Console Gaming

On Minecraft and Multiplayer

Posted by Gryph on February 11, 2015
Posted in: Communities, Console Gaming, Creating, Gamers Doing Good, MMO, PC Gaming. Tagged: , . 1 Comment

MC RHPS group

I was slow to get into online multiplayer games. When I was a kid, most multiplayer was in person (cue sad trombone over the “death” of couch multiplayer) and when I was older I just didn’t have interest. Most of my adult life has been spent in retail management. After spending all day interacting with so many people I tended towards being pretty asocial after work. I just didn’t have much interest in spending my freetime with anyone other than my close friends. Sometimes not even them. Continue Reading

Minipost – Gryph is Playing The Bridge Plus Bonus Otters

Posted by Gryph on January 28, 2015
Posted in: Console Gaming, Gryph is Playing, PC Gaming. Tagged: , , . Leave a comment

otter dentist

So, yeah, not going to be much of a post today. Had an “exciting” dental appointment and my brain is mush. To make up for it, I offer otters graciously donated by Tyger. 🙂

Also a quick screenshot of one of the single player games I’ve been playing lately: The Bridge. Nifty little puzzle game where one of the mechanics is tilting the world around you to manipulate yourself and other objects. It’s most likely on the list of things everyone else has already played. ^^ Other than the puzzle parts, I’m liking the black and white hand drawn style and, of course, the way the areas remind me of work by M. C. Escher. There’s an underlying story that I haven’t played enough to really flesh out, but it intrigues me.

The Bridge

And that’s really all I got in me tonight. Cannot haz brain, dental stuff stole all of it!

 

Bring A Notepad!

Posted by Gryph on January 26, 2015
Posted in: Console Gaming, Gaming Memories, PC Gaming. Tagged: , , , . 2 Comments

Myst journal

Somewhere in the middle of chatting about The Secret World on a stream for another game, ’cause I’m like that, I was reminded of something I used to love in my games that doesn’t seem to happen as often anymore – the need for a pen and a pad of paper. [I suppose, light spoiler warnings for the pics I’m using later in the post. Myst and Obsidian are awfully old for spoiler warnings though, and the TSW mission is from one of the earlier missions in the Savage Coast area.]

I remember making maps for The Legend of Zelda and jotting down melodies in Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. The old text games of course; I needed my own maps and notes there. The Myst games, before they added a screenshot option and less so after, were responsible for plenty of time spent writing and drawing things out. I think I took notes for most of my early PC games, there were always a few puzzles that made more sense if I wrote it out or a maze that became much easier if you drew a map.

Am I the only one who feels like participating in the game in that way drew me into the story and world of the game more? Perhaps I should rephrase since I know plenty of folks who agree with me, it just feels like games are more often made to streamline that part of gaming right out the door. Continue Reading

Story and Text Based Games – People Make No Sense To Me

Posted by Gryph on January 16, 2015
Posted in: Console Gaming, PC Gaming. Tagged: , , . 3 Comments

Hugos House of HorrorsThe topic of older games I love has come up fairly often in the past couple weeks. The Internet Archive released nearly 2,400 old MS-DOS games to browser, I talked briefly about my history with gaming as part of my introduction to Beyond the Veil, and Tyger over at Channel Awesome did a show about nostalgia in gaming. Continue Reading

On Grinding

Posted by Gryph on January 12, 2015
Posted in: Console Gaming, MMO, PC Gaming, Secret World Legends. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

DLC Quest Grind DLC“I hate that game, it’s such a grind.” I often hear this complaint, and I’ve probably said it myself before. Most gamers can probably think of at least one game where mindlessly running the same missions or fighting the same battles over and over in order to progress soured the rest of the experience. So why, then, am I sometimes a fan of grinding? Continue Reading

Minipost: Awesome Games Done Quick

Posted by Gryph on January 10, 2015
Posted in: Console Gaming, Gamers Doing Good, Livestreams, PC Gaming. Tagged: . 2 Comments

Just something short and shiny to pass the word along to anyone who might be interested. I’m not out at the event and I hadn’t been super aware of it until just this year, after all. [EDITED 1/12/2015: Since the event is over, I’m adding this link to the archive on Youtube. Anyone interested in seeing some of the games they missed should check that out.]

I’ve got to confess something. I usually don’t watch or try to attempt speedruns of games. I have a lot of respect for the folks who run them, I think it just doesn’t fit my playstyle. Having said that, I wound up checking out the Twitch stream for Awesome Games Done Quick this week. It’s still going as I post this up. I had vague interest in it just from knowing it was a gaming charity event, but I had a few friends out there as well so decided I ought to check it out.

And holy crow. I know enough about speedrunning to know it takes a lot of planning and practice to pull off, but I’m still being blown away. Watching someone run Super Mario RPG in just under 3 hours is definitely something to behold! Other than the actual gameplay, I’m loving the commentary explaining how they’re doing what they’re doing and why it works. I’ve heard before that speedrunning adds a whole different dimension to the gameplay when you really get into it, and I’m seeing that much more now than other times I’ve tried to watch speedruns. The old gamer lady in me happens to also very much enjoy seeing various “old school” tv’s in the bottom of the frame. 🙂 (I don’t see one on the stream as I’m typing this since they’re playing Dark Souls 2, but I did last night!)

More importantly, they’re doing this to raise money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation. I highly encourage anyone interested to go check out the channel and think about donating, if you can.

Games coming up on the schedule include Final Fantasy VII, Super Metroid, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for fans of those. 🙂