A Green Mushroom

In the last month my Wii U started having an issue.  It stopped playing nice with the external hard drive that I've had hooked up to it from day 1. I wish I never had to buy an external drive, but the "big" storage version of the Wii U that I bought is only 32GB.  That's like nothing in today's modern gaming landscape. I'm purely digital now with my gaming, I just don't buy physical media anymore, so it was the obvious choice to pick up one of Nintendo's recommended external drives.  Unfortunately, external drives are the only place I've ever had problems with digital gaming... and this has turned into the same thing. Now, the Wii U will randomly decide not to mount the external drive.  I could buy a new one and re-download all of my game that aren't on the internal storage (most of them) or I could just deal with it since the Wii U seems to be at the end of it's lifespan. All signs point to the Nintendo NX releasing next year.....

This past weekend I found myself in possession of a Steam Link and Steam Controller.  I had pre-ordered them right when they were announced, so mine got shipped out with the very first batches. I have to say, I'm super impressed with the Steam Link.  It's a streaming device for those of us who already have a good gaming PC.  There's no need to drop hundreds or thousands of dollars for one of the Steam Machines that are being made.  If you're like me, you already have all the computing power you need in your desktop PC.  That's why I grabbed this little guy for $50 instead. I plugged it in and it just works.  It's fantastic.  As long as I have my gaming PC turned on all I have to do is boot this up and Steam will stream to my living room TV.  It boots into Steam Big Picture mode which is ideal for controlling it with a gamepad of some kind.  But, it has a bunch of USB ports so you can easily hook up a wireless keyboard/mouse or any oth...

I have a huge craving for a single player console game.  I want something that I can have fun with while blasting through mindlessly, but I can't find a good one I haven't played!  Ugh.  But that's what happens in the summer slump. Anyway, since I'm in the mood for a console game but have been doing a lot of PC gaming lately I started to think about why  I want to play a console title.  The main reason is the sitting back experience. My oh-so-comfy couch When I'm playing PC games I'm always sitting forward (or at least sitting straight in my chair) while I'm engaged with the game.  When I'm gaming on a console I'm usually slouched back in my comfy couch.  They make for two very different styles of play. One isn't necessarily better than the other, but some days I just want to slouch in my comfy couch and chill out.  I haven't been able to do that as much as I'd like to lately.  I guess I'm still stuck holding out until fall.

I'm back from vacation and ready to write.  In other big news I just landed my first full-time salaried job!  I had a good couple of weeks. I told myself once I got a full-time job one of my rewards would be a new gaming console, so now I have to make a decision.  Should I get a PS3 or a 3DS?  I really can't make up my mind. The 3DS has a few awesome 3D remakes of some of my favorite games.  Namely, Star Fox 64 and Ocarina of Time.  I'm sure down the line they'll release some new Mario platformers, which I'll eat up.  Nintendo has also announced a new Smash Bros game for the 3DS and I don't want to pass that up, although it may be years away. The PS3, on the other hand has a HUGE  backlog of games already.  It's been out about the same amount of time as the Xbox 360 and has fallen in price many times.  The built in Blu-Ray player would be a cool added bonus.  I've wanted to check out the Uncharted series, Little Big Planet, ...

This was my weekend accomplishment.  After fearing that I would have to pay upwards of a couple hundred bucks for a new Xbox 360 I decided to do some home repairs.  Things went fairly smoothly thanks to helpful advice and diagrams on the internet. The problem was a dirty laser head, which is what I was expecting.  All I had to do was lightly rub the laser head with a q-tip a few times.  Then I fired it up and the system started reading discs perfectly again.  The sad thing is this would cost at least $100 and 2-3 weeks of time if I sent it to Microsoft and they did the exact same thing. The case was annoying, but after taking apart the plastic layer on the outside the rest of the process was simple enough.  A gaming console is just a specific type of computer, so if you've ever built or upgraded your own hardware you would feel right at home with the innards of a modern console.  If you have problems and are out of warranty like I am, don't be a...

Xbox 360 Kinect launches tomorrow and I have to say I'm not completely impressed with the launch game lineup.  When I first saw the Kinect technology I couldn't help but imagine how amazing it's games could be.  With launch day just around the corner I'm already disheartened with some of the games presented to the public. It seems like the two types of games that will be dominating the system will be mini-game collections and work out games.  There are some other offerings like Kinectimals and Dance Central that look to make a unique impression with their gameplay, but most games look like they could be Wii games ported over to a new system. The thing I'm most worried about is the land of shovelware that the Wii has become.  I can't even look at most of the releases because they're so awful, unless they have Mario in the title .  What are the chances of the Kinect succumbing to the same fate?  I truly hope that doesn't happen. Itsa Me! The Cash Co...

  She just lost a game of StarCraft 2. Lately I've been playing StarCraft 2, League of Legends, Minecraft, and Fable 3.  I've noticed that the game I play is dependent on the feeling I get while playing the game.  Let me try to explain. I was playing a lot of League of Legends last week and I took a break to play some SC2.  When I jumped into the 1v1 ladder I felt an enormous amount of stress while playing.  Because of the ladder system I constantly know that I'm being judged and only I can do anything about it.  In a 1v1 I have no back up, no help, no one else to blame my flaws on.  On top of that, in SC2 I have to manage my base, my resources, build my army, control my army, and execute a strategy all at the same time.  It's extremely hard to do, which is why the game is interesting, but it's also stressful to juggle all those tasks simultaneously. Stressful but interesting to play. I switched back to League of Legends and instantly my str...

With Halloween on the horizon you know it's almost the holiday season.  In the world of gaming this means tons of new releases, holiday marketing pushes, and special events in our favorite games.  MMOs especially love to celebrate holidays with their own versions of real life holidays. There are a lot of games that I want to try out this release season.  We're finally in the opposite of the summer slump .  The holiday release season was kicked off by Halo Reach late last month and is followed by Fable III, The Force Unleashed II, Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and World of Warcraft Cataclysm .  Those are the main games I want to get my hands on in the next couple of months. Those are just the games on my personal list, there are many other titles hoping to get their fair share of holiday spending.  Playstation Move is out and the Xbox Kinect will be released on November 4th.  Those new motion control systems should both be huge with the younger cr...

I realized that I don't strictly "play" games, a lot of the time I'm just testing them.  That's why I can rent a game from gamefly, play it for 5 minutes, and be done with it for good.  I have enough experience with gaming that I can predict how much fun I'll have with the game - in total - after only a few minutes. I've been going through games in this way for quite a while but I only realized it a few days ago while I was catching up on watching the first season of Penny-Arcade TV .  They post a show every Friday which range from about 7 to 10 minutes.  Each episode is based around a topic or event.  If you like Penny-Arcade at all it's worth watching.  It's probably the best "reality" TV show that I've ever seen.  Anyway, their episode on videogames is what started making me think about how fast I can wade through new software, because the PA guys do the same thing. I try almost every game I can get my hands on, but only a fe...

The summer slump of game releases is here in force.  The only game I'm looking forward to this summer is StarCraft 2.  Nothing else coming out looks to be worthy of a purchase.   The palm tree is StarCraft 2 in the wasteland of summer releases So, what should I do with my free gaming time this summer?  Well, fallback games are always an option.  My 2 fallback games at the moment - Team Fortress 2 and Modern Warfare 2 - are still extremely fun.  I plan on wasting some summer hours on Kongregate playing through flash games that I haven't tried yet.  I love how much free content is on that site. I'm also contemplating starting up a MMO again.  I haven't been hooked on one since about this time last year.  The summer slump seems to encourage me to pick up a new - or old - MMO most summers.  Despite what I wrote the other day, I may still check out LotRO before it goes free to play.  I suppose going back to WoW is always another ...

I just realized how often a game drags me through a long and boring tutorial before getting into the action.  After renting so many Gamefly games lately and playing through at least their first hour I've determined that I hate introductions and tutorials in most games.  Developers, you need to get better at showing the player why we should love your game within the first few minutes. This is something that AAA developers can learn from flash and indie games .  You only have a few minutes to grab my attention.  After that I'm not going to play your game if I'm bored.  Don't waste time setting up an epic story.  Don't save interesting gameplay until later.  Don't limit me to an extremely linear tutorial.  Give me the game and let me test out the fun in it. In flash games I'm immediately thrown into the action.  I can figure out if I like a game within seconds.  With many console games I have to sit through the opening credits, openi...

This makes the game look way more exciting than it actually is. The Forgotten Sands is a lesson in being underwhelmed.  I wanted to love it, I really truly did.  I loved The Sands of Time, The Two Thrones, and the re-imagined "Prince of Persia" but I just couldn't make myself enjoy Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands. It's all been done before by other games in the Prince of Persia series.  The Forgotten Sands has the same old platforming without any new or interesting mechanics.  I got the same feeling I did when comparing Bayonetta to the Devil May Cry series.  It's the same gameplay mechanics with a new coat of paint. The combat feels extremely out of place.  It amounts to a generic hack and slash.  Most of the time the combat flow goes like this: hold x for 2 seconds, release, hold x for 2 seconds, release.  It got in the way of the platforming and probably should have been left out altogether. The platforming isn't anything new....

I already posted my co-op review for Splinter Cell Conviction, but I sat down the other day and played through the single player game as well.  Overall, I liked it and I would recommend it to stealth fans.  It is a good game and consistently fun, but I still prefer the co-op campaign. If someone were to ask me to recommend the best stealth game I had ever played I would tell them to check out Batman Arkham Asylum but Splinter Cell Conviction is a close second.  If they asked me to recommend the best stealth co-op game I would most definitely tell them to play Splinter Cell Conviction. But, today I'm talking about the single player campaign. The first thing I noticed - and loved - was the persistent experience across game modes.  All of my experience, weapons, gadgets, and completed challenges from the co-op campaign carried over into my single player campaign automatically.  It was seamless and awesome.  All games with co-op and single player campai...

I'm getting pumped for the Halo Reach beta next week.  Anyone who has Halo ODST gets access and I fall into that category.  The live action trailer released this week just helps top off the buzz surrounding Reach. I stumbled upon an internet gem last week involving Dwarf Fortress.  In Dwarf Fortress players start and maintain a fortress over the course of its lifetime.  It is an overwhelmingly complex game.  A group of players got together and each played for one year.  Then they would save the game and send the save file to the next player.  They wrote about the progress of their fortress as it came along. With that lead-in out of the way I want to point you to the year run by StarkRavingMad .  He is about 5 years into the play session and the fortress has had plenty of time to get messed up by multiple overseers.  His description is simply epic.  I don't want to ruin it, just read it . Once again I'm going to mention the StarC...

First off, Split/Second is not bad.  The problem is its proximity to the recent Blur demo in release date.  This invites comparison.  It does not go in Split/Second's favor. Split/Second is designed around the idea of a destructable race track.  Every spot on the track is rigged with explosives that can be triggered if you have enough power.  This is the only form of offense available to the player.  When you manage to save up a lot of power you can also trigger larger explosions. Power is gained by drafting behind cars, jumping through the air, and drifting around corners. I liked the Split/Second demo for the big explosions.  The game looked very pretty on screen.  I had some "oh shit!" moments when huge set pieces are triggered and destroyed mid-race.  At one point a plane tried to land on my car, which was fucking sweet when I managed to dodge it.  The game sets out to have a destructable environment and create action movie ...

I spent 7 solid hours with the Splinter Cell Conviction Co-op mode just now.  I wanted to write a post right away even though it is 3:45am and I should sleep instead.  I'm shooting from the hip with my thoughts, but here it goes. This game is fun!  The Splinter Cell Conviction Co-op campaign is worth your time if you are interested in playing a co-op stealth game.  The campaign is only 6-8 hours but it is entirely separate from the single player campaign, which adds value in my mind.  I played the entire campaign without taking a break and I was never once bored.  From me, that is huge praise.  I get bored of games quickly when I feel like they have nothing new to offer.  Splinter Cell Conviction delivers. Part of the reason I liked it so much may be that I could never really get into the other Splinter Cell games.  I struggled with the controls and generally got frustrated/bored.  I am coming to Splinter Cell as completely new expe...

Bioshock was a great game.  The mood and tone evoked was something magical the first time I experienced it.  I uncovered the city of Rapture slowly and discovered it's mysteries.  One of the most powerful scenes I have encountered in gaming was the meeting with Andrew Ryan in the original Bioshock.  Bioshock was new, innovative, and did all sorts of interesting things in engine without taking away player control. The problem with Bioshock 2 is probably that I have already played Bioshock.  I know Rapture and its secrets.  I have killed these enemies and seen these sights.  Bioshock provided a comprehensive story arc with a solid ending but going back again seems like a ploy to milk the game for more money.  It evokes the same tone and feelings as the original, but I have already felt them and they are much less interesting the second time around. Bioshock 2 is more of the same.  The same game engine.  The same enemies.  The sam...

Apparently it is rip on Final Fantasy XIII day.  Penny-Arcade has a new comic up that you should take a look at.

I will get away from embedding videos next post, I promise.  But, I was just catching up with Zero Punctuation and watched Yahtzee's review of FFXIII.  He feels my pain and is hilarious in doing so.  I played the whole game while he only managed to make it through the first 5 hours.  Enjoy his rant, I know I did.

Ugh.  Man.  Final Fantasy XIII had so much potential when I started playing it.  What went wrong?  I really don't know where to start.  Oh, yes I do. Don't buy this game if you aren't a Final Fantasy diehard.  You won't like it. Ok, that's a good start.  There is no way I would have finished this game if the Final Fantasy name wasn't attached.  I've beaten Final Fantasy 7 through 12 with a handful of others thrown in for good measure.  So, I finished 13, but won't be picking it up again ever.  I come to this conclusion after investing 44 hours of my time in the game. Besides little annoyances, the things that I hated the most about this game were the characters, situations, and battles.  They all had potential, but it wasn't realized. Let's start with the characters.  They are one dimensional.  Where are the character flaws?  Where are the little things that make them feel human?  Where is the character g...