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Video Games
Finished Bioshock Infinite
I finished Bioshock Infinite this morning and I have to say it was an awesome experience. The story was quite interesting and every time you think you’ve got it figured it you’ll soon find out you were wrong, right up until the last moments of the game. The world of Columbia is incredibly well crafted and fun to explore. The action is a blast with a nice variety of guns and ‘vigors’ (sort of like spells) that provide a variety of ways to dispose of enemies.
I definitely had a great time, and now I can finally watch this (spoilers obviously):
How Wii U owners must feel
When my friend first decided he was going to buy a Wii U I tried everything to encourage him not to. The Wii was successful, but most gamers who owned Wii’s quickly tired of them and went back to their Xbox, Playstation or PC as their go to gaming device. No one was playing cross platform games on the Wii, and no one in the right mind is doing the same on the Wii U (unless for some strange reason a person’s only console is the Wii U, then they’re just screwed).
This video is how I imagine most Wii U owner’s are feeling right now. They keep saying “When the games come so will the gamers” but the games aren’t coming. Unless Mario and Zelda excite you more than anything else in the world the Wii U should not be a console you are excited to own. It most likely is something you regret owning and even if you wanted to sell it no one’s buying.
League of Legends: Brand
League of Legends gameplay: Caitlyn
Why an always connected Xbox wouldn’t be that bad
A lot of people think the idea of an always connected console is a bad thing. They’re worried about DRM, being able to play offline and who knows what else. But in reality aren’t most devices ‘always on’ these days? Do you ever turn your computer off? I don’t. Do you ever turn your tablet or phone off? I doubt it. And these devices are most likely always connected to the internet as well (at least in the home).
An always online Xbox is a huge step forward. An Xbox not connected to the internet / Xbox Live is a very limited and nearly useless machine. The Xbox Live experience makes gaming a much better experience.
What I want from the next Xbox is live tiles.
If there’s one thing I LOVE about Windows 8, it’s live tiles. It’s a really cool concept for a homescreen. You can see your e-mails, Twitter and Facebook feeds at a glance. You have the weather forecast, sports scores and news headlines constantly scrolling on your start screen.
Imagine the next Xbox, always on. Just leave your TV on and you can see all this information in front of you or in the background. Imagine it having the snap screen feature, where you can open an app and snap it next to another app…..Watch TV on one side and play Call of Duty on the other side during commercials (simply ‘click’ the screen to bring it full screen).
The ESPN and MLB.tv apps already offer a glimpse of this. The ESPN app will show videos in the upper left corner which you can bring full screen or search through more highlights, news or live feeds using the rest of the screen. MLB.tv functions very similarly with the latest update.
This is exactly what Microsoft wants the next Xbox to be, an always on, always connected media device feeding you news (and advertisements of course) throughout the day. It’s not a bad thing. It’s a convenient thing.
I barely turn my Xbox off now, but the current homescreen is rather boring. A Windows 8 style live tile interface would be much more useful.
Black Ops II highlight reel 2
Black Ops II multiplayer highlights
Darksiders
I’ve had Darksiders in my Steam library for awhile now (as part of the THQ bundle) but never played it. So tonight I plugged in an Xbox 360 controller, booted it up and played for a few minutes. Having recently rented and played DmC: Devil May Cry, I have to say it feels very, very familiar. You get thrown into a space with a bunch of enemies, the exit blocks off with a magic forcefield, you use a combination of light and heavy attacks and combos to fight off the enemies thus opening the forcefield and allowing you to progress.
There are plenty of combos and a combo counter will flash on the side of the screen as you hack your way through enemies. This type of gameplay just isn’t for me. It’s okay, but not something I want to do for an entire game. I’m also not really into the whole platformer thing either…The climbing and jumping and fighting and climbing and jumping….
The game looks cool though… I might play it a bit here and there in the future, but I can’t see myself getting too involved.
Playing Sim City
I’m now back to playing Sim City without any issues, thankfully. I have to get ready to head to work, but I’ll post a few screenshots from today. My city / region is just starting to take shape.
Gumballs Plays Games 