Ugh Island.

So my last post about Dead Island was kind of positive right? I mentioned a few of the things I enjoyed and some of the things that I didn't enjoy all that much. I believe that when I wrote that I was just getting into Act II which sends you from the resort and into the city.

You can forget all those nice things I had to say about Dead Island because this is one crappy ass game. There's no denying that Dead Island has some charm in the beginning; I would say that Dead Island gives a great first impression, but as you go on the game becomes more annoying, it drags on way too long and the combat gets more and more frustrating.

Thing is, even after beating the game then bitching about it on Twitter, I still fired up Dead Island to try one of the other characters. Again, the beginning of the game at the Resort is quite enjoyable and its open RPG gameplay is what draws me in  just like an Elder Scrolls or Fallout game does. But man does this game have issues.

The story is forgettable and cliche, but honestly if the dev's had built the game around just the resort portion of the game, fleshed it out a bit more making it a bit larger and the game was only say fifteen hours, then I would say this is a great game. But Dead Island just drags on and on and on and on.....

The Island is Dead!

When Dead Island came out about a month ago I didn't think anything of it. Since then I had been hearing some positive buzz about the game from both Twitter and a few of the Podcasts I listen to. But it wasn't until I heard that it's got some RPG type elements withing the game that my interest was peaked.

Even with the good things people have been saying about Dead Island there was just as much said about its many issues at launch on the PC. Amazon had the game on sale for forty bucks, but I was really reluctant to make the purchase for two reasons: the very buggy release and I had a few other games I was in the process trying to get through before the huge November and December releases.

When Dead Island dropped to just over thirty-six bucks on Amazon, I finally caved in a made the purchase. And for that I am quite happy. See, Dead Island is not a great game; it has it's share of issues and annoyances, but it's the perfect game at the perfect time for me.

The gameplay structure reminds me of the more recent Fallout and Elder Scrolls games. Much like those games the player is free to go about and play the game however they want. There is the main story quest, lots of side quests and even repeatable quests that give XP, and one can't forget about the massive amounts of zombies that one will be smashing to bits during all this. There are fifty levels to gain, and each level I believe gives a skill point to invest in one of three skill trees. While you're doing all that you can explore the island and loot the luggage of those less fortunate that you!

I haven't had too many technical issues - some awful sound crackling from my USB headset, clipping issues with zombies and lots and lots of texture popping which is a bit distracting. I do however have a few annoyances with Dead Island. The first person combat makes it tough to judge the distance from a zombie, something that makes fighting a thug a nuisance. The combat is a lot of fun but it can get repetitive and honestly it downright fails when fighting large groups of zombies, something you don't want to do but does happen on occasion.

I also find the weapon degradation to be annoying, but just slightly. There's no shortage of weapons to be found, and in the beginning you will frequent locations with workbenches to repair weapons quite often. Even still, I find that the weapons degrade just too fast. I've toyed with the idea of using a mod to slow down weapon degradation, but I don't because the fear of having a weapon become useless does add the the overall experience of Dead Island.

When I mentioned Dead Island being the perfect game at the perfect time, it's because after watching some Diablo III gameplay streams I really had a hankering for some action rpg type experience. While Dead Island isn't so much action it does satiate my thirst for some RPG. The Witcher 2 isn't really doing it for me so this will have to do me till Skyrim comes in November!

The Obligatory 'What I've Been Playing' Post

Since I haven't been blogging much one could think that I am either playing way too much to post or not playing anything what so ever. It's definitely no the latter because I had the whole week off from work. So let's hop to it shall we?

 

First up is Deus Ex Human Revolution. Initially I was very worried for this game; a few delays and what seemed to be some not so positive previews kept me from preordering a copy till the very last minute. Thankfully DXHR has turned out to be a pretty darn good game.

I bitched and moaned on twitter the other day about my frustration with the third and forth boss along with the whole last level of the game and how it almost ruined the whole game for me. But the core gameplay, the power of choice and the ending I chose were so great that I decided to immediately playthrough the game a second time.

My first run through I wanted to do the stealthy pacifier type so my weapons of choice were the stun gun, tranq rifle, gas grenades and non-lethal take downs. I don't want to get into this too much, but I was one of those who bought into the notion that a hacking stealther will have difficulty with the boss fights. That's not true, it just requires being prepared and wise investments of your Augs. It would explain why I am having more fun the second time through than I did the first.

I have finished the game once already and I am probably half way done with my second playthrough.

Next up is Warhammer 40k Space Marine. I have only played maybe an hour of this game, but I will go on record as saying Space Marine is F&#*ING AWESOME. The first time I stunned an Orc then impaled their skull with my combat knife I cackled like a school girl. The first time I sliced through a group of Orcs with a chainsword I had an instant boner. Ok so maybe I didn't, but it was freakin' sweet!

I had to put Space Marine on the back burner because I really wanted to finish DXHR first. I have been putting a lot of effert into making sure I start and finishing a new game before moving onto another new game.

There is of course the problem with having enough time, which my next game does not help with.

Yep, I have been playing in the World of Warcraft. I must have gone six months without thinking about let alone playing a MMO. But by June I was getting a hankering for some massively online stuff, so with my free game time due to SOE's downtime I went and subscribed to the Station Access. I paid for one month at thirty dollars and with my free time I don't have to pay again till the end of November, not bad.

Unfortunately a few of my friends were playing WoW and like a good lemming I eventually caved in and resubbed my account. This week I haven't played nearly as much because of DXHR, but WoW does tend to occupy my evenings when my buddies come online. Honestly I don't have much to say about WoW, I have been doing some PvP with the mage and letting my priest gain some rested bonus to make Outlands go by a little quicker.

So there you have it, my primary games of choice this week during my extended time off from work. Next week NHL 12 releases and I have also been thinking about giving Rift another try. Wish there was an Augmentation that gave me more time to play games!

Still Hope For Battlefield 3.

Last night I stumbled upon an article about how Battlefield 3 for the PC will not have an in-game server browser unlike the console versions which will include a server browser. That just seems backwards if you ask me. Instead what the PC version will use is a program called Battlelog through a player's Internet browser.

Today I read an article on PCGamer.com about the new system and still I was scratching my head wondering why such a thing was needed for the PC. After reading the article I thought to myself that I may not be getting BF3 because of this seemingly complicated and unnecessary requirement to play online.

Well then I scrolled down to the comments and I must tell you, I was surprised at what I was reading. You can tell the responses to the article because the comments are in a gray box and they are primarily negative. What was surprising was the amount of replies to those comments that were positive. There were far more comments about how easy the system worked and how much better Battlelog was compared to a server browser. There were people actually positive on something EA is doing, shocker I know.

I firmly believe that the majority of people who hate EA have either forgotten or don't know why they dislike the company. Having no in-game server browser for arguably one the biggest multiplayer games to be released this year is just begging to get even more hate. But apparently Battlelog works, and it worked well for many who commented on the PCGamer article.

This reminds me of the time a few years ago when I spit venom in Activision's way when I learned Modern Warfare 2 was going to use peer-to-peer matchmaking. P2P matchmaking is the bane of any PC game and is almost certain death for its online longevity, unless you're Modern Warfare 2.

I admit, I was going to forget about BF3 all together after reading the article, but reading the many positive comments about how the new Battlelog works and that it worked well has calmed my fears and given me renewed interest in the game.

The Pile of Funk.

I shamelessly borrowed this pic!

A few weeks ago Anjin wrote about the pile. You know, that physical or even virtual stack of games that's been sitting there waiting for you to play. Everyday it calls out to you just begging for you to play and yet you sit there ignoring their cries for attention. Ok, so maybe that second part is just me, but you get the idea.

I too have the pile, but for me it causes what I refer to as the funk. The funk is an overwhelming desire to play every game you own but not being able to come to a decision as to which particular game to play. Symptoms include sitting at your desk and staring off into space, playing multitudes games for 3-5 mins at a time, a general lack of interest in current game because you feel you should be playing that other game and the occasional tv watching.

I do have a touch of the funk right now, but it's not too bad. This time however the cause is twofold: I am still waiting for my replacement video card so I can play games like Witcher 2 and Bulletstorm and I have this overwhelming desire to play one of the many strategy games that I have purchased over the years.

The video card thing isn't such a big deal because I should be getting the replacement soon. The monkey wrench in this touch of funk is the strategy gaming desire that I have. I'm not talking Real Time Strategy like say Company of Heroes, I'm referring to games like Hearts of Iron III or Victoria II, Europa Universalis III or EU:Rome, you know those games that have manuals the size of small novels. I really enjoy those grand strategy type games, but I don't necessarily enjoy the time it takes to learn how to play one.

What it boils down to is that I need to stop buying games on sale and I just need to not be overwhelmed by the need to learn whichever strategy game I want to play and just play it!

Let's Play Some: Everquest 2 Furbottom Edition!

In this inaugural edition of Let's Play Some I thought I would start of with something easy like Everquest 2. I know what you're asking your, 'why is this the Furbottom Edition?'. Well I will get to that here in a second. Because this post may be long with lots of terrible looking screenshots, I have decided to add a jump break to this post. So if you are incredibly interested or bored join me after the break and we will get to the adventure!

Ultramarines.

I have been know to enjoy movies that the mainstream deems stinkers. For example, I love Doom, Silent Hill and Hitman is one of my absolute favorites! I had all but forgotten about the Ultramarines movie, but judging from the trailer it looks to be all kinds of awesome.

Video after the break!

Ho Hum.

Wow, can't believe it's been almost a month since I posted something on the blog. One would think that I have been busy, maybe too busy to spend just a little time to write something, anything. Truth is I've just been lazy. Not only have I not been spending time writing, I have also not been reading my reader feeds of other blogs. Wow, that's not a very good sentence is it!

Soapbox.

I found this to be quite interesing and thought provoking. I will admit to having little knowledge of the California Violent Video Games law and am ashamed of that fact. My poor state, it can be a pretty stupid place to live sometimes.

Video after the break!

It's Bitter Sweet.

I'm sure by now most if not all have heard of the announcement that Star Wars Galaxies will officially be shutting down come December 15th. When I read the announcement this morning before work I was hit with two emotions - sadness and relief. Everyone at some point had to know this day would come see as how a new Star Wars MMO is just around the corner, but it didn't make the announcement any less surprising. At least for myself.

The closure of SWG is bitter sweet for me. On one hand I have wanted the game to fail and go away for a very long time. But on the other I have always had a fondness and love for the game. Even though Dark Age of Camelot was my first MMO, Galaxies was the game that cemented my addiction to the genre.

Galaxies is like that friend or family member that when they were little you loved to spend time with. But as they got older they just became a major screw up, making one bad decision after another. Eventually as they get older they realize that maybe they hadn't made the best decisions in life and try to get their life back on track. Even though they have disappointed you over the years, deep down you still love them and hope the best. That's how I have viewed SWG over the years.

Almost a year ago I wrote up a post about my time with the SWG emulator and how my fond memories of my time in Pre-CU Galaxies were tainted in the color rose. The words I wrote then are still valid today. Even though the realization that SWG was a mess back in the day, nothing will replace the fond memories I have of my time in Galaxies during that period.

Where Oh Where Has My Wallet Gone!

Man I really need to exercise more discipline and discretion with regards to buying games! So in the past thirty days I bought in order: The First Templar, The Witcher 2, LA Noire for the PS3, Red Faction Armageddon, Brink, Bulletstorm on sale for twelve bucks and I picked up My FEAR 3 and Dungeon Siege 3 pre-orders from Gamestop today. That is a lot of gaming.

I have finished LA Noire and Red Faction and was close to completing The First Templar, but I just couldn't take more of that awful game. I do think I am getting better with my game purchase to completion percentage. But, a spending spree like this is what back logs are made of.

The plan is to start with Dungeon Siege 3, then get to FEAR 3 next with a healthy dose of Brink in between. There's also the matter of MMO's - I am getting the itch to play them again. Either way, I've got enough gaming to tide me over till Warhammer 40k Space Marine arrives in late August!

I Don't Get It.

What has happened to the gaming community these days? If it makes a console gamer happy then the PC gamer is complaining. If the PC gamer is happy(which seems like never) then the console gamer is complaining. This game received this score so I think that game deserves that score because I think it's better than this other game. What do you mean I can use a controller for this game? Everyone knows PC gamers only use mouse and keyboard.

This game is so awesome. It looks great, has a better story, and.....wait it's coming to Xbox? Then this game is a dirty console port, can't you tell by the.....

Message boards are full of anger, disappointment, ignorance and just all around vitriol. It's really sad because games are suppose to be fun and relaxing. Instead games have become this thing that people want to latch onto and take up the cause for or against them. There's this fanaticism that seems to drive gamers to lash out whenever someone has a differing view or opinion about a game.

With each new release on the PC there comes the inevitable 'console port' criticism along with the 'you must not be a PC gamer' or 'you have no idea what you're talking about' comments. PC gamers have this idea that their game should have a differing experience because they are playing on the PC. I don't get that. I think that train of thought is born out of some nostalgic idea of what gaming was like at one time.

Gamers have forgotten how to enjoy themselves. Instead they have become angry and bitter and will accept no other opinion than their own. Too bad really.

A Bit of Nothing.

I have just spent the past couple of hours on the web looking up topics such as subjectivity and objectivity, the idea of being entitled to having an opinion and of course reading the Steam message board. I have actually found the time quite enlightening to be honest.

So from that a few thoughts came to mind, mostly game related. What makes a game good or bad? Are game reviews suppose to be objective or subjective? If a game review is the opinion of the author, then why does the author or reviewer suddenly have less credibility because one disagrees with the review? Are we truly entitled to have an opinion and is it to be respected? Why do people become so devoted to a product or company that drives them to close mindedness? Do you think that when Ben Kenobi was talking about the Mos Eisely spaceport, that he was really talking about message boards in general? Why am I still typing this and not playing games? And finally, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

I may not know the answer to all of this, but I do know that a few months ago I didn't really care about to know the answers. It wasn't until I jumped on the Steam forums and began to read the most nonsensical, ignorant and elitist statements that made me want to know the answers.

It seems to me that gamers have forgotten how to have fun and not to worry so much about what others think as long as they are enjoying themselves.

EDIT: Here's another question: would a review be better if it stated only the facts and was devoid of any sort of emotional slant? Is that even possible?

More TOR Goodness!

Again, I think I just messed in my pants!

SW:TOR E3 Video!

I think I just messed in my pants! I would be lying if I didn't say that I am quite excited for TOR to be released.

Eureka!

I think I have figured it out. If you're trying to convey an opinion about a game that you believe is getting unjustly criticized then you are whining. If said game is one that has a popular opinion of being bad then you are an idiot with bad taste in games. But, if you are trying to convince someone that game X is better or what game Y was suppose to be, well then you are a fanboi. Also it seems that opinions are not to be respected if they are blatantly wrong, and believing that game Y is not bad means your opinion is wrong.

Getting Past The Funk.

After spending the month of April and the beginning of May playing Dragon Age 2 I wasn't sure what I was going to play next. To be honest there was a time during my third play-through where boredom started to set in. But I was able to push through that and completed the came for a total of eight times. Probably not healthy.

 So I took a week off from gaming to reinstall Windows and to give myself a breather before I decided what to move on to next. Thing was I had been in a bit of a funk even before finishing DA2 a ninth time. I knew my time was at an end and I was going to be playing something different, but I couldn't figure out what that was going to be.

The funk for me is this overwhelming feeling I get when I look at the number of games I own both digitally and physically and realize that I haven't played them yet. I have plenty of time to play games that's not the problem, having too many games is the problem. So I get this desire to play these various games but not deciding which one to start with so the end result is me sitting at my desk staring at my monitor. It's quite frustrating really.

So I decided to reinstall Windows and clean up the machine a bit, and that seemed to help a lot. After some tweaking and reinstalling I decided what I was going to play. Two weeks ago I started with Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops, Homefront, Singularity which was on sale finally, The Force Unleashed on the PS3, the new Medal of Honor, and finally Rainbow Six Vegas 2.

To be clear I played from start to finish each and everyone of those games, a feat that I am quite proud of really. In between all that there was the occasional NHL 11 because of the playoffs and a pinch of MMO's that are either f2p or just have free time available. None of the games I listed are all that lengthy which is why I chose them, but the feeling of accomplishment is nice.

Of the military shooters that I played, Medal of Honor was my favorite. The story is not overbearing, the gameplay is solid and I have always enjoyed the multiplayer. I was honestly surprised at how good I thought it was. Singularity if probably the best of the bunch, but it really fails to take advantage of the time manipulation aspect of the game. I don't consider Rainbow Six a military shooter, but that's just me. As for Force Unleashed, as soon as I finished that pile I traded the game away to Gamestop to hopefully rot away on the shelf. Man that game sucks.

As for what's on the plate next, that would be a bit of R6V2, The First Templar and most likely a whole lot of NHL 11!

DLC BAD!

DLC is here to stay it seems, why do people still cling to this feeling of entitlement and believe that they deserve additional content for free?

Lately I have been participating in a so called conversation on the Steam forums about the new DLC for Dawn of War II: Retribution. DoWII has a online coop mode called Last Stand which puts three players in an arena where they must fight off up to twenty waves of enemies. Players can choose one of six different hero units that represent each of the factions in the game. It's almost like an action-rpg really since you are controlling a single hero unit. Heroes gain XP up to level twenty and will unlock new wargear and abilities on the way.

Relic just released six new items of DLC with two pieces of wargear for all six factions at a $2.99 price tag for each. Initially I thought you had to purchase each one separately which would come to around $18 bucks! There is however a complete wargear pack that is available which includes all six DLC for only $10 bucks, much more satisfactory in my mind.

I can understand all the angst against DLC, I had a huge problem with the thought of paying for content piecemeal when it was just starting out. My main argument was that I would end up paying more for these small pieces of content than I did for the full game itself. I now support the idea of DLC, I just don't always support the price.

What I can't understand is the thought process of someone who is going to jump on a message board and start complaining about pricing or company greed or how they want free content. I really think it's a case of the haves vs the have-nots. If you don't like the DLC then don't buy it, no one is forcing you to. But because someone else is willing to pay for it then it's suddenly not fair and the DLC should have been part of a free update of what have you.

Message boards are really a wretched hive of scum and villainy!

Welcome To The Master Race!

Wanna know what makes me rage? PC gaming elitists! They've been around for quite some time and anyone who's been a PC gamer has probably even been guilty of being one at some point. Let me give an example: a few years ago there was this small game called Modern Warfare 2 that was about to be released, and I complained and complained about how I felt the game was a dirty console port because of its new peer-to-peer matchmaking for multiplayer. So yes, even I have exhibited some elitism in the past.

I listen to a few gaming podcasts, and there have been more than a few hosts that have levied a derogatory comment towards the PC gaming crowd on occasion. I tend to ignore statements like this and chalk it up to just plain ignorance by a console gamer. But it seems this year those elitist accusations have been more than confirmed by none other than idiotic PC gamers!

What makes a PC gamer an elitist? Well it seems the requirements to become an elitist are to complain that a PC game is a console port with the expectation that a game for the PC is suppose to have certain options and give the PC gamer a completely different experience gameplay wise on the PC.

Dragon Age 2 was apparently changed to accommodate the console gaming kids who like easy games. Crisis 2 with its check point saves, lack of graphic options and not being in DX11 obviously means that it was ported over from the Xbox. Even Portal 2 had someone claim console port because of some text that appeared on screen when saving the game or something. Even the current darling of the PC, the Witcher 2, has had the console port tag put on because the game supports a controller, so it's obvious the game was ported to the PC.

I know I named just a few games, but the outcry of consolization on the PC has grown to almost epic proportions. Frankly I am just sick and tired of PC gamers bemoaning the fact that such and such game is a console port for this or that reason. Problem is, it's not going to end anytime soon.

Expectations.

Those who have read this blog lately know that I love Dragon Age 2. I think the game is great but in no way is it perfect. I like the changes to the combat, the updated graphics, the new party members, the streamlined crafting, and a fully voiced hero just to name a few things that I believe makes for a better experience than in Origins.

So what's wrong with DA2? Well actually quite a few things. Regardless of the development time or the technical issues that hampered the game at launch, the biggest problem DA2 has is expectations. Say what you will about the game being a cash grab or that it's too easy or whatever, it seems that those most outraged are those who were expecting Origins 2. The issues facing DA2 are not all that serious that they can't be overlooked.

Which leads me to the Witcher 2. I have yet to play the game so I am not going to pass judgement on it, but to me the best thing to happen to Witcher 2 was for those who had rather high expectations for DA2 all but crucify the game and Bioware too. After browsing the message boards a bit it's plainly obvious that Witcher 2 is everything Dragon Age 2 was suppose to be and if you believe differently than you are (insert random word meant to be an insult here).

I have read a few reviews for Witcher 2 and it does seem to be quite good and I am looking forward to buying and playing the game at some point, but the game is not without its faults as well. I am not going to compare faults between the two games nor do I believe the faults of one game are worse than the other. But, I do believe those pushing the gospel of Witcher 2 on the message boards are more than willing to overlook the game's issues.

So what does that have to do with anything? I have a problem with people crying out vehemently against a game, it's developer and those who enjoyed said game but are willing to forgive another game that has issues all its own just because the first game did not give them the experience they were expecting to have. Basically I am saying that I believe people are building Witcher 2 to be better than what it really is because it gives them that taste of expectation that was suppose to be in Dragon Age 2.

I want to make it clear that I haven't played Witcher 2, so it very well could be as great as it's being made out to be, but I get the feeling that somewhere in the middle is the truth.

Not The Indie Type.

I like games. In fact, i like lots of games. But the type of games I don't care much for are indie games. I'm not saying that I hate indie developers or their games and I'm not opposed to buying indie games either.

I just don't care much for anything indie, be it movies, music or games. Indie supporters kind of remind me of Apple supporters(disciples), they feel they are better than everyone because they are not supporting something mainstream.

With all that said, it does seem that the the only original IP's releasing these days are coming from indie developers. So I guess indie games are not all that bad.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Pre-Order This!

I decided to browse the Steam forums to see what trouble I can cause before bed when I stumbled upon a thread where someone was wondering if there was going to be a pre-order bonus for the new Red Faction Armageddon game. It would seem that this fella would like get something extra for his pre-order because the PS3 and Xbox both will and he would much rather play the game on the PC.

Is this were gaming has gone now, to a place where people can't be bothered to pre-order a game unless they get something extra in return? How about you get a fancy new game to play, how's that! Sure, pre-order bonus' are nice, I have received a few in my time but it doesn't drive me to pre-purchase a game.

You know what drives me to pre-order a game? Something like this:

Oh yeah!



Dragon Age 2: The Common Complaints Edition

It should be no secret that I enjoy Dragon Age 2. I have enjoyed it enough to spend 300+ hours playing through the game seven times. I do want to make it known that all seven times were on Casual difficulty. I did start a game on Hard because I really wanted to take advantage of the tactics system, but after spending almost an hour getting wiped on the first real boss which is only about fifteen minutes into the game, I decided to give up. At some point I will revisit Hard mode, but not right now.

So what is the Common Complaints Edition then? Well I figured I would list the most common complaints that one will read if they are to browse any sort of message boards or comments about anything Dragon Age 2.

• Feels rushed, obvious cash-in
• Combat is too fast
• Combat is not tactical like Origins
• Combat is too easy
• No epic storyline
• A collection of side quests rather than a cohesive story
• Kirkwall
• Lack of variety in locations
• Interface is streamlined
• Whole game is streamlined
• The game fails
• It's a console port

I am sure there are more complaints than this, but these were the ones I could remember off the top of my head. Now I am not blind, I know that Dragon Age 2 is not perfect, it has its share of issues and some of the complaints are valid. But I grow tired of reading the same ignorant rants from people over and over again about how poorly made Dragon Age 2 is and that Bioware won't stay afloat if they don't get their act together. It's amazing just how many armchair developers there are out there that seem to know what it takes to make a good game. You would think they would be doing something more constructive instead of filling my eye sockets with their useless words.

I think everyone can agree that game reviews are subjective, they are the opinion of the person writing the review. Weather a game is good or bad can also be subjective as well. I believe Dragon Age 2 to be a great game, yet there are plenty of others who would disagree with me because they believe the game to be bad.

With all of Dragon Age 2's real issues aside, I believe its two biggest problems are first - the number 2 after its name, and second - the PC gamers who believe their experience needs to be different from that on the console, hence the console port argument. But these are topics for another post.

I, Myself.

To all those very few who have my dinky blog on their RSS, I want to apologize for my lack of posts. One might have noticed that I have been neglecting my blog for the past several months, and they would be right!

Two things: writing is a painful process for me at times. I love to right, I enjoy putting words together and making somewhat intelligent sentences, but at times it can take just to darn long from start to finish. I have also had a real lack of focus with what I want the blog to be and where it might lead to.

So to summarize - I have been lazy, I am over thinking things, and my addiction to Dragon Age 2 has consumed any and all free time I may have had over the past couple of months. Oh, and there is of course the Stanley Cup playoffs that I have to watch.

So again, sorry everyone for wasting space on your reader.

There's No Place Like Home.

Thank you everyone who read and posted comments on my slow-to-be-updated blog. Unfortunately I was unable to comment myself on my iPhone. As for the trip it was fun, warm and just the right length, by Saturday I was ready to come home.

Blogging from Texas on the iPhone

So blogging about my time so far in Texas on the iPhone is a success. Except I haven't figured out how to make a comment.

I'm hoping to visit the Ft. Hood museum today and the Alamo tomorrow. If it works out and I'm able to take pictures then I'll just post some of those when I get back home.

Maybe this will be the catalyst that gets me to post on a more regular basis. Well this and taking a break from playing Dragon Age 2!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Texas Day 1

Well my first day in Texas is coming to an end soon. The weather leaving San Jose was cold, wet and cloudy. The weather in Austin was hot, dry and cloudy, nothing like the Bay Area.

For anyone wondering why I would fly to this odd country it's because I am here to visit my brother who is in the Army. Since he is deploying to the Middle East in a couple months, I figured I would Come and visit for a bit.

There are two things I have learned since being here; Texas is hot and humid at night and I suck at Rock Band.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why So Serious?!?!

I really should know better than to get upset at stuff I read on the interwebs. 'Why take it so personal' I wonder to myself sometimes, but I can't help it when I am reading what I believe to be obvious lunacy. What pray tell am I referring to? Well I'm glad you asked. What has got the ire of Jayedub this time is the commotion cause by the reviews that Dragon Age 2 has caused and the resulting backlash from those who seem to think that no one is suppose to like this game and their ignorant rants.

I won't lie, I love Dragon Age 2. I love the combat, the companions, the improved visuals, the voice acting, all of these things I find to be much better than Dragon Age Origins. The story doesn't have as epic of a feel this time around, but I happen to think the quests are much more memorable this time around as well. I enjoy this game so much I decided to upgrade my video card in order to play the game in DX11. Let me put it this way: I am about to finish Dragon Age 2 for a fifth time and I have just over 200+ hours invested into this game. I like this game.

So it annoys me to no end when I read comments about how Dragon Age 2 fails, it's a cash grab, it's a console port, the combat is too easy, blah blah blah. Granted the game is not without its fault both technically and in design, but the game is freaking great. Once I was able to get past the fact that Dragon Age 2 differs from Origins, I found myself enjoying the game.

Auction Time.

For those who don't know I work in the self-storage industry and today we held our auction. It's been awhile since the last auction we held, and the first since the new show Storage Wars began airing TV. The auction was pretty small unit wise and I wasn't sure what affect the show would have for us before we began today.

Well, the show had a massive impact for us. In the six years I've been at this facility I have never seen so many auction buyers at one of our auctions, and I have never seen so many outrageously high bids for such small units! The show had bred a new type of auction buyer, for better or worse it remains to be seen.

A word of advice for those who use storage for sentimental items - don't! A storage facility is not the place you want to keep your pictures or anything of sentimental value, make room at your home because you never know what can happen to them. It always breaks my heart when an auction buyer brings me a box or container filled with pictures of someones kid.

I've never seen the show Storage Wars, but I can guarantee you they are only showing the good stuff for the viewing audience. But I'm sure it makes for great TV!

Dawn of War II Voice Actors

I happen to be on the Dawn of War 2 site today when I noticed they have a video posted introducing the voice actors from the games. The video isn't very long but it's really neat to get just a small glimpse of the behind the scenes work that is involved in making the game.

Life is Fragile.

I'm not the kind of person who keeps up with current events. I dislike watching the news on television because it's filled with death and despair and makes me wonder often times why people are allowed to exist anymore.

On Thursday night my wife and I turned on the 11pm new and were greeted with something that amazed, shocked and saddened us at the same time. When I hear or read about tragic events, for me there is a certain disconnect because it has already happened, and it didn't happen to me. But hearing about the massive earthquake and then watching the tsunami that resulted from the quake rip through Japan on t.v. in real time was almost too much to bear.

I found it very hard to fall asleep on Thursday night. As I lay in my nice comfy, warm bed, all I could think about was that I was about to go to sleep and there are thousands of people who have been displaced by this tragic disaster. Or even worse, have lost loved ones or even their own lives from the tsunami. Watching the devastation happen on t.v. brought back memories of 9/11 and the overwhelming feelings of helplessness and sadness I had while watching the events unfold.

It's events like these that remind me that life is short and fragile, and I need to live my life to the fullest and not take things for granted.

Some Hockey Thoughts.

I don't write enough about hockey on the blog, but know that I LOVE the greatest sport on earth! That's hockey for those who don't get it. This year more than any other in recent memory has been marred with controversy with player concussions, blows to the head and injuries.

I love the physicality of hockey; the checking, the hitting and the fighting. I also love the speed and skill that gets displayed on the ice every night. What I don't love is dirty players, injury's and those who detest the violence in hockey.

On March 8th there was an unfortunate hit on a player that resulted in a serious injury. The two players involved are not dirty, the hit wasn't dirty, but the location of the hit along the boards turned a routine interference and check into a very real and scary situation.

The result of the play is very unfortunate, no one wants to see someone injured and I do hope that Pacioretty is able to make a speedy recovery and return to the ice next year. The fallout from this hit is amazing. You have those who believe Chara should be suspended and those who don't. The Montreal police are now involved and a sponsor is trying to flex some muscle by threatening to pull out of the NHL.

Regardless of how one feels about the play and the injury, this was not an intentional blow to the head which has been the hot button in the NHL this year. Let me give you an example of what is an intentional blow to the head. Warning: video is not of good quality.

This my friends is a blatant hit to the head. The Hawks-Lightening game was on VS. across the US, and no penalty was called and no one seems to be talking about the play at all. The Chara hit and injury was unfortunate, but it's hits like the one Bolland took last night that need to be addressed. I truly hope that the NHL spends some time this off season to address this issue, but please don't take out the physicality from my favorite sport.

UPDATE: I just read that Pavel Kubina was suspended for three games for his hit to the head of Dave Bolland. I am glad that justice has been served but I do believe it's not long enough. His hit was intentional to the head, three games is not enough to send a message to the NHL players.

I Can See Clearly Now The Rain is Gone.

I was able to finish off Heavy Rain this morning before work. The game is brilliant for a few reasons; the story was intriguing, I became connected to the main characters and no other game has touched me on an emotional level like Heavy Rain did.

Sure the game has issues like a crappy control system, audio glitches and undeveloped character back stories. But it succeeds in drawing you into the story and delivering some pretty intense moments.

I highly recommend that everyone try Heavy Rain, if for nothing else then to see something different.

It's Heavy, Like the Rain.

Heavy Rain has been a game that I've been wanting to play since it's release. It seems like a polarizing game, you either love it or hate it, and if neither then you probably haven't played it long enough.

For me I am really enjoying the game, much more than I thought I would. I rarely purchase new console games based on a silly principle I have (they are too expensive), so I picked it up used for less than twenty-five bucks. Now that's a deal.

For those who may not know, the story is based around a person called the Origami Killer who kidnaps and kills children, specifically boys. As someone with a three year old son I was a bit worried that the premise of the story would be too much to handle, and so far it has not. But with that in mind I do think that has helped me to identify with one of the main characters in the game because of the love I have for my son.

So far the story is pretty good. The game has this interesting mix of having some of the best visuals in a PS3 game with some of the best visuals in a PS2 game, meaning there is some great looking stuffed mixed in with a lot of crap. The acting is hit or miss, but it's bearable. The controls however are a mess. I think the main issue is using the R2 button to walk around, that was an absolutely terrible idea, but it hasn't been enough to take away my enjoyment of the game.

I do recommend that everyone who owns a PS3 give Heavy Rain a try, if for nothing else to see a game that is trying something different.

Dead Space 2 Review

I guess I haven't totally given up writing because I decided to write up a review for Dead Space 2. The fine folks at Gamesquad.com were nice enough to post it here. I welcome any constructive feedback.

A small update.

Well I made it through the month of February without a post, yay me! It's not for lack of thoughts really, there's quite a lot percolating up in my cranial crock pot. It's more because I am lazy, and I wasn't even sure I even wanted to blog anymore.

The updates to the blog are pretty small; I removed the Xbox Gamercard because my Xbox fried last year and I have no plans on purchasing a new one, and I added a list of my most interested and might purchase games for 2011 called Dub's Game List for 2011. It's just a list of the upcoming games for the year that interest me. Some are a day one must buy, some are games that I will buy eventually and the rest are games I might possibly purchase.

Dragon Age 2 is a game that I will eventually buy, but the sixty dollar price tag and day one release with DLC have turned a must buy into an eventual buy. Sixty bucks for PC games, really!?! Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood is a must buy for me. Yes I own it on the PS3, but I have played the game for all of thirty minutes. Had I known it was going to have a PC release I would not have bought the PS3 version. Besides it will look better on my PC. Homefront is a good example of a game that I might possible buy depending on how it reviews. I hear good things about it, but not enough to make me all that excited to buy it.

So that's about it for now. I'm still here, still playing games so maybe I'll get off my keister and write about them every so often. I want to leave everyone with something that may or may not be funny, a video from a show that someone on Twitter linked to. I find it funny, hopefully you do to.

My MMO round up.

It seems like a couple of months ago I was claiming that I am done with MMO's for the time being. Since then I re-subbed to LOTRO with their special three month rate and bought both Final Fantasy XIV and DCUO. I don't know why I subbed to LOTRO, I guess I was hoping that something would grab me the way it did about a year ago.

FFXIV was more of an experiment, and for about two weeks it was the only game I could think about. I loved the combat, the game looks fantastic, and the armory system was awesome and probably one of the more original ideas I have seen in a MMO lately. So why am I not playing the game now? Well I advanced as far as I could on my own. I liked the crafting meta game, but the lack of a decent recipe book and the over reliance on a player economy is what killed the fun for me. FFXIV is full of weird design choices, but for those two weeks it was the best thing ever!

As of today I have played DCUO twice for about four hours. I played quite a bit of the beta and right now I am playing a character type that I was able to level to nine in the beta, so I am finding myself a tad bored. I think the game looks fantastic and I enjoy the combat a great deal, but I don't think I will be taking this one past the first month.

Even with only playing FFXIV for two weeks, I feel like I got my money's worth, I'm not even close to that feeling with DCUO, and LOTRO was a complete waste of money. I'm not looking for the next big thing in the MMO genre, I think I've just played so many MMO's and spent so much time playing them that I might just be burnt out. Plus I've purchased quite a few single-player games over the past year and I would really like to play them sometime. It's hard to do that when you have a game you feel obligated to play.

So what does all this mean for me? It means that I am in all probabilities going to give STO one more shot after DCUO is over, but after that I'm done with MMO's for sure. That is till TOR!

A handheld I think I can like!

Sony has finally announced the Next Generation Portable, or the NGP. It's probably a better name than PSP2, but not buy much. I'm not much of a handheld guy, I don't even like playing games on a phone, you know because it's a phone, but just look at how slick that looks! It's just crying out for me to touch it in naughty ways!

The list of third party support is pretty massive which is a good sign. I believe part of the problem initially with the original PSP was UMD movies and trying to get into that market. These days many of the Blu-Rays come with a digital version that can be ported to a handheld device.

I honestly don't know what the specs are for the NGP and I'm guessing I am going to have to purchase games digitally which I am not fond of, but I am more than willing to support anything NOT Nintendo and their crap hardware and garbage first party games!

Destroy Everything!

When I raise my Chaos army to devastate this world, I will have this song be my anthem!

Final Fantasy XIV?

It was just a couple of weeks ago that I was claiming MMO burnout for myself, and now here I am playing Final Fantasy XIV and I can't seem to get enough of it. The developers tried very hard to create an MMO that is different than what's on the market now, and they succeeded, but I don't think it's necessarily a good thing. There are quite a few design choices that have to make you wonder just what the hell they were thinking when developing this game. One thing's for sure, I am really enjoying the game right now, probably because it is different but I don't know if how long that will last.

As much as I want to play I have work and a lot of football to watch this weekend so that will help slow me down some.

They're coming to take me away...

Dear wackos, nut jobs, paranoid freaks and random homeless peoples who believe someone is out for you, please don't shoot those in government, it doesn't help. If you're afraid of the government now, just wait till they get tired of being shot at!

Panzerkampfwagen Tiger Ausf. E known as the Tiger I tank.

I am here sitting at work doing a very dangerous thing by browsing Steam for games when I came across a game called Iron Warriors: T-72 Tank Command. I really enjoy military history, I try to soak it up like a sponge. So I decided to do a google search on the T-72, and what followed next was about an hour and a half of tank info reading bliss!

First I started with the Soviet/Russian Main Battle Tanks. Then I moved onto the early WWII American armoured vehicles and then of course I had to check out the German WWII Panzer tanks. My knowledge of German Panzer's is very limited, but I do know that the dreaded Tiger I tank was one the most feared tanks in the late stages of WWII.

Eventually I made my way to the web page for the Tank Museum located over in England. The Tank Museum has almost one hundred years of tank history within its facility and has one of six surviving German Tiger I tanks from WWII. Not only that, it's the only known working Tiger I tank in existence.

If anyone is actually interested in this stuff, there's a website Tiger-Tank.com that gives details on this particular Tiger tank from it's manufacture to its capture in Tunisia and its eventual restoral in England. Frankly I find this all very fascinating and totally kick ass.

For your viewing pleasure here are three separate videos of the Tiger tank in action.

The year that was and the year that might not be!

Blogging is often fun, can be interesting and is very time consuming. For me it's also difficult at times. I personally don't think I am a bad writer but it is often a painful process of writing, re-writing and just being able to convey thoughts in my mind in such a way that someone reading them can understand. Now if that sounds normal then let me know. I feel that my lack of motivation and inconsistency with blogging has to do with me wondering why I am blogging in the first place.

I love to write, and blogging is a way for me to practice at writing. But I have grown increasingly negative towards what I call OpEd blog posts. I tire of the armchair developers constantly coming out against such and such game cause it's not like the old days and how this game or that game won't be successful unless it does this or that. Or how about the unhealthy amount of comments that come from something as inane as posting a quote from another blog or article. Then there are those who seeming never participate in the very conversation that they created with their post.

But as I was writing this I had an epiphany of sorts - isn't that which I dislike about blogging the very reason why there is this thing called blogging? I believe the answer to be yes and then some. I view blogging as an online journal if you will, but who am I to tell someone else how or what to write.

I am very fortunate that there are those who will read and even comment on my blog and I am extremely grateful for it. I am also grateful for the friendships that I have developed over the past year and a half just from blogging. A big hearty thank you to all those who have taken the time visit my meager blog.

I do hope to write more, unfortunately I don't have an MMO that I am playing so it remains to be seen if I can find something interesting to write about. Until next time, stay classy blogosphere!

It's stories like these that make me believe that their is still hope for humanity. I wish Ted Williams the best of luck, he deserves it!