Category: games

Game

I’ve been playing Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus lately. R&C has always been one of my favorite game franchises. I was more than little disappointed with the last game though. It had some major bugs that almost rendered the game unplayable.

Don’t get me wrong, I still love my beloved lombax but this last game felt very rushed. Games always have bugs. I’ve yet to encounter a single game that didn’t have at least one bug in it. It is just a fact of life. That said, one that prevents the game from continuing is pretty big.

The Pup got to see my frustration first hand as I was yelling at the TV and very upset over such a stupid mistake. [1]Unfortunately, he didn’t appreciate my slightly misdirected angst when I snapped at one of his recommended workarounds. Fear not, I made amends.  And I was upset because it is one of my favorite games. I only bought the PS3 for R&C and GOW. Had those two games gone to Xbox, I’d never have picked up the PS3.

Anyway, I finished the game, even crippled as it was. It sort of rights itself in challenge mode but even then it’s still slightly not right. I plan on leaving feedback on the developer site. I know they’ll make another. I’d rather a game be delayed vs being full of bugs.

If you plan on playing it, here’s a tip. When you get past the bronze and silver challenges and come back to the gold medal challenges in the arena, don’t stop and save during any of the gold challenges. Play all the way thru to the next world, then stop and save. This seems to overcome the bug. Also, the last Gargathon Horn is hidden really well. Go to the left side of the world in the area where you fly around a lot. Make a left turn when you come thru the mountain tunnel and look for the broken railing on the mountain side, it’s in there with the Smuggler’s parrot!

Beyond the bug, this most recent version is more like the old school R&C vs some of the sillier more recent versions. If you’re a fan, you’ll like this one overall.

References

References
↑1 Unfortunately, he didn’t appreciate my slightly misdirected angst when I snapped at one of his recommended workarounds. Fear not, I made amends.

Game On

I am so looking forward to this game. The first one didn’t get much press but it was a very fun game. If you’re a nerdy consoledarkness gamer like me that enjoys a game that’s fun to play, this is a good one to have. In the first one, the story isn’t overly complex but it gives you a decent history as it unfolds. It had a few bugs in that it was too dark on some scenes and the monologues were boring as hell and couldn’t be skipped. But the game play was fun. If you’re like me and you enjoy FPS [1]first person shooter games w/more than just army nonsense, then this one is worth checking out. Well the first one was. I haven’t played part 2 yet but it’s been getting good reviews.

Like blogging, I come and go on gaming. Free time tends to be limited these days so just finding time to get lost in a game is challenging enough. lol I gauge a games worth on how many times I play thru it end to end. If I play it once and put it down, then it might have been ok but not phenomenal. If I’m willing to play thru it on increasing difficulty modes or just like replaying over and over, then it’s a keeper.

Anyway, I’ve always been a fan of scifi/horror/fantasy games. I know everyone else is big on war and sports games but I need more than speed or just different scenes to shoot opponents. I like a game with good visual layouts, music that fits the game play, and ease of use. The latter can be harder than you think. Every game developer seems to wanna ‘reinvent’ the game world which can often start with large expectations and small outcomes. You also have to have a feel for the game developer. Some companies turn out crap over and over until they find a hit. Some actually spend a lot of effort really focusing on how gamers play the game. The later often turn out to be big hits. I’m a huge fan of the Gears of War franchise. The third one seemed a little rushed but it was still good. The God of War games were awesome too. Both had great game fly, difficulty but not too difficult, and wonderful visual/audio scenes. I wish they’d come out with another Ratchet & Clank game. It was one of my all time favorite games. lol I played each one over and over and over.

Anyway, rather than wasting money I don’t have on buying all these, I use gamefly.com. It’s like Netflix for video games. I can play a game as long as I like and send it back when I’m done or I can buy it at a reduced rate. I used to buy 5-8 games a year and that shit adds up. Now I play twice that many and only buy the ones I really like.

For you nerds, I’ve got Infamous 2, Darkness II, and Portal 2 all up next in queue. My username/gamertag for Xbox 360 and PS3 is the same as my twitter handle.

References

References
↑1 first person shooter

Geek UnBound III

I officially signed up for Gamefly today. My first video game is on the way. I figured this would save me some bucks in the long run. I tend to play a game anywhere from 2-4 times, I beat it once or twice and then I move on. It then ends up in a box lonely and forgotten. [1]like an old trick Regardless of the console, games run 50-60 bucks a pop new and that freaking adds up! I have roughly 10-15 games. That puts my expenditure just on games around $800.00! Holy HELL!

With Gamefly, I opted for 1 game at a time which is $16.00 per month. Thats under $200.00 a year. BIG difference. lol Plus, all the reviews I read from gamer buddies gave them high marks for service and resale on games. Even better, there is no contract so I can cancel anytime. Nice! The best part is I can try a game out before I buy it. Nothing worse than buying a hyped-up game and it turns out to be a big ole dud. [2]just like Manhunt?

Anyway, my first game arrives next week.

References

References
↑1 like an old trick
↑2 just like Manhunt?

Geek Unbound II

So desire got the best of me yesterday and I ended up buying the new PS3. It was on sale so only paid a tad more than I paid for the Xbox 360. I have to say so far I’m not overly impressed. Don’t get me wrong, it is a nice console. But, to hear Sony talk, it blows the Xbox away. Not so. The graphics are about on par w/the Xbox 360.

I’ve always been a PS fan so I’m happy I managed to squeeze out the coin for a new one. It does play all my old games. [1]So far. I noticed a very odd glitch in that the some of the unused buttons actually repeat the primary button functions. I have the demo of FEAR on Xbox and I bought the full version for PS3. The xbox version looks much better. It may be because FEAR came out too soon to be radically re-written for the new PS3 architecture.

The big reason I made the purchase was for my favorite game, Ratchet & Clank. Adam clued me in a new version only for PS3 is coming out in October. R&C is my all time favorite video console game and I just couldn’t forgo being able to play it. I still play all of the last 4 versions often.

Microsoft gets big points for their online services. The XBL (Xbox Live) is incredibly intuitive and user friendly. Setup was simple and fast. The PS3, not so much. The menus are overly obscure and broken down too far. Some are even redundant. I also had a big problem registering my console so I could buy stuff online. Even though my billing address for my CC is my PO Box, it kept polling for my physical address. I had to call my bank, add it, and then retry it. Very annoying. MS charges for their online services but at $40 bucks a year, not a big deal. PS3 online is free however, another failure on the part of Sony. For such a nice console the online site is lackluster to say the least. The icons and logos are reminiscent of the old sega consoles. A huge disappointment. You can tell they really rushed it. I hope they get their act together and spruce it up.

The PS3 did have a variety of new ports this time for storage. Compact flash, SD/Mini SD, and Sony’s proprietary memory stick. [2]which never caught on w/anyone but Sony Sadly, no port for memory cards from the PS2. So you can’t port your saved games to the PS3. Another very annoying feature. [3]I found out from Adam, they do make an adapter. He is loaning me his. Such a sweetie. I have yet to watch any HD DVD’s on the PS3. I hear it is spectacular so I’ll have to get back to you on that one.

Over all, I think the consoles are pretty even on graphics rendering. However, Microsoft is the clear winner in mind. Maybe Billy is finally taking a page out of the Steve Jobs book and making his staff focus as much on aesthetics as function.

References

References
↑1 So far. I noticed a very odd glitch in that the some of the unused buttons actually repeat the primary button functions.
↑2 which never caught on w/anyone but Sony
↑3 I found out from Adam, they do make an adapter. He is loaning me his. Such a sweetie.

Super Who?

Time to hear me get ‘bitchy’.

I couldn’t be bothered to care who is playing in the superbowl or that it even occurred. If everyone at work wasn’t in such a dither I would have missed it all together. Every damn TV in the place had to be on “the game”. I absolutely detest football1. There! I said it. I’m a football-hating mother fucker. I know many of my fellow bloggers like, even love, the accursed game. Well, good for you.

It isn’t the game itself I detest but the backward mentality associated with it in this country. I’m sure if I’d grown up straight it wouldn’t have been a problem but I didn’t. And growing up in rural East Texas I got a double dose of torment. In my hometown, football was considered not only a right of passage to manhood but a weekly judgement of your emergent masculinity. Not being into football immediately earned me the various titles “fag, sissy, geek, pussy, or all of the above” on a routine basis. It didn’t matter that I excelled in track.2 Nor did my father do anything to help the situation by being an avid football lover. Well, that and he couldn’t help but remark on a regular basis about certain less popular players being queer and a detriment to the game.

So no, I don’t like football. You can keep your stick-up-your-ass game and all the juvenile behavior that come with it. I’ll stick to hockey.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled program…

1 You’d think with all the hugging and those tight tights I’d be in heaven. You’d be wrong.
2 I could run a mile in just over 5 minutes. Not the best but pretty damn good.

Teeth Like a Bulldog

I only got one day off this week due to my change of schedule. I spent it playing Lost Planet. So far, I really like this game. This visuals are good and the levels are pretty diverse. It hasn’t caught on a lot so haven’t had much of a chance to play online yet. I’ve gotten bored w/Gears of War. I’ve beaten it twice in solo mode already. I mostly play it online now. Way more fun.

On a side rant, I’m a little annoyed. I met a gamer online recently and we hit it off as buddies pretty well. Anyway, he discovered I’m not into doing the nasty on cam so now he pretty much ignores me. Don’t get me wrong, I know that men often think with the little head vs the big head1. I so have egg on my face. Apparently, his brother-in-law is in the hospital and he has been helping with that. I feel about 2 inches tall now.

It doesn’t help that I have a fight on my hands at work right now either. I discovered this week a function built into the software we use has been disabled via a recent software update. A function so vital it could create more liability for our department as well as get people hurt. None of the supervisory staff seemed to care at all. Well, they are in for a fight because I ain’t about to drop it. I’m a tenatious bastard to say the least.2 If I have to take it to the media, I will.

There is some good news though. I found out the City is planning on hiring EMTs again soon. Like end of February soon. They are working off of an old list however, this means I can get my name on the new list! Oh, wouldn’t that give me a shit-eatin-grin!

1 I live in SFfor christ’s sake. I’ve gotten laid going to the post office!
2 Once I get my teeth into something, there is no distracting me.

Techno Hell

*Full geek post ahead. You have been warned.*

You’d think being the tech geek I am, I’d have absolutely no problem setting up all the new devices w/the new HDTV. You’d be wrong. My woes started when the Tivo wasn’t getting audio from the new HD cable box. I checked, rechecked, and checked my wires yet again BEFORE calling tech. support.1.

I was at work so I just ran thru the checklist of things w/the Tivo guy and asked if he’d encountered similar problems w/other subscribers. To his credit, he did know and recommended a fix. However, after getting home and trying it, no luck. I was fast becoming agitated.

Fast forward to today.

This time I called Comcast. While I’ve had very little trouble w/them over the years, I know better than to remotely hope for a knowledgable rep. My lack of faith was justified right up until the very end of the conversation. She let it slip that the HD cable box doesn’t do more than one output source at a time. Exsqueeze me? Why the hell do you offer multiple out ports then? Needless to say, she was less than amused w/my 10 minute BF2.

Not willing to admit defeat just yet, I treked off to Radioshack for some help . . . a wasted trip.
Continue reading Techno Hell

Holy Plasma Weapons!

Ratchet: Deadlocked!

I just discovered they are releasing a new version of Ratchet & Clank! I’m ecstatic! R&C is one of my favorite playstation games. It has lots of action and skill levels and is more than worth the $40.00 bucks.

I just pre-ordered from Best Buy and I can’t wait! (The release dat isn’t until the 27th.)

This version seems to be heavily geared toward online game play which I’ve yet to venture into. Maybe this will be the spur.

I don’t like a lot of online games because they involve killing off other players as humans and that bothers me. I much prefer games where I’m dealing in complete fantasy and any killing involves monsters and gruesome bad guys. I could go on and on about my feelings on violent video games but lets save that for another day when I’m desperate for a topic.

Wouldn’t it be great if I get back from my vacation and there is a fantastic new video game in my mailbox just waiting for me?