• 29Apr 08

  A Perfect 10

  Believe it or not, I have been able to endure 4 months without a broadband connection to the internet and TV. I've started a new life here in Miami and am happily settled in with my wonderful girlfriend Jen. Thank God for my Palm Treo though...without it, I can't imagine being disconnected from the outside world for this long.

  Well...I'm back and better than ever.

  First off...I have upgraded my TV to a 40" Sony Bravia KDL-XBR4 1080p set. Yes, it's SWEET. Yes, Blu-Ray looks amazing. Yes, I can't wait until Metal Gear Solid 4 arrives! My passion for gaming remains strong, but the amount of time and money that I can invest into my hobby continues to go down because of my commitment to my career and my girlfriend. Nevertheless, I have been able to find a happy medium with Jen and we play video games together now. We've been playing Crash Bandicoot, Portal, and Guitar Hero 3 together. In fact, she's even better than me in Portal and Guitar Hero...Yeah...she's a perfect 10 in my book.

  Anyways...onto the meat of the discussion.

  Tonight I ran into a very interesting post on the PS3 forum asking gamers, "What is a perfect 10 to you?"

  I pondered this queston and began writing an answer to it before changing my mind and making it the subject of this blog post.

  Grand Theft Auto IV has been rated a 10 by both IGN and Gamespot. In fact, the majority of sites are giving it a 10 and calling this game the best of this generation. I waited out until midnight last night to buy the game and have invested about an hour into the game. Tomorrow I am off from work and will be spending the overwhelming majority of the day immersing myself into the game. Do I think this game is a perfect 10? No. Not yet. Do I feel that it has the potential? Yes.

  It disappoints me that people throw the score 10 out as often as they do. I find that giving a game a 10 is a BIG DEAL. Games that are 10's are far and few; they are genre and generation defining titles. Games that are 10's push the envelope of what can be done in both a technical and artistic standpoint. Games that are 10's tell unforgettable stories, have soundtracks that stay with you, and have a cast of characters that you feel emotionally connected to. Games that are 10's can be replayed over and over again; whether single or multiplayer.

  Examples of 10's (in my book)

  1. Super Mario Brothers 3- In my opinion, the best 8-bit game ever made.

  2. Super Mario World-Showed the world the power of 16-bit gaming and proved that even a technical marvel like Super Mario 3, could be improved upon.

  3. Chrono Trigger- A powerfully, rich and deep RPG that stands the test of time.

  4. Street Fighter II Turbo- THE quentessential fighting game.

  5.Goldeneye- The FPS Revolution on consoles begins.

  6. Metal Gear Solid- The story of Sold Snake and The Shadow Moses Incident is proof that optical media (CD's, DVD's, Blu-Ray) is the future of gaming.

  7. God of War- Brutal, epic, visceral...Perfect synthesis of combat, puzzle solving, and story telling.

  8. Final Fantasy VII- The 3-D RPG is born. JRPG's become mainstream in American culture. Sephiroth and the most famous murder in gaming history.

  9. Halo- Took console FPS to a whole new level graphically. Fantastic story. The birth of console LAN parties with multiplayer.

  10. Halo 2- Online gaming on consoles is born and perfected.

  • Posted Apr 29, 2008 11:22 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 9Jan 08

  Sony PSP Impressions and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Review

  I bought a PSP about a year ago and I admit that over the course of that time, I never really used it that much. I checked out the homebrew scene and although it was very cool to have an SNES emulator running on my PSP, I thought Remote Play with my PS3 was an even cooler feature. The problem with the PSP for a long time was not necessarily the "lack" of good games, rather, it is the lack of compelling portable games.

  Nintendo has a bunch of really silly touch sensative mindless games for its DS. I personally think these games suck, but when you're talking about portable gaming, these kind of games are more suitable for "on the go" gaming. The PSP is basically holding a PS2 (with backwards compatibility)in the palm your hands. The problem was, and to some extent still is, the games are not designed with portable gaming in mind. I think portable gaming and I think of games that you play while you wait at the bus stop for short bursts of time. Maybe my mind thinks this way because I have a PS3 and an Xbox 360 to come home to. With all due respect to my PSP, why the hell would I want to use you instead?

  So...for the last six months or so, my PSP has been hanging out in its case "on call" waiting to be used. I called my PSP to duty during my recent 3 and a half week stay in Miami. I had recently beat Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and was in a Metal Gear mood. I knew that Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops continued the story of Big Boss immediately after the events of Operation Snake Eater so I searched long and hard for a copy of the game.

  I had to call 11 Gamestop stores over a radius of 25 miles from my house before I finally found the game.

  My impressions? Yes, this game is worthy of the Game of the Year awards that it received a year ago. In fact, I argue that this is the best portable game I have ever played. Yes Syphon Filter is really good and in some ways, maybe even a little more polished, but then again, I'm not as emotionally vested in Gabe Logan's story the way I am with the Metal Gear saga.

  The graphics in this game absolutely blew me away! Play this game and you'll never even consider getting a DS. It looks, feels, and plays just like a PS2 game. The controls take a little bit of time to get used to, but after about 30 minutes, you get a good feel for them. I would reccomend that players switch up the controls by selecting the "Hold Button to Crawl" option under control options. In fact, I have both the crawl and stalk movement buttons set to "Hold". It just works better that way. If you get this game, try this setting as I feel it gives you the best controls.

  Once you get a feel for the controls, everything else about Metal Gear just falls into place. The typical cutscenes expected of a Metal Gear game are replaced with animated storyboards that work to great effect on a portable system. The story is interesting and has more than a few twists and turns that keep you on your toes. At first I was pretty skeptical about "recruiting" enemy soldiers and using them, but it was a masterful idea that adds RPG-like elements to the game. Capturing enemies and trying to make the best squads actually help you out a lot in this game. More importantly though, building your squads is quite fun and addictive!

  Now...onto the mission structure. This game is loaded with missions that vary in length. You can go and hunt down a sniper rifle or capture a couple of elite level enemy soldiers while you're waiting for the bus at the bus stop. You can play out a compelling battle against a Metal Gear while taking a train ride into the city. Heck, if you're in an airport, you can play online with your squad via a Wi-Fi connection!

  There are 5 minute missions and there are 25 minute missions. You can pick and choose which ones you're most interested in doing. Generally speaking, the longer missions are the ones that advance the story and the shorter missions help you build up your squads and give you special weapons. Everything about this game was built for portable gaming and it shows.

  I've taken the time to do the overwhelming majority of the side quests and have been having a blast doing them. I absolutely adore this game because it takes everything I love about the Metal Gear Solid series and combines it into a fun, well polished PORTABLE game. Hell...this is the kind of game that I wouldn't mind laying on my couch at home playing...

  If you like action games, stealth games, or the Metal Gear Solid series, then you owe it to yourself to consider getting a PSP to check this game out. If you have a PSP, then this game is a definitely MUST BUY! The only other game that I have played on the PSP that is worthy of that kind of reccomendation from me is Tekken: Dark Resurrection.

  The PSP is turning into a portable, multimedia powerhouse. It plays games (PSP and PS1), music, movies, and shows off photos. I can check my G-mail account from my PSP, Remote Start and use Remote Play functions on my PS3, listen to Internet Radio, use it as a portable flash drive, and soon enough, I'll be able to make Skype calls from it. Unbelievable!

  Ladies and gentlemen, I want to let everyone know that the PSP is an absolutely legitimate gaming console/multimedia device and in my opinion, is leaps and bounds ahead of the Nintendo DS and iPod with respect to value. It is a viable alternative to both devices (even more so, if you can afford to add 4+ GB of memory). As a point of reference, I have a 4 GB Memory Stick and currently my PSP holds about 500 songs, an entire season of Family Guy, about 200 photos, and Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Crash Bandicoot loaded onto it.

  If you are a Mac user like me, then I suggest plunking down $15, and buying the PSP Ware software to sync your PSP up with your Apple Computer. The video conversion software in itself is worth the $15.

  I am very happy with my purchase of a PSP and am extremely excited about the March releases of two "AAA" exclusive games: Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and God of War: Chains of Olympus. These are two games that will keep me glued to my PSP while my PS3 and Xbox 360 envious watch from the sidelines.

  Overall Score for Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops- A rock "Solid" 9.3.

  • Posted Jan 9, 2008 12:23 pm GMT
  • Category: Games
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• 28Dec 07

  Happy New Year and a New Life on Miami Beach

  I'm giving up the life of a hardcore gamer to be a domesticated boyfriend for my beautiful girlfriend Jennifer. I've spent the last 2 weeks down here in Miami with her and after much deliberation, I've decided to pack up my things and move down here with her.

  We're looking for places to live in South Miami Beach, Sunny Isles, and Aventura. Who would've known that house hunting would be sooooo freaking stressful? This is a full time job and let me tell you young ones, it sucks!

  Also, for you youngsters that read the blog, take good care of your credit. It is hella important when trying to find a new place. Not that my credit is bad or anything, but I'm just saying that it can make or break you.

  No, I'm not going to stop playing video games because I'm moving. I'm just going to have a LOT less time and a LOT less money to get new games. With that said, it's not too bad because my girlfriend is the one who wants to upgrade to a 50" 1080p Plasma TV. You don't hear any complaints from me on that subject. Haha.

  Anyways, this is a fun and exciting time in my life. I'm in love with a girl who's in love with me. I get to spend my days in sunny Miami Beach cooking food in the finest restaurants. I'm going to grow up and learn how to appreciate being broke as **** for a couple of years.

  Househunting and buying furniture and all that happy **** is sooooo expensive...It makes me realize how expensive gaming is. I could've spent a lot less on gaming and bought a really nice leather sofa instead...So yeah...I'm not going to be nearly as hardcore as I was. And I'm happy about that.

  Gaming is still a passion of mine and one of my favorite hobbies. I intend on spending many nights at home cooking, gaming, playing Scrabble, learning Japanese and Spanish from my girlfriend, taking long walks on the beach...I'm getting domesticated...Who would've ever thought?

  This upcoming year is going to mean a whole lot of changes in my life. I'm looking forward to making those changes and growing up. I wish everyone on Gamespot a Happy New Year from Miami Beach.

  • Posted Dec 28, 2007 12:26 pm GMT
  • Category: Travel
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