Conversations with IrishPride Episode 7

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Ouch, My Wallet Hurts!
Hello everyone and welcome to Episode 7 of Conversations with IrishPride!  I hope you have had a good week and have a safe and wonderful Labor Day Weekend!  No three day weekend for me since I work every Saturday.  Yes, I would like some cheese with this wine.  Anyway, today I'm going to talk about how it's a great time to be a gamer but on the flipside, why it's a horrible time to be a gamer.
 
It seems like every year that once the new iteration of Madden is released; there are a bunch of excellent titles on the horizon.  The dull summer video game releases are over and the fall/holiday portion of the calendar will release a multitude of strong titles.  Just for fun, I was checking week by week for what new releases were coming out.  I was stunned that from this week all the way to the week of November 20th, there is at least one game I would like to have.  That doesn't make my wallet happy; nor my financial responsibilities.  But as a gamer, I'm ecstatic!  Well, without further ado, here is a list of video games that I want to own, broken down by week.  And just for shits and giggles, I decided to post how much these games would cost me and at the very end of the post I totaled the final price if I were to but all the games on release date.
 
Week of August 28, Week Total: $59.99
  • Madden 12, XBOX 360 ($59.99)          
Week of September 4, Week Total: $199.96
  • Dead Island, PC ($49.99)
  • Resistance 3, PS3 ($59.99)
  • Warhammer 40k: Space Marine, PC ($49.99)
  • Star Fox 64 3D, 3DS ($39.99)
Week of September 11, Week Total: $99.98
  • NHL 12, XBOX 360 ($59.99)
  • God of War: Origins Collection, PS3 ($39.99)
Week of September 18, Week Total: $94.98
  • Gears of War 3, XBOX 360 ($59.99)
  • Kirby: Mass Attack, DS ($34.99)
Week of September 25, Week Total: $59.99
  • Fifa Soccer 12, XBOX 360 ($59.99)
Week of October 2, Week Total: $119.98
  • Rage, PC ($59.99)
  • Dark Souls, PS3 ($59.99)
Week of October 9, Week Total: $99.98
  • Forza Motorsport 4, XBOX 360 ($59.99)
  • Harvest Moon: The Tale of Two Towns, 3DS ($39.99)
Week of October 16, Week Total: $59.99
  • Batman: Arkham City, PS3 ($59.99)
Week of October 23, Week Total: $109.98
  • Battlefield 3, PC ($59.99)
  • Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Wii ($49.99)
Week of October 30, Week Total: $119.98
  • Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception, PS3 ($59.99)
  • Lord of the Rings: War in the North, XBOX 360 ($59.99)
Week of November 6, Week Total: $209.96
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, PC ($59.99)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, PC ($59.99)
  • Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, PS3 ($49.99)
  • Cave Story 3D, 3DS ($39.99)
Week of November 13, Week Total: $139.97
  • Assassin's Creed: Revelations, PC ($49.99)
  • Saint's Row: The Third, PC ($49.99)
  • Super Mario 3D Land, 3DS ($39.99)
Week of November 20, Week Total: $49.99
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Wii ($49.99)
Grand Total: $1,424.73
  
Yikes!  That's a lot of video games and a lot of Benjamin's!  Why can't we have some of these games be released during the summer!  Obviously, I'm going to have to pick and choose what games I really want, because there is no way I'm going to spend over 1400 dollars.  So like I said: it's a great time to be a gamer and it's the worst time to be a gamer, unless you're independently wealthy, which I am not.
 
That does it for episode 7 of CwIP.  Enjoy the holiday weekend and until next time, you can send me money to buy these game :)
 
~IrishPride

NDK 2011: One Week Away

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We're at one week, or more technically eight days away, from the largest anime convention in the Rocky Mountain region.  We here at the Gameslave are starting to prepare our schedules for coverage of this year's convention.  NDK is celebrating it's 15th year, which seems startling to me.  Mostly because I, ZeldaQueen, at least have been attending since 2000, so that'd be NDK number four. 

In any case, NDK's main site has done their major update before the start of the con, which is very informative.  If you've been before, there isn't too much new stuff, but enough that will catch you off guard if you aren't paying attention.  Firstly, the Marriot is charging for parking.  Paying for parking is not always ideal, but if you've stayed on location before, you know how terrible parking is in the Marriot lot.  It's only $5 a day per car, which really isn't too bad considering the hotel is guaranteeing beginning room rates to not start above $100 the next 5 years.  Thank you hotel staff and NDK for that.  Hopefully more people will carpool and help let everyone have a spot.  Woe to those who leave the lot as spots are hard to get back into.  Second, there isn't the early dealer's room privilege for those that pre-register.  No longer do pre-regs get in an hour to 30 minutes earlier cause we've finally reached the point where more people pre-register now than not.  We do have separate lines though, for those who have props to check and those who don't, to hopefully keep things flowing along.  Thirdly, the video game room will be going on 24 hours a day, much like the anime video rooms.  That's a lot of gaming playing in a single weekend and tournaments if that's what you like.  Lastly, we get to see how the attendance cap plays out this year.  Each day is capped at 7,500 people.  Unless NDK can get a larger venue, we'll have to get use to this new feature.  There can only be so many people crammed into one building and trust me it's already been feeling seam-bursting.

If you are planning on attending or know someone that is and would like the heads up, direct yourselves to the main NDK page here at this handy link.  There are PDFs of the Events Schedule and Program Guide so you can start planning out your time spent at the con.  The list of potentials for us is long already and will need to be pruned as we can't be in three places at once and will need to do some dividing and conquering as well as passing up some items, for our coverage.  It looks like it's another great year for panels and guests as many favorites are returning.  (Darn you anime counting contest for always being during the costume contest!  Why can't you be on Friday night!) 

For those of you unable to attend or just want the highlights, is there anything you'd like us to check out and report on at this year's convention?  Send your thoughts in a comment and we'll see if we can't take in the sights and answer the questions for you!  Keep your eyes peeled for our coming coverage of NDK!

Elder Scrolls 2 - Free!

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So it appears that The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall turned 10 yesterday.  As a present Bethesda is giving you the game for free at http://elderscrolls.com/daggerfall/.  I don't know if this is old news or new news, but since I just heard about it I felt it was worth talking about.

Just remember, when you start playing this game take note that it was made in 1996, so the graphics are going to look really dated.  As seen from this screen shot:

Holy outdated graphics Batman!

 

Daggerfall featured a massive true 3-D world the size of Great Britain and helped usher a gaming renaissance in 1996. The full version of Daggerfall is available for download and playable through a DOS emulator.

Dungeons and Dragons - Song for Ulvaak

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Many of us (or so I hope) play Dungeons and Dragons when we can. Well these two girls wrote a really nice song about Dungeons and Dragons that is very meta.  The titled Song for Ulvaak  recounts the tales of a hardened warrior that has been paid to kill a ghoul.  It starts out seeming like it is a normal adventure, but takes a nice turn.  The two singing it did a great job so give it a listen in the embedded video.

Mario + Portal Gun = Awesome Game Idea

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A few months back I posted a few videos of Mario with a portal. Well it appears that the idea took deeper root than we thought it did.  The team at stabyourself.net is now creating this:

Yes, a banner! What? You don't like just a banner? OK fine, this is actually a game that combines the original Super Mario Bros. and the portal idea from, you guessed it, Portal.  The game will have the original Super Mario levels, the Lost Levels, and a built-in level editor.  Finally the game will have simultaneous multiplayer.  So let's look forward to this game (which will be FREE) to come out soon.  In the mean time sate your appetite with this video of the gameplay.

Legend of Zelda : Skyward Sword Bundle Release Info

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Image courtesy of gonintendo.com Check out their site for the full press release by clicking the imageNintendo has just announced details concerning their up and coming Legend of Zelda release.  As stated earlier, the release date is official November 20th.  At that time of release, Skyward Sword will be sold in a limited-edition bundle including the game and a gold Hylian styled Wii Motion+ Controller for the price of $69.99.  This is a very good deal as you get the Wii Motion+ controller for only $20 with the game.  It's useful for those of us like me, who haven't made the plunge into buying one of the new controllers. 

Nintendo is also including a special treat for everyone who buys an initial production copy by inlcuding a bonus CD containing the 25th Anniversary soundtrack as performed by the symphony this fall.  So not only do you get the game, you also get a fully orchestrated soundtrack of the past twenty-five years of classic Legend of Zelda music.  And for those of you not interested to purchase the bundle, never fear.  Skyward Sword will also have just a game disc release for $49.99 and will also include the music CD for the initial production run.

I don't know about everyone else, but I for one am excited and am really looking forward to this game.  I'm going to have to go and see who I can do a preorder from so I can get that controller with the game.  It looks really nice and it's a good buy for me.  I'm also really digging the official cover box art for the game.  I know there has been talk about the game's esthetic, but I really do like the water color look of the illustrations and game.  It makes it feel classic and timeless like an epic story.  Just a couple more months to go at this point and I can't wait.   

Conversations with IrishPride Episode 6

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That's the power of love...err, choice!

 

Hello everyone and welcome to Conversations with IrishPride Episode 6.  Sorry I missed last week, had something come up, but now I am back and ready to babble!
 
Can a game that's a prequel to another one that was released over a decade ago be good?Today I'm going to talk a little bit about Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  This is not going to be a review of the game, just some of my initial impressions of it.
 
First off, it's not very often I buy a game on the day that it's released and it's even rarer when I pre-order a game.  Well, I pre-orderd Deus Ex: Human Revolution because I had high hopes for it and thankfully, I wasn't disappointed.
 
When I first booted up Deus Ex, I was really looking forward to the overall atmosphere.  I like science fiction games, but I'm tired of all the sci-fi games that are simply based on killing aliens.  Well, Deus Ex has a great mood to it.  The setting is 2027 and it's not way out in left field, like other games can be.  You can actually see this type of future happening in real life which makes Deus Ex that much more engaging.
 
Secondly, a lot of games tell you that you have full choice on how you want to approach each mission.  When, in the end, it feels like you were still pushed in one certain direction to get the mission accomplished.  Already putting 8+ hours into Deus Ex I can state that you truly have your own choices on how you want to beat a mission.  Well, that is except for the bosses.  Being a fan of stealth, I obviously have approached my gameplay as a stealth agent that sneaks by guards or take them down with hand to hand combat, I really don't rely on guns.  However, when you fight a boss, you have no choice to use stealth maneuvers and have to defeat them with guns blazing.  It's disappointing that you can't have Adam Jensen looks like a badass, but is he really one? Answer: Yes.the same choice options you have throughout the game during the boss battles, but it's not a deal breaker.  It's awesome to think outside of the box in a game to get your mission done.  I like not feeling pigeonholed and having only one path and one option to finish the game.  I'm already looking forward to my second playthrough as a badass gun totting s.o.b. that will shoot first and ask questions later and I haven't even finished my first playthrough yet!
 
There are tons of games out there that claim you have the choice to play the game as you see fit, when in reality, you really don't.  Deus Ex: Human Revolution truly gives you the feeling of choice and the dark gloomy atmosphere of Detroit 2027 really gives a futuristic approach to what we may actually see in real life.  The combination of a great atmospheric mood and the true options of choice really makes Deus Ex an exciting story to unfold.  Thanks for not disappointing me Deus Ex.  I'm still not sure if I'll pre-order more games down the road but at least this time, it didn't bite me in the ass.
 
Well, that will do it for episode 6 of CwIP.  I'll see you next time.  Until then, remember, you have the power of choice!  Whatever that means.  Game on!
 
~IrishPride