March 31 - April 4
A big pile of nothin'!
That's what I've got for your gaming pleasure this week, bupkis. You better be enjoying RS: Vegas 2 or Crisis Core, because you've got nothing to look forward to for the next week except illegitimate April 1st headlines to remind us that the gaming press is made up of a lot of folks with poor joke telling skills. As a public service, I'd like to remind all my blogging brethren that it is a far trickier thing than most suspect to create a good April Fools Day headline. God help me, Game Informer of all places actually got it right recently with headlines like:Microsoft Games Studio leaves Microsoft. See! Clever and so clearly ridiculous as to be obvious fabrication!
Do not take your cues from the Green Bay newspaper that launched its early April Fools joke with an announcement that Packers quarterback Brett Favre had decided to come back for one more year, sending Packer finds into brief and bittersweet joy which was quickly squashed. It's like those horrible people that think giving people a fake lottery ticket for Christmas is hi-larious! Please, if you feel inclined to try and create your own April Fools headlines, and I sincerely recommend that you do not, be sure they are actually funny while not seeming like real news stories.
Frankly, I'll be holed up in a bunker until the day is safely over.
On DVD this week, Alvin and the Chipmunks and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Like there's a difference between the two movies! More here.
PC:
- Riddle of the Tomb (3/31)
- Civil War Mysteries (3/31)
- Great War Nations: Spartans (3/31)
- Ford Racing Offroad (4/1)
DS
- Rafa Nadal Tennis (3/31)
- Toy Shop (4/1)
Xbox 360:
- Call of Duty 4: Game of the Year Edition (3/31)
Wii:
- Octomania (3/31)
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Gaming / PC Tech Blog: Blast Processing - www.blastprocessing.net
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An adventure game called Overclocked comes out today, the 31st. I don't know if it's any good, but it involves one guy entering the memories of five different characters, and the whole story is told in reverse chronological order. At the very least, it's a more interesting premise than Riddle of the Tomb's. I believe the premise of Riddle of the Tomb is that there is a tomb, and it's got a big ol' riddle in it.
Steam ID: http://steamcommunity.com/id/nyles
Website: http://banditosbanditosbanditos.typepad.com
Favorite puzzle: Grim Fandango -- the metal detector
I'm with you on this one, April fools sucks. The biggest problem is when people actually try and release news on the day.
Makes you wonder if people involved in intel at the fbi/cia/whatnot have a no pranks on April 1st rule. If not, they should.
Xbox Live gamertag Druidpeak
That's coming out in North America? I've been looking forward to that one, but haven't heard thing one about it. Awesome.
Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto
Unfortunately, my interest in games released in April hovers dangerous near "slim and none".
There is one game seriously on my radar for the entire month, which is actually just a collection of old NEO-GEO titles being released on the PS2 at the end of the month.
This looks like a great month to go try out some games I haven't quite gotten to, or finish up some that I've had lingering in the background.
Seems like every game I cared about has been pushed back to August or October.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - CrazedJava
Less chatter more splatter!
I'm actually pretty excited about the new map pack for COD4. That's all the release I need this week to keep me busy, as I'm still enjoying the heck out of the multiplayer.
Otherwise, Family Unit and Dissertation Dare 2: Revenge of the Committee are still keeping me busy with their patches and DLC content.
I have heard about an indie game currently under development to be released this month, I think it was called Grab The Auto 4 or something like that.
No interest in Grand Theft Auto 4. The protagonist looks like an ugly little homicidal thug. Really, the series lost me as of San Andreas. I'm not particularly enjoying Saint's Row anymore because of the very reason I never picked up San Andreas. I don't like playing your typical street thug. I really liked III, mostly for its novelty and Vice City was cool because at least there is some romantic, if unrealistic, notions about organized crime.
I have plenty of sandbox games already with far more likable protagonists. I think GTA4 is being carried more on name recognition than anything else at this point. If I want to play as a homicidal street thug I haven't traded in Saint's Row yet.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - CrazedJava
Less chatter more splatter!
If you're into strategies, there's Europa Universalis: Rome in mid-April. Other than that, it seems that April is the month of taking care of the pile of shame.
You can't take the sky from me.
*Legion* wrote:
Should this article be under "The week ahead" instead of "Maximum Verbosity"?
This article is in fact not maximally verbose. I challenge Elysium to do better.
Elysium got called out by an intern!
Fedaykin98 wrote:
Are you one of those people who hated Doom because the story made no sense?
Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto
As far as I know, in Doom, the protagonist wasn't a carjacking gangsta jackass.
Shelter: a post-nuclear RPG.
Ding ding ding! You get a twinkie.
Why am I the bad guy because I don't want to play a criminal? I don't care if other people want to play it, but it holds no appeal for me. That's all I'm saying.
Unfettered Blather - Daily updated nonsense
X-Box Live Gamertag - CrazedJava
Less chatter more splatter!
Dude, you're not the "bad guy." All I'm saying is that it seems to me that the protaganist is the single most ancillary element in the GTA experience, so it's wierd to judge the game on that criteria.
Homo sum, humani nil a me alienum puto
I choose to judge it on the fact that it seems to offer little in the way of new gamplay that the GTA 3 series of games did. Can't get all excited over another rehash of what I've already done. At the very least, I'm not getting it on Day One.
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'I'd hit it!'" - HP Lovesauce
"Sure, I'm a space marine, but that's not all I do. I like to blow off steam with a bit of gangsta carjacking. I also enjoy Whist."
Steam ID: http://steamcommunity.com/id/nyles
Website: http://banditosbanditosbanditos.typepad.com
Favorite puzzle: Grim Fandango -- the metal detector
I understand what you're saying. I go back and forth on this. I generally dislike GTA in terms of what it represents and the story of each game. What I DO enjoy, though, are the ways you can break free from the confines of the game and do random stuff. Stealing tanks and running through cities in them. Jumping motorcycles and just generally causing mayhem. Same reason I really enjoy skate or Burnout Paradise. I'm going to be predisposed to like open world games more often than not. Crackdown being one of my favorite. The thought of 16 Goodjers running around town making up games gets me excited about GTA IV in particular.
Were it not for multiplayer, I don't know if I'd care much and I definitely wouldn't be considering it for Day 1.
XBox Live Gamertag: DSGamer GWJ
I have Thursday and Friday off work, and with luck will be getting a new Satellite dish installed Wednesday afternoon. So not all is a waste.
To me, the protagonists of all the games (GTA 3, VC, SA) were all criminal thugs.
Fedaykin98 wrote:
I see you GTA and raise you any JRPG ever. The tagline of Final Fantasy should be, "Im breakin into ur hovel, stealin ur valuables/life savings/CCG collections".
"Today's Tom Sawyer, he gets high on you, Kat. You." - Haakon7
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And you should have seen me play Ultima 3 back in the day. "Okay, let's slaughter the inhabitants of Dawn again!" "Hooray!" *thwack thwack zzzzap!* "Let's get the hidden ship and kill Lord British and sit on his thrown!" "Hooray!"
At least the character of GTA:SA was trying to look out for his family and neighborhood. The "protagonists" of GTA3 and GTA:VC were just out to make a buck. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed them all. I just don't see much difference between the stories behind them.
Fedaykin98 wrote: