Something so devistating, I brought the blog back…

Yeah, I finally found some more inspiration in the video game world to get mad about.  Getting mad is what I’m good at, one of the few good things I exceed at.

E3 is fresh in our minds.  Besides the fact that, as far as I know, no one took Duke Nukem forever under their wing.  My other issue, and the reason I write to you today, is because of Microsoft’s big announcement; Xbox Liquid or Project Natal.

For those who are asking what the hell am I talking about:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology/2009/06/01/xbox-project-natal-blows-wii-away-with-full-body-motion-control-with-video-115875-21407558/

Sounds like an awesome video game innovation, right?  I agree, it sounds great… for a new console.  Here is my worry:

1)  Microsoft is doing this purely to jump on Nintendo’s market.  They aren’t doing this necessarily because of “video game innovation”, but more so for money.

2)  Does this mean that Microsoft is turning its back on the hardcore and regular gamers?  Is this signaling the end of controller gaming?  I like my ability to press buttons, thank you very much.  Also, this was always one of my big complaints with the wii.  The novelty wears off quick.  Fancy controllers (or lack there of, in this case) isn’t what draws me to a system, but its the games that the system puts out, the graphics, etc.

3)  I just hope that Microsoft isn’t trying to become the new Nintendo.  I like my hardcore, gruesome, violent, non-family friendly gaming.  I dont want Xbox Play, or Bloombox on the Wii.  Nor do I want X-fit or something dumb like that.  If there is a god…

I’ll expand upon this more on the podcast.  In the mean time, Im going to keep up on this again, as I’ve been too quiet lately.

 

Thanks again everyone!

THANKS TO EVERYONE FOR THE GEARS OF WAR 2 TOURNEY!!

Just wanted to say thanks for everyone who showed up at the Games N Go Gears of War 2 Tournament! It was long, strenuous, but nonetheless an absolute fucking blast!

Ashley kicked my ass, and I also lost horribly in tournament play.

We will be posting pictures on the Fancy Pants Gangsters website eventually.

www.fancypantsgangsters.com

Go check it out!!

Also, check out our new friends friends Games N Go, here on their myspace page!

http://www.myspace.com/gamesngo

Cheers everyone!!

Go Karts Go!!!

For those who know me well, know that my television gets used for two things; movies and video games.  Movies, get played through my Xbox 360.  Therefore, I only own a TV to game.  Case closed.

One of the gems for a game that I believe that I have owned every version of, is Mario Kart.  Now, normally I hate racing games.  I get bored with a Gran Turismo or Project Gotham Racing, in about 10 minutes flat.  There’s something about Mario Kart’s cartoony element, along with the shenanigans, that have made everyone, from SNES to the Wii, fun as all hell.

As you’ve probably guessed by this point, I am of course, writing about Mario Kart Wii.  This game is the latest in the long series of Mario Kart games to grace Nintendo systems.  I won’t get into a game synopsis, since I’m 99% sure those of you reading have played at least one Mario Kart game in your life.

Now, with this Mario Kart, I ask to you reserve your feelings for how awesome Mario Kart has been in the past.  This one, I am sad to say, is a little luke warm.

POSITIVIES:

• I love especially how they have gone back to some of the older tracks from the N64, Game Boy Advance, DS and even *gasp* SNES tracks, especially the ghost track from SNES.  That one is STILL a bitch!
• New added weapons and other items.  Especially a fan of the giant Bill the Bullet.  It’s so cheap, but I love getting it!
• ONLINE PLAY!!!  Sweet, my dreams of crushing multiple people at once has finally come true!

NEGATIVES:

• The unlockable content – pretty cool stuff.  Kind of a bitch to unlock.
• The Wii Mote ultimately fails as a controller for this game.  I found the Wii Mote + Wheel to not work so well for me.  I usually end up either using the numchuck, or just throwing in the GameCube controller.  My biggest pet peeve – when you turn the Wii Mote a little too much to one side, your car goes in the opposite direction.  Annoying!
• I miss the horribly cheezy awards ceremonies of old.  This one just isn’t as epic!

So that about does it for me.  Little quicky on my feelings on Mario Kart Wii.

Look forward to meeting some peeps down at Games N Go this Sunday for the first Fancy Pants Gangsters sponsored game tourney.  We’re sponsoring a Gears of War 2 Tournament, put on by Games N Go in the Rosedale Mall in Roseville, MN.

Also, as always, check out the podcast at Fancy Pants Gangsters!  Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for some more game rants coming up!

Hack N Slash Goodness

Hello again fellow gamers!

Yes, yes, it’s been a long time coming, but alas, I have another blog.  However, this one isn’t about one of my promised games or subjects, but rather another game I recently got via Goozex; No More Heroes for the Nintendo Wii

No More Heroes is essentially the type of Hack and Slash I miss from the glory days of video games lore.  The beauty of this one is, however, that it is a lot more interactive than the button mashing hackers of long ago, like Streets of Rage (or something to that effect).

The gameplay is rather simplistic for this game, which makes it a good time indeed.  I found myself getting way into it, especially during the finishing slice moves.  (Granted, I live in the basement of a triplex, so no one can ever catch glimpses of me pretending I’m a goddamn samurai, ha!) These move are especially fun and gruesome, and easy enough to pull off.  The payoff is the classic rules of animae; everyone has 14 gallons of blood and it’s all under pressure.

There is also the ability to stun your opponent with a good old roundhouse to the mellon or knees (comes in handy)However, the grapple/ wrestling moves in the game seem a bit unnecessary, but still fun to execute from time to time.  This game also calls for one of the best accessories for the wii mote ever; the lightsabre!!  There is some interesting ones out there, but this one by far was my favorite!

Another beauty with hack and slashers is that, generally speaking from my experience, the story of the game isn’t as important as the ability to really fuck some stuff up.  This game, however, has a rather interesting story line, if not directly ripped from Afro Samurai (kinda… its like saying Reservoir Dogs was ripped off of City of Fire ).  Your quest seems to become the world’s #1 ranked assassin, a pretty noble goal if you ask me.

I also enjoy the fact that this game is bloody as sin.  It’s good to see there is a few good games for the Wii that cater to us blood lust people.  Believe me, I got a kick out of fatalities in the older Mortal Kombats.  Not that I’m a serial killer mind you.  Just because I’m from Wisconsin, doesn’t mean I’m going to adorn my lampshades with your thigh bones, and ass skin.  I just enjoy the violence as a release, for what I day dream about doing to various people I hate in my life.

This dude sucks alot, seriously

Anyways, sorry about the little tangent up there.

My only complaint about the game is the little side missions in the game.  Yeah, yeah, I get the whole wax off, wax on Daniel-san bullshit, but I just want to get down to the nitty gritty killing, maming, murdering, and all that other good stuff and not collecting coconuts or stuff like that.

So yeah, I love this game, and highly recomend it.  I know Evan is a fan of it as well.

I’ve committed to finally beating Bully for the Xbox 360 before I buy Mad World.  Let’s see if I actually keep to that goal.

Anyways, thanks for reading everyone.  As always check out the podcast at www.fancypantsgangsters.com

Keep Gaming!!!

Sorry, its been a while

My deepest apologies to everyone for not updating in some time. I’ll be back in full swing aftet the celebration of zombie jesus. I promise. I’ll be hitting off with a review on Mario Kart Wii, as well as a tiddy about FPS. Stay tight until then, please.

Dii Would Like to Play

Yep, it’s official, I now own a wii.

God, is thing difficult to grasp a bit.  I just wanted to sit down for a quiet game of Metroid.  But, nooo, not gonna happen for me.  Gotta be all interactive… * sigh *  Note to self:  Stop being so damn lazy.

I will master Golf on Wii Sports.  So help me god.

An update from my previous blog:  Laurel has agreed to watch a zombie movie with me.  See, telling mushy stories about your girlfriend over the internet pays off.

Also, wanted to say thank you again to everyone for 100 HITS TO THE BLOG!!!  Sweet!!!  Francis likes that.

As always, check out the Fancy Pants Gangsters website and have a good time gaming!!

Romance is Zombie Killing Apparently

Nothing says love like slaying the undead, right?

At least in my household that seems to be the case nowadays.

My girlfriend has to put up with my rather unhealthy obsession with zombies.  I have various zombie books.  I play the living christ out of Left 4 Dead.  I’m purchasing a Nintendo Wii tonight just to play House of the Dead: Overkill (and No More Heroes and Madworld). I go to the zombie pub crawl.  I’ve been preparing for the eventual zombie apocalypse since I was 16.  Tom Savini is a god to me.  ( Also, check out Scott Kenemore’s Zombie Blog here.)

My lovely, girlfriend Laurel, however, doesn’t quite share my zealously for our undead, brain and flesh eating bretheran.  She deals with my obsession.  But what happened this weekend shocked me, in a good way.  I guess, in a sense, it was one of those surprises that made me fall in love with my girlfriend all over again.

I did also convince her to go to the zombie pub crawl last year, and did her makeup for her.

This weekend, we went to go see Monsters vs. Aliens.  I indulge in her love of children’s movie, basically because A) They’re usually alright and B) because I figure if I do, one night we will have a romantic evening revolving around Zombi 2… oh it will happen.  Now, before we go to the movie, we stop at GameWorks on Block E in Downtown Minneapolis.  The place has quite the reputation as being a sleasy joint filled with hoodlums and what have you.  I found the place to be alright actually.  Free game points also didn’t hurt my perception of the place.

So while we are there, I ask if she wants to play House of the Dead 4.  They had it on a huge screen.  I practically drooled.  Zombies + Guilty pleasure of Shoot em up games (Shut up!  Duck Hunt was the best!!) = Good times by me.

So she agress, and we start blowing away zombies, slugs, wierd sewer monsters, and all sorts of fucked up stuff.  Good time.  I end up having to be the one dragging us away from the game because the movie is going to start in 10 mns.  She exclaims “Wow, that game was a ton of fun”.  Inside, I was celebrating.  Then when I told her I was getting House of the Dead for the Wii, she got even more excitied.  Score one for Mike.

She also then tells me this weekend that she wants to learn how to play Left 4 Dead.  Score another point.  I’m already shooting better than Shaq.  I played with her a little bit Monday night.  She seemed to be getting all frusterated with the two thumb pad moving system.  I had to explain to her that this system as been going on for the better part of 10 + years.  (Reminiscing about playing Goldeneye…. mmmm…)

But really, it seemed awesome that as a couple, we can use video games as a way to bond.  I had an ex who only wanted to play Halo.  I should have dumped her on the spot for that alone.  Laurel, however, really likes getting into the video games that I play around the house, and has no issues expanding her horizons.  I find that really awesome.  The best part too, is that were not bonding over Wii Sports, but over Left 4 Dead.  (I should not here too, that she is a killer Soul Calibur 4 player, and will effin destroy you at that game, unless I use Voldo.  It’s the only way I can win!)

Anyways, wish me luck as I travel down the dark road of owning a Wii.  I’ve already been told Mario Kart will be in the house.  Just as long as I get Smash Bros, I think we can comprimise.

Thanks for reading again everyone!  I’m really happy with how many hits I’ve already gotten.  As always, check out the Fancy Pants Gangstets website, and listen to our angelic voices blabble like an AM talk show.  Cheers!

Why the hell was this ad banned?

Seriously, makes me a little sad…

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNuRQmvykwk

Legends of Wrestlemania

God, I love the ability to download demos of games before I play them.  Seriously.  Had they allowed this say 5 years ago, I probably wouldn’t have blown money on games like Triple Play Baseball or Crash Bandicoot.

One of those games, which I got all excited for, is Legends of Wrestlemania.  (Yeah, go ahead, call me a dumb redneck.  Trust me, I’m not.  When I was 7, I thought it was the shit.  I realize now how horrendous wrestling is.  Get over it.)

I had the opprtunity to download the demo before the games release.  The demo allows you to relive the Wrestlemania match between Stone Cold Steve Austin vs. The Rock.  (Again, bug off).  You can also do a demo of Andre The Giant (best part of The Princess Bride) vs.  Hulk Hogan (worst part of reality television)

The game play itself seem pretty standard for a wrestling/fighter.  There are parts of the game I found annoying though, as with any fighter game.  There are parts where you have to hit a button, at random, in order to execute a reversal, or to get out of some super secret hold/ move/ wresting homoerotic action. (I have no problem with gay people by the way, but one must admit the man on man love that “wrestling” promotes.)

I also found it slightly difficult to pull off, not only the above mentioned reversals, but the regular reversals as well.  Also some of the other moves feel slightly difficult to execute, or just become plain repetetive. (Like the punching for instance.)

Finally, I also find it slightly difficult to execute the “achievments”.  Basically, they are asking you to emulate exact things that happened during these said events, like putting The Rock through a table during Wrestlemania XV (or Im sure Slamming Andre “The Giant” in Wrestlemania III).  Those can be difficult to pull off, especially if the AI charachter doesn’t want to cooperate.  (I spent 5 minutes trying to coax the Rock to come out of the Ring, just so I could slam him through the table.  Really, it was the same reason I played Def Jam Vendetta, to beat the shit out of Sean Paul)

The graphics were surprisingly good for a wrestling game, however.  I made the Rock bleed a lot.  That would usually happen when you start beating someone senseless with steel stairs.  He continued to bleed the rest of the match.

I’m sure the full version will be a little better.  I’ll be playing it sometime within the next week or so.  I’ll give you all an update once I destroy people with Jake the Snake or Hacksaw Jim Duggins.  Ted Diabase will be one injured mofo.

I goozexed one of the old Legends of Wrestling just for good time measure.

Anyways, thanks for reading my review.  Sorry it was rushed, but I’m finding time to write a little difficult with my life and all.  Your mom is one demanding lady!

www.fancypantsgangsters.com

As always!

P.S. Congrats to Ashley for beating Resident Evil 5!!

Shameless plugs for other websites! (Goozexcellent!)

I’m not above shameless plugs.  I’m also not above plugging other websites as well, especially ones that have a good concept going on, executed well.

www.goozex.com is one of those such sites.

Basically, Goozex is a video game trading website.  However, its not a barter webiste, or a direct trade ordeal.  Rather, you are sending games to people, and receiving games from people based on a point value system.  You can learn more about it in the link below:

http://www.goozex.com/trading/asp/about_howitworks.asp

Also, Wikipedia has a nice little article about Goozex here, because, well… Wikipedia has an article on everything:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goozex

The one thing with this site is that you have to have a virtue of patience.  Newer games are going to be more difficult to obtain.  Also, rare games, like Marvel vs. Capcom 2 are going to be virtually impossible to get a hold of (I have it in my request queue just in the event some soul doesn’t realize what they have, tee hee hee)

Anyways, I recomend everyone go check it out.

That’s all for now.  Keep on gaming!

And once again… www.fancypantsgangsters.com… to hear my hot sexy voice blab on about video games.  That gets the ladies panties all moist.