Monday, January 6, 2014

Let's Talk - "How to Make a Proper FPS"

In the FPS (First Person Shooter) genre universe there are several different sub-genres. You have arena based shooters such as "Unreal Tournament 3", horror survival shooters such as "Doom", competitive shooters such as "Call of Duty", and even offline shooters just to name some. As a long time FPS fan it has come to my attention over the past several years that developers of these types of arcade style experiences have lost touch with what made them so great in the first place. The introduction of such things as larger maps, poorly executed spawning systems, and lag compensation have almost ruined the genre completely. Factor in the corporate greed of companies who want to take your money, and run with it while giving you a less than finished product, and you'll have a proper "coup de grace". As a gamer I want to think that there's hope for this genre, but the cold hard fact is that it's likely never going to see the golden years again. With the crowds that such games attract, and the type of developers who worm there way into the genre in order to make a killing off of doing much of nothing for the gamers I find that my feet are firmly planted in the reality that the FPS experiences of yesteryear are a long gone thing of the past.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Don Jon (DVD)

Don Jon the movie is more, or less a film about the habitual nature of healthy and unhealthy sexual relationships. Jonny, who is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes the lead role of a troubled young man who gets his jollies off by watching porn on a daily basis. Porn to him is a way to lose himself completely, and in his own opinion is much better than the real deal. After meeting a girl named Barbara Sugarman (Scarlett Johansson) at a local nightclub though his life of one night stands, and porno watching is turned topsy-turvy. Jonny ends up coming to the realization that porn isn't exactly as great as it seems, and that there's more to a relationship than just one-sided sexual desire. During a chance meeting with a much older female classmate (Julianne Moore) Jonny finds a way out of his addictive behavior, and begins to understand the meaning of true love/true love making. Both Jonny, and this MILF acquaintance find much needed comfort in each others company, and in a haphazard sort of way solve each others life issues at the same time. Through repeated visits with friends, the church clergy, and his new found MILF lover the points of lust, and love are driven home in a repetitive fashion that will definitely seem very understandable to a lot of people in the real world. As humans we'll find as Jonny did that not everything is as perfect as the adult film performers portray it to be, and that not everything is less than perfect when it comes to true love/love making. This is what I believe to be the message that director Joseph Gordon-Levitt obviously tried to send to his audience.

Saturday, January 4, 2014

Happy Belated New Year!!!

Greetings all ye blog readers! The year is 2014, and there's lots of gaming goodness headed your way in the coming months. As I mentioned earlier I have already sent out several review inquiries in hopes of snagging some review material. So far I've only gotten two confirmations from retail game developers/PRs, but I'm sure more are on their way. Unfortunately not everyone has awoken from their holiday hibernation just yet. As far as what I'm going to cover this year goes I will be trying my hardest to cover all of the new NISA, ATLUS, XSEED, and Tecmo Koei RPGs. Without a doubt this will definitely be the year for great RPG experiences. I'm definitely looking forward to it, and hope that you are too.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Resogun (PS4)

When it comes to indie shmup concepts I think "Resogun" easily earns it's place amongst the best. This eye-popping spectacle of a twin-stick shooter will either put you into a seizure induced spasm due to sensory overload, or will have you staring at the screen in amazement as next-gen special effects fill the screen in front of you. The idea behind this shooter is a simple yet effective one. As mankind's last hope you are piloting their only way off of the cylindrical cities. For some reason, or another humanity is about to face Armageddon several times over, and they are slowly waking from their suspended cubicles only to be dropped out on the street, and blasted/abducted by the robotic alien life forms who are attacking. You, and your ship will not only aid these poor helpless human beings in their time of need, but will also fight against wave after wave of alien spacecraft in the process.

Wednesday, January 1, 2014

First Impressions - "Blacklight: Retribution (PS4)"

PC owners were the first to get their hands on this futuristic FPS multiplayer experience known as, "Blacklight: Retribution, and will no doubt have already turned away from the PC version seeing as it is old news. For all of us PS4 owners, and dedicated console players though this Scifi inspired shooter is a new thing, and one that should definitely not be overlooked. The fact that it's free-to-play gives you no reason to skip it, even though you may not be inclined to spend actual money on DLC content. From a personal point of view I can tell you that the game definitely has it's pros, and cons. The gameplay which can be described as run & gun friendly is a welcome addition to the FPS genre due to the fact that you can actually run & gun. The standard issue offerings that require no money to use also make for a welcome addition to gameplay. If you are a gamer that is looking to impress though, and wish to show your online prowess with your weapons loadouts, and perks then Zombie Studios does offer a payment plan for such things. You merely have to exchange your PSN credit for some Zcoins, and you are ready to shop.