Couple Gaming

Dark Void finally arrived.  I have been looking forward to this game for some time now.  Flying around in a jetpack, taking cover vertically, hijacking UFO’s.  What’s not to love?  This game.  Thats what.

I am SO disappointed in this game.  The story line is shallow, the graphics are not up to par with what this generation of consoles can do, and the game  play is seriously lacking.

My daughter and I sat down to try this game out.  She loves watching me play games and she loves aliens.  So this should have been a good experience for us both.  You start the game flying around with your jet pack and you have NO idea how to control this thing.  So its just you, zooming around trying in vein to shoot UFO’s.  And then BAM! It’s a cut scene and you are starting all over.  And by all over I mean the game is finally starting.  You are no just a normal joe flying over the bermuda triangle.  The of course you crash after seeing a UFO.  Now you are exploring the jungle for some reason.  And then you see an alien robot kill  a guy.  The alien leaves and you go grab the guys weapon.  A huge gun.  Ohh and he has another on him for your partner.  That’s right, he was carrying two huge guns…..anyway! I am not going to tell you everything, for those of you who want to play this game there is no reason for me to spoil it.  But lets just say don’t expect much of a story and don’t expect the game play to live up to the hype.  I do understand maybe this hype was all my own.  But regardless I am disappointed.  What could have been a good change of pace for shooters is just another disappointment and now I am going to go back to Darksiders where I actually enjoy myself and possibly where it ends and my daughter isn’t crying and begging me to stop playing.

Dragon Age is the first real game I bought for my PS3.  I saw it on sale for about $40 for the PS3 right after it was just released, while the 360 version was still $60. I figured since it is a single player game, I won’t need to be on live and it will give the family time to play their other games in the other rooms.  Also the dust on the PS3 was just embarrasing.

Turns out the wife and daughter are big fans of RPG’s.  Who knew?   So for the past two months, almost everynight, we gather in the spare bedroom and play dragon age.  And by play I mean I play, but the girls get to tell me what choices we are going to make and what spells to pick when we level.   The story in dragon age isn’t bad, but it doesn’t really bring anything knew to the table either.  An evil is acending upon the world and you need to gather all your allies and defeat it.  Easier said then done of course.  And the story is interesting enough that you won’t be complaining about it.  What really sets Dragon Age apart is the charecters.  Each one has a back story that you can learn if you find the right items and ask the right questions.  While you are on your journey they will randomly talk to each other about their past or thoughts.   We really enjoyed having Allister and Morrigan in the party because they would always be arguing.  But be aware that to gain approval with one, might be a dissaproval for another.  For instance we wanted to sleep with Morrigan, but with Allistar in the party every choice we made that she approved of he didn’t.  And at one point he almost left our party for good.  So we made it up to him and then dumped him in camp as soon as we found a new warrior.  Dragon age is full of quests that take a fair amount of time, but we have played over 50 hours and we still aren’t bored of it.

All and all if you’re a fan of RPG’s you should already own this game.  If you aren’t sure you like RPG’s you should probably own this game.  If you hate RPG’s but like avatars having sex, you should own this game.  I can’t think of a good reason no one shouldn’t own this game.  And remember.  Just because it says single player on it doesn’t mean your family can’t enjoy it as well.

I have been a fan of the Alien and Predator movies, books, comics, etc for a long time, and the old Aliens vs Predator game was one of my favorite games, it had everything a fan wanted and more.  So it goes without saying that I am looking forward to the new Alien vs Predator game, and now they realease in the U.S. the Hunter Edition.

As a fan, I can say I will be buying this without even knowing if the game is as good as it looks, just so I can have a facehugger and new comics.

Hunter Edition confirmed for US consumers! There, I can finally say it; the Hunter Edition which was announced fairly recently from our European friends is now 100% confirmed in the US with an added bonus – a hardcover graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics featuring the original Aliens vs Predator comic!

PlayStation 3 pictured, click in to see the images of the Xbox 360 version as well

Don’t worry, all the other goodies are still included, such as the four Multiplayer maps (before they release to the general public), a fully articulated and disturbingly creepy Facehugger model, Weyland Yutani sleeve badge, and a 3D lenticular postcard. To sweeten the deal, if you pre-order you can pick up some exclusive skins for all three species in multiplayer.

Tale of Tales, the creators of “The Path”, are releasing a little more information about their newest venture, tentatively titled “Fatale”. The game is based on a biblical story, specifically Salome, a princess that demanded the head of John the Baptist. I’m definitely not up on my biblical stories, and so could care less about Salome, but they gave us a snippet of what to expect:

The character of Salome is complex because “Fatale” is designed to evoke all possible interpretations of her legend simultaneously. Salome is at once the mighty princess who mercilessly seduces men to their downfall and an innocent child on the brink of womanhood who is manipulated by the grown-ups that surround her. But she is also just a girl, a teenager who falls in love with the wrong man at the wrong time. She gets a first taste of the sweetness and the bitterness that we all know so well. And then there’s the Salome created by Oscar Wilde: a mad woman, lurking in the shadows of our souls, a selfish, passionate, wilful creature who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Ooooh, sounds as complicated as Shakespeares Ophilia! I’m definitely a sucker for character development in game play.. so I’m excited to hear more.

If the image looks familiar, you’ve been playing too much Silent Hill. “Salome was designed, modelled and textured for the project by leading game artist Takayoshi Sato, of Silent Hill fame.”
Return to their site http://tale-of-tales.com/Fatale/ to get more information.

Cooking Mama, if you aren’t aware of it, came out on the DS years ago to rave reviews. Not only was it not a typical hack-n-slash or driving game, but it was one of the first games to really utilize everything the DS’s touch screen had to offer. You chopped, pulled, blew, stirred, and created something you could have actually applied to real life.

In other words, girls everywhere squealed with joy, and boys begrudgingly became addicted when they failed at making rice.

The followups (Cooking mama 2 & Cooking Mama for the Wii) tried to do the same, but somehow fell a little flat when it came to the ingenuity and excitement. The wii became difficult to manage and the followups felt too much like the look-alikes (“Happy Cooking” anyone?).

With Gardening Mama, some of that magic has come back, spiced up with a touch of Nintendogs, and with a little of the “Dolphinz” urgency thrown in for good measure.

You get to mix up dirt, pull bugs off leaves, blow away clouds (getting horrendously dizzy after 3 screens), decide flower colors, decorate yourself with said flowers, make rainbows, and get graded on how well you do it all. Like Nintendogs, you earn Gifts based on how good you do (which you use to decorate yourself, the garden, and add Unique flowers). However, like Dolphinz, your constantly on your toes about all the flowers that are wilting if you haven’t tended to certain plants while you’ve been tending to others.

There is always something to do, always a reason to turn it on & play, always some new vegetable to plant or flower to see.

Unfortunately, there are NOT multiple logins, so you have 1 garden that everyone gets to tend. It’s not too bad, though if you’ve been looking forward to cutting the kiwi you tended to so well, I suggest hiding the cartridge until it’s done. Also, the map is very difficult to manage (seriously, would it have been THAT HARD to let people use the direction pad to move around?? Or given us a zoom-out??), and you still have the same problems as previous versions, when they give you an arrow, and you get to guess what the hell you’re doing. So, the frustration level does occur, but not as much.

I definitely suggest BUYING this one, not just renting it. You’re going to feel horrible when you have to send back the garden you put so much time & energy into.

OK, if you haven’t seen or heard of “The Guild”, I’m not sure how you even got to this website. If you are a real gamer, I don’t even have to post this.

But, if you are like me & have just simply been kayaking & head-down in a database for the last week, then this is your reprieve:

Felicia Day & the members of the guild ask “Do you want to date my avatar?”  For the record?  I do.  Seriously, I think my husband would understand.

WARNING: This song WILL get stuck in your head. And you may have a mad desire to follow @feliciaday. And possibly re-join WoW. Did you hear they announced that Azeroth is going to be destroyed by a dragon, and you will be able to be a wolf? Yeah…

.. Yeah…

OK so how is this for awesome, in my previous post about games we missed I talked about Mechwarrior being one I missed and would love to see again.  And look!! A new Mechwarrior!!!  Obviously this is a teaser trailer and there isn’t really any details listed yet, but it still gets me excited just to see.

Now all we need to do is get a Mechwarrior MMO to make this series the best ever!

While perusing some old Gaming Magazine issues, I came across a quiz about MDK.

*sigh*.  “Oh how I miss MDK.  I loved that game..”  And I wondered how many other people think back on creatures they’ve killed, heroines they’ve saved, characters they’ve known and loved, and ponder how much they miss them..

So, I want to know:  What games do you miss, and why?

I will go first:

MDK – The witty banter between the characters was fun, and the puzzle solving & strengths per character made this a PERFECT Couple Game.  (I would play the brain, Ymiris would play the action-hero).

ShadowMan – Anyone that’s been around here long enough knows we loved this game.  The subtle spooky undertones, the characters, the music; the very idea of living in 2 different worlds as 2 different people – few games really pull this off (though I’m surprised how many try).

OK, let’s ask Ymiris what games he misses:

Vampire the Masqurade:  One of the best games I have played, but it was bugged so bad that the ending never worked, a patch was later made by fans but I never got it.  But still this game had great dialogue, great character development and a great selection on how you wanted to play the game.

MechWarrior:  Well because the closest thing to this game in recent years was Chromhounds, and I liked Chromhounds but it was no Mechassualt.  I really enjoyed the fact you felt like you were in this giant machine, you had to make sure to cool down, you had limited ammo and you weren’t able to just race around like a 10 pound machine.

Aliens vs Predator:  I loved the MP on this game, and the game itself was amazing.  I will always remember the way you started as an alien, face hugger to chest burster to adult, it was great!! I am hoping the one currently being made lives up to the previous games past.

Ghost Master:  This is one of a few SIM games I loved, and I played this with Ophilye for hours and was pretty damn sad when we finished it.  Basicly the game was all about scaring SIM’s and getting more powerful, it even had ghostbusters who came in after you.   I loved that game and miss it still.

For you twitter addicts (myself and Ophilye included) Gamerdna has launched tweetmygaming , a great little site that shows all gaming tweets and cool little graphs about what game is being talked about most.  I know some people find twitter dull and don’t understand the allure a lot of us find with it, but for me its two things, a way to keep in touch with friends during the day who don’t live in my state and don’t have time to dedicate to IM, and an RSS feed for all things that interest me, gaming being a big one.  I think Gamerdna just gave me a new feed I will use a lot!

OK, there are about 2,000+ reviews of what is going on at E3 right now.  If you’re not following someone on twitter, or their live blog, or blah blah blah, then you’re obviously a very busy monkey… Which is why I’m going to recap some of the highlights!

Here’s just a few of the things that have come up so far:

XBOX:

• Rock Band: Beatles will be out 9-9-09.
• “Joyride”: a free game that uses the Avatars
• Lots of new Sequel games :
  • Left 4 Dead 2
  • Crackdown 2
  • Halo: ODST & Halo: Reach Multiplayer Beta
  • Final Fantasy XIII
  • new Tony Hawk
  • Forza Motorsport III
  • Modern Warfare 2
  • Metal Gear Solid Rising
• Zune Video Marketplace
• Netflix: Add movies to your queue w/ Xbox, instead of just watching what has been added.
• Twitter, Facebook, & LastFM will be on Xbox.
• Project Natal: Making your body the controller with full body tracking
  • Use your face to log in, navigate the screen with your hands, actually maneuver a ball with your feet, and paint with any part of your body
• 1vs100 BETA started last night for 50,000 lucky players.  Ymiris & I played it for a good hour, fully addicted.  WAY too much fun, and highly suggested as a couple game!!!

Nintendo

• Multiplayer Super Mario Bros. released Holiday ‘09.  Excited about this as a Couple Game, with the same fun feeling of the original Mario Bros, with a smart camera that will pan out & in as players separate.
• Wii Fit Plus – Fall 2009
• *NOTE* UBISOFT announced “Your Shape” for the Wii, which will include a camera & analyze how well you do the exercises.  Looks a bit more advanced than the Wii Fit title.  We’re more excited about this one.
• A new controller “extender” called Wii Motion Plus that detects angle & precision in motion, released with Wii Sports Resort.
• New Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers.. more Shooter than Turn-based.
• New Kingdom Hearts 3.
• Mario & Luigi get microscopic & invade Bowsers body in the cheesy DS “Bowsers Inside Story”.  Looks cute, but I’m ashamed to say it just screams Rental.
• Nintendo Sun DS
• James Pattersons’ Womens Murder Club – DS game that plays like a book.  Unfortunately, this feels like a cheesy pandering to women, pulling together my favorite Room 219 with Nancy Drew.
• C.O.P: The Recruit, a racer much like a good-guy version of GTA.
• Style Savvy, which actually looks like a good Tween/Teen Clothes Shopping/Accessorizing game… one of the things I keep praying Imagine would be, but never is.  I’ll keep my fingers crossed & probably buy this one.
• NOTE: Ubisoft announced yesterday more Imagine games, including a “make crappy bead necklaces that you can buy from us”.  I DESPISE IMAGINE & KNOW THERE IS A PLACE IN HELL FOR THESE DAMNED GAMES.
• Super Mario Galaxy 2
• Finally, some Adult games!  All of look fairly delicious…
  • The Conduit
  • Resident Evil: Dark Side Chronicles
  • Dead Space: Extraction
• Metroid: Other M .  Very wild-cardy, but we’ll see what happens as they release more.  I’ve always wanted more Samus.

SONY:

• Uncharted 2, which looks like a pretty & intense watch-your-mate-play game.
• MAG
• PSP
  • Hannah Montana lilac PSP
  • Patapon 2
  • Rock Band (? — just touched on)
• PSP GO — pretty slide-out controls, tiny, light, Wifi, 16G memory, and SO sexy.  Do Want! 80% reduction in price for applications, more titles are digitally distributed.  You know I’m not a graphics girl.. but I’m seriously amazed by how good the graphics are for such a small, portable gaming system.
• • “Sense Me” analyzes your music library to create playlist moods.
  • Grant Turismo for PSP GO
  • Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker
  • Little Big Planet
  • Harry Potter / Hannah Montana
  • Resident Evil (!)
  • Ratchet & Clank
  • Rock Band Unplugged
• Final Fantasy VII will be on PSN