Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light

Date played: March 30th
Platform: PC
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I finally received the HDMI cable I had ordered and I can now plug my PC into my AV system and receive sound and video through HDMI on my big TV and surround system.  All giddy from the excitement, I decided to play a game that is good for couch play, the isometric Lara Croft game.

I played two levels, the Flooded Passage or something and the Jaws of Death.  The flooded passage was interesting but a bit too long for it's own good.  There were a lot of fights against enemies that are very long to kill.  There was a redeeming moment though and that releasing an enormous ball of steel death down some stairs that killed a shit load of enemies in one shot.  It looked great and was very satisfying.

The other level was quite short, barely even five minutes.  What it lacked in length, it definitely made up in awesome giant creature limb splatter.  Basically, the whole level is a chase.  A giant, frog-like creature with giant teeth chases Lara down a path full of risky jumps and pointy objects.  The very end of the level has Lara pull a lever to squash the abomination with two very deadly and very spiky wheels of death.  Fuck yeah.

Squishy squishy motherfucker!

Ridge Racer 3D

Date played: March 28th and 29th
Platform: 3DS
Time played: 70 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I finally dug deeper into one of my 3DS games and so far, I'm pretty happy with this version of Ridge Racer.  The racing is good, the controls are smooth, the graphics look great and the 3D adds a lot to the visuals.  The sound sucks though, maybe I should try with headphones.

Thankfully, you can remove these annoying DIGDUG and company icons

I played two championships and started a third one.  The tracks were pretty interesting overall and the cars look pretty cool.  It was definitely on the easy side so far though.

Also, there is a really annoying effect when using boost where it kind of shows a ghost image of the car. At first I thought it was the 3D effect that was messing up but I tried it with 3D off and saw the same thing.  Anyway, it feels good to play some Ridge Racer after I had ignored the franchise since R4.

Oh yeah and the replays actually look amazing due to the nice framerate and 3D effect.

3DS launch day special!!! 3D edition!

Date played: March 27th
Games played: Pilotwings Resort, Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, Ridge Racer 3D, Face Raiders, AR Games
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Time played: 200 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

WOOHOO!  I have a 3DS!

I had a pre-order from a while back where Gamestop would give a nice discount if I traded in a few games and since my PS3 hard drive had just broken at the time, I traded in a bunch of PS3 games I didn't feel like restarting.  Either way, I got enough money from it that I could afford three games at launch.

The ORIGINAL handheld 3D device

I first started off by making a Mii, taking some 3D pictures and messing around with the interface.  The Mii maker is nothing really much different than on Wii but it's..... well, it's in 3D.  I made my little family and left it at that for now.  The 3D pictures are actually pretty fucking amazing.  The cameras are not super high res or anything but just having the 3D effect feels like I'm looking at my pictures through a Viewmaster!  I also fooled around in the interface, setting up my internet connection, making a friends profile and configuring a few settings.

Then, I tried out Face Raiders.  This game is funny as hell, if impractical to play.  Basically, the player takes a picture of a face and the 3DS sticks it onto a giant flying ball.  Then you must stand up and move your body around as you shoot the face while it flies around your living room/office/bathroom/car.  It's really simple but also really fun.  I've already fought and defeated 6 of my friends and family's faces.

AR games are also pretty cool but too simple and short to hold my attention more than a few minutes.  The game card basically turns whatever object you set it on into a firing range where you must shoot targets with an arrow.  The best part of it is that it transforms your environment by digging holes into it or morphing it.  It's hard to explain but trust me when I say that it really shows off what the handheld can do.

On to the real games.  First I played was Ridge Racer 3D.  Essentially, it's Ridge Racer..... in 3D.  Really, it's the same game that was on PSP and 360/PS3 in the last few years.  It looks better than the PSP games that's for sure and the 3D effect really adds a lot to it but overall, it's still Ridge Racer.  I only played two races but it seems like a lot of fun and the graphics are impressive.

WTF it's not 3D!  Oh right... this is a computer, not a 3DS.

Pilotwings Resort was the next game I played.  This one has good graphics too, it actually seems to look better than almost everything I've played on Wii, exclusing Mario Galaxy 1 & 2.  It controls really well and it's fun to watch my Mii crash into the ground at high speeds.  I played a few challenges for the plane and the rocket belt.  This game actually gave me a slight headache and I had to take a break after.  This is something that has been reported by many other players but it seems that turning the 3D down a notch helps, as does playing for a few days.  Then the brain is supposed to get used to it a bit more, we'll see if that pans out.

Last but not least, I played Ghost Recon Shadow Wars, a turn-based strategy game in the vein of Advance Wars or X-COM.  I just LOVE those types of games so I was glad to see a game like this on launch day.  This one is the least impressive visually as it barely looks any better than a DS game but it seems like the one with the best and deepest gameplay.  I played two or three missions and I enjoyed the mechanics.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with my purchase, let's just hope those headaches aren't a standard "feature".

NHL 11

Date played: March 27th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

I'll win next time year Montreal.

Another of my brothers came to visit and we played some NHL 11 together.  He's a Montreal fan, I'm an Ottawa fan so we pretty much always play the same teams and we just play rock paper scissors to decide who gets home ice.

He actually won both games 3-1 but it was pretty close overall.  He definitely has a better zone entry than I do but I can set up better plays once inside the zone and I cause more turnovers than he does.  However, both games I was stupid enough to get around 20 minutes of penalties.  If it wasn't for those, I would have had a much better chance of winning.

Split/Second

Date played: March 26th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 35 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

The original split screen anti-cheater

Me and my brother went on to another racing game after Wipeout HD, Split/Second.  We played split screen until we had tried all five tracks I have unlocked.

We had lots of fun and many really close races but I desperately need to unlock more tracks.  Five isn't enough.

Also, what the fuck is up with many recent racing games not having split-screen?  Seriously, the only time I really play racing games with people is when they come over to my place.  For all the shit Nintendo takes, they do understand the importance of people playing in the same room.  Thanks Black Box Studios for not forgetting us weirdos who play with friends in the same room.

Wipeout HD

Date played: March 26th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 20 mintues
Session fun rating: 9/10

I. AM. AMAZING.

Well, one of my brothers came to visit and we played some Wipeout HD at his request.  I forgot how good this game looks and how well it runs.  I also had not played it since having my hard drive replaced so I had to start over from the beginning.

The thing is, I love this game but it gets too hard for me at around Rapier speed, the third tier.  If I could progress using Flash speed the whole time, I would.  Maybe I'll try it again someday.

We just played a few races in the single player campaign and one Zone race (FUCK YEAH ZONE RULES).  We also messed around with the photo mode and this came out of it.

Golden Sun Dark Dawn

Wait.... is that a girl or a boy?

Date played: March 26th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Grinding.  :-)

Really, I just kind of fought a few battles in the overworld after getting the fourth member of my party, Rief.  He seems really weak (as a character) but fights pretty well.  Nothing much to add, we were trapped by Blados, the first bad guy we meet and must venture into difficult paths over the giant mountains.

I'm loving this game still.

Alpha Protocol

Date played: March 26th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

So I completed the first story arc.  This game is already doing some interesting things with the story but I won't spoil it here.  Essentially, my allegiances are changing after about three of four hours of play.

Rockets, fuck yeah.

I really enjoyed most of the gameplay so far, even with the bugs and the fucked up controls.  I am now realizing the strength of the pistol and when I got the chance to specialize and re-assign my skill points, I dumped a whole lot into the pistol.  Also, it seems I enjoy making friends with terrorists.

There was also a fun sequence where I had to shoot some rockets at an armored vehicle and that was surprisingly fun.  I'm still liking this game and won't really stop playing it until probably Portal 2... or maybe I'll get Killzone 3 sometime.

NHL 11

AAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGHHH!

Date played: March 25th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, three players is the worst amount of players for NHL 11.  2 players is fine, as is 4 players...  but three players means that someone is alone and that person WILL win if everyone is fairly evenly matched.

We played three games of 2 VS 1 and every single time, the team with one player won.  It mostly has to do with how much easier it is to coordinate with yourself than it is to coordinate with someone else.  Still, we had fun and some strong drinks so it's all good!

You Don't Know Jack

Date played: March 25th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

The sweet, sweet sound of a chicken means big money!

Well, I played some four player couch YDKJ and it was a blast.  This game is really meant to be played with friends that are physically next to you and not over the internet.  It also a surprisingly interesting way to learn new things.  For example, I now know what a Mud Slapper is.  Or.... at least I know what YDKJ thinks it means. :-)

Also, one of my friends is really proficient at finding the wrong answer of the game, one of the more unique features of this version of the game.

World of Warcraft

Date played: March 24th
Platform: PC
Time played: 80 minutes
Session fun rating: 3/10

You know, I think I truly hate this game.   Really, I love the mechanics, I love the classes, I love the races, I love the cities and I love the setting.  However, I hate playing with idiots.  I know how to play this game, I know how to play a healer (this is my third one) but I have never found a way to deal with bad players.

I ran two dungeons last night.  The first one, I came in and half the instance was completed.  No problem.  This was the highest level wing of Dire Maul.  The problem was the tank, a Blood Elf pally.  He was pretty good overall but then he decided that it would be a good idea to get agro on five ogres and a demon.  I healed and because he had too many monsters on him, I got agro from two of the ogres.  He didn't make an effort to help and we wiped.

I asked him, "Why? Why would you pull agro on six enemies?".  His reply?  "Just heal.".  Fucking dick.  I told him to fuck off and we kept going.  We eventually cleared the instance without many other problems but the guy kept giving me shit the whole way, which I ignored.  At the end of the instance, I put up a lightwell for the last boss.  I have a macro that explains how to use it briefly when I cast it.

Fuck you WoW nerds of the world.  I've had enough of you.

The Hunter didn't realize it was a macro and told me "Stop typing stuff and do your job.  Heal."  This is kind of the whole reason why I hate this game.  I don't have any guild members around my level (47 now) or any friends that are playing on this server.  At least I got a new wand out of the run. :-(

The second dungeon was Stratholme Live.  While this was a somewhat more enjoyable, the tank, another pally, was a bit distracted.  On many occasions, he would continue on to get the next set of mobs without noticing that our hunter was struggling to keep one last mob off of me because the tank didn't even notice that monster in the first place.  We wiped once but it was an honest mistake from a DPS who walked a bit too far ahead and aggroed another group.  I did get a new pair of shoulder armor so I guess that's good.

While I was waiting for some people to walk back from the graveyard in the first run, I logged on to Blizzard's website and cancelled my account.  I still have about three weeks left so I'll probably play a bit more but I think I'm done with this game again.  I think I'm done with god damned MMO's.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Date played: March 23rd
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Media Molecule is taking cues from the classics!

My girlfriend and I played about three levels and are now starting world 4 (TRON WORLD! Sorta...).  The boss of world 3 was a giant, mechanical, flaming, rampaging chicken.  We had to run away from it.  It was pretty easy but getting the prize bubbles was very difficult.  We weren't able to get all of them because we messed up the timing of our jumps a bunch of times.  We also played a mini-game that had us controlling little jump pads and had to save some sack bots.  Essentially, it was just like that Earthworm Jim level with the puppies and the giant marshmallow..

Then we started world 4 and we got to ride mounts for the first time.  These included a rabbit, a dog and a very fucking fast hamster.  Awesome.

Alpha Protocol

Date played: March 23rd
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Does this image mean I can get laid in this game?  Maybe.

I played one mission and the game mechanics are starting to sink in a bit better.  The mission was to go investigate a weapons cache.  While stealth is definitely an option, I've found that I can get away with going in guns blazing if I have to.  I am also abusing gadgets as much as possible since they are cheap to buy.

I've been exploiting grenades, flash grenades and even EMP charges to bypass the hacking minigames.  I am also using the chain shot ability which allows me to set up a series of headshots with the pistol in slow motion.  The shotgun is my go to weapon when I set off an alarm or a guard sees me.

The mission itself was fairly straight forward.  Infiltrate area, kill guards, gather intel, get the fuck out.  I took advantage of some turrets scattered around one of the areas and they are surprisingly powerful at very long range.  I then escaped by hitching a ride on a helicopter.

I'm enjoying this game a lot, even if it's a little clunky mechanically.

Alpha Protocol

Date played: March 22nd
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 140 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

I just received this game from Goozex.  I was initially interested in this game when I first heard about it but then the reviews came out and blasted the game for having clunky controls and being buggy.  I decided to give it another shot since I basically got it for free and so far, I'm impressed with it.

From what I've played, this is essentially Mass Effect 2 but with modern day spies instead of space colonies and aliens.  It also has the lack of polish that is typical of Obsidian, the developer of the game.  The game starts off by having you choose a background for your spy that will determine your starting skills and such.  I chose a technician as I felt using gadgets would probably be fun.

The first mission I played

There is a lengthy tutorial that was pretty interesting and taught me the mechanics well enough.  This game is a little rough though.  The aiming is weird, the character is a little stiff to control and the animations are a bit stilted. However, I still had fun.  The best part of the game so far has been the conversations.  It's like Mass Effect 2 except that you have a timer to select your conversation "stance" such as professional, agressive, suave, etc.  It's really interesting so far.

I also played a mission and bought some weapons and equipment.  The mission was pretty basic and had sort of a Metal Gear Solid feel in spots.  There was also a cool conversation with an arms dealer at the end of the level and I chose to extort him.  He now provides me with discounts on weapons and intel on various things.

I think I needed a game like this.  We'll see if it pans out as I progress.  The combat really takes some getting used to.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Date played: March 21st
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Still loving LBP 2!  Again, I played with my girlfriend and we had a lot of fun.  We are about halfway through the  third world.  The boss of the second world was really cool and it was the first time we lost all our lives.  Basically, we had to avoid lightning beams, electricity balls and an electrified floor and then throw cake into the giant mechanical spider's mouth.

The third world is set in a factory and most of the levels have us making little sackbots follow us around until the end of the level.  My girlfriend somehow got really attached to them and was telling them to follow us as someone would for a dog or a small child.  This was adorable to say the least.

Awww Sackbots are so cute!

The mechanics behind the sackbots were actually really interesting.  In one level, they would run away from us and so had to kind of heard them into specific areas without having the little guys throw themselves into bottomless pits or fiery holes.  Another level had us carry a giant purple heart and the sackbots would follow the heart which turned out to be kind of tough when we dropped the heart between two electrified pillars.  The last level like this had them simply follow us because they love us.  :-)

We also played a basketball minigame and it was FRANTIC to say the least.  This one seems like it would be amazing with four players after a few drinks.

Call of Duty Black Ops

What a weird looking gun...

Date played: March 21st
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I was kind of bored so I decided to try the G11 assault rifle again.  I actually did pretty good with it, as long as I don't put a scope on it.  Using a burst rifle is quite different than using the M60 but it hits hard enough and is very accurate.  Also, I got one of my sentry gun crates stolen.  Frustrating.

Outside of that, I'm still kind of tired of CoD, I think I need a break.  Super Mario Galaxy 2 has been good but I kind of need an online competitive game.  I tried getting into Split/Second multiplayer on PS3 but it seems no one else is playing.  I still have Resistance 2 and never tried multiplayer, maybe I should just try that.  Barring all that, I guess I could always go back to Halo Reach or Blur.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Date played: March 20th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

My girlfriend loves cake levels.  Weird fetish, I know.

I played this with my girlfriend for a little bit and we played about three story levels from the second world.  I'm really liking the story mode in the sequel compared to the original.  There is more variety and the levels are more interesting.

One thing I don't really like though is the actual story and voice acting.  It's corny, boring and pointless.  I just wanna play some damn levels!  Two of the levels we played were about cake.  That's gotta count for something right?  My girlfriend really enjoyed shooting cupcakes out of the "cakeinator".  It actually made for some interesting levels where we had to build platforms with our cake gun.  It also has a really cool visual effect when the cakes dissolve.  They kind of turn to goo.

I also unlocked a cool steampunk kind of outfit which I used for a bit.  I love this game so much.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Date played: March 19th and 20th
Platform: Wii
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well, I'm hooked again.  I really don't know why I've ignored this game for so long.  I played quite a bit, getting a bunch of stars and comet medals.  I'm up to 96 stars I think.

This game is pretty difficult overall.  I'm sure I've died like 200 times up to now.  My girlfriend was watching me play and she commented that she didn't think she could so it herself.  I mean, if she was only doing the minimum to get through the game, I think she would be ok but I'm trying to get all the stars and medals and it is not always easy.

The highlight of my session was Throwback Galaxy.  This is a remake of Whomp's Fortress from Super Mario 64.  Having played SM64 about six or seven times, it was really cool to see this level remade.  The music was remastered and sounded amazing.  The level itself has changed a bit but it still feels the same, which is good.  Sadly, there was only two stars to get, one where you must beat Whomp, a giant floor tile.  The other, collecting 5 silver stars.

I kind of wish they would have done that for other levels from Mario 64 or even Mario Sunshine.  As a side note, Super Mario Sunshine is much better than people on the internet would have you believe.

World of Warcraft

Date played: March 19th and 20th
Platform: PC
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 2/10

I'm getting dangerously bored of this game again.  I ran one instance that was uneventful (we had a pretty good tank too, that always helps) and then I basically got a bunch of flight paths while trying to get to Thousand Needles to farm Sungrass for Inscription.

The only good part of Thousand Needles.

That was, to say the least, BORING AS FUCK.  I ran around Stonetalon, Southern Barrens, Dustwallow Marsh and Thousand Needles.  Also, with this redesign of the map in Cataclysm, it makes life tougher on guys like me who don't really quest. One example was getting the flight paths in Thousand Needles.

Honestly, I cast Levitate (since the whole zone is flooded) and ran for about 20 minutes to get both flight paths.  Then I farmed herbs for about 30 minutes until I was about to shoot myself out of boredom.

On the positive side, there was a really cool song playing on a giant party boat.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Worth a try?

Date played: March 18th, 19th and 20th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 75 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

Really, I have nothing special to say about the last three days of CoD.  I am starting to be a little bit bored of it and am not really playing as much as before I think.  Maybe a new shooter or a completely different type of game could satisfy my online competitive needs.  And WoW doesn't count.

Anyway, I did do pretty well overall but there was nothing really memorable.

Marvel VS Capcom 3

Date played: March 17th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 45 noobish minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, my brother got this and I pretty much went out and bought MVC 3 right after I found out so I could play with him.  To give some context, I've always liked fighting games but only when playing against other humans, online or off. It all started with a weird game that most people have never played, Primal Rage for SNES.  Now, Primal Rage sucks, don't get me wrong, but it has dinosaurs and giant apes fighting each other.  That's cool.

Then I played stuff like Killer Instinct, Mortal Kombat II and a bit of Street Fighter II.  Later, me and my brothers migrated to the N64 where we played some subpar games like Dark Rift and Mace.  We also played some Bushido Blade, Tekken 3 and Virtua Fighter on PS1.  Then, the Dreamcast came along.  That's what made us Soul Calibur players fans for the next few years and really, we stopped playing fighting games after Soul Calibur 2.

Cut to Street Fighter IV.  We're back baby!  This is what made me thirst for the blood of my opponents once more. This is what made us ready for MVC 3.  Now, I had never played this series but I saw it plenty.  I knew I was in for some crazy abilities, fast combat and hardcore combat systems.  However, I really wasn't ready for MVC 3.  This game is fucking crazy.

Yes, that is Dead Pool on the right.  FUCKING DEAD POOL MAN.

The bar to entry is very high it seems.  Maybe I should have spent more time with the manual or something but wow, I have no idea how to really play this game.  I played a quick arcade match against AI and I lost in the second round.  Bad sign.

I actually decided to jump right online and see how that would go.  Bad idea.  I got the beating of my life.  I barely managed to hit the other guy about three times total during the match....  I want to like this game but it's becoming clear that it will require an investment in time and dedication for me to to even come close to understanding how to play it.

Then again, it looked fucking amazing when I got destroyed.  That's something to look forward to no?

Golden Sun Dark Dawn

Date played: March 17th
Platform: DS
Time played: 50 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I reached my first real dungeon in the Koompa, Kupal, Kopal, Kompal, Shit I Don't Know What They Are Actually Called Ruins.  I'm starting to get into the groove of things here.

Kirin, my first cool looking summon

-Look around for things I can use magic on or open doors
-Walk to that spot
-Random encounter fight
-Attack / Magic / Djinn / Heal
-Keep walking to spot
-Use magic on spot
-Repeat

Overall though, I like this.  The combat is interesting and the summons look amazing, some of the best graphics I've seen on DS.  I'm not quite done with the dungeon yet but I feel like I'm reaching the end.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Exciting.

Date played: March 17th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

Well, I played two matches of TDM and I was getting a bit frustrated since I was tired and didn't really have the best aim.  I decided to change things up a bit by playing a match of Demolition on Berlin Wall and it was surprisingly fun!

Then again, it might have something to do with me planting the bomb and getting 8 straight kills while defending my bomb.  We won the first round then when the second round started, I sent out my attack helicopter and ended up 13-2.  That ended the night well enough. :-)

Golden Sun Dark Dawn

Date played: March 15th and 16th
Platform: DS
Time played:  200 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I bought this impulsively on Amazon.  I had been interested in this game when I first heard about it but when it came out, I was waist deep in the big holiday releases for consoles so it went off my radar.  I had played the original Golden Sun on my trusty GBA SP back in 2002 and while I never actually completed it, I played about 75% of it and had loved it.  I never played the sequel as I always wanted to finish the first one but never did.

Yay for spiky hair!

Now, the new version is modernized, has 3D graphics, save anywhere and semi-optional (I'll get to that in a sec) touch screen controls.  It actually takes place about 30 years after the first game and the heroes are the children of the original cast.  I was hooked right away.

This game is amazing so far.  The writing is good, the graphics looks nice, the music is pretty good, the battle system is interesting and the story is shaping up nicely.  One cool thing is that when characters talk about something, you can sometimes highlight a word and get a short encyclopedia entry displayed on the top screen with more information.  Also, you can control the action with either the buttons or the stylus which is a welcome option after playing some Zelda Spirit Tracks.

Some of the actions require targeting though which can be done with both the stylus or the directional buttons but I missed more often than I expected when using the buttons, that's why I said the touch screen controls were semi-optional.

I basically went through a bit of a tutorial section with Isaac and Garett, the heroes from the first game, backing me up in case I fucked up. I thought it was a nice way to set up the story and present a tutorial at the same time.

The next day, I actually started the adventure proper and reached my first town.  I bought some gear, talked to some people, searched some pots and vases and went on with my business.  There was also a nice little mini-game that essentially showed me how to use my magic powers out in the field while retelling the story of the original game.

I then moved on to my a mountain range where I fought some baddies, discovered some Djinn (little magical creatures that players can equip to get new spells and stronger abilities) and pushed some wooden logs around.

I'm very impressed with the game so far and will definitely continue playing.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Date played: March 14th, 15th and 16th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 150 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I've played lots of Black Ops in the last three days and I was pretty damn hot for most of it.  I've actually been trying out the flashbangs and decoys instead of concussion grenades.

The Office: "What the hell is a mallard?"

I'm still not a fan of flashbangs.  While they are powerful, they are very slow to deploy compared to concussion grenades.  The effect also doesn't really last very long in most cases.  Decoys, on the other hand, I have been more successful with.  Being that I use an LMG, I don't have the mobility of most other players.  Diverting their attention for an instant has proven somewhat effective.  While I miss my concussions, I seemed to get about the same scores when using decoys.  I can easily spam them since I use Scavenger Pro and that seemed to work also.

The only problem with that is sound pollution.  Because the decoys make a gun sound, it makes it slightly more difficult for me to spot opponents by using positional sound.  I'll keep trying them, I might like them better on some maps than others I think, we'll see.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Date played: March 13th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

STUDY!

Well, I decided I wanted to try making a level.  What better way to start than to do some tutorials?  Well, it turns out that this level creator is way more complex than I imagined and I spent about 45 minutes doing tutorials and I'm not even half-way done with them yet.

On the plus side, they are quite interesting.  The narrator provides some humor and you can unlock some prize bubbles for completing some sections of the tutorial.

The level creator seems like it is very powerful.  You can make skinny objects, fat objects, shiny objects, etc.  You can also glue stuff together, makes holes in things, create AI friends or enemies, light things on fire or even turn them into poison gas!  There is so much to do here, it is very overwhelming.

I think my first level will have to be a simple concept just so I can get used to the tools.

Battlefield 1943

Date played: March 13th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 15 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

A normal day in 1943.

I didn't have much time to play so I just booted up Battlefield 1943 for a quick match.  I always play as the rifleman in this game since the rifle seems like the best weapon at all times for me.  This game is so cool but the gun fighting isn't the best.  This game is at it's best when storming a flag with a squad of people backing you up.

I did get a few kills with my rifle and some with the grenade launcher.  In fact, I took down a tank with the grenade launcher, that was pretty cool.

BF1943 made me miss Battlefield 2 though.  I cannot wait for Battlefield 3, I think this one is going to be big.

Fat Princess

Hot.

Date played: March 12th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 5/10

This game should be awesome but every time I play it, it feels like a big clusterfuck where no one is cooperating and no one knows where to go.  I played 2 matches of Team Deathmatch.

I played as an archer and a warrior mostly and I got a few kills but I don't feel as if I helped the team win or lose.  At least there weren't many bots in the matches I played, I hate playing against bots, so boring.

Super Mario Galaxy 2

Date played: March 12th
Platform: Wii
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Well, I was tired of playing with others I guess.  I also didn't want to play something that required intense concentration as I was still sick.  I decided SMG 2 was a good solution to my problems.  While I haven't played this game in a while, I don't really know why I haven't played it more.  I guess I had other games I wanted to play first.

Boomsday Machine!

This game is the perfect example of a no-commitment piece of entertainment.  It doesn't have a big narrative, the controls don't have a big learning curve and the levels are short.

I got 6 stars from my session, including a Grand Star from Bowser Jr's boomsday machine which turned out to be a pretty cool fight.  I also played one Fluzzard level which I still hate with a passion due to the shitty controls.  I think I'll play some more, we'll see.

World of Warcraft

Date played: March 12th
Platform: PC
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 3/10

Well, here is another disaster....  The first dungeon I tried was Scholomance.  While it went pretty well, I had to leave after the first boss to go take care of my daughter.

Sloppy tank.

The second dungeon was awful.  It was the third wing of Dire Maul and the tank was an idiot.  The mobs in there hit pretty hard for a level 44 priest to heal so when the tank charges in and gets adds at almost every pull, things get messy.  We even had a mage and a hunter so we could have sheeped and trapped some of the enemies but the tank wouldn't have it.  Even worse, when we had a three mob pull with one melee enemy and two casters, the tank would just stay on the melee guy, leaving the two casters to hit me like a punching bag.  We wiped three times and I left.

The last dungeon was Stratholm Live.  While it went ok, we had a lot of sloppy pulls with adds.  We did manage to finish it though and I got a nice new main hand weapon.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Not fit for combat

Date played: March 12th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 15 minutes
Session fun rating: 2/10

Do not play an online competitive game when you have a nasty cold.

I have a pretty bad cold right now and when I tried to play Black Ops, I was so bad that I stopped after one match.  My reflexes just, weren't there.

Fallout New Vegas

Date played: March 11th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 45 minutes
Session fun rating: 1/10

Cool art!

Well, I tried starting a new game.  I had originally played about 60 hours of this game before my hard drive crashed and I lost all my saved games so I was hesitant to restart.  Turns out I was right.  The early parts of this game are boring as hell since I've played them already.

I did make a different character though.  I'm trying to make a melee character to change things up.  We'll see if I keep playing, I'm not sure I have it in me to replay the majority of this game.

World of Warcraft

Date played: March 9th
Platform: PC
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 6/10

Fucking idiots.  Losers.  Inconsiderate cunts.

I join the LFG tool for a random dungeon, I get an instant invite to Scholomance.  Great!  We group up and the tank seems to be in a bit of a hurry but I don't think anything of it.  We start the first fight down the stairs and the tank (an orc warrior) gets aggro on a shit load of mobs.  I tried to keep him up but I got aggro myself from about 3 mobs so obviously, the tank had taken on too many mobs.  We wipe.

I was a bit surprised.  Why would a tank pull that many mobs anyway?  Surely he knew we wouldn't be able to handle it?  A rogue commented on the odd wipe on the first pull and the warrior said "Too many adds".  Hmmm....  Well let's try this again.

Warrior goes in before being buffed, before having full health, before I had more than 25% mana and even before all members of the group were back inside the instance!  We had managed to kill quite a few mobs even as we wiped so I managed to keep him alive while he grabbed pretty much all the mobs that were left in the room.  While he is tanking and the DPS are killing, the warrior levels up!  "Grats" I type in the chat window.

Seconds later, he leaves the group while he STILL had aggro!  Unbelievable.  That guy joined a group as a tank just to get enough EXP to level and left us there without a tank in the middle of a fight.  That, ladies and gentlemen, is the power of anonymity.  He owes us nothing, he's from a different server, we probably won't even see him again.  Why should he make an effort to be a nice, polite person when there is nothing in it for him?

This is one simple example of how the internet somehow flips a switch in some people's heads that tells them they don't have to be human anymore, they are allowed to be unpleasant, rude, selfish and abusive.  I feel used, like a stripper or something.

Internet anonymity; good or bad?

Anyway, we did get a new tank that was friendly, nice and didn't leave after he got what he wanted.  We killed all bosses and I scored a nice pair of pants that was a pretty big upgrade.  I also reached Exalted with Undercity and bought the fast skeletal horse!  Yay for me!

Call of Duty Black Ops

Date played: March 9th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 7/10

More daily headshooting.  I actually tried out a completely different weapon loadout today.  For one match on Havana, I decided I would try my hand at sniping.  Now, sniping doesn't work well on all maps and since I'm such a newb at it, I thought I would pick a map with some decent sniper spots to try this out.

I grabbed a PSG1 with variable zoom.  I also sported a nice pair of Python revolvers to protect myself against anyone who would come close.  I was semi-successful.  I did get a few nice shots from across the map on a couple guys but I'm not a very good sniper.  I ended the match at an even 10 kills and 10 deaths.  At least three of those kills were from the pythons though.

One shot kill

Either way, I went back to my regular setup the next match but it was sort of refreshing to try something different.  Next time?  Maybe I'll try an SMG or something.

Dead Space 2

Date played: March 8th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 120 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well, I finally finished Dead Space 2 and it is easily one of the best games I've ever played.  I was very satisfied with the game overall as it had good atmosphere, fantastic sound, fun combat and beautiful graphics.  I really enjoyed my time with this game but I was a bit disappointed with the last two chapters.  SPOILERS AHEAD!

So Chapter 13 ended with a bang.  There is a scene where Isaac gets into a crazy machine and there is a mini game that involves lasers, needles and eyes.  Needless to say, it was very gruesome and disturbing.

Chapter 14 was not that much fun because it was basically the return of the unkillable monster from Dead Space 1.  The only problem is that you don't get the satisfaction of killing it after a long chase, you just kind of get away from it.  I mostly just ran and used a bunch of health packs.  I also abused stasis when I could.

More amazing art to close these posts out

Then Chapter 15 was basically the end boss fight and the escape from Titan station.  There was a cool quick-time event when Isaac gets to the marker and meets with the military dude that had been harassing him all game involving a javelin gun.  Then came the final boss fight which is essentially Isaac VS Nicole... inside Isaac's brain.

The fight itself was kind of interesting but I didn't have a good weapon for small enemies so I ended up using a lot of ripper blades and using the line gun's timed mine function.  It took me two tries but I eventually won and that was pretty much the end of the game.  The last few minutes of the game is where Ellie comes back (SURPRISE!) and saves Isaac from certain death.  The last playable sequence is short but sweet as Isaac has to reach Ellie's ship in mid-air while avoiding debris.

There is also a nice little tidbit after the (amazingly long) credits where some Unitology brass comments that the Titan station site is destroyed and that the "other sites" would have to do the job.  It seems obvious that we will be getting Dead Space 3 at some point and it's already at the top of my most anticipated games.

Now maybe I'll try multiplayer (not) and maybe I'll buy the DLC (probably later).

Call of Duty Black Ops

Who knew this would make a great COD map?

Date played: March 8th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

I played a few matches with my friend on the new maps.  The more I play them, the more I love Berlin Wall.  The longer sight lines help me a lot.  I had a 26-4 game and I got that mostly by sticking to the periphery of the map.

At one point, I had two sentry guns up at the same time.  It was very satisfying!  My friend wasn't that great today but she held her own.

Mafia 2 demo

Date played: March 7th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 10 minutes
Session fun rating: 4/10

Well, I didn't really feel like playing games tonight but I did manage to play the Mafia 2 demo that had been sitting on my hard drive for a month.  I had pretty low expectations and the game was slightly better than I was expecting but it's nothing amazing.

This should be fun but I died too often.

The graphics are pretty good, the controls are a little stiff and the shooting didn't feel great.  The driving, on the other hand, was lots of fun.  I also died a lot.  The first death came from me shooting a paperboy in the street and getting shot down by cops.  The second was me crashing into a wall at full speed in a fast car.  The next four or five deaths came from the first mission where I got shot by dudes with shotguns.

The game seems like a watered down, 1930's GTA IV.  The thing is, GTA IV was fun.  Mafia 2, not that much. It's not a bad game from the little I saw but I died a bit too much for me to enjoy myself.

NHL 11

Date played: March 5th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 35 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Again, playing with my two friends, we popped NHL 11 in.  It turns out, I hadn't played this game since getting my new hard drive so my profile, updates and rosters had been deleted.  Not only that but this game is a user interface nightmare.

First, you can't skip the tutorial.  That meant 5 or 6 minutes going through useless junk.  Seocnd, it took me like 3 minutes to just find the option in the menus to get roster updates.  At least it was updated March 3rd so it included anything that was done up to the trade deadline.

On to the game.  We split the teams up randomly and we played two games.  We won the first one 4-1 and lost the second 8-3.  The first game I think we won because the other person had problems with faceoffs but she picked it up in the second game.  It seems like it's always tougher to win when playing with another human because it's more difficult to time passes and coordinate zone entry.  Also, my partner wasn't really that good as she would often just do a slap shot on the goalie with no follow-up.

We played as Ottawa (who is much better in game than in real life!) and the other team was Colorado in Nordiques jerseys.

You Don't Know Jack

Date played: March 5th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 50 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Dis or Dat was a big hit!

Well, this turned out to be a huge hit with my friends.  At first we planned on playing only one game but they liked it so much that we played four or five episodes.  My friends were both pretty good at this game and we found out that we all knew some answers that others didn't.

I also unlocked quite a few trophies.  I love this game.

Split/Second

Date played: March 5th

All racing games should have split-screen....

Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 20 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

We played four races in split/screen (haha) mode and I was surprised at how well this game runs, even in split screen.  I only had five tracks unlocked but we still enjoyed our time.  We passed the controller around so that everyone had a chance to play.  One of the two girls I was playing with really sucks at racing games so that was quite funny.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Date played: March 5th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 150 minutes
Session fun rating: 10/10

I will need to give some context for this one otherwise it won't make much sense.  I initially played a few matches from home with two of my friends.  We didn't play for very long but we had some strong games.  I even had one TDM game where I had 40 kills, more than half the points required to win.  That was my top amount of kills ever in TDM.

After that, we actually had a bit of a PS3 party.  I brought my PS3, trusty Tritton AX720 headset and my old 32 inch LCD TV from my basement to my friends place who already has two 42 inch wall mounted TV's next to each other and they both have surround headsets as well.  We all connected to PSN and played CoD for about two hours.

We had a few fun games then we received an invite from some random guy to do a 3vs3 clan match.  We played three matches against them and lost 2 out of 3.  The first two matches were TDM, one on Nuketown and the other on Firing Range.  We got beat 5000-4300 in Nuketown and 5000-4800 on Firing Range.  We actually had a lot of back and forth on that game and almost won.  Overall, we had lots of fun.  Their guys were mostly running SMG's and AR's.  They were also good at shooting down our aircraft and even our care package choppers.

The last match, we agreed to do a sniper only match on Nuketown.  We actually won this as we discovered one of our players was really good with snipers!  I was average, getting about 10 kills and 10 deaths.  I had made a class with the WAS2000 but I did much better when I picked up an PSG1 from an enemy.

Awesome.

We also played two Nazi Zombie games and that was cool but I wouldn't really play it more, I prefer human opponents.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Date played: March 4th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played:  70 minutes
Session fun rating: 8/10

Less common than before

I played more of the new maps for a bit more than an hour and it was really fun.  People are starting to know the maps a bit better, there are fewer ghost users and fewer campers.  I still like Berlin Wall a lot and I still don't like Discovery too much but it is growing on me the more I play it.

I'm more and more comfortable in Kowloon.  Stadium is feeling better and better as well.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Date played: March 4th
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played:  45 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well, we finally completed the first world and unlocked online play and created levels.  The last few levels of the first world are interesting but I'm getting really frustrated with some prize bubbles I can't get.  I don't know if I'm missing something but some of them seem impossible.  I think some might be related to "sticker" puzzles.  I don't know how to identify areas that need me to put a sticker on it.

Oh God please give my girlfriend some skills.

Anyway, after killing a cool looking boss, we went online to try some random levels.  It turns out there are a lot of levels that aren't side scrolling platformers.  We played a pinball level that was well made but wasn't built for two players so we ended up overlapping each other's inputs.  We then "played" a level that was essentially a short movie, complete with cheesy voice acting made by the creator.  It also seems that people are making music for their levels which is really awesome!

Then we played a moon lander clone that required both of us to succeed in order to proceed to the next level.  I got to the end in two tries but my girlfriend could not successfully navigate the path after about twenty tries.  We quit out.

The last one was a cool twin stick shooter where we had to shoot robots and had lasers, missiles and grenades to throw.  That one was really well made and we both enjoyed it.

Call of Duty Black Ops

Date played: March 3rd
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 60 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

The new maps are out!  I downloaded them, installed them and downloaded a new patch.  That took a while, maybe an hour, which sucks.  There is a playlist for First Strike maps only so that's nice.

The first map I played is Kowloon, infamous for it's dangerous zip lines.  This map is really good.  It's a nice size, not too big, not too small.  It has a lot of vertical fighting so it's been a bit tough to adapt.  There are a lot of different paths and little hidden areas.  The zip lines are useful but are very dangerous as many people camp it.  There is both long range fighting and close range fighting.  The building that houses the zip lines seems always busy so it's a good place to lob grenades and such.

YAY!

The second I played is Berlin Wall.  This is definitely my favorite of the four new maps.  I like it because it's fairly open, has long range fights and is a fun size.  There is a sort of no man's land where automatic turrets shoot down anyone who enters it.  This basically splits the map in two and there are three paths to cross.  One on each side and one in the middle.  These areas end up being major choke points.

The third map I played is Discovery.  This is my least favorite map.  It's set in the arctic and has pretty cool graphics.  However, I don't like the map layout too much.  It's a bit too big for my tastes and doesn't really have many good fighting areas.  It also has a lot of bottomless pits which annoy me.  I only played TDM but I could see this one being better for objective games.

The last map I played is Stadium which is set around a hockey arena.  This one is a bit smaller than the others and I found it really fun.  It has some cool fighting spots and is sunny, kind of like a bigger Nuketown or a residential Firing Range.

I haven't tried the zombie map but I'm not a big fan of the zombie mode anyway.  I will maybe try some objective modes next time.

World of Warcraft

BORING

Date played: March 3rd
Platform: PC
Time played: 30 minutes
Session fun rating: 2/10

I just farmed herbs today in Western Plaguelands.  I am now high enough in Inscription to move on to the next level of herbs so I'm done with that zone.  I've been making decent gold by undercutting other scribes on the AH.  People seem to overcharge a lot for this stuff so my glyphs have been selling pretty well.

LittleBigPlanet 2

Date played: March 2nd
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Well, we tried LBP 2 in co-op.  The intro movie was pretty cool since it's live action.  Before starting to play, we customized our characters a little bit but there wasn't a lot of options available right off the bat.

Play, Create, Share

We played three story levels and there are a few notable differences from the first game.  For one, there is voice acting.  It's not particularly good and not all lines of dialogue are voiced which is a little distracting.  The first few levels were interesting and had some cool mechanics with the grapple.  It's a bit difficult to get the momentum right when trying to reach some of the prize bubbles but we'll figure it out.

One thing that was really disappointing was that we couldn't even play created levels from the community.  It seems we have to play more story missions before that is available.  Frankly, that sucks.

My girlfriend liked it too and I can't wait to play some more.  I also got my first idea for a level.  I never even tried making levels in the first game but I really want to try it this time around.  I want to make a robot themed level and play it with Daft Punk's Robot Rock. :-)

We'll see if that pans out hehe....

Call of Duty Black Ops

Date played: March 2nd
Platform: Playstation 3
Time played: 40 minutes
Session fun rating: 9/10

Berlin here I come!

I needed to get a few kills in today, I needed to relieve some stress.  I did pretty good today, I had a pretty satisfying match on Radiation.  I managed to have an attack helicopter and a sentry gun up at the same time.  On that map, sentry guns can be very powerful if you put them on top of one of the two little buildings in the middle of the map.  I also had a napalm strike at the same time.

New maps are coming out today and I can't wait to play it with my friends!