Blog Banter: Girl Gamers = Hawt

Seems a little weird that my last post was the previous Blog Banter… It’s been a while since I posted, yes I know, but I am back, and hopefully will be updating semi-almost-regularly. This round of Blog Banter has an interesting subject: gaming with your significant other.

Seeing as I don’t have a significant other, and furthermore have a severe lack of experience in this category, this entire article is speculative on my part. So here we go!

Let me start of by saying that a girl who plays video games automatically gets a respect boost even if I haven’t met her. Reason? Well, guys like to feel that they have things in common with their spouse, so when a girl is interested in something that most guys are really in to, that’s a big plus.

Another positive aspect of girls playing video games is that, despite the angry cries of old politicians, video games are fun, social activities that often encourage better communication, and we all know how important communication is to a relationship. Without good communication, how can a couple expect to score a flag capture if they don’t even know where the flag is?

There is also a the situation of music games. Ahhh music games. Most people play or have played them, so honestly, a girl that only plays guitar hero (and not even regularly) to me doesn’t really qualify for that respect bonus i talked about earlier (not that I don’t respect them, don’t take that the wrong way). It does, however, show promise, as music games are often gateways to more “hardcore” gaming experiences.

To give you an example of how men react to female gamers, I need only remind you of the undoubtedly ridiculous moments in matchmaking where a girl is present. Men flock to her and ask if she’s hot, they pester her and target her to no end, even at the expense of their own lives.

So as I sit here, eating my delicious apple pie, I will say one thing to all you female gamers out there: Your boyfriends, fiancees, and husbands appreciate you, very much.

Other participants!
Gaming with my wife, You could be doubling alone, Next Gen Killed Our Gaming Relationship, Forced Perspective, Playing With My Toys, From Gaming Geek to Heroes Freak, My Lady and Gaming, Gaming with your significant other, Gaming Together, Maybe?, Girl Gamers = Hawt, Gaming with my significant other, Move Over Hott Boy, I Want to Play, Valentine’s Day is for Gamers, Frag the Girlfriend!!, ‘Til Mongoose Do Us Part

Blog Banter: All I Want for Christmas Is…

When BS Angel asked for contributors to Blog Banter, I figured it would be a great way to promote my blog, and an even better way to build an awesome online community around everyone’s sites. When I approached her, she was more than enthusiastic to have another contributor. Here is a paraphrasing of our conversation:

Me: Hey Angel, I was interested in doing the blog banter thing. Sign me up!

Angel: AWESOME! i’ll put your blog down on the list, the subject is what you want for christmas from the game developement industry.

Me: Sweet, i’ll start writing it now!

Angel: You’re the coolest person ever of all time forever.

Ok, that that one was a lie, but you get the idea. Were it not for people like Angel, the online gaming community would be sorely lacking in humour and inappropriate screenshots and innuendos relating to our favorite games. So a big thank you goes out to her.

So without further ado, I give you my Blog Banter article!

My first video game was Duke Nukem 3D, and yes, it IS awesome, I know. I played it on my uncle’s brick of a laptop in 1997 when I was but six years old. Video games became more casual for me, but four years ago when I was thirteen, I bought an Xbox with the intent of playing Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (which is a gem, and I hope you go out and buy it if you haven’t played it). Little did I know a little game called Halo would change my life forever. I went from an RPG kid to an FPS kid, a now crowded group of gamers. I loved Halo, through and through. Everyday after school my friends and I would go home and LAN with each other. Usually I was the winner, excelling at almost every aspect, save driving. Halo was a rare game, one that combined copious amounts of creativity with stellar gameplay, utilizing the “30 seconds of fun” technique, every second of Halo was a joy.

One of the biggest problems with the video game industry, in my opinion, is that it doesn’t care. In the late 90’s and early 2000’s, EA proved this by releasing excessive amounts of shit for us to gobble up. Why? because this dreck sold, it was aimed at people without a lot of time on their hands, so it appealed to their “if it has guns or explosions I will buy it” instinct. EA has since realized that releasing shitty game just won’t cut it anymore, and have since put quite a bit of excellent games out on the market, not the least of which include Dead Space, Mirror’s Edge, and Spore.

Sadly, It appears as though in order to fill the void of the publisher of shitty games, Activision has stepped up to the plate, releasing games like Secret Service, and International Baja 1000. True, they did release Call of Duty 4, but that was over a year ago, and They have since used its engine in three games, most of which were mediocre at best.

This is the biggest issue with the gaming industry, many companies do not take care of their consumers. Not by hiking prices or having good customer service support lines, but by making solid, fun, and enjoyable games. A company like EA has got it right: release less games, but make them better than a burrito with dog shit inside (that would be pretty bad, in case you didn’t catch my drift).

So if I would like one thing from the gaming industry this year, it would most certainly be for all developement studios to put time and effort in to their games. To make every game thinking it might be the best game ever, and to give it that sort of love and attention. If it takes a year longer or two to make, let it take that long, our wait will be worthwhile if you love what you are making. Because when you love your product and are proud of the creative properties inside it, we will too in almost every case. Even if you are working on the new sequel to Petz Catz 2, you can give it the love and affection evry games deserves.

So that’s my wish for this year, maybe it will come true, or maybe i’ll get a burrito filled with dog shit.

Das Kalk

Other participants!
What I want in 2009, The “Roxanne” Edition, Dear Gaming Industry, if the industry gave us all presents this Christmas, Demands for the industry, Santa, Don’t Bring Me Toys I Have To Share, All I Want for Christmas Is…, My Wish for the Year, Crossing Over, Checkpoint Unobtained. errr., Loading Requests, LISTEN BITCH!!!, One Wish, Dear Video Game Industry

X-Gay

Fable II won X-Play’s game of the year earlier today, and I for one think it’s a load of bullshit. you can check out the video here, and afterwards you can see Adam Sessler’s reasoning here.

Although I totally do not agree with this choice (mine would likely have been Fallout 3), I do think some of their decisions were well made, and support Sessler and his staff for staying steadfast in their decision. He does raise excellent points about Fable II, however game reviewing is very subjective.

Personally, I wish that Dead Space was somewhere on that list, it was one of the best survival horror games I have ever played, even surpassing RE 4 in my opinion.

Leave a comment and tell me what you think!

No Faking

The fifth episode of the Real 7alk podcast is up, featuring some interesting guests. By far the most interesting guest is the beloved Hawty McBloggy. You can hate me Hawty, but I think your interview is interesting.

Hit the link for the real deal.

Jack Thompson: Eat Your Heart Out

You may not know my agonizing hatred for Jack Thompson, but if you are even reading this, then you likely harbor a similar distaste for his baseless spew about video game violence. Here is a video that confirms what many of us already knew…

Lifetime: Game face

Experience The Experience

Finally, we can simply have a bunch of friends in a lobby to chat about whether we should play horde mode (which is a bundle of fun by the way) or whether we should simply play some team snipers. The new Xbox experience hits your consoles today, but there’s more than just a pretty new aesthetic to the dashboard.

Along with the sleek new look, you are now able to rent movies from Netflix right to your console, create avatars (informally dubbed the Xii) and make them burp, but most importantly, I think, is that you can now look at community games. Community games, as far as I can tell, are games that were created using the XNA over the summer. The XNA is an easy-to-use game developement tool that allows for us aspiring game creators to make games we want to play. This is perhaps the most exciting part about the new xbox experience.

So what are you waiting for? Boot up your little white box and experience the experience! I know as soon as I get home from school, my avatar will be burping and getting his photo taken for my gamer picture!

Playing With His Companion Cube

Here’s a little video of G4TV’s Morgan Webb touring the outstandingly awesome Epic Games studios for G4TV’s Gears Of War 2 special that aired today. For the most up-to-date gaming news, feel free to check out G4TV.com since they basically have the most rad gaming news out there, and…you know…it’s up-to-date…

What’s Five Bucks?

Now, more than ever, plenty of solid games are coming out and there’s quite a bit of free shit to be had. I’m here to fill you in on some of the upcoming games with some pre-order bonuses!

Having just finished Fallout 3 and having thoroughly enjoyed myself listening to its soundtrack that I got from pre-ordering the game, I decided it would be a good time to let you all know about some fantastic deals on pre-orders.

Call Of Duty: World At War

With a pre-order of the next installment in the Call Of Duty franchise, you’ll gain access to a limited multiplayer beta. No doubt the beta has some troublesome bugs, such as one where you can walk on water (much to the chagrin of my pursuers) and one where you can hide underneath the ground, able to kill, but not to be killed. Folks who took a liking to COD 4 will feel at home, and newcomers will enjoy a fun, fast experience.

Mirror’s Edge

When you put down the five bones to guarantee this gem of a game, you’ll immediately receive an unlock code for the time trial mode in the demo, and when the game comes out, you’ll receive a messenger bag just like your runner buddy in the game! NOTE: please do not attempt to do some of the crazy shit you see in the game, you’ll die, and DICE will not be responsible for your lack of judgment. If the game is as addictive as the demo, then I’ll be in for some long free-running nights, and hopefully I’ll be able to beat your times on time trial mode.

Gears Of War 2

If you decide to guarantee your copy of the highly anticipated third person action game from acclaimed developer Epic Games, you’ll receive (in limited quantities) a golden hammerburst and lancer in multiplayer, and at EB Games only, you’ll get a free EDGE card, as well as a badass poster about the size of an elephant’s foot.

Halo 3: Recon

No free shit for this one yet, though I will be sure to let you know since I am the first in my town to get this one on pre-order. For those of you itching to guarantee a copy, head on in to your local game store to drop fiver and make sure you ask the release date.just so you know I’m not messing with you, here is my receipt: