October 25, 2011

Geek & Gaming Cross Stitchery – Bit.Trip, I Maed a Gam3 & IT Crowd

Filed under: Journalist — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 3:12 PM

A few weeks ago, I decided to take up cross stitching, thanks mostly to a Twitter friend posting links to super cool patterns she found on Etsy. I purchased four patterns from that store and dragged my husband to the craft store to buy all sorts of embroidery floss, fabric and other tools of the trade.

The first (and most basic) of the patterns I bought from VelvetElvii’s store is a quote from one of my favourite episodes of The IT Crowd, “The Final Countdown”. In this episode, Moss has been accepted as a contestant on Countdown, a popular UK spelling show. As an eight time winner, he is invited to the elusive 8+ club, where his new nemesis, Negative One, challenges him to a game of Street Countdown (played exactly like regular Countdown but on the street). He accepts the challenge with the following quote:

(more…)

October 14, 2011

Extra Life 2011 – Sponsor Me!!

October 14th Update:

Many thanks to all of my friends and family members who helped me reach my goal this week. I couldn’t have done this without you. You will be putting smiles on faces and for that, you are heroes.

Now onto my gaming schedule for the big event! I will be starting at 0:00am Oct 15th and playing for 24hrs straight (with potty/food breaks and a shower thrown in). Here’s my gaming breakdown.

0:00am – 4:00am: A mix of Fallout New Vegas DLC (Honest Hearts & Dead Money)

4:00am – 9:00am: Silent Hill Homecoming

9:00am – 2:00pm: Persona 4

2:00pm – ??? : Gears 3 campaign on Insane with @tehflakes and @ThrallMind

Depending on when we end campaign mode, I may switch to You Don’t Know Jack or play something on my PSP (I like to give my 360 cool down time as she’s getting older). You can follow me on Twitter for updates. (more…)

October 5, 2011

Project Backlog – The List

Filed under: Project Backlog — Tags: , — Yukino @ 8:43 PM

Here is the current list of games in my backlog as of October 4th, 2011. This list will be updated on a semi-regular basis to reflect new additions and recent completions (or removals based on the fact that I got stuck and gave up). (more…)

August 30, 2011

…And So Turn the Gears of Our Lives

Filed under: Journalist — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 11:35 AM

This September another video game trilogy comes to a conclusion. The Gears of War saga has a dear place in my heart as one of the games that helped me get through the long-distance leg of my relationship with my husband. These were games we played together for the cooperative experience, something to do as a couple. And for that reason alone, they served a purpose.

But video games of this magnitude cannot rely on game play alone. There needs to be a strong and compelling story to bring a player back time and time again. Sure you can slap multiplayer into any game nowadays, but for someone like myself – someone who appreciates solid storytelling – that is not what is going to keep your game in my console for long. This, unfortunately, is where the first two installments in Gears of War fell short for me. More so Gears 2 than the original. (more…)

June 20, 2011

Alice: Madness Returns

Status: Finished once on Normal, started New Game+ on Nightmare
Achievements: 31 of 50
Gamerscore: 415/1000
DLC Purchased: Original American McGee’s Alice (Online Pass Content)

I love the dark and macabre, things that make me jump out of my seat or emit a small scream. Horror movies and games filled with puzzles are right up there in my books and I will go out of my way to watch and play what others consider “bad”. Ages ago, when you could rent PC games and not have to worry about DRM, I seem to recall trying to get my hands on the original American McGee’s Alice and it almost always being out. A dark and twisted retelling of the classic story appealed to me but I honestly don’t recall playing more than a few minutes of the original. Alice: Madness Returns seemed like the perfect opportunity to visit both the new and old versions of the young girl’s Wonderland, thanks to the Online Pass offering the first game for free. (more…)

June 3, 2011

Tales of Xillia PS3 Game Trailer

Filed under: Japanophile — Tags: , , , , , — Yukino @ 4:17 PM

This video combine two things I love immensely: the Tales series of video games and Ayumi Hamasaki.

Ayumi’s upcoming single “Progress” is the official theme song for Tales of Xillia, which will be released on Sept 8th in Japan for the PS3.

May 26, 2011

Quantity Over Quality

With the video game industry’s shift towards digital distribution, it sometimes feels as though the quality of released product is sacrificed in order to sell higher volumes in a smaller time frame. This reliance on releasing patches and updates to fix bugs that slip through hardworking Quality Assurance department fingers has always had it’s benefits, but lately it seems we are beginning to feel the downside of this sort of convenience.

Release delays will never be a thing of the past, this much we know is true. There will always be issues that will force a studio to push back titles that just aren’t ready to meet that final deadline. But are there people right now who are turning a blind eye to major problems in order to push out incomplete code and make investors happy? I truly believe so. (more…)

March 31, 2011

Dragon Age 2

Status: Finished once as a female Rogue
Achievements: 38 of 55
Gamerscore: 665/1130
DLC Purchased: Dragon Age Legends (Facebook app) bonus items

Not really a sequel to Dragon Age: Origins with some of that TV spin-off feel, Dragon Age 2 boasts a more polished feel both in game play and graphics, but falls short in the story development category. If you can’t see how Bioware plans to tie aspects of the two together for Dragon Age 3, you might want to stop playing RPGs.

Potential spoilers lay ahead. I am doing my best to avoid them but since this game does tie into Dragon Age: Origins, it is difficult to completely ignore them.

(more…)

March 30, 2011

The Curious Case of the Never-Ending Backlog

Nine out of ten gamers have one. We don’t mean for it to happen, but new and shinier things always seem to come our way, leading to last week’s new release finding its way to the stack of games we promise ourselves we will get back to just as soon as the summer lull comes around.

For some of us, it’s not so bad. Less than a baker’s dozen of past releases remain sealed or still have that fresh from the factory smell. And we will get to those, just as soon as we finish up a season of whatever EA Sports title or in-depth RPG is causing the hold up. For others (primarily those working in the industry, whether it be as developer or journalist), that stack of games is more likely triple what a normal gamer has waiting.  It’s not that you don’t want to play them, because you most definitely do, but in between playing or making games for work, plowing through weekly review copies and picking up the ones you aren’t comped, it doesn’t take long to watch your backlog develop into a monster. (more…)

November 8, 2010

(Mis)Adventures in Albion

My story begins like many others. Daughter of the former Hero Queen, my brother rules Albion with an iron fist. People are suffering, forced to work in awful conditions, starving, homeless. I lead a pretty easy life of luxury. Despite being sheltered by my brother, I have people who have been training me for the day that I might become ruler of Albion and bring the nation prosperity once more.

Things were going pretty smoothly in the beginning. I gathered the support I required from allies who would die to see a revolution in Albion. Men sacrificed themselves to our cause. Using my latent talents, I was able to change living conditions for poorer folks, rescue towns from dangerous creatures and mercenaries, and ultimately become the ruler Albion needed to save it from the approaching storm. Millions amassed in my treasuries which I shared with the people. (more…)

Older Posts »

Design by ThrallMind