I'm starting to see a lot of commercials for the new Mountain Dew product Fuel. It's being advertised as game fuel for Halo 3. I tried drinking Mountain Dew in college when pulling an all nighter. Unfortunately there's just way too much caffeine in the soda for me. I got wired and jittery and then about a couple hours later I crashed and was zonked out for 12 hours. I'll stick with Pepsi, thank yo very much. But seeing those commercials got me thinking about a couple of things.
1) Although it's a commercial for Mountain Dew it's also a commercial for Halo 3. A video game. And I'm seeing these commercials where I wouldn't expect to see commercials about video games. Have video games finally gone mainstream? Instead of a gamer being a slimy, oddball who lives in their parents basement are gamers turning out to be you normal average person? I hope so. If true then things look better for me.
2) What is my "game fuel"? Do I have a food or snack that I like to eat when playing marathon sessions of gaming? I had to think about this one. And nothing jumps out at me. I like to eat a variety of things. Peanut butter M&Ms are always good, no matter what the situation. The problem is eating a lot of chocolate makes me thirsty. That's where a tall cold glass of milk comes in handy. But it's much easier to flip the mute button, pop a few M&Ms in your mouth and keep playing than to pick up a glass and take a drink while trying not to get killed.
I do tend to eat a lot of pizza while I'm gaming. But only once I'm dead. That usually means that a slice of pizza will last me a half an hour. It starts out hot but ends up cold. But that's okay. Pizza is one of the few foods that tastes just about as well cold as it does hot.
I tried eating Chinese while gaming once. Big mistake. My chopstick stills are average at best but combine that with button mashing on a control and there was Kung Pao chicken all over the place. You would think that I could stop gaming for 20 minutes to eat a meal. Or at least to eat before I start gaming. But sometimes when I walk in the door the first thing I want to do is start blowing people's heads off.
I'm not much of a potato chip person. Too greasy and salty. I have tried popcorn, but that doesn't fill you up. And since I like mine with extra butter my buttons end up getting slimy and slick. When you go to take someone out and your control slips from your hands it's time to try eating something else.
So my search for the perfect fuel for gaming will have to continue. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Monday, September 10, 2007
What do you play when you're not in the mood?
I had a very strange day yesterday. I wanted to play video games . . . but I wasn't in the mood for anything.
I tried a racing game (Burnout Revenge). Nothing. I tried some arcade games (Pac Man CE, Texas Hold 'Em, Hearts, Catan) but I wasn't really in the mood for any of them. (Although I did finally come in first place in a $4,000 buy in tournament after being short stacked for awhile. I always finish in the money but I've never come in first.)
I got a couple of invites to play Rainbow 6: Vegas and although I wasn't in the mood I thought it wouldn't hurt. Boy was I wrong. I sucked. The other team was creeping up behind me and taping me on the shoulder before blowing my head off. If I thought I was in a good snipping position I'd find a guy right next to me . . . but on the other team. I died. I died again. And then . . . I died some more. Even when I somehow made it to their spawn point I couldn't kill them when they spawned before they'd get a single shot to blow my brains out.
I've had bad days in games before. It's usually been 'cause I wasn't in the mood to play that particular type of game. Or my eyes were just to tired to focus and concentration on the screen. But a whole night were there was nothing I wanted to play?
I even switched systems. I pulled out the PS2 and loaded a few games trying to find what matched my mood. Metal Gear Solid? Nope. Abe's Exoddus? Not tonight. Half-Life? Not quite right. Gradius? No. God of War. Now that one was a little closer to what I had in mind. Unfortunately by then I was too tired and just shut everything down. A game like that deserves my undivided attention and right then that wasn't going to happen.
I flipped channels on the TV for awhile. Read a book for a while as well. But nothing seemed to satisfy the mood I was in. Hopefully this mood will pass cause I can't imagine what I'd do if I didn't want to play video games.
I tried a racing game (Burnout Revenge). Nothing. I tried some arcade games (Pac Man CE, Texas Hold 'Em, Hearts, Catan) but I wasn't really in the mood for any of them. (Although I did finally come in first place in a $4,000 buy in tournament after being short stacked for awhile. I always finish in the money but I've never come in first.)
I got a couple of invites to play Rainbow 6: Vegas and although I wasn't in the mood I thought it wouldn't hurt. Boy was I wrong. I sucked. The other team was creeping up behind me and taping me on the shoulder before blowing my head off. If I thought I was in a good snipping position I'd find a guy right next to me . . . but on the other team. I died. I died again. And then . . . I died some more. Even when I somehow made it to their spawn point I couldn't kill them when they spawned before they'd get a single shot to blow my brains out.
I've had bad days in games before. It's usually been 'cause I wasn't in the mood to play that particular type of game. Or my eyes were just to tired to focus and concentration on the screen. But a whole night were there was nothing I wanted to play?
I even switched systems. I pulled out the PS2 and loaded a few games trying to find what matched my mood. Metal Gear Solid? Nope. Abe's Exoddus? Not tonight. Half-Life? Not quite right. Gradius? No. God of War. Now that one was a little closer to what I had in mind. Unfortunately by then I was too tired and just shut everything down. A game like that deserves my undivided attention and right then that wasn't going to happen.
I flipped channels on the TV for awhile. Read a book for a while as well. But nothing seemed to satisfy the mood I was in. Hopefully this mood will pass cause I can't imagine what I'd do if I didn't want to play video games.
Friday, September 7, 2007
Rewarding Myself
I finished a game the other night. No it wasn't one from the list that I should be finishing. It was an Xbox Live Arcade game. Carcassonne.
My brother was excited about this game when it came out. I, on the other hand, had never heard of it. I downloaded it so we'd have something in common to play together. (I find our arcade tastes very greatly.) After I figured out what I needed to do to get more points (lots of little cities by a farm instead of one big city) I realized I liked this game. Probably not as much as my brother, but then again who cares.
I was wondering how I was going to to get the "score 50+ more points in a 2+ player game" or whatever it says. Apparently you don't have to win the match by 50+ points, or even win the match at all, you just have to score 50+ points more than someone else in the game. Also a "player's match" doesn't mean you have to have all human players for it to count. If someone drops out and an AI takes over that's okay.
So, 200 achievement points earned calls for a celebration. How do I celebrate? By buying more games. I picked up 3 games for my PSP, 1 for my GameBoy Advance and 1 for my PS2. I know, I know, the more games I own the more games I have to NOT be able to finish due to the distraction. Too bad. I like games. And I'm not going to stop buying them. Besides it could have been worse. I wanted to pick up BioShock and Blue Dragon but I exercised some restraint and passed on them this time around (and to be honest that's only because the store didn't have any in stock).
I accomplished something so I can reward myself, right?
My brother was excited about this game when it came out. I, on the other hand, had never heard of it. I downloaded it so we'd have something in common to play together. (I find our arcade tastes very greatly.) After I figured out what I needed to do to get more points (lots of little cities by a farm instead of one big city) I realized I liked this game. Probably not as much as my brother, but then again who cares.
I was wondering how I was going to to get the "score 50+ more points in a 2+ player game" or whatever it says. Apparently you don't have to win the match by 50+ points, or even win the match at all, you just have to score 50+ points more than someone else in the game. Also a "player's match" doesn't mean you have to have all human players for it to count. If someone drops out and an AI takes over that's okay.
So, 200 achievement points earned calls for a celebration. How do I celebrate? By buying more games. I picked up 3 games for my PSP, 1 for my GameBoy Advance and 1 for my PS2. I know, I know, the more games I own the more games I have to NOT be able to finish due to the distraction. Too bad. I like games. And I'm not going to stop buying them. Besides it could have been worse. I wanted to pick up BioShock and Blue Dragon but I exercised some restraint and passed on them this time around (and to be honest that's only because the store didn't have any in stock).
I accomplished something so I can reward myself, right?
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
My Favorite Games - PSP
Okay, this isn't going to take very long. I don't have that many PSP games. When I purchased my PSP it was a spur of the moment decision. I was having a bad day and decided, what the heck (I tend to spend large amounts of money whenever I'm having a bad day). I was always going to get one, I had just planned on waiting a little longer before I did. The problem with getting it then was that I didn't have any money for games. Every time I went back into my local Gamestop was to look for a game for one of my console systems. The PSP has always taken a back seat to the console, poor thing. I'm trying to rectify that situation as my budget . . . and bad days allow
#1 Lemmings
I remember watching my brother play Lemmings on our computer a long time ago. It looked fun but complicated. I only played it a little bit but I liked it. I found a version was released for the SNES but I was never ever to track down a copy. When this came out for the PSP it was a sure bet. Lemmings can be the most laughable and yet thoroughly frustrating fun you'll ever have outside of Pikmin. I've wanted to toss my PSP through a window many times during the game but I always want one more crack at it before I do.
#2 Tokobot
It's fun to order your minions around to fling you across open spaces or scale impossible walls. Get them to do the dirty work for you and you can reap all the rewards. Learn to control the camera angles and you'll have lots of fun.
#3 Daxter
A sidekick getting his own game? Yeah, we've seen that before but who wouldn't love the wisecracking ottsel (a hybrid of an otter and a weasel) over a weak kneed plumber? There's nothing newly inventive with this platformer (that I've seen so far) but it sure is a lot of fun to play as Daxter and listen to him toss around those zingers.
#4 Untold Legends (both of them)
My first foray into "fighting" type games was through Hunter the Reckoning. A standard hack and slash. I fell in love. Untold Legends is in the vein of Balder's Gate and Champions of Norath but now you get to take it anywhere you want to go. A portable hack and slash. That style of game play suits me perfectly and I love whipping the PSP out on my lunch hour and slicing a few heads off (it beats doing that in the office).
Honorable Mentions: Ape Escape and Lumines (I have others but I haven't played them enough to pass judgement beyond the "this doesn't suck yet" phase).
#1 Lemmings
I remember watching my brother play Lemmings on our computer a long time ago. It looked fun but complicated. I only played it a little bit but I liked it. I found a version was released for the SNES but I was never ever to track down a copy. When this came out for the PSP it was a sure bet. Lemmings can be the most laughable and yet thoroughly frustrating fun you'll ever have outside of Pikmin. I've wanted to toss my PSP through a window many times during the game but I always want one more crack at it before I do.
#2 Tokobot
It's fun to order your minions around to fling you across open spaces or scale impossible walls. Get them to do the dirty work for you and you can reap all the rewards. Learn to control the camera angles and you'll have lots of fun.
#3 Daxter
A sidekick getting his own game? Yeah, we've seen that before but who wouldn't love the wisecracking ottsel (a hybrid of an otter and a weasel) over a weak kneed plumber? There's nothing newly inventive with this platformer (that I've seen so far) but it sure is a lot of fun to play as Daxter and listen to him toss around those zingers.
#4 Untold Legends (both of them)
My first foray into "fighting" type games was through Hunter the Reckoning. A standard hack and slash. I fell in love. Untold Legends is in the vein of Balder's Gate and Champions of Norath but now you get to take it anywhere you want to go. A portable hack and slash. That style of game play suits me perfectly and I love whipping the PSP out on my lunch hour and slicing a few heads off (it beats doing that in the office).
Honorable Mentions: Ape Escape and Lumines (I have others but I haven't played them enough to pass judgement beyond the "this doesn't suck yet" phase).
All That Hard Work for Nothing
I love hearing that bleep and seeing that little pop up that says you've just unlocked an achievement. But come on developers, at least make it worth something!
I'm not talking about all those 5 point achievements for completing the training exercises. How much more inventive can the control scheme get for a first person shooter? You point and you shoot . . . or you die. I'm talking about an achievement that was worth 0 points. Yep, that's right. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch.
On Labor Day Xbox slashed the price of some of their Xbox Live Arcade games. A friend of mine took Microsoft up on the deal and bought the discounted games. Now, he's not a person that plays the arcade games so he roped in a few friends to make the experience more enjoyable. After a round of Gauntlet (one of my old-time favorites that I don't play nearly enough) he moved on to Small Arms.
Once he got the game settings taken care of I jumped in and we all started wailing on each other. (It's really very therapeutic for our friendships - honest.) During the first game I heard the bleep and earned a 2x achievement. WooHoo! Now we're talking. We pounded on each other and had an open player slot so people would jump in the game and we'd pound on them too . . . and then they'd jump out. A little while later when the game ended after someone jumped in (don't remember who) I heard that little beep and saw the pop up for the "Six Degrees of Small Arms" achievements. None of us knew what this was for so we all took a moment to look at our achievement list. And boy were we surprised.
The achievement reads something like "play the game with someone who already has this achievement." Fine. Okay we get it. It's one of those "virus" achievements. You know "the Mingler" or "secret achievement - play with someone who has this achievement to unlock." These achievements seem to serve the purpose to get people to play their games online. Mix it up. Go against real humans instead of the AI all the time. So you would think that this achievement would be worth something.
What was the "Six Degrees of Small Arms" achievement worth. You guessed it. Zero. What's the point of that. It's like saying "we want you to play online with other people but we don't want you to be rewarded for it." Is that any way to encourage people to get out there and play? Why go through all that hard work and effort (okay, maybe it wasn't that much work or effort and it was kind of fun) but then not give a payout in the end. It's almost as bad as those achievements you get in some games for just putting the disk in the machine. There's no effort in that at all (at least for most people).
Make it mean something. Or is all that hard work for nothing?
I'm not talking about all those 5 point achievements for completing the training exercises. How much more inventive can the control scheme get for a first person shooter? You point and you shoot . . . or you die. I'm talking about an achievement that was worth 0 points. Yep, that's right. Zero. Zip. Nada. Zilch.
On Labor Day Xbox slashed the price of some of their Xbox Live Arcade games. A friend of mine took Microsoft up on the deal and bought the discounted games. Now, he's not a person that plays the arcade games so he roped in a few friends to make the experience more enjoyable. After a round of Gauntlet (one of my old-time favorites that I don't play nearly enough) he moved on to Small Arms.
Once he got the game settings taken care of I jumped in and we all started wailing on each other. (It's really very therapeutic for our friendships - honest.) During the first game I heard the bleep and earned a 2x achievement. WooHoo! Now we're talking. We pounded on each other and had an open player slot so people would jump in the game and we'd pound on them too . . . and then they'd jump out. A little while later when the game ended after someone jumped in (don't remember who) I heard that little beep and saw the pop up for the "Six Degrees of Small Arms" achievements. None of us knew what this was for so we all took a moment to look at our achievement list. And boy were we surprised.
The achievement reads something like "play the game with someone who already has this achievement." Fine. Okay we get it. It's one of those "virus" achievements. You know "the Mingler" or "secret achievement - play with someone who has this achievement to unlock." These achievements seem to serve the purpose to get people to play their games online. Mix it up. Go against real humans instead of the AI all the time. So you would think that this achievement would be worth something.
What was the "Six Degrees of Small Arms" achievement worth. You guessed it. Zero. What's the point of that. It's like saying "we want you to play online with other people but we don't want you to be rewarded for it." Is that any way to encourage people to get out there and play? Why go through all that hard work and effort (okay, maybe it wasn't that much work or effort and it was kind of fun) but then not give a payout in the end. It's almost as bad as those achievements you get in some games for just putting the disk in the machine. There's no effort in that at all (at least for most people).
Make it mean something. Or is all that hard work for nothing?
Sunday, September 2, 2007
The best laid plans of mice and gamers
It's been one year since my brother and I have made a pact to finish one game for each system we own in common (see my original blog post) and still neither one of us has finished any one of those games. And to be honest, on some of them we haven't made a lot of progress either.
It was a great idea at the time and I still think it's at least a good idea but times change. People change. And there's more games out there to buy and play. If I spent all my time playing just those four games then my other 300+ are looking more and more like expensive drink coasters. Or dust collectors.
So I'm at a crossroads. A dilemma in my quest to not just play all my games but to finish some of them too. It's the start of the gaming world bonanza when all the publishers and developers start releasing their long sought after games before the holiday season. Games like BioShock, Hale 3, Blue Dragon, Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect. There's a whole lot of others coming out in addition to those that at $60 a pop your budget can take a mighty big hit between now and Christmas. And I'm trying to save up for a condo. So I'm left to decide between a condo or more games.
A place of my own, to decorate how I want or countless hours of entertainment? With a condo comes more bills and responsibility. With new games comes more that I probably won't finish. I want both. But I also want to finish the games I've already got. I could set a rule that I can't buy another game until I finish one I already have. Well, we all know how well I've been doing on that front. The best laid plans or mice and gamers, eh?
Speaking of "best laid plans" I know I promised a list of my favorite games for each system but I'm having some difficulties with my choices for some of the systems. For the Xbox and Xbox 360 I just can't seem to narrow my choices to a manageable list. For the Super Nintendo and N64 I just thought I had more games than that. I finally completed (but I'm hoping that's not true) my inventory of Super Nintendo and N64 games and I was less than impressed. Only twenty games for the N64? Was the system worth it if all I got were those twenty games? I'm still thinking about things and I'm sure I can put together a list for each of those systems. The problem I'm having with my Game Boy Advance is all the "game ports" I have. Do I only count originals? I hope to put the next list up sometime soon. Stayed tunes. And feel free to argue for or against the ones I've picked for the Playstation and PS2.
It was a great idea at the time and I still think it's at least a good idea but times change. People change. And there's more games out there to buy and play. If I spent all my time playing just those four games then my other 300+ are looking more and more like expensive drink coasters. Or dust collectors.
So I'm at a crossroads. A dilemma in my quest to not just play all my games but to finish some of them too. It's the start of the gaming world bonanza when all the publishers and developers start releasing their long sought after games before the holiday season. Games like BioShock, Hale 3, Blue Dragon, Assassin's Creed and Mass Effect. There's a whole lot of others coming out in addition to those that at $60 a pop your budget can take a mighty big hit between now and Christmas. And I'm trying to save up for a condo. So I'm left to decide between a condo or more games.
A place of my own, to decorate how I want or countless hours of entertainment? With a condo comes more bills and responsibility. With new games comes more that I probably won't finish. I want both. But I also want to finish the games I've already got. I could set a rule that I can't buy another game until I finish one I already have. Well, we all know how well I've been doing on that front. The best laid plans or mice and gamers, eh?
Speaking of "best laid plans" I know I promised a list of my favorite games for each system but I'm having some difficulties with my choices for some of the systems. For the Xbox and Xbox 360 I just can't seem to narrow my choices to a manageable list. For the Super Nintendo and N64 I just thought I had more games than that. I finally completed (but I'm hoping that's not true) my inventory of Super Nintendo and N64 games and I was less than impressed. Only twenty games for the N64? Was the system worth it if all I got were those twenty games? I'm still thinking about things and I'm sure I can put together a list for each of those systems. The problem I'm having with my Game Boy Advance is all the "game ports" I have. Do I only count originals? I hope to put the next list up sometime soon. Stayed tunes. And feel free to argue for or against the ones I've picked for the Playstation and PS2.
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
The Highs and Lows of Finishing a Game
I know I've been working on my favorite games for each system and I promise I'll get back to those lists. I have notes and all the games for the remaining systems but I've been thinking about others things. Maybe I'll do a second post today with a list.
One of the other things I've been thinking about is finishing games. Since that's what started this whole blog I think it's only natural that this topic comes up every now and then. Unfortunately neither my brother or I have finished the agreed upon games. I even had to restart Final Fantasy VII because I accidentally sold a materia that you can only get from one place . . . and I've lost access to that place. And since those Mega Materia (or whatever they're called) are only good if you've mastered all types of the same materia I had to start the game over so I could get . . . and keep . . . that missing materia. So although I haven't finish the designated games I have finished other ones.
Both of the games I've finished have been Xbox Live Arcade games. The first one was Jewel Quest. When I started playing I thought it was a fun game that I would return to every now and then. I certainly wasn't setting out to finish it, come hell or high water. But after playing one particular level and losing about 10 times I was damned if I was going to let a stupid game get the better of me. It became a mission to finish the game. Every time I got stuck on a level and burned through all my lives I screamed as my score was reset to zero. Each achievement unlocked was a thrilling victory for me over the computer. But the payout in the end wasn't as exciting as I would have liked.
About 2 levels from the last one I was burning through lives like crazy. I knew I was close to the end but I couldn't seem to get past this one level. When I finally made it past I figured the last two level would be even harder. The next level only took 2 attempts to get through and then I was faced with the final level. Only one grid stood between me and a finished game. Less than 2 minutes later I was done. I got through the last level on the first attempt and apparently triggered a cascading domino effect that almost cleared the whole board in a single move. Yes, I finished the game and after all my hard work on previous level it seemed a little anticlimactic.
The second game I finished was Hardwood Backgammon. Some of the achievements I unlocked without even knowing what they were. Some I unlocked through the normal course of playing the game and some I had to really work for. The hardest being the "win 10 games in a row." I tried doing this against humans but that was a complete mistake. So I set the AI to easy and tried grinding it out in single player. The problem I had was the longer I played the more careless I got. After winning 7 in a row I'd lose a game and have to start the streak all over again. I finally limited myself to playing only 2 games a night. It took awhile but eventually I got the 10 game and 25 game winning streak achievements.
And while it's great to finish a game, what about those games I won't be able to finish (or at least get all the achievements)? I don't have a vision camera so I can't get the face mapping achievement in Rainbow 6: Vegas. With all the boosting going on in Chromehounds I'll never get any of the Gold medals. And don't remind me that I missed a golden, and tiny, window of opportunity when Sal Kar's Secret Weapon came out. When will I get that chance again? Then there's achievements like "play this game online with someone who has 'the mingler' (or another special designation)" Hell, if I were a person who had it I'd never play that game online again. It's a rare achievement to get so why would I want to pass that along?
It's great finishing a game, but then I'm always reminded of all the ones I haven't finish and some I may never finish. I guess I have to take the highs with the lows when it comes to finishing games.
One of the other things I've been thinking about is finishing games. Since that's what started this whole blog I think it's only natural that this topic comes up every now and then. Unfortunately neither my brother or I have finished the agreed upon games. I even had to restart Final Fantasy VII because I accidentally sold a materia that you can only get from one place . . . and I've lost access to that place. And since those Mega Materia (or whatever they're called) are only good if you've mastered all types of the same materia I had to start the game over so I could get . . . and keep . . . that missing materia. So although I haven't finish the designated games I have finished other ones.
Both of the games I've finished have been Xbox Live Arcade games. The first one was Jewel Quest. When I started playing I thought it was a fun game that I would return to every now and then. I certainly wasn't setting out to finish it, come hell or high water. But after playing one particular level and losing about 10 times I was damned if I was going to let a stupid game get the better of me. It became a mission to finish the game. Every time I got stuck on a level and burned through all my lives I screamed as my score was reset to zero. Each achievement unlocked was a thrilling victory for me over the computer. But the payout in the end wasn't as exciting as I would have liked.
About 2 levels from the last one I was burning through lives like crazy. I knew I was close to the end but I couldn't seem to get past this one level. When I finally made it past I figured the last two level would be even harder. The next level only took 2 attempts to get through and then I was faced with the final level. Only one grid stood between me and a finished game. Less than 2 minutes later I was done. I got through the last level on the first attempt and apparently triggered a cascading domino effect that almost cleared the whole board in a single move. Yes, I finished the game and after all my hard work on previous level it seemed a little anticlimactic.
The second game I finished was Hardwood Backgammon. Some of the achievements I unlocked without even knowing what they were. Some I unlocked through the normal course of playing the game and some I had to really work for. The hardest being the "win 10 games in a row." I tried doing this against humans but that was a complete mistake. So I set the AI to easy and tried grinding it out in single player. The problem I had was the longer I played the more careless I got. After winning 7 in a row I'd lose a game and have to start the streak all over again. I finally limited myself to playing only 2 games a night. It took awhile but eventually I got the 10 game and 25 game winning streak achievements.
And while it's great to finish a game, what about those games I won't be able to finish (or at least get all the achievements)? I don't have a vision camera so I can't get the face mapping achievement in Rainbow 6: Vegas. With all the boosting going on in Chromehounds I'll never get any of the Gold medals. And don't remind me that I missed a golden, and tiny, window of opportunity when Sal Kar's Secret Weapon came out. When will I get that chance again? Then there's achievements like "play this game online with someone who has 'the mingler' (or another special designation)" Hell, if I were a person who had it I'd never play that game online again. It's a rare achievement to get so why would I want to pass that along?
It's great finishing a game, but then I'm always reminded of all the ones I haven't finish and some I may never finish. I guess I have to take the highs with the lows when it comes to finishing games.
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