The ol' Reach around

Well, I am still reluctant to lose my shit over this game, but I will admit that I picked up ODST to ensure my spot in the beta. This video adds some nice things that make me not want to strangle a child, like:

-Health (no more ambiguous bullshit red flashing screen) - I love the health pack idea, it helps define how much life you have left at all times. When Halo left health packs, and moved to the popular "increasingly red glowing screen" I wanted to mail a package of feces to Bungie. It is extremely hard to quantify your survivability with a flashing screen. Oh, 3 yellow bars of health? I know absolutely how much that is. Win.

-A workable pistol in the post Halo 1 world? - I am suspicious of this, but I am still rocking a boner nonetheless. If this thing is anywhere near the days of old (which I guess it probably won't be), it could be happy times for us all. From the brief appearances in the videos, it looks to be a rapid fire pistol much like the ones from Halo 2 and 3; but I would guess they upped the power a notch or two.

-If the pistol sucks, it appears that the single-shot rifle looks to be dominant, and I would imagine play much like the pistol of Halo 1. Well, if the pistol doesn't deliver the way I want it to, this single shot rifle will do just fine. As long as it doesn't require more than 3-4 shots to kill (on head-shots), I will be content.

-Other rifles that aren't depending on gimmicks- In my opinion, the Halo games needed more basic rifles that vary on strength and firing power. The BR and the carbine were really the only viable options after Halo 1, so toss a couple more in the pot... and people might have to choose rather than settle.

-New gametypes that might be entertaining - The video mentions a gametype with reinforcements in waves that reminds me of Battlefield, which would be great. It is curious that this game seems to be borrowing bits and pieces from other shooters to create this "masterpiece," but as long as it is fun I am alright with it. So take what you need Bungie, just leave behind the bullshit.

Things that concern me:

-The armor stuff- Hopefully these won't be game breakers and can be finely tuned during the beta process. The last thing I want to see is only one of the types being used due to its strength.

-Model types- In the past, using the elites is about as much fun as kissing your sister. You are guaranteeing more head-shots and also hearing goofy grunts. If some of these games will use offense and defense with the different races/models, I hope one side isn't a handicap simply because of the models being used, and not gamer ability.

__________

I won't ramble for too much, but the game appears to be intriguing at worst. If it sucks, I can drop it like I did Halo 3 at a certain point and continue playing Fifa or whatever else is out there. If you haven't grabbed ODST (note: fuck ODST, I mean solely for the Beta like me), I would suggest going HERE:. Thanks New Egg!

SC

Saddle Up, Partner

I know this isn't exactly new stuff, but I recently browsed around Rockstar Games' website to learn more about "Red Dead Redemption" and I have to admit, I am intrigued (ht: Senor Shull). A wild west shooter? I haven't really played one before, so this seems to be new territory for my FPS/3PS resume. From watching some videos, the game looks awesome as well as genuinely entertaining.

I could sit here and type a load about the game, or I could just post the video here for you all to watch and listen. I will take the latter.



Riding horses and shooting at folks? Me like.

Halo : Reach info

Well, I can't say I am overly excited about the newest Halo that is eventually going to come out, but I have a feeling that I (like many others) will end up buying it and playing it.

With that in mind, I figured knowing some things about it (as they release it) can't hurt.

I found this video and figured it might be of interest.




It is odd to me that Halo is looking more and more like Call of Duty/Battlefield/(equipment based games) but I guess that is the current trend with FPS games these days. The customizable stuff seems to add a nice wrinkle or two, but I am reluctant to get excited. You frequently see Gears of War-like sliding in this video, which is awkward looking. I still cringe when I see the hand to hand animations... I mean, is this Tekken, or a FPS? Time will tell.

SC

Bad Company 2 Universal Dr. Pepper Codes

Alright, it's been requested that I inform the public on how to get the DLC for Bad Company 2 for free. I will indeed tell you where to find such information, but first I would like to encourage you take this unique promotion into consideration. For starters, gamers in every other country outside of the US have to pay $2 per kit upgrade. Instead of having to do that, all we have to do is buy a 20 oz. Dr. Pepper or a 32 oz. drink at a Taco Bell. Not only do we get these kits cheaper, but we also get to enjoy a delicious Dr. Pepper* beverage whilst we enjoy our new content. I would like to whole-heartedly encourage you to actually buy the Dr. Peppers instead of manipulating the system. That being said, I know you won't. It's a shame, because Dr. Pepper is so tasty. Personally, I would like to thank EA and Dr. Pepper for combining two of my favorite things--soda and video games--into a perfect storm of awesomeness. I love when money I'd be spending anyway goes further than I initially expected.

Anyway, if y'all do want to cheat your way through this same as you cheat your way through the rest of your lives, I understand that as well. These codes don't unlock any real content other than a few wimpy 'cheevos, and those aren't even up-and-running yet. The instructions can be found in several places if you just Google "Dr. Pepper universal codes Bad Company", although the place I initially found them has been taken down. I'm not going to explicitly post the instructions or codes here for that exact reason. So, here is where you can find the codes and how you're s'posed to use 'em. If EA wants to take them down (and they will), that's fully within their rights.

http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/battlefield-bad-company-2-ng/1057437-who-wants-free-dr-pepper-codes.html

For the record, I've heard reports that the fourth code doesn't work, so you may have to buy at least one delicious, satisfying Dr. Pepper**.

--Chilly P

*No, I don't work for Dr. Pepper
**No, they're not paying me in any fashion, I just really enjoy their product

Fifa > Madden/NCAA

All too often I hear people getting all up in a tizzy about the newest madden or NCAA and I never really understand why. From my post about Tecmo to all of the NCAA footballs I have owned I can say that I, like any other person, enjoy a football game... but probably unlike the other folks in this horde of people, I am of the opinion that the more realistic you try to make it, the more likely you will run into problems that people will complain about. I think put simply, you could chalk this up to pathing and interactions between models, but I also have other areas of concern that make me lean towards the beautiful game instead of tossing the pigskin.

Ability to control the flow of the game:

From a fundamental standpoint, Soccer translates much better to video games than football. Passing and shooting is something that is easy to create and manage, whereas blocking, tackling, etc are much more of a problem. Soccer's interactions are pretty limited, with the only real problems coming from the occasional awkward challenge/tackle or goalkeepers, whom are always controlled by the computer when you do not have the ball. Other than those two things, most of the areas within the game are completely controllable by the human players. Unfortunately in football, the human player can only control one (possibly more if you consider rolling coverage or telling an O-line to block in a certain direction).

The importance of this here is that in soccer most interactions occur on a one on one basis (you can also control a nearby computer player to asisst in defense as well), but that is mostly it. You aren't relying on the computer to do most of the defending for you because you are fully capable of changing players to consistently keep up the one on one interactions. In football, once the ball is snapped, the human player can only control one player meaning he is only going to fill one zone, or cover one man. Now the computer is controlling 10 players that directly impact your ability to stop the opponent. On offense the same is applicable, the O-line is out of your control, the routes the computer runs are out of your hands, and any other outside blocking (TE, WR, RB, FB, etc) are outside of your area of control. The interactions become much more complicated, and in doing so, cause frustration. If one of your O-Line players gets beat (by an opponent who is a human or the computer if the opponent is controlling another player) you will not be pleased and might cry foul. These types of examples can go on and on, but the main point is that you cannot consistently make these games fair because the computer is far too inconsistent and the AI is not solid enough to simulate interactions that will please both players.

Broken Players:

Have you ever played NCAA or Madden and thought, "holy shit, this one player is breaking the game?" I know I have, and I think you would be lying if you said you hadn't as well. For example, it could be a DE that is repeatedly running all the way around OTs, TEs, and HBs that you assign to help block or a RB/WR that is unrealistically fast... the list can go on and on, but the point stands that certain players are capable of ruining a game because certain plays can be repeatedly run in order to exploit their unfair attributes.

FIFA really doesn't have these same problems to the extent that Madden or NCAA does. One extremely fast striker or midfield player can dramatically influence the game, but can be easily stopped without game-altering changes to be made in order to do so. Like mentioned earlier, the interactions in FIFA are 1 v 1 and 2 v 1 (when holding down "B" and having a computer player assist you on defense), which means that there is no one to blame but yourself if you get worked by an opponent. As opposed to some TE and OT getting caught up in awkward pathing that allow a human controlled DE to simply run around them and get an easy and unrealistic sack. Take home point here: FIFA doesn't allow ONE player to take over a game and cause extreme, game-altering changes to be made in order to defend against broken players (as long as the teams are comparable, and the same goes for all of my football examples as well). Yet this problem is highlighted by my next point...

Pathing/Routes:

It is no mystery that the pathing that goes on in Madden/NCAA can be abysmal and many times causes players to yell and scream while frantically and desperately watching instant replays in awe of the problems. I won't drone on too long about this, but the routes and pathing of computer controlled players in football is far too complex for a video game, and it is practically impossible to simulate the actual interactions and movements of players fairly for both players to accept. FIFA's pathing is somewhat simple, with the majority of the movements by computer players being on tracks up and down the field, which causes little problems. These straight lines back and forth will rarely be a “game breaker” and are consistent and reassuring. I suppose all the evidence I need for this is on any play where a running back (or WR, TE, FB, etc) can find that happy pathing line where the defensive players take the wrong angle and he is able to squeeze out 4-8 yards (sometimes more) when he really should have been hit 2 yards past the line of scrimmage. Like I said, I could drone on and on about terrible blocking patterns, bad blitz routes, etc. but it would become tedious.

________

I won't make this post into a novel, but I think my points stand with concrete legitimacy in regards to FIFA being a more well-rounded game than Madden or NCAA football. I think some important things to remember after reading this post, is that I am not saying FIFA is a better game than Madden/NCAA or that Soccer is better than Football. What I am saying, is that FIFA takes the game of soccer, and creates a better representation of how the sport is played than Madden/NCAA does with football. So before people get up in arms about how soccer is stupid, I am an idiot, yada yada, etc. just keep in mind the actual question here: Which game do you think actually creates the better representation of the real sport?

Well, what do you think?

SC

Bad Company 2 Updates

There are two updates coming for Bad Company 2. Here are the details via the Battlefield Blog:

• Balance patch
• DLC

I got a Dr. Pepper code at Taco Bell today, but when I entered it in the site, my options were for Mass Effect 2, The Sims 3, Spore, and Battlefield Heroes. The post clearly says it should be available today. I'll see if I can get the DLC through the in-game Store. I'll update this post when I find out more. [Update] I checked the store. It used to have the Dr. Pepper promotions listed under "Coming Soon", now they're just gone. I tried just entering a code, but it didn't work. I did have to download an update to Bad Company 2, though, so they've certainly done something (there was no update needed when Map Pack 2 became available). I'm just not sure what that something is. [Update, pt 2] Okay, it's up and running now. I had three Dr. Pepper codes laying around (I love Dr. Pepper) so I got the SPECACT kits for the Assault, Engineer, and Medic classes. You know how each class has an open spot on the Weapons and Specializations page? That's now replaced by an orange version of the SPECACT gun (M16A2 SA, UMP SA, MG3 SA, M95 SA). Each SA gun is exactly like its standard counter-part, except it has camouflage...you know, something you can do with every gun in Call of Duty. What's annoying is that there are now 8 classes to choose from on the kit selection screen in-game. Each kit has a + version (i.e., Assault+, Engineer+, ...) that sits below the normal version. I'm pretty sure they could have thought of an easier way to do that. Anyway, there are 12 new awards/medals, 3 for each class. They're get 8 kills in a game with [SA gun], get a 5 kill streak with [SA gun], and get 100 kills with [SA gun]. The 'cheevos for each download aren't available yet, but I'm sure they're unlocked for going gold with each SA gun. Honestly, the DLC kinda sucks, but I drink Dr. Pepper all the time anyway and I love 'cheevos, so it's worth it to me. I'm definitely disappointed, though.

As for the balance patch, it's PC-only right now. Things like this have to clear standards with Microsoft and Sony before you can put them on a console. They don't give a timetable, but hopefully it will come soon. I read through every single detail of the patch and every single one of them seems like a welcome change. The only ones that didn't make sense to me were the nerfs to the 40mm shotgun. I wasn't aware that it was overpowered. I always thought it was a POS. I also thought it was strange that the grenade launcher and Carl Gustav received blast radius nerfs. They were already way less effective than their Call of Duty counter-parts. It seems people really don't enjoy being a'sploded. Some balance fixes I'm particularly eager about:

• The M1911 got slowed down. Definitely a fan of that
• The Grach, my favorite pistol, got increased range efficiency.
  
• The tracer dart's speed is significantly increased. I never understood how using a tracer dart was supposed to be easier than using an RPG.
  
• The power tool overheats faster, but does the same of repairing between overheats. I love repairing shit.
• Decreased explosive damage from Attack choppers. Combine that with the increased dart speed and now that effing Hind on Isla Inocentes won't be such a rape.
  
• Made the AA gun more effective against infantry. That makes the Bakcha AA less useless
• Nerfed the M60
• Increased reload time on mortar strikes. I loved using them, but I knew they were overpowered.
  
• Recon gets 3 motion mines. Hell. Yes.
  

So, hopefully this patch will make it's way to my 'Box soon. I'd love to see less of the M60. I would have liked to see something that keeps people from over-using the C4/UAV combo, but if DICE doesn't feel it's a problem then I guess it's not a problem. Any team that cares about playing defense won't let it happen.

--Chilly P

Balanced Brawl

You may or may not of heard of Balanced Brawl, but it's an impressive, FREE project made with the mission of balancing Super Smash Bros. Brawl (duh). Anyway, I downloaded it tonight and got it up and running in under 30 minutes, 95% of which was spent on my computer getting the SD card ready (All you need is an SD card; no hacking or Homebrew Channel required, and it won't keep you from being able to play standard Brawl). I've played around with it a little bit (just against AI opponents), and I can testify that it was really easy to set up. Just follow the instructions here. Hurry up, too, before Nintendo shuts it down or releases a patch that disables it. Hopefully they won't do that because this is no way shape or form causes them to make any less money, but who knows. It is Nintendo's right to make sure Captain Falcon blows nut sack.

The downside is that the way it works is by going through the Stage Builder, and a casualty of that is that you can no longer have custom stages. That makes me a sad panda. It's definitely worth it though (I hope) because if I can actually be competitive with Yoshi, I'll be able to get over the fact that I can't play on Wally McSpinzor anymore. Once I really sink my teeth into it, I'll be sure to report my impressions. I will say this, though, this is definitely still Brawl, so don't expect to start wave-dashing or L-canceling any time soon.

--Chilly P

p.s. I did go to the site to ask around about getting my custom stages to work, and there apparently is a work around, but you need the Homebrew Channel, which I have but don't trust. Anyway, if you can get into a chat with the Thinkaman, he can help you out.