So I decided to write a small Borderlands GOTY Edition review, you should check it out! I've been trying to be more active on this site. No one will probably see this, but whatever. :)
http://www.gamespot.com/borderlands-game-of-the-year-edition/user-reviews/804777/platform/pc/
Thanks!
As I was driving home from work, I was listening to CBC radio. An author by the name of Pamela McColl rewrote the classic Twas the Night Before Christmas where Santa Claus 'butts out'.
A classic book such as that should NOT be censored. When I first heard this on the radio I was enraged by the fact that three lines from a book were changed just because a parents cannot explain to their child that smoking is unhealthy or a 'grown-up' activity. Parents need to do what was intended. Be a PARENT.
As I continued to listen, it wasn't as I thought. They are going to continue to print the original as well, and the only reason why she was allowed to self-publish the book is because it is now copyright free. My care-pants came right off at that point.
While I think this is very, very stupid, and that kids are absolutely spoiled and babied today, I can understand why some people are trying to do this. I can't wait until they start making bubble-boy suits and horse blinders for children.
Do you think things like older literature should be changed because it is offensive today? Or should we tell the parents to man up and teach the child between right and wrong? I heard tell of older books being banned due to racial slurs. You know what? It was like that in the past and you can't change the past. Why not educate them instead of protecting them from the real world?
Source: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2012/12/14/santa-quits-smoking-in-edited-version-of-twas-the-night-before-christmas/
This time of year is generally a bad time. I love to spend money, and I have the idea in my head that we only live once, so why save it?
Now, with a lady beside me, and a second opinion, I've rethought things. I started an actual budget with goals for the end of the month. We used to have a classic Christmas with gifts under the tree and a meal. Not really a religious holiday for us, but more of a family tradition, an excuse to get together and a time to forget about issues we may have with each other.
We've decided to not give gifts, but rather go to Moncton (the biggest metropolitin city in our province) and spend a bunch of money on gifts we can get ourselves, at generally better prices. Sure, we will miss out on the whole surprise factor, but I think it will be better since we will have an extra day to spend with my family mall hopping. This works out for me, as my parents will likely give me a couple hundred dollars for Christmas, and it will fund for what I wanted for years; a Canon Rebel T2i SLR digital camera. It goes for about 600$ CDN.
What are your holiday plans? Will you change anything? What do YOU want this year for Christmas?
System wars, oh system wars. People fighting over such petty things, trying to make people agree with their own opinion over, over and over again. As a proud Gamespot "supporter", I believe that this is one of the top notch gaming websites, and my years coming here will prove this point.
The reviews are one thing: a point of view of said reviewer. Nothing more, nothing less. It is their opinion on the matter, and their opinion is not greater than say my or your word. I think I can safely say that we've disagreed with Gamespot on a review on more than one occasion, and that's okay. It's also okay to express or disagreement on such matters but this is where my beef arises. It would be a perfect world if I could only blame this on children, but this isn't only the case. I lurk the forums often and there are specific individuals that I royally despise, but I take the mature approach and simply ignore them.
The Wii-U being released, the lack of exclusives on the Xbox 360, the lackluster PS3 and the stagnant PC are always on debate. People are clawing eachother's eyes out trying to prove over and over again that their system of choice is superior.
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
There are good points about every system, and there are good reasons why you chose yours. I own(ed) every system of this current generation, and each of them have their positives and negatives. In the end, my preference is PC, which it has been for about 12 years or so.
Back on topic. There are games out there that people despise, and it's cool to despise it. It is okay for developers to new approaches to current franchises. It is no crime. Crysis was an amazing game, but so was the second installment. In fact, I prefer the second game.
I have two cousins that are, dare I say "Hardcore gamers" and they each have an Xbox 360 and a Wii. Oh dear god no, a hardcore Wii gamer? That can't be possible! Well, it is. They put in many hours, work on painful achievements and play oldschool games on the Wii.
People will see this and quickly say that it's all in the fun. But no, for everyone it is not! People get so offended on this site that it's comical. People need to relax and actually play their games and not worry about other people buying Wii's, 360's and PS3's. They won't see 'the light' because they have set opinions, and they will see it that way regardless of how much 'evidence' you throw into their face that proves you correct.
What is your take on this subject? Do you agree with System wars on certain arguments? Or do you just ignore them and buy the poorly rated game?
I'm in college right now studying in the IT profession. I'm doing really well in school, with a GPA of 3.5 currently. That's a HUGE improvement since I was in high school six or seven years ago when I barely got a 60%. Those marks come at a price, though.
The cost is GAMING.
Before college, I was an avid gamer. It's all I did. Work, Game, sleep. Rinse and repeat for a good six years. I was happy, too. Last Summer I applied for NBCC (New Brunswick Community College) Woodstock as IT: Desktop Support. I was pretty stoked as anyone else would be, and I had just met a woman that I liked a lot.
We had hit it off well, and we became very good friends. Let's just say that the life of sleep, work and game was changed (for the good!) A couple days before I was moving away to a town that is about three hours and a half away, I asked her if she wanted to date, make it official! Eventually she said yes.
Now we live together, and I wouldn't take anything back. School is almost done and we should be moving back to our home in less than twenty days!
But yes, now back to the titled topic. How this changed how I game. Studying hard, doing the work has cut my gaming time down a great amount, MMO's were out of the idea, and I couldn't really put a great deal of effort into getting good at games like StarCraft and League of Legends. I had to turn to other games, more "casual" per say, but it turns out that I enjoy them more. I feel less obligated to play them, where I'm not stressing whether I sucked terribly that match.
Indie games, oh how I love thee. They attract my attention even moreso than those Blockbuster games, and now my consoles have an inch thick layer of dust on them. I am a PC gamer at heart, and that will never change. I love games like MineCraft, Lone Survivor and Amnesia, and I always try to find others. I do play Battlefield 3 and League of Legends from time to time, but lately it's been all Indie. I find myself not wanting to get addicted to games, and not feel obligated to play that one game constantly, I have around 100 titles that I bought and never touched yet because I was addicted to World of WarCraft and games like it.
My girlfriend and I (MeowJolene) have just started an Indie "Let's Play" channel and I think it's a great project for us. Our gaming might pay off eventually. I'm probably going to focus on the more strategic, horror titles (I want to play horror games in general, as REAL Survival Horror games are rare nowadays!)
The journey of my real life has begun. I wish to become a successful IT Professional in the Networking field. My utterly amazing girlfriend supports me all the way, and I like to think I do with her art and stuff. When I move back I'll be able to see all of my friends again, whom I've neglected, because for some reason it was painful to talk to when I wasn't able to see them.
Life has just started, and Life is GOOD!
PS. Our Youtube channel is IndieSyrup, please subscribe!
Collectors. Pack rats. Some gamers collect their games, others trade them in once they're finished with it. I myself am a collector, and I feel guilty when I trade some in. In fact, I eventually rebuy that same game when it becomes cheaper. I have to get the Collectors Editions with games and some movies. I'm rebuying my entire DVD collection into blu ray currently, and I don't reget it at all!
I think of a collection as a status among gamers. The bigger, the nerdier it is, the more gamer you are. I know this is not the case, as you can have tons of games and not game at all, but if the person has gaming paraphinalia around them, it's likely he's a hobo because he spends too much money on games.
My collection is not a small one, but it's defintily not the biggest I've seen. Now my question to the one person that actually reads my blog (Hai thar Scott). Do you get embarrassed by your collection or are you proud? Do you go for the Collectors Editions or just the regular edition? And do you go to someone elses house to envy their collection/or freak out about a particular game that have in their collection?
PS: That's not my collection.
People are usually scared of Starcraft, and they should be! The first game is littered with pros and there is rarely a matchup. What would you expect after 12 years of gameplay and crazy South Koreans constantly playing? Back onto my point. Starcraft II has taken a turn. Playing the campaign is much easier and is much more "casual". Is this a turn for the worst? Absolutely not. The campaign trains you for online play, although it is way different then the actual online play. Why is it good to play the campaign? To learn the basics of macro, micro and multitasking of course! There is a bunch of training missions you can play that Blizzard supplied, but more importantly, Battle.net 2.0.
Think you might get your face dragged on the road while being pulled by a crazy zergling... or something? Well, the chance is you will BUT! You have to play five placement matches and they set you in a league. It might not be perfect but damn it's an improvement.
So, is Starcraft II too hardcore? Yes and no. The campaign is epic and has four different modes of play, along with addictive achievements that give you more avatars. The online has a system that places you in a league depending on your gameplay, and as you get better or worse, you can change leagues. The hardcore thing about it, is if you want to get really good, like platinum league, you'll need to learn strategies, build orders, timings and put in countless hours to get that good.
Since release I probably put in over 50 hours into the game. I was a huge fan of the first game and played it religiously for four years (2000-2004) and then off and on until now. I am very satisfied with the changes. They are quite different, but it still feels true to the first game. The campaign on the other hand is WAY different. It is jaw droppingly well done, as you can talk to many of the main characters. (I'll save the rest for the upcoming review!)
What I'm trying to get at, is that this game caters to both types of gamers. Casuals can enjoy the game just as much as the hardcore. If you want to get good at the game, you can with hard work and dedication. If you can get your hands on a collector's edition I'd get it, as it comes with the first game pre loaded on a 2GB flash drive!
PS: Add Zombie on NA if you want to talk or game!
July 4th, 2010
I see them on the hills, limping mindlessly, hunting, neverending.
They are close. Their numbers growing...
If I make a sound, they'll get me.
If I try to escape, they won't stop.
If I stay inside, I starve...
Do I join them? Do I run? Maybe I know some of them.
Wish me luck...
Silent Hill is a game that is not well known. It gets mediocre reviews according to Gamespot standards (usually AA and under). If people could look beyond a rating, they'd be getting themselves into a terrifying nightmare (the good scary kind) and never regret looking back. I am writing this blog to convince you to play them, so here it goes.
You're in a town called Silent Hill, a town shrouded in mystery. Each game has a different protagonist, and each time Silent Hill appears differently. Why is it different? Why are there cars around but not a soul to be found? It all depends on the character. Something called them to Silent Hill, and depending on that persons history and past wrong-doings is how Silent Hill will be depicted. This is one reason why Silent Hill is deep. You can come across a person who might see the town differently, because that person might be acting completely normal or be oblivious to his dirty, creepy surroundings. If you come interested in the theories behind it, check out the Silent Hill Wikia or one of the many fansites.
There are quite a few games out in this series on multiple platforms. The first one was released on the Playstation 1 and it sold well enough to become a greatest hit. You can now purchase this on the PSN (Playstation Network) for only $5.99. The next one and possibly greatest is Silent Hill 2 for the Playstation 2. Silent Hill 3 was also for the PS2, and was possibly the last great Silent Hill game of the franchise. Next was Silent Hill 4: The Room. I heard that it wasn't even originally a Silent Hill game to begin with, and it disapointed a lot of people. Silent Hill Origins was released for the PS2 and PSP, but I haven't gotten around to play it yet. Recently two mroe came out; Silent Hill: Homecoming and Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. It's obvious that another company had made Homecoming, as it's a lot more action oriented and seems to be less story driven. Music and certain scenes seem very similar to the movie. Shattered Memories holds true to the original series. It's an re-imagination of the first Silent Hill, and quite possibly one of the best games I've played this gen.
Silent Hill is very story driven and not action packed. Most of the time you can avoid monsters, and expect some pretty weird but interesting boss fights. Again, the bosses should depend on the protagonist, but that always does not happen (Red pyramid head in the movie and homecoming) when he was originally in part two. Look forward to some puzzles, and in some games you can choose the difficulty of the puzzles and the monsters. It also has an amazing soundtrack, the songs are weird, but they fit so well!
Resident Evil and Silent Hill were two big comptetitors back in the day, with RE taking the crown on popularity. The only thing I don't like is the fact that RE is now an action oriented shooter, and not even a survival horror at all. There is no sense of a claustrophobia, and the stories are usually out there. Silent Hill, on the other hand is quite the opposite. While not exactly claustrophobic, you get the sense of not belonging. Some things are totally bizarre and throw you off guard, and it can shock you.
But which one is scarier? RE gives you the answers on how it came to be. The T-Virus. Along the way through the games you get to read diaries and notes in labs explaining experiments and such, and I really dig that. In the early games they had zombies, and now crazy tentacle thingies that pop out of bodies. SH slowly unveils the truth about the characters history, but not really on the origins as how the town became a freaky ass place. There are many unexplained things, and that itself is scary. I didn't mean to make a RE vs SH blog, so I'll end it there.
A movie was released of Silent Hill, and it was pretty decent. The only thing that really bothered me was that Pyramid Head was in it. While being a complete badass, he did not belong in that movie whatsoever. I enjoyed it enough to purchase it, but I can be a fanboy at times. :P
I hope after reading this, you give it a try. I recommend starting at Silent Hill 2 or 3, but try whatever you can get your hands on. I will write more details on each game whenever I replay them, so please track my blog and comment!
Wow, just wow. Best. Episode. Ever.
Man, this episode has so much meaning, it's touching. House still remains whitty and a complete bastard, but he gives in finally. He becomes a human. I'm in a position where I live among people with similar problems as him, so maybe that's why I liked it so much.
People say it's the same thing over and over, and over... and over again, they're right. It is the same thing over again. Why do I watch it? It's interesting, Hugh Grants (House) character is awesome, and so are the supporting actors/resses. Usually an episode will go like this:
Mix that with all of his fellow doctors growling him about his vicodin addiction, and there's the episode. If you give it a chance, you might like it though. :D
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