#features
#features
The Games We Played is a year end round up of thoughts about games we spent time with.
By Paul @MrHarkinian) and Omar(@siegarettes)
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Paul
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There’s never a dull moment in a Smash Bros games, and that is especially the case with Smash Bros on Wii U and 3DS. Since the launch date, I could not put down my 3DS for a moment. Be it in Smash Run or in For Glory Online mode, the game provides fun and fresh content 100% of the time.
The best part about Smash Bros is that both games are virtually identical, with the Wii U version having a few more features. This is a great thing for two reasons; 1. For those of us who cannot afford a Wii U, the 3DS version is the next best thing. 2. Any sort of combos you learned in the 3DS version can be replicated on the Wii U version. Also, you have the ability to use your 3DS as a controller with Wi-Fi connectivity on the Wii U, so having your 3DS and the game with you just might come in handy.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
Spoilers for the early chapters of Wolfenstein follow. No seriously, I’ve warned you:
There’s a moment in Wolfenstein where BJ Blazkowicz struggles to get to grips with a modern coffee machine. It’s a short, humorous vignette that is interrupted by a Nazi officer questioning you. Afterward there is an abrupt and brief sex scene, which then match cuts the image of Anya’s exposed back to a scene where they plot to infiltrate a prison from a nearby hotel room. BJ narrates the scene leading up to the prison in gravelly tone that makes it feel like a movie trailer. A half hour later and you’re blowing off Nazi heads and limbs with dual-wielding shotguns.
by Omar (@siegarettes)
We here at Clickbliss have been a bit late jumping on the next-gen train. Speaking for myself, I’ve often found that new generations of hardware rarely hit their stride until at least a year into their life. Even now I don’t feel that developers have really made something that feels entirely impossible on the previous generation of hardware. With that said, due to a generous donation by Microsoft* the upcoming holidays I’ve decided to take the plunge regardless. We’ll be updating the site with some impressions of the games themselves, but for now here’s a run down of the hardware.
It’s All Hallow’s Eve! Want something appropriate for the occasion? Here’s a couple recommendations to jostle your skeleton around:
By Omar (@siegarettes)
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The PSX was undoubtedly a milestone for games. While the Saturn dominated the sprite based scene, and Nintendo set the format for 3D adventure games with Super Mario 64, the Playstation undoubtedly led the charge for 3D videogames. In addition, Sony’s debut console had a huge variety of games in every genre. While I didn’t experience it firsthand, a lot of the titles from that era would go on to become some of my favorites. Here are my top five:
By: Omar (@siegarettes)
Looking at SEGA’s past record, it almost seems to be one of SEGA succeeding despite their hardware. The Genesis was plagued by multiple revisions with parts sourced from several manufacturers, followed by shoddy, unsupported add-ons. The Saturn was rushed out the door with a 3D processor hastily bolted on to compete with the PSOne. Despite that the Genesis became the first real contender with Nintendo, and the Saturn enjoyed success in Japan and a cult following in the US.
When SEGA finally nailed it, bringing a machine very much ahead of its time, a few poor key decisions and the weight of the company’s history came crashing down upon it. Not even two years into the North American release of the system and it had already been discontinued.
Its been 15 years since the release of SEGA’s swansong. There was obviously some enigmatic appeal to the system, as it continued to see officially licensed titles until 2007, with independent releases as recent as last year.
As for me, I got my hands on one just last year. Worth it?
By Omar (@siegarettes)
In an ongoing show of hipster one-upmanship, I’ve elected to force yet another top albums list upon you, dear reader. Except this time I can’t even bother to use whole numbers. A combination of artists you probably never heard of and a few blatantly obvious hipster choices.
All that aside, I’ve curated a list for you that felt ambitious, personal, and meaningful to me. Some have made it to me recently, some represent defining moments of my life and musical taste. All of them are breathless passion, some kind of sonic poetry.
In no particular order, I present them to you below:
On March 25th, Facebook and Occulus announced that they had struck a deal for the purchase of Occulus, the Rift VR Headset’s parent company, for 2 BILLION USD. Predictably, the gaming community erupted into a vitriolic reaction, with many immediately casting down Occulus, demanding refunds, and in what seems almost horrifically standard now, threatening to kill the developers and their families. There seemed to be some consensus that this meant the death of the future that the gaming community had in mind for the project. A betrayal of the grass roots Kickstarter origins of the project in the face of a handover to a mega corporation. The buyout was not unexpected, and there were also talks of other tech companies such as Apple or Google as potential buyers.
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Where the most anxiety exists seems to be around the buyer itself. There is some sense that Occulus had not only sold their company, but in a sense also “sold out”. Facebook is a company that has been rapidly changing over the years, with some actions that some would say were at best questionable and at worst invasive. Privacy concerns, data mining, information selling, Facebook has been a target of its own share of vitriol and anxiety. Even the Facebook origin drama The Social Network ended up casting CEO Mark Zuckerburg in a bit of a negative light near its end. All this has the community casting stones and declaring the death of the VR project. They’re wrong. This is big, and it could make Occulus even better.
