Birthday Wishes

In an attempt to assuage any anxiety about gifts for me, I have made a couple recommendations of the video game/coffee variety.  The full bulk of this sort of thing can be viewed at my Amazon.com gift list here.

It's probably worth noting that some of the links that follow are part of me being an Amazon Associate, so I could even be getting bonus money from you buying gifts for me that you were going to anyway!

The list, descriptively separated by how much you love me how much money you have to spare on the celebration of my birth, follows after the jump!

Mario Marathon 4 On It's Way

It's almost time for another round of this madness!  http://www.mariomarathon.com/ is happening again, and - if you haven't watched before - it's for a good cause.  These guys play Mario until they have completed the objectives matching the donation level.  The more money dontaed, the more Mario they are subjected to.  It's like being sadistic, but for charity!

Jealous

The Balance of Good and Evil

I don't usually play games as an "evil" character.  My natural inclanation is to save people, heal others, and generally be a "do-gooder."  Games like Fallout 3, Bioshock, Fable, and inFAMOUS have greatly featured the morality/Karma/whatever system that can affect gameplay in subtle ways (slight differences in dialogue), to extreme ways (effects powers).  So it should be no surprise that my first playthrough on games like these is that of the good guy (with the exception of Fallout: New Vegas, on which it was difficult to determine the "good guy" path, and I instead treaded into the murky waters of the unknown - and also Fallout 3: The Pitt DLC, which had the same outcome).

Playing inFAMOUS on Evil (and on Hard mode, for trophy's sake) has actually been a bit more fun than my first playthrough.  I can't tell if it's because I'm now more comfortable with the game, or if the evil missions are more enjoyable, or if I truly have molded into a sadistic creep who enjoys zapping pedestrians with electricity before sucking their bio-energy out of their skulls to replenish my health. 

So today, I wanted to look at the ways in which games communicated good and evil, and my take on that dichotomy.  More after the jump...

Nuka Break: The Series - Help Make This Happen!

Listen - no, listen - yes, I am enrapturedly attracted to Zack Finfrock, but I also think that Nuka Break: The Series needs to happen.  This is The Guild worthy, and I want to support it. 

Nuka Break, a short fan film, really captured my heart with its ability to fully encapsulate the Fallout world.  The writing, acting, and production were spot on and AMAZING.  If I had $5,000, I would sponsor this project (a random number selected, certainly not because that is the level of sponsorship for which said sponsor would have a walk-on role and a chance to meet Finfrock and confess my their undying love).

If you're a fan of webseries, creativity, Fallout, or just cute guys, make this happen!  Visit their Indiegogo page and sponsor!  http://www.indiegogo.com/Funding-for-Fallout-Nuka-Break-the-series

inFAMOUS



Main character Cole, being titularly infamous.

As part of Sony's Welcome Back program, one of the games I picked up was inFAMOUS, a sandbox, free roaming game where you play Cole, a courier who unknowingly unleashed a massive electronic explosion and is now a superhuman with electric powers.  The game's story unfolds as you explore Empire City's three districts, restoring power, taking back the streets from hoodlums, and uncovering the mystery of the explosion that leveled a few city blocks. 

The game is from Sucker Punch, of Sly Cooper fame, and it feel very similar.  On other games, this might be a bit of a bad thing, but for Sly and inFAMOUS, the balance works excellently!  The third-person camera is mostly cooperative (as it was, except for exceedingly painful moments in Sly) and the addition of electronic powers fits nicely.  There's cover, which I despise, but if you go headlong into a bulletstorm and die, the game is mercifully forgiving, starting you at the beginning of missions or in a convenient spawn location.

Considering it was on the docket as a free game, I wasn't sure how well, altogether it would frame up, but I was pleasently surprised at the length, depth, and altogether enjoyment I got out of this game.  More (and spoilers) after the jump.

Super Stardust HD

I usually have no idea what's happening.

My husband and I have been a little obsessed recently with Super Stardust HD, which we picked up as part of Sony's Welcome Back program.  As it had no charge (besides the mild inconvenience of not being able to use the PSN for a while), the ROI of playtime:money is practically infinite.  A top-down, dual analog stick shooter with a fun co-op mode only ruined when your life partner decides that - even though he already has one - to run for the uber powerful Shield upgrade.

If you weren't mildly inconvenienced or picked other games, Super Stardust HD is worth its puny $7 pricetag.  The music does a phenomenal job of inducing frenzy as you play through 25 designed phases on five different planets. 

Flash Game Friday: Warp Game

The Platformer genre has largely gone by the wayside, with video game developers wanting more and more to make games which utilize sophisticated physics, graphics, and complicated motion controllers, but sometimes you just want a good platform game.  Thankfully, small Flash developers everywhere have taken to the call, and this week's entrant: Warp Game makes an admirable showing.

In its thirty levels (plus 3 bonus stages), you will traverse simply made platforms with one added catch: roam off screen left or right, up or down, and you'll appear on the other side.  The result is some fun puzzles to get through the stages.  Powerups are introduced halfway through that make you jump higher, become invulnerable, or break through certain walls.

It's celver, simple, and a great 30 minute distraction!

New Kirby Announced for Wii (Coming this Fall)

I don't know why I'm so interested in Kirby, since Epic Yarn (my first review) was an epic fail, but I really do love the series.  And I'm super stoked by the E3 announcement that the game is getting back to its roots of having you eat people and get their powers.  The game looks like it has all the trappings of traditional Kirby, plus some multi-player action akin to New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

If you can't wait for a Kirby fix, there are a few DS games out to help curb your craving:

• Kirby Super Star Ultra
• Kirby Squeak Squad
• Kirby Canvas Curse

PlayStation Store Back Up!

Finally having returned home from Phoenix, AZ, I was excited to hear that the PlayStation Store was (finally) back online, and slightly less excited to hear that Sony had been hacked, again.  Eager to access my free content, I signed in this morning before any more outages could be expected.

It's interesting, as I had originally thought that online access and downloadable content (DLC) were abominations to gaming.  Now, I have found myself at a loss without them.  So - having no access to online features since April 20 has been a bit of a letdown.

With the store back up, Sony extended a Welcome Back program which featured the download of two new games and a month free of PlayStation Plus.  I am downloading inFamous and Super Stardust HD as we speak.   I hope to also log on and get a crack at some of the demos that are available before long.

A quick perusal at the DLC available shows me how much I haven't gotten to yet - Witch Hunt for Dragon Age: Origins, The Exiled Prince for Dragon Age 2, Minerva's Den for Bioshock 2, and two installments for Fallout: New Vegas!