Games Played 04/29/2013 - 05/05/2013

- 04/29/2013 -

Audiosurf - PC

Castle Crashers - PC

Warriors Orochi 3 - PlayStation 3

- 04/30/2013 -

Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires - PlayStation 3

Jetpack Joyride - PC

League of Legends - PC

Warriros Orochi 3 - PlayStation 3

- 05/01/2013 -

Audiosurf - PC

Fez - PC

League of Legends - PC

- 05/02/2013 -

Dynasty Warriors 7: Empires - PlayStation 3

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC

GundeadliGne - PlayStation 3

League of Legends - PC

Mighty Switch Force: Hyper Drive Edition- Wii U

Sin & Punishment: Star Successor - Wii

- 05/03/2013 -

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC

League of Legends - PC

- 05/04/2013 -

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - PC

League of Legends - PC

- 05/05/2013 -

Audiosurf - PC

League of Legends - PC

Tomb Raider - PC

Zack Zero - PC

Screenshot of the Week:

This is how I feed my kitty.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Personal Computer)

Your 2 Minutes Starts... Now!

Oh honey, what cruel game you play. On our way back from Tiburon today, we stopped by Fry's Electronics per the spouse's instruction so that I could pick up a couple of games as gifts. There was a catch though: because the spouse hates being in that store, I was given two minutes to pick up the games that I wanted or the deal is off. I was frantic of course because I find it quite hard to just pick up games quickly. I normally would have to consult my Purchase List and even then, I would have to think about things thoroughly. Well, I didn't want to lose out so I did grab two games quickly and lined up at the cash register just in time. Perhaps I should do this to myself whenever I have troubles making a decision whether or not to get a game. I should give myself two minutes and if I couldn't decide during that time, then I would not allow myself to consider getting that game again for an entire month. It could be dangerous to do that however because I would mostly be leaning towards the acquisition of the games in question... Yes, that would be rather irresponsible, don't you agree?

A great end to an already wonderful day.

No Tibbers in Tiburon

The spouse and I went on a little road trip today since we haven't spent a lot of time doing anything extra special with each other. We took a drive to Tiburon - a neat little coastal town just to the north of San Francisco. I didn't know that this place even existed and both the spouse and I had never been here before. The weather was nice too for it was a bit cloudy and cool, just the way I liked it. We didn't expect much from the visit other than enjoying a little bit of an adventure but the view of the San Francisco Bay was beautiful. The town was dog friendly too so having Yoshi with us ended up being a worthwhile decision. We were going to leave her with a friend but changed our minds this morning because the thought of her not being close to us for the whole day was just a bit too much to bear.

Maybe we'll take you all the way to The City one day Yoshi.

Days like this one reminded me of the life pleasures that can be found outside of gaming. It's great to just spend some time with the person I love where it's all about the two of us (and Yoshi) and nothing else in between. I definitely rather be doing this than having the spouse watching me game and me being distracted at what's happening on the screen. But of course, it is still fun to be surprised by the spouse with the gifts of games on our way back from Tiburon... Oh yeah!

Video Gaming is Moving Too Fast

As someone who has been gaming all of his life, I do find it strange that my feelings towards this upcoming transition from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 or whatever Microsoft may bring to the table for the X-Box - still hoping it's a Windows 8 based thing - is rather uncommon compared to a lot of other gamers. I found quite a number of acquaintances who are rather happy about getting "new consoles" while I see a such thing as another console being abandoned unnecessarily. Apparently, people are not concerned about shelling out cash for a new hardware. I don't have too much of a problem with that in particular since I do love to upgrade my Personal Computer but the difference there is that these newer consoles are not fully-backwards compatible and some will not honor that feature whatsoever. When I spend on new PC hardware, I know I am just extending the life of all the PC games I have but that is not the case when it comes to console gaming. The other thing that came to my mind today was the speed in which new games get the price slash these days, especially for the PC:

That's not too bad and it fits my budget quite well.

There are just so many interesting titles being released at all times and then not too long after their release, you see crazy price drops that make you wonder - is it really worth getting the more expensive games at launch? The ironic thing here is that I used to tell people that they shouldn't feel guilty about getting games at full price if they have the money to burn but my perspective has changed since then. Sure, it's great to support your favorite developers, there is nothing wrong with that but if we adhere to that rule, we would be buying a really small number of games a year. I do know this: I think most developers don't deserve our hard-earned cash, especially those who think that they can only make better games with better hardware... Whoever came up with that equation must have accidentally fell in the bathroom and hit his or her head on a toilet bowl. All that I know is this: if you are like me who tries to get every single game that you are interested in, there is no way that we can catch up to these new game releases. It's just impossible. It's hard to stop pursuing and I am certain that there is nothing wrong in doing so, but I think that we really have to start making some smart choices. I think that price threshold that I have set for myself was a great start and the survival guide I have published is definitely helpful. The next thing for me here is perhaps I need to set an actual number of games that I would get per month. Is that a little bit of a stretch or just a natural progression of things?

LoL's Graphics: Not So Funny Anymore

When it comes to visual grandeur in multiplayer online battle arena games, it is obvious that DOTA 2 by Valve is the undisputed king, thanks to its incredible art-style, animations, and even champion customization.  This will definitely change in the near future because Riot Games have really been showing us what they can accomplish themselves with the ever continuous upgrades for League of Legends' graphics, both in the champion models and the game environments improvements. I remember how... unflattering this game looks when I played the beta and unfortunately, some of the older champions are still cursed by this ugliness yet Riot is a little slow with introducing replacement models for them. But this recent release of the Howling Abyss map clearly shows that once everything is said and done, LoL will be quite a looker. This map is stunning thanks to the fact that it doesn't feel like it takes place in some generic map. It's a bridge and you can see the icy areas around you and what lies far beneath it. In the map's previous incarnation, the Proving Grounds, all you see outside of the bridge itself is nothing but darkness. Then, with this new map, you get little things like seeing the cold breeze swirling in the air, little ice bunnies littering the area, and environmental destruction that punctuates the flow of the battle. The best thing about this map for me is the towers: how beautifully they crumble when they are attacked, just like the towers in DOTA 2. Keep going Riot, I can already see how wonderful the three lane map, Summoner's Rift, could be thanks to the Howling Abyss, and even the Twisted Treeline remake not too long ago. Hope that eventual change will arrive soon.

A unique, fully realized shopkeeper for each side of the battle? Brilliant.