Here already and it's a beautiful thing. For the new season the blog has a new name: "Switch On"; it's chic. Anyway, to get us started with the awesome gaming summer we're all going to have, here's the latest audio words from me; the One, True Omnigammer. Enjoy:
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
A.V.G. - Demo of the Dead
Avi's back and this time he's playing the Resident Evil 5 demo; hopefully his luck is better this time around. Enjoy!
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Resident Evil 5: Demoview
Ok people I’ll be honest; I’ve played a lot of Resident Evil games but I’ve never beaten one before, not a single one.
Why? Not sure.
I didn’t like the game; I got bored with it, etc. It could be any number of things but it is what it is. And you know what; I don’t feel any lost for not finishing any of the series games. That being said, Resident Evil 5 could be the first of the series I will finish to completion. Thanks to Capcom and whatever geniuses at Microsoft, the masses got a sneak preview of RE5 in a form of a short (but sweet) demo for the Xbox 360. Don’t worry; PS3 owners will get a taste later on. Players start the demo with two stage choices; one in which you fight for your life against a zombie horde, the other is a standard ‘shoot one, turn two, collect one, boss two’. One of the main characters of this adventure is a Zombie killing vet: Chris Redfield he now works for an anti terrorist organization Jack Bower style. The other main character is hot number name Sheva Alomar, who works for her own agency: the B.S.A.A. Whatever fates brought them together, they must combine their skills in order to survive Capcom’s latest sign of the apocalypse.
That’s right! It’s takes two to tango with the dead in RE5, and might I say it’s about freaken time. My favorite of the Resident Evil games (and a ‘very’ crude prototype of Left 4 Dead) was Resident Evil Outbreak. It was a game with no mic support, crazy camera angles and a somewhat random storyline. But it allowed players to work together, pull their talents, and take on the zombie hordes of Raccoon city in a fun and interesting way. RE5 brings back that sense with cooperation, focusing on no man (or woman) left behind because if one of you dies, you both do. I liked what I played, everything looked smooth and there were no graphical glitches. The demo didn’t enlighten me to the story (of course), but as long as I was shooting something I was happy. The CPU partner was spot on, saving me from damnation a couple of times - really though the experience comes alive with another player. My only true compliant is the controls scheme, when you’re being hunted by a pack of pseudo-dead (just as speedy as you are) the ability to run ‘and’ fire your weapon at the same time is not only common sense, but a good idea. Instead Capcom still holds true the ‘turret target’ style of shooting that Resident Evil is so known for; meaning players can’t run-&-gun as the same time. Unfortunately this combat style cannot be changed and in turn does slow down (and cheap-up) the game play somewhat - but in no way, shape, or form is this game breaker. It just takes getting use to.
This demo has already broken record numbers for Xbox live downloads. If people weren’t already foaming at the mouth like some brain obsessed zombie, they will be after playing this. Fortunately the full game’s release date is March 13, 2009; so they won’t be waiting for too much longer.
World Premier of ‘Average Video Gamer’
Nope, it’s not a movie, but my very own comic based off the video game world I love so much. The main character is ‘Avi Gamer’, who is a (you guessed it) game player that lives in a video game parody of reality. When he plays games he takes on the character he plays (for good or bad), always adds his own personality to the mix. Outside the games, he’s his own character and acts accordantly to the world (if our world was full of question blocks and 1980’s game sprites walking down the street). As long as I’m doing this comic, I will make it as entertaining as I can (and at least get a little chuckle from ya). After all, I can’t make it look any better ;-). Enjoy
By the by, if anyone wants a better look, I put this and all future comics on my brother's Deviant art account located here: Here
By the by, if anyone wants a better look, I put this and all future comics on my brother's Deviant art account located here: Here
Join the Red Ribbon Armanda today!
Normally I don’t put non-game material on my ‘games and nothing but’ blog, but I believe this is a special case. See my brother (True Backlash) and I have started our own jointed account in youtube called Red Ribbon Armada. It’s (and ours) purpose is to entertain the masses through parodies and abridging series. We want to become the next (and one day rival) Team Four Star. Right now we only have trailers and teasers, but soon we’ll have full episodic content for all to enjoy; so everyone subscribe while the subscribing good. I promise you’ll have fun and kill a few boring minutes out your day.
Monday, January 12, 2009
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Where does the time go?
I know, I know, I hasn't posted in a couple of months. But between wrapping up my collage semester and playing the massive onslaught of games this fall (only finished half of them)I just didn't have the time. Well to make up for it; here's a article I wrote about a local library in my area. Don't worry, it has something to do with video games. Anyway enjoy, and stay tuned.
Dewey Decimal meets Donkey Kong
Libraries - centers of information in the world since the time before Common Era.
Providing people places of quiet learning and scholarly studying to all, free of charge.
Even with the intention of the computer and the creation of the internet, the library still remains as the undisputed.
The times though keep changing, and the Point Park University Library changes with them. Soon along with classic books like ‘Moby-Dick’, ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘The Death of the Salesman’ they with include the rental new age media of video games.
Its Gustave Flaubert meets Gears of War.
Phil Harrity, access service coordinator, and Liz Evans the director of the university center library were the main advocates for this new service. They were happy to provide information on the service as well.
While the details of game renting are not finalized yet; Evans and Harrity both believe it will resemble the way they rent out DVDs. The games will be on shelves, in locked cases. They will be separated by the console systems (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii) capable of playing them.
The time limit for keeping a rented game is also undetermined; however it’s leaning towards seven days. And the renter can re-rent the game (and any book or DVD) at their website up to three times.
Harrity and Evans said that at this time they don’t plan on selling any accessories (RWY wires, battery packs, extra controls, etc) nor do they plan on renting consoles to the students. The consoles especially for the reason that there are too many things that can go wrong, and it would too expensive to fix or replace.
“The day we went to ‘The Exchange’ and bought $1,300 worth of video games” Evans remembers “I’ve went home and said to my youngest: we’re bought all these video games for the library. He said that’s cool. Then I said we’re going to buy the systems and then loan them out. He looked at me and said ‘Are you crazy? Things are going to happen (to the consoles) and then what are you going to do?’”
A ‘console lab’ won’t be in the foreseeable future either; one of the factor’s for this is noise. The university center is still in part a library, having a console lab would disturb more than a few students doing research for essays and the like.
The other issue is space.
“Most people think the whole building is the library, it isn’t. We have to share space with other classes, offices, the TV studio and the auditorium. Another lab just wouldn’t fit.” said Evans
What they will provide is reading material in the form of ‘Game Informer’, video game centered magazine and Wizard, a magazine dealing with not only video games but comics, and pop culture.
Finally, and as always, they will lend an ear for students at the library; if someone want the library to stock certain item, game, book, DVD, or service they can suggest it anytime. If they are capable, they will provide.
Now all this covers the what, as for the why?
“We are doing this for the students.” Harrity said “Especially for the students who live in campus and have noting to do in the evening.”
Downtown Pittsburgh is an city that is it not known for its nightlife, most shops and services close down around 5:00 o’clock. With the renting of games (along with DVDs and books) the library staff hopes to give students more entertainment options.
Now at first, there were those who believed that video game rentals in the library weren’t such a hot idea. Over time, however those detractors soon saw how important this program is for students; in fact Harrity believes that video games will help support the rental of books and DVD.
Video games today use a lot of source material from early works of fiction. The ‘God of War’ game series takes a lot from ancient Greek and Roman history; while the ‘Call for Duty’ series closely follows the events World War II.
The way Harrity see it, if a person wants to know more about the background of a game they easily find that information in a book, DVD or online, and found in the same place they rented the game.
A one stop-shop for information and entertainment.
The library staff believes that students will have no trouble finding out about the new feature once it gets started. They expect a lot of word of mouth; but will also advertise on their website and sent out flash e-mails to all students.
What really will get the word out for them is the soon, upcoming all night game-a-thon. A collaboration of the library, the point park I.T. department, Gamestop and even the school own video game club.
The date is still undetermined, but what is guaranteed is that there will be fun to be had for all who attend. No matter if it’s rocking out to a heavy metal ballet, getting a hard fought 1st down or saving Sera from the Locust Horde.
At the end of the day what the library is doing is only following suit of other libraries. Who more and more of them are including the rental and sale of video games along with their traditional services. Why those libraries are doing it for their community is unknown, but Evans ultimately knows why Point Park University is doing it.
“The library here is for the students of Point Park, we will do whatever we can to make the student’s time here at Point Park, productive and enjoyable.”
Dewey Decimal meets Donkey Kong
Libraries - centers of information in the world since the time before Common Era.
Providing people places of quiet learning and scholarly studying to all, free of charge.
Even with the intention of the computer and the creation of the internet, the library still remains as the undisputed.
The times though keep changing, and the Point Park University Library changes with them. Soon along with classic books like ‘Moby-Dick’, ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘The Death of the Salesman’ they with include the rental new age media of video games.
Its Gustave Flaubert meets Gears of War.
Phil Harrity, access service coordinator, and Liz Evans the director of the university center library were the main advocates for this new service. They were happy to provide information on the service as well.
While the details of game renting are not finalized yet; Evans and Harrity both believe it will resemble the way they rent out DVDs. The games will be on shelves, in locked cases. They will be separated by the console systems (Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii) capable of playing them.
The time limit for keeping a rented game is also undetermined; however it’s leaning towards seven days. And the renter can re-rent the game (and any book or DVD) at their website up to three times.
Harrity and Evans said that at this time they don’t plan on selling any accessories (RWY wires, battery packs, extra controls, etc) nor do they plan on renting consoles to the students. The consoles especially for the reason that there are too many things that can go wrong, and it would too expensive to fix or replace.
“The day we went to ‘The Exchange’ and bought $1,300 worth of video games” Evans remembers “I’ve went home and said to my youngest: we’re bought all these video games for the library. He said that’s cool. Then I said we’re going to buy the systems and then loan them out. He looked at me and said ‘Are you crazy? Things are going to happen (to the consoles) and then what are you going to do?’”
A ‘console lab’ won’t be in the foreseeable future either; one of the factor’s for this is noise. The university center is still in part a library, having a console lab would disturb more than a few students doing research for essays and the like.
The other issue is space.
“Most people think the whole building is the library, it isn’t. We have to share space with other classes, offices, the TV studio and the auditorium. Another lab just wouldn’t fit.” said Evans
What they will provide is reading material in the form of ‘Game Informer’, video game centered magazine and Wizard, a magazine dealing with not only video games but comics, and pop culture.
Finally, and as always, they will lend an ear for students at the library; if someone want the library to stock certain item, game, book, DVD, or service they can suggest it anytime. If they are capable, they will provide.
Now all this covers the what, as for the why?
“We are doing this for the students.” Harrity said “Especially for the students who live in campus and have noting to do in the evening.”
Downtown Pittsburgh is an city that is it not known for its nightlife, most shops and services close down around 5:00 o’clock. With the renting of games (along with DVDs and books) the library staff hopes to give students more entertainment options.
Now at first, there were those who believed that video game rentals in the library weren’t such a hot idea. Over time, however those detractors soon saw how important this program is for students; in fact Harrity believes that video games will help support the rental of books and DVD.
Video games today use a lot of source material from early works of fiction. The ‘God of War’ game series takes a lot from ancient Greek and Roman history; while the ‘Call for Duty’ series closely follows the events World War II.
The way Harrity see it, if a person wants to know more about the background of a game they easily find that information in a book, DVD or online, and found in the same place they rented the game.
A one stop-shop for information and entertainment.
The library staff believes that students will have no trouble finding out about the new feature once it gets started. They expect a lot of word of mouth; but will also advertise on their website and sent out flash e-mails to all students.
What really will get the word out for them is the soon, upcoming all night game-a-thon. A collaboration of the library, the point park I.T. department, Gamestop and even the school own video game club.
The date is still undetermined, but what is guaranteed is that there will be fun to be had for all who attend. No matter if it’s rocking out to a heavy metal ballet, getting a hard fought 1st down or saving Sera from the Locust Horde.
At the end of the day what the library is doing is only following suit of other libraries. Who more and more of them are including the rental and sale of video games along with their traditional services. Why those libraries are doing it for their community is unknown, but Evans ultimately knows why Point Park University is doing it.
“The library here is for the students of Point Park, we will do whatever we can to make the student’s time here at Point Park, productive and enjoyable.”
Thursday, August 28, 2008
The Fall of Games – Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Before I get started with this feature, I want to say something to (and anyone connected with) ‘Lucas Arts’: *ahem* Stop with the prequels already. I love Star Wars, who doesn’t really? But they dug from the original movies (IV, V, VI) far too much for my taste. All I see from them is prequels, prequels, prequels! Outside the books (seriously, books Lucas Arts?) the only advancement of the series is through video games, (Jedi academy in particular) quite a shame. For the love of all things good and sci-fi please start doing sequels (movie or otherwise) or I swear to you, you’ll curdle that great galactic cash cow we all know and love. Ok now that I’ve said my peace, let’s move to gaming business with ‘The Force Unleashed’
Available via download through X-box and Playstation, this sampling was short, but gave me enough to see what I’m working with. You play as Vader secret Sith apprentice named Starkiller (how Vader got that apprentice is unknown), but to finish his training Vader sent him to an imperial shipyard to kill a Jedi and his rebel forces that went there. The imperial troopers at the base also must be silenced, because if the Emperor finds out Vader took an apprentice there will be trouble. I’m proud to say that I’ve played my fair share Star Wars games; Force Unleashed is definitely different than the games that came before it. Starkiller is able to use the force at an extreme level; sending entire battalion flying using force pull, throwing giant explosive cores at rebels and watching them blast away like shrapnel, and even throw enough force lightning to make any obstacles into ash in no time. Of course any Sith worth their saber can use it (the Lightsaber I mean) to carve carnage into all who stand before them, Starkiller is no different. Another uniqueness about our boy is that he’s able combine his force attacks to rack up the points and cause maximum damage. Use your imagination and think of the chaos one could cause in the full game. The enemies in the demo weren’t stupid either; they do their best to work together, however against a force-user normal tactics won’t do at all. It only got challenging when the AT-ST showed up. Even then, once I figured out how to fight it, the mecha-chicken when down pretty hard. After that the playable demo ended and went into advertisement mode for the game and its release. All and all I was satisfied, total domination of the battlefield through the force was fun. Though I’m sure it won’t be like that when we come across Jedi in the full game. If I had to classify this game, it would be a mix between ‘Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy’ and ‘God of War’. Two great gaming concepts that are perfect together, but nothing set in stone. I’ll reserve my final judgments for the release.
Available via download through X-box and Playstation, this sampling was short, but gave me enough to see what I’m working with. You play as Vader secret Sith apprentice named Starkiller (how Vader got that apprentice is unknown), but to finish his training Vader sent him to an imperial shipyard to kill a Jedi and his rebel forces that went there. The imperial troopers at the base also must be silenced, because if the Emperor finds out Vader took an apprentice there will be trouble. I’m proud to say that I’ve played my fair share Star Wars games; Force Unleashed is definitely different than the games that came before it. Starkiller is able to use the force at an extreme level; sending entire battalion flying using force pull, throwing giant explosive cores at rebels and watching them blast away like shrapnel, and even throw enough force lightning to make any obstacles into ash in no time. Of course any Sith worth their saber can use it (the Lightsaber I mean) to carve carnage into all who stand before them, Starkiller is no different. Another uniqueness about our boy is that he’s able combine his force attacks to rack up the points and cause maximum damage. Use your imagination and think of the chaos one could cause in the full game. The enemies in the demo weren’t stupid either; they do their best to work together, however against a force-user normal tactics won’t do at all. It only got challenging when the AT-ST showed up. Even then, once I figured out how to fight it, the mecha-chicken when down pretty hard. After that the playable demo ended and went into advertisement mode for the game and its release. All and all I was satisfied, total domination of the battlefield through the force was fun. Though I’m sure it won’t be like that when we come across Jedi in the full game. If I had to classify this game, it would be a mix between ‘Psi-Ops: The Mindgate Conspiracy’ and ‘God of War’. Two great gaming concepts that are perfect together, but nothing set in stone. I’ll reserve my final judgments for the release.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The Fall of Games – Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People
In the wide world of webbing there is never a shortage of time wasting entertainers; Youtube alone could keep the world in a catatonic state for who knows how long. However if your like me (the world could be so lucky) you want to log in to something with a little substance, thought and comedy gold. One such site is homestarrunner.com. It stars an armless athlete of sorts, a balloon best friend, a bell shaped girlfriend and many other colorful characters that live in Free Country,
These e-mail fuelled misadventures has not only spawned new features & mini-games for homestarrunner.com, but also propelled the site into the humorous juggernaut that it is today. So were does the series go from here; TV? Movies? Nope, they take their next steps to the most interactive entertainer in the world today – Video Games, and more to the point, the Nintendo Wii and the PC. Attractive ladies and gentleman I present “Strong Bad's Cool Game for Attractive People”. This game puts you the shoe-boots & non-finger mitts of Strong Bad, you control him and interact with his environment by pointing and clicking with the Wii-mote or mouse. From there, you can do whatever you want to get through the game with Strong Bad looking cool & awesome as possible. Also you can choose to make him a nice guy or the Baddest Strong Bad the pre-teen censors will allow. Tired of kicking ‘The Cheat’ already? No worries, ‘SBCG4AP’ has other mini-games to enjoy like ‘Snake Boxer 5’, some rock & roll treasure hunting, some non-rock & roll item hunting, and a fan favorite – ‘Teen Girl Squad’ comics (impress Strong Bad by bring the pain to the squad). This is a simple point & click adventure, but chock full of that Homestar funny that fans know and love. It also gives those same fans the inside look of Free Country USA and how everything connected in their little world. Add to the fact that SBCG4AP cost only $10.00 (through Wii shop channel anyway) and new episodes will appear monthly (until December) makes this an attractive addition to any gamers library. Now if you all will excuse me, I’m going to kick The Cheat just because I can now, it feels good to be Strong Bad.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
The Fall of Games – Too Human Preview
Yep, summer is almost over – which means some of us will be going back to our studies; while to others it just means it’s getting colder. If you’re one or the other, and also a gamer; you know premium games will be around the corner as well. Quite a number of exciting titles in fact - a lot of sequels true, but a lot originals titles as well. So to aid people during this time, I’m going to post up coming games that I personally think will go distance in the coming months. Thanks to the demo on Xbox live I’m able to post my preview of “Too Human”; a game about Norse mythos with a sci-fi slant to it. See the gods and goddesses of this universe are not mythical, but rather cybernetically enhanced. Such enhancements give them powers and abilities that normal folk believe to be divine (even though they live in a sci-fi reality).
You play as Baldur; son of Odin, ‘God’ of Justice, and bringer of Ragnarök in his death (foreshadow much ‘Too Human’). Anyway in the demo Baldur and his troops are sent to destroy an android that has been killing humans in the land. How the machine kills (drinking its victim’s blood) has Baldur particularly worried; so he wants to take care of the mission personally. The first thing I’ve notice about this game is how epic-movie it feels; scène transitions, speaking parts, battle, etc - like weird fusion of Starship Troopers and Lord of the Rings (more or less). The game is visually beautiful in many areas in the game, and even more so on the character’s faces. I’ve never seen more realistic faces in the video game; they had creases, wrinkles, indentations, the whole nine. Very impressive but the most unique thing about the game (and the most advertised difference between itself and other action RPGs) is its fighting sy
stem. Most games of this type would use a single button for attack like ‘A’ or ‘X’ but Too Human wants style & substance. Its main attack, is the right thumb stick. That’s right (pun intended), the ‘RTS’ (pun not intended), the part of the controller that usually reserved for looking around. Funny enough though, I think it’s do-able. Just press the thumb stick in the direction to attack, and watch little Baldur go. Even enemies all around the character, can be cleared easily. The left & right triggers fire twin side arms (the all purpose stick is used to aim); great for those who want to keep their distance. It’s also a simple system to use, and allows for quite a deal of carnage; which is good because for every one of you there is a hundred of them - all wanting to kill you. The game has five classes to use, but the demo only has two to use – champion (all-around warrior) & berserker (melee damage maestro). I liked using the berserker class out of the two because it brought pain; even though it has the worst shot in all of Asgard. Sadly the demo didn’t last too long, and left me wanting more.
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