Review: HTC Vive

I received my HTC Vive last Wednesday and as a person who had never experienced virtual reality before, I was both thrilled and nervous to try it out for the first time ever. I am one of those people who are very prone to motion sickness when playing first person shooters with horribly low field of vision - I always have to set it to 100+ to not get sick - so I didn't know how my body would react to being placed in a VR environment.

First things first however, I had to set it up to work with my Game Room, which has enough free space to accommodate room-scale VR. Getting the sensors up on two opposite corners of the playing space was very much a chore, plus it was a rather messy process. If you don't have tall cabinets lining up two opposite corners of your room, it's not going to be that easy. This process is made worse because proper drywall anchors were not provided in the box so you have to get them on your own. Instead of needing to have them plugged directly into a power supply, I wished they had rechargeable battery packs instead so that one could easily pull those out and recharge them somewhere else between uses. Hooking up the head-mounted display to the PC required plenty of wires as well, plus needing access to another electrical outlet but the link box that connects your PC to the HMD is so small and cute and you can easily set it in a forgotten space between things and out of your way.

The fusion of man and VR.

Once everything was set however, what came next was nothing short of mind-blowing. And no, I didn't get motion sickness at all*. I was literally stunned by the SteamVR tutorial. The virtual space looked real. Like convincingly real. Sometimes not as sharp but it felt like I was there. Without experiencing it for oneself, it's impossible to show how effective the VR experience provided by the Vive is but I believe the best way to describe it is that everything has depth and you can tell the relative distance of everything, whether those objects are moving or static. It's like you are really there and this illusion is further strengthened by the Vive's currently exclusive room-scale VR where you can walk around in VR space instead of merely standing or sitting in the middle of it. The HMD literally transported me to another place by replacing the view of my Game Room with a completely different, fully realized surrounding.

From Kaos to Absolute Chaos

Two weeks ago, I got the adorable Kaos figurine. That was supposed to be the last of it. What can I say, I was weak. Skylanders Imaginators for the PlayStation 4 is now a part of my collection. As if that was not enough, I also obtained additional sensei Skylanders and.creation crystals for the game. Amazon's recent Black Friday event is partly to blame for this. Knowing how devastating collecting new Skylanders can be, I will take things a lot slower this time around. But yes, I was weak indeed. Master Eon help me.

These new figurines are so vivid and detailed. I love them!

Causing Kaos in the Game Room

I am doing my best to try to avoid getting into Skylanders: Imaginators that was released on multiple platforms recently. This is because of two things: A) I prefer the Vicarious Visions versions of the franchise versus instead of those made by Toys for Bob, and B) Committing to any Skylanders game may easily lead to financial ruins. Unfortunately for me, I stumbled into... the Kaos figurine. I couldn't belileve it. Kaos. Sure, you can trap the poor guy in Trap Team but this is the fully realized physical representation of Kaos. I couldn't stop myself. I just had to get him, I couldn't say no, and he's quite beautiful.

A Kaos figurine. Toys for Bob is evil.

I am very impressed that the new figurines come in their own special, very collectible boxes. Though I do keep the cardboard backing from previous Skylanders figurines, I don't keep their plastic encasing. This new way of presenting these Skylanders to us is both fascinating - the box truly look spectacular - and horrifying - it's going to be very difficult to find space to place all these boxes if this is going to be the new packaging standard for the series. My plan here is to only just have the Kaos figurine from Imaginators so that I can use him when the next Skylanders installment from Vicarious Visions come out. We will see if I am able to stay strong in that conviction.

Caught Me Some Yokai

I don't think I ever mentioned that I got myself the New Nintendo 3DS XL in February of this year - I really like the stable 3D though the second stick sucks - and ever since I had it, I have never taken it out of the house. I own one of those carry pouches for the original 3DS that is of course too small for my new XL. I really miss accumulating play coins, collecting miis, and playing the Mii plaza games so I started looking for a nice case for my newer system. Since the New Nintendo 3DS XL is already pretty bulky, I opted for a different carry solution instead. I decided to get a Hori Duraflexi Protector:

A clear, translucent option is available but that's kinda boring, no?

I want to be able to just slip my system into my pants pocket but I want it to be protected from potential bumps and bruises. The duraflexi covering is rather thick but covers almost the entirety of the system except for the top part. I wish they would have included some kind of shoulder caps to protect the shoulder buttons but having this protector on my system makes me comfortable enough to finally carry it around outside the safety of my Game Room. The system definitely feels more sturdy with the protector on and the smooth, thick surface feels good in my hands. There is no reason for you to just be turned off and sit around anymore my New Nintendo 3DS XL... It's time to introduce you to the world!

The system is now ready to accompany me on my Target runs.

Recurring Nightmare Turned Reality

Well, it finally happened. My unconscious mind has been preparing me for this for the longest time through the recurring nightmare of me being transported back to my undergraduate years being late to a class or even skipping it entirely. Today, ladies and gents, for the first time in my life, I have actually missed an appointment. It was for my routine dental check-up.

There's a first time for everything.

When I got to the office to check in for what I thought was my 4 pm appointment, the lady at the front desk told me that I missed my appointment by an hour. I was shocked. I couldn't believe it. My husband thought it was funny because he knows how organized I am when it comes to these things. I have been feeling under the weather these past couple of days and since I have another medical appointment next week at 4 pm, I can see where the mix up happened. It's either those things or perhaps I have to accept that I am just... getting old? My husband simple said "Welcome to being human".

September Is for the Figurines

As I have mentioned before, I don't buy into the Special/Collector's Edition releases or whatever crazy thing they are called anymore but every now and then, if the price is just right, I would allow myself to indulge a little bit. Enter Doom: Collector's Edition for the Personal Computer:

I can't even recall the last time I inducted a game box this huge into my Game Library.

Regularly priced at the ridiculous amount of $119.99, I thought $40 was definitely a fair asking price for it. Basically, the most attractive part of this package is the 12" Revenant statue that came with it and wow, it is surely a sight to behold. I showed it to my husband and even he was impressed.

Why can't the amiibos be this huge?

The craftsmanship of this thing is certainly exquisite and they even added a slow rotating fan under the base that the Revenant is standing on, complete with LED lights below it to create this really cheesy lighting effect that sounds cool conceptually but doesn't look as impressive as it should. Is this statue plus the game and Demon Multiplayer Pack worth the original $119.99? Heck no but at the price I paid for it, it does feel like I got a really premium bundle at a really nice price. I may end up enjoying this statue more than the game.

Speaking of cool-looking statues, I decided to pick up the Donkey Kong Display by PDP for my amiibos. We don't get a lot of options at all when it comes to amiibo stands unfortunately and this one is certainly the most attractive looking and functional for me.

Because your amiibos deserved to be displayed in style.

It took me about 10 minutes to assemble the display and the first step which involved attaching three of the bases was a little confusing, especially the fact that the manual uses only pictures and arrows to show me what I needed to do.

Clever and relevant. A display masterpiece.

I really love this display. The colors really pop and the little details like the segmented platforms stay true to the classic game it alludes to. I may get another one of these for the rest of my amiibo family.

Drew the Devil, Won Drawful 2

Last week, I tweeted this drawing that I did during a Drawful 2 session with a random twitch channel. For those who are uninformed, Drawful 2 is a game where basically you are tasked to draw from a random prompt then the other players have to guess the title of that drawing before selecting from a list of options which include the answer plus the other players' suggestions:

I didn't know that the game's developer, Jackbox Games, was monitoring these Drawful 2 creations so I was very surprised when I got a retweet from them:

As if that wasn't cool enough, today, they have also provided me a copy of the game as a reward. Oh my! These guys are awesome! I am so happy to now have this game in my Steam library.

Uplay Be Stylin'

People are weird when it comes to any other form of digital rights management for personal computer gaming outside of Steam - most are not even smart enough to understand that Steam is a form of DRM - so Uplay gets a lot of hate from the community. I don't mind Uplay at all. As a matter of fact, I thought it was pretty cool though I hardly play Ubisoft games on my PC via the Uplay client these days. I received my copy of The Division today so I thought I would update my profile since I was already accessing the Uplay client and I was very surprised with how beautiful things looked now:

So neat and the profile banner is customizable. Good job, Ubisoft!

Don't avoid buying Ubisoft games just because they use the Uplay client. Embrace variety. Surely you wouldn't say no to the possibility of a PlayStation and perhaps even a Nintendo game distribution client that may be coming our way in the future now would you?

Random Gaming Moment

I love my little Kirby family.

X-Box: Beyond Generations?

The tagline used during the Microsoft E3 briefing today, "Beyond Generations", sounds suspiciously like what we are already experiencing right now with gaming on the Personal Computer. When they announced "Project Scorpio" at the end of the briefing, the hardware was still referred to as a "console". Well, if this thing ended up being anything like the Steam Machines fueled by Valve's living room obsession which happen to be console-like PC desktops, then Microsoft may have a real winner here. I truly hope that this signifies that Microsoft has finally seen the light and that PC gaming in the end is the ultimate destination for game development because it is not bound by generations nor is it limited by technology. It's a continuum, an ever-expanding platform. If this Project Scorpio thing ended up being just a small PC powered by Windows 10 and it would use the Windows Store as the game delivery method, then it's a wonderful thing for gaming. The fact that future X-Box One games come bundled with the Windows Store version on the PC is quite telling though Microsoft can further make things more exciting by releasing previously X-Box One exclusive titles to the PC as soon as possible. I really want to play that Sunset Overdrive on my PC. Microsoft's commitment to PC gaming development would definitely put them in a tie with Valve's Steam as the ultimate gaming destinations and it would easily leave Sony in the dust because the only way Sony would be able to compete then would be to replicate both Microsoft's and Valve's business model by delivering games via PC clients - if that were to ever happen, everyone wins. Well, that's a lie. The stubborn, out of touch Nintendo will still be the sore loser... Unless of course they start selling games on the PC as well! Nintendo, please just abandon the NX idea while you still can. It's not too late! It's not going to be a success and you know it.

Just add Nvidia's new GTX 1080 into the Scorpio mini-PC and call it a day.

LG Approves GOG Connect

Get DRM-free versions of games from GOG.com for free if they were previously purchased on Steam? Oh yeah, I am so in. GOG Connect is such a clever little deal between Steam and GOG. Now, if only it could work the other way round because right now, it makes purchasing games from Steam more favorable than getting them on GOG but I prefer it that way anyway. Still, I want my Steam classic Fallout games that I purchased from GOG!

The linking process was simple and painless.

What great value and this was a screenshot from yesterday.

As of today, I got two more games added! Wow!

Overwatch: Let's Get Physical

It's been a long time since I have seen a new physical retail box of a personal computer game in my Game Room because you know, PC game distribution is almost exclusively digital these days. Imagine how awkward it felt for me today when I received my copy of Overwatch: Origins Edition. It was a strange sensation, having to take out the game activation code from the gloriously glossy and colorful cardboard box - which is of course very typical of Blizzard - which came complete with a double folded front cover. It was kind of magical. It made me feel like I was doing something new.

Inside, there are plenty of goodies for Blizzy's other games.

The rather thick notepad that came with it is very cute.

Oh, the inside of the box is orange and it's full of character icons.

Don't worry about me folks, you know as well as I do that it's the nostalgia talking, You will not see me beg and cry for physical copies of games because of what happened today. No sir, I am still sensible enough to know that digital distribution is definitely still the way to go.

LG and the Arcade Stick

I have always wanted to get an arcade stick for my Personal Computer. Even though I have access to a fightpad with 6 face buttons, I always find it awkward when attempting to press two buttons at once. I could probably get used to the fightpad if I utilize it often enough but I don't. Unfortunately, my fightpad will be forever abandoned now that I have received my F300 Mayflash Arcade Fighting Stick. What attracted me to this particular arcade stick is the fact that it is compatible with the PC, the PlayStation 3/4, and the X-Box 360/One. Normally, if an arcade stick is compatible with the PC, it would only be compatible with one of those system families. But the other reason why I decided to go ahead and get the arcade stick is really personal: my husband. He had mentioned to me in the past during one of our extremely rare video gaming session together that he disliked using the gamepad and he wished he could play my games using an arcade stick. So I showed him the stick this evening and he was excited about it He immediately asked me about games like Pac-Man and Galaga which I am now determined to get for him soon - Bandai Namco released these games as parts of their "Arcade Game Series" on Steam last month - so I can finally get to see him gaming even if it's just once in a blue moon.

I used to play a lot of Street Fighter II in the arcades many, many years ago.

As for my own experience with the F300, though responsive, I find moving my characters in a plethora of different games, including shoot-'em-ups, slightly awkward. I personally never had a problem with using both the analog stick and the d-pad on a controller so I am sure that the odd feeling is just me trying to get accustomed with the joystick again. I do love the rediscovered freedom of having easy access to all the available buttons when playing 6-button fighting games so the F300 is now my input device of choice for that genre. I think I will mostly stick with my PS3 controller when playing shmups. I do feel like the F300 is still a gaming peripheral worth having for me, especially if it manages to turn my husband into an occasional gamer...

Futon Begone! Game Room Re-Realized

Remember the futon situation that I wrote about last year? Well, it took a while but I finally managed to get that monstrous thing out of the Game Room. This means that I can finally maximize the space potential of this room and if nothing else, at least it looks a lot cooler now because it doesn't double as a false bedroom anymore. The funny thing is, now that the futon is gone, I really miss it. I enjoyed lying down on it as I watched my favorite Twitch streamers or other stuff on my big screen display. But this is a good change. If I really need to lie down, I can just go to the bedroom or just hop over to the guest room next door, which is now the resting place for the futon. Yoshi loves chilling on the futon though, I know that's not going to be replaceable but I have placed a blanket in the back of the room to encourage her to hang out with me while I'm gaming.

The room feels more spacious now.

Yoshi is not impressed with this change however.

Sega's Cool

I was in for a surprise when I launched a game from the Sega Genesis & Mega Drive Collection on Steam today as I was greeted by a new user interface for the collection presented as a virtual room! I didn't know that the collection has been updated recently and I cannot believe that Sega is just giving us so much love. In a world where Nintendo is still being completely idiotic by staying in the console selling business, we have a developer like Sega who seem to have found themselves in a much better place where they can focus on actual, meaningful game development because you know what Nintendo? It's not just about the gimmick - you destroyed Star Fox Zero thanks to your obsession with gimmicks. Not only were we blessed by the new UI, Sega has even provided graphic enhancement filters as well as Steam Workshop support for all the games in the collection! Wow, I was shocked. Unbelievable. This means that they can all be modded! There is one that modded Streets of Rage 3 into the superior Japanese version of the game. There is another mod that replaces the characters in Streets of Rage 2 with Street Fighter 2 characters. Thank you Sega for your blessing to mod these classics. I cannot wait to see more creative stuff from the Steam community. Now Sega, please release more Genesis/Mega Drive games on Steam! I sure hope Nintendo will start doing the same as soon as their interest in the NX starts to wane, which something that I predict will take at most two years after the release of that sure to be doomed system...

I wish I could customize the room but still, this is so lovely.

Star Fox Zero: It Was a Remake?

Sometimes, avoiding exposure to a game that I look forward too can lead to amusing results. Take Star Fox Zero for the Wii U for example. I didn't really bother reading too much about the game after I have seen some footage of it in one of those Nintendo Direct videos. I remember thinking that things looked a little too familiar during the Corneria section but I thought it would be a given for such a landmark location to appear in the new game. Well, now that I have played the first two stages of the Zero, I come to realize that this game is merely a remake of the great Star Fox 64, only with occasionally better graphics and horrible, horrible controls. How could Nintendo and PlatinumGames get so unimaginative and most importantly, how could they not realize that mandating motion aiming using the Wii U Gamepad gyroscope is a bad, bad, BAD idea? I was hoping that this game could soothe some of that pain that I am experiencing in regards to the Wii U being abandoned too quickly by Nintendo and their next console/gimmick dream but things are looking rather grim. I would like to think that that this game will get better the more I play it but thus far, on top of the atrocious and disgusting controls, Zero actually manages to feel less epic than the original because they have replaced previously exciting sections into downright chore segments. What a disappointment.

This may end up being as bad as a typical Hollywood movie remake.

FIRST IMPRESSION: 2 out of 5

Update Note: 04/23/2016 - Played several more missions, oh my galaxy, this game is horrid. The motion control is impossible to love. Purposely limiting the scope and precision of the stick control to force players to use the gyroscope nonsense is beyond idiotic. They even made you use the gyroscope to turn left and right for some sections when the implementation of the right stick could have easily do the trick. It's like they were asking themselves, "How can we make Star Fox 64 much much more complicated?". You know when you ask a stupid question like that, you get horrible results. It hurts to say this but Star Fox Zero is easily one of the worst games I have ever played in my whole life. It's not only a disappointment, it is totally disgusting!

SECOND IMPRESSION: 1 out of 5

Worst Game Trailer: Dark Souls III

We all should know at this point that From Software can release an endless number of Dark Souls games in rapid succession even and they all will sell like hot cakes because a majority of gamers already bought the "difficulty" hype. But apparently, somewhere along the distribution line, there are still people involved in the process who feel that the target audience still needs to be reminded that the upcoming Dark Souls III will be an awesome experience by releasing a trailer that pretty much shows a large number of the game's boss fights and it may even include a footage of possibly the final boss. The first time I saw the trailer was while browsing channels on twitch.tv - an ad would load before you can watch the broadcast - and I was thinking to myself, wow, do they really think they couldn't sell this game with just a subtle, simple trailer like how they marketed the previous two games? I am not going to dignify that trailer by linking it here but what were they thinking? It's bad enough that Bandai Namco had distributed early access to a limited portion of the game to twitch.tv celebs, which I find to be overreaching and stupid: If you are a true Dark Souls fan, why would you even watch the broadcast and get the early part of the game spoiled for you? The marketing department clearly doesn't understand what Dark Souls is all about based on that reveal all bosses trailer and reveal too much gameplay broadcast campaign. Very strange indeed because this whole series is built upon mystique and player discovery. If I was From Software, perhaps it's time to end the relationship with Bandai Namco and go solo so that they can keep their dignity and protect their artwork from further desecration.

The marketing department is staffed with twitch trolls apparently

who want to say, "Ha ha ha we are taking away your initial surprise

from encountering these bosses in the game! Sucks to be you!"

1CC Run - Contemplating Death

Ever since that incident in July last year, things just haven't been the same to me. Just to recap, I thought that I lost my husband when he didn't show up at the airport when I went to pick him up only to learn later that he was hospitalized the night before. Though he did return to me eventually, it was hard to forget that deep dark pit that I experienced when I thought that it was over. It's sometimes hard to sleep at night as I lie down next to my husband because I understand the eventuality of death and I really don't want to experience that incredible pain I experienced before. I am an atheist. I don't believe that my husband and I would be together again in death and that thought has been haunting me day and night. It is easy to see why people rather believe in the afterlife because the alternative is truly something else. I am not going to claim that I know how the universe works but I do know that I can only remember this life and this life only. People have been living on this planet for a very long time and my consciousness is bound to this particular period of existence.

When you accept love into your heart, you tend to forget about accepting love lost with it.

I remember my husband telling me that when he fell and hit his head, he saw nothing, everything was dark until he finally woke up at the hospital. "There was nothing there," he claimed. And I can recall telling him "Of course there wasn't." I have shared with him my personal experience with death. I almost lost my life in an accident when I was young and I had an out of body experience where I saw the doctor trying to revive my body below me as I was floating upwards. It could have been just simply trauma but it felt very real. It's not something I share with a lot of people but I think it's important to mention it here because even after experiencing that, I have always been borderline agnostic before settling comfortably into being an atheist. For the longest time, my view on death had been rather simple: when you die, you just go back to that place before you gain consciousness - nothingness. I don't remember wanting to live nor feeling pain nor happiness nor sadness. It's just that one simply doesn't exist. Death is only difficult for those who know the person who died and not the person him/herself. After finding the love of my life and almost losing him, things are not that easy anymore. I hate the thought of losing someone so dear in my life forever and I also hate the thought of slipping in nothingness without being able to be reunited somewhere, somehow. Humans are selfish creatures and I am not immune to selfish thoughts. Perhaps the reality of things just hit me harder than I ever anticipated it to be and I am just bitter about the whole thing.

Together only in our physical forms for we don't exist beyond that.

I have spoken to my husband in regards to this yesterday. We have had discussions about death in the past and both of us have always been clear about our love and commitment to each other as well as what death means to us individually. During the recent conversation, he told me that he used to feel like he wasn't ready for death, that now he's ready to face it because he's happy where he's at. He did express the fear of losing me for he still has no knowledge of how that would actually feel. I on the other hand, feel like I am not ready to lose him because of what I have felt before and neither am I ready to lose myself. I know when I pass on, I wouldn't be able to care about these things but I need to look deeper into my life so that I can accept the reality of the situation. I have been dealing with other depressing thoughts and this of course is just adding to my unhappiness. Video games may be at the center of my life but unfortunately, this is a situation that they are unable to help me with.

Games Played 03/19/2016

Session A: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Session B: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Session C:

Heroes of the Storm (PC)

Raiden III Digital Edition (PC)

King of the Monsters (PC

Session D: Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA F 2nd (PlayStation 3)

Session E: Audiosurf 2 (PC)

Session F: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Handheld Session : Yoshi's New Island (3DS)

Games Played 03/18/2016

Session A: Yourself!Fitness (X-Box)

Session B:

Heroes of the Storm (PC)

Downwell (PC)

Session C: Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA F 2nd (PlayStation 3)

Session D: Audiosurf 2 (PC)

Session E: Smite (PlayStation 4)

Session F: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Handheld Session: Yoshi's New Island (3DS)

Games Played 03/17/2016

Session A:

Yourself!Fitness (X-Box)

Final Fantasy XIII (PC)

Session B: Hatsune Miku - Project DIVA F 2nd (PlayStation 3)

Session C: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Session D: Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Session E: Smite (PlayStation 4)

Handheld Session: Yoshi's New Island (3DS)

Games Played 03/16/2016

Session A: Yourself!Fitness (X-Box)

Session B: Final Fantasy XIII (PC)

Session C: Heroes of the Storm (PC)

Session D:

Heroes of the Storm (PC)

Super Galaxy Squadron EX (PC)

Games Played 03/15/2016

Session A: Yourself!Fitness (X-Box)

Session B: Heroes of the Storm (PC)

Session C: Final Fantasy XIII (PC)

Session D: Final Fantasy XIII (PC)