Hey everyone,

I would just like to take this time to wish all of you a happy and healthy 2011! May it be a good year for all!

There have been a lot of horror/action games in the history of videogames. Titles like Caslevania, Ghouls & Ghosts, Resident Evil, Silent Hill, Dead Space, Dead Rising & Obscure show that we like to be terified in our games....or that we just like to slaughter disturbed beings into gorey bits for our own amusement... Ah, time for my medicine i see :D. In any case, in these type of games we fight frightening mythical creatures like vampires, werewolves, giant spiders, aliens, demons of any type or mummies freshly risen from the tomb.

Be that as it may, if we look at the total sum of horror games and horror movies out there, there is one type of monster that we like to kill most: Zombies! No matter how you look at it, we all love the undead monsters that seem so human and inhuman at the same time. This is why the zombie is depicted in so many books, movies and videogames.

I was just playing Dead Rising 2, an awesome game that let's you destroy zombies in so many ways that it's just ridiculous! This got me thinking: What if you actually got trapped in a city that was closed off, filled with mindless zombies?

Picture this: You wake up after having a good night, only to find your street filled with walking corpses! You check your entire house, but you can't find your family anywhere. The t.v. shows only static, so you turn on your radio. You hear a news bulletin covering a zombie outbreak in your area. The authorities have evacuated the entire area and then proceeded to totally block off your area to prevent the outbreak to spread further. The problem is that they did not evacuate you! You pick up the phone, half panicing with fear. Unlike all other horror movies and games, your phone actually works and you are able to reach the authorities. They propose to send over a helicopter to rescue you, but it will take the helicopter 24 hours to reach you. Having no choice, you agree to the 24 hour terms and you hang up afterwards. You begin searching your house for food, water, flashlights, rope, but above all a weapon to defend your self with. You open up a cabinet and you grab a (.....).

That's my question to you actually. If you were to be trapped in your neighbourhood for 24 hours and you could only have 1 weapon, what would it be? A gun, a sniper rifle, a katana, a chainsaw, a banana peal, a picture of Prince Charles, a homemade weapon? What? Let me know :).

Hey fellow gamers / GS bloggers:!:

Some of us play videogames to have fun. Some to escape realism. And some play videogames just because they have nothing else going on in their lives:!: Not that i play videogames because i don't have anything else going on... No really...

Aaaanyway when we do play videogames, we become the game's protagonist or antagonist. In most games the character you play is pretty much pre-determined, but there are games, like most MMO's and a fair amount of RPG games, that let you determine what character you play. You could be a dual axe wielding warrior, chopping anything that dares to cross your path in to tiny little pieces, you could be a powerful wizard, with the zapping and the light effects and whatnot, or you could choose to be a crafter making anything from paper to entire estates for profit and fun!

Now my question to you is; which type are you? When you play a videogame that allows you to choose at least a class, which class would you choose?

The Brainless Brute:

Me smash! It doesn't take a brainiac to play a brute type. Basically you grab a weapon and hit your enemy with it untill there's nothing left but a bloody mess! Swords, axes, pole arms, shields, armor, maces, hammers, your kitchen sink, heck you'd use your bare hands if you have to. You are familiar with any of these items and you wield them with finesse and brute strength. Taking on hordes of enemies at the same time, it sometimes feels like noone is able to hurt you. As the enemy cowers before you, you crush them with a single mighty blow!

The Sneaky one:

Sneaky and unseen you take out your opponents. Timing your actions and striking from the shadows, you dispose of your enemies without raising a single alarm. Knives, crossbows, bows, throwing knives, ninja stars. Basically anything that helps you kill your enemy without causing a commotion is part of your arsenal. Where enemies can't be defeated, you sneak past them and avoid detection at all costs. When all else fails, you kill all your opponents with lightning quick reflexes and then vanish without a trace, leaving the enemy guessing at what just happened.

The (Ranged) Nuker:

"Death from afar" is your motto! Though you may not use stealth, the enemy usually does not notice youuntil it's too late! Using your eagle eyed vision, you shoot as many projectiles at your enemies as you canuntil you can see the white in their eyes before drawing your meelee weapons, though you usually kill your opponents before they even get close. Bows, crossbows, sniper rifles and whatever ranged weapon you have at your disposal, you terrorise your victims by wielding these weapons with deadly precision and repetition.

The Magical Caster:

Using actual weaponry is soooooo 1742! The magical arts IS your weapon. Whether you're roasting your enemies in a flame, freezing them over with ice, zapping them with your fierce lightning or turning them into nice statues for your garden with earth magic, using the elements of nature is actually like second nature to you! But using the elements is not all you are capable of. Your magic also enables you to heal your friends in an instant, encourage your party and raise their stats or hinder your foes to their dismay. All this while sporting a nice robe, very stylish indeed!

The Chimera:

Like the fabled Chimera, you are a strange being that has the abilities of that of several other beings. This character often combines some of the abilities of the other beings to create his or her own fighting abilities. These characters are as versatile as they are unpredictable as they may have any number of powers and abilities. At times you charge in sporting a mighty hammer, while at other times you may burn an enemy to cinders while using magic. A strange creature to be sure!

The "Handy Man":

Make artifacts, not war! These characters forego the glory of battle and instead focus their attention towards creation. These characters would walk for miles on end, pay ridiculous amounts of currency or slave for hours in mines, forests and whatnot just for a small bit of gemstones, ore, wood, yarn, foodstuffs or whatever they may have set their minds on, all for the good of crafting that one precious item! Determined, they then put hours and hours into crafting, ignoring hunger, thirst or sleep until finally the item is ready in all it's pristine condition…at which point they start the crafting process all over again. And so they must, for anything less then perfect will not do!

So tell me which one of the above you might prefer!

Neogenic

Hi there,

Just posting my pre-orders for this year. Just tell me what you think or tell me if i am missing out on any games this year.

1. FINAL FANTASY XIV

I know what you are thinking: "Just another MMO for the "Meh" pile"! I honestly have to say though that i did have fun in the beta and since i am a huge Final Fantasy fan and need something to tie me over untill Star Wars: The Old Republic comes along, so this is probably not such a bad choice.

2. FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS

What can i say? I liked all the Fallout games before this one, even Fallout 3. I do hope to see a sort of continuation of the story after Fallout 2 though.

That's it, short and sweet! Let me know what you think.

Just a side note: I have not pre-ordered Call of Duty: Black Ops yet. As "Inifity Ward" is not creating this one, i am just adopting a wait and see approach on this installment.

**EDIT: When i submit a blog, Glitchspot keeps deleting spaces in some of my sentences. Any of you had this before?**

Hey there,

Aren't you tired of the nagging? The gloating? Or the pathetic whining that appears on any forum you go to? No, i am not talking about people that nag in general. No, i am talking about the fabled...

You know, the kind of people that love a certain story, game, book or whatever so much that they feel the need to "defend" that special something from anyone that does not share the same opinion of their beloved product. Fanboys feel that their special product is threatened when people have a negative opinion about their loved thing, causing a negative response from the fanboy to try and hurt that person...or at least throw him or her off balance. Now if the person that the fanboy is writing their "defense" to is actually another fanboy, the conversation often ends in a battle in which the fanboys from both sides try and convince eachother that their product is better. This can also be called a fanboy war...

Fanboys come in all shapes, sizes and all levels of mental health. The term "fanboy" is politically incorrect, as this may be used for either a male or a female. People become fanboys because of a number of reasons, often being a fanboy of more then one product or service. Fanboys also have different levels of social awareness, the worst ones being the fanboys that will whine or gloat on forums just to start an argument for fun.

It is impossible to determine when fanboys first appeared. This is largely due to the many types of fanboys that exsist. You could argue that fanboy-ism started when the entertaining business began. Others could argue that, when looking at political circles, fanboys have always been present, shouting around propaganda about their favorite candidate. However it may be, some fanboys do stand out from others. There are the fanboys that love books and movies, such as the Star Trek, Lord of the Rings and Star Wars fanboys. There are also fanboys in sports, like football hooligans...

And then there are videogame fanboys. Now off course there are fanboys of a single game like Halo, Killzone or Crysis. However, the biggest fanboy wars occur around game platforms or rather around the famous question of which one is best. The biggest contest being between the Sony fanboys and the Microsoft fanboys. These fanboys will take any strengths their platform or game has or any weaknesses that the other platforms or games have as arguments to be used in support their own platforms or as ammunition to throw at fanboys supporting the other platforms, fueling the fanboy war which seems to go on eternally. This to the dismay of the normal people that are just on the forums to discuss the game or hardware.

Now you may ask yourself: Am i a fanboy? Well let's find out. Please look at the following pictures and see if any angry feelings stir up. Here goes...

One for Sony:

One for Microsoft (XBox 360):

One for Nintendo:

And the last one for PC.

Nothing? Really? Excellent! You are a normal, sane person who likes videogames. If the above pictures did stir up some bad feelings, well... I... I just don't know what to say...

Noone knows if fanboys will ever stop to exsist. If they will ever stop to annoy the casual gamers on the forums with their fanboy rantings. Maybe one day, we can all enjoy our games and share our opinions without anyone trolling on our posts because we do not like something as much as they do. Untill then, all i can say is...

WHAT DO YOU THINK??

A minigame can be described as a videogame within a videogame. These minigames often have a more simplistic nature then the game it comes with and is meant to serve as a level filler, something to pass the time while a portion of the game is loaded, as a reward for finding easter eggs, but are mainly meant as a fun distraction from the gameplay offered by the main game.

One of Final Fantasy VII's many mini games (more then 30) allows you to enter a chocobo race.

Minigames come in a large variety of forms and lengths, ranging from puzzles to slot machines to shooters. They are also presented in just as many ways within a game, such as an in game console or your games organizer such as PDA's.

Who hasn't played Doom 3's Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3? Made by Nabcon!

Besides acting as a distraction from the main game's gameplay, minigames can also serve as a means to progress the main game itself, such as picking locks to a chest or door, hacking a computer to access it's data, cooking up a potion to restore your health or creating that fie piece or armor or weapon to help increase your chances of winning. The successful ending of these minigames often depend on the character's skill in that area and if completed successfully often lead to hidden treasure and a shortcut to advancement.

In Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, picking a lock can lead you to some interesting loot... and sometimes into some nasty fights with the city guards...

Minigames have been around almost as long as videogames itself and have become increasingly popular over the years. Some minigames have even become so popular that they have become standalone titles, such as Geometry Wars, which was originally a minigame in Gotham City Racing 2. Some games, such as Wario Ware or Mario Party, are actually a compilation of several minigames.

Mario Party has always been full of memorable fun minigames.

Nowadays minigames are a booming, million dollar business, no matter which platform you own. Online platforms, such as PSN and Xbox Live, are literally flooded with purchaseable minigames and games themselves are sometimes teeming with them. Any way you look at it minigames have become an integral part of games and the gaming industry and will (hopefully) continue to do so for a long time to come.

Sup gamers,

Hope you are all doing well. I finished all my tasks at work and got me some spare time. So i thought i'd write this blog, so i can tell you a bit about what happened this weekend (if you are interested to know).

Not that there is a lot going on actually. A hospital visit here and a birthday there. Nothing special. The bigger news is that my brother is moving in with me for a while. He used to live with his best mate, but that went sour unfortunately. So he will be living at my place for a bit untill he finds his own place. Although family is always welcome, it does mean that we will be fighting over the "gamepad" from time to time!!!!

Now this is a gamepad me and my brother would fight about!! (*)

I have also purchased StarCraft II this weekend. Now i know that i told you in my last blog that i am a total noob at RTS games, which i am. I have to tell you though that this game is a blast! I really like the multiplayer modes that have an extra twist to them.

An example would be last Sunday where i spent some hours playing an online game mode that required you to fend off a Zerg horde for a limited amount of time, which increasing their numbers as time progressed, ultimately leading to an almost unstoppable mass of aliens, all aching to beat your defenses to a pulp and take the alien artifact that you are supposed to protect. We only managed to win just one of these matches after me and another player build row upon row of defenses and started praying they would hold. Even though the Zerg ploughed through our lines like a hot knife through butter, our very last defense line held out the mass of menacing aliens just long enough to win the match. We quite literally did not have a second left to spare as the alien horde broke through our defense in that last second!!

In any case, it is a fun game to play and even though i willprobably be sent to my doom against almost all players i get matched up against, i will certainly keep playing this game for a while longer! Should you want to play against me or with me at any point, my name on Battlenet is (offcourse) Neogenic. Now let's hope my brother does not like RTS! :P

Neogenic

(*) Photo taken from an article found in the Daily Contributor, article name "The Gamepad T-Shirt", written on 03/02/10.

Hey guys,

I have been playing games for a while now (since the 80's :)) and i am still loving it! I seem to be pretty good at all genres, FPS and RPG being my favorite, save one; RTS. When it comes to RTS games i have the strategical prowess of a brick wall :shock:!

In RTS, i am allways the first one to be attacked and destroyed. I often even get destroyed in the first half hour of the game (Sometimes even in the first attack wave:!: ). When i finally amass an army on any RTS game, my opponents army is allways 4 times bigger! This happens to me whether i play Command and Conquer games, Star Craft, Warcraft, Age of Empires and pretty much all RTS games out there. In short, i do not play RTS games well :(.

Now i reckon there are some experienced RTS players amongst us that know what makes a RTS game tick. These gamers seem to best their opponents, however hard the challenge may be, at every turn. To those people, i urge you; Share your knowledge with us :twisted:!

What should you do once the game starts? How do you mount a proper defense? Is there any best way to attack? Let us know!

Thanks :D.

Neogenic

Hey everyone,

So i build my own PC today. There are the specs. Let me know what you think:

- i7 920 Processor

- Asus P6T SE Motherboard

- 6 GB DDR 3RAM

- 1 TB HDD (Western brand)

- ATI Radion HD 5770 1 GBvideocard

- Antec Earthwatts 750 Watts Power Supply

- LG Super Multi Blue BD-ROM/DVD Rewriter

- Cooler Master Elite 333 Case

The whole thing took no more then an hour to assemble and it's working perfectly. I should be able to play games like Mass Effect 2 perfectly now.

Regards,

Neogenic