Microsoft to Ban Campers

Recently during my browsing of my favorite Youtube channels I happened across a disturbing commentary by "ReviewTechUSA". In it the commentator stated that Microsoft's decision to ban gamers who camp in "Call of Duty" games was an "Awesome" move. His reasoning behind this was simply that he despised being killed off by campers. I think we can all agree that being killed off by campers in-game sucks, but at the same time I personally do not agree with his brand of thinking. There's ways around the "Camper" phenomenon, but there's no way to combat the immense amount of hacking that is the true threat to online CoD. Microsoft, and Sony both do not want to deal with the nagging complaints from gamers such as myself who constantly remind them that hacking is a prominent threat in online gaming. Not only do these corporate bigwigs want to pass the buck off to some other issue such as 'Camping", and ignore hacking altogether, but they are also ill-equipped to handle the ever-growing issue that is hacking.

Basement Crawl (PS4)

When this game first came into the spotlight Bloober Team teased at it's more mature nature with an excellently crafted CG trailer. As a horror movie enthusiast I got excited, and briefly fell in love with the innocent yet nightmarish look of the toys, and characters involved in the cinematic teaser. The voice acting was as eerie as the post-apocalyptic look of the environment in which the game's main female character resided in making me want to see even more. To me it hinted at a possible plot, and a possible singleplayer experience. Unfortunately when I got my hands on the game I realized two very disappointing things. The first being the fact that the multiplayer offerings which were what the game was all about were busted, and secondly that the game gave little in the way of plot material, or control explanations.

Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition (PS4)

If you grew up as a young lad during the PSOne era of gaming you'll no doubt have spent some quality time getting acquainted with Miss Lara Croft's naughty physique, and her noteworthy archaeological  adventures. Prior to the release of the original Tomb Raider series no one in game development had ever touched base on such an adventure as the ones Lara Croft embarked on. Not only was she the female version of the well known "Indiana Jones", but she was more badass than he ever was. This gun toting hottie put away many historic, and prehistoric threats during her treasure seeking days, and always walked away to tell the tale. From a guys standpoint Lara was the video game epitome of sexy. She was a virtual goddess that captured the attention of many like minded guy gamers. I for one fell for her unreal beauty, and even once attempted to make a bogus nude code work. By the way, thank you friend for bursting my bubble with that one. You know who you are ...

Muramasa Rebirth (PS VITA)

Out of all the gaming gems that Vanillaware, and George Kamitani have released "Muramasa: The Demon Blades" was, without a doubt my all-time favorite action-rpg from them. It was one of the first games that I pre-ordered, and was one of the first Wii games to draw in my undivided attention indefinitely. I played the game through completely creating all 108 Demon Blades, finishing both character stories, and both difficulty settings. It was a video game adventure I don't think I'll ever forget.

Recently, being the rather fortunate journalist that I am I was able to secure a code for the PS Vita re-launch of the original game. Appropriately titled "Muramasa Rebirth" the game not only presented an HD visual overhaul making it look worlds better than before, but it also offered additional DLC enabling the player to experience the game through four new character perspectives. While only two batches of DLC are out at this time you can rest assured Aksys Games will follow through with the final two intended DLC releases. Aside from the DLC additions you'll find that the enhanced gameplay was presented in a more fluid manner than before with more responsive controls, and spot on features that matched what the massive Wii version had in store. This handheld version of the classic tale will no doubt come off as being the definitive version of the two as a result.

Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 (PS3/PSN)

Prior to the release of the "Lords of Shadow" saga, and the "Mirror of Fate" tie-in the history of the Belmont clan, and their eternal struggle against Dracula had never really been fleshed out. In fact Gabriel Belmont, the forefather of the Belmont clan had not entered the picture until the first "Lords of Shadow" game had been released. Previous 2D releases did much of nothing in the way of fully revealing Gabriel's story, or the Belmont family ties. The origins of Alucard, and even the origins of Dracula himself were kept in the shadows of gaming history like the dark characters themselves. The 2D games that were released before these definitive plot installments came into play were shared in such a haphazard sort of way that many questions were left unanswered for faithful fans of the series. The introductions of new characters later on, and the new stories that were added also made little to no sense in the ongoing saga.

New Additions to the Inferno

If you've taken a look at this blog late last night, or this morning you'll likely have seen the four new page sections added to the top of it. There's "The Sh*t List", "Reader's Art of the Month", "Giveaways & Contests", and "Reader's Reviews". Out of all these new sections only "The Sh*t List" has any content though. That of course will change starting in March. While the "Sh*t List" is a fixture that will be managed only by me you will be able to contribute in two different ways on two of the other pages, and will even get the opportunity to win some giveaways/contests on occasion. The first way you can contribute is by emailing me some of your own game related art. This will be a monthly feature, so whoever I pick to represent that month will have their work on display until the following month arrives.