Go 4 Br0ke! - Breast Cancer Awareness

YO! NBA 2K!!

2012-10-06T22:34:00.000-07:00

HOW do they make this game so good every year??? They make the same game every year and I'm never upset to give them money for it. I think EA could learn something... well, I mean they learned not to make NBA games, but they could learn more! Some how they get right in the community's mind and they just KNOW what to add to their games to improve on the last. Things have been building every year since they decided to make nba 2K into Jordan's game, and now, we're at NBA 2K13.

First thing anyone will notice is that NBA 2K is produced by Jay-Z, and it's felt throughout the game. Nba 2k is known for it's solid tracks year after year, but NOW you're getting a whole list of official tracks from artists that you know. Jay-z opens up with the intro, there's tracks from him and Kanye West, as well as others such as Coldplay! Also as far as the inclusion of the dream team it was Jay-z's influence that got Charles Barkley to sign on to be apart of the game. There's also a pretty special intro for the Nets that includes their owner.

Presentation is as lifelike as ever, player models are slightly improved over last year's. Honestly given the capacity of hd gen consoles there won't be too much to improve on moving forward. Once the player models are out of the way 2K can focus on bringing even more definition, and celebrities to the crowd. New this year though are improved player animations, facial motions and new pre-game rituals bring the game to life. When you see somebody get posterized now you can feel that emotion given off in the game of the player's excitement.

This year the shot stick is turned into a control stick for ball handling. It makes cross overs and the inclusion of the triple threat position more fluid. You can also change your defensive stance with the stick to shade the current ball handler to the left or right. They give you more options on both offense and defense so that you always feel like you're in the game. I'd like to add that the passing is still a little off, but it's a lot better than it has been (wishing for the pass stick to make a return).

The biggest part of this year's nba 2k isn't jay-z, the dream team or any of the other countless historic teams, it's the improved my player mode.

Overall, I'm personally excited about NBA 2K this year, my player alone definitely will keep me occupied for a long time. It definitely goes Br0ke every year and I'm extremely eager to see what they do with the game next year. If you like basketball, if you enjoy spots, if you rock chuck's, jordan's, lebron's, or them d rose 3's you need to get this game. Which goes without saying because you probably already have it!!! This game I would recommend to anyone that has an interest in basketball, you can't go wrong with 2k. AI is in the game, which is even more reason to pick it up, and well, practice.

Fight Nation!!!

2012-10-06T19:34:00.002-07:00

I'm extremely late, my apologies, and even though I congratulated him already I'm gonna say that shit again! Gratz to FNEX KBRAD for dominating at Season's Beatings, and also for doin his thing recently at River City Runbacks. I'm happy that he's playing at the level he is, and you can't help but respect him for the work that he put in to get where he is. Of course with that comes a sea of people trying to bring him down, but hey, if you can do better then go beat him at a major! Instead of complaining about characters you need to do what you gotta do to win and shut the fuck up. He has been in various interviews since winning at Season's Beatings, but I think the best perspective would be gained if you went ahead and checked out his Q&A/ Online session hosted by Fight Nation's founder Dayasha. He's a strong competitor and you can expect to see more of him in the future!

Be sure to keep an eye on my boys over at fight nation!

Go 4 KIRBY!!!

2012-09-27T12:46:00.000-07:00

First, you draw a circle. Then, you dot the eyes. Add a great big smile, and presto! it's Kirby!!! If you aren't familiar with Kirby at all, his games are the usual platforming type, similar to super mario in a sense. What makes him special is that he can absorb the powers of his enemies! Not the same as Megaman though, rather than having to defeat a boss at the end of a level, Kirby can do it on the go. I'm a big Kirby fan, and since the 20th anniversary is this year... I'M DOIN A KIRBY REVIEW!!!

I would just like to note that this game is EXTREMELY fun! Multiplayer only adds to the thrills as you can ride on each other's heads, bounce off each other when people are jumping, and you can even carry your friend's when they are too heavy to fly over things themselves! It really sticks close to traditional kirby, I was playing Kirby's Adventure right before I got this and the gameplay has strong similarities. In that respect it's very nostalgic with a lot of additions to gameplay, not to mention the large amount of content in game. The animations for the new special abilities are extremely over the top for kirby and unexpected! I got the new sword power for the first time and when I used it he proceeded to chop at the enemies with a giant kendo stick!

For the majority, if you judge a game by graphics and online multiplayer, this probably isn't for you. I'm extremely excited and looking forward to the WiiU and I personally had more fun with the Wii than the other 2 consoles. This is just my cup of tea, doesn't mean you have to drink any =P. Kirby is a solid series, contrary to 1337 belief, it's not just some kiddie game that you can run through, it does possess a level of difficulty. If you own a wii, you should definitely own this game as well. My next purchase will be the Kirby 20th Anniversary game. Call it biased if you want to, but Kirby will always Go 4 Br0ke in my eyes. Can't wait to see what they do with him on the WiiU!!

JET SET RADIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

2012-09-23T16:03:00.001-07:00

Jet Set Radio was recently released on PSN and XBL. If you haven't done so already, you need to at least play the demo. This was one of my favorite titles on the dreamcast, so I'm glad it's accessible again. The game speaks for itself, but if you're into graffiti or art in general, this game is probably right up your alley!!

This game has a LOT to offer for being $9.99/800msp. As you can see in the trailer there are a bunch of playable characters, they didn't even show them all. You start out with 3 and the rest are all unlockable! The music is addicting, you can either make your own graffiti tags or use stock ones that are also in abundance if you choose to unlock them all. In the game you have your crew and you're currently at war with the other skating/tagging groups of tokyo. To make matters worse you're also under attack from the police force led by a psychotic police chief!

Your crew consists of the characters you unlock through accepting their skating challenges and defeating them which is no easy task. Most of the game is not easy, which is the trademark of the old school gaming era. Feel free to spend a lot of time to get used to controlling your character as it takes some getting used to. It's a great game and I'm glad it is getting more exposure. Like I said it's far from a walk in the park, I curse at it very often!! Go download that demo though!! Give it a try at least! JSR is definitely Br0ke.

Resident Br0ke! the demo

2012-09-23T15:27:00.000-07:00

Going to be discussing without spoilers for those who don't want any. First I played Leon's because that's the one campaign I'm really interested in. All you need to know is that shit hits the fan, and Leon is thrust into a situation that rivals the raccoon city incident from RE2. It's done extremely well from what you can play. They make it feel like those old games felt, the atmosphere is nostalgic for resident evil. At times you are overwhelmed by hordes of enemies and you realize you only have 5 rounds o.O.
Chris returns to his role from RE5 and it plays as such. It's really fast and action paced in this campaign. It almost rivals Operation Raccoon city actually, just a hell of a lot better. You spend the majority of the demo running and gunning with your partner. Explosions, BOW's, nonstop action sequences, with very little slow down, if you're interested in any of that this campaign is right up your alley! The cover system in the game feels a little clunky. It's present in all scenarios, but with this one being so fast paced, it sticks out the most here.
I didn't have much time to play through Jacob's campaign demo, but he is very key to the game's story. I have the feeling that there will be a lot of running away involved especially with his partner being who it is. So I'm going to say that it will be a mix of the two campaigns game play wise. You'll have the action scenes where you need to get away and you'll have the slower paced atmosphere dependent side of it as well.

Can't lie here, it's only a demo and I can tell the game is going to be big for the Resident Evil universe! The RE dev team certainly is going br0ke on this one. If there will be any set backs from this game I highly doubt it would be any fault of theirs. I will like to note though, I will not be picking up this title. Yes, I was extremely excited for it, and I do believe it's a solid game, but judging from the demo, it's not going to be what I want it to be. When I saw Leon was returning and that his campaign was comparable to RE2 I was overjoyed. After playing both releases of the demo, the atmosphere is there, the survival-horror is there, but it still has an action base. I don't want to gamble and buy it hoping there will be RE puzzles or times where i won't be able to find ammo for an hour. That's what I enjoy about RE, I understand they changed and adapted to a newer audience. This is why I still play RE2 enjoyably =D.

Madden 13...

2012-09-23T14:37:00.002-07:00

Alright very briefly, I've decided to do reviews on this blog because it's what I seem to do very well. For your viewing pleasure this is all MY opinion, if you don't like it don't read it. Don't respond with opinion of your own trying to bash me because I could care less what you think. Anyone that wishes to have a relaxed, fun discussion feel free.
Today's topic is MADDEN!!! The lone representative for the NFL left in video games. After a breakthrough 2005 which was arguably the best madden for hardcore competitors and casuals alike, It definitely has been stagnant between years. Many contribute that to the loss of competition as there are still a strong 2K sports NFL community, but either way, madden had not been progressive on it's own. Even with the jump to HD generation systems Madden wasn't pulling it's weight with the majority, but did all that change this year??

Jumping right into the new additions biggest change to the game is the physics engine. I really like it, even though you see some weird animations happen some times, it's probably the best part of the game. It brings the realism that was always missing to the game, you can't just run the ball now, you might trip over someone. Every tackle looks like it's happening in real time, it's hard to take down some offensive juggernauts, gang tackling, and those huge balls of humanity on stops are represented as well. Overall I'm hoping that it's one thing that is a corner stone to the series from now on and they keep improving it.
Total control passing... now, if you know madden you know this is nothing new. The difference this year is that they finally added to it. Now there is ball trajectory, which really should have always been in the game but i digress. Being able to cancel your play action fakes is a plus, now you don't ALWAYS have to eat that sack when you get a nano on you. Also due to new animations and the way the defense can play the ball, you have them reacting to your play as they would in real life. Some defenders will be facing toward you watching the backfield, others will be turned away chasing your receivers in coverage and you can take advantage of that.

Connected careers is like coach mode, franchise, and my player all rolled into one. I didn't spend time with this mode personally because it's more in depth than I like my football. It's really deep this year, if you're a fan of running the NFL in your own eyes you'll have a lot of hours put into this mode. Ultimate team is also included, which I played for a while, it seems that people who are into collecting cards or trading card games might dig this mode. They also upgraded the game presentation to make it feel more like the games we watch every weekend. The new commentary is a breath of fresh air even though I miss Pat Summerall's "Oh no, there's a man down." and Madden's iconic nonsensical color commentary.
I think I covered the additions to this year, outside of that it's all the madden we have all come to deal with. I personally was disappointed, it's just madden. Not trying to be a 2K fan boy but nfl 2k5 is still a more realistic football simulator than madden is. I know, you can argue that it's a football GAME, but that's what I have an issue with. You want to be THE game that represents the NFL, you want to be authentic. Well please BE authentic! It took all this time to come this far? EA got the espn rights and still have yet to use them? They have things I was looking forward to like nfl videos, pro tips, prima tips, game has been out for a month and there's no content up on those yet. It's a step in the right direction but it's still lacking madden hasn't gone for broke in 8 years. I would avoid virtual football this year unless you are seriously into madden!

State of Gaming... the Revival.

2012-09-19T14:27:00.000-07:00

FINALLY... you know the rest. I have been away from things because I wasn't feeling any type of excitement. Things were going down hill in my eyes, I didn't care about anything that was out or upcoming. I didn't have the slightest interest in any games my friends were talking about. All that changed with a couple of things which I will discuss in my return blog.

Firstly, I personally started to look at things very differently lately. For a very long time I wanted to do nothing but be a sponsored gamer. Probably for as long as you wanted to be a firefighter, or baseball player. I play shooters and i know this, but i lost sight of that. I went into fighting games for 6 or so years and did poorly because that's not part of me. I can do sakura combos with my eyes closed, i can lock people down with ryu's normals, it's not that i'm bad, my mind just can't follow the matches. I never lost sight of that dream though. Going back to shooters just in time for Black ops 2's release. Where Treyarch aims to get this title into the eyes of Esports. SOME coincidence!

My hd console of choice is ps3, I don't feel like paying for online service. There's a lot of reasons I don't have an xbox so therefore I cannot play halo, and I also believe it's best to have a competitive game on multiple consoles. Aside from all that I'm actually looking forward to it after being completely against it for a long time. I like BF3, I absolutely adore Future Soldier, but number of players directed me to call of duty and the esports thing added to it. Honestly CoD is to gaming now what halo was for it back then, that's how I'm looking at it anyway.

No, I didn't get sparked into writing and gaming again due to Call of Duty. I would NEVER give an annual title that never really changes(madden) even half that much credit. I'm also pretty excited about Resident Evil 6!!! Not going to lie, I'm a fan of the series, I've played RE2 like a thousand times, and Jill is my favorite character. I wasn't upset when they took the zombies out, RE4 was solid. I was upset when they took the survival out, not even the horror but that DOES bother me. RE5 was more of an action shooter, I didn't even finish it. I'm not super thrilled about Chris and Jacob's campaigns, but Leon's is what I'm looking forward to the most.

It reminds me of that part of the RE series that attracted me to it initially and made me afraid to play RE2 when i first got it. There are a lot of things coming out that have my attention, that I would probably just play if I could afford it. Hitman looks amazing, NBA 2k13 is getting some upgrades I really want to play with. I'd at least like to try the new halo multiplayer since I've played them all, but that's about it with that title, I'm also looking at Medal of Honor. The real reason I'm writing again, the ONE thing that has me excited about video games again though?

I get giddy just watching through half of that!! I can't even discuss it right now, just NINTENDOorz. People can say what they want about it, that's not going to stop it from being amazing. HD doesn't matter to me, if the wii had more support with better game titles it would've won the hd gen console war, I'm actually a little sad that I didn't keep my wii. It didn't have to have graphics, I never had more fun playing the other consoles. WiiU had me on the fence. After owning 2 vita's this year I'm really iffy about jumping on new consoles because they've been releasing with no games to play. WELL, the WiiU is apparently LAUNCHING with 50 titles. I already want to own 5 of them. This is just launch day/week we're talking. They still have things lined up for christmas and beyond. Excited?? i'm about to throw my damn laptop out the window OMFG! Split-screen on shooters and such through the tablet controller? Watch the video you can play the fucking console with NO TV...EXCUSE MY LANGUAGE, BUT IF YOU EVER HAD TO SHARE A TV, YOU KNOW HOW AWESOME THIS IS. It interacts with the wii controllers??? so your stuff doesn't go to waste?!?!?! YOU CAN DRAW ON IT!?!?!? I need to go fap to the WiiU, I'll be writing more, and very soon... KEEP GOIN 4 BROKE!! NINTENDO IS DOIN IT!!

Really?...REALLY?

2012-07-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

WWE 13 STONE COLD EDITION

Now for those of you that pay attention to anything I post I'm sure you were aware that I'd be back for this one. I will get back to evo at another time, this right here just completely threw me for a loop. After I read about it, I sat in the car for a while and I wondered why I didn't see this coming sooner. It is now thq's last stand, all of their studios are closing, licenses are being lost, games are being terrible, and there's a lot of pressure on what could be their final game. Am I saying the game HAS to be good? Absolutely not. Games do not have to be works of art by ANY standard to be profitable (insert call of duty title here).

Now what do I mean by that? I'm pretty sure the majority will agree that MWF3 wasn't exactly a blockbuster masterpiece. I don't play it myself, but I've heard from long time hard core fans that it was more of the same. Also, take a look at madden, people argue the fact that every year is just a roster update. The only thing that matters is that they both make money, and a LOT of it at that. Besides, Madden 2020 could be the exact same game as madden 2019 but you won't know that until after somebody buys it, and once you buy it there's nothing you can do about that. Review magazines and websites get PAID to give games decent to good reviews. Half the time the writers can't even put together a proper paragraph let alone know anything about the game they're reviewing, these people don't care if you buy it or not.

Which brings us back to THQ and this new WWE games strategy. First of all yuke's is fucking terrible and I hope they never get to make another wrestling game ever again. Anyone who is a devout fan of the series knows this which is why the majority of the older hardcore fans did NOT plan to buy wwe 13 after last year's atrocity (myself included). How will they get that big audience to come back?? Let's put some attitude era wrestlers in, give it that no mercy feel, that crowd will like that. This angle was not working, people like myself could care less about roster the game never changes. BAM they got it, make stone cold the face of wwe 13, no, don't stop there, let's give him his own edition, it will cost a little bit more.

I personally have NOT missed a collector's edition of a smackdown game except for wwe 12 for obvious reasons. Now they go ahead and put not only my favorite superstar, but arguably the most popular/greatest wrestler of all time ALL over the box. I'm sold, I might not even play the damn game, but the goal is accomplished, people are GOING to BUY this. So you know what? (what?) touche THQ, you got me to give you my money again, to bring yukes garbage into my house one more time. SO come this fall, there WILL be YET ANOTHER very strong and in depth review of a wwe game, so wait on me before you give them your money will ya??

Evo 2012!! pt.1

2012-07-12T06:55:00.002-07:00

YOOOO!! I know, I'm extremely late, but I've been busy this week. I have been out of the fighting game loop for some time, missing evo was out of the question though. There was no other activity on day one at my computer but street fighter 4 AE pools. There were a LOT of good matches just on the opening day. There was a strong foreign presence this year and the announcers described it as one of the toughest evo group in history. I wasn't there obviously but by the way it went they weren't too far off! Momochi, jwong, sako, uryo chris g, dogura, daigo, mago, pr balrog, infiltration, gamer bee, the list is seemingly infinite.

Even in the beginning of the day there was crazy matchups featuring daigo, wong, and poongko. The way they played you'd think they were in semi-finals already! Speaking of which, Poongko actually had a table with him to place his arcade stick on during play which was the talk of most of my fellow watchers. I mean, he made top 8 so it helped him out obviously. Every time they showed him on stream I was saying "Get the tables!!" to myself though(thank you dudleys). Competition was extremely fierce, you could tell that a lot of these players were really looking to make it into day 2.
On the east coast I believe day one ran from like 8am until 2am, i can imagine those guys were extremely fatigued from playing an entire day. I'm slightly fatigued myself =P, but I will be back soon to write more about how awesome watching evo was.

The State of Gaming

2012-03-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

WARNING!!! It's an angry rant, it's kind of long, just bear with me!!!

I read something that I found extremely disturbing today. Not only as a gamer but a hopeful developer. At this current time there is a lot of buzz over NEW consoles and that really bothers me, like honestly neither of the hd systems have been pushed to their full capacity imo. Last year Quantic Dream(my fucking heroes) created a real time demo of their next engine that pushed the ps3 past what people are slopping on a disc. It was just an engine, and it was fucking PHENOMENAL. On top of that the director says it was outdated and that they plan on pushing the ps3 even FURTHER. I have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for this studio. They are not afraid to put effort behind their product. Heavy Rain is not getting a sequel because they do not believe in making games for the money. Unlike EA, Activision, Rockstar, etc. they don't feel the need to milk a franchise name for money.
That's not what brought me back to writing, this is http://www.gamespot.com/features/used-games-arent-the-problem-6368623/ the used games "problem". To combat piracy, there is an online code for like every game now(like it really stops piracy), and all these other hoops on top of that to discourage pirating and being an annoyance to people that buy products. NOW, FUCKING RIGHT NOW, you STILL aren't making enough MONEY gaming industry. Now you target used products. You don't want retailers selling your stuff that's all good, that doesn't mean you need to penalize the consumer you fucktards. Now you want me to buy every single game new and be stuck with it if it's bad? the only reason I even bought madden 2043746387563 is because gamestop had a deal for me to trade in my old ass ncaa9347593650293740 that's outdated and get $30 off for it!
The rest of this article I'm going to be speaking for myself because I honestly believe that half of the gaming population are too stupid to be offended by the elimination of used gaming. After last year, the ONLY games I will buy come from suda51, and quantic dream. That's it. The only devs to have earned my loyalty. Even their bad games are a good play, I'm giving you my $64.19 every time. Oh, DLC??? Gimme that! I'm a fan boy because I respect the shit out of what you do. Even if the DLC was on the disc? Look at the core of what I got originally, I don't need anything extra. On the other hand you got some assholes like CAPCOM( #IFuckingH8U), "oh let's put out Marvel vs capcom 3! the people will rejoice! a new vs game! mvc2 lasted 10+ years OMG guys!!! =3" Marvel comes out, I get the CE I love marvel I love mvc can't go wrong. NOPE! DLC ON THE DISC!! We can't even get the fucking actual dlc for like a month! but it's on disc! Why the FUCK am I waiting!?!
I REALLY hate this game at this point, it's unbalanced it has all these glitches, alright 9 months later, not even a full goddamn year we get ULTIMATE MARVELS! the game we were SUPPOSED to get. More characters, brand new fight interface, new stages, the whole fucking 9 yards right? NOPE! Upcoming costume content locked ALL on the disc, but I have to wait like 5 months and pay like $5 for my one character alt that I want and 3 that i'll never ever use. At this point I'm done so I go to gamestop and get half my money back on it, now i'm not as angry and some fanboy can be happy right? What if there was no used games? I'd be stuck and capcom wouldn't give any less of a fuck they got paid. The guy after me wouldn't be able to afford it, he'd be $6 short and can't trade in old games. What if he hated the game like I did? He could return it! get your full refund back and be happy.
You want to take away used games and give us consumers nothing? You would be nothing without us. NOTHING. This is like if vince mcmahon had every wrestling match in the dark. You have to rely on camera flashes to see the matches. MAYBE, just maybe, if every game had a demo with a decent time to play I would accept this. Dead rising 2 for example had a $10 demo. it lasted about 2 hours or so depending, and things carried over into the full game. I couldn't have been happier with doing that. I had a demo version long enough to let me see if I wanted to buy the game and I did because It was good(the original DR2, not the dlc). What else, ok I don't know how everyone else feels but I strongly believe games should be worth their prices. skyrim being $65 hell yes all that content, hundred hours of gameplay. Street fighter x Tekken $65? Hell no, half the fucking game is dlc! On top of that unless you're really into fighting games like competition wise how long are you going to play that game? Would i pay $50 for it used to play it for a couple days? yes, that sounds reasonable, if I don't like it I get my cash back.
I know I've probably gone off and got all mixed up here but I'm seriously angry at this. It's about time that people fucking stood up against shit like this and stop being goddamn sheep. I would be the scapegoat if people got behind this. rallying n shit for corruption doesn't do anything. If we had enough numbers NOT purchase ONE game just ONE, we can be effective. let them call it a terror group and I will be the face if I have to but this shit must change. Why do you lie and say you don't have change when a bum asks for it? Because you know damn well he ain't gonna better himself with it, and you're getting nothing out of it. So why keep donating to charity? I'm off, going to re-do this when I'm a bit calmer probably. FREE USED GAMING!!!!

WWE 12... GO 4 FAIL REVISITED!!!

2012-01-21T02:34:00.000-08:00

There will be no disclaimer for this writing whatsoever because I do not care at this point. WHAT IS YUKE'S DOING?!?!? WWE 12 is so bad on every system I've played it on. EVERY SYSTEM I HAVE PLAYED IT ON. As much I want to find SOMETHING about this game to enjoy I just can't. I hear you, "well why do you keep playing their games then stupid?!" It's called passion. There's videogames, and there's wrestling. The two things I've cared about since I was born. The only other thing that even comes near this streak is the chicago bulls and peanut butter and jelly =3. So when there's a wrestling video game I don't have a choice but to play it, it's in my blood to do so. If anyone can't understand that then go kill yourself for being unpassionate about anything in your life, WHY ARE YOU HERE?!?(don't really kill yourself because of this, I'm aware there are some weak people in the world with no willpower, go get passionate about something and be great.)

Yes, but back to this atrocity to gamer-kind. I used to dislike EA sports for buying out the nfl license, any 2k sports fan will agree. The difference with EA is at least they try. These yuke's jokas just throw darts at idea boards apparently and throw it in the game. Do you know anything about the wwe let alone what the fans want? Maybe you should sit your asses in a dark ass room in somebody's basement and play wwe no mercy until you figure out some way to make a better game. JUST STOP MAKING GAMES PLEASE!!!!!

APEX 2012 was Br0ke?!

2012-01-18T21:01:00.000-08:00

On January 7th, myself, my boyfriend, & our group of friends attended APEX 2012 at Rugerts University, NJ for the Capcom tournaments. I was so stoked to attend APEX, as it would be my very first real tournament experience!! I didn't plan on entering, but that didn't make my hype any less.

Upon arriving at the venue, I found it peculiar there was no banners or advertising up outside. But, I decided to pay it no mind. Tis a minor detail, and shouldn't reflect the actual event. As soon as we entered, we were thrown into a huge crowd of people there to play Super Smash Brothers Brawl & Melee. The room was filled to the complete max. Old school tvs, game cubes, N64's, you name it. They had the Brawl room set up for a full on tournament. Stage, big screen, hundreds of tables, and mad hype. Cutting through the crowd was a task, but finding the Capcom tournament entrance was even more of a challenge. Oh, and wait. Did anyone happen see where the hell the Capcom tables are even at? It can't possibly be the 20 tvs in the corner of the room over there?

With some asking around, we found the tournament entrance tables. I was excited to get my spectator pass. I assumed I would get a beast looking badge on a lanyard, & giving me a nice momento from our adventure. No. I was given a cheapo green lanyard with no badge, and the words "we don't have anymore badges. Just take this." What? Mind you, we didn't arrive late (11:00AM) Sure, this happened to be the second day the tournament ran, but why was there no badges? There wasn't even badges for people entering the tournament. This was a little discouraging for me, yet my hype didn't lessen.

We made our way out into the Capcom room. The room was fairly large. A few vendors, one APEX banner, and a ton more Brawl tables & set ups. Yes, the Capcom tournaments were being held in a corner with 20 tvs. It's not like Capcom was going to be a small event, either. 300-so people to participate, not counting the random Mortal Kombat people (a total of about 13). To make matters worse. The tournament start time kept being pushed out. I believe it went from noon, to 1, to 2, to 3, and didn't really get going until 4. 4:00PM! The people in charge of the Capcom tournaments were unprepared and confused as well. It was more than obvious there was no preparation or thought put into the tournament. Traditional tournament set up says there are pools, brackets, and order.

We had been waiting forever casuals had been discouraged due to the lack of tvs. Entrants were forced to sit around and wait. No warm ups. No fun-play. No nothing. Our biggest form of entertainment was watching a Brawl entrant who was dressed like Aladdin (in full character; no shoes). Okay. Now let me address the atmosphere. Large room, mad stinky dudes, no AC, no open windows or doors, nothing to do, and no hype. At this point, our group was feeling the killjoy of the whole endeavour. My boyfriend and myself decided to pass a little time and watch the people playing Brawl. Which only brought us to the conclusion, WHY THE HELL ARE WE PLAYING MARVEL?! The Brawl room was epic! People were hype! AND they had pools, brackets, and order.
By the time people were actually able to play, the mass confusion & disorder sucked any life which was left in the tournament. The announcers had to yell over the Brawl announcer, and even when the Brawl announcer was done for the day, the Capcom coordinators continued to yell and be unorganized. Set ups weren't working, Xboxes were red-ringing (which is just another factor of poor planning), players were & weren't getting called, and let's not forget the person who didn't record my friend's win.

The tournament went on until 11:00PM. My boyfriend and I enjoyed the last half of the tournament, napping in his car while our friends bared through the last of the rounds.

I'm the type of person who tries to find the good in every experience, and I can say the whole experience wasn't a complete waste. While it was extremely expensive and frustrating, I enjoyed the time spent with my boyfriend and our friends. I also enjoyed seeing all the crazy nerds, geeks, and um...furries. Attending the tournament also made me start playing Brawl, and drop out of UMVC3.

In conclusion, APEX was an event which could have been really awesome & fun, with the proper event planing and preparations. Better advertising, set up, tournament coordination, and consideration would have made all the difference. If you hold an event for the FGC, treat them as if they matter. Don't push them into a corner & delay the shit out of their games. It's rude and really puts a damper on the whole experience for everyone attending.

I'm not sure when I will next attend a tournament. I do know I can only hope it won't be anything like APEX 2012.

Returned from apex...

2012-01-07T22:17:00.000-08:00

Literally JUST got back from apex. Not entirely pleased. Positives were slim, I learned that super smash brothers is extremely hype and I'm intrigued to play it now. Also hangin with the crew was a blast this weekend. Otherwise, poor planning and organization made for a poor event. we get there 1 lil before 11, thought i was late but i was notified that sign ups got pushed back to noon ok fine. we sign up and then have to wait til like 1:30 to actually have announcements for a start time. Mind you there was no room to play casuals at all since there were like 200 people to a strip of 20 stations. So you just stood and watched for 2 hours.
Now I got up at like 8 this morn so of course it's lunch time... can't go eat because they might call your name that was somewhere on the giant bracket being run on one pc. Which brings up point one, fgc MAJORS have pools, small, manageable brackets that become bigger brackets. Not one big ass bracket for 300 people per game on one pc with people yelling confusion back n forth. So I finally got to play at like almost 4pm, at this point i'm no longer really excited about playing but more excited about choking out one of the random stank ass, rude, dudes in the room. Of course my first game was entirely against my favor but that's how the game goes it's whatever i'm not angry about that. If I was actually able to play casuals and warm up a bit maybe I'd have had a little bit more of a chance.
Point 2 my second match didn't occur til some time after 7pm. at this point I'm saving my girl friend from suffering in the stank sea of rudeness by finding refuge back outside in the car where I went to sleep from lack of activity. I was awakened by a text saying that they announced my name. It was during one of those naps that feels like deep sleep like drool and all so I was like F that I'm not even dealing with this right now, like 3 hours apart and there were no casual set ups anywhere at all. Like wtf am I supposed to do for the whole day I spent here.
All in all my first major aside from it's downfalls was what I expected, I just wish it were more organized so I could've at least been able to make the most of the time. So shout outs to my girl friend, FNEX, Freebes and Knight for at least leaving good memories on it. I really hope winter brawl is a wayyyy better experience.

Currently busy Going 4 Br0ke!!!

2012-01-06T01:47:00.000-08:00

All staff members are currently and have been preparing for our first FGC major. We will be back shortly with reports of the event and our results! Stay tuned, also feel free to like us on facebook http://www.facebook.com/Go4Br0ke as that page is updated more frequently during times like these when things are a bit tied up. Keep Going 4 Br0ke, and don't forget to TYFG!!!

UMVC3 patch response

2011-12-27T23:50:00.000-08:00

So, the UMVC3 patch was brought up about a post ago. The thing i hate the most is when people in the fgc whine about nothing. Phoenix wright got a necessary nerf, and a nerf that made a lot of sense. People are complaining because a character that "nobody uses" got something taken away that was extremely OP. At first i wondered why they changed this too, but then I played someone that actually knew how to use PW.

Not me in this video but seriously, he can STILL do this. Collecting evidence is NOT difficult once you take time to learn how. Knowing that he has the power to do this why would you even want to tag him out to abuse a broken assist? Oh let me answer that, because it's easier to have brain dead options that work rather than actually try to be skillful. There was nothing wrong with the phoenix nerf. If he stayed the way he was he would become extremely cheap once people take time to learn him and then they would be whining about a nerf.
Just like wesker, yes, he's dumb easy to play. You still have to learn combos and the game for him to be useful. It's not like they gave arthur a nerf, I play arthur and it's EXTREMELY difficult to be successful against tournament players with arthur. Taking things away from him would've caused reason for concern. That's my 2 cents, I hope somebody reads this and understands, because I personally hate capcom so agreeing with them isn't common for me.

Why would you patch that of all things?(UMVC3 patch update)

2011-12-19T21:50:00.000-08:00

Ok back again almost back to back hey this must be said. For those who dont know, this patch not only came with the heroes and heralds mode but slight changes to the game as well. Most of them are all good such as the infinite with wolverine's swiss chess, the Z-axis glitch, Vergil's kara- d-H glitch and ammy's counter glitch. Those were all fine and dandy and I had absolutely not problem with that, that is until i read down the article.

Of all things capcom, why the FUCK do you have the balls to nerf the fuck out of phoenix wright turn-about mode assist BUT leave wesker with level one x-factor!? LIKE WAHT THE FLYING FUCK!? Was Phoenix Wright really that much of a problem that you had to nerf that? That character takes hard work and patience to use. I dont even use him and i felt that to the chest. I use wesker and yeah broken or not i think he kinda didnt need that in-game buff. I expected them to tone that down but this nerf came from left field in my book. Just damn man, and that was the only nerf to come from this patch update. Like really?

For those who have no knowledge of this I'll post a link below.

Just wow man..

Comments, questions or concerns?

http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2011/dec/19/ultimate-marvel-vs-capcom-3-patch-details-and-glitch-fixes/ (Phoenix Nerf)

http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2011/dec/19/umvc3-december-19th-patch-notes-video-overview-desk/ (glitches and fixes)

Heroes and Heralds (DAY 1)

2011-12-19T21:26:00.000-08:00

Hello people of the gaming community, today I will be talking about the new patch update for UMvC3 called Heroes and Heralds. Along with this DLC came a patch and secret surprise for one of the characters in the game, but I'll get to that later, right now I wanna talk about the H&H mode.

This mode is something new to the table for fighting games online in my opinion anyways. This mode is a week by week campaign where you are able to chose factions and attempt to take over the world as a Herald or save the world by being a hero. I personally chose to be a Herald because no one can stop the hunger of Galactus. (yea that was cheesy but wtvr.) But back to the point at hand, this mode lets you create a deck of three cards with each card having two effects, a main and a secondary. One of the cards you pick with have its main effect while your second two choices will have their secondary effects. The effects these cards have are fucking crazy. One of them lets you actually parry attacks. 0.0 really!? anyways players can become very creative with these cards and come up with new technology that the player can think off. It takes some limitations off and break certain boundaries if you wanna call it that. Thankfully this isnt really made for the competitive crowd but something more fun that people can do here and there. Possibities are almost endless.

Offline Mode:

The offline mode is pretty straight forward and at the very beginning it gives you a detailed tutorial of how everything works when you first play the mode. The offline play itself its pretty fun to play. You get a hit list and i think about 7 worlds to conquer or save pending on the faction you chose. After every fight you get a card to add to your collection to help you make more powerful decks. The hitlist there for every character you beat they get marked off the list in bingo card fasion. for every line you get you obtain a bonus area. In the bonus area you can win even better cards than the ones in the regular worlds. Fair warning for should you lose, you lose the bonus area as well and have to start over in that area. so be careful and dont take shit lightly. not much more to go on than what i explained.

Online Mode:

This is where you put your broken deck to the test. As I said, you enter a week long campaign to either save or conquer the earth pending on what you chose. You get deployed and you face off against players of the opposite faction. As you play you accumilate points which would be your rank im guess and if you win, it goes towards the whole factions win/loss ratio i believe. Playing online with this mode is good luck to you sir/madam cuz there will be brokenness out the whazoo. But its still fun to play.

Overall:

This mode is new and pretty fun to play. I say get into it and see what crazy card combos you can come up with, test it online and show em ya moves.

PS
I will make another post about the other stuff that came along with the patch.

No replay mode for UMVC3 (as of now)

2011-12-15T20:57:00.000-08:00

So as most you may already know, Capcom is known for making incomplete products and making us (most of us I should say) spend out hard earned bucks shelling out cash for these products. This has happened with the SFIV series and now it is happening with the MVC3 games. Yeah yeah I know I'm talking about stuff we already know but I'm trying to get to my point of the matter here. In fact lets just cut the small talk and get to the point shall we? ok.

As we all know with the release of UMVC3 its pretty much just a re-hash of stuff that was missing from the last game that most people believe should've just been a patch update followed by character DLC but then again whatever, we purchased it and lived out or gaming lives. Now with its new updates and stuff there are STILL stuff missing (which is why I'm posting this blog). The feature that I'm getting to is the replay mode. Now fighting games that released from capcom ie SSF4 came with this feature. Why the hell does UMVC3 not have it? They have time to place in spectator mode which also should've been in the game in the first place. But no replay mode? Come on now.

I read not long before posting this that the VITA version of UMVC3 will have the replay feature added int the game on release. The one thing that popped into my head was what the fuck capcom. I mean you can remake the game, add all these damn characters, make Wesker a one man team, still not add mega-man(:P) and not put in a replay feature for consoles? I'm hoping that they will place this feature in when the 19th comes around but until then, WHAT THE FUCK MAN!!

Oh and if you want to know where i got this tid-bit of info here is the link here:

http://www.eventhubs.com/news/2011/dec/15/seth-killian-no-plans-add-replay-mode-umvc3-console/

comments concerns or questions?

Brink Is Br0ken!

2011-12-06T12:35:00.000-08:00

-Before I start this review, I would like to state that these are my thoughts and opinions. I write unbiased factual information for the viewing pleasure of those who seek the truth. Bashing & childish arguing will be ignored and lol'ed at. However, fun & intellectual discussion is encouraged-

I'm a first person shooter fiend, so of course I was extremely excited for the release of Brink. I followed the release of all Developer diaries, and found myself believing Brink to a possible revolutionary.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

For me, Brink has been the biggest disappointment since Singularity (we won't put our toes into that cesspool right now...). All hyped up and nothing to show. Brink is a patch-work shell of what could have been a really cool & innovative fps.
For those of you who aren't familiar with Brink, it is a fps released by Splash Damage & Bethesda in May of 2011. Brink also has some other features like a parkour system called "SMART (Smooth Movement Across Random Terrain), which was supposed to make navigating one's surroundings much simpler and smoother.

So, as the video shows, Brink looks like a pretty fun game. In-depth character customization, tons of weapons and attachments (who doesn't like to blow shit up?!), a few different modes of play, and non-stop action. Realistically speaking however, the positives Brink may posses are completely over-shadowed by the countless shortcomings and annoying issues.

Let's take a looksies.

Controls:
SMART felt really unresponsive and difficult to maneuver. Aim at a ledge or obstacle, hold down the SMART button, and run towards the destination. However, it wasn't that simple. My experience with the SMART system was frustrating. I found myself always holding the SMART button down just to move, because Sprint/SMART are the same button!! When you want to sprint, you SMART. When you want SMART, you awkwardly approach a random obstacle and FAIL! Did I mention how damn slow your character moves while not in SMART mode? Oh, yeah. Character movement speed is the slowest I've ever seen in a next-gen fps. One would assume, since the SMART button was always held down to move, navigating approaching obstacles would've been smooth and painless. That's not entirely true. You really have to line up with whatever you're trying to scale. Your character has to be almost perfectly aligned to actually achieve a successful Parkour.
What about general controls? The button layout is standard. HUD is pretty simple to read and navigate. Sliding on the other hand, is really stupid. Say, you want to sprint under? Aim at what you want to slide under, hold the SMART button, and move forward. Actually, this feature would've been alright if it wasn't for how unstable it felt. Aiming & reaching your destination wasn't as easy as it should've been, due to lack of proper control and timing. Sliding's other use, which was knocking enemies over, didn't work. I found myself repeatedly gliding by enemies and getting shottied in the face. Okay, melee. Knifing people is always a great thing, unless they won't die! I don't care how many Kevlar buffs you have, when I sneak attack your face, I expect you to die.
Controls 2 out of 5

Game play:
I can't address Brink's single player modes because Brink was not created for the purpose of single player game play or story play through (the modes are there, but trust me, you will want to rip your face off 5 minutes into story mode). I didn't like that aspect. I crave a great in-depth story mode to accompany action packed multi-player. How was multi-player game play? Besides the fact multi-player was hindered by the ghastly controls, there was a major problem with firing & realism. I'm reviewing this under game play because I don't believe it's a controls problem. It's more or less a common mistake by most companies who try to make fps. In this day and age of overwhelming technology and science, I really believe fps (strictly geared around gun-play and nothing else) should be as realistic as possible. I want the realism to make me feel as though I could really be firing "said" weapon. This is really important. A machine gun shouldn't sound or feel like a put-put toy. With all that being said, Brink's weapons were really unrealistic. The weapons are cool with a great selection to choose from, but doesn't expect to be wowed by realism or great feel. In addition, players don't properly respond to bullet damage, or the weapons are so weak they don't infliction as much damage as they should. Shotguns & heavier artillery, such as the "Gotlung" machine gun, felt watered down. Headshots are hard to come by due to lack of gun accuracy. Regardless of which weapon you choose, there's a major lack in accuracy.
Game play 2 out of 5

Overall, I wouldn't recommend Brink to any serious gamers. Brink was a game created for the soul purpose of awesome controls & game play, but didn't do anything except bring a big o' plate of failsauce to the fps community. Brink does have some positive points, such as really neato character customization, good weapon/attachment selection, nice graphics, and lots of co-op campaign and feeplay. But ask yourself a serious question: Is sifting through all the poo really worth it?
Brink's limited game play makes matters worse. Maybe, if there was some ass kicking story line, the overall short-comings wouldn't seem so bad? Or, maybe, Brink would still be boring & weak =)

Parkour this! Brink: 2 out of 5

Br0keFIELD 3!!!

2011-12-05T19:27:00.000-08:00

I can't say enough good about Battlefield 3, THIS game IS the level that shooters are SUPPOSED to be in when you talk about HD gen games. Talk about developer respect???? When I look at this game I can get a hint of their efforts. When I play this game I can feel them swinging for the fences. I've played shooters since golden eye on 64, since quake 3 arena launched on ps2...SEE ME IN TIMESPLITTERS FUTURE PERFECT! What makes this game so great? Take the graphics out of the picture for a second. Most importantly to me at this stage is realism. What separates this game from other current day shooters alone? Physics.

Not only can you see the bullet trail you can follow it as it drops down and out of view. The only shooter that I've played that possesses such a feature is Sniper: Ghost warrior, and it doesn't even really have that exactly. This is important why? you're buying games for $65! Dropping who knows how much money on high def consoles, tv's and computers. I don't know if you know this, but years ago, gamers were dreaming of this type of technology for REALISM.

"Oh that's it? It sets the standard for shooters by having bullet physics." No, not at all. The game is extremely immersive, this was one of 3 games i actually sat in front of the tv from start to finish. It's a war game I honestly wish the story was a bit more original than the typical action movie story but what do you want? I usually never play the story in shooters... ever. As typical as it was I could not put it down. If I weren't caught up in the action I was amazed by vehicular combat. Which brings me to the multi-player that people complain about. When you go to war in real life you don't get dropped in a 40x40 room with 7 other people. I like the huge maps, I don't want to get spawn raped all day! I'd rather drop 400 yards and take a jeep to the battle and THEN get sniped. At least I had a chance! Then you got vehicles and buildings falling and all this crazy shit going on while you're in the middle of a firefight. I'm giving Dice's modern day fps masterpiece a 4/5 since they KNOW how to go 4 br0ke apparently! Oh, remember the graphics? Bring them back.

now on facebook!! http://www.facebook.com/Go4Br0ke

GAME FAILS: WWE 12

2011-11-23T12:30:00.000-08:00

Alright very briefly, I've decided to do reviews on this blog because it's what I seem to do very well. For your viewing pleasure this is all MY opinion, if you don't like it don't read it. Don't respond with opinion of your own trying to bash me because I could care less what you think. Anyone that wishes to have a relaxed, fun, fact based discussion feel free.
This is a very special review, I've played every wrestling game ever since I had thumbs. I've been watching wrestling since I had eyes, even now in it's hard to watch era, I still watch every now and then. For quite some time I felt personally as a fan that the re-boot was the death of wrestling, but I've been trying to deal with it because it's something I really care about. What has been keeping me together has been the games, when I'm making the stories and characters, the tv product doesn't seem so bad. This game right here? It's equivalent to David Arquette's WCW championship reign.

Graphics:2/5

Anyone notice anything? It's the same model. This year wrestlers are less shiny(which doesn't make much sense if you actually watch wrestling.) and have smoother edges. After seeing battlefield 3, there is NO excuse for these graphics when you make the same exact game every year. It may not seem so big of a deal since most people will agree that console graphics have kind of peaked, but there is no major difference here at all. What work are you doing all year? Let's NOT mention wrestlers like Ezekiel Jackson who looks terrible in this game, he reminds me of Ahmed Johnson from WWF warzone. In motion the models still aren't improved over last year. Take a look at fight night for a minute... nuff said. The Only thing done right was the presentation. I like the new cameras, and the little things like the ring reacting to slams.

Controls and game play: 2/5

I really enjoy the simplified controls after years of confusion and constant changes. There is still no button to recover stamina like they had in 2006 but that's fine, I can deal with that. What I will not tolerate is the reversal system AKA the lack of one. I can't retaliate to anything my opponent does. I've been playing for 2 days and when I DO get a reversal it's the one time I get lucky on a mash rather than when I'm timing and watching the animations. GIVE ME A FUCKING BLOCK BUTTON! In the wwe they don't just wait to get attacked and reverse, they BLOCK like every other type of fighting scenario. You didn't want to add 2 block buttons again as they created an issue with the AI in other games fine, the answer is find a solution to combine them, not just stick you with one. They added the comeback function (which is desperately required) and it only works if you learn how to use it, which I respect but it should have really been either a single grapple or strike to initiate it or a quick time event type thing because it's usually not happening with this reversal system as is (TEST YOUR FUCKING GAMES). There's SO much wrong with the game play. I've been playing for two days and with the exception of 2-3 matches I've spent the match on the mat and/or helpless for the match's entirety. (TYFG). OH! I almost forgot. The ONE thing I've been waiting for them to add that is STILL not in this game is the ability to interrupt entrances. It was there in the raw games for xbox which they forgot about apparently, it was one of the best features at that! Make me want to not skip the entrance after the first time I see it. What's the point of having entrances? It's the exact same thing every time. Also, another thing that bothers me. "Cult of Personality" is in the game (CM Punk theme), BUT the Undertaker still comes out to his old theme song and not the johnny cash song. Yes, there is the option to give him the song myself but why should I have to?

Everything Else:1/5

The only thing I really like about this game is the ridiculous amount of unlockable content on disc...too bad it isn't anything good. There's like 15 title belts...why? Create an arena, inferno match, create a story, and free brawl all need to be removed. Where's the special referee match? You know, matches that actually happen on tv. The roster is a bit off as usual but let's look past that, they announced all these other characters for dlc like Brock Lesnar. He's not even a wrestler why am I paying for that? I'm not buying any dlc at all for this game.

P.S

Dear Yuke's,

PLEASE release the contract so a GOOD developer can make a wwe game. You've been fucking up since SvR 2007 was made. REVAMP YOUR SHIT AGAIN AND DON'T FORGET TO TYFG!

-West

The Binding of Isaac- Indy for Br0ke?

2011-11-11T10:54:00.000-08:00

Before I even get into the actually story I just want to point things out from the trailer that grab my attention. Randomly generated gameplay, only other game I have played that has this feature is Left for Dead. there are others as well but L4D is big because it changes the whole game. Point being that this is a game changer right off the bat because of the game type. Now it probably isn't an endless supply of random but it will be enough to keep you on your toes, instead of brain dead and repetitive play throughs. Multiple runs through this game is what you are garunteed to have as it boasts multiple endings. Hundreds of items to collect and 50 different enemy types in a flash game. In other words a great amount of time and detail went into creating this game. The thing that gets me the most is that this game has boss fights, which unless you play MMO's are really absent from modern day gaming. When was the last time you had to tell some one "I can't right now, I'm in the middle of a boss fight."???? This game has 20!

Now the story I didn't and can't really get into, apparently it's based on the biblical "Binding of Isaac" which we won't get into. Long story short, your mom tries to kill you! You escape and fight your way through the catacombs of your basement to strengthen up by slaying the most grotesque and disturbing abominations to have ever existed in 2d flash. It's twisted, dark, and not for those without a lack of humor and solid stomach. Eventually for most of us, myself included the story won't matter too much and you'll be playing to get to see all the different endings that occur though. Borderlands had the same effect on me but that didn't stop it from being one of the best games of the year.

Isaac may be bound but he definitely went for Br0ke on this $5 indy title. The worse that can happen with this game is that you'll get bored after a couple play throughs, but it's $5. For that little bit of investment you get something that was really thoughtful and worked on. It's little developers like this that I believe would make excellent games if they had the chance to get bigger. This game could've relatively easily been on a shelf for $30 on some alien hominid type shit. 4/5 get five dollars and support these guys, or at least try the demo first. Probably going to be top ten for some time on the indy front. You want content and replay value? Isaac delivers.

Team ICO...GOES 4 BR0KE!!!

2011-10-10T17:51:00.000-07:00

Alright very briefly, I've decided to do reviews on this blog because it's what I seem to do very well. For your viewing pleasure this is all MY opinion, if you don't like it don't read it. Don't respond with opinion of your own trying to bash me because I could care less what you think. Anyone that wishes to have a relaxed, fun, fact based discussion feel free.
The Ico and Shadow of Colossus collection on the ps3 is probably the best $40 I've ever invested into a single disc. I honestly feel like I'm stealing from the developers by not having to buy both games for $60. Talking about ps2 era games that stood the test of time, first you have ico, a ps2 launch title that was leaps and bounds ahead of it's time as far as game mechanics go. Then you have Shadows of the Colossus which was arguably one of, if not the best ps2 title during the console's final chapters. NOW, FOR THE FIRST TIME, YOU GET THEM BOTH ON 1 DISC!!!!

Ok now before I even get into the games. you need to know, this is not the god of war collection. If you're offended that I personally don't care for a series based on quick time bosses and nothing but jumping and mashing X to attack then too bad. GoW is a half-assed, simple-minded series IMO. Devil may cry is more impressive. but as far as ps2 games go I would take this collection over any of the other collections ANY day(i'm looking at you metal gear...$50 bucks for 2 MORE copies of mgs 2&3 and peace walker on console...fuck that.). What I'm getting at is that these 2 games are undeniably classic, I don't care if you've never heard of them, or your friends never said they were good. If you have a ps3 and call yourself a gamer you need to play these games.
Ico is just like ps2's super mario, you can't really appreciate how advanced this game is unless you played the other ps2 launch titles. I don't remember many other games where you could jump and grab a ledge, use it to scale along a wall, then jump onto a swaying chain you have to climb up to interact with a giant chandelier in order to knock it down and progress. Not during that time!! Even back then it had graphically impressed me and it looks a million times better with it's hi def make over. At the core of it, Ico plays like a puzzle adventure. It's one giant world that you progress one screen section at a time. You have to make sure your companion isn't captured by shadow creatures as she is also the key to most doors in the game. It's a lot harder than it sounds!!
SHADOWS OF THE COLOSSUS!!! Some times I look at the colossi in this game and I think it's a ps3 game. There was one I thought was made of stone but once I scaled it I found myself hanging from it's thick fur! Graphics never sell me on games but I point this out because this is a PS2 game. Riding around on your horse is actually a little tricky as it would be in real life as opposed to just riding a horse like it's a car in gran theft auto or something. The game consists of riding to the designated colossi's area using your magic sword as a compass, once you get there the fight is on! They all follow the basic principle of hitting their weak spot, but the degree of difficulty rises with each fight. Then with every victory comes that feeling of "OMG I JUST KILLED THIS BIG ASS FUCKIN BEAST SHIT!!!"
Although both games are amazing it's not meant for everyone. Ico's puzzles may seem a bit tedious and confusing at times. The traveling in Shadows of the Colossus may bore people as you spend a lot of time on horseback. Aside from that, this collection most definitely went for broke!!! Individually I would give them a 4/5 each, but seeing as how they're on the same goddamn disc it's a 5/5 from me. Bottom line, as I have stated before. GO AND BUY THIS GAME! I can't wait for them to release The Last Guardian! Go Team Ico!

Did Dead Island Go4Broke?!

2011-10-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

Alright very briefly, I've decided to do reviews on this blog because it's what I seem to do very well. For your viewing pleasure this is all MY opinion, if you don't like it don't read it. Don't respond with opinion of your own trying to bash me because I could care less what you think. Anyone that wishes to have a relaxed, fun, fact based discussion feel free.
Caution: This will probably be a lengthy read, as I am an advocate for games with zombies in them =3
So from the outside, everyone looks and says "Oh, yet another zombie game from the hordes of them that we have been seeing." I honestly hate that, it's one thing to look into a game and try it but don't bash it and generalize it when you know nothing about it. Dead island has elements(aside from zombies and gore) also found in games like left for dead, and dead rising which I will touch on as we progress. Where people are completely wrong is when it comes to a game that was seemingly the main influence of this game. A majority of things in Dead Island come straight out of Borderlands. In fact if the game were a little less serious I would say it was an indirect sequel of sorts. If you're not familiar, here is a trailer.

     Alright, just another zombie game right? No, not really, let's analyze and compare from this clip. Zombies obviously, take note of the number that you saw. There's not dozens on screen at once as in Left 4 Dead, or hundreds like Dead rising. The thing that makes Dead Island zombies are the fear they create. They don't need sheer numbers, one will look dead and pop up on your screen attacking you! While you fight this off you lose stamina and then BAM you have 2 more attacking you. Now you have to hope your stamina holds up as well as your weapons or if your weapons break what will you do?! The bubbling zombie is one of their special infected, similar to a boomer from Left 4 Dead, but with a suicide bomber twist. Compared to L4D the special infected in this game to me are more like small variables as opposed to the challenging task of taking down a tank so to speak.
     The weapons and combat are also in their own zombie game category. There are no static, every match weapons from left for dead. Now you can find a random bat and drive nails through it, as you can do in Dead Rising 2. Not to say they took that exact element from DR2 because they even took that one step ahead. Not even the plain weapons you find in the game are static. Each weapon boasts stats and some times enhancements as you go along. So unlike DR2, you can have two of the same spike bats but one could do more damage or be more durable than the other. Defending yourself Is the fun part! First person Like L4D but really reminds me of Condemned 2 as you can also fight hand to hand. Just don't forget about your stamina!! In this game you can opt to strategically knock down zombies and pick them off from there, which is your best bet and that is the biggest difference from L4D where it's not always an option.
     Character time!!! This is going to be brief, no worries. Four characters, unlike L4D they have differentials. It all lies in their rage ability tree, but instead of picking who I felt like being at the time I really took about half hour to decide which would suit my play style, who had the best chance of getting through the game in the early levels, and who I would be able to easily play solo with.
     All in all, I'd have to say that Dead island is extremely amazing. Especially coming from the company that brought us games like Pet Soccer, Indiana Jack, Nail'd, and Chrome! Who bought those???? What makes it so amazing? Like I said it has the blueprints from one of the best rpg's in Borderlands, but here in this game I actually care about what's going on in the story because hey, I wanna survive! DI thrusts the player into survival horror mode where you use whatever weapons you can find, whatever health items you can grab, and tells you to figure out how to get to safety. The fact that you have your own levels, stats, and abilities to improve are a HUGE plus for us EXP whores because if they didn't exist I would be pretty bored honestly. It's a breath of fresh air, this game came from out of nowhere and showed that New titles can be born and not fall into the exact same cookie cutter next gen factory. It has found a place in my list of next gen titles worth it's price tag.
    Why I have so much hatred for the developers, why I no longer own a personal copy. TEST YOUR FUCKING GAME!!!! So buggy, so glitchy, I lost 6 hours of game play due to reverting saves, and I'm SOOO tired of hearing people blame it on the system. If you can't make a working game on any system then don't put it on that fucking system. TEST YOUR FUCKING GAME!! It's been patched several times for xbox, i don't know if it's been remedied on ps3/pc as of this posting. Another gripe is that NOTHING FUCKING MOVES!! NOTHING!! I ran into a disabled truck at full speed with a fortified armored truck. You know what happened? FUCKING NOTHING! At LEAST let me move it, I don't care about visual damage. The multi-player, well first of all let me say they don't edit any cutscenes to show just your character. When you play solo, some times you will see the other 3 characters in scenes you will be referred to in plural in most conversations, it's stupid. I'm the only one here doing shit, talk to me, not my imaginary friends. As far as I know, it's mp also has limits. I was level 21 at the time and I could not join my friends games because we weren't in the same area/point of the story? I see where they're coming from with this but no, that's not gonna work assholes.
    In closing I'd like to say that I stand behind what I said from the beginning. Dead Island is truly amazing for what it brings, those that can experience it without the bugs/glitches will see that. BUT, it did not, Go4Broke. TL:DR Dead Island gets a 3/5. It would be up in the 4 range but they didn't TEST THEIR FUCKING GAME. Yes, you should own this game if you're even a little bit interested but unless you are getting it for xbox, or are extremely patient then I'd wait a little while, maybe even the price will drop.