Reviewed on May 23rd, 2013
Roadshow presents a film directed by Todd Phillips
Screenplay by Todd Phillips and Craig Mazin
Starring: Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis, John Goodman and Ken Jeong
Running Time: 100 minutes
Rating: MA15+
Released: May 23rd, 2013

Director Todd Phillips (The Hangover series, Starsky and Hutch) said that he felt there was freedom in making R rated movies and that it provided energy and aggressiveness. There has been a lot of testosterone and energy used in the revival of the 'man-child' films made by Judd Apatow and Phillips recently. Some of these are throwbacks to the raunchy comedies of the 1980s, where teenagers could watch raunchy, adult entertainment. When similar films embrace rather than critique the man-child syndrome however, they reveal how outdated and archaic they are because their target audiences are now older and smarter and deserve more.

The bromance subgenre could be traced back as far as any Western but today it echoes Hollywood's fixation on male friendships and reveals the general misogyny of the studio system as it hinges most of its resources on male orientated films. The reckless stupidity associated with not all, but many of these bromance films, amounts simply to wasted energy, aggressiveness and chaos, still in search of the word adult.

In spite of racist and misogynist undertones, the first Hangover movie drew appeal from the fact that its story seemed shrouded and mysterious, as its central characters uncovered their idiocy from the night before. It was about them coming to terms with their actions. If the sequel was a poor, laugh free cash-in, this third film challenges it to lower the bar past juvenile and into a new zone of painfulness.

Lame, unfunny and poorly made, this is not simply a question of juvenility or gender politics, but how far a director and producer is willing to sell-out a popular cast and franchise name for something that displays his own ineptitude.

Zach Galifianakis' opening scene, where he drives along a highway with a giraffe in the trailer, is an example of the attention-seeking, mean-spiritedness found in The Hangover Part III. What isn't shown in the film's previews is that when the giraffe reaches the overpass its head is knocked clean off and it smashes into a windscreen, causing a pileup of cars.

Animal cruelty features three times in this movie and like everything else here it's grimly unfunny. Who would have thought? The writing in Phillips' screenplay, co-written by Craig Mazin, is generally awful. The jokes aim low and still miss and there are three or four long, laboured transition scenes where the characters stop to signpost the next lurching stage of the plot through lazy expositional dialogue. There's no mystery or actual hangover till an end credits scenes, which means the title is now redundant too.

The story structure is dull and rigid, now resembling a heist action movie as the Wolfpack search for gold. After the giraffe incident and the death of his father (Jeffrey Tambor), Alan (Galifianakis) is forced into an intervention by his Wolfpack friends Phil (Bradley Cooper), Stu (Ed Helms) and Doug (Justin Bartha). They prepare to take him to a clinic, only to be ambushed by Marshall (John Goodman) who kidnaps them. He reveals that Mr. Chow (Ken Jeong) has escaped from prison and has stolen half his gold. He wants it back and says that he will kill Doug if they don't comply or contact the police. 

Todd Phillips' dependability on Galifianakis is the sum of why the film is so unfunny. No one else is allowed to try and be funny, unless you think a grotesquely exaggerated Asian stereotype counts, but then I've never liked Mr. Chow. Bradley Cooper, after his career defining performance in Silver Linings Playbook, is called to do so little that Phillips seems utterly daft about his comedic talents. Once quirky and original, Galifianakis' mentally strained man-child act is now irritating and sad, with every quip line foreseen, which robs the jokes of their unpredictability.

If anyone were to say that the lack of growth in these cartoon characters is the point then it would be to excuse the dunderheadedness of this achingly boring and hopefully, but not definitely, last entry from what it is: a limp, unimaginative, charmless, joke-free action movie, pretending it's a comedy, and one that should be shunted and long forgotten. 

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The long awaited announcement of Microsoft's new console is unveiled and already people are ranting and raving about it. I haven't seen the event but I gathered enough information from articles posted to formulate my impression of the systems unveiling.

First off, I'll start off with what I like about it and then discuss about what I dislike about it.

Pro #1: PC architecture-like specs

In the same vein as a the PS4, the Xbox One will have specs similar to the PC to make developing games as well as porting games a lot easier without a lot of comprimises that we saw a lot on particular multiplats for the 360/PS3. Not sure if it'll work out like a PC (considering the PC is a customisable setup) but it's something at least.

Pro #2: Blu-ray drive + Kinect included

Not exactly important but felt it was worth mentioning. MS finally has a Blu-ray drive installed in the new Xbox so not only it can play Blu-ray movies but can also give developers more space to add content in. Also the Kinect included in the box is better than having it standalone but that can also come off as a pro/con for a lot of people but we'll get to that soon.

Pro #3: Controller remains unchanged

Despite a few small tweaks to the design as well as adding additional features, the controller remains unchanged which is good because the 360 controller is a very comfy and easy to use controller and why would anyone would wanna change that for no reason?

Pro #4: Unique features

This can also come across as a con but we'll be discussed about momentarily. The features may not be for everyone but being able to switch from game to TV with just your voice is a nice little addition as well as Snap mode which is able to multitask different apps on the Xbox One without cancelling the other. The best one I think is the DVR feature (which the PS4 is also doing) to allow gamers to record their game footage without using a device like a PVR or video card on PC.

Now with the pros out of the way, here's what I didn't like...

Con #1: No Backwards Compatibility & Mandatory Installs

While I don't think it's a big loss, it's still annoying for those who want to play old games on the Xbox One but if you think about it, it'll most likely cost more to sell as well as develop if we remember the PS3's launch being too pricey for the original 60GB version. So it's a loss but not big though.

However, whenever you get a new game, you must install it no matter what which can be infuriating since people would just want to play the game. Sure, there's a positive to it but not everyone wants to do that.

Con #2: Overly big design

Sure it looks sleek but looks a lot like two big Wii Us glued together side by side, making it a pretty large console. Apparently, they didn't learn how to condense their console like they did with the 360 Slim.

Con #2: Used Games fee, Online Activation & No XBLA game transfer

While there isn't much DRM for the system, there is a sneaky way on how they're securing their funds. If you rent or bring a game to a friend's place but already used under your 360 account, you cannot play it unless you pay a fee which recent reports saying it's untrue however there is no confirmation at this moment which makes it uneasy.

Also the fact that you have to register online in order to play you Xbox One, while it's not as bad as the rumours made it out to be, it's still not cool considering that you require it for some games. Not to mention that you can transfer your Xbox Live data to the new system but no XBLA games or On Demand 360 games which is rather lame.

Con #3: Marketed as a Multimedia system

While the multimedia apps are nice to have in gaming systems, don't forget the core of it which is a gaming console. That's what crippled the PS3 for a while till they got it's groove and Microsoft seems to be doing the same thing with the Xbox One which I think is a bad idea. Not everyone is interested in having TV intergration or any other fancy features in the system that isn't game-related. Just not a great idea since you build your fanbase around games and then this happens without being subtle about it.

Also, the Halo TV series? I don't care for it.

Con #4: No indie games allowed & lack of stella titles

Just came to me recently that Microsoft isn't following the same footsteps as Sony and Nintendo by allowing indie developers to self-publish their games on the Xbox One, which I feel it's a stupid idea considering how big the indie scene has gotten over the past few years lately with games like Fez which that game came out on the 360 of all systems (before getting ported over to PS platforms and PC).

While there are more games to come at the following E3 this year, there's not many to hold over besides one game that caught me which was Quatum Break by Remedy, the rest was either meh or ports of games that are coming on other systems so there's not much value to get them on the Xbox One besides maybe sharper visuals.

Also COD: Ghosts getting DLC first? Zzzzzzz....

Lastly and this is a nitpick but I hate the name of the system because not only it's lazy but it's also confusing like the Wii U if not more so, since people will confuse this name for the original Xbox. I was fine with the 720 or the Durango but Xbox One? *facepalm*

Well, that's all I have to say. I think it has a lot of good things going for it but the rest of it doesn't interest me like the PS4 and Wii U did. Will I get one? Most likely but don't think it'll be straight away. Now to see if MS can show more interesting games that they promised at E3 this year.

Until then, thanks for reading.

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But a strange thing occured in my house. My eldest lad, who turned 16 last week, has never watched anything remotely Star Trek related and obviously just not been interested. So when the game turned up on rental ( is that soon to be a thing of the past? - sorry couldn't help it ) he had no expectations about it.

So what happened? He put the game in and actually quite enjoyed it - to the point that he borrowed the first movie from me and now wants to go and see the second one! He is also talking about watching so NG/DS9 etc. So the game converted him.

Maybe the game isn't so bad after all and it's pre-conception that killed it?

Anyway now I have shared that nugget I will go back to cooking dinner

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I am heading soon to a rock festival and it s far away,

so wish me luck that I won t be broke by the end of this traveling adventure ^^

Best regards,

Shinibi-Neo

PS: any good new games? ah.. thought so.

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So I think I'm getting slightly better at first-person shooters.  Bioshock was good training apart from the unforgettable experience and, although I'm still getting fragged more often that I would care to admit, I feel as if I'm getting the basics down pat to survive a full fifteen minutes or more.  I only now just need to work on ammo conservation and not haphazardly shooting everything that moves.... and missing my targets 45% of the time.

Of course, I wanted to go further than Bioshock, so I decided to try Resistance. I picked up all three Resistance games for my PS3 a few days ago, and have been playing the original Resistance practically non-stop.  Resistance is certainly an old-school kind of first-person shooter, and nothing like all the third-person shooters I'm a bit more accustomed to.   It's more challenging than Bioshock because the Chimera come in many different flavors and are far more aggressive.  For a PS3 game, Resistance looks a little dated, and understandably so seeing how the game was released around the time of the PS3's first cycle; made even more apparent by the utter lack of Trophy support.  Still though, as of this writing, I'm near the end of the game and hoping to start up Resistance 2.

No leapfrogging this franchise for me.   I didn't want a repeat from Assassin's Creed---even though that game is vastly different in every way from a first-person shooter like Resistance.  Storywise, I want to enjoy the games spoiler-free and, so far, it's pretty intriguing.

The next game in line for me possibly is Killzone.  I understand there are three games in the series, like Resistance, and almost similar in style and substance.  But Killzone has you shooting soldiers, not aliens, and it's far more grittier.  Even though I do not typically buy first-person shooters on the PS3, these two franchises are solid Sony-exclusives that I couldn't ignore.  A good thing I waited, too, because Killzone's dead-cheap.  If you've played Killzone before and have varying opinions, let me know.  In fact, if you can recommend other good FPSes for either the PS3 or the 360, I'm open to suggestions!

Thanks for reading.  Now it's high time that I finished my business with the Chimera.

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Original post at hush404.com

Let me start this off by outlining that I do not own a WiiU and this is not a tear down of what I think about the machine from a player's point of view; rather, this is a look into the politics and happenings of what I see going on every day online and in the conversations I have with friends.

Also of note. I very much enjoy my PS3 and have been vocal about my lack of love for my Wii or how Nintendo has been going about their business for some time now (more or less since the N64). I also don't have an interest in purchasing a WiiU at the moment, either. However, I am still able to form a calm, logical opinion, regardless.

With that out of the way, lets talk about Nintendo's latest baby, the WiiU. Sadly, it's the talk of the internet... but not in a way that's good for Nintendo. Everywhere you go (ok, maybe not everywhere, but pretty close), you've got forum trolls and other such monikers tearing the system down, calling it shit, claiming Nintendo is out for the count. It's gone so far, that even Nintendo fans are frustrated and tired of defending the system against these kinds of comments.

But, there is where, I think, lies the problem, Nintendo fans shouldn't be the ones that are holding the weight of the system on their shoulders. Nintendo should be the one out there showing the world why the WiiU matters. In my opinion, this is where they are weak, where they need to focus on and above all, be it hardware, exclusives and so on, is the biggest thing holding people back from embracing the system.

So, let me reiterate, it's not the hardware that's holding the WiiU back. Yes, the WiiU hardware, from what every project points to, from what every spec we're knowledgeable about, from every example of software we've seen, is much more like the current generation of PS3/360 machines than it is a technological jump forward in terms of pure number crunching ability. Which isn't in any way an attack on their design, be it their choice of hardware, or their unique tablet/controller or the software that uses this tech; rather it's an observation that I think some Nintendo fans aren't grasping. The hardware (what's in the system) can be argued to be less or more powerful than our current generation (I honestly believe there's more they can push with the WiiU, that developers aren't yet harnessing the full power of it), but if anyone believes that the hardware is comparable (again, technically, not fanboy-ishly or in terms of fun games) with the PS4 and what Microsoft is planning on releasing in the near future, I... don't think you understand computer hardware and it's limitations. With all that said, the machine looks to be a wonderful system, if you count out the perceived importance of super powered consoles. The unique controller brings with it some interesting methods of play and the fact that a Nintendo system has joined the same hardware gang as the PS3/360 should put a smile on everyone's face as those PS3/360 gamers whom have enjoyed their systems for many years now get to experience a system with a slightly different flavor.

Sadly, however, rather than adopting that method of thinking, they're looking at future consoles and going "The WiiU lacks technical power freshness, why support it?". It doesn't help that big publishers like EA and Activision are voicing a huge lack of interest in the machine, various developers around the industry straight up saying they have no plans to support the WiiU with their upcoming projects and an extremely lackluster response from Nintendo to combat this kind of talk.

Which reminds me of a 2006/2007 Sony when they launched their $599 PS3 (here in Canada at least, that was the price) to audiences with lackluster support from third party developers. Every time you turned around, Sony was 'losing' a former exclusive title to multiplatform status, missing out on new exclusives that were hitting the 360 or getting shotty ports due to the complexity of developing for the system. Then the media took to it, for a long time, articles across the internet spelled doom for Sony and their big black box, the system couldn't be any worse in their eyes. I remember vividly, Gabe Newell's comment, something along the lines of 'Sony screwed up, the PS3 is the worst thing to have ever come out, they need to go back to the drawing board with it'. Gamers forget this, but Sony sure doesn't. It took them from their high horse of the PS2 days to the bottom of the ladder in a swift step. They struggled with it, struggled on how to promote their system to the world, they often tried to sell it as a blu-ray machine, a media hub and so on. It took them quite a while, but eventually they found their stride and their clear message of what they were selling and to whom. A price cut here and there and the system started selling, 360 exclusives started going multiplatform to Sony's box, new exclusives were formed, Sony went full force into developing superb first party titles, Sony worked on it's network structure, encouraged gamers, invented Kevin Butler and more or less was back on the train of good publicity with the world. Try telling that to a gamer today, whom picked up their PS3. Does it matter? Do they care? No. It was all fanboyism and politics of the industry.

Which brings me back to Nintendo. Articles attack it (the WiiU) on a daily basis, internet idiots run with it, fanboys (of other systems) bath in it as gold lining of their favoritism. Publishers are excluding the WiiU for ports, Exclusives are few and far between, gamers opinion aren't well formed and in the middle of it all, Nintendo doesn't know whom they want to sell to or how to promote their product. Sound familiar? It should.

Which brings me to my outlining thought. Nintendo needs to get their message and marketing strategy straight. They need to either come up with a plan on their own or bring in some help. They need to market the hell out of their system, they need to throw it in gamers faces and show them WHY the WiiU is important. Not only that, but they need to start communicating with developers on a stronger level. A friend of mine said in defense of some news regarding EA, Eff those developers', which I think isn't a smart response. Developers are needed to propel hardware. I've also heard some argue that Nintendo is promoting the WiiU, with Nintendo directs and other info presented online... and I disagree with it's effectiveness. The people watching Nintendo directs and subscribing to Nintendo news... are Nintendo fans, the likes of which don't need convincing to buy the WiiU. Nintendo directs don't reach many other gamers and they sure as hell do nothing to reach a general audience. Nintendo sidestepping an E3 conference this year, too, feels like a big misstep that they could of used to launch their new promotion campaign for the system.

Once they've done this. Once they've shown people what the WiiU is, why it's special and how they're working hard to support it in every way, it will sell. It's not the lower hardware spec (compared to PS4), it's not that good games aren't being made for it, it's not that people have given up on Nintendo, it's the fact that even Nintendo doesn't know how to say 'The WiiU is awesome, have a look, will you?"

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10. The World Ends With You

After you defeat the Game Master of the third and final Reaper's Game, you come face to face with the Conductor of the game, Megumi Kitanji. He's passionate about what he's trying to do (spoilers aside) and he's going to do his best to stop you from beating him which would result in his objective not being met. He confronts you himself, and after beating him once, he transforms into his Noise form, a giant serpent called Anguis Cantus.

After defeating HIM, he transforms AGAIN after transforming with someone else (spoilers withheld), to a more dangerous serpent Noise called Draco Cantus. The entire last day builds up to this climactic fight, and it has a few small twists to the battle formula and is one of the only fights in the entire game you'll mostly be tackling with just Neku by himself. Needless to say, it is one epic fight and I can't say much more without giving away very important story elements. 

9. Pokemon Black/White

Normally, Pokemon games end at the Pokemon League of a given region, and your journey ends when you defeat the Champion. BUT NOT THIS TIME. After defeating the Elite Four, a castle comes out of the ****ing ground and surrounds the Pokemon League. It's N's castle. you have to confront him one last time, in what is an epic fight between truth and ideals. After that, his own father and a member of the Seven Sages of Team Plasma, Ghetsis, flips out at N's defeat and fights you himself after revealing the full intention he had for Team Plasma, and you take him down and bring an end to Team Plasma for the time being. 

This endgame blew my mind despite being 19 years old at the time I played it and having been into Pokemon for over 11 years. I thought Pokemon was falling into a routine, and while I really liked Cynthia in Diamond/Pearl, I was waiting for when there'd be a twist to the plot somehow. And in Black/White, N's success with the Pokemon League up until you beat him was a welcome change and not actually fighting any sort of Champion for a final boss with Ghetsis was really cool too. N having a legendary Pokemon helped crank the intensity up to eleven.

8. Kingdom Hearts II

HOW OVER-THE-TOP CAN YOU MAKE ONE STRING OF FINAL BOSSES? First you go through a strange city, then you fight Xemnas in a weird knight form. Then you have to fight him on a giant Nobody dragon. Then you fight him in the knight form AGAIN but you're falling from the sky but you look like you're flying and you have to make your way to him. THEN you fight him finally in his usual form but in a different white/black cloak in a strange void of nothingness. AND I MIGHT BE MESSING UP MY ORDER BECAUSE THE ENDGAME JUST CONSISTS OF SO ****ING MUCH.

The first Kingdom Hearts almost made it to this list too because of how over the top it was, but few endgames can boast being that exaggerated as Kingdom Hearts II. And you get the epic partnership of Sora and Riku, who was reformed from falling into darkness in the first game and now a sweet dark hero type character. It just screamed awesome for me. Cheesy admittedly, but still a great way to wrap up the game.

7. No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

I love NMH2. I really do. It took the solid foundation of the first, and made it better. It did away with the unnecessary hubworld fluff (as novel as it was), and polished up the rest of the game. And the entire game revolves around Travis' thirst for vengeance against Jasper Batt Jr. and how he killed a good friend of his. Travis relunctantly assassinates his way through the top ranked assassin's a SECOND time, and learns that Jasper Batt Jr. himself is the top ranked assassin. He confronts him. After learning what his identity was (which surprised him), you begin the epic final boss fight with him.

And that boss fight ends up with three phases. You first fight him inside a small car and have defend yourself and make openings to hit him. After that, he makes himself buffer though some power and larger, and you fight what essentially is an evil superhero (looks like a superhero, but really isn't). After warding off attacks and knocking him down again, he increases in size AGAIN, in a parody to how final bosses progress in other games, and he's literally this giant balloon version of himself, and you fight him on the top of his destroyed office building. It's a challenging fight, but it's soooo satisfying when you finally bring him down.

6. Dark Cloud 2

Few games are beloved to me as Dark Cloud 2, and the game did a great job of wrapping up its story. You fight Emperor Griffin in his palace, only to learn that a dark creature had parasitically taken over his body and controlled him to do everything that he did. You then go through a weird dream realm and fight a bunch of bosses, and you confront the Dark Element, the real "Emperor Griffin", while it threatens to DROP THE FREAKING MOON ON THE PLANET. No, I'm serious, Majora's Mask is not the only game to have the threat of the moon being used as a weapon. Dark Cloud 2's world also had 2 moons, 1 of which was to be used to destroy the planet by the Dark Element.

You have a pretty good view of the second, fake moon and you have a tense countdown of 5 minutes to kill the Dark Element. The battle takes place on a small space of floor inside the strange colorful place near the top of the long spiral that you climbed up on the way. It's pretty atmospheric and the fight itself, which has the Dark Element switching its cloak coloring to grant immunity to long-ranged or close-ranged weapons (since the two main characters get 1 each) was a nice twist and added strategy. 

5. Sonic & Knuckles

I have a hard time loving bosses in platformers because they tend to lack the intensity of a well-established RPG fight. But Sonic & Knuckles, which wraps up the Death Egg saga of the Sonic game timeline, ends beautifully. First you have an ordinary boss fight in the Death Egg Zone, which following that you chase Eggman before he jumps into his Death Egg Robot, and you have to hit the fingers of the hands he's using to try to crush you.

When that fails, he destroys pieces of the Death Egg as he follows you and attacks you with fire from his robotic nose (I'm serious), and a charged laser beam from the Master Emerald he's using for energy for the robot. In order to damage him you have to hit the Master Emerald's holding machine carefully and bounce off it before you fall from the platforms the robot's knocking down in its wake. And if that's not enough, destroying the robot doesn't end the game. Eggman tries to get away with the Master Emerald riding his little ship, and you get to chase him down and hit him while the rest of the Death Egg falls apart behind you. 

Leaving out the Doomsday Zone which is a whole 'nother layer added on entirely, this is one of the most epic endgames I've ever gotten to experience in a platformer, and while I tend not to give Sonic & Knuckles enough credit, it did wrap up the Death Egg saga in a very cool manner.

4. Touhou Shinreibyou ~ Ten Desires

Not all of you know Touhou so here's a video link to the boss fight, because this might be hard to imagine what I'm explaining otherwise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIZG7Rb8yMk. Good? Okay. So the plot here is Reimu found a weird disturbance and had to find out why spirits were flying around everywhere. She finds Toyosatomimi no Miko and a small group of people who practiced Taoism and tried to become immortal (and had people stop believing in them, sending them to Reimu's world, Gensokyo), and then Reimu (or whatever girl you pick) confronts Miko. After this, an Extra scenario can be unlocked, where Reimu goes to the Moriya Shrine and is intercepted by the playful tanuki girl Mamizou. And this fight happens.

IT ****ING HAPPENS. I love the playful music, and the entire theming of Mamizou's attacks is just bizarre in the coolest way possible. Her normal, non-spellcard attacks, she doesn't fool around with and literally just hurls large orbs every ****ing direction, but her spellcard attacks feature her bullets TURNING INTO LIVING THINGS, including gingerbread man looking humanshapes, frogs, birds, and dog-things. Land, sea, air, human. And to turn it up to 11, one of her spellcards has her transform into REIMU HERSELF and shooting trademark amulets at you, as well as leaving behind frogs which explode into amulets (as opposed to the feather-like bullets they normally explode into). 

I've only ever beaten her one time, but fighting her is so satisfying. And I have a thing for tanukis ever since Super Mario Bros. 3 and Mario and Luigi being able to turn into them through that power-up. And Mamizou delivered.

3. Chrono Trigger

After going through time many many times you finally get to fight Lavos in the Black Omen, and you learn that there's more to Lavos than that exterior meteor monster you've seen all game. Not only do you fight a boss rush of a lot of the game's bosses with Lavos as the proxy, you get to fight Lavos itself normally, then you fight a strange Cell-like creature inside of Lavos. You go INSIDE OF LAVOS when you finish this beast off because its head retreated into its body. And then, after THAT, you fight its core: a weird alien being and 2 small bits accompanying it...

Until you learn the twist that ONE OF THE BITS IS THE CORE AND THE ALIEN ISN'T THE REAL TARGET. Many gamers who are genre-savvy get thrown for a loop when they learn Lavos' last form isn't the unique alien creature, but actually one of those bits. And until you start throwing attacks around, you have no way of knowing, adding to the tense challenge of finally ridding the planet of the horrible beast. To accompany it, the background spans through space-time and you get to see the various settings you've been to, which influence some of the core's attacks. Really cool indeed.

2. Final Fantasy VII

You dive deep inside the earth through the North Crater to fight Sephiroth for real. You defeat JENOVA for the 4th and final time, and then you face Sephiroth, who was turned into some strange monster. You get to tackle the fight with multiple parties if you want to. Then when you think Sephiroth's defeated, he becomes an angellic god-like... thing, with epic latin choir accompanying this. It's one of the coolest final bosses I've ever gotten to play, and while a lot of people like to mock it nowadays, I like to give credit where its due; if not for this game, I wouldn't have played any other Final Fantasy titles, and Sephiroth is an awesome villain. I found the final boss fight with him highly dynamic and entertaining. It helps that his forms gain stats depending on whether you used the gamebreaking summon on JENOVA before him or if you have any Lv.99 characters.

1. Pokemon Gold/Silver 

Yes, wrapping up our countdown is another Pokemon game. And no I'm not talking about Lance here. I'm talking about the game's TRUE final boss. You've collected Kanto's badges after defeating the entire Johto region, and been given permission to venture to Mt. Silver. You traverse the eerie, dark cave. You reach the last room of the final dungeon of this 60+ hour Pokemon game, and you see nothing but a single path forward and black void surrounding you (assuming the original here, for atmosphere). You reach the other side to see a trainer standing there, and approach them. All they say before you're rushed into a fight is "..."

This is how the epic final battle of Gold/Silver pulls you in. You fight not just any trainer, but the hero of the entire Kanto region from 3 years ago. You're fighting a former champion that stepped down in order to continue growing stronger. You're fighting a trainer that was the FIRST to mess with and successfully defeat Team Rocket. And you get that epic Champion Battle music that Lance got along with Red holding nothing but Pokemon obtained through events in Yellow (Espeon implied to be the Eevee from Celadon). You get to know why there's only 1 Snorlax in Kanto. He has the second one.

Red is in himself an epic character in Gold/Silver for being a hero 3 years before you began your journey in Johto. And you get to fight him. Not many games can make a new installment and have the game wrap up by BEATING THE FIRST GAME'S PROTAGONIST. But to this day Gold/Silver are my favorite games in the series, and not only was the pacing of the game great, but having Red as its final fight just makes it that much more awesome. 

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I bring this up because recently I was talking with one of my non-gaming friends, and she had asked me what I did over my week-end. Knowing that she wouldn't be very interested to hear about my pixelated adventures, I answered with the vague phrase "video games," to which she replied, "How can you enjoy something thats all about killing people?" I was taken aback when she said this. She never asked what video games I played or what those games were about, just about how I could possibly get a kick out of killing people. I had been playing Bioshock Infinite, which albeit does involve a lot of guns and killing, but that was not my main reason for playing it. I was offended that she assumed that all video games showcase murder as a form of entertainment. Of course, I could have explained that not all video games are about shooting, mass murder, and death, but instead I started thinking about how the non-gaming world sees the gaming world. In the non-gaming world there thrives the idea that video games are just a pointless form of entertainment that advocates blood, gore, and violence. Though there is good reason to believe this, especially since the Call of Duty franchise is among the best-selling and most popular franchises of all time, there is also good reason to see video games in a different light. Take Bioshock Infinite. The driving force of Infinite is not its gameplay, but its narrative. When I turned on my PS3 to enter the world of Columbia, I did so to experience Booker and Elizabeth's story. Although its gameplay focused on the guns and shooting that this generation has become so familiar with, Infinite's main attraction is its story, characters, and setting. It breaks my heart to think of all the people who would take one look at Infinite and automatically assume that this narrative masterpiece was just Call of Duty in another form.

Why is it that video games can't be taken as seriously as other forms of entertainment like movies and books? In my opinion, video games are better. They allow people more control of their experiences. Increasingly, video games are giving people the chance to mold their character how they want. Games like Mass Effect, The Walking Dead, and Dishonored present choices that impact the story and the player's character. Being given the opportunity to mold my own experience gives me more enjoyment than the linear stories of movies and books. However, even linear games provide more enjoyment than movies and books since linear games still give people control of the protagonist. So even if a video game has a linear story like a movie or book, it still gives people more satisfaction by allowing them to control the character that drives the story forward. When I watch a movie or read a book, I feel like I'm a passenger. But when I play a video game, I feel like the driver. Even with this opportunity for a more involving experience, video games are still viewed as childish by the non-gaming community.

Perhaps if more people played video games the industry would join the ranks of films. But getting non-gamers to actually play a game is a challenge itself. Video games are unfamiliar to non-gamers. And this unfamiliarity might actually be why non-gamers view video games as mostly violent and juvenile. Instead of seeing the multifarious worlds that are offered through video games, such as Rapture, Hyrule, Dunwall, Columbia, the Citadel, and countless others, people choose to ignore them. They can only see video games as variations of Call of Duty because that is what is familiar to them through coverage by the media and what is heard by the "bros" of the world. Obviously Call of Duty isn't the only household name for video games. There are games like Mario, Pac-man, and Zelda, but the increasing market for shooters is drowning those names out. The massive financial success of yearly Call of Duty's has not gone unnoticed. Because of the popularity of first-person shooters, developers have been flooding the market with Call of Duty "clones" to try and mimic its success. This market saturation of FPS's has affected not just the gaming world, but also the non-gaming world. The most vocal members of the gaming community also happen to be the biggest fans of these FPS's. Also, recent events have caused some media to put the blame on violent video games, which increases the amount of negative exposure of video games that non-gamers get. As a result, most of what non-gamers hear about video games is about violence, shooting, guns, etc.

I don't mean to put the blame for how non-gamers see gamers solely on Call of Duty, but more on the bro genre as a whole. I think video games need to be taken more seriously as the industry continues to grow. Developers are creating experiences unique to video games and for their work to be properly recognized, the non-gaming community needs to forget its current generalization of games. When the connotation of the phrase "video games" shifts from being juvenile to being unique, then I believe the industry will have reached its goal.

Questions, comments, concerns (maybe even compliments)? Show me some feedback/other opinions in the comments!

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I recently activated World of Warcraft again, because I'm hoping to play with a friend who just signed up.  I figure it might be fun to see my total play time thus far, to the shock, awe and dismay of many of you reading this.  To be fair, I haven't touched the game since 2011, I bought the last expansion at release, but never installed it until recently.

1st Character (60 Mage) : Total Played Time - 24 days, 2 hours, 56 minutes.

2nd Character (71 Warlock): Total Played Time - 44 days, 1 hour, 15 minutes

3rd Character (60 Priest): Total Played Time - 29 days, 4 hours, 10 minutes

4th Character (66 Mage):  Total Played Time - 22 days, 22 hours, 14 minutes

5th Character (85 Hunter): Total Played Time - 25 days, 21 hours, 38 minutes

6th Character (85 Shaman): Total Played Time - 23 days, 21 hours, 13 minutes

7th Character (80 Priest): Total Played Time- 32 days, 1 hour, 24 minutes

8th Character (62 Druid):  Total Played Time- 15 days, 11 hours, 32 minutes

This doesnt count all the lower level charries, but its where the bulk of my time spent playing is, for the most part.

Anyway, if we add all this up, I get a total estimated playtime of ..(are you ready for this??)

5,139 hours!

This is around 214 days of total playtime, (give or take).  Sure seems like a lot when you put it that way, huh?  >.>

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I have all of the other consoles too, but for some reason I see more value in Nintendo consoles and games, I can't tell you why.

I love Uncharted 2, Bioshock, Gears of War, Infamous and all of those other games on the other systems, but Nitnendo just feels right, I don't know.

However if you ever see me post on System Wars Recently you would think that I'm acting a bit sour on the WiiU or I'm being too harsh. Maybe I am, but I'm more concerned on the WiiU's stance on 3rd Party games.

and here's the topic title that EVERYONE uses to refute my concern.

"I only buy Nintendo for the 1st Party."

This is the sold statement that everyone uses for Nintendo products in general.

However the Truth will shock you.

IF I ONLY BOUGHT FIRST PARTY GAMES FOR MY NINTENDO GAME SYSTEMS FOR GAMECUBE, WII, WIIU, DS, AND 3DS, THIS IS WHAT I WOULD HAVE.

there's about 46 games in total there.

• 17 Wii
• 2 WiiU
• 9 Gamecube
• 6 3DS
• 12 DS

an okay Library I guess, but if you compare that to the 3rd Party games for these systems.

boom.

My Computer Screen is barely in this picture from the wall of 3rd party games.

a whopping 75 Games in total there for 3rd Party.

• 25 Wii
• 4 WiiU
• 18 Gamecube
• 13 3DS
• 15 DS

75 > 46

This is why I'm so concerned about the WiiU's 3rd Party situation. If 3rd Parties don't give up the same support like they've done in the past It won't look so good for WiiU (even though 3rd Parties outshine 1st Party right now on WiiU).

Also I just wanted to show off my collection of Gamecube, DS, 3DS, Wii, WiiU games and to Show you how Bull Crap it is to say you only buy Nintendo for 1st Party and Only.

side notes: combined 1st party and 3rd party

• Wii: 42
• WiiU: 6
• Gamecube: 27
• 3DS: 19
• DS: 27
• total: 121

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GameSpot Players Network Winter Roster

By Staff

GSPN Roster is your one stop place to find other players like yourself!

 eddy96_1

Gamer ID(s): Steam: eddy96 / PSN: eddy96 / Xbox: edrobertson 

Timezone: GMT +8.0 
Now Playing: World of Warcraft, Black Ops 2, Mass Effect 2 
Platforms of choice: PC, PS3 and Xbox 
Gameplay frequency: 20+ hours a week 
Attributes: Competitive, Mature, Achievement Hunter, Trophy Hunter, Socialite, Collectors, Completionist, Shooters, Strategists, RPGr, Storyteller, Rush player, Quirky, Soloist, Explorer, Survivalists, Team Player, and Wild Card. 
Seeking: Same as all of my attributes 

About me

Aussie gamer who is open to everything

Interview

Are you a game collector ?

Yep nothing beats a physical copy of a game. I must admit i am a sucker for collectors editions

How current do you keep with the games?
I keep very current with games. I have a gaming PC so have to make good use of it  

Are you an achievement or trophy hunter?
I do enjoying going after achievements and trophies.

Are you a completionist?
I do like to complete games but not fussed if i don't complete 100% of the game

Do you jump right into the Multiplayer version of a game?
Depending on the game. Some games I don't bother with multiplayer and just stick to single player eg. crysis, GTA 4, Red Dead Redemption. I do go straight to multiplayer for COD though

How long have you been gaming?
Since i was physically able to hold the original gameboy 

Related Links

- Homepage Robbed Design
- Twitter: eddrobertson 
- Instagram: eddrobertson

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Ducktales WOO HOO!

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DMC: Devil May Cry
Dead Space 3 
Metal Gear Rising 

Tomb Raider was the latest game I've been playing. I was enjoying the game a lot and I do mean A LOT! I haven't enjoyed a third person action game like this in a long time...then all of a sudden bam! I was hit with a f*cking game breaking glitch almost to the end of the game. The glitch hit me at the Chasm Stronghold, where the enemies refused to spawn and I cannot progress. I did quite a bit of searching for a solution and nothing is possible (unless a patch is released). It seemed to affect all console and PC versions of the game. After cursing very loud today and getting in a rage. I am calmly going to toss this game aside and start Crysis 3!...shame this game could have been a firm contender for GOTY 2013 for me

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I take that back. Upon re-watching it, there were too many little plot-holes that stuck out. Like, a lot.

But hey, let's keep things positive. Since my last blog in July, many things have happened. Well, not really. I'm still an unemployed bum, and I'm still playing games. One thing that swooped in an surprised me was The Walking Dead. I nabbed it during one of the Steam sales (I honestly don't remember which one ), and I loved every damn second of it. I even named it GOTY over the Ubisoft twins (Far Cry 3 and Assassin's Creed III), and even to this day, the very thought of it brings a smile to my face, as well as a tear.

And in movie-related stuff, there were two films in the latter half of last year that really stuck out to me. I am talking about the twenty-third adventure of the world's most famous spy, and the first part of a long awaited adaptation. I am of course talking about Skyfall and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. And don't worry, I'll use spoiler tags where neseccary.

I would consider Skyfall to be my third favourite Bond film (behind the ever-fantastic Casino Royale and the criminally-underrated Licence to Kill). I thought they finally found the perfect balance between classic Bond shenanigans and the more realistic "modern" Bond. The plot was different from the usual "Evil guy who desires world domination fires stolen nuclear missiles in all directions" plot, and I appreciated that. And the callbacks to previous Bond movies triggered a total nerd breakbown. And speaking of nerdgasms...

The Hobbit.

I loved this beyond description. Yes, I'm a bit of a Tolkien nut. And yes, The Lord of the Rings trilogy ranks among my favourite films of all time (with TFotR coming out at the top). Quite simply, I think Peter Jackson did a brilliant job adapting the novel. I would have liked it if they could squeeze it all into one film, but the idea of turning it into a trilogy doesn't bother me since it only leads to the story being fleshed out more (and obviously more $$$ for the creators.)

But yes, hobbits. Martin Freeman totally blew away my expectations, and the returning cast are just as excellent as always (I'm looking at you, Andy Serkis). There are so many things I liked about the movie, but there was one partiular part I adored:

I could go on for ages, but I reckon you all get the point. (And by the way, if you're still reading at this point, then good job! ) That all said, I agree with some of the criticsism of the movie being too long. Not all of it though. In fact, there's only a few parts that felt drawn out to me:

And another thing I feel like voicing my opinion on is a certain animated series by Matt Groening that is very dear to my heart. The Simpsons! No wait... the other one. Futurella.

Futurama's seventh production season made it's debut last year and I liked it. I feel though, that it's starting to lose it's edge slightly. In spite of there not being a single episode that I consided bad from the 13-episode batch, I felt it lacked a real kicker. A real Roswell That Ends Well or The Late Philip J. Fry. The lack of a vomit-inducing turd like Bender's Game or Neutopia is welcome though. With 13 episodes airing later this year, it's fate remains to be seen.

Anyway, that's enough from me. There aren't really any games or movies coming out in the near future that hold my interest, so it might be a while before you hear from me again.

So long, friends!

*UnrealLegend crawls back into semi-lurkdom

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I have blogged in the past about working with the OVR (Office of vocation rehabiliation) and have a counselor I regularly meet with to discuss this. She signed me up for the POWRR program, which, essentially is a program designed specifically for those with disabilities to get entry level (or higher) position at any UPMC facility (for those of you who dont know, UPMC is a worldwide healthcare system, who specialize in hospitals, health insurance and so on). All I had to do with partake in three seminars and i became "POWRR certified" which meant that when I apply for a job at UPMC, they will look at my application to see i have that certification and it willl help my chances.

The seminars weren't bad...they just made me uncomfortable. A lot of people signed up for this program and ALL of them have had job experience..whereas I haven't. I never had a job due to a lot of reasons..one of the biggest being I wasn't sure what I could handle or what I wanted to do. So many of the people there had elaborate degrees and tons of work experience and there I was...with absolutely nothing. But as long as I can get a job, which will eventually build into a prospective career than it'll all be worth it. As of yesterday I got my certification..so the job hunt begins.

I worked with my counselor on filling out a resume now I just need references and to fill out the extensive job application and I'm golden...really hoping I find something I can handle/that I enjoy doing. But right now it's uncertain what will happen...I just have to keep trying. I won't lie, this is all a bit overwhelming but a lot of things in life are. I just have to give it my absolute best and hope for as much.

I'll more than likely start working part time but I'd rather ease into it than dive head first 100%. A little worried if I do work part time though for a few reasons..getting there (The hospital is within walking distance but if it's really treacherous outside it might be difficult...especially if I work a shift that ends later) and I might have to work weekends...and my weekends are usually booked due to my band and my girlfriend (only see her about once a week now) but it's something Im sure I can look out.

Things are changing...it's scary but it's a good change, I think.

UP THE IRONS!

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Because I Said So is the only game of the year awards you should care about...because I said so.

Part 1 - Most disappointing, favourite unplayed and top old game.

Part 2 - Favourite HD remake, best range of costumes and top virgin sacrifice.

Part 3 - Platform awards.

Now for Part 4, my GOTY, or GOTPFMSICRTWY, which stands for my game of the past few months since I can't remember the whole year...

In third spot - The Unfinished Swan (PS3)

I loved the fairy tale story, I loved the unique gameplay and I loved the creative visual presentation. For some, it may even be one of those games that strikes an emotional chord, everyone else will probably say it sucks.

Runner up - The Walking Dead Series (Mac)

I've purchased many of the Telltale episodic games, but none had me waiting so eagerly for the next installment, or in fits of rage when an installment was delayed...

THE WINNER - Gravity Rush (Vita)

Atmospheric, beautiful, exciting, challenging, emotional and refreshingly original, especially in a year full of so many sequels and remakes. I know there's some complaints about the controls and combat, but I think it just takes a little more practice to appreciate.

One of the most impressive things about Gravity Rush is the amazing world it is set in. It's beautiful, detailed, busy with activity and easy to get sucked into.

As I said above, once you get used to the controls, you'll have a blast with Kat's ability to shift gravity. It makes exploring the world and combating enemies a blast.

That's it from me. Thanks for those who read and commented. Be sure to share your favourite game of the year as well, but remember only my choices count ... because I said so!

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List of full, retail, to be supported home consoles during the 8th generation:

Wii U

Xbox 720

PS4

Ouya

Neo Geo X Gold

Steambox

This is gonna be a hella competitive generation. I think the heavy hitters will be the Wii U, 720, and Steambox, but the PS4, NGXG, and Ouya I also expect to sell well.

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Hello everyone! As you can all see I am back and swinging on the good ol gamespot.com. Our soapbox team is back up and I could not be anymore happy to hear such news. Expect me to post a lot more editorials, well mostly editorials, and some goofy updates to fill you in on my eventful life. For now I will fill you in a little bit of my life. I have literally just been going to concerts and playing video games, honestly that is it. BIG NEWS, in my life is that I am preparing myself for college! I have begun applying to schools and I hope to be attending Bowling Green University next fall as a Falcon! I am entering their Journalism program and I hope I can expand my literary knowledge and AP writing skills and write on the topic of Video Games as a free-lancer or a staff writer for Gamespot itself! That is honestly my only dream to be apart of the Gamespot.com staff.

But now back to my blog! This is on how I review games, seeing as I am now going to be reviewing more games as well, its time I set the foundation for how I review. I have realized how important scores are to people and it is quite sad. They believe any game that gets a 6.5/10 is atrocious when really that is above average? Here is my syllabus and my standards for how I review games because honestly it is nothing how many people do.

1-3 Scores: Abysmal/Terrible/Why would you make this?

Sometimes games just go wrong, either the developer messed up or the Publisher pushed to hard to have a game be created and that lead to a medicore title. But sometimes games are just so bad you wonder why they even made it, that is what my scored games 1-3 represent. Almost laughable, these games are the worst of the worst. I would not even wipe my backside with the discs they are on. Lackluster gameplay, no story, linear and all around half-assed.

3-5: Bad/Lackluster/Very Unpolished:

Now lets get this out of the way, games rated 3-5 are bad, but that does not mean they are not playable. These are games I would still play and possible enjoy slightly, but as a game, it is just not up to the average par. Games like Duke Nukem Forever, I gave it a 4.5/10. I actually enjoyed it, amazing huh? But lets be honest, that game was terrible as a whole. Its how the gameplay adds up, the story, its ambitions before its released and its hype. The aesthetics of the game need to be good and frankly, these games do not reach the bar.

6-7: Good/Worth a Look/Fun

A game to be in this category is good, these games are your Wow this looks good! I will get it off Gamefly! kind of games. They are worth the look and ultimately pretty good games. They display decent gameplay, sometimes a good to phenomenal story and have the core mechanics of a good game. These games are average to slightly above average and generally symbolize a good game. Any game in this rating zone (in my opinion) should be honored.

8-9: Great/Fantastic/Worth Every Penny/DO NOT MISS DEEZ FRAGGIN GAMES!
To some 8 ratings are really not that good and 9 is the best, for me that is not the case. I think any game that reaches this rating is amazing, it is not easy for a game to hit my 8-9 mark at all. These games have near perfect gameplay, fantastic stories and solid core mechanics that games need to be successful. Many games get put in this category for professional reviewers which in my opinion makes these magazines and sites unprofessional as they hand them out like plastic trophies at a Rec Center baseball league. I treat games in this rating category as Gold Medalists and ultimately give these games heavy praise. Most of my favorite games are in this Category.

10: Perfect...there is nothing else to say.

Tens are rare, they are the rarest of all ratings I give. To earn a 10 you do not simply have to be good or great and just breeze in for a ten, no, you need to be flawless. Games that earn tens from me have flawless gameplay and I mean very very very very little to no hiccups, decent to great graphics, a good story to a phenomenal one and it needs to be overall created with flair and imagination. I have only had two games fall in this category ever and even then that is a lot of games. I DO NOT GIVE THESE OUT OFTEN AT ALL.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

There you have it! Now remember these guidelines when reading my reviews

-Ryan

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