iPad

The much anticipated Apple "tablet" was announced today.  The iPad.  Basically a giant iPhone/iTouch.

 

I want one.

 

I'm a tech freak and I've been waiting for this thing.  $499 for the 16gb version, $599 for the 32gb and $699 for the 64gb.  Not bad.  Cheaper than I was anticipating.  If you want 3G support (service to be provided by AT&T on a NO contract basis), add another $130.  So I'm looking at $829 for the top of the line model.  I can live with that.

 

Now I have to ask myself if I should cave and get this upon release (in about 90 days for the 3G models, 60 days for wi-fi only) or do the "smart" thing and wait until next year when a better version is released with cool new features, better specs, and some of the initial kinks worked out.

 

What to do, what to do?!?!?!

 

Ah, the good old first quarter of a year.  A time when a gamer can recover from the onslaught of games released during the holiday season.  A time for the wallet to heal.  A time to maybe purchase some of the games you weren't able to pick last year, to fill in the void left by the complete lack of quality releases.

 

Well, not this f'ing year!

 

The release calendar for the first four months of this season is absolutely crazy.  Here are just the games that have my interest.  I'm adding an asterisk next to my absolute must-have, day one purchases.

 

1/26 - Mass Effect 2*

2/2 - Lost Planet 2

2/9 - Bioshock 2*

2/23 - Heavy Rain

2/23 - Splinter Cell: Conviction*

3/2 - Battlefield: Bad Company 2

3/9 - Final Fantasy XIII

3/16 - God of War III*

4/27 - Red Dead Redemption*

5/2 - Mafia II

 

I think that is more quality releases in one first quarter than the last four 1st quarters combined.  Wow.

 

A quick note.  Out of all titles listed, Heavy Rain is the only original IP.  All the others are sequels.  I think 75% of all the games I've purchased over the last few years have been sequels.  It is getting riskier and riskier for developers to come out with new original content.  People want the tried and true route.

 

I'm very intrigued by Heavy Rain, simply because it is trying something unique and different.  I don't think it is going to be mind blowing (nor a commercial success unfortunately), but it will be a nice change of pace.  I was very impressed early on, but I've been less impress with some of the latest movies I've seen.  The character dialogue and "acting" seems a little stiff.  As does the lip-syncing.  Hope it is all ironed out by release.

 

Well, time to start saving!

 

Just chiming in . . .

Being the incredibly lazy, inconsistent and procrastinating blogger that I am, here's my first post of 2010 (and first one in over a month!).  Happy New Year everybody!  :\

 

On the gaming front, I'm still churning away on MW2, trying to keep my kill/death ratio above 1.40.  The game is still a blast to play and I continue to be totally inconsistent in my performance.  Last night I went 24-2 in one match and followed it by going 8-14.  WTF?

 

I'm very happy with the recent patch that nerfed the 1887 Akimbo combo.  That particular set-up was practically ruining my experience, since it would be an automatic one-shot kill from practically any distance without the need to aim.  C'mon!!!

 

Right now I still have two pet peeves.  First, the freakin' Commando perk that lets you knife opponents from like 10 feet away.  It has the same effect as Halo's energy sword, where you basically lock on and fly towards an opponent, except that you don't need to hold your cursor over the opponent for a second to lunge, it is instant.  And annoying.  I'm not totally against the Commando Perk.  I just don't think that a knife should win in a gun fight if both opponents are facing each other and one guy is shooting with a freaking ballistics weapon!  If I get knifed in the back, that is fine.  Even with the 10 foot lunge.  If I get knifed in the front before I see the guy and can react, I can let it go.  But if I see the person running towards me and I begin to unload on him with my freakin' machine gun, then he should not be able to lunge at me and get the instant kill.  F you Infinity Ward!  You should take a lesson from Epic and the GoW2 chainsaw.  If you get shot while going in for the "melee" kill, then the bullets stop your forward momentum.  That's it.  That's all I want added to the Commando Perk.  Keep the 10 foot lunge.  But if I shoot you mid-lunge, then you better stop in your tracks!

 

Alright, now that I got that off my chest, my second pet peeve is the damn Riot Shield.  I hate this thing.  Damn you again Infinity Ward!  Is there a way to kill some fool who is crouched down and charging you with one of these things?  Sure, you can sticky them with grenade, if you have one.  Blinding them with a flashbang works, but that is a bad technique if they are right in front of you.  You're just a likely to blind yourself.  I end up futilely shooting at the guy while he bonks me over the head with his stupid shield!  Argh!!!  I hate you guys!

 

Ok, enough MW2.  I've actually been playing a lot of Madden 2010 recently, if you can believe it.  With the latest patches I've found a set of sliders that I've enjoyed.  I started a new Dolphins franchise and I am currently 2-1.  Game is still a ways off from being the total NFL experience, but it is serviceable this year with good sliders.  That's a start.

 

I've also played some 1 vs 100 and participated in the Live game this past Tuesday.  I'm a sucker for trivia so it is enjoyable, although all the commercials get annoying.

 

And that's about it on the gaming front.  Have plenty of games left to finish, which I might never get to.  Mass Effect 2 at the end of the month, although I'm not too excited at this point, although I know it is a day 1 purchase for me.

 

Oh, I should have my GotY 2009 post up . . . umm, sometime before the end of the year.

 

Hope to catch Avatar this weekend.  I've been reluctant to go since I can't stand crowded theaters and lines anymore.  Man I am getting old.  The movie has already made over a billion dollars word-wide.  Wow.  James Cameron is money in the bank.  Will this guy ever have a problem getting funding for a movie ever again in his life?  His movies basically print money for the studio.

 

Gaming update

On the gaming front. I've been alternating between, MW2, Assassin's Creed II and The God of War Collection.

 

Man, I love these GoW games.  I just finished playing through the first one yesterday (looks great in HD) and will be starting part 2 soon.  I played through each one multiple times on the PS2, but I am having just as good a time playing them again.  I'm especially excited about seeing part 2 in HD, because it was by far the most impressive looking PS2 game I ever played.  I wish Sony would release a collection of Ico and Shadow of the Colossus like this.

 

I also got to download the GoW III demo.  I had already seen this demo first hand at PAX this year, but never go to play it (there was a loooong line).  The visuals for the demo are fantastic, and you can really see the jump in quality after trying the demo on the heels of playing through the original game.  The GoW series has always done a great job of showing scale and making the player feel very, very small next to some awesomely large vistas and sights, and I cannot wait to see what's in store for this new game, now that the developer has the PS3's capabilities to work with.

 

Assassin's Creed II is still amazing, although my playing sessions are a lot shorter now.  That weekend when I got sucked in I was playing for huge chunks of time, but I can not play for about an hour or so and move on to something else.

 

In non-game related news, after having the final two discs of Battlestar Galactica in my possession for about 3 months (seriously), I finally finished the season and returned the discs to Netflix.

 

Holy Crap how could it have taken me so long!!!!  What a way to end the season!  I can't wait until I get season 2!

 

Assassin's Creed II impressions . . .

I enjoyed the original Assassin's Creed.  It was a severely flawed game, but the core engine and game mechanics were refreshing and new.  I always had the impression that the developer spent so much time getting the building blocks in place that they just didn't have time to iron out the actual gameplay and story.  So you had a nice playground to play in, but there weren't too many interesting things to do.

 

Hopefully the sequel remedies that right?  Afterall, the groundwork is already done.

 

I was reluctant to pick up ACII.  It would be cutting into my MW2 time.  But I caved and got it on release day.

 

Much like with Gears of War 2, I hated it the second I started playing.  The entire first hour or so is dreadfully boring and uneventful.  I didn't even think the game looked impressive graphically.  It was bland and lifeless and I stopped playing wondering how Ubisoft could drop the ball on a game with such promise.

 

The game certainly takes a while to get going.  You don't even get a weapon until about 2 hours in (I spent some time exploring and finding treasure chests, so your results may vary).  You also start out as a carefree young man, not involved in anyway in the entire Assassins vs. Templars war that is going on behind the scenes.  Your first few tasks are mundane and seemingly unimportant; delivering some letters for your dad, beating up a cheating boyfriend for your sister, walking with your mom to pick up a package.

 

But all this exposition and "bonding" with your family serves a purpose.  One that the first game could have definitely used.  When the "shit hits the fan", and you are forced into this world of conspiracy, Assassins, and Templars, it is very personal and you really do want revenge.  I barely knew why I was taking guys out in the first game.  Sure there was a reason, but it was mostly because I was told to do so.  The targets meant nothing to me on a personal level.  Now, in ACII, every assassination is all the more sweet because I am much more invested in the reasons for them.

 

Once the game gets going, it it can be overwhelming.  There are so many different things to do.  You have your main story missions, sure, but there are countless side missions.  Beat-up events and races.  Viewpoints to reach.  Hidden chests to loot.  Feathers to collect (and even these are tied to the story).  There are Assassin's Tombs to find and clear (these are a blast).  There's the "truth" to seek out by finding hidden glyphs on the sides of selected buildings and solving their puzzles (which are unique and intriguing).  There are codex pages to locate and add to your collection so that you may reveal to bigger puzzle.  There are pick-pocketers and theives to chase down.  And then there's a a whole economic system at play.  Weapons and armor to purchase.  Different outfits and larger pouches to increase your capacity for things such as medicine.  You can upgrade your uncle's Estate, by repairing the worn and torn town to increase its appeal and bring in business, thus increasing your own wealth (money collected by the town is deposited into a chest in your villa that you can collect).

 

This game is riduculously large.

 

So far, about 5 - 6 hours in, I am still learning countless new moves or acquiring new techniques and weapons.  I still haven't seen (or even unlocked) all that the game has to offer.

 

Once you invest some time into it, the rewards far out weight the slow the start.  I went in expecting a better experience than the original and yet I ended up getting a lot more.  ACII is huge, and deep, and a hell of a good time.  Looks like it will be keeping me busy for quite some time.

 

Tuesday Notes

- Assassin's Creed 2 comes out today.  I'm not as excited about it as I was the first game.  I might still pick it up since I will be at Best Buy getting Star Trek on bluray, but the anticipation is not there.

 

While on the subject of AC2, what is up with all these review embargos on big name games lately?  MW2 had a review embargo right up to its release and it looks like the same is true for AC2.  Typically a review embargo means that the developer knows the game is crap and they don't want early reviews up, but I know that's the not the case with these games (at least I hope it is not with AC2).

 

Reviews don't really affect my purchasing decision, but I just like reading them.  I'm curious to see if they addressed the repetitive mission structure of the first game.  Hope it all feels more organic.

 

- Been playing MW2 multiplayer (of course) and while I absolutely love it, that love is usually reserved for when I have a decent ping to the game.  This happened all the time in CoD4 too.  Your performance is greatly determined by your current connection to the host.  If I have four little green bars, I am golden.  What I see on the Kill Cam is what I experience during live action and I typically do very well.  If however, I have 3 green bars (I never go below 3), then things get ugly.  I then typically play terrible and the Kill Cam shows something very different from what I saw.  It is all a latency issue, but it can be very frustrating.

 

In games with 3 green bars, I'll typically finish with a 1 to 1 kill/death ratio.  If that!  In games with four bars, I'm usually 3 to 1 in that department.  That is a HUGE difference.

 

I hate that my enjoyment of the game depends so much on this.  I hope it is something that Infinity Ward can at least improve in a patch, since I know it can't go away for good.

 

I don't have a problem with playing poorly, as long as the reason I am sucking is because of my own doing, and not because I have a disadvantage because of latency.  When I have 4 bars and get killed, I know it was my fault, or the other player just beat me.  When I have 3 bars and get killed, something just feels off.  The Kill Cam confirms that both I and the player that killed me did not see the same thing.  It is frustrating.  And annoying.  And at times enough to make me turn the game off in anger.

 

But when the game is clicking, and the connection does not interfere, there is no better multiplayer game on consoles.

 

Modern Warfare 2 impressions

With my mysterious internet issues resolved, I've put in some quality
time into MW2 over the last two days. I've dabbled in the
single-player, Special Ops, and of course, multi-player. Impressions.

Solo Campaign:

- Think I am about 75% done with the solo campaign. I'm playing it on
Regular difficulty. I usually do Hardened my first play-through and
then knock out Veteran afterward. But not this time. I went with
Regular for two reasons.

First, some sections on Hardened (not to mention Veteran) have proven
to be quite difficult in previous games (CoD2, CoD4) and they have led
to some frustration. This has lead to the stalling of the progression
and flow of the game, since you end up getting stuck in one particular
section or sections for a while. I didn't want to go through that this
time. At least not my first time through the game. I just wanted to
experience the story straight through and just enjoy the ride. The
agony of Hardened and Veteran can come later.

Second, I wanted to get through the story campaign as fast as possible.
For two reasons. I want to devote my full attention to multi-player.
And two, I don't want any sections or surprises spoiled for me. I
already had the airport level spoiled, so it did not have the kind of
impact it would have had if I would have gone in not knowing anything
about it. CoD4 had PLENTY of amazing moments, so I don't want to have
any of those potential moments spoiled for me.

- So far, I am enjoying the single-player, but I have not been blown
away like I was with CoD4. I really felt like Infinity Ward hit it out
of the park with the original Modern Warfare. It was one of the best
single-player FPS experiences I've had. It was intense, fun, and I
actually cared about the story.

I didn't enjoy WaW because I felt it leeched off MW too much and I'm
experiencing some of that same deja vu here. IW seems to be a victim of
its own success. Granted, if any game should be allowed to feel similar
to MW, it should be Infinity Ward's follow-up. I'm just not being as
blown away from all the set-pieces, because CoD4 already took me on this
roller-coaster ride before. Sure, this coaster has bigger drops, but
I'm a roller-coaster veteran by now.

And I should clarify, my dislike of WaW was the fact that I felt like
Treyach just blatantly rode on MW's coat-tails and didn't bother trying
to make WaW have an identity on its own. Obviously I am not feeling
that with MW2, since IW can copy off itself all it wants.

- Speaking of roller-coasters, it sometimes feels like MW2 is stuck on
giant drops. The game's pace is just relentess. CoD games are
notorious for total chaos, but maybe the formula is wearing thin, or I'm
looking for a change-up every now and then, because I could do with a
few more quiet sections. Some levels do ask for a stealthier approach,
but you know it's only a matter of time before that level explodes into
a giant firefight with hundreds of opponents. Ok, this is just an odd
"complaint" on my part. What will this game be if not one giant
fire-fight? That's what this franchise is built on. To its credit, the
game does try to mix it up. The airport level is unlike anything seen
before. There are some stealthy infiltration missions. I'm just being
pissy because I'm upset I haven't been as impressed with the solo game
as I was with CoD4.

- I'll stop commenting on this now until I actually finish it. I might
just be completely blown away by the end.

- Last note, going back to my first point of not wanting to have the
game's high points spoiled for me, I wish Infinity Ward would have keep
the fact that you will be doing fighting on America soil a secret. It
would have been difficult to keep it under wraps, since it looks like a
good chunk of the game takes place here in the US, but it would have
been a great revelation while playing it for the first time.

Special-Ops:

- I've played (and 3 starred) all of the Alpha and Bravo Special-Ops
missions. I love this mode. It is a total blast to play with a friend.
That is all.

Multi-player:

I've written plenty on CoD4 multiplayer. Not too much more to add,
other than this game keeps all that was good and adds too it. It is too
soon to tell whether everything will work and it will stay completely
balanced, but it looks good so far.

IW does a great job of rewarding players constantly. It seems like you
are always unlocking something, or at least getting bonus points in-game
for doing something. I also like that they changed up the scoring
system a bit. Instead of getting 10 points for a kill in team
deathmatch, you now get 100. It is basically the same, instead of
needing 750 points to win, you need 7500, but seeing a +100 pop up is a
lot more rewarding than seing a +10.

I've leveled up to level 27 so far, so there are still PLENTY of guns,
perks and attachments for me to unlock and check out. Pretty sure I'll
be giving further impressions later.

But so far, multiplayer is just what I expected. The Modern Warfare
online formula is fantastic and MW2 just adds more toys, levels, and
perks to play with.