So I've been voting in the Greatest Game Sidekick brackets. I can't believe that Victor "God D***" Sullivan was eliminated by HK-47. HK-47 just spends all of KOTOR calling everybody "meat bag" and talking trash. Sully at least has some depth to his character. Just goes to show you that people will vote for the 2 dimensional plot device every time if it spends the whole game demeaning their humanity. Sully is a friend, companion and mentor for Nathan Drake. HK-47 would have shot Revan in the face if his programming would have allowed it.

Don't get me wrong, I still liked HK-47. But he's still got nothing on Sully.

Not too happy about the end of Sync. What am I supposed to watch daily now to get my updates on the world of gaming? I mean yeah Gamespot still has Start/Select but I can't get my Jody Robinson fix that way. :)

My wallet isn't expanding but my wish list just keeps growing. What is a self professed gamer to do? I see all this great technology and games coming down the pipeline or already gracing store shelves and I glance at my free time and cash flow and I just keep coming up short. It's a struggle to juggle responsibilities, family, workload, and gaming. If only there were two of me... I could send other me off to work and mow the grass while I toil away with some much needed game time.

Alas cloning isn't really an option. As my finances are relatively fixed and I have yet to find a winning Lotto ticket I will just have to continue to juggle my options. I have some definite must have titles that I will pickup at release regardless of how things are going. I've already pre-ordered my next two gaming outings, Batman:Arkham City and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. I've been checking out a lot of up coming titles and some of those have thrown my attention back to some older games, Mass Effect 2 comes to mind. Right now my reach is over extending my grasp.

I guess I'll have to reel things back in a bit and put some stuff on the back burner (to mix a few metaphors). It also wouldn't hurt if I had a second PS3 and entertainment center at home but as I've said the finances don't exactly support that at the moment. Oh well, still looking forward to things to come and getting my hands on some quality games.

I recently purchased the Doomsday Edition of Resistance 3. The defining quality of this version of the game is the fact that it comes bundled with the PS Move controller, Navigation Controller, Eyetoy Camera, and the Sharpshooter peripheral. Now I've owned a lot of light guns and motion control type controllers over the years and consoles but I've got to say that Sony has hit on the right formula. The PS Move and Nav controller are what the Wii's controls should have been. It is far more light weight and accurate, rechargeable and cordless when compared to the Wii Mote and Nunchuk. Plus the PS3 actually has games you'd want to play so points for Sony over Nintendo.

The Sharpshooter is the most thought out peripheral I think I have ever owned on any console. Sony seems to have thought about every angle when putting this thing together. It has buttons in all the right places whether you be left or right handed. It has an actual trigger in the appropriate place as opposed to some weird facsimile or oddly placed trigger that is just awkward for your hands. In short the thing seems designed for you to actually hold and use while playing. And it actually works and is fun to use.

I've never been a big fan of gimmicky game controls but this is one case where Sony actually sold me on an idea and then delivered the goods. The PS Move has become a welcome addition to my PS3 and my living room. It allows me an alternate method of play for the games that I enjoy, allows my wife to do Zumba Fitness in our home, and will allow my kids to be able to play age appropriate games without a steep learning curve. I won't try and compare to Microsoft Kinect because most of the things I've demoed or seen on Kinect look like they'd be great if you were at a party and drunk or 3 years old. So that earns a +1 to my fanboy stat for Sony.8)

Alright, I'm going into rant territory here because this is one of my all time biggest annoyances inonline gaming. So much so in fact that when my buddy and I game together we use it as our clan tag. I'm talking about LAG! The enemy of all who would dare to tread into the realm of competitive online multiplayer gaming. There is nothing worse than playing online multiplayer in lets say an FPS, running into what appears to be an empty room, and dying for no apparent reason only to have the visage of your opponent suddenly pop into existence right in front of you as though they had been there all along. Well because of our dear friend LAG! from their perspective they were there all along and I'vejust been standing there like a hapless unaware n00b while they emptied a clip into my face at point blank range.

LAG! is also the cause of many of myrage filled adult hissy fits which I'm so "proud" to admit. :oops: I oh so enjoy chasing someone who is completely unaware that I am behind them only to get FRAG almost instantly by them after watching them NOT die from the entire clip worth of ammo that I just pumped into their back. Nothing messes up a good bit of leaderboard stats more than a good "healthy" dose of LAG! I consider myself to be a seasoned player. I may not be at the top of the tier but I don't have 16 hours a day to play either. In games that took a large chunk of my time in the past I have managed to get myself well into the top couple thousand players before. So tell me how I turn around from a match where I pulled down stats like 20 kills to 3 deaths to switching to the next match where those stats are reversed. LAG!

And I suppose the biggest reason that LAG! annoys me so much is that a lot of it could be avoided by some greater investment by game developers. Regionalizing/localizing the multiplayer component would be a good start, or at least making it a selectable option. The Internet has come a long way in the last 20 years but sometimes it still just isn't up to the task of getting everything synced up right across the entire globe. Having dedicated servers for the mulitplayer component would be another good investment. Some game developers do have this but there are still quite a few who don't. There are also some coding constraints that could be put into place to better sync everyone's systems before matches start. We are now in a world of drop in drop out gaming so this is probably a bit more difficult but if an incoming player can't be synced up to the timing everyone else is running on then they shouldn't be able to join. It also would be nice to be able to select the option to only play with other plays with a certain speed of Internet connection.

Some games I've played have had a minimum of LAG!Others have had so much as to be almost unplayable (Bioshock 2 comes to mind). I suppose I just have to say to developers:If you aren't going to invest the time and resources into creating as LAG! free multiplayer experience as you can then why are you adding this component to a game? If ultimately your game is pretty much unplayable because someone is always rocking the LAG! advantage then why would we the players want to subject ourselves to the ulcer inducing rage that so inevitably will result? I've got enough problems in my everyday life to deal with without adding the stress and frustration of a bad gaming experience on top of that. I use games to unwind and remove some ofmy dailystress. So LAG! I say to you: Please find yourself something better to do besides bothering me when I'm trying to have fun. Thanks.

I picked up my copy of Resistance 3 from Best Buy yesterday and I'm already impressed. I actually decided to shell out the money and get the Doomsday Edition. For $150 I got a copy of Resistance 3, a PS Move controller, a navigation controller, the Eyetoy camera, and the Sharpshooter. A total savings of about $70 for the same items individually so I pretty much consider my copy of the game as FREE. I wasn't initially interested in the Move since I kinda felt burned by the whole Wii gimmick but Sony has managed to sell me on the idea that their motion control actually works well. More on that in a future blog I'm sure.

I've been playing the multiplayer beta of Resistance 3 over the last week and I had a lot of fun with it. It requires some definite skill to juggle the varied arsenal and play styles available. It'salways nice to find a game that rewards skill with nice perks and this game delivers. A big part of the fun of the Resistance series is the varied weapon types and their secondary fire modes. I have to say my personal favorite is still the Auger after 3 games. The ability to see your enemies thru walls and rainpunishment down on them without them being able to defend themselves from your onslaught of weapons fire is just too useful. The secondary ability to drop a protective shield that your fire can still pass thru is also great for when you get caught flat out in the open. Plus its just fun as Hell to shoot.

I will definitely be working up a game review for Resistance 3 once I finish my first playthru, likely sometime next week. Until then I'm going to enjoy dishing out a healthy dose of concentrated energy weapon fire to some well deserving Chimeras' faces.

Gamespot recently had an article about the future of digital distribution in gaming and how retail outlets would soon become obsolete. Ireject that idea and provide my own educated prediction of where the future of digital download media is headed. I won't argue that digital media is the way of gaming in the future. Gaming companies would be foolish to continue to manufacture cartridgesand discs with the proliferation of the Internet, wifi, and 3G. The cost savings is too great and over the next 5 to 10 years you won't be able to find too many households that don't have Internet access. Where I have a problem with the assertions made in the Gamespot article was that retail outlets would become irrelevant and obsolete.

In order for digital proliferation to really be effective you will need multiple sources of distribution. That's where retail outlets come in. You may not be able to run down to the local Best Buy or Walmart to pickup a copy of a game any more but all the major retail chains are already creating their own sources of digital distribution. Gamespot was making the assumption that companies like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft would just sell the games directly to the consumer or that publishers would somehow take up this role. I don't think so. The console companies already have online distribution methods but they don't have nearly the capacity they would need to start selling every game made for their systems thru digital download. If you want to bring XBOX Live or the PSN to their knees then that would be a good way to do it. And do you honestly think that Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony wants to invest the capital needed to get these infrastructures beefed up to the level they would need for this to work? Why would they when someone else will do it for them?

They already have a digital distributioninfrastructure of this sort for movies and music. Why this notion that games won't follow in their footsteps? A good chunk of PC game sales already come from download sources like Steam so it's only a matter of time before console games follow. Don't expect that companies like Walmart, GameStop or Best Buy are just going to fade into the sunset when it comes to game sales. They're just going to change how they go about selling them. If the PS4 or the XBOX Next (or whatever they wind up calling it) were to come out with no disc slot or cartridge port and be download only then I guarantee you that Amazon, Target, and Toys'R'Us will still be right there selling you games. Ifthey stillhave a game section in store you will likely only be seeing info about the games or playing demos but purchaseswould just be for a download code you take back home to get access from the web. The only big difference I think you'll see is that the various retailers will have to offer some sort of incentive to buy your downloadfrom them over the competition as pricing will be relatively even. I expect to see rewards programs and order bonuses become more prevelant.

So last weekend I FINALLY beat Final Fantasy XIII.I'm a long time Final Fantasy fan.I started playing way back with Final Fantasy IV.I've got to say this was one of the worst titles of the series.It was an absolute slog to get through. The battle system is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E.Somewhere along the way the big wigs over at Square-Enix got it in their minds that what fans of the FF series really wanted is a fast paced battle system that was more flowing and action oriented. So I have to ask: Have they ever played one of their own Final Fantasy games?

Fans of Final Fantasy are NOT looking for fast paced battles with flowing sequences and big set piece action. It's a turn based RPG series. Turn based... which means that if it's my turn andI want to just lay the controller down and go to the bathroom without hitting pause then the game will still be sitting there waiting for my input when I come back. I shouldn't have to be fumbling with menus while getting repeatedly attacked. They tried to address this by removing your ability to control your party members (which everybody wanted that feature *SARCASM*) and adding an Auto Battle button which selects the "appropriate" type of action for your character to take based on what configuration you have your party set into. This basically just makes for battles that are a sequence of 1)select the appropriate party configuration, 2)click Auto Battle, 3)watch a sequence of your party members doing battle, 4)end battle, 5)repeat. B-O-R-I-N-G!!!!!

Some battles were so rediculously fast as to not be worth having even fought. And other battles were interminably long sequences of just switching into and out of various party configuartions to heal or buff up your characters so they didn't get immediately killed while pecking away at your overly difficult enemies health guage. So at best the game was boring and at worst it was like having a job. A game can be difficult and still be fun but this was like actual work. Like long boring repetitive menial labor kind of work. And one of the worst parts is that you can't even unlock all of your characters attributesand weapons or earn all of the games trophies until after you've beaten the story. I know this was their attempt at creating replayability for the game but what kind of incentive is there for me to go back and play against hordes of now relatively weak enemies and some that are still just ridiculously hard to continue to buff up my characters stats and get new weapons that I won't equip? I already completed the story so I don't really care to fight battles for no reason other than to get higher stats or work towards trophies based on reaching the highest stat level.

This game has definitely taken the top spot for me as most disappointing game. I was all hyped to get it before it came out but I've almost got some serious buyers remorse now that I've dropped my $60 and spent way too many hours playing this game. And to top that off it actually spent more hours sitting idle in a drawer than it did actually being played. Pitiful.

So I thought I was right in understanding that the purpose of forums, comment boxes, blogs, and the like were all about getting your opinion out there and exchanging ideas with others. Well apparently it seems that is the purpose so long as your views don't conflict with anyone elses. I consider myself to be a well rounded learned person. I have a college education, am well read, and take the time to pay attention to the world around me through exposure to various media outlets. So I'd say I'm knowledgable and have a good understanding of a wide variety of topics. So why then when I post a comment that is a statement of complete accuracy based on intellect, knowledge, and understanding am I suddenly on the receiving end of a bunch of childish comments and statements like: "You don't make any sense," or my personal favorite "You are so FAIL."

You want to give me some educated rebuttal and turn this into a discussion or even a civilized argument then I welcome your input. You want to just throw a bunch of idiotic rambling or insults at me because what I had to say isn't popular or you don't like it then just save it. I'm not interested in wasting my time reading anything from you if it might as well have started out with: "Your mommas so fat..." I don't have time for Junior High antics. Some people just seem to have trouble wrapping their head around the fact that we don't all have the same opinions and we don't all think alike. That doesn't mean that anyone is wrong or stupid because they don't agree with you. Unless their opinions or assumptions are based on inaccurate information but that's a whole different problem.

If you're going to take the time to write a blog the least you could do is hit the spell check once in a while. Some of these attempts at writing I've seen of late are almost illegible. If I can't understand the point you're trying to make because of a litany of spelling mistakes, poor grammar, leet speak, and acronyms that I'm not familiar with then you're wasting your time typing it up. Punctuation is important too. A sentence is supposed to end somewhere.

Don't over use emoticons and symbols in place of letters because it just makes your writing cluttered. Stay consistent with your font type and size because it makes it really hard to keep a sentence flowing when you keep losing your place due to giant font types in the middle of a row. And most of all, get to the point. Don't try and tell me your life story unless it's important to what you're trying to say. There is nothing worse than reading paragraphs of drivel about your cat or your trip to the mall when what you're really trying to say is something about a game you played last week.

I hate to say it because it makes me sound like an English teacher or something but cell phones and the Internet are killing the English language. There is a reason why language is taught so continuously throughout grade school and even into college. You're supposed to learn how to communicate with others. If you rely too much on the technology to do it for you then you lose the ability to do a good job of it. And if you're trying to actually communicate an idea to people, particularly people you don't actually know then things like text language are somewhat inexcusable. It also doesn't hurt to take a few minutes to get your thoughts together before putting them down. And for the love of all that is holy please go back and proofread before you post.

End of rant.