Overlord

Minions. Minions seem to be the in thing right now. The Darkness, Overlord, Shadowrun. All of these games use minions. While I haven't played the Darkness yet I can say that the minions in overlord steal the show. It is ridiculously fun to send out 10 creatures to destroy whatever is in your path. True you can go do the work yourself but when you're the Overlord its more fun to sit back and watch from a safe distance.

The game has been quite enjoyable so far and grows a little in depth and tactics. Later in the game you'll have up to four minion types to choose from and command while battling along with them if you wish. Each type has its special abilities and weaknesses and it can become a bit challenging to get your minions to do your biding, fighting off enemies yourself, and issuing new orders. It is a game that I hadn't heard much of but am quite glad that I picked up. The game started a bit slowly and has a bit of annoying backtracking to get certain things but it is definitely a game i can see myself playing getting a little bit further each time I sit down with it.

Upcoming Releases

My Wii has been sitting next to my TV for months without seeing much use. After WiiSports and a few games were beaten or played for a while I rebonded with my Xbox because Nintendo's online support is still lacking. As much fun as classic games are, most of the time they just aren't as fun when you go back to them. The mind has a funny way of making old games seem more enjoyable than they were or maybe I'm just really bad at old 2d sidescrollers now. I don't have the patience when I mess up to start the level entirely over with no savepoints. What used to be a fun challenge in my youth is now just absurdly infuriating which doesn't help with my "casual retro" gaming.

Enter Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii. I'm excited for it. Bottom line. This will be a game where I can play it with ANYONE. My Xbox has ironically become my single gamer console even though I mostly use it to game online with others. Most of the games are too complex for me to get used to playing split screen. I want the whole screen for those games and there aren't very many "party" games where 2-4 people can all play together. Seriously, I challenge you to name some non arcade games for the xbox. Try. Ok I'll give you guitar hero cause its so much fun but you still have to pass the guitar around. The only downside to my upcoming smash bros brawl is whether or not i really am willing to spend the money for two more controllers.... they're really expensive! I definitely see Smash Brothers being the party game that gets played when a few friends are over no matter their gaming experience.

The Wii has definitely expanded casual gaming and it is a very welcome change, I just hope that Nintendo can follow through with some legitimate games that aren't just hokey and lose their appeal after a little bit of time with it. So far I am feeling good about Smash, Mario Galaxy and Metroid.

On the 360 I'm looking forward to GTA IV, Halo3 (obviously), Mass Effect, BioShock, Prototype and Blue Dragon.

For Sony... I hope they can get a few interesting games out that aren't ports. A few quality exclusive games such as Metal Gear will help Sony try to regain some ground if perhaps they stop trying to sell me a system that I should be honored to go work more hours in order to have. Psh, until that attitude changes or there's a significant price drop, I'll sit on the sidelines and be jealous of those who get to play the new Metal Gear.

Microsoft Xbox 360 which model to get

I was recently asked by a friend to help him in his Xbox purchase as I am pretty familiar with gaming. As I talked to him I realized that to a non-gamer or even a gamer who hasn't kept up with the industry, purchasing a console is confusing as all hell. We both missed the times where each company had one SKU and you were just choosing between companies. Nintendo or Sega? Sega, Super Nintendo or PSOne? Sega Saturn, Dreamcast, or PS2?

Now we've got: Xbox 360 Core, Xbox 360 Console, Xbox 360 Elite, Xbox 360 Special Halo3 Edition vs PS3 (20) which isn't made, PS3(60), PS3 (80) keeping in mind the PS3(20 and 60) both have the original PS2 and 1 chips in them while the PS3(80) will emulate PS2 and PS1 games. Also the PS3(20) didn't have wireless or the cardreader. For the Xbox's the Core lacks a harddrive...unless you're current with Xbox Live gaming and what it offers and the fact that more and more games require the harddrive for updates, there's no way someone would know how a memory card isn't going to cut it. To add a harddrive to you Xbox core with headset would be actually more expensive than just buying the Xbox 360 Console package, they throw in a better cable and a wireless controller with a headset, essential for the Live experience. The Elite comes in black and has the option of connecting with HDMI.

At this point the casual consumer's head swims. How do you want to connect to your TV, what cables are provided, I know that with the XBox360 console with HD the cables provided are very nice, there's an optical audio port, component, and composite cable in one, that was one thing that Microsoft did manage to nail.

In the end we concluded that the Core model was obviously out as well as the Halo3 model because it is as ugly as fuck. If i see anyone with that model I will mock them but respect their love of Halo. The decision between the black elite model and the classic white console becomes a more difficult one. If you have only a standard TV as I do, I'd say go with the Classic. Asethics aside (I still think the white looks better than the black), the Black elite offers an hdmi connection which to my understanding just means that the picture and sound are all in that one cable.... yippee (again i don't have an HDTV so maybe i have it wrong). With the White version also containing composite and component I believe you can get a rather spectacular resolution with it anyways and you can use digital audio as well for your 5.1 surround speakers. The last consideration between the two are the harddrives. The White comes with a 20gb harddrive while the elite comes with an 80gb harddrive. For someone who plans to only game and not use his 360 as a media center there's really no need for 80gb's ...yet. Hopefully in the future the 80gb harddrives will be cheaper and if there is a need to upgrade its there. If you're thinking of using your xbox 360 as a media center, and you plan on downloading tv, movies and other videos through Xbox live the elite might be the better choice... maybe.

As you can see even someone who's pretty current with their understanding with the Xbox360 gets a little flustered in attempting to explain the differences. Thank god I don't own a PS3 yet, I have absolutely no desire to explain why Sony keeps changing their models and components every few months and keeps trying to sell them for absurd prices. I'll consider joining the Sony camp when they have some exclusive games I'm interested in with a console that's below 400 dollars. I'm a gamer. I just want to play games not install linux on my console or watch high definition dvd's on my nice SDTV... I'll join in the blu-ray vs HD-DVD race if I ever crack and get an HDTV but I have a feeling my DVD's will look more than adequate on an HDTV so like most of the world I'll just wait longer for a technology I don't particuarly have a need for. Also Sony, the immersion suit is over, please bring back rumble to your controller that has a locked battery... hmm maybe that's why there is no rumble. I'll discuss why I like rumble in my controller another time.

Until then I await any of you who wait to weed through the various SKU's and finally manage to get on Xbox Live. Send me an invite and we'll actually play some GAMES.

Harry Potter

So on Saturday I was at BJ's Wholesale Club picking up groceries and various other odds and ends when I spotted the 7th and last J.K. Rowling novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. At $18 combined with my curiosity and my own personal desire not to have the ending ruined for me, I picked it up. I finished it that evening and I have to conclude it was a good read. I have loosely kept up with the whole Harry Potter phenomenon having read all the books and seen a few of the movies. It is interesting that my generation is the last generation where children read novels and literature for pleasure. I may have a skewed perspective but I definitely get the feeling that today's youth spends less time reading literature and instead spends more time online, texting and watching tv/movies and playing videogames. With that in mind, I find it shocking that last and seventh Harry Potter will never be on the New York Times Bestsellers list. The Times had decided a while back that children's books should be given their own category... This amuses and saddens me at the same time because there is going to be a plethora of adults who will read this book and I am sure that it would be on top of that list for quite a long time, if it fit the New York Times' requirements. What is sad is that without future so called children's novels being put on the best sellers lists I think the next blockbuster novel might not gain the acclaim and popularity that Harry Potter has. The first Harry Potter did in fact make it on to the best sellers list. For those of you who argue but it's just one newspaper's list who cares, I argue that with so many books being published the majority of our nation uses these lists to get an idea of what books to look at first. Best sellers are also stocked in more stores and are displayed more prominently. If someone can legitimately argue NYT's stance on not including children's literature in their best sellers list I would love to hear it because to me it just seems that there is no reason not to. Sure put it on the children's list but it is still fits the bill in their overall list as well.

With that out of the way, I do recommend that anyone who has a slight interest in Harry Potter or who wouldn't mind a fast but thick novel pick up a copy before people spoil the plot and conclusion of the series for you.

Shadowrun

Now that the Halo3 beta is over, I had been trying to find a game to pass the time. While I have enjoyed games such as Gears of War and Rainbow Six Vegas, the online component is still different from Halo in that most of the game types involve one life with lots of watching the rest of your team.

On the plus side the Rainbow Six Vegas Black map pack is now available for download at no cost, wahoo. It might be enough to rekindle my interest in the online play except for the fact that I now own Shadowrun.

At first I was skeptical about Shadowrun. Elves, magic, and a first person shooter? On a whim I decided to give it a try and it turns out to be very well balanced, fun, tense and entertaining. The only problem is the lack of a campaign and playing in bot mode is hardly as fun as playing online. Xbox live is definitely required to get the most out of this game.

What has impressed me about this game is that powers, races, and weaponry are very well balanced. Each race has its pros and cons and it allows for exploration to develop your own fighting style.

Unfortunately there is no split screen multiplayer so if any of you want to get online with a friend, its a no go. Next the server/connection issues have improved but the game still aburptly stops if the host leaves the game. Considering the makers of Halo helped to make this game you would think that they would be able to switch hosting responsibilities to someone else in the game. Instead the game ends and usually all of the reamining players are able to restart the game but sometimes you just end up with a screen telling you connection is lost and a new game must be started from the menu. Hopefully that will be fixed in the next update, I can only hope.

Halo 3 Beta

The Halo 3 Beta started yesterday at 8am EDT. Unfortunately, due to an unknown bug, anyone who entered the beta program through Crackdown was not able to download the game until around 10:30pm EDT. It's sad to say, but such delays have become the norm for anything released by Bungie, the rule of 3 website fiasco, halo 2 map launch the other week, halo 2 itself for that matter. Let's just face it, Bungie can't get things out on time, but neither can I so who cares.

After leaving the download going overnight, I finally played my first games this morning. Waking up a early and going to work later, I managed to squeeze my first 10 games in this morning and I have to say I was very happy with the game so far. The game has much more of Halo 1 feel, which is a very good thing. The controls take a little getting used to. While hitting RB to pick up weapons is pretty easy to pick up and is soon second nature, not hitting X to reload is a much more difficult habit to break. There were definitely many times that I threw a trip mine or energy drainer by accident.

Weapons are the most obvious change made in Halo 3. The Assault Rifle has been brought back from Halo 1, plus the addition of the brute spiker, laser, maybe others, I'm doing this from the top of my head. The AR is definitely more powerful than it was from Halo 1 and is actually a useful weapon in some close range situations. I have not had a chance to determine how big of a difference there is between the AR and SMG. It seams that the with the introduction of the AR, the SMG will see much less use. That being said, dual SMG's do tear people up in close spaces so it remains to be seen. Since the 3 maps released with the beta are all open terrain, there is little opportunity to truly assess the abilities/usefulness of any of the dual-wieldable weapons. The shotgun has received an overhaul in the beta, doing more damage than the halo 2 version but with a much smaller magazine, which is a trade-off I really like since it's pretty rare to run out of ammo on a halo 2 shotgun.

One of the biggest changes to the weapons is to the rifles. The auto-aim on all of them has been significantly reduced, returning the feel of actually needing skill to use them like the Halo 1 pistol. Using all of them has a much more satisfying feel to it (people who aren't good at aiming may disagree...). I have heard that the battle rifle has been toned down and that the carbine is a little bit more powerful now. While this may be true, I am not completely convinced. My impression is more that the battle rifle seems harder to use because of the lower auto-aim. It may have a lower rate of fire than the Halo 2 version as has been claimed, I can't say for sure but I still prefer it over the carbine. Maybe I just need to play more for that to change though.

As of yet, I have not touched the laser so can not comment too much on it. However, I have been on the receiving end of a laser shot and while it is a threat, it does not seem like it is overpowered. With practice, it shouldn't bee too difficult to learn how to dodge the shot more effectively so without skill it's by no means a guaranteed kill. There have also been changes to the rocket launcher, the ability to carry turrets around and more but I'll leave those to another time when I've used them more.

Halo 3 introduces various items including the energy drainer, bubble shield, portable lift and trip mine. Many of these items seem like they are much more useful in objective games than in team slayer. The exception to this may be the bubble shield, which has some practical uses in TS. The only games I have played so far have been TS, so the bubble shield is really the only item I have seen used effectively and it can really be a pain in the ass. The bubble shield does exactly what you would probably expect from the name. You drop in on the ground and it shields the area around it with a protective bubble. The effect that shows this bubble is a transparent active-camo like effect, which can be very difficult to see from a distance. One change that I would like to see would be maybe to add a color tint or some other indicator to make it a little bit easier to identify the shield. I will need to experiment more with the other items later tonight when I play some team skirmish. I can think of some good uses for the energy drainer and bubble shield in king of the hill and trip mines could be useful to cover exists in CTF.

Among other changes to the game, the shield indicator has been moved to a bar across the upper-center of the screen, which is hidden when full. I'm much more ambivalent to this change than other people seem to be. Wherever the shield indicator is, I'll be able to see it when I need to so doesn't seem to matter. One change to the HUD that can be somewhat annoying is what I call the red blotch. I noticed it the most in a game of team snipers, but it likely happens in other circumstances. When hit by a sniper shot, I assume that since your shields are now low/gone, there is a red blotchy rectangle obscuring the top half of the screen. This was extremely annoying in snipers since it basically meant that if you got hit you couldn't see the person who was shooting at you because they would likely be in the distance and thus in the top part of your screen. Also, the effect itself is kinda pathetic, it looks like a red rectangle flashing across your screen. The edges could be softened up a little bit to make it a little better looking.

Of course there are many other changes which I haven't mentioned. Perhaps after playing all night tonight I'll say more about them. Overall, the beta shows great promise for Halo3. Hopefully things will only change for the better between now and the final release in "September."