Happy New Year 2015!

2014 is coming to a close already. The year went by so fast and I had gotten so many games from Steam's Holiday Sale this month. For those celebrating the coming of the new year this evening, stay safe and have fun! I sincerely hope that you and your loved ones receive nothing less than prosperity and happiness in 2015. As for me and the husband, we are going to be doing a marathon of Tales from the Crypt - since we couldn't get Amazon Prime to work on this old living room Blu-ray player to watch some other horror movies - until the clock hits 12 and then, champagne and kisses. Happy New Year everyone!

My awesome new Skylanders arrived this evening just in time for the celebration!

Mass Effect Decisions: A Trilogy Conundrum

As you may have noticed from the recent Daily Game Log entries, I have been replaying the first Mass Effect game in hope of completing the entire trilogy again, this time with a male Shepard named Tchad, whom I wanted to mold into a more gentle, Paragon-ish commander compared to my previous creation, the downright bitch of the galaxy named Ingrid Shepard whose tale ended rather tragically. You know, it was definitely easier for me to tell myself that Tchad Shepard is going to be a very good boy throughout this new playthrough but the truth of the matter is, it is much harder to stick with that goal while actually playing the game. Though I have been able to steer clear of the more direct and sometimes obviously brash way to tackle things so that I do not incur the Renegade "penalties", it sometimes is harder to force myself to select the Paragon responses to bigger and more important dilemmas. During the climax of the "Bring Down the Sky" mission, even though it was clear that to stay on that Paragon path of goodness I would need to negotiate with the terrorists, I just couldn't convince myself that it would be something that should be considered whether you are a Paragon or Renegade thus I chose not to. To me, terrorists should never, ever be given what they demand. Instead, they need to be delivered what they so deserve... In spades. The result of that action of course lead to plenty of Renegade points being forced down my throat and that is enough to keep someone like Tchad awake at night for many lonely space travels. Being a Paragon shouldn't mean that you're incapable of logical conclusions but such is the nature of the game's morality system. It is obvious now that replaying this game with an alignment goal in mind will lead to a lot of internal dilemmas on my side. Perhaps it was natural for me to see the Renegade view of things and that was why I didn't have much of a problem staying that course with Ingrid, though there was one decision that still haunts me until this day from the third game. Playing through the trilogy will be a more complex and rich experience than I initially anticipated.

Mass Effect still manages to engage and surprise me. A true sign of a great game.

Games Played 12/22/2014 - 12/28/2014

- 12/22/2014 -

Bound by Flame - PC

League of Legends - PC

Mass Effect - PC

- 12/23/2014 -
Mass Effect - PC

Sacred 3 - PC

- 12/24/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC
Mass Effect - PC
Sacred 3 - PC

- 12/25/2014 -
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC
Ultra Street Fighter IV - PC

- 12/26/2014 -
Fight the Dragon - PC
Grid Autosport - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F - PlayStation 3
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC

- 12/27/2014 -
Fight the Dragon - PC
League of Legends - PC
Mass Effect - PC

- 12/28/2014 -
Divinity: Original Sin - PC
Fight the Dragon - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

Me when I saw this game getting a discount on the Steam Holiday Sale...
Sacred 3 (Personal Computer)

Merry Christmas 2014!

Merry Christmas from your pal Loner Gamer. I hope you are having a blast today. Stay safe, and have fun! Hope you got plenty of awesome gaming stuff as Christmas gifts!

Hosting Christmas dinner for the family again this year!

Games Played 12/15/2014 - 12/21/2014

- 12/15/2014 -

Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC

League of Legends - PC

- 12/16/2014 -

Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC

League of Legends - PC
Neverwinter Nights Diamond - PC

- 12/17-2014 -

Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC

League of Legends - PC
Mass Effect - PC

- 12/18/2014 -
League of Legends - PC
Mass Effect - PC

- 12/19/2014 -
DanceMasters - X-Box 360
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Intel Discovered - X-Box 360
League of Legends - PC
Mass Effect - PC

- 12/20/2014 -
Drakengard 3 - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC
Skylanders Trap Team - PlayStation 4
Space Run - PC

- 12/21/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Bound by Flame - PC
League of Legends - PC
Space Run - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

Returning to the trilogy as the hot Tchad Shepard.
Mass Effect (Personal Computer)

Skylander Happiness

Who knows how much I have spent on getting Skylanders figurines but I know that if that amount was not spent on Skylanders, it would have been spent on other gaming stuff with the higher probability of the spending being done on Steam. I never feel a tinge of regret with my Skylanders collection and though most of these figurines/characters are very clever and adorable in their designs, only a few manage to truly impress. Well, I got several more of them today, with two of them being truly exceptional in their aesthetics:

Chopper, the flying baby T-Rex. He has an expressive face. A very cute idea.

Lob-Star, a ninja lobster who lobs huge spiky stars. Pure perfection.

Games Played 12/09/2014 - 12/14/2014

- 12/08/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC

Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC

- 12/09/2014 -
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC

- 12/10/2014 -
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC

- 12/11/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Final Fantasy XIII-2 - PC

- 12/12/2014 -
ALLTYNEX Second - PC
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
KAMUI - PC

- 12/13/2014 -
Cook, Serve, Delicious! - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC
Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed - PC
Sonic Dash - PC

- 12/14/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Ionball 2: Ionstorm - PC
League of Legends - PC
Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

"What's that? I starred in The Game Awards' 2014 Game of the Year? You're making me blush!"
#PartialJuryIsPartial #GlitchyGameIsGlitchy #ItDontMatterIfYouAreBlackOrWhiteOrPatchy
Dragon Age: Inquisition (Personal Computer)

Games Played 12/01/2014 - 12/07/2014

- 12/01/2014 -
Dynasty Warriors 8: Xtreme Legends Complete Edition - PlayStation 4

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3

Skylanders Swap Force - PlayStation 4
Skylanders Trap Team - PlayStation 4

- 12/02/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Skylanders Trap Team - PlayStation 4

- 12/03/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Ginga Force - X-Box 360
Skylanders Swap Force - PlayStation 4
Triggerheart Exelica - X-Box 360

- 12/04/2014 -
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Five Nights at Freddy's - PC

- 12/05/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Beware Planet Earth - PC
Castle of Illusion - PC
Far Cry 3 - PC
Five Nights at Freddy's - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3

- 12/06/2014 -
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Far Cry 3 - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC

- 12/07/2014 -
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC
Need for Speed: Most Wanted - Vita
Sonic & All-Stars Racing: Transformed - Vita
Time Crisis: Razing Storm - PlayStation 3


Screenshot of the Week:

I just love how your companions disappear into thin air when you ride your horse.

Game of the year my @$$.

Dragon Age: Inquisition (Personal Computer)

Steam Broadcasting Is Here!

There is a very valid reason why Valve has been silent when it comes to the implementation of twitch.tv broadcasting support for Steam and that is because they want everything to be self-confined within the Steam client itself. Introducing Steam Broadcasting, where you can now broadcast and watch others do so by merely using the Steam client itself.

This should be fun for people with a lot of close friends on Steam.

This feature is still in beta, thus it's still in its infancy. You can't add your webcam to the broadcast and the Steam client doesn't have a mic noise-cancelling, which is important for someone like me who listens to game sounds using my surround sound setup. The live streams are also not saved, which I am sure will discourage a lot of people from leaving twitch. But what's already here is indeed very impressive. All you have to do broadcast is set it up in the settings menu and the broadcasting starts automatically as soon someone is actually watching you, which is a rather clever and unique mechanism (not to mention groundbreaking because you're saving bandwidth if no one is really interested in watching) that can be set in a number of ways. To watch others, you only have to visit the Game Hub of a title you are interested in or by clicking the "Watch Game" drop down option in your Friends List. There is no option to follow someone's broadcast but I suppose you can always add that person as a friend. Perhaps Valve is more interested in fostering a more personal experience between the players and their viewers here than anything else but it is a little too early to tell where this feature will eventually lead us. Wherever it takes us, I am sure it will be an exciting place in video game broadcasting.

Since it's so easy to set up, everyone should definitely do it.

Games Played 11/24/2014 - 11/30/2014

- 11/24/2014 -

Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3

- 11/25/2014 -

Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Goat Simulator - PC

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3

- 11/26/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Dragon Age: Inquisition - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 11/27/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
Skylanders Trap Team - PlayStation 4

- 11/28/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC
Retro/Grade - PC

- 11/29/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
League of Legends - PC
Skylanders Swap Force - PlayStation 4

- 11/30/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA F 2nd - PlayStation 3
Terraria - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

Tchad has the uncanny ability to chance his skin color at will.
Dragon Age: Inquisition (Personal Computer)