I've been working as a telemarketer for a couple weeks as my in between job, and its been surpisingly decent. My boss is really cool, the organization i'm working for is established and well recognized, and the people i'm calling are all warm leads.
That being said, its still telesales, and some days I don't look forward to it at all. Today was one of those days.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Emancipation: Not all its cracked up to be.
Let me preface this with a few disclaimers.
1. I love Fallout 3. Its one of my favourite games, and I've sunk close to 40 hours into it. I'm going out of my way to play through it again, veeeery slowly to write my blog about it (talesofavaultdweller.blogspot.com) and loving it.
2. I am against slavery, regardless of race, creed, religious beliefs, etc. I don't think slavery is a good idea now, or ever.
In my personal game of Fallout 3, the one in which I am not blogging about (save a few posts on this side of things)I was working on a quest to help some escaped slaves. (Slavery is alive and well in the post apocolyptic wasteland) They had set up shop in a burnt out building, and called it the Temple of the Union. They had found the stone head of Lincoln somehow, and had a stone smith with them, so they decided this was a sign, and that they should take the head, and goto the Lincoln Memorial, and turn it into a beacon of hope for other slaves. Now, my character is good, morally speaking, so it only makes sense for him to help out, so I jumped at it.
First I had to goto the Memorial to ensure there were no slavers or Super Mutants about. There were, but I dealt with them promptly. The Slavers were easy, and it was profitable for me, in terms of ammunition and armour. The Super Mutants were not as easy, but I dealt with them anyways. Next, I had to get a picture of the Lincoln Memorial for the stonesmith, so he could recreate it properly. This was a bit more challenging, but a trip to the local museum and it was done. This was even more profitable, as I found the Lincoln Repeater, one of the more powerful in game weapons.
Next step was meeting the slaves at the Memorial. Sounds easy right? Just fast travel there, and bada bing, bada boom, achievement city. The problem was, they weren't there.
I looked on the Fallout Wiki and found it was a common bug, but the solutions they offered did not work for me. I tried 2-3 times, but no dice. Finally I decided that I would have to manually travel with them, ensure that they got where they needed going. It was slow going, and it was irritating, but for the most part, it actually made the game better, aside from the fact that I was doing it because of a bug, not because the game made me. Along the way we faced numerous threats, but since there were many of us (5 slaves, myself, my hired gun, my dog and their dog) we were able to handle them efficiently. The biggest problem we had was that we were travelling with some BOS outcasts, and one of them got a little loose with his missle launcher and caught one of our own within the blast radius. Obviously my people didn't like it, so we ended him.
Apparently travelling overland wasn't what they had in mind, so we took to a train station, following the tracks. Despite the fact that our destination was due south, these tracks took us due west. I questioned the wisdom of the detour, but followed along anyways, clearing the path of Feral Ghouls, and making sure all the locked gates were opened. I even had to close off a gas leak in one of the tunnels.
Once we hit the surface again, I was sure that we would swing around to the south, heading off to where we needed to go, but nope. Northwest now. I followed for a bit, but once we started getting near Megaton, I realized these slaves had no idea where they were going. At this point I was cursing them out continuously, saying that I should have told the slavers how to find them. I finally gave up on doing this the hard way and had J3nn look up how to handle this bug online. Apparently it takes these idiots 24-48 hours to get to where they need to go, likely because they feel the need to take a tour of the wasteland first. I delayed game time for 48 hours, and they finally made it. I was paid for my efforts, and sent along my way.
Stupid Slaves.
1. I love Fallout 3. Its one of my favourite games, and I've sunk close to 40 hours into it. I'm going out of my way to play through it again, veeeery slowly to write my blog about it (talesofavaultdweller.blogspot.com) and loving it.
2. I am against slavery, regardless of race, creed, religious beliefs, etc. I don't think slavery is a good idea now, or ever.
In my personal game of Fallout 3, the one in which I am not blogging about (save a few posts on this side of things)I was working on a quest to help some escaped slaves. (Slavery is alive and well in the post apocolyptic wasteland) They had set up shop in a burnt out building, and called it the Temple of the Union. They had found the stone head of Lincoln somehow, and had a stone smith with them, so they decided this was a sign, and that they should take the head, and goto the Lincoln Memorial, and turn it into a beacon of hope for other slaves. Now, my character is good, morally speaking, so it only makes sense for him to help out, so I jumped at it.
First I had to goto the Memorial to ensure there were no slavers or Super Mutants about. There were, but I dealt with them promptly. The Slavers were easy, and it was profitable for me, in terms of ammunition and armour. The Super Mutants were not as easy, but I dealt with them anyways. Next, I had to get a picture of the Lincoln Memorial for the stonesmith, so he could recreate it properly. This was a bit more challenging, but a trip to the local museum and it was done. This was even more profitable, as I found the Lincoln Repeater, one of the more powerful in game weapons.
Next step was meeting the slaves at the Memorial. Sounds easy right? Just fast travel there, and bada bing, bada boom, achievement city. The problem was, they weren't there.
I looked on the Fallout Wiki and found it was a common bug, but the solutions they offered did not work for me. I tried 2-3 times, but no dice. Finally I decided that I would have to manually travel with them, ensure that they got where they needed going. It was slow going, and it was irritating, but for the most part, it actually made the game better, aside from the fact that I was doing it because of a bug, not because the game made me. Along the way we faced numerous threats, but since there were many of us (5 slaves, myself, my hired gun, my dog and their dog) we were able to handle them efficiently. The biggest problem we had was that we were travelling with some BOS outcasts, and one of them got a little loose with his missle launcher and caught one of our own within the blast radius. Obviously my people didn't like it, so we ended him.
Apparently travelling overland wasn't what they had in mind, so we took to a train station, following the tracks. Despite the fact that our destination was due south, these tracks took us due west. I questioned the wisdom of the detour, but followed along anyways, clearing the path of Feral Ghouls, and making sure all the locked gates were opened. I even had to close off a gas leak in one of the tunnels.
Once we hit the surface again, I was sure that we would swing around to the south, heading off to where we needed to go, but nope. Northwest now. I followed for a bit, but once we started getting near Megaton, I realized these slaves had no idea where they were going. At this point I was cursing them out continuously, saying that I should have told the slavers how to find them. I finally gave up on doing this the hard way and had J3nn look up how to handle this bug online. Apparently it takes these idiots 24-48 hours to get to where they need to go, likely because they feel the need to take a tour of the wasteland first. I delayed game time for 48 hours, and they finally made it. I was paid for my efforts, and sent along my way.
Stupid Slaves.
Love thy Co-op Partner
So J3nn and I have been together for about a year and a half now, and for the most part, we (or at least I) couldn't be happier with the relationship. We had some rocky patches in the beginning, and we had a forced early move in, but other than that, the progression in our relationship has been grand.
A big difference with this relationship, that was sorely lacking in my past ones is partnership. On almost every level, J3nn is my partner. My partner in financial matters, my partner in raising the kids, and equally as important, my partner in hobbies.
J3nn and I met online, and a big part of what initially caught my interest was that she listed one of her interests as Video Games. There were other interests that we definitely shared, good television, a passion for reading, and probably a few others, but the Video Games was a huge draw. In almost all of my past relationships, I've tried to share my love of video games, with at best, middling success. Girls, for the most part, or at least the ones I've dated, just aren't into video games. I realize thats a broad generalization, as well as a generalization about broads, but thats based on my personal experiences. The girls I DID play video games with weren't very good, or didn't really show a lot interest, etc.
With J3nn, despite her claims of being a "Video Game" player, I found that she very much was the stereotypical gamer girl. She loved Kingdom Hearts, Jak and Daxter, and Mario, but not a lot else. She'd never tried an FPS's, didn't really know what an RTS was, and couldn't even keep her eyes from glazing over when being talked to about a JRPG. Add to that, her past experiences with co-op gaming had been less than stellar, and it was definitely an uphill battle.
Co-Op gaming has always been a huge attraction for me. There was a time in my past where I would relish the opportunity to have some friends over for a few rounds of Red Faction II, in which I would thoroughly trounce them, but as the console games started moving into the online realm, I quickly realized that if I wanted to hang with the big boys, it would take a lot more dedication than I had the desire to put into it. Single player games of course, have, and always will have their place in my gaming life, but Co-Op gaming is something that I can share with a friend, and build on thos shared relationships.
Enter J3nn. We started slow, easing into it. Because of the nature of the beast, Shooters were the easiest transition into the co-op genre, since there are so many to choose from. I realize that maybe something a bit more basic, a beat em up, etc, may have been a better choice, but we needed to see if this girl could hang or not. Halo was a game that I've always wanted to get into, partially because of the co-op element, partly because of the hype, but I never ended up playing through it. Now I had a potential lifelong co-op partner, and an excellent opportunity to get through this game. Halo was a good experience. It was a steep learning curve for J3nn, but she definitely stepped up, and kicked some ass. We finished Halo, and moved onto some other games. We tried Kane and Lynch, but found the camera was poor. Did Army of Two, and loved it. There were more, but that's not really the point.
Now that we had the co-op gaming under way, and a loooooong list of titles for us to work through, it was time for me to let J3nn spread her wings as a gamer. She still had some holdover titles from her single days, Katamari, the lego games, but there realy wasn't a lot for her to do on her own. I knew that J3nn was really coming in to her own as a gamer, and that there was a vast library of titles that she would really enjoy, but I think the prospect of entering new territory, without me to help her, was a bit intimidating.
Fable II was probably the break through title. The game that she actively wanted to play, on her own. I originally bought it for myself, or maybe for us to play together, since it was co-op, but the co-op camera made it almost impossible to play, and Fallout 3 came out soon afterwards, so it went to the wayside for me. J3nn however loved it. She couldn't get enough of it, and it didn't take long at all before she surpassed me in progress. It still remains one of the only games where she has a significant ammount more of achievements than I.
Fable was a nice entry point, but it was still too close to her former comfort zone. I needed to show her some variety, let her realize that she was a gamer now. I had been needling her to play Fallout 3 for a long time, because I knew she could. It was a first person, action RPG, that was rich with story, environment and flavour. It was right up her alley, but she was put off by the intimidation factor of having to learn a new genre.
It took the gamer competition between her and Kevin (germoid) to finally push her into it, as she needed a new game to get into. She started playing, and after a few hours, found she couldn't stop. Once she got into the wasteland and started meeting its inhabitants, exploring its locations, and killing its threats, I knew she was hooked. She's been playing every chance she gets, and has been loving every minute of it. She's almost caught up to me in time spent, she's more than halfway to my current characters level, and she's managed to pick up a few achievements I don't have yet.
The best thing about her playing, is that now we have another thing we can share. As much as Co-Op gaming has given us those shared experiences, they were just that, shared experiences. There were plenty of times in Saints Row or Army of Two where we would be driving around and re-create funny or tense moments in the game, and that was great, but with Fallout, we create our own personal experiences with the game, and then share them afterwards. We can trade strategies, exchange stories on how we dealt with certain situations, and pass on information of hidden items we found. Despite the fact that we're not playing together, its become one of favourite things to share.
A big difference with this relationship, that was sorely lacking in my past ones is partnership. On almost every level, J3nn is my partner. My partner in financial matters, my partner in raising the kids, and equally as important, my partner in hobbies.
J3nn and I met online, and a big part of what initially caught my interest was that she listed one of her interests as Video Games. There were other interests that we definitely shared, good television, a passion for reading, and probably a few others, but the Video Games was a huge draw. In almost all of my past relationships, I've tried to share my love of video games, with at best, middling success. Girls, for the most part, or at least the ones I've dated, just aren't into video games. I realize thats a broad generalization, as well as a generalization about broads, but thats based on my personal experiences. The girls I DID play video games with weren't very good, or didn't really show a lot interest, etc.
With J3nn, despite her claims of being a "Video Game" player, I found that she very much was the stereotypical gamer girl. She loved Kingdom Hearts, Jak and Daxter, and Mario, but not a lot else. She'd never tried an FPS's, didn't really know what an RTS was, and couldn't even keep her eyes from glazing over when being talked to about a JRPG. Add to that, her past experiences with co-op gaming had been less than stellar, and it was definitely an uphill battle.
Co-Op gaming has always been a huge attraction for me. There was a time in my past where I would relish the opportunity to have some friends over for a few rounds of Red Faction II, in which I would thoroughly trounce them, but as the console games started moving into the online realm, I quickly realized that if I wanted to hang with the big boys, it would take a lot more dedication than I had the desire to put into it. Single player games of course, have, and always will have their place in my gaming life, but Co-Op gaming is something that I can share with a friend, and build on thos shared relationships.
Enter J3nn. We started slow, easing into it. Because of the nature of the beast, Shooters were the easiest transition into the co-op genre, since there are so many to choose from. I realize that maybe something a bit more basic, a beat em up, etc, may have been a better choice, but we needed to see if this girl could hang or not. Halo was a game that I've always wanted to get into, partially because of the co-op element, partly because of the hype, but I never ended up playing through it. Now I had a potential lifelong co-op partner, and an excellent opportunity to get through this game. Halo was a good experience. It was a steep learning curve for J3nn, but she definitely stepped up, and kicked some ass. We finished Halo, and moved onto some other games. We tried Kane and Lynch, but found the camera was poor. Did Army of Two, and loved it. There were more, but that's not really the point.
Now that we had the co-op gaming under way, and a loooooong list of titles for us to work through, it was time for me to let J3nn spread her wings as a gamer. She still had some holdover titles from her single days, Katamari, the lego games, but there realy wasn't a lot for her to do on her own. I knew that J3nn was really coming in to her own as a gamer, and that there was a vast library of titles that she would really enjoy, but I think the prospect of entering new territory, without me to help her, was a bit intimidating.
Fable II was probably the break through title. The game that she actively wanted to play, on her own. I originally bought it for myself, or maybe for us to play together, since it was co-op, but the co-op camera made it almost impossible to play, and Fallout 3 came out soon afterwards, so it went to the wayside for me. J3nn however loved it. She couldn't get enough of it, and it didn't take long at all before she surpassed me in progress. It still remains one of the only games where she has a significant ammount more of achievements than I.
Fable was a nice entry point, but it was still too close to her former comfort zone. I needed to show her some variety, let her realize that she was a gamer now. I had been needling her to play Fallout 3 for a long time, because I knew she could. It was a first person, action RPG, that was rich with story, environment and flavour. It was right up her alley, but she was put off by the intimidation factor of having to learn a new genre.
It took the gamer competition between her and Kevin (germoid) to finally push her into it, as she needed a new game to get into. She started playing, and after a few hours, found she couldn't stop. Once she got into the wasteland and started meeting its inhabitants, exploring its locations, and killing its threats, I knew she was hooked. She's been playing every chance she gets, and has been loving every minute of it. She's almost caught up to me in time spent, she's more than halfway to my current characters level, and she's managed to pick up a few achievements I don't have yet.
The best thing about her playing, is that now we have another thing we can share. As much as Co-Op gaming has given us those shared experiences, they were just that, shared experiences. There were plenty of times in Saints Row or Army of Two where we would be driving around and re-create funny or tense moments in the game, and that was great, but with Fallout, we create our own personal experiences with the game, and then share them afterwards. We can trade strategies, exchange stories on how we dealt with certain situations, and pass on information of hidden items we found. Despite the fact that we're not playing together, its become one of favourite things to share.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Video Masochism
I'm a video game Masochist.
I have a real problem. In spite of my video game thriftiness, or more likely because of it, I end up buying a lot of games. It's a problem I've had for a while, and my collection of Xbox (original) was embarrasing. I had a ton, and finished very few. When I upgraded to the 360, (and all the others of course) I made myself a deal that I was going to finish each and every game I bought. The deal was of course struck with the best of intentions. I'd only buy games that got good reviews, that seemed like I'd enjoy them, etc.
Naturally the road to hell blah blah blah good intentions, so of course I got out of control again. The good news is that most of the games that aren't really the cream of the crop were purchased at a significantly lower price than what I usually spend. The bad news is that they multiply.
I have been forcing myself to play through them, even still, whether I enjoy them or not, and its really led to some painful gaming experiences. One thing that certainly mitigates these experiences is the achievements on the 360. Being able to have something to show for my labour is definitely nice, and softens the blow considerably. Unfortunately, the PS3 trophy support isn't nearly as refined, and the PSP, DS and Wii are lacking in these regards altogether.
The most recent "triumph" over frustrating gameplay was the GTAIV expansion The Lost and Damned, and the DS localization port of Dragon Warrior Iv.
Don't get me wrong, these are both great games, and they are definitely worth playing. They just dragged on a bit to long for my personal tastes, and I have too many other great games calling my name.
TLAD was neat, and it was fun to revisit the world of Niko Bellic. What I found at fault with the game were many of the complaints I had with GTAIV as a whole. It was a bit too realistic and difficult. The missions could get frustrating very quickly. The dialogue and characters got convoluted and hard to follow. Most of these things were mitigated by the fact that the expansion was considerably shorter than GTAIV, but my biggest complaint of all was that the expansion was far to self referential. Many of the missions I was doing as Johnny Klebitz parallelled the exploits of former GTAIV anti-hero Niko Bellic. I understand that they were essentially doing fan service to the install base, and letting us see how things shook out on the other end of those missions, but the problem was there were far too many missions in GTAIV for me to remember specific ones in a play through of TLAD. I didn't take notice of Johnny Klebitz when playing as Niko because he was a small player in a huge cast. There was no "Oh yeah! This mission! I always wondered what happened to this guy when I played through before, now I get to see" moment for me when playing TLAD, and I really think thats what Rockstar was hoping for. Maybe I'm in the minority, i don't know, but in future installments, I'd much rather see independent stories that have nothing to do with former stories, than this attempt at intertwining narratives.
With DWIV, the biggest problem was the Nostalgia factor wearing off too quickly. I was younger, less experienced, and more easily impressed when I originally played the game, and as such, my pallete for games has become much more refined. Is it still a good game? Absolutely. Is it as revolutionary now as it was when it came out oh so long ago? Not at all. It was a pretty cut and dry JRPG with a nice mix of characters, and decent enough story, and not enough linearity to keep me from checking gamefaqs once and a while. I'm glad I played through it, but I don't know if I'm going to go back and do the bonus chapters.
Now on to the next games! Doing the fallout blog and watching Jenn play through has made me want to play again, so I'm going to try to run my two characters, and play through that. The 3rd expansion is coming out soon, with the increase in level cap, so I'm excited for that. On the portable side of things, my PSP has miracoulosy repaired itself, so I'm back into Puzzle Quest, and getting ready to try D&D tactics, and I'm playing a delightful little kid-friendly RPG on the DS called Master of the Monsters Lair. I'll blog more about that tomorrow.
In the meantime, I heard a rumour that there is a new post up of Tales Of A Vault Dweller up at www.talesofavaultdweller.blogspot.com. Not only that, but there will be another one up tonight!
EXCITEMENT!
I have a real problem. In spite of my video game thriftiness, or more likely because of it, I end up buying a lot of games. It's a problem I've had for a while, and my collection of Xbox (original) was embarrasing. I had a ton, and finished very few. When I upgraded to the 360, (and all the others of course) I made myself a deal that I was going to finish each and every game I bought. The deal was of course struck with the best of intentions. I'd only buy games that got good reviews, that seemed like I'd enjoy them, etc.
Naturally the road to hell blah blah blah good intentions, so of course I got out of control again. The good news is that most of the games that aren't really the cream of the crop were purchased at a significantly lower price than what I usually spend. The bad news is that they multiply.
I have been forcing myself to play through them, even still, whether I enjoy them or not, and its really led to some painful gaming experiences. One thing that certainly mitigates these experiences is the achievements on the 360. Being able to have something to show for my labour is definitely nice, and softens the blow considerably. Unfortunately, the PS3 trophy support isn't nearly as refined, and the PSP, DS and Wii are lacking in these regards altogether.
The most recent "triumph" over frustrating gameplay was the GTAIV expansion The Lost and Damned, and the DS localization port of Dragon Warrior Iv.
Don't get me wrong, these are both great games, and they are definitely worth playing. They just dragged on a bit to long for my personal tastes, and I have too many other great games calling my name.
TLAD was neat, and it was fun to revisit the world of Niko Bellic. What I found at fault with the game were many of the complaints I had with GTAIV as a whole. It was a bit too realistic and difficult. The missions could get frustrating very quickly. The dialogue and characters got convoluted and hard to follow. Most of these things were mitigated by the fact that the expansion was considerably shorter than GTAIV, but my biggest complaint of all was that the expansion was far to self referential. Many of the missions I was doing as Johnny Klebitz parallelled the exploits of former GTAIV anti-hero Niko Bellic. I understand that they were essentially doing fan service to the install base, and letting us see how things shook out on the other end of those missions, but the problem was there were far too many missions in GTAIV for me to remember specific ones in a play through of TLAD. I didn't take notice of Johnny Klebitz when playing as Niko because he was a small player in a huge cast. There was no "Oh yeah! This mission! I always wondered what happened to this guy when I played through before, now I get to see" moment for me when playing TLAD, and I really think thats what Rockstar was hoping for. Maybe I'm in the minority, i don't know, but in future installments, I'd much rather see independent stories that have nothing to do with former stories, than this attempt at intertwining narratives.
With DWIV, the biggest problem was the Nostalgia factor wearing off too quickly. I was younger, less experienced, and more easily impressed when I originally played the game, and as such, my pallete for games has become much more refined. Is it still a good game? Absolutely. Is it as revolutionary now as it was when it came out oh so long ago? Not at all. It was a pretty cut and dry JRPG with a nice mix of characters, and decent enough story, and not enough linearity to keep me from checking gamefaqs once and a while. I'm glad I played through it, but I don't know if I'm going to go back and do the bonus chapters.
Now on to the next games! Doing the fallout blog and watching Jenn play through has made me want to play again, so I'm going to try to run my two characters, and play through that. The 3rd expansion is coming out soon, with the increase in level cap, so I'm excited for that. On the portable side of things, my PSP has miracoulosy repaired itself, so I'm back into Puzzle Quest, and getting ready to try D&D tactics, and I'm playing a delightful little kid-friendly RPG on the DS called Master of the Monsters Lair. I'll blog more about that tomorrow.
In the meantime, I heard a rumour that there is a new post up of Tales Of A Vault Dweller up at www.talesofavaultdweller.blogspot.com. Not only that, but there will be another one up tonight!
EXCITEMENT!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Realism Vs. Fun
I think its fair to say that my favourite genre of game is the "Sandbox" genre. That's a title that I loathe, as I find it to be very vague, and it can apply to a wide variety of games, including ones that most people wouldn't immediately consider in that genre.
Let me get a bit more specific. My favourite style of game is an open world, non restrictive, third person shooter, especially those in which the protagonist is some sort of criminal.
The easiest example of course is Grand Theft Auto, although surprisingly, this would probably be the least favourite of the bunch.
GTA was something I had always known about, and always wanted to try, but since I was a very late adopter to the PS2, San Andreas was my first foray into it. Whoo boy, did I pick a good one. In my opinion, of the 3 comparable titles (GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas) SA was easily king of the mountain. A big part of the appeal to me was the subject matter, being set in the early 90's, in an urban setting similar to Los Angeles, it clearly was going for a Boyz in the Hood vibe, which really got me hooked. On top of that though, it had a ton of little elements that were really cool. The RPG lite aspects, in which you would increase your skills through progression, allowing you to unlock new skills, like dual-wielding.
Anyways, once I got into the Xbox 360 era, Saints Row was the belle of the ball. It borrowed a lot from its predecessor, and soon to be competitor, but it also added a lot of much needed features. I loved Saints Row, playing it all the way through to the end. I do everything that could be done, but mostly because I was still getting the hang of video games again, and found it a bit to challenging.
GTAIV came out a while later, and blew Saints Row out of the water. The game was incredible. The graphics were amazing, the cars handled a lot more realistically, there was a whole social aspect to the game in which you had to actually build and maintain relationships with your friends and girlfriends. The Narrative was strong, unlike what you get from most games. Very cinematic. The problem was that once you got past the polish and the shine, it just wasn't fun. The game was TOO realistic, as far as video games go.
Once you had garnered attention from police, there was a circle that would show up on your radar, indicating the area that the police were searching for you. You have to get out of this circle, without being noticed by any police, and stay hidden for about 10-15 seconds, at which point they would leave you alone. Sounds easy, but its really not. The city is crowded, hard to get around, and most of the cars are heavy, and handle poorly.
Gunfights were another sticking point for me in GTAIV. They implemented a cover system, which I do like in most games, but it wasn't very precise. Your character would stick to cover where you might not want him to, he might have trouble getting out of said cover, etc. Did you remember to buy a bulletproof vest and stock up on ammo before this mission? No? Ok, prepare to die. Lots.
Comparatively, Saints Row 2 is a much funner game. Its not realistic a bit. If you are playing co-operatively, and your partner goes down, you can rush over and have them jump back into the fray with the push of a button. Cops after you? No problem! Just roll through a forgive and forget and their minds will be wiped ala Men in Black. Cars fly through the city, and you can manuever around almost anything.
All of this resentment has been brought up through my playthrough of the GTAIV expansion, The Lost and Damned. I do like GTAIV. I really do. It's just not nearly as fun as Saints Row 2. When I get into a car crash in Saints Row 2, my car bounces around. When I hit something in GTAIV, I fly out of the windshield.
This happens a lot.
The end result of all of this is that I can't honestly say which game I think is better. I think, despite the fact they would fall under almost the exact same category, it's like comparing apples to oranges.
Let me get a bit more specific. My favourite style of game is an open world, non restrictive, third person shooter, especially those in which the protagonist is some sort of criminal.
The easiest example of course is Grand Theft Auto, although surprisingly, this would probably be the least favourite of the bunch.
GTA was something I had always known about, and always wanted to try, but since I was a very late adopter to the PS2, San Andreas was my first foray into it. Whoo boy, did I pick a good one. In my opinion, of the 3 comparable titles (GTA3, Vice City and San Andreas) SA was easily king of the mountain. A big part of the appeal to me was the subject matter, being set in the early 90's, in an urban setting similar to Los Angeles, it clearly was going for a Boyz in the Hood vibe, which really got me hooked. On top of that though, it had a ton of little elements that were really cool. The RPG lite aspects, in which you would increase your skills through progression, allowing you to unlock new skills, like dual-wielding.
Anyways, once I got into the Xbox 360 era, Saints Row was the belle of the ball. It borrowed a lot from its predecessor, and soon to be competitor, but it also added a lot of much needed features. I loved Saints Row, playing it all the way through to the end. I do everything that could be done, but mostly because I was still getting the hang of video games again, and found it a bit to challenging.
GTAIV came out a while later, and blew Saints Row out of the water. The game was incredible. The graphics were amazing, the cars handled a lot more realistically, there was a whole social aspect to the game in which you had to actually build and maintain relationships with your friends and girlfriends. The Narrative was strong, unlike what you get from most games. Very cinematic. The problem was that once you got past the polish and the shine, it just wasn't fun. The game was TOO realistic, as far as video games go.
Once you had garnered attention from police, there was a circle that would show up on your radar, indicating the area that the police were searching for you. You have to get out of this circle, without being noticed by any police, and stay hidden for about 10-15 seconds, at which point they would leave you alone. Sounds easy, but its really not. The city is crowded, hard to get around, and most of the cars are heavy, and handle poorly.
Gunfights were another sticking point for me in GTAIV. They implemented a cover system, which I do like in most games, but it wasn't very precise. Your character would stick to cover where you might not want him to, he might have trouble getting out of said cover, etc. Did you remember to buy a bulletproof vest and stock up on ammo before this mission? No? Ok, prepare to die. Lots.
Comparatively, Saints Row 2 is a much funner game. Its not realistic a bit. If you are playing co-operatively, and your partner goes down, you can rush over and have them jump back into the fray with the push of a button. Cops after you? No problem! Just roll through a forgive and forget and their minds will be wiped ala Men in Black. Cars fly through the city, and you can manuever around almost anything.
All of this resentment has been brought up through my playthrough of the GTAIV expansion, The Lost and Damned. I do like GTAIV. I really do. It's just not nearly as fun as Saints Row 2. When I get into a car crash in Saints Row 2, my car bounces around. When I hit something in GTAIV, I fly out of the windshield.
This happens a lot.
The end result of all of this is that I can't honestly say which game I think is better. I think, despite the fact they would fall under almost the exact same category, it's like comparing apples to oranges.
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Schedules
www.betterthanjenn.blogspot.com:
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. By midnight on each day you will have a mid to long post regarding games, or other craziness.
www.talesofavaultdweller.com:
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Same time lines as above, different subject matter entirely.
That's right! You're gonna get 6(!) days of blogging every week!!
Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays. By midnight on each day you will have a mid to long post regarding games, or other craziness.
www.talesofavaultdweller.com:
Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Same time lines as above, different subject matter entirely.
That's right! You're gonna get 6(!) days of blogging every week!!
Updates!
So,
Let me get personal for just a moment. I've been out of work for a couple weeks, and despite that, my life seems to have been more hectic than I was working. I'm making excuses for not blogging more, as always, and here comes the promise that I will start blogging regularly.
Seriously.
In other news, I'm starting a second blog! I know, I know. I barely update this one, what do I need a second one for? Well, this is a blog that I've mentioned I wanted to do, and it's been rolling around in my brain for a while, so I'm doing it. It's going to be called "Tales of a Vault Dweller", and its going to be based on my gameplay experiences in Fallout 3.
It's NOT going to be a walkthrough, nor a review, nor a crappy piece of fan fic. What it is going to be is a journal style telling of my characters experiences, from the time he leaves the Vault, until he dies or finds his place in the Wasteland.
Its something I can't do with very many games, but Fallout, or all of the Bethesda games, are created in such a way that you can really create your own narrative and backstory, as well as motivations and character traits. I think it will be interesting, and if nothing else, it will serve me as a challenge to see if I can start writing fiction at some point. I realize that creating my OWN story is significantly different than creating a story within someone elses framework, but its a start for me at least.
In other Xbox news, there is a heated competition going on for gamerscore points between Germoid and J3nn. Last tally had Germoid edging her out a bit, but if you want more on that, you can follow them at Xbox.com.
Lastly, for now at least, I will promise a longwinded blog post that I've been writing in my head for a week or more entitled "Fun Vs. Realism: A comparison in games", and I will also promise my first post of "Tales of A Vault Dweller". These will both be up before the weekend is over.
Going in to Monday, I will do scheduled updates to both blogs, as well as extra ones as I see fit.
Let me get personal for just a moment. I've been out of work for a couple weeks, and despite that, my life seems to have been more hectic than I was working. I'm making excuses for not blogging more, as always, and here comes the promise that I will start blogging regularly.
Seriously.
In other news, I'm starting a second blog! I know, I know. I barely update this one, what do I need a second one for? Well, this is a blog that I've mentioned I wanted to do, and it's been rolling around in my brain for a while, so I'm doing it. It's going to be called "Tales of a Vault Dweller", and its going to be based on my gameplay experiences in Fallout 3.
It's NOT going to be a walkthrough, nor a review, nor a crappy piece of fan fic. What it is going to be is a journal style telling of my characters experiences, from the time he leaves the Vault, until he dies or finds his place in the Wasteland.
Its something I can't do with very many games, but Fallout, or all of the Bethesda games, are created in such a way that you can really create your own narrative and backstory, as well as motivations and character traits. I think it will be interesting, and if nothing else, it will serve me as a challenge to see if I can start writing fiction at some point. I realize that creating my OWN story is significantly different than creating a story within someone elses framework, but its a start for me at least.
In other Xbox news, there is a heated competition going on for gamerscore points between Germoid and J3nn. Last tally had Germoid edging her out a bit, but if you want more on that, you can follow them at Xbox.com.
Lastly, for now at least, I will promise a longwinded blog post that I've been writing in my head for a week or more entitled "Fun Vs. Realism: A comparison in games", and I will also promise my first post of "Tales of A Vault Dweller". These will both be up before the weekend is over.
Going in to Monday, I will do scheduled updates to both blogs, as well as extra ones as I see fit.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Dsi
Just saw a DSi commercial all about the camera funcionality. Not impressed with either the feature, or the commercial.
In other news, I bought Mirrors Edge for $20, and AC/DC track pack for $10.
Lastly, J3nn and I are playing through lego Indy so she can compete with Germoid for gamerpoints.
Will blog more often.
In other news, I bought Mirrors Edge for $20, and AC/DC track pack for $10.
Lastly, J3nn and I are playing through lego Indy so she can compete with Germoid for gamerpoints.
Will blog more often.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Nintendo
The DSI is out soon. I hope that those of you who have a DS already won't be going out to buy one.
My PSP is broken. I want a new one.
My PSP is broken. I want a new one.
Bargains!!
Some time ago, I finally clued in on the trends amongst entertainment media (Video Games, DVDs, CDs, Etc) that things get cheap as they get old. They don't change in quality, only in quantity and relvance. This is a powerful piece of information for a thrifty gamer.
Cases in Point:
The Club is a game I played a demo for quite some time ago, and I definitely enjoyed it, BUT I saw that it would be a niche title that I wouldn't play all the time, or even often, so I passed on it, but kept it in the back of my mind. EB games. $9.89 on PS3, brand new.
Dark Sector, decent game, decent reviews, didn't ever grab me. Eb Games. $9.89 Brand New.
Bully, Love Rockstar games, always interested in this title, but always had other games to play. Amazon.ca. $19.99 Brand New.
Alone in the Dark, one of those series I always was aware of, but never really got into. EB Games. $9.89.
Facebreaker, another case of demoitis. Enjoyed it, but not enough to rush out and buy it. Grabbed it today for $9.89, at, you guessed it, EB Games.
I could go on and on about games that I bought, brand new and used, as well as TV shows on DVD, but you gget the drift. Patience prevails, and in most cases, that game or TV series that just came out for $69.99 will be $19.99 or cheaper in 6-12 months. Take it from me, build a back catalogue of cheap games, and try to resist falling into the hype.
Of course, some titles (Left 4 Dead, GTAIV, Godfather II) can't be waited on. Just make sure you're ready to live with yourself when you see them marked down to $9.89 at EB Games. (Happened to me today. Mercenaries II, Mass Effect, Too Human)
Cases in Point:
The Club is a game I played a demo for quite some time ago, and I definitely enjoyed it, BUT I saw that it would be a niche title that I wouldn't play all the time, or even often, so I passed on it, but kept it in the back of my mind. EB games. $9.89 on PS3, brand new.
Dark Sector, decent game, decent reviews, didn't ever grab me. Eb Games. $9.89 Brand New.
Bully, Love Rockstar games, always interested in this title, but always had other games to play. Amazon.ca. $19.99 Brand New.
Alone in the Dark, one of those series I always was aware of, but never really got into. EB Games. $9.89.
Facebreaker, another case of demoitis. Enjoyed it, but not enough to rush out and buy it. Grabbed it today for $9.89, at, you guessed it, EB Games.
I could go on and on about games that I bought, brand new and used, as well as TV shows on DVD, but you gget the drift. Patience prevails, and in most cases, that game or TV series that just came out for $69.99 will be $19.99 or cheaper in 6-12 months. Take it from me, build a back catalogue of cheap games, and try to resist falling into the hype.
Of course, some titles (Left 4 Dead, GTAIV, Godfather II) can't be waited on. Just make sure you're ready to live with yourself when you see them marked down to $9.89 at EB Games. (Happened to me today. Mercenaries II, Mass Effect, Too Human)
Exiting Rapture
So I made a big push this weekend to finish Bioshock, and guess what? I did it! It was a really good game. A lot of neat elements that tied together very well, and a pretty interesting story. The game oozes with atmosphere and charm, albeit of the creepy variety.
I'll save rehashing the entire plot, because I've gone over it earlier, and despite reading some spoilers (Which I'll save also), there were still a couple of neat twists near the end that I didn't expect.
I guess its one of those games with a "good" and a "bad" ending. I went for the good ending, partially because its usually the easier route in most games, partially because there was an extra achievement tied into it. The endgame was anticlimatic, as was the ending movie. Very touching, and very tasteful, but anticlimatic nontheless.
It is going to go into my pile of games to possibly replay at some point. There's a couple of achievements that I didn't get, and I wouldn't mind seeing the alternate ending.
Now the question has been posed: What do I play next??
Right now its a toss up between Bully, Lost and the Damned and Penny Araade Episode 2.
I think it's gonna be Lost and the Damned, because I miss GTA, and it's a bit shorter.
I'll save rehashing the entire plot, because I've gone over it earlier, and despite reading some spoilers (Which I'll save also), there were still a couple of neat twists near the end that I didn't expect.
I guess its one of those games with a "good" and a "bad" ending. I went for the good ending, partially because its usually the easier route in most games, partially because there was an extra achievement tied into it. The endgame was anticlimatic, as was the ending movie. Very touching, and very tasteful, but anticlimatic nontheless.
It is going to go into my pile of games to possibly replay at some point. There's a couple of achievements that I didn't get, and I wouldn't mind seeing the alternate ending.
Now the question has been posed: What do I play next??
Right now its a toss up between Bully, Lost and the Damned and Penny Araade Episode 2.
I think it's gonna be Lost and the Damned, because I miss GTA, and it's a bit shorter.
L4D Part 2
Tao Tzu, J3nn and I have been playing L4D. A LOT. It's been a really good time, but I think I need a bit of a break. Not a long one mind you, just a day or two. Tao Tzu and I played on Wednesday night until 2:30 (!) and then I had to get up at 8:00 and take the kids to the mall all day.
Ugh.
Totally worth it though.
I had meant to do a long post about the game, but I never got around to it, and now I've lost the enthusiasm for writing about it.
Ugh.
Totally worth it though.
I had meant to do a long post about the game, but I never got around to it, and now I've lost the enthusiasm for writing about it.
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