Grid 2

Grid 2 (Steam)


Been playing a few racing games in preparation for the new Grid on my new setup and racing games are awesome on triple screens. I did have a little trouble getting the original Grid setup to use the wide resolution, I had to go into the xml settings file and make some updates. My wheel also had some small issues, but I was able to work them out. I still had to use my keyboard though because of the flashback feature that lets you rewind if you make a mistake, for some reason I can initiate the flashback, but you have to press F12 in order to accept your location. I have the same issue in the Dirt titles as well. All of these issues are fixed in Grid 2. The game has native multiple monitor support so the HUD is on the middle screen. It recognized my Wheel and even had specific configurations so setup was easy. All the advance wheel settings looked to be pre-setup, I had read they used the CSR to be the main wheel they used in development.

Grid 2 leans more to the arcade side of racing with a touch of simulation. It isn't Forza or Gran Turismo and it isn't Need for Speed, it sits in the middle. Codemasters created a special True Driving model that has no assist options that you can set like in the past games. They wanted to simplify the actual driving experience so that you could really feel the difference in driving various cars. Most of the forums have negative feedback about this saying the game is casual and not a simulation. I partially agree, the driving is fun and is more accessible, but you still have to use good driving principles or you will likely crash. The casual side for me is in the collisions, I'm able to crash into barriers and other cars like a Need for Speed game and still zoom around the track. There is some mechanical damage that you can inflict, I had one instance where I had to drive with the wheel turned to the left to keep the car straight, but for the most part you can fly around the track and not care who or what you hit. I played the first Grid the week prior and I can notice the difference between the driving models. I wish the driving model was somewhere between the two games, Grid was too rigid while Grid 2 is too relaxed.

The single and multi-player are distinct experiences so you have to unlock cars separately which is a bummer. I've played about 20 online matches and they've been really fun. There have been a couple of times it was a crashfest, but for the most part people drove realistically. They have a ton of different race types to keep the game interesting. I was in a lobby of 12 people, some events we all raced together and it others it was me vs one other racer. If a racer is backing up or going the wrong way it will make that car a ghost so that they can't grief the other racers.

There isn't a cockpit view in the game so that's another bummer. I'm using the bonnet cam which is fine and does make it easier to see the track. The graphics look great and they have a lot of atmospheric additions to the track. While racing in California through a winding road though a forest leaves will float across the road, or a squirrel will scamper across. Each of the 14 locations is very detailed and some take place in cites so you can be racing in downtown Chicago under the train tracks, the shadows look awesome. In single player you have 5 flashbacks(rewinds) per race, it works basically the same as in the previous racing games.

Stuff

• Blizzard Cancels Titan and moves most developers to other projects.
• Arrested Development was watched on Netflix by half of Xbox Netflix users. Between 10 - 15 percent watched every episode in 2 days.  I watched the first 4 episodes and they are pretty good. I've read they continue to get better.
• Call of Duty:Ghosts is not using a new engine on Xbone, iterative of old engine.
• Scrolls goes on sale next week with open beta. Minecraft creators new game.
• Dayz creator climbed mount Everest, game coming to Steam early access soon.

Riverfest

Riverfest

Friday night went out and saw Daughtry, it was pretty crowded so we sat pretty far away. The opening of the first song failed to impress as did the rest of the concert. He must have been on tour for awhile because his voice was already shot. It was easy to hear that he was struggling and at one point he went off stage for about 20 seconds so I'm not sure if he took anything or got a shot of something to help him keep singing. We left after 7 songs and then we went to see Mitch play at WT Bubbas. He was able to get us in free, I wasn't sure what to expect since Riverfest was gong on, but there was a nice crowd. The band was very good and they had an excellent guitar player. They played for about 4 hours with only a 3 minute break. Mitch knew the fiddle player in Darius Rucker's band who were playing at Riverfest, and he brought the whole band, even Darius, who sang a couple of songs. When he hit the stage there was a throng of people with their phones out taking pictures. They had a steel guitar player who was from Australia and he was awesome and fun to watch. We stayed till around 2am and had to walk across the bridge, I did get a $5 hot dog from a stand outside the Rumba room, and met a women who had never had sauerkraut

On Saturday we were trying to decide if we wanted to go see Sugar Ray or not, I didn't have any desire so I Iooked up who else was playing around that time and saw Kingsdown. I watched a couple of their YouTube videos and was impressed so we went and saw them. They had an interesting opening, there was a single standing drum in front of the stage and 3 women came out with metal hula hoops who were twirlling them around there body while the drummer was pounding on the drum to some recorded music. This lasted for about a minute then the drummer went to the main drums while the lead singer took over then they stared the first song. The sound man was awful and it took about 2 songs before you could actually hear the singer. Once that was solved the band sounded great and they played about 10 songs. The lead singer mentioned they had opened for Poison at that very stage about 5 years ago then I remembered that I had seen the group before because I was at that show. The ending was probably the best ending I've seen at a show, but it's too hard to explain so you will have to go see them for that explanation.

We then had to walk back to see Black Stone Cherry. I wanted to get close to the stage because really if you go to a concert you need to be in the first couple of rows because that is where all the excitement is, if you've never been on the front rows then you are missing out on a true concert experience. I worked my way up to about the 7th row and had a decent time, since it was at Riverfest, the crowd was not as exuberant so it wasn't as exciting as it usually is. The band hadn't played live in a while since they were recording a new album, but they sounded great. They played all of their hits and saved Lonely Train for last. Next was Bush time and I wasn't excited about them. They sounded like grunge to me and I don't like that music, the singer sounded similar to Eddie Vedder who I can't stand so we left after about 5 songs. The people behind me made a comment that BSC was better than Bush, I agree. The problem I have with gunge is that the music to me is depressing, they use depressing chord progressions, and the biggest flaw no guitar solos.

I almost went and saw Tyrannosaurus Chicken on Sunday, but I was too tired. I did get to go eat lunch with Mark and his wife at Santo Coyote, and had some great guacamole. That night I did watch the fireworks from a field that overlooked downtown which lasted about 20 minutes. I've never been impressed by the fireworks in Little Rock, the best I've seen was at Oaklawn a long time ago when I was working at Magic Springs and we had to work in the infield selling light sticks. It could be that I had a hot girlfriend, Christina, at that time who was with me, and I was seeing other types of fireworks but that is not a story to tell.

New Releases - PC games this week, E3 is coming up so not many console releases.

PC:

• 99 Spirits
• GRID 2 - Pre-loaded on steam and will be playing around 11PM.
• Ku: Shroud of the Morrigan
• The Night of the Rabbit - Adventure game.
• Wargame Airland Battle

Xbox 360

• Fuse - Insomniac's first non-exclusive PS3 game. A co-operative shooter that looks interesting.

PS3:

• Fuse

PSV:

• LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey - Not exactly sure what this is.

3DS:

• LEGO Legends of Chima: Laval's Journey

Multiplayer Music?

Planetside 2 (Steam)


Robbie and Sean have put in over 200 hours so far into this f2p online shooter and way over $60 so this model does work if you can get crazy people to play your game. I've teamed up with them several times to play and spent most of the time lost and basically running all over the map only to get killed by the first person I saw then have to run back and repeat. There were a couple of times we got into a ship and was flying over the beautiful landscape and I got to reign down terror from the skies, well more like 5 shots before I would hit the wrong button and eject myself and fall to the ground in a crumpled mess. I would then have to respawn and run back so they could pick me up and then the whole cycle would repeat itself. There are some tutorial videos that I never watched that can ease you into the game, but you really need someone who knows that can guide you. I felt pretty bad asking the same questions over and over about where I was going and how to upgrade my guns, and what color is the enemy. The game is gorgeous looking if you have an Intel processor, on AMD you are lucky to get 15fps running the lowest settings. The game is CPU bound, even with my Titan I can get maybe 30fps on high settings in intense battles, my GPU is barely running but the CPU is taxed.

Last night we got on and I had a great time. I still haven't spent any money on the game so my guns and things I can use are limited but I was able to kill a couple of enemies in a row. The player list is large so you can get into some huge battles with tanks, ships, sundries, four wheelers, and just be amazed at all the commotion going on. You have medics healing fallen comrades and mechanics fixing smoking tanks. Those battles are all out crazy and just watching it from afar is really cool as a base falls to the attacker. We had the most fun taking out the smaller bases. In one instance we where on a small fast vehicle and came across a tank, Sean was driving and I was the gunner and we started shooting at him to divert his attention from Rob who was coming with a bigger tank,our plan worked as he came over a hill and Rob took him out quickly. Another instance Sean and I, Rob lost his connection, were on foot attacking a tank and was actually able to keep him at bay for a long while. He had to retreat for maintenance and came back and we ran him off again, usually I get one hit by the tank and it's over so that was a fun engagement. Once you start learning the game it gets better, they need to do a better job of making the game more accessible. They did release a VR tutorial mode where you can drive every vehicle and test every gun so that helps as you need to buy better guns and vehicle upgrades using cert points. You can get cert points slowly by just playing the game and gaining experience, but you can also buy them with money, I haven't spent anything yet and have been able to upgrade some of my stuff after playing around 6 hours so you really don't need to spend anything to have a good time. When I bought my Titan I got $50 worth of playstation points so I'm waiting on a triple bonus day and see if I can use it then.

Riverfest

There are a couple of bands I'd like to see so I'll be going at least 2 nights. Daughtry is decent, he was supposed to be this rocker on American Idol but his albums have sounded mostly like pop rock with catchy tunes. There isn't much heavy guitar but women like him so hopefully there will be something to look at. Saturday night is Black Stone Cherry which I'm excited to see. I've seen them in concert a few times and they put on a great show. The first time was at Juanitas and before the show I thought they were the guitar techs for another band. They play a more bluesy rock, at least on their first 2 albums, the latest one was over produced and tried to reach a broader market, I was disappointed. Lonely train is a rocking song. Sugar Ray might be fun, I've never listened to Bush. Peter Frampton is the star on Sunday night, but I'm not sure I feel like he do.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger ($15)


Wasn't sure what to expect since the last Juarez game was so bad that I didn't even play it. I've always liked western games, too bad there haven't been many. The first one I remember was Outlaws by Lucas Arts. That was a special game and had a great western feel and awesome music. I remember the chickens most of all. I wish there was a remake or updated version. I still have my CD around somewhere.

Both Red Dead and Gun were decent but not spectacular The first Call of Juarez was decent and had a cool story with 2 playable characters. I tried playing the second one, Bound in Blood, this week and got it to run on 3 monitors. For some reason it used a huge cross hair which covered most of the screen and I had to find a hack to remove it from the game That game also had 2 characters so there was some added replay value.

Of course the best western game is Red Dead Redemption which I wish they would have brought to the PC. It had the best story of any game an actually had a fantastic ending. John Marston is a character I won't soon forget. It might be my favorite game as I was just drawn into that world that felt so fleshed out. I loved the atmosphere and the music, the game had it all. The only downside was the character movements, they needed a little more fluid. The zombie expansion is great as well.

Now to the newest western game, Gunslinger, it's just awesome. It's a linear shooter game that has a ton of style and is just fun. You play as a gunslinger who is telling his "true" story to a group of cowboys in a saloon who recognized him from some old cowboy books.

Each mission has the gunslinger narrating the events of the game kind of like in Bastion, it adds a certain charm to the game and creates some neat story telling. Sometimes you may be in a fight and then the game stops as the gunslinger forgot something or misspoke about the enemies he was facing so the game changes immediately. It's had to explain but is cool in game. The voice work is perfect.

You become a bounty hunter so you get to face off or work with some of the biggest cowboys like Pat Garrett, Billy the Kid, and others. There are hidden items that have true facts about the different persona's which is great, you find out Billy the Kid wasn't so bad. The levels are pretty linear but the shooting feels great, it feels kind of like a western Doom, you do have to take cover but mostly you are gunning down enemies left and right and getting head shots and bonuses for hitting people on the run. There are 3 skill trees to upgrade depending on how you want to play. Duel wielding is fun but so is blasting a shotgun that sends enemies flying into the air, somewhat realisticly.

Some of the enemies you duel so it's just you and them in a quick draw fight. The way these battles are setup work great and there is constant tension. You have to focus on your enemy while keeping your hand close to your gun and wait until you see him draw, then unleash the fury. If you draw before they do then you get a dishonored kill.

I'm really impressed with Gunslinger, it's just a fun game. It's a downloadable title so it's priced at $15 so if you get a chance you should pick it up. I think it's around 4-6 hours so a decent amount of time, it has an arcade mode if you like hi-score chases. Hopefully they will add DLC or make a sequel.

Xbox One Metro Last Light

Metro Last Light

Hooked right from the start.

The sequel starts off with better pacing and just an overall better feeling game.

The game is still a linear shooter but with tons of atmosphere. The first hour is action packed and it was really hard to stop playing, well until my power went out.

Graphics are once again outstanding and the little touches make the world feel lived in.

They did change up the weapons as you can only have 3 main instead of 4. So far I haven't been able to purchase any guns or ammo which was immediate in the first game.

Stealth seems to play an important role in the game. Your watch glows when you can be seen so it's a little reminiscent of Thief.

The AI seems better as some enemies in the first game didn't react well and they are less bullet sponges. Getting a head shot feels rewarding and essential while in stealth.

So far I'm very impressed with the game and do recommend it to anyone that wants to play an interesting and unique shooter.


Xbox One

Watched the press conference and the device does seem pretty cool. They didn't show many games, but I expected that as E3 is only a couple of weeks away.

The name basically means one device for your living room. Most of the presentation revolved around media and accessing it quickly. The kinect integration, if to be believed, can switch between TV, music, games, and other apps in seconds which seemed to make it work better than a remote.

They are making a special Halo TV series just for Xbox with Steven Spielberg.

They did redesign the controller a bit and I like the look of it. They did change the d-pad and made each trigger have an independent rumble.

I couldn't really tell how much bigger/smaller it was than the slim 360 but it didn't seem overly large.

I'm not sure how it interacts with DirectTV or Cable but if it could act like a DVR then it could overtake the living room.

Here are the major buzzwords/phrases that caught my attention.

Feel alive

Harmonizing

the one

Xbox one

New Controller

glossy hardware = fingerprints

no input switching

snap mode

multiple programs at once

the cloud

3 operation systems

rocket science

300,000 servers for xbox Live

living in persistent worlds

ea sports ignite

NFL Fantasy Football

Ghosts

Metro 2033


I bought the sequel to this game last week and since I never finished the original I thought I had better get to it.

I finished the game this weekend after putting about 10 hours and it was a great atmospheric shooter.

It's more Half-life then COD which to me is a good thing. Sometimes COD is just too chaotic.

Metro is a creepy game, it takes place in Russia after a nuclear Holocaust so most of the game is played underground. There are some above ground sequences that require you to wear a gas mask and the effects are really cool. The mask can get cracked, iced over, and some other effects, as the filter wears down your breathing starts to grow louder and more stressed.

The currency of the game is bullets. I played on the normal difficulty and had no trouble finding ammo so it wasn't frustrating.

They had some cool pneumatic weapons in the game that you did have to pump up to shoot further. Your flashlight is also pneumatic so if you aren't careful you could unexpectedly be in the darkness.

The combat was interesting as you had human and mutant enemies. Every encounter was well paced and there were a lot of times it is just you walking and exploring an area not knowing what to expect and those are the scariest. There are a couple of jump scares that are effective.

The graphics are phenomenal and did overstress out my Titan while trying to play on triple screen so instead of turning the graphics down I just played on the one monitor. It's awesome looking.

Overall I really enjoyed the game and if you want a shooter that isn't crazy all the time you should pick the game up.


Frozen Synapse (iPad)

This was originally a PC game that finally got ported to the iPad and its a blast.

Do you remember the original Rainbow Six game where you had schematics and had to plan your attacks before starting your mission?  This game is all about planning and trying to outsmart your enemy.

There is a single player campaign that is quite lengthy with some great AI and then there is the asynchronous multiplayer. I haven't played much of the campaign as the multiplayer is really fun.

There are different modes in the game but the basic one is you control 4 soldiers with different weapons and are trying to have the last man standing.

There are a ton of options in the planning stage and at first it can be a little overwhelming. The UI is pretty good and setting up the basic tactics is pretty easy. It a learn as you go game so your tactics will get better the more you play.

Once you make your plans you can hit a play button that will simulate your current movements and once you are satisfied then you hit ready. Once your enemy has done the same you get to see the outcome. Watching this can be brutal especially if the enemy has a rocket launcher and takes out 2 of your men on the first turn.


Stuff

New Xbox reveal is this Tuesday and you can watch it live on Xbox.


New Releases - A ton of new PC releases.

PC

Call of Juarez Gunslinger - Tempted since I like western games, bun unsure because of the last one.

Dust: An Elysian Tail (download) - Awesome on the 360 and might pick it up here for 1080P.

Fallen Enchantress: Legendary Heroes (download - $40) - Got the original game and never really played it.

Fast & Furious: Showdown (download) - Movie tie-in = avoid?

Resident Evil: Revelations - Port of the 3DS game. Feels like original RE. Played the demo and it was good.

Skyward Collapse (download - $5)

The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing (download - $15) - Waiting on reviews.

Xbox 360

Call of Juarez Gunslinger (XBLA)

Fast & Furious: Showdown

Resident Evil: Revelations

PlayStation 3

Call of Juarez Gunslinger (PSN)

Fast & Furious: Showdown

Resident Evil: Revelations

Wii U

Fast & Furious: Showdown

Resident Evil: Revelations

Sniper Elite V2

Vita

Men's Room Mayhem (PSN - $2) - Not even going to comment on this one......

Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (PSN)

Nintendo 3DS

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D - Cool Wii game and this is supposedly the definitve version.

Fast & Furious: Showdown

Weekend


On Friday I got a Pain-free deep muscle Swedish massage at Thai-me in Hot Springs. The contract that I had to sign did say that if you made any kind of sexual reference the massage would stop immediately and you would have to pay for a full session, that was one expensive ten second joke, just kidding, the masseuse was an older lady so no problems there. It wasn't exactly pain-free though, as she had some bony elbows. 80 minutes went by quickly.

On Saturday I drove to Russellville with my Dad in his SC430 Lexus with the top down on Highway 7 North for a graduation.It was a beautiful day and the drive was fun with tons of curves and hills. That car has take off power, which my Camry has little, well, no take off power, so I was finally able to pass some cars. There wasn't too much traffic so we got there in good time.

After the graduation, that lasted about an hour, we went to the Front Street Restaurant in downtown Dardenalle. From the outside it didn't look like a place you wanted to enter but we got the last table outside overlooking the river. They were having Yell county days on the river and there was a big party with rides, music, and fireworks. We did see John Daly in the restaurant and some of my family got pictures with him, not sure why.They had some of the best crab legs I've eaten in a while so if you are in the neighborhood I do recommend them.

It was about 10pm when we left and I needed to get a Mothers day card, I left my other one at my house, so I found the first place that was open and it was a supermarket. I found the card and went to the checkout and the cashier said that will be $7.57. I couldn't believe it but paid anyway because I didn't think I'd find anywhere else.We got back on the road and after a block there was a 24-hour Walmart. I passed in disgust.

Sunday we went to Coltons and I had the second worst steak the day, my dad had the worst. We both got Rib-eyes and both were probably horse meat instead of cow. We had more meat on our plate after eating than before. Never go to a steak house on a busy day.

iPad Woes

I got my dad an iPad about 2 years ago which he never used but not since he's retired he has more time and so I had to get it setup.

It's a iPad 1 with 3G so 3 weeks ago I tried to sign backup and found out that the Sim card expired and I would need a new one.

I gave my dad this task and he went to the AT&T store and when I came down on Friday he did have service but not the one I wanted.

I didn't know they had a post-pay service, but when you go to the store they will set you up on this plan unless you say you want session based pricing, or pre-pay. So his was setup this way and there was a $36 activation fee to go along with this plan plus some other fees.

I called up and support said I'd have to go back to the store and get a new Sim card.

We tried to go Saturday before the graduation but when we got there it was packed and would be a 30 minute wait so we passed until Sunday.

On Sunday I get the new Sim card and take the iPad home and when I try to sign up it says no service. In another place it said SIM card not provisioned. So I called support again and that took about 25 minutes, they at first wanted me to go back to the store but that was a 20 minute drive. They eventually found the problem and had to set me up on a plan first then that activated my Sim card and I was all set.

Technology is not making things easier.

He did max out his 250Mb limit on the post pay account in about an hour. Looking at maps takes up a lot of data. I'm not sure if anyone can use less than 250MB a month unless they never turn it on. They got rid of the 2GB plan for $25 and now it's $30 for 3GB. Still way to expensive.


What I'm Buying this week.

Metro Last Light (Steam)
Pinball FX  (Steam)

Dragon's Dogma, Episodes of Liberty City

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arising (360)


I've put quite a few hours into this game and I'm still going strong. I haven't spent this much time on my Xbox in probably a year. 
The game isn't the best game, but it has enough challenging and unique content to keep you from getting bored.

If they could mix the world and story of Skryim with DD's combat then that would be an awesome game.

The world in Dragons Dogma is pretty good though. The environments are large and there is a lot of content in them. It's not as dense as Skryrim and the NPC's aren't as interesting.

The combat is awesome as you can take on different professions which make you use different weapon combinations and larger skill trees. Some of the skills carry over from each profession so there is a lot of character customization.  I've changed professions 3 times so far and each one brings on new tactics you can use to keep the combat feeling fresh. I started as a fighter then quickly moved to an assassin so that I could use a bow with a sword. I didn't think I'd like the daggers too much but they give you an ability to double jump which is needed during exploration and after using them awhile I liked using them in combat. I then changed to an Mystic archer so I was using a magical bow which was almost as fun as the bow in Tomb Raider. I need to try magic and see how well that plays, there are some really cool spell effects, setting enemies on fire then calling up a tornado to carry them away is pretty awesome.

Every piece of armor and each weapon is modeled on your character and most of the stats are comparable so you can equip items that are more fashionable rather than just min/maxing. Each item does have different perks and some are relegated to certain professions. It is nice that you can find equipment early on that you like that you don't have to sell or never use just because another piece you find later has much better stats. When you use someone else's Pawn you can rate them based on their appearance which is cool.


The only gripe I have is that taking on some quests can cancel other quests and there is no indication of why or when that will happen. I've had 2 quests cancelled because of this which isn't game breaking but it would be nice to know.

I think I've put in about 30 hours and I'm not sure how far I'm into the game. I just got to the third huge area and a lot of the map is still hidden so the world is quite large. I am facing better enemies now so the challenge is remaining and I'm not feeling way overpowered. 

I just fought a Griffin which was pretty exciting, trying to run and jump on it's back before it takes off again and then as it lifts off the ground start attacking it's wings so that it will plummet to the ground and just before it hits you jump off and do a spinning dagger skill is very rewarding.



Episodes from Liberty City (Steam)

After the GTA V trailers I got the itch to go back into that world. I never finished the DLC so I thought I'd give it a shot.

I'm playing on 3 monitors and it looks and runs great. I'm maxed out and get about 40ftps, the game has a lot of physics.

I started out with the lost and the damned, the biker one, and it was ok. I got to a point where I died and had to start the whole mission over so then I tried the second DLC and the same thing happened again. I'm playing with a keyboard/mouse so the gun play works well but driving is very difficult. I need to see if I can use a controller at the same time which makes switching back and forth rather easy.

I did have an issue with the sound as I couldn't make the dialog louder and had a hard time hearing. I tried turning on the subtitles but trying to drive and read is not an easy thing to do. I ended up using my headphones and then everything sounds correct.

The game is still janky. While riding the motorcycles I constantly was being hit by my own gang and making me crash into cars and the environment.

I wish there was a language filter on the game as well, I don't enjoy hearing cuss words in every sentence.

Gunnar Gaming Glasses, FC3 Blood Dragons

Gunnar Gaming Glasses

• Thought I'd try a pair after reading some reviews and articles. I do stare at a screen for most of the day so I thought I'd do something to protect my eyes a little. Getting older sucks.
•  I went with the official major league gaming version of the glasses, of course.
• The yellow tint of the glass is the first thing you notice about them. They don't look that bad and closely resemble sunglasses.
• I tried them first at home on the TV and I really liked it. The tint of the glasses did make the contrast better even though the white sand in the game was a little yellow.
• By making the contrast greater it's supposed to help you notice enemies quicker in FPS. I haven't tried any multiplayer yet.
• There is a bit of magnification in the lenses as well, it's not too much but it is noticable.
• I brought them to work and didn't have the same experience. I'm not sure if I'm just used to the distance of my monitors, but I noticed my eyes feeling strange after about 10 minutes. I tried on my monitors at home and didn't have the same problem, maybe the lighting at work.
• I do like how they make the games look so I'll keep using them and hope they are helping.

FAR CRY 3: Blood Dragons ($15)

• If you liked Far Cry 3 and want more of it in an 80's setting then you need to pick this up right now.
• It's a standalone total conversion of Far Cry 3. It uses the base assets of Far Cry and coats them with designs of 80's action movies.
• The graphics filter they use is unique and it's fun to walk around an island filled with Blood Dragons.
• What's a Blood Dragon? Only a glowing dragon that shoots lasers out of it's eyes, who can't see you when you are crouching, and you can lure to kill enemies by throwing their looted hearts.
• The cinematic look like the old nintendo games that have the rectangular blocks of drawings with different parts moving. They are awesome.
• The tutorial is pretty funny and the dialog is great as well except for the amount of cursing. Too bad there isn't an option to turn or mute it.
• The gamplay feels like Far Cry 3, you are doing similar things but in a different world. Far Cry 3 played excellently and so does this version.

STUFF

• Leviathan: Warships - Another awesome trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ab9e764D7cI- thanks to Chad
• Madden 2014 not coming to WiiU
• Gta V trailers just came out and it looks awesome
• Pinball FX2 coming to PC in May
• Neverwinter MMO is now in public beta. Read some good things