It Happened; I Finally Sold My PS Vita for a Nintendo 3DS XL

August 8, 2012 By 8 Comments

I was high on the Vita — or maybe I was high thinking the Vita would ever live up to its potential. I was one of the few that bought it at launch. $250 for a Wi-fi model was a little pricey, but come on, Uncharted on a handheld? What’s not to love?

Well, then I beat Uncharted: Golden Abyss and Rayman Origins, and MLB 12: The Show didn’t hold my attention, as I preferred to play it on my PlayStation 3. Then I played the waiting game. To this day, there hasn’t been another game released that I absolutely had to play. Gravity Rush finally came out, yet I was so down on the handheld by then that I didn’t care about playing it.

A combination of no solid updates from Sony, overpriced games (including downloads) and a lack of software gave the Vita very little purpose. Vita is Latin for life, so I find it funny that a system named that has so little life to it. So what did I do? I put it on Craigslist. The problem was that no one wanted to buy it for the $200 I was asking. That included a case, headphones and 4GB memory card. All they wanted to do was trade me a PSP and used condoms. For about a month I kept posting on there to no avail.

Finally, my wife told me to just trade it in to GameStop. So I called and asked how much they were offering for a Wi-fi PS Vita. I figured they’d offer no less than $130. Boy, was I wrong. $95. I shit you not. I asked if there were any trade-in promotions, and they said that price was with the promotion, as it would normally get me $75 in trade-in value. That’s right, a system barely played that cost $250 new, only gets you $75-$95 at GameStop. So I went to Amazon, posted it, and within eight hours it sold for $189.99.

So fuck you, GameStop.

What am I doing with that money?

I’m buying a Nintendo 3DS XL with it. I have a Mario void in my life, and that’s going to help fill it. There are just so many games out for the handheld that not only interest me, but even my wife (who isn’t a gamer). She was addicted to Animal Crossing years ago, to the point where she didn’t play for three days, went back into the game, and felt guilty when the town’s citizens were kind of rude to her. That’s when she stopped gaming.

So I’m finally going to go with a handheld from a company that’s done it right for so many years, has a track record of good games for their handheld, and is only getting stronger. That and Sony (as a company) is having some trouble. See ya later, Sony. I have my PS3 and will continue to enjoy that, but for now I’m going to venture into the handheld world of 3D, New Super Mario Bros. 2 and maybe even a little Animal Crossing. I’ll keep you updated on whether my wife become addicted again.

Does Your Dad Play Halo with You? Because Mine Does.

July 25, 2012 By 3 Comments

There are a lot of parents that just don’t understand gamers. They think that video games rot your brain and say stupid things like, “why don’t you go outside and play like other kids?” This, of course, sounds idiotic when they also say things like, “If everyone was jumping off a bridge would you do it too?”

As my generation of gamers come into adulthood and start families and raise children of our own, what will we teach the younger generation about gaming? Will we be willing participants and stay up to date on the games that are popular to them? Or will we become so entrenched with other aspects of life that gaming sort of drifts away? Maybe it’ll be something more along the lines of the damn arthritis in my hands can’t let me use a controller properly. Will some of us be like our parents that thought all the violence in the world is caused by violent video games? Or will we be like our parents that spent the time to play the games we liked with us?

The answer is easy for me. I have a three-year-old son and I’m already playing games like Cars 2 and Toy Story 3 with him. But this is thanks to me having a dad that encouraged my love of videogames, even though they came after his youth. I can remember him getting me my first NES, Genesis, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, and Xbox. It went beyond him merely buying these objects for me and my brother. It was the time he spent playing the games with me that had a positive factor on my gaming lifestyle.

Two of my most fond memories come from Madden 64 for the Nintendo 64 and Halo for the Xbox. I am a huge fan of sports games. Madden, NCAA Football, MLB: The Show, WWF Wrestlemania — I’ve played ‘em all. My dad likes football. He tries to keep himself knowledgeable — even though he’s definitely more of a baseball guy. So when I would be sitting there tossing touchdowns from John Elway to Ed McCaffrey on Madden 64, he would ask if I wanted to play. He wasn’t the best at the game; he wouldn’t put up 30+ points on me. But he’d score a touchdown here and there. The thing is, when playing with him, it wasn’t about the score. He made the game so much more fun just by picking up another controller. Yeah, he’d do better at a more simple game like NFL Blitz, but at least he made the effort.

A lot of parents would just sit their kid down in front of a console and TV and let it act as a babysitter. My dad knew that video games were my hobby, and he wanted to be part of it.

My other example was Halo. When it came to playing shooters with a controller, my dad was not in his element; he’s definitely more at home with a keyboard and mouse. But sure enough, when my brother and a friend of mine fired up Halo and needed one more player, he was there. He’d hop on and try to snipe. Sure he screen-watched; sure he didn’t have the response time that we had; but when he made that headshot from across the map, his response was joyous. I almost had more fun seeing and hearing his reactions than I had with the actual game. And when he got his hands on the rocket launcher in Chiron TL 34, that’s when the real fun began.

It was never about finishing first or having the best score. It was about him spending time with his kids, doing the things they love. It was about a parent that wasn’t brought up with videogames making the effort to like the things we liked. Now he is an amazing sniper when he plays Call of Duty on the PC. He loves strategy games like Total War and Sim City. And he is getting into Facebook games because of the social side of them and the ease of use.

So the type of parent that I’m going to be to my son, I can attribute to my dad. I love videogames because he let me love them. He nurtured my love for them. I can look back at these memories and just smile, knowing that other like myself had a dad that would take the time to play a game he knew he was going to get slaughtered at. Just don’t let them ever get their hands on Oddjob in Goldeneye 64.

OUYA: The Future of Gaming?

July 10, 2012 By 49 Comments

Now this is how to do a Kickstarter. Today’s craze on Kickstarter is OUYA, a new game console for the TV — and it’s powered by Android. Oh, and it met its $950 thousand goal in less than 24 hours.

Now, before you go bashing it because it’s Android-powered, just give me a minute here. This project needs to happen. It’s what consoles need. Like I said last week, I still don’t agree that mobile is the future of gaming, and the people behind OUYA feel the same way. Julie Uhrman, the founder of OUYA, grew up gaming on a television, and some of her best memories of gaming happened in the living room.

Think about it. I grew up with consoles. There’s something about having four or more people huddled around a television, yelling when someone snipes someone else or takes the lead in a racing game. Mobile is making a gamer-on-the-go that’s disconnected from a genuine, intimate gaming experience. Yes, creative developers are making mobile and social games because it’s more affordable and developer-friendly. The current state of consoles aren’t as friendly as they should be, but OUYA plans to change that.

They want to hand the reigns over to the developer, and I’m all for that. They’re all about making games less expensive to make and buy. I know I’m tired of paying $60 for half-assed console games. The only condition is that some of the gameplay has to be free — whether it is a free demo with a full-game upgrade, in-game items, or subscription. What I love is that anyone can make a game, because every OUYA console is a dev kit. I have no idea how to develop a game, but I could sure as hell try if I wanted to. OUYA is an open design, and hackers are welcome here.

Gamers should be embracing this with open arms. Think about all of the possibilities. You can root the OUYA with no void to your warranty, you can create your own peripherals, connect via USB or Bluetooth; there’s literally no end to the creativity, and it’s all encouraged.

What else can you do? Watch Twitch.TV on your OUYA through 1080p. Move over honey, I’m gonna watch a League of Legends tournament on the 55-inch tv tonight; forget watching it on my PC. OUYA’s specs include a Tegra3 quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM, HDMI connection with 1080p support, wireless controllers, USB 2.0, and Android 4.0.

I could not be more on-board for this. You won’t have your big names of Halo and Call of Duty, but you’ll get creative developers with an open source console. We could see some big and unique games come to this. Just taking some of your favorite mobile games and bringing them to a television and living room setting will change the whole dynamic. Minecraft and Canabalt are two examples. But it’s so much more than that. Really good games could be made for cheap. The next big RPG or third-person shooter could be free with some cheap payment options. And all of this on a $99 console.

The OUYA is exactly what gaming needs. Mobile isn’t the future of gaming; a cheap, open-source console with free-to-play games that’s easy and inexpensive to develop for and is hacker friendly is the future. And the reality is, it looks like it’s going to happen. In my honest opinion, I think there’s a shift in the gaming world coming, and it doesn’t go by Xbox 720 or PS4 or iPhone 5s — it goes by the name of OUYA. It may not take over, but it’ll sure as hell live side-by-side with the big boys.

 

 

And the Gaming Industry Puts Its Foot in Its Mouth, Once Again

July 2, 2012 By 1 Comment

Am I the only one that feels like people in the gaming industry have never taken a public speaking course? Don’t any of these people have handlers (like the ones that do such a great job guiding the public perception of Lindsey Lohan)? Two particular foot-in-mouth scenarios that took place last week belong to Reggie Fils-Aime, President of Nintendo of America, and Chip Sineni, a developer of Phosphor Games. Let’s start with good ol’ Reggie.

Reggie Fils-Aime — who I still believe is related to Goldberg from The Mighty Ducks — recently said that gamers are impossible to satisfy. In an interview with Kotaku, Reggie said, “One of the things that, on one hand, I love and, on the other hand, that troubles me tremendously about not only our fanbase but about the gaming community at large is that, whenever you share information, the perspective is, ‘Thank you, but I want more.’ ‘Thank you, but give me more.’ I mean, it is insatiable.”

My response to gamers being insatiable is a loud and proud “no shit.” Of course we always want more. You want to charge more, so we expect more. But this whole blaming the bad response to Nintendo’s E3 on gamers never being satisfied is just stupid. It’s bad business Reggie. You’re months away from launching a next-gen system and you’re going to insult the fanbase that will potentially be buying your product? We know we are insatiable, but we don’t want to be told that. How ’bout you just smile at us and try a little harder. Hate to tell you this, Reggie, but no one was begging for a Wii Fit sequel. No one was asking for NintendoLand. People wanted your biggest franchises to have launch titles. If you don’t have a Zelda title for launch, then you’re dropping the ball.

Don’t blame your bad presentation on gamers; blame it on your inability to translate the gaming community’s wants and needs into actual products and presentation.

Our second stupid comment comes from Phosphor Games’ developer Chip Sineni, who just announced their upcoming mobile action-adventure game Horn. As if everyone isn’t tired of the mobile replacing console argument, Sineni said, “Mobile and tablet systems are quickly becoming the main way people play games, replacing consoles.” No, asshole, they aren’t.

The only people that think mobile gaming is replacing consoles are the people making mobile games. Even with your triple-A mobile action-adventure game, I’m still just going to be able to swipe and tap. I’ve said this before, but I think mobile games work because you always have your phone on you. They’re easy and accessible. But that’s why it’s hard for me to view them as more than bathroom poop-time games. You play them when you’re bored or on a bus or whatever. This whole mobile taking over consoles thing is like saying there’s no point to PCs or Macs anymore because you can browse the Internet, edit pictures, and go on Facebook on your phone.

Mobile gaming is a nice compliment to a true console/PC gaming experience. It’s not replacing anything without a dedicated controller, really good battery life, a 50-inch screen, and immersive games. This Chip guy is trying to hype up his game as something revolutionary that will change the gaming landscape as we know it. In reality, all you’re doing when you say that mobile is replacing consoles is pissing off core gamers.

I respect the hell out of Reggie and know his heart is in the right place, but you just weren’t thinking. What you need to do is change the way you’re looking at the gaming market, because you’re not really going to change how we all see it. Also, I don’t want to buy a next-gen system to use the fucking Wiimote again… I hate that thing. Chip, I just don’t trust you — mostly because of your name — and like anyone that says consoles are being replaced by mobile, I simply disregard your comments and chalk it up to you being on bath salts — that’s a popular excuse here in South Florida.