What About The Rest Of The Year?

Blogging? Am I still doing that? By missing E3 this year, I shot my blogging-self in the foot. Last year and the year before, E3 was a prime time to chime in on the world of gaming. Starting right now, there are only 4 games that I'm really looking forward to for the remainder of 2013. They are, in order of suspected release:

6/25/2013 - Deadpool
9/3/2013 - Diablo III (Console)
9/17/2013 - Grand Theft Auto V
Q4 2013 - South Park: The Stick of Truth

I'll definitely be talking about the Deadpool game, because it looks awesome and hilarious.

The other two games, Diablo and GTA, look to be early fall releases but I'm not really sure about South Park. Who knows? Anybody. I can wait for that one, because I want the South Park game to be done right or not done at all.

Good news though, I'll have plenty of time to play Deadpool before I get bogged down with the other new games. Deadpool is my favorite Marvel Comics character and I've been anticipating this game since I first heard about it. And it's about damn time that it was released. I'll try and get a huge chunk of it played shortly after release so that I can post my thoughts on the game.

There were some tempting pre-order bonuses, but nothing too blingy. So I put my pre-order in at GameStop and got two more challenge maps, two extra costumes, and a wallpaper. Let me see if I can dig that sucker up.

New New?

This is an odd time in my gaming career and in my adventures as the Do-Nothing-Man. Disinterest has infected my perspective of gaming. I mentioned earlier that I'm consistently playing Diablo 3 on my computer and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness on my hacked PSP. That's it.

I've taken little breaks to play things like Aliens: Colonial Marines and The Walking Dead. I even sat down to play Halo 4 with my roommate for the first time in several months last weekend. The point is: I haven't been playing much. And, I'm not necessarily happy with what I have been playing.

Even with games like Diablo and Disgaea, the repetitive nature of each game is wearing on me. On both of these titles, it's the grinding and leveling up that initially peaked my interest; however, I find myself only able to stand Disgaea in smaller and smaller segments. Clear a couple levels in the Item World, and then I'm putting my PSP to sleep. Diablo 3 is getting a similar treatment; I measure my playing time in accumulated gold. Once I acquire 100,000 gold in a play session, I'm done. Paragon levels don't even interest me anymore. In both games, I'm chilling in the end-game, doing only the things that I want to do. And I'm still getting a little burnt out.

What I've noticed while playing these two favorites is that I'm in no mood for marathon gaming sessions. A couple years ago, I could sit and play Fallout 3 all freakin' day. That doesn't happen anymore. Part of it could be that I have a standing desk now; when I'm playing Diablo 3, I'm on my feet. Not sitting on my ass. But I've had the standing set-up for over a year and when D3 first came out, I was playing marathon sessions to power level my crazy Witch Doctor.

The PSP is a little different; I'm usually playing Disgaea while sitting on our porch (now things are warming up) or while in bed right before going to sleep. Plus, that little machine is hacked, so I'm constantly tinkering with it while it's connected to my computer. I need to learn how to take my own screenshots. There must be a way.

I thought, for the longest time, that I could be a perfectly content gamer only playing Disgaea and Diablo (at the time I was thinking of Diablo 2), maybe include a Resident Evil 2 play-through every so often. Disgaea and Diablo will always be go-to games for me for me, but maybe it's time for me to branch out and play something that's completely outside of my gaming repertoire.

What a weird word.

Walk The Dead

So I took a break from Diablo 3 and Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (the two games that I've been consistently playing as of late) to finally sit down and play Telltale's The Walking Dead. A friend let me borrow his copy of all five episodes on disc for the Xbox. I played the first episode from beginning to end when I should've been watching the newest episode of The Walking Dead on AMC.

The game has received pretty positive reviews, and after playing the first episode, I understand why. But I still didn't really like the first episode of this game series. The story-telling was good, but I didn't like that it relied on "celebrities" from the comic. When I ended up on Hershel's farm in the very beginning, I was confused. It didn't look anything like it did in the comics or on the TV show. As soon as I realized where I was, I wanted to leave and meet new characters in this world.

Luckily, my wish was granted with Kenny and his family. I have a clear allegiance to Kenny and keeping that allegiance will guide most of my decisions throughout the game. I'm going to skip around here, to keep from spoiling the game.

Once I was inside the pharmacy, my problems with the game reared their ugly heads. I was charged with breaking into the pharmacy to get pills for heart-attack Dad and that became my ultimate goal. Frustration set in as the keys were nowhere to be found in the office. What I did find was a family picture of Lee with his parents and brother. He immediately ripped himself out of the photo and stashed it in the edge-of-the-screen inventory. For me, that was a very meaningful moment in how I understood Lee's story.

It was a weird thing to do, rip oneself out of a family photo but still keep the family photo. I was perplexed, in awe, and hooked. I left the office and the little girl's radio went off with Glenn, who went to fetch gasoline, calling for help. I brought the gun-girl with me to save Glenn and we saved his Korean ass. Upon returning with my axe, I tried to chop my way into the pharmacy and Lee, in so many words, basically said, "No dip-shit, you need the key."

So I was back where I left off and I talked to everyone again. Last being Doug, the guy guarding the door to the outside. And that's when I noticed the trapped zombie. The action button instructed me to show Doug my family photo, which convinced him that the trapped zombie had the pharmacy key. What just happened? Then it clicked: I had done things out of order. When I first talked to door-guard Doug, I was to see the trapped zombie (which I didn't) and try to convince Doug that the zombie worked at the pharmacy. He would have said something like, no it's too risky, I need proof. Then I would have gone back to the pharmacy office, picked up the photo, ripped myself out to hide my identity, and then showed the photo to Doug.

The moment I had with Lee, removing himself from the family photo, was ripped away. I had done things out of order. And from that moment on, I was pissed. So pissed, that I let Doug die in one of my decision button-time events.

As a general rule, I hate button-time events. They suck. I hated them in Resident Evil 4, especially after that knife fight, and I've hated them ever since.

The Walking Dead can basically be construed as an awesome story with a long string of button-time events. Awesome story-telling = good. Long string of button-time events = bad.

The episode ended with heart-attack Dad telling me to stay away from his daughter. My only thoughts were: I must have missed something because I think you're an asshole and I think your daughter is a bitch. As soon as I get the chance to let either or both of you die, I will do just that.

In some ways, I guess the first episode of The Walking Dead game succeeded because I am invested in these characters, whether its helping keep them safe, or having a hand in their gruesome deaths, I am invested.

As the episode ended, I was satisfied to see Glenn off in his pizza-delivery car. Get outta here kid; get yourself to the Georgia big time and be awesome (yeah, I like Glenn).

A Summer Sans PS3

August always signals the end of summer for me. Yeah, schools don't start for a couple more days, but by the middle of August, summer is basically gone.

After flipping through a couple older posts and looking over my gaming notes (yes, I have gaming notes), I arrived at a shocking revelation. I have not played my PlayStation 3 at all this summer. My gaming time consisted of the following:

Diablo 3 (PC)
Tribes: Ascend (PC)
League of Legends (PC)
Saint's Row 3 (Xbox 360)
Just Cause 2 (Xbox 360)
Pokémon Emerald (GBA/DS Lite)

Yep, that looks about right. I'm almost finished with Emerald and I'm a complete noob on League of Legends, but Diablo 3 and the sandbox games have kept me pretty occupied. Receiving the most ink, though, are Diablo 3 and Pokémon because I just enjoy writing about demons and pocket monsters.

As an avid PlayStation fan, I feel I must explain my summer of transgression. Excuse number one is that I moved and it's taken time to get things set back up. Lame reason. Excuse number two is that my PS3 currently has no sound. During the move, I decided to commit my surround sound speakers to my gaming PC for demon slaughtering eargasms. This left the PS3 with no audio device and me with an excuse to explore the world of surround sound headsets. And I haven't found a pair that I like.

I've never been an audiophiliac, but recently, I've had an unusual appetite for video game audio and becoming totally present in a gaming reality. That means tuning out the real world and tuning into the game world; the complete immersion of self. And listening to a game through sound cancelling headphones seemed like the best way to accomplish such immersion.

The plan was to pick up a pair of headphones for my PS3. The problem is that one does not simply "pick up" a pair of gaming headphones. Maybe I just don't know enough about quality audio, but between Turtle Beach nonsense and Logitech fluff, I'm not really sure what I'm doing.

The minute I decided on a pair, the Tritton Ax Pro, I read about a new pair coming out this fall; an updated or upgraded version of the Tritton Ax Pro. I really wish the name was Tritton Axe Pro, which sounds like a wicked combination of two-handed melee weapons.

Re-Router For Diablo 3

With too few hours into my Diablo 3 witch doctor, I can't really complain about the game yet. Nor can I shower it with praise. I've enjoyed the little time I've spent hucking spider grenades at goatmen. However, one foe as popped up and presented a challenge that I had not suspected. Last night, whilst fighting spiders with spiders, my router melted, ate itself, and then died. In that exact order. Now I can't play Diablo 3. And I need a new router.

I know I could plug straight into my cable modem; however, I used the downtime to revert to Diablo 2 and kick some ass in Kurast. The always online issue has been a hot topic as of late. I don't see Diablo's requirement to always be connected to the Internet as a violation. But it is an annoyance. For instance, if Diablo 3 didn't require an Internet connection, there is no way that I would be running out to replace my router right away. I want to play this game. And I'm enjoying this game. But this is the first time that I've ever owned a game that I don't feel is completely mine.

I hopped over to Diablo 2 for many reasons: I was already in my click-demons-to-death mood, both games are installed on the same machine, it wasn't time to go to sleep, and I didn't have to be connected to the Internet. There are plenty of games that I love to play that do not require an Internet connection. I wish Diablo 3 were one of them; I understand why it is not. But still, if, for whatever reason, I don't have access to the Internet, I will play a game that does not require access to the Internet. Duh, right?

This might be a reason that I don't play or enjoy Diablo 3 as much as other gamers.

Picking up a new router means a trip to the local MicroCenter; it's always fun meandering through the store and checking out new technology. The old Netgear router (may she rest in peace) has been due for an upgrade; I'm pretty sure the thing is about seven years old. Old enough that my Nintendo DS can't connect to it. That should've been the reason to upgrade long ago. Must trade Pokémon.

If the replacement router can instantly connect to my DS, I might drop Diablo and move right back to Soul Silver in trading mode. Setting up the router should be quick and if I can plug and go with ethernet cables, I might be right back into Diablo 3. We'll see.

Or I might go back to Kurast and brain Mephisto. Actually, this sounds like the most fun.

What's the Password?

The new quarters is coming together well. It's not done, that's for sure, but it'll soon be complete. I've been playing Diablo 3 since Saturday night; yeah, I've had a late start because of, you know, moving. All of the Diablo 3 hype has me thinking of the fun times in Diablo 2. And they were good times. I can't really complain about Diablo 3 yet; I'm only a level 13 witch doctor. But I can complain about people complaining about Diablo 3. They suck.

Thanks to Diablo 3, I've been itching to crack open Diablo 2 again, but, I don't think my little netbook could handle Diablo 2 and its expansion pack. Although, it does play Fallout Tactics very well. I might just give it a shot. Recently, my Acer netbook suffered a serious blow, which got me thinking about backing up data. Almost a week later, I lost my 1GB USB flash drive; I have no idea where it is (but I have been packing things up in boxes); I'm hopeful that it'll turn up. Until then, I've initiated a complete password overhaul. That's right, any account of mine that has a password is getting a new password.

I've already changed a couple of them, but I have a whole list to update (and a copy of said list might have been on my missing flash drive). Being the crazy person that I am, I have many, many email address and various accounts tied to each email address. Every time I open a web browser, I feel like someone could be trolling out my passwords.

Password construction has been going all week. I have a couple good ones. The lists tops off around thirty, so I still have some work ahead. Password creation is a tricky subject; I've heard lots of ideas about how to make passwords and more specifically, how to remember passwords. Frequent use tattoos most passwords to my brain; I guess I'm just sharp like that. The ones I don't use often get written down (typed up) and stored where I can easily access them. Unfortunately, when the storage is digital, there's always the risk of corruption, theft, cash, or simply misplacement. So I make my list, print said list, store it in a Resident Evil 2 GameCube game case, and save the original file (usually a text document) in some obscure folder on my hard drive.

Oh crap, now the Internet knows where I hide my passwords.

I am ashamed to admit this, but one of my passwords I've had since high school. It's my favorite one, no doubt. I am going to change it. To honor its memory, I'll drop a visual clue.

Just Sippin' Blue Mana Margaritas

There was a time in the not-to-distant past that I hacked and slashed my way through the realms of the sanctuary. I'm not sure if I should capitalize that or not; I'm not up on the lore. Perhaps, "I've been clicking monsters to death since 1998," is a better way to describe my endearment to the world of Diablo. At the time, I was amazed I could play both Diablo and eventually its sequel on my old desktop machine. But I am bummed that I've never had the chance to play Diablo on the PlayStation. Someday.

Nothing is better than swinging a sword or an axe into an army of skeletons, so I always played a warrior in Diablo. I tried the rogue once and hated her guts; I completely ignored the sorcerer. I'm an in-your-face demon slayer; if I'm not feeling the spray of blood then what's the point right? This trend continued in Diablo 2 with the barbarian. In fact, my first play-though was all barbarian, all duel-axes, and all whirlwind. The image of this armored giant with a battle axe in each hand spinning and flailing around in the middle of enemy hordes just made me laugh.

After my barbarian urges were satisfied, I explored the other classes and fell for the necromancer. It was love at first summon.

"You mean I can summon an army of skeletons to do my bidding?! I'll just sit over here and let Mr. Bones and his badass buddies do all my dirty work while I sip mana potion margaritas."





Again, a necromancer with a yew wand in one hand and a blue margarita in the other just makes me all happy and tingly inside. Then I discovered my true beverage of choice: poison.

Ever since the Lord of Destruction expansion, I've been running poison necromancers. Letting the monsters swarm around me then casting poison nova is one of the best feelings I've ever had in all my years of playing video games. Still so much fun.

With Diablo 3 landing next week, I am looking forward to the long-awaited sequel; however, I don't think I'll get the same gush of excitement that Diablo 2 supplied me since the turn of the millennium. With the little research that I've done, I know I'll play my first run as a witch doctor and I don't think that Plague of Toads or Acid Cloud will be as awesome as Poison Nova. Some of the doc's passive abilities look very compelling; for instance: Fetish Sycophants grants the chance to summon those jibber-jabbering little midgets from the jungle levels of Diablo 2, Act 3. I love those little dudes.

Then there's also the Firebats ability which summons a flock of flaming bats; I would rather chuck flaming cats at my enemies' faces. But whatever. That seems like something a crazy witch doctor would do, right?

Besides reading about the witch doctor and watching a sweet Diablo vs. Angels cartoon, I haven't looked into Diablo 3 that much. Maybe because I want to be surprised. This Diablo fan is hopeful.