Gaming Gripes

Well, I haven't made a blog post in a while so I thought I'd address a few problems I have encountered while playing my current favorite game, Left 4 Dead.

I don't know how many people encounter this, but it seems to me that there are a lot of cheaters in Versus mode. Usually they cheat as survivors. The only cheat that I know for a fact I have encountered enables the survivors to see the outlines of the infected. The time to get suspicious of this is when a really terrible team does really well as survivors. If they split up and still do really well even when multiple special infected gang up on them, then it is time to test them. This is fairly easy to do, because the cheat seems to have a weak spot. It seems that your outline appears whether you have spawned or not, so if they try to chase and run you down before you spawn, you know they are cheating.

Another far more common problem in Versus mode is griefing. For those who don't know, griefing refers to actions that are taken during a multiplayer game that are intended to anger or frustrate other players, and these actions can usually be done without taking advantage of any glitches or alterations to the game. Common forms of griefing in Left 4 Dead include team killing, self killing, constantly calling votes, or using the communication systems in a distracting manner. Contrary to what seems to be popular belief in this game, simply calling a kick vote against a player is not griefing, and just because your teammates want to kick you does not give you the right to try to pull off a team kill.

Well, I think that is enough of a rant for now.

gamerDNA.com

I have been using this site a lot lately. It's one of the coolest sites I've ever used. The idea behind it is fairly simple. You enter your game collection and some other information into the system, and it tries to find other games and players that match your interests. It then will follow your gameplay activities, and for some systems this following is totally automatic. The community there is also really friendly, and it is relatively spam and forum troll free. I could keep going on about why I like it, but if anyone wants to know more the best way to learn it to check it out. http://www.gamerdna.com/

High Speed Internet

Well, there is now high speed internet at my folks' house, so I will probably make an actual blog post sometime soon.

This is Frustrating...

Take a look at
this review. I normally really like this guy's reviews on anime, but I think he has made a textbook example of a bad review.

First, let me say something. I loved Trinity Blood, but this is not the reason I disliked this review. In fact, feel free to write your own review that just blasts Trinity Blood into a million tiny pieces. Just don't make the same mistake this guy did. I appreciate a well written review even if I don't agree with it.

The big mistake this guy made was not watching the full series. I do not think this was fair, because the later episodes of a series actually address a few of the problems he had with it. I just do not think you should judge a series like this after watching 1/3 of it, especially if you claim to enjoy the genre.

Now, I'm not saying that reviewing all things based on a partial experience is a bad idea. Some videogames are marred by the fact that they have sloppy controls. Sloppy controls alone can ruin a game. But then again, if you actually know the game has sloppy controls it is fair to state it. But to base a review on guesswork is not fair. This guy acted like he had more knowledge than he actually did, like he actually knew where the series was going, like he knew the characters weren't going to develop, like he knew the plot holes weren't going to be filled.

The fact of the matter is that had he watched more of this series, he would not have had the same complaints about it. I'm not saying that he would have liked it. He might have even hated it more, but at least he would have had enough information to actually know he didn't like it, and enough information to write a fair review about it. As it is, he wrote a review partially based on things he couldn't know, and this kind of arrogance is the problem I have with most reviewers today.

I didn't intend to write that much... Anybody else care to weigh in?

Spring Break is Over...

Dang, my spring break just ended and I had classes today. I am not too enthusiastic about it right now because I really needed more of a break than I got. My grandmother had a heart attack recently and I really want to go see her, but one week is not enough time to drive all the way to the southeastern corner of South Dakota from the western side of Montana. Well, it's very possible, I just wouldn't be able to spend much time there... I guess the weather is pretty bad there anyway...

On a lighter note, I managed to get a new copy of Blue Dragon for $10. It's a pretty fun game, and it is well worth the $10.

Still Can't Decide... A Brief Post

I still can't decide what new game I want, or even if I want a game. I think the last set of Gurren Lagann came out, and I might buy that instead. Also, I think I should spend some more time with games that I already own... I'm still no where near close to beating Tales of Vesperia after giving it 20 hours. Also deserving of more time are BioShock and Battlefield: Bad Company. I'm a bit frustrated with both The Orange Box and Devil May Cry 4 right now, and I will never play Sega Superstars Tennis again. What a turd that game is...

I won't even get into my list of retro, Wii, and DS titles. That would be ridiculous.

A new dilemma

I have a new problem that needs solving. I want a new game, but there are too many good ones right now, and I can't afford them all. I guess that is a good kind of problem to have. Anyway, I'll make a list of games I want for each platform I own and hope for some advice. I doubt I'll get any advice here on blogger, but since this will auto upload to facebook I should get something. Anyway, here is each system and the games I want for it.

XBox 360

Star Ocean: The Last Hope
Resident Evil 5
Street Fighter 4
Infinite Undiscovery
Blue Dragon
F.E.A.R.
F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin
Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection
Call of Duty 4
Call of Duty: World at War
Fallout 3
Halo 3
Gears of War
Gears of War 2
Prince of Persia
Mass Effect
Left 4 Dead
The Last Remnant
Dead or Alive 4
Dead Space
Soulcalibur IV
Assassin's Creed
Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts
Dead Rising
Lost Odyssey
Quake 4

Wii

Mushroom Men: The Spore Wars
Castlevania Judgment
Deadly Creatures
Dead Rising: Chop Til You Drop
The House of the Dead: Overkill
MadWorld
Rune Factory: Frontier
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Okami
Wario Land: Shake It!
de Blob
Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles
Sonic and the Secret Rings
Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors
NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams
Dewy's Adventure
One Piece: Unlimited Adventure

Nintendo DS

Valkyrie Profile: Covenant of the Plume
Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow
Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia
Disgaea DS
Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift
Planet Puzzle League
Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Bleach: The Blade of Fate
Avalon Code
Kirby Super Star Ultra
Summon Night: Twin Age
Lunar Knights
Luminous Arc
Luminous Arc 2
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Dementium: The Ward
Heroes of Mana
Yoshi's Island DS
Kirby Squeak Squad


I guess that's one hell of a list... Anyway, it does not look that far into the future, and I'm sure that I forgot a few titles. I didn't consider any downloadable titles either. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Wow

It has been over a month since I posted last... That is quite a while, and I have quite a bit to say, though I doubt anyone actually reads this. Well, I have some things to say, and that's all that matters to me.

I have a bunch of XBox 360 games now, and I have actually played all of them. Here are my impressions about all my games except Tales of Vesperia, since I already did that one.

The Orange Box: I like this disc. It has a lot to offer, but I probably would have been willing to pay $20 just for Half Life 2. The rest of the games are just gravy. Portal is very interesting but I find myself frustrated more than amused by it. I haven't tried Team Fortress 2 yet. I wish I knew some other people who had it.

Devil May Cry 4: This is good, though not as good as the original. I feel like it is a bit too difficult. I am stuck at the ice toad thing. Even my buddy can't beat it, and he has beaten all 3 other games on pretty much every mode. I don't know why this one seems so hard.

Battlefield Bad Company: A very entertaining FPS, but it feels a little basic. Don't get me wrong, it's very well done, but the only thing super special about it is the humor. Great for $20.

Bioshock: This is like the 360's Metroid Prime, but with a much darker story and scary little girls. It's incredibly well done. I don't know what else to say, it's definitely something special.


Let's see, what else is going on...

I got Onslaught for WiiWare. It's an OK game. The real attraction for me is the fact that I can finally play another FPS with my brother, who only owns a Wii and a DS. We have only had Metroid Prime Hunters until now.

There are too many games that I want... I won't list them all because there are too many. I am having trouble justifying $60 for the new Star Ocean. The same goes for MadWorld and Deadly Creatures on the Wii. And while I want House of the Dead: Overkill, I refuse to pay $50 for a rail shooter.

That's all for now.

XBox 360

I bought an XBox 360 last week. I now have 4 games for it, or 5 if you count Sega Superstars Tennis, but I don't. It came with the system and I didn't want it and I really don't like it. Anyway, the other 4 games are Tales of Vesperia, Bioshock, Battlefield: Bad Company, and Devil May Cry 4. I have only put time into Tales so far, and my impression so far is that it is amazing. However, I've never met a Tales game I didn't like, so you probably don't want to take my word for it. I can say for sure that all Tales fans will love it and that people who hate Tales will loathe it. If you're new to the series, give it a whirl unless you own another system that has the Tales experience. So, try it unless you own a Gamecube, Playstation 2, or Wii. All have Tales games that are really good that would also be less expensive options than Vesperia.
I'll update with my first impressions of the other games as soon as I play them.

Star Ocean 4

I don't really have anything yet, but I'll post some video of Star Ocean 4, which is easily the game I am anticipating the most this year.

New Blog

I have thought about maintaining a blog before, but I never really gave it any serious consideration. Now I have to maintain one for one of my classes, so there will be a lot of that stuff here in the near future. I'll try to put some other stuff up as well. Right now I have no idea what kind of content will go here...