Update 3/7/13

Greetings!

Well it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog, but it is because there have been so many changes in my life since that time. Basically I have done a whole 180 in my lifestyle and now unfortunately I have not had as much time for my hobby (gaming) as I once did. At the time of my last blog my situation was; I was unemployed, living at home in my hometown, single, had all the free time in the world and found myself bored most of the time.

At the beginning of January, I started a new job, moved to the bay area (California) and have no free time for anything besides chores and necessities. I have gotten in little gaming, mainly just quick rounds of multiplayer, but other than that, not much else. I was kind of worried when I moved that I wasn’t going to know anyone and it was going to be a bit lonely, but by chance a college friend of mine moved within a mile of me on the same exact day! So that was a huge relief. During the week I am pretty busy with work, traffic (worth mentioning cause it’s THAT bad), working out, dinner and then finally resting. Sometimes I have to work on Saturday, so I will even lose that day; most of the time I am hanging out with my friend though and we go to the city (San Francisco) or out drinking and meet some girls.

My blog might change slightly in content due to not having as much time for gaming as I used to, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t talk about it at all. I still follow up on news and releases, I just don’t have the time to play as many games as I used to. A lot has happened since my last blog and this blog may be lengthy due to my catching up, so here we go:

Bought a new TV!

During mid-December I was strolling through a Best Buy and saw a very awesome Samsung television that I just had to own, to be fair, I had been wanting to buy a newer one for a while and had been shopping around. So I upgraded from my 42” Vizio LCD HDTV that I bought 4 years ago to a 55” Samsung LED 240Hz HDTV and what a difference! It’s funny, because you’d think there would not be much of a difference since they are both 1080p, but the Samsung is so much clearer and with the higher refresh rate, the motion looks so much better and everything more detailed. I am very happy with my decision to purchase this TV J

49ers in the Superbowl!

I have been a San Francisco 49ers fan my whole life and will always be one! I grew up watching Montana and Rice and even owned the old school gold jacket. 49ers football is the only real thing that I watch religiously. So the last couple of years have been an exciting time to be a Niner fan (finally!). Colin Keapernick is so much more exciting to watch than Alex Smith, he makes the offense so much better. Nonetheless when the 49ers made it to the Super Bowl this year, it was an exciting point in my life, lol. Yes, I am that hardcore.  Even though they end up losing, I am content that they made a competitive game out of a blowout and I look forward to next year. Maybe some between season activity may prove exciting.

 

What I am playing:

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PS3)

 

Well this is mainly what I have been playing when I have a free 20-30 min to just jump into some matches and enjoy. I have not played very much “Zombies” at all in this game, which is kind of disappointing because it was one of the very reasons I was so excited about this game. I tend to stick to Team Deathmatch most of the time. I have still not yet touched the single player, but I hope to soon, which reminds me that I have never even attempted to play through the story of Modern Warfare 3 either. I enjoyed the story of the original Black Ops very much, I just haven’t had the time though to try this one yet.

 

One thing I have noticed about Black Ops II is that I tend to use the sniper rifle a lot more in this game. I never used to use it before because I wound up just getting flanked. But now, I use the Overkill perk (carry two main guns) and carry a M7 and a sniper rifle and whip out the sniper rifle when I see people from a distance. I have been having tremendous success with it lately.

Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

Just for the sake of continuing from my last blog in which I had begun playing this game, unfortunately that has changed. I have drifted away from playing this game and it has been atleast a month and a half since I last touched it. It’s the problem I run into when I play open-world games, they have a hard time keeping my interest. I started playing video games with the NES and I guess I am just old school in the way where I like to be led where to go and not have to try to find the way myself. ON THE BACKBURNER FOR NOW L

 

 

NEWS

 Playstation 4

 

Well it was kind of a given that the next generation was coming. I for one could have waited a couple more years, but no complaints. I guess it is hard for me to see how you can possibly improve on this generation’s graphics and would rather see developers forced to make a game with a very good story and gameplay as opposed to shiny new graphics. How about a very detailed cell shaded game (Ni No Kuni, Wind Waker, Okami…etc). I guess I just have expectations of the graphical leap being very noticeable (PS1 to PS2) and Sony should wait until that time has come. But here it is coming in November!

I guess I will have to see more footage of next gen games, but Deep Down looks good, I personally wouldn’t say spectacular. The new Killzone game looks “meh” to me, and I love the Killzone games! Nonetheless I will wait until more information is released and more games are shown before I write it off. I have quite the backlog to keep me busy until I decide whether the next round of consoles is for me or not (the Wii U is not). I do have a powerful PC, so between that and my backlog, I have more than enough.

So far what I have heard about the social options to be offered in the PS4, that doesn’t really appeal to me, I mean I buy a video game console to play games, not get on Facebook or post to Twitter. Games should be the #1 absolute priority to the PS4 and I hope that in Sony’s E3 presentation, that is the focus! The online streaming Gaikai that is supposedly going to be offering PS3 game streaming sounds interesting, I just wonder if I will be able to play PS3 games I already own without having to buy them again (I kind of think I will have to buy them again). The controller looks cool, beefier and more durable. So I just look forward to hearing more about Sony’s next console.

Diablo III coming to PS3

I almost considered buying Diablo III for my PC, I just don’t have Blizzard registration (battlenet?). The fact I don’t even know what it is called should be a big indicator why I don’t own it already, lol.  The “always on” DRM is straight up ridiculous and another huge barrier that has kept me from buying it as well. The news that it is coming to PS3 is awesome and I hope the DRM doesn’t carry over. Sure the PC version probably has better graphics than the PS3 port will have, but it’s all about accessibility to me. I love the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games for the PS2, and I know that they were very similar to the Diablo games, so I am very much looking forward to playing Diablo III. I should mention that I have never played a Diablo game in my life!

For me, if a game isn’t on Steam, than I will not buy it for my PC. I am not computer savvy and Steam is so easy to use. I have bought games on Amazon that do not transfer to Steam and I have problem getting them to run on my PC.

 

Other Stuff

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I have FINALLY become interested in playing this game. I want to buy it for PC though so that I can have the options of mods (even though I wouldn’t even know where to begin installing them). As I mentioned somewhere else in this blog, the only PC games I will buy are those that are on Steam (no problem here). The fantasy RPG just seems very appealing to me, the only things that may lose me about this game is that it is open-world and first person. I wish it would go on sale here WITH all the DLC soon, I may wait a bit, I have plenty to keep me occupied (http://www.backloggery.com/f1r3inth3h0l3).

 

Metal Gear Revengance DEMO

I downloaded the demo with minor interest in the game (even though I am a huge Metal Gear Solid fan) and I had a lot of fun with it. I didn’t think that the Ninja Gaiden-action route was a right direction to go with the game, but after playing it, I got some enjoyment out of it. The story seems pretty cheesy, but atleast it is fun. I plan on buying this game once it gets to a price level I am willing to pay ($20 or below).

 

God or War: Ascension DEMO

After last E3 when gameplay was showed for this game, I was instantly sold. I love the God of War games and this looks to be another solid game in the series. After playing the demo, it confirmed my decision 100%. Sure it has similar combat and Kratos is pretty much the same, but those are things I love about the series. The new enemy introduced in the demo looks awesome and I loved everything about the demo. Must buy for me J.

 

Recent Purchases

Knights of the Old Republic I & II (PC,Steam)

Bought both of these games from Steam for $5 total. Knights of the Old Republic is one of my all-time favorite games and I have not finished the sequel to this day.

 

Darksiders II (PS3)

Bought on sale through BestBuy for $15. I listen to GiantBombcast and I loved everything they had to say about this game. Sounds like it is right up my alley. I haven’t played the original yet, but I bought in anticipation of playing through the first one.

 

Journey (PS3)

Right after I bought Darksiders II from BestBuy online, they sent me a reminder that I had a $15 credit in my rewards program that was about to expire. If only it was two days earlier I would have used it on Darksiders II. So I ended up buying Journey. Another game I had been meaning to buy, so I ended up getting it for free J.

 

 

 

Conclusion

That’s all I have for now, thank you to everyone who has been able to find this new location for my blog. It has moved between three different sites now and this will hopefully be the permanent home for it!

Gaming Update 12/17/12

Greetings all, it’s been a good while since I have written a blog as I have been dealing with some family issues and still plugging away trying to find work. I wanted to write one before the end of the year though.
Around Thanksgiving, a family member of mine (who was been heavy into drugs) became suicidal and tried a couple of times to kill himself. It was very hard on me and my family. We were forced to put him into a facility and he is out now and living with us. It has been a struggle…I don't really want to go into it too much though.
On the job front, I had a couple interviews and am waiting to hear back. I have also had two more companies call me, so I am hopeful that I will land a job soon. I have an interview on Wednesday, so doing my research and getting ready to put myself in the best position walking into that.
I have been able to do some gaming through all that though and here is what I have up to:
CURRENTLY PLAYING

Completed: Mass Effect 3 (PS3)

I seemed to blaze through this game very quickly and I believe it is because I enjoyed it so much. There have been very few games in the past couple of years that I sit and next thing I know, 3 hours have passed. I loved every second I put into Mass Effect 3 and yes I even thought the ending was good. I did download the extended cut so I guess I never saw the “real” ending, but I found it fitting. I feel like starting the trilogy all over again now that I have beat it, but figured I better cut into my backlog though. This is easily the game I have enjoyed the most in 2012 and is also up there with my favorite games of all time. Mass Effect 3 will always be my personal GAME OF THE YEAR because it was the most fun with a video game I have had in a while.



The multiplayer in this game is phenominal as well. I will admit that when I first heard that multiplayer was being added to a Mass Effect game, I really skeptical and pretty much just wrote it off. Once I got playing it though, I became addicted. The real draw to the multiplayer is earning cash and buying the booster packs because they will yield random "loot" such as weapons, ammo mods and other abilites to use in later rounds. There are constantly events on the weekends and it just has been handled very well in my opinion.

I will most likely NOT buy any of the DLC for this game because so far from what I have seen, none of it seems worthwhile. Lair of the Shadowbroker for Mass Effect 2 was probably the best DLC of all time in my opinion and ME3 just has slopped out pretty bad DLC. I am not really a regular purchaser of DLC anyways (except Call of Duty map packs, yes I am one of those guys, lol).




Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

I have been wanting to play this since I watched the awesome trailer and finally have begun. I am like an hour into it at this point, so not far at all. It is very similar to Arkham Asylum and that’s not a knock against it at all. In Arkham Asylum I managed to solve all the Riddler puzzles and I hope that I will be able to in this one; I have heard there is like 400 though, which sounds overwhelming.

So far I am enjoying my time with this game. I have found recently that open world games tend to lose my interest pretty quickly. So that is one negative I am experiencing while playing this game. While playing Assassin's Creed II, I had a similar experience. I have been gaming for a while, most of my life (over 20 years) and I guess I like to be told what to do and where to go, lol. So open world games tend to not interest me as much.



The combat in Arkham City is what keeps me interested though. I love the combo and time based battle system. Every battle I walk into I try for the Freeflow Perfection trophy (use all special moves in a single combo), it's really fun.


Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PS3)

I knew before this game was even released that I would be playing it as much as I do at this point. I love the multiplayer in this game (I have not yet touched the single player). The original Black Ops is my favorite Call of Duty game and this game reminds me why.



I have only played the zombies mode like 2 times which is surprising to me, but I am sure that will change soon. This game is perfect for jumping in and playing a few matches and done. Enjoying this a lot more than Modern Warfare 3…


RECENT PURCHASES

Mass Effect (PS3, digital)


First of all, I already own this game for Xbox 360, but I had to buy this as a huge fan of the Mass Effect trilogy. With this purchase I hope to start the trilogy over again and completely change every decision I made in the series and carry it all the way through to the end on PS3. I remember this game being really tough for some reason. One part I remember not liking this about this game was driving the vehicle, not sure why, I just never enjoyed it.



I never completed this game on Xbox 360, I am pretty sure I was close to the end though. I bought Mass Effect 2 for PS3 and watched the digital comic, so I know how it ends and what happened, but I am still interested in finding out first hand.




Assassin’s Creed: Revelations (PS3)

I had to buy this because it was on sale for $10 and it also includes the original Assassin’s Creed which I was never able to complete (see above about open world games). I popped in Assassin's Creed: Revelations and it has a pretty awesome intro movie:
Vidoes will not work at this moment so please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fV-7kk0Mwrc

I recently completed Assassin’s Creed II (and got the platnium trophy), so I am confident that I will enjoy both these games even though I have heard that AC1 and AC2 are different. I have AC: Brotherhood, so I am conflicted whether to play through Brotherhood or the original Assassin's Creed. I will get to Revelations after both of those, I have a while until that point, I just picked this up while it was on sale.

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings Enhanced Edition (Xbox 360)


I have been hearing alot about this game and I was thinking about it for a while whether to buy this for Xbox 360 or PC. My PC is more than capable of running the game maxed out, I just prefer consoles though and also a controller. I hardly ever buy Xbox 360 games anymore so I just picked it up on sale (of course) for $15.



Above I mentioned that Assassin's Creed: Revelations had an awesome intro. Well the optional intro video for The Witcher 2 is even better (watch below). That is on a whole another level! I have quite the backlog and cannot wait to play this awesome looking game. It seems to fit my taste likely from what I have read about the decision making and how it will affect the story later on. Nonetheless, I am very excited to play it!

Vidoes will not work at this moment so please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WwCXw8m0PHI

2012 Spike Video Game Awards (VGAs)


I just wanted to comment very quickly on the recent Spike VGAs. I think them handing their Game of the Year Award to The Walking Dead was a huge surprise. I mean the games were good, but I cannot believe something like Dishonored or Borderlands 2 were not given the award. It’s their (or the fans?) choice, so I don’t take it personally, it was just surprising.



Speaking of surprising, how about the Phantom Pain trailer and also the announcement of Dark Souls II? Phantom Pain looks like Metal Gear to me and I say that with no hesitation, and I totally believe that it is a marketing tactic for the next Metal Gear game which excites me because it looks like a new direction in the MGS series. I know there are those out there who are sick of the Metal Gear Franchise, but I cannot get enough of it. The announcement of Dark Souls II is cool, I haven’t played the first one yet, but I want to, so I am not as excited about the sequel yet.

Vidoes will not work at this moment so please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSfajBs2nyQ
Phantom Pain (above, World premier video, Metal Gear Solid 5?)

Vidoes will not work at this moment so please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPJaJ5ys_G0
Dark Souls II (World premier trailer)

The new trailer for the Last of Us looked pretty awesome too. I love the look of the game and atmosphere. Definitely looking forward to that game!

Vidoes will not work at this moment so please click: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYBDH44SXoE
The Last of Us (VGA 2012 trailer)

CONCLUSION
So now that 2012 is ending, I have been thinking about what is next for me. I hope that my job situation will change here in the near future, which means I will most likely be moving. A lot of change is ahead for me and I hope that it is all for the better.



On the gaming end, I really feel the need to go back and play series which made me the gamer I am today. Metal Gears, Megamans, Devil May Crys, Splinter Cells, Onimushas, Final Fantasys, Xenogears and even NES, SNES and Sega Genesis games. I may be periodically playing them and will include those experiences in my future blogs.



This will most likely be my last blog of the year so I hope everyone the best during the holidays and happy new year!

Gaming Update 11/12/12

Hello all, thought I would throw up a quick update on what I have been up to. On the personal side, I remain unemployed (*sigh*) at the moment, I am waiting to hear back on an interview that I had a little over a week ago and I did follow up with them already. Interestingly, my former employer called me the day before that interview and would like me to come back and work with them again (yes!) but they will let me know when that time comes. It is contract work (my former employer) basically for those who haven’t read my past blogs, so once that term is up (6-24 months) you are laid off; the pay was excellent though. I am seeking to get off the contract work though, which is what the company I interviewed with is offering, permanent employment.
In the meantime, besides gaming, I have been helping my sister move and working with my parents on their rentals (roofed a whole house in two days), so that has been keeping me busy. The Hawaii trip (last blog) was badly needed and my skin is still peeling. Just taking each day at a time and seeing what/where is next for me.
On the gaming side:

Currently playing

Mass Effect 3

After finally completing Assassin’s Creed II, I went through the backlog and there are some games I have been really looking forward to playing;#1 on that list was Mass Effect 3. Dues Ex: Human Revolution and Batman: Arkham City are a couple others. The Mass Effect series is my favorite this generation and when I started up this game, it all came back to me why.

The story and gameplay are so engrossing and I have loved every second I have put into this game so far. And with that I completely intend to include the multiplayer, it’s just as great. I have put more time into the multiplayer and have maxed out two characters so far! I love co-op games and this is basically horde mode for Mass Effect, but I love that you buy boxes which give random loot and more expensive the box, the rarer the loot. Loving this game.





Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3/ Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PS3)

No surprises here, been playing Modern Warfare 3 (multiplayer) since it’s release; for the first time since I have been buying Call of Duty games ( I started at COD4: Modern Warfare), I did not touch the campaign at all. I just never got around to it, I will though one day. I decided to include Black Ops 2 because I will officially be switching to that
game tomorrow! I was cleaning out my wallet a week or so ago and found that I had an unused $50 gift card, which I will be using for Black Ops 2! I play Call of Duty year round, so those of you that do, feel free to add me.





Left 4 Dead 2 (PC, Steam)

Sucked back into this game! I love Left 4 Dead and the Versus Mode is bliss if you are with a group of people who work together. I started playing this one night, before I knew it, like 4 hours had gone by. Awesome game.





Recent purchases:

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (PS3)

Will be using my $50 gift card to pick this up tomorrow! Technically I don’t own it yet, but I did preorder it for the Nuketown 2025 map, so I guess that counts. I will easily pay the $60 for the Call of Duty games because I play them year round and have made many friends in the games. Cannot wait to play the campaign, multiplayer and zombies!




Gamefly PC downloads

Gamefly had an awesome deal on Valve games for PC download. I bought Half Life 2, Half Life 2: Episode 1, Half Life 2: Episode 2, Portal and Portal 2 all for $11! It feels nice to have a PC that can run games well and I have been wanting to play through Half Life 2 and Portal games forever!





That’s all I got for you this time, been trying to write some blogs with free time, it’s funny though, still can’t find the time even though I am unemployed. Cannot wait until Black Friday, really debating buying a new LED TV. I really want to buy Okami HD on PSN, I want to see if it goes on sale in the near future though first, especially since I am a Playstation Plus subscriber. Thank you for reading!