Something every gamer has been asked at least once

You know you have been asked this.

I am pretty sure at some point in your life you have been asked the question, if stranded on a Island, what three games would you choose to take with you? As I am almost 57 now I have been asked it more times then I could possibly count over the years, it is something that always will come up at some point.

Now I decided to do this post because of watching a Video on Youtube, by one of my favorite You-tubers Metal Jesus Rocks. You can view his video here Metal Jesus Video so now that I shared the inspiration for the post, guess I should answer the question.

The ground rules before anything

So obviously we are going to take a few liberty's on this, otherwise the question itself is fruitless endeavor so here we go. 

1. We magically get stranded yet have our 3 games and devices needed to play them
2. Just like in MJR's video we magically have electricity to power our devices, however we do not have a modem, so no MMO games. So no Starcraft, no World of Warcraft, or in my case no Final Fantasy XI or XIV :(
3. Unlike his I will not cheat so no compilation disks, or collections allowed the games have to be a single title, so no Metal Gear Solid collection, etc.

So with all that laid out and out of the way I present " My 3 picks for games I would want with me "

1. My first pick is a game I have never beaten it just is so expansive and that choice is " The Witcher 3 " what can I say it is so massive in scope and story. I could have chosen Skyrim however truth be told I don't really like Skyrim all that much, even with mods. I know I am in the minority when it comes to Skyrim I own it on PC but just never clicked with me for whatever reason.
2. Now I am sure a lot of people would like many others have Grand Theft Auto 5 here, and it would be a worthy choice like it was for MJR, however I never got into GTA. Only GTA game I ever played was Tales from Liberty City, and for me it was meh, maybe it is a age thing but it just never resonated with me. Now again like with my feelings on Skyrim I am REALLLLLY in the minority on my feelings when it comes to the GTA series. You can make yourself go cross-eyed if you where to look at the lifetime sales of all the GTA games, both number sold and money for Take-Two, both figures are staggering. Just to give you an idea as of February 2016 GTA 5 alone has sold over 65 million copys, I am not even sure if that includes digital sales. However despite all of that the series never got it's hooks in me, for me my second game is Final Fantasy III on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System ( SNES ) It also released as Final Fantasy VI on the original PlayStation, but it has been released on so many devices. Since at the time I had a SNES I will choose that version over the PlayStation or Gameboy edition. Though truth be told you will not make a bad choice whatever platform you choose to play it on.
3. If you follow me on Twitter, or Google + then my third choice will come as no surprise though it was a tough choice between another game which will be in Honorable Mentions. However my third choice is a game from the PS Vita library and the powerhouse Atlus, and that is Persona 4 Golden. I am sure those who know me saw this one coming, what can I say about this game that has not been said a 1000 times before. It for me is quite simply a Masterpiece of Game Design, World Building and storytelling. The characters back stories are well flushed out,  the summons are amazing to watch,, the game to me is perfection personified, now before anyone says anything. I KNOW Persona 4 Golden is a remake of the original Persona 4 which was on the PlayStation 2, however it is more then that. There a new quests added, new dialog options and story content that is not in the Original it is it's own game IMHO. However if I was to be stuck with the original for PS2 I would be just as happy, like with The Witcher 3 it has so many quests and choices to make you can re-play it for years.

So there you have it my 3 games in no particular order that if I was stranded on a deserted Island, I would want to have with me, there are so many others that I would be almost as satisfied with. So with that let me give some Honorable Mentions.

1. Crisis Core for the PSP for me at least it is the best game to ever grace the console, I am in the minority on that one but this is my list :)
2. Skies of Arcadia on the GameCube I played that game to death when it released, and would be over joyed to go back and do it all over again.
3. Ni No Kuni on the PS3 what can I say a challenging, magical world and characters, plus the artwork is pure Studio Ghibli what is not to love. 

Those are just three that if I had to substitute a game above for I would have no problem doing so, again my three games I would have to have are not a ranking. I just listed them in a random order.

So now that you know my three what would be your three games you would just have to have with you, feel free to comment below your picks.

Until next time as always Play nice with each other.

David

Why I changed my mind when it comes to Emulators !

So let me start off with some text I captured from the Playstation store website 

Valkyria Chronicles™

Sega of America Inc.

Disc Only

 I won't even get into how stupid the listing is, okay maybe a tick " Why list something you can not buy if you wanted to! " It however does not stop there do the same search but for Heavenly Sword, Different developer but will get the same result, DISK ONLY. You can rent the movie, or buy it even off the store, hell you can watch it on Netflix, god help ya actually want the game though. I own the game but it is simply to make a point, Developers and Publishers alike often complain how hard it is to make money nowadays, I say we need to save them from themselves.

 A bit of backstory I feel is in order here, if you will indulge me for a little bit, I promise it has a point to it. I had for the longest time considered using emulators, downloading ROMS/ISO's etc akin to theft or piracy. It just for whatever reason never set well with me, and was never at ease with those who did it.  So what made me change my mind, you maybe surprised it started with a Picture posted in a Final Fantasy community on Google+. I was browsing the posts that happened overnight and there was a picture of one of my favorite characters, over coffee FRAN from FF XII appeared on my screen. I remembered buying Final Fantasy XII back in the day and thinking damn I really should play that game again!

I was fully prepared to do just that till I remembered my PS2 was broken and I had never gotten around to fixing it, also that I had lost/lent or sold the original disk. Needless to say I was ticked off, but thought I will just buy it again from the Playstation store, I have a PS3. That was wishful thinking if you browsed the store it is like the game never existed, Steam maybe has it, good luck. 

 I searched Greenmangaming, GOG, Humble Bundle, even the Square Enix store nope. The game vanished as far as all of them were concerned into the Ether, I could not buy it legally. You can buy damn near every other Final Fantasy game on Steam or Playstation store, etc but not XII

 This brings me to the second reason I changed my mind, I posted how I was pissed I could not buy a copy from anywhere, someone said " Just emulate it, get the iso and emulator and play it on your PC "

 I replied I don't feel like that is right it was akin to theft, they said in what way? well i can buy it from Ebay or craigslist, flea market, etc,  the reply back was and how does that benefit Sony or Square in anyway? The only person making money is the seller, the people who made the game see not a cent

Square or Sony only made money off the initial sale. Needless to say I had no smart response back and in that moment my thoughts on it did a complete 180. 

 Could I go buy a replacement PS2 and a copy of the game, sure I could but not everybody can. Perhaps they do not have the disposable cash, or are like me no room too. Not to mention the cost of some of these original game disks/cartridges and systems.

 I did download a emulator and did go to a site they mentioned and downloaded the ISO, and felt none the worse for it. I had spent hours trying to find a way to buy the game so it benefited those who created/published the game and could not, I was left with no other option.  

 So Developers, Publishers, IP/Platformer owners you have only yourself to blame for my change of heart on the issue, why is FF XII not at least in PS2 classics on the store. I played the game emulated though using a 360 controller was weird, and I was in heaven once again. All the magic returned the first time I laid eyes on that magical world and Fran and I enjoyed it to death. I have since deleted the ISO from my HD but do have it saved in the cloud should I wish to revisit that magical world/story. 

 I have a better idea though make it so I can buy the game legally digitally at the very least, so those who created it benefit, not some kid on ebay. I not only would buy it but would do a live twitch and YouTube stream showing me deleting the ISO from my cloud and the emulator I used. I understand making a physical re-release would be risky as heck, but digital cost you nothing but disk-space and listing fee should you do it. Be it a PC port onto steam or on the Playstation Store as a PS2 classic playable on the PS3 I would perhaps buy both even. The main thing is I WOULD at least buy one of them and in a sense the game again all these years later.

I could easily mention other devs, platforms, etc but you get the point, just look at what Microsoft and rare did with Rare Replay earlier this year. it is one of their best selling games of the year, so much so they had to do second printings. You know why because a lot of people do not own their original xboxes, or where not born when the games game out. Their parents remember though, and have shared their love of games with their children, and now they get to experience that same joy.

Conclusion 

Build it and they will come, they will buy your games legally but you have to make them available first, Nintendo knows this they make a lot of classics available. Not every game but atleast they realise people do want to be able to play older games on their current devices, and the rest of the industry needs to follow what they started.

  In a lot of ways it is not the Consumer/Gamer that is the problem it is the Rights holders themselves that are there own worst enemies. Stop shooting yourself in the foot and complaining we are the problem, let us buy it and we will come. Will some people still pirate games of course they will, piracy has been around for decades, and will never go away. But that does not mean you should not celebrate your old IP's and capitalize on that library. Ohh and a little side note if your sitting on a IP and have no interest in ever revisiting it, then sell the rights to it for heaven's sake. Let someone else who does care do something with it, maybe just ask for a small royalty on the sales, but stop hoarding.

I will leave you as always

Play nice with each other

David

D

New Hitman delayed till march

Who did not see this one coming, I think it is a wise move regardless the reasons they quoted for its delay. Trying to go up against the November lineup of games is suicide IMHO, Halo 5, Fallout 4 the new CoD even though it is exclusive the new Tomb raider game all will have traction through the holidays. I fully expect to hear of more games being delayed for the very same reasons, it just makes good business sense.

Hitman website

Announcement trailer
Hitman Announcement trailer

I have to admit the game looks damn sweet, and hopefully a good reboot of the series as Square did with Tomb Raider.

As always be nice to each other

David
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Just thought I would share

Sometimes I get asked what are some games you have played and replay time and again, I can not show all of them of course  but choose a few covering everything from PSP and Dreamcast to 360 and PS3. A lot of my PC and to some extent PS3 and 360 games are digital so kinda hard to show those.
 I have switched to buying a lot digital especially when it comes to classics, due to the cost of physical copies. No I do not own a PS4 or Xbox one they are over hyped, overpriced and under powered IMHO, maybe when they hit $200 new I will get one.

Sorry it is not crystal clear I do not have a tripod for my tablet so makes it hard to hold steady.

These are just the tip of some of my favorite games of all time, you may agree with some, say I am nuts for others, but it is my opinion. And why did I choose Mass Effect 2 on 360 simply put at the time it played and looked better on 360. Also why no Final fantasy VII that one is simple it is highly over-rated IMHO, Crisis Core is a far better game and story, albeit for PSP and made a few years later.
 Yes Shenmue is on the top for a reason and always will be, I have even tweeted and had favorited by Yu Suzuki himself my desire for a Shenmue 3 Dreamcast version, I backed the kickstarter for PC version, though asked for a Dreamcast version, I want to finish my story where I started my journey and that is on Dreamcast. I do not care if it costs $100 for the Dreamcast version I want it and said as much to him, he owns the IP he can make it happen.

 Beyond Two Souls is probably controversial for a lot of people but like the original Mirror's Edge I loved it. I think both games deserve a second look by gamers. Is either one of them perfect a GOTY candidate, heck no that said they are also not as bad as some like to say they are.


As always I will end with be nice to each other.

David
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Why no E3 reaction

I explained why on my Google + page which I post to daily you can read why Here
I will before week's end post my thoughts on who won etc, you maybe surprised, actually I know you will.

If you also like PC gaming perhaps give this a shot

Splash Damage if you are not familiar where the people behind the Multiplayer in Batman: Arkham Origins, also they made Brink. They also where the creators of Enemy Territory: Quake wars a game I just freaking loved and do to this day. They have a open Beta coming up for their latest creation called Dirty Bomb, you can sign up here it is a staggered beta so dont freak if your not in the first wave. I signed up who knows if I get a code or not, but the game has my interest so far.

Capcom sale on Steam

If like me you do not only game on consoles, Steam is having a Capcom sale. I have to admit while most are of no interest to me, I liked Remember Me, though I played it on PS+ as it was free. If you like a Cyberpunk world with some 1984 type elements, Independent strong female lead I recommend it.
I have to say the game mechanics take some getting used too, much like Mirror's Edge, a game I have talked about multiple times on G+.
As for the Resident evil series they have on sale, I'm just not a RE fan or of the Genre period, if you are most are on sale as well. No games are less than 1/2 off so I suggest pick and choose your prefered poison :) there is a few to choose from.

As always be nice to each other
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