L4D: The Sacrifice Update

What is this? Another free content update for the Left 4 Dead games on the Personal Computer? I am so glad I didn't buy these games for the X-Box 360 since this content will cost 560 Microsoft Points on that console. I haven't played through the entirety of the regular campaign on both the first and the second game because the whole thing does get really old really fast for me - all you do is shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot, and shoot without anything really clever involved in the whole shooting process. So yes, it's fun to shoot zombies using some variety of weapons but it feels too repetitive. I know what I am lacking with this game: three good friends to play it with because I know that is the real allure of L4D. As a matter of fact, you can turn anything fun - like maybe a bad party game - when you are playing it with a bunch of your good buddies... So is L4D a bad party game? Maybe it is. How very curious.

It's time to revisit the world of nonstop zombie killing it seems.

Do I Dream of Games?

With the many game experiences I have had ever since I was around 8 or 9 years old, I know that I pretty much live and breathe video games. I play them whenever I get the chance to and yes, though that may seem be the most ideal and dreamy situation for a lot of gamers, this activity does take me away from my other interest, most predominantly my drawings and writings. Getting this website started was a way for me to infuse creative writing into my gaming habits but there are other subject matters that I am so interested in writing about in both fiction and poetry forms. Growing up, I used to write and draw comic books and though I have tried to get this going again throughout these years, all of the time spent on playing video games has taken its toll of that aspect of my creativity. Perhaps the only exception when I tend to do other things beside gaming these days is when I am doing something with my significant other and that normally involves watching movies/television shows, spending some personal time together, as well as going out of the house for whatever reason. Of course, I also don't game when I finally go to sleep.

Since a majority of my life is spent on gaming, it is fascinating that I don't often dream about anything video game related in exception of one thing: Every so often - perhaps once every 2 years - I would dream about buying a new console or game and then bringing it back home only to wake up just as I was about to start playing it. Of course, that is not a dream. It is actually a freaking nightmare. What I do dream the most about however is being back at my undergraduate years at the university and actually being late or worse, skipping a class. Again, this not really a dream but a nightmare. For such scenario to keep reoccurring to me in my sleep must speak volume about my inner psyche - that I am a control freak with a massive obsessive compulsive behavior and that I like to be able to have total control over time and space in my daily life. It is my biggest fear to lose the ability to "keep up" and "maintain" an orderly scheduled life and of course being able to do so was such an important thing to me during those undergraduate years. I have not lost that rigid discipline in my professional life - though things are far less stringent now - so it is quite intriguing how my brain tend to revert back to that ancient time period instead reimagining a situation from something a little more current.

Dreaming electric is just a fantasy.

It is obvious that there are enough games for me in my conscious state that warrants not a sub-conscious excursions. I probably already have enough games at this moment to really last me a lifetime. Human years are so very short. In between gaming, living life, and dreaming, there is that state of non-existence when I would blank out as I slip into sleep and then suddenly become aware again in a state of consciousness. So it is that I don't dream of games, which makes me realize that it is a perfect fit for that eventual infinite time when I could only dream of nothing.

September 2010 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: 40

I played League of Legends on the Personal Computer almost every day last month and I don't think that this pattern is going to stop any time soon. This game is just extremely fun, pure and simple. To think of all the expensive games being sold other there and here we are, a truly free to play game that plays better than any one of them. To think that I was about to give up on this genre due to the bad experience I had playing Heroes of Newerth. I am glad I went back to LoL. I keep reminding myself to return to HoN however because I am very curious to see if S2 Games made good on its promise to clean up the community.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies for the Nintendo DS took the second place slot. I try to play the game about an hour or two before I go to sleep at night mostly. The game wasn't that exciting for its first several hours but things definitely picked up after the solo section was over and more adventurers joined the party.

Tied at third place were My Aquarium for the PlayStation 3 and Rogue Galaxy for the PlayStation 2. I recently had a renewed interest in Rogue Galaxy and that interest is still going strong. I must say that the "factory" section of the game where you have to design mechanical production lines to create new items was a bit of a turn off for me because it was unnecessarily complex at the beginning.  As for My Aquarium, I am definitely planning to keep that on my display whenever I am relaxing in my Game Room.

Best New Game of the Month:

Cho-Aniki: Kyukyoku Muteki Ginga Saikyo Otoko (PlayStation 3)

Unexpectedly Forgotten New Game of the Month:

Alan Wake (X-Box 360)

I Missed You I Want You Game of the Month:

Recettear: An Item Shop Tale (Personal Computer)

Games Played 09/27/2010 - 10/03/2010

- 09/27/2010 -

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - NDS

League of Legends - PC

My Aquarium - PlayStation 3

- 09/28/2010 -

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - NDS

League of Legends - PC

Rogue Galaxy - PlayStation 2

- 09/29/2010 -

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - NDS

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light Demo - PC

League of Legends - PC

- 09/30/2010 -

Capcom Classics Collection Vol. 2 - X-Box

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - NDS

Panzer Dragoon Orta - X-Box

Rogue Galaxy - PlayStation 2

- 10/01/2010 -

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - PC

League of Legends - PC

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers -PC

Rogue Galaxy - PlayStation 2

- 10/02/2010 -

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies - NDS

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light - PC

League of Legends - PC

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers - PC

Rogue Galaxy - PlayStation 2

- 10/03/2010 -

League of Legends - PC

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers - PC

LoL Sexy Hour

Why is it that I am so attracted to these oddball characters? So, I have accumulated around 3200 Influence Points playing League of Legends on the Personal Computer and even though I thought of saving up for Blitzcrank - a yellow robot with an extended arm that could grab distant enemies - who can be purchased for 6300 IP or maybe even the soon-to-be-released sinister new champion named Swain, I decided to peruse the in-game store and check out the list of unlockable champions. I then decided to unlock Gragas rather randomly for 3150 IP. Gragas is an obese bearded recluse whose main ability consists of him drinking some grog and being in a drunken stupor. I didn't expect much when I jumped into a practice match but then I found that he was indeed a lot of fun to play. I have used him for the last 7 matches and I am afraid that he is really growing on me. Sorry Nidalee... It looks like you have been replaced.

I guess fat is better than cat.

Shake that belly like you mean it Gragas!