1st Injustice DLC Released Today

The Boy and I have been enjoying the DC fighting game, Injustice, since it’s release. From the creator’s of the Mortal Kombat series, Injustice is a beautiful game to look at, in my humble opinion. If I had to single out a complaint or two, it would be that the moves are a bit stiff looking and the characters, upon really close inspection, are glossy and plastic looking. Other than those two, though, Injustice is a fun game that lets us whoop some butt as our favorite DC characters.

When the game was released, it also offered a Season Pass for $15, which I picked up as the first ever season pass I’ve bought. It did promise, upon purchase, that you’d have access to 4 downloadable characters, alternate skins for a couple of characters (Aquaman, Wonder Woman, Deathstroke). Today, the first of the DLC characters was released.

Lobo, the intergalactic bounty hunter, is our first additional character via the Season Pass. He is also available for 400 Points for the other folks. The download also comes with Batman’s Flashpoint skin, which is pretty cool. Now, there was also two addition releases today. This is where my complaint for this post comes in.

The other content is skin packs. Bad Girls comes with skins for Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Catwoman. Teen Titans pack comes with Deathstroke, Cyborg and Raven. These are only $2.99 each (240 points. My question is, couldn’t these have been included in the Season Pass? For $20 I would have still purchased it up front, throw in 3 skin packs (getting one free). I think that would have been an awesome deal, especially since we are now left hanging waiting for our next three DLC characters.

Maybe I’m just being a crybaby. Maybe I’m just impatient. Maybe I need to be happy with what I’m handed and move on. Either way, I’m kind of left wondering if, in the long run, it was really even worth getting the Season Pass, even for a reasonable $15. If I’m going to have to spend more points on the game anyways, it seems kinda pointless.

Skylanders Giants, Go!

* This is a cross-post from Geek by Choice. No need to read further if you’ve already seen this from there, folks.*

If you are a Skylander’s fan, then you already know that Skylander’s Giants released today. Unfortunately, I can’t give you my thoughts on the game and describe how much fun it probably is because what my wife picked up is a Christmas gift for our son. Sadly, it will be another 2 months before I will have the pleasure of experiencing the sequel to the fantastic original game.

On a positive note, our local GameStop (and probably all GameStops, really), had a special deal for their “regular” customers. Folks that come in that they know by name – which is, of course, my wife and son. They let the regular customers go back a few days ago and get first dibs on their Giants stock. Each customer then had their selected items put in a box and sealed so that when they came in today it was all waiting for them. That was pretty cool of them, I say. Better than having people scooping up all the rare figures and the regular folk never having a chance to get to them. So my wife got everything except the 3 updated original Skylanders (the ones that light up and have new special moves.)

So to those who picked up Skylander’s Giants today, I hope you enjoy it. Be sure to let us all know how awesome it is and all that jazz. The cool thing about having kids is that you can still buy the awesome toys and not have to explain yourself. The bad thing is, sometimes you have to wait yourself before you can give it to them …

Anyways! Some of the new features in Skylander’s Giants include:

• Giants:  More than twice the size of regular Skylanders, the Giants use their colossal scale and power to battle enemies, solve unique puzzles, and interact in the game world like never before!

• LightCore Skylanders:  Amplifying the real-world magic of bringing toys to life, Skylanders Giantsintroduces the LightCore Skylanders that light-up in the game world and in the real world as players’ transport them into Skylands using the Portal of Power. LightCore Skylanders feature additional in-game benefits, and require no batteries!

• Brand New Skylanders:  New Skylanders join the adventure in Skylanders Giants each equipped with their own unique personality, powers, and abilities that kids are sure to love!

• Series 2 Skylanders:  Fan-favorite Skylanders from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure return in an all new way in Skylanders Giants!  Each Series 2 Skylander features an all new “Wow Pow” upgrade power, as well as the choice of more than one upgrade path!  Fans can even play with their Series 2 Skylanders in Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure!

• Forward Compatibility: All of the beloved characters from Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure are 100% compatible with Skylanders Giants, each of their abilities and upgrades intact. Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure characters can even increase their level cap from Level 10 to Level 15 in Skylanders Giants!

• Wider Worlds: Portal Masters will see all new arenas and additional gameplay options in Battle Mode for exciting head-to-head play, as well as enhanced Elemental Zones, new Hero Challenges, and other features that encourage players to collect and level-up every character.  Skylanders Giants also features closer integration with Skylanders Universe- the large online world that allows Portal Masters everywhere to greatly expand their Skylanders experience.

They Never Cease to Amaze Me

 

With Nintendo’s release of a new 3DS XL and the Wii U just months away, the wife, son and I have been discussing which we find more appealing as a gift for the holiday season. Yes, I know, already discussing Christmas gifts?!. Yes, yes we are. I like to be prepared for these things. Our son is a step ahead of us, though, and surprised us both by insisting he wanted to keep his current 3DS – the small screen. He is interested in the Wii U, though, mainly because of the Wii pad (or whatever it is being called at the moment.) The ability for him to play certain games free of the television is appealing – but, honestly, I see this as a possibility for the 3DS  XL. Why would it not be possible to use the new 3DS XL as a game pad? I think there may be something in the works Nintendo fans haven’t been told yet.

 

So we’re thinking about the Wii U and also discussing when would be the perfect time to trade in his Wii (of which we have 2 because the wife’s parents gave us theirs due to lack of play time) before the prices really start to drop. I know once new hardware is about to be released and especially when it first releases, trade-in prices fall because most people are wanting those shiny new consoles. We went in to Gamestop and asked what we were potentially looking at. It seems $25-30 is the trade value for a Wii at the moment (that’s the 1st generation white console). Yet, for a PS3 with a broken blu ray drive, you can get a good $80 for. Interesting! To make a long story short on the trade-in front, I’m considering taking the PS3 up there simply because I haven’t turned it on in about 3 months. As for the Wii, I sold it for $80 – take THAT, Gamestop. $25-30, indeed …

 

 

 

Now, where do we stand on that Wii U? Oh, yes. It seems the Wii U has been pushed to the back burner. My dear wife and son have, instead, decided they want an Xbox 360 and Kinect. I know, straight out of left field, right? All of this came out of a simple visit to Best Buy, shortly after the Gamestop trip. We were walking toward the checkout when they passed a display of a soccer game for the Kinect. They spent about 10-15 minutes playing the game, jumping around, etc, and when we left the Wii U was a faint memory. I tell ya, my wife and son? They never cease to amaze me. Now, I suppose this could all be attributed to the fact that the Wii U isn’t out and no one can touch it, try it out or see just how good the real games look. But at the same time you have to realize that the 360 is an established brand with a million games, online support and just an all around superior system to something like the Wii – or anything else Nintendo could push out right now. Poor Nintendo is always a day late and a dollar short to the party, and I have a feeling the Wii U is going to be no different.

 

But now I have the horror building in me of a possible Xbox 360 purchase. It’s been a good 2 or 3 years since we’ve had an Xbox in the house. And even then, we went through 2 consoles because of the infamous RRoD (Red Ring of Death). I know the new, sleek, black 360′s are suppose to be much more reliable, but seriously, I’be been burned. I hear the rumors of ads being constantly shoved down your throat at every turn on the Dashboard. But, the games, the established community, the cool features of the Kinect the wife and son love.

 

And between you and me, Dear Reader? I’ve been looking around. Did you know you can buy my favorite game, Fallout 3, with all available downloadable content for $19.99.  Or you can skip the DLC and buy the standard Fallout 3 AND Elderscrolls: Oblivion both for a single $19.99 price. These great games are priced to own and I found myself staring intently at the shelf of our local Wally World. I think you see where I’m going with this. Yes, we are probably going to end up buying a new Xbox 360. And I’m warning you, Microsoft, I’ll be watching closely …

 

** Note – To anyone that may be screaming at their monitor right now, warning me that it’s a mistake. Yes, I realize Microsoft is set to release (or at least announce) a new console next year, but it’s okay. Really. If there is one thing I’ve learned about gaming hardware after having owned 2 Xbox 360′s, is that early adopters usually end up screwed in the end. I base this on a couple of factors: 1) untested hardware out in the wild and not a controlled environment. 2) they’re going to release something better, different or just slightly enhanced a few months down the road. Therefore, I shall invest in this established gaming library, enjoy it for all it’s worth and worry about keeping up with the “new hotness” later when everyone else has broken in the next generation for me and worked all the bugs out.

 

 

 

Growing Collection

Doing our part to make the gaming industry prosper.

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure (Wii)

One of the video games our son received for Christmas was Skylander’s: Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack for the Nintendo Wii. This little game is probably going to be the starting point for a new fad of games. A starter pack – which is available for all console systems (Wii, DS, 3DS, Xbox 360, PS3) comes with three figures, the game and a Portal of Power. The figures are just 3 out of a large assortment that is available for the game, and the biggest catch is that you can use any figure on any of the console versions. Say, for example, you have the Wii version of Skylander’s, you can still take your Spyro figure and go to a friend’s house that has the PS3 version and play with them. An even bigger catch is that your character will still have their own level and equipment that you earned on your Wii version! Tell me this isn’t the start of something bigger and I’ll call you a fool, sir-and-or-madam!

The game is straight-forward with what you have to do and where you have to go. The main story arc puts you on a closed path and you would really, really have to try to stray off of it. Point A to Point B, shoot the bad guys in the middle and you complete the course. Where the game gets challenging and switches things up is in the figures available for the game. You can, without issue, play the game from beginning to end with only the three figures in the starter pack. But the catch is that there are side areas and powers in the game that can only be opened by using figures with a certain power set. At the moment, there are 8 power classes of figures and a total of over 30 figures in all that the player has the option of buying to add to their collection. Excuse me while I make a few “KA-CHING!” noises for the geniuses behind this marketing wonder.

So, you have a game that is playable out of the box with what is provided. 30+ additional figures with different powers and animations you (or your child if they are into this whole game thing) can buy to open up other areas of the game. AND … are you ready for this? AND each level, beautiful and well designed in their own rights, has goals. Not just one goal, but numerous goals that you can discover, unlock, achieve that all go toward the 100% of the game’s end. Yea, if you are a completist, you are also going to have to buy those other figures to unlock those areas that need exploring to complete each zone 100%. Darn you Activision!!

But wait, that’s not all! If you wonder why the PC doesn’t have its own version of the game … wait for it … IT DOES! With each figure comes a small card with an online activation code. Go to the games website, sign-up and in and enter the code, and you have a mini-game area where you can meet other Skylander players, show off your figure collection in what is called Skylanders: Spyro’s Universe! You get to choose your own island, claim your own cave and decorate it with your items. ZOMGBBQ, it just doesn’t seem to end!

Maybe I just haven’t played many games lately, but I love this as much as my son does. It’s fun, actually challenging as you go further into the story, yet simple enough for kids to pick up and play. The catch for collector’s is in the figures (which, depending on where you shop, range from $7.99 to $12.99). And for the completists, there are plenty of challenges. It’s available on all game consoles, so you don’t have to wish you had the PS3 or 360 to play. And if you place the Portal of Power far enough away, you could even get some exercise in there by having to get up and go change the figures around depending on what you are doing. I would definitely recommend this game no matter your skill level or even if you do or do not have children in the house. Plus, I can’t wait to see what other games spring from this idea of interactivity.