Pre-E3 Announcements!

With E3 only a week away it's no surprise that we've got some spoilers coming out. As the big show gets set up there is always the inevitable cell phone picture leak. The spy-shot from the guy who is stacking the vending machines. The temporary jobs to guard or be a part of the event. 

(I personally liked when "Homefront" had N. Korean soldiers guard "free" parking lots) 

Not so this year! Fresh out of the kitchen is a trailer for InJustice: Gods Among Us, and a new Gears of War game!

3DS: Too soon?

Possibly the worst feeling thing to ever grace my hands.

     It’s a simple question when you think about it, and this blogger bets Nintendo may not have thought long enough. My opinion is that 3D is cool but not there yet. I can’t believe I just said that, as I’m one of the most stereotypical early adopters in recent history. Yet, the one tech even I decided to wait on was 3D wether it be in movies, tv’s, or even gaming. Last year I played Motorstorm: Apocalypse at E3 and Sony had their best 3D Bravia Tv, newest Playstation 3, and a pair of 3D glasses. After 30 seconds I was sick to my stomach; this just reinforced what I had already thought about the tech. It simply needs more time. I decided as a consumer I wouldn’t buy in until it either got better or went glasses free. That same year at the same E3 Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo 3DS, and I played it and it was good. Very good. The demos were some of the best games on the market and I was genuinly impressed by the 3D I saw. Clearly everyone was on the band wagon and I too needed to be. I decided the 3DS would be my introduction to the 3D world. I was fine waiting until Nintendo showed everyone how to do it right.

Blades of Steel: Greatest Hockey Game of All Time

     When I was 5 my uncle introduced me to Blades of Steel for the NES. My life forever changed in the next 10 minutes. Blades of Steel was the first Ice Hockey game for the Nintendo Entertainment System and as far as this gamer is concerned the best hockey game in existence. The game was comprised of eight, count them EIGHT teams. Four from the American teams and four from the Canadian teams. Blades of Steel was a game of firsts to be sure. Besides being the first ice hockey game for the NES it was also a game that had something extremely rare for the time... Voice samples. 

Marvel Vs. Capcom 3: Button Mashers Delight

     I just beat Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 for the first time today about a week after I got the game. This is only the second or third time I’ve played it this week. I am not good at fighting games and I never have been or will be. I don’t have the patience or memory to learn all specials for all characters or even a favorite team of 3. Yet despite all that I have stacked against me with a controller in hand (fight and arcade sticks are a different beast) I’m not bad at this game. This is a fighting game for everyone who has ever sucked and wanted to still have fun. This is a button mashers delight. That’s not to say that the skilled player still can’t smash you into the ground in seconds using their entire team in the proper way, but MvC3 gives the uneducated and under talented fans a (if you’ll excuse the pun) fighting chance. Now, I will not review the game.

The day the music (games) stopped

     Activision is a beast that needs to be stopped. They will continue to ruin franchises like my beloved Guitar Hero the day they become a hinderance and lose an iota of profitability. 

     First, some preface about my history with music and games. They were always the two things that could soothe me as an angry young youth. The lyrics to the music I loved said all the things I never could articulate as a teenager coming into his own. The music was always an escape and helped me work out emotion and frustration and most importantly feelings that I was just beginning to understand. Music was a medium I understood having been a percussionist myself for some time. Gaming was something I was exposed to from a very early age and seemed magical at first, then turned into an escape when I entered my teenage years. I was able to explore worlds no one had ever dreamed of. Able to help the hero be the person he had to be, and, in the case of my favorite series The Legend of Zelda, actually be able to groom Link, and watch him grow up and become the hero his world needed. This was an idea I was obsessive about as I was entering the stage where I would not only grow up physically the most but be old enough to notice the changes. The two mediums then began to intertwine. Because of the limited space games had at the time I used to substitute my own music by playing my boom box and muting the television, altering the experience the game designer had in mind to fit my own emotional needs. Then games moved to composition and voice acting making it impossible to hear the story and listen to the music of my choosing. For the majority of the 5th generation of consoles (Gamecube, Playstation 2, and Xbox) I was music-less. My special experience had been robbed and I prayed for the day that music and games would come together again in a worth while event.

Pokemon Black/ White: Too little and way too late

     I know what you’re going to say, “Hey, Pisko, didn’t Pokemon B/W come out in March (Ed. Note years ago, btw)? What took so long?” Well, I’m glad you asked Johnny Everyperson! I work 40 hours a week and [this blog] isn’t cool enough to get advanced copies of games yet so I’ve had to put 80 hours on a portable game in my spare time. That’s right, my “finished” game clock is 82:34 and I put finished in quotes because as any Poke-veteran knows you can NEVER be done with a Pokemon game. With that being said I have decided not to so much “review” the game in the traditional sense because if you are reading this article you either 1)Already own Pokemon B/W and/or 2) Have read plenty of reviews by guys who had early copies and therefore posted their articles WAAAAAY before me. What follows is simply a collection of thoughts from a seasoned Pokemon master. 

Back From Break (Obviously)

Hey everyone. So here's the skinny. I was typing for a different blog over the last year or so that has now gone defunct. I'm going to put up my posts from there on here to just catch up and get some posts. This means that there will be some non-topical archived posts coming your way this week (Eg. Old reviews, old hands on, etc).

This guy looks like me.

As I post this filler you'll see a bit more on how I see this blog going. Mostly reviews for games/ devices I come across which I will attempt to keep relatively opinion free. I will separate these feelings and share my opinion on most topics should you ask for it. To me reviews are not opinion, they are relatable experiences. I do my best to keep them apart. This blog will also include (as in my last post) some heavy opinionated editorials in which I will not hold back or shield you from my free flowing thought diarrhea.