My Opinion of Call of Duty

For the last few weeks, I’ve been heavily debating about if I should write about this topic or not since it brings up so much controversy on the internet, however, after realizing I have nothing really lose, I’m going to do it. In my opinion, one of the worst gaming franchises out there is the Call of Duty franchise. Now, I’m not saying that I hate the game, or I dislike all the people who play it, I just have never really had a good experience with the game. This is about the time when some of my gamer friends go “but you have to really give it a chance!”. But I did, I really did. I’ve tried out the original Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3, Ghosts, and Black Ops 2. I even played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare: Modernized which came out on the Nintendo DS, and please don’t even get me started on that one. I played each of the campaigns to completion except for Ghosts and all the online versions of them. To be honest, I did somewhat enjoy Call of Duty, but after that, it felt as if the games were extremely repetitive, with each of the campaigns being pretty much the same thing except for the addition of new monsters to fight (such as ghosts or zombies).

Can we also acknowledge the community that plays the online version? Now, I’m not saying all players are like this, but there are a handful of those who make the experience dreadful. I find it extremely difficult to play a game while the sounds of screaming 12 year olds are the in background. On top of this, if any female tries to talk on the mic, they get floods of comments from other players such as “you’re just here for attention!”, “get of the mic, you prepubescent boy”, or “why don’t you go make me a sandwich instead” (but in a much more vulgar way). The amount of disrespect that these gamers give other gamers is completely unnecessary and a disgrace to the gaming community.  *Cue the song Why Can’t We Be Friends by War*. But in all seriousness, I don’t understand how these people benefit from being so rude.

My advice to you if you haven’t played a single game of Call of Duty is try it out – but try and avoid the online mode. The campaign is fun the first time around, and the newer Call of Duty games have fantastic graphics. It’s a nice way to blow off some steam and a good game for when you want to veg out, which is always good once in a while. Otherwise, I’d say to go to your nearest game store (or try out Steam for PC) and ask around for peoples recommendations, which is how I found a few of my favorite games (like my favorite game of all time, Red Dead Redemption).

And with that note, I’m just going to throw in a quick trailer for Red Dead Redemption at the end here:

– Juli M.

A Look at the Earthbound/Mother Series

It’s a shame when an amazing game series goes unnoticed by society. One of the most underrated video game series is the Mother series, or Earthbound as it’s known in the states. This criminally underrated RPG series has more heart, ingenuity, humor, and creativity than almost every other game series I’ve ever played. Most gamers know of Ness and Lucas, characters from Mother 2 and Mother 3, from Super Smash Bros., but have never touched a game in the series. Although there are three games in the series, the second game was the only one to be released in the U.S. Tragically, sales were horrible for the game, and Nintendo of America is hesitant to touch anything related to Earthbound again. The series has a devoted following, with hardcore fans going to extreme measures to try to get Nintendo of America to give the series another chance. However, aside from the huge Mother fans, the series is still largely unrecognized by people.

The Earthbound series has a fascinating but also tragic history, at least from the North American point of view. The games were created by Shigesato Itoi, a popular essayist in Japan. The first game in the series was Mother, which was released for the Japanese Famicom in 1989. Mother was a smash hit, and its huge popularity in the East guaranteed a Western release for the NES, where it would be called Earthbound. The game was translated and ready for production in the U.S. by 1990. However, because of marketing problems and the upcoming release of the SNES, the game was too expensive and risky to produce, and unfortunately never released. 

Mother 2 was released in Japan for the Super Famicom in 1994, where it was praised even by notoriously brutal game reviewers. Nintendo of America decided to give the game a chance in the West and released the game as Earthbound for the SNES in 1995. Instead of a standard box, the game was packaged in a huge box with an included strategy guide for the game. Nintendo gave Earthbound the royal treatment, going all out to advertise the game. Sadly, sales were well below Nintendo’s expectations, making it a commercial failure. 

Mother 3 was released for the GameBoy Advance in Japan in 2006, where it was widely anticipated by Japanese fans. Again, Mother 3 received critical acclaim in Japan and personally is my favorite installment in the series. The game never came to the U.S. because of the failure of Earthbound, but the series still had a loyal fan base in the West. Fans were so upset about Mother 3 not coming to the states that a group of people from starmen.net, a Mother fan site, actually translated the entire game and released it for free online. Before the translation process began, the folks at starmen.net made a petition to bring Mother 3 to America, hoping to persuade Nintendo of Mother‘s potential in the U.S. The petition impressively had over 30,000 signatures, and was sent to Nintendo in a bounded book packaged with an Earthbound anthology of fan art and fan music. The goal was not only to see a Western Mother 3 release, but to also prove to Nintendo how huge the Earthbound fan base was. However, at the time it was still not enough for Nintendo to listen or understand.

Nintendo finally recognized Earthbound again when the company released the game for the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console in 2013. This came as a huge shock to Mother fans, because there was strong evidence to support that Earthbound would never see a re-release in the U.S. for Virtual Console. I still remember when I found out that Nintendo had announced Earthbound would be coming to Virtual Console, and freaking out like a dork right in the middle of a school hallway.
I need help. #nerdalert

So, why is Mother such a big deal? Each game in the series is masterfully created and unlike any other game I’ve ever played. The characters have so much heart and personality, the soundtracks are phenomenal, the plots are memorable, the dialogue is well written and hilarious, and the game mechanics are fun and unique. The games stand out in comparison to other RPGs, and I can’t think of a single game that is even remotely similar to any game in the series. There are countless reasons as to why the series is incredible, and I could talk about each game for hours. The Mother fan community is also equally as amazing and includes some of the most passionately dedicated people I’ve ever seen, which can be hard to come by these days (*cough* Call of Duty).

I strongly urge you to read more about the awesome series that is Earthbound. Do yourself a favor and play these games (Earthbound sells for $9.99 on the Wii U Virtual Console [which is a steal for such an amazing game], and Mother 3 is easily accessible online through the Mother 3 Fan Translation ROM). Don’t be like Nintendo of America. Give the Mother series a chance. You will not regret it.

-Jaclyn Shin

Playing with groups CAN be more fun!

 When it comes to playing video games, one player is interesting if there’s a storyline for you to go through. But having a group of people, friends or family in one placing? It can enhance the video gaming moment by like 300 times. 

With Nintendo’s recent release of their Wii U – it changed the game with multiplayer games with the new touch screen game pad, which is basically holding the TV screen in your hands. 

Nintendo upped their games as well along with the console, more multiplayer games which meant more fun. Here’s a couple to keep the party going:

1. NintendoLand – A game based off a variety of mini games from single player, 2 vs 2 or 1 vs 3. Mini games range from Mario, Animal Crosing, Luigi based themes. Even play as a Team and complete an adventure with a storyline with multiple people! 
2. Super Smash Bros. Wii U – An upgraded version of Super Smash Bros Brawl; although now you can play with up to 8 people with bigger stages and new characters. A lot of fun with a a big group which means more competition and screaming with each other. 
3. Mario Kart 8 – A classic Wii game upgraded for Wii U; still carries the classic racing stages and characters but a change in vehicles and graphics. 
4. Mario Party 10 – Another classic game with upgraded features and a change in gameplay. One whole new section is the Bowser Party installment; when the players go through mini games and try to beat Bowser. The graphics as well are changed that textures and colors pop off the screen for a nice HD touch. 

Those are just a couple well-known multiplayer games in the Wii U world but there is definitely a whole collection of others out there. Multiplayer games helps create bonds with people as well (well if everyone is actually with each other unlike online multiplayer games).  

-Wendy L.

Yooka-Laylee – A New Game from the Creators of Banjo-Kazooie

If you ask any person growing up in the Nintendo 64 age of gaming what his or her favorite N64 games are, you’re bound to hear of the game Banjo-Kazooie. Banjo-Kazooie is a 3D platformer developed by Rare Ltd in 1998. The game’s story focuses on Banjo the bear and Kazooie the bird attempting to stop the evil Gruntilda’s plans to switch her beauty with Banjo’s sister Tooty. The game world contains open levels where the player has to solve puzzles, jump over obstacles, collect objects, and defeat opponents. Rare is known for making GoldenEye 007, Donkey Kong Country, Conker’s Bad Fur Day, and the Banjo-Kazooie series.

Fans have been dying for another Banjo-Kazooie game ever since the dreaded Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts came to become an absolute failure. Ever since Rare was sold to Microsoft, fans never thought they would get another great game from Rare. Now, the spiritual successor is finally here in the form of Yooka-Laylee.

The creative talent from Rare has come together to form Playtonic Games. Together, they’re developing an all-new 3D platformer called Yooka-Laylee (pronounced like “ukulele”), which they’ve introduced on Kickstarter. The game mechanics for Yooka-Laylee strike noticeable similarities to those of Banjo-Kazooie, but that’s not a bad thing. That’s exactly what people have been looking for. Featuring a similar buddy-duo just like the Banjo-Kazooie pair, Yooka and Laylee have an arsenal of new abilities different from the original duo. The game has a stellar soundtrack team with notable game composers Grant Kirkhope (Banjo-Kazooie) and David Wise (Donkey Kong Country).

The Kickstarter’s crowdfunding campaign had an initial goal of £175,000 and reached £1,000,000 in just 21 hours, making it the fastest video game in Kickstarter history to reach $1 million. With over thirty days still in the campaign, the Kickstarter currently has over $2.3 million pledged by almost 47,000 backers.

Yooka-Laylee looks extremely promising, and I have already backed the campaign. Check out the Kickstarter and be sure to back it if you’re interested!

-Jaclyn Shin

Minecraft: Don’t Be Too Quick to Criticize

I get a lot of disapproving looks and people asking me “what are you, seven?” whenever I tell people that one of my favorite games is Minecraft. To be fair, I did the same four years ago since I got bored with it after playing for four months. Initially, I found it extremely fun, but as I went on I just felt as if it was too repetitive, which is which most people who dislike the game claim to be the reason they hate it so much. About two years ago, I picked it up again after one of my friends told me he was playing Pokemon (called Pixelmon if played on Minecraft) on it. Being the Pokemon nerd I am, my heart skipped a beat when he told me, and I went straight away to download it on my computer. This opened me up to the world of mods, marking the beginning of my Minecraft obsession.

If you’ve never heard of Minecraft, its a sandbox game set in a ‘blocky’, 3D procedurally generated world. You can play single-player, or adventure out into the world of multi-player, allowing you to play mini games or adventure maps with people around the world. While multiplayer is fun, I can understand how it can get boring after a while, and this is where most people quit. However, little do many people know is there are entirely new versions of Minecraft one can play. Mods create new experiences in Minecraft, and everyone can find at least one mod that they like. My personal favorite is Pixelmon, which is just like Pokemon but in Minecraft, but others can include Thaumcraft, which allows you to be a sorcerer, or Fossil/Archeology which can make you live in a world like in Jurassic Park. Some of these can even be educational. While at Minecon (Minecraft’s yearly convention) two years ago, I got to help test drive qCraft, a mod that brings principles of quantum physics into the Minecraft world.

Those who have never tried out the mods in Minecraft, they are a must try. With thousands of player-made mods, no one can ever truly fun out of things to do in this game, and for $26.95 (and I promise, thats it – no need to pay for upgrades or buy new versions of the game), you get the game for life, which in my opinion, is a steal.

-Juli M.

Return of Mortal Kombat: X

In just last years release, Mortal Kombat revived their series and released their new version Mortal Kombat X.

The graphics have totally upgraded here as well, from detailed gore and sight of blood splatters, it’s real. Each hit, creates some intense form of realistic snap, shatter, or tear in bone. Regardless of that, the stages are very detailed and intricately designed; adding life and dimension, so on a nice quality tv this was quite enjoyable for me.

Within this game you are able to select characters from previous versions of MK, but sadly some of the actions and animations of certain moves tend to look cartoon-ish, but it was silly enough to keep the intensity within a round in a game. What many anticipate towards the game also is the ‘Story Mode’ part – the bold and ambitious fightings with quite lengthy cut-scenes, switching you throughout the MKX fighters and a mind blowing intersecting plot with frequent flashbacks. Within the story, many ties will also link back to certain characters from previous games, but also adding on new characters which seem like they lack individuality but eventually grow throughout the story.

 As similar to NetheRealm’s game Injustice, which is a spinoff game of MK using Marvel heroes/villians – both games provide a wide amount of the moves list, from the actual moves, block damage, frame data, combos etc., which was also harder to access through out the game. Definitely something for someone to study if you had the free time, but with all those endless combination of buttons – I definitely wouldn’t look at and learn all those moves though wow. Just like Injustice and their different setup of setting, add another dimension to gameplay … was also brought to MKX. Just like being able to use objects preset in the setting and using them against your opponent. Now, that’s definitely some first come first serve play right there, but helpful in the long run.

MK has definitely upped their game, and this honestly requires the skill of knowing what buttons to press – so for someone with a great memory and can remember hundreds of these combinations….. go for it
But honestly there is no way I can remember even 5 moves without having to pause and check the moves list all over again >_<

-Wendy L.

Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Two Years Later

I’ve come to the sad realization that I may enjoy my virtual life in Animal Crossing more than my real life. As a fan of the series since the first GameCube version, I’ve been playing every single game in the series for years and have loved every second of it. I notice that with each game, I tend to play for months and months through an unhealthy addiction, then stop and rarely touch the game for The latest installment, Animal Crossing: New Leaf has been out for almost two years now, so the question is… Am I still playing?

New Leaf has a lot to offer, and is without a doubt the best Animal Crossing installment yet. The game added multiple new features not seen in previous versions, such as the island. On the island, you can play games and earn Bells (the currency in Animal Crossing), buy items only for sale at the island, or catch bugs and fish. The bugs and fish are definitely the best part of the island, in my opinion. Most of them are very rare and exotic and sell for many Bells. Making Bells is another important aspect of Animal Crossing that can be done in many ways, although the easiest way is through selling items at the ReTail store (cute name, isn’t it?). Finding items to sell, such as fruit, fish, bugs, or clothes, may seem like a tedious and boring task, but it can actually be quite fun. You can use Bells to buy more items for yourself, upgrade your house, or add nice additions to your village (coffee shop, bridges, benches, etc.), which can really spice up the look to your town.

The best part about Animal Crossing is probably interacting with all your neighbors. The villagers scattered throughout your town are all unique and adorable. Each animal has different personality types, ranging from peppy to lazy to snooty to cranky to normal (what defines “normal” though, anyway?). Depending on the personality type, animals will say varying things to you when you talk to them, but you really get a sense of personality from each villager. It’s never artificial, nor does it feel like each villager is a carbon copy of another. I love how unique each one is, and I even have favorites among all my villagers. As nerdy as it is, the villagers feel like true, real friends to me (wow, I really need to get a life).

Animal Crossing is such a therapeutic experience. Whenever I’m having a bad day, I just boot up the game and enjoy my time in my village. There’s some element to the game that always draws me back to it. Some people may find all the things you can do in the village to be repetitive, tedious, or boring, but I find it to be one of the most enjoyable and relaxing gaming experiences. I always get super excited when someone starts talking about Animal Crossing, and I have so many memories associated to this game series.

So yes, even two years later, I am still playing Animal Crossing: New Leaf as if it just came out yesterday, and I haven’t regretted a second of it.

-Jaclyn Shin

My Tribute to Valve

I know very many people (including myself) who started PC gaming because many of the games are on sale much more often than at GameStop for a console. Last month, I bought two copies of Portal 2  for $4.99 to share with one of my friends, and that price can’t really be beat. On top of some cheaper games, the graphics on a PC are much better than what most consoles can provide, and you get to use the best and most precise controller with ease – your keyboard and mouse. When first creating a Steam account, I noticed there were many pricey newer games up for sale, however I wasn’t sure I was willing to dedicate that much money to a new way to game I wasn’t even sure I liked yet. However, there were few games that quickly changed my favorite way of gaming to PC gaming.  I’ve noticed that many of my favorite games have had a similarity to them, they all were made by the Valve Corporation.

Left 4 Dead 2

This one is a classic, pretty much every gamer, no matter if they enjoy FPSs, MOBAs, or RPGs, loves this game. Though it is normally $19.99 on Steam, it will frequently go on sale for less than $5.00, last year it was even available to download for free, which is when I got it. Though extremely old, it does not disappoint. While the graphics are only subpar, playing the game with friends is one of the best experiences I’ve had. With non-stop action, the game never really gets old. The Special Infected include eight different types of zombies, each of which have some of the coolest powers. From the Witch, who can incapacitate the player in just one hit, to the Smoker, who can use its extra long tongue to grab the player until it is killed by another player. The game relies on cooperative gameplay, because if you stray from the group, there is no way you or your team will survive (I have experienced this too many times to count).

Team Fortress 2

The Valve team hits it out of the park again. Team Fortress 2 is a classic for all PC gamers, and is usually one of the first games many PC gamers start out with when they first make their Steam. One of the many reasons for this is that it is always free. Another big reason I adore this game is because the people in the community are some of the nicest gamers I’ve met. After being constantly harassed while playing Call of Duty, Team Fortress 2 and their players provide a huge shy of relief; I learned that not all multiplayer games are all that bad. The game, whose graphics are also subpar (unless you enjoy cartoonish graphics, which I personally do), provides a great atmosphere for people of all ages and there is always something for everyone. With nine classes, everyone can find their niche in the game. Beginners can try the Pyro, which only requires you to hold down a button for a long period of time, whereas more complex players can try the Spy, which requires a lot of complex maneuvering and mastering your keyboard and mouse. With over 600 hours of gameplay in total, Team Fortress 2 is one of my favorite games of all time, and will never truly become old since it has a special place in my heart.

Though there has been a lot of criticism of the Valve Corporation over the years, I tip my hat to them. They have produced some of the most fun games I have had since I started gaming (at the age of three). They have made my PC gaming experience better than I could’ve ever imagined, and opened me up to an entire new world of gaming.

-Juli M.

Hey you! Heads Up!

When we hear the name, “Ellen,” many seem to automatically know who she is, what she does, and seem to love her for just about anything.

Her creation of one of the best selling apps to this day, “Heads Up,” is a fun, silly and one of those laugh-til-you-drop kind of games for just $0.99. The release of her app just about two years ago (April 28th, 2013) grew larger and larger in attention and amount of purchases. The game has about 18+ different genres for one to act/play/move/sing/dance etc out in front of the guesser while they hold out the ‘card (phone)’ on their forehead – for a correct answer the one holding the card tilts down, and if the person can’t really understand what a friend is acting out on in front of them or just probably could be bad at it, the player can tilt the phone up to pass.

Just recently Ellen has also released a picture version of Heads Up! It’s basically the same concept, but with pictures the friend(s) will describe what the photo is showing instead. And if you speak Spanish, try the new language version and change things up, if that language is up your alley!

So basically, this is a more amped up version of charades within our generation really. But the cool thing is while the person is holding up the device up to their forehead – the camera is going off on the phone as well, which records the whole minute of foolishness that is happening.

This is honestly a fun game with a bunch of people and can really get the party going in a boring setting. Everyone gets to act out a whole different side of them, whether it comes to celebrities, animals, accents, character, movies or even more. It’s also quite easy to bring around because yeah, it’s an app! Definitely a great and fun bonding game with friends, family or maybe even random people. Endless laughter and weirdness will result from playing this game, which is totally worth it in the end. HIGHLY RECOMMEND 🙂

-Wendy L.

Amazing Brick – How amazing is it really?

Nothing like wanting to play a quick game while waiting, being bored or just to pass time like this app, Amazing Brick. When it comes to apps on phones, this company, Ketchapp, knows how to keep their audience’s eyes glued to their phone. The point of this game is super simple, tap to keep jumping, avoid other blocks and maneuver through the path. As simple as it is, the difficult it is at first. Not only will you keep trying to conquer this game, it conquers you. In order to keep the player interest, different colors of the obstacles change at a certain amount of points one reaches.  

This game gets to the point that once you and a group of friends start playing it, everyone is out to get each other. Literally. When one beats another score the tension rises, it’s scary. Not only does the competition rise, after awhile you realize how much time everyone has wasted trying to up someone else’s score. 

While playing this game, and you are at a high score – it feels like it’s been forever and a sudden rush of déjà vu hits because it’s just a whole same simple layout through the game that basically repeats. Once you get in the hang of the game, you start rushing yourself to get a new score but at the same time causes a faster game over; resulting in frustration and another reason to press play agin.  You also end up telling yourself you’d play one more game when you actually press play like 200 more times and see that time flew right through, and something else productive could of been done in those 200 plays. Simple games like this somehow creates the addiction of playing to many people around the world…. interesting. 

All in all, is the brick really amazing? No

But amazing to the point it gets addicting. 

A fun app to pass time, but not waste it.  

-Wendy Letim