xbox 360

Pick Up Post: You Say You Want A Revolution

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Over the weekend, I just so happened to be at an HMV when I stumbled across one of the most ill-conceived games of the last decade (if not of all-time). I have made fun of this game incessantly since it was announced in May of 2008 and have watched it fall into the absolute bottom of the bargain bin. I have seen stores have difficulty selling the full kit for $10 and the disc alone for $5.  At the price of $2 (which was the price I got it for), even I had to stand there and think about whether or not this would be a good investment. It probably wasn’t, but at least I can now speak first hand on why this game sucks.

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Closing Thoughts on Mass Effect 2

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When this game first came out in January, the Internet buzz surrounding Mass Effect 2 was insane. People were hailing this as the game of the year 2010, regardless of what else was to come out in the next 11 months. I got so caught up in the Mass Effect 2 that I went out and bought Mass Effect 1 and beat it just so that I could get the full Mass Effect 2 experience.

Mass Effect 1 rocked my socks pretty hard. If it weren’t for a few excessive RPG elements and technical issues, it could have been right near the top of my unofficial “best games I’ve ever played” list. With such lofty expectations built up for this game, did they live up to them?

Yes. Yes they did.

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Pick Up Post: Cobra Clutch

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Earlier this week, I found myself hanging out at my local EB Games while my mom was at the Lenscrafters across the mall. After cycling through their inventory with my brother, we talked to the on-duty cashier, who just happened to be my brother’s friend. I had come into the store with no intentions to buy anything, but he made me an offer on a game I couldn’t refuse.

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How I Left Left 4 Dead 2…4 Dead

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Last time I wrote about Left 4 Dead 2, I had some very nice things to say about it. Since then, I’ve played it only once or twice. While I still stand by the belief that Left 4 Dead 2 is a good game, I don’t really have any motivation to go back any time soon.

Two things happened that made me fall off the Left 4 Dead 2 hype train: I’ve grown tired of the L4D formula and I’ve gotten a number of other games that have offered a fresher experience to me.

When the original Left 4 Dead came out, I had never played anything like it before. My brother played the hell out of that game. Those characters, special infected and scenarios became iconic. Eventually, I grew tired of it and was excited to see what Left 4 Dead 2 had to offer. While Left 4 Dead 2 does add a lot to spice things up, it’s still Left 4 Dead at it’s core, which I’m pretty much done with at this point.

The other reason I dropped it relatively quickly is that it came out around the time I got a bunch of games that were fresh experiences to me. I tore through Assassin’s Creed 2, Borderlands and Liberty City Stories, and still have a long way to go in Modern Warfare 2. And now I’m at a point where I’m currently playing other stuff and can’t really fit Left 4 Dead 2 back in the queue.

If you’re still enjoying the zombie apocalypse, power to you. For now, I’ll spend my gaming time elsewhere.

Game Design Talk: Taking Control Out of My Hands

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(SPOILER ALERT: This post will discuss major plot points in Modern Warfare 2 and Prince of Persia)

The terrorist scene in Modern Warfare 2 has been dissected from every conceivable angle by now. Odds are if you’re a fan of reading niche video game blogs like mine, you’ve probably played this sequence and have already come to your own conclusions about it.

For the record, I hate it. I hate it for a number of reasons, but for the sake of this discussion, I’m only going to get into one reason why I dislike this scene. I don’t hate it for the fact that you get to shoot innocent people. I applaud Infinity Ward for leaving that option open. However, that entire scenario is fundamentally broken because of the people you can’t shoot.

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Mass Effect 2: Electric Bugaloo

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Hot off the heels of Mass Effect, I was quick to play the sequel. While I thought the first Mass Effect was an incredible experience, it also had some quirks to it that could really turn someone off. I haven’t been able to put down Mass Effect 2; stopping about 3/4 of the way through the game to write this down. If I didn’t feel compelled to gush about Mass Effect 2 to the world, I would just keep playing. Mass Effect 2 might possibly be the best game ever. I have played a lot of games in my life, and I’m hard pressed to think of many more examples of gaming brilliance.

Game Design Talk: Burnout Paradise and the Feeling of Progression

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For a game that is fairly one-dimensional at its core, Burnout Paradise does a lot of little things to motivate players to keep playing. You will unlock new cars by either winning races or taking them out as they randomly drive by you on the road. The game keeps track of all the super jumps you complete, fences you smash and billboards you drive through. You can even race for the best time on basically every street in the game against your friends or against the world.

Those little things have kept me playing this game longer than I usually plan to. However, each of my sessions usually ends when I realize how far away I am to making progress in the most important measure of progression in the game: the licenses.

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Game Case Nightmares

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I get the feeling I’m in the minority here, but I know I’m not alone on this one. I like to take care of my games. I take pride in keeping everything intact and in top shape. This includes the cases that my games come in. Back in the days of Nintendo boxes, I would go as far as storing all of the cardboard boxes in a safe place. Nowadays, it’s a lot easier to keep everything in top shape, as game cases are well built to withstand average wear and tear.

However, having bought a number of used game stores and more recently, having bought a number of used games, I’ve seen so many games with messed up packaging. Everything from broken cases, to missing box art, to stickers all over the box. The majority of these cases makes me wonder: what are you people doing with your games?

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Closing Thoughts on Prince of Persia (2008)

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For the last few days, I have dedicated all of my gaming resources towards the Prince of Persia reboot. My first session with it made enough of an impact on me to drop everything else I was playing and play through this to the end. I don’t know why people hate on this game so much because I enjoyed it all the way through. Granted, it has flaws, but was definitely worth my time.
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Reemployed Gamer

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These last two months have been difficult for me. At the end of January, I lost my job due to circumstances beyond my control. It was the first time I’ve been unemployed since I first began working in 2001. The good news is I just got a new job. I start as of Monday and I’m really excited to begin anew.

On my first day of unemployment, I wrote a blog post outlining a few gaming resolutions of sorts to tide me over during this tough time. I can say right now that I failed horribly at not purchasing games, having bought a total of 16 games during these last two months, but how did I fare at the rest of my resolutions?

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