денщик

I normally don't buy additional skins/costumes for games.  I don't see why I should pay real money to make my characters look pretty.  A costume has to be pretty amazing to make me even consider buying it, and Injustice delivered today.  I bought this skin without hesitation.  I mean, come on!  Russian Batman?

Here it is in action against Scorpion, who was released last week:

Early Christmas AKA E3 Roundup

Ahhhh the Electronic Entertainment Expo.  More commonly known as E3, this event held yearly in the LA Convention Center plays host to all of the biggest names in the gaming industry as they announce and demo loads of new games.  This particular year was extra special, as with a new console generation looming, many of the games were for the next generation consoles.  I'll get to the consoles in a second, but right now I want to highlight the games that caught my eye at the show.

The Last of Us - (PS3)

Naughty Dog is arguably one of the greatest game developers in the business, and The Last of Us is just another excellent addition to their pedigree.  The game actually comes out on Friday and has received universal acclaim.  I'm really excited to get my hands on it later this week.

Star Wars Battlefront

Star Wars Battlefront II is one of my all time favorite games.  I can't even begin to imagine the number of hours I've spent playing it on PS2 and more recently PC.  People have been clamoring for a sequel since 2005, but for various reasons it was never produced.  Until now.  Obviously this is just a teaser announcing that the game is in development, so nothing is really known about it yet, but hopefully it remains faithful to the older games.

Kingdom Hearts III - (PS4)

Back when I was in middle school, Kingdom Hearts was the bee's knees.  Since the release of Kingdom Hearts II in 2006, they've released a ton of spinoffs on various handhelds that only served to convolute the plot even further.  I said that if they made a true third entry that I wouldn't be interested.  I lied.  I'm actually really hope this ends up being as good as the previous games, and now that Disney owns Star Wars, Marvel, and Pixar, I really, really hope they can be incorporated into the game.

Battlefield 4 - (PS4, XB1, PS3, 360, PC)

I'm pretty burned out on Battlefield 3 for various reason, but Battlefield 4 is going to allow for a whopping 64 players per match on next gen consoles, compared to a meager 24 in the PS3 and 360 versions of Battlefield 3.  Despite the game looking very similar, the larger scale battles and the new destruction and maps features give me enough of a reason to give it a shot.

more after the break

Generational Meeting

Being home from college means lots of hanging out with high school friends, and that's precisely how I've spent most of the past week.  The other day I decided to bring my PlayStation 3 to a friend's house to eliminate the need to download content and install updates for any games I brought.  Seeing as he already owns two different PS3 models, it occurred to me that when I brought my 2nd generation console over (furthest to the left) all 3 generations of the PS3 would be in the same location, possibly for the first time in recorded human history.  I decided to commemorate the occasion with the picture above, which has taught me that the iPod 4 does not have the highest quality camera.

It is a blessing that such a meeting did not result in catastrophe.  The human race is fortunate that the different generations meeting did not result in some sort of Back to the Future scenario where they each interfere with each other's existence or something.  I don't know.  I tried to think of something funny and then it kind of died.  Trying to be consistently entertaining is harder than it sounds.  And it doesn't help that this is being written at 1:50 AM.

This is heavy

What resulted of the meeting and how did humanity survive?  Continue to find out...

The Xbox One Reveal in a Nutshell

The other day I shared my thoughts on the Xbox One.  Search any gaming website or forum and you can see that my concerns are shared by many.  In reality people are freaking out.  The press conference Microsoft held the other day has led to nothing but negative press and word of mouth.  Maybe they can stop the bleeding at E3, but the common perception of the announcement is summed up nicely in this GIF.

UPDATE:  Since this topic is too fun to stop talking about, Cracked just posted an article that, in their unique style, explains the problems with the Xbox One.  The article also includes a video that I've seen floating around the 'net today summarizing the conference in under two minutes that I've included below.  If the point hasn't been driven home yet, this video is sure to do it.

Next Generation Xbox to be Revealed at 1 PM Today

The next Xbox is going to be revealed at 1 PM today.  The conference can be streamed directly from an Xbox 360 or from Xbox.com.  I'm really skeptical about the whole thing right now due to a number of rumors that paint a really poor picture of the machine, supposedly named "Xbox Infinity," but I'll reserve judgement for after the reveal.  I may post my thoughts later tonight, so stay tuned.

And if anything at least they'll show off the next-gen Call of Duty, but since Infinity Ward is developing it I'm skeptical about that as well.

UPDATE, 1 PM

Source Filmmaker vs. Batman

     So I've been on a huge Batman kick ever since I saw The Dark Knight Rises at the midnight premier, and these Team Fortress 2 videos made in Source Filmmaker really hit the spot.  What's Source Filmmaker you ask?  Why it's only the tools game developers Valve use to make movies for their games, such as this spot for TF2 (important details within for understanding a joke in one of the later clips).

     Recently, they released these tools free to the public to do with as they please.  So far, almost every video has involved characters and areas from Team Fortress 2, but that doesn't stop the work people do with Source Filmmaker from being amazing.  Both clips I am highlighting can be seen after the break.

Smash Bros. for the Rest of Us

     Being raised on the PlayStation consoles, for most of my life I've dreamed of having a PlayStation equivalent to Super Smash Bros.  And now we have precisely that.  While I was initially sceptical about PlayStation All-Stars: Battle Royale due to the health/damage system, in which a player's attacks are used to build up a super meter of sorts which is then used to unleash the only moves capable of knocking out opponents, upon further review, I welcome the idea.  One of my main complaints with Smash Bros. was that the percentage system led to players camping to avoid being knocked out.  Since PAS doesn't have health per se, I believe the game will end up being based more around offense, because only then can you build up your meter to unless an attack that can knock out opponents.
     Another issue that I have always had with Smash Bros. is the lack of a combo system.  The attacks never really were able to be chained and most players would simply mash buttons to use the few attacks that each characters was able to perform.  The other day I discovered PAS would solve that problem, introducing a Marvel vs. Capcom-esque combo system into the game, allow for the game to involve more skill and strategy than Smash Bros., as demonstrated in the clip below:

     With both of these elements in place, along with the obvious CHARACTERS THAT I ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT BECAUSE I NEVER LIKED NINTENDO, I am optimistic at this point that the final product will be great.  Now just get Crash Bandicoot on the final roster.  Please?

More info after the jump...

Suck It, Wolverine

   

     I was pleased to discover today that a game is being made that's centered around Deadpool, one of my favorite Marvel characters.  Seeing as High Moon Studios, the studio behind the excellent Transformers: War for Cybertron and its upcoming sequel.  Seeing as they seem to have a knack for making games from licensed properties, they will hopefully serve Deadpool the same justice that Batman received with his recent games.

      What makes Deadpool so great?  Not only is he a mercenary/ninja, but his personality is very atypical of the common hero or antihero.  Deadpool is highly sarcastic and  is always cracking jokes at the expense of his enemies, with many of them breaking the fourth wall.  It's difficult to explain further without visual aids, so below I have taken the liberty of providing you, my audience, with a few examples...

...after the jump...

Being a GM

     I started playing Be A GM mode in NHL 12 for the first time yesterday with a fantasy draft.  I turned the salary cap off as well just so I could get the hang of it and I really like it so far.  Generally, I've been simming most of the games and have just been doing the management aspects of the mode.  Yesterday I finally pulled off a big trade flipping Steve Ott and a 2nd round draft pick for Milan Lucic.  I was pretty impressed that I pulled that off and now my team has a young stud that will hopefully sign for the rest of his career.  He's currently on a top line consisting of Lucic-Pavel Datsyuk-Marian Hossa, a line most teams would kill for (but is impossible most likely due to the aforementioned salary cap).  I'm interested to see what happenes to my team after a few years, and if anything happens I'll let my adoring public know.

....In other news, I just listened to this song and I really like it.

What? Jonah Hill is Evolving?

     I recently was reminded of this meme and I must say, some of these are very clever.  No explanation necessary, just look at the pictures.

More after the jump

(Not So) Stupid Human Tricks

 
     Someday I hope to develop a talent that is completely useless but at the same time really impressive to a lot of people.  I feel like this would fit the bill quite well.

Captain's Log Part III: Will It Blend?

     I really want to get done with this introduction so I can start posting pictures of cats like the rest of the internet.

Now that's more like it.

     While I am surely not the first person to notice this, it has recently occurred to me that all of my interests tend to "blend" into each other in one manner or another.  Let's run through an example, shall we?

     When I was in the 7th grade, I saw the film Saving Private Ryan for the first time.  This affected my life in a profound way and today I consider it to be my favorite movie.  The opening scene on Omaha Beach was the most intense scene I had ever seen in a movie, and arguably to this day still holds that regard.  The rest of the movie was a harrowing tale of men just trying to do their job as part of a larger picture, with most of them never making it home.  For those who are completely oblivious, this movie takes place in France following the D-Day invasion on June 6, 1944 (which is, coincidentally, the day on which I am typing this).  That movie profoundly opened my eyes to World War II and these unreal experiences that very real people lived through.

Captain's Log Part II: The Least Interesting Man in the World

     I believe that it was world famous boxer Ivan Drago that once said "I must break you."  This was said prior to him being repeatedly pummeled in the face by fellow famous boxer Rocky Balboa.  The result was the end of the Cold War.

The Cold War lasted 50 years because the match lasted 50 years.  Duh.

     You may be asking yourself right now ("yourself" referring to the likely one other person besides myself that will ever read this), "what does that have to do with anything?"  That is a very excellent question.  And all excellent questions deserve equally excellent answers.  Over the last few years, there has been one particular friend of mine, whom we will refer to as "Rick," that has insisted that I must create a blog.  Why is beyond me.  As per the title of this post, I do not consider myself to me a very interesting person and certainly do not lead an interesting life.  I am a 19 year old college kid from the Pittsburgh area.  That's about it.  Not a lot of excitement there.  However, Rick insists that I have interesting topics to discuss, from my interests, opinions, and happenings in my life.  As such, after years of prodding, I have been broken by his iron will.  This blog has been forged out of my own blood, sweat, tears, and the blood, sweat, and tears of my enemies.  The jury is still out on if there will be anything to post that will actually be interesting to anyone, most importantly you, my dear readers (all 1 of you).