PixlBit

First of all, I am another 1UP refugee and it’s been a while since I’ve written a blog, but it is because there have been so many changes in my life since that time. Basically I have done a whole 180 in my lifestyle and now unfortunately I have not had as much time for my hobby (gaming) as I once did. At the time of my last blog my situation was; I was unemployed, living at home in my hometown, single, had all the free time in the world and found myself bored most of the time.

At the beginning of January, I started a new job, moved to the bay area (California) and have no free time for anything besides chores and necessities. I have gotten in little gaming, mainly just quick rounds of multiplayer, but other than that, not much else. I was kind of worried when I moved that I wasn’t going to know anyone and it was going to be a bit lonely, but by chance a college friend of mine moved within a mile of me on the same exact day! So that was a huge relief. During the week I am pretty busy with work, traffic (worth mentioning cause it’s THAT bad), working out, dinner and then finally resting. Sometimes I have to work on Saturday, so I will even lose that day; most of the time I am hanging out with my friend though and we go to the city (San Francisco) or out drinking and meet some girls.

My blog might change slightly in content due to not having as much time for gaming as I used to, but that doesn’t mean that I won’t talk about it at all. I still follow up on news and releases, I just don’t have the time to play as many games as I used to. A lot has happened since my last blog and this blog may be lengthy due to my catching up, so here we go:

Bought a new TV!

During mid-December I was strolling through a Best Buy and saw a very awesome Samsung television that I just had to own, to be fair, I had been wanting to buy a newer one for a while and had been shopping around. So I upgraded from my 42” Vizio LCD HDTV that I bought 4 years ago to a 55” Samsung LED 240Hz HDTV and what a difference! It’s funny, because you’d think there would not be much of a difference since they are both 1080p, but the Samsung is so much clearer and with the higher refresh rate, the motion looks so much better and everything more detailed. I am very happy with my decision to purchase this TV.

49ers in the Superbowl!

I have been a San Francisco 49ers fan my whole life and will always be one! I grew up watching Montana and Rice and even owned the old school gold jacket. 49ers football is the only real thing that I watch religiously. So the last couple of years have been an exciting time to be a Niner fan (finally!). Colin Keapernick is so much more exciting to watch than Alex Smith, he makes the offense so much better. Nonetheless when the 49ers made it to the Super Bowl this year, it was an exciting point in my life, lol. Yes, I am that hardcore. Even though they end up losing, I am content that they made a competitive game out of a blowout and I look forward to next year. Maybe some between season activity may prove exciting.

What I am playing:

Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PS3)

Well this is mainly what I have been playing when I have a free 20-30 min to just jump into some matches and enjoy. I have not played very much “Zombies” at all in this game, which is kind of disappointing because it was one of the very reasons I was so excited about this game. I tend to stick to Team Deathmatch most of the time. I have still not yet touched the single player, but I hope to soon, which reminds me that I have never even attempted to play through the story of Modern Warfare 3 either. I enjoyed the story of the original Black Ops very much, I just haven’t had the time though to try this one yet.

One thing I have noticed about Black Ops II is that I tend to use the sniper rifle a lot more in this game. I never used to use it before because I wound up just getting flanked. But now, I use the Overkill perk (carry two main guns) and carry a M7 and a sniper rifle and whip out the sniper rifle when I see people from a distance. I have been having tremendous success with it lately.

Batman: Arkham City (PS3)

Just for the sake of continuing from my last blog in which I had begun playing this game, unfortunately that has changed. I have drifted away from playing this game and it has been atleast a month and a half since I last touched it. It’s the problem I run into when I play open-world games, they have a hard time keeping my interest. I started playing video games with the NES and I guess I am just old school in the way where I like to be led where to go and not have to try to find the way myself. ON THE BACKBURNER FOR NOW.

NEWS

Playstation 4

Well it was kind of a given that the next generation was coming. I for one could have waited a couple more years, but no complaints. I guess it is hard for me to see how you can possibly improve on this generation’s graphics and would rather see developers forced to make a game with a very good story and gameplay as opposed to shiny new graphics. How about a very detailed cell shaded game (Ni No Kuni, Wind Waker, Okami…etc). I guess I just have expectations of the graphical leap being very noticeable (PS1 to PS2) and Sony should wait until that time has come. But here it is coming in November!

I guess I will have to see more footage of next gen games, but Deep Down looks good, I personally wouldn’t say spectacular. The new Killzone game looks “meh” to me, and I love the Killzone games! Nonetheless I will wait until more information is released and more games are shown before I write it off. I have quite the backlog to keep me busy until I decide whether the next round of consoles is for me or not (the Wii U is not). I do have a powerful PC, so between that and my backlog, I have more than enough.

So far what I have heard about the social options to be offered in the PS4, that doesn’t really appeal to me, I mean I buy a video game console to play games, not get on Facebook or post to Twitter. Games should be the #1 absolute priority to the PS4 and I hope that in Sony’s E3 presentation, that is the focus! The online streaming Gaikai that is supposedly going to be offering PS3 game streaming sounds interesting, I just wonder if I will be able to play PS3 games I already own without having to buy them again (I kind of think I will have to buy them again). The controller looks cool, beefier and more durable. So I just look forward to hearing more about Sony’s next console.

Diablo III coming to PS3

I almost considered buying Diablo III for my PC, I just don’t have Blizzard registration (battlenet?). The fact I don’t even know what it is called should be a big indicator why I don’t own it already, lol.  The “always on” DRM is straight up ridiculous and another huge barrier that has kept me from buying it as well. The news that it is coming to PS3 is awesome and I hope the DRM doesn’t carry over. Sure the PC version probably has better graphics than the PS3 port will have, but it’s all about accessibility to me. I love the Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance games for the PS2, and I know that they were very similar to the Diablo games, so I am very much looking forward to playing Diablo III. I should mention that I have never played a Diablo game in my life!

For me, if a game isn’t on Steam, than I will not buy it for my PC. I am not computer savvy and Steam is so easy to use. I have bought games on Amazon that do not transfer to Steam and I have problem getting them to run on my PC.

Other Stuff

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I have FINALLY become interested in playing this game. I want to buy it for PC though so that I can have the options of mods (even though I wouldn’t even know where to begin installing them). As I mentioned somewhere else in this blog, the only PC games I will buy are those that are on Steam (no problem here). The fantasy RPG just seems very appealing to me, the only things that may lose me about this game is that it is open-world and first person. I wish it would go on sale here WITH all the DLC soon, I may wait a bit, I have plenty to keep me occupied (http://www.backloggery.com/f1r3inth3h0l3).

UPDATE: Just bought for PC for $24. Cannot wait to get it (Amazon takes forever!).

Metal Gear Revengance DEMO

I downloaded the demo with minor interest in the game (even though I am a huge Metal Gear Solid fan) and I had a lot of fun with it. I didn’t think that the Ninja Gaiden-action route was a right direction to go with the game, but after playing it, I got some enjoyment out of it. The story seems pretty cheesy, but atleast it is fun. I plan on buying this game once it gets to a price level I am willing to pay ($20 or below).

God or War: Ascension DEMO

After last E3 when gameplay was showed for this game, I was instantly sold. I love the God of War games and this looks to be another solid game in the series. After playing the demo, it confirmed my decision 100%. Sure it has similar combat and Kratos is pretty much the same, but those are things I love about the series. The new enemy introduced in the demo looks awesome and I loved everything about the demo. Must buy for me!

Recent Purchases

Knights of the Old Republic I & II (PC,Steam)

Bought both of these games from Steam for $5 total. Knights of the Old Republic is one of my all-time favorite games and I have not finished the sequel to this day.

Darksiders II (PS3)

Bought on sale through BestBuy for $15. I listen to GiantBombcast and I loved everything they had to say about this game. Sounds like it is right up my alley. I haven’t played the original yet, but I bought in anticipation of playing through the first one.

Journey (PS3)

Right after I bought Darksiders II from BestBuy online, they sent me a reminder that I had a $15 credit in my rewards program that was about to expire. If only it was two days earlier I would have used it on Darksiders II. So I ended up buying Journey. Another game I had been meaning to buy, so I ended up getting it for free.

Conclusion

That’s all I have for now, thank you to everyone who has been able to find this new location for my blog. It has moved between three different sites now and this will hopefully be the permanent home for it!