Rubbish. That's all I have to say about them.
Fine, if you want me to say more, then continue reading.
It's a popularity contest, and no more. They don't look at the technical merit of the game or the gameplay elements of it, they just look at the numbers. Also, the nominees to some of the categories totally got shafted on some of them because they didn't even get mentioned (Dark Souls, Dirt 3, ect...)! I mean really, what's the point when the popular games that are ALREADY popular just get more attention.
The format of the awards was horrible as well, as they kept saying "Game of the Year (insert game here)", not Game of the Year Nominee, and these were sprinkled throughout the entire 2 hour block until they actually announced who it was. And I'm not even sure what categories they actually DID on stage, it seemed like many of the winners to some of the categories were mentioned in a one off somewhere never to be heard from again.
And beyond that Spike TV just sprinkled world premiers and silly pranks and games to make it somewhat bearable and worth it to watch. It's clearly tailored to the gaming community which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it makes it seem very juvenile and very distasteful at parts.
Needless to say, I was very disappointed with it and don't plan on watching them next year.
Dec 14, 2011
Dark Souls
So clearly I've kept up with what I intended and am writing regularly on here. With that being said, I'm going to talk about Dark Souls! The game that ate my life the last few weeks.
In short, it's a fantastic game that I would like to recommend to everyone but know that the game is NOT for everyone.
The game is brutal and has a really steep learning curve, so already, we can see why this isn't for everyone. That being said, Dark Souls has so many fantastic features that warrant a look themselves.
The first thing to talk about is scope and cohesiveness of the world. Dark Souls continually impressed me with how large it is and how well designed the world is itself. There are shortcuts back to places that make you realize how interconnected all the areas are. It's so impressive that 90% of the places you can see that have some form of geometry are reachable sometime in the game. There were several times during the game that I had been going for a while and said to myself, "well the end of this area should be ahead" and usually I was right, only to be put into another area that went even deeper.
There are so many other small things that make the game stand out. The NPC's themselves are pretty interesting (you can even kill any of them if you want to, but I wouldn't recommend it...) and most have a few of them have storyline and quests associated with them that are really interesting. Another piece of the game that is amazing is the amount interesting and unique weapons and armors that you'll come across. The number of unique weapon animations astounds me and I loved coming across a character animation I hadn't seen before. You'll play through the game more than twice just to collect all the gear.
The bosses are fantastic as well, all of them extremely unique. All of the enemies in the game have certain tells to their moves and you have to learn them to play well. Even on my 3rd playthrough bosses were pulling moves on me that I had never seen before.
These are just a few of the things that make the game so great. With that being said, the game also has some really unique pvp and co-op play as well as some interesting lore and legend to the world. That and it has a new game plus feature that lets you keep your character with its current stats to continue going through the game over and over so it gives you a lot of replay value. Plus its really interesting to watch your friends play the game when you know what's coming and they don't!
So recapping everything, the game is hard, but after getting beat down hundreds of times you learn to love every minute of it because it is such a fantastically built game with so many interesting aspects that I believe it to be a must have in any serious gamer's collection.
In short, it's a fantastic game that I would like to recommend to everyone but know that the game is NOT for everyone.
The game is brutal and has a really steep learning curve, so already, we can see why this isn't for everyone. That being said, Dark Souls has so many fantastic features that warrant a look themselves.
The first thing to talk about is scope and cohesiveness of the world. Dark Souls continually impressed me with how large it is and how well designed the world is itself. There are shortcuts back to places that make you realize how interconnected all the areas are. It's so impressive that 90% of the places you can see that have some form of geometry are reachable sometime in the game. There were several times during the game that I had been going for a while and said to myself, "well the end of this area should be ahead" and usually I was right, only to be put into another area that went even deeper.
There are so many other small things that make the game stand out. The NPC's themselves are pretty interesting (you can even kill any of them if you want to, but I wouldn't recommend it...) and most have a few of them have storyline and quests associated with them that are really interesting. Another piece of the game that is amazing is the amount interesting and unique weapons and armors that you'll come across. The number of unique weapon animations astounds me and I loved coming across a character animation I hadn't seen before. You'll play through the game more than twice just to collect all the gear.
The bosses are fantastic as well, all of them extremely unique. All of the enemies in the game have certain tells to their moves and you have to learn them to play well. Even on my 3rd playthrough bosses were pulling moves on me that I had never seen before.
These are just a few of the things that make the game so great. With that being said, the game also has some really unique pvp and co-op play as well as some interesting lore and legend to the world. That and it has a new game plus feature that lets you keep your character with its current stats to continue going through the game over and over so it gives you a lot of replay value. Plus its really interesting to watch your friends play the game when you know what's coming and they don't!
So recapping everything, the game is hard, but after getting beat down hundreds of times you learn to love every minute of it because it is such a fantastically built game with so many interesting aspects that I believe it to be a must have in any serious gamer's collection.
Nov 14, 2011
Jobs Jobs Jobs
Back from a weekend trip and a bit more energized to begin my job search. Been doing a lot of research on the companies around the Los Angeles area and have been blown away with the number and variety of them. Found out a few of my favorite studios are in the area and a couple dozen others that looked like I would be a good fit. Need to research them all a bit more individually and play some of the games that I haven't already before I write my cover letters and apply to jobs. I find it funny that some of these companies I'm finding are responsible for some of the more obscure games from decades ago that I enjoyed. Should be a busy week, especially if I don't put down Dark Souls (fantastic game by the way, review later!).
Nov 9, 2011
Looking Good
Site is coming along nicely, just a few minor things missing now! I would love to start getting some game reviews and comments on some gaming news up on here in the future to let you all know about my opinions.
Nov 8, 2011
And I'm Back!
As all two of you know, my website has been down for a pretty long time. I have now since remedied that problem and am no longer hosting it on my own web server, but through blogger now! With that, I hope to update this blog on a more regular basis, so expect to see more here in the days and weeks to come. Now I need to configure some things and figure out how the rest of this works...
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