Home Sweet Home

Well, back home again, and able to finally play my 360 again! Woo! So I’ve been playing Dead Space. On Chapter 10 I believe, and it was weird. Out of nowhere the game got really tough. I mean, really tough. It was strange. No, I have yet to beat the game, but I’m almost there. I plan on finishing it up by the weekend.

Now here’s one thing that has been bugging the crap out of me. Since I got my second Xbox 360, I didn’t transfer all of my content over for a number of reasons that I’m not going to go into. But anyway, managing game saves and XBLA titles is a pain in the ass. I have a USB drive that I take game saves off my old Xbox, and transfer them to my new one. But it’s rather annoying sorting through the game saves deciding what to transfer, and all that crap. But the biggest issue I have is the whole Live Profile thing. Recovering your Gamertag takes WAY too long IMO, and while I do keep it on my USB drive, it is still annoying moving the thing back and forth. And I can only imagine what people had to do before USB support was added. I bet it was a nightmare! Regardless, I’m managing it, but it’s just a hassle. If there was a way to LAN the two together, and essentially run them as one unit, that would be sweet. Anyway.

I’ve purchased a lot of XBLA titles I’ve wanted to buy for a while. I picked up Braid, Limbo, and Plants v. Zombies; all great titles. Of the three, I’d say Limbo is my favorite. It’s artistic, great sound, and quite challenging. There’s no way that one could play the game for the first time and not die. It’d be impossible. Most of the puzzles take trial and error, which is cool because the game doesn’t penalize you for dying; a rarity in most games today. It’s unique because it lets the player take risks, without fearing major consequences. And with a majority of the puzzles you can’t just “see” the solution. There’s a lot of physics based traps which you often can’t see coming. The one gripe I had with it is that there is no tutorial at all. It drops you in the game and you go. While this is cool, it was rather annoying coming up to one of the first puzzles and not knowing/realizing that grabbing objects was possible. But other than that, it’s pretty sweet.

That’s about all I have this time. I’ll keep you all updated on my progress on Dead Space, and whatever else I play. Until next time, -SS.

Back in the Saddle

Well, hello again everyone. It’s that time again, and this will be my only blog post this week until at least Sunday. I’m traveling this weekend, so I won’t have access (or time) to make posts. Sorry for the inconvenience. But regardless, here’s what’s going on.

Not a whole hell of a lot right now. It’s the end of summer, and that means the Fall release parties are right around the corner. Lots of big games being released this fall, and a bunch are on my wish list. Plants vs Zombies for XBL, Civilization V, Dead Rising 2, NHL 11, Fallout: New Vegas, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Fable III…whew, that’s a bunch ‘o games. And all of them look to be killer titles that I’m excited for.

BUT, I have decided the only games I plan on buying from that list this year are NHL 11, Civ V, and Fallout: New Vegas. And it’s because I have such a huge backlog of games I need to play first.

Anyway, I just purchased Starcraft 2 and NHL 11 to be delivered to my house and will be waiting for me when I get home. Can’t wait to play Starcraft 2 and beat the living daylights out of my roommate(s). Other than that, I’ll just be playing that list of games I rallied off a few days ago. Be on the lookout for a possible review of Zelda: Spirit Tracks if I beat it by the time I get back. Here’s a bit of a hint, it’s pretty freaking awesome. Same old Zelda, same old fun.

Until next time -SuperStubbs

The DS Has Arrived!

Well, as the title states, my DS arrived this week. I got three games for it, and all three are long games for my trip home. Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, Zelda: Spirit Tracks, and Pokemon Platinum. Yes, Pokemon. While many people (especially guys) consider Pokemon a “childish” game, I still find it rather enjoyable. While the story and look of the game are elementary, the core fundamentals of the game are rather mature, and very addicting.

In the beginning, the game was fairly straight forward, you play as a male kid who gets his own Pokemon and sets out to discover all 150 types. That basic storyline hasn’t changed since it was first introduced in the US in 1998. But there have been a ton of additions to gameplay throughout the years. They added several new Pokemon types, day/night events, date events, a beauty contest mini-game, berries, and list goes on. There are SO many things to do now that to complete the game would take days. While it’s hard enough just to collect all the types, (493) but add to that all the side quests they’ve added, and you have one deep, deep game.

One of the coolest features is the fact that once you beat the game, you can go back to the Kanto region and collect all 150 original monsters. This gives people who are obsessive about collecting things (myself included) much more to look forward to. And it brings back some memories about your past, when you were a kid on the school bus playing it, just like everyone else.

Another aspect I enjoy is the strategy involved. Sure you can just level up your starting Pokemon and get through the game fairly easily, but that’s not fun to me. I like to get several different types and see what teams work best. I also enjoy seeing all the different moves and evolution types. It’s difficult when you get a monster that really sucks, and grinding to level him to evolve. Not cool. But it’s all part of the game, and as such I sometimes do it to fill out my collection.

With all that said, I plan on playing the pants off the game for the next few weeks, and give a full review when I’m finished. But that’s all I have for now.

-SuperStubbs

Big List 'o Games

Welcome back! So I realized the name ‘It’s a secret to everybody’ is very fitting for my blog. Seeing as how I probably won’t have all that many readers, it really WILL be a secret to everybody. It’s also fitting because that’s a line from one if my favorite franchises of all time, Zelda. Honestly, I have not beat Twilight Princess (but I’m pretty close) and have never beat a handheld Zelda. I played both Oracles games for the GameBoy, as well as Phantom Hourglass for DS, but have not beat them. And that bothers me. This is why I’m making a list and posting it to the world. Here is my big list of Xbox 360 games that I own, yet have never beat. (Multiplayer and achievements not included. I’m just talking about the single player campaign.)


Red Dead Redemption*
Halo: ODST*
Halo 3
Halo Wars
Command and Conquer 3
Crackdown
Dragon Age: Origins*
Assassin’s Creed 2*
Battlefield: Bad Co.*
Battlefield: Bad Co. 2
Dead Space*
Forza 2
Forza 3
Midnight Club: LA
Burnout Paradise
GTA IV
Mass Effect 2*
Skate
Skate 2
Rock Band
Rock Band 2
Batman: Arkham Asylum*
Too Human
Dirt
Gears of War 2
Ghost Reacon
Call of Duty MW*
Call of Duty MW 2
Resident Evil 5
Gun
Prey*
Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
Silent Hill Homecoming
Condemned 2*
Bully
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Hitman: Blood Money
Rockstar Table Tennis

Now, that’s a LOT of games! But when I say ‘finish’ I mean that I’ve done everything I’ve wanted to do in a game. Most of the time it’s simply beat the single player campaign. But others, like CoD: MW2 and Battlefield: BC2 I have never even STARTED the campaign. It’s one of those things I want to beat the first one before playing the second.

So here’s my goal for the end of the year. Beat all the games that have a * by them. That’s 11 games. And I know the two that will take me the most time are Dragon Age and Mass Effect. While I have put about 10-15 hours into each of them, I really like experiencing the worlds BioWare puts together, so I take my time on them. Of those 11, I’d say about half I have played a significant amount of time. RDR, Prey, Dead Space, AC: 2, CoD: MW, and Batman should be bout done. The others I either havn’t started or have a significant amount of gameplay hours left to put into them.

I’m really bad at not finishing games (obviously, lol) so this is why I’m doing this. I want to play through my backlog of games, and start fresh with new games in 2011. I’ll keep you all updated on what game I’m currently working on, and report when I’m finished with it. After this, I still have a ton to go, but at least I’ll knock some off my list. Plus, I’ll be unlocking a TON of achievements. I’ll tell you all this, when I get back, I promise I’ll play Dead Space, and until I beat it, not another game is going in that drive.

Until next time -SuperStubbs

IASTE Begins

Welcome! I'm starting this blog called "It's a Secret to Everybody" to express my opinion of the current gaming landscape and give a little insight to my current gaming habits; for anyone that cares. I'll try to keep this updated at LEAST once a week, hopefully about 2-3 times a week. So about me.

I'm a 23-year-old college student attending SIUE majoring in Computer Science. I play hockey in my spare time, as well as play games. (Duh) I enjoy writing, so hence, this blog.

I own 2 Xbox 360's (Elite and a new "slim" 250GB), a Wii, a PSPGo, and I literally just bought a DS Lite today. I owned a DS, but sold it for the Go, but went ahead and bought another one. I'll explain later. I also had a PS3 but sold it about 3 months ago. I MIGHT buy anther one in the near future. We'll see. DISCLAIMER: I will try not to partake in fanboy-ism on this blog. I will keep my opinions honest and I refuse to comment on a product I have never used.

I'm also a member of the Illinois Air National Guard working on c-130 cargo aircraft as an engine mechanic. I deploy fairly often, so I do a lot of portable gaming as well as console gaming.

So that's pretty much me. Now for some substance to this blog.


DS vs. PSPGo…FIGHT!

Like I said before, I owned a DS Lite for about 2 years, until I sold it in March-ish for a PSPGo. Now here was my thought process when buying the Go. The PSP has a larger screen, is a bit less "kiddy", is a much better technology, and NO cartridges.

Since I travel a lot, I thought not carrying games around would be sweet. I grab my PSP, and every game I own is right there. Also, you can pause a game in case a job comes up or something. Very convenient. Well, I thought I’d try it out on this deployment to Afghanistan. (In 2008-09 I had the DS) Now that I’ve had some “real-world” time with the PSPGo, I find I’m missing my DS. Simply put, the PSP has no games for it, at least none that I find myself craving to play. I admit, God of War and Ratchet and Clank are sweet, and very fun, but not I-Want-To-Play-One-More-Level-But-It‘s-5am type of game play.

Another thing, is after about an hour an a half to two hours, my hands cramp and the system is very uncomfortable to hold. Play for an hour or so though, and things are fine. Not good when your on a 6+ hour flight. The system itself is leaps and bounds better than the DS, no question. Memory Stick slot, better graphics, internal storage, MP3 player, Blue Tooth, the list goes on. But what the DS lacks in technology it easily makes up for in games. Two Zelda’s, three Pokemon games, (arguably one, but whatever) Brain Age, New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart, etc, etc. The PSP just can’t compete with the DS in terms of games.

And the final nail in the coffin? The download only “feature”. It’s more of a hindrance than a feature. Games cost WAY more than retail; which is backwards IMO, no used market, not every game is available, and games release days and possibly weeks after retail on the PSN. If the pricing was more competitive and games released day and date with their retail counterparts, I think it would make things a lot better. But as it is now, it seems like Sony treats the PSPGo as the redheaded stepchild of the PSP 3000; which is not cool considering the Go is the newest system Sony has on the market. You’d think they’d actually WANT people to try it. Well I did, and I (partially) regret it.

The Go could be a great system, and show the true potential of a download-only console, (and a handheld is exactly where to start that revolution) but Sony needs to get it’s act together and get games released at the same time as well as a larger library of games on the PSN, as well as get rid of the pricing parity, then they might be in business. Until then, the PSPGo looks like it may suffer the same, sad fate of the Virtual Boy. I do like the system for what it can do, and some of the games, (Ratchet and Clank, God of War) but overall, I don’t feel the system has enough good games to support it and the way Sony has handled game distribution has failed an otherwise great system.