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We're all about the Wii these days
November 26, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 We're all about the Wii these days. I got it for Sam's birthday, with Seraph's help waiting in line until Midnight when they first appeared. It came with Wii Sports, which is surprisingly good, and I got Zelda: Twilight Princess as well.
Wii Sports is great fun, really showing off the capabilities of the new controller. I regularly break a sweat playing boxing, which really gets the heart pumping. It'll be interesting to see if there are other games coming out which are similarly exercise inducing.
The new Zelda game is Sam's favorite. The difficulty level is perfect for him and it makes for great reading practice. There is no voice acting, so he has to read everything. Fortunately he's able to, unlike the last Zelda game when he was a little too young. Without really planning, the new Wii is both educational and good for his health. Weird.
I also made a hysterical movie showing the kids playing Wii boxing. It's quite amusing.
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I've pretty much only been playing NWN2, and ...
November 17, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
I've pretty much only been playing NWN2, and barely the official campaign at that. Mostly it's all about working on Dark Waters, from dusk until dawn. I think it's officially at hobby status at this point.
Sam's interest in The Movies has waned and he's started getting into making NWN2 levels just like his dad. Unfortunately the toolset is extremely complicated, so he's asking for help a lot. On the plus side, he's doing really well for a seven year-old. Many adults are having a hard time with the toolset.
I like to think it's an educational sort of thing, developing math, reading, and artistic skills. Last night he was implementing a dialog for a character he put on the map. It went something like this:
NPC: "Hi."
PC: "Where are we?"
NPC: "Where are we?"
PC: "Bye."
Such sweet words, spoken by a budding master.
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I picked up a couple games cheaply over at go...
October 27, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
I picked up a couple games cheaply over at gogamer.com, Company of Heroes and The Movies. Sam was really fascinated by The Movies and so in a burst of energy last night, earned enough checks to play it when it arrived yesterday.
So far we haven't got into the movie making part at all. Instead, we're just building up our little 1920's movie studio. We just bought a western-themed lot, so I presume that'll be our next movie. Maybe once we make it through the tutorial we'll be able to play around a bit more.
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Sam and I played a fair bit of Defcon yesterday
October 01, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
Sam and I played a fair bit of Defcon yesterday. It's a fun little game and Sam is only now starting to get the hang of it.
Of course, I dreamt last night there had been a thermonuclear war. That'll teach me to play Defcon and watch Jericho.
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Game season is starting up soon
September 30, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Game season is starting up soon. The demos and games are beginning to come out. Neverwinter Nights, my main hobby the last few years, is coming out with a sequel in another month, with the toolset for it coming out tomorrow. Should be fun.
I also picked up a demo for a little game called Defcon. It's pretty wild, a War Games style game where you play global thermonuclear war. Needless to say, everyone loses, but the goal is to lose the least. It's actually a pretty deep game, where the goal is to take out your enemies' forces without showing off your own. I made the rookie mistake of launching everything at once, which meant they knew where all my missle bases were. They didn't last long.
The art direction is wonderfully horrible, as you can see.
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There's been a long lull in games these last ...
September 20, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
There's been a long lull in games these last couple months. I'm doing Neverwinter Nights stuff, under an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement), so I can't really talk about it.
Sam and I have been spending recent afternoons playing Gary's Mod for Half-Life 2. Mostly we'll try to kill each other, but stick to interesting ways. We've dropped big shipping containers on each other's heads, attached thrusters to barrels and sent them flying, and the old exploding barrel trick is a favorite. Last night I was killed multiple times by a bicycle with a rope that was strangely vibrating. Sometimes Sam gets me laughing so hard that it's difficult to play.
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It does seem that every story is, at its hear...
July 29, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 It does seem that every story is, at its heart, about a girl.
I continue to play Prey, wandering the convoluted hallways in search of my character's girlfriend. The graphics of the game are pretty darn' creepy, one of the better "biomechanical" implementations I've seen in awhile.
Sam's still playing Star Wars: Republic Commando. It's strange that I almost never have to help him out. He's reading all the hint screens as he plays and figuring it out quite well.
Sam and I periodically break out my old Magic cards and play. Last night we played a normal game, hidden hands, with two pretty solid decks. He asked a couple times for advice, but otherwise played by himself. He managed to beat me and was quite proud of himself. Now he's asking Jamie if she'll play with him. I'm sure there's some sort of parent/child dynamic going on, but I'm not quite sure what.
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Well, I got Prey last night in the mail, thou...
July 27, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Well, I got Prey last night in the mail, though I've only had a bit of time to play. There's some great things about it so far, though I'm not sure it's in the "best game ever" category. Currently I feel somewhat overwhelmed, tumbling from one strange room to another. Strange creatures attack, the gravity puzzles are disorienting, and the weapons are bizarre living things.
Still, it's a somewhat novel sensation, one that I'm sure the designers planned. The portals are fun to play with, linking weird parts of the world together in odd ways. The graphics are gorgeous, if often somewhat creepy and gross. Everything is well-polished, from the puzzles to the overall look.
Hopefully I can find some time tonight to play more.
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For whatever reason, Sam and I are on this no...
July 24, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 For whatever reason, Sam and I are on this nostalgic trip down memory lane. Sam's playing the original Half-Life and I'm playing Planescape: Torment. I feel vaguely guilty playing those ancient games on my beefy computer, but they're still remarkably fun. It does make me think about how expensive recently games are, and how much they focus on graphics and flash. It's increasingly rare to have a game have great gameplay as well.
In any case, Sam's working his way through the strange experiments of Black Mesa and I'm contemplating odd fantasy philosophy in Sigil. Good, old-school fun.
Supposedly I'm getting Prey soon. I enjoyed the demo, but heard it was quite short. Fortunately I found a pretty good deal online.
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I finished up HL2:E1 this morning
June 03, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I finished up HL2:E1 this morning. The worst part was that it was short, which I suppose is the nature of episodic content. The level of polish was amazing, though. They really got carried away with scripting and animation. Each section of the game seemed incredibly well polished and fun.
I'm still not convinced of the value of an episodic approach over the traditional full story approach. It's like television versus movies, I suppose. Still, if Valve continues to do such a great job with thier mini-games, I'll keep buyin' them.
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It's been pretty quiet in the world of gaming
June 02, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 It's been pretty quiet in the world of gaming. I think there's this unspoken rule that during the Summer months, kids should be outside playing and not sitting in front of the computer. Well, a new game came out, a semi-sequel to Half-Life 2. It's a three-part episodic sequel, $18 for 5 or so hours of gameplay. It's a pretty new concept in a world filled with $60 games and $35 expansions.
I've been playing Half Life 2: Episode One for over an hour now. It's pretty darn' good. The folks at Valve have the knack of mixing things up a fair amount, so a particular style of gameplay doesn't get stale. They're also working on the concept of "single player co-op", where your companion Alyx acts pretty much like another player. She's awful chatty, that's for sure.
Mainly the game is extremely well polished, with huge numbers of animations, interesting physical world puzzles, and some intriguing story movement. I'm being good tonight and calling it quits, well before ten o'clock.
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One of the things that isn't widely known is ...
May 12, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
One of the things that isn't widely known is that if Emma had been a boy, we would have called her Max. This is in honor of Sam and Max, a great cartoon and game from ages past.
Well, it looks like they're bringing them back. Their website is fairly cool and in honor of the game, I decided to make a comic about my two lovely children - Sam and Max style.
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Sam worked terribly hard yesterday, taking ou...
May 08, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Sam worked terribly hard yesterday, taking out the garbage, planting tomatoes, and earning enough stars to get Animal Crossing. It's an interesting game, one that is completely non-violent (other than fishing, maybe). Basically you get dropped off in a town, buy a house, and end up working off your mortgage doing odd little tasks. Already I've planted flowers around the shop and written a letter to a customer.
It involves a fair bit of reading, which Sam is willing to do a fair amount so far. He's slow, but much more able than the beginning of the year. My secret plan is to have him practice reading when he thinks he's playing a game.
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I made one more foray into the world of Oblivion
April 24, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I made one more foray into the world of Oblivion. I think I'm feeling fairly well done. Sure, I could try another character or something, but I think I need to let it rest for awhile. There was one quest I had heard much about, a trip into a painting. Yesterday I finally tracked down the right person, hopped into the painting, and was treated to a surreal landscape that was jaw-droppingly cool.
For now, I'll happily work away on my Neverwinter Nights project and see what comes out of E3 next month. It's usually an extravaganza of new game announcements, screenshots, and movies. I'd like to think of it as the nerd equivalent of the superbowl.
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I finished up Oblivion, powering through the ...
April 22, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I finished up Oblivion, powering through the final parts of the main quest. It was epic, I suppose, though I suppose I've saved so many worlds at this point in my gaming career that I've become a bit jaded.
Mostly I have fun wandering through the massive and beautiful world. It's entertaining just riding around from place to place. I'm tempted to start a new character that's stealthy and uses a bow, just to play around with things.
Sam's still playing, though he's recently gotten distracted by a Star Wars game. It's way too hard, so I think I'm push him back in the direction of Oblivion again. Either that or Emma's library games. Mmm . . . educational software.
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Sam and I continue to play Oblivion from time...
April 09, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Sam and I continue to play Oblivion from time to time. It's a beautiful looking game, plus the openness and huge world really give you a sense of immersion. I've gotten sidetracked from the main quest many times just wandering about or doing odd little quests.
Still, it's starting to feel like it's time to hunker down and finish the main quest. There's some tedious parts, though I've managed to make myself permanently invisible and simply walk past monsters. It makes certain things much easier.
Sam also has gotten into the game quite a bit. Since all the dialog is spoken, he can generally follow what's going on. I think he also likes being able to wander around and do just about anything he wants.
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Most of my game time this week has been with ...
February 01, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
Most of my game time this week has been with Sam, playing Zelda: Wind Walker. It's a fun little game, with Sam being able to play through most of it. There's a few difficult boss fights that require honed gamer's reflexes, but for the most part it's right at Sam's difficulty level.
I also submitted an entry to the Bioware Writing contest. I'm hoping for the coffee mug and wool hat with Bioware written on them. So far the votes look pretty good, though competition is fierce (over 300 entries).
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I got Prince of Persia: Two Thrones earlier t...
January 27, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I got Prince of Persia: Two Thrones earlier this week. I've only managed to play a few times, but it's pretty much exactly what I remember from the first game. There's a lot of running and jumping, with frustrating results if you barely miss what you were aiming for.
There's a surprising amount of "puzzleness" to it, looking around and deciding where it makes sense to go next. There's a fun sense of flow when I start getting into the rhythm of the thing.
On the down side, it's still a console port. I can't save everywhere. Once I start playing, I'm basically invested to continue playing until I get to the next save spot. It's a bit annoying.
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I weaseled some alone time from Jamie on Satu...
January 23, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I weaseled some alone time from Jamie on Saturday and finished up Resident Evil 4. The ending was a bit routine, the typical "kill the bad guy and escape" sort of thing. I think I've done it countless times. Still, the game in general is masterful, with great art direction, suspense, and endless interesting things to do. The story itself is pretty good, with enough background to keep it together. On occasion it got a little silly, but typically not too bad. All-in-all, it was fun to play.
Sam and I have really been getting into the Zelda: Wind Walker game. The puzzles are interesting, if occasionally too challenging for Sam. He has a hard time with the difficult combats, but otherwise holds onto that controller with a death grip. The art is cartoonish and funny, solidly aimed at the pre-teen age group, though I find it entertaining as well.
It's also nice inspiration for my own little game, as it too has islands and sailings and such.
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Well, Sam finally earned that final star by e...
January 15, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Well, Sam finally earned that final star by emptying the dish washer and excitedly opened up the Zelda: Wind Walker game that he's been saving up points for. We mentally prepared by having a cookie and milk while reading the directions, and then popped it in the Gamecube.
So far, it's been pretty fun to play. The graphics are very cartoony, but well done. The most worrisome part was the amount of reading in the game. Sam has done phenomenally well so far, reading many of the passages himself. There were a couple times when I'd read for him, but he certainly pulled his own weight.
So far, Sam's cut some grass, controlled a seagull, had his sister kidnapped, and joined a group of pirates. Not bad for an hour worth of playing.
I also managed to sneak in some Resident Evil 4 time yesterday afternoon. I think I'm nearly done with the game, which is indeed near perfection for the genre. As someone who dabbles in game creation, I'm envious of how well they've blended the varied environments, encouraged alternating gameplay, maintained suspense, and kept the difficulty level so that it is challenging but not frustrating.
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I've been having fun playing Civilization 4 f...
January 06, 2006 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I've been having fun playing Civilization 4 from time to time. I started a game on a tiny planet with eight other civilizations. I managed to expand to three cities and then instantly I was pushing up against foreign borders.
I barely managed to conquer the Russians this morning, though it cost me most of my army. It pushed me to the top of the relative Civ scores, though I can tell I'll need to deal with the others. The next choice is whether or not to attack the bigger civs, or try to go for the ones that should be easy picking.
Ah, these difficult decisions when conquering the world.
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