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, Rupert Everett vs. Jennifer Aniston, the impact on Andy Pettitte’s probably retirement, or your favorite jelly/jam (the right answer is peach), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
2010 was a great year for gaming, so I’m sure that most of you have 2010 games that you haven’t gotten around to playing. What’s in your 2010 backlog? As for me, they’re mostly Wii games. I need to play more Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Epic Mickey. These games dazzled me at E3 2010, but I’ve been so busy with other things that they haven’t gottent the attention that they deserve.
How about you? What 2010 games are in your backlog?
geez. uncharted 2 but i'm also going to play 1 & 2 to get the full effect of the series like when i played God of War. Halo Reach, GTA IV, Fallout 3, FF13 and goldeneye (i haven't finished the game but the multiplayer is still awesome.
@fav jam/jelly
mine is strawberry.
@Jam/jelly
I like preserves better, and strawberry is the best.
What's the difference?
-M
Preserves have chunks of the fruit. Jelly is just a gelatin.
Ohhhh.
I like turtles!
Whenever I can get a Wii the biggest backlog of games will be there. SMG 1,2, Kirby's Epic Yarn, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Epic Mickey, New SMB Wii…They all look like a lot of fun and I would love to play them sometime (probably when a lot of them go down in price I will). I am planning on picking up a copy of Pokemon Emerald soon also, so I will need to play that as well.
Wolfenstein, Bioshock, and The Orange Box are really the only other games that I really have backlogged still. TOB is only in TF2, Bioshock I will try and force myself to sit down and play sometime in 2011, and Wolfenstein will be the same. Wolfenstein was just a letdown which is why it is still unfinished though, so I'm not too enthusiastic about picking it up again.
Now I just have to figure out where I will have time to also plan a honeymoon and finish school this semester! lol.
I would strongly suggest you play Bioshock next. It has the depth of story that the other two FPS games don't. Bioshock is amazing on so many levels. It's probably the best game based on a social-political philosophy that I've ever played in my life.
The story itself is great, but the setting and attention do detail is absurdly crazy. The world of Bioshock is like a giant rebuttal to Ayn Rand's book, "Atlas Shrugged." If you ever read that book or are familiar with the works of Ayn Rand and Milton Friedman (or the philosophy of Objectivism), prepare to be floored and get way more out of this game than you ever thought possible.
A lot of people will dismiss this game as another generic shooter with some super powers on the side. Some people will praise it for it's well-paced story and for it's art direction, but the only way to truly appreciate the depth that the developers have taken to bring the world of Bioshock to life is to read "Atlas Shrugged" or at the very least, be familiar with the philosophy of Objectivism. Then, while playing the game, go out of your way to find all the audio-diaries and listen to them. It gives the game a soul.
Bioshock is the "Shadow of the Colossus" of this generation.
-M
What went wrong with Bioshock 2? Rushed? Focus on multi player?
Personally, I think they were trying to "catch lighting in a bottle" twice in a row if you understand what I'm saying. You know how hard that is to do in the video game world to make an awesome game and then try to make a follow-up game that is even better than the first. Sometimes it works, but oftentimes, the next game falls short of expectations for any number of reasons.
Bioshock 2 is not bad; it's simply more of the same. The initial "wow" factor from the first game is gone. Part of what made the first one so great was the discovery of all of the aspects of Rapture. In the sequel, we are given the same setting as the first, so that sense of discovery is gone since we are familiar with the background already. Also, the story in the Bioshock 2 would have been helped if there was just a mention of Sofia Lamb in the first game… which there was not. It's kind of weird that we find out (in the first game) that the two major players in Rapture are Ryan and Fontaine and then in the sequel we find out that there is a third major player in Rapture (Sofia Lamb) between the two that is never once mentioned in the first game.
While I agree that the multi-player was not necessary and probably contributed to the campaign being shorter than the first, I can understand why the developers decided to put it in; for replay value. In it's defense, it's not bad, but it seems to be really glitchy and laggy for me sometimes, although I guess that problem could be on my end. The premise (weapons & plasmids) is a solid one that makes it more about strategy than just "running and gunning" since there are many different combos and ways you can use your powers and weapons. Also, they have that rewards system similar to Call of Duty's that give the players more weapons and abilities for every level that they rank up. I guess it is what keeps people coming back for more. I have to give credit to the developers for trying something new and putting some effort behind it, even if it's not perfect.
-M
By the way; I heard that Minerva’s Den DLC is better than the main Bioshock 2 game. I’m waiting to see if it will go on sale before the end of the year (XBL is having a year-end sale up until Dec. 31) before I buy it. When I get it and finish it, I’ll let you know if it lives up to the hype.
Iceman is more or less right. bioshock 2 is a good game. But it doesn't have the wow factor of the first game. The star of the show IS Rapture. but we've seen it before. Honestly, there's this little bit at the beginning of the game where you're in Rapture before the fall, and I wanted to play in THAT world more so then the one I'd already seen.
I think that Bioshock Infinate will likely recapture the magic because of the new environment. Also, Ken Levine is heading this one up, so that will also help.
I felt the same way about Kingdom Hearts. The first game had great style and the second didn't have the same feel to me.
The development team was completely different. The first game was great largely because of Irrational Games. Those guys and gals didn't touch the second game. I think they're both good, but I prefer the first one. Disclosure: I'm definitely biased as I have two good friends that worked on the games (and one of them is a total hottie).
Well I have been needing an excuse to read "Atlas Shrugged" so I guess this is my reason. I just got "Brave New World" for Christmas from my sister and will have to read that first, but maybe I will put off playing the rest of Bioshock until after I read that book. I have thoroughly enjoyed listening to the audio diaries in Bioshock so far, they really add a lot to the game and the story so far. I can't put my finger on why, but the story is just very hard for me to jump in to and feel comfortable in right away. I feel like I have to play it for long uninterrupted chunks of time which I simply don't have right now.
Also, I understand that the devs. want to hide the audio diaries and they should be something to look for, and I love collecting things probably more than the next person thanks to my collection of decks of cards and pennies (my oldest is an 1856). However, just like in Alan Wake with the thermoses I hate the feeling of knowing that I have to go looking for them all, just because. They are tiring to collect and if you eventually want to collect them all without spending many hours searching only for a few items that you missed the first time through. To avoid that you have to keep meticulous records of which items you pick up, which makes the game a LOT less fun.
I got RDR and GoW3 for xmas so those need to be played. Epic Mickey eventually and there are a few that came out this year that I will wait til they are under the 20 dollar mark. Enslaved, Vanquisher, and Castlevania.
favorite jam: homemade strawberry. I don't eat it unless it is homemade
Favorite jelly: mayhaw jelly. once again homemade only.
PS3 titles that I have yet to obtain (along with a PS3). I'll probably be securing that next month.
I beat more games this year than ever before. Most of the time I buy them and then they just sit there i.e. Fallout NV, Borderlands, Enslaved. Its not that I don't want to play them, its just I never feel like playing them when I sit down to play games. I am a bit hooked on Bad Company 2 again and The Fight.
@Jam/jelly
Favorite is Orange Marmalade
next Blackberry
Red Plum
Apricot
I would really like to play Mafia 2, Alan Wake and I have to finish FF13.
Thank you. I was trying to think of some games I liked. I am going to buy Mafia 2 today. I really liked it.
Yea I remember you talking about how much better it is over GTA (it is a slightly different kind of game) and I felt like the demo was pretty solid. Its gotta be around $40 now.
Yeah, I'm not going to start listing off my GameQue… I will be catching up on Crysis Warhead and ME2 in the new year thanks to post xmas sales.
I like applebutter the best.
The three games I have that I haven't played yet are Front Mission Evolved, Halo: Reach & Enslaved. I suppose I'll also rent the new CoD at some point.
I still need and want to play Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, Enslaved, and Gran Turismo 5. I also missed NBA 2k11 but I guess I should wait for 2k12 now.
The Atlanta Falcons produced a league high 7 Pro Bowlers this year.
Matt Ryan
Michael Turner
Roddy White
Tony Gonzalez
Ovie Mughelli
John Abraham
Eric Weems
http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/34524…
As a Giants fan, I'll be the first to say that Shaun O'Hara was voted to the Pro Bowl purely on reputation this year. He's missed a ton of games, and the Giants O-Line has actually played better with Seubert at Center. I'd argue Andre Gurode also made it on rep at Center for the Cowboys, but we all know that when you put a star on your helmet you get to go to the prowl bowl whether you deserve it or not.
Also, they sent the wrong Jets CB this year. Cromartie has had a much stronger year than Revis.
The one bright spot in the crappy Dolphins season this year is Cameron Wake. If you don't know who he is, your favorite team's quarterback will when he's lying face down in the grass.
-M
CFL player, that guy is pretty unstoppable…you guys will also have mark ingram next year
Dear god I hope the Saints trade up for Ingram. They have shown interest in getting a 1st round back in previous drafts. Please please let this be the year a deal gets done.
What the hell is Reggie Bush for? He's a 1st round back.
i watched the town with ben affleck
its actually very good, picture the movie "heat", except with a mediocre cast–really, though, its way better than i thought it would be
@RROD
Bush does what he needs to do. Ivory and Thomas and really any other running back we have can't stay healthy.
Reggie actually caused confusion for your D on the GAME WINNING TD drive.
Surprisingly enough I'm backlogged on Fallout 3's expansions, Castlevania also b/c of various craft projects. And now New Vegas but that's b/c I just got it lol.