All right, the much anticipate Banshee strip! We hope you feel this is just!
-Ian
Comment
Before I begin to write anything about the ME3 ending I want to take time to discuss the issue with Day 1 DLC. Many “fans” are outraged that they had to pay for DLC on the first day release of the game. I however did not. The reason for not paying isn’t because someone gifted me a code or that Bing essentially paid for the DLC for me, like they did with many of the New Vegas add-ons. I received the DLC free because I bought the limited edition ME3. Now this whole uproar over the Day 1 DLC to me is a bunch of nonsense. Here’s why: I paid more money to receive extra content, which I got with the art box, comic, and the DLC. If we think about this in terms that I’m getting extra material for spending extra money and because you spent less you get less I think the whole situation makes sense. Let’s think about this from another perspective. What if those who purchased the limited edition of ME3 were the only people to receive the “From Ashes” content. How much of an uproar would be going on then? In my estimation it would be absolute chaos. There would be cries of “we should be able to play the extra content too!” and “why should I have to pay extra money to get items I’m not interested in just to play the extra content!?” I think I paid close to $80 for my limited edition, the actual price escapes me but I’m pretty sure it’s $80… anyways if you compare that to the 800 Microsoft points ($10) spent to purchase then you have actually spent less than what I spent and I haven’t even looked at the additional content that came with my purchase. From my point of view I spent extra money to guarantee the extra content and BioWare is making sure that other players have the ability to play it as well. The extra content was part of a ploy to get consumers to purchase the limited addition, to spend the extra money, and then like I just said they wanted to make sure that everyone had the ability to play the content if they wanted. You don’t need it to play through the game it just expands the story and the universe of Mass Effect.
I know there is a valid debate about selling someone something that merely needs to be unlocked: I.E. allegedly the ‘From Ashes’ DLC was already on the disc. There is absolutely a valid argument of whether a consumer should have to pay to unlock game-play elements on a disc they’ve already paid for. However again if you look at it from the perspective a person who made the extra monetary commitment to purchase the limited edition then it would only seem fair that a consumer who purchased the regular retail version would have to pay a little to enjoy the same story and game-play elements that I spent extra funds for.
-Justin
Jul21
Battlefield 3 Alpha Impres… Wait. My PC sucks? Ok. EA’s Origin Impressions?
on July 21, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Yesterday I recieved an awesome email that I had been selected to join the Battlefield 3 Alpha on PC. I only play Battlefield on Xbox 360, but hey I’m not gonna throw away my chance to test out my most anticipated multiplayer game of 2011! Sooooo I gave it a shot, it was a fairly quick download via Origin (EA’s answer to Steam) but my desktop PC is running Windows Vista (I know, UGGGHH!) so when I tried to install BF3Aplha I was running into all sorts of errors. Mainly because of Vista’s horrible “Are you sure you want to allow this?” which constantly caused the install to crash, and after about 10 – 15 attempts, it finally installed correctly. But now it was installed and I was excited to start it up. All I had to do was click the “Play Game” button. My excitement was suddenly shattered… launching the game opened up my brower to BF3′s Battlelog Site - the Battlfield Facebook. This page is basically your main game hub. It’s where you find your friends, check your stats, and launch/join a game. It also requires an add-in, another download, that you need before you can click the “Launch/Join Game” button. It took some effort to get that installed right, I accidentally cancelled the download, and then I couldn’t access the download link anymore so I had to clear my broswer history, cookies, and cache. But finally I got THAT installed.  So now I was able to click the button “Launch/Join Game” Below is a dramatization of what happened next:
 Wooo, ok here we go, awesome, yes!Â
*Click*
*Loud Windows Error Sound* accompanied by “Your video drivers are out of date you need version 2.75″
Whaaaaaat?! I just updated my friggin’ drivers a week ago!
*proceeds to check the Nvidia drivers page – which informs that drivers are up to date, version 2.33″
Son of a! My video card sucks balls! It’s most updated driver is still below the requirement! ARG! Well, that was a fun 2.5 hours of my life. Gone.
So the only thing I can offer you is my thoughts on the Origin service. It’s annoying. I don’t like that I launch the game and then need to… LAUNCH THE GAME. No, I have to log into a website that launches the game. I’m sure it’s to battle piracy, which is fine, but there has to be a cleaner, faster, smoother way of doing it. The majority of the time I spent trying to get this game to run last night was waiting for my PC stop freezing. I’ll admit that I don’t have the fastest PC, but honestly, if a web page is causing my PC to hang, that’s just ridiculous. Logging into a website shouldn’t demand 80% of my system’s resources! To be fair, I haven’t played a PC game since Star Wars Galaxies so I’ve been away from the pains and struggles of PC Gaming for awhile. And as much as I would LOVE to upgrade my system, I just don’t think it’s going to happen. At least not until Star Wars: The Old Republic. I’m sure Amber will be happy when our PC is upgraded because then SIMs 3 will stop crashing on her. That has to be annoying, and I always feel bad for her when she puts in a good amount of time building something and then POOF! Gone. To me Origin feels like EA was looking at Steam and saying “We need one of those” and throwing together what they can. I have no prior experience with Origin, nor do I know how long it’s been around, but I’m not a fan so far. Get it together EA.
Jul21
Joe invited us back to the New Gamer Nation podast and as usual it was a lot of fun. We chat about games, of course, but what we’re playing, ads in video games, steam, Windows 8, MMOs, “Oh my!” Lots of good conversations so check it out! Episode 8 – MMO Mania.
-Ian
Recently I was followed on Twitter by a cool, new, up and coming gaming website by the name of New Gamer Nation. Joe, the site’s creator, and I exchanged a few emails and Justin and I were invited to join him on his gaming podcast. Be sure to check it out – Episode 3 – Mass Battlefield Effect. We talk about what games we’re all currently playing as well as motion gaming, achievements & tropies, and the expensiveness of gaming as a hobby. It was a lot of fun and a  great opportunity and chat games with a fellow gamer! Be sure to follow them on twitter @NewGamerNation!
-Ian
Jun10
Welcome to the Expo!
Ok, so if you’ve been living under a rock, you may not have heard that E3 had started earlier this week and there were some big reveals both about hardware and of course all the new games. But seeing as how you can go to every other gaming and tech site under the sun and find all the highlights, videos, and pics I’ll save you the pain of reading about all of the updates reworded and mashed up from a guy who didn’t even go to E3; we weren’t invited… didn’t get the memo… No, I would actually like to point out all of the games that I am excited for this year, and provide a little editorial on what could be the last “HURAH!” from the current consoles.
If you haven’t noticed yet, there are a crap-ton of games coming out before the end of 2011. This reminds me of the last console cycle, during PS2′s reign as king in the console wars. Just as developers tapped into the power of the Gamecube, PS2, and/or Xbox they started announcing their next honkin’ new systems. In 2005, right before Xbox 360 was launched we got to experience some awesome games like God of War, Resident Evil 4, Tekken 5, Battlefield 2, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3, and Forza. That’s not to say there weren’t good games before and after, believe me, but when I think about my cuddly little Gamecube near the end I have fond memories of playing Resident Evil 4 for hours on end. Or PS2, I was sinking my teeth into MGS3 and God of War. So is that where we’re at with this next brouhaha of games? I honestly think so. I find myself wondering why we can’t enjoy a few years of gaming bliss when developers are in their prime with the current systems before we start moving to the new systems. Yeah only the WiiU has been announced, but there have been rumors of a new Microsoft dev kit being delivered to developers. And don’t you think that the announcement of the WiiU will only get Microsoft and SONY to follow suit, again, and start ramping up their new systems’ development? Well, anyways, at least we’ll get some awesome new games yet this year and into next year. So without further yapping, let me show you what I’m looking forward to!
The Power of 3 – Games I’m Excited For
Just a quick note that a lot of the games I am excited about are the 3rd installment of the game series… weird! I was going to write about some crazy conspiracy and how the power of 3 might be behind some of these games’ success; but who really wants to hear about that?
Battlefield 3
The 3rd installment of the main title: Battlefield. With the Frostbite 2 engine making this game look and play glorious, and the creative team at DICE at the helm, this may be the game I’m most excited for. I’ve somewhat recently become a big fan of Battlefield Bad Company2, and this game looks to really expand upon the gameplay I’m starting to know and love. Some of the features being talked about are improved graphics, which do look freaking amazing, improved destruction to buildings and objects, supressing fire, updated and ”balanced” classes, going prone, and… oh yeah jets! (and not the New York kind) Though we may get some flack for playing on the console, I say “shut it!” I’m not looking to update my PC anytime soon, not until Star Wars: The Old Republic, so until then, just deal with us playing on the console!
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
I might be able to get away with a technicality calling this the 3rd installment, but really this is. It’s the 3rd disc based game since the first Dead Rising and also the 3rd story arch. It brings back the one, the only, Frank West! I’ve mentioned it before on this site, though we had debated doing a comic with zombies, Dead Rising really pushed us over the fence and gave us the highly addictive gameplay and comedy that inspired us to make our comic. Dead Rising 2: Off the Record has all that we loved from the 1st and 2nd Dead Rising, but more. The story takes place in Las Vegas, in the same strip where Chuck Greene’s story took place, but it’s all new. The return of Frank means the return of his camera and capturing all the glorious PPs that are in the game. It also brings back infinite mode, which was one of the downfalls of Dead Rising 2. They’ve also added an entirely new area to the strip for Frank to explore, which means new weapons, enemies, and opportunities to destroy zombies. It also brings back Co-Op mode for you and an online buddy to join up and tear zombies a new one. Can’t wait for this one either!
Saint’s Row the Third
Gosh, where to begin? I mean, so many countless hours were spent on harassing civilians, killing gang members, pouring one out for our homies, killing our homies, etc etc in Saint’s Row 2. The addition of online Co-op really took this game to the next level. When the 1st Saint’s Row came out, it was the only sandbox, GTA rip off available for Xbox360. Though I despised the over the top ghetto/gangsta writing and influence, the gameplay was fun. The problem was the feeling of solitude in the main game, because the multiplayer really didn’t offer too much. Along comes SR2 and boom, instant gratification. Just check out our Saint’s Row 2 Gameplay video and you’ll see the kind of hijinks both Justin and myself enjoy. Anyways, onto Saint’s Row 3 or “The Third”, Mr. Fancy Pants. It’s got the crazy gameplay, the rude crude humor, and of course Co-Op. It sounds like they took out the multiplayer/death match, but that’s fine, those were never extremely fun to begin with. They did add more weapons, more attack moves, updated graphics, clothing, cars, tanks, hovering attack planes, upgradeable weapons, and apparently some crazy super hero acquaintance/villain. Though it may not get as much media attention as it deserves, it’s definitely on my list of “Oh my God, I can’t wait until this comes out!”
Mass Effect 3
Wow, have we really reached the end of the trilogy? This is the 3rd title of Mass Effect and it promises intense combat, better RPG elements (compared to ME2), weapons, and gameplay. If you loved Mass Effect 1 but hated Mass Effect 2 then my assumption is that Mass Effect 3 isn’t going to be for you. I’m a little less biased, I really enjoyed Mass Effect and when Mass Effect 2 rolled around, I was excited. A lot of loyal fans were upset with the changes made in ME2. And I can definitely agree with a lot of them. But it wouldn’t be fair to completely protest the game. On my first play through, I enjoyed the sights and sounds, the story was fairly good (except parts of the ending) and the improved combat wasn’t too bad. There were elements I enjoyed, better mobility and aiming, and elements that were annoying, like sending a singularity at an enemy and having it hit a wall instead. Also another uncool thing about Mass Effect 2 is how much they dumbed it down for more a more casual gaming audience. The addition of ammo, I’m sorry, “heat clips”, was just dumb. How is it that you have this sweet ass technology from the ME1, where you DON’T NEED CLIPS yet it ends up biting you in the ass because “Oh we forgot the guns get really hot!” It was a dumb move and “cover up” just to make the gunfights and battles more intense. They could have just said, “Well to make the combat more balanced, we need to add clips… our bad.” But, it looks like it was accepted overall by the gaming populous so we’ll have to accept it. I am really excited to see how the story plays out in Mass Effect 3, but more importantly how my decisions from the previous games affect things. ME3 looks like it has some more combat additions like now Shepard can roll and has an Omni-blade for melee combat, and if you have Kinect, you’ll be able to respond with your voice when talking to a character; but really you’re just reading the lines on the screen. It’s quicker to just use the controller like a normal human being and select the response you want. Also you’ll be able to issue commands to your crew in battle, like telling Tali, “Move Up”, “Use Overload”, or “No you fucking idiot, don’t jump out of cover, stay where I fucking told you to! Oh my God, look now you’re dead you retard!”. Seriously though I am very excited for Mass Effect 3 and can’t wait for this title either!
Assassain’s Creed  Revelations
This is the 4th Assassain’s Creed game (leaving out Bloodlines) but really, is the 3rd installment of Etzio’s story. Ahhhh see, gotcha there! You didn’t think I was going to be able to pull another 3rd edition game out, did you? Anyways, ACRev got some flack for being relased so soon after AC Brotherhood, which was released right After AC2 and everyone wants to know “WHEN IS AC3 GOING TO BE RELEASED?!” After finishing AC Brotherhood I was wondering the same thing. But rather than having to wait for AC3, Ubisoft goes and announces ACRev which is awesome to me. I enjoy Etzio’s character, and AC Brotherhood ended with so many questions to be answered why not get some more story?! The game looks like it will connect the dots between Etzio and Altair; but it will also feature new weapons and an updated multiplayer game mode, which Brotherhood was pretty cool and fun, just needs that little bit of revamping to make it great I think. Let’s throw it on the list too, hey?
Gears of War 3
Am I excited for this trilogy’s end game? Yeah, I think so. I always enjoyed the story mode of GOWs, especially the co-op, and GOW3 offers up 4 player co-op which has me excited. Too often to I find out that my friends have joined forces without me to beat a game, and of course vice versa. I think I might even play some multiplayer matches, because based on the GOW3 Beta, they’ve added some fun things and revamped and improved the matchmaking system. Horde mode will be included, and probably still be a blast. I can’t say I’m antsy in my pantsy for GOW3, but I know it’ll be a great game and fun to play with my friends (who play the game).
Uncharted 3
Wow, the first ps3 game to make this list! Uncharted 3 sounds like it’s going to be pretty good. I don’t have too much information on it, but after playing and owning Uncharted 1 & 2, for sure I’ll pick up Uncharted 3. I’ve seen a video of some of the multiplayer gameplay, and it looks like it could be fairly entertaining. Probably just as annoying as the combat in story mode, just the bad guy assholes being controlled by real people! I look forward to it, but it’s very lightly showing up on my radar.
Wrap Up
Allright, so I think I’ve exhausted my list of #3 games I’m excited about. There are obviously many more games that are coming out I can’t wait for like Batman: Arkham City, Star Wars The Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, Twisted Metal, Metal Gear Solid Rising, Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, and I’m sure there are others too. But anyways, with so many games coming out, what’s on your list?