Single Player only?

So when I first started playing video games on a home console it was on the Nintendo System . . . at my sister’s house.  It was my brother-in-law’s and I would play it while I was there babysitting my niece.  The first console I got to call my own was the Super Nintendo.  I had asked for a NES for Christmas but my mom said the salesperson said the SNES was the latest and greatest.  I wasn’t happy at first but I grew to love it.  Mostly because I could get all the games I liked on the NES (a trend Nintendo has a repeating their games when a new console is released) but also because it was the only system I had for a long time.

I remember when I got my first Playstation.  It was a hand me down from my brother because he had recently got a PS2 and it was backwards compatible so he didn’t need the PS any more.  At first I was skeptical but at that time I had a lot more expendable income, I was able to branch out even more and get a wide variety of games.  I also found that Playstation had more game I wanted to play then Nintendo did at that time.  I eventually bought my own PS2 and I fell in love with that system more than anything else.

When the Xbox system came out I wasn’t really interested in it at all.  That was until I saw that it had Star Wars Battlefront and I watched my brother play it.  I wasn’t interested in shooters (didn’t have a good experience with the ones that I bought (and traded in immediately) for the Playstation).  And I wasn’t interested in playing online.  I couldn’t resist and I almost bought it on Playstation but since my brother had it on Xbox I decided to go buy that system and play it on that console.

Why am I telling you all of this (since I’ve probably told you something like this before)?  Well I started to notice a trend on my game buying habits between Playstation and Xbox.  It started with the PS2 and original Xbox and has continued ever since.  But now things are changing once again.

The games that I bought for Playstation were single player games.  Occasionally there would be a multiplayer game but only local co-op and no online play.  For Xbox games I would get the multiple player online games.  If it was something I wanted to play with friends, it was something I got for the Xbox.  I really wasn’t buying single player games for the Xbox.  I viewed my PS2 as single player and my Xbox as multiplayer.  That’s how it’s always been.  But something has changed.

While I make a lot more money now than I did back when this all started, I also have a mortgage and a lot more expenses now that I didn’t have then.  Once again I find myself in a position that I have to be a little selective in the games that I buy.  I can’t afford them all . . . at least if I want to have food to eat and a roof over my head.  I’ve had to make some tough choices of what games I have to have now . . . and what games can wait until later.

After a lot of soul searching I’ve figured out a compromise with myself.  And it all comes down to the type of game and how I want to play it.  If it’s a single player game only I’m not going to buy it right away.  I’ll wait until I have more money or when it goes on sale.  That usually means that I don’t play those game right away.  Sometimes it’s several months, or maybe a year or more, before I get around to purchasing it and playing it.  That makes it hard on me as my friends usually get it right away and really want to talk about it but they don’t want to spoil it for me.  There have been times when I play with friends but I have to exit the party for a while so they can talk about it without spoiling anything for me.  When they are done discussing it they invite me back to the party and we continue playing as normal.  They only problem I have is that they think 6 months is long enough to be careful about spoilers.  After that they don’t think they have to be cautious talking about a game around me.  Unfortunately, I might not have bought it within that 6 months, let alone starting playing it.

Now, if the game is mostly multiplayer based (like Star Wars Battlefront or a Call of Duty, etc,) I’ll get those games right at launch, or as close as I can afford.  Why?  Because it’s no fun to pick up a multiplayer games 6 months or a year after launch and you find yourself playing against people who have mastered the game already or . . . well, everyone has left and moved on to the next best game out there.  If there’s a possibility that either one of those scenarios is going to happen I’m going to make every effort to buy that game and get in on the action while it’s still new and hot.

That being said, it has to be a game that I really want to play online with friends . . . and maybe strangers.  If I’m not going to enjoy playing online after a couple of weeks, it’s a game I probably won’t get.  I’m getting very picky in my old age.

So picky in fact, that I’m starting to notice that the number of multiplayer games that I buy each year is getting fewer and fewer.  I’m finding that, even playing with friends, I’m really not enjoying the online experience as much as I use to.  Now I’m more in to single player games and things I can consume on my own.  They don’t have to be linear games.  They could be open world as long as they are single player.

I find that really interesting at this time because EA just announced that they are closing Visceral Studios and reworking the single player linear story game they were working on for the Star Wars universe and they are scraping that and going to build something more fitting today’s appetite of what they think gamers want.  Apparently that’s multiplayer games with lots of microtransactions and loot boxes.  For some reason I’m just not in to the that at this point in my life.

The games that I like to watch on YouTube and Twitch and the games I like to play now are all single player, story driven games.  Give me a game that lets me experience something for myself.  Not be reminded that there’s always someone faster, smarter and with better eyes than me who’s going to kick my ass in an online match.  To me, that’s just not fun anymore.

So why mention the games consoles earlier?  Because I’m finding it very weird to only be gravitating to single player games on my Xbox One.  It feels strange to be on that system and NOT be playing with my friends.  I love playing the games (I wouldn’t be playing them if I didn’t) but I miss having things to play with my friends.  

I’m sure that will all change in November when Star Wars Battlefront comes out.  I’m sure almost everyone on my friends list will be getting it.  That’s where I first met most of them in the original Star Wars Battlefront game.  Maybe that will rekindle my love of multiplayer games and take me back to the glory games.  Until then, I guess both my Playstation and Xbox consoles are single player only.

2017: The Year of Playstation has begun

I have dubbed 2017 The Year of Playstation.  The majority of games that I will record and post to YouTube will be Playstation games.  I'll still throw in a few Xbox games from time to time (or on the weekends) but my main focus will be playing (and finishing) a bunch of Playstation games.

The first game I'm focusing on is Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.  (click the link for the playlist on YouTube)  I'll be getting back to playing more Dark Cloud if I can ever get past this one dungeon level I'm stuck on.  I think I might have figured out how to do it so maybe some of those videos will be coming out soon too.

I'm working on making some upgrades to my gaming set up but until then I can't get my Playstation 3 hooked up.  I'm hoping to get that done this weekend so I can start recording PS3 games again.  I got Bioshock Infinite from my Secret Santa so that will be one game I play and record.  After Christmas I kind of splurged an quite a few PS3 games but I won't tell you what ones those are . . . you'll just have to watch my channel to find out. 

What do you want me to play?  If you have any suggestions, let me know.  If I don't have it, I'll try to find a copy.  I love shopping for video games.

Posting schedule and new games coming soon

I've finally got things settled down on the capturing front and I'm pretty sure I can set a schedule and stick to it for when I'm posting videos.  It's subject to change, because, well, I'm a girl and I like to change my mind.

I've currently got three games going at the time.  Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Dark Souls and Rayman Origins.  So I'm going to post a new video in one of those games three days a week.  I'm almost done with lego Star Wars so I'll be looking for a replacement for that game when I'm done.  For now, I think I'll post new videos Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I might add to that as I get more games filmed and edited.  We'll have to see.  I would eventually like to get to a point where I'm posting 5 to 6 times a week.  But I'm not there yet.

I've actually done a lot of filming in two other games.  I don't want to spoil those for you now, you'll just have to wait to see what they are.  I think they show a good mix of the types of games I like and the systems I play on.  One is a fun classic and the other is one I would never think of to pick up and play, but I actually found that I like it a lot (except for a pesky boss battle that I'm stuck at). 

Now that I can capture from any of my Playstations or Nintendo systems, the possibilities have really opened up for what I can film.  I'm so excited.  Except for Nintendo's posting videos of their games "system".  I'm doing some research on that.  I'd love to post Pikmin videos, but while Pikmin (the original) is listed on their "white list", Pikmin 2 is not.  Does that mean I can post Pikmin 2 videos?  That's what I've got to find out.  But that's an issue for later on down the road.

While filming is fun and the editing sometimes isn't, I don't mind.  I'd much rather spend my day being frustrated over some editing issues than the work I do for my job.  I get more satisfaction out of the editing than anything I do for my employer.  I'm getting better at the editing and I hope it shows in my videos because I sure do love making these.  And I can't wait to show you what else I've filmed.  Stay tuned.

Poll Results - How long for a single player game?

Here's the results of the last poll:

How long should it take to finish a good single player game?

15-30 hours = 2 votes
30-50 hours = 5 votes
50-75 hours = 1 vote
100+ hours = 1 vote
0-15 and 75-100 hours = 0 votes

I can understand why no one votes for 0-15 hours. That's just way too short for any game. And if you look at the financial investment you can tell. At $60 a game and it only lasts 15 hours that means you spent $4 a hour to play it. That might not seem like much but I can remember when the minimum wage was less than $4. Now a days that's a breakfast at McDonald's for every hour of game play. Two hours of game play could probably get you into to see a matinee movie, which might also take two hours. But at least with a matinee all you have to do is sit there and be entertained. A game takes work.

I voted for the 100+ hours. You might think I'm crazy, but I have my reasons. I was mostly thinking of RPG style games. Those games usually have areas, side quests, and what-nots built in to them that require a little extra time exploring and wandering around. I certainly don't expect BioShock to take 100 hours to play. I think I did it in about 20 hours, but I'll have to go online tonight and check that out.

However long it took me, BioShock was a short game. The fact that there was nothing else to do besides the main quest didn't help. It's still a great game but it didn't completely satisfy my gaming needs. In other words I wanted more.

With traditional RPG games there's places all over that don't require you to visit them to advance the story. And just about everybody you talk to is going to either a) give you information about the main quest, b) give you the opportunity for a side quest, or c) annoy the crap out of you. In Lost Odyssey the other night I visited an area that opened up on the map but I didn't have to go to. I picked up a few cool items so it was very beneficial to do so. I didn't have to, but I'm a completist when I play RPG type games. I'll explore every option presented to me before moving on.

For some reason I don't expect a game like Gears of War or Call of Duty 4 to have extensive single player campaigns. It would be really nice if it did, but I don't expect it. Maybe because the developers know that the longevity to those games are through the multiplayer game play rather than the single player campaigns. Look at the Halo franchise. The first game was all about the story and game play. They throw in multiplayer stuff with the second one and not everybody who talks about that game focuses on that aspect only. You don't hear people raving over the single player stuff, now do you?

I remember in the good old original Playstation days games were made with really long (and sometimes very difficult) single player game play. Multiplayer game play took a back seat if it was included at all. Now a days with more casual gamers getting into the action and more interactive games on the market (Guitar Hero, anything for the Wii) more gamers are looking for more multiplayer action than single player campaigns. I guess this high profile move is taking the stereotypical gamer from their parent's basement to everyone's living rooms but I hope it doesn't do in single player campaigns and games entirely. Some days you've just got to immerse yourself and play alone in someone else's world. It beats listening to the news in our own world.

My Favorite Games - Playstation

I've been thinking about making up a favorite list for a while now but that's something that's usually done at the first of the year. You know, "Favorite Games of 2006" or "Best RPG for non-RPG fans" or "The 10 Best Games You Never Heard of". But I'm not that patient. If I get an idea that I like I don't want to sit on it because I just might forget about it. Even if I write it down I'm bound and determined to lose whatever scrap of paper I wrote it on. So I started to make my list and I realized I had a problem.

How could I do a Top 10 lists of all my games? Is Gears of War better than Legend of Dragoon just 'cause it's newer and looks more real? Would those things influence what makes the list and what doesn't? And how could I narrow it down to just 10?

I have an inventory list of all the games I own, what system they're on, if I have the strategy guide, what genre it is, if I've finished it or not and whether or not my brother has the game as well. This list is separated by system so it's easy to pull out the list in the store and when I'm standing in front of the Game Cube section and only have to look to see what GC games I already have. It's much easier looking through 1 or 2 pages than 9 or 10. I started glancing through the lists and jotting down the names of games I really liked. But I was still hung up on which should be ranked higher Gears or Dragoon.

Then it hit me. Why not do a list for each system? My 10 favorite games for Playstation, Super Nintendo, etc. Brilliant idea. I wouldn't have to decide between Gears and Dragoon; I could have them both. And more columns. And I have to admit that some of them I still haven't finished yet, but that doesn't mean I don't still love the experience . . . I just have too many other games and not enough time to play them all.

So here's my favorite games for the Sony Playstation and why I like them:

#1 Legend of Dragoon - This was the first game I finished, but that's not enough to earn it the top spot. It was the first story I've cared about. The characters, the world, the outcome. I lost many hours playing this game trying to find every Star Dust and getting every piece of equipment. And that's not counting mastering all the combat moves. For a while there I didn't think I'd ever master some of Haschel's combat attacks. I remember feeling a great sense of accomplishment each time I got to a point in the story when I had to put a new disk in the playstation. I even started it all over again to see how much of everything I could find without using a strategy guide for help.

#2 Final Fantasy IX - I love Vivi!!! And even though it took me a while to understand how to play the game Tetra Master once I understood it I loved it. I could spend hours just playing that game alone. Steiner is hilarious and you can't help but love a mini-game where you need to capture frogs (even if you spend most of your time cursing while doing it). And your main character is a lovable thief . . . with a tail. You gotta love that.

#3 Chrono Cross - I can't tell you how many times I've restarted this game just to see which characters I could enlist in my party and how they interact with each other. If I had just stuck with my original save I would have been long done with it by now but I'm still tinkering around with "how" I want to play the game. I love the field effect that comes into play during the battles. It's very frustrating planning your moves to get the fields all green only to have the enemy launch a red attack before your last player gets a turn. Or even worse have your enemy take advantage of the field colors and do more damage to your characters than you're prepared for. It's never the same old turn based battle system of other RPGs where the field effect is concerned. And you have to use just as much, if not more, thought and consideration to the magic that you bring into the battle as much as how you use it during battle.

#4 Legend of Legaia - The first time I played this I got lost. I left the village and had no idea where to go. I wandered around a lot, leveled up a lot, before I finally realized I needed a little help. Once I figure that out I deleted my save and started all over again. Why? Because I felt like I had cheated because I didn't pay enough attention to the clues people were giving me. Legaia is another game that added a wrinkle to the combat system outside the normal turn based we had all come to love. There were hidden combinations you could use to do more damage. You had to play around with the directional pad to figure out what those were. You were never sure you had learned them all so each new discovery was a thrill of excitement.

#5 Abe's Oddysee/Abe's Exodus - Okay I'm listing 2 games here, but can you really tell the difference? Besides, who knew farting and belching could have such a significance in completing a game. The Oddworld games are all hilarious and I wish more people would play them so the developers would make more.

Now for some Honorable Mentions:
Ape Escape, Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy I, Frogger, Pipe Dreams 3D, and Pong

These are MY favorites, but I curious. What do you think about my list? What games would be on your list? Stay tuned for lists for the other systems that I own.

I'm not just a one system gamer girl.

As much as I love my Xbox 360 I do have other gaming systems. A PS2, Xbox, computer, Game Cube, N64, Super Nintendo, GBA SP, PSP, and an XYZ. Okay, I made up that last one. I just haven't played those systems in a long time.

My PS2 is currently functioning as a stand for my 360. My Game Cube has been shoved to the back of my entertainment center. I'm not even sure where my original Xbox is. My GBA SP and PSP are tossed in a bag somewhere and my N64 and Supertendo are working on their dust bunny collections. I do get on the computer occasionally to check emails but after a day at the office staring at a computer screen and sitting in uncomfortable chair I'm not all that inclined to sit and do the same thing at home.

I blame my lack of playing other systems to Xbox Live. It's always a blast to get online and see which of your friends are plugged in and what they're playing. Even looking at the cute little pink Pac Man ghost your tough talking and tough playing friend picked as his avatar is a hoot. Player's mottos change often . . . sometimes hourly. And when your testosterone filled buddies, who once gave you a hard time for playing Hearts, are now seen playing Backgammon or Viva Pinata it only adds to the tauntings you can hand out to them later. (And don't believe them when they say their wives were playing.)

I will have to tear myself away from Xbox Live and my 360 if my other systems even have a hope of getting played again. It's not like I don't have any great and thoroughly engrossing games for those systems. (Yes, the Game Cube and N64 have some of those games too. Have you heard of Pikmin or Rouge Squadron?) It's just when I play those other systems I wonder what my Xbox friends are doing.

Have they past me on the leaderboards for Pac Man? Did they finish a game before me? Did they find a way to get that elusive achievement that's been the bane of my existence in Bejeweled 2? Is their GamerScore higher than mine now?

Yet at the same time I'm wondering what happens next in Final Fantasy X-2. Which is the real world in Chrono Cross? Where will Jak and Daxter or Ratchet and Clank go next? What do I have to do to beat the final boss in Pikmin in one day? How can I save that Galaxy far, far away? And just who is Solid Snake, Samus or Master Chief?

If I didn't have to go to work 5 days a week I'd be closer to finding out those answers, and many more. That is if I can put my Xobx 360 aside to plug another system in. Maybe I'll give it a try tonight. After all, I'm not just a one system gamer girl.