows</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Ubisoft Montreal</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Ubisoft</span></b><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Fight for freedom and salvation against all foes in </b></span></i><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Assassin's Creed III.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I love the <i>Assassin's Creed</i> series. I've played from the very first game and have loved them all, yes even the repetitive first one. The integration of sci-fi genetic memory travel with ancient conspiracies and historic gameplay is an excellent idea and Ubisoft does it all very well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Assassin's Creed III</i> continues the story of the actual main character Desmond as the modern-day Assassins race to find a way to save the world from an impending apocalypse. In order to do so, they need to go into the memories one of Desmond's ancestors</span>, <span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Connor (aka <span style="font-weight: normal;">Ratohnhaké:ton), who lived during Colonial America.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The enthralling feel of spying on campers. <i>Assassin's Creed III </i>(2012)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The story is very well done for the parts I've seen. The beginning does a recap of the series for new players but manages to avoid major spoilers from previous games. Characters are interesting, conversations feel authentic, the setting is fleshed out, and it's easy to see a lot of research went into historical figures. The modern-day story line is much better developed too. Lots of tantalizing clues are discovered about the "First-Era" and the mission locations are much funner. I am very invested into the story and want to play to the end to see how it turns out. If any game makes me feel that way then I consider it to have a good story.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The gameplay is fluid and fun. Ubisoft outdid themselves in tree parkour. They made it both enjoyable and surprisingly plausible. Sometimes the controls can be a bit fiddly, but it works fine for the most part. Combat is satisfying and varies enough to keep it fresh. Tough enemies can't be attacked directly and the toughest enemies require clever combat in order to defeat. Stealth is done very well with Connor being able to easily blend into crowds, hide in bushes, and surreptitiously peak around corners. Stealth kills are incredibly gratifying to pull off. The gameplay alone makes this game worth playing.</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Never bring a gun to a tomahawk-knife fight.<i> Assassin's Creed III </i>(2012)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Missions are varied and interesting. Synchronization is back with most missions having optional objectives. Many different locations are available and the developers worked on making most missions different in some way. Naval missions, new to the series, are incredibly fun and a great new addition.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Multiplayer is back but unfortunately I have not tried it out as I'm too enamored with the main storyline. I loved the previous games' multiplayer and heard it is like those but improved so I will be sure to try it out. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The beginning is a bit slow, trying to ease the player in, and there are occasional bugs, but overall this game is fantastic and an excellent addition to the series. I highly recommend this to all players, veterans of the series and new fans alike.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Joshua Matern<span style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: Impact;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="color: black;"></span></span><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
Josh Maternhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16211182587159020321noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-31328332809644031862012-11-10T22:08:00.000-08:002012-11-13T14:07:20.912-08:00There's A New Humble Bundle<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Guys, guys, there's a new <a href="https://www.humblebundle.com/">Humble Bundle</a> out! Wait, you know about Humble Bundles, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I seriously wonder why any gamer would not partake in the greatness and glory of the Humble Bundles... Perhaps you are heartless and want nothing to do with helping any charity. Perhaps you believe in being charged more money for less games. Perhaps, dare I suggest it, you do not care for the video game industry. Or (and I would rather you fall into this last camp) perhaps you do not even know about the Humble Bundles, in which case you best keep on reading. And if you already know of and love them please feel free to continue anyway, nodding in agreement the whole way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In short dear readers, I am hear to tell you about one of the greatest things under the sun: Humble (Indie) Bundles!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I was fortunate enough to hear about these terrific treasure troves from the start with the first Humble Indie Bundle back in May of 2010. I purchased it at a price comfortable for me at the time and wherein I obtained the likes of <i>World of Goo</i>, <i>Lugaru HD</i> and more. I am still grateful to my cousin for pointing me in its direction. It has consistently been the best deal in gaming ever since.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Check out this advertisement for the current Humble Bundle for Android 4. Don't let the name disuade you. All these titles can be downloaded and played on Mac and PC. Watch the above trailer to see what titles are featured herein. As the catchy theme song tells you, "Pay what you want, DRM free, cross platform, and it helps charity." That's right, you can be a cheap bastard or a generous fellow, pay the price <i>you want</i> and even choose how it is distributed amongst the game developers, charities, and Humble Bundle itself.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>The Binding of Isaac </i>(2011) is one of many surprises I discovered for myself through Humble Bundles.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">At the end of the day, it is all about the games and if Humble Indie Bundle did not shine in this department I would not be raving about it the way I am. From modern masterpieces like <i>Braid</i> to obscure experiences like <i>Osmos</i>. Many of the featured titles are challenging yet rewarding. One bundle featured the <i>The Binding of Isaac </i>(a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roguelike">Roguelike</a> from the creators of <i>Super Meat Boy</i>) which I am still playing and loving every disturbing minute of.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">An organic real-time strategy game that mixes nature with science. Sign me up! <i>Eufloria</i> (2009) </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Indie games ought not be thought of as lesser games. In most cases they don't cost near as much as the blockbuster titles do nor do they require the latest and greatest hardware to run, they are limited in these regards and are thus forced to explore unique ways to keep things fun and engaging. From my experience indie games are among the more innovative video games out there. Furthermore, art has no limits and some of these games beg to be labeled as such. For example, just look at <i>Eufloria</i> featured in the current bundle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">I have one last question for you: <i>What are you waiting for?</i> There has never been a better time to join the party. Wait, earlier would have been better, but now is good too! The folks at Humble Indie Bundle live and die by their mantra, "Pay what you want for awesome games and help charity," and so should <i>every</i> gamer!</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Words by J.S. Lewis</span></b></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-85076808740621111732012-11-10T12:54:00.005-08:002012-11-10T12:54:44.189-08:00Deadpool (Preview)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">TBA 2013</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PS3, Xbox 360</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by High Mon Studios</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Activision</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>The Merc with a Mouth is wrecking havoc in a new medium.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">For those of you not familiar with Marvel's anti-hero Deadpool, I pity you. He has been my favorite childhood superhero since I was 12 and is the only comic book character I stay current on today. When the other children were playing Spider-Man and Captain America (ok, no one was playing Captain America, he is super-lame), I was playing the psychotic, ruthless, guns-for-hire Deadpool. The thing that makes Deadpool unique is his humor which is twisted and pop-culture obsessed. He is also certified insane as he can't die and because Loki informed him he is a comic-book character he often breaks the fourth wall to great comedic effect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The game and <a href="http://www.deadpoolgame.com/">the games website</a> looks to capitalize on his violent and disturbed yet comical nature. Check out the video below to get a glimpse as to what this game will entail. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Deadpool is bringing his unique brand of insanity, violence and humor to consoles in 2013</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm not happy about the lewd-humor in this game and we really have to wait to see extended in-game footage to make any judgement. I really enjoyed the <i>X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition (2009)</i> video game and it looks like this could be similar in style and gameplay. No matter the IP, you have to have strong gameplay </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">but, if this gets even semi-positive reviews, I may have to convert to consoles for a few weeks out of my love for Deadpool</span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm excited for more people to be introduced to Deadpool and hopefully strong sales and positive reviews will convince studio-heads to move forward with the Deadpool movie.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Trent</b></span></div>
Trenthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17523889095269117613noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-48169806786549912312012-11-09T06:54:00.000-08:002012-11-09T07:55:19.934-08:00The Elder Scrolls Online (Preview)<div><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">PC</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by Zenimax Online Studios</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Bethesda Softworks</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>Woohoo! Finally some </i>Elder Scrolls Online<i> footage!</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Zenimax Online released a video containing actual in-game footage today! I have to say this makes me very excited as I've been very skeptical up to this point. <i>Elder Scrolls</i> has always been a single player experience... and how are they going to make it "feel" like an <i>Elder Scrolls</i> entry while maintaining modern MMO standards? Well the video above begins to ask our many questions and I have to say the answers are looking good!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">The combat looks like it is going to be very similar to <i>TERA</i>'s (i.e. left-click to attack, right-click to block etc.), whereas questing and PvP will be more like <i>Guild Wars 2. </i>With an emphasis on exploration, hopefully the questing will be much more interesting than other MMO's. PvP is always a big deal, and in <i>Elder Scrolls</i> they make sure it is a well rounded experience stating that every player will be on equal grounds so that it's skill, not gear that gets you kills.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">That's really all I can find at this time! Expect more information as it comes!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Casey "Baby Gorilla" Holt</b></span></div>
</div>Nynedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07496676349751476293noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-44633223861457916082012-11-08T20:58:00.001-08:002012-11-08T20:58:55.926-08:00Angry Birds Star Wars (Preview)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">November 8, 2012</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"> iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Kindle Fire, Mac, PC & Windows 8</span></b><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Developed by Rovio Entertainment</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by Rovio Entertainment</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><i>As ridiculous as it looks </i>Angry Birds Star Wars<i> seems pretty solid.</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">In <a href="http://ttwcvg.blogspot.com/search/label/about">the very first post</a> of These Things We Call Video Games I referenced the phenomenon that is<i> </i>the <i>Angry Birds</i> series of video games. Merchandising aside it has amassed millions of dollars and over a billion downloads the world over. The game follows the strategy of many successful mobile games: it only takes a minute to learn and then serves dozens (sometimes hundreds) of levels for you to conquer equaling hours of on-the-go game play. I still have yet to be finished with the original game even though I have acquired sequels like <i>Angry Birds Rio </i>and <i>Angry Birds Space</i>, perhaps it was the latter that paved the way to a galaxy far, far away with the latest installment, <i>Angry Birds Star Wars.</i></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">These beloved characters have been bizarrely morphed into birds... <i>Angry Birds Star Wars </i>(2012)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Your new fleet of birds take on the appearance of any number of characters from the original, beloved <i>Star Wars</i> trilogy, including an enlarged Chewbacca-like fowl and even a light saber-wielding Luke of a bird. You play as the Rebels while those infamous green piggies take on various forms of the Empire, including Lord Vader himself. It's kooky as can be, but as the gameplay trailer above showcases, it looks to handle exceptionally well. At the end of the day that is all that really matters in a game of this type.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">As long as you're not purchasing the Kinect-enabled version for Xbox 360 (which I'm still shaking my head at) you can pick up <i>Angry Birds </i>for just a dollar or two and sometimes even for free! I imagine <i>Angry Birds Star Wars </i> will be the same formula. Accessibility (in both the gaming platform and its pick-up-and-play style) for these titles ensures that if it is something you're interested in, you can easily gain access to it. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">If you have a smart phone or hand-held device that's worth its chips, or even a computer, you should be able to find </span><i style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Angry Birds Star Wars </i><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">this week!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by J.S. Lewis</b></span></div>
J.S. Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08529323933959771172noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5488465052471262082.post-25154479543381756962012-11-05T12:08:00.000-08:002012-11-05T12:08:31.015-08:00The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Dragonborn (Preview)<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">December 4, 2012</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Xbox 360, PC & PS3 (TBA)</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b><br /></b><b>Developed by </b></span><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bethesda Game Studios</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Published by </span></b><b><span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Bethesda Softworks</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Skyrim's <i>third DLC announced!</i></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Today Bethesda confirmed their third DLC titled <i>Dragonborn</i>! There isn't an abundance of juicy info currently, but they released a pretty cool trailer this morning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here it is:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">The new DLC looks to be set in what can't be anywhere other than Solstheim, the very island the events of <i>Bloodmoon </i>(the second expansion for <i>The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind</i>)<i> </i>took place. The player will be up against probably the greatest foe, another Dovahkiin! The trailer also suggest there with be some kind of dragon riding---if we thought the dragon finisher kills were awkward then we are in for a treat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I am hoping that this DLC is actually set in those beloved lands of Morrowind. For me <i>Morrowind</i> was the greatest <i>Elder Scrolls</i> experience I've played, so naturally I have to be excited to return to Solstheim. By the looks of things, such as landscapes, architecture, and enemies, I have come to the same conclusion that it has to be.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Dragonborn is set to release December 4th on the Xbox 360 for 1600 Microsoft points ($20), as for PC it is TBA. For PS3 owners all I have to say is don't stop believing?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Words by Casey "Baby Gorilla" Holt</b></span></div>
Nynedhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07496676349751476293noreply@blogger.com1