Fall of video games 2012

The year 2012 had quite a terrible start with video game releases. I almost thought that I’ll stick to games I bought in 2011 and 2010, because there was nothing on the market that could catch my attention. Luckily, the situation has changed and with autumn 2012 some very nice release hit stores.

There’s this brutally hardcore RPG called “Dark Souls” that finally made it to the petition, thanks to a petition of dedicated fans of the game series. The port to the PC itself was horrible when it comes to technical realization. “Dark Souls” itself is a game that splits the gamer community. The reason for this is the extreme skill level or in other words, you die pretty often in this game. But this what RPGs were about back in the days. Avatars were not slaughtered through hordes of enemies without even taking one single scratch. And that’s what makes this game so special, because it’s a relic from the past that has made it to the present.

[youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuG4FZNnuBA’]

Even though it was already in the first quarter of 2012, “The Darkness II” is a game I put my hands on just a few month ago because I was skeptical about it and did not want to pay full price on release day. To a certain degree I was wrong. The game is cool, pretty brutal and catches the flair of the comics very well. It’s worth playing, but I still wouldn’t consider this game an absolute blockbuster or something I would recommend to almost everyone. It’s basically the same like it is with “Dark Souls”, it’s a game for a special gamer audience with a special background. So if you’re into the comics or these type of comics you should get, otherwise you’ll find yourself soaked into an average everyday shooter with a nice demon arm gimmick.

I stick with the word dark, because “Darksiders II” came out in September (if I remember that right) and it served the PC gaming community with solid jump’n’run RPG. Not much has changed in comparison to “Darksiders I”, but that’s not a show stopper, because the predecessor was decently mellow. I personally think, that the controls are much better than the ones you have in “Devil May Cry IV”, but it can’t compete storywise. It’s a fine, solid game that you want to play to leave the day behind and just slaughter. It’s also the complete difference to “Dark Souls”. It’s easy to learn and also easy to handle and weak spots in boss encounters are found quick and you don’t step into an almost frustration like mood like you may find in “Dark Souls”.

Just in case that you find even “Darksiders II” too scary and dark the only option left is a game called “XBlades” that came out a couple of years ago. Bright environments and a very nice looking avatar, if you know what I mean.

 [youtuber youtube=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERe3wZdIAtc’]

Also in September the sequel to my beloved “Borderlands” came out. I’ve to admit I absolutely love “Borderlands” and I had pretty high expectations on “Borderlands 2” and I did not get disappointed. But what could have Gearbox Software done wrong if not totally changing everything? They kept everything from “Borderlands 1” that was good and made some fine tuning in “Borderlands 2”. Most importantly, different environments and not only deserts and deserts and deserts. In my opinion, the interface is still a little bit grumpy, but at the end of the day it’s okay and does what it was meant for.

If you’re not into shooting things in the head the yearly update for “Pro Evolution Soccer” and “NBA 2K” stood around the corner. “Pro Evolution Soccer 2013” is a solid development and once again Konami got rid of many bugs I’d to suffer from in “PES 2012”, like many, many, many offsides and weird acting goal keepers. Football itself feel much more fluently in “PES 2013” and the aim assists are very welcome.

With “NBA 2K12” my beloved Seattle Super Sonics made it back to the game without any need for doing unlock games. The menu system is rather confusing than useful and Justin Bieber and his all-star team are, for me personally, a pain in the arse but aside from that “NBA 2K13” looks great, plays very nicely and it simply feels like a good NBA broadcast on TV and transports the atmosphere very well. Slight changes were made to the control, like the two-stick shooting controls, but after a few minutes into the game you get used to it and it does make sense.

As you can see 2012 is no longer that bad as originally expected by me and weird disappointment are barely to find. Even more important, the release of good games does not end. We’ve got the fabulous “Sleeping Dogs”, the return of #47 in “Hitman Absolution” and additionally “Far Cry” is coming out next week and the previews are very promising. I’ll give a short impression on these games in another post that will be up in the near future. In the meantime, game and enjoy!

SE 3.0 – Interim Report – #10

My personal challenge, formerly known as “Straight Edge 3.0” was interrupted by a back injury. Well, injury may be the wrong word, it’s more an issue. The cause for my back issue was found after several sessions at the physiotherapy. It’s my bloody furniture at work.

I demanded new furniture that will fit much better to my height and habits how I usually sit at a desk. Nothing happened actually and the pain in my back gets a chronic characteristic. I personally think, that this is not fun anymore, that I’ve to suffer by sitting at a fucking desk that is much too low for me and by sitting on a chair that was already outdated twenty sodding years ago. Trust me, I’m really furious about this.

A few weeks ago, it started getting serious by Thursdays or Fridays but these days I already suffer on Mondays. I’m not quite sure for how long I’m willing to take this. I never had problems with my back, because of one simple fact, I always cared about it. And by that I do not mean, that I always trained it or made special exercises. I just mean, I simply cared in daily life and especially at work, which is the major part of my day. The ignorance I currently experience is far beyond any description.

Looking back at the first weeks of SE 3.0 I made a lot of progress. My endurance increased, I lost weight and I was able to improve my strength as well. All this progress is now lost. I’m still able to run on the treadmill for quite some time and I also do not drown in the pool after swimming a couple of lanes, but it could have been much, much better than it is right now.

I’m a little bit confused about what I should do with this whole situation. I want to stick to my project, without a single glimpse of a doubt. And I’m not willing to give the whole thing up, just because my furniture is not correct. My therapist said it very clear, ‘If it hurts and your employer doesn’t change anything, then you’ve to quit your job’

That sounds rude and pretty cynical, but she’s right to a certain degree.

You might have noticed it, swimming is now included in my sports scheduled. One time a week me and a friend of mine make it to the natatorium and swim a few lanes. Well, something about 1,500m or so. Currently it’s more about endurance than technique. But we’ll change the training focus in the future.

I cut down the gym sessions to one or two per week and I plan to include one mountain bike session per week or every second week, depending on the spare time I’ve got left for this. Due to the fact that I’m “slightly handicapped” I avoid doing any sessions at the gym that only consist of strength training. I’ve to see how it all develops in the future and if everything is getting better.