Girls vs. Boys: Rock Band

I recorded some Rock Band sessions at an upscale social event I attended last night. IMO girls win on style, dudes win on difficulty of song. Also, the dudes' singer is amazing.

Celebrity Skin:



Run to the Hills:

The Big Finish

I play a lot of games, but I don't finish very many. Some of it is simple practicality--there are only so many hours in a day, after all, but for the most part, games just can't hold my attention past 10 hours or so. It takes a very special game to inspire me to keep playing it until it's done, and this year there were four such titles: Mass Effect, Portal, BioShock, and Uncharted:Drake's Fortune.

We've talked about the first three enough at this point, so I thought I'd spend some time talking about the last one, which I absolutely adored. In case you're not familiar, Uncharted is the story of Nathan Drake, an explorer and treasure hunter on the trail of El Dorado, the city of gold. His partners in adventure are Elena, a documentarian, and Sully the cigar-chomping pilot. As you search for the treasure, you'll run into pirates, a flooded city, a curse, and, of course, Nazis. Seriously, it wouldn't be a real search for gold without Nazis, now would it?

Given Nate's chosen profession, comparisons to Tomb Raider are inevitable, and not inaccurate, though Uncharted throws in a pinch of Gears of War for good measure. In between the more acrobatic environmental puzzle sequences, you'll engage in some serious gunplay with all sorts of bad men. Taking cover is vital for survival, but so is knowing when to move. Naughty Dog apparently realized something that many other developers are happy to blithely ignore, that when you shoot at stuff, it takes damage, so that wooden crate is only going to take machine gun fire on your behalf for so long before it says "to hell with this" and disintegrates.

Once you've dispatched those who would do you harm, you'll have a moment to examine your surroundings, and I strongly recommend you do so. Uncharted is, simply put, one of the most staggeringly beautiful games I've ever seen. The jungles are enormous and lush, the ruined city is glorious in its slow decay, and the characters all look and move like actual people. Nate isn't some hugely-muscled superhero, he's just an ordinary guy in an extraordinary situation. Ok, an extremely good looking ordinary guy, but you get my drift.

Everything done to tell Uncharted's story is absolutely perfect. The writing is superb, and the voice acting is some of the best you will ever encounter. Naughty Dog took inspiration from the type of heroes you would expect--Indiana Jones, and suchlike--but also watched a lot of Firefly before creating Nate Drake, and you can tell. Nate is charming, funny, and utterly likeable. You want to spend time with him not only to see how his adventure turns out, but also because he's just such a great guy. Game characters today seem to fall into one of two camps: either the faceless everyman or the aloof, wisecracking loner. Nate is someone who'd play on your softball team or who'd help you move house. You would totally let this guy borrow one of your DVDs, is what I'm saying.

Gushing aside, Uncharted is not without its flaws. For starters, the environments are so gorgeous that it can actually be difficult to see certain key items within them. Like, you know, the guys shooting at you. Once they fire, their muzzle blasts will help point out their locations, which is fine so long as you're not trying to get a bead on the guy shooting the rockets. At one point, I was in a tunnel with no clear idea as to where to go, when the helpful hint popped up to tell me to shoot the barrel. What? There's a barrel? I was playing on a TV that's only slightly smaller than my car, so I don't think the fact that it's a CRT was really a factor in my inability to distinguish important bits of the environment, but I suppose I could be wrong.

The camera is also problematic at times. Though it works beautifully for the majority of the game, there are times during certain environmental puzzles that you can't move it at all. So if you can't see where you're going, that's just too darn bad.

Then there are the jetski levels.

Have you ever been playing a game, only to have some random-ass task thrown in, seemingly from left field? It's oftentimes an escort mission, or a vehicle mission, and it's in there because the developers feel like they have to break up the gameplay. Attention developers: you don't. Really, you don't. If you've made the rest of the game fun, as you did with Uncharted, you really don't have to throw stuff in just for the sake of throwing stuff in, I swear. Now, some folks really love the two levels in which you jetski through the flooded city, shooting badguys and evading explosive barrels, but I couldn't be rid of them fast enough. They did show off some really gorgeous scenery, but they're so obviously filler (and not fun filler, at that), that I really, truly wish Naughty Dog had just skipped them altogether.

Just like Mass Effect, BioShock, and Portal, the second I was finished Uncharted, I wanted to start playing it again. Flawed though it may be, it's a rollicking good time. Worth getting a PS3 for? You know, it just might be.

Christmas gamins

Well there it is. Just sitting there unopened, calling me, haunting me. My big Christmas present… Rock Band. The huge box with pictures on it teasing me of all the fun that is inside. After an initial explosive reaction of disbelief, I noticed that on closer inspection that there was big PS3 label on the box which quickly put a damper on things. “But I don’t own a PS3,” I say.

So they made a little mistake. It’s the thought that counts. So here I am playing Catan online while the best game of the Christmas season is just sitting there, giving me the middle finger. A review later.

Gamin wrap-up -- 2 old and 1 new


• Heavenly Sword, was a pleasant surprise. Besides the fact that it’s a God of War rip-off game with a lot of button mashing and matching sequences, is okay because God of War was really freaking good. But the big joys were the voice overs. Amazing job done by Andy Serkis who played Gollum and other actual proven actors to give the game some life. But at the same time it’s just a weekend rental.

• Call of Duty 4 – So much hype for this game so I was really excited when it arrived. It didn’t disappoint. A fast paced storyline with beautiful cinematics. Oh and the main thing missing in every Medal of Honor game… BLOOD! The only major flaw I noticed was the very short 1 player campaign. The multiplayer is really fun with interested power-ups and bonuses for killing sprees (including airstrikes, and copter support). Also, it’s pretty real…a few shots and your dead.

• Saints Row – Nothing special. An old game but what occupied my mind until COD4 came. I got bored with it and sent it back shortly. I love GTA but this was too cheesy and too deliberately raunchy and violent. No class.

Also finished Half-life. Great, except I don’t get the story line. I’m too dumb. Sorry Valve.

I love X-mas. So much gaming time!

My Most Favoritist Games of the Year

Everyone and their cousin is doing their Ten Best Games of the year lists, but I did my Ten Favorite Games instead. Some of them certainly are some of the best titles of the year, but we tend to overlook those games that aren't necessarily the best of their kind, but that made us very, very happy just the same. Besides, just because a game is one of the Best, that doesn't mean I'm ever going to play it. Crysis? Yeah, I won't be coming within a country mile of that one.

I don't normally like to cross promote, because it's vaguely whorish, but it seemed silly to cut and paste the whole thing.

Massing Effect vs. Marios Galaxies

I have been playing these two games lately. They both have quite similar concepts but go about them in different ways. Here are the ways they are similar and the ways they are different.

Things in common

-Both Marios and Sheperd have to accomplish tasks
-Both Marios and Sheperd aren't afraid to punch if necessary
-They both need to explore the galaxy, landing on planets and killing and/or collecting items
-They both enjoy money
-They both travel said galaxies by means of as-of-yet undiscovered and/or not understood technologies (by humans I mean)
-Both games feature save functions
-Both games have great graphics

Things not in common

-Marios doesn't use guns or magic like Sheperd, rather, he uses jumping and chance power-up items he finds
-Marios doesn't have a level-up function; ability levels remain constant
-Sheperd may or may not be a man; Marios is always a man
-Sheperd hates going down tubes, Marios loves it
-Sheperd can't jump. Marios can, duh!
-Sheperd comes on the XBox 360 Degrees system, Marios comes on the Wiii

I have to catch the train now but I'll be updating this list as I think of more! Add some in the comments if you think of them, too.

Scared in the airport

So I had to fly back to Pennsylvania on Monday to attend my grandmother's funeral. Despite the fact that I was not particularly fond of the woman, it was still a very trying two days, not helped by the fact that my flight back to North Carolina was delayed two hours by very heavy fog at the Philadelphia airport.

I got to the airport around 7, but as the fog stayed stubbornly in place, my flight got pushed further and further back. (It eventually took off a little after midnight.) I had, it seemed, plenty of time to kill, so I figured I'd put some time in with Silent Hill Origins on my PSP. I had to review it, but I've been a fan of the SH series since day one, so this wasn't exactly going to be hard work.

I'd seen clips of the game, and even played it a tiny bit at E3, but what I had yet to really determine was whether or not the series' trademark creepiness would really come through on the small screen. What made the original Silent Hill such a landmark game was its ability to scare the crap out of you through hint and suggestion. A shadow in the fog, the sound of breaking glass in a nearby room. Silent Hill was brilliant at creating an atmosphere of dread that seeped slowly through your skin until you were a hair's breadth away from running away in sheer terror.

I figured it would be pretty tough to pull that off when I could see my lap around the edges of the screen, but my plane was nowhere near ready to take off, so I plugged in my headphones and fired up the PSP.

As the name implies, the game takes place before the events of the original Silent Hill. If you saw the movie, you'll recognize many of the names and events, as they covered much of the same ground. Origins is classic Silent Hill, with the same hideous monsters, staticy radio, and gruesome discoveries. There's even a young Pyramidhead.

At this point I feel I must point out that the Philadelphia Airport was nearly deserted. There were perhaps 30 people in all of E Terminal, and that's including the staff. The world outside the huge plate glass windows was lost in the swirling fog, the sodium arc lights carving out the tiniest of oases in the mist.

It was fucking creepy, is what I'm saying.

This is not, I have since learned, the best environment in which to play a survival horror game. Or perhaps it's exactly the environment in which to play survival horror. I suppose it depends on your point of view. Suffice to say, I moved from my seat in the chairs to a spot up against the wall, so that I could see whatever might be coming my way. Then I took out one of my ear buds, so that I'd have a better chance of hearing whatever might be coming my way. Then I said to hell with it and turned the damn game off and read a gossip magazine instead. Granted, news about Cameron Diaz and Lindsey Lohan is a different kind of scary, but it creeped me out far less.

My video game to-do list

*sigh*

I have so many awesome games right now. It was just my birthday and I got Super Mario Galaxy and later, Mass Effect. I put them on my holiday list, and my parents and sister, knowing that I fancy electronic games, bought them right up for me. I was hoping to get Mass Effect for Xmas, but I have it now, and it is seriously making my video game to-do list much harder to complete.

Here it is:

-beat Bioshock on hard
-finish Half Life 2
-play through Half Life 2 episodes 1 and 2
-finish Metroid Prime 3: Corruption (why did I buy this??!? Lessons not learned.)
-finish Zack & Wiki
-continue to enjoy every f’ing second of Mario Galaxy (my choice for game of the year), also, beat (get all 120 stars)
-beat Legendary mode with friends in Halo 3
-continue to play Halo 3 multiplayer
-beat advanced Portal maps
-get 1000 kills in Team Fortress 2
-play Mass Effect

on the backburner:

-beat Lost Planet on Extreme mode

It’s lots to do, and there is more I’m sure. Luckily its mostly all fun (except maybe Metroid). I don’t see any must-have games on my radar for a long time too, so I’ll have enough to keep me busy for at least the first third of 2008.

I just got to level 3!

So here’s what’s been up with my DS life of late, LBGD readers.

I previously posted about how I mostly enjoy Phantom Hourglass. I still think it’s swell, but I am so very mad at it. So mad. It’s like I started a lovely relationship with someone, went on some dates, made out a little bit, maybe got to second base, only to find out that my fun new friend is a coprophiliac.

Here is why. The damn game makes you redo a certain temple over and over again. You have to go back to it each time you beat a different area of the game to find out where you need to navigate to next in your little boat. I can’t imagine how a top-tier Nintendo developer would think this would be something fun. Didn’t this game get playtested? How the shit could people think doing the same GD thing over and over again could be an exciting gameplay mechanic? Maybe it’s a Japanese thing; I know that Western and Japanese gaming preferences can be quite distinct.

Anyway, I was so mad at Phantom Hourglass that I wanted to cheat on it. Like, make it feel bad. So I bought Contra 4 and happily popped Zelda out of my DS.

Contra 4 is very hard. I can’t play it if I’m not in a good mood, because it makes me angry at life. It is, however, exceptionally fun. Oh, and hard. I just got to the third level for the first time since I purchased it, which was almost two weeks ago. What is great is that it is a tribute to old-school gaming, when the only way to make a game have any lasting appeal was to make it so hard that you couldn’t get through the thing.

I hope Phantom Hourglass can feel me feeling hurt and upset at it for its terrible habits. I put pictures up on my Facebook page of Contra and me together in hope to make Hourglass burn with jealousy.

Family Timer for Xbox 360

Microsoft has recently released a 'Family Timer' for the Xbox. When activated this timer can be used to limit the amount of available playtime on a daily or weekly basis. Parents set the timer and once it runs out the Xbox will automatically shut itself off.

Frankly, I'm appalled. This is definitely topping my list of "Worst reason to have to stop playing video games list." I do find it kind of funny that most parents won't even know that this exists or even how to set it up. But I will know how to set it up for my kids. What will this future look like. A scary, sad existence where my children, and my children's children, my children's children's children and their alien friends/robots/cyborgs from the future will suffer these consequences. And for those addicts in gaming rehab or whose relationships are being torn apart by video games - Here is how to set up your own 'timer'

List of the "Worst Reasons to have to stop playing video games list"

1. Built in timer thing turned off your xbox
2. Red Ring of death
3. Real death
4. Your girlfriend calls (usually leads to just pressing pause)
5. You sold your gaming system for crack
6. You hear your roomates opening the door and you have to rush to turn off the console because you are embarrassed because you are still playing since they left 5 hours ago.

List of "Best reasons to have to stop playing video games list"

1. You are about to have sexual intercourse (with another person)
2. You beat the game and the alternate ending
3. Video game headache - you earned it
4. You want to read the newest post on Laser Blade.
5. It's 3:30 am and you are satisfied after a marathon gaming sesh.

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