Games I Am Playing

What I’m Playing

For those who listen to the original MyMac podcast, you know I am a game player. Not every game that comes out, of course. I only have so much money I can spend on games. And many of the games that I do buy are for the kids, who are also video game players. For those who think video games are inherently bad for kids, or adults, they are not. Everything in moderation.

So what I am playing right now?

Guitar Hero (PlayStation 2)
Yeah, I was late coming to this game. I could not get over the price, which includes not only the game disc itself, but the guitar controller. The controller is just like a little guitar, not too small for me to use, and not too large for the kids. Who ever came up with this controller should win some sort of award or something.

If you have never played GH, it is a simple concept: play the music correctly to move onto the next song. Play five in a row correctly, and your band moves up to a larger venue. The larger the venue, the less forgiving the crowd when you mess up.

The actual game play is also simple. Well, simple to grasp, not so simple to play depending on the difficulty. As the song plays, you click on one of five "fret" buttons on the neck of the guitar depending on what the screen has on it. You also "strum" the guitar as the notes move over the target. Simple, but oddly addictive and fun. I have beat the game on easy, which only uses three frets during game play. I will try hard next. I did try one song on hard, "I Love Rock n’ Roll" by Pat Benetar, and passed. But BOY is it much more difficult on the hard setting. (You use four of the five buttons at this setting.)

Saints Row (XBOX 360)
While my kids can play the above game, and do, this is a game they cannot. All adult rated here, baby. If you don’t know what a "sandbox" game is, let me explain a little first.

A SandBox game is one in which you can go anywhere, do anything. In the case of Saints Row, and the original SandBox game Grand Theft Auto III, the game takes place in a large city. You can walk around the entire city, participating in various tasks. These tasks may or may no be part of a mission that furthers the story-line of the game. You could (and I have) simply drive around the city for hours, listening to the radio and seeing the sights.

Of course, like GTA, Saints Row is an adult rated game. There is a ton of violence, inappropriate language for kids, and random acts of cruelty. In other words, a lot of fun!

In Saints Row, you have the ability to create what you character looks like, from race to clothes. You can change the shape of your nose, your jaw, you hair color… about the only thing you can’t change is your gender.

You join a gang at the start of the game, with the objective being to make your gang the top gang of the city. To do so, you participate in various missions, protect your turf, and more as the game progresses. Being a SandBox game, you don’t have to take the missions in any particular order, or at any particular time. You can buy better weapons, clothes, cars, jewelry, and more. You earn cash to do so by finishing missions, robbing banks, taking hostages when you car-jack someone, and other fun stuff. (Yes, I said FUN, you liberal you! )

I am about 20% done with the game, and feel like I have only just started to scratch the surface. There is an online game-play aspect to it, via XBOX Live, in which you can battle other players from all over the world. That part is a little buggy, but it worked fine for me.

LEGO Star Wars II, The Original Trilogy. (XBOX 360)
I have never been into LEGOs. I used to be into Star Wars before George Lucas ruined it when he released the last three movies. And while there have been many, many Star War games over the years, going as far back as the Atari 2600, none have really been very good. There were a couple I sorta enjoyed, like Rouge Squadron, but for the most part, Star Wars games suck.

How is it, then, that the original three movies, set in a LEGO world, is such fun to play? This may just be the best Star Wars game of all time! It has humor (walking into a room with Storm Troopers relaxing in a hottub, with nothing on but their blue briefs and helmets. Funny!), action, puzzles, unlockable characters, and so much more. I am still in the very early stages of the game, but having a blast playing it. It is rated E for everyone, and in fact my three year old had fun making different characters jump around on the screen.

Yes, by LEGO, I mean the toy bricks. Everything in the world in this game, from R2D2 and Han Solo to the Death Star is all built from LEGOs. When you shoot something, the LEGOs simply fall apart and fade away. It is a LOT of fun.



Coming Soon
What am I looking forward to? This month, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories comes out for the PSP, and I will be picking that up the day it is released. I purchased GTA: Liberty City Stories this time last year for the PSP, and it was the first GTA game I actually played to the end. I think Vice City Stories looks even better.

The PlayStation 3, of course, is on my want list when it comes out next month, but at $599, I will probably wait until mid-next year to get one. Just too expensive, and the first round of games don’t look all that interesting to me. When Grand Theft Auto IV comes out for the system late next year, I will probably buy the console. Or not, as GRA IV will be on the XBOX 360 as well.

The Wii, Nintendo’s next system, really has be excited. The controller is like a TV remote controller, you aim and click. How simple and revolutionary! The online aspects also has been excited, being able to cheaply download and play all the older games from the Nentendo library. Donkey Kong and Burger Time, anyone?

So, do you play video games? Comments welcome below!