Game Theories -

      I love when people think things through and sometimes when they over think things. So I sat and watched some you tube videos entitled Game Theories. So yes I can state right off the bat as you may have guessed by the post title and my short explanation there that yes I condone and support people who think this way and as well do some research on the topic. This is a part of the gaming universe that can go simply from 0-60 and people will still be entertained. Yes it will spark controversy and conspiracy theories. That's what thinking does. Yet seeing someone point out the fine notes of how a game may be questioning religion or that something you never realized may be dark and disturbed in your videogame world is worth looking into.
     I've had some theories in gaming myself most of which deal with borderlands and portal, but it was proof that the game had me thinking. If something sparks thought or question this is good. It means your brain is working and you want to learn more. A majority of moments where my intellect was shown in school was where I could relate something to the gaming world. (this explains why I was good at raising questions in history and English lit.) Yes videogames are meant to be a time killer, something to keep you entertained and a form of media that gets some rather insane questions asked about it, but if you are questioned and can answer and can raise your own questions this is working thought. Okay enough ranting back to my topic.

 Game Theories I've always pondered -

• Darksiders - Post apocalyptic world where one of the four horsemen were called forth and made a scapegoat to a bigger conspiracy. There are a lot of topics here the religious, the divine and what makes this all click.
• Religion - They covered this slightly in the Game Theories videos on you tube, but a lot of games cross that line of religion iconography and historical accuracy to religion so this leads to a lot of questions. I don't think I can convey the direct question here, but you have to wonder about some of these aspects in the role of modern gaming.
• Portal - Appeture Science is one hell of a place what starts out as a puzzle game becomes a fight for your life against an AI that is taunting and questioning you. As the sequel occurs the depths and dark details of the center start to come together almost like Dante's Divine Comedy so does it correspond?
• Borderlands - Vault hunters are basically fortune hunting mercenaries who look for the big guns and rewards for surviving Pandora. So yes you are a highered killer who is basically being lead around by a robot who is not only amusingly annoying, but who is allying you with other psychopathic minds against a militarized corporation or two all with the promise of Big Guns and MONEY.

Now I've not quite gotten into the details and nitty gritty, but there is this quick look at games and topics that are being reflected in the media we enjoy. Some part of this is reflecting onto our personal character and we are enjoying the mayhem. Psychologically speaking we take on the role of our heroes in each game the topic comes down to some major questions which is what the stories of these games should be looking at ..... some do, some do not.
Questions that we should be asking our heroes -

• We all start out on a side of a conflict in all games, are we on the right side?
• Beyond self preservation what is motivating our choices? (to clarify here I don't really mean question the game design, but when given choices why do we do what we do)
• Games have been giving us a good and evil path for years now why do we pick the path we do?

I know these questions sound boring and quite stupid to be asking about playing a game where we control a hero who gains power and becomes ruler of all (generally speaking) but if you think about it some of the story lines are based solely on these questions and thus lead to paths we either guess or don't expect to happen.

Just a theory....
- William Dreimann

The next gen of consoles... a look at the insanity and the well minor stupidity of it all.

     Every once and a while the next generation of gaming is introduced. Personally myself I try to stay on the cutting edge of it as well I like to know what's coming and what will be available to myself the consumer. So this year as both Sony and Microsoft have announced is another E3 year of Next Gen Consoles. I'm not sure if this will be worth the watch or not. Again personally speaking I'm a Sony fan but each thing I hear about the next generation of consoles pushes either a wanting desire or an urge to vomit and give up on gaming. I've heard the rumors and seen the specs, but until the final product is out you can't make a true determination.
     My overall opinion to this madness is a simple question. Will it be worth it and well... is it too soon? There have been overhauls and rebuilds of some of the console models and makes that we are in a generation of ever expanding technology. Are the gaming companies taking things too far too fast trying to stay ahead of the curve? Let's look to the past and the issues and problems of previous releases and the problems that drew the market away from some awesome devices.
Examples:

• PS Vita - This handheld console is a rather intuitive item. It's dual touch body and build up from the PSP design is amazing. The flaw has been the limitation of games to this device. Yeah the library of games is limited and the classic and psp digital transfers are great, but there is much left to build this into the hype that had surrounded it.
• Xbox 360-  yeah it was the first on the market over the PS3 but it's major issue known simply as "Red ring of death" was a major flaw I know several people who bought multiple Xbox360's just to keep playing. The issue still continues to this day.
• PS3 -  I'll admit even the system I love personally had it's flaws. Early models suffered from a yellow light of death, but Sony made sure to replace or repair the issue even if it was no longer under warranty all due to the original complex body design.
• PS3 slim -  Yes this is even known to be flawed mainly for it's non backwards compatibility and just a lacking of hd space.
• All of the current gen gaming devices fall victim to the hd space issue. I'll admit I've filled 2 PS3's with games some I don't wish to delete to make room just because I'm not finished with them yet.

     So game companies if you happen perchance to read this lets take some things into consideration. Make sure if you promise the gaming community something we learn from our mistakes. I'd like to point out that the classic NES and Super NES still function to this day. I'm not going to get into the flawed design of the Nintendo Wii or even the flaws of the Wii U at this time I'll save that as a post for a later date.
- William Dreimann

The Playstation Wireless Stereo Headset - A review.

   
 I tend not to purchase accessories for some of my gaming equipment as some of them are just frivolous and some are well pointless, but on a whim we purchased the Sony Playstation Wireless Stereo Headset as my standard blue tooth headset just tends to die out and is a bit of a pain to get to respond the way I want to while gaming. This was not the case with this rather expensive but worth the money headset. Let me give you a breakdown of what I love about this and where there are some issues but not major issues.

The Pro's of this device:

• with a simple click will move all sound to the wireless headset which is great if you're watching a movie late at night and don't wish to wake your significant other.
• Charges from the playstation controller charger which again is a bonus
• Retractable microphone this has it's perks I'm not quite how clear I come across yet as I've yet to get into a heavy gaming session as most of my gaming done online isn't always chat heavy.
• On screen notification of mute, volume and power on and off. So like your PS3 controller it lets you know when something is updated or modified or if you bumped the side and muted yourself which makes the set up just as easy.
• Clear almost movie theater quality stereo sound I'd expect nothing less from Sony.
• Padded cross bridge which makes long wearing time a bit easier.

What's not so great about this item:

• It takes a little bit to get used to and set up the cross bridge (the band across your head) either it's squeezing you like a vise or it's a little loose.
• it negates the option to have the chat come through your TV which is kinda counter of what I tend to use a headset for as I like to chat with family over the network and well without another headset it's hard to keep everyone in the room in the chat.
• a bit heavy, but not overwhelming. this is kinda a 50/50 it goes with the getting used to it so it detracts from the comfort, but it's not necessarily bad.

I'll admit this is not your average gaming headset depending on your gameplay. What I enjoy most about it is it's really easy set up and once you have found your comfort zone it really can make a huge difference. The on headset controls and settings are not too hard to find and if you're like me who watches movies as someone else is trying to sleep in the room this has huge benefits as you can blast your ear drums and the person next to you will have no clue. Now there are settings on the PS3 itself that you may have to change depending on your gameplay style so you hear chat only, but it's a simple on off toggle. As far as game set ups go this headset auto set up everything for me so I could just jump in and play. I'm hoping to get a game going on Borderlands to fully try out the whole feature aspects of the headset and see if it helps in control and team aspects.
     I guess I'll add as things progress as always keep playing
- William Dreimann