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  • polsci1503
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Lost Planet: Extreme Condition 7.5
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Listen to me now, believe me later...

Listen to me now, believe me later...

  • 10Dec 09

    GH: Van Halen - Neversoft Phones It In

    When I was 15 there were two concerts I was absolutely forbidden to go to - Iron Maiden and Van Halen. After that I stopped asking for permission to go to concerts and made up excuses to slink off and go to shows Mom did not approve of. She thought Iron Maiden were devil worshippers and Van Halen were drunken obnoxious party animals. Wrong on the first one Mom, absolutely correct on the second, and I loved them for it.

    And I still do... "Mean Streets" from the "Fair Warning" album still gets me going and is one of my favorite rock songs of all time.

    At night I walk this stinkin' street past the crazies on my block
    And I see the same old faces and I hear that same old talk
    And I'm searching for the latest thing, a break in this routine
    I'm talkin' some new kicks, ones like you ain't never seen

    Insert nasty guitar lick from one of the primo guitar legends of my era. In my day, if you said "Eddie" everyone thought of Eddie Van Halen first, and Eddie the mascot of Iron Maiden second.

    So we come to the end of 2009... Activision and Neversoft decide to give Guitar Hero fans a game we have been crying for for a long time by following up their star treatments of Aerosmith and Metallica with a dedicated Van Halen effort. How did it turn out?

    The Good:

    The Music. Old Van Halen rocks harder than the poppier Sammy Hagar years. They were nasty, edgy, dirty young boys and Eddie's guitar playing was brilliant, dynamic and gut punching. David Lee Roth was the eptiome of what every mother did not want their son to be, but his showmanship and vocal work exuded "PARTY!" He was also one whacked out dude (and obviously still is). Alex Van Halen on drums and Michael Anthony on bass were tight and contributed a great deal to the bands party vibe. Van Halen, Van Halen II, 1984and Fair Warning are must listen to albums, with Diver Down and Women and Children First close seconds.

    The Bad:

    The Music. If you're a fan of the Sammy Hagar years and quality albums like 5150 and OU812 (I only like "Poundcake" from For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge) you're out of luck. All music with Sammy as the front man is excluded. That's some seriously big hits to leave out, and really is inexcusable. However the current band members feel about Sammy (and Eddie is known to hold a grudge like few others), leaving out the tunes from this era is just wrong.

    Michael Anthony. Not only is Sammy left out, but so is original bass player Anthony. This, to any diehard old school Van Halen fan, is just flat out wrong. He meant as much to the band and its image as anyone, and to slap him in the face like this publicly is disgusting. Instead, who do we get to play as? Wolfgang Van Halen, Eddie's young son...

    WHAT? Why the heck would I want to play as Wolfgang? What appeal does that have whatsoever? Is Wolfgang a legendary bass player? No, he's a stand-in... It's so awkward even seeing him in there, it's so obvious he doesn't belong that it's almost painful to see his avatar meekly meandering around the stage. It's like personally standing there watching Anthony get punched in the face and being constantly reminded of it while you're playing the game.

    The Avatars. See that reference photo above... see Eddie? That's old wrinkled Eddie. That's not the Eddie you unlock after playing for awhile, that's the Eddie you start with and the Eddie you'll be stuck playing with until you unlock the c1assic Eddie. Same goes for the whole band... so you're stuck playing with dudes that look like this:

    Who wants to play as a bunch of old guys? I'm an old guy and I wouldn't want to play as me, I'd take the younger version of me any day. Do I want to play as the David Lee Roth who girls had posters of in their bedrooms in 1982, or as washed up crazy DLR who looks more like a Beverly Hills hairdresser than a rock star?

    And even when you unlock the avatars of the way they used to look, Eddie just looks weird.

    The avatar you unlock for David Lee Roth is much better though and is the best one of the bunch. Oh yeah, you can unlock an alternative version of Wolfgang too... but considering he's only 18 years old, c1assic Wolfgang is a baby playing bass (I'm kidding, but that would be better than what you really get).

    The Game. Neversoft obviously made this during a transition between the old model of GH because you see elements left over from World Tour and prior games, and you see a few of the changes made for the recent GH 5. It sits uncomfortably in that region in between, so for GH regulars it will feel a little strange.

    No History. Unlike GH: Aerosmith, there are no cool unlockable interviews with the band. The care and attention to the band's legacy is missing and you will likely learn nothing about them from playing the game, other than they had alot of cool songs in the early years.

    Price. I got the game free for buying GH 5 during the promotion Activision ran in September. I see that the pre-order price listing is $60 when the game is officially released in a couple of weeks. This post is an attempt on my part to make sure you don't completely waste $60. No way, no how, even if you're a Van Halen fan like myself, should you be plunking down that kind of money on this. Wait till it's $20, that's about the most you should pay.

    I didn't cover the non-VH songs included in this because they seem completely out of place. At least with the Aerosmith game the band said those were bands that influenced them, they influenced, or they admired. With this game it seems like Neversoft had some tracks sitting around without a game to put them in and threw them in to take up the space that could have been used for the songs with Hagar singing lead. Jimmy Eat World? Weezer? Yellowcard? Huh??

    Unfortunately for those of us that really (used to) love the GH series, this is an obvious cash in.

    • Posted Dec 10, 2009 12:20 pm PT
    • Category: Editorial
    • 18 Comments
  • 6Dec 09

    Big Country

    Wow, I did alot of TV this weekend. I think I ate something bad on Friday night (it might have been the shrimp I bought at the store) and I'm only starting to feel normal again this Sunday afternoon. Yesterday sucked. I hurt my shoulder in the gym during the week too and it's been really sore and sending shooting pains up my neck. But today was better, it's still sore but not hurting as much.

    Yesterday I was only feeling well enough to lie down and watch TV, so I basically caught the entire season of The Ultimate Fighter in one day. I had seen a couple of them already, but I watched the whole thing - which culminated in the live finale last night, which was awesome. Matt Mitrione beating Big Baby was a shocker - I can't believe Houston Alexander acted like a chicken against Kimbo Slice, who got his first UFC victory - and Roy Nelson won it all in a sweet fight. That big boy (nicknamed Big Country) looks like he's out of shape, but don't be fooled, he knows what he's doing.

    Roy Nelson, Ultimate Fighter Champ

    I'm also stoked that my NY Giants won a sweet game against the Dallas Cowboys today. And I'm stoked I'm feeling better.

    Oh yeah, DiRT 2 rocks. Seriously.

    And after around 10 hours of watching Spike, I can most definitely tell you the Video Game Awards are live this Saturday night. Get your popcorn ready.

  • 4Dec 09

    I Like Beans.

    Yes, I do.

    This picture is actually Heinz. which is junk. If you are into really into beans then it's all about:

    http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/807249/bushs_best_grillin_beans_steakhouse.html

    Bush's Best has a special line out that kicks booty, because, yes, I like beans.

  • 2Dec 09

    Go Ahead, Brag About What Deals You Got

    Aloha friends

    Before I get to a couple of small updates, let me first say that I didn't mean to give the wrong impression on Prototype. It can be a fun and very enjoyable game, and it can also be a frustrating game that will have you scratching your head sometimes. Fun is having cool powers, like a chain-like appendage that can rip helicopters out of the sky, or claws that cut dudes in half, or big hammer fists to pummel tanks with. Fun is running up the sides of buildings, hang gliding from rooftop to rooftop, and dropping from the sky into a busy intersection with the power of a small meteor.

    Not fun is getting pinned in a corner by enemies or rockets and not being able to get back on your feet to evade them, so you die. Not fun is just wanting to get from point A to point B without having a flying viral detector, that you never see until the last second, see through your disguise and call in tanks and helicopters to blast you with, and you die (in the middle of a mission). Not fun is not being able to block unless you enable the blocking power, which means you can't use any other power while blocking.

    So there is good and not so good, but in no way should you not play the game if you're interested in it. I didn't mean to turn people off. Final score will likely be around a 7.5 to 8 when I'm done, so there is plenty of good times to be had.

    Moving on... I started Red Faction: Guerilla the other day and there is PLENTY of good times there. I'm having a tough time focusing on the campaign because it's been so much fun just blowing crap up. (Kellymae, you best be playing this - put the homemade C4 down and play this instead, your neighbors will be grateful, at least for a week or two).

    There are also two new games to report, Ninja Blade ($15) and DiRT 2 ($25). I made friends with the local Blockbuster manager and he sold these to me for the trade-in value. Nice! I was really tempted to get Brutal Legend for $30 but I wasn't supposed to be buying ANY games this month since I'm saving for my security deposit to move into the new apartment. Shows you how much willpower I have that I still blew $40... but you know I can't resist a deal. It would go against my DNA. It was tough not to buy anything during the online deals this past weekend... very tough. Did anyone take advantage of the sales and pick games up? Feel free to gloat and brag in the comments...

  • 25Nov 09

    "Grrrr..." A Title Tribute to Grigjd3 the Monosyllabic Physicist

    Aloha friends

    Alot going on here in paradise - working hard to salvage the school contract with a last minute presentation today, crossing my fingers the sales dude can work some magic so we can all keep our jobs. I'm still in the running for the job with the school itself, but it's moving slow. The interviews probably won't wrap up until early next year.

    I've also been hunting for a new home since my lease is up the end of next month. I decided to go the roommate route in order to save money. Apartments are so expensive here and it costs a small fortune to have my own place (almost $1500 a month) and that's for an apartment that is just okay. If I want a nice place it would cost me $2000 a month.

    So I found a place in Kailua that is $2200 a month and that I can split with a roommate. I hope he's cool... The apartment is awesome though, wait till I post pics of this place... I can literally walk outside, pop a kayak into the canal that runs alongside the building, and paddle out into the ocean. The beach is less than a mile away. Sweet...

    In gaming news I'm almost through the campaign in Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. Cool game. When this one hits the bargain bins after the holidays give it a try. I've even been messing around with the online multiplayer and having fun with it too.

    I also started Prototype... and it is a bit of a mess. The controls can be cool, but as you run around all you have to do is remotely touch something and you're leaping in the air. This makes being precise in your movements very difficult to do, and guess what? You will need to be precise to survive on anything higher than easy mode. So what happens when you combine a hard game with imprecise controls? Cheap deaths. Not cool.

    I restarted the game on easy just so I'd have more fun with it and wouldn't get the urge to smash a controller, however there is alot of collecting in the game too (hundreds of blue and red orbs spread out around the city) and many are in spots that require some measure of precision to get to... argh! I spent a half hour just trying to get Alex to run STRAIGHT up a spire without hitting some sort of crease that would send him leaping out into the sky.

    Still working on Persona 3, which is my late night weekend game... and I have plenty of thoughts on Guitar Hero: Van Halen. Let's just say for now that there is a reason why they gave it away free for buying GH 5. Absolutely, under no circumstances, should anyone pay more than $20 for it.

    Happy Thanksgiving to all my friends on the U.S. mainland, I'll be home playing games tomorrow so if you are too give me a shout. Unfortunately I have to work Friday, but that's not terrible since the last place I'd want to be is near a mall. Hopefully no one gets trampled this year at Wal-Mart. If I ever see any of you on the news screaming your head off to be the first one to rush into a store on Black Friday I will disown you.

  • 19Nov 09

    Games You Should Have Played But Didn't

    This blog is an addition to Setho10's recent 4 part series on games that most people didn't play but should have. Alot of the games Seth mentioned are the usual suspects we've been hearing about for years - Oddworld, Ico, Psychonauts and Beyond Good and Evil are games that are continually mentioned as quality games that not many people bought.

    I remember well how game writers were screaming at everyone to go out and buy Psychonauts right away otherwise the creative spirit in game development would die and all we would get was rehashed sequels and cookie cutter IPs. So I heeded the call and went out and bought alot of these games so that I could have an experience beyond the norm. More often than not, those writers were spot on and those games were well worth hunting down.

    Reading through Seth's list however, I started to think about other games that I really enjoyed that no one bought. Save for one on this list, these games don't get mentioned much anymore and have sort of faded into game history... I'd like to give them some credit.

    Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Don't laugh! I loved this game... the combat was awesome! Kicking vampires in the face, whacking them with shovels and staking them through the heart was alot of fun. This game really was a pleasant surprise. Good story, voice acting by the real cast of the show, and it was long. I'm the only one I know who played this, so speak up and let me know I'm not alone.

    Deathrow: What would a futuristic game of violent frisbee/basketball played by a bunch of foul mouthed post-apocalyptic athletes look like? How could you guys miss this one? Opposing team has the disc and you want it? Break his knee, crack his back and then call him a *** ***** *********. Yeah, mom's didn't like this game.

    Fatal Frame: Probably the most well known game on the list, still people didn't buy it. If you ever see a list of "Top Scariest Games Ever" and this one isn't number one, then that person doesn't know what they are talking about. Sure I'll get goosebumps from a game every now and again, but this one gave me perpetual goosebumps the whole time. I could only take this game a half hour at a time because I'd overheat from getting flushed. Simply awesome.

    Shadow Hearts - From the New World: What a strange game and one that I really enjoyed. If you like turn-based RPGs that try to innovate in their combat schemes, then you may want to try this game's Wheel of Fortune sty1e. Besides, Shania could possibly be one of gaming's hottest characters that no one knows. If you think Bayonetta's shedding her clothing (which is really her hair) while she transforms is, um, interesting, then Shania's transformation into her summons is, uh, just as interesting. And those little indian hot pants... oh lordy...

    Gun: I'm playing this other game that no one seems to be playing called Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood that I'm really enjoying (go get it!) and it definitely brings back memories of playing through Gun. It kind of got panned at the time for it's bland graphics, but the gameplay itself was pretty darn good. Maybe gamers just aren't that interested in the Old West.

    So there you have it, five gems in the rough. They may not be considered bonafide trend setters, million copy sellers, or 9.0 score achievers, but not every game needs to be in order to have fun with it.

  • 17Nov 09

    Action Figures As Art

    Last week I was watching an episode of This American Life and saw a piece on Mark Hogancamp. Mark was brutally attacked by five men some years ago and suffered brain damage as a result. As a way of working through his trauma and finding a way to express himself he began creating war scenes using action figures and photographing them. These are not your normal backyard "having fun" photos...

    Sorry for the small size on these ones, his photos aren't easy to find on the web, it seems only now are people taking notice of him. These two are stills from the show.

    Alot of them are pretty violent, these are some of the more tame ones. Keep an eye out for his work in the future, especially in a new documentary that's coming out soon. You can find out info on the documentary here.

    Anyways, I thought some of you would find this interesting, I certainly did.

  • 4Nov 09

    Breaking Up Is Hard To Do

    After 3 years I am single again... the breakup has been in the works for awhile now but last night it became official. Even though it was my decision and one that I think was the right one, I'm still sad and it's strange to think of her not being a part of my life anymore. This was the longest relationship I had ever been in and it had been an important part of my life for so long, through so many decisions and so much work at keeping it going.

    Bottom line was that we live on different islands and had for the past year. We had been flying back and forth about every 6 weeks to see each other, which gets very expensive. She had talked about moving over here but she never really made an effort, and in the last month or so she made it clear she was going for a promotion at her current job, so I was like WTF? If you're going for a promotion, then that means you have no intention of moving... she wanted to try keeping things as they were.

    A year of inter-island dating is fine, but anymore than that and someone has to make a decision to move. I'm about to move into a new position at the school that will likely keep me in Honolulu for the next 20 years, so I know I can't go back to the Big Island. For her, she's really scared to leave her job (this is her main excuse). So basically the breakup came down to this issue, even though there were other things leading me down this road too.

    Despite finally make a decision and seeing it through, I'm still sad...

  • 31Oct 09

    Spontaneous Acting Class 101

    I'm a big believer in action photography and low budget spontaneous acting.

    You need to make use of your surroundings to tell your stories. It saves alot of money, money that would have been spent on city licenses and site fees now stay in your pocket. You just need to recognize a film site when you see one and take advantage of it with a camera and your spontaneous acting skills (keep practicing, I don't expect your skills to be up to mine right off the bat, it takes work and dedication to the craft).

    Here I tell the moving story of a submariner who's lost his friends on another ship and vows revenge on the enemy ship that took them out.

    Now that's some spontaneous acting. The future of guerilla filmmaking.

    • Posted Oct 31, 2009 12:46 pm PT
    • Category: Humor
    • 31 Comments
  • 29Oct 09

    Da Scoops

    Howzit braddahs and sistas?

    I'm trying to keep the blog flame burning over here so this is just a short update on what's been happening in my world these days:

    Finished Uncharted last night and I loved it, it was my kind of game. Beautiful to look at, tight gameplay (at least shooting -platforming could be a little sketchy at times), cool story. Nice job Naughty Dog, looking forward to playing the sequel soon.

    Been playing Persona 3 lately and this has really gotten under my skin. There is so much I like about the game... the gothic vibe is awesome, music is cool, all the Japanese touches are there, the voice acting is surprisingly excellent. I'm glad I followed johnsteed's advice and just went and bought it rather than wait any longer.

    So as you can see, if you haven't been seeing me on XBL it's because I've been more on the PS3 recently. No, I'm not buying into the fanboy wars, I love them both, but the PS3 really has grown on me lately.

    On the 360 I just started Wolverine, which is pretty good too (and very gory) and Banjo Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts. I needed a chill game so Banjo is covering that niche for me.

    And I finally finished Pheonix Wright: Ace Attorney after four months. That was one long game. Next up I was going to play through Chrono Trigger but I don't know if I'm feeling that one right now. I may peel off and take on something else on the DS instead.

    That's da scoops for now my fine furry friends. Aloha

  • 19Oct 09

    Do I Need An Intervention?

    Thank you for all the birthday wishes everyone! I had a nice 4 day weekend and I made out like a gamer bandit! I thought I had a serious unplayed stack before this weekend, now it's just ridiculous...

    It all started with a trip into Gamestop where I picked up a new copy of Uncharted and a used copy of Okami. I thought it would end there but Amazon was running a buy 2 get 1 free promo last week... and since I had gotten some money for the birthday I figured why not? Of course my cheap gamer DNA wouldn't allow me to buy full priced games, but I did pick up 3 summer releases on the cheap, averaging $24 a game:

    I told myself that would be it, no more games! That was until I stopped into a Blockbuster that was running the 50% off new games sale.

    I got Wolverine for $25 and Killzone 2 for $30. My unplayed stack is now the largest it's ever been. I have some serious work ahead of me, but that's 7 games for $175 at an average price of $25. I couldn't help myself. I have a disease. Is there a rehab center for people like us?? Do they have 360s and PS3s setup? If not, than I'm not going...

  • 15Oct 09

    Ugh, It's THAT Day

    First off, thanks everyone for your awesome comments on my last blog. Every comment was well thought out and you all had excellent observations and points of view on the DLC subject. I like to think of my blog as a discussion among friends and it wouldn't be the same (and would be alot less interesting) without you guys.

    Well, today is the dreaded day. My birthday. I get a chuckle when I read other "it's my birthday" posts and they are like "OMG, I am sooo old, I'm 29 today! My life is over..." No, your life isn't over, you're just one step closer to being out of the target demographic for most major marketing campaigns.

    Still, this is a birthday I'm not too excited about. It seems strange to me to say my age out loud... I don't feel my age, don't look my age, and I certainly don't act my age. If you're curious how old I am - I'm the same age as Kelly, so go ask her how old she is. If you're still alive after, I'll tell you.

  • 13Oct 09

    If It's A War They Want...

    Recently I received a $10 Best Buy gift certificate so I headed down to the store and picked up the Fallout 3 expansion disc with Point Lookout and Broken Steel on it. I was waiting for the DLC to go on sale, but with the gift certificate it only cost me $10 for both. My cheap gamer DNA was satisfied.

    Unfortunately, just like Operation Anchorage and The Pitt , Point Lookout was a bit thin... I was not impressed. I did get a kick out of the new hillbilly enemies you get to fight, who reminded me alot of the hillbilli... er, is it hillbillies or hillbillys? Anyway, they looked alot like the fellas from Redneck Rampage. I just started Broken Steel and so far it is better than the others, but I have to ask myself why I keep buying these?

    I also finished up Prince of Persia finally and I liked it... although it did get a bit boring collecting the light seeds. Overall I thought it was a well done game though, enough to purchase the Epilogue DLC while it was on sale last week. What a disappointment that was... total waste of $6. I didn't even get very far before I had enough. Maybe at some point I'll go back and finish it, but I really wish they just left the game well enough alone.

    However, this does, once again, show that DLC is ordinarily just not worth it. I have yet to download additions to my games and feel I got a good deal or that it added significantly to my experiences with the game. It always seems they are overpriced, should have been included in the original release, or very thin on content. I haven't bought the DLC content for GTA IV, which I believe may be one exception to the rule, but overall I've become really turned off by DLC.

    I've become so turned off in fact that I was fuming last week when one of my favorite developers, Bioware, announced DLC on day one of Dragon Age. My feeling is if you're going to have it available on day one, it should be on the disc. What is the point in their strategy? Their point is to try and stick a fork in used game sales by adding incentives for you to purchase the game new on release (which nets you the DLC for free). Normally I wait to pick up used games when they get under $30, so my first thought was - are any of these companies offering up anything in these incentives that is worth the difference of $30? Considering I could buy another full game for that much, the obvious answer is no.

    The funny thing is that I've bought almost every Bioware game released over the last 10 years at full price, new, even pre-ordered. Not this time. My reaction has been to push back at these "incentives" and bullcrap DLC offerings by becoming even more militant in my used game buying. If it's a war they want...

  • 2Oct 09

    Bub and Bob are Frauds

    I'm shocked. I'm dismayed. I'm completely and utterly let down.

    Just like an election in Libya, the vote for the "All Time Greatest Game Hero" was a sham... Bub and Bob are no better than an iron-fisted dictator enforcing their power on their people through ballot stuffing and propaganda. It's all a lie.

    If you watched the most recent episode of On the Spot you may have caught the end where GS revealed that they discovered the fraud. Bub and Bob were up against Metroid's iconic Samus Aran in this latest round and up until the night before the deadline Samus had a very comfortable lead. By morning however, Bub and Bob had surpassed Samus by thousands of votes. GS found that someone (or some group) had fraudently entered thousands of votes for these little shamsters - about 16,000 votes.

    Unfortunately Bub and Bob had already taken down some heavy hitting game icons like Master Chief and Sonic, before getting to Samus. I'm sure there were more than a few gamers who had Master Chief far up their ladder, and some had Chiefy winning the whole kit and kaboodle. Many of those gamers were crying foul and lighting up the forums after Sir Shoot Alot got the first round boot. What will GS do?They have declared Samus the winner and moved her up to take on Mario in the quarterfinals. But what about all those who did nothing but vote legitimately and were adversely affected by scamming idiots?

    And if you were one of the Bub and Bob fanboys declaring an end to Master Chief and announcing a new era of Bubble Boys dominance... you are now free to swallow your statements. Yes, you officially look like a moron today.

    Don't think I am taking this at all seriously, I think it's hilarious... Bub and Bob will live in infamy!

  • 29Sep 09

    Catching Up

    Wow, what a busy couple of weeks. So much has been going on in my life lately it is unreal... I'm back to work now after my second mini-vacation last week. My sister flew over and spent 10 days here with me, which was really great. We both went to Maui for 6 days - she ran the Maui Marathon and we did alot of the touristy things people do on Maui (Hana Road, Haleakala, Lahaina). We then flew back to Oahu and we spent a few days doing local touristy things like Pearl Harbor, watching surfers do their thing on the North Shore, and swimming at Kailua Beach.

    During the trip my sister was heavily eyeing my DS as I was trying (in vain) to wrap up the first Pheonix Wright game before the end of my vacation. She loved it and we made a side trip to Gamestop to get her a used one along with a couple of games. She was very excited.

    So it was a really nice visit from my sista... I miss having her around now. I got her into Rock Band too. At first she wasn't that interested, but once she started she couldn't stop.

    Now that I'm back to work, I have to confront the loss of the contract and what's going to happen to me. I was so focused on the vacation and dealing with my girlfriend (we're breaking up) that once it was all done I felt like I had this huge expanse of the future that was open and ready to color in. It was a strange feeling... but all it took was a day before things started to fall into place. I got a call yesterday that the school would like me to come to work for them directly. Apparently I've made alot of fans over at the school headquarters and they are holding a position open for me to come join their team. That is really the best thing that could happen to me, so I'm stoked.

    Anyways, I've tried to go around to check out all of your blogs, hope I didn't miss anyone. Now that I'm back I've got to finish up Prince of Persia and get cracking on my unplayed stack, including getting some use out of my new PS3. Aloha!

  • 15Sep 09

    Am I As Good A Game Shopper As I Think I Am?

    I don't know if Blockbuster is doing it in your neighborhood or not, but they've been running a 50% off sale on new games to get rid of their stock since last weekend. Blockbuster is getting out of the new game business but will continue to sell off their used games. I saw the special when I was in the other day picking up Tomb Raider Underworld for $15 with a free copy of one of the Harry Potter games (Order of the Pheonix) thrown in. I popped back in today and picked up a new copy of Prototype for $30.

    That got me thinking... how much have I spent on games this year? Despite how obsessive compulsive I am about tracking my gaming habit, it's one thing I hadn't looked at... maybe because I believed I wouldn't like the probable answer - which would be that I've spent WAY TOO MUCH money.

    Let's break it down... I've kept a excel spreadsheet for years that tracks my collection and progress, and in it I also track how much I paid for each game:

    New Retail:

    1. Resident Evil 5 - $60
    2. Guitar Hero World Tour w/guitar - $40
    3. Guitar Hero 5 w/free GH Van Halen - $60
    4. Prototype - $30
    5. Pure - $20
    6. Bourne Conspiracy - $10
    7. Ninja Gaiden II - $15
    8. God of War II - $20
    9. Killer7 - $10

    Used Games:

    1. Fable II - $35
    2. F.E.A.R. 2 - $25
    3. Civilization Revolution - $16
    4. Banjoe-Kazooie Nuts and Bolts - $16
    5. Dark Sector - $9
    6. Prince of Persia - $27
    7. Star Wars: Force Unleashed - $10
    8. Saints Row 2 - $16
    9. Tomb Raider Underworld - $15
    10. Spiderman: Web of Shadows - $free
    11. Harry Potter Order of the Phoenix - $free
    12. Ratchet and Clank - $7
    13. Metal Gear Solid 4 - $27

    I traded in Mirror's Edge and the Kung Fu Panda/Lego Indy pack and lost $39 in value. I also bought some downloadable content for $45 and paid $40 for my XBL subscription during a special.

    My big ticket item for the year was a used PS3 ($200 + $20 for cables). I also traded in my old 360 for a new one and had to pay an $80 difference.

    Total Budget: $892 (that's nearly $100 a month!)

    Games: $552

    If Bought Games New: $1415

    Per Game Avg.: $24 (23 games total)

    I thought I was doing pretty good in the bargain shopping department, I only spent full price on one game, but still only averaged $24 a game. I thought I would do better than that. Of course, I could have just not bought the half dozen unplayed games sitting on my shelf and saved money there, but that wouldn't be very OCD of me.

    • Posted Sep 15, 2009 5:35 pm PT
    • Category: Editorial
    • 21 Comments
  • 14Sep 09

    Is GH 5 Worth It?

    I've been religiously playing the Guitar Hero and Rock Band series since the first GH on the PS2 and I feel after 5 years of playing these games I have a good feel for what works and what doesn't. Last year's Guitar Hero World Tour was the first time I was downright disappointed in a major GH release (I'm not counting GH Aerosmith, which was also not much fun) and I was half wondering if I would ever be buying another GH release after seeing the direction the series was taking.

    In my opinion, Guitar Hero took the wrong path by trying to emulate the "band experience" that Rock Band had embarked on. It obviously was a money driven decision - more peripherals to sell and a potentially broader audience (adding people who want to sing or drum instead of play guitar). However, the change in focus changed the overall game experience for those of us that were really into the guitar part of the game. Ask most regular GH players which is the best in series and you'll often hear GH 2 - why? Better setlist, better structure to the career layout, no boss battles only tough encore songs, difficult on expert but not impossible. It was a formula for success that Neversoft has been tinkering with ever since, but has failed to recapture.

    This same trend has continued with Guitar Hero 5, which I spent a chunk of the weekend playing. I, like many others, got suckered into the buy GH 5, get GH Van Halen free promotion. I was hopeful that World Tour was an abberation and that Neversoft had recovered some of the GH mojo. In some respects they have... the setlist is better, although not by much. The career layout is also better, but again, not by much. Thankfully a welcome addition was the subtraction of the infuriating boss battles. Man I hated those with a white blindspot inducing rage.

    The best improvements seem to be in the menu system and online arena. I'll be playing more online soon and I'll let you know how I fare there. Still, being able to jump into a quickplay song from the first screen shouldn't be a big reason to scream "revolutionary!". For all the talk about this being a step forward for GH from the reviews... I didn't see anything that made me go "Wow! This makes it so much better!" The only small exception would be allowing two players to play the same lead quitar part in co-op or in a bandrather than forcing someone to play the bass.

    While GH still leads the field in sales, there seems to be no small part of the gamer population that feels that Rock Band has got it right in the places GH has it wrong. I fall into that category. For whatever reason, RB has got more soul, feels better arranged, has better presentation, and is just more fun to play. They've got some work to do in the online experience, but they've definitely got the edge when it comes to DLC.

    So is the new GH 5 worth it? At $60 full price? No. Throw in a free GH Van Halen? Maybe... I wonder if I should have even bothered to tell you the truth. Maybe it will grow on me over the next few weeks, if it does I'll let you know.

  • 10Sep 09

    Disqualified

    Aloha friends... I've been a bit quiet on the blogging front lately. I've been working like crazy, things have not gone well with the school contract renewal (the sales team completely botched the proposal and now it looks like my company is going to be totally disqualified from the process) and there hasn't been much good stuff going on to write about.

    I took a mini-vacation last weekend and flew to the Big Island for four days to see my girlfriend. We ran a 10K race on Saturday morning and went paddleboarding on Sunday.

    Now I'm back on Oahu and swamped with work. The news that our company is going to lose the contract came in over the weekend, so I'm going to be sitting on a lame duck account for the next year. This really puts my future into question... the school is already saying they'd like the new company that's going to be coming in to hire me to continue on in the same position, but who knows if they will or not.

    So there has been alot on my mind and last night I needed a reprieve - thank you Civilization Revolution for taking my mind completely off of work for 4 hours last night. I was just going to start a new game and play for a bit but I got totally engrossed and carried off to a happier place. It was just what the doctor ordered.

    The new PS3 is great but I've mostly been using it for watching movies. I'm going on vacation the week after next to hang out on Maui with my sister, so I'm waiting till I'm back and my full attention can be placed on MGS 4. I started it but realized I needed to wait till I had some nights in a row to dedicate to it.

    What I'm really digging is the solid start to the major game season - 9.0s for Batman, Beatles Rock Band, DiRT 2... and a healthy 8.5 for GH 5. Good to see quality out of the gate, with more high profile releases and likely solid scores to follow. I ordered GH 5 already since I couldn't pass up the free GH Van Halen offer. I'll let you know what I think after I get it. I'm really wondering how I'm going to like it after the GH World Tour disappointment.

  • 28Aug 09

    I Suddenly Feel Violently Ill

    ...and must go home from work...

    No, it has nothing to do with this PS3 that appeared in my office as I walked in the door this morning. I may have to stop at the pharmacy on my way home and pick up cold medicine, so what that there happens to be a Gamestop next door? What are you inferring? That I'm not on death's door and faking it? Maybe this PS3 box has some sort of contagion, a fog of disease surrounding it... as soon as I entered into it's biohazard sphere I went into convulsions.

    Fine, don't believe me.

    So YES! I did buy it from the co-worker, $200 smackers... the original backwards compatible 60 gig PS3! These fetch a pretty penny (Matt, you are correct that these puppies have actually gone up in value). This was an awesome deal.

    *cough* feel like I'm going into a coma *cough* heart rate failing *cough* grandma is that you? *cough* Jesus, you cut your hair *gag* why is the pearly gate locked?

  • 27Aug 09

    Hubba Hubba

    Aloha friends... it's been a rough few weeks for DJ Scott la Rock. I've managed to pop in when I can and make my usual silly comments on blogs, but otherwise I haven't been able to keep up as much as I would like. As you know from my last blog we're in contract competition to keep our deal with the school system and it's been alot of work (even though it's not my job). The proposal was due Tuesday and the sales team totally botched it. I'm so angry and disappointed... I'm not going to bore you with the details, but I will say that those morons jeopardized my job and everyone that works for me. I really don't know what's going to happen now.

    To get away from work I've been hitting the gym hard, running and playing some games. Civilization Revolution has got me in its grip. I have very bad memories of strategy games, my best friend in New York loves them and he used to plead with me on the weekends to play Command & Conquer, Warcraft II or Age of Empires with him. Each episode was the same... 5-8 hour marathon sessions ending with me getting my ass handed to me. Biggest waste of time ever. All that work to build, only to watch him destroy it all.

    So I swore off strategy games a long time ago, but I kept hearing good things about Civ Revolution. It didn't sound overly complicated and I kept hearing positive feedback from others. The key thing I kept hearing was how people who didn't normally play strategy games were enjoying it, so I figured I'd give it try. A half hour into my first session I was totally hooked. It is what everybody says it is -a fun, good looking, simple to play but still deep enough to get you thinking, strategy game.

    I also started Prince of Persia last weekend and I'm enjoying that too. I see were it may get tedious with all the platforming and collecting, but so far it's kept my interest. Princess Elika is my new favorite female game character... move over Alyx Vance, you now have some stiff competition. Hubba-hubba...

    Now guess what... I just had a co-worker walk into my office and ask me if I wanted to buy his PS3. He's picking up the new PS3 slimline this weekend and looking to unload his older one - it's the original model so it's backwards compatible (which I want), with the HDMI cable, for $200. Good deal? He first said $250 but I talked him down to $200. The older, backwards compatible PS3s are in demand online and they do fetch more than a newer used PS3, so I'm thinking this is a good deal... what do you guys think?

    Happy gaming everyone, I'll keep hanging in there till the weekend when I can catch a break. At least I have my vacation coming up soon.

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