Friday, May 27, 2011

Daddy I Hurt

I get home late one night and fall asleep on the couch to not wake my wife. She brings my son downstairs at 4am crying because he hurt his arm. He cried for 45 min. "mommy hold you" "mommy booboo" "daddy I hurt" and much more. I cuddled him in my arm and he finally fell asleep. He awoke at 8am still crying "kiss make better" "see doctor make better." He walked around hanging his arm like it was dead and did not move it for anything. So we decided to take him to the doctor. The doctor took us in and explained that Matthew had dislocated part of his elbow. He popped it back in and gave him an Popsicle. I felt so bad for my son and I am glad to say he is back to normal like it never happened.

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Sorry for the delays

I have been stuck between playing Pokemon, Working OT, and moving my man cave from one room to another. I will post pics soon though. I will be back to updating my stuff. I also will take requests for Retro Mondays so please leave comments.

Friday, April 29, 2011

Pokemon Black & White



Pokemon Black and White for the NDS
 Yes, I like Pokemon. This 5th generation title has some awesome features that keeps the series alive as well as giving old players a spark to come back. The game starts everyone back at square one. There are no known Pokemon in this game until after the story is complete. This means players start out like they have never played before without knowing what type everything is and crushing through the game. I played through both without looking at a single guide for help or details. 

There are many new features to the game such as animated comic book cut scenes, more animated battles with Pokemon moving around, 150 new Pokemon, rotation battles, 3 way battles, and more. The most interesting change will be the three way battles. It will really open up strategy beyond just speed and offense. One Pokemon could take the lead and draw in attacks while others boost up or use status effects on the enemy. I also loved seeing new Pokemon and had a blast trying to catch everything I found. 



Online Features for this generation include random battles, and an online dream world to play with your Pokemon on the internet. This feature has just opened up so I will update soon with what it is like. From what I am reading you can get items and breed Pokemon to get "hidden" abilities. For example instead of Overgrow, which boosts grass moved damage if your hp is low, for Bulbasaur it can learn Chlorophyll, which boost speed during sunny day. 

What do these changes mean for more hardcore players. Way more strategy options, way more combination's and playing to get that perfect Pokemon with the right nature, stats, moves, ability. So look forward for many hours of enjoyment. This game is well worth the money and you will get many hours out of it. I bought Pokemon Emerald and have over 300 hours on it. 


Pokemon games from amazon. Grab any you don't have they are worth it. 




             
   

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

OMG 3DS!

My wife surprised me last night with a 3DS out of the blue!  Of course yelled thank, you tank, you, thank you, as I tore into the package jumping up and down like a 5 year old.  I turned plugged it in, turned it on, and a choir of angels sung as the logo appeared. My fun was about to begin.

First thing I tried was this built in game that uses special cards. You place the cards down and the camera picks them up. Crazy stuff happens, and things like dragons pop out of your counter top. The game reacts to your moving the system to aim. I liked it. The next thing I got to try was Super Monkey Ball. The 3d looks awesome but it can be hard to look at if you are not looking just right. The system has a slider to adjust the depth of 3d and even can be set to off.  I just want to play it all day!

The system is well worth the money with the amount of features it has. Camera, wireless, virtual console, 3d, 3d pictures, video chat, and best of all backwards compatibility. I give it a 5 out of 5!  

PS I have the best wife!

Check out the 3DS and some games on Amazon.

Monday, April 11, 2011

This is Love

You know you will do anything for you children when you change a very wet poopy diaper and realize you need to give your son a bath. The dedication part is when you take off his cloths and your shift and pick up him up and carry him up to the tub. This of course is when you have poop rubbed all over you, but it does not even bother you. Today I did just that. I had my sons poopy body held tightly as I carried him upstairs.

Thats love for your kids!

Friday, April 8, 2011

Infamous

 Infamous


     Infamous is a GTA style sandbox game with a morality twist. The story is  your trapped in a city thats been quarantined by the government because of an explosion. You were at the epicenter, and it has given you power, the power to electrocute people! You use your new found electric power for good or evil.


     The morality of your character effects what power you have access to. Evil gets things like cluster grenades and chain lighting, which hits a lot of stuff nearby. I am not good so I do not know what they get. It also effects some of the story and there are trophies for completing the game both ways making you play it twice. Other than that the choices are like give children puppies or murder their family. there is no middle ground, and it explains exactly what the choice is so there is no doubt.

     The game play is fun. I like leaping from building to building and gliding on power lines like an electric Tony Hawk. It is a little difficult to let go of a ledge when you want to jump down, but other then that climbing walls and navigating the city flows nicely.
   
     There is one power that I like is climbing on top of someone and draining their life force to heal myself. It comes in handy in a pinch. This is me killing an innocent civilian for power! wha ha ha.(left)




     The enemies are mostly gang members and hobos. Some get rockets or grenades. Latter you fight psychic super soldiers who can go invisible and turn giant. The story has a cool twist at the end that I wont give away. It was an good game and took under 10 hours to complete the first play through. For a 9.99$ game on black Friday it was well worth it. They are also making an Infamous 2 that will come out this summer.




Monday, March 7, 2011

Retro Monday!!! Pokemon!

Pokemon! Gotta Catch em All!
Pokemon has been around for a long time. Weather you lover it or hate it, It is huge. Video games, tv series, movies, a card game, and toys, Pokemon is just about everywhere. It all started with the epic Blue and Red for the original Game Boy released on September 30, 1998.
I remember watching a few Pokemon episodes on TV before school started, and I was not sure what it was about. I latter picked up Pokemon Blue from Wal-Mart as something to do on a 3 day drive to Texas my family was going on. I have a soft spot for RPG games and this was a good one. The idea that I could just catch more characters to play with was great. So I played, and played, and played, until I had them all. My favorite was Onix!



The concept was simple. The graphics were good for that time. The music was very memorable. I spent countless hours playing this game. Between the story, the safari zone, the elite four, catching them all and raising everyone to 100 you had almost endless play. The best part of the Pokemon is the other tie in things they had. Catch mew at Toys R Us, and the amazing Pokemon stadium compatibility.

They still make Pokemon games, the new ones just came out. I will review those soon. Till then try playing blue or red for old times sake.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

When your sick it never ends.

      When your sick having a family is both good and bad. The support from my loving wife is great, and  I wish I could be more supportive toward her. The downside is everyone gets it. I am sick and I got it from my son, who may have got it from my wife. I guess he gave it to me when he licked my eyeball while we were napping. Everyone is tired and drained and you just don't have the energy to deal with sick people anymore.  I am atwork toughing through it. I am indoors wearing a winter jacket and hat trying to keep warm.

Call the doctor!!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

saving over 90$ a year and the laptop dilemma

     Let's start of with "I hate laptops!" My wife has had a laptop for few years. She is not easy on her things. I have had to replace the power cord three times, the battery twice, the keyboard twice (okay that one was our toddler), the motherboard, the screen, and put new memory in it. My dekstop has not been touched in five years and works fine. Today, I have to order stuff from amazon. I have to order a replacement power cord since she damaged this one. It makes her happy, so I do everything I can to keep it working.
  

  I have Comcast for my Internet service. Every month I pay $5 for the modem rental fee, and that fee is going up to $7 soon. Everyone who has to pay an equipment fee should order a modem from Amazon. Modems are $50 and the rental fee is $91 a year. Why bother paying for the equipment?

I really wish I could buy my own cable box too. Technically you are allowed, but the manufacturers do not sell to customers or retailers just the cable company, so I'm stuck on that one.  :(

So save yourself some money and order your own modem. The one to the left is one that Comcast uses, but I will tell you that you will need to call in to have your modem authorized on your account. It should only take ten minutes.

Monday, February 21, 2011

Retro Monday!! The Adventures of Lolo

The Adventures of Lolo!

     The Adventure of Lolo is another NES classic. Released in 1989 by HAL America. The evil King Egger kidnaps Lala and lolo has to rescue her is the story behind the game. His castle has many floors with many rooms. Each room has a chest with a pearl inside that unlocks the next room. The Chest is opened only once all the hearts in the room are collected. Lolo has to solve all the puzzles to rescue Lala.
     I played this game a lot when I was younger. I had no idea what to do and nothing but time to kill. Games today have spoiled us. Only NES games throw you into the game with no explanation. Even the first room could take a long time to figure out if you have never played and have no manual.
      The game is fun and challenging. You have to solve puzzles by pushing blocks and other creatures in eggs. The game gets hard toward the end and I have not finished every level myself. If you are looking for fun game to play try Lolo. It is available on the virtual console for you Wii.

pictures soon.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Minecraft

    Minecraft is a indi-game that is the definition of sandbox game. You start off in a block based environment with nothing and no guide. There are sheep and woods and grassy fields. The game is 15$ and is still in beta. This means it has its bugs. The multi player is still being developed, but single player plays ok. I have spent hours digging massive tunnels and labyrinths. You make tools from stone and wood until you can craft iron weapons. It can basically be compared to electronic legos. There is one catch.
     When night falls zombies and monsters come out. They will kill you or explode destroying everything around them. I have spent many nights hiding in a while waiting for dawn. You can craft weapons and armor to defend yourself. The game has a sharp learning curve and I recommend you check online for the guide.
    The game is fun, and its fun to make massive buildings and dig big holes. If you have friends and can setup a server its fun to build things you can show off to each other.

I give minecraft a 5 out of 10

Monday, February 14, 2011

Retro Monday!

      Festers Quest!  This is another NES game I played when I was a kid. I liked the creepy Adams Family and this game looked cool. I have never finished it, and I don't think I even got past the first level.

      The story is brief. Fester watches aliens invade the city and I guess no survived accept his family. The city is empty accept hot-dog vendors. There are many aliens to shoot with what looks like a vacuum cleaner. Every enemy drops things, but you have to be careful. A blue "GUN" will upgrade your weapon but "RED" will downgrade. Some of the weapons make it harder to kill things since they hit walls and have odd patterns like swirling cannon balls. The aliens can also drop money you can use to buy stuff like hot-dogs.
    
     You can get a whip I think, and there are a bunch of items, but I never figured out how to use any of them. I did not have the chance because the game is hard. When you move monsters spawn, and if you run they reappear. this is annoying when the frogs leap around your bullets and have to run away to kill them, but when you go back they are back.
    
    If you have never played this game, I think you should try it. It is still hard much like all NES games were. I mean there is probably only hours of game-play, and to extend it they make you die and start over.

I give Festers Quest a 7 out of 10

Thursday, February 10, 2011

The video game problem.

          I have a "man cave". In this "man cave", I keep all my games and gaming systems. My son has figured out that neat things are in this room. So he often runs in and grabs stuff, if I forget to close the door. He yells "Mario!" as he grabs Mario Galaxy off my shelf and sprints over to the family room. If left alone, he will open the box, take the CD out, turn on my xbox, hit the eject, place the game in the tray,grab a controller, and turn on the stereo. I was very impressed with the display, but worried about my stuff. I don't stand a chance once he is older. He is two, I'm doomed!
     Here are some tips to keeping you games out of the reach of your kids. 

1. Keep your games in a closet or a room that you kids cannot get into. I have a child proof knob on my door, and I have to remember to close it. My systems are in his reach though, and he has seen me turn the xbox on enough times to know that he can watch Thomas on it. 

2. Use a cabinet with a door that your kids cannot open. Trust me, nothing is more angering then playing a game and beating a boss then the screen goes blank because your kid hit the power button. 
 3. My son also loves my hand held games. This is my fault since I put Thomas on my psp for when he is in the car and wont stop crying. He sees it and says "More Thomas tank engine and friends!" He also plays with my DS. He can turn it on move the menu around and take pictures of himself. I just worry he will break it.  The only advice I have for a handheld is keep it out of sight. He will not ask for it if it is not in his view.
     Try to keep your things out of reach just like you keep chemicals locked up. It's cute to watch him laugh playing "Luigi's Mansion", but when he does it on his own it's scary!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Keeping your things safe

    I am not rich, but I have stuff I would like to keep nice. I have some tips and examples for any fathers or fathers to be. I have a surround sound stereo system, game systems, a computer, cable box, and a TV. I am going to give you some tips and tell you what has happened since my son was born. Today we will talk about the stereo.
    I have a surround system, it's nothing super fancy but I'd like to keep it in good condition. My son has discovered that if he pulls the mesh netting off the speaker he can push in the white circles (these are the speakers!) I had to tie them on with black yarn. I advise wall mounting them so they can not be reached. Next, my son has also pulled the speaker wire connecting those speakers. I recommend getting long enough wire to go under the floor, or around your baseboards and staple them down. My son also can reach the stereo itself and turn it on and off, and he can push all kinds of buttons that mess up the settings. Place the unit as high as you can or get a cabinet with a door you can latch. The latest event has been with my sub woofer. My son has discovered that his Thomas trains fit inside the air vent! I had to take apart the speaker to get the trains out! I fashioned a make shift block using pantyhose and a twist tie! The only thing I can think of is to to put the vent against the wall.


      If you do as much preventive work as you can then you can keep your things nicer longer.  Never do anything without making sure you did everything to keep kids away from them.  Tomorrow I will talk about keeping them out of your games.

Monday, February 7, 2011

When your player 2 dies!

     As you get older things start to change. My friends and I were very close in high school. I saw them every day and talked to them online every night. We hung out at least once a week, and in college we still talked a lot. Things like work and women soon overshadow that friendship.
     I have friends whom I have not seen in years. I have friends I have not spoken to in months. We all have jobs and most of us are married. The time to hang out is very slim. The questions is does it have to be game over?
     I do not have that answer. I have tried to keep in touch. We still chat on a forum, but replies take days or weeks. I sometimes I see them online, but they are like those people you friend on xbox live because you made a good team once. You never really talk to them again.

Sad post today.  Hope to review the new game I'm playing.  Infamous soon.   Retro monday onhold till next week

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Demons Souls

This is one of the best games I have played in a very long time! The story is you are a hero drawn to a kingdom being consumed by an evil fog bringing demons to plague the lands. You choose from different classes that basically mean nothing since everyone can use any weapon and max all your stats. Your choices are heavy melee like a knight, rouge like quick melee, melee caster hybrid, dark magic, or holy magic. You die shortly into the game and are introduced to the death cycle in the game. This is something you will get very used to because you are going to die, and die, and die, and die, and die again, over and over again. The game has a sharp difficulty curve and even if you have played it and expect what is coming you can still die from a simple mistake.

The biggest feature to this game is multiplayer. You do not directly interact with other players most of the time. In fact, there is no communication at all. The main way to interact is to leave messages on the ground to guide or warn other players. There are a large number of preset messages you can scribe on the ground. If someone recommends your message you will instantly be healed to full health. It is much easier to read "trap ahead" rather than walking up ahead and seeing fireballs roll down a ramp toward you. The other multiplayer aspect is summoning help or being invaded.

     You can summon the help of up to 2 other players to fight with you against all evil. Once you defeat a boss your helper gets resurrected and goes back to their home world. There is also red phantoms, these are not friendly. They will hunt you down to try to kill you. These human players are worth a lot of souls, the currency of the game. The last multiplayer aspect is world tendency. When online the tendency will be grey which is in the middle. When you die, it shifts to dark. When you kill a boss or big demon it will shift to white. White worlds are easier, but you don't get great prizes. Black worlds are more difficult. Stronger red demons appear, that would not normally, but it is easier to find treasure.

     The game is unforgiving, yet very rewarding. You will die a lot, but it is never unfair. When you die, it is because you made a mistake. You must learn from your mistakes. For example, charging up the stairs only to be impaled by a demon knight that is lurking around the corner . When you come back he will be in the exact same spot, so be prepared. Monsters do not hunt you down, so you can take your time. This is my favorite PS3 game.


This game is well worth the money and frustration. I give it a 10 out of 10!!


Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Its fun to stay at the YMCA

My wife and I went to the YMCA this morning. I am not in good shape and overweight. I have been trying to get back into football shape again. So a trip the YMCA gym was good. I felt a lot better after 30 min of elliptical. My goal is to go 3 times a week. Since I am basically done with FF13 I have no obsession to play games every second of the day. They have child watch so its a welcome break sometimes to go there just for that. Short post today, tomorrow I will have a review for you. It will be the best game I have played in a very long time.

Monday, January 31, 2011

Retro Monday RYGAR

Yes it is monday, and that means retro day!  Today its none other then RYGAR! I remeber playing Rygar when I was a kid. I had no idea how to play or why I was jumping on turtles with a fire yo-yo. I was 8 at the time and it was a video game, I didn't need things like story or directions. This is one of those games that I loved playing. I do not recall ever owning it, but I played it a lot. It has a great sound track and good graphics.
Rygar was made by Tecmo and there are many versions of Rygar.  It is been released on Arcade, which is available on the Wii virtual console; NES, also on the virtual console; Lynx; Sega Master System;PS2; and Wii. I had a hand held Rygar and it was fun.  The monsters are unique and the equipment idea was great. I strongly recommend this game.
I have not gotten very far in the PS2 tittle. The graphics are good and the game play is a lot like Devil May Cry. There are power ups and awesome cutscene with massive monsters.  I will have to play this game again. Too bad my PS3 does not play PS2 games.  DAMN YOU SONY!  I will not buy a 4th PS2 !!!!
Hope you like the post,  This was my first run and was kind of rushed.


Sunday, January 30, 2011

Sometimes you gotta get out

     One easy thing to help with your relationship with your wife or husband is to get out alone. I took my wife out to Outback Steakhouse last night. We got a sitter for my son and we had adult time. We talked and had fun. you might be thinking I'm married and have a kid I don't need to go on dates. Wrong, It is a great help to the relationship especially if things feel stale. Do what you can, even if its an hour alone for coffee to keep in touch with your spouse. You will not regret it.

Friday, January 28, 2011

Finding that balance

     Balancing work, family, and video games can be tough. It is even harder if you play an MMORPMG. I struggle to find that balance every day. I work evening and get home late. My wife is normally asleep at that time. I will usually stay up and play video games until I am tired. This window provides me enough to time to get a meaningful chunk game time in. The trick is to not stay up too late to the point in which you are too tired in the morning for you family.

     I know when I am too into a game when I stay up all night and then my son has to play with his toys while daddy sleeps on the couch. For a while I tried the going to bed when I got home and play in the morning. This is harder than playing at night because both my son and my wife want my attention when I want to play a game. Console games it really doesn't matter when you play, but online games are best played at night when most players are online. Some nights I spend with my wife when she needs that extra attention.
   
   You will know when that balance tips too far toward gaming. You wife will be upset with you and you guys will fight. I had this happen this morning. I snapped at her because I was tired, and she snapped at me because she was tired too. I made the mistake of trying to play FF13 and this got worse. I ended up taking my son out to play so we both had time to cool off. We have made up and things are OK now.


Look for my new feature.  Retro Mondays are coming!!!

Thursday, January 27, 2011

The Final Fantasy Dilemma

Final Fantasy 13,  I finished the story at 80 hours. I am going for the trophies and I am up to 130 hours now. I am not a fan of the combat system, and I felt the story and characters were not that strong. The maps are very linear and confusing with large jumps. The game looks amazing and because I have played every Final Fantasy title released I have to finish it.  This game has been my obsession for the last few months.  It would go much faster if there was a good way to earn gil. I maxed all my characters and still don't have enough money to upgrade my equipment.




I have just finished the toughest mark, #64 The Doomherald.He was easier then I thought he would be. You just have to follow a pattern and let poison kill him.  Now to go back and 5 star every hunt.

Links
 Final Fantasy 13 Homepage
 Order it now from www.gamestop.com

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

It Starts

Today I decided to start a blog.  I want to document my life and times.  I love gaming, and my family. This will be the contents of most of my posts.