Just a quick blog to share with the interwebs, haven't posted in a long time now. been busy.

i'm on vacation enjoying some downtime here in USA this winter. got another week before i head back to Saudi for work again.

ok without further ado:

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My Game of the Year is : Bioshock Infinite,

really i can go back to this game again and again, i love the look, presentation of it, i love Elizabeth and how the story unfolds in it.

Other games i really really loved in 2013 are Last of Us, Legend of Zelda : A Link Between Worlds, Battlefield 4's multiiplayer (when its not buggy).

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I'm geared and ready for next gen, I got the PS4 (with 10 games, 4 i paid, 6 i got for free either through cross buy or PS+), and the WiiU.

If you want to friend me it's NeoGuardian86 on both systems.

I also game on the PS3 still, PS Vita, 3DS XL, and Ipad Mini.

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Games in 2014 i'm most looking forward to playing are as follows:

1. inFamous Second Son

2. Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

3. Destiny

4. Transistor

5. Ace Combat Infinity

6. The Order 1886

7. Donkey Kong Country : Tropical Freeze

8. No Man's Sky

9. Rime

10. Gravity Rush 2 (remember there was a teaser at TGS from Team Gravity)

11. Everybody's Gone to Rapture

12. Natural Doctrine

13. Valiant Hearts : The Great War

Unlikely-but-if-it-comes-in-2014-i'm-totally-getting-but-until-then-not-getting-hyped list:

1. Metal Gear Solid V : Phantom Pain

2. Final Fantasy 15

3. Kingdom Hearts 3

4. Last Guardian

5. Cyberpunk

6. Fallout 4

7. Mirror's Edge

8. Prey 2

9. Agent

That's all i got, and before we even see what E3 will reveal for us all with the next gen finally in place we can see what developers have in store for the new systems. it'll be an exciting year. nevermind my still huge back catalog of PS3 games i'm still playing through as well as my Steam library.

Thought i'd share some pics of Saudi and my work.

rigs dotted in between crop circles.

me in the middle of sandstorm.

on a rig in the far north near the Iraqi border.

me about 2 months ago.

ain't nothin' out there. nothin...

driving down the avenues in my hometown Al-Khobar.

Base camp, while raining.

me at base camp like 4 months ago.

one of our rigs in the middle of a sandstorm.

Beautiful Mosque in the far north in a town called Ar'Ar.

Beautiful green parks in the far north of Saudi. there are lots of these parks. some parks are bigger then the towns/villages with no one in them.

On one of the rigs we got a cat we keep named Nala.

that's all, just wanted to share it with some of you guys.

Next Gen for me:

Well its been a very long time since my last blog, and this will be a bit of a long one given its games centric.

Yesterday, I bought and built a gaming computer finally. My build is as follows:

1.      Logitech k260 wireless keyboard and mouse

2.      DVD player/burner

3.      1 terabyte Seagate 7200 rpm hard drive

4.      cooler master Trooper case

5.      cooler master heat sink 

6.      Sapphire HD Radeon 7950 Vapor-X (Graphics card)

7.      Kingston Hyperx 8 Gigs of Ram

8.      Sabertooth 990 FX R2.0 Motherboard

9.      Thermaltake 850W Gold certified power supply

10.   AMD FX 8350 Vishera 4.0 Ghz, 18 MB Total Cache

11.   Windows 7 Pro

12.   Wireless Adaptor put in

6 fans in all, can control it manually or automatically 
Option to add another 8 gigs of Kingston HyperX, another graphics card, hard drives, blu-ray drive

Still putting some games on it, see how it really fairs for me this summer. If my PC gaming experience just turns into a situation where Im constantly tinkering to get games to run on them then my backup is the PS4.

My job has me workin 10-12 hours a day. And then I got the weekend. So time is short for me, so in between working and life, I dont got a lot of time in my free time to be spending tinkering When i wanna play a game - I WANNA play a game.

Often during the week Im living on the rigs in the desert, and while I dont need to take my laptop, I do take with me 3 electronic devices in my backpack carryon. The Ipad Mini (books, a few movies, and lots of comics, and the odd game like Mass Effect : Infiltrator will get Deus Ex : The Fall), the Nintendo 3DS, and the Playstation Vita. I didnt think itd happen, but lately Im way more of a handheld gamer then I am a home-system gamer.

Anyways, gonna try to keep this short:

Watching E3 this year, I knew where my load was gonna lead me to play:

1. PC/PS4 (at home)
2. Vita/3DS (at night on the rigs at work)
3. WiiU (for occasional old Nintendo nostalgia fun) + PS3 (Legacy console with 100+ games for it)

If PC works out best for me as I hope from my massive initial investment into it then Ill be going PC mostly. If not, then its PS4. Fairly simple.

Games I was most excited for per platform (colored very excited, bolded excited, normal looking forward to playing):

PS4:

1. Metal Gear Solid V : Phantom Pain
2. Infamous : Second Son
3. Killzone : Shadow Fall (launch game Ill get)
4. Destiny
5. Final Fantasy 15 (wont get too excited, because how much longer is the wait)
6. Kingdom Hearts 3  (same as FF15)

PC/PS4:

1. Battlefield 4 (havent decided if I wanna get this on PS4 because I prefer the console space for FPS multiplayer)
2. Batman : Arkham Origins
3. Transistor
4. Mirrors Edge 2
5. Wolfenstein : New Order (never been a Wolfenstein fan, but this game has DEFINITELY got my attention)
6. Watch_Dogs
7. The Witcher 3 : Wild Hunt
8. Assassins Creed 4 : Black Flag
9. The Witness
10. Splinter Cell : BlackList
11. Call of Duty : Ghosts (dem dogs man, nah.. Ill likely pick up just for its singleplayer because Ive loved every single one of their single player campaigns however short they are since COD4)

Vita:

1. Killzone : Mercenary
2. TearAway
3. Rayman : Legends
4. Batman : Arkham Origins Blackgate
5. Final Fantasy 10 HD (when the hell is it coming?)
6. Dragons Crown

3DS:

1. Mario and Luigi : Dream Tea
2. Legend of Zelda : A Link Between Worlds

WiiU:

1. Wonderful 101 (I will buy the WiiU when this comes out)
2. Donkey Kong Country Tropical Thunder
3. Super Mario 3D World 

For a full list of stuff Im looking forward to playing is on my wish list page on my profile, but those are the games Im most looking forward to.

I will not be getting rid of my PS3 and its 100+ games I got for it, I still go back and play the infamous, Uncharted, Journey, among many other games. The last game for my PS3 is likely to be Beyond : Two Souls, and Ill wait for GTA V to come on PC.

Aside from that, I started playing Last of Us, will be getting Remember Me on PC soon. Life is good, money is good, time is short for games :P. thats the irony.

Theres a lot I could say about Xbox One, I like Halo series, I thought Sunset Overdrive, Ryse : Son of Rome, and Killer Instinct look fantastic. But heres the thing, between the platforms I just said Im gonna play on PC/PS4/Vita/3DS/WiiU/PS3 there is no time for Xbox One, let alone adequate time for all the consoles I WANNA play on. Nevermind that I dont care for Kinect, nevermind that I dont watch TV or that that neat-o TV tech wont work over here in Saudi, nevermind that I dont support this restrictive/poorly explained DRM business they got going on.

Sonys had and got the exclusives that I love and appreciate, Nintendo wins the kid in me, and PC will finally be the muscle gaming machine that I can now afford to spend on.

Thats it for me, how about you guys and gals? Whats got you excited for next gen? 

after nearly a year of looking for work, i have got a job. It took going to Saudi Arabia, making some phone calls to people to get my resume looked at, but i got one.

I am now a Safety Supervisor at Nabors Arabia, of Nabors Drilling International Limited. Been working there for two weeks now, doing a lot of the paperwork and training, but it's getting me fully up to speed on my responsibilities. 

work long hours from 7 AM to 5 PM, 5 days a week, with a ton of traveling. 

I was very happy to learn that the company i work for is the largest drilling contractor in Saudi Arabia, running some 36 Rigs, 32 on land, 4 offshore. Eventually they're gonna get me 5 rigs i'm supervising over, while helping out with the others whenever they need assistance. Each rig has a safety officer, and sometimes another safety supervisor who is passing through (rotational ones - i'm regular, so we tend to work differently). 

The perks?

the starting pay is excellent, even when considering that my company is notorious for paying the least, it's a great place to start. quite literally have been offered awful offers in the US.... offers i could not live on, i would be better served to work at Wal-Mart :|. So when i got the initial offer, i nearly fell out of my chair.  

get 1 month paid vacation.

relatively flexible work hours, depending on what's going on and what our client wants, and what - if anything - has happened on one of the rigs. Sometimes you get off a little early, sometimes we might be out all night. especially when i'm out at the rigs inspecting/watching the sites and going through the paperworks. 

and for me personally... I get to get into Saudi Aramco camp (it's basically a little America minus the booze mostly), and i'm right next to the Saudi Arabian air base, where i routinely get to watch the Saudi jets doing their practice runs, seen everything from the F-1 trainer, F15, F16, Tornado's, C-130's, and the new Eurofighters. 

While i'd love to share pics of me at the rig, i cannot. but you may get some pics of me traveling all around Saudi (minus the southwest part). 

but anyways that's all that's been going on for me.

seems my college book-knowledge of mechanical engineering, safety + plus numerous safety certifications have come in handy.  But i am EXTREMELY grateful for the opportunity and have been working very hard to catch up to pace, seems my bosses really like me, very prompt and i get the paperwork done very fast (i'm actually loaded up on paperwork projects that i can't finish everything, i just focus on one thing and get it done it ASAP). It's an industry i really really wanted to be a part of, way back when i was starting in college, and it's a job with a company that has operations quite literally all over the world (every wednsday we have conference meeting with the other rig managers around the world, i always get a kick watching the world light up! ) 

I do really really hope to be able to play Bioshock Infinite soon. Also with all my traveling and staying on the rigs during the work week, i know i'll be catching up on my reading. Most likely won't have any good internet, so you'll be seeing less of me most likely. 

anyways 

-peace

NOTE: This gonna be kinda spoilerific blog about Assassins Creed 3 and AC3: Liberation.

I finally finished Assassins Creed 3: Liberation. I guess it had the same sort of problem as Assassins Creed 3 had where it takes a very long time to get going. Except where AC3 had you playing as Haythem for a few hours then passing it off to Connor, AC3L just takes a long time to get going.

Around half way to near the end of the game the dynamics of Avelines family start to come to the fore. [spoiler] I was shocked to find Aveline siding with the Templars then suddenly switching sides killing off the Templar lead who was *DUN DUN DUUNN!* your own doting step-mom! [/spoiler]

Connors story seems a little under baked, like there is clearly something important going on between Connor and his dad Haythem, and Connor questioning his own motives. To me at least as the player there seemed to be this unspoken thing with Connor saying to his dad you were right as kinda confirmed evident from the deleted soliloquy.

This mudding of the waters seen in both Connors and Avelines morality between the principals of the Assassins and Templars is a welcome addition to the lore. Its why I find the characters and factions of like Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Mass Effect so fascinating and often make for my absolute favorite pieces of fiction.

However Aveline and Connor both suffer from the syndrome of being good for being good. Though in Avelines case, just have simple understanding that shes still colored women in 1700s New Orleans when slavery pervades over the society, who is protected, educated and loved by her auspicious father. It is not a great leap to understand Avelines disdain for slavery, its not simply rooted in the beliefs of team Assassin (as evident from Haythem segment in AC3), and its personal.

Ironically, Aveline and Connor I end up liking, but between the two, Aveline more so. In AC3:L you have the three personas Assassin, Lady, Slave, for the first time an Assassin really uses their guile, cunningness and whit. That isnt to say that this is offsetted by making Aveline a weakling, she is absolutely not in her assassins outfit, Im just saying I find it refreshing that Aveline is an Assassin who has a mind and often uses disguises well. They are times a little video-game like but if you have the bare minimum imagination you can fill in the gaps of what's supposed to be going on in each segment.

Connor I find interesting, as a case of being a futile cause and making a problem much worse when you think your part of the solution. The whole point was as I got that Connor is a stubborn driven individual who has a cookie-cutter look at who the Templars are. And in this case in AC3 the Templars are kinda the good guys here, but that is consistently being over-written by Connors antics.

When I look back at AC3, I remember the homestead that you run and the types of people who come to it. The female hunter, the woman who wants to get away from her abusive husband and live her life, the black couple who have a baby and all of them are not treated any differently or any worse. Contrast this with as Connor sees the last shot of a British ship in New York, he looks to his right at the dock and sees slaves still being auctioned off, also knowing that his tribe have abandoned their lands with irreparable damage done to them.

Thats probably why I like Connor, hes not at all my favorite, but hes certainly more interesting than the overall dour Altair. And Avelines character and her stories twists from half way onto the end had me really engaged.

For me, so far, the best Assassins go as follows  Ezio > Aveline > Connor > Altair. I like both games a lot and will likely try to platinum both in due time, especially the multiplayer ones before their communities dry up.

Am I looking forward to Assassins Creed  4 : Black Flag? Sure am, little surprised that theyre going the pirate route, along with following Edward Kenway, Connors grandfather. My biggest lament is that Assassins Creed 3 : Liberation is its only on the Vita and that the Vita is not that great of a success yet. Im not one of those folks who bemoans for every other game to have a female lead, but Assassins Creed series is one of those series where its themes and universe is so wide open and diverse that it is a crying shame that Ubisoft hasnt at least tried by now to make a mainline entry with a female lead. But if the Vitas was a test of anything, it was a great success selling some 600,000 copies of the game. Pretty damn good for a game with a system install base of just over 2 million. So heres to hoping.

 I will very likely go back to try to platinum these games in due time, targeting first their multiplayer trophies before their communities dry up. Hopefully they'll have gotten the rest of glitches taken care of.

One More Thing: the one thing I hated about playing the AC3:L? I hate those put the vita in front of a bright light that mini game is so broken, and I often found myself playing in a room that was too dark that I really wished Ubisoft had just give the option to get of having to play that mini game. Got incredibly aggravating at times when it wouldnt work. 

so i just realized that it's been one year since i've owned a Vita, and i figured i'd blog about my experience with it.

first off lets talk games. When i first bought the Vita i bought Uncharted : Golden Abyss, Rayman Origins, and Escape Plan. As time has gone on i've picked up Sine Mora, Gravity Rush, Retro City Rampage, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection, Sound Shapes, LittleBigPlanet Vita, Playstation All Stars, Assassin's Creed 3 Liberation, and Persona 4 Golden.

Persona 4 and LBP are the only two games i've yet to really start on, the rest i've alteast played through once. If i were to give my recommendations at my favorites? it would easily be Rayman and Gravity Rush. Both have been a blast to play, Rayman being the sort of game i can return to again and again. Gravity Rush i happily platinum'd and bought all the DLC for, and will happily return to to play through it again. Sound Shapes i can recommend if you are a musicphile. 

The only game i've played on the Vita that i hated, was one that i thankfully only rented, which was Call of Duty : Black Ops Declassified.

I opted to go the all-digital route with the Vita, using a 32 gb card. With it, i carry my entire Vita library along with 3 PSP games (Final Fantasy 4 Complete, Valkyria Chronicles 2, Final Fantasy Tactics War of the Lions), and 5 PSone games (Final Fantasy 6,7,8,9, and Chrono Trigger). With enough space to copy over my iTunes library onto the Vita as well. 

It's other functions i don't really use, I don't use it for Netflix, nor do i really mess with the Near app apart from the novelty. I don't put movies on or shows on it - just takes up space. 

looking to the future there really isn't a whole heck of a lot to get excited about. For me there is Tearaway, Killzone : Mercernary, then there are the ports of Final Fantasy X HD and if-it-ever-comes Zone of Enders Vita edition. 

But am I glad I purchased it? Given the size and lack of games to choose from yeah i am. In one year i got 13 Vita games, and a portable device to play PSone and PSP games i've never played before? 

I just hope the Vita can make a turn around, i'd rather it keep getting good software then simply be relegated to the PS4's second screen controller role. Here's hoping E3 will reveal some new and exciting software for the Vita.

So while I was literally in the middle of the sky over the Atlantic Ocean on the way to the Middle East, Sony was showing off the Playstation 4. Literally as the plane was taking off I was breaking airline rules trying to get info out of New York, and right before I lost connection I got the message "PS4 announced" :P

After seeing the whole conference, and reading all the little details in the articles on Gamespot and IGN. Im really for the most happy with what I saw, and given Ill be working soon you can bet Ill buying this or preordering it if I can

I really like the jump in ram, gpu, and cpu. The background processors, the idea that you can buy your game then while its downloading after just downloading a portion of it, you can start playing it. The idea of sharing gameplay footage sounds awesome at the same time sounds like something that could really be used to spoil games like no ones business. So note to self, never go there unless I want spoilers maybe theyll figure something out for that. The idea of your friends seeing you play your game as you play, or being able to tap into take over for you to help sounds cool.

 The games that were shown off/talked about that cought my interest: infamous : Second Son (I really love the infamous series), Watch_Dogs, The Witness, Destiny, Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077. And I'm calling it Battlefield 4 (cmon.. you know its coming to next gen).

Killzone : Shadow Fall. Killzone series is not my favorite, and I thought the setting for Killzone 3 had immense potential with its setting that was never even close to capitalized. The idea in KZ3 that the ISA are stuck on an enemy Helghan homeworld trying to get the f off planet, while the Helghan are in the middle of an internal powerstruggle given the power vacuum with Visaris death. That sounds awesome cool setting and almost none of it is capitalized on. So the idea of Shadow Fall being like a Cold-War/ Berlin Wall setting sounds cool but I am not holding my breath.. but it also wouldn't make an awful launch title either.

Square Enix announcing the announcement of a Final Fantasy game for PS4. Thank you Ill believe it when it physically shows up on my store shelf.. stop pandering and wasting our time and actually finish your previously announced games damn it.

The one big con, which I guess I was fully bracing myself for. No backward compatibility, I was take a back a bit about how it extends right now to even the PSN library. I really hope that the almost 100 pieces of software Ive bought on my PS3 over PSN will be able to play on my future PS4. I really think every developer should make an effort to make at least the last gen product games work on the newest machine to help leverage people to buy your new console.

Given that con, Im pretty excited for the PS4, at the rumored 400 dollar price tag, I think is a good launch price. Even as people complain about that price tag, I kinda wanna ask, exactly what is a reasonable price for your gaming machine to last you for 5+ years? 200 bucks? If you wanna wait so be it. But I think for a launch price $400 is good, especially in a world where people drop hundreds of dollars each year for the latest tablet/smart phone model. and even within the console space given what your getting from the WiiUs $350 sku equivalent.

So I can see myself having my PS3 and PS4 for a while, while weaning off the PS3 if and when Sony fully figures out and details how its gonna use its enormous back catalog. but yeah i look forward to more news. 

I'm a near-for sure buy for the PS4 at this moment

So some of you who follow my blog my know. I read comic books, it's my second biggest hobby after video games. 

Recently i got myself an Ipad Mini and i've found i'm back to being a regular reader each week. I've picked up completed stories like Batman : Long Holloween, Dark Knight Returns, Superman For All Seasons, and Kingdom Come.

The time couldn't of been better, with DC launching their new 52 initiative, and Marvel following suit with Marvel Now!

so after a little bit of ala cart trying out first issues of the ones that interest me, these are the ones that i have been following and continuing to follow:

1. Batman

This start isn't really a new start, it just sort of throws you in, Batman still has his entire Batman family, and it's a little wierd that there is not ONE Batman comic, seeing how DC saw fit to run 4 other on-going series. however of all the ones that were presented to me, this one, just seemed like a proper starting point. I've finished the Court of Owls, and just today i picked up 4 issues of Death of the Family with the re-introduction of the new Joker. Suffice it to say it's kinda neat to actually keep track of the mainline Batman series, and seeing how he is one of two of my all time favorite superheroes I'll for sure keep close watch of this.

2. Aquaman

Holy Crap. For a character that i've always made the same jokes that everyone else has said about him. I was hooked. I loved how they have incorporated the dismissivness to the character into the universe, and yet Aquaman with his wife Mera persevere. There is something to even just the first issue that just hooked me, and suddenly made him one of my favorites of DC big roster of lead heroes. In the time i started reading it, i've read up to issue #13 so far, and plan to keep reading as well. 

 3. Batwing

Now this was like Aquaman, i took a chance on it, this one because i wanna read some different heroes. This is a new hero, Batman aides David Zavimbe giving him the funds and equipment to become the Batwing. serving the fictional city of Tinasha in the real life country of Democratic of Republic. so while yes, it is Bat-related, he's so far removed from Gotham, with a different path, different problems, very different settings, and even new and unique villains and heroes. and i've really taken a liking to it. So far have read up to issue #12, and plan on keep reading.

4. Wonder Woman

This again, like Aquaman and Batwing, I tried her out for the first time. Gotta say again, i was left wanting to read more. I never really read a Wonder Woman comic of her on her own, i've only seen her in the cartoons where she's always part of a team, or in her own animated movie. I love the art, and i love the set up, Greek Mythos meets the modern world, Apollo hanging out on a plaza with a bunch of groupie girls in Singapore is just the sort of imagry that i love. Just the stark contrasts. I just today picked up the next 5 issues and haven't finished reading but suffice to say i'll be reading them in a moment. and this is the only female lead (by herself) that i found myself really liking. 

5. Iron Man

Iron Man, a character who has been my online motif for years now. If i could put on my hipster hat on - "I liked him before he was cool" :P and unlike Batman and the other heroes i've written here, for a time i did follow comics starting with when Extremis was first introduced. That said, this Marvel Now premise is just the right sort of starting point i can get into. Someone has gotten bits of the extremis and Iron Man has to go to retrieve or destroy them before the villains can do whatever it is they want to do to them. Today i picked up the latest issue, where Iron Man heads off to space. intergalactic based stories.... i'll bring that up in a moment.

6. Avengers

I love the movie, I loved the Ultimates 1 and 2, and i've loved the Avengers cartoon series. So i should be in love with this right? well, the first three issues were good, they kick off with a god(s) who want to force re-evolve Earth in it's own preferred image, they manage send some bombs mutating and killing millions of people in a few cities before the Avengers can respond. So, the stakes are high, perfect set up for the Avengers i'd say. however after three issues, it seems that Avengers is now going to go into space. 

Here's my problem with space, often times when Marvel and DC go into space, it feels like padding. While i'll keep reading Iron Man, i can't say the same for the Avengers, unless they can effecitvely use the setting. When i was kid growing up in the 90's so many of the comics of the 80's and 90's that i was reading were happening space, and i just found it very confusing, so heavy on dialog, random, and in the end, i don't care. Especially when it's heroes that are kinda out of their element. Green Lantern fits in space, X-men do not...  That's kinda my deal.  

7. Superior Spider-Man

ah Spider-Man, one of my all time favorite heroes, and he's also the one that got me into reading comics in the first place with Ultimate Spider-Man. So with Marvel Now! i've decided to try out Spider-man again, and i gott say, i'm impressed. I love the twist of it not really being Peter Parker but rather Dr. Otto Octavius (Dr. Octopus for those who don't know). Now i'm under no delusion that Peter Parker will eventually gain back control, but to be frank, iti's a great place to start reading Spider-Man I think if you just know the very basic mythos of Spider-Man. I love how Otto has to fight his own inner villain, having to have to live as Peter Parker. I got a smile when he has ruthlessly taken down a group of villains, the lead villain puts his hands up and says "i give you you win!" and Otto replies "your right, i get to win!" :D 

I'll definently keep following this and seeing how the story develops. 

and last:

8. Saga

Saga is something out of left field, the advertisment for it's setting reads Star Wars meets Game of Thrones, in a way that's a great way of putting it except i'd also add a bit of Romeo and Juliet in there as well. Brian K. Vaughn and Fiona Staples together make a great writing/artist combo, the characters are extremely imaginative and feel fresh. the concept of the greater conflict has me intrigued, but more importantly the center of this story is about a married couple and their infant child trying to get away from this galaxy-wide god-awful war and raise their kid. There's not much else to say, but i'll for sure want to keep reading. 

and those are the comics i'm reading, i've also tried out Justice League, Blue Beetle, Catwoman, Nightwing, and Superman. Superman, Justice League and Nightwing i dropped because they just didn't 'grab' me really. 

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Catwoman i may go back to, i love the artwork, and the set up in the beginning, but three things just kept me away. First being Catwoman and Batman suddenly hooking up at the end just sort of... happens. i mean in terms of visuals, looks fanatastic, but it doesn't really fit. at all. which leads me to my second one, i don't have a problem with sexualization of anyone, so long as it fits the character, and in Catwoman's case i think some sexiness, flirtiness, and being coy fits her perfectly, but some of the poses the artist put her in just rub me the wrong way. Don't get me wrong... i like naked women, but i'm not reading comics for porn, i can get innumerable other mediums to satisy that base urge and desire. So i feel a little bit like i'm being played to too much. The third issue is, i only got so many dollars and i wanna get a nice diverse range of characters to follow, and i'd like to keep Gotham-centric heroes to a minimum. 

Besides Catwoman, I'm looking forward to the Marvel Now! introduction of Guardians of the Galaxy. Seeing how a movie coming out soon, and i know that there is just a tree-monster, and space racoon who has a rocket... so i'm gonna try it out when it comes out in March. 

So that's what i'm following as far as comics, what about you guys? anything you've been reading that you really like or don't like? 

so currently i've been using Gamefly, to play through games i otherwise would not of played or wouldn't be playing any time soon. Anyways, I just got Call of Duty Black Ops Declassified today. I know what the reviews are saying, but my mind is thinking "surely it can't be that bad right? i mean Resistance Burning Skies was pretty crummy but it at least it's mechanics made it servicable - should be an easy platinum"

Well i was going through the missions, got to the fourth mission and stopped. F this game, what a lazy hogwash put together game. I got too many games in my shame pile that are so much better then this, and deserve my time and attention, nevermind some of the excellent games coming in early 2013. I will not waste anymore time with this.

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The primary reason i stopped was just how poor the level design and how poor the shooting mechanics are. i'ts incredibly hard to aim down the sights and pick enemies off. It simply takes too long to get the job done, instead you gotta use the quick-scope auto-aim mechanic (found in a lot of console shooters) in order to be able to quickly narrow in on your target and take them out. so what ends up happening is your just quick scoping the entire time. Couple that with the feeling of cheap deaths, getting slammed from some enemy you don't even see, if the enemies are behind a windowsill shooting out, you'll see the tops of their helmet and the gun (sticking through the wall) shooting at you - it's like they could be bothered to make sure their heights were adjusted properly. I didn't mind that there was no single narrative and that it's just a series of black ops missions each with it's own little intro, but the rest of it - the GAME part of it - was just garbage.

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If you are a shooter fan, a Call of Duty fan (for the singleplayer or multiplayer), or a Vita fan. from gamer to a gamer. Do not waste your money and time on this game.

Nihilistic or should i say Nstigate is on my $hit list of developers, unless I hear people rave about their next project i will not ever bother with their crap.

I got a huge collection of Vita titles, 13 to be exact - pretty good for a first year handheld gaming I think. and I feel really bad that it was THIS game that was bundled on the holidays, the one with the best recognized name brand but also one of the absolute WORST games. What a crappy first impression to give to new much needed audience for the Vita.

They couldn't of picked PS All Stars? Persona 4 (with it's colorful and attractive art)? or Gravity Rush?

I'm gonna go try to platinum Sound Shapes (doing the death challenges) and re-start and playthrough Assassin's Creed 3 : Liberation.

I've already a blog about the games i'm most excited for, but i did do another video montage set to Two Steps From Hell's United We Stand Divided We Fall for the games of 2013.

the game i chose were not all of my anticipated games just the ones i can't wait to play, They also had to be games where i knew for certain - with good chance- that these games would indeed release in 2013.

So no Metal Gear Solid : Ground Zeroes (or 5 - i don't know if they're 2 games or 1), Watch_Dogs, Star Wars : 1313, Prey 2, Last Guardian, and Final Fantasy Versus 13 - all of which i'm very excited to play.

without further ado - on with the show:

Most Anticipated Games of 2013

I also did an older one for 2010-2011 (didn't do one for 2012)

Let me know in the comments what your thoughts are - please note i'm not a professional at editing techniques just a guy with a lot of free time and a fan of games.

Also what games your looking forward to.

Interesting to note we know almost nothing for sure about the games of the second half of 2013. I feel that bodes well for us gamers, new consoles are just about to break along the horizons. Hope to see many new IP's