Thursday, March 29, 2012

Cracking the Case - Risk: Factions

My latest articles is up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a preview of Cracking the Case - Risk: Factions...

Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing.

I have been a rabid gamer my entire life. One thing that is constant about my gaming habits is that I will fall hard for a game, play it for about two to three weeks straight and then it will disappear into the ether, until I decide to pick it up again for another go around.

Risk: Factions is a game that managed to buck this trend.

You can find the article in its entirety here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-risk-factions/

Saturday, March 24, 2012

Jeff's Jabs - Cruel and Unusual

My latest article, Jeff's Jabs: Cruel and Unusual, is now up on GameNTrain. Here's a taste of what you can expect --

Most games, there is a clear goal in mind. Save the princess, destroy evil, stop the evil supercomputer from taking over the planet, you usually have some clear cut goal on what you have to accomplish to complete the game.

Typically, your path to the end of your quest keeps you on the straight and narrow. Not once will you break some sort of law or fall out of favour with the powers that be, unless of course you are fighting against the powers that be. In which case, its a different story.

But sometimes, the main goal of the game pales in comparison to what that game allows you to do. Sometimes, there are no limits to what the player can do in the game world, leading to some… unfortunate circumstances.

And the funny thing about this is the game typically rewards you for it.

To view the full article, follow the link provided here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-cruel-and-unusual/

Thursday, March 22, 2012

An eventful trip to Golden...

Posts on the blog have been a little slow of late. There is a reason for that.

Last Thursday, I was one of four people in a major car crash.

I want to thank everyone for their concern since our crash on Thursday morning. My fiance Shayla and I will live, although we are pretty banged up.

Basically, here's what happened. We were travelling in a one-tonne pick-up truck from Invermere to Golden on our way to Kamloops for a provincial bowling tournament. About twenty minutes outside of Golden, we hit a patch of black ice and lost control, crossing over the centre lane before going off the road and into the ditch. The truck barrel-rolled as we went into the ditch, demolishing the vehicle and leaving us stuck in a swamp with the truck back on its wheels.

There were four of us in the vehicle at the time and all of us were left with various injuries. I won't go into more details here. There is a time and a place for everything and a blog isn't the place to air the health matters of my friends. I'll save that for the bar!

In all seriousness, thank you everyone for thinking of us. It was a scary situation that could have been a lot worse. As we crossed the centre line, an 18-wheeler was coming right at us. Also, if our vehicle had rolled any further, we would have hit a train track only metres away.

Bottom line, we're safe and we're home. That's all that matters.

Cracking the Case - Record of Agarest War

My latest articles is up on GameNTrain today. Here's what you can expect from Cracking the Case: Record of Agarest War

I am possibly going to offend many JRPG fans today.

It’s not because I don’t like role playing games from Japan. I have a collection of RPGS dating back to Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior on the Nintendo. Role playing games from both sides of the pond have found their way into my game systems and onto my television set for nearly two decades.

The reason many fans of Japanese RPGs are likely to come after me in droves is because I am about to open fire on a game that has been applauded by fans of RPGs, strategy games and war stories alike.

Today, I’m Cracking the Case on Record of Agarest War by Aksys Games.

For the full article, follow the link here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-record-of-agarest-war/

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Jeff's Jabs: Rose-Colored Glasses

Latest article of Jeff's Jabs is now up on GameNTrain. Here's a preview of Jeff's Jabs: Rose-Coloured Glasses.

It has been almost two weeks since Mass Effect 3 came out and already, we are seeing a buzz in the Internet community.

While the praise and fortune around ME3 will probably continue for weeks, months, maybe even years, only now are we starting to see the complaints of gamers who have completed the trilogy.

Mass Effect 3 definitely lived up to the hype, but on a complete glance at the game, there are a few things that stand out for leaving gamers around the world feeling a little empty. After all, this is the end of Commander Shepard’s adventure, at least that’s what developers of the game have told us in the past.
You can check out the full article here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-rose-coloured-glasses/

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Cracking the Case: Catherine

My latest article on GameNTrain.com is due out Thursday, March 15th.

Here's a sneak peak at Cracking the Case: Catherine...

There's no use trying to understand a nightmare. Sometimes, the strangest of images and stimuli will pop into your head as you sleep. You could be chased by demonic hell-spawn or dropped from the sky by a flying rainbow pig.

The important thing to remember is that dreams can't hurt you and your nightmare will at some point end... Or will it?

What if your nightmares were recurring? what if you couldn't wake up until you accomplished some sort of goal? What if dying in your dreams meant you died for real?

This isn't the Nightmare on Elm Street, this is the strange tale of Catherine.
For the full article, be sure to go to http://www.gamentrain.com/.

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Jeff’s Jabs: Résumé for a Final Boss

My latest article is up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a taste of what you can expect...

Where every story has a hero, every hero needs a villain. In the world of video games, this villain is most likely your final boss.

A final boss is the ultimate of evils, the greatest challenge that a gamer must surpass in order to complete this game. They will pull out every trick of the villainy trade to try to grind your progress to a halt.

But a true final boss is much more than an end game challenge for the hero. Like every masterpiece, a villain will have motivation, style, class and will always be memorable.From

Ganondorf to Sephiroth, there are a few things all great final bosses share…
For the complete article, check out http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-resume-for-a-final-boss/

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Cracking the Case: Mass Effect 3

Cracking the Case: Mass Effect 3 is now up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a preview of what you can expect...

Gamers in Edmonton, Alberta weren’t going to get much sleep on Monday, February 5th. The residents of that Canadian city knew something big was coming at midnight.

Edmonton is the home of Bioware, developers of the Mass Effect series. It was also the home of the Mass Effect 3 launch party, marking the end of Commander Shepard’s adventure.

Miles away (or kilometres for Canadians) in Cranbrook, British Columbia, I stood outside of EB Games on a cold and snowy night, waiting for midnight. I wasn’t alone. There were 30 other die-hard Mass Effect fans waiting in line as well. These gamers weren’t just waiting for a new game, they were waiting for their chance to save the world.

Or just waiting for a chance to blow some stuff up online, whichever came first.
For more, click here - http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-mass-effect-3/

Saturday, March 3, 2012

Jeff's Jabs: Gaming Innovations

The latest edition of Jeff's Jabs is now up on http://www.gamentrain.com/. Here's a sample of what you can expect.

For the video game industry to truly develop, there needs to be constant development and change. It is this flow that prevents the industry from stagnating. With the advent of Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and Wii Virtual Console, games are no longer confined to what’s imprinted on a disk or cartridge.

The uses of online play haven’t even begun to tap its full potential. DLC and online combat are not the limits to the innovations that can be seen from this worldwide arena. Here are some ideas that could change everything about your gaming experience.
For the full article, go to http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/jeffs-jabs-gaming-innovations/

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Cracking the Case – Front Mission: Evolved

Cracking the Case has debuted on GameNTrain. This week, I look at Front Mission: Evolved.

Here's a preview of what you can expect...

The Front Mission franchise is one of the leaders in mech combat games. For decades, the battle of futuristic walking tanks, or wanzers, has set the stage for a large-scale military drama. Most of the series has only been released in Japan, but we’ve been treated to a few great games in the United States, including Front Mission 3.

I recently was able to find the latest game in the series, Front Mission: Evolved. This game has been universally panned by fans and reviewers as the nail in the series’ coffin, after Square Enix announced they will no longer release any future Front Mission games after FME’s failure in Japan.

So naturally, I was reluctant to pick this game up when it first came out. Eventually, I found a good sale, so I dug into my wallet, paid 29 dollars and added the game to my collection.
To read the full article, go to http://gamentrain.com/2012/03/cracking-the-case-front-mission-evolved/.

A perfect game

February 29th is a rare date. It only comes around once every four years.

What I saw on Leap Year night is much rarer.

Last night, I witnessed a perfect game of 5-pin bowling, bowled by Cranbrook's own Dave Wendell. I had to laugh, because only minutes earlier, I was proud of accomplishing a bowling milestone of my own, my first 300 game.

The perfect game happened during our Wednesday night mixed league, which is mostly just for players looking to have a good time and a few beers. You're not expecting to see too many bowlers here hit extremely high games. Some 300 games here and there, but nothing like this.

My team is made up of Shayla Brissette, Curtis Boudreau, Jay Mackinnon and Scott Wilmott, who was sitting in for Graine Wilmott that night. We were up against one of the better teams in the league, including Dave Wendell.

The third game began and we watched as Dave began to string together strike after strike. The game before, I had just thrown six strikes in a row, so I was excited to see this new energy coming from our opponent's team.

Then Dave hit his seventh strike and it dawned on me that he hadn't missed a strike yet.

The eighth frame began and Dave hit another one. Eight strikes in a row.

The night was beginning to wind down in the bowling alley, but a buzz was beginning to go over the crowd. That was intensified as Dave went up again and, once again, hit another strike.

Nine frames, nine strikes and only three throws left to go.

The tenth frame began and a hush fell over the entire bowling alley. Dave Wendell was up again.

His first throw was a strike. The star popped up on the score screen, signifying 10 strikes in a row.

Dave threw again, hitting his 11th strike. At this point, the star popped up again, with the word 'super' above it.

Still up for his final throw, Dave took a deep breath, paused and made his final throw.

Strike ball. Twelve strikes in a row. Perfect game.

The bowling alley went nuts. Our team, Dave's team, everyone in attendance couldn't believe what they just saw.

Now, I love bowling, but I will admit that witnessing a perfect game of 5-pin was not on my list of things I have to see for my own eyes.

That being said, I cannot deny how amazing that was to witness something like that. To put it in perspective, in Cranbrook's 50-year league bowling history, only 10 perfect games have been played. That's over 50 YEARS.

So congratulations to Dave Wendall. You have accomplished something that many bowlers over the years have strived to achieve.

As for my bowling, while I did hit my first 300 game last night, it looks like I have another milestone to aim for.