Alright boys and girl(s), its time for some..

Magicka is a action-adventure game in which you and 3 other wizards play through and try to stop an evil wizard! Yeah, I know, but its not the comical writing you'll be playing this game its the craziness that is likely to happen when you put 2-4 people in the same game trying to cast spells they don't know how or knew possible to cast.

Example: 2 guys running from meteors

Any how Direct2Drive has the game for sale $9.95(which gives you a steam key too use for steam) and a $2 off code: "wetkitty" you also get some bonus DLC if you buy it before Jan 31.

Game does have some bugs but the dev seem to be trying to work things out as fast as they can(already on patch 4).

There is a demo on steam should go and check it out in the mean time another video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7tQVDOAOCE&feature=player_detailpage#t=397s

Sony announces the NGP (Next Gaming Portable)

Sony announced yesterday at their annual conference meeting in Tokyo, Japan; 2 very important announcements.

First; the NGP, calling it the Next Gaming Platform. The PSP-esque looking console has us frothing at the mouths with it's amazing performance power and features.

Please watch the video of myself giving my first impressions of this exciting announcement.

Secondly; the Sony Playstation Suite will be made available to some tablets and mobile phone devices in the future. Could this be Sony's answer to Apple's dominance with iTunes? More on that later.

Nintendo 3DS Impressions By a One-eyed Man

This month around the time I came back to Japan after visiting home, by some lucky chance Nintendo was holding their public exhibit for the Nintendo 3DS. Now this is an impression from a person that can't take advantage of the 3D abilities of the 3DS.

Netflix on PS3/Wii/iPhone

Recently, Netflix started offering a free 30-day trial for their online version, meaning no discs. I've been doing a lot of research on how to cut the cable cord, and this is definitely something that needed to be researched to see if it could be part of the media solution if I do cut the cord. So how's it fairing?

2011 PS3 Exclusives - How does Sony "win"?

As heard on this last CAGCAST, Cheapy D, Shipwreck, and Wombat were discussing the list of 2011 PS3 Exclusives that have been announced. Take a look at the list. Do any of these excite you? For me, Uncharted games always will. But what else? Join me after the break for a brief thought dump on this list (dump on list...lol)

Portal2 going Cross Platform( PS3 and PC only)

It was announced yesterday that Portal 2 PS3 players will be able to play with PC players. That's not even the best part. Gamers that buy Portal 2 for the PS3 will also have a digital copy they can use on their PC for free. Not only that Portal 2 on the PS3 will be backed up in their cloud service. Mind blown!

World of Starcraft

I just saw this on Kotaku and had to repost. I must say, for a mod using SC2 tools, I'm pretty blown away with what they are doing.

The Last Story

Wii's newest JRPG (Japan only for the time being) is hitting shelves on the 27th. This trailer shows cinematic cut-scenes, which is no surprise. It was made by the original creator of the FF series, and definitely has that FF vibe. I can't help but look at it and wish that the game was going to be on an HD platform, but an interesting to way to watch this one is to see how it rates up against how FFXIII was rated. Both have/had extraordinary high expectations, and FFXIII seemed to fall a bit short. Will this game suffer the same fate?

Braid, the greatest game I haven't completed

Braid

I bought Braid a year ago on the PSN. I've cleared the first three levels, and I'm missing two pieces of the puzzle before I can "complete" the game. I know I could beat it easily if I looked on youtube for the answer to the puzzles I've been stuck on for so long, but that would ruin the whole experience. Braid is the most unique puzzle/platform (really the only one) game made.

Aurora (ambient RTS), free today only!

Download it here, free today only!

Stacking, a new game by Double Fine

Neat body-swapping/possession game mechanic.

Video Game Podcast Junkie - What Podcasters need to know from a fan

Yes, I am a gaming podcast junkie. I listen to gaming podcasts all the time. The addiction started before WoW, but WoW took it to a whole new level. Now that I'm out of WoW, I'm trying out a bunch of podcasts to find what to replace my WoW podcasts. Join me after the break to see what I listen to, and what I look for in my gaming podcasts.

Demos demo demos.

Just played Little Big Planet 2, Dead Space 2 and Mass Effect 2 demos on the PS3. Just though I'd post my thoughts real quick.

Minecraft plugin Biome Terrain Mod ported to Beta

As of today, prolific Minecrafter R-T-B has ported the popular plugin Biome Terrain Mod to Beta 1.2 (the latest version). Miners rejoice! You can once again generate outlandish chunks, like Avatar-esque floating islands (pictured). R-T-B says he plans at least one bugfix release before soliciting donations for continued development.

He mentions in that thread that he runs a Minecraft hosting solution, so this could be an important precedent in the Minecraft community. Server hosting providers not only have a vested interest in keeping MC administration easy and feature-laden, they also have the technical chops to keep popular plugins from falling into disrepair.

Thanks for the hard work, R-T-B!

Octodad article on nukezilla.com

Nukezilla has an article on Octodad, an unusual game in which "you play an octopus who has to continue keeping his cephalopodian nature under wraps while doing menial tasks around his home with his (human) family watching."

Download the game for free from the Octodad website.

Return to Borderlands (sorta)

Yesterday, I was testing out my frames per second on various settings because I'm trying to figure out where I want them to be on certain games before I spend the dough on a new video card. I launched Borderlands to do some testing in the Unreal III engine and see where I'm at. I like to game at 1920X1080, and though my card has held up well (GTS 250 1gb ram), I've started to have to pull down some games from Ultra to high, and I don't like that. But I digress. So what was up with Borderlands?

Gameplay vs Story_Other Side

I had to do a new post because my reply was too long!

So the premise is a tough one, because there are other video game dimensions that can be argued to be in this conversation, like graphics, pacing, etc. But for the purposes of this, I'll stick to the premise.

While balance is the key, I would argue that from my perspective, Story is more important. You gave great examples to support how gameplay is what will keep you tuned into a game you might otherwise want to leave. I can use the same games and some additional to explain my perspective.

Gameplay vs. Story

Which is more important within a game, gameplay or story?

I'm a firm believer that gameplay must come first and then everything else must follow. I think this is one of the main reasons I find it hard to play RPGs now and days. Yeah the stories are really awesome like in Mass Effect or Dragon Age. But after playing the demo for Mass Effect 2 for the PS3, I wasn't too impressed with the games third person shooting gameplay. (Yes, you can argue I just hit the tip of the ice berg with gameplay.) But let's ask ourselves this, if Gears of War used the same duck and shooting system as Mass Effect, would we still consider Gear of War a good shooter? I felt like Shepard was wearing heavy shoes and popped in and out of cover like Asimo the robot. Because of the intriguing story this wasn't a deal breaker but I'm pretty sure that I might end up quitting the game before I even finish it. If the story is the main draw of games, why don't people read books more? Wouldn't that be better than grinding for endless hours to finally get to the bad conclusion we normally get out of video games.

Time for a come back!

So... like the title suggests I really want to do something productive with my addiction that is all things gaming. While I enjoyed throughly posting on this website in the past, writing about my experiences with games just didn't stick. It's not that I didn't enjoy it, but rather it was a mix of lack of exposure / feedback on the articles I wrote, personal time conflicts and even my own dedication.

What I really want to do is a mix of maybe smaller straight to the point articles and focus more on video. What I really like about websites like ign and gametrailers (which i rrequent everyday!) is the video reviews and commentary voice overs. However rather than just game review videos why not just little video 'post its' (short 1 or 2 minute videos) of anything gaming. I really enjoyed video editing. I got kindly reminded of this while making a video of my winter vacation for my English classes.

It's all in the air right now. But I'm eager to get my hands dirty. I think I may use youtube as my main gateway (for now) to post videos and link them here to the site. Hopefully have something to show everyone near the end of January.

I'm really excited about this year for gaming in general. Some awesome titles coming out. Alot of them for PS3 which I brought back with me from my travels to the UK. Much to the dissapointment of my younger brother. :)

Anyways here's to another year, game on!

Johnny