GamerDNA: Social Networking for Gamers
I discovered GamerDNA the other day and found it to be a good video game-focused social networking site. Users add games to their profile and tag them based on their features. It’s a good way to find new games you might like. You can add your usernames from services like Xbox Live or Steam to post your gaming activity, and follow your friends’ feeds. The site is still growing, so it may appear light on features, but they plan on adding more by the end of the year.
1 vs 100 for Xbox Live
If you haven’t tried the 1 vs 100 Beta on Xbox Live, you should take care of that next week. It’s a game show where you either play as the audience, the mob, or the one. In the audience, you play along with the mob and the one, but are not eligible to win prizes. Playing in the audience gives you a chance to play in the mob, where you compete against the one, hoping he or she will fail to answer a question correctly before you do. The one is a contestant with the chance to win his earnings in Microsoft Points. If the one loses, the mob splits the winnings. As more mob members are eliminated, the one can choose to walk away with the money at certain stages of the game. The basic gameplay consists of answering trivia questions with a choice of 3 possible answers. Up to 4 players can play on a single Xbox 360 console. While you can’t win any prizes in the beta, the game officially launches free for all Gold members on 12/31/09.
Review: Nintendo DSi
So I finally got around to upgrading my handheld gaming collection. I was an early adopter of the Nintendo DS system, and loved the innovative touch screen. I was hesitant to get the DS Lite because it didn’t have any new features, just a slimmer design. I had a feeling that Nintendo would release a third DS, and my patience paid off. The new DSi is a bit slimmer than the DS Lite, sacrificing the GBA card slot. The two cameras are pretty decent too. I celebrated its inauguration into my collection with Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, which is an impressive game for the DS. It’s a top-down GTA game set in GTA IV’s Liberty city.
The DSi also marks the launch of DSiWare, which allows users to download games from Nintendo over a wi-fi internet connection, for points. I was given a free 1000 points with the purchase and registration of my DSi system. Any games from the Art Style series are good buys. I also bought Paper Airplane Chase, a minigame from WarioWare that even has a versus mode. The Wii-like channel system has been ported over to the DS for easy shortcut management. Now a press of the power button allows you to exit your game and return to the DSi menu. Holding down the power button for an extended amount of time shuts the system down. There is also a free downloadable internet browser, but since memory is limited, it is best used for websites designed for mobile devices.
E3 Commences!
The first day of E3 2009 has offically ended, and gamers across continents are giddy with every new release coming this holiday season. I was impressed with BioWare and LucasArts’ cinematic trailer for the PC MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic and The Beatles: Rock Band trailer. It reminded me of one of those fantastical Coca-Cola commercials. Trippy.
Bring Back the Battlezone Series!
As this school year comes to a close, I find myself reminiscing about one of my favorite games of all time: Battlezone. It all started when I came over to my grandparents’ house one weekend in 1998. I was 10 years old, and the only PC game I was playing at the time was most likely Silent Thunder: A-10 Tank Killer II from 1996. Later that year I discovered Need For Speed III: Hot Pursuit. So my grandpa introduced me to Battlezone and I was in wonder, looking at the box. It was labeled as “Revolutionary Action-Strategy,” and it truly was revolutionary. I installed it and launched into the singleplayer campaign, joining the American NSDF (National Space Defense Force) in the space race against the Russian CCA (Cosmos Colonist Army, originally Communist Cosmonaut Army) for the precious bio-metal found on various planets. The bio-metal was created by the ancient Cthonian civilization. Both the NSDF and the CCA have separate playable campaigns, complete with unique structures and vehicles.
The main gameplay consists of building and defending a base and constructing vehicles to help the player accomplish the mission. The player acts as commander and can order every unit from the 
cockpit of his vehicle or he may go out on foot. Almost every vehicle is pilotable, and each one can be customized with weapons from a mobile armory. The main base vehicle is the recycler, which builds scavenger vehicles to collect bio-metal scrap. The main vehicle builder is the factory, which can deploy anything from tanks to heavy walkers. The constructor vehicle builds static structures such as gun towers and power sources. Besides the singleplayer, there is a multiplayer element which I only discovered until much later, when I realized there was such a thing as online multiplayer gaming for pc games. I haven’t yet come across another game series that brilliantly blends the base-building of real-time-strategy games with the action of first-person shooters and vehicular combat gameplay.
Battlezone’s successor, Battlezone II: Combat Commander, was released the following year. I had originally thought it was released much later. It was not reviewed as highly as the first game, but I thought it captured the same gameplay and was true to its roots. The story line continues with the NSDF and the CCA joining forces as the ISDF (International Space Defense Force) against the Scions, an alien race that uses bio-metal. The significant change in Battlezone II was that the main base vehicles like the factory and armory became static structures. Only the recycler had the option to deploy and become mobile again. In addition to collecting scrap metal that was scattered across the battlefield, scavengers could now deploy on bio-metal pools to receive a constant flow of resources. Once deployed, they could not move. Otherwise, the game played out in a similar way. There was a large modding community behind the game, making maps, mini-mods, and total conversion mods. The modding community is still outliving the series, releasing unofficial patches to keep both games alive.
Added my flickr photos to the sidebar…check it out —>
Review: Resident Evil 5 (Xbox 360)
Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 is my first venture into the Resident Evil series, and so far I’ve been statisfied with the game. The visuals are very crisp and when combined with the various explosion effects and filters, it almost looks like a cinematic. The controls took some getting used to since I’m familiar with traditional shooters’ controller configurations. The mechanics of standing in one spot to aim and fire allows you to be more precise with every shot, and heightens the tension. Given that the zombies are a good distance away, you have plenty of time to take some shots and move to a safer position. If they get too close for comfort, you can hack away with your machete to make them stumble, which gives you the opportunity to throw a punch. You can play with a partner on the same console or online. When playing alone, your AI partner might follow your punch with a kick combo. I haven’t experienced any major failures due to the AI partner not doing her part, as some players have reported. As long as you stock her inventory with useful items and ammo, she performs well. Every zombie battle has been satisifying. I’m halfway through the game at this point, and it has surprised and impressed me many times. There are plenty of extras to unlock such as character skins, modes, and visual filters.
Rating out of 10
- GRAPHICS: 9.5
- SOUND: 8.5
- GAMEPLAY: 9.0
- REPLAY VALUE: 8.0
- OVERALL: 8.75
