Missed The Stage Coach On This One

 About two years ago I bought a game for the Xbox 360, not because I particularly wanted this game, but I found it used for $10 and had heard only good things about it. This game was a period piece set in the Old West and was from the creators of the ever popular Grand Theft Auto series. If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about Red Dead Redemption from Rockstar Games. Funny thing is I hadn't even put the game into my Xbox until only this past weekend. So yes this review is for a game that's more than a few years old, but I'm sure some of you out there like me may have just skipped over this one for some reason, and you owe it to yourself to check it out.

So I've played more than a few hours of the game over the weekend, and so far I am thoroughly impressed. The game may have come out in 2010 but the production values are very high and to be honest could easily compete with games that have come out since. Right from the opening cut scenes I felt drawn into the game like I was looking through a window into a wondrous time full of danger excitement and discovery of the unknown. Rockstar has always excelled at creating living worlds, and this is by far their greatest achievement in my opinion. From the towns, to the people you interact with to the amazing soundtrack everything pulls you in.

I haven't gotten too far into the main story line at this point, I've spent allot of time hunting down bounties, which can be taken dead or alive, finding out I'm not very good at poker as I lost money playing Texas Hold  and assisting people that come up to me asking for help. You can also hunt down animals to skin for money, pick plants to sell, or go catch an animated short film at your local movie house. The combat in the game is also allot of fun, you can take cover behind rocks, and auto aim with the left trigger than fire with the right, you can also free aim while holding down the left trigger.

All in all this game is a true masterpiece and the fact that it only cost me $10 is amazing. There is also a multi player mode which I haven't yet gotten into, but I can only imagine it adds to the replay value of the game at least a little. If all that isn't enough there are several expansions to purchase, including one which adds an undead element such as zombies and ghost towns to the mix, I can't wait. I don't know why I had put off playing this game for so long, but in a time when I've been sought of burnt out in gaming, this game may have just extended my interest just a little longer. Now if you excuse me, I have a ranch that needs saving, and some cattle that need some herding.

  /tips hat to all his Wanna B's 

If Rumors Are True, Next Gen Xbox May Not Be For Me

 Hey Guys, there have been allot of rumors going around the inter webs these days about what Microsoft's next gaming machine will be and when it will come out. If the following rumors are true, I can tell you I won't be so eager to pick one up, at launch anyway.

These are Links to some sites with various info, but below are some of the reasons I'm thinking of holding off for a while.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100674839

http://metro.co.uk/2013/04/08/next-gen-xbox-is-going-to-be-expensive-reveal-pushed-back-to-may-says-insider-3587027/



1: Pricing - Popular belief is that they will have two different pricing points. One will be $299 but you must sign up for a two year contract of Xbox live for $10 a month. Currently you can often find deals on year memberships for $50 or less if you wait for the right moments to buy. The other is that it will cost $499 if you get it without the contract deal. At that high of a price I would rather just get a decent laptop, or save the money for a gaming PC.

2: No Backwards Compatibility - A good chance the new system will be using a different processor AMD as opposed to IBM thus making Xbox 360 games unable to be played on the new system. I don' know about you but I really don't want anymore wires and boxes hooked up to an already cluttered area. Give us backwards compatibility.

3: Always On - Rumors suggest that in order to play on the next gen console you will have to always be connected to the Internet, similar to Diablo 3 and the latest Sim City game, this causes problems as whenever servers go down, or even your own Internet, your $500 gaming device becomes useless. Yes I know most of what we do with our current Xbox is online anyway, but why take away the choice for us to play offline or watch a DVD without being connected?

4 Whats the point of spending so much on upgrading a system with a statement like this which I grabbed from CNBC.COM   "The next-generation consoles present only a modest improvement in graphics quality over current generation consoles, suggesting to us that many gamers will be slower to adopt the new technology immediately," said Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities.  

Of course these are all rumors at this point, and we will have to wait until May 21st 2013 for any official news. Add to the fact the first year or so of a new consoles release usually don't yield the greatest results in quality gaming as designers are still learning what they can do with the hardware, so as for me I think I'll give this one a wait, unless something mind blowing comes out that we don't yet know about.

Episode Title: Yes I'm Still Putting These Out!

Episode Date: 4/14/13


Audio

Show Notes:

It's Been A While

    I know I haven't put out anything in almost a month, but you have to understand I am a bit on the lazy side and find it much easier to sit on my butt playing video games and watching movies than to record the podcast and write the show notes. That being said as a treat I made this weeks podcast slightly longer than usual and go over a number of things. We recently had a death of someone pretty well liked in the work place, and I found it amazing that this guy had accomplished so many things in his life yet no one but those closest to him knew about these things. This gave me an idea for something I would call a living wake, where everyone who reaches midlife area, say around 35-40 years old would be given a sought of party where everyone would go over the impact and things accomplished by this person in their time spent in this world. It's a shame that most people don't get to be celebrated in this way until after they pass on and then it's too late, so I thought this living wake idea would be a good thing, however all but a few people I mention it too think it's kind of crazy and just laughed it off.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Gaming

Defiance

     On the gaming side I picked up Defiance for Xbox 360, Defiance is an online shooter mmorpg with a sci-fi theme to it. Game play is from a third person perspective and is pretty generic yet quite fun. Yes mmorpg's are a dime a dozen, but what this game has going for it is the fact it is available on the consoles, and there is no monthly fee associated with it as well. The story so far is a little on the bland side, but to make up for it the creators of this game have teamed up with the Scify channel to create an original series that takes place in the same universe. Whether this is a gimmick or will actually be well done and well received only time will tell.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Bitchin With B

    This is the segment on the podcast where you get to hear me complain about something, this episode I bitch about drivers who get to close and flash lights at you while going way over the speed limit.


_________________________________________________________________________________

Movie Talk

    This weeks podcast I talk about two movies I had recently seen. GI Joe Retaliation and The Evil Dead remake. One of these films I enjoyed the other I thought was a piece of crap wrapped up in a package of gore and guts and was a complete waste of money.

To hear about all these things you can catch the podcast and all prior ones here.