What the difference between Dynasty Warriors 6 and Halo ODST?
Dynasty Warriors gets pounded because its "the same formula" whereas Halo ODST gets praised for the same thing?
Why it a game that by the admission of the reviewer "the game's fundamental fighting mechanics are pretty sound. The game's roster has a good variety of different abilities, strategies, and combination attacks, and the pace is good and brisk--about as fast as that of more recent games in the series" reviewed poorly because it was different then the last one, whereas another game in the same genre carbon copies the formula of the game prior is praised?
I am not normally one of the folks who screams and yells about reviewers who score a game I love a few points lower then what I would have given it, because at the end of the day a review is nothing more then an opinion of the one person who played it over the course of the week or so it was reviewed. Things happen that can effect the score one way or another and that I can appriciate.
This "expectation" factor is starting to effect the quality of many reviews, not just here but in general. I find that if a game has a mega marketing budget it seems to have a safety net in terms of its review in the sense that it will not score lower then X, and that I can understand because normally games that mass marketed tend to have a solid development team behind them and normally I am pleased with the result.
Its the latest incarnation of King of the Fighters that has me turned around. It was a game I secured as a freebie during Blockbusters Buy 2 Get 1 Free event which landed me Halo ODST & Magna Carta 2.
Much to my surprise, its pretty entertaining as a multiplayer game. Far more then Tekken 6 is, or Street Fighter 4 was earlier in the year. Its a smooth, clean, fighter, which has a respectable roster of fighters, and allows for a pick-up and play by nearly anyone who has played a figher before.
It looks good, it plays well, and it fill the requirement of a fighting game to a tee.
Yet it scores a 5.0? Really?
The reasoning? Less Characters then the last one, and an online problem that does not exist in the retail version.
Its a game reviewed by a fan of the series, and the problem with that is you either get a game that scores better then it should, or lower then it should because of the expectations of the title.
Far too few reviewers seem to look at a game within the context of the current genre and marketplace and assign it a score based upon how it stakes in comparison to other games within the genre.
How KOFXII score 3.5 points lower then Tekken 6 is simply beyond me.
Okay, around one year ago I did say I would make another post. Well now its one year and two hours later and here I am. Dutifully posting another blog on what used to be single greatest use of my free time.
I spent the last hour looking through stuff I have posted over since mid '06. One thing has become apparent, my grammar and writing etiquette has gotten a lot better. (Yet there are still probably several spelling errors in this post.) About 2 years ago I sounded like a retarded fanboy, and now, well, I'm probably not that much better (but in my mind I would like to think I am.)
My gaming time has been reduced to next to zero recently thanks for my dominiative overlords... er... rather my teachers. Still gettin some time here and there to groove on some more Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2.
I still play large amounts of Flight Simulator and this rather insane hobby of mine can be tracked here...
http://vataware.com/pilot.cfm?cid=1033090
With that, I shall leave you all again. For those of you who remember me and others from my time, two things; Im shocked you are still who/remember me. Second, heres to us, those of us that participated here 2 years ago, back in the glory days with Jeff, Brad, Rich, we were the best and always will be the best this place ever had.
Same time next year then?
Granted it cannot compete with console giants like Left 4 Dead and the Resident Evil series but I'm constantly amazed and delighted to see new Zombie games appearing in the App store! Sure there are some pretty bad ones but for every bad one there are at least 3-4 great ones! For Zombie connoisseurs I would recommend the following games from the App store:
1.) Zombie Attack! - this was one of the first Zombie games in the App store and falls into the Tower Defense genre with a twist in that you actually control a character and are not limited to a specific path that the attackers follow.
2.) Zombieville USA - This is a straightforward side-scroller Zombie shooter with great cell-shaded/cut-out graphics. The character animations and weapons are excellent!
3.)iZombie Death March - This game is a short episodic top-down shooter that provides nice variation in each level making you feel like you are progressing through and escaping a Zombie outbreak. It is short but the presentation is excellent and is a great addition to the Zombie genre.
4.) Zombiegame - this is a simple 1st person survival game in which you are assaulted by endless waves of Zombies. You are rooted to one spot and can only move your view from side to side and must frantically watch all sides to prevent a Zombie from blindsiding you. It has great watercolor/ink art and dark atmosphere. Another simple but fun game.
5.) Attack from the Dead, or AFD - In this game you must defend a single building from a Zombie onslaught by night and explore buildings for supplies and survivors during the day. The gameplay is simple as you move your character up and down behind a barricade of furniture and shoot the Zombies entering through the door. The daytime exploration is limited to tapping on buildings on a map and could have been better but add a nice touch to the game.
6.) Alive 4-Ever - This is a new game and is one of the best. This is a top-down survival shooter with some variation added to certain levels like rescuing survivors and obtaining vaccines, etc. This game has a level-up system and allows customization of one of the 4 characters (who each have their own unique attributes) through increasing attributes, purchasing new weapons, and unlocking bonus items. It supports multi player and would be a blast to play with others!
7.) Resident Evil 4 & Degeneration - Capcom brought the Resident Evil series to the iPhone in not only one but TWO games! One is a watered down version of RE4 and the other is an original title that goes along with the recent CGI movie RE Degeneration. Both play exactly the same and are decent games utelizing a "virtual analog stick" on the touch screen. This type of game is a little hard to do well on a touch-screen only platform but both are excellent games given the inherent limitations of the iPhone.
...more to come.
I completely disagree with suicide prevention hotlines. It's just as bad as teaching abstinence only in the schools. With abstinence only programs you end up with far more teen pregnancies and bad first time experiences. Kids are going to have sex and we need to teach them how to do it right and how to stay safe.
People are going to commit suicide, we should be teaching them how to do it properly. All of these "Don't do it" slogans and toll free numbers that try to talk them out of it are just causing people to live longer than they want to. Or in a worst case scenario they end up with a failed attempt and paralyzed or in a coma. It's just not right. Especially when people who wanted to die end up being a burden on family/friends and more importantly the good tax paying citizens.
Now, doesn't that seem like quite a list to choose from? Well, there's a downside to that because I've only named off sequels so far, and I've also only named games that were coming out for the Xbox 360. Think about it, while not all of the titles I've just listed might interest you, you have to admit that quite a few of those numbers are games that you'd definitely like to spend some quality time with. While normally I'd look at a list as long as this for sequels and be kind of disheartened by the fact that they'd probably be nothing too original, one quick glance around the net through different previews and interviews with the developers will tell you the exact opposite. Games such as Mercenaries 2 or Fable 2, while carrying some of the concepts from their original counterparts, are robust in comparison due to the technology of today's console systems and the creativeness of today's developers, but let us not get too carried away about the different games just yet, let's look at the list of others coming out under new IPs for the different developers.
This list includes games like Too Human, FaceBreaker, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Lego Batman, Rise of the Argonauts, Dead Space, The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, Tom Clancy's End War, James Bond: Quantum of Solace, and Left 4 Dead. Now that isn't every game coming out for the Xbox 360, but they're just some of the bigger titles to look forward to this upcoming season.
Even with all these big time releases, one thing to keep track of though is what's being released over Xbox Live Arcade. With the recent release of Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2, I've been constantly plugging away hours trying to one up my score each time. Taking what made the original so great and expanding on every component; the developers did a great job with this sequel as far as I can tell. Other games released on Live Arcade to check out would be Bionic Commando: Rearmed, Braid, and if you're looking forward to Fable 2, you should be picking up the Pub Games. These four Arcade titles alone could keep you busy for quite some time to come.
There just really isn't a reason to be sad when being a gamer around the holidays unless you're constantly looking down at the stack of cash in your wallet draining from week to week over these upcoming releases. In the coming weeks, we'll take a closer look at these games as they're about to be released and see how well they stacked up to people's expectations. But until then...
SadExchange
Be prepared for a pointless blog!
So, the topic title.. I had my profile open in another tab, and I just came back to it and refreshed, and suddenly the layout was completely different. Don't you all wish your refresh button had that kind of power?
On another note, for anyone who cares I am unofficially 'back'. I guess technically I never really left, I just didn't post anything, but that's besides the point. I dunno where I'm going to return back to, but TESFU and the OCC are two places I will definitely be posting when I do.
What's everyone been up to while I was gone?
First five commenters get a cookie, go go go!
Well, its official....my X-box 360 has died.
The good news is that I'm right at the end of my warranty with Microsoft and it will still be a covered repair. I just dont know what to do without it for 3-4 weeks while they fix it. Ah well.....
Hey guys, im back. If you dont remember me will... i was your bestest friend when i was online 
After a year away from Gamespot, i've returned. I've obviously been away killing some zombies and what not so dont be too hard on me. While i've been away i've been playing some world of warcraft (obviously), halo 3, and devil may cry. All great games. I've recently gotten god of wars on the psp. Great great game. I will be checking my mail for now on so feel free to talk anytime. See ya guys, have a good day or.. night
