Avengers Assemble!

The past couple of months have been tough on my gaming career. Getting married and all of the extracurricular activities associated with it have taken a major chunk out of my free time. As we speak there are a pile of video games at home that I'm partially the way through and would love to finish if I could just find the time. I guess that's the major challenge of a 30 Year-old Gamer, finding the time to play. You have to prioritze your games and the one game out of all of them that I put ahead of the rest was Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.I picked up a copy of MUA2 (as I'll call it for short) back in September and although it's a relatively short game it took me to November to finish it. The game is set in the Marvel universe and consists of all of the major Marvel characters that you are well familiar with thanks to the movies, such as Wolverine, Iron Man, Spiderman, the Fantastic Four, etc. If you read the comics (which I admittedly do regularly), then you will be familiar with the story line. The Marvel heroes have been messing up lately. In the process of defeating the bad guys, they've caused a lot of collateral damage. In one major incident a few hundred people died which caused the US Government to create the Superhero Registration Act. It forces all superheros to register with the government and give up their secret identities, if they don't they become outlaws. This causes a split right down the middle between heroes for the act and those against it. This causes a Civil War between the forces of Iron Man (Pro-act) and Captian America (Anti-act).

I love this story and the game does a great job following along with the story. You actually get to choose if you are going to side with Iron Man or Captain America, and your choices have a huge affect on the outcome of the game. Potential allies will become enemies and missions will change considerably. In this regard the game is a lot of fun.

MUA2 isn't without it's flaws however. If you've played the original Marvel Ultimate Alliance from a couple years ago you are going to have a major feeling of deja vu. It's basically the same game. If I was in another room and told a friend to put either game in my Xbox and go to a random stage, I would have a hard time figuring out which game I was playing. It seems like this could be a straight copy and paste from the prior version. Also, the game is repetitive. You are going to be doing the same thing over and over for 6-8 hours. It's a good thing what you are doing is a lot of fun, or the repetitiveness would be brutal.

Finally, every character from the Marvel universe is in this game. I read a Marvel comic every night and I've never even heard of half of these characters, nevermind know their backstory. At times it feels like you need a PHD in Marvel history to get all of the nuances of this game.

Despite all of that, the game is a lot of fun and it's family friendly. You can let your little 30yo Gamers out there play the game without any worries. It's about as violent as Lego Star Wars. You can team up with multiple people and cooperative destroy bad guys. It's a lot of fun.

Overall, I enjoyed playing MUA2 a lot and will probably play through it again making different choices. That is if I can find the time after the next 4 games I have to play.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost

This past summer was the slowest summer of gaming that I can remember. It was brutal. Absolutely nothing came out that was worth playing. I haven't posted anything to the blog, because frankly there was nothing to talk about. There was however one game that I took a chance on, and I really enjoyed it, Ghostbusters: The Video Game.

Ghostbusters didn't receive a lot of press. It was released, and people generally liked it, and then no one talked about it ever again. I played Ghostbusters for about 4 - 6 weeks. I didn't play it relentlessly. It was just a casual gaming experience and it was great.

You play as the 5th Ghostbuster. You are a rookie and your job is to use the new experimental equipment that Ray and Egon have invented. Right when you join the team, the whole city goes to hell. Apparently the worshipers of Gozer are back and they brought reinforcements. You spend the game fighting ghosts along side the original team and revisit all of the famous movie landmarks, like the Sedwick Hotel, and fight some of the famous movie ghosts, such as Slimer and the Stay Puff Marshmellow Man.

Overall, the game is great fun. What really adds to the fun of the game is the writing and the voice acting. All of the major movie stars from the original are back to lend their voices to the game. Bill Murray is classically brilliant as is Harold Ramis as Egon. At one point in the game you are travelling through a hell version of Central Park where Winston says, "This isn't like any Central Park I remember." And Egon comes right back and says, "What? You still have your wallet?" Classic. These lines were used throughout the game.

The gameplay is nothing you haven't seen before. It's a classic run and gun type game from the Gears of War / Resident Evil genre. It starts to get a little repetitive and during the more intense scenes is a little crazy. When you have 5 people firing proton packs at a dozen ghosts flying around the screen, it's a little hard to not "cross the streams". The boss fights are kinda cool, but it's a little cheesy when the bosses have big glowing "hit me here" spots on their bodies.

Overall, the game was a lot of fun and was a great way to pass the time through a very boring summer. I'm sure the game will get lost during the holidays with all of the other new releases, which is sad, because it was a good fun game. And at the end of the day, that's all we really want out of our games.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

What a Slow Summer of Gaming

Wow has it been a slow summer of gaming. Here we are in the middle of July and there is nothing really to talk about. There are no new games out there and it doesn't look like anything interesting is going to be released for at least another month. So here are just some quick notes about some things that are going on in the industry.

Bioshock 2 Delayed Until 2010

It was announced earlier this week, that the sequel to one of the best video games I've played in the past 5 years has been delayed. Bioshock was a huge hit two years ago for the Xbox and the much anticipated sequel was originally scheduled to be released this holiday season. Apparently due to quality issues, they have decided to delay the game until the 1st half of 2010.

I personally think this is a good thing. There will be plenty of game to play this holiday season and this fantastic game could get lost in the mix. And it would be very disappointing if they released this game and it was buggy and sucked. What a let down that would be considering how fantastic the first game was. If it means that they need another 6 months to get the game right, I can wait. I think more publishers should care more about the quality of their games and do this. Besides the first Bioshock was released during the spring and it did fantastically well. There is no reason this game can't do the same.

Marvel vs Capcom 2 to be Released July 28th

I don't usually play Xbox Arcade games. They are usually throw back games and when I do play them, I realize how dated the games are and after 20 minutes I usually don't play the game ever again. That won't be the case with Marvel vs Capcom 2. This was an arcade game that I played til my fingers hurt in college. It pit the best Marvel characters vs the best Capcom characters from their games. You wanna know who would win in a fight between Iron Man and Mega Man? Now you can find out.

This game will get an update in graphics and controls and be released for the Xbox Live Arcade on July 28th. I can't wait. I'll be there the day of with my arcade fighting stick and taking Ryu apart with Wolverine. It's going to be awesome!

My Nintendo Wii is a Paperweight

What seemed to be just a no-brainer when I first bought the system, the Nintendo Wii has done nothing but disappoint. Have they even released a game in the past 6 months? My Nintendo Wii sits there underneath my TV begging for me to play with it. But every time I get an hour or two to play games, I always turn on my Xbox. This is very disappointing, because the Nintendo Wii had so much potential. But I feel that the games are just not that deep and get boring after 30 minutes of playing. Maybe my feeling will change as I fight through the dog days of summer, but right now, my Nintendo Wii is a lonely lonely system.

Those are just some of the things going on right now. Have a great weekend and I'll see you next week.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

Everybody Was Kung Fu (Street) Fighting!

For those of you around my age, I don't have to tell you how much of a phenomenon Street Fighter 2 was for the arcade. It was simply the last hurrah of the now defunct video game arcade. Back in the mid-90's, Capcom released a game that was so simple to play, but hard to master, that it was incredibly addicting young teenage gamers around the nation. Every arcade or mall had one and for each game there was always that one kid who was awesome at it. Kids would line up for their chance to beat him. I was not that kid. I was the kid who waited 25 minutes to put two quarters in the machine just so "Street Fighter Scotty" could embarrass me in front of everyone. The game was simple. You would choose a fighter and then fight against one other fighter. If you beat the fighter you would move onto the next round and play a harder fighter. After 8 rounds, you fought the big boss and then you beat the game. Controls were easy. There were three buttons for punch, and another three buttons for kick (light, medium, and strong). Each character had different moves and a different combination of the buttons would make each character perform a different move. Here's the rub though. Anyone in the arcade could walk up to the machine and challenge you by putting in 50 cents. If they beat you, you were bounced from the machine and the winner would take over your progress in the game. The game became so popular, the actual single player game never finished. It was just a line of challengers.

It's been over ten years since those glory days, but last month Capcom brought them all back with the release of Street Fighter 4 for Xbox and PS3.

This game is a great advancement for the series. And while the basics remain the same, the game is much deeper. For starters, each character now has "Special" and "Ultra" attacks. These are meters that fill up at the bottom of the screen throughout the fight. If you fill your meter and can hit your opponent with one of these attacks, look out. That guy is screwed. The graphics have the full high-def treatment which make the game look outstanding.

What really makes this game standout is the online features. You can completely recreate that old arcade feeling by opening up your game to challengers. You just start your game like you normally would and then randomly "A New Challenger has Entered the Arena". Your game stops as a random player from Xbox Live now challenges your game, just like the old days. Awesome!!!

There is one major drawback to this game and I have to mention it. If you want to play this game somewhat seriously, you need to buy a new controller. The game was originally designed to be played in an arcade. That means an arcade stick with 6 buttons. Some of the major moves require you to hit three buttons at the same time. While that's easy as pie in an arcade, you practically have to break your thumb to do it with the Xbox controller. These arcade fighting sticks are $60 extra on the cheap end and as much as $140 if you want a professional stick that they use in tournaments. So that means this game could cost anywhere between $120 to $200 to get the full experience from. I'm not sure about you, but that's a lot of dough to drop on a single game regardless of how good it is.

I ended up buying the lower end arcade stick and I love it. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a good video game. Perhaps I just wanted to recapture some of my youth. Or perhaps I just wanted to kick the crap out of complete strangers on line like Street Fighter Scotty used to kick the crap out of me over 10 years ago. Either way, I can see this game staying in my active rotation for a long time to come.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

I Chose The Wrong Game

I've always enjoyed Christmas. And I think that getting presents for me is a pretty easy deal. I usually give everyone a suggested list of the games that I'm interested in and they go out and get them. Last Christmas, there were a lot of video games on the market that I was interested in and I couldn't give the entire list to everyone, so I had to eliminate a few. In particular, there were two role playing games that seemed very similar, Fable 2 and Fallout 3. I had to choose one over the other. I had heard some pretty good things about both games and so I made a tough decision. Unfortunately, I chose the wrong game. I chose Fable 2.Now don't get me wrong. Fable 2 is not a bad game. I just don't like it. It's a simple as that. I could give you many specific reasons and break down the graphics, the game play, etc. But at the end of the day, I found this game incredibly boring.

Here's a quick background on the game. You play as a small boy (or girl) in this medieval land. You get called up to the castle and meet the prince where he unexpected murders your sister and tries to murder you. You escape but it takes like 10 years to recover from your wounds. Now you are set free on a path of revenge and redemption. You go out into the land and are faced with choices on your quest where you can be either good or bad. Depending on your decision, your appearance will change as will the environment around you.

Now I like video games and I try to give every game I own every chance to win my affections. Fable 2 I gave two chances, there won't be a third. In both chances I came across the same problem. The story forces you to stop playing the storyline and forces you to do other things in the world. It will say things like "you aren't renown enough to continue." Basically, you have to do more side quests to become more famous before some priest will entrust you to continue on with the main story line.

Here lies the problem. I don't want to do the side quests. They are stupid and a waste of time. And you don't know where the side quests take place. So you have to roam through the open land following some yellow trail like Dorothy fighting off birds, beetles, robbers, and every thing else in the land to play the stupid quest. Two weeks ago, I had a little time before dinner to play the game. When I sat down, the 30 Year-old Fiancee asked me how the game was. With my head in my hands, "I played for over an hour and I've done nothing. I'm literally nowhere farther in this game than I was 90 minutes ago."

That, to put it bluntly, sucks. This game is trying to be bigger than it is. It tries to show you that this world is full of life. You can get a job as a blacksmith to earn money. Or you can get married, buy a house, and have some kids. But who cares? If none of that gets you any closer to revenging your sister's death, why do it. What a waste of time. And those "moral decisions" that the game markets? Pointless as well. It doesn't matter if you slaughter half a village in cold blood. The moment you make a joke in public the remaining villagers forget what you've done and think you're a swell guy.

No, I'm done with this game. I don't have much time to play video games in my life, and I'm not wasting another minute of that time doing nothing within the land of Fable 2. This game was awarded "Game of the Year". In my opinion, it was the most disappointing game to see my Xbox console in 2 years.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

The Return of E3

Well folks, this is a very exciting week in the world of gaming. It's the week where all the major players in the gaming industry meet the press and the gamers. They introduce and show off all of the new toys and games that we will be killing each other for this holiday season. They show us the stuff that is almost done and the stuff that is just in development and still a year or so away. It's a time where we can all get together to celebrate everything that is gaming. It's the week of the Electronic Entertainment Expo. It's E3!

E3 started on Monday with the big keynote speech from Microsoft. Then on Tuesday it was Nintendo and Sony's turn. There are also presentations from the big game developers such as Electronic Arts. Then it's time to hit the floor to check out all of the booths and play a level or two from some of the games that won't be released for months to come. I've been following along all week long and I have one word to describe this year's E3...."yawn".

I'll get into what the big announcements were from the different companies in a bit, but first let me touch upon something I mentioned a few months back...the recession. I felt that this was going to be a bad year for gaming. Discretionary income is way down, and that means so is discretionary spending. The cost of creating a video game is astronomical and game developers aren't going to spend that kind of money this year on a game that doesn't have an installed fanbase already. So that means we are going to see more sequels than ever before. And sure enough, that's what the big announcements were for this year.

Microsoft

Microsoft's big announcement was the development of a new kind of controller where you can play with your arms and use the motion of your arms to control the character's on the screen. Sound familiar? It should, because it's a blatant rip off of the Nintendo Wiimote. Sure Microsoft says theirs takes that technology to another level by introducing a camera that will recognize you and your actions. But seriously, this won't be released for at least 12-18 months, so really who cares?

As for games that Microsoft will be rolling out this holiday season. They announced sequels to some very successful games including Left 4 Dead 2, Mass Effect 2, and Assassin's Creed 2. All three were great games and I'm sure the sequels will be good as well, but there's really nothing new here. On the shooter side of life, they introduced Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Halo 3: ODST, which is Halo 3: the sequel. All of which will be good, but again, nothing new. It's a safe secure holiday for Microsoft.

Nintendo

Nintendo is really going to push their Wii Fit franchise this year with Wii Fit Plus. They really think they have something here and are going to really push some programming for it as well. It could be pretty successful, but again, the Wii Fit was introduced last year, so nothing new.

Mario is back. They introduced a new Mario game with Co-op gameplay. It looks like a basic Mario game, and I'm sure it will sell like hotcakes.

They also introduced a new advanced Wii Motion Plus, which when attached to the Wii-mote makes it more sensitive to your actions. So when you play Tiger Woods Golf, it really takes into account every mistake in your swing. Sounds pretty cool, but we'll see if it makes games to hard. Sometimes forgiving gameplay is ok. I'm pretty sure that I can't beat Tiger Woods in real life, so there's no need to make me face that humiliation in my living room.

Sony

Sony is still playing catch up. And guess what they introduced? Yup, it's a Wii-mote like device that will "revolutionize" gameplay. Again, like Microsoft, this is a blatant rip-off of the Wii-mote and is at least 12-18 months away from release, so who cares?

To Sony's credit however, they have introduced some original gaming with the game Heavy Rain. The game looks beautiful and has a very artsy "Blade Runner" look to it. I think it could be one hell of a good game, and I hope it gets the commercial success it deserves. Otherwise it's just going to me more sequels with higher and higher numbers at the end of the titles.

Overall

Overall, I'm happy that the gaming industry is moving forward and fighting the recessions with everything it can. I really liked some of the original games these sequels are based on, so I'm happy to sit down and have another Assassin's Creed adventure. I just hope that this isn't a long-term trend. Without new "real" innovation and new games with new themes, the gaming industry will hurt itself more than any recession ever could.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

Everybody Was IPhone Gaming!

About a year ago, I wrote a blog about how I thought if done correctly the IPhone could become the killer of the PSP. Well here we are about a year later and that has truly come full circle. As I write this blog, millions of people are currently downloading all kinds of games from ITunes to play on their IPhone and IPod Touch. Games generally cost anywhere between Free and $10, and here is the real secret...they're good!

Apple has done mobile gaming right. Each game is relatively easy to play, and all can be played in very short periods of time. This is key. For the most part when you are playing games on the go, you really have less than 15 minutes of where you can play the game. Maybe you are on the subway or you are waiting in line somewhere and you want to kill time. You can't pull out your PSP and start getting into a very involved stage of something. It will take you 5 minutes alone just to get to the start screen. With the Iphone, you're gaming in seconds.

The biggest problem with the PSP was what I described last year. There is no way to play your PSP without making it look completely obvious that you are playing your PSP. Last year I carried my PSP around with me for two weeks trying to find opportunities to play it. Say I'm out at a restaurant with the 30 Year-old Fiancee, and she steps away to go to the bathroom, I can't pull out my PSP and start playing a game of Madden. She would be furious. She's understanding when it comes to my gaming, but that's pushing it. However now, I can pull out my Iphone and start playing Tiger Woods Golf, and it looks to everyone in the restaurant that I'm texting someone. This is completely socially acceptable. No one has any idea that I'm on hole 17 at Pebble Beach putting for par. Awesome!

It didn't take too long before I figured out the greatness of this and started playing games like a madman. I've got Monopoly, Tiger Woods Golf, Metal Gear Solid, and the Price is Right. True story...a few weeks back I'm in Washington DC with a buddy of mine and we're having a few beers before we have to meet his parents for dinner. I slide over to him my phone and he starts playing the Price is Right. He's loving the game. Gets to spin the wheel and makes it to the showcase showdown. Needless to say we ended up running late to dinner. The cost of that game was half of the cost of one pint of beer.

Apple is really onto something here and the more 3rd party developers get on board the greater it's going to be. This fall Iphone Madden comes out. I can't wait to take my Patriots to the Superbowl...all while sitting at my desk at work.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

Delightfully Evil

Now This Looks Promising

You have to give Xbox a little credit when it comes to one thing, and that's their online gaming. Almost every game that you buy today has some sort of multiplayer component of the game. In fact, a lot of gamers will buy a game because of it's multiplayer than it's solo game. Take the game Left 4 Dead for example. This game is played with 4 people working together to survive the zombie apocalypse. Now while you can play this game with three computer partners, they don't quite react the same way as a live person when your screaming for help because some huge monster is ripping your nipples off.

Over the past few years, Microsoft has done a great job at perfecting the online experience and while I'll be the first to admit that there is still a long way to go, I think they are making great strides. And one shining example of this, is a game that they are bringing to Xbox Live Arcade later this summer, 1 vs 100.

If you've never seen the live game show here's a quick summary of how the game is played. There is one person who is the main contestant and they have to answer trivia questions. The more they answer correctly, the more money they earn. There is also 100 other people, known as The Mob, who are also answering the questions. The members of The Mob that get the question wrong are eliminated. The contestant can quit at any time and walk with the money they have, or they can go up against The Mob. If the contestant answers a question wrong, then the remaining members of The Mob split the money and the contestant gets nothing.

Later this summer, this game show will be played live via Xbox Live. Gamers can sign up at a scheduled time and play the show for real prizes. You can be either "The One" or "The Mob". You use your Xbox Live Avatar to represent yourself and you can win Xbox Live Microsoft Points or even video games.

I for one am a huge trivia nut and this is right up my alley. I posted the trailer of the game on the left and if the game is half as good as the trailer, then this will be a huge success. I know I'm looking forward to it and hope this is just the beginning of games like this. It's a great way to help unite the Xbox Live community and something that the Nintendo Wii will never have.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

The Best Sports Game I've Ever Played

For all two of you who are still reading this blog, welcome back. If you are wondering where I've been, the answer is simple. I've been on the ice of the Boston Garden for the past 4 months. Let me explain.

Over the holidays I was given a nice gift card to Best Buy, where on a whim I picked up a copy of NHL 09. I know there aren't a lot of hockey fans out there, but I"m one of them. And let me tell you, this game is the best sports game I've ever played.

Let's start with the basics. The graphics are great, the game play is innovative, easy to learn and hard to master. Basically, everything you would expect from a top quality sports game is here, but it goes way beyond that.

They have a game mode called "Be a Pro" mode. I started in this mode by creating myself as a left winger and joining the Bruins organization. They start by putting me as a rookie in the Providence Bruins on their 3rd line. When you play in this mode, you can only play as yourself. You can't change players and when your shift on the ice is over, then you sit (not playing the game) waiting for your turn again. It's a very compelling way to play hockey, and you learn a lot about how to play the game when you don't have the puck. Hint, positioning is key.

I start playing on the P-Bruins struggling at first, but then finding some success. I work my way up to their 1st scoring line and about 33 games into the season I get the call up to the Boston Bruins. My first game with the Bruins is at home against the rival Montreal Canadians where half way through the third period I score the winning goal. (by the way, scoring is really hard so this is a big deal) I have so much fun playing through the season helping the Bruins make their way up the standings that before I know it, i've played 82 games and the playoffs are here.

In the opening round, I get the Atlanta Thrashers. They jump out to a quick 2-1 series lead before I come roaring back and win the series 4-2. In the 2nd round I play the rival Montreal Canadians again. This series isn't nearly as close and I beat them 4 games to 1. Then it's off to the Eastern Conference finals against the Pittsburg Penguins, and boy are they good. Three of our games go to overtime and the phenom Sidney Crosby is just unstoppable. He scores 7 goals in the series and I painfully get eliminated 4-2 by the eventual Stanley Cup Champs, Pittsburg Penguins.

At the end of the last game, after I punched the couch for 15 minutes, I walked to the local bar and had a couple beers to one hell of a great season. I personally can't believe how into this game I got. I would drive home at night from work looking forward to playing whoever my match up was that night. I would travel home to Boston and watch a Bruins game on TV and tell my brother, "Oh, I easily beat these guys 4-1 when I played them last week."

I tip my hat to Electronic Arts. This is the best sports game I've ever played and is probably on my top 5 games of all time. It's a must play for any sports fan, whether you like hockey or not. The game is just that awesome.

Now it's time to look to the offseason to see if the Bruins will offer me a 2 year $3 million deal.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

Red Ring of Death...again

This image is the single scariest sight for all gamers today. It is a picture of the Xbox 360 power button and yes, it is not supposed to look like that. When you see this appear on the front of your Xbox, it means a critical error has occurred and your video game system has just turned into a very expensive paperweight. It is more commonly known as the "Red Ring of Death" and last week ago was the third time I've experienced it.As I currently write this blog, I'm patiently waiting for my fourth Xbox to be sent to me from Microsoft. My first three all found the same fate, the Red Ring of Death. If you think this sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. My Xbox broke because I had the sheer audacity to use it. Microsoft should be ashamed, because they could have prevented it.

This all started three years ago. The Xbox 360 was released a full year before it's competitors, PS3 and Wii. In Microsoft's rush to production they obviously made some major mistakes in the design of the Xbox 360, specifically in regards to cooling the system down. Inside the Xbox is a very critical chip that needs to remain cool at all times. Any any owner of the 360 will tell you that keeping an Xbox cool is easier said than done. And sure enough, after a long enough time that critical chip will overheat and just stop working. When that happens you will see the image above.

Now Microsoft quickly realized this problem and could have called for a complete recall. But in the high profile, highly competitive market of video games this could have killed the system. So they decided to extend the warranty of the product for this issue throughout the life of the system. So if, and more like when, this happens to your Xbox, all you have to do is call Xbox customer service and they will provide you with a UPS shipping label. Go to your local Mail Boxes Etc or UPS Store and send your piece of junk to Microsoft and they will take care of the rest. Last week when I went to the UPS store the guy behind the counter laughed and said, "Oh yeah, we get like three of these a week." Nice Microsoft. Nice.

So far, everyone that I know who has a Xbox 360 has had this error happen to them at one point or another. That includes my little 12 year old nephew. It's heart breaking to look at him in the eye and tell him that his most prize possession is broken and he won't be able to play it again for another 4-6 weeks.

In a week or so, I'll receive my Xbox and I'll be back shooting zombies in the face or scoring overtime goals for the Boston Bruins and I'll long forget about this heartache. In the meantime I'll be reuniting with my Nintendo Wii so in the grand scheme of things there are bigger crimes. But shame on you Microsoft for such shoddy workmanship. It's no wonder to me why your operating systems suck so much. You are one of the biggest companies in the world and you are run by the richest man in the world. People trust your company and your products. You have a fiduciary responsibility to your customers to make your products as reliable as possible.

Simply put, you are better than this Microsoft, start acting like it.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer

Apparently I Was Good This Year

As a complete shock to me, as I'm sure it is to you, I did not recieve a lump of coal for Christmas this year. On the contrary I recieved some very nice gifts from the Video Game Santa. Now all I need is the time to play all of them. Here is a quick list of the games and their descriptions and why I'm am so looking forward to playing them in the upcoming weeks.

Left 4 Dead (Xbox 360) It's the zombie apocolypse, bring friends! I've played this game for just a short time since I've been back from New Year's and it's just awesome. You are running around a destroyed city with three buddies and shooting everything that moves. And let me tell you when I mean you are shooting, I mean you are shooting every single thing that moves with every single bullet you can find. After playing the game for 30 minutes, the 30YOFiance came out of the bedroom and said, "All I hear in that game is gunfire and screaming." Awesome!

Guitar Hero World Tour (Wii)

As you may already know, The 30 Year-old Gamer's 30 Year-old Girlfriend has now become the 30 Year-old Fiance. The game we love to play the most, is Guitar Hero World Tour. We love to rock out and our band that we started "The New Hotness" is all about the rock. This game has 81 originally recorded tracks from the original artisits. It has plenty to offer with plenty variety. If you loved the original, you will love this one.

Fable 2 (Xbox 360)

Here's a game that I think may steal the show. It's a role playing game that has gotten rave reviews including Game of the Year from G4TV, but I'm not really one that relies on other's opinions. It starts like a typical Disney movie. You know, young kid, terrible tragedy that will define his whole life. Normally it will scar a kid for life, but since you are controlling the kid your actions will define if it does or not. If only real life were so easy.

Super Monkey Ball (Wii)

This is just a fun happy game that is relaxing and fun to play with others. That is until the stupid monkey doesn't go where you want it to. Then the game become an excercise in restraint, as in restraining yourself from throwing the Wiimote into the center of your very large TV. However when everything is going smoothly, the game is a lot of fun to play, and I can't wait to have a few beers and having at it.

As the weeks go by, I'll give you more in depth stories with these games. I do love playing them and look forward to getting to play them in depth as the weather gets colder and colder.

Until next time,

- The 30 Year-old Gamer