I don't know if you've notice but I change my avatar and blog header to a Mass Effect theme. I don't know that I like the blog header, but I have trouble with headers. Its more original than just cropping the wallpaper picture availible on the main Mass Effect Website. As for the Avatar, I like it a lot. Given my genral affinity for snow, it seems to suit me pretty well. There is a very light ZG in the snow on the right side. I don't know that it is obvious that it is Mass Effect, but I almost like that better. It could be Mass Effect or Lost Planet or any number of other games. Anyway, Let me know your thoughts.

EDIT_

I switched the banner image again. If you're seeing the one with Tali then you need to clear you cache. I think I like this set-up now. I might mess around with it some more though.

I'm still playing Mass Effect and I'm still enjoying it. In fact I think I'm enjoying it more now, even though I'm well over 15 hours into it. The big reason I'm likeing the game more now, is because my character is almost level 40, and is perticularly strong now. I've also gotten pretty familar with the whole politically charged world of Mass Effect and am still drawn into the story.

The game is far from perfect though. I've seen that exact phrase in a lot of player reviews that still gave the game a 9.5. I wondered how that was possible, now I know. Despite all the cool new gameplay elements, the great story, the amazing voice acting a player animations the game enjoys showing off its glitchy nature. There are tons of texture glitches and sometimes a band of colored light covers your screen for no reasons. Sometimes when I've been walking I've gotten stuck in objects. Sometimes I can work myself out, and sometimes I can't. The sessions in your car are pretty bad at times too. Unlike a lot of other review I enjoy using the car especially in storyline, but the gun accuracy isn't the greatest and if you find, for some reason, you're not hurting what you're targeting then you've just got to move around until you find a better spot and try again. Also, Thrasher Maws can magically kill your car in one hit, even with maxed shields and full health. I don't know why. Thankfully, the auto-save has you back in that situation (it saves every time you land on a planet). Another constant problem is the framerate. It drops here and there which can be annoying in a fight, especially when you're trying to snipe enemies.

The weird thing is the despite the many problems, the game is too good to miss. The marriage of RPG and Tacatical shooter is a match made in heaven. The attention to detail in dialog is also unmatched in any other game. Seriously, what other game do people express their emotions with facial expressions and gestures. It is the most believable in game converations to date. So the game earns the right to overlook its faults. I'll probably write a review soon, but for an immediate decision, BUY MASS EFFECT! It isn't a perfect game, but it is definitly a great one.

This is Awesome!

Mass Effect was always one of the most anticipated titles, for me, for the xbox 360. However since its release had come and gone, I had mostly forgetten about it, putting it off as one of those games I might get...someday. Well, that someday turned out to be yesterday.

My little brother had stumbled upon some money and wanted to use it to buy a new game specifically one for the 360. He was considering a few games, but I (not so subtley) suggested Mass Effect. When I told him it was made by Bioware, he remembered how much fun he had with Deus Ex and after watching some videos online he was sold. He bought the game that evening and of course it is at my house, because I'm the one who owns the 360.

Anyway, I watch him start his game and I was totally blown away. The game totally draws you in from the moment you start. With great visuals, music and soud effects, the game is great. The real sellers though a the combat and the conversations. I've never had a game make me feel like I was actually talking and interacting with the characters the way Mass Effect does. The use of facial expressions and body language, combined with the best voice acting I've ever heard. Of course that is impressive, but it is just one part. The combat basically takes elements from tactical shooters and combines it perfectly into an RPG world to create an experience different than anything out there. Put is all together in a well developed Sci-Fi world, and you've got a great game.

I haven't seen/played enough to notice any major faults but I'm more than optimistic. The only minor problem I've seen so far is the equipment screen being a little confusing. Still, the little time I've spent with the game is enough for me to know that this is a game that is worth anyone's attention. This is the truest example of a next gen game, with the graphics and sound, but also the story and gameplay. If you haven't seen Mass Effect, you owe it to youself to check it out.

The Xbox 360 HD-DVD drive is going for $50 on Amazon. Now, HD-DVD has lost to Blu-Ray in the next gen format wars, but that doesn't mean that this drive is useless. It can still play HD-DVD movies which there are quite a few of. It can be used on the Xbox 360, PC and Mac. I kind of want one, but I'm a 360 nut. Here's the link if you're interrested.

Update:

Amazon sold out of their stock just as I was posting this. It is still availible from other sellers.

For some time, I have been playing Viva Pinata on and off trying to finish out the achievements. It has been one of the few Xbox 360 games I have been really glad to own (others include Halo 3, Perfect Dark, and Lost Planet). Just to give you some history, when I fist started playing Viva Pinata I feel in love with it simple colorful charm and wrote some lengthy and very positive reviews. Anyway, I finally was able to finish out the games achievements.

The achievement for 50 hours of playtime is a waste. I found it quite easy to collect all the pinata and breed them in much less time. Of course, that is the trend with VP, most of the achievements make no sense and are based around things you would never do. For example, you get an achievement for scaring off a ruffian with a mallowolf pinata, but you can simply prevent ruffians from coming into your garden with a sword statue (which I believe is what the achievement should be for). To get the final award, I couldn't take it anymore, I just left the game on overnight. My garden is worth 1 million chocolate coins. The fact that that isn't enough to finish off the game is actually slightly offensive.

So, I'm done with VP. If anyone cares I can give you any pinata for free. I have all of them. Otherwise, I'm not turning the game back on. Now I've got a new on-and-off romance, Rainbow Six: Vegas. I've had the game for a long time and never played it, and considered trading it in. With the 2nd gaming coming out my interrest was renewed. The game is actually pretty fun and my brother and I are working through the game on co-op on Realistic. I'll probably try the online too, so I can finish out the achievements (of course).

The game isn't perfect. I personally think the graphics are horrible. In single player they're more tolerable, but it doesn't have a clue what to do in split screen. Add in some pretty ugly textures and some fog or dust to cover it all up and you've about got the idea of how it looks. The sound seems to more than make up for the graphical problems. Although, with two people playing you're always looking around paranoid because you hear terroists near your team-mate.

Also, I'm playing through Eragon. People warned me that it is a horrible game, but the online forums seemed to all agree it was an easy 1k achievements. The only problem is that they didn't mention that the whole time you're playing it you will want to gouge out your eyes and eyes because of how horrible it is. The games is easy, but the enemies are made so they can take so many hits it is just plain stupid. Eragon has to be the worst movie game I've played ever.

So thats a little bit on how my gaming is going right now. Let me know what you think.

I know I'm a little late to the party with this blog, but I was on vacation when the trend started. Anyway, I'm a pretty open book, some of my favorite gamespotters have already posted their blogs. Nocoolnamejim, Lightfellower, were some of the more recent. I know there have been more, but like I said I missed the boat on this one, so I hope to get you next time.

I'm pretty much an open book, and I probably post a lot more about myself than I should. You can view pictures at my windows live space here. First, I'd like to give some basic info that you should know, if you've been tracing me for long enough. I'm 23, male, and married. My wife and I have one son who is 14 months old and we live in a small house that I own in Decatur, IL.

Ok, if you didn't know those you haven't looked through my profile well enough. Now, for something you wouldn't know:

1. My full name is Zephaniah Daneil Greenwell. Though the Daniel and Greenwell are ok, the Zephaniah gets to be annoying. I work in a call center and have to explain my name multiple times to everyone who calls. To avoid this I often go by "Ed" on the phone. For some reason when I introduce myself as "Zeph" on the phone people think I say "Ed" so I just started using it.

2. I come from a very large family. I have 3 brothers and 6 sisters and we're all very close in age and all still live in the same town. I'm next to the oldest, and quite popular within my family. I often have one of my siblings and some of their friends over at my house to play video games. Consequently, my 360 if more regularly played by two or more people. I sometimes have to fight to get to play a video game by myself in my own house.

3. I sing puplicly in our church worship team on a regular basis. Our church runs about over 500 at a service and we have multiple services where mostly different people come. We have well over 1000 people on any given Sunday and I sing in front of all of them. Since its a worship team it isn't as scarey as singing by myself, but I do that on rare occasions. I sing Tenor btw and I'm good at it.

4. I work out. Alright, some of you may know that one, but I used to be fat in high school. It was all those video games :P j/k. The summer between my freshman and sophomore year I lost over 100lbs, basiclly by not eating. I had to start a workout program and learn how to eat right. Now I eat whatever I want, even a Thickburger or a Royal Robin if I want, and just burn it off in the gym (I do try to eat healthy though). I stick around 170lbs and I'm 6'2.

5. I used to be in Ballet. I actually did real well for 2 years. I was in local productions of the Nutcraker and a couple other original productions. Because I was one of the better guys in the production, I was given some pretty good parts, once I even had a lengthy solo. I did a good amount of partnering and I did wear tights, but while on stage they gave us a costume to cover everything up.

I wouldn't mind doing it again, but being in Ballet is expensive if you're not getting paid to do it, and you have to be in it for years before anyone will even think of paying you. So, I gave it up.

Well those are Five things you probably didn't know. Now, you know me a little better than you did before.

I recently read this blog post, by Enterprise-E, about single player being an add-on in recent games. The blog specifically mentions Call of Duty 4 and Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, but reaches further in its assumptions, asserting that single player fans are getting the short end of the stick in the "Now Gen" of gaming. While I would say that this is not true, thanks to games like Bioshock and Mass Effect, I'd like to make another assertion; Single Player Campaigns are dieing and no longer needed in video games.

Now before you go all berserk on me, I'm not saying that a Campaign mode (or story mode, or mission mode) should not exist. My argument is that particular game mode shouldn't be considered strictly single player. Gamers tend to think of games as two parts, the single player component and the multi player component. However, this division does not do justice to a number of games out there. Often times the line between single player and multiplayer is pretty blurry.

Halo 3 is a favorite game of mine and, while people love to complain about its campaign, it does one thing that few other games try, it allows for up to four people (two local or up to four online) to play cooperatively through the campaign. Sure this can make the campaign much easier, but any difficulty complaint can be remedied by turning on skulls to prevent respawns or make the enemies stronger and more accurate. It is a lot of fun and I know I've played through the campaign more times with friends than I ever would have on my own.

Halo is not the only game that has a great cooperative campaign though. I loved Star Wars Battlefront 2 for the same reason. Of course there have been a lot of shooters with great co-op campaigns, like Gears of War and Perfect Dark (I like Perfect Dark). Army of Two is a recently released game that is totally based around two players working together. As for another genre, I played Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles, an RPG, quite a bit with my friends and family. Of course, Massively Multiplayer games like World of Warcraft are deeply invested in cooperative campaigns. Even the new Super Smash Brothers Brawl added a cooperative "single player" mode.

Another game that comes to mind is Rock Band. Rock Band would not be as popular as it is now without the capability to draw 4 people together in an effort to gain fans and set high scores on songs. Guitar Hero is great and I does have co-op, but it is not nearly as developed as the 4 player co-op in Rock Band. It is near impossible for Guitar Hero to outplace Rock Band in terms of sheer fun factor when four friends get together.

Of course all the games I mentioned can be played by just one person, but the level of fun is just not the same. Video games are simply becoming more social and seeking to draw more people into the experience. Local and online multiplayer is quickly becoming the new standard for games. The more the merrier I say. It is a lot more enjoyable then having to take turns with one controller. Now competitive online gaming is another story and I will comment on that in the future.

What are your thoughts?

Well, for those of you who aren't still obsessed with Halo 3, you probably missed the news that the Heroic Map Pack, which was $10, has now been made free! Of course money concious fanantics like me have been waiting for this for quite a while. This pack includes three maps and was, in my opinion, ridiculously overpriced, much like the legendary edition of the game (not that we'll go into that). Before the maps were made free you could only play them in custom games or in the DLC matchmaking mode. I've already written on my opinion of custom games, I hate them, so I was curious to try out the new maps in the DLC Matchmaking. The included maps are Standoff, Rats Nest, and Foundry and... well, I wasn't impressed.

Halo 3's original maps included in the retail version of the game were pretty amazing. They were balanced while not being perfectly symetrical. Each side has to take advantage of their starting location. Not all the original maps are perfect, but maps like Vahalla, Higher Ground, and Guardian, and Last Resort are all stadouts. I personally like Isolation and Construct quite a bit too. The new Heroic maps are, in a word, lazy. It seems like the designers at Bungie made half a map and then cloned it and threw a powerful weapon in the middle. I personally found this to be very confusing on Standoff and Rats Nest. If you spawn in a non-team based mode (or spawn outside your base in teams) it is hard to determine which direction is which. That means you can't easily return to the action or hunt down that guy who killed you. Foundry is a little different because it is vertically symmetical rather than horizontally, but it has its own problems that are mostly based around the design of the DLC matchmaking playlist. Because Foundry is a small stage and it is an easy map to find people on. With the DLC playlist being set for 8 people the stage feels crowded and you'll be shooting at a person with you team-mate while being shot in the back by the other opposing team members. Its a mess right now.

There are some good points to the new maps though. Rats Nest is a great addition for vehicles and Capture the flag matches. It seems to scale pretty well with it not feeling too empty with 8 people or too crowded either. Foundry is the level for people to forge with. I actually do a little forging myself from time to time, so its welcomed, and maybe they will work Foundry into the team doubles hopper. It seems like it would be a good fit there. Standoff would also be better suited for a smaller playlist, but I don't know where that would happen. With Battle Riffles and turret guns this satge is a deathtrap for more than four people. Oh well, two-on-two capture the flag, anyone?

The timing of the free release still seems a little odd to me. I'm actually a little surprised the maps went free. I thought that Microsoft would wait until the Legendary Map Pack was out, and then only lower it to $5. Don't tell them, but I would have paid the $15, had they done that. The best thing for them to have done though would have been to make them free from the start, and require them to be downloaded as part of an update. Seriously, if you're playing Halo 3 online it shouldn't be a problem. That way they could have been worked into the hoppers for the normal game modes right away. Of course that would have given up the 10 million dollars in revenue they made from charging for them. I guess thats business. However, this all just serves to strengthen my resistance to paying for the Legendary Map Pack. I think I'll be able to wait for that one too.

Now that the maps are free they should be working their way into regular matches, as long as people download them (you still don't have to). My wonder is if there is anyone who downloaded the Map Pack that really feels like the got their money worth? The DLC matchmaking was very annoying. It was repetitive and rarely did I feel like I was playing a game mode that fit the map. There was that double experience weekend with Griffball, but unless I'm mistaken I didn't miss much. If you had a lot of friends who all downloaded the maps I can see them being a little useful. Otherwise, what were those people doing with them? Forge? To those people who feel bad I offer you my condolence when I say, "NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH You paid $10 for the map and I didn't! You got riped off! ha ha ha ha ha ha!"

Edit__

For more Halo 3 Heroic Map Pack fun, watch this video! Caution: Language.

For those of you who missed me, then I love your dedication. For those of you who didn't notice my absence, I wouldn't blame ya. Anyway I'm on vacation this week and haven't been logging for that reason. I just want to give a short update on what I've been doing. I finally completed DW: Gundam. It took a freekin 50 hours almost. I also downloaded the Heroic map pack for Halo 3 FOR FREE! Its about time honestly. I also have been spending lots of time with my family and friends. Thats it for now. I'll check in with you guys more on monday when I'm back at work.

Well, last night I checked Windows Update and sure enough there it was, Service Pack 1. I installed it in and went to trying it out and realized there isn't much different. No, it didn't install Windows XP and all of my hardware still works too. It turns out there were a few audio drivers that were causing problems and delayed the release. The list of incompatable drivers can be viewed here, and those problems should be taken care of soon. I'm looking forward to the faster file transfers that are a promised part of the service pack, but that is the only feature I'm aware of that seems like it will affect me specically. I haven't been able to test it yet, so we'll see how it goes. For a full list of features view here, but honestly anyone with Vista should install SP1 soon regardless. Download it by Windows Update Now!

For all you Vista haters out there I'm not trying to win you over, but I really like my OS and I don't want to hear from you if you don't.