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Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Nintendo Made Bayonetta More Vulgar?

Bayonetta was a mediocre game when I first played it on the X-Box 360 and the re-release that came with the sequel on the Nintendo Wii doesn't change that. What Nintendo did manage to do with the game however is actually made the game even more vulgar, something that I never thought possible since the original release was already mega blasphemous and extremely sexual to begin with, thanks to the "Princess" outfits based on Nintendo's own Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. The Wii U version also features a Samus outfit as well as a Link outfit and both of these were spared the over-sexualized transformation so I wonder if Nintendo actually blessed the treatments Platinum Games gave to the Princess outfits since those people at Nintendo are normally very careful about protecting their family-friendly brands. Sure, these Bayonetta games are for mature audiences only and I don't think Nintendo should ever worry about releasing a never-ending amount of "M" rated games but to actually use images that you normally associate with their family-friendly characters the Bayonetta way is just quite disturbing. Of course, everything was done in the spirit of fun but still, it's crazy that Platinum Games can get away with these select outfits. I think I rather see Bayonetta cosplay as these princesses more appropriately since she got enough sexy outfits to begin with anyway.

Princess Peach, I mean, Bayonetta had a little too much to drink...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Million Dollar Man Tears

I know I've got problems and I know how deep they are buried within my psyche but I didn't know that they could impact me this way. I was decompressing with a session of Audiosurf 2 Early Access on the Personal Computer this morning and while singing along to Lana Del Rey's Million Dollar Man, it really hit me hard. My voice started breaking not even halfway through and I was crying like a baby at the end of the song. I broadcast whenever I play any of my non-handheld games so I feel lucky that no one was watching my stream at that moment in time. I thought that I had things under control but apparently, that is not the case. I know that I have been using the Audiosurf games as a way to find catharsis and perhaps I finally found that today. I do know that I was in a weaker state of mind these past couple of days but I feel somewhat better after my breakdown. We all have to let it out sometimes I suppose...

It has always been easy to find emotional climax in the game but never to this extent.

Monday, October 27, 2014

Games Played 10/20/2014 - 10/26/2014

- 10/20/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC

- 10/21/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/22/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC

- 10/23/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
Pix the Cat - PlayStation 4
Samurai Warriors 4 - PlayStation 4

- 10/24/2014 -
League of Legends - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
Samurai Warriors 4 - PlayStation 4

- 10/25/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Knightmare Tower - PC
League of Legends - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
Revolver360 RE:ACTOR - PC
Samurai Warriors 4 - PlayStation 4

- 10/26/2014 -
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel - PC
Borderlands 2 - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC
Samurai Warriors 4 - PlayStation 4


Screenshot of the Week:

I'd run into an Uruk horde just for the sake of Photo Mode.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Personal Computer)

Sunday, October 26, 2014

Lucky with Borderlands

For the second time in a row, I seem to have been pretty lucky when it comes to getting Borderlands games for free. I was looking through a list of channels that were broadcasting The Walking Dead: Season 1 and 2 on twitch.tv - I love watching people play the game, especially their reactions to the choices found in the game - when I saw that one of them, a new channel called Brantman19, was doing a giveaway for Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. Sure, there are plenty of channels out there offering free games and I participated in some of the giveaways but when it comes to these things, I don't have my hopes up. It was strange however that there were not a lot of people watching the channel even though the giveaway was to commence at the end of the broadcast session. There have always been a good number of people watching The Walking Dead streams but apparently they all flocked to a more popular channel. The two guys hosting the stream were engaging and fun so I stayed until the show ended even though I didn't have to for the sake of the giveaway. Since there were only two people watching and we stuck around for a while, the hosts decided to give both of us a code for the game. I was really shocked. I really didn't expect that whatsoever since the game is pretty brand new thus it was a very generous offering. I had planned to get the new Borderlands when they release the ultimate edition with all the downloadable contents but now, the game is sitting in my Steam Library. Thanks Brantley and Jason from Brantman19!

Kenny is a dick, these guys however, are cool.

Are Most Nintendo Enthusiasts This Nutty?

I visited the Club Nintendo website today and saw a curious promotion announcement for the new Super Smash Bros., a game that is now available for the Nintendo 3DS and will be released next month for the Wii U. I have been waiting for the Wii U release of course because the game looks exceptionally better on the console than the handheld. I was excited at the opportunity to receive the soundtrack for the game but then I realized that you can only claim the soundtrack if you buy both versions of the game:

Yes, because this is a good enough reason to get the same game twice.

I suppose I already know the answer to the question I posed here. There are a lot of crazy gamers out there who would fulfill Nintendo's psychotic requirement and buy the same game twice. I have known people who would buy all of the versions of a game across multiple consoles on the very same day even just to "support the developer". Buying one is supporting the developer. Buying the same game multiple times may indicate some kind of brain damage. Sorry Nintendo, but this is just asking for way too much from a sane person.

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Shadow of Mordor: Finally "Playable"

Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor by Monolith Productions is one of those media darling games that's not as good as it promised itself to be. Compared to other open world games, the map is just way too small and crowded with plenty of uninspiring, repetitive, and literally boring missions scattered all over it. Though the touted Nemesis System that involves a relationship progression between named Uruks and the player as well as among themselves is interesting, the way these named Uruks go about their business in Mordor is generic and forgettable. Shadow of Mordor is a pretty game, albeit a pretty empty one. Thank the galaxy that the developer released a Photo Mode last week because now, there is finally something you can do in the game that's a bit more involving!


You know there is something wrong with the game when...





...you are having more fun with the Photo Mode than actually playing the game.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Games Played 10/13/2014 - 10/19/2014

- 10/13/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Ikaruga - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/14/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Borderlands 2 - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/15/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/16/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/17/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/18/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition - PC
Borderlands 2 - PC
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/19/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition - PC
League of Legends - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

Trainees are required to wear a name badge.
Batman: Arkham Asylum GOTY Edition (Personal Computer)

Friday, October 17, 2014

September 2014 Gaming Analysis

The results shown below are of course based on the combined data from the Daily Game Log which should provide a clear indication of a game's usage frequency. Bear in mind that even if a game is played twice or more during a particular day, it would still register as 1 in the Day Count column below. In a sense, "merits" are given based on how often a particular game can make me play it again throughout the entire period of the  month on a daily basis. A game that makes a gamer play it over and over again or at least spend a lot of time with it... Isn't that what we mostly want from a great game? I don't think it's really fair to count all the way down to the number of hours played since some games only require a short amount of time to properly serve their purposes.

OVERALL BREAKDOWN:


Total Games Played: 24


This Month's Inductees:


Total Inductions: 25

Monday, October 13, 2014

Games Played 10/06/2014 - 10/12/2014

- 10/06/2014 -
Lili: Child of Geos Complete Edition - PC

- 10/07/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC
Starpoint Gemini 2 - PC

- 10/08/2014 -
Evochron Mercenary - PC
Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD - PC
League of Legends - PC
Starpoint Gemini 2 - PC

- 10/09/2014 -
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Galaxy on Fire 2 Full HD - PC
League of Legends - PC
X3: Terran Conflict - PC

- 10/10/2014 -
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/11/2014 -
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
Starpoint Gemini 2 - PC
Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes - PC
League of Legends - PC
Space Pirates and Zombies - PC
X3: Albion Prelude - PC

- 10/12/2014 -
Final Fantasy XIII - PC
League of Legends - PC
Warlock: Master of the Arcane - PC
X3: Albion Prelude - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

She is referring to the act of deflowering spirits.
Lili: Child of Geos (Personal Computer)

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Retiring My "Purchase List"

Today, I have decided to retire my "Purchase List", the page that showcased a breakdown by platform of all the games that I am interested in eventually inducting into my Game Library. Maybe I am just becoming wiser and wiser every day or perhaps it's just the methane build-up from eating too much salad but I think that having access to that list is more of a deterrent. For the most part, my focus lately has been on Steam and even there, my wishlist has grown into a total 500+ desired games. I really like looking into the future these days instead of hanging on to the past so if I were to leave behind those games that I had noted on the Purchase List, so be it. If I encounter them in the future and I were to have the capability of getting them then, so be it. Yes, this doesn't mean that I have wiped away my interest in past games, it just means that I am going to take things as they happen. Perhaps it is a bit unhealthy to keep looking at the list whenever I get to do some game getting because I should just listen to what the heart currently desires. I know that this list had helped the spouse in the past because it used to be really hard to get video games for me but these days, the spouse would just push some money into my Steam wallet. I remember finding copies of the list in the house several times in years past - it still brings tears to my eyes to think that the spouse was carrying the list around just to look for some silly video games that I really wanted. I will leave the Purchase List on the website because there are plenty of articles that refer back to it but it will no longer be an active listing from this point forward.

Some things are meant to be left behind. You can't have everything you wanted.

Monday, October 6, 2014

Games Played 09/29/2014 - 10/05/2014

- 09/29/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
Nights: Into Dreams... - PC
The Wolf Among Us - PC

- 09/30/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
South Park: The Stick of Truth - PC

- 10/01/2014 -
Alan Wake - PC
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
South Park: The Stick of Truth - PC

- 10/02/2014 -
Alan Wake - PC
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
League of Legends - PC

- 10/03/2014 -
Democracy 3 - PC
League of Legends - PC
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor - PC
Sword of the Stars II: Enhanced Edition - PC

- 10/04/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Knights of Pen and Paper +1 - PC
League of Legends - PC
SingStar - PlayStation 3
SingStar Rocks! - PlayStation 2

- 10/05/2014 -
Audiosurf 2 Early Access - PC
Child of Light - PC
League of Legends - PC
Soldats Inconnus: Mémoires de la Grande Guerre - PC


Screenshot of the Week:

Killing Uruks is fun but this game feels somewhat empty, even with the Nemesis system.
Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor (Personal Computer)

Saturday, October 4, 2014

A Wedding on Twitch?

Today, I have learned that twitch.tv regretted closing down their justin.tv site. I am not going to make any comments about the wedding itself, but I thought non-gaming contents are not allowed to be streamed on Twitch? If I was one of those banned channel owners who used to broadcast themselves doing things other than gaming using the PlayStation 4's The Playroom, well, I would think that I could win some kind of discriminatory lawsuit because apparently based on this Twitch wedding that was even featured on the landing page of the site, if you are a gamer, you can broadcast whatever non-gaming thing you do on Twitch. If anything though, this just proves to show that when you are some kind of a celebrity, whether in the gaming community or otherwise, you sure can get away with a lot of stuff. And that folks is just the world we live in.

Shouldn't this be on Ustream.tv? I thought twitch.tv was only for gaming?

Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Armpit Hair: The New Lens Flare

I was checking out some screenshots for the upcoming NBA 2K15 on Steam last night because I do have an interest in the game now since it will feature the new graphics engine, unlike how badly the Personal Computer community was treated previously with NBA 2K14. The one screenshot that immediately caught my eyes was this particular one:

Ewww. They managed to cram double the armpit hair into one screenshot.

Alright, so armpit hair is all natural and stuff but do I really need to see it in video games? No. I suppose I am one of those people who find them unsightly even in real life - don't professional athletes have enough money to buy a razor and enough time to just shave it off - but it's all a matter of personal preference I suppose. I guess I never understood goatees and bushy beards either but that's just me. Surely the developer should be focusing on more pressing matters than ensuring that the character models in this game have armpit hair. What did they do? Assign someone to check out the videos of the real life players' armpit hair? Perhaps they actually get up close and personal to their armpits to ensure that the result will look realistic? Will the armpit hair get a wet fur physics? All of a sudden, the prospect of playing this game is slowly diminishing for me.