Author’s Note
Happy Geek Dad Day
It has been over 3 years since I first held my son. I’ve been raising more than a geek these past years. I’ve carried him in my arms, held his hand when he learned to walk, and watched him run to play. It makes me smile when he grabs my DS and plays Donkey Kong vs Mario or wants to play with my lightsaber, but when he tells me he loves me nothing else matters. Nothing in the world.
E3 2010: LG is in LA
The world famous Last Geek and his traveling companion have arrived in beautiful Los Angeles. We will be checking out the sights and hitting up all the fancy parties while providing you with the biggest and freshest gaming news. Check out Flickr and Youtube along with Last Geek to see what we’ve been up to.
Things I Should Have Posted Instead of Playing Fallout 3
If you haven’t noticed, I haven’t been updating Last Geek very much lately. I’ve been addicted to Fallout 3 over the last week, so my posting has suffered severely. Since I still haven’t finished the game and am too lazy to do an actual post for all the awesomeness I’ve tracked down here is a few links you will want to check out.
Kid’s Complain About Pluto’s Declassification – It’s like telling a kid Santa Claus isn’t real, especially when he clearly is! The only reason I don’t get presents anymore is because I’ve been bad.
Comics Trifecta: Darkwing Duck, Batman Beyond, O.M.I.T. – I’ve loved Batman Beyond since the old cartoon and am glad to hear he is getting a real comic. Plus Darkwing Duck is impossibly awesome.
Star Wars Propaganda Posters – These are similar to the posters I posted before only more of them.
New Who-A-Palooza - If you haven’t watched Doctor Who yet, it is quite awesome and the new season starts this month with a new doctor.
8bit Dr.Horrible - I really couldn’t decide exactly how awesome this was until I heard the “Laundry Day” in the background.
Author’s Note: Why I play video games
My family got the original Nintendo when I was around 5, but I never really got into gaming. It lacked something I craved. Video games got better, but my interest stayed mostly the same. They were nice to play for a moment, but I was not going to devote the time my brother or father did to the games. I didn’t get got serious about gaming till I played Command and Conquer on the PC and that’s because the game had one thing I really wanted: a story.
I was the general of the GDI force and they needed my help. I would play GDI cause I wanted to be the good guy. Every mission I beat meant another cutscene, a real production using real actors and 90’s special effects, and another piece of the story. It was a movie where I was the hero. I kept playing to find out what happened to the characters and to see if I could stop the evil NOD forces. When I finally beat the game, I turned around and played as the NOD so I could hear their story.
Gaming brought to life stories greater than movies could. I would see a hero in one of the cutscenes and next thing I knew I was controlling them on the battlefield. Those character’s lives were in my hands and I wanted to protect them. I would create hundreds of nameless soldiers and throw them at the enemy; but if I was sending the heroes in, it meant I had already won and I was just sending them in to rub it in the enemies face. I played the game to hear my story, a hero’s story; because let’s be honest, they couldn’t do it without me.
These days if I play games it has to have a good story. I don’t care if I am a racer making my way from a nobody to the champ or Mario trying to get the princess back again. My favorite games are Kingdom Hearts, Uncharted, Resistance, Portal, etc. for their stories. These games have stories so strong it will affect the way I play the game. In Kingdom Hearts, When Kairi gave me her lucky charm and it turned into the Oathkeeper keyblade, I used that keyblade even after I found a stronger keyblade. When I was told I needed to destroy the Companion Cube in Portal, I spent twenty minutes trying to see if there was a way to complete the level without destroying it. Those games created an attachment to their characters. It is so strong that when I think about those games, I think about the characters and their stories and want to play them again because I miss them like I would miss an old friend.
As important as a video game’s story is for me to play it, there is one other quality I require games have for me to really care about them. Good video games need to be challenging. If I am going to be the hero, it needs to be a challenge. If I believe any person can walk off the street and take my place, I won’t feel connected. The second that challenge is removed, I stop caring. This is why you won’t see me using cheat codes or guide books. I would sooner cheat on a test than cheat playing a game. When I overcome those obstacles, I beat the final boss or solve that last puzzle I feel like I did something amazing. My strength and determination won the day. If I am mashing buttons and still win, I don’t care.
On the other hand, I don’t want the game to be unreasonably difficult. Once I replay the same area too many times, it no longer feels fresh. I’ve played games where I beat the boss just by luck. I got my attacks off just in time after trying the same thing 10 times before. I want to win because I am skilled enough to beat it, not because I got lucky once. If I can out-think the enemy, figure out a way to attack him in a way he wasn’t expecting or hit him in a weak spot, I will feel a lot better about my victory than if I just pressed buttons quickly.
Story and Challenge are really why I play games. I love playing with friends, seeing amazing graphics, and having a bit of fun but when I am looking for the next game I want to play I’m not looking for a set of minigames or even an MMO. I’m looking for something that going to keep me coming back to find out what happens next and where my next victory will be.
Author’s Note: The Best of the Best
After inspiring a post by fellow blogger Geekanerd, I realized It has been awhile since I’ve posted. I apologize for that. Its hard to find news lately excites me enough to post, but I don’t want any new readers to think Last Geek isn’t an worth a look so I thought I would make a list of some of my favorite posts since I started this blog. Stay turned because Last Geek is just getting going.
Bowser was totally hitting that
Lets End this: Difference between Geek, Nerd, and Dork
Is it worth it: Metal Gear Solid LBP Level Pack
Author’s Note: The Downside of Gamefly
So I am sure everyone has heard of Gamefly, the Netflix of the gaming world, but it does come with a small downside being the lack of manuals with each game. For most gamers, this is a fairly mute point since they don’t even look at the manual of the games they actually buy and most games featuring tutorials to walk new players through the basics. I did run into a problem when playing the Street Fighter 4 for one of my reviews I do for the American News, the game featured no tutorial and while I was easily able to pick up on the basics and found the combo list, things like the Ultra meter and Focus Attacks were left unexplained. I did a google search hoping to fill in the blanks of my knowledge, but only found guides how to unlock characters. The most helpful thing I managed to find on the wikipedia article of all places, explaining how to unleash the focus attacks.
Overall, I found the game somewhat unenjoyable and unbeatable on only the very easiest of difficulties, I am not sure if the game was intentionally made to be this hard or my inability to use my full strength kept me at a disadvantage. The 360 controller didn’t lend itself to the fighter well either, often leaving my hands struggling to hit the buttons accuratly enough to pull off the more complex moves. This made me understand why so many were purchasing special arcade sticks to play the game. I gave Street Fighter an overall pleasant review, noting inexperience as a likely disadvantage to enjoyment, and would defiantly recommend Gamefly to any of my friends but I certainly wish the information I needed would have been available to me.
Author’s Note: V-Day is Coming
So Valentine’s Day is right around the corner and with the number of non-mutant single women dwindling, I have decided to spend to spend the holiday alone…plotting world domination. If anyone has a special someone to spend the day with, I thought I might recommend a few romantic flicks to enjoy before my dooms day machine is finished.
Honorary Mention: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog
5. Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist
4. Bubble Boy
3. Chasing Amy
2. Princess Bride
1. Eternal Sunshine of a Splotless Mind
Remember guys, ladies love roses..and dooms day machines.
Author’s Note: Sitting out the slump
Sorry about the lack of posts. I’ve been fairly busy with starting college, moving, working, etc. I’ve just decided to sit out the post-holiday slump. There is no worthwhile gaming news to post about and even CES was a bit of a disappointment. I should be back to my regular activity as soon as the next big name title comes out. I’ve got a few big articles and projects in mind so make sure to check back later.
Author’s Note: New Xbox Owner
I finally broke down and bought an Xbox 360 today. Sadly it wasn’t a Jasper Model Xbox, but I’ll deal. The Pro model came with Lego Indiana Jones and Kungfu Panda and I picked up Left 4 Dead. Expect to see a lot more Xbox related content in the future.