LATE TO THE PARTY - S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL

Welcome, Stalkers, to the Zone.   An irradiated, desolate place filled with mutants, murderers, and militia, where death is invisible, and even the air can kill you.  Some come to the Zone to control it, some come to save it, while many others come to profit from it.  Some come to discover the truth behind the myths and legends.   Most never return.

Welcome to Chernobyl.

COMING BACK....AGAIN

I'm not dead.

This blog?  Not dead.

The North/South Geek Show podcast?  Not dead.

All just dormant due to chaos.  Ryan and I got everything going, and then shit hit the fan in both of our lives, and we both had to move and sort of re-situate our lives.  I'm now in a different city, with a different job in a different field.  It's been a hell of a readjustment.  The biggest downside in regards to this blog is that I haven't had a lot of time for gaming, but I'm trying to make time.  Mostly all I've been playing have been casual things like Minecraft (stupid 1.3.1 update, sucking me back in), along with some older titles like Darksiders and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. - Shadow Of Chernobyl*.

But I promise you dear readers, we've merely put these projects on the back burner.  They're not dead.  Ryan and I have been talking about new ideas, new structures, new formats.  Life gets in the way sometimes, but we're bound and determined to make this thing work.

Thanks for stayin with us.


* - Seriously why the hell did I wait so long to play this game?  It's awesome!

DAWNGUARD

Released this past tuesday, I have spent the past five days deeply entrenched in Dawnguard, the first expansion pack for one of my favorite games, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.   I'm not quite finished with it yet, but I already have a lot to say.  (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!)

It's no secret that I am an enormous fan of the Elder Scrolls series.   I could go on about what a phenomenon Skyrim has become, but if you're a gamer, you already know.  You're sick of "Arrow to the knee" jokes, and have Fus Ro Dah burned into your geeky lexicon.  So if you're anything like me, you have been anxiously waiting to see what kind of amazing DLC Skyrim was going to get, especially after watching the string of incredible expansion packs we got for Bethesda's last huge open-world game, Fallout 3.  And then the trailer came out, and it probably gave you a giant gamer boner, like I got.  So now that I've had my hands on Dawnguard for a few days and spent about 20+ hours with it, does it live up to the hype?

DEMO-ING DRAGON'S DOGMA

So recently there seems to have been a lot of slow-burn hype surrounding this new RPG from Capcom, Dragon's Dogma.  It was just released today, and seems to be getting good reviews.   I downloaded the demo on my PS3, and I'm sort of left wondering...did we play the same game?

THE RESEMBLANCE IS UNCANNY

I can't claim to have ever played Persona 3 due to my intense loathing for JRPGs, but now I kind of want to.  The columnists at Kotaku have uncovered some unsettling similarities between P3 and television cult favorite Buffy The Vampire Slayer.   From the sound of it, they're practically one and the same!   Well played, Kotaku...


Persona 3 Really Is Buffy The Vampire Slayer Down To The Smallest Characters 

(Though I have to admit, their assessment of Tara made me a little sad...maybe it's just that I've met Amber Benson, but I always loved her.)

AT A GLANCE - RAYMAN: ORIGINS

Ubisoft is trying to bring platforming back into the spotlight with a revival of their Playstation-era hero, Rayman.   The cartoony French mascot debuted in 1995 and enjoyed some popularity, he hasn't been seen in his own title almost a decade.   The Raving Rabbids series began as a Rayman game, but spun off into their own series, leaving Rayman behind.   Now he's back in a gorgeous retro-styled platformer that returns to the series' 2D roots.  It's been showered with accolades by reviewers and gamers alike since its release, becoming something of an underdog success story.  This week, Ubisoft put the game on sale for 50% off, and I decided to see what all the hype was about.

DIY MMO?

Just something interesting that I found via an acquaintance of mine that I thought I would share.  This is a pretty ambitious concept, to be honest.  It's a site that lets you create your own massively multiplayer online game, with full support, premade code, etc.  There is a "starter" world that you can edit, or you can start from scratch.   It's a little beyond my capabilities, I think, but it's still a cool idea.  Check it out!

MULTIVERSE - The MMO Development Program