Episode 4 of the StarCraft Noobentaries

Check out the latest episode of Arangarx's wildly popular StarCraft Noobentaries!

Fighting Games That Should Have Been

Ronald McDonald VS Colonel Sanders



Homer Simpson VS Peter Griffin



Pikachu VS Kool Aid Man

DS Preview: A Witch's Tale

The fall is my second favorite time of the year (summer is my first, if only because it's warmer). But there's another reason why I have a fondness for this season. This is when all the A list, cream of the crop games come out. Just in time for the Christmas shopping season. Which as you know, gets closer and closer every year. Eventually they'll end up combining Thanksgiving and Christmas into a single day, and shopping malls will start blaring holiday music well around the end of August. But I'm getting carried away (or am I? O_o)

Anyway, it doesn't get any better than the fall months for video game enthusiasts. There are some mouth watering PC and console games that I can't wait to get my hands on. One of them just could be A Witch's Tale, due out on Oct. 6th.

I'm a sucker for anime style art. I think it's part of a conspiracy to get gamers to buy titles for their cuteness factor alone. If you don't believe me, check out the female characters in Super Robot Wars: Endless Frontier.

Synopsis: Apparently the world was inhabited by a group of witches living beneath the earth. Eventually, they invade the surface world. A heroine named Alice, uses their own magic against them to send them back. Thousands of years later, the witches are planning to try once again.

Not much to say here, as I couldn't find much about the plot. But based on what I've read, it seems like a decent enough premise.

Gameplay: It will function like most RPGs, featuring random, turn based battles. It will only use the stylus, and the combat will be heavily based on runes and dolls. The dolls act as your party members. While you use the stylus to draw runes in order to cast spells. I've played games that used a similar mechanic, with mixed results. Sometimes you have to fight the DS to convince that you're drawing the sign right, so it can be a hassle. But when it works, its a nice touch, and really makes you feel more like you're casting magic, and not just pressing buttons.

The dark theme is interesting, and perfect for Halloween.

The visuals are based heavily on western supernatural ideas, such as Jack-o-lanterns and skeletons. One would think the game was made specifically for Halloween in mind. In that regard, the timing for the title's release is pretty perfect from a marketing perspective. I can still remember picking up a copy of Ghosts & Goblins for the Sega one October in my childhood, which was kind of cool.

To be honest, I don't know if I'll pick this one up for not. I have an intuition this particular RPG might be aimed at a younger audience. But I'll keep an eye on it as it gets closer to release. There are a lot of games competing for my limited time and money, so one has to choose wisely. Especially in the fall. But this definitely sets the mood for anticipating what else will come down the line. Its especially heartening to know that they'll be plenty more console style RPGs (at least for the DS, which is the only one I mainly follow) to be released after A Witch's Tale.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

This isn't a straight up review of the game, but it's what I've been playing lately. So far, its been a pretty fun ride through the old school style of console RPGs. But the reason I'm brining it up is because of something that happened while I was playing as one of the characters. I actually became an NPC. I actually discovered what it feels like to be one of the "extras" in these kind of games. And it was scary. One of the scariest things to me is monotony, and that's one of the reasons I play PC games. They're great for taking you out of the repetitious nature of daily life.

Chapters of the Chosen, or Arms Merchant Simulator?

I couldn't find a pic from the game itself, but this screen from FF 2 came pretty close. So my character, a professional arms dealer, is hurried off to work by his wife. I'm sat behind the counter, and I'm actually made to sit there for what's probably around 10 minutes. Every few seconds, NPCs come up to me either buying or selling items. After what seems like forever, your employer finally climbs up from his downstairs office and gives you a mere 100 gold (which isn't much in Dragon Quest 4) for your efforts.

That was just one of the most bizarre scenarios I've ever come across in a game, but also kind of funny - to a point. It kind of lets you feel what its like to be an NPC, doing the mundane tasks that we all take for granted in order to stay alive. I mean think about it, every time we get hurt, run out of potions, need stronger weapons, we have to come to these guys. It was kind of novel, seeing an adventure from the perspective of a lowly item seller. But it got damn boring to have to do it for several in-game days in order to scrape up enough gold to go adventuring out of town.

Imagine if this was the closest you ever came to a dungeon in a 40 hour epic RPG.

The humorous way that I was made to experience being an item selling NPC-like character quickly wore off. Thankfully it didn't take too long to get the money I needed. But it sure gave me a new found respect for supporting characters. We can get so caught up in the lives of the characters we're playing, we forget that we owe a great deal of our success to these item merchants. While we hack and slash at all manner of evil enemies, they go through the daily hell of a medieval version of Office Space. An item shop is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to work there. I'd much rather stalk the countryside in pursuit of these:

Don't be fooled by Slimes. They may look cute, but they only have one thing on their mind - your death.

6 Things That Piss Me Off in Videogames

1. Meaningless Time Limits: Sometimes, in an effort to be more challenging, a game will tack on a time limit. Now for an arcade style game, this isn't really a problem. But when missions in a plot heavy game (like an RPG or strategy) come with an unexplained time or turn limit with no logical reason for why its there, I hate it. If there's a time limit, I want to know why. Is a bomb going to explode? Will your army run out of supplies? Will a captured character be killed?

Putting a time limit on a narrative heavy game for no reason is lazy, and taxes my suspension of disbelief. That would be like if in Star Wars, the Rebel Alliance had to destroy the death star within an hour, but nobody mentioned why. Its out of place, its cheap and its frustrating.

Example: Lost Magic for the DS. A would-be fun RTS title, if you weren't forced to rush your way through the 3 minute missions.

More like Lost 30 Bucks

2. Puzzle Solving in FPS Games: I'm going to admit something here, I suck at puzzles. Puzzle games have the same strength sapping effect on me that kryptonite would have on Superman. Its part of the reason I can get into so few single player FPS games. And its why I love the online based shooters like Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare. All I know is, I play an FPS game for one thing: shooting and exploding as much as I can. I have no patience for labryinthine levels, key card scavenger hunts, and McGuyver like obstacles to surpass. I hate these, they have no place in FPS games in my opinion.

Nothing kills my buzz faster than clearing out a room with an awesome weapon, and then realizing you can't get past a door because its locked. And no, you can't just disintegrate it with your rocket launcher. You have to stop yourself in your adrenal battle frenzied state, to turn over every freakin' object looking for the one damn item that lets you move on. It stops the excitement and fun dead in its tracks.

Example: Doom. A classic game, but why do I need to waste half an hour looking for a damn key when all I want to do is fight demons? I could cheat, but I hate the way it makes me feel like the game got the best of me to have to resort to codes.

Oh look, its the same exploded zombie corpse I passed the last 15 times, looking for the red key.

3. Forced Tutorials: This is one of the worst things to do to a dedicated player of any game. You've been through it a thousand times, you could beat a level or a boss in your sleep. You know every minute detail of the game, down to an enemy's hit points, or your character's stats. You consider yourself an expert, yet whenever you start over, you have to be hand held through a tutorial sequence. wtf.

In addition to this, is when there might not be a forced tutorial, but you are assaulted with pop-up windows explaining how to play the game. This is almost as bad, because you just want to concentrate on what you're doing, but have to stop to kill a pop up window you've read a hundred times before. World of Warcraft is especially guilty.

Example: Champions Online. Its been an awesome game so far, but if I hit the level cap, roll an alt, and have to go through the tutorial zone, I'm going to feel slightly insulted.

At least looking at the copyrighted characters will be entertaining.

4. Being Screwed Out of Winning: If I lose, I want to know why, and I want to know that it was my own fault. I don't want to suffer the psychological shock of realizing I had made a grave error several hours back that I can't correct. Not only is there no way to get around this problem but to completely start over, but I can plead ignorance because the game offered absolutely no clue about how not to cheat yourself out of having any chance to win. As an example, there was an RPG for the PS-2. Unfortunately I forget what it's called. But there was this boss, virtually undefeatable. I had come very far in this game, and had loved every minute of it, and was damn determined to beat that freakin boss.

After several tries, I finally looked up how to beat it on gamefaqs. It turns out that the boss can only be destroyed by being in possession of a certain item. When I researched the item, I found that you could only acquire it at a certain point in the game, which I had passed. I was pissed by this, and it killed all interest I had in the game.

Example: Super Robot Wars Original Generation

Possibly my favorite strategy RPG series. Too bad I realized late into the game that I leveled my characters up in some wrong ways, essentially making them too underpowered where they needed to be. Because of this, beating one of the hardest bosses became virtually impossible. Maybe it was my fault, but why couldn't I have had any option to undo those mistakes and save hours of invested time?

5. Unskippable cutscenes and company logos: This is similar to the forced tutorials in which the biggest problem is that they simply waste your precious time and patience. And chances are you've seen the scenes a dozen times before, and simply don't need to go through it again. Developers, artists, animators, etc., work very hard on these stunning visuals, we know. But do we have to see them every time they come up?

Included in this are the logo animations that you have to push past when a game starts up. That's more frustrating than the cutscenes themselves. At least the cutscenes and animated intros are cool, highly detailed and exciting. Watching company logos fly at your face is about as pleasurable as having to sit through commercials. There are numerous games in which the only way to get to the menu screen is to repeatedly press a button to get past all the various teams and companies that worked on the game. Who cares? Isn't it enough we paid to play the game? If we want to know who was making copies in the office we'll press the credits button.

Example: Sins of a Solar Empire (I think) I'm too busy pressing through mandatory screens to get to my game to notice which ones are the worse offenders. But I needed an example.

Sins is a great game, and you should buy it no matter how many company logos they throw at you or not.

6. Being unable to delete a saved game within the game: This is a new and ugly development in my gaming experience, and it needs to stop. I believe this started to happen with something related to the Games For Windows logo that titles like to have on their boxes for some reason. Not being able to simply and conveniently delete a save in the save/load menu of a game is flat out wrong. Its obnoxious, unnecessary and frustrating. Finding an unwanted save outside of the program, buried in a slew of folders is inexcusable, and this trend had better stop sooner then later dammit.

Example: Empire Total War

Empire Total War, where deleting a save file isn't a hassle, it's a mini-game!

Why do healing classes have to be religious?

"I kick arse for the lord!"

Does anyone ever wonder why the healers in RPGs have to look so saintly? Or why every class or character must have this squeaky clean, holier than thou look? I never gave it much thought before I played the priest in the open beta for Dungeon Fighter Online. This is as over the top and heavy handed a depiction of a healer as I've ever seen. (see above pic). This is also the only healer in a game that used Christian imagery so excessively.

Speaking of excessive, note that the healer's weapon is a MASSIVE WOODEN CROSS. wtf? I'm far from what you'd call religious, so I'm not offended by this character, but rather the unoriginality of the entire healer concept. In fact, it really underscores just how overused some RPG conventions have become.

The eastern version of the priest, is the monk. They have the thankless job of keeping everyone in a party alive, so they can have all the fun.

In fairness, I'm sure there's a good reason why healers are portrayed in the way they are. After all, you wouldn't expect warriors (i.e. Cloud Strife or a Barbarian) to be sullen, withdrawn and slow to act characters. Or characters that had little to no combat training and a total reluctance to use it. Fighters are naturally muscular, aggressive and energetic. They are equipped with and learned in the use of armor and weapons, I get it.

Therefore, healers are more passive, reserved and peaceful. They wear little to no armor, and have few things in the way of weapons. Their focus is on preservation, protection and looking after the well being of the group. But then, is that it? Do we have to accept that this is how characters are meant to be? Will we ever break this overly used depiction of RPG character archetypes? I think we should.

This priest in WoW will resurrect you...if she feels like it.

Don't be fooled by the appearance of healers in RPGs. Unless they're scripted characters with dialogue, actions and traits that reveal who they are as personalities. Otherwise, that player created priest you're questing with could in fact be a sadistic psychopath. Or at the very least, an extremely arrogant player who feels that he or she must be needed for their life to matter. They get a trip from knowing that your character's life is in their hands, and if they want, they can make that life more miserable than the mob of monsters that just killed you.

Healers are not necessarily nice, or religious. They can be as petty and warlike as any other staple RPG class. Healers that rush into the thick of battle to be promptly killed, thereby putting the rest of the team in jeopardy. Or healers that are so self-important, that they'll only heal and resurrect the players they like, or the players they feel deserve it. How many times have you heard, "If you die again, I'm not rezzing you." Sounds priestly, right?

That's what was great about a game like Guild Wars, you could break a lot of the old conventions in so many ways. For instance, if you wanted to be a jerk of a healer and look the part, you could play a Necromancer, take monk as secondary, and look like a pale skinned, black clad, half zombie.

The Black Mage - what healers should really look like

This is what I think the new healer should be - closer to the black mage. Reflecting not only the personalities of many of the people who play healers, but drift away from making healers look like they belong more in a church than on a battlefield. We keep the simplistic fashion and clothing sense, we keep their almost non-existant weaponry, but we give them a slightly tougher, more mysterious look. Notice the Black Mage has no real face - what would they really look like? Does it seem as though this mage would care if his comrade was suddenly struck down, requiring his restorative powers? I didn't think so either. He looks like he could just as easily walk past his companion's corpse, loot him, and finish off the boss for the xp.

Request to developers: Let's make the healer class type more varied ok? I mean, what's next? A Rabbi that throws Star of David shurikens? Damn, that would actually be sort of cool...

Bonus Stage #1: The Men Who Stare at Goats

This bonus stage in Super Mario 2 teaches kids the value of gambling at an early age.

Welcome to my first Bonus Stage segment, where I talk about things not related to gaming. Either as a break, or to buy myself time to find worthy material to write about. I'm going to try to make several successive posts over the next couple of days to make up for lost time. I haven't exactly updated the blog as frequently as I would have liked.

Today's subject is an upcoming film called The Men Who Stare at Goats. It's based on a book, which is in turn based on a real life concept called the First Earth Battalion. Although it was never realized, the idea was to create an army group based on new age philosophy and ideas. For anyone that wants a full description of what a First Earth Battalion soldier would have been like, there's a good wikipedia article on it. Some of the central ideas were laughable, and it's unbelievable that it was thought up and taken seriously by a Lt. Col.

In fact, the whole notion was so bizarre, that part of what a F.E.B. soldier should be able to do is kill things with only their mind. So what did they practice this skill on? Goats. But some aspects of the Battalion actually sounded pretty cool. And in fact, would have lead to a more peaceful, understanding military (and if love and peace fails, then they would proceed to do what they do best.)

I can't wait for the movie, and I'm definitely planning to get the book as well. In fact, wouldn't this also make for a great video game? Imagine Call of Duty: First Earth Battalion.

Had the Battalion been realized, I think it would have been kind of frightening. Jedi-like soldiers trained in various martial arts, wilderness survival, divination methods, (there would even be pouches for them in the proprosed uniform, a pocket for a tarot deck perhaps?) and the strangest of all, would be their tactics. In the First Earth Battalion field manual, it was actually suggested you could present a villager with a goat, (what is it with all the goats?) and if that didn't persuade him to do what you wanted, then proceed to use violent force.

One of the reasons I'm so amused by this whole thing is that it (as far as we know) is that it's true. Someone actually proposed the Battalion, and it's feasible it might have been put into practice. I'm a lover of fiction, I take to imaginative worlds and creative ideas. But what's even better, and even rarer than good fiction, is when something real happens that is in fact, stranger than fiction.

Video Game Related YouTube Videos

I'm going to have to cancel my HoI 3 chronicle unfortunately. (Note to self: Gathering intelligence on the country you want to invade is a good idea.) I have a lot more to learn and do in the game before I'm ready for something like an AAR. It's amazing, although sometimes frustrating, how deep that game can be. But perhaps that's for another post.

I'm going to instead list some notable video game related YouTube videos that are worth checking out. I know my posts have been pretty short as of late, but I'm hard at work on my latest machinima film. Anyways, here are some cool vids to watch while you wait for me to come up with a compelling topic to dazzle the masses with.


I love this guy's lyric based versions of these classic video game songs. I put them on my iPod :D

The StarCraft Noobentaries

I promised I'd chronicle my adventures in Hearts of Iron 3 for the benefit of my thousands of adoring fans. But before I do, I have to plug my comrade's new YouTube channel. Party members are urged (which is a nice way of saying required) to check out this site.

Unfortunately I didn't do very well against Arangarx, but don't let it get to the presses. My crushing defeat is to be kept from the public at all costs. The video is for party members only, and to get my comrade's hit count up. Evidence of the loss will be erased from Party records as soon as I release a propaganda reel describing my glorious triumph over the vile Terrans.

The Noobentator


New Segment: Bonus Stage

One of the best bonus stages in any video game. In Street Fighter II, you're challenged to demolish a car with your bare hands. If that's not hardcore, nothing is.

Your fearless leader is announcing a new segment to his internationally acclaimed blog, the Bonus Stage. This is where I'll deliver insightful commentary on popular culture, my thoughts and off-topic subjects not related to video games. This is mainly for when I run out of material for game related topics, which is pretty close to happening. Not a lot to report running up to the height of the fall game release season.

I wish I had more to say right now, but I promise more awesome posts later on. I'm highly anticipating mid to late fall, for Dragon Age, Modern Warfare 2 and Borderlands.

Alternate History, PC Games and You

I'm a huge fan of the alternate history genre, and the concept of it used in various works of fiction. History is one of my favorite subjects, because history is the story of the human race. I don't have much use for the complexities of math and science, but everyone can appreciate a good story. The best place to go for alternate history in games, is in the historical strategy. Games like Hearts of Iron, or any in the Total War series. The ability to completely shape the course of human events is a powerful draw.

What if the British Empire won in the American Revolution? Play Empire: Total War, and you can find out.

Not only is it a power trip to take your nation of choice to glory, but alternate history games can also be an fairly accurate simulation of what the world had looked like if things went differently. In addition, it's a nice form of escapism. Sometimes it gets tiring to get pulled into whole new worlds. There are concepts to get, races to be familiarized with, mythologies, fictional history. While these things are what provides the escapism we all need from our daily lives, it can be just as fun to play in our own world.

What if the American Civil War was prolonged with advanced steam technology, giving way to radios, mechs and motozied vehicles? What if the awesome premise wasn't blown by the horrible game that used it?

A good alternate history themed game can really fuel the imagination. And lets one appreciate all the possibilities that could have been. In Medieval Total War II, I conquered most of the known world with Scotland. In Making History, the U.S. allied with Japan, in a war against Russia and China.

An isolationist America is invaded by the Nazis, after they took over the rest of the world.

The reason I chose to bring up this particular topic is because, in an effort to not run out of material, I'm going to begin chronicling what could be my first, and most ambitious after action report. Using Hearts of Iron 3, I'm going to journal the events in my alternate history game as America during WW II. So stay tuned, cause it's (hopefully) going to get interesting.

My Favorite Console of all Time

In my humble opinion, the original Sony Playstation was by far, the greatest video game console of all time. This is, and will possibly be, my most beloved gaming platform (not counting PCs). I miss the PS, and sometimes I wish I still had one. There are a lot of memories I associate with this machine, and with a lot of its great games. There's much I could put forth as to why I would daresay this system is better than every one that has come after it. Better than the X-Box, PS 2 and 3, Wii and GameCube. But my biggest reason is mainly a philosophical one.

This game was possibly the one best reason to own the system.

For me, the PlayStation represented the complete balance between good graphics and gameplay. Never before or since this system, were the two things so harmonized. Now I'm sure that someone could make a legitimate argument against this. But this is my opinion, based on my own personal feelings about game design and theory. Maybe I could be proven wrong, but it's not about asserting my claim. It's about expressing my personal beliefs and feelings as a gamer.

The Playstation was the first to introduce a lot of things into the gaming mainstream. If it wasn't the first, than it was the first to popularize concepts that hadn't really taken hold before it. Using discs instead of cartridges, full motion video, memory cards and unprecedented production values, made this the most exciting system to use in a long time. While systems and accessories came before the playstation to handle things like FMV, and discs, they never saw the commercial success that the Playstation enjoyed.

One of my favorite RPGs of all time.

For all the advancements that the PS revolutionized, it was still bound by the technical limitations of the time. Which nowadays seems quite funny. I can't help but smile at the bygone era when some games would span multiple discs, like FF 7. It makes me feel all that more nostalgic for the system.

Because of those limitations, developers realized that a game couldn't just look good, it had to actually be good. They didn't forget that a game succeeded or failed on the depth of its gameplay, and not how impressive it could look. Covering over a badly designed game with awe inspiring visuals and effects was still not an option.

One of the most original and fun titles for the PS. I loved putting in my game discs to see what monsters I could get out of them.

Before the fifth generation of consoles, you had the super Nintendo and Sega genesis, as the top competitors in the console field. The graphics, compared to the Playstation and N64's, were crude and primitive. Yet those systems produced some of the deepest and most venerated titles of their time. Fast forward to the Playstation 2 and X-Box. Each possessed a level of graphical quality that far surpassed that of the Playstation's, but can we honestly say that the games for them were as good or memorable?

In the middle of these two extremes, we find the Nintendo64 and Sony Playstation. Where graphics and gameplay met each other in perfect unison. Playstation games were better than those found on earlier systems. The hardware was available to offer more features, process faster, and deliver more computing power, add cinematic graphics and effects, and you had a masterpiece of a console. Like the yin-yang, graphics and gameplay represented two opposing forces in total balance with each other. Once the PS-2 and X-Box arrived, this synchronization would be lost forever.

I was still in high school when the second playstation came out. It was an exciting time to be a gamer. I don't think any console would be this completely hyped up until the Wii. In terms of sales and impact, the PS-2 probably dwarfed its predecessor. I'm not a statistician, so I don't have the sales or production numbers, or anything like that. But the PS-2 was huge, awesome and could be argued at least in terms of popularity, the most successfully marketed system of all time. While I wouldn't argue that the quality of the hardware was exemplary, something was lost between the two playstations. Some indefinable charm or quality that the original PS one possessed.

I saw the games that had come out for the PS-2. No doubt they looked incredible, played incredible, but I couldn't help that something seemed out of place. The graphics almost seemed too good. That developers were starting to lose sight of what made a game great, and instead let themselves get swept up in the sheer entrancing power of the newest visuals and graphics.

One of the most epic, emotionally engaging RPGs for the PS, or any other system.

Look at the most successful games for the PS 1, and I think you'd find that indescribable magic that made them so endearing. Think Final Fantasy 7's, incredibly deep story and scale, coupled with its charmingly simple 3D graphics. A perfect example of a game that used the graphics of the time to complement, not overshadow, its strong narrative, colorful characters, eventful plot and meticulously realized world. Or the simpler, 2D graphics of a game like Lunar, but sprinkling beautiful anime cutscenes throughout its lengthy adventure.

Was there a system before the PS1's, that had over a hundred characters in one of its game's like Suikoden? Did we ever see games so completely creative before the PS 1, like Parappa the Rappa or Monster Rancher? Have we seen any games quite like them since?

A fun RPG with a great opening animation.

To be fair, I believe the balance may be returning. There is hope that the dueling forces of graphics VS gameplay will once again work as one to create truly great games. The mystifying effects of the latest graphics have begun to wear off, and developers are striving harder than ever to recreate the time honored genres we know and love. They have begun to innovate again, and to see the potential not just in delivering good graphics, but delivering a good story, extensive and deep features, and to take games to the next level. However, the PS-1 was the first, and still the only system, that never lost sight of what made a game great.

The memories I have, the afternoons of getting lost in the wonderful worlds of the PlayStation titles, the friendships I made exchanging stories and experiences with the system, will last with me for a long time to come. The playstation doesn't just remind me of good games, but of a simpler time in my life. *sniff* I have to stop now and lament the fact that I can't still pop in a disc of FF7 one more time. But that's ok, being a primarily PC gamer now, there's always Dragon Age. Oh yeah!

Machinima - My New Favorite Way to Play Games

Red VS Blue
One of the most well known examples of Machinima

Machinima (a combination of the words machine and cinema) is a growing new art form that I've become increasingly interested in. Aside from a few short videos, I never did much with this. But I loved to see what others were able to accomplish. Red VS Blue is a great example, as well as various videos made with games like the Sims 2 and 3, World of Warcraft and Halo. Recently, I've been putting together some great machinima pieces with Champions Online.

Machinima was used heavily in the South Park episode, Make Love, not Warcraft

One of the things I love most about making machinima movies is that it gives me a new way to enjoy the games I play. Not only can they be an entertaining pastime, but also as something of an animation tool. One that can be much simpler and much more fun to use than professional animation programs. Unfortunately, the biggest drawback to machinima is that you're limited by the game(s) you're using. But if you're creative and resourceful enough, you find ways to get around the limitations, or get the most out of what you have.

The short film "A Child's War" was made using Second Life

As games become increasingly sophisticated and detailed, I hope that it only makes machinima easier to do. With the wide and colorful range of locations, emotes, characters, time periods, and animations, the possibilities could be endless. Using a virtual world such as Second Life, as its own film making tool, would also be a good idea.

Here's a book that I should probably pick up

Making machinima with Champions Online has been a lot of fun. The people who helped me out with it were really great. I look forward to doing more. I think this has really opened up an interesting door of opportunity for me. And I would encourage the creative minded to do the same. It's a whole new way to explore and enjoy games that hasn't really been possible until relatively recently. Technically, machinima could be traced back to an earlier day and age, but it didn't go much beyond software crackers putting signature animations in pirated versions of their games. We've evolved since that point, and it's a very, very good time to get into it.

If you've got the cash, register Fraps, find a good game of choice, and start shooting (in more ways than one, depending on what game you're making your machinima with :-D)

Takin' a Break

I'll be out of town for a few days, going on a much needed vacation from doing nothing. :D

Until then, game on and game proudly!

(and please don't forget about me, I promise more awesome entries once I return!)

Gaming, on the Table Top or on the Screen?

As a gamer, I have a bad habit. Not only am I a big time Video Gamer, I am also a big time Table Top Gamer (No, I'm not talking Monopoly here, I'm talking games like Wealth Of Nations, Shadowrun, Titan. Games you tend to find in specialty shops and conventions). This creates a lot of interesting situations for me, primarily, which do I spend my money on and which will I play more? Often, my video game friends will ask me why I love table top gaming so much and my board game friends will ask me why I play so many video games. In short, there is no clear cut answer, as you can easily make a good case for both hobbies. What exactly are the pros and cons of each hobby, and which is right for you?

The Case for Board Games

1. Cheaper Entry Cost - Board games are, for the most part, much cheaper than video games. When you consider the fact that the average board game is cheaper than the average video game (Not including special circumstances like GOG.com's freakishly low prices on older games, or collectible games like Warhammer) on top of the fact that you do not need to pay for extra hardware to play board games (I'm talking $1,000 gaming PC's or $300 consoles), you can see why this would be an attractive feature.
2. No Extra Hardware - As I just mentioned above, table top games require no costly and fragile extra hardware. If I want to play a board game with a bunch of friends, I simply need to bring the game. No extra computers, networking equipment, consoles, controllers, etc. Granted some games do require extra bits and pieces, these are generally either included with the game (Like dice and counters) or extremely cheap (Like graph paper and rulers).
3. Accessibility - Table top games are, in general, more accessible. With video games, especially in the PC gaming realm that I inhabit, there are lots of variables involved. Will my computer run the game? How well will it run? Will my network connection be good enough to handle it? Will there be any corrupt files during install and will I have the right patch to play with my friends? All of these questions simply do not exist in the board game realm. You simply have a game, the rules, and your buddies. As long as they possess the intelligence to learn the rules and the ability to read, there is nothing stopping them from playing, short of lack of interest. Your graphics card and processor are your brain, and you can make the games be whatever you want them to be.
4. Limitless Potential - Speaking of making the games whatever you want them to be, table top games (Especially RPG's) are only limited by your creativity. In one of my first RPG's, one of my fellow party members knocked over a barrel of oil, lit it on fire, and started shooting arrows through it. I have yet to play more than a handful of games that give you such freedom. Even in the modern sandbox video games, you are limited by what the game designers programmed you to be able to do. Granted, with the advent of faster and more powerful processors, the options for video games are expanding.
5. Sociability - Board games, by nature, require you to be social. You have to play with/against people locally. Console gaming generally is this way as well, but PC gaming is stale. The only time I usually play with fellow PC gamers in person is at LAN parties, and those are costly and difficult to organize. Every week when I play board games, its like a little LAN party. My friends are all there, and we play together and have a good time. Until recently video games had(have?) a stigma that the kind of people that play are anti social and don't go out much, and while this isn't completely true, its certainly not false. With all the LAN parties and console parties I have been to, none of them have the level of social enjoyment I get when playing Shadowrun with my friends on Saturday nights.

The Case for Video Games

1. Space - I own about as many video games as I do board games. Come to my apartment some time and take a look at the available space I have. My closet is crowded out with board games, and it only gets worse with each new game I buy. My PC on the other hand, stays the same physical size no matter how many games I buy, and with how cheap storage is these days, there's no reason I cant contain every game I own in one small form factor.
2. Audio/Visual - As much as I care about game play over graphics, I can't help but to admit that watching something blow up in high resolution with apartment shaking sound effects is damn cool.
3. Realism - Most board games are, by nature, abstracted. Most people (Not including me :P) don't want to spend all day simulating every little thing that could possibly happen in a military engagement. For this reason, many board games are streamlined and simpler to play (With exceptions of course, like Advanced Squad Leader, Harpoon 4.1, and Attack Vector Tactical to name a few). With video games, having a computer run all the numbers means you can simulate the largest of military engagements in minutes. Also, removing the low level calculations from the player allows them to focus more on the game play than running the game and making sure everything works. For this reason, it is possible to run things in real time with a video game, unlike board games which usually must be turn based to allow the players to make their actions and calculate results.
4. Singleplayer/Multiplayer - While board games tend to be more entertaining to play with/against people, it is usually difficult to not only find people to play with, but also find the time to play. With video games, if I have a few minutes to spare, I can simply get on line, hop into a game of Team Fortress 2, play a few rounds, and quit. Board games are much harder to play on line, and its generally harder to find a group of people to play with. On that note, 99% of board games out there do not have the ability to play single player. With a video game, there are plenty of single player options, and even entire games that are only single player, such as Borderlands or Ghostbusters. Single player games tell a story, much like a book or movie, and you can't get that from board games. Even with table top RPG's, the story usually isn't linear, and they require a party of people to play with. There are also video games that feature AI and allow players to challenge themselves alone. Many strategy games I own I tend to play against the computer, either to sharpen my skills, or simply because I cannot find anyone to play with. Board games have the restriction of not only needing to find an opponent, but of finding different opponents so that you do not play the same kind of game over and over again.
5. Physical Content and Distribution - As I stated before, the physical size of my board game collection compared to my video game collection is rather significant. This also creates another unique issue. If one of my board games becomes damaged, I generally have to buy a new one. If my video game disc gets damaged, I can simply download a new copy, put in my CD key, and start playing again. I don't have to worry as much about losing components or damaging pieces, since the game is purely digital. This also makes it much easier to buy video games. Thanks to services like Steam and Impulse, I do not have to drive down to the game store, pick up a game, and hope its in stock. It is also much easier to distribute new patches and updates to a video game. Board games have these in the form of errata, but this generally requires the player to go to the manufacturer's website, look up the errata, and print it out.

There are of course, may other pros and cons of each hobby, but these are the ones I've encountered most frequently. Whatever kind of game(s) you enjoy, the most important part is to have fun. Game on!

Heroes, Legends and Gods

Heroes of Newerth

Demigod

League of Legends

What do these three games have in common? They're all based on a cult classic mod for Warcraft III called Defense of the Ancients. I never played the mod, but my first experience with the concept of it came from Demigod. It was reasonably affordable at 40 bucks, and it was from Stardock, so it sounded like a pretty safe purchase. The game described itself as a tactical RTS with RPG elements. That's basically all you need to say about a title to have me interested.

There's something strangely intriguing about DotA based games, and so I'm highly looking forward to Heroes of Newerth and League of Legends. With three commercially published titles inspired by that Warcraft III mod, looks like we might be seeing a trend. It's hard in a way, to describe the overall game flow. If only because it's so unlike RPGs or RTS games you've played before. Multi-genre games are hard to do right, but LoL, HoN and Demigod seem to do it effortlessly.

If I had to sum up this kind of game, think of it this way: It's one part Diablo, and one part Command and Conquer. Throw in arena style maps, a huge cast of RPG characters and you have a fresh, addictive take on the RTS and RPG genres.

If you have yet to play this style of game, I recommend you give it a shot. It may not be for everyone, but it's a fun and competitive concept that will be interesting to see how progresses. Demigod was how I started, and would probably make a good start for you as well. The basic idea is to take your chosen character and lead its units to destroy towers and structures held by the enemy.

For the most part, you don't directly control your units, but rather support them with your own abilities and equipment. You have full control over the character you play, and that's where it resembles Diablo. You'll run around the battlefield slaying enemy minions and gaining XP. There are shops you can frequent where you can spend hard earned gold on new items and equipment.


Battles in DotA style games are tests of endurance, as each side struggles to chip away at the other. Hordes of minions will claw their way toward the defense towers while you do whatever you can to hold back their commanders. This is anything but another Warcraft or Diablo clone. It almost plays like an medieval version of Unreal Tournament. There's even an announcer (at least in Demigod and Heroes of Newerth) that will say things like "Ultra kill!" when characters repeatedly mow down their opponents. There's a real chess like feeling to the game, as everyone's trying to determine how to coordinate themselves effectively to break through to the opposing side's base and take it out.

League of Legends will be free to play, supporting itself on microtransactions, which I love. This is the perfect game for that system in my opinion. Demigod has been out for awhile. And Heroes of Newerth should be due out relatively soon, at 30 bucks. From what I've seen though, that's a fair price, and looks to be the most polished and deepest of other two at the moment.

PC Review - Champions Online

Overview: The spiritual successor to City of Heroes, Champions Online is the newest MMO released by Cryptic. The game takes place in the colorful and robust world of the pen and paper RPG after which it is named. To be honest, I haven't read too much into the setting, all I know is it's fresh, original and awesome! Even though the Champions RPG is an established franchise, to the average gamer who's coming into it cold, it's still a wonderful experience. Everything feels new and authentic. New heroes, personalities and environs, combined with some of the most engaging and innovative gameplay in an MMO to come in a long time.

As I've said before, I'm far from being a devoted comic fan (though if my budget and space allowed I'd read far more manga than I have). However, when it comes to PC and video games, original Superhero themed titles are the ultimate diamonds in the rough. I love this theme, as it is one of the most unused and underappreciated in all the various genres. We've all played knights, or wizards, or space marines, or starship captains. But an original superhero we create with our own imagination, is a rare and awesome experience. Champion Online nails that perfectly.

Story: The story starts you off in an isolated section of Millenium City. It's under attack by an alien race called the Quelar, insectoid creatures bent on causing destruction. Your first few levels will be earned fighting them back as you make your way to a climactic final battle inside the Champions building (basically, the city's HQ for heroes).

It's a great, dramatic way to start the game. It gives you a chance to get familiar with your character's abilities, and provides a seamless, interactive tutorial to the basics.

Playing through Champions really makes you feel like a hero. Citizens will rush up to you and praise your accomplishments. Soldiers and law enforcement will cheer you as you arrive to the scene to save the day. The environment is always changing, so you'll find yourself in a variety of different locales, fighting powerful, distinct enemies. It goes far beyond the scope of the more self contained areas of City of Heroes.

There's almost a sense of worldwide chaos and urgency. Radioactive mutants and ghosts run rampant around a desert. Terrorist organizations and secret experiments are transpiring in the Canadian north. And all that before you even get to the sprawling city. After the invasion, you're sent to either Snake Gulch or Canada (you can eventually quest in both) before accessing the entirety of Millenium.

I haven't played too far into the game yet. Even the first couple of stages before the city are world's unto themselves (and I've been busy running my guild (aka Super Group) as well, not to mention getting sucked into the frighteningly awesome character creator.) so I don't know if there's an overall plot arc that ties everything together. So far, it's been somewhat episodic, which feels right. Going from place to place and solving the crimes there makes me feel like I'm living in my own comic book series. Interestingly, the story will get personal. Not only will you play as your hero, but you'll create your own Nemesis for him to fight. Which was a wonderful addition. A good hero has to have a good villain, and Cryptic hasn't overlooked that.

Gameplay: The gameplay is in a word, incredible. It is by far the most exciting, fast paced and engaging I've ever played in any MMO. The closest thing I can compare it to is the battle system in Guild Wars, and even that comparison can't do justice to the hectic, incredible pace of Champions combat. There are die hards to the tired cool down, round based system that will probably stick adamamently to that format. But honestly, I think they're missing out. Champions combat should be the new standard for MMOs to come. For once, playing doesn't feel like a light chore. Dare I say, it's actually fun.

Rather than force you into a predictable, sequential ritual that is so often the mainstay of every other MMO, Champions Online takes an almost fighting game like approach. Now to be honest, you will likely find your own combos that you'll no doubt use over and over again, as you vanquish mobs of foes. But, the way the combat is designed is always keeping you on your toes, forcing you to adapt to the situation at hand and keeping you engaged. You open up a fight by starting some light, energy building attacks. Like a rage meter in a fighting game, as your energy bar goes up, you can use more powerful attacks. Every encounter builds up from light punches or snap shots, to city block destroying super moves. It's dramatic, it's fun and it's exciting. I never felt like I was just staring at my avatar whack away at an enemy as it stood in one spot.


XP is earned at a fairly brisk pace compared to other MMORPGs. In a way, this is a good thing. The relatively light grind (as compared to that of a game like World of Warcraft). is a relief to casual gamers. But hardcore players may be disappointed. The level cap goes up to 40. And considering the rate at which you level up, at least to around 20, you'll probably want to pace yourself as you play. Maybe have a couple of alts to work on. In fact, and not to get too involved, you can choose one of three crafting areas: science, msyticism and arms. So why not create a character for each? I was adverse to having more than a couple of characters, but considering the casual friendly nature of the game, three may be just right.

In addition to the PVE content, there is an arena based PVP component. Supposedly, there is an open PVP environment, giving a no hold barred warzone for fueding heroes to duel it out. Even do gooders can have their rivalies. There's plenty to offer the competitive player. In addition there is a slew of achievements to earn, and items to unlock. There's something for everyone. Cryptic seems to have done a remarkable job at taking what they did with City of Heroes and making it better and deeper in every way.

Graphics: The graphics in Champions are top notch, and the artistic style that was taken with the game couldn't have been more perfect. Although some of the effects can be too much of a good thing. The cel shading, vibrant shades and special effects come as close to bringing a comic book to life as possible. The lighting is among some of the best I've seen in any game. However, some characters can look a little too plastic. Much of this may have to do with how you build your character. Leather and metallic textures can make a hero look a little too shiny.

For the most part, the visuals are awesome. This is probably a good section of the review to go over something that's worth the price of admission alone - the most detailed, flexible character creation system in any MMORPG ever. I don't think there is an MMO that can come remotely close to what Champions allows you to do. The only other title with this much user customization I can think of was Spore. Going over the creator in every gory detail would be worth an entire article alone. Suffice it to say, if you can think it, chances are more likely than not you can create it. I've seen everything from kung-fu warriors, to strange alien beings, and anthropomorphic characters.

Traversing the game world and seeing the creativity and uniqueness in the player made heroes is one of the game's most charming and enjoyable experiences. You really get the sense that every individual player-hero is a distinct, storied character. There are no clones here, no toons derived from a finite set of avatars laden with whatever gear they happen to pick up. The game is like one part RPG, and one part costume contest.


Music and Sound: The music is varied and dramatic, sounding like the kind of scores you hear in action movies. Sound effects feature everything you'd expect from a game as varied as this. Swords slash and scrape with a satisfying metallic ring. Guns blare out as they spit bullets at their targets. Weird sounds emanate from telepathic powers, you get the idea. There is probably as much SFX as there are powers, and there are a lot.

Superheroes battling a towering mech in a city street. I'm sold!

Conclusion: I try to be objective in my reviews, but in this case, objectively is nearly impossible. I love the new, the fun and the fresh. And I see all this in Champions by the bucket full. Playing the game since open beta has been one of the best experiences I've had in an mmorpg in a long time. You may need to explore this game and judge it for yourself, taking what I have to say with a grain of salt. For a casual gamer, who needs to break out of the worn high fantasy genre, I can't imagine a better game.

For the hardcore gamers, you may be put off by the somewhat straightforward gameplay. That's not to say that the mechanics are simplistic. There are a lot of things at play in character creation, questing and battling that was never dreamed of for it's predecessor, City of Heroes. Having said that, compulsive players that blow through the content as fast as they can may feel short changed, and are probably missing the point.

You get a lot for your money's worth, in this title. And I fully and highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the superhero genre and good games in general. It shows that Cryptic cared about taking their work to the next level. If they can pump out regular content, I think we'll have a real hit on our hands.

Status: Approved. No, not just approved, highly approved. Like, go get this game right now approved. It's fun, it's fast, it's furious, and it's not a WoW clone. What more do you want?

Pros: Deepest character creation system ever created for an online RPG (if I'm wrong, I'd love to know what game tops it, because I'm pretty sure no such game exists.) Fast, dynamic, entertaining gameplay. Freeform, classless leveling system allows for virtually any type of hero.

Cons: May not offer enough for hardcore gamers. Some may not like the shard server system. (Those who detest instances, this game is not for you.) May take a couple of tries to get characters to look right (i.e. not too shiny, plastic, bright or dark looking.)