GAME-A-WEEK - MAGICKA

There are a lot of games out there with small yet dedicated fanbases.  Magicka, a wacky Swedish fantasy title from Paradox Interactive, hit with a splash in 2011 and has developed a cult following due to its never-ending litany of pop culture jokes, off-the-wall multiplayer, and a constant stream of DLC rivaled only by tower defense game, Dungeon Defenders.  After eyeing it for a long time, I finally decided to sit down and see what the fans were talking about.

THE ONE

Well, it's here...sort of.  Tuesday morning, Microsoft unveiled its next-gen console and successor to the XBox 360, called stupidly simply the "XBox One".  Unless you've been living under a rock (or aren't a gamer), you've probably already heard the criticisms laid against it, and heard the fan outcry.  Yeah, I honestly can't say as I feel a whole lot different.  But as a gaming blogger, I guess I'm kind of obligated to say something about it, right?

GAME-A-WEEK - X3: TERRAN CONFLICT (PART ONE)

Sometimes we dive into something without looking, and we end up in over our heads.  The only thing that I knew about the X³ series was that they were in-depth space simulators, and that they had a small but rabid, passionate fan base. I had no idea how deep that rabbit hole went.  And so I'm going to have to do multiple reviews for this game; one preliminary first impressions, and one once I've explored more and really gotten a handle on the mechanics.

Let's take a look, shall we?

MY DISAPPOINTMENT WITH DOUBLE FINE

So the more I play of their games, the more I'm starting to rethink my opinion on Double Fine.  I have always considered their logo to be the mark of absolute, unerring quality.  I recently played and reviewed Costume Quest, and now I'm getting around to playing Brutal Legend.  Psychonauts is easily in my top ten list of my favorite games of all time.  I have played the first couple hours of The Cave, and I've played the entire demo for Stacking.  As I pull back and look at the bigger picture, I'm noticing a single thread of a trend that goes through all of them.  These are some of the most brilliantly conceived, creative, imaginative, clever, witty games I've ever played....but none of them are very fun to play.

GAME-A-WEEK - COSTUME QUEST

This week I finally get around to playing Double Fine Production's cute Halloween-themed game, Costume Quest.  When monsters come out to steal the neighborhood's candy and kidnap your sibling, it's up to you and a few new friends to don your costumes and save the day!

VIDEO: LET'S PLAY PATH OF EXILE - PART ONE

I am going to start posting some of my youtube videos on here, I think.  What I'll do is post specific videos, like my Indie Spotlight series I'm going to be making, and any Part One of a Let's Play series, but I won't post every single LP video as I put them out. 

So here's Path Of Exile Part One!  It's recorded in HD, so if you want to fullscreen it, you can.

GAME-A-WEEK - HOME

Home.  A tiny one-man indie game that bills itself as a "unique horror adventure".  Well, I love horror, and I love indie games, and it's better to be unique than be just another cheap knockoff, right?   Sounds good to me...I think?

CLUSTERFUCK

Yeah, I got nothin today.  But if you click here, there is a cheap-assed excuse, and a picture of my kitty eating a grape freezer pop!

Read on, o ye faithful!

GAME-A-WEEK - DREAMKILLER

This week, I decided to take a look at a surreal indie first-person shooter, Dreamkiller.  Trailers for this one really caught my eye, and I really liked the concept of delving into people's dreams and combating their fears and nightmares on an ever-changing hypnagogic battlefield, inspired by each patient's individual phobias.  I just thought it was strange that I'd never really heard anything about it before...

PLANET EXPLORERS KICKSTARTER IS LIVE!

That's right folks, the Planet Explorers kickstarter is live as of today!   This is an absolutely incredible game that I've been playing for a few weeks now.  It's a huge open world voxel-based sci-fi action, crafting, building, exploring and everything under the sun kind of game.  Go check out their kickstarter for more information!

Planet Explorers Kickstarter

GAME MUSIC OF THE WEEK - 3/12/13

Today's game music of the week comes from one of my favorite brutally hard indie games, The Binding Of Isaac. This is generally considered the theme of the game, and it's a big part of why I fell in love with it.  This music really sets the dark, disturbing tone of what's to come.

I DIDN'T FORGET THE FRIDAY VIDEO!

I know I said I'd be doing a video on Fridays, and I haven't forgotten!  I've just been doing several videos.  I've fallen madly in love with Planet Explorers, the indie game that I did a video highlight of earlier this week, so in order to drum up some awareness, I've elected to do a Let's Play of the game.  I'm up to Part 3 as of this writing, and I'm not stopping anytime soon!

BREAKING FREE OF THE CONSOLE WARS

Since the dawn of home console video games, there has always been war.  Bitter rivals competing head to head for your living room space.  There were minor skirmishes early on, with Atari vs Commodore, and the NES stomped the Sega Master System into the ground.  The first real war erupted when the Super Nintendo went head-to-head with the Sega Genesis, and it was bloody.  Lines were drawn.  Friendships destroyed.  Controllers broken.  Blast processing overhyped.  In the end, the Genesis held on and fought the good fight, but the SNES eventually won.  Since then, every generation has had its console wars.  The past few years have mostly seen Sony and Microsoft in an embittered Cold War, with Nintendo ineffectually waggling its sticks around at them, menacingly. 

The problem is that we as gamers and consumers never really had options.  A console is a long term investment, a heavy chunk of change that would last you 5-7 years.  You could pick a side and become a raving fanboy (or girl), you could save up your money and buy multiple consoles, or you could just opt out, build a gaming rig, and become a PC gamer.  Either way, there was nothing in between.  There were very few alternatives to the mainstream, and those we had either flopped pathetically, or just became short-lived beloved oddities (We love you and miss you, Sega Dreamcast).  Even these oddities were an expensive investment.  We never had anything cheaper, smaller, or more convenient. 

Until now.   

NEW FEATURES AND AN ATTEMPT AT A SCHEDULE

So, welcome to the end of February.  So far, the Game-A-Week posts seem to be doing well, but I notice that I've made a habit out of only posting that throughout the week.  I want to post more, offer more content. Frankly, I'm still kinda balancing this blog, the Youtube channel, and the Twitter, and realizing just how much work is involved here.   But I want to keep putting out things for people to read and enjoy, so I'm introducing a few new features and some modicum of a schedule.  

Feedback is not just encouraged, it's practically begged for here.   Let's take a look!  

GAME-A-WEEK - CONTAINMENT: THE ZOMBIE PUZZLER

Zombies.   Puzzle games.  If I had to pick the two genres least likely to mesh together, I think those might be it.  I've never played Tetris and thought about the undead horde.  Bejeweled never made me think the green gems might eat my brains.   However, apparently someone at Bootsnake Games thought it could be done, and set out to make it a reality.  So, do these genres band together for survival, or does this game need a headshot to put it down?   This week, I sat down to find out.

ONE OF THE GREATEST GAMES OF ALL TIME

I have to share this two-part video with you all.  As you know, I'm pretty fond of hearing myself talk, but this guy...this guy says everything I could possibly say and more.  I've loved this video for a long time now, and share it with friends often.  This game is one of my most beloved and cherished games, because it's so amazingly bad, but still manages to be some of the most fun I've had playing a video game. 

Once again, not my video...but that of someone who is of like minds with me on this game (Part 2 of the video after the break).

GAME-A-WEEK - RECETTEAR, AN ITEM SHOP'S TALE

So, after the relentless brutality and unsettling violence of last week's Hotline Miami review, I decided to play something a little lighter and fluffier.  I chose Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale.

What the fuck was I thinking?

NPC AI, AN OFT-OVERLOOKED DETAIL

For the past week, I haven't so much been "playing" Far Cry 3, as much as "rabidly devouring".   I have barely touched the main questline, but I've already crafted everything possible, found over 60% of the collectables, done most of the side missions, and unlocked most of the map.  It's a freakin' great game, and I'd be lying if I said otherwise.   However, it has a lot of glaring flaws that I think almost stand out even more because the rest of the game is so well-crafted.  One flaw in particular has actually become something of a fatal flaw for a lot of modern video games, in my book.

The AI and dialogue for non-combat NPCs is dumb as shit.

GAME-A-WEEK - HOTLINE MIAMI

This week, I will be taking a look at one of the more controversial titles out there right now, Hotline Miami.  It's a hyper-violent action game that the creators proudly admit is heavily inspired by the movie Drive.  The game is being called a "murder simulator" by critics.  I have to admit, I wasn't really interested in playing this game, as much as I was curious to see what all the hype was about.

2013 - A NEW APPROACH

So I'd be shocked if anyone's reading this anymore.  My life has become a rollercoaster of chaos, as has Ryan's (my cohort with the North-South Geek Show).  We keep promising "This isn't dead!" and then not following through.  It's not for lack of trying, and not for lack of wanting to, we just can't make our schedules mesh due to the complications of Real Life.  When I'm free, he's working, and vice versa.  

So for now I am focusing on this blog, something I haven't done much of lately.   I have made a commitment to myself.   Like many PC gamers who have Steam, I have a terrible habit of buying a bunch of games when they are discounted, and then never playing them.   I have well over 200 games on my list, and have only actually played maybe 1/4th of them.   So each week, most likely on a Monday, I will play a new game, and I will do a preliminary review of it on Tuesday, and a follow-up review along with the next game on the following Tuesday.

These won't all be hot new games, or AAA titles.  Some might be much older games.  Some could be indie titles.  Some could be AAA titles a few months late.  I'm kind of broke, so realistically the only way I can do AAA titles right away would be if it was something I was really chomping at the bit to play (like the upcoming Bioshock: Infinite or GTA V).  There could be some console games in there, but to be perfectly honest, I'm like 90% a PC gamer.  

Either way, a weekly schedule will keep me going on this blog, and it'll give me an excuse to chew through all of those unplayed games I paid hard-earned money for!