This Week(end)s Geek - Sequel Prep

You may have noticed that we did not have a podcast this week. Due to schedule conflicts we were unable to record one. I did feel bad about it though, so I am giving you all a bonus This Weeks Geek. Our focus for this article is prepping for game sequels, mainly Mass Effect 3.

Now in the event that you live under a rock, or just plain forgot, Mass Effect 3 comes out on March 6, 2012 with a demo coming out February 14. The Reapers have arrived to harvest the galaxy, and only one man/woman can stop them, Commander Shepard. It had been about two years since I last played Mass Effect 2, and when I did not all of my team lived. Mordin, one of my favorites, failed to survive the mission after a shot to the head. I contemplated going to a save file just before the suicide mission to make things right, but I have also purchased a fair amount of DLC since my last visit to the Normandy. With this in mind I made the decision to start a new game. This would allow me to survive the suicide mission and experience new content. While this was my reason for playing again, I had forgotten how much fun this game is. I realized how much I missed the gameplay, the voice acting, and the story they are telling. By starting again with such a large gap between plays it feels like a whole new game. I am also getting reminders of some of the more subtle plot points. This makes me really pine for Mass Effect 3.

There is a downside to playing a game that was so great so close to its sequel though. I am already hyping up Mass Effect 3 to be game of the year material, but now I will have a fresh image in my mind of how good the series is. Many people wanted Uncharted 3 to be better then Uncharted 2, but they were so close to the same that some were not as enamored with the third game as they hoped to be. I slightly worry that I may disappoint myself by not having the game as fresh as possible in my mind. I worry that it will be too much of the same. I may also find that in playing the second game, I will have burnt myself out on the gameplay. This could cause me to put Mass Effect 3 on hiatus for a bit mid way through the game.

For good or bad though, I have started my preperations.  How do you prep for a sequal? Do you play the series through? Do you read wikipedia pages to refresh yourself with the story?  Or do you just look at the media hype and await the day of the release? Share you rituals, or lack thereof, in the comments. I look forward to reading them.

Blizzcon Delayed

Conventions apparently are really expensive. First you have to pay someone to do the planning, then pay for a location, and then get and pay staff to manage it. The cost and time it takes to make a good convention can add up pretty quickly and even the money printing press that is Blizzard has a budget.  Taking this into account, Blizzard has done something that they are very good at with their games; they've delayed the next BlizzCon.  They've delayed it in order to devote more time to and resources to Diablo III, Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm, and World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria. Blizzard has decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.

Personally I cannot fault them for this. They have a lot of games on their plate and I have never really given thought to going to BlizzCon anyway. What this convention delay means for me is that I will get Diablo III sooner as they can use the resources from the convention to finish it and their other upcoming games.

I can already hear some people that are disappointed about the lack of Blizzard related tournaments due to this delay. Well there is good news for you. Blizzard is going to host a 2012 Battle.net World Championship in Asia later this year. Ok, so it's not too good for American gamers since it is not held within the country and it will be much more expensive to go compete in Asia then L.A., but at least it is something.

This Weeks Geek - Good Games I Have a Hard Time Playing

Do you ever have an issue with playing a game that you know is supposed to be good; a game that by all rights is a great game, but you just can't get yourself to interested in it?  I recently started playing Saints Row The Third on the PS3.  My friends have said it is a funny game. Reviews have said that it has great gameplay and is extremely entertaining to play. However, I have a hard time staying interested in it because of the type of game it is. Since this is the only reason I can think why I'm not enjoying this type of game for what it is, means that I'll have to talk about some of my game history.

How can I not like this?The gameplay in the Saints Row series is based (loosely) on the GTA series.  This is a series that has never once interested me.  I have not played GTA III, Vice City, or San Andreas, so you get where I am going with this right? Now at its core, Saints Row uses the same open world formula as GTA; which envolves stealing a car and killing people at its core.  The game setting is present day with the average person present.  Saints Row may not take itself seriously, but it is close enough in game play and style to GTA that the humor isn't enough for me to separate them.  I'm trying to find the motivation to keep playing Saints Row The Third, but a current era game without some fantastical element is not my normal draw.  I enjoy typically enjoy superhero games (inFamous), fantasy games (Skyrim), or high technology games (Mass Effect).

So you see my problem with Saints Row The Third?  It is a truly great critically acclaimed game, that just does not scratch my gaming itch.  I know that others people have games that give them similar issues.  ZeldaQueen is a an RPG fan that never got into The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for example, but what games do you have issues with?  Sound off in the comments.

Second Annual Gameslave Awards

Another year has come and gone, and that means that a full years of games have been released, played, and measured.  We have recently had a round table discussion of the games that we have played over the year and used it compile the Second Annual Gameslave Awards.

Special Achievements	Genre Awards
Best Story	Best Action/Adventure Game
Best Graphics, Technical	Best Driving Game
Best Graphics, Artistic	Best Platformer
Funniest Game	Best MMO
Best Voice Acting	Best RPG
Best Atmosphere	Best Shooter
Best Original Music	Best Strategy Game
Best Soundtrack	Best Fighter
Best Game(s) That are Older Then a Year	Best Puzzle Game
Most Anticipated Game	Best Sports Game
Most Disappointing Game	Best Indie Game
Worst Game	Game of the Year

This Weeks Geek

So I am looking for a new recurring article I can write.  This is propably going to be similar to Conversations with IrishPride, but let's see how it goes. 

This week I came to the realization that I have about three weeks before The Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning comes out, and I still need to finish The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.  I really do want to finish this game, but at the same time I want to play two different characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic.  For the first time in years I need to schedule playing 2 (or more) games at once, and it is proving more trying then I thought it would. I have an issue of having a one track mind when playing games, as I am sure many of you do. When I start on a SWTOR toon I want to continue the story now, which makes it hard to immediately go back to Link and sneaking around a mountain to get my gear back. 

How does one force themselves to what essentially comes down to watching two movies at once? Currently I am testing out having a weekend game and a weekday game.  Zelda is played in long stretches during the weekend and SWTOR is played in smaller chunks during the week. This, so far at least, is allowing me to play my games and still have a social life. The only wrench in this plan is that we recently started D&D on Sundays, and this takes all day.  It prevents play of the weekend game for the day, but is worth it. Hopefully splitting my game time allows me to eat my cake and it not be a lie.

Get together Gauntlet

Saw this video while browsing today and it was such a nice mix of nostalgia and entertainment I felt it had to be shared.

Anybody else out there have good memories of playing Gauntlet?

What Does it Mean to be a Gamer?

A few months ago I wrote an article on what the differences between a casual gamer and a hardcore gamer are.  While I still hold to my definitions a commenter on the article brought up a good point.  As we have grown our lives have taken over.  Relationships, work, and other obligations take the place of time we would have spent playing games in the past.  This, by my definitions, would make us casual gamers now, but we refuse to be classified as such.  We know that we are not hardcore gamers, but find we are above the casual title.  We prefer to call ourselves just by the title Gamer.

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