The Marathon Update 1

Bonjour ladies and gents. I know I mentioned last week that I was going to rant about Piracy... at the same time, I feel like I already said a lot of what I felt in my rant about emulation, so the Piracy rant is put on hold for now unless I'm really feeling up to it later... or better yet, to add to a podcast, whenever we get around to actually doing that.

Instead, I'll just post an update on my marathons, IE Ubisoft and Alphabet marathons for that wonderful Backloggery Site. It's a shame that they aren't accepting new users, but considering how sometimes the site randomly crashes, it's not a huge surprise. Besides, the crashing isn't even close to being horribly often, so why risk making it worse?

Starting with the Ubithon, Drakengard 2 is holding my interest pretty well. While the first game had disturbing themes involving incest, cannibalism, insanity, and a touch of bestiality, this one instead features a whiny little brat who can't make up his mind and is totally oblivious to reality and intelligence. Gameplay wise everything is awesome, but still, the main character is a moron. If it weren't for that, I'd probably enjoy it a lot more.

Prince of Persia is on the shelf until I beat Drakengard... so probably in a day or two I'll tackle that one again. It started off awesomely, but I dunno... actually, I do know. I suck at it >_>.

And finally, Red Steel is something I probably should be playing right about now, since I've been in a shooter-ish mood, but... well, the controls could use a lot of work, and in a sword fight, precision is necessary.

Alphabethon has kinda got ignored slightly here, mostly because I want to beat the games I chose in alphabetical order (duh!), but unfortunately I'm stuck at the Temple of Flame in 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's an awesome Zelda style game, but I'm the kinda guy that hates getting stuck. I'm also the kinda guy that gets stuck WAY too often. Maybe gaming isn't for me...? Alone in the Dark isn't as bad as I originally thought... although still not great, and Bioshock was an instant classic. Sadly, I'm almost never in a shooter mood, but the story is good enough that I'm going to hit that pretty soon. Probably after Drakengard, or the PS3 Zelda.

Until next time, a pleasant Gammage to all.

World of Warcraft 4.0.1 - Azeroth Beckons

A cataclysm draws near. A world is about to change. Patch 4.0 marks the beginning of our transition towards World of Warcraft - Cataclysm. New races, new zones and the likes will be available on December 7. What was released this week is system changes.

Although the changes are numerous, I will focus on the aspect I was most excited about, the new talent system. World of Warcraft player know that once you hit level 10, you can allocate talent points in one of three trees. There were many filler talents and Blizzard felt the need to streamline the whole system which also allows them to renew the classes at the same time.

Talents were simplified in two ways: number and selection. There are now far fewer talents to choose from, but you also have fewer talent points. Basically, you now get one every two levels, in between new abilities. This makes the leveling experience far more enjoyable and also reduces the number of uninteresting talents.

I shall conclude with this note: the Baron mount is finally mine!

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There was a POST here, It's gone now...

I'd love to continue my rant on Piracy today, but unfortunately there are 631 unfinished games in my backlog calling to me, not to mention Highlander on Netflix, so my ranting is going to have to wait until next week Tuesday. See ya then.

On Roms and Emulation

Hello there, ladies and gents. This weekend, I decided to relive a bit of my past, so I found collections of every NES and SNES game in Rom form, as well as the emulators with which to run them. I already had a controller, and after configuring things properly, it's just like when I was a kid, playing 8-bit games that my brother owned.

Now, under normal circumstances, I am a pirate in name only: As in, I prefer pirates to ninja's. Pirating is something I am wholly against, and I'll be writing about that in my next post. Also, for roms and emulators, I have a tendency to feel the same way. However, old-school gaming, IE NES, SNES and the like, I feel falls under a sort of gray area when it comes to pirating.

To be quite honest, if a game comes out, and it's something that I'm going to play, I want to give the developers my money. If they make a quality game, they deserve my cash, and that's a fact, plain and simple. I'm also not going to hide behind the "I can't afford it" route that so many others hide behind. Gaming is not food, shelter, or clothing. Call me elitist if you want, but if you can't afford gaming, then you shouldn't BE gaming. Simple. Gaming is a form of luxury, and since it isn't necessary for.. you know, LIVING, then you shouldn't complain just because you can't afford it.

Now, why are NES and SNES roms MY exception?

1) The developers don't get any money off the games anymore. The exception to THIS is through things like the Virtual Console, Xbox Live Arcade, and the Playstation Network, but if it's a game I have on an emulator, and I liked it enough to keep it, then I have no problem plopping down the money to own the game. Again, if they took the time to make something for my enjoyment, then I will give the developers of those games my money.

2) You can't find the games anywhere anymore. Most stores don't sell them, and the ones that do don't carry games that are good. Roms are pretty much the only way to find those games anymore.

My usage of roms always follows those two rules up there. If the developers don't make money off them anymore (which anything from PS1 backwards holds up to this, since the developers stopped production of those games), and if stores stop selling them. That being said, once a game becomes available again through alternative means, IE VC or PSN, then I buy them. Always.

Yesterday was the release of the demo for Force Unleashed 2, I tried it out and it's pretty fun. Still glitchy though (I fell through the floor of one of the area's), but it should be pretty fun. It seems like they sped up The Apprentice a bit, and I'm sure they gave him new moves, although you only get one in the demo. Although I'm not buying it at launch, I'm looking forward to seeing the full game in action when it gets released in a couple of weeks.

See ya'll on Saturday, yo!

Netflix and Bandwidth

Ah Netflix. Allowed me to catch up with Season 4 of Heroes (which was surprisingly fun to watch). The girlfriend and I are currently watching the BBC Sitcom Couplings. Not sure if I will pay for the service, but I can understand it's appeal. However, as I believe I mentioned before, the selection, movie wise, is far from up to date.

One thing to be careful with: Your bandwidth. Especially if you watch an HD series.

I'm playing Final Fantasy XIII again and I just finished chapter X this morning. Can't wait to start Chapter XI as it is where the game begins according to a lot of people. To be honest, I've enjoyed the experience a fair bit of up this point. The cinematics are absolutely stunning. Shame on Squeenix for omitting a Theater Mode once you finish the game.

Have you taken a look at the Move Section in your local stores? I've seen them empty in a few places (well, the Bundles and the Move Controller). The Controller appears to be selling really well.

If you own the Move Controller, grab Tumble off of PSN. It is a lot of fun (well, I do like to play with blocks with my daughter, so that might explain my liking the game).

New PSN+ Freeby this week, I wonder what it will be...

There's Always Something to Watch

Folks, normally I do my post about something to do with gaming, either because all week I play one game or several, or because something happens in the industry that drives a sincere need in me to grab my soapbox and rant for a few minutes.

Today is not the day for that kind of post. Today, I am too busy to post. Too busy having television or the first time in approximately three years. Granted, I don't actually have TV, I have Netflix.

Reader beware: Gushing will ensue in three.... two.... one....

GOD I miss TV. I miss being able to flip channels for an hour while still not watching one, solitary thing. I miss wasting hours on end just channel flipping! And now, thanks to the PS3, I pretty much get that same joy.

Netflix has allowed me that simple pleasure once more. Rather than post, I think I'm going to let my brain rot with movies and TV shows, unlimited, all for 8 bucks a month.... after the 1 month free trial. Huzzah for trials that are FREE!!!!

And in PSTP news, I have set up an account with Gamespot, allowing our posts to be seen all across the universe!!!! Or at least on another site. Until next time folks, Excelzior!

If you read this blog...

Post in the comment section!

Also, Cataclysm is a few weeks away. Getting Rock Band 3 with the keyboard will be a pain, though I hope not. Still on chapter 9 in FF XII.

Back to reading the Bag War Saga, thanks to the Knights of the Dinner Table.

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Being Sick Sucks

Bonjourno, Internet. I have sadly been sick all weekend, which left gaming to an absolute null and void. However, lying down with nothing to do gave me the perfect opportunity to re-watch season 4 of House, an absolutely awesome show, especially if you like smart, sarcastic types.

I did play a little bit of Drakengard 2 as part of my Ubisoft Marathon. Made by Square-Enix, Drakengard 2, (a sequel to drak... you don't need me to spell it out for ya) takes place 18 years after the first one. It combines Dynasty Warriors style gameplay, whereby you control one character as hundreds of random, nameless enemies are out to kill you, and aerial combat, where you use a dragon to slaughter wings and cubes, and the occasional biplane.

In the first one, there were many themes that would be deemed as controversial, but it was that type of storyline that attracted me to it in the first place. It dared to tell a story not often told in any form, let alone a video game. Drakengard 2, while still fun, lacks a certain something in the storyline. For example, the main character is a whiny little brat. Still, the game itself is fun.

I also managed to play a little Animal Crossing City Folk. I should be about 2/3 of the way through, and of course that means my debt. There's no way I'm going to finish collecting everything in that game, not for a long while anyways.

Castlevania was released today, much to the dismay of all people who hate 3d adaptations of classic, 2d games. This is Chris Taylor, off to take my daily drugs!!! ... of the not staying sick variety.

A quick entry about Netflix

Do you live in Canada? If you do, try out Netflix.ca. Can't say no to a free month, can you? It is a neat little service. My girlfriend and I are currently catching up on the last season of Heroes. I am not sure if I'll suscribe though.

Regional agreements be damned. It would seem that the Rock Band 3/Keyboard bundle will not be available for the PS3 in North America. This sounds like some fishy money deal... Not sure what I'll end up doing about the game.

List of games before Xmas went from: LBP2 (next year), Castlevania (no classic tunes, no purchase for me), RB3 (humm)...

I guess there is still Force Unleashed 2... Otherwise, I guess this means more time for FFXIII and RDR.

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Red Steel

It doesn't take too long to figure out that I'm not the biggest supporter of the Wii, or the motion sensing control gimmick that's been the focal point of gaming in the last couple of years. I pretty much need buttons and a standard controller to be able to have fun with a game.

Such is the case with Red Steel, a launch title for the Wii. The game is broken down into two sections: First Person Shooting, which serves as the main, where you travel down corridors, collecting guns and ammo, and shooting at random Asians... or really, random Asian character models with French-Canadian voice actors portraying a terrible Asian accent.

The second part revolves around your ability to block, parry, and strike with a samurai blade. This is the part that gets lost in translation. It is the typical "Wii doesn't sense proper movements" complaint that most Wii games get. In this particular case, it's not so much that it doesn't get sensed at all, so much as there is a delay between your movement and what happens on the screen. It takes a while to get used to it, and even then, the lack of precision brings this game down.

Sadly, one could still say it's decent as a launch title. The aiming, while not perfect, isn't terrible, and the Wii is tailor made for shooters. If it weren't for the fact that it is in fact a launch title, I wouldn't even be able to give it that much credit though.

Sorry folks, this post would probably be longer, but I'm getting sick, and bed rest is the requisite at this point. Until next time, folks.

Zen Pinball

Do you like Pinball machine? Do you own a PS3? Then you owe it to yourself to get Zen Pinball. It is the most fun I've had with a game in a good while. The extra Street Fighter 2 Homage table is quite neat, with surprisingly clever ways of making the Pinball game feel like a Street Fighter game.

I wish I had more to say at this time, alas, my last few posts were rather lengthy and I haven't had the chance to really playanything else since then. I was planning on picking up Lord of Shadows, but seeing as it has little to do with Castlevania, I'll probably skip it. In the meantime, I've also gotten back into FFXIII. More on that as I progress further (I was at chapter 8 when I stopped playing and I'm close to wrapping up chapter 9).

If you live in Canada, Netflix is now available and you can get a free month. The content isn't that great, but there are some fun things.

Read you soon?!?

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MOVEing up in the world...

... Yeah, not a very clever play on words, but you get the idea. I have recently gotten the Playstation Move, and with it a copy of Resident Evil 5: Gold edition.

I like the Move. It picks up movements decently well, and rather than it just being a flick of the wrist like it is with the Wii motion controls: You control every nuance of whatever it is you're controlling on the screen. I've played some of the Sports Champions games. I'll put a more full fledged post about it next week. I will say this though: It's more than just a glorified demo disc, which if you've ever played Wii Sports, well... that's what that game felt like.

Now, normally when I play through a series of games, I need to play them in order, with Silent Hill being a notable exception (I actually played the first one third, since I couldn't find it anywhere). All of the Crash Bandicoots, the Spyro's, any gaming series I have I need to play them from when they began, that way I can see how the story goes from one game to the next, I can see all the little references and improvements made. With Resident Evil, I figured I would do the same thing... but then when the Gold Edition of 5 came out, with Move compatibility, I figured why not? Originally I was getting the GE for Jeff, and he was going to trade me his copy of the original version, but since he ended up getting it for himself, I wasn't going to just give my copy away...

To be honest, I've always maintained that the Wii was tailor made for shooters: All you really need to do is aim the Wii-mote at the screen, fire, and voila: Instant killing gratification. Which makes me wonder why playing RE5G on PS3 feels better than any Wii shooter I've played. The controls just work very naturally for it.

I tried the game very briefly at Jeff's place using the Dualshock setup, and I gotta admit, I much prefer just pointing at the screen. There's just something about it that makes it feel more fluid. Again, RE5 on the PS3 is what I wish Wii shooters would feel like.

On a final note, even almost two years after the games release, RE5 is probably the best looking game I have ever seen, and I've seen way too many games than could ever be considered healhty. From Press Start Two Play, I'm Chris Taylor, wishing all a pleasant Gammage.

Pointer controlled Resident Evil

Like a fair number of people, I thoroughly enjoyed Resident Evil 5. It is one of those games that really takes advantage of the New Game + concept. In fact, I am fairly certain that the game is nigh impossible on a Professional playthrough with just the basic equipment.

When I first played it, however, I strongly believed that it would benefit immensely from pointer controls, à la RE4:Wii. My first impression was disappointment... Fairly strong disappointment at that. Although I did not play the game much (waiting on a friend to start playing again), I tried to understand where my disappointment originated. The answer is not overly complex, but it involves more than the controls.

The first thing to keep in mind is that I lost my save file (old PS3 died). Not only do I not have access to some of the DLC costumes from the get go, but rebuilding my arsenal is not something I am looking forward to.

The other thing of note is, it does control very similarly to RE4:Wii, with a few notable differences. The cursor does not stay on the screen. I do not know if this is a design decision or a technological "limitation", but the end result is that aiming is different and more difficult. Design wise, the Wii way of aiming makes the game a lot easier. The Move controls work fine, but aiming takes more time to get used to simply because you have to reset your aim everytime.

Last but not list in this brief analysis is the fact that in RE5, unlike RE4, you HAVE a lot of control on the camera, and that is something that is completely lost in the Move version, you can only control it when aiming. In RE4, you could only tilt the camera a bit, and even that was mapped onto the Wii mote. At the end of the day, I think that this is what causes RE5 afficionado to cringe a bit when they start playing RE5 with the Move. However, put the Move down, try the Dualshock again...and chances are you'll realise that your memories and the actual control scheme are not the same. Move definitely allows for a superior experience.

That being said, I am looking forward to playing through the game again and I can't wait to have some decent weaponry. I did play some RE4 to see how the games differed... And well, that's why I wrote this entry. Plus RE5 is still one of the prettiest games out there, one year later.

If you want to play some RE5 with me, just send me a message and if I can, I will be more than happy to join you.

Until next time, remember to aim for their head.

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The Marathon...s

Ladies and gents of the world, I have six hundred and twenty-six games that I haven't beaten. That's a lot. Too much. Problem is, I almost never have time to play games, and when I do... well, I usually change my mind on what I want to play. I'll go through times where I want to play certain games, and then half an hour later I'll play something completely different. I needed something to inspire me to play my games, and usually, a list of some sort helps.

Enter Backloggery. When I first joined the site, it inspired me to play things I've had in my collection for years and never beat. Adversely, it also inspired me to buy even more cheapo games to add to said collection.

Browsing other peoples collections, I noticed someone doing a marathon of Ubisoft games. It's exactly what is sounds like: They are playing all of the games that they own that were made by Ubisoft. It inspired me to do the same, and at first, I thought that it worked.

Then I tracked down the Prince of Persia games that I didn't own yet. The addiction continues.

So I'm three games into my Ubithon, and I'm still buying more games than I'm beating. An idea hits me: Why not go in alphabetical order? But I didn't think I'd ever actually do it.

Then, while browsing other peoples profiles... again, I saw someone else with the exact same idea as me. He's got a list of games from # - Z, and he's actually beating them in alphabetical order. And that's pretty much what I'm doing... with a little leeway. I'm going three games at a time. That way, if I get stuck in 3D Dot Game Heroes, I can take a break and play Bioshock. There are also two replacements: Since I don't have a Q or a Y, I just replaced those letters with games that are close in lettering to what I didn't have.

Just picked up the Move AND RE 5 Gold. Resident Evil was supposed to be for Jeff (he was going to give me his copy of the original game, and I was going to trade the Gold for his regular), but he ended up picking it up for himself, so Hey, more bonus stuff for me XD. Haven't tried the move yet, but I'm planning on hooking it up tonight, and trying out those sports games. Also, it gives me an excuse to pick up Eye of Judgment at some point, and with my love affair of CCG's, I'm totally going to get it... eventually.

I've also been playing a lot of Magic. A LOT of Magic, so much that even my Room Mate has started playing... a little. She's into the XBLA version, and she even has a couple of pre-constructed decks, now we just need to get her into it full on.

Until next time, I'm Chris Taylor wishing all a pleasant Gammage.

In a memory far far away...

Those who know me are aware that my iPod contains practically only soundtracks. It is basically the only thing I listen to. To a large extent, my recent interest in The Beatles is because of the Rock Band game of the same name. Although my music library is mostly filled with film soundtracks, videogames are the reason I like what I like today. One game in particular, can be held responsible for most of my tastes. We must go back to 1992, in a dark basement, on an old TV that did not have a remote...

A long time ago
In a galaxy far, far away...

Believe it or not, Super Star Wars was my first exposure to the Star Wars universe. It bloomed a strong passion that endures to this day. And most importantly, this game introduced me to John Williams. Where the game X-Wing defined what I would ultimately prefer about Star Wars, the Super NES title is the reason why my music collection is what it is and why I love
Star Wars unconditionally.

I mentioned John Williams because his was the first music I really got into on my own. It wasn't because my parents owned the CD or because a friend recommended it; it was what I wanted to listen to. From then on, music would define what I liked and didn't like, be they films, videogames, etc.

An ordinary movie with an excellent theme may become a surprise hit. A good
TV show with a bland theme song may not hold my interest. A strong soundtrack in a game makes a huge different on my enjoyment of said game.

So it is with chagrin that I find today's game music less memorable than back in the day. Granted, part of the emotional impact that music had to have is now carried through with the music, we hear tunes less frequently due to how games are now made, but this same observation could be extended to films too. Maybe it is because directors do not want a theme so strong that it detracts from the visual experience, or maybe moody and atmospheric tracks sell... No matter the answer, I am always looking for those few notes that make me smile, no matter what.

Here are some of my favourite game themes.

Uncharted: When I first booted the game, and watched that coin turn, I was amazed at what was playing. It conveyed so many things: Grandeur, adventure... Was this going to be the Indiana Jones game we never got? Nathan's Theme is a very classic kind of theme that embodies, in my humble opinion, the series very weel.

Mega Man 2: A Classic. Every single track in that game "sings" awesome. I could mention the classic Mecha Dragon stage... Oh wait, I just did. Flash Man and Wood Man are also some of my favourites.

Shatter: Not themes per say as they are not associated to anything specific, but that soundtrack is worth every penny. It helps that the game is fantastic too.

The Metroid Prime Trilogy: Look at some of my older blogs and at pressstarttwoplay.blogspot.com. On the other hand, Metroid: Other M was tremendously disappointing music wise.

Final Fantasy VI/III: The Returner's Theme. Locke's, Terra's, Cyan's, Setzer's (just thinking about the moment in the dark world where we ask why are we going to his wife's tomb... To get another airship of course... Gives me goosebumps :) ) Need I say more?

What are some of your favourite themes/tracks and why?

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I Am Error

Sorry folks, no time for posting, work has been.... less than fun, and me being on a computer hasn't been entirely feasible. I'll put up a proper post on the weekend, if I'm not working more >_>.

That being said, with what little time I've had to game, I've been playing 3D Dot Game Heroes. It's really fun, especially if you're into old-school, 8-bit Zelda style gameplay. A little annoying though, since I never really grew up with those games, I never learned how to be patient with the difficulty curve of those kinda games.

Saturday, an actual post will be here... hopefully.

PlayStation Move

PlayStation Move came out last Friday. I figured, why not get it... after all, I am dying to get the RE4 Wii experience with Resident Evil 5 (which Chris and I should start playing pretty soon).

I got the Sports Champions Bundle with an extra Move Controller and a navigation controller (there was a promo at Toys'R'Us). I must admit that I am intrigued in Motion tech in general. When it was first announced for the Wii, I thought it would be revolutionary. The Wii was, but not necessarily because of motion.

Although there has been a few games that use it well, developpers either don't bother to spend the time to put out refined game on the system or the tech simply isn't there. Even the Motion + has yet to see an actual game make good use of it (hopefully Skyward Sword will rectify that).

Enter the PlayStation Move. A derivative accesory at best, it may hold the key to hardcore gaming and motion controls (I have yet to try Kinect, simply because it is not out yet, but I do not think it's potential lies in the same area). In many ways, it is Wii Motion + PlayStation Eye Toy. Once you are properly set up, it works like a charm. It feels good in your hand and it is surprisingly light. The ball itself is made of a soft foamy plastic, meaning you don't need to fear hitting your friends.

The bundle comes packaged with: 1 Move controller, 1 PlayStation Eye, 1 Sports Champions and 1 demo disc. There is also an EyePet bundle, where the included game is EyePet instead of Sports Champions. I already had the Eye, but the demo disc is a nice thing to have.

Here are my impressions on the games so far:

Sports Champions: To me, HUGE SURPRISE. I was expectingly something in line with Wii Sports Resort (which I thought was a huge disappointment). It is true that I did not have any expections towards Sports Champions, but boy is that game fun. Sure it looks generatic and could use some personality, but man, I just can't get enough of it. Volleyball I thought was surprisingly addictive. Table Tennis is superior enough to the Wii one that I'll most likely never touch the game again (although I do have a soft spot for Wakeboarding). I had never heard of Bocce before, but I think it is going to satiate my "curling need" until an actual Move Curling game comes out. I haven't played Frisbee Gold yet, but if the controls are like in the other games, should be great. Archery...I need to find the sweet spot because it is the only thing I'm having some problems controlling right now. And Gladiator Combat (or whatever the actual name is) is so much fun. Imagine a Soul Calibur type game with GOOD motion controls. It's that much fun... although you do need 2 move controllers.

Tumble: Fun block placement game. Imagine a videogame version of Jenga if you will (or other block games like Villa Paletti or Hamsterrolle...although these titles are definitely more niche). It takes a few minutes to get used to the controls, but once you do it is very solid. Maybe not as entertaining as Boom Blox, but solid enough for a $10 downloadable title.

The Shoot: I only tried the demo, but it is an old school arcadey shooter. The artstyle is okay (with cardboard characters to ensure that it is not too violent) and the gameplay has some fun twist. I am not sure if it is worth $40 however.

I tried some of the other demos, but they weren't my type of game. EyePet is surprisingly cute, but I'm not into pets or virtual pets so... (unless they are of the WoW Collectible variety).

Overall, the launch titles are nothing stellar, but the tech is very impressive and I think it's potential for more hardcore games is nothing to be scoffed at. However, with 2 very different techs, I'm very curious to see how titles for them will pan out. I cannot wait to try the multiplayer aspects of these titles, should be fun.

Resident Evil: AKA Sequel - itis

To be fair, the RE movies aren't completely terrible... if you forget that they are loosely (and I'm talking Red Light District "loose" here) related to a video game with the same name. Of the original three movies, only the first one comes close to capturing the feeling of the game, and even then.... just barely. If you view these flicks as a stand-alone, separate universe from that of the games, they are relatively enjoyable. Think of it a bit like comic books: They've been around forever, usually having slightly different takes on the character with each subsequent set, so... yeah.

As far as Afterlife... it's kinda like a big commercial for 3D movies. Lots of plot devices and special effects used as an excuse to bring 3D into the limelight. There's nothing wrong with it, although it did seem a little tacky. Also, they didn't bring back Wesker from the third movie, they brought in a new dude who... he's alright I guess, but it could have been a lot better.

Now to the gaming part of this post. There are two games I've been spending all my time with: 3D Dot Game Heroes, and the Magic the Gathering Xbox Live Arcade game.

3D Dot Heroes has its moments of sheer frustration, but since it's designed to be kind of like an 8-bit game, that actually works more to its favor than I originally thought. The game seems to have enough content to make any Zelda fan proud, and enough tongue-in-cheek humor so that you don't really take anything overly seriously. Granted, I'm sure I'm missing half of what I'm supposed to do, since I rarely talk to the villagers, so me constantly dying in the dungeons is 100% my fault. It's still a fun game though.

That being said, each boss has an achievement attached to it that I sincerely doubt I'll ever get; To get the achievement, you have to beat the boss without getting hit. Talk about a pain in the ass. Maybe if I ever get enough patience I'll get around to it, but right now, I'm going for a Beat on the Backlog and that's about it. For now, anyways.

I've written quite a bit about Magic already, (most of it being barely coherent ramblings posted while in the middle of a game, or too asleep to get thoughts out properly...), so I'll at least keep this short. The XBL game is fun. It's not overly deep, so a newbie can easily get into it and not feel overwhelmed. It's spelled out a lot better than... say, actually playing a game with someone who has played the game for a long time.

That being said, it's deep enough that even vets of Magic can get a kick out of it. You unlock several 60 Card decks as you go along, and as you win using those decks you unlock cards to add. The only deck editing you get to do is with those extra cards. You can add them to the deck, or remove them as you see fit. A serious lack of real deck building holds the game back for guys like me who have been playing for years, but again, for newbies it's an excellent intro to the game proper.

Besides, when you go to tournaments, most people are using the same deck builds as each other anyways.

Tuesday I'll be talking about my marathons of gaming goodness that I've been taking part of. Until then, pleasant Gammage to everybody!

Today's post is missing

As was the time to write it.

Oh, I enjoyed Resident Evil: Afterlife, even it sucked in many ways (acting, some of the effects, the plot). But I knew what I was getting into and I wanted to enjoy myself, and I did. Got anything to add Chris?


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Magic is Fun II

Xbox Live is an overpriced, almost useless (for me anyways) add-on to a console with a short life expectancy. That being said, every once in a while I find something to pass the time with. Now, that is Magic.

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalker is an Xbox Live Arcade game, and as someone who is addicted to collecting things, this is feeding my addiction very well. Multiple decks, the ability to play online against other people, and expansions that add more decks and cards.

Every victory with each deck adds a card to the deck, up to a maximum of 17. The problem is, you can only edit those 17 cards, so if you want to mess with the original 60 card deck, you can't. Bummer. Also, land gets tapped automatically, rather than you choosing what gets tapped while you cast things. Granted, I've only unlocked mono-color decks, so maybe it'll be different when I get some more cards, but still, it'll be interesting to see how things turn out as I keep playing.

Tonight, Jeff and I are going to torture ourselves by watching the Resident Evil movie. It makes me think: Has Milla Jovovich been in a movie in the last decade that did NOT involve her being some super powered uber being? Ultraviolet, The Fifth Element, Resident Evil, is there ever a time when she's just normal? These are the questions that kept me out of the good schools as a child.

Don't be surprised if this post gets edited when I figure out how bad that movie really is. Until then, pleasant Gammage to everyone.

Metroid: Other M - The end of my Metroid summer

I'm starting this post as the final credit to Other M scroll in front of me. A rather bland orchestral piece is playing, not memorable at all. No Samus Theme, really?

The game does something really cool after the credit. A fun and story related way to finish collecting the items. The epilogue actually made me appreciate the game more.

In many ways, it feels like a 3D version of Metroid Fusion. You are aboard a space station, sections are locked, sometimes unlocked. You must use navigation rooms to progress, etc.

My biggest disappointment has to be the music. Few classic themes are used and even when they are, their impact is not really strong. Also, no classic pickup chime? Honestly, the sound used sounds a regurgitating computer. There were no moments like realizing that you are listening to a slowed version of the Brinstar theme as you embark on a new adventure on Tallon IV. No eery and familiar tune to make the slow trek through water more enjoyable. No heroic theme to let you know that you are indeed THE BEST bounty hunter in the galaxy. No bombastic chanting as you explore a fiery region.

Story wise, I couldn't care less. I've already typed enough words on Metroid to show that even if the game was a total failure (which it is not), I would still enjoy it. It is, however, way too full of itself and heavy handed. I guess Samus would be prone to monologuing a lot... She does spend a lot of time alone. At least we now have some context to the Adam of Fusion.

Maybe this Metroid aims to get new fans, and the gameplay may succeed in doing that. I hope it sells well... I mean, the game IS fun. The I guess I was expecting something more epic.

In the end, this further proves how different American and Japanese sensibilities are towars storytelling. Prime is a lot more akin to Bioshock, with little exposition, most of the story comes from elements you scan (something you never have to do) whereas Other M feels like a classic Japanese with » stock characters (the geekyscientist, the faceless mooks, the evil colonel, ...).

The Prime series managed to instill so much life and lore in the universe. Sure, you had to read to get to that, but it was worth it. Who wouldn't to see another game where the Chozos aren't explored more?

After Other M and Fusion, the space left for Samus to explore seems a lot smaller. No more Metroids..., no more Space Pirates. Maybe it's time for her to rest. No matter what folks might say about her latest adventure, in my humble opinion, it is mission complete.

P.S.: This post was written over a few nights, hence the lack of cohesion of sorts.
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On a Positive note...

So I decided rather than posting something negative about Activision (which in reality I would have done, but I had to work today and couldn't write anything...), I will instead post things that I actually enjoy about gaming, that also involves the internet because... well, if there's one thing I hate almost as much as Activision it's the internet. And I'm thinking positive today, so here are the few things about said internet that I actually find enjoyable.

Gamefaqs: Simply put, I spend way too much time here. Not for the message boards, (You'll never see a more wretched hive of scum and villainy....) but for the other things: The Guides. Sadly, me and games aren't always calm and sociable, sometimes we're downright enemies. So, I use guides from this site to not be pissed off.

It is also a half-decent source of reviews. I like posting them up (under the name nobodys_savior) and reading them, either as a need to know about a game, or a need to laugh as fanboys go on and on about a game they love, or hate.

www.gamefaqs.com

OK Console: A podcast made by a dude I used to work with. Very simply, it's a radio show with video game music. It's pretty decent, although the dude talks waaaay too much.

www.okconsole.com

Shadow Haxor: A website where I get my video game tunes. I'm a guy that loves every aspect of games, and that usually involves the music in those games too. They have a lot, but you do need to register before you can Download anything. Still, awesome site.

www.shadowhaxor.net

Backloggery: My favorite site that I've listed. Essentially, this is the site I've used to track what games I haven't beaten yet... which is a lot. You can list whether a game is beat, completed entirely, nulled (if a game doesn't really have a beat criteria), or Mastered (like Jeff's Super Metroid under two hours run). It tracks it via Bar Graphs and fancy numbers, and you can tag things by system and such.

Problem is, right now the site is not accepting new users, as there is a massive site update coming soon, and it seems to be down every once in a while. That being said, there is just something about numbers that makes me want to pay attention.

www.backloggery.com
www.backloggery.com/assclown_king

That's pretty much it. That took me way too long to write, as I was distracted by friends playing Magic, and How I Met Your Mother on DVD. Until next time....

Edit: How bad is RE: Afterlife!

Update: 15% with only 23 reviews. I'm not surprised by the score, but I do find that there aren't that many reviews.

Edit: After 14 reviews, 13 of which said the movie was Rotten, RE:A now stands at a tremedous 8%. Awesome!

Edit: I will try and update this post from time to time as the weekend goes.

Rotten Tomatoes currently gives 0% to Resident Evil: Afterlife. Granted, it's only after 5 reviews, but it does bode well for this cinematic masterpiece!

No post today. No time. Need sleep.

In the meantime, are you going to see the new Resident Evil movie? Post in the comments!

More Random Questions

Stealing the idea from Jeff (and because I'm doing this post last-minute), here are some more food-for-thought thoughts with games in mind...

In Pokemon, Team Rocket (and their multiple re-iterations with different names) are the worlds biggest group of thieves and villains, yet a 10 year old boy defeats them in a pokemon battle and suddenly everything is over? I mean, if they were in fact gangsters, why didn't they just beat up the boy and steal his poke's?

Does Kirby ever get indigestion?

In Katamari Damacy you pretty much roll up the entire world at the end so that the King of the Cosmos can recreate the stars... that he destroyed. Yet, there are other Katamari games. If the King used the Earth to re-create the Stars, what did he use to recreate the Earth?

Will there ever be a FINAL Final Fantasy? (I don't care how many times that's been stated, there are a boat load of FF games).

In Persona, you use an Evoker to bring out your Persona (a monster based on the Tarot... I think), and the evoker is shaped like a gun... why? And who came up with shooting yourself in the head to make a monster pop out?

In Soul Calibur 2, Siegfried and Nightmare are still the same person, and his ending states that he is guarding the Sword. In Soul Calibur 3, they are separated, and you see Sieg stabbing Soul Edge with the Soul Calibur sword... Non-Canon?

And Finally...In Super Mario Bros., Mario goes through worlds and defeats Bowser 8 times in an effort to save Princess Toadstool, but only in the last castle does he actually rescue her. In the others, it's Toad, the lovable midget servant of the Castle. In the game, you could use warp pipes and get to the last World, essentially skipping all but the last castle...Does Toad ever get rescued afterwards? Is he set free when Bowser is destroyed for once and for all? OR (and most likely) is Mario just too lazy to go back and free them?


This week saw the release of NHL 11 (I already ranted about this for Madden, just copy and paste that here... ), Spiderman: Shattered Dimensions, and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep. I'm not a big Activision guy... maybe I'll actually post why next time? See ya then, Party Peoples...

Random Questions

In Metroid, it is assumed that the Chozos built a lot of the environments that you visit. However, who built those bomb slots? Did the Chozos turn into balls too? More worrisome is the Space Pirate architect. In Prime 3, it is quite easy to go around security by going around in Morph ball. These Morph ball paths are so numerous that one does wonder if the whole galaxy is inhabited by ball shaped people.

In Warcraft, with the exception of the Burning Legion whichis truly evil, most of the other baddies became evil because they got crazy. Illidan, Medivh, Arthas, Malygos, Neltharion. Seriously, why don't they work with the Dranei to build spaceships and go after the Burning Legion?

In Zelda, to whom did those Heart containers belong to? And do rupees grow in tall grass or are people hiding it there?

In Megaman, does he have limited memory or does Dr. Light reformat him each time he defeats Wily? Clearly a lack of foresight...

Got a weird question about games, post it here!


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Blayze Bloo

Guess what? Episode two is actually recorded people! That means that in a few more months, we'll have it ready for your consumption... the three of you who actually read this thing, that isn't me and Jeff.

Blazblue: Continuum Shift is awesome, as expected. Story is even more dialogue heavy than the first one, but more fleshed out and you get more background. There's even a 10 minute long "catch-up" style cutscene at the beginning, you know, in case you never played the first one. (And if you haven't, then you must not like fighting games, in which case... a part of me actually can't blame you).

Each character plays differently than one another, which is nice. No clones = instant win for me... well, win in a sense that I bought it, and am enjoying it. Also like the first one, you only unlock the True Ending story arc when you beat it with other characters. Unlike the first one, you only need to beat it with specific characters to unlock it. The first game you needed to actually do everyones story, which is alright I guess, except for Carl who I still can't figure out.

This post would have been longer, but I'm actually playing games for once, and I have a family BBQ coming up later today, so pleasent Gammage to all, and to all a good luck in defeating the evil menace that is Baak'laag..... I think that's how it's spelled. More on that later.

Why Oh Why?

Why oh why did I have to start playing again? Mounts. I love collecting stuff. Especially in World of Warcraft, where it doesn't take physical space. I'm currently sitting on 89 mounts, my rarest being the Rocket from the card game.

You know what? Screw today's post, I need to play WoW!

All kidding aside, I'm enjoying Metroid - Other M (well, the parts where I play). I recommend picking it up if you are a fan of the series. If you are on the fence, rent it, chances are you will be surprised.

Some reviews talked about the controls and most of the reviewers did not seem convinced. I personally have no quarrel with them. Even the part where you need to point at the screen (I did need to put the Wii "condom" back on though, otherwise I wouldn't hide the IR part enough).

A'right, back to work, I mean, WoW!

Podcast and Randomness

Huzzah for a Room Mate with a discount. As you have probably read in an earlier post, I am flat out addicted to cheap games. If it is ten bucks or less, it might as well already be in my collection. It is with that in mind that games have been added to said collection. I don't know when I'll actually get around to playing them, since I've started a bunch of games already, but rest assured, sooner or later, I shall have them beat.

Jeff and I are going to be recording yet another version of Episode Two. For those of you that missed out on the first one (shame), here is a link:

Download E1F.mp3 from FileFactory.com

Enjoy, and don't forget to share your thoughts in the comments section below!

Metroid Prime Conclusion

Metroid Prime 2 is, in this big return to the Metroid series, the most fascinating to me. As I previously blogged, it did not appeal to me that much at first, due in parts to my playing World of Warcraft as well as its labyrinthine light-dark structure. I will be honest, I believe I got stuck at the same place that I originally did. Torgus Bog, the one place where the Hint System could kick in faster.

Having just finished Prime 3, I realised that Metroid was the game of the summer for me. I definitely could have chosen worse. Although I will admit that Prime 3 starts too slow and not mysteriously enough, the second half of the game is an epic conclusion to a fascinating iteration of a fantastic franchise.

If you have not had the pleasure of playing any of the Prime titles, you owe it to yourself to play at least one of them, especially if you enjoy Metroid and exploration games. Ideally, get your hand on the Trilogy.

Playing these games again has made me realize that I have yet to play in as fascinating environments as those of Tallon IV, Aether, and those of Prime 3.

This has been a fun ride that will come to its conclusion soon with a new title to boot. Incidentally, I also have not player Super Metroid yet... Keeping the best for last I guess.

Next post will not be about Other M, that's going to be on the podcast.

Until next time... the galaxy is at peace.


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To Shank or... definitely to Shank

This weeks brainstorming session went pretty well. Jeff and myself are ready to get started on making episode 2... again... FOR THE LAST TIME!!!!.... sorry 'bout that.

Not only did we come up with some stuff for our future podcast, we also played a little game called Shank. In what I would describe as Double Dragon with blood, guts, and more blood and guts, fun was had by all. The cool thing about Shank is that not only is there a regular single player mode like most games, this one has Local Co-op, a dying breed of multiplayer games. Rather than just mashing together a second player on the screen for what would essentially be the Single Player campaign just with more enemies, the Co-op campaign acts as a prequel to the events of the main game.

The game itself revolves around two dudes that are... well, I'm not sure what they are, but they seem to be pissed off at anything that moves that isn't themselves, so it's your job to murder everything. There are tag-team style grapple throws and combo's that just look sick. Not only do you just massacre the little minion dudes of the bad guys, but the boss fights are brilliant as well. Instead of just hiding, or rushing up and mashing the attack button, you have to plan out when to attack, who does what, and get the timing down pretty damn fast.

For example, there was a boss near the end that throws grenades, attacks with a stun gun, and random slash-fodder pops up to crap in your cornflakes. There is a part where he glows yellow for about half a second, then charges you. In order to do any kind of significant damage, you have to dodge all of the aforementioned attacks (minus the minions which you should kill, because killing is fun), get in the way of his charge so you can perform a counter attack. THEN, after you counter attack, your partner has to rush up and perform a grapple attack which will actually damage the guy. It sounds like nothing in text, but when you're actually playing, it's fun as hell. I'm glad that there are co-op modes that actually feel like you are working together as a team, rather than just be thrown together haphazardly.

This week (actually yesterday) I also picked up Blazblue: Continuum Shift on PS3. The art style is slightly different, everyone got some tweaking, and there are a few new characters thrown in there as well. To top it all off, there will also be some DLC Characters available over the next few months. It was easy for me to pick up the game, it was only 45$ as opposed to the usual 70, and I enjoyed the first one. I don't appreciate having to pay that much for extra characters, but that's the beauty of DLC: I can choose to ignore it, and for the moment, that's what I'll do.

Until next time, I'm Chris Taylor wishing all a good Gammage.

Secluded in a Varia Suit

Metroid. A series about being lost and alone, trying to find your place in the world. As you explore this alien world, you grow in strengths, powers and abilities. The usual hero story in other words. In Metroid, however, a lot of emphasis is put on making you uneasy about the setting. Lost, confused, disoriented. Most of my previous posts have been about this series, mainly because that is all I have been playing (with a few StarCraft 2 games in-between). Having recently cleared Zero Mission, Fusion, Prime 1 and 2 (as well as being 30-40% into Prime 3), I thought I would present my thoughts on these perticular titles, especially regarding the Hint System featured in these titles.

I will start with Metroid Prime. One of the great Gamecube games, Prime was the 3Dfication of Super Metroid. Beautifully realised by Retro Studios, it truly captured the feeling of isolation and desolation found in the previous titles. It also introduced the Hint System that would follow in the other titles. The hint system basically showed you where you were supposed to go next, but not as soon as you picked up the latest upgrade. The hints are very well timed and pop up usually when you've been spending maybe too much time walking around, grabbing Missile Expansion. Furthermore, the hint usually was a room in the middle of the map, isolated, with no connections to where you were.

To make your way to this room, you had to explore the environment, scan almost everything to pierce some of the mystery that surrounds Tallon IV, Phazon and the Space Pirates. It is a minimalist system, that you can turn off. Still, the environments being quite massive (especially when you consider their verticality), it is nice to have a little beacon telling at least in which direction you should go. All in all, the introduction of a hint system in the Metroid series was nicely done. Subtle, not too intrusive, and well, the game is not holding your hand.

Moving onto our second game, Metroid Fusion came out at the same time as Prime. It also features a hint system, but this time it is in the form of mission objectives. You do not have much in terms of choices when you enter or exit a section, you MUST access that Navigation Station, which will tell you more about the story as well as where you need to go next. Here, it is an integral part of the game and although the exploratory aspects of the game are not as interesting as those in Prime (it is a 2D game after all), at least it makes sense within the context of the story.

My gripe about Fusion is the difficulty. The boss encounters are mostly about blasting a big baddy as fast as possible with missiles, before he kills you. I will admit that there is definitely something old school about those encounters, but it doesn't mean that they have aged well. My memory of Fusion was distant and I am glad to have re-explored it, unfortunately it will most likely be a long time before I do so again.

Zero Mission, a retelling of the first Metroid game, is an interesting hybrid of Metroid 1 and 3. Sadly, it incorporates Chozo guides that tell you your next destination and the game lacks most of the sentiment of isolation found in its roots. It is still worth the few hours it takes to finish and the end should surprise you.

Speaking of end, I think I've typed enough about Metroid for one day. Next post, my thoughts on Prime 2 & 3 (which hopefully I will have finished by then). Until next time, grab those Missile Tanks!

Holy Cow!!?! Chris has played games this week!

... But not many. Again, with a busy work schedule, and with the creativity juices flowing like Niagara Falls, not much game time has been had.

I did spend a few more hours in the 360 resetting of Prince of Persia. The storyline is really what's keeping me into the game, as is the platforming. There isn't a whole lot of combat there to really stick with, but as a whole, the game is fun, and isn't that the whole point of playing games to begin with?

I've also been playing more of Loco Roco 2, and I'm hoping to beat that in the next few days... If I ever play my PSP instead of using it as a glorified MP3 Player. There is just something about listening to music that keeps me actually using my PSP.

Jeff has been kind enough to show me what Eternal Darkness on Gamecube is like. I've had the game in my collection for a while now (lucky for me, when I worked at EB games I got it for like ten bucks) but never really worked up the drive to play it, mostly because me and my gamecube have a neglecting relationship. I never use the gamecube, and it accepts that. We've tried couples therapy and everything, but it's just not working.

Regardless, Jeff should be in the second half of the game by now... I think, and I'll put forth my thoughts on it when he has finished it. Until next time, may the tidings of the gaming gods never leave your controller hands empty.

A Short Sunday Post about my love for technology

So guess what, I had to fight with my PS3 last night. It would appear that the latest firmware update makes it difficult to play the first disc of the fourth season of How I Met Your Mother, on Blu-Ray. After looking online, the solution was the spam L1 + R1 + X. Luckily, that worked. Reminds me of a modern day "NES Blowjob"...

Speaking about TV, I recently watched the first episode of the relauched Futurama. I laughed, quite a bit. There's also a Nintendo reference at some point.

I'm still playing Scott Pilgrim VS The World - The Game. My character is now strong enough to kick some tails. Goody! It is a fun game and well worth its price (a mere $10, that's twice the price of Trash Panic and more than a hojillion times the fun).

Is there something you would like to read about? Conversations you would like to see? Things you liked? Do not hesitate to comment. Chris and I are looking at a few things to do close to Episode 2. Anywho, you can always e-mail me at jeff.pstplay@gmail.com with any criticism, comments and the likes. We want this to become a fun blog/environment and that's only possible with you guys.

Until next time.

Magic is Fun

You know what's really sad, ladies and gents? For a long time, I used to play Magic. A lot! Every lunch break at school me and a bunch of friends would spend time playing, and it was awesome.

Time passes, and suddenly there are no more games of magic. Sure, every once in a while I'll buy a box, people I work with say they'll play, and we do, one game or two. But after that? Nothing.

Tonight that changes. Me and two other friends got together and played. I made two decks, one for me, and one for one of the others. You know what's really sad? It was her deck that keeps winning. I don't like it.

I do like the game however. I don't care that I don't win (although getting mana screwed is always embarrassing), I just love the mechanics of the game. I could play for months, never win a single match, and still feel good.

That being said, I will be using her deck as my own from now on. I want to win.

Next post should be more video game related, just wanted to share the wonderfulness of actually getting together and playing stuff. Thanks to online gaming, getting together and actually seeing the people that you're playing with seems to be a lost art, one that will be sorely missed.

Rebooting for obsession

As can be expected, I am still playing Metroid. I have now finished once more the following titles: Metroid Zero Mission, Fusion and Prime 1&2.
I've undertaken the last tile of the Prime Trilogy (I'm actually trying to do th stupid Ridley Friend Voucher atm and OCD is in full gear, as I listen to a podcast)... Anywho, playing these games at almost the same time, it has made me realise that what I really loved about the Prime series was the exploration. You've got to hand it to Retro Studios, they definitely gave us interesting worlds to explore. I want to write something longer but I want to finish the series first. I know that Chris is not as into Metroid, but he loves Donkey Kong Country, so he has a lot to look forward to with the DKC Revival that is coming out later this year.

Really, there isn't much more to say yet. My whole schedule has yet to kick back into normal mode I guess. We were supposed to play some board games today, and I wanted to talk about that, but since it didn't happen... I took a look at the conclusion of Wrath of the Lich King as I figured I wouldn't see it anytime soon. Not sure I like what they did with a certain character but what can I do about it, right?

That will be enough rambling for now. Chris and I are working on Episode 2 so expect more on that in the very near future. (oh and, I just got the Friend Voucher, time to continue the Adventure)

Did you get Scott Pilgrim yet?

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Otakuthon 2010

This weekend was a wonderful get together of random people who love to dress up as video game and anime characters. My Room Mate went out as Fang from FF XIII, and did a pretty good job pulling it off. She even had the tattoo and red stick thing.

I went as Junpei Iori of Persona 3 fame. It was pretty easy, I already had the hat since I picked up the game on PSP, and the pants pretty much were the same color as my work pants. I just needed a blue shirt and dark blue-ish over coat / jacket thing. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself.

As far as the weekend, I spent a lot of time in the buyers room. They were selling all sorts of Anime periphernalia, like Manga, anime DVDs, games, little plushies. The best part about all of this was that people even had the opportunity to sell their own creations. I ending up buying some magnets from a dude who made different gaming related pictures out of little plastic circles, but would match pretty good with the actual design or sprite. I got an Xbox Red Ring, and a Kefka.

Speaking of Kefka, that is who I will be dressing up as next year. I wanted to this year, but never got around to actually getting the parts to the outfit. Also, I need to find out what make up won't mess up my skin.

The reason why I'm dressing up as Kefka is quite simple: We (meaning the Room Mate and myself) are getting a booth at the buyers area to start selling stuff. I'm going to be writting some short stories and in-character things. Kefka is a raving lunatic (or at least, appears to be) so the writting will more than likely reflect that. Van (El Room Mate specatuclaaaaaarrr) will be putting up some artwork and other stuff. We're still in the planning phase, but me doing my gaming has taken a back-seat to getting some creative stuff out. It should be good for everybody.

It will also give me a chance to get my name out there, as well as get this blog / cast out in front of a wide variety of people. Pimping out my stuff is among my top 5 things of all time (a list that includes Apple Juice and poking people in the ear).

Until next time, party people, this is Chris wishing a wonderful gammage to everbody out there. Everbody.

Scott Pilgrim Vs Books, Games and Movies

Have you ever looked someone up on IMDB.com? A few months ago, I was looking up Edgar Wright, director of Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and the great British TV series, Spaced, amongst other things. That's when I saw that his next project, back then, was Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. A litte research showed me that Scott Pilgrim was about videogames.

As said in one of my NY posts, I purchased the whole series, which I read rather rapidly. (By the way, if you are interested, Chapters is offering all six books for $60.) The series, written by Brian Lee O'Malley and published by Oni Press started in 2004. It is a fun love story about a tween fighting (literally) for the love of his life. Not only does the story take place in Canada (Toronto to be exact), but it is filed with videogame references. The basic structure of the story, as you probably know by now, actually mirrors that of a videogame (with final bosses to boot).

The books themselves are a fun read. The art, inspired by anime/manga, is fun to look it with great attention to details in the background. The storyline itself is nothing completely original, but the way it uses videogame references is refreshingly honest and earnest. There is a reason it is there. A must read for videogame and graphic novel/comic book fans.

Of course, the videogame "version" of the story is fun, brutal, simple, like many of the games referenced in the original material. After all, there is a plot point in the books that is basically the plot of River City Ransom, and Scott Pilgrim The Game is an updated version of RCR. The graphics are very close to the original material and the music is everything you could hope for from an 8-bit/16-bit nostalagia infused beat-em up. It is currently available on PSN for $10 and I strongly recommend it, especially if you were a fan of RCR. Either way, try the demo. It is coming out this week on XBLA. One small caveat, no online multiplayer, something it would have benefit from immensely. Oh and, it is really hard so prepare to die a lot.

As for the Edgar Wright directed film, well, the cast is perfect in my opinion. Chris Evans and Brendan Routh shine as the 2nd and 3rd evil-ex respectively. Alison Pill's Kim Pine is the epitome of cool (she also portrays a strong Queen Maud in the Pillars of the Earth TV series). Michael Cera is Michael Cera is Michael Cera... No seriously, although Scott Pilgrim does share some characteristic with the usual type that Cera plays, it is nice to see him play a character that kicks ass and is actually not that likeable. The pacing is what you can expect of 6 books crammed in a little less than 2 hours. The first half is stunning, the second half, less so. Still, the fight sequences are are very well directed and you are not lost in the action, but the second half loses a lot of the character development present in the books. It may not have been as good as I expected, but I am looking forward to seeing it again. One thing I really appreciated was the fact that we hear some sound coming from a DS, and they are not some random sounds. Young Neil is playing the GBA version of A Link to the Past (in one shot we see the GBA cartridge coming out of the DS Lite). That's how serious videogames are in the Scott Pilgrim universe, be it on page or on film.

In short, if you want to enjoy the universe of Scott Pilgrim, there is no way you can go wrong, but the source material is the most approachable, it will not kick your ass and it devotes enough time to all of its cool characters (it is also chock-full of sweet videogame references including one to the Ninja Gaiden opening). If you grew up with an NES, there will be something for you in it.

I wanted to talk, once again, about Metroid, but I will have to postpone that to next post, due to this post's length. I hope these few lines will have made you interested in the fascinating world created by O'Malley and that you will experience Scott Pilgrim in one way or another. (I'd recommend them in that order: Books, Movie, Game).

Jeff out

Out of Around Here

Ladies and Gentle-Folk, I, Chris Taylor, am not here right now. He'd like to be, for he likes to be around. However, this weekend is the Otakuthon, a get together for Anime Freaks and Video Game Nerds. Tuesday will feature a post about said 'thon, but for now, wish me luck in hoping that more people recognize me. (I'm Junpei from Persona 3. I was going to be Kefka, but we couldn't get the costume together. Oh, and no makeup.)

Peace Out Party People.

Oops

It looks like the Thursday post is late. Sorry about that, I've been busy (work prospects, Scott Pilgrim, the magnificent StarCraft 2).

Expect something longer on Sunday and a "review" of Scott Pilgrim vs the Movie.

Peace out and sorry about that!

New Release Day

Tuesday rolls around once more, and since I haven't stopped playing the games I mentioned before (Warriors Orochi and Locoroco 2), I shall instead turn my attention to the new releases of this week... of which there is only one really: Madden 2011.

Normally this is where the gaming community has an issue. "It's the same game every year, why doesn't EA do something new with the franchise? Why do people keep buying the same old crap every year?" My response to this is... well, why DO you buy the same game every year?

Don't get me wrong, I get why EA does it: It sells. Gaming, as much as we'd all like to pretend otherwise, happens to be a business, or at least the making OF said games is, and if you guys keep buying them, they'll keep making them. Also, when you get something right, why bother changing things?

Mario has ostensibly been the same game for the last two and a half decades (collect coins, run from one side to another to clear X number of levels in Y number of worlds to save the princess from Godzill... err, Bowser), same thing with Zelda (go to a dungeon to get an item, use that item for the rest of the dungeon, SPOILER ALERT: Link gets the Master Sword), Halo (shoot the aliens), any other shooter (kill the guys with different hats than you), Street Fighter, and ... well, anything financially successful.

Street Fighter really is the worst offender of that list. At least with the other games the storylines change to a limited extent. Link has new dungeons to go to, Mario gets some kind of new super power, something about them changes. But Street Fighter is literally the same game with each new installment. Case in point: Super Street Fighter 4. Nothing really new added to the gameplay, all of the characters from Street Fighter 4 come back, with the same moves and same button combo's to do said moves, and most of the characters have similar if not identical inputs to perform those moves. Ryu and Ken are identical characters with a pallet swap and slight variations on animations.

Older SF titles did the same thing. How many versions of Street Fighter 2 were there? Or Street Fighter Alpha? Look at the Wii's Virtual Console and you'll see at least 4 different versions of the former, and sadly enough that's not even all of them to my recollection.

The sad part about this is that people kept buying them. What nowadays would be better suited to a patch or as DLC (the boss characters added, plus Turbo, and any little tidbits they added with subsequent releases), Capcom released as separate games, and it sold really well. Why? Because in the end, people want something that's familiar.

Sure, the newer SF games sport about thirty some odd characters, play a few rounds online and you'll see the same faces: Ryu, Ken, Sagat, Bison, and a few Dan players as some kind of In-Joke without a punchline. All characters with similar (if not identical) movesets and inputs, and let's face it: it works! It's effective, and fun for a lot of players.

And that is all EA is doing. Keeping with a familiar play style, and game play. Are they any more wrong than Capcom for shoveling the same game down our collective throats? Absolutely not, since we keep buying them. If the games were too different, we'd complain that it's different and go play the older ones anyways. It's sad, but keeping the game pretty much the same is what we show the industry that we want, so it's safer to do than bring out a new game each time.

So, to show that we (and by "we" I mean "you", since I personally don't care one way or another) don't want the same game each time: Stop buying the damn games. Sitting on an internet message board and crying and complaining about it isn't going to affect EA's sales records, since chances are you already forked over your seventy bucks to have the game in your possession. They already won the fight before you decided you wanted to fight in the first place. Either stop buying the games, or stop complaining that they're the same. Period.

Now I'm off to play Warriors Orochi, where not only is every Warriors game the same, but what you do in each level is identical; If they're wearing a different hat than you, kill them. A free cookie to the first person who actually knows what I'm referencing here in the comments. Their name will be the title of my Saturday Post. From PSTP, I'm Chris Taylor wishing all a pleasant gammage.

Old School Lan Party

Have you ever done a LAN party? It is not as common as it used to be, for a few reasons: computer games are not as popular as they once were, most multiplayer games are played online and well, as we get older and move further away it is harder to get together with our computers.

To celebrate the release of StarCraft 2, myself and seven other people got together in a well organized basement to play StarCraft 2. Of course, we had to log onto Battle.Net and we were, in fact, playing over the Internet. But speaking over a microphone or typing a few lines of text are definitely not the same as a shared experience. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who were present. That was one of the most fun weekends I've had in a very long time. I have also learnt a lot about the game, knowledge that will come in handy as we continue playing together on a regular basis.

Most importantly, an immense thank you to Corsaire for organizing everything (the lodging, the basement, the tech support, the food, etc.).

I hope we get to do this again sooner rather than later because it was, EPIC!

Jeff, signing out and logging on Battle.net!

Slice Slice Stabbity Stab

Hello once again folks. Another week has gone by where time towards gaming was limited, but the time I did spend playing games was most enjoyable.

Locoroco 2 is officially my "Breaktime" game. At work, I get two fifteen minute breaks, plus an hour for lunch. My hour I walk home and eat something, but on my fifteens, I need something to break the monotony of putting things on shelves. Usually, that involves me bringing a handheld to work so that I can waste ti... I mean, spend time playing games. This week, it's been the Side-Scrolling Katamari style game. Each mission is usually around 8 - 10 minutes your first time through, plus a quick quirky little cut scene showing... something that resembles a story, but usually looks like a reggae head doing something evil. It's your job to collect the fruit, and make your loco roco dude bigger so that ... you can save the world... somehow. I don't really understand the story itself, but in games like this, the more you understand the story, the more confused you get.

Speaking of stories that make no sense: Warriors Orochi. I plugged this one into my 360 just to kill random dudes. The story involves 3 Kingdoms China and Samurai dudes getting into a massive weapons wielding fight with an asian sorcerer named Orochi. Combining time travel and violence in a way never seen before... unless you've played any of Koei's games before. If you have played them before, the game is roughly the same thing with new costumes and music.

Now, if you've listened to the one episode of the podcast that's up (and if you haven't, shame!), then you'll notice I mentioned that I play games predominantly for their story. The Warriors series is kind of like the exception to the rule. I don't really care why a bunch of dudes are coming together to murder each other, as long as I get to do the stabbity stabs! It's random violence, and sometimes that's all you really need.

And I need to go randomly kill some sword wielders. A La Prochain. I think that's spelled right... >_>

So Silent Hill 2...

So yesterday, Chris showed me Silent Hill 2, from start to finish. It was an interesting experience, watching a game be played, a classic at that. Aside from the small glitches due to the 360 emulation, I found the game interesting.

Now, gameplay and design wise, the game is definitely showing its age. Fetch quests in gorgeous environments are one thing, in bland buildings with glitchy textures, not so much. However, I do not believe this is what this game is about. If there was a game to which we can apply the onion analogy, this is it. Silent Hill 2 is meticulously crafted. The characters are there for a reason, the enemies look the way they do because of who the main character is, the places you explore are significant and the atmosphere still oozes out of your screen.

I am fairly certain that the game would stand on its own, even if it wasn't part of a famous series. On the other hand, I'm glad I was not playing but simply watching. I do not think I would have finished the game, it's pace is too slow for what I like to play now. Although... I think I would get a blast trying to go after the UFO ending.

This experience was very interesting, seeing someone's favourite game being played from start to finish with running commentary to boot. I'm hoping we can turn this look at the other's favourite games into a monthly feature or something.

On to another 2, StarCraft. I'm loving it so far. We are having a "LAN" party this Saturday and I get that feeling that it will be, wait for it, legendary (I'm also watching How I Met your Mother again). Sunday's post will most likely be about
SC2.

If you are wondering what is happening with Episode 2, our podcast will return near the end of August / beginning of September.

Until next post, this is Jeff, saying good game.




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The Ballad of Quiet Lumps...

It's hard to pinpoint when exactly I stopped caring about GTA. It could have been when San Andreas went "Gangsta", it could have been when the PSP versions came out on PS2 after being told they were PSP exclusive.

Or it could have been when GTA IV was average at best, yet all the reviewers were giving it perfect scores. Not to say that Nico's escapades in Liberty City were necessarily bad (well, bad as in not enjoyable, murder is never a "good" thing per se), just that it felt like more of the same. They added some decent new things to do, but took away the ability to purchase properties, and no casino, basically meaning your money is for guns and that's pretty much it. It had a lot of potential, not to mention the hype machine, but didn't deliver.

However, when the DLC came out on 360, I picked them up right away. I didn't play them until last month, but I bought them right away. Like the main game, the missions themselves were decent, but nothing we hadn't already done in earlier iterations of the series. What set the DLC apart from the game itself was the stories.

Not to say that GTA has ever had Oscar Wilde epic prose here, but the main game seriously lacked in the story department. You get info on who Nico is and what he's doing in the LC at the beginning of the game, and near the end. That's it. His cousin pisses people off, you clean up, it's that simple. Once the story starts to get interesting, it's over. It didn't even have much closure.

The DLC has actual story arcs. There is a beginning, middle, end, and reason for you to want to know what's going to happen next. I can honestly say that I enjoyed the DLC more than the main game... mostly.

I'm nearing the end of The Ballad of Gay Tony, and the last couple of missions are a little bit of a let down: You are alone against hordes of enemies, and almost no health packs. Kill everything that moves. That's it, that's all. To an extent, it works, but it's still frustrating to see that that's how the game is ending. Still, the story for this and The Lost and The Damned has more than made up for the underwhelming story of Nico Bellic.

To top it all off, there are instances where the characters from the DLC stories intersect with each other. It makes for interesting shifts of missions, seeing the same missions through different characters perspectives, and if there's another GTA on the horizon (and with the way these things sell, you can bet your ass there will be more of them), I hope they explore that aspect in the future.

My second play through this year of Silent Hill 2 is coming up, and Jeff has decided he needs more SH in his life. (He's more a Resident Evil guy... what a sucker XD), so tomorrow he's coming over to my place to watch me play. Hopefully, I will have infected another poor soul into the aura of SH. Until next time folks, Adieu!

A visit to NYC

Train ride to NYC:
Chris mentioned addiction. Yeah, I'm definitely addicted to tech. I carry my iPad wherever I go, sometimes with mu iPod too and there's probably a DS in my bag too (that is without countong the book and couple of games that's there too).

You can imagine that the 11-hour train ride between Montréal and NYC gives you a lot of time to play. Well, yeah, but that's not all I do, I mean, I am not that addicted. So what have I been playing? Metroid Zero Mission (GBA) and Angry Birds HD (iPad). As you can see, still in full Metroid Mania mode.

Hotel, last night before return home:
Alright, so that was a really fun trip. Too many things in too little time though. Here are the videogame related highlights arranged in a top 5:
#5: - Seeing the Blue Whale in the American Museum of Natural History. Reminded me a lot of one of the stages in Bioshock 2. The museum itself was also spectacular. A must see.
#4: - The Lego Store. Many sweet Star Wars items. A window dedicated to the Lego Videogames. Also, I wonder if the Lego people are disappointed with their Prince of Persia deal.
#3: - The Nintendo Store. Alhough they did not have the shirts I wanted in my size, I bought a really sweet vest for Alice that looks amazing. It has a green Yoshi on it. Incidentally, I got a Link shirt.
#2: - The Nintendo Store, for the sweet collectibles they had on display. Metroid stuff, limited edition portable systems, and many other cool gear that make this store worth the stop.
#1: - Finding the Scott Pilgrim series at a great price. If you enjoy videogames and comics, I strongly recommend it.

This is Jeff signing out from New York.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Metal Head filled with Sick

Getting sick is never fun. You take time off work, you lie down for long periods of time, sleep in, play some games... alright, getting sick isn't all bad. Coming down with a fever and sweating from head to toe, THAT is bad.

Heavy MTL was really fun. At first, what with that surprise bill popping up (discussed in a previous post) I wasn't even planning on going anymore, but the room mate decided to buy me a ticket for the Sunday show.

For those who aren't in Montreal (or hate metal music), Heavy MTL is an outdoor concert designed around rock music, usually in the heavier variety. The first concert was in 2008, and it was going to become a yearly thing, however 2009 already saw a lot of metal acts perform in Montreal (or near it, although if any band plays Canada, and they hit Toronto, they usually hit us too), so they pushed it to this year promising that it would be bigger and badder than ever.

Now, I've always been told that religion and politics are two things you should never bring up in conversation, because someone will always get pissed off that you don't share their opinion. Music is starting to be the third leg in the tripod, so to speak. However, this is the internet, a land where fact and opinion get rearranged faster than a guy and a girl in a chick flick. Suffice it to say, without pulling out the trusty Soapbox, I enjoyed myself thoroughly at the concert. Seeing Rob Zombie live twice within 7 months didn't dim the performance, KoRn played a lot of their older stuff so I wasn't upset seeing them either. Lamb of God played well, I only ever heard one of their tracks (Laid to Rest), and that was thanks to a video game (Guitar Hero 2, before Activision milked the franchise to stagnation) and always wanted to hear more. They didn't disappoint.

Considering this was a metal concert, it stands to reason that my throat would be completely destroyed by the end of it, and that my neck would be hanging on a thread. Sadly, I didn't really feel anything until two days later, while I was at work. The day that Starcraft 2 came out.

So there I was, heading home early because I felt completely wiped, and I couldn't even play the game that was (arguably) twelve years in the making. Instead, I had to wait until the next day, where I called in sick because I couldn't talk, and could barely move.

A quick side note before I talk about SC2: How the hell did they expect me to "call" in sick when I couldn't talk? The strangeness of things.

Anyways, so I jump into a little campaign, and the first thing I notice is "wow... my PC can actually run this thing!" Unfortunately, with my huge gaming collection (805 games and counting), as noted earlier this month, I rarely get a chance to play and beat my games before new ones come out. While I am taking steps to rectify that (IE I'm not buying any new games until they are cheaper or until I beat ones I already have) that still leaves me with the original Starcraft and Brood War expansion unbeaten on the backlog.

Thank God for collectors editions coming with their older game counterparts. SC2 CE came with a USB stick that had the original games on it, so I installed them and started playing them again. I'm up to Mission 6 on the Terran campaign in the original, and even now, the game holds up really well.

As far as SC 2, I've played a few multiplayer matches with my Room Mate (she picked up a regular edition for herself), and ... well, we get crushed pretty fast by the CPU.... set on Easy. Le Triste. I need to practice building faster, and getting a strong defense up. Hopefully, with us playing a few games a night, I'll get into it a lot more than online on the first game. But that's another issue for another day.

The campaign I haven't touched much, since I haven't beat the first games yet. I am upset to see that the Medic unit isn't available for online yet, but I'm sure a patch will fix that... or their holding off on making all units available until each races campaign comes out. >_>.

I will say this: It seems pretty Activisiony that Starcraft 2 is being released in 3 installments, but to be fair, the way this campaign is (26 missions long, with 3 choices in game that affects which mission you end up doing for a total of 29 missions to do), I can see why you need it in separate games, rather than all in one. Still, I'd rather it all in one. What, I'm a greedy person who wants all his game in one shot, sue me!

Well, that about wraps up another exciting edition of me typing for too long, I'm Chris Taylor wishing everyone a pleasant Gammage.

Corrupted Echoes

Have I ever mentioned that Metroid is my favourite videogame series? There, I did it. I am in full Metroid mode at the moment, even though I acquired StarCraft 2 Tuesday and I love it. You see, I am "getting" Metroid Prime 2: Echoes for the first time. Perhaps it is because I started it on the heels of wrapping up Metroid Prime, or perhaps it is the Wii controls... Or maybe, it is because I'm not letting a Blizzard game take the upper hand this time.

The game originally came out a few days before World of Wacraft, so the game did not hold my full attention for long. Coming back to it was always somewhat difficult since I never remembered where I was at and where I was supposed to go. Not this time, that's for sure.

The game's structure doesn't help either, navigating the light and dark worlds requires some planning ahead if you do not want to get lost or circle around for a long time. I find myself looking forward to playing the game very often, although I do not think I will rush into Prime 3... StarCraft 2 you see.

In the end, I am glad to be playing Prime 2 again, especially on the Wii. I am certain the controls are part of my enjoying the game more. Furthermore, I do realise the fact that sometimes, the echoes of the past can be corrupted, and revisiting their source is a sure way to readjust the frequency.

Tomorrow, I am heading to NYC for a few days. This means 2 things: it is possible that there won't be a Sunday post and also that I'll visit the Nintendo Store (which is not that awesome). I'll still try to post a pic or two from there.

Until next time, may your hits be crits!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Need a Light?

Sorry for the late post, Ladies and Gents, but I came down with a fever last night, and I was so delirious that I was talking to people I didn't know, while in a dream that wasn't a dream. So, with that in mind, this post may be a little more ramble-y than usual.

Now, on a much more positive note, Starcraft 2 seems to run just fine on my PC. Just fine of course just means that I tried it for all of 2 minutes during the combat tutorial, but the point still stands. No chugging, no lag, nothing. Will probably play more tonight, if I can actually concentrate on one thing long enough to play.

Not only did I pick up Starcraft 2, but it was the Collector's Edition. From now on, I'm only picking up CE's of games if they are worth it, and this one is totally worth it. Massive hardcover artbook, soundtrack, it even comes with the original game on a USB stick. I just bought three games in one package, now that is a deal if I do say so myself.

Lastly, for those that don't care about Strategy games, Blazblue: Continuum Shift was also released yesterday... or at least, it should have been. Chances are, if you live in Quebec (or even elsewhere in Canada for that matter) you're going to have to wait a little while before getting yourself a copy.

That's all from me, now I'm off to bed again... or maybe some Starcraft >_>.

Why I care about StarCraft

What is StarCraft, beyond the game? I am not talking about the licensed merchandise, the books, the boardgame and other such things; I am talking about when you played the game. Was it late at night in a LAN party? Were you a crack player on Battle.net? Were you simply into the narrative and single player experience?

For me, StarCraft was like many blockbuster games, an impulse buy. If memory serves right, I picked up the Protoss box. I nerve finished the single player campaign nor did I play much of the multiplayer. In fact, one could say that this game was not a significant one for me. I recall saying at some point that I preferred the look of Red Alert (I was a foolish young man once :) ).

So why am I so excited about StarCraft 2? "Friends" is without a doubt the answer. Friends who now live far away, friends I cannot see as often as I'd like, friends with whom gaming is always a blast. Sure, the single player campaign sounds fantastic, the game fascinating, the story exciting, the extra pet for World of Warcraft... But what it all comes down to is having a regular gaming night, with friends I've shared so many things with...

This entry is for you guys, let's hunt some Zergs!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

The Weekend-er

Huzzah folks. Sorry for the downers of the last two of my posts, it was just something I felt needed to be said.

This week has been pretty non-game related on my end of things. Me and the Room Mate started playing Warriors Orochi a couple of days ago, it's pretty much your standard Dynasty Warriors fare, with a little bit of Samurai Warriors thrown in because lets face it, you need 77 different characters in a game like this. There really isn't much of a storyline, so much as there is an excuse for a bunch of characters with funny looking weapons (case in point, one guy uses his own, elongated nails) to beat the crap out of each other, and their similar looking army's.

Aside from that, Loco Roco 2 has been in my PSP. Think Katamari, but side-scrolling. You control a little yellow dude, and he gets bigger the more things he eats. You use the shoulder buttons to move the world, so that the yellow dude can follow along the route set out for you. Sometimes you need to squish through a tiny little hole, so at the push of a button you go from big yellow dude, to several smaller yellow dudes. Haven't gotten that far, (actually, only did one level) but it seems fun and I can't wait to play more.

As far as what I've been doing outside of gaming; Work has decided to give me more responsibility. Instead of having a small section, I will now be in charge of about half the store... well, in terms of inventory and stock stuff. I won't be management again, I flat out refuse. It's just not in my DNA.

I've also been reading again. I'm up to book 7 of the Harry Potter series, the only book so far that I haven't read yet. Seems good so far, but it also seems to drag a bit. Still in the first hundred pages or so, we'll see what's what when I'm done.

Lastly, Pokemon Cards. I've been reorganizing that all afternoon. I've got a metric ton of cards, so sorting them out has not been a picnic.

Starcraft 2 is out this week, as is Blazblue 2. I'll be picking up SC on payday, but Blazblue will have to wait until it becomes cheap. Until next time, I'm Chris Taylor, wishing a pleasant Gammage to all.

The Thursday Post - Mother (not Earthbound related)

"The last Metroid is in captivity. The galaxy is at peace."

This ominous quote begins my favourite game of all time, Super Metroid or Metroid 3. As mentioned in my last post, I've been playing the Metroid Prime Trilogy these past few days, as a matter of fact, I finished the first chapter today and jumped straight into the second instalment, a rather interesting thing to do. However, today's post is not about this series, but the new title that is coming out.

Part of being a gaming enthusiast and not journalist means that I need not look at everything published on a title. This also means that aside from a trailer or two, a few hands on impression, and the timeline, I know very little about Metroid: Other M. What I've read in terms of gameplay has arisen some doubts, but I will get the game no matter what because it is Metroid.

Going back to my opening quote, this last Metroid plays an important role in Super Metroid and the pivotal scene where the last Metroid saves Samus leads into the next title. I believe and hope that the title will explore this "parent-child" relationship between Samus and the Metroid. After the title, Metroid: Other M, or Metroid: M Other (mother), or the actual accronym, MOM leads me to believe that it will play some part of it. Then again, this might simply the parent in me talking.

Then again if we are talking about the other Mother of the series, Mother Brain, I will not complain either.

This is Jeff signing out. Next time, probably some more space talk.


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My name is Chris Taylor, and I ....

am addicted. Should be pretty obvious considering my game collection (802 games and counting), and considering I'm writing on a blog that's dedicated to it. That being said, it is not necessarily gaming itself that is my addiction.

My addiction: Collecting.... everything!

Now, I know what you are thinking; If I'm addicted to collecting, then every game I have would be completed 100% because I wouldn't be able to stop myself from collecting everything. That is not what I mean by addicted to collecting.

While I do in fact have a huge collection of games, I have barely beat a quarter of them. Looking at my gaming backlog (which I shall link to at the bottom), only 200 out of my 802 have either a beat or complete checked off. (Interesting note: 12 of those games have been nulled, as they are either not really games, IE Brain Age, or doesn't really have a way to beat it, IE Ice Hockey on NES). Partially, this is because I have a full time job, and on top of that I try to write whenever I can, (I am an aspiring author after all), but lets face it: those are excuses. Excuses to hide the real problem.

I can't stop buying. I spend a lot of my breaks at work checking out the game store that's practically next door. Why do I do it? Because every once in a while I see a game for five bucks, and my mind tells me I need to get it. "It's only five dollars, it's really cheap! If you don't get it now, it'll go back up in price and you'll kick yourself for it". I have no real plans to play Rumble Roses on my 360, but it's in my collection because it was cheap. Red Steel is a terrible game by most standards, and barely tolerable for a launch title by my own, but it's in my collection because I got it cheap.

It gets worse, in the form of collectors editions. Sometimes, and let me stress the sometimes once more right here, they are actually worth it. Demon's Souls came with a guide that is practically required reading if you wish to stand a chance the first time through the game. Starcraft 2 is coming with a soundtrack, art book, and hell, blizzard is even throwing in the first game on a USB stick!

But then there is Batman. A Batarang that looks like it was keyed, and comes superglued to the stand so you can't even whip it at people. A big box, and a leather bound book chronicling The Bats villains. That would have been interesting if the info in said book wasn't already in the game, (and also in the strategy guide, which I also purchased on Day 1). I knew ahead of time that the collectors edition of Batman was not even close to being worth it, but I bought it anyways, because it was a collectors edition. There is just something inside my brain that tells me that if it has something extra, I have to buy it day 1. I have to buy it.

Gaming is not a necessity. Food, a place to stay, a job, clothing, those are things we all need to have, not gaming. Gaming is a luxury, one that has cost me dearly. But once your brain starts thinking it needs something, it's hard to unthink it.

Now, I bring up strategy guides, and there is something else of interest right there: I have bought the guide to a decent amount of games that I have bought. Not just checked out a GameFAQS guide, but actually went to the store and bought the guide. Sometimes on day 1 with the game. Sometimes it is worth it, and other times, it isn't. That's just something else I need to collect.

Now, like games, sometimes a guide will have a collectors edition. In the case of FF XII, a game I can honestly say is only in my collection to complete my collection of Final Fantasy games (more on this in another post), the guide came with an art book, and art books are usually worth the price of admission on it's own. This, I was not disappointed with. However, The Legend of Zelda, Phantom Hourglass also has a collectors edition. It is hardcover, comes with a leather bookmark, and the pages are shiny. That is it. For once, my insanity with collectors editions was able to be repressed as I did not in fact put my money down for that one. (not for lack of wanting that is...)

I wish that this was the end. As I'm sure you can see, a therapist would have a field day trying to dissect and analyze all of my different foibles and insecurities as it pertains to my addiction of gaming. And lets face it, how often does one have the opportunity to use the word "foibles" in any topic of conversation?

Alas, there is much more going on here. Video game collecting is not my only vice.

Anybody who has seen the inside of my place usually notices two things:

1) Wow, your place is messy, don't you ever clean?

2) How many freaking games do you have? This is nuts!

What they don't usually notice, is the other thing, the thing that probably kick started my collecting habit into full gear, right around the time I was in third grade. That kick start, was Magic.

I had seen the cards all over the place when I was a kid, and was always interested in learning how to play. However, I was... a loner in school, to put it quite mildly, and since games like those usually required at least one other person, I was relegated to not ever picking up cards.

However, one day when my father and I were going to a movie, we stopped off at a card store nearby. It was pretty small, but something on one of the tables caught my attention. "Magic, 10 black, 9 common, 1 uncommon, $1". I showed my dad, and since he liked to spoil me rotten, I walked away with a pack of those treasured cards in my hand. The guy behind the counter even gave me the rulebook to the new set that had come out, Tempest, and the rest was history.

I now have more cards than I can count, from more games than I can possibly play. I've got cards for Pokemon, Magic, a few Yugioh, World of Warcraft, dot hack Enemy (a game that only about six people on the planet have ever heard about, and even less play), I even have almost the full first set of Tomb Raider cards. If it has a cool piece of artwork, and text written underneath, you can bet your sweet ass that I'm going to want it in my hands.

To be fair, Tomb Raider was something that had a separate set of rules for those who weren't playing with other people, and at once point I did try playing all of those games WITH other people, usually around the time I picked up my first set of cards, but everything after that was just feeding my addiction.

Now, you'll notice that pokemon was written, and lets face it, there are two games that when talking about addiction really feed well into the topic: pokemon and World of Warcraft.

Now to me, World of Warcraft wasn't overly appealing. To me, it was just a really pretty Diablo 2 with more options, massively multiplayer online, but Diablo never hooked me in the way that it did almost everyone I knew, so Warcraft almost didn't stand a chance.

Pokemon however.... there is a story and a half. No joke, when Soul Silver was released, I took a 1 week vacation just to play the game. A vacation... for a video game. Granted, that is slightly better than blowing off work just because a new game came out, but still. On top of that, over the course of that weekend, I played over 70 hours. That's 10 hours a day! My longest stretch of time playing in a row spanned two days, staying up all night just to try beat the main storyline. I deprived my self of sleep, and even pushed away friends, just to play the game longer.

The pull of pokemon gripped me at a far younger age than now. When it was first released, I was far from a perfect kid. I was grounded a lot when I was younger, and was unable to play my games for a good portion of the time. That didn't stop me from playing this one though. I knew where my parents had hidden my Gameboy, took it out of its hiding place, and would play it in my room, with no sound, at all times of the day. My hiding place? Underneath the guide for the game. I merely said that since I couldn't play the game, I wanted to read up on it so that it would be easier to play when I finally had a chance. My parents didn't fight it much, (they felt that as long as I was reading, it was alright), but I think they knew all along that I had the game. After all, how hard is it to hide a giant brick of the original, 4 battery game boy? The guide barely covered it.

Pokemon feeds into my addiction fairly easily, as with every new installment comes a new set of at least one hundred new pokemon to collect. Plus, I've always loved games with a leveling system. Hell, that was the only thing that kept me interested in Forza as long as I was.

Now, you may be asking yourself, what the hell triggered this long winded (and long worded) speech about gaming addiction? Well, it was a letter from my old cell phone company.

See, up until now I knew, for the most part, that I was addicted, but as long as I felt that I had it under control, as long as everything was still being payed, and I had a roof over my head and groceries in the fridge, everything was fine. It wasn't a problem. Kind of like how DR. House uses his pain pills: He functions with them, it helps him do his job, and me having games helped me with this job (as well as the game review thing, something I need to get back into).

The letter pretty much said that I hadn't payed the cancellation fee for my cell phone. It wasn't overly serious, and it isn't even all that expensive. It's not going to stop me from paying rent, and I still have food to eat so there aren't any worries there. But the fact that they needed to send a letter forced me into accepting what was really happening.

My priorities weren't in order. I was thinking of games first, spending first and foremost, and necessities second. I was becoming the very thing I couldn't stand, someone who only thought of what he could spend money on, and not on important things.

This jolt of reality is really a wake up call of sorts, that I really need to stop worrying about getting a game day 1, or wasting my money on cards that I never use, and barely even look at. At the very least, I need to play the games I have (correction, BEAT the games I have) before picking up new ones. I must get this collecting addiction under control, NOW, before it's a letter from the rental office telling me that I need to pay up.

I, Chris Taylor, am addicted to buying stuff I don't need, when I shouldn't really be buying that stuff in the first place... right away anyways.

Now, the real question you've all been asking this whole time: Why the hell didn't I talk about any new releases? Answer: Because there weren't any. Next week should be bigger however, with Starcraft 2 coming out. And yes, I'm getting it on launch day, in collectors edition form.

Some people will never, ever change.

This is Chris Taylor, signing out, and hoping that his next fix doesn't come from a strange man in a dark alley with a Virtual Boy hidden in his trench coat. Happy Gammage to All!!


My collection of games can be found here: www.backloggery.com/Assclown_King