Release Date for Halo 4 Announced!

UberGizmo.com

If you are a serious gamer and you own an Xbox 360 then you probably know all about Halo. I made a blog post regarding the release of Halo 4 which you can read here. As I stated in this post, Bungie, the original creators of the franchise, will not be releasing this game. They sold the series to 343 Industries, who are again teaming up with Microsoft to release an Xbox exclusive Halo 4. This game has generated a lot of hype as hardcore Halo fans question whether or not 343 Industries can live up to the legacy that Bungie has left behind. Well we are getting to closer to finding the answer to this questions as 343 Industries has finally anounced the release date for the game. This Election day, Novemer 6th 2012 Halo 4 will be released to the public. I am sure I will buy this game as I adore the Halo series, but unlike some I am not quite as much of a dedicated fan. I thihnk the games are incridible and the story line is unmatched by any other game series, but I have never been one to count down the days till a Halo release.

So what do you guys think about Halo 4 and do you plan on buying it when it comes out later this year? Let me know in a comment!

Ignorance Was Bliss

Image From http://www.examiner.com

I recently was able to sit down and read this month’s issue of game informer, who’s main story pertained to Halo 4. At first it got me really excited, the things they were doing with the story line seemed interesting and it looked as though they would bring interesting new aspects to a classic game. But as I read on every thing in the article boiled down to: “We are bringing completely new aspects to this game, but don’t worry it will still be exactly like a halo game. Even though we are changing everything, but we’re changing everything because Halo must evolve!” It went back and forth like this for a while until I came to a comment that startled me a bit. it went something like this, “We are making Halo 4 a very familiar game, to get gamers back in the shoes of Halo before we take it in a completely new direction.” All I can say is, I hope 343 Industries knows what their doing.

Despite all that I was still very excited for the story mode, but then I got to the multiplayer part of the article. What they were describing sounded like a regular Call of Duty game. Ranks, XP, “Spartan Points”, Classes, Instant Re-spawn, unlockables that change gameplay which you get as you progress the ranks, these things will no doubt make the game much more addicting and re-playable but in a very cheap way. Its just not really in the Halo way, In past Halo games a noob theoretically had just as much of a chance of winning as a pro, but with the introduction of being able to purchase items that change gameplay, that is out the window. These changes may seem small, but the developers said these were only the first changes of many. I just hope Halo doesn’t fall into the crowd. I hope it still distinguishes itself among the countless first person shooters.

What do you think about Halo 4, Its changes, or gaming in general? Let me know in a comment!

Call of Duty Strategy Game?

Over the years, Call of Duty has become known for its lack of quality games. Its multiplayer mode can be fun at times, but more often it is just overwhelmingly frustrating. Well, a new type of Call of Duty game was in the works by a company known as Vicarious Visions. It was meant to be a tactical strategy game played from a third person perspective. The game was named Prototype until it was cancelled for unknown reasons.

Personally, I am not a huge fan strategy style games, especially ones in a Call of Duty environment, so I am not upset to see that this game was cancelled. But what do you guys think about this game? Would you have played it if it had been released or do you think it was a terrible idea? Let me know in a comment!

The PS Vita Proves to be Unsuccessful!

Techland.Time.com

Previously I made a post on the PS Vita and what my thoughts on this new hand-held device were which you can read here. My review was generally positive, but recently news has come out that the PS Vita was not the success that everyone had hoped it would be. In fact, in March alone video game sales along with the sales of their accessories fell nearly 25%. This is a devastating blow to the industry as they are already struggling with piracy issues and other factors that have been affecting video game sales profits. Currently, Microsoft‘s Xbox 360 is the most popular gaming console on the market and owns over 40% of the market. Sony had hoped that the PS Vita would be able to shake these statistics and push more popularity towards Sony’s products.

Although the PS Vita was not a success and did not turn the market around for Sony, statistics are still expected to rise in the coming year as more people splurge on expensive video game products during the holidays?

So what are your opinions on the PS Vita or the state of the video game market in general? Let me know in a comment!

Well We Haven’t Done a List in a While…

Even before I discovered Dimentio was Italian he was one of my favorite characters from the game.

Image from comickpro.deviantart.com/art/Request-Prize-Dimentio-135583231

Here are 5 reasons why.

5. He is always talking in theater metaphors

4. He has an awesome name

3. He has a very theatrical personality

2. He can teleport

1. He is a double agent (he secretly works against the main antagonist)

So what do you think of Dimentio, Paper Mario, or games in general? Let me know in a comment!

Need for Speed the Movie?!

AutoGuide.com

So if you were one of those gamers that were really into racing games as a kid, then you probably know all about the Need for Speed franchise. Well if you’re a fan of the games then you’re in luck because EA Games recently announced that they are planning on releasing a feature length film based off of the games. Both the writer John Gatins (Real Steel, Coach Carter) and the producer George Gatins (She’s Out of My League) have been hired on for the film. Apparently EA has already heard from studios such as Warner Bros. and Sony who are interested in producing the film.

There is currently not a lot of information available regarding the film but I will be keeping an eye out for any new announcements in the future. So what do you guys think about the idea? Would you be interested in watching a feature length Need for Speed movie? Let me know in a comment!

New Discoveries of Old Games

For some reason I don’t recall how to complete the Super Paper Mario puzzles as much as I did the Gamecube version. But one thing I did notice This time around is that one of my favorite characters, Dimentio, is Italian! This shouldn’t really be a surprise in a Mario game, but it wasn’t exactly obvious to me as a kid. When saying farewell to people Dementio always says “Cioa”. But given my limited knowledge of foreign languages at the time, I thought he was saying something along the lines of “Saow”, instead of the casual Italian phrase for hey and bye.

Image from http://www.youtube.com/user/XDimentioOfficialX

And yes it is Italian, because that is the way “Cioa” is spelled in Italian. And his mask is definitely an Italian style theater mask. So I guess it’s true what they say, you can always discover something new about something old. I don’t know if  people actually say that but it sounds like something people would say.

So what do you think of Dimentio, Italians, or games in general? Let me know in a comment!

Astounding Simplicity

Image from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door

I recently finished playing Paper Mario:_The_Thousand-Year_Door for the Gamecube, and now I am currently playing through Super_Paper_Mario for the Wii. One thing that surprised me, which I suppose shouldn’t surprise me at all, was how simple of a game it is. Of course when I first played through the game it was anything but simple. The combat system was easily mastered, and the puzzles didn’t seem hard at all, but it was a fun game none the less.

These were two of my favorite games as a kid and it has been a lot of fun replaying them. I do wish I could somehow re-experience my very first play through of these games, because it takes out a considerable amount of fun considering I remember how to complete every single puzzle. The most infamous puzzle in my memory is the one in Twilight Town. I didn’t know how to look stuff up on the internet, so I had to figure out this behemoth on my own. The part I was stuck at was the part where you had to get the bird to talk. Even though a good portion of my first play through was spent racking my brain trying to figure out how to complete this level, it was so incredibly satisfying when I finally did so. As opposed to my precise completion of  it this time around.

What do you think of Paper Mario, or games in general? Let me know in a comment!

Activision and Blizzard Entertainment Sued for “Copyright” Infringement!

Joystiq.com

Both Activision and it’s subsidiary Blizzard Entertainment are being sued by Worlds Inc. for patent infringement due to its World of Warcraft and Call of Duty series. The patent apparently copyrighted the use of player interaction in virtual worlds. This is not the first time that World Inc. has sued over this same claim. In 2008 they said that the gaming company NCsoft violated their patent and they ended up settling for an undisclosed amount in 2010. Although this lawsuit was not as big of a deal as World Inc’s current attempted lawsuits, it may give them the edge in winning their new lawsuits. Their past lawsuit success may convince a jury that they are entitled to a certain amount of Activision and Blizzard’s profits from their so called “copyrighted” material.

I Personally feel as if World Inc. is overstepping its boundaries with this lawsuit. Although their patent does cover some aspects of how the real time online multiplayer of both World of Warcraft and Call of Duty operate, these are features that can be found in a multitude of other games. Their patent seems to be too broad to actually fairly target any one company.

That is just my opinion. What do you guys think about World Inc’s lawsuit against these huge video game companies? Do you think they are in the right here and are just collecting their dues or are they acting out of line? Let me know in a comment!

My Team

I’m not exactly proud of it, but I got pretty sucked into the Pokemon on my PC. and considering my gaming time has been limited at best, I decided to do a post about it.

This time around I decided to go with one of the most well rounded teams I could think of, while still throwing in a few of my favorites where I could. My favorite Pokemon of all time being Charizard.

It has been very fun having a completely original season Pokemon team, since the original Pokemon designs were by far the best.

So what do you think of my team, Pokemon, or games in general? Let me know in a comment!