Brain Hood

Gaming Multimedia Wars

It has long been a bone of contention among gaming multimedia fanatics: whether Xbox 360 is actually  better  and is second in sales compared to PlayStation 3 only because of the latter’s larger propaganda machinery and because PlayStation as a brand has been around longer. As a gaming multimedia platform, Xbox360 is very good indeed, but does Microsoft have what it takes to beat Sony’s PlayStation3? Xbox360 did have a head-start in the gaming multimedia console race when Microsoft released their third-generation gaming multimedia console (and predecessor to PS2’s rival Xbox) before PS3 could get off the blocks. However, since its launch, PS3 hasn’t had all that trouble catching up in terms of sales.

Gaming Multimedia: What Microsoft Brings to the Table

Here’s all that the Three-Sixty offers:

• Free limited period subscription to their online gaming portal – This allows players to try out online gaming through XboxLive at no extra charge.
• Live-aware – Essentially a social networking tool for the Xbox360 players. You can connect to friends, make new ones, see who is online and what they are playing from your console. Essentially, this expands the limits of gaming multimedia into the realms of social networking. Convergence is more than a buzz-word, it would seem.
• It offers great media features including listening to music while you play games, the ability to create custom playlists and your own custom soundtracks, the ability to rip songs from original CDs to your Xbox360 and stream music from your MP3 player to your Xbox360.  You can also create slideshows of photos to share with friends and family.
• The gaming multimedia console has an unprecedented amount of RAM; when it comes to sheer number crunching, Xbox360 rules the roost.

Gaming Multimedia: The Hiccups

But, Xbox 360 ,multimedia gaming console still has some problems that need to be worked out:

• They offer third party support in Japan, which is irksome to say the least. While some Japanese developers offer software for the Xbox, it is small in number when compared to what the same developers offer for Playstation. Considering the large gamer base in that country, and the fact that its home to PlayStation owners Sony Corporation, this could be costly.
• The wireless controller consumes batteries rather rapidly. Standard alkaline cells only give thirty hours of playing time, so you want to spring for rechargeable batteries and a charger if you’re planning to go for the Xbox 360.

These gaming multimedia consoles are also prone to what’s now known as the “360 screen of death,” an error screen.  There have also been reports of overheating from some test users. These reports are largely unsubstantiated, so it was either fixed by Microsoft, or it was a device defect experienced by some users. Some users have reported the Xbox 360 system as being very noisy when playing an Xbox 360 disc. The gaming  console market is unlikely to see a lot of new entrants, but the competition is likely to heat up among these two biggies of gaming multimedia.

Those of you who’ve been following the Counter-Strike tips on this video game blog would be pleased to note that we’ve finally come up with the long-promised advanced tips and tricks for Counter-Strike, a video game that very few people belonging to the post-80s generation can claim to not playing. So now that you have mastered the basics, we bring you the real-deal tips that you expect from any respectable video game blog.

Video Game Blog: Compensate for Recoil

Assault rifles can be deadly accurate or mere spray-and-pray weapons, depending on your trigger discipline

One of the major attractions of Counter-Strike has always been the realism of its weapon physics opposed to a video game such as, say Unreal Tournament. Weapon recoil makes your aiming reticule/weapon sight jumps rather quickly. If you’re not compensating for it, your aim will be badly thrown off. Once again, it’s hard to compensate on full auto, so use this with the burst fire technique already described. Any video game blog will tell you this.

Keep Secondary Weapon Ready

Counter-Strike is one video game that gives you a specific control to switch between any two weapons and that makes it much easier to switch to your pistol when you’re under fire than it is to reload your primary weapon. It might not always be a case of ammo either; a handgun is often more suitable for close-quarters combat if your aim is top-notch.

Video Game Blog: Use the Good Old Tap-Double Tap

For those who like to lean on the left-mouse button and just sweep through enemies ala Serious Sam, however, it also has two unfortunate side-effects: the realistic recoil of the weapons would mean that you end up hitting very little that’s worth hitting and secondly, you run out of ammo very quickly, exposing yourself to certain ‘death’. Unless you’re at point-blank range, in which case you may by all means let loose the full-auto, you must fire in short bursts of three-four rounds; this is particularly effective when using the SMG. With an assault rifle like the M-4, you could also use a technique that real-life military operatives call the tap-double tap. As the name suggests, you tap the trigger once, followed by two quick squeezes. Result: three precisely aimed shots.

Use Grenades to Good Effect

Any video game blog would tell you that grenades, in the right hands, are effective for softening up large groups of enemies. There are three types of grenades: frag grenades can injure or kill a number of enemies, depending on how many are in proximity to the blast (and how close) while a flash grenade temporarily blinds and disorients those caught in the blast radius, rendering them open to attack. Flash grenades have to be used with particular care, as one can end up blinding their own team: this happens even if friendly fire is off. Smoke grenades are used to form a smoke screen; this may come in handy to block the vision of enemy snipers so they have to move in closer, as a cover for retreat or even as a distraction.

Video Game Blog: Try to Work as a Team

Lone action heroes do not last long in CS. If you decide to go Rambo on your teammates and your enemies, you’re likely to run into a hail of gunfire (and snickers) without any backup at all. Also, team members would do well to carry a variety of weapons to give the team evenly balanced firepower. On a personal level, try to master one weapon, but only after you’ve had a go at most of them. The machine-gun, for instance, is heavy but can be used to deadly effect.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice makes perfect. Need we say more?

These are all the individual gameplay tactics that you can use to triumph in CS. Naturally, there are a number of class-specific, weapon-specific and map-specific strategies and tips that are best discussed with somewhat advanced Counter-Strike gamers.

So do you have any gaming tips and tricks to share with the readers of our video game blog?

Video Game Blog: The Rebirth of  Deus Ex

When we decided to review Deus Ex: Human Revolution for the readers of this video game blog, we were admittedly excited (the visuals we’d seen so far looked cool), but also apprehensive due to the once-bitten twice shy mentality that countless high brouhaha series sequels of late that have fallen flat. However, we wanted to be understanding and to look at the game objectively. After all, with so many things having changed in the years gone by, it would perhaps be wise for the denizens of this video game blog0 to get rid of baggage from past Deus Ex games before we judge the latest iteration. Or so we thought.

Video Game Blog: Challenges Galore

Ion Storm, the celebrated game development firm that was the breeding ground for the earlier Deus Ex games among other highly acclaimed games, no longer existed; Warren Spector and Harvey Smith, mainstays of the original team, have long moved on to bigger and better things; after two delectable games in the series, and a long gap since the second, fans have been clamoring for the third iteration and the expectations are high. These and more were the challenges that developer Eidos Montreal faced when they decided to revive one of the most widely loved series in video game history. They met all of them head on, and came out with Human Revolutions.

To begin with, Eidos does well to stick to the age old wisdom that dictates- “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”- and offers a gameplay that tastefully merges the best elements of stealth, combat, exploration, with the overall game progress structure seamlessly merging all the features of a role-playing game such as upgrade and conversation systems. Your tactical approach in a given situation can impact the storyline as well as further gameplay experience on many levels: narrative sequence, goodies you can plunder, shape of the game world can all be varied. Regrettably, though,  it has been observed on many a video game blog  that all game components aren’t equally well-polished; and we have to agree with that assessment.

Video Game Blog: Story & Gameplay

The storyline is a rich, well-written narrative that starts off 25 years prior to the events of the first Deus Ex game, a prequel to the current storyline. Its an era where the society is still coming to grips with the marvels of mechanical augmentation of the human body and the ethical questions it presents. The answers to these questions, however, are unfortunately going to be decided by the corrupt biotechnology firms.  The player takes on the role of ex-SWAT officer Adam Jensen,  who’s now a security consultant with one such firm. An attack by a rival firm leaves our protagonist badly hurt and in the unenviable position of being a guinea pig for the augmentation technology.

There are those among the readership of this video game blog who’re coming from the Metal Gear Solid school of hard knocks for stealth gaming and would appreciate the sneak tactics implemented in the gameplay of Human Revolution. The cover mechanic is well designed, while the AI is unpredictable enough to keep you on your toes. Any video game blog worth their salt would tell you that being a mere shadow among other shadows as you move through enemy strongholds can do your adrenaline levels as much good, if not more, as going in guns blazing.

The conversations system lets you control the tone and the tempo as well as the direction of conversations and negotiations, ala Mass Effect. The conversation can be gradually built up through choices that let you take a given approach. Besides these choices, body language also plays a role.   The conversation system is a product of writing ingenuity, and all of the writing within it is world-class.

Video Game Blog: The Good come with The Bad & The Ugly

There are blotches too, as noted by the resident gaming experts who populate our video game blog. Jensen’s mechanical arms, for instance, run on cheap batteries that drain after every stealth takedown. Since he’s without a spare one for most than half the game, he has to stand by and charge in the eventuality of a stealth takedown. You don’t really need a video game blog to tell you that that sucks. Upgrading these augmentations gives you immense advantages that makes you wonder what the designers were smoking when thinking of weapon balance mechanics.

Speaking of upgrades to the augmentations, this part also influences how you ultimately shape up for the game; how Jensen’s abilities develop by progressive upgrades is also how the narrative shapes itself. The gamers on our video game blog finished every side mission they came across and were not shy about exploring, and still had about 30 upgrades unactivated at the game’s conclusion.

The computer hacking mechanics also suffers from balance issues. It is fairly easy to get to hacking stealth level 3, which dramatically hampers his chances of getting caught (lessens the excitement, duh) the thrill of hacking is gone for good until the fag end of the game when you’re up against level five security rating terminals toward the end of the game. Hacking in this video game is a huge portion of the gameplay rather than just optional side-missions, as it is used to break into systems without proper access. Breaking into security systems can be a lot of fun when it’s balanced just right but the gamers at this video game blog are sad to say that’s not always the case in this video game.

Video Game Blog: Blaze of Glory

There’s a school of thought on many a video game blog (adherents of which would probably send this video game blog “Stealth sucks” messages) who think Rambo was a pussy in the First Blood 2 movie because he used stealth in a couple of places. They need not turn away from Human Revolutions as they can choose to engage in firefights as well; weapon design is cool and gun mechanics are responsive enough. Be warned though that alerted enemies, by some stretch of Murphy-esque logic, seem to lose their intelligence (maybe they just get nervous) and behave in ways that only serve to embarrass the developers. They’d either rush our hero or just get into cover, bobbing up long enough to get picked off one by one. This, however, is balanced by the fact that Jensen cannot take too many bullets before he goes down, as also the fact that ammo is a commodity that’s hard to come by.

Video Game Blog: The Final Analysis

No matter how much we may dwell on the faults of this game, we cannot take away from it the fact that this is a solid offering by Eidos who have managed to take and conquer the challenge of taking another franchise, one as well-loved as Deus Ex, and making it all their own, all the while remaining true to the original. All in all, something to enjoy for the fans as well as those who’ve not played the previous video games.

Goodbye till the next time, then. For more game reviews, keep watching this video game blog space!