Playstation Portable ID

Has anyone out there seen this option available from playstation?

Get Your Portable ID!
This isn't the best one I've seen, but this is what Playstation offers. Now what's sad about this is that you have to manually refresh this from the playstation website. Other "gamer cards" auto update to what you've recently played and do a good job on keeping up with what you've been playing. Until I recently updated mine it stated I had only 2009 trophies and well I've gone up 2000 obviously since then.

     I'm looking for the web searching gamers out there to share your best and worst gamer cards found on the web.

So it's been a while

     I've been away from my blogs for a while now, it's been more life than actual anything else but I found my moment and with the things on my mind I felt the need to review some games. Especially ones I've played recently. I know these are behind the times, but I wanted to share my experience and opinions as not every game has played every game so for you out there here's some quick reviews for your gaming perusal.

Syndicate: A friend told me this one was weird and well I had to experience weird myself so I bought it on sale from gamestop and here is what I figured out. (I'd like to note I've not yet finished this title so if I'm short or did not include something you feel crucial please take this into account).
Rating: on a scale of 1-10 (10 being the best game ever) I give it a 7.
Game Style : FPS run and gun
Opinion: I was told this was just a weird approach, I'd like to clarify it as a weird approach that should have been used with Deus Ex. The concept is very similar you are a test subject in bio-engineering with a chip in you brain that allows you to do really cool stuff once you get the hang of the play style. A lot of the action is in the play which makes things relatively quick, but also intriguing. I found I want to know more and thus I am still playing, but I'm as well intrigued by what is there. You have your chip mode where time slows and you can have your basic Max Payne slow motion attack in an FPS cyber wonderland. It's not perfect, but it's well done.
     The major flaw I find to the game so far is that it doesn't explain well enough what you should be on the look out for so it's a lot of trial and error. As well there are things you can control that don't always work for you or with you so you have to take that into account in your gun spree. I feel this is a game that should have done better and could have given the player more so far. I may revisit this title after I complete the story.

Now I'd like to approach a series as well as specifics of two titles in a series so please bear with the awkward so I can give this a fair approach.
Series: Assassins Creed
Titles Played: 1, 3, 4
Overall score Rating: 9

The Breakdown
I played the original Assassin's Creed a long time ago, but got a feeling of accomplishment pulling off assassinations and well following the rather unusual storyline so I'm not going to review 1 as well it's really old news, but as part of the series I used 1 as my comparison to how the game made me feel with the other two titles I've played in the series. Now before I get bashed for not playing 2, revelations or brotherhood I want to point out that what pulled me back in was seeing a friend play 4. I will get to those titles, but this series rates rather high thus far so please keep this in mind. Now the reviews in order of play.

Assassin's Creed 4 Black Flag:
Rating: 8
Game Style: Historic Act Adv with scifi aspects
Opinion: As I stated a friend was playing this in my living room and it peaked my curiosity as what I saw seemed like such a jump from the original. The graphics were great, the gameplay kept my attention hell even the basics were entertaining. So thus I had to own it. The story is a nice change from the original but seems to be a rebuild of part of 1 and hint's of a furthering to the series. The things new to me IE Hunting and Boat battle are well done and after a few snafu's I got it down rather quickly. The swimming in the diving bell annoys me, but it doesn't take from the games beauty. The storyline is rather quick, but seems to be leading to so so much more and as I was told and figured out it leads back into 3. Thus my play approach.
     This did a great job of Redefining Assassin's Creed for me so I gladly offer it as a title that should be played at least once. Now let's head backwards.

Assassin's Creed III
Rating: 7.5
Game Style: Same
Opinion: This really bothered me at first because I did not see where 4 had tied back in completely. The beginning is a bit slow and the hero who is actually the enemy is really slow and the button work is frustrating. I was thinking 4 had this well done crowd control and battle feature that I was great with is this game going to suck. Then the story progressed.... As you get Connor and work him up to being an Assassin things become so well done. The hunting is more in depth, you can do so much more mission wise and even get so far in detail that you spend more time playing with other features than the story. Not that the story is bad.
     So this is what everyone was talking about as I play as Connor I get the sense that I like dabbling with so many of the features that 4 pulled back on. The hunting is in depth , The ship is a bit tricky to maneuver some of the details compared to 4 but I can see the promise of what lead to 4. This is really ideal. What hurts this game is there are things that keep you off guard and things that take forever to fully understand. If you screw up a sneaky mission in 4 you hit check points that reduce frustration in 3 it's not quite there so you find yourself really trying to keep up with some of your associates who go nuts with their sneaky selves.

So now I keep pulling both titles in my head together and try to see what could make up the next title as there is so much here that is great. Ubisoft if you're listening take notes....

• Hunting - this is really enthralling especially if you give a wide variety of animal. I usually stay away from hunting games but for some reason the assassin's got the idea of how to make it the best part of the game.
• Crafting - This is a little lax in 3 in four you can bump so much so quick if you get into a hunting mood.
• Pirating - this was well done naval combat. To be honest it's the best part of 4 and you really want to upgrade your boat to do some crazy damage.
• Weapons and tools - 3 gives you so much more of a variety, but 4 gives them a polish even though it was simplified. Love the rope dart.
• Missions are great

Now what you need to limit down

1.      Crowd fighting - either give me a way to kill faster or work it so we can get ourselves out of some of these corners you keep giving us.
2. Hiding glitching - I've noticed this in all your games sometimes people can see you when you are so well hidden that it just screws you over.
3. Large animals in packs. This is a rarity, but I know wolves are a pack animal, but some times you over do packs where there is no survival.
4. Outfits - I'm cool with the changing out outfits idea, but if you know we are going to want to play with an ultimate don't force us to buy all outfits afterwards.
5. DL Weapons - if you're going to use Uplay or DLC to give us cool weapons give them an edge, not some medium grade aspect where they are practically useless by the time we aquire them.

That's all for now.

The Mortal Essensce of a Batman Game: An Arkham Origins Review

     It has become rather standard fact that up until Arkham Asylum that no videogame company could do the Batman franchise justice. So After playing into the latest title of Arkham Origins I felt compelled to break down the Arkham Series and take a closer look at what makes a good Batman game.

• The Invisible Predator -

One of the first things that was brought out of Arkham Asylum was the Predator approach to clearing a room of bad guys. As many comic fans and well fans of the Batman anything know the caped crusader is not all fight but a mixture of intimidation and catching his opponents off guard. This has been a staple since Arkham Asylum and even been slightly modified yet always for the better.

• The Warrior Within -

Batman is a very skilled martial artist and well usually one to rely on his fists last, unless there is no other answer. This is where early games had issues either they made him a brawler or a run and gun and well battarangs aside Batman isn't really a "gun" person. Although many of his tools resemble guns, they always house another surprise. The Arkham Series has held strong to batman being able to fight his way in instances where well there is no other choice so again a bonus to them for keeping to the truths of Batman.

• Batman Does NOT Kill -

     This is a tough topic with any game series and even Arkham has had it's deaths but they were all written to not be directly by the hands of the Bat. Early games had you working on killing enemies or defeating bad guys with a gun or battarang launcher and it just lost that Batman feel. Arkham has been strong in keeping to that story essential code.

• Batman the Detective and Vigilante -

This has always been a controversy as Batman is a hero detective but also a vigilante whom cleans the streets where and when the cops cannot. Early Batman games stuck to either one but never got the combination quite right so you'd feel off. Arkham has found it's way to allow Batman to do both and thus is a Hero but also in this newest endeavor a enemy in the eyes of the police.

     Now these are a lot of the basics besides getting into the detail of Batman's gadgets and equipment you have to keep in mind that Batman although looked at as rather meager is really quite a complex super hero. So a lot of questions fall to looking into a Batman game and thus have lead me to the following takes on the Arkham Series -

Arkham Asylum: First Batman game done right. A mixture of challenge and well thought out use of villains as well as a strong story. They kept things simple to the Island that is Arkham Asylum and allowed the player to delve into the mythology and the rather obscure aspects that are Batman. It's really hard to top this as a Batman game as you have to look at so many components that worked well together.

Arkham City: It was a hidden hint in the first game. So well hidden that it was only after it was announced that people started to understand or even find the hint. This was well done to expand upon what Arkham Asylum was and mix in further aspects of the Batman Legacy as well as give the player a mixture of the hidden details and get a good look into how big a game of this style could go.

Arkham Origins: It's Arkham City pre Arkham City so you have the huge part of Gotham as well as a nice mixture of characters yet it's not quite the first two but I'm going to get into that a bit further down the page. I've not finished the story as of this posting, but I really have been looking at detail and this falls under a good Batman game, but like many good game legacies this has been infected with the multiplayer aspect. It's not bad, but think Gotham City Imposters meets Arkham Asylum.... it's limited and well lets just call it a beginner multiplayer experience.

Flaws to Arkham Origins.
     This is where we start getting a bit of mixed feelings and to be honest a lot of this is my opinion but also factors that I feel could have been improved upon.
Characters.) I'm a finicky bastard when it comes to what Villains you choose to throw at me when it comes to a comic book story. The first two Arkham games went with favorites I can agree to that aspect, but I like to see that mixture of super powered or intelligent that batman has to overcome instead of "Assassins" Not that I'm not a fan of Deathstroke, but C'mon. They start you out against Croc and it just seems to drop in enemy style from there.
Character Modeling.) This is another aspect that not many think about when playing a game but I'm rather fixated on. If you're sticking to a series name try to keep your modeling close or even within the same aspect. Killer Crock and Bane are both a third of the size they were in the first two games and I understand this is a prequel but I think you're going off a different set of comics and it kinda kills the feel.
Voice Acting.) Before you bash me for being a purist I have to say I'm for the earlier casts rather than the Origins cast but the origins cast is close but not that accurate. I don't hate them, but I feel like I've been shorted in the Joker Dept. and yes that is aimed at you Mark Hamill.
There really isn't much else in the way of flaws against Origins the controls are strong and even the free flow combat seems to be much improved. So Although I have some gripes this game has earned it's way into staying in my library of games for a long time.

- William Dreimann

Gaming Realism and Benefits of keeping some of the fantasy as is.

     I keep seeing a call for realism in video games. Now with some things like puzzles I can agree, but with the more elaborate fantasy drama's and battle games well, it seems to want to kill the player. Now before I get a response of but..... Let me explain how I am seeing things and where developers should draw the line.
    Puzzle Realism:
   Ok so lets use an example of a game I have played recently, I believe it was Zero Escape: Virtue's last reward: Now the way this game starts off there is a story, then puzzle or escape mode. The story is bland, but the escape mode is a puzzle. You have to search a room for tools and items so you can work your way through the puzzle and escape the room. Sounds easy enough. Here is where I found my issue with "Realism" in this game. There is a panel with four bolts each color coded and you find a colored handle and some sockets that are described to be like a socket wrench. My issue is that if anyone has used a socket wrench more than one head can be used for a handle. This game did not want to hear this and had me continuing to look for 3 other handles just to open a vent. Now granted they were not hidden well so it was an easy find, but seriously. Developers this is the excess shit we don't want. Stick with some realism here and we are golden.
     Fantasy Realism:
Now some of what I hear being called for is realism with weapons in games and well with some of the fantasy games I hear this being called for well you're asking for player death. Seriously look at the weapon and consider some of the realism if you were to wield it. I'm sure you'd end up more injured than your opponent. Let's leave a lot of this to fantasy.
     War Time Realism:
This actually works somewhat and again can also lead to player death. It again goes to weapon realism, but it's a 50 50 draw on what should and should not work. IE: an enemy drops his gear around the room you should be able to use it. Seriously why not. Yeah I understand if it's a gun or piece of armor way to big or heavy for you to use, but a revolver or a knife. Now again this also tends to span into the Fantasy Realism. If it's some sort of alien creature I can see less chance of usage but then again if you let us use some of the other alien weaponry..... you see where I'm going here.
     Overall there is a fine line to what gamers should have realistically and what should follow in a realistic situation. I for one love the fantasy approach of a 5' muscle bound soldier being able to carry a tank cannon as a weapon but then again I like the chaotic approach.
What's your opinion folks?
- William Dreimann

Indie games: A bit of reviews and some odd opinion

     It's hard to avoid indie games these days. Many have gone from obscure to really popular. Others are gems in the rough that you either know or you don't. I've decided since I've been exposed to a bunch of indie games to share a small listing here as well as a quick review of some of these awesome games.

• Little Inferno: A game for you pyromaniacs out there. Although the game states that you should not play with fire, and I agree. The premise of this indie is to well burn your toys to stay warm. Although there is no real losing.... It's you burn a toy and get money for it, then spend the money to buy more toys from a catalog which burning toys gives you more money than the toy was worth. The trick here is combo's. Certain combinations of toys gives you extra shipping stamps and a challenge to figure out what is really going on. The ending of the game is some what forced, but after watching you can go back to burning stuff.
• The binding of Isaac: I have to admit I played this one on good authority from a friend. Think The legend of Zelda with the more sadistic undertones. It's put out by the wonderful people over at newgrounds. Now those of you familiar with Newgrounds should know many of their odd and very odd creators. This is a game that I'll be honest is worth a play just to ask the What the fuck question over and over.
• Beat Hazard Ultra: This one is a little more for you music buffs. Imagine this.... you are playing something like galaga or even asteroids, now add that enemies and effects are spawned and selected by your music. That's right you pick the track and the music dictates the stage. It's quite the feat and visually amazing. The downfall is it is very high in flashes and strobes so you may want to think about that before letting your kids play, but overall depending on the song it's really quite a fun game.
• Terraria: Like minecraft, Terraria is one of those seek the world and build stuff. There is no real story, but it's addictive. There is a lot to find and do once you figure out the basics. Bosses are not out right they either sneak up on you or work on a series of events. Either way it's quite the adventure.

Old School New School and PC Gaming

     I like to rant and get a little out there with my thinking, but a thought crossed my mind as a friend of mine advised that the current "New" consoles suck compared to PC gaming. Now there is some truth to this as well there are some flaws to all forms of gaming. I feel though as a devils advocate in this era that some things are lost in all gaming and decided to explore further the old school details compared to todays gaming as well as the ups and downs of PC gaming for me. I must reiterate this is my opinion based on what I know and the information I've come upon in reading and well learning more and more of todays technology.

      So lets start on the old school / new school of consoles as this is part of what keeps me playing the games I do in the way I do. Each period of gaming had it's benefits but if you compare lets say anything before PS2 went network enabled to the Network enabled and PS3 to today you get this rift of what was added and what seems to become lost on game producers.
Old School
Benefits -

• Whole game to a disc or cartridge. (or a series of discs FF)
• Secrets (cheat codes and such) built in
• You invited your friends over to play multiplayer.
• It was a bit less social media yet social inspiring.

Flaws-

• If a game was poorly put together a whole new game had to be released.
• Over use of cheating.
• You had to go to game store to buy new games.
• Many times you had to search to find a copy of a game.

New School
Benefits-

• With online options gamers can get their games off an online store so there is always a copy available.
• If a game is poorly made they may patch or update to run better or just work better.
• Less cheating unless you have money.
• friends at your fingertips for online play

Flaws -

• Friends no longer hang out to play a game and you can't play two player online unless they have a copy.
• a lot of downloadable content so games release faster and occasionally broken in play style.
• Downloadable content can make everyone a cheater.
• Online players either really good or really bad at a game thus leading to player hate.

     Now this is just from experience and well I can't say either side has a total killing flaw yet it can define your experience on if you continue to play a game series. This is aimed more at the new school as you force more people to play online you tend to find that people sometimes clash and thus a game that they may have enjoyed they are going to avoid due to player hate. Now this also has to take into consideration connection speed lagging ability as there are some wonderful devices that allow you to almost break pedal the connection and thus allowing them to somewhat pause you and move at higher speeds due to connection buffering. I'll come back further to this rant as I really have a lot to say on this and I feel that it's own topic would be better.

Now onto PC Gaming-
     Being a child who grew up in the Nintendo era I feel that unless you can give me a controller I can work with Pc gaming is either fun or the controls are just too much for me to use for my type of gaming. I'm speaking more of the "Mouse Keyboard combo" Yeah I can use it for games of the FPS variety, but the action adventure games it just looses me a bit. I feel too lost working a keyboard to jump a chasm. Now a days though this isn't so much of a problem due to emulation and controller integration into most games. With gaming communities like Steam or Humble Bundle you get games at a reasonable price and can play how you wish. My biggest problem here is the excessive customization needed to play certain games. When I want to play I want to play now, not a half hour from now when I have finally gotten things set just right to play. Some say build it up yourself.... this would be excellent except for two small problems for me. Lack of funds and well by the time I got what I want together it's way outdated and I have to revamp my plan just to play the game I want. This is where consoles have a stronger advantage for me. I don't really need to upgrade every few months hardware wise with some games and I don't need to set many settings. Again something I prefer not saying it's better or worse.
     I'm playing devils advocate here as I feel there are some strengths to PC gaming, but have not completely gotten myself there. I'm partial to something familiar such as a Playstation or even old school Nintendo controller. So one might say this is where I currently stand. Until I rant further.
- William Dreimann

Nostalgia -

With the PS4 quickly approaching (2 days from this post) I wanted to give an overview of the Nostalgic moments of the PS3 which may soon go to the shadows just like the rest of the older consoles.
     Back before trophies I can recall the simplicity and rather unique approach the PS3 had to online gaming and well backwards compatibility.  Here are the things I remember most:

• Downloading anything on the playstation network put you at a halt to doing anything till the download was finished. Yes this was a flaw that was later fixed, but back in the hay day this was how it was done.
• Watching videos of games to come and having to wait a year or so for release..... Yes I'm looking at you LAIR.
• The amazement with how fast PS2 games loaded past the "Loading" screen.
• Heavenly Sword and how it almost stood the tests of time, still waiting for a sequel folks.
• The original Resistance Fall of Man. I did not really get into online war until this game.
• How a fair portion of the PS3 store was "Free".
• The Thursday updates to the PS store

     Then trophies came as well as many many updates. The gamer was no longer playing for just the experience of a game but to earn something that isn't really real, but is. I'll speak honestly, we all became a bunch of trophy whores. So thus leads to my second segment of Memories from the PS3 Era.

• Getting your first platinum. It seems so pointless now as we are all trying to get more and more of them but that first is always a major achievement in our books.
• Broadening of who you were willing to friend on PSN. Let's face it some of us friended others just for help getting trophies completed.
• Waiting in anticipation for a new game as you found the trophy list online and just had to find out what "Become ****'s special friend" meant.
• synching trophies to see whom of your friends holds the lead in what game.
• Judging a game on how quick and easy it was to get all trophies.

Now this still goes on today and will carry over to the 4 but still the PS3 stands rather strong as well PS4 doesn't have a whole lot promised out the door, but continuing my Nostalgic Moments.... The Birth of Playstation Plus, that's right a plan in which you were to get free games (true still to this day) free add on's (not so true nowadays) and free stuff for paying $50 bucks a year. I'll be honest I started it as I had gotten a gift card and still use it to this day. So the memories continue:

• Checking every Tuesday for what was free this week.
• scouring the playstation blog for what will be free in the weeks to come.
• downloading now able to be done in the background
• Filling your system with games you have still yet to get to .
• complaining because you bought the game day one and all of this month is games you already own.

I'll be honest this isn't all happy memories nor exactly bad ones. This is just a fair view of what I can recall of the strong years of PS3 and even with it's flaws I still hold myself as a Sony fan. Here's hoping the PS4 brings a strong future even with any flaws or madness and that the PS3 doesn't fade into obscurity.