The Gamer Crash Awards and a Small Update

Posted on December 14, 2018 by

I don’t know about you but I find it hard to believe that we’re quickly approaching the end of the year. That means it’s also time for my annual Gamer Crash awards, where I spotlight some of my favorite games from the past year.

The awards are kicking off next week and running till the end of the year. For 2018, I have four categories: Best Soundtrack, Biggest Surprise, Best Download/Indie, and of course, Game of the Year. I’ll fully admit that I haven’t played every single game that has launched this year, so there’s a very real possibility that games you expect to see on a particular list won’t be there. Still, it’s always a blast putting these lists together and I want to hear from you as well so feel free to list out your own favorites in the comments.

Gamer Crash Awards

I also wanted to take a moment to discuss a few housekeeping items. Obviously, the holidays mean studios are shut down as well. Because of that and the lack of video content coming out for the next few weeks, this weekend will be the last Video Round Up post of 2018. The feature will be taking its normal hiatus until it returns later in January…or if there’s a sudden rush of trailers.

Even without the Round Up around, I’m still planning my usual slate of non-award articles like the 2019 video game look ahead, and then in later January, the monthly Now Arriving post, and the revised Gamer Crash Awards where I add in 2018 games that I was able to finally get to post-awards. I’d also like to talk about Super Smash Bros Ultimate as I’ve been massively enjoying my time with it lately. There’s a lot to dissect.

And with that, I’d like to wish you all a Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year. I hope your holiday season is the best one yet. Thanks for stopping by to read my stuff, I do appreciate it and you for choosing to spend your time here.

Advertisements
Posted in Feature, Gamer Crash Awards | Tagged , | Leave a comment

The Game Awards Edition of the Sunday Video Round Up: Dec 2 – 8

Posted on December 9, 2018 by

I told you I had you covered! With the release season finally coming to a close in 2018, the well of videos and trailers is starting to dry up. Thankfully, we had the annual Game Awards show this past week which gave us a ton of new content to dig into. So, this edition of the Round Up is super-sized with new trailers and videos for you to check out. Here’s a sneak peek at everything waiting for you below the jump.

One of my favorite announcements of the show this week came from the recently purchased Obsidian Entertainment. They’re storming back on to the scene with a new First Person RPG/shooter, which looks like it can really fill that Fallout 76 void. Known as The Outer Worlds, Obsidian is bringing back their signature RPG style, mixing it with first person shooter gameplay, and spicing it up with some humor as well. Have a look for yourself.

Nintendo pulled out a major surprise for Super Smash Bros fans by revealing the first DLC character coming next year. No, it wasn’t Skull Kid, Geno, or Waluigi, it was a character that no one anticipated. Joker from Persona 5 is making his Switch debut, leaving may to wonder if the game will be seeing a port as well.

I’ve also got new videos for Devil May Cry 5, Mortal Kombat 11, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and so much more after the break! The full list of videos awaits you after the jump…

Continue reading →

Posted in Feature, VIdeo Round Up | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Big Reveals at The Game Awards 2018

Posted on December 7, 2018 by

I know its intention is to be an awards show for video games, but honestly, the thing that excites me the most about this event these days are the world exclusive reveals. Kudos to Geoff Keighley for turning this event into a mini-E3 and the industry as well for going along with it.

Don’t ask me to repeat who won what awards because I couldn’t tell you. Red Dead won a lot, God of War took home Game of the Year, and…yeah, that’s about all I can recall from that side of the show. Today, we’re here to talk about some of the big name reveals and world premiers at last night’s event. There were a lot of bombshells and plenty of indie games, many of which I won’t get to.

game awards 2018 logo

Also, before we get going, can I just say how awesome it was to see Xbox’s Phil Spencer, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime, and Sony’s Shawn Hayden all be on the stage together at the same time. Absolutely loved to see that moment and it’s also something I never thought would actually happen ever. Sure, they may all be competitors, but seeing a sort of unity for the sake of the games community like that was super cool.

Alright, here are some of the biggest items from this year’s show:

Continue reading →

Posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Looking Back: Super Smash Bros for Nintendo 64

Posted on December 5, 2018 by

We have it so easy these days when learning about new games thanks in large part to the internet. From videos, websites, and social media, we consume information at a rapid pace. Believe it or not, it wasn’t always like this.

Super Smash Bros, for me, was one of those games that just seemingly appeared out of nowhere. The original game that started it all arrived in 1999, long before the huge marketing budgets, YouTube videos, and social media information blitzes became what they are today. It was very easy for a game to launch without the masses knowing and that’s kind of what this game did for me.

super smash bros box art

I can remember bumping into it on a store shelf at Toys ‘r’ Us, not knowing what I was looking at. The box depicted a cartoony looking Mario fighting an equally cartoony looking Pikachu with Fox McCloud punching Samus Aran in the background. Kirby was, of course, hamming it up for the camera, while Link stood confused as if his sword suddenly turned into a bouquet of flowers.

Why were these beloved Nintendo characters suddenly mad at one another and fighting each other? I had to find out.

It was such a different game from anything else that was available and it was downright fun. Granted, pairing a fighting game that used Nintendo characters as the combatants was simply unthinkable at the time.

In true Nintendo fashion, they simply didn’t follow the traditional fighting game rules. Gone were the health meters, replaced with percentages that got bigger and redder the more damage your character took until someone was shot off the screen completely. There were no complex Street Fighter-esque combos or controls for each character to memorize either as the same scheme worked across all 12 fighters. The story was basically an arcade-style mode that ended with your character fighting a giant white-gloved hand. In an interesting twist, victory sent your character back to the toybox as if all this fighting was simply a fever dream of a Nintendo style doll.

super smash bros roster

It’s also kinda funny to take a look at not only the limited number of things to do in the game but also the size of the original roster, which is minuscule as compared to how spoiled we’ve gotten in recent games. Granted, I’m sure the original game pushed the technical limits of the Nintendo 64 pretty hard so there likely wasn’t a ton of space left over for more stuff.

Visually, the game doesn’t hold up well at all, but that core gameplay loop is still massively satisfying. It’s crazy to think how this franchise has evolved over time, especially with the latest iteration just a few days away.

Super Smash Bros Ultimate is the culmination of the franchise, putting together a package with the most content I think I’ve ever seen put into a game. In this day and age where DLC and microtransactions are common place, what Nintendo has done with this is not only insane but really, really customer friendly.

I can’t wait to “duke it out” once again as my favorite Nintendo (and non-Nintendo!) characters this Friday.

Posted in Opinion | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Sunday Video Round Up: Nov 25 – Dec 1

Posted on December 2, 2018 by

I personally can’t believe it, but we’re now into December. Where has the year gone? Seeing as this is the last month of 2018, there’s only a handful of Video Round Ups left before we go on our annual holiday hiatus. More on that soon, but for now, let’s have a look at this week’s best video related offerings!

For Destiny 2 fans, Bungie dropped some big news in the form of an eight-minute trailer showing the road ahead for the game. Season 5 recently kicked off and the first content update arrives in a few days called the Black Armory. You’ll get a look at what’s included as well as the next couple of seasons and where the game is heading.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey continues to be a bright spot in the 2018 release schedule and the team at Ubisoft are preparing to launch the first chapter of the first expansion known as Legend of the First Blade. For those looking for even more to do in this massive game, have a look at the trailer and what appears to be the first iteration of the Assassin Brotherhood led by the Persian, Darius.

I’ve also got new videos for Just Cause 4, Darksiders III, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and so much more after the break! The full list of videos awaits you after the jump…

Continue reading →

Posted in Feature, VIdeo Round Up | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Now Arriving: Games of December 2018

Posted on November 30, 2018 by

Ladies and gentlemen, the rollercoaster ride of releases for 2018 is quickly coming to an end. October and November were stuffed with games and while December traditionally doesn’t follow suit, there are some major names launching this month. Let’s have a look at what’s launching in December 2018.

In my eyes, Nintendo leads the way this month as they’re getting ready to launch one of their most content rich games I can remember: Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Not a port, not a remaster, Ultimate brings nearly everything back from the past games while adding plenty of new content on top of it like characters, stages, a new campaign, and so much more. This game is pretty much a must buy for any Switch owner.

Not a Switch fan or owner, well, alright there’s still some good stuff to look forward to as well. If you’re in the mood to cause a little lot of destruction, Just Cause 4 should be on your radar. You know the drill by now, Rico Rodriguez, open world, everything explodes. At the very least, the game is a great stress reliever.

It may not be a tightly packed month of releases, but there’s still plenty to check out. As always, you can see the full December release schedule below the break. Enjoy!

Continue reading →

Posted in Feature, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Continued Fallout From Fallout 76

Posted on November 27, 2018 by

I’ll be honest, I didn’t see this coming. Bethesda’s Fallout games are typically a sure thing, but things seemed a little off when Fallout 76 was revealed to be an entirely online experience. The traditionally single-player experience was now being morphed into something else completely and worse yet, the NPCs which provided those memorable moments and unique story-driven content would be completely removed in favor of robots and recorded messages.

Even with the huge amount of questions leading to its release, I feel like things started to even out a bit thanks to some quality marketing and hands-on impressions.

fallout 76 chaos

Ultimately though, it seems Fallout 76 isn’t the game many fans were hoping for. Critical and fan impressions have not been good and the game is currently riddled with technical issues as well. Unfortunately, Bethesda has not helped matters by essentially going radio silent since launch, which pushed the community further towards rioting.

Earlier today the company final apologized for the long silence and revealed a couple of changes the game is going to receive including increasing the stash limit from 400 to 600, increasing boss loot, as well as number of bugs negatively impacting the game. The studio also revealed that it intends to post articles on a weekly basis to keep fans up to date on what’s coming.

It’s a nice start but is it too little too late? For many, it is. For those looking to get a refund on their purchase, the return policy from the Bethesda game launcher is proving to be problematic, with some players getting refunded instantly and others being flat-out rejected. Interestingly enough, the terms and conditions of Fallout 76 state that once the game has been used, players cannot apply for a refund at all. Naturally, anger and confusion rippled throughout the player base.

Without much clarification, the situation has actually caught the attention of a Washington D.C. law firm, who is beginning an investigation into Bethesda Game Studios over potential deceptive trade practice. The statement the firm released claims the studio released a heavily glitched game and was refusing to issue refunds for PC purchases who found it unplayable due to its technical issues.

Who knows what will come of this, if anything. It’s a fascinating thing to observe, and I’m curious to see if Bethesda is able to turn this thing around or if the ship will continue to sink. Bethesda previously claimed that intended to keep evolving and adding to Fallout 76 for years to come, but with such a rough start and players seemingly jumping ship, that doesn’t seem like a sound financial and beneficial strategy. Either way, the next few months promise to be very interesting for Fallout 76 and Bethesda.

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment