Gumballs Plays Games

While I was home for Christmas exodus I picked up the Turtle Beach X12 headphones.

While I liked the sleek look of Triton headphones better, I’m still glad I purchased these. What really convinced me was the fact that they can be used on the Xbox 360 as well as the PC so now I can play Star Wars: The Old Republic with some nice sound (rather than through my laptop speakers) and also play at night without disturbing my roommate.

They sound pretty good, really the only complaint I have is that the microphone is really sensitive. When I was playing Modern Warfare 3 with other people talking in the room the entire conversation in the room was being broadcast. In my dorm room this isn’t an issue, but it might be for those gaming in noisy areas.

For $60 these do exactly what I need. They allow me to play Xbox without any sound coming from the TV (again ideal for those living with roommates) which was my main reason for buying a gaming headset. They’re also pretty comfortable for moderate gaming sessions, but I’d assume they could start to become uncomfortable during longer sessions (I haven’t really experienced this though).

Good bu, definitely recommended.

 

2012 should be a great year for gaming. First of all there’s rumors saying the next Xbox and Playstation consoles will be announced at E3 (though there are also plenty of people saying this isn’t likely. I prefer to believe it will). Master Chief returns in Halo 4 this December (it may be 11 months away, but it will be on gamer’s minds all year long), and Blizzard’s beloved Diablo series returns with Diablo III (hints point at it being released early next month). We have a new Final Fantasy title on the way (well not entirely new, Final Fantasy XIII-2 expands on XIII but does change quite a bit of the gameplay).

I’m excited for all of these games and many more (Torchlight 2, Mass Effect 3, Max Payne 3, Minecraft on XBLA) but I’m also excited to get some more details on games that might not release in 2012. I can’t wait to see what happens with Star Wars: The Old Republic this year, I’m hoping to hear some more about Blizzard’s next MMORPG, and I really want to see more Dragon Age III and Grand Theft Auto V.

2012 will be great for blockbuster games, but it’s depressing to note that every game I’ve talked about so far (minus Minecraft and Blizzard’s secretive MMORPG) is a sequel. I love blockbuster sequels and continuations of series as much as the next gamer, but I think all of us deep down want to see something new. Minecraft proved that originality can have explosive success (as Minecraft has not only become a critical hit but a fan phenomenon). What unique titles will 2012 bring us? I can only hope there are some killer new titles out there waiting to explode onto the scene. Original titles are risky and can fail, while the “tried and true” sequel or continuation is a sure thing most of the time, but without risk the gaming world starts to feel stagnant. Let’s hope risks are taken in 2012 for the good of all of us.

I never paid much attention to the iD (Quake, DOOM) / Bethesda  (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout) title RAGE until I kept seeing the trailer which uses A Perfect Circle’s “Counting Bodies Like Sheep to the Rhythm of War Drums” at Gamestop. This trailer got my blood pumping and my moth salivating for the game, so I picked it up for $35 used. I played around in the singleplayer for a bit before I got distracted by Skyrim and Star Wars The Old Republic and I enjoyed it then but the game has honestly sat on my shelf for awhile getting no play time.

Today a buddy of mine happened to drop by and he wanted to check out RAGE and saw that it was co-op and asked to fire it up (I didn’t even know it had co-op) so we did. We played through two of the co-op missions (they are separate from the singleplayer story) and I have to say I’m again impressed and surprised by RAGE. The missions are really well done and quite entertaining, the guns and weapons are all a blast and the game looks really good.

I know can’t wait to get back into the singleplayer and continue the co-op missions. If you haven’t checked out RAGE yet, I highly recommend giving it a try. I’ have to reconsider my 2011 game of the year list (assuming I were to make an actual list) and fit RAGE in there. Great stuff.

RAGE is currently $26.99 (used) from Gamestop, $29.99 as a download through STEAM or $27.58 (new) on Amazon (Xbox 360) (It’s similarly priced for the PS3, and $21 for the PC (physical copy).

So yesterday I managed to complete my first instance (called flashpoints) in The Old Republic. It was the Chamber of Speech, a 2 man instance on Tython. It was pretty quick, and pretty easy. I’d say it took about 15 minutes in all to get to the story point, complete it, and kill the ‘boss’ (I believe they’re called champions) that isn’t required (he’s off to the side of the story point). Unlike World of Warcraft, where you complete an instance by killing all of the bosses, this flashpoint is complete when you turn the quest back  in (so there’s no ‘dungeon complete pop-up or anything, and no bonus experience).

The way Star Wars handles the story in a flashpoint is kind of cool. When you get to a part that requires you to select dialog options each person in the group will choose an option and then the game conducts a roll for each person and whoever has the highest roll has their choice used for the entire group. This adds some spice to working with a group as other people may be playing the game differently from you (i.e. dark side). (I believe if you chose a light side choice you still get light side points even if the dark side option is chosen for the group, can’t confirm this though).

I have yet to run any other flashpoints, but I’m hoping they’ll start to provide more challenge and continue to be enjoyable.

I’ll continue to post my experiences with SWTOR in the future. See you soon.