Why aren't you in school!?

     I'm not really a news site, but with everything going on about California and it's law to "ban mature video games sales to minors without parental consent", I had to mention this. Why? Because it ties in with the fact that I'm annoyed at kids playing mature video games, and moreso annoyed at the parents who let them.

   As a gamer, it's annoying to hear kids trying to use "adult language".. and I'm talking about kids who are 8-14 years old.. when they're at the moment of their lives that a 20 year old girl sounds more like a man than they do. It's frustrating to literally have them screaming in your ear, team killing, and also taking your kills. I'm frustrated right now just thinking about it.

So Angry I Could Hold a Rolling Pin

   Now anyway, the original writer of the bill was LeLand Yee (he's azn)... and in 2005 State Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed it as a law, so... pretty much on Novermber 2, 2010... Hollywood and the Video Game Industry are going to Supreme Court and fighting their case that it breaks the First Amendement and right of Free Speech... and the reason why I think the rest of Hollywood is behind video games is just the fact that they don't want the law to limit their mature sales to any audience either.. so really, they're there for their own selfish benefits.

   I'm on the fence about this... the law is bringing up "studies" that say that playing mature video games can create violence, distraction, and take away socialization that people naturally need... and the Video Gaming industry is just bringing the fact that it's in violation of First Amendment.

   Personally, I think if parents were parents and watched over their kids.. then the law wouldn't need to step in and do it for them. This is the opposite of parents boycotting Vanessa Hudgens, they rioted to Disney to fire her when they could've simply just turned the tv and radio off. And then in the other corner, you have parents who don't care enough to the point where the law has to step in and help with parenting.

  Activison CEO Bobby Kotick actually said, "California could and should have adopted any number of measures and campaigns designed to ensure even higher rates of parental understanding of, and reliance on, the industry regulation system.".. which I agree. And for parents reading this.. that means:

    I know I'm not a parent or anything,  but I do know that I love these games and I know I would never let my kids play these games until they got to a certain age. The fact of the matter is, you're really introducing your kid to hostility and very adult language and topics without any care or shield. 8 Year Olds should NOT be on Mature Games, they should be playing what I grew up playing and that would be Mario-something, or even Go Fish. I understand if they're annoying, (trust me, I know all about that, I'm the one stuck with them while you're sitting in the other room sipping your frappaccinos), but don't dish them out to other people.

   Back to what the studies said about kids playing mature video games end up "more violent".. I actually agree. I know a ton of kids on my block who grew up playing video games and I can't count how many verbal and physical fights they get in at school, their grades suck, they have a low attention span, and they're tempermental... can't even talk to them without them having them rant like Mel Gibson on steroids.

In the end: Take care of your kids, they piss me off... or find someone else to be a parent for you.

  

**UPDATED** Halo: Reach, Purchased and Played

My Guide to Buying Halo: Reach:
  Pre-Order: Check
 Go into the store to pre-buy? Check
 Check In: ... Forgot
 Stay in a long line: No
 Was the last person to get the game: Just about.

   Was there a ton of people in the line for Halo Reach? You betchya. Why? Don't know... ofcourse I was there too, so I don't have much room to talk, but hey.. I was smart about it. While people stood in line, cursing, smoking, and being idiots.. I was in my car eating Haagen-Dazs' White Chocolate Raspberry Truffle ice cream, listening to 104.5 (http://radio1045.com/main.html best music ever) and chilling out with the boy...seriously, most fun I ever had.

   Now, was the game worth pre-ordering? Well... I got it in order to write about it, other than that? Can't say I'm too much of a fan... I'm still a COD lover.


  HALO: REACH, WHY IT'S NOT A 10/10:
     I don't like describing a series/franchise as huge as Halo as "horrible" based off of my opinion... I try to be unbiased. I can appreciate the fact that Halo has been around since 2001 and has a major fanbase. However, I'm updating this because I understand after my previous post that I really wasn't specific enough, and after the playing the game more, I realize that there were more issues that I left uncovered and I really didn't give credit where credit was really due. 


CAMPAIGN:

     I'm not a huge, huge fan of the campaign. It was rather short and not as entertaining as I really anticipated and aftertalking to other hardcore gamers (and faithful Halo fans) about this game, it really eased my mind about updating this post and creating it to be more fair and discriptive.

    The campaign takes setting two weeks before Halo: Combat Evolved (Halo1). The problem with this is that they took this game and did the prequal approach, "in the beginning before the beginning" type of thing, and really.. it's not shocking to me that this is the last game Bungie is doing. Whenever a company goes and says "we're just recreating the past and adding to that" it's a big slap of "we ran out of inspiration and motivation in order to try and continue the future because we don't know what to do", and that, I don't respect. I do respect the fact that they did 10 years of story telling with mangas, comics, books, games, and even a movie coming out, but I would rather call it quits on a story or a project rather than trying to add to the past of it and trying to milk people for money.

... Even go after your piggybank.

      The campaign took me 5 hours to beat on normal difficulty, and that's my first complaint. I don't feel like I got the bang for my buck, sure.. this game usually gets it profits from buying the game to play it on multiplayer, and that's all fine and dandy, but why can't the "perfect game" cater to those who do love the interaction that live gives, while as well cater to those who really love the story part of the video game? That's how it all started, video games before were built off of great story telling, okay graphics, and sounds that ringtones on modern day cell phones would put to shame.

     The story, I don't believe was well thought-out and it seemed like a rushed or a last-minute concept. I know the story of Halo, my boyfriend is a fan, we have several friends who are major Halo fans, I hear the story about 10 times a day without buying every single book or piece of writing there is out there, and we all really agree that the ending to Reach campaign rather... sucked.. and the story just seemed like "whatever". The end? Any fanboy will tell you that the end is "OMGZ! IT IS SOOOO GOOD!" but no, really.. the end was horrible. I'm not going to spoil anything, but let me tell you this... it sucked..

     -SIGHTS&SOUNDS:   The graphics for this game was everything I expected it to be. Is that bad? No. Is that good? Not insanely, I didn't feel surprised. The Halo series has been going on for 10 years, I would expect graphics to improve as time went on, so.. the upgrade in graphics isn't something I'm in awe of. Now... I've had conversations with people about this game from A-Z, and people were saying "the graphics are amazing! Not the best, but definatly amazing", and I agree... amazing, compared to the rest of the Halo games, and because it is a new game, I would think that their graphics are up to par with the graphics of other games as well. So was I shocked that they upgraded graphics? No. It's something I expected.

    The sounds with the game were decent as well. A game needs sounds, and as the years go foreward with gaming, gamers are really expecting a "cinematic adventure", they want a great story, amazing graphics, and dramatic sounds, because you know... the game wouldn't be all that interesting if all you heard from the game was foil swords being smashed together. So.. the sounds were in tune with the game overall. However, when it came to other characters in the story of the game, they all have accents... which I cannot pick up accents very well from video games, so I enabled Subtitles.. and oh my gosh, what a disaster that was. The subtitles were on average 2 seconds off and in some parts maybe 3 seconds off, and it doesn't seem like such a big deal.. but when the character is saying long sentences and quicker than normal speed, it's hell trying to understand that they're saying as well.



     MULTIPLAYER:

         - MAPS:   I think it's really a cool idea that you can allow people to vote on what maps they want to play on... but when the game gives you the same map 5 times in a row, there's only so much of that you can handle before you over-play a map and just decide to back out of the lobby because you can't stand that map anymore. Also, there's nothing new to the maps... last time I played Halo it was 2 years ago and it was Halo 3, and it all seems the same. Some of the maps are so verical, you can't really do anything except try and jetpack your way around them, and even then.. that's not so amazing because now you have people focusing on this flying object in the air.


      - GUNS vs SHIELD:  The guns need some work. I understand their ideas and they're trying to be creative with the guns and even bring some cool guns back (personally, my favorite is the Needler).

It's purple and has diamonds coming out of it =]


  But if you mix the power of the guns with the strength of the shield, it's all out of measurment and proportion. To me, and it's just my opinion, but there's no way how I should get sniped in one bullet when I have full shield strength, and on a usual basis, I'm putting full on two clips into someone who will have a full shield also (and I shoot quite accurately). I also have to throw grenades at people and hit them twice on a regular basis in order to see a kill...and that's just exhuasting... now compare that to just one sniper bullet who can not only kill me in one shot, but drain all shield power I have.


  - PSYCHE REPORT: Wanna troll? No problem. Want to be in a quiet lobby? Peice of cake. Is your motivation to win? Awesome, because there is a psych report that matches you to players that have their psych report similar to yours, and let me tell you... this is one awesome feature that I wish CoD had. Now, I filled mine out to "Quiet Lobby, Team Player, Motivated to Win, Mature Lobby" which... sure, it takes forever to find it.. but it's worth it because there's actually a drop of sane people in an ocean of insanity. Now, it doesn't seem like much, but trust me.. I'm grateful to every extent.



      OVERALL:

  Would I buy this game again if I had to? Sure.. to write about it. Do I play this game on a regular basis? No I don't.. and I'll probably only play it for an hour once a day beings that most of my friends are on the game, other than that... I'll mostly be on COD. Which, the main difference between this and CoD is the fact that I can play COD by myself or even with friends and not be bored whatsoever, Halo is kinda boring if you're playing by yourself. It's a game that really thrives off of people playing it with their friends, which would explain why the campaign is so short and they didn't pay much attention to story.

  I wouldn't recommend this game to people who want a fast-paced game.. it is very sluggish compared to games like COD or even Battlefield and the transition from going to a in-you-face game to something slower could be slightly difficult... never in a million years would I put my sensitivity on the highest in COD, but I did that for Halo in order to try and speed it up and that only does so much as far as actually moving around is concerned.
 

   WHAT TO REMEMBER: Games are all about preference. I don't normally prefer games like this and I'm not into futuristic works of art or aliens, it's not something that interests me. So keep in mind that everything I said (especially about the story and campaign) it is coming from someone that doesn't care so much about Sci-Fi... I'm more into realistic and fast-paced games, so I wouldn't recommend this game for someone who prefers those types of games also.
    Is Halo fun to try though? Ofcourse, but It's definitely different than COD, and it's not on my Top 10 List.

Alice in Please-Not-Tim-Burton Land

 I don't care what anyone says, Tim Burton's take on Alice in Wonderland was like watching two dogs hump, you didn't want to watch it... but you couldn't stop. Here's the test if you're going to survive a serious threat to human species:
    - if you liked Tim Burton's Alice in wonderland... congrats, you'll be dead.
    - if you're asking "Tim Burton made an Alice in Wonderland?", you're going to live. You're also going to live if you remember it, but thought it sucked so don't care wither way, which also includes every movie critic out there (LAWLZFAIL@Burton).

   Now, I'm writing about this because American McGee is coming out with Alice in Wonderland: Madness Returns, and you know what? It achieves everything Burton failed to do with tons writers, special effects teams, make-up artists, camera crews, high paid actors, and "dynamic" angles to try and bring back artistic value to the film (since the movie didn't have enough CG). This game brings darkness, gore, and monsters.

   Personally, I remember being a young girl and walking through game stores and seeing the first American McGee Alice game on the shelf and I was intoxicated by it... even just looking at the cover and reading the plot and everything that came with it, and you know what? It lived up to my tiny kid expectations of what the game should be like, and 10 years later?Here's the second one coming out, and just in the first part of 2011 (although other sites say Fall of 2011).

  This game continues with Alice being free from the Asylum and being relocated to some shrink... her mind goes crazy and she starts hallucinating, and ends up losing her mind by thinking about her parents "mysterious" death. So, what does she do? Probably what every normal... or crazy, person would do... she starts imagining her own little world in order to escape reality. And that world? Yeah, Wonderland. So.. her crooked imagination pretty much ruins her wonderland and everything in it, so she now has to fix it and make everything better. Yeah, yeah.. the plot doesn't sound all that exciting, but when the first game came out, it was known for amazing soundtracks and graphics that were completely ahead of it's time.
   Back then, computer games weren't really known for being graphically striking or the most amusing plot-wise... and McGee was kinda the one that went out there and really tried to create a good and long story that people could enjoy.. and he accomplished that. So am I excited? Hell yes.

   The game is going to be available on the PC, Xbox360, and PS3. If you have the PS3, I would recommend getting the game for that (if you're not a PC gamer) because with games coming out on the PS3, they're taking advantage of the space on the cds that xbox seems to lack now.

Popular Misconceptions

 There has always been false judgement on video gamers... from being a nerd, loner, and a loser to being a fat virgin living in their grandma's basement (and I mean at 40 years old, Collector's Edition Darth Vadar helmet and all)... and now the stereotypes today, from live gaming, has now pushed the envelope even further for misconceptions, especially for girl gamers.

  One example is that game developers think that their clientele is made up of sad, horny, teenage men. How else do you explain all the boobs you see in video games these days? I'm not joking, while surfing the internet for video game lists, there came up "Top 25 best boobs in video games". How sad do you have to be to sit there and literally study these images on your gaming console to make up a list?

  Now, if people's ignorant judgements were right, I'd be a 10yo boy who is also a 300lb girl... who just so happens to be lesbian.. which might be nice since I tried to find one on the internet and I couldn't find one, which would make me the first EVER!!! (I hate the multiple explanation marks, but this called for it).

 To actually demonstrate my point on how the guys perception on girl gamers is wrong, I'll be comparing girl gamers vs. guy gamers side by side.. while being completely unbiased (maybe).

The Girl Gamer:     
   Now, gamepro.com says that one student in some big whoopdy-doo university in Belgium did a study with over 900 people and found out that girls find video games "too complicated.. which, if I spent all 20 years of my life playing manegment games and The Sims, I would think that running around a random map and killing people would be slightly complicated too. But ofcourse, me growing up playing games like Zelda, Mario, and Goldeneye 007 has prepared me to play something like CoD and has taught me to atleast explore the map and to know the guns before I just go out there and "wing it".. so, we'll just ignore that study and say that it was completely pointless to hand someone something they know nothing about, and expect them to be able to figure it out and master it in what was most likely 30 minutes of gameplay.

   Here's the awesome news, according to Entertainment Software Association, 25% of console players, and 39% of gamers on the PC are women... and that was in 2004. In today's society, female gamers that are 18+ make up 34% of gamers completely. That's like.... for every 3 guys, there's 1 and a half girl. And sure, some girl gamers are horrible, trust me.. I've played with several other girls and have even been a part of some all-girl clans, and some girls are just flat out horrible but not once have I ran into the stereotypical "fat and ugly" girl gamer.

 Honestly, I know guys just throw insults like "you're fat" because they feel completely emasculated by a female who has more talent at video games than they do.. but if I was fat, I would not be able to move my thumbs that fast in order to kill you over 10 times, let alone the rest of your sad, sad team.

 The Guy Gamer:

   Hey fellas, ever wonder why game developers make the main guy character so scrumdiddlyumptious? Because they feel like you all look like this guy, and you need an aesthetically pleasing model to look up to... after all, the main character in games is daring, smart, sexy, brave, and ambitious... and it's their very special way of telling you "hey you! you suck! Now be amazed by this character that you're being forced to play, and be in awe of the things he can do that you could only wish of! Mwuahahah!". Seriously... that's what they do, they have board meetings for this sort of thing, why? Because NO ONE wants an ugly superhero. Look at Quasimodo from the Huntchback of Notre Dame... did he get Esmerelda? No, no he did not.. even if he loved her.. instead, she fell for the gorgeous Captain Phoebus who she probably knew for 3 seconds.

Now, I'm not dissing this guy on any level, but you know what? I don't know how many times I've had some jerk on the 360 call me fat and ugly, and I counter-insult him and he tells me to look him up on facebook... and what do I do? I look him up on facebook and have a good chuckle to myself at the fact that I was able to call off his bluff, and trust me.. this has happened on more than a few occasions. Now, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that the average gamer is 35 years of age, overweight, aggressive, introverted, depressed... and male. Another study shows that games usually are marketed towards men because they fulfill the deep-rooted urge in order to conquer and dominate (click here to read).

   Now, I'm not trying to stir the pot or fuel the fire when it comes to stereotypes... and I know every gender and race has it's stereotypes... but come on people, this isn't the 1500's. Technology isn't what it used to be anymore.. time to update the human species and the way we consider things.

 

Like this guy.

'scuse me, broke ass coming through.

 I've decided to write on the account that I'm bored, there's nothing to do, and I'm not waiting until I buy a game in order to write a blog entry, why? Because I'm broke! Unless you count the money I have in my savings... but that's for a down payment on a house (seriously, my boyfriend won't let me touch it).

 So I've went to http://www.ign.com/ and have looked at the next 10 years of games which are coming out and there seems to be some good promises and then some that kind of just hit me like a giant speeding truck of "wth?".

Driven by this guy.

   The 5 Best Upcoming Games 2010-2011 (according to me)

   5. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (Release Date: November 16, 2010)

          Assassin's Creed is taking it's third adventure through one of my want-to-go-to places, Rome, Italy.... mmm.. I can smell the canolli's and lobster tail pastries from here. Now, I honestly can't say too much about this game because I completely blind sighted myself of not finishing the first game in order to write this because of my love for Italy and all things italian... so, I watched my boyfriend play the first Assassin's Creed and the second one, yeah... consider me a cheater, but the cool thing about this game is that this time around, there's going to be a multiplayer layer where you can pick your own character that has their own signature weapon AND assassination technique... and wait, there's more. After accomplishing different tasks within the game, you will be able to recruit people in for doing assignments around Europe or even helping you out with different cases you'll be doing.

         And the best thing for me? The fighting style is different, instead of going and counter attacking the hell out of people who just say "hey you!" for no reason, having the first strike is key in this game... which means I'll be having a ton of fun with this one, since my boyfriend yells at me constantly that all I do is press buttons and "you can't do that!". Visually, this game is jaw dropping... it's like watching a postcard having a side show of what Italy would look like in 1500 AD. And the worst part? I would recommend for EVERYONE to buy this on the PS3, even though the 360, PS3, and the PC get to witness the awesomeness of multiplayer for this game, PS3 is the only system that has the multiplayer BETA actually enabled... and ofcourse that's only if you have the PS3 anyway, I don't expect anyone to go out and buy a PS3 just for this game.


   4. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Release Date: TBA)

        So.. there's bad news and go-... no, no good news, just bad news. Bad news number 1: So far it's only for the PS3 (according to ign.com). Bad news number 2: Infinity Ward was fired and now there's a whole lawsuit (between Activision and Infinity Ward) that is in the way of the game pre-production. Bad news number 3: I'm not happy... they need to think about the fans and the gamers and put their legal disputs aside and focus on their work, and while I'm right here while the game is still in progress, whoever is making the game now better be making it harder to create noobtubes. It was fine in CoD: WaW because people actually had to WORK in order to noobtube, now... it's like it's handed out, especially since in MW2 it's pretty much one of the beginner classes. I understand it's the gaming world but atleast encourage people to have some dignity instead of letting them run around like complete asses.

 3. L.A. Noire (Release Date: November 1, 2010)

        Ever since I read about this in Game Informer, I've been excited and jumping for joy about this game, and that's not an expression that I just throw around either.

       "L.A. Noire blends action, detection and complex storytelling and draws players into an open-ended challenge to solve a series of gruesome murders. Set in a perfectly recreated Los Angeles before freeways, with a post-war backdrop of corruption, drugs and jazz, L.A. Noire will truly blend cinema and gaming." - Rockstar Games

  See? That's not something someone can just lie about. Sure, I can write.. kinda, I've always had an on-off relationship with writing, but NO ONE can make something sound so good and not believe in it themselves. One thing I worry about with Rockstar games is that they ugly it up too much. GTA was and is a popular series, but there's only so many times you can follow someone through their relationship falls, drug problems, and Gay Tony expeditions before it gets boring and repetitive, and like I said about Mafia 2, it was a standard third-person shooter with a good emotionally-gripping plot... but it's repetitive, and this being L.A. Noire, sure..I expect some repeating, no duh, especially if it's a third-person shooter, but I hope they don't follow GTA to much and I hope they give the plot and story line some dignity (instead of drowning it with drugs) and really stick to the tradition and classiness that really defined the 40's.

  2. Dragon Age 2 (Release Date: March 8, 2011)

      This is one of those games I would recommend completely, and luckily for everyone, it comes out on the PS3, 360, and PC.. so everyone should buy it, thankyou. The last game was exciting, it's one of those things I didn't get to beat but.... I didn't have to beat it in order to enjoy the plot and what the game gave as a whole. This game follows the last game.. it takes place 10 years after the ending of the first game, but because the creators are so smart, they made it so that you really didn't have to beat (or play) the first game in order to pick up on the story line. Now I've heard people complain that they're annoyed it took 7 years to create the first game and only 2 years to create the second one, and personally... I'm not bothered. In this game, players will be able to somewhat customize the character and make them look how they want them to look, as well as also creating their characters classes. Another accepted difference in the game is that you can pause within battle and change the battle tactics and what approach you decide to take as far as killing foes is concerned.. although for me, I just kept pushing buttons.. I was a mage also since I didn't feel like dealing with the whole "sword" thing either.
   You'll still be able to give presents to your party members (although not as much as the first game), and still be able to create some romances, so I really don't think we're going to be missing as much as some people think we will (since most games try to out-do themselves as they continue to create games).
     The story line is excellent... you play as this person named Hawke who is this refugee, and you control them through saving and slaying things to the position of what is, Dragon Age's most important person, or warrior.. give or take. And sure, that doesn't seem like much of a storyline, but who honestly doesn't appreciate the zero-to-a-hero concept?


    1. Call of Duty: Black-Ops (Release date: November 9, 2010)

       I think everyone saw this coming, especially since I'm pretty much a CoD extremist, I'm even wearing my CoD sleepy pants my boyfriend bought for me for our first Valentine's Day as I'm typing this.

   So Black-Ops, which was produced by Treyarch (which was produced by Activision for those who don't know), is having a big amount of expectations... especially from me since Treyarch's World at War is what made me fall in love with the Call of Duty series anyway, and from what I see... there's a ton of good, good things that's in stores for the gamers. You can customize your class more and really react to the maps... and the better news? There's different game modes. For those who can't connect their xbox to live, there's a game mode you can play that allows "multiplayer" game play with characters who have artificial intelligence in order to mimic online gaming. "Wager", another game mode is where you get to gamble (because scratch-offs aren't enough for minors these days) CoD points and either double your bet or lose the whole kaboodle. "One in the chamber" is where you have one bullet, and if you miss? Time to break out the big guns because you're going to be kissing some jaws with that fist. "Gun Game" is where you have a gun, and the more kills you get the better your gun gets... you die? Well, you start from the beginning.
     Another great thing about this game is the perks, even on the guns. This time around you have motion sensors, UAV jammers (which is like Scrambler), and cameras to spy on enemies.. - wait.. what? Not sure if I like that... I know a ton of people are going "WHOOOO! YEAH!" and they're probably the same people that run around throwing C4's at people and shooting them, noobtubing, or running around with the Knifer's Class... not sure how I feel about it.. but we'll see how to turns out, and if it's bad.. then you know I'll be ranting about it right on here.
    One of the things I loved about MW2 is the fact that you can select what your killstreaks were from a huge varity... and in Black-Ops, they're going to continue that... and then some, and "some" includes gunships, exploding remote control cars, napalm strike, heavy turrents, and a mortar team. And you'd think I'd be done right now with what all the new features are, but there's MORE (this is why I love Treyarch, or competing companies anyway.), you can now engrave your name into your gun, and you can really customize your title and emblem along with your UserName.

 All that said, I'm excited and I'm already hooked.


 P.S. I don't play Halo... therefore it's not on the list.