You're in Control

In my very first post I talked about how you shouldn't let games get to you, and how feelings of anger and frustration don't do you or anyone around you any good.

It's best to just take a break from something that's driving you up a wall.

You need to be happy.

You can't enjoy your life if you're pulling your hair out over a game.

Which brings me to this...

WTF. 


DON'T BE THESE PEOPLE. 


EVER.

This commercial is painful for me to watch.

You shouldn't ever let a game get you to that point, I understand that it's a bit overblown, but still.

You're in control of your game. 


Don't let it control you.

You are the one with control over your emotions, make choices that produce positive emotions.

One very simple way to avoid ending up like those poor sods in the commercial is very simple.

No, it's not to sign up for Gamefly...

Just do some research before you buy a game.

It's as simple as checking out a few reviews.

Games cost a lot of money, you owe it to your wallet and your emotional stability to do a bit of research on a game before you buy it.

I want you to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into before you buy a game.

I want you to be happy with your game and with your life.

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy your life.

Every Game is an RPG

"You mustn't be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling."

Every game can be an RPG if you let it.

Now before you get all “huh?” on me, let me explain.

What does RPG stand for?

I’ll give you a second to answer…

Got it?

Good.

If you answered Role Playing Game, you’re correct!

Ok, ok I know that was easy, though maybe one person might have thought Rocket Propelled Grenade.

Now here’s the tougher question, what does role playing game mean?

Most people’s answers would probably be something like this:

                

"A game where you pick a character and level up your stats and get new upgrades and XP and stuff."

This answer is wrong.

If that were true it would be a PCLUSNUXPG.

I don’t think so.

The essence of a role playing game has nothing to do with how much loot you can carry or how much XP you earn, but instead it’s about how you take on a role. 

Go figure.

While leveling up and gathering loot may be integral parts of games that brand themselves as RPGs, when it really comes down to it, what makes an RPG an RPG is the role that you take on and identify with.

This may be a revelation to some of you or old news to others, take it how it is.

When you think of RPG as meaning the way you identify with the character you’re playing as, rather than as how the mechanics of the game are set up, it can changes the way you play games for the better.

You can make almost any game an RPG (I say almost because I’m having a hard time picturing games like Pac Man or Tetris with much connection to the characters).

You can make racing games into RPGs. When I play games like DiRT instead of just focusing on progressing through the game, I like to put myself in the place of the driver. It can be fun to make up your own stories and motivations behind a race. The races themselves become more exciting this way too.

Imagination is the key.

Don’t worry, imagination isn’t just for kids. It’s a great tool for enhancing your gaming experience.

Online multiplayer games can be Role Playing Games. When I play Red Dead Redemption online I like to come up with motivations for my character rather than just shooting people for the XP. It’s a lot more fun to pretend I’m some cocaine addicted professor out to kill all of the bandits and gang members in the wild west than it is to just grease enemies for the sake of getting XP.

Playing Battlefield or even (god forbid) Call of Duty? You can do the same with games like that. Put yourself in the shoes of a soldier rather than a gamer. You’ll be more motivated to stay alive for one thing, and the whole experience will be more exciting for you if you put yourself into a role.

So don’t be afraid to use a little imagination to really put yourself into a role. It makes the game more fun. 

Trust me. 

More fun means more enjoyment, and more enjoyment means more happiness, and who couldn't use more of that? 

So next time you’re playing a game, any game...

Make it a Role Playing Game.  

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy your life.

Not a review of LA Noire.

This isn't a review. That’s not what I do. You can find plenty of those on other sites. I just want to make you think a little deeper about how you play games and how they make you feel.

I picked up Rockstar’s newest work of art, LA Noire, at its midnight release. LA Noire really surprised me in the way it made me interact with its world.

More often than not it seems that you’re on the wrong side of the law in video games, particularly open world games. Cops seem to get a bad rep in video games. Often they’re the ones being shot and killed by the player.

This changes in LA Noire.

In LA Noire you’re not senselessly killing cops or innocent people, but rather you’re the one wielding the badge sworn to protect the people of the city of angels.

This gives you a whole new perspective and attitude as you play. It is very liberating.

This changed the way I experienced the world of LA Noire. In Grand Theft Auto, for example, hitting someone with your car would be quite comical. In LA Noire I do my best to avoid hitting pedestrians.

I cringe when I almost hit someone in a crosswalk and I breathe a sigh of relief when they get out of the way in time.

I'm a cop, I don't want to hurt innocent people. I want them to be safe.

When has a game made you act that way before?

I can’t think of one.

This makes LA Noire different than anything I’ve ever played. 

Regardless of what game you’re playing, don’t just play through the game, be a part of the game. Care about what’s happening in the game. Get lost in it.

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy LA, or wherever your game takes you.

Enjoy your life.

PS. I haven’t beaten LA Noire yet. So be happy I took time from playing it to write this post.

Forget the mind blowing facial capture used in LA Noire.

 The most amazing feature of the game is that none of the doors are double hinged. Yep. If you push your way through a door, you’ll pull it open when you go back out. Truly revolutionary gaming.

Fun things I overheard in LA Noire while playing:

“Why is the word abbreviation so long?”

“I used to be really indecisive, now… I’m not so sure…”

“If olive oil comes from olives, where does baby oil come from?”

What Game are you Reading?

What Game are you Reading?

If you love a game series you owe it to yourself to read a book based on that game.

Remember books?

Think back, they used to make you read them back in high school and elementary school.

Starting to come back to you now?

Good. This post is about books.

But Joe! This blog is about video games! I don't want to read about books!

Too bad!

You're going to read about books and you're going to like it!

I love video games.

I also love books. 

I'll let you in on a secret. They write books based on video games.

What's your favorite game series?

Halo?

Mass Effect?

Gears of War?

Asssassin’s Creed?

Dead Space?

Resident Evil?

Star Craft?

Metal Gear Solid?

All of these have books. 

So many games now are getting counterpart novels. It’s great.

When was the last time you actually just sat down and read a book? 


I don't know about you, but the story is one of my favorite elements of a game. That's one of the reasons books compliment games so well. More story!

You can get lost in a game. Well books can do a pretty good job at pulling you in too.

Reading a book based in the world of one of your favorite games is fun. They can pull you deeper into the universe of the game. They can give you more back-story to help you appreciate the game even more.

Reading books based on games also gives you a lot more fanboy cred.

I am a huge Mass Effect fanboy, and a pretty big Gears of War fan too.

I've read all of the books for both of those fantastic series. (I've read the comics too. Comic books/graphic novels are awesome.)

Another great thing about books is that they're single player only. You're not going to turn a page and have a notification pop up telling you that 'so and so' invites you to his book. Thankfully books aren't at that point yet. Not that playing with friends is a bad thing, but we all need to have some time alone to get lost in something now and then.

Books are wireless! You can take them anywhere. Neat huh? Thought that was only for your handhelds didn't you? 

I challenge you to grab a book and take it down to a park, or a chill coffee shop, or anywhere peaceful you can find and read.

Just read.

Playing games for hours on end is awesome, but reading can be too.

Reading is calming.

Reading is relaxing.

Reading is exciting.

Reading is stimulating.

Reading is good for you.

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy a book.

Enjoy your life.

Now if only you could get achievements for reading video game books.... One day...  

Top Ten Reasons I love Gears of War

Are you a fan of Gears of War? I am. 

Even though Gears of War has caused me a lot of grief in the past, I'm over that and still consider it one of my favorite franchises. 

Lately I've been playing the Gears of War 3 beta, and it's made me happy. 

I've enjoyed it. 

Gears is edging it's way back into my life. 

Here's a list of the top ten things I love about Gears of War.

1. It was the first game I was really good at online

2. It has a very unique and interesting universe

3. The story. (The books help make it better)

I was really excited to hear that Karen Traviss is the lead writer for Gears 3. Hopefully it should have the best story yet. 

4. The headshots (In 1 and 3)

5. Playing it with friends

6. Imitating Marcus’s voice when referring to giant things

7. My girlfriend enjoys playing it with me

8. It’s always good for a laugh when I’m playing online

9. Unique gameplay

10. The Gnasher

We all need to have a game (or games) that we can really claim über fandom too. Gears is just one of those for me. 

Enjoy your game. 

Enjoy your life. 

Why Gears of War is all about Mental Instability

It all dawned on me when Gears of War 2 came out. The very mental fabric of both the COG and the Locust was revealed to me with one simple phrase.

"Revive me!"

This cry for help made me realize so many things about the way the citizens of Sera function.

In Gears of War 1, characters never shouted out to be revived. They started doing this in Gears of War 2, and continue to do it in Gears of War 3.

The first time I heard this a lot of questions came into my head.

How exactly are they being revived after falling to their hands and knees from taking to much gunfire?

None of the characters in the game are medically trained. The only thing they have training in is killing and flexing.

The act of reviving a downed teammate is as extensive as slapping him on the ass and saying something encouraging like "Get back in the game!" "Stand up like a man!" "Fight through the pain!" and other such things.

After that the downed player stands up and they are perfectly fine, ready to keep fighting.

This can only be explained one way: Getting shot does more emotional damage than physical.

It's all in their minds.

Let's use Dom as an example to demonstrate what I'm talking about here.

Dom is taking fire from a Locust. As he is getting shot, his morale is rapidly dropping. His mind is telling him that he can't last like this. It's getting hopeless to press on.

If the fire is concentrated on him for long enough, these mental attitudes will cause Dom to give up hope and just fall to his hands and knees, mentally vanquished, his self confidence stripped of him.

If he takes any more gunfire while on his hands and knees, he will give up all hope. He will become so despondent that his body will just shut down and he will die a sad depressed death.

However, if one of his teammates comes to his side in time, they can extend their hand and tell him to man up.

NO MEDICAL ATTENTION REQUIRED.

Dom is now back on his feet, fit, and ready to fight as ever. His self confidence has been restored by his teammate.

The denizens of Sera exist in a constant fragile mental state that can be tipped to the point of complete physical shutdown after being shot for a short while.

Mentally Stable? Not likely.

This mental instability governs the field of battle. If they had proper counseling, perhaps they would be invulnerable to bullets. A trained psychologist could be the secret weapon the COG need to restore humanity.

The only thing a mentally stable soldier could potentially be harmed by are explosives or bayonets. Though even deaths due to these weapons are theorized to be results of extensive physio-mental entanglement shutdown.

Further research on this is yet to be conducted.




Thanks for reading! I know it's a bit of a departure from what I normally write, but it's something funny I always think of when I play Gears online.

Don't forget!

Enjoy your game.

Enjoy your life.

And please stay mentally stable.

Who Wants Toast!? My take on the Gears 3 Beta

I’ve been with Gears of War since the beginning.

I had Gears of War 1 pre-ordered.

I played on Emergence Day.

I’ve been through it all when it comes to Gears of War.

I have two Gears action figures, my favorite hat was a Gears of War hat, until my awesome girlfriend got me a new one for Christmas. Now my new favorite hat is still Gears. She also bought me an awesome Gears shirt in addition to the one I already own.  I also own and have read all three Gears of War novels. They’re great.  Oh yeah, I also have a Crimson Omen belt  buckle.

Despite all of this, I do not consider myself a fanboy, just a big fan. (I consider myself a Mass Effect fanboy.)

I will be the first to tell you how much shit I’ve had to put up with being a fan of this series. A fanboy would deny the presence of any bullshit in Gears.

Gears of War 2 online was rife with bullshit. It drove me crazy at some points. Gears 2 online was the game that made me change the way I think about playing games.

Regardless of all the bullshit and times it drove me mad, I still love Gears. I like to think I'm pretty good at it too.

My biggest enemy is lag.

This brings me to the present (A wonderful place to live.)

Currently the only game I've been playing is the Gears of War 3 beta. I was excited when I found out that Epic would be holding a beta to test out the game’s multiplayer, since the previous have had quality issues on day one of release.

How would I describe the beta?

Two words: Me Gusta.

It is by far the smoothest, least bullshity, most fun Gears of War online experience I have ever played.

I have enjoyed the time I’ve been playing it immensely.

It’s still the same old Gears we know and love, but at the same time it’s so much more.

Little additions and changes make a huge difference. Changes such as having to hold down the ‘X’ button to pick up a weapon/ammo rather than just tapping it. This saves you the agony of picking up ammo when you actually wanted to revive your buddy. Pulling your buddies out of tight spots is always fun. 

The satisfaction of getting a headshot is back for me. I didn’t like the headshot in Gears 2. The headshot in Gears 3 is much more akin to how it was in Gears 1. I’ve been getting them like crazy with my Gnasher shotgun, something I really missed. I don't even care if I'm the one getting his head shot off. It's still great. 

The whole experience is much less laggy. I've only had problems with lag once since playing the beta. This makes for a much smoother experience. Which also means I do better. Lag is my enemy remember?

The Seravend vending machines we all know and love (or is that just me?) are still around soaking up bullets for us.

There are a good number of new weapons in the beta. 

New new special executions are loads of fun too. The default COG and Locust execution are the best. Mostly because if you keep mashing the 'Y' button you can drag it on and on and on. It's always good for a laugh, even if you're on the receiving end. 

There are lots of small additions and tweaks that set Gears of War 3 apart from its predecessors. All of which make it the best Gears experience so far.

That means a lot coming from me.

I haven’t even played Gears of War 3 with friends yet. I would refuse to play Gears 2 without anyone I knew. If I didn’t I had a hard time having fun and would just end up getting frustrated.

Not the case with Gears 3. I have no problem enjoying it without anyone to share it with. Thought that’s not saying it doesn’t get even better with others, even if they’re just sitting watching you, laughing at how you just plowed through 3 guys with your shotgun, or skewered an enemy on your retro lancer’s bayonet.

It’s good fun.

If you haven’t had a chance to play it yet, you should. On May 8^th I should be getting a few beta codes to give away as a reward for playing the beta and previous series entries.

If I have enough, I would be happy to give you one! Just message me and I’ll let you know if I can get you a beta code.

Enjoy your Gears.

Enjoy your life. 

Don't Speedrun your Food

Doing a speed run of your favorite game is one thing. 

Doing a speed run eating your favorite snack is another.

You’re probably not speeding through a bag of your favorite snack as fast as you can, but you’re probably not taking the time to slow down and savor them either are you?

Doing a speed run of a game can be fun at times, but is a game better when you really take the time to play through it slowly and take the time to squeeze every last minute out of it or when you fly through it as fast as you can? 

Who do you think enjoys a game more, someone who takes 30 hours to get through the single player, or someone who takes 10?

The longer it lasts the better.

This attitude can be applied to your snacks.

Yep.

Think about this: When you’re snacking on a bag of chips or whatever you happen to have, why are you eating it?

I’ve given this some thought, and snacking while gaming, watching television, or anything, is rather pointless.

You’ll just reach for more whenever you’re hands aren’t needed for your game, for instance during a cutscene, or when you’re waiting to respawn.

It’s almost unconscious how you just reach for more isn’t it?

This all occurred to me while eating some Chewy Runts. I used to eat them all the time. But then I noticed that before I knew it, they were all gone. I realized I hadn’t even really enjoyed them. Eating them was just something to do. I hadn’t really stopped to take the time to really taste them and appreciate them. So in essence it was just adding unhealthy food to my body for no reason.

Shit.

We eat snacks, but do we really taste them? Do we really savor them? Or are we just munching them down one after the other without really thinking about it?

Well if you’re just doing it without really being conscious of it, what’s the point? There really isn’t much of one is there.

Why not take the time to actually appreciate the things you’re popping in your mouth? 

What if you had a bag of chips, but you could only eat one chip for every kill you got in your game. You’d be rewarded for your skill, and you’d also probably appreciate the chip more.

What if you took one chip, and took twice as long to eat it as you normally would? Wouldn’t that be far better than mindlessly eating the whole bag?

Consider this the next time you’re mindlessly putting junk food in your mouth.

Which people do you think are taking the time to eat their food more slowly, and therefore enjoying it more?

These people?

Or these guys? 

Try and get the most out of what you put in your mouth. 

(It's ok to laugh at that sentence as long as you don't miss the point)

Enjoy your snacks. 

Enjoy your game. 

Enjoy your life.