Up late talking games & writing? You're...

.
.
I had a really late night last night followed by an early morning, the baby doesn't want to sleep tonight, and I've got a million-billion things to do... in light of the circumstances, I'm going to cop-out and just post a couple random links and such tonight while I sip some black tea and nibble on a treat from Cupcake Royale.
.

.
(…And if anyone from Cupcake Royale is reading, BRING BACK THE MOFRO!!!)
.
.
.
.
1> In a rather interesting post from Nathan Fouts over at Mommy’s Best Games, the auteur outlines the sales he's achieved with his first effort, Coffeecola favorite Weapon of Choice.
.
Personally, I think this is a fantastic title that you can't go wrong with. Rather than make a statement myself, I will simply point you in Nathan's direction and let you interpret the numbers on your own.
.
.
.
.
2> In DLC news, extra content has been announced for both Dragon Age: Origins and Assassin’s Creed II.
.
In the case of DA, the new mission is titled ‘Return to Ostagar’. Those already familiar with the game will certainly remember that Ostagar is the location of the intense LOTR-style battle that basically kicks off the adventure proper.
.

.
Not much info is available now, although the official site states that this DLC offers a second chance to recruit Dog, as well as a new set of armor to acquire. I may have had issues with the game, but I certainly enjoyed my time with it and I look forward to this $5 return ticket.
.
With regard to Assassin’s Creed II, I'm not feeling quite so rosy. The two missions announced are ‘Battle for Forli’ and ‘Bonfire of the Vanities’. Although it's not exactly clear at this moment how they will be integrated with the retail game, it's interesting to note that missions 12 and 13 were not available, with the character in the game calling them ‘corrupted files’.
.

.
If you played through and were paying attention, you might have wondered why the game jumped from mission 11 to mission 14, and although it's not for certain, this seems to be somewhat telling.
.
.
.
.
3> Over on Etsy, some clever needlepointer has crafted this attractive piece of work:
.

.
it can be yours for just $8 plus shipping. Hanging on your wall, or gift it to your favorite Pokemaniac. Chi Kong Lui, I'm looking at you.
.
.
.
.
4> Disability-focused site AbleGamers has launched a games review section that looks at titles from accessibility standpoint.
.

.
Things like visual impairment, hearing impairment, and physical limitations are taken into account and scored from 1-10. GameCritics.com cares about players with disabilities, and it’s great to see more reviews online that offer informational resources to consumers. Kudos to Ablegamers.
.
.

.
.
Games: Finished Assassin’s Creed II last night, and polished off a few quickie Achievements this morning. It will come as little surprise to anyone reading this blog that I was less than impressed with Ubisoft’s second attempt at what I see as a superbly awesome idea.
.

.
Sadly, the adventures of both Altair and Ezio fall far short of what I would expect from such a rich, promising premise. My review is complete, but I'm going to sit on it for another day to make sure that I'm not letting it go too soon-- with such a high-profile title, I’m really making every effort to ensure that the piece says what I'm trying to say. Readers can disagree with me all they like, but I want them to disagree because they actually disagree, not because they misunderstand what I'm saying. (Inevitably, both will happen.)
.
In a case such as this, I think the challenge is to be clear, yet concise… I rarely feel comfortable writing a review that goes longer than 1200 words, but I found myself trimming the piece back heavily. I don't like reading long reviews that blather on without making much of a point, so I can't in good conscience ask people to do that for me. With all that said, I expect to take major heat for it anyway, so I guess it's kind of academic.
.
.
.
.
In the meantime, I decided to go back to Mirror’s Edge and put that to bed before starting on Uncharted 2. I was three levels away from the end when my 360 conked out on me a few months ago, and by the time I got it back, I had a to-review pile at least five or six games high.
.

.
Naturally, it got put on the back burner until I had a little breathing room, but coming back to it after all this time has passed has been a lot more difficult than I would have guessed.
.
The controls are fairly unorthodox and things like the walljump feel overcomplicated, but more than that, I really have to say that DICE did a fairly terrible job of level design in several instances. Certain areas seem to have no leeway for player error whatsoever, and I'm having a hard time imagining why someone on the design team felt the need to make things so stringent at times.
.
Besides my irriation at ledge-grabbing, I have to say that the story is pretty worthless and the cutscenes are cringe-worthy. Going to what looks like a third-rate flash animation between levels after the devs spent so much time crafting an immersive first-person experience makes absolutely no sense to me, and I really can't imagine why they did it.
.
In any event, I'm doing it to say it's been done and with only one more level to go (going for the no guns Achievement, to boot) I will be glad to put it aside for something more deserving of attention.
.
.

.
.
Writing: Work on the book is coming along, slowly but surely. Things went by a lot faster before the baby was born, but the family unit is finally settling into a fairly stable groove. Of course, it didn't help that 18,000,000 games got released for the fourth quarter crush and that I've been doing a few night gigs here and there, but all that stuff aside, things are getting back on track.
.
Although I'd love to have a few days where I could sit in front of the computer for six hours and bang out three chapters, I'm still content and my co-author is the definition of the word gracious.
.
Writing is really all about patience anyway, isn't it?
.
.
.
.
Games: Still playing Assassin’s Creed 2, and at this point I'm completely sick of it. In fact, I'm sick of it to the point that I had a few available hours to keep playing, and I chose to turn the system off and walk away because I just couldn't take it anymore.
.
Tedium and repetition have crept in and put a stranglehold on the proceedings, and it doesn't help that the story is about as boring as the story can be. Italian Renaissance political intrigue? Snore.
.
Although I will admit that this game is better than the first, that doesn't mean that it's great. Far from it. I'm honestly shocked that people have given it such great reviews (currently a 92 on MetaCrititc! A 92!!) and I'm even more shocked that anybody would even consider it for GOTY status. Seriously don't get that.
.
Anyway, back to the book…
.
.

.
.
Misc: Although I'm not really one to celebrate the holidays in general, Thanksgiving today had a little more significance for me than usual.
.

.
Maybe it's because I'm getting older, maybe finally having a baby in the house full time has given me a slightly different perspective on things, or maybe the path I've taken in life to get to where I am today has made me appreciate what I have. Regardless, to celebrate the occasion, a short list of some things I'm thankful for:
.
My amazing wife and my two wonderful sons, a good job in a down economy, a warm and dry place to live, enough food to actually be stuffed on a holiday like today, the ability to recognize and be thankful for what I have, and last but certainly not least, review copies of fantastic games from publishers.
.
Life is good. Happy Thanksgiving, folks. Hope you've got blessings to count as well.
.
.
.
.
Games: I sent out a message via Twitter earlier, but in case you missed it, here's a link to my appearance on the most recent Big Red Potion podcast. The topic was Modern Warfare 2 and the connection between games and their portrayal of wartime politics.
.

.
Many thanks to Joe DeLia and Sinan Kubba for having me on. Also, props to my co-podcaster Steve Haske from Play. It was certainly an honor, and I hope to do it again sometime.
.
.
.
.
I've got a few fairly cool features that are being cooked up as we speak, but at the moment I'm spending some time with Assassin's Creed 2. If you caught my review of the first game, then you'll know that I saw it as a huge disappointment. If there was ever a poster child for missed potential, Assassin’s Creed 1 would be it.
.

.
In spite of my dismay, I held out hope that Ubisoft would take the copious amounts of player feedback and apply it towards the sequel, finally crafting a title that lived up to the promise. The early word was good, and practically everyone I spoke to said that the developers had seen the error of their ways and had delivered a game that ‘kept all the good stuff and got rid of all the bad’.
.
I wanted to believe. Oh, how I wanted to believe.
.
I'm not done with the game, but I've put somewhere in the neighborhood of six or so hours into it so far. Initial impressions were extremely poor… the first four hours or thereabouts were extremely slow and dull, taking entirely too much time to establish a story that's not nearly as interesting as the developers want you to think it is. It also doesn't help that this giant block of time serves as an overly-extended tutorial, dragging out what could have really been condensed into a fraction of what it takes.
.
Getting through that part was fairly painful, and once I was done with it and got into the game proper, I can't really say that things got much better. Although I'm still reserving final judgment, what I've seen so far amounts to an exact copy of the first game with a lot of stuff I don't care about crammed into it-- things like a money system, a notoriety system, managing items, and being caretaker for a property owned by your family. I suppose this is an attempt to emulate GTA, but I just keep asking myself why I'm supposed to care. The game is called Assassin’s Creed, and yet (just like the first installment) I’d have to say that the assassinating is probably the weakest part of the experience.
.

.
The controls feel kludgey, the stealth mechanics don't include using shadows (or even ducking), and I'm just not getting any kind of satisfaction with the tasks I’m completing. There may be a bullet-point list of new features that make this game “better” than the last, but from where I'm standing, it seems as though the developers basically left the core experience unchanged-- and that's the part that needed the most work.
.
(Incidentally, Jim Sterling over at Destructoid seems to like it about as much as I do so far… maybe even less. He's written a pretty brutal review which I actually like a lot, if for no other reason than it's rare to see a high-profile reviewer really lay into a ‘top-tier’ game like this one. Jim Sterling, I salute you.)
.
More to come.
.
.

.
.
Games: Getting closer to the end of my ‘must-plays’ of 2009, I just wrapped up Batman: Arkham Asylum on PS3 a few minutes ago. I've got to say, this is one of those extremely rare times when I felt that all of the praise and accolades given to the game were well and truly deserved.
.

.
Rocksteady Studios did a fantastic job on this project, no two ways about it.
.
I think one of the things that I admired the most was that everything in the game was created in service to the overall experience. What I mean by that is, there were no design choices or mechanics that did not serve the greater function of carrying the player along on a fast-paced adventure portraying Batman as no other game has. Every aspect supported the central vision. I don't detect anything that feels out of place, or that was left in despite not quite fitting with the rest. For a developer to show such restraint is practically unheard of.
.
Not only was the design incredibly tight, Arkham Asylum is without a doubt the best Batman game ever made, and it's better than practically all of the films. It's not going to be my game of the year, but this was most certainly one of the top games released in ’09 and will make it to my own personal top ten without breaking a sweat. I absolutely can't wait to see what Rocksteady does next.
.
.
.
.
My friend Chris Vandergaag has come up with a few more (hilarious) commentary pieces that I think readers of this blog might appreciate. The first is on the mainstream press, and the second is about the Modern Warfare 2 launch. Check them out if you're so inclined.
.
.
.
.
TV: USA Network has really been on a roll lately. Coming from rather humble beginnings, their roster of original TV programming has now become quite strong, if you ask me. Although I've never appreciated Monk as much as the people who give out the Emmys do, I'm definitely a fan of Psych and Burn Notice. Added to that list is White Collar, the newest series that recently debuted on November 27th.
.

.
Sticking to the standard USA formula of characters-with-quirk and story arcs that continue throughout the whole season despite each episode being able to stand alone, the show is about a clever criminal genius (now reformed?) who’s released into the custody of the FBI agent who originally caught him. Combining illegal techniques with a badge and a directive to solve crimes, the two work together and have sort of an Odd Couple dynamic as they take down bad guys.
.
The two lead actors (Matthew Bomer and Tim DeKay) do a great job in their roles and have great chemistry together. Neither feels the least bit uncomfortable or stiff, and they each have a great facility for injecting just the right amount of eyebrow arching or wisecracking without pushing the show too far into the humor category. Although it's definitely on the lighter side, it's not satire or straight-up comedy. You might have to leave your brain at the door once in a while and let some of the plot points slide by, but I'm definitely going to be tuning in for the rest of the season.
.
.
.
.
Food: Just a quick note about coffee -- And I know this may be old hat to some, so I'll beg forgiveness in advance. Anyway, although I'm definitely a hard-core coffee drinker, I’ve generally used the standard drip-machines for most of my life. Not anymore.
.
Certainly I’ve known about French Press coffee makers for quite some time, but I've never really had much experience with them outside of the occasional slightly-upscale restaurant. It always seemed kind of goofy, and not as easy as simply putting some beans inside a filter and pushing a few buttons. However, the wife started using one couple of weeks ago and (no joke) I could tell that the cup of coffee it produced was superior to the drip method after just one sip.
.

.
At this point, I'm a total convert. We haven't used our drip maker since that first cup of French Press, and I would strongly recommend that any fellow coffee drinkers out there go down to your local department store, pick one up and give it a try.
.
The model pictured here is the exact one that I have, and it's relatively inexpensive. Here’s a link to it on Amazon, and it can be had currently for about $20. Not only is that a lot cheaper than buying a standard drip maker (a good one, anyway) I can pretty much guarantee that the cups will be a lot tastier, easily justifying the cost of the purchase. Seriously... if you like coffee like I like coffee, you can't go wrong.
.
.

.
.
Games: Oops, forgot to add a link to my Dragon Age: Origins review. Please note that it's based on the 360 version and not the PC... There are extreme differences in the way the combat plays out.
.
.

.
.
Games: I’ve been putting a little time into The Wizard of Oz: Beyond the Yellow Brick Road on DS. I love games that repurpose classic characters or stories, and the saga of Dorothy Gale is certainly known far and wide. Sweetening the deal, the art style is very attractive and I have to admit I was kind of a sucker for the idea of having a four-character party made up of the iconic film characters.
.

.
Dorothy casts Heal! The Tin Man attacks with his Axe!
.
Totally tantalizing stuff. Sign me up.
.
I'm not too far into it, but to be frank, playing the game is a very puzzling experience. Mentally, it seems pretty obvious that I should not be enjoying it-- it's a bare-bones basic RPG framework (very beginner-friendly) and the gameplay consists of having Dorothy run down a long series of paths while smacking down various fantasy creatures. I put a number of hours into it, and so far it doesn't seem to get any more complex or varied than this. There’s not even any story carrying it.
.

.
I let the wife have a go at it, and she quit out of boredom after about two or three hours. I totally understand why she did and I don't blame her at all. I mean, I really don't know why I haven't quit it myself. I see no compelling reason to keep playing, and yet... I do.
.
I am confused.
.
.
.
.

.
In other news, Spike’s Videogame Awards are now accepting votes for this year's ceremony. In the RPG category, Demon’s Souls is one of the nominees-- and if there was ever a game that deserves every bit of props it could get, Demon’s Souls is it. If you haven't already voted, go HERE and cast your ballot.
.
.
.
.
Speaking of Atlus games, news has started to trickle out about the upcoming Shiren the Wanderer for the Wii. Set to release on February 9, this is absolutely one of my most anticipated games for the foreseeable future.
.

.
In case you missed it, I picked up a copy of Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer on DS a while ago and blogged about it obsessively for a few days. (You can search the blog via the box at the top if you want to catch up on those posts.)
.
I knew very little about it except for the fact that it was a Roguelike, but it didn't take me long to fall in love. More than anything, I admired the unyielding discipline of the developers and the way they implemented the rules of the game consistently and fairly from start to finish. It was certainly difficult to be sure, but it was one of those rare games that never felt unfair or cheap. If I died, it was due to my own error and I would always immediately restart, completely motivated to redeem myself. Hearing that Atlus was going to bring the Wii sequel to the states put an immediate smile on my face.
.

.
You can read up on the game at the official blog site HERE, and if you are at all interested in the sort of game that's not afraid to ask a little more from players before giving up the credits, then you'll want to keep your eye out for this one.
.
.
.
.
Finally, before leaving the topic of games, I'm getting near the end of my must-play list for 2009. At the moment, the only significant titles left to get to are Batman: Arkham Asylum, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, and Assassin’s Creed 2. If what people tell me is accurate, then this basically means I'll be playing three of the best games of the year back-to-back… definitely looking forward to a string of high-caliber hits like these. Hopefully they’ll live up to their respective reputations.
.
In the meantime, if you've got a suggestion for a title that you think I should take note of before putting together our year-end wrap up, post a message here, hit me up on Twitter, or send me an e-mail and let me know what you think deserves some recognition.
.
.
.
.
Comics: I’ve mentioned Robert Kirkman’s The Walking Dead before, but I just finished the sixth trade paperback collection and I continue to be extremely impressed with the work he's done here.
.

.
In case you haven't checked the book out yet (and for God’s sake, why not?) it takes place in the standard zombie apocalypse scenario, but becomes an exceptional read due to the fact that it focuses mostly on the interaction of the characters left alive.
.
There’s certainly plenty of action and gore, but the main draw to the book is seeing how these remaining people cope with being put in an incredibly harsh situation. Kirkman does a phenomenal job of getting inside the heads of the characters, giving each a very realistic, relatable personality. It's effortless to identify with most of the survivors, and if you can’t identify with some, then you at least understand them.
.
Without a doubt, it's one of the best comics I've read in years. Evidently, someone in Hollywood agrees since the series is being turned into a television serial drama. Do yourself a favor and get caught up on the books now, before the show hits-- you'll gain insta-cred among your friends for being the cool kid who knew about it beforehand.
.
.