Let's Get Political 2016

Yes, I am going there. Prepare yourself for the "Burn"! (Burn, get it? Bern? xD) ...

It is 2016, and politics in some form or fashion has bled through the internet firewalls, onto social media, through the boob tube, and further onto the tips of the tongues of the worldly citizens. Whether you want to believe it or not the information you think you know to be true is passed down, diluted, reworked, and manipulated from it's origin source. The sad thing is most of us (including myself) are guilty of taking such things at face value. We believe what Tom said. Tom, of course heard if first from Harry, a man who heard it first from Dick. So forth, and so on. We don't stop to question where the so-called facts originated from. We don't consider the actual sources, or their validity. Someone out there is pulling our strings, and we are so blinded by our unwarranted rage, and blame that we fail to see it. They are working our nerves, and guiding our actions through our misguided emotions, and opinions. For all we know the nameless instigator on social media whom we don't know from Adam, or Eve could be debating with us on that party's, or individual's behalf. We just don't know ...

Megadimension Neptunia VII - "Zero Dimension Neptunia Z" (PS4)

Over the years, and through different Playstation consoles the series that is "Hyperdimension Neptunia" has evolved, and improved in various ways. The gameplay, the visuals, and even the soundtrack have been tweaked over time to bring to the gamer the most inviting experience possible. While the mechanics, and gameplay constantly hold strong to the game's root theme the underlying plot that accompanies each narrative heavy tale only changes to fit in with the goings on of the current real world gaming industry. For those of you who have never played a 'Hyperdimension Neptunia" game the series is basically a parody of real world gaming industry topics, and concerns. The fantasy driven tales encompass everything from the console wars to journalist and community based opinions, and even the state of the industry. Often times the characters, which were created specifically for the game's lore are tied in with various consoles, and even operate as nation rulers in their own alternate game industry (Gameindustri). Like the console makers of our industry these characters, or 'CPUs' battle it out with each other for shares, and favor among their fans. Even with this mirrored storytelling logic set firmly in place as Neptunia's foundation the games in the series remain as their own unique experience, and keep things both lighthearted, and fun while doing so. For me, it's the one video game series that has always brought a smile to my face, and laughter to my stressed out life. Having also played Idea Factory's and Compile Heart's latest release of 'Megadimension Neptunia VII' I still find myself pleasantly surprised, and happy with what the developer has produced.

Red Game Without a Great Name (PS VITA)

When it comes to the naming of this game I think iFun4All's approach is rather innovative, and catchy. In fact I caught myself singing out the title of the game earlier today for no apparent reason. I'm crazy like that, lol! As far as the title of the game is concerned the only thing it really describes in regards to the gameplay is the colored theme you'll be seeing throughout your playthrough as well as the fact that the game is void of a proper name. Aside from those two things the game does still stand out on it's own as a uniquely challenging experience with a simple yet effective backstory. It does alright for itself by providing easy to understand content which the gamer can enjoy at home, or on the go. In retrospect it is one of those 2D side-scrolling, and finger swiping mobile types of games which you often times see as indie apps. While it is easy to pick up, and put down mastering it will require some seriously quick reactions, and interactions as you will be facing the task of delivering secret letters via a teleporting mechanical bird in a trap infested steampunk world.

The State of Online Gaming Address

Just like the president giving the presidential "State of the Union" address I'm here to talk to my fellow gaming community supporters about a topic of interest. I'm here to talk about something that concerns us all. That topic of discussion being the state of online gaming. I know that some of you out there in vidya game land want to believe that the servers, and the netcode are our only problems in the competitive gaming scene. If we were to be honest about it, and look deeper though we'd realize that that's not the case. While netcode, and servers could use improvement it's the majority of players who are out to grief the online gaming populous who are mostly at fault for the poor conditions of the online offerings. The trolling is worse than it's ever been, and the cheating even more so. It's gotten to the point where these grief mongers are openly displaying such behaviors without repercussion, because no one is doing anything about the problem. The gaming community is passive about the situation as are game, and console moderators. They think if they ignore it, it'll just go away. The sad truth is that you can only ignore a problem for so long before it becomes so in-your-face that it's undeniable. I think it's best that we all work together to bring this problem into the view of the moderators before it gets to that point. Otherwise we'll be left playing a mess of a game that's not worth playing.

Baseball Riot (PS4)

Taking inspiration from mobile game franchises like "Angry Birds" 10tons released a wacky sports trajectory game which follows closely a has-been baseball player named Gabe who was injured during a season's playoffs. Gabe (the protagonist) ended up taking a baseball to the knee (enter Skyrim joke here), and in doing so became unable to play due to his unfortunate injury. After his mishap in the major leagues, Gabe fell to the wayside as newspaper tabloid material like most famous has-beens do. He was continuously shunned by his critics while his misadventures in the real world were documented in full for readers of said newspaper to gawk at. Following his forced retirement the team which Gabe had played for was ultimately bought out by a chemical corporation known as "Explodz", and was renamed the "Electrolytes" for obvious reasons. As the team became successful a problem emerged regarding the popular Explodz beverage which was consumed by players, and fans alike. This beverage was causing the fans, and players to become enraged for some unknown reason. Stepping up to the plate (pun intended) Gabe decides to take on the role of the hero, and uses his pro league batting skills to bat the bejeezus out of those who were afflicted by the effects of the sinister soda. It is his way of getting back into the league, and reclaiming his rightful place with the team he was once a crucial part of. Whether, or not he achieves this goal is up to you!