tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14294284550614235432024-03-12T19:27:06.585-07:00Zero Second CooldownTwo guys giving you their armchair analysis on the video game and mobile tech industry, complete with gameplay videos, reviews, and podcasts!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04842684605399678510noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-50777778065518936332014-12-31T09:58:00.000-08:002014-12-31T09:58:03.942-08:00Dustin's Top 10 Games of 2014 (And More!)<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Dustin’s Top 10 Games of the Year of 2014</div>
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Hey everyone! Long time, huh? Well, it is sad to say that
this will be the last post on Zero Second Cooldown. I had a great time doing
this, and I’ll miss it, but I can’t afford the time in doing it to the extent
that I would’ve loved, so I’m sorry in advance. But, let’s not be sad, and
instead, let’s talk about some of my favorite games of the year!</div>
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First, I’m going to talk about some games that don’t quite
make the list, but I still wanted to bring up in some capacity.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Old Game of 2014:
Telltale’s The Walking Dead</b></div>
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Well, I first tried The Walking Dead in 2012 after Giant
Bomb’s Game of the Year podcasts, but after playing episode 1 I wasn’t really
hot on it. The choices didn’t grab me, and even turned me off a bit, and that
just stopped me from wanting to play it. I picked Episode 2 back in June, and
quickly fell in love with the characters and the writing. Although it was a bit
rocky at points, t was a game I couldn’t get enough of, and even now, have
played through multiple times with other people. It’s a very solid game, one
that I wish I played and appreciated back when it came out.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Honorable Mentions of
2014:</b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Peregrin:</b></div>
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A small created by indie developer Aeryne Wright, Peregrine
is a small, simple game, but very beautiful. It has simple writing, but the
look and feel and sounds of the game are all very effective. It’s a short, free
experience, and one I couldn’t recommend enough. The visuals are one of the
most appealing, eye-catching things this year.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">The Terror Aboard the
Speedwell:</b></div>
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Interactive fiction done incredibly well. The Terror Aboard
the Speedwell is a sci-fi Twine, but evokes terror, atmosphere, and suspense
not unlike how I felt about games like 999. It’s filled with content and now
even free. It’s something that after going through it once, I want to go
through it again to see what I could possibly change through my choices.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">D4:</b></div>
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SWERY does it again. Although I only watched the Two Best
Friends playthrough of D4, it was a game that, had I played it, it would have
EASILY made my top 10. It’s just wacky and smart and it has a fantastic theme.
I really hope I can play it in the future, and I hope SWERY can continue making
more episodes, because I feel it’s a game that needs to continue.</div>
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Now, onto the meat of this list, my top 10 games of 2014.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">10. Kirby: Triple
Deluxe</b></div>
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Probably one of my favorite Kirby games ever. Once again, it’s
adorable and filled with charm, probably one of the best parts of Kirby games.
And it actually has a story, and cutscenes! It’s such a neat little game, and
shows that even if Kirby isn’t one of the A tier Nintendo franchises, it can
still hang with the best of them.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9. Jazzpunk</b></div>
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Wow. This game is super enjoyable. It’s really, really
funny. I had a smile on my face the entire time I went through it. It’s a spy
game based with imagery and story around old style Cold War propaganda media in
terms of looks and style. It’s super slick and even if it is a bit on the
shorter side (a few hours at most), I’m able to look past that and love it
despite that. God, I just wish more games that aimed towards comedy were actually
this funny.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. Super Smash Bros.
for Wii U</b></div>
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The newest Smash is super solid and enjoyable. After the
misstep that was Brawl, Smash Bros. for Wii U comes back guns blazing, with a
(mostly) great character cast, fantastic music remixes, and a LOT to do even if
you’re playing by yourself. Counting in some solid online, and it’s no doubt
that this is one of my favorite Smash games—and maybe it’ll even be my favorite
in the future. All I can hope is that we get more stages and more characters,
because that would improve what is already a fantastic game.</div>
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I just wish we got Magicant on the Wii U version.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Captain Toad:
Treasure Tracker</b></div>
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Man, it’s a great thing I held off on posting this list
until I played this list, because it stormed in out of nowhere to really shake
things up. It’s probably the most adorable game this year, and the Pixar-esque
look from Mario 3D World REALLY looks great with Captain Toad. With 64 main
levels and other bonus levels, each one with challenges to complete and
challenge times to beat, and wow, this game really became something I got
hooked to. I already beat all of the core and bonus levels, and I’m still
hooked on the final bonus level.</div>
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It’s what happens when you take the jumping out of Mario,
and wow, it works super well. It doesn’t miss a beat, and it shows that
Nintendo can really make a polished game.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Shovel Knight</b></div>
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I’m a big fan of Mega Man 2, so Shovel Knight was something
I quickly jumped into and fell in love with. It’s an ode to that style of games
without feeling like it’s completely pandering to them in a negative way. It’s
a fantastic game with incredibly tight mechanics and potential for challenge,
and one that I even jumped back into right away after beating it. In a game
that emulates the era and style of games that had top notch level design,
Shovel Knight truly has some top notch level design—as well as top notch looks
and music. I can’t recommend this enough.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. Dark Souls 2</b></div>
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Although I played Dark Souls before Dark Souls 2, Dark Souls
2 grabbed me much more than its predecessor. Although it isn’t as solidly
designed as Dark Souls, it’s still fun to go through, even if the level design
is a bit theme park at times, and running with different builds trying out
bosses is a lot of fun. Not to mention that each DLC is very well and very
smartly made with some of the best boss fights I’ve ever played. It’s not hard
for me to recommend Dark Souls 2, not in the slightest.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Danganronpa 2:
Goodbye Despair</b></div>
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Such a great game. Gosh. The Danganronpa series, while they
have some rather subpar gameplay, have some amazing characters. It’s one of
those rare games where I come to think about the characters and love the
characters as much as I have with the Danganronpa games, not to mention the
completely unexpected story—twists and all. Between the two games, I have to
recommend the second one, because the story is amped up even more, the trials
are amped up even more, and the characters are amped up even more.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Bayonetta 2</b></div>
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Man, such a high octane game. I know a lot of the games I’ve
played this year have been similar in style and being over the top, this one
takes the cake. From the very first level on, I had a smile on my face the
whole way through and didn’t want to put the controller down. The combat is
incredibly tight and polished, even after my loving The Wonderful 101 last
year, I think Bayonetta 2 comes close to beating that game out for me in terms
of combat systems—stuff like Witch Time are incredibly inventive and add a lot
to the combat.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Donkey Kong
Country: Tropical Freeze</b></div>
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How Bayonetta 2 is tight in combat, Tropical Freeze is tight
in platforming. Probably my favorite 2D platformer I’ve ever played, the looks
of the game are varied, colorful, lush, and beautiful, and the soundtrack has a
bunch of different takes thanks to David Wise, and each song is truly
fantastic. The inclusion of other characters like Diddy, Dixie, and Cranky,
make the game a lot of fun and varies the gameplay a lot. Even if I wanted
Retro to make something else, I’m honestly pretty glad they made Tropical
Freeze. I never played a lot of the Wii version, and this game hits all of the
right notes.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"></span></span></b><b>1 1. Transistor</b></div>
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This game really grabbed me immediately upon starting it. I
love the art style. I love how the music varies from synth and electronic
sounding, to the vocal tracks. The gameplay is really solid, leaving you to
constantly think on your feet, but never too punishing—a right balance of
difficulty. Not to mention, Red is one of my favorite character designs and
protagonists of the year. And that ending? Wow, that really got me, I’ll say
that much. It’s a very masterful game, not to mention a brand new IP from an
indie developer. It’s a game I truly can’t recommend enough if you have access
to it.</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-13971006146502239282014-08-30T19:49:00.001-07:002014-08-30T19:49:38.186-07:00The Walking Dead: Season 2 Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_WpVBIf0FCA/U_1ffNkBi6I/AAAAAAAAAJg/ds1735UKOTQ/s1600/TWD%2Breview%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_WpVBIf0FCA/U_1ffNkBi6I/AAAAAAAAAJg/ds1735UKOTQ/s1600/TWD%2Breview%2B1.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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"Ohana means family. Family means everyone dies, or is forgotten."<br />
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<i><b>Reviewer’s Note: After this note, this review will contain
heavy spoilers for Episode 5 of The Walking Dead: Season 2 and general spoilers
for The Walking Dead: Season 2. This review will cover general thoughts on the
season as a whole, but have the most in depth thoughts on Episode 5.</b></i></div>
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As you can see, the above are all of my choices for the
first four episodes of the season. I’ll show my choices for Episode 5 at the
end, though I’m sure that by the end of the review, you’ll more or less know
what I chose in Episode 5.</div>
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In a way, I have a bit of an interesting history with
Telltale’s The Walking Dead. I originally tried out the first season after
Giant Bomb’s love of it on their Game of the Year podcasts, but I really wasn’t
a big fan of the first episode. I came back to it around June of this year,
starting from Episode 2 on, and just about marathoned the rest of that season,
slowly growing to like it more and more, and absolutely loving Season One’s
finale.</div>
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Luckily, by that point, there were already three episodes of
Season Two available to play, so I was able to dig right in.</div>
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Season Two, as many of you know, stars Clementine, the young
girl Lee charges himself with protecting in the first season, who has now
become an intrepid survivor in the post-apocalypse. Throughout the entire
season, you end up going throughout multiple groups of people, sadly losing
plenty of people who become friends along the way. Though, this is to be
expected, as loss of loved ones is one of the biggest parts of The Walking Dead
series.</div>
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The gameplay has changed just a bit from Season One, mostly
in that a lot of the slow, obtuse puzzles have been removed for more quick
paced QTE’s and movements while performing actions normally done with just
clicking. While this change streamlines the game for the better in a lot of ways,
it also takes out a lot of the adventure out of the adventure game, which is a
bit saddening, as Telltale has touted The Walking Dead as an adventure game,
and a lot of the classic adventure game stylings are gone, focusing more on the
story, dialogue, and writing.</div>
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This is not to say that focusing on the story, dialogue, and
writing, is a bad thing. However, it seems to be that the writing has been a
bit lackluster in comparison to the final episodes of Season One.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first three episodes are pretty solid
writing, and although some things feel a bit forced (such as Kenny’s miraculous
survival), they’re very strong overall.</div>
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I feel like, however, the season started to reach a bit of a
downhill spiral starting from Episode Four on. It feels like at that point, the
most important part of The Walking Dead games, the writing, quickly started to
waver, as many characters seemed to go in rather odd directions with their
arcs.<br />
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The treatment of Sarah was also something that really harmed
my opinion of the game after finding out about things said by game creators. I
originally thought of the character Sarah, a young girl near Clementine’s age
you meet in Episode One, who has issues dealing with the world around her, as a
character that Telltale meant as the antithesis to Clem—a character who wasn’t
taught to survive in this new world, who wasn’t forced to see the harsh
realities and learn to grow up—but instead, a character that Telltale hated and
simply wanted to suffer, and throwing her away in Episode 4 in a very anticlimactic,
Telltale way by not allowing you to save her, no matter what you do. I was
rooting for Sarah to make it to the end, and simply knowing what Telltale
thought, as well as the harsh treatment of Sarah for no good reason simply
served as a big negative to me.</div>
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Kenny is also a character greatly hurt by the poor writing
that tends to plague the last two episodes of the season. After Sarita’s death,
Kenny gets incredibly angry at the world around him. And this is, overall,
pretty understandable. For me, he had to walk into the forest to see that his
wife had shot herself instead of their bitten son who was about to turn, shoot
his son to prevent Duck from turning, watch another young boy reminiscent of
his son who was a Walker, get beaten into a half inch of his life and lost an
eye, and lost the second woman he loved.</div>
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To say that Kenny gets it rough is probably a bit of an
understatement, yet throughout episodes four and five, Kenny is constantly
portrayed as unhinged, ready to kill, menacing, and cruel. This isn’t to say
Kenny is a perfect angel, as he never has been, but I feel like Telltale
reduced Kenny to something a lot less than he ever was throughout the entire
series. Even after being portrayed very well at certain points in Episodes 4
and 5, his character as a whole is brought down by what feels like very
inconsistent writing.</div>
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To go more onto Episode Five (boy, I’ve been talking a
while, huh?), I felt that the episode had some very good highs, but the lows
were very low, and after being able to sit and think on it, very much hurt my
thoughts on the Season Finale. You start off in the aftermath of the final
choice of Episode Four, pinned down by the Russians who held you up, and with
Jane mysteriously coming back to help out, hold Arvo hostage in order to get to
a shelter, stopping at a busted generator station for the night. This part was
probably one of the best parts of the episode for me, because it was just
simple character development and a bit of an air of ease. After so much that
had happened, the group could just rest and relax, joke around, and talk, and
it felt strangely powerful to me.</div>
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The second major choice of the game, helping Luke, was one
that bothered me a lot, because it was a case of a Telltale game death. I had
Clem go over to try and help Luke out, because that’s what she would do to help
her friend, but no matter what I could do (and even if I had chosen the other
option), there was nothing to be done. As soon as that ice starts to break,
Luke is a dead man, killed off in a few seconds, with nothing to do about it.</div>
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It’s at this point where Kenny becomes a worse and worse
written character, and the rest of the group trusts him less and less. Upon
finding and fixing an old truck, an argument sparks throughout the group of
where to go, simply leading to more and more tension that wedges a group that’s
been with each other for three episodes now further and further apart, which
just feels for the sake of tension, in a way.</div>
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What is probably one of the most confounding story points in
Mike, Bonnie, and Arvo stealing the truck and Arvo shooting Clem and then
leaving to never been seen or heard from again (remember, Bonnie and Mike have
been with you since Episode 3 and have helped you escape Carver’s compound, and
have been shown as primarily trustworthy, helpful, and reliable) ends up
leading to by far the best moment of the episode.</div>
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After being shot and falling unconscious, Clem dreams about
being back in the RV with Lee, talking about a bad dream she had, and other
things, such as what makes a person angry, and other topics, and being able to
see young Clem with Lee again brought me pretty darn close to tearing up. It
was a wonderful, serene moment that had me hoping everything from Season One
Episode 3 on was just all an awful dream.</div>
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Of course, as is what is one of the running themes of The
Walking Dead, all good things must end, and you wake up to find Jane and Kenny
going at it again, as is the usual this episode. This is where the game
ultimately ends up culminating into—one long string of decisions and choices
that will, ultimately, effect what you do in the end and who you side with.</div>
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Upon reaching a rest stop after having to split up to find
fuel, and Jane, Clem, and Alvin Jr. having to escape from Walkers, Jane tells
Clem and Kenny that Alvin Jr. is gone, sparking Kenny to become enraged, and he
ends up fighting with Jane.</div>
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This, of course, leads to what feels like the worst Telltale
choice in the season: shoot Kenny and Jane can live, or look away and let Kenny
kill Jane. My Clem was always more of a mediator, preferring not to have to
kill anyone if they could avoid it, only doing so for survival reasons, and
there was no way to talk either of them out of it.</div>
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Earlier in the season, Luke talks about how the most
important thing is family, and although I didn’t realize it at first, thinking
back on it, I feel like my choice was at least partially affected by Luke’s
words. Although Kenny had never been the kindest man, due to having been
through a lot, but he was someone I had been with for two whole seasons now.
With Lee gone, Kenny was the closest Clem had to family, especially now with
Alvin Jr. gone.</div>
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Of course, after Jane’s death, we find out what is probably
the most dumbfounding revelation: Alvin Jr. was still alive. For whatever
reason, Jane lied to prove some point to Clem, that Kenny was too far gone.
This is the part that really had me upset with the chapter—that the game felt
like Kenny was in the wrong, going so far as to pulling what felt to me like an
odd stunt against Kenny.</div>
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The ending was satisfying, and, despite not being with the
whole group, the idea of Clem, Kenny, and Alvin Jr. feels very fitting, and my
biggest issue with the ending is that we never find out what happens to Christa
since Episode One. To me, it seemed much more likely that she would survive the
situation she faced than how Kenny miraculously survived his situation, so her
being omitted throughout the rest of the season was something that bothered me
a bit. </div>
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The game does have five different endings. Five very
different endings. In a way it’ll be interesting to see what Telltale does with
Season Three. I wasn’t overly fond of Season Two at a number of points, but it
was a solid game with a solid story, though plagued with very inconsistent
writing and character choices towards the last few episodes.</div>
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For reference, my Episode 5 choices were as follows:</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3/5 </b></div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-90309895224961199272014-07-04T08:29:00.000-07:002014-07-04T08:29:26.748-07:00Thanks Ryan DavisToday I’m here not to talk about a review, or some game, or anything like that. Today I’m just here to let out my thoughts and ramble a bit about something that matters to me.
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A year ago today was, by far, one of the two most tragic days I had to face in 2013. A year ago today, July 3, 2013, was the awful day that Ryan Davis passed away.
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For those of you who may be readers of Zero Second Cooldown, but don’t know who Ryan Davis is (which, if you are one, that honestly and utterly confounds me), he was one of the co-founders and editors of video game website Giant Bomb, a site that I personally love and was a huge reason why Zero Second Cooldown was started in the first place. Giant Bomb and Ryan Davis especially, have been huge influences in my decision to start this site. Alongside that, Ryan Davis and company have been huge reasons why I’m not completely jaded and cynical about video games from my time on NeoGAF.
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I first found out about Ryan Davis and Giant Bomb in 2012. While lurking NeoGAF (as usual), I saw a link to a Twitch archive of their Thursday Night Throwdown of Fortune Street. When I watched it, I had no clue what was happening, or who these people were, or why NeoGAF loved these guys so much. Hell, at first I thought Patrick Klepek was some random kid in high school, and I thought Ryan’s name was Vinny! Needless to say, my first view of Giant Bomb was one that was very confused.
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But that isn't to say it wasn't great. Watching Ryan joke around with Jeff, Vinny, and Patrick, as they went into this game that none of them knew about, as well as his ability to help lead such an entertaining video of Fortune Street, his wit, comedic timing, and jokes were all fantastic. Rewatching that very Thursday Night Throwdown now, I’m still laughing at all of them.
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After that, sadly, I didn't follow Ryan and the rest of the Giant Bomb crew for a while. My next Giant Bomb exposure was the Persona 4 Endurance Run as I started to get into the Persona series, and I’ll always remember “I said Charlie!” from Ryan. It was, at least to me, a big moment from Giant Bomb, and Ryan was there to lead it on through, and help me fall in love with Giant Bomb because of it.
From the time of his passing, I had only been heavily following Giant Bomb for just under a year. I watched plenty of Quick Looks featuring Ryan, listened to Bombcasts, and listened to old excerpts from Bombcasts on what was probably a daily basis. I've probably listened to the “Ryan is a narc” story well over two dozen times now, if not more.
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Giant Bomb had given me so much entertainment on a daily basis, that it had far surpassed fighting game streams in terms of hours of entertainment. I had rushed home after work one day to watch them use the Wii U on the launch. I watched them crack jokes at the Driveclub guy. I watched them absolutely flabbergasted at the Xbox One reveal, and watched them be some of the first people to hold a PS4.
Everything was awesome, and then Ryan passed and I didn’t know what to think. I wanted to hope that it was just some strange, awful practical joke, but with all of the tweets, and realizing the gravity of the situation they were talking about, it quickly became apparent that it wasn’t. I still remember that day- I just cried. Here was this person that I had never met, who I only watched through the internet, and I was sobbing.
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Earlier in the year, my dad had lost a friend, and while I wasn’t close to him, it still hit me pretty hard and I was shaken up over it. But with Ryan passing, I felt like a mess. And this wasn’t even to say of how others in his life had/have felt about it. There are days where I feel like it’s hard for me to entirely grasp that he’s gone, and it makes the feeling all the worse when I realize that he is still gone, even a year later now.
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It makes me really sad that I ended up getting my dad into Giant Bomb after Ryan’s passing. My dad has been listening to the Bombcast weekly since about August of 2013, but aside from best of compilations and some videos that I’ve shown my dad, he’s had barely any exposure to Ryan. When I’ve played some old Bombcasts for him and Ryan has spoken, my dad would ask “Who’s that? Is that Ryan?” and it just makes me sad that he wasn’t able to listen to him—that he doesn’t know who he is until I can confirm it for him.
<br />
<br />
Even though he’s gone, and as sad as that may be, I always make sure to keep him in my memory, and know that others do the same. I know for years to come, I’ll keep watching his old videos, listening to old Bombcasts, and I’ll introduce those to others, be it friends and hell, probably future kids and partners. It may sound silly to some, but, as I said earlier, Ryan Davis and the rest of the Giant Bomb crew have been a huge influence and inspiration for me. They’ve been a huge rejuvenating force to help me truly love video games again.
<br />
<br />
Matt Rorie talked about what happened at Ryan’s wedding, where he called Rorie a “human piece of shit”. In a way, as harsh as that sounds, knowing what I know about Ryan, it was meant in a very positive way. It’s a way that, after hearing about it, how I feel about my best friends (and believe me, if you know what I’m talking about, it’ll all make sense). It’s something strange, but something I can relate to, and it’s that sort of thing I know I’ll miss from Ryan.
<br />
<br />
In a way, I wish I had more to say. I wish I had experiences where I met him that I could talk about, but I don’t. All I really have to pull from is just me watching his antics on the internet. Whether it’s him narc’ing out some potheads or reading some of his seven paragraph Yelp review in the most hilarious voice, or him just screwing around with a Kinect, I’ll never forget Ryan Davis, what he did for Giant Bomb, what he did for the video game industry, or what he did for me personally, even if we never met.
<br />
<br />
So I just wanna say… thanks.
<br />
<br />
Thanks Ryan Davis.
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-22151483666193555592014-07-02T10:40:00.002-07:002014-07-02T10:40:45.212-07:00It's The End of The World, So Your Name, Please: Part 03<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CTGtutTJUeo/U7RDcp_cmqI/AAAAAAAAAIg/A0F2Ju6WJ-E/s1600/earthbound+3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CTGtutTJUeo/U7RDcp_cmqI/AAAAAAAAAIg/A0F2Ju6WJ-E/s1600/earthbound+3.png" height="220" width="400" /></a></div>
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I can very much relate to the guy talking in this picture.</div>
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This time we help some monkeys, save Paula, and almost lose to two bosses! But we manage to survive pretty well this time.</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-23029145682351687522014-06-26T17:39:00.001-07:002014-06-26T17:39:11.244-07:00Taking a Look At: Shovel Knight?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yukCbT5Y7no/U6y8e-Rp-oI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/0xXke-nNC6c/s1600/shovel+knight.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-yukCbT5Y7no/U6y8e-Rp-oI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/0xXke-nNC6c/s1600/shovel+knight.png" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
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Hey, Shovel Knight. You ok, man?</div>
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This video is a great reminder to always keep your Wii U Gamepad charged or charging.</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-46401167124715749492014-06-11T15:25:00.001-07:002014-06-11T15:25:34.714-07:00Another Year of Shootbang: Microsoft's E3 Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VkV-3mhG0po/U5jW93EsZHI/AAAAAAAAAHg/YWV7bFo2eFs/s1600/Xbox-One-Logo-600x300.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VkV-3mhG0po/U5jW93EsZHI/AAAAAAAAAHg/YWV7bFo2eFs/s1600/Xbox-One-Logo-600x300.jpg" height="160" width="320" /></a></div>
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CGI is the word of the day at Microsoft's E3 Conference</div>
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Let’s kick off Wednesday’s article by talking about
Microsoft’s E3 press conference! Sorry for the delay on the Ubisoft article, I
had meant to have it up last night, but due to time constraints and some poor
planning on my part, I ended up not having the article out on time. So, again,
my apologies for that, but let’s get started!</div>
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The newly promoted Phil Spencer hosted the conference for
Microsoft this year, and I have to say, I thought he did a great job. He
promised games this year, and boy, we got games! I thought Spencer had a great
stage presence, and while some of the #MyFavorite bits between games felt a bit
weird, the conference had a great overall feel to it. And of course, a big part
of that was due to them getting straight to the point and focusing on games
first and foremost.</div>
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First off was Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare, which was a
near future Call of Duty game. It looked pretty nice, but at the end of the
day, at least to me, it seemed like a current-gen, nice looking Call of Duty
game. The interesting thing is that it’s been done by a new developer, so
whether Sledgehammer Games proves to do a good job is something to be shown,
and, as said, it’ll be interesting to see how they do.</div>
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Next up they showed a new track for Forza 5 and some footage
of the co-op in Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Neat stuff, but ultimately, they weren’t
big parts of the presentation, and definitely not something I was all that into.</div>
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What was easily one of the most hilarious parts of their
conference was what originally appeared to be a trailer for a military shooter
(me and a couple of other people thought this was going to be Battlefield:
Hardline at first) and then turned into a pretty hilarious, and definitely meta
trailer for Sunset Overdrive. The trailer was a treat, but looking at the
gameplay, I’m a bit indecisive about it. It’ll probably be fun, but right now,
I’m not too sure. It feels like something that probably needs a little bit more
fine-tuning. I can definitely see that being a fun game, and the customization
that seems to be a big part of it looks great too. Insomniac knows how to make
a good game with crazy weapons, so I have faith that they’ll probably deliver.</div>
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The next most hilarious part of the conference followed
shortly after was the Dead Rising 3 DLC, with the most appropriately ridiculous
name ever: Super Ultra Dead Rising 3’ Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha.
It’s a DLC that features all sorts of costumes from Capcom characters and
zombie M. Bison. It seems something that’s so tongue in cheek, but benefits
really well from it.</div>
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Fable: Legends was shown, and it seemed sort of awkwardly
made in terms of character designs and animations, but the idea behind it,
especially with the dungeon master mode, seem great, and I hope that there are
favorable impressions in the beta come Fall.</div>
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Microsoft also had a great troll with Conker being featured
in Project Spark, and looking at the sadness on Twitter, I both wanted to
laugh, and give my condolences. It felt hilarious and harsh at the same time.</div>
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Ori and the Blind Forest was, overall, probably my favorite
game I saw at the Microsoft conference. Although we didn’t see a lot of it, it
looked incredibly beautiful and serene, and I hope that they show more as soon
as possible.</div>
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Oh, and there was Halo. Halo: The Master Chief Collection
(what a name) was announced, featuring all of the numbered Halo entries (i.e.,
1, 2, 3, and 4) for the Xbox One, with Halo 2 multiplayer and 4,000 gamerscore,
if you’re into that sort of thing. Oh, and it ships with Halo 5: Guardians
beta, again, if you’re into that sort of thing.</div>
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Next up was a bunch of indie games, including a game called
Inside from the people who made Limbo, and plenty of others, including Cuphead,
an indie game that looks straight out of a 1920’s cartoon, and Inafune’s Mighty
No. 9.</div>
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Then we got some more AAA in form of a quick CGI trailer for
a<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tomb Raider sequel, Rise of the Tomb
Raider, which is only slightly silly of a title, and some gameplay of the
fantastic looking The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.</div>
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What was probably the biggest surprise of the show came to
be an HD remake of the old game Phantom Dust, from Ken Lobb and the team that
made Killer Instinct. The trailer looked cool, and it got me a bit hype despite
not having any connection to the original.</div>
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Oh, and Tom Clancy’s The Division showed up again, because
we really haven’t seen enough Ubisoft games. It still looked very nice when
they showed it that morning, and I’m still, admittedly, pretty suspicious of
what the final game will look like.</div>
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The rumor of Microsoft getting a game from Platinum Games
came true. A CGI trailer for the game Scalebound was shown, which featured a
Dante looking character sporting some Beats by Dre. Although the main character’s
design isn’t my favorite, the dragons looked great, it’ll probably have some
crazy action, and it’ll probably be a game that pushes me towards actually
getting an Xbox One in the future.</div>
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The final surprise of the show was a CGI trailer for the new
Crackdown game. It looked pretty ridiculous, and they seemed to be highlighting
the idea of a lot of destructibility. It’s probably still at least a year out,
considering they showed a short trailer, but it could be exciting. I know
Crackdown was a game I’ve heard plenty of people clamoring for.</div>
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Overall, Microsoft had a really good conference. The name of
the game Microsoft played was games. Well, games and CGI trailers. A lot of the
first party games seemed to be pretty early on, given by the fact that there
were so many CGI trailers with no gameplay shown. Of course, games take time,
there’s no doubt about that, but I really hope they show some gameplay of these
games soon, because that’s a very important part. Either way, I thought
Microsoft had a pretty good showing, and I’m interested to see a lot of the
final products of what they showed. They promised games, and they gave games,
simple as that. It was a great recovery from their stumbling last year.</div>
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I’d give Microsoft’s conference a <b>7/10</b>, because they had a
strong showing, but there just wasn’t enough gameplay and a bit too much CGI
trailers. But they showed a lot of games, some of which seem pretty neat and
interesting.</div>
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Tomorrow I’ll be going over Sony’s press conference, so
thanks for reading and see you then!</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-21330462075142754652014-06-11T11:34:00.000-07:002014-06-11T11:46:30.911-07:00Another Year of Shootbang: Ubisoft's E3 Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-33CjCF_-uDY/U5iebYKsT-I/AAAAAAAAAHU/vBVWJour9y4/s1600/Ubisoft.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-33CjCF_-uDY/U5iebYKsT-I/AAAAAAAAAHU/vBVWJour9y4/s1600/Ubisoft.png" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Another conference, another set of corny jokes<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Kicking off Day 2 of Zero Second Cooldown’s week of E3
coverage is a look at Ubisoft: What they showed at their conference, my
thoughts and opinions on it, and ultimately, how I’d score their conference. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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Ubisoft’s conference was… pretty strange. As usual, they had
Aisha Tyler as their presenter. Now, I think Aisha Tyler, aside from a choice
few lines in past conferences (I’m looking at you, girlwood), but overall I
think she’s a great presenter. She’s very professional, a great speaker, and
has great stage presence. However, this year the banter between games was a bit…
much. Between random cursing that seemed to be there for the sake of being
edgy, weed jokes, and just… overall, it felt kind of weird, awkward, and out of
place. I’m not exactly wanting press conferences to be a bunch of stiff, stodgy
old white men in suits rattling off game trailers and sales numbers, but I
definitely think there’s a line between that and going “WHOA FOUR TWENTY BRO
YEAH!”. There’s a good medium in between, and Ubisoft just went too insane, and
it fell flat on its face. Simple as that.<br />
</div>
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Oh, and Ubisoft showed some games at their conference too! They
started off with Far Cry 4, which ended up with a lot of shooting and some
really bizarre selfies with who I can only assume is the antagonist. Honestly,
I think, at the least, Far Cry 4 looked nice, and it had a bit of interesting
(though gruesome) humor in the brief bit that they showed, but Far Cry isn’t a
series I’m entirely invested it. It’s something I’ll probably check out at some
point, but not anytime soon.<br />
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I find it hilarious how Ubisoft said that they “Start big,
and then go bigger”, but ended up leading into Just Dance 2015. That whole
segment went on too long, and the fact that Ubisoft managed to get “Happy”
stuck in my head makes me really resent them (the amount of times that that
song gets stuck in my head on a weekly basis is astronomical, I tell you).<br />
</div>
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Oh, and they showed The Division, which featured a bunch of
cheesy voice chat during some mission to take over a train station, or something
like that. I’m also convinced that, after the graphical showcase we saw last
year, and even this year, that we’ll see a Watch_Dogs-esque graphical
downgrade. Call me skeptical all you want, but I just feel like that won’t be
what we’ll see in the final console (or even final PC) release come 2015. Also,
I kind of feel the same about The Crew, but considering that game was shown to
be always online so far, I don’t even know if I’ll get that. The concept of
being able to drive across the entire United States (more or less) is cool, but…
it’s not something that I’m rushing out to play, and then including the whole
always online stuff, yeah, I won’t be getting it anytime soon.<br />
</div>
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Next up was Assassin’s Creed Unity. I’m probably going to
get some amount of flak for it, but I really don’t like the Assassin’s Creed
series that much. It just doesn’t interest me. I think what they showed is kind
of cool, and it looks quite nice, but it’s something I will not be trying out.
What I’ve seen already doesn’t really interest me, and that’s just how it is
really.<br />
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Shape Up seems pretty cool to be honest. It seems like it’s
taking an interesting, game-y approach to fitness games similar to Wii Fit,
though in a more game-y sense. It seems interesting. Probably not something I’d
get, but it looks cool. I feel like the concept with what they showed could
really prove to be something interesting, in all honesty.<br />
</div>
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Next up was Valiant Hearts: The Great War, which is a new 2D
game set during World War I, in the UbiArt engine, and featuring a dog. I
really didn’t understand what the game was, aside from being about the
trenches, and this dog going around throughout the war. I don’t get what this
game is, but it looks really nice, and from the somber tone of the trailer, it
will probably (hopefully) be heartwrenchingly sad. I’m not sure if this is even
some big retail release in the vein of Rayman Origins/Legends, or something
small like Child of Light. This was probably the most interesting game shown at
their conference just due to what it was and how little was said.<br />
</div>
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Oh, and they’re bringing back Rainbow Six! It looks kind of
neat from the gameplay they showed, but I’m still not sure it’s something I’m
interested in. I think it could probably prove to be an interesting team-based
multiplayer shooter off of what they had, but it just depends on if they keep
it similar, and also give some good reasons to buy it asides from nice
graphics. The destructibility was really awesome though, and if they have other
cool stuff in the game, I might get it. Right now, I need to be convinced. It
was probably one of the more interesting games shown though, but that’s just
me.<br />
</div>
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Overall, Ubisoft didn’t have a lot that I was too interested
in, similar to EA. At least compared to EA, they had more interesting stuff to
show, but not stuff I’m immediately leaping for. Overall, I’d give their score
a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5/10</b>. Solid, but nothing super
special to me. Next I’ll be taking a look at Microsoft’s E3 Conference, so I’ll
see you all then!</div>
</div>
<br /><div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-9967411039130479082014-06-09T21:28:00.001-07:002014-06-09T21:28:11.357-07:00Another Year of Shootbang: EA'S E3 Conference<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OZaUp8D21sc/U5aI3_CPaLI/AAAAAAAAAHE/_K3AlVQ8V24/s1600/EA-Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-OZaUp8D21sc/U5aI3_CPaLI/AAAAAAAAAHE/_K3AlVQ8V24/s1600/EA-Logo.png" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Let's start E3 week off with some... feels?</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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As of this writing, Monday, June 9<sup>th</sup>, 2014, marks
the day the four big, live press conferences were held: Microsoft’s, EA’s,
Ubisoft’s, and Sony’s. And of course, tomorrow marks Nintendo’s Digital Event
and all day coverage with the Treehouse, which means by tomorrow afternoon,
there will be tons of news and tons of games to talk about, as is the norm for
E3 each year.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For Zero Second Cooldown, I plan on going over each
conference, talking a bit about what was shown at each conference, and offering
my own thoughts and impressions on different, particular games from each
conference, and then giving my overall thoughts and, dare I say, a “grade” for
each conference.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So with that, I’m going to say that it’s E3 2014, y’all. Let’s
talk about EA’s conference today.</div>
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EA’s press conference was, well, it wasn’t optimal; I’ll
start off by saying that.</div>
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<br /></div>
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If there was one thing we got viewing EA’s conference, it
was conceptual prototypes. Well, conceptual prototypes and “feels”. In a way,
it feels like a lot of what EA showed today was them needing stuff to show
aside from their usual list of sports games and Battlefield.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Starting off with a teaser for the new Star Wars:
Battlefront game, which, Battlefront was easily one of my favorite games on the
PS2. So, while we don’t know a lot yet, I’m still a bit cautiously optimistic.
Battlefront is one of my favorite shooters and I want it to be good. But at the
same time, it’s definitely too early to tell if the game will be good or not.</div>
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To be honest, the most I really remember about Dragon Age:
Inquisition was a lady playing what I presume was one of the themes from the
game, the different legs of the dragon each having their own health bar, and
the presenter saying something in lines of “All the feels”, which at that point
made me really angry and want to stop watching the conference completely.</div>
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<br /></div>
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After that, the most notable things to me were conceptual
prototypes (I’m looking at you, new Mass Effect game!) and sports games. Oh,
and there was something about Gladys coming over to your part to ruin
everything and then laughing so hard that you die in The Sims 4. Oh, and there
was a person named Dustin who created a sim named Andre, so I guess I made a
sim for The Sims 4 when I wasn’t conscious?</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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To be honest, and, I feel kind of bad about it because I am
writing on it, but at the same time, it is my opinion: I was not a big fan of
EA’s press conference. At all. In a way, I wish I had more to say, but in my
opinion, basically nothing besides the hope that Mirror’s Edge 2 and the new
Star Wars: Battlefront game will be good. That’s basically it. Theoretically,
EA could’ve had a lot of good stuff for the current consoles to show, but they
didn’t. They just had a lot of things that everyone more or less knew about
(especially thanks to that Battlefield Hardline leak) and a lot of conceptual
prototypes. Oh, and they had a MOBA? Yeah, they had a MOBA, which was weird
because it seems like MOBA’s are the new MMO’s in that they’re the thing a lot
of game companies are chasing in hopes of money but not seeing the return they’re
hoping for.</div>
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<br /></div>
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There’s also Criterion’s game, which, while it seemed to be
early on, could be interesting. The wide variety could lead to a lot of
different types of control and gameplay, and it could be really good. But,
again, it’s early in development it seems, so it’ll be hard to say until there’s
more to say.</div>
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<br /></div>
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And, that’s about it, really. EA just had an incredibly
bland, tepid showing. Part of that is due to them having nothing I’m interested
in. I’m not huge into sports games or most shooters, so, it makes sense that
their showings don’t interest me, but it still saddens me that that isn’t the
case. I would like to be impressed by the showings, as I would with every
company, but that definitely wasn’t the case today.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Overall, I’d give EA’s press conference a <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3/10</b>. Yes, I am deviating from my out
of 5 scoring scale, but mostly because I’d probably rate most of the press
conferences under 3 and this helps for more variety. But, EA’s E3 conference
gets a 3/10 just for being so bland and not having a lot to offer, and that’s
about it really.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Check back sometime tomorrow to see my thoughts on Ubisoft’s
E3 press conference!</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-41139364379371263062014-06-02T13:36:00.000-07:002014-06-02T13:36:15.285-07:00Transistor Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tKZhAOXKzak/U4vmErz-cqI/AAAAAAAAAG0/dBQFIKaS0P8/s1600/Transistor+Review.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tKZhAOXKzak/U4vmErz-cqI/AAAAAAAAAG0/dBQFIKaS0P8/s1600/Transistor+Review.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
cmd review.08</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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As soon as it was announced last year, I was really looking forward to Transistor. I really enjoyed Bastion, so another game by Supergiant Games was one that instantly came onto my radar, even when I didn't know all that much about it.</div>
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Transistor, while a fantastic game, was one I was initially
very unsure about in some ways. This was mainly due to the game's combat. </div>
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Transistor stars the voiceless Red, a musician who had her
voice stolen by a group known as the Camerata, finds a speaking sword called
the Transistor, which she then uses to fight a mysterious enemy that are simply
known as Processes. From the get-go, the game is pretty fast paced, presenting
you an outline for your story, who your enemies are, your setting, just about
everything. It’s easy to note right from the beginning that the game is
absolutely gorgeous. Transistor is heavily stylized, much like Bastion, but the
art is beautiful, between how the settings look, the character designs, and the
boss and enemy designs. The aesthetic of Transistor is easily one of its
strongest points, and going through each area, seeing each character portrait, and seeing the enemies was all fantastic.<br />
<br />
I will say that Red is easily one of my favorite designed protagonists in a game just about ever. She has a unique look to her, again, thanks to the stylization of Transistor, and isn't overly sexualized by any means. Although she doesn't speak much, it's easy to tell what her personality is like and who she is as a character, which to me, only serves to make her that much better of a character. She's a strong character who, as you progress through the game and learn more about her, simply becomes all the more interesting and developed.</div>
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Going alongside the visuals is the music, which I would dare
say is probably one of the best parts about the game. Between guitar, piano,
more electronic sounds, the soundtrack is definitely varied, and each song is
very strong. In particular, the song for the credits was probably my favorite
throughout the whole game, but, just like Bastion, the rest of the soundtrack
hits it out of the park. One of the other great upsides to Transistor’s
soundtracks is the inclusion of a hum button. By holding down the ‘Hum’ button (Tab
for mouse and keyboard controls), Red will hum along with the music currently
playing. At first it just seems like a neat little for fun type of thing, but
it works very well, and the humming that Red does with each song sounds
fantastic. It really makes me want a ‘Hum’ button in every game- that's how nice it
is. It’s a bit of a small touch, but it’s so inventive and original that I
would just love to see something like that show up again in some other game.</div>
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Of course, this isn't to discount the core part of
Transistor: the gameplay and the combat. The game is in an isometric view, with
you exploring the world and areas you’re in and occasionally ending up in
battles against groups of enemies. Movement is rather simple and fluid, with a
WASD setup or clicking with the left mouse button. There are many different
terminals and objects throughout the world that you can interact with, and
alongside what the Transistor says about them you get to learn a lot more about
the world and the city Red is from. Those little touches are absolutely
fantastic that help you learn more and more about the dire situations as the
story goes on.</div>
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The combat of Transistor itself is pretty interesting. From
a first glance, it seems very similar to Bastion, but it quickly becomes so
much more. Instead of multiple weapons that you can equip, in Transistor you
only have one weapon, the eponymous Transistor. Variety in combat instead comes
from different equippable abilities, such as projectiles attacks, area of
effect attacks, and mobility types of abilities to aid you in fighting
enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The biggest departure from something like Bastion is the
Turn() function. Turn() effectively helps make Transistor more of a strategy
action game than just an action game. Turn() slows down the game to a halt,
allowing you to plan out all of your actions up to a set point: How/where you
move, what attacks you make, what enemies you attack, etc., and then allows you
to play it out in fast motion. I learned the hard way that this quickly becomes
a requirement, as trying to play without Turn() against multiple enemies
becomes an uphill battle, especially later on in the game. The trade-off to
using Turn() though is that you lose your ability to attack until the meter you
use with Turn() refills completely. It leads to make combat surprisingly hectic
and varied, as there are always so many options you have. Alongside that, you
have the ability to put functions (the abilities you use for combats) as
upgrades for equipped abilities to give them extra traits, or as passive
functions, which give you, as expected, passive bonuses that can help out in combat.
All of these help give a ton of options for combat, to help you cater to what
type of playstyle you want and to keep combat and encounters always feeling
unique.</div>
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I don’t want to give away too much away about the story of
Transistor, because, while it isn’t the most plot-heavy game, I still find the
story something best experienced personally. It is something that can be a bit
sporadic at times, but the dialogue, the characterizations of Red and the
Transistor, and what happens to the city the game takes place in are all
fantastic. I would be lying if I said I didn’t get emotional from the final
cutscene of the game.</div>
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In all, Transistor is an absolutely fantastic game—and
easily in contention for my favorite of the year so far. Every part of it is so
highly polished, and while a bit short (which is, luckily, alleviated by a
rather grueling New Game Plus mode), the game is a marvelous experience from
beginning to end.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5/5</b></div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-17202800053284745692014-05-22T21:54:00.001-07:002014-05-22T21:55:49.937-07:00Taking a Look At: Transistor<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y5iMTaDt1wk/U37UzWw-kGI/AAAAAAAAAGg/nxt7k9Qd8cQ/s1600/Transistor_19-mar-2013_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-y5iMTaDt1wk/U37UzWw-kGI/AAAAAAAAAGg/nxt7k9Qd8cQ/s1600/Transistor_19-mar-2013_01.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
Dustin has officially decided that every game needs a 'Hum' button</div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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Dustin takes a look at the PC version of Supergiant Games's newest strategy action game: Transistor, and boy, what a look it is..</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-40248979198784834912014-05-09T14:24:00.001-07:002014-05-09T14:24:26.771-07:00Kirby Triple Deluxe Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ndY0n8EgtTc/U21HKKYgb9I/AAAAAAAAAGI/UA75a1hrlrw/s1600/Kirby-Triple-Deluxe-7-1-.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ndY0n8EgtTc/U21HKKYgb9I/AAAAAAAAAGI/UA75a1hrlrw/s1600/Kirby-Triple-Deluxe-7-1-.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
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Kirby games have, for a long time now, interesting but
simple affairs. That isn’t to say that all Kirby games are simple (after all,
Canvas Curse was an interesting deviation from the standard Kirby fare), but
overall, most of the Kirby platformers follow a relatively similar formula.
You, as Kirby, have to go collect some powerful weapon to defeat the final
boss, using the powers you absorb along the way to go through stages, solve some
puzzles, and eventually defeat the boss of each big area.</div>
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<br /></div>
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However, Kirby’s Triple Deluxe, while following those basic
ideas, is probably one of the best Kirby games I’ve had the pleasure of
playing. I’ve played plenty of Kirby games over the years, and Triple Deluxe,
while, following plenty of the same mechanics of past Kirby games, is very
polished.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Kirby Triple Deluxe starts off with King Dedede being
kidnapped by some mysterious character. And, being the heroic pink puff ball
that you are, have to go through six different worlds to rescue him. In each
level is a varying amount of Sun Stones needed to unlock the final boss level
in each world. Getting Sun Stones is usually easy, as a lot will be near the
main path, and ones that aren’t are usually solved via simple puzzles that are often dependent on powers you get earlier in the level or world.<br />
<br />
The stages are fun to go through, as there's a lot of variation to the stage layouts and how you go through them. There's a lot of platforming involved, even if it's something as simple as jumping between platforms when there's ground below, which helps break up a lot of monotony by giving the player something to always do when going through the stage. The game controls are tight as well, with controls being responsive and Kirby's movement being very similar to past games, between walking/running and his jumping and floating. Movement can definitely vary between powers, with some having plenty of options to get around and others not so much.<br />
<br />
The stages offer a good variety to traverse through both with powers and without, and the variety through the worlds and levels, while relatively basic, manages to switch things up enough with scenery and with what you need to go through obstacles and puzzles wise that there's not much, if any repeating throughout the game.</div>
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Overall, the game is relatively easy, with only some of the
levels or bosses offering any real trouble, but lives and health pickups are
more than abundant throughout the game. Like just about every other Kirby game,
Kirby Triple Deluxe is a pretty easy endeavor, though I don’t necessarily
consider that to be a knock against the game by any means.</div>
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The powers in Kirby Triple Deluxe are all pretty great, with
plenty of them returning from former games with few to no changes, and a number
of new ones, my favorite new power in particular being the Archer power, but
powers like Wheel and Fighter are fun as always. The new power of note in Kirby
Triple Deluxe though, is a special power you get about once or so a world:
Hypernova Kirby. Hypernova Kirby has the ridiculous ability to inhale and
swallow anything and everything, from large groups of enemies, to entire parts
of the stage, to boss health bars, all with ease. It’s an ability that isn’t obtained often, but the sheer ridiculousness of a glowing Kirby with the power to
suck up literally anything possible is always a treat.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The soundtrack, as most Kirby games have, is great. The
majority of the soundtrack is new tracks, with a number of old songs remixed.
There are a number of points in the game where there is some nostalgia, but it
doesn’t seem like they added those bits of nostalgia just for nostalgia’s sake,
but because they work really well in the game. The tunes sound great and the
level and boss ideas that are revisited from past Kirby games all work very
well and don’t seem out of place.</div>
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The game also has collectibles in the form of keychains,
which are sprites of enemies, characters, and items from the Kirby series that are
found randomly in stages and overall they make for a neat collectible. It shows
the long history of the Kirby series, and while they aren’t required to get by
any means, it’s neat to be able to go look at the keychains screen and shake
the 3DS a bit to see the keychains shake in the game. It’s simple, but still nice and amusing nonetheless.<br />
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Overall, Kirby Triple Deluxe is a very solid Kirby game, if
not the best main Kirby game I’ve played. It was a treat to play from beginning
to end, and one I’m sure I’ll revisit, whether to gather the rest of the Sun
Stones, or to mess around with the mini games, in the future.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b>4/5</b></div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-83740639726970667262014-05-06T20:01:00.000-07:002014-05-06T20:03:12.673-07:00Taking a Look At: Child of Light<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iUY3L0ioNUo/U2mfeECG7fI/AAAAAAAAAF8/hbMBQjuVV_g/s1600/homepage_slide_child_of_light_screenshot_village_127572.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-iUY3L0ioNUo/U2mfeECG7fI/AAAAAAAAAF8/hbMBQjuVV_g/s1600/homepage_slide_child_of_light_screenshot_village_127572.jpg" height="222" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Taking a look at an RPG, makes Dustin not quite happy</div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<br />
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Dustin takes a look at the Wii U version of Ubisoft's new RPG, Child of Light, and goes through more than just a little microphone trouble along the way.</div>
</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-12441617090676659232014-04-29T17:10:00.000-07:002014-04-29T17:10:05.065-07:00An Update on ZeroSecondCooldown Now and in the Coming Months<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T4YZ6v3HcFg/U2A-9B-3lbI/AAAAAAAAAFo/VuivsqC2NlY/s1600/tom+nook+zerosecondcooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-T4YZ6v3HcFg/U2A-9B-3lbI/AAAAAAAAAFo/VuivsqC2NlY/s1600/tom+nook+zerosecondcooldown.jpg" height="192" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dustin talks finances and content for ZeroSecondCooldown.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
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Hey everyone, Dustin here to talk a bit about some stuff
that’s been happening with ZeroSecondCooldown and a bit about myself, current
situations, and stuff I’m looking/hoping to do in the near future on the site.
So hope you read this, as it outlines some big points about the blog.</div>
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<br /></div>
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First, I want to talk about what may be the most noticeable
change to those who don’t have AdBlock enabled on ZeroSecondCooldown (and thank
you if you don’t!): we now have ads. They’ll be displaying on the sides of the
main page and of every article. It saddens me a bit to do this, as my original
hope for ZeroSecondCooldown was to make sure the site was one people could
trust, that I had integrity and people could feel comfortable to visit the
site, watch videos, and read the reviews and feel that it was good, trustworthy
content. Even with ads, I still hope that’s the case.</div>
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<br /></div>
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My reason for running ads now, is, of course, financial
reasons. Of course, I absolutely love running ZeroSecondCooldown. Although I
can’t dedicate the time I would prefer to, I do dedicate what I can, when I
can, even if I don’t post for a while, I always make sure to do good stuff when
I get back on the horse. Of course, being a student, I have limited time and
money, and running a blog about video games, where I buy my own video games for
each game review I do or video I do (which, admittedly, I *would* buy them
anyways) costs a lot of money, so, although I will be making pennies from it in
a good couple of months, I’m currently putting up ads in hopes of being able
to, at some point, recoup some costs.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I will say however, that if the ads ever get too obtrusive,
I will remove them without hesitation, you all have my guarantee on that.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To get away from money related matters for a bit, I’m going
to talk about some of the upcoming plans I have for the blog.</div>
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<br /></div>
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First, I’m hoping to do a stream/video for the Wii U version
of Child of Light, as well as a review. Since Child of Light releases this
week, I’ll be hoping to do that this weekend at some point.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Next, I’ll be commenting on some of the Nintendo E3 news
soon, mostly because it interests me very much, as I feel Nintendo has
announced some interesting stuff for this June.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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I also have two interviews in mind that I would like to do,
but I’ll need to get in contact with both of the people I have in mind. Since
nothing is confirmed yet, I won’t say what they are, so as to not get any hopes
up in case I’m not able to get these interviews.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Also, I am going to try and plan a big Mario Kart 8 live
stream as close to the release as possible. I’m hoping to get four people, have
the microphone up, and just have a lot of screaming and chaos. I’ll get more
details on that in the coming weeks though.</div>
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<br /></div>
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A feature that will be up soon is Bob Ross Game Design
(tentative title), where I’ll stream myself working in GameMaker: Studio,
Stencyl, and maybe even Twine, learning how to make different kinds of games,
talking with stream viewers, being chill and relaxed, and just having fun and
learning, and hopefully releasing those random games/prototypes to the public.</div>
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<br /></div>
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For the final thing I have in mind for the blog, I’d like
to, time permitting, expand the Dad Souls series, with Dark Souls 2, co-op on
games like Donkey Kong, and whatever my dad would feel like playing. Of course,
this all depends on his time schedule as well as mine, so any updates for this
would be much more sporadic in when they would come out.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Finally, although I don’t necessarily want to bring it up, I’m
going to talk about one last thing, going back to my financial situation. I’m
currently running a Patreon, in hopes of being able to get enough of a sustainable
income on the side where I can leave my current part-time job and focus on
school, ZeroSecondCooldown, and start working more on independent game
development. Just to make sure people know though: all of the content on
ZeroSecondCooldown remains free, and nothing I do, from articles, to streams,
to game prototypes, will be locked behind a paywall in any way. The Patreon is
simply being done as a way to, if you feel inclined to, donate money to me. As
a note, my Patreon is set on a per month basis, so if you want to donate one
time, let the charge go through at the end of the month, and feel free to stop
being a patron for me. If you do donate to me in any capacity, you have my
eternal gratitude, and I can only hope that I am deserving of any money given.
The link to my Patreon is as follows:</div>
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<a href="http://www.patreon.com/Smedwicks">http://www.patreon.com/Smedwicks</a></div>
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<br /></div>
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Again, I would prefer not to do this, but with talks of
finance in this, there is no better place to talk about this. This will be the
only time I will post my Patreon on ZeroSecondCooldown, so don’t fear that you’ll
be seeing a link to it in every post.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I’d like to thank everyone who reads ZeroSecondCooldown for
doing so. If it wasn’t for the outside support, it wouldn’t be nearly what it
is now, and I can only hope that I continue to provide strong content worthy of
reading/watching/playing in the future.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Thank you.</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-73760123540427446592014-04-09T16:28:00.001-07:002014-04-09T16:49:54.735-07:00The View From The Sidelines: Looking at Smash 4's Fighters: Part 01<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JzGv-GdzhgI/U0XWw4Ts1SI/AAAAAAAAAFA/sikSGeNDMck/s1600/pup+picture+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JzGv-GdzhgI/U0XWw4Ts1SI/AAAAAAAAAFA/sikSGeNDMck/s1600/pup+picture+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dustin puts his knowledge of fighting games to use and puts in his thoughts on some of the new fighters in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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Yesterday was the day of the big Smash Direct from Nintendo,
and there was a lot shown, to say the least. There was definitely more than I
would’ve imagined (or hoped) to have seen, and overall it’s made me the most
excited I’ve been for the new Smash games since the Little Mac trailer, and at
this point I’ve probably reached a point where I’m very truly excited for the new
Smash game. We got a wealth of information yesterday, from items, modes,
stages, rebalancing of characters, and new characters. And of course, being the
fighting game lover that I am, I couldn’t help but instantly start to want to
theory fight and think about the characters in a more in depth way. </div>
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So here we are, covering a couple of characters, and how I
feel they may be in the game’s release and what they could be good at doing in
the game. This will probably be the first part of this, covering more of the
newcomers, and assuming reception is good, we’ll do more in the future!</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uV8-szdw11g/U0XXMgKCiAI/AAAAAAAAAFI/-D12Rngg0lo/s1600/little+mac+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uV8-szdw11g/U0XXMgKCiAI/AAAAAAAAAFI/-D12Rngg0lo/s1600/little+mac+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Little Mac: </b>Little
Mac, so far, is one of the characters I’m really excited about. In a game full
of characters with absolutely jarring and bizarre playstyles, and most of them
not even “traditional” fighters in any way, Little Mac stands out. I have two
thoughts about how Little Mac will probably be played: Mac will probably either
be best for the rushdown monsters who will love to abuse the armor and just be
unrelenting, or a more patient style will probably also be really good for him.</div>
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It’s easy to see why a heavy rushdown style will be good,
because Mac has a lot of armor on his moves and needs to get in close to do any
damage. Alongside that, since he has so many moves that can help him move in quickly, his straight lunge and haymaker in particular. Of course, that could also benefit to a more patient, footsies
style of play because he’ll probably be good at going in, getting quick
strikes, and working his way in when he has to. In a way it almost feels like a
parallel between Balrog and Dudley in Street Fighter 4: one has strong attacks,
armor, and quick ways to cover the screen with punches, the other has a lot of
quick hits and combos, as well as a counter. I’m also interested in seeing how
players will take advantage of his aerial abilities, since they’re supposedly
weak, but I have a feeling that as soon as a player can make good advantage of
his air moves, that’ll be when Mac is really opened up, especially since a big
part of Smash is how well one can edge guard from off the stage, and Mac’s on
stage edgeguarding will probably be less than optimal. I also think the K.O.
Uppercut is interesting, but if it isn’t easily comboable or 1-frame, I can’t
see it being super useful in the long run.</div>
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As for how Mac will fair in the long run, I can see him
being an absolute monster in the first two weeks to a month, and then either
drop off into mid or low tiers, or remain a consistent, absolute monster
throughout the game’s lifespan.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ychKNPfINU/U0XXRrEjqrI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/4E_ARjaDEOw/s1600/wii+fit+trainer+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5ychKNPfINU/U0XXRrEjqrI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/4E_ARjaDEOw/s1600/wii+fit+trainer+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Wii Fit Trainer: </b>Wii
Fit Trainer became interesting to me with yesterday’s info because of the two
new things that were shown for the character. At first, with the reveal back at
E3 last year, it seemed like Wii Fit Trainer would be a really basic character,
who would mostly be notable from the fact that she was such a surprising
character choice.</div>
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But now, with Deep Breathing and Sun Salutation, there’s the
chance for so many more possibilities. At first it sounded like Deep Breathing
and Sun Salutation would make Wii Fit Trainer a stance character, but what we’re
getting opens up so many potential possibilities, I think. Deep Breathing
allows the Wii Fit Trainer to power up her attacks, and Sun Salutation seems
like what could be one of the better projectiles. It seems like, at least, Wii
Fit Trainer will have a strong up close game and at least a decent ranged game,
though will probably be outclassed in both regards. While I’m not sure where
Wii Fit Trainer will land in the tier game, I’m sure she’ll be at least middle
of the road, and a big part of it will depend on how quickly Deep Breathing
activates.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SZj5lJVxTa8/U0XXWBWFi-I/AAAAAAAAAFY/i5PFO3nF4L4/s1600/rosalina+and+luma+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SZj5lJVxTa8/U0XXWBWFi-I/AAAAAAAAAFY/i5PFO3nF4L4/s1600/rosalina+and+luma+smash+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" height="225" width="400" /></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Rosalina & Luma: </b>Rounding
out this article will be Rosalina & Luma, who, as a whole, is probably the
most interesting character to grace the Smash Bros. series. Rosalina & Luma
function as a stand/puppet character, similar to Carl from Blazblue and Shadow
Labrys from Persona 4 Arena. And with Rosalina and her Luma being able to
separate and attack on their own, I feel like that opens a lot of really
interesting possibilities to what she’ll be able to do in the game, especially
in a 1 vs 1 setting. I think that it opens a lot of ways to lock an opponent
down, such as the Luma shooting Star Bits and keeping the opponent shielded,
while Rosalina chips away at the shield or goes for throws between Star Bits.</div>
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I think Gravitational Pull will probably prove to be one of
the most useful projectile stopping attacks overall. As it seems quick, and doesn’t
only seem to affect harmful projectiles, but stuff like the F.L.U.D.D., which
makes me think that it’ll be better than a more situational move like Ness’s
PSI Magnet or Fox’s Reflector. She also seems to have a really strong recovery
in Launch Star, but it’ll really depend on if it does damage and if it can be
stopped easily, as that could end up making a huge difference in how strong she’ll
be.</div>
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The two big downsides I can see to her will be how strong
her attacks will be without Luma next to her, and her movement. While the
attack part isn’t known, like in just about every other game she’s featured in,
she’s very slow in heavy, which will definitely make creating space to send out
Luma a difficult task. I think Rosalina & Luma will probably have one of
the, if not the highest learning curve to play effectively, but a great
Rosalina & Luma will probably be a monster. Predicting her tier placing
will be tough, but I can definitely see that we won’t know her true potential
until someone really breaks her down. I think that, unlike games like Persona 4
Arena, with the more open setting of the Smash stages, Rosalina’s slower speed
wont’ be *as much* a hindrance, and it’ll also allow her to make greater use of
her Luma as a puppet character.</div>
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That's it for this edition of The View From The Sidelines, next time I'll be taking a look at more of the other newcomers that have been announced! </div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-64496290850565029332014-04-07T15:14:00.001-07:002014-04-07T15:14:36.534-07:00It's The End of The World, So Your Name, Please: Part 02<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-h7dZoSe6Y/U0MhFb8yalI/AAAAAAAAAEw/v9WRZtk4a7g/s1600/earthbound+2+zero+second+cooldown.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Q-h7dZoSe6Y/U0MhFb8yalI/AAAAAAAAAEw/v9WRZtk4a7g/s1600/earthbound+2+zero+second+cooldown.png" height="217" width="400" /></a></div>
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Dustin's love of Earthbound is tested by his new greatest enemy: Department stores</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
Sometimes you just have to admit that the thing you love can really, REALLY annoy you. Dustin has a lot of trouble with that as he finishes up in the Gold Mine and makes his way through Fourside.</div>
</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-17706558186447062612014-03-29T20:27:00.000-07:002014-03-29T20:31:03.763-07:00inFAMOUS: Second Son Review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GncRvtRlBec/Uzb0yLze3II/AAAAAAAAAEg/eX1dC3QKXoo/s1600/infamous+second+son+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GncRvtRlBec/Uzb0yLze3II/AAAAAAAAAEg/eX1dC3QKXoo/s1600/infamous+second+son+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A game where "Half as long, twice as bright" couldn't fit any better</div>
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<b>*As a note, my review strictly covers the game from the Good
Karma perspective*</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Ever since the last generation, inFAMOUS has been one of my
favorite new IP’s introduced, and probably one of my favorite IP’s in general.
After all, how many times is there a superhero game that isn’t based off an
existing license? Especially one that’s pretty dang good? Not very often, I’d
say.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And after what seemed like the utter finality of both the
good and evil endings of inFAMOUS 2, I was saddened to think that we wouldn’t
see another inFAMOUS game again. Of course, much to my surprise (and
happiness), at the PS4 unveiling last year, inFAMOUS: Second Son was announced,
with a character whose appearance seemed to be as polarizing as the original
inFAMOUS 2 Cole. Of course, discounting Delsin’s initial appearance for a
moment, I was incredibly hyped for it, and was immediately set on buying a PS4,
which, of course, back fired, but at the same time, the news of a new inFAMOUS
game was probably some of my favorite gaming news last year, and there was no
way I wouldn’t get it on day one.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
So actually moving onto Second Son, Second Son stars Delsin
Rowe, Native American delinquent, who has his life changed when a truck
carrying Conduits crashes into his sleepy tribal village, and he ends up
finding out he’s a Prime Conduit with the ability to absorb powers from other
Conduits, as seen when he gets his first power: Smoke (the one shown during the
unveiling trailer). Story reasons of having to help people in his village leave
Delsin and his brother Reggie have to head to D.U.P controlled Seattle to find
the head of the Department of Unified Protection, Augustine, get some Concrete
powers, and go back to their village so Delsin can make things right by his
people.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
And boy, what a treat it was going to Seattle in that game.
Without a doubt, Sucker Punch’s Seattle is one of the most interesting and best
looking video game worlds I’ve experienced. It’s unlike any other: huge,
sprawling, always something to see in each district, and I never felt like I
was going through just another street or just another area like other open
world games. It really was a city that I loved going through, and with the
travel being made far more convenient compared to past games, travelling the
city was fun compared to a slog or a chore. Alongside that, the soundtrack is
just as good as the past games, with another fantastic mix of ambient music for
walking around the city and fast-paced, yet non-intrusive music for battling.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
A lot of the core gameplay in Second Son is similar to the
past inFAMOUS games: your powers (a total of four) have a basic shot ability,
an area attack that’s generally used to incapacitate and for crowd control, a
movement option for getting around, and a powerful projectile attack that
requires ammunition. Combat is very similar to past inFAMOUS games, if not a
bit more hectic due to most, if not all enemies having powers of some sort and
being vastly more mobile, and while this is fun, the lack of invincibility when
getting hit or getting up make the combat a bit too much, and as the game progresses,
the hordes of enemies you face simply get to be more and more. Combat is
absolutely great in this game with most of the powers (I opted between Smoke
and the third power, while I found the second power to be the weakest overall
in terms of combat) and definitely retains a similar feel to past inFAMOUS
games, but branches out just enough in what you can do to keep things feeling a
bit more fresh.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
There is one part of the combat that is, however, utterly
unenjoyable and simply makes the game no real fun: the bosses. While there aren't
too many bosses throughout the game, most of them are juts an absolute mess.
Generally placed in small arenas, these bosses either move around too quickly
and there aren't enough sources to drain powers from, or these bosses are
absolute bullet sponges that take forever to chip down. Combine that with
constant attacks and lack of real hit-stun on your part, as well as no
invincibility frames after being hurt or knocked down, and you have a recipe
for potentially repeating long segments of bosses many times from death. The
bosses tend to take the real enjoyment from the combat: the wide spaces,
ability to create chaos, and ease in choosing which powers and moves you want
to use. For me, they dragged the whole experience down.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Going away from the bosses, however, and onto the mission
design, the mission variety simply isn’t there. The side missions in each
district are set between a few different types of missions: finding a hidden
camera and destroying it, finding and killing a secret agent, finding an audio
log… they’re all very low on interaction generally, and all the same,
throughout every district. The main missions on the other hand, show a bit more
variety, though a lot of them involve finding blast cores for new powers,
finding a conduit, but at the least, the interactions between the characters
more than make up for the potential similarities in the missions: as the
interactions between Delsin and Reggie are absolutely fantastic throughout the
game.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Delsin and Reggie are just a few of the great characters in
Second Son, as most of them are great overall, both in motion capture and in
voice acting and interactions with other characters. However, aside from
Augustine, Delsin, and Reggie, other characters, such as Fetch Walker, are used
very little outside of the missions you find them in which is a shame, because
plenty of the other characters in the game are also pretty strong, interesting
characters.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, there’s the one main part of the inFAMOUS series
to be covered: the morality. For the people who weren’t a fan of how the
morality aspects worked in the story in past inFAMOUS games, it is almost a
guarantee that you won’t like them here. For each major karmic choice, instead
of going off on a separate mission, or some form of active choice by going off
a certain way or attacking a certain person, all major karmic choices are
instead made by the press of a trigger to choose whether you’ll do the good
karma choice or the bad karma choice. While inFAMOUS has always had a bit of
wonky execution in terms of morality, but Second Son is by far the worst
offender.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As much as I may seem to rag on inFAMOUS: Second Son, it’s
still a very good game. To expect a launch window open world game to be 15+
hours for a main story, have a ton of variety, etc., is, well unfeasible. I
realize that, but at the end of the day, even noting that, inFAMOUS: Second
Son, just didn’t measure up to the past games. It’s a fantastic experience, but
one that’s too short-lived to its detriment.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3/5</b></div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-36880704266202543122014-03-10T20:37:00.000-07:002014-03-10T20:37:37.076-07:00The Lead Up to Dark Souls 2: Dad Souls<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYK73tpyL10/Ux6DHO99UoI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/uzEvNeq0k4s/s1600/dark+souls+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYK73tpyL10/Ux6DHO99UoI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/uzEvNeq0k4s/s1600/dark+souls+zero+second+cooldown.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Dustin brings his dad into the fold as the wait for Dark Souls 2 becomes more and more unbearable.</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
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As the wait for Dark Souls 2 gets ever closer, Dustin takes to the internet to give (some of) the people what they want: his dad playing Dark Souls.<br />
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This is his journey.<br />
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This is Dad Souls.</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-81744537887309290832014-02-25T17:44:00.002-08:002014-02-25T17:44:21.913-08:00S. Link FM Episode 26: Casual Saturdays - Deadly Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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A Dangan Ronpa spoilercast livestream archive to end them all!</div>
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I recently joined the crew from S.Link FM, PersonaGAF's resident podcast, on an awesome podcast episode, not about Persona, but about Dangan Ronpa! The following video is a spoilercast, and as such, the entirety of Dangan Ronpa gets spoiled in this podcast. If you have not completed Dangan Ronpa, please avoid listening to this. This is the archive I pulled from Twitch.tv, and as such, it is unedited from the version uploaded on Slinkfm.com.<br />
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Find S. Link FM at: http://slinkfm.com/<br />
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Title card created by TheTrueSelf, who can be found on Twitter: @darkside989<br />
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Find all of the people on the podcast on Twitter at:<br />
Levito: @Levit0<br />
Inorigo: @Talespun<br />
CJ Keats: @cjkeats<br />
ScraftyDevil: @ScraftyDevil<br />
Smedwicks: @Smedwicks<br />
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And finally, check out Levito's Dangan Ronpa Review!<br />
http://www.relyonhorror.com/reviews/review-danganronpa-trigger-happy-havoc/</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-1498137943712946242014-02-21T15:49:00.001-08:002014-02-21T15:49:37.943-08:00Taking A Look At: Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dustin gets Cranky as he monkeys around with Retro's newest game!</div>
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Dustin takes a look at the newest 2D Donkey Kong platformer from Retro Studios!</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-43080663924675213302014-02-19T17:10:00.002-08:002014-02-19T17:10:30.832-08:00Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Review<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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Who would have
thought Despair could be so much fun?<br />
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Dangan Ronpa is one of those games I feel like I shouldn’t
necessarily like. A rather interesting, if sometimes polarizing art style, a
plot that starts off almost too simply, and a cast of characters that ranges
from the widest variety of rather bizarre tropes. However, despite its flaws,
Dangan Ronpa is definitely something that should be experienced, I feel.</div>
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My original experience with Dangan Ronpa was not with the
English release of the game, but instead the Let’s Play from Something Awful’s
own Orenronen. While I can’t exactly remember where I first heard of Dangan
Ronpa, I decided to spend a couple of my days of summer vacation in 2013
reading through the game, and while I wasn’t necessarily experiencing it for
myself, I found myself absolutely engrossed in the narrative and wanting more
and more of it.</div>
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Dangan Ronpa is a murder mystery adventure game with two
different parts to the gameplay: One of them being the interactions with
characters and the free time events, and the other being the investigations and
class trials. While, overall, both of them definitely are solid, there are,
without a doubt, issues in both parts that are a bit unpolished and bring the
gameplay aspects of the game down as a whole.</div>
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Free time, as would probably be expected, are the bits of
time in between trials where you get to spend time with your different
classmates, learn more about their lives, backstories, and talents, and
ultimately end up having to get them gifts to make them like you more and to
ultimately get skills that will be used in the class trials. In most of the
free time events I saw, a lot of the free time events are a bit simple, but
still good overall. For example, Aoi Asahina’s free time events start off
simply, with her talking about swimming and food, before eventually turning to
her worries about how she’s seen as a woman. </div>
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The main problem with the free time events end up lying with
the gifts you need to give your classmates for them to like you more. Getting
gifts require Monocoins, which you get from searching items in the environment
and from completing class trials. The good part is that, in most cases, you’ll
never exactly be starving for Monocoins to get new items, but the main problem
is the lack of knowledge of what items are best for what people. While it is
obvious that someone like Celeste would appreciate some form of gothic Lolita
clothing, or Yasuhiro, who likes all manner of strange Eastern religious
objects, but those types of items for each person do tend to be rather far and
few in between. Instead, you’re stuck with handbras, wondering who exactly you
can give them to without any types of negative consequences with your
relationships.</div>
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The investigations and trials, however, are where the game
definitely shines the most, being the parts where most of the narrative tends
to occur. The investigations occur quite similarly to the ones from the Ace
Attorney games. When you end up finding one of your murdered classmates, you
and other students end up exploring places around the school and finding evidence
to aid you in the class trial to make sure you and your friends aren’t killed.
It follows the point and click style of the Ace Attorney investigations and
going between areas to find evidence, examine locations, talk to people to get
their thoughts, and formulate what you think happened to the murdered.</div>
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The class trials, however, are vastly different from the
rather slow-paced courtroom sequences of the Ace Attorney games. The trials are
generally split into four gameplay sequences: Nonstop Debate, Hangman’s Gambit,
Bullet Time Battles, and Climax Inference. Considering the type of game Dangan
Ronpa is, in most cases, these segments are serviceable. That doesn’t, however,
stop some parts- the Hangman’s Gambit in particular- from being boring breaks
from the narrative. Even Bullet Time Battles doesn’t have much in the way of
any logic, instead serving as a rhythm game used to break down your opponent
being stubborn and unrelenting, but, unlike the Hangman’s Gambit, Bullet Time
Battles are entertaining from a gameplay perspective. In all, the class trials
are generally good. Each has its fair share of twists and turns, and the
mechanics of them are generally engaging enough to be enjoyable—but the best
part about them are how everyone is fully voiced and how focused on the story
they are.</div>
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Of course, seeing as Dangan Ronpa is primarily story-based,
it’s important to talk about that. Overall, the story is incredibly solid. It
does not linger on anything too long, moves from story beat to story beat well,
and the dark humor they go with works fantastically. The setup of fifteen high
school students being told by a stuffed bear to kill each other to escape the
private high school they’re stuck in sounds rather ridiculous and, well, it is.
Despite how absolutely insane the premise is, it works incredibly well. As soon
as the first death happens, and even more so, the first execution, you get a
feeling for the atmosphere they’re going with for the game, and it works
absolutely amazingly.<br />
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I honestly have very few, if no complaints with the story.
It’s just super solid and works very well. Twists and turns, both in the cases
and across the whole thing, and none of them feel forced by any stretch. By the
end of the game I was left wanting even more from the series.</div>
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However, for as much as I enjoyed it, there was one problem
that is rather major in the grand scheme of things. And sadly, that’s the
localization. While the translations to English itself was good, there
definitely were the spots that, at least with the translated version I read
courtesy of Orenronen, felt rather clunky and handled poorly, with major
details being hinted at or revealed before they should have, and some things
outright not making sense in the scheme of things. Adding to that the nicknames
that the characters give themselves, things just feel odd and inconsistent.</div>
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Alongside that, the English voice actors vary in their
roles. Among the best are Yasuhiro (whose voice completely fit with how I
imagined it would be), Yamada, Celeste, Togami, and Monokuma himself. Asides
from those few, the rest of the voices feel rather bland and lifeless.
Especially one of the major antagonists, a voice that is absolutely stellar in
the Japanese version, is completely dull in most cases in English. It’s a big
disappointment, with how good the Japanese voices are, that the English cast is
so average at best.</div>
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In the end, Dangan Ronpa is an absolutely fantastic
experience. While not perfect, it’s definitely one I think that everyone should
go through—with Japanese voices. It’s a game I’m glad was able to make it to
America, and I can’t wait to see the sequel come to the US this Fall.</div>
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<b>4/5</b></div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-3145475512574850502014-02-08T17:37:00.001-08:002014-02-08T17:37:01.876-08:00Let's Trip Out On Jazzpunk!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HF_QJJgrkzU/UvbZO5ETIPI/AAAAAAAAADQ/5QoTBQpOSP8/s1600/jazzpunk_header_image_02.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HF_QJJgrkzU/UvbZO5ETIPI/AAAAAAAAADQ/5QoTBQpOSP8/s1600/jazzpunk_header_image_02.png" /></a></div>
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Dustin gets in way over his head as he goes to Russia, Japan, and the edge of existence, in this look at Jazzpunk!</div>
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Dustin takes a look at the incredibly strange, yet absolutely hilarious new comedic spy adventure game, Jazzpunk! Jazzpunk is now available on Steam!</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-38676571989768743092014-01-13T23:41:00.001-08:002014-01-15T17:19:05.983-08:00CES 2014 Musings<div style="text-align: center;">
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Initially, I was incredibly excited for CES this year. Last year's was somewhat of a disappointment, with the show being dominated by high resolution televisions that were sure to be too expensive for the average consumer, and very little else. This time, I arrived in Las Vegas with the high hopes that true innovation would be here, that predictable incremental improvements were in the past and true innovation would be present. Alas, I was wrong, but I was also wrong in my approach to the show.<br />
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Wandering around the Central Hall, all of the major manufacturers basically had nothing new. The 4K TVs, 6-inch phones, curved everything- it had all been seen and done before. In fact, most of the products are and have been available for purchase for some time now. Heck, Intel was still hawking various ultrabook form factors that have been done for nearly a decade.<br />
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Yet, that doesn't contradict the spirit of the show. It's a trade show, after all; it's an attempt to bring products to the consumers' and investors' hands, to really advertise themselves in a way that can seldom be accomplished so publicly. And that's where the trade show is so interesting. It feels like window shopping, side-by-side comparisons between the flagship designs of the biggest companies all under the same roof. Originally, I was annoyed that the standout products at CES this year were just mature and boring technologies, rather than innovative proof-of-concepts. But now, I understand their value. These are the products that we want to purchase for ourselves, not random experimental things that will change how we view technology without guaranteeing a positive change. They aren't mind-blowing, but they sure are a lot closer to what we'll actually possess in the next five years.<br />
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And it was that change of perspective that made my time in the North and South Halls that much more fun and interesting. I was now shopping for the products that did their job the best on the market. I was floored by the Sennheiser Orpheus headphones (now a few years old) and the intelligent driving systems of Mercedes Benz. I was finding the true value of CES, and appreciating the products of the present, becoming less and less entranced by the distant and unsure future.<br />
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What good is looking so forward as a consumer anyways? The number one rule in the consumer electronics industry, after all, is to never wait for your purchase (unless it's weeks before the new wave or huge sales).Davidhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08211519675942414424noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-28967395557700749192013-12-31T11:55:00.000-08:002013-12-31T11:55:10.356-08:00It's The End of The World, So Your Name, Please: Part 01<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uqE92I22Eac/UsMgIDOz-EI/AAAAAAAAACw/-7lkbRhTZm8/s1600/Earthbound+ZeroSecondCooldown.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="185" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-uqE92I22Eac/UsMgIDOz-EI/AAAAAAAAACw/-7lkbRhTZm8/s320/Earthbound+ZeroSecondCooldown.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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About ready to kick off a new year of video games, Dustin heads back to one of his favorite games ever to continue where he left off in a new feature.</div>
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Here's a new feature here on Zero Second Cooldown during the lull before new games are released: Dustin is going to rev up his Earthbound save file on the Wii U and take everyone from where he last left off to the very end of the game. It's The End of The World, So Your Name, Please.</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-22094249143106768302013-12-19T15:37:00.001-08:002013-12-19T15:37:19.892-08:00Dustin's Top 10 Games of 2013<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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It's certainly been a long year, so Dustin takes some time to review some of his favorite games from 2013.</div>
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Starting off my GOTY list is a bit of a smaller game, but
one well deserved.</div>
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Gunpoint is a great game just for how it takes the ideas
behind a stealth game and manages to size it down into something smaller, but
manage to not compromise the<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>in gameplay
mechanics of the genre. A small indie game done primarily by one man, it
combines stealth elements and puzzle elements to create a fantastic game. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Armed with what’s called the Crosslink, you
play as a freelance spy whose objective on the missions he takes from all sorts
of people, you’re tasked with infiltrating buildings, hacking computers,
stealing schematics, looking at laptops, planting bugs, all variety of
different objectives, by rewiring switches, motion sensors, and security
cameras to aid you in getting around buildings and past guards.</div>
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The neat thing about how Gunpoint is structures is the quick
reload function after you die. It’ll give you either the option to restart the
mission entirely, or from a variety of going back different amounts of seconds.
The ability to go back a small amount of time back to right before you made that
crucial mistake that led to you getting shot and being able to just go back on
the fly is really great, and takes out a lot of the tedium of a stealth game,
while still being able to remain stealthy with how the game is constructed. It’s
a nice addition that doesn’t compromise on any core design.</div>
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The music is a soothing jazz that fits the espionage and the
hatted, trenchcoat wearing character, and the writing feels on point. The main
character is quick-witted and always ready to strike back with something witty
or sarcastic to say in the pre-mission dialogue. Gunpoint is a rather short
game that can be breezed through pretty easily, but despite that, it’s fun to
be able to go back to, run through a couple of levels quick, and then leave it
be for a little while to return to at another point. The game is simply, but
solid, and I would love to see the concept expanded upon in the future.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">9. The Stanley
Parable</b></div>
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Without a doubt, 2013 was a year for incredibly inventive,
incredibly interesting games. The Stanley Parable was one of those games. Based
on an old Source mod, The Stanley Parable is a first person game that is focused
on exploring the environment and what it may hold. One of the most enjoyable
things about The Stanley Parable was just how subversive it generally was.
Whatever you would go into the game expecting, the game would find some way to
mess with your expectations of what you would expect from a game. Even what
would probably be the simplest achievement, clicking on a door five times, is
made absolutely ridiculous in what should be a rather simple achievement.</div>
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The narrator proves to be probably the shining spot of the
game as well. Filled with wit and snark, the narrator constantly goes over every
event and action that the main character does, and even disobeying him leads to
a lot of sarcasm and quite a bit of hilarity. The Stanley Parable is one of the
few games that had me laughing out loud from the writing. Although the gameplay
is simple walking around with the occasional clicking objects in the environment,
simply exploring the environment, finding out how events unravel in certain
endings, and listening to the narrator speak made this an unexpected, yet very
enjoyable experience. </div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">8. Shelter</b></div>
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For those who have been following Zero Second Cooldown from
very early on, you may remember the stream and video I did of the small indie
game Shelter, by Might and Delight. It was a game that I heard about, was
surprised was even being made, but the concept seemed so unusual and
interesting to me that I couldn’t help but want to try it out. The very concept
sounds almost unheard of in a video game: you play as a mother badger guiding
her five young cubs through the wilderness, making sure to protect them from
other animals, starvation, and nature. The whole premise of the game sounds a
bit strange and unexpected, but I think that may have been what drew me to
liking it so much. In an age where we’re only now starting to get these types
of experiences, Shelter is a very special one, evoking plenty of emotion in
urgency in very real ways.</div>
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The small family of badgers ends up having to face all sorts
of dangers ramping up with each chapter, and the urgency that you experience
ramps up as well, starting from simple darkness and fetching food all the way
to forest fires.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The game constantly had
me on edge, due to the very real consequence that if something happened to my
badger cubs, they were dead for good. The game did a great job at showing just
how protective a person can become, and that definitely held true for me. I was
near screaming by the end of the game due to how poorly everything started to
unravel for my playthrough of the game. The environments were gorgeously
crafted, and the ambience from the music helped make the experience come
together even more. Despite being a rather short experience, it was a wonderful
one, and talking to one of the developers helped affirm how much I enjoyed
Shelter even more.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">7. Metal Gear Rising:
Revengeance</b></div>
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Aside from Anarchy Reigns, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance
was my first Platinum Games romp, and my first traditional one at that. Having
never really been a part of any Metal Gear Solid craze, this was, admittedly,
my first time playing a Metal Gear Solid game, and a spin-off at that. And it
was definitely a really fun game, without a doubt. The music was absolutely
insane and fantastic, not to mention unexpected considering my only exposure to
any Metal Gear music was the Snake Eater song, I was definitely thrown though a
loop.</div>
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That it was possible to cut nearly anything and everything,
while it was a bit silly, was a surprisingly fun novelty to the game that I never
seemed to tire of. I remember having to restart the game due to cutting away
too much from a ledge that I needed to jump onto just because I was having so
much fun with the sheer absurdity with the ability to cut just about whatever I
wanted to in the environment. Even continuing on to being able to chop up
random foot soldiers and Geckos up into thousands of pieces was bizarre and
fantastic in its own right. The gameplay was as tight and fast-paced as I’ve
heard of a Platinum Games game, and it never felt too overbearing or difficult
to get a handle of, especially for a person like me that’s, at best, average at
action games. From the beginning of the game to the very end, the sheer
absurdity and fun I had with Revengeance is not something I can say of many
other games, and the game just managed to have what will probably end up
forever being my favorite line from this past generation of video games.</div>
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“Nanomachines, son.”</div>
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Just the perfect, absurd end to a perfectly absurd game.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">6. Fire Emblem
Awakening</b></div>
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Despite coming out so early in the year, Fire Emblem
Awakening has remained one of my favorite games of the year because it’s been
so absolutely solid despite all of the other releases. After games like Fire
Emblem: Shadow Dragon, Fire Emblem more or less fell off the radar for me, so
the news that they were actually going to localize Awakening was not only a bit
of a surprise, but something that helped work up my interest in the Fire Emblem
games again. And when I had heard that Fire Emblem Awakening was turning out to
be a great game that a lot of people liked, I just readied myself even more for
another romp in the realm of medieval strategy.</div>
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Fire Emblem Awakening was another good return to form to the
Fire Emblem series when I ended up actually playing it. It took a good mix of
past games and refined them, as well as taking a mechanic that was only
featured in a Japanese only Fire Emblem, the “My Unit” and brought it to the
US, but the great thing about the Avatar character in Awakening was that they
actually mattered to the story in an important way. Awakening also had tons of
content at its disposal, between near 30 chapters for the main game and plenty
of DLC, not to mention Streetpass battles if you can manage to find someone to
Streetpass, there’s plenty to do in this Fire Emblem, far more than any past
Fire Emblem. And with the music being solid, the switch from sprites into 3D,
while a bit jarring (those sprites in Fire Emblem and Sacred Stones were
fantastic, after all) and the gameplay being fantastic, Fire Emblem Awakening
was a bit of surprise that turned out to be one of my favorites.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">5. Animal Crossing:
New Leaf</b></div>
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Animal Crossing: New Leaf is a bit of an interesting case as
to why I’ve loved it so much this year. More or less, it’s a lot of the same as
past games. There’s an absolute ton of improvements from the past games,
without a doubt (especially for those who remember playing Wild World, ugh) and
they’re all solid improvements. While the addition of being the Mayor of your
town is a bit inconsequential at a certain point, it’s just a neat addition
that adds a bit to the series that’s never been there before. All of the
additions of happenings with your fellow villagers in the town, returning holidays
and new holidays, the game is just packed with content that, as to be expected
from Animal Crossing, definitely takes a long time to just see everything,
assuming you’re not altering the time.</div>
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But, the nice thing about the game is that it’s just relaxing.
It came out at a good time for me, just as a school year was wrapping up, so to
be able to take some time with a nice, laidback game was one of the best things
I could ask for. It’s a simple game that is rather similar to past games in the
series, but it executes everything very well, and it’s just a treat to play,
whether you go to a villager’s birthday party, or come back to your town a few
weeks later to see your favorite villager has packed up and moved on, the game
has some strange ways of evoking emotion in its own way. It’s so simple and so
serene, yet at the same time, an absolute joy to play. While at first I played
an hour plus every day for the first few weeks after the game was released, now
I’m playing thirty or so minutes every other day, and I still love it just as
much. While I can’t give the time and dedication to New Leaf as I would love
to, even what I can give I’m happy giving to the game, because I have such a
relaxing time with it each time I turn it on. It’s without a doubt the game
I’ve spent the most hours with in 2013, and I still see myself spending many
more hours into it without a doubt.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">4. Pokemon X and Y</b></div>
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While, normally, I might not consider a Pokemon game to be
quite as high up on a Game of the Year list of mine, Pokemon X and Y bucks the
trend with good reason. Pokemon X (the version I played, though, as always, the
two versions are near identical) is such a paramount improvement over the rest
of the series, that it’s almost crazy to think about how much the series has grown
with this release. The move away from sprites into an all 3D was probably one
of the most notable changes, and, while there weren’t as many new Pokemon this
time around, the sheer effort that went into the creation of not only a full on
3D world, but rather nice 3D models for all of the Pokemon is definitely
impressive to me.</div>
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Alongside that, the game is just fun to play. There’s always
been a point in Pokemon games where I eventually just erase my save file after
the Elite Four and becoming the champion, and then doing all sorts of theme
runs and Nuzlockes, but here I’ve managed to stick with the same file for a
surprising 205 hours now (and yes, I did check this). For me, that’s incredibly
surprising, but it’s due to all of the improvements that GameFreak has made to
a lot of the systems in Pokemon X and Y a lot easier to get used to, such as
breeding (and boy, did they make breeding easier) and EV training. Breeding a
competitive team is no longer a chore like it was when I tried in past
generations, but instead an easy process that allows you to get to the part of
the game that is the best: the actual battling. Overall, Pokemon X has been one
of the best games I've played just due to the sheer number of hours I’ve not
only put into it, but enjoyed from it.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">3. Pikmin 3</b></div>
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To the people that know me, it’s no surprise that I
absolutely love Pikmon. Heck, even for those who read my Pikmin 3 review, you
can easily tell that I love Pikmin. So of course, a Pikmin 3 being released was
easily one of my most hyped and anticipated releases for the year. And, quite
frankly, it didn’t fail to impress. The game looked absolutely gorgeous, one of
my favorite looking games to date, with gorgeous creature designs that strike
both awe and terror, as well as wonderful environments that are as fun to go
through as they are to look at.</div>
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The gameplay was the same Pikmin gameplay that I knew and
loved, too. However, and maybe it is just my getting better at games with age
and determination, but the game feels much easier to get used to and adapt to,
considering the extra captains to take control of in the game and the two
different types of Pikmin that are vastly different than any type of Pikmin
from any game in the series, but still, the game remains deep and challenging,
especially considering the side modes that there are. The fact that the game
also makes sure to keep a great balance between the story and the gameplay is
something that has sorely been needed for the series, and is incredibly
appreciated. The series has had its fair share of bumps between Pikmin and
Pikmin 2, but 3 is by far the sharpest, most refined entry yet.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">2. Phoenix Wright:
Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies</b></div>
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I don’t think many people were really expecting a new
Phoenix Wright game anytime soon. At least, people probably weren’t expecting a
Phoenix Wright game that wasn’t a crossover or iOS. Well, I wasn’t, at least.
When it was announced that Dual Destinies would be digital only on the 3DS, my
hopes weren’t exactly high. Alongside that, Capcom’s track record this
generation has been a bit hit or miss, so I was a bit nervous about their
ability to deliver a great Ace Attorney game. And while I did enjoy Apollo Justice
and Trials and Tribulations, I never was the biggest fan of Ace Attorney. So,
to come back to the series with a newfound appreciation for non-conventional
types of games (which I feel like I owe partially to games like 999 and
Virtue’s Last Reward) I was incredibly surprised.</div>
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The graphics looked quite nice, and as I mentioned in my
review, even the 3D effect, while not necessary for anything, added a nice pop
to certain parts. The music had a great mix of old that was finely updated, and
new ones that were at the top with the best of the classic Ace Attorney music.
Not only that but they just improved the gameplay as a whole. Whenever you were
finished in an investigation area you were told right away, finding things was
much easier, and the courtroom sections of the game never felt too tough or too
easy, just right, just about.</div>
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However, one of the best parts about the game, as to be
expected of an Ace Attorney game, is the writing. It’s absolutely top notch,
which, as bad as it may sound, left me a bit surprised. But, as surprised as I
was, I love Dual Destinies, and enjoyed every minute of what I played of it.</div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1b. Earthbound</b></div>
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Ok, so I’m sure a lot of you are wondering, “Earthbound?
Really? <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Really?</i> That game was
released in 1995! That doesn’t count!” And, well, you guys are probably right.
However, Earthbound WAS released on the Wii U Virtual Console back in July, so
I’m putting it as an alternate number one. Due to the fact that, yes,
Earthbound wasn’t originally released this year, nor is this a remake of any
kind, it isn’t occupying the number one spot, but instead, an alternate spot so
to speak. It might be a bit unfair to give the Wii U Virtual Console release of
Earthbound my alternate number one spot, but, well, I feel that, even in the
year 2013, it definitely deserves a top listing in regards to a game of the
year list.</div>
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To me, it’s what a fantastic game is. A great story, though
a bit simple at times, solid gameplay with just enough deviations from standard
RPG norms to make some great decisions and still work well, and some of the
best writing I feel like I’ve experienced in a game to date. The game, each
time I play it, is always a great experience to me, and. Even to this day, is a
game I feel can’t be rivaled by others. Even with plenty of advancements in not
just the RPG genre, but in video games as a whole, Earthbound is an incredibly
special experience. Upon finding out that Earthbound was going to be released
this year on the Wii U was sheer confusion and excitement for me—it was
unexpected by everyone, to say the least. But I’m glad it happened. It’s
allowed me to go through my favorite game and, in a day and age where spectacle
is quickly becoming a big part of video games, it allowed me to enjoy a game
that’s simple, but has always meant a lot to me.</div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">1a. The Wonderful 101</b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Last, but certainly not least, it is time for my actual Game
of the Year for 2013.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
Seeing The Wonderful 101 at E3 back in 2012, I was confused,
to say the least. It was hard from the get-go to really tell much about the
game with what little was seen about it, and with what was seen in the first
footage, while it looked good, it was, well, confusing. Back when it was
announced as Project P-100, I didn’t know a lot about Platinum Games or Hideki
Kamiya. I’ve read about both the company and the man on NeoGAF a ton, and knew
that they were both thought highly of, so I definitely had confidence in the
project, despite not knowing a lot about it. Of course, with 2013, playing
different games from Platinum left me all the more excited about how crazy and
over the top The Wonderful 101 would probably be.</div>
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And, with seeing The Wonderful 101 Nintendo Direct, my
excitement for the game shot through the roof and then some. The game looked to
be as what I hoped it would be—something over the top, crazy, ridiculous, and
most of all, something that looked to take pride in the fact that it was a
game. And from the moment I first started it up all the way to the last boss
battle, I felt like I was definitely right about it. The Wonderful 101 is a
game that really is over the top in story, cinematics, and gameplay, but also doesn’t
compromise on solid gameplay mechanics either. The Wonderful 101 is an
incredibly solid action game, constantly keeping you on your feet, but never
being (at least when I played it on Normal) too tough to the point of not being
fun anymore. The story was absolutely silly and ridiculous in all of the best
ways, and the ramping up of the action with each boss battle, by the end of the
game; I had a huge smile on my face and loved every moment of what I was
playing. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Out of all of the games I’ve
played this year (and believe me, I played a lot of games this year), The
Wonderful 101 is far and away my favorite, even with me not expecting to like
it as much as I would at first. It is without a doubt my game of the year.</div>
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Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1429428455061423543.post-34018691023277239632013-11-19T14:52:00.000-08:002013-11-19T14:52:21.167-08:00Weekend at Cerny's: The First Few Days With a PS4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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While I didn’t get to
spend time with the architect himself, I did get to spend time with the next
best thing.</div>
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<br /></div>
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So, as everyone knows, on Friday, out came the PlayStation 4
in North America. And as I had said on Friday, I ended up getting it, as well
has having a whole slew of games to play on it. Due to the lack of Twitch
archival for PS4 streaming, I wasn’t able to get any video content uploaded to
Zero Second Cooldown, so I’m opting to write this instead to just give some of
my thoughts on the UI and games that I’ve dealt with so far.</div>
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<br /></div>
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First, the UI. Overall, I think it looks pretty good and it
runs pretty well to boot. I feel the log in screen is a lot better than that of
the PlayStation 3’s, and I feel that, at least at the moment with not too many
games on it, it’s easy to navigate. The bottom row has a “What’s New” icon on
the far left, which shows your friends’ activity if they choose to show how
many friends they add or the trophies they get, and from there it goes to list
all of the games you have on your system, whether they are physical copies that
have saves/data on the system or downloadable games, and then all of the TV,
music, video, and web browser parts are on the rightmost section of the row.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Hitting up when you’re on this bottom “row” of selectable
parts (buttons? Tiles?) brings you up to another section that has the
PlayStation Store, your notifications, friends, messages, your profile,
trophies, system settings, and the power. Both sections are split up into two
neat sections and I think they work really well, and at least at launch with
not that many games, the bottom row isn’t’ too clogged, and the top row has all
of the important things listed in an easy manner with easy to distinguish icon.</div>
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<br /></div>
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While I did quite like the XMB, I have to say, the
PlayStation 4 UI is a lot more preferable to me at the moment. And the way I
see it, my opinions on the PlayStation 4 UI could go one of two ways: it could
get more clogged as the lifespan of the PS4 increases and I could hate it and
it could be too annoying to navigate, or they could make sure it stays easy to
navigate through something akin to the folders used on the 3DS, or have some
other plan to help improve the UI and make browsing it easy as the lifespan of
the PS4 marches on.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Alongside that, the Twitch.tv streaming, or what little I’ve
done of it, has worked incredibly well. My only qualm is, of course, the fact
that I can’t archive to Twitch, but hopefully that’s changed in the near
future.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Of course, what would a console launch be without games to
play? The games that I ended up getting were Knack, Killzone Shadow Fall,
Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag, Need for Speed: Rivals, Knack, Resogun, Sound
Shapes, and Contrast. Out of all of these games, the only one I haven’t yet
tried as of writing this piece is Contrast, though I look forward to trying it
soon.</div>
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<br /></div>
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To put it simply, my two favorite games so far are not the
big budget physical releases, but instead the digital releases of Sound Shapes
and Resogun have been the games that I’ve been enjoying the most so far without
a doubt. Both games are so simplistic in their gameplay, yet so satisfying at
the same time, as well as being visually appealing and solid games in just
about every department. Those are the two games I’ve probably spent the most
time with over the weekend of the PS4 launch, and I do not regret that at all.
These are the two games that I feel like every PS4 owner should own no matter
what.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As for the physical releases I bought, to be honest, they
feel like a bit of a mixed bag. It’s rather usual for console launches: asides
from Nintendo Land there wasn’t much I liked with the Wii U launch, and
Twilight Princess was really the only enjoyable part of the Wii launch for me.
Sony’s first party titles of Knack and Killzone have felt good at best to me so
far. I can definitely concede the obvious fact that these games are very solid
technically, they just haven’t wow’d or amazed me in any real way. Solid games,
but nothing overly special. With Knack you have a mascot platformer/brawler,
while with Killzone you have a futuristic first person shooter. While I haven’t
tried the multiplayer for Killzone yet, the single player campaign, at least what
I’ve played of it, hasn’t impressed me other than graphically.</div>
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<br /></div>
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As for the third party releases of Assassin’s Creed and Need
For Speed, it’s a bit of a mixed bag for me. So far, I haven’t been the biggest
fan of Assassin’s Creed, though, like some of the other games, I haven’t gotten
too far into the single player and hopefully the further I get into it, the
more I’ll enjoy it. I find the setting interesting and the graphics to be
great, but the gameplay has left much to be desired so far to me. I’ll keep
going at it to see how I enjoy it, but it’s been one of my least favorite
titles so far. What has surprised me though is how much I’ve enjoyed Need For
Speed: Rivals so far. Maybe it’s just the want for a racing game after the
delay of Driveclub, but Need For Speed has been an incredibly solid game. Great
racing mechanics and an interesting way at handling what are essentially
missions, as well as what I’ve heard about the online (which I have not had the
chance to try yet) and the graphics and the world are great, it is probably my
favorite retail title of the PlayStation 4 launch.</div>
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<br /></div>
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I think that the PlayStation 4 is, overall, a great console
that will only get better. The graphics are good, the online is good (aside from
the necessity of PS+ for online multiplayer, but at least Sony is making it up
to subscribers in some ways), and it’s a console that I feel can and will only
get better from here. If you aren’t exactly keen on the launch titles, I would
definitely recommend holding back until March when inFAMOUS: Second Son comes
out, but the PlayStation 4 is not a bad purchase in the meantime by any means.
It’s a good console that lives by its motto: Greatness Awaits.</div>
<br /><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
Dustin Cashhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02351245454355690240noreply@blogger.com0