We Game To Savor The Flavor

There was once upon a time when we waited for weeks in anticipation for a new game to come out (well, I guess we still do), and then the magical day comes when you go out to the store and pick up your new treasure – your electronic companion that will open a new world of adventure and excitement in various realms.

Nowadays, people still wait in eager anticipation of new games, but it seems these days, people are just in a rush – a rush to gun through a game as fast as possible, and then move on to the next one.  Some people even go so far as to set records to see how fast one can breeze through a game for bragging rights on how quickly they were able to dart through the programmer’s realm.  After they beat this game in record time, often times, they go and sell it off and then pick up their next bounty to see how fast they can tear through that.

Well, slow down there partner………..have you ever thought about what it would be like to actually take your time and soak it all in?  Savor the adventure?  Maybe even replay it a few times if you really liked it?  I don’t know about you, but I play games for the content – the story – the ambience of the world that this company has lovingly crafted for me to immerse myself in for hours at a time.  With new games, consoles, and computers, the worlds and realms get more and more detailed and lavish – more lifelike in many ways!  There is something to be said about a new world that looks so real you could step through your TV and actually touch the ground, but there is almost no point if you are going to get on your starting blocks and fly at warp speed through it all.

Was there really a point to getting this game then, if you don’t even slow down and smell the electronic flowers?  There are many games that do have a fast pace to them – like driving, space fight, shmups, and the like, but there are those games that don’t have any time limit and you can just take your time and go through it at a relaxed pace so that way you can truly explore these areas.  Often times, companies even throw in trophies and achievements for taking the time to do certain things within the game!

I suppose this is one of the reasons I have become a fan of open-world  sandbox games.  You can go through the various lands, worlds, and such, see what all there is to see, and still go through a very good story.  Some games get a bit too linear – with a bullet-straight-shot from point A to point B – sometimes even having a time limit to get there!  I thought Sonic wore that trope out long ago, but I suppose not.  At any rate, the game really isn’t going anywhere (unless you’re hot to trot to sell it off), so relax…….sit back…..take some time and soak in the wonder that has been provided for you.

GOTY Got Yer Goat – When To Get Your Game On

Here is a conundrum I have been faced with multiple times.  A cool game comes out, you play it for a while, and the next time you go shopping for games to see what may be out, you see it………that box staring you, making faces from its little perch on the shelf…….

It’s the “Game Of The Year” edition of the very same game you have been playing.

These versions of games come with all the bells and whistles you could want – everything that was in the season pass, all of the DLC content, extras not included in the regular game………yeah…….it’s all in this box that is mocking you, making you regret the day you bought the regular game, when for the same money, you could have waited and bought this one that has everything already included in it.

That’s the trap game developers put people in time and time and time again – they get you into a game, and then slap you in the face with the “you could have had THIS version” syndrome – so then you are faced with this question……….do you buy all of the extras online, or do you sell off your regular version and get THIS one?

Here is the other trap though………the game saves, in many cases, do NOT transfer over between the regular version and the GOTY version!  So if you played, say, Shadow of Mordor, and got through a lot of the main story, decided to get the GOTY version since it has all of the DLC – guess what – you have to start………all………over………again.  I can see if it transfers over from the regular version, but to not have that option is just another burr that sticks in the horse’s backside.  So how do you know if a game is going to come out with a GOTY, or Definitive, or Platinum version of a game?  You don’t!  Game companies are really not going to tell you if they are going to release one or not, because most of the time, they probably don’t even know if a game is going to do well enough to put the investment into making one of those versions.  It may be a big stinker and not do well at all, and you can get they’re not going to make an enhanced version of a game that bombs out in sales.

For myself, I waited to get Skyrim for the PS3 until the “Legendary Version” came out, because it had all of the DLC, and I didn’t even think about Fallout 3 until that GOTY was already out, so that was a no-brainer, but some games you really wish you knew if it would do really well or not, so you knew whether a better version was going to come out at a later time – but you just never know.

For right now……I’m counting the days until Deadpool comes out on the PS4 in November.  That may be worth the cost.

Review: Toys With Games

One of the things that has sta r Ted popping up in the past few years is figure accessories for use with videogames.  Activision and Toys For Bob started this trend with Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure, but now, more companies are jumping on the bandwagon, but do they all deliver?  Here’s my take on each of the major players……

Skylanders Franchise
Activision, Toys For Bob, and Vicarious Visions have been doing this series since 2011, and we’re really the innovator of this new trend.  You play an adventure game where Spyro and the Skylanders take on Kaos and his evil minions and his allies, using various characters of varying elements and abilities by way of collecting figures.

The characters have the ability to store all of your character stats, upgrades, and powers – so you can take your figure to your friend’s house and play with them.  The strong point is that the story appeals to a wide range of players.  Also, the characters are forwards-compatable, meaning you can take your character from a previous game and still use it in later games.

Disney Infinity
Disney brought a new mechanic to the figure game – world building!  You can use your characters to unlock new features and set pieces when building your worlds.  This is the main strength of this game – the innovation of making a home for your cgaracters.

The figures don’t really do much more than unlock features, but like Skylanders, the figures are sturdy and made well, plus you have a pretty substantial array of figures from Disney and Marvel universes so far.  Also, the characters are forwards-compatable with the version 2.0, which is good.

The story isn’t as concrete as Skylanders, but if you like a variety of worlds to play in, as well as creating your own places, then you should get this.

Nintendo Amiibo
Nintendo is the new kid on the block, coming out with Amiibos.  These figures are used in different games, each game offering something different – from stages in Mario Party 10, to outfits in Mario Kart 8, and more.  These only work on Nintendo, so they are not multiplatform, unlike Skylanders and Infinity, which may limit their appeal.  It looks like Nintendo is instead focusing on using their Amiibos in multiple Nintendo franchise games.

I know……why a writer review rather than a video?  Well, Nintendo has this nasty habit these days of glomping onto YouTube videos.  Even though I am not monetizing my videos, I just don’t want that headache.

I’m sure there will be more figures interacting with games.  In fact, Lego is jumping on the same bandwagon with Lego Dimensions, due to come out soon.  How will that stack up?  How will Skylanders, Infinity, and the Amiibos hold up in the future?  Only time will tell.

A Whole Open World

There are many types of games out there in the world. You have your first-person shooters, RPGs, MMO’s, action-adventure, platformers, sports, driving, fighting…….and then you come upon my favorite – open-world adventure games. In recent years, nothing has appealed to me more than the idea of living in a video game world where you have the option of going anywhere you wish and doing just about anything you wish. Some games achieve this goal more than others, but at least there are some out there that make this dream a reality quite well, so I’ll share a few with you that I have played.

Assassin’s Creed – This title by Ubisoft is gorgeous. It’s one of those wide, sprawling landscapes that lets you go from city to city and wander all over the place in areas that are open. Granted, not all areas are open at first, but once they open up, it just makes the game so much larger. The later games in the series follow suit. Currently I’m on ACII, and I really enjoy it quite a bit. The side missions, as well as the story missions are well worth the time playing. I still have Brotherhood, Revelations, III, and IV to get through though, so we’ll see how well the allure lasts here.

InFamous – This was a beautiful accident waiting to happen for me. I downloaded this title out of 5 possible free titles after the PSN hack that happened a while back, and I am so happy that I chose this game. It’s gorgeous, has a GREAT storyline that keeps you going, and a ton of content to keep you going all the way through to the end. You have massive areas to explore, and a lot of collectables to obtain. What I find very cool is that they kept this chemistry up through four different games (yes, I do count Festival of Blood as a full game). I really hope they keep the momentum up going with this franchise, although I keep hoping for Cole to make a comeback in a future game.

Watch Dogs – Who doesn’t love a game that has hacking in it? Well, this game has PLENTY of that. You have the entire town of Chicago as your weapon, and you can do a LOT with it. It’s a sprawling urban landscape that is ever-changing, what with the possibility of other players hacking you and stealing you data for notoriety, being able to mess with other people, driving a TON of different vehicles, and improving your abilities all along the way! Nothing says satisfaction than taking off on your motorcycle, having the cops chase you, and then hacking some blockers to pop up, making the cars crash into them at a high rate of speed – or taking out a thug by hacking the explosive that he’s wearing, causing him to come to a bit of a messy end.

Grand Theft Auto V – This one surprised me, as I tried playing San Andreas before, and was not impressed with it. Rockstar games took what they had and reinvented themselves on a grand scale. Another game with a MASSIVE map, and lots of different missions you can play in any order that you choose! That, coupled with the GTA Online section, and you have quite a bit of game time on your hands before you’ll be done with this title. If you haven’t played a GTA title in the past, then this is the perfect one to get your feet wet into. Take it from me…….it really is a game you should check out.

Right now, I’m playing Red Dead Redemption, which looks like it’ll be another one to add to my list of games. I’ve also played Red Faction Guerilla, which lets you wander all over the place and blow the crap out of absolutely EVERYTHING. Granted, not all games are for all people, but I think these games are real keepers and worth your time to check out!

First-Person Squared – Cookie Cutter Games Go Away

I’ve loved games for as far back as I care to remember – at least back to the late 70’s when they first appeared on the scene – those were games like Pong, Combat/Tanks, and Space Invaders. Back in the day, you had so many different types of games and so many different mechanics about those games – whether it be serving up beer, playing football, exploring space stations, one-on-one fighting matchups, driving……..so many different games to choose from! I think the reason there were so many different types of games in the arcades was because programmers HAD to be innovative in order to get your hard-earned quarters, which in turn, made their profits grow, and people got paid quite well for making a successful game!

Games like Defender had us racing around shooting many different things at once. Star Wars had us flying an X-Wing and being part of the Rebel Alliance, Tapper had us slinging beer down the bars for thirsty patrons, Sinistar had us blowing up asteroids and other ships before the ominous words "Beware! I Live!" boomed through the speakers, making our pulses race, and Gauntlet had us crawling through dungeon after dungeon while our health dwindled down inexorably towards zero.

After a while though………it seems like the innovation has ended. More and more, games fell into one of just a few styles of play – 1-on-1 fighting, driving, sports, guns, or dancing. Beyond that, I haven’t found much innovation in the arcades since the 90’s. Home console games seem to be going the same direction – many of which are first-person shooters or real-time-strategy games. If you look at Halo, Doom, Half-Life 2, Destiny (I hope the final product has more variety!), and Wolfenstein, you see a common theme – you’re looking down the barrel of your weapon to shoot at whatever your enemy is. Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Injustice…..all brawlers – granted with different mechanics, but still fighting games.

I guess I’m just looking for more in a game than a variation on a theme, although there is one theme I am really in love with – open world games! To me, a game with a massive map just chock FULL of goodies, missions, and extras just begs to be explored and savored! What games are like this, you ask? Well, the InFamous series, Prototype, and lately Grand Theft Auto V fill that need, and do it pretty handily. I’m hoping Destiny turns into a real open world wonder – same with the upcoming No Man’s Sky – that one just looks beautiful! Other games that have a unique vibe to them are ones like the Katamari Damacy series, El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron, Fatal Frame II – mainly because they feel different than the usual ones you hear about.

These days, I don’t go to the arcades much anymore because all I see are a bank of crane games (we know THEY suck), a bank of driving games, a dance game in the middle, and maybe a few skee-ball lanes……..well, I’ll still play skee-ball. Other than that, the arcades are struggling, and I know why……we’ve all known for some time. Home consoles and computer games have come into their own to where they can deliver a much fuller experience than the arcades, so they don’t need to go and plunk quarters or dollars into a game when they can just buy it outright and play it for many many days! At least you don’t have to worry about people lining up quarters on your game, spilling soda on your sneakers, or brats heckling you just because you’re new at a game that they have pretty much mastered by skipping school. I think arcades are still missed though, mainly because you had to actually leave your house, get to the location, and actually interact with other people there (although some still managed to avoid that aspect of the experience).

I do miss the pinball machines though………although I’m sure they’ll make a perfect video version of that too. Oh wait………..they already did. Darn.

Gaming This Week: June 1st

Well, it’s been a week of new games and some new progress in games that I’ve been playing.  I’ve found that there are a few games that I’ve been actually enjoying and having a blast with.  Let’s delve into this week’s topics!

inFamous (PS3) – This week I actually got a stunt unlocked that I’ve been trying for months to get.  It’s called “Splash & Crash”.  Basically, you have to jump off a building, hit an enemy with a lightning bolt, then do a Thunder Drop on the same enemy.  For some, this is pretty easy, but it’s been a PAIN to get!  Of course, now that I got it, it’s so far along in the game that I probably won’t get the last 2-3 stunts to get my Stunt Master trophy.  *sigh* – guess I’ll be doing another run-through.  At least I’ll get my “Hard Finish” trophy, so that’s one closer to completion.

If you have not played inFamous, I highly recommend it.  There are a total of 4 games out:  inFamous, inFamous 2, inFamous: Festival of Blood (all PS3), and of course, inFamous: Second Son for the PS4 – SO worth the time and expense!

Wolfenstein: The New Order (PS3/PS4) – I pre-ordered this title some time ago for the PS3, then I picked it up, but hadn’t played it yet.  I then ran across some articles that say if you get this and have a PS4, you should get it for this above any other platform, SO…..I took it back to the game store and was able to swap it for the PS4 version.  Yay me!  I started playing it,  and it’s a good FPS game (not sure if you can switch to 3rd-person view like some other Bethesda titles), but the graphics are solid, the sound is great, and the controls are solid.  I think I’m going to give this one its fair shake and see just how far I can take this fight with the Nazis in the alternate-timeline 60’s.

Watch Dogs (PS4) – How can you not love games that have you hacking and taking control of stuff?  Well, if you have played GTA or Saint’s Row, then you are familiar with taking stuff that’s not yours, only Watch Dogs throws a cyber-twist into the mix.  You can literally hack into anything within your reach on the ctOS network, such as ATM machines, street lights, bridge controls, hacking personal information – just about anything is up for grabs.  Nice crisp graphics, tight controls, and a good story so far lead me to believe this one is a keeper.  Oh…and the playmap is MASSIVE.  For a plus, get the Season Pass – and if you have an Android device, get the free Watch Dogs ctOS Companion app – it’s free, and lets you take control of the city to fight against players!  So far, I like this one!

Skyrim (PS3) – I tried this one before, and while it takes a while to set up your character (you have a TON of options), it does seem to deliver a pretty solid story.  I was put off at first due to the first-person perspective, but then found out from my friends that you CAN switch to third-person view by toggling the R3 button.  So now I picked up the Legendary Edition since it’s cheap, and will give it another go.  I’ll have more to report on this later on.

Touch My Katamari (Vita) – I have enjoyed all Katamari titles since the PS2 days (although Beautiful Katamari on the 360 left me cold as you paid for the game, only to find out you had to pay MORE to unlock the REST of the game!), but this one lends a new twist to the game as you can smoosh and stretch the katamari to different shapes in order to achieve your goals.  The Vita makes good use of the dual-analog sticks, but also lets you use the touch screens to your advantage as well.  Yup – it’s a keeper!

Yes, I favor mainly Sony products, even though I do have a first-gen Xbox, Wii, and some older systems, so I’ll do my best to throw in some other stuff as I get through playing my ever-growing list of games I’ve started and have yet to finish.  I hope this helps somewhat if you are thinking about any of these games.  Feel free to comment, leave feedback, subscribe to my blog for other randomness, and I hope to see you again soon!

Shall We Play A Game?

To me, games are a way of relaxing, flexing your creativity, and just having some good old-fashioned fun.

In a lot of ways, I guess I’m a casual gamer.  I don’t really do MMO games, although I do play two server-based web games – Command & Conquer: Tiberium Alliances and OGame.  These games feature a pretty similar mindset – build up your resources, build up your forces, and go toe-to-toe with various other players around the country or world.  The nice thing is that you really don’t have to pay to play these games, although some of the enhancements or bonuses do come in handy, especially in later stages of the games.

Sometimes, you get those players who just love coming up to you and blowing you away – repeatedly.  These people I compare to those kids in the arcade that, when you’re playing a competitive game against the computer, they put their quarter in without asking, blow you away, and pretty much take over the machine.  Yeah……..those scumbags.  They pretty much ruin the experience.  I’ve learned that on the most part, the best response is to just walk away and do something else – or move your base away from opposition and be more of a peaceful player.  Sometimes this doesn’t work out though, and they chase you around.  Oh well…….it’s not like you’re going to be out any money from this activity.

Apart from those two games, I’m pretty much a solo player.  I don’t play console games that require online multiplayer activity, even though some trophies on PSN say you need to do these things multiplayer.  Well, I guess some trophies will not be part of my collection.  I really have no desire to seek out opponents to do battle with – usually because they are much better than me and end up not only beating me, but pretty much burning their brand on my head and mocking me to the world.  I can take getting beat, but don’t be a dick about it.

Am I a sore loser?  Usually no, but if you’re a douche, then I’ll just fade away from your view and go do something else.  It’s not worth the stress or my time to make you look better.  After all…………it’s just a game – right?