Just a moment ago I tried to record a short video blog. I did so successfully however when I played it back I realized something. Audio is an important part of filming a video blog. I just figured out that I have no way to record audio as of yet. At this point am thinking about buying a decent webcam because I don't have a couple hundred dollars to drop on a camera. Well off to newegg.
Nintendo announced a new DS and a couple of games and I am totally underwhelmed. I never understand why Nintendo can churn out the same games until the end of time and get away with no complaints against them. Its like someone went to the originality department, murdered everyone in there and now they have no choice but to use the same characters perpetually. Nintendo of all people should be the ones experimenting with new franchises yet they are content to just sit back in their solid golden thrones and watch people tear themselves to get anything Nintendo. I just want Nintedo to release a game without Mario, Link, Samus, or any other member of the tired Nintendo party. Is that too much too ask?
I borrowed my friends vision camera in hopes of trying out this whole "video blogging" thing. They seem fun to do, however I have no idea where to start. I have the camera and some software. Other than that I got no idea what to do, things to say, and things like that. For those who do video blogs I have a question, what should I do?
After rummaging through my room I found a copy of Jade Empire. Then I realized how badly I messed up. I bought this game for 5$ and still have not devoted any good amount of play time to it. After thinking about it for a while I figured out why, lack of persistence. I have the feeling that playing that game is a waste of time. I don't feel like I'm getting anything out of it. Unlike say a Call of Duty 4 where you are constantly leveling up and getting new weapons and perks. When I get a sweet sword in Jade Empire, no one else will see it. It makes the whole experience feel kind of hollow.
Perhaps one day I won't care whether or not anyone else will see my progress or not and just play through it. Sadly I doubt it. Even single player games on the 360 have the persistence factor. The addition of achievements really saves alot of games for me. I might not have played it for fun but I'll dedicate time to get some achievements. This was the case with Assassins Creed, that game was not very fun but I trudged through it to get those damn points. And now everyone can see that I put the time in.
Its hard to believe that absolutely none of this mattered a few years ago, but now its the most important thing to me. The online component of gaming is truly the most evolutionary thing to gaming since 3-D. Honestly I don't know where I'm going with this. I think its just a way to justify my guilt for not playing Jade Empire.
On a side note, I'm thinking of getting the Xbox Live Vision Camera. It seems like a cheap and fairly effective way to get into video blogging. Perhaps one day you'll see my true identity.
And that's exactly what I want.
So yea, I went out to the Best Buy and bought myself a copy of Rock Band 2. So far I've tried a bit of the world tour. I definitely prefer this to the old school career mode. It in cooperates the cool aspects of Band World tour and lets me play it alone. Why is that awesome? Well one I have no friends, and two, I can now get the Tour achievements. I don't have to travel an hour to get to the one other guy I know who has Rock Band. I'm the one Rock Band supporter in my close group of friends.
At the moment I'm not to sure how good the song list is because I just started. But honestly I think I've hit the pinnacle already, EYE OF THE TIGER! In all seriousness, the one thing I'm looking forward to is the Guns N' Roses song. GNR is my favorite band and I have been eagerly awaiting it, this is the one tangible piece that at least says it exists. I can't wait to hear what they sound like after the great meltdown.
However the one thing that sticks out in my mind more than the song list and tour is the drum trainer. I know that's extremly bizarre but I always thought of Rock Band 1 as a drum teacher. And now here's Rock Band 2 with a whole mode dedicated to teaching you the drums. This just makes me want to save up the couple hundreds of dollars to get a real set. However if I keep blowing my money on games then that will be near impossible.
Well, that's the only thing new with me at the moment. So I guess I'll end by asking, what ya playin?
For the past two weeks I have focused all of my time into school and the trials and tribulations associated with it. There's nothing too interesting to say about it. You know how it goes, waking up early sucks, work sucks, girls are awesome, meeting with friends are cool. You know the typical.
After two weeks of no games I have now just finished a good three hour session of gaming goodness. Besides playing some Skate and Call of Duty 4, this is the first time I've played Castle Crashers. After hearing so much praise for this game and being constantly pestered by my friends I broke down and bought it. I've made it to somewhere to level 10 or 15 and from what I can see so far it seems like a pretty standard brawler. I also really enjoy the art, I've seen it here and there but actually playing it is way different. I want to try the online but I'm not sure if they have fixed it yet. Does anyone know?
Some may have noticed that I have not done anything on this site for about a week. This is because its my last week of summer. Labor day is always the sign that school is back. While I was away I have been doing the fun stuff that can only take place during summer. Trip to the beach and theme park, Hanging out with friends, you know kid stuff.
I will begin my sophomore year of high school tomorrow. As usual the hardest part of going back to school is the big change to my sleep schedule. I am not looking forward to waking up at 6 A.M; I will also have to start using my brain once again. Not much else to say really. School is back, and am not so psyched.
Soulcalibur IV is the newest game of the perpetually misspelled, weapon based fighting series. The fighting is exactly what you would expect if you have played any other game in the series. It mainly focuses around blocking and parrying different weapons then exploiting your foe in their time of weakness. The wide variety of weapons covers anything from razor sharp katana to obnoxiously large diamond swords. With so many different types of weapons and fighting styles it remains unique from other fighters.
The single player portion of Soulcalibur IV is rather lack luster. The story is a series of five disjointed fights with an underwhelming pre rendered cinematic to cap it all off. You can easily beat this in 15 minutes which makes playing it almost completely pointless. The arcade mode is exactly what you would expect as well, eight fights strung together with no real purpose other than testing your skills. The only interesting mode to be found is Tower of Lost Souls. In this mode, you ascend said evil tower in an attempt to get to the top, fighting random enemies to get there. Alright maybe that’s the same idea as the other two modes. Overall the single player is exactly what you would expect and does nothing new or exciting.
If you are not satisfied by the present roster you can create your own from scratch; or you can tweak an existing character. The amount of customizable aspects for your fighters appearance is mind boggling. The sheer amount of items made my head spin when I first looked. All of the equipment you put on have different stats associated with them which would encourage you to pick the best armor but when you do that you end up looking like a complete fool. The game could have done a better job of making different items mesh together. As it is now, you either have to go for a cosmetically pleasing fighter or an idiotic character with the best stats.
Online play is a new addition for the Soulcalibur series. I’ve played a decent amount of matches. For the most part the actual fights are lag free. Of course since we are not yet aware of the awesome power of internet 3.0 there is still lag present. You can play strait up verses with the default characters or you can bring your customized online and play as well. Overall is online portion is well executed and as long as the community remains, it’s a worthwhile addition to the series.
Overall Soulcalibur IV is a competent fighter that remains true to what the series has been come to known by. There is nothing remarkable about Soulcalibur IV but then again there is nothing wrong with a polished version of what you already have. If you want a weapon based fighter then there is no better choice then Soulcalibur IV.
These are games that I have never played that make me feel ashamed of myself. These games will be in no particular order:
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