Nice weather makes me nostalgic/Other random things

Kind of a random way I wanted to end this month’s posts by pointing out that with the nice weather, comes lots of nostalgia. I never realized this until my friend pointed it out to me a while ago, but during the summer, I get this nostalgic feeling, and I want to go back and play old games. It didn’t really hit me until last summer, and today, here is Rochester, is was a surprisingly nice day. And something about it just made me…happy, and as I said, nostalgic.

Ever get that feeling of nostalgia during these times? It also makes me want to go back and watch old movies and TV shows I really like. I usually have a lot (I repeat, a LOT) of free time on my hands during the summer months, so I tend to catch up on a lot of things (games, movies, TV  shows, etc) that I was too busy to enjoy earlier. That time is almost here! And with that, I should get back to playing some older games.

That brings me to another topic. Since marathons are a cool thing around Backloggery now, I’m considering a couple of them. One is an “overlooked games marathon” in which I, and whoever else wants to participate, will pick ten random games from their collection they consider never got the attention they deserved. This, for me, won’t be too old school considering the fact that I tragically no longer have really any of my old games or consoles, but I can definitely come up with ten.

Another marathon I really want to do is an “Insomniac Games marathon.” This would consist of Disruptor, the first three Spyro the Dragon games, the four Ratchet and Clank games on the PS2, the two Ratchet and Clank Future games on the PS3, and then two Resistance titles also on the PS3. Insomniac is one of my favorite developers, and with the ann0uncement of the new R&C game, why not? I also consider doing a BioWare and/or Valve marathon eventually.

That’s about it. I guess I had nothing better to end the month of March with but a random post about random things. I’ll have something better for next time, trust me.

The most memorable moments in gaming #1: “A man chooses, a slave obeys”

Here’s yet another new series of posts, one I’ve been planning on doing for quite some time now. Inspired by Destructoid’s Memory Card feature, the “Most memorable moments in gaming” are some of the best gaming moments I can remember, and ones that span from my earliest memories all the way to more recent games. I decided for my first, I would focus on a game very near and dear to my heart, BioShock. So, fair warning, there will be spoilers.

Month in Review #1: March 2009

Starting today, I’m going to be doing a “month in review” post that quickly goes over my blog posts of each month, looking at them as a way to reflect. And at the end of the year, assuming I’m still blogging, I’ll do a year in review and pick my favorite topics/posts from each month. So now we’re starting with March; sure, March isn’t over yet, but it’s close enough for me. Let’s begin!

A Look Back #9: Gex: Enter the Gecko

Vin Diesel as Vin Diesel in “Vin Diesel Wheelman”

I purchased Wheelman today, and myself a month ago would have been slapping my present self for it. Why? Because earlier, before actually playing the demo, I thought the game looked pretty bad and ultimately forgettable. Of course, I finally tried the demo out myself and found it surprisingly very fun. And after purchasing the game, I found it even more fun than before! Let’s get into the dirty details, shall we?

GDC 2009 – Modern Warfare 2: EXCITEMENT

Lazy post time! Modern Warfare 2, the sequel to Call of Duty 4, was officially official after a new teaser was released last night at the end of the GDC awards. And man, it didn’t tell us much, but it didn’t have to. It’s a sequel to one of the best shooters released this generation, which means a lot considered how many of the games released this console generation are shooters. I really can’t express just how excited I am. If I were to change my anticipated games list, this would go straight to the top. EVEN ABOVE MADWORLD! *gasp*

Call of Duty 4 was flat out incredible. The single player was short, yes, but every single second of it was gripping, and the shooting mechanics were as near perfect as you could get. The game also had a surprisingly great story to go along with it all, including some huge set piece moments both near the beginning of the game, and one very sad one right at the end. The multiplayer is also the best you’ll ever find in any shooter. Millions of people are still playing it nonstop, and I was pretty much hooked on it for a long time. This is why I’m excited about Modern Warfare 2, because Infinity Ward has yet to do wrong. All of their previous works is pretty much fantastic.

And yes, the rumors are flying that this game won’t carry the “Call of Duty” name. Is this a bad thing? Probably not. But will the game sell as well if the rumor is true? You can bet that Activision is going to market the hell out of this game, so I don’t think it will matter that much, but you never know. Some people only see “Call of Duty” and don’t pay attention to the rest. But I get the feeling that it won’t matter, at least not completely.

Speaking of Infinity Ward, the original Call of Duty is coming to Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network! That’s really good news, because I no longer own it on the PC, but it’s very good stuff. It might not have aged well, but for someone like me who has already played it, it’ll be good times all over again. So, between this and Modern Warfare 2, there is a lot for a fan of Infinity Ward to look forward to this year.

Oh, and a great congratulations to everyone over at Bethesda for Fallout 3 winning game of the year at the GDC awards last night. It certainly deserves it!

GDC 2009 – A simple solution to a pretty annoying problem

I decided, instead of focusing on a lot of big news, I’ll spend these days while GDC is ongoing to talk about one or more important things that stood out to me at GDC. First, before getting to the main topic, there were a couple of round table discussions today that were incredibly insightful and interesting to read. The one I paid the most attention to was one involving Will Wright, Warren Spector, and a few other top developers talking about how the industry has changed and what to expect in the future. Things like World of Warcraft, Facebook (believe it or not), the iPhone, and the Wii (Nintendo in general) were all topics of discussion. It’s very nice to hear what some of the best developers in the business think about this ever changing media.

Anyway, the main topic for today is Mr. Iwata, the president of Nintendo, having his big keynote speech at GDC. And there wasn’t much in terms of huge announcements, but he gave plenty of helpful tips to developers (which, when the president of Nintendo gives tips, you should probably listen) and announced a couple of things. There was some silly rock climbing game for the Wii, and a new Zelda game for the DS that looked very similar to Phantom Hourglass. The big announcement? The full integration of SD card storage in the Wii.

GDC 2009 – OnLive: A gaming revolution, or just another failed experiment?

GDC 2009 has just begun, but we have yet to hear of anything really big, aside from some iPhone game announcements. And yet, something sticks out, makes itself known, and made me want to write this blog post. OnLive was announced yesterday, and it certainly has people talking. What is OnLive? It’s a new piece of hardware that can be connected to your PC, Mac, or even your TV and works with an on demand gaming service allowing you to play any PC game they have available right from that very device.

Assassin’s Creed: We are a fraternity of assassins…wait, wrong reference

Yes, another post about a pretty old release, but after finally getting my hands on a copy of Assassin’s Creed (and spending three months not playing it), I have finally been able to finish the game. Opinions on the game are pretty split, some love it, some think it’s just “alright.” I haven’t encountered many people who downright hate the game, but that generally seems to be the consensus. But the most important thing is…what did I think?

Assassin’s Creed has a lot of things going for it. An interest plot (or plots), gorgeous graphics, and a very unique stealth system that works, for the most part. We all know all about the game’s science fiction twist, which the entire game is being played from some kind of crazy machine in the present (or future). I don’t need to really explain it, but most of the game, where you are playing in the past as Altair, it is all a virtual reality. It’s an interesting way to approach this game, but it works, and doesn’t ruin the plot within the plot, that being Altair’s story.

As I said, the game looks absolutely amazing. Climbing to a tall tower to “synchronize” or add new markers to your map is amazing, and so is jumping off that tall tower into a barrel of hay soon afterwards. Moments like those make me truly wonder how much better this game could have been if they fixed the major problems with it, which I will get to in a few minutes. The voice acting is decent enough, but Altair’s very serious tone can be a bit annoying after a while.

Views like this make the entire experience worthwhile

The gameplay involves you, as Altair, having to assassinate nine targets spread through three majors cities in the game. You travel to this cities by way of horse, which can be eliminated once you have visited all of the cities at least once with quick travel. Once there, you have to gather information on the target, which you do by pickpocketing, eavesdropping, interrogating witnesses, or completing smaller assassination tasks given by other assassins (whom always seem to be either injured or just dumb, so they can’t do these tasks themselves) for information.

It’s a lot of fun, but it can be tricky. Once you have the information, you can given the location of your target, which you can approach however you want. You can jump in the middle of the action, or try to take a stealthy approach. The swordplay is another key component, and it’s very basic. It’s a bit of a more complex version of the newest Prince of Persia, with the sword attacks having a weight to them, and the grab attacks useful in tricky situations. There are counter moves to do, which either knock your opponents down or perform an instant kill. I enjoyed the combat, it’s basic but it works. But of course, you can choose to run, and that’s where I had the most problems.

Generally, free running through the streets and across rooftops is great, but sometimes it’s pretty annoying. Altair will accidentally run up walls when you simply touch them, and sometimes won’t grab onto certain objects if you’re even an short centimeter away from the spot. And the A.I. is pretty damn stupid at some times, but other times they are almost too smart, attacking you for no real reason. I guess it makes sense that they catch onto you after a while, but it goes against the design of the game if you are forced to run or fight every minute. It ruins the flow of the game and can interrupt whatever information gathering you are doing.

Besides these glaring flaws, and some occasional glitches (during one of the final battles, the game said I died despite having at least half of my health left), and not the kind that you are supposed to find in the game, Assassin’s Creed is fun. It’s not AMAZING as some critics called it back in 2007, but it is worthy of some praise for how amazing it is technically, and how many new things it attempts in a single game. I look forward to the sequel, and I certainly hope it leads to many improvements on this game’s design quirks.

What’s YOUR most anticipated game release of 2009?

Yes, YOU! I’m incredibly lazy and tired, but I figured I would make a post about you guys, and just see what game or games you are most excited about in what could be another fantastic year for gaming in 2009. Just tell me in your comments, and maybe even a brief reason why? It’s something I’ve been asking a lot of people recently, so why not make an entire blog post about it? Yes, it is incredibly stupid, but also it will save me the time of asking more people this question; the few who actually read this will answer it soon enough.

Mine? Well, MadWorld is now out, so I have to go with Heavy Rain. The game is supposedly due out late this year, and is a PS3 exclusive. Just from the fact that it’s from the same development team behind Indigo Prophecy, a fantastic game, and it just looks and sounds so amazing. Those who know anything about it probably share my excitement, not only because it’s hopefully going to be an amazing experience, but also because it could create a new blend of cinematics, story telling, and gameplay that we have never seen before, and potentially start a new and positive trend in the industry. Close second would be Alan Wake, which is still on track for release this year, but another delay wouldn’t surprise me.

Share your thoughts, and tell me your most anticipated. It could be coming out next week, next month, or not until the end of the year. I don’t care! It could even help others remember or learn about games they may not know much about yet. Just comment away!