video games
Keeping busy and Halo 4
Happy Halo day! I haven’t been around lately, I’ve been working 12-14 hour shifts at work 7 days a week for the last week and a half, so there’s not much energy for much else. I’ll play a little Halo this week but not much. That’s all for now.
Countdown to Halo 4: 7 days!
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:
A few more shots of Forza Horizon
Goodbye Microsoft Points? Not so fast.
It’s being reported (CNET) that Microsoft Points are being replaced by real currency…But don’t get too excited, as the change will apparently only take place for the Windows 8 store and not on the Xbox. I suppose it’s a step in the right direction, however it’d be happier news if MS points were disappearing across the board. The point system is odd (ex. 400 points = $5, if you don’t know, and they sell points in sets of 400 ($5), 800 ($10), 1600 ($20) and on from there) and I’ve always found myself with an odd 50-150 points left over with nothing to spend them on. Of course this works out in Microsoft’s favor, when say something costs 1000 points, and you have to purchase 1200 points for $15 in order to receive your content. Now you have 200 points leftover which you can pretty much only spend on avatar clothing or maybe a song in the Zune store.
Let’s hope there’s more to the story as the third generation Xbox gets closer to release.
Sidetracked by Mists of Pandaria and Guild Wars 2
For the first time in a long while I spent the good majority of a weekend in front of a computer. In part it had to do with the fact that I would possibly have to head into work at any given time, but the main reason is my friend and I dove headfirst into World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria, and for the first time since I first played WoW I got sucked into the game entirely. The quest progression was actually fun, and we kept going on to find out what we’d see next. The new area is fun to explore, the dungeons are fun to run, and the pet battles are surprisingly addicting. I didn’t experience anything that made me want to stay in the world for hours on end during any other expansion (probably in part because when I first started playing, Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King were already out). After spending the majority of the weekend in Pandaria we’re both level 87 and just slightly burnt out. In the end it was a good time.
Guild Wars 2
I also decided to give Guild Wars 2 a try. I was actually convinced to purchase it mostly because ArenaNet released it for the Mac so quickly. As a new Mac user I feel it’s my duty to support companies that reach out to Mac gamers instead of making Mac gamers use BootCamp or emulators to play their games.
I’ve only spend about an hour in Guild Wars 2 so far, but it’s been an enjoyable experience. Guild Wars plays very differently from World of Warcraft so far. It’s more about experiencing the world and working together with other players, rather than working against them (or being annoyed by them). If you’re on a quest you’ll see other players working on the same quest and you naturally, and fluidly work together to complete the objectives. What I mean is, you don’t have to ‘group’ or anything, you just work together and it feels natural, and you each get your own experience and loot. Beyond standard quests there are world events that are happening all around and you can jump in and help complete the objectives, such as fight a boss, without having to accept a quest or anything. Stuff is just happening in Guild Wars 2 and you decide your role.
Gumballs Plays Games 