5 Reasons Why I'll Be Getting the PSVita

So E3 2011 has now come and gone and while you may have expected me to immediately toss up a reaction to the *makes sour face* Wii U. I think I'm actually more excited about the PSVita at this point. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's new system - let's just refer to it as "the system that shall not be named" - looks like some awesome technology, but I think Nintendo did an absolutely terrible job of revealing it during their press conference. Their showing brought up far too many questions and far too few answers (though some answers have trickled through the media since Tuesday).

But all of that is besides the point because I'm writing up this blog today to discuss Sony's new handheld. Why am I doing this? Because I feel like I'm the only one excited at this point and that the system is receiving a lot of flack or is just generally unknown. I'll agree that Sony has taken some very big missteps - especially in the handheld market *cough* PSPGo *cough*- but I'm hoping the following five reasons as to why I'll be picking up the Vita might help to change your mind.

E3 2011: Big Three Predictions and Third Party Hopes

With just about a week until gaming's biggest event, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), I decided it was just about time to chime in with my predictions, hopes, and fears for what is promising to be a very exciting year. To make things easier I'll divide this blog into the familiar breakdown of the big three conferences and then wrap up with some third party games I'd like to see. Let's start with the system I no longer own, X-Box 360.

Top 5 Franchises Traveller's Tales Needs to Lego-ify

If you have somehow managed to never play a Traveller's Tales Lego video game before this point do yourself a favor and slap yourself across the face. After you're finished with that, go ahead and find a copy of Lego Star Wars or Lego Indiana Jones and get started. However, if you're like me and you can't get enough of the genius combination of everyone's favorite connectable bricks and movie series in video game form, then you've probably just played through Lego Pirates of the Caribbean and are wondering what Traveller's Tales has up their sleeve next. Well the answer to that question would of course be the second half of the Harry Potter series, which was officially announced not too long ago. But, considering the fact that the Lego game franchise has raked in millions of dollars, it would be very surprising if TT called in quits after that. So the question remains - after the likes of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter, Batman, and Pirates of the Caribbean, where does a developer go next? After much consideration, here are my top five picks.

Top 5 Franchises Traveller's Tales Needs to Lego-ify Next

Brink - Gut Reactions

Brink - Gut Reactions

Brink is a bit of an odd entity. It's one of those games that has sort of flown under the radar for a long time while occasionally tossing very tantalizing little clips at its followers every now and then - sort of like some sketchy dude driving really slowly through your neighborhood and tossing out candies. In both situations the question "is this legit?" comes to mind. Well, because I don't want all you readers out there dropping $60 just to find out, I decided to swim out into deep water and investigate Brink's ark.

The Fire of Faith

The Fire of Faith

            The bonfire snapped and cracked as its flames bounded around the small pile of wood beneath it. Even though the night was not an abnormally cool one for late summer, I stretched out my hands and felt the searing warmth of the fire. I looked over to see Jesse and Tommy laughing in the flickering orange light. A hand clamped down upon my shoulder, and I turned to see Jon’s figure emerge as he steadied himself to climb over the crude log bench I was sitting upon. The deafening roar of the crickets and bullfrogs and the chatter of the youth surrounding the campfire was then broken by a single commanding voice.

            “All right, before we begin tonight, does anyone have anything they’d like to share?” The Wednesday night youth leader of our church was sitting on a log next to the fire.

~

Yoko Shimomura

Since all of my writing time has been dedicated to a paper for my finals this week I thought I'd upload an older research paper I wrote about one of my favorite composers. It was written about a year or so ago but I think it's still pretty solid. Make sure to listen to the links afterward for the full experience. Enjoy.

Yoko Shimomura

 

What is commonly referred to as “classical” music has come a very long way. Starting from the humblest beginnings of simpler instruments and uncomplicated compositions in the medieval ages, through the more elaborate compositions of the Baroque period, to the unforgettable symphonies and movements of the Classical and Romantic periods; music clearly has a legacy as varied and evolving as history itself. It seems like this legacy has arrived today most commonly (to the mass public at least) alongside the mediums of theatre and film. Asking someone off of the street for the name of a late twentieth century composer, the most common reply would probably be film-scoring mastermind John Williams.

Mortal Kombat - Gut Reactions

Mortal Kombat - Gut Reactions

Though it's been less than three years since the release of Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, it feels like much longer since a Mortal Kombat game has been released. Luckily, the stars above Earthrealm have aligned and just when you thought the franchise was finally dead; Scorpion, Sub-Zero and all of their weird friends return for another round of gore-tastic fatalities.

Let me preface this gut reaction by saying that I'm not a huge fan of the fighting game genre (despite Super Smash Bros being in my top five favorite franchises - but does that really count?). There's something about learning complicated series of joystick quarter-turns and button presses and applying them within the blink of an eye that has never appealed to me. This could be, in part, because I was never very good at it. The other main reason I've avoided the genre is because it's usually really only fun with two or more people and this boils down to me either getting slaughtered by someone who loves fighting games or getting slaughtered by someone wildly button-mashing.