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I got Sam Super Mario Galaxy for Christmas (w...
December 18, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I got Sam Super Mario Galaxy for Christmas (which we opened early). He's played it for a few days now and it is, indeed, an awesome game. There's these tiny planets that remind me of the one in The Little Prince book. Mario runs around these little things, doing all manner of crazy activities. Each little planetoid is novel and interesting, a constant exploration of a strange cartoon universe.
The best part for me is that there's a "helper co-op" feature. I can point the second wimote and the screen and do things like freeze enemies, pick up gems, shoot gems at foes, and help Sam jump higher than normal. As a parent, it's a brilliant addition, as there are occasionally spots in the game that would otherwise be pretty hard for Sam to get through.
I also picked up Call of Duty 4, though I've only played for a half an hour or so. The production values are excellent, though so far the game is fairly traditional. I suspect it'll be a fun if typical shooter.
I also downloaded Frets on Fire, an open source Guitar Hero clone. It was surprisingly fun, leading to lots of exclaimations of "Rock and Roll!" in the downstairs play room. It's pretty hard for Sam, though, mostly because he can't really hold the keyboard like a guitar. Finally he switched to using the keyboard normally and the game stopped telling him he played like a little girl.
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I finished up Gears of War the other day
November 20, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
I finished up Gears of War the other day. It seemed like a really fast play-through, but perhaps that was because I was sick and had a lot of time on my hands. It was the perfect level of game for me, lots of shooting and a pretty straightfoward plot.
I'm not sure the game was "Game of the Year" quality, but it was fairly fun. There were a few times when things were somewhat repetitive, though never to the point of putting the game away. The end was clearly set up for a sequel and the story itself wasn't particularly gripping. (SPOILER AHEAD) I could sum it up as "Figure out where to deliver bomb and then get it there.", though of course the interesting part is in the details.
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One of the nice things about being sick and t...
November 16, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 One of the nice things about being sick and taking the day off is that I get to indulge frivolous things like playing computer games. I played more Gears of War this morning, getting through the first act of the game. Like many highly rated games, they slowly introduce you to the game mechanics and then once you've mastered those, they move on to new ones.
At the moment I'm leading a squad of men after a somewhat messy battlefield promotion. The commands are pretty simple - attack, cease fire, and regroup. Hopefully I remember to actually do something with them. So far I've been fairly successful as a one-man army.
The architecture of the game is pretty neat looking - a ruined city with classic elements. I can see how it might get a little dull after awhile, so hopefully they'll mix it up some more.
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Gears of War arrived on my doorstep last night
November 14, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Gears of War arrived on my doorstep last night. I got to play for a half an hour or so after everyone went to bed. I don't have a good feel for the game yet, but I'm liking what I see so far. The visual effects are good. There's a strategic feel of taking cover and firing from cover, something that's very different from the run-and-gun approach most shooter games take.
The most annoying thing about Gears of War is the Microsoft Live! setup. It took a bunch of time to get set up and do the update properly. Compared to the Steam setup, it seemed somewhat clunky.
Of course, now I have a little "gamertag" image I can post on this page. I also found a third-party site that does the same for Steam games. Of course, I'm not sure why I should be bragging that I'm "Teh Suck" by not playing any Steam games lately, but oh well.
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I usually use this space to talk about games ...
October 26, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I usually use this space to talk about games I'm playing and not so much upcoming games. I'd like to make an exception to talk about Fallout 3, which is the third sequel to one of my favorite games of all time. It's a dark, post-apocalyptic role playing game, filled with mutants and rad scorpions. One of the items in the game was the PIPBoy 2000. When I finally started getting online, I chose PIPBoy3000 as my handle for message boards, online games, and so on.
Now it turns out that PIPBoy is back, this time as the PIPBoy 3000. In a strange coincidence, the primary conceptual artist is Adam Adamowicz. Needless to say, I love the way the thing looks.
Though I've done fantasy and Neverwinter Nights modding over the years, I'm sorely tempted to do something for Fallout 3 if the tools are available.
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I finished up Episode 2 last night
October 17, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
I finished up Episode 2 last night. The final combat section was okay, sort of a logical conclusion to things, frantic and tense. The last scene in the game had a Deus Ex Machina feel, though in this case it was "Dog of the Machine".
It's interesting comparing this game to Portal. Though Portal was much smaller in size and scope, it seemed the more original, emotionally gripping game. I'm sure part of it is the newness of the thing, though I suppose the takeaway for game developers is that sometimes simple is best.
In terms of my next game playing adventures, I have this odd urge to become the Peggle Grand Champion. Peggle is another very simple, engaging game. I picked it up for $10 and the kids and I have all had fun playing it.
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I'm loving Episode 2
October 14, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I'm loving Episode 2. Not just for the great storyline, fun gameplay, and so on, but for the little things. Here's a touching scene from a moment where Alyx reunites with Dog, the robot, who has just fetched, well, a brain. Even better, the brain was an interactive 3D object which I cheerfully picked up and proceeded to show to everyone. Alyx patiently kept talking about getting the car, but I was too busy admiring the floppy part of the brain stem as I twirled it about.
I tried to take the brain with me, but without success. I tried jamming it next to the engine of the car, but it fell out after a few simple maneuvers. If only there was a way to keep it with me, perhaps on a shelf somewhere along with the other body parts of enemies I've strewn about over the years. A spleen or two, perhaps.
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HL2, Episode 2 continues to impress me to no end
October 13, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 HL2, Episode 2 continues to impress me to no end. I just got this really cool muscle car after working for nearly an hour to get it. There was a crazy physics puzzle at the end which involved tipping a massive bridge by repositioning cars, culminating with a Dukes of Hazzard style jump over a chasm. Good times.
Sam's been playing Portal, occasionally voicing his frustrations with exclamations of hatred. As soon as I get him on the right path, though, he's hooked again. Since it's short, he'll probably finish up this weekend. Then I can play him the song from the credits, which I've burned to a CD.
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I finished Portal last night
October 11, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I finished Portal last night. It was quite short, but extremely awesome. The final battle was one of the most memorable and there was a brilliant streak of humor throughout the whole thing. The song at the credits was amazingly hysterical.
It's a giant spoiler, but you can evidently find the final song right here. Sadie would love it.
I started in on Half Life 2, Episode 2 this morning. It was nice to reunite with Alex and the rest of the Half Life crew. I just finished up a great "base defense" area with two wise-cracking would-be heroes. There was a great sense of suspense, tension, and quick-thinking. Brilliant stuff so far.
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It's starting to be that magical time of year...
October 10, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 It's starting to be that magical time of year when it comes to computer games. This morning Portal and Half Life 2, Episode 2 unlocked themselves on my computer. I was up at 4 am and played for two hours straight.
I've been wanting to play Portal after playing the student game Narbacular Drop a year or two ago. Basically you can create two portals and move yourself and other things through them. This results in all sorts of wacky physics puzzles. For example, you can put a portal on the ceiling and floor, then fall repeatedly through them. Another bonus is that you can see yourself through clever positioning of portals.
To top it off, the story and humor is great. Sam will likely want to play tonight, but I'll hopefully sneak in a few hours when I can.
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There was a Design a Perk contest over on the...
October 02, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 There was a Design a Perk contest over on the Fallout site. I'm a big fan of the Fallout games, so I couldn't resist adding Robot Love:
Robots have an unnatural affection towards you. They are nearly always friendly, sometimes overly so. Even when they turn hostile, they never aim for your pretty little face. Computers flirt as well, though with a sadness in knowing their feelings can never be consummated.
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I finished Bioshock this morning
August 30, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I finished Bioshock this morning. The final confrontation was fairly traditional and quite easy by the time I was fully loaded up on ammunition, plasmids, and upgraded weapons. The earlier Big Daddy fights were more intense for me.
Still, the epilogue was very fitting, different than most games, and reflected the choices I'd made throughout the game. I like that sense of denoument and meaning.
Fortunately Metroid Prime Corruption should magically appear on our doorstep today. It's for the Wii and is very well reviewed. The previous game was a bit too challenging for Sam and I, but I'm hoping that as Sam as gotten older and they've toned down the difficulty, it shouldn't be as frustrating.
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It was quite the change of pace from the drea...
August 29, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 It was quite the change of pace from the dreary, madmen-filled undersea city of Rapture, but we finished Sam and Max tonight. Sam (my Sam) was at the controls, and I'd offer up periodic hints if we got too badly stuck.
All-in-all, I was pretty happy with the series. The sense of humor was bizarre and over-the-top, as expected. The puzzles were only borderline nonsensical and often resulted in a funny outcome. I think the first few episodes were stronger than the latter ones, though perhaps it was because the style of humor wasn't quite as fresh.
Still, there's nothing like crazy ol' Max and his gratuitous violence.
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I spent much of yesterday in Rapture
August 27, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I spent much of yesterday in Rapture.
No, not the state of mind, but rather the undersea city, Rapture. It's part of a game called Bioshock, which is almost certainly going to win game of the year.
It's a wonderful game, set in an art deco city under the waves. What began as a utopia has turned into a place full of once-human monsters, transformed in pursuit of an ideal. The gameplay itself is full of interesting choices. Though it's technically a first person shooter, it's often a bad idea to simply jump in with guns blazing. I'm fond of hacking the various robots in the game, setting up ambush points, and luring my foes to me. There's also a range of magic-like abilities, such as the power to shock your foe, move things with your mind, and so on. Fun stuff.
The story itself is intriguing as well, with lots of moral and philosophical discourse all about. At this point, I think I'm over halfway through and will hopefully finish before Jamie and the kids return. Though it is fun to indulge at times, I do look forward to my family coming home.
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Sam and I have been loving the new Sam and Ma...
August 20, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Sam and I have been loving the new Sam and Max game. He'll click and I'll enjoy the wacky results, offering suggestions as needed. We've already blown through half the game, filled with zany humor and gratiuitious acts of senseless violence. Now we're going up against the president of the United States, who has evidently gone insane and enacted mandatory gun registration laws.
The Season One game will likely be over far too soon, but I think the "Season Two" version of the game will be a must buy for Sam and I to play. We're having so much fun with it. Point-and-click adventure games are a rarity these days, but still retain that sense of fun that modern games rarely attain.
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Sam and Max: Season One arrived on our doorst...
August 16, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Sam and Max: Season One arrived on our doorstep yesterday. Sam was horribly excited to play it, sticking up the poster on his wall while the game installed. I'm a fan of Sam and Max from years gone by. In fact, if Emma had been a boy, we would have named him Max.
For folks wanting a taste of what Sam and Max is all about, you can take a look at the blooper reel. Though it's not actual gameplay, you get a feel for the irreverence behind the game.
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I actually finished a game last night, S
July 06, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
I actually finished a game last night, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. (yes, it has all those periods in the title). It was from a Russian developer, which probably reflects its greatest strengths and weaknesses. It had lots of style and a lot of bad endings. The best was merely surviving and making the world a slightly better place. It was also difficult in many ways, with a strict weight limit, weapons and armor that broke down over time, requirements for food, dangerous radiation, and endless enemies that were often tougher than you.
I did pretty well, right up until the final levels. I found myself at the Chernobyl power plant without medical equipment, my armor in tatters, and extremely tough enemies all around. I got reasonably far using a run and hide approach, but this became impossible at the very end. Eventually I gave in after my 20th reload, downloading a trainer and making myself invulnerable for the rest of the game.
I still have Jade Empire to finish, though I'm not sure when I'll find the time to work on that next. Mostly I'm keeping my play time open until Bioshock arrives next month. That should be entertaining.
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I picked up Jade Empire, which is competing w...
May 28, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I picked up Jade Empire, which is competing with all my other games for free time. Fortunately it's quite good in a lot of ways, well worth the $20 it cost on Amazon. The good and evil choices are a bit obvious, and occasionally the graphics are a little dated. Still, the art direction is excellent and I love the sense of style. It's like playing a kung-fu movie, with all those great Asian themes.
Embarrassingly enough, I did have to tone down the difficulty all the way to "Student". I haven't gotten the hang of combat, which is fine. The most interesting aspect is the story, after all, plus I don't have lots of free time to spend punching and blocking over and over again.
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It seems like it's been a long time since I l...
May 17, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 It seems like it's been a long time since I last played a computer game. There was a recent deal on some older games and I broke down and bought three: S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Quake 4, and Destination: Treasure Island. I've only played the first at this point, a post-apocalyptic sort of game set in the area around Chernobyl. It's got mutants, anomalies, and mysterious artifacts. So far it seems like a big sandbox sort of game where you can wander around and explore, coupled with a loose storyline that slowly gets you towards the main reactor. Pretty fun, so far.
The most amusing gaming story was from last week. Sam's really enjoyed playing Garry's Mod for Half-Life 2 again. I think he likes the freedom of just messing around, creating objects, playing with physics and spawning in monsters for me to battle.
Emma has been ditching her Nick Jr. games, crawling into my lap and demanding that she control my character. She can sort of move around and fire whatever weapon I have handy, though her aim needs some work. At one point she spawned in, and asked for a big gun. I created one of the biggest ones for her and got it ready for her. "Rock and roll," she whispered, and proceeded to wildly empty the magazine.
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I got a second controller for the Wii and had...
March 08, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 I got a second controller for the Wii and had a lot of fun playing Wii Sports with Sam and Emma. I wanted to get another good multiplayer Wii game, so I ended up ordering Rayman Raving Rabbits. It looks funny, quirky, and something even Emma might enjoy (I've given up hope on getting Jamie to play video games).
Sam's been playing Dark Messiah a bit lately. It's occasionally frustrating for him, as it's right at the edge of his difficulty level. I remember when he was four and I'd turn on God Mode and let him play through games without fear of dying. Now he can handle just about anything I can, though occasionally he wants a little help.
Emma's into Barbie.com, especially printing out anything she can find. Yesterday she printed out some mail order form for a "free" playmat (just send $1.80 in shipping and handling).
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Well, Sam finished up Zelda: Twilight Princes...
February 22, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Well, Sam finished up Zelda: Twilight Princess last night. As expected, the evil was purged from the land and peace now reigns over Hyrule. Sam ended up breaking his one hour computer limit, which didn't make Jamie particularly happy. Tonight is going to be a "no computer" night just to make up for that particular excess.
I'd have to say that Twilight Princess is one of the best Zelda games to come along, perfect for Sam in many ways. It required lots of reading and the puzzles were just about right for his level. Plus it gives him playground "creed". One of the first things he said when he finished was that he couldn't wait to tell his friend John.
Sam has a few unfinished computer games waiting for him. After a day or two of no computer, I'm betting he'll get into those.
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Pretty much all I do with my computer, gaming...
February 05, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Pretty much all I do with my computer, gaming-wise, is work on my Neverwinter Nights 2 campaign. Yesterday I got completely sick of it and decided to play one of the games I got Sam for Christmas. He got so many that he never got around to playing Dark Messiah, which is based on the Half Life 2 engine.
I'd heard mixed reviews, but the demo was fun and I sat down to give it a chance. Sure enough, I ended up playing a couple hours straight and decided it was actually pretty fun. The physics are the highlight, with kicking orcs into chasms being the highlight of events. There's also many traps you can set off on your foes, such as breaking support beams to drop barrels on them. The story seems okay so far, though quite linear.
There's also a bit of character development in the form of a skill tree. I'm going for a mostly stealthy archer, which is turning into a fair amount of fun. I seem to alternate between that and blades, depending on the situation. I may play a bit more tonight, if I can sneak it in.
Sam finished Trace Memory, which I think he liked quite a bit. We decided to let Robbie borrow it next, assuming we can find a way to get it to him.
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Well, I finally finished the Neverwinter Nigh...
January 26, 2007 by Adam in Adam's Games
 Well, I finally finished the Neverwinter Nights 2 official campaign a couple days ago. I was really sick, and playing through kept my mind off things. There were some surprisingly fun moments towards the end. The final battle felt truly epic and the Siege was great. Most games start with a bang and then have marginal endings, but NWN2 seemed different. The ending felt like it had a lot of attention paid to it and it really showed.
The kids continue to play games too. Seraph got a gift certificate for EB Games. Sam got Trace Memory, an old-time adventure game for the Nintendo DS. It involves a lot of puzzle solving and using the stylus to immerse the player in the game. What's cool is that Sam's pretty sharp. He saw a baseball and said, "Aha! I can use that to knock down the briefcase." Sure enough, he was soon tossing it up to try and knock it down.
Emma got Cooking Mama, which she plays off and on with Nintendogs. She's still only three, so her patience for games is pretty short. Emma's also a fan of NickJr.com, which she'll visit once a week or so.
More often than not, though, the kids and I hang out in the basement to play physical games these days. Sam usually sneaks in some computer time each day, but it's interesting how they have the most fun jumping around when I get home.
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