Hey there, I’ve been home for just over a week and it’s been great, but it’s time I stop ignoring my blog! There’s so much I should be writing about, so I need to make myself sit down and start writing again. I figured I’d start with a brief check in, but I’ll write about much more in the weeks to come.
Since being home I’ve enjoyed all the great food I’ve missed out on, especially my first trip to Boise Fry Company, which I intend to write about over at ABoiseLife.com.
The food was great, and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Boise!
I picked up a Samsung Gear VR which has been a pretty cool experience. One of the first things I did was boot up Minecraft VR and it’s a mind-blowing experience for sure!
I’ve enjoyed messing around with my new gaming PC, and tried my hand at Dark Souls III. It took a few days but I finally beat the first boss (technically just the tutorial boss) but am once again finding it difficult to progress past the very first section of the game.
I’m contemplating downloading Battleborn today (for the Xbox One), because I’ve been wanting a shooter I can fire up when I just want to play something casually. Rocket League is a great game to fire up and waste some time with, but I just want to shoot things!
Thanks, as always, for reading what I have to say, and I hope to bring some significant content back to the blog within a day or two! Until then I’m going to keep relaxing and enjoying America!
I’ll be back in the states in a matter of days and I couldn’t be more excited! Things have been slow here, but I’ll be getting back into the rhythm of blogging once I settle in back home. I’m looking forward to putting my new gaming PC to the test with Fallout 4, Quantum Break and Dark Souls III during my two weeks of R&R. I’ll certainly be streaming once I get everything set up, so you can look forward to me getting incredibly frustrated with Dark Souls III.
I’m also looking forward to finally checking out the new Apple TV, and setting up the Amazon Echo. I’ll probably take some video of the setup process of the Echo along with some first impressions, so there’s that to look forward to as well.
It’s been depressing to watch my daily site visits drop by at least 100 visits a day, but that’s what happens when you only post once or twice a month. I’m incredibly excited for this deployment to be over, and can’t wait to get back to a normal life!
Thanks, as always, for stopping by! I’ll be back soon!
I can’t quite remember the first time I touched a video game controller, but I’m fairly confident that the very first buttons I pushed were on an NES controller. There was a NES at my grandparent’s house that all of us grandkids gravitated toward every time we visited. We’d play around with Duck Hunt before getting serious into Super Mario Bros., each of us trying to make it further into the game than the other. I never made it very far.
Some of my favorite memories of the NES come from sitting around the TV with four or five people, all either playing a game or rooting for the others in hopes of finally seeing the end of a game. There was no YouTube or Twitch to allow you to simply watch someone complete a game or defeat a difficult boss. You had to do it all yourself, or know a friend who could make it past the difficult parts. Of course, there was the Konami code in Contra which allowed terrible players such as myself to make it through the game in its entirety without too much trouble (I seem to remember still exhausting all 30 lives quite often). Then there was the magic little cartridge of Game Genie which allowed you even more opportunities to cheat your way through a game.
I had many favorite NES games, including Vegas Dream, Platoon and Micro Machines.
However, the game I sunk the most time into on the NES was Tecmo Super Bowl. There was nothing more exciting than sitting around the living room having tournaments. The game was incredibly fun to play, and the overall presentation was amazing! The cut scenes for touchdowns, field goals, interceptions, all of it was unlike anything else. What’s more, the music was epic, especially during the Super Bowl. The ability to play entire seasons was something very few games had, yet it was just as exciting to simulate to the playoffs and place “bets” on what teams you thought would make it there.
There are so many more memories I could share, but I’d be writing all day. If a look back at the NES era of gaming has you feeling nostalgic, the guys over at Man Crates have something just for you! If you haven’t heard of Man Crates, you should definitely check them out. They offer an incredibly unique gift experience for just about any type of person you could think of. Whether they be into the outdoors, survival, grilling or gaming, Man Crates has something fun and unique that the recipient will love. Their signature crates are just that, wooden crates that require a crow bar (included to open) filled with plenty of goodies.
Man Crates wants gift giving to be fun and they want to create a unique experience that you won’t get with any sort of traditional gift package. Just reading the descriptions of some of their crates made me laugh, and it’s nice to see a company that doesn’t take themselves too seriously (yet they’re certainly serious about providing a quality gift experience).
Man Crates offers a retro gamer crate that includes a console that can play NES games, in addition to two randomly selected NES cartridges and an assortment of candy to compliment a late night classic gaming session. Any gamer in your life would certainly be delighted to receive this package. I know I would!
If Man Crates were to create more retro gaming crates I think it would be neat to see crates centered around certain franchises, such as Mario, maybe featuring figurines, posters and similar items in a addition to a game or two.
I was contacted by a member of the Man Crates staff who asked if I wouldn’t mind creating a post talking about gaming nostalgia. After checking out the Man Crates website I knew that I couldn’t resist sharing this company with anyone who might happen to read this. I wasn’t offered anything to write this, I simply thought Man Crates was too cool not to share with you!
Just over a week ago I did something I thought I never would. I bought a Wii U. Ever since the Wii U’s launch in the Fall of 2012 I had thought of the system as little more than a bad joke. The gamepad looked goofy, the system was woefully underpowered, and it had a terrible name. If that weren’t enough, the system’s game library was lacking at launch and the Wii U’s catalog has been sparse ever since.
It didn’t take long for most people to refer to the Wii U as a failure. Sure, it had some great games, but that was never enough to make me want to purchase one. I haven’t really been into Nintendo since the N64, and even then I played more third party games on the system than core Nintendo games. I bought a Wii second hand, long after the system’s prime, mostly to play around with Wii Sports and to check out the Zelda games (which I couldn’t get into). I’ve probably logged less than ten hours of game time on my Wii. Last Christmas I got a 2DS, my first handheld system since the original Game Boy, and finally started getting interested in the world of Nintendo again.
Like many gamers in their late twenties and early thirties, Mario on the NES first introduced me to video games. There was nothing more fun than passing around a controller, attempting to see who could get furthest into Super Mario Bros. When I first learned of the warp pipes (through a friend, there was no Google) it blew my mind. There was something incredibly special about Super Mario Bros. and I couldn’t get enough of it. I remember watching my cousins play Super Mario Bros. 2 and 3, however for whatever reason I never played those games myself. It would be several years until I would dive into the world of Mario again (outside of Super Mario Kart).
1996’s Super Mario 64 became one of the most influential video games of all time, and I remember it fondly. I found it astonishing that you could run around the castle just goofing off instead of diving into the game’s levels. Eventually one of my cousin’s showed me how you could grab Mario’s face on the title screen, and again a Mario game blew my mind. Things like the warp pipes and the silly title screen illustrated the incredible charm and dedication Nintendo’s developers are known for today. When playing a Nintendo game you know you’re getting something more than a product. You’re getting an experience delicately crafted, down to every last detail.
When I first heard about the concept of Super Mario Maker I was intrigued, but as exciting as it sounded I still had no intention to purchase a Wii U. It wasn’t until I actually watched someone playing it that I knew I needed to experience it for myself. Not only would it be a blast to create my own personal Mario levels, but the game has an irresistible charm. I was going to buy a Wii U.
Just over a week ago I bought a Super Mario 3D World Wii U bundle. I had heard horror stories about the initial console update process, but to my relief there was a note inside the box advising me to insert the 3D World disc to install the update before connecting the console to the internet.
The initial setup process was rather painless, though more cumbersome than other modern consoles. Before too long the Wii U was up and running and I was ready to ‘make some Mario’. I was immediately surprised at just how easy it was to begin creating. The gamepad and stylus make for intuitive click and drag process that you can master in seconds. It took only a few minutes to make a simple level with the basic set of items available at the start of the game.
After making and uploading my first level I jumped into the 10 Mario Challenge mode, and made my way through ten levels of varying difficulty. It was exciting to see a variety of concepts between the different levels, and it was exhilarating to complete each one. From there I jumped into the wild west that is the Course World mode. I encountered some unimaginably creative levels alongside some especially difficult levels. Despite dying over and over again, I couldn’t help but continue on trying to get inside the head of the levels’ creators, attempting to figure out the ‘trick’ to complete difficult segments. In the long run I learned that a large number of Mario creators are simply sadistic, and don’t want you to be able to complete their levels at all. Although frustrating, I could never stop having fun.
I’ve loved owning a Wii U so far, even though I’ve only played one game. I’m saving Super Mario 3D World for when I get back home so that I can play with Vanessa. I’ve been tempted to download Mario Kart, but I feel like that will also be a title best experienced alongside her. I’m not sure what Wii U game I should play next. I’ve pondered purchasing New Super Mario Bros. U, however I have New Super Mario Bros. 2 on the 2DS and haven’t spent a lot of time with it.
The wonderful thing about Super Mario Maker is that with the never ending variety of levels, the game should never feel old. Would I recommend buying a Wii U solely for Super Mario Maker? Absolutely, however I’d recommend waiting until Black Friday as it’ll probably be the best time yet to pick up a Wii U.
So I made it to my first day off of the deployment. Exciting! I don’t have anything video game related to write about, but I just wanted to check in so that this blog doesn’t just fade away into nothingness. How would I describe the first week? It’s been hot, exhausting and chaotic. That said, it hasn’t been as bad as it could be. I’m very fortunate to have so many luxuries in this environment that many people years ago didn’t (and even those today in worse environments don’t have). I have a great connection to the WiFi in my tent and the air conditioning works so well that at night I’ve almost been too cold to sleep (had to buy three blankets and sleep in a hoodie and sweatpants).
My awesome LEGO Movie sheets
I haven’t done much, as working twelve hours a day, six days a week doesn’t leave you with much free time. I’ve started watching Sons of Anarchy on Netflix after work and have been fascinated by it. I just started the second season and it’s been a wild ride.
I’ve only really fired up my Xbox once since I’ve been here, but I hope to get some Forza 6 in today, and possibly some more Metal Gear. The GAEMS G155 15.5″ gaming case has worked out pretty well so far. It got my Xbox One here in one piece and is great for storing it when I’m not using it. All I have to do is throw it up on my bed, crack it open and plug in the Xbox and monitor and I’m ready to game. I’m certainly glad I decided to buy it before heading over here, even if I won’t be playing as much Xbox as I had hoped. The 15.5″ screen is the perfect size, and I’m actually glad I didn’t go with the 19″ version like I originally planned.
There are many weeks to go, and I hope to be able to post at least weekly. I’m looking forward to playing Fallout 4 when it releases (I’m sure I’ll sacrifice too much sleep when the time comes), and I’ll probably end up buying a Wii U while I’m here to play Mario Maker. For now, I’m going to spend the rest of my day off relaxing before I start another work week.
Destiny’s third expansion The Taken King released today, a week after the 2.0 patch introduced a significant amount of changes to Destiny’s gameplay. I ordered the expansion and the $20 Collector’s Edition upgrade, and so far it seems like the purchase has been worth it.
I didn’t really play any Destiny after the 2.0 patch launched, so I was still level 32 when I jumped into the game earlier today. With the level cap raised to 40, I decided to it would be worth checking out the House of Wolves quests I had never finished in order to get some experience. Even though much of my time spent in Destiny since the Taken King release has been spent with older content, I still feel the impact the newest expansion has made. Earning experience instead of hoping to get the right loot to increase light level feels great. I also thoroughly enjoyed the House of Wolves quests as I finished the quest line and gained a handful of levels in the process. Not only was I leveling, but I also came across a ton of Taken King gear along the way (mostly greens and blues). It felt great to see so many engrams flying all over the place as I blasted my way through enemies.
Sorry for the quality of the screenshots, I was streaming to Windows 10 and couldn’t take any in game screenshots while doing so.
Once I did get to the Taken King content, it blew me away. The cut scenes, music and voice acting are all phenomenal. I had never experienced something so well produced during my time with Destiny previously, and I was literally in awe. I had also never been as excited while completing story content in Destiny.
The new locations are visually pleasing and the new enemies are a blast to fight. They introduce new mechanics that are exciting to encounter. I’ve only completed the first story quest and the Sunbreaker quest but both were an absolute blast. In fact, the Sunbreaker quest is my favorite Destiny story mission by far. Unleashing the power of the new subclass was incredibly thrilling alongside the epic music and relentless onslaught of enemies. I can’t wait to see what else the new subclass has to offer.
So far I’m loving The Taken King, and can’t wait to spend more time with it!
Avalanche Studios and Warner Bros.’ Mad Max game finally saw its release last week, and so far the general consensus seems to be that it’s rather mediocre (it currently has a 70/100 on Metacritic). I’ve played just over two hours of Mad Max and have had an enjoyable time with it so far.
The game takes place in a gritty wasteland atmosphere filled with fire, dirt and grungy cars driven by post-apocalyptic mad men, but otherwise has little to do with the Fury Road movie. That said, the game does have enough personality of its own to make it enjoyable whether or not you’ve seen the films.
Mad Max features plenty of open world activities to keep you occupied outside (or even during) the story missions. Invading strongholds is a blast, as you either ram down the base’s defenses or attempt to sneak in unnoticed in order to complete an objective. Most strongholds seem to feature an open area near the middle which acts as a fighting arena of sorts, complete with a war crier banging a drum in order to rally the fighters.
I’ve found myself detouring several times during missions in order to tear down scarecrows (towers of bloody bodies and fire that increase enemies’ influence in an area), take out compounds or to just chase down enemies in order to scrap their cars.
The combat is solid, but nothing new to anyone who has played a Batman game or Shadow of Mordor. Despite being recycled, it still feels awesome to pull off counters and explosive combos, especially when fueled by Max’s fury.
Car combat is also enjoyable, although so far I feel a little underpowered. It’s often best to try to harpoon the enemy out of their car instead of trying to engage in vehicular combat. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing as it’s incredibly satisfying to watch the enemy fly out of their car and into the wasteland.
The characters of the world are unique, but not exactly on par with those of the films. Chumbucket feels too much like Gollum to me, though he plays a vital role by constantly repairing Max’s ride, the Magnum Opus. This mechanic ensures you’re never left with an inoperable vehicle which is convenient, and adds an important reason for Max to carry Chum around wherever he goes.
The story so far isn’t anything special, but the world itself is the enjoyable part. There’s some sort of drive to constantly complete activities and collect scrap to improve Max’s abilities and that of the Magnum Opus.
Unfortunately, Mad Max ended up releasing the same day as the highly anticipated Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. The game has been largely overshadowed by MGSV, and that’s a shame. Had it released a few weeks earlier I’m sure many more people would be playing it. In fact, I’d like to play it more, but even I find myself wanting to return to Metal Gear, before I get left behind.
If Metal Gear isn’t up your alley, I definitely recommend Mad Max, especially if you’re into the Batman / Shadow of Mordor open world formula. There’s plenty to enjoy!
I’ve never really gotten into the Metal Gear series, however everything I saw about MGSV looked intriguing. I liked the idea of trying to sneak into bases and take out a target or rescue a hostage. I also liked that MGSV would provide players with plenty of firepower and the option to go in guns blazing if they so choose. This sounded appealing, because I’m terribly impatient and am horrible at stealth missions in games. I decided I’d purchase Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
I should note that my only experience with the Metal Gear series comes from watching someone play the first Metal Gear Solid back in 1998. I remember trying to play it, however my eleven year old self couldn’t handle the sneaking and I would always get angry when I got spotted and panic. I also played Metal Gear Solid 2 on the Xbox, but remember very little from it besides getting so frustrated with the underwater section that I nearly quit. I played around with Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, but never really got too far in it.
Because of my lack of knowledge of the Metal Gear series, the opening of MGSV left me dumbfounded. Not only did I not know what was going on with the characters (or who any of them really were), but the incredibly strange nature of everything that was happening caught me off guard. I expected Metal Gear to be something of a serious game, not quite as sci-fi and nonsensical. I’m still uncertain if the opening sequence was some sort of dream or hallucination. Everything seemed so normal at the start and before I knew it I was being chased from characters out of a comic book movie. This all put me off, and I thought for awhile I may have made a mistake by trying to jump in with the fifth game.
The opening sequence is long, and the player has very little agency. I almost would have preferred to have it all be one long cutscene, because every time the game gives control to the player there’s quite literally nothing to do but look around or press forward. In fact, the opening bored me so much that by the end of it I had fallen asleep (I was playing after work) and I awoke to a mission complete screen. I’m not sure what I missed but it probably doesn’t matter.
Once I got into the game proper, I finally started to enjoy myself. The game looks great and controls very well. Everything Snake does feels just right. The sneaking isn’t too difficult, but I still always find myself getting spotted. Luckily once you’re spotted the game provides you with a reaction moment where you can save yourself by either pulling off a headshot with a tranquilizer round or by knocking the enemy out with a close quarters combat maneuver. I haven’t failed a mission yet, however I have been downed by a flurry of enemy fire, but was able to heal myself and get out of the situation. I’m not sure if there’s a limitation on healing, but when you’re badly injured you can hold ‘Y’ to get yourself back in the action. In this case I switched to a rifle and just blasted everyone dead before sprinting out of the complex and to the helicopter without ever turning back.
Shooting myself out of bad situations hasn’t always been helpful, however. I was on a side ops mission and ended up shooting the person I was supposed to extract, thus failing the mission. Luckily the game doesn’t greet you with a fail screen, but rather leaves you in the open world with a ‘side ops cancelled’ message.
I’m not quite certain how I should be managing the Mother Base, but I’ve been having a blast fultoning any knocked out enemy back to my base to be one of my new “employees”.
I’ve only completed two missions in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, but I’m certainly looking forward to diving deeper into the game. I’m not sure if I’ll ever understand the game, but at least the gameplay is a blast!
This past weekend the popular Bridge Constructor series finally arrived on consoles, with the first game in the series being released for $9.99 on the Xbox One.
In the game you’re put in charge of creating bridges, which may sound easy, but there’s a catch. You have a budget for each bridge, and each construction material has a price which increases with its sturdiness. As you progress through the levels the challenges become more difficult and you really have to analyze every detail about the bridge you’re constructing. Once you think you’re done you can send cars or trucks across the bridge to see how it holds up. You complete the level by creating a bridge under budget that withstands the traffic you send across. You can earn a higher score by using less material.
Bridge Constructor translates pretty well to the Xbox One, however this is one problem. The screen is not sized correctly by default, and there’s no in game setting to adjust it.
How to fix the screen size of Bridge Constructor on the Xbox One
As you can see in the image above the outer border of the screen is cut off. This would just be a minor annoyance, however once you’re in the game it cuts off your budget which is a game breaker.
It’s hard to build a bridge without knowing how much of your budget remains. So how do you fix it? For me I was able to fix it by disabling the overscan setting on my TV’s advanced video settings. Changing the picture from ‘wide’ to ‘normal’ didn’t work for me, but if your TV has an aspect button that may end up working for you.
Once I disabled overscan the game finally fit on the screen, however the colors ended up looking a little washed out. It’s a minor annoyance, and at least the game is playable, but it’s frustrating to have to re-enable the option when I’m done playing.
As you can see, disabling the overscan feature allows the game to fit onto my screen, but you can see the colors look a little off. It’ll work for now, but hopefully they patch in a fix soon!
Developer Psyonix’s Rocket League released on PC and PS4 on July 7th of this year and almost instantly became a smash hit. The game was made available for free to Playstation Plus members which helped get it into the hands of the masses rather quickly (it’s been downloaded over five million times). Many who played Rocket League became immediately hooked and raved about the game to all their friends.
In Rocket League, teams of between one and four RC cars face off in a soccer arena with one simple goal: knock the soccer ball into the opposing team’s goal. The gameplay is rather simple, you just drive into the ball in an effort to push it into the goal. You can also pick up boost which allows you to drive faster, useful for trying to get a jump on your opponents or when you need to chase down a wild ball. You’re also able to jump and spin in the air, which can be used to knock the ball out of the air or into the goal assuming you’re able to time it right.
Matches in Rocket League are short and sweet, just five minutes (unless you go into a sudden death overtime) which makes it a perfect pick up and play game. The problem is, once you pick it up you’re not likely to put it down. Rocket League matches are so wildly fun you’ll even have a blast losing. Matches that seem one sided can sway in favor of the losing team at any moment, and sudden death overtime is always a looming possibility. The rush of a tying goal with just seconds left on the clock never gets old.
I’ve known of Rocket League’s existence for awhile, however I had been holding out for an Xbox One version. We know Rocket League is set to expand onto other consoles, we just don’t know exactly when this will happen. Today I finally broke down and picked up Rocket League on Steam ($19.99) and it’s been a blast! I’ve only played a handful of matches but I’m already hooked. The very first game I played went into overtime with an equalizer scored with just nine seconds left on the clock. My team went onto win with a spectacular goal and I immediately saw just how exciting Rocket League could be.
I scored my first goal during the second game and I can’t wait to jump back into another game!
I’m playing Rocket League on a 2012 MacBook Pro running Windows 10 via Boot Camp. It has an Intel i5 (2.50 GHz), 8GB RAM and an Intel HD 4000 graphics card. It runs well on medium settings, with a few hiccups here and there which may just be lag (I can’t quite tell, adjusting graphic settings up or down doesn’t seem to have an impact).
Gumballs Plays Games 