I've been slowly working on this for weeks now. A ton of stuff, including finals week got in the way of the making of this review. Still, I think it came together alright in the end.
Here's a link in case the video doesn't work for you. Any feedback is always welcome. Just recently, I started playing the game and I agree with most of what they said except that I would give this game a Full Price from what I've played. Head over to Vagary.TV for more reviews and podcasts.
Watch HERE if the video does not embed.
We came off very negative in the review which was a mistake in hindsight. We were trying to avoid just constantly gushing over the game and went too far in the opposite direction.t;
This is our first review, and I had about 2 weeks of Flash experience in school almost two years ago, so please excuse the overall crappiness. However, do not get it twisted, I did work on this a lot. It took twice as long as I'd have liked because my experienced friend dropped out.
However, I can't draw at all as you will notice during the review. So, I had to head in another direction. We had set out to do this under the Just Chilling moniker from the very beginning. The podcast was changed when Just Chilling was taken as a site name, and then we just sort of grew attached to The Black Couch. So sticking with the Just Chilling idea, I decided to use Ice Cubes since cubes are very simple shapes.
Initially, the ratings were very similar to Spill.com, but the others felt that it was no longer homage at that point, and simply a rip-off. So we went into a brainstorming session trying to find something similar but our own, but that didn't really produce anything worth mentioning. So they came up with the idea of keeping it near the theme of the animation and use temperature. So, without further delay, here's the rating system:
Liquid Nitrogen-If you've ever even played a videogame, you owe it to yourself to go out and get this right now.
Frostbite- It is an excellent game that warrants a full price purchase and would sit very comfortably in your collection.
Just Chilling-The game is good, but nothing you need to rush out and buy right away. Wait for the price to drop a bit.
Room Temperature-It is a game that you really don't care much about either way and would be better suited as a rental or a bargain bin item.
Sweaty Balls-This is a bad game that is not recommended at all.
Hellish Inferno-This is a **** You" in game form, nice and simple.
The ratings are subject to change depending on if we get any feedback on this one.
I have a lot of respect for Spill.com after this one. I understand the first one is the hardest, and it will be a little simpler after this, but damn! The next one on the docket is pretty far off so I have time to prepare for it a little bit. Need to buy a DVR-ish thingy so I can capture video instead of scavenging around for some. Need to change the Mic setup so that people don't screw up the audio quality. Need to try some practice reviews of other games to get a good balance in.
Sorry, I wrote most of this last night and am tired again now, so hope you enjoy or at least tolerate this episode. I will always be trying to improve it. Again, even Spill.com is always adding more and more animated parts, so I have a looooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnggggggg ways to go. Cheers.
Sorry, I haven't been blogging recently or even commenting very regularly, I've been hanging with my friends and doing a lot of sleeping.
Well, I said that I would talk about Chuck in depth but then I realized that the only time I put in any amount of effort into organizing my thoughts is when I write school papers. Anyways, I recently re-discovered Chuck after only watching the pilot. The thing that got me interested again was an episode of IGN's Channel Surfing podcast. They were talking about it being renewed and that just urged me to marathon it. Over the past year or so I have marathoned various TV shows with How I Met Your Mother being the one before Chuck.
Anyways, I've described Chuck this way before, but I stand by it. Chuck feels like a mix of Burn Notice, Inuyasha, and throw in some Jim Halpert as well. Of course that's a very loose description of the series and not some all-encompassing one that says everything about the series.
I could tell you everything about the series but I'm just going to stick with the points I've already mentioned.
Burn Notice-They are both shows about spies. However, because Michael Westen is a burned spy, the dynamic is automatically changed. However, the way things get done in each show still have that loose rope connecting the two. Chuck doesn't pretend that they are teaching you anything and to an extend neither does Burn Notice, but they still tackle their topics differently. I guess this is more of an argument for why both shows can co-exist. So to simplify it and bring it back to the purpose, they're both spy shows and that stuff intrigues me.
Inuyasha-Calling this a guilty pleasure doesn't quite nail it on the head. I didn't care that much for the action. No, I was there for that Inuyasha/Kagome pairing. It was through this show that I learned the term "shipping." I was the person who cheered every time Kikyo died (Spoilers, hmm probably should have warned you ahead of time....oh well). I was thankful when we didn't have to deal with Naraku and we got to just take a look at and often advance the relationships. For those who have seen it, when I say advance I mean like having the car in drive, no gas, and the emergency brake is on sort of advancing. Chuck brought in the Chuck/Sarah combination very early on, like when you first see her early. Yvonne Strahovski is so beautiful and not ****** (most of the time) that you can't help but be rooting for this good-natured guy to get the girl. I won't ruin what happens for those unfamiliar with the show, but as with these sorts of things there's always a "will they, won't they" many times. While some got tired of it, I didn't. The show manipulated me perfectly so that I didn't get exasperated with the whole thing before they threw me a bone and then went back to their business as usual.
Stay at an electronics store, or get shot at with her....
Jim Halpert-I quickly grew to love The Office because of a combination of the humor, Jim/Pam, and well just Jim himself. I've always really liked the guy, and while there are times when he can do some really questionable things, I never dislike him for an instant. In fact, I truly believe this guy could be robbing me and I wouldn't hold it against him. In a lot of ways, Chuck reminds me of Jim. I'm not just talking about that crazy hair, but in the way the characters are. They are surrounded by "unique" people for the most part, yet stay charming in whatever situation they are in. When they screw up, it's acknowledged but still in a very charming way. I should let it be known that their charm isn't that Bond charm where he basically enters the room and before he leaves there are three new pregnancies in the room, even though there's only two women. Jim is a lot more smug than Chuck is though. I suppose that's why some people can get annoyed at the guy. Chuck does display some arrogance every now and then, but it's not like his personality changes altogether. I mean the guy is surrounded by spies, so when he accomplishes something as a normal guy, it only seems fair to let him think highly of himself for a little while.
I could go on all day about Chuck, and if we were actually talking, my thoughts would make more sense. It's much easier for me to talk about a subject than to lecture about it. Perhaps I should have said converse instead, but no matter. For any of you who haven't watched Chuck yet, go out and give it a chance. It's a great show that struggles every year not to get cancelled. For those of you who already watch it, I applaud you. And for those of you who don't like the show, why the hell did you get this far into this rambling, incoherent post. I don't go reading Amateur Nazi Propaganda.
Hey guys, finals week is finally over for me. I've begun the process of relaxing so I'm going to ease back into the blogs because I can see myself being on there constantly come June. It's nothing against you guys, but I'd like to reconnect with my high school friends for awhile. Most of them are in finals week this week while any others just aren't going to come back until later. It's a bummer when people you saw everyday are gone all of a sudden. Friendships are relationships, no matter what the popular opinion may be, so long-distance is always difficult. With romantic relationships, constant maintenance is needed and there is a desire to be close for both parties so it's a lot more fragile. However, friends don't need to be touching up on each other all the time, so distance isn't that much of an issue if you can still call or even just play games together. For girls who like to shop....huh....Skype and then go shopping online? Still, this is going in a completely different direction than what I intended.
Since this isn't LiveJournal, if that site still exists, I'll try to mention something with a little more substance. If you've read this blog a lot, then you'll know that I'm a big fan of spill.com. Recently they decided to expand their offerings a bit by not only adding a new podcast about the weekly Blu-ray offerings, but also they released a new video today in which they spliced themselves inside a movie trailer. The trailer in question here is one of the MacGruber trailers. Now, I can see people saying that it's crap and that the writing needs to be improved, but I'm enjoying it just as it is. Yup, I give shining endorsements.
Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BHuAhLwlMI&playnext_from=TL&videos=X15YcWspNXo&feature=sub
As for games, I've noticed more cliffhanger endings. It makes sense to have people wanting more of the game. If they have the feeling, chances are you made a good game because people want more. However, it seems like there's a right way and a wrong way to go about doing cliffhangers. I don't think it reflects too much on the games overall quality or at least impression of quality, but it certainly can affect how you view the game. I won't spoil anything about the following two games I'm going to mention so don't worry. Mass Effect 2 arguably has a cliffhanger ending. You know what's coming in the sequel, yet you feel accomplished and if it's necessary, the series could end there, and you'll feel alright about it. Assassin's Creed 2 is a different story. It almost feels like they ran out of time and just had to stop right there. You feel like nothing has been resolved despite having done what you set out to do. Being able to play during the credits was pretty cool, but also felt like they just decided to add the credits during one of the transition portions instead of to the epilogue. The lengths of the two games are comparable but with AC 2, there's just this overwhelming feeling of being shorted. It could just be me, and what I took from it, but it felt like an eye-opener to me about the importance of a game's ending.
Here's hoping that Red Dead Redemption's ending is good, because GTA IV wasn't as tidy as San Andreas. There could be that added meaning that this isn't just a storybook where it's a contained story that is told from beginning to end throughout the course of the game. Don't get me wrong, I feel that GTA IV's story ended much better than AC 2. However, it's not as tho Niko's story is going to be continued so it doesn't have as much of an excuse.
The Black Couch has just put up episode 14 as well. This week's episode is completely about the Halo: Reach Beta, with some Halo 3 tossed about.
Podcast Timeline:
6:44-Halo: Reach Beta Play Time
9:41-Possible Glitches?
10:40-Things to be Changed + Horns
13:17-Flag Brutality
15:06-Skill Level Still Low!
16:58-Explosive Grenades
18:02-Favorite Weapons
28:54-Favorite Mode
32:32-Rocket Challenge+Possible Game Giveaway Ideas
Listen: HERE
Subscribe on iTunes if you so choose.
If the file doesn't play for you, please let me know. We've been having problem with the site that hosts the podcast.
Red Dead Redemption is something that has quickly gone to the top of my must-have list. The weird thing is, I didn't see it coming at all. In hindsight, it makes perfect sense though. Despite what many people have said, I enjoyed GTA IV immensely and will be trying to get ahold of Liberty City Stories as soon as finals are over, and I'm done with the Reach Beta, and I play a lot of Red Dead Redemption. So in other words, I'll get to it eventually.
From what I've read, Red Dead Redemption's engine is based on the ones that powered GTA IV. Personally, I think this game looks a lot better. It's been a few years since GTA IV was released, so the engine has probably naturally progressed with the continued development on it. In addition to this, the Old (but not really since it's 1908) West is not a major metropolitan area. As a result, more detail can go into everything that is there. I also hope that there is a little bit less pop-in which doesn't seem like it'll be too hard to do.
Regardless of the graphics, the gameplay just seems like an expansion of GTA IV. It seems like there's still a vertical rise to the game that is now more integrated and functional than it ever was before. The old weapons don't really seem limiting at all because they don't keep to a very realistic **** I could have sworn that I saw somebody using an automatic shotgun at a decent range. These team battles could be great if done correctly. Although that can probably be said about any sort of multiplayer. The way multiplayer is setup, it seems like it could very well act as a mini MMORPG so I guess just a MORPG. While it seems to heavily encourage teamwork, it does say that you can choose to stay solo. While I would like to screw with people coming through a town, I could see that being annoying if people do it constantly. Sort of like what happened in GTA IV free-roam. I liken it to laser tag when after you shoot somebody they don't go anywhere and come back to life right next to you so you have to focus on them or else get shot. I'm looking forward to seeing how Rockstar has addressed this issue without making it so joining back up with your posse is a long journey if they choose to revive you a respectable distance away from where you were last killed.
In other news, episode 12 of The Black Couch is now up. We cover a lot of topics in our second full attempt at recording the podcast. Javier Harris guest stars this week again. Will he stay or will he go? We've had to stop using real songs as our intro and outro so we present you with the 2nd draft of our new theme song. Don't like it? Tell us what you think at mattsblackcouch@gmail.com
Episode 12 Timeline:
0:08-Intro
3:11-Halo Reach Beta Footage
14:30-Free MAG DLC
17:45-Las Cruces Olive Garden Opening
21:58-Walking
24:00-Tiger Woods '11 Mini-Golf
26:05-Sex With Ass
27:05-Videogame Primetime
29:25-PS3D Preparations
31:15-Kanye Sunglasses/Fashion
32:40-Dead Rising
35:15-Javier's Fish Phobia
36:34-Madden Cover
37:20-Cloud Mario Video
40:40-Further Red Dead Redemption Discussion
41:38-Dante's Inferno
43:00-Dante's Inferno Spoilers
43:40-XBOX Live Service Shutdown-Halo Holdouts
46:10-Sega shifting focus
46:40-Javier's iPad Impressions
50:30-Javier's B-Boy Career + Rap
54:00-What's Cookin
1:01:27-Javier's Outro
1:02:05-Callback
1:02:40-What We've Been Playing
1:04:(20-50)-Bioshock 2 Spoilers
1:06:45-May Games + TBC Future
Listen: HERE
This got me thinking, when else has this happened. In fact, I just wanted to know when the sequel just sort of screwed up somewhere. Just off the top of my head slowing down of gameplay in Super Smash Bros. Brawl really disappointed me. Now some of you may correct me and prove that it's actually faster, but it sure felt slower.
Over the years Tony Hawk games have changed up their focus so much multiple things were always getting left out. The multiplayer in Gears of War 2 was really crippled. Now a lot of it had to do with gameplay alterations, but also the way matches were set up. People have been complaining about Modern Warfare 2's multiplayer, while others still love it so I guess that's on a person-by-person basis. Age of Empires 3 really seemed way too focused on pumping out artillery in order to win. I could go on and on and nitpick every little sequel, but I'm not a big fan of hate posts. Sure it gives you an insight into what people think about and how they view their games, but more often than not, it becomes a tiring experience.
So out of this disappointment post, I would like to express my hope for sequels. For many developers, the sequel is a chance to correct so many mistakes from the first game. It's also a chance to introduce new gameplay elements that might elevate the game even higher. As always, its a balancing act, but when it works, it really works.
My question to all of you is: Personally, when has a sequel faltered in an area that the previous game did not?
The Black Couch 10is up. Look for a higher quality episode next week because a few of us are actually going to buy mics. Cheap mics, of course, but mics nonetheless.
Listen:HERE
Conduit 2 was announced today and what really excited me was the inclusion of split-screen in this game. I absolutely love split-screen and it is the reason my friends and I play so much Halo. We aren't particularly good at the game, but being able to play together like this still is great fun.
I've said this before but we actually played a lot of Red Steel because of the split screen. Being able to kill your opponent while holding your gun sideways was just an insult to them. Well that and that stun/execution combo. That's why I was disappointed to hear that Red Steel 2 was going to be single-player only.
However, the news that Conduit 2 is going to have split-screen support is fantastic. If they can combine that with online play then my Wii is going to overheat.
The Black Couchis finally back! Unfortunately we didn't plan well for this return, but given the circumstances and the multiple recording attempts, the fact that this is even here is an amazing feat. This week we have our friend Javier as a guest and that worked out in our favor this time. We talk about a lot of different subjects this week from Hooters, police, jobs, and oh yeah some video games.
Listen:HERE
Finally, we get a more detailed look at the next contender in the motion-control battle of the consoles, the PlayStation Move. Our first glimpse at this year's GDC came in the form of a trailer from Sony in which they took the Nintendo approach to showing people playing with the controller except stepped it up a notch by stylizing certain portions of the trailer to give it a more advanced look. This theme of taking a Nintendo idea and expanding on it seemed to be present throughout the conference. Sony even congratulated Nintendo on what they've done so far.
However, we don't particularly care about who did what first as long as we're getting the best experience available and have spent our money wisely. So that means that the technology is going to have to be top-notch and have great games to go along with it. Sony demoed multiple games to try and show just what the move is capable of.
They showed off Brunswick Bowling, which is your standard bowling game, and it showed in the game. If you've seen a bowling game played on the Wii, then you've seen it played on Move as it is exactly the same thing. There do not appear to be any differences here.
SOCOM 4 was also on display and with it was the demonstration of the Sub-controller add-on which can be compared to the Nunchuk attachment for the Wii Remote, except it's wireless now. Depending on which demo you're observing, the Move controller appears to either be incredibly responsive or display a noticeable lag of the cursor, and a very slow turn rate. This actually makes me hopeful because it indicates that there is some level of customization to the controls.
There's a sports compilation game called Sports Champions which is essentially the PlayStation Move version of the Wii Sports and the sequel, Wii Sports Resort. The games included in this are ping-pong, archery, and a gladiator mode. Each mode appears to be very responsive to what the players are doing whether its a swing, a blocking motion, or a simple drawing of the string.
A fighting game was also on display, and this one was not 1:1 like a lot of the other games on display. This was a bit disappointing considering the what had been done with the gladiator game, but perhaps this is a strategic decision.
Overall, the PlayStation Move looks to be very promising. We need to see more games that utilize it in a manner beyond simple mini-games though. Sony is aiming for the crowd that Nintendo went for, and I'm doubtful about their possible success. The device is a $100 add-on to an already $300 machine. In addition to the price issue, the multiple buttons crowding the Move can be daunting to non-gamers. Only time will tell the outcome of this endeavor.
There will be Psych spoilers so beware. I don't know how many people here watch Psych, but the season finale last Wednesday was very different. There was a minimal amount of humor which is odd for a show like Psych where the mystery usually takes a backseat to the zany antics of the two stars. This time around, everything was very intense throughout the entire episode. Unlike some previous episode where the mystery was meant to be the focus, this one really worked because it brought back Mr. Yang from the last season finale and introduced his counterpart. This time however, the killer wasn't caught in the span of the episode which gives us something to look forward to in the next season, hopefully not all the way until the season finale though. Of course the point that stood out to me was Juliet breaking down at the end. I agree with what's been said in the IGN review that perhaps it was not only the situation she was in, but the fact that Shawn wasn't the one to come and rescue her. Perhaps she felt that in some way, he had chosen Abigail's life instead of hers when that wasn't really the case. I really can't wait for the next season and I hope this is brought up again, because as much as it sucks to watch them dance around getting with each other for so many seasons now, this is actually a misunderstanding that isn't just cowardice on either side.
Since everybody else has talked about the Playstation Move, I thought it'd be best to give a quick summary of my thoughts. At this point I am not convinced, but I am definitely going to try and play it at a place like Best Buy when it comes out. The price is to steep to invest without any guarantee it won't just be a waste.
In a deviation from the norm, we are actually talking about video games most of the time in this week's episode of The Black Couch. Now, the discussion gets heated, but don't fret, we still love each other. GDC has come and gone and with it brought the avalanche of Playstation Move information and a nice little discussion to go along with it. Enjoy.
Topic Timeline:
New Intro
Old Intro
News (GDC)
What We've Been Playing (It's a we this time!)
Short What's Cookin
Arnold's Special Friend Stops By
Listen:HERE
A lot of the extended trailers these days have a major problem. They tend to ruin so much of the movie it almost isn't worth it anymore. Part of the appeal of a movie, to me, is seeing the entire experience unfold at one time. I'm not trying to say that trailers are bad in general. Without trailers I would never had discovered District 9. However, I hear the later trailers ruined more of the movie which is a shame. It was the intrigue that that skillful trailer created that made me want to see it so much. However, other trailers ruin the plot and sometimes even the twist of movies. Isn't that right, Sam Worthington? Yet, other trailers like Harry Potter, Avatar: The Last Airbender, or Lord of the Rings were simply showing the previous image come to life. The story is known enough to the point that not much needs to be hidden from the public. This brings me to the latest offender that I am having to avoid. I am speaking of Toy Story 3. My friends informs me that the latest trailer reveals the plot of the movie, something I do not want to know. It needs to be fresh going in. I believe that directors need to have control of the trailers released, and people have to be keeping others in check when these trailers are made. I want to get a fresh, exciting cinematic experience for my money.
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