Spot & Games - The Never Ending Battle

Games. They have my number. They often call me and leave taunting messages to meet their challenges. I fall prey to most of their calls, while others I mock in an appropriate fashion. No matter the form [Board, Video, Paper & Dice] it is always a challenge. Disclaimer: I may write, suggest, or link to a site or video that contains M or R rated material. I hold ZERO responsibility for your curiosity by clicking on links or reading that which I post to illustrate or explain my references. You, solely, are responsible for all your actions while on this blog. On that note: Enjoy!

[spotaculargamer-blog]

You Don't Know Jack Arrives!

At long last, You Don't Know Jack resurfaces with all the classic moments that we've been waiting for! After sitting around with some friends and looking online, I completely spaced that this is due to hit the shelves today. If you have not ever played You Don't Know Jack, much like my friend Scorched Panda [codenamed, obviously], then you really need to relive the greatest trivia game to blast through the 90's.

The concept is simple, answer questions correctly, get a positive dollar amount, and occasionally screw your neighbor. Simple, right? It's a very fast paced game where you have a smooth host, Cookie Masterson, who just makes the experience complete. Fake commercials, trailers, and infommercials takes place after the game. All of which is done via the old-time radio style with the actors never being seen.

I will easily be picking this one up. However, on XBox or PS3? That debate shall be discussed with people who are also going to be adding it to their collection. Where the hell did I leave my YDKJ Mega Pack...?

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Yakuza Series - *sigh* I Missed It.

So I have pretty much missed this entire series. By "pretty much," I mean I haven't played a single version of it. When I was younger and less researchy via online resources I thought that the game series was the growth of Shenmue from the Dreamcast. Boy, was I wrong.

Reflecting on the series and looking at the amazing amount of growth this series has, I'm curious to try it out. However, I've made a promise to myself to not get into another series until I finish Demon's Souls, Mass Effect, Fallout: New Vegas, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, or Little Big Planet 2.

I don't know though, I've heard mixed reviews on this game. Would anyone really recommend this game series for me to investigate? Or am I better off just being ignorant to it?

[spotaculargamer-blog]

The Darkness 2? Better Finish the First One

The Darkness 2 actually sounds like it could be a very good game. I quite enjoyed the first one, granted I never did finish it. So mayhaps I'll have to snag it and fire it back up.

This is based off of a comic book. Now the comics I never read. After playing the game I did give it quite a bit of thought, but with my schedule being a fairly hectic one, I never got around to it. Maybe with my new PSP I will take advantage of getting some digital comic books on there. Who knows; good options to look into.

If you don't mind a very mature rated title, check out the original to get you in the mind set for this one. You can Quad-Wield. It will make sense after you check out the original. Hell of a 21st birthday gift...

[spotaculargamer-blog]

What... The Hell... Is This??

Seriously?? What the hell is this?

Apparently you can not only create a very Mechwarrior looking controller, but it is designed to make the elite of the elite for the elite. Wow. It just seems like a lot of work to just retrain your fingers to this apparatus. $40 for this... thing. What a steal. I guess.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Oooh Penny-Arcade, you make me smile.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Busy day at the office...

Haven't had a chance to say much today. Finally gave Demon's Souls a try and it looks like I will be spending a lot more time as a Wanderer in that world.

With such a short update, all I can do is wish everyone a great day and here's to a good Superbowl weekend should I not post anytime before then. I anticipate I should get some good blogs at least loaded into the queue.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Final Fantasy IV for PSP - Remade

This does have me excited. With my newly acquired PSP to replace my previous one, Final Fantasy: The Complete Collection may be the first new game I pick up since Monster Hunter Portable 3 isn't launching in the US yet.

This particular entry is arguably my favorite of the series. While the mass majority will flock to protect Final Fantasy VII (7) as the crown jewel in the series, this is the first one that really set the bar for me. Loved the stories, felt the betrayal in the story arc, really just the first one in the series I emotionally connected with.

April 19th though... that's a ways away! Guess I will have to pick up Patapon 2 or brush off some of my Monster Hunter Freedom Unite skills.

Anyway! I'm still nervous about updating too much of this story to where the luster is lost. I will definitely push up a review of this once I get my hands on it. Cheers.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Bwahaha! Alright. Sign me back up for the love of Lego Titles.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

DC Universe... Anyone Tried This?

Been pretty torn on trying it. I really wanted to get back into an MMO for a while but I cannot find one that really calls out to me; albeit I do have Minecraft to keep me busy.

DC Universe has a great appeal to me. I enjoyed City of Heroes & Champions Online, but I cannot be certain of this being a worthy investment. So I’m hoping that I have enough people who browse my blog occasionally to leave feedback to let me know if it is worth it.

So, what do you think?

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Minecraft World Explorer? iPhone? iPad?

*World Explorer

Yeah. You heard right. Minecraft World Explorer. $3.

Okay, now for the details. This is not the client! There is mention of this being a level editor in "Peaceful" mode only. You can explore your existing worlds that you have created; similar to a portable window to your creations.

The creators of this program, Robots & Pencils, have received a fair share of hate mail regarding the project, the co-founder, Michael Sikorsky, seems to play it off with an ‘It’s all good’ approach. He expresses that he actually engages in dialogue with the complaining users and afterward they are involved in the beta program or become supporters.

The legalities of it checks out. Minecraft’s website makes it clear that there can be 3rd party developers that will be able to sell and create their own additions to the Minecraft world. Not every company has such a lenient copyright policy. In regards to this thought, quoteth Mr. Sikorsky,

“We've talked to Mojang and love their company, but they want it to be clear that this wasn't developed by them. We're just part of the eco-system but that's about it.”

Considering the potential future of Minecraft is to become public domain, this may not be too uncommon of a development for further enhancements of the platform.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Bullistic = Angry Birds + Damage Value

Put a bull in a China Shop... and nothing happens. However! Put a digital bull in a slingshot and hurl him towards a house full of expensive china; you’ve got Bullistic.

This free application is in a very like fashion of Crush the Castle and Angry Birds (as well as any other knockoff of the popularity Angry Birds brought to the slingshot gaming genre) but they add their own unique twist. Rather than going after gluttonous piggies, you’re now going to be destroying precious china. While it has a more slight destructive nature for less pointless reasons, it sounds quite intriguing.

So, if you get a chance to give it a shot, leave some feedback here. I’m not able to get it as of now; this article interested me into trying it out. If you haven’t tried Angry Birds, now is the time. They are about to get a new version, associated with an upcoming film, with about 45 new levels as well. Check it out!

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Wow. Kotaku is just full of goodies today. They just posted this from Michael Noonan who happens to be a game engineer for Dead Space 2; blooper reel after the trailer so stay tuned!

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Rock Band 3 Update 2/1/2011

Rock Band 3 hit us with a pretty sizable update! Love the Rock Band games. Haven't had a chance to host/join as many Rock Band parties as we used to, but this looks like quite the fix. I dropped the source to the Forums in the bottom left of the post.

Notable (to me) Patches/Fixes:

No more Pause/Rewind Cheats! If you pause the song too many times during the session, scoring is entirely disabled. Great news. Keeps things competitive and honest. Ridiculous what people will do to up digital points.

Vocal Overdrive can now be utilized with the back button on the controller. Nice touch. Always thought the controller needed a physical way to activate OverDrive.

Eyebrow of Death - Eliminated! Anything you can do to take care of a major game crashing eyebrow is always impressive. No wax needed, either.

Minor things like the random squawking that would occur using the keyboard are gone and minor tweaks to online play. All in all, solid little update.

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Silver PS3?? What? Ah-aaaah!

Aaah! Why can't they do this kind of thing upon the launch of a new system rather than years after the fact?? Killing me Sony.

I guess the real question is... Do we need multiple colors of consoles that do the exact same thing?

[spotaculargamer-blog]

Splinter Cell Trilogy + HD?

Well! Look who decided to show up to the party. Sam Fisher looks to be coming back in a full High-Definition experience. There will be the Trilogy of Splinter Cell, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow, and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory. Great games!

This seems to be a trend lately. For example, the Ico & Shadow of the Colossus HD Remakes that are coming out soon. The sourced Kotaku story references that the Prince of Persia series will be launching a HD Trilogy pack as well. Can't neglect the Oddworld series is also having HD Remakes of Stranger's Wrath and Abe's Oddysee releasing soon.

While this is good, where are the triple 'A' titles that were raved as resounding smash hits? Final Fantasy VII? Chrono Trigger? Final Fight? Battletoads? Sunset Riders [This one would be a riot, I think!]? The Breath of Fire Series? Knights of the Round? Double Dragon? Shadowrun (A good attempt, this time)? Contra? Earthbound? Sorry. That was quite a list of games, but just saying that if we're going to rehash some ideas, I don't get why we are so limited.

While I'm sure there's copyright issues, and companies that have come and gone; far too many good games and concepts are left floating into oblivion. It would be so nice to see someone take the content and just grow with it. Well, here's to hoping. Any other games you'd like to see remade or some breath brought back into a series?

[spotaculargamer-blog]

'Demon Souls' is Trying to Tell Me Something

Recently posted a #MissedIt on Demon's Souls and how I should give the game a try. Shortly after, I catch wind of this news on Joystiq about Project Dark Dark Souls being their next venture.

Ugh. Alright, alright. I will have to see which of my friends have Demon's Souls so that I can borrow it and join them in their crying fashion as it beats me to a pulp. At least, that is the set expectations that I seem to get from anyone who has played the original game.

Cursed Crusades seems to remind me of the game play style of Demon's Souls. Check this trailer and judge for yourself, but I foresee the rebirth of Gauntlet soon!!

[spotaculargamer-blog]

What Do You Look For in a Game?

What defines a good game for you? This is something I've often wondered. There are games, much like Minecraft or The Sims Series, that make little to no sense and/or have zero narrative; I play them regardless.

Flip the coin and you get games like Heavy Rain, The Uncharted Series; Dragon Age, Assassin's Creed and so forth. Strong narrative stories. Rich histories. Tales that you can get into!

Roll the 20-sided dice and you get into dice, paper, and pencil games such as Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars: RPG, and Shadow Run! Which, by the way, I cannot recall which the series is, but Penny Arcade featured one where there was apparently hawk-man, laser wielding cat people, and other oddities. I want to say it was Gamma World, but not 100% sure. Why must they have based it off of D&D 4th Edition though? Ugh.

Back to the point, I just cannot really define what makes a good game for me. Try as I might, I just like a lot of different aspects of them to just pick a shining overall rule. As long as it's enjoyable, the group I'm gaming with is having fun with it, and/or it's something I walk away from expecting to play the game again, it's a success to me.