Thursday, January 27, 2011

Sony NGP

Sony has announced it's newest portable gaming system, the NGP. It looks impressive for sure but will it actually give the Nintendo DS competition? I don't know.

I watched a video of game play and I like the idea you can tilt the system, touch the screen, use thumbsticks and buttons to control the game. That is pretty sweet. The graphics are to die for.

The list of new features is impressive as well. It'll offer 3G and wifi, awesome for those with a 3G data plan(?). You can read it all on the official Sony blog: http://tinyurl.com/6fyshdw However, this does mean all new software if you buy this. Sure it says it can play the titles from the Playstation store but you are out of luck if you have the actual game disc. I like the idea of the games being flash drives so all DLC and saves are stored there and not on the NGP. Memory has always been a bit of a problem for the PSP.

Of course the BIG question...how much? Sony isn't really talking about that yet. It's due out at the end of this year so I'll guess November to get those Christmas sales in.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Assassin's Creed Switchball Impossible Game

I put off playing this for ages since I had heard many people talk about how repetitive it was and how boring. Well after much begging, my husband got me to start playing it last night. He loved it and I can see why.

It is a "soothing" game to play. Honestly. The environments are stunning and rich. I love being able to climb up high and get a 360' view of everything. Amazing. The controls are pretty easy to pick up and thankfully, the climbing is easy. Combat can take some getting used to and Templar Knights are a pain in the butt to kill.

I can see why people would call it repetitive because it is in a sense. You basically go to the cities you are told and there are the same basic missions, interrogation, rescue innocents, eavesdrop, pickpocket and see the guy at the Assassin's Guild. Then there is an assassination quest. There are bits and pieces to the story that come out doing them so if you pay attention, it's less repetitive.

My biggest beef are the (*&*&%^ flags. The developers obviously thought finding hidden flags would be a good way to change it up and then hand out achievements but 100 of each type?! Seriously! It's boring. I will continue with the game though because I like it and apparently someone is bring me Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood.

Now here's an Xbox Live Arcade oldie: Switchball. This is a fabulous game for people that like puzzles. Graphics are amazing and the music is catchy. The puzzles can be very challenging as you move through the worlds but not impossible. My 4 year old is in love with this game but he's a pretty smart kid. He's beating me in the game. Basically, you are a ball. You have to go from one side of the level to the other using "costume" changes and items in the area. You might become heavy, or bounce, fly or super light. You have ramps, boxes, cannons and all sorts of little things to help you or hinder your progress.

Another Xbox Live game is in the Independent section. It's called The Impossible Game and it's frustrating as all hell. It's simple. You are a cube. You bounce through the level, landing on things or sliding under, while it scrolls by and you try to make it to the end. The music is infectious but there will be screaming when you get halfway in and you die. It's only 80 Microsoft points and there is a new addition to it that is also 80.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Black Ops First Strike DLC

How could I forget?! Treyarch is releasing it's first map pack on February 1st called First Strike. They released a teaser trailer too. It's 4 new mulitplayer maps and 1 new zombie map. It will be 1200 Microsoft points.

Where do I start?

So many games going on right now and I just don't know where to begin.

Let's start with the Xbox arcade games:

Undergarden: This game is gorgeous and soothing. You are a little imp and you float around pollinating underwater plants and finding musicians while solving puzzles to finish the level. As you find musicians it will change the plants, the music, basically the whole environment. It's beautiful and not too overly difficult to play. You just have to use your brain.

Ilomilo: A fantastic puzzler with the most amazing graphics. This one will make you work to solve each level. The environments are so rich and cute. Yes I used cute. I really recommend this for anyone that likes to use their brains but are tired of things like Sudoku.

Raskulls: Adrenaline pumping. You are generally timed or racing against NPCs to win races and it is WORK. It's fast, furious and fun. It plays a little like Castle Crashers because you hope from one task "dot" to the other, complete the level which then unlocks other task dots.

World of Keflings: Another fun romp through the Keflings world. It's easy, basic and you can clear the game in a day of long gaming. Doesn't make it any less fun and the humor is still there. Basically you build the Keflings different towns. Easy enough.

If you download Raskulls and Ilomilo, you can unlock houses for those characters in World of Keflings. You can unlock Kefling and Raskulls stuff in Ilomilo and Ilomilo and Keflings stuff in Raskulls. Basically, it's crossover content between all three games. Pretty cool stuff really.

DeathSpank and DeathSpank Thongs of Virtue: Okay now this is just silly fun. It has interesting graphics that seem to be a melding of animation, 2D paper cuts and 3D graphics. It's pretty sweet. This is basically a follow the story game but there are plenty of side missions too. You gain weapons, armors and potions. DeathSpank is definitely a dorky hero who is completely clueless but you have to like him. I have giggled out loud over some of the jokes in there, like Bong the potion maker that makes the most amazing brownies. It is a challenging game. You will die, a lot and God help I hate the Pipsqueaks and Unicorns. UGH!

Limbo! If you haven't loaded this yet, do it now. This game is awesome, creepy and fun. It is a side scrolling puzzler done completely in shadow. There is very little sound so when something pops onto the screen, it will startle you. My 4 year old leaves the room because he finds it too creepy to watch because it's shadow and noiseless.

Now to the games I have started:

Red Dead Redemption. I am not sure I like this one. It really does feel like Grand Theft Auto: OK Corral. I know Rockstar developed it and believe me, if you didn't know that you'd probably guess it. I am going to plow through and see if it gets better but I was hoping for more RPG and less go over here to the town and kill people....move on. GTA with horses. I started the Undead Nightmare add-on and now it's GTA with zombies. *sigh*

Fallout New Vegas. I haven't started this yet but my husband did. He loves it. He said it's like playing an old friend after Fallout 3. Though we have found some critical glitches like my husband died going through a door so when he went to reload, he was falling from the sky and then died instantly. Bad check point. Save often and hopefully they patch it soon.

Dragon Age: Origins. Loving this one! I had started it a few months ago but ended up deleting the character and restarting with a different load out. Now that I understand the mechanics better, I am finding it less annoying. The menu "ring" is fiddly and distracting. I am finding I am not using it like I should because of it. They needed to use the one they developed for Mass Effect 2. This one has too much going on and they don't really explain how to use it like they did in Mass Effect. I will probably pick up Dragon Age 2 when it comes out though. It's still a great game.

Black Ops is having some issues now. There are some new hacks that are really taking the fun out of the game. There are the jerks that are boosting/hacking their accounts to gain things like gold gun camo and 15th prestige player card backgrounds when they are 1st prestige. Come on guys, those are rewards for playing and it detracts from the people that are going to legitimately get there. Then there is the "extra armor" hack. This means that it will take twice as much to kill them and most likely they will kill you. This has made me debate not playing until they fix it. Unlike Infinity Ward, I know Treyarch will fix it. I stopped playing Modern Warfare 2 before I prestiged the 1st time because of the cheating.

That's all for now. As always, any questions? Feel free to ask.

Saturday, January 8, 2011

I am bad I know

I haven't blogged in a while I know but the holidays get hectic. I have so much to blog too but alas, I am busy playing Black Ops and just don't have the time.

Upcoming is Red Dead Redemption, Fallout New Vegas, Ilomilo, Raskulls, World of Keflings and Limbo.