Game I should play more but dont.

By Tristan

Call of Duty 4: Modern War: This game is fantastic! It's a solid single-player experience, and the multiplayer is arguably the most fun you can have on a console. So why don't I play it anymore? First of all, just the sheer number of other titles I've been trying to get to in a timely manner makes this game hard to come back to. I also haven't bought the map pack yet, and with Modern War 2 coming out sooner rather then later, I find it hard to justify the pack now. Finally, I hate playing games alone, and none of my friends ever want to play this one, so I find myself longing to play but never do, because I'm going where the cool kids are.

Gears of War 2: I never really got into Gears 2 that hardcore. I co-opted the story, and then I played some Horde mode, for a while but after that I just stopped. At the time, I was in a raid guild in World of Warcraft that took up a lot of my time, and secondly, no one wanted to play on a regular basis (there's a theme forming here). I eventually just put it on the shelf, and every so often play around, but nothing serious. Furthermore, three map packs have been released, and me not having any of them puts me a bit behind the curve, as well. However, unlike Call of Duty, there's hope with the release of the Dark Corners map pack (all three map packs and new stuff for one price)--I have a feeling I'll be spending more time with this game friends or not.

Street Fighter 4: I love this game with a passion, and that's why I don't play it as much as I could. That doesn't make sense; let me explain. When I start to play the online multiplayer, I have a very hard time stopping, and will play for hours and hours, and lose track of time. Also I get highly competitive, and this scares my wife a little bit when I start to yell at the people I play against. I really want to get to top of my game with Street fighter 4, but I know this would take a painstakingly long time, so for the sake of my marriage, I have limited my Street Fighter 4 playtime.

Chromehounds: This game had great multiplayer before everyone start making the same cookie cutter hound designs, and the levels were always big, robust ,and fun to play in with your friends. This game didn't get put the side for lack of friends playing, but because the community got cheesy, and everyone started to have the same Hound running around. I wonder if I could muster up my friends for a weekend romp again just for old time's sake.

Coming Soon

By Tristan
Just a heads up I have a few blogs I've written up coming down the pipe, just in the process of proof reading and editing them.

Wolfenstien 3d is a trip down memory lane. (Review)

By: Tristan

The classic first person shooter (FPS), Wolfenstien 3d, was released on June 3 for the Xbox Live Arcade and Playstation Network for 400MS points or $5.

For those who don't know, Wolf3d is the FPS that put shooters in the mainstream, and made it a popular genre. This version is a faithful port of the original game, but even though it's near and dear to my heart, the aging process has not been kind to it.

The Good:
It's Wolf3d, the game that started a genre for goodness sakes!
Lots of nostalgia here--no matter how old and crummy this game looks, it never gets old hearing the SS soldiers yell, “Mein leben!” as they fall to floor (even if it does sound like they are yelling, "Frone laven!")
You can't go wrong with a five buck price point.
Sixty levels and six episodes for you to tear through.

The Bad:
The level flow, or lack thereof: after a while, all the levels start to feel like the same giant maze with no real flow of getting to point A to point B.
Everything looks the same--I spent twenty minuets running around in a circle at one point because it all looks the same. I know this is due to programming and graphics limitations of the time, but this is my biggest gripe.
Enemies shooting me before a door is open. I cannot tell you how many times I died in this game because the door was less then halfway open and the bad guy on the other side was already shooting me.

The Conclusion
For five bucks, this game is worth every penny if you're into shooters. Just be aware that Wolf3d is what it is, and it may not be for everyone, especially if you're someone who craves even game flow and graphics that give you a clue about where you're at in the game.

Playing catch up!

By: Tristan
Now that E3 is over I have a ton of notes to go over pull things out for a write up, expect that soon. Also I am going to roll out a new editorial I call "The Wish List" where I take a look a differnt games and aspects of the gaming industry and tell you about what I would have liked to have seen or things i would have done differently.

Also my first review is going to be coming down the pipe for Wolf 3d on the Xbox Live Arcade.

Pre E3 Thoughts

By: Tristan

It's the time of year that most gamers get excited about, E3 is just around the corner and anyone that follows video games knows that means new and exciting games, content and hardware get announced So with out further adieu here are some of the things I am hoping to see from the big three this year at E3.

Microsoft: I am really interested to what they can bring to the table to make people that haven't already bought an Xbox 360 say “holy crap I have to buy one now.” Rumors are swirling (again) of Metal Gear Solid 4 + Oxide (I wont believe a MGS rumor till I see an official announcement) Will they announce any new games that at one point here going to be exclusive to another console? What new Xbox Live Arcade content will we see? Who knows, but if Major Nelson twitter feed is to be believed then there will most defiantly be some OMFG moments in their presentation.

Sony: Will there be a price cut? What games will they show? Will they announce any improvements to their online? Rumors of some snazzy fun Playstation Home features being announced too. I have really been on the fence with Sony, while I do not own a ps3 (yet) as times goes on I am becoming more and more interested. Games like Little Big Planet and inFAMOUS are making very strong cases to own the Playstation 3, and with a strong showing at E3 I have a feeling this could be the year that PS3 gets out of the rut it's been in since launch. I am also looking forward to seeing if they announce and show specs on the rumored UMDless PSP , but at the same time I am wondering how it would stop PSP piracy.

Nintendo: As an owner of a Wii, I often times look at my Wii and experience something owners call Wiimorse. Will Nintendo have a killer Wii app this year that will make owners dust off their Wii and play them again; or will it be full of casual games like last years E3 press conference? I have a feeling it will be the latter. We already know they are the kings of the handheld and with the new DSI that allows hot swapping I would like to see if they have any multi cartridge games coming out I think that would really interesting to see how developers work with that.

No matter what happens in the press conferences I am really excited about this year E3 and even have the Tvio set to record the big threes presentations, and will report my thoughts and ideas on all three after all the dust has settled.

E3 Preview

By: Pat

The Electronic Entertainment Expo is upon us once again. The biggest news of E3 often comes the day before the conference opens and on day one where we see the three console giant press conferences. Microsoft’s comes first on June 1 at 10:30AM PST; Sony and Nintendo follow on June 2 at 11AM and 9AM respectively. It’s often difficult to know what to expect from these conferences but there is never a shortage of rumours, here are some of the things I’m expecting and hoping to hear about.

Let’s start with Microsoft, widely recognized as the best showing of E3 2008’s console press conferences, MS will try for a repeat in 2009. As far as hardware goes there is one big rumour floating around that is actually a repeat of an unfulfilled rumour from last year. The motion sensing controller, this time the rumour centres around a camera based system called Xbox Fluid. As much as I don’t want this to happen, it has a lot of weight behind it this year and with this much momentum we just might see it happen. Software will be the main focus of the press conference as usual with more info on All Points Bulletin from Crackdown dev Realtime Worlds, Alan Wake and Splinter Cell: Conviction likely coming our way. More surprising would be to finally hear about the long rumoured Xbox 360 version of MGS4. Almost guaranteed to be shown is Forza Motorsports 3 and GTA IV’s second Xbox 360 exclusive expansion The Ballad of Gay Tony. One item that has not been rumoured or mentioned at all that I would love to hear is more shows announced for the Primetime Channel. I had a great time playing the Canadian 1 vs 100 beta and would love to hear about other games that may be coming to the Primetime channel.

Moving on to the Wii, who had a disastrous showing at last year’s E3 the big question is can Nintendo recover and put on a good show this year? Most likely yes. With its massive sales momentum Nintendo easily moved past one bad year at E3 with no significant issues. Can they shrug off a second poor showing in a row with no problem as well? Probably, since Nintendo’s primary focus continues to be the casual gamer and they won’t be paying attention to E3 whether Nintendo has a strong showing or not, but don’t count on Nintendo not trying to turn things around. Compared to the Xbox 360 and PS3, the Wii’s rumour mill has been pretty quiet focusing primarily on possible software. It is very likely that Nintendo will try to make a splash by announcing another big first party franchise title, we don’t know what the title will be but count on one or more of Mario, Metroid, Zelda or Kid Icarus. Also likely to make an appearance is Wii Fit Plus.

On Sony’s side we’ve got a whole lot of hardware. Rumours swirling about the PS3 and PSP abound. Starting with the PS3, Sony will likely announce one of two things this year: a PS3 price cut or the new slim PS3 hardware. It’s tough to call which one is more likely, but Sony has to do something and they know it, consistently finishing behind current gen competitors is one thing, finishing behind your own last gen console is another. This can’t continue, Sony has to stop hemorrhaging money and that means turning the PS3 around. Sony is also going to be taking a second swing at the motion sensing controls. A new UMD-less PSP being called the PSP Go is very likely to be shown as well, whether it’s a PSP redesign or PSP2 is not known. Despite big titles released over the past year, the PS3 still doesn’t have a killer app, a game that will drive console sales in North America. Titles that will be showcased to attempt to fill this role for the PS3 will be God of War 3 and a new Kojima title rumoured to be MGS5.

It should be an interesting week. Any big rumours that you guys are looking forward too?

Welcome to Two Dudes

By: Pat

Welcome to Two Dudes Videogame Blog! We are two friends who have a passion for video games and wanted to share that passion with the world. We will be posting our thoughts and reviews about games on this blog as often as we can.

edited by Tristan: Note as we move froward we will be giving the this page a face lift.