Residentgamer

2012 Video Game Wrap-Up

2012-12-28T12:19:00.000-05:00

2012 was an interesting time in games. Indie titles like Minecraft, Fez, Journey, and the Walking Dead gained not only popularity but awards. Journey's soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy, making it the first video game to ever receive a nod. And of course, the Walking Dead won GOTY at the VGAs.

2012 also saw its fair share of controversy including the Mass Effect 3 ending, the Tomb Raider "rape" trailer, the bullying and harassment of the Tropes vs. Women in Video Games kickstarter, and the latest installment of "video games cause violent behavior in real life."

I have written about most these things and others. In fact, I was recently accepted to write for examiner.com. So I've been a busy little bee.

I've played my fair share of new games this year and I narrowed down what I think is best. I loved Halo 4 and Mass Effect 3 among others.

The new year is looking to be quite promising as well. Let's hope BioShock Infinite isn't delayed again. And GTA V looks amazing, as does Gears of War Judgment.

Maybe video games are growing up. The VGAs weren't wholly embarrassing. And while there was tons of controversy, there was also a lot of great discussions about gender and violence in games. Growing up doesn't mean that games will be stuffy, politically correct bores. What I hope for is that we the gamers can continue to have real discussions about gaming issues. (Even when we think the issues are imagined.) I love gaming culture and in a lot of ways, I'm hopeful about how it has moved forward in 2012. I also hope that the media focuses more on the positives of gaming and the positive, articulate people involved in gaming.

For me, I hope I will find the time and be able to update my blog more. The last half of 2012 was difficult in few ways and the first part of 2013 looks like it's going to be the same for a bit.

Pictures of the Link Mosaic

2012-11-01T13:02:00.000-04:00

Here are some close-up pictures of the Link Mosaic. My family went to the Nintendo Store over the summer and found me:

I'm near the edge of the mosaic. Here's my son pointing to my pic:

Here's another one:

These pictures are huge and when I tried to upload them in the original size, they ate the whole site. However, I did create an album on photobucket where you can view more pictures of the mosaic in their bigger size.

Link Mosaic Pictures

How About That Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC?

2012-06-30T12:26:00.000-04:00

I'm one of those people who didn't outright hate the original Mass Effect 3 ending that I got. Although once I realized that all the endings were pretty similar, I couldn't help but understand why other people were so upset. As the excitement of not blowing everything to Hell wore off, I also realized there were glaring plot issues. I addressed these in a Mass Effect 3 post back in April.

Now that the Extended Cut DLC has been released, the endings are longer and more detailed. I'm especially happy that they filled in some of the plot holes, like why the Normandy was flying and how my crew I took to Earth survived. I picked the same option as I did before of destroying the Reapers and there's definitely more information and cutscenes that explain things better. You can even ask the Star Child questions before you pick. There is a new refusal option, which I feel doesn't gel with my Shepard's beliefs. I can't imagine going through all that trouble only to refuse to pick and let the cycle continue.

If you hated the original endings, you probably won't like the extended ones. I still believe BioWare and other developers need to take this fiasco to heart. I hope something like this never happens again, as I still feel endings shouldn't be changed just because of fan pressure. While I can't deny this DLC did provide more closure, it shouldn't have been needed. All this "extended" information should have been there back in March.

More on the Mass Effect 3 Extended Cut DLC

Gender Issues, Sex, and Gaming

2012-06-20T16:32:00.001-04:00

Once again, gender issues have taken the center stage in gaming. If I wanted to read every article that's been published on gender issues in gaming in the last week, I'd probably would be stuck in front of a screen for two days straight.

But here's the thing, I do want to read everything written on the issue, especially how other women feel. Mainly because a lot of the articles express a viewpoint I don't understand. Why? I've said it plenty of times before. I can't remember ever being offended by a game. I don't care what characters wear, I don't care if I'm playing as a boy or girl. I would gladly mow down some sexy assassin nuns. I'm currently playing Lollipop Chainsaw. However, most of the articles I see take the stance of "here's why ____ is offensive or sexist."

Sometimes I feel that as a woman who plays video games, that's it's part of my job to constantly be offended. And I'm not doing my part and I don't care to.

A lot of the recent controversy has centered around the new Tomb Raider game. We all saw the Crossroads trailer at E3. Then it was said that the game included a scene of attempted rape. The web exploded with "how dare they include that" type comments. Then it came out the scene's already in the trailer, and to my knowledge, nobody took notice of it before the rape comment surfaced. Now, there a petition to get the scene removed. Here's exactly what was said and a clip of the scene.

First, I think the petition is ill-informed and a knee jerk reaction. However, there seems to be no way to express my opinion on the site without signing the petition and I'm not going to do that.

Second, rape, sexual assault, and all manner of terrible things are regularly featured in books, TV shows, and movies. If a video game even suggests a scene like that, the world cringes and is offended. Seems a bit hypocritical to me. Hell, even if a consensual sex scene is suggested in a game, some people behave as if the sky is falling.

Third, the game isn't even out yet.

I'm not offended by the clip. Lara in the game isn't the badass from the older ones. It makes sense to me that she's fighting for her very survival on a hostile island where she kills people and people try to kill her. It's going to be a brutal game, regardless.

While it's important to explore and talk about gaming and gender issues, I think the side of "not offended female gamer" gets lost. Articles mostly seem to want to talk about controversy, of course. But, I believe there is also a large number of women gamers who don't have a problem with the content in video games. We just want to play.

I have written a few recent things about gender issues in gaming.

Here's my response to questions about being a female gamer from noobschooler.com

Here's my take on sexism in Resident Evil from New Gamer Nation

Here's Gender vs. Experience from MsBehaved.com

E3 Sony and Nintendo Round-Up

2012-06-07T14:14:00.000-04:00

Now that the big three consoles makers have had their conferences, I got to say there were very few moments at this E3 that awed me. That's not to say there wasn't some really cool and interesting games and ideas offered. Here's what Sony and Nintendo had at their conferences:

Sony

From the developers of Heavy Rain comes Beyond: Two Souls. I loved Heavy Rain, so I'm excited to play this new game. It's about a girl who has psychic abilities and is being hunted by an agency. I can't wait to hear more information about it.

The Last of Us. Is there anything more to say? It looks amazing. Although, I heard it's shipping in 2013 instead of 2012.

The All Stars Battle Royale game. To me, it still looks a lot like Super Smash Bros, but it was announced that a Big Daddy (Bouncer) will be a playable character, so I want it.

God of War Ascension will be released in March 2013.

Wonderbook for Move. I don't know what to think of this. If it wasn't for the fact that JK Rowling made a Books of Spells for it, I probably would have ignored the whole thing. However, I don't have Move, so even if Jo did create a book for it, it better be super awesome in order for me to buy it. I think I'll wait and see. I've never been too impressed by other HP games (except for the Lego ones), so I don't have my hopes up here.

Overall, I think Sony did a good job of showcasing games, more than Microsoft did. The PS3 has some really great looking games coming out.

Nintendo

Everything started out great for Nintendo's conference. Miyamoto was showing Pikmin 3 for the Wii U, but after that, the feeling sort of deflated.

On Sunday Nintendo had a pre-E3 video explaining more about the Wii U. That was helpful and I thought they wouldn't go on and on explaining it again at the conference. But they did anyway.

The best announcement was the the Wii U will support two GamePads. Of course, they didn't talk price yet. I've heard it will be a few weeks or maybe longer before we get prices and a release date.

No word of Zelda anything yet. I wasn't expecting much, though. But any little mention would have been nice.

The 3DS line-up looks pretty great. Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion are coming this holiday. I'm totally excited about them. There's also Scribblenauts, Epic Mickey, and Castlevania games coming for the 3DS.

The Wii U will have games the hardcore crowd has already beaten like Mass Effect 3. Still, it's a step in the right direction. And the Batman Arkham City game has its own "Armored Edition" for the Wii U. ZombiU looks awesome as hell, though.

There's Nintendo Land which is a themed park with different Nintendo game based mini-games. I'll check it out if it's bundled with the Wii U, but I doubt I will go out of my way to buy it right away if it's not.

My favorite thing about the Wii U is the GamePad. I want one now. I'm hoping it lives up to what is being promised. I can't wait to play Wii U games without needing a TV.

So yes, I still want a Wii U as soon as humanly possible. Nintendo's conference was rather dull, but they still had plenty of great games to show.

Final thought:

You know what really made me weep tears of fangirl joy? The fan-made trailer for Majora's Mask. For the 3DS or Wii U, who knows? Whatever it was looked awesome and I wish it was real.

Microsoft At E3 2012

2012-06-04T14:58:00.000-04:00

E3 has officially kicked off with Microsoft's press conference. So here's what got me excited:

Starting it off with Halo 4. The forerunners look sick, the music made me a little weepy in a good way, and the game looks gorgeous.

Gears of War Judgement trailer. As an unapologetic Gears freak, I was so damn excited to hear we're getting another game in 2013. According to the Gameinformer cover, both Baird and Cole are in chains. However, the very short trailer only showed Baird. Of course, there were lots and lots of locusts.

Resident Evil 6 focused on Leon and had tons of zombies. So many zombies. It looks great and I can't wait to play it. It looks like the 360 will get DLC first.

Tomb Raider reboot is a game I've been waiting forever for. What was shown at E3 was awesome, especially the part where her parachute fails. What a heart pounding moment. Again it seems the 360 will get exclusive first DLC for this one too.

South Park Stick of Truth looks just like the TV show. Trey and Matt talked a bit about the game on stage, but I wish their presentation was longer. However, it's good to know that they're still heavily involved with the game.

Smart Glass is a way to connect the 360 with smart devices. It seems like this is what the Wii U is trying to as well. I think it is an interesting idea, especially with things like Halo Waypoint.

What didn't do anything for me:

Anything Kinect related like the Nike fitness game and Dance Central 3. Seriously, having Usher sing a song was just a waste of time.

Not too excited about Internet Explorer coming to the 360. I don't use it on my computer, don't think I want to use it on my 360. We'll see.

The Loco Cycle game confused me a bit. I guess you play as a female motorbike?

Black Ops 2 overkill. During the pre-show they talked about Blacks Ops and then at the end of the conference they played Black Ops 2 for about 10 minutes.

The Legend of Zelda Love/Hate Cycle

2012-05-31T13:21:00.000-04:00

Maybe it's because I've been with Zelda since the beginning that I see what I call the "Zelda Love/Hate cycle." What is this cycle and when did it start? Here's my theory:

The original game was like nothing we ever seen before. Exploring a non-linear world where you can go just about everywhere right from the start was amazing. Don't forget it was the first video game with a lithium battery, so we could easily save progress without worrying about complicated passwords.

The second one came out and I really enjoyed it, not knowing that one day it would be seen as the "black sheep" of the Zelda games. It was different. It was more difficult than the first one, but that didn't stop me from beating it over and over again.

Of course, Link to the Past was a phenomenal game that returned to the original's way of exploring without side scrolling. But then came:

Ocarina of Time. It blew everyone away. There's Hyrule field, Epona, the Water Temple, learning to play songs, time travel, and so many other things that made the game a masterpiece.

And ever since OoT, every Zelda game has been (unfairly) judged to be not as good. It started with Majora's Mask and is still going strong with Skyward Sword.

BUT:

Once the hype of the newest release settles and we prepare for the next Zelda game, something starts to happen. The game that was bashed is now beloved. Once the new game released, the cycle goes into full swing. For example, when Wind Waker was released it got so much hate for its cel-shading. People complained that it "was for little kids" and "I hate sailing, it takes too long" blah blah blah. Now it seems WW is the second most requested Zelda game that people want to see remade for the 3DS. (MM is the first)

Again when Twilight Princess was first released, fans bitched and moaned about everything, but now everyone seems to love it.

Mark my words, when the next Legend of Zelda home console game is released, people will be fondly talking about Skyward Sword and how great is is, instead of criticizing it. And they'll complain that the new one is too different or too much of the same. Link's too young or too feminine. It's too linear or there's too much world to explore.

While all this is happening, I'll be happily playing as Link running around in the new game, fighting things, bombing stuff, maybe learning a new song or two. Because for me, I realized a long time ago that no game will ever compare to the original Zelda in my mind. But that's okay. I love each game for its differences and similarities. Every new Zelda game is like reuniting with my old friend Link, and I look forward to each new meeting.

Things That Should be in Fallout 4

2012-05-29T15:34:00.000-04:00

When Fallout 3 was released, I quickly became obsessed with it. Six hours would go by without my knowledge kind of obsessed with it. While I do love New Vegas, I just can't wait for a Bethesda developed new Fallout game. Of course, there are ways Fallout 4 could be improved over Fallout 3. Here's just a few:

1. I don't want my followers to die if there's a stiff breeze.
This was the most annoying thing (besides the glitches and freezes) in Fallout 3. How the Hell did anyone who followed me survive before they joined me? It seems that the minute they walk out into the Wasteland, they drop dead. What's the point, then?

2. Have DLCs with a continuous story line.
New Vegas has some of the best DLC I've ever played. From the pain in the ass Dead Money to the amazingly wonderful and kooky Old World Blues, I loved them all. What makes them stand out is that little snippets of story from the main game and even the other DLCs can be found through out them. I like how it was brought all together, especially the Veronica and Christine story line.

3. Make the beginning shorter.
When I first started Fallout 3, I was surprised to be a newborn baby, then a toddler, then a little kid, then a teenager. While I love taking the G.O.A.T, and shooting my dad and Jonas with my BB gun, it's a very long way to start a game. Perhaps the beginning of Fallout 4 could be more like New Vegas or Skyrim.

I know Fallout 4 won't probably come out for at least a year or two, but I'm still excited to get back into post nuclear America with its Dandy Boy Apples, Fancy Lad Snack Cakes, and Nuka Cola.

More of my ideas about what should be in Fallout 4

The 3DS at E3 2012: A Wishlist

2012-05-23T15:40:00.000-04:00

In less than two weeks E3 will kick off. While many gamers are focused on what will be said about the Wii U, I'm slightly more interested in what's happening with the 3DS. So here's a little wishlist of things I hope are announced for the handheld at E3 2012.

1. Give me Luigi's Mansion 2 and Paper Mario 3D for the holiday season. If I had to pick one, though, I guess I'll go with Luigi. Just don't announce that both of them are coming out soon and then delay them both. I can't take anymore delays this year.

2. Give me more downloadable games. I'm not ashamed to admit I spent a lot of time "window shopping" in the 3DS eshop. I especially want to see all the older Legend of Zelda games available. If Nintendo isn't going to remake a Zelda game for the 3DS before they release a new one, the least they can do is let us download the originals. Why don't you want to take my money, Nintendo?

3. Show me anything new Zelda related. I don't care if it's a picture of poorly drawn Link framed by a 3DS. I'm not hoping for a definite release date, just something to remind us that you're making it.

4. Something brand new, exciting and a surprise to everyone. I suspect that the Wii U will get its share of (hopefully) awesome announcements, but don't leave out the 3DS.

That's about it. I'm not a greedy person. I just want everything on this list and anything else you think is cool. Okay, Nintendo?

Nintendo's presentation will be on June 5 at 9:00 am PDT. You can watch it at http://e3.nintendo.com/

The Slow Death of an Xbox 360

2012-05-17T18:43:00.000-04:00

While I written about my experiences with Xbox 360s and their problems before, this is something new to me.

Whenever I had a console fail or break in some way, it was always quick. One minute it's fine, the next it's RROD. So I decide to chronicle the very slow and painful death of my son's 20gb Xbox 360.

Here's how it went down:

Back in March we got Operation Raccoon City. I played a bit of it on my 360. He popped it into his and it froze three times in 30 minutes. We thought maybe the disc was defective. But, he tried it on mine and it works perfectly.

A little while later, it wouldn't download the Trials Evolution demo. Then it stopped playing any game that was downloaded. This made me think it's the HDD, but nothing looks corrupted and all the saved game data works fine. I think it went back to playing downloaded games a few days later.

Everything was okay for a few weeks, but then the two red rings on the left side started appearing. According to the Xbox support website, this means it's overheating, but it would happen even if it was on for a few minutes. My husband took it to get it cleaned, thinking that it's old and probably very dusty inside.

After the cleaning, the two rings stopped, but now if you try to play a game, one red ring on the right side lights up. So I looked this up and might be the dreaded E74. But, we're not getting the screen for it. The screen is just black. So I tried everything it told me to do. Including unplugging it, taking out the HDD, etc.

At the same time, we got Ninja Gaiden 3 and it's freezing constantly.

He can watch Netflix on the 360, but I think that's about it for now. It seems everything that can go wrong with it, will. I'll admit that I'm somewhat fascinated by this process. It's like the 360 is having one last swan song and we're forced to deal with it. It's an old system that's gotten fixed by Microsoft. It's not under warranty anymore, of course.

While I'm a bit upset to see the sad state of this 360, I'm looking forward to getting my son a newer model, like mine. Then I will be able to actually play my 360 in peace again, which will be awesome.

I Got An Award!

2012-05-16T15:57:00.000-04:00

Jeremy at Geeky Tendencies kindly bestowed upon me this neat award:

In order to accept it I guess I have to give 10 random facts about myself and award six other bloggers.
So, here we go:

1. I am a very private person. Even offline, it takes me a long time to feel comfortable around new people.
2. Next month, my husband and I will be married for 16 years.
3. I have four cats, Twiggy, Ramirez, Hedwig, and Mr. Mostly Mittens.
4. I also have a ball python named Nagini.
5. I don't like the taste of red meat. I prefer vegetables and fish.
6. I wear mostly black clothes all the time.
7. I'm very short, only 5'1.
8. I hate pants. Give me a dress or skirt and I'm happy. .
9. I love the ocean and live only 15 minutes away from it.
10. I saw JK Rowling at Radio City Music Hall in 2006.

Now, the six other bloggers I'm awarding:

http://lilgracielou.blogspot.com/

http://michaelabayomi.blogspot.com/

http://kyralennon.blogspot.com/

http://alsgeekbanter.blogspot.com/

http://kweenytodd.blogspot.com/

http://fatalblushaddict.blogspot.com/

This award seems to be traveling fast. I've found quite a few blogs that already had it. So, if I picked you and you got the award last week or something...whoops.

Skyward Sword Mosaic is Unveiled

2012-05-15T11:06:00.000-04:00

Earlier this year, Nintendo asked Legend of Zelda fans to submit their photos on facebook. These 25,000 photos were turned into a gorgeous mosaic of Skyward Sword Link. The mosaic is in the Nintendo World store in NYC. I'm pleased to say my photo is one of them.

You can find a nice size picture at Zelda Universe However, it is still very difficult to make out the individual photos. I've been searching the web for a detailed, clear picture of the Link mosaic. So far, I haven't found much. The Nintendo Store website doesn't have one. And while I found one close-up pic in the comments on Zelda Dungeon, it's just of one small section. Hopefully, as more people go to the store to see the mosaic, more pictures will be available online.

I would love to see a bigger picture of the Skyward Sword mosaic and be able to find my photo. Better yet, Nintendo should sell posters of it. They have at least 25,000 eager, would-be customers already.

A to Z Challenge Reflections Post 2012

2012-05-07T12:06:00.000-04:00

This was my second year completing the A to Z Challenge. Even though I felt disorganized in the beginning, I knew I would be able to do it. I tried to visit and comment on as many blogs as I could and I found some really great ones!

These are a few of the blogs I know will I continue to check out in the future:

http://www.videogamesinteractive.com/

http://geekytendencies.blogspot.com/

http://michaelabayomi.blogspot.com/

http://deathofahardcoregamer.blogspot.com/

http://lilgracielou.blogspot.com/

http://claredugmorewrites.blogspot.com/

http://kyralennon.blogspot.com/

http://www.preciousmonsters.com/

I admit that I'm not much of a commenter. If I stumbled on a blog and the theme or topic was completely foreign to me, I usually didn't say anything. I know I have a very niche blog. I understand if some A to Z visitors don't care about video games. I wouldn't expect them to leave a comment, just for the sake of commenting. So, if you visited and commented, you're awesome. If you visited and didn't comment cause you don't know anything about gaming, that's cool.

My only gripe about the challenge is visiting blogs who never seemed to post about the challenge at all or gave up on the letter "C," for example. I know real life gets in the way. However, I also found a number of bloggers who couldn't complete the challenge, but they made a short post about needing to quit.

I love that I have to think of a gaming topic for every letter. It's fun, but sort of difficult especially the second time around. But I will definitely do it again next year.

Thanks to everyone who put this challenge together!

May Monster Madness: Resident Evil and Silent Hill

2012-05-07T10:12:00.000-04:00

Call me weird, but I don't mind Tank controls. Early PlayStation games often used Tank controls, like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. While there are few things more frustrating than trying to run away from a zombie or monster only to run head first along the wall, I have (almost) fond memories of the awkward control scheme's challenges.

But what about those monsters? From Silent Hill 2, I give you The Bubble Head Nurse

The shaky, twitchy way they walk creeps me the hell out. But they are faster than they look. They make horrible gurgle sounds and carry pipes. The pale ones has bloody mouths, while the darker ones seem to have a film part of their faces. They're gross, but I love them.

From Resident Evil 4, there's Dr. Salvador:

Yeah, he looks like Leatherface wearing a sack, but there's more than one of these trying to part Leon with his head in RE 4. I think what gets me the most about "Chainsaw Guy" is that one of them shows up very early on in the game.

*This is my last post for May Monster Madness. I'd like thank Annie Walls for putting it together. I really enjoyed discovering some great blogs!

May Monster Madness: F.E.A.R.

2012-05-05T09:54:00.000-04:00

Met Alma:

I'm a sucker for Asian horror. Nothing seems to scare the hell out of me more than Sadako from Ringu. That's probably one of the main reasons I was drawn to F.E.A.R. Alma is the official creepy mascot of the FPS shooter series. Her presence is always felt, even if she's not on screen.

In the first game, she appears as both a little girl and a naked, emaciated young woman. She pops up while you're climbing down a ladder or in a dark hallway. Sometimes, she leaves bloody footprints. She also tries to attack you. At the end of the game, you must escape the facility and Alma before it blows up. Later , when you think you're safe in the helicopter, Alma's hand reaches in and pulls herself up. Then the game ends. Alma is a big mystery. Who is she? Is she alive or dead? The answers are pretty shocking.

After being put into a coma and sealed in a vault at the age of seven, she was impregnated twice, once at 15 then again at 16. At the age of 26, she was taken off of life support and was declared dead. This is when one of her sons, Paxton, turned ten. She psychically linked her mind to his. She's able to "talk" to him and tell him to do things. Like in the first game, she tells Paxton to "kill them all." And of course, being dead doesn't stop her from psychically attacking everyone when the facility housing her was reopened.

In the second game, it ends with her forcing herself on your character, Michael Becket. She spends the third game pregnant, but still manages to terrorize. However, as you learn more of her back story, you kind of feel bad for her, especially in the third game. (Paxton's gross ending, for example)

Is Alma a monster? Yes, whether she's like that because she was born a monster or because of the experiments when she was a child. Maybe it's a mixture of both reasons. But, in the series and especially in the first game, she's freaking creepy.

May Monster Madness: The Walking Dead Game

2012-05-04T11:22:00.000-04:00

If you haven't played it yet, you really should. The Walking Dead game released its first episode recently and even though it's only about two hours long, it's definitely worth the download. It's available on Xbox Live Arcade, the PlayStation Store, and PC. I have it for the 360. It cost 400 MS points. The other versions cost $5.00.

The Walking Dead game isn't a rehashing of the comic book or TV stories. It has a new cast of characters, but there are some familiar faces making appearances. It will be five episodes long, with a new one released each month.

I played through the first one and I'm very excited to see where the story goes from here. You have a lot of control over what you say and do, so it isn't just a "kill the zombies" type game. There's plenty of drama involved.

Here's the trailer:

Fans of the comic and show really shouldn't pass this game up!

May Monster Madness: Left 4 Dead

2012-05-02T08:49:00.000-04:00

I'll admit when I first heard of Left 4 Dead, I was skeptical. There isn't much story and the main campaign is very short. But then I played it, and it quickly became one of my favorites. Some of the best memories I have of Xbox Live come from countless matches. I prefer to play as one of the survivors, not the infected.

Through never ending hordes of infected, you and three others must make it from safe house to safe house. Sounds easy enough, right? Nope. It seems everything works against you. If a car alarm goes off more infected swarm, if you get separated from the group you're as good as dead.

And then there's the special infected. If you're not careful, a Hunter might pounce on top of you. For what ever reason, Hunters like me very much and it's a running joke here that I'm Hunter bait. Or a Smoker will grab you with his tongue. Hell, you may even get puked on by a Boomer. As Boomer bile clouds your vision, the horde comes out to play. Of course, when the Tank's music starts, everyone in your party scrambles into action.

But, my favorite special infected is also the most unassuming.

The Witch.

Imagine shooting your way through infected, only to hear what sounds like a girl sobbing. As you track down the noise, you see the image above. From the back, she looks sort of harmless. But look at those claws. If you upset her, she shrieks and runs after you. Next thing you know, you're on your ass. Without your teammates helping you, you're done for. The only way to avoid feeling her wrath is to turn off the flashlights and sneak past her very quietly. Or you can do what my son does and crown her.

May Monster Madness

2012-04-30T19:00:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite video game genres is horror. For the May Monster Madness, I think it will be awesome to focus on some true video game monsters.

So for the next week, I'll be posting about my favorite gaming horrors. I intend to mostly focus on one character from each game. However, I think I will also dedicate posts to entire games, perhaps those that just have too many monsters to pick from.

Here are some of the games I want to cover:
F.E.A.R.
Resident Evil
Silent Hill
and one or two surprises

What is your favorite horror video game? Or gaming monster?

Z is for Zant

2012-04-30T10:19:00.000-04:00

While there are basic elements and themes that are the foundation of the Legend of Zelda series, each game has its own story. For the letter Z, I decided to highlight Zant, one of the major baddies in Twilight Princess.

According to the official timeline, TP takes place after Majora's Mask. This is what's referred to as the Child Era. As Zelda fans know, after Ocarina the timeline splits three ways. One with the hero defeated, one where the Scared Realm is protected, and one with Ganondorf sealed. Twilight Princess takes place in the Scared Realm split.

So here we have Zant, a member of the Twili race and the self proclaimed king of of the Twilight. He spreads the Twilight through Hyrule, making Link turn into a wolf when he enters it. He mistakenly believes that the World of Light belongs to him and the rest of the Twili. Although, when he rose to power, he also deformed many of the members of his own race, turning them into Shadow Beasts.

But what happened to Zant that gave him so much power? If he overthrew the rightful leader of the Twilight, who is it supposed to be? Why does he turn from calm to crazed by the end of the game?

If you don't know the answers, then you should go play Twilight Princess.

And now, some announcements:

*this is the final entry for 2012's A to Z Challenge. Starting May 7, every blogger in the challenge will have the opportunity to write a reflection post. So look for that next week*

* I will also be taking part in May Monster Madness, starting tomorrow. I look forward to posting about gaming's most horrible monsters.*

Y is for "You think you're some kind of hero?"

2012-04-28T09:32:00.000-04:00

BioShock spoilers ahead.

The BioShock quote in this post's title isn't as famous as "Would you kindly? or " A man chooses, a slave obeys." Fontaine says it to Jack right after he learns the horrible truth about his history. Can you really imagine how it feels to learn you're nothing but a mind controlled back-up plan? Your whole life is a lie. There's no farm house, no mom and dad. Your plane crash was no accident. You're a grown man who's really only three years old. Wrap your head around that, would you kindly?

However, as Jack, it's hard not to see yourself as something of a hero, especially if you're saving the Little Sisters. After you swim to the lighthouse, you get your first awe inspiring glimpse of Rapture. Awe turns to horror as you experience what the city is actually like. Crazed, deformed splicers who try to kill you at every turn. Big metal monsters protecting their little girls while she takes ADAM out of an "angel's" corpse. Little do you know at the time that you're one of the grotesque things the city produced.

You're stuck here, in a leaky, dark city sitting at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. Just trying to figure out how to escape. Or so you think. One of the best things about BioShock is how it takes everything you know about your character's situation and discards it. There have been few video game moments like shock you that.

It's while you're being insulted that quote is used, but Jack can be a hero. The" good" ending proves that. Of course, you could also become a monster. The choice is yours.

X is for X-rated Games

2012-04-27T10:45:00.000-04:00

I'm not talking about those 20 or so games that got the AO rating. Nope, I'm talking about Unnecessary Censorship in Video Games. For those who don't know, these videos take dialogue from games and censor it to make it seem naughty. Take this Skyrim one, for example:

There are other games like Mass Effect 3 that are also made X-rated. Might be that I'm easily amused, but I giggle like mad watching these.

W is for Wii U

2012-04-26T12:59:00.000-04:00

What a polarizing device and it's not even released yet.

What to say about the Wii U? Perhaps there are two sides. First, personally I have always been somewhat of a Nintendo fanatic. But, there's a lot Nintendo does that's worth being fanatical about. Second, while I love my Wii and you couldn't pry it from my cold, dead hands, there's a lot of games it can't handle. It's not HD and it's graphically inferior to the PS3 and 360. I am not such a blinded fangirl that I can't see the Wii's problems concerning the lack of "hardcore" titles.

However, I remain optimistic about the Wii U. It will be HD. There are rumors about just how powerful the graphics will be. But, the consensus points to this gen 360 and PS3 graphics. Does that bother me? Not really. Yes, great graphics are pretty and shiny. But, they don't make or break a game for me. Would I love amazing graphics that blow the current gen away? Of course, but it's not going to happen with the Wii U.

It seems you can turn the Wii U on and play games on the controller without needing a TV screen. That's awesome, especially in a house like mine. Say my son wants to use the PS3, I can still play the Wii U on the tablet controller.

Another cool thing about the Wii U is duel support for both its games the games on the 3DS. Right now, the news just hit about this feature for the next Super Smash Bros. If this takes off, I'm sure many more games will have this support.

What about the rumored apps store it's building? Since Nintendo doesn't license its games to iPads and the like, if the Wii U is able to have the very popular games that are on tablets and phones right now, plus an ebook reader feature then great. I'm very interested to see if Nintendo can pull this off.

On the downside, I worry about third party support. It's something Nintendo has been lacking for years. Although, as long as Nintendo continues to make its exclusives, I'll be okay. Another worrying thing is the amount of crappy party games that plague the Wii. I can only hope Nintendo gets rid of this trend for the Wii U. I can only hope they return to releasing more hardcore games. Maybe they can truly be the console for everyone. If any company can pull that off, Nintendo can.

But of course, the angry hardcore gamer in me still just wants to scream "Fuck everyone else and focus on us."

We will certainly get more info at E3 this June. The Wii U is set to come out this November. I will be waiting in a line at midnight to buy one.

V is for Vault Boy Tattoo

2012-04-25T10:04:00.001-04:00

If you ever played Fallout New Vegas, perhaps you will recognize this as the Math Wrath perk. Why did I go with Math Wrath? Even though I'm not a big fan of math, I like what this perk does. It optimizes your Pip Boy, saving AP costs by 10%.

Besides what it does, I just like it. He's wearing glasses. (so do I) It's a pretty clear shot of the Pip Boy, and he's focused so hard, his tongue's sticking out. When deciding that I wanted a Fallout tattoo, a Vault Boy was the obvious choice, especially because in all the Fallout games, there are so many images to pick from.

There were other Vault Boys I was considering like Science and the Computer Hacking perk. Hacking in Fallout is my specialty. But Math Wrath won out because he just has so much personality in that image.

It's on my arm, just above my wrist.You can see part of my Link tattoo as well. I'm dedicating my lower arms to gaming. Link and Vault Boy are the first two done. Of course, I also have a huge BioShock tattoo, but that's on my leg. I'm getting that one worked on this weekend.

Just as my husband did my Link tattoo, he also did my Vault Boy.

U is for Ugh.. My PS3's HDD was Corrupted

2012-04-24T10:32:00.000-04:00

It's not exactly the way I pictured spending my Saturday.

But, I'll back this up a bit. The problem started happening late Friday night. My son started the PS3 and it gave a warning that the hard disk might be corrupted. It was going to try and restore it. It did its thing and went back to normal.

Saturday morning it was working okay, but then the electricity in the house shut off for a second. While the PS3 was on. When we turned it back on, the warning came up again, it did its thing and it was fine. Later on that afternoon, when I turned it on again, I got the same warning, except this time it got stuck in an infinite loop of trying to restore. So for all intents and purposes, the PS3 became an expensive paperweight.

Let me take a minute here, I knew what was happening and I knew this 320gb Slim was only a year old. We don't abuse it, randomly turn it off, call it names, or drop it. I also knew sending it back to Sony would do nothing but cause us time and money.

When the infinite loop happened, I started the PS3 in safe mode and went through all the options until the final one of reformatting the HDD was the only one left. Of course, this means everything on the HDD would be erased. But, I'm a weirdo and even though I haven't been backing up my saved games regularly (for shame, I know) I wasn't upset. When the HDD died, I was on like my 56th play through of BioShock. I guess I'm lucky that the most recent games I've bought are either on the 360 or the 3DS. So in reality, I didn't lose anything I was playing for the first time.

Reformatting worked. Now it's Tuesday and everything's back to normal. If I needed to get another HDD in the future, I'm not too concerned. They're not that expensive and we already upgraded our original 20 gb fat to a 250 gb years ago. (It got the YLOD, but it's fixed now)

So here's the moral of my story. If you really care about your saved data, back it up. If your HDD becomes corrupted, don't send it to Sony. Reformat it or buy a PS3 compatible one. Sometimes even if you try to be super careful, shit happens and things break.

More information about PS3 HDD corruption

T is for Tingle

2012-04-23T09:33:00.001-04:00

"Tingle, Tingle! Kooloo-Limpah! These are magic words that Tingle created himself. Don't steal them!"

When thinking of what to write for "T" day, the first thought I had was of Tingle, so I'm going with it. For those who don't know about Tingle, you haven't played enough Legend of Zelda.

Tingle is a weirdo. In fact, in a gaming series full of weirdos, Tingle's really high up on the weirdo list. The first game he was ever in is Majora's Mask. He sold Link maps. Link could buy these maps after he shot down Tingle's balloon. You see, Tingle floats around via balloon. One red balloon that's stored in his backpack. If that's not strange enough, he also wants to be a fairy, dresses up like Link, and he's 35 years old. You also meet Tingle's dad in Majora's Mask. Needless to say, he's not too impressed by his son's behavior.

The game that made Tingle infamous for me is Wind Waker. He's kind of a money-grubbing jerk. After Link springs him from jail, he gives him a poorly drawn map of "Tingle Island." When Link gets there, Tingle's brothers are doing all the work as he lazes about. Tingle charges him 398 rupees to decipher each of the eight Triforce locations. That's a hell of a lot of cash.

Tingle's also been in Four Swords Adventures were he tries to steal Force Gems from Link. Tingle and his brothers also appear in the Minish Cap. He made an appearance in Oracle of Ages as well.

Even if Tingle isn't in some of the Legend of Zelda games there still might be a mention of him. There's a wanted poster of him in Phantom Hourglass. Statues and a picture of him in Spirit Tracks and a doll in Skyward Sword can be found.

Even though he's somewhat annoying, Tingle has become part of the Legend of Zelda experience for me. He doesn't need to be active in every game, but finding a doll or poster is a cool way to remind Zelda fans of one of the greatest weirdos to ever grace the series.