Classics vs Rebirth

     There are several games that came out over the past couple years and coming up in the new year that took an oldie and remade the series. Some were great some lost the meaning along the way and others took a game to a new approach, a new genre and a new look. Here's a listing of what I've experienced.

• Castlevania - Started out a 2d whip wielding adventure against dracula and other monsters. It grew up and into multiple directions the last being a rebirth where it became a prequel and a God of War-ish action adventure in 3 dimensions. The story of which actually puts a new spin on the Belmont vs Dracula fued that the fans have come to know.
• Metal Gear - Yeah folks this was actually given a rebirth with Metal Gear Solid. The game originally came out for nintendo and you had to be sneaky on the 2d map where you were put in some rather interesting situations. Then Solid hit and well the rest is history.
• Zelda - has actually been rebirthed a few times. Each time you are link, but since it all held the classic approach to the story you never truly felt lost.
• Metroid - was a 2d shooter that went to FPS adventure I stopped playing them then.
• Splatterhouse - The classics were a beat em up which were violet for their time. You never really got a taste for the story, but when it was reborn to a three dimensional action game you wanted to go back to the classics to have a taste of how the game grew. Thankfully the developers gave you the classics as an unlockable in the game.

Now believe it or not there are more coming such as DMC the Devil May Cry rebirth and Twisted Metal which hasn't changed too much thankfully. I'll keep you posted as they arise.

A beginners guide to game lingo

Some parents, kids and early gamers can get lost in the gamer world. Like ebonics or online chat speak there is a bit of coding and slang terms which are good to know when playing online, at home or with friends. Here's a listing to help some of you out.

• n00b - pronounced Newb it's to describe a newbie or someone who has not played before.
• 733T - aka Leet a counter term where someone has claimed they are the elite and usually are able to back it up as the game they are playing is usually the only game they play for long periods of time.
• RTS - Real Time Strategy the game works on a path where the enemy does not require you to play to function they move strategically after a period of time to either defend or attack
• FPS - First Person Shooter it's as simple as it sounds you see a gun in front of you and you see from the eyes of the character.
• RPG - Role Playing Game these go back a ways to games like dungeons and dragons and final fantasy
• No Scope - an FPS term meaning they shot with only the smaller crosshairs with a gun that uses a scope. Obvious but argued as only the player playing can tell if that's how the kill was made
• Tea Bagged - Kind of offensive , it's when a player crouches over another player it's a mix of a taunt and an insult. Basically they are claiming after they kill your body they rubbed their nuts in your face.
• Ninja'ed - Refers to a silent melee kill.

Now there are dozens of others both offensive and kind but these tend to be the main you come across.

Review: Grim Grimmoire - PS2 for PS3 via PSN

     With Sony now posting PS2 games on the network I'll admit I was sceptical. The PS1 games used the classic memory card file so I was wondering since as of last update it was no longer listed PS1 PS2 memory card I was worried. I am pleased to say though these play perfectly and have me awaiting so many other classic PS2 games to the playstation network. So on to the game review....

     Having never played the game back on PS2 I was intrigued when it had released but my PS3 was the new big thing and blueray games appealed more than classic PS2 happiness. So on a whim I downloaded this from the playstation network.

Gameplay -

• Real Time Strategy -

This is a rather nice game in this category your a young witch whom battles with familliars and spells to survive her magic school experience. Think somewhat a japanese Harry Potter which met a warped world with a groundhogs day redux
Graphics

• 2d sprite based

This is actually what made this game good. You have a room where enemies are hidden in darkness. you summon faries, elves and the such to find crystals and build up a sizeable defence to protect yourself. It's a winner take all approach. Kill off all enemy spawners to win.
Story -

     You know when a story starts and you feel kind of lost. This game starts out like that you get a feeling of familliar faces and story, but it's deep but redundant at parts. You are a young witch joining magic school you learn about mana spirits and basics then a horrible evil is released which should lead to your death but then it goes "groundhog day" and your back at day one with all you learned just living those days again. Now I've not completed the story yet so it may change after a few chapters, but you kind of get a gist that the story is going to wrap in a vortex for a while till you learn everything.

Noteable abilities effects-

     I like the way this plays out with almost a rock paper scissors effect you have Glamour which beats Necromancy which beats Sorcery which beats Alchemy which beats Glamour. Now I may have parts of that turned around, but you get the idea. So as you learn each craft you learn it's strenths and weakness which in the testplay arena (where all books are unlocked) you can try things out I personally have noticed that Dragon seems to trump just about all. except when you have a large enough army to throw at it. The artwork alone kept me playing the character animations to the story are simplistic but they gave them a breathing effect which makes some of the rather endowed females boobs heave noticeably.  There's alot of really cool effects to your creatures as well such as Dragons crawl along the stage on top of everything. Some of the little creatures like imps and spooks have cartoonish/comic book like animations.

Overall-

    If you like games like swords and soldiers this will play nicely for you but at a better pace. It's not so much a heavy impending doom it's a bit more expanded. It's really worth the money either playstation network or if you spent the money for the disc way back when.

Most Wanted Games 2012

As we come closer to the new year I've devised a list of games I'm not only waiting for, but games I feel are going to be hits of 2012. Some are sequels, some rebirths of a series but all seem to have grabbed my attention one way or another over the past year and are on my list for games I need to play.

• Twisted Metal PS3
• Darksiders 2
• Soul Calibur V
• Borderlands 2
• Final Fantasy XIII 2

Now this list may be short, but they are games hinted at and promised (Dave Jaffe I'm looking at you) to be polished, bigger, better, faster and more appetising than a twelve course meal of your favorite foods. I'm sure this list will grow as they new year comes and a more definitive list of what is to come is presented to us the gamers but so far these are the games I'm waiting to see.

The VGA's

     So I took a break Saturday from gaming to watch the VGA's on Spike. Now besides my elation at the Joker winning the Best Character category I was not as impressed as I was in previous years till I saw the trailer for Metal Gear Rising. Which appears to be finally a Metal Gear I can do a bit of damage before my siblings whomp me at.... why you may ask "Sword Play". This one seems to be my type of game so hopefully it stays that way.

     Spikes VGA's were ok, decent humor, a few rants and tea bagging but I think they went a bit mainstream towards the Rpg and Fps hype. Not that I won't play some of the games, but it seemed like they were pushing instead of celebrating some of these games. So it's almost like a salespitch  than award show but seeing the "Black Baron" bitch out a Spike exec was more than humorous.

     Now another point I'd like to state is it's great that they started a hall of fame and their first induction to the Hall of Fame was The Legend of Zelda, but either one of two things are going to be caused because of this.
1.) Rebirths of a series that started out back in the days of Nintendo
2.) An unnecessary sequel or further instalment of a game just trying to get the original into the hall of fame.
Personally speaking I can think of a few games that should have been inducted as well as Zelda. Here's my list of who made my cut.

• Castlevania - not nearly as old as Zelda but people still mention it in their list of reasons they bought their nintendo
• Contra - yead it died out a bit due to some rather unusual sequels but it's another classic that you can't deny
• Mario - yeah Nintendo's flagship child made my cut but only because either you were a Sega Kid or Nintendo kid back in the day I was a Nintendo kid.
• Final Fantasy - not for being one of the only Rpg's that made it this far but because I still see people fighting over copies of the classics.
• Twisted Metal - yeah not as old but in a class by it's self
• Doom and or Wolfenstein but's that's more of a PC not console Hall of Famer
• Tetris - do you know anyone who will not play tetris?

I can't say that these are all instant classics but they are games that were elemental to my gaming history and the history of many gamers I know today.

Review: Rune Factory: Tides of Destiny

     This was brought to my attention because as an Rpg it takes forever for me to beat and I always get lost into a good story. This is not what you call a typical Rpg as I'm used to, but being theres a further series to this game I'm intrigued to see where it goes. Think Animal Crossing meets the Sims meets a good game. Not that I'm bashing Animal Crossing or the Sims but I find them boring. The tasks are similar though.

    The story is weird so far... get this you and your best friend who's female are walking down the road you see a flash. You wake up she's gone but you can hear her.... I turns out her soul is trapped inside your body. So as weird as this has gotten so far I'm intrigued because the battle sequence is easy so there must be a bigger trick to it. Some of the quests are irritating because you don't always understand what they are looking for exactly.

   Artwork wise it's beautiful although done in anime style to the super cute end of the spectrum it's not too overdone. There's no lack of amazing sights except in the creation process where it's a simple line crossing a bar minigame. There is a wide assortment of images and visuals to keep the player intrigued as to what may be coming next.

   Sillyness Factor - I don't really like to rely on using something like this determination for a game but this one has some points that you really need to understand before playing

Things you get better at skill wise

• Walking
• sleeping
• bathing
• eating
• jumping

Sad thing here these are all facts to this game. You gain skills in walking now how this actually helps you is that when you walk you skill up and this refills some of your RP which you need to do tasks. But trust me you feel silly walking across the street and seeing "skill up" above your head. I understand it for working on items or crops or building or fighting but walking, sleeping, eating? Yeah this is where things have been odd.

Although I definately recommend it if your looking for a game that will eat some time and keep you guessing.

Videogame History Facts and unusualities

• The Original Sony Playstation was supposed to be a cd drive for nintendo's Super Nintendo entertainment system but the deal fell through
• The Konami Code Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A B A Start works on almost every Konami game (some variations apply) but has different results.
• Super Mario was based on Nintendo Ceo Matsimoto's college landlord
• The Sega Dreamcast was never advertised until after it was released for 2 months
• Kratos from god of war's original design was to be a centurian with a sword and sheild
• Capcom is known for it's cross overs but several other game companies do it as well just in different style of games other than fighting.
• The Konami code is also the most well known videogame code in the world, it has appeared in cartoons, movies and comic books.
• Recent Street Fighter Character Sheng Long is a case of mistaken history. In Street Fighter 2 Ryu is quoted for saying "You must get past Sheng Long to defeat me". People took this as Sheng Long being Ken and Ryu's Sensei but the original translation was to mean "you must get past my Dragon Punch to defeat me".
• Most game series are actually alot further along than we are aware of because not all sequels of a game come over to the United States from Japan.

An apology and Playstation Plus

First off I'd like to apologize for some of my last posts as they are kind of lazy and quick written. I'll most likely rereview some of the games to give a better perception of gameplay.

Now on to the current topic:
Playstation Plus

     This service of the playstation network is often questioned and alot of people like to ask me about the pro's and con's of the service especially the $50 a year charge. I figure I shall break it down and show you the pro's and con's of this rather unique service by playstation. As the holidays are here and if you're looking to get someone you love a gift card for the year or even the 3 month pack this will hopefully help you out.

PROS

• Access to beta versions of games - let me clarify this a bit it's not a new beta every week or even every month game developers offer it to playstation whom offer it to plus members first.
• Free games - This part I can vouch for each month garunteed you get a free game of Sony's choice from the playstation network it's usually an older or game that did rather well for a while on their charts. Sometimes good sometimes so so but if your gamer is a trophy hound it's worth it just for a free gameplay. Now with this also comes free mini's and PS1 titles which sometimes come sparatically where each week is a free classic game.
• Add ons Free - this varies depending on the developer you can definately get some awesome free game add ons or if not free there is always a Plus member sale
• Discounts - this is where things are both smart and sometimes annoying. There is always a Plus Member discount section so sometimes your add on's are five dollars instead of ten. But this changes every so often so it's good to check every tuesday when the store is updated.
• Themes and Avatars - some are free some are discounted  I can't really say that either is bad cause a percent off of under a dollar is still practically free.

Cons? -

• $50 a year bugging you? I don't know why because the content you get tends to be worth almost triple that so really this isn't a con. (sorry)
• Network outage - Anyone remember the network outage back in April god how it sucked and you think outage = money lost on a subscription ..... Sony made up for it by adding the time down to the end of their plus members subscription so my original 12 months went up by about 2. Damn not a con again,.......

Most people tell me that the biggest con is the price but look at stuff like mmo prices or even Xbox Live subscriptions they pay monthly appx $15 a month that's roughly $180 a year and they only get access to the xbox live arcade and online play. Sony offers their online play for free and their store as well for free this is just a bonus of free things every month. So weigh it out.

Game Review: Dungeon Defenders

     This was a nice surprising mix of tower defense and Rpg. The beginner suggestion for a character is a mage so that's what I've played so far. The tower defence part is relatively simplistic yet functional you build defences to keep the enemy horde, coming from almost all angles I might add, at bay. Your character can cast it's attack to help ward off the ones that get past the defences. It's a quick learn and honestly you can build up your weaponry and defences rather quickly. The challenge here is that some enemies are immune to certain attacks thus you need supporting towers. The waves go from simplistic to Psychotic from 20 badguys of about the same type to hordes of all sizes.

     For a playstation network game this was a surprising joy as the game is easily picked up unlike some of their other titles which if you're not used to the game you have a hard time understanding how the flow of the game works. This game isn't completely based on skill alone if you can build up your attack as well as your abilities the strategic gameplay isn't completely necesary. Also the vice versa is true as well. you can build up the tower stats which share your stats and do just as well. I tend to play down the middle and alot of the pick ups you find give you a great chance to up your attacks and defences as part of the armor bonuses.

Game Review: Cartoon Network Punchtime Explosion EX

     Given the licencing for some of these characters I'm supprised they didn't expand this further. I read about the Nintendo DS version and hoped it would translate well to a console. If you've played and enjoyed Super Smash Brothers you'll find this comfortable. There's a lacking here where you could have gone really overboard with some awesome battles by adding characters such as Gumball, Generator Rex, Johnny Test, and several others. Your tride and true characters are represented to a limit. You got Johnny Bravo, Grim, Codename Kids Next Door, Billy and Mandy, Blue and Mac, the powerpuff girls, Dexters Lab, Samurai Jack and Ben 10 characters. Personally they got some good and some bad. The balance is off and honestly this game could be so much more.

Batman: Arkham City Review

I'd like to start this of warning yes this may spoil the story for you if you have not played the game yet. I'm not trying to give any spoilers, but after finishing alot of the game I think I can give a rather direct and honest approach to this game.

      Arkham Asylum was in depth I will admit it slowly drew me in between takedowns and clever gadget approaches I was hooked. We now have Arkham City...... Which I will admit has drawn me in further..... between some clever gameplay and a story that I'm told will change when I finish everything I'm hooked. There's a bit of lookback to Arkham Asylum as you can see it from some of the rooftops and some characters you thought were dead well aren't. They hint at Killer Croc and to be honest after the last game I'm still a bit jumpy if they claim he's loose.

    There's a nice change of pace with this title as you get a play off with catwoman whom isn't that great to use especially with a group of well armed thugs but still quick and agile enought to get the job done. What impressed me honestly was appearances of Ras Al Ghul and Mr Freeze. Two Face doesn't get enough play, but they make it clear this story can continue. The thing that may lead to help or hurt this series though is their promising add on content. Bringing in both Robin and Nightwing as playable hero's with their own challenges.

    Overall I agree with alot of the supporters of this game an instant 10 of 10 this game is worth having between the side missions and story alone. They mix enough of the comic series in to keep you playing and between a "mysterious watcher" and some crafty tricks to keep you thinking Arkham city is a great gaming experience. Infact I'm going to simplify this further and give you a listing of the things I don't like about this game.

1.   sometimes off controls (but that may be my controller)
2. Catwomans defense scheme takes some getting used to

That's it.... Really..... normally I find a few flaws and some things that aggrivate me to no end, but once you get some of the tricks of the trade everything seems amazingly easy and you can't help but ponder what type of trap awaits you next.

Instant 10.

     Picked up "Batman - Arkham City" today ironically received Game Informer today and it got a ten already. From what I'm reading online it's an instant 10. I've played about an hour and a half in and I can just begin to see the depth of this game. So it should be an epic tale played out. I'm liking the improvements made already I'll go in further depth with my own review later. Honestly wanted to share that instant 10 moment.

Review: Spyro's Skylanders Adventures

ESRB Rating - E for everyone
Accesories - Portal pad and figures

     I'll admit this I saw the commercials alone and wanted to try it. I think almost everyone has seen the commercials for this game but never realize it's a console game that is powered by action figurines.

Gameplay: It's your basic bash and shoot em up simple enough for the kids to play in depth enough that some of the grown ups will want to play with it too.

Storyline: You are the portal master and in charge of bringing back the skylanders to defend the peace from Darkness and Chaos.

     This one actually amazed me shortly after set up. The game is simplistic, but there is enough challange at points and amusement of the cartoony characters to appeal to almost anyone. It plays simple enough the game advises you to choose your skylander and place him upon the portal. Just about instantly the character you chose appears in game. Granted they chose characters that deal with different elements and abilities making you require more than the base pack to get everything first playthrough. There are at current a total of 30 figures and your starter pack comes with 3.  The huge thing that might affect actual success of this game is the fact of buying figures to play further. single figures are $7 (us) and 3 packs as well as expansions are $20 (us). I bought a figure of each element type  and an expansion. I can honestly say beyond the pricetag it's worth it to have a variety and each stage has a beneficial area made for a character of each element. This makes changing figures on the portal a bit tedious, but since they transfer rapidly and just about instantly it's not really that much of a bother.

      There's also webplay which at time of post I've not played with yet. For the price you do get alot of collectable stuff like stickers and posters as well as the figures and gameplay from the figures. The game also is multiplayer that simply turn on another controller and place another figure on the portal when prompted and you and a friend can battle forth.

    The game holds some adult humor like cartoons of past where it's subtle enough to pass by the kids. As well you have some talented voice acting like Richard Horvitz (Billy from The Grim adventures of Billy and Mandy, Invader Zim) and Patrick Warburton (Joe from Family guy, Kronk from Emperors New Groove). Simply you may find this game an expensive hobby or collectable for your kids but for the price there is actually hours upon hours of playtime that in my opinion may nullify the price.

I am 8 bit

        So for something new to look at I started looking further at I am 8 bit. (yeah I know this time and date stamps my history pretty well) Which is a gallery of artwork based on classic 8 bit games from the era of NES. For anyone like me it's a trip down memory lane sort of .... It's a clever and crafty approach to show how videogames can influence an artist. Some of the pieces are an easy call of being able to say "Oh wow that's a cool approach of Link from Legend of Zelda" or "Cool a piece done about Contra or Castlevania" some as with all art... I just don't get until I read the title.

check out here for more information:
http://iam8bit.com/

ESRB Ratings are they affecting how game developers design our games too much?

     I've noticed a trend lately you get a decently moderate game with a mature rating and compared to games put out about a year ago they're actually not as graphic or mature. I understand the game developers don't want to be scarred with the Adult Rating kiss of death but has fear of this started ruining the gaming industry. Sure some titles still prevail with the Mature rating and I agree with the rating but some titles seem like their bumped up for a game that really  should probably be targeting a younger demographic.

Example: X- Men Destiny
ESRB Rating: Teen
time it takes to complete the game: 8 hours or less

      Now I partially understand the rating here you have a rally of peace be attacked and a people vs mutants war going on so I understand that some children might not be able to follow the story of this game much. But the game play mechanics start out super easy and go as far as frustrating on a single part towards the end. Maybe I've played too many games like it, but I feel like at moments the game isn't trying to challenge me but overwhelm me which cause instant glitching. Something along the lines of what alot of the Super Nintendo era games did.

Example: Dante's Inferno
ESRB Rating: Mature
Time it takes to complete game 6-10 hours

     Now I understand this rating you have nudity, heaven, hell, demons, lust, mutant dead babies trying to eat you etc... The gameplay mechanics on this are a bit more elaborate and honestly made for a story I played through several times and occasionally return to just for the fun.

Now if you put these two examples side by side it's actually the same game mechanics on one level you fight foward but Dante's Inferno actually apprroached the game mechanics smartly there's a more fluid play foward. There's challenge and it doesn't try to toy with you, then give you a rather difficult jumping segment for 3 seconds and then throw a boss at you that really is difficult to attack without going overboard.

Lets look at a series to see if I can give a better example
Series: Resistance
Rating for all titles in series : Mature

Game 1
Resistance Fall of Man

     It took me a while to get ahold of what was coming at me next in this game with the mature rating I was understanding since my job was to kill chimeran forces that were hunting man and kill them. The story followed one man who somehow survived and became a fighting force foward in the name of man. There were a variety of enemy machinery and gunners they even had odd mutations that I went "OH SHIT" when I first saw because I had no Idea how to approach such a creature. The game was creative and honestly one of the best PS3 Release titles ever made.

Game 2
Resistance 2

     This one went more smoothly as I had an Idea of what to expect from the first game. They still threw curveballs at me that I literally jumped at because it threw me off guard. The bosses that you came across really seemed more like ok how do I tackle this creature and oh my god where is going to come from next. The mechanics seemed to anticipate your playing to try and keep you on your toes and with some new weapons at your disposal it was worth playing.

Game 3
Resistance 3

    After the first two I was ready again for war but annoyed as they end of two killed the man who was fighting for man kind because he was about to turn against us and his killer was now the hero? I decided to hold back my judgement and take on the waves of monsters and with further new toys I thought this should make life interesting. This is where either Insomniac games got lazy or they held back due to fear of a higher ESRB rating and since we are already at mature next is the dreaded ADULT. I really want an answer here. Yes new bosses, yes it's a challenge and yes I played through like a man on a mission but storywise it went really cliche and you don't feel as in depth and caring for the hero, nor do you come across anything that should keep this in the Mature rating as much as previous games. Enemies fall over when you shoot them not explode (except from headshots and a cheat from beating the game) you're not being hunted your holding a position and trying to make sure you can hold them off for 10 minutes so someone can decide where you go next. There was NO last boss but a falling to your doom minigame that was difficult to fail. Then it seems like everything in this hero's life goes back to normal.

WTF!?

I battled foward and even bragged about rankings amongst freinds for ingame and online play and the final story is everything appears to be going back to normal. In the first one I killed and Angel who almost ripped me to shreads, then I fought Daedelus who was far more mutated than where I was heading to obtain some power from him to be shot in the head by some annoying asshole who you made the hero and then life goes normal for this loser?

Is this ESRB threats of and Adult rating scar or are game designers getting lazy?

Gamer Tags:

To the right side of the screen you'll see mine as an example of these online bragging rights graphics.

     Ironically the only one that hasn't kept up with my gaming has been the official Sony one each and every otherone I've seen has kept up with my game playing. If you notice It''s just about 2 level's behind and 1000 ish trophy's late.

     Now I normally don't nit pick, but having been on some of the game forums lately I've been noticing just about no one has the Sony one yet they boast millions of different tags that either stick to their gaming or show of some specified acheivements players have made in game. For example the following:

     Insomniac Games actually allows you to set these up for Resistance 3 now this doesn't get too into what I've pulled off like headshots, assists, kills or the usual etc... but if you know your layout it does allow you to give people an Idea of how far you've made it in the multiplayer warfare. Please if you find any more of these that I can display and share please let me know.

What's your genre?

     If you play as many games as I do you tend to find a genre that works for you, be it action adventure, Rpg, Fps, Racing or the what not. Almost all games now seem to cross genre a bit. So my question to the world is what's your genre?

X-Men Destiny

So I picked up X Men Destiny today at gamestop and was advised by the clerks they didn't care for it. As usual I become suspicious as to why?

So Why didn't they like this game.... Lets go to a breakdown -

Pro's -

• Selectable mutant powers and choices between good and evil
• Battle system is your usual Action Adventure with the X Men twist
• Suits and Xgene's will give you additional abilites that will boost your battle abilities
• a decent mix of the X Men cast and characters taking place after the death of Professor X
• Power up system of experience is similar to God of War

Con's -

• System plays out glitchy at moments I was actually unable to pause in parts due to a bit of over clutter.
• Your choices of characters to play are not X Men or Part of the Brotherhood of evil mutants. They're teenagers whom recently discovered their powers.
• Camera Angles are a bit off especially for boss fights
• Some of the "quest" actions needed are either too easy or just off

So in comparison I'm still not seeing what they didn't like except that maybe they expected to play as an X Men or member of the Brotherhood. There are moments of glitchyness but with any game after it comes out there a moments that it goes a little glitchy. I'm a little disappointed in some of the camera angles but I've played alot of Genji Dawn of the Samurai and other games where they pushed the camera on angles that weren't so easy to work with.

     Then again from my own personal angle I've usually like either the games no one else liked or that I was told wasn't that great. From my personal standpoint this game was not truly the worst game ever and No guys at Gamestop I will not be back tomorrow to return it.

DLC bonus or not worth it.

    With the new formats of computers and game consoles alot are now using DLC to expand current games or make creative changes. My question to the world is are they worth it? I'll admit I've spent a good deal of money for extra stages, characters, game modes, abilities and options. Now considering that everything I bought I've enjoyed I think some of it is worth it, but I want a more public opinion.

    So let's keep this interesting If you think it's worth it I want examples of what you purchased what it does for your game and was it worth it?

Resistance 3: Aftermath Game beaten and online madness

     Insomniac Games has been pushing alot of promotion for this the third incarnation of the Resistance Saga (for PS3 that is). I've finally beaten the story mode and have been continuing the war online in multiplayer. I've found that some things are lacking but the multiplayer is become just as big of a monster as the previous incarnations. Here's the breakdown -

Story Mode:

• The story is a whimper compared to the previous roars of Nathan Hale
• Trophies are not impossible, but some seem redundant.
• Joe Capelli is not a man remade he seems like a reluctant hero relying on chiche's to save the day

Online Play:

• Global Resistance has done wonders to bring the online gameplay some added extra's
• The system of leveling is similar to an RPG but workable with the gameplay
• Unlockable abilities per level keep the gameplay upgraded and moving
• battlefield tactics are usefull but some are repetitive.

Severe Downsides to Multiplayer

• I'd like to say it's perfect except for the usage of clans vs. a few as sometimes the unbalanced gamepay does ruin a fun gaming experience
• Beserks for kill streaks have moments of Redundancy
• Spawnkillers. There is an imbalance infrastructure that can easily turn a war into shooting monkey's in a barrel.

     Now overall the gameplay  of the story isn't horrible but the story just leave's you hanging. I question the whole responsibility of returning home at the loss of a single chimeran tower. The war isn't over as far as I can tell yeah the US is warming up, but that doesn't mean immediate victory. As well previous titles had more variety of enemies that hunted you, yeah the AI got a bit smarter but it's still limited as previously there were new mutations and creatures coming out of the shadows that no one really expected.

     Online Play is unbalanced not like the previous ones weren't, but it's a bit buggy how they end up spawning you in a room where 5-6 guys have surrounded it with Augers and you just come to life and go to defend or escape a nasty situation and immediately you're dead again. What I wouldn't give for an Appeture Science Portal Device at those moments. Also the Clan Warfare has actually locked some players into a loss nightmare that you just can't seem to escape. I played 5 different games tonight each one had at least 4-6 players who were all in the same clan against me and a few people who just couldn't overcome the odds.

     I loved the online gameplay previously even though winning wasn't always possible in any way shape or form due to lag cheating. Guess what it's still around I'm actually finding myself wanting a chance to lag cheat some of these people than play fair. Which honestly isn't fair to anyone.

Insomniac - Please take some of this as criticism and give some of us players who stick by the rules a chance to play fair. I understand online always leads to open ended chances that someone will find a way to cheat and you can't stop them all, but sometimes this just seems to go too far for a group and some of the games self proclaimed gods aren't anything more than cheaters.

Same Team player hate

I try to stay away from a microphone when playing online. Not because I don't want to be social with my fellow gamers, but because I do alot of trash and silly talk while playing which may be hilarious to me and my friends but may irritate others. I wish other people would take this as advice. As in playing a game online I came to the realization that when people trash talk between teams it's ok, and can just give a game and umph. What I found I really despise though is when you join into a game in progress that I happen to be playing with limited abilities or as a beginner and you trash talk me because I was doing lousy and now you have a lost because you joined in to my team as I am losing and the round is ending. Two words for you people that do this shit FUCK YOU!!! you didn't play the whole round with me you didn't get any kills you joined in last second and you decide to bitch me out on an unbalanced circumstance? WTF? I don't mind if we lost and I did something that threw the game fine then you can call me on it. If I'm busting my ass in a 8v3 team match and I'm on the team of 3 give me some credit, yeah I lost but you didn't do any better.

      Also what bothers me is stat-crazy maniacs bitching me out because I got a loss.....My fucking god are people so lost that they have to waste time focusing on my stats instead of your own. You don't like the way I play leave. I didn't ask you to be on my team I'm not requiring you to work with me if you wanna play, play and enjoy that. I've gone to muting and reporting people for bitching me out because I'm a higher level than they are and lost more times than they did but I've got the experience in working to get this far. I apologize as this is going into a rant but this just ruins a fun game. They make the reporting feature for this alone. I'm not talking shit on you why bother me?

     I wanted to honestly hook up my mic and play and endless loop of Europes - The Final Countdown for a few hours straight. Just to see if it would get a different response than the nonsense I'm hearing. Look I know I don't like it, I don't have to play, but if I'm playing already and you jump into my game and bitch because I don't play the game the way you want I was here first FUCK OFF!!!!.

Now for any of you reading that this has nothing to do with don't think I'm trying to get everyone to play the same way or do the same thing all I'm asking for is some decency. Simply this if you're worried about stats or how other people play to the point it's obsessive leave join another room. But if you're here to help me and give me a hand at a task I may be having difficulty with I welcome you.

Weapon Upgrades - Limitations or Amazing Modification

     As many gamers know by this point in just about any game we end up getting some rather unique ways to make our weapons in game more interesting. The upgrades tend to be simplistic but the aftermath is usually what makes up for it. Usually were given upgrades that fall into the following categories:

• Pyro - Weapons do fire damage
• Combustion - upon impact weapons do explosive damage
• Corrosive / Poison - These either work together or rarely seperately usually leads to mutation or disolving of the enemy
• Electric - tazer like stuns or immediate 5000 volt zap which drops enemies
• Necro / Undead - this happens not so often usually leads to either quick enemy death or zombification
• Ice - Freeze enemy then shatter

     Alot of games tend to hold to this listing which can make your adventure a bit unique but it feels limited granted if the game designer has done their job the weapon upgrades tend to work for what is in store for the player.

     Now there is a secondary listing of upgrades which are the more medial but alot of games are using these in combinations with the above list to give a more indepth playing field. The list is as follows:

• Increased Damage - simple sometimes makes the game easier but usually means your in for some more in depth fighting with stronger enemies
• Increased Range - usually this is with shooters or games using archery or melee weapons. Better for crowd control
• Increased Attack speed -  Aka the ammo guzzler or button masher

Alot of older games used this listing for their battles which helped the player get a bit more into the battle.

     Finally we have the upgrades that you really have to question the seriousness of the developer.

• Dance - Just as it says it makes the badguys dance uncontrolably
• Shirnk -  enemies are now shorter and usually easier to kill
• Magnet - In robot games this makes some sense but sometimes it's more of a draw the enemy close so you can knock them away faster
• Shift - This goes two ways either you get an enemy who becomes a useless furry creature or it makes the enemy a mutation that really makes the battle questionable

Now looking at the combination of these upgrades you can either get an enjoyable battle experience or you kinda giggle as you go into battle. My ultimate question to this though is do you feel limited in this battle structure?  I feel there could be some more either zany or unique ways to combine powers and effects to make the experience a bit more satisfactory. For example I suggest the following upgrades:

• Liquify - enemy becomes gelatenous and slowly melts into a liquid form.
• Rubberize - I know it sounds goofy but think like this your rubberize the enemy then attack he bounces around the battlefield damaging himself and possibly other enemies
• Hook and Chain - This has been done but not the way I'm thinking think Hellraiser victim hooked by chains coming out of the walls and torn asunder

I'm thinking that some of my thoughts here may be a bit drastic for the gaming experience but it leads to question - Can we go further with the upgrades or is the combinations of the above modifications the best of the best?

Games I'm looking foward to:

It's just about that time of year again where there is a game rush for the holidays now since most of the games I was waiting for for this holiday season have been pushed back to as far as the end of next year I figured I'd breakdown the listing of games I'm waiting to see.

• Borderlands 2 - With the promise of the "Gunzerker" I can't wait to see how the bounty hunting on Pandora heads foward
• Batman Arkham City - This one comes out 10/18/11 Arkham Asylum was the best Batman game ever, will they be able to continue the streak.
• Darksiders 2 - Death's tale will hopefully be as good as the wrath of war
• Twisted Metal PS3 - Dave Jaffe is back on the Twisted Metal Scene should we be going with Sweet Tooth or Doll Face?
• Lollipop Chainsaw - I saw this in Game Informer as a Preview, somehow the campy approach of a cheerleader saving humanity with a chainsaw seems to attract me.
• Rocksmith - Hooking a guitar that doesn't have buttons but strings to my playstation hmmmm

Now this is my current pending list of games I'm looking foward to, but with some of the Sequels lately there's been some disappointment. So here's looking foward to a hopeful future.

Ever get hassled for playing videogames..... check this out

Every mother, girlfriend and relative has at one point said gaming just doesn't help with world problems.
Here's the scoreboard folks
US 1 YOUR Argument 0

Read this article I saw upon loading msn this morning
http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/09/18/7802623-gamers-solve-molecular-puzzle-that-baffled-scientists?GT1=43001

      Yes folks videogame players solved the molecular puzzle that is AIDS. This can lead the way into hopefully finding a way past this disease.

I've been on a resistance kick.... sorry

     I've been rereading some of my posts and I've noticed there is not a whole lot of focus as there had been. I'll be honest I've been focusing on playing Resistance 3 a bit more than putting my thoughts in order. So thus I'm going to try and clean out some of the details in my mind.

Resistance 3 Breakdown

• Story - It's gritty, but feels to much like theres an attempt at drama when really the Hale story was a bit more clear and direct. The tale of going back to destroy the chimera when Capelli left SRPA after killing Hale just seems bland.
• Weaponry - Well this is where insomniac games never seems to fail they modified and allowed upgrades to the weapons. Plus allowed this upgrade to arsenal to multiplayer which is a huge bonus as it keeps you playing just to see what you can upgrade next.
• Enemies - The enemy AI has been upped enough that the chimera appear smarter, but not overpowering. It's like they got more tactical and either try to run you down with brute force or trap you with a series of snipers.
• Mulitplayer - This hasn't changed much it's still a war that seems unbalanced but reasonable. It's a bit glitchy currently, but that's progress you start out glitchy and work towards a clear direct battle.
• What's missing? - The online Co op of Resistance 2 was actually innovative the race for graytech and working as a team to take down a tricky AI was fun..... this currently has not returned, although it seems like people are rallying for it's return in the Resistance 3 forums at www.myresistance.net
• Global Resistance - This hasn't fully gone active to connect to the psn id yet but this online game which allows unlocks to be earned for the game is actually addictive. It's like a huge game of risk where troop placement and battles allow you to maintain control over parts of the world.

    Overall it's worthy of the Resistance title once some of the minor details iron out I'll still be playing as it seems there is really no limit to what the game offers.

Overused plot devices in videogames

     Anyone else sick of hearing the same story just with different characters? I mean with some tales it just detracts from the game. Now I know the gaming industry seems to have escaped some of this recently, but looking back it seems like there are alot of plots that seem like the same thing over and over. Here's a listing of what I've noticed

• Returning Hero but with no power: Main character returns but all of the things that made him the hero originally are gone. Look I understand the whole the weapons or abilities don't make the hero but when it's part of your story c'mon.
• You are the chosen: Main character is a hero chosen by destiny to face impossible odds against creatures they know nothing about
• You are a god but don't know it: similar to the chosen one but until the final chapter you seem to die alot
• Seek the sword: A magical sword is the answer to save the day.

Some of these are parts of great tales, but sometimes writers have made these points the whole epicenter of the universe. I mean c'mon it's like lets rewrite the legend of zelda but this time we make the hero a runt who gets picked on. He finds a sword that seems useless in battle, but against a giant monster it works all too well.

     I love lore, God of War's Kratos made me want to play further to know more about the hero. This is one of the major reasons to play a game the story. Now sometimes the story sucks and the game is good but this is kinda rare or the game is not based on a story but an event. Take Brink for example your character is not the Hero nor the villain but the story is centered around a faction a reason for the battle and either you try to work with your team to save or destroy.

     Now there are some incessant things that replay in games like weapons and various magical items. These are not your main story but they accentuate a hero.

R3: have mistakes been made

     Global Resistance is an online game which is supposed to unlock items for Resistance 3. Sony and Insomniac have not at time of posting given players the ability to use the items they have unlocked. Is this due to Sony's recent security upgrade? or is this a developer whom is having compatability issues and will players lose interest before they are made available ?

     Personally I can wait but those hardcore game junkies will only wait so long

Gamer Cards

In browsing forums it's nice to see when people show off, so I'm adding another site to my list. For those of you whom like to show off your ps3 trophies I reccoment Your Gamer Cards.

Resistance 3:

      The third instalment of Insomniacs Resistance series is out now. Gameplay is as usual but the arsenal itself catches the eye of the player. As the previous instalments dictated you got to play with guns that had awesome effects in the human - chimeran war but the latest allows upgrades to some classic weapons and a few new effects as well as a new set of weapons to bring to the battlefield. The war is on.

     Playstation fans may have heard Kevin Butlers battlecry in bringing another use to the playstation "sharpshooter" attachement for the move controller. I've yet to get my hands on this piece of equipment myself, but if it's as direct as the ps move itself I'm skeptical. I'll get further to giving a review of the game as I play further. I'm liking so far Insomniacs improvements, but have a few starting questions like what happened to online co op? has echo team been eliminated? will this feature ever return? I understand the story is on Capelli and his story as Nathan Hale is dead. Things are a bit shaky on start but appear they will improve. Competitive is still it's nasty kill em all and live for as long as you can, but the modifications here are a big improvement. You can now set up your own layout and bring the battle to the masses.

VGW Arsenal:

I've decided to expand a bit and start a blog on videogame weapons as well so feel free to check it out. (listed in the links to the right).

Playing: The Baconing, how does it hold up?

     If you’ve played any of the Deathspank series, this edition to the series is no amazing surprise on control. Hothead kept their basic control scheme so if you got through the first two you’ll pick this one right up. The humor value is still there and as off kilter as usual. The weapons are just as insane such as the “Plasma Sword” you know the blood kind. The series in itself is off kilter humor with a superhero whom most reminds me of “The Tick”. Brave, Strong and not all that smart.

     Downsides: Well if you expect a completely different game (and I don’t just mean different story) this will disappoint you.  As well a lot of the Vendors tend to want to sell you something you got rid of be it no further use or leveled past it’s needs.

     Upsides: I’ll list them off it’s easier

• The same humor as the first games and the story still remains fresh
• Weapons of most bizarre attributes
• Villains that have kept up with the game
• Returning jokes especially the ethnicity of being an orphan
• That sure I’ll fight a giant 3 headed gnome with a box of twinkies just so I can say I can attitude of the Hero

     I personally had some fear since EA did not publish this chapter that the game would be extremely different but the folks at Hothead really stayed true to our hero of the downtrodden. At time of post I’ve only played so far in so I can’t say it’s stayed 100% true to the storyline thus far, but it’s Deathspank so you really can’t question things like that. Overall the Baconing thus far has not failed this player will my opinion change upon the ending we’ll see.

The Baconing has arrived!!!!

 

     So the epic Tale of Deathspank continues. I’m still waiting for it to finish downloading now off the playstation network. This is the first title in this series to not be under the same developer as the previous titles. Will it be as epic and funny as the previous games? I’ll be updating tomorrow as I’m not sure if I’ll get to it before I sleep for the night.

Acheivements and Trophies: addiction or humorous ways to keep the player gaming?

     The gaming industries have our number when it comes to trophies and acheivements. No one can deny that when you pull off some killer move in a game and hear a noise with a notification in our games that we did something worthy of noting we don't get a thrill. This has been one of my own personal amusements to games lately. I'll admit I've personally racked up over 2000 trophies (PS3 has trophies Xbox has Acheivements for those not in the know) Some were just because the challenge was there and I could do it. Others happened and I didn't even know why.  The best trophies I think are the ones that go off for the weirdest reasons..... for example:

• "Hey, Get back here" Eat Lead the Return of Matt Hazard - acheived by pressing the pause button

     I'll admit before I buy most games I look into the trophy list to see what may lay in wait for the player to either go for or what I should see if I can find possible in a game I've never played. The trophies that seem to ruin games for me are those that you get for beating the game and *bing* come up right before the game ending... Really the game is over already? What there's no point in watching the animations cause well I know I beat the game. The bonus here is with games that bored me it made the feeling I already beat it good. The part that gets me is the Epic games it totally ruins the ending.

     The mixture of good and bad is where alot of the issues lie. I'm all for you letting me know when I've collected all the weapons of the gods or pulled of a really challenging arena battle, but when I happen to die enough times that I'm about to throw my controller is not the time to patronize me. The innumerable kills ones as well get me. I've had enough trouble getting 50 kills in your game and I can't complete the trophy list till I get 5.9 billion kills..... WTF!!!

     So to the point are trophies and acheivements addicting.... Yes when done right you can never truly get enough, but when they are either impossible or just dumb..... I start to put down my controller to watch cartoons or look for something on TV.

The Villans: Misunderstood or Just Evil

     The game industry has had several great villans. What though is the story behind why some of these characters are the bad guy? Super Mario has been chasing down Bowser because he's kidnapped Princess Toadstool since the 80's but you're never told exactly why he did it. I get that you have to have a reason for defeating someonw and going through a quest, but what exactly lead to this event?

     Alot of todays games they give the villan a bit more of a backstory, but without giving us much in the way of motives. Although if they do it's almost simplistic and boring. Example: Hero A used to work with Ultra Villan until..... Yeah the desire for revenge is great but it's kinda odd and rare that the root of all evil is some guy you took a shit on years ago. Ideally it's a great plot device. Though back to my main point it doesn't necessarily make thema villan.

     There's alot of questions I've got about the games of old even into the games of today. So the following is my list of questions for the gaming industry.

1. What lead to the Mushroom kingdom being invaded by King Koopa?
2. Why exactly do we go from fighting soldiers to a gigantic alien heart in Contra?
3. In Castlevania they give a bit of backstory to the Belmont's vs Dracula and the forces of Darkness, but why have they not been able to truly kill Dracula?
4. Gannon is a Giant pig originally up until the ages of N64 what set the events in motion that lead to the capture of Zelda and why is she so dumb to keep getting kidnapped?
5. Is there a reason why fighting games seem to have almost mirror endings amongst certain characters as the years go by? ie eyedol and blanka

Yeah that's just the begining of what bothers me. Please feel free to add to this list message me at Dreimann1381@gmail.com so I can get this list moving so we can find answers.

The video game industry: a breif history

    Some of you kiddies are probably Xbox, PS3, Wii toting gamers that really don't have a true understanding of the roots of videogames. I'm even a bit young compared to where it began. The consoles of today like to reflect back so parents of now can enjoy gaming with kids but no one really explains what it used to look like or how far gaming has really come. I'll give you a listing here oldest to newest explaining just that:

• Vector based gaming - ever see Tron? the outfits are actually based on vector design play games used to look like sketches made of white or green lines on a black background.
• Arcade / Atari - some games simply started as blocks you were a block, the world around you a block and it grew a little here into pac man, asteroids and the such.
• NES or Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Master System - We grew to 8 bit sprites here the games had pictures that we thought were amazing and you kinda had to look at the booklet to get the idea of some of what you came across in the game.
• Super Nintendo / Sega Genesis - 16 bit graphics and alot of these are being redone to look better and be "Retro" on the newer consoles but just about anyone could make out the image on the screen.
• Sony Playstation/ Nintendo 64/ Sega Dreamcast -  Sega ruined their good name here by not announcing the dreamcast was being released to stores. Nintendo held back trying not to make the switch to disc games and stuck with the older style of cartridges like Gameboy in it's many incarnations still has. Sony took the limelight by storm by Releasing Playstation with somewhat 3 dimensions for their games and the art spoke for itself
• Playstation 2 / Xbox - Microsoft tried to gain some limelight here but was trying to keep up with Sony's Monsterous PS2 which just about anyone now will admit to having either both or their freind has PS2 so they bought an Xbox. Games made the move to DVD format and everyone was building to make the most either movie like game or have their game be so epic you'd buy a console just to play a game.
• Today - PS3/Xbox 360/Wii - Doesn't seem like it's been that far but it's now working it's way to almost 30 years since the arrival of Nintendo (and I am from the NES generation). Honestly now images are almost lifelike and you really can not tell with some games if the image is just cg or mo cap with touch ups.

Some of the older people now either feel really old or are going "oh yeah.... I remember that". Well if you want to look further into older gaming I personally suggest looking into emulation and Roms. Parents I suggest looking through Google and trust me you'll find some old memories here that you can play through your pc going all the way back and even slowly working into some of the games of today.

I personally Recommend the following emulators:

1. Nesticle, Gnes and Nestopia for classic Nintendo
2. Zsnes and Gens for SNES and Sega Genesis and Master System
3. Mame for Arcade
4. Kawacks and Neopa for Neo Geo games

You'll find others try em out and if they're anygood let me know.

Noob busting: The haunt of the online shooter Jerks and Jackasses.

      I was reading an article in I believe it was Cheatcodes Monthly where someone decided to purposely be an online jerk in Halo. The sad result is that people thought it was funny and some people decided to be bigger jerks and it just got scary.  The sad thing is that alot of players avoid first person shooters with an onlide mode for this very reason. If you're trying to learn a game or style of game you want people whom are beginners as well, but instead you get the lowlifes whom don't give a new player or "noob" a chance as this is their 100th profile and they know just about everyway to cheat the system and ruin a players experience. In playing online I've experienced this and honestly passed off my mic so I didn't chance banning myself as the Jerks seem to overrun the servers. The following is a list of the things that people found funny in one aspect, but if you look at it from an outside view it's irritating and just not fair when someone doesn't have a chance to learn at their pace.

1. Your Mom- The threats alone empty as they may have been to psych out another player seem at times to go too far. example... "come back here or I'll rape your mom in the ass" and the sad thing is that with some of the reporting systems these games have to stop things like this most people laugh instead of saying "Whoa too much dude".
2. Purposely Glitching the system -  Resistance Fall of Man had this problem and I've seen it in some other games, but not as bad as when this plague was ruining games of Resistance. What basically would happen is people would bog their incoming server so that they had the ability to run a thousand times faster and shoot faster than everyone else so within seconds of trying to help or accomplish a mission is was "Bang you're dead"
3. Spawn Killing Fucktards - Now alot of games give you a random spawn point now of days but it used to be if you knew where someone was going to spawn you killed them and trapped the area where they would respawn to get instant kill after kill.
4. YOUR MUSIC IN YOUR MIC - You may like Rap or that Beaber kid, but not everyone want's to listen to your taste in music. Spend the extra few bucks to get a mic that helps cancel out your background noise. This goes for people with kids and their neglected girlfriends as well. Cause yeah you may be able to frag 500 players but your girlfriend begging you to stop playing and fuck her isn't really something you should advertise unless you wanna give me her number, cause then I'll put down my controller and you can take my turn.

Now this is only a taste of what some players have dealt with over the years I am finding games to come across less of this, but it still exists. I'm not complaining about razzing someone or psyching out your opponent but I personally think you should allow fair play to true beginners. Especailly because you may be great at Halo but another game you might just end up the noob and I don't want to hear you bitch at how we are playing unfair.

     

Online Gaming: are the players there really hardcore gamers in the gaming community?

     This has been a debate for a while. I don't consider myself hardcore, but I do consider myself avid. So here is my take on this debate:

Internet gamers - Mostly Facebook players whom play alot of time managment games and like collecting odds and ends to show off what they've built up

PC Gamers - stick to "WASD" keys and a mouse or if they're oldschool a mouse and spacebar.

MMO'ers - This is a branch of PC gaming which is online but still in thier little click so I think it's fair to say they get a fair call

Console gamers - Stick to a console and play just about every game out there even if it sucks.

Portable gamers - similar to Console Gamers but like to have something they can play in public.

Cell phone gamers - play alot of tetris and puzzle games on their cell phone

Avid Fans - play a little bit here and there of all the previous categories, but don't try to specify thier likings to a simple platform

Truly Hardcore Gamers - Will play anything on any format at all times day or night can't live without gaming

I broke down the categories of gamers I encounter. Sad thing is most people that claim to be hardcore are usually PC or Console gamers that play games to the point where they play on super hard and like to badmouth anyone who calls them out on being just a multiplayer jackass. (I'll go a bit deeper on online gaming jackasses in a later post) So what if you're better at Call of Duty than me or that you got a scopeless kill and teabagged some poor noob. Yeah alot of the hate comes in on Shooters. See the Definition of Hardcore means there is no limit. The difference between Hardcore and sofcore porn is you see genetalia and penetration and soo much more in Hardcore. So why would someone that holds strong to a category not be hardcore in their category? Think before you speak folks.

Videogame staples: A sad realization that the new game you love is made up from older games.

      I sat down with a few freinds and had this discussion and I've realized no matter what form of game you play there is always a staple, be it a weapon or character design that refrences back to the older days of classic gaming.

1.) The Chosen One -
     This is kind of a sad staple and it really does play out well with some of the writing in videogames but it gets old. Some examples of this go back as far as the Legend of Zelda and even older if you're willing to look. If you're not familliar with this scenario, let me explain and sadly you'll see it everywhere.
- The world is somewhat in chaos. Monsters are appearing and even life in general is getting tough. Your character either awakens or is woken up somehow and goes out finds a magical weapon and by the end of the game saves the day.
Yeah trust me you've played that one.

2.) Weapons -
     Ok I'll admit weapons have gotten better but they do reflect back to an original design. Yeah there's quite a list to this so I'll sum it up to it's most basic forms
a.) grappling hook to pull something closer or pull you to it
b.) Gloves to either lift or break heavy stones
c.) A sword starts off really simple and then grows to either ungodly power or gains powers that don't always make sense
d.) Slightly newer is wings so you can glide to your objective
e.) An Axe to cut something down
That's a simple version of it I'll see if I can graph it out for a later post.

3.) Character Design -
Women - Either big breasted and thin or Kinda normal smart and they are a plot device
Men - yeah there's a sad design flaw here you can actually break it down to 3 stereotypes
Bulk, Twig, or medium but muscualar.

4.)Robotic humans-
   Ever play a game with a cyborg type with a gun for an arm. If they don't go the gun route it's a sword with either a basic energy type or supposedly unbreakable

Kinda disturbing isn't it yes it does break down further and in all honesty this is what makes gaming great. What I've covered here is mostly Rpgs and action/adventure games but this can also be said for platformers and even shooters. So remember yeah they can change it up but it does all basically break down to games you may have played way back when.

The Dreaded ESRB "A" Rating

     Anyone out there ever find a game in the US with this rating?  It's like the kiss of death to the gaming industry. So why is this such a fear. I've gotten carded at walrmart and I'm about to be thirty trying to buy a Mature or Teen rating. Is there a lack of coverage in the gaming industry or is the market slimming so like porno movies you'd have to hit a specialty shop for this game. I think as kids whom grew up from the Atari to the consoles of today we should be allowed to have an A rating game. Tell us we have to hit a porn shop for it as we all know the porn industry is booming and expanding into videogames may just provide a market and jobs.

"But what about this filth reaching our children?"

     This was the statement most people give me. This is where I say ESRB if you are going to rate why not make it a fair playing field. Kids get porn, bloods and guts and all the other things their parents rebel against from either a.) That parent without realizing it or b.) a relative or older sibling.  I'm not saying I feel that games should be based on having sex and watching animated tits flash your screen. I just think if a game is out there enough for an Adult rating it should be made available to the people that want to check it out. Games are held back and retooled just to avoid an A rating. Thus this leads to kids and adults holding their money back. Why not keep the economical system of gaming flowing free. Granted kids will not be able to get a game because of the content but isn't that the entire idea of the ESRB?

Introduction

     I am a gamer like many out there. I don't participate in system hate so please don't drag it to my door. I'm looking to express opinion and a somewhat outlandish view on a hobby/form of entertainment that we all enjoy. I'd like to express as well here my views on topics that seem to bounce around the industry like the "Adult" rating and why some games just feel lacking and others seem to crammed. Honestly I'm a playstation fanboy if this bothers you keep moving if not please feel free to comment and express your thoughts, I don't hate towards criticism but I refuse to take abuse for the sake of abuse.  With that being said welcome.