I am on a Nintendo 64 kick right now so here is another old commercial. This one is just plain goofy. If anyone reading this blog lived through the late 90s, this commercial fits right in. Plus some of the games they mention are some of my all time favorites. Enjoy!
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Saturday, June 30, 2012
Video: Classic holiday N64 commercial
I am on a Nintendo 64 kick right now so here is another old commercial. This one is just plain goofy. If anyone reading this blog lived through the late 90s, this commercial fits right in. Plus some of the games they mention are some of my all time favorites. Enjoy!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Review: Diablo 3 (2012)
By Michael A
It isn’t often players wait around twelve years for a sequel to a game. Even rarer is for those games to endure, still touted as high quality and played almost religiously. Diablo 2 was one of those games that players would find themselves replaying: A frenzied binge leading to a new hell mode paladin or a gimmicky druid. After over a decade, though, Blizzard delivers upon another of its old franchises, giving us Diablo 3, and I for one am not disappointed.
Graphics
While hardly the most visually intensive game ever, Diablo 3 hardly disappointed. Upon very close inspection, a handful of minor details suffer, yet the models for characters, enemies and even equipment and weapons are interesting and well designed. Landscapes are different for each chapter, offering a strong nostalgia to the second game, from the first chapters dark woods to the familiar dungeon interiors of the other chapters. Spoiler free, the fourth act has some beautiful designs, though every act has at least one awesome sight, if not more. An easy game to enjoy looking at, really, with some fancy graphical effects here and there, but nothing that really jumps out as cutting edge. I will say, the sheer number of effects and models on screen at one time is impressive, considering the lack of slowdown.
Story
In my opinion, the Diablo series has always been a bit silly in terms of plot, but by this point it has been painted as its own unique setting. Fans of fantasy that is over the top will like the setting a lot, as well as diehards to blizzard. The plot hooks and script leave a little to be desired, with at least 3 separate occasions of a ‘twist’ coming that was so easy to see I couldn’t help but wonder how it came to be. Combine this with the fact that every main antagonist basically says “HAH! That wasn’t my REAL secret weapon! You are doomed!” with every completed mission, and you can see why I would call Diablo 3’s plot a pretty shoddy construction, especially in the fourth act. I am borderline offended at how stupid the ‘allies’ actions are in the fourth act, and the ending left me a little disapointed. A shame as, in my opinion, there are a lot of excellent ideas that were just written too poorly to really impress. But, lets face it: we came for the next category...
Gameplay
Diablo 3 delivers exactly what you would think: Hack and slash excellence. Varied monsters,ravening hordes, super bosses and cool loot drops: What more do you want from a hack and slash? The enemy system and loot system is virtually unchanged from Diablo 2 or its many progeny (Such as Titan Quest, Torchlight, or Dungeon Siege), maintaining the standard ‘blue for magic, yellow for rare, green for super rare’ patterns to both, more or less. Where Diablo 3 tries to be innovative is by breaking away from the traditional skill trees.
The skill system in Diablo 3 is a robust unlocking system. Every barbarian that hits level 30 unlocks the same skills. Same for every monk and every wizard and so on. By level 60, all characters have all skills unlocked. “But, Michael,” you ask, “Where is the customization? Doesn’t that mean we are all identical?” Technically, yes, but where other games, including Diablo 2, had the illusion of a huge number of skills in the tree format, ultimately it seemed only a handful of skills were viable past the first playthrough or the beginning sections, depending on the game. Heck, in D2, planning skill points was a freaking science, because any wasted points meant a massive disadvantage. In Diablo 3, you pick up to 6 ‘active’ skills, mapped to keys 1-4 and the right and left mouse buttons.
Then, every skill, by level 60, has 5 ‘runes’ to unlock, which significantly change the skill. My favorite example, the barbarians cleave. Basic skill is a wide, aoe swing of the weapon. With rupture rune, kills now explode, causing damage. With another rune, crit hits have a chance of knocking enemies back! A separate run causes a slow effect to targets, and, well... You get the idea. My barbarian build, for example, is about stunning and mobility, where my friends build, while similar in base skills, relies more on critical strikes. This system is incredibly robust, and only seems to get more interesting as the game gets harder. Not only that, but the lack of investing skill points ultimately means you can try out skills as you earn them and continue to tailor a unique combat style.
Sound
Smiting evil has rarely sounded so cool. The sounds that monsters, attacks and effects make are pretty cool over all, often giving the sensation that you are indeed fighting through hordes of enemies, or being bombed by fiery death. The music is pretty ambient, but overall not terribly memorable. The voice acting is painfully irregular. Some of the voice actors, including most of the player characters, are solid, but many NPC’s and villains have awful voice acting. I’m certain part of it is the simple fact that jerkbag demons have to trash talk you like a high school bully, but most of the voice acting was, indeed, painful. Some of it was literally unintelligible, mostly on the part of demons, both great and small.
Overall
Having never been a big fan of this kind of game, I have to say I thought Diablo 3 was fun. The character classes have unique play styles, the enemies interesting, and the grind as a whole enjoyable. The risk Blizzard took making the skill system an automatic unlock method as opposed to a points based unlock is something I greatly appreciate, considering how well it was done. Overall, I am very pleased with the fact Blizzard tried to find a few new ways to breathe life into a fairly mindless genre, instead of just make ‘Diablo 2+more.” It is a very fun game, but if you don’t like hack-n-slash, you aren’t missing out on a must-play.
Diablo 3 gets a 7.5/10
It isn’t often players wait around twelve years for a sequel to a game. Even rarer is for those games to endure, still touted as high quality and played almost religiously. Diablo 2 was one of those games that players would find themselves replaying: A frenzied binge leading to a new hell mode paladin or a gimmicky druid. After over a decade, though, Blizzard delivers upon another of its old franchises, giving us Diablo 3, and I for one am not disappointed.
Graphics
While hardly the most visually intensive game ever, Diablo 3 hardly disappointed. Upon very close inspection, a handful of minor details suffer, yet the models for characters, enemies and even equipment and weapons are interesting and well designed. Landscapes are different for each chapter, offering a strong nostalgia to the second game, from the first chapters dark woods to the familiar dungeon interiors of the other chapters. Spoiler free, the fourth act has some beautiful designs, though every act has at least one awesome sight, if not more. An easy game to enjoy looking at, really, with some fancy graphical effects here and there, but nothing that really jumps out as cutting edge. I will say, the sheer number of effects and models on screen at one time is impressive, considering the lack of slowdown.
Story
In my opinion, the Diablo series has always been a bit silly in terms of plot, but by this point it has been painted as its own unique setting. Fans of fantasy that is over the top will like the setting a lot, as well as diehards to blizzard. The plot hooks and script leave a little to be desired, with at least 3 separate occasions of a ‘twist’ coming that was so easy to see I couldn’t help but wonder how it came to be. Combine this with the fact that every main antagonist basically says “HAH! That wasn’t my REAL secret weapon! You are doomed!” with every completed mission, and you can see why I would call Diablo 3’s plot a pretty shoddy construction, especially in the fourth act. I am borderline offended at how stupid the ‘allies’ actions are in the fourth act, and the ending left me a little disapointed. A shame as, in my opinion, there are a lot of excellent ideas that were just written too poorly to really impress. But, lets face it: we came for the next category...
Gameplay
Diablo 3 delivers exactly what you would think: Hack and slash excellence. Varied monsters,ravening hordes, super bosses and cool loot drops: What more do you want from a hack and slash? The enemy system and loot system is virtually unchanged from Diablo 2 or its many progeny (Such as Titan Quest, Torchlight, or Dungeon Siege), maintaining the standard ‘blue for magic, yellow for rare, green for super rare’ patterns to both, more or less. Where Diablo 3 tries to be innovative is by breaking away from the traditional skill trees.
The skill system in Diablo 3 is a robust unlocking system. Every barbarian that hits level 30 unlocks the same skills. Same for every monk and every wizard and so on. By level 60, all characters have all skills unlocked. “But, Michael,” you ask, “Where is the customization? Doesn’t that mean we are all identical?” Technically, yes, but where other games, including Diablo 2, had the illusion of a huge number of skills in the tree format, ultimately it seemed only a handful of skills were viable past the first playthrough or the beginning sections, depending on the game. Heck, in D2, planning skill points was a freaking science, because any wasted points meant a massive disadvantage. In Diablo 3, you pick up to 6 ‘active’ skills, mapped to keys 1-4 and the right and left mouse buttons.
Then, every skill, by level 60, has 5 ‘runes’ to unlock, which significantly change the skill. My favorite example, the barbarians cleave. Basic skill is a wide, aoe swing of the weapon. With rupture rune, kills now explode, causing damage. With another rune, crit hits have a chance of knocking enemies back! A separate run causes a slow effect to targets, and, well... You get the idea. My barbarian build, for example, is about stunning and mobility, where my friends build, while similar in base skills, relies more on critical strikes. This system is incredibly robust, and only seems to get more interesting as the game gets harder. Not only that, but the lack of investing skill points ultimately means you can try out skills as you earn them and continue to tailor a unique combat style.
Sound
Smiting evil has rarely sounded so cool. The sounds that monsters, attacks and effects make are pretty cool over all, often giving the sensation that you are indeed fighting through hordes of enemies, or being bombed by fiery death. The music is pretty ambient, but overall not terribly memorable. The voice acting is painfully irregular. Some of the voice actors, including most of the player characters, are solid, but many NPC’s and villains have awful voice acting. I’m certain part of it is the simple fact that jerkbag demons have to trash talk you like a high school bully, but most of the voice acting was, indeed, painful. Some of it was literally unintelligible, mostly on the part of demons, both great and small.
Overall
Having never been a big fan of this kind of game, I have to say I thought Diablo 3 was fun. The character classes have unique play styles, the enemies interesting, and the grind as a whole enjoyable. The risk Blizzard took making the skill system an automatic unlock method as opposed to a points based unlock is something I greatly appreciate, considering how well it was done. Overall, I am very pleased with the fact Blizzard tried to find a few new ways to breathe life into a fairly mindless genre, instead of just make ‘Diablo 2+more.” It is a very fun game, but if you don’t like hack-n-slash, you aren’t missing out on a must-play.
Diablo 3 gets a 7.5/10
Monday, June 25, 2012
Video: Why so Serious Mark Hamill?
Here is the video I mentioned in my review for Batman: Arkham City. I know it's not fully video game but it is still awesome nonetheless. Enjoy!
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Super Mario Marathon
Every year a group of gamers get together to play the major mario games. The catch...they can only proceed to the next level when a certain amount of money is donated. The money donated goes to Child's Play charity. This is their fifth mario marathon. It is fun to watch them play and they seem to be having fun with it.
So check them out at http://www.mariomarathon.com/ and donate. It is a good cause.
So check them out at http://www.mariomarathon.com/ and donate. It is a good cause.
Friday, June 22, 2012
Review: Batman: Arkham City (2011)
By Aaron N
Batman: Arkham City is the highly touted sequel to what many called the game-of-the-year, Batman: Arkham Asylum. "Arkham Asylum" came off the heels of "The Dark Knight" which amazed movie-goers in the summer of 2008. It allowed you to become the caped crusader like never before. It's gameplay of sneaking around was both simplistic yet complex in nature. "Arkham City" boasted new characters and a grand landscape that players hoped would surpass its predecessor.
Graphics
Batman: Arkham City's graphics were phenomenal. One pet-peeve I have always had when it came to video games, and even movies for that matter, was the animation of lip movements. They always seemed off to me. But "Arkham City" perfected this. Plus, I loved every character's updated look for the game. Joker's decreasing health was displayed magnificently, and I still love how much detail is put into the game. My favorite part was how Batman's cape and uniform became more tattered and worn out as time progressed. I know this was in the first game, but that much detail needs to be mentioned again.
Story
"Arkham City" begins with the politician Bruce Wayne, yes he's running for office, being kidnapped by Hugo Strange and put into Arkham City. Arkham City is a huge city that has been transformed into a prison in the heart of Gotham City. Now why they thought this was a good idea is beyond me, but it happened and there's nothing we can do about it besides have Alfred ship us a Batsuit and suit up. There are so many sidequests that I am only going to talk about the main story which is unfortunately, surprisingly quick. As Batman you defeat Two-Face in a courtroom and have run-ins with Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and Ra's al Ghul among others, but there are two main storylines. One is with Hugo Strange and his bid to control everything. The other is a little bit more important and that is with the Joker. Batman's nemesis is dying and he infects Bruce with his poisoned blood. These two storylines co-mingle at times to give you a complex and at times confusing story. It concludes with a shocking ending that gamers are still questioning its legitimacy. Many die-hard Batfans and gamers alike will enjoy the story and will clamer for a sequel.
Gameplay
The gameplay was kept almost the same as "Arkham Asylum". You must sneak around the landscape and take out bad guys. Now each battle is different but that basically is it as fighting goes. You can upgrade your armor and weaponry so hand-to-hand combat is more possible, but sneaking is the best way to go. The gadgets are roughly the same, sans a few new ones. They keep the puzzles entertaining but you can get the rhythm down pretty easily. It is a formula that wasn't broken but I wish that it saw a few substantial upgrades.
Sound
This game begins and ends with Mark Hamill...that's it. He is the greatest Joker on the planet. He surpasses Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and even Cesar Romero, the man is a legend. Look him up on youtube if you can. It is a treat to watch him perform his Joker. In a video, he was asked at a panel how his Joker would say "why so serious?", and his version was so spot-on and spur of the moment that you can't help but be in awe. The man is a genius, period. The other voice acting was steller as well. It seemed that many actors were brought back from the animated series which was brilliant. They gelled very nicely and it felt natural. The background music emphasized the eery, dark atmosphere. The sound in this game is a complete package and top-notch. It was flawless.
Overall
Batman: Arkham City is a great gaming experience. The storyline is amazing and the effort put into this game is remarkable. But the short main story and lack of substantial changes make it fall short of its predecessor. But with a game as good as "Arkham Asylum" was, that is not much of a insult. I enjoyed it and I am hopeful for a sequel.
Batman: Arkham City gets a 9/10
Batman: Arkham City is the highly touted sequel to what many called the game-of-the-year, Batman: Arkham Asylum. "Arkham Asylum" came off the heels of "The Dark Knight" which amazed movie-goers in the summer of 2008. It allowed you to become the caped crusader like never before. It's gameplay of sneaking around was both simplistic yet complex in nature. "Arkham City" boasted new characters and a grand landscape that players hoped would surpass its predecessor.
Graphics
Batman: Arkham City's graphics were phenomenal. One pet-peeve I have always had when it came to video games, and even movies for that matter, was the animation of lip movements. They always seemed off to me. But "Arkham City" perfected this. Plus, I loved every character's updated look for the game. Joker's decreasing health was displayed magnificently, and I still love how much detail is put into the game. My favorite part was how Batman's cape and uniform became more tattered and worn out as time progressed. I know this was in the first game, but that much detail needs to be mentioned again.
Story
"Arkham City" begins with the politician Bruce Wayne, yes he's running for office, being kidnapped by Hugo Strange and put into Arkham City. Arkham City is a huge city that has been transformed into a prison in the heart of Gotham City. Now why they thought this was a good idea is beyond me, but it happened and there's nothing we can do about it besides have Alfred ship us a Batsuit and suit up. There are so many sidequests that I am only going to talk about the main story which is unfortunately, surprisingly quick. As Batman you defeat Two-Face in a courtroom and have run-ins with Mr. Freeze, Clayface, and Ra's al Ghul among others, but there are two main storylines. One is with Hugo Strange and his bid to control everything. The other is a little bit more important and that is with the Joker. Batman's nemesis is dying and he infects Bruce with his poisoned blood. These two storylines co-mingle at times to give you a complex and at times confusing story. It concludes with a shocking ending that gamers are still questioning its legitimacy. Many die-hard Batfans and gamers alike will enjoy the story and will clamer for a sequel.
Gameplay
The gameplay was kept almost the same as "Arkham Asylum". You must sneak around the landscape and take out bad guys. Now each battle is different but that basically is it as fighting goes. You can upgrade your armor and weaponry so hand-to-hand combat is more possible, but sneaking is the best way to go. The gadgets are roughly the same, sans a few new ones. They keep the puzzles entertaining but you can get the rhythm down pretty easily. It is a formula that wasn't broken but I wish that it saw a few substantial upgrades.
Sound
This game begins and ends with Mark Hamill...that's it. He is the greatest Joker on the planet. He surpasses Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and even Cesar Romero, the man is a legend. Look him up on youtube if you can. It is a treat to watch him perform his Joker. In a video, he was asked at a panel how his Joker would say "why so serious?", and his version was so spot-on and spur of the moment that you can't help but be in awe. The man is a genius, period. The other voice acting was steller as well. It seemed that many actors were brought back from the animated series which was brilliant. They gelled very nicely and it felt natural. The background music emphasized the eery, dark atmosphere. The sound in this game is a complete package and top-notch. It was flawless.
Overall
Batman: Arkham City is a great gaming experience. The storyline is amazing and the effort put into this game is remarkable. But the short main story and lack of substantial changes make it fall short of its predecessor. But with a game as good as "Arkham Asylum" was, that is not much of a insult. I enjoyed it and I am hopeful for a sequel.
Batman: Arkham City gets a 9/10
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Video: First Super Smash Bros TV commercial
Here is a blast from the past commercial. I remember first seeing this commercial and it was highly entertaining. Right when Mario kicked Yoshi's shins, my favorite part, you knew something different was coming. And now after two sequels and countless copies, with Sony now in the mix, it is interesting to see where it all started. Sing it with me "I can't see me lovin' nobody but you...", that song was connected to this commercial in my mind for a long time.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Column: Nintendo at E3 2012
By Aaron N
The aspect of E3 that I look forward to watching the most every year is Nintendo. Some of the greatest moments in E3 history came from Nintendo. This year there was much hype surrounding Nintendo mainly because of the inevitable focus on the upcoming Wii-U system. But, like many others, I felt let down by Nintendo this year. There were plenty of positives that came out of E3 for them but somehow I actually am less excited about the new system than I was before it.
There are many reasons for this let down. Firstly I feel like Nintendo set themselves up for failure when they announced that they would be having three different press conferences. One would be before E3, the second would be the major press conference that they hold every year, and the third would come in the form of a press conference solely about the Nintendo 3DS. They did this because they were promising that they had too much information to be told in just one press conference. This became a problem because there did not seem to be enough information to warrant the three different conferences. One of the main things to be revealed, which was the Wii-U pro controller, was revealed in the pre-E3 conference online. Then with the third press conference being exclusively about the 3DS, it meant that the main televised press conference would not reveal much about that system. This is a problem because much of Nintendo's fanbase stems from the 3DS and they will be let down when they watch the major press conference and they only touch quickly on a few games. This also leads to another problem because they opened the big press conference to have major reveals for the new system. This brought expectations very high and could only lead to disappointments when they do not have many big reveals.
This leads me to the major televised press conference itself. It started out great with the announcement of Pikmin 3, which gamers have been begging for since the Gamecube. This started things out on a high note, but unfortunately as a viewer at home, things did not stay high. With the announcements of a new WiiFit game and "Sing", they continued to focus on the broader audience as opposed to the hardcore fanbase that they promised to focus more on with the Wii-U. They also showed some third party games that will be on the Wii-U. Games like "Batman: Akrham City" and "Mass Effect 3" would finally be on a Nintendo system. But instead of quickly going over games that have been out for almost a year, they spent about ten minutes showing how different their version of Batman was then what is out now. This was a horrible decision when they should be focusing on new ideas. They then proceeded to show two "New Super Mario Bros" titles. One for the Wii-U that did not show how the Wii-U would change gaming, and did not show much improvement in the graphics category. The other one came in the short 3DS segment and also seemed to downplay the Wii-U and it didn't bring anything new to the table besides even more gold coins. This would bring them to the big reveal that usually ends the press conference. I was most excited for the end because I expected this would be where they would bring out something big, maybe a new Star Fox, a Metroid, or something big to bring some excitement to an otherwise dull conference. But instead they showed a new game called "Nintendoland." Which is a theme park style game that will help you gauge the new system. It reminds me of what Wii sports was. This is a fine game but only if it comes with the system like the aforementioned sports game. This should have been shown in the middle of the conference as it underwhelmed me and much of the audience.
There were some positives to E3 from Nintendo. I am glad to see that the new Luigi's Mansion 3DS game got a launch date. ZombiU continues to stun people, and it's use of the Wii-U gamepad is unique. But my favorite thing was "Project P100". This game is a superhero game mixed with Pikmin. You control a group of heroes and they save the world. I am really looking forward to this game. But this brings about another problem as the most exciting thing to come from Nintendo debuted on television on SpikeTV during an interview. This should have shown at the press conference and it would have had people talking in a good way. I hope that Nintendo can learn from its mistakes this year because the Wii-U can definitely change gaming much like the Wii did, but they need to find a good way to promote it or else it will become more like the Gamecube.
The aspect of E3 that I look forward to watching the most every year is Nintendo. Some of the greatest moments in E3 history came from Nintendo. This year there was much hype surrounding Nintendo mainly because of the inevitable focus on the upcoming Wii-U system. But, like many others, I felt let down by Nintendo this year. There were plenty of positives that came out of E3 for them but somehow I actually am less excited about the new system than I was before it.
There are many reasons for this let down. Firstly I feel like Nintendo set themselves up for failure when they announced that they would be having three different press conferences. One would be before E3, the second would be the major press conference that they hold every year, and the third would come in the form of a press conference solely about the Nintendo 3DS. They did this because they were promising that they had too much information to be told in just one press conference. This became a problem because there did not seem to be enough information to warrant the three different conferences. One of the main things to be revealed, which was the Wii-U pro controller, was revealed in the pre-E3 conference online. Then with the third press conference being exclusively about the 3DS, it meant that the main televised press conference would not reveal much about that system. This is a problem because much of Nintendo's fanbase stems from the 3DS and they will be let down when they watch the major press conference and they only touch quickly on a few games. This also leads to another problem because they opened the big press conference to have major reveals for the new system. This brought expectations very high and could only lead to disappointments when they do not have many big reveals.
This leads me to the major televised press conference itself. It started out great with the announcement of Pikmin 3, which gamers have been begging for since the Gamecube. This started things out on a high note, but unfortunately as a viewer at home, things did not stay high. With the announcements of a new WiiFit game and "Sing", they continued to focus on the broader audience as opposed to the hardcore fanbase that they promised to focus more on with the Wii-U. They also showed some third party games that will be on the Wii-U. Games like "Batman: Akrham City" and "Mass Effect 3" would finally be on a Nintendo system. But instead of quickly going over games that have been out for almost a year, they spent about ten minutes showing how different their version of Batman was then what is out now. This was a horrible decision when they should be focusing on new ideas. They then proceeded to show two "New Super Mario Bros" titles. One for the Wii-U that did not show how the Wii-U would change gaming, and did not show much improvement in the graphics category. The other one came in the short 3DS segment and also seemed to downplay the Wii-U and it didn't bring anything new to the table besides even more gold coins. This would bring them to the big reveal that usually ends the press conference. I was most excited for the end because I expected this would be where they would bring out something big, maybe a new Star Fox, a Metroid, or something big to bring some excitement to an otherwise dull conference. But instead they showed a new game called "Nintendoland." Which is a theme park style game that will help you gauge the new system. It reminds me of what Wii sports was. This is a fine game but only if it comes with the system like the aforementioned sports game. This should have been shown in the middle of the conference as it underwhelmed me and much of the audience.
There were some positives to E3 from Nintendo. I am glad to see that the new Luigi's Mansion 3DS game got a launch date. ZombiU continues to stun people, and it's use of the Wii-U gamepad is unique. But my favorite thing was "Project P100". This game is a superhero game mixed with Pikmin. You control a group of heroes and they save the world. I am really looking forward to this game. But this brings about another problem as the most exciting thing to come from Nintendo debuted on television on SpikeTV during an interview. This should have shown at the press conference and it would have had people talking in a good way. I hope that Nintendo can learn from its mistakes this year because the Wii-U can definitely change gaming much like the Wii did, but they need to find a good way to promote it or else it will become more like the Gamecube.
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