Spies are a surprisingly common trope in board games. They usually aren’t of the James Bond variety, though they’re often used to represent someone who is hiding their true identity. All three of these games on tonight’s Board Game Night Playlist feature these undercover agents. Curiously, all three games are also designed to work as party games for large groups. Let’s blow the cover on these spy-themed board games!
Prior to the release of Street Fighter V, I’m taking a sabbatical from Ultra Street Fighter IV to play Mortal Kombat X. It was a Christmas present from Steff that I cracked into as soon as the holiday madness cooled off. So far, I’m loving it. Full review to come, but kudos once again to NetherRealm Studios for knocking another one out of the park.
My biggest hurdle with the game so far has nothing to do with the game itself. Rather, it’s an internal problem that has manifested itself through my success in Street Fighter IV and other fighting games. Right now, I’m trying to overcome my fighting game superiority complex.
Over year has passed and way too much money has left my wallet for Amiibo figures. Though they don’t spend much time being scanned into my Wii U, they make for amazing collectibles on my gaming desk. Looking at my desk, I feel like I got every character I’d want – and a handful I probably didn’t need.
With Nintendo not slowing down on their Amiibo releases, what more could they have in store? I kind have at least one of everyone I want. In some cases, more than one of each character I want. Is this the year where my Amiibo spending finally goes down?
After floundering for years, Mortal Kombat got its groove back in 2011. Great graphics for the time, a switch back to 2D fighting and a well-refined battle engine made it a worth rival to the likes of Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Not willing to rest on its laurels, Mortal Kombat X is bigger, bolder, and better than its predecessor in almost every way.
With Street Fighter V just days old, no shortage of players will be jumping to conclusions about which characters are top tier and which ones suck. While it’s fun to have the discussion, it’s probably too early to draw any sort of conclusions. Quite frankly, where characters stand on some general hierarchy means little to me, as I’m far more concerned with the characters I use and the particulars I need to know to beat everyone else.
What I present to you is not a ranking of whose the best. This is my personal rankings based on hype levels. Who am most excited to play as? Who do I not want to touch with a 10-foot pole?
Ever since Love Letter became a smash hit, game designers and publishers have been cranking out micro games at a brisk pace. HUE, as part of the Pack O Game series of titles, is one of the smallest yet. Featuring only 30 cards in a box the size of a Juicy Fruit pack of gum, this little game can easily fit in your pocket for gaming on the go. Form factor is great, but who cares about its size if the game isn’t good. Does HUE deliver beyond the gimmick of its size?
The launch of Street Fighter V has been a disaster. On day one, the servers didn’t work, making the game largely unplayable. Since then, the server issues have continued to improve, though the issues with the game’s paltry feature set still exist. In particular, casual players got hit hardest, as the lack of single player content is maddening. Due to this slight, the user scores for this game have been horrendous, even though the actual gameplay is better than its ever been.
As a hardcore player, it can be easy to be dismissive of the casual gamer’s point of view. For me, it has online play, training mode and 8-player lobbies will be arriving in a few days. I’m good. But for the overall well-being of the game, I should be worried.
Part of my job in real life is to analyze website data. Pouring through the numbers, I gather insights and make recommendations on how our clients should proceed. When it comes to this site, I peek at the numbers daily, though the amount of analysis that can be done though the wordpress.com suite of analytics has been pretty limited.
Recently, they rolled out the ability to export post data into CSV files. I did that, added an assortment of metatags, and start splicing up the numbers into interesting chucks. Let’s take a peek together at what’s happening under the hood of In Third Person!
Street Fighter V features a new distribution model where Capcom is releasing roughly one new character per month, starting in March. They’re also allowing for the purchase of individual costumes. In real life, it’s $6 US per character and $4 US per costume, which can add up real fast. However, the game also allows you to earn Fight Money, which is in-game currency that can also be used to purchase characters and items.
Having said that, it’s a grind. You gain 50 Fight Money for each online win, but characters cost 100,000 FM, while costumes cost 40,000 FM. There has to be an easier way than simply winning 2,000 matches for the privilege of earning one free character. If you want everything for free, you’re going to have to put in a ton of work to a point where it’s unrealistic for most players to achieve. There are, however, a few tips for gaining a decent chunk of Fight Money quickly.
Street Fighter V is poised to be one of the fiercest video game battlegrounds for many years to come. With many players having cut their teeth on the beta leading up to the game’s release, the level of competition at the time of the game’s release was already high. If you just brought the game home, don’t be surprised if you get repeatedly trounced by online competition.
While there is an inherent learning curve to anything, you don’t have to suck at Street Fighter V forever. If you train smart, you can improve at a rate that will keep you engaged for the long haul. Here are a handful of tips that will hopefully guide you down the path to being the next great world warrior!
In Third Person 