Archive for November, 2009

Play This – LittleBigPlanet

{ November 30, 2009 @ 8:19 am } · { Game Review, Play This }
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I absolutely love this game! If you are dating a gamer and looking for a game to play together, or just one to play by yourself to see what all the gaming hype is about LittleBigPlanet is it. For months my boyfriend kept saying that we had to play this game together. It was recommended to him by a friend who was also playing it with his girlfriend, and she was really enjoying it. We finally gave it a shot. After a few weeks of nonstop LittleBigPlanet, my boyfriend begged me to stop playing so he could get some “proper gaming time” in.

This platform game has a very whimsical, yet mad feeling to it. The hero or heroine is an adorable sackboy or sackgirl, who is fully customizable. You can choose your hair, eyes, clothes, and accessories. As you progress through the game you pick up different stickers, fabrics, costumes, & accessories to customize your sack person and your pod (where you navigate through the game) and even the levels if you want. The game itself starts out very novice-friendly with the main gameplay centering on basic skills like running, jumping & grabbing. As the game progresses, the skills required to complete each level also increase, mainly through testing your timing at performing tasks while running, jumping or grabbing. (This is the basis for platform games.)

All of the levels are vibrant, creative, and colorful, but the crazy costumes and fun stickers aren’t the only reason I think this is a great game for gamers and their girlfriends or boyfriends. This game is ideal for couples to play together. Throughout the game there are many tasks, signposted “x2“, which require both players in order to reap rewards. Also, both players must remain on screen at the same time or else the off screen character will die. These aspects create a great camaraderie between players, while the race levels add a fun sense of competition. And if your gamer gets too annoying with the competitiveness you can always backhand slap him or her with your sackperson. (With your controller use L2 or R2 while moving the joystick to quickly move your hand.) I wouldn’t recommend slapping him or her in real life though, people look down on that.


The game’s official website describes the game as “a unique game combining amazing platform adventure with a huge social community enabling consumers to play, create and share their gaming.” [1] Like most games today there is an online aspect, but unlike most games players can actually create their own levels and share them online. So it’s a bit like Super Mario Bros. meets Facebook. This gives the game limitless replayability.

We’re over halfway through the game and my boyfriend is a little sick of it (undoubtedly a result of the lack of guns and opportunities to kill people), but I’m addicted.

Game: LittleBigPlanet

Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE for short)

Available on what consoles: Sony PS3 and new on Sony PSP

Type of Game: Platform

Where to buy it: Anywhere video games are sold

[1] http://www.littlebigplanet.com/en_GB/

Video Games, Obama and Education

{ November 24, 2009 @ 5:14 am } · { Gaming News }
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The Obama administration is trying to encourage student interest in math, engineering and technology utilizing video games. The Game Changer Challenge will encourage kids to create levels for the Sony video game LittleBigPlanet. Supported by Sony, Microsoft and the Entertainment Software Association (ESA for short) the project should excite a lot of young gamers and potential future game designers. Read more on the competition here and here.

Gamer Gifts – Mad Catz Modern Warfare 2 Throat Communicator

{ November 22, 2009 @ 11:37 am } · { Gamer Gifts }
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Tiffany Gift Box by Jill Clardy on FlickrIt seems like you can’t step into a store these days without a reminder that Christmas is right around the corner. (Whatever happened to waiting until after Thanksgiving?!) I have double gift dilemma at this time of the year because my gamer’s birthday is in the middle of November. Now my boyfriend loves gadgets and basically all things geeky so it should be easy to buy him a present, except when he wants something he buys it right away. I’ve resorted to frantically writing down any item he mentions he might want and then threatening him under penalty of death not to buy it.

Nevertheless, I’m always trying to find the next great present, thus, the birth of a new section to this blog – Gamer Gifts. I will try to post great gift ideas for your gamer here. This week’s gift, a specialized XBOX 360 headset & microphone.

Gift: Mad Catz Modern Warfare 2 Throat Communicator in Camo or Snow (shown below in Camo)

Madcatz Modern Warfare2 Throat Communicator from productwiki.com

Item price: $29.99 [£24.99]

Which console is it available for: XBOX 360

What it does: The throat communicator works like most 360 headsets and allows the player to chat with other gamers online. The difference is that this mic wraps around the back of the throat instead of having the traditional mouthpiece.

Where to buy it: Video game retailers such as Gamestop, amazon.com [In the UK you can buy it from Play.com]

Why it’s cool: The design is military inspired, so gamers can feel like they’re in the real front line action. Not only that, but it’s officially licensed for Modern Warfare 2.

Who to buy this for: Your die hard first person shooter fan who secretly wants to play a little military dress up.

Review: I haven’t actually used this item, so I can’t endorse it. The reviews I’ve read are mixed saying that it is a cool item, but slightly overpriced, and there are definitely better mics out there. The real reason to buy this is for its novelty. You can check out reviews at Gizmodo or Amazon.

Just Released – Assassin’s Creed II

{ November 17, 2009 @ 9:07 pm } · { Impress Your Gamer, Just Released }
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Assassin’s Creed II was released today on XBOX 360 and PS3. It is an action-adventure game (like Zelda), following a betrayed nobleman on his quest for revenge through Italy during the Renaissance. There are even cameos by Leonardo da Vinci. Check out the E3 trailer below. There is some very impressive CG work in it.

And here’s a link to the (in my opinion less exciting) Launch Trailer. It looks more like actual gameplay than cut scenes though, so it’s probably more exciting for gamers.

Metacritic (an average of all the major reviews) has given it 90 out of 100. Most of the reviews are saying that this sequel is much better than its predecessor, which was a bit of a disappoint for a lot of reviewers and gamers. The Metacritic summary says the game has an “epic story that offers more variety in missions, surprising and engaging new gameplay elements, diverse weapons and a profound character progression that appeal to fans of the original Assassin’s Creed as well as entice players new to the brand.”1 See what all the reviewers are saying here.

I hope now that the game has been released they will stop playing so many of the commercials on TV because I hate them. They are just creepy, always starting with a dead old guy staring blankly into the camera. That kind of stuff will give you nightmares.

(P.S. I’ll be updating the underlined terms and adding them to the glossary soon.)

[1] Metacritic. Assassin’s Creed II. http://www.metacritic.com/games/platforms/ps3/assassinscreed2

Gamer Glossary Term of the Week – AFK

{ November 16, 2009 @ 11:33 pm } · { Glossary }
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AFK

I saw it on your keyboard by Isabel Bloedwater on FlickrAcronym for Away from Keyboard used mostly by online computer gamers (as opposed to console gamers). It literally means the person is away from the keyboard and, therefore, unable to play or respond to messages.

Modern Warfare 2 Initial Sales Stats

{ November 14, 2009 @ 11:56 am } · { Impress Your Gamer, Video Games }
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Cover
According to this article from gamespot.com, Modern Warfare 2 is being billed the biggest entertainment launch ever selling $310 million in ONE-DAY sales in North America and the UK.

Since the release of Modern Warfare 2 XBOX Live has had a record 2 million hits.

That’s a lot of people in the world playing one video game, so feel better knowing you’re not the only girlfriend out there whose boyfriend is glued to the game. Check out the article linked below for more details.

http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/modernwarfare2/news.html?sid=6240148

Love the Player and the Game! Why You Should Be Happy Your Boyfriend Plays Video Games

{ November 12, 2009 @ 3:45 pm } · { Dating a Gamer, Video Games }
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Tex Playing Video Games by Rebecca Pollard on Flickr

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has been out a few days now. Since its release I haven’t had much interaction with my boyfriend unless it’s watching the game, have you? That got me thinking what better time to write a post on why you should love your gamer, even when you may want to throw his (or her) XBOX out the window! Here are my top ten reasons why you should not just love your [video game] player, but the game too:

1. Finger dexterity is never a bad thing.

2. Video games may help to improve eyesight contrast sensitivity. Some studies have “indicated that action-filled video games significantly sharpen vision, helping the brain focus on visually complex situations, keep track of multiple items at once and process fast-changing information.”[1]

3. Your boyfriend will appreciate you more if you give him his own time.

4. In those group missions he’s actually building people skills, leadership skills and teamwork skills.

5. With your partner busy playing games you now have some time to yourself. Go get that manicure, read that trashy romance novel or take that bubble bath. You can sit back and relax because he’s going to be occupied for a long time.

6. Playing video games allows your gamer to verbally take out the days aggression on a complete stranger. If someone’s an a**hole in a video game you can call them out right away. It’s very therapeutic. Now if only there was a way to do this on the freeway….

7. While he spends his evenings hanging out with his friends on XBOX Live you can have a girl’s night out. Call up your friends and go dancing. Or have a slumber party – junk food and Twilight with no boys to laugh at you!! It’s much more fun to swoon over Edward without your boyfriend gagging in the background.

8. Video games could actually be making him smarter. Some studies show that playing video games can actually thicken parts of the cortex, an area of the brain where higher functionality occurs.[2]

9. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. A little time apart may be exactly what your relationship needs to reignite some passion.

10. And possibly one of the most important reasons you should let him play video games – he may be saving your life! Yup, that’s right, if there’s ever an alien invasion or a zombie apocalypse all his weapon knowledge could be what keeps you alive. Follow the debate at The Onion: http://www.theonion.com/content/video/are_violent_video_games

[1] Greenemeir, Larry. 2009. What are video games good for? Possibly improving eyesight. Scientific American. . http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/60-second-science/post.cfm?id=what-are-video-games-good-for-possi-2009-03-29

 

[2] BioMed Central Limited. 2009. Is Tetris Good For The Brain? ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090901082851.htm … continue reading this entry.

Glossary Page Update

{ November 9, 2009 @ 5:37 pm } · { Glossary }
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I’ve put some terms up on the Glossary page. I’m still trying to figure out the best way to present the glossary. Any suggestions are welcome!

My Boyfriend is Going on Hiatus

{ November 8, 2009 @ 10:58 am } · { Dating a Gamer, Video Games }
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Months ago my gamer informed me that I would not have a boyfriend for the month of November, which I suppose makes me a temporary gamer widow. He wasn’t mad at me or trying to meet other women. The reason for our “separation” would be the release of the newest installment in his favorite video game franchise, Call of Duty, or COD for short.

The game, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, is not just highly anticipated by my boyfriend, but all first-person shooter, or FPS, fans. Although the title suggests this is the 2nd game in the series it is actually the 6th full game released. (There have also been several expansion packs.) COD: MF2, as it is sometimes abbreviated, is the sequel to Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which was the 4th game in the franchise. This game was different from previous COD games because the story does not take place during World War II; instead it is set in modern times. This was exciting for FPS fans because there was a whole arsenal of new weapons and technology available for the player.

Now that the release date is fast approaching (this Tuesday) I have been bombarded with my boyfriend’s school boy excitement. By now I’ve been forced to watch trailer several times. Each time my gamer watches it (I’ve lost count!) he gets shivers down his spine. I suppose it’s a little like Twilight fans seeing that first glimpse Edward. I must say the trailer is quite impressive, especially because all of the scenes are supposed to be actual gameplay. In this sense gameplay means that the images in the preview are not just a pre-loaded cutscene “movie” with amazing graphics, but that the entire game will have those amazing graphics because they are rendered by the game engine itself. In short, the whole game will look super cool. This is good for non-gamers who may be watching someone play the game because it means at the very least the background scenes will be visually entertaining. How well your partner plays the game is a whole other story!

It was recently leaked that this game would take place in space, which has the fan base all atwitter. I just have to quote my boyfriend here because his excitement at this little tidbit was better than watching a little kid on Christmas morning, “And guess what? It’s in space!!! How cool is that!!” This may be very good news for those of us who will be forced to watch parts of the game as it could mean some amazing CG space scenes. And who doesn’t like to look at a starry night sky?

I guess for now I’ll just enjoy the few days I have left with my boyfriend before his hands become attached to his XBOX 360 controller and hope his pre-ordered copy of Modern Warfare 2 comes the day it’s released. Otherwise it’ll be like watching a little kid get a piece of charcoal on Christmas morning.

Want to watch the trailer? Check it out.

Being a Gamer’s Girlfriend

{ November 7, 2009 @ 7:15 pm } · { Dating a Gamer }
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My boyfriend is a gamer, in fact, a hardcore gamer. In normal terms that means he spends too much of his time playing games, reading about video games, and basically living and breathing video games. You could fairly say that gaming is his life. And unfortunately for me it’s not just my boyfriend who plays video games. I was born into a video game-crazed family where virtually every single family get together is spent playing video games. I know this may sound like a personal hell for a lot of girls, but I actually enjoy watching everyone get together and play games. There is a camaraderie that occurs when a room full of people excitedly decimate another team while playing the newest version of Halo on XBOX Live. (And I mean serious gaming business here including multiple consoles and projection screens.)

I am definitely not a gamer. But because of my accidental birth right, I have unintentionally learned quite a lot about video games. In fact, every time I’ve dated a boy who wasn’t a gamer, I’ve secretly thought it was a waste of my video game tolerance.

So why do you care? Maybe your partner is a hardcore gamer and you feel like you’re becoming a gamer widow. Maybe you just want to know what the hell your partner is talking about when he or she uses terms like WOW, COD, or MMORPG. Or maybe you are a gamer and you want some ideas of games you can play with your partner. That’s where I’m hoping my inadvertent knowledge can help you out.

The purpose of this blog is for gamers’ girlfriends, boyfriends, husbands, wives, coworkers, friends or relatives (basically anyone who is inflicted with/lucky enough to know a gamer) to have a place to learn about video games, but also find games they might be interested in playing alone or with their gamers. I plan on reviewing games, explaining terms and basics from a layperson’s point of view, posting interesting links & hopefully becoming a non-gamers gaming resource. Ultimately, my hope is that this will help you understand that someone’s passion for gaming, and maybe even find a few games you would like to play yourself!

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