All I Want For Christmas

Christmas. The time of the year when people sing the same songs over and over yet its okay. Presents are bought and stores get lots of money.

To get in the spirit of things I have decided to start several weekly, bi-weekly, and monthly posts.
Monday-Friday: Thoughts from a Non-Normal Gamer will continue as normal.
Once a week: Quote of the week. I will post a cool quote from either myself or someone else's that I have found. So comment and tell me your best quote.

Bi-weekly: In the News. I will give the important news that happened around the world and then give my opinion on it.

Monthly: How much it costs.

Fun Fact: Santa's not real. Seriously. The government shot him down twenty years ago.

The Definition Of Epic

Epic. There are many game who try to receive this title but few secede. Even fewer can boast that a sequel gets the reword as well. I will talk about one of the few do to both.



The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. This specific game and its expansions have reset the bar on how an open-world RPG should play(its sequel TES 4: Oblivion was epic as well, but I have not really played it much so I will talk about it when I know more).



Morrowind puts the player in the shoes of a unknown being set off a prison ship. After you make a few choices and such(Your name and your face for instance), what you do then is entirely up to you. Seriously. You can become a hero and save people and stuff or you could become a killer and lay wast to entire towns. Its up to you. Not only that, when you decide to you can partake in the main quest or take on one of the hundreds of misc. quests. Weapons and spells are pretty cool as well. So buy it!

Fun Fact: Your heart will explode after you have 50,000 grams of caffeine. It's a proven fact.

How Much Should You Pay? Part 1

For those you reading this post and wondering what the heck I mean in the title I will explain.
How Much Should You Pay? is a series of posts I will post periodically show casing one item that may be over priced. When you see [#] it means that is the highest absolute price.

Part 1: Gas
Gas. We all need it. Even if you don't drive or don't need to drive it effects you drastically. How? Anything that requires gas to move anything(shipping, food, and garbage disposal to name a few).
How much should you pay for gas? you ask. Well I will tell you the facts as I know them.
It costs about 12 US to remove a barrel of oil from the ground(each barrel is appox. 42 gallons and yields appox. 19.6 gallons of finished motor gasoline). [$.28 per gallon]The Federal gasoline tax is 18.4 cents per gallon and the average State tax is 21.4 cents per gallon.[ $.68 per gallon] Distribution is about and refining is about 90 cents [$1.58 per gallon].
Now let me ask you: How much are you paying for gas?

The Long Awaited Review!

Yes, its true. I have my Xbox 360. I will review the 360 system by sections. Firsts I will discus setup of the system and initial software setup. Then I will briefly discuss the dashboard. Then finally I will discuss the pros and cons of the system.

Set-up:
Set-up is relatively easy. Large picture instructions are provided for you. Each cord is individually packaged so make sure you have some type of cutting appliance on hand. Cords are color-coded for use. To switch the system from HDTV to TV is as simple as moving a switch.

Initial software set-up: The initial software set-up is quite easy and efficient. You do not have to have a LIVE account to make a user. All of the options are easy to change and customize.

The Dashboard: The dashboard is a blend of functionality and coolness. You can easily find what you are looking for. How is works that there are different tabs and each tab has on it different things. ENG: Games, Media, Settings....

Pros: Made in America. Designed for shooters. Can play non shooters with ease. Easy to use interface. Controller can be used to turn on the system on and off so you don't have to get up. Wireless controllers are standard. No discernible leg between controller and system. System it is quiet after initial load.

Cons: Beefy power pack for system. System makes semi-loud noises when initially loading a game. Controller may be hard to transition to initially from other systems.

Fun Fact: The first game Mach played was Sonic and the second was Star Wars Dark Forces.

The Combo.

Combos. This word means many things to many people. But, to gamers, shooter fans especially, it means that one has had some know age of the game and knows how to dish out the pain a little more efficiently. For example: in Halo if you were facing an elite the best combo was plasma pistol and human pistol. However, no matter how useful it is to run around in single player mode with the best combos; eventually one will make the jump to multiplayer. Multiplayer is significantly different then single player (other then the obvious). If you run to the rocketlauncher every single time and that's all you use, one will probably be called all sorts of nasty names. Also another nasty name attracting combo is the noob combos. "Noob combos" are when a player dual-wields two weapons that do not require much skill to use and are quite effective. Personally, I think that all the hype about using one specific weapon is "cheap" is pointless. I know myself that I can take out the player with the rocketlauncher as easily as the player using his fists.

Genre? What has that got to do with anything?

Genre. Defined by dictionary.com as: a class or category of artistic endeavor having a particular form, content, technique, or the like: the genre of epic poetry; the genre of symphonic music.

While music may not what I talk about here; the term applies. Many times I have seen a gamer turned away from a LAN party just because he enjoys puzzles or TBSs (turn based strategy).

I however, have not been turned away because other then my awesome looks; I like to workout at the gym (note at the top non-normal gamer). Anyaways, Turning someone away just because of what genre they play is noob like behavior (of epic proportions). Thus, make your LAN party a private party. Or let people in. Noob. You can all ways keep fragging them until they leave.

In other news, my 360 should becoming tomorrow. If it does expect a early system review Thursday or Friday.

Fun Fact: You can score 999999 points in Tetris and still keep playing.

When you see yourself...

Third-Person Shooters (or TPS for people who like to shorten everything). Third Person shooters play vastly different then other shooters. There are usually puzzles and almost always platforming (that means jumping from platform to platform). However, unlike First Person shooters which only require a bare-bones story to be able to play. (The Aliens are attacking Earth! Kill them all!) (see what I mean?) But, a TPS requires a more intricate storyline. Why? Because overall third persons play slower then FPSs. Thus, TPSs are a hit or a miss.(sorta) Because of many reasons, one of the top two is lack of a good storyline to keep the gamer engaged. The other is that the company assumes that a TPS can play the exact same way as an FPS does. (for example: typically you don't take cover behind things all that much in a FPS; while in a TPS taking cover can mean the difference between beating the level or laying on the ground all bloody and pathetic).

To be truly a good game a TPS must have a blend of shooting, boss battles, platforming, and an engaging storyline.

Now I ask my readers to comment and tell me what's their favorite TPS.

Note: TPS is easily confused with third person action/adventure platformers. TPS are primarily focused an shooting stuff.

The Hazards of the 'Net

As many of you know I have recently bought a 360. However, when I bought it online my bank blocked the transaction. This was in part to the fact of where I was buying it but mostly it was the large amount money I was spending online at a game store. But It was not as bad as it sounds. All I had to do was call up my card services and let them know that the transaction was "A OK". Then had to call Game Stop(where I bought the 360) up and let them that they could run the card again.



So, if your going to make a large purchase anytime soon; just call up your card services and let them know. It will make your life a lot easier. Trust me.



In other news, when my 360 comes I will review the system itself.



'Til next time,
Mach

Going to the future...And its shiny.

I am just posting to let all of my fan know that I have made the jump to light speed. I have recently obtained a Xbox 360 and it is in the mail. Expect more posts when if it comes before Tuesday. Other wise I will post again on Tuesday.

Its Epic!

Role Playing Game. The RPG. Any self respecting gamer cannot call him/her/itself truly a gamer until one has spent an entire day running around and talking to people. (In the digital world, I mean. Anyone can talk to "normals", but it takes skill to talk to NPCs.)

Back on topic, you may be one of those people who bought an RPG (your first) and on the back of its cover it promised that "the story is epic!" It was epic alright, an epic failure as you couldn't get into the story one bit. Not even a blip. This is called "the sucky RPG syndrome." Seriously though, RPGs have all ways been a hit or miss. Unlike shooters for instance, which can have a totally f---ed up story line; but if it has good shooting mechanics then it still can be cool. RPGs however, are driven by the story. And if the story sucks...the game sucks. On the flip side, if the story rocks you can have some of the coolest game memories ever. For instance: I still remember play KotOR for the first time and at one particular scene I was like "Holy Shit!" (All you star wars junkies out there know what scene I mean)

So, your only experience with RPGs was a disaster; pick up an new one and try again. You'll thank me later.(I recommend KotOR and KotOR II for the people with out a lot of time on their hands and the Elder Scrolls series for people with a lot of time on their hands)

Just because its old...

Just because your N64's graphics look like some thing that came out of the dark ages doesn't mean you should stop playing it. I myself own over 80-85 games from multiple systems. This post was started because I was in my room and saw my dusty '64 and on an impulse started it up. Five and a-half hours I was half way though Ocarina of Time (up yours Bongo Bongo, try clapping with out hands!). Anyaways, I got to thinking, "sure, new graphics and 11.1 surround sound is awesome; but why are we letting the classics go to dust?" I know that the graphics and controls suck; but hay, its still fun! And that's why we started gaming in the first place.

So I challenge you: Dust off you N64, NES,SuperNES, Saga, or even your Atari and play your favorite game "from back in the day". And then you tell me that you didn't have fun. I challenge you.