I've decided to make every holiday a retro special occasion. I rolled a random genre with my Retro Game Encounter Table and got, Adventure. Then I chose Resident Evil and Silent Hill from the database. I was really happy to have a reason to break out my PS3 Super Slim and get me some PSOne Classics. It took some serious resistance on my part not to pick up Suikoden II and Grandia, amongst others. I get them later for sure though. No worries.
...Just so much easier for me to come up with a name for a dead chat room opposed to a blog title.
In this edition of STRATOS, we recap Halifax Scramble and prepare for PAX14!
In the inaugural STRATOS, we take a look at upcoming greatness from Studio Mudprints
Heya. This is Ser. You may remember me from such blog posts as Ser's Daily Bit and Ser's ^Kinda Daily Bit and Ser's Weekly Bit, then, Ser's non-existent Bit.
Here’s another batch of reviews I’ve written lately over at GamerDad.com. Please click on the links and read as many as you can and maybe even post a comment or two. I’d really appreciate it. I’m also using this blog to commemorate a gaming ‘milestone’ for me. Recently, I passed the 50,000 Achievement Point mark on Xbox LIVE!
It'll be a quick one today, folks,, as I'm trying to catch up and keep caught up on blogs here.
Well Hello Pixlbit! Today is the official start to Blog A Day, which should be interesting to see what everyone here is going to write about during the next month. Last year I went with a “Let’s see what I find interesting” blog, which at the start was alluring, but in the middle of the month, it became a mad scramble to find a topic.
Happy Friday Pixlbit! The weekend is here, and it is time to relax and enjoy some free time, especially if you had a short week. I have been up to my usual bag of tricks as well as planning out how I am going to approach the upcoming Blog A Day. I’m thinking a bunch of mini topics that would normally make up Quick Hits, and randoms that pop into my head that morning. Yep 10 days into BaD, and I’m going to be scrambling for topics (red vs scarlet, random dreams, etc.), but for now I’m feeling good that I have some topics ready. So for this week’s Quick Hits I’m going to cover more Birthday Goodies, TV Shows, and random pickups. Sound good? Well good, so let’s get this edition of Quick Hits started!
2013 was a great year for video games in my opinion. There was a pretty wide range of enjoyable titles throughout the year for all platforms, and it's been a joy trying to get my hands on them all. I'd rather not rank them, but rather recognize them for their qualities. Here's my list!
Minecraft does interesting things to people; sometimes it brings out our inner-creativity, and some-times it brings out unforgiveable actions that would shame a Kardashian. I’ve done some amazing and creative things in Minecraft, but I’ve also sunk to depths I never thought possible. This is the story of what I thought was a simple and sweet endeavor that ended with a sinister and morbid outcome. Minecraft transformed me from a man into a beast in the pixelated world in which I was god.
My experience with the Wolfenstein franchise is dated at best. I played through Wolfenstein 3D when it was a shareware powerhouse and never once considered playing one of its many sequels or reboots. Then I got a chance to spend an hour with Wolfenstein: The New Order, and I think I’m about to end my abstinence from the series.
"What is it, Lucy?" Lois asks, placing a hand on her shoulder. She quickly pulled the rest of the surviors behind a truck with her, whispering prayers.
So I joined up to pixlbit a little after the announcement of 1up's end. I feel a little guilty of that, like I had scrambled to find another safe harbor for myself, but I enjoyed the atmosphere of 1up and have the same vibe here. So here I am, introducing myself to a new community.
Games evolve quickly. Despite a trilogy of quality releases ending only five years ago, Tomb Raider was already starting to get left behind by the genre it helped to create in 1996. Now the industry’s best-known heroine is back and reinventing action-adventure once again.
Contra is an iconic staple of the earlier days of 8-bit gaming. It’s a game that virtually requires no introduction, though I’m giving it one anyway. Originally released in the arcade in 1987, Contra exploded on the scene with non-stop run and gun action that would make an action movie buff grin with delight as they blasted their way past stage after of testosterone-soaked stage. It would go on the find an even bigger audience when Contra was ported to the NES a year later on February 2, 1988. This was the first side-scrolling shooter I had ever played. I still remember when my brother, sister, and I played this game for the first time (my sister and taking turns as player 2). I was hooked from the beginning. So much so that, to this day, I still refer to the colors red and blue as the “Contra colors”.
I've been pretty under the radar the last few weeks, so it's time to put the periscope up, do some recon to find out what my friends are up to, and send out an update transmission. Last week we had my grandpa's funeral and it went really well. The honor guard turned out to give him a gun-salute as well as give the folded American flag to my grandmother. After the funeral we started a bathroom renovation at our house so everything has been messy. However, my Xbox has still been getting some love despite the distractions.
Straddling the line between video game and interactive experience, Papo & Yo explores some very mature subject matter through an innocent façade. Through the eyes of Quico, a young South American boy, players take a journey through a unique and abstract world in order to cure companion Monster of his frog addiction. Portrayed in no uncertain terms, Monster represents Quico’s abusive alcoholic father who is a friend and tremendous burden. While Papo & Yo’s gameplay is certainly rough around the edges, its presentation, story, and delivery are unparalleled in the medium.
In the year 2018 a massive comet was approaching Earth and, as the world watched, suddenly broke into two pieces and impacted into Baghdad and Tokyo. Before anyone could begin disaster recovery each site was encased in massive energy domes that made any attempt at surveillance and analysis impossible. In order to determine what happened the Fourteenth Platoon is scrambled to investigate. Within minutes of approaching the dome it quickly becomes apparent the Earth has been invaded by aliens. Aliens who are hostile. Aliens who like to build towers.
Armored Core V has its faults. Whether it's the limp story mode or the user-hating menu system, its design is sure to scare away most. However, gamers who love to decipher complex systems and are willing to invest the time will find an experience that's incredibly engaging. Armored Core V doesn’t shy away from its inscrutable nature, which will drive the compulsive number-crunching freaks to get that much more obsessed with figuring it all out. Throw in the blitzkrieg, large scale mech battles, and you have a mixture that appeals to a very specific type of gamer – and they are going to need a professional intervention to pull them away.
If you were to ask a fighting game fan if they wanted to see the combatants of Street Fighter and Tekken go at it five years ago, they would probably say "Definitely!" then quickly add, “But it will never happen.”
