I’m on vacation in Florida with my daughter visiting family. I don’t necessarily try to play fit video games into my schedule, unless there’s something worthwhile to play. The next morning after I arrived, Dead Rising 2: Case Zero was available on the XBL Marketplace. While my Daughter plays around in my parents living room (currently learning to navigate on two feet – very exciting) I’ll play some XBox on my Dad’s amazing beautiful Samsung DLP – the best looking TV I’ve seen.

Case Zero is something epic. You get a standalone prequel to the upcoming Dead Rising 2 which acts as a demo for those interested, but also a nicely wrapped up story arc to satisfy what demos cannot generally provide. It is $5 though, which I think is worth it, especially when you consider that your progress is then imported into Dead Rising 2. Even if you didn’t plan on picking up Dead Rising 2, you really should give this a shot.

The thing that has really made me connect with the game, making me even more excited about the full game, is the main plot and characters involved. You’re a Father trying to keep your Daughter safe. This is something I can obviously connect with. At my Daughter’s age, it is so important that I make sure I have her bottle and diapers wherever we go. Yeah, that’s not the same as an anti-zombie agent, but still…

It makes me wonder about other games with similar themes. If I just met a girl I’ve fallen in love with, would it be more engrossing to play a game with a similar plot? I think a Silent Hill game or two did this with family members. I think a deeper plot element with close personal relationships would be big in gaming if done correctly (I could be missing this, since I can’t stand RPG’s). Like sometimes the need for a suspenseful movie, I could look for the same in a game. Something to do with a Father/Daughter relationship? Brotherly love? Friendship? I generally skip this in favor for gameplay, but Case Zero has probably changed the way I look at things. I’m now more interested in playing Heavy Rain since it is deep in personal relationships – but will the gameplay keep me going? The demo was a bit slow for me…

But back to Case Zero; what Capcom has done here is excellent. No surprise really since Lost Planet 2 is such an awesome game. Honestly, I want to see more of these $5 mini-games that also give you a good impression of the full game while supplementing story and possibly affecting the that said full game.

Now…Zombrex or High Stakes Edition?

You might have seen Chad’s breaking post below. You might have even been on the internet yesterday. I was actually on an airplane during the whole mess, so I’m a little late to the game. Unfortunately Microsoft has decided to add an extra $10 for a year of XBox Live Gold. I think it’s pretty stupid, but it’s a business decision that went like this:

Microsoft did the research. The number of members that may not renew or start a new account, while being affected by the pricing, will still pull in the money. These gamers have games invested, time invested, and XBL friends. They are, in a sense, stuck. Also, $10 extra is not a lot. It’s just a shit thing to do.

A shit thing to do. Companies do things for business purposes, but sometimes, a company will let certain ideas go for the sake of the customer. Microsoft went from the latter to the former. I also think Sony screwed up. Their PSN Plus service offers me absolutely nothing that I care to spend $50 a year on. I don’t even get any instant gratification from giving them that $50.

The price won’t kill me, or anyone really – Microsoft knows this. The problem here is that they are doing this to us. If they can come out with a good reason for it, I’m all ears. Microsoft is doing less for us and more for them. The opposite of what they did for us when creating the brand (though I’ve heard they turned down making Dreamcast games playable on the XBox, so I’m starting to get even more pissed).

http://videogames.yahoo.com/events/plugged-in/microsoft-raising-xbox-live-membership-prices/1409254

I’m not sure how to insert links. Maybe you can edit this post Adam. This topic seems totally necessary for the site. The once $49.99/year price tag is jumping and extra $10 a year for a total of $59.99. Why? Well I know why. They want more money and I’m sure people will pay it. This will give the X-box shit-talkers something else to throw in the pot. I will pay the higher price but I don’t like it. They better start overloading the service with more free goodies.

• Joystick Division – 10 Weird, Unofficial Fighting Game Crossovers http://bit.ly/9uxU00 #
• Call of Duty: Black Ops On PC Will Have Mod Tools http://t.co/Xx9DoNS via @kotaku #
• This looks awesome: Dungeon Defender Is Tower Defense Of The Ancients http://t.co/IDqpMnG via @kotaku #
• RT @GI_AndyMc: I don't think this ex-employee nor his wife are too happy with Realtime worlds. You gotta read this. http://bit.ly/9YSNAd #
• played Mafia II (360), SolarStruggle (XBIG), and Ancient Trader (XBIG) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/xe2VB #
• Sonic and Knuckles 3D video – wish it were real: http://ping.fm/EsqzF #
• Unfair Mafia II Impressions http://ping.fm/z3qX7 #
• PlayStation designer explains what the controller symbols mean, dishes a bit of history http://t.co/WGgalzj via @engadget #
• Nothing Bad To Say About The New Castlevania's First Chapter http://t.co/BcHIMqk via @kotaku #
• played Alan Wake (360) and Burnout Revenge (360) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/4u46S #
• played Alan Wake (360) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/1FxRh #
• played Singularity (360) and Shank (XBLA) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/pcC7I #

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I tend to avoid sandbox-style games (especially if you play a law-breaking character) because they always do the the same things and never anything new. I still try them, though. Red Faction: Geurilla worked because it did so much different. Destrcutible environments, Martian setting, crazy sci-fi gadgets, etc. Wheelman introduced the greatest driving mechanic in sandbox gaming (hey devs, any of you plan to expand on that…please?). Just Cause introduced verticalness. Problem with others, they do the same thing. Nothing to get me to want to go back. This might be what sells and makes my rant rather pointless, but I expected more. Just Cause 2 is the same but restricted freedom. Stunning visuals and great marketing made gamers think this was a better game than the first, alas, ’tis not true. Crackdown 2 gave me no reason to do it all again. Red Dead Redemption, while I may get flack for this, had the problem of GTA IV’s horrible controls. GTA IV…just more of the same really.

This same is a few things. First, there’s always a map. It could be a western, or my main point, Mafia II, and there’s still a magical mini-map. To me, that just throws out all immersion. I would have loved it if in RDR, all you could do was pull out a map you somehow obtained. It should be part of your inventory. And if you’re lost, go up to an NPC with the map out and they will point out where you are. Or if you’re alone, use the sun or moon. Mafia II threw me off today. I couldn’t help but feel I was playing your average sandbox game but with a different skin. Secondly, I get to some timed missions. They are not fun, just filler between the fun. It starts to feel like a chore. Wheelman did a good job by making all the chore missions optional, but by doing them you upgrade certain aspects of your character, be that driving or shooting. Red Faction made chore missions still affect the entire game as a whole, as you may have destroyed an enemy instillation that later on allows you to waltz through. That is what sandbox really is.

If I’m going to continue to play these sandbox games, there needs to be less me too, and more immersion.

And all this from a couple hours of Mafia II.

• played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/mR6ef #
• played Hydro Thunder Hurricane (XBLA) and Monday Night Combat (XBLA) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/onAbC #
• played Earth Defense Force 2017 (360) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/cRg5j #
• played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/AvkXa #
• Xbox Live launch titles for Windows Phone 7 finally revealed, we've got the full preview http://t.co/PcaVp7f via @engadget #
• Dawn of War 2: Retribution lets you play as Orks : PC Gamer http://ping.fm/9yDh7 #
• Why Lords Of Shadows Will Be The 3D Castlevania That Works http://t.co/DtLnevO via @kotaku #
• The Following Gaming Sites Fail At Sharing http://ping.fm/cc3iv #
• Castlevania Lords of Shadow Producer Talks Collector's Edition, DLC, and More http://bit.ly/av6lex #
• Mortal Kombat Dev Thinks MK vs. Street Fighter is "Inevitable" http://ow.ly/1qNRro #
• played Universe at War: Earth Assault (360) and 1 other game in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/c9cSi #
• played Halo 3 (360) and Monday Night Combat (XBLA) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/XXbkX #
• played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) and Call of Duty: World at War (PC) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/vxDh5 #
• played Battlefield Bad Company 2 (360) and Halo 3 (360) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/rkSdC #

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If you’re one of the many (thanks) followers of BlueGamer on Twitter or Facebook, you know you get regular, interesting news from the video game industry. Most of that is thanks to gaming sites that include sharing options in their articles. For some reason it has slowly gone away, and I’m not sure why. It would only benefit these sites by possibly getting new viewers that stumble upon mine – or others’ – tweets. It has come to a point where it is difficult for me to do this. I used to just click a button or two and there’s a headline and link to the article. Now, with the absence of said functions, I’d have to type out the headline and create a link. Yeah, that shouldn’t be too big of a deal but I think it would make it easier for everyone if these tools were never removed in the first place.

Game Informer – They’ve got Facebook, but it’s limiting. Phil Kollar has told me they are working on the sharing tools, so they get a pass for now.

Kotaku – They’ve got a tweet option – but I don’t like Kotaku. Articles tend to be written with certain intentions in mind, and as good of a writer as Stephen Totilo is, I can’t help but think he has little clue on what he’s writing about. Apparently he just played Doom for the first time. I dunno…

Joystiq – This was my go-to guy. Ping.fm is mandatory as it shares with both Twitter and the Bluegamer.net facebook Fan Page. They removed all sharing functions except for “like” for Facebook. That is seriously lame. Their sibling, Engadget, has a nice tweet link at the bottom of their articles, and like Kotaku, it brings up a window with the text so you could edit it before initializing the tweet. I’m still baffled at why Joystiq removed these functions in the first place…

GiantBomb – I think the community here sucks as talked about on the Bluecast. Sucky doesn’t stop there, as the tweet links only work sometimes. And when they do, they aren’t set to auto-shorten URL’s, so you might as well create the tweet yourself.

Rock, Paper, Shotgun – Awesome for gaming news…but it’s only PC. They have the sharing thing going on correctly, but Twitter as the only option sucks. Again, Ping.fm is mandatory for me. I don’t mind copying the twitter link and pasting it into my Ping.fm Chrome extension, but still…

Let me know if I’ve missed any sites. These are just what I find when looking for news. N4G…you never know if it’s real, so I just avoid. If any of these sites are interested, Bluegamer.net has a neat sharing function, similar to what Joystiq used to have.

I will repeat, BlueGamer.net has the greatest sharing function in the gaming-blogsphere. Let’s just hope that helps me out in some way…

• played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/VHlQv #
• Weekend Gaming Movies http://ping.fm/3nWLF #
• Modern Warfare 2 glitch unlocks five SNK XBLA games: http://bit.ly/cCfVjO via @addthis #
• played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/tyIXd #
• Rumor: Duke Nukem Forever Back in Development at Gearbox http://bit.ly/a1G1XO #
• Borderlands DLC 'Claptrap's New Robot Revolution' due in September: http://bit.ly/9RfbqM via @addthis #
• From @engadget: http://ping.fm/ql1wU #
• played Monday Night Combat (XBLA) and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/lrZfy #
• QuakeCon And Scott Pilgrim Impressions http://ping.fm/GB30k #
• Rage on iOS this fall. #
• played StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/6VWOj #
• Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 unleashes Yoda, too: http://bit.ly/apIobl via @addthis #
• Are You Sure You Don't Want to Jailbreak Your iPhone? http://t.co/qciTYgi via @kotaku #
• Zombies Return To Call Of Duty? http://t.co/9fv1AIG via @kotaku #
• Dreamcasting For Propeller Arena http://ping.fm/v9Orp #
• played Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (360) in the last 24 hours. http://ping.fm/QmxQo #

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Since I moved into the new place, access to generations of consoles has never been easier. When I have guests over, the console of choice is usually the Dreamcast. That’s how awesome guest visits are. A thread in a forum I frequent sparked the interest of Propeller Arena. This was a Dreamcast title that I had been looking forward to during the console’s life. I’m a fan of aviation titles, and had imported the Aero Dancing games from Japan and am a huge fan of Air Force Delta. I tell ya, the Dreamcast had it all. Anyway, Propeller Arena got cancelled after completion. This was due to the attacks on 9/11. The game incorporated combat flying and skyscrapers. Would it have hurt Sega worse to release the game? My life’s eternal pains – the failure of the Dreamcast, the Alien vs. Predator movie, and no chance of Snipes in a Blade 4.

Anyway, not too long after cancellation, an image of the game popped up on the internet. At this time I really didn’t know where to look nor had the connection or capabilities of getting the game into a playable state on my Dreamcast. Since the recent interest, in a matter of minutes I found the image, put it on a CD and loaded it up on the Dreamcast. It’s an amazingly fun game. Arcade air combat with a killer soundtrack, comprised of awesome punk music – very similar to Crazy Taxi all-around.

But like I always am with my gadgetry, I wanted to play this in the best way possible. I have the VGA adapter for the Dreamcast, but internet searches just led me to the answer of ‘no’. That is, most newer TV’s can’t display the Dreamcast’s resolution out of the box. It would require a scaler around the $100+ mark, or modification of the VGA box itself – not sure where I’d even start there. I could just hook it up to my computer monitor, but I’m in it for the big screen especially if I have guests over.

So my next project will be find a way to get the VGA resolutions out of my DC on my big screen. It’s a mandatory assignment and I’ll post as I progress.

QuakeCon has started and I will be there. Luckily it’s one of those cons that is local, so getting there is not an issue. Unlike PAX, where I’d have to get a flight, hotel, food, etc. Can’t do that now. I’ll actually be in Florida during PAX. One day I’ll make it there…

I’ve been playing the Scott Pilgrim game on PSN. I got it on PSN instead of waiting for the XBLA version for a few reasons: $8 through Ubi’s store, no online play…and that’s about it. First impressions were okay. Once I “got it” I realized this is just River City Ransom. At first, I was put off by this because with all the time put into that game I knew I was done forever. But with the music, graphics, and random video game references throughout, the game has me. Not thinking I’d do local co-op, I had a couple buddies over for three player. Luckily, I had the DS3 for rumble, the SIXAXIS that came with the unit, and an adapter to use a PS2 controller (used for 2D Pad for my SHMUPS). So setting it up was no problem. It’s fun, but the time put in singleplayer doesn’t translate well for multiplayer, unless the other players are roommates, family, or significant others. It just takes time.

The music in this is good. From Anamanaguchi:

And a few of us will be hitting up the midnight showing for Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. I’m about 90% back to health, so I hope between QuakeCon, midnight showing, and daughter time, my body still has a chance to fully recover.