Archive for On Video Games

A lot can happen in three months…

What can happen in three months, you ask? Well…

You can start selling tickets to a huge charity event
You can make a stupid video for said charity event
You can get engaged
You can set a wedding date and start planning like mad
You can help an AWESOME company with their SXSW booth
You can buy your first comic book
You can start a new tabletop RPG campaign
You can join a new DnD campaign
You can find your next video game obsession

But you most certainly CANNOT blog with regularity. It is forbidden.

My First MMORPG: Marvel Heroes

In my long history of playing games, I’ve never seriously played an MMORPG. Sure, I played Phantasy Star Online to death on my GameCube, and flirted with Blue Burst when it was in free open beta. Yeah, I played a tiny bit of SWTOR during a free weekend. And, of course, I (along with MANY people I know) had a brief bout of MapleStory obsession.

But that’s the extent of my MMO experience. I’ve never touched WoW. Never played EverQuest or Guild Wars. Nothing. But all of that will change soon with Marvel Heroes.

preview_16x9_mh_poster

(To make everything squeaky clean with the developer, Gazillion, this is the part where I make it clear that I’m just rehashing publicly available information and there’s no closed beta NDA breaking going on here)

I don’t remember when/where I first heard about Marvel Heroes, but I DO know that I first got a chance to play it at PAX last year and loved it from the start. It feels like the lovechild of one of the old Ultimate Alliance games and a loot-based RPG like Diablo or Torchlight. You play as an existing Marvel hero (instead of creating your own character) and utilize different item drops to make them your own. Initially, you choose from a set of starter heroes (Daredevil, Storm, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye, or Thing) but you can find/buy other heroes in the game.

hulk_hawkeye_1920x1080The different characters are like different classes in other MMORPGS, each with a few different power trees and such. That ensures that even in a clan full of Wolverines, no two are exactly alike. Loot is literally EVERYWHERE, much like the games I mentioned above, and consists of things like ability boosting items, full costumes, and maybe even entire characters.

I can’t speak much to the actual gameplay, but Massively did a good write-up.

boss_venom_1920x1080While the game is totally free-to-play, they have to make money somehow. Currently they’re doing so via a Founders Program which allows you to purchase extra heroes and costumes ahead of release. I feel like the game is worth $60 (like most console titles on release), so I’ll be buying one of the premium packs before the game launches.

So, yeah, this is going to be a time suck for me going forward. I’m hoping that more people I know will jump in on the action and that this game can be something I play for quite a while. The game is supposed to launch sometime in “Spring 2013”, but I’m hoping to put together a good group to play with before the game actually launches. If it looks like this might be your cup of tea, let me know and we’ll plan to play!

Finishing

I’ll admit it. I have a bad habit of not finishing things. Video games, in particular.

For example, I can think of about 10 games off the top of my head that I bought but haven’t finished (or in most cases, haven’t even played). I’m sitting in my office right now, with no access to my game collection to confirm, but here’s a list…

Assassin’s Creed Revelations (Haven’t played)
Batman Arkham City (Haven’t finished. Maybe halfway through?)
Battlefield 3 (Haven’t played)
Battlefield Bad Company 2 (I think I own this?)
Borderlands 2 (Haven’t finished the latest DLC)
Brutal Legend (Haven’t played)
Brink (Barely played)
Child of Eden (Haven’t played)
Crysis 2 (Haven’t played)
Darkness II (Haven’t finished)
Dead Island (Barely played)
Goldeneye Reloaded (Barely played)
Mafia 2 (Haven’t played)
Mass Effect 2 (Barely played)
Rage (Haven’t played)
Saints Row (Barely played)
Saints Row 2 (Haven’t played)
Sonic Generations (Barely played)
Splinter Cell: Double Agent (Barely played)
Splinter Cell: Conviction (Haven’t played)

And now this list is just making me sad. That’s way more than 10. And it may not even be complete. It certainly doesn’t include XBLA, Wii, 3DS, and PC games.

Usually when I look at how many games I haven’t played, I’ll say something about making a list and plowing through them over the holidays or something. I’ve tried that the last 3 years and the list just stays the same size. But I think I’ve finally found a solution…

Step 1: Play though these games at some point in the near future.
Step 2: Stop buying games (Only have my eye on Bioshock Infinite at this point. Everything else is “meh”)
Step 3: Stop thinking that I NEED to play every good game that comes out.
Step 4: Stop thinking that I need to buy cheap games because they’re cheap (I got most of the above games for $5-10 via GameFly)
Step 5: Profit! (Literally, profit by not buying more games)

I just have to step back and admit that I can’t play games like I used to. Not in the same volume. Instead, I’ll focus on really enjoying a few games a year and pass on the rest. Maybe one day I’ll have a job where I can spend more time playing games.

I’d like that.