My new Addiction

Recently I have been searching through the Android marketplace to find some nice games and apps for my Droid Incredible. And while browsing I found a game called Game Dev Story that completely sucked me in.

Game Dev Story is a game, where you make games. It is a simulation game, somewhat like The Sims or Simcity, except instead of controlling a town or people, you are running your very own game company. You start out with a small company of about five people, developing games for systems such as the Super Intendro and the Playsystem. Some systems themselves more popular than others. As time progresses you unlock more genres of games to develop, as well as more systems to develop for as time goes on. You get to customize your game in many ways, which can either make it a hit, or a flop. If people like you enough you gain fans, of which on occasion send you fan letters to let you know how you are doing and how much they love your games.

 

Regardless, before I knew it, I was totally sucked into this game. The accessibility combined with the fact that I love video games (and this game is filled with references, Virtual Kid, anyone?) really makes this an addicted piece that I can't put down. If you own a Droid phone, or even an iPod, I highly recomend this game to you. I picked it up on sale for about  2$, so you might pay more, but it is definately worth the price. I have run my phone battery down quite a few times, and I'm far from done.

In fact, I have a game fro the Gamebox to develop. Its going to be a Shooter - Monster genre game. The last one sold 1 million copies in the first week of sales.

Video Games get its first Grammy award

So you may or may not have watched the grammys last night, but if you did, you saw video games walk away with a grammy award for best instrumental with vocal song. I was suprised to hear this, but we'll take what we can get, right?

The song in question is the titled "Baba Yetu" from the 2005 hit Civilization IV

If you saw the grammys, or heard about this somewhere, or even if you read it here first, do you think this was a good choice for a the best video game music has to offer? What would you suggest instead?

Here are some of my choices:

 Halo 2 OST: Unforgotten

While some may see the Halo franchise as overrated and a sell out, there is no denying that it had some good music. This is my pick.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time opening theme

If you have ever had an N64 as a child, you had this game. The opening track brings not only sweet nostalgiac memories to mind, but it is also an objectively good song.

Metroid Prime: Phrendrana Drifts

As a piece of atmospheric music coming from an atmospheric game, this song truly steals the show. Metroid Prime in its entirety is filled with brilliant atmospheric music, however if I had to pick one, it would have to be this. (Although Tallon Overworld is a close second)

Metal Gear Solid 2: Main Theme

One of the most memorable thems for a game, inspiring as it is full of action. This is a must on my list!

So, there is my list, what would you guys nominate as a great, if not the best, video game song?

Personal Note: Long day of work, and a twist

So I haven't been able to get on today to post. Work from 4 to 10 really takes a chunk out of your friday evening. Nonetheless, I shall make it up to you guys with a nice personal anecdote.

It happened last night, I was sleeping when suddenly a loud vibrating noise awoke me. Being half asleep I wasn't able to pick up where the noise came from, it surely wasn't my phone, couldn't have been any other electronic as nothing makes that noise. The noise stopped after a second or two, so I went back to sleep. What had to have been about five minutes later, I awoke to the same sound. Repeat this about three more times and I had finally gotten fed up, so I went looking for the source of this annoyance.

After a few more minutes, it vibrated once more and found that the sound originated from my desk compatment. I reached inside and pulled out something I had long forggoten. It was my old cell phone, just the way I remembered it, screen smashed, keyboard destroyed and faceplate torn off. My phone had been sitting in my desk for about four months, and last night it finally started to die, giving off its last warning.

For some reason I could not explain, I was somewhat saddened by this. Perhaps it was because I had that phone during an important part of my life, and it signified moving on to the next phase. There are many memories on that phone that I hope I can still get off via its SD card. Hopefully. Alas, I shall always remember you phone, for you saw me through good times and bad. Even when you were destroyed your sound quality was the best I've ever had. And just for you guys, I uploaded a picture of my beast of a phone.

 

The beast phone, in all its broken screen glory. RIP.

So how was your guys' fridays? Any tales of broken, yet remarkable gadgets?

I feel the Beat

     So awhile ago there was a massive steam sale for Christmas, and I nabbed myself some sweet games for cheap. One of these games is AudioSurf.

 

Pendulum - Propane Nightmares: One of the intense parts of the song.

      I have since played the game quite extensively, playing at the very least all of my favorite songs, and then some. There is something addicting about playing a game to the beat of your favorite song, with the game getting more difficult as the song becomes more intense (and less so if the song calms down). It is quite a fun game, one that I picked up for only 5$ off of steam. I am not sure if there is a steam sale at the moment, but if you are a fan of both video games and music, this is a no brainier for you.

     As for those who may have the game, what is your favorite song/band to surf to? My personal favorite is "Propane Nightmares" by pendulum, quite the intense song, and level.

New Banner and Name

So, what do you guys think of the new banner, yay, or nay? Also changed the name to match the domain name of the blog a bit better. I will still post occasional tidbits of non game related content. What do you think?

Creative mode...I was tired

 

Some thing I made quite a while back in a creative server. Creative minecraft still has its good times.. Yes that is a door leading inside.

Inside, beds inside of beds!

And here is the bunk bed addition, made with some help.

I bet you can't tell what was on my mind.

ELO Hell

     There is a certain period of playing in League of Legends in which every person who is somewhat decent at the game must endure: ELO Hell. ELO in case you did not know, is the basic equivalent of skill in LoL. the higher your ELO, the better player you are, in theory. As you level up you raise your ELO, hopefully, because you are becoming a better player.

     The matchmaking system currently tries to match you up players of a similar ELO. The game takes the average ELO of you and your team and finds an enemy team to match or come close to that average. The problem with that is, you could have a team of two medium level ELO players and one low, and face a team with one high level ELO and two low level players. This can cause an unbalance, as you may get stuck with team mates who are incompetent, or faced against opponents who are stacked skill wise. Or both.

     This is commonly reffered to in League forums as ELO Hell. The range of levels where you are pitting often times with bad team mates, or against a stacked team with high level players. Through my own experience I have found that these levels are between twelve and twenty-two. It is only before and after do you have a peace of mind know that the majority of the time, your team mates will either (in the case of being over level twenty-two) know what they are doing or at the very least (in the case of being under level 12) no one will know what they are doing, thus creating fair grounds to play for everyone. But between these levels, is pure, and utter, hell.

Epic comeback with Amumu

     So it is with this in mind that my story takes place. Today I was playing my usual matches of League of Legends, rocking Amumu in both 5v5 and 3v3 with some friends. I am level 25, mind you, so the people I was paired with and against are fairly competent at the game. In recent weeks a friend of mine has taken to the game, becoming interested in learning how to play. And I helped him out, giving him tips here and there, even playing with him in some premade 3v3 lobbys. All was fine, up until he hit around level 12. That is when the bad things began to happen.

Quite possibly one of my favorite characters that I am good with, next to Fiddlesticks and Lux. But is being good enough to save you from terrible team mates?

     First, it started with a bad player here and there, something I could normally make up for, being a tank (amumu). But as I grew bored of playing the role of tank over and over again, I began to play ashe. Mind you, I had a little bit of experience with ashe, and a pretty good build to back it up. It went alright, until one fateful match in which I nearly lost all hope in randoms on League of Legends.

     And the reason for that is? One and twenty four. One is the amount of kills our team mate Ryze had, and twenty-four was his deaths. The enemy player who was lucky enough to feast upon such a soul was a Sion. I have never in my experience seen a player feed so badly, nor have I seen an enemy get fed so hard, so fast. Within minutes we were pushed back to our inhibitors, and they were toying with us (this was a 3v3, mind you) by not pushing and killing us if we strayed. That was by far the worst match I have played. Somehow I still managed to go 7/10 as Ashe and my friend went 0/7 or something. But that Ryze....my god. I nearly lost faith in the game entirely if it weren't for the reminder that I was just stuck in ELO hell due to playing with my low level friend. I had worked my way out of ELO, now it is my friends turn to do the same.

      So let this be a lesson to all who want to teach a new friend, tell him you can help him all he wants until level 12, but after that, until level 22, he is on his own. Lest you suffer the same fate as I, and play with a 1/24 ryze, who I swear still was a bot, or high. Or perhaps even both, if that is possible. And judging by his performance, I'd say both.

 The bane of my own, and my teams existence, can be summed up in three numbers: 1/24

     ELO Hell. Never again. I really wish I would have taken a screenshot of the end of the match. But, there is my rant. Feel free to share your own tales of terrible team compositions, bad matchups, or your own little slice of ELO hell. I am interested to hear what you guys have to say about this. Because I know I am not the only one.

I can just hope it is the last time. Though deep down inside, I know it won't be.

Guild Wars 2 Concept Art Anyone?

 

Guy on the right looks like he would be hella fun to play and/or face off against. Hopefully the first.

 Pictures like these make me want to draw. The detail on the hat is awesome.

 

Charr are actually turning out to be quite cool looking

Mesmer concept art perhaps? Looks boss.

 

Just wanted to share with you guys some cool looking concept art that was released for Guild Wars 2. I was a fan of the first game so I am quite looking forward to the second, seeing as how it is measuring up to be even better than the first. And the art is top notch. Only thing that rivals in in terms of anticipation for me is Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

So, which one is your favorite?

Question for you guys

So I pose the question, what kinds of games would you like to hear about the most? Even if it is one I havent listed in my earlier post feel free to suggest it. I am fairly open minded and chances are I have probably even played the game. And actually, it doesn't even have to be about games, any questions you may have, just let me know.

So, just give me some ideas, who knows, may lead to some good discussion. :]

Introduction

Here is an introductory post so that you may get to know a little bit about me and the point of this blog. This blog is intended to share with you (the reader) my interests in video games and personal thoughts. I will post about games ranging from old to new, as well as ones that have yet to come out, and ones I am playing. I will most likely post tales of my gameplay and thoughts on specific games. First off, I am a freshman in college, second semester, I am going for a degree in mechanical engineering. Hobbies include reading, writing (somewhat, as is evident by this post) drawing, playing video games, hanging with friends, playing guitar, loafing around, eating, sleeping, and more.

Games you are likely to see talked about are (or at least games I play somewhat often):

League of Legends
Minecraft
The Witcher
Oblivion
Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Fallout
Team Fortress 2 (Less so now, not a fan of the hats updates)
Halo
Guild Wars
Left 4 Dead
Call of Duty
Golden Sun


And many more that escape me at the moment. I will also post from time to time various personal or random thoughts that I may have in my head, such as something about my school work, or something someone said that affected me. And I hope that you will be able to liken yourself to my words and respond.

That is my hope, anyways, I am going to wrap this blog post up. Let me know what games you guys would like to see the most coverage/discussion about and I will see what I can do.

-Zephyr