29/08/08 - Warning Forever

Okay, work made my gaming time a little limited over the last week, but I'm back now.

Today, I've been spending a little time with a freeware game, Warning Forever. Basically, it's a simple arcade shoot 'em up, with nothing but increasingly difficult boss battles. But then, why bother running through a level of boring minor ships when you can cut straight to the boss?


Your ship only has one weapon, a powerful vulcan cannon/spreadshot, which has two firing modes. Normal, which fires straight forwards, and variable, which alters the direction and amount of spread, when you move without firing. The variable can be tricky to work, but considering the enemy is in front of you less and less as levels progress, it's invaluable.

The boss itself is made out of simple pieces and turrets put together to form a ship, your goal being to destroy all the pieces until you expose the core, then blow that up. It starts rather basic, with a few peices and one type of turret, but each time you shoot it down, it comes back evan bigger, and more well equipped. But it's not just a pre-set sequence, it actually grows depending on how you beat it last time. By the time the stages reach double digits, you'll be in constant fear of your life. The range of weapons the boss employs are well designed and each introduces a new challenge. The boss will even try to ram you, which can be a big problem if you haven't created a path past it's screen-filling wings.


The game allows you to play by time or lives, with extra being rewarded for stage completion or destruction.

It's a fun game, and intense once it gets going. The graphics are simple, but clean, which is important. I just wish their was a better way of doing the variable vulcan. Definately something to try if you're a fan of arcade shooters. Oh, and you'll probably want to start some music going, as the game, while having a bgm volume, seems to lack any music.

23/08/08: Up to speed

Okay, so an idea of my current situation. Well, the last console I got, was technically an Xbox. My brother threw it away, I caught it. Before that, however, was a Nintendo Wii.

As for games, most recent purchases, were Smash Bros. Brawl(Wii), Dragon Ball Z: BT3(Wii), and F.E.A.R (PC). Up until last week, I was playing Brawl 95% of the time, trying to finish the majority of achievements challenges, and of the remaining, most are simply a matter of time, with only one or two that haven't been done due to their difficulty. I have yet to try online, as I'm not sure my setup would work well enough.

In the last week though, my time has shifted to Team Fortress 2. A game I've owned for a while, but only started playing recently. I'm finding it quite enthralling, but every game is time-consuming, as I mostly play offense/defense maps, where each team's turn to attack/defend can take from 10 to 45 minutes, depending on each team's skill & luck, and the length of the map. I really should get a proper mic, so I can talk. I do have a hand-held one hooked up, but I'm never sure about using it. As for classes, my mains are Pyro, Soldier and Medic (if there aren't enough, which is most of the time, so I'm a little tired of it), though I fill in most roles when I see a need.

Now, make regular posts.

11/08/08

When I said 'next up', I meant, 'The blog after the next up'.

Between last blog and now, I had the opportunity to once again introduce someone to the Nintendo Wii, and specifically, Wii Sports. He's a not-young guy, but he's had a bit of experience with games thanks to his own offspring.
I started him off playing tennis alongside my mother, who has a bit of experience with it. The atmosphere created was one of merriment, with every point won or lost punctuated by amused comments and bursts of laughter. It took a while for him notice my calls of, "Stop pushing the buttons." But eventually he learned, and the incessant tapping no longer danced across my eardrums. Eventually, mother had to leave to perform the prerequisite housework, and I took the gentleman to the fighting ring.

That is to say, Boxing. The atmosphere was a little more subdued, but the laughter was still there. I demonstrated as best I could how it worked, then started the game, intent on simply blocking till he had gotten used to it. He then proceeded to pummel Mii, until I went down. Apparently my blocking could use work. After a little more look at how to control the character, we went onto another round.
For the next few rounds, I had no intention of being passive, and KO'd him each time, even with a single knockdown once. By the end, I had come to the conclusion that he had simply been flailing his arms too much, and had never really blocked properly. We'll have to work on that next time.

After that was a bit of bowling. Here, difficulty was mostly found in the combination of motion and button presses. After a bit of repeated instruction, he was able to play effectively, and outdid my score in one of the alternate play modes.

At this point it was getting late, and alas, an end was needed, however, the gentleman has, on several occasions since then, professed that he thoroughly enjoyed playing, so I am hopeful he will come back for more, and perhaps eventually I'll to see how he goes with something more complicated.

09/08/08: First Entry

Let's see, a little history first, I guess. And the reason I'm making this blog.

I have been playing video games of one type or another for as long as I can remember. Seriously, I can't remember a time when I haven't had video games.
The first platform I remember playing was the Commodore 64, though there was also an Atari 2600. For many years I have been an avid video game player, getting a new console each generation, and moving through several iterations of PC over the years.

These days, I don't spend anywhere near as much time playing games, and no, that's not because I have more of a social life =P I'm not sure of the exact reasons, but things like my recent addiction to anime, getting a job, and getting heavily into online communities, were probably important factors.
Of those things, currently, the first is flourishing, the second is only part-time now, and the last takes 85% less effort than it used to.

This means I'm finding a bit of extra time on my hands, so I'm playing games more again, but I'm also trying to get myself to use my passion for the creative, mostly through writing.
I remember hearing that keeping a journal was a good way of getting yourself to write, but there's rarely enough in my day I'd consider worthy of a journal entry. Then I had an idea, perhaps I could write a journal about the day's gaming. So, I thought it would be worth a try. I might also do gameplay videos, write about gaming news, and other, random things. Mention of anime, is also likely.
I do have another blog, exclusively for creative things, like poetry/stories/videos, so you won't find them around here.

That's about it. It probably won't be the most exciting read, at least, for the time being, but perhaps there will be something of interest. I'm also open to questions/suggestions if there's a particular game you want an opinion/video of. Of course, I'd have to own the game, so once I get around to it, there'll be a link on the side to my Gamespot account, which has a list of all the games I own, though some may not be in my possession anymore.

Next up, my current gaming situation.