Despite the fact that we’re ushering in a new age of purchasing and upgrading our game software, we haven’t been deterred from dropping bills on gaming’s relics. With digital media, everything old and dusty, is now new and digitally. But let’s set our blind nostalgia aside for a moment. Truth be told, some games, unlike wine, do not age particularly well.

That’s what I’m here for. I’m hoping to start a series of entries exploring the old “gems” that are available through PlayStation’s online service. PSN is my DeLorean, and I’ll be informing you what games are better off left in the past. These are not reviews per se, as we all read the reviews when these titles originally came out. It’s more of an analysis of how the game holds up compared to today’s standards. If you like this first entry, please share your thoughts and provide feedback on what else you’d like me to cover, and if you’d like me to try out any specific games.

( read more… )

Ever since I became a college graduate, and thus, a full-time worker, I’ve thought very little about the price of games. I’m no longer a starving student, living on peanut butter sandwiches. I’m now a career man…still kind of living on peanut butter sandwiches. I have a decent paying job, and I can afford to drop $60 on a new game if I have the desire to perform such an action. And if that game only lasts me six hours before I’ve completed it, you know what I’ll say? Good. Because I have nothing against a game that doesn’t overstay its welcome. In fact, I cherish it.

I see an obsession with game length all the time on Internet message boards, in other site’s reviews, and even amongst some of my friends who are still students. I’m referring to the folks who analyze dollars spent against their hours of enjoyment. Well, let me tell you people something: you’re going about it all wrong. We shouldn’t be judging the value of a game based on how many hours it can provide us. We should gauge its value based on how much enjoyment it’s going to give us. Sure, the latest RPG can keep you busy for the next 40 hours of your life, but if it’s a ho-hum experience, wouldn’t you rather play a game that’s eight hours and is an absolute blast? And wouldn’t you rather spend $60 and have fun for a few hours, instead of spending $60 and you know, have some mildly entertaining but forgettable good times?

( read more… )

Not many people have achieved what I’ve achieved. Several flake out. Even more buckle under the pressure. They can’t handle the weight of the situation. Well, I didn’t buckle. I focused. I made a promise to myself and I kept it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m gloating … oh wait, yes I do. It was a long, grueling road. Countless hardships. Agonizing late nights. Dozens of bags of chips consumed in battle. So yes, I’m going to gloat, in this, the hour of my victory.

Back when I joined Avault a couple of years ago, my gaming shelf was in ruin. Ravaged by my neglect, several titles succumbed to the torment of dust and resigned themselves to a permanent incomplete state. Some games were half-beaten, several more were still in the beginning stages. Heck, a few were still in their packages. All told, I tallied the list of my ineptitude to be about 35. Thirty-five games I still had yet to beat. My life was a mess and I was spiraling out of control.

( read more… )

Right before this past Christmas, my brother texted me, imploring me to give him some gift ideas. Apparently he was scrambling to purchase some last-minute presents. I responded to him, saying there were plenty of games and movies out there, and that he knew what I liked. He pressed for a list, so I texted him back with a handful of titles that sprang to mind.

When I looked back at the list I sent him, I thought, oh dear…I’m pretty addicted to violence. I had sent him 11 titles to choose from. All of them revolved around the simple premise of shooting people, aliens or other creatures. I thought to myself, damn, am I really that bad? So I took it a step further and looked at all the Playstation games I own. I have 15. Three are sports games, and one is a racing game. The rest are violent, nine of which are shooting games. Eight of them are rated mature by the ESRB. Yikes.

( read more… )

A little over two years ago I graduated from college and moved out of the house into a “cozy and vintage” apartment downtown. I wanted to be closer to work and I needed my independence. As a result of my career in journalism and my generally frugal nature, I decided to be stingy when it came to expenditures while living on my own.

This meant I lived without Internet for the past two years. I figured since my job is online-based, and I’m on the Internet eight hours every day, I don’t need to be bothered with it at home. And looking back, it was actually a very liberating experience. It was nice not having the option of wasting hours in front of a computer screen accomplishing nothing. Watching useless (but hilarious) videos and making sure I’ve seen the latest Red Faction quibble. But of course, that lack of connectivity also had its fair share of drawbacks. I was literally in the dark on all the downloadable content and online gaming for the past couple of years. If I wanted to game online, say for a review I was working on, I needed to throw the title in my car and drive back into the suburbs to steal the family’s connection.

( read more… )

Now that the 2000s are winding down and making way for the 2010s, a lot of sites are compiling their “best of” lists for the past 10 years. These lists promise to be filled with some awesome titles, since the last decade has been spectacular, gaming-wise.

However, I haven’t seen too many sites berating the games that many of us purposefully or accidentally had to suffer through during this last decade. ScrewAttack recently heralded Sonic the Hedgehog as the decade’s worst game, narrowly beating out Big Rigs for the PC. But that’s about as much jeering as I’ve seen. So, we’re going to change that and highlight some of our own “favorites.”

( read more… )

I started off my Sunday morning with a shower, and a blog entry. Since I had recently dusted off my Avault blog with my game of the year entry, I figured I should try and keep it well polished. I wrote up the entry, and then left it alone for several hours, as is customary with all of my writing. When I came back and read what I had written, I hated it. Not because I thought it was poor, but because I really just don’t like blogging. The concept seems so egotistical. Who really cares what I think about crazy gaming subjects? I don’t even care what I think about crazy gaming subjects.

I’m not one to be all about myself, or my talents. If anything, I’m more self-defeating than egotistical (see above). But I’m not going to give up on my blog. I’m going to try and keep it free of cobwebs. I haven’t quite figured out how exactly, but I’ll think of something. I might throw a few ideas against the wall, see what sticks, see what doesn’t, and go from there.

( read more… )

The year 2009 was another year of catching up for me. About halfway through, my Xbox 360 decided to croak again, just when I was making a respectable dent in my collection. With Microsoft opting not to foot the repair bill, I pawned the ‘Box and bought my own Playstation 3. Suffice to say, I had a lot of Playstation games to get acquainted with.

Sure, I had been able to sneak in a few PS3 experiences here and there while visiting family, playing through Heavenly Sword, Resistance and a couple of others over the past year. But much of my time with the PS3 until that point was spent indulging in MLB 08: The Show. The game was too addictive to give up. I didn’t even care that I hadn’t touched Uncharted or any of the Ratchet & Clanks, games I knew I’d love.

( read more… )

There are many things in life that can be described as truly satisfying. Graduating from college is one of those things. Moving out of your mom’s house is another. Heck, taking a well-earned number two can be considered truly satisfying in most instances (hey, it’s not gross, it’s nature baby). The list goes on and on, and that list is completely subjective between folks.

I bring this up because I want to share one of the most satisfying events in my life. I experience this event countless times a year, sometimes multiple times in a week…and hey, maybe a few times a day if I’m feeling frisky enough. It’s a satisfaction that I feel rivals the culmination of an academic career. It’s, of course, the feeling I get when I beat a videogame.

( read more… )

Perhaps I’m holding this generation to an impossible standard after the PS2 and Xbox brought more awesome than most mere mortals could handle, but I just haven’t been impressed with much of anything that the Wii, 360 and PS3 have brought to the table. And the first half of this year hasn’t done much to change my mind. Has everything been bad? Absolutely not. But have enough games pushed the boundaries and showed off that next generation feel? No.

( read more… )

Ryan’s Playstation 2 died this past week. The cause of death remains unknown pending an autopsy, but it’s speculated that internal failure caused by an accumulation of dust is the main factor of its untimely demise. It was seven years old. Ryan’s PS2 is survived by a collection of 32 titles, two sibling PS2′s and one significant other, an HDD. Ryan’s PS2 described his life partner as “always being a pain in his ass.”

I’m going to miss that big, black box of love. I was only 15-years-old when the PS2 launched in October of 2000, so as you can imagine, it was a little tough scrounging together almost 1,000 dollars to splurge on the launch.

( read more… )

I’ll be the first to admit I’m ignorant when it comes to storylines that deal with the sciences, resonance cascades (which I do know are fictional) or anything technical. My fortes are writing, sex and eating chicken, and as I’m sure you might be able to tell, I’m not too great at those things either. However, despite my disdain for all things involving critical thinking and intellect, I was deeply engrossed in the world of Half-Life 2. I’ll be bold and say it has one of the most gripping video game storylines of the new century. The reason I was so caught up in the goings-on of the HL2 world, despite some of the story’s deeper scientific hullabaloo, had to do with the fact you were always Gordon Freeman.

( read more… )

BioShock is overrated.

Now, before you reach for my head to uncomfortably detach it from my body, let me explain.

BioShock isn’t a bad game. Not by any standard. It’s just not the second coming of first-person shooters reviewers all over the world are proclaiming it to be. And not to take anything away from Andrew Clark’s extremely well written review (the best I’ve read on Avault), but BioShock doesn’t deserve anything higher than a 75 percent.

( read more… )