Two years later.

The above line should not be read as sarcastic, or angry, or with any other negative emotion in your face.

I am totally okay with being able to play Castle Crashers two years after its release date without having to drop money on an Xbox.

No, this is not a flame war, I am also totally okay with the Xbox. I like the Xbox. If I were rich man (do do do do do do… hmmm, doesn’t work in text) I would have all three consoles, and every game known to man for each.

But I am not. And I don’t. So the ability to finally play Castle Crashers made me fairly excited, and got me thinking about exclusivity.

Oooh, I shiver when I say that word. Exclusivity… there it is again!

Exclusivity made it so that long, long ago, I couldn’t play the original Bioshock because, GASP, it was a Xbox exclusive.

Anyone else remember those days?

It seems that developers are finally starting to realize that gamers, as rabid as we are, are also real people without Yachts.

Well, mine’s in the shop.

Anyway, the rest of ya’s don’t have Yachts, and having to continually drop money on consoles, plus games, plus a little bit of our sanity, makes for a lot of broke, tired and Yachtless gamers.

Okay, I’ll stop with the Yacht.

The point is, lately I’ve had the ability to play many things I wouldn’t have been able to had it not been for these developers finally realizing that gaming has entered a new age.

The age of cross platforms.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game did this. It was a timed exclusive, meaning that us PS3ers got it first, and then Xbox got it later.

I’m pretty sure that Xbox users didn’t wait two years though.

Many other games just seem to be following suit, although interestingly enough, it seems to only go from Xbox to PS3, and not the other way around.

I have heard nothing about stuff like inFamous, Little Big Planet, ModNation, or any other PS3 exclusive going to Xbox.

Maybe our games suck?

Or maybe they’re just that good.

Whatever the case, it looks like PS3 users will be getting Mass Effect 2 in the first months of 2011.

Awesome.

I even heard that they’re going to set up the PS3 version of Mass Effect so that you never even have to have touched Mass Effect to understand what’s going on.

Whoa.

What is the future of gaming? I’m quite sure that no company wants to give up their selling point for their system.

PS3 doesn’t want to lose LittleBigPlanet… Xbox doesn’t want to lose Gears of War. It just makes sense… but maybe, just maybe, we’ll get a bunch of other great games without having to buy another console just to do it. Because $15 is much better than $215 (or so).

I need that money for my Yacht anyway.

But no really, this game is looking… killer.

Gamescom trailer!

I’ve never been one for Disney, as a matter of fact, I love reading about the dark side of a lot of the stuff in Disney, but damn does this look good.

This is the REAL Mickey Mouse, back in the day when PC (political correctness) did not exist.

Watch some of those cartoons from back in the day… basically, Mickey was looking for some ass, and picking fights with what appears to be a bulldog.

Or something.

Clicky example.

Classic clicky!

Now, the wonderful world of  “gritty” and “mature” has entered what was already kind of “gritty” and “mature” back in the 20′s.

Man, the 20′s were awesome.

Anyway, the trailer looks like it’s taking a very normal approach to Mickey. No cutesy stuff, but at the same time it isn’t trying to pull away from the Mickey Mouse we know and has been skewed.

I’ve never been a fan of the Wii. Besides like… Super Smash Brothers Brawl, I don’t play it because it just seems like a glorified gameboy to me.

There hasn’t been a game that has just attracted me to the system. I mean, I might be wrong, there might be some fun stuff, but every time I’ve played the Wii, my attention span lasts for about 2 minutes, and then I kind of want something heavier.

Well, unless Epic Mickey is ported to the PS3, it looks like I’m going to be a proud Wii owner soon!

WOOHOO!

I have one qualm though… so far it’s looking pretty awesome but what about gameplay?

From this video I feel that there isn’t any freedom on what you paint. Then again, that might just be because it’s the opening level, or near the opening level. Also, it only appears like you have one kind of paint and thinner. I assume that you’ll get more later, so I’m holding out for some more interesting game play.

I did like the Steamboat Willie section, as it was a nice nostalgia, as well as an interesting sidescroller (which will never get old to me).

But do I really want to play 200$ something or more just to play a sidescroller when I have Scott Pilgrim, or Castle Crashers (sooooon)?

Not really.

I might have to give this a try on a Wii somewhere before I actually go out and buy a Wii, since there is also the Playstation Move coming soon, and well, honestly I’d rather have that than a Wii.

Let’s hope someone decides to port this to the PS3, then it’ll be TRULLY epic.

More good stuff later, I have a bunch of WoW videos I hope to be posting soon, since I got my Netherdrake (I know, 3 years late) and some other interesting three manning of low level Northrend instances.

Yay fun!

I think one of the biggest changes that Blizzard is making to the series is the talent points system… and let me tell ya, there are people screaming bloody murder because of it.

You can read the full deal here, but the long story short version is that Blizzard is trying to streamline talent trees so that people can feel like the type of specification they are trying to be, such as Arms Warrior, or Feral Druid, or Best Master Hunter, right off the bat… without having to slog through worthless points, or 50 something levels.

There is a lot of good I can see that comes of this, but at the same time, I worry for the customization thing that we gamers love to death… bro.

Let’s start with the bad, since negativity is a fine way to lead into anything.

I think one of the big problems with this system is that they quite literally shove you into a tree, and keep you there. If you decide you want to be a BM Hunter, that’s IT. You are a BM Hunter until you hit 70.

Although that’s fine and wonderful for new people (maybe), people who play games a lot like to have a choice on whether they stick with a set talent tree, or switch to something to try out a new strategy.

Granted, on my Hunter, I went full 51 points into BM before I switched over to Survival, so something like this doesn’t phase me in the slightest.

But I can definitely see how some people will be shitting bricks because of this change. Someone mentioned in the comments in the above page that some of the 51 points in different trees are just worthless. And I definitely saw this back in the day with my Feral Druid. They fixed that later, but damn was the 51 point talent for Druids horrendous.

Also, I’m not sure how Blizzard is going to deal with carbon copies. Literally, every BM, Survival, Marksmanship Hunter will be EXACTLY THE SAME, until the much higher levels.

I think Blizzard is trying to get new people out of the lower levels faster, but still, I see this being a problem as the game progresses.

I think being locked into your tree is a problem, but maybe this isn’t the end all beat all. There is a definite possibility that they will change this as the testing rolls on.

I also agree with one comment on the forum that mentioned Feral druids and their talent trees. I know that Howler, my Feral drood had MANY points in Restoration, as I used things like Omen of Clarity and whatnot. How is a Feral druid going to survive in just one tree? I find that ridiculous.

But what about the good of this system? Well, I can see this definitely removing some of the monotony of leveling. Almost every level will give you something interesting now, and you don’t have to wait as long to use interesting moves.

I think if I could Bestial Rage at level 10 with my Hunter, I would enjoy that highly… even if that seems kind of ridiculous (word of the day I suppose) to me.

I think one of the BIGGEST positive of this change is that now, you no longer have to shove points into filler talents just to get to a talent you want. Once I hit 70 on my hunter (click that), I wanted to go into a few of the areas in Survival… I mostly just wanted Hawkeye and some of the trap talents.

Well, I ended up having to put points in Improved Tracking, which is utterly useless in my opinion. It’s nice for instances (but not that nice), but as a whole, I would have loved to have used those points in something else.

I will say, however, that Blizzard hasn’t really let me down yet. I wouldn’t be playing this game again if they sucked at what they did *coughModernWarfarecough.*

I’m still in school?!

This blog almost died. Almost.

But with school starting (see above), and boredom in my class inevitably sinking in, I’ve decided to try this little deal again.

I have missed, a LOT of talking, ranting, praising, and crying about games. And trust me, since my last post, there have been a SHIT ton of games that have come out. And not only that, but controversies, drama, excitement and disappointments that come along with them.

Will I be talking about those?

You bet your ass I am!

Well, maybe.

I really don’t know where to start, so I suppose I could start with what I’m currently playing:

WoW.

I know right? Soooo 2005.

But yes, I’ve started playing WoW again. Started from scratch with a friend (Twiiiiiins) and we’re now… well, see for yourself:

Click it!

We even got a second friend (you might know them, they’ve written on this thing before) to get sucked into the Recruit-A-Friend deal, so I’m rockin’ a rocket.

Pictures later, maybe?

The main reason for this sudden re-entry into the World… of Warcraft?

Star Wars: Old Republic.

Since that won’t come out until at least next year, this is a nice substitute. Although, I find myself enjoying the game much more than I did back in my raiding days, so exciting eh?

So yeah, what next?

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game.

Gloooriuos game, especially if you are a fan… of well, anything fun. Gaming, movies, 8-biting, side-scrolling, fighting, midi music… love… you name it, the game hits on it. There is something very satisfying about the K.O. when you beat a boss, that same satisfaction I get when I make those same two letters pop up in Super Street Fighter IV.

I still play that?!

It’s a really good game when you’re too lazy to pop in a Blu-Ray, don’t have enough time to pop in said Blu-Ray, or you feel that Ramona’s ex-boyfriends  (exes, excuse me)  haven’t gotten enough of a beating.

Or you like blond, half-ninja chicks (Roxxxiiiiiieee!)

I’ve also been dabbling in some Starcraft II, but my computer won’t stop gasping and wheezing when I try to play this thing, so I’ve limited it to… well, not much. Besides, I’m already Blizzard’s bitch, I think playing two Blizzard games at one time is a bit much.

So yep, I’m back.

Crap…

I know, it’s rare.

For the past… forever… in Modern Warfare 2, there have been a mass deluge of idiots. And when I say idiots, I mean, bold, italic, underlined, different color IDIOTS.

Yeah.

I guess that one of my issues with this is that the arguments are standard (and unimaginative) and no matter what the outcome, there is always someone complaining.

Always.

ALWAYS.

Mainly, when playing something like Modern Warfare 2, it’s a complaint of the game mechanic. In this example, it’s “camping.” I actually had a player on the opposite team complain that I was camping, even when they won, because he happened to find me and kill me from behind, while I was prone.

Oh, so I can’t go prone now?

Camping is one of those issues that is just a moot point to me. I sometimes find myself complaining about it, but I find a way to kill said camper. And if I really have a problem with the camper, I camp myself!

It’s GENIUS!

And honestly, unless you’re playing a map like Wasteland or Derail, camping is a dangerous game. You run the risk of getting barely any kills, or getting killed in the process.

To start nerd raging because I “camped,” even when you WON? Nah, I’m good, go to hell.

My next big pet peeve is those who complain about in game mechanics, related to weaponry or anything like that.

When someone complains about Th3MisterX using the heartbeat sensor, on a hardcore match… I then facepalm and shake my head.

Please, learn to Ninja.

The conversation with this idiot then proceeded something like this (paraphrased for comedic effect.)

Me: Are you seriously complaining about the heartbeat sensor?!

Idiot: I’m not complaining, I’m just saying you should play Call of Duty 4, the greatest game in Call of Duty history, I would show you what’s what there, durpa, durpa, duuuuuurrrr…

Me: Dude, I went 20 and 13 with the Mini-Uzis, and most of those kills were you, please shut the hell up.

Idiot: That’s cuz you were using the noob screen [Ed note: I believe that's what he was calling the heartbeat sensor].

Me: You [lots 'o expletives here], I was the guy with the MINI UZIS, who shot you repeatedly in the face, please learn to not suck.

You could say I was fanning the flames, but really, it was more like fanning the knowledge.

See what I did there?

“Hey Machombie!” you say to me, gleefully looking for a way to make me look stupid, “They’re just trolls, and obviously it worked because you’re complaining about it now!”

Oh no, no sir, I honestly do not believe that these guys are trolls. I believe, that they honestly believe, this game is LIFE, and that if you don’t play the way their fractured mind plays, that you should be thrown into a pit filled with Barbie Fashion Show and Bratz: Rock Angelz (look those up, they’re real games).

Honestly, I’ve dealt with enough stuff throughout the day, with school, work, people, hobos, news programs with dumb people and whatnot, that I just want to sit down, pull out my RPG, and create virtual havoc.

Instead, I have to listen to what is clearly an opinionated (more so than me apparently), angry child complaining because he won’t stop RUNNING AT A GUY WITH A GUN.

Balls.