Updates

Hey everyone. Just a short post today. It's a new year and that means a lot of games can come out in the next 12 months.

To start off, Star Wars: The Old Republic might come out this year. The developers have announced that they are anticipating a spring 2011 release but I would not be surprised if it is later. However, I know that BioWare will only delay it to improve it.

The Nintendo 3DS might also come out this year. I am really curious as to how well it will sell. I would like one but will most people be able to switch to a 3D gaming platform? As long as there has been 3D games, there has been the debate about whether or not it is good. The 3DS has also been given a early 2011 released date.

As far as Diablo 3 is concerned...there is not a release date yet. Many fans are speculating at summer 2011 but all that Blizzard tells us is "When it's done".

Minecraft entered Beta on December 20th which means the game is closer to completion! The game can be purchased for 25% off while it is in Beta and all future updates will be free. I recommend everyone to try out the free creative mode at www.minecraft.net. For more info on Minecraft, check out my previous posts or just click on the Minecraft tag at the bottom of this post.

There were a ton of great sales on Steam over the past two weeks. Today is the last day so if you haven't seen them, go check them out now. Not all the games are on sale but there are enough for everyone to find something they like.

My stomach is telling me that it's dinner time. Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

I'm Back...

Hey, everyone. It's been a little while since I have made a post. I was in school and was really busy. Unfortunately I let the blogging get away from me but my quarter of schooling is over so I should be getting back to the blogging now. This is just gonna be a quick post but I will be getting back to the more detailed posts soon.

BlizzCon 2010 has come and passed. The new Demon Hunter class for Diablo 3 has been announced and looks very interesting. I personally talked to someone I know who went to BlizzCon this year and was able to play Diablo 3 there. He seemed to be pleased with the progress on the game so far.

Lots of new things have been announced for Star Wars: The Old Republic. New ships, new class details, new inhabitants, and more.

Goldeneye for the Wii has been released and is well worth the purchase. I did buy it and beat it. The single player campaign is fun but I would recommend it for the multiplayer. The online multiplayer is what keeps me playing it. The graphics are impressive for a Wii game. The controls take a little practice if you have never played a first-person shooter on the Wii, but the learning curve for the controls is only about 15 or 20 minutes, and there is a short tutorial to teach new players. The story is a bit different from the original but the changes do not hinder the game.

The multiplayer is what most people remember about the original so, naturally, the multiplayer is the remake is very well done. The split-screen multiplayer is fun with a few friends but the multiplayer that stops me from putting the game down is the online multiplayer. I'm not a fan of all the maps but the majority of them are fun and fairly easy to navigate. There are a number of modes to keep players entertained. My personal favorite is the Black Box mode in which two teams fight over a small box on the map. One team is trying to protect the box while the other team is trying to destroy it. The online multiplayer has an experience system similar to the Call of Duty franchise. You gain experience with eliminations, completing objectives, elimination streaks, and other similar things. With experience, weapons and game modes are unlocked which will keep people playing for a while.

There are plenty of people playing, too. Every multiplayer mode that I have played has always been maxed on people. This helps to speed up the already fast-paced multiplayer. I highly recommend everyone with a Wii to give Goldeneye a try. You will get many hours of gameplay out of this game even after the single player campaign is completed.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it. Also, be sure to follow me on Twitter.

Are Games really "Survival"?

Hey, everyone. It's been a little while since my last post. I was discussing video games with some people yesterday who do not really play video games and it made me think of an interesting concept.

The Resident Evil series and the Silent Hill series are categorized as survival horror. I was playing Left 4 Dead 2 and some friends asked what kind of game it is. One of them compared it to Resident Evil and asked if it was similar. I told them I suppose because you are shooting dead things, but it is still a very different game. Then I tried to explain it and realized that I was describing a survival game except with more action.

This explanation made me think of an interesting question. What really makes a game classified as the "survival" genre? Almost any game I think of has a common goal...do not die. This goal can also be described as survive. Left 4 Dead, Oblivion, Diablo, Warcraft, Starcraft, Mass Effect, Call of Duty, and many other games all share this goal. Even simple casual games have the basic idea of surviving as long as possible to get the highest score or whatever else. The only games I can think of that stray from this goal are a few strange flash games on the internet.

So what allows Resident Evil to be a "survival" game? Perhaps it is in the horror genre and horror movies are usually about surviving the "horror" in the movie. Or perhaps it's because you can get scared to death...HAHA! But really, in my opinion, I think that many games could have the category of survival attached to them. What do you think? Please leave a comment and let me know. Thanks!

Thanks for reading my blog. Please follow me if you liked the post (you can find that off to the right side). Also be sure to follow me on my Twitter if you use Twitter. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it.

Diablo 3

Hey. So my last post was a list of the top 3 games I'm looking forward to most. The top game is Diablo 3 from Blizzard Entertainment.

Even though there has not been much information on this game yet, there is enough for me to get excited about it. I think it also helps that Diablo 2 is one of my favorite games of all time and the third one is looking to bring back the hack and slash gameplay that everyone loved about Diablo 2. It also looks like it will be bringing in some fresh new gameplay, too. This time around, the environments will be interactive. For example, you can break pillars to crumble down on your enemies or simply just push enemies off a ledge into darkness.

For anyone who enjoys cinematics, go to the official Diablo 3 website, click on media, and scroll down to watch the cinematic trailer. This cinematic is and excellent example of the cinematics seen in the Diablo series of games.

I will bring more updates about this game when more information is released. Blizzcon 2010 is coming up in October so there may be more updates about this game around that time.

On a side note, Steam is having a different sale everyday for the next few days in celebration of QuakeCon 2010. Today's deals are The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition and the Deluxe Edition. Check back everyday for new deals on games from Bethesda and Id.

Thanks for reading my blog. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it.

Top 3 Future Games

Hey. I know it's been a while since my last post. I have been away but I am back now so the posts should become more frequent. I thought it would be a good idea to preview some games that I am going to be keeping my eye open for. So here is a short list of the top 3 games I am looking forward to most.

1. Diablo 3 - Made by Blizzard Entertainment and it's a sequel to Diablo 2. There hasn't been too much information released about this game yet but it's looking promising so far. The gameplay looks like it will have the same feel as Diablo 2 but with a few tricks, such as objects in the environment to interact with.

2. Star Wars: The Old Republic - A Star Wars MMORPG made by Bioware (Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Mass Effect, Dragon Age...). It has lots of planets to explore, a light side and dark side to choose from, force powers, lightsabers, and it's FULLY VOICED! What more could you ask for from a Star Wars game?

3. GoldenEye 007 - A remake of the original GoldenEye game for Nintendo 64. Not a sequel, not a prequel, not a different game...the same game with a major facelift. Some of the missions may vary from the original game but they will still fit the storyline. The best part? Online multiplayer!

I am still currently addicted to Alien Swarm. Haha! If you want to play together, let me know. If you want to find out what Alien Swarm is, read one of my previous posts in which I described it.

I am keeping my eyes and ears open for updates about each of these games and will post them here if I find anything of importance. Thanks for reading. If you have any suggestions, I'm always open to ways I can improve my blog. If you have any questions about anything, please feel free to leave me a comment and I will try to answer it.