Archives for April, 2009
Posted on Apr 30, 2009 under Game Talk |
This week’s Ultimate Gamer was the final showdown. The show started with three contestants left - Robert, Mark, and Jamal. One was about to be eliminated. Jamal was eliminated as he had the lowest Halo score of the three remaining players. Jamal admitted that Halo wasn’t his best game. Next Mark and Robert prepared to face off at Samsung Stadium.
They did get to choose one former player to help them prepare for the three games they would be playing - Shawn White Snowboarding, Gears of War, and Soulcalibur 4. Robert chose Swoozie and Mark chose Jamal. Robert figured Swoozie could offer some advice on fighting games while Mark knew Jamal was really good at Soulcalibur.
At Samsung Stadium, the first game was Shawn White Snowboarding. A victory would score 1 point. The player to reach three points wins the game. Mark won the game and scored one point. Up next was Gears of War. The winner would receive 2 points. Robert won that showdown. The final game was Soulcalibur 4 that was worth 3 points.
The first player to win 5 matches would be the Ultimate Gamer. Robert got off to a blazing start and won the first four pretty convincingly. Then Mark came from behind to take the next five matches and won. Mark was crowned the Ultimate Gamer.
Mark was definitely the underdog but showed that he is a very adaptable and capable gamer. Congrats to Mark and all the contestants. I do hope they do this show again.
Posted on Apr 28, 2009 under Game Talk |
Big Fish usually has a good deal for Mother’s Day. Last year they gave away Bejeweled. So I’ve been kind of excited to see what they had in store this year.
I got in the mail a gift certificate for the Mt. Everest Hidden Adventures casual game. I bought the game and it’s pretty fun. Not sure my mom would enjoy it for Mother’s Day so may just give it to a friend. So if you are a Big Fish club member, check your mail and don’t dismiss mail from Big Fish. It’s usually something good.
Posted on Apr 22, 2009 under Game Talk |
The gamers were thrown a big curveball last night as they were challenged to the Gauntlet. Even more news was that at the end of each leg of the Gauntlet, a gamer would leave the competition. By the end, there would be only two gamers left.
The first game was Project Gotham Racing 4 but with a twist - players had to race upside down. The person who came in last was Chelsea - the PC gamer who has held her own playing Xbox 360 games. Jamal finished first and had actually said that sometimes for a challenge he will play games upside down. Jamal won an advantage for round two. He would get to handicap the gamer of his choice.
The second game in the Gauntlet was Rock Band 2. The twist here was that players had to play both guitar and drums at the same time. Special controllers were brought in that allowed gamers to play the drum part with their feet. Jamal penalized Mark - so he only got to practice through the song ‘Eye of the Tiger’ instead of 2 like the rest of the gamers. In the end it was Amy - the last female standing - who came in last and therefore eliminated. Swoozie came in first.
That left four gamers and the toughest challenge was yet to come. The game was Halo 3. The challenge was to play all night -standing up - on a platform. Swoozie got a five minute frag fest which he was glad to have won since he was the weakest Halo player.
After a few temptations like food and money the 9 hour slayer match ended at 4am. Swoozie came in last -leaving just three players. Robert came in first and secured his spot in the final. Either Mark or Jamal will be eliminated next from their Halo score. Next week is the finale and will begin with the next elimination and then the two finalists will face off at Samsung Stadium.
Posted on Apr 20, 2009 under Game Talk |
Today is April 20th or 420. 420 is apparently the time of the day to smoke marijuana, so today those who partake are celebrating 420 day. ‘Attack of the Show,’ G4’s daily ‘news’ show, will have a 420 special. Since G4 is cable channel to appeal to gamers, this only further stigma gamers are pot smokers. But now all gamers are pot smokers. Nor are they slackers or any of the other stereotypes that have been associated with playing video games.
420 doesn’t bother me per say but the whole big deal G4 is making of it sort of does. I dunno. Maybe most of their viewers really get into it. I just don’t get into things that further perpetrate a stereotype especially of a group that I’m a member.
Posted on Apr 16, 2009 under Game Talk |
I was with Gamefly last last year but canceled in December. It just seemed I never had time to play video games. Well now that summer is almost here and reruns will be dominate on the boob tube, I restarted my membership. But this time I opted for the 1 game out at a time option instead of 2.
We usually only play one game at a time so having two is really unnecessary. Now I wish the turnaround time was faster as it usually takes about 5 days for me to send back and receive the next game in my queue.
The first game in my queue is Sonic Unleashed. I’ve heard mixed reviews about this. That the classic Sonic aspect of it rocks but the nights part is different. I guess I will find out for myself.
Right now I’m excited to be a part of Gamefly again. I think the one game at a time will be a better, less stress option for right now.
Posted on Apr 14, 2009 under Reviews |
Last week, our cat caught a baby bunny. Of course, my little girl became attached immediately to it. Sadly the bunny didn’t survive. It did make me want to learn more about taking care of hurt animals. The best thing that I could have done was probably take an animal to the vet. But an animal first aid class would be good to know. Two of my nieces want to be veterinarians so in a few years we will have a couple of vet options that we can use at a family discount rate.
One game for the Nintendo DS helps you learn about animals and the work that is done by veterinarians. It’s called Zoo Vet Endangered Animals and it’s from Legacy Interactive. You will help to diagnose an animal by first going through the symptoms and giving the animal a check up. As the zoo vet, you roam around observing the animals. When one is sick then you must diagnose what is wrong and nurse them back to health.
Zoo Vet also has several mini-games that you can play like feeding penguins or playing trivia. It’s educational and fun.
If you enjoy simulation games, then Zoo Vet is definitely something to check out.
Posted on Apr 12, 2009 under Way Off Topic |
I’m a huge fan of Nathan Fillion so I was thrilled to learn about his new show ‘Castle’ on ABC. Nathan plays a writer who is in sort of a slump. He finds inspiration through a police detective while consulting on a case. He pulls a few strings so that he can shadow this officer as he does research for his book.
The writing is witty and the chemistry between Nathan and Stana Katic is really good. I’ve heard the show referred to as a new ‘Moonlighting’ which I think is a wonderful compliment. It’s nice to see this type of show on the air. And ABC is good about giving a show chance to find its audience. They also promo the heck out of a show. I felt like I had already watched several episodes of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ by the time it actually aired.
Let’s hope ‘Castle’ is with us for a while.
Posted on Apr 09, 2009 under News |
The Sims and Spore mastermind Will Wright is leaving EA to start up a think tank called Stupid Fun Club. He isn’t leaving EA on bad terms. In fact, EA plans to work with Will in this new endeavor.
Will’s plan is to have a place where ideas can be spun off into games, toys, TV shows, etc. If it’s an idea from Will, then it’s probably a pretty good one. I’m biased since I love everything Will has ever done. So I look forward to what comes out in the future from Stupid Fun Club.
