PC Gaming: Why it's an afterthought

Well I could sum this whole article up with one symbol..."$", but i'm here to elaborate and whatnot.The "$" represents a few things, (Cost of PC/Advertising/and... I don't know the fuck what)

Cost of PC-

Yes, okay, we know, you can make a pc capable of playing Crysis on full settings for $600 in the right places, but when spending money people want everything they want possible for their buck, I myself just spent 2 big ones for a personal lappy(I love it), and was that too much? no, it was made to my specifications and not alienware, because alienware is overpriced as FUCK!

...wait, no, scratch advertising, they advertise games all the time and theres places for pc games to be advertised.

so I guess the second bullet is... AH I got it.

People are idiots-

Okay, read before hate. ANYONE can walk into any store that has an electronics department and purchase a console and games and be good, not have to do anything but hook the thing up the tv and shazz and pop the game in and be good. The thing is with PCs, is you don't walk into a store and grab one and be good to go. It takes time and a tad more money, and that scares some people, they're scared they'll get ripped, mess up the specs, among many other things. PC Gaming to a "Noob" is complicated. You have to know what you want to do with your PC to know how to build it, and if you want a high tier and gaming rig,what do you need? Mainly, there's 5 things you need for a gaming rig.

-Awesome Processor, usually 2.4ghz will be just fine.

-Butt load of RAM, 2-6gb is good to awesome, don't really need 8gb of ram, but go ahead lol.

-Godly Video Card

Okay this is usually where gaming PC's turn people off, video cards are the screaming banshee of making gaming rigs, they come out every year, sometimes twice, there's a lot to choose from, and 2 big name companies. All the choices and finding the right one for the noob, scares him away. what you need to make sure is, if you're building a gaming rig, ask someone who knows! this is the best advice for this topic, asking a nerd is the best help you can get. I'm biased with nVidea cards. Basically, when making one, grab the second or third best card that's out and you'll be good for a few years.

Okay these last two are variables, bigger and better are...better.

-Hard Drive Space, 500gb to 1tb should do you good.

-Sound Card, if you're gaming and you want 5.1/7.1 clear sound, buy a awesome sound card.

All this writing on PC gaming, and this is why people venture towards consoles, it's EASY AS HELL, compared to building pc's. It's a shame, PC gaming really is the best gaming there can be, the best graphics, the best controls, and usually more freedom with the games.

Modern Warfare 2 Review

Well I wish I had gotten this up before the game came out so there would be some interest and maybe someone would actually read this...but here is my review...

9/10

Although I feel that a game's true review can't be done for a while, I have had the game since last thursday(you've gotta love NY). I would say this game has gone past MY hype of course...but should it be considered the game everyone else feels it is?

The campaign is short-on regular I completed it in 5 hours, I feel as though it is the most fun to play on regular because it seems to be the most realistic. But I will get on to that later, as the campaign for gamers is the most important thing to a game minus online for some...

So a quick overview...

Sounds-8
They are much improved over Call of Duty 4, but they still could be more crisp and all of that jazz, if you don't know I am not much of a person to focus on sound

Graphics-8.5
Another improvement over Call of Duty 4, but the game is definitely not better than the console king's of graphics. But what can you expect from a game being developed with 2 years and in a world full of FPSs, gameplay needs to be the focus of all FPS games. Dealing with other pieces of graphics, I have noticed many issues that were in Call of Duty 4 clipping wise and also a bit of a frame rate drops in campaign in the big badass scenes.

Online Gameplay-9.5
In just a few words? A LOT of fun. The Call of Duty series has always been known for it's online play since it's inception. It's predecessor has been played all the way until today, November 10th, will this game have that same replayability? Probably. It is once again a fast pace game that is balanced between realism and arcade style shooting. At times you are having tons and tons of fun, whether being in a private match playing Mike Myers or playing team death match. I have a few gripes online but that comes with every game, not only did they not include dedicated servers for PC-a slap to the face of PC gamers, where CoD first set the ground as one of the, or if not the most popular shooter...but there are problems within the gameplay. To keep your attention I will keep it short and sweet...akimbo shotguns-ridiculous. The guns? Fun in every way, but the silencers on the shotguns, sniper rifles and LMGs just make me want to slap my father in the face. The perks? Cool, some are a bit useless though. The maps? Could have been more considering the campaign was short, but they are awesome nonetheless. Currently on the Playstation 3 there is a problem with invites not working, a bit odd because before release everything was fine online.

Spec Ops-7.5

I thought it would be a lot better personally. You feel like you are playing campaign without the story. The AI is no where near wonderful...so it can feel stale. Not to mention, at the time there is awful lag on the PS3 spec ops mode! I could barely move when I was hosting. I haven't gotten all 69 stars yet, but from what I have played it is kind of cool because you get to use vehicles in some missions, something you don't use in the campaign. I found that to be disappointing because some of the best missions of the CoD series were the vehicle missions.



Campaign-8.5

It was short but sweet. But an emphasis on the short part. Call of Duty didn't get to where it is today just because of online. The campaign always gave me a rush of adrenaline or was even able to attach you to a character in the game. This time around it is different. You find yourself moving around a whole lot, never really getting to know the characters' personalities. None as badass as Gaz or as cool and calm as Captain Price of Call of Duty 4.

The story you ask? Well at times it is a ton of fun and exciting. At other times...well..not so much. The South American front of the game wanted to make me rip out my eyes, it was so boring because you were just chasing after people killing hordes and hordes of guerillas. I can't talk much more about it unless you want some minor spoilers...nothing more than location and something that happens to you though. But I like to talk about the negatives, there were definitely a good bit of positives.













The end became very confusing and seemed more like one of those crappy teen action movies-you are in a scrapyard type of area with two sides fighting...and you have to run through it..fun fun fun. Then at the end..you take a knife out of your heart..doesn't make any sense either. 3

Game Impressions: Dragon Age:Origins

Tonight I was hanging out with a bud, and after we watched the (Godawful) movie Orphan, I asked if I could play Dragon Age for a bit(he had bought it the other day). So I booted the game up on his 360, skipped the stuff to the menu, and started editing my character. I chose a Human Rogue, we had a few laughs with the editor, making a big mouth and oddly placed, resembling a Orangutan. Then watched the intro into my story and started into the game with a short conversation. Now, this game is built like Mass Effect where, there is a lot of talking. A few minutes though I got into a battle with my pet dog, which I aptly named, Scrappy Deu(joke on dark age spelling). After a lil walk, and more talking, got into the games first serious part, the castle was being attacked(who could have saw that coming?).

Now, that's all I played,because it was getting late, but from what I played the game is a pretty solid RPG(I know it's a lot like Mass Effect, but I couldn't stand Mass Effect, played it for a few hours and quit). I have enough money to buy 1 game right now, even though I enjoyed the game,
I'm still on the fence of buying this game or Demon's Souls. But if you own Demon's Soul's and are looking for another RPG, one that will last you Hoooooouuuurrsss, then Dragon Age: Origins is a pretty good choice.

Dragon Age: Origins is a game Published by EA.
Demon's Souls is a game Published by Atlus USA.

Two Words Tuesdays(New segment) : Action Pron

Alrighty this first paragraph is explaining the segment, Two Words is a weekly segment that's about recent, upcoming, and past(10 years ago) games that fits to just Two Words, and when thinking about which day this would be perfect for, well, stuff usually comes out on Tuesdays soo...BLAM! there you go, on with the POST!
------------------------------------------

TWT: Action Pron-GO!

Recent-
Borderlands-

Now this is a game which trailer fits these two words perfectly.
Borderlands is a, (action-rpg-fps) arpgfps?, That boasts the fact that it has thousands of weapons and kickass gameplay. The game sports a unique cel-shaded look that adds to the cool factor of the game. What's more unique is the actual game, the new gameplay that this game has brought onto the gaming genre is fantabrazy.(get it?, three genres, three different words?,no?...w/e) This is not your older brother's first person RPG. The gameplay feels like a FPS but when you're not shooting, you're getting around and looking for loot, similar to loot hunting in the Diablo series. Even more to add to the likeness of RPG's, each character has a skill tree which you can expand based on the levels you gain through XP. The reason I picked this for today's TWT is because, even though you loot like a homeless grandma, this game is all action.

Upcoming-
Modern Warfare 2-

Now...need I say more?, not really. But for sake of writing...here we go.
Modern Warfare 2 is the epitome of Action Pron.
Guns?, Check.
Explosions?, Check.
Loud Noises?, Check
Fast and Crazy MP?, Check
Terrorists? War? Bombs? Killing Civilians?
CHECK CHECK CHECK CHECK

The game is on the brink of reaching insanity in terms of Action, There's a Story Mode, Co-op Mission Mode, and fully functional Multi-Player Mode. The game has a lot to give, and while it will be the top selling game of..the century?, some of us have our doubts, and are waiting for the final verdict. Stay Tuned for that, not long now...

Past-
Super Smash Bros.-

Super... Smash.. Bros. , The name is amongst all our adolescent minds.

Super Smash Bros. was quite the amazing ..Smash-fest. As soon as the ads hit the tv(remember, this was 99, before the broadband boom) kids' brains went liquid. Tons of their favorite Nintendo characters in a battle royale deathmatch with 4-player action?, someone, somewhere, a kid's mind actually blew up. The game spawned many look/play alike video games, some to recent memory including the (just released?/upcoming) TMNT smash w/e, and also had two follow up games in succession. While this writer thinks Melee was the best one yet(thought brawl fell a tad short), one cannot wait to hear the name, "Super Smash Bros." uttered at a games show in the future. Rock on Jigglypuff, Rock on.

That does it for today's Two Words Tuesday, Until next Tuesday...I dunno play games. -Shibbs

Borderlands is a game published by 2K.
Modern Warfare 2 is a game published by Activision.
Super Smash Bros. is a game published by Nintendo.

All Aboard the Hype Train(Helicopter): Modern Warfare 2

Well. Being well known for my female dogging and being pessimistic overall. I will be talking about why this game won't be good.

1) No recoil. If you watch a stream of someone playing, you'll notice even shotguns, the MP5K and LMGs do not have any recoil...

2) Ridiculous Kill streaks/Death streaks. If you have yet to see a video of the AC 130 I recommend watching it. You can kill the team twice or more over if you get one. Of course you get it in 11 kills, so it won't happen ALL the time. But if a person does actually happen to be good. I could see it happening every couple of games. Even so, it is possible to get it through a care package although the better possibilities have a lesser chance of popping up. Just the idea of a freaking nuke...it is ridiculous to have something that can end the game. The sentry gun is also another annoying one, but will probably be used only a little and will only be a bit of an annoyance. Being able to RUN with this large sentry gun and move it wherever you like(which by the way kills people in no time) is ridiculous. But it is somewhat balanced(it doesn't rotate and it can be stunned/flashed oddly enough..)

The death streaks of course are just annoying-it's like having a fourth perk. By the end of the first month most will already be at the 75th rank, people are already at the 60's in just 2 days(of non stop play nonetheless). My point is-people will be using matyrdom and primary last stand which will essentially be a fourth perk. Very annoying 4th perks to add.

3) Riot shields. Not only will they be annoying to play with but people can easily cheat their way up the ranks although they will get their easily enough anyways. The shields cannot be destroyed. Infinity Ward claims it is balanced just because you can't see through it after a while. But it isn't. Someone can just keep it on their back and use a machine pistol/shotgun. Imagine that in Rust. That will be hell to play against.

I think this game has the chance to be good and it looks like it'll be fun, but I feel as though eventually it will just become stale and frustrating. The campaign also has a chance to be a noobified stupid thing because it sounds like an overly dramatic, ridiculous action movie. Instead of a stealthy bad ass action movie that CoD 4 was. To add, there aren't many maps. I think most were anticipating/hoping for around 20 maps.

The game has lost the balance between sim and arcade that it has been known for throughout the entire series. I am hoping for a barebones TDM playlist, I think then I will be extremely happy though.

But not to fear there are other games out there that are great. If you are looking for a game to tide you over or a game to play until the next blockbuster comes out if you are disappointed with MW2....try Uncharted 2 or NBA 2K10.

I personally hate Uncharted 2 multiplayer because it is too balanced, no recoil and of course all the problems with grenades. But the Uncharted 2 single player is a great experience for sure. With a phenomenal story line, acting and graphics you will be immersed.

As for NBA 2k10...it is also a great experience. The game right now is somewhat broken though-but once the first patch comes out I will be playing this from then to NBA 2k11. As of right now, you need sliders to play it(check out www.operationsports.com for great sliders/other topics) and you need to turn off key zoom and put the height high and the zoom in. If not you will have problems with lag in the key more than likely. But other than that I am very happy with the game. Association is a ton of fun, NBA Today is great-STELLAR commentary, the best of any game I have ever played and the gameplay is a lot of fun and realistic(although the paint could use more fine tuning, there needs to be more physicality in the key).

Modern Warfare 2 is a game Published by Activision.
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is a game Published by SCEA.
NBA 2K10 is a game Published by 2K Sports.

DJ Hero Impressions

Well I was out tonight hanging out with a couple of friends, just driving around town browsing stores.(had nothing better to do) Decided to go to ToysR'us because one of the two friends had to get something for his sister for her upcoming birthday. Well to my surprise they had a DJ Hero Demo set up, I was intrigued...

15 Seconds into the first song...I was HOOKED!

DJ Hero is a nice breath of fresh air to the genre, the song mixes are great, the gameplay is new, well sure it's just a "Spin"(pun intended) on the scrolling button pressing in unison gameplay we know, but it did take a bit to get use to. The Crossfader was the hardest part to get use to, think of it as a double strum, but don't always have to use it lol.

All in All, I liked the game alot, sure with all these AAA titles coming out right now it could be over shadowed but come holidays when I get some extra cash, that baby's mine.

DJ Hero is a game published by Activision and is out now on PS3/X360/Wii

The League Grows!

Alright and so the caravan grows, we now welcome our second author from the reaches of wales!, his online handle is Mieya, and Shooters are his game. Meiya tell us about your gaming .....uhm, (fancy name for story) SAGA!


Mieya: lol, thank you shibbs and wales i think not try london england. but other then that thanks for the welcome :)

Shibbs: wha? i thought it was wales? or were you born there or something, i remember wales for some reason

Meiya: my dad from wales, that all

Shibbs: ah okay, well now we know a little more about you lol

Mieya: Yeah i enjoy all shooters and some rts games, the more realistic the better.

Short but sweet, Alrighty, as we are strengthening our ranks we will be writing our first pieces so stay tuned!