Vaguely Gaming

If it's almost about gaming, we're already talking about it.

Overdone Genre

Gather round kiddies, grab a seat on ole Pop-Pops lap. It's time for yet another memorable WWII story. Remember the one where he annilated an entire Nazi squad with nothing but his pocket-knife, while his leg was broken, after suffering two gun shot wounds to his chest, while his hand was severed and he had already lost a pint of blood...and then he defeated the Nazi zombies triumphantly by upgrading his pistol to a shotgun? I do. I'd like another story just as much as I'd like another WWII game.

I thought I'd share my opinion on WWII games because they seem to be an overdone genre and reoccurring theme going on in the gaming world. Although as I'm writing this blog it appears they have settled down lately but word is, more are on the horizon.

I played my first WWII game which was Battlefield 1942 back in 2004. A first person shooter set in...you guessed it, WWII. Oh, how I remember starting out in the boats as my buddies and I stormed the beach of Normandy. Enemy Nazi's fired the machine guns in the bunkers from afar. It was a great game! Had alot with it I'd still recommend it to this day. I have played others after that including Call of Duty & Medal of Honor series. I will include Wolfenstein just because it is set in WWII I suppose.

I have nothing against WWII. In fact my Grandfather (R.I.P) was in the Navy during that time, although he didn't see much action. I think we should honor and pay tribute to those who protected the country. I also think we need to get more creative with stories and concepts for games in general. I just don't understand how many of the same stories need to be retold, I don't care if you're jumping out of plane (MOH Airborne) from the skies above so you can land anywhere you want and fight, its still the same story we know what happens WE WIN!!


For the sake of me writing this article lets see just how many WWII games there are just so you can see my point:

The Medal of Honor series
The Call of Duty series

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2007)

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009)
Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010)

The Battlefield series
The Wolfenstein series
The Brothers In Arms series
The Hidden & Dangerous series
The Day of Defeat series
The World War II Combat series
The Deadly Dozen series
The Battlestrike Series

The Red Orchestra series

Other

Real-time strategy games

Axis and Allies Real Time Strategy
The Close Combat series
The Sudden Strike series
The Commandos series
The Blitzkrieg series
The Company of Heroes series
The Hearts of Iron series
Other

Real-time tactics games


The Battlestations series
Other

Turn-based strategy games

Flight simulators

Naval simulators

Other

Other

Board games
Tank simulators
Interactive fiction
MMOFPS

a.k.a "Battleground Europe"

Third-Person shooter
Historic action-adventure
Stealth Based
So as you can see my theory is correct. The genre is overdone. This isn't even including the possible and inevitable games in the future. The lack of imagination and creativity is hitting the gaming industry.


This blog is dedicated to those who have served our country in WWII.
I apologize some crappy games had to justify your cause.


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Prepare to Resist Once Again.


A couple of years ago, an interesting image showed up and led to quite a flurry of internet debate. That image is displayed above. People argued and fought about whether it was real or not. It was a typical internet affair. Then, a few months back, something else surfaced.



This gave hope to those of us that loved the first two games, but worried the series was done for. But one thing was a slight dividing line among fans. Who was the mysterious hero of this teaser. The fact he didn't have a shaved head led to one such as myself to believe, as I had upon the ending of 2, that Hale(below) wasn't going to be the hero of this next game.

Then, a few days ago, some pictures surfaced in a flicker account(and subsequently vanished) with what was speculated as being promotional material for Resistance 3. And something interesting was hinted at in the document names. Capelli, the last living member of Hale's Specter unit by the end of 2, is going to be heavily used in this new game.

Even if this is all hokum and leads to nothing solid, at least we know Resistance may for the time being, not be futile.
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Tritton AX 720 Headset Review

**NOTE** Alright folks I don't plan on being an official reviewer for Vaguely Gaming, however I plan on trying to do at least one review a one month. I'll review games, hardware etc. I'm going to give a grade rating A+ through F. I'm assuming most of you know what the letters stand for so not much explaining is needed there. I'll tell you why I bought the product? Pro's of the product as well the the cons. Then an overview of everything I've stated. Remember now, this is my opinion. My opinion's do not reflect those of the affiliated companies nor Vaguely gaming...just mine. Just take it for what its worth and enjoy.

Todays Review: TRITTON AX 720 Circumaural Dolby Digital Surround Sound Headset
Price: $129.99
Features:
Features Digital Optical Connection Dolby Digital / Pro Logic II / Dolby Headphone Inline Audio Controller with Independent Chat Volume Control Voice Compatible with XBox Live USB Microphone for Playstation Network /PC/Mac Removable And Replaceable Ear Pads and Headrail Pad Removable Microphone Works with PS3, Xbox 360, PC & Mac

WHY DID I BUY IT? Um...because every gamer knows that you simply can't just hook up the audio to your TV stereo and begin playing. You need to live, breathe, experience, enrich and emerge every single gaming sense in your body into the game. You should be able feel shrapnel off one of your friends poorly aimed noob tube attempts. Everyone wants to hear the raw sounds as you lay the...I mean make sweet passionate...cookies with the aliens in Mass effect 2. You should be able to hear the crisp smooth sounding waterfalls as you explore the caves in Uncharted 2. You should be able feel the echo as thunderous Natascha rumbles in your ears from the Heavy in TF2.
I was using surround sound but since I live an apartment and the neighbors feel the need to complain every time I turn the sub woofer up to the max, I found that this was not a feasible option for me. So Then I threw on these POS Sony DJ style headphones. While they are pretty nice it was a pain to use because they were hooked up through the surround sound. Because of that, it was difficult to hear the game I was playing and even at times I could barely make out what was being said. I couldn't turn up the sound if thats what you were wondering don't ask me why? Because I don't even know. I had enough of playing my games in deafness.

PROS:
+Clear crisp sound. As I stated above these headphones really do emerge you in the game. These headphones pick up every single sound in the game. I've only played a few games thus far and I actually feel these things give me a slight advantage in online play. I'm not saying you will get any skill whatsoever just by buying these bad boys. Just saying they help your performance. You can crank your headset volume wheel as well as the volume buttons on the audio controller.

+The audio controller lets you choose between gaming/movie mode & music mode. Nice little feature if you're like me and like to listen to music while playing racing games to amp me up.

+Mic is nice and makes your voice sound like Morgan Freeman
(no seriously lawls). Unlike the Xbox 360 mic which makes you sound a bunch of cats getting beat inside a pinata. As for the Ps3 mic? uh...

+The design is actually quiet nice. Attractive looking if you opt to buy the $169.99 Dolby 5.1 you get the ones that light up (i know the ladies love it).

+Pretty simple hook-up although I could put this as a con there are alot of cables, but if you follow the directions its fairly easy. If you have a PS3 and Xbox 360 in the same neighborhood all you do is switch out the fiber optic table from one console to the other. So don't stress about having to take cables out, hook-up, unhook, screw in, build, disassemble, wire and reconstruct your setup, you'll be fine I promise.

CONS:
-Headset is heavy can start to hurt after a while...and by "while" I mean 8 hours of non-stop extreme gaming.

-No options to adjust treble, bass, balance etc.

-Although it says you can change out headphone cushions it doesn't come with any additional ones like the other version does.

-Pricey, like I've discussed before I'm not made of money.

Conclusion: If you feel you're ready to emerge your gaming senses as I've stated then these will get you there. I wouldn't see why you'd need the upgrade to 5.1 Tritton's unless you have the money.

GRADE: A-

Review by: F13RC3
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A gameless dinner?


There I am staring at the $125 super exclusive special edition of Halo that includes a miniature statue of Master Chief. It basks behind the counter in all of its glory. Taunting me. Flaunting its vibrant colors, cutting edge detail and articulation. Oh wait, no...I think I want the $90 special edition that contains the semi-useless walk through and a pretty decent poster that'll hang up beautifully next to Megan Fox in my room. Maybe I should just cheap out and buy the regular edition for $60 just in case this game tanks. As I stand in the Gamestop line my mind starts racing, heart begins to pound a little harder, palms start to sweat and for some reason my pants become soiled. I begin to think wait, did I put gas in my car? Have I paid the bills? Hell...did I eat today!?

I don't know if any of you have ever come across this situation while purchasing or pre-ordering the latest game to hit the shelves. It's happened to me a couple times.
I'll (yes me, the blogger) actually sacrifice getting gas and or food just so I can buy a game for $60. A special edition here and there. I know what you're thinking..."not another rant about the prices of video games." I SAY YES TO YOU ALL! Lets see, the core market for gamers is 18-25 year olds. As I begin to think this is generally the age where most of us are beginning college and or starting our careers in life. Every job I've had since being out of high school I don't think I've made earnings even out of the 10k bracket. You break that down over a span of one year with bills, groceries and basic necessities you need just to live a normal life and by the end of it you're lucky just to have a little bit left over for yourself. Believe it or not the last time I checked none of my friends were retired living off a multi-million dollar inheritance from sweet Aunt Elda God rest her soul.


So what happens when you get out of college? You're struggling to pay the loans and car payments!? Well, unless your Dad invented Sham-Wow and you're Mom co-wrote the Twilight series then you're probably not worried about it. I really fail to see the logic in charging $60+ for games. You're telling me I have to choose whether to starve or play the latest game!!! Just so the creators of the game can drive around their lambo, ordering the expensive combos at McDonalds while I eat off the F@&$^% dollar menu! No wonder people are modding their consoles.

My other favorite scenario is when SO much hype is put around a game and the game flops, two weeks to a month later the game is on clearance and or in the $14.99 and under bin! Then you go to trade it in or sell it and you get a fraction of what you paid for it back! Talk a about a kick in the B@11s!!

It just disgust me to see the gaming industry taking advantage of the broke. Even if the core market for gamers is college students lets not forget about the poor moms and dads who have to work their arses off to support their children's gaming habits. Dad just got laid off so Mom has to go down to the corner to sell...oranges. My mother and father stopped buying me games after I lost to M.Bison on the final stage of Street fighter and I punched a hole through a $500 wicker chair, which is another story and the reason behind them not having to worry about buying me games anymore. So I learned to support myself when buying my games.

In conclusion to this rant, there are those who will argue against me that slashing prices could possibly reduce the overall quality of the game. Probably but more than likely, no. If a game sells at $30 and goes on to sell 50 million copies I think the gaming industry can survive on the resulting income. Who knows what the future will hold though the next-gen we could see $80 games depending on what kind of hardware/graphics is utilized. If that is the case it looks like I will have to start taking out loans just to buy games. For now game on and stick to the $14.99 and under bin!!!
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Rethinking Remakes

If you're anything like me, and many people I know, you've played older games, and seen them remade. Sometimes they get the justice they deserve, but most times, they do not.
For example, take Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time.

As a kid and a HUGE Ninja Turtles fan, I LOVED this game. I didn't personally have a SNES(my parents believed a regular old NES was more than enough video games in the house, which just goes to prove how wrong parents can be) so every time we'd go over to my Aunt and Uncles house for Christmas Eve, I'd push and push to go to the basement to play this game, and I would play it over and over. Year after year, nothing kept me on the edge of my seat like the anticipation of playing this game. That being said, you might understand how incredibly happy I was to hear it was being remade. Scratch that, not happy, uncontrollably ecstatic. I was giddy, I was willing to pay any price to get it. And when it came out I payed the full price, and I sat down and played, and I was livid.

This was not the game I remembered. As soon as I beat it, I went over to my SNES which was recently purchased, and put in my just as new copy of Turtles in Time and confirmed my growing anger. This impostor wasn't even a lame remake. This was a completely different game. Some levels, like the sewer surfing level were shortened, and the boss removed. Other levels were completely removed. I was crushed. To this day, I've played through that remake three times, two of which with someone who never played the original and was blissfully unaware of everything that was missing, keeping it from the greatness it should have attained.

So, should this game have been remade? My answer is no, or at least not by Ubisoft, who seem to be having a tough time keeping things good.


As a kid, I never played Metal Gear, and I know for a fact if I had, it would be treated like almost every game I played on the NES that wasn't a platformer or arcade style brawler, played once and never touched again. I play it now, and see what they were trying to accomplish, and also see how they couldn't reach that point for a couple console generations. That's where Metal Gear Solid came in for the Sony Playstation.

MGS gave the series the push it needed to become a great series. The Playstation could work out the stealth and shooting in a way the NES couldn't dream of. It rewards patience and timing in a way that isn't just about making the jump from one ledge to another.

So, was it worth remaking? Extremely so. Had it not been made in the first place or remade, we wouldn't have have MGS 2-4, Splinter Cell, and in a different degree, Batman Arkham Asylum.

As we can see, remakes are a double edged sword. You can make things better, or you can ruin an already great game. So, the question now is what are your favorite or least favorite remakes? Is there one you're waiting for? How about one you hope they leave alone?
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