Diablo III, and Guild Wars 2 Beta

It's been a while since we have talked about Diablo III, and there is a lot going on right now with it. One reason is because it is going to be released in the near future.

How soon? I'm not sure. I'm guessing either March or April. Unless they move it back more, which I'm really hoping Blizzard doesn't.

IGN has a release date on the side of their site on March 31st. Is it true? It's too early to tell. If you remember a while ago Best Buy had a poster up saying February 1st was the release date. And did it come out? No, it did not. So should I believe IGN? I'm not entirely sure. But what we can do is hope some news about the release date will turn up somewhere (even if it's leaked). Blizzard is usually pretty tight about things like this. So who knows.

All I know.. Is that I can't wait for this game to come out. It's going to steal my soul. Farming for items is going to be huge. Even crafting. If you played the Diablo III beta, make sure to watch some videos. Or you'll be missing out on some things. In Diablo II, it was all about the loot. And in Diablo III, it's the same way. Except this time around when you find gear, you can actually sell your gear on an auction house for in-game currency, OR you can sell it for real money. That's right, you can make money by selling gear on the auction house. I don't think it's enough to really make a living off of the game.. But still. Making a little extra cash on the side for a taco or two from playing a game? I'll take it. What can be better then spending the evening playing a game, have an awesome weapon drop off of a boss, and then sell it for some cash moneys? Can't get much better then that, am I right? How can the girlfriend get mad at you playing a game making money? There's your ticket to gaming all night.

Another thing that I want to touch on real quick is Guild Wars 2 Beta.

You can now sign up.

https://beta.guildwars2.com/

There is the site, and they will have you download the specs of your computer. Make sure to fill everyone out, and you could get an invite.

Do it before it's too late!

Final Fantasy XIII-2

Let's talk Final Fantasy XIII-2.

Now pretty much all my life growing up, there has always been Final Fantasy. It is one reason why I became such a hardcore gamer. The story and game play... It's just amazing.

I thought FFXIII was a solid game. Yes, it was linear, but it was very story driven, and I enjoyed it. After many complaints about the game design though, they switch things around. Now FF XIII-2 is suppose to be much more open, and actually have towns and shops.

I got to play about an hour of it last night, ( The girlfriend bought it for me ) and so far, I'm enjoying it. If you have played FFXIII and have a save file on your ps3, then you get a few special things. I'm not quite sure what they are as of yet, but when I do find out, I will let you know.

The story continues off of FFXIII, but I am a little confused about something. Why Lightning disappeared in the first place. She wasn't the one that held up Cocoon, that was Fang and Vanille. They turned to crystal.

SPOILER ALERT! If you have not played the game up to the first boss, skip ahead. Unless you want to hear about the story line, ( Little bits and pieces, at least).

The game starts off as you playing Lightning, and she is in a place called Valhalla. And she is protecting some Goddess. You are fighting this guy named Caius  trying to destroy "everything". And Lightning is there to save the day. What I don't get is how Lightning just disappeared, or as the game said "died". It makes no sense. And the end of XIII, she was reunited with snow and Serah. So I'm not sure, but hopefully that will be discussed later in the game. But the game is 3 years after XIII, so perhaps something happened in between there. That's the only thing that I can think of. But details on XIII-2 is still vague, as I have only played a little bit of it so far.

This character Noel comes from the future, (Not much is known about him as of right now) and he is summon to Valhalla, where Lightning is in the heat of battle. She tells him to find Serah, her sister, and tell her she is alive. And to bring Serah to Lightning. Noel then goes through a time gate, and then is brought to the present time of Serah. There is a lot of details in between, but you can tell Noel is from the future because he says that the Legend is true. The legend about how Cocoon was held up from pulse by crystal. And then all of a sudden it disappears. That's where I am at in the game, and I can't wait to play it more.

Now there are a lot of questions that I have, and I'm sure you have as well, (unless you beat the game) but when I find out more about it, I will write another post.

Some things that I am bummed about, would be you only play those 2 characters pretty much all game. I like having a party, and switching people in and out. So that is a bummer for me. But other then that, I think that the game should be great. We'll give you more details later as well.

The story will be amazing. I can't wait to get through it.

That's all for today folks

-j-

Sony PlayStation Vita (3G/Wi-Fi) Review

Well, the system is finally making its debut here in the States, and bringing with it, new software features, an expanded library of games, and access to its full suite of online features.

Let's just say one thing and get it out of the way. This thing is a beast. The downside to it would be the steep price. That's one thing that draws people away from it. But the look of it.. Wow. That's all I can say. Silver Metallic.. YES PLEASE. The massive 5 inch OLED display, which gives AMAZING visuals. Even as it's lowest brightness setting, the screen is crisp and vibrant.

The buttons on it are a little jammed, but that's nothing to worry about. They are very effective with the position of your hands. The touch screen and rear touch panel is accurate. One flaw would be the high-gloss finish of the front panel, which makes it hard to use when the sun is shining.

Now you can buy the Vita for $249 if you want the Wi-Fi only model. Or $299 for the 3G. The 3G service is provided by AT&T, and gives constant connectivity to the PSN, turn-based multiplayer, mobile browser, and social aspects. I would honestly snag the Wifi version, only because I don't want to pay more, and I am always around wifi. So why not, right?

Average use time on the battery is around 3-5 hours. Not bad. Turn down all the settings, and you're looking at around 5 hours. Which is pretty darn good. If you want the 3G version, you better remember that you will be paying monthly for the 3G. $14.99 for 250MB, or $29.99 for 3GB's of data. To be, it doesn't seem like a very good deal.

The camera on this thing isn't very good either. You're better off just using your phone. You always have your phone with you anyways, so use that. Here is why I say that.




The colors just seem off. amiryte?

Bottom line is, if you want PS3 quality graphics in the palm of your hand, where ever you go, then snag a PSVita. It'll be worth it. Trust me on that one. Will the price drop within the next few months? Most likely, and that's when I will try to pick one up.

That's all for today folks.

-j-

The Best Role-Playing Games of 2012

Hello everyone! Today we are going to be talking about the best role-playing games that will be coming out in 2012.

First up would be Diablo III.

More Diablo III Videos

Now if you were like me a few years ago, you were addicted to Diablo II. And you played it for hours with friends. One reason it was so addicting, would be the chance of finding gear when it drops. And the difficulty of "Hell" mode. It gets quite hard. But as I just mentioned, what is really fun about is the drops. Hell mode has the best gear in the game, and the chances of it dropping are low. But that's the fun about it. If you get something to drop, boy are you ecstatic. It's free to play online as well. So you can have all your friends play together, and it's a blast. Although the bummer thing is, Diablo III doesn't have a release date yet. We are still waiting on it.

The next game on the list is Final Fantasy XIII-2 which comes out next week.

More Final Fantasy XIII%2D2 Videos

Another game that will be a ton of fun. It's only a single player game, but the story makes up for it. Another game that is a lot of fun. You can actually play the demo now if you want to wait a few hours for the download. I played it, and can't wait to get my hands on it. Release date is January 31st. And the story continues on from XIII, but instead of playing Lightning trying to free Serah, her little sister, you now play Serah, and I believe you try to save Lightning in a way. I'm not entirely sure, but I will let you know once I pick up the game. It's going to be a blast, and I cannot wait to play it.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Another game for all you RPG fans out there.

More Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Videos

Now this game I haven't really had a chance to look at, and I have the demo downloading on my PS3 right now, so I can't tell you too much about it, but if you are a RPG fan, this game should be high on your list. The game will have incredible depth, and non-linearity that doesn't beg you to go in a certain direction, and that sort of leans be toward Skyrim. But we'll see how the game plays out.

Well, there are a few of the Best Role-Playing Games coming this year.

We'll touch on more later.

-j-

Modern Warfare 3 - A Look At Gameplay Footage

Hello everyone! Hopefully the day for you all has been going well! It's a Wednesday, and today we are going to be looking at some game play footage from yours truly, and we will take a look at a few things that I do, and perhaps will improve your game play as well.



Alrighty. Here is a full game of me playing Modern Warfare 3. Now the first thing that you want to do is know where your enemies will be by the time you get to a certain place on the map in the beginning of the game. As you see here, I rush the right side because I know people will always go to the tunnel area with the pipes. It's almost a 50/50 chance at least one person will be there. It's a hot zone. Luckily, I pick up a Triple Kill, and that gets me on my way toward my killstreaks. I run 5-7-9. One you hit 5, Try to get a double kill, and you're almost always going to get up to your 9 killstreak.

Back to the video, after the triple kill, I run around the side to see if I missed any, and bam, there are 2 more. Which leads me up to my 5 kill streak. I fail predator missile though, sadly. 5/6 enemies were right in that area. Was almost set up perfect just for me. Alright. Now after that, the enemies will be spawning toward where they first spawned on the map, so I start to rush up toward their spawn. Here is a tip. As you see, I pick up one of their guns. When you have the chance, even if your gun is almost full on ammo, always pick up a weapon from your fallen foe. Unless of course, you use Overkill. Then just pick one up when you are low on ammo on one of your guns.

Now I rush up towards their spawn, and catch another 2 kills. When you kill someone, they are almost guaranteed to try to come back to kill you, so be expecting them. And here, two of them come, and I use the barrier in front of me for cover as I pick them off. I now proceed further into the map, checking corners, and try to come up behind everyone in the center building. I notice gun fire on the map, and go rushing in. More kills on the chopping block. I pick up 4 more kills inside the building, and back track. Try to keep on the outside of the map when you can. It's much safer.

Continuing on, I'm back where I started. And keep looking at that hotspot, also staying on the outside of the map. Get another Pred Missile, and pick up a kill off of it, after finding a safe spot to use it. I rush towards the middle building, a another kill. Now here is when a predator missile from the enemy starts to come, and I see there are several teammates around me. This is where you want to try to get away from your teammates, and try to find a safe spot, which I managed to.

Now here I get overwhelmed. Two people on opposite sides. Argh.What can you do though, eh? As I mentioned before, when someone dies, you always try to get revenge. And here, you see me running right back to where I died. Bingo. One person is still there. And another 2 inside. From here, snag another weapon, and look before you rush in there. Care Package incoming. What do? Kill people who are around it. I didn't stick around to get it because I'm not sure if its a decoy or not. Not going to take the chance though. Run past, and get into another fire fight. I die after the kill. I shouldn't have turned around, and I thought maybe I could get around the corner, but I end up dying. That's alright. Lets keep moving. Once again, I run back to where I died at. Snag another kill, and move on. Back to our spawn. Keep running around the map. It's your safest bet. Once again, that hot spot at the pipes, and that ends the game.

Perks I run. Slight of Hand. If you are running and gunning, this is almost a must. Assassin. Why? I'm behind enemy lines. I don't want a UAV to give away my position. And then Stalker. As you notice, I strafe a lot. And in fire fights, it could mean life and death. The speed you get from strafing back and forth with a SMG is amazing. I highly recommend using it.

Any questions? Leave a comment.

-j-

Playstation Vita - Call of Duty and Mortal Kombat

Hello everyone! It's a Tuesday, and boy is the day going by fast.

Alright. Let's talk PlayStation Vita. One thing that I want to talk about, that is on my wish list for the Vita, is that it will be able to sync with your ps3, and you can play games just from the vita over PSN with your friends. As in use it sort of like the WiiU. As a controller, and as a screen. That would be a major selling point for me. I would definitely pick one up if you are able to do that.

Now Call of Duty. It would be a huge bonus if you can play with all your friends on PSN. Not just other people playing on the Vita, but people on PSN who are playing on their PS3. YES PLEASE!

It'll take a while to get used to the controls, but it would almost be like using a PS3 controller. The analog sticks might be a little tricky. But workable. I just really hope the graphics are as good as they say they are.

Mortal Kombat. Same thing for this. I want to be able to play with people who are on the PSN with their Vita and PS3. Why separate them? It would only hurt Sony more if they did that. A huge selling point would be what I mentioned before. So Sony, make that happen.

The Vita looks amazing. It's something that I would want for sure. It looks gorgeous. And the graphics hopefully will be just as good.

Alright, that's just some thoughts off the top of my head. I gotta get outta here.

Til next time!

-j-

Call of Duty: Black Ops 2.. And more

Yes, that's right. It was just announced today that Activision has purchased blackops2.com, suggesting that a sequel to Call of Duty: Black Ops could be in the works. A recent job listing suggests that a Call of Duty game is in active development, though we don't know if it will be Black Ops 2 or something different entirely.

Now honestly, I am excited about this. Not only because I thought Black Ops was a very fun game, but because I'm really hoping this time that Call of Duty will run with a different engine, making the game feel newer. Better graphics, and better over all game. Let's hope they do it, and not just re-skin the game over. A new engine is what would bring those who have left Call of Duty, back to it, and also attract newer players as well. It's a win win for sure. Activision, we are all counting on you!

Now another thing that I would like to touch on would be Diablo III. There has been a rumor going around that it has a release date of February 1st. Now when I first read an article about it, I thought that was the for sure release date, until I read more about it, and I guess that it was just a rumor. Now my train of thought was that the release date was February 1st, and now that people found out about it, they want to change it to another date. Make sense? That's just my train of thought though. Who knows what the real date is. But all I know is that I am very excited about the game to be coming out. I have played the beat for hours and hours, and let me tell you what, it was a blast for sure. My favorite class so far has to be the Barbarian. Why you ask? Frenzy. Crits left and right.. I mean, he is a beast of a character, no doubt about that.

Blizzard still has some tweaking to do in the game, so I'm guessing that he might get nerfed a little bit.. Because the Barbarian seemed like a very strong character while playing. But we will have to wait and see what happens I guess.

The Leak

First I want to mention that Blizzard debunked the release date that Best Buy printed out. They already have ads out, and other things as well. A countdown even. Here is the picture that was taken at a Best Buy.

 

 Best Buy is pretty confident about this release date. As I've mentioned before, I think that this is the correct release date, and now that it was leaked out, they changed to. But who knows.

I honestly can't wait for the game. It's going to be a blast for sure. I look forward seeing you all in Diablo III.

That's all for today. Have a great day everyone, and play some games!

-j-

Modern Warfare 3

Hello everyone! It's a Friday, and we are going to be chatting about Modern Warfare 3 for just a bit. Now, up first I want to run through what setup I've been running. I've tried out the UMP in MW3, and it just doesn't seem to be as good as it was in MW2. So I've been rolling the Scar. And I really think it's a solid gun.

Another gun that I love to use when I pick one up, would be the AK-47. It's a beast. Silencer or not, it tears people up for sure.

Anyways, I've really been enjoying the game. The maps are pretty decent. But if you get locked down on certain maps, well, you could be stuck there. There were a couple games that I played where we got rolled and locked down in a corner. It wasn't very fun.

I also picked up a sniper rifle through my play time. And it feels a lot different then it did in MW2 or Black Ops. A lot different. It feels smoother, and not as bulky. It just feels more comfortable.  Just make sure to not miss that shot, or you could be dead.

Alrighty, another thing I want to touch on, would be the perks. I think that they are set up very well. There are a couple in every slot that are very good, and it's a hard choice. And that's how it should be. Unlike in Black Ops where the first perk slot, everyone would use Ghost, because the other perks weren't as good as Ghost.

And now, you have to decide between Overkill, and Quick Draw. That right there for me, is a pretty hard choice.

The Killstreaks I would like to touch on as well. The Predator Missile was always one of my favorites. And it's back. I've been running 5-7-9. The Attack Helicopter is a great Killstream in MW3. Much better then in MW2. For sure. So it's a great Killstreak to pick up.

Alright, that's all the time that I have today, but I will touch on more MW3 at a later date.

Have a great weekend everyone, and be safe!

-j-

House of the Dead 3 and 4.. And more

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while, but let's get down to business, shall we?

Up first, I want to talk about House of the Dead 3 and 4. Remember back in the day when you used to hit up arcades and play House of the Dead? Oh yeah. Me too. Now they are coming to the PSN, and you will be able to play them whenever you want, without having to put in a lot of quarters. It's a win win right there. I haven't purchased a move yet.. But this is a really tempting offer. No doubt about that. This is what would make me want to get a move. Just this game alone.

Another thing that I would like to touch on, is Modern Warfare 3. I was able to pick it up, and boy is it fun. I agree that it's pretty much a reskin of MW2 and Black Ops, but it's still very fun. With new guns and new perks. It's a blast, just like Black Ops was. I'm not very high level right now, so I don't have many things unlocked quite yet. I am currently in the 30's though, and not doing too bad. I haven't played Black Ops in a while, so I was a little rusty, but currently holding steady at about a 2.5 KDR. Which really isn't too bad, especially for the break I took from playing FPS's.

Now, the gun I've mostly been using is the Scar. With a Silencer, and Impact. Just because with the Silencer, it makes the range lower, so if I shoot through a wall at a long distance, well, I want to be able to do a decent amount of damage. And without Impact, I would do very little at a long range.

I take Slight of Hand, since I like being in the middle of combat. Stalker, so I can strafe well, and then I use Quickdraw. It's nice when you are once again, in the middle of combat. Now when I say middle of combat, I don't specifically mean right in the middle things. I mean I'm always where the action is taking place. I don't run in like a kamikaze. You want to keep your distance. And pick people off when you can. You will be having teammates who will just rush in, maybe get a kill or two, and then just end up dying. That is why when you can, you want the enemy to come to you. Don't just run into a area. Walk, or crouch, and move forward slowly. Always check corners, you never know who is going to be camping in a corner just waiting for kills. Those are just some quick tips I can give you off the top of my head. I'll be talking more about MW3 at a later date, but so make sure to subscribe, and we'll get things rollin'. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. 

Til next time,

-j-

PlayStation Vita

GameStop has revealed the North American pricing of Sony's Vita memory cards. Four different sizes have been priced, ranging from 4GB to 32GB.

 The 4GB card will be available for $24.99, followed by the 8GB card at $39.99 and the 16GB card at $69.99. A 32GB card will also be available for $119.99, nearly half of the system's $250 price.

GameStop also lists a PlayStation Vita USB Cable for $14.99 and a travel pouch, in-ear headset, charging cradle and AC adapter at $19.99 each. Other accessories include a portable charger for $49.99, a car adapter for $17.99 and a card case for $9.99. A Starter Kit will also be available for $29.99, bundling together the pouch, car adapter, headphones and card case, as well as a protective film and cleaning cloth.

These prices haven't been officially announced by Sony, and it isn't yet known if any of them will be made available as pre-order bonuses like they were in Europe. The Vita will be released in the U.S. and Europe on February 22, 2012.


Now I find some things interesting about this. One of the things that I would like to point out would be the pricing of the memory cards. HOLY MAN! a 32 GB card will be 120 bucks. That's quite expensive. For that price, you could get 2 brand new PS3 games. Seems a little much to me, but what can ya do. There was just a patch that came out for the PS3 that was made for when the Vita comes out. Makes your console compatible with the Vita. Personally, I really want one. The graphics supposedly are about as good as a PS3. Which to me.. Wow. That's all I gotta say. You know, there was a big deal about the 3DS. Because of the 3D aspect of things. But now with the Vita coming out.. Talk about some competition. Going to be some good competition for Nintendo.

That's all for today. Make sure to dress warm.

-j-