500th Time Is The Charm

It is the day before December, just 31 days shy of the new year now and I've reached post number 500. I can't believe I've written that many posts and I can't even believe that I am still here writing (don't I say all of this every hundred posts?). Who would have thought it? And even while my blog isn't the most popular thing on the internet, I am just happy to be able to write my thoughts and share my opinions out here.

What I can't help is to be optimistic about the coming year. After how things have gone this past year, how can I not? I have to believe that 2011 will at least be a time where things will turn over for the better and not the worst. But I suppose I will save that thought for the coming months to come.

Between the numerous video games, I have been passing the time with Netflix and the top of that madness has been a show called Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations.

I suppose what I enjoy the most about his show is his unique sense of humor and perspective of life. He doesn't seem to really bullshit about things, unlike other shows where they just say they love everything about where they are and what they are eating.

And even while he has traveled where some of the other Travel Channel shows have gone, he seems to take a real tour through places where tourists would likely never go.

The other show that has been occupying my time has been Avatar: The Last Airbender.

To be honest, I didn't care for the movie adaption of this series and this was before ever seeing any of the cartoon series. Some people said the movie is bareable if you've never seen the cartoon, as the exclusion of details wouldn't even be an issue. But I found myself having way more questions then answers as the end credits rolled.

In my opinion the cartoon, on the other hand, does a better job of telling the story then the movie did. Hell I think I got a better understanding of the whole story from just the opening credits then I did from the entire live action movie.

Does that say something?

Anyway, I just felt like dropping that little tidbit out here and I am actually looking forward to the rest of 2010 and beyond. Gaming wise, things could have been better but at the end of the day, what can a gamer do? We win some and we lose a lot. All I can see is keep up the gaming and just hope for the best in the future. And for the record: Here's hoping I'll be around and writing for another 500 posts!

Leslie Nielsen R.I.P.

Such a sad revelation to find out that Leslie Nielsen passed away yesterday afternoon. I don't think my kid years would have been the same without the Naked Gun movies and I still think he was awesome in Surf Ninjas. Rest in peace sir...

Fallout New Vegas

 

Thanks to the insanity that was Black Friday, a number of new games were cut down in price by quite a bit. One such game was Fallout New Vegas (dirty impulse buying).

Now I remember playing Fallout 3 some time ago and I just never really got into the whole experience. I wasn't feeling the style of things and being murdered numerous times out of nowhere wasn't exactly my idea of fun. Maybe that's why I didn't like Demon's Soul all that much either?

Anyway... I didn't quite care for games like that and just to be certain, I even tried Oblivion for good measure. I mean similar style of game play, but with fantasy based setting. How could I not like that? But sure enough, I tried that one too and just never saw what everyone was making such a fuss about.

Yet now here I am right now, with a brand new copy of Fallout New Vegas in hand and I have doubts. Usually I have absolutely no issues with tearing into a new game, but after all this time and after so many games I've bought and disliked, I am unsure.

I suppose what didn't help was reading up on the number of bugs this game has and that, to me, was a horror story in itself. But to be fair, Bethesda has already threw out a patch or two to fix the game up so that shouldn't be a problem at this point. At least the problems are taken care of quickly, rather then hitting up their forums and seeing people complaining for months on end (BioWare... >.>).

Ah the hell with it already! I think I will make the plunge and open that game up. I mean I've gotten this far right? I might as well finish the fight and just get in there!

Good idea or not, no doubt I will be back here sooner rather then later to give off my impressions of being in a post apocalyptic Vegas. 

Persona 3 Portable

I also noticed tonight that P3P is on sale on PSN right now (only a mere $20!). The question now is... is it worth it? As I wrote about before, I have only played the original Persona back in the old days and have not touched another one since that time. Now that I think about this, I do believe I pondered this question before, but I haven't a clue and am too lazy to look back at old posts to find out.

My only trouble is that my memory card in my PSP is a little too small to hold the game in it. And as I understand it, these memory cards are not cheap at all which is surprising to me in a way. Isn't this platform being smashed by everything Nintendo throws out?

Anyway, I guess I may forgo the cheaper download version and just get the UMD instead. It runs about $10 more, but I think that is a better idea then having to buy a $30-$40 upgrade in a memory card on top of buying the game.

Suppose there is always X-Mas...

Edit: As I have come to find out, this game isn't really that easy to find now! Damn...

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

So after going through a rather long dry spell of no movie theaters (last movie we saw was Despicable Me), we caved in and watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Part 1) tonight. Going in, I had some mixed feelings as I wondered how this story wound wind down. Would it be satisfying? Or will it leave something to be desired?

Personally? Overall I do think it was money well spent and that this movie served it's purpose well. Still having not read any of the books, things mostly made sense to me and I am surprised with how human the movie feels this time around. The tone of the movie is definitely heavier then before and the deaths (while expected to a degree) just keep pushing the tension. It does a great job at building the stage for the second and final half of this adaptation of the book. I can't wait for the showdown between Potter and Voldemort (at last!).

What I don't really care for is that this was split in half, but that is understandable as I hear there is a great lot of things happening in this finale. But what really grinds my gears is the fact that Part 2 will not be released until July 2011 I believe. Now that is a long time to wait to conclude this whole thing!

Still, I left the theater feeling satisfied and so I think it is a safe bet to say that we will be returning next year to see this story to it's visual end.

Assassin's Creed Brotherhood

Ezio (center) being surrounded by various characters from the main story.

So after writing about this game for the past few weeks, I have at last been able to get my hands on a copy (Collector's Edition!) and I am not disappointed at all. While it is true that the game play does feel like Assassin's Creed II, but I don't see the fault in that. That game handled pretty well and it was a lot better then things were in the original game. And anyone wondering if this is just a expansion, with only a couple of changes here and there, that cannot be further from the truth.

Topping my list of changes that I am loving is obviously the ability to recruit, train and call upon your brothers and sisters of the Brotherhood. I am hooked to it and even if this didn't turn out to being a RPG feature (the recruited assassins don't seem to have ANY personality to them at all), I still find myself caring about their success and ultimately their well being.

I didn't think I grew attached to my little band of misfits, but when I lost two (one died during a mission and the other was overwhelmed by enemy soldiers) that kind of stung. I am pleased to no end to report also that I have not lost another Assassin and many, many enemy soldiers have been slain in their honor.

The addition of these Assassins fits in perfectly in the scheme of things. Just lock onto a target, hit L2 (for the PS3 gamers out there) and ta-da! They appear (from piles of hay to just flat out dropping off the top of a building) and make dead whatever you deem so. Well... that is, after you train them up by sending them on a ton of missions. It is a little sad that you have no part to play in these missions, but maybe that will be changed in a future game (if this feature survives).

All of this extra missions and work ends up being worth it, as each level gives you a point to add into either weapons or armor. My crew (around level 8-9) have fully upgraded armor and nearly so with weapons. Now when I call upon them, they work miracles whenever I am outnumbered (and that is quite often). 

Another touch that I am liking and has caused me to wish for maybe an actual Assassin's Creed game for, is the character of Desmond Miles (the guy who's DNA is being used to draw the memories of AC's Altiar  and ACII's Ezio.

I didn't care much for the character Desmond in the original game, mostly because that portion of things was pretty bland. That changed with ACII, as Desmond's role was reduced so that the times you did see him, it meant something to the story. But this time around, everything about Desmond as well as Lucy (whom bailed Desmond out of the lab he was trapped in during AC) has changed. I really enjoyed the area where you team up with Lucy to navigate through the underground passageways that lead to Ezio's Sanctuary. I thought that part really helped establish both characters and it makes me wish there would be a game featuring those two (as the Assassins they really are of course).

The music is also something I am enjoying, as it is darker and I guess a bit moodier then in ACII. I mean I like the calm and mellow music that was there, but I enjoy this stuff a bit more. It serves the scenes in the game well and it certainly sets the mood perfectly. I will continue to keep an eye out for any other works by Jesper Kyd.

The only thing I kind of wish for in this was a bit more depth to the Brotherhood recruiting aspect. Maybe more room for customization? But that is minor this time around. Besides that? I can't really think of what could make this game any better then it is. Saying it is like ACII should be viewed as a good thing in my book, because as I said earlier that game is what the original AC should have been like.

I want to write more, but you know what? I have a Brotherhood to build. Nearly have a few of my trainees to the point of becoming actual Assassins. After that? Revenge!

Once More

Although the game was released this past Tuesday, I have yet been able to pick up my copy of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. I am hoping to change this tomorrow, where I am hoping that fortune will be smiling down on me for a change.

In any event, here goes one more video before I hopefully pick up this game tomorrow. 

As for the game itself, I have been reading pretty good things about this game thus far and that is always a good sign. By this I mean a combination of player responses as well as critic reviews. Some are even saying that this is the best game in the series so far, which says a lot to me considering how much I enjoyed Assassin's Creed II.

I do hope Ubisoft carries on with their good work with this series, considering how much improvements they did to AC2. Again, from what I have been reading, it would appear as though that the improvements made previously have been polished further. Is that even possible these days?

Anyway, tomorrow should be the day where I find out for myself if all of what has been said about Assassin's Creed Brotherhood is true. If that happens, then I think it would be safe to say that tomorrow will be a good day...

I hope.

Final Fantasy XIV: Third Month of Free Play?

So I've been reading everywhere that Square Enix has extended their free trial period for a third month now. I mean free in terms of video games is always good (especially these days), but this has gotta be a bad sign right? What company, especially one that charges players a monthly fee as is, would actually give away three free months of play? That is madness!

My thinking is either Square Enix has gotten very, very generous by this latest extension or maybe its proof of how bad things really are with their latest MMO. Considering what I've read and what people have said about FFXIV, I take it that things really are just that bad.

Such a shame...

The Creeps

You know what creeps me out? Strange people knocking on my door. And in the place that I live in, that does not happen often. But today, this little situation takes the cake for me. I mean having someone come to my door, saying they are cleaners and that if they can get enough interest in their services or products that they'll win a trip to Vegas is STRANGE. Put it this way, the more this person spoke, the less and less I trusted a word she said.

So all of this was truly strange, a lot of which didn't really add up all that well in my head. And it was very, very fishy.

My spidey sense was tingling even.

Didn't realize I had that...

And I suppose to help assure me, this person also went ahead and claimed that they aren't trying to sell me anything, so I didn't need to pay for anything of that sort either. All I needed to do was just sit back, let this person clean and I'd be asked for feedback after it was done. What got me wondering about how legit this whole thing was is this:

1. There were no company names or anything ever provided. I would have to think that this would be a big must-do in a situation like this, no?

2. As mentioned above, apparently this person was in some sort of contest that, provided they "won," would earn them a trip to Las Vegas. But on the flip side, who pays a person $40 per house in a contest? If these are legit, maybe I am in the wrong field of work...



3. This is the one that got me wanting to slam that door and get the fuck out of that conversation and fast. This person had to have their manager with them while they did this cleaning. Now I had to have not one, but TWO strangers in my house? In this day and age? HELL NO!

4. This person (a woman) was not dressed all that professionally at all! Who seriously shows up to a home, apparently trying to sell something, in a strapless top? If that was suppose to help allure, it did not and it just made me that much more weary of the whole situation.

For added clarification, I gave my girlfriend a ring at work and sure enough, after explaining what was happening she expressed the same concerns I had. Sounded way too fishy and I am running the risk of being robbed, which would not be a good thing obviously.More so because I am the only one at home and most of the people who live in our complex are out at work and those left are elderly folks.

So all of this did, indeed, smell like a steaming pile of bull to her and me both. Needless to say, I shut my front door, locked it and disappeared. This cleaner lady did return and knocked at my door for about 5 minutes, then disappeared herself.

Ugh

You know what peeves me these days? I mean what really just annoys the shit out of me? Seeing an ethnic group cling onto anyone and anything that is any sort of famous (note: said person or object has to have some sort of connection to ethnic group) and just make themselves sound like complete idiots.

Oh! Oh! He/she/it won!! Yeah that's a HUGE victory for -insert ethnic group here-!! Yeah!!!!

Ugh...

But then again, I suppose that is just the mind set in general when it comes to sports fans in Hawaii. When they are winning, they are THE greatest team/person EVER. But once they lose and things are looking down, everyone bails out and support just dies. Kind of like the recent string of victories for a local college football team.

They won a number of games in a row and everyone I worked with voiced their seemingly undying support for them. The day of the game people were hyped, hyped to the moon even. They were going to SMASH their opponents because that is how we do it! And with all of these people around sporting the team's apparel in support, how could these guys lose right?

Later that night I read they had lost with a score of something like 42 to 7 and that was it. The next day there were hardly any shirts out there and talk about the team being a dominate force was silenced. The once vocal supporters were now dishing out the jokes and insults and... what happened?

Okay so that example didn't have a ethnic group to it, but the idea behind the whole thing is very similar. And it annoys me that I log into Facebook this morning and what do I find? Damn near every Filipino I work with is claiming some kind of victory...

Like I said earlier, ugh....

Why did I have a Facebook again?

Five Years Later

Today marks the 5th anniversary to the day that pro wrestling legend Eddie Guerrero passed away.

Even while there have been a great number of wrestlers who've passed away over the years, Eddie Guerrero's passing is significant to me because he was one of the wrestlers I more or less grew up watching. It was a heck of a journey, to watch as this guy whom was regarded as nothing more then a Cruiserweight (light weight) wrestler, to becoming WWE Champion.

Its a shame in a way, that this man turned his life around from a life of heavy drug and alcohol use, only to succumb to the aftereffects of that lifestyle years later. But then again, I suppose what matters most is that he did find the strength to make the changes in his life.

Even after 5 years, still in memory...

Third Time Is The Charm

Third video for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and why not? While I don't make it a secret that I have been a sucker for these hype videos and I did say that I wouldn't be going solely on video hyping alone. But after enjoying the hell out of Assassin's Creed 2, how could I not look forward to this?

Beyond this game, however, I cannot say what else I am looking forward to really. There is that 25th anniversary Super Mario All-Stars, but that is one of nostalgia type things. I suppose as far as new games are concerned, my focus from here moves to Dragon Age 2, though that isn't until March of next year. And if I am going that far, then there is also Final Fantasy XIV...

The Brotherhood

Yes, I do realize that this is an old trailer and yet one would have to admit that it is a pretty good one nonetheless. I think it is a fairly decent hype video and it certainly does it's job rather well. And for those who are keeping track at home, we are 5 days out from the release of Assassin's Creed Brotherhood!

As for me personally, I feel a tiny bit foolish at the idea that I traded in Assassin's Creed II and not completing the game. This is after nearly fully finishing off everything there was to do in the game. Then, feeling remorse for leaving such unfinished business, I repurchased the game some months ago and only yesterday did I finish the game.

How long did that take?

10 to 15 minutes tops.

You read that last line correctly.

I was actually only a mere 10-15 minutes away from actually finishing the game I bought the game a second time thinking that I was at least an hour from the end. So you have to imagine the shock that I was in as I watched the end credits rolling away in front of my eyes.

Anyway, I am looking forward to this game and, as stated previously, am hoping that this will ease the hurt of so many bad games recently. I imagine this game may not do as great as it could, thanks to the recent release of Call of Duty Black Ops. All I can say is this: Join the Brotherhood (wonder if there were any GDI in these times?)!

C&C FTW...

The Assassins Are Coming!

Truth be told, I am depending, no begging, the upcoming Assassin's Creed Brotherhood game to save me from this vortex of less then stellar games. I need something great, something to tell me that this was all just a bad dream (Fable 3! Grr...) and that everything will be alright in the end.

So... almost needless to say, my expectations for Brotherhood is fairly high as is, but it is infinitely higher because of AC2. That was a pretty awesome game, one of the few follow up games that actually fixes the problems of its predecessor and even makes ground all on its own. Make sense? Anyhow, I just couldn't imagine this game backsliding, not after the progress made in AC2.

Right?

But I think I am becoming all too skeptical about how this will all end up, especially as I read more about this game. After so many let downs, I am also beginning to believe that there is no such thing as becoming too skeptical.

About another 8 days for me and I shall be able to answer all of these speculations and wonders for myself. No more reviews or opinions or anything else to mask what is most important.

The truth.

Oh, Spiffy...

I won't lie; I am not a huge fan of the Wii and the one I have in my apartment serves as a sort of beacon for dust particles everywhere. Games that interest me on that console are so very few and far between, it is just plain sad to be truthful.

So with that thought in mind, I really don't know why it is that seeing this "limited edition" makes me giddy like a little school girl. I have been increasingly interested in picking up this 25th Anniversary package for Super Mario since I first read about its U.S. release a week or so ago.

Maybe this sudden turn of madness is because I have a lot of fond memories of those classic games. I can still recall all of that frustration and rage as a kid, being the type that would play my heart out and just fall down dead before reaching the end of the level. That would wind me the hell up back then...

Or maybe the reason I am regressing back to memories of old, is because the video games of today just aren't cutting it like they once did for me. Like I previously wrote, I rented and finished Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II in a single sitting and hell, I even finished Fable 3 in a matter of a day or two of playing. What the hell happened to gaming? Why are these games seemingly getting shorter?

I think that is why I miss Mario games the most.

I never finished them!

I'd play and play, then lose and lose again.... then it's over!

Despite all of that, I do remember loving the original All-Stars, as it brought together the games I played when I was a little kid and that brought back so many memories. It was, after all, because of the original Mario Bros. game that I started on this seemingly never ending road of gaming. The second Mario game was a little weird to me, but the 3rd game was absolute gold. How could you go wrong with that one? That has to be the perfect old school Mario game out there...

HADOUKEN - Mecha Love

Admittedly, I did not actually think the music that accompanies this video mixed together all that great. But somehow, by the time it all came to an end, I was absolutely sold on the choice and I just can't think of  a better song for this.

Anyway, this is most definately an awesome video with a awesome choice of music to go with it. People might very well be awesome, but I think this video also proves that there are some crazy people out there too!