I don't really like re-hasing old material but I figure to give you a taste of what to expect from this blog; I took an old column I did about the Spike tv Video Game Awards and am putting it here. Enjoy.
It's officially seven o'clock in the damn morning and I'm watching the Spike tv Video Game Awards that were on last night and I must say FUCKING UBER ROD!!!!! I could care less about who won or lost because all the nominees are the elitest of the elite when it comes to their genres. What I did care about was all the world premieres that were shown.
Side note: Tony Hawk.... You don't need another game. You look like you could use a six day long nap. But I digress.
The games that were truly note worthy are as follows:
1: The Last of Us- Which to me looks like a cross between I Am Legend and Left For Dead. This looks cool because the trailer features a father and daughter trying to survive in a zombie apocalypse. Plus, and I'm sure alot of people would agree with me. Killing zombies equals of good clean wholesome fun.
2: Mass Effect 3- I have been waitng too damn long to finish the epic story surrounding Commander Shepard. It's the only true series that I have been really into in a LONG time. Even if you aren't really a RPG fan. The third person shooter aspect of game more than makes it worth playing.
3: Command & Conquer: Generals 2- It's been sometime since we've seen anything for C&C (that I know of.) I haven't played a Real Time Strategy game since the original Command & Conquer on the Nintendo 64. I'm sure it's going to sell. In fact, I know that it will. And it will be awesome.
4: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Patriots- I read the cover story in Game Informer. So, I was looking forward to it even before I saw the trailer. I've been playing Vegas and Vegas 2 for awhile. It's nice to finally see Ubisoft make something other than Assassin's Creed.
5: Alan Wake's American Nightmare- Never played the original Alan Wake.... Come to think of it, I hadn't heard anything about the original other than it's for 360.
6: The Amazing Spider-Man- Oh My God!!!!! If this is based on the movie reboot than I won't touch it. As we all know, Movie into video game adaptations all blow. Name one good game based on a movie.
7: Transformers: Fall of Cybertron- This one actually took me by surprise. Pleasantly so. I was a little pissed off at seeing Optimus Prime carrying a dying Bumblebee. I also looked at this story in a Game Informer issue. I had that "It's not for me." mentality. The other Transformer games looked to me like they were just for the fans. I'm sorry to say that I loved Transformers as a kid and I liked the movies but I have better games to blow my sixty bucks on.
8: Fort Nite- Epic Games my have done it again. This game looks and has the feel of Zombies Ate My Neighbors. A must have game on the old Super Nintendo. According to Cliffy B who introduced the trailer, You can destroy build and survive. I can't wait.
9: Bioshock Infinite- I played the original Bioshock and alittle bit of Bioshock 2. I loved the feel of Rapture( which was under the sea) and if Infinite (which is set in the sky city of Columbia) is anything like the first two, I and the rest of the world will be greatly pleased.
10: Metal Gear Solid Rising- Hideo Kojima. You and I need to have a talk. First of all. You are one of the most influential creators in the industry. You practically created the stealth game genre. If it wasn't for you, Sam Fisher would not exist. That being said, When did you decide to make Metal Gear Gaiden? Or should I call it Devil May Solid? Did you run out of ideas for your baby? A series that you have held onto for two fucking decades. I saw the Icons episode on G4. I know what you had to go through to make the Metal Gear series what it is. Sacrifice and heartache. So, why change what was working? You have a VERY loyal fan base. I'm sure some of them are feeling very betrayed right now. But Of course I may be totally wrong on this. I'll have to wait for E3 to see more of it.
Side note: Blizzard apparently can do no wrong. Do me and the rest of the world a favor. Release Diablo 3. You have been putting it off for too damn long.
The one game that I was really hoping to see was the World of Darkness MMO that is in the works. The trailer for it has been on Youtube for, I want to say, months now and I am looking forward to getting my hands on it. I admit that I used to play Vampire: The Masquerade. I still play Dungeons & Dragons. But as we all know, D&D online sucks. It's campaign is not set in the Forgotten Realms which is the setting for games like the Baldur's Gate series, Icewind Dale, and the latest Daggerdale. Which were ten times better. It's free to play which means you can't get the really good gear without having to shell out real money for it. Which you kind of have to do in WoW but not at the nickel and dime rates that DDO does. I hope that when World of Darkness is released that not only is it your standard subscription service but that it can compete with World of Warcraft. I hate seeing what could be good Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games become free to play or end up cancelled because apparently fifteen million subscribers can't be wrong.
The Legend of Zelda was the first game to be inducted into the "Video Game Hall of Fame." I couldn't agree more. When they told me that it was the first inductee, I was proud to be a gamer. It's a series I grew up with. I can still whistle the triple OG music. I bought a cd of The Best Video Game Music by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. It has The Legend of Zelda theme. I am man enough to say that it brings me to tears of pure joy. Call it gay if you want. I call it passion.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Monday, January 30, 2012
Welcome to the End and More.
My name is Brandon McLeish aka The Random Gamer and I want to welcome you to my blog, aptly named, The World Needs a Reset Button. This is where I give you a look at life through the eyes of a man who has had a controller in his hands for twenty-seven of thirty years on the planet. You name it, I've played it and that's not a boast. I've played everything for the Matel Intellivision to the Atari Jaguar. I play Dungeons & Dragons, Mass Effect, Marvel vs. Capcom, Call of Duty, and Need For Speed. I've played Magic: The Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh!, One Piece, Bleach and Vampire: The Masquerade. Get the point yet? I'm not lying when I make these statements. I've played it all.
With that said, Let's get to today's tale.
The third and possibly final installment in the Mass Effect series will be released on March sixth of this year. Mass Effect takes place in the VERY distant future. You play as Commander Shepard. An Alliance Soldier who becomes the first human SPECTRE. An elite unit that serves as the right hand of the galactic council. Think of it like the Jedi from Star Wars. Except the Spectres don't really have the burden of morality.
While playing through the first in the series as a way to gear myself up, I came to a realization, Games are better at invoking emotions than movies and books........ What? Admit it. You think I'm biased. Let me explain.
Video games are the most interactive form of entertainment out there now. We can become engrossed in the story for hours on end. Most games average around eight to ten straight hours of single player campaign. While some, can top one hundred plus. That is not including the online aspect. The hours one can spend playing with friends or total strangers around the world is infinite.
And the stories themselves are what keep us play. A prime example of this is Epic Game's Gears of War. The last human resistance facing certain extinction from the Locust horde. You follow the tale of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Soldiers desperately fighting to save their planet. The second and third games are the focus of my argument. Dominic spent the first game trying in vain to his wife Maria while Marcus is having to deal with the cost of abandoning his post to rescue his father who supposedly dies before the start of the first game. In the sequel, Marcus and Dominic are tasked with discovering new ways to fight the Locust. They have to go in to the very heart of Locust territory. Dominic finds that his wife is being held captive inside the city. Once you find her, You realize too late that she is a mere shell of her former self. She is now a brainless zombie. Dominic has no choice but to spare his long lost soulmate any further pain. He ends her life. If that is not bad enough. In the third and, yes it was comfirmed, final Gears., Dominic, in order to save his friend and the rest of their squad, drives a tanker truck into a gas station, sacrificing himself.
It's these movie quality stories that enthrall us and keep us wanting more. Hollywood hasn't come up with anything this good in the past ten years. And stop. Don't any of start screaming Lord of the Rings or Avatar. I never saw Avatar. Let me repeat that. I NEVER SAW AVATAR. But you say: Dude, Avatar is the most awesome movie ever. It got nominated for best picture. James Cameron was nominated for best director. It doesn't matter. All Avatar was was a CG jerk fest and another reason to push 3D. I hate that. I hate movies that are made just for the sake of it being in 3D. Top ones that come to mind. Immortals, that last Resident Evil movie, Underworld: Awakening and Drive Angry. Seriously, None of those movies should have been made. I either didn't or won't see any of them. There was no point. None. The only reason was that these actors needed a frickin' paycheck. Lord knows Nick Cage needed one if he's doing another Ghost Rider movie. Why is there another Ghost Rider, which sucked the first go around, but there's not another Daredevil? Which by the way was based on the Frank Miller story arc that introduced Daredevil to Elektra and Bullseye and had her die towards the end. Which actually happened in the book. That movie was more true to the damn Marvel cannon than either Fantastic Four, any of those god awful Spidermans or that god forsaken Punisher Warzone.
Do me and the rest of the world a favor Hollywood: Come up with some original ideas. I'm tired of dumb movie adaptations. The bad comic and video game movies. Their sequels. Their spin-offs. The bad 3D for the sake of 3D. STOP. Please. No more. I'm begging.
With that said, Let's get to today's tale.
The third and possibly final installment in the Mass Effect series will be released on March sixth of this year. Mass Effect takes place in the VERY distant future. You play as Commander Shepard. An Alliance Soldier who becomes the first human SPECTRE. An elite unit that serves as the right hand of the galactic council. Think of it like the Jedi from Star Wars. Except the Spectres don't really have the burden of morality.
While playing through the first in the series as a way to gear myself up, I came to a realization, Games are better at invoking emotions than movies and books........ What? Admit it. You think I'm biased. Let me explain.
Video games are the most interactive form of entertainment out there now. We can become engrossed in the story for hours on end. Most games average around eight to ten straight hours of single player campaign. While some, can top one hundred plus. That is not including the online aspect. The hours one can spend playing with friends or total strangers around the world is infinite.
And the stories themselves are what keep us play. A prime example of this is Epic Game's Gears of War. The last human resistance facing certain extinction from the Locust horde. You follow the tale of Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago. Soldiers desperately fighting to save their planet. The second and third games are the focus of my argument. Dominic spent the first game trying in vain to his wife Maria while Marcus is having to deal with the cost of abandoning his post to rescue his father who supposedly dies before the start of the first game. In the sequel, Marcus and Dominic are tasked with discovering new ways to fight the Locust. They have to go in to the very heart of Locust territory. Dominic finds that his wife is being held captive inside the city. Once you find her, You realize too late that she is a mere shell of her former self. She is now a brainless zombie. Dominic has no choice but to spare his long lost soulmate any further pain. He ends her life. If that is not bad enough. In the third and, yes it was comfirmed, final Gears., Dominic, in order to save his friend and the rest of their squad, drives a tanker truck into a gas station, sacrificing himself.
It's these movie quality stories that enthrall us and keep us wanting more. Hollywood hasn't come up with anything this good in the past ten years. And stop. Don't any of start screaming Lord of the Rings or Avatar. I never saw Avatar. Let me repeat that. I NEVER SAW AVATAR. But you say: Dude, Avatar is the most awesome movie ever. It got nominated for best picture. James Cameron was nominated for best director. It doesn't matter. All Avatar was was a CG jerk fest and another reason to push 3D. I hate that. I hate movies that are made just for the sake of it being in 3D. Top ones that come to mind. Immortals, that last Resident Evil movie, Underworld: Awakening and Drive Angry. Seriously, None of those movies should have been made. I either didn't or won't see any of them. There was no point. None. The only reason was that these actors needed a frickin' paycheck. Lord knows Nick Cage needed one if he's doing another Ghost Rider movie. Why is there another Ghost Rider, which sucked the first go around, but there's not another Daredevil? Which by the way was based on the Frank Miller story arc that introduced Daredevil to Elektra and Bullseye and had her die towards the end. Which actually happened in the book. That movie was more true to the damn Marvel cannon than either Fantastic Four, any of those god awful Spidermans or that god forsaken Punisher Warzone.
Do me and the rest of the world a favor Hollywood: Come up with some original ideas. I'm tired of dumb movie adaptations. The bad comic and video game movies. Their sequels. Their spin-offs. The bad 3D for the sake of 3D. STOP. Please. No more. I'm begging.
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