Almost ten long years after my initial Wasteland adventure to procure a functional Water Chip and years later a Garden of Eden Creation Kit, I’ve once again ventured into the post-apocalyptic remains of humanity. This time, in search of my father, whom inexplicably left the safety and comfort of our home one night, starting a chain reaction which eventually led to me being kicked out of my home.

Drinking radiated water and eating radiated meat while living in a radiated wasteland is obviously a pretty harsh existence which has slowly mutated the world we once knew into a strange, eerie and unfamiliar place filled with killer super mutants, two headed cows, giant bugs, and even walking husks of rotting living humans called Ghouls. I couldn’t feel more at home, and thus is the reason I’ve seemingly “disappeared.”

Technorati Tags: Bethesda, Fallout 3

As a former member of the Star Wars Galaxies community, I was surprised to hear that one of our own has taken his life; Former Star Wars Galaxies Lead Gameplay Designer Jeff Freeman (39) is now one with The Force.

In the begining, Jeff’s work on Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided was celebrated among many fans, especially those who choose the ‘Creature Handler’ profession within the game.  A profession which former Senior Producer of Star Wars Galaxies John Donham says Jeff devoted extra time on, during the weekend to prevent the class from being cut at launch.

However, In November 2005, through a post on his personnal blog, Jeff became known as the man responsible for Star Wars Galaxies’ New Game Enhancements, which alienated a large mass of the existing player base, and in turn Jeff was seen as the “bad guy” in this whole ordeal.  Although he wasn’t the single handed mastermind behind the NGE, the faceless enemy suddenly had a name and a face, and the alienated players began to voice their disgust and anger.  The Escapist wrote a brief piece on how Jeff handled the situation here.

Although Jeff is quoted by The Escapist as saying, “Because I spent almost six years working on SWG, and it kills me that the only people who liked it, hate me. Frequently for misinformed reasons,” a member of his family has stated that SWG and its disgruntled players played no role in Jeff’s suicide.

I myself was one of those players who, years ago, cast the blame upon Jeff and a few others at SOE for what happened to SWG, but never to the point of harassing him personally via message boards, e-mails, or even in person.  Afterall, it was just a game!  If anything, his role ,big or small, in the development/implementation the NGE into SWG actually allowed me to break free from my addiction to that game, and for that I am truly thankfull.  I spent many great hours enjoying the fruit of Jeff’s labor on SWG, and I know he will be missed by all.

I wish his family my condolences

Technorati Tags: Death, Jeff Freeman, MMO, Star Wars Galaxies

September marks the beginning of the yearly influx of video game releases, gradually building up momentum until the final big bash of releases prior to the holidays.  Its a great time to have disposable income, but a horrible time to be stuck at work & school all day!  The last few weeks of my time have been taken up by these new releases, which explains my absence.

Crysis:Warhead (PC) is a continuation of the Crysis story-line but this time the game sets you as “Psycho” fighting to accomplish his own mission on the opposite side of the island set during the events of the first Crysis.  While it may not be a true sequel, but more of a stand alone expansion pack, Crysis:Warhead does a great job of bringing back everything I loved about the first Crysis without the exceedingly high entry barrier for your PC hardware.  I’m not going to write a review, for a review click here, but suffice it to say that at $30, this game is definitely worth a purchase!

I’ve also been playing through Star War:The Force Unleashed on my Xbox360 and PSP.  The 360 version has all the graphical bells and whistles along with a more indept leveling system compared to the PSP version.  The game has a few issues here and there, but nothing that isn’t easily overshadowed by the story.  Speaking of, the story in this game has taken me by surprise!  Its great,  and any Star Wars fan must immediately go buy this game to experience the story alone! Go now!!

Finally, Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning (WAR) was released to the masses. I find myelf to be an MMO ronin, wandering from one MMO to another in search of something even remotely as appealing as pre-NGE Star Wars Galaxies.  After having given up on Age of Conan I found myself playing WAR.  A little curiosity mixed in with unrequited fervor drove me to give it a shot.  The verdict?  I love playing a Witch Hunter!  While I don’t see myself ever becoming as engrossed by WAR as I was with SWG, I definitely am enjoying my time in game.  I’ll attempt to post some screenshots and first impressions soon!

Technorati Tags: Crysis, Crysis:Warhead. Star Wars, Force Unleashed, WAR

I personally maintain quite a large contact list on my instant messenger applications, many of whom I’ve gotten to know exclusively online.  Over the years these online friends have come and gone, sometimes someone simply disappears one day without me ever noticing.  In a time where instantaneous global communication is possible, loosing contact with friends is a common occurrence that until recently I hadn’t really put much thought into.

Why think about it now?  A friend of mine asked if he/she was “influential” to me in any way, and if I’d notice if said person suddenly stopped appearing online.  Being a good friend, I naturally said what I was suppose to say, but the thought lingered.  Sure that person and I have had discussions about politics, our favorite TV series, work, and just life in general, but influential?  I don’t really know… Read more

Technorati Tags: Divisions, Friends, Like Minded People, Unity

I’ve finally kicked my “Post Metal Gear Blues” to the curb and played through Crysis! I know, its a little late…but this game kept me entertained with enough eye candy, explosions, and physics tricks to help slowly ween myself off of Metal Gear.

While Crysis doesn’t really bring anything new to the FPS (first person shooter) genre, I did enjoy mindlessly shooting at North Vietnamese soldiers and crazy frigid aliens.

*SPOILER ALERT!*

Some of the most memorable moments in the game included exploring the alien ship in a zero-g environment, which really messed with my head at first…; the massive end battle taking place on the deck of an air craft carrier. I wasn’t at all satisfied by the Halo-esque ending which clearly leaves the story open for a sequel! Hear me Crytek?!? I need some closure at the end of my games, even if they’re planned to become a trilogy!!

Having finally completed a PC game after months of stalling, I felt compelled to continue showing my PC some love by picking up Universe at War: Earth Assault last night. Thus far its only been installed and updated, more on that at a later date.

On another note, last night I also picked up Sam & Max Season 1 after spotting it at a local Wal-Mart for about $10. I’d heard several editors at Gamespot & IGN praise the anthropomorphic genius that is Sam & Max, and for $10 I’m willing to give it a shot. A few hours into the story, and I find myself loving the witty banter and shenanigans of this crime fighting duo! As a fan of the old Sam & Max: Freelance Police cartoon that aired on Fox Kids, I can’t wait to play some more! I’m positive I’ll be purchasing Season 02 as soon as its available.

Speaking of Gamespot Editors, Jeff Gerstmann and his band of merry men have finally launched their own video game wiki site, GiantBomb, in a beta state. The website is very “Web 2.0,” featuring tons of wiki-like tools which allows users to create and populate anything & everything game related, while still featuring the same level of editorial content we’ve come to expect from our game sites. I for one have been busy trying to populate the individual pages of Ghostbuster team members with relevant info, and uploading any screenshots I can find residing on my PC.

Like any good wiki, Giantbomb is moderated to ensure the accuracy and decency of the website’s info, and due to the overwhelming user response, the small moderation team is horribly behind schedule with user submissions currently taking close to three days before being Accepted or Denied.

Technorati Tags: Crysis, GiantBomb, Sam & Max