Video Games | Gumballs Plays Games

Going back to the Xbox 360

Posted on April 9, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I sold my Xbox 360 shortly after getting an Xbox One and have often regretted the decision. At the time it made sense as I was looking forward while also attempting to cut down on clutter. I ended up trading in my 250gb 360 slim (which I had just recently upgraded to from an older Elite) to GameStop for some irrationally low sum (I think I got around $80 for the console and around 15-20 disc based games). Oh well, I got a second Xbox One controller out of it so it seemed like a good idea.

I haven’t really missed my 360 either. I’ve enjoyed my Xbox One immensely. The longing for another 360 came after returning from vacation where I spent a lot of time playing Minecraft on the Xbox One with my brother. He doesn’t have an Xbox One, and is still in high school so it’ll be awhile until he gets one. Therefore now that I’m back in Idaho the only way I can play Minecraft with him is on a 360. Sure, you’d say PC is an option, but he’s part of the generation that thinks PC’s are old fashioned. A phone is all he needs.

I’ve also been looking at the list of great Games with Gold releases on the 360 and I’ve found quite a few games have been given out for free that I never got around to playing. I also miss playing the Scene It games with Vanessa, so yesterday I ordered a $99 refurbished Xbox 360 from GameStop (along with a 2 year replacement plan).

I picked up the 60GB Lego Lord of the Rings bundle because it has the highest hard drive space of the $99 bundles. I have quite a few digital 360 games tied to my account, but I think 60GB will get me what I need for now.

I’m not certain which version of the 360 I’ll be getting as the page notes that models may vary, but I’m at least hoping I get a model with an HDMI port.

My only regret at this point is that I never transferred any of my 360 saves to the cloud. This was a huge mistake on my part because I’ll have to start many games over again should I choose to play them. I never finished Final Fantasy XIII but I got pretty darn far. Not sure I’ll want to start that adventure over.

My 360 should arrive tomorrow evening and I look forward to re-downloading a few of my favorite titles and checking out April’s Games with Gold. Too bad I didn’t have a 360 all along because I’ve missed a lot of great free games. Oh well.

Have you found yourself going back to a last gen console? Did you have to repurchase it or did you keep yours?

What I’ve been playing this week

Posted on March 29, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Last night I jumped back into the Master Chief Collection for the first time in awhile. The matchmaking process was more smooth than the last time I played, however there have also been some less pleasant changes. Halo CE is my favorite game to play Slayer in, yet the dedicated CE playlist is now only 2 vs. 2. I don’t see how a two player team is appealing to anyone these days. It’s not fun to have so much of the map completely void of action as you hunt down the two person team that will always be at the same spot everytime. Furthermore, 2v2 matches are excessively long. It took an eternity for the matches to finish, and most of the time both teams would get bored toward the end and would just start team killing each other.

The Team Slayer and Big Team Battle playlists include Halo CE and allow for larger teams, but the problem is CE maps hardly ever get voted for. If I try to play those playlists I get stuck playing a lot of Halo 3 which I don’t enjoy nearly as much as I do CE. Therefore I end up having to choose between playing matches that bore me, or quitting, leaving my team a man down (and also facing a matchmaking penalty).

On another note, I’m also upset that there’s no longer a Team SWAT playlist. SWAT is one of my favorite Halo game modes, and it’s unfortunate that there’s no longer a dedicated playlist.

Tales from the Borderlands: Episode 2

I’ve also been working my way through episode 2 of Telltale’s Tales from the Borderlands. I’ve been enjoying episode 2 just as much, if not more so than the first episode. Tales from the Borderlands is an absolute masterpiece so far, and I can’t wait to play more of it (I just wrapped up chapter 3).

Forza Horizon 2 Presents Fast & Furious

The standalone Fast & Furious themed game set in the world of Forza Horizon 2 is available for free for Xbox One gamers up until April 10th (when it’ll be priced at $9.99). As long as you download it before April 10th you’ll be able to continue playing the game for free. The game features an achievement list separate from Horizon’s worth 1000 gamerscore which is pretty cool. Fast & Furious features a pretty sweet intro and some great new music alongside some classic Fast & Furious cars. I’ve played around with it for awhile and if you’ve enjoyed Forza Horizon 2 you’ll enjoy this game just as much.

NBA 2k14

I’ve dabbled in the NBA 2K series before, however could never get good enough at the games to enjoy them. I picked up 2k14 for under $10 and jumped into the My Player mode last night. The way they set everything up (story wise) is pretty cool, but you basically have to sit through what feels like 30 minutes of cut scenes before you even get out onto the court for the first time (and then you’ll be riding the bench for awhile longer). I’ve found 2k14 has been easier to play than previous titles so far which means I’m able to enjoy it so far. I’m still completely incompetent on defense and I have hardly any idea how to play offense legitimately. Basically all I do is try to shoot threes, but on rookie difficulty I’ve been able to get by so far (though I have yet to rate beyond a C+).

The rest

I’ve fooled around with Fruit Ninja Kinect 2 and have enjoyed it so far. It’s simple yet aesthetically pleasing and fun to play. I’ve been working through Borderlands 2 still but have hit a few frustrating points (while playing solo) so I think I need to spend some time jumping into other people’s games to level up a bit.

This week I hope to finish Tales from the Borderlands and make some progress in NBA 2k14. Other than that I’ll continue my Madden 15 franchise and play some Advanced Warfare.

What are you playing right now?

Disconnecting my TV passthrough on Xbox One

Posted on March 26, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

So as long as I’ve owned my Xbox One I’ve enjoyed the convenience of running my DISH Network through the Xbox One. It’s been nice to use the Kinect and snap TV to check up on a football game, or switch effortlessly between TV and a game or an app on the Xbox One. It’s also been nice to see when my friends log on while watching TV, or to snap my friends list and check to see who is playing what during a commercial.

However, there has always been a pretty significant degrade in image quality when passing the TV signal through the Xbox One. For a long while I just learned to live with it, accepting the degraded quality in exchange for all of the conveniences. However, after I disconnected my Xbox to go on vacation I was taken aback by just how sharp everything looked when not filtered through the Xbox One. It’s honestly a little jarring.

Since I’ve returned from vacation I’ve been reluctant to run our DISH through the Xbox again. So far I’ve left it hooked up directly to the TV and enjoy the superior picture. The degraded quality is most notable when viewing blacks (dark black areas appear more grey when ran through the Xbox) and also during sports.

So now I’m left torn. I miss having the convenience that comes along with routing live TV through the Xbox One, but I’m enjoying the better picture quality.

Do you still run your cable through your Xbox One? Does the degraded quality bother you, or does the convenience make up for it?

Borderlands: The Handsome Collection

Posted on March 25, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Yesterday I downloaded the Borderlands: The Handsome Collection on Xbox One and excitedly jumped right into the graphically polished Borderlands 2. The first thing I noticed (after the annoying long intro you still can’t skip) was just how crisp everything looked. I played a little bit of Borderlands 2 on the 360 with my brother while I was on vacation and I can say the updated version on the Xbox One is much easier on the eyes. The damage numbers that pop out of enemies look especially clean (a weird thing to comment on, I know) and it felt so satisfying to watch those numbers fly around the screen again.

The gameplay is still the same as far as I can tell, but that’s fine as Borderlands 2 was a blast to play even on the 360. I never got too far into either Borderlands game, but I’m glad I didn’t as I’ll get to experience all of the gameplay in a superior format.

I played around the first hour of the game yesterday solo (I had my game set to open, but no one jumped in) and it was enjoyable, though I found myself dying more than I would have liked. After I hit somewhat of a road block I decided to back out to the menu and try to hop into someone else’s game. The process proved to be a tad unpleasant, as I had trouble joining a game and it took longer than I would have liked. I was initially matched into a game only to receive a message saying I wasn’t on the same patch version as the host which didn’t quite make sense (unless an update dropped while I was playing solo). After that I timed out trying to join another game, but eventually got into a game on the third try.

The multiplayer was as enjoyable as I remember it being, though Borderlands really shines when playing with friends (which I have yet to do). I’m looking forward to jumping back into the game with people I know and mowing down enemy after enemy with a variety of exciting weapons!

I haven’t tried out Borderlands the Pre-sequel yet (I’ll probably wait until I finish Borderlands 2, unless I get bored) so I can’t comment on the quality of that experience. I’ve heard it performs less smoothly than Borderlands 2 which is unfortunate if true. Hopefully it’ll get patched and the issues will be ironed out before I get around to trying it out.

Back from vacation..so much to blog about!

Posted on March 23, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I landed back in Boise late Saturday night after spending a wonderful three weeks back in York Pennsylvania with my family. The weather didn’t quite cooperate most of the time, but overall it was a great trip! I enjoyed hanging out with my dad, playing Minecraft with my brother and seeing the rest of my friends and family. I certainly miss them a lot the rest of the year!

I also enjoyed the two weeks Vanessa spent with me during her second trip to the East Coast. We had a blast in New York City, touring the Yuengling factory in Pottsville, visiting the National Aquarium in Baltimore and enjoying all of the fun at Chocolate World in Hershey! The time went by so quickly and I’m quite sad I won’t get to visit again until next year.

On the upside, I’m glad to be back in a city again. My dad lives in the middle of rural (nowhere) Pennsylvania, and while the scenery is nice (you can see so many stars at night!) I’m glad to have broadband internet and all of the convenience of city life again. I still have some unpacking and housework to do, and I went back to work last night (working the night shift again), but I’d like to get back to blogging more regularly as soon as possible.

I have so much I’d like to write about. I’d like to share some photos and experiences from vacation (Drunk Shakespeare off broadway in NYC was an absolute blast!) and there’s plenty of topics I want to talk to you about. I’d like to try out Sling TV on the Xbox One (though I already subscribe to DISH and don’t see myself “cutting the cable” anytime soon. I enjoy having a traditional TV service). I’m also looking forward to picking up the Borderlands Handsome Jack Collection tomorrow as well as playing through episode two of Tales from the Borderlands.

I’m hoping to tell you about how much I’m enjoying the new Modest Mouse album (my vinyl copy will arrive Wednesday) and also the latest comedy album from Trevor Moore (whom you may know from Whitest Kids U Know). There’s so much I’ve wanted to write about, but ultimately I’m glad I spent most of my time enjoying the company of friends and family instead of worrying about my blog. I hope you haven’t minded the silence! I promise, you’ll hear more from me soon!

Redbox now has Xbox One and PS4 games at more locations

Posted on March 13, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I was browsing Redbox this evening and was surprised to find they now offer Xbox One and PS4 games. Redbox had been testing out the current gen rentals in select locations, but out here in rural Pennsylvania there are several kiosks now offering rentals for those systems.

The rentals are a tad pricey, at $3 a day, however that price point might work for someone who can finish a game in a binge session, or maybe for someone who just wants to give a game a try. I use Gamefly for most of my gaming rentals, however I might be tempted to grab something from a Redbox once or twice.

Have you rented a game from Redbox yet? What do you think of the pricing?

Time to re-up on Xbox Live, $39.99 for 1 year via Microsoft

Posted on February 26, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Microsoft itself has cut the price of a year of Xbox Live to $39.99 via the Microsoft Store. There are often sales on Xbox Live subscriptions via other sources, such as Amazon, but this is the first time I’ve seen Microsoft itself selling a subscription for a discounted price (it certainly may have happened before).

There’s no indication of how long the $20 discount will last, so snatch up your code while you can!

I’ve been a monthly subscriber for way too long, and have essentially been throwing away money. I picked up a code and along with my free month from the Master Chief Collection I’m now ‘golden’ until April 2016.

Trivial Pursuit Live now available

Posted on February 17, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Alongside You Don’t Know Jack, Trivial Pursuit has always been one of my favorite party games on consoles and I’m delighted to report that the current gen version is now available for purchase on Xbox One (among other systems).

I’m excited to try it out! I love playing Trivia games with my girlfriend, and can’t wait to dig into Trivial Pursuit Live! this weekend.

It’s available for $14.99 and is 821MB.

I’m still alive, I promise! (Persona 4, Shin Megami Tensei IV and more!)

Posted on February 12, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Hey there, haven’t posted a whole lot lately and just wanted to apologize for that. It’s been a busy week and I’ve been getting dragged into a Persona 4 wormhole of sorts lately. I’m enjoying the game a lot on the Playstation TV and have probably spent more time playing it after work than I should.

I love Teddie’s facial expressions!

I am a bit sad that Persona 4 feels like it’s slowing down a bit now that the game is starting to open up. I miss the fast pace and voice acting of the first few hours. Now all of a sudden most of the dialogue is no longer voice acted and there’s not a whole lot going on. Trying to figure out what to do after school hasn’t really been appealing. I’ve just been doing the first thing available and skipping through dialogue hoping for something cool to happen soon.

I haven’t played any Dying Light since getting sucked into Persona 4, but I hope to spend more time with it this weekend. I’ve played a little Shin Megami Tensei IV and have made some slight progress, but I feel like the game has started to slow down now that I’m in Tokyo and I’m finding it difficult to stay interested.

I have had The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds sitting around for a few weeks and haven’t gotten around to trying it out yet. I also have barely put any time into Fantasy Life, and my town in Animal Crossing is probably burning to the ground right about now.

Consuming Surge and playing Persona 4 has pretty much been my after work routine this week.

There’s been just so much going on and not enough time to get into any of it (besides Persona) lately. I’m taking three weeks of leave starting on February 28th so hopefully I’ll have some time to make some progress on a whole list of things (I really should finish Dragon Age!).

Hopefully I’ll be able to post a few things this weekend! Don’t hate me, okay?

See you soon!

Playing Persona 4

Posted on February 9, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Chugging along in Persona 4. Super tired but need to stay up while laundry is in. Have to say Teddie is already of my favorite characters in the game (only a couple hours in).