Star Trek: TNG

We've been watching Star Trek: The Next Generation, and I have only one conclusion from watching a majority of the first season:

Dragon Age 2 DLC: The Exiled Prince & The Black Emporium

Dragon Age 2 was realeased with two DLC packs instantly available, one of which was free when purchasing a new copy of the game.  But, you ask, if I picked up the game used, is the DLC worth it?

The Black Emporium is said free-with-new-purchase DLC, and adds the following to Dragon Age 2 gameplay:

• Hawke can enter a sustained mode (at no cost to mana/stamina) to summon a Mabiri Warhound which assists the party.  The dog is available from the very beginning of the adventure. 
• The (titular) Black Emporium is opened in Kirkwall in Act I.  The Emporium features items that cannot be purchased anywhere else in the game, especially the Maker's Sigh, which allows you to redistribute all ability points and talent assignments (essentially allowing you to reformat a character).



Third floor: Ladies' handbags, designer dresses, disembowling daggers.

Is It Worth It?  For free, no questions asked, but is it worth the $9.99 price tag?  The additional features, while certainly neat (new dialogue is added for each party member's interactions with your Mabari, for example), did not add any additional play-time to the game.  You can pick up any crafting resources you missed in a previous act (which is nice), but it wont' help you towards the devilish Supplier trophy/achievement, so that is what it is.  Rather than considering purchase of the DLC, consider whether or not a used version of the game is worth not having these features, since that's pretty much the choice you're making...

The Exiled Prince adds a new companion to your party.  Or so it claims to.  In all reality, Sebastian Vael cannot actually join the party until Act II, and has only a minor quest to complete in Act I.  I barely utilized Isabella because she joined the group so late in Act I, do you think I'm going to use this dude?  Furthermore, Sebastian unbalances the otherwise well thought out party system (or had you not noticed that you had 2 rogues, 2 warriors, and 2 mages?) as a third rogue (and a second one of range).  On the bright side, Sebastian can equip bows, while Varric keeps Bianca near him at all times.



Holding his Longbow like a gangsta...

You can romance Sebastian, if you're a woman.  He is a man of the cloth, so no Friends of Dorothy need apply.  Like other companians, he has quests to be completed, which all-in-all add a couple hours to gameplay (although they utilize the heavily recycled locales, so it just feels like more of the same).

Is it Worth It?  For $6.99, I don't think it really was.  Sebastian barely feels like he belongs in the party of misfits, and I'd much prefer Varric for ranged attacks (and romantic lustings).  All in all, it just doesn't justify the price tag.

Item Packs are also the available DLC for Dragon Age 2, but as I haven't given them a spin, I'm not sure I feel good reviewing them.  The game already has all types of weapons and armor to chose from ... do you really want more?

Flash Game Friday: Sweatshop

Maybe you don't want to think about social issues while playing a Flash Game.  If so, skip this review and just play this classic.  (No seriously, you should play it, anyway.  It's about not shitting your pants, an admirable goal.)

Sweatshop is a game created by Little Loud to help raise awareness of the high costs of cheap prices, and possibly just be a fun game to play.  The game can, at times, be a bit heavy handed about it's thesis (sweatshops = bad), but at its core, it has a fun story and very non-traditional tower defense gameplay.

Workers have specialties, but children can do anything!

As raw materials come down the production line, you must place workers to craft the items.  As manager, you control the worker's conditions: how fast the belt runs, if there are bathrooms available, etc.  Some of these impact production and sale value, and some are simply for the benefit of your employees' health and wellness.  It is cheaper to hire children and replace the dead ones with new ones, but that's awfully heartless!

The game boasts 30 levels of increasing difficulty, and I found myself into the game for a few solid hours.  Give it a go, if not just to blow off some steam at your comparably easy job, but also to learn!

Bioshock 2

"Uh oh, Mr. Bubbles...  Big Sister doesn't want you playing with me..."

Let us pretend, for a moment, that all sequels improve upon the original, rather than simply using an existing title to cash in on an easily satisfied market base.  Once you're ready to step out of that fantasy world, we can talk about Bioshock 2. 

Strictly speaking, Bioshock 2 isn't bad, but neither is it Bioshock the first, which is really its greatest criticism.  Although, plenty more criticism to go, after the jump!

Totes Jelly

While I've been busy replaying Fallout: New Vegas with the new DLC I nabbed from the generous Playstation Store card my Grandma got me for my birthday (thanks Grandma!), my best friend - my best friend - has Platinum'd yet another game.

While it's all good and well to have slacked behind on getting Blast Shards in Empire City (or whatever we're calling New York in video games these days), missing the Supplier trophy in DA:2 has set me back from Eldronius yet further!  

Worry not, dear friend, for I am coming after you.  Just as soon as a I deal with Super Mutants and Cazadores and reading about vampires in Louisana and the founding of Rapture...

ADDITIONALLY: for those of interest, my percentage is higher due to my completion of the DLC The Exiled Prince, which was a bit meh to be honest (who wants a fuddy-duddy like Sebastian when you already have a sexy dwarf with a crossbow?).  Platinum trophies only require performing 100% of the original content.

Demo: Catherine

I - I don't actually know what it was I just played.  Strictly speaking, it was a puzzle game wherein your character scales a tower of blocks to reach the exit, creating paths by pushing and pulling said blocks.

The confusing part was the apologetically Japanese anime cut scenes, wherein your main character Vincent freaks out about his girlfriend hinting at marriage, and then his dream states where he climbs the block towers - dressed only in his undies and some weird sheep horns.  The sheep thing is pretty prevalent, and there's an underlying murder mystery thing that might be related to having woken up next to a perky blond - the titular Catherine.  It's due out in the next couple days, so grab the demo if you want a feel for what the game was like...

Demo: Limbo

This tree thing killed me a couple times.  My roommate laughed.

Got a hold and gave a whirl for the demo of Limbo, monochromatic platform-puzzle game that has received a lot of awards.  Can't say much about it, the demo was pretty short (10 minutes of gameplay).  It looked very artsy, but not in the fun, bubbly way that Braid did.

So - not much to say, other than I'm speculative about giving $15 towards it.  If I was still a Playstation Plus subscriber, the number goes down a couple digits.

But - you know - meh.  That's how I'm feeling...

Bioshock 2 DLC 50% Off on Playstation Store

After logging into the Playstation Store today to download the latest Fallout: New Vegas DLC, I was greeted by a huge advertisement that all 2K DLC was half-off.  I cursed my early purchase of Minerva's Den and Protector Trials DLC; but my misfortune can be your savings!  Consider extending your Bioshock 2 experience with these two DLC packs - for 50% off!

Minerva's Den, the trip into a new Rapture environment as Subject Sigma will run you $4.99 and the Protector Trials - an opportunity to flex your Big Daddy muscles in a set of fun challenges - is only $2.49.  So, for a total of less than two Starbucks lattes, you can extend the original game by another few hours!

Flash Game Friday: 100th

100th, a puzzle platformer that relies on the use of rising balloons, may be just the time waster you need today!

Balloon hoppin' - that's my thing.

The game uses basic arrow keys to control your pixelated creation, and X to hold or release baloons which you can use to explore the world.  The game is easy enough to understand, with a couple of fun puzzles to collect gifts and reach then end.  Good play!

P.S. while very demanding from a manual dexterity perspective, you can beat the game only using the red balloon.  Good luck!

Reading List is Taking Over!

My reading list has taken over a little, lately, care of some birthday presents.

I have found that, indeed, I can enjoy books on my new iPad, so I have bought two, and they are both based off of video games.  From Dragon Age, a prequel about the birth of King Marric (whose son is a featured character in Dragon Age: Origins) called Dragon Age: The Stolen Throne and from Bioshock, another prequel about the founding and downfall of the underwater city, Rapture, called simply BioShock: Rapture.

Since both books had Samples available on iBooks, I was able to get a feel before committing to purchasing.  I've never tried an e-Reader before, but have been surprised at how well the iPad serves in that aspect (as well as having some game, which I'll do a feature on soon).

Also, some nice solid down to earth books, namely Dead Until Dark: A Sookie Stackhouse Novel.  It's much much campier than its television inspired series (HBO's True Blood) - up to being laugh out loud funny, the kind I haven't had sine One for the Money (Stephanie Plum, No. 1) or Grift Sense series (both campy murder mystery types).

Civilization V

The Civilization series of games has been around since 1991, and are loosely related to a board game of the same name.  In the game, the player is one of several world leaders at the dawn of history.  With only a settler and an accompanying unit, the player settles their first city and begins to develop their nation.  Because of the intense variability in the games, the Civ series is remember as engaging and often addictive ("just... one... more... turn...").

Civ V is the latest iteration of the series which has seen itself develop in new and interesting ways.  Civ IV in particular introduced the notion of religion as a gameplay mechanic that - while, at times, unrealistic - added depth into gameplay.  The fourth game also introduced culture as a methodology of expanding ones' borders and influencing a neighboring city to join your robust country than another leader's lackluster one.

The full review is after the jump...

Cute Cat Cartoon

Why My Stepfather Should Play Minecraft

Yes.  This post is specifically for you, Stepfather.  I know you're not currently playing Minecraft, and I'm about to attempt to tell you why you should.

An aqueduct.  In Civ V, it retains 40% of food after growth.

Minecraft (minius-craftius) opens with you, alone in a world populated with trees, deserts, oceans, mountains, snow, etc.  You are alone, and have nothing.  You must build yourself a shelter before the night falls and zombies, skeletons, spiders, and (the ever feared) creepers spawn and attempt to eat your succulent man-flesh.

Luckily, nearly everything in the world can be broken down by your fists (trees, sand, soil) or appropriate tools that you craft (stone, coal, iron ore).  So you'll be able to create a modest home with a couple torches before night falls.

Playing Minecraft is a very zen experience (except for when you accidentally stumble upon a nest of zombies).  While the mobs - Minecraft slang for the creatures who spawn at night - are certainly an ever looming threat, the point to playing the game is to build whatever you want.  Would you like to have a cobblestone sky walkway connecting your various homes so that you can traverse the world without having to worry about mobs on the ground?  You need only build it.  Instead, consider an interconnected subway of carts that ride on redstone powered rails.  You are limited to only your imagination.

More after the jump...


The Hog Wart Sexpress

This script was used as part of our Labyrinth of Health and Horrors at work last year, and excellently performed by my favorite employee, Colleen.  The theme for the room is sexual health and the script makes ample use of puns...  enjoy!

Harry Potter and the Hog Wart Sexpress

HERMIONE:      Quickly, quickly!  You must get inside.  There are Sementors all around us!  I just got inside myself.

[The students enter the small alcove with HERMIONE.]

                                Latexo Maximus!  There, that will keep the Sementors away.  Have any of you been exposed?  I have some chocolate and information to help you prevent Unexpecto Pregonum.

                                I can’t believe you are all walking around unprotected!  Lord Vulvawart is currently battling Professor Dumblesore and Professor McGonnoreah, and who knows how long they can keep him at bay!  And he’ll surely be here soon, because he’s after my Goblet of Fire!

                                You have to go, but first I will teach you to protect yourself.  It’s a simple spell, really.  And I can demonstrate using…

                                [HERMIONE reveals a dildo called the SWORD OF GRYFFINDOR.]

                                …the SWORD OF GRYFFINDOR! 

                                You must have in your possession the Latexo spell.  We’ll give you some on your way out, so you’ll be prepared.  The first thing you must do prior to using it is check to make sure the spell is not expired, then open it with your hands.  Do not use your teeth, wand, quill, or owl to open it, or you may damage the spell!

                                Remove the spell from its package and place it atop your head.  Be sure to pinch the tip, since a sudden appearance of potion will need some place to reside.  Next, extend your spell all the way down to the base.

                                Now you will be protected from Sementors, Crabbes and Boils, Could-Itch, Syphillis Black, and Lord Vulvawart himself!

                                When you are finished using the protective spell, remove and dispose of it.  But please do not flush it down the toilet as it upsets Groaning Myrtle. 

And I shouldn’t have to remind you to only use one spell at a time, and use a new spell every time you need protection.

The Latexo spell can be used to protect your risk from all sorts of activities, such as going to the owlery to get Head… Wig.

If you need to review more with me later, leave your question in a box on the way out.  My protective enchantment is wearing off!  Go!  Go, quickly!  And remember to protect yourself!

Harry Potter and the Last Decade of my Life

Last night, with heavy heart and droopy eyelids, I embraced the final cinematic adaptation of Harry Potter.  For many of those who sat in the theatre alongside me, this was the end of a journey.  For some, it was a simple finality to a series they had enjoyed, and for others it was the completion of an epic tale, a side-along Bildungsroman of their own development from child to young adult.

Few films have scrutiny comparable to that of the Harry Potter franchise, which fans will dissect and magnify trivial cuts that were hard-pressed, but important, to be made.  Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 may not have lived up to everyone's expectations, but it did fine to live up for mine.  More (spoiler-rific) after the jump.

Minecraft

An example of why Minecraft is so brilliant.  A guy made a PRINTER....

Video Games as Art

In case you didn't know, The Smithsonian is featuring The Art of Video Games next year.  In addition to having played many of the video games who won spots in the exhibition (an Internet poll allowed users to "vote" on which games from certain time periods and genres should be featured), I recently took an Art Appreciation class, and therefor am educated in the appreciation of art!

A list of games and my take on the exhibit - after the jump!

Mortal Kombat (not a review, really)

After watching my husband play the newest Mortal Kombat for a couple hours last night, I was less and less interested in devoting any time or electronic space toward the game, but I thought it might be good practice to not simply use this blog to gush about games I like, and consider games that are abhorrent to the nature of the medium.

I mean, Mortal Kombat - let's start with the K thing.  You have Kombatants that use Kombos and collect Koins to spend in the Krypt in order to buy new Kombat Kodes.  Seriously.  I like that the game is taking an idea and running with it, but it's such a painful molestation of the English language, I'm surprised the whole game isn't banned on poor taste alone (speaking of which, you know you can't ban violent games, but that doesn't mean that games that are violent are any good, nicely summed up here by GamerDad).

So, while frustratingly watching the love of my life attempt to pull off what the game implied were "simple" combos (sorry, Kombos), I was treated to a little taste of what the game had to offer: by inputing several combinations of buttons and tilting the left analog stick, your on-screen avatar performs simple martial feats (a punch here, a kick there), or hereto unknown mystical abilities like shooting lightning out of your fingers.

There are characters (or, maybe they are Kracters...?) such as Johnny Cage, who have - I guess what I can't find a better word for: personalties, which are intended to enhance the button-mashing gameplay somehow, but I'm having trouble caring at all; I am not entirely sure that in the Venn Diagram of gaming that includes "people who like games about beating each other up" and "people who like games with well crafted stories" has a great deal of overlap.

I'm not a huge fan of fighting games to begin with.  Except for the Super Smash Bros. series, they are all rather contrite, and what's more: they are designed to play with other people.  Other people, you say?  Playing video games with them... simultaneously?  No, thank you.

The game boasts some new things (because I suppose just punching each other all the time is boring), one of which is "x-ray moves" which show the bones of your opponent being shattered.  The problem herein is that after you shatter your opponent's kneecaps, he or she gets up and does cartwheels all over the place.  Not a lot of continuity.  There are tag-team battles and so forth, but it's a snooze-fest really.

All in all, I'm not sure it was worth the full-price tag we paid for it, but if it's your thing, I guess it does look nice...