The Watch Dogs Independent Review

 For this review I'm not going to waste my time writing about how the story unfolds and everything else you can find in other reviews that have been out for days now. What I will write about however is the gameplay .... very simple. After reading other online reviews from the mainstream video game sites I became concerned that just maybe I had wasted $60 on a GTA5 clone with 20 hours of gameplay. Well I'm here to tell you that non of this is true whatsoever.
 Watch Dogs had around 2 years, since first being announced, for feelings to build up about what the game would be like and what was possible in game by those who have been anticipating the games release. There was (and still is) a lot of talk about Watch Dogs being a GTA5 clone. Watch Dogs should not be compared with GTA5, or any other GTA for that matter, simply because Watch Dogs is in most ways its own game with its own defined personality. Comparing all open world games with GTA5 all because, well, there open world games, is not fair for the genre as a whole.
 When I first jumped in the game I wasn't very exited at all for awhile until I started to get about 2 hours into the game. That is when I began to realize the huge scope and grand scheme of the game in its entirety. Admittedly, some aspects of the game such as phone hacking peoples bank accounts and checking into their past was somewhat stale after awhile, but, with so much other stuff to do these are very small gripes which only effect the gameplay in a very minute way if at all. The possibilities of hacking street lights, cameras and a plethora of other devises across the huge world map becomes infinite.
 While just walking around enjoying the view and maybe looking for some hidden objects random crimes would happen that would pop up on your handy smart phone. These were always different and can go in any of thousands possible ways all depending upon your own imagination and how you use your hacking skills and environment. Sick of chasing the bad guy? No problem .... hack the transformer and blow it up as the bad guy runs by sending his body flying like a rag doll in a horrible yet realistic way. Working on the campaign is equally as fun as free roaming and you can always take a break from the main story to finish side missions, find hidden object, collect cars, ect.
 It seams to me that those who complain about this game lack a certain amount of imagination the is seriously required to play and enjoy this game to its full potential. I suggest to those who had worked out in their minds what Watch Dogs "was going to be" for two years replay the game again with an open mind and how the "game is going to be" according to how Ubisoft had made it. A game that at first seems like a let down had turned out being a great game with huge potential all depending upon the player and I respect Ubisoft  for putting the ultimate power in the hands of those who play the game not create it. In the end, Watch Dogs is a huge game with tons to do and an almost endless amount of replay value. With a few updates in which Ubisoft is going to release over the course of the next few months Watch Dogs will even grow better. For those who have decided to purchase this game..... just remember, Watch Dogs treats you just like you treat it. If you approach the game with little imagination you will not enjoy the game or find it "good". If you go in with an open mind with the understanding that this game can go any way you want it to .... then you'll love it like I do.

Verdict :  9/10

The Slow Death Of Triple A Video Games

 If you think that the endless flow of indie game titles keep coming at us randomly then you need to be better informed on the present gaming model. The real reason why gamers are getting hit by endless streams of indie games is because triple A video games are now fast becoming obsolete. Don't get me wrong, I love indie games and think they are great, however, there true intention is to replace expensive triple A games for much cheaper alternatives. Making a triple A title is almost like building a warship or going to outers pace, no seriously, that's how much money and man power goes into these projects.
 To put this thing in perspective .... in order for a triple A video game to make money it has to sell millions of copies and even then the profits can be small in comparison to the work and time invested in such a project. For instance, lets say for sake of argument that a triple A video game cost 30 million dollars to produce. Without going into the complicated math (this can be verified on other sites) even if the 30 million dollar game sells 3 million copies , after costs , that game has probably made 40 million dollars. Yes, that right, a game that costs 30 million to make, if it sells well ( 3M ) will only make 10 million dollars more than what it cost in the first place.
 More and more we are hearing complaints from big developers who produce triple A titles that its almost impossible to make money. Short of getting lucky and hitting the jackpot with consumers buying up the game and becoming a hit with very good reviews its a complete waist of money. These are the reasons that we will see a huge decline in triple A titles and more mid level games and indie's. Developers are now begging to realize that by simply creating great content sells and it does not have to cost 30 million dollars to do so.
 This can all be a great thing for the future of gaming in my own personal opinion considering that most triple A games are more focused on size and graphics than actual fun and innovative game-play in which consumers want. Gamers are sick of paying $60 for triple A games that can be beat in 8 to 15 hours ( with few exceptions ) and mostly consist of the same old shoot 'em up content. Recently, we have been seeing very successful games by small developers who can make huge profits as the cost of development is down while the quality of the game itself is high. The moral of the story is that
triple A titles will still be made by those who like to gamble, however, they will be few and far between.

Microsoft Still Feeling The preasure To Sell Xbox

 Microsoft again found itself on the defense about selling off its gaming division in the face of worried investors. Don't believe me? Just Google it yourself and you will be rather surprised about how much speculation there really is and the amount of valid concern. Some of the most painful articles in regards to Microsoft's Xbox1 ( gaming division ) comes strait from the big dog Forbes in an article titled " The Three Ways Forward For Microsoft And The Xbox One " and I can assure you that all three options described therein are not at all what Microsoft wants to face.
 For a long time now Microsoft big wigs (investors) who hold major stock and bond holdings in the corporation have been pushing Microsoft to simply sell off its unprofitable gaming division and focus more on software in which the company was founded to do. It seems as though those very investors became rather uncomfortable with the poor performance of Windows 8 not to mention the gaming division losing millions and millions of dollars to boot.
 News just recently got worse for Microsoft after Sony proudly announced that the PS4 has sold 8 million consoles (not shipped) to consumers , while Microsoft refusing to publish actual sales of the Xbox1. Come to find out Microsoft had "shipped" 5 million consoles ton stores with no telling how many of those were actually sold to consumers like Sony's numbers. Now, in the Forbs article about "three ways forward" one of those proposed "ways" have already been implemented that being to cut the Kinect nobody ever wanted. The second option is so horrible even seasoned Xbox fans will get week in the knees when they read the proposed solution which is ....... cut the disk drive. Ouch. Now its down to the very last option which is non other than to cut the price just to somewhat compete with the runaway success of Playstation 4.
 In my opinion Microsoft can implement all the options they see fit to no avail. Its simply too late now that PS4 and Sony's master publicity stroke has mesmerized the masses. While Microsoft was busy announcing the Xbox1 and assaulting their fans with always online-DRM, forced Kinect and countless other unwanted policies akin to bullying..... Sony was telling and giving the gaming community what they wanted. Is the Xbox1 going to go away in the immediate future? Of course not. Sooner or later though Microsoft is going to run out of money to keep flushing down the toilet.

Watch Dogs Released / Review's

 Reminder : Today is the long anticipated 27th of May 2014 ..... the launch date for Watch Dogs.

  I'm going to pick up my pre-order copy right now so my review of the game itself will not be up until Thursday. Until then however, I can say that other reviewers are giving this game a average of 8 out of 10. Polygon has scored the game an 8 as well as gamespot and destructoid. Also important to note is that Forbes had some very harsh things to say about Watch Dogs which makes me wonder if I didn't just waste two years waiting for this game to release. I will quote from the Forbes review here "Like GTA5 before it, sometimes it's not enough to simply be big and well made. Watch Dogs feels like a collection of promising concepts with nothing solid holding them together" and also quoted from Forbes " The characters are so uninteresting they're almost unsalvageable, and though gameplay is polished to a mirror shine, it just doesn't do enough to stand out in the genre" end quote.
 So in other words basically everyone is giving this game a score of 8 out of 10 the only reason being for the 8 instead of the 6 is because its "polished". Sounds like they keep making excuses for a bad game because the people who invested in this game via stock bond holders don't want to loose any money. While we are just being brutally honest here ..... they even had an extra 6 months when they delayed the game as to make it better. With a delay of 6 months to make the game better and still end up with a bland story and characters is a huge let down and the 8 out of 10 "I feel sorry for you but its polished" reviews says it all.

How To Make A Living With Video Games.

 Making a living doing what you love to do is one of the hardest things to accomplish in life. Some people today find it hard to simply find a job that they hate to do. Lets juts jump right in here shall we? There are only a few ways to make a living with video games and all of them are complicated processes except one which I will focus on here after a brief description of the less viable options. These less viable options include working your way through ladders and competitive tournaments which mean you have to be exceptional at the games you play and lucky at the same time. If one is successful in this area money flows in as awards won, prizes which can be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars and sponsorships. The problem with this competitive option is that your chances of success here are astronomical to say the very least.
 Another less viable way to make a living with video games is on social media which as it turns out is just as hard as doing it the competitive way. Why is it so hard you ask? Well, the answer is very simple........ there are millions of other youtube and twitter channels all dedicated to gaming which have been well established for a very long time. What makes your content good enough that people cease to support their favorite social persona's for you? Most people who want to see the latest in gaming or a new review will simply go to IGN. To put it plainly ..... your material, however great, is like a speck of sand on an entire beach. Your odds of being found amongst the countless millions and being lifted into social stardom is the mathematical equivalent of being struck by lightning twice in a single night without any rain clouds in the sky.
 So now the big question ..... So how can one actually make a living with video games? The answer to this question is also rather simple : You commentate as a professional (or seem like a professional) on what the competitive players are doing by covering their competitions , careers , tourneys, ect. Now, this can be done very cleverly as to make yourself become an authority on E-Sports in the process of making a name for yourself. You cannot choose a single E-Sports player or seem as if your a stalker. You need to cover their competitions with an air of authority by pointing out their mistakes, what they could have done better and almost coach into your video if Youtube is your media which I shall assume it is. If you do some research into the rules and regulations, follow up on the news and big stories happening in E-Sports you will, in a short period of time, build a reputation as a solid commentator on what people want to see most and, most importantly, an authority on the subject. Instead of being the actual pro-gamer out in the competition you stream the comp live and commentate with authority about the athletes actions as if you know more about it than they do. In this manner, you can add legit meta-tags into your video's , streams, websites and/or blogs, twitter ect, thus: bringing in the viewership you need to succeed and most likely being asked and/or employed by an entity which represents E-Sports or even E-Sports themselves.
 To pull off something like the above tutorial you will need to be highly motivated, smooth talking and most importantly ..... very clever. Its just a matter of doing some research, watching and studying other E-Sports commentators and becoming your own unique personality and using it with the flair of authority which is also very important. Nobody wants to hear someone talking( or blabbing) like they are scared or nervous. People want to hear someone who sounds like he or she knows exactly what they are talking about in a firm yet professional voice with solid opinions and advise or critique. Youtube is filled with commentators who talk over their own gameplays trying to make it big. This is their first mistake as their gameplays, no matter how good, are not pro and there are verily millions of other skilled players doing the same thing. If you want to make a living in video games do not fall for the proverbial " I deserve this because I'm the best player" or " My material is better than all the countless millions of others doing the same exact thing as me". Think outside the box, that is what makes money in anything you decide to do and E-Sports and video games are no exception.

COD Advanced Warfare: Too Advanced Maybe?

 The name of the next Call Of Duty should be telling enough .... advanced warfare means war using advanced technology to win. One of the problems with recent Call Of Duties is the unrealistic nature of the technology used in game. Look, I understand that the franchise has grown stale and you can only add so much to a yearly game where you play basically the same game modes with different guns to kill the other team. Why not spice it up a little bit? Sure.... but a 3D printed rifle? Not just any 3D printed rifle either, its a 3D printable rifle that "prints" its own ammunition right there in the guns own chamber. Look, 3D gun printing is real (and illegal ) and we know it can be done, however, magically printing bullets in the chamber of the rifle is a feat which shall never be accomplished no-matter how advanced a society grows. Its simply impossible that a gun could print its own bullets in the very same chamber used to eject them.
 I know this concept is probably exiting to the to a 9 year old wanting to blast a plasma rifle ( and yes there is a plasma rifle in AW ) and slip on a exoskeleton suit. But what about the serious competitive players? Where does this leave the pro competitive gamers in this whole "more advanced every year" scheme of things which leads each new installment of Call Of Duty looking more like Star Wars than a competitive war game on planet Earth.

Minecraft Coming To PS Vita With Cross-Buy.

 In what's probably the best news for Sony's struggling handheld to date.... Minecraft has been confirmed for the Playstation Vita to be released in August. Even better news is that it is cross-Buy so if you have purchased the game on PSN the Vita version can be downloaded for free. This is huge news for the Vita as it will represent the only viable portable version of the highly popular game yet. An IOS version of Minecraft has been released but is universally recognized as horrible with very small worlds, less crafting and bad controls.
 Now a comprehensive and complete portable version of Minecraft with multiplayer is available soon and could represent a nice boost to Vita sales as the power and fan base of Minecraft is strong enough to move units for Sony. I can only imagine that a special Vita/Minecraft bundle will be available and I also imagine that these will sell off the shelves. Just imagine being able to bring your vast world created out of blocks and other materials wherever you may go whether its on vacation or sitting in a doctors office.
 The news for the PS Vita just seems to be getting better as it ages and ages well. With a vast log of video games including triple A titles, indies and classics alike things may just start looking up for the Playstation handheld. There is no exact release date as far as I could find, however, it will release in August and since I did in fact buy Minecraft from PSN I will be sure to download this version swiftly at launch. Thank you Mojang we love you.