Final Fantasy

As much as i love 7, i have to admit that i loved 8 more for a long time. At the time i was a hopeless romantic and so 8 with its love story fit. Of course now i’ve grown up and no longer think of romance that way anymore, maybe its because of my own relationship problems, but thats for another blog. As for right now, Cloud is number one on my “list of most badass of people ever to be badass”. Thank you

World of Warcraft

I’m probably not the only whose ever written something about this game, but i’d like to start out that i was once addicted to this game in the sence that if i didn’t get to play after work it would anger me. i work 18 hours a day, and coming home to a cold and angry girl after dealing with anal supervisors, means that if i can’t vent and relax playing a fun game like this, well lets just say i might end up doing something that’ll put us both in jail.

Mario Brothers: A Classic

The Nintendo Family Computer was the first ever video game console I played with. I have always remembered that when we were younger, my parents only let my brother and me play the Family Computer during weekends. I would always anticipate the weekend when I could play the first ever Mario Brothers.

Until now I remember that the A button is for jump and the B button is for firing weapons. Mario Brothers is a very easy game to play. You just have to move forward, kill the enemies along the way and jump to the flag to be able to enter to the castle.

There are three stages per world and you can even skip some levels if you know where to go. I have known a lot of the cheats for the Mario Brothers but I try not to use them too often. I estimate that I have probably played the game for more than 500 times in my whole life because I am still playing Mario Brothers in a NES emulator in the PC. That’s how much I love Mario Brothers! It is the best ever platform game there is.

However, I do not like the 3D versions of Mario. It’s probably because the simple game play was already lost when Mario had to do other more complicated things other than move forward, jump and fire the weapon. I guess the more complicated it got, the more Mario lost its appeal to the people who just like to play and not think too much. Or I could be just simple minded and don’t like to play complicated games!

Turok

So as i can say, it is one of the best 1st person shooters i’ve played in a long time. It has all the aspects of a great shooter and it constantly reminds me that its a game, unlike another shooter, that brought me back to my battles in Iraq. Trust me when i say its not good to try and kill your fiance cause you forgot where you were. I love shooting at the soldiers then, “Oh My God! its a dinosaur!!”, its refreshing. So for those of you that love shooters but hate being brought back to the reality of the Middle East, this is the game for you. Enjoy!

PC Casual Games: Hidden Object Games

Do you spend a lot of time playing PC games? What kind of games do you usually play? How long do you usually spend playing PC games? Do you play for a few minutes just to kill your boredom or you are an addict and play the games continuously for several hours?

I usually like to play for just a few minutes. The games perfect for these are casual games. Casual games are characterized by having simple rules and are relatively easy to finish. You won’t have to spend a lot of hours to get to another level and wish you had saved because you’re stuck in a difficult spot.

A sub-genre of Casual games are Hidden Object Games. The objective of these games is already obvious from its name. You would have to find several objects blended into a big picture. What makes it a bit more challenging is the fact that the objects are camouflaged into the pictures. Most objects are not placed “logically” in a picture so you could find a floating gem, apple, or knives imposed on a wall. You would really have to look closely to find these items.

In some games, there is a bigger plot which will be solved once you have played till the end of the game. But, you can also play these games again because there are literally thousands of hidden objects in more than 15 scenes or pictures. Sometimes, there are even mini-games that can be played in between these scenes.

One of the best hidden object games is Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate. This is the best game because it has wonderful graphics, a nice plot, many different levels, a lot of mini-puzzles to solve and innovative puzzles. This really is the ultimate hidden object game!

Nintendo wii-A family affair

This past Christmas, after much research and comparitive shopping, I bought a Nintendo wii for my husband and son. I chose the wii because it is interactive, as opposed to staring blankly into a tv screen while punching buttons on a game controller. Because of our young son, we are very picky the games we buy or rent, so we play sports games, with football being my husband’s favorite. A few weeks ago, I purchased wii Bowling and we all have enjoyed it.

The day that I purchased the bowling game, we hosted a family dinner and my son was anxious to show off his bowling skills. The concept of the Nintendo wii fascinated the older relatives and one by one they tried there luck with bowling. Before we knew it, we had been “bowling” for three hours and everyone was having a fun time.

We decided to start a “bowling league” and we will play at our family get-togethers. This has been a great experience and wonderful exercise for my older relatives. My aunt, who was an avid bowler in her younger days, can no longer lift a real bowling ball due to a shoulder injury. Another relative has had a hip replaced. Both have said that they enjoy the light exercise. Who would have thought that a video game would be considered “exercise”?

Lost Odyssey

I recently purchased the game Lost Odyssey. I was very unsure of this game to begin with. I went into the store with every intention of purchasing Oblivion… or another game that I saw that might catch my eye, but I was talked into getting Lost Odyssey. I had looked at the game previously and played the demo, but it didn’t stike me as something that I would really enjoy.
I started playing the game and after about 2 hours I started thinking about taking the game back. I then got to the first “dream sequence” and I was instantly hooked from then on out. After that dream sequence you proceed to run around the town for awhile and then the real game starts and the game picks up really really well. I had no second thoughts about the game from then on out.
I wanted to write this article so that I could tell everyone that was thinking about buying this game that it is a very good game. I am not a fan of turn-based RPG’s, but I really am enjoying this one, I am already onto the second disc and loving every minute!!

WTF: A Game In PSP

I don’t like to play video games that take too long to finish. I am more into casual games that I can just play and stop any time I want. The best game that fits this profile perfectly is WTF. WTF is Work Time Fun. It is a Japanese game translated and adapted to an American version. Why is it so fun to play with? Read on.

In Work Time Fun, you not only get to play one, two, or three games. You get to play more than 10 mini-games within Work Time Fun. The premise of the overall game is that you are looking for part-time jobs that will give you money to buy trinkets and tools from vending machines. You have to buy and get more than 500 trinkets to feel that you have “finished” the game. But you don’t really have to get all those trinkets but just play the different mini-games over and over again.

One of the games included there is Lumber Jack wherein you would have to look closely if the one on the screen is wood or a fuzzy little creature. If it’s wood, you would have to chop it, if it’s a fuzzy little creature and you chopped it, it’s game over! But the fun thing about it is that the game will give you around 10 consecutive woods and suddenly bring out a fuzzy little creature. If you chop it, the blood will be splattered all over and your heart will skip a beat because it was all so sudden. There is also the Bishop Game wherein you control an ice pick (I think!) and you would have to make sure that it drops in between fingers and not stab the hand in front of you. It is a very exciting and stimulating game!

I suggest that you start playing WTF now and enjoy all the wonderful mini-games. WTF is the ultimate companion if you’re bored or commuting. You will never stop having fun while playing Work Time Fun.

How young do we go?

In the world of high competition video gaming I am amazed at the way video games are now being marketed to a young generation. My teenager has all the latest and greatest game systems available, he plays the PS2, PS3, Xbox, and the new Xbox 360 as well as hand held versions of these games. I have kept a strict watch over the content of his games and of his time spent in front of the televison so he is not obsessed with playing but enjoys it all the same.

A few weeks ago my sister purchased a new game system the V-Smile games for my three year old without my permission. However, she went along with all of the marketing hype to tell me how wonderful this game system would be for my three year old to learn from as all the commericals are advertising all over the televisions. I allowed her to go ahead and give it to the little one and I was wanting to see exactly how educational this might be.

She has three games to chose from currently and while I will admit that they all are about learning from shapes and colors, to letters and numbers, this still in my eyes is a video game system. I would much rather her learn these lessons from myself, a real live person who interacts with her and can talk back and forth and get her view points. I do not want her to sit in front of a TV screen to learn all that I am suppose to be teaching her. Needless to say I have packed away the V-smile in the closet and we are back to the coloring books and crayons for now. There should be a limit to these games and I know I have reached mine.

Zelda: A Link to the Past

Zelda: A Link to the Past is one of the great classic SNES games in the Zelda series. The third installment in the “Legend of Zelda” series, it was released in North America in 1991. Though many games at that time were coming out with the now popular “Third Person” 3d perspective, this Zelda installment stayed with the favorite “Birds Eye” top down perspective that had worked for it so far. The battle system stays true as well, your sword and shield being all you ever need.

The game play is very similar to the other Link installments made before this, the only thing that’s changed is that the graphics got a bit prettier, the bosses got far more dangerous, and the world and storyline is much more involved.

I’ve played and re-played this game so many times, but it still offers challenges and pleasant surprises for me.

If you’re looking for this game to play again (and you don’t want to visit eBay and dig out your old SNES), it was re-released again recently for the Game Boy Advanced in a dual-game cartridge with The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords.

Graphics: 4 (could have used a bit more work, they’re a bit jumpy sometimes)
Sound: 3 (music is still the same, but still wonderful)
Gameplay: 5 (always fun, always challenging)
Storyline: 4 (surprisingly deep for a Zelda game)

(Note: All ratings are on a 1-5 basis, with 5 being the highest)

Video Game Violence: The Scapegoat

In a country so based on Christian beliefs and ideals, it seems these days that most people are forgetting the definition for “Scapegoat”. As defined by the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, a “Scapegoat” is:

a goat upon whose head are symbolically placed the sins of the people after which he is sent into the wilderness in the biblical ceremony for Yom Kippur

Basically the goat has all the sins of the populace placed on him, and then is sent out to die. Traditionally with rocks, sticks, and curses thrown at him to drive him on. Such things have been common in all societies, such as dragging a lonely old woman out and burning her at the stake for a witch when some of the town’s populace came down with sickness or sinful acts, whether she had any blame or not.

It does my heart proud to see these age old traditions brought forth again today with Video Games. Games in general have been blamed for years, whether it was claiming that Dungeons and Dragons (a game in which you commonly destroy evil, fight demons, and protect the innocent) was at blame for Satanic rituals and domestic abuse, or claiming that all Renaissance Fair enthusiasts are degenerate drunken rapists. History shows that Americans don’t seem to have much of a love of the imagination, even if that was what our country was founded on.

While some of these claims, sadly, can prove true, it is completely besides the point. Video Games are being blamed for the bad actions of bad people. While inspiration may come from violent video games, it’s true, can it not also come from television, books, or possibly even the newspaper itself? Violent acts are not uncommon in history, and sadly neither is attempting to pass the blame.

Shogun Total War

In my opinion one of the funnest games i’ve ever played, its a bit older so the graphics take some getting used to. If you’re really into conquering all of japan or saving it from the mongol horde, this is the game for you.