Syn's Late-Thanksgiving Special

    Alright, so I'm a tad bit late on writing an article, but you know what? I have a life also... which consisted of everyone coming over my house for the holidays so I have been running around like crazy trying to keep the house clean, cooking, and baking... and laundry.. yeah, I know.. some life.

  Anywho, I was thinking, "Thanksgiving.. what can I write about?". And I had several ideas, one took up too much time writing about so I just completely ditched the concept.. and then another one was completely boring, I'm not excited about doing this because it seems like every writer who writes about video games is doing something like "Top 10 Games I'm Thankful for", and while it sounds cliche and overbearing because NO ONE cares about what these idiots are thankful for.. I still decide to hop on the idiot bus.

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   Please Note: I agree with people that are getting tired of reading lists of whatever on my site, and I also find that I am getting tired of writing them. I still didn't get Assassin's Creed, probably won't until.. after Christmas or whichever because 1) I'm broke. 2) Not enough time during the day to play at the moment. 3) I'm working a new job.. I leave at 6:30am and come back at 6:30 pm, make dinner, then go to bed.. I feel miserable that I can't even go to the gym, so deal with me for awhile.


  Games I am Thankful For:
  Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) :: Now, not only is this game the reason why I will have arthritis in my knees by the time I'm 30, but this game is the very well reason why we have games like Guitar Hero.. which ofcourse is why we have Rockband, and I'm not a fan of that, but everyone else is so I have to deal with it. Now, this is one of my all time favorite games..you can play on the dance pad, you can use the controller, it increases hand-eye coordination, it helps with people working out, it's just a great game in general and it really pioneered some of the most popular games today.

  Super Mario World :: Now, the Mario franchise is an exhausting one and it's one that most game writers are not fond of (game informer..), but I love it. For me, it was the game of the 90's. I grew up with Mario, I watched him grow up also from a tiny pixel boy to a super 3D HD wonder. And without him, the Wii would probably not be making the sales it does now.. or did.

   Pokemon :: Really.. what needs to be said? Pikachu was like.. Mouse of the 90's and Charizard is everyone's favorite overgrown lizard/dinosaur. P.S. Not talking about the card game..

   GoldenEye 007 :: For me, this was the game that pioneered shooter games as well as Duke Nukem.. and those who disagree.. you can disappear back to the 80's and not come back. GoldenEye had the graphics and it was one of those games that really started the gaming age, to me anyway. I have the most and best memories playing this game with my family and everything about the game was amazing.. made me buy another N64 years ago... even though it's broken.. but this game is why there's a Halo and Call of Duty.

   Petz :: Now, many people don't know about Catz or Dogz, but I believe this is what started the whole virtual pet phenomonononon. You got to breed them, have little puppiez and kittenz, you got to train them, design your own playrooms. And, they also had another game - Babiez.. which was equally fun, but I'm more of a puppy-person.




   The Sims :: I know some people may not agree.. but I say.. and anyone can quote this,"The Sims is the Godfather of Simulation Gaming - AesthetikSyn/the-girl-gamer.blogspot.com" and that's the truth. Ever since I was 10 I was playing this game and it's addicting. I don't know how many families I tore apart and created.. I don't even know how many kids I've created, but... The Sims is one game that I don't think is really going anywhere, and I think that developers are going to have one hell of a time trying to create a game like this without it getting bashed and having Sims thrown in its face. It's a great game on life without stupid repetitions.. also, it's the best-selling PC game in history.. just thought I would add that awesome detail. And March 2011 - Sims Medievil release.



      Games That Should Just Be Mentioned:
  Mario Kart Racing - Without it, my childhood would be boring.

  Pacman - His habit of consuming everything is amusing.. and without him, I'd be rich.

  Final Fantasy - While I didn't personally grow up playing this game, the graphics are amazing, the story is awesome, and the series has been going on for such a long time, it deserves some Kudos.

  Duke Nukem - I don't love aliens or anything that has to do with aliens, but I sure as hell loved blowing them up in this game.

 Street Fighter - As old and successful as it is/was, it had to contribute something to the gaming society.

 Starfox - One of the best selling games on the N64, and had one of the worst sequels (yeah, it had a sequel..), may you Rest in Peace..

 Tetris - Thanks to you, I can organize boxes like no one's business.

 Legend of Zelda - I enjoyed you while you lasted.. R.I.P. Ocarina of Time & Majora's Mask (except the ending.. that was horrible.)

 Dungeons and Dragons - You're old, and you were great.. and there's still people out there that love you.

 World of Warcraft - Happy almost 10th Birthday and congrats on creating crazy teens who beat up their parents when their parents take you away from them. <3


   Note: This is obviously for the "older" games, or ones that I just grew up playing and growing to love, or even games that are just loved by tons, if you don't agree because you don't see "Fallout" or "Halo" on this list, grow hairs on your chest and then we'll talk (same goes for COD fanboys.)
 

L.A. Noire - emotion: Excited.

   First off, I don't have Assassin's Creed yet because I've been running around like crazy.. not a finacial issue, but just alot in my life is going on between my parents, redoing the house and also Thanksgiving (which for the first time is at my house so I'm nervous). So, I figured I would do an article on... da da da daaaaaaa - L.A. Noire.




     I know, I know.. I'm so late for this, but doesn't this look great?
  Look at all the details, the L.A. Times building, the cars, the facial features and such detail during the lip synching. This is one game I'm excited for because it's the black sheep of crime games, instead of you being on the wrong side of the law, you're on the right side of the law and solving crimes with clues and talking to different suspects, I'm excited.

   Now the game is to be released in mid 2011.. which sucks that they now threw the game out there really early because we, as consumers, have to wait a longer time period.. which.. could fail, I believe releasing too much info too early could instead ruin a game because people find out too much of what is going on and then lose interest. But anyway, the game was intented to be released for only the PS3, but then changed to being also available for the Xbox360.

   The game takes place in the 1940's LA (obviously..) so, already I'm looking foreward to seeing any Italian Mob references (Jack Dragna), and yes... LA had an Italian mob, not as great as New York, Philly, or Chicago though, but I hope to see something with that. They should also include something with Elizabeth Short (The Black Dahlia), different celebrities and and dirty life of corruption, maybe something with the government thrown in there and different politics. 

    Are you excited? I'm excited. It just sucks that this game comes out in.. 9 months? And, there's the chance it could be delayed
  -sigh-
    

Call of Duty: What is Next?

 I know that Black-Ops was just released.. but I can't help thinking: What's next?
I got this idea from surfing around on GameInformer and someone had written a blog about what could come next in the CoD Series, and the guy had several ideas, so.. I figured I would write some of my own ideas.. maybe some coming from him and some I'm just thinking would be interesting.


    Civil War:
 All COD games seem to revolve around USofA, so why not do a game that shows the USA completely at a battle with itself? Sure, there would be some minor controversy with the campaign or the game itself I can imagine, because of what the Civil War started from, but I think it would be an interesting concept and it would allow the developers to really have a great campaign and story.

    Revolutionary War: Our country started with angry farmers and pitchforks against an army with heavy ammunition. Why not have a game that shows the struggles America had when it was just starting? Ofcourse, it would have to be very close to true events so that us history buffs could have something to oogle over.. but I think it would be interesting to play and even interesting to see what kind of story they give the game.

    Napoleonic Wars:
 Napoleon Bonaparte was a hit-or-miss kinda guy... when he won, he won big, when he lost.. he lost everything. I think it would be awesome to follow Napoleon through battle and to see his struggles with England and having Russia thrown into the mix on top of trying to rule his country. In Black-Ops you see JFK making commands, so why not live an adventure with Napoleon in and out of his battles?

    Benito Mussolini: As you guys know, I love all things italian.. so brace yourselves. Mussolini was an Italian politician who is like the Godfather of Fascism. Now, I think this in an interesting concept because you do have Hitler thrown in here who practically kissed Mussolini's ass every second of every day.. so it would be awesome to see that relationship between the two.. but, it would take place and tie in WW2, and that would kinda repeat WorldAtWar, but who cares? It was a great game. But we could also see some italian mob references and how they influenced government, which would just create such a great story.

    Blood Diamonds:  I was watching something on tv about Blood Diamonds and Africa, and it was about this one person going in and looking for diamonds and becoming a victim of war and this gang dictator (I forget his name).. but the story was so interesting and I could watch that documentary over and over again. This is a great concept because it shows the gangs that Africa has and what is going over there as far as politics and different corruption, as well as war.. and it leaves so much room for interpretation and story.

    Third-World:  Don't know how many third-world countries there are, but I know there's a lot... and I'm sure there's some that we don't even know exist. I think it would be cool to see the wars they have with eachother, struggles of food, health, sanity, while I'm sure they wouldn't make it too realistic because these are topics that can be a bit sensitive.. it's a great idea.. the weapons would be hard to figure out, but it would make an interesting game.

    Dracula and the Ottomans:  This is something you learn in history class for a week and then completely forget. Vlad the Impaler is such an interesting person... I think anyway, and it would be great to see the battle between him and the Ottomans.. this is a guy who killed 40,000-100,000 people during 1400's, and in sick and sadistic ways. Yeah, it's a great concept, I don't think it would transfer well to a game that's so widely played because it would be very dark and gruesome... but he's an interesting figure and if you don't know about him, look him up.

    G.I. Jane: This would really have to depend on the game and where it would take place... but they need to add a female character. I don't know how many other girls I meet while playing this game... but there's tons of them out there who love COD just as much I d- no... no one could love this game more than I do.. but maybe they enjoy it almost as much as I do. So I think a female character would be nice and I know it would be very appreciated.

   Subscription Fees: Now.. I'm not looking forward to this, but the article I read said that paying a fee in order to play multiplayer isn't too unrealistic. First off... Bobby Kotick is a smart, smart guy... no matter how obnoxious he is or can be, and he knows if the price is too high, no one will play. If I have a game out there that millions of people are playing and I charge a dollar a month for people to play, they'll pay that because they figure it's nothing... but it all adds up. It all depends on what the charge is.. I don't think it's a good idea that will win people over because you pretty much spend $120 total to take full advantage of a game...not including system or accessories, or even Internet bill.


    I know the next game in the series is being developed by Sledgehammer developers who have created Dead Space (didn't like it), Ratchet and Clank (never heard of it), and Afro Samurai (no thanks).. so.. I guess my expectations really aren't that high, but... with Bobby Kotick in charge, I don't think he's going to give them room for much adjustments on controls and view of everything... he's going to want everything structured. But who knows? Maybe I'll be surprised.

Call of Duty: Black Ops? More Like "Beast Operation".

   It's been awhile since I wrote.. atleast that's how I feel.. and let me tell you guys, I've been wanting to write abut everything I knew about Black-Ops for.. forever, but I didn't want to create a post everyday being like "Hey guyz! Check this out!" Because quite honestly, I think everyone on my facebook is getting annoyed at me making the posts I do now about this blog, so forget about posting something everyday that may be only one sentence long.

   Sad to say... I wasn't at the midnight release... and there's several excuses as to why.
 1) My boyfriend didn't want to go and because we live together we're conjoined at the hip. so... I was stuck.
 2) My leg muscles were pulled more than a 100lb taffy does right before it gets formed.
 3) Well... my boyfriend made me choose between that or breakfast in the morning... and I was craving breakfast food.

   So... I knew they would bring back Zombies, I knew that they were going to enable splitscreen for multiplayer, and I knew they were going to have your class be... your class (unless someone steals it.. which already happened to me..).

  And I'm not sure if I made a post about this on here or if I was just ranting on some forums (I really can't tell the two apart..) but I did at one point or another say that CoD should do what Halo did and allow people to vote for the maps.. or to select which map they want to play on... and they listened!



 I was transformed into a cat that was photoshopped to look like it was smiling
  Okay, so everyone who has read this blog since Day 1... or even just starting now knows I'm a huge fan of Call of Duty. So... what do I think about the game? Weeeeeell...


     GRAPHX ::  Let's be real honest... the graphics.. are okay. They're not bad, but they're not the greatest graphics I've seen from the series.. then again, I'm playing the game on the Xbox360... so they may have compromised some detail in order to fit some other stuff into the game.. while the PS3 version probably has the ass-kicking graphics and some extra stuff thrown into the mix. The thing about this game also.. I think it was one of the developers who said this, I know it was someone on the project of the game, but they said the Developers actually had to cut down on the reality of the game abit because it was very bloody and gorey and just looked too realistic... which, I agree. One of the differences from Treyarch and Infinity Ward is the fact that if you're going to shoot someone in a Treyarch COD game, you're going to see limbs flying and magical gravity-defying, air-flowing streams of blood, which is... you guessed it - uhmayzin'.


     EAR DRUM YUMM ::   The sounds... and I mean the voice acting, the songs, and the effects are so realistic, it's scary. If you're climbing up onto something that's as high as your chest, you're going to hear your guy panting like a chain smoker doing a marathon.. ofcourse that may not be realistic because these guys are suppose to be Seals (I think).. and.. Seals are human machines, they're not normal people.. me? I would pant my ass off. But it's ear candy and it really makes up for some lack of detail within the graphics. I'm also really excited because they brought back some people from WaW to do voice acting and that is amazing.. and they really took it a step further.


    CAMPAIGN PLOT ::   The plot of the game is exciting, alot of twists, some turns, it keeps you guessing on what is going on.. and, they bring back an old character! (Which... took me forever to realize who is was, but I'm not going to spoil it.) You're all over the place in this game, you're in the Artic, you're in Cuba, you're in Vietnam, you're in Egypt (not really, unless I just haven't reached that point..). But the story and how it connects to WaW is so interesting and it's great story telling. Now, CoD is not really a game you want to buy when it comes to the campaign... there's not much replay value because the campaigns are a tad on the short side.. so when you spend 60 bucks for this, it's usually for the multiplayer aspect of it.. actually... bump that up to 120 bucks, because Xbox Live is going up 10 dollars. So... $120 to play this game and take full advantage... but, the campaign is great, short.. but great and doesn't lack any excitement.


    WHERE'S THE MAP? I'M THE MAP! ::   Now, I haven't experienced every single map there is in the game (I like to play campaign and get a feel of what the game would offer map-wise instead of just jumping in there like a blind bat). The maps are great... some of them could use some work but I think it's just a matter of getting used to them over time. There's none that are insanely small to where it's rare to actually play the map (Infinity Ward's MW2 Rust) but none of them are obsessively huge that makes you want to vomit on the controller. Yeah, I hear people saying "They don't have real sniper maps", well.. Highrise wasn't a "real" snipers map but I still took out my .50 and owned, so no excuses when it comes to that. And there is one small map, but it does have houses and multi-levels so there there is space in the map, not everything is out in the open.


    PEW PEW PEW ::   In WaW I was a Type100 fan.. in MW2, I was a Tar-21 fan, and you know what? I can't figure out which guns I like... they're all great though. Ofcourse, beginner classes suck.. but they're decent guns. I do think some of them are a tad overpowered already and I have used a Sniper Class which has a horrible recoil, but it's not insanely bad and time will come to where everyone will get used to the guns and be pros... and ofcourse when that happens, Sledgehammer will be released and we'll all suck again. One problem people *may* face is that it could take some time to actually bring the gun up on screen, so.. practice hip-firing.


    NEW HORIZONS ::   This game separates itself from not only other games in it's genre, but other games within the series. There's so many ideas with this game... if you're the type of person who does like the campaign and feel iffy about Multiplayer mode and taking advantage of that, they have a mode where you can play with AI and so it simulates multiplayer, which is very cool. There's new game modes, some wager matches where you can gamble points if you're that much of a COD addict to where you can't go to Atlantic City... or Las Vegas... or are just 12 years old and want to see why you dad pawn'd your mother's engagement ring. New Killstreaks but Treyarch was smart and did continue to allow people to choose the killstreaks they wanted (3, 5, 7 Killstreaks just doesn't cut it anymore, we've gone hardcore).





   Your class is really your class, you earn points just by playing, completing Contracts, or any other ways and choose which perks you want instead of waiting for a specific one to be unlocked. You see on the screen that your character's uniform changes depending of which perks you have.. they just offer everything new and complete. Even to have the ability of recording your own games and sharing them in a community is great (Yeah, I understand Halo has it, but it's not the same..)



      OVERALL :: 9/10   I have to give this game a 9 out of 10, not because I'm biased (which I try not to be, and I will also try to stop using parenthesis), but the game offers so many new opportunities in the world of gaming and it's offered a new perspective on what a game should be.. it's not a shooter game where it just shows you your KD and WL ratio, it shows you how many points you earn a minute, how many bombs you defuse. It allows you to play with friends and it's a game that will cater to those who do consider themselves hardcore gamers and those who are just casual gamers and you do not see that very often for games in this genre. However, the game just came out and there are some issues.. especially on the computer (from what I hear..).. just the fact that it is a bit laggy without anything having to do with internet connection.. but there are patches that are to be released, so.. that will make computer-dwellers happy. But anyway, I really think that this is the game that will take the idea of FPS further... sorry Halo Fans, sure... I'll agree with you, Halo "pioneered" FPS, but this game is going to create an Army of Perfection when it comes to this genre.

  PS: I compromised the length and/or detail of the blog due to my urge to continue playing Call of Duty: Black-Ops

Xbox360 - The average chick who wished she was hot

 So my mom-mom (grandmother for those who don't know) moved in officially yesterday.. So I wasn't able to just wake up and be able to access my Xbox Live, also.. I was rearranging the whole upstairs for my boyfriend for his birthday (who said romance was dead?).. and because Comcast was down.. so, alot of things were really fighting against me..

 But when I was able to look at it with my boyfriend at night.. I was terrified. The transition of my face was like:





 And how dare you, Microsoft. How dare you make me have my face turn to beyond what I thought was impossible in such timing. It was so weird.. I knew I was expecting a slight makeover.. you know, some designes here and there, a bit of make-up and hair spray.. nope.. this Xbox Skank got a whole liposuction and face lift procedure.

  After several years of using the same layout.. sure, we grew to love it and could even navigate through it with out eyes closed, and that's probably why this new one it's slightly complicated.. but still. Does anyone remember when facebook got a "makeover"? You should, it happened within the past year, everyone was making groups about how facebook needed to change their new layout back to the old one, but then we understood the new layout and I'm sure now we just like it more now than what we did the whole one because of all the functions. I guess it's like this... somewhat. I still don't like it.

  While the color and the designs are nice, they redid the characters.. and now they just look weird. Has anyone actually seen a person walking around with a head bigger than their own body? Because if you have, they're probably ethiopians and they have health issues.. it's not healthy to have a giant sphere resting on a tiny stick figure.. why do you think lollipops break so easily?
   But the people are just.. weird looking, the loading logo is annoying looking and it pauses and it's downright frustrating when you have a clip of something and it doesn't repeate smoothly. It's like in the old days of myspace when people would try to make glowing images but it didn't flow right... it's annoying. If you can't do a glow right, or a motion, get off and get someone else who can. I don't have a degree in graphic arts or developing software, but I can sure as hell make a looping image flow smoother than Microsoft can.

    But the job of the dashboard or loading screen is to get you to get pumped about killing some people.. or playing simple casual games, whichever... and this doesn't do that for me. I just feel like staring at it and getting completely hit in the face with a big paddle of peice of crap designing repeatedly. Like I've said in previous posts... it's like two dogs humping, you don't want to look at it, but you can't stop.


    (I was thinking of looking up a picture and having it here, but I'm not into that so I refrained. Some things I will just not do for this blog.)
 
   With the new xbox thing, I just don't know what to think. It'll always be in the middle of the Wii and the PS3 as far as aesthetics are concerned.. and I think it's trying to copy the sleek and high-tech look that the PS3 Menu has.. but, it just doesn't work, and that's why I have to slap it with the good 'ol FAIL stamp. The menu was fine before.. it didn't need to be changed and I think they're selling themselves in a superficial way in order to try and keep up with competitiors.. I mean, come on.. the Holidays are around the corner, Xbox is awesome, but PS3 is newer and it's coming out with the same new accessories that the 360 is coming with that took years for it to get. So.. I don't know.. I suppose I'll have to go through the Dashboard, get used to it and then I'll quit complaining... or maybe I'll just find something else to nag about, who knows?