First Person Shooters

For all the many amazing game types out there one of my favorite is a FPS. These are some of the best games to see some brutal competition. One of the big name games from this genre that has made it into the MLG world is Halo. This game is probably one of the fastest growing games in the market with popularity in the United States. It has brought many people together from the farthest parts of the earth.
More on the topic some of the first FPS's started in the 70s with Maze War and Spasim. Maze War is one of the closest games to a first person shooter since it use characters on foot and fighting. Spasim featured the FPS format more in the spaceship sense instead of being a person. So this was something that could be consider a different style to this type of play. I myself find this to be a unique look. In 92 the game Wolfenstein 3D that really set off the FPS genre it was built on the ray casting development that all FPS's are still based on today. This template was the key design for the games. Games in the later on after this also included Black Stone: Aliens of Gold and Doom. Doom was the first game to bring out the multiplayer format which was made for competitive deathmatch gameplay. Also with its texturing, variation on heights and enhancing the 3D environment it really brought the realism for the game.
It wasn't till the year 1997 when the best FPS came out that is set in the books. The name was Golden Eye 007 and it was brought out on the Nintendo 64. It was the first game to have well designed solo gameplay and also well developed multiplayer maps. It also gave the ability to use an aiming sight with the weapons and the favored ability of laying down a good Headshot.
Now to bring you up to speed with the high rollers of the video games of todays FPSs. We have the most popular ones like Halo 3, Call of Duty 4: Mondern Warfare and Resistance: Fall of Man. All of which have amazing online capability and specialties with maps, unique weapons and sweet styles for game play. They invoke the power of not only slayer matches, but also objective missions like capture the flag. Another thing that these newer games brought into this genre that was never seen before was the use of vehicles. So over all the First Person Shooters are great games with a litte violence on the side when you need to get some anger out.

Games To Movies...What A Great Idea.

Well last week i talked about how cool it would be to see a video game based off of a really sweet movie like Star Wars or one of the Lord Of The Rings movies. This week I decided to talk about the flip side of things. Where there has been games made into movies. Yes it is true a nerds biggest dream is coming true. Just kidding it is also mine too. But on a more important fact these movies are sometimes not the greatest thing ever to hit the shelves at your local rental store.
One of the major leading problems in these film adaptations of games are done horrible. A good example of this would be the Street Fighter movies. They made an OK version back in the 90s and now they just brought out another one that also tank in the ratings. I mean really what is wrong can't they find some descent directors that won't screw these types of movies up. They look good when you see the previews but they are horrible films. I haven't quite figured this out yet. Maybe they will be able to create good game based movie in a couple more years.
I'm not here to bash these types of films all together now. Because there has been some really good movies that came out that were in fact based on top selling games of their time. Here is a great example the Mario Bros. movie. Now I don't know how well it did when it came out but if you ask any Mario fan that saw the movie they could tell you it was a great film. There are others like Doom and Silent Hill which were both very good films. Now you wonder how this ties into video games. Well it is simple it is all about the franchise the more money you make the better your returns will be in the end. So if it is possible to go above and beyond a console why not just do it.
To me making a game into a movie is a wonderful idea. The one they need to do though is sometimes just leave the game as it is and not try to change it so much from the true storyline. Now for something Like Street Fighter there is not much of a story to go on. but there are some games that have great detail to there background so directors just leave it alone.

Movies to Games...Bad or Good?

We all know that we love to watch movies. Movies bring such enjoyment to us as people telling an awesome story. We get pulled into it and just want to no more. I remember as a kid coming out of one of the Lord of the Rings movie wanting to be just like Aragorn killing the orcs in the forest. Just wishing to get in on the action and have it in a video game. Now I know this sounds really nerdy but it is possible for all you fans of the movie.
The major debate in the gaming world is can a movie be turned into a game. It has been done but the problem is that every time they do it the games just tank. The problems with some of these games is that they are based off of the movie's storyline so they become very dull. Other problems include the poor sub-villains and the difficult game play. There is also the horrible script reading from the actors themselves and the worse is the cut scenes from the movie that gets added to these games.
These types of games are just horrible but yet they make money. Since they hang on the tails of the movie's fame as a blockbuster. Other games made that really suck are the Speed Racer, Incredible Hulk, and something from the past Jaws Unleashed. Wow this just makes me want to cry. It is wrong in every way possible.
Now not all games based of movies are bad. There are some that have actually made it in the world of electronics because they took a different route when designing the game play. A good example of successful ones are Star Wars Battle Front 2 and Lord Of The Rings: Conquest. With these games they were not design entirely after the movies. They just had the themes and then transformed to something that a general public would like. These games are based off of third person shooters. This is were you can see your character while you perform actions in the game. They are truly amazing games when done right. So when it comes down to it you just have to be the judge.

World of Warcraft.

In a world where only the strongest can survive. A land filled with dragons, skeleton creatures, and water monsters wait in the dark to pounce on a unknowing person. Where your best friend is the trusty spell book that a master wizard gave you. It is a dangerous land filled with many races that have decided to start a new war. The place I'm talking about is World of Warcraft, one of the best massive multiplayer online role-playing game ever made.
World of Warcraft aslo referred to as WoW is the fourth released game to come out of the Warcraft fantasy series created by Blizzard. In this computer game you are able to create a character that is of a certain race out of ten to choose. Each race belongs to one of the two warring factions on the game. Alliance is more the human type races consisting of Humans, Night Elves, Dwarves, Homes, and Draenei. On the Horde side you have the monsterous brutes like Tuaren, Orcs, Trolls, Blood Elves, and Undead. With every race comes their very own unique racial traits which the race. Like an increase in the ability to use magic or something to deal with giving them a berserker rage in battle.
Once you have picked a race you are then able to select your class. This is what type of player you will become like a warrior, druif, or a mage. There are a total of 9 to choose from which each get there very own unique spells and skills. And then there is also one hero class that once you reach level 55 or above your character can become. There are also much more that you can do with your character like join a guild, have professions, and even do achievements for the game.
This game has gone above and beyond the expectations for many gamers out in the world that love online games. It has made such an impact in the gaming community pulling in 11.5 million monthley subscribers. There has been two expansion sets that came out after the release of the game originally. The graphics are amazing and the designs for creatures and characters have been done well to give this full potential of being great.
This game to me is pretty amazing to me and I also find it to be very interesting. I hope to someday play it but that would require me to give in to it which I am far from. It has a huge fan base of people that like to make joke videos about the game. One of the most famous is the Leeroy Jenkins video about a seige gone wrong. For Blizzard to come out with an amazing game like this would be really hard to top. It seems almost impossible to do, but knowing Blizzard they will still be able to bring out something.

Tribute To The Villains

Every game ever brought out has been made great because of an ultimate "Baddy" as people would call them. They bring this need to beat the game and show who is the true boss which is the good guys. For the most part not all games have a villain, but the main ones that draw a person's attention do. Unless your a sports fan only, because your just getting left out on the fun. Big time villains come in all shapes and forms from the nasty, fire breathing Bowser to the relentless legions of covenant in the Halo saga. These villains are more than just some character to crush in the game. They also have a story they would like to tell too.
I would like to talk about three top villains from the gaming world. The first one i would like to talk about is Bowser from the Mushroom Kingdom. We all know that he is a bad giant dinosaur that wants to enslave the kingdom and take Princess Peach as his wife. The truth is he really only commits one major crime and that is kidknapping. I just think peach makes it way to easy and just likes the attetion. On a more serious note the major reason why Bowser is considered one of the top bad guys of the times is because of how popular he is. I mean really if someone would say something about Mario the first thing that pops into your mind would be "I wonder how we get to beat up Bowser this time."
The next villain one the list is the infamous Ganondorf from the Zelda legacy. The master of the dark arts of magic and chaos. This is one wizard you don't want to mess with. He is probably in my mind one of the coolest villains for the fact that he is portrayed as being a big muscular giant and uses magic to destroy the people of Hyrule. The hero that defeats him everytime is the Great Link who is out also to save once again a princess. But he is more than just a little elf man he is the legendary warrior that weilds the power of the tri force. This magic is the one thing that can defeat old Ganondorf. He really isn't that bad in my mind just more understood.
Now the one villain that has been deabated as the number villain of all time is Sephiroth from Final Fantasy 7. He is the most powerful, Emo punk sword weilding Baddy of all time. He is number one for the pure fact that wants to destroy the world. His sole goal of being a god in the game drives him to kill one of the beloved main characters of the cast. Even when you reach the end in this game you feel like you need to put all your efforts in to destroy him.
Overall we need villians to make the games great. They provide us with epic final battles of magic, sword fights and fire balls. Its the one thing we can count on for making are video games better. People everywhere are creating forums and videos about their favorite villians too. Because they are just as cool as the heroes and deserve their spot in the sun to shine above the rest.

Music for the Games

We all know that video game adventures can be fun. There is only one problem when you are going through a level and all of a sudden your character died. If you had music playing it could warn you. Just a little thing to think about when your playing a game next time.
Everybody knows what makes a video game more exciting is not just the game play but also the music in it. Theme music in a game can act as many things a warning in scary zombie games, getting to the end of a level, or just pump someone up to kill more aliens. It is something amazing that not many people think about. There is a lot of time and effort put into video games. Good example for this is the Halo trilogy. Bungie the makers of Halo have hired some of the best music composers. They've had Martin O'Donnell compose all the music for the games. Which he has done a wonderful job I might add. What he did was use a special play engine that allowed the music to set the mood. giving a player the feeling of what was going on. People relate to the music in the game which can give joy. Even soundtracks have been made for some games and Halo of course has the best in my opinion.
The music is much more apart of the game as the graphics and strategy behind it. Without one of these pieces the game will not be a success. Theme songs from the games also give them a recognizable face in a way. Like when your just sitting around and you hear the mario them song playing the first thing that might pop in your head would be Mario defeating Bowser. Theme songs have also made it to larger scale of being performed in concerts and by the fans of the games. They are also put into other games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero 3. So overall the music for a game is more than just noise. It is a mood setter, recognizable symbol, and something that brings life to the game.

Benefits and Drawbacks

Video games good or bad? That is the major question that comes up among people. Do they help people in society or are they just crippling the minds? They have both good and bad qualities, but most people only see the bad things. There are many benefits that come from them otherwise people wouldn't play them. It is always a good way for people to past the time, they can provide problem solving skills, and they can fine tune those motor skills.
Another big thing is how the Nintendo Wii console has games that get a person interacting with them. When a person plays Wii Sports they have different sports like bowling, tennis, and boxing where a person needs to be moving. They also brought out Wii Fit which is great for people that want to enjoy a fun game with exercise. It has also been used in retirment homes for the elderly to give them a fun activity.
One of the best benefits that come from playing video games is its help with medicine and military. In medicine there are many different machines used to perform surgeries. With joysticks to operate the arms and claws. For the military they run remote control bomb defusing robots and spy planes. With these robots we are able to save many lives and complete missions without sending in a live human.
Now I am going to talk about the drawbacks of video games. One problem seen with video games is holw it affects a child's study habits. It also can end up taking away at their social life and hinder their abilities in sports, music, and the arts. It is consider to be as bad as watching too much TV in a household.
It is also seen as causing children to spend less time with friends and family. Creating the feeling of not needing to be apart of society. Loosing the ability of social skills is something that can affect them down the road. For example most jobs require social interaction with people. Without this they will never understand how to handle situations.
One of the biggest problems that is put into consideration is how games allow violent behavoir to be acceptable in real life. I see this to be more of a problem with younger children playing these games. For most older people and teenagers are able to understand that it is just a game. So protecting the young mind should be number one on the list.
So thats all I have for this blog. I hope everyone will enjoy and just think twice about what they are getting into when you play a game. For me a video game is somewhere I can escape reality and be different. Its something fun and enjoyable for all people.