Gamer Input: Problems with Video Game Journalism

They should be focused on interacting directly with us instead of blaming us for their games not selling as much. I hate to point to the Wii U again, but who at Nintendo thought it was a good idea to market a tablet controller as a 'new feature'?

Regardless, it's up to the media to stop pointing fingers at loyal customers and start looking at themselves. It's time they ate their own dog food! Well done, Matt!

Gaming Bytes: Target Ships Xbox One In Error

What would you do if you pre-ordered a console and received it a week before the launch date? I give my perspective during my one-year anniversary episode!

Vernon Has A Heart To Heart

I haven't posted anything here in a bit. Sorry about that guys, but I have a little treat for you. I opened up a bit about my time as a gamer and it got a but emotional. Enjoy!

Mental Telepathy

I'm pretty sure that waking up on the wrong side of the bed is for people that run out of hazelnut cream for their coffee. I ran out a day ago, and today is the day when I get more. THAT'S NOT THE POINT! When my coffee maker brews (thank you, Mom) the Columbian dark roast, I try not to burn my tongue when sipping it directly after it has been brewed. However, because I'm trying to get ready for work, I try to move quickly so that I can get to work on time. With the hazelnut cream, my coffee is naturally cool for chugging. So, no, I didn't get my coffee this morning.

My arm was screaming in pain because I slept on it wrong. On top of slipping on a decent outfit, I was trying my hardest not to scream because pins and needles aren't the best feeling to wake up to. Recently, I tried showering before work because I'm just too tired to do anything when I get home. This would, at times, involve me sitting in my metal chair thinking about taking a shower, and falling asleep a few ours later. Showering in the morning helps me wake up in combination with coffee, but I had to deal with the consequences of hitting the snooze alarm for an hour. So, no, I didn't get my shower this morning.

I'm pretty sure that if you're listening to you co-workers talk, you shouldn't comment if you're a grumpy goose. I walked into the secure room of about fifteen people to hear one of the weirdest lines. Basically, one co-worker said something that the other was apparently thinking, so she said, "We have mental telepathy."

If you need time to think about how ridiculous that is, I'll give you a moment.

As I was putting my things away and setting up my computer, I head the comment and I immediately decided to keep my mouth shut. For obvious reasons, you shouldn't be a smartass at work if you're not sure that the recipients of your brand of smartass are on the same page. This was not one of those mornings, so I stayed quiet. What I would have said was, "Is there another kind of telepathy?"

I'm no expert on telepathy or neuroscience, but I can only assume from my years as an X-Men fan that telepathy is only of the mind. Saying that she thought they had 'mental telepathy' is like trying to pretend your a sword swallow artist, but instead of swords, you use pretzels. George Bush anyone? I'm sorry. I still haven't had coffee, but I'm working on it. Happy freaking Friday.

Assassin's Creed 4 Meets Parkour in Real Life - Comic-Con - 4K

Seeing this just makes me want to train in the art of parkour. Some sweet moves are pulled off and I thoroughly enjoyed watching.

Too bad I can't accept the state Assassin's Creed is in. Perhaps that will change with the latest game, Black Flag, but I'm not getting my hopes up. For now, enjoy the parkour!

We are holdtheline.com

Guess who did voice over work for the OFFICIAL HOLD THE LINE TRAILER!!!

The Walking Agent Steam-Swivel

The newest Gaming Bytes is up! Another week and another video! Enjoy!

My Thoughts On The Batman/Superman Movie

When I heard the news of upcoming Batman/Superman crossover, I was optimistic. I enjoyed Man of Steel and I looked forward to a continuation leading into a Justice League movie, along with some other hero tie-in movies (Wonder Woman, Flash, Aquaman, etc.). It’s been less than a week since I heard the news, and now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’d like to weigh in.

Great freaking Superman! Love the costume, too!

While I’m excited by the concept of a crossover movie between the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight, I’m not entirely sure that this is the way to go. Man of Steel, while a reboot, was the first outing of Kal El as Superman. It doesn’t help that Metropolis is left decimated after Zod and his cronies try to take over. He donned the suit and cape for less than seventy two hours, in which he and Zod are responsible for the deaths of thousands of people. I’m not going to say a crossover movie isn’t a bad idea if done right, but I think there are other things that can be explored before such a crossover.

Yes, Superman and Batman are iconic characters, but throwing them together so soon is pointless when you consider a few points.

1)      Kal El isn’t Superman yet. Sure, he saved the world, but he still hasn’t gained the trust of the people of Earth. In other origin stories, he revealed himself to the world when he was ready. In this story, he is outed by Zod to the entire world and has to come out of hiding to stop him. Perhaps we could use another movie developing his role as protector of the Earth with a few bits that illustrate just how little our governments trust the outsider. Maybe they contract out to LexCorp to develop ways to combat Superman using the Kryptonian tech left by Zod and his forces. Perhaps they even study Zod’s physiology in search of a weakness. Maybe Lex Luther helps to create the shadow branch of the government known as CADMUS. So and so forth, but I feel that the story should continue with Kal El dealing with the people of Earth (saving them from outside threats and themselves).

Great idea, but perhaps it's not the time?

2)      The Dark Knight saga is over. Christopher Nolan ended that story and it has been explicitly stated that Batman will be rebooted with new faces at the helm. We have yet to establish the new status quo for the new version of this character, and I think he should get his own movie to establish him in the world created by Man of Steel.

In competing with Marvel, I’ve been watching to see what DC does with their characters. Honestly, I thought that Man of Steel was a good beginning for their lead up to a Justice League movie. It has the best action in a Superman film ever, it had a decent story that I was into, and it had a guy I believed was the Man of Steel.

Please tell me that this is Kara!!!

I can’t wait to see what they do with the upcoming movies in their arsenal, but it’s not clear where they will go beyond the Man of Steel sequel. My guess? I think they’re going to hold off on a Justice League movie until 2017-18 so they can set up the characters they want and do whatever team-ups they’re going to have before they introduce us to the Justice League. Marvel has a five-year head-start with Iron Man leading the charge and they got big plans. I’m hoping that DC can get it together!

There Will Be Street Fighter

The only thing I can say about the latest episode of Gaming Bytes is that I'm pretty sure there's not enough Ninja Turtle. Perhaps you'd fancy a chat about Murdered Soul Suspect, Ubisoft's franchise obsession, or Ultra Street Fighter. Have at you!

Kids React to Cheerios Commercial

Kids React to Cheerios Commercial

It really bugs me that folks are still so upset about this commercial, but it's good to know how they really feel. The video posted above is an example of how wise kids can be. When you're young, you're generally oblivious to the problems of the adult world. 

Unlike homosexuality, you are actively making a choice to hate and be discriminatory. Children, as seen in this video, truly believe that everyone should just get along. We teach them to be afraid, or to get angry, or to be hateful about something or someone that has done nothing to us.

If you feel a certain way about an ethnicity, you were taught to think that way (whether by people you come across or life experiences), not born to think that way. And you can change the way you think about things because you are in control of your actions.

Think about that while I take precautionary steps to lower my cholesterol. :-D

MrDarkPhoenix™: Batman: Arkham Origins Joker and Batman voices

MrDarkPhoenix™: Batman: Arkham Origins Joker and Batman voices: The voices for Batman and The Joker have been revealed and it's up to me to tell you guys who we'll be expecting to hear as our ...

At least they are credible voice actors and not unknowns, right? Check out the blog post above!

Rabble Rabble: Assassin's Creed

A little rant on the Assassin's Creed series. Not to say I hate the series, but after pondering on it, I need to express my thoughts on where the series is going. Comments?

Wake Me Up

I woke up at 6:02 AM. Actually, I woke up at 5:38 AM and closed my eyes until both alarms went off. I've been doing that a hell of a lot lately, and it's not a bad thing... but it's not a good thing, either. I wouldn't go so far as to say I hate my job, but waking up anywhere inside of an hour before I'm supposed to is torture.

We've all had this happen, right? Waking up an hour before I have to just drills into my head that I have to get up in an hour. I spend the entire hour with my eyes closed trying to get a good position to fall back asleep, but my mind is up and working the entire time. 

"I should probably get up now and get to work early. This way, I can leave early."

"Why? I'm missing out on valuable sleep."

"Sleep? Maybe if I wasn't nocturnal, I'd get more valuable sleep."

"But there's so sleep that I could catch up on. Maybe I'll go into work a few hours late and stay later."

That dialogue goes on for an hour until I hear my alarm. Sometimes, I hit my snooze alarm to get an extra ten minutes of sleep, but I hear my cell phone alarm five minutes later. And I share your reaction when that happens. 

"Damn."

Of all the moments that I spend awake, I spend a good amount of time wishing I was sleeping. However, I've had this inescapable feeling that I'm missing something in the night. I never wanted to go to bed as a kid, but now, all I want to do is go to bed. As an adult in his mid-twenties, however, my body is so used to staying up. I want to stay up late, but I don't. 

Getting to work is rough, as well. As I said, I was up with my eyes closed nearly a half hour before my alarm. I took a great shower and was ready my 6:15 AM. Normally, I don't leave for work until 7:30 AM on a 'good' morning, but the moment I enter the building, I begin feeling tired. I begin dragging my feet and longing for my bed. Why is that?

I was awake twenty minutes ago and ready for anything. One thing, is certain, though. My solution is simple: get more sleep. Easier said than done, inner self. Good morning!

Genius Use For Tablet

This is fucking genius! I would pay good money for one of these. - Imgur

Click the link above and you'll see exactly why I think the latest generation of console gaming lacks innovation. No, I don't think we should be able to plug our old cartridge games into something if our old consoles aren't working. However, why not? This is a great idea, and I'm glad someone came up with it. Perhaps we can bring back some old games and have them on the tablet as a Smartglass-only feature or a Wii U only feature.

And no price-gouging! Make the games cheap! That's an attractive incentive to sway me more toward buying the new consoles.

Bail For Terrorist Assassins

Red background! Boom!

So, apparently, we've forgotten to not take ourselves too seriously, and are locking up folks who say the wrong things. I think we should take a look at the First Amendment again. I'm pretty sure the kid should get some type of community service for his stupid joke, but 10 years in jail? Jeez!

Be sure to go to the Youtube video and hit the like button. Oh, and leave a comment to join the gaming conversation. Oh, right and SUBSCRIBE!!!!

The You're Doing It Right Awards 2013

This is the most fun I've had collaborating with multiple folks at once, and it's all for holdtheline.com! Thanks to the companies that made all these games possible, but most of all, thanks to the customerss who made these games as big as they are! 

This award ceremony is a reminder that without the customers, an industry is nothing!

Ubisoft and Microsoft... So Soft

Please go to the video and hit the 'like'! Leave a comment with some ideas for what you'd like to see covered on the show! Oh, and share this video on your favorite social media site! Oh, right, and SUBSCRIBE!

No Single Player Equals Gimmick Integration

After a re-record, this is finally up! Check out the lastest Gaming Bytes!

All Your Family Belong To Us

Who's that handsome fella? Vernon talks about the Microsoft removing the DRM policies from the XBox One.

Gaming Bytes 21

The latest in the Gaming Bytes series includes E3 news, gaming excitement, and singing!

Gaming Bytes #19

This Gaming Bytes is brought to you by Brush Combington's brushes. If you can grow it, you can brush it!

Seriously, check out the latest episode! So much energy and humor!

Get Tuitt Reviews: Tomb Raider

Here is my review of Tomb Raider! What did you think about the game?

The You're Doing It Right Awards 2013

I just wanted to post this on my blog since I had a decent role in this. The You're Doing It Right Awards on holdtheline.com is a little award ceremony that we put together to show appreciation to video game companies we (as a site) felt showed a great commitment to customers.

The belief that healthy competition is stronger than market domination is firmly embedded in our minds as our member base voted. This is what a gaming award ceremony should be: no advertisements, no game trailers, no celebrity appearances. It's about the consumers showing love to the companies that show love to them. In the end, these companies and their games are the best examples of why we spend our hard-earned money.

We worked very hard and collaborated over the last few months to put this together. I think it works very well, and seeing it altogether make me very proud. Can you guess which parts I did? Thanks for watching and we'll see you all next year!

The Taco Story

Thanks to my friends, Calvin Williams, for filming and adding the cool title!

Wii U Rant in a Gamestop

Hopefully I'll change my mind on the Wii U, but I remain underwhelmed :-(

Gaming Bytes #18

The latest Gaming Bytes is up!

Batman Prequel

To begin, I'd like to state that I'm excited by the idea of this game. It's not an origin story, per se, but it is the story of a younger Batman where he meets a lot of his most famous enemies for the first time. When the official news hit yesterday about the prequels, I held back my excitement for a bit to ponder why I get so irritated by the prospect of prequels.

Assassin's are coming to get Bman? Bring it

As jaded a person as I am, I still try to give things the benefit of the doubt, but sometimes, prequels end up doing more damage to the initial story than good. In terms of video games, prequels tend to forget that no one cares about the past that much that a game needs to be made about how Cole and Baird came to be the soul-singing duo they are. The fact is that I don't care to see the Covenant give Reach a glossy once-over. Hell, ODST story played out during the events of Halo 2 and acts as a bridge to Halo 3, but it came out AFTER Halo 3. I don't understand that, but as a story, it worked for me.

Video games are becoming more... 'cinematic' in terms of storytelling as time goes on. As exposition has become and important element of getting plot points across in video games, we get the details of the past in dialogue and some kind of shocking flashback. I know that it's all about the entertainment aspect to bring in enough money to fuel a franchise. This small rant is more rhetorical than anything else.

Come get some

But it doesn't stop there. There will be two Batman prequels, one of them being on a handheld device. I'm assuming the PS Vita and/or the Nintendo 3DS will receive this game since I'm sure there won't be a big-budget game produced for an Android phone any time soon. Basically, this means that one prequel will be on consoles, and the next prequel will act as a bridge between the first and Arkham Asylum. The only problem with this is that I don't have one of the handheld devices that I mentioned earlier. Will it be cross-platform? Could I get a digital copy of the handheld game to play on my console. Sony has been trying to do that with their PS3 to make the Vita more relevant as a handheld device, and this would be a good thing to try.

You're gonna put that where? WHAT?!?

It's still too soon, and I'm obviously speculating, but what if it isn't cross-platform? Will I miss out on certain story details because I didn't shell out $300 for an over-powered cell phone? I don't want to feel like I'm being forced to buy something just because the creators want to appeal to a 'wider' audience. Regardless, I'm sure the prequels will be decent even if Rocksteady is taking a backseat on them. It's too soon to tell one way or the other, so I will wait to see how the Dark Knight returns this October.

Official Batman Prequels Announced

Personal Account- Spec Ops: The Line

*SPOILERS ENSUE* You have been warned.

Spec Ops: The Line draws the line between a good game and a soul-crushing experience. The later was more my speed as I was forced to examine a real lesson behind the guise of a third person shooter; war is not fun. That should be obvious, but I see how the youth of today enjoy shooters and it scares me a bit. I got into gaming before shooters became the big ‘thing’, so I was never conditioned to worship those kinds of games. Sure, one of my favorite games for the N64 was Goldeneye, but James Bond is hardly a soldier killing brown people (that, and he's English). Tuitt, Vernon Tuitt.

I miss this game

With such ware games as Call of Duty, there is a clear divide between good guys and bad guys. From Germans to Japanese, from Arabs to basically any other brown person you can shake a stick at, it’s usually the Americans that are gung-ho about taking the baddies out, and they usually win. Amuricah! But what if Americans had to fight other Americans? In a setting where survival is paramount and the way to go about stopping the opposing force isn’t as clear-cut and clean as you’re used to, how would you cope with your decisions? Furthermore, how far would you go to challenge behavior you found appalling?

I soiled myself. Damn.

It’s easy to get lost in the Medal of Honors and the Battlefields, but it takes some balls in the industry today to bring real moral dilemmas to your console, make you choose, and then punish you severely for making said choice.

While I frown upon such a practice, I’m not shaming it entirely because it actually worked in this game. The story follows Captain Martin Walker, leader of a three-man reconnaissance team sent to investigate a distress signal in a sand-covered Dubai. Simple recon turns into a rescue mission that involves saving a company of soldiers who were thought to be killed. It turns out that the soldiers failed their own mission and occupied the city, butchering civilians and taking others hostage. What comes next is a slew of choices by the captain that lead his team deeper. The chaos and death that ensues left a bitter taste in my mouth, but in a good way. I was left wondering about how powerful the human mind real is, and how we can trick ourselves into believing anything just to escape horror or mask extreme guilt.

The game gives you a false sense of control as it leads you down a path of fantasy where the villain is clear. However, toward the end, you’re taken for a loop when you realize that the villain was just a scapegoat to cope with the atrocities that Walker witnessed/committed. Yes, the rouge soldiers he fights are very real, and Walkers feels an obligation to stop them to save lives. Unfortunately, he winds up slaughtering soldiers, civilians, and then more soldiers by the end. Actually, Walker winds up causing more damage than the company of soldiers did.

I double dog dare you!

This brings me to another question: is there a clear line between good and evil? Is everything so black and white? In the game, you get a sense of who the real enemy is AFTER you accidentally slaughter a bunch of civilians in a terrible way. But it’s only after the people are dead and you, the player, realize how not-fun war is. There IS no line between good and evil because we all have our beliefs. Ponder on your beliefs and think about what you believe to be ‘evil’. Now think about what you would do to stop said evil. What if the thing you would do to stop the evil was considered evil by someone else? I know this is a bad example, but the point is that perception and belief are powerful. My dad told me that every war in history has been fought over some belief or ideology, mainly religion. In Spec Ops, the belief of one man caused the death of countless people. He wanted to be a hero and save lives, but wound up being the harbinger of destruction in an already destroyed Dubai.

In conclusion, I don’t think that Spec Ops was preachy, but the realism was there and I appreciated the game for what it was. Not every story has a happy ending, nor do the good guys always win. I accept this game into my collection as the one that breaks the fantasy and serves you a truthful story. There is no work around or a different angle to approach from. There is no have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too solution. There is only the situation as it is laid at your feet, and you must accept the consequences for whatever decisions you make.

Despite the repetitive cover shooting and a ridiculously easy aiming system, the graphics and visuals were pretty nice. I appreciated the use of destructible environments like glass and columns, but it sucks that everything wasn't destructible. I appreciate that some things would break apart if they took enough damage, but almost everything else your character stands behind could withstand a nuke. I don’t play multiplayer because it’s not a compliment to the game and takes away from the single-player experience (that, and the internet I use won’t connect with my Xbox 360). Although, the single-player campaign is about 7-8 hours, so be prepared for a short game.

I’d recommend this game to a friend even though it’s short because it’s a step away from the ‘Amuricah! Fuck Yeah!’ attitude that some shooters seem to have. It manages to punish you for killing others, but rewards you with a new way of thinking. Pin the tail on the donkey.