I play games and I blog. Currently addicted to Modern Warfare 2 on Xbox Live.
Category Archives: Games
First game of 2010?
In years gone by I used to worry about the first game I’d play in the new year. When I say “years gone by”, I really mean it. This was around the time when Ikari Warriors and Armalyte were only a few years old, and I was a teenager pounding out ASM code on a C64 keyboard with an Action Replay.
Time passed and the PC rose to become the dominant gaming platform and with it my interest in games waned. Sporadic bouts of play included almost all the ID games and the original Half Life but as I had to reboot into Windows it was never going to last. In recent times I became the owner of my first two games consoles. First a Nintendo Wii (gathering dust in the living room) and an Xbox 360 this year that awoke in me the dormant games playing interest that had been killed off a dozen years ago.
So, this year I’m once again pondering what game will become that first one. Will it be the obvious choice of Modern Warfare 2? Or perhaps a bit of COD 4? Maybe even Batman: Arkham Asylum?
No, I think the first game of the teenies (or whatever we’ll call ’em) will be Trials HD. A kick ass game I already wrote about and couldn’t stop playing even after hitting the restart button a few dozen times!
What about you?
Kontrol Freek FPS Freek review
The FPS Freek by Kontrol Freek is a small attachment for the Xbox 360 or PS3 controller that helps players aim more precisely in first person shooters or FPS games. There’s a Speed attachment too for racing games.
The FPS Freek snaps on to the top of the controller sticks so your thumbs have to physically move further to make the same in-game movement. This is supposed to help when you want to make small accurate movements, especially useful when aiming at a small distant figures in a shooter such as Modern Warfare 2. From the blurb on the product page,
The added analog stick length provides 40% more linear distance from full stop to stop. This gives you more leverage and increased precision without disturbing your natural gaming playing feel.
I’ve been using it for a week and while my gaming has improved a whole lot, it was improving any way because I was getting better with practice. I don’t think you’re going to see a dramatic improvement in your gaming by using the FPS Freek.
I tried increasing the sensitivity of the controller, thinking that the extra leverage of the thumbstick would help but it really didn’t, and I think it’s back at 3 in MW2 now. At that sensitivity I can aim fairly well. With a silenced Scar-H I was able to make a few kills at the other side of Highrise, but on the other hand, a distant crouched enemy-in-waiting in Estate shot me while I attempted to aim at him.
The FPS Freek is comfortable to use however. It probably has helped my gaming but it’s not the major leap you might think. Learning how to use a mouse and keyboard properly was better for my gaming than using this, but of course you can’t use a mouse and keyboard on the Xbox 360. All you PC gamers will know what I mean!
In the US it costs $10 but here in Ireland or over in the UK you have to buy it from Lime. I think it cost me the equivalent of US$29 including (for some reason) registered postage of about 7 Pounds Sterling. I had to sign for it when it was delivered. At that price it’s not great value for money, but at $10 it’s an impulse buy I could live with.
In theory the science is sound. The extra length of the stick will give you more travel and room to aim precisely but if you’re not a good gamer this won’t work miracles. If you panic when you’re confronted by an enemy on a map, you’ll still do that. If you don’t use a game’s maps to your advantage now, then buying this won’t magically make you immune to enemy fire. It may help you aim if you’re sniping. I’m still using the FPS Freek on my right thumbstick however, it’s comfortable.
Buy it only if you have $10 burning a hole in your PayPal account. Don’t buy it if you’re outside the US, it’s not worth it.
Just don’t expect miracles.
Just so you know I haven’t a clue what I’m talking about, here’s a few glowing reviews:
Short video review of the FPS Freek
Impressive accuracy at custom sensitivity 7 in COD 4, but then this guy is hardly a newbie at the game!
Modern Warfare (Reflex) on the Wii
I was shocked and amazed when I saw the boxes of Call of Duty Modern Warfare in the Wii section of Gamestop the other day so I went searching for reviews. Metacritic gave it it a reasonable 77, while the following two Youtube reviews rate it very highly. Graphics look awful, and aren’t a patch on the Xbox 360 or PS3 version but the Wii remote makes aiming easier and more precise.
I loved Call of Duty WAW on the Wii, I’m tempted to dust down the machine for this too…
Just added it to my Amazon Wishlist.
Steal Their Class!
Xbox Live is free for Silver users of the Xbox 360 for the next 5 days in Europe. I just tried Modern Warfare 2 and had my ass handed to me. Didn’t take long for me to see the infamous deathstreak “Steal Their Class!” notice. I was the lowest level player there. Highest was about 67, next lowest was 26. Sigh. Not tempted to buy a Gold membership any more. Thanks Microsoft 🙂
I didn’t disconnect on purpose. WIFI died right after I died for the 5th or 6th time. (If you were on #wordpress you just saw me disconnect, honest!) I swear those guys were probably looking out for the dumb newbie. I’m sure my curiosity will be piqued again in the next few days.
The coop in MW2 is excellent though. I might be willing to part with some cash if some friends were online regularly to play that!
Retro consoles for sale again!
Retro gaming has made a comeback! A temporary looking shop on North Main Street in Cork is selling old retro consoles at possibly “Irish” prices. According to the “Bargain Hunt” section in Retro Gamer, a Sega Dreamcast can be purchased on Ebay for about £25 Sterling. They’re going for 59.99 Euro here. Cheap enough for an impulse buy? What do you think Mark?
What’s on offer? I saw the Dreamcast of course, many Gameboys in the window, NES, SNES, Sega Mega Drive (Mega CD), Sega Master System, Nintendo Gamecube (why bother when you have a Wii?), Original Playstation, Master System II with Sonic the Hedgehog cart still stuck in it, Xbox 360 external HD DVD player (40 Euro? Can you buy those discs?) and lots of games. I think there were original Xboxes too. There were loads of games for the system anyway.
I doubt the shop will be open after Christmas, none of the consoles or games look brand new so it might be best to test out any purchases when you get home before wrapping them up for Christmas. Bring a copy of Retro Gamer with you if you go in to check the price on Ebay. I have a feeling the guys running the shop will be more than happy to haggle!
Thanks Richard for the heads up. Worth going in there just for the look. I think Branedy may be interested in it too. (I never owned any of the consoles above so I didn’t get a burst of nostalgia for them!)
Happy Modern Warfare 2 Day
November 10th is here and Modern Warfare 2 is finally out! Shops here in Ireland opened at midnight last night and I briefly thought about hopping down to the Gamestop in Blackpool. I didn’t, and I won’t buy it until I have my BarCamp Cork talk is done. That should ensure I have it written by tonight!
Anyway, the level of anticipation for this game reached astronomical levels. Ask anyone with a game console or PC games player and they’ll know about this game. I’m writing this to remind myself of the fact when the next big thing comes along! In five year’s time we’ll be laughing at how we were all swept up in the hype of the game.
So, did you queue last night at midnight to buy the game? Have you already finished it? I’m pretty sure it’ll take me a lot longer to finish than ShadowHearth reported in that thread above.
So its 6:24 and i beated game on veteran setting.
Loved it, in some places i whanted to cry… becouse of just being pwned like a little girl, and on athers places becouse of story…
Just loved it, going to try multiplayer now, untill mine misses wakes up and sees me still on pc… I will get killed.
Hours of fun with Syndicate
- Have Macbook. Check.
- Have DOSBox. Check.
- Have external mouse. Check.
- Have Syndicate. Check.
Syndicate is a game I played a lot in the early nineties. I was never any good at games (some things never change!), but this is one of the few games I stuck with and managed to finish. The original game came out in 1993 for DOS and the Amiga. It was on the Amiga that I first came across it but the DOS version is easier to run these days. Luckily both versions are exactly the same.
What do you need? First of all, download the latest version of DOSBox. It’s available for Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and many other operating systems.
Now look for the game itself. You can download Syndicate in many places so search for it using Google. Some would describe it as abandonware as the game can’t be bought any more but it’s a legal grey area. Bullfrog still own the copyright to the game so if you don’t own a copy downloading it is, strictly speaking, an act of piracy.
Unzip Syndicate in a convenient location and launch DOSBox. The familiar DOS prompt will open, on the Z: drive so mount the Syndicate directory using the command of the same name. If you’ve installed it in /games/Syndicate/ use the following:
mount c /games/Syndicate
Now change to drive C using
c:
You may need to edit synd.bat if it’s there (to set up your sound card) or just run main.exe as I did. The game will launch and probably run a little too quickly. Slow it down with CTRL-F11, and use ALT-Enter to enter fullscreen mode. CTRL-F12 will speed it up again, handy for researching new weapons and mods. 🙂
In fullscreen mode, you’ll swear you’re using an Amiga again! Enjoy what must be one of the best shoot ’em ups, ever!
There’s also an opensource version of Syndicate. It hasn’t been updated since 2007 though. Anyone with game coding experience want to lend a hand?
As a special bonus, here’s the Atlantic Accelerator. It’s the very last level in the original Syndicate. This guy makes it appear really easy but it’s not. This level takes quite a bit of time to master! Just read his video description for all that he went through.
Or better yet, check out this video of American Revolt. Wow, all those enemy syndicate guys descend on you like flies to a …
I think "Halo 3: ODST" is a pile of pooh
I was looking forward to Halo ODST. I even pre-ordered it from Amazon. Now I’ve played it and I’m very disappointed.
It’s standard Halo 3 fare. Some graphics are slightly improved and there are minor changes, but, oh dear it is boring. I’ve played it for a few hours now and the monotonous streets of New Mombasa are so samey-samey that nowhere really stands out. Making my way through dark corridors with little to see and even less happening is even worse.
You stumble upon enemy groups on the streets and blast away at them from a distance until your weapon runs out of ammo. It’s always the same groups of the same characters too. Oh look! Them fellas with the shields, and the big guys, again! Didn’t I kill them back there a bit?
Or maybe it’s the weapons. The original Halo 3 was all bright and colourful and cartoony and I liked it. It had some great set pieces. The weapons suited it. The energy weapons you pick up from dead enemy corpses are much the same as in the previous game but here they look totally out of place, even childish or something. The pistol is great though. Zoom in, bang, headshot! Nice.
Maybe I’m expecting too much of of the venerable Halo 3 engine? I’m honestly not sure if I can bring myself to load the ODST disc to play the game again. By all means, rent it out and give it a go, or buy the original Halo 3. It’s going cheap now and it’s a great game!
Oh, in case you’re wondering, I only played the single player game. I don’t have any interest in multiplayer, although Firefight was a nice distraction for 5 minutes. (and now the fanboys will crucify me.)
Huge Xbox 360 price hike on the way
Well, this is shocking. I’m glad I bought my Xbox 360 a while back before this price hike went into effect.
For those who don’t know, visit the Xbox 360 Elite page for Ireland. See that price? Looks like we get gouged yet again with sky high prices in rip off Ireland. *sigh*
I bet you thought the minor price hike in the UK was bad. At least Microsoft could blame a weak currency but we’re in the Eurozone for crying out loud!
(via)
PS. I can recommend without reservation the new Batman game. I’m a few hours into it now and it’s enthralling. It has to be the best superhero game ever. The scene in the morgue with the Scarecrow had me freaked out and just a little scared.
D’you remember the Batman stories where he fought Scarecrow? It’s one thing to read it and watch Batman’s reactions to the fears planted by the poisoned gases, but quite another to be right-in-there-feeling-the-fear. Can’t wait to play it again!