Classic game characters invade New York

Check out the video below. This is why I spend so much time on video games. When the invasion comes, I'll be prepared.

PIXELS by PATRICK JEAN.

Say It Ain't So Naughty Dog

Last night, March 4, 2010, Naughty Dog released patch 1.06 for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.

What Naughty Dog changed:
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Title Update 1.06 includes a couple under-the-hood fixes we needed to make that don’t affect gameplay. Beyond that, we’ve also made the following updates:

* Removed automatic shoulder selection when players click the L1 shoulder button to aim
* Delayed the appearance of the scoreboard to allow time for players to view any medals received simultaneously with player death

At the same time the Title Update is released, we’ll also be pushing live updates to other aspects of our multiplayer. These updates include:

* Adjusted hitbox attributes so that players will take less damage to the character’s legs
* Decreased kill radius of grenades by 1 meter
* Decreased accuracy of Down the Irons by 15%
* Reduced rate of fire of the FAL by 10%
* Reduced rate of fire for the Dragon Sniper by 10%
* Collision and geometry changes to “The Fort” to prevent intentional glitching by players
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I have tolerated their previous patches but patch 1.6 took the fun out of the game. Grenades shouldn't be nerfed. There are players who drop a grenade after death, it's a cheap move, but I know better than to stand still and die. Now, the grenades are as useful as a water balloon. And why did Naughty Dog touch the weapons? Was it because simple Jack complained that FAL's are too powerful? That's bullshit. These weapons are available to everyone. If you can't handle an AK-47, switch to a FAL or M4.

Last night's Deathmatch rounds took far too long to complete. They use to last 8 minutes or so but now it's closer to 10. Weaker weapons translates to more time spent on each kill. I was drawn to Uncharted 2 because it's a fast paced game but the appeal is no longer there.

Naughty Dog is trying appease players who bitch, moan, whine, and are basically sore losers. If the simple Jacks want to bitch, then give them a helmet and knee pads.

Uncharted 2 - The Lost City - Deathmatch 10-25-2009

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Game Mode: Deathmatch - Standard
Map: The Lost City
Boosters: Down the Irons, Keep Firing
Level: 29
Score: 17 Kills - 9 Death - 2 Assist

TV Tuner: ATI TV Wonder 650
Video Editing: Cyberlink PowerDirector 8.0
Music: Winter 06 Mix by Groove Cutter

Uncharted 2 - The Sanctuary - Deathmatch 10-23-2009

Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Game Mode: Deathmatch - Standard - Online Multiplayer
Map: The Sanctuary
Boosters: Down the Irons, Keep Firing
Level: 27
Score: 21 Kills - 1 Death - 1 Assist

TV Tuner: ATI TV Wonder 650
Video Editing: Cyberlink PowerDirector 8.0
Music: My Shooter by Groove Cutter

Mushroom Wars

A friend recently got me a copy of Mushroom Wars for the Sony PlayStation 3. It is available to download from the PlayStation Network, PSN, for $9.99.

The tutorial did a good job drawing me further into the game. It only takes a few minutes to familiarize myself with the controls and the earlier campaign maps were very simple. It took 6 hours to beat the game. Afterward, I played the maps again in Skirmish mode where it allowed me to pick the objectives, either Conquest, Domination or King of the Hill.

Mushroom Wars offers little in replayability . It has multiplayer but it's only local. I would rather play against a friend over PSN.

Even though I enjoyed the game, I would not recommend it because the enjoyment only lasts 15 hours.

Goodbye Gears, Hello Uncharted 2

Thanks to GameDaily.com, I got the highly coveted key to download UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves™ Multiplayer Beta. The game is a blast. The movements are responsive and fluid. For a 10 player game, the maps are just the right size. It's not too big, not too small. You can get from one end to the other in under 30 seconds. It took me over a minute to cross a map in Halo.

I like how they spiced up the matches by limiting what you can do. The first beta gave us Deathmatch and Plunder. Beta 2 introduced matches where you can only use pistols and snipers, have 1 life to live, or use RPG's only. There are also different modes for cooperative play. I tried it out by myself and didn't find it enjoyable. Maybe it will be different if my friends were on.

A note to all who play shooters with inverted, or flipped, controls. I performed horrible in the first few games because I only inverted my AIM view. I didn't realize there were two places to invert in the options, AIM and Look. I think this is the only game I have every played that had 2 forms of inversion.

One of the greatest features Halo introduced was the ability to view your stats on a website. Kudos to Naughty Dog for incorporating this into Uncharted. I can view the wins, loses, kill death ratio, etc. at www.naughtydog.com/stats/meatwad101010.

Finally, a PS3 game worth getting.

Avoid the Fat Princess!

I downloaded it from the Playstation Store last night after reading a few positive reviews. The game isn't bad but they're missing a key point. It lacks the ability to place you and your friends on the same team. If you watched their Developer Diary videos, they kept preaching teamwork. Organizing teams is a must have for any mass Vs. game.

When your friend hosts a game, the other 31 player slots are held by bots until a human player joins. The game uses round robin to place players with a team. So if you jump on right after they create a game, you can't switch to their team.

It's not worth $15. I hope Titan Studios fixes this oversight.

**UPDATE 8/5/2009**

I was wrong, there is an way to switch teams. My frustration doesn't lie solely with Titan Studios, it includes Playstation 3.

If I host a game in Fat Princess, I don't have the ability to send my friends invites. I will need to send them a PS3 message. By the time I send the message and they start joining, the game start counter would deplete and the game will start.

What Titan Studios should have done was allowed the host to create a lobby and invite friends before starting the match.

If Playstation 3 had an in game private party chat, I can at the very least tell everyone a room was created so they can quickly join before the game starts.