So what have i done this month in regards to the wild, wild world of video games? This covers much of my gaming since my last post.
Saturday, November 19, 2011
Friday, November 4, 2011
Game Room: Report for October 2011
i decided to mix things up (semantically) and instead of calling this the November report call it the report for October (since the leaderboard checking period was from 10/3-11/3).
Anyway, Game Room leaderboard increases are still increasing monthly (a little). Admittedly, i cannot get a full picture due to how the leaderboards are structured. i checked two times this month (the first time was to get Game Room working on my computer - though the Xbox version still seems to be working, if your "arcade" is a ghost town). The two checks were on October 21st and November 3rd.
Observed Leaderboard Increases (for October 4 - November 3)
October 21:
* Breakout (2600) - (+100)
* Dolphin - (+100)
* Galactic Warriors (+100)
* Super Breakout (2600) - (+100)
* Warlords (+1,000)
* Black Widow (+1,000)
November 3:
* Missile Command (2600) - (+100)
Summary: If you are playing at home, i observed 7 leaderboard increases for 2,500. Breakout (2600) and Super Breakout finally crossed the 1,000 leaderboard threshhold.
Game Leaderboard Distribution:
* Over 30,000: 2 games (Asteroids Deluxe and Centipede)
* 20,000 - 30,000: 3 games
* 10,000 - 20,000: 11 games
* 5,000 - 10,000: 11 games
* 2,000 - 5,000: 27 games
* 1,000 - 2,000: 29 games
* 500 - 1,000: 13 games
* 200 - 500: 5 games
* 100-200: 6 games
* <100: 1 game (Vectron)
Anyway, Game Room leaderboard increases are still increasing monthly (a little). Admittedly, i cannot get a full picture due to how the leaderboards are structured. i checked two times this month (the first time was to get Game Room working on my computer - though the Xbox version still seems to be working, if your "arcade" is a ghost town). The two checks were on October 21st and November 3rd.
Observed Leaderboard Increases (for October 4 - November 3)
October 21:
* Breakout (2600) - (+100)
* Dolphin - (+100)
* Galactic Warriors (+100)
* Super Breakout (2600) - (+100)
* Warlords (+1,000)
* Black Widow (+1,000)
November 3:
* Missile Command (2600) - (+100)
Summary: If you are playing at home, i observed 7 leaderboard increases for 2,500. Breakout (2600) and Super Breakout finally crossed the 1,000 leaderboard threshhold.
Game Leaderboard Distribution:
* Over 30,000: 2 games (Asteroids Deluxe and Centipede)
* 20,000 - 30,000: 3 games
* 10,000 - 20,000: 11 games
* 5,000 - 10,000: 11 games
* 2,000 - 5,000: 27 games
* 1,000 - 2,000: 29 games
* 500 - 1,000: 13 games
* 200 - 500: 5 games
* 100-200: 6 games
* <100: 1 game (Vectron)
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Dview: Blade Kitten (XBLA)
The Bottom Line:
Blade Kitten is an action heavy ( lots of annoying enemies to fight) platformer from Krome Studios. You play as Kat Ballard, a cat girl with an attitude. She is stuck on an odd planet after her ship explodes. i kind of liked this game, though sometimes i felt there were too many enemies. There is much exploring to do (especially looking for treasure chests and collectibles) - some of the items are kind of hard to get to.
Blade Kitten is an action heavy ( lots of annoying enemies to fight) platformer from Krome Studios. You play as Kat Ballard, a cat girl with an attitude. She is stuck on an odd planet after her ship explodes. i kind of liked this game, though sometimes i felt there were too many enemies. There is much exploring to do (especially looking for treasure chests and collectibles) - some of the items are kind of hard to get to.
Dview: Dragon Age II (Xbox 360)
The Bottom Line:
Dragon Age II is the sequel to Dragon Age Origins. So, if you played the first game you know what the second game is like (though it has been somewhat dumbed down).
If you never played the first Dragon Age game... Dragon Age 2 is kind of an action RPG (lighter on the RPG than i wish). Sure, you can still level up and there is a degree of character progression - but it feels more like an action game. Yes, Dragon Age 2 reuses areas (so not are all unique). You can still set the other characters that travel with you up with tactics (i still hate tactics) that essentially tells them how to behave. Why heal yourself is not a default tactic, i still don't understand. In this game, however, the characters seems to chose their weapons and armor (though you can find some upgrades throughout the game). The game is segmented into years (not necessarily in one year segments) where certain key events happen.
Dragon Age II is the sequel to Dragon Age Origins. So, if you played the first game you know what the second game is like (though it has been somewhat dumbed down).
If you never played the first Dragon Age game... Dragon Age 2 is kind of an action RPG (lighter on the RPG than i wish). Sure, you can still level up and there is a degree of character progression - but it feels more like an action game. Yes, Dragon Age 2 reuses areas (so not are all unique). You can still set the other characters that travel with you up with tactics (i still hate tactics) that essentially tells them how to behave. Why heal yourself is not a default tactic, i still don't understand. In this game, however, the characters seems to chose their weapons and armor (though you can find some upgrades throughout the game). The game is segmented into years (not necessarily in one year segments) where certain key events happen.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
My Month or So in Video Games (September, October)
Here is another post that nobody cares about... So what have i been playing before i replaced my computer. Some of these i may still have to do some "dviews" on. i might be getting Kinect Sports Season 2 within the next several weeks. i'm thinking of getting Skyrim and Halo CE Anniversary in November.
i finally got over 30K gamerscore on my second account. Only 6,000 more to catch up to my former primary account.
Games i "beat": Blade Kitten, Dragon Age 2, Karaoke Revolution (all single player achievements except Hard Carbon - the best i have done was 99% on Expert)
Other Games i Played:
* a bunch of XBLA titles
* Risen (still have to beat)
* Rise of Nightmares - it actually seems like a decent game, however i got stuck at the start of chapter 2 (the balance section)
* Forza 3 (still have a lot to do in that game)
* Game Room
* Tales of Vesperia
i finally got over 30K gamerscore on my second account. Only 6,000 more to catch up to my former primary account.
Games i "beat": Blade Kitten, Dragon Age 2, Karaoke Revolution (all single player achievements except Hard Carbon - the best i have done was 99% on Expert)
Other Games i Played:
* a bunch of XBLA titles
* Risen (still have to beat)
* Rise of Nightmares - it actually seems like a decent game, however i got stuck at the start of chapter 2 (the balance section)
* Forza 3 (still have a lot to do in that game)
* Game Room
* Tales of Vesperia
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Forza: Randomly Reminscing About a Racing Series
i remember back when i had an Xbox. My original titles were: Halo: Combat Evolved, Munch's Odyssey, NFL Fever and Shrek (maybe there was another game or two). A week or so after launch i bought a racing game. What does this have to do with Forza Motorsports? Nothing really, i may have initially confused Project Gotham Racing with Forza.
My history with racing games is somewhat checkered. i had Gran Tourismo on the original PlayStation. For me it was basically pick an overpowered car and careen to victory. After that it was probably a few racing games on the Xbox: PGR, Forza, Rallisport Challenge (which usually involved me crashing over a cliff) and the more recent Forza games. i suck at racing games (struggling mightily with control).
Anyway, Forza motorsports was released in 2005 (less than 4 years later). i remember vaguely that they had "drivatars". Anyway, i remember driving through some courses badly and getting annoyed at how badly i was doing. i probably used a lot of drivatar action.
Next, Forza Motorsports 2 came out on the Xbox 360. i considered this a CaRPG. There were numerous races to do (or simulate like i did for almost all of them). There were a bunch of cars to acquire. Was it M. Rossi who was kind of a jerk driver?
After that, Forza 3 came out. This was probably my favorite racing game ever. Why did i like it? Well, they added a very helpful rewind button (and several levels of assists). So, it was a lot more accessible to me. Again, this is sort of like a CaRPG (a car RPG - you can gain levels and buy "weapons"). i actually completed most of the races myself (not well, just completed). i played on easy. There were a ton of races to do and cars to acquire. The very long season format did take a long time to complete (i haven't done it yet on my new primary account). Sometimes it even felt like overkill. Winning every race was do-able, but time consuming. The only races i really simulated were the NY tracks (i hate that course - and had a ton of flips/roll-overs on it) and the endurance races (does anyone actually do these?)
Today, Forza 4 was released. It sort of interests me to see exactly what Kinect integrations add to the periphery of the game. If it is like the third game (as accessible), but better i will be interested. Afterall, there is an achievement for getting a Delorean up to 88 MPH. Like the third game, i will probably wait for it to drop to $39.99 or less on a Black Friday sale (maybe longer).
My history with racing games is somewhat checkered. i had Gran Tourismo on the original PlayStation. For me it was basically pick an overpowered car and careen to victory. After that it was probably a few racing games on the Xbox: PGR, Forza, Rallisport Challenge (which usually involved me crashing over a cliff) and the more recent Forza games. i suck at racing games (struggling mightily with control).
Anyway, Forza motorsports was released in 2005 (less than 4 years later). i remember vaguely that they had "drivatars". Anyway, i remember driving through some courses badly and getting annoyed at how badly i was doing. i probably used a lot of drivatar action.
Next, Forza Motorsports 2 came out on the Xbox 360. i considered this a CaRPG. There were numerous races to do (or simulate like i did for almost all of them). There were a bunch of cars to acquire. Was it M. Rossi who was kind of a jerk driver?
After that, Forza 3 came out. This was probably my favorite racing game ever. Why did i like it? Well, they added a very helpful rewind button (and several levels of assists). So, it was a lot more accessible to me. Again, this is sort of like a CaRPG (a car RPG - you can gain levels and buy "weapons"). i actually completed most of the races myself (not well, just completed). i played on easy. There were a ton of races to do and cars to acquire. The very long season format did take a long time to complete (i haven't done it yet on my new primary account). Sometimes it even felt like overkill. Winning every race was do-able, but time consuming. The only races i really simulated were the NY tracks (i hate that course - and had a ton of flips/roll-overs on it) and the endurance races (does anyone actually do these?)
Today, Forza 4 was released. It sort of interests me to see exactly what Kinect integrations add to the periphery of the game. If it is like the third game (as accessible), but better i will be interested. Afterall, there is an achievement for getting a Delorean up to 88 MPH. Like the third game, i will probably wait for it to drop to $39.99 or less on a Black Friday sale (maybe longer).
Monday, October 10, 2011
Game Room: The October Report
Even though my computer (where i played Game Room) kind of died on me, i still managed to get a look at the ranked game leaderboards (on about October 4). By some near miracle, Game Room actually didn't freeze on my Xbox.
Anyway... Observed Increases for the period September 3rd (ish) to October 4th:
* Jackal (+1,000)
* Kabobber (+100)
* Super Breakout (+1,000)
* Thunder Castle (+100)
* River Raid (+1,000)
The decline in apparent sales is still going on (yes there are games that still kind of sell a little). A 3,200 increase in leaderboard stats is not that great (for a month). i guess these scary sales are apropos considering that it is nearing Halloween and there have been no new releases since late December. Maybe i'll do a year without new content post in the future (i either don't have access to some of my data or lost it with my old computer) - i'm not sure what data i still have.
Anyway... Observed Increases for the period September 3rd (ish) to October 4th:
* Jackal (+1,000)
* Kabobber (+100)
* Super Breakout (+1,000)
* Thunder Castle (+100)
* River Raid (+1,000)
The decline in apparent sales is still going on (yes there are games that still kind of sell a little). A 3,200 increase in leaderboard stats is not that great (for a month). i guess these scary sales are apropos considering that it is nearing Halloween and there have been no new releases since late December. Maybe i'll do a year without new content post in the future (i either don't have access to some of my data or lost it with my old computer) - i'm not sure what data i still have.
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