It's been a while since I've done a random update. Life's been interesting, to say the least.
Another week of comics and another batch of old video game ads scanned right from their pages. 1980's Marvel comics were always full of ads about all the things kids were into: sweets, toys, and games. Comics fans are a little older now, and there aren't any ads for cookies or candies or toys (other than action figures) in comics today, but what has always remained are the video game ads. These ads I got from The New Defenders, No. 125, released November of 1983.
Something I decided to do before the Fourth of July, out of the classiness of my own heart. I think my material was weak. I actually recorded this one, though. I try to remember a bad masturbation joke for a good first chunk of it, then make other "jokes" that are really just stories that go nowhere and get no laughs, and for the most part fuck up even those out of nerves, cause the guy before me was good and went on for a while, so if you hate me and want to feel better about yourself, you can listen to this trainwreck, but I'm certainly not fucking going to.
I have had some Borderlands blogs on the back burner covering weapons and character classes that I will eventually put out. But today I thought it might be cool to offer up some tricks that could be handy for new & semi-veteran players.
As you know, I'm the host for Server Side, and today we were discussing what games to review for next week's show (this week we have BioShock Infinite, The Last of Us, Mario Party 2, Marvel Heroes, and Walking Dead: 400 Days). We toyed with the Devil's Cartel and Deadpool, but since we are interested in what our viewers actually think, I thought I would ask all of you! :)
This is a review of Golden Sun: Dark Dawn for the Nintendo DS. You don't care about this game. You didn't when it was released, and you don't now. Even if you liked the previous two entries in the series, so much time passed before this one was released that you questioned whether or not you even wanted to revisit the series. Ultimately you did not revisit the series, and you didn't lose any sleep over it. So read this long review instead, and dream of what might've been.....
Games, Sports, Movies etc.
An interesting gaming thing happened to me lately. I've noticed that I stopped playing console and portable games for the last few weeks. This is partially due to the time I've spent playing the new Final Fantasy XIV Beta. One of the things that I'm always cautious about is the dangerous pull effect that MMOs tend to have on certain types of people, or people with certain addictive habits. We've all read and heard about them on the news before. You know, like the people who forget to feed their kids or go to work because they're raiding dungeons or whatever.
I'm not one of those people, and I don't get pulled in by these games partly because I tend to schedule the time I spend with these types of activities, so it’s never happened to me. I currently have characters setup in SWTOR, LOTRO, GW2, STAR TREK, and FFXIV: ARR. I generally don't spend too many hours playing these games. I just pick at them bit by bit when I'm feeling bored. This is generally the way I approach MMOs or any other type of console games. Those times of sitting in all weekend long finishing a long rental game are long gone and unpractical for me, which is why I've taken to gaming on iPad or 3DS, with their games designed for short bursts of play time.
Since the FF XIV beta is limited to weekends, I've been logging in to Guild Wars 2 just so I can draw comparisons. I think GW2 is a highly polished game with enough content to satisfy both MMO veterans and RPG players who just want to explore and roll a character through narrative and game events. The devs of GW2 have recently announced that they plan on adding new content every 2 weeks starting next week. I was a bit skeptical about this news mainly because GW2 has been receiving updates since it launched, and I haven't felt compelled to jump in and play it for some reason until now. Also, a lot of the previous GW2 content was temporary, lasting for one time only.
The last time I played the game was during the Halloween event in October and I got to kill monsters made of Halloween candy. These types of holiday events aren't unusual in other MMOs, so it didn't feel very special. The newer content though, is supposed to change the world and narrative so I’m kind of excited about that. If you take FF XIV in comparison, the new XIV game is a giant remake to the previous world, whereas GW2 is promising to add world changing content through the rest of the games life cycle every two weeks beginning next week.
I think the devs have said enough to keep me interested and engaged for the time being. I have replaced my RPG gaming with this particular MMO, and I like the fact that it will keep expanding. It’s going to be difficult to choose between this and A Realm Reborn. Both are working overtime to drag me away, and it just might work. I’ve also been enjoying the official novels based on Guild Wars 2.
The main thing that I care about in an MMO besides game play is story and world. Characters are your own and you can add your own personal description for role playing purposes I suppose, but I mostly care about the games lore and world. Also, I love the kick ass dual wielding pistol, sometimes flame thrower wielding, Engineer. So fun to play, not to mention the excellent World vs. World and Player vs. Player competition in case you just feel like battling it out instead of adventuring through the world of Tyria.
Other news...
Did you hear about the exclusive Cloud outfit for Lightning in the Lightning Returns Pre-Order? I might just have to pre-order now!
I’ve been neglecting my town of Racoon in Animal Crossing: New Leaf. Truth is, I suck at policy making and I’m trying to get impeached. I named my town after Racoon City and the Mayors name is Chris R. (Redfield). *wink *wink
Sea of Sorrows (by Ree Soesbee), the latest novel from the Guild Wars 2 game is on my reading list, as soon as I get through the other two books.
Gran Turismo 6 Beta was released yesterday, and I really enjoyed it. It’s still a very technical driving game, no car damage from what I saw, but it’s not supposed to be Motorstorm I suppose. I got to the final Time challenge and it kicked my ass. I might have to buy a steering wheel.
A Realm Reborn Beta continues this weekend. I shall try out my skills in crafting and gathering as well as kick some ass in dungeons. Which means bickering with noobs in chat for not learning to be team players and quitting. 
Retronauts is back! Go to Retronauts.com and listen to the newest podcast which will be followed by new podcasts every week!
Not so gaming news...
I do love UFC and WWE and their games. So I’m especially excited because July 6 is a UFC fight weekend and July 14 is WWE Money in the Bank!
Pacific Rim opens July 12! Ever since I saw that giant robot pick up a ship and swing it like a baseball bat, I’ve been waiting!
And that’s all for now!
If you didn't see Nick's tweet last night, I'd like to let you all know that anonymous comments are no longer possible here at PixlBit! This is something that we internally (and by we, I'm pretty sure it may have just been me) have been bugging Nick to implement for quite some time. In what has now been a string of site improvements this one has finally come to fruition. We encourage civil discourse here at PixlBit, but now you'll have to have an account in order to participate. While we've had the occasional positive or constructive anonymous comment, the mask of total anonymity has mostly been used by trolls wishing to spew their vitriol on the rest of us.
Hello Pixlbit! Summer is here and it is hitting hard! A couple of days ago it hit 122 degrees in my little piece of SoCal, which means Mr. AC is my best friend, but anyways for this week I’ve decided to share with you, the good readers, my other hobby: my music library. I decided to split this up in parts because I want to talk a little about certain albums (nothing crazy) and it will take a while so I decided to start on my CD Library.
Hey guys! I'm a little drunk, but not as drunk as I usually am in these things. I just called in to say hi and tell you about my awesome night.
So, my PS3 is an odd duck. I own the Metal Gear Solid 4 limited edition console. It was the first PS3 to come bundled with the Dual Shock 3, and it's gunmetal gray and of course it came with MGS 4 limited edition (which has since been signed by one of the major MGS composers, Norihiko Hibino).
Someone probably already did a blog like this, so please forgive me if this is repetitious. My wife has been playing and loving Animal Crossing: New Leaf but she doesn't know anyone else with the game and she really wants to visit some other towns. So, who is up for swapping codes? Here's mine (she's using my 3DS XL lol): 5129-0517-7823
June was not a very good month for games (for me). As you'll see, I didn't have much time to play anything. We moved at the beginning of the month and things didn't let up much after that.
MMO developers everywhere have always asked themselves, "how can we make this a real experience? What can we do to make this world come alive?" That's where persistant worlds and Guild Wars 2's Livin Story come into play.
I know, I'm late to the party with this - but I've been busy with the show and my currently-in-development love letter to arcade shmups, but all the Sony fanboys were getting massive erections over Sony's supposed "DRM free" PS4.
Just found out about this site after I got the news about 1up closing down, I was looking for a new community to hang around with and I got some recommendation about PixlBit and I thought I would give it a try, so here I am :D
One thing I love almost as much as metal and prog is some gorgeous acoustic music. Here are some of my favourites for you!
Just saying happy Canada Day to all of our Canadian friends. I'm out and about for fireworks right now, eh.