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Monday Gaming Diary: We’re on Vacation!

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Very important decision

Very important decision

No really, we are. I’m actually in Oregon with two staffers for a mutual friend’s wedding. The wedding was yesterday, which was absolutely beautiful. Today, Chris and I are going to hit the wineries Oregon has to offer. Apparently there are a ton of them, and we found a cluster within walking distance in downtown historic Newberg. Good times should be held by all.

For whatever reason, I brought my 3DS with me to the wedding. About halfway through the reception, I pulled it out to see if I got any StreetPasses, and I had 5! One was the groom’s sister, so I went over to her table to tell her I StreetPassed her, only to see that everyone at that table had their 3DSes out. I have never been with so many gamers at once outside of a convention. I only wish we got a photo of all of us sitting at the table with our 3DSes out.

But yes, I have done more than just StreetPassing. I played more Bravely Default on the plane, but before I left town, I finally got time in on the Destiny beta! I was really convinced I was just not meant to play the game, as every time I tried to sit down and play either the Alpha or the Beta, something happened that prevented me from doing so. Internet issues plagued me on Friday, threatening to not allow me to play the game once again, but after we kicked the hamsters in the router, I was finally able to get through a mission without getting kicked out.

I went into Destiny with severely low expectations. I had zero interest in playing another Bungie shooter against aliens, especially since I already have Halo in my life, but I was blown away by how much fun the beta was. I’m now really looking forward to playing the game this fall, especially with fellow writer Blake. That game seems almost meant to be played with others in very much the same vein as Journey was. I won’t say any more now as my preview for Action Trip should go up this week. I’m not reviewing the game for either Action Trip or SGR (Blake is getting that torch), so I probably won’t pick it up at launch as I have so many other things I’ll need to be working on. But that game will get played this year for certain. I never thought I’d be saying that a few months ago.

In more important news, strategy guide has been confirmed for the console edition of Diablo III: Reaper of Souls! I’m so excited!

Monday Gaming Diary: Working Out with Video Games

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Way back in the PS2 days, before I had kids, a friend of mine introduced me to Dance Dance Revolution for the PlayStation 2. She used it as a way to work out when she got home from work around 3 in the morning. Thanks to her work hours, she couldn’t really go to a gym, so she used DDR to help. I was amazed at how much fun I had with it. So much so, I bought the game and a DDR pad when I returned home. I faithfully danced away to it every Saturday and Sunday morning, worked all the way up to the advanced difficulties, and then I got bored. I thought about buying another DDR game since there were a couple of others, but it wasn’t long before the mat became permanently rolled up. I still have it, of all things, and it’s still rolled and wrapped up with its connecter cord.

I haven’t thought of using video games to work out since then, until I played a Zumba game on the Xbox 360 Kinect at E3 in 2012. I thought a bit more about it at the time, but there was no way I was going to buy a Kinect. Now that a Kinect came with my Xbox One, I’ve been toying around with these thoughts a bit more.

zumba 2

I’ve wanted to join a gym, but then I quit one of my steady jobs (it’s a long boring story), so the idea of paying at least $50 a month isn’t exactly that appealing. But Zumba for the Xbox One is $50, and I only have to pay that once. And Zumba is more like taking an aerobics class, which is repetitive to begin with, as instructors often teach a class a routine so they can continually excel and then move on to more advanced classes over time. Well, that’s how these Zumba games advertise they work.

After talking over my idea with a friend, we’ve both agreed to take the plunge together, and we’re going to start working out together this week even though we live in different parts of the country (isn’t the Internet just GRAND?).

But my boring tale of fitness with gaming isn’t over quite yet.

This past weekend, I traveled to Houston for a quick trip to attend the funeral of a childhood friend. As you can imagine, I was surrounded by many other childhood and family friends for the duration of my stay, one friend of which has gotten diehard into yoga over the past year. I’ve never once considered yoga, even though I’ve heard of its benefits with stretching and relaxation. I also prefer cardio exercise, another reason why I’ve never tried it. However, hearing her talk about it, how much it has improved her core and how much physically stronger she’s gotten just in the six months she’s been doing it really made me reconsider my prejudice.

Again, I can’t really afford to go to a gym, but is there a yoga game for the Xbox One? Sadly, the answer is no, but there is one for the Wii U. It’s actually a total fitness game that offers multiple styles of working out, from dance to taibo to pilates to yoga. I’ve been told to try pilates by several people after I have complained about the difficulty I’ve had in losing the preggo weight, even with training for half-marathons. I haven’t bought that one yet as I’m about to go on a vacation next week, but I bet it will be in my arsenal soon.

I’m still worried that I’ll get bored of them like I did with DDR, but maybe, just maybe, I’ll stick with it enough to get interested in buying DLC or different games, all of which are still cheaper than joining a gym. And this has to be even a teensy bit better than buying exercise DVDs, right? I’ve gone down that rabbit hole before, and I got bored of those way before DDR bored me.

Well, either way, I can already hear Blake cackling with glee. He’s been on me about finding a game for the Kinect I would like since the stupid peripheral released for the Xbox 360. At least I never did buy it for that console.

Monday Gaming Diary: Video Games: the Movie

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VGTM_Still12

I was lucky enough to receive a screener copy of Video Games: the Movie before it goes on sale on iTunes tomorrow, and I was really impressed with how deep the documentary delved with the video game industry. I’ve seen a few other video game documentaries, one was a week-long mini-series put on by the History Channel (I think it was that channel), but none went beyond just looking at the history behind the industry.

Of course Video Games: the Movie thoroughly explores the history of video games, but it also went into the current culture of gaming, how that culture developed, the phenomenon of e-sports, and where gaming is going in the future.

I reviewed it for Action Trip, and here’s a little snippet of my thoughts from there:

I’ve seen a couple of other documentaries on video games, and they all simply covered the history, which is interesting enough, but I was pleased that this one explored other areas that will appeal to gamers. For example, the film studied one of the more popular arguments amongst critics right now, and that’s whether video games can be considered art. They also examined the argument that video games cause violence–to which Tommy Tallarico of Video Games Live gave the best quote of the entire movie: “Hitler didn’t play Crash Bandicoot.”

I personally can’t recommend checking out this documentary enough when it becomes available. I may torture my documentary-loving parents with it the next time they are in town.

Monday Gaming Diary: Shovel Knight

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shovel_knight_black_box_1_by_hananas_nl-d61jcbrI’ve been seeing the excitement for Shovel Knight for the last couple of weeks, and the game just looked too darn adorable to pass up. I heard it was a call-back to the retro era, which I should have connected to mean platforming. However, I’m so glad that I didn’t make that connection, because then I would have avoided a really, really, really fun game.

I guess I’m not as terrible at platforming games as I used to be, or the older games (or in this case, the call-back to older games) aren’t as difficult as they are now. I really wanted to like Guacamelee!, but the combination of platforming with specific moves proved to be my undoing after just an hour. It was with a heavy, heavy heart that I put that game down and lamented my wasted dollars. If I had heard beforehand that Shovel Knight was a platformer, I most likely would have written it off as another Guacamelee! and moved on.

Thanks to my ignorance, I bought it, was instantly scared after the opening level, but then I found myself having an absolute blast with a platforming game. I haven’t had fun with a platformer since I gave up trying to get past the halfway point in Super Mario World. I never finished a single SMB game, not even the original, because that’s how terrible I am at platformers and how little patience I have to practice at them.

It helps that I think Shovel Knight has an original idea and gimmick, and I find a lot of dialogue quite funny. Granted, I haven’t been able to play much of it so far, but after completing the first boss fight and all that, I’m still eager to play. I didn’t get half that far in Guacamelee!.

I haven’t tried it out on 3DS, only the Wii U, but fellow writer Blake has enjoyed it on the 3DS. I’m certain he’s saying that because he doesn’t have a Wii U. The game is absolutely gorgeous on the GamePad screen alone. Simply put, if you have a Nintendo product, just do yourself a favor and pick it up. Don’t look for reviews, don’t wait for my final thoughts, just do it.

 

Thursday Gaming Diary: Host Switching

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3b4So this was a fun experience and a half.

I decided to switch hosts after I turned in my two-week notice at one of my contracting jobs. SGR’s host was with that company, and I decided it would probably be best if I took SGR with me while I already had access to all of the administration side of our host servers. Better to do it on my terms than to deal with a rush job, right?

After my experience this week, I am so glad I decided to do this on my schedule.

I honestly thought this could be done over the weekend, but what I didn’t count on was slow upload speeds from our internet service provider, a wireless network card that was wonky, and the size of SGR. These are all mistakes I will do my damndest to never make again.

I don’t want to switch hosts again, but if I have to, at least now I know a bit more what to expect and how to circumvent it. But seriously, I never want to switch hosts again.

At least I chose a decent time to have some downtime. It’s a holiday week and it’s the summer doldrums. We won’t really have anything new to review until September, although I’m hoping for a Reaper of Souls console-edition strategy guide from Brady Games in August.

I am also sad to say I have made absolutely zero progress on Dragon Age: Origins. First I had to review Valiant Hearts, and then I got very, very sick, and then I decided maybe I should stay up to work through my book reviews that I’ve neglected instead of playing games. I know, I’m full of excuses. Since I’ll be down one job next week (hooray!), that should mean more gaming time, and hopefully I’ll play more than just Bravely Default. It’s so hard to not play that game sometimes. Oh you guys want to eat dinner? The dog needs to be fed? I haven’t showered in three days? Sorry, busy job grinding. It’s not that bad, but I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat down to play for just a few minutes and the next time I look at the clock, it’s after midnight.

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