Minecraft: The Super Sneaky Time Sink

(Warning: This first section was written like 2 weeks ago because thats how long it’s been since I wrote then recorded the thing I mention at the end :P )

So you’ve probably never heard of this game before, but theres this super addictive game you should play called Minecraft. I know, I know, another small indie game that no one’s ever heard of, but guys trust me, this game is awesome and will absorb your life if you aren’t careful.

With the recent release of Minecraft on XBLA, and the sudden influx of time I have due to summer break, I was suddenly reminded that I might as well spend dozens of hours mindlessly building things in minecraft...for PC of course. This sudden realization has caused me to rehost a server for my cousin and I, and has also caused my girlfriend to discover a game that has miraculously rivaled her Sims 3 infatuation. I’m not trying to complain. I mean, I love being able to catch up on the four or five months of Tested podcasts and the last month of Giantbomb casts, I love finally finding a game to play with my girlfriend that we seem to enjoy equally, and I obviously must love building random farms, orchards, mansions, mines, and castles, but I can’t help but get the strangest feeling that I will never be productive again when my days look something like this:

Reviews at Game Chronicles

Hey everyone :)

Go check out my first two of many reviews to come over at Game Chronicles. Rock of Ages is definitely a game you should play, while Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City...not so much.

Hidden Story of E3 2012 So Far

With all the press conferences coming to an end, and E3 proper beginning with the show floor opening, there will be endless talk, interviews, and impressions from thousands of people across the internet. Talk has already been circulating that this E3 is one of the more disappointing E3s in recent memory, and this is most likely because of the weird transitioning period the industry is in with new consoles right around the corner. Sure, there have been a few exciting announcements, but even as someone who didn’t have access to any of that juicy professional pre E3 press information, I can still say I wasn’t too blown away with much of anything during these press conferences. That’s not to say that there wasn’t anything exciting, though. I’m surprisingly excited for a new Halo game, can’t wait to get my hands on a new SimCity, and I am definitely one of those many people who have been waiting for years for a new Pikmin game, but I can’t really say I had a “Wow” moment at this E3. And with all of this disappointment due to lack of new games because of new hardware on the horizon, I think there is an underlying story that most people aren’t pointing to.

EA Press Conference

Hey guys! Do you like shooting dudes? Do you like sports games? Do you like racing games? Do you like horrible social games? Do you like being asked to play games months after they come out because the company wants, no NEEDS more money from you? Well than do I have a press conference summary for you.

That basically sums up the EA Press Conference this afternoon. It started off with a fairly interesting trailer for Dead Space 3, but apparently they are changing a lot of what that game is, and maybe not for the best. In any case, I'm still pretty excited for it seeing as I loved the last two Dead Space games. It was a pretty good start to the show, but it was basically all down hill from there. Other than some footage of the much awaited new SimCity game, some gameplay of Criterion's Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and the announcement that UFC has now joined forces with EA even though Dana White has had a history of talking mad shit about the company, the EA press conference was basically a blur. Honestly, if it wasn't for me writing down everything as I saw it, I probably wouldn't be able to regurgitate half the stuff I saw. I have found myself looking at this piece of paper saying, "Oh yeah, that happened."

Microsoft Press Conference

The Microsoft Press Conference started off with some interesting footage of the new Halo, and from what I saw, it looks like it could be really good. It basically looks just like more Halo, but I'm going to give 343 Industries the benefit of the doubt and say that I think the story might actually be an interesting new direction for the Halo franchise. After Halo though, it was a while before there was anything really worth mentioning.

Microsoft had an EA guy come out and talk about kinect support for sports games, which I'm guessing literally no one cares about, a trailer for the new Gears of War that doesn't get me too excited, some Tomb Raider gameplay which looks interesting, but is not something I'm getting too excited about, a trailer and gameplay for Resident Evil 6 that actually looked pretty good, and finally, an interesting, yet almost completely uninformative trailer for TwistedPixel's next game called LocoCycle. All this stuff wasn't too bad, but I guess it wasn't anything I was getting too excited to see. I would have liked to see some more than just a trailer for the Gears of War game, as well as LocoCycle (I'm not 100% sure if that "C" is capitalized or not...oh well, screw it), so there's really nothing all that new to say about most of those games.

My View on ME3 Ending (Archived)

So I know this is months old, but I just wanted to share my thoughts on the Mass Effect 3 ending, and also archive my thoughts on the game so maybe I could come back to them later. This was orginally posted as a topic on the forums on Giantbomb. Anyway, enjoy :)

Is Piracy Actually a Good Thing?

With the rise and fall of SOPA and PIPA earlier this year, piracy has become an even bigger issue than it was over a decade ago with the creation of Napster. Over the past 13 years companies have tried any number of ways to fight the free sharing of content over the internet, and whether it be some form of DRM, or trying to get legislation passed, it’s been a struggle for them to find an adequate solution to the problem. As many people that play video games know, DRM can do more harm to legitimate customers than it does to piracy, and finding a reliable, friendly way to make sure a game, music, movie, or program doesn’t get pirated is an almost impossible task. The internet will find a way. It always does, and it seems as if there may be nothing to stop people from stealing content because there will always be people who try to circumvent copyright protection. With this in mind we need to ask ourselves if there’s really any way to stop piracy, and maybe, if it even should be stopped.