Hello all!
It’s time for a bit of a detour from the normal blogging that I do here. This is all about fun and VIDEO GAMES!
What a year this has been for one of my favorite hobbies, video gaming!
Amazing video games have been popping up left and right this year! Starting my year out for my personal game collection was Bioshock 2. I luckily got past buying Assassins Creed 2 to pick this game up. I loved the first Bioshock and I was sure that I would love this game as well! The art direction of Bioshock is nothing short of phenomenal and the game is an absolute blast. To keep this blog entry as short as possible I will leave the game reviews to the masters and keep on track.

Next up on my “Buy List” was an unexpected deal that we ran into for a Playstation 3. I had given up hopes of getting one due to me not leaving an incredibly huge slot for Video Games in my budget. (You’ll notice I skip a lot of good games, and really pick / choose what I buy, because i’m a penny pincher). But the PS3 opened up a whole new can of worms for me and my gaming.

I immediately revisited Little Big Planet and Resistance Fall of Man (which i thoroughly enjoyed!). Both are amazing games! I’m actually on my second play-through of Resistance right now. Following up the love for Resistance 1 I purchased Resistance 2 which in all honestly spoiled my love for the franchise thus far. The first one was flawless, a perfect mix between 2 of my favorite games: Gears Of War and the Halo-ish style. But Resistance 2 didn’t live up to the first one in my book.
Moving back to my XBox 360 I picked up Super Street Fighter 4 and completely reverted back to the “olden days” of playing on my brothers Super Nintendo! This game is so much like the old SNES one, yet so much better. Pair the old gameplay / characters / environments with updated (and absolutely beautiful) art / graphics and you have Super Street Fighter 4. Definitely a refreshing game to be playing!

The only other NEW RELEASE game for the 360 that i’ve purchased this year has been Red Dead Redemption. This game has me completely hooked!!

I always enjoyed Grand Theft Auto due to ROCKSTAR Games completely knocking the “Open World” feel out of the park! However I was never into the story lines. Rockstar has completely nailed the Western feel in this game though, and the story is completely awesome! Once I revisit all the other games that i’ve missed this year and play the upcoming ones I will be able to justify saying this, but I believe Red Dead Redemption is my Game Of The Year! Definitely worth a buy and I fully recommend this game!
Even though i’ve picked up on many of the games that i’ve had a huge desire to play i’ve also missed out on many. Like I said, this year has been MAD for gaming! There’s good
video games popping up way quicker than I can allow myself to buy.
I’ve unfortunately had to skip a lot of them: Splinter Cell Conviction, Super Mario Galaxy 2 (which it just came out, so i’ve still got time), Tiger Woods PGA 2011 (I love golf for many of you who didn’t know), Skate 3, Borderlands, Assassins Creed 2, Mass Effect 2 and God Of War 3. Obviously I can always revisit these games when the hype dies down for them (and price drops start to happen, which is always awesome!) But these games have made it increasingly hard to pick and choose what i’ve bought this year.
In addition to new games that i’ve bought / played I also revisited a few that i’m really happy about. I played through the majority of
Fallout 3 which is a super cool game for XBox,
Call Of Duty Modern Warfare and
Splinter Cell Double Agent. I often times love to revisit some older games that i’ve missed out on! Looks like that’s what i’ll do with the list above.
2010 is showing no signs of letting up with all of the gaming releases either!
XBox / Microsoft has sunk it’s claws in a bit deeper by the release of the new
XBox 360!
Built in WiFi, cooler running temperature, quieter (Thankfully!), and last but not least…a completely new style in it’s presentation! This machine is a beast in it’s operation and I would definitely pick it up if I had the need for a new one, but I don’t.
However the release of a
revamped XBox is relief to me knowing that the 360 will be around for a few years longer, and a new system will not be replacing it!
Also on the horizon for me is Halo Reach!! Halo Reach is looking to be absolutely phenomenal from all the teaser videos that i’ve saw so far, and rightfully so….it’s Bungie Studios, how could they go wrong, right?! I’m a huge fan of the franchise (on the exception of Halo 2) so Reach is a huge anticipation for me! This will be an automatic buy!

Obviously i’ve skipped over a lot of the hype for new games, gaming equipment etc etc that has been hyped up for this year….but this is definitely a lot to keep me busy. It’s a great time to pick up gaming if you’re a nerd like me and enjoy this kind of thing. Because the gaming industry is booming and showing no signs of letting up anytime soon!
I hope that you’ve enjoyed the change of pace on this blog, and fellow game fanatics picked up on some things that you may not have known or had been questioning.
Thanks for reading and be blessed!
-Anthony | Awaken Company