July 17, 2011

The Best Type of Games

People will tell me that their favorite game ever is Call of Duty or Halo or something. They'll tell me something that everyone knows about and it isn't unique at all. I've always have had a different opinions on games and enjoyed the more obscure ones.

What I mean is I like to play the games that no one is playing and tell everyone about how good it is. What's an example of this? Well, one that I can think of quickly is Timesplitters. My brother hit the jackpot when he found this game. It was Christmas morning and we had just gotten a PS2, but didn't have any games. My dad took my brother out to some store and told him to pick out one game. He looked around a little and spotted Timesplitters. It looked very interesting to him so he asked if he could get it. My dad was a little hesitant since it was rated T, but fortunately he got it for us and we discovered a cult classic.

I haven't met much people that are my age who have played the original Timesplitters. It's easily one of the best games I have played and is an example of a true good game. Now, to get to my point. The best games around are the games that are extremely original but nobody knows about. There's a lot of unbelievable Indie games out there now that are way better then any of the mainstream games out there. Once you discover these, they will be games you never forget.

July 16, 2011

Hope for the Future of Gaming

I haven't been able to buy a game for a long time. I just recently obtained enough money for a new game and was probably going to buy Gears of War 3 with that. Then I looked on IGN (I hate IGN btw) and saw a sort of odd game called Catherine. I had never seen anything like it. Then, I went on Xbox live to play some Halo 3 and noticed there was a demo. I decided that maybe it wouldn't hurt to actually see what it's like. I started it up and immediately noticed the out of date graphics, but that didn't bother me that much. Also, I've never been a fan of anime so I kind of got turned off a little by that, but again decided to ignore it. The first level started and it honestly blew my mind. I never thought such a simple concept could be so intriguing.

Basically, all you do in each of the levels is climb to the top of the main character's (Vincent) dreams. You have to move the blocks certain ways in order to climb and it's gets very intense because there's something chasing after you or the blocks are falling. It gives a lot of symbolism of what Vincent is going through.

The story is pretty well thought out too. It's definitely a more mature theme, but I think you are able to relate to the situation even if you have no idea what it's like. The story is rather simple, you're a 32 year old man who's being pressured by your girlfriend of five years to marry her while having an affair with another girl. It shows his internal struggle of how he wants to live his life. I don't know much more than this though.

I just personally thought that this game is the most original game I have seen all year and it's good to see something out of the ordinary. It gave me hope that some game developers are still creating new ideas of how games should be made. I already have pre-ordered it and it's going to arrive at my house on July 26.

July 15, 2011

My Two Cents on Call of Duty: Elite


You may or may not know this already but I am not a Call of Duty fan. I've recently saw this new thing that they're doing that's called "Elite" that looks like a decent addition to the Call of Duty community. You get a chance to view your games in depth, see where you die a lot on heatmaps, and get a chance to improve in the Call of Duty community. Basically, it's broken off into four sections: Career, Connect, Compete, and Improve.

Career basically gives you insight on how much and how good you play. It show you heat maps so you can see the danger zones of the maps and give you an idea of where you die a lot and where you get kills a lot. You can also look at all of your friends' stats as well.

Connect is just like it sounds; you connect with the Call of Duty community. It's pretty much the Facebook for CoD. You can find "like-minded" players, as Jason Ades describes it, and set up times to play with them on CoD. One other feature on Connect is the theater.  It works a lot like videos on Facebook. You can tag your friends so they can see it and there's going to be staff favorites and stuff like that.

Next is Compete. This section is kind of interesting. It shows you upcoming events and operations. What are these things you say? Well, events are pretty much fun contests your able to enter. An example that Jason Ades gave during the Gamespot interview was a screenshot competition where people submit their best screenshots and people vote for the best one. From these, your able to win various prizes and stuff. Operations are the same thing but are more skill based competition. An example would be capturing the most flags in a week or something like that. I believe there are tournaments as well but I'm unsure about that. Rewards are pretty much the same but I think in the interview Jason Ades said something about you get the chance to compete with pros, so that's kind of a cool feature.

Last section is Improve. This isn't really much. It's just a section where you can see where everything is on the maps and see stats and tips for all the guns. Not really much improvement can actually be made with this feature. All of these "Elite" features can be yours for the price of $60 per year.

Okay, let me just start my thoughts on this by saying: THIS IS A JOKE! Sixty bucks for this crap? I'd rather buy another game.The Career and Connect sections are both going to be free though. It's not original at all so I have no idea why they're hyping this up so much. Career is the exact same thing as Bungie.net and Connect is pretty much Facebook and Youtube combined. There's going to be "premium" videos that you need the premium subscription to watch and I'm sure they will be worse quality then what you find on Youtube.

Compete isn't really what I thought it would be. I thought it would be something like Game Battles where you have a team and look for serious matches, but I was wrong. It's just dumb competitions where the chances of you winning is probably lower than the lottery. I guess there is tournaments but still, I'd say that Game Battles looks better so far. If your looking for serious competition, just go on Game Battles.

One problem with the whole improve part; you gotta suck at FPS to be bad at the game. I'm not a hardcore player at all but my ratio in every Call of Duty game has been positive and I barely even play the game. Last time I checked, my ratio was 1.49 in Black Ops and my motivation was winning, not getting kills. One time, me and my friends decided we would actually try instead of screwing around (even though we were still just foolin' around) we went on a 30 game winning streak. Sure these friends were awesome at the game, but my point is that it's really easy to be good.

Another big problem with the improve part is it's just a crappy guide. The tips are pointless and the maps are even more pointless. It's better to actually go into the actual game to see these poorly designed maps yourself.

All in all, I do not recommend that you get this. It's not worth the money. You aren't going to get any better from using this and it's just gonna burn a hole through your pocket.

July 12, 2011

Youtube Channel

Just made a Youtube account. CHECK IT OUT, MAN!!! No videos yet, but will be uploading let's play videos along with vlogs so please check that out.

July 11, 2011

Real Tennis Champion

I don't know how many people watched the Wimbledon finals, but for those who did, you saw who the best tennis player in the world is at the moment. I kind of disagree that Djokovic is the best. There was one person that I know that is a lot better than him. Who is this person? Well I'll show you a couple of his best matches.



This may not be his best match but take note of how he is able to dodge the laser beams while still being able to return the volleys. Now I thought this match was a little unfair. I mean it was 4 vs 1. Luckily he was able to kill some of his opponents making it a tad bit easier.



Now this is one of his more famous matches against tennis rival, Gannondorf. I thought Ganondorf should have been flagged with unsportsmanlike conduct. I mean, he mocks Link after every single volley that he uses. But in the end Link manages to pull off a victory against all odds. Link was working him very well, too. If you notice, he's very out of breath at the end of the match.



This may be one of Link's easier matches. His opponent serves it, but never is able to return it. It's really sad actually how Link embarrasses Agahnim like this.



This another match that Link has against Agahnim. Even though he cheats and makes two clones of himself, Link still manages to embarrass him.



This doesn't start out as a tennis match, but it becomes full blown as Phantom Ganon gets angry after falling off his horse. Link is able to make short work of him though.



Yet another fight with Phantom Ganon. Again, Link is able to beat him.



The final match against Phantom Ganon. He uses a different tactic this time. After every volley he pretends he dies, then shows up for another in the next room. Very tricky but no match for Link's skills.

So as you can see, Link is probably the best tennis player in the world. I would like to see Djokovic to even try to face him.

We Demand Timesplitters 4!

I was a huge fan of the Timesplitters series since the first one ever came out for PS2. Seeing the demise of Free Radical almost made me cry. It meant we aren't going to see Battlefront III and Timesplitters 4 is still iffy. It appears that Crytek might be making the game, but if you were a fan of the game and read this, please sign this petition. It already has over 18,000 signatures, but I still want to see more.Crytek has hinted for a long time that they were going to be developing it, but their most recent statement was they were "thinking" about it. This game needs to be made. Convince them to make it!

July 8, 2011

Deciphering The Legend of Zelda Part 3

Okay, found what I wanted from Ocarina of time and I'm now ready to make a timeline. The next two games are possibly the best in the series and were the first 3D Zelda adventures in the series. Let me just say I just about crapped my pants when I saw how good Ocarina of Time looked and I was 6! Obviously it's now a little dated but still is a great game. But what's this? A game that completely throws off the timeline? It's gonna get a little more tricky from here on out so be prepared to get mind-effed while I break down the classic N64 game.

The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time


This game has some of the best storytelling I've ever seen. They really hit the nail on the head with this one. There are some key details that give us an idea of how the timeline unfolds, but let me just explain the plot first. Just kidding it will take too long. Read This if you have to.


Take note of where the Master Sword is in this game. It's in the Temple of Time. But wasn't it in a forest in A Link to the Past? So that means it either wasn't always there or something happened to the Temple of Time. Either way, I think we all can assume that Ocarina of Time has to come before A Link to the Past.


Remember the ending to the game? You defeat Ganon and Zelda sends you back in time and you put away the Master Sword. Well that means in the time where you came from there is no hero, right? I'm not going to get into how time works because I don't have all day. But just think about it, you go through all these events which is one timeline, then you get sent back in time which makes another point in time. If you've ever played the game Timesplitters: Future Perfect then I think you will understand it. But just remember this because it creates a split in the timeline.


Another important note to remember is something in the Biggoron's Sword Quest. When go to return the strange potion to the creepy cuckoo guy that Kokiri girl tells you he turned into a stalfos after getting lost in the woods. I know many people have heard this theory and probably know what I'm talking about, but some people may not. A lot of you are probably bashing your heads against your desk too because I know a lot of people strongly disagree with this, but either way keep this in your head because it serves an important role to my timeline.


There's a lot of unexplained things at the end of the game as well. Like what time was Link sent back too. Was it before or after he got the Spiritual Stones? If it was before, how is the Door of Time open? If it's after, then why do we see Zelda in the Castle Garden? It's all a mystery but my guess is there has to be a way that the Adult Timeline Zelda opens up the Door of Time without the use of the Spiritual Stones. Then Link would be able to warn Zelda of what Ganondorf's intentions were which is probably what you see in the Castle Garden cutscene at the end of the game.

So Ocarina of Time is kind of confusing, right? Hopefully it might make more sense as more games are released.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask


This game starts you out in a forest looking for your bud, Navi the Fairy. You get attacked by a skull kid wearing a crazy mask and he steals your Ocarina of Time then turns you into a Deku Scrub. He accidentally leaves one of his two fairies behind who happen to be sisters. This upsets the fairy and asks you to help her find her sister and in return she will help you become human again. Okay, that's cool. You go set out to go find him and you run into the mysterious Happy Mask Salesman. He tells you that the mask skull kid is wearing is very rare and holds mysterious power. So you agree to help him too. So you go to find the Skull Kid and right before the moon crashes into the clock tower, you get your Ocarina back and play the Song of Time which sends you back in time kind of like the end of Ocarina of Time. So with your Ocarina you learn a song that turns you back into human and you get a mask that can turn you back into a Deku Scrub. Okay now you  have to find the four giants in order to stop the moon from crashing, so you do that the moon stops, but then the mask goes into the moon and starts to bring the moon down again. So you go in the moon, fight the mask, and win. The end.


Okay, so my storytelling isn't as good as the game's storytelling but you get the point of what happens. There's only a few things to remember in this game. Remember the design of Majora's Mask and the idea of Link searching for Navi through the woods. The second part is really important.

Remember this design

Stick around for more updates on the timeline it gets pretty interesting after this.

July 7, 2011

Why MMOs Get a Bad Wrap

Have you ever felt embarrassed to tell people that you play an MMO? I have, and it's kind of ridiculous. I've always felt that MMOs are games just like any other game that people play, such as Call of Duty, Halo, etc. Why is it that someone who plays an MMO is automatically scoffed at or considered a loser? Even making assumptions that playing it means you do nothing but play the mmo of your choice. I've played plenty of MMOs and have always wondered that, but recently my friend told me something about World of Warcraft that completely gave me the answer.

What is the Answer?

Do you know those people on all the MMOs that think they're really cool for being a higher level then you? Showing off their overpriced mounts from micro transactions or their ridiculous amounts of gold or high stats? Well, those are the type of people that are giving MMOs it's bad rap as "virtual crack" or the games for nerds. People like this play an MMO for hours each day, leveling alts and just being way to serious about the GAME in general, treating it as if it has actual importance that will always matter. Basically they get addicted to the game and start doing weird things since they are so dedicated, like playing the game to the point of neglecting truly important things. That's when the game starts getting into news etc. and getting it's bad rap from people who have never even touched the game mentioned. Most people consider this type of person a "loser" and assume that all players of the said MMO are associated with the overly serious players, and assume that all MMO players are nerdy hard core play all day type of people. (some call them no-lifers but that's not really a fair term).

While this is true for some players, assuming that everyone is like this is also unfair. Sure, playing an MMO all day isn't going to get you a job (in-game jobs DO NOT count), a girlfriend (in-game girlfriends DO NOT count), or any of your wants outside of the game. That doesn't mean 100% of these players are like this though, in fact, they are in the minority. You'd be surprised how many of your friend play some form of MMO on the side.

Must get to lvl 85!!!!

The answer to why MMOs get a bad rap is simple: The hardcore players make the game look nerdy/bad to the public eye, and news stories of people playing until they pass out doesn't help.. It's unfair to the casual players that they have to keep it a secret that they play MMOs because they're playing a game just like anyone else. I have heard some "hardcore" MMO players say they have to play MMOs because people in real life don't accept them. So they get lured into a virtual world where they can make friends on equal grounds where everyone is more or less equal, since real world looks/abilities don't matter. This is usually a result of bad social skills. All I have to say to that is your social life won't get better by sitting at your computer all day.

July 3, 2011

Deciphering The Legend of Zelda Part 2

Last post about this I stopped by talking about the first two games in the series. It's really simple: Zelda II comes after the first one. I'm going to now talk about the next two games that released after the classic NES games. Those two games are A Link to the Past and Link's Awakening. These games are also said to follow each other but Link's Awakening is a pretty strange game. Well, let's start off with A Link to The Past.

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past

This game completely changed how Zelda works. This is the game where they introduced the Master Sword for the first time and really made the Zelda series into a formula. This game has some really interesting parts that have to do with the timeline.
This is one line said by the one of the seven maidens that really interested me. You rescue this maiden after defeating Blind the Theif. I am unsure exactly what this means, but my interpretation of this line probably means this is the last hero that Hyrule will ever need. Which is why she probably says that to Link.
The same maiden tells him that he has the potential to become the Hero of legend. I'm unsure as to what this exactly means. If she had said that he can become the Hero of THE Legend that would mean this has happened before, but the same thing can be brought from the line that she says here. In that case we know that this has to come after the first two games.

Something else that I realized when thinking of a timeline is how on Earth did Ganon come back if he died in the first game and his minions were unable to revive him. Well, keep that thought in the back of your mind for a later point in time because that will make more sense later in my description.

Also, Ganon straight up explodes at the end of the game. He isn't sealed away between dimensions or banished to the Twilight Realm. No, he explodes because he is shot by a silver arrow. Why do I point this out? Just keep checking back on the blog for updates and it will become more relevant.

One more thing to point out is where the master sword is. It's in the Lost Woods, right? This is pretty significant in the timeline so I'll explain the importance of this later. Now it's time for Link's Awakening.

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening

Okay, this is probably the strangest Zelda game in the series. It takes place in a whole new world that we have never seen. First of all, they have electricity. That was probably the most strange to me. How do I know there's electricity? Well there's phones, right? This brings me to my next point: This land has discovered telecommunication! Pretty advanced, right? Alright, so that's just why this game is strange so let's get on with the story. (Don't get me wrong though, this is one of the best games in the series)

Basically, your off at sea and you are in a storm. You wind up on this strange land and these people kindly give you your shield and you go to the beach and get your sword. Now the adventure begins. You go to this forest to meet an owl that tells you if you wanna get off the island, your gonna have to awaken the Windfish or something (it's been a while). So you do that and you go back off to sea.

There's very little as to where this game fits in the timeline, but it's safe to assume at this point that it comes after A Link to the Past.

Well that's two more games down, only like ten to go. Keep checking the website for updates (subscribe if you want). I'll be back with another update of the timeline tomorrow.

July 2, 2011

Starcraft II Pro Scene

Nada showing off his skills

There's really only one game out there that is truly just exciting to watch. I hate watching most multiplayer games, but when it come to Starcraft II, I can't get enough of it. Even though I did not play a single ladder match during Season 2, you can believe me when I tell you I was on GOMtv constantly. I don't even understand what the Korean announcers are saying but their enthusiasm gets me so into it. I have been a fan of the Chicago White Sox for my entire life and love watching them play, but man Starcraft is way more exciting than baseball will ever be. Starcraft is the only game I know that will probably live forever because of it's competitive multiplayer. I had dreams of being a pro baseball player when I was a kid. That dream went away quickly. More recently, I've dreamed of becoming a pro Starcraft II player. I started getting really good until, my ADD kicked in and I started playing other games. Even though my dreams of being a pro gamer have vanished, I still love to keep up with the latest news and watch all the GSL matches from Korea. Let me tell you, those guys work just as hard as any other athlete on the planet. Sure it isn't physical work, but some of those professional gamers practice for 12 hours a day for their team. Now that's dedication. Even if you don't like the idea of people being a professional video gamer, you have to respect in how much work these guys put into being as good as they are. They truly are cyber athletes.

Deciphering the Timeline to The Legend of Zelda


One question has puzzled Zelda fans for over 10 years: What is the order of the Zelda series? Well, I've really have started to put some thought into how the timeline unfolds. There's no definate answer to how for what the timeline is but there's a lot speculation and I believe I've got a pretty good idea of how it breaks down. I'm gonna do this in different segments starting with the first one then doing a final product.

The Legend of Zelda



Ahhhh, the game that started it all back in 1986. This game was the highest selling game for the Nintendo Entertainment System. People fell in love with it the moment they played it. This games story is pretty basic. Pretty much one day, an evil force led by Ganon came into Hyrule and stole the Triforce of Power and Zelda, in fear of the Triforce of Wisdom being stolen, decided to split the Triforce of Wisdom into eight pieces around the kingdom of Hyrule. Zelda also told Impa to go find someone with enough courage (probably hinting toward the Triforce of Courage) to stop Ganon. Upon hearing this, Ganon sent his minions to find Impa and kill her, but luckily a young lad by the name of Link saved her. Impa told Link the story of Ganon and how he needed to find the Triforce of Wisdom to reach Death Mountain where Ganon was. Link took this quest and saved the Land of Hyrule from the evil Ganon!

Alright, so this game is actually quite hard to find a correct spot for because Ganon is present, there's no Ganondorf, no Master Sword, and no background information. This makes sense though because they weren't in their usual formula for making games yet. Even though it is a tough game to place, it does have an obvious sequel, which is The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link.

The Legend of Zelda II: The Adventure of Link


Okay, all you need to know about this game is it is the follow up to the first game. Ganon's minions are trying to revive Ganon, and here's the catch: they need to sacrifice Link in order to do it! So if that wasn't enough, Link also notices this strange mark on his hand and asks Impa about it. She tells him the story of the Triforce and Link goes on a quest to obtain the Triforce and I haven't played the game for a while but I believe he needed the Triforce to stop Ganon's minions.

So this game is obviously a direct sequel to the first game. No doubt. Unfortunately, it starts to become a lot more complicated after this. I will be releasing more on the Zelda timeline later, so please keep checking the blog for more info on this later.

July 1, 2011

Sequelitis, A Blessing or a Curse?




It's not hard to see that the gaming industry has fallen into a somewhat monotonous cycle of releasing sequel after sequel, and there seems to be a lack of new IPs appearing. Yet, I can't help but think, is there a lack of new IPs being released, or are publishers releasing these game quietly while throwing all their cash for marketing at major established franchises? and are these major franchises becoming too big?

What do I mean?

Lets look at Activision. Call of duty is released every year with massive ad campaigns, banners, commercials, billboards, magazines etc. People continually buy into and the game grows every year. What does this mean? It means that Call of Duty makes more money every year so they continue to milk it dry. The same thing applies to games like Halo and Assassins Creed. Publishers don't need to take risks because it's guaranteed cash, and so they invest in these franchises while spending pocket change on projects that are not guaranteed success. Is this good or bad? Apparently people like these games enough to keep buying them right?

Well, these games sold for a reason... at first. With annual releases usually comes a decline in quality due to devs being rushed to pump out their game on time. So, basically these games start to go stale, and short dev cycles can lead to a lack of innovation or in the very least change. If it ain't broke don't fix it. <- Doesn't always apply to game mechanics. Releasing the same game 5 times in a row WILL make the series grow stale. *cough*Activision*cough*
So if the games get worse why don't devs make new games that are "innovative" and exciting?
It's simple really. I feel that a lot of devs feel obligated to copy big franchises such as Call of Duty thinking, "well COD sells so much that maybe if i make the game like that i can take a chunk of their fan base" NO! That's not what we want, we don't want a carbon copy of another franchise *cough*Flashpoint:Red River*cough*
Another part of the problem are the closed minded gamers that buy only COD, only Halo, only Battlefield, ignoring other great games that are deserving of their attention. Yet fans of the series love getting a new game every year, and non-fans absolutely hate it. It's A MESS

So, are sequels a blessing or a curse?
It's simple, Fans of those franchises love the sequels, Non-fans simply can't stand the sequelitis disease.
Where does sequelitis come from?
It's simple, publishers that want money and are afraid of risks.