Your Brain on Games

With the recent release of COD Black Ops 2 and Medal of Honour here is a video from TED on how FPS games help the players thinking. Heres the link as the video won't embed. http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_bavelier_your_brain_on_video_games.html

GTAV Trailer!

Forza Horizon and How I feel About it

This past Tuesday I was sitting on the fence whether to buy Forza Horizon or not. Going back and forth with myself and after watching countless videos on YouTube I decided to bite the bullet only because my copy of Forza 4 was cracked and I was lacking a racing game. I wasn't sure what to expect from an open world racer, but with people from Turn10, some former Codemasters ( Dirt, Grid, F1 2012) people and Playground studios I was anticipating a fun game.

The first hour or so you go through the tutorial period and race with all the assists on, which for me seems remedial and super easy. As soon as I had the ability to change the settings and increase the games difficulty I maxed it out. Manual Transmission no driving assists, and AI set to insane, I was a Forza 4 veteran after all who played on the hardest settings should be easy. First couple races I was getting my @$$ kicked I couldn't believe it. Eventually I set the AI to hard to level the playing field and haven't touched it. I was surprised at how difficult the game could be and welcomed the challenge.

In Forza Horizon there is a hidden stability mode until you set the difficulty to expert, then it turns everything off and is close to simulation as your going to get. You can turn other things back on such as automatic transmission, driving line, rewind to your preference creating a custom setting. Even with all the assists off this game isn't trying to be Forza 4, but that is fine with me. You still need to know how to drive a car properly and use the racing line to have a chance to win race. A FWD car will not steer if your full throttle in a corner and a RWD car will over-steer if you accelerate to quickly in a corner, so discipline is still needed.

Another part of Horizon I enjoy is how large this world is. You can drive for hours finding cool roads to drift on, or hit the highway and red-line your super car. Speed Traps and Speed Zones set challenges while just cruising around. They track your speed at each location and post it leader-boards  Every time you hit one it tells you which of your friends you beat or who was faster then you. There are also other racers just cruising around which you can challenge to race to win some cash, but the earnings are small in comparison to the main events in Horizon.

Two things the disappointed me we the lack of cars and the same wheels from Forza 3. In Horizon there is just over 200 cars I believe and for myself only a handful are attractive. I don't understand while they chose some of the cars they did. There is an obvious focus on super cars. Ferrari has the largest selection with easily double or triple the cars compared to other manufacturers.
The wheel selection and body upgrades are the same as Forza 4, which means the same wheels as Forza 3. Forza has always been marketed as a title for the car enthusiast, but if you are one and you follow the trends in automotive styling you will know that few of the wheels in the game are actually applicable to today, with expecting of the timeless one such as Volk's TE-37's.

Overall I am enjoying my experience with Forza Horizon. I was glad a picked up this game and I'll be playing it for some time to come.

Extra Life Spot Lite - Michael Smith - PSM k3z3f

Its the time of the year again where gamers from all genres donate their time to raise money for Extra Life. If you haven't heard of Extra Life it is a charity that revolves around gaming. Extra Life is a gaming marathon that lasts 24 hrs and players raise money that will be donated to The Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals®. The money raised will go towards helping save and improve the lives of children at the CMN hospitals in their community.

This year a fellow gamer in my Forza 4 club is participating in Extra Life. Michael Smith a.k.a PSM k3z3f will be racing for 24 hours in Forza 4. His goal is to raise a modest $200 and he has surpassed that as I'm writing this ( WAY TO GO!). If your interested in donating to his cause you can visit his Extra Life page (posted at bottom) or you can race with him TODAY! He's running an extra life lobby. Just message him at PSM k3z3f on Xbox Live.

Michael's Page: http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=35642

Extra Life: http://www.extra-life.org/index.cfm?

Forza Horizon Announces Rally Expansion

Today Forza Horizon announced a rally expansion to be released in December. The Expansion is going to open up more roads and cars for players and add a new discipline to the game. Rally has been absent from the Forza franchise and this will be a welcomed edition.

They also announced further DLC plans for the game

Heres the full article: http://forzamotorsport.net/en-us/Rally_Expansion_Announce/

Halo 4 leaked?

Today on Reddit a photo of Halo 4 disc's were posted by IAmMaximus!

 

 

How excited are you guys for Halo 4's release with a new studio taking over the series?

 

 

Follow the Blog and let us know!

Forza Horizon Demo Impressions

Today the Forza Horizon demo was released on Xbox Live. This is the first game in the Forza series to go outside the racing sim genre and welcomes a broader audience. However, Forza Horizon is not meant to be Forza 5.

As the demo started I was welcomed by a cut scene of a party culture and the beautiful Colorado landscape. Shortly after I found my self in a brand new 2013 Dodge Viper SRT chasing Horizon's champion Flynt. As I was speeding down the freeway I immediately noticed that this did not possess Forza 4's feel. The driving in Horizon is definitely more arcade like, but this doesn't mean that it doesn't have some f its qualities either (you can't go full throttle in the Viper around a corner). In the second race I was driving a Mitsubishi Lancer X on a dirt road, sliding all over the place like a rally car I was loving the dirt surface. Racing against a wide range of different cars and trucks. On medium difficulty and driving assists turned off I didn't have much difficulty winning the race. After I has won I was able to do a Rivals event (returning from Forza 4) and I again won that easily even after hitting a tree.

My next event was a little distance away so I needed to drive too it's location. I was given direction my a GPS voice system which was easily to understand and left little room for error. The roads were filled with traffic and turns. The scenery was awesome and I can see just cruising around being something to do in Horizon.

My next race was Mustang vs. Mustang. This event put me behind the wheel of a Boss Mustang while trying to beat a P-51 Mustang plane to check points. Now as cool as this sounds the event came off as a time trial. I rarely saw the plane and when I did it was flying through the checkpoint, after it passed it would fly off behind a cliff. The Mustang was fun to drive with its massive burnout and tail happy characteristic, even the arcade style handing provided a challenge to keep the car straight while in a turn. I narrowly won this event and had a awesome time with it.

The final race I had was back in the Dodge Viper. I was up against some other super cars in a fast point-to-point race. The beginning has alot of turns and the Viper was not forgiving if I accelerated to quickly. The rear end would slide out and I'd lose a position or need to make up some ground. As the race progressed I was going faster and faster.......even if I hit an oncoming car. There no penalty for this collision, I simply hit the car then the railing and then continued to race at 160 mph.

Forza Horizon is definitely a cool game, just don't get it confused with a racing sim. This game is for a more causal audience, which is great for the Forza brand. I find this to be a refreshing title in a genre that EA's Need For Speed has dropped the ball on. This Games going on my Christmas list!

- Cody Anderson

Its That Time of The Year Again

Whats up fellow gamers? Its almost Christmas and you know what that means!
GAMES! GAMES! GAMES!

Every time holiday season comes around we struggle to find the time and extra funds to pick-up the must have titles of  the year. Games like the recently released Borderlands 2, soon to come Assassins Creed 3 and the infamous Call of Duty series have been teasing us with trailers and game play videos since E3 or longer. With release dates closing in we need to make the hard choice of what to pick up and what to let pass by.  Assassins Creed is getting a long awaited new engine, which looks promising and will add a new feel the a tired series. COD Black Ops 2 is changing things up by placing the setting in the future instead of the past or present.

Everyone will be making these hard choices and waiting for the holiday season to get the rest.

What games are you picking up this season? Post a comment and let us know, and don't forget to subscribe!


Cody Anderson

Blackberry 10 - Hands On

Crackberry.com got their hands on the up coming Blackberry 10 OS Check it out! Hope developers embrace this!

The World is Saved - Danny Wiessner

Came across this awesome song last year during ep. 200 of Podcast Beyond. I feel it captures those moments games live for so sit back and enjoy!

Battlefield 3 Server Update to Fix Gunship and More

Today on Twitter Dice had announced the release of a server update which is based on community feedback. Server update R31 is due on September 20th at 8:00 UTC. The update will address:

• Fixed a bug where a new squad leader wasn’t chosen when the current squad leader left.
• MK1A3 fix to add flechette rounds instead of frag rounds in gun master mode for premium players(Non-premium already have flechette rounds).
• Fixed a bug with Squad Rush on Sharqi Peninsula where the user was spawned out of combat if they spawned in shortly after the first MCOM exploded.
• Stationary and mobile AA cannon damage has been reduced by 30% versus the Gunship.
• Jet cannon damage has been reduced by 50% versus the Gunship.
• The delay before moving the Gunship forward to a new base in rush has been increased from 15 to 30 seconds.
• The Delay between Gunship spawns has been increased from 90 to 120 seconds in rush.
• Initial delay before the Gunship spawns in rush has been increased from 15 to 60 seconds.

It will take about a day for the change to be in full effect.

Sources: Twitter - @Battlefield
              Battlelog - http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf3/forum/threadview/2832654348234531856/

NHL 13 - Online

Its that time of year again hockey fans, NHL 13 is out. I've been playing this for a week now and I find it is a great improvement over last years game. The biggest additions to the game have been the new dynamic goalies, smarter A.I, and the new skating system which focuses on the players momentum and speed. This review is not of the entire game but the online portion as this wouldn't have been addressed to those with per-release copies. So lets get into it!

Every Stride Matters!
   The first thing you will notice when you play NHL 13 is the new skating system that has been implemented this year. In recent years the skating has been more of an arcade style with quick stops and starts and the ability to turn on a dime at full speed. This model was not very realistic to say the least. This year the new skating system is based on momentum and speed of the player. When travelling at a high speed players won't be able to make sharp turns or handle/ shoot the puck very well. If players want to be able to shoot accurately and handle the puck well they will need slow down. Travelling at different speeds allows different advantages. Having high speed can allow you to beat the opponent to the puck or on the outside, but slowing down will allow you to deke better and make sharp cuts to open up new lanes when attacking. This new style takes a bit to get use to but it opens up a new way to play the game instead of just relying in speed itself. The new backwards skating allows those creative players to become more creative and create chances that wouldn't be available in earlier years. I enjoy the new skating model as its adds new dynamics to the game and think it's a step in the right direction.

What a Save!
  NHL 13 introduces Dynamic Goalies 2.0. This year the goalies have the ability to make greater saves as their limbs are independent and not stuck in an animation. This makes the goalie make insane saves when it counts,or when its not needed. I've had a couple incidences when the goalie will make a save doing the splits when its not really needed. But I've also seen some crazy saves so it's definitely for the better.
With improved player A.I the goalies are now able to read the entire play and not just the player with the puck. This helps stop the notorious one-timer which was a go to for previous generations of NHL. This doesn't mean that its not possible to score on a one-timer, its just not as easy as before.
I find that the new goalies have made the game better then ever and more realistic. I've pulled some awesome goals off with just simple shots that simply beat the goalie.

No more Pylons
   NHL 13 has revamped the player A.I which allows the players to read the entire ice and make decisions based on what the see. The new A.I also allows the addition of new forecheck and defencive systems such as the infamous 1-3-1 used by Tampa last season. I've noticed the players will have better sticks to take away passing lanes and use their abilities to make a play (fast players rush outside to be the defender).

Overall Impression
   This year I have found myself enjoying NHL 13 more then any other iteration. Versus provides a better game this year as you can score off almost anything, compared to a few sure fire ways in NHL 12. The EASHL is also back and this for me is where the game is its best. Playing with up to 12 players (6 aside) and using team work to beat your opponents is the best feeling, knowing you out skilled them or just caught a lucky break.

NHL 13 is a refreshing experience and is a no brainer if your a fan of the series. If you haven't picked this up, do so, you won't be disappointed.


NHL 13 gets a 5/5

Pocket Planes Review - IOS

   Recently I decided to pick up pocket planes for my iPad as well as my iTouch. Pocket Planes is by the creators of such games as Tiny Tower and Pocket Frogs. I found this game to be a joy to play and found myself always coming back to it whenever I had a free moment.

As I started up the game I noticed that like the Tiny Tower, Pocket Planes uses an 8-bit style animation. I like this style as it doesn't try to use all of the devices power but keeps it simple and puts the focus on the game play. As I played the game more I noticed that it recreates pop culture characters such as a Storm Trooper from Star Wars known as "Trooper" and even simpler forms as in names, I came across one passenger named L. Armstrong. This was pretty relevant to today as he was in the news a few weeks ago.

When I began to play I was immediately put into a small tutorial which was very basic. I learnt how to load a plane and then send it off to it's destination. After that I was prompted to select a starting city (region) and began my own airline. I decided to set up in Asia and quickly established a line from Sapporo to Hong Kong with airports in between. I did this using the two forms of in-game currency.

Pocket Planes uses a free to play system. It includes two forms of in-game currency know as coins and Bux. Each currency has its own purpose in the game. Coins are used to pay for your planes fuel as well as purchase or upgrade airports to help expand your airline. The premium currency Bux can be purchased using real money to help the player speed up their games process. Bux are used to purchase aircraft, parts for aircraft, and upgrades for them as well. Player however do not need to purchase Bux as opportunities come up to earn them by delivering special cargo/ passengers or placing well in a contest (more on that to come).


When you begin the game you make quick flights, 10 minutes tops. Once your reach higher levels and start expanding your airline you begin making larger and larger flights. You begin to need better aircraft that are faster and can travel longer distances. You can choose to make smaller flights but these are less rewarding financially. This is where layovers can come in to use. If you need to fly in an opposite direction just unload the passenger or cargo for a later flight. Don't worry about leaving them for awhile they will wait forever.


Pocket Planes has a social aspect to it as you can team up with friends and start your own flight crews. Flight crews become important if you want to compete in the events across the world. The most productive flight crews will be rewards Bux and/or parts depending on their performance. The larger your crew the better your chances are of placing high in the standings.

One downside to Pocket Planes was that on the Itouch it can be kind of hard to navigate around the world as destinations are tiny blips on a large map. You can zoom in but this makes scrolling slower. On the Ipad I did not find this to be an issue.

When you start to grow in levels you begin to have more and more downtime in game. This is a different feeling compared to early levels where flights are quicker. If there was something to do while flights were in progress it would keep the player more engaged. But then again its nice to be able to set down your IOS device and still have the game progress.

   I found Pocket Planes to be an enjoyable IOS game. At times I couldn't put it down and I wanted to keep growing, expanding and reaching the next level. I would definitely recommend this game to anyone who wants something fill time or enjoys the micro-management style of games.

Over all I give this game a 4/5

Cody Anderson

Warning! Incoming Game

Review of Pocket Planes for IOS is in the works stay tuned!

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