Today is Generic Summer Holiday in Kingdom of Loathing. This is brilliant.
"As luck would have it, the festivals for several different religious sects fall on this day in mid-summer. For years, the various fanatics from each religion insisted that theirs was the only true holiday for that day, and got horribly offended when anyone called the holiday anything other than what they called it, and everyone had different traditions and rituals, and the retail stores got the holidays all confused, trying to figure out how to sell it to everyone without offending anyone, and there was almost a huge holy war throughout the Kingdom... until finally someone quit arguing, noticed it was a nice day outside, and suggested that everyone just take a break and go swimming.
And thus was the fighting ended, and the Generic Summer Holiday was born." quoted directly from KoL documentation.
Have a great Generic Summer Holiday everyone.
Monday, June 16, 2008
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Wii
I FINALLY own the Wii. I own the games Wii Sports, Wii Play, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and Star Trek Conquest. Zelda and Metroid will be coming soon.
If you haven't played this system give it a shot. The motion sensitive controller feels wasted on some games, however Wii sports can make you wonder why no one thought of this years ago. I am happily addicted to Bowling (Wii Sports,)Billiards (Wii Play) and Super Smash Brothers.
I would say more but I am going to go play. Take care
If you haven't played this system give it a shot. The motion sensitive controller feels wasted on some games, however Wii sports can make you wonder why no one thought of this years ago. I am happily addicted to Bowling (Wii Sports,)Billiards (Wii Play) and Super Smash Brothers.
I would say more but I am going to go play. Take care
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Mabinogi
Mabinogi - Fantasy Life
Here is a great game to consider in the Free MMO category. Mabinogi has a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere for an MMO. There is plenty of depth for hardcore gamers, an over arching story line, tons of skills to improve, and a seemingly endless number of quests to choose from. This game has an unusually high appeal to a more casual style of game play with a very high number of non-combat quests and odd jobs to take a look into.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Here is a great game to consider in the Free MMO category. Mabinogi has a surprisingly relaxed atmosphere for an MMO. There is plenty of depth for hardcore gamers, an over arching story line, tons of skills to improve, and a seemingly endless number of quests to choose from. This game has an unusually high appeal to a more casual style of game play with a very high number of non-combat quests and odd jobs to take a look into.
Check it out and let me know what you think.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Quick look: Dig N Fight and Lagoon B
Persistent Browser Based games are a great way to get in a little bit of video gaming when money and time are in short supply. They are usually free games that make money with a combination of adds and optional donations. Games like Dig N' Fight as well as Lagoon B are played by setting a course of action, and then simply checking in at a later time.
Dig N' Fight allows you to create a dungeon. You start with an imp that will dig out tunnels and dig for gold. As your dungeon becomes larger it becomes an attractive target to other dungeon makers. It quickly becomes prudent to form a defense force that will scout your tunnels for signs of danger. You may also create an attack force that will attempt to pillage other dungeons. The game starts off slowly with the first few days focused on gathering materials and improving your digging teams but as you unlock monsters, spells, traps, and new types of rooms the game really begins to shine.
Lagoon B places the player in the roll of someone attempting to start a company on a small island. The player starts as a beach comber who sells orange juice to the locals, but if you stick with it you may end up with a huge company.
Both of these games have similar pros and cons. Both games start slowly, but they become more addictive fun as your options expand.
Dig N' Fight allows you to create a dungeon. You start with an imp that will dig out tunnels and dig for gold. As your dungeon becomes larger it becomes an attractive target to other dungeon makers. It quickly becomes prudent to form a defense force that will scout your tunnels for signs of danger. You may also create an attack force that will attempt to pillage other dungeons. The game starts off slowly with the first few days focused on gathering materials and improving your digging teams but as you unlock monsters, spells, traps, and new types of rooms the game really begins to shine.
Lagoon B places the player in the roll of someone attempting to start a company on a small island. The player starts as a beach comber who sells orange juice to the locals, but if you stick with it you may end up with a huge company.
Both of these games have similar pros and cons. Both games start slowly, but they become more addictive fun as your options expand.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Superbowl Stunner. . .
What a game last night. I am a Patriot's fan, and of course I was hoping for a win, but what I got was a view of one of the greatest defense based football games I have ever seen.
I am pretty bummed about the end of the football season, so I will be keeping myself amused with gaming. You may enjoy this quick play quarterback challenge. 2 Minute Football 2008, it is a pretty fun little Shockwave game that I hope you enjoy.
It has been a little while since I mentioned the Mass Effect hystaria, so I thought I should bring readers up to speed. Cooper Lawrence admits that she misspoke about Mass Effect saying, “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke. Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.” You can read about this in The New York Times and Game Politics. Outspoken Game Critic took a surprising stance stating that he has no issues with Mass Effect, this was reported on Kotaku. One thing that is still disheartening is that Fox News has yet to print a retraction.
I am pretty bummed about the end of the football season, so I will be keeping myself amused with gaming. You may enjoy this quick play quarterback challenge. 2 Minute Football 2008, it is a pretty fun little Shockwave game that I hope you enjoy.
It has been a little while since I mentioned the Mass Effect hystaria, so I thought I should bring readers up to speed. Cooper Lawrence admits that she misspoke about Mass Effect saying, “I recognize that I misspoke,” she said. “I really regret saying that, and now that I’ve seen the game and seen the sex scenes it’s kind of a joke. Before the show I had asked somebody about what they had heard, and they had said it’s like pornography,” she added. “But it’s not like pornography. I’ve seen episodes of ‘Lost’ that are more sexually explicit.” You can read about this in The New York Times and Game Politics. Outspoken Game Critic took a surprising stance stating that he has no issues with Mass Effect, this was reported on Kotaku. One thing that is still disheartening is that Fox News has yet to print a retraction.
Saturday, January 26, 2008
The MMO-LARP-ARG
I had a dream that is the coolest inspiration for a game. I know that most of the gamers that read my blog will know what these acronyms mean, but just in case . . . MMO: Massive Multi-player Online, a descriptor for huge on line games like Sword of the New World (Free to Play game) and World of Warcraft (Which is an insanely huge Pay to Play). LARP: Live Action Role-Playing Game, a game in which people take on characters and get together to play out a story. Some groups play fantasy games with ornate costumes and padded swords, others have modern day mystery cruises. ARG: Alternate Reality Game, is a game that has clues throughout the internet to help tell a story, the film Cloverfield has an ARG that is massive and has been used to promote the film and deepen the mystery of what is happening in the movie. If you are interested in the Cloverfield ARG the best place to start is here.
This brings me to the dream that I had last night. I was playing an MMO with a few of my close friends when this other player finds our group and tells us that he is trying to meet someone in real life, if we can help arrange this we will get $2000. The mystery man explains that the man he is looking for plays many MMO games and he can't personally monitor them all. Within hours we meet the target of the search and tell him about the unusual offer, he informs us that he is a data security expert named Bill and he explains that he gets crazy offers from headhunters all the time. Bill said he would be glad to help us out and meet with our mystery man, but he wants a free lunch as a show of good faith. My friends and I agreed to meet Tom at a restaurant and treat him too a meal. It is when we get together that I realize that the dream has been about a game within a game, "Bill" is a character played by my cousin. I woke up shortly after this, but I am curious about trying to create an ARG like this one. Character Profiles could be created in Myspace or Facebook, and the game would take place in online and offline meetings. It would be quite a bear to put together, but I imagine that it would be very fun.
This brings me to the dream that I had last night. I was playing an MMO with a few of my close friends when this other player finds our group and tells us that he is trying to meet someone in real life, if we can help arrange this we will get $2000. The mystery man explains that the man he is looking for plays many MMO games and he can't personally monitor them all. Within hours we meet the target of the search and tell him about the unusual offer, he informs us that he is a data security expert named Bill and he explains that he gets crazy offers from headhunters all the time. Bill said he would be glad to help us out and meet with our mystery man, but he wants a free lunch as a show of good faith. My friends and I agreed to meet Tom at a restaurant and treat him too a meal. It is when we get together that I realize that the dream has been about a game within a game, "Bill" is a character played by my cousin. I woke up shortly after this, but I am curious about trying to create an ARG like this one. Character Profiles could be created in Myspace or Facebook, and the game would take place in online and offline meetings. It would be quite a bear to put together, but I imagine that it would be very fun.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Mass Effects . . .
Perhaps you have heard of the controversy surrounding the game Mass Effect. If not I highly recommend reading Game Politics for a quick recap starting with coverage from a Conservative site, and the very recently Mass Effect coverage on fox news.
Let me put it this way, a Mature rating on a video game is most similar to an R rating on a movie. People claim that mature video games are marketed toward children yet I have yet to see anyone put forth evidence of this. Here is an interesting fact: I have heard many people who favor video game legislation say that the typical video gamer is an adolescent male, but this is an often repeated lie. The truth is that the average video game player is male but he is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years, the typical video game buyer is 38 years old.
Let me put it this way, a Mature rating on a video game is most similar to an R rating on a movie. People claim that mature video games are marketed toward children yet I have yet to see anyone put forth evidence of this. Here is an interesting fact: I have heard many people who favor video game legislation say that the typical video gamer is an adolescent male, but this is an often repeated lie. The truth is that the average video game player is male but he is 33 years old and has been playing games for 12 years, the typical video game buyer is 38 years old.
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