Posted by Rob on January 31, 2012 – 12:41 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, konami, maggie, mr. burns, PlayStation 3, playstation blog, ps+, PSN, simpsons arcade game, the simpsons, xbla
One of the best arcade games ever made
Last November I mentioned the announcement that the Simpsons Arcade Game would be coming to XBLA, and with that being said, I assumed it would come to PSN. I have heard no new information since then, such as a release date for the XBLA version, the confirmation of a PSN version, or anything else. Then today the PlayStation Blog broke the news. Not only is The Simpsons Arcade Game dropping on PSN next week, it’s going to be FREE to PS+ members!
I was initially going to purchase it on XBLA simply because I wouldn’t have been able to wait around for the PSN version. Now that it’s coming out next week, at no cost to me, I’ll be all over the PSN version. You can bet your bottom dollar I’ll be online Tuesday night taking on Mr. Burns’ well-dressed goons and gigantic obese wrestlers as I fight to bring Maggie back home.
Posted by Rob on January 11, 2012 – 2:20 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as co-op, co-optimus, combat, game review, knight, online, physics, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, puzzler, thief, trine, trine 2, wizard, xp
Better than the original
I enjoyed playing Trine, but with it’s lack of online co-op I was forced to play it single player. When Trine 2 came out, I was hesitant to make the purchase even though I liked the first game and the sequel sporting a shiny coat on online co-op. However, when two buddies of mine from Co-Optimus purchased it and told me they needed a third, I gave in to the peer pressure and made the purchase. I’m glad I did, because Trine 2 is definitely one of the best downloadable titles of 2011.
Let’s get a few things straight. Firstly, it is a sequel to the original game, so the knight, thief and wizard return to once again save the kingdom. As I already mentioned, Trine 2 supports online co-op, so up to three players can meet up online to take on the puzzles that the game throws at you. In case you’re not familiar with the Trine series, let me give you a brief rundown: there are three characters who each have several distinct skills that are needed to get through the puzzles littered about each level. Along the way you are on the hunt for XP potions which will enable your characters to level up and unlock addition skills that are needed to get through levels. The knight has a sword, hammer and shield and is good for blocking projectiles, breaking down walls and beating down the baddies. The thief has a bow which can be used to take on enemies safely from a distance and she also has a grappling hook which can be used to access areas that other characters cannot. The wizard is not what you would expect, as his spells are limited to creating wooden objects (boxes and planks) and levitating objects, including obstructions, other players, and enemies. The three characters have to work together to make it to the end of a given level, and often times a single puzzle may require several different abilities from each character. A great example I encountered when playing is that the thief (me) had to grapple onto a platform of water to make it spill to one side. Then the wizard player had to levitate a box he created to angle the water flow off to one side. Finally the knight had to use his shield to further direct the water onto a tiny little plant that then grew, allowing us to climb it to the next section.
The game is much prettier but this is the best image I could find with three players
Read More »
Posted by Rob on November 9, 2011 – 7:07 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, arcade, backbone, bart, big bad bob, bigbadbob, ground round, homer, konami, lisa, maggie, marge, mr. burns, PlayStation 3, PSN, xbla
I have a lot of fond memories of arcades. Whether it was my aunt giving me $20 each time she took my sister and I to Discovery Zone or hitting up the arcade in Oneonta where they gave you free quarters for each good grade on your report card, I always had a blast. Running up to an awesome looking machine, popping in a shiny quarter, and playing alongside friends, family or complete strangers made up some of the best times of my childhood. Being the avid Simpsons fan that I am, it probably comes as no surprise that one of my favorite arcade games of all time is The Simpsons. I remember beating it for the first time when three friends and I were on a Cub Scout camping trip and there happened to be an arcade at the campsite! I also remember playing this arcade whenever we went to the Ground Round on Long Island (you know, the restaurant that had the popcorn as their “free bread service” and had ice cream sundaes in baseball helmets for dessert). Oh man, what a way to digress. The point of this rant is to inform you that this most excellent arcade game is in the midst of being ported to the 360 for sure, with a big possibility of the PS3 also.
The game popped up for listing in Australia, meaning it’s in the works. The company that is supposedly developing the game is Backbone. This makes sense…Konami is the company that developed not only The Simpsons arcade game but also the company that developed the X-Men arcade game. AND when the X-Men arcade game was ported to XBLA and PSN earlier this year, guess who the developer was…BACKBONE! Soooo a listing showing Backbone working on a Konami arcade game makes sense. While the listing only mentioned the XBLA version, I’ve got my fingers crossed for a PSN version. With the X-Men port, XBLA received it a month or two before PSN, so chances are The Simpsons game will have the same deal. Read More »
Posted by Rob on October 20, 2011 – 2:43 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, competitive, dlc, gamefly, Gamestop, lord of the rings, multiplayer, online, online pass, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rental, resistance 3, Sony, used, war in the north
Within the past few months, more and more games are requiring an “online pass” to play online. Granted, the code is provided in all new packages of the game. So you run into this problem when you either buy a game used or rent a game, in that you will have to pay $10 (every one I’ve seen has gone for $10 so far) in order to play online. Is this fair to gamers? The game companies think so.
The Defense:
Game developers believe they have a right to charge people who did not purchase the physical game $10 to access the online co-op and multiplayer features. They argue that they should be properly compensated for the time and effort they put into creating and maintaining these modes.
My Argument: Read More »
Posted by Rob on October 19, 2011 – 10:42 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as batman: arkham city, big bad bob, bigbadbob, blast shard, dlc, festival of blood, gamefly, infamous, infamous 2, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, sucker punch, trophies, trophy, vampires, wwe 12
I’ve been on a gaming spree the past two days. With Batman: Arkham City coming in either today or tomorrow from Gamefly, I wanted to finish up my quest for the inFAMOUS 2 Platinum before it got here. So I put a good chunk of time into the game yesterday morning, afternoon, night, and then finished it up this morning. It was a lot of fun, and was one of my easier Platinums.
I took my time with my first playthrough, as a good guy, on easy. I did all the side quests, found every one of the 320ish blast shards scattered around the city, unlocked all the powers, played a bunch of the user-created missions, collected all the dead drops…I did it all. Since I played it on easy it was quite the cake walk, and I had a real blast running around and exploring the city stress-free. Oh, and back to blast shards…they are nowhere near as annoying in the first game. One of the last powers you can unlock is called “blast shard sense” and when you search for blast shards now the nearest one shows up on the map, regardless of how far away it is. So once I unlocked that I spent about two hours running back and forth through the city picking up the last few shards I had missed, but at least it was a sure-fire way to find them all painlessly. This is something I wish they had for the first inFAMOUS game… Read More »
Posted by Rob on September 21, 2011 – 5:19 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, achievements, amazon, big bad bob, bigbadbob, gamerscore, left4dead, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, trophies, trophy, xbox
My new PS3 came in from Amazon today, and I’m already in the process of getting it back to normal. There are a couple of things I want to note:
- With the credit from my fat PS3 trade-in, as well as previous game trades I had saved up, I was able to pick up the 320GB inFamous 2 bundle (sure blows my old 80GB away)
- While I love inFamous and couldn’t wait to play the sequel, I didn’t want to own it. I was planning on returning the game to a local retailer for credit I could have used towards Skyrim or something, but the game has a big ol’ “NOT FOR RESALE” sticker on it, so that ain’t gonna work
- The new slim system may be a tad uglier (I like the fat PS3′s shininess) but it is sooo damn small and light. Amazing!
- The controller feels a little lighter, but I don’t know if it’s because they improved it or if it’s missing three years worth of gamer sweat
- I love that the USB cable that is now bundled with the system is 3x longer than the old one. That thing was way too short Read More »
Posted by Rob on July 8, 2011 – 7:13 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 360, big bad bob, bigbadbob, cross-game chat, gears of war 3, gold, magic the gathering, microsoft, online, PlayStation 3, playstation blog, ps+, PS3, PSN, Sony, Uncharted 2, uncharted 3, voice chat, xbla, xbox
I received an e-mail from Microsoft this morning notifying me that my XBL Gold account would be expiring next month, which makes sense since I got a 360 last August. However, now I had to pose myself a question…do I want to spend the $50 to renew my Gold account? Not only do I rarely play 360 games online, but at the same time I’m paying for a PS+ account. Thing is, my PS+ account will be coming due soon too. Seeing how I’m currently unemployed and times are hard, I don’t want to be spending money I don’t have on things I really don’t need right now. So I got to thinking about the perks of both, and whether they were worth the price of admission or not.
What I get with a XBL Gold Account:
- The ability to play online. This is arguably the best perk to having a Gold account, simply because you cannot play online without it.
- Superior online experience. The 360 does offer a better online experience than the PS3, from the awesome and comfortable headset that plugs in right to your controller to the ability to have cross-game chat. I do believe there are more 360 players than PS3 players as well, so it’s easier to find a game to play online with the 360
- Exclusive content. Gold members do get access to exclusive betas and demos before the general public.
What I get with a PS+ Account:
- Free games. On average, PS+ users get one free game PSN game a week. It’s not just lame shovelware games either; I’ve gotten some pretty great games like Magic the Gathering, Sonic the Hedgehog, Streets of Rage II and others.
- Discounted games. This is the biggest advantage to PS+, as I can buy games over PSN for less money than it costs on XBLA. Often times, many games are discounted from 33-50% off, particularly in the first week of release. I’ve gotten a ton of games on the cheap from PS+, and it has paid for itself many times over.
- Exclusive content. I received early access to betas for DC Universe, Uncharted 2, and Uncharted 3, as well as early access to demos and other PS-exclusive content. Read More »
Posted by Rob on June 21, 2011 – 4:50 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, cole, empire city, evil, good, infamous, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rockhound, shard, stunt master, stunts, trophies, trophy
I am only a few trophies away from “Platinum Paradise” in inFAMOUS. I had a little time to kill today so I dedicated it to finishing up the stunt list, which was a pain in the arse. I had some trouble with the “Have a Nice Fall” and “Right Back at Ya” stunts, but with a lot of patience I finished them all up and got the “Stunt Master” trophy.
The only trophies I have left are:
- Good Finish
- Hard Finish
- True Hero (just one upgrade away now)
- Good Sphere
- Rockhound
The top four trophies are all story-related, and I’ll be snagging them shortly, once I finish up my current campaign (I’m currently playing a good guy on hard difficulty.) Once I finish up the campaign, I’ll head back into the city and finish cleaning up the shard collections, which I’m sure will be a time-consuming process. I can’t that having to collect 350 shards is only worth a bronze trophy! You can count on me cheating a bit with an online guide for all those shards for sure! Once that’s done, I’ll be sitting pretty with my 12th platinum.
Posted by Rob on June 11, 2011 – 12:54 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, cole, dead nation, empire city, evil, good, karma, lbp, littlebigplanet, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, Sony, trophies, trophy, welcome back
When the PSN got revived a couple of weeks ago, Sony decided to put forth some positive PR by offering PS3 owners two free games. The two games could be chosen from a list of five, which included two PS3 titles (that were downloadable) and three PSN games. The choices were:
- inFAMOUS
- LittleBigPlanet
- Dead Nation
- Super Stardust HD
- Wipeout HD
Seeing how I already owned LBP and Dead Nation, and I’m not a huge fan of racing games, I went with inFAMOUS and Super Stardust HD. Even though I had played through inFAMOUS a couple of years ago when it first came out, I realized that with one more playthrough I could get the Platinum trophy, so that’s what I’m currently working on.
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Posted by Rob on May 16, 2011 – 6:18 am
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, boosting, co-op, dungeon hunter: alliance, online, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rock band, rock band 3, Sony, trophies, trophy, wwe allstars
It’s been a tough twenty-three days, but the PSN returned (for the most part) yesterday. The online play, chat, friends list, and trophies are the important features that returned, and the only one missing is the PSN Store, which will hopefully get back into service soon (I just want to sync all my RB songs to RB3.) It’s been a long time coming and I’ve been itching to get online for two main reasons:
- To play Dungeon Hunter Alliance online
- To Platinum WWE All Stars
I’m currently nine online wins away from getting the Platinum in All Stars, and when I downloaded the new firmware and got the PS3 going again, I had a friend request from a guy who wanted to boost All Stars. Pretty soon this guy and I will be sitting back and basking in the glory of our new Platinum trophy! After I get All Stars out of the way, I’ll probably take a break and get some stuff down around the house, then I’ll see if I can’t get a game of Dungeon Hunter Alliance underway.
I missed being able to play online, and I’m so glad I can now. Welcome back, PSN!
Posted by Rob on May 11, 2011 – 4:48 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as attribute, big bad bob, bigbadbob, character build, character build guide, co-op, fairy, hardiness, heavy lifter, level, mage, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rogue, skills, warrior
I’ve done a few character builds for Sacred 2, and I enjoyed sharing my thoughts on creating a strategic character who was well-built and used all of their skill points to the maximum advantage. While Dungeon Hunter: Alliance is nowhere near as complex as Sacred 2, there are still a lot of skills to choose from for each class. Granted, if you play to max out your character at level 75 you will have most of the skills by default, but this is a guide for someone who does not want to put as much time into their warrior, and won’t play past a single playthrough.
The Basics:
First off, some general info on the warrior. I think the warrior is best suited as a tank. Sure, he has some buff skills, but if you’re playing in co-op, it’s best to save the buffs for the mage, and let the warrior get down and dirty in the front lines. Unfortunately, it takes time for the warrior to become a “tank”, in that he can run to the front lines and hack up enemies while absorbing little damage. It took until about level 25, when I was getting decent armor stats on equipment, had a lot of attribute points in endurance, and had the Hardiness (increases your armor stat) skill maxed out. The good news is that it is ridiculously easy (and affordable) to reset your characters skills and attributes, so doing so every few levels, after some good skills have been unlocked, will be key. Read More »
Posted by Rob on May 6, 2011 – 2:18 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, joystiq, Playstation, PlayStation 3, playstation rewards, ps rewards, PS3, PSN, shirt, Sony
Several months ago, PlayStation sent out some random invites to users to participate in the beta for a program they were trying out called “PlayStation Rewards.” Basically the program would track a user’s forum and blog use, as well as their activity in PlayStation Home, and reward them points for each participating. There were several tiers you could get into, and they netted you unique avatars and the chance to enter into special contests.
For whatever reason, Sony decided that through the beta, PlayStation Rewards was not ready for the general public yet. The beta was canceled and they sent me an e-mail thanking me for participating. Then about a month ago I received an e-mail from Sony saying that to thank me for participating in the Rewards beta I would be receiving a t-shirt in the mail soon. Read More »
Posted by Rob on May 3, 2011 – 4:05 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, champions of norrath, co-op, co-optimus, dungeon crawler, dungeon hunter: alliance, game review, hack and slash, lag, local, mage, online, PlayStation 3, ps+, PS3, PSN, rogue, RPG, Sacred 2, skills, spells, voice chat, warrior
Anyone who truly knows that my favorite genre of game is not FPS or wrestling or even RPGs…it’s the good ol’ genre of hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers! Nothing is better than sitting down, choosing a class, and then spending fifty or more hours grinding that character by killing endless streams of monsters over and over again while searching for more xp and loot. The PS2 had quite a few excellent games in this genre, but the PS3 has been relatively lacking…the best being Sacred 2. Then along came Dungeon Hunter: Alliance; a PSN-exclusive that really scratched my itch for a genre that has been severely under-represented in this generation of home consoles.
There is a basic story in the game. You play as a dead king who is resurrected by a fairy, who needs your help to stop your wife (the queen) from resurrecting a dark fairy who will destroy the world. There are three classes to choose from; warrior, rogue, and mage. As with most dungeon crawlers, each class depends on different stats (ex- warrior uses strength, rogue uses dexterity) and combat skills to take on the forces of evil. There are twelve acts, each one made up of a couple of different dungeons/maps that offer their own enemy type. While the lack of class choice is a tad disappointing (I compare most hack-and-slash dungeon crawlers to Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms), it works just fine for a $9 PSN title (the PS+ price, of course.)
Read More »
Posted by Rob on April 20, 2011 – 3:03 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, boosting, main eventer, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rage quitters, trophies, trophy, wwe, wwe allstars, xmb
There is only one trophy standing between me and Platinum goodness…the “Main Eventer” trophy which requires you to win fifty online matches. I was really going to do this the old-fashioned way by pummelling my opposition, as I am pretty good at the game, if I do say so myself. Sadly, the online scene is full of rage quitters who will exit the game just before you win a match. Not only do you not gain the win, but you can be booted back to the main menu, to the PS3 XMB, or even get frozen and have to do a hard reset. It’s just not worth the frustration.
So the past few days I’ve been “boosting” with other players I met either here on this very blog or on one of the forums I frequent. Basically we agree to go take turns allowing each player to get a win. After a few days of this, I currently have forty-one wins, meaning I’m only nine away from that beautiful Plat. Hopefully soon!!!!
Posted by Rob on April 19, 2011 – 5:02 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, co-optimus, dungeon crawler, dungeon hunter: alliance, exclusive, hack and slash, mage, marvel ultimate alliance, online, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, rogue, RPG, Sacred 2, skills, untold legends, warrior
If anyone knows my gaming habits, they know I’m a sucker for the hack-and-slash/dungeon-crawler/RPG genre. Ever since getting the PS3 I’ve been itching for something that equaled the awesomeness of Champions of Norrath and Baldurs Gate on the PS2, but that has been a challenge. The closest game was Sacred 2, which is incredibly under-rated in my opinion, but I do acknowledge the limitations it had. There were a few other games that tried to squeeze into the genre, but just didn’t cut the mustard (Untold Legends didn’t have online voice chat and was otherwise mediocre, and the Marvel Ultimate Alliance series just didn’t have as much replay value as I would have liked.)
Then I started hearing about Dungeon Hunter: Alliance; a PSN-exclusive that enables up to four players to raid some dungeons. Being a PSN title, I was initially skeptical for the replay value, particularly in the number of maps and the max level. After reading co-optimus’ review on the game, my worries were tossed aside as there are over twelve levels and the character level cap is set to 75. So I jumped on the PSN and put my birthday money to good use, and had some time to check the game out. Read More »
Posted by Rob on April 14, 2011 – 1:46 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as 3B, big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, co-optimus, dead nation, genocidiary, grim, highway to hell, morbid, online, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, romero would be proud, trophies, zombie
When I first picked up Dead Nation on PSN, I never dreamed I would get the Platinum trophy, titled “Romero Would Be Proud.” There were some really challenging trophies to get; one involving having to complete the game on Morbid difficulty, and the other being to collect 100% of the loot in every level. Playing solo, I knew I would never have achieved these trophies. Thanks to a buddy over at co-optimus, we spent the past three weeks or so busting through the game after I got off work each day. In the end, we were rewarded for our hours of time and dedication to the game with a shiny new Platinum trophy.
To start off, we had to unlock Morbid difficulty by playing through on Grim. It wasn’t too challenging, but it still took a few days as we encountered problems here and there. After that was complete, we moved on to Morbid difficulty. This was where the real challenge began, and some of the levels required not only many, many deaths to get to the end, but also many hours. Some levels took over two hours to complete. In fact, the final level (suitably named “Highway to Hell”) took us over three and a half hours to complete, as the final section of the level was swarming with countless zombies. Once we completed that, we just had to complete one level on the hardest difficulty (Undead) to claim that trophy, and then we moved on to two of the final trophies. Read More »
Posted by Rob on April 11, 2011 – 6:22 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, dead nation, grim, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, trophies, trophy, wwe, wwe allstars
After finishing up a co-op campaign on Grim difficulty, it’s only a matter of time before Dead Nation becomes my next Platinum. I’ve been playing the game with a friend during the day after I get home from work, and it’s only a matter of time before we receive the precious Platinum…my guestimate is about a week, seeing how I’m only two trophies behind.
On the WWE All Stars front, I’m also pretty darn close, with only one trophy to go before hitting Plats. However, the missing trophy requires me to win fifty online matches, and as of right now I’m at twenty-seven. I would have had at least thirty-two by now if not for rage quitters who will exit the game/ turn off their consoles right as I dish out my finisher. This causes the game to disconnect and not register the win. Thus, it will be quite some time before I amass the fifty wins.
Posted by Rob on April 6, 2011 – 4:16 pm
I don’t want to get into specifics, mainly because I really don’t care about the actual issue, but there is currently a group (or perhaps several groups) of hackers who have been attacking Sony the past two days. Basically, they are upset with Sony and how Sony deals with certain issues, so they decided to go against Sony by taking several actions…one which includes disrupting the PSN service. As a result of this, the past two days have been hit or miss with getting online the PS3, as a disruption of service means I can’t play online.
Now here’s what I don’t get: the hackers are mad at Sony, and want to not only hurt them but also gain public support by getting attention. Well, they sure are getting attention, but they are actually getting the people upset. I mean, how the hell am I supposed to say “yeah you wacky hackers, stick it to the man!” when THEY are the ones who don’t let me play online. It’s THEIR fault I can’t watch Netflix, THEIR I can’t kick ass in WWE All Stars, and THEIR fault that I’ve been getting somewhat spotty connections when playing Dead Nations with my friend. Read More »
Posted by Rob on April 4, 2011 – 4:25 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, co-op, co-optimus, competitive, dead nation, grim, morbid, multiplayer, online, path of champions, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, triple h, trophies, trophy, ultimate warrior, undead, wwe, wwe allstars
I’m getting close to unlocking two more Platinum trophies, but I’m not sure which will be hitting first.
In WWE All Stars, I’ve unlocked the vast majority of the trophies. The only ones remaining are the online ones (win 10 matches, win 25 matches, win 50 matches, and win 10 matches in a row) and two massive ones; one requiring me to defeat the entire roster with Triple H and one requiring me to not only defeat the entire roster but also clear all three Path of Champions with Ultimate Warrior. Once I snag these, I will be in Platinum paradise. Read More »
Posted by Rob on April 3, 2011 – 8:15 pm
Filed under Video Games
Tagged as big bad bob, bigbadbob, Chimera, co-op, dead nation, game review, grim, left 4 dead, online, platinum, PlayStation 3, PS3, PSN, Resistance, trophies, twin-stick shooter, voice chat, zombie, zombies ate my neighbors
When it comes to zombie related games, my two favorites used to be the Left 4 Dead series, followed by Zombies Ate My Neighbors. However, I do believe there is a new contender in Dead Nation, the PS3-exclusive top-down, twin-stick zombie shooter. I had initially shied away from it based on it’s difficulty, but once it went on sale I jumped on it…and have been kicking myself for waiting so long to enjoy the game!
There are two characters to choose from in Dead Nation…a guy and a lady. The only difference between them is the color of their clothing and gun’s laser sight (to help you differentiate between the two when playing co-op). The general story is that zombies have taken over the world, and for some reason these two characters are immune from the zombie virus. The two characters then embark on a mission to help a scientist trace the cause of the virus outbreak while surviving increasing hordes of zombies.
Read More »
