#goty2011

Kanani tends to give me little Princess vibes in Rebecca’s Hanukkah outfit. Especially with the little bow in the back holding her braids💙.

Thank you guys so much for all your kind words about my pics. I hope you’re all doing well and staying safe ♥️

Here’s my IG for more photos :) would love to meet and get to know each any every one of you!

It hasn't happened yet but we remember distinctly being distinctly worried in a very distinct fashion around the time that gaming really took off as there were rumblings of in-game advertising being explored as a thing. We were worried that if advertisers got the keys to our games, they'd end up looking as gaudy as real cities and we'd find ourselves strangely drawn to brands we'd never paid much attention to before.

Fortunately, that never really happened. Red Bull got into a couple of games, Wipeout and Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death. The brand seamlessly sat in the world of Wipeout. Not so much Judge Dredd. From what I can recall instead of making your way around generic docks and warehouses filled with normal crates, you made your way around docks and warehouses filled with Red Bull crates. Other than that I can't recall other adverts for real world brands in games (Mario Kart has in game billboards, hilariously advertising "green shells" and other levels. Hilarious is too strong. Take back hilarious). 

In fact we probably wouldn't mind these days. I don't know about you but I am practically blind to all the advertising that is beamed to my eye screens through social networks and google. We did stop playing Angry Birds though because of the adverts, the in game advertising (subtly covering a portion of the screen)  noticeably slowing the game down and if you're a fat fingered fucker like us accidentally clicking them takes you out of the game and onto the Android marketplace. Not happy. 

If your tapped into the haps of the cool and trendy you will have no doubt favourited our excellent tweet:

Pikmin 2 done. Finally. Stupid dumbbell and 100 purple Pikmin. Just in time for number 3...

 We don't want to go to hell so we weren't lying. We have literally finished Pikmin 2, hence this post about advertising. Unlike other games attempts at advertising, Pikmin 2 gets it so right. For those of you unfamiliar with the excellent (both games are in the 1001 video games you must play before you die) you take charge of Captain Olimar who corrals the Pikmin into collecting enough treasure to fix his ship and make millions back on his home world. Olimar and the Pikmin are tiny however and the treasures take on the forms of household objects. Rather than use generic household objects though, Ninty only went and got the license to use actual brands of household products. It's brilliant. Over the course of the game you collect Duracell batteries, Kiwi shoe polish, a can of Dr Pepper, Snapple and a French's mustard lid. Weird how the quotidian can seem so special, especially when you've gone through a hell of a lot of bother to organise those little bastards into collecting it and carrying back to the ship. 

 Here's what we know so far:

New Weapons: Sawed off Double-Barrel Shotgun(awesome damage, slow reload), Pendulum Lancer (kick's like a bitch with a nasty blade for executions)

4 Player Online Campaign Co-op: Player 1 is Marcus, 2 is Dom, 3 Baird, 4 Cole

Pulp Fictionesque intertwining plot: Players will command other squad's that merge the plot with Delta.

Improved Regional filters for less laggy games: Hallefuckinglujah!

Refined Cover system

Possible squad command system (Rainbow 6 stylee???)

Female characters/Tits: As our anonymous commenter points out, i neglected to mention that Anya makes an appearance in the trailer and will be a playable (presumably online) character. Whether there will be more tits announced later remains to be seen.

Released April 2011: FML

Ok, I'm a bit of an Oblivion nut. It was the first real game on the 360 that i got lost in (and still do to this day) Richie then moved me on to Fallout 3 "It's oblivion with guns!!" and Ive gotta say I'm enjoying that universe and the seemingly endless, yet rich DLC (no horse armour here!) However I've always been a sucker for a more traditional fantasy setting, so when we heard from GDC about a new Dungeon Crawler from Bethesda with a 2 player Co-op focus i think i soiled myself slightly.

So what is it?

Well it's called Hunted: The Demon's Forge (Anyone else picturing the Chaos Sanctuary in Diablo 2?) and it's a third person, 2 player Co-op game based around 2 hero's, E'lara (think Amazon Bow and Arrowey type person) and Caddoc (Barbarian Tank type person with insanely big swords and grunts) 

The co-op is restricted to online co-op (Richie you in?) as they wanted to 'maintain a level of detail' 

There is also a Match Making system if you don't have a friend which has been modeled on dating websites. For me i can't leave a dungeon until every little bit of the map has been explored , so naturally it takes this in to account when when finding a suitably anal/stoner type. Alternatively if you are doing a speed run you should be set for a comrade just the same.

With classic weapons (swords, bows and axes), a fantasy setting, levelling spells, a demon in the title of the game, switchable characters, combination moves and a (seemingly)  proper implementation of Co-op im pretty psyched about this game (can you tell?)

Unfortunately for now in terms of release date all we have is 'when it's done' and with Fallout: New Vegas expected in Fall 2010 I'm not expecting this badboy until 2011

Because its the cool thing to do, here is a list of my 10 favorite games of 2011. There will be one odd choice and maybe a tie or two. But guess what?

Its my list.

That's how I roll.

So not to make any game feel less or sad I will not “number them”, just seems... gouache. So here it is with my little commentary as to why I liked them!

    Portal 2

To have Portal 2 on my list seems a little given. If you know me I could be somewhat of a Valve fan boy. But when they pump out games like Portal 2. Its kind of hard NOT to be. The first game should've just been a fun little demo, or a prototype. Yet they injected more humor, character and story then most “AAA” blockbusters. Plus Portal 1 gave us a great character in GladOS, now in its sequel they give us Wheatly and Cave Johnson. Both brilliant pieces of writing and character work. Add on top perfectly paced puzzles that are nether too easy or hard, a full fledged Co-Op campaign and tons of little things to explore that flesh out the world. Yeah, its easy to put here.

  Child of Eden

Being a Spiritual successor to one of my favorite games (Rez) could easily put it here. But the simple to grasp game play, amazing art, wonderful music and a game that could actually put men to tears. Theres real emotion in this game and the controller (or lack, using Kinect) takes away the boundaries of interactive art. This is an “art” game that's fun to play.

  Bejeweled 3

Yeah yeah, I know its a “casual” game. But you know what else it is? A fine fine addition to the PopCap library of great games. Despite me hating/not being good at the poker mode. Theres more then enough content, I just wish for more. The lighting mode, Butterfly and my favorite; Diamond Mine. That doesnt even mention the changes to the core gameplay. Making it faster, smoother and more action packed. The different ways they tweaked the match-3 is smart and very fun.

  Bulletstorm

Controlled chaos is the best way I could describe this pick. The inventive skill shot system, good graphics and fantastic feeling and sounding guns are just cherries on top. Over the top characters, great pacing, unique environments and more just make Bulletstorm one of the best and FRESH first person shooters out there. I want more!

  L.A Noire

Thankfully this isn't a grand theft auto remake/rip off. LA Noire does new and fresh things. Its a multimillion dollar adventure game, if you every wanted to play Dragnet and find clues in a wonderfully made world. This game is a gem, flawed in some parts. But the setting, attention to detail and face animation is second to none.

  InFamous 2

Hand it to Sucker-Punch for improving every aspect of their open-world superhero game. Everything from graphics, gameplay, morality system, story and controls are changed... and for the better. Its rough to go back to play the first one, this is the real deal. More powers, interesting characters and places to explore. Plus they added a way for players to make their own missions. I cannot wait for inFamous 3!

  Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Naughty Dog has almost perfected pulp adventures from the 30s. Their hybrid of fun platforming, shooting and puzzle solving, along with some of the best “acting” seen in video games these days. You love the heroes and hate the bad guys, every part meshes to get into on solid form. I doubt you'll get better in game banter then in this game. Its hard to put into text, but even the way the characters interact AS you're playing is fun and unique – and most importantly natural. Doesn't stray into the odd 'un canny valley' that a lot of human based games do. Over the top set pieces and fantastic writing. What more do you want in a series?

  Chantelise: A Tale of Two Sisters

This even being on the list is a miracle. Being an old niche independent Japanese game that only came out in Japan. But why is it here? Because a group of translators released it in America on the Steam PC download platform. The great translation by 'Carpe Fulgur LLC' and gameplay by the japanese compnay of 'EasyGameStation'. Its a simple hack and slash RPG in the tone of the Ys series, great Sega Saturn style clunky 3D and sprites makes the humor and whimsy even more so. Dont expect a 400 hour epic save the world, you play as two sisters, one a human and one that has been turned into a Fairy. Anymore would spoil the fun in interacting with the NPC's and showing that, along with the Paper Mario series, we need more great and heartfelt translations!

  Serious Sam:Double D/Random Encounter

I kind of think of these as one IDEA split into two. Serious Sam 3 came out this year and instead of stupid preorder only BS Croteam hired two different independent game developers and told them to make new takes on the SS mythos. Really becoming this generations Duke Nukem. Double D is more Contra and shooting based with a great “water color”paint look to it. With stupid (in a good way) enemies, jokes and dozen of secrets. Its a dual-stick shooter/exploration game, but you can stack guns on top of eachother. No need for switching weaponry! You can shoot up to 6 weapons at once, any combination you want. Insanity is the word for it.

Random Encounter is a play on words of the previous SS games, but they took the craziness of a fast paced shooter and made it... a sprite based 2d-turn based RPG. Yes you heard me correctly. Having more in common with Chrono Trigger and Dragon Quest then a FPS. Its a brillant concept and is loaded with enemies (you'll be fighting 1,000's+ of them) and a tweaked active time base battle system that feels like a console RPG mixed with a FPS. You'll level up, get party members, items and explore different areas. I want to see more of these ideas into longer games. Love it!

    (Elijah) My Backlog

It hasn't happened yet but we remember distinctly being distinctly worried in a very distinct fashion around the time that gaming really took off as there were rumblings of in-game advertising being explored as a thing. We were worried that if advertisers got the keys to our games, they'd end up looking as gaudy as real cities and we'd find ourselves strangely drawn to brands we'd never paid much attention to before.

Fortunately, that never really happened. Red Bull got into a couple of games, Wipeout and Judge Dredd: Dredd vs Death. The brand seamlessly sat in the world of Wipeout. Not so much Judge Dredd. From what I can recall instead of making your way around generic docks and warehouses filled with normal crates, you made your way around docks and warehouses filled with Red Bull crates. Other than that I can't recall other adverts for real world brands in games (Mario Kart has in game billboards, hilariously advertising "green shells" and other levels. Hilarious is too strong. Take back hilarious). 

In fact we probably wouldn't mind these days. I don't know about you but I am practically blind to all the advertising that is beamed to my eye screens through social networks and google. We did stop playing Angry Birds though because of the adverts, the in game advertising (subtly covering a portion of the screen)  noticeably slowing the game down and if you're a fat fingered fucker like us accidentally clicking them takes you out of the game and onto the Android marketplace. Not happy. 

If your tapped into the haps of the cool and trendy you will have no doubt favourited our excellent tweet:

Pikmin 2 done. Finally. Stupid dumbbell and 100 purple Pikmin. Just in time for number 3...

 We don't want to go to hell so we weren't lying. We have literally finished Pikmin 2, hence this post about advertising. Unlike other games attempts at advertising, Pikmin 2 gets it so right. For those of you unfamiliar with the excellent (both games are in the 1001 video games you must play before you die) you take charge of Captain Olimar who corrals the Pikmin into collecting enough treasure to fix his ship and make millions back on his home world. Olimar and the Pikmin are tiny however and the treasures take on the forms of household objects. Rather than use generic household objects though, Ninty only went and got the license to use actual brands of household products. It's brilliant. Over the course of the game you collect Duracell batteries, Kiwi shoe polish, a can of Dr Pepper, Snapple and a French's mustard lid. Weird how the quotidian can seem so special, especially when you've gone through a hell of a lot of bother to organise those little bastards into collecting it and carrying back to the ship.