Thursday, October 1, 2009

Loss For Words


I know what you're thinking. It's about time, right? I ramble on for paragraphs at a time here every week with impressions and stories of the games I've been playing, and now all of the sudden I have nothing to say? Well, you can thank the podcast I've started doing with Lonesteban, which you can find here: http://drop.io/mmh4vw1# and here: http://drop.io/knowzen


Now, an annotated pictorial:


I finished my Heroic playthrough of the Halo 3 ODST campaign, and I really enjoyed it. Next I need to try Firefight.




500 Wii Points I had otherwise collecting digital dust went toward a VC Legend of Zelda. This classic still holds up remarkably well, and the master quest is still hard as a diamond.




This is my character in Titan Quest, Yorthagonus, seeking an audience with the Spartan king Leonidas. I have to go kill a satyr or something first.

7 comments:

Greg said...

Have you seen this video on IGN for FFXIII?

http://ps3.ign.com/dor/objects/826843/final-fantasy-xiii/videos/tgs09_ff13_trl_trailer_100109.html

The graphics are great but the soap opera atmosphere and derivative, boring music leave me unsure if it will be a game I'll enjoy.

Count Elmdor said...

Funny you should bring that up! Lonesteban and I just talked about it on our podcast, which I just finished editing and am about to put online.

In a little bit you should be able to find it at http://drop.io/mmh4vw1#

But yeah, total cheesefest. I've come to the conclusion that I don't like any FF that Tetsuya Nomura has anything to do with...

Do you have ODST, by chance? Looking for someone good to play Firefight with.

Greg said...

Yes, I have ODST and am interested in joining up for some Firefight.

As for the campaign of ODST, I have to say, so far I really don't care much for the night time sections. They are boring and all of the indoor sections look the same, especially since I really can't see anything indoors even with night vision on. WTF? Isn't there a working lightbulb anywhere other than the ones that tell you if the door is looked or open?

Well, this is my premature opinion anyway after playing only part of the way into the second ODST soldier's story.

On another note, I made some big decisions today to lighten my video game backlog. It wasn't easy but I had to be very honest with myself and acknowledge that there are certain games I ought to sell back now while they still hold some resale value rather than keep them another year without playing them. Games I have gathered together for resale to Gamestop are:

1. Little Big Planet (great game but after you beat the developer designed levels, the user created levels hold limited appeal). If I enjoyed creating my own levels, I'd keep it since the creation aspects are pretty deep.

2. Dead or Alive 4. I love fighting games but man do I suck at them! Plus, without a real life friend to match up against, I lack the motivation necessary for me to practice.

3. Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There aren't many reasons to fire up the Wii and this is still one of the most popular titles even more than 1 year post release. Brawl was my introduction to the series and I just couldn't get into it. The 4 player battles online feel chaotic and somewhat random due to the power-ups but that being said, I do feel the good players will certainly triumph most of the time. Just like DOA4, I don't have any friends who play which really decreases my incentive to play. The solo experience got old fast.

4. Forza 2, PGR4, and PGR3. Ok, so I will probably get like $4 dollars for all of these games combined but it is hardly worth my effort to sell online with the added incovenience that brings. Forza 3 is coming in a few weeks and I know that realistically, I won't be coming back to these older racers.

5. Brain Age 2 DS. This got very stale after the novelty wore off. Plus, I got tired of the game telling me how stupid I am!!!

6. Fable II. My GF played this game to death and I even finished it, a rare feat for me these days! Definitely feel I got my money's worth since I purchased at the platinum hits price. The game lacks depth and challenge so there is absolutely no reason for me to hold onto it.

7. Mario Strikers Charged. I believe this was the first online multiplayer game for the Wii. I really had some fun with it on the rare occasions when I could get a friend to meet up online. He has since stopped playing pretty much all video games. Playing against strangers online can be fun, I just wish I were motivated to play enough so I could be competitive. The lack of online communication also limits the appeal.

Not sure what I might pick-up yet with the credit they give me. Hopefully, it will be enough to pay for a full price title. Gamestop is such a rip-off but I know they probably won't be able to sell many of the titles they buy back. I'm being lazy selling to them so I guess I get what I deserve!

I did check out your guys' last podcast and listened to nearly the entire 70 minutes or so. I enjoyed it and plan to catch the next one.

Count Elmdor said...

Sweet, I think that makes you are 2nd or 3rd listener! lol

I also did some major culling of the backlog recently.

GTA 4 - finshed, but won't play again.

Uncharted - same.

Contra 4 - good for what it was, but I had my fill.

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow - just so fatigued of this formula.

Etrian Odyssey II: I'm still burnt out on the first game, a year later.

I think I've whittled down my physical game collection to just about everything I know I want to keep. There are only a handful of games I haven't tried yet that may or may not end up getting sold once I come to a decision.

It kind of sucks not being able to resell digitally purchased games, but to this point I've bought so many at such reduced prices that money wise, it's probably a wash, anyway.

Pumpkin said...

Nice podcast guys (LoneEsteban, I know you are lurking somewhere in the shadows even though you don't post regularly here anymore).

Here is how I fared today at Gamestop in case you are curious. I decided not to use my credit right away since most of the games I want have yet to be released. Apparently there was some kind of special happening that increased the credit I was given for certain games. I'll put the original credit amount in parenthesis where applicable after the amount + bonus.

1. I tried to sell off DOA Ultimate (2 disc set) for the xbox. Turns out they have stopped buying back xbox original games... That's fine, they probably would have given me 10 cents for it anyway.

2. Brain Age 2: 6.25
3. DOA4: 7.09 (3.75)
4. Forza 2: 1.75
5. PGR4: 6.34 (3.00)
6. PGR3: 0.70 !!
7. Fable 2: 10.84 (7.50)
8. Super Smash Bros. Brawl: 15.34 (12.00)
9. Mario Strikers Charged: 9.59 (6.25)
10. Little Big Planet: 17.59 (14.25)

Greg signing under GF's account.

Count Elmdor said...

Glad you liked the podcast. Let us know if you have any feedback.

Some of those trade-in prices are ridiculous. I guess a few of them aren't that bad. I sell most of my games on Amazon these days, and since they give you a shipping allowance of $3.99, that covers the padded envelope and postage. The only hassle is having to drop by a physical post office (which can suck).

For some things I can't unload on Amazon or are too bulky I take to this little mom and pop game store near me that'll take anything. They give more credit than Gamestop, but still not as much as I can usually get on Amazon. I've got a couple of DS games I'm mailing off today.

So what fall releases are you going to use that credit on?

Greg said...

It is looking like the credit will go towards Uncharted 2.

Borderlands seems like a cell-shaded Fallout 3 and Dragon Age just gives me a bad feeling based on nothing other than my impression of the semi-crappy cover art. I understand the game comes from a good pedigree of developers but I have a feeling it will underwhelm.