ugachaka :: Jacob was here

As some of you may have noticed, there have been some changes here since your last visit. This blog has been upgraded to WordPress 2.5 in all its glory with a fresh new design and everything.

Now that the burden of upgrading software is over, there’s that gaming thing that I do. I’ll steal a page from a popular gaming blog to give you my gaming diary for the last several months.

Since my last post, I did receive a copy of Assassin’s Creed by returning my scratched disc, and finally did complete the main story of the game. Due to my obsession with achievement points, I finished the game lacking only 1 Templar and 3 missing flags somewhere in the huge Kingdom and the achievement for memory glitches — mostly because I had no idea what those were when I started playing the game. Anyone want to tell me where they found the last Templar? (Otherwise, I am just consulting the maps. [Note: no link because maps now seem to be down.])

Before I finished off Assassin’s Creed though, I also went all OCD on Mass Effect and completed a playthrough as the most evil Vanguard Nemesis that you could ever be — no, really, I think I finished with only 9 Paragon points because of mistakes I made. Who knew that beating a civilian across the level was equivalent to saving their life?

I’m not sure what I gained from the experience of being the most evil Shepard that ever lived. At a certain point — about 3/4 of the way through the game — I maxed out the Renegade point meter entirely. From that point on, the evil was only for my pure enjoyment, but I was committed to my goal.

I think on my next playthrough — oh yes, there will be another — I am going to try to be a completely good Vanguard as I get on my way to level 60. But, I still won’t play with Kaiden because he is worthless.

I have plans to complete a playthrough as an Adept at some point as well just because they seem like such a cool character when you max out that Singularity ability. I played most of the final portions of the game with Laila simply because she made everything in the room float to the middle and die. That’s an awesome party trick.

Luckily, I completed all of these game quests just in time to pick up my copy of Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Yes, Brawl was the game I most eagerly awaited this year. While I regret that it doesn’t have online voice chat during matches — not even with friends — the multiplayer is outrageous. I can’t stop if I get going on it with a group of friends. I found that a simple speakerphone cell phone call plopped down on the couch will suffice for any online opponents that I may challenge.

I beat most of the singleplayer portions of the game already, and I plan to complete it all over — again and again — until I get every trophy. If you have seen the trophy wall at all, I haven’t used any of my hammers yet. I’m going to wait until there is really something good to use.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl has dominated most of the game playing since I got it. It hasn’t left my Wii, and my Xbox 360 has been used for little more than playing DVDs from Netflix.

I am just now starting to reclaim my free time from blogging and Smash Bros-ing. Next up on my gaming agenda is a little online game called Ikarium and Super Mario Galaxy.

Stephen Totilo asked what to do when your partner in gaming leaves town if the two of you were playing the game together.

Apparently, this situation came up with one of MTV News staff when she left town for Thanksgiving and left her boyfriend with Super Mario Galaxy.

I think proper etiquette, at least for me, states that when you are playing a game with someone explicitly, you can’t play it without them even to explore areas you have already visited. If the two of you started it together in aims of finishing it, you shouldn’t leave your partner behind.

I have a co-op game on Halo 2 that is still saved because I haven’t gotten a chance to finish it off with the friend who started it with me. It’s just wrong to finish it with someone else or alone because that is our game.

I guess you could be flexible with this rule if the game is brand new and there is a very definite co-op mode established–meaning there is a co-op and single-player campaign to enjoy, but in this situation, it would be rare to make a deal with a friend to play it all the way through together unless it was some similarly-addicted roommate who would be present at all times of gameplay. I know with Gears of War and Halo 3, I played co-op with several friends at different times, but considering that none of them could be around for more than a day or two each week, there was no deal on us completing the game together.

With Super Mario Galaxy, the game is sort of a single-player adventure. There is a co-op mode, but it doesn’t really give the second person much to do besides waggle the Wiimote around at times to assist the first player. Switching levels is the only acceptable form of multiplayer, and that can get messy. In other words, if you explicitly set out to play this game with another person, you really can’t do anything without that other person present. The single-player/co-op player experience are the same and playing through alone ruins what you had going with the friend.

Good luck to the boyfriend of the MTV News copy editor. I might have just justified your girlfriend’s anger.

It was scary there for a second when Super Mario Galaxy seized the upper hand in the battle for the greatest videogame of all time–at least in the category of reviews.

A few more reviews came in to upset the new champ–possibly on purpose if the reviewer was a big enough Zelda fan–and now Ocarina sits back atop all games as the greatest accomplishment.

Does this break the 9-year streak at number 1? I don’t think it should count considering Super Mario Galaxy was still in the process of being reviewed. It would be unfair to let a streak be broken by a game that only held it for a few days.

And yes, I may be biased until I actually play Super Mario Galaxy, but I got to stand up for my man Link.

Super Mario Galaxy is receiving incredible reviews across the Web.  Famitsu already rated it as one of the top games of the ever, but is it?

According to Joystiq, it just passed up The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time with the highest ratings ever from Game Rankings.

I know the Wii is absolutely dominant right now, and Mario is the mascot of the platform.  Still, it’s hard to comprehend that the Mario storyline could outdo one as intricate as Ocarina of Time to take the top game title.

Is this a testament to how good Super Mario Galaxy is or how difficult it is to compare games based upon their review numbers through the years?

Now this might be biased because I have a noticeable shortage of PS3 games on this list, but I also don’t own a PS3.  Maybe that explains it.  I also don’t feel there is anything coming out until 2008 that really catches my fancy enough for me to jump on the PS3 bandwagon–although Little Big Planet might be good enough.Here is the list of blurbs of games I want to play…

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Xbox 360

I was in on the Beta test for the multiplayer portion of this game, and it truly amazed–not to mention what a great thrill it is to see that developers have acknowledged that World War II has ended.  The ability to upgrade weapons and camouflage based upon how much you use each set got me hooked.  I personally enjoyed upgrading the sniper, but I changed directions and spent a few days upgrading my shotgun/demo man because you learn quickly that snipers cannot possibly own at every map of this multiplayer.  Play as a team or lone wolf, but the game gives you a great deal of optional configurations and great graphics.

The game is already racking up some great reviews–and even more great reviews–and trying to keep up with demand for the title.

Super Mario Galaxy – Nintendo Wii

After avoiding Sunshine and not really paying attention to the Paper Mario series, I actually found Super Mario Galaxy pretty interesting–and maybe a tide me over until the new Smash Bros. is released.  I can’t wait to play it in all it’s planet-running glory.  I think the Mario series tends to be some of the best games for any Nintendo system, but the past several have left me not hyped enough to actually purchase them over a game I know will be a crowd pleaser.  I haven’t really gotten excited about a Mario game since Mario 64.  From the looks of it, this one could change my mind about the little red plumber.

Assassin’s Creed – Xbox 360

Free-roaming environment with sandbox gameplay? Interacting with the crowd to be seen or sneak through the shadows?  This game looks great and has the talk to be great as well.  The word on the street is that the game surprises in the first few minutes, which is why the producers are being so hush hush about gameplay elements like all that text swirling around in-game targets.  The imagery in this game looks beautiful, and I think the gameplay will easily match.  I always wanted to be an assassin.

Mass Effect – Xbox 360

We have been hearing about this one for a long time.  The cutscenes leave you trying to imagine how it will all fit together, but to make a long story short, you have to put/hold together a team to save the galaxy.  No matter what the hype is about the sex scenes that may or may not show nudity, I am more interested in the conversation system and the overall plot of this one.  If they pull it off right, this game could be one of the most epic stories ever told in videogame form and make a precedent for the industry.  The launch trailer already shows just how great this game could be as long as the story holds up to scrutiny and the gameplay satisfies.

Joystiq reported that Famitsu has rated Super Mario Galaxy on the Wii higher than all but 22 games in the history of the publication. Famitsu rated Super Mario Galaxy a 38/40, putting it just under Super Mario 64’s near perfect score of 39/40.

It has been several years since I have gotten really pumped about a Mario game. Actually, I think the last one I played/bought was Super Mario 64. I never was captivated by the Gamecube offerings with Sunshine, and I let the Paper Mario series pass me by to this point. I, of course, have a new desire to catch up on the Paper Mario with all the good things I have heard about the latest installment. Only Smash Bros. has really kept me bouncing in Mario land.

I hope Super Mario Galaxy can live up to the hype and deliver another great Mario experience for the Wii. With Mario’s famed history, the casual base might very well get pulled back into Mario games with this game, and then Nintendo might even be able to string them along the Mario train to buy Super Smash Bros. Brawl. We’ll see how far this Mario ride takes them this holiday season and Q1 2008.

Regardless of Nintendo’s secretive marketing practices, one game that I have heard loads about for this holiday season is Super Mario Galaxy. This time around, Mario is planet jumping all over little creatures and wearing a bee suit.

The game offers some cool features and I am definitely going to snatch it up and fire up the Wii again when it hits stores.

Kotaku got to go hands on with it, and Ain’t It Cool News’ Monki checked it out at E for All. I’m jealous. Super Mario Galaxy is definitely top of my list for Wii games this year, and hopefully, it will keep me playing the Wii until Super Smash Bros. Brawl fills my heart with joy in February.