I'm A Gamer Too

Console Emulators: Are they worth your time?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 22:49:00 +0000

The short answer is yes. The ones that I have tried work nearly perfectly, and the best thing is that they're free. So, instead of tracking down a console, then finding and buying all the games you want, you can download a game and be playing in a matter of minutes. All you really need for some great retro gaming is some decent computer knowledge and a PC compatible gamepad/controller, then it's off to the races.

Here is a list of console emulators I would recommend:

NES
-JNES
-NEStopia

SNES
-ZSNES
-Snes9x

Sega Genesis
-Fusion
-Gens

N64
-Project 64

Sega Dreamcast
-Chankast

Sony Playstation
-ePSXe
-pSX

Valve Confirms Steam Expansion into Non-Gaming Software

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 00:01:00 +0000

Valve confirmed rumors today that it's expanding it's Steam service beyond video games, reports http://www.gamesindustry.biz. The specific details have not been released, but Valve did note that the software will range from creativity to productivity. The new software titles are set to hit Steam September 5th.

This is great for gamers, and software users alike, because it will bring many of Steam's great features to other types of software. You can expect easy installation, automatic updating, and the ability to save your work to your personal Steam Cloud space, all features which have made Steam great.

Developers are urged to submit their software via Steam Greenlight, so all of you software developers can enjoy the publicity that Steam will offer.

Teen Hospitalized after Four Day Call of Duty Marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 23:42:00 +0000

A Columbus, Ohio teen was hospitalized after a four-day Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 marathon left him severely dehydrated. His mother reported that he only emerged from his room to get snacks and to take a single, short shower.

The boy is said to have collapsed multiple times after playing MW3 for at least four days. He was admitted to the hospital and given an IV to replenish his lost fluids. His mother has taken his Xbox 360. Emergency physician at Nationwide Children's Hospital Dr. Mike Patrick seems to think that this is an emerging trend as he urged gamers to use common sense, and to take breaks to drink, get exercise, and sleep.

Surprisingly, this is not the first time this happened so far this month, as a Taiwanese man died earlier from a Diablo III marathon.

Gamers, let us shed a tear for our fallen kin, as some of us are apparently idiots. This leaves us to ask, "What were his parents doing during these four days?"

Top 10 Worst Gaming Accessories of All-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 22:21:00 +0000

#10-SNES and Sega Genesis-Aura Interactor

The best of the worst is the Aura Interactor. It was a vest that turned low frequency sounds into momentum that would thump you while you played. The thing actually worked (sort of), and was pretty well received by virtual reality geeks, but there was really no point for 2D console games. It couldn't differentiate between background noise and game sounds, so what it ended up doing was vibrating the whole entire game. Getting thumped while playing Mario or Sonic won't really make the experience much better. Plus, the pricetag scared people off, this thing cost around $160.

#9-All Wii Accessories

Coming in at #9 is...all of the Wii accessories. Wii probably has the largest library of accessories of any console in history, and 99% of them do nothing. All these stupid Wii sports attachments are just ploys to make money off of kids and stupid rich parents. Nintendo really attempted to cash in with the Wii Motion Plus, which just made the Wii remote function in the way it should have in the first place.

It doesn't stop there. They try to sell us stupid Wii remote grips, things that take your pulse, and Nunchuks that you need to play nearly every game, but for some reason they don't just come with the Wiimote. Great job cashing in Nintendo.

Look at this hilarious video from CTA Digital, the makers of the Wii bowling ball:

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Top 5 Worst Game Controllers of All-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 02:20:00 +0000

#5-Xbox

The original Xbox controllers fit no one's hands. The Xbox was supposed to be an "adult's console", but they ended up making controllers that were designed for Shaq. Honestly, who thought this would be comfortable? At least the controller was completely functional, and Microsoft corrected it when a new, smaller version of the controller was released later. Maybe that was their strategy to make a little extra cash? Make a horribly large controller, then make people need to buy the new ones to play comfortably, something to think about.

#4-Intellivision

I have no idea why Mattel went with the weird disc thumbstick for the intellivision controller, but it was a mistake. The disc was frustrating and awkward to use compared the the standard joystick. The buttons on the side were placed weird, and the controller overall was just not comfortable.

#3-Atari Jaguar

What the hell is this thing? It looks a like a remote control for a RC car. This is one of the reasons the jaguar failed, the controller was atrocious. The buttons are in a weird spot up in the corner. The number pad at the bottom is worthless. Each game came with overlays you put over it that would tell what each button would do, but it didn't really work.

#2-Phillips CD-i

Phillips should have never wasted their time trying to make a game console, because honestly, what the hell kind of controller is this. It looks like a primitive wiimote. The little joystick-pad thing in the middle was hand to move. I didn't really understand the thinking behind any of the controller designs for the CD-i, but they were all pretty terrible.

#1-Atari 5200

The Atari 5200 controller was just a failure overall. The design was horrible, the joystick was meant to be held in your hand, but there were easy to press buttons on the side that got accidentally pressed all the time. The number pad was worthless, because you actually had to take your hand off of the stick to use it. The thing that made this the worst of all time was that they were known for breaking. I doubt you could find one 5200 controller in the world that is not broken, or has not been broken at some point.

Top 10 Fighting Game Characters of All-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 21:39:00 +0000

#10-Fulgore (Killer Instinct)

#9-Nightmare (Soul Calibur)

#8-Scorpion (Mortal Kombat)

#7-Kazuya (Tekken)

#6-Sol Badguy (Guilty Gear)

#5-Terry Bogard (Fatal Fury)

#4- Sub-Zero (Mortal Kombat)

#3-Jin Kazama (Tekken)

#2-Chun Li (Street Fighter)

#1-Akuma (Street Fighter)

5 Most Underrated Game Consoles of All-Time (Revised)

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 20:45:00 +0000

Sega Dreamcast

The Sega Dreamcast have been called underrated for so long it has become overrated. The thing is, it may not be underrated now, but in it's time people missed out on a great console. Dreamcast came out far earlier than PS2 or Xbox, and had similar hardware. They also had a lot of great titles, it just never got the love it deserved, because after other consoles came out Sega just gave up on it.

Sega Saturn

The Sega Saturn may be the most underrated console of all time. It may have been slightly underpowered when compared to the Playstation, but the arcade crossovers, like Virtua Fighter, seemed to translate perfectly to Saturn. It also had many great originals like the Panzer Dragoon series, and Shining Force 3. Sega just produced solid to great consoles that never got the recognition they deserved because of the name.

Nintendo Gamecube

Gamecube was overshadowed by PS2, the all-time best selling console, and Xbox. It is the worst selling consoles in Nintendo history next to the Virtual boy, and yet it was still a great console. It had some great first-party games, and some games that I would put up as some of the best Nintendo has ever produced. Its cute little purple design was different too.

Neo Geo

The Neo Geo brought the arcade into your home. This thing was powerful beyond belief, and had nearly every type of game you could imagine. There was only one problem, the price. The Neo Geo cost upwards of $650, and game cartridges cost around $200. From Metal Slug to King of Fighters, this console had some great games all the way through.

Playstation Portable

The Playstation Portable got its ass kicked by DS, but I still believe it is a great handheld. Its screen was giant and vibrant, and PSP's had so many capabilities that DS just did not have. The design wasn't very comfortable and the joysticks were hard to control, but bringing more serious games to the palm of our hands was different.

5 Most Underrated Game Consoles of All Time

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 09:37:00 +0000

Sega Dreamcast

I don't understand why Nintendo 64 is not talked about among the greatest consoles of all time. It moved us into the 3D era seamlessly, as Mario and Link seemed like they had been in 3D all along. It brought plenty of classics from Super Mario 64 to Super Smash Bros.

Nintendo Gamecube

Handhelds are grossly underrated, because a great handheld can take the world by storm. I would say Gameboy Color was a great handheld. In a world of 3D gaming it managed to carve out a niche for itself and sell like crazy. The Pokemon series pretty much carried it on it's back, but there are a lot of Gameboy Color games that I could play for hours.

Playstation Portable

9 Funny Retro Video Game Gimmicks That Made The Classics Fun

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 00:19:00 +0000

Long, Annoying Passwords

Anyone remember the days where you were given a long, random password upon completion of the level. You had to whip out your notebook and copy it down, otherwise when you booted back up, it was back to the beginning for you.

Games That Made It Famous: Kid Icarus, Castlevania, Paper Boy

Not Being Able To Save
You've been playing for 8 hours straight, and your nearing the end of the game, then your console freezes. You throw your controller to the floor and rip out the game cartridge, desperately blowing to get whatever speck of dust caused your precious system to hiccup. You slap the game back in and...you're back at the beginning. This problem is long gone, but the grind was part of what made those games great. The challenge of completing the game in one go was the whole point.

Games That Made It Famous: Every NES game.

Points

Points used to be the pseudo-penis for any gamer. Highscore charts were where the true gamers called home, and it was a constant challenge to beat the high score. When you made the highscore charts you got 3 letters to make your imprint, whether it was your initials, or a signature phrase like "ASS", you would be seen on that game for what seemed like an eternity.

Games That Made It Famous: Asteroids, Pac-Man, Frogger, Space Invaders,

Death Traps

Lava pits, spike pits, spinning blades, fireballs, falling rocks, and whatever else were common obstacles in nearly every game. For some reason the world that these characters lived in was extremely hard to travel through. Dipping, dodging and jumping over all these obstacles was a chore, but whoever wanted to kill you so bad was successful, because I know you died many times on a routine jump over a spike pit.

Games That Made It Famous: Super Mario Bros., Joust, Sonic the Hedgehog, Gauntlet, Duke Nukem, Tomb Raider, Mega Man

Enemies Moving in a Pattern
Ah, this used to be a staple in video games, predictability. Screw AI, we want our enemies to be predictable, and follow the same back and forth pattern. It doesn't matter if they see you or not, they will just keep walking, back and forth, back and forth. Bosses need to follow the same pattern of attacks, so we know when to dodge, and when to go for the flashing weakspot on their stomach.

Games That Made It Famous: The Legend of Zelda, Super Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Mega Man, Castlevania, Sonic the Hedgehog

Heroes and Enemies That Made No Sense
A plumber that fights turtles? Turtles who fight humans? A hedgehog that fights a doctor? A little yellow circle that runs away from and eats ghosts? Sorry, but none of the famous early games really made sense, but they were fun and that's all that matters, right?

Games That Made It Famous: Kirby, Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Battletoads, Pac-man

Power-Ups

Nothing was better than absorbing that golden star and just going on an absolute rampage through the level. Or gaining the ability to fly, shootfireballs, or turn your gun into a wideshooting shotgun gave you just a little advantage over your enemy.

Games That Made It Famous: Super Mario Bros., Pacman, Kirby, Mario Kart

Random Platforms

Honestly I don't understand the physics of some of these games. How come random platforms can just hang in the air,well not only hang, but move in different patterns?

Games That Made It Famous: Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, Jak and Daxter, Contra, Donkey Kong Country

Lives

Lives were your most precious resource, because when they were gone, you got that game over screen. Either frustration or acceptance comes after, and that all depends on how many times you've seen that screen in your life. Random green mushrooms were always a godsend.

Games That Made It Famous: Pretty much every early game.

NYZ3CT3GCKNW

22 Failed Game Consoles that You've Probably Never Heard Of

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Wed, 01 Aug 2012 22:18:00 +0000

Atari 2000 (1979)

An early prototype of the Atari 2600 with the controllers built in. There's only a few out there because they were only used in test markets. The problem with it was your system was shot if the controllers broke, so it was thrown out in favor of the 2600 with detachable controllers.

Atari Cosmos (1982)

The Atari Cosmos was supposed to be the handheld compliment to the Atari 2600. There were only 9 games total, and supposedly they were not going to make any more. Had a holographic display similar to the virtual boy, but was never released because of the crash of 84.

Magnavox Odyssey 3 (1983)

Follow-up to a semi-successful Odyssey 2 console. Would have had full backwards compatibility with Odyssey 2 games, but would allow for better graphics on new games. Never released due to the video game crash of '84.

Ultravision (1983)

This console was announced with promises of being able to play Atari 2600, Intellivision, Colecovision, and it's own games. It also featured a built in 10 inch color TV set, but it just never came to be.

Nintendo AVS (1984)

Nintendo seemed to be working up some wonder system with this one. It was supposedly a prototype of the NES. It was only shown publicly once, but it was like nothing ever seen before. It had a keyboard, joystick, light wand/gun, music keyboard, and a data storage unit. The amazing thing was they were all wireless. It had amazing functions for the time like video game editing and storage, light wand/ gun to tv interaction, and amazing (for the time) 8 bit graphics.

Konix Multisystem (1989)

Konix was an English company that developed controllers and add- ons for various consoles and computers. The 16-bit system they developed was supposed to be very powerful, and seemed to have a large emphasis on racing games from the multiple styles of racing controllers that have found their way onto the internet.

Atari/SNK Mirai (1989)

No one really knows what the Mirai is. Was it developed by SNK, Atari, or was it a joint project? People debate whether it was supposed to be a cheaper american version of the Neo-Geo. All we ever had of this console was this one mockup, so no one will ever truly know what it was meant to be.

Atari Panther (1991)

One of Atari's biggest mistakes was never putting this console into production. They worked on this 32-bit system and the 64-bit Jaguar at the same time, and this was supposed to be released in 1991 to compete with the SNES. This console was much more powerful than the SNES. Had it been released, instead of waiting to release the Jaguar, the Panther may have competed with the SNES. The Jaguar came out against the 3DO and 32X consoles, and once Sony released its Playstation, Atari was killed.

Camerica Express (1991)

Perhaps one of the best ideas for a handheld I've ever seen, the Camerica Express played actual NES cartidges. It was created by Biederman Design Labs and marketed by Camerica. They denied the Nintendo licensing agreements and produced software without Nintendo's seal of approval. Sadly, the company fell apart before it was released.

Action Enterprises Gamemaster (1991)

This thing was supposed to be able to play SNES, Genesis, Gameboy, TG-16, NES, and Lynx games in addition to it's own. Too bad there was not the technology for this in 1991, and it just disappeared.

Sega VR (1991-1993)

Back in the early 90's, the gaming world was thirsty for virtual reality. Sega attempted to deliver with the VR. Apparently the VR got into production, but Sega never released it because of dizziness, motion sickness and fear of players moving and injuring themselves during extended play. Sega claimed that the experience was too realistic, but because of the technology at the time that is highly doubtful. There may be a few working units out there for someone who desperately wants one.

32-bit Nintendo Disc (1991-1994)

Had this system never failed, we may have never seen one of the most successful systems of all time, the Sony Playstation. There is a long story to go along with this system, but I'll shorten it. Sony and Nintendo came to an agreement for Sony to produce a CD-Rom add on for the SNES. After a disagreement on whether or not Sony should get publishing profits, Nintendo broke the deal and went to Phillips. Phillips and Nintendo deal, but the add- on never came out of it, and Phillips got to produce a few Mario and Legend of Zelda games. Sony then went on to make its own console, the Playstation.

Taito WoWoW (1992)

The WoWoW was supposed to be a CD based 16-bit console with capabilities comparable to the Genesis. It was only seen at the 1992 at the Tokyo Game Expo. The amazing thing about this was that it was supposed to be able to recieve games through a satellite antenna, similar to a TV. However, it only made it as far as test marketing before the plug was pulled.

Bandai HET

Shown at E3 1993. It was supposed to be a portable, laptop style console that could play NES games, but Nintendo pulled the plug before its release.

Sega Neptune (1994)

The Sega Neptune was a proposed Genesis and 32X combo that was supposed to keep Sega fans satisfied until the Saturn came out in '95. Unfortunately it never happened, but there is supposedly warehouses full of unsold units.

Atari Jaguar Duo (1995)

The Jaguar Duo was an Atari Jaguar and CD combined into one console. It was extremely hyped, but by the time it was released the Jaguar was already dead. There are hundreds of test units as well as boxed units that were never released somewhere.

Sega Blackbelt (1997)

The Sega Blackbelt was supposed to be Sega's fourth generation console. Not much is known about it other than it was scrapped in favor of the Dreamcast.

Panasonic M2 (1998)

This was supposed to be an upgrade to the solid 3DO console, to make it able to compete with the Playstation. It was supposed to be released as both a standalone console, and a possible add on to 3DO machines. The console was instead sold Matsushita, who decided not to release it. However, a few arcade games and some computer hardware was based off of the M2's inner workings.

Red Jade (2001)

The Red Jade was supposed to be a super-handheld, able to perform PDA functions, had wireless connectivity, DVix movies, graphics similar to PS1, and software would be downloaded from secure servers. However, prior to release Ericsson had to cut 22,000 jobs, and a long with it, the Red Jade.

Indrema L600

Indrema attempted to enter the console race with this. It was a NUON based that ran Linux. It was supposed to be an opensource console, meaning games could have been produced by anyone and everyone. The console was killed because of Sony's dominance, and a low supply of money for the project.

Infinium Labs Phantom (2004)

The Phantom would have been truly revolutionary. All games would have been downloaded, and the console would have come with a library of various games already loaded on. There was supposed to be an automatically managed 80 GB hard drive, any games that were not played would be automatically deleted, but could be re-downloaded at any time free of cost. It will forever go down as one of the greatest systems to never be, although you probably could find a working unit somewhere.

Gamepark XGP (2006)

This was supposed to be a sequel to a solid handheld called the Gamepark 32. The Gamepark XGP came in three models, the original, mini and kids. Each would have different specs, size, and price. The handheld looked nice, but in March of 2007 Gamepark declared bankruptcy. There are most likely working, boxed models that will never be released to the public.

Best Game Consoles of All-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:46:00 +0000

Honorable Mention:
Nintendo 64
Sega Dreamcast
Sony Playstation
Xbox 360

#5- Sega Genesis (1989)

A classic system that produced classic games, the Sega Genesis is one of those consoles that did not get the attention it deserved until awhile after its release. It produced some of the first great sports, adventure and platformer games, and is one of the only consoles to really compete with the NES and SNES for retro gamer popularity.

Best Games: Sonic the Hedgehog, Echo the Dolphin, Toy Story, Strider, Streets of Rage 2

Atari 2600 (1977)

The Atari 2600 is the grandfather of modern console gaming, it birthed what will be a long and prosperous industry. The Atari brought some classic arcade games to home, which helped its popularity, and over its lifetime helped to bring the popularity of home gaming to new heights.

Best Games: Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Missile Command,

Sony Playstation 2 (2000)

I put the majority of my gaming hours onto my PS2. The PS2 was reliable, had solid specs, and an absolutely massive selection of games. It catered to both the hardcore gamer and the casual player, thus making it the highest selling game console of all time by far. A lot of the best games from the past decade or so have been on Playstation 2, it is by far the best console Sony has ever released.

Best Games: Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, God of War, Guitar Hero, Final Fantasy X, Shadow of the Collosus, Metal Gear Solid 3

Super Nintendo Entertainment System (1991)

Super Nintendo absolutely blew people away when it first came out, and it has the longest list of truly classic games of any console ever made. This system truly never died, as the console, as well as the games are still used to this day. If you ask pretty much any gamer what the most classic console of all time is, they will most likely say the Super Nintendo.

Best Games: Super Metroid, Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country, Final Fantasy III, Mario Kart, Starfox, Contra 3

Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)
The NES is widely known as the savior of home gaming. Arcades were on the rise, but consoles just weren't really selling. A few years after the video game crash of 1983, Nintendo gifted the US with the NES, the greatest console of all time. Sales were through the roof, and classic games just kept being pumped out for the system. Nintendo made sure each game that was released was the highest of quality. The king of all systems will remain, atleast for now, the NES.

Best Games: Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Megaman, Metroid, Castlevania, Contra

Best Console Game Series of This Generation

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 12:10:00 +0000

Halo

From Halo 1 to Reach, Halo has created one of the biggest fanbases of any game ever created. It makes its name off of fast paced multiplayer and a great story involving everyones favorite space marine, Master Chief.

Preorder Halo 4
Preorder Halo 4 Limited Edition

Mass Effect

Mass Effect has an absolutely EPIC storyline in which you take control of Commander Shepard. Shepard is the most deadly human ever, and along with other characters, you take on a series of intergalactic missions all to protect humanity, and earth, from destruction.

Order Mass Effect 3 for PS3

Order Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition for PS3

Order Mass Effect 3 for Xbox 360

Order Mass Effect 3 Collector's Edition for Xbox 360

Gears of War

Gears of War is the most popular 3rd person shooter on consoles. It single handedly repopularized 3rd person shooters in terms of online multiplayer, because it had great, different multiplayer. Also a solid story keeps the game listed as one of the best shooters around.

Preorder Gears of War: Judgment

God of War

God of War is one of the greatest action series to ever grace consoles, and I'm not the only one who thinks that. Kratos is an absolute bloodthirsty monster, and the story keeps unfolding and unfolding before your eyes. The aspect of greek mythology is very interesting, and is a great setting for this type of game.

Preorder God of War: Ascension

Preorder God of War: Ascension Collector's Edition

Killzone

If you don't think this game should be on this list, then you either don't have a PS3 or don't have a brain. Killzone is pretty much PS3's response to Halo and Gears of War. A great series with a great story, and even better multiplayer, it is different than pretty much any other FPS out there.

Uncharted

Games with great stories seem to like to make it on these types of lists. Uncharted is a great PS3 game, one of the best on the console. It does this from it's mix of great gameplay, beautiful graphics, and a diverse and different story. Uncharted just does things that other games don't do, it's the type of game that just sucks you in and keeps you in until you complete it.

The Elder Scrolls
The Elder Scrolls are looked over because it is mainly a PC series, but with Oblivion and Skyrim both absolute hits on Xbox and PS3, you can't even look over these games. They are expansive, beautiful, enthralling fantasy games. The world is so open that you feel you can do anything, and you can have hours of fun without even doing one main story mission.

Resident Evil

Resident Evil just pumps out games like nobody's business. Honestly, there seems to be a new one like every year. People who haven't played the series may think of it as just some zombie horror game, but in reality, Resident Evil delivers one of the most expansive stories of any game around.

Preorder Resident Evil 6 PS3

Preorder Resident Evil 6 Xbox 360

Assassins Creed
I love these games. This game hit us by storm, and put us in the shoes of an assassin, as we all know we wanted to be. The story is absolutely great, as you take control of Desmond, who through the help of a machine called an animus, relives the lives of his assassin ancestors. This leads to a story within the animus and outside of it.

Preorder Assassin's Creed III for Xbox 360

Preorder Assassin's Creed III Limited Edition for Xbox 360

Preorder Assassin's Creed III for PS3

Preorder Assassin's Creed III Limited Edition for PS3

Call of Duty
Yes, I know I have to put this on here, otherwise I'll make the COD fanboys angry. Seriously though, this game is a staple in any console owners collection. Everyone, and I mean everyone has played a Call of Duty game. It is easily the biggest FPS now, and they continue to produce solid games.

Preorder Call of Duty: Black Ops II for PS3

Preorder Call of Duty: Black Ops II for Xbox 360

Battlefield
So I put COD's retarded bastard brother on the list, right? Wrong. The Battlefield series, despite not being as popular as Call of Duty, is a great series in it's own right. From the Bad Company games, to the great Battlefield games, they have changed the games when it comes to graphics and destructable environments. How many shooters have you played where explosives can tear down entire buildings?

Bioshock
Different than any other game I've played, Bioshock scared me, excited me, and made me feel as if every decision I made would make or break the game. It's amazing.

Preorder BioShock Infinite for PS3

Preorder BioShock Infinite for Xbox 360

Dark Souls
Thanks to the guys over at N4G for helping me realize my mistake for not putting this game on the list. Dark Souls is another one of those epic games that is just built for hardcore gamers, and as ATi_Elite said on N4G," Demon/Dark Souls brought the pain back to the RPG format."

Fallout
Wow guys, I never really realized how many great game series have been released for this generation of consoles. Honestly, people seem to complain that not enough great games have been released, but this is just a list of great series, it doesn't even include great single games.
Fallout is my personal favorite game of all time. I love the setting, the FPS, and the RPG aspect of the game, and the story just makes it all the more fun. It's so open, and truly makes you feel as if the whole entire world is in your hands. There's so much to explore, adventure, kill, and sometimes be killed by.

EA is Trying to Bring NBA Live Back, Will It Compare to NBA 2k13?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 09:59:00 +0000

As some readers know, I've never really been a fan of EA Sports games. They live off the name they made early on, and have never really made a high quality basketball game for the 360. They seem to thrive off an arcade style of play, which some like, but I'm a sports guy. As a sports guy, I want to play the most realistic game of any sport I'm playing.

NBA 2k destroyed NBA Live, literally. They stopped the production of the game, because honestly, Live could not compare. After a failed NBA Elite project, Live is trying to make a comeback in 2013, but is anyone really excited?

Honestly 2k13 will most likely be the best basketball game to date, Live will at best be a footnote, and at worst, another fail for EA. I honestly don't care what type of features EA is hyping up for this edition, because they did the exact same thing with Elite. "Oh, we made a better way to pass, or dribble, or shoot." They will still come out with cartoonish graphics, and an arcadish style, where real player tendencies are not in effect.

I know 2k12 was not a perfect game by any means. There is a lot of 4th quarter and end of shotclock computer cheese, over use of animations, and a lot of contact layups, but still it is a lot more polished than anything i've ever seen EA produced. From the gameplay I've seen of both games, 2k looks to have fixed a lot of problems they had before, and Live does not look anywhere near finished.

We have awhile to wait before both games are released, but I would be hesitant to pickup Live 13 over 2k13 until we see if the hype from EA is warranted. If Live takes it's crown back, I guess I'll change over to a NBA Live fanboy.

Preorder Live or 2k13 below!

How Bad Do You Want a 2k Football Game?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:55:00 +0000

Nobody is happy with Madden, it's a fact. EA is not concerned with realism, they never have been for any sports game. NBA Live and Madden have always been cartoonish, arcade like games that appeal to children and teens, but for a gamer who really loves football, they just don't hit the spot. Then in 2000 came NFL 2k, and a lot of football gamers fell absolutely in love. We finally found a game, and developer who sought to put out the most realistic football game that they could.

NFL 2k5 was the best football game ever released, and I believe it still is. 2k did something with that game that few developers have ever done before, they lowered the price to $19.99, and EA got scared. EA then came to a deal with the NFL, NCAA and Arena football leagues to be the sole developers who could use those licenses, and since then football games have been going downhill.

I'm a firm believer that Madden games are just pretty much the same game released each year with very few improvements. Live was the same way, and there is a reason that they no longer make games. 2k on the other hand has made realistic, high quality NBA games and has continued to despite the fact that they have no more competition. This is why we need another 2k football game.

People have been wishing for a 2k football game for the longest time, and it may soon happen. The thing that I really want to know is, do you want a 2k football game as bad as I do?

Support 2k sports by preordering NBA 2k13 below!

Sorry EA, but we're getting tired of you making terrible football games

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:26:00 +0000

Anyone remember ESPN NFL 2k5? Sorry, but this game absolutely blew Madden out of the water. It had superior gameplay, graphics, and sales. Most of all, it was priced at only $19.99. EA then got scared and made it so they were the only ones who could produce NFL, NCAA and Arena football games.

Since then, Madden has been producing what I believe are low quality football games, and they get away with it because Americans love their football, and there is no competition. They seem to be repeatedly releasing the same NFL and College football games each year, with very slight improvements.

Still, there is a pending lawsuit, filed in 2008, which accuses EA of violating antitrust laws with its exclusive agreements with the NFL, NCAA, and Arena Football League that made it the only company able to produce games involving these licenses. Should it be approved, it may grant rights to other developers to make a football game.

Hopefully, if it panned out 2k sports would take advantage and again destroy Madden, because honestly EA's sports games are terrible. This is why NBA Live/Elite is gone off the market, 2k just makes high-quality sports games. I'm hoping that bringing some competition into the field will either force EA to make a decent football game, or that 2k will just produce some beast of a game and show us all how bad EA really is.

Biggest Game Releases for August!

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 23:25:00 +0000

August 14th- Sleeping Dogs released. It's an open world crime drama video game with martial arts in it, pretty much a must try game. If you preorder through Amazon you get the Martial Arts pack with an extra mission, outfit, and a few other bonuses.

Preorder Sleeping Dogs for PS3
Preorder Sleeping Dogs for Xbox

August 14th- Darksiders 2 hits the shelves. A 3rd game depends on how the 2nd one does, so buy them up. If you preorder through amazon you can get "Argul's Tomb" expansion pack, which has extra gameplay content, like a whole new dungeon, and the Deadly Despair Pack, which adds a permanent speed boost for Death’s horse Despair, allowing players to travel across the vast world even faster than before.

Preorder Darksiders II for Xbox
Preorder Darksiders II for PS3

August 19th- New Super Mario Bros. 2 comes to 3DS.
Preorder New Super Mario Bros. 2 for 3DS

August 21st- Transformers: Fall of Cybertron comes to consoles.

Preorder Transformers: Fall of Cybertron for Xbox 360
Preorder Transformers: Fall of Cybertron for PS3

The Comprehensive Black Ops 2 Wish List

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 21:50:00 +0000

#1- We need a hardened edition for Black Ops like MW3. The year of Elite and DLC makes it worth the cost.

#2- Expand zombies mode further. Black Ops stepped zombies up from World at War, but even more expansion would be better. They should experiment a little with zombies, because honestly that was one of the biggest draws from the first BO.

#3- Get rid of last stand, honestly it's the worst thing that ever happened to COD games.

#4- People always ask this, but is there any way we could customize our avatar? Helmets, facepaint, different gear and camo styles, and who knows what else.

#5- Please keep Infinity Ward's point streaks and death streaks out.

#6- Include weapons in DLC. It would make us look forward to it more.

#7- Make higher killstreaks, go beyond 11.

#8- No perk or built-in stopping power.

#9- Combat Training.

#10- More variety of gun choices, and a bigger variance between stats. Some guns are the same thing with a different skin.

#11- Increase the number of small maps, some of us like to play in close quarters.

#12- Try to invent a new game mode for us, just to be nice. MW3 invented kill confirmed, try to come up with something different.

#13- Expand zombies to 8 people. More is usually better.

#14- Knife Game mode maybe? Get some tomohawks, ballistic knives and a regular knife.

#15- Remove weapon ranking from MW3, causes people to really only use one or two guns.

#16- Improve the theatre

#17- They did a crossbow, why not a compound bow and arrow?

#18- Make a decent campaign. They've been slacking the last few years.

#19- In game volume control. I don't always want to hear that deep voiced man yelling to me what's happening.

#20- Bring back wager matches.

Preorder Black Ops 2!

Top 5 Xbox 360 First Person Shooters of All-Time

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 09:15:00 +0000

#5- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)

Call of Duty games are always staples in top lists, and this is no different. MW2 is the sequel to an absolutely great first game, and it did not disappoint. They added new guns and new features, but kept the game close enough to the original for players to easily switch to the new game. This game brought us thousands of quick scoping videos, and created a completely new gameplay style for COD.

#4- The Orange Box (2007)

The Orange Box is a compilation of games that not only included Valve's trilogy of Half Life 2 games, but also Portal and Team Fortress. If you've never played it then you're missing out, because Half Life's story is detailed and interesting, and honestly is one of the better story games ever made. Team Fortress was a very fun, team based multiplayer game, and brought a new style to FPS multiplayer.

#3- Bioshock (2007)

A perfect blend of weird, scary, funny and serious, Bioshock delivered the type of story that just sucked you in. It's one of those games where every single decision you makes affects the game, and you have to choose whether to be a hero or villian, or somewhere in between.

#2- Halo 3

Bungee ended a great trilogy of games with Halo 3. The game boasted a good story, and extremely fun, fast paced multiplayer that had players addicted and hungry for more. It;s one of my personal favorites, just because of the diverse and different style of multiplayer Halo has to offer.

#1- Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

This is the king of first person shooters. This game came onto the scene and completely took over the crown for premier multiplayer. Unlike the later games, the first Modern Warfare had a great campaign. They seemed to hit the jackpot, and this produced millions of die-hard Call of Duty fanboys who wait each year for the new COD game to drop.

Bethesda's Pete Hines states there is "no timeline" on Dawnguard Release for PS3, PC

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 07:36:00 +0000

Pete Hines of Bethesda announced via twitter that there is no set timeline for the release of Dawnguard for PS3 and PC, and every gamer's heart broke. PS3 and PC gamers have been hoping for Dawnguard ever since Xbox recieved it June 26th, and it seems like they will have to wait even longer than the one month they had been hoping for.

Painful as this news is, you can take hope in the fact that he later confirmed that the DLC will be coming to other platform, he just has no idea how soon. Plenty of Skyrim fanboys had a near heart attack today.

Order The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Collectors Edition:

Play Borderlands: GOY Edition Free This Weekend On Steam

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 06:04:00 +0000

Borderlands 2 release date, September 18th, is rapidly approaching. If you haven't played the first one, take advantage of this opportunity to play Borderlands: Game of the Year Edition on Steam for free. The promotion will run until Sunday at 1:00 pm PDT.

The Game of the Year Edition includes the normal full game, along with 4 DLC add on

Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned
Borderlands: Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot
Borderlands: The Secret Armory of General Knoxx
Borderlands: Claptrap's Robot Revolution

Play the hit game that brought a completely new style to FPS back in 2009, and prepare yourself to play the second one by playing it free on Steam.

Pre-order Borderlands 2 Below!

"Controllers are still a huge barrier, Xbox 720 needs to go beyond Kinect"

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 00:23:00 +0000

"I was a big Trekkie when I was a kid and I still have this dream that, ultimately, we're going to end up creating the Holodeck - you know, totally immersive experiences. I still think one of the huge barriers is the controller, and even people who played games when it used to be just one big red button and a D-pad can't play games now."

Jade Raymond, Ubisoft Toronto's boss, obviously has a problem with current controllers, as they can't really touch older and younger players. Both kids and adults who are not technology savy have trouble controlling the classic controller, so companies are beginning to look to the future. Kinect was just the first step. Games that used Kinect are always best selling, from just dance, to Xbox's all-time best selling game, Kinect Adventures!.

Raymond hopes that this technology can be brought into hardcore gaming. Being able to make movements in-game naturally, like leaning around corners would bring gaming to a whole new level, and make play much easier for all age levels. It is a necessary step if gaming wishes to keep growing.

Holodecks and Virtual Reality are what Raymond is hinting about, and each day we get closer, but how close are we really? The tech isn't quite here, but apparently Microsoft has ramped up its work on Natural User Interface Tech, and has been hiring many more people to work on it. This hopefully validates rumors that Xbox 720 will have better, expanded Kinect functionality.

Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale: Smash Bros. Clone or Not?

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 23:34:00 +0000

People have been highly critical of Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale, calling it just Sony's version of Super Smash. Recent looks at the game showed, that despite displaying Sony's most popular characters as Nintendo did with Smash, it is a very different game.

Smash was a king of the hill type game, where players attempted to hit other players off the stage with a variety of moves. Each move causing the player to fly farther as damage accumulated. Battle Royale instead is an arena fighter. You earn points by landing special attacks, which require AP. You recieve two points for every special attack landed, and lose one for every death. Having the most points at the end of the round means you win.

AP points fill a meter over time, and there are 3 tiers to the meter, each with tier being it's own special attack. Level 3 attacks are obviously the most powerful, but can sometimes take awhile to get. Characters fill their meters at different rates, the slower it fills, the more powerful the attack will be. Some will gain fast, but it will result in a hard to land attack.

The game does boast some big name characters, such as Jak and Daxter, Nathan Drake, Kratos, Heihachi, and Sly Cooper, and there are many other great characters on the roster. As the release date draws closer, more and more Smash comparisons will rise, but I believe when the game comes out people will realize that they are two completely different games.

Preorder Now!

The Comprehensive NBA 2k13 Wishlist

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 22:37:00 +0000

2k always delivers a great basketball game, but there are always things to be wished for. There is always so much to add, so many great possibilities for this game, and they reach some of them but not all. So here is my comprehensive NBA 2k13 wishlist:

Preorder Now!

Game Modes

2k12 had pretty much every game mode you could wish for. They hit a home run with my player, and just further added on the fun with their creating a legend mode, both could use some work however.

My Player:

My player is a great game mode, but it has a lot of problems. First of all, your players start out terrible, but they progress much too fast. You should not be able to reach 99 by the end of your first season. They need to make you able to change the sliders. The customization has been lacking the past few years though. We need more voices, haircuts, tattoos, accessories and be able to customize personality traits. Is your player loud and obnoxious, volatile, quiet and unassuming? These should all be things you can change.

I like the idea of having a house mode like in NFL 2k5, it would be fun to just play around with. Maybe they could add some minigames or something? Reopen the option to play summer league games, and bring back the combine, it was so much better than the rookie showcase.

The D-pad could be used to control on court behavior. Different directions could be arguing the call or hyping up the crowd. Announcers should talk about you more, and actually recognize when you reach an accomplishment. Scoring 100 points, and the announcer just being like, "Oh, he scored 100 points, cool."

Most of all, the game mode needs to be harder. You shouldn't see guys averaging 50 points per game on hall of fame in their second season, that's for the easier difficulties. When I play on hall of fame I want to work for my points.

Creating a Legend

I like CAL because you get to play with one of your favorite players, and you don't have to go through that awkward phase where your player just sucks. It is pretty much the same thing without all the endorsements and interviews, which is part of the fun of my player, and I think they should be put into CAL. They should allow you to play with created players and legends also. Just make these, plus the my player changes I mentioned before and this mode will be great.

Association

Association is great, and deep, but there are definitely improvements to be made. First off, I think you should begin in training camp before the current season. Training camp should be made more fun and interactive, it could be spent improving your team chemistry and players for the next season. The trade AI needs to be improved. It is too easy to build a great team by trading some good players for stars, and the AI is easily manipulated.

Team chemistry should play a much bigger role, players should show more loyalty to teams when they are in good situations. Allow for us to track how much fan support they have and have the stadium reflect that. If your team is terrible, your stadium shouldn't be filled to capacity every game.

Players should approach you with problems they have with the team, and possibly give you feedback on how best to resolve it. Players shouldn't sign instantly with teams in the offseason, they should wait for the best offer available.

Players

We need more signature styles, players need to feel like they do in real life. Guys like Rudy Gay, Kevin Durant and Demar Derozan need their own dunk packages, more layup packages, and perhaps even the ability to create your own package. More floaters, pullups, spin and hop shots, and of course improved moves.

Every player's arm length is not the same as their height. I want to see wingspans be costomizable, and guys like Tayshaun Prince, Kevin Durant, and Javale Mcgee have the crazy wingspans they are famous for.

More legends need to be brought back, like Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley. Aging stars need to be brought back in vintage form. We need young Kobe, Vince Carter, T-mac, and Allen Iverson. They should be usable in most game modes.

Gameplay

Gameplay is the most important aspect of this game, and the most important improvement that needs to be made is speed. Players in 2k12 seem to all be the same speed. You can break out in the open court with Russell Westbrook and somehow the other teams power forward is right behind you. Players with high speeds should be able to burn other players.

Dribble moves need to be more effective, atleast on big men. The inability for a point guard to break down the other team's center is ridiculous. There really needs to be more ankle breakers, but not too many. I don't want players flying all over the place, but once every game or two it would be nice to just make somebody fall.

Defense NEEDS to be improved. The ability to put up 70 points game after game with your superstar needs to be removed. At least have a new set of sliders that will make shot percentages more realistic.

Computer cheese on hall of fame difficulty is at an all time high. There is no question whether the computer is going to make a huge run in the 4th quarter. They hit contested shots, seem to blow by you no matter what, and your help defense is nowhere to be found. All of a sudden there is wide open 3's everywhere. Honestly, don't give the computer an advantage in the 4th for no reason, like that happens in real basketball.

I think that about concludes it, I'll probably add a few things here and there as they pop into my head.

Halo 4 Limited Edition Xbox 360 Bundle!

noreply@blogger.com (Josh Morgan) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:09:00 +0000

You can't even tell me that this does not look beautiful. In the package comes a limited edition Xbox 360, 2 matching controllers, a headset, vouchers for both in-game and avatar DLC, and of course the game. The Xbox 360 is one of the best looking limited editions to date. It is transparent, with blue and white lines, and all of the normally green lights are blue. The matching controllers follow the same theme.

The controllers can only be bought within the bundle, as the limited edition controllers being sold alone are different. I saw it, and I literally had to preorder it and upgrade from my normal elite Xbox. I can't wait to get it and post real pictures. Order directly below for $400.