Good bye, Hello

The time has come for this blog to put to rest. It’s been real, and it’s been fun… but it hasn’t been real fun.

As a far-well post I would like to do an UPDATE post. Going back on my old post and updating you on stuff!

Halo: REACH: Awesome: No Joke! –

The beta is long over, this is sad news… but the good news is that the game is almost out! Like for reals! Also Bungie has put out a couple of videos over the course of E3. The videos showed off the new Firefight mode and some Campaign footage. GO WATCH IT!! I ain’t spoiling shit for you – I’ll just say it’s AWESOME!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GnamP-tcDig

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5iWyoxv_V8o

Project Natal:

It’s called Kinect now. I’m pretty sure it was officially announced that the price tag on that puppy is around $150.00 (US)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=707HXdTSuIY

Portal 2:

There’s a new video of the campaign out RIGHT NOW. Go watch it. It’s short and sweet… just like Portal (1) was.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4siZQkSR7GY

Moooooortal Kooooombat:

Unrealated to the game. There is a really amazing home made movie that was film as a pitch to WB to make a new MK movie.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hy2CGY4c55k

AND THAT’S ALL FOLKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

The name is Thomas Andrew Massengill
I’ll be back blogging in one way or another. Keep an eye out for me ;D

A logo I made…

This has nothing to do with my blog.

FINISH HIM! A look at Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat, commonly abbreviated MK, is a series of fighting games created by Ed Boon and John Tobias.

EIGHTEEN YEARS OF KOMBAT

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about…

Here’s a little catch-me-up: In 1992 Mortal Kombat was unleashed upon the world. It quickly became one of the most popular arcade games of all time. In 1993 the game was ported to home video game consoles and became a best-selling game in no time flat. The game also became one of the most controversial video games of its time, for its depiction of gore and violence using realistic, digitized graphics. Here’s a video -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GPMO4p2Oig&feature=related

Now that we’re up to speed…
Let’s take a look at the last Eighteen years of Mooortal Kooombat!!

———————————————————————–

1992 –

• – Mortal Kombat comes out in arcardes.

– Makes heads explode.

– Turns kids to life of violence and super powers.

– Dibs on Scorpion. Spoiler – He PWNDS!

– The world is introduced to best techo music evar.

———————————————————————–

1993 –

• – Mortal Kombat comes out on home platforms.

– Sega Genesis, SNES, Game Boy and Game Gear owners crap themselves from super HD sprites, loljk!

– Sub Zero also PWNS but looks significantly less bad ass.

———————————————————————–

1994 –

• – Mortal Kombat II comes out!

– Actually the game came out at the end of ’93.

– If you’re bothered by it being under ’94, I don’t care ;D.

– You didn’t even get the damn game until Christmas so quit crying.

– The roundhouse kick got BEEFED! 12 playable combatants!

———————————————————————–

1995 –

• – Mortal Kombat 3 breaks arcades all over the world
  

– Mortal Kombat Trilogy is released on home consoles

– This game came out on DOS, Game Boy, Game Gear, Genesis, Master System, PlayStation, Super NES and Windows.

– 15 characters?! Snizzle-McBlood-Bath

———————————————————————–

1997 –

• – Mortal Kombat 4 is released in arcade form

– This game is in 3D!! No more crappy sprites!!

– This game introduces weapons for bashing, slashing etc.

– “Max Damage” Cap is introduced to keep me from beating everyone.

———————————————————————–

2002 –

• – Mortal Kombat Deadly Alliance reinvents the series on Xbox, Playstation 2 and GameCube (also but not really on GB:Advance)

– “Konquest” mode introduces a more personally “story mode.”

– The “Krypt” is a room of 676 “Koffins” that contain unlockable costumes, pictures characters, concept art, videos, arenas etc.

———————————————————————–

200(4ish)5 –

• – Around the end of ’04 and the start of ’05 Mortal Kombat Deception comes out     for Xbox, Playstation 2 and the good ol’ GameCube.

– This game introduces ONLINE play! OMG! Seriously! Fight ppls over interwebs
and stuff! He’s all “You’re a noob!” and you’re all “PPFFT STFU NOOB!”

– During its release week this game sould more than one million units, surpassing the sales of the last title and becoming the fastest selling game in the company’s (Midway) history.

———————————————————————–

2006 –

• – MK: Armageddon is released on the Xbox and PS2 (Wii version out in ’07)
  

– Game boost an impressive 63 different fighters!

–  Create-a-fighter mode lets you put Chuck Norris, Jet lee or even YOU
in the ring with more familiar murderers. How fun!

– After releasing a game like this – You’d assume this would be the last.

———————————————————————–

2008 –

• – LOLWAT?!

–  Do you see this picture???!

–  That is freaking BAT-MAN and Scorpion going in for an epic fist pound!

–  Yeah, like for reals… this game came out. I didn’t play it though.

– The gore in this game was turned down, because Batman doesn’t bleed.

2010 (today) –

Follow the link to see “Mortal Kombat” http://www.joystiq.com/2010/06/10/wbs-new-mortal-kombat-tests-our-might-in-2011/

YUPP!! 18 years just to go back to the original title!! If you read this all (lets be honest – You didn’t) you just wasted a loooot of work/school/free time. So congratulations. To be fair, the new game does look sweeeet. I doubt they’ll change up the system to much, although, if you read the post attached to that ^link^ They say the game is going back to a 2-D fighting system, which sounds great to me! No more motion sickness sludge on my controllers!! YAY!! Btw the game is slated for a 2011 release.

Can’t come soon enough: Portal 2

Portal 2 is an upcoming first-person action/puzzle video game, developed by Valve. It is the sequel to the critically acclaimed 2007 video game Portal and was announced on March 5, 2010. It is expected to be released during the last quarter of 2010.

I really want Portal 2

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about…

Here’s a little catch-me-up: In Portal, the player controls Chell, the protagonist, from a first-person perspective as she is challenged to navigate through a series of rooms using  the portal gun. The portal gun creates two distinct portal ends, one orange and one blue. The portals create a visual and physical connection between two different locations in three-dimensional space. Neither end is specifically an entrance or exit; all objects that travel through one portal will exit through the other. -> Here’s a video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TluRVBhmf8w

Now that we’re up to speed…

When Portal first came out I instantly feel in love with the game. With it’s its unique gameplay and darkly humorous story, it was really hard to put the game down once you picked it up. This type of puzzle game had never been seen on an Xbox. The only gripe I can possible say about the game was it was a little too short.

PORTAL 2

I really can’t stress enough how pumped I am for this sequel. Apart from having a longer story mode, Portal 2 will also feature some key gameplay changes. One of these changes is purely aesthetics. In Portal, you could form portals on most walls. Grey walls were primarily used to indicated walls that would not support portals. In Portal 2, nature has taken hold of the test chambers. Plant growth has torn through the walls and floors making the test chambers more dynamic and prettier to look at. These areas will obviously not support portals.

Another large gameplay implementation are power-ups in the form of “special paints.” These paints can be used to impart certain physical effects to a surface. This paint can also be applied to objects, such as the Weighted Storage Cube crates that affect their own physical nature. In addition to the Storage Cube, there are new types of portable objects that assist the player, including Redirection Cubes with mirrored, reflective surfaces, Aerial Faith Plates that can launch objects placed on them, and spherical Weighted Storage Balls, which made a brief appearance in Portal in one of the advanced chambers.

Portal 2 will include a two-player co-operative story mode in addition to the single player campaign. Both players will control their own portal guns and can use the other player’s portals as necessary. Because of the number of possible portal combinations, the test chambers that the players proceed through are much more difficult than the single-player campaign, encouraging the two players to work together.

Final Thoughts…

I WANT THIS GAME! It is set to release in the fourth-quarter of this year but frankly… that isn’t soon enough. If you’re unfamiliar with Portal STOP what you’re doing and go play the game.

Review: Skate 3

Skate 3 is a skateboarding title in the Skate series of video games, developed by EA Black Box, published by Electronic Arts and was released on May 11, 2010.

Review of Skate 3 (Xbox 360)

Skate 3 is a perfect example of a game that sticks to tried-and-true gameplay formula. What keeps this formula from getting stale is the healthy sense of humor, wide array of challenges and the upgrades in the cooperative and competitive online gameplay.

The game hasn’t changed to much from it’s core. If you played either of the two previous Skate titles, you’ll be able to pick up Skate 3 with no problem. New tricks this time around include the dark slide: a maneuver where you flip the board grip tape-side down before a grind. Skate 3 also addresses difficulty concerns by adding an easy mode (harder to bail, easier tricks) and a hardcore mode for the sadists out there who’ve lost sight of this being a game and would prefer more realistic real-world physics. An optional manual meter and on-screen trick analyzer provide further assistance for those who have trouble mastering the finer aspects of skating.

The new city: Port Carverton, is a skater’s dream come true. The city is split into three expansive districts and inhabited by locals that don’t seem to mind the disproportionately large population of suicidal sidewalk surfers constantly grinding, racing, and flipping over death-defying gaps. Even the security guards skate in this slacker utopia.

The visuals in Skate 3 haven’t improved much from the first game, though the character models and environments are still clean and  attractive. The low camera angle provides a unique visual perspective, putting the board and the skater’s feet in focus, highlighting where the action happens. You’ll be too busy processing all the information flying at you from on-screen to complain, your eyes glued to those sneakers, taking in the fine movements in response to your control input. With time you’ll get in the zone, quickly analyzing the environment and stringing together tricks and grinds for high-scoring lines.

Skate 3 has a huge focus on community interaction and online play, so you can get more out of the game if you have friends who also own the game. There are some caveats, though. If you’re looking for major visual improvements, it’s not too different from Skate 2, and Hall of Meat borders on ridiculous at times. But at its core, Skate 3 adds some great new elements to the formula. Those who loved the first two entries in the franchise shouldn’t hesitate to pick this one up, while the flattened learning curve — though still not totally casual-friendly — and new career mode make this an excellent place for skating fanatics new to EA’s formula to join in on the fun.

• The Good
  New city rules
  New tricks are nice
  Improved on-foot gameplay
• The Bad
  Not so immersive story mode
• The Ugly
  These innovations should have came a game sooner; This should have been skate 2.

E3 2010 – *New* Motion Controllers Arms Race

Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, is an annual trade show for the computer and video games industry. It is used by many video game developers to show off their upcoming games and game-related hardware.

E3 2010 Motion Controller Arms Race

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about…

Here’s a little catch-me-up: The Nintendo Wii console has been selling like hot cakes for a few years now. What is so special about the Wii? Aside from being cheap as dirt, the Wii has an unconventional controller, one that uses motion along with standard buttons. This technology is marketed towards a larger demographic, rather than just hard-core gamers. In preparation Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been boasting about their new Motion Controller technology for awhile now. Each company is taking their own creative spin on how they are going to steal earn your hard earned money.

Nintendo – The 3DS

Nintendo’s “3DS” (tentative name) is an upcoming portable gaming device, that produces a 3D effects without the need for any special glasses. Yes, you read that right. This is a Game Boy that you can take anywhere and it has a 3D screen that requires no fancy-pants glasses. Take that Hollywood! I’ll still wear the glasses though, they make me look like I’m from the future.

• Scheduled for release in the fiscal year ending March 2011.
• The portable will succeed the Nintendo DS series of handhelds, which primarily shares the handheld console market with Sony’s PSP (PlayStation Portable).
  
• The Nintendo 3DS will feature backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software.
• A small window of a portal into another world.

Sony – PlayStation Move

Sony’s PlayStation Move is an upcoming motion-sensing game controller platform for the PS3 (PlayStation 3) video game console. It was tentatively known as the PlayStation Motion Controller. Based on a hand-held motion controller wand, the PlayStation Move uses a web-cam, called the PlayStation Eye, to track the wand’s position, and inertial sensors in the wand to detect its motion. If you are not grasping how awesome this is – try to imagine holding your TV remote. You got that in your head? Yeah it’s pretty lame. NOW imagine you’re looking at your TV and there you are, on screen, holding a light-saber in place of your TV remote. BAD ASS!

• The PlayStation Move is slated for worldwide launch in Q3/Q4 2010.
• Sony states that it is treating Move’s debut as its own major “platform launch,” planning an aggressive marketing campaign to support it.
• Sony also plans to provide several different bundle options for PlayStation Move hardware, such as a starter kit with a PS Eye, a Move motion controller, and motion-control enabled software, priced under $100.
• Imagine your new Jedi self, wielding your light-saber in the comfort of your own living room, wearing just your underwear WITH-OUT fear of accidentally slicing off anything that won’t grow back!

Microsoft – Project Natal

Microsoft’s “Project Natal” is code name for a “controller-free gaming and entertainment experience” for the Xbox 360 video game platform. Based on an add-on peripheral for the Xbox 360 console, it enables users to control and interact with the Xbox 360 without the need to touch a game controller through a natural user interface using gestures, spoken commands, or presented objects and images. I’ve seen some videos of this thing at work, it’s pretty neat stuff. The fancy web-cam (a.k.a. Project Natal) maps out your entire body in it’s little processor brain. That means it knows where your arms, legs, head, joints, feet, hands and freaking everything is! By mapping out your body like this the game came essentially put a mock up avatar of YOU in the game. Oh and did I mention you can talk to it?! Yeah and it understands! AND it can tell the difference between tones in your voice!

• Project Natal is scheduled to be released in time for Christmas 2010.
• It is rumored that the launch of Natal will be accompanied with the release of a new Xbox 360 console.
• The skeletal mapping technology shown at E3 2009 was capable of simultaneously tracking up to four users with a feature extraction of 48 skeletal points on a human body.
• Having a bad, good, drunk or average day? Natal will know!

Final thoughts.

1. Nintendo’s 3DS
   • Really neat technology, I was baffled when I first heard about it.
   • Super curious to see how they implement this technology into games.
   • Is this going to make motion sickness while in transit worse?
   • I want one, now! Also, WTF? When I was a kid Game Boys didn’t even have color.
2. Sony’s Move
   • Amazing idea! Using a prop in real life that can be displayed as a sword, baseball bat, hockey stick, pimp cane etc.
   • A little concerned with how many peripherals are needed to make this thing work.
   • How is this going to be used in Shooting games?
   • PLEASE make it possible for me to wield two of these things! Having two swords, baseball bats, hockey sticks, pimp canes would be way better than one.
3. Microsoft’s Project Natal
   • I really can’t begin to explain how awesome this technology is! Never mind holding a prop, MY WHOLE DAMN BODY IS THE PROP!
   • Do I have stand for most games?
   • Are games developed for Project Natal unable to be played with a normal controller?
   • Imagine NEVER touching your Xbox 360 again. “Hey Natal, turn on. Load my game. Now load my movie. Now now back to my game, that’s right… do my bidding, bitch!”

Halo: Reach beta ends soon.

Beta Testing – Testing a pre-release (potentially unreliable) version of a piece of software by making it available to selected users.

The Halo: Reach Beta ends on May 19th.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about…

Here’s a little catch-me-up: The Halo series was created by Bungie Studios and is by far the most popular FPS (first person shooter) series on the Xbox platform. Halo 3: ODST (The last game released in the series) hit store shelves September 25, 2009; On release Halo 3: ODST became the top-selling Xbox 360 game worldwide. It’s predecessor, Halo 3 (released September 25, 2007), reached $170 million in U.S. sales with in the first 24 hours of its release.

Now that we’re up to speed…

Halo: Reach is a BIG deal. It’s the next game. Once the beta is over players will have to wait until a “Fall 2010” U.S. release date to play the final product. Which means I should be playing right now.

What is so new and amazing about this game?

• Jetpacks!
• Armor Abilities: Shield lock (invulnerability), Active Camo. (invisibility),  Sprint, and Jetpack.
• Load-outs. Before spawning, in some game-types, you’ll have the option of choosing a paired Weapon/Armor Ability.
• New weapons: Plasma Repeater, Plasma Cannon, Grenade launcher, DMR (designated marksman’s rifle) and more.
• New game-types. Head Hunter, Stock Pile, Generator Defense, Invasion, Spartans vs Elites and more.
• DID I MENTION JETPACKS?

Final thoughts.

I’ve played my fair share of this beta. Since it’s May 3rd release I’ve logged over 100 matches. It’s safe to say I like this game. Bungie has really done well with the evolution of this series. The changes in game play and additions of Armor Abilities are accepted in welcome arms. Of course there are some minor gripes I have about the game, but there isn’t anything worth crying over; It’s important to remember, however, that this IS a beta. To put it simply- If you’re a fan of any of the previous Halo games I hope you WILL love Halo: Reach.