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Gamer’s Mind Blog: Game Ranting

Josh Salem — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:09:04 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

What’s your favourite game? I know, it’s a tough question to answer for some of us, and a question I get asked almost every time I have an interview regarding any form of game related activities. In fact, it’s such a difficult question for me to answer that I often ask people I interview for andPOP positions just to watch them squirm as much as I do when I have to come up with a quick meaningful response. Do you base your answer on memory? What’s popular at the time? Do you want to sound sophisticated so you refer to some obscure art title? What if the game you say is your favourite turns out to be a personal worst for the person asking you? With such a simple question comes so much drama, and to a point, it gets a little ridiculous.

Personally I would probably have to say my all time favourite video game would have to be Punch Out for the original Nintendo… or Final Fantasy 7 for the Playstation… or Metal Gear Solid for the Playstation… or General Chaos for the Sega Genesis… or the latest Smash Bros title. At least I can narrow down my choices to my top five favourites of all time. Why did these become my favourites?

Punch Out was always a quick fun pick me up that never got old, and was challenging enough that from time to time I would make it all the way to the final boss (Mike Tyson or Mr. Dream) but believe it or not, I never tried the new remake on the Wii (I guess I don’t want to tarnish my memories of such a great game). FF7 had a great story and more side quests than an aging wizard can shake his wand at, with such character growth and connection in this long lasting RPG, it’s easy to see why it’s on a lot of other people’s top 5 games as well. Metal Gear Solid (another Playstation one title) was like an interactive movie, but not only that, a really amazing interactive movie! Hideo Kojima just had a way of telling a story with such beautiful graphics, compelling deep characters and an amazing script I’m still amazed it hasn’t been adapted into a film yet.

Obscure? Maybe... Awesome? Definitley!

General Chaos was a little known game on the Genesis published by Electronic Arts (EA) in 1994 which pits you, General Chaos against your rival General Havoc in a battle for army supremacy; What I enjoyed most about a title like this was the simple customization of soldiers you could have well before the time of RTS’ really took hold. And Finally, Super Smash Bros. has always been the ultimate party game, what’s not to love? Fast paced action packed fighting of your favourite Nintendo characters using in game weapons to kick some ass! Where else could you find Pikachu picking up a fire flower to toast Link or Luigi unleashing a Metroid on Donkey Kong? It was like a dream I had over and over again materialized into a great game to sit around with friends and create smack talk around.

So there you have it, my top five games of all time, what are yours?

Gamer’s Mind Blog: Game Ranting

Josh Salem — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 15:43:34 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Hey andPOPpers, Josh again with my weekly ranting. This week’s topic, how do you play video games? What is your ideal setup? How long is a good gaming session for you? When I play, it all depends on the mood I’m in, what kind of game it is, and what happened earlier in the day. If I’m having a crappy day, bad traffic, annoying people, and I’m just in a downright foul mood, I like to cause some havoc. Take my anger out on virtual citizens of a cyber world. I may go home, crack open a nice frosty coke, plop on the couch and pop in some Horde mode of Gears of War 2 and just slaughter alien scum for a good hour or two. If I’m awake and relatively bored I might go back to my old MMORPG ways and play some online final fantasy 11 (either on my PC or Xbox depending on the mood) and slash 3 to 4 hours off my day. When the mood strikes and I feel like watching a movie but want that interactive vibe to it, I would usually play some good, theatrical, and beautiful Metal Gear Solid 4, pop in my Jabra earpiece (that came with Warhawk for PS3) and play with that much more involvement… and yes, if I want to be 100% in the game, I may even toss on my eye patch every now and then.

The problem I have, and would like to rant about this week though is what happens (and lately it’s been happening a lot) if I’m feeling lethargic, lazy, bored, just wanting to shut off my brain and do something relaxing for a couple of hours in front of my TV. I browse my gaming titles, usually starting from the games I’m currently in the middle of, usually starting with Xbox 360 titles, my choices usually include: one of a dozen shooter games, a plethora of music titles, horror games, sports titles or a movie trivia option. Nope, don’t feel like playing any of those, I move onto the PS3: a lot of the same, more sports, less horror, Little Big Planet or Eye of Judgement (both have a lot of setup involved either in the game or physically, much too lazy for that). Onto the Wii… ya, about that, as most of their games involve movement as it is… I skip over the majority, otherwise they’re all just too fast paced for me to relax to. I can’t seem to find my PSP and the DS is in my backpack in another room. I know what you’re thinking, ‘boo hoo little Josh has all this choice and is bored, cry me a freaking river’, yes, I know I am ridiculously lucky to have such a job, and it does have it’s benefits, but when your mood is ‘blah’ there really isn’t much you can do, and it’s frustrating!

No reason for this picture, I just love the power glove

What would you do if you went though an entire library of games you KNOW you enjoy, but just don’t feel like playing? Go outside? Take a nap? Watch TV? I had to figure this out, and I came up with an interim solution to keep me busy until my mood changes, first option: Set up a blog and tell the world how annoyed you are, if you’re lucky maybe they’ll respond and tell you how annoying YOU are! Option two: check out downloadable options for your next gen console, Xbox 360 has Live Arcade, community games, and original Xbox titles, PS3 has the PSN that offers downloadable games, PSP titles, and older PS1 titles, Nintendo Wii offers not only a huge selection of older titles through their virtual console, but also WiiWare titles for download as well. Option three: check out the downloadable demos available on your consoles! Just because you never thought about buying a game doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try the demo for it for free anyways. Even the downloadable titles usually have demo options available to test the waters before buying and downloading them. Finally option four: go to your local gaming store and take a look at the overabundance of classic game compilations available for almost every system, if you’re lucky, you could even pick up a used copy of one. So which option did I go with?

Well, I did all four, you’re reading my blog, I downloaded Castle Crashers for Xbox 360 and Wave Race for the N64 on the Wii, tried a few demos and just came back from my local gaming store with a copy of Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for the Xbox 360. I figure with over 45 classic Genesis games to play, some I loved but had a hard time tracking down to play again, some I had never heard of that when the mood to not play any of my previously loved titles strikes, I can try my hand at something I enjoyed 15 years earlier!

So, there’s my rant for the week, I’m sure a lot of you have a lot of things to say, rant about yourselves, comments, ideas, etc. So leave a comment, tell us what your favourite fall-back title is and what makes it the game you can play at any time no matter what.

Gamer’s Mind Blog: Game Ranting

Josh Salem — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:42:17 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Hey andPOPpers, Josh here again and today, I think I’ll rant about the big news of the month, E3. The Electronic Entertainment Expo, the biggest North American video game trade show came and went, and with it, a slew of previews we all expected to see as well as a few big surprises came our way. While I was unable to attend this year, I watched from the comfort of my couch and desk as the news rolled in, and while I got excited for what’s coming our way I couldn’t help but get a little disappointed that while the people there had to deal with crowds, line-ups and costs, they would ultimately be the ones to say they played these games a year or even more before they came out.

So for the past week I’ve been watching the live E3 press releases of the big three: Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft; and I must say, for the most part I was surprisingly impressed with what was announced and shown at these press conferences.

To start off, let’s take a look at Microsoft. They not only snaked away Final Fantasy 13 as an exclusive from Sony, but to my surprise, they also have the new Metal Gear Solid Rising coming out for Xbox 360 as well as PS3 and PC! Rockband Beatles, Tony Hawk Ride (with skateboard controller) and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare was also all announced as Microsoft held the first press conference, but all these titles were also to be debuting on other systems as well. So what did Microsoft have to show that would make me proud to be an Xbox owner? The announcement of Crackdown 2 perhaps? Left 4 Dead 2?!!! Already? I had no idea! Forza 3 (of course Microsoft needed something to combat GT5), and not only a preview of Halo: ODST but the brand new announcement of an entirely new Halo game altogether called Halo: Reach. Now, as of writing this blog up, we do not know what Reach is, or even what kind of game it will be, but my assumption is that if it is being announced along side ODST, it will not be a first person shooter, but I could be entirely wrong. **EDIT: it IS a first person shooter!** Aside from Alan Wake (we all knew it was coming), that wrapped up what Microsoft had in store with regards to their software, now what about hardware? The introduction of Last.FM for Xbox Live gold members, Sky (like NetFlix) for UK gamers, and oh ya, 1080P NetFlix in 18 countries! Other expansions to Xbox Live include connectivity with Facebook, and what’s this? Project NATAL? Full body motion control? No need for a controller or wand or anything? Voice recognition, facial recognition? This is all too much to handle… or is it? Dun dun dunnnnn.

Moving onto Nintendo, we were shown a lot of the DSi and Wii Motion Plus yada yada yada, they keep talking about what we already know, does Nintendo have nothing new to show this year? They do. And by golly was it a surprise to me at least! Cammie Dunaway first blows my mind with statistics; video games sell more than music and box office movies combined? A few kids games are shown, girl games and BAM we’re whacked in the face with a brand new FOUR player simultaneously Wii Super Mario game! We’re shown Mario, Luigi, and two Toads (Toadaie?) competing for mushrooms and coins. Red Steel 2, Tiger Woods 10, Wii Sports Resort, Mario and Luigi RPG 3 announced… nothing really new for a while during their press conference until bam (again), Final Fantasy: Crystal Bearers for the Wii, Sin and Punishment 2, and Kingdom Hearts for the DS. More ho hum games announced, Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Wario for the DSi with user created content… not my favourite, if I wanted to make my own game, I may just do that. I feel Nintendo is trying to jump on the user created content bandwagon too little too late. Here’s where it gets good, Super Mario Galaxy 2! Sure it looks exactly like the original Galaxy, but this time, you can ride Yoshi, and besides, any new Galaxy game is good enough for me! The big announcement that totally caught me off guard however, Metroid: Other M! a new Metroid title that looks deeper into Samus Aran’s past!!! Oh ya, and a finger sensor for the Wii to check your pulse… what?

Finally Sony’s press conference was coming up. We heard rumors and saw pictures of the new slim PS3 and PSP Go, would they make an appearance? Well, the PSP Go did, and the CEO of Sony kept making jokes about all their secrets being leaked… way to throw us off Mr. CEO! To start off they talk about Uncharted 2, of course, the only real PS3 exclusive anyone has seen more than a few minutes of, let’s just hope Sony didn’t put all their eggs into one basket (or two if you include God of War 3). What’s this? They still think 256 players can play simultaneously in MAG? They must be MAD!!! (see what I did there?) . They go on to talk about PSP titles, Dissidia (the Final Fantasy fighter), Castlevania: Bloodlines, Hannah Montana, and what’s this? Gran Tourismo PSP (with 800 cars), Resident Evil Portable, and what what what? Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker! A PSP MGS title that has Big Boss and what looks like 3 other snakes (Solid, Liquid, and Solidus perhaps?) playing in a true metal gear solid portable sequel taking place 10 years after MGS3. Will it be a four player co-op game? I sure hope so! LittleBigPlanet and Jak and Daxter also coming out on the PSP. They then go on to talk about Final Fantasy 13 and show a new trailer for it followed by… what? An announcement for Final Fantasy 14?!!!? Another MMORPG it seems, but since I just quit FF11 three days ago, I eagerly await more news! Sony goes on to talk about more user created content along the lines of LBP, a new game called Mod Nation Racers, and it’s exactly what you would guess, you create the racer, you create your car, you even create the track you race on, it’s a pretty kart racer, other than creating your own content, nothing really special. The third and final game from the creators of ICO, The Last Guardian has a chicken puppy working with a child to do god knows what, but it is pretty and fairly artistic, what we expected. Following this game preview we were given a glimpse of Gran Tourismo 5. Nothing special here. And finally, a 5 minute demo of God of War 3; now, while we all saw trailers for GOW3 and were expecting something big, right when the demo was getting good, they cut it off and from what I saw, it wasn’t anything revolutionary or special, just more of the same fun God of War gore. Good enough for me, but for how much longer. So, Sony, whom I thought would be the weakest of the three this year came out with a bunch of surprises even after the leak of the PSP Go, but wait, they had one more little thing to show me. What I thought to be the biggest showing so far, Playstation motion control! Using a colour changing wand with buttons, players are given 1:1 tracking along with the Playstation eye which lets your magical wand become anything you want, a golf club, gun, sword, you can even achieve first person views with it! Take two wands and enjoy if you like! All very exciting stuff.

So there you go, the big guns of the big three, I apologize if my writing is very sporadic but I wrote this as I was watching the press conferences, so any hiccups you see can be translated into excitement for myself! I cannot wait to see how these games and features expand and grow and I full heartedly look forward to the next two years of gaming, they’re going to be magical! What I always enjoyed most about E3 was never really the games themselves, the trailers or demos for the games, but rather the excitement of the press releases. Only in these meetings do you get to see old stuffy CEOs in business suits get overly excited about content I find interesting as well. I also greatly enjoy the surprises they throw at us year after year whether it be a great kept secret, or surprise guests, watching these press releases might very well be the most exciting aspect of the video game industry. Yes, I realize this is not really game rant, but hey, my blog, I talk about what I want!

So what were your biggest surprises and letdowns of E3 this year? Leave a comment; let us know what you thought of the revitalized gaming expo?

Gamer’s Mind Blog: Game Ranting

Josh Salem — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:43:08 +0000

Posted on andPOP:

Hey andPOPpers, Josh here (senior gaming editor), chances are if you’ve read a game review on this web page in the past two years, it was written by me. We’re going through some big exciting changes on the gaming front at andPOP, we will be adding more content, more articles, more reviews, contests, interviews, and many more surprises over the next few weeks and I just wanted to get things rolling with what I hope to become a weekly blog.

I guess I would start by telling you all a little bit about my gaming habits. Ever since I was a wee young child I grew up with some form of video game controller in my hand, whether I controlled a pong paddle with it or a horde of orcs I have always enjoyed playing, and try to get as much gaming in daily as humanly possible. From Atari to Xbox 360, from action games to real time strategy games I love everything gaming represents. Whether you play to escape reality or due to being on house arrest, video games have the ability to entertain, educate, and bring people from all over the world together in this fast growing hobbyist lifestyle. My objective, my goal is to create some form of communication with the readers through this blog, and of course, to vent. After all, isn’t that what blogging is really all about?

So this week is the potential return of the greatness that is E3. Yes, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, the largest North American video game trade show of the year is taking place between June 2 and 4 in LA and I am stuck here, missing out on my dream gig for a third straight year. That being said however, I’m not OVERLY depressed, because we will be having updates posted throughout the week with regards to the biggest stories, the newest news, and the most embarrassing letdowns as the show progresses!

So there ya go, the first of many blogs to come from the gaming side of things. As we ramp up and revitalize the gaming section we are always open to suggestions. If you have anything you think should be here but isn’t, feel free to leave a comment and we’ll see what we can cook up.