Spotlight - Superbass/Teenage Dream Mashup

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Hi Seeshu!

One of my closest friends, seeshu, has agreed to contribute to this blog! As a gamer and a girl (yes, they exist), seeshu will occasionally provide her unique and thoughtful perspective on current media. Say hi, everybody!

The Attractiveness of Video Game Geeks

Friends who want to set me up always ask me what I look for in a guy. Usually, my first response is simple: I want to date somebody who plays video games.

In fact, my dating track record is relatively one-note. I tend to gel better with dudes that are both extremely geeky, tech-oriented, and know what "Chrono Trigger" is. To be honest, I'm a little hard pressed to come up with an eloquent explanation of why I love dorky boys. And, especially why I have an affinity for boys that can play games well. There's your average gaming geek, then there's the gaming geek that you are simply in awe of when they fly into action on their Xbox 360 consoles.

I may possess a passion for games, but I am nowhere near even the lowest-level of competency when it comes to shooting games. I attribute my own lack of skills with the reason why I find my boyfriend's "Call of Duty" skills so, well, adorable.

He can do things with a tomahawk that I can only dream of doing. Sometimes when I watch him play I realize I am poised in slack-jawed awe of him back-stabbing his enemies, shooting someone from afar, or using a bow-and-arrow to completely humiliate his opponent.

Some may find this a bit perverse or strange. But, to me, I find it inexplicably attractive. Maybe it's true that women love the macho man, and since I'm into gaming my version of "macho man" has translated itself into "man who plays Call of Duty well."

But, as to why I find gaming attractive in the first place? It probably has to do with my own personal view of the business of video games in the first place. As someone who has been forced to "grow up" relatively early on, holding onto video games reminds me of a lot of things. In particular, it reminds me of nostalgic memories of my childhood. Back then, the perfect afternoon was a lazy lunch of macaroni and cheese, followed by a few hours on the SNES with my older brother.

When I recall my best childhood memories, many of them revolve around games. I nearly cried when playing Final Fantasy 7. I learned how to code in HTML so that I could create my own Final Fantasy III walkthrough. My brother and I played Street Fighter 2 and countless other games together.

To me, someone who plays video games tugs at my heartstrings in the most fundamental way possible. It makes me think that this person is not only someone I can relate to, but is someone that is just like me: they're retaining part of their innocence, and their child-like imagination. After all, that's what video games essentially are. You suspend your belief for a brief few hours so you can be transported to a different world. A world where you're a hero and a world where your actions can impact the world.

What girl doesn't want to be with a hero?

Bastion Official Soundtrack Now Available!

Bastion, which I have lauded multiple times in the past few weeks, has officially been released on the PC. This version features mappable key-bindings, gamepad support, and a higher resolution than its Xbox Live Arcade counterpart. The core game remains the same though, so for those of you who don't have an Xbox360, I highly recommend you download this great game for your computer. Download via Steam (you'll need to sign up for a free account if you haven't done so already).

In addition to the PC release, Supergiant Games has also released the official soundtrack for Bastion (which was definitely part of the reason the game was so great). Composed by Darren Korb, the full soundtrack features 22 songs, 2 of which have not been heard before. Get it here for $10 digital download or $15 for a compact CD.

As an added bonus, for a limited time, Supergiant Games is offering a bundle deal to get both the digital game and the digital soundtrack at a 20% discount.

Check out my full review of the XBLA version here.

Spotlight - The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

It's a little bit late, but check out the teaser for Chris Nolan's conclusion to his Batman reboot.

And then, for your amusement:

Are You Kidding Me? - 8/5/2011

Bethesda is apparently aiming to be known as the game developer company where you can be involved in lawsuits. Via gamebanshee, Minecraft Creator Mojang AB has received a 15-page letter from the Fallout and Elder Scrolls developer, which alleges that Mojang AB's new game "Scrolls" infringes the copyright of the "Elder Scrolls" property.

Mm. Frivolous much? Somehow I'm getting the impression that the lawyers over at Bethesda are underworked and overpaid.

Bethesda has also been engaged in a legal tug-of-war with Interplay over the development of a potential Fallout MMO.

Preview - Futurama "Mobius Dick" 8/4/2011

Apologies for last week's preview video of Futurama; I don't think it had anything at all to do with the episode! I'm pretty sure this one is the right one for this week, though: Leela becomes obsessed with tracking down an albino space whale. Check out the teaser below and then tune in tonight!

Futurama

Spotlight - Diablo 3 Beta Footage

Via gamebanshee, check out the new footage from the Diablo 3 Beta below:

Review - Dragon Age: Legacy

Let's cut to the chase. If you played Dragon Age 2 then you either hated its guts or liked it - with the exception of a few specific problems. There's no denying that the game had its missteps, the most egregious of them being the atrocious amount of map-recycling and the tedious "wave" combat mechanic that turned every battle into one of attrition rather than tactics. I lay out most of the flaws (while not forgetting that the game had its highlights as well) in my review from a few months back, but this post isn't meant to rehash these old criticisms of Dragon Age 2. This is a review of its first story-based downloadable add-on, entitled Legacy.



So I'm happy to report that Legacy has - thankfully - avoided these two monumental design errors of its parent game. The DLC features a brand new area to explore outside of Kirkwall. Your adventure brings you to a Grey Warden prison in the Vimmark mountains, an area which turns out to be darkspawn-infested fortress. The dungeons - while not mindblowing - are a refreshing change of pace from exploring the carbon copy cutouts that were Dragon Age 2's map designs. The atmosphere is suitably sinister, and the DLC brings a healthy dose of interesting story content to boot. An ancient darkspawn is breaking free of its chains, and as you delve deeper into the depths of the prison, you uncover startling secrets concerning the nature of this threat. The story is engaging, and some endgame revelations are quite satisfying.

While you're spelunking through foreboding caverns and ancient halls, you'll encounter both old and new enemies. As usual, it's up to you and your gang of ragtag misfits to put these beasts down. Enemies no longer assault in monotonous waves, and tactics do play a more crucial role in the game, especially on the harder difficulties. Still, while the "Wave" mechanic is gone, the DLC doesn't quite perfect the combat formula. On normal difficulty, the enemies seem too easy to overcome, while on the hard difficulty, they seem just a bit too hard. It was particularly annoying to find that the game had spawned multiple encounters that featured a dozen archer mobs, all of them shooting painfully accurate arrows into your pincushiony body. The final bossfight - while epic in theme - is at times grating as well, requiring you to perform several monotonous tasks over and over in order to advance the battle.



Thankfully, combat isn't all that there is to do within the add-on. Some puzzle minigames and some new loot round off the DLC and provide a fun diversion from the inconsistent combat. Of particular note is the additional armor set you'll unlock only through Legacy, and the new weapon you obtain through the course of your adventure is upgradable with some new effects that I haven't seen on any other weapon.

All of this amounts to about 3-4 hours of additional playtime. The pricetag for such an adventure seems a bit high at $10.00, but if you have the cash and enjoy the world, I would still recommend checking it out. Bring your in-game sibling along if you can, and while you can technically do the quest at any point in the game, I would recommend waiting until at least Act 3; the epilogue will really jerk at those heartstrings then.

Dragon Age: Legacy is available on Xbox Live Marketplace, PSN, and PC.


Recommended For:
+ Dragon Age 2 Fans
+ Fans of Dragon Age Lore
+ RPG enthusiasts itching for a quick fix


Not Recommended For:
- Dragon Age 2 Haters
- People expecting Legacy to solve all the problems of Dragon Age 2

Last Month's Wallpaper

Another great work from www.dizorb.com. Check out a HD version below.

Review - Bastion

Overview

I've blogged a bit about Supergiant Games' Bastion previously, and discussed most of its most prominent features; for those who still don't know much about this Xbox Live Arcade downloadable, well, let's just say it's an action RPG infused with style, atmosphere, and just enough poignancy to make the trip feel worth both your time and your hard-earned dollar. If there is only one XBLA downloadable game you get this year, you can bet Bastion should be one of your top choices.

Story

The game is set in a post-apocalyptic fantasy world, brought to its knees by what's referred to as "the Calamity." Your character, "the Kid" must navigate through a world filled with crumbling infrastructure and hostile humans and monsters alike. Along the way, you pick up remnants of the old world and unlock levels that provide you with a backstory to the Calamity's survivors. Between each level, you return to your home base, called the Bastion, a sanctuary of sorts that houses its own unique mystery.

Hope the kid doesn't roll around while he sleeps...

The story isn't told through cutscenes or cinematic movies; rather, your tale is told through the haunting baritone of a mysterious narrator that you meet within the game. It's a unique concept, and while there was a potential for this gimmick to become annoying rather than enlightening, Supergiant Games has done a truly stellar job in its implementation of the narration. The narrator will comment on almost everything you do, much of it to sarcastic and witty effect. Falling off ledges, slaughtering enemies, just pounding the destructible environment, and main plot events are all told to you with dramatic bravado. Even better, the story is integrated almost seamlessly into the gameplay; you'll never be forced to slog through long-winded paragraphs of tiny text.

Gameplay

Bastion is an action-RPG, a rarity on the XBLA market. You control the "Kid" throughout the entire game, stabbing, shooting, flame-throwering, or blasting the multitude of enemies that appear to impede your path. You're also equipped with a shield that -if timed correctly- allows you to counter attacks. When you're surrounded, the Kid can perform a handy somersault to leap out of harm's way, or use a special skill activated by the right trigger that generally does damage in a wide radius. The controls are smooth for the most part (though some of the ranged attacks are hard to target and the auto-lock on feature leaves a little to be desired). Along the way, you'll gain experience and collect spirits with which you can upgrade your arsenal of weapons. Level ups provide passive bonuses that afford you such improvements as additional potion slots, or increase your critical chance or damage.

Dogs may be man's best friend, but this shield is definitely the Kid's.

Your weapon selection is one of the best parts of Bastion. The game features around a dozen unique weapons - each that plays distinctly from the others. Unfortunately, you can only hold two weapons at a time, and when you discover a new weapon, one of your selections is automatically overridden with the new item. Still, this is a minor annoyance at worst. It's fun to experiment with all the different types of weapons. On top of that, as you progress through the game, unlockable challenges for each weapon also become available, rewarding you with different bonuses depending on your performance with said weapon.

I found the game to host just the right amount of challenge - not so hard that you feel frustrated for dying, but not so easy that your accomplishments don't feel satisfying either. When you successfully clear a mission or attain the high score on one of the weapon challenge levels, you'll know that it was your skill and perseverance that paid off, rather than simple button mashing. If this level of challenge is still too easy for your liking, however, you'll find that the game integrates additional difficulties smoothly into the actual game. During the story mode you'll eventually gain access to a Shrine within the Bastion, and by invoking the collectible totems of different deities, you can ease or ramp up the difficulty to your liking. Different totems have different effects (such as increased health for enemies, enemies that do more damage, or causing enemies to explode upon death). With each invocation, you also increase your XP rewards; just be careful you don't kill yourself. I learned it the hard way not to invoke too many totems at the same time.

Slash people to ribbons with the Kid's machete ...

There's also a treat for players who beat the game; completing the final mission gives you access to the coveted "New Game+" mode, allowing you to carryover experience, weapon upgrades, and unlocked items, easily making the game quite replayable.

Graphics & Sound

Despite its cartoonish theme, Bastion features some of the most gorgeously drawn sprites and backdrops I've seen. Style permeates the entire game, and the environments feel organic thanks to some nice particle effects and just a generally high level of detail and polish. The animations are not always the most sophisticated, but that doesn't prevent the gameplay from being fun, and in no way detracts from the astounding level of atmosphere.

... or blast them to smithereens with his shotgun!

Working in tandem with the art style, the sound quality is undeniably impressive. The narrator was well cast, his voice work some of the best I have heard in any game, let alone on XBLA. Ambient sound and music all serve to further draw you into the game's post-apocalyptic realm, simultaneously bringing you a sense of wonder and danger. The soundtrack is phenomenal. If Supergiant Games releases it, I would not hesitate to pick it up. The three tracks with vocals are particularly poignant.

Final Thoughts

Bastion is Supergiant Games' first release ever, but if its any indication of this fledgling developer's work quality, we can expect some great things in the future. Bastion is an action-RPG that does not disappoint in any sense, and the 10+ hours you can spend on the game is well worth its pricetag of 1200 Microsoft Points. Get it! Play it! Love it!

Recommended For:
+ Action RPG fans
+ Fans of games with style
+ Fans of immersive, story-based games
+ Anybody with an Xbox360


Not Recommended For:
- People with no souls.

Preview - Futurama "All The Presidents' Heads" 7-28-2011

Good news everyone! Futurama has been renewed by Comedy Central for an additional 2 seasons. That means we'll be seeing Fry, Leela, Bender and the rest of the gang through at least 2013. As the Professor would say, "huzzah!"

Check out what I can only assume is a preview of tonight's episode, which apparently sends our characters back to the American Revolutionary War. Should we expect some ribbing at Sarah Palin's notorious statements concerning Paul Revere? Tune in tonight and find out!

Futurama	Thursdays 10/9c
Sneak Peek - Inside-Out Bender
www.comedycentral.com
Comedy Central Funny TV Shows Roast of Charlie Sheen

Spotlight - From Dust

Found this interesting XBLA downloadable game recently, and I think it deserves a look. In the vein of Black & White and Populous, From Dust puts the player in the role of a terraforming deity. The world is still primitive and relatively untouched by civilization. Your worshipers are beset by natural disasters: floods, volcanos and rampant wildfires threaten their very existence. It's up to you - using your ability to mold the world around you - to lead them to safety.

For being a downloadable arcade game, From Dust displays some impressive technical muscles; I've never seen an arcade game with such fluid 3D animations and physics engine. As a deity, your main tasks will be absorbing elements of the earth around you (water, dirt, and lava are among your basic options), and then combine them with the natural world to allow your worshipers safe passage. For example, if your tribal devotees are blocked by a river, you can drop a mass of dirt onto the water, making a natural bridge for your people to cross. Pour lava onto a mountain and you can watch it roll down in terrifying waves, even as it hardens to form solid rock. Creating floods and even parting the seas a la Moses are evidently all possible through the game as well.



From Dust is available today, July 27, 2011 on the Xbox360. A PC version is in the works for later this year. Early reviews have praised the game's graphics and concept, while criticizing somewhat clunky controls and the AI pathfinding. Still, it seems like the game continues a streak of impressive Live Arcade additions to the 360 repertoire.

Check out the trailer, after the jump.

Review - Captain America: The First Avenger (Warning: Spoilers)

Beware: the following review contains spoilers.

Captain America: The First Avenger succeeds more as a two-hour prequel for things to come than it does as a standalone film. It features an abundance of over-the-top action sequences, a series of convoluted plans that test the limits of your disbelief suspension, and a tacked-on romance that very much feels like it was added just so the producers of the film could claim to potential female movie-goers "hey, we have smoochies along with the punches!"

WTWOF - The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra

Legend of Korra, the spinoff to the 2005 nickelodeon hit Avatar: the Last Airbender has arrived at Comic-Con with a brand new trailer. So far, this new show seems to capture the essence of its predecessor tv-show, something M. Night Shyamalan's movie adaptation unfortunately failed to do. It looks like we can expect all the fluidly animated combat, flashy elemental "bending" and that special touch of quirky humor fans of the original show have come to expect.

Check out the trailer below! Legend of Korra is due out in 2012, so there's still a ways to go before we can immerse ourselves in this wonderful world.

Avatar: The Last Airbender
Get More: Avatar Episodes,Avatar,Avatar Games

What To Watch Out For - Ringer

So, remember Sarah Michelle Gellar? She was Buffy the Vampire Slayer until she went on to star in a bunch of generally ill-received horror movies and indie films that no one knew about? Well, she's making a return to TV this fall on the CW's Ringer.

Ringer tells the story of ... well, the tComic-Con trailer can probably summarize the plot better than I can. Check it out below!

Preview - Futurama "Yo Leela Leela" 7/21/2011

Tonight's Futurama: Leela becomes a Hollywood bigshot after creating a successful new TV series. Check out the preview below!

Futurama

First Impressions - Bastion

I've played through the first few minutes of Bastion and the game - so far - does not disappoint. This XBLA downloadable plays smoothly, offers a fair amount of customization, and has been decently challenging. Beyond those gameplay elements, the game boasts a mesmerizing atmosphere that is rooted upon a beautiful aesthetic style, and the mysterious narrator who comments on almost everything you do - at least when you do it the first time. The first time I fell over the side, he jibed, "and then, he fell to his death. Just kidding." Thankfully, he doesn't say it every time I fall to a gravity-based death, or I might find his presence grating rather than atmospheric.

I am impressed. Expect a full review once I have completed the game. See the launch trailer released a few days ago, and check out a nice wallpaper provided by Supergiant Games on their website, after the jump.

Review - A Dance with Dragons (No Spoilers)

It's been six long years since George R.R. Martin's last entry in his A Song of Ice and Fire series. Since that time, he has been the subject of much speculation, both positive and negative. The HBO adaptation of A Game of Thrones certainly helped to thrust the author into the limelight and most certainly helped to broaden his already large readership. It's probably no coincidence that his publisher chose to release the novel soon after the conclusion of the first season of the show. However, through all of this success there have been whispers of uncertainty; people began to suspect that Martin was losing steam, growing tired of writing the series. Doubt was forming - doubt that Martin would be able to wrap up his truly tangled web of intricate storylines.

A Dance with Dragons will not alleviate any of that doubt.

What the fifth novel in the series will do, however, is to continue Martin's tradition of rich prose and stylized writing. Martin weaves a truly breath-taking and vivid world, complete with social, political, economic, and religious undertones that has carried over from his first four books. Westeros and its world are a truly captivating canvas, and Martin paints details to life with the artistry of a master. Fan-favorite characters have returned after an extended wait: we see Tyrion, Danaerys, Jon Snow, and Bran all pick up their stories where we last them, almost 10 years ago. It's good to see these characters back in the novel, especially after A Feast for Crows introduced a slew of new ones that were difficult to relate to.

In terms of pacing, however, A Dance with Dragons seems to fumble in comparison to its predecessors. A lot of time is spent traveling by many different characters, all of them trying to reach places that they inevitably fail to reach. As I read chapter after chapter, I began to wonder - as I did in A Feast for Crows - if perhaps all of these chapters were really necessary. It seemed at times that page after page would pass by without either progression of the plot, or any significant character revelations. Instead, characters would march towards Mereen, or sail towards Mereen. And yet barely anybody actually reaches Mereen. In between all the marching, characters spend a lot of time composing inner monologues commenting on how they're reminded of other places, and new places, or old tales that seem like they ultimately have no bearing on the actual story; while some of these are interesting, they do seem to fluff out a book that seems too long to begin with.

Dance - similar to Feast - is also overly burdened with too many POV characters. For those of you familiar with Martin's series, POV is Point of View. Basically, each chapter is written from one out of as many as 16 perspectives. It's a necessary evil, I suppose, that Martin has been continuously adding perspectives; it's necessary because major POV characters are killed off in almost every novel. However, in A Dance with Dragons, it has become increasingly difficult to care about these new characters' perspectives, and I wonder - again - if they are truly necessary. 

Most stories do encounter a lull at some point, where progression and pacing seem to taper off for a bit. Perhaps A Dance with Dragons is just that - a necessary tedium that sets up the final two novels in the series. Ironically, Dance left me both wanting more and wishing Martin's editors had done a more generous job with their edits. The novel is not as strong as the first three novels, but for any fans of Martin's previous works, it is still a must-read.

Recommended For:
- George R.R. Martin Fans
- Readers invested into the Song of Ice and Fire series
- Historical Fantasy Fans
- Fans of San Guo (Romance of the Three Kingdoms - you know who you are)

Not Recommended For:
- Readers who have given up on the series - Dance will not change your mind.
- Impatient readers - you will most likely not be able to speed read through this novel
- People who think George R.R. Martin is going to die before he can finish the series.

Spotlight - The part you all missed after Deathly Hallows, Part 2

Ever wondered what happened in those 19 years between Harry defeating Voldemort and him sending his kids off to Hogwarts?

Take a look. It's disturbingly hilarious.

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Follow that up with this behind the scenes look at the dangers of casting spells!