Video Games

What exactly is a ‘gamer’?

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

I see the title everywhere, and it seems you can play video games and not be a ‘gamer’, so what exactly is a gamer? Why are people obsessed with this label? I hear “if you only play Call of Duty you’re not a gamer” or “if you only play easy games, you’re not a gamer”. Why not? I don’t understand this at all. Personally, I play video games for fun and I’ve done so for over 20 years. I’ve owned a NES, GameBoy, SEGA Genesis, Nintendo 64, PSone, PS2, Xbox and Xbox 360 (in that order). Also an iPhone and Kindle Fire HD (mobile gaming). What does that mean? Why does it matter?

I mean if you enjoy watching TV are you a ‘TV’er’? ‘couch potato’? TV fanatic? The same goes for movies. Or cars even. Now I know there are people who are obsessed with movies and consider themselves some sort of movie hipster. And there are car people for whom cars are more than just a vehicle. But what difference does it really make? If you have fun playing video games, you have fun playing video games. That’s it. You might be part of a gaming community, be it Xbox Live, a forum, a website or even a blog. But does it really make a difference?

I’ll stop rambling now, I’m just tired of seeing the gamer vs non-gamer argument. Who cares. It’s a hobby. It’s a form of entertainment. If you play a game and I play a game, what’s the difference? Am I not having the same fun? Experiencing the same thing?

photo taken from the webcomic CTRL ALT DEL @ http://www.cad-comic.com

 

What was your Black Friday haul?

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

Millions of people hit the streets this past Friday (the shoppers holiday known as Black Friday), were you one of them? For the most part the holiday is a festive one, with people in the Christmas spirit enjoying a good day of shopping with friends and family. And yet hundreds of videos popped up on YouTube showcasing the ugly side of the holiday, like the one below.

There were plenty of deals to be had on everything from TVs to tablet computers and of course video games. Did you take advantage of any of the sales?

I decided to take advantage of GameStop’s buy 2 get one free used game / hardware sale and I picked up The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY, Assassin’s Creed II and You Don’t Know Jack.

Now playing: Assassin’s Creed

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

It may come as a surprise, but for as popular as the Assassin’s Creed series is, I’ve never actually played any of the games until yesterday. Well I played maybe an hour of Assassin’s Creed II once, but I never sat down and got into it. Yesterday, however, I finally started at the beginning, with the first Assassin’s Creed (released in 2007). Five years have come and passed and this game has only made it into my library this week. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s because five games have come out so quickly I felt overwhelmed and though I’d never catch up. And maybe there’s something a little disconcerting about having to play FOUR games just to get to Assassin’s Creed III (I don’t even know which game comes after II, Revelation or Brotherhood.. Furthermore I don’t know if either have anything to do with the story…Since they’re not numbered I’d assume I could skip them and go right to III, but who knows).

Anyway, here I am and I’ve finally played a few hours of Assassin’s Creed. So far it’s been fun, but I don’t feel like an Assassin at all. Every battle just turns into an anything but quick and silent sword fight against numerous enemies at once. I might as well just roll in with a bomb because there’s no way to be any less obvious. Maybe there is a way to actually assassinate people, but it sure doesn’t seem like it. Also the whole climbing thing feels very slow and annoying a lot of the time. When I’m trying to escape I climb like I’m in no hurry at all and often fall over and over again trying to actually get somewhere (or I’ll just bounce off of walls and end up getting stabbed in the back).

Other than that the only other thing that’s annoying me is how slow travel is in the game. Every time I have to leave the main hub it feels like I’m riding a horse for ages just to get to the next area. It’d be really nice to have some sort of fast travel system, because I’m tired of riding around over and over again. It’s not as bad once you get into a city (though again, climbing is a tad too slow) but it’s a pain to actually get there.

Otherwise I’m enjoying  the game. I just don’t think it’s as amazing as everyone makes it out to be…And I have absolutely no idea what’s going on story wise…I’m just killing people I’m told to kill.

I’m hoping Assassin’s Creed II will be a slightly improved experience and then I’ll just have to figure out whether to skip straight to III or play the two games which I can only assume are side stories, first.

 

 

A Quick Look at Final Fantasy III: Kindle Fire HD edition

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So I ended up making the $15.99 purchase of Final Fantasy III on the Kindle Fire HD and so far it’s been a blast to play. First of all it looks great on the 7″ HD display (I think it’s also available on the regular Fire, and presumable the 8.9″ Fire HD). It also sounds great on the improved stereo speakers on the Fire HD. The touch analog stick makes navigating the world a breeze. Basically you can touch the screen anywhere and an analog stick pops up allowing you to move your character. This is great because sometimes it’s more convenient to control the action with my left thumb, while at other times it’s better to do so with the right thumb. The menus are also easy to navigate by touch and picking options in the turn based combat is fast and easy.

I’m very impressed by the quality of the game so far and I’m only about an hour in so my adventure has just begun.

 

Black Ops II ‘Nuketown 2025’ NOT a pre-order exclusive?

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So the Nuketown 2025 map for Black Ops II has been advertised for months as a ‘pre-order exclusive’ map, available only to players who pre-ordered Black Ops II. And yet today I walked into the Bx and purchased Black Ops II and still received the Nuketown 2025 map. Could it be that not enough people pre-ordered the game so they just stuck all the pre-order copies on the shelves? I don’t know. Anyway I got the ‘exclusive’ bonus days after the game was released. No money down, no pre-order, nothing. Just walked into the store and I was rewarded with the map. Win?

 

 

Final Fantasy Dimensions….let me get this straight

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

So I’ve been debating whether to pick up Final Fantasy III on my Kindle Fire HD or Final Fantasy Dimensions on my iPhone. Last night I was checking out Dimensions and the reviews in iTunes seriously annoyed me. The game is listed as free because you can download it and play the prologue for free and then purchase the other chapters as you progress (or all at once). Chapter 1 is $2.99, while chapters 2, 3 and 4 are $9.99 each ($33 purchased separately). There’s also the option to purchase the chapters as a set for $28.99.

Yet so many users have given the game a one star review simply because they feel it’s ‘false advertising’ or a ‘complete ripoff’ to spend $29 on a mobile game (some even fail horribly at math and claim it’s $40 somehow). Have any of these people never purchased a GameBoy game? A DS or PSP game? This is a full Final Fantasy game with every bit of quality as a full retail game, so why are people so surprised? What’s the deal? They want this game to be $0.99 like Angry Birds, but do they not get that this is not your typical phone based mobile game, but rather an all out video game experience?

Final Fantasy III (and the other ports) are $15.99 but these are older games ported to mobile devices. Dimensions is a brand new game, a brand new experience that is supposed to play like the older games (in other words it has a retro style).

The IGN review calls the price ‘fully justified’ and notes the game includes at least 40 hours of gameplay. When you consider console games such as Homefront offer less than 6 hours of gameplay for $60, I’d have to say this alone justifies the price.

What do you think? Have you played Dimensions? Is it worth $29? How about Final Fantasy III?

Countdown to Halo 4: 7 days!

Posted on by GumballsPlaysGames

It feels so good to say that in just 7 days we’ll all be playing Halo 4. Well you guys maybe…I’ll be on 12 hour shifts next week so I won’t get much time in. Anyway I thought I’d share two of my favorite Halo videos of all time with you as I await the Amazon box that will bring Master Chief back into my life 🙂

And an oldie but a goodie: