VGR 5.04

It's Trey, Kevin and Miguel this week, talkin' 'bout some Dark Souls, Final Fantasy, the FCC, Besieged, ToeJam & Earl, Joystiq, and all sorts of other stuff.  Also shout-outs to the gaming club at UNCG.

-=Download 5.04=-

Looking forward to 2015

Much has been said at various outlets about how satisfying a year 2014 was for the gamers and the industry as a whole.  While I'll wholeheartedly admit there was a lot of ugliness to be found last year (social issues, broken games, etc.), I tend to lean on the positive side for a lot of good releases as far as the year is concerned.  I don't think we've hit that sort of "next-gen" point that justifies the sale of new consoles and the like.  With perhaps the exception of Nintendo, the console scene doesn't have that first-parties don't have that "killer-app" the way something like Gears of War was when it hit the 360.

Guns with chainsaws: Apparently the high-water mark of gaming fidelity

I'm hopeful this gets turned around this year.  We have the odd sort of benefit of having a lot of games pushed back from 2014 into this year, leaving me hopeful that there will be even more to pick out.  So here is what I'm looking forward to seeing this year, as well as some wild speculation about what else could be down the road.

VGR 408

Full house tonight with special guests Guy and Andrea on top of the regular cast.  Ryan and Trey geek out about Shadow of Mordor while I geek out about all the different drape options in Dragon Age.  All that and actual news and music, so make sure to check it out.


-=Download 4.08=-

Completed: Let's Play Dark Souls 2 + DLC

So 5 months and 34 episodes later, I'm not only finally done with my first Let's Play, but also all of the crown DLC for Dark Souls II.  For me anyway, I like the clear dichotomy between the experienced and quick parts from the main game that I know like the back of my hand compared to the slow cautious approach of new content.

But I'm also really glad that I'm done.  Stretching it over months, and learning first-hand some of prep. needed for a Let's Play series has been nothing if not personally valuable to me.

So yeah, if you're looking for some gameplay, some random lore rabble, this is the series for you:

Let's Play Dark Souls 2 Playlist

Let's Play Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Ivory King

Well we're closing in on the end of the Dark Souls 2 Let's Play.  There's just a handful of bosses left in the main game, and this fancy new DLC to conquer.  This will end up concluding the crown trilogy, so if you feel like watching me stumble through this icy challenge blind, this is a good video to start with.

Want to watch from the start?  Click the link below for the playlist:

Let's Play Dark Souls 2

Let's Play Dark Souls 2 DLC: Crown of the Sunken King

My Let's Play series of Dark Souls II continues ever onward.  The first of three DLC episodes dropped today with the Crown of the Sunken King.  Follow along as I deep dive into more souls content, blind-run style.  More episodes will be added to the playlist and uploaded as I suffer through the challenges that await.

Want to catch the beginning of the Let's Play series?  Just click here:

Let's Play Dark Souls 2

Let's Play Dark Souls 2

Decided to start doing a Dark Souls 2 playthrough with some commentary.  Calling it a Let's Play when really it's me fiddling with knobs to get the sound and the picture right.  Hope to be updating regularly.  The first episode is kinda quiet so you'll need to turn it up.

Let's Play Dark Souls 2 Playlist

Microsoft Presentation Afterthoughts

"It's all about the games."
                  -Phil Spencer

I'm hard-pressed to remember another E3 press conference that was so densely packed with games.  Microsoft's conference was back-to-back game announcements, exclusives and indies all over.  Better yet, these were focused for core gamers, no sports games, no dancing games, just one racing game.  Starting out strong with Metal Gear Solid 5, Microsoft jumped to current 360 owners, rewarding gold members with free games up to the release on the One.  Next came lots of great shows of the One's processing prowess with Ryse and Forza.  Better yet was the revival of Rare's classic arcade fighter, Killer Instinct.  Plenty of new stuff was shown as well like Sunset Overdrive, Project Spark, and a better look at Quantum Break.  Classic franchises also got some screentime, like Dead Rising 3 and Witcher 3.  Finally, hell of a send-of with Respawn's Titanfall with a stellar gameplay showing.

Was it all good news though? Not quite, a few bits of info kept the Xbox One from being redeemed.  First off, $499 on launch in November, higher than I and a lot of gamers feel willing to pay.

Second was the redesign on the 360.  4 gig models for $199 (useless), a 250 gig model for $299, and a 4 gig with Kinect for $299 (once again, useless).  Essentially

Finally, no clarification at all from the terrible press drop last friday.

In the end, Microsoft has sort of clamored back onto the saddle, but it still seems like Sony could knock this out the park, we'll see tonight.