Sunday, October 11, 2009

Meet Stacy

I am the later addition to the group, I heard about it a couple days ago and now here I am ready to review games. So my name is Stacy, I am a sophomore in college. Currently I am a chemistry major with a minor in music. Anyway I am currently single...maybe, not much to tell.

So on to my gaming stuff since I know that is what you really want to read, not my personal bio. I started video games at age 5, That was when my mom bought me my very first gameboy, back before the days of color. And I fell in love with it. Then Gameboy Color came out and I had to have one. Eventually we got our hands on a N64, that was the time that I had the most fun with games. Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire and Aero Gauge were the first games I ever played on that system. So basically I started with a racing game and a first person action game, I loved both of them. The collection grew and then Gamecube came out so we bought that too, and even more games. Then a Wii and finally a Playstation 2. I have yet to play anything on Xbox, but after seeing a preview for a new game I am dying for an Xbox 360.

During High School my gaming came to an abrubt halt. I got into academics and had no time for anything else. I started college and met my best friend and current housemate, Brit, purely by coincidence mind you, I met a guy that she knew from both being theatre majors and ended up eating lunch in the cafeteria with the theatre major group and Brit and I became fast friends. Two weeks later she mentioned that she had a Wii, which I had started to play over the summer. We played Metroid Prime all night. She is why I got into video games all over again. Now I play pretty much daily with her right alongside me, currently it's Metroid Prime, Legend of Zelda, Pokemon games and one can't forget Super Smash Bros (all three of them). Currently we have a Wii in the house and N64 a Genesis, a couple of Gameboy Colors and a DS. Plus my computer which has a pokemon emulator so I can play every single gameboy pokemon game ever released on my computer.

My love when it comes to games is the old stuff, I would love to go through SNES games, but we don't have one. So I am basically your solid Nintendo reviewer, maybe a Playstation 2 or Genesis here and there. I will probably do the old stuff and hopefully some stuff for the Wii, for sure something like a game by game comparison (GC to Wii) of the first two Metroid Prime games as they re-released them (I have high hopes).

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Left 4 Dead and the Upcoming Sequel.



Left 4 Dead isn't a new title. I know. But Left 4 Dead 2 is coming out soon! So, for those who still haven't played the first one, here's a brief intro to one of my favorite games, at the moment!



Zoey, Bill, Louis and Francis are the star Survivors in the latest zombie apocalypse. With several maps per campaign, you work your way as a Survivor in this FPS team-focused game. You'll always start in a safe house, which the zombies can't penetrate. Choose your weapon, equip your Med kit, and you're set to find the next safe house. However, it's not just the hoards of brainless, cannibalistic zombies that you have to worry about. There are 5 Special Infected that you'll encounter: the Smoker, Hunter, Boomer, Tank, and Witch. Each have special abilities that will work on splitting up your team, which will make your quest for the next safe house more difficult. Whether you've been restrained by the Smoker, pounced on by the Hunter, puked on by the Boomer, pummeled by the Tank, or alerted the Witch, your team will have to work together to keep each Survivor from being incapacitated.

Left 4 Dead, like I said earlier, is currently one of my favorite Xbox 360 games. I love the team system, and the strategy used to keep each member alive. The Special Infected keep the game interesting and spontaneous. Left 4 Dead was developed by Valve (The Orange Box) which is naturally my favorite developers because of their realism and (used primarily in L4D,) their random AI spawning. Zombies are never consistent. There may be an empty room with a zombie in it one round, and nothing the next time you play. You really never know. The only thing consistent is the spawning of the Special Infected. Also, the audio cues for the hoards and Special Infected can help you be prepared for the next challenge.

The downfall: playing with a team of AI. AI teammates are never as good as playing with people. Personally, whenever I play, Francis seems to be in my shooting range or alerting the Witch when I don't want him to. (This can apply to any Survivor)

Overall, I suggest playing with other people, either online with microphones or with a group of friends. Teamwork is really the point of this game, so playing with AI can be incredibly annoying. The graphics are above average, the script has some great comedic value, but most of all, Left 4 Dead's replay value is what makes it awesome.



I'm really looking forward to Left 4 Dead 2 (November 17, 2009) with new characters, some new Special Infected, new maps (of course), and best of all, new melee weapons.


Wednesday, October 7, 2009

A Cute, Side-Scrolling MMORPG?!? A MapleStory Review by Katie

MapleStory is an awesome MMORPG to get into, especially for beginners. It is a side-scrolling MMORPG (confusing, right?!) but this means that the controls are very easy to use. The game is in a very cute chibi anime-like style, and the enimies are even kinda cute. It is a little pixelated and the actual gameplay doesn't look like the picture or the video, but it still looks adorable nonetheless.

MapleStory's music is very happy but it can get irritating at times so I usually turn the volume down. There is no real story line to this game, you pretty much just level up and walk around the MapleStory world killing things and making yourself look awesome. Once you reach level 8 you can choose to become a Magician, or when you reach level 10 you can become a Bowman (me!), Warrior, Theif or Pirate. You go through the necessary training for your chosen vocation, and then you're ready to join a guild if you desire, and go kick some cute monster butt.


MapleStory is a free download and free to play on http://maplestory.nexon.net/Intro/ but it doesn't work for Mac computers unfortunatly.



Overall, I would recommend you check out this game. If anything, it's free and you can uninstall it if it's not your cup of tea. I play with a group of friends (basically my whole apartment building) which makes it a very fun and social thing to play, so if you're going to play, do it with a group of friends if you can. I know a huge variety of people who love this game, and I'm sure you will, too, so give it a shot!

My question to you is, what is your favorite MMORPG? World of Warcraft, Runescape, Jade Dynasty? Why?

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Meet Viktoria














Hey all! My name's Viktoria, or Vikichu to the gaming world. Here's a little about me!





As a child, my mom never approved of me playing video games, but my Dad slipped me my first game, The Legend of Zelda on the old school, brick sized Game Boy. That's where it all started :)

However, I was never able to get into gaming until I left for college. I met my friend David, who is Katie (WigglyFire)'s boyfriend. They introduced me to Neil, my own gamer guy. <3

Since then, I've been able to take a stab at the gaming world. I mostly play FPS on Xbox 360, along with loving Pokemon (lately on my DS.)

In college, I'm working towards my Communications major, with a focus on Journalism. My dream job would be to replace Roger Ebert in film critique. I love to watch a good movie!


My Gamercard:




My boyfriend's Gamercard: