Skyrim = Sinkhole of Time

My experience with The Elder Scrolls games has been very limited, so much so that I've only witnessed a former roommate playing The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.  All I could say about the game was that the guy's character jumped everywhere, occasionally killed a city guard and that it was an FPS-type game.  I wasn't overly impressed.  My own personal experience with first person (POV) hack-and-slash swording fantasy games was limited to an old arcade game that I thought was in a Neo-Geo cabinate, but I can't find anything about it anywhere.  So there's that.

During Steam's most recent Fall/Autumn/Thanksgiving sale, I purchased The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.  I did this for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, the game was 50% off, which still meant that it was $30.  The second reason comes in three parts, but is part of the larger whole, which is that I'm lacking in fantasy realms to be in.  I'm not a subscriber to HBO so I don't/can't watch Game of Thrones until it's released on DVD and Amazon just gave a release date for season 2 as February 13th, 2013 (assuming the world doesn't end in a few weeks).  I'm also reading Shadow Moon, which to pretty much everyone, is the first book in a trilogy that takes place in the same world as the film Willow.  The third part of the second reason is that I'm eagerly awaiting the release of The Hobbit.  So as you can see, I needed a medieval high-fantasy world to play in.

So yes, Skyrim was purchased.  But that is not the point.  The point is, is that I've only played the game for two days, which were my two days off this week, and I managed to clock in about 13 1/2 hours.  Jump ahead two more days and I've now clocked in just over 19 hours.  Granted probably about 30 minutes of that was just creating my character.  I can also figure out how/why I've been playing for this long.  

I don't know if it's something in current large world RPG's and I know I've seen it in a few other games, but Skyrim allows you to in a sense, warp between locations you've already been to.  The required amount of time will pass during your split second journey as if you actually walked it, but you'll be as fast as it takes for the loading screen to finish loading.  I'm not a fan of this "fast travelling" nonsense, something that I felt plagued Final Fantasy XII, but I'm not getting into FFXII right now.  If I'm going from one village to a cave on the other side of the mountains, by golly, I'm going to have my character run the whole god damn way!

A big (as in fucking huge) part of this game for me, is looking at the environment (pun sort of intended).  Anytime I'm travelling, I'll back the camera out to a 3rd person view so that I can rotate the camera and just watch the gorgeous scenery:

Keep in mind that I'm running this game at about mid-level so there aren't all the textures and layers that could be there if I were running on Alienware or something equivalent.  There are mods available designed to make the game look even better, but I'm not going to touch those, again because I don't have the set up for it.  There is this guy though who apparently has 100+ mods running at any given time for some amazing visuals.

The gist is that I like walking.  I like exploring.  So what if I get sidetracked from the main story line and want to find out what's on the other side of that mountain and end up swimming in a lake.  I love being able to look at a mountain range way off in the distance, run towards it and seeing it get larger and larger until there I am, running up the side of it.  I will admit thought that I have on a couple of occasions "Fast Traveled" to a location, but that was because I was strapped for time and knew I wouldn't be able to make the trek to the city to disenchant my non-usable gear before I had to leave for work.  Because in this world, work comes first.

At the moment, I don't see this game taking as much time as say, Goldeneye 007 took, as that was the only game I played on the N64 for just over six months after I bought it.  Some people will scoff at that satement, but I do plan on playing other games, both on my computer and either on the 3DS or PSP if I'm not playing Skyrim.  And besides, I've still got to get through Penumbra Overture.  You hear that Skyrim, you're  not the only game in the box!

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Now If Only They Would Listen

P.S.  And in case you're wondering, I created a female Wood Elf named Allinesea.  She's based off a character I created for a D&D campaign that I have never run.  I also thought it would be more interesting having the lead character as a woman rather than the stereotypical male fighter character.  Although I've also thought about doing a male character and having him be a mage...... I'm sure I'll come up with something later.

And just because, here's a picture of Barbas the wolf hound photo bombing one of my pictures:

The Eternal Dilemma: To Buy Used or New?

This is a topic that will get people fired up on both sides.  Side A hates the idea of buying used games because it takes money away from the developers and puts it into the hands of Middleman Stores.  Side B loves buying used games because of their reduced price.  I like to consider myself as part of Side D.  We'll skip Side C for the moment, as they're probably on their lunch break.

Side D.  I want to purchase games as new products.  I like having a way of telling a game company that I like the products they're putting out and the stories they're telling.  Sadly, this isn't always feasible as games cost money.  And not just any money, typically $30-$40, at least for DS and PSP games.  PC games can average $40-$50 for a new game.  Being an adult with financial responsibilities (gas, car insurance, rent, food, phone, electricity, car maintenance), there always isn't a lot left from my paycheck to go out and buy a $40 game.  For this reason, I wait.  I'll wait for the game to drop in price or to think, "You know what self, I will go buy that game!"

Here's the second problem, after the whole spending money part.  Waiting.  I like to wait at least six months before buying a game, although, honestly, it usually ends up being at least a year.  For some games, the wait is even longer for any number of reasons.  Such was the case with SEGA's Infinite Space.  I first read about this game in issue #248 of Nintendo Power and thought it looked and sounded pretty awesome.  One of my roommates, Vortlynx, had very much been into EVE Online and a space building/exploration game for the DS sounded pretty awesome.  Even with the comment about the game having a "steep learning curve" wasn't a deterrent.  With Infinite Space, though, I apparently waited too long.  The games sales didn't do very well, but was received well by critics.  It then became hard to find at Gamestops and I never saw it at a Target.   Eventually, I checked Amazon and have had prices set pretty consistently at $74 for new and $23 for a used copy.  Buying from eBay is the same as buying used and at that point I was still somewhat hoping to find a place that had a new copy for under $30.  Gamestop's website has a new game for $34, but it's not available online and their "Pick up @ store" function is unavailable.  Which is why, last month, I settled for a used copy from Gamestop, as I was able to find one that was within 100 miles.

Another example, is that I currently want to purchase Castlevania 64: Legacy of Darkness.  Now, there's not going to be any new copy of that game that Konami's going to see any profits from.  Any new (shrink wrapped) game is going to be priced out the ass by some collector who's more interested in making money than actually caring about games being played.

It basically breaks down to, I'll buy new if I can at the time I want to buy the game.  If a new copy of the game is unavailable, I'll try to hunt it down in a way that the company still sees that I like their products.  If I still cannot locate a new copy, I'll try to find a used copy.  So, until the day that game companies start sending Dr. Potts and/or myself games to review, we'll both have to settle for purchasing games from any one of multiple stores (online/physical).

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Go Ahead And Toss My Name Around

P.S.  Side C got back from their lunch and their response to this topic is, "Meh."

Minecraft

I just finished playing the Minecraft Demo for the first time.  For those of you who don't know, Minecraft is a game that has garnered heavy accolades from the gaming community over the past couple of years.  I think it's safe to say that the game has become something of a phenomenon.  And after playing the demo for about a half-hour, I can go on record saying that this game is worthy of the praise.  

Something I want to emphasize is the joy I experienced just learning the basic mechanics of the game.  Exploring the world of the demo, and testing different ways to interact with it, making new discoveries--  I had a great time.  In fact, I have enjoyed this process so much, that I am willing to call what I write from here on out 'spoilers' simply because I do not want to spoil a new players experience of learning the mechanics.  So, if you think that you will play Minecraft in the not-too-distant future, I strongly urge you to just go play it.  Put in a half hour or even the ninety minutes the demo allows.  If you like games-- then it is worth your time.

So, here's a  breakdown my experience with the demo, transcribed here for my own selfish need to express myself.  Please stop reading and go play Minecraft.

One possible reason why I enjoyed Minecraft so much is something called emergent gameplay.  I like this term, and I think it relates to the creativity of Minecraft play.  I felt a strong pull to explore the possibilities within the world. In the beginning, I ran around digging at random pieces of the world, becoming stuck and un-stuck in corners, getting accustomed to the controls.  However, when nighttime first arrived, I was quickly killed, right around the time I found a neat-looking cave to explore.  I had to start over again, and then got killed again.  I got frustrated, so I ended the demo, and started from the beginning.  

This time, I took to digging with a vengeance.  I tore trenches through the landscape, sawed the tops off of trees.  Right about dusk, just as the baddies were going to emerge, I just started digging straight down for a while, and then tunneled around through the softer, easier to dig bricks.  I got lost, but didn't sweat it, and just kept right on digging. 

The critical point came when i figured out how to place items i had collected.  My first move was to block off the tunnel I had dug, thus protecting me from any roaming baddies who may follow me into my tunnel.  Then, entirely by accident, I placed a torch on the wall.  Now I could see! This was reassuring, and helped to orient me as I decided it was time to tunnel upward. 

My next great discovery was that i could jump and place a hunk of dirt directly underneath myself.  This helped me to more quickly get out of a cave i had trapped myself in, and then was even more useful when i subsequently popped out of cliff-side and fell into an abyss filled with monsters.  I took one look around and quickly launched myself skyward on an ever expanding stack of dirt.   I exited the abyss but found myself critically low on food.  Apparently all that time tunneling came with a cost.  This form of isolation kept me safe from monsters, but also locked away from any sustenance.

I hunted around for some of the non- hostile animals i'd seen earlier, and proceeded to beat a pig to death with my bare hands, and devour the raw pork inside. However, since the graphics resemble LEGOs, this wasn't really that grisly.  Still, Herbovours are sure to hate this element of the game.  Possibly you can eat grasses and plants, but this seems unlikely as the hunger meter is represented with pork-chops.

Anyhow, I resupplied my hunger meter, and then decided to take a trip to the sky on another giant tower of dirt.  Kinda like how Iceman gets around.  I rose dozens of feet above the play area,  my limited visual settings fogging the scene below.  (I sure do need a new video card).

I had one heart left of life, something I haven't figured out how to resupply, and the temptation to jump from the in-game stratosphere was very strong.  I decided against it, and began to dig my way back down from on high, one cube of dirt at a time.  When I got to about tree-height, I decided to hop off, but It looks like that was still too high a fall, and I died anyway.  Oops.  

So, that was fun.  Maybe one day I'll buy the full version, and maybe one day I'll terraform a landscape and show it off on YouTube. I don't even know what to do with all of the Minecraft culture stuff out there.  The incredible cities, monumentsand all of the creativity coming out of this game.  It sucks me in and blows.my.mind.  I have to consciously just sort of forget about all of the mountains of amazing things coming out of this game.  There's just too much of it, and the game is fun to just play, without being intimidated by all of that.  

But one thing I will do, is to link to a video of the Enterprise 1701-D being built in minecraft.  I think this one is going to be my favorite minecraft-thing.  


-D

currently playing:
Minecraft
Trilby's Notes
Sim City 4

First Impressions: Penumbra Overture (PC)

Penumbra Overture is the first game in a trilogy from Frictional Games.  I previously reviewed their lastest release, Amnesia ~ Justine ~ which was a stand alone expansion for Amensia: The Dark Descent.  After I finished Amnesia, I looked up the company and found that they had released the Penumbra trilogy three years prior in 2007.  I only recently started playing at Conklederp's request, although it didn't take long for her to convince me.  Now on to the game itself, although I'm going to be making a lot of comparisons to Amnesia as that was the game from Frictional Games that I played first, so you'll have to bare with me on that front.

Having already played Amnesia, Penumbra Overture. felt very familiar.  They're both exploration games in and fps world.  Manipulating objects is also the same as in Amnesia, in that you move the cross hairs over a particular object such as a door or a chest and the cross hairs change to a hand.  By clicking on the object, your hand grasps the item and you're able to pick up, open, throw said item/object.  One big change I noticed with Penumbra Overture was that objects here seemed to have more weight than in Amnesia, which was odd considering that this game came first.  In Amnesia I could lift boxes and barrels, hurling them across the room as if I was throwing a baseball.  In Penumbra Overture, if I can throw a barrel, it's most likely because it's empty while I can only just lift a machine motor (and move slowly while doing so) because it's made out of dense materials.

There is another major departure between Penumbra Overture and Amnesia:

Yes, you are wielding a pickaxe.  Granted it's not the most graceful of wieldings, but it does the job when you come up against the stubborn boarded up door or air vent grate.  It's not as useful against feral wolves, but it has proved effective on at least one occasion.  Yes, you have physical weapons and there's more than one way of wielding them.  Let's stay with the pickaxe for the time being as it's still right there.  You're able to slash from upper right to lower left, back hand slash (upper left to lower right) and jab with the top part of the pickaxe.  This is done by holding the left mouse button and mimicking the motions you want to do.  Now, before you start thinking that by being armed with a pickaxe, you're a death dealing miner from hell.  As any normal person swinging a weapon at an attacking feral wolf, you're somewhat clumsy.  I don't feel that that's an error on the part of the programmers, but this isn't an fps action game, it's an fps exploration/adventure game and the safer thing to do, would be to either run away or hide.

Now hiding is a big part of this game, so big in fact that you have your own visual cues to let you know how well you're hiding.  "Hiding" is activated whenever you crouch.  When you stop moving, a thin blue "fuzz" circles the screen, which lets you know that you're kind of hiding but when the screen looks like this:

(by "this" I mean when the foreground is all blue and saturated), you know you're well hidden.  Bare in mind, that doesn't mean you're invisible.  If a wolf were to come around that far corner, it would be far less likely to see/react to me than if I were standing.  If a wolf came around that nearby corner, it would spot me, stop, growl, back up, then charge and kill me in three bites.

To answer that question, yes, you do have life, although it's a slightly arbitrary health meter.  You have a outline of your body standing, highlighted in green as well as a textual description such as, "I'm as fit as can be expected."  Health can be regained by either staying put for a short while or by taking pain killers.  The only problem with this approach, is that in the amount of time it takes to open up your inventory (which doesn't pause the game mind you), and take the pills, you could almost, just as easily find a corner to duck into until your health reaches full.  As in Amnesia, death has become more of an annoyance than something that I fear.

Death now brings me to saving.  Until I began writing this, I was not sure at all about what/where the save spots in the game where.  I knew that the game kept a number of auto saves, usually when you go through a door that requires the loading screen, but an obvious place to save?  I figured they didn't exist.  It turns out that whenever you encounter an odd, creepy looking lantern that seems like it's burrowing into your soul/subconscious, the game saves.  There's no hitting "escape" then clicking "save & exit," which to some extent makes me fear for wondering when I'll come to the next transition door.  It does feel a bit odd though having/needing to go to the "Auto Saves" file to find where I want the game to load from.

One really cool thing that I've been doing while playing is keeping a notebook.  The character in the game has a notebook and I figured, why shouldn't I?  It has come in pretty handy as well.  Now instead of going to the in-game notebook to look at the page with the Morse Code cipher to figure out what the pass code is for the key pad on the other side of the area, I can just look at my own notes while listening to the radio transmission and write down the sequence.  That way when I go to the keypad, I'll know exactly what to press.  It's also been very handy for making maps.  There are in-game maps, but those are in the form of a map being on the wall of the mine and you looking at it.  You can't take it with you, so I thought it best to carry one with me.

Now, I just realized that I haven't said anything about the story and that's mainly because I'm still trying to figure out what the story is.  Similar to Amnesia in that I only was able to put all the little pieces together near the end of the game, I feel like Penumbra Overture will operate in a very similar manner.  This game also involves a lot of reading, either from notes, diary entries and newspaper clippings from topics ranging from Inuit culture, Greenland mythology, to the ravings of a man eating spiders.  It's all about creating the world and mood.

In closing, Penumbra Overture is a very creepy, atmospheric survival horror game where you go to open a door, and shit like this happens:

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

We're Gunna Need a Bigger Boat

impressions from gaming coop #4: Miscellaneous

I didn't play every cabinet extensively.  So I'm going to list the remaining games I played without their cabinets you can find further references by going to the Gaming Co-op's Arcade Page.  You can find my other reviews of the Cooperative Gaming Co-op here, here and here.  

• Keep Me Occupied by Anna Anthropy

This game was fun.  I was actually able to play it solo, while controlling two players independently.  I enjoyed the flying controls very much.  An interesting thing about this game is that it was commissioned for the Oakland Occupy movement.  The cabinet was attached to a portable rig with a generator and brought to the protest site.  Check out this article on Wired.  And look at this, an article on PBS as well!

• Don't Blow Up by Allan Francisco 

I really liked this game.  It jumps right to the point.  The game play resembles that of a shooter, but you don't shoot, you just dodge.  The different bullet-patterns from the enemy squares are really interesting, and my adrenaline spiked within two minutes of playing this game.  

• Zepplin Jump Funnily by Gavin Higham and Glen Pham

This game was very silly.  The controls were really loose, but I enjoyed the co-operative elements.  

• Misfit Ninja by Maxim Tiourin

This game is essentially a low-budget super-meat boy.  Pretty fun to play, and the confetti effect during the deaths is definitely enough reason to check it out.  

• A Slower Speed of Light by Spectrip

This game had a really neat concept, unfortunately the execution was pretty much terrible.  The idea is that you collect little orbs which slow down the speed of light, and the visuals change based on the new wavelengths of light vs how fast you travel.  Pretty damned cool, but it controlled like complete shit.  Sliding around everywhere like it was an ice-level on a platformer.  I'd love to play it again if the controls were to be tweaked.



Only one cabinet left:  the Winnitron.  The Winnitron is a really cool concept, dedicated to Arcade game and Indie games.  

Adventure Running Part II: The Idea Birth

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've been playing a lot of the Left 4 Dead games, not only because it's been the Halloween season, but because I'd never played them before.  And when I say a lot, I mean that the combined time for both games (thanks Steam) adds up to 40 hours (11 on L4D & 29 on L4D2), although if you break it down: 

• I've had the games for 19 days.
• 19 days = 456 hours
• 40 / 456 = 0.87
• I've only spent 8.7% of my time, of the last two and-a-half weeks playing L4D/2.
• Comparatively, I've spent:
• 24.5% of my time at work
• 31.3 % of my time asleep

So really, 8.7% isn't that much time.

Additionally, in the last two weeks, Conklederp and I have gone running twice, but hey, it's Portland and we're not keen on running in the rain.  But we do run and we like running, which works its way into Left 4 Dead because there are, in existence, Zombie Runs of varying degrees.  There's the Run Like Hell zombie run where people dress up as zombies and do either a 5K, 10K or half marathon.  There's the Run for Your Lives zombie run where you have 4 flags (a la flag football) and have to dodge zombies and make it across the finish with at least one flag remaining.

This got me thinking the other day when we were out running in Mary S. Young State Park, which is conveniently 1/2 a mile down the road.  I was thinking, that the adventure/obstacle course zombie runs are cool, but you can't fight back.  It's all dodging and running away.  That's where the paintball guns come in.  Now I could go into the whole schpiel that I gave Conklederp as we were running, but I figure that it'll just be faster to list the highlights and rules here for the first ever:

• 5k course, preferably in a wooded area and non-residential.
• Maximum of 250 participants/survivors
• Each survivor will have:
• A paintball gun and 25 rounds of eco-friendly paintballs.
• No other paintballs will be authorized on the course.
• Some form of thick-ish layer clothing in case of stray paintballs.  Not required although recommended
• A certified paintball mask.
• A flag football belt with 4 flags which represent life/hit points.
• All equipment is rented and provided by the race organizers.  No personal paintball guns will be allowed for safety reasons/concerns.  
• Equipment rental is part of the registration cost.
• Minimum of 50 zombies
• Zombies will be identified by the following:
• Red paintball masks
• Red shirts/sweaters/body armor.
• Zombies will be combination of traditional slow moving and modern fast moving zombies.
• Zombies can only be killed by a shot to the head
• A zombie "killed" will be out of commission for 60 seconds.
• A killed zombie will not be standing and may not be shot at.
• Zombies may not be attacked in any other way.
• Tackling, hitting, kicking, tripping or in any other way making intentional contact with a zombie will result in being ejected from the course.
• Zombies are considered "Judges" for the course.  There will also be non-zombie Judges making sure people follow the rules.
• If you are seen violating any of the rules, you will be ejected from the course and not be allowed to finish the race.
• There will be two safe houses along the course.  At a safe house there will be the following:
• First Aid Kits (real first aid supplies and extra flags.  May only pick up two additional flags to a maximum of four).
• Extra 25 rounds of ammunition.  You may carry up to 75 rounds.
• Extra rounds from the first safe house will be in commemorative containers that the survivors can take home after the race
• Water, gatorade/powerade/powerthirst.
• Safe houses are zombie free and there will be no zombies for at least 100 yards before/after the safe house.

So I really think this needs to happen.  After typing this, I checked online and couldn't find this type of race being done anywhere.  I did find some zombie runs being held at paintball parks, but nowhere did they say anything about paintball guns being used.  So yes, someone make this happen, and please credit us.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Waivers For All

Today's Hipster Title: The Price We Pay Will Be Our Own

Super Sweet MS Paint Art!

So it's Veteran's Day, or at least, the day we observe it, as opposed to the actual Veteran's Day, which was yesterday, Sunday November 11th.  Part of me felt that I should post something Veteran related, but I don't know much of anything about that world.  I've had some friends over the years that were in varying branches and degrees of the military although those topics never readily came up.  So now I'm going to talk about something I will claim to know about.

The stock market.  That's something that I don't really know anything about either.  I know there's the NYSE, there's the NASDAQ, the S&P500, and there's some over in Europe and Japan too.  It's not the stock market itself that I'm conjuring, but just the way that the value of stocks moving up and down and how people will wait.....wait......SELL!SELL!SELL!!!!  That magic price, whatever it is in that magical number that tells them that now's the time to either sell or buy.  It's a bull market.

I'm that way with video games at Amazon.  Whenever I find a game I want, I'll put it in my shopping cart, then click the "save it for later" link so that I can watch the price fluctuate multiple times every day.  I've recently done this with Radiant Historia for the DS.

First off, Radiant Historia is a game by Atlus and the "gimmick" for this game is somewhat similar to Chrono Trigger in that you're able to move back and forth through time to alter events.  That's the extent of the information that I've looked up.  I don't want to know anymore than that.  So the game comes out at the regular DS price of $29.99.  At some point, the game jumped up to $75.99, possibly because it came out at the tail end of the DS's life, just as the 3DS was being released (RH: February 2011 & 3DS: March 2011) and because that's what seems to happen with niche RPG's from Japan.  Limited release in the US because distributors aren't sure if a popular game in Japan will sell well in the US.  Then it becomes popular with low stock.  I even checked at Gamestop, both new and used and the price was higher than I wanted to pay for a game.

Within the last week though, I noticed the price of Radiant Historia was dropping.  It went from $29.99 to $25 something to $22.  The morning of the 10th (Saturday), I told myself after waking up, that if the price was under $20, that I would purchase the game.  The price was $18.10.  I purchased it.  The conundrum was weather or not the price would continue to fall, or if it would jump back up to some insanely high price, which for me, is over $25.  The morning of the 11th, after Amazon told me my order had been shipped, the price dropped again to $16.20.  Sure I was annoyed, but not mad.  This morning when I checked, the price was again $29.99, which is still what the price is, 12am on the 13th.

I have absolutely no explanation for why the price at Amazon will fluctuate so drastically over the course of a week.  Maybe it works like the stock market?  Someone mentions something good about Atlus, the price goes up, metacritic hates the game, the price goes down.  Rotten Tomatoes thinks the guy who did voice acting for a game is a sell out tool because he forgot his indie roots when he signed with Warner Brothers, the price stays the same.  I can't say.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

First World Problems Abound

P.S.  I also have the same train of thought when it comes to buying gas.  One day the price will be $3.89 a gallon and it'll drop down to $3.65 the next day.  I'll need gas, but wait just in case it drops the following day.  That next day, I forget to buy gas because it's my two days off and I'm not driving anywhere.  Then, the day I get back in my car, I remember about the gas, and the price jumps up to $3.99 a gallon.  Stuff like that.

The Red Pill? The Blue Pill?

Bottle Sprite ripped by A.J. Nitro.  Everything else from some other source.

Believe it or not, The Matrix became an angsty teenager this year, but I digress even before I able to start.  But let's continue.  I actually had to look up which pill was the one that put you back in the Matrix and which was the one that brought you out of it.  There might be some symbolic meaning behind the specific color choices, red=freedom & blue=ignorance, but if there is, I don't know about it.  But lets stay with that blue pill for a while.  Ignorance and not knowing are the reasons for this post today and hold onto that thought.

For the past week or two, I've been playing a lot of Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2.  The week of Halloween, Steam was having a sale on a lot of their "scary" and Halloween-esque games so I decided to take advantage and pick up some AAA titles that I never played due to not having the appropriate system (Xbox 360 or a gaming computer).  However, when a game like Left 4 Dead 2 is looking at you with that blank hungry stare and it has a $4.99 sticker on it's forehead, I couldn't pass it up.  I also picked up the Penumbra collection, which consists of the three games in the Penumbra series (Overture, Black Plague, and Requiem).  Wait, you've never heard of Penumbra?  There's the French gothic metal band Penumbra, but we're referring to the game by Frictional Games, the people who brought us Amnesia: The Dark Descent and ~Justine~.  

Never having played any of the games in the Left 4 Dead series, you could look up a trailer and get a gist for what the game is about:

However, if you watch the trailer for Penumbra - Overture: 

You still don't know what the game is about.

With the Left 4 Dead games, you know exactly what you're getting.  I have only a vague idea with Penumbra, and that's something that I really like.  I've played about an hour and-a-half and I still couldn't tell you what the story is aside from what I've experienced.  But don't get me wrong, having a straight forward story that you know about before even starting the game isn't a bad thing and sometimes it's just refreshing to land in a world and go from Point A to Point B and kill as many zombies as you can without dying.  It's also very refreshing to play a game that you know absolutely nothing about.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

Wandering Hamster and the OHRRPGCE

So, a few months ago, I got it into my head that it was time to look up some video game-making software.  I had heard of these things back in the late 90's, an RPG maker available for the playstation.  I never got a look at it, and I didn't pursue it.  I think it wrote it off as too much work, or better yet, wrote off the playstation memory card as too small to provide for anything worth doing.  Whatever.

I got to thinking about it, though, and my hankering to produce a video game has not gone away in the decade since.  If anything, I've been encouraged by the tremendous number of independent games I've seen, and even more so by the good ones!  I figure that it's worth a try, so I decided to do another search, and I turned up a program called the OHRRPGCE.  This program had actually been released in the late 90's and has been revised and maintained in various forms since.  

The current form of OHRRPGCE included a sample game called 'Wandering Hamster' which I decided to play, and I composed the following post.  However, I never published it, and I now return to Wandering Hamster and the OHRRPGCE, publishing this post as I wrote and a follow-up.  Cop out?  Probably.  

08/15/12:

Hey there, Hamsters and Hamstettes,  I'ma gonna give this here RPG maker a look-see!  Starting by playing their example game:  Wandering Hamster.  Free to download for Windows systems.  

I put in about thirty minutes yesterday, and what I found was a fun little satirical 8-bit style RPG, similar to Breath of Death VII or Cthulu Saves the World.  However, I already feel the interface is better in this game.  It follows more of a Final Fantasy II(IV) menu style rather than the Dragon Warrior I Menu style of Cthulu and Breath.  Very Humorous, and so far, there are more little touches and more original dialogue in the town full of random folks.  

I'll put in a couple more hours - Hamster is incomplete, so it will apparently just drop off at some point - and then I will go about dissecting it with the RPG maker it was created with.  I have some ideas brewing.  I'm not sure I can put in the effort necessary to produce something...  But if I do produce anything at all, believe me, I will post it!

11/04/12:

After a long gap, I've returned to this game.  I went through the first dungeon, which was moderately difficult and moderately funny.  One thing I didn't mention before was the battle music for the initial environment is really great - it starts with a rapid-picking banjo but develops into a more 'battle-theme' styled song.  

All-in-all, Hamster plays like a low-rent Final Fantasy IV (with active-time battle system from FFVI) I think it gives me an idea of what the ohr-rpg-ce is capable of.  

I found this game when I was looking around for a free RPG maker to play with.  I've had trouble tolerating the interface so far, so I think I'll look around for another free RPG maker.  And maybe I'll play Wandering Hamster a little more.  It's kinda fun =)

-D

Impressions from Cooperative Gaming Coop #3: Zineistar curated by Anna Anthropy

This is definitely the more Avant Garde cabinet.  These games are not all traditionally challenging or fun.  But many are provoking, of thoughts and of feelings.  Original, clever.  This will mark a trend that will continue for the remaining two posts I have planned for this event - which is that I didn't play all the games in these cabinets.  I will try to be more complete next time.  

Zineistar curated by Anna Anthropy

• Lim by Merritt Kopas

didn't play, but here's: a review.  Oh, and hey look, a play-link!  Alright, now I've played it.  Very interesting.  It plays in-browser.  Give it a look, see how you feel.  

• Sister’s Little Helper by Pierre Corbinais

didn't play.  I hear that you roll joints for the lead character and she tells you stories.  There are supposed to be a bunch of different stories. You can download it from this funny french page.

• Personal Trip to the Moon by VoEC

This game was interesting.  It's a terrible pun to call this game 'atmospheric' - but it really is.  The music was a very strong part of the atmosphere.  This game seems designed to provoke an emotional reaction, and 'fun' is not the target emotional response.  It is well put together, polished and short.  Go play it, it'll only take five minutes.

• Putt-Putt Saves the Stew by Jeremy and Eric Penner

All the art and sounds for this game were created by a small child.  The programming was done by his father.  The results are adorably funny, if a little tough to discern.  In particular, I really appreciate how Putt-Putt is so eager to help.  I highly recommend giving this game a play-through.

• Coletânea Esses Games Violentos "These Violent Video Games" by 'fifty 11 year-olds'
  
  

11/17/2012:  edit:  I forgot to include this game!  This game was put together with contributions by fifty children, all of whom are listed on the Gaming Co-Op's Arcade Page. This game was ridiculously hard, but worth a look, at the very least to honor the effort of a bunch of kids making a video game.  And I know that's something I want to do, don't you?

• A Game for Strong DAPHNY DRUCILLA “DOUBLE [DILDOS] DRAGON” DELIGHT DAVID

(I tried, but I simply could not find a picture for this game.  I suggest you click the link above and play the game.  Then, if you're feeling brave, do an image search for the above title and see what you find)
This game wasn't exactly a game, per-se.  It was more like a power-point presentation where the player gets to hold the clicker.  I don't mean for that to denigrate this game, though.  It is very expressive, and the subject is the struggles of trying to make a game, for a particular character named 'strong.'  

• SuperEagle by TheCatamites and J Chastain

I didn't play this one.  Apparantly you shoot lots and lots of Nazis and all the graphics are hand-drawn.  And also, if you don't do it effectively, you will get downgraded to a desk job.  

• Live Forever! by Hubol Gordon

This game was super-bizarre.  Downright ridiculous even.  Worth playing.  The gist is that your character - a sort of vaguely anthropomorphic blob-creature, wants to live forever, so it has to collect certain items that give you youth and avoid items that age you.  Youth items are like food and candy and plastic surgery.  Aging items are birthday cakes.  You can also pick up drugs, which make the graphics go all wacked out.  This game was like a piece of modernist, dadaist, something-ist art.  Definitely provoked a reaction from me.  Bewilderment.  And some laughs too =)  Try it! 




Zinestar was an unusual cabinet.  I think some of the most experimental gaming experiences were had on this one.  I'd like to go back and play them all, so I can give a more comparative review.
Zinestar is the first cabinet I'm reviewing where I didn't play all of the games.  The next post will actually be a summary of miscellaneous games I did play.  And the last will be for the Winnitron, which I am excited to talk about.  



-DRPOTTS

When not playing the preceding games, currently playing:
Angry Birds
Trilby's Notes
Plants vs Zombies
Wandering Hamster

It's Child's Play Charity Season!!

Like so many things, I found out about the Child's Play charity sometime in the winter of 2007 after I became aware of Penny Arcade.  Yes, I came to Penny Arcade pretty late, although I recall being directed to their a few years prior although I had forgotten about it until Chreekat left for Seattle to be an [Enforcer] for PAX07.

So Child's Play.  It's not that Child's Play, but it does involve children.  Child's Play is a charity started and run by the people at Penny Arcade.  Their description of their own organization is a lot better than one that I could come up with so we'll just go with theirs, "Child's Play seeks to improve the lives of children in hospitals around the world through the kindness and generosity of the video game industry and the power of play."   I've brought them up before in previous posts regarding the Humble Indie Bundles

Every "holiday season" (November 1st - December 31st?) they have their annual fundraiser and through the amazing generosity of people, manage to raise upwards of 2 million plus dollars in actual money and games/gaming products.  There are literally dozens of ways to donate.  

• There's the straight through Pay Pal method where your donation goes to the organization to be distributed later.
• There's the purchase a specific gift for a specific hospital from Amazon.com.  You're able to view that hospital's wish list and purchase directly from that.
• There's the Mario Marathon, where these people play 10 games in the Super Mario Bros. franchise.  They play non stop, 24 hours a day until they've finished the preset challenges such as "Super Mario Bros. 2 100% run through" and "Super Mario Galaxy 2: Beat with 75 Stars."
• There's Desert Bus for Hope.  Desert Bus is best described here.  What they do and how they help Child's Play is best described here.

Back in 2008, there was an event in San Francisco called Funde Razor that was a Rock Band oriented event with raffle where the proceeds went to Child's Play.  There are a lot of events like this that go on every holiday season that support Child's Play.

Anyway, it's only 5 days in, and they already have $300,000 up on their counter.  It's amazing to watch the amount grow as the year slowly/quickly ends and it's all to bring some happiness into some kids' lives, who could really use it.

~JWfW/JDub/Jaconian

As Could We All.

Impressions from Game co-op #2: SPORTS! by Sarah Brin

(I want to make a quick note that, as I continue to write these posts about the cooperative gaming coop, my sense of the irony grows.  That I am reviewing it after-the-fact is a little disturbing.  Today, I searched for "ARCADE - curated by Zach Gage" and our blog came up before the actual gaming coop blog.  I don't understand how that happened.  Anyhow, I'll talk to John about it when I see him next, which I think will be this weekend.  In the meantime, check out this interview with John about the Arcade)

SPORTS! curated by Sarah Brin

• BaraBari Ball by Noah Sasso, 2012

Oh man, this game was fun!  I think it's four-players too.  This game plays kind of like Smash Bros, except the goal is to get the Bari Ball into your opponents goal, which is represented as an orange or green pool on either side of the screen.  You can also drown in this pool and have to re-pop, losing valuable Ball-carrying time.  You can hit the ball, or carry it and throw it.  You can also hit your opponent.  And you can air jump up to six times.  The jumps will refill when you rest.  I had a blast and definitely hope I haven't seen the last of BaraBari Ball!

If this game piques your interest, take a look at this link:  How to play BaraBariBall

• QWOP by Bennett Foddy, 2008

QWOP is ridiculous.  And slightly, frustratingly, addictive.  I just know I can do it.  Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Okay, one more try!  Okay, wait a second.  Just go play QWOP for a minute.  I'll wait here....

Fucking QWOP, progenitor of a thousand memes!  The idea behind QWOP is that you control your runners legs using the QWOP keys, controlling the thighs and calves independently.  But... it doesn't really work right.  Have --fun? 

• Hokra by Ramiro Corbetta, 2011

Hokra is a game I didn't get to play too much.  It was properly for four players, so my experience was limited, but it was pretty neat and I'd love to try a proper game.  It's all pixely, minimalist and you move your little square players and your little pixel ball into a goal-zone, where it racks up points based on time.  But your opponents want to do the same, so you chase after the ball and kick and pass and have a good time.  Here's hoping for another chance to play Hokra!

• Tennnes by Jan Willem Nijman, 2012 

Tennnes is a fun, minimalist tennis game.  The controls were tight, which is an excellent thing since the graphics were so danged simple.  If you like video tennis games, then I recommend this one.  It was fun to play.  I didn't get to play for very long, but I felt like the fundamentals were strong enough to provide for hours of good times. 

Summary: All in all, SPORTS was a great cabinet.  Three out of Four games were really fun multiplayer games.  This cabinet would be great to have at party.  Even QWOP is good for a laugh, at the least.