Is The PS Vita Right For You?

Planning on picking up a new portable console? Toying with the idea of picking up a Playstation Vita? If you are, and you stumbled in here looking for peoples opinions, then let me give you my two cents!

I’m not gonna lie! The Playstation Vita is great! I love my vita! It’s a powerful game system, and the graphics are superb! In fact, Vita games look as good as PS3 games, and sometimes better! The only drawback? There’s not a whole lot of games being released on it, aside from indie games! AAA titles don’t get released anymore for Vita. The folks at Playstation announced a few months ago, that Exclusive AAA titles won’t be making it to Vita. Which means you are pretty much stuck with Indie games, and the occasional console game tossed to us(Usually Lego or something from Tell Tale Games).

As for exclusive games, well there’s a few good ones that came out before they quit making them. Uncharted: Golden Abyss, killzone mercenary, call of duty black ops declassified, resistance: burning skies, little big planet and that’s pretty much it!

Sure, there were a few other titles like Assassins creed: Liberation, Arkham Origins: Blackgate and such, but they are also later released on console.

So, is the Vita worth buying? At the time of this writing, the going price on Amazon was 167 bucks. That’s a lot of cash for something that is pretty much dead in terms of new exclusive content. Why waste your money? A Nintendo 3DS is currently 196 bucks, so for 31 extra bucks you can have a portable system that’s still heavily supported. Does it look as nice as a Vita? No,  most 3DS games don’t look as nice as Vita games. Still, they DO look good! Plus they have 3D! There’s also tons of exclusive games being released regularly.

So, while the Nintendo 3DS isn’t the most powerful portable game system, it is the better option in my opinion. Even a Nintendo DSi would be a better option honestly.

Another option, if you have way too much cash on hand is the NVIDIA SHIELD Portable which will only set you back about 500-600 bucks, but will also let you play PC games and Android games on it. Personally, I don’t think it’s worth the price of admission, since PC games are better played on larger screens. They weren’t made for hand held gaming normally.

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Games: New Vs. Used

When purchasing games, you have two options. Either buy the game new, or buy it used. Which is the way to go?

First, you have to ask yourself, How new is the game? Is it a recent release? If so, then you might want to consider buying the game new. Bottom line, a new release game is not going to be that much cheaper used. If you are lucky, you might save yourself 5 or 6 bucks. However, many newer games come with free bonus DLC codes. When you buy that game used, odds are the code has already been redeemed. If you want that DLC, it will cost you between 5 and 10 bucks.

Best case scenario, you broke even. Worst case scenario, you paid an extra 5 bucks or so. Actually, best case scenario you end up on the loosing end too, since used games generally don’t have as long a return policy as a new game. Meaning if after a few weeks, you find out the game had a scratch that made it unplayable…too bad for you.

To be fair, sometimes you don’t really have a choice. A game company will quit producing a game, or it’s a game on an older game console. Your only realistic option is buying the game used. Sure, you can buy new copies of older games, but expect to pay out the nose. In fact, most of the time, that game you want, costs more new than it would to buy a game console.

It’s times like this, that paying the hundred(s) less for a game might be the best way to go, but it’s not perfect. See, here’s the thing. Many times these games have some serious issues. The games are old, and as such may not work as well as will like. Hell, to be fair, they may not work at all! You might buy a game, get it home, pop it in, only to find the damn game won’t boot up. Worse yet, it may boot up, and may play perfectly all the way through the game, until it reaches the last mission, and then freezes up!

If the game doesn’t work from the get go, you can always return it. Assuming you tested it right away. If however it waits until the end, you are pretty much screwed, since odds are, it will be several weeks before you notice, which by then returns are no longer valid. Also, if you notice right away, and you bought it at Gamestop, great..return away. However say you got it at some online store? If you paid 50 bucks for a used game, then yea! Return it. What about 5? At this point, is it worth the hassle of packing the box, printing a label and waiting for it to get there, so your replacement can be shipped out? Not really right?

I have bought many used games, and to be fair the majority of them work great. Although a good many were non-functional. So, weigh your choices before buying a used game, and figure out, if it’s really the best move for you.

 

 

6 things Ruining Video Games for me

Image via Wikipedia

Video Games have been around for a long time. Since I have been old enough to retain memories, I have been playing video games. It’s something that I love doing, and has helped me and many others on so many different levels. However, recently the video game industry has been slowly pushing me away, with new trends. Ideas to make more and more money, and to slap the consumer/gamer in the face. Trends such as —

DLC Rip-Offs
This is probably the thing the video game industry has been doing that pisses me off the most! They take a newly finished and fully completed game. Look at it, decide it kicks so much ass, that they will just chop out parts of the game, sell the now partial game for full retail price, and then announce the rest of the game, that you already paid for, can be purchased as DLC!

 basically, they charge you an extra 5 bucks or so, in order to play an “Extra” level. Usually these “DLCs” clearly were ripped from the game, because they are mentioned in the game. Take for instance LA Noir, it mentions in your journal at one point, that you are investigating your third case in your current dept, despite the fact, that it’s only your second case. Why? because the DLC with the case before it, wasn’t released yet.

The worst offender is Alan Wake, which is a game, without a fucking ending! Apparently, they were going to sell extra “chapters” which presumably would finish the story, however not all the planned chapters came out, because nobody was willing to give them the ransom money they demanded to see the rest of the story. So, people who bought the game and played through it, pretty much are fucked since it’s a game without a fucking ending.

Not all DLC is bad though! Take GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption and — Well, im sure there’s another one that I just can’t think of off-hand. These games actually make DLC that I am more than happy to buy. They sell you a complete game! It’s long, and complete without missing missions and plot holes that leave you scratching your head. Then they release DLC that tells ANOTHER story. Almost like expansion packs! In fact, I would go so far as to call them expansion packs! These are good DLC items! I applaud Rockstar for this behavior. Not so much for the LA Noir DLC though. You guys are slacking there in my opinion.

Console Exclusive DLC
When a game is released on both the PS3 and the Xbox 360, many times one of the consoles will end up getting a console exclusive DLC; usually in the form of a mission, level, case or something along those lines.

Now, this doesn’t really have any particular effect on me personally, since if one system has an exclusive mission or whatever, I will just buy it for that console. However, not everyone has that option. Which is what pisses me off. The people who buy the game on the PS3 or X360 pay almost the exact same amount as each other. So, why the hell don’t they get the same fucking content as the other console players?

I am sure it is due to the console company paying extra for the right to those exclusive bonus items, but in the end it fucks the games fans over who didn’t get it on the console with the exclusive. It may not be favoritism, but it sure as hell seems like it sometimes.

Game Passes
When a game comes out, they sometimes also sell in the console DLC store, Passes. There’s two kinds of passes as far as I can tell. One is a good kind, the other pisses me off to no end. The good kind? It gives you access to all the DLC released for that game at a discounted price. So, if you know you want to get all the DLC for a particular game(IE; L.A. Noir), then buying that pass is a good idea.

The bad kind of pass is when a game with Online competitive play is released. They will cap your online level advancements to some ridiculously low-level, and then sell a “Pass” that will allow you to advance beyond that level. If you chose not to buy the pass, you can of course continue playing online, but you will be a really low-level, and not end up with access to all the advanced perks that everyone else is using to kick your ass, because yes, even if you can’t advance in levels, you will still play against people who bought the pass and can gain more levels.

Granted, occasionally, this pass is available for free, if you buy the game new, and before the code in the box expires. otherwise, you are pretty much fucked!

Lack of Originality
Come on people! Enough with the sequels. I know you want to play it safe, but release some new fucking titles already! It works sometimes you know! If it didn’t we would all be playing Mario Brothers 26 right now. Sure, sometimes you get a stinker like Alan Wake, but other times you get a masterpiece like Heavy Rain.

Don’t get me wrong! I fucking love sequels, I am hoping and pleading for a Red Dead Redemption sequel, or a new Splinter Cell game. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t want to experience the thrill of a new adventure with a new character! After all, there’s only so many sequels a man can take!

Cookie Cutter Games
Sure, I could have fit this into the Lack of Originality category. I simply decided not to. The reason? That’s simple! See, to me, it’s a big enough annoyance, to warrant its own category.

So, what do I mean by Cookie Cutter exactly? Games that are way too similar. Games like rhythm Games(See below), Matching block puzzle games, shooting bubble puzzle games and so on! However, the worst offender I believe is todays current First Person Shooters. The majority of them take place in modern settings, and located in the middle east. So, the backgrounds pretty much all look-alike, sure some might have varying stages of realism, but at a glance they are all pretty much identical. There’s also the first person view, but that totally doesn’t count, because it’s a first person shooter. What does count however is the lack of healthbar that they all seem to have adopted. Instead of health, most FPS games just get redder and redder around the edges of the screen to show how much damage you have, and then you hide for a bit, and you are good to go.

Yes, the red edges health meter was cool when I first saw it. After a few million dozen times, it started getting old. Just because something worked for one company, doesn’t mean every single FPS from that point forward needs to adopt the same health meter. Come up with your own shit! Make the game your own, instead of a Modern Warfare carbon copy! Sure, it might not sell as well, but at least you will be your own game and not a “Modern Warfare Clone”.

While FPS titles maybe the worst offenders, they are far from the only offender. Take a look at MMORPGs. a good majority of them are identical to World Of Warcraft. Why? Probably because WoW is so insanely popular, that it would be a safe bet, that if yer playing their game, that you also are playing World of Warcraft, and maybe this is their way of making you feel at home. I don’t know, but it’s annoying. If I wanted to play WoW, I would be playing WoW, not some copycat that charges the same amount. Basically, if I am looking for an MMORPG and NOT going to Wow, Which most likely I have heard of, since it is clearly the most popular MMORPG out at the time of this writing, then there is a good chance that I want something different from what WoW provides!

Rhythm Games and their add-ons.
The rhythm game genre, is the only game genre I detest. I am not a huge fan of sport games, but will occasionally play them. I will never play a rhythm game. Does this make the genre horrible? Well, it kind of does, at least for me. I am fully aware that many people love this particular genre. For me, it just makes no sense. I don’t see where the enjoyment of pushing buttons to the beat of a song becomes interesting. I used to tap my pencil to the rhythm of songs in school, and I never thought to myself that this is so fucking exciting, it should be a video game.

My hatred for the genre is beside the point. What bugs me is the massive amounts of this genre that’s out there. Seriously, how many fucking rhythm games do you need? It get’s worse too! Everyone of those fucking rhythm games, releases an busload of DLC that consists of new songs to tap to the beat of. Since this shit is easy as fuck to produce, they go ape-shit and just start cranking out DLC like it was going out of style.

It eventually gets to the point, that I don’t even bother checking the “What’s new?” in the online console store, because I know it will be jammed with millions of rhythm DLC titles.

Most likely there’s more that is making the video game industry seem less interesting to me, but off-hand I can’t think of any. I’ll get back to ya!

UPDATE: I thought of some more, and have updated this list from 4, to 6 things ruining video games for me!

Problem with Joes Adventure (Mafia II DLC)

Image by bigdigo via Flickr

When I first heard the news that Mafia 2 was being released, I was drooling at the mouth. The screen shots, trailers and everything else seemed incredible! I pre-ordered the game, and loved it as I played it, but ultimately found the game way too short.

However, recently Mafia II has been releasing some Downloadable Content, which is adding extra missions, and more story. This of course is costing you extra, however after spending double the amount of the game on DLC, you end up with a game about as long as a regular game should be.

Obviously, I didn’t purchase any of the previous DLC for Mafia II, because while I like the idea of DLC, I hate when companies ship out a partial game and then fluff it up with DLC at extra cost, just so you can get what should have been included to begin with.

However, when Joes Adventures got released, I did have to buy it, because Joe was my favorite character. So, I bought it! I plopped down 800 Microsoft Points, and I began to download. After the download, I dusted off my Mafia II disc, plunked it in and began playing.

That’s when the problem occurred. After choosing to play Joes Adventures, choosing a save location and then picking a game difficulty setting, the game began to load, and load, and load. Basically, it would keep loading and not begin the game! This ticked me off, and I figured it might be a bug, and thought I would need to wait for a patch or something.

After waiting awhile, I began to get anxious, because I wanted to play what I had paid for. So, I tried clearing the cache of my xbox 360, and then tried playing the game, and associated DLC. After choosing the difficulty, it switched to loading, and then when I thought it was going to stick again, it loaded!

Bottom line: Clearing Cache seemed to do the trick, so if you are having problems with Joes Adventures, try that! It also speeds up some games, like Dragon Age, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Mass effect series, Fallout Series, and pretty much any game that relies heavily on DLC. So, it might be worth doing, even if you aren’t having problems with Joes Adventures or other Xbox 360 DLCs