Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the blood testing controversy delaying the Pacquiao/Mayweather fight, digesting your holiday feast(s), or your New Year’s Eve plans, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
And we’re back! Well, I’m back anyway. Hopefully a bunch of you around to keep me company this week. I’m still in New York for the holidays, but I’ll be updating the site all week. The bad news is that most of the videogame business is on holiday, so nothing too exciting should happen. The good news is that you ladies and gents that read this site and leave comments are always more interesting than the news the gaming business generates.
For now, I wanted to check on your holiday gifts. I hope everyone got some cool stuff! Whether it’s gaming related or not, I’d love to hear about some of your favorite gifts.
My brother made me two CDs of Journey MP3s without the vocals. The music is from a Journey tribute band he’s in and he’s pushing me to lay some vocals down. I’m definitely going to do it as some point, but I rather have my trusty Shure SM58 around when I do it. It’s a pretty cool gift that takes my karaoke habit to a new level. Ha! (And yes, the video above is from one of his other bands, not the Journey tribute band.)
While I practice “Stone in Love” and “Faithfully” all day, I’d love to read about some of your favorite presents this year. Leave ’em in the comments section (please)!
Been playing the hell out of The Saboteur. Finished the main storyline on Saturday (received the present earlier last week rather then friday) (also sad that we probably won't get a patch for it because Pandemic is closed down) and I have to say that the huge freeplay portions are definitely the best part. The map is daunting, especially once all the free play points have been unlocked on it. It is quite satisfying to finish a section and look at your map to see nothing obscured by little white dots.
There are more then a few bugs with the gameplay (one really sad one basically makes the gold Perk reward of Super RDX null and void because the game reverts to the weaker original version of the plastic explosive if you die or save and exit) and a number of the actual story missions are annoying as hell. But overall, not bad. If you have slight ocd, and can have fun planning out your own missions in freeplay to clear the map of NAT-zi installations, this is a great game. If you just want the story, I would wait till its used.
I received Borderlands for Christmas. It gets pretty addictive. I also got MadWorld for Wii. I haven't had the chance to play it yet, but I hope it is less annoying than the Wii version of Twilight Princess control wise.
My favorite gift = Crawfish pot and burner. Can't wait to use it.
I got a PS3, Uncharted, Uncharted 2, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction and inFamous. Mind you, this came primarily from a pile of Best Buy gift cards.
So it was a good x-mas for me. But if you think I made out good, you should see my son's haul. He got a frickin' drum set…..
I got underwear, razor blades (a pack of 40 mach 3s that's expensive), and a variety pack of hot sauces. I also got Rockband Special Edition for the 360, but since I don't play my 360 much and I don't play plastic guitar games I re-gifted it to a friend who has 4 kids who are thoroughly enjoying now.
So since most of my presents were crap I bought myself 4 new games. BUZZ! Quiz World, Dragon Age Origins, The God of War Collection, and Fairytale Fights.
best and only gift i had this year is my new xbox 360 elite, and mass effect that i bought with it. xbox live is just awesome. since i own both consoles now, i dont know who's the best and all that crap. but it doesnt matter. im just happy i wont miss out on any games next year, since there's gonna be an awesome line up of games for the 360 in 2010. mass effect is great. ashley williams and dr. liara are hot. i kinda felt bad when i had to dump dr. liara, but the damn choices only wanted me to choose one. but it's all worth it though. all worth it. finished the game with a huge paragon rating.
@nightshade
congrats on the ps3. i saw you playing the hell out of R & C yesterday! ha!
@smartguy
you and n8r should play coop, he's playing the hell out of borderlands, unless you got it for the ps3.
@slicky
The razor blades are cool actually. That stuff gets expensive.
@rpad
the new "arnel pineda"???? hahahha. JUST A SMALL TOWN GIRL!!!
@rbee: Thanks! I've moved on to Uncharted 2 now.
I beat R&C last night. My 3 year old son walked into the room right at the end and caught the end cut scene. He turns to me and goes, "Dada, Kitty-cat sad. Robot go away." Cutest thing ever. I figured I'd wait till he was a little older to try and explain the difference between a kitty-cat and a Lombax…..
@nightshade
awwwwwwwwwe!!! im a sucker for kids man, if only im old and rich enough to have a couple. i cant wait to have kids. and i hope uncharted 2 blows you away.
@Smartguy
I know they kill me, I shave my head every 2 days and can only get 3 uses out of each blade, so I go through them rather quickly and the price quickly becomes a burden.
@R-Pad
congrats on 10,000+ comments
@slicky
Damn. I grew a beard to save money. I can't stand to use an electric razor.
@Smartguy
lol I have a full beard and sideburns, but a fully shaved head (my ex-wife says I look like a bad B-movie villain).
I started using a $20 microscreen razor to shave my head. It works great on my head but irritates my neck. The fact that is can cut nearly as close as a razor saves some me time and money, but nothing beats out a new razor blade.
I thought about trying to use a straight razor that I can resharpen, but it seems dangerous.
@Slicky: You look like Brad Childress?
@Nightshade
um….no. I actually had to look up to see who that was. It looks more like Jeff Bridges from Iron Man, but not nearly as old and gray.
@slicky
LOL, that is who I was thinking. Awesome
@Slcikyfats: I have a friend who's a Vikings fan and we always joke with him that his team's coach looks like he should be wearing a wife beater in an America's Most Wanted re-enactment. Given the description you gave, I saw a parallel. No offense meant…..
My brother got me Modern Warfare 2 for Christmas after I was "ooh-ing" and "ahh-ing" him playing the game's multi-player on his PC. He got me the 360 version, but I really wanted to play it for the PC when I move into my new home in a couple of months. I'm planning on getting a brand new PC gaming rig and thought that the PC version of MW2 would be a great game to break it in. Oh well.
-M
@Nightshade
No offense taken. I laughed when I saw the guys picture, then I felt bad for laughing at the guy. Mostly because I would look like that if I grew out what hair I had left and shaved down to just a mustache. Its a fine line bald people have to walk.
I did check into Bosley until I found out it is nearly $10 per hair follicle and someone that is as bald as me needs almost 2,000 hair follicle grafts, I decided to just shave my head.
My mom and dad came up to Tn from Fl and they had gone through their garage when a water leak forced them to. They had several boxes with them and had a few wrapped for me. When I opened them, I found books and stuff from over 20 years ago. Including a Return of the Jedi story book from 82, Dark Crystal story book from around the same time, First edition kid stories from the 70's, lego stuff…An odd assortment to be sure, but brought back really good memories from before we even lived in Fl.
I also got a gift card for Gamestop, but there are so many games I want, I just dont know what to get.
@ Ray
An SM58 is awesome for live performances… but I wouldn't use one to record. However, a decent recording mic can cost a few grand.
The trick is in the pre-amps you use.
@Hrolf
that is an awesome gift actually. Didn't cost a dime but neat nonetheless.
@ topic
I got SvR 2010 and Borderlands. I like them both alot. I played through both of the stories Ray wrote and even waited through the credits to see his name. I'm impressed.
I really didn't get too much besides that. I got my son Scribblenauts though. That game is full of win. I spent a few hours on the start screen alone.
@ Hrolf
That was comedy.
I'm one of 3 people in the world that doesn't have a DS, so somebody needs to make a YouTube video of all the funny stuff in that game.
@nightshade – I guess that makes me 2 out of 3 people. but I barely have enough time to game at home anymore let alone have a portable gaming device. Of course even when I was young I didn't care much for the gameboy and stuff like that.
@N8R – Wow, I just noticed your avatar. ROFL.
@SlickyFats Ha. Thanks for reminding me. Let's have a party for hitting 10k comments!!!
@N8R Thanks for playing through my work! If I get to meet Mickie again, I'm not going to forget to bring it up this time. Maybe I'll get more than a hug! :P
I didn't know you contributed your talents to Smackdown vs. Raw 2010, Mr. Padilla. I may have to rent that game now simply to cast judgment… when I have time, that is.
One of these days, I'm going to have to mail you my gaming ideas manifesto. It's a detailed collection of video game ideas I have had over the years that range from revolutionary to just plain awesome and controversial. Since I am not in the gaming industry, I fear that my ideas will never come to fruition. I figured that if I give you my outlined works, you would have a better chance than I at making them a reality… or even pass them along to someone who could. Recognition and royalty would also be nice if they become a hit or a franchise.
-M
@ Ray's dream meeting with Mickie
Ray: It's nice to see you again. You know, I wrote your storyline for the SvR 2010 videogame.
Mickie: Here's my hotel room key. Just leave your pants at the door.
Ray: Awesome!
P.S. I haven't made Michael Dudikoff yet, but I plan too.
@N8R: Change the word "Wrote" to the word "Played" and that becomes my fantasy too…..
@ N8r
about Scribblenauts
Make a husband, wife, baby, daughter, and son.
Create a Necromancer, and then the Necronomicon, watch what happens.
@N8R That'll work! I got points in March for complimenting her scent. She totally invited me for a whiff on her neck. So obvious!!!