Oct 17.2009. 1:36 am.  Now that the funds have been raised, the next part is up to me.  My punishment?  Game for 24 hours.  Ok, so maybe it’s not that bad after all.  I have a HUGE lineup of half finished games, unplayed games, games I’ve played for a few minutes, games I’ve played for 80 hours, and games that I bought because they were in the bargain bin for ten dollars.  They are all candidates to get me through the event.  My plan is to be creative and flexible in my game choices too.  While I would love to sit like Jabba the hutt on the couch for 24 hours, I’ll need to mix things up.  For the next 24 hours I’m platform agnostic.  I own them all so I plan to play them all.  Maybe I’ll even break out Xbox LIVE smash HIT Totem Ball and flap my arms around like an idiot for an hour (as opposed to normally when I flap my arms around intelligently).  Anything is possible.   I’ve also lined up several friends either in person or online to keep things fresh.  Stay tuned as I will be updating hourly right!  For now I need to get some sleep.  See you in 6 hours!

8:00 am - HOUR ZERO - Gooooooood Morning!  My 24 hours of gaming has begun.  Up at 8 a.m. on a Saturday.  What is this mysterious time?  People get up on a Saturday this early?  What in the H??!  I’m rethinking my 6 hours of sleep now but should be fine as I generally don’t sleep ever anyhow.  Kicking off Extra life with some Brutal Legend.   I’ll update in an hour! 

9:00 am - HOUR ONE - A successful first hour.  Played Brutal Legend the entire time.  Its freaking awesome!  I even earned 30 Gamerscore.  Lauren is going to be handling Tim Horton duties once she decides to wake up.  I think I might crank the sound just a bit because I’ll be needing my double double soon.  I’m going to continue on with my Brutal Legend journey and see where I am at 10 a.m.  So far so good.

10:00 am - HOUR TWO - The Journey into metal madness continues.  Still hooked on the story of Brutal Legend.  At this rate I might even finish the game.  Nothing out of the ordinary so far though as gaming for a whole two hours in a row is something I have a little experience with.  Coffee and bagels are on the way too and will serve as game fuel!

11:00 am - HOUR THREE - Three hours in and I’m deciding what to play next.  I think I’m going to move onto Uncharted 2and finish off the single player.  As you can see from the picture below I have a lot of choices.  And I couldn’t even fit all of my games into one picture.  I guess choice is a good thing, expecially when I have 21 hours left.

Nathan Drake climbs well. Even better than Donkey Kong.

Fresh off of a Steroid Scandal, Donkey Kong came back to win the gold medal.

 3:00 pm - HOUR SEVEN - That was a success.  All limbered up, I’m now ready to sit back and race some cars.  Game of choice will be Forza Motorsport.  The game is so good though I may never be able to stop playing it.  As far as how I’m feeling?  I’m thinking maybe I should spend every saturday like this.  It would allow me to catch up on the plethora of games that remain in my apartment unplayed but I’m thinking it may be hard to find people to sponsor me each weekend.  I’ll just play my heart out for the next 17 hours and see how it goes.  Friends and Pizza are coming over later which is a good combination (provided freinds bring beer).  I’ve also been keeping tabs of people’s progress on Twitter.  Vrroom Vroom for now.

4:00 pm - HOUR EIGHT - One third of the way done!  I’m still hooked on Forza.  Looking for some cheap designs right now for my Vauxhall VX220.  If I had more time I would paint a car for extra life.  I guess painting counts but I’d rather be racing.  Looking out my apartment window I can see the sun is heading back down into its resting place for the night.  Rest.  Thats one thing I WON’T be doing tonight.  Nope, the game must go on.  I think its time for my first Red Bull though.  It gives me wings apparently. 

Taxi is one of the best pinball games about Taxi's

Axel and Pixel. I couldn't tell you which one is the Hippy.

 7:00 pm - HOUR ELEVEN - Not much to update this hour.  Axel and Pixel, despite being Hippies, are keeping me entertained.  I think I’ll play Brutal Legend for a half hour or so before Dave gets here and the multiplayer begins.  Did I mention we’ll be playing Chu Chu Rocket on theSega Dreamcast!!!   One of the best games ever made.  Bing it if you don’t believe me.  I also anticipate some form of music game and hopefully if all goes well — we get a noise complaint.  Because no Gaming night is ever officially complete without a noise complaint.  We can’t sleep people, we are gaming to save lives.  Sorry. 

8:00 pm - HOUR TWELVE - Dave is over and multiplayer has started.  First up, I’m showing him the glory known as South Park Tower Defense! Oh, also, we are HALF WAY through the 24 hours.  Beer is here to celebrate and pizza on the way.

9:00 pm - HOUR THIRTEEN - South Park Tower Defense!! We can’t stop playing.  See dream team below.  Cartman, Kenny, Pip, Craig.

Cartman, Kenny, Craig, and Pip defend South Park.

10:00 pm - HOUR FOURTEEN - More South Park.  I’ll be updating more on the back half of the Marathon once my guests decide to leave or fall asleep.  Also, its CHU CHU ROCKET time. 

11:00 pm - HOUR FIFTEEN - I can now confirm that CHU CHU ROCKETis indeed one of the finest games ever made.  From the amazing cat animations to the lifelike recreation of a mouse traversing a maze, this dreamcast classic really has it all.  Ok, so maybe thats not all true but it sure is fun.  Also gamed this hour was Ghost Squad, a “light shooter” game where you have to save a bearded guy named Steve McCoy, and rescue the president from Air Force one.  Finally, solving puzzles in World of Goo.  This game never gets old.  Or tired.  Or thirsty.  Nope, it just keeps going and going….

12:00 am - HOUR SIXTEEN - More World of GOO!!!  Stuck on one puzzle for the last hour.  It could be my slowly dwindling mental capacity after gaming for 16 hours in a row. 

This frog is really pissing me off. Could be lack of sleep.

1:00 am - HOUR SEVENTEEN - Doc Adams From Sarcastic Gamer just announced  that we’ve raised in total $137,000 dollars so far.  That number is going to rise too since contributions are still rolling in.  I’m going to switch my Etra life blogging into night time mode now.  Basically, I’ll post what I’m playing without a lot of stupid commentary.  Writing stupid commentary takes energy you see, and I need to preserve it for the home stretch. +1 Red Bull.  Sugar free.

2:00 am - HOUR EIGHTEEN - Uncharted 2! 

3:00 am - HOUR NINETEEN - Yep, Uncharted 2. I think at this point I jus can’t move from the couch so now I’m determined to finish.

4:00 am - 8:00 am- THE FINAL PUSH  -  These last 4 hours were tough but I was able to focus and make it through.  Overall it was a lot harder than I thought to be up for 24 hours straight and focus on gaming.  Thanks again for everyone who supported me!  I can’t wait until next year.  Time for sleep now …. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

The premise of Prototype is that, as Alex Mercer, you are somehow infected with a virus that allows you significant enhancements in the form of physical powers. The game immediately gives you a taste of what you’re capable of offering up a couple of minutes of gameplay in the beginning with the full suite of powers at your disposal before doing a whole flashback bit, stripping you of your powers and beginning the core gameplay for real. I’ve seen this before in other games, perhaps to better effect than it was used here.
As Alex Mercer, you’re then tasked with finding out just what the heck happened to you and all around you. You roam the city and choose missions must like you do in a GTA game. These missions progress the game along at a pace of your choosing. There are also event challenges throughout the city (such as get from point a to point b as quickly as possible and kill x number of bad guys within a time limit) and lots of collectibles too (think Crackdown’s orbs).

As you progress through the game and earn XP, you gain access to new abilities which may allow for increased sprinting speed, greater jumping ability or powered up attacks. The XP sort of acts as cash. Each new ability costs a certain amount of XP and can be added at seemingly any point in the game provided you have enough XP. To me this is really the meat of the game and the most compelling reason to play it but I think I preferred the more organic way of enhancing abilities that we saw in Crackdown. There are some pretty sweet power ups though.

Your locomotion in the game is pretty awesome. Instead of scaling buildings (which you can do if you want), you can actually make Mercer literally run up the sides of buildings using the sprint button giving a very “parkour to the nth degree” feel to the game. This does take away some of the exploration element that I so enjoyed in Crackdown. I had a riot trying to find ways to scale the taller buildings in Crackdown where there was a certain degree of uncertainty as to whether or not it could be done at first. Not so much in Prototype. I haven’t met a structure I couldn’t scale with ease. Sprint along a street and the game will automatically hurdle fences or cars making for a very seamless experience while navigating the city. Rather than being hindered by a myriad of collisions, Mercer will push and shove his way through a crowd with the player not having to worry about extra controls. That little touch makes navigating through the environments very fluid.

Prototype also allows the player to consume NPC’s that you have defeated. Certain NPC’s offer up clues to the story that are told through flashbacks into that person’s mind. A neat idea but the whole jumping back and forward in time through flashbacks can be a bit confusing at times. You can also assume the appearance of those you’ve consumed adding a stealthy, strategic layer to the gameplay. This was unexpected on my part and something I enjoyed more and more as I played and learned how to use it effectively. Combat is pretty fast paced with a lot of things going on all at once. At first it can be intimidating and a bit confusing. Once you come to grips with the controls and combat, things really pick up for the better. The game does a good job of making you feel like one bad ass mofo.

Graphically things are pretty decent. There’s a nice draw distance (something that is important in a sandbox game like this one) and a nice attention to smaller details such as a very satisfying amount of gore, body parts flying around and lots and lots of stuff on screen with no apparent effect on the game’s frame rate.

In today’s day and age the lack of any sort of online mode (cooperative or adversarial) seems out of place. I can overlook no coop but would have liked to have seen some sort of online play. Perhaps even being able to do the challenge events head to head with a friend would have been fun. Either way, the lack of online play didn’t hurt my overall game play experience too much.

Despite all these neat game play elements, they don’t somehow come together to form a truly compelling package that would put Prototype amongst the elite games today. That said, I’ve enjoyed my time with it and would definitely recommend at least trying this one out for anyone that enjoyed Crackdown.

EA was giving away a BMW M3 for the person that could record the most points in a 2 lap race. I looked at some of the qualifying points totals and I couldn’t get half as many points in my several attempts. Too bad the contest was based around points and not lap times. Kind of silly really when the top qualifier’s time was 20 seconds more than other times that I had seen. Gone were my visions of skipping my flight home for a drive home along the pacific coast in one of my favorite cars in the world.

My first impression of Forza 3 was that it looks considerably better than Forza 2.  I wasn’t sure how much at first but seeing Forza 2 running in another booth the differences were obvious.  As pretty as Forza 3 looked though, I couldn’t help but feel it did look a bit sterile.  The sense of speed that I really liked in Forza 2 didn’t seem to be present.  There is currently also a distinct drop in frame rate with the in car view.  The cockpit view most definitely does NOT run at 60 frames per second.

I wasn’t sure what to make of the inclusion of the rewind during gameplay.  Seems awfully similar to GRID and doesn’t appear to fit the sim vein that Forza seems to aspire to be.  One of the developers did confirm to me that lap times would not count for any online statistics when the rewind is used.  It doesn’t appear to be something that can be turned on or off so it will be up the to the player if they want to use it or not.  AI-wise, I didn’t see anything that looked like an improvement over Forza 2.  The AI definitely made mistakes but seemed to really want to stick to a prescribed race line. I’d love to see the AI cars do more to make them appear to be driving these cars to their limit. Perhaps make them hang their end out without losing it from time to time?

The majority of my time playing Forza 3 was spent with the controller (shorter lineups).  I was able to give it a go with the Xbox Race Wheel though.  Using the controller I felt the handling was a bit floaty using the controller and the cars didn’t feel entirely connected to the ground. The game played far better with the wheel and those reading this will be happy to know that MS had a prototype, high-end race wheel there that will be shipping at the same time of the game.  The new wheel has a full 6-gear H shifter and clutch pedal.  It has a much thicker, leather wrapped wheel that the manufacturer confirmed would make the final product (along with Porsche branding on it too).

Don’t worry, despite these criticisms the game is looking really good.  My comments may sound overly critical but that’s more of a factor of me being a big racing fan and having high hopes.  And while I am on my soapbox, I would also like to add that I think it is just fine to use assists.  I can’t turn off the ABS in my own car so why wouldn’t I use ABS in a racing game?

Settlement placement

Settlement placement is very, very important. If you f@ck this up your chances to win go up astronomically since it will improve my already good chance to win. There are 4 basic things I consider when choosing a settlement location. I consider them in this order (roughly):

• 1. Pip count. This is the total number of dots under the numbers of the 3 hexes your location intersects. The higher the better. Sometimes there is a 9-6-5 combination on the board and this is the highest possible pip count. Sometime there isnt and you get an 8-10-5, 9-6-4 type combination. These pips are basically probability. You should never (unless for some radical strategy or situation) place your first settlement on a location that has both a 3 or 11 for example. You may have no choice with your second.
• 2. Number spread. Obviously the more numbers you cover the better. Ideally you want 6 different numbers but sometimes that’s impossible. This is important with your second placement. If you duplicate your first 3 numbers, you’re only collecting on 3 of 11 numbers rolled. If those don’t do well, you’re fucked (alternatively if they do great you’ll win but the distribution will eventually even out). Try to get atleast 4-5 numbers covered generally unless for some reason a huge pip count number location (that is duplicative) still exists.
• 3. Resource spread. The more resources you can produce on your own the better you can do. Usually I aim for four and I tell noobs to try and get five but again sometimes thats impossible. To me, wheat is the most important resource. Its required for 3 of the four things you can build and is very important in later game situations with alot of city and DC building. Sheep is the least important (again imo). Its only need in DCs and settlements and then only one each. Plus there are 4 sheep tiles on the board. In early game situations brick is important since there are only 3 tiles. If all the bricks have low numbers the game will progress very slowly at the beginning (when people are trying to expand). In the beginning if there is only one wood or brick with a good number (ie 5, 6, 8, 9) that tile has to have a premium on it since you will be able to expand quicker then everyone else (assuming a normal dice distribution).
• 4. Harbour proximity. If you are built on a 8 wood and a 5 wood, you might consider building close to the wood harbor. A 2-1 trade ratio on wood with cities built on them can produce you whatever card you want pretty quickly. Last night I had three total citiies built on an 8 sheep and a 5 sheep. The rolls came 5, 5, 8 before my turn and I was able to win the game with the trades. Often I find that if I place first and therefore last as well, my second settlement location may be on a harbor right off the bat if no good other pip count or number spread locations are availalble.

Expanding and Winning

General tips:

• 1. Try to get a grip on your strategy from the beginning. You are going to have to build to another location. Try to increase your number spread and if you can’t try to increase your production on a 6 or 8. If you can city early, do it. That really increases your production. The second column in the LB screen shows the total pip production your settlements and cities have. You want to be highest.
• 2. Point your initial roads towards the water, especially in the first round. Nothing stinks more then being blocked right from the start. If you like a nearby location in the first round, chances are it’ll be gone before rolling starts.
• 3. About 75% - 80% of the time the winner has either the longest road or the biggest army. Associate yourselves with one of those strategies at the beginning if you can, even if you don’t make every resource required immediately. DC’s are good things since sometimes when you are aiming to increase your army you get a free point anyway. If you’re going for a road don’t kill it. If you have a road of 7 lengths and your next closest person is 4, no need to build number 8 and 9 right now. Increase your production instead.
• 4. Don’t be ‘nice’. The ‘I’ll be nice to you so you be nice to me’ is bullshit. If someone is ahead of you, pound them with the robber relentlessly. God knows, I have lost because of this. Hell if someone is way in front, everyone else should team up. Reduce trade requirements to steal the road or army from the leader etc. Similarly, I generally try not to trade with the leader once they get to 8 points or 8 minus one point for every DC they are holding since they could be points too. There are exceptions to this rule, the most notable being an opportunity to pass them.
• 5. Generally if you are heavy on brick you should also do well in wood (or viceversa). This is a good early game expansion strategy (called the wood-brick strat). Conversely its good to get wheat and ore together, thats a late game ‘build up strategy’ (weirdly enough called the wheat-ore strat). You may suffer in the beginning but often you can catch up and pass your competitors.
  Ok that’s enough for now. Let’s play!

Live Talk Episode 1  (Original Air Date: Oct 2nd, 2005)
Hosts:  Havoc Smurf, Chaos Smurf
Guest: Apache00
Download Here

Live Talk Episode 2:  MMORPG (Original Air Date: Oct 9th, 2005)
 Hosts:  Havoc Smurf, Chaos Smurf
Guests:  NinjaRay, Kunzendorf, & Jugernaut Smurf
Theme Music:  BrewGuy

Download Episode 2 Here

Live Talk Episode 3: The XCL Forums Show (Original Air Date: Oct 26th, 2005)
Hosts:  Havoc Smurf, Chaos Smurf
Guest: Jaken Bear
Theme Music: BrewGuy

Show Notes:
-Wolfenstein Coming to Xbox 360!!
-Interview with Jaken Bear
-Discussion of the XCL forums
-A look at the top posters
-A look at some of the top posts
-Witty Smurf banter you can’t find anywhere else

Download Episode 3 Here

Live Talk Episode 4: Video Game Violence (Original Air Date: Nov 17th, 2005)
Hosts:  Havoc Smurf, Chaos Smurf
Guests: Terror Smurf & Three Fifty Z
Theme Music:  BrewGuy

Download Episode 4 Here

The Icon: Well after spending about 14 hours in both single and co-op multiplayer I felt I would post some review comments for those of you still sitting on the fence for this game. Don’t ask how I got the game cause I ain’t telling!!!!

Firstly if you didn’t like the demo don’t bother with this game. You get to experience most of the main gameplay mechanic here. However its is the depth content where I feel the full version has become more appealing. If you are the type of person who likes the random loot drops and level grinding then this is the game for you. There are very cool individual character skill trees for each class that further branch off after the first level. It starts to get cool when you have to make your first permanent decision. To cybernetically enhance or not to cybernetically enhance. Each “alignment” Cyborg or Human has a different skill tree available to them as well as different equipment. So far this choice has been the only permanent one I’ve seen in the game. The rest of the skill trees can be completely re-distributed for a price. You can use the games currency referred to as “bounty” which is obtained as a drop item or by salvaging/selling unused out dated equipment, to re-map the character. However every time you perform this the price to do rises. But if you don’t like your characters current layout you are free to change anything in either your class skill tree of your alignment skill tree. You just can’t change your characters class or alignment. I love this feature. Nothings worse then investing hours of playtime iinto a character and then realizing that the first 10 points you spent are on useless or unused skills for your gameplay style. The loot drop and naming system follows the diablo/hellgate london dungeon siege style systems. There are different rarities and pieces. You can also used collected runes which also have rarities to customize some weapons with abilities. That being said, as much as you enjoy your level 18 glorious fiery hammer of noob smashing, chances are you will be swapping it out for something more powerful within 3 or 4 levels. The only part I hate about this is that sometimes you have to substitute a really wicked looking piece of armor for a much gayer looking piece. However a great feature that I feel must be included in every game of this type is that every single piece of equipment in the game has a unique appearance on your character. That being said if you go through the inventory everytime you pick something up this game will drag on very slowly. I recommend not bothering even checking your stash until you level up or finish a level, or else you will be micro-managing forever. It’s really not necessary and it can take away from the enjoyable pace of the game.

There is a ton of action in this game. Lot’s of enemies to kill. Unfortunately in my current experience not of lot of different base types. That being said I’m only halfway through. However I have noticed that on the higher levels the enemies start to obtain unique armor and damage inflicting properties i.e. freezing, slowing, immunity to ballistic weapons etc. It add some variety. But so far I feel that the variety is too few. However I have played through the first half of the game twice in one day, once in SP and once in MP so it may just be Too Human overload. Jake has played through the game so he could comment a little more on the enemy variety. Also in a MP game the enemies are all spawned based on some sort of combination of you & your partners combined stats. The game ramps up the number/difficulty of enemies from sp to mp so it’s always challenging. In fact we got our asses kicked more times in mp then I ever did in sp. Also Jake disagrees (he has the worst memory anyway, he swore to me for 2.5 hours that we were at the end of al level soon.) but last night I watched as GeekesS played through the first level, some of the maps have slight differences between sp & mp. Jake denies this but I can assure you it is 100% and confirmed. They are only subtle.

As for character creation you really start to see differences in the classes as you get more powerful. Any character to generally be decent at any one style of play but they really start to diversify as you get more experienced. I have a level 28 cybernetic commando that can do decent melee, but generally is a lead hose. When I watch GeekesS play as a Berserker flying from enemy to enemy my guy looks like a snail at melee combat. The only class I can’t seem to get my head around is the bio-engineer. He just doesn’t seem like fun to me. However that is based purely on speculation.

Another unique property is that all of the types of weapons have pro’s cons, with generally the 2 handed versions of those weapons being stronger & slower and the dual-wield versions being faster and weaker. For example and hammer has the unique property of an area of effect pop-up attack , i.e. it launches multiple enemies into the air at once. The staves excel at having a wide arc of attack etc. Dual pistols can target two seperate enemies at once, lasers inflict more damage the longer they stay on target. Combos are a very important part if gameplay in too human. your ruiner moves and your battlecries are all powered from your combo meter. Most characters can build up their meter to level 3. Certain characters that have chosen the “Human” can increase their combo meter higher. This is one of the big differences between cyborg and human. Cyborgs on the other hand are able to carry the heaviest ballistic weapon in the game… Cannons.. god bless cannons especially in the hands of my commando. Each ballistic weapon has three primary projectile types. There are traditional “slug”, and area of effect plasma and a concentrated laser. Each has different game play advantages as well. Personally I’m partial to Slug & laser weapons.

You can create several different characters on any account and they all are treated as separate gameplay instances. You can transition your character from sp/mp without any issues and the game scales its difficulty accordingly. Also the achievements for mission completion are unlockable from sp or mp in almost all cases.

This game is meant to be played through more than once and with more than one different character. I’m having a blast with it. The main character is cool as hell. He speaks with a holier than thou tone that is very condescending to his enemies. Level grinders will really enjoy it. If you like coop this is your game! If Diablo and Hellgate London are your style this is for sure your game.

Geekess: I’ve been playing through as a Berserker and have been watching the boyfriend play through as a Commando. While my Berserker is much more efficient in close quarter combat, and finds no difficulty sliding between enemies for quick melee damage, the Commando is much more effective with a cannon at a distance. Our skill trees are completely different, each class started with different choices and we focused on different attacks. He has decided to focus more on ballistic ranged damage, while I’ve opted for two-handed melee damage. He chose to go the path of the Cybernetic, and I chose the Human path. Both our skill trees are different because of our classes, and because of what we chose to focus on. Essentially after choosing Berserker class, I can create 6 characters with different strengths: two handed gun combat, strong two-handed melee combat, or quick two-handed melee combat and each character with either a Cybernetic or Human focus.

The inventory system reminds me of the KOTOR inventory system. I’m not saying that it’s pretty, but once you play around with it a bit, it becomes easier to navigate. Yes you’re always going to pick-up new loot because it’s a loot based game! I’ve never had to scrounge for money or save up to craft a piece of armor or weapon. By going through the inventory and selling whatever is old and weak and crafting new armor after leveling up I’ve had no issues with a messy inventory. Yes the cool armor set I make will only last a few levels, but I still look forward to bigger and better armor I’m going to be able to craft.

I haven’t yet tried multiplayer as we only have one copy of the game, but I’m looking forward to it and after watching some friends play, I can see myself spending the majority of time in a co-op game. I believe o-op will also give me a chance to try out the different classes such as the Bioengineer and I’ll focus more on defense while my teammate focuses on the enemy.

The story so far has been entertaining. I’ve enjoyed watching the cut scenes and don’t feel as though they’ve been added into the action. The ideas of the civilization and ideals seem complete. I’m interested in what will happen in the story based on events that have happened and love the integration of Norse Mythology. I enjoy playing through the single player with the story and will miss seeing the cutscenes when going through the game again in multiplayer.

My major gripe with the game is the camera. For the most parts it’s okay, but when it goes to a stationary camera in the room, or I’m trying to aim a distant finisher attack it really gets on my nerves when I’m aiming the wrong way. All because I’m aiming with the thumbsticks from what I perceive to be right behind my character, when I’m really a couple degrees left or right due to a recent turn.

I am really looking forward to finishing my first character in the game, and am looking even more forward to playing through as a different class in multiplayer. We don’t get two copies of many games but this is one and I know we’re going to get our worth out of it.

TK421: I rented Too Human a week and a half ago and have enjoyed it much more than I anticipated. It was due back last Thursday but just haven’t been able to bring myself to return it. I played once through as a champion, figuring being decent in all areas would be a good introduction and I could focus on whatever area I like. I kind of preferred the melee fighting and so was always trying use runes to increase my attack speed, juggle times etc which noticeably helped.

Then on the second time through since I was enjoying melee combat more than anything I went with berzerker. Man what a difference, right of the bat the berz’s slides and speed far surpassed anything I could upgrade to with the champion. I think I miss the armour and shooting abilities I had as a champion sometimes, but holy crap is it ever a lot of fun zipping around and maxing out the combo meter! I’m getting close to the end of the 2nd playthrough and the areas in Hel that gave me a lot of trouble before (where the enemies are swarming and shooting at you) were a hell of a lot easier and the bodies were just flying.

I could see myself even playing it a few more times, I haven’t even tried doing the cybernetic route, or a character that is gun based and has a cannon, or co-op. But I really should return the rental as soon enough I might as well have bought it due to late charges.

Apache00: Yeah I’m wondering what Gamespot was smoking, giving this game a 5.5? I refuse to believe that this game is worthy of a 5.5, that is just ridiculous. I think it’s a victim of it’s own hype. It may not live up to certain peoples expectations, but it’s still not a mediocre game.

Creeping Judas: I like the game but I hate the inventory, not being able to heal, camera, and aiming!!! Graphics are of low quality, Outtie stay away from this one!!! 3.5 angry clowns recommend this game. thats my rating.

The Outcast: How the hell did I get dragged into this one?

XprestoneX: Controls f#%$ing suck ass! I rented this yesterday and I am glad I only rented it and didn’t waste my money on it. Especially with games like Fable 2, The force Unleashed, and Fall out 3 around the corner.

I don’t mind the graphics, I thought they were ok, not great but ok. For the hype of the game and how long its been in production……..its a big let down!

Apache00: I might as well put my two cents in here as well. As far as the controls go I think they are the complete opposite of “completely sucking ass” as pres so eloquently put it. I think they are extremely precise and responsive, but at the same time they require skill to be used effectively. Yes the first little while they might seem like they are terrible, because you haven’t even learned how to use them yet. This is a control scheme that’s never been used before, of course you aren’t going to pick it up and play like a pro immediately. This is one of those games that requires you to be patient sometimes and work through the occasional frustration to be able to fully enjoy the game.

I know there are those of you who say that you shouldn’t have to do that for a game, it should always be fun. Seriously? I’m sure that there have been times in every game I’ve played that frustrated me. Some of my favorite games are like that. Oblivion frustrated the HELL out of me for a little while, but then I adjusted how I played it and it went back to being fun again. This is the type of game that you get out of it what you put in. It’s going to appeal to some and not to others, that’s just the nature of the beast.

Mercury 869: I am rather mixed on it. I truthfully hate the acting on the cinematics I think the dialog is brutal haha. The camera, yea its can get very frustrating especially when your engaged in combat. I dont mind the combat system though the melee with the right stick is kind of cool and I like the fact that if you pick a beserker and spec the right way your attack speed gets faster and faster with more combo points. I still dont understand how those points fully work I know when I hit the RB button my guy lights up the ground around him.

Heinrich Pants: What I really like is that you can pick up a bunch of armor pieces that don’t match, buy a dye rune and switch them all to the same color. it makes your character look a lot less like a circus clown.

Mister Switch: Don’t tell CJ that.

XprestoneX: I have to be honest the more I play the more I like it, but still not enough to buy it! This game feels like it was rushed and unfinished, there isn’t even SOUND OPTIONS for crying out loud! With our current generation of games and systems I would EXPECT to be able to adjust the volume levels for FX and Voices etc.!

Also the annoying Valkyrie that takes your body away, falls through the floor and we have noticed alot of glitches with friends falling through the map and keep falling and falling and falling until progress is made by the other individual.

Chaos Smurf: This game doesn’t require any skill. It’s a grinder and nothing more. Wave after wave of enemies and you handle them pretty much in the same fashion. I love the loot!

JakenBear: There is definitely more involved in the combat then just holding out your right stick. Air Juggles by doubble tapping towards an enemy, Finishers by using both sticks, circling on your R stick when surrounded, using long range fierce projectile attacks, ruiners, battle cries, spiders, and the most important thing : stringing together your combo hits to raise your combo meter and kick ass.

Overall, I am still learning new ways to take on the enemies. At level40 and above, you really need to mix these strategies up or you will die…and die quickly.

Kirbydb: One thing that I knew about but didn’t get to put into practice until last night was the pairings for co-op. Last night I played with Icon and he was the Bio-Engineer and I was the berserker. He was hanging back a little picking of the guys on the edge of the crowds and I was wading through the middle. His battlecry would heal me and his spider would heal me and my battlecry helps the bioengineer melee skills.Its a nice touch.

Mercury869: Dont play with him when he is using his commando I found myself flying away….alot

TheIcon: mmmm yeah…. my level 50 commando is a force to be reckoned with. I hav a LasCannon that does 396 Damage points (plus the 40% ballistic weapon boost) and a level 50 Hammer that does 2286points of damage (minus the commandos 40%melee damage penalty)

Mercury869: I just beat the game last night and was wrather dissapointed with the ending.

Moghlear: Remember Merc, this is a 3 part series, so that means more to come.

Date: September 10-14, 2008

Location: Holiday Inn Guelph

Admission is $90 for Thursday and Friday (combined) and $90 Saturday. We will have six Xbox 360 set ups each with an HD Projector and a really big f’ing screen. GAME ON!

 

10 essential tips for attending XCLE 2009. Many of these may seem like common sense but it never hurts to know…

1. Bring your own controller. It’s a good idea to also mark or label the controller somehow so you know which is which. Mark your battery too!!

2. If you’re drinking, please don’t depend or “mooch” off of others unless you ask first. Also, it’s always a good idea to bring/buy beverages for those that put this whole event together as well as the occasional administrator. That would be Night Chicken, Jake, or myself. I’ll drink Ray’s.

3. Please do not put any drinks on the tables that hold the audio/visual equipment. Alcoholic drinks are NOT allowed in the conference room (at first).

4. Please be aware of your personal hygiene. XCL enforces a mandatory one shower per day rule. Don’t forget to brush your teeth regularly too!

5. Please don’t wait for Night Chicken to find you and have to ask you for payment. Make paying him your first priority when you arrive. Rumour has it that he has enlisted BradofCanada to do collections. Brad owns guns. You do the math.

6. If you’ve never met Night Chicken, here’s who you’re looking for.

The one with the moustache idiot! Here’s another shot just to be sure.

Actually, since this is XCLE, chances are he’ll look like this.

7. If you crash unexpectedly in someone’s room, do the right thing and offer that person some money for use of the floor.

8. Treat other people’s belongings with respect.

9. Know the one sheet rule if sharing a bed. One sheet separation must be maintained at all times unless otherwise agreed upon. One sheet separation is the responsibility of the last person to enter the bed.

10. Some quick hits that may save you some embarassment. Brad doesn’t really eat eyeball soup. Ray’s not really asian nor is he as crabby in real life as he is on the forums. Icon is dating Geekess. That clingy person attached to his hip is Mercury.

Let’s make it one to remember people!

Creeping Judas: I was talking about Batman/Dark Knight last night with the wife and we got into a discussion whether he is a superhero or not? Wikipedia defines a superhero as such: “By most definitions, characters need not have actual superhuman powers to be deemed superheroes, although sometimes terms such as costumed crimefighters are used to refer to those without such powers who share other common traits with superheroes.” He has no super powers, he hasnt been bitten by a bat to give him the bat like abilities, he has no extra sensory powers related to a bat?? So my answer is no, he is not a super hero!!

Hitman: Is Iron Man a Superhero? He dosnt have powers. You could argue that Tony Stark is like Bruce Wayne: Rich enough and smart enough to build what they need to fight crime. I would consider them superheros, just for the fact that they are symbols to the public and do what no others do. They fight a higher level of crime and evil. Although thinking about it, does Batman’s Villains have super powers? Joker, Two Face, Riddle, Catwoman. They are all just human with a little bit of psycho thrown in.

Skeleton: He is a superhero though, albeit one without powers. If you take in his superior physical conditioning, the amount of fighting styles he knows, and his insane detective skills, wrap that all up in a tormented human being in the pursuit of justice, and his tendency to play dress up, well, if he isn’t a superhero, what the heck is he? Not to mention his long standing in the JLA, and the fact that in several stories, he’s the one guy able to take Superman down on ANY given day….

Imsel: He has abilities beyond the average guy as mentioned above, which makes him a superhero â„¢. They may not be outside the human range, but he’s at the top of the human scale. Similar for Green Arrow who is a regular guy with crazy archery skill. As an aside (and fun fact) DC and Marvel jointly hold the trademark on the term superheroâ„¢.

Skeleton: I would also like to add that he was part of this group:

Bruzza B2: My opinion is that heroes that don’t have some fancy power package to fall back on are more heroic. He gets hurt, injured and takes on a large amount of risk to do what he does… THAT’s heroic. If he knew he could step in front of a freight train and not get hurt, there’s no risk. Never been a Superman fan, as you might have guessed!

Kirbydb: I think that gadgets aside he still has fighting and detective skills that are superhuman, so I would have to say he is a superhero. The joker is a supervillain and his claim to fame is the chemical dip he got that gave him his grin and skin color and high intelligence. The Penguin is smart and has umbrellas, Two face is crazy (and has the coin) and the riddler is smart. They all mirror Batman in high intellect and gadgets. The supervillain definition from Wiki is:

“They are often used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes. Whereas superheros often wield fantastic powers, the supervillain possesses commensurate powers and abilities so that he can present a daunting challenge to the hero. Even without actual magical or superhuman powers, the supervillain often possesses a genius intellect that allows him to draft complex schemes or create fantastic devices. Many supervillains share some typical characteristics of real world dictators, mobsters, and terrorists and often have aspirations of world domination or universal leadership. Superheroes and supervillains often mirror each other in their powers, abilities, or origins. Often the only difference between the two is that the hero uses his extraordinary powers to help others, while the villain uses his powers for selfish purposes.”

CJ you have the uncanny ability to team kill in any game and an unhealthy habit of tea bagging after said team kill. Do those above average abilities make you a superhero/villain?

Mercury: I am going to have to say no, Batman much like Punisher and Iron Man are not superheros they are just action junkies who are really vigilantes. I mean technically all superheros are vigilantes because they go above the law to fight crime. But in my opinion to define a superhero he has to have some sort of super power.

Skeleton: I hate to disagree with you on that. Lumping Punisher in with Batman and Iron Man is like comparing apples to oranges. Punisher never thinks twice about killing who he perceives to be a villain. He believes he is above the law. Batman & Iron Man although do heroic things, tend to honor and uphold the law as well, and have worked with law enforcement on several occasions.

Batman has had plenty of time to hand out justice by killing those he faces, like The Joker for instance. Instead, he captures them, turns them over to the police, and sees that they are incarcerated or hospitalized. His belief comes down to this: Help those who need help, and inspire the masses to better themselves and the world around them. And that’s what makes him a superhero. His refusal to take the easy road and kill endless amounts of villains, and instead aim for the dream that one day there will be no need for him or his friends.

Mister Switch: Batman (like Ironman) is not a ’superhero’ …. he is a detective. a rich one. Just because he’s better than you doesn’t make him a superhero. Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky … SUPERHEROES!

Imsel: Well, they would be if they used their mad skillz for something other than selling underwear… Like maybe fighting crime. Tony Stark works for SHIELD now… so not really a vigilante anymore…

KrossRoad: He doesn’t think he’s a hero, therefore he can’t be a superhero.

Copper 1087: Anyone that can dive off of a skyscraper building to save the falling girl, land on the earth below on your back and the chick lives and thanks you for that, is all superhero in my books.

Umm, you guys need to get out more!

Another year, another delay … this is starting to seem like par for the course with these things and again I’m making my laptop thes excuse. Over the years we’ve developed some pretty unique characters within our community and this year is all about celebrating these folks. This year we’ve strayed from the typical voting format to one which members were allowed to submit their own categories, winner and reasons for each. I have a lot of fun bringing these to you every year. I hope you all enjoy them as well. That said, let’s get on to the wieners… err, winners!

The “I Giggle Like A School Girl” Award:

You know the type. Heck, some of you old farts probably have kids about this age. I’m talking about those young girls that giggle at everything. If you’re in a big game online and you hear someone giggling, chances are it’s Aelph. Dude, take some comfort in the fact that the person that submitted this is one of those “old farts”!

The “I Hate Everyone Equally” Award:

This award recognizes he who has no regard for another player’s life no matter which team they are on. Creeping Judas, this one’s a no brainer bro. You’ve cornered the market on team-killing. I have to say though, you’ve managed to pull it off in a way that’s almost comical. That’s true skill that needs to be recognized!

The ”Mad Adrenal” Award:

From time to time, really good members go missing. Sometimes they resurface, other times not. This one’s in honour of Scott/Adrenal/Moghlear, the king of long absences. BrewGuy and Buggo, where are you?

The Sacrifice For The Greater Good Award:

A few people allowed XCL to refocus towards our community roots. For that, we thank you.

The “I Have No Shame” Award:

From openly exploiting host advantage, making hot dogs with “real” wieners and often showing off his package via the Live Cam, there is no one with less shame than The Icon. If you’re going to brag, don’t offer up photographic proof totally contradicting yourself!

“Teh Unabashed Fanboy” Award:

If the spelling of this one isn’t any more of a clue… if there was a PS3 skin for the 360, you know tehflakes would buy one for all of us.

XCL’s Bullet Sponge:

One of the best new additions to XCL is also our biggest bullet sponge. DrkStr47, we love ya but no one’s stopping you from wading into a gunfight first. Seriously, you’re like a magnet. This is no easy feat considering he ended NinjaRay’s reign is this category!

XCL’s Evil Twins:

Silk’s rocking a pretty wicked beard these days leading to speculation that he is indeed related to BradofCanada!

Seriously, who’s who?

The “Straight Up” Self Promotion Award:

In his younger days when we had categories that you could vote on, KrossRoad set the bar voting for himself across a wide array of skill categories. Blizz, you’ve been around for a while, you’d think you’d know better. Making a submission for Best Admin, voting for all four, then nominating yourself for XCL’s biggest ass-kisser AND cheater? Good job!

The Most Polite XCL’er:

While everyone else is using their Live Cam to flash obscenities (or show that they game while not wearing pants) while playing Burnout, TK 421’s live cam always shows him smiling away happily. Here’s to the guy that never gets pissed.

XCL’s Grammar King:

We’ve always prided ourselves on having a good command of the English language, spelling and grammar.

One XCL’er has his own set of grammar rules.

The Outcast is the king of the one sentence paragraph.

Let’s hope this trend does not catch on.

It’ll be interesting to see Outtie’s response.

The “OCD” Award:

He plays one game and one game only to the point of obsession, he’s probably got probably the smallest library of games and he’s the only XCL’er I know of that is immune to the XCL Effect. He’s Chaos Smurf.

Most Hardcore XCL’er:

Not having high speed internet at home, Kirbydb carts his 360 and a six pack of beers to his office to get his Xbox Live game on. That’s hardcore. Dude rocks a kilt pretty hard too. Is there such thing as hardercore?

XCL’s Biggest Perv:

Sure, you’re probably thinking The Icon has this one covered, right? Wrong. Hansolocujo’s middle name is practically “rub n tug”. Who’s rooming with this guy at XCLE this year? Watch out. He’ll push the beds together.

The “How The F*#! Is This Guy So Good”Award:

Usually we associate the more skilled gamer with the younger crowd. Perhaps they’re still in school, don’t have a full time job or maybe they’re just nerds that need to get out more. This final award not only celebrates one of our most skilled gamers but is also an interesting paradox. theGERV is freakishly good, the type of guy you want on your team because he’ll kick your ass if he’s not. He defies all stereotypes though with a wife, job AND kids. Seriously, how do you do it?

Last (and least) we have The “Seriously” Award:

Mercury869. Seriously