Video Games
Hearthstone Beta Key
So I have a Hearthstone Beta Key that I don’t think I’m going to use. I’ve seen a lot selling on eBay and was thinking of getting rid of my closed beta key. I’d be interested in any offers (PayPal, Steam games, etc.) in exchange for the beta key.
Gumballs Plays: Battlefield 4 Campaign 001: Baku
I started the Battlefield 4 campaign yesterday and so far I have to say I’ve enjoyed it more than Battlefield 3’s campaign. I only got about 2 or 3 missions into Battlefield 3, so hopefully Battlefield 4 will keep me entertained a bit longer. Of course the multiplayer is the main attraction and I’m certainly enjoying that.
Battlefield 4: Day One
Today I picked up Battlefield 4 for the PS3 and I have to say I’ve been enjoying it a lot so far. At first glance it looks a lot like Battlefield 3, and you might confuse it with another map pack, but once you play it you’ll start to notice the improvements. I didn’t play a lot of Battlefield 3, but I do feel that Battlefield 4 has improved on a lot. I like the UI in game better, even if it is similar.
I’ve played a couple of hours so far and haven’t run into any major issues. There are a few minor things, for example every time I’ve been promoted the prompt shows up four or five times in a row before going away, but I haven’t come across anything game breaking. There was a 122MB update when I first launched the game so I’m assuming that took care of the issues I’ve seen other people complaining about.
I haven’t played any of the single player campaign, but I wouldn’t mind if there were no single player campaign at all. I’ve seen people complain that it’s dull and the AI is broken, but seriously, who buys Battlefield for the single player? Unfortunately almost all of the Trophies center around the single player campaign, so I’ll probably end up playing through it just to pick up a few of them.
I’m definitely looking forward to spending more time with Battlefield 4 throughout the week.
Gumballs Plays: The Last of Us 001
Played a bit before I had the ability to record gameplay, so this is early in the game but not the beginning. Recorded via an HD PVR 2 Gaming Edition.
Gran Turismo 5: First Impressions
The last Gran Turismo game I played was Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2 and at that point I remember being very burned out on Gran Turismo. Soon after I discovered Forza on the Xbox which was an incredible game. Forza 3 was even more mind-blowing and lastly Forza 4 became my favorite racing game of all time.
I decided to check out Gran Turismo 5 (XL edition) because it was cheap and I figured I’d see what it has to offer. So far I have to say I like Forza 4 much better and I can only assume Forza 5 will probably be my next gen racing game of choice.
One of the things I’m not liking about Gran Turismo 5 is its overall presentation and menus. They seem very plain and yet overly cluttered at the same time. The bland jazzy and techno background music doesn’t add anything either, and even the in game race music is getting on my nerves.
I installed the game which claimed would make loading times faster, but they’re still painfully slow. I completed the B license test which consists of 10 individual tests and the time it took to get from one test to the next was painful. I’m not certain why the game doesn’t transition from test to test instead of making me click ‘next session’ and wait for what seems like an eternity to get into the next test. Furthermore I wish the license test barrier didn’t even exist.
The racing is okay, but the cars don’t feel anything like they do in Forza. Nor do they sound as good. Also when I bump into cars it makes an awful sound and I bounce off as if we have barriers. I assume the damage setting isn’t turned on by default, but either way it’s quite an ugly experience.
The tracks and environments are also quite ugly so far. They pale in comparison to the beauty and detail found in Forza 4.
In the end I’ll probably continue to play GT5 as I await Forza 5 and the Xbox One, but if you have a choice between GT5 and Forza 4, I would definitely choose Forza 4.
I was hoping to post a gameplay video, but I’m having issues uploading to YouTube right now. If it goes through I’ll add it later.
Grinkers Arcade in Eagle, Idaho / Arcade Outsiders Tournament
I was browsing for things to do in the Boise area this weekend and came across a post for the Arcade Outsiders Tournament at Grinkers Arcade this weekend. I hadn’t previously heard of Grinkers and only knew of the Spacebar retro arcade. I love retro arcades and am glad I discovered a new one in the area.
(Photo from the Grinkers webpage)
Vanessa and I headed over at around 4 this evening to check the arcade out. It’s a bit larger than the Spacebar and has more machines, but a similar feel. There’s a bar with food and drinks and a bunch of classic arcade machines and pinball machines. I had quite a bit of fun revisiting old games, some of which I’ve never played in their arcade forms. I played Off Road, one of my favorite games on the NES, which was quite fun. We also played Super Mario Bros (didn’t even know there was an arcade version of the game. Only made it to level 1-2 :/), Mario Bros. (also didn’t make it very far), Space Invaders (lasted about 2 minutes), Ms. Pac Man (didn’t clear the first stage), Mortal Kombat and a few pinball machines.
(Photo from the Grinkers webpage)
We didn’t stay long enough to really get a feel for the tournament action, but there were quite a few machines marked for tournament play and a handful of people playing those machines (much better than I could ever play).
Check out a few photos I took below. I also recorded a few videos which I’ll add to the post after they upload to YouTube.
I’m not enjoying The Last of Us
So I’m about an hour and a half into The Last of Us, and while I know that’s not very far, I’m already quite bored. First of all the ‘boost me up’ and ‘help me open this door’ parts of the game are annoying and slow the game down for no reason at all. Second of all, screw stealth games. I know you’re supposed to feel like ammo is scarce since it’s the end of the world and all, but I don’t want to waste my time trying to sneak around while throwing bricks and bottles around. I’m playing on easy so I’m able to shoot a little more often than otherwise possible, but the idea that I’m supposed to sneak around and throw bricks is annoying. Heck there’s more bricks than ammo. If ammo is really that scarce, then why when I run out in the open do all of the enemies just unload their clips on me?
Lastly, I’m not finding myself caring about any of the characters so far. I thought that and the feeling of helplessness were supposed to be the strong points of this game.
I’m seriously debating trading it in toward FIFA 14 or something I’d enjoy more.
The Wolf Among Us is awesome!
I just finished Chapter 1 of Episode One of The Wolf Among Us and I’m incredibly thrilled. The voice acting is great and the artwork and music create an incredible environment. The combat feels a lot more involved than it did in The Walking Dead (Telltale Games’ previous game in the episodic adventure game genre) and all I can really say is I absolutely loved every minute of the first chapter (which lasted about 20 minutes or so).
My first PS3
I’ve never owned a PS3 and never wanted to, however as I mentioned yesterday, after seeing the Beyond Two Souls trailer I wanted one. I initially ordered one online from AAFES however it wasn’t going to ship for awhile, so I ended up driving back to base Sunday afternoon to pick one up (and I canceled the online order).
I just set everything up, downloaded all the updates and set up PS Plus (a one year subscription came with the bundle). I’m still figuring out how things work. I started downloading Saints Row The Third and Shadow of the Colossus via PS Plus and now I’m about to play Beyond Two Souls for the first time. It’s currently installing, but I’m quite excited to jump into the story.
Gumballs Plays Games 