The Ones to Watch - November 2011 Edition

Okay, now that we've gotten the self referential post out of the way, we really need to take a look at November in gaming.  November is as close to Christmas as many game companies want to get to getting their game out, preferably before Black Friday.  The bulk of their sales happen right now, like most consumer products.  So what's out there trying to earn your dollars?  Well, let's take a look.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception - 11/1/11 - PS3

Uncharted is one of the reasons you need to own a Playstation 3.  It's combination of Tomb Raider and Indiana Jones has produced two phenomenal games, and from preliminary reviews, we can expect the same of this one.  It's going to be hard to live up to Uncharted 2, but I'm just happy to see Drake again.


Modern Warfare 3 - 11/8/11 - Multi Platform

Sick of EA?  Sick of Origin?  Sick of not being able to play single player because the online server is down?  This is the game that EA is trying to out do.  Modern Warfare 3 looks AMAZING, and that's coming from my wife who can't stand to watch first person shooters.  Methinks EA isn't worried about server stability for long, because Activision is going to take care of a good chunk of their population for them.


Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Multi Platform - 11/11/11

I've been playing the Elder Scrolls games since Daggerfall.  Every single time they trick me into purchasing it with promises of an epic world to explore and tons of different things you can do and a diverse character creation system that allows you to level up the skills that you want to to become the hero that you want to become.  And every single time, I level up in running, and am completely unable to swing my two handed sword to hit the "immune to everything but magic" Will-O'-Wisp guarding the vampire's cave containing the first piece of the key that you need to open up the portal of you're never going to make it this far.  Bethesda, please prove me wrong.


Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - Xbox 360 - 11/15/11

I love the idea of HD remakes of classic games.  Some players never got to pick up Sly Cooper or Shadow of the Colossus.  If you're one of the people who never got to pick up the original Halo on the original Xbox, then by all means, please pick this up.  As for me, this is a repeat and I've got a stack of games sitting on my shelf that need to be finished before I even consider something like this.


Assassin's Creed: Revelations - 11/15/11

Assassin's Creed is one of those series that I don't think I'll ever get sick of playing.  Fans of the series will understand the multi-tiered story that is occurring in the series, and they want to know every single detail that they can dig out.  Ezio's story continues in this series, helping Desmond uncover more of secrets from Subject 16.  What new spins on history shall we see here?  We'll know if a few weeks.


The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword - Wii - 11/20/11

Nintendo celebrates Zelda's 25th Anniversary by releasing a Zelda game developed for the Wii from the ground up.  Nintendo fans eat this kind of stuff up, and I know I'll certainly be purchasing this one.  After that, my Wii can go back to collecting dust.


That's about it, folks.  December looks pretty bleak with one exception, so we'll take a look at it when the time comes.  Happy gaming everyone!

The Self Referential "Too Long Since Last Post" Post

Holy cripes, it's been a month since the last update?  Sorry about the downtime, loyal readers.  Being 31 isn't all that it's cracked up to be sometimes.  My time is being taken up by what people older than myself refer to as "important things".  Instead of collecting Riddler trophies or building a new MTG deck like I should be, I find myself doing things like cutting down dead tree branches and fixing leaking sinks.

Which sucks,by the way

Indeed, time is a precious commodity that I don't think I ever really understood until one night that happened just a few weeks ago.  I found myself sitting on the couch playing Gears of War 3 trying to finish it up before tomorrow night's Arcade Mode romp with the friends, and noticed it was 12:00 and that I had to get up for work in about 7 hours, so I should really stop here and get some sleep.  This isn't something that I used to have to worry about.

I've come to realize that getting older comes with responsibilities, so I thought carefully about how I can manage my time more effectively.  I'm juggling a lot of projects, I have a MTG habit to support, I play and review video games for all the major consoles, I have a small department at work to run, not to mention a house with the wife and dog expansion sets.

Which are a lot of fun, but require tons of updates and patches

After much deliberation, and looking at how the site is doing, I've decided to add a new staff member to the VG30 family.  It's going to take some time to see any articles from them, as there's going to be a training and growth period, but I really think it's the right move.  With this new addition, we'll be able to offer more analysis for games, and how they can appeal to a wider audience.

We just don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet

... maybe I'm going about this whole "freeing up time" thing the wrong way.

The Ones to Watch - October 2011

October is upon us, and this is typically the month that game companies will try to push out their titles for the holiday season.  October gives a company enough time for its game to hit shelves, get reviewed, and get a good buzz about it before the all important Black Friday hits.  It's going to be a big list this month, so let's get started.


Dark Souls - Multi Platform - 10/4/11

Think you're a good gamer?  How about a great gamer?  Hate yourself just a little bit?  Dark Souls may be for you.  The sequel to the PS3 exclusive Demon Souls is now available for the Xbox 360 to allow players on both platforms to smash their controllers in frustration.  Dark Souls is about the journey, not the destination.  Death lurks around every corner, and only through trial, lots of error, and lots of patience will you make it through.  It's worth it, though, as surpassing challenges in this series is a huge accomplishment.


NBA 2k12 - Multi Platform - 10/4/11

Normally we here at VG30 aren't real big on sports games, but we try to give the nod to truly exceptional titles.  NBA 2k11 won several awards last year for its excellent game play, and it looks like 2K Sports is trying to up the ante in 2k12.  Keep your eyes on this one, let's see what they've got.



Rage - Multi Platform - 10/4/11

Rage is id software's return to gaming and John Carmack's latest vision for how first person shooters should be.  id's got an extremely good track record for such things, being the grandfather of the genre going back to Wolfenstein 3D, Doom, and the Quake series.  They do make mistakes from time to time, however (Doom 3's inability to have a flashlight and a gun at the same time), but the industry has high expectations here.


Batman: Arkham City - Multi Platform - 10/18/11

The game that I'm looking forward to the most this October, Batman: Arkham City, takes place after the events of Arkham Asylum. This time instead of being in a relatively confined Asylum, you have a sectioned off city to explore and shut down.  There's a lot of unknowns about this game in an effort to keep people excited about it, and if their last game was any indicator, this is a must buy.


Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest - PS3 Move - 10/18/11

Of all the demos for the PS Move that I saw from E3, Medieval Moves made the strongest argument for me to be interested in it.  You play as a 1st/3rd person skeleton who follows your sword swinging in 1:1 motion.  Other actions allow you to draw arrows from a quiver on your back, or throw boomerangs.  It looks cool, and I hope it lives up to what we've seen so far.



Dance Central 2 - Xbox 360 Kinect -10/25/11

On the other hand, the Microsoft demos of their Kinect system really impressed me and I ended up getting up along with Dance Central.  I was super impressed by what it can do. Dance Central 2 promises to improve on Harmonix's already very impressive original with new options including 2 player at the same time play.


Battlefield 3 - Multi Platform - 10/25/11

The internet is currently unhappy with the multi-player demo of Battlefield 3 for the consoles.  They report falling through maps and buggy game play.  The PC version, however, seems to be running pretty smoothly.  Keep your eyes on this to see if it will be able to compete with Call of Duty.


Is that it for October?  Nah.  There's some other games that are worth keeping an eye on, the new Ratchet and Clank game, for example.  I just don't think it's going to be all that great.  November is the last chance for companies to get their product out in time for the Holiday Rush, so expect a few more great titles.  We'll see you here then to go over them.  Happy Gaming!