SOPA and PIPA

Yeah I know I haven't posted in forever and yeah I know the protest SOPA and PIPA day was a couple days ago. I am just that good at procrastinating.

Anyways, there are SO many reasons to oppose these issues, but I'll share one that is relevant to gamers. Well, one of the many relevant reasons. It's called "fair use" and it is extremely important to the gaming community.

Fair use is what lets awesome blog websites like wow.joystiq.com, mmo-champion.com, and even bigger ones such as gamespot.com to show trailers, gameplay, and strat videos of all our favorite games. Even though the material they are showing is copyrighted they are allowed to show it because of fair use. Just imagine what taking that away could do to websites such as these, let alone the all-mighty youtube.com.

So, as of now these bills have been beaten back into submission, but just like The Imprisoned they will keep coming back again and again, and even when we go back in time to defeat them in their original form they will still be reincarnated and our descendants will have to fight against their reincarnations for eternity. Or something like that.

Seriously though, these bills are backed by some VERY big groups, and therefore have virtually limitless funding. What you can do is call/write/visit your congress representatives offices and declare your opposition. If congress heats up trying to pass these into law, then start calling them multiple times a day until something happens.

Don't give up. We can keep free speech on the internet but it will forever be a struggle against evil people who want to oppress and control. It won't be easy but I know we can do it.

For Great Justice !

Josh

I used to use a Razer Tarantula... but then it took an arrow to the knee.

Ah, I have a feeling "arrow to the knee" jokes will never go away. Kind of like "ur mom". Seriously, tell that hoe to go away already...

Anyways, on to the review of the Razer Black Widow mechanical gaming keyboard!

The Good


Mechanical keys > anything else


I gotta admit that at first I was a little afraid of the mechanical feel. Each key requires 50g of actuation force (how hard you have to push) to activate the key, and this is surprisingly much more than what most people would be used to with a silicone pad style keyboard. However, after using it to type up a short paper as well as generally chatting in a few games I can say that the increase in actuation force required goes a long way towards a better typing experience. The main reason for this is that I can safely rest my fingers on the keyboard without worrying about hitting keys by mistake. Another reason is that for some reason the extra required force to use this keyboard makes my typing much more accurate. I was curious so I did a typing test online and I went from around 79% accuracy (bad, I know) all the way up to around 95%. I only did a few rounds of testing with each keyboard but still the increase in accuracy is very evident.

The Ultimate Edition has pretty lights!!!


While this isn't really that big of a deal it does help a bit when I'm trying to find a key I don't use often. My apartment is usually pretty dark and having a keyboard that lights up is pretty nice. A couple other features that the ultimate edition has that are convenient is the usb port located on the right side along with both a headphone and microphone jack. Very nice.

To all those PC gamers who have pried the Windows keys off their previous keyboards, we salute you.


Game Mode is my favorite feature of this keyboard. Holding the function key and hitting F11 puts the keyboard into Game Mode where no matter how many times you hit that annoying Windows key it won't tab out of your game. Less tab outs means more frags. More frags means a bigger epeen. A bigger epeen means... I don't know, a marginal increase in all of our terrible self esteems? All joking aside though, this feature is great.

The Bad


CLACK CLACK CLACK CLICKITTY CLACK CLACK CLACK!!!!!!!


This keyboard, being mechanical, is LOUD. Mechanical keys make a click sound every time you hit them and I can foresee this being irritating to some people. Personally it doesn't bother me all that much, but if you have roommates or others that live with you I can see how this would drive them batty too. I guess it would be something you would get used to though. I hardly even notice it anymore myself...

Moar pinky-push-ups!


With the small increase in force required to type on this keyboard I noticed at first a bit of fatigue set in after typing for about 10 minutes or so. This might be an issue for some people but I can say that personally after only a couple days with this keyboard I am already getting used to it. Still, it's something to consider if you have any issues that could be affected by this.

Final Score 9.9/10

My only reason for not giving this a 10/10 are a few minor issues that aren't really the keyboards problem but still they annoy me. Such as the media keys don't work for iTunes unless it is the window currently selected. If I have iTunes pulled up anyways then what is the point of shortcut keys?

All in all though this keyboard is amazing. If you are looking to upgrade I would definitely recommend this to anyone regardless of being a gamer or not. Anyone who types needs to experience a mechanical keyboard. They will fall in love, I promise.

Till next time!

For Great Honor Justice ! (Wow I can't even get my internet memes right)

New keyboard and new ideas...

So in the coming days I’ll be testing out my new Razer Black Widow. I plan on doing a full review but I’d like to  actually use it for a while before I make a final decision. What I can say right now is that so far I love it.

Here are my plans for the immediate future… Writing up either a review or recommendation at least once a week is my first priority. I’m trying to come up with some other interesting ideas on topics to cover, and as always if you have a suggestion or request then send an email my way.

I’d also like to start writing about the history of gaming and maybe do a weekly article on here that will eventually span the entire lifespan of video games. Video game history has always been at least a bit interesting to me and hopefully some of my readers will agree.

Another feature I was thinking about is going and finding indy games online or maybe on Xbox live that are great. I know that some of my favorite titles are indy games and spreading the word about them is the best way to help out their developers and get people interested in them.

And finally, I would also like to write about those really terrible video games that you should avoid at all costs. I like being critical and I usually do my best writing when I’m poking fun at something. :P

That’s all I got for now, expect a  review of the Black Widow in the coming days and possibly a couple of articles on indy games.

For Great Justice

Classic Game Recommendation: Super Mario World

I'm writing this on my phone as I'm waiting for my next class to start so please excuse any embarrassing autocorrects :P

The Super Nintendo Entertainment System. For some of you I'm sure it was the source of many an hour spent rotting your brain as a kid. Seeing as how I just dug mine out and got it hooked up I thought it would be cool to go through and make a classic game recommendation from my SNES game library.

The choice today is, of course, Super Mario World. As far as SNES games go I would go as far to say this game is what solidified the console in many homes across the US. At some point this game was actually sold with the console (I think it always was at first anyways) and so this game was the first experience many takers had on their shiny new SNES.

And what a great experience it was and continues to be. As far as platformers go this is, in my opinion, THE platformer to rule them all. The one platformer created that completely outshined anything that had been released so far. Super Mario Bros? Sure, it was fun, but Super Mario World? It's like upgrading the Wooden Sword, skipping the White, and going straight to Magic, baby! And believe me, this game shouldn't ever be a secret to anybody.

The gameplay is simple with few actual actions you can take but its that simplicity that makes the experience so much fun. Easy controls, a few powerups, and graduated difficulty on levels was a recipe for success back then.

There were a couple of other features that stood out as well. Up until this point most platformers weren't expansive enough to need a save feature. You got close to it I guess with the grid-passwords in Megaman but that was it. SMW was so huge it actually had a save feature so you could get through it without devoting several hours spent drooling in front of your tv. This could even be observed as one of the first time the rpg and platformer worlds started to mesh into what we have today.

Another feature that really stands out is the excellent boss design. As you can tell from my last post, bosses are important parts of games to me. Sure, the bosses in, for example, Megaman were "different" but all you really had there were a bunch of robot bosses that moved in a particular way and then the final boss that was actually different from all the others. In SMW most of the bosses are all unique, as are there respective castles, and it went a long way towards making the game more interesting. A lot more interesting than yet another bridge fight and yet another princess-in-another-castle bit.

All in all this is a great game that no one should miss. If you haven't had the chance to play this I suggest you do so as soon as you get the chance. The game is available in its original form on the SNES as well as a Game Boy Advance remake. They might also have it on the Wii shop channel as well.

Thanks for reading, and until next time....

For Great Justice

Oh hai thar Skyward Sword, meet my skyward finger.

Oh Nintendo... If video games were hookers then you would be my first pimp. Ah, thinking about those first experiences with hookers and pimps video games and Nintendo brings some great memories to mind.

Thinking about The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword is like remembering the hooker game that gave me that horrible case of AIDS carpal tunnel. You know, the one that you don't know why you did it but it seemed like a good idea at the time? Yeah, that is Skyward Sword... Playing it sounds like a good idea at first, but trust me, you will regret it.

The game isn't all bad though and I am loath to admit that Nintendo did succeed in giving me at least a few nuggets of fun in this otherwise large piece of been-there-done-that crap.

The Good.


Link has learned a thing or too from Assassins Creed...

The first thing that I absolutely loved about SS (Skyward Sword) is the new use of the A button. Holding down A lets you sprint and run up walls. It might sound like nothing but being able to sprint around just makes the game feel a little more evolved. Really, after 25 years they need something fresh as far as controls go, and I don't just mean waggling a remote to swing your sword. As much as I love the more obtuse Zelda titles like Wind Waker and Four Swords, the realistic direction with the game is the one I believe will stand out as a real gem among Nintendo's cutesy, cartoony games. Now, I know that being able to sprint has nothing to do with the art style, but it goes a long way towards making the game feel a little more realistic.

It really doesn't affect your game (at all), but the upgrade system has good intentions.

Another awesome (although borrowed) idea was the upgrade system. The spirit of the upgrade system was just an amazing improvement for a Zelda game. I say the spirit of it because while the intention was a good one, the final product turned out to be a bit meh, but we'll get to that... Anyways, new systems like this are going to play a huge part in keeping old IP's like Zelda alive. The problem when Nintendo tries to add a new system of gameplay (Spirit Tracks horrible train sequences anyone?) they usually make it gimmicky and largely unimportant. However, with this system, I think they can evolve it to a point where it really feels like new items can advance your characters power through upgrades, rather than new items just serving as yet another key to advance through a dungeon.

Like a boss...

The final good thing that really stood out to me was the boss fights. Let's be honest. No one likes it when you get to some badass boss that looks like it's about to use you for floss only to discover that it is almost insultingly easy and dies in three hits. I feel like boss difficulty has always been an issue with Zelda games. To me, a boss is the reward for solving all the puzzles of a new dungeon. It is that one final challenge that makes you feel like a "skilled" gamer when you finally defeat it. Bosses going down too easy feels cheap and kind of like a waste of time. If its going to just fall over dead when I sneeze at it why have it guarding that final treasure at all? SS gets boss difficulty just right. I always found myself, at least the first time, barely defeating bosses with just a heart or two remaining. They were challenging, and not because of horrible controls or cheap gimmicks, but because they were balanced just right. More bosses like these in the future please!

The Bad.


Oh the bad. There is so much of it that it is hard to pick out just a few issues to discuss, but I'll try hard...

There is a 85% chance that Fi will make you want to pull your hair out.


Fi. The creepy robotic-fairy-ai-construct-thing that lives in your sword. It is your companion in this game and it will be damned if it lets you play for 15 seconds with out telling you that the item you are looking for has an 80% chance of being where she just told you it would be. Nintendo, since when did you start making video games for those on the Hellen Keller impairment level? Yes, sometimes it is nice to be pointed in the right direction but seriously, Fi, shut the #%@* up for two minutes and just let me play the game. A simple hint-toggle option would have fixed this issue and greatly improved my game experience.

"You will use our gimmiky motion controls and you will LOVE IT." -Nintendo


The controls for SS make me want to drown a kitten. In fact, I had to keep a steady supply beside my tub while playing this game so that I wouldn't do something even more drastic, like this. There are so many enemies that make you swing your sword in a precise direction, or they will counterattack, which hurts. A lot. The idea of precise swordplay is cool and all, but lets think about this. A giant stalfos knight just sprung to life and is trying to chop you to pieces. You instinctively start swinging like hell trying to kill this thing only to realize after two or three hits from it that you are dead. So you go back, calm down, and try to swing your sword in the correct direction but SURPRISE!!!! The Wii's controls suck (there is no getting around this) and the sword almost never goes in the direction you intend. So you get counterattacked three times and, yup, you are dead. Again. When you get to some of the actually difficult bosses and mini bosses (Mechanical Pirates will forevermore infuriate me) the game shows how terrible all this directional sword swinging bull crap is.

Nintendo, please, for the love of God, please just go back to a regular controller. You know, the ones that have worked for years. Stop trying to be different. No one likes you or thinks you are special because you are different. We all just play your games because they say Zelda or Mario, not because of all your "innovative" (read: annoying) control schemes.

Go collect that item, then get to the dungeon, then collect that item, then fight the boss. Repeat about 10 times.


The last issue I will blabber about is the same one I have had with Zelda titles for the last few years. The formula of go get x item to get to y place is old. The small key, map, compass, big key format is tired. While SS tries to shake it up by merging the compass into the map and changing the big key into a (yet another annoying) puzzle (with yet more horrible controls), it all feels like I have done this before. How many more games of this can I take before I say screw it, Zelda is dead? Not many.

Final Score: 6/10

So, that's about it. If you are a hardcore Zelda fan then get this game for sure. You know you would anyways, no matter how terribad it is. For people curious about the Zelda IP I would recommend avoiding this game like the plague and instead trying out a classic success such as A Link to the Past or Ocarina of Time.

Here is to hoping the next Zelda game for the Wii U is a bit more awesome.

Welcome Readers!

Hey guys! This is my blog about video games, my favorite way to waste my life. ;)

Video games are my passion and have been since my mom got me a Game Boy way back when I was just a kid. Over my life I have watched the evolution of games from their two dimensional roots all the way up to where they are at today. Gaming is becoming a bigger part of our culture and is no longer something that just the introverted basement dweller spends his time on (and no offense if you are an introvert of the basement variety).

Almost everyone is a gamer nowadays. Even my grandmother can't stop playing that (terrible) farm game on Facebook.  Whether you are a casual gamer who enjoys a few minutes on Peggle or a hardcore gamer addicted to World of Warcraft or Call of Duty you will find something interesting here.

I'll usually be giving reviews of new releases as I can get my hands on them as well as making recommendations for games past, present, and future that can't be missed.

If there is a specific game you want reviewed or a topic you would like to be covered then make sure to post in the comments for send me an email.

I'll start off tomorrow with my review of the latest game I had the pain pleasure of completing: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

For Great Justice.