Dave and Busters Experience :D

So…Driving up I see this huge building that seems as big as a warehouse or maybe an airplane hanger. Seriously though this place is gigantic…Can this place be filled with games?

Well.. It wasn’t completely, but there were definitely like 100 games in there and like 2 different restaurants. Pretty awesome. Anyways. On to the criteria. 

 

The reliability and speed of the machines (since it was card swiping, not tokens): It was pretty fast, getting a game card went swiftly however there was a point when every game in the place went down for about 10 minutes. Also, lots of the games would take multiple swipes to work. Some games were just broken.

Fun(ness?) level: The games were awesome. Except for when Devante won like 1200 tickets in 3 plays of this one game. Prettttty unfair. Haha. But no seriously, the pacman game was sweet, and there was a connect four game, both were pretty sweet. And I think I saw Galaga too. 

Pricing: The pricing on the machines was a little confusing to me..Probably because it’s my first time going. Somethings were priced like 9.9, others and like 3.2…It seemed like all random numbers. I guess the amount given to our cards was the amount in dollars times 10. It seemed like a fair number of games to play, but some games were way overpriced.

 

Overall Verdict: The place was awesome, and I had a blast. I’d definitely go again. 

-Patrick

DBZ BT2: A review almost as silly as the name

 

One of my all time favorite fighting/arcade games is (get ready for really long title)

Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 2.

*Phew*. Try saying that 3 times fast (no really, it’s actually quite entertaining).

Now that that’s over with, lets dive into this poor review (my opinion) a critic made of the game:

“Its nicely cel-shaded (sic) characters pull off impressively over-baked attack combos in colourful stages, but it lacks balance and plays with no subtlety. [Mar 2007, p.111]” (games™).

I’ll agree with only one part of that review: “Its nicely cell shaded characters”.

Let’s start with the first part that seems a little misplaced. The supposed “over baked attack combos”. Well, Dragon Ball Z is known for being rather over the top, and ridiculous in some situations. This adaption of the anime in video game form is simply compensating and taking that fact into consideration.

I love the ridiculous combos.

No seriously, it set the game up for a memorable experience. As far as balance, almost none of the characters are on even levels in the anime, so why should they be in the video game? Once again, I feel the video game has taken into consideration facts of the anime rather than attempting to compensate for the everyday video game player.

And as far as subtlety, there is nothing subtle about changing your black hair to blonde, adopting these weird turquoise colored eyes and having a glowing yellow aura surround you.

I’m just saiyan. 

 

What I’m excited about!

Well hopefully the massive amounts of delays are over and the world shall be granted the ability to buy and play the newest addition to the Bioshock series. I know I’m excited.
The game is scheduled to come out in exactly a month – March 26 is the day to mark on your calendar. 

Bioshock Infinite is to set in the futuristic 1900’s…yeah sounds weird, but just roll with it. You’ll be riding ziplines, and fighting to stay alive in the no doubt distopia of the clouds.
Yeah. The clouds. Everything seems to be miles off the ground, so one false step could end the game for you if you’re not careful. 
You need to rescue Elizabeth, who will grant you additional powers to fight, as well as accompany you in the rest of the game (hopefully).
Additionally you have to work with her in order to accomplish goals. 
I read that the voice acting was less scripted, giving the voice actors more room to create personalities that are multi-dimensional than the ever so common flat dialogue we’re used to hearing. Should be interesting. 
While it might not be the creepy horror that we’re used to in Bioshock, it will no doubt be amazing. 

 

-ps hope you got that good ol’ cloud insurance.   

The Epic Games I played in class!

Warning: This blog post contains strong language. If you can’t play M-Rated games, click the red “X” on your browser. Thank You. 

 

 

So I got to play Super smash bros, Bomberman 64, Destruction derby, and F-Zero X. 
To whoever brough fzero X – Thank You. It was an epic game to play again. 

As for the other games, someone played really well as Ness.

Well.

I guess So. Stupid Ness. 

 

Anyways, I also got my NES to work at home, barely, and I was able to play some Double Dragon 2, which has some of the best music in 8bit gaming, EVER. I love that game so much! But…getting it to work is like pulling teeth. 

I also saw someone playing hey you, pikachu! and a playstation version of super smash brothers, both of which are pretty cool! Also, did you know that if you say some word, I think it’s either sony, dreamcast, or playstation, Pikachu will get really angry and use thunderbolt? It’s epic. 

I didn’t get to play them, of course, because I was too busy playing the game that makes you lose friends, AKA Mario Party. 

 

I had a great time. It was awesome to plugin and play some of the classics that otherwise would be collecting dust.

~Why just now I’m listening to Mute City from F-Zero X~

 

 

-Patrick

 

My game deficiency

Samus

Before, I didn’t know a thing about Metroid. I had heard about it and seen Samus as a selectable character in the Super Smash Bros. series, but didn’t really know what the story or game play was like. After a little research, I found that it’s about Samus (duh) who tries to protect various parts of the galaxy from space pirates who in turn are trying to harness the power of the Metroids. It’s a Nintendo franchise, and has been very successful, I learned, scoring over an average of 85% across 11 titles as far as game rankings go. I look forward to buying Other-M, the newest installation of the series, or emulating on my computer some of the earlier games. I also learned that the original Metroid takes place inside caverns of the planet Zebes. Another thing I’ve heard about the series is that the boss fights have been critically acclaimed, and I hope to one day verify this!

The game that I want to play the most in the series is Metroid Prime, which is the first 3D game…I prefer 3-dimensional games especially in adventure genres. The stories seem kind of hard to keep up with but I’m confident I’ll get them straight after a good play through.

That’s it for now! Hope you guys play some good games out there. \o/

P.S.: I don’t know anything about final fantasy either please don’t hate

P.P.S.: I learned how to solve part of a rubik’s cube blindfolded…can i get some points for that? 😀

Off-topic: I’ll be playing Wind Waker remake with my chicka when it comes out; what about you guys? What’s the game you want most coming out this year?

-Patrick

Two very different games

The games I’m playing right now are Amnesia: The Dark Descent and The New Super Mario Brothers U. Pretty big difference between the two, I know, but I play Mario throughout the day between classes and when I can finally sit down and don the headphones at night, I engage in super creepy mode Amnesia gameplay. In the Mario game, I’m doing pretty well and even found some parts to be quite difficult. That’s probably due to my severe impatience, though, so maybe it wouldn’t be as difficult for anyone else. The most annoying of the levels are the ghost levels which require turning around to face ghosts so they don’t move towards you as if you’re in some greased down computer chair spinning around like a maniac while you wait for the platform you’re standing on to go down. The second most annoying of the levels would have to be the infamous water levels. I mean damn.

I hate fish now.

But really. They track you quickly and accurately and apparently Italians aren’t the best at swimming.

-> I wouldn’t know, though.

Anyways. On the other hand we have amnesia. A creepy puzzle based adventure game that creepily asks you to venture further and further down into the castle of Brennenberg (sp.?), while monsters called “Gatherers” chase you upon sight. You have no way of fighting back. Perhaps your best ally is a closet which you can hide in away from these creepy enemies.

They’re both great games.

 

 

 

-Patrick

My type of games!

As a gamer, I enjoy all types of games; horror games to the simple flash-tower-defense games, to shooters, and everywhere in between. My absolute favorite, however, are the legend of Zelda and Mario series; I’ll put down just about anything else to play those until the very end. Skyward Sword amazed me several times with extreme innovation and was perhaps one of my favorite games of last generation; swinging a Wii remote as if it were a sword and seeing a congruent action performed on screen was glorious. I felt as if I were truly in the game!

            To me, games as adventurous and action based are the most addicting as they open my imagination to new worlds that can be explored. The most important part of the gaming experience comes with the plot as well as the gameplay – sure, some games don’t have much in the way of a plot, and that’s ok for some of those games, but without proper, concrete, and creative gameplay, it feels like a big grind-fest (which for some level 90’s reading this post, I guess that’s OK for you).

            The most important parts of a video game are not necessarily graphics or size of a world; take for instance the immense worlds of Assassin’s Creed, which although are gorgeous, they’re almost TOO big. I find that the best aspect of a video game is the gameplay. Overly repetitive gameplay is unacceptable in this day and age; graphics should be held to some kind of standard and story can multiply a game’s interest factor times a thousand – but without proper gameplay, it doesn’t even matter how perfectly executed those other elements are, especially if you can’t witness them.

 

 

P.S. Playing Call of Duty with your girlfriend is pretty much the best thing ever

 

-Patrick

The glories of gaming

*Gaming*

 Ahhhh the sweet red, green, and blue pixelated screens. I remember when the graphics were…lacking at best (compared to today’s gorgeous worlds, detailed objects, etc.). I remember the look and feel of many of my classic favorites – Super Mario 64 being perhaps my all-time most inspiring game. But I also remember playing on my parent’s old NES, on which Double Dragon 2 had the coolest music and epic fighting action. Me and my brother together have owned 9 of the many systems listed on the console timeline. My brother Clay had somehow gotten an original Gameboy along with a Legend of Zelda game; it was crazy to me how you could adjust the contrast and get a different image. Even more: I remember that crazy level on Super Mario World that expected you to jump over the water and dodge the crazy jumping fish. Yuck. I never beat that game. Alas, we never had many games for the NES and the SNES, however the few we did were very entertaining. On the playstation 2, I remember the first camera based game called the “eye-toy”. Goodness was it buggy and error-ridden. However, I could skate along a virtual path by moving my actual body. To me, that was mind-blowing. I loved the Gamecube and the original Pikmin game; it was an oddity, too. One of my most fond memories was me and my brother playing on our Gameboys/Gameboy advances, with a “Worm light” extension which attached to the usb-like port. This would give us light so we could play pokemon all the way to the Beach! I remembered playing on my Nintendo Ds more obscure yet fun games called Ace Attorney Phoenix Wright; I played these before I knew they were memes, etc. (I actually played them long before I even knew what a meme was, I think). On the PSP, flying game Ace Combat X was definitely addicting and my first choice; other cool games were Untold Legends, and the sequel, Untold Legends: Warriors Code.

            My earliest, fondest, and possibly most influential memory is of Super Mario 64. The idea of adventure across amazingly detailed lands and waters as well as the gorgeously recorded music impacted my actions forever. Collecting all the stars was perhaps the most fun I had ever had, and it required precision, too. While the graphics look rather aged, the gameplay is still just as fun. I found that someone had made a remake of the entire game keeping only the character graphics and the movement the same – this remake is called Super Mario Star Road, and is an amazing free project. I highly recommend it for all the nostalgia and those feels, bro.

To wrap up this post, I’d like to recap.

I remember walking in the store with my brother and parents to get super smash brothers for the N64. That was far more awesome than the fake smile and half-@#$ed service I get now from gamestop; regardless, gaming continues to evolve and amaze me with its ever beautifying graphics and innovative gameplay – from Sony’s Playstation, Microsoft’s Xbox, and whatever the heck Nintendo decides to name their new

 

-Patrick

*Puts mask on*

How’s it feel to be a god?