Farewell Ralph Baer

Sad news today. The inventor of the first video game Ralph Baer has passed away. We wouldn't have all the amazing and wonderful video games we get to play if it weren't for him. R.I.P. Mr. Baer and thank you for creating something so fantastic that everyone can enjoy. The Verge has a great article about the man and his legacy which you can read here:
http://www.theverge.com/2014/12/7/7349715/ralph-baer-father-of-video-games-dies-at-92

Xbox 360 Problems

So I got my copy of Dragon Age Inquisition and I was all excited to play when our Xbox 360 died. It had one red flashing light (red ring of death) with an error message. It really sucks, because we've had it for a long time and it's done so well. It's unfortunate this happened, but sometimes there's nothing you can do and stuff breaks down. I haven't been able to play Dragon Age yet so it's either replace the 360 or get the game for PC or the PS3.
My review of it will be delayed, but I'm in holiday mode so there probably won't be many posts until after the New Year. Hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season.

Forsaken World Is Pretty Cool

I've been playing Neverwinter and it's mostly endgame stuff so I do those and then log out. I decided to try Perfect World's other free to play fantasy game Forsaken World. I was a little skeptical about how much I would like it, but a couple of hours later and I found I was enjoying myself and having fun with the game.

Your choices for which race you play are pretty interesting and you get 6 different choices which are: Kindred (vampires), Lycan (shapeshifting werewolf), Elves, Stonemen, Dwarves, and Humans. When you decide which race you want to play as, you then have 8 different choices for what class your character will be and they are: Vampire, Assassin, Mage, Bard, Protector, Marksman, Warrior, and Priest. I personally picked Kindred for my character and I picked the assassin class. (note: only Kindred can play as the vampire class)

My Kindred Assassin, Pirotesss up close.

Forsaken World is really beautiful graphics wise. They're crisp, clear, and vibrantly colorful. There's a lot of detail in the scenery, making the fantasy world of Eyrda a great place to explore. You also get a free mount (mine was a Shadowhorn Ram which looked very tough in its battle armor mask) which I thought was awesome. There's a little bit of a learning curve when you start, but the tutorial goes at a reasonable pace so you can get the hang of everything. The game controls are simple to navigate and the interface menu is user friendly which is a big plus in my book. The first quests are basically learning how everything works including picking which jobs you want to do and there's a variety of them ranging from Botanist to Weaponsmith.

Having adventures in the world of Eyrda with my trusted Shadowhorn Ram Steed.

Eventually as your character level increases, you get to pick a pet who battles enemies with you and you also get a nifty balloon flying machine so you can fly to different places. The quests are fairly simple, but they're actually fun to do and you can easily solo them. The instance dungeons are designed for parties, but finding a party in Forsaken World is very easy with auto grouping and world chat so you won't be waiting long. The gaming community in Forsaken World is pretty friendly and a lot of players are very helpful with newbies and veterans alike which makes for a fun and pleasant experience. 

Battle time!

Need a break from the main quests? No problem. With the myriad of daily quests, there's tons of things to do in Forsaken World. There are even daily quests with the jobs and you get job points so that you can learn more skills and even unlock new jobs. There are mini games you can participate in that offer different prizes and there are tutors for the various classes so your character can learn new skills. There are daily dungeons you can participate in as well. Your character can also offer up prayers and get item rewards including weapons and armor. 

There are guild events too and if you belong to a guild they take a couple of hours to do. You can join a guild at any level, but you can't create your own until you're level 20. Forsaken World makes finding a guild practically painless because you can click join a guild in the user menu and it will give you a list of guilds who are recruiting. For those who are more solo or casual play oriented you can join the Freshman Guild from the user menu and this will put you in the Lionheart Reserve and give you access to the simple daily guild quests. 

Overall, Forsaken World is pretty cool and it's a genuinely fun game to play. There's a lot to see and do and it's great that it is so user friendly all around. Forsaken World is a free MMORPG that is definitely worth checking out because it does offer up such a fantastic gaming experience. 

Thoughtful and Insightful Blog Post From Felicia Day

 Like Ms. Day, I have been quiet about the whole GamerGate fiasco because it is truly disheartening to see the hurtful actions of those involved. She wrote a very thoughtful and insightful post about it and I agree with her on all the points she raised. You can read it here: http://thisfeliciaday.tumblr.com/post/100700417809/the-only-thing-i-have-to-say-about-gamer-gate

If you love video games, keep playing them. I know I will continue to play because I love video games and I love all the different adventures and fun that they offer. Have a great day everyone. 

Dragon Age Inquisition Excitement

I really think Bioware took to heart the disappointment with Dragon Age 2 and they are really working to make it right with Dragon Age Inquisition. According to an Escapist article the game will contain 200 hours of single player gameplay.

The more I hear and see of this upcoming Dragon Age game, the more excited I get. I'm all ready to explore Thedas and have an awesome adventure.

You can check out the Escapist article here: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137978-Dragon-Age-Inquisition-Will-Have-200-Hours-Worth-of-Single-Player-Gameplay

Backlog Video Game Review of Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch

 As mentioned in my last post, I am going through my backlog of video games and playing them. I picked Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and I feel this was a great choice because this game had a lot of things I enjoyed immensely. 

The hero of the story is a young boy named Oliver who is kind to everyone who lives in Motorville City with his mother. Oliver's kindness is an important aspect to the plot of the story because this isn't about his physical strength, but the strength of his heart. Oliver's adventure leads him to not only an entirely different world, but a myriad of great characters and as the story progresses you come to care about him even more as you see how much he cares for others and genuinely wants to help those in need. 

Oliver and his mother

The battle system reminds me a bit of a Tales game with planning out tactics and figuring out an enemy's weakness in real time. There is also a Pokemon feel with trying to charm various creatures you fight in battle and make them your familiar. You can choose different familiars to fight alongside you and even evolve them into stronger forms. The system menu is quite easy to navigate which is always a plus with me. Level grinding did not seem like a chore because the way the game has been designed actually made it fun. 

The world of Ni No Kuni is beautiful, and I was delighted to see the Studio Ghibli art and animation incorporated into the game. The musical soundtrack is also inspiring with fantastic orchestral arrangements that fit very well with the different moments of the story. I found that I loved exploring all the different areas because there was always something fantastic to see and plenty to do. I never found myself bored while playing the game at all and found that I really liked having that freedom of exploring.

      

Of course there are side quests in Ni No Kuni known as errands and you get various awards for them and something known as Merit Stamps. When you complete a quest, you get a certain number of stamps on Merit Cards. The more difficult the task, the more stamps you receive. You can trade in 10 merit stamps for rewards such as capturing familiars more easily, or gaining more experience in battle. While some of the quests are fetch this or that; many of the quests are about mending a person's heart and you get to see just how kind a person Oliver truly is. 

There are quests known as Hunts too given by a character named Derwin in the game which involves capturing the specific types of beasts that he asks for and showing them to him for rewards. While the rewards and stamps are pretty great, this is the one thing about the game I did not like. Derwin's Hunts is one of the most infuriating quests because some of the beasts have a ridiculously low charm rate. One of the beasts requested had a drop rate of 4% so of course it took a very long time to get it. This led me to wonder why the character whose talent was charming beasts wasn't at least given a spell to capture them rather than leaving it entirely random and up to chance. It became very frustrating and I almost didn't finish all of the Hunt quests because of it. I did finish however, but that was my least favorite part of the game. 

Once the game is finished, there is still more to do as you get some spiffy new spells and you get some post game side quests you can do. There's even a bounty hunt with Derwin that offers some pretty great rewards if you choose to do them. These side quests do add a little more to Oliver's story and are actually fun except for that Derwin quest because those are a bit tedious. 

Overall Ni No Kuni is a great RPG and I would recommend it highly to fellow RPG game lovers. It has a great story with amazing characters. The game play is actually fun, with gorgeous artwork and music which makes for a game that is quite enjoyable. I'm definitely glad I picked it up because it is a nearly perfect game and one worth playing. 

Two Assassin's Creed Games!

 I'm very excited for Assassin's Creed Unity so upon hearing that there will be two Assassin's Creed games being released on November 11th, I am thrilled because you play two different sides on the games. In Unity, you play on the side of the Assassins and in the upcoming Assassin's Creed Rogue you play as an assassin on the side of the Templars.

My video game playlist just got a bit longer, but I am looking forward to both games as they both look incredible. You can check out the trailer for Assassin's Creed Rogue below:

Backlog Play List

So as of right now, I am catching up on my video game back log play list. Some things are games for PS2, and some are for PS3 while some are for 3DS. I'm trying to get through them at my leisure so I can enjoy them and then write my take on them; what I liked, didn't like, etc. you get the idea. Currently I'm playing Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch and I'm really liking it so far. Once I'm finished with it, I'm sure there will be a review up.

I also figured that while I'm waiting for games like Dragon Age Inquisition, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Little Big Planet 3, I can clear out my backlog list and it's proving to be quite a lot of fun. Until then, happy gaming to all! :)

This Is Exciting

I loved playing Silent Hill when it came out and I really enjoyed the game. So when I heard about the new game and saw the trailer, I was excited. I'm even more pumped for this when they stated that Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro are teaming up to work on it. Add the fact that Norman Reedus is going to be in it and it's all around exciting.

You can check out the trailer here: http://9gag.tv/p/aKodAM/the-walking-dead-this-is-the-first-silent-hills-teaser-trailer-norman-reedus?ref=jfs

Farewell Robin Williams

I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Robin Williams. I actually burst into tears because it is such a sad thing and it's like losing a dear friend. I felt like someone had sucked the wind out of my sails.  I remember watching him on Mork and Mindy when I was a kid and I loved him because he was so funny and charming. I loved his films. Dead Poets Society was such a favorite of mine that I watched it many times. I loved him in Hook and thought he was brilliant in Good Will Hunting. I was happy to see him on The Crazy Ones and he made me laugh with all his antics.

It is heartbreaking to hear that he was struggling with depression. I saw so many comments about how people thought he was fine and doing well. That is how truly isolating and tricky depression can be. You think that the person is fine because they put on a brave and happy face when really inside they are in turmoil. I have struggled with my depression for years and I have heard the, "But you seem fine" comments myself, but I learned that even though I feel alone I am not. Depression lies to you and convinces you that there is no one who can help you. It's not true. I wish that Robin Williams had believed that because we have lost an amazing soul.

My heart goes out to his family in this difficult time. It is never easy to lose a loved one. Thank you, Robin Williams for all the laughter you gave us. I hope you found some peace. 

Gaming Study Article

I feel that gaming is gaming. Sure, it's fun for me to play and I enjoy myself and much like anything one enjoys moderation is key. Too much can be bad for you (which is why you should go outside and do things like go for a walk, ride a bike, etc.), but it is a medium that can be entertaining and fun.

That being said, I did find the article interesting. You can read the article here: http://www.iflscience.com/health-and-medicine/small-amount-video-gaming-associated-better-adjusted-youths

Good News For Firefly Fans

I love Firefly and I was really bummed when the show got cancelled. I loved the movie Serenity which gave the series a proper ending. It's one of my favorite TV shows, so I was pretty excited when I first heard about the upcoming video game Firefly Online. Well, the news about it got even better.

It was announced at Comic-Con yesterday that the entire original Firefly stars will be reprising their roles for the video game. Needless to say, I am quite pleased at this news and looking forward to checking out the game upon its release.

You can find out more and check out the game on their website: https://keepflying.com/

A Blog You Should Be Reading

Like Madness In The Spring is my good friend Jim Milligan's blog and you should be reading it because of Jim's latest serial fiction series The Widow Wore Gold.  It is very well done, with interesting characters and a great story. There are robots, futuristic tech, and an intriguing mystery. It also explores the ideal of what it truly means to be human and the concept of love and friendship between those who are human and those who are not.

I personally really enjoy reading the story immensely because Jim has created characters that I genuinely like and care about. I also find that as I am reading every week, when it gets to the end and I realize I have to wait until the following week for the next installment I feel disappointment because I want to know more about what's going on which shows that it really hooked me, a positive sign for me in my love of reading a good story.

Jim has also created this very cool futuristic science fiction world with brilliant concepts and ideas about technology, and alien creatures that truly come to life in your imagination with his great writing. You can tell that he put a lot of time and thought into making the characters and world of The Widow Wore Gold come to life and stand out, making for an incredibly enjoyable story and one worth reading.

The Widow Wore Gold is now in week 26 and it just keeps getting better and better every week. If you haven't read it, you should check it out because it is a fantastic story especially if like myself, you are a fan of science fiction and robots. You can also let Jim know what you think as he would love to hear feedback from his readers.

You can check out The Widow Wore Gold from the beginning here: http://chromiumslurpee.tumblr.com/tagged/TWWG/chrono

You can also check out his other great serial fiction Number One With A Bullet Here: http://chromiumslurpee.tumblr.com/tagged/NOWAB/chrono

Help Firecat

Hello dear readers,

This post is something special as it concerns a very dear friend of mine. Without getting into a lot of detail, medical issues and expenses have made things difficult for her and things are very shaky right now. She is a free lance artist and one of the best ways to give her a bit of help is to commission a piece for her which you can do via her site. Another way you can help is to share the link to her website via whichever social media you use to get the word out. Every little bit helps. Thank you so much, gang I appreciate it. You can check out her art website Firecat Designs here: http://firecatdesigns.weebly.com/

Assassin's Creed Unity Trailer

The Assassin's Creed Unity trailer is looking pretty awesome. I am looking forward to playing it. The story sounds interesting too. You can check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuTxDuZCzEQ&utm_source=ncsa_crm&utm_medium=email&utm_content=mainTrailer&utm_campaign=140609_F_ASSU_PL_US

Dragon Age Inquisition Is Coming

There is another amazing video for Dragon Age Inquisition and this makes me want to play it right away. I am eager for October to get here so I can continue adventuring in Thedas again. There are some familiar faces in the video and it looks like this is going to be a great game.

You can check out the new video on their Facebook page or you can check it out on there website along with some other cool media things such as a map of Thedas here: http://www.dragonage.com/#!/en_US/home 

Farewell, Maya Angelou

 I know that she lived a full and blessed life, but I am still saddened at Maya Angelou's passing. She was an amazing person who could paint quite a picture with her beautiful and inspiring words. I remember that I was 13 when I started reading her books; gifts from my grandmother. I loved those books. I loved her words. I loved her. I grew up and I loved, admired, and respected her still. She moved me, she gave me strength, and I felt that there would never be anyone quite like her.
All I can say is farewell, Maya Angelou and thank you. Thank you for sharing your life, your wisdom, and your beautiful words with us. Phenomenal woman, bless you.

http://triadnc.twcnews.com/content/news/708139/poet--educator-and-civil-rights-advocate-maya-angelou--86--dies

Neverwinter Pros And Cons: Fun Game, Too Many Server Issues And Gold Sellers

 As many of you know, I have been playing a lot of Neverwinter. I loved Dungeon and Dragons when I was a kid (still do) so this free to play MMORPG set in that realm really appeals to me. Cryptic Studios has done a great job with designing and developing a beautiful world with an interesting story, lots of cool characters, and plenty of quests to do. I'm excited about the latest Icewind Dale area that's arrived and I am looking forward to Tyranny Of Dragons which is coming in August. I love playing as a hunter ranger on my Drow elf (now level 60 with spiffy end game gear, woohoo!) and I am really liking playing as a control wizard on my Wood elf character. I can solo a lot of things on both, but for the things that require groups such as 6 party dungeons, it's not that hard to find people. There's a Looking For Group channel in chat and you can round up a party in no time. I've met some cool people online to do these various quests and dungeons with and with a solid party, you're done in just a few minutes. There are daily quests too like Dungeon Delve and The Foundry which is a favorite of mine because these are quests designed by fellow players and you can play them, review them, and even give a donation of some gold if you really liked their quest. You get a companion too which helps a little although sometimes the AI is incredibly stupid. My Devoted Cleric once ran into a wall and then just didn't seem to want to heal me as an undead ogre tried to beat me to death. There are crafting professions you can pursue also which you earn rewards for. You can join a guild too if you're so inclined; there are a lot of them out there. I haven't done so yet because so many of them want you to sacrifice the blood of a goat, rip the wings off gnats, and promise them your first born to prove you are worthy of them. That's just not for me. I'm holding out for a guild that is laid back and understands that real life comes first. There are daily events as well and they have seasonal ones also. There are also contests for killing certain types of mobs and you get rewards if you place in the top five. Neverwinter while an obvious time sink, is a fun game for me to play and Cryptic Studios has done a great job with creating it.
 Now with all that being said, I do have some issues. Mainly the big one is with the damn server issues. For one thing, they never mentioned in any of the support forums about being able to go into the options in your game and disabling the on demand patching function. A very good friend of mine informed me that I could do this and instead of having to wait for a ton of files to patch before I could enter an area, it would manually patch everything all at once and then I could just play the game. Did it take a long time? Oh yes, but it was worth it because I have not had to worry about seeing that Patching Files message again and can just run into an area and not have to be frustrated by loading times. The other issue with the servers is a few times here and there I'll get a server not responding message or I'll start rubberbanding  and suddenly there's a huge lag spike and everything is moving insanely fast to catch up which is bad when I'm fighting things that can kill me such as War Trolls. I could understand if this happened at peak hours (it does every now and then), but this happens when there's hardly anyone on and frankly, it's ridiculous. I know with a new patch for an online game there are going to be some technical issues, but these server issues have been going on for a long time now (try a couple of years according to my friend) and of course players I have spoken to about it are a bit put out that they have not even bothered to address this issue even when they have posted in the tech area of the forums or they give them some inane half assed answer rather than actually doing something about it.
 Then there's the gold sellers. Look, I know Perfect World the company that bought Cryptic studios claim they ban the jerks that spam their shady little gold selling websites in every single chat channel (this is why I turn off the zone and trades chat on all my characters), but for each one banned a hundred more pop up. It's kind of a nature of the beast type deal with many online games (remember all the gil sellers in Final Fantasy XI?), but it's clear they need a better security system in check because I know I'm not the only one fed up with these people or bots. They're getting bolder too. Today alone, I rejected and blocked twenty-eight friend requests from VERY obvious gold sellers (note to the idiots, don't have your crooked website in your character name if you want us to believe you're a real boy or girl) and blocked a bunch of messages in my gaming email. So it's a never ending struggle of these accounts getting banned and them returning with new ones to pretty much harass the rest of us who are trying to enjoy the game with their underhanded gold selling nonsense.
 With those two mildly irritating things aside, overall Neverwinter is a game worth checking out because it is a free MMORPG that is fun to play and doesn't really take up too much time. You can do a quest or two and come back the next day to do a few more by yourself or with friends. If you do give the game a whirl and see a Drow elf by the name of Pirotess or a Wood elf by the name of Raina running around adventuring, that's me so give a wave or say hello!

 Neverwinter is played on the PC and if you would like to download the game and check it out you can do so here: http://www.arcgames.com/en/
 You can also download it on Steam here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/109600/

Everything's Coming Up Persona!

On top of a sequel to Person 4 Arena titled Persona 4 Arena Ultimax, Atlus has also announced Persona Q, Persona: Dancing All Night, and Persona 5. Now, it looks like there will be a show that Atlus will be hosting titled Shadow Hour TV Persona Hour. You can read all about it and more in the oprainfall article here: http://operationrainfall.com/2014/04/28/atlus-teases-new-persona-project/

I know that I personally am quite excited by all of this. I am a big fan of the Persona series, so I can't wait for the new games to be released. How about you, Mother Gamer readers? Are you excited as well? Do you have some ideas on what will be featured in the games?

New Tales Game With Screenshots

There is a new Tales game coming! Bandai Namco has released some screenshots of the game and it looks great. I'm a big fan of the Tales series so I am looking forward to playing the game when it's released. You can check out the article on the game and the spiffy screenshots here: http://operationrainfall.com/bandai-namco-tales-of-zestiria-images/

Dragon Age: Inquisition Release Date And Amazing Trailer

So Dragon Age: Inquisition has a release date! According to the article on Digital Trends the big day is October 7th. There's also an amazing trailer you can watch. I watched it twice and it's just incredible. Just from the trailer alone, the game looks beautiful and I am looking forward to October so I can explore the world of Thedas once more. You can check out the article and trailer here: http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/dragon-age-inquisition-october-7/#!Ftcl3

Why I Won't Be Watching Heroes Of Cosplay Season Two

 Frankly, it really galls me that there is a season 2 of Heroes Of Cosplay and I'll tell you why. I watched a few episodes of season 1 and I really tried to give it a chance, but then the problems with "scripted reality TV" reared its ugly head early such as creating unnecessary drama and making things look worse than they actually are.
 I have friends who do cosplay, love it, and do it because it's something they enjoy. They come from all walks of life and in all shapes and sizes. I'm no little size 2 girl myself, so it truly irked me when a few of the WOMEN (I'm looking at you Yaya and Rikki) who even with editing or not stated that people who are plus size shouldn't cosplay or should cosplay choices that fit their body type because no one wants to see fat Superman. And then there was Yaya calling out "sexy" cosplayers. Of course she posted this statement on Facebook about how they edited a lot of things and while I get that, the bottom line is she DID say those things edited or not and they have it on film forever. And honestly, it pissed me off. While she claims to be a "cosplay ambassador" she did say those things and because of that footage, a couple of my friends who had seen that episode said it made them not want to really cosplay anymore because they were now self conscious about if they were going to be judged for not being a skinny person.
 If they had more about what people do to make costumes and showed those who do it for fun and those who do it for competition, perhaps I would have liked the show better. But all it seemed to be was condescending, elitist crap directed by people who aren't really nerds or geeks, but live to make fun of them. There was also barely any males except for one and he was the ONLY one I actually liked as a person and I thought it was very cool he made his own armor.
And then of course, there was this whole fiasco: http://bgzstudios.com/blog/photography/heroes-of-copyright-infringement-the-photographer-litigation-against-syfy/
 That was bad enough, but then they had the damn nerve to threaten to ruin the careers of several of the professional cosplayers thus proving what I've believed all along about Hollywood and TV studio execs being gigantic jerks with no souls. The update is they settled out of court, but the damage has already been done. Everyone knows them for the soulless bastards they really are.
 It could have been a great show, but instead they made something that was dreadful which seemed to showcase cosplayers in a very negative light instead of showing the great things about it, such as making new friends, sharing common interests, a really awesome community, and some pretty cool conventions where you can see a lot of cool costumes that people worked really hard on because they enjoy a series or relate to a favorite character.
 I doubt very much they've made any changes to the show for season 2 and it will be the same crap as last season, so I won't be watching. If others want to watch, that's their thing. I refuse to partake in a show that could have been great, but instead chose to be mean, vindictive, and a platform for bullying others. In all honesty, I'm a bit disappointed that Yaya even agreed to do this, because while I do think she makes some amazing costumes, this show is not making her look good even though she insists that it's Reality TV so it doesn't affect her. It actually does, and those who genuinely enjoy cosplay have seen it for what it is; a mean spirited show that conveys the message that it's okay to body shame, be elitist, and basically be a huge jerk to others. 

A New Assassin's Creed Game? Sounds Great!

 It looks like we may get a new Assassin's Creed game and it is possible it will be set in 18th century Paris. Code named Unity, it appears to be set during the French Revolution. I think it sounds great and look forward to hearing more information about this next game in the series.  The Nerdist has a great article on it complete with video and gorgeous screen shots which you can take a look at here: http://www.nerdist.com/2014/03/report-assassins-creed-unity-revealed-through-leaked-screenshots/

And of course for more awesome nerd stuff, you can like The Nerdist on their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter, and subscribe to their channel on YouTube. 

Dragon Age Inquisition Trailer

 I love the Dragon Age series (yes, even after the flawed Dragon Age 2, I still love the series) so I am looking forward to playing Dragon Age Inquisition this upcoming Fall. You can check out the amazing trailer and their website here: http://www.dragonage.com/

Harold Ramis, Egon Of Ghost Busters Has Died

 I didn't want it to be true, because I really liked Harold Ramis and I loved his movies. Animal House to this day is still one of my favorites and always makes me laugh. Sadly it is true as shown in the BuzzFeed article here: http://www.buzzfeed.com/jarettwieselman/harold-ramis-dead

He was incredibly smart, talented, and just a good guy who knew comedy and how to make people laugh. This is a sad day and we lost a comedic legend. My condolences go out to his friends and family.
Egon, we'll miss you. 

Thief Trailer Again, PS4 Version

It's just one week until the new Thief game is here and if you are a fan of the series of Thief games as much as I am, then you're pretty excited too. In case you missed it, here is the trailer for everything you need to know about Thief, the PS4 version. Enjoy right here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66oVzJQv7DA

You can also check out more information about the game on their website: http://thiefgame.com/
I can't wait for the February 25 release date to get here! 

King.com Continues Their Ride On The Jerk Train

As many of you know, I deleted the Candy Crush Saga game from my phone and Facebook account after hearing about their ridiculous copyright lawsuit against the viking video game The Banner Saga. It smacked of greed and frankly, blatant stupidity.

Now, we have this new development showing that they are incredibly huge jerks who don't care who they stomp on as long as they're making money, which is pretty low. They essentially ripped off every bit of Albert Ransom's game Candy Swipe which he had created in memory of his mother who had passed away from leukemia, who liked these particular style of games. You can read his open letter in the tickld article here: http://www.tickld.com/x/i-cant-believe-they-are-doing-this-its-disgusting He also posted the open letter on his Facebook page.

I have some questions for King.com about this latest despicable display. Who decided that being this completely callous and greedy was a good idea? Why are you trying to hide the fact that you're a bunch of giant jerks with no souls? Why do you not understand the definition of saga? How do you not grasp the concept of blatant thievery? Seriously, screw you guys until you can answer those questions honestly and sincerely instead of trying to cover up your bullshit.

If you want to give both fingers to King.com and tell them to kiss your posterior, support Albert Ransom's game Candy Swipe. You can show your support by buying Candy Swipe in the Itunes store or on Google Play, sharing the article on tickld, sharing this Mother Gamer blog post, play Candy Swipe on Facebook, and you can also like the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/CandySwipe  because screw King.com and their evil minions of doom. 

Thief 101 Trailer

 I am incredibly excited for the new Thief game and after seeing the Thief 101 trailer I can't wait for the February 25 release date to get here. You can take a look at the amazing video on the Thief website right here: http://www.thiefgame.com/

Is Amazon Going Into The Video Game Industry?

 I am skeptical about it, but I do like Amazon. I wonder what kind of video games they would make and how well they would do with it. You can read about it in the Kotaku article here: http://kotaku.com/amazon-just-bought-a-video-game-studio-1517101698?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

A Blog You Should Be Reading

Check out my good friend Jim's blog Like Madness In The Spring. Currently he's working on a weekly serial and you can read week one titled The Widow Wore Gold. It's entertaining, funny, and pretty awesome story telling. Feel free to share too! You can read it here: http://chromiumslurpee.tumblr.com/post/74394421348/the-widow-wore-gold-week-1

Assassin's Creed Movie Possible?

 It looks like there could be an Assassin's Creed movie in the works. If done right it could be a very cool idea. As a fan of the Assassin's Creed series, I think a movie would be great, but it has to very well done; actually be as true as possible to the story and get the right actors to play the parts. You can read about it on the Screen Rant website here: http://screenrant.com/assassins-creed-movie-cast-director/

King.Com aka Makers Of Candy Crush Saga Are Idiots

King.com are idiots. I say they are idiots because of this article from Kotaku which you can read here: http://kotaku.com/candy-crush-saga-makers-go-after-the-banner-saga-for-1506188958?utm_campaign=Socialflow_Kotaku_Facebook&utm_source=Kotaku_Facebook&utm_medium=Socialflow

The thing about the word saga is what really gets me. Apparently these morons don't realize that the word saga actually comes from Old Norse so it is complete bullshit that they're trying to copyright a word that doesn't even belong to them originally in the first place.

There's also the factor of how is their game similar to Banner Saga? One is a puzzle game that isn't that great and is clearly rigged with the insane difficulty of the levels to try and coerce players to buy their boosts so they can line their pockets with money. The other is a pretty cool looking turn based RPG with Vikings and lots of interesting Viking adventures. NOT the same thing.

While King.com may think this is promotion and advertising it's not. This makes them look like the giant jerks they really are, not to mention the waste of time and resources for a lawsuit that is just plain stupid. What's next? Trying to gain patent rights for the air we breathe? I'm sick and tired of greedy game corporations like this one that just try to squash everyone in their path all for the sake of their ego and greed.

Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag: Pirates And Adventures On The High Seas; A Great Time!

I have to say Ubisoft truly redeemed themselves in my eyes with Black Flag. It seems they truly listened to the feedback from fans and Assassin's Creed IV was their heartfelt apology and I gladly accept it. I just finished the game and I loved every minute of it.

A Pirate's Life For Me!

The protagonist Edward Kenway is a great character because he starts off brash and a bit arrogant, but as his adventure continues he evolves into a smarter and more subtle man with a good heart. There are many other fantastic characters including some well known pirates; and lots of adventures on the high seas and around the vast world of this game. The main story is excellent and Edward is complex and interesting; he actually shows emotions and you feel the passion and bravado coming from him. The people he befriends are also memorable along with some pretty diabolical villains which makes for a great story all around.

There are also some great naval battles and here is where I sing the praises of the controls for the ship. They are 100% better than Assassin's Creed III. The controls are easier to use and respond faster too. You can upgrade the Jackdaw (Edward Kenway's ship) with some pretty spiffy hull armor, sails, rigging, weapons and be one hell of a badass with your glorious ship. You can even do some pretty epic battles taking down forts and taking them over. These battles are actually FUN. I know I cackled gleefully in delight as I took down a pirate hunter man o'war battleship and followed it up with an epic battle taking over a fort. It was refreshing to be genuinely enjoying a game and just having a good time with it.

Epic battles at sea are the best!

The world of Assassin's Creed IV is massive; there's lots to see and do and plenty of areas to explore. Sail everywhere in the game because there are so many great things to find such as hidden Mayan temples, ship wrecks full of treasure, and much much more. There are plenty of side quests and side missions to do too and some of them add a bit more to the story of Edward and company. You can even upgrade the various towns and even find new sea shanties for your crew to sing while you're on your adventures. And of course there's the downloadable content and multiplayer to add even more things for you to enjoy in the game.

Discovering new locations like this one is grand!

You do have your time in the real world too with our old friends Abstergo of course, and this aspect while brief is also quite fascinating because you can learn some pivotal plot points about characters from the previous game and run into a few familiar faces as well. I was a little thrown off that it was in first person mode, but the camera was very steady and it's only for a short time; so my vertigo didn't kick in thankfully. There are some brilliant plot reveals too in the real world scenes and there are some mini games here where you can unlock some item trophies and more information for your Animus database.

Remember these jerks? Oh yeah, they're still around. 

After finishing it, you can continue the game finishing up any side quests you missed or unlocking achievements with the various mission goals. Overall, Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag is not just an amazing game; it's a great time for anyone who loves the series and enjoys an honest to goodness game about pirates, assassins, and tons of incredible adventures. I know I will be playing through it again because it was that much fun for me. If you haven't picked it up yet, what are you waiting for? There's adventure and glory to be had!

We're sailing off to another adventure!