Posted by Rob on December 14, 2011 – 3:53 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as action, adventure, batman, batman: arkham city, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, dead island, dungeon hunter: alliance, ea, elder scrolls v, fall of man, fighting, game of the year, gears of war 3, hockey, house of the dead overkill extended cut, infamous 2, insomniac, lord of the rings, mortal kombat, multiplayer, nhl '12, oblivion, online, pre-order, rail shooter, Resistance 2, resistance 3, rocksteady, RPG, skyrim, smackdown vs raw, Spike TV, Sports, sucker punch, thq, trailer, vga's, war in the north, wwe allstars
Move over Spike’s VGA…you were and still are a whopping disappointment to the gaming community. Why you think I’d rather watch some jerk jump onto a Velcro wall or some deuche in a mouse helmet spin tunes rather than allowing the winning developers to give a one-minute speech that didn’t end in a tea-bagging incident is beyond me. But enough of that…this is my personal Game of the Year awards. These are the games I played and enjoyed the most this year, and some may be expected or a surprise. Just sit back, relax and enjoy.
Action/ Adventure Game of the Year: Batman: Arkham City
Batman: Arkham Asylum was successful in making a game in which you actually felt like Batman. It concentrated more on stealth, gadgets and puzzles than any other Batman game before. With Arkham City, Rocksteady Studios built on top of what it had already achieved and made it a bit better by adding a sandbox-style environment that the player could explore at will to uncover side missions and search for crimes in progress. The supporting cast of heroes and villains (and the voice actors that bring each to life) is phenomenal and despite all the baddies Batman faces the game never seems over-crowded. The combat is simple to learn yet complex to master and the urge to track down every last Riddler trophy is tempting (especially when the lives of hostages are on the line.) Batman: Arkham City makes for a fun romp through Gotham as the caped crusader and is easily the best Action/Adventure game of 2011.
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Posted by Rob on February 1, 2011 – 7:50 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 2k, amazon, basketball, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, ea, gamefly, golden axe, landstalker, nba, nba jam, nba live, obama, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, road rash, street fighter, wish list
When I think back on some of my favorite Sega Games that should have been remade on today’s consoles, there are a few titles which come to mind: Road Rash, Land Stalker, Golden Axe (a DECENT Golden Axe game, not the crap they did make that was nothing like the originals), and others. One of those others is NBA Jam. I was never a basketball fan, but NBA Jam had a smart idea by making a fast-paced, simple, and fun basketball game that went outside the realm of reality just a tiny bit to make it more enjoyable. I was skeptical when I heard that EA was refreshing the series, but now that I’ve spent a couple of hours with it, I can say that they did a fantastic job.
A lot of times, when a game gets a sequel, the developers tweak things that were familiar or totally replace them with something new that doesn’t do the game justice. Luckily NBA Jam does not suffer from this, and you will swear that you were playing the same game, with a fresh new look and controller. First off, the game appears the same. It’s still two-on-two basketball, with the ability to switch players during half-time. The announcer still shouts “HE’S HEATING UP”, “HE’S ON FIRE”, and “BOOM-SHAKA-LAKA”, as well as some new lines such as “STUFFED LIKE A THANKSGIVING TURKEY” and “THE RAIN MAN MAKES IT RAIN”. You can still do ridiculous dunks, including the helicopter one I remember fondly from my Sega days. It even goes so far as to include cheats, where entering a particular initial will unlock characters such as the Beastie Boys, President Obama, and John McCain.
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Posted by Rob on January 22, 2011 – 12:41 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, dead space, dead space 2, demo, ea, gamefly, horror, plasma cutter, PlayStation 3, PS3, RPG, survival, two worlds II, xbox
I was very happy with Dead Space, so I’m definitely psyched for the sequel. It’s definitely a great survival horror game, and did give me a few creeps as far as the gameplay, sounds, creatures, and environment are concerned. I downloaded the demo to Dead Space 2 on the 360 and gave it a whirl this morning, and it’s just as eerie as its predecessor.
The demo begins with some cutscenes, bringing the player up to speed on the story. Eventually you are dropped into the game and on your way. You start the demo with four weapons, all returning from the previous game, including the all-purpose plasma cutter and the awesome line gun (I think that’s what it’s called…the one that fires the wire like all the way down the room, cutting through multiple enemies.) The extra abilities also return, as you must use Statis to slow down time and then grab and interact with objects to get through puzzles. The store also makes a return, allowing you to purchase upgrades and ammo and sell off the stuff you don’t want.
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Posted by Rob on January 3, 2011 – 3:47 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as amazon, aragorns quest, archery, beat sketch, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bocce ball, Boom Blox, bowling, controller, demo, ea, eye, eye camera, eyepet, FPS, frisbee golf, gamefly, gladiator, hd, kung fu rider, mini-game, motion control, move, navigation, nhl, nunchuck, PlayStation 3, ps move, PS3, PSN, psn store, racket sports, rail shooter, shovelware, sports champions, start the party, tennis, the fight, the shoot, tumble, tv superstars, volley ball, Wii, wii sports, wiimote
I have been interested in getting the PlayStation Move for quite some time. I do like the Wii, but I was intrigued by the possibilities for the Move, particularly with the more accurate controller and the higher quality, HD graphics. However, at the price I was not about to buy it for myself. So I placed it on my Amazon Wish List, and I found out Christmas Day that my parents had purchased it for me. I already had the Eye, so all I asked for was the basic Move controller. After Christmas, I went to the PlayStation Store off of PSN and was happy to find that pretty much every Move-enabled game currently available had a demo. So I went ahead and downloaded all eight demos, and spent the next few days trying them all out. I want to share my thoughts on the demos for the games, but I’ll start with my initial view of the controller itself.
PlayStation Move Controller
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Posted by Rob on September 12, 2010 – 10:22 pm
Filed under Sports, Video Games
Tagged as 3 on 3 nhl arcade, avery, be a pro, big bad bob, bigbadbob, drury, ea, ea pucks, gaborik, game review, gm, hockey, mode, nhl, nhl '11, PlayStation 3, PS3, rangers, Sports, uhl, ultimate hockey league, xp
As big a hockey fan as I am, I have been slacking in the hockey game department. I have been using NHL ’08 for years now, and have never upgraded to one of the newer versions. The main reason is that I was not initially a big fan of the control changes that took place. Since ’08, it has become a lot more complex, and was not something I was used to, so I shied away from it. However, after spending a few days with NHL ’11, I think it’s safe to say that I am officially won over to the new controls. I am pleased to say that I am sending ’11 back to Gamefly tomorrow, but it is going to be my number two game to get this Christmas, right behind Borderlands GOTY. So what is so cool about the newest edition to the EA’s epic hockey series that finally won me over? Pretty much everything!!!
For those of you who are unaware, these control scheme changes I speak of are quite daunting to someone who has been playing basic hockey games since NHL ’96. The biggest change is that shooting and other moves with the stick are primarily done with the right analog. This allows you to actually have a great deal of control of your shot, compared to past games where simply hitting square or circle performed an automatic shot on goal. Now these controls have been around for the past three or four games, but this is the first time that I gave the patience to retrain my mind to use them, and stop referring to the old-school controls. Once that is accomplished, it’s amazing how fun it is to deke the goalie to moving to the right, and then firing off a shot over his left shoulder, which is now open and exposed.
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Posted by Rob on September 2, 2010 – 12:41 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, bioware, ea, gamefly, mass effect 2, nhl '11, PlayStation 3, PS3, xbox
I beat Mass Effect 2 early this morning. In truth, had I known I was so close to the end, I would have stayed up last night to finish it. Anywho, it was a really fun game, and I can’t wait for the third one to come out next year! PS- my entire crew survived, so I will definitely be importing my character once again. I think it’s neat that I was able to play the same character from the first game through the third…kudos to Bioware on giving players that option.
I realized that, based on todays date and the fact that NHL ’11 releases on Tuesday, I should be able to snag it from Gamefly as my next game! A nice plus to owning a PS3 and 360 is that I added both versions of the game to my queue, so I have a pretty darn good chance of getting the game next week. Although I just don’t like the fact that EA is making me pay an additional fee to play online since I’m renting the game…
Posted by Rob on November 16, 2009 – 8:04 pm
Filed under School
Tagged as aim, America, american, battle, class, classes, DS, ea, end, ex, fighter, final, fly, friday, goal, good, han, he, Home, ice, IM, kids, map, mexican, nes, online, quest, quit, rent, sign, student, student teaching, teach, teacher, teaching, test, thing, tween, used, well
Per. 3
The class went pretty well today, but I think I might have been going through material to fast for them, and they might have been getting confused. I started the class by handing out their DBQ assignment, which is an essay they have to do at home tonight and hand in tomorrow. I then started the class by asking a basic question to get them thinking, and then went on to the lecture.
The classes are all about a day or two behind. They should have taken their test on this unit last Friday, but because I was covering material at a slow pace, we got behind. The test had to be Wednesday, so I was intent on getting through as much material as possible so that I could accomplish this goal. I think I might have gone a bit too far and covered too much ground, because towards the end of class the students were looking confused.
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Posted by Rob on August 28, 2009 – 7:22 pm
Filed under Sports, Video Games
Tagged as 08, 09, be a pro, big bad bob, bigbadbob, boards, check, demo, detroit, ea, exhibition, fighting, goal, hockey, jersey, nhl 2010, penguins, pittsburg, PlayStation 3, PS3, ps3 review, punch, rangers, red wings, stick, tutorial
I havent played an NHL game since 08. NHL 09 I wasnt a fan of. I tried it on the PS2, and tried the PS3 demo, but I wasnt a fan of it, and never went further with it. I just stuck to 08 on my PS2 when I wanted to play hockey.
However, I have been looking forward to 2010. One of the biggest reasons I didnt like 09 was because it made a big move control wise. Rather than having one of the buttons assigned to shoot and pass and what not, the right analog was made to control shooting. I never got comfortable with it in the demo, and thus never had an interest to pursue it. In 2010 the right analog once again controls shooting and deking, and I am now ready to accept this fundamental change and get used to it.
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