Seriously – today is (at least according to the calendar) the third “official” day of Summer, but I wouldn’t know it as it was so cold yesterday I actually had to fire up the furnace for an hour to keep temps at a comfortable 68 degrees. Where has Summer gone?
While I can’t speak on the rest of the world (where I know at least half of it is now in Winter), here in Minnesota we’ve seen an unusually chilly, rain filled Spring. I know others across the nation are also feeling a soggy effect as even this late into the year there are still talks of major flooding and evacuations. Sure we may have had a day or two of extremely high temperatures – one day we set a local record of 103 degrees – but since that day a few short weeks ago our days have been gray and overcast, with small amounts of sun peeking out here and there letting us know that it still exists, if only briefly.
Sure – gray, wet days are conductive to video gaming. Why go outside in the miserable weather when I can sit comfortably on my dry comfy couch and play games based in Sunny L.A. or Mushroom Kingdom? Why enjoy a cold walk around the lakes when I can head into a dark, popcorn scented theater and enjoy the latest output from Hollywood? But that doesn’t mean that I don’t want to see the sun at least ONCE this Summer? Because while a rainy day may promote healthy gaming, it also keeps my energy filled children indoors with unsuitable outlets of energy draining fun. Nothing like being cooped up with a couple of insane children, bouncing off the walls all day long, all the while scheming new methods to induce bodily harm upon one another.
Today – at least according to television meteorologists is supposed to be the first day in at least a week of pure sun. With temps finally dragging their way out of the low seventies and into the mid Eighties, a taste of Summer at the very least. Though it has to be tempered with the news that at least some of the days will also see a bit of that rain that has plagued our Spring – but hey, at least there will be sunshine in between the rains. That has to account for something right?
And wouldn’t you know it, just as Summer may be getting it’s act together, those tricksters at Valve have decided that this would be the perfect week to try and keep everyone inside by not only offering a week long Uber Update for Team Fortress 2, with tons of new gear and some statistical bumps, but have also decided that from now until the end of time their seminal first person shooting hats game will also become a totally Free To Play Game, where players can get the entire Team Fortress 2 game for free, with the option of purchasing some of the more exclusive items at their in-game store. Its been something that eagle eyed gamers have seen coming, but its still a refreshing surprise and one of the more popular games to enter into the Free2Play route in the last few months.
And that about covers my contractual obligations for the week. Now to get outside and enjoy the Vitamin D while I can – before those pesky evening storms roll in to ruin my perfect day. Ah, who am I kidding. I’m probably just gonna sit around all day with my face plastered to my 3DS as I try to rescue a princess from an evil troll in a land called Hyrule. Oh well.
What Games Are You Playing This Weekend???
It has been a soggy spring here as well. The bottom of my back yard at times has resembled a creek (rumors of discarded games in said creek are greatly overstated).
For me it's Assassins Creed 2 that I'm tackling in my free time. I have my stronghold and I'm pumping money into at the same time battling those Templar scum. This week I purchased AC Brotherhood so I'm read to continue when I finish up 2 and have Revelations preordered to get the free upgrade to the collectors edition.
I'm holding off preordering Skyrim as the details of the collectors edition have not been released. Of corse it's a good bet that I'll be grabbing it anyway with it being my favorite gaming franchise. Although AC is working it's way up my list as well.
I have to settle into a sweet spot for the 3D effect on my 3DS, so probably a bit of Ocarina of Time. I'm already finding that if I set the slider halfway it's not quite as disconcerting to look at (but it also seems easier to lose the effect if you move the handheld).
Some Terraria too, maybe some Team Fortress 2, and Fable 3.
It's chilly here as well - at least, relative to Summer. But it's also been warm and humid most other days, so I can appreciate the cooler weather.
I hope to get some TF2 in, now that the new updates are up -- hopefully they fix the item server overloads from last night soon, because that was getting pretty irritating.
I am so tired
I just want to get some ZZZs.
Probably some Plants vs Zombies and the usual Pinball,
I'm glad I didn't pay full price for PvZ, I guess I beat it after having it for 2 days. Normally I suck at Tower Defense games, but when I was on the last level I came up with a system for winning and it got me through all the survival modes. However Endless Survival is a challenge. To get the achievement I need 40 flags and the best I could do was 21. So I got that left.
Loving the cool weather. Never turned the heater on. Mortal Kombat and LA Noire with my wife, mostly.
I had a simple system of using Mr. Squash while I built up sun early on then used lettuce and cobs chuckers. When the second wave hits I switch up for the Melon-Pults and they plowed through everything. Though the Garlic is something I wanted to dab with, I really didn't experiment too much in that game yet. The corncob is definately something I need on Endless Survival.
Some dick has 3,000 flags on the leaderboards. Whatever, lol
team forts too
team forts 2 is free now?
I'll be continuing on through Alice Madness Returns which I'm really enjoying. It's level design is very safe, and it doesn't take any huge steps forward as far as the platforming goes, but there are so few platformers that it feels refreshing, and the art style really makes the game pop out. I'll also be putting more time into Ocarina of Time 3D which has really impressed me so far. The 3D effect is fantastic, it adds a great sense of depth and doesn't feel forced.
Apparently TF2 going free did bring a lot of boys to the yard because TF2 surpassed Counter Strike as the most played game on Steam yesterday, with the peak number of concurrent players being at 71k.
That may not sound like much but it's the first time this has ever happened since Steam launched. For comparison, Black Ops had 25k concurrent players yesterday.
(this also explains why the dang item servers got pounded so hard, although Valve better be on top of a fix for that like now)
EDIT: I am a liar Portal 2 dethroned Counter Strike for a short spell.
EDIT2: And I'm not sure this will last either.
I don't know what game to play. Tell me what game to play and I will play it.
team forts too
I will play some more of The Longest Journey. I'm about 8 chapters in. Puzzles are good in that they aren't too obscure and I can think through the items I have and it usually makes sense what needs to be done. The story is decent and there have been a good variety of characters to keep things interesting.
Remember how I talked up the fact that we were gonna finally get some sun yesterday? Well that lasted till about 4pm when the clouds rolled back in. And now its 10 am in the morning and the clouds are STILL here. And its not those light clouds that still let most of the sunlight in, its those dark ones that make you think that its still a half-hour till sunrise. Bah. At least it isn't raining out - yet.
Game-wise I'm still tackling Zelda 3D and Infamous 2 - though to be honest things have come up in the last couple days that have drained my game time to almost nothing. I should be able to rectify that later today and tomorrow, but still...
I've also become completely enamored of the concept of Shadows of the Damned, the latest Suda 51 game. I've been reading more and more positive reviews and my twitter has basically become a sounding board for how great and over-the-top crazy the whole game is. Its gotten me to the point where I've decided to pick this one up just to get in on the all the positive buzz I've been hearing. Sure it looks extremely violent and off the walls goofy, but isn't that a selling point on most Suda 51 games? Of course having the kids around all the time thanks to Summer Vacation means I'll have to play this one late at night, but if the game is half as great as they say that might make it worth it.
So I started playing inFamous again as part of Sony's "Welcome Back" promotion.
Umm, yeah. Still not a fan.
I suppose there's things to like. The level of freedom given to you is a nice touch as you scale buildings and whatnot, and the electrical powers really do feel fun. But there's something I just don't like about it. Perhaps it's the tone, as vague a descriptor as that is. I don't know.
Tell me what I'm missing!
One thing I absolutely love: no title screen. You watch it load for a few seconds and bam, you're in the action. That's a nice feature.
I finally got Full Spectrum Warrior to stop being retarded on my PC, so I am totally gonna rock some FSW action this weekend. Anyone who wants to run Bravo team with me in co op goodness, let me know, though I am probably the only person here who owns this game for PC so.... yeah nm
Played Sam and Max Season 3 Episode 3 the other night. I played the Da Vinci Disappearance DLC for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood, and got sucked into it like I do with pretty much all things Assassin's Creed (or at least Ezio AC). Played the new single player content on Motorstorm Apocalypse, and did a quick time trial run on the new tracks, but didn't play online yet. I'm a sliver from level 48. I haven't played Team Fortress 2 yet but I'm sure I will.
The new main game that I started up was Ghostbusters, which I got on a Steam sale for some crazy amount (like $2.50). Yeah the PC version is gimped as they didn't include multiplayer... but really who cares about Ghostbusters multiplayer? Probably would have been better off just ignoring multiplayer and focusing more on single player because they had to know that no one was going to play it. Anyway so far I'm quite enjoying it. It's kinda hard not to enjoy fighting in Times Square with the Stay Puft rampaging about.
Continuing through Red Dead Redemption. I just made it over to Mexico and got to hear the intro song that everyone seems to talk about at that point in the game. Pretty cool. I am really liking RDR. As soon as I stopped thinking of it as GTA in the west game and started thinking of it as a REALLY good, living, breathing western game, I started to enjoy it even more.
Will continue playing RDR and maybe some Black Ops or MK for my multiplayer fix.
I keep going back and forth as to whether I want to pick up Shadows of the Damned and Alice Madness Returns. They both seems like games I'd really like but they both also seem like games I won't get a whole lot of replay value out of. Missing any sort of new game + from Shadows of the Damned seems to bring that game down a little bit.
However, I own and have beaten Bioshock and it doesn't have a new game + feature (I think). I really liked Bioshock but, then again, I've gone back and played it a total of zero times.
6 or 7 hours later and I think I'm done with PvZ for now. I lasted 98 flags in Endless Survival and made so much money during it I was able to buy the rest of the house upgrades. It came at a cost. I wanted to watch both the Nationwide race at Road America ( its in WI ) and the Brewer game. However that one game took too long. I should have given up, but the gamer in me battled on. At least I took a break and had dinner.
I think I finally figured out what's going on with Ocarina of Time 3D when you flip the slider to 2D - game turns antialiasing on. Originally I wondered why everything sort of looked funny, like it was getting blurred, where it suddenly became crisp if I flipped the 3D back on.
Not sure what kind of AA the game is using, it's not the greatest effect I've ever seen. Maybe it's similar to that awful type of AA the PS3 uses (forget the acronym offhand)?
Game's a lot of fun so far, but that's sort of to be expected because, well, it's Ocarina of Time. Using the touch screen for inventory and map is a nice touch, although I hate how they haven't integrated a marker for Link into the dungeon maps. Without a compass and without a marker it's easy to get your position in the map confused until you get a hang of the layout. I don't remember if that was in the original, but it was a moot point at the time as you couldn't see your game screen and the map at the same time.
The graphics upgrades are a little less successful outside of the (fantastic) 3D effect. Link's been redone, which is good because every waking moment in the game is spent staring at him. The interiors have been redone, which is a weird choice as you don't spend more than 20 minutes in all of those areas through the entire game. Everything else...nope. There's tufts of grass here and there, but the polygon count for all the environments is identical to the N64 version. So things look really blocky, really flat, and little details like chains and whatnot are almost embarassing. They really bring you out of the game to remind you that yes, this thing is 13 years old.
I can understand why they didn't touch much of that stuff, as once you start editing the geometry of the levels you could end up with some gameplay differences from the original (swapping a character model doesn't really have an effect). Plus, it's far easier and far cheaper to simply add what they've done, and it would be uncharacteristic of Nintendo to put more effort than is necessary into something like this. It's not as lazy as the Mario Anniversary Collection, at least (but what is?).
Overall I'm happy I got the game because the 3D really does add to the experience and the touchscreen stuff is very handy, but other than those things it's a remarkably lazy port.
I just think when someone calls it a "lazy port" that implies that something is wrong with the overall game - and that just isn't the case here.
Sorry to call ya on it, I just felt that that point should be made.
I guess that's true - I just feel that there's more they could have done to upgrade the game, particularly at the $40 asking price.
(though I got the game for free by trading in Portal 2, so I can't complain too much).
I did forget to mention the gyro controls, which I actually do like. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, I found they worked well with the Real Racing games on the iPhone, and here they make up for the shortcomings of the circle pad.
Having said that, I actually find the circle pad usable, which is more than I can say for the abomination of a nub that was included on the PSP. I avoided as many games that used analog as I could there because it was so awful. I don't like it so much that I want it on the Wii U's controller (which is what Nintendo seems to think people want), but it's not bad.
Yeah - I didn't quite understand all the hate that the circle pad was getting from the net during E3 as I find that it works almost as well as a true analog stick, certainly better than the PSP nub. I mean sure it isn't a true stick, but its just as responsive (at least to me) and it certainly works perfectly for the few 3D platformers that I've played on the 3DS.
And add another vote for the gyro controls - as long as you can remember to keep the screen straight while you move it around it works pretty damn well, especially with the slingshot (I haven't quite gotten to the hook shot or arrows yet so I can't comment on those). It does suck though if you turn the screen away - something that you naturally want to do - you lose the 3D effect. But that's the nature of a glasses free 3D device I guess.
Can't say I've seen a lot of complaints about the circle pad, but if so I'd definitely disagree as I think it works absolutely perfectly. I also really like the gyro controls, which suprised me. I was expecting to hate it, but I find it works really well and adds a level of precision that wasn't there in the original. I can really tell a difference in the shop keeper games with the slingshot and bow & arrow.
The game as a whole? Well graphically I'm quite impressed, to be honest I don't feel any disappointment that Lae seems to feel in regards to the open area. There hasn't been any point so far where I've thought "wow that looks old", and to me that's a success. The 3D is used incredibly well adding great depth without being obtrusive.
The one thing I'd admit is that I have sometime had trouble with keeping the 3D effect in focus. Maybe it's because I haven't played any other 3DS games for long periods of time, but I definitely find it to be noticeable. Any time I use the gyro a lot (shop keeper games again) I always turn off the 3D effect, which is too bad because when you're holding the bow & arrow and have an arrow drawn the 3D effect is awesome.
In any case, the game holds up incredibly well. It's not just nostalgia impressing me either, the game really was so well made in 1998 that it still draws me in.
I have a hard time with the 3D as well. I can't really comment on other games because other than the system stuff, Pokemon, and the free Excite Bike, I haven't played any retail games.
The viewing angle is very narrow and even when I finally get it all to line up, I can see a very slight halo around objects with my left eye (or right eye if I move my head). It's most noticeable with light on dark backgrounds, or - particularly - the shop cursor, which seems to break the 3D effect somehow.
I continued played The Saboteur and picked up some deals on games. Kmart has Alice: Madness Returns for $35 and Best Buy price-matches it, so I picked that up. I also got the PS3 collector's edition of AC: Brotherhood for $55. Apparently this was a mistake and they took the tag down, but gave me the discounted price. I also grabbed Batman: the Brave and the Bold for $20.
Brave and the Bold captures the cartoon well (based on the cheesy 60's-era team up comic of the same name) and is a competent beat 'em up once you get used to the awkward layout of controls on the Wii. The only motion controls involve shaking the controller for some hard-hitting moves, so this would have been a perfect PSN game... a decent layout for the main controls and the sixaxis picking up the controller shaking.
Or, you know, they could just put those moves on buttons.
Didn't know where to put this, but this is pretty awesome.
Bungie has an auction going on eBay for tons of Halo concept art to benefit Childs Play. If I had a ton of money I would buy one of these. Pretty neat.
I'm still playing AC2 and really loving it. I agree that it is a much better game than the first AC even though I really enjoyed that game as well. I'm just getting to Venice and other than the feathers I've done everything I could do in the other cities.
Since picking up Brotherhood I've been thinking about AC2 again... its one of the games I lost my save for when my HDD died, and I've been thinking about playing through it again before starting Brotherhood. But that's another open-world game with a climbing mechanic, so I guess I should finish The Saboteur first.