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Month: July 2010

To Live and Die in the Old West That Never Was

07/16/2010 Daily Minutiae - Gaming 0 Comments

RANDOM – Thanks to my friend and companion, Hulu, I’ve re-watched about just over 6 seasons of Stargate SG-1 and have experienced the same good feelings that I had when I watched it the first time. I’ve also recently finished all of Stargate Atlantis for second time which was also just as good the second time around. I’m confident that the inevitable third re-watch of either series will elicit the same euphoria. This all comes on the heels of the end of the first season of Stargate Universe. While I’ve enjoyed all the Stargate Universe episodes so far especially the season ender, it just doesn’t seem to have the same appeal. The early episodes seem to try too hard to be a Battlestar Galactica wanna be that other than the big glowing Stargate they use occasionally its hard to associate it with its earlier incarnations. The few reappearances of the old cast help to tie it in together so that helps out somewhat. I won’t stop watching the show despite my very minor gripes and I look forward to the next season.

GAMING – I just finished Rockstar’s latest open world game set in the old west, Red Dead Redemption and I must say it was very enjoyable. If you’ve played Grand Theft Auto IV, then you’ve played the same engine and the game is basically a western themed version in some respects. The story does a good job of standing on its own even if it feels forced sometimes. One of the things that really seemed to stand out to me, was the added focus on the “stranger missions” which I believe were introduced in GTA IV. It was very satisfying riding out between locations to get stopped by a stranger in need of some help or to ambush you. It made the world feel just a little more alive. I also enjoyed the inclusion of the Mexico area and while it didn’t feel totally different than its American neighbor, it did feel different enough to make you notice you weren’t in Kansas anymore. Thankfully my experiences in Red Dead Redemption aren’t at an end since they’ve just announced some single player DLC. One word. Zombies.

-v- out.

Wherein Our Hero’s Boardgame Adventure Awakens Dormant Desires

07/12/2010 Daily Minutiae - Gaming 0 Comments

*Explosion die joke here*

I was fortunate enough this weekend to be able to attend Green Country Gamers monthly gaming get together over at Wizards Asylum.  Playing boardgames several weekends in a row was almost too much for me to handle and I nearly experienced pleasure overload.  Luckily though I was able to channel that energy into something more productive other than just sleeping… well maybe only small part of that energy went to non-sleep related activities but gaming wears you out!

We played a game of Ghost Stories which I have yet to win but thoroughly enjoy playing nonetheless.  I will say that if a village ever depended on my skills as a Taoist monk to defend it from a ghostly uprising, that village would be doomed.  In the last two plays of Ghost Stories our intrepid band of monks fought valiantly despite facing overwhelming odds and having mrchucho on our side.  (zing! @mrchucho)  We were able to come within several cards of actually having the boss ghost appear before succumbing to our spectral adversaries.  The game I played at GCG night was also a loss but was so lopsided that I actually think it took longer for us to set up the game than it did for us to lose.  In any event it was still fun and I look forward to my next ethereal encounter.

Finally, I come to the reason I slapped the title on this article.  Another game we played this weekend at GCG night was Fantasy Flight Games’ Chaos in the Old World which is set in the Warhammer universe.  Plays 3 or 4 players and each player represents one of the gods of Chaos.  Gorgeous board and bits helped with immersion in the theme.  I enjoyed the fact that it seemed like each god had a very unique playstyle and when you embraced that style it really helped you.  It took me a few rounds before I got the hang of playing Tzeentch the Changer of Ways but eventually I got in to it.  Unfortunately every time I had thought I set something good up for my turn it was burned down.  Luckily we were all new and I was able to squeak out a win thanks to some rules we played incorrectly.  Overall it was a fun game and I really would like to play it again.

Anyhoo, after playing Chaos in the Old World, I came home and opened up my Collector’s Edition copy of Warhammer: Age of Reckoning and browsed through all the artwork and skimmed over the comic and it made me nostalgic for such a great dark fantasy setting.  So much so that I fired up the PC the next day (today) and patched up my endless trial.  When I first purchased the game I think I played it for a few months before cancelling.  It was a great game but in the end if my friends don’t stick around its highly unlikely I will either.  When the company announced they were moving to a free endless trial I decided to install that since I primarily enjoyed the Tier 1 battlegrounds.   They’ve made many changes since I’ve been gone and hopefully they’re all for the better.  I created my Magus and began vanquishing foes in the name of Tzeentch.  FOR THE HOR… err.. DESTRUCTION!

-v- out.