Sunday Update: 1/26/14

SO SORRY ABOUT THIS INEVITABLY DEBUTING ON A MONDAY IT'S BEEN A WEIRD DAY

Heart of Darkness (PS1): Second straight appearance, Second all time 
Last weekend, I was only a few levels into Heart of Darkness, and my feelings about the game were less than great. However, after getting through a couple more levels, I'm really starting to enjoy this game. There's a certain amount of intrigue from me regarding the art style and animation- I've never seen anything like Heart of Darkness from a platformer. The backgrounds and enemies still look great even today. (That's purely in gameplay, by the way. The CG cutscenes don't hold up today.)

This may seem tangential, but I've been thinking about giving "Let's Play" another shot after my classic THPS2 LP from 2011:

I think Heart of Darkness (That or Tony Hawk 4, because I figured out a way to do that game some actual justice) could actually be a good game for an LP series from me. I have a problem with playing well and talking at the same time (if you can't tell from the video above), so a lower-paced game like Heart of Darkness that I enjoy would be a likely candidate for my triumphant re-entry into this sorta thing.

Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back (PS1):
I'm really sorry, everyone. Every time that Crash Bandicoot is brought up to me, I generally brush the series off. I never enjoyed my copy of Crash 2 (which I've owned since about 2004 or '05, actually), but I decided to try it again this week. To my surprise, I've been totally wrong about this series! The platforming is actually pretty tight, though not quite perfect. The level design is good, the enemies are fun to fight, the boss fights are actually pretty decent, because they're (surprise) not awful and an absurd spike in difficulty to take all of the enjoyment out of the game. No, actually, the boss levels in Crash 2 are fairly enjoyable! Looking forward to finishing this one, actually.

ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PSV): Second Straight Appearance, Second All-Time
I figured out another thing I like about this one! The "Championship" (known as "Grand Prix" in Mario Kart [and who am I kidding, of course I'm just using this like Mario Kart]) mode works much differently than in Mario Kart because there's no consistency among computer-controlled drivers between races. Much like a human would, performance of every racer fluctuates between tracks. This means that a cup win doesn't have to come from a perfect performance on every track because goddamn Dry Bones keeps getting second and there's really no breathing room if he wins this next race, but a consistently high-place (getting first doesn't hurt) will keep you in the hunt just as well. Also, you can redo individual tracks in championship mode, which is much more preferable to going back and retrying all four tracks just because you were unlucky on the third one of four.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories (PSV):
I love seeing mixed reviews of a game nowadays. With many games, there's a sort of consensus about quality, where many critics have the same general opinion on most games. In researching games, you're only going to need to see two or three reviews to have a general understanding of what everyone thinks of a certain title. This wasn't exactly the case when I first started paying attention back seven or eight years ago. My first encounter with with mixed reviews came from Pokemon Channel for the GameCube. Nintendo Power gave it like 22 stars out of 25 or so, and EGM (which I trusted a bit more at the time) was less positive, saying the game deserved a 4/10 or something like that. Due to the way games are designed now, and the way that game websites and magazines work today, you'll be pretty sure of how good something is, especially if it's a big-budget title, with only a few reviews.

Silent Hill: Book of Memories (much like a number of games on the Vita) doesn't exactly have that. I have seen some fairly favorable reviews, and I've seen the opposite. As for me, at the moment, I lean more towards the positive side. Though I've never tried a Silent Hill title before this (and I'm sure that my lack of experience with the series influences why I have a favorable opinion), I'm enjoying the story, and I like the way the gameplay "karma" system works. I'm not very far into it, so be on the look out for what I think of it in the future.

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Well, that's all for this week. I guess it's Monday...

Sunday Update: 1/19/2014

I actually played quite a bit this week, but I only really have opinions on a few of these games so I'm going to go with conciseness rather than making you hear about the 15 minutes on Sunday night that I played "Last Gladiators: Digital Pinball" for the Saturn.

Tearaway (PSV)- For me, Tearaway stands out from most games because I was excited for it before it came out, and I wasn't disappointed in any way, and in fact, I actually ended up being pleasantly surprised. (The last two titles that I was really excited for pre-release were Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Heroes of Ruin for the 3DS, and though neither of them were of low-quality, I had some complaints with them.)

But Tearaway was just about the best game I have played in the past two or three years. I think I said the extent of what I needed to say about the quality of the game last week: if this ends up being the PS Vita's Alien Vs. Predator (That is, the best title on a console lacking much else), I'd be fine with that. Luckily...

ModNation Racers: Road Trip (PSV)- There exist other good games on the Vita, and this is one!  I am and always have been in love with the Mario Kart series, and I was jealous of PS3 owners when the original ModNation Racers was released a few years back, especially after I was so underwhelmed by Mario Kart Wii in 2008. The idea of a customizable kart racer was what really sold me on this series, and it would have absolutely been a purchase that I would have made for the PS3 had I owned one.

But I have confused you enough. ModNation Racers: Road Trip has some of the best kart physics I've ever experienced. The system of items could be called "exactly the same as Lego Racers for the PlayStation" for what that's worth, but that's not an issue really, the system works well. The only aspect making me still consider Mario Kart 7 a superior experience would be the track design, which isn't anything special.

This gets a heavy recommendation from me.

Heart of Darkness (PS1)- The Horror... The Horror
ha
hahaahaha
get it

like the book
Actually the first bit of this game, a cinematic sidescroller from an era in which cinematic sidescrollers could profit, infuriated me beyond belief. Past that, though, I've actually enjoyed the sort of puzzle-platforming Heart of Darkness provides. I'm only a little bit of the way into it.

NBA Jam: Tournament Edition (Saturn)- I have started using the Suns for some reason. I don't know quite why. Kevin Johnson and Dan Majerle work well together, and I have a feeling that Danny Manning's stats are increased due to the lack of Barkley (Charles Barkley's likeness couldn't be found in any NBA games after about 1992). The Saturn version takes a while to get used to, especially if you've played the SNES or Genesis versions before.

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Well, that's about it. I've considered adding a video segment to this bit called "purchases" where I talk about purchases I've made, but I don't think I will until my ego gets even more inflated. This week I did finally find a PSone with the little flip-top screen on it, which will be great for this semester in school!

See you next weekend

SUNDAY UPDATE: 1/12/14

I purchased a PlayStation Vita this week and it was mostly what I played, so be ready for that-

Madden 2003 (GameCube)-
Okay this again. The 2003 season started with a blowout over New England (like 17 points in a 20 minute game) and then another win over Buffalo and then a loss to Oakland in a chokejob in the last 5 minutes (I only lost by 3, but I was up by I think 7 in the fourth quarter). Chad Pennington is a much better quarterback than Vinny was, and somehow Chrebet got moved down a string to make room for some rookie that I forgot that I drafted. Then I think I won another, and then the home rematch with the Bills came up. In week 1, Bledsoe got hurt and Alex Van Pelt (read that Pro Football Reference link there. Van Pelt spent nine seasons with the Bills and started only eleven games, having to back up Rob Johnson, Bledsoe, and Todd Collins throughout), then got hot as shit, threw for like 300+ yards and I think is only trailing Brady, Manning, and Couch (Keep in mind that Couch is good in Madden 2003). They won by like 17 points, and in GameCube Era 2003, I'm campaigning #VanPelt4MVP. So I think I'm 4-2 or 5-2. Doesn't matter because the Patriots are definitely 1-5

I need to stop playing this game

Tearaway (Vita)
I made an interesting development in the past two days. I started playing Tearaway immediately after I received my Vita in the mail from Bezos' house. (I was supposed to get the game on Saturday but Jeff's a real nice guy so it ended up being shipped in the same box on Friday) Now, I never got the chance to play a lot of LittleBigPlanet, (It came out the year after I bought an XBOX 360 to play a classic reboot and I regretted that decision for a while) but MediaMolecule has always been on my "yeah look out for games from these people, you'll want them" list (currently one of two developers on the list with Nintendo SPD [the Warioware devs]) and I'm glad that their's was the first game that I decided to try out for the console.

To state it simply: I knew that Tearaway was one of my favorite titles ever (I mean Top 5 ever at the moment) probably the most quickly of any others. So much of this is nearly perfect. Tearaway is enjoyable enough to justify a 240 dollar purchase in my mind. To put my experience in perspective: The first few levels don't have a jump ability, and I was able to get over that.

I had a hard time playing fucking Ocarina of Time because you can't jump. But I kept going with Tearaway somehow. (and you get to jump later on) I love this game and I really don't want it to end.

NHL '94 (Sega CD)
Ah, yes, back to stupid fucking Sports games you stupid fucking jock idiot fuck you
Actually my friend Matt ordered this game from Jeffbaby (or actually I think it was an independent seller on Amazon) for the Genesis, but the seller sent him a Sega CD copy. He doesn't have a Sega CD, but I do (I think I'm one of the only people in Olathe under the age of like 25 who he could have given it to), so he gave it to me in exchange for my Genesis copy. It's just about as good. I like the use of redbook audio, even though that's about the only difference that I can find between the two games.

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I think that's all. I downloaded Gravity Rush for the Vita from PS Plus and played the first level, but I didn't have much room to also have The Walking Dead (which was bundled with the console) downloaded, so I had to let it go.

SUNDAY UPDATE: 1/5/14

This is a thing I want to do on Sundays in which I update people on the wonderful goings-on of myself and games. This week started in 2013 and ended in 2014, though I played games ranging from 2002-2013. Here they are:

Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour (GameCube):
I recently bought this game for the first time even though I played a bunch when I used to rent it from Blockbuster Video back in 2004 or so (Is there still a Blockbuster somewhere? I hope so, and I want to go). Don't worry, it's still very good. I never liked Mario Tennis as much as Mario Golf for whatever reason (I had a friend who swore the other way and we'd argue about that a lot).
When it comes to Mario sports games, this was always the best for me because it was a pretty solid golf game with unrealistic course design. (Necessary prior information: I've never been a fan of any sort of special moves in sports games) Toadstool Tour's on the fringe of my "games I wholeheartedly recommend for the GameCube" list. (That list includes Aggressive Inline and The Simpsons: Road Rage)

Madden 2003 (GameCube):
Alright, playoff time, narrative time:
I picked the Jets, not a great choice because they have two quarterbacks who are of equal skill level but neither of whom is exactly a legend (Vinny Testaverde and Chad Pennington, overall rating of 76 and 75, respectively), and I lost my first three games in the '02 by a combined total of ten points. But then, holy shit, I had a shootout (I hadn't scored more than 10 points in any of the first three games) with Jacksonville and won that game 31-28 or so, then beat Cleveland (a respectable team in 2002, interestingly enough), Detroit (still bad), Kansas City (hilariously bad in this game apparently), and like 4 others including Buffalo and found myself at 8-3. I lost to Miami again, then went 2-1, losing my last game to a very good Green Bay team because Vinny got hurt.

But then the playoffs came. I ended up at 11-5, second in the AFC East to Miami and ended up a wild card, playing Drew Brees and the 9-7 San Diego Chargers, a team that I would have no trouble defeating if I could score some points. I couldn't score any points on offense, and I lost 13-10 on a last second field goal, almost identical to the way I lost to Buffalo in week 2.

The Stanley Parable (PC):
Well, guess who FINALLY got around to this? People kept telling me this game was perfect for me after it came out, but I didn't get to play it for a while until they lowered the price in December. I finally got around to it this week and they were right. It's hard for me to explain, but I love humor in games (generally if your game is actually funny I'll rate it really highly) and it had a bit more of an emotional affect on me than I thought it would. I've heard this game be both praised and criticized for being a 3D "Choose your own adventure" and I can see that. I consider that a strength, though.

Antichamber (PC):

I finally got around to this one as well! Each puzzle felt rewarding and it made me feel dumb at points, which I consider a good quality for an puzzle based adventure. The black and white art style highlighted how dirty my monitor is so it loses points for that I guess

But no the art style may have actually been my favorite part of the whole game. The way that color highlighted answers that I hadn't thought of, everything was great. Every time that I got stuck somewhere and I ended up back in the antichamber, the ever-decreasing time limit brought so much suspense to a somewhat serene experience. I totally recommend this.

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That's about all of it. I played some some more Soul Hackers on New Year's Eve at some point but that was like 5 minutes or so and I don't really count that.

RIP Last Gen

With the release of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One last week, I have to finally make amends with the fact that we're done with the generation of vidcon that brought us eight years (EIGHT YEARS) of fun for the whole family in at least one case I'm sure. So here are my ten favorites from last gen. All cover images are from Gamefaqs.com. I will point out for posterity's sake that I never owned a PlayStation 3. Handheld consoles are not counted for this list.

10. Tony Hawk's American Wasteland (XBOX 360)

THAW came out right at the beginning of the XBOX 360's lifespan, and it really didn't get much of any benefit at all from the new, more powerful 360 hardware. It's nothing that I would consider a yardstick or a barometer or whatever instrument of measurement you'd like to use (I prefer a rain gauge, personally) of the consoles themselves. The control of of THAW was probably the tightest that the series ever had, and the level design (while not as varied as some of the previous releases) was as good as ever. Definitely my favorite entry in a favorite series of mine on any of these platforms.

9. NCAA Football 14 (XBOX 360)

We're getting off to a high-class start here on the list with skateboard and football games (but what do you expect from me really). This series really dropped off after the jump to new consoles in around 2007, and had to figure out how to properly adapt to a new engine. It reached peak gameplay performance in NCAA 12, but it finally figured out what made for a really good NCAA Football (I'm defining "really good" as "something I'm not getting from Madden") game in 2014. That was as simple as having a single season mode again for those who don't feel like dealing with recruiting, easier defensive playmaking control, and the ability to make the option work.

8. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Wii)

This is exactly what I wanted from WarioWare back in 2007. On a console whose main feature was swinging your arms everywhere, I can't think of a better use of your time than swinging your arms everywhere. WarioWare often ends up being some exhibition of a new feature (see: Basically every WarioWare game after the first), and I'm okay with that.

7. You Don't Know Jack! (Wii)

A trivia game has made it on the list ALERT A TRIVIA GAME HAS MADE IT ON THE LIST. This series was actually a favorite of my parents' in its original form during the '90s, and I'm glad to see it make a comeback like that. I only can explain why I like this so much via personal anecdote, so here it goes:
Out at the camp where I worked this past summer, I brought out my copy of the PlayStation version and played it against 2 of my co-workers (to protect their anonymity we'll refer to them as "Mighty Mouse" and "Joe"). We enjoyed that, and when we got to the Wii version, we enjoyed it just as much. Consistent quality even over a fifteen year gap, especially on a game based around humor, is hard to do.

6. Mirror's Edge (XBOX 360)

I went through a really snobby rebellious phase back in 2009 and I went searching for a game that was "different" from the "generic" games that all the "douche" kids in my middle school liked (those games were Halo 3, Call of Duty: WAW, and Madden 2009) so I went and tried a bunch of "different stuff" (Tony Hawk's Project 8, Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts and Bolts, and Portal), some of which I liked, and some of which I didn't. I liked Mirror's Edge back when I first tried it, but it's one of the only games from that period that I tstill think sticks out as a really good one. (and, for what it's worth, I still haven't played anything similar to it since)

5. College Hoops 2K7 (XBOX 360)

Really killing it here on the whole "hardcore gamer" crowd. But hey, it's about everything I could want from a basketball sim. Really expansive legacy mode, gameplay sliders, that weird chant creator thing that I absolutely didn't abuse, and almost every Divison I school. I couldn't want much more than that. It's just a very fun game to sink hours into and find yourself with a team somewhere unexpected, trying to build a winning program. I absolutely recommend it to anyone who is me.

4. Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition (XBOX 360)

So this is a great game with a great story and excellent humor from the early 1990's. I know some people weren't a huge fan of the added voice work, but I like the person who played Guybrush, and I didn't have all that much of a problem with the cursor system (though I will admit that it didn't work quite as well in a few bits as SCUMM would have). Easy to get into a classic series such as Monkey Island through a remake done as well as this one (especially at 10 dollars)

3. Rhythm Heaven Fever (Wii)

Another one of those that I played at work, and another from the guys who made WarioWare. Catchy and memorable music comes from just about every one of my favorite games, but there's something different when that music makes the game work. You'll see this in similar rhythm-focused titles like PaRappa The Rappa as well, where people remember the fun music along with the  action. I think I had so much fun with this one because my friends were playing it at around the same time, and we all got very much into it.

2. Call of Duty 2 (XBOX 360)

I like to imagine the guy here's like "LETS GO LETS GO STORM THE HILL THERE'S A BAD THING ON TOP"

There are two XBOX 360 games from 2005 on this list somehow but I'm not ashamed. The second COD game was probably the game that killed the World-War II "genre" to a certain extent. The developers left no stone unturned when it comes to knowing exactly what made a good game based upon a bloody, generation-destroying war such as WWII. The single-player mode perfected the formula that the Call of Duty series ran on (or would have run on had the games not changed dramatically in the fourth entry), moving from character to character, most of whom were simple people involved in a war much bigger than them. It managed to be cinematic, but not too cinematic to the point where it didn't feel like you were "playing." The XBOX Live multiplayer was great as well, the first that I ever experienced.

1. Skate 3 (XBOX 360)

I would lose so much street cred if anyone were to ever read this list. But Skate 3 is exactly what I wanted from skating games. It didn't feel as restricted as the original Skate (one of the main reasons that I asked for an XBOX 360 back in 2008 for a Christmas present), and I vastly preferred the setting Port Carverton to San Vanelona after a few hours of trying it. The fact that the setting was named "Port Carverton" added to why Skate's still my favorite: a stupid sense of humor. Also: Shameless product placement from Miracle Whip (they really wanted to get in cool with the kids for a while).
Also: These videos I made-

I can go for a really long time with this but I'll spare you. That was me having fun with a cool game that I like a lot, pure and simple. I've beaten it about twice but I've put more than a few extra hours into it. Highest recommendation from me.

TRYING TO KILL TIME WITH COUNTER-STRIKE SOURCE - TEACHING AN OLD DOG TO PLAY GAMES AGAIN

FBack in late 2011, I was a huge fan of Counter-Strike: Source. I played it all the time, after school and on the weekend, and it was a main source of killing time for 16 year old me. But I quit playing it for the most part after Junior Year of high school for whatever reason. But I had like thirty minutes to kill before a date tonight so I decided, hey, why not try it out again? So I booted up Steam and got ready to play some more of an old favorite!

the fuck is this

so OKAY STEAM'S GOTTA UPDATE OR SOMETHING I DUNNO PLAN B I GUESS

Half-Life 2: Deathmatch. Another time sink for when I couldn't get CS:S to play/I wanted to actually play for an extended period of time without having to sit and wait for someone else to finish up what they were playing/the 3 days that I didn't own Counter-Strike and only had Half-Life 2: Deathmatch.

Naturally, I chose the server with the most players (12 in this case, the only one with more than 10 at the moment). Half-Life 2: Deathmatch was always the Robert Griffin's Baylor to Counter-Strike: Source's Oklahoma if we're in a 2011 mindset here. CS:S was always carefully calculated, very strategic, and you'd really have to think hard and be very skilled in order to be successful. HL2, on the other hand, was just as good though very chaotic and sometimes you'd just get lucky but at other times you'd be confused as hell and die like 19 times in a row without even taking a step.

HL2 offense vs CS:S defense essentially (from SBNation)

But anyway, I got started back up right here with this:

Started Mid-Game. I don't think I ever got into that structure there in the middle

I started out well, as always

If you're me, roughly half of HL2 is dying before you get to move

This guy killed me a bunch

This guy didn't move for the whole game

Tried to use this chair as a weapon but outside of WWE they aren't great

Above View of the Map. Very hard to land on the tree

Finished not last to the guy who wasn't physically there and still only died ten times more than I did

 Game One Review: Still trying to figure out what works for me, and I realized that I wasn't good with the Magnum anymore so I pretty much used the basic machine-gun thing and the shotgun. Still, I had fun, and time was killed.

Game Two started in a much different place. For one, it was indoors

For two, there were levels!

Constant death didn't escape me, however. This time I died from a piece of metal

At this point I realized why I stopped playing video games online

 Read that chat box

mmhmm. Quality humanity from a real person who is really real. Let that sink in for a second. They probably have a job

 Probably a well paying job too

and the person on the receiving end of the abuse is a real person as well.

FINAL SCORES: SECOND TO NOT LAST PLACE also that Biceps guy left

Game 2 review: I really liked the map, much better than the first but my gilded age of gaming sorta came back, what with the whole realizing that yes, very very angry people do still play online games. My sound was actually still all the way down from when I typically played.

But this next map was great, very big with many different rooms and levels

Really big inside room

Spent a lot of time with the gravity gun interestingly enough, killed a guy with a barrel

There is a hole here, though...

And it leads to a basement. This guy stayed there and killed everyone who went down there, though

Except for me on a stupidly lucky no-scoped shot with this here crossbow

Also there's a roof

Also also I've done significantly better this time

But then I was done. So time for a final verdict:
Was Counter-Strike: Source still fun? Well not exactly
Was Half-Life 2 Deathmatch still fun? Yeah, I'd say so
Did it still hold your attention? Yes
Why did you write a post about it? Well I haven't posted since August, I think?
WHERE CAN I FIND OTHER INTERESTING WEB FUN FROM JOE BUSH

Go! Go! Hypergrind (Review)

(Written in late June on a PC with no internet connection. Figured I'd post it here finally.

Back in the late 1990s, skateboarding took off (both figuratively and literally) as a viable source of video game entertainment. Thanks to the long reach of the immaculate Tony Hawk, many (read: most) developers couldn’t resist the other, equally long reach, of almost certain cashflow. Somehow, along with those typical publishers, expected to fall into a certain trend, fell Japanese RPG giant: Atlus.

Go! Go! Hypergrind stands as Atlus’ first and only venture into the skateboard genre. Though the game’s foundation bases itself in skating, the settings and design differs heavily from anything like the typical Tony Hawk archetype. However, in terms of core mechanics, Hypergrind plays very similarly. Jumping, movement, and tricks work nearly the same way. The only real difference between the controls of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 and Hypergrind comes with flip tricks, as they are completely nonexistent in Hypergrind.

Along with the standard tricks, Hypergrind includes a variety of “appeals,” which come from various different stage obstacles, including decapitations, being covered in paint, and flattenings from obstacles as typical as construction machines to absurdities, like dinosaurs and alligators. Appeals add a new element to skating, unseen in any other game that I’ve played.

Unlike many skating games, Hypergrind’s story actually matters. Eleven cartoon characters have been chosen to restore interest in hand-drawn animation (accentuated by excellent cel-shaded graphics). The way that this happens apparently revolves around skateboarding or something. Every level operates under a series of competitions, ranging from simply scoring the most points, to a head to head race to gather the most points. Score carries from level to level, so competition is constant and remains suspenseful throughout all eight locations.

While I’m very experienced when it comes to skateboarding games, Hypergrind manages to stand out from the pack. While the quality does not stand up to that of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 or 4, and the stages are basically subpar, the art style and general gameplay mechanics make Hypergrind unique at the very least. Which is more than can be said for Grind Session, Transworld Skateboarding, MTV’s Skateboarding featuring Andy MacDonald, or most of the Tony Hawk games past Underground.