Zelda Haikus

Link, a haiku

wooded protector

bespoken savior

a master of swords

“Battlefield 1” - A Belated Review

The most depressing cover art...

  At this time the “Battlefield 1” announcement trailer is the most liked video game trailer on YouTube. This is indicative of the popularity of the franchise and the rarity of games about World War I. It also showed gamers the comeback of mechanics that have been missing in the storied 12-game franchise since “Battlefield: Bad Company 2”. Battlefield’s formulaic large-scale cooperative-based warfare is as powerful as ever, this time painted against the backdrop of the horrors of “The War to End All Wars.”

Gamer Altruism Defeats Stereotypes about Gaming

The Video Game Industry is one of the fastest growing sectors of the U.S. Economy. From 2009 to 2012, the industry grew at a rate of 10%, with overall U.S. economy only growing by 2.4% during the same period. Today there are more gamers than ever, with more than 150 million Americans playing video games. However, even now some people continue to insinuate that playing games causes violent crimes, perpetuating unfounded stereotypes. The stereotypical gamer is an awkward boy who never grew up, never contributed to life in a meaningful way. Facts easily dispel these stereotypes: the average gamer is 35 years old, nearly half (41%) of them are female. A new survey commissioned by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) found that more than 80% of gamers said they anticipate voting in 2016, in comparison to 75% of non-gamers. In the 2012 presidential election, gamers voted 10% more than the general public.

Solid Snake Poem

Outer Heaven

Inner turmoil.

A hidden boss

Leading the soldiers dream.

The sliest of foxes

Leading a liquid rebellion

Can't stop these brown boxes

Hiding a stolen stallion.

Zelda Poem

“A hero of time”

A link to the future
Tis nostalgia for a dreamer
You awake, the world begins.

Hey listen, hey listen, hey listen.
A bespoken savior,
A courageous mute.
He just and he groans.

Super Mario Poem

Brick breaker

Coin Maker

Going on a fashion trip

Tanooki, oh so hip.

Flame thrower

Dino lover

The industry's savior

With destructive behavior.

Why gamers don't finish games

After taking a look at Star Wars & Overwatch the last couple of weeks I think it is time to circle back around and focus on some gaming analysis. This week I will be analyzing the reasons why gamers, myself included don't finish most of their games. As evidenced in this article by IGN the genre of the game does not make much difference. Even story-focused games are no exception to this. I think part of the reasoning for this is that it is ingrained in the culture of gaming and a part of the community. There are those 30% (approximately) mavericks that do finish their games, but they are a minority in our ever expanding community. Hopefully I'll be able to shed some light on this and help others see why we don't finish (; P), as well as inspire some to pick up a controller and finally put that old game in the completed pile.

Overwatch beta impressions

That is a lot of heroes man

Completion date? When it's done

The month of May is upon us and with it a string of new releases all vying for your attention, hoping to be the game that you will choose for your summer break.  At least 4 different shooters (DOOM, Battleborn, Homefront, Uncharted 4) are beckoning, each with drastically divergent features.  Overwatch sets itself apart with perfectly balanced gameplay & levels crafted with Blizzard's usual attention to detail.  It immerses you in it's world & makes the time fly by until you realize it's 3 am (and you have work at 9).

Star Wars: Battlefront Review

A Belated Review

*Cough* always bet on Luke *Cough*

         Better late then never is the best way to describe not only this review but also the content of Star Wars: Battlefront. Launched last year on November 17 it has been ripped apart by most publications, garnering a 73 meta-score.  On the other hand it was seen as a greedy cash grab by EA abusing the Star Wars license. Helped by the release of the new Star Wars movie it still sold millions of copies regardless of the critics opinions.  Over all it does a lot of things extremely well but a wise investment it is not.

Doom Multiplayer Beta Impressions

         As most gamers looking forward to the release of the newest iteration of Doom courtesy of infamous Id Software I was as giddy as a schoolgirl as the beta weekend loomed closer and closer. After playing it for part of this past weekend my excitement was quickly abated. I went from wanting to buy the game on release day to simply moving into my GameFly queue. In this day and age with the amount of releases one simply cannot afford to buy every new game unless it has some lasting power, mainly in its multiplayer. While the singleplayer is a perfect homage to the original Doom games brutality and violence, the multiplayer suffers from an identity crisis, attempting to bridge the gap between arena shooters of old (mainly Quake and Unreal Tournament) and the latest version of Call of Duty.

The Most Controversial Games Ever Made

          After some time away, dealing with some personal issues and finally figuring out what I want to do in my life to be happy, I've decided that it is the time to come back to my blog. Starting today it will be updated on a weekly basis featuring many top game, movie, book, and nerd subjects that I'm sure you will enjoy.

          For my first re-issue I want to talk a bit about the most controversial games ever made and their impact on the industry, our society as well as myself as a gamer.

5. Custers Revenge (Atari 2600, Mystique, 1982)

          One of the very first and most controversial games ever, Custer's Revenge deserves a fate worse than the hell the E.T. (Atari 2600, Atari, 1982) game went to after it was buried in the desert. As a game with almost nothing going for it except its controversy, it really feels like a grain of sand that you just can't get out of your eye. It has no redeeming “gameplay”, other than moving from one side

Gaming Hall of Fame Nominees

"Fame is a vapor, popularity an accident, and riches take wings. Only one thing endures and that is character."

Horace Greeley

                Gamespot recently put up a new article about the favorite games that they would like inducted into the Video Game Hall of Fame (you can vote for your game of choice here,).  Since I have over 22 years experience gaming I thought I would give you gamers a little bit of my own opinion on what I thought were their best choices and a couple games I feel they forgot.

                                                          SUPER MARIO 64

              Super Mario 64 for a lot of people, myself included was the game that defined the new move from 2D to 3D gaming.  I remember being little in Russia and watching it on TV, thinking about how advanced it was.  With wonderful controls, a free camera and so many different ways to excel and have fun it really brought gaming to a new level when it came out.  With newer Mario games like Super Mario Galaxy still pushing the envelope and a DS version , Mario is here to stay (over 110 Mario games have been made)

The Order Review Impressions

"You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor."

Aristotle

           Looking back on my original post regarding The Order: 1886's length, my optimism seems to be sapped out of me, compounded by low review score after low review score.  Averaging only a lowly 65/100 on metacritic, with about 21 publications grading it at positive, 30 mixed and 5 negative, it seems like the killer must buy game for the PS4 will remain inFAMOUS: Second Son .  Hopefully Bloodborne right around the corner The Order: 1886 will be able to break this trend when it comes at the end of March.  Most critics as well as gamers (garnering a user score of 5.8) seem to be on fence about The Order: 1886.
           After reading and watching several different conflicting reviews, I found that The Order: 1886 does several things quite well.  The consensus is that the voice acting is top notch, certainly on par with games like Uncharted and inFAMOUS: Second Son .  

The Order 1886 Length Controversy

“Life's like a play; it's not the length but the excellence of the acting that matters”

 Seneca quotes (Roman philosopher, mid-1st century AD)

         There has been quite a fair share of controversy regarding the recent leak of the full play-through of this monumental Sony exclusive, due out in only a couple of days.  As originally leaked by PlayMeThrough, the footage appears to be 2.5 hours of cut-scenes and 2.5 hours of actual gameplay.  The video has now been taken down, but not without inciting harsh criticism for being too short, especially considering the $60 price tag.  Us gamers are a fickle bunch, preferring games above film and tv as far as the most bang for your buck.  So does this length simply mean that The Order: 1886 is not work a day one buy.  I for one do not think so.  IGN already has a Podcast up discussing this in length as well. 
          While the length seems short, Battlefield 4's campaign only took me around 8 hours to beat, almost half the time it took for Battlefield 3's campaign to end.