Nintendo... Y U NO TAKE MONEY?!

Hello, valued readers. Long time, no see! Apologies for the delayed absence, we know that those of you who read our blog are loyal and we appreciate your time and patience. For that patience, following this post I'll let you know a little about what I have planned.


I've written in detail about the PS3's exclusive lineup this year. We all know the 360 will dominate in third-party sales, it has since it was released. Nintendo's Wii U comes out sometime next year, the 3DS is out now... so the focus has understandably shifted somewhat away from their sales juggernaut, the Wii.The only notable exclusive announced for the Wii this year is Zelda: Skyward Sword... kind of a paltry lineup for a console that has 80 million units in households at the moment.

But some fans are crying foul. There are a number of Japanese Wii titles that have already been released, but won't be seeing the light of day in the United States. One fan decided to say something about it...

Whether you're a Nintendo fan or not, you have to agreed that the man makes a good point. Sony did a fair job of continuing to support the PS2 well into the PS3's life-cycle (it was only late last year, four years after the PS3 launched, that NPD stopped listing PS2 sales on their monthly console sales charts). Why can't Nintendo continue to support their loyal fanbase, arguably the most loyal of the three console manufacturers, with nearly a year left on the development of their next home console?

Feel free to discuss Nintendo and the "Project Rainfall" movement in the comments below. As for what's to come next, the plan is this: I'm working on a two-part Wayback Flashback review of the first and second Assassin's Creed games in preparation for reviews of both Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Assassin's Creed: Revelations when it is released in November. I have a number of opinion pieces milling about in my head, ranging from whether modern games are too easy to the validity of the "achievement/trophy" metagames in today's market. Hopefully these will be features you'll see in early August. Until then, thanks for your patience, live long, and may the Force be with you!

Suburban Knights!

I love absolutely everyone from ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com
This is their new super crossover. Watch it!

Shilling my wares on any plaform I can... BUY MY DVDS!

I don't really like doing this on the blog, but I figure it's the easiest way to reach those who I know, and who like what I like. That's right, welcome to b-Bay, the only auction site where... you can buy my dvds.

So, it's been a year, I'm all moved in to my new place, but still have waaaaaay too many dvds that I never watch (cuz I"m watching all my blu-rays, or Netflix Instant). So, if you're interested in any of these, leave a comment or send me an email, and just remember that all prices are negotiable.

Did I mention the Camera

The Hybrid and SuperGamerologist talking about few current events.

We got a new camera!

SGamerologist on screen and Hybrid behind the camera

Lets hope we crank out some video content now!

Written Gamerology: Hunted

Such an awesome name.

Bethesda has much on its plate with the development of the RPG Skyrim, which continues the much vaunted Elder Scrolls saga. However, while that’s being developed other games are coming out of the company such as Brink, Rage, and Hunted. Hunted is a fantasy game set around the gears of war design of the stop and pop shooter. This is a game full of good ideas and intentions. Does it rise to the occasion and show all of its potential or does it fall short of the mark like a weakly fired arrow?

The story is one all dungeon and dragons players will enjoy. Caddoc, a melee loving warrior, and his elven female archer companion Elara are off on another adventure for gold. But Caddoc’s mind keeps sending him troubling visions of a mysterious woman and a danger filled adventure, setting the stage for the upcoming game and foreshadowing events to come. The story is quite good. It keeps the player interested by spoon feeding the tale through cutscenes and dialogue between characters as the game progresses. It is also slightly long-winded at points with a bit too much story told through dead characters via the adventurer’s device known as the Deathstone. The Deathstone isn’t a terrible way to further the details of the quest and flesh out the story but it can definitely get old waiting for the audio clip to load. It may irk some to the point where they become a chore.

I cant see anything and Im not even in a dungeon yet.

The word chore is not how I’d like to describe this games design, though it hardly makes it to intuitive or spectacular. Hunted, however, falls short in its multiplayer, particularly when played on a TV that’s not widescreen. The split-screen multiplayer scrunches the screen into a box shape. The borders of the box show the different features like magic but it is completely unnecessary. On a basic television this game is nigh unplayable in multiplayer because of this. Also the menu for leveling weapons and spells are poor too, forcing one player to level up both characters even when in co-op mode. Lastly the health and mana potions can be difficult to notice no matter what TV is being used. It’s almost impossible to see on a smaller screen.

It’s almost as bad during gameplay. Gears of War was built on the idea of two sides hiding and shooting, utilizing cover to it's fullest. This game is using that same mechanic. Unfortunately, one character in this adventure has primarily melee abilities. This makes for a clunky battle system all around. It means half the time one character feels useless because either the fighter is in the way of the archer's shots or is being shot to pieces because of unrelenting arrows rushing at his face. And that damage is massive! Hunted makes the player feel cheated at almost every death, due to unnecessarily high damage and the aforementioned low visibility. Often times, monsters will run up and stab you in the back with no way of knowing they are there until you have lost half your life. I haven’t played a game until now that made my deaths feel so undeserved.

Speaking of dying, when a character goes down there is a limited amount of time before the chapter games over and gamers must restart. The checkpoint system can be daunting to say the least. Worse, sometimes neither character has a revive potion so it’s a promised party restart. Despite touting to its similarity to Gears of War, it fails to homage to Gears of War intuitive buddy revival system. Lastly, this kind of battle condition makes players rely on using the cheapest strategies to win.

Winning or not the worst part of gameplay we’ve found were the puzzles. The Walls and I spent too much time lighting torches or pushing things. Every puzzle seems to revolve around these two actions. Is that a torch? You will light it. Is that a cart? You better push it. Quite frankly this game’s puzzles are rock-stupid. Granted yes, this game has a linear design. The player or players kill from point A to point B. But I would like to see the small puzzle pieces on the wall puzzle or one with multiple keys. Portal problems these are not.

...Dumb Puzzles...

Problems or not Hunted doesn’t have a terrible presentation. It’s actually quite good. The locales look varied and distinct from sprawling over grown forest to the broken warn torn city. It’s exciting exploring the dungeons sometimes in almost complete darkness wondering what may come out of the corner. Sadly, the character’s models are only decent and the game takes some time for textures to load. Also every once in a while the animations in cutscenes are off. The music was decent but for the most part forgettable. The dialogue and sound effects, however, are top notch.

Hunted feels like another notch in Bethesda’s belt. But, thats not such a good thing. This game is primarily based on co-op gameplay and because of design its broken. Finding the fun in this game is like pulling teeth. Its painful and hard to do. Worse, it is fun and feels really good when fun rears its head. Yet that only really makes it toe-stabbingly-bad when the flaws rear their ugly head. At best this is a renter and do not play it one anything but a widescreen TV!

Update, Upgrade, and Evolve

Every year gamers have wide eyed anticipation for the conventions and expositions for video games. What are we watching for? The new games, systems, and trends for the industry. And players and spectators thrive on that new fix. This years E3 was massive as Skywalker pointed out here! However, here is the media I loved from the show. Check it out.

Drake is always exciting.


A very Bioshocking look at America.


Halo 4 is in the hands of a new developer. Will 343 Studios produce the same quality in this game?


Nintendo is notorious for making mobile sytems. This is something a little different.

This E3 was full of interesting things to check out. For more information try the IGN and Gametrailers links to the left. Gamers and friends of gamers and parents of little gamers definitely have great things rushing at them in the coming years. Whats got you excited or made you take notice this E3? Let us know!

E3 Day 0 and 1: Press Conferences

Good evening, all, and welcome to the beginning of my special couch-bound coverage this year's E3 convention.

No, sadly I'm not attending the proceedings in Los Angeles this week (neither are the rest of our crew, Chris "The Gamerologist" and Nick "The Walls"), though we'll have to rectify that in the future. But, thanks to the power of the interwebs, all of the big events and presentations are available by live-stream on any number of websites, from G4 to GameTrailers to IGN and of course the respective sites of the companies themselves.

Being a workin' man, I couldn't rightly sit and watch the early press conferences at my desk (unfortunately). But I did follow the live blogging of a number of sites, and at least three dozen Twitter feeds that posted the same thing one after the other. It was quite an interesting day, and surely a testament to the role of social media in the gaming space.

But, let's get to the conferences:

Testing, Testing, One-Two, One-Two

GREETINGS PUNY MORTALS! TREMBLE IN FEAR AS I, THE GREAT AND MIGHTY WALLS DESCEND UPON THEE TO *screech of feedback as the microphone shorts out and dies a horrible death*

Oh. Well. Never mind then. *ahem*

Howdy all, the Walls here. The gracious and sagacious SuperGamerologist has invited me to be a part of SuperGamerology and contribute to its continued awesomeness in light of good sir Skywalker off training future psychic laser-sword wielding warrior monks.

The exact scope and scale of what happens next has yet to be decided, but rest assured good peoples, it will rock. And possibly roll.

We have some catching up to do..

Dear Beloved Fans,

I am sorry for our previous negligence. I just switched colleges and had my 360 brake twice amongst other things. This has presented me with interesting new possibilities. Skywalker for all his claims to be a jedi has made me join the dark-side as it were. So, as of today I now own a Ps3. You win this time old friend. What does that mean for our readers? New content thats mostly playstation based. Obviously some games are exclusive to the other systems but we will do our best to balance it out whats posted.

Lastly Hybrid has taken a hiatus on editing because he attained a new job. However, The Walls our new editor has joined the crew. Walls will give you guys a brief intro just like we did at some point. Feel free to send any of us comments, questions, concerns, feedback, hatemail or whatever. We'd love to hear from you.

Memorial Day Makeup, Or: What Skywalker's Been Doing Since March 22

Sooooo... how about that PlayStation Network outage?

Oh, right. And the release of Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4, Crysis 2, L.A. Noire and dozens of other games.

And there's this little thing called E3 going on next week? Jeez, where the heck have I been recently?!

Truth is: really, really busy. It's been a crazy two months. So here's a little recap:

~ picked up just under a dozen games, three of them new (the aforementioned Portal 2, Mortal Kombat [which our own Super Gamerologist is working on reviewing as we speak], and L.A. Noire)

~ finished Portal 2 single-player and co-op for PS3 (thank you, split-screen), Battlefield: Bad Company 2, Mass Effect 2: Arrival DLC

~ continued working on inFamous Hard/Evil playthrough, Batman: Arkham Asylum Hard playthrough, first time through Final Fantasy XIII, L.A. Noire, and Patapon 3 for PSP

~ worked on a gaming-related project that I cannot speak about due to legal obligations (non-disclosure agreements are for realz)

Phew. So yeah, that was my April and May. There were other things going on in my life, personally and professionally, that I'd rather not discuss, but all in all, it was a busy time. Rest assured, though: my commitment to this site and to our steady-but-hopefully-growing-soon community is not in question. As I write this, Gamerologist and I are still in talks to begin our site's podcast, and I am also in discussions with a few other like-minded gamers to start a Skype-based podcast with people from around the country. When I have more details on these, I will share them!

In the meantime, hopefully I'll be back to writing some reviews (still have to cover the Assassin's Creed games before Revelations comes out this fall, as well as Uncharted 2, and a few other noteworthy titles from this year), I plan to post some of the major news points from the E3 press conferences next week, and maybe some editorial pieces I've been juggling in my head for a while.

Until then, live long and may the Force be with you!

Sony Ericsson Xperia Play Commercials: From Terrible to Incredible

Sony has had a rather checkered history with their advertising in the past. From the creepy baby doll in a white room to advertise the launch of the PS3 to the very, very inappropriate ad for the new white PSP in Amsterdam, their advertising for their gaming systems has been... less than stellar. Since the introduction of their "Kevin Butler" ads in late 2009, that trend seems to have changed (lesson: humor is always better than creepy), and we've had two years of great PS3 ads.

Maybe the BEST video ever

(Thanks to @AdrianneCurry for linking this video... so great)

PlayStation Plus Thoughts

For three-plus years I worked at a Barnes & Noble Bookstore. Aside from sating my bookworm desires and giving me complete control over the Star Wars 'bay' in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Department, I was also required by management--and corporate policy--to advertise, inform, and sell our customers the Barnes & Noble Membership Card. For twenty-five dollars (plus sales tax) you were given discounts on books, movies, music and more. The membership program was a major component of a cashier's job, and I could understand the reason --  most studies show that people don't use member cards much, and thus don't recoup the cost of the initial investment -- but it was a chore to sell the damn things. Why, you ask? Because most people don't use member cards much, and... yeah, you know where I'm going. People are smart, and most won't shell out money for discount programs, even those who would probably benefit most from such things.

PlayStation Plus... sky-rockets in flight?

Ink Is a Good Filler

Look at the shiny! Pay attention to the shiny!

Lightsabers and I both have been busy with life. We still want to bring you quality content though. He just moved and is getting settled. I am studying for this college math class. However, take this with our blessing and the knowledge that we will put up new content very soon!

The image is from one of our new favorite sites "The Gutters."
Keep checking back for more!

Real Life Video Games

I love people who try to make video game characters apart of real life. Its so much fun to see some of the skits created by inventive people. Here are some gems just for you audience.

Video Games | Video Game Reunion | Real People Real Problems Trailer

Xbox 360 | PlayStation 3 | Nintendo Wii | PC Games

Zombies!

Ive been trying to update the blog but Ive been sick for the last couple of days. Its harder to write when under the weather. At any rate, I was just shown this amazing trailer by Skywalker. Check it out and comment!

Be warned however, this is some powerful stuff.

Gamerologist Ramblings

Hey audience.

We are working alot on the blog behind the scenes. First off, we are working on a podcast schedule and topics. Second though, we are working on some videos as well as more articles for you to check out. We need you to do your part though. Please leave some comments on things you'd like to see us write on, or review, or discuss, or whatever. The more input the better.

SuperGamerologist signing off for now!

Skyrim!

Sometimes something on the internet slaps me in the face and says "Why haven't I been put in your blog?!" So without further ado I give you this.



Have I mentioned I love being a SuperGamerologist?

Gamerologist Philosophies. Super Mario Brothers

I wish I was a gardener now!

Super Mario is the mascot of video games who started it all. The Nintendo games are so classic. And, for the most part everyone seems into his story? So please delve into my philosophy for Super Mario. My philosophy for Mario is man against obstacles.

Man Against Obstacles is Super Mario at its most basic level. Lets to the idea of Mario. What is he? A man in goofy suspenders. Okay, more importantly though he is a plumber in this suspenders. A common man. Something we can all think of having is a job. Plumber being such a standard sounding job pulls us people in because it a job most of us feel like we could get. It feels natural then to put ourselves in the shoes of the plucky plumber. We are that man! But a video game is no good without a purpose. Whats ours?

This is her I'm about to get captured again face.

Our purpose is to save the princess. Now Peach before she was cemented was also Pauleen and Daisy. She was an interchangeable goal that Mario fought for. The nature of her constant switching is also reminiscent of the human condition. We strive for our goals and often change them to fit our lives as it changes as well. But there is always something in the way . Obstacles that impede us.

Mario's life has always been one of danger. He may be fighting to save someone from a giant monkey or a turtle. This plumber also has fought threw a plethora of different flora and fauna to get at his goals. Its not so much what Mario fights though, its that he keeps on fighting. Just like when we lose their are more lives waiting. Its the feeling to persevere no matter the risk.

Obstacles? I'lla showa you obstacles!

Risk is all apart of the philosophy though. So when its all laid out we have a common man fighting through traps and the unknown to seek his very special goal. Man against Obstacles.

Thoughts?

Gamerologist Philosophies

Who here plays video games? Why? Is it to lose ourselves to the identities of the characters we control? Are we trying to drown in the different and diverse worlds made for us by game developers? It is my belief that video games have different philosophies that may answer my question. So please, join me as I delve into a new segment on our blog dubbed "Gamerologist Philosophies."

Download Lowdown: Undead Nightmare

NOTE: The benefit of online connectivity to modern game systems has been the ability of developers to deliver new content for existing games quickly, reliably, and affordably. Download Lowdown will be a look at some of that content, from free add-ons to whole new experiences on familiar games. I'll begin this new feature as I did my regular review suite, with a DLC pack for Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption...

As I wrote this article on Thanksgiving morning, thinking of the tasty dinner I anticipated with a ravenous group of like-minded individuals, I couldn't help but think of zombies. Does that make me weird? Probably, but who doesn't have zombies on the brain as of late? They're everywhere: comics books, movies, TV shows (The Walking Dead was one of the highest rated cable shows of the fall), and definitely video games. The Resident Evil series popularized them, Left 4 Dead and Dead Rising brought them to this console generation, but it's Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare that just may have given us the most unique and engaging zombie experience you'll find this side of the actual zombie apocalypse. Who would've thought that zombies and Westerns would be such a match made in gaming heaven?

(Well, Jon Favreau maybe, but he threw aliens in instead. Go figure.)

John Marston, not one for speechifying

Editorial: 2011 - Year of the PlayStation (Part 3?)

Numbers don't lie. Well, they can. Ask a mathematician why 1+1=3 and have your mind BLOWN. But most of the time, numbers don't lie. In four years of competition, the Nintendo Wii has dominated worldwide console sales, and it hasn't even been close. Even with a year's headstart, the Xbox 360 has only managed a about 60% of the sales of Nintendo's motion gaming juggernaut.

And lingering in a (comparably) distant third place is the console you know by now is dear to my heart, the PlayStation 3.

(A quick aside: if you're not altogether excited for my views on the PS3, or think I'm being biased in my overall game coverage, go back and read my formal introduction, then go read some of the Gamerologist's other pieces. I'm probably not going to be your cup of tea.)

The Gamerologist and that guy with the lightsaber

You may not have noticed but its 2011 now. We've been busy with our holidays and passing of the old year to the new. We have dubbed this year, "the year of the playstation." As such my ps3 playing jedi will be unleashing some of his best work on the up coming releases. Some of these will be sure to be the big name titles like DC Universe and L.A. Noire.

As for this SuperGamerologist. I believe its time to get back in touch with my roots so my time will be spent spreading Nintendo love. I'll be presenting the best I can find on the Wii. I may even pick up a new ds. Be prepared good people. The new year is upon you.
Welcome to the year of the playstation. We are so happy you could join us!