So a Late Happy New Years to all. Back at work again and back in the same routine. What will your new years resolution be ? Mines will be to play more games and get some exercise in my life.

It's almost midnight. I should be trying to sleep, but I don't want to. Today is the last day of a really great vacation. I'm rested. I'm relaxed. But when I wake up tomorrow morning, those pleasant feelings will seem like a cruel dream. When I wake up tomorrow morning, for the first time in over a week, I will have to go to work.

So instead of sleeping I've decided to tell you about a nice package my BFF Jody had sent to me. I got it on Christmas eve. This was what was inside.

What could possibly be in those tiny packages? Extra large condoms, perhaps?

Not quite

And after a few lungfulls of air....

I finally have something that I can use to slay my enemies!

Many thanks to Jody and all the Gamespot staff who were willing to part with some of their choice swag. I'm sure all the Gamespot users who were lucky enough to get something in the mail from you appreciate it. I know I do.

Now I've just got to invite someone over so I can repeatedly bash them over the head with this thing...

Hello, my lovelies!

Its that time of year again! The best part of the beginning of the year is making resolutions! Think about it, if you were to start making resolutions any other time of year, you'd just end up looking silly. The other 11 months are for putting off these resolutions, so make them good ones! Here's mine so far.

-Write More

(more blogs, more editorials, more reviews, more erotic poetry...) O.O...wait, scratch that last one.

-Read More

-Complain about not writing more.

-Complain about not reading more.

-Buy more shoes.

(I know what you're thinking, but at only 18 pairs, I must be the most deprived girl around. =P)

-Convince Eric that reading fine literature does not mean reading the back of cereal boxes.

(As a former lit major, now majoring in procrastination, I realize that fine literature is subjective, but I dont think anythinmg written by Kellogg's qualifies. =P)

-Show the PS3 more love.

(Its no secret that I dont play the ps3 as much as the 360. This has kinda shifted lately though, as Ive been playing PSN games, like Shatter, Flower and Trine. They're all pretty fun, actually. I also ordered Demons Souls off ebay, and its supposed to come this week, so I'll hopefully be getting my butt handed to me soon.)

-Play more WoW

(I have kind of a love/hate relationship with WoW. I like it, to a point. I emailed a friend and asked him to send me one of those 'Scrolls of Resurrection" thingies that you can send your friends if they havent played in more than 90 days. I think you and your friend get like bonus xp if you do it that way or something. I also think WoW needs a better tagline, than "What's your Game?". Everquest always had the "You're in our world now", line, which is way better. It';s also a lot like the Coca Cola slogan, "You're in our world now, *****!" =P I know what you're thinking, but it really does make me want a Coke =P)

How are your resolutions coming?

A new decade just came rolling in and its time to look forward to the future! However, it usually is pleasurable to look to the past to remember the good times of past days. However, there are some horrifying experiences that we can never, ever forget no matter how hard we try. If anyone recalls the 7 Games Guaranteed to Make You Rage Quit article I wrote some time ago it should be noted that this list, unlike the aforementioned piece, is about games that are frustrating due to poor programming. I have played my fair share of horrid games over my 15 years of experience and, while some of the bad ones were annoying, the following should have each and every existing copy smashed to bits with a hammer and then thrown into a smelting vat:

7. Enter the Matrix (PS2)

A cookie-cutter game in the strictest regard, Enter the Matrix was the most obvious cash-in I have ever played. Every part of this game is lazily done: the shooting sequences lack any kind of depth to be immersing (not to mention aiming can be a pain), fistfights against bosses can be incredibly one-sided due to unpredictable AI behavior, and the graphics are simply ugly for the PS2. Enter the Matrix is one of the most joyless, bland experiences gaming has to offer.

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w98RbvEU_d0

6. Hybrid Heaven (N64)

Nowadays, Hybrid Heaven is a forgotten title and I can rest easy knowing such. Although it had some interesting RPG elements (such as stats of each body part's offense and defense), there was way too much bogging this game down. The exploration elements were absolutely awful (due in part from a bad camera system), the combat controls were stiff as a board, the sci-fi themed story was incomparably shoddy, and it had the most erratic difficulty curve of all time. Who knew that Konami could dispense such a horrible game?

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Y6g169ccFk

5. Assassin's Creed: Altair's Chronicles (DS)

Taking a great name in gaming and grounding it into the dirt is exactly what Ubisoft did with its DS adaptation of the series. The free-roaming styIe was replaced with unfair, unresponsive platforming sequences and cheap enemies while thieving was done mainly through a gimmicky touchscreen version of Operation in which the item needed to be taken couldn't touch the sides or other items in the target's pocket.

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35sxJVMMppY

4. Conflict: Desert Storm (PS2)

A shameless SOCOM: Navy SEALS clone, Conflict: Desert storm took each and every aspect of the superb squad-based shooter and put them through a wringer to make a paper-thin, dull replica. Nearly every aspect of this game was atrocious. From the lackluster story to the frustrating gameplay (both single player and Co-op) and everything in between, there was nothing redeeming about this horrid piece of shovelware.

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dwL2xIEljQ

3. Advent Rising (Xbox)

First off, let me note something about this game: it had a $1,000,000 contest that never saw a winner. That should set the tone for a game like Advent Rising: a title that promises too much and ultimately fails to live up to any and all expectations. Horrible glitches, shoddy controls, and a story with characters ripped straight out of Halo made Advent Rising not only one of the worst games I've had the displeasure of playing, but also one of the most derivative. There was very little to like throughout the experience, especially in regard to characters and their design. Humans looked like bow-legged rag dolls with generic personalities and the aliens, as stated above, were not original in their design. By far the worst part were the majority of cutscenes which featured some of the laziest camera work I've ever seen.

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2b1tP_gkM4

2. Superman 64 (N64)

I refuse to give this garbage a larger image.

Yes, it may seem obligatory to put this on a horrible game list but its nightmarish in every sense of the word. Honestly, I required therapy after playing this abomination. I probably don't need to describe this game for well over 80% of people who read this but for those who are unfamiliar...Oh, just look at the video. Even talking about this makes my blood boil...

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNpBwU3PTX8

1. Red Alarm (Virtual Boy)

...And I refuse to even show a picture of this abomination's box.

Now, before I begin, let me say that I never bought that abomination of a system. Instead, I played this as a demo at a toy store when I was a kid and it did more than enough to convince me that this system harbored the worst graphics in all of gaming history. Its literally impossible to even know where anything is in this wire frame mess, making Superman 64 even more playable than this piece of rancid trash. Seriously, just look at that video I posted; doesn't it look like Nintendo stopped halfway through developing this? I could go on forever about how much I loathe this game but I'll let the gameplay video do the talking.

The horror: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlQ7GqEDoGM

WARNING: video may hurt eyes...Just like actually playing the wretched thing did to mine.

-

In closing, let it be noted that these are only games that I have personally played, which is why such horrible games like Big Rigs and Dragonball Z: Ultimate Battle 22 did not make the list. Before anyone asks: No, I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to play games on that level of badness.

With all hope, I will never play another game on the same level of horror as the above.

Feel free to share some of your experiences in the comment box so you can leave those memories to lie and never, ever have to think about them again for the rest of your oxygen-breathing days.

Fare thee well 2009. As we all settle in for the new year ahead I am reminded that after the celebrations fade, the alcohol has dried up and the general euphoria diminishes most of us are brought back to the sobering reality that we all still have the same problems trailing us from the previous year. I'm still unemployed and on top of all that my PSP broke. More specifically the UMD drive broke in that it won't stay shut when you close it. And that really sucks because that was the only gaming device I brought with me while I am on vacation. Yes, I'm still in Florida and I'm still 2200 or so miles away from my PS3. Bummer.

Now I don't bother with making new year's resolutions because I know myself better than that and I know that I rarely stick with them to begin with. So rather than lie to myself saying I will or will not do something in the coming year I simply acknowledge my shortcomings up front and don't bother. Although if I were to have any one of them would most likely be I will not buy any more games until I beat the ones I already own, but we all know that's not going to happen especially with the scheduled line up for this beginning quarter alone! As it stands right now I have fourteen games for PS3 on my backlog.

Now I have seen a lot of people doing top ten lists and decade lists, etc. You'll be happy to know that I won't waste your time telling you what games I felt were the best this year, or what game deserves GotY recognition. The vast majority of games I bought still remain unplayed so I literally have nothing good or bad to say about them. So to make a list would just be stupid and ill-founded. However I will make some predicitons (because everyone likes predictions) about the gaming industry this year because when it's Dec. 31, 2010 I want to pull up this blog and see how close (or far) I was in my predictions. Plus it's satisfying as hell to get one right and be able to prove to people that you called it. way back before it happened I've consulted my crystal ball and here are my predictions for what I believe will happen this year in gaming:

Nintendo:

• Nintendo announces Wii HD at E3 this year slated for release holiday 2010 which will inevitably serve two functions: 1. To keep Nintendo's sales on top for this generation by giving Wii a nice sales boost and new incentive for people to buy the aging 4-year-old system, and 2. To phase out the non-HD Wii and finally join the HD-era without having to release a totally new system.
• DSiXL will continue the DS's dominance in the handheld market but will ultimately be the last iteration of that system, as Nintendo is hard at work on the DS's successor.
• The next Nintendo handheld will be significantly more powerful and go along the same lines as the PSP Go in offering strictly digital distribution for its software thus eliminating cartridge-based media for good. This saves Nintendo money and ends up being a more profitable delivery system. It will not be announced until TGS 2010 at earliest and E3 2011 at latest.

Microsoft:

• 360 will be coming up on its fifth year and has successfully outlived the original Xbox by one full year! And aside from a handful of exclusives there is not much to get excited over; MS knows this. The 360 has hit the ceiling in terms of technology. That's why I foresee MS further slashing the price of the 360 by holiday 2010 by another $50 as they attempt to stay relevant amid increasing sales of both the Wii and PS3.
• Natal releases at a $49.99 MSRP thereby making up for the $50 reduction on the actual 360 itself.
• Rumblings of the 360's successor will begin towards year's end and continue on through next year leading up to E3 2011. That's when I believe MS will announce their next console as they can't afford to languish another year as the 360 looks upon its sixth birthday.

Sony:

• PS3 continues its sales momentum and ultimately "catches up" to the 360 in terms of total world-wide sales by year's end; there will not be another price cut for the PS3 at all this year simply due to the fact that Sony continues to lose (at present) $36 per console sold.
• PSP Go continues to struggle at retail and given this fact Sony is forced to lower the price of the handheld to help bolster sales and move units. Meanwhile traditional PSP units will continue to outsell and outpace Go units despite the price cut.
• Sony's motion wand thingy will like-wise release at $49.99 MSRP and proves to be slightly more successful than Natal.
• PS3 was future-proofed more than the 360 and will remain true to Sony's "10-year life cycle" pledge. Unfortunately mounting pressures from MS's next console will also start rumors circulating about the PS4.
• Motion controls on both systems flourish for a short period but ultimately their novelty fizzles out for hardcore applications and instead they are relegated to more "mainstream" conventions and games. Meaning you're not going to be playing a Halo or Uncharted 3 with motion controls in the years upcoming but more party-like games very much like the Wii.

Miscellaneous:

• OnLive will release in the second half of the year and will not have that significant of an impact like many people think it will due to how new a concept it is. It will have a small, dedicated, almost niche following but it will not overtake traditional console or PC gaming by storm overnight.

So there you have it. Those are my predictions for the upcoming year. Overall I feel this year is going to be more exciting than 2009 was because there is so much happening and a slew of great games slated for the entire year. What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Am I full of it or do you see some of the same moves happening? Let me know! Happy New Year, everyone!

I believe in supply and demand, and when there is not enough supply, price goes up; therefore demand goes down. This dude demands a price cut, because $126 for a used copy of Stronghold for Mac is a rip-off.

So, the backstory here is that reading reviews for Age of Empires two has brought back the inner RTS junkie. Yes, I do consider AoE2 to be the greatest RTS of all time, with Starcraft following closely behind.

Now, I remember seeing a copy of Stronghold in an Apple story back in '03, so I thought I'd try to get my dirty grubby hands on a copy now. Unfortunately, due to the fact that copies of the game are scarce, I have to resort to the backstreets of this town. Do some dealin', gamblin', and throw a couple of guys in the trunk. Time to get out the ole' club.

I plan on buying a new copy of Age of Empires: Gold Edition for mac when I buy a computer later this month. I'm very...enraptured.

peace,

-nick

Time to face my wallet, sit down, have a little chat.

Mr. Wallet, here's what I just did. I went and I bought the Unreal Deal Pack on Steam for $13.50. I wanted Unreal Tournament 3 so badly!

In the past two weeks I have bought:

-Psychonauts on GOG.com (funny and inventive)

-Gothic 2 on GOG.com (Absolutely huge. Massive.)

-Heroes of Might and Magic 3 on GOG.com (so good it's beyond comprehension)

-Hostile Waters on GOG.com (old but fun)

-The above Unreal pack on Steam (Can't wait)

-Braid on Steam (seems more like work than play)

-STALKER on Steam for a friend

-Mass Effect on Steam (still downloading)

-Portal on Steam (I want to play this again)

-Bioshock on Steam (running horribly on my laptop for some reason)

-Torchlight on Steam (see my review, which I need to update)

-Lumines on Steam (yawn)

-Battlefield 2 on Steam (I like ETQW more)

-about $40 or $50 in Music on Amazon MP3 (for, I'll admit, some of the best music I've heard in a long time) and $5 on 7digital

Without the MP3 purchases, I spent about $75 (and that's rounding up quite a bit). Considering that it's just over the price of a new game on retail, for all of those games that I actually wanted to buy, I'm actually quite pleased with the final outcome.

I'm sorry, Mr. Wallet. But dang, I will not buy a new game for at least a couple of months. I don't need to. I've got more new games than I'll have time to play in the next month! And of course the money I got from relatives is far more than what I spent.

Also, I will get my broken computer back and I'll buy a new graphics card and i'll play all of these games on a glorious new desktop with everything in High. Won't that be grand, Mr. Wallet?

Hi everyone! I would like to wish everyone a ver happy 2010! I did enjoyed the new year celebration, but I also had a small surprise. I got a small cold waiting for me on the next day. It's Sunday now and I'm feeling a little better. Here are my awards. The awards are based of the game that I've played the past year.

Game of The Year

The single-player adventure packs in so many incredible moments that you'll be talking about it with friends for months, the multiplayer functionality is superb and rammed with content, and the whole game looks beyond anything you'll have seen before. Uncharted 2 should earn the series a place among the very best exclusives to hit the PlayStation. It is also one of the best game that I've played in my life.

Most improved sequel

I played both games of the series and the second is much better to play than the first one. There are a few improvements that make ACII a very pleasant surprise. The action isn't repetitive anymore and the storyline make you feel kinda plug in to the game. There are also less combat, more stealth and it has replay value because there are a few side missions to be made.

Best First-Person Shooter

I guess I could give the most improved sequel to Killzone 2 as well. If you are a FPS fan, you shouldn't miss this one. The controls are perfect for those who are used to FPS controls. Killzone 2 also does a great job in terms of difficulty. When playing on Elite, it is one of the hardest games to beat out there. About graphics, they are more next gen instead of the ugliness of the first game.

Best Platformer

You control a knight, a wizard and a thief. The game is very straight forward and it won't take long for you to find the right character to pass the obstacule. Nice graphics, great soundtrack makes Trine one of the best platformers out there. The game has a simple concept that is still very impressive and certainly will provide the necessary challenge. It has action, it has puzzle elements and the necessary climbing.

Best Puzzle Game

Braid is the kind of game that makes you think. It also makes you think why did a small budget game turned into a success. It might lack some content(co-op, multiplayer and a few more levels) but Braid stands yet another fine example of the gaming excellence which can be achieved even in the absence of AAA status and a multi-million dollar budget.

Best Game That I still need to play

Best Worst Game that should be avoided, even for easy trophies

"So... where the **** have YOU been?!?"

Actually... nowhere. I haven't felt like posting anything in a while, simply because it was either:

a.) Not very interesting.

b.) Evil (like my wife's car being stolen, then recovered 2 months later... only to have to fight the insurance company to keep it).

c.) Depressing (like a death in the family).

d.) Political (I ****ing HATE politics... so hearing about the latest atrocity perpetrated by Washington tends to make my blood boil a bit more than normal).

...so I've basically stayed away to keep my life from dragging everyone else into my misery.

Fortunately, the year is now over, so I have some things to look forward to... like our son's reaction to the fact that my wife bought a Wii for Christmas (which she is saving for Little Christmas in 4 days)...

...or beating GTA III (which I finally picked up, having borrowed a copy from a friend; after I gave it back, I picked up the full GTA trilogy set w/ "Vice City" and "San Andreas"), which could take a while (not really the kind of game I enjoy... which may spark a later blog... hmmm...)...

...or writing about some new bands I've found (if you're a metalhead, go find Dirge Within's debut album "Force Fed Lies" NOW... if not, check out Creed's new album "Full Circle," one of the best rock albums I've heard in a long time)...

...or just easing myself back into the flow of life on GS.

That is all. Have a great year, and I hope you had a great Christmas.

.

Mirror's Edge - 4.99

Braid - 2.49

Audiosurf - 2.50

Champions Online - 10.19

Audiosurf - 2.50 (gift)

Lumines + Advance Pack - 2.99

Torchlight - 4.99

Street Fighter IV - 9.99

Portal - 4.99

Mass Effect - 4.99

------------

Total - 50.62

Only two more days of this sale madness

The only thing that stopped me from getting Devil May Cry 4 is I already have it, thusly the discount (25% off) wasn't high enough. I would've preferred to get Street Fighter from Impulse, but as much as a fan as I am I'm not that much of a fan. But, you know me. Loyalty? What's that?

I've been playing Modern Warfare 2 since it first came out. I picked up the Hardened Edition on day one, beat the normal campaign that night, and then started playing the online multiplayer, quickly coming up against Level 50 and Level 60 players in the Team Deathmatch modes, and regularly getting my butt handed to me over and over. Since then, I've gotten better and better, learning new strategies, coming to understand the game a little better, and improving skills.

But I think my biggest help has come in the form of the Offline Multiplayer of MW2.

Now, I don't know it it was just an afterthought, but playing offline is an almost identical experience to playing online, albiet with a considerably smaller group. I have a group of six friends or so who have come to really enjoy the game, and we get together every week or so and play for a few hours, and it's really been a blast. Everyone creates their own profile, and so they get to track their own progress. It brings me back to the old days of Goldeneye or other similar split-screen games before online gaming became the standard.

After every match, each of us will go through, hoping that we unlocked some new Callsign or Emblem, or maybe got that gun upgrade or Perk Unlock that we've been working on. We do silly things, try new strategies, and generally all just die a lot. And with the XP system completely intact, just about everything you do brings you a little closer to another unlock or upgrade or something else, and the action doesn't seem to get stale. It's an engrossing experience, which has just made for some really crazy nights.

It's such a different experience when you're not only playing with other people, but when those people are in the room with you. While tempers have flared on occasion, things generally stay in good spirits, and there isn't the usual annoyances of prepubescent or otherwise immature players singing or shouting stupidity into their headsets. It's just friends playing the game. And even though we're all not all that good, we're getting better.

The only complaints that I have, (and I know Infinity Ward is reading this, so I'll be sure to spell them out clearly ), are minor. But here they are.

1. LAN - While network support is included, it only allows for one-player-per-machine, which is annoying. While we can play four people split-screen, we can't add another system and play with eight. I don't know how difficult that would be to release in a patch or something, or even in DLC, but I know I'd really enjoy it. It's just that there might not be enough demand for it.

2. No Map Cycling - Every time you play, you have to change the map, which is tedious. I wish that there was a "RANDOM" option that we could just highlight, and leave alone, but there isn't. So we've just taken to starting at Afghan every time and cycling through the maps manually. It only takes a second, but that would have been a nice feature.

3. Radar On by Default - Every time we change the map, the "Game Mode" option switches the "Radar Always On" mode to "Yes", which is kind of stupid. My friends and I debate about whether it enhances or detracts from the game, but I personally prefer it to be off. There's no subtlety or sneaking when everyone in the map knows exactly where you are at all times, and some of the perks and weapons upgrades are designed specifically to keep you off the radar as much as possible. I just wish that the options that you select once would save, so that you didn't have to go in and rearrange your options every time that you changed the map.

All in all, it's a very cool, but very likely underutilized feature. If you have some buddies over and have nothing to do, I highly recommend giving this a try.

- K

Happy 2010, everyone. I hope you've all recovered from your midnight celebrations and made it through the first day of the new year without any serious hangovers (for those who drink) or immense fatigue (for those who stay up all night after the ball drops). Pete, Al and I are celebrating the new year by recording a podcast for you all on Saturday, January 2nd, 2010. For some of you, that's in about 12 hours. For others, 15. Whatever the case may be, you might want to send in some email to the mailbag -- mailbag AT trigames DOT net (or you can use the FORM). After technical difficulties, 157 was posted successfully recently, so hit that up if you haven't yet. 158 will be all about Final Fantasy. The Game segment (the name of which is no longer Game Spiel--you'll have to listen to episode 157 to find out the name) will be about the 32-bit Final Fantasies (specifically VII, VIII and IX; no Tactics or other side stories), which will segue into the main topic of "Why Do We Play Final Fantasy?" as posted by 1up.com's Jeremy Parish. So give us an e-holler by noon, Saturday, January 2nd, 2010, EASTERN STANDARD TIME and we'll read your letter on the "air."

Hello everyone! Long time no see. (ummm cheezy) Statistically speaking there was not even a SINGLE blog post by me on Gamespot in the 2009 and to be exact, the last blog post was way back in December 18th 2008!

I've always been a huge procrastinator, but I guess I reached the ultimate level last year. I did plan to post many times but ended up with none. I would daily check blog updates from fellow GS'ers and comment... but that too stopped last year. The only thing that I kept doing was the first thing I did when I joined GS, post in the forums. I daily check my post history and keep talking to pals from various unions. However, there are two groups of friends at GS, people who you talk with in the forums and others with whom you communicate via blog comments, I've missed you all, my blog friends. Now, its time to change that.

The main point to note now is that, its the END of the FIRST DECADE of the... NEW MILLENNIUM. Being someone who has only lived for two whole decades, this last one sure has been quite a ride. I got my computer in '98, internet connection in '99 and been at Gamespot ever since.

Hundreds of movies were seen, songs were heard, games were played and of course, days were lived. The biggest way how this past decade was different was that I now basically had two lives. One online and the other, offline. I am pretty sure everyone here understands what it exactly means. Once you go online, the uncontrolled flow of information really gets your brain on overdrive.

I've already been writing about all games that I played, from the Atari 2600 till the present. So I wont be going down that road (will definitely finish the series soon!) There are hundreds of games I've played this decade and the same goes for games from this decade (played lot of oldies too ) Me being the sentimental person I am, find it almost impossible to choose a "Top - whatever" because, every game I played has this strange attachment.

Anyhoo, I had the privilege of being part of the panel that decided the Game of the Decade at bossfight.in. I had a look at my sorted collection, listed out all good games, trimmed down the list to 100 and then added some cIassics which were worth mentioning and then sorted the list according to rankings. Its not something I generally do, but somehow, with a late night high, I was able to do it, the draft that I made is too... not for public eyes But do check out the top 50 that is being listed by combining the input from the whole Panel at that website!

Lets recollect 2009!

Two really big things happened to me last year, gaming wise. Indian Gamespot buddies, From IGG Union, who have known each other for more than 4 years on Gamespot, met IRL at the centre of India, Nagpur. We all are from different states, and the host of the 3 day bash, the IGGBASH, was gagan21.

IGGBash Begins!
View TweetLog | View album

I arrived from Hyderabad, Neeraj from Chennai, Shiben from Bengaluru, Amit from Jabalpur and Gagan's cousin from Delhi, all(but Jabalpur ) capitals of different states of India and India itself. We gathered at Nagpur, which is the geographical center of India, also, home town of Gagan himself! It was felt like the premise of a really cool movie It was three whole days of crazy gaming fun. Everybody brought their controllers with them, Gagan had all the consoles and games anyone could ever ask for.

My stuff that I took to IGGBash

We played games non-stop till early morning, we would just sleep and wakeup and start playing again like crazy people, haha. Gagan surely knows how to throw a party. I don't think the whole experience would have been as awesome as it was if it weren't for him.

We played ODST on Co-op, 8 player all-indian team games on Halo3, Co-Op horde mode on Gears2, 4 Player Splitscreen Motorstorm Pacific Rift, 4P FIFA, 4P LittleBigPlanet, WarioWare Smooth Movies, Mario Kart Wii, ad-hoc Tekken 5 on PSP, co-op Contra 4 on DS. You name it, we played it. We even played Batman AA on Neeraj's Killer laptop. We did side by side comparisons of PS3 and PC versions of B:AA,starting the game at the same time on both, PC Won! haha

Check out the whole album to get a feel of the joy. Honestly, this is going to be one of those things that I'm going to tell stories about, to my grandchildren There we were, people who grew up playing games all alone and in a place where games were not all that universally acknowledged.. now all in our 20s, enjoying ,playing games together and discussing all this nonsense that anyone from outside would just run away after hearing. Even when we went out to eat we would be talking on various topics, all game related. Its not like clan meeting and discussing strategies, Things about the gaming industry in general and what things are happening in India etc etc. Simply put, it was one of the best experiences ever. Thanks for being there guys!

The Participants of IGGBash

NASSCOM Indian Game Developers conference.
View Tweetlog | View Album

I got to know that there is thing GDC type thing happening right in my city, and without a second thought, I went and got registered for it. Being a student has its perks, The fee was just Rs.500/- for me, instead of Rs.1500.

It was a two day event, but first day was strictly corporate stuff. I was there for the second day. The opening keynote was given by Ernest Adams. He is... awesome, the presentation he gave, showed all general flaws in game development and how people should think while making games. 20+ years of industry experience is no Joke!

There were many other talks, talks on game music, graphics, MMOs, etc. I attended all I could and of course the most important one of the day was the one on being DIFFERENT by Anand Ramachandran. He is the one who writes for Bossfight.in, but many indians might know him from Son of Bosey, one of India's funniest blogs. You could say... he is like, the Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of India The talk was really thought provoking.

After the day's events ended, me, him and two of the organisers from NASSCOM had long discussions, all about video games and other random philosophical stuff, that, much like IGGBASH, never get to discuss IRL. The discussions and everything went on till very late in the night. We all signed off, each gaining a new friend.

Lists and Time wasted so far.

The Lowdown | Games | Movies | Anime

Similar to how everything happened outside, in real life, most of my talks with GS friends happened outside too. I talk to many friends via portals like steam, or facebook or e-mails or even Phone.. its like the relation has gone... TO THE NEXT STEP, haha Its nice to see that a friendship that sprouted from GS has translated so well into real life.

I might not have been coming to GS too much, but will never forget what all it has done for me.

Well now... lets get to the Stats and resolutions!

In 2008, I saw about 300+ episodes of anime, and that was really something. I only saw around 20-something movies that year. Quite disappointed by that fact, I made it my "New Years Resolution" last year to see more movies.

So... how did 2009 turn out to be? Well, I was not keeping track of the number until yesterday when I sat and compiled the whole list (which was made easy thanks to twitter). I saw... *drumroll* 73 AKA Seventy Three movies last year! haha. I didn't expect it to be that high Whenever I got any free time, I just sat and watched a movie, I have this huge stack of shelved movies. Good thing I did I guess.

But, then came the end of 2009 Games list. EVERYDAY, I sit and read articles upon articles about games, but somehow, whenever its time to play games I felt "The time available is not enough for a game" (i.e. procrastination) I played (through its entirety) only 15 games last year. I did play 20+ hours of many games and didn't complete them, FF XII to name one. This only showed one thing. I'm not spending time with games! I always find myself reading stuff and complaining that I'm not playing anything.

*The New Year's Resolution

So this New Year's resolution is to Play games, especially because this will be my last year in my super happy fun home, and my Home Theatre. If everything goes according to plan, should be leaving for my higher studies in august. So, this is the best time to enjoy games to the fullest. Console games. Coz after that, I guess its just steam and me HP tablet. Bought too many games from Steam deals... they be crazy I tellsya!

Oh yeah, the only animé show I saw last year was GTO, although, its was VERY much worth it. One of the best experiences ever. I got its manga and have to read it sometime. Also, have to watch more animé this year too, I've stalled them at 100 (shows watched). The other thing I did was, read the whole School Rumble manga from start to finish. It was quite an adventure. Then ending... it was... oh well, anyway, its over. All I can say is, the last stretch, I read from 7 PM to 7AM, that's how awesome it was.

Definitely though, when I look back. 2009 has been a year full of unforgettable moments.

Let hope I manage to keep the tempo and start writing stuff and talking to you guys more frequently. The thing is that... real life is no cake walk. I'm in my final year of engineering and time has to be dedicated to it. Cant just expect EVERYTHING to happen as planned. I still have played ONLY TWO games from my year old package smackage blog post!

If anything, I will always be active on twitter because I'm always connected in some way or the other. So keep track that way (at your own risk ) if you want to see my gaming and life updates as and when they happen.

Hey guys. Just a quick heads up.

First, I got back from Michigan. Had a great time visiting with the family. BUT, one day we went snowmobiling and that evening I had the "sniffles".

Now I am full blown sick. I have lots of people coming over for a party so I am gearing up to not be artound them too much. I told them all that I had a bad cold, but they didn't care, theywanna party, so its on.

stupid photobucket...... I hate them! Will fix my banner soon, but I gotta go back to bed.

Hope that everyone had a great Christmas, and has a safe New Years!

Later guys!

As many of you know I've taken the EA Sports Active 30-Day Challenge and as of now I've gone through the first 5 workouts. When I first announced this experiment many of you said that the workouts wouldn't make much of a difference when it comes to weight-loss or improving my overall health. I'm not feeling more healthy and I haven't lost any weight but the workouts are strenuous and require a good amount of effort. Whether that translates into something more noticeable is yet to be seen.

So far I've been less than impressed and convinced that this is a viable option for a meaningful exercise routine. I imagine that workout DVD's and in-home programs are very similar to this experience so there might be something there in the end but for now I'm not ready to commit to anything beyond this 30-Day Challenge.

Meanwhile - Here's my backlog - Fallout 3 (GOTY), Dragon Age Origins, Final Fantasy 4 (DS), Lego Rockband, MLB 2k9, Halo 3: ODST, Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. Anyone who wants to game with me that's cool. I'm thinking my next Soapbox post will be about online gaming and online friend-making. Anyone have any experiences with that?

Also, don't forget to vote me for Gamespotter of the Year!

Anyone who has read my blogs knows 99% of my gaming is done on my XBOX 360. I've given up on PC gaming, and unlike last generation, I decided not to get all three consoles. I have nothing against the PS3, it's a terrific console. But when I decided to join the current console generation, the 360 had the hardware price point I was comfortable with, and also the game library that I was more interested in. Two and a half years after getting my 360, the PS3's game library is finally beginning to tempt me.

The problem is, I'm loathe to buy another console. Why? Well, the 360 and the PS3 are, for the most part, 95% the same damn thing. Sure there are differences that make each unique, or features one has that are superior to the other. But that's beside the point insofar as I'm concerned. I'm a proponent of a shared console standard. I'd love to see Microsoft and Sony and whoever else set a standard and each build their own version. Much like VHS, DVD, and Blu-Ray all became standards in their generation. The important thing is… people like me wouldn't be writing blogs like this because they can't play exclusive games for a console they don't own.

So here I am in a sort of dilemma. There are a dozen or so great PS3 exclusive games I want to play. But it's very hard to justify plunking $300-350 on a second console to allow me to do so. Especially when there are other items I need more urgently, such as a new laptop and server, plus countless items for my house among other things. On top of that, my friends have 360s, not PS3s. I'm sure some day I'll get one anyway, even if I use the Blu-Ray player as the justification.

It's not like I have even run out of good games to play on the 360. I have about 6 games I haven't even started yet, including the epic time-eater Dragon Age: Origins! But regardless of that fact, these are the PS3 exclusives whose siren calls beckon me to my doom:

ˇ Demon's Souls

ˇ God of War III

ˇ Heavy Rain

ˇ Killzone 2

ˇ Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots

ˇ Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction/A Crack In Time

ˇ Resistance: Fall of Man/Resistance 2

ˇ Uncharted: Drake's Fortune/Uncharted 2: Among Thieves

Those are the exclusives that interest me most. Perhaps you have some other AAA title ideas. In the meantime, I'll be happily chugging through my backlog of 360 exclusives and multi-platform titles.

Happy hollidays to everyone. The rush around here was so intense that I haven't had time for anything other than work and doing various Christmas related tasks. I hope everyone's version of the winter festival went well and that you got all that your grubby little gamer hearts desired.

Now, it wouldn't be a Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza/Festivus related blog if I didn't go into an inordinate amount of detail as it pertains to all that we got here at the laughlyn12 house. Needless to say the backlog for 2010 has already begun to stack up.

Our big ticket gaming purchase this year was the ubiquitous Nintendo Wii. At least three other houses in our neighborhood got one as I noticed the Wii boxes out in the trash today.

This has been my first real in-depth Wii experiences as my previous ones all came in a more casual setting at my cousin's house.

I'm going to be honest about the Wii. While its great and its fun let's be honest. It's limited... at least to me. I will not play games just to be able to "waggle" two controllers around in some twisted person's idea of "intuitive control". There are very few actions that I can see myself translating to shaking my fist's like Michael J Fox when he's trying to sign his name. (Too soon?)

Wii Sports is great even though golf is a horrible analog for a real golf swing and while I know Tiger Woods PGA 10 for the Wii with the Wii Motion Plus is supposed to be about as close a real golf swing as possible I'm not sure that I'm comfortable shelling out my money to his brand at this point in time.

We also got Wii Play if for no other reason than the second Wiimote. The game is crap with the exception of the cow racing... for some reason the gf and I love that game.

Mario Galaxy was the next Wii game that we got and its honestly about as good as platformers get. I haven't played a Mario game since the Nintendo 64 and despite all the years that have passed I don't feel like I've been left behind. The controls make sense and I don't feel like I'm just flailing my arms about because I'm supposed to. Outstanding level design... probably some of the best I've ever seen.

Lastly, I picked up Zelda: Twilight Princess last night and so far so good. It seems just like OoT and as far as I'm concerned that's just great by me.

The one thing that I did notice while playing these two games yesterday is how "japanese" they really feel. The fantastic world and characters are obviously not something constructed here in the states for better or worse.

And while all these in and of themselves wouldn't necessarily create a backlog our other new game most definitely will. The girlfriend really wanted Dragon Age: Origin so we picked that up on sale the day after Christmas and despite its obvious technical flaws (choppy frame rate, texture pop ins, etc) it really is an amazing game. 50 hours just for a single play through? That's what I keep hearing. You know a game is good when the first time you play it you get several IM's on XBL from people telling you how great the game is.

I guess that's it considering I doubt you give a damn about our new curtains and rugs which were also Christmas gifts.

Hope everyone had a great holliday and got everything they wanted.

Take care and happy gaming.

Laughlyn

See Part 1 here

See Part 2 here

As a fervent reader (and writer) of video-game reviews, I can't help but see certain patterns emerging in this (admittedly) developing art. Professional journalists are not immune to criticism (as anyone who's ever visited an author's blog might attest), so I've added them into the mix and you'll see that in one case, they are the worst offenders of all!

Sites that do not allow reader review submissions seem incomplete to me, as if they encourage a seperation of opinion between industry and consumer. This is a micro cla$$ system that I feel is bad for all interested in games and game-reporting. I hope to read and write about games decades into the future - even when cybernetic simulants play and opinionate onour behalf.

So, never take these three items as discouragement (I know you've all got thicker skins than that anyhow), but more as a (hopefully) humorous poke at one of my favourite areas in game reporting. Here are three more phrases that cheese me off:

Messaging other players in your review

What does it mean? Using review headings/summaries as a message board

Where do I see it? Using your review as a message system is a peculiar but not uncommon choice among reader reviews. Sure, as listed in my earlier piece, senseless and unfair 0.0 ratings applied to your favourite game is an affront. But to post a review with such terms as "To all those who rated this game low...", or "Don't listen to the haters!", or "You are all a bunch of N00bs" may be tempting, but it surely belongs in another arena. The review article is certainly supposed to be personal, but it's not supposed to be PERSONAL - (if you get my meaning).

(Links to such articles supplied by request!)

Some messages should stay bottled-up.

Undercooked Reviews

What does it mean? A review that is based on an impression or incomplete experience with a game

Where do I see it? The reader reviews that are the most baffling are those based on a mere scrap of time with the game. Of course, these reviewers will never admit it, and I cannot actually prove it, but I think we can all read between the lines of these premature pieces. Games journalists (typically) have the decency to annouce that their time is an impression or hands-on, but to post a review based on 5 minutes of demo-play at "Ye Olde Game Shoppe", or an unforgetable night of play courtesy of Blockbuster is, at best, a disservice to those looking for informed opinion. At worst, these lightweight reviews may cost impressionable readers actual money!

(Links to such articles supplied by request!)

"The game felt incomplete, somehow"

"Best Game EVER"

What does it mean? The author has made a enormous claim

Where do I see it? Thankfully, less and less. We all may have some idea of what game deserves this ludicrous title (what, for instance, is the best food in the world?), but to declare this mantle is surely asking for trouble. Carl Sagan said that "Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence"; so to make such a far-out claim about the game is gonna' mean a lot of explaining to your peer-group! I'm sorry, but two more paragraphs of ill-arranged praise won't do. Rather, please present a current report with govermental studies, double-blind testing with control groups, economic reporting and collation, stock market figures with informed extrapolation, and a broad, multi-demographic survey campaign. These are merely the first places you shoud start. I now await this data to be posted by those users making such claims...

(Of course, after you've made those inquiries, you'll be gunning for your PhD, not gunning for your Halo 3 achievement).

International Law says that in such debates, SHIRT beats NO-SHIRT

Those gripes that I could not expand on could fill another article themselves, but due to my (and Gamespot readers') patience, I chose to list them quickly here:

"Franchise" - I know it's technically correct, but to use this business term when referring to Halo, Mario, or even Hamsterz only conjures thoughts of Burger King, PIZZA HUT and SUBWAY to me. Also, is it really a franchise if there are no franchisees?

"Hype" - Using this term (my article included) only gives this over-used word more credence.

"To summarise..." - This is for those readers (whomever they are) who need clear announcements every step of the review. (See Part 1)

Now that I don't have to worry about final exams and the holidays I've had the opportunity to sit down with Dragon Age; BioWare'sbectest epic role playing game for those who haven't heard of it. Now I've played every BioWare RPG since Baldur's Gate (well except Sonic Chronicles), and honestly I've been pretty disappointed by most of their releases since Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal. When Dragon Age was announced as being the "spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate" I was cautiously optimistic, and I'm glad that I wasn't excited about it because this game feels more like Neverwinter Nights than Baldur's Gate.

First I'd like to mention what really annoys me about this game. First and foremost is the camera... the camera... I think it's worse than the camera in Neverwinter Nights 2. Seriously. It zooms down to ground level when loading a game, buildings constantly obstruct your vision in cities, if the camera is in front of a large building then it will be pushed down to ground level, and you can't view the entire area as you can only move it a short distance away from your party. In Baldur's Gate I could use the map to quickly shift to a point of interest, and with one click I could direct my party to go there with no problem. In Dragon Age I have to constantly hold down the arrow keys to move the camera farther ahead and constantly click. This is the same type of camera used by the Neverwinter Nights games, and it's as broken as ever.

My next complaint is the length of dungeons. Now I know this seems like a silly thing to complain about. Maybe it's because I made the mistake of doing the Dwarven questline first and thus had to wade my way through the Deep Roads which is apparently hated far and wide, but the length of dungeons in this game is utterly ridiculous. I think I spent at least six hours in the Deep Roads (which is only a part of the Dwarven quest line I might add), and in all of that time I didn't encounter a single side quest worth noting. My time consisted entirely of killing spiders and Dark Spawn, and navigating maze-like roadways. Occasionally I engaged in a conversation, but generally it was only to give me a general idea of where I should go next. Maybe the other parts of the main quest are less tedious, but I don't look forward to revisiting the Deep Roads in a future replay.

Next I'd like to actually compliment BioWare on a few things. First of all their narrative has come along way since Baldur's Gate II, and that's partially because of the leap to 3D. Obviously it's hard to make a 2D game series like Baldur's Gate cinematic. Characters in Dragon Age move about in conversation and have a variety of poses much like the ones in Mass Effect. I don't feel that Dragon Age's rather generic overarching Dark Spawn storyline is a worthy successor to Baldur's Gate's "Children of an evil dead God" overarching storyline, but really something like that is hard to top anyway.

The setting is another area I'd like to praise. Honestly I wasn't expecting much when I installed this game; I still remembered the awful trailers EA released to the public with the Marilyn Manson music, and over the top gore. Fortunately this stuff isn't as prominent in DA as the trailers would lead you to believe. The setting itself isn't all that dark and gritty; it's actually a pretty typical fantasy setting, but with a bit more sophistication than some others. Dragon Age does not feature a happily ever after fairy tale book-like world with most of its emphasis on adventuring; politics plays a huge role in the setting, and the politics are just as important as the Dark Spawn threat. In the original Baldur's Gate Sarevok attempted to wrest control of the city of Baldur's Gate by the use of politics, but the politics of the setting weren't explored in great detail. You really get a feel for how the Dragon Age world works, and how the politics are just as deadly as the monsters you're fighting against.

Finally I'd like to praise the approval system. While the approval system is obviously just Obsidian's influence system with a different name it is well executed in Dragon Age. I think the "gift" idea is a little silly, but the way you gradually build your relationship with your comrades is a welcome feature and much more natural than the forced method in which Mass Effect handled Shepard's relationships with his or her companions. In that game you essentially became best friends with all of your crew after one mission. Now the lack of an influence system isn't inherently bad, but Mass Effect like Jade Empire was really short, so unlike Baldur's Gate II, Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic you didn't have a gradual progression of your relationship with particular characters. Dragon Age probably could have worked fine without an influence system since it's so long, but it's nice that you start out as strangers, and your actions and conversations contribute either a small bonus, or penalty to your approval rating with that character determining how they react to you and treat you. I'm looking forward to seeing the impact this system has.

All in all I do think Dragon Age is a great game, but I don't really consider it a worthy successor to the Baldur's Gate saga thus far. Really I don't think BioWare will ever top their crown jewel series as a whole no matter how much their story telling evolves. The Baldur's Gate series had better side quests, were larger in scope, and had a more epic and intriguing overarching storyline than anything BioWare has done since. Despite the monotonous Deep Roads I am enjoying the game a great deal; it's certainly better than Jade Empire and Mass Effect at the very least, but it feels more like the spiritual successor to Neverwinter Nights than the spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and I can't help but feel that something is missing. And no I'm not talking about Minsc and Boo.

No, not converted from preferring one console over another. I'm talking about food. After being a bit concerned over my naivety when it comes to cooking, my girlfriend got me a cooking book for Christmas by Jamie Oliver. Now granted, I've been given cook books before. When I moved out of home a couple of people bought me cook books knowing that I might need help in that department, but they all seemed to lack accessability. They spoke about ingredients like you should know what they were, and I had no idea, or how to prepare them if that was expected of you, so my cooking life has been pretty plain for the most part; heating stuff in microwaves out of tins, frozen meals, basic stir fry and pasta (with meat sauce out of a tin).

But this book made it all pretty easy to follow. So I decided I needed to make something. The first page my girlfriend opened to was some roasted white fish wrapped in smoked bacon, with a side of lemon mayonnaise and asparagus. Second choice was rib of beef with a side of rosemary and garlic roast potatoes, seeing as I don't recall having a fishmonger at my local shopping centre and don't think the supermarkets there carry fish. So on Sunday I go to pick up the ingredients and forgot that the butcher won't be open. So I settled on some T-bone steak from the supermarket. Megan was going to bring some rosemary from her house, but she forgot. So she looks outside and it turns out I have rosemary a bush in my backyard. Who knew?

So in the end we had cubed roasted potatoes, cooked in rosemary, lemon zest and juice, and garlic. The T-bone steaks were marinated in the leftovers; it was supposed to sit for an hour but we already had the potatoes on and somewhere to be, so we couldn't wait. Chucked them in the frying pan, seasoned with freshly ground pepper and sea salt, flipped them over after a few minutes and did the same. After a few more minutes, took them off the stovetop and chucked them in the oven with the potatoes, taking it out every few minutes to baste them. Once finished, drizzled the steak with the leftover marinade and some extra virgin olive oil mixed with ground pepper.

And it was quite awesome. I was able to pick at what I could have done better, but given that it tasted so awesome I guess that means I have been living in blandtown for too long. The lemon really set off the meat. Usually when it comes to meat, I just chuck it in the frying pan with a little oil. I probably drizzled a little too much of the extra virgin olive oil on afterwards. I also don't have a mortar and pestle and improvised, so the potatoes probably would have had a stronger flavour if I'd been able to crush them correctly (but damn the crunchy texture was awesome). As I write this I am eating some calarami and salt and pepper squid that is cooked in the oven from frozen. They are tasty. But the vegetables that I've also cooked from frozen? Almost no taste. Now I have to decide whether to just throw them out or see if I can dress them up somehow. I don't think I want to eat them again as they are.

So why haven't I really cooked before? There are a few factors, that I'm sure some of you can relate to. Time is a factor. I often get home late so I don't want to have to prepare something. As that time is usually also invested in making meals just for myself, I don't see that it is worth the effort. But the above meal didn't take that long to make. It was probably about half hour from starting preparation to ready to eat. Though needing to do extra dishes because you prepare individual items of food can also be annoying. Then there is cost. I've always seen preparing full meals as more expensive. I think that may be both true and untrue, depending on what you make. The bill to get started on this meal was almost $40, but that included a bunch of ingredients that I only needed to use a small portion of and can go towards future meals (olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, bag of potatoes, sleeve of garlic, salt and pepper including grinders which were a bit more expensive). So if I keep preparing these sorts of meals it should start averaging out as I obtain stocks of general ingredients.

Will this be a fad and I only make a couple of meals for Megan to please her before I give up? Possibly... but I think I might be on to something here.

In gaming news, I've still been playing Burnout Paradise. It's taking a while to get my Elite licence. For those that haven't played it, each time you get a licence (by completing enough events) the city gets 'cleared' and you can complete the same events to go towards your next licence, with more events being required for each incremental licence upgrade. Once you get your Burnout licence, the city clears and you have to complete EVERY event to get your Elite licence... which is only about 115 events. I'm down to about 75 to go after a few play sessions, so this is going to take a while. If anyone wants to do challenges or compare road times/showtime, let me know. I'm playing the PS3 version. Haven't played much World of Goo, tried one of the stages while I had a spare moment but didn't complete it, I think I know what to do now though.

Also watched Avatar, and it was amazing. At first the 3D was a bit distracting, but after the halfway point I didn't really notice it and was immersed in the incredibly envisioned world. Highly recommended. Is the movie meant to be an analogy for us destroying our world? I don't know. Still incredible though.

Final Tip : For anyone out there who wants their significant other or anyone else they know to learn how to cook, the first step is to stop ridiculing them about what they don't know. This is probably the biggest factor in someone not wanting to learn how to cook, because they feel that anytime they own up to not knowing something, they are going to feel stupid for it. I told Megan this and she became supportive, and she was incredibly proud of me for making her an awesome meal.