November Gaming

Music for the article: We threw gasoline into the fire now we have no eyebrows and stumps for arms – NoFx

Wow what a great last couple of months we have all had as gamers. This has to be one of the strongest line ups to date.

So what have I been playing this month alone? Mass Effect, Assassin’s Creed, and COD4.

All three games were hyped to the high heaven’s and not all of them lived up to the hype. So which one didn’t, well Assassin’s Creed didn’t. Never have I been so excited for a game of this style only to be bored to hell with it.

Yes as the reviews say it is repetitive. The most common comeback is but all games are repetitive in some way. Well yes they are. But when the subject matter that has such a wonderfully dark and interesting history as the crusades is just torn apart and shit upon I get a tad annoyed.

Let’s get this out of the way right now. Yes the US and Canada is over in the middle east. Yes I guess in some small way you could call it a modern day crusade. You have your western political mind trying to cram it’s beliefs down the throats of a country that is split by years and years of war and abuse. Just like back then it was religion now it is democracy. Whether I believe in the war over there is yah or nah in this situation. Let’s quit walking this Politically Correct fine line and just put it out there. Cause your ruining our gaming experience because you are afraid of hurting certain sides. Grow some nuts. By the end of the game it doesn’t matter because you discover all you want is peace in the end.

The story line is very blasted boring from start to finish I was like “FOR real?”. All I can say is Ubisoft your PC bullshit has gone to far in my mind. It’s your game but god if the rumors end up being true and it is held in feudal Japan then you just piss all over history then forget it I am not buying. And I love me some ass kicking ninja action. I do hope gamers (And I know anyone that reads this blog most certainly is.) is smart enough to know there was more to the crusades then this pile of steaming history lesson. If not start here. Hell I will say it The Christian’s wanted Jerusalem back from the Muslim’s. End of story thanks for playing. Why do you need to hide parts of history to suit your PC needs?

Jade Raymond I believe was quoted as saying “We wanted to build a new IP and new technology.” Well Jade what your team built is a TECH DEMO for crying out loud. So can we expect the next Splinter Cell to be AMAZING? As long as Jade’s team isn’t doing the mission story structure we should be ok.

Now rest assured it is not all bad. The graphics, and the animations are all stunning as hell. High five for the team for those two things. For the most part the free running or parkour is just awesome. All the review sites that gave it a 7/10 I agree with wholeheartedly. Sorry Gabe, but I got to side with 1up’s review.I still love the comics and articles though. It’s still a very worthy rental though.

Oh yah and to that little turd on the IGN podcast. Eh you lost my listener ship you mouthy ass. Google Penny Arcade Vs IGN for more info. Gabe is still the man as far as I am concerned. Pretty funny how it didn’t even phase 1up.

COD4 hmm don’t have a lot to say. It is a FPS on rails like always. It is really purty and plays really well. The multiplayer is not my cup of tea but the rainbow six and halo crowd can now meet on common grounds. Why is there no cover system? That is the only complaint I got.

On to the reason for gaming greatness in November. Mass Effect is my GOTY. It is so F’in good. I finished last week, and even today I am still thinking about it. /wipes up some drool. GOD it is good. Like the first time you saw Luke blow up the death star good. You cheered the inner geek in you came to the surface and cheered. Well Mass effect will make you cheer. Just trust me. Scary when a game is so good that you look past the glitchs and problems and still scream out for more. Everyone with a 360 needs to experience this game. It should sell systems. Mircosoft might beat out Wii and PS3 this month or maybe that is just me hoping more people will experience this amazing game. With EA buying out Bioware expect the second one to hit every platform imaginable. God it is good. Sorry just had to say it one last time. Listen to last weeks Massively Online Gamer and the Cagcast podcasts to hear some interesting Mass Effect coverage. CheapyD is so right on about it feeling like Starflight. That game kicked ass.

Hailin Signing out and apologizing for not blogging more often. /jumps into bed tired and cranky dreaming of fighting and killing Geth.

Eve Online on PS3?

The latest Eve Online news is that Eve Online is going to be pushing out a Linux / Mac client.

This got me thinking. Since PS3 can run certain Linux enviroments (Yellow Dog being the most popular) isn’t it possible to run Eve Online on the PS3?

I can think of only one thing that could possibly hold this back and that is PS3’s video processor. I do not believe there are any proper drivers out for the RSX. But at the same time EVE has never been a computer hog in CPU and GPU power.

Ok there is one other problem. The new Trinity upgrade for EVE how is this going to affect user performance across the board? How would this affect the PS3’s 512mb of ram?

A lot of these questions I really can’t answer  as I don’t have Linux on my PS3 yet, what I can say is I hope someone attempts this as I would love to see EVE on my plasma instead of my computer monitor.

Spoiler

Ok I had to post this. (Spoiler) This is the ending of Portal from Orange Box. If you are still playing portal don’t watch this video. If you have you need to relive it. There is a ton of buzz about this game and this closing song in general. If you haven’t picked up The Orange Box what are you waiting for. Unless you are one of those people that gets ill from FPS.

Portal is not very difficult but oh so relaxing. It is one of those zen type of puzzle experiences. Levels can be defeated a number of ways. The achievements on the 360 are tough to get.

I really enjoyed Portal and I am sure I will be checking it out again.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.

Orange Box

The Orange Box has landed in my 360. I have to admit it is awesome. Just awesome.

What you get in that package is phenomenal. I won’t go into the details of the packaging because everyone that reads here already knows.

I have only had time to dive into Team Fortress2 and Portal but I am extremely impressed with both. TF2 being so much fun. I am not a fragger, never been. There is just something loose and fun about how TF2 handles it all. Plus the class based system doesn’t torture you for not being a good shot, unlike Halo3, or GOW. Not that talented with the cross hairs? Try a medic, demoman or engineer. Not one of these classes will make you feel like a reject or insult you with death upon death. New to FPS? This is the game for you it is a sweet stepping stone into the more serious games. Halo, Counterstrike, Rainbow6, etc.

To put a MMO edge to it. I was cruising the forums for Valve and notice that even WoW players are taking notice of this game. I do wonder if the people from WoW that are  interested in TF2 are heavy battleground players? I would have to say most likely.

Portal is unlike any game I have played before. Part FPS, part adventure, part puzzler. The AI guiding you through the game is insulting yet hysterical. It really is an amazing experience.

For 60 bucks you really can’t go wrong whether you are getting The Orange Box on console or PC it will not let you down. I still need to put some more time into, but already I feel like I have made a worthy purchase.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.

PS I will be hosting TF2 games this weekend if anyone wishes to get in on the fun please add me to your gamertag list.

Hailin.

You Want To Go Pro?

Pro gaming that is.

Shadou who hasn’t had time to post due to him and his wife have a new sapling to fawn over gave me this article to read so I am posting it for him cause I am sure he would want everyone to see it. It is a fantastic article with a look into the lives of Pro-Halo gamers. I for one don’t envy them one bit. As much fun as it would be to game everyday. (I think we have all day dreamed about that.) It is a business and when you start looking at it as one it seems less enjoyable.

Check it out here. LINK

You can also check out the MLG (Major League Gaming) on G4tv now. It is strange at first but fun once you warm up to it.

Hailin Signing out, peace and game hard.

Search Engine Help

I noticed this over at KTR’s that they did a break down of search terms that had lead them to there site. Though mine are not humorous in the least I thought I would give a helping hand to them.

Jack Vs Bio

Let’s start with the most popular for September. Jack Thompson vs Bioshock. I had no idea this was as popular as it was nor that my fake net letter would get so many views. At first I thought damn it is just cause I put that as the title then I found people were actually clicking the article. I am not sure what this really all means. Whether Jack Thompson is hated on the net that badly or not, or whether Bioshock is just that loved. I am guessing it is a bit of both. I am expecting as the traffic grows to be summoned any day now. Thank god I live in Canada. So he can continue to bite me.

Mogarmy, Gaxonline

I am shocked at how many times I have seen this hit upon. I think Ryan and Gary (Every time I see there names like this I think of the snl sketches of the Ambiguously Gay Duo. Yes I went to the gaywell, whatever.) have really hit on something here and I wish them all the best. I have actually thought about moving GT to them. Mogarmy can now be found here, and Gaxonline here.

Goddess of Gaming

I know this is would have directed them to Wings of the Goddess for FF11. But if you happen to find a GoG please let me know.

Solsek

Been there, done that, got the T-shirt, hope I never have to return.

Gaming Tramp

That is me don’t forget it.

Skate.

I picked this one last because I am passionate about the game and there have been numerous tags your it about it.

There is no MMOSkate. We can pray and wish all we want but it would be to weird for words. But then again so is Club penguin. (Don’t get it myself but then again I am not a girl or 10)

Can’t find skate demo. Hmm look on Xbox live.

6000 points in Skate. This one bothers me. Because I see it posted all the time on the Skate. forums. It really isn’t that hard. If you are following the story line then you have the X-games unlocked, go to the Megaramp and land the ramp and quarter pipe, boom you will have enough points right there. If you want to do it the way I did it then find a 20 plus stair rail or long ledge with a nice drop (I did it at the matrix). Kick trick on (Tre flips would be the best.) then rail, switching slides at the kink, then tre off. Finish off with a nice combo or tre’s and kick,manual,kick with spins. There you have it 6k plus.

That was fun. Might do it again in a couple of months to lead the mighty searcher in the wrong direction.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.

PS. We are now averaging 8 views a days. I am stoked about this. Thanks so much to those people that have posted and viewed the site I really appreciate it.

A couple of things and a pimp

Wow what a weekend I have had. Actually it really wasn’t that exciting till I got Halo3.

Yes I am now a hypocrite. I told everyone I knew I wasn’t buying it and poof I did. Well actually I traded in some games for it since why spend money when I don’t have to. Part of being a gaming tramp is to be a cheap skate. So that is what I did.

Now as far as Halo3 goes I LOVE it. For now. I am not to sure on the multi-player. I haven’t had enough time with it to say yeh or neh. (Like yay or nay just more chilled.)

Most of the complaints coming from the podcasting community have been about the cheesy cinematic dialog. I have to agree. BUT, here it is folks, I think the dialog is fun and enjoyable. I makes me want to see what will happen next and is highly enjoyable. It’s campy fun and there is nothing wrong with that. With all the serious shooters hitting the shelves Halo3’s storyline is a breath of fresh air and so cheesy I can’t stop playing it.

Right now I am going through it on 4 player campaign. Bungie did some amazing coding to get this to work. I am extremely impressed with the quality. We get the odd slow down or person crashing. For the most part it is smooth. We have discovered only one major bug with the frame rate totally crashing. Other then that high five to Bungie. I can see only one other game offering this much fun and that is Orange Box from Valve which I believe releases next week.

On the MMO front I have let EQ2 die. As I have said in previous posts I have grown frustrated and bored with it. I do want to thank Brackish over at Brackish Waters for stepping up and say hey dude come play with us. While I am grateful I am on the line about it. I have been reading his site for a time now and watching him get hooked on SOE’s baby. The enthusiasm he has for the game is not at the same level for me. He is reading lore (Which I never did), paying attention to quests (Which I just hyper clicked through), Brack is diving into the game head first and giving a damn. I think my interest has waned so much I just don’t give a damn about Norath anymore. I gave it the old college try and I failed miserably at it. Warhammer anyone.

On a side note about Brackish, catch him on the new Shut up We’re Talking along with host Darren and Keen and Graev. Every episode has been great this one is just as awesome.

Hailin signing out, and getting pwned by a 12 year old near you soon.

Wings of the Goddess

Love it or hate it Final Fantasy 11 is coming out with another expansion. Wings of the Goddess will be the fourth expansion (Correct me if I am wrong) in the FF11 series.

You can find the trailer here and here is an interesting interview from 1Up’s Milkman.

Someone asked me last week after my massive amount of MMO whoring what was the one MMO I wished I hadn’t given up. I said without a thought Final Fantasy 11. I loved the game and for the life of me I can’t remember why I quit so many years ago but I do know that it was for the best. Looking at the content SE has provided is staggering. It still does to this day has one of the best macro systems available and was the first to go multi-platform. SE like in the early days of there RPG’s (FF and Dragon Quest.) Broke the rules and new ground and succeeded. For that alone they should be commended. They have always made expansions that rival all other MMO companies.

So why in a blogging sense or MMO sense does FF11 never get talked about. Well I can come up with a couple of opinionated ideas.

1. It was to hard. From raids to standard grouping FF11 was the most difficult game at it’s time whether you were 10 or 75 the game and mob AI pulled no punches they whipped your ass and welcomed you to come back every time. When I think of all the times I have grouped in EQ2 and the tank has round up every mob in the place I laugh and watch as my group lays waste. Hmm try this tactic in FF11 you will die, A LOT!

2. Time investment. Really the time you had to invest in FF11 was years. Not months. People when they buy a MMO in most cases and especially today they want to be at cap in a couple of months. When someone hears they have to invest two years to get to raid level they back away slowly and don’t want to take part. If you didn’t have 4 hours for a group to spare you weren’t playing FF11.

3. It was unique. Being unique can hurt games if the core audience doesn’t grasp a hold of the concept of gameplay and art.  So why does WoW excel with its goofy cartoon graphics? Well simply put it doesn’t follow idea 1 and 2. The game can look like ass (runescape) but if it is easy to get into then people will play. Most people were turned off by the graphics, the camera system, the macro system (game relies on it heavily), language barrier and the fact it was on a console.

I feel the last one is a big one. PC MMOers (UO, EQ, Ash’s Call) at the time had points one and two but putting a MMO on a console for shame. It was unheard of to anyone that hadn’t played EQOA on the PS2.

Today it is still hard to get subscriber data but I would have to guess it is still sitting comfortably around 400K to 500K. Which brings into question if Eq2 is the second most talked about MMO on the blogosphere why isn’t FF11 the number 2 or 3. I am sure SquareEnix is quite happy to sit in the back and collects it’s estimated 5 million+ per month quietly. Other then for the points that I listed I don’t really know. If you have an idea please share it with me.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.

WWAP Hailin September 24th

Would you like a glass of Whine?

I was going to whip up a post on what we are playing on the usual Thursday but the combination of late nights gaming and work spoiled that for me. So I didn’t forget I am just getting this in late.

Skate. with me

Well let’s start with Skate. I am still playing the hell out of it and I have come to the conclusion that this game is the most fun I have had yet with an extreme sports franchise. I usually prefer snowboarding titles but the snowboarding titles with the exception of amped 1 have strayed way to far away from realism for my tastes. I would love for Black Box EA to make a boarding titles. We will see. After Skate. I no longer see Activision as the king of extreme. T2 was the last great hawk title.

Less is more

Less really is more when it comes to skate. You have less tricks which leads to less points which leads smaller combos. This is in no way a bad thing. I see this as a good thing. I am no longer striving for carpel tunnel syndrome trying to whip out D-pad combos. Your board is the right stick, your body is the left stick. The triggers represent your hands. Very very simple. The city it takes place in is San Vanelona. The city feels great when skating around it. It isn’t decorated with a city hall that has 20 quarter pipes built into it. It would feel more alive if the citizens and vehicle didn’t look so generic in design.

All the skaters in the game are not very well known in the ranks of Tony Hawk, Bam Magera or Jason Ellis. You know what I am fine with that. As soon as the skaters were announced I went to Youtube and checked out them out. A lot of them really represent street skating at it’s core. You really get a sense that the devs for Black Box just love the heart and soul of skating with there choices.

The only really over the top moments are when you compete in the X-games since Sal Masakela MC’s the competitions. I am a tad shocked by his presence as I always thought of him as a puppet to Tony. /shrug what do I know.

I only complaint would be near the end of the game as the video parts you select to star in become ridiculous and you have to start flicking the stick around like a crazy man. This become really evident when you have to do the end Thrasher video parts. 6000 points in skate is really difficult to do and the only way I have found to do them in 30 seconds is to get spastic with the stick. I really find myself not wanting to do them. But if I want to unlock everything then I have no choice.

Blue Dragon

Since I have gotten my hands on Skate. I have yet to dive back into Blue Dragon. I just find the game boring and I believe MMO’s have ruined me forever. I am hoping Lost Odyssey will bring back that spark with it’s FF10, FF7 style game play. It’s not that Blue Dragon is a bad game because it is not. I just find that the story is not holding my interest. Though I have to admit that I have had my best sleep possible playing this game.

EQ2

I have been diving even deeper into Eq2 and I have to admit now that I am in my mid fifties. (Yes WHOOT I am level 55) It is starting to feel like a chore just to level. I find myself not wanting to log in because it is such a pain in the ass to find a group and then spend the next 2 hours getting ten percent as people feign interest for ten minutes and then leave. You spend more time trying to keep a full group then actually doing something. It is frustrating as hell. I may have to go back to questing solo (/shudder) then putting in my LFG “LF serious groups only”.

When I play EQ2 I am tad hardcore, I want challenging mobs and dungeons and I want a team that has a minimum of 2 hours to kill. Non of this half an hour BS. I come from, as my closest friends know, what I call the Final Fantasy generation. The whole you stuck with a group for 2 plus hours you didn’t log in get a group and run. Now really this could be my fault for taking part in a game that I feel is becoming more one sided towards the soloer. I have always felt horrible if I said after a death that I had to leave then log off then back in. Coming up with excuses to leave crappy groups is becoming so much tougher in EQ2.

All I hope in the end is if I stick with it is that 60+ has a more dedicated grouping atmosphere. Or I will not be picking up the new expansion and I will be moving onto another game.

I think if I could find a guild (Though I love my crew don’t get me wrong.) or steady group in my level range that quested and xp’d together I would be enjoying the 50’s so much more and it wouldn’t feel like a job or grind. Those perfect opportunities only come once in a blue moon.

Well that was my week of gaming in a nutshell. I will try harder to make it a much smaller gap between posts.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard my friends.

PS My gamertag is hailin if anyone like to add me.

Bad Bad Blogger

Yes I have been. So sorry been a hell of a weekend.

Played some eq2 this weekend. It is slow going at 53, Is that a hell level? I am not sure.

FINALLY got skate. I am loving it. Had a horrible time getting it. Went to EB in Vernon and they had SOLD my pre-order. That was the last straw for me. I am so sick and tried of the mismanagement and horribly stupid and rude sales people there. Not to mention the unprofessional attitude.

The guy behind the counter even said to me. “I asked the manager if we should keep some preorder copies. He said no.” Needless to say I flipped and left with my money in hand and was saved by Walmart.

The game is amazing. My problem right now is there is SO much to do and places to just chill and ride I don’t know where to start. My buddy Blamelog and I hit up some online and sessioned a sweet ledge in old town for about an hour. Definitely going back to that spot with him later. Maybe get some video of it too. Here is Blamelog KILLING a sweet ledge to road gap in Old Town.

Hailin signing out, peace and game hard.