Skyrim

November 17, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam's been playing Skyrim for almost a week now, though I only got it a couple days ago. I haven't been able to play all that much due to life's responsibilites, but what I've done so far feels pretty special. I'm also having a strange compulsion to gather up every potion ingredient I can find and eat it to raise my alchemy skill. I'm busy eating animal parts and weird plants all along my journeys.

I finished Bastion last weekend, which was a wonderful, artistic game with an interesting story. It was simple in some respects, a standard "fight the monster and get the stuff" game, but the narration was constant throughout and kept things interesting.

Finally, Minecraft goes live tomorrow, despite a couple years of playing. I'm strangely excited to get back to it and explore the Nether for strongholds. You can "win" the game now, and I'm eager to find the things necessary to do so.

Minecraft

September 19, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

There was a Minecraft update recently.  I've been expanding our world into the new wilderness, where deep oceans and mysterious island ruins await.  I've been mining iron to turn into mine tracks so that we can easily travel from place to place.

I also ended up getting this program that maps out your minecraft world, and I have it updating each night.  Take a gander.  It works just like Google Maps, where you can zoom in and pan around.

Zombies, Cyborgs, and Miners

September 14, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

We've been playing a mix of games in the Miller-Bartlett household.  The younger kids are all about Moshi Monsters, to the point where Duncan finally convinced Joanna to get him a membership for a month.  Sam and I are the only ones who have resisted playing.

I continue my Deus Ex gaming, sneaking my way through with as little bloodshed as I can manage.  It's an interesting zen-like experience, though I keep accumulating increasingly powerful and exotic weapons that I hope I'll never use.  I think the conspiracy is about to unravel, though I can never be sure with these sort of things.

In stark contrast, Sam convinced me to get Dead Island, a free-roaming zombie game.  It's extremely buggy and violent, though strangely the most effective way to fight zombies is to kick them to (even more) death.  Still, it's pretty fun co-op game.  Sam and I went exploring and freed an uninfected person from an old bunker after using a precious Molotov on a couple massive zombies.  We took our reward truck and drove around on the beaches like crazy people.

The latest Minecraft came out, and Sam and Duncan were cheerfully playing this morning.  Even Joanna piped in with a "we need to play some Minecraft this weekend."  Sam's encouraging us to start a new server, and abandon our months of construction on the old.  A family discussion may be needed.

Deus Ex

September 02, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

I'm enjoying Deus Ex, turning into a little hacker/sneaky person.  I continue being a pacifist as much as possible, defeating my first boss by repeatedly shocking him with a taser.  It's fun getting into a game again, and I've actually had a few hours over the last few days, which feels very luxurious.

I'm also enjoying the conspiracy theory background.  Evidently F.E.M.A. turns into some shadowy government group in the future.

Minecraft Tech Support

August 26, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

I find myself as the Minecraft tech support person for our neighborhood.  Joanna was over at the neighbors' house and their oldest boy, Ben, requested fifteen minutes of assistance with Minecraft.

Duncan asked me to install the Single Player Commands mod, which I did after clearing the table and doing the dishes.  I donned my Minecraft t-shirt given to me by Joanna last year.  Finally I went over to talk with Ben and get his Minecraft mod installed.  This morning I was helping Sam figure out which part of a graphic file corresponded to which part of some custom armor he was making for the game.

I have a little Minecraft creeper box from Duncan's birthday party on my work desk, full of green M&Ms that were given to me as a joke.  A coworker stopped by and announced that his boys were playing Minecraft too.

When I was a kid, I envisioned the future with more spaceships and air cars.  Little did I know that it would involve mining virtual worlds.

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

August 26, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Many years ago, in the early days of gaming, a game called Deus Ex came out.  It was surprisingly good at the time, and the backdrop of conspiracy theories and augmented humans was a fascinating one.  This latest game is similar, though even more artistically beautiful and well-polished.  Everything has a Blade Runner feel, and I've been cheerfully sneaking, hacking, and talking my way through the game.

They also support a completely pacifist approach, and I've decided to go with a cyborg pacifist with a penchant for hacking.  My only regret is that I don't have enough time to play these days.  Maybe when school starts, I can take a "video game day" and play for eight hours straight after making myself a mocha and bidding everyone farewell.

Oh, and the main character's name is Adam, which is occasionally amusing.

Dungeoneering with Little Girls

July 03, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Emma and I played a bit of Dungeons and Dragons Online, which went free-to-play quite awhile ago.  For free, it's pretty awesome and is strangely a great game for Emma and I.  We chat, we laugh, and we vanquish evil.

Sam picked up Fable 3 in the latest Steam sale, putting in some yardwork to earn enough to get it.  I'll probably pick it up too, as it has co-op capabilities.  I'm slowly finishing up Witcher 2, which is pretty good, though I'm ready for it to be finished soon.

Minecraft Planes

June 30, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam and I played with planes in Minecraft today.  The mod was really challenging to set up, but was surprisingly fun to play.  Matt came on later on, and the three of us flew around, mostly getting lost.  We left with a tentative plan to build an airstrip, base, and fly around bombing each other.  Good times.

Each of us put together a video, so you can see it from each of our perspectives.

Minecrafters

June 19, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Our whole family has been playing Minecraft for a long while, but I haven't really had a good mechanism for sharing our adventures.  I did a bit of a test yesterday, with mostly success.  The first bit is Sam, Emma, Duncan, Matt, and I playing on Survival Island.  The second shows a typical scene of clearing an area to build a village.

Portal 2

April 20, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Portal 2 came out.

It was an odd weekend that preceeded it, full of a weird contest involving potatoes, with the promise of the game unlocking early.  Sam and I diligently played games and did video game challenges.  Sam practically peed his pants when he first got to play, staying up a bit too late and setting his alarm so he could play again in the morning.

I'm training behind him on the single player game, but we got the chance to play the co-op game last night.  It's loads of fun, where we control two robots that have to work together to accomplish tasks.  Periodically we'll accidentally set the other on fire, crush them, or similarly cause them grief.  This typically results in intense laughter between the two of us.

There are other games brewing in the background.  Minecraft had powered rails added.  Soon my elaborate rail system will let people easily travel around our vast Minecraft world.

Cross-dressing Zombie Fighting Concludes

March 26, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam and I finished Dead Rising 2 this afternoon - a silly, bizarre game that was terribly fun while playing cooperatively. I'm not sure I particularly appreciate the story, or the overall tone, but playing with Sam was incredibly fun. I especially liked the gritty cutscenes while wearing my pink hat and plaid shirt. Sam preferred more manly attire.

Hard-as-Nails, Cross-dressing Zombie Hunter

March 25, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam and I have been playing a bunch of different games lately, as he and I were at home all day yesterday. We played some Laura Croft until the controller broke, Left 4 Dead 2, Civilization 5, and Dead Rising 2.

Dead Rising 2 has been loads of fun, as we weren't able to get it working earlier. I wasn't sure how putting on clothes worked, so I ended up in a tight plaid shirt and pretty pink hat. Soon enough, I was fighting zombies along side Sam, the hard-as-nails, cross-dressing zombie hunter.

Unfortunately we're having a hard time getting coop working today. We're both very sad.

New Vegas

February 09, 2011 by Adam in Adam's Games

Sam and I pooled our money and got Fallout: New Vegas.  It's entirely awesome, and we're having a great time going through the dusty post-apocalyptic wastelands of southwest America.  There's a real western feel to the game so far, and I've cheerfully donned my chaps and cowboy hat to take on the varmints and scoundrels of the wasteland.

Sam's played far more than I have, but I'm still having a good time with my occasional fifteen minutes of play time here and there.