A few weeks ago I would've told anyone who asked the gaming forecast for Q1 2009 that it was bleak at best. Of course, I don't keep my finger on the industry's pulse much these days... I've somewhat adopted Play Magazine's approach: plucking only what I'm interested in from the old cherry tree. I suppose that's not so unusual, though.
Anyway, it turns out things aren't so bleak. There are a handful of really awesome games coming out in February, leading up to Q1's big contender, Resident Evil 5. Infact, it may be time to renew my GameFly membership. Shelling out for 3.5 games in roughly a month's time is not conducive to my profession. Sigh... just had to be a liberal arts major, now didn't I?
What releases am I anticipating, you ask? Well, I'll tell you!
In, what, two weeks, on February 10, F.E.A.R. 2 Project Origin and Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection hit shelves. The demo for F.E.A.R. 2 is up on Xbox Live Arcade. Simply put, it rocks. Stop reading this and go play it. Seriously. I won't be offended. I am so pumped for this sequel to F.E.A.R.'s impending release. I'm a huge fan of the first game. And lately I have been jonesin' for a new, unique First Person Shooter experience. I'm confident F.E.A.R. 2 will deliver.
As for Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection? Well, for starters, it's $30. Now, click the link. Go ahead, I'll wait. Check out that damned list.
. . .
Awesome, right? Phantasy Star 1-4 and Shining Force I & II alone warrant its meager pricetag. But jeez... that's my late-middle school years on one disc. A must-own for anyone with $30 to spare who missed out on the goodness that was Sega Genesis. Or for anyone like me who just adores Sega's Golden Age.
One week later there's Street Fighter 4. As excited as I am for this title, I don't feel that fighting games justify spending $60. They lack longevity. Perhaps online battles will improve their lifespan, but I'm still hesitant to commit. I may go halfsies on this with my roommate.
The next week, on February 24, Star Ocean: The Last Hope drops. I'm on the fence about this title. I adore Star Ocean 2, but hated Star Ocean 3. If you scope out the game's Wiki, you'll notice the character names are abysmal and the game's robot/android/whatever character looks stupid. I've been clammorin' for a good robot character for ages, and this is what I get? Bleh. That's right, I'm that superficial. I don't deny it. I think I'll wait and read some reviews before I pull the trigger on this purchase.
But what I will be buying on launch day, without any reservation -- and the "I'm A Tool" version no less -- is Resident Evil 5. Yeah, 'nuff said. See you in March, on Friday the 13th, baby.
So what are you folks lookin' forward to? Post a comment or send me a tweet and lemme know.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I Lied
So, the other day I impulsively recorded a video cast. There's no real direction, point, or purpose behind it... I just wanted to ease myself into being comfortable behind the camera -- see how it felt and all.
Honestly, I felt like a total dork while recording this and had no idea what to do with myself. Maybe if I jazz it up a bit, though, I could make it some sort of biweekly component to this blog. Splice in images and video, bump the recording time up a little and have it play off the would-be content I'll be posting. I don't know.
Be gentle, it's my first time baby:
Honestly, I felt like a total dork while recording this and had no idea what to do with myself. Maybe if I jazz it up a bit, though, I could make it some sort of biweekly component to this blog. Splice in images and video, bump the recording time up a little and have it play off the would-be content I'll be posting. I don't know.
Be gentle, it's my first time baby:
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
More Videos To Rock Your World
I would complement these videos with like, I don't know... analytical criticism or something? Perhaps even some smarmy tongue-in-cheek commentary. But, truth be told, I have nothing. These videos are fucking epic, scarring, and downright better than any drug you could imagine taking.
Please credit me for spreading these videos across the US like wildfire.
Please credit me for spreading these videos across the US like wildfire.
Blast From The Past
Monday, January 12, 2009
So What's What?
I hate posting an "update" entry. I feel like I'm wasting everyone who reads this damned thing's time. But I feel guilty for not posting more regularly and allowing myself to be so easily distracted in life. Of course, I feel remorseful whenever I make a post that doesn't meet my standards or is, like this one, an utter waste. It's a vicious circle that I can't escape! Well, that's not true. I could, you know, live up to my word and produce some quality content for my blog.
But I'm working on it! I have a professor-friend that has agreed to assign me topics to write about in order to give me some focus. I think I work better when I'm told to write something than when left alone as my own boss. This is why I'll never make it as a freelancer. I need structure. So, yeah, this professor-friend of mine is pretty damn well read, and also interested in matters of race, sex, and gender as they are portrayed in entertainment media. With his passive assistance I expect to be rolling out significant content by the end of every week. I'll try and pepper the site with little gems inbetween.
I'm still working on new game +, this sort of social, friend-based video game blog written by and for people who play video games, not gamers. I've been told making such a distinction is asinine, but I like it and god damn it I'll do what I want. I'm a little hesitant of trying to form and run another video game blog. It's not that Vanish/Doom wasn't fun while it lasted, it's just that I grow very tired of writing solely about video games very quickly these days. Hopefully new game + will be self-sufficient and only require periodical contributions from me. I just need to finish working on the banner and finally choose a freaking layout. I've been trying out wordpress templates like a valley girl at an outlet store.
There is an alternative, though, and that's to start a blog/podcast in the same vein as Ryan Scott's The Geekbox. Scott has essentially created exactly what I want to be writing for -- a website that focuses on television, film, comics, books, video games... all forms of entertainment media. Not just one. Of course, I would write from a nerdly angle 'cause, well, let's face it: I'm a nerd. I really miss podcasting. I have a few friends who would gladly jump onboard. I'm kicking around doing a video podcast, too, but I don't think my current readership warrants that. I don't mean that the few of you who read this dumb ass blog aren't worth it, just that there needs to be more of you in order for me to feel comfortable posting up videos of myself blathering on.
Post some comments or send me a tweet to let me know your thoughts, ideas, and what you'd like to see/hear.
One last thing: I want to drop some linkage to some must see/hear/read stuff that's surfaced since the whole 1UP/UGO fiasco.
There's eat-game-sleep.com, where Nick Suttner, Phillip Kollar, and other ex-1Uppers have taken refuge and are also publishing reincarnation of 1UP FM, Rebel FM, on.
The cats from 1UP Show have formed their own production team, Area 5, and have resurrected the 1UP Show as "Co-Op." It's a little rough around the edges, but it's totally worth watching and will only ever get better.
But I'm working on it! I have a professor-friend that has agreed to assign me topics to write about in order to give me some focus. I think I work better when I'm told to write something than when left alone as my own boss. This is why I'll never make it as a freelancer. I need structure. So, yeah, this professor-friend of mine is pretty damn well read, and also interested in matters of race, sex, and gender as they are portrayed in entertainment media. With his passive assistance I expect to be rolling out significant content by the end of every week. I'll try and pepper the site with little gems inbetween.
I'm still working on new game +, this sort of social, friend-based video game blog written by and for people who play video games, not gamers. I've been told making such a distinction is asinine, but I like it and god damn it I'll do what I want. I'm a little hesitant of trying to form and run another video game blog. It's not that Vanish/Doom wasn't fun while it lasted, it's just that I grow very tired of writing solely about video games very quickly these days. Hopefully new game + will be self-sufficient and only require periodical contributions from me. I just need to finish working on the banner and finally choose a freaking layout. I've been trying out wordpress templates like a valley girl at an outlet store.
There is an alternative, though, and that's to start a blog/podcast in the same vein as Ryan Scott's The Geekbox. Scott has essentially created exactly what I want to be writing for -- a website that focuses on television, film, comics, books, video games... all forms of entertainment media. Not just one. Of course, I would write from a nerdly angle 'cause, well, let's face it: I'm a nerd. I really miss podcasting. I have a few friends who would gladly jump onboard. I'm kicking around doing a video podcast, too, but I don't think my current readership warrants that. I don't mean that the few of you who read this dumb ass blog aren't worth it, just that there needs to be more of you in order for me to feel comfortable posting up videos of myself blathering on.
Post some comments or send me a tweet to let me know your thoughts, ideas, and what you'd like to see/hear.
One last thing: I want to drop some linkage to some must see/hear/read stuff that's surfaced since the whole 1UP/UGO fiasco.
There's eat-game-sleep.com, where Nick Suttner, Phillip Kollar, and other ex-1Uppers have taken refuge and are also publishing reincarnation of 1UP FM, Rebel FM, on.
The cats from 1UP Show have formed their own production team, Area 5, and have resurrected the 1UP Show as "Co-Op." It's a little rough around the edges, but it's totally worth watching and will only ever get better.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Gaming Update: Prince of Persia Edition
Ugh, I'm totally ashamed that I haven't posted a gaming updated in, what, two weeks? Truth be told, I haven't really gotten in any serious game time since just before Christmas, though.
This week, however, I managed to cleanup some of my backlog by finishing Prince of Persia, progressing in Persona 4, and at the very least considering defeating that god-awful boss in The Last Remnant.
Monday I caught something fluish. No gaming for Christopher.
Tuesday I booted Persona 4 back up. The trouble with this game is: if you quit playing mid-dungeon, even for just a day, you risk the chance of forgetting enemies' weaknesses. Anyone who's played any Shin Megami can attest to the importance of knowing strengths and weaknesses in battles. So, my advice? Only take a hiatus from Persona 4 before or after you've completed a dungeon. I swear to the Intelligent Designer if I die mid-dungeon one more time...
Wednesday I died in Persona 4 after three or four floors worth of progress. Do you know what that means? It means it's time to take a break from this game and play some Prince of Persia. The new PoP won't win any awards in innovation, but it's a helluva lot of fun and the perfect break from any game that requires more diligence, focus, and dedication. PoP can't be much more than 10 hours, in length, and is broken -- quite simplistically -- into four major components... but by doing this, Ubisoft has made a game whose progres I can accurate gauge, and as a result can rely on to entertain me when other games are frustrating me.
I finished off the first of the game's areas/bossess when I first got it sometime over the Holiday Break. Now I've taken down another of Ahriman's minions. I think now is as good as any time to call it a night.
Thursday sees me still playing Prince of Persia. Okay, this game officially has its hooks in me. This morning, alone, I polished off the another of the game's four main areas/bossess -- that makes three out of four. Now I'm going to take some time to backtrack and collect light spheres. Not for the achievements... I'm just neurotic and somewhat of a completionist. Don't judge me.
After grabbing some lunch, I dive right back into Prince of Persia head-first and play it rigorously until its completion. I won't lie: it totally borrows from Team Ico. That's no reason to chastise it, though. The influences/inspirations are subtle, and Prince of Persia still remains decidedly an original experience. It won't rock your world, change your world, or split the time-space continuum and create a new world... but for $40 it will entertain you as a fun video game. I don't know about the rest of you, but that's sort of why I play games these days... to be entertained on some leve or another.
Friday I loaded The World Ends With You on my DS. I realize that I'm way late to play this game, but with everyone in such a fuss over how awesome-tastic it is I figure playing it is a "better late than never" scenario.
Go figure that I wish it were "never."
this game confuses the fuck out of me, and fails miserably to hold my attention. I'll chalk it up to playing it while on a treadmill, which severely compromises my focus, but the writing blows and the battle system gives me a headache. Call me an old man, but innovation/departure from the "norm" should not be celebrated for the sake of celebration. I'm all for innovation, but it has to actually work... not just be something we praise because "it ain't the status quo." Of course, there exists a chance that I'm in the painful minority because I'm a dick -- see: Skies of Arcadia. I'll give this game another shot in a few days and see what's up.
For now, I need to get through this dungeon in Persona 4 so that I can return to The Last Remnant, complete disc 1, then go back to Persona 4 and remove that game from my big-ass "to do" list.
This week, however, I managed to cleanup some of my backlog by finishing Prince of Persia, progressing in Persona 4, and at the very least considering defeating that god-awful boss in The Last Remnant.
Monday I caught something fluish. No gaming for Christopher.
Tuesday I booted Persona 4 back up. The trouble with this game is: if you quit playing mid-dungeon, even for just a day, you risk the chance of forgetting enemies' weaknesses. Anyone who's played any Shin Megami can attest to the importance of knowing strengths and weaknesses in battles. So, my advice? Only take a hiatus from Persona 4 before or after you've completed a dungeon. I swear to the Intelligent Designer if I die mid-dungeon one more time...
Wednesday I died in Persona 4 after three or four floors worth of progress. Do you know what that means? It means it's time to take a break from this game and play some Prince of Persia. The new PoP won't win any awards in innovation, but it's a helluva lot of fun and the perfect break from any game that requires more diligence, focus, and dedication. PoP can't be much more than 10 hours, in length, and is broken -- quite simplistically -- into four major components... but by doing this, Ubisoft has made a game whose progres I can accurate gauge, and as a result can rely on to entertain me when other games are frustrating me.
I finished off the first of the game's areas/bossess when I first got it sometime over the Holiday Break. Now I've taken down another of Ahriman's minions. I think now is as good as any time to call it a night.
Thursday sees me still playing Prince of Persia. Okay, this game officially has its hooks in me. This morning, alone, I polished off the another of the game's four main areas/bossess -- that makes three out of four. Now I'm going to take some time to backtrack and collect light spheres. Not for the achievements... I'm just neurotic and somewhat of a completionist. Don't judge me.
After grabbing some lunch, I dive right back into Prince of Persia head-first and play it rigorously until its completion. I won't lie: it totally borrows from Team Ico. That's no reason to chastise it, though. The influences/inspirations are subtle, and Prince of Persia still remains decidedly an original experience. It won't rock your world, change your world, or split the time-space continuum and create a new world... but for $40 it will entertain you as a fun video game. I don't know about the rest of you, but that's sort of why I play games these days... to be entertained on some leve or another.
Friday I loaded The World Ends With You on my DS. I realize that I'm way late to play this game, but with everyone in such a fuss over how awesome-tastic it is I figure playing it is a "better late than never" scenario.
Go figure that I wish it were "never."
this game confuses the fuck out of me, and fails miserably to hold my attention. I'll chalk it up to playing it while on a treadmill, which severely compromises my focus, but the writing blows and the battle system gives me a headache. Call me an old man, but innovation/departure from the "norm" should not be celebrated for the sake of celebration. I'm all for innovation, but it has to actually work... not just be something we praise because "it ain't the status quo." Of course, there exists a chance that I'm in the painful minority because I'm a dick -- see: Skies of Arcadia. I'll give this game another shot in a few days and see what's up.
For now, I need to get through this dungeon in Persona 4 so that I can return to The Last Remnant, complete disc 1, then go back to Persona 4 and remove that game from my big-ass "to do" list.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
First Post of 2009
...and it ain't nothin' special. Mostly just idle ramblings and playing catch-up.
Firstly, I must apologize. Well, I don't really have to... but I want to. I haven't been living up to the personal goals I set for myself with this blog, and in the process I've let down what few readers I have. For example, I promised an extravagant, amazing, and even fabulous 2008 toplist and I failed to deliver. Don't ask me how, but I manage to forget every year that the Winter Holiday season is nothing short of ridiculous. I didn't have a moment to myself until January 2nd, and then I got sick. Something fluish, I don't know. Whatever it was left me bedridden until yesterday, and even then I didn't feel quite right.
I have, however, begun a lot of "behind-the-scenes" work on stuff. I've had this quirky idea about a social video game blog designed for people who play video games -- not "gamers." In other words, no 1000-word essays peppered with pretention and elitism. Just guys and gals playin' games and rambling on about their gaming experiences. Basically, I want to give several close friends and colleagues access to the blog so that they can post on their whims -- and post whatever they want. I've received a loot of support for the idea, so hopefully it won't be a tremendous waste of time. Plus, I really want to remove the video game posts from this site completely, but I'd still like an outlet to talk about games.
Speaking of video games, my heart goes out to all the cats over at 1UP who started 2009 with a severance package. Fortunately, most of these now former-employees are not lost at sea without a paddle. They have the academic qualifications and work experience to stay afloat, especially if they band together and do their own thing. I hope they take this route, as most people who have departed 1UP and gone on to do their own thing have created really unique websites like WhatTheyPlay and GreenPixel.
As for me, well, I'm struggling with what direction I want to take this blog. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, I don't want to post all willy-nilly whenever I feel like it. I prefer to have focus, to know what the site is all about. Without that focus, I fret over whether or not each and every post I make belongs here. On the other hand, giving the blog direction means really putting some effort and hard work into the content. It means seeking out stories, researching them, building them up, and producing stellar editorial coverage. Which, as a journalism and English major, is what I ought to be doing if only to prove my genuine dedication to the craft/industry.
Well, guess I answered my own question while deliberating over it, now didn't I?
More to come soon.
Firstly, I must apologize. Well, I don't really have to... but I want to. I haven't been living up to the personal goals I set for myself with this blog, and in the process I've let down what few readers I have. For example, I promised an extravagant, amazing, and even fabulous 2008 toplist and I failed to deliver. Don't ask me how, but I manage to forget every year that the Winter Holiday season is nothing short of ridiculous. I didn't have a moment to myself until January 2nd, and then I got sick. Something fluish, I don't know. Whatever it was left me bedridden until yesterday, and even then I didn't feel quite right.
I have, however, begun a lot of "behind-the-scenes" work on stuff. I've had this quirky idea about a social video game blog designed for people who play video games -- not "gamers." In other words, no 1000-word essays peppered with pretention and elitism. Just guys and gals playin' games and rambling on about their gaming experiences. Basically, I want to give several close friends and colleagues access to the blog so that they can post on their whims -- and post whatever they want. I've received a loot of support for the idea, so hopefully it won't be a tremendous waste of time. Plus, I really want to remove the video game posts from this site completely, but I'd still like an outlet to talk about games.
Speaking of video games, my heart goes out to all the cats over at 1UP who started 2009 with a severance package. Fortunately, most of these now former-employees are not lost at sea without a paddle. They have the academic qualifications and work experience to stay afloat, especially if they band together and do their own thing. I hope they take this route, as most people who have departed 1UP and gone on to do their own thing have created really unique websites like WhatTheyPlay and GreenPixel.
As for me, well, I'm struggling with what direction I want to take this blog. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, I don't want to post all willy-nilly whenever I feel like it. I prefer to have focus, to know what the site is all about. Without that focus, I fret over whether or not each and every post I make belongs here. On the other hand, giving the blog direction means really putting some effort and hard work into the content. It means seeking out stories, researching them, building them up, and producing stellar editorial coverage. Which, as a journalism and English major, is what I ought to be doing if only to prove my genuine dedication to the craft/industry.
Well, guess I answered my own question while deliberating over it, now didn't I?
More to come soon.
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