Titan Fall 2, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Rock Band Rivals, Dishonored

Titan Fall 2

• Good
• Single Player Campaign is really fun although a bit short.  There are some cool ideas in the campaign but they only show up for one level then onto something else.
• The movement and shooting feels great in and out of the Titan.  The game sometimes feels like a platformer when you play as a pilot.
• More weapons and upgrades in the multiplayer so it "should" keep players playing longer.
• Bad
• Released along side Battlefield 1 and Call of Duty Infinite Warfare so sales are not that great.  
• Since it didn't sell well the game made fade quickly which is a shame.  

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare

• Good
• A campaign where I can actually follow the story.
• The space vehicle combat is actually pretty good, it's basic but feels good.
• Releases with Call of Duty 4 Remastered.
• Bad
• After playing Titanfall 2 the movement speed just feels slow.
• Multiplayer feels like Black ops 3.
• Call of Duty 4 Remastered
• All Ghillied Up in true HD.
• Multiplayer is simplified which feels nice after so many iterations added so much clutter. 

Rock Band 3: Rivals

• They finally released the legacy adapter so that I could connect my drums to the Xbox one. 
• Added a cool rockumentary campaign mode that is pretty funny. 
• Now you can setup bands so that you can compete against others asynchronously, the online real time modes are coming later this year.  
• Found a way to batch download all my older DLC which saved me hours of work, over 1000 songs.  

Dishonored 2

• There were some performance issues at release that have since been fixed but I've been replaying the first Dishonored.
• The first go around was all stealth now I'm a killing machine and the game does change based on how you play so I am interested to see how things play out.
• I added a mod that makes dismemberment even more gruesome so when I chop or shoot a guy body pieces are everywhere.

Notable Releases - Final Fantasy makes it's return with number 15, tempted but may wait for a price drop, same for Watchdogs 2. 

PC
Cities: Skylines Natural Disaster DLC expansion
The Crew Calling All Units
The Crew Ultimate Edition
Darksiders: Warmastered Edition
Pinball FX VR (Vive, Rift)
Steep
Watch Dogs 2

Xbox One

Final Fantasy XV
Steep

PS4
Clockwork Tales: Of Glass and Ink
Final Fantasy XV
Pinball FX2 VR (PSVR)
Steep
Steins;Gate 0

3DS

Super Mario Maker

Mafia 3, Shadow Warrior 2, Battlefield One

Mafia 3

• Good
• The excellent story is presented like a TV documentary which is a fresh take on an open world game.   
• Great facial animations really bring out the virtual actors performances.  
• The atmosphere of the world really puts you in the late 1960's.  Everything feels authentic.  
• Fantastic soundtrack.
• Combat feels good and the brutal take downs are awesome.  
• As with all open world games there are some physics bugs which can be pretty hilarious. 
• Tons of collectibles including Playboys so be careful whose watching when you open them.  
• Bad
• Game play can feel repetitive.  The side quests are not varied enough. Go kill a guy or steal a car and drive to location. 
• Graphics are a mixed bag.  Most of the graphics are OK just don't look up at the sky.
• The AI can be pretty bad.  I've had instances where the guys are just standing against a wall. Other times though they will flank so it's hit or miss.  
• Final Thoughts
• The story is what is really keeping me playing the game as I want to see how it progresses.
• If you like open world games then you should give this a try.  

Shadow Warrior 2

• Good
• Lo Wang is back and has some great but crude dialog.  
• Awesome melee combat and gun play that has the pace and movement of Doom.  
• Ton and tons of loot.  The game feels a bit like Diablo/Borderlands as enemies will drop gems that you can equip on over 70 weapons.  You can also combine unused gems into greater gems. 
• Each weapon looks unique with their own animations.  You carry 8 at a time and it's fun to try different combinations.
• Each area is huge with a ton of secrets to find.  There is also some randomization in the levels so you will see different things if you revisit an area. 
• 4 player co-op through the whole 12 hour campaign. 
• No DRM so no issues playing at launch.  
• Bad
• The first game was a linear shooter with a great and funny story.  This game is more open world with a quest system so you have a main hub which has shops and NPCs that give you missions and you teleport to different areas to complete them.  It doesn't have the same feeling as the first game. 
• Could use a bit more enemy variety and a couple of more areas to explore.
• Final Thoughts
• The game is good for what it is I just wanted a true sequel to the first game. 

Battlefield One

• Good
• Haven't had any issues playing even at the midnight pre-launch.
• I really like the WWI setting as it does give a break from all the modern warfare games from the past couple of years.
• The weapons and systems are pretty simple but are still tons of fun.  
• The war tapes audio is back with some great sound effects.  
• They removed the browser interface.  You now launch the game like normal.  
• Yelled "Jump out!" while flying an airplane with Chad as the gunner 2 seconds before crashing into a mountain. We both died.
• Bad
• It's still Battlefield so you will die, respawn, run to your target, then get killed by a sniper. Repeat.
• When you die you have to hit space to respawn, not sure why it just doesn't take you to the menu automatically.
• No hardcore servers yet so it seems my enemies are bullet sponges while I die in 1 shot. 
• Final Thoughts
• If you like Battlefield then no reason to not get the game at release as there are no real issues at this time, but that could change when the game fully releases Thursday. 

Forza Horizon 3, Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Bioshock Remaster

Forza Horizon 3

• An Xbox Anywhere title, buy digitally from the Xbox/Windows store and you can play on Xbox one and PC and you saves carry over.  The Xbox one version runs perfectly but the PC version has some issues.  
• The game has some really bad stuttering so I can't run the game at more than 30 fps, if I try 60 it will randomly dip to 48 or lower which is bothersome.   Luckily at 30fps the game does feel fine so it's not that big of an issue.
• My wheel wasn't fully supported until a few days ago, which was fixed in a Windows update, but the FFB is pretty weak.  I do have the Xbox One hub for my wheel so I can play connecting that way and it feels great I just can't rebind the buttons which I really need to do.  I downloaded Forza Apex and the FFB on that feels great so there is an issue with the implementation on FH.
• Even with those issues the game is amazing, the world they have created is really fun to drive in and the amount of cars is astounding.
• The game looks incredible, from the details in the cars to the rain effects everything about the graphics is amazing, the sky is the best sky I've ever seen in a game.
• Another A+ is the sound design. The game has some great radio stations but I've turned them off for now just so I can hear the car engines.  Shifting through gears is an audible sensation.  I enjoy each new car that I unlock.  
• There is a ton of content in the game, I've put in 8 hours and have only uncovered about a 1/4th of the map.   
• I think the game does have some rubber banding AI but in this type of game it's expected as they want to make each race exciting. I haven't found it aggravating, you don't have to come in 1st in order to progress which is nice.
• I like the rivals racing as you compete against your friends in basically time trials. Their times can be pretty difficult to beat especially since I am playing at an increased difficulty.  All the assists are off, simulation steering, and manual with clutch so there is a lot going on during a race.   
• You can play through the whole campaign in co-op which would be a ton of fun but so far none of my friends are playing.
• If you like car games then you should definitely pick this up.   

Deus Ex Mankind Divided
​​

• Finished the main campaign at around 28 hours.
• Apparently I missed one of the best side missions in the game so I may go back to an earlier save and try to play that.
• One of the great things about this game is the amount of ways to approach each situation.
• If you need to get into a room you could hack the door when no one is looking, find a guard that has a key card and take him out silently and grab the card, or move a heavy object that is blocking a vent that enters into the room.
• The game lets you spec your character so that you could use any number of these methods and I actually wish I had limited myself to only one.  
• The environment they provide for you to explore may not have the largest map size, but it's very detailed and has a ton of intricacies.  If I made myself only use vents to enter rooms then I would have to explore the world in different ways in order to find where they are hidden, which would make the role playing more immersive. 
• I did play through using non-lethal attacks so I didn't get to mess around with many of the cool perks and weapons the game provides so I may play through again to see how that holds up.
• I do recommend the game, it is the 2nd game in a trilogy so there are a ton of questions left unanswered.  I would suggest you play the first game before going in although they do have a video that sums up the previous game but both games are worth playing.  

Bioshock Remastered

• Really excited to play through the series again but a ton of issues with the PC version have kept me away.
• I owned all 3 games so I did get the update free but I'm still shocked at how poor the remaster was done.
• To enable 5.1 surround sound you have to edit an .ini file which is crazy as the original game had a menu option for that.
• The game has objects that disappear when I get close to them and some of the textures are flashing.  
• They are supposed to be releasing some fixes for the PC version soon. 
• I hear the console versions are better but they are missing some graphical elements that the older game had, but if you've never played you most likely won't care.  
• They did include some cool commentary about the making of the game which I want to see so hopelfully they can get the issues fixed.  
• I really like the Bioshock series and wish they did a better job at restoring the first 2 games. 

Benq XR3501, Doom, Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

Benq XR3501

• As if I didn't have enough monitors I went and bought a new one, this time it's curved.  Does it really make a difference? 
• So first the specs
• Massive 35 inch ultra widescreen.  
• 2000R curve radius the most curved monitor made.
• 144hz Refresh Rate
• AMVA screen  
• 2560x1080 Resolution

• The two main reasons for purchasing the new monitor were the curvature ratio and the 144hz. 
• I wasn't sure what to expect from a curved monitor as it seemed to be a gimmick but after playing for awhile I really think it adds a great deal to the experience.  
• I don't think I'd say the same thing about a curved TV since you are sitting pretty far away from those but on a monitor where you are sitting really close where the whole screen is in your peripheral vision I feel more immersed in the games.
• The amount of curve the monitor has makes it feel like I have a triple monitor setup.  I have seen a video with these in triple screen an it's amazing.  
• The other reason is the 144hz which means that I can run games up to 144 fps which is really a game changer.  
• Sure my eyes really can't see the difference between 144fps and 60fps but somehow I can feel the difference.  Just moving the mouse cursor around the windows desktop feels so smooth and responsive it really is impressive.  
• Playing FPS and racing games at 144fps or even 100fps feels amazing and like whole new experiences. 
• The only "downside" to the monitor is that it is a 1080P screen and not 2 or 4K.  This comment is the most prevalent I've seen on forums but I don't think any of those have actually seen the monitor in person. 
• I don't find the resolution bad at all, I do have a 2k monitor and it does present a very sharp picture but I find I like the fps smoothness more than the resolution.
• If the monitor were 2K then I would have trouble getting it to run at the higher frame rates so I think they made the right decision for the current graphic cards.  
• The monitor also doesn't have G-sync but so far I haven't seen any screen tearing when running over 100fps so to me it's not necessary. 
• Overall I am really impressed with this monitor and have no reservations about recommending this monitor to friends. Now I just need a 144hz projector.  

Doom

• I finally finished the game late last week and played the last 3 levels on the new monitor and I am going to have to go back and replay it again.  Not only because of the new monitor but because the game is just so good.  
• This game is already fast but at 144hz it's silky smooth and just amazing.  One of the best experiences I've had gaming this year.
• The game held up all the way through and I can't wait for the sequel.  

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

• Since I got the new monitor I've been going back and playing some FPS games that I've never finished.  
• For some reason this game never felt right using a controller, I always had a hard time aiming at enemies.
• The game is limited to 60fps however so I didn't get the smoothness I wanted but it worked so much better with a keyboard and mouse.  
• This game was broken into two different acts with the first focused on stealth and the latter focused on destruction and zombies.
• The stealth was implemented pretty well. but it did wear on me after awhile so I'm glad the second section had more fighting.  
• The game was pretty good but I thought the New Order was much better.

\

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Madden 17, No Man's Sky

​Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

• If you enjoyed the last Deus Ex game then you should be satisfied with this game as it feels quite a bit like the last game but with some refinements. 
• I played a bit of the last game a week before the release and the biggest improvement I noticed right away was the movement in and out of cover.  In the past game it felt a bit clunky but now it's smooth and I'm not making any accidental moves that take me out of cover.
• The graphics are more colorful as they moved away from all the gold and black theme which I kind of miss. 
• There are a few new augments to use that seem like the developers played some Dishonored.  Blink.  
• Everything else feels about the same.  You can either go in stealthy or guns blazing and they give you the tools to do both rather well. The hacking mini-game hasn't changed which is a shame I wish they could have made that a bit more technical.  
• I've put about 9 hours in and only played about 6 main missions.  The town is fully explore-able and the side missions are interesting so there is a lot of game there. 

Madden 17

• Another year another Madden and another year thinking this might be the time the game is good.  ​
• My biggest gripe of the past games has been atrocious blocking and they appear to have it fixed.  Sometimes there are blown assignments which is expected but overall the blocking seems great and the blockers will actually block the defenders.
• The better blocking also increases the effectiveness of the running game making it a valid play style for some teams.  The AI can also mount a decent run game with some impressive numbers which usually never happened before. 
• Playing defense also feels better as I can see the hole opening and then rush in to stop the runner or play safety and stop a long pass play.  They also fixed the sack issue from last year where you could get 7 or 8 sacks a game. 
• The presentation is also vastly improved.  The overlays look great and the new announcers actually sound enthused as they are reading their lines.  They are also updating the commentary weekly so you will hear new things each week of the season which is a nice touch.  Although I really don't want to hear them say Romo is out for 10 weeks when I fire up the game.   
• They still need to work on the halftime and end game shows as they are very plain and only show your game.  I really liked how NFL2k5 would give updates on all the games that week in the halftime show as it really helped immerse you in a season.  
• There are still things they can improve on but finally Madden feels like it finally made the upgrade to the new generation too bad it took them 3 years.  

No Man's Sky

• I actually did play a bit more last week that brought my total play time to about 18 hours which was a little unexpected.  
• The game can have a nice chill factor to it as you explore, which can be a bit calming after a hurried day.
• I hope they can add more substance to the game in the future that will bring me back in as the game does have potential.  

No Man's SKy, Madden 17 Deal

No Man's Sky (PC)

The much hyped and long awaited game finally released last week.  Is it worth your $60?

• This is a tough question for me to answer.
• Initially I thought the game was amazing but after 8 hours my interest is starting to fade, but there is still a part of me that wants to keep playing.  
• The game boasts a huge procedural generated world with a quadrillion or more unique planets to explore which is an impressive technological feat.
• Even though each planet is "unique" so far they have all felt the same. The atmosphere, plants, and animals are all different looking, but since they are generated they all pull from a repository and that repository isn't as varied as it needs to be.  
• As an example the creatures look like they came out of the game Spore.  In Spore you could create some cool characters but after awhile the novelty wore off as you would see the base parts just moved around in different positions.  

• So what do you actually do in the game?  That is the most asked questions and the answer is relatively simple.  
• You mine for resources to build parts so that you can go to the next planet and repeat.  It's basically a resource management sim. 
• For many hours I was fine with this loop, but after awhile it hit me that I'm not sure I enjoy it anymore.
• The tasks that I'm performing on each planet are not varied, I've done the same thing on the 20th planet that I did on the first one maybe just a bit faster since I have better items.  
• There are NPC's on each planet but they are basically vendors that will sell or give you items.  They do speak in a language that you don't understand at first, but you can learn their language one word at a time by finding pillars.  
• There are no quests to undertake other than upgrading your items, you won't be asked to go kill 10 animals or anything like that. 
• You have a limited amount of inventory slots in the beginning so I spent a major chunk of time mining gold so that I could buy a new spaceship with 5 more slots. 
• You can name any planet, animal, or plant which is uploaded to a database so anytime another player explores your planet they will see the name which is awesome.  The problem is there are so many to name that you will quit naming them after an hour.  

• I did mention that there was a part of me that want's to keep playing and since I've only played 8 hours there is always a nagging feeling that the next solar system will be amazing and could totally change my viewpoint. 
• So I'm not sure if I'm going to keep playing or not.  I may wait and see if they are planning to add any extra content to the game, but with Deus Ex and Madden releasing next week my playtime will be limited to the rest of this week if any.  
• So is the game worth $60?  I've read many user posts and they are all varied, some have the same views as mine and others can't get enough of the game.  If you like to create your own fun and want to explore and don't mind repetitive tasks then this game could keep you busy forever. 

Madden 17 Deal

• You can trade in your 2016 copy of Madden at Best Buy and get $15 for the game and a $10 coupon towards the purchase of Madden 17.
• If you are a Game Club member that means you can get the game for around $25.

Headphone Extravaganza, Witcher 3, Diablo 3

Witcher 3 (Steam)

• I finally beat the main campaign after 145 hours so now off to play the DLC which is another 30-40. 

Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls(Xbone)

• Been playing this on the Xbox one with Angel and Mitch and having a great time.
• The game is still a blast to play and they are still adding more and more to this game with a new patch hitting very soon.
• Yes I bought a copy for each platform, it's just that good.  

Headphones

I've been trying to find the perfect headphone for work and I've tried quite a few of them and I think I've finally found the one for me.  At first I was looking at headphones that included a mic so that I could also take work calls along with listening to music.  The only issue was that most of those headsets weren't that great at playing music.  I tried headphones with the inline mic in the cord but could never get them to work with my laptop.  I finally tried the ModMic which is a separate mic that you can attach to any headset using magnets, and it's the perfect solution. A mic that is easily removable and has great sound.  Highly Recommended. 

Below is a list of headphones that I tried and a mini review of each.  All but the gaming headphones were tested using a usb DAC/AMP, the Mayflower 02 which is a great neutral amp that works without drivers on any windows PC.  

Bang & Olufsen Beoplay H6 Second Generation

• After a couple of years looking I finally found the best headphone for work along with the ModMic.
• The design looks really nice and the ear pads are comfortable out of the box.
• The sound is amazing and the bass is tuned perfectly.  
• These are the best closed back headphones that I've ever tried.  
• Each little detail of the music is brought out making listening through my music collection a new experience.  
• I'm not a hardcore Audiophile but once you hear music with these on you will do a double take as you hear parts of songs that you've never heard before and it's an amazing experience.  
• The included cord which has an inline mic with phone controls is not that great of quaility so I did upgrade the cord for about $4. 

​​

AKG 712 Pro

• These are open-backed headphones so they leak out sound if you crank them up so not useful in an office setting.  
• They are extremely comfortable with huge memory foam ear pads.  
• They do require an amp to get the full sound experience, the bass is not as pronounced just using an iPhone.  
• These are my preferred headphones while at home when I can really crank them. 

Bose QuietComfort 25

• The best noise cancelling headphones, I can mow with these things on and not have to blast the music to extreme levels.
• Requires a AAA battery to power the noise cancellation and the battery life is around 30 hours.  It won't auto turn off if you stop playing music so if you forget to turn off the noise cancellation the battery will run out.  
• They are very very comfortable and fit well around my ears so that I can barely tell that they are on.
• The sound is great when you have the noise cancellation engaged but as soon as you turn it off the sound is very diminished and loses it's punch so you constantly need to have it on.  Which was an issue for me.  
• The noise cancellation causes pressure on my ears so after awhile it becomes bothersome.  
• If you travel a lot or work in a noisy office then you should invest in these but do be aware you will have people walk up on you without noticing and may give you a bit of a startle.  

Turtle Beach 240X

• Wireless Xbox and PC headphones with a mic.
• I use these at home when playing mutil-player games.
• The sound is pretty good and the mic works very well.
• The default ear pads are uncomfortable so I did buy some larger pads and it helped quite a bit so I can wear them for about 4-5 hours without discomfort.  

Audio Technica - M50X

• These are highly recommended as the starting Audiophile headphones and they don't disappoint.  
• The sound is amazing and packs quite a bit of bass punch  
• The only drawback for me was that they are not very comfortable.  The stock pads did not go fully over my ears even though they are supposed to.  I did buy some larger ear pads but they took away quite a bit of the bass and they didn't quite sound the same so I took them off.

Harman Kardon 

• Bluetooth headphones that can also  be used wired as well.   
• The ear pads are rectangle shaped and really don't fit my ears very well so it would get uncomfortable after 30 minutes.  
• The outer material of the cans are made out of metal so anytime my cord would brush against it I could hear it even while playing music.
• The sound was very good though and there wasn't much of a loss when wireless.  

VModa 100

• Really cool looking headphones and built extremely well. 
• These are "bass head" headphones and you really do feel your music while listening to them.  
• Most of the music I listen to is Rock Guitar Instrumentals and some classical pieces so the bass was a bit too much for my tastes.
• They were also not that comfortable,you can buy some larger pads made directly by the company for $20 but I thought at the price they should both be included or at least be able to pick which version you want. 

Sony Pulse Elite Headphones 

• Works with PS4 and PC wireless with a dongle. 
• The mic is inside the headphone, but it still works great.
• The default ear pads are again uncomfortable.  
• When using on PS4 some games have special settings that you download to the headphones which is a cool idea and they do make the sound much different.

Dirt Rally VR, Shon's Car Mechanic Simulator

Dirt Rally VR

• One of the main reasons that I bought a Rift was to play driving games and they finally released a patch to add VR to the game.
• I can easily say the best VR game that I've played.
• They took their time and fully added VR support, this isn't some half-baked addon, the update was over 10G so it touched nearly every file in the game and it shows.
• When you start up the game you are in what looks to be a tire with a huge screen in front of you showing you the intro video and the menus.  It's really slick, Codemasters has always done a good job with their menus.
• Since this is VR there is a possibility that you may get a little motion sick so they rate each track with a comfort meter.  I tried the lowest level and after 2 races I did feel a bit of motion sickness but after I played the game more I haven't experienced that feeling again.  Your body should adjust to VR it might take a bit of time.  
• Once the race begins and you are in the cockpit of the car it just feels awesome.  Looking around and seeing your co-driver with their cheat sheets as they start telling you about the race is just cool.
• While I was revving up the engine I looked down and they drivers leg was matching my motion of the gas pedal.
• The actual racing feels perfect, I'm able to really get a feel for the track and can hit corners much better and also the sense of speed and motion is greater so you can make subtle gas/brake adjustments quicker.
• My first race I hit a water puddle and it completely obstructed my view and as soon as my wipers swept across my screen I saw a fence post and plowed right into it.  It was an intense moment as I thought I was really there.
• The graphics look really nice, it still has the screen door effect but I really don't notice it at all since the tracks are full of curves and the environment envelopes the track.  I noticed it much more in Assetto Corsa since you can look far off into the distance.  There is a trick in the Oculus debugger that will allow you to increase the pixel density that will make the games look better with the cost of performance.  I haven't tried that yet but will in the future.  
• I am really impressed with this version of the game and it has made my track times much better.  
• Kudos to Codemasters. 

Serpentine Belt

• Speaking of cars my serpentine belt broke yesterday and I attempted to fix it myself.
• I had been hearing scraping noises recently and thought I was me running over something in the road.
• Nope it was my belt just shredding to pieces.
• I can say that I am grateful for a praying mother as the belt finally broke when I was backing out of my driveway returning to work from lunch. If this happened while I was driving.....
• I had to walk to the parts store and luckily one is really close but the Levy hill is a bear to climb. 
• I picked up my belt and got a 19mm socket for the tension rod but bought the larger socket version, First mistake.
• On some of the videos they mentioned that you can take off the front passenger wheel to make it easier.  As I was taking off the lug nuts one of the bolts broke off. Yay!  Second Mistake.  
• There are 6 different pulleys that I have to wrap the belt around so that takes some time to get the cable on 5 of them. Once that is done I tried using the larger socket and just knew it wouldn't fit.  I was right, I could get the socket on but not the ratchet.  
• So I walked back down to the store and exchanged the part, No price different though!!!
• Get the socket on and pull the tension bolt and there is not enough torque to get the belt on.  I find a curtain rod that fits over the ratchet and use that to help pull down the ratchet, but it's still not enough as the rod hits the car frame. 
• Now I'm wondering if I got the right belt.  I walked to another store which was farther away and the belt I had was the right one, but I was able to rent a serpentine belt toolset. Third Mistake. 
• I carry that back home and it doesn't even have a 19mm socket, so much for a complete kit.  It does have a larger bar that I can use, but it's too long and just like the curtain rod it hits my car.  
• I did try a small wrench that I could attach to the ratchet but it was difficult to grip but I did press it down quite far but just not enough.  
• I did this for about 2 hours and still wasn't convinced that I had the right belt.  It just didn't feel right that I had to press down that hard.  I knew it had to be tight but this was ridiculous.  None of the videos seemed this tough.  
• I look over at my battery and notice that one of the arms of the  positive post clamp has broken in two.  Third Mistake. 
• One video I found mentioned taking off part of the engine bracer so that I could get a better angle at the tension bolt.  
• As I was trying to remove the bolts the car came off the jack.  Fourth Mistake.  
• I get it hoisted back up and now probably I messed something else up.  
• It was around 6 at this time and I was tired so I got cleaned up and was going to get a pvc pipe to use as better leverage the next day.  
• I just couldn't stop though, my girlfriend came over and took me to another part store and yes I did have the right belt,  Arrggh.
• I went to Lowes and got a PVC pipe thinking this would be the finisher.  
• Got back and used the pipe and it's still not enough leverage.  I am really pressing down this tension bolt and fear I might break it, Fifth Mistake.  
• JK I didn't break it. 
• It was 10pm now and I'm just about to give up and I thought I'd try one more time with a different pulley I hadn't tried.  
• It was under the car but somehow I managed to get a lip of the belt over the pulley and from there able to get it fully on.
• I started the car and the belt moved the parts and I was ecstatic.
• I put the tire back on with 4 lug nuts hoping that would be enough.
• I fixed the battery clamp barely.  The fly nut in the package was too big for the bolt provided.  Luckily I still had the old one. 
• It was 11 now and I took anouther shower and just sat in my recliner listening to music and drinking water for about 45 minutes.  Half falling asleep I dragged myself to bed and was sore all over. This had been a long day.
• The total cost.  $60 and 10 hours of hard labor.  
• I love my job.

Edge of Nowhere (Oculus)

• Insomniac, who made the Ratchet and Clank games, have 3 VR titles in development and since it's from a major developer it feels like a real game and not just a tech demo. 
• The game is a 3rd person action game and you are positioned behind the character at all times.  
• It is a seated experience and you play with a controller.  I was playing in my racing chair but moved to my drum throne so that I could easily turn around and look behind me and it made the game and experience so much better. I do suggest sitting in a chair you can swivel around in easily for VR games.  
• The game is set in the Artic and you are traversing the environment by climbing and avoiding enemies who can only hear you so it felt a bit like the Last of Us. 
• I've only put in an hour and so far I've enjoyed it, the story is interesting and although the game play is nothing new they do have some supernatural elements which allows them to do some interesting things in VR.  
• I'm looking forward to their 3rd VR game which is basically a Harry Potter sorcerer battle.  

The Brookhaven Experiment (VIVE)

• I really like on the rail shooting games but the tech has never been good enough.  I thought the Wii would be perfect but it was never sensitive enough and I could never get the PS3 motion controllers calibrated correctly so that I could look down the sights and hit what I was looking at.  
• ​I think VR is the perfect tech for this type of game but I'm not sure that I'm ready for it.  
• ​It isn't quite an on rails shooter but it's close enough.  You start in one location and have to defeat waves of enemies then you move to a different location.  
• Since you are in the game the creatures are coming in from everywhere and of course they will sneak up on you and I have to admit I did shout out a couple of times.  
• All levels are at night so you have a flash light that you want to use minimally so more creatures wont appear so you are constantly trying to listen to find out where the creatures are and quickly turning the light on/off.  It's an experience that I did have to take breaks after a level or two.
• ​There are many different weapons and upgrades and I was happy to get the laser sight.  The shooting feels really good and you can aim down the sight and hit what you are aiming at.  
• This genre has some great potential and I wish they would port the House of the Dead and the Resident Evil shooter games ​as they were great.  

​Assetto Corsa​ (Oculus) 

• Finally got this working in VR.  When I first tried it I didn't know that the menu's don't show up in VR so I thought it wasn't working.   
• I tweaked a few graphics settings and the game really looks great in VR, so much better than Project Cars.
• The detail of the cars is amazing.  It's fun just sitting in the car looking around the cabin.  I tried an open wheel car and just watched the tires and the wheel components move as I turned the wheel.  
• ​In VR you also get a better feeling for how fast you are moving so it makes braking and hitting the apex of a turn much easier.
• I did notice a couple of times though that I felt a bit queasy.  When I setup the resolution it only went up to 60hz so that could be the issue.  I need to run FRAPS to see what my FPS is.  
• Dirt Rally is supposed to have it implemented sometime soon and I can't wait.  Racing in Vr is going to be awesome.  

E3, Rocket League, Warhammer: Vermintide

Steam Summer Sale is on.  Go get some games. 

E3

• God of War 4 looks amazing.  It's one of my favorite franchises so I was happy to see it return.  
• Dishonored 2, Mafia 3, and Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, excited to play these this year.
• Xbox one games coming out on Windows 10 is huge for me now I really don't need an Xbox one and I can play Forza Horizons in 1080P with 60 fps on my awesome racing rig.  
• Call of Duty actually looks awesome, the trailer they showed got me really interested. 
• Horizon Zero Dawn - Go watch a video of this game in action.  Too bad it was delayed to next year.
• Resident Evil 7 fully playable in VR!!!!!!
• The new South Park game looks incredible.  If you never played The Stick of Truth you really should.  
• Overall a decent show.  I really liked the Sony conference as the whole show had a live orchestra playing throughout the whole show.

Rocket League

• Almost 400 hours on PC.  
• Season 3 began this week and the competition has gotten a lot tougher.  I started out a pretty low rank and having a tough time moving up.  
• They added a new arena to the ranked matches that has a 2 levels that I really don't like but the presentation of it is amazing, the puddles of water on the floor and the neon lights look really good so it is growing on me.  
• They also added item trading so you can now get better items by trading in the extras you randomly receive.  It's okay, I've gotten a couple of cool things.  

Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide

• Like Left 4 Dead except you are fighting rats instead of zombies and there is a progression system along with weapon/armour upgrades so it's more fleshed out.
• The game is more focuses on melee combat but each character does have a ranged weapon so there is still some shooting involved.  
• The goal is to make it through the level and if successful you will get a chance to roll some dice to get some new gear.  
• Last night we played and got to the exit but one person was running behind who I will not mention and we went back to get him and all died, so we didn't get any new gear.  Thanks Porkchop. 
• Each run takes about 20 minutes so the game sessions are a decent length.
• It's a little buggy but it's entertaining if you play a couple a sessions at a time. 

Rainbow Six Siege, Overwatch, Uncharted 4

Rainbow Six Siege Starter Edition

1. For $15 you get the whole game but only 4 out of 20 characters and a bit more grind to earn the other ones but if you just want to get your feet wet it is worth the purchase.
2. We picked this up yesterday to play in our group session last night and had a great time.
3. We only played the terrorist hunt mode which is against the AI without trying any of the tutorials so it took a bit for us to figure out but we managed to start winning the scenarios towards the end. 
4. The game is pretty dynamic with the destructible environments, the AI was blowing up doors, walls, and ceilings even rappelling in through the windows.   Sean in particularly didn't like the bomber dudes as he got killed about 3 times early in the match and there is not a respawn if you die but you can watch the rest of the match from any players perspective.  
5. We played for about 2 hours and really wanted to go back in but it was getting pretty late.  
6. I've read that the PVP play especially in ranked mode has a cheating problem but I think the game is worth the $15 for the single player scenarios and the terrorist hunt mode.  
7. They pick 2 random characters for you initially and give you 600 credits to purchase 2 more.  These characters have special abilities so you can choose the ones that fit your play style.
8. In order to unlock the other characters you can either pay more money or use the in game currency which dies require a grind.  The game says about 15 hours of play to unlock one character but you can decrease the time by completing challenges and such.  You are getting the game at a discount though. 
9. Once we started playing there was an itch to open up more of the characters so the game does have a good compelling way to make you want to spend money.

Overwatch

• This is Blizzards first first person shooter game and it feels like they have been making them a long time.
• It's a team based shooter where kill/death streak is not that important so if you are tired of COD then this may be a good alternative except that you probably want to have a group of friends to play with.  
• There are a ton of characters to choose so you can pick the play style you want but you must also be willing to change your playstyle vs what the other team is doing. You can change your character multiple times during the match and at anytime. 
• The game is very different than COD, going in lone wolf and just killing the enemy is not a good plan.  You must strategize with your team and be aware of the overall game and not just the enemy in front of you.
• I'm playing on the PC with a controller and its the first game where I can be competitive vs other players using kb/m as most of the characters you don't need precision aim as the guns have a large radius of attack.  
• You don't level your characters or change their weapons in any way so it's a bit of a let down there but they want to keep the game balanced.  You can open up different skins and other cosmetic additions for your characters by earning chests through playing or purchasing them.  

Uncharted 4

• Finished the game last week and it was a great game but Uncharted 2  is till my favorite.
• I enjoyed the story and thought it was the best one. The characters were very fleshed out and the banter between them enhanced the story immensely. 
• The combat is still the games weak point.  I think they simplified the melee combat too much as it never felt great to use. The encounters relied heavily on stealth and if I messed that up I would face about 5 guys to many.  They would just keep coming and it was irritating.  I think I may have killed a couple hundred enemies. 
• They have a ton of unlockables and about 10 different graphic filters that look really interesting, the whole came in pixels art? 
• I will wait awhile before I play again as I think the replay-ability is a bit less in this game since it was so story heavy.  There were some pretty long climbing sections as well.  
• Overall they ended the series perfectly and I'm excited to see what is coming next, after the Last of us 2.

Uncharted 4, Doom, Pocket Jockey

Uncharted 4

• Really excited for this game as it's one of my favorite series.  
• The graphics are probably the best in any game.  Naughty Dog can really push the Playstaion hardware to it's limits.
• The amount of detail in some areas is amazing and it's just fun to walk around an look at the environment, luckily there is a picture mode to capture your favorite places.
• The game does play like the previous games but as always there are some little touches that make the game feel fresh.
• The platforming feels a bit more complex in that there seems to be multiple ways up and the next jump point isn't always easily visible.  
• The combat is still a mixed bag.  The melee combat feels lacking this time with only two buttons, there are more contextual attacks but overall it seems a step back.  The gun play is also the same as the enemies seem to take too many bullets and at times there are just too many enemies.  I really wish they could make an Uncharted game without all the guns.
• The story and characters are all well done and they do have some nice throwbacks to the previous games.
• I've only played the first 9 chapters and I've read the later ones are even better which is great because what I've played so far has been incredible and I really want to see more.

Doom

• I should be farther in Uncharted 4 but Doom is really good and it's hard to stop playing the campaign. 
• The game does feel like the original Doom, the game is fast and fluid and if you stay in one spot for more than 3 seconds you will probably die.
• The game wants you to move and shoot at all times and the pace it creates is exciting and fresh and feels different than all the other current shooter, there isn't even gun reloading which is awesome, 
• The game looks fantastic but it's the sound that is really awesome.  The game is full of bass, from landing from a fall to the music that kicks in when a battle begins, my seat never stops moving from the buttkicker speaker. 
• The brutal kills which has the animations tied to them are really quick and you do need to perform those often since those kills cause the enemies to drop heath.  
• I started playing on the normal difficult and I didn't die very often so I kicked it up to the next level and the combat seems more frantic which is better but I am dying a lot more now and some of the checkpoints are far apart.  I need to do more testing to see if the combat is really different on the higher level or just that the enemies hits are harder.  
• There are a ton of secrets to find as well and there seems to be some alternate paths that you can only get once you gain some abilities.
• Overall I think this is the best FPS single player shooter I've played in a long time.  It feels fresh and new.  Doom is back.

Pocket Jockey (3DS)

• This is a horse racing game mixed with solitaire and it's awesome.  
• You play as a jockey trying to win the big Derby and you win races by playing solitaire.  It sounds crazy and it is but it is really fun.
• During the race you play solitaire and the cards you remove give you power that you use to power your horse though the race and give your horse the extra oomph down the home stretch.  
• The game is a bit hard to explain in writing but actual playing the game is a ton of fun.
• The writing in the game is hilarious as well and had me laughing out loud in the first 2 minutes.  
• It's only $7 but definitely worth it.  

HTC VIVE

VIVE

In my last blog I mentioned that I decided to cancel my Vive Pre-order and I did that on Tuesday of last week.  On Saturday I got a shipping notice that my Vive would be here on Tuesday, I guess I didn't cancel on time and actually I'm glad I didn't.

Install

• The Rift was very easy to install as it was basically just a sensor and a headset.  The Vive has 2 base stations, 2 controllers, a breakout box, and the headset so there was more to setup, but overall it was pretty easy as well. 
• The base stations are what allows the full room VR experience.  They are 2 small boxes that are mounted on opposite sides of your room that tracks your movement in the VR space.  They connect wireless to the Vive so you only have to connect them to a power source and not to your PC.  They do however need to see each other and the max distance is 16 feet so if you have more room than that you need to connect them together with a sync cable.  My room's width is 21 feet and I really didn't feel like crawling under the floor to run the cable. Luckily after mounting them to my walls they seemed to work fine without the cable.  I did get a message on the PC that they were too far apart but I didn't notice any problems while playing.  
• After those were setup I connected the breakout box to my PC using an HDMI and a USB cable  The headset plugged into the box and the PC downloaded the software and now it was time to setup my play space.
• I took one of the controllers and mapped out the area that I had cleared after moving my ping pong table and it gave me a 7x6 rectangle of space to play in.  The bigger the better.  
• Headset Hardware
• The headset is a bit bigger and heavier than the Rift, but it does have a camera so it has more functionality.  
• The straps are elastic vs the more rigid straps on the Rift, but I was able to  get a comfortable fit very quickly even when moving around and the headset remained in a good focused position.  
• The inner material on the Vive is a soft foam that feels better on my skin than the Rift.  I do need to get some covers or something though because you do sweat when playing.  
• The cable that comes out of the Vive is a bit thick and is around 15 feet long, but I didn't find it distracting.  Even though I'm moving around a lot I didn't trip over the cable once and stepping over and around it felt second nature in about 10 minutes.  
• I do wish the Vive had the built-in headsets like the Rift has as those are awesome.  It ships with some earbuds that are not great so I had to use my wireless headphones that worked fine, but added more weight to my head.  You can connect regular headphones to the Vive as it does have an audio cable built into it's cables, but then you have the headset cable to deal with. 
• I did notice the weight difference of the Vive when I first put it on,  but once I started playing it was not bothersome. 
• The front facing camera is a nice feature, I can turn it on and actually see my surroundings without having to take off my headset, which is useful in using my computer or finding my headphones.  
• You can connect your phone to the Vive so that if you get a phone call or text it will notify you inside the headset, I didn't set that up last night so I did miss a text, sorry Mitch.  
• Once you get everything setup it has a cool tutorial in VR that instructs you on how to use the contorllers and the interface. Creating balloon animals with the controller and batting them around was a cool first experience. 

Headset Performance

• Just like with the Rift the first time I put it on it was awesome but the added immersion of walking around the VR space 
• quickly put my initial Rift experience to shame.  
• I didn't think walking around would make that much of a difference but combined with the interaction of the controllers I really felt that I was in a new world. 
• The Vive does have the same screen door effect but I didn't notice it as much as the Rift.  I am getting used to it so it doesn't bother me as much as it used to.  
• The FOV seems a bit larger than the Rift so I get to see more of the world which is a nice thing.  
• In the setup you map your play area and it uses that mapping to alert you when you are getting close to your boundaries.  It puts up a blue grid that outlines a wall which is pretty slick.
• I've read reviews and opinions about how more comfortable the Rift was over the Vive, but for me it was the opposite. It was heavier but I found that it fit better and since I wasn't stationary the feeling of having a headset on was diminished.  It was a bit more difficult to take on and off due to the external headphones but it wasn't a big issue. 
• Controller Performance
• It's a shame that the Rift didn't ship with controllers as they do make a huge difference in the experience.  
• The controllers do look bulky but they feel great in your hands.  There are only 5 buttons and a track pad which is similar to the one's on the steam controller so it felt familiar.  
• They are location mapped so they show up in your view in VR and the mapping seems great as I was able to shoot where I pointed and it didn't feel off as it does with the PS motion controllers or the Wii.  
• They do have haptic feedback which is amazing.  When you touch something in the VR world you do feel like you've touched something.  The effect is subtle but works very well.  

Software Impressions

• The Vive uses Steam VR which is basically just the Steam window in VR so it's not as cool as the Oculus home space so there are improvements that need to be made in that aspect  
• Getting in and out of games worked well and I didn't have the issues of the Rift where sometimes games didn't quit properly so I had take off my headset and stop them manually. 

Game Impressions

The Lab

• This is a free download that is basically tech demos but it does have the comedic style of the Portal games so it's very entertaining.
• In one game I was launching robots at crates, kind of like Angry Birds, and it was a lot of fun as each robot had a different personality and it would comment before I would launch them.  
• Another I was standing on a mountain with my robot dog tossing sticks for him to fetch.  
• The best game was controlling a small ship which was mapped to one of my controllers and I was in an arena shooting enemies while avoiding there shots.  It sounds a bit dull but in VR seeing the shots all around you is a cool experience. 

Space Pirate Trainer

• You are basically standing on a ship deck holding dual laser pistols as flying robots are attacking you in waves.
• The bullets come at you slowly so that you can dodge or pull a shield from your back to deflect them.   
• It's still in early access, but It has an online leaderboard so it does promote replay.  

Audiosheld

• I love Audiosurf and this is made by the same developer so it feels very similar except that instead of racing on a track to your music you are blocking the beats of the music. 
• You have one shield in each hand which is a different color, red and blue, and you must block the matching colored beats which are basically orbs, some beats are purple so you have to combine the shields  
• The beats(orbs) can be just a single orb or sometimes they are grouped together in a pattern that you must match.  
• This variance along with the haptic feedback feels awesome in VR as each orb hits your shield and explodes you feel the impact.  
• The game is intense and by the end of 2 songs I was covered in sweat.  

Budget Cuts Demo

• Just a demo but does show the cool games that will be coming to VR later this year.
• Kind of a stealth game where you are moving around in a real world environment killing robots.  
• You only have a small area that you can walk around in but if you want to move through the world you shoot a blob out of a gun that lets you look around the area and if it's clear you will teleport to that spot.  
• From there you may need to find a key to open a lock that may be in a drawer that you must open and close using your controller. There are grates that must be removed and to look through them you must duck down so there is a lot of movement made by the player. 
• I found some knives and was sneaking up on the robots and taking them out, one time looking over a second floor balcony the other a quick move behind the robot.  

Overall

• I thought the Rift was cool enough and decided that I didn't want to try the Vive, but I'm glad that I did as I think the Vive is a better VR experience. 
• The caveat is that you do need a fair amount of space to be able to play most games.  The Vive does support sitting and standing games just fine but after walking around in VR I kind of want that activity as it's different enough from just playing regular games.  
• The Vive costs $200(+$100 with taxes and shipping) more than the Rift , but you do get everything you need to have a complete VR experience.  If you have to choose between the 2 and have the money I would recommend the Vive at this point.  
• The Rift's controllers are supposed to come out this summer which will even the odds a bit but they will need another sensor to emulate full room VR and if that needs to be connected to the PC by a USB cable like the current one it might not be as clean of a setup. 
• Once again even though the experiences are cool it is not going to replace they way you play games today. There are no 20 hour or even 8 hour plus games yet so the library of games is still a work in progress.  
• And that is a major thing, VR games need to be built using the strengths of the platform and not just port over conventional games.  I want new ways to interact with gaming and right now it does satisfy that itch and in a couple of years I think the tech will be there so that the average person can enjoy VR without the high cost and developers will be able to create amazing games.   

New Releases - Not really much to choose this week,  my pick of the week would be SUPERHOT on the Xbox One. I'm just not into MOBA likes so Battleborn could be your cup of tea.  And remember Uncharted 4 comes out next week.

PC

Airline Director 2
Battleborn
The Beggar's Ride
Castle Heist: Chapter 1
Color Chaos
Cyber City 2157: The Visual Novel
Earn to Die 2
Fantasy Tales Online
Fragments of Him
HACK_IT
Hyposphere
I and Me
Imhotep, Pyramid Builder
Kathy Rain
Liveza: Death of the Earth
Magic Quest
Midvinter
Mystery Castle
Parkitect
Positron
prog.1
The Temporal Invasion
Spunk and Moxie
Yon Paradox

PS4

Battleborn
Coffin Dodgers
Neverending Nightmares
The Park
Push Me Pull You
Shadow Complex Remastered
Table Top Racing: World Tour

Xbox One

Battleborn
Coffin Dodgers
The Park
SUPERHOT

Vita

Neverending Nightmares
Ray Gigant

Oculus Rift

​Oculus Rift​ - It finally came in and here are my impressions broken down into categories.

Install

• Very easy setup.  
• It takes 2 USB 3.0 slots.  One for the head tracker and the other for the headset.  
• You also need the HDMI output from your video card.  I tried using a DP to HDMI converter which did not work with the Rift but did for my TV out so I can have both hooked up at the same time.   
• The Oculus home software walks you through the setup process and I was done in about 5 minutes.

Headset Hardware

• The headset has 3 adjustment straps, one on each side and one on top. 
• I guess I have a small head as the side straps where pulled about all the way just to make it tight.  
• It is light and once you get the straps set it's easy to take off and on. 
• You can adjust the spacing of the lenses with a small button under the right eye.
• The headphones work very well and I thought they did a decent job producing bass. 
• I did play for 3 hours straight and my face did get a little irritated by the material that was touching my skin and that could be due to the newness and the chemicals on the fabric.  
• My neck is a little sore this morning but nothing major.  It will take a bit of time to build up those specific neck muscles. 
• I do use reading glasses but since the Rift projects the picture far away I don't need them for the Rift.
• I did try putting on the Rift with my glasses though and it was not easy even after opening all the straps up.  Maybe easier with more practice.  
• I did not feel nauseous at any time during my playtime. I am running with a 980TI and have not had any frame rate drops.   

Headset Performance

• The first time I put them on I watched an intro video and it was awesome.  
• I was standing in front of an alien on a rocky planet and he was looking at me and making faces.  .
• Then I was standing in a hall and a T-Rex was at the other end and he came at me and stopped just in front and roared and the spit came flying out at me then he walked over me.
• Next I was standing on the edge of a building looking down and I did feel a bit queasy since I don't like heights.  
• The sense of being there in a different place is what is cool about the Oculus.  Looking all around and being enveloped in the world is really a unique experience.  
• With all that said the tech still needs a couple of years to get where it needs to be.  
• The problem I have with the Oculus is with the Screen Door Effect where it looks like you are looking at the picture through a screen door, I can see the pixels that make up the picture so it isn't sharp and that is bothersome to me and it reinforces the feeling that I'm looking at a screen and not really in the world.  
• Maybe my eyes are more susceptible to this effect as I've read on some posts that they can only tell if you are looking for it but I see it all the time. 
• The games are also not in 1080P even the though the screens have a high resolution the picture you see is just not as crisp and clear it feels more like 720P and I've even read it's more like 480P.  
• In a couple of years once the lenses and video cards get better this tech will really shine. 

Software Impressions

Oculus Home

• You have to install this product and it be open in order for the Rift to work.  
• It's a store front like Uplay and Origin.  
• There is an option that you have to turn on if you want to be able to play games from Steam or other networks, it's not on by default. There are some games that are exclusive to the Oculus Store so you need to do some research before deciding on where to buy. 
• I was able to play a couple of VR games through Steam.  

Game Impressions

Project Cars

• I mainly wanted the Rift for driving simulators, mainly Dirt Rally, but most of them don't have support for the Oculus yet.
• I only tried PC for about 2 races and it was cool being in the car looking at the dashboard and seeing all the racers just by turning my head.
• The graphics are a bit jaggy and it's a bit difficult to see far away images because of the resolution.  
• I need to do some more tweaking with the graphics to see if I can fix these issues.  

Chronos

• A 3rd person action adventure game that feels a bit like Dark Souls.  
• The camera is in a fixed position sort of like the Resident Evil games but you can still look around.
• The game is fun on its own and the VR does add a bit to the world in making you feel like you are there.    

Lucky's Tale

• A platformer that works really well in VR. 
• Again you do feel like you are in this place.
• There are some sections where you go underground and you see the action kind of like a diorama which is neat. 

Eve: Valkryie

• Space shooter where you are in a cockpit and that feels perfect for VR as you do feel like you are in a ship and there is a cool thrill when it takes off as you see the scenery fly by. 
• The graphics are great but once again the SDE takes me out of the world.  

Doom

• Only got to play about 30 seconds before it crashed but it was Doom in VR.  

Conclusion

• Is the Oculus Rift worth $600 plus the PC you need to run it?
• At this time I would say not yet, probably in 2-3 years once the tech gets better then this will be amazing.
• If you have to have the latest gadgets then you may want to splurge on one but right now there isn't a game that is a must play so again waiting until there is more software will probably be the best decision.
• I think these same issues I have  will exist with the VIVE so I'm probably going to cancel my VIVE pre-order.  
• It may sound strange but I got a similar feeling to the Oculus when playing games in 3D with the convergence set really high. The image felt like it was right in front of me and that I was in the world as well.  It wasn't as tight as the Oculus since your whole view is the world but it was a similar feeling. 

Dark Souls 3 Ratchet and Clank, Visceral Detail Cleanup

Oculus Rift - Just got charged and it should be shipping soon.  Hopefully I'll get it by the weekend.

Dark Souls 3

• Finally defeated the first major boss after about 6 attempts, his fire sword attacks looked awesome.  
• This game isn't as stingy with bonfires as the last two games and they are usually pretty close to the boss lairs so the game does seem a bit easier. 
• There are a ton of weapons, I think I already have 20 in my inventory although I'm only using about 3 of them.  
• I was having a couple of crashing issues until I disabled AA but they did release a patch on Monday that may have fixed that issue, other than that the game has run smoothly.
• The like the enemy designs as they are quite grotesque, the ugly frogs with the big eyes are back as well. 
• Had my first invasion the other day and it couldn't have came at a better time.  I was in an area where there is this giant on a tower far away that keeps throwing large spears at anyone who tries to cross this specific path.  The invader spawned just behind me so I took off running down the path and was able to dodge the spears but the invader didn't have as much luck and died at the barrage of spears without me swinging a single time and it felt awesome.  

Ratchet and Clank

• A game about the new movie which is a retelling of the original game. 
• This is classic Ratchet and Clank game play at it's best with some of the best graphics that I've seen. 
• I've beaten all the major Ratchet and Clank releases and the game play still holds up.  
• Can't wait to see all the crazy weapons, I haven't read much about the game. 
• It's $40 so a nice price as well. 

Visceral Detail Cleanup

• Ever wondered what happens to all those bodies and blood soaked floors that is left over from one of your gaming sessions?
• Wonder no more as you undertake one of the best co-op games of this generation as you get to help clean up all the mess.
• So grab your mops, buckets, and bins and get ready for Visceral Detail Cleanup.
• The game at first glance seems horrible and dull, but it's probably one of the funnest multiplayer experiences that I've had.
• The fun is not in the actual game play but the chat between friends.
• The game does have some wonky physics which does lead to some spirited conversations.  
• If you are mopping up blood and then someone kicks over the water bucket sending all of the blood that you just cleaned go everywhere you may get a little irritated or maybe they keep walking through the blood leaving tracks that might also spur a louder than normal response.  Also don't try to run when carrying a bin full of body parts, it will end in a mess. 

New Releases - Not a big release week.  My pick is Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair which has the best talking bear in any game series.

PC

Banner Saga 2
Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair
Loud on Planet X

PS4

Axiom Verge — Vita (PS4 Cross-buy)
Blues and Bullets Episodes 1 and 2
Invisible, Inc.
Koi
Lichdom: Battlemage
Masquerade: The Baubles of Doom
Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse
Loud on Planet X
Pang Adventures

Xbox One

Lichdom: Battlemage
Masquerade: The Baubles of Doom

3DS

Langrisser Re:Incarnation -Tensei

Wii U

Star Fox Zero
Star Fox Guard
​

Dark Souls 3, Enter the Gungeon, Hyper Light Drifter, Quanturm Break

Still no Rift yet expected ship date maybe next week.

Dark Souls 3

• Another Dark Souls game.  Either you love them or hate them.
• I put in about 5 hours last night and died about 30 times so it's slow going but I like it.  
• I'm on the PC and it's runs smoothly and looks great, I've read reports of some slowdown on the consoles.
• The game seems a bit more streamlined so it may be a bit easier for newcomers to tackle, it's still is full of mystery but they do explain a bit more of what and where you need to go and do. 
• The speed of the game/combat is between DS1 and Bloodborne which feels great.
• The eneimes and bosses so far have been interesting and brutal. 
• Man these games are sooooo good and different from everything else that is made today.  

Enter the Gungeon

• Rogue-like twin stick shooter where each enemy is a type of bullet, the game has a really cool style.  Flipping over tables to provide cover is cool.  
• I wish it had some sort of progression like Rouge Legacy.  It has random drops which do expand over time but if you don't get a good weapon on the first level it makes it tough to go much farther.  
• After 2 hours I've only got to the second level once.  
• I think they need to do a bit more re-balancing and this game would be perfect. 

Hyper Light Drifter

• A really cool looking tough isometric action RPG. .
• The graphics are 8-bit but look amazing.
• There is no text in the game and no English is spoken, you only see pictures when you speak to NPC's so there is some mystery in the game.
• The combat is fast and fluid but tough as you only have about 5 hit points starting out so you must be cautious. 

Quantum Break

• I've only spent about 30 minutes playing but I'm not sure I'm going to like this game.
• The controls do not feel good, they are floaty and I haven't even tried combat yet. I've tried changing the sensitivity but something is just off.
• I really liked Alan Wake so I had high hopes for this game but it's not starting off well.  

Rocket League

• Still going strong, playing at least an hour or two a day.
• The basketball mode is coming this month which looks interesting. 

New Releases - Of course Dark Souls 3 is my pick of the week but I also picked up Ratchet & Clank.

PC

Dark Souls III
Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture
Stories: The Paths of Destinies


PS4

Dark Souls III
Ratchet & Clank
Risk of Rain
Samurai Warriors 4 Empires
Stories: The Paths of Destinies

XB1

Dark Souls III

WiiU

Terraria

3DS

Bravely Second: End Layer

Vita

Risk of Rain

Stardew Valley, Super Hot, The Division, Far Cry Primal, Rocket League

Sorry for the lack of content recently.  I will be amping up especially in 2 weeks when I finally get my Occulus Rift.  I'm really excited to get into VR and see if this really is the future of gaming.

Stardew Valley (Steam)

• This game came out of now where and it's been on top of Steams charts since it's release. It was made by one person over 4 years and it has sold over 450k in the first couple of weeks
• You play as an IT guy that is fed up with city life and decides to take over your recently deceased grandfathers farm in a faraway small country town.  The small town is made up of quirky characters that you try to befriend by giving gifts and maybe even find a mate.
• The game plays a lot like the Harvest Moon games but so much better in my opinion.  
• This is a nice game to just chill with and is easy to play in short bursts.  The game is broken up into days which last around 10 minutes. You do have to decide how to spend your time since it is limited and it's tough because there is just so much to do.  
• I highly recommend this game, if you look at the steam page you may think I'm crazy but it's a game that can really get your hooks into you and you will be saying just one more day.  

Super Hot (Steam)

• A first person melee/shooter where time only moves when you do.  
• The game is just a set of unique levels(rooms) where you have to defeat all of the enemies without getting hit once.  This seems tough, but since time only advances when you move it makes each confrontation look like a John Woo action scene.
• So I enter a pool hall with 2 enemies each with guns.  I pickup a pool ball and throw it at one approaching enemies.  The ball hits the guy and the gun he was carrying flies in the air. I punch the guy once then grab the gun out of mid air and shoot him and he's down. The other enemy is far away running left so I adjust my aim knowing the flight path of the bullet and fire.  I then slowly move ahead and I can see the bullet moving through space and it hits the enemy in right in the forehead and enemy down.  Another enemy suddenly appears behind a pillar and is arms length away but I'm out of bullets so I throw my gun at the guy it stuns him then I quickly take him out with 3 punches.  
• Once a level is complete it replays everything at full speed and it looks incredible.  
• It's a really hard game to explain in words but it's a really neat concept. 
• The game is $22 on sale but it's relatively short so you may want to wait until it goes on sale but I've enjoyed my time with it. 

The Division

• After all the great reviews I decided to pick this game up on PC and well.....
• I've only spent about an hour with the game and it hasn't hooked me yet.
• The game looks great and runs fine but I'm playing solo and I really think you need a group to get the most out of the game.
• The match making seems very easy to use and you can group up with randoms before each mission so you can decide how you want to approach the game
• It is a loot game so you will be getting tons of weapon and armor drops that keep you comparing those with your equipped weapons. 
• I guess it does feel a bit like Destiny but the weapons so far have not been as cool but I've barely started so I need to put in a lot more time. 

Far Cry: Primal

• Put in about 5 hours and enjoying my time but it does feel like another Far Cry game.
• The pace is a bit slower since your main weapon which I like so there is a lot of stealth in the game.
• The missions though feel the same as the previous games, I wish there was more of a survival element to the game.
• You do hunt a ton of different animals and even tame the carnivores to be your pets which you can ride and order to attack your enemies but you really aren't surviving.  You are taking out bases and roaming enemies the same way you've done before.

Rocket League

• It seems like I've been playing a ton of games but in actuality I've spent most of my time playing Rocket League, I have over 300 hours.  
• I'm addicted and no other game has the type of excitement at the constant pace that this game has.
• I'm finally feeling comfortable with aerials so it's opened up a whole new play style and strategies and I still have a ton to learn.  
• It's an amazing game if you haven't tried it yet you really need to. 

Dying Light: The Following, Firewatch, Rocket League

Dying Light: The Following (Steam) on all Consoles

• I loved Dying Light and thought it was one of the best games last year so I was excited for this last part of the Season pass.
• This DLC has a land mass of twice the original game so it's massive and it needed to be because the biggest addition to the game is a car.
• Chopping zombies up in various was is fun, but plowing over groups of zombies is even better. I just have the base car now so it's bare bones but there are a ton of upgrades for the car with some pretty awesome weaponry.
• They've added some other improvements as well so there is a good reason to return to this game and even play for a second time.
• If you didn't play this game last year now is the time to pick it up.

Firewatch (Steam) also on PS4
 

• Saw the demo at E3 and the game looked amazing. You play as a lonely fire spotter in a vast wilderness and your only contact to the outside world is by a radio talking to your supervisor. That was basically the trailer so you really didn't know much more than that and the game was really intriguing.
• I bought the game and finished it on the same day. It was around 4 hours long.
• I have mixed feelings about the game. It was good but not great.
• The story was interesting and I did like how the character interactions worked and the dialog was good but I thought the ending was very underwhelming and the story had too many red herrings.
• The wilderness you are exploring looks really nice but it isn't that large of space so you will be walking across familiar territory often.
• The neatest feature of the PC version is that you get a camera at some point and you can take some great pictures and actually have them sent off to get real pictures made which is a neat idea. It does cost money though I think around 5-10 dollars.
• It was interesting to play but at $20 it did feel a bit steep because the amount of interaction was very low so you are basically playing a short story.

Rocket League (Steam) also on PS4 and Xbox One Next week

• Season One wrapped up yesterday afternoon and though Robby and I tried we just couldn't get me to the silver level in doubles so I had to get the bronze crown. Robby did get the Silver though so good for him.
• In the Second season they have changed the way you are ranked. In season one each match you would lose or gain points whether you one or lost so each game so even if you were getting better you could still be ranked low. Now they are basing it on your performance and if you are improving. They aren't clear though how that is being evaluated so I'm not sure if it will better or not.
• They also added a report feature that you can use if someone is being abusive in the text chat and it will send a log with your complaint which is a nice feature. Most people are polite but there are always a few who are jerks.
• One other addition is some random loot drops for your car, the more you play the better the drop rate.
• The Xbox One version will release next week and I'll get that one as well. There are a couple of unique cars in that version and it includes all of the previous DLC. The biggest omission though is cross play support which is a Microsoft xbox policy. Can't believe they won't let you play with steam owners and Sony will. Crazy.

New Releases - Couple of good releases this week. Top pick Dying Light: The Following.
 
PC

Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Russia
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
Dying Light: The Following
Firewatch
Unravel

PS4

 ssassin’s Creed Chronicles Russia
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
Breath of Fire 3 - PS2 classic
Dying Light: The Following
Firewatch
Level 22
Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime
MOP: Operation Cleanup
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Rugby Challenge 2
Siralim
Unravel

XB1


Assassin’s Creed Chronicles Russia
Arslan: The Warriors of Legend
Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4
Unravel

PS3

Level 22

Vita

Level 22
Siralim
We Are Doomed

Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Witness

Rise of the Tomb Raider (PC)

 

• I originally bought the Xbox One version since it was exclusive to that console, but I never really got into it because of some controller lag. I thought the aiming and the actions after some button presses felt a bit off.
• The PC version fixes that issue plus gives the already good looking game some added umph to make it one of the best looking games of this generation.
• I really enjoyed the first game and they have added quite a lot to Lara's new adventure.
• The exploration areas are much larger now with secrets and hidden loot to discover. There are also a lot more tombs to raid.
• I am really liking the story and I am actually seeking out all of the voice memos that have interweaving story lines.
• I'm playing on Hard mode and when there is a required fight sequence with waves of enemies they go on for too long and get too tough quickly. They also aren't randomized so if you die you will see the same enemies as before.
• I want to try the endurance mode which makes the game play like a survival game where you have to survive the harsh elements and hungry animals.

 

The Witness

• A puzzle game from the developer of Braid.
• The game is basically about 700 maze puzzle games. That sounds boring but it's really entertaining.
• The puzzles are set on a beautiful island that you will be traversing while solving puzzles.
• The puzzles are grouped around different parts of the island and each type has a certain rule that you must solve in order complete the puzzles.
• I've been taking screenshots with my phone which I've found helps out a lot.
• It's only $40 so if you have a PS4 and PC and want to be challenged give the game a try.

New Releases - A pretty big release this week on the PC. American Truck simulator, just kidding X-Com 2 is out. I've only played an hour so no impressions yet. I'm also interested in Cobalt. Also if you have a PS4 or Vita pick up Crypt of the Necrodancer it's awesome.

 

 

PC

 

American Truck Simulator

Cobalt

Fortified

Naruto Shippuden Ultimate Ninja Storm 4

Tales of Symphonia

XCOM 2

 

PS4

 

 AIPD

Albedo: Eyes From Outer Space

Amazing Discoveries in Outer Space

Crypt of the Necrodancer

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth

Gravity Rush Remastered

Megadimensional Neptunia VII

Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel

Not A Hero

Royal Defense

 

 XB1

  

Cobalt

Fortified

  

WiiU

 

Shütshim: Seriously Swole

 

360

  

Cobalt

 

PS3

 

Nitroplus Blasterz: Heroines Infinite Duel

 

 Vita

 

Crypt of the Necrodancer

Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth

 

For Sale

 

Espon 5030UB Projector

 

 If anyone is interested I'm selling my Projector for $1400, I've had it about a year and a half and the bulb has around 500 hours on it so I've barely used it. It's in perfect working condition and still under a 3 year warranty.

  

100" Projector Screen

 

If you don't have a screen then I have one of those as well. $150.

  

Popcorn Machine

 

 I also have an movie popcorn machine that I'm selling for $50. It's a hot air popper that would be great for parties and it's easy to clean. 

 

 Polk Monitor 50 Speakers

  

This is for a pair of 2 floor standing Polk speakers for $50.