Thoughts About the Upcoming Mortal Kombat Game

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I haven’t liked a Mortal Kombat game for a long time. I enjoyed the first one, thought the second one was the best and that the third one was a bit of a letdown. From there, I lost interest in the series when it shifted to 3D, added weapons and any other gimmicky stuff to keep the series fresh. To be fair, the Mortal Kombat games have always sold well, but the series hasn’t been relevant among hardcore fighting game fans or the mass audience in years.

Thankfully, the developers behind Mortal Kombat seem to be going the Street Fighter IV route by going back to what made the game great in the first place.

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The ESRB and My Video Game Collection

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Last year, my 7 year-old cousin at the time discovered Modern Warfare 2 through my 12 year-old cousin. Ever since that day, my now 8 year-old cousin has become enamored with the Mature-rated Call of Duty series. For him, Modern Warfare 2 was his Mortal Kombat; it was his gateway drug to Mature-rated games. As of now, he owns Conflict: Denied Ops and Sniper: Ghost Warrior, which he brags about being M-rated all the time.

I didn’t bring this anecdote up to talk about parenting. I don’t approve of him playing content I would deem inappropriate for him and I do what I can to keep that stuff away. The reason I bring this up though, is because my 8 year-old cousin now views that M rating as a symbol of cool. He loves the fact that he owns games that he knows he’s too young to be playing. They’re his forbidden fruit and he’ll take anything he can get at this point.

All of this made me think about my video game collection and how it relates to the ESRB. Once upon a time, the Mortal Kombat series was my forbidden fruit. Did my catalogue of games evolve in relation to the ESRB guidelines or did I overdose on forbidden fruit? I do the math to answer these questions and highlight any insights regarding gaming as I grew up.

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Late to the Party: Street Fighter Alpha

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Street Fighter Alpha is a landmark game in my life as a fighting game player. This was the first fighting game that I completely missed in its prime during my 14 year run without fighting games. I didn’t plan on missing out on this game; I actively purchased video game magazines to read Street Fighter Alpha coverage. However, it came out during a time when I wasn’t going to the arcade and I didn’t own a system that could run Alpha at home, so I never played more than 20 minutes of it at someones house years after the fact.

This was the first game I picked up on Playstation Network after buying my Playstation 3. Even though I have other fighting games to attend to, I really wanted to go back and give this one a fair shake to see what I’ve missed out on after all these years.

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The Undisputed Worst Video Game of All-Time – E.T. The Extraterrestrial

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I’ve run this video game website way too long without any mention of E.T. the Extraterrestrial. For all the wrong reasons, this game is legendary. If you don’t already know what makes this game special, there are no shortage of resources you can check out to catch up on the story.

I’m not here to regurgitate that story or tell you how E.T. the Extraterrestrial almost killed the entire home video game market. As a proud owner of this game, I just wanted to share my experiences with it.

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Fool Me Twice, Shame On Me – Why I’m Reluctant to Join the Call of Duty: Black Ops Hype Train

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Call of Duty: Black Ops is set for release in the next few weeks and based on the pre-order numbers alone it’s almost certain to be a monsterous success. Could it outsell the Infinity Ward developed Modern Warfare 2? It wouldn’t necessarily be out of the realm of possibility.

Will I be jumping in on day one, contributing to its success? Ha. I really enjoyed Modern Warfare 2, but that game was awesome thanks to the developers at Infinity Ward (before 1/3rd of the company bailed). Call of Duty: Black Ops is being made by Treyarch, who made Call of Duty: World at War, which I was less than impressed by.
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God of War Collection Impressions

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Prior to purchasing God of War Collection, I’ve never played a God of War game before. For years, I’ve heard great things about the series, but haven’t had a system to play them on. Now that I have a PlayStation 3, I figured that now would be a good time to see what the hype is about. A few weeks ago, my girlfriend gave this game her seal of approval, and I recently spent a few hours playing through the first God of War.

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I Think I’m Done With You, 3D Dot Game Heroes

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I’m in the Aqua Temple. I’ve been playing this level for over an hour, struggling to make my way through. I get to a point where all that is left is behind one more locked door before the boss. When I get to the door, it won’t open. Somewhere along the way, I missed a key and have no idea where. Crap.

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Peaceful Jay’s Colosseum

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I’m trying not to sound like an old man when I say this, but back in my day, Street Fighter was all about a bunch of players crowded around an arcade machine. There were always two people battling it out, while others watched the action, talking to each other while waiting for their turns. This was the foundation for many local Street Fighter communities around the world. Unfortunately, most of that community has disappeared in North America due to the death of the arcade.

However, in 2010, a Justin.tv user Peaceful Jay may have created the modern equivalent of that community on a much bigger scale.

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Why Isn’t There A Video Game About The Notebook?

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Love is the most popular subject matter in virtually every medium across every culture. Much of the music we listen to, television shows we watch and books we read deal with the subjects of love, dating and romance. Personally, I’m a sucker for a good love song, though I can pass on most chick flicks and romance novels.

With that said, where are the video games about love, dating and romance? Why hasn’t the most universal subject matter made a splash in the medium of video games? I acknowledge the fact that Mass Effect has a relationship mechanic, but its a small part in a big game about shooting aliens. Final Fantasy VIII tells a love story, but its wrapped around a fantasy world where you kill monsters and level up. I am also aware of the dating simulators in Japan, but cultural differences wouldn’t allow for direct ports of those games to other regions. My question is, where is the video game equivalent of The Notebook?

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Early ModNation Racers Impression

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I’ve been looking forward to playing a non-Mario Kart kart racer for quite some time. Sure, Mario Kart Wii is great, and may still be the best kart racer to come out of this generation when all is said and done, but my palette is looking for something a little different right now.

Enter ModNation Racers. This PlayStation 3 exclusive is part Mario Kart and part Little Big Planet. I’ve only played about an hour of campaign and split-screen, but I don’t think it would hurt to share a few opening thoughts about what I’ve played so far.

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