Some times good guys don't wear white.

Alright so I’m into jade empire now, it took me a bit but its getting interesting now and even thought the story line hasn’t really progressed much because of the thousand and one side quests. They sure know how to make a side quest interesting over there at Bioware, from helping a scorned women get vengeance against her ex-boy friend through brutal murder or helping some spirits get some peace in the after life there is a lot more subplot lines in this game then most of the other games that I’ve play. Last night I had to force myself to stop playing before the assault on a Lotus Assassins stronghold, it was 4 and I had to work the next day so it was quit or sleep walk my way through work not that I’ve never done that before . At the pace that I’m playing this game right now I think I can have this game beaten by next weekend if nothing big comes up in the real world.

What I really want to write about is the option to play a good or evil character, Bioware an a few other companies have started implemented in there RPG games. The opportunity to effect the morality of the character you are playing is really interesting to me and it does some what effect the path of the game. In my case as hard as I try there’s no way I can play an evil character in a video game like this. Already in Jade Empire I’ve played the open handed course, which is basically the good guys: halo and all. For some reason playing the good guy is the only way I play a video game, which is funny because I love the Grand theft auto games….you can’t be a saint all the time. Playing the closed fist path might have been fun but in the end I would just end up having a case of pixilated guilt.

The first case of this was Fable, I loved the legacy building mechanics as the begging of the game, and basically your actions effect how you start the game. It was really simple and brilliant the way small actions like stopping a bully from stealing a doll from a little girl or taking it yourself changing your character. So the first time I played fable I played the good guy, but the second time I was the bad guy…it didn’t really last very long. Makes me wonder why they would want to screw with my emotions like that, when the little girl started crying after I took her doll I felt TERRIABLE and instantly regretted it. The worst part are the NPC's that say things like “I have a family, please don’t kill me!” or “Why are you doing this to me?” hearing that kind of makes you want to apologize to them and why; consider there just failed actors that are doing voice work because they aren’t getting enough hours at McDonalds. Either way it didn’t really effect the game much, they do look different depending on which way you go and they treated different but they story line pretty much stays the same, to be honest I couldn’t continue on the evil path and quit the game shortly after I started it…man I’m a wimp.

Fallout 3 for me is the same way and yes I’m a good guy again, it would be a lot easier to be evil if they didn’t give every character a voice. Man it’s like an emotional cheese grater when you hurt people in that game too, the reactions of the people after you do something evil like say…killing the Sheriff of megaton, everyone in town starts shooting or stabbing you. In that case it’s good that it didn’t auto save cause I felt like shit after doing that, if my Mom hadn’t instilled bullshit like “values” and “respect for human life” in me then I might be enjoying this game more. It’s strange how good and evil paths effect me in video game worlds, I’ve never had any problem killing the citizens of Los Santos in Grand Theft Auto. The only difference is the halo or horns that show up on my head after I commit an act of good or bad thing that causes a ripple in the world around me. But enough of this, I’m going to try to be evil in Knights of the old republic…I hope for my sake the dark side is the right path for me.

TIME FOR A SMOKE!

A few thoughts for the day.

* I really wanna play Skate 2 ever sense I played the demo

* I heard there was a patch for Gears of war 2's multiplayer modes going to try it this weekend for the first time

* I'm concerned about God of War 3 now that I heard that Dave jaffey isn't in on the project.

* Theres no way that I'm going to be able to beat Jade Empire before the end of the month.

* layoffs are starting at both Microsoft and sony.

* It cuts me deep that I didn't get done with Fallout 3 before the first dlc comes out

* Resident Evil 5 Demo is up for download.

And now Cedricks_human bitching about his pile of shame…aka Jade Empire

I’m about a third of the way through Jade empire, something like 16 hours into it give or take a few minutes here or there and I’m finally starting to get into it. Its not that it’s a bad game but there is something that feels kind of generic about the environments and the combat system seems like it was tacked on. Yeah I know a game that’s about a crew of destiny warriors having tacked on fighting, how did that happen most of the time during combat all I really have to do is dodge until I’m behind my enemy and then hit them in the back. It wouldn’t be so bad but its just repeating that cycle over and over again gets really boring. Knowing the outcome of every fight as long as I follow that combo kind of takes the fun factor out of the game. Now I’ve heard the definition of madness is doing something over and over again expecting different results but what happens when it always works, what would Freud probably something like “The fuck do I know I’m high on coke right now” smart man that Freud. This is a Bioware game and as of late in my mind there held in higher regard then manly because Square for some reason has this quantity over quality thing going on. But when they were at there peak they were golden and untouchable, now that America is getting ahead of the Asian companies and the balance of power is shifting. But enough about square Jade Empire is my target for now, anyway what I was really trying to say is screw your dialogue trees and work on the core mechanics of the game. The more I think about it Mass Effect had the same problems with is own combat system, even if it did feel better then jade empires does, I know its not easy to make a game I’ve never been tempted too But can you really have one without the other, a good story to go along with an epic rpg is important but so is combat. Out of the 16 hours of play time I’ve spent most of the time running through lines of dialogue like I’m studying to be the lead in a high school play. I guess you could say well why did you buy this game, you knew Biowares M.O dialogue trees and story are what put asses in the seats. Sacrificing one for the other isn’t OKAY its just another sloppy developer trick, woo them with the graphics (which for the time were really good) and the bells and whistles of story based dialog trees then put an Band aid on it with “combat” written on it. If you think I’m bitching now wait until I got through the same BS on Kotor.

Time to smoke!

My big disappointment...The Wii

So, I said I was going to touch on the Nintendo Wii and here goes. This has been a long time coming. So, when the Wii was put out my buddy Eric picked one up. He actually walked into a Target a few weeks after the release and there was one sitting right there on the shelves. So, he bought it. He has since sold his and for a very good reason. I will delve into that later. So he set it up and had us all over to play Wii Sports. I fell in love with the system right then and there. It was fun and showed great signs of things to come.

Well, I was at work one day and a woman in IT sent out a mass email to the whole building saying that she had a brand spanking new on for sale for the original price. I jumped on it. She could have easily sold it on Ebay at that point for probably twice the cost if not more. I got it home and set it up and started playing. Then it struck me. This sucks when you play it alone. So, I picked up Zelda, Raving Rabbids, and a few other games for the system. "Alright, I can do this alone," I thought but I was only kidding myself. I felt stupid waving the wiimote around and the games just weren't challenging. So it sat there next to my television collecting dust and being broken out when I had people over. It was still fun with a group of people after all. I've played one other game for a different system that falls into this catagory as well. That being Rock Band for the PS3. Yes, it's a great game but it's just not something I want to sit around and play by myself. At least that still gets broken out when I have people over. The Wii just sits there.

Don't get me wrong. I keep trying with the Wii but the love isn't there. People are jazzed about the old games you can download and play on the system or the fact that they can play Gamecube games on the system as well. Well, you know what? The only game on the virtual console I want that I haven't downloaded yet is Toe Jam and Earl and that's for purly nastolgic reasons. I remember playing the hell out of that game with my friend Matt back in the day. Otherwise all the other games I can just pick up at garage sales, Ebay, or at used game stores like Cedar Cliff Collectables. Not really meaning to put a plug in for them but the store is awesome. If you've been there you know what I mean. It's kind of like that really good used book store with books piled up on the floor that you could spend hours digging through but instead of books it's used games and systems, action figures, anime, comics, etc. Anyway, the point is I don't see the point to it. I found one game that was absolutely a blast to play and that was Excite Truck. I'm not even a racing fan but that game to me captured everything that an arcade racing game ought to be or tried to be. Zak and Wiki was a challenging puzzle game but over all lost it's appeal in the end. Paper Mario was decent but over all was just the same thing over and over again. No More Heroes was intesting and had a good feel to it at first and then became this overly repetitive thing...I can go on and on and on.

The Nintendo Wii is just not a gamers system. Nintendo lets all these companies release game after game of pure kid oriented crap. When I say crap that's exactly what I mean too. Is there a single adult out there that wants to play Disney Princess: Enchanted Journey or all of the stupid Petz games? I don't think so. I will give Nintendo a little credit though. They have put out something remotely interesting with the balance board. The downside to it is that it's only being used for games that aren't games. Wii Fit or the other various excersize games. They have totally alienated the actual gamers out there and that's why Eric sold his system and why mine has been that close to being sold as well. Sometimes I am just hopeful that there will be the rare gem that comes out for the system that is actually fun and challenging to play by yourself instead of having to have a group of people over to play it but my hopes keep getting dashed. And fuck no I am not buying into the Animal Crossing craze. That shit is exceptionally lame. Shoot me. If you have any suggestions for games to check out for the system please let me know. Or if you're looking for the system let me know what price you're willing to pay.

Psyconauts and the terrors of Sloppy ports.

This is my first post about my pile of shame, there were a few problems with my copy of Psyconauts but in the end I beat it and enjoyed beating it too. Here are a few of my thoughts on the game.

The game that I am playing first is Psyconauts is the story of a boy that runs away from the circus to join a camp for psychics as lame as that sounds the game infact is one of the best poorly executed games I’ve played. Don’t let it fool you this game is ripe with crazy some times disturbing stuff, but sticking with it and its problem will make up for its bubble gum extiore and also shows why Tim Shafer is one of the most creature and funny guys in the video game industry. The sad part about the version I was playing is that something was lost in the translation from Xbox to the playstation 2 version; it seemed to be a sloppy port with all the problems that go along with the words “sloppy port”. The controls were muddy and some times it seemed like randomly hitting buttons was replacing any kind of skill at playing the game. The graphics were also really questionable at times and I still have no idea how I made it through the “through the eyes of the monster” chase sequence, infact that happened to me a lot while playing this game it seemed like it was apologizing to me at points; putting me on the right path through the more confusing points in the game. Which are problems most of the time but the quirky characters and levels were the reason that I kept on going and were pretty much the reason I kept playing it …well that and finishing my pile of shame. The characters are incredibly well thought out from Razes problems with his dads hatred for psychics because of the families past problems with them to Dogans tin fail hat that he wears to prevent him from making the other campers head explode, there a lot of love put into every character and it show thought out the game, each of them representing the different arch types of personalities. Raz himself is one of the best characters I’ve played in a game, he’s the loveable loser type that gets tossed into crazy sinerios and forced to deal with them. It seems like a lot of games that I’ve been playing or plan to be playing have that same type of character as the hero in them. But in this case the sinero unfolds as raz runs away from the Circus to go to Psychic camp, the problem starts when the brains of his fellow campers start being stolen. Which leads to some interesting levels as he works his way through the screwy psyches using his psycho portal to enters some of the characters minds and helps them deal with there mental blocks. The Psyche levels are where this game really shines, the levels themselves are just as interesting as the characters and telling you too much about they would ruin my favorite part of the game. So I’ll just give a small part of one of the levels, one of my favorite levels was the velvet painting in the mind of the artist, I love the contrast of the black background highlighted by the brite neon blues and pinks, not even the misplaced camera and the clunky platforming could have killed this level for me. This level reminds me of a stoners room full of black lit posters, I wish that this game would have been given a bit more time to cook cause the small things in it seem to make the big problems, even if I sound like I didn’t like it: I did enjoy playing this game. My hope is that Brutal Legend is a better put together game and really I’m pretty much ready to put down the money for it regardless of how it turns out I have a feeling Tim Shafter needs the money.

A brief introduction to the fat cold bastard in the cities

So, my buddy texts me several, SEVERAL, times about "Hey, I have this great idea for a blog" etc. Well, here we are. Finally putting things together and getting it started. Now, you might wonder what qualifies us to blog about video games and the industry as a whole and the answer to that is simple. We like gaming and other random shit we post...So, if you don't like it don't read it. What systems do you play on is another question you might ask yourself as well. This might take a little longer to explain.

If you know anything about Moose Lake Minnesota, the town I grew up in) you're going to know one thing. It's definitely no cultural mecca. To get our video game fix we would have to go to Gamper's bowling alley, Pamida in Cloquet, up to Duluth to the arcades that no longer exist, actually buy video games (saving up allowance money kind of sucked back then), or wait for the 4th of July town celebration and the carnies to come into town. Mostly we went to Gampers or waited for the 4th of July. That is until the Atari hit. I can still remember my parents bringing that glorious machine home and them setting it up. Playing Asteroids and Combat all the time. There was also that one game called Adventure where all you were was a little square and you had to collect colored keys to get into certain castles and avoid the bats and dragons. I think that is honestly my favorite game for that system still to this day.

Then along came the Nintendo. I think I was in seventh grade when it seemed like all of my friends were getting it. That Christmas all I asked for was a Nintendo. I won't go into details about how that Christmas went down but we definitely got the Nintedo and I got a NES Advantage as well. The Nintendo was used and it was missing the front flap but it worked just fine. Go to find out later that my parents bought it from one of their friends that happened to live on a reservation. For all I know the system was hot. This "friend" of theirs did some pretty shady shit in his past like stealing a fridge from a bar amoungst other things. Anywa, this is the system that really started the video game addiction for me. Things that actually really looked like things and oh the games...So many great games for the Nintendo. I actually got rid of the Nintendo a long time ago but recently bought a top loading one off of Ebay and started populating my games for it again. Personal favorite for that system is a toss up between three games. Yes, I realize Super Mario Bros. 3 is the pinacle for that system and yes, technically probably the best game for the system which is why it's a no brainer and I am not including it in my top three. First there's Crystalis. I'm sorry but without this game there may never have been Secret of Mana for the SNES. You can shoot me for thinking that but it's the truth in my world. Very simular styles of gaming for both of those. Then there's that lovely cave dwelling family in Legacy of the Wizard. I think this game is still the shit today. I can pop it in and mindlessly wander around those caves for hours. Finally Nobunaga's Ambition. Nothing really needs to be said about this game. You either love it or hate it. Personally I am looking forward to playing the latest installment for the PS2.

From here I went on to the Super Nintendo. I remember being in high school and buying it off of a guy that was in my class. That system really started showing where the video game industry could go. Yeah, I know a lot of people were Nintendo or Genesis fanboys back then and yes there were decent games for both systems but the SNES had the Genesis beat hands down. I did eventually sell that system to a friend of mine at one point but just like with the original NES I had to re-buy this on ebay and populate my games for it as well. The cream of the crop for me being Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, and of course a Link to the Past.

Now in college they put out the N64. I was a big fan of this and still remember playing Mario Kart 64 in one of the floor lounges with my buddy Dom until our eyes were blood red and we were so tired that everything seemed funny. No we weren't smoking weed either. Just playing all night. I have absolutely no desire to replace this system what-so-ever. Looking back at it there were only a few good games for the system and that's it. Of course the Turock games were fun and you can't beat Golden Eye for it but really, what else did this system have?

Now I am really not going to go into much detail of the systems or games but I did finally bow down to Sony and bought the Playstation. Just like everyone else on the planet I fell in love with the system and the huge library of games that it had. Then I picked up the PS2 and fell hard for that system. There were just too many amazing games for the PS2 but my personal favorite for a series had to be the Fatal Frame games...I don't know what it was about those games but they really sucked me in. The next system I got was the Nintendo DS. I got this as a reluctant birthday gift from my now ex-wife...I guess it's the one thing I ever got from her that I've actually kept. Well, that is except for a picture that's framed on the wall that has two devil children holding hands and it has the caption "Our Special Lil' Hell" which fully describes my marriage. The DS was great as a novelty but I never really fell in love with it. I did really like Hotel Dusk for that system. After I moved out of the house and into my apartment thanks to the impending divorce I bought myself a toy to try to keep me busy. I picked up the Nintendo Wii. Initially there was lots of love for this system but then the love wore off and it just sat there nagging at me. My next blog will be all about the Wii. Later the next year I broke down and bought a 60gb PS3. I was ready for the system seeing as there was nothing, NOTHING coming out for the Wii that I was even remotely interested in playing. Now, I'm some 30 games deep into this system and loving it. It also helps that I have a set-up that really utilizes it and the blu-ray player.

Now, there's also the smattering of other systems I've played but never bought. Atari Jaguar, Dreamcast, XBox, XBox 360, etc...Don't get me wrong, if I had the spare money to throw at another system I might bow down before Microsoft but as it stands I only have the time and money to put into the systems I already own. So there you go, my video game history in a nutshell.

Now that I have recently moved, again in the dead of winter, I must attempt to work on unpacking those beloved video game systems and getting everything else unpacked. Here's to all the Frozen Thumbs. Hope this starts a long friendship of blogging and video game discussions.

Pile of shame and the great new year Cleaning.

Alright its a New year and its time to start cleaning house, so I can start a new and more shameful pile of video games that I want to play but ran out of the ambition to. I picked five games right out of the gate to play to there completion, Psyconauts, Gta; San Andreas, Jade Empire, Panzer Dragoon Ortia and God of war 2. These games have been sitting on my shelf for varying amounts of time, now is the time to beat them or at least make a good show of it. My quest started in January, look at that its still the first month of the year and I'm two games in to my BIG five, now if I can just stick with this crap then I'll be alright..Basically I just wanna make it through 10 of them, for good or for bad and thats what I'll be writing about until I finish them. At that point I expect they'll be a parade for me. Nothing special but as I'm being carried down the street on my golden thrown by four midgets I'm thinking the women of Duluth will be throwing rose pedals on the path and screaming about how they want my man marmalade..Man I can't wait to finish them, anyway your going to have to excuse my writing, punctuation and my sentence structure. If you can forgive me for that, then I think we'll be ok for the rest of the blog.