E3 - New Details Emerge From Bethesda About Skyrim's New Downloadable Content, Dawnguard

Unless you've been living in the sewers with a pack of mud crabs, you've probably heard of the video game phenomenon known as The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Well, fellow gamers, Elder Scrolls director Todd Howard heard that you like Skyrim, so he put more Skyrim in your Skyrim, so you can...er, never mind. The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is upon us, and as assumed by many TES fans, new details for the game's upcoming downloadable content are pouring out like the strongest waterfalls in the province of Skyrim. This new DLC is called Dawnguard, and it has much in store for high-level characters that have a thirst for more adventure.

Oblivion veterans that seek shiny new armor for their Skyrim steed will probably be disappointed. Todd Howard and his team have been pushing out some impressive DLC in Fallout 3 with depth adding up to what feels more like an expansion pack than just a weapon or a few quests. For instance, The Pitt threw players into tough moral situations involving slavery and Point Lookout was a large new landscape blanketed with intrigue and mystery. Bethesda has passion in what they do, and it's completely apparent in their acknowledgment of fan feedback and the variety in their additional content. I'll probably have to play Skyrim's latest DLC to see for myself how much this tradition holds up, but so far, color me impressed by the content I've seen on the web.

The major theme in Dawnguard is vampirism. You may choose to become a crossbow-toting vampire slayer badass, or succumb to the vampires' bidding. Siding with Fort Dawnguard's vampire hunters should certainly provide an interesting quest line, and crossbows are a much-requested welcome addition to Skyrim's arsenal. On the contrary, Bethesda has crafted more benefits for vampirism than ever before, including the ability to become a Vampire Lord, and summon a mount from a demonic plane of Oblivion (known as Soul Cairn). Vampires will also receive their own skill tree. As for the werewolves of Skyrim, you haven't been left out in the cold either, as werewolf characters will also receive some love with their own skill tree as well. Top that with additional legendary dragon encounters, and craftable dragon bone weapons and you have yourself a DLC with quite a bit of meat.

The Vampire Skill Tree from Dawnguard (Source: GameInformer)

Is your mouth watering for more Skyrim content to sink your plastic vampire teeth into? Well, the Xbox crowd won't have to wait much longer. Dawnguard releases on Xbox 360 on June 26th, and will cost 20 US dollars. It seems steep, but according to reports, the new content will clock players just around 20 hours. That's approximately a dollar per hour, so enjoying Dawnguard in the most lengthy manner will save you money from that price point per hour, technically speaking. Unfortunately, PC and PS3 users will have to hang in there a bit longer for their releases. Todd Howard and his team are so pleased with the near-finished product, that a few lucky Xbox 360 owners will have a chance to get an early taste of Dawnguard in the form of a pre-release beta version.

Stay tuned for more E3-related news, and my honest input.

DISCLAIMER: I did NOT go to E3. I simply read and watched countless other sources (including IGN, Kotaku, GameTrailers, etc) and summarized the news in my own words including my genuine, honest opinions.

E3 - Quantic Dream Reveals a Cinematic of Their Next Project; Beyond: Two Souls

Quantic Dream is no stranger to providing players with genuine emotion while journeying through dark and mature narratives in a video game. After Heavy Rain, the trend continues with Beyond: Two Souls. I am thoroughly impressed with the cinematic they revealed at this years Electronic Entertainment Expo.

Beyond: Two Souls throws you into the struggles of Jodie Holmes (voice-acted and mocapped by Ellen Paige). According to the cinematic revealed at E3, she appears to possess supernatural powers from an invisible entity (in case the coffee cup flying towards the wall didn't have you guessing). The game's director, David Cage, stated that certain gameplay sequences will leave it up to the player as to how such powers are utilized. The last seconds of the cinematic depict a good handful of explosions and SWAT vehicles toppling in every which direction. This is probably a hint at our protagonist's more violent decisions involving her alien abilities. The story transpires over the course of fifteen years, and the player will witness how Jolie develops as a character over that time. It's more than safe to assume that your own player choices will reflect on future events. No matter what happens, I'm counting on Quantic to render these choices to be very difficult like always. And I mean difficult. More difficult than choosing between Squirtle, Charmander, or Bulbasaur in Pokemon Red back in the 1990s (don't hate; it ain't an easy-mode decision for a 90's kid such as myself.)

Pokemon aside, David Cage confirmed a significant increase in the frequency of action this time around (over Heavy Rain) in an interview with GameTrailers. Fortunately for fans of his previous works, Cage will work tirelessly to provide natural-feeling life and emotion into the characters and overall narrative. He could have easily began toiling away at a Heavy Rain sequel or two, but that's not him and Quantic Dream's philosophy. Quantic prefers to take risks as opposed to milking the cash cow with sequel after sequel of a past success (as stated to IGN in an interview before this year's E3).

My Thoughts
When working at Quantic Dream, David Cage has always been known for creating video games that make you feel. This isn't limited to adrenaline from a suspenseful shootout or brutal fistfight, but sadness, relief and overall empathy for what the characters endure. He has stated in interviews that there are way too many games that rely on excessive meaningless violence to bring pleasure (and of course money) out of the player. He is the man who inspired me to drop the controller while playing Call of Duty: Black Ops or Bulletstorm and ask myself “why am I doing this? Is there a reason why I'm putting holes in people, other than the fact that they are shooting at me? Maybe they have their motivations of why they joined the 'evil' side.” Both Heavy Rain and Indigo Prophecy blew me away and I expect nothing less from Quantic Dream's latest endeavor.

DISCLAIMER: I did NOT go to E3. I simply read and watched countless other sources including (IGN, Kotaku, and GameTrailers) and summarized the news in my own words including my genuine, honest opinions.

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D Review

This review came from an old dead Tumblog of mine, before I switched to Blogger.

1998’s Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a landmark accomplishment in video game history, and is still, by some, crowned as the greatest game ever made. As gamers, we know that the greatest titles of this current generation get a repackaging, celebrating its technological accomplishment, like Valve’s Orange Box, or the Oblivion Game of the Year Edition. With that in mind, a remake of Ocarina should come as no surprise. It’s been more than a decade since the original masterpiece hit the Nintendo 64. Nintendo and Grezzo have adopted the classic, making several small tweaks to the gameplay, while entirely renovating the graphics and topping it with a glasses-free stereoscopic effect. Both companies hope to create an experience that attracts newcomers and preserving the nostalgic factor for veteran Zelda fans. How well does it translate to a handheld?

Ocarina of Time is a touching story of friendship, perseverance, courage, and greed. Our hero Link must plunder ancient temples, scale mountains, and even shift through time itself to thwart the evil Ganondorf from conquering the land of Hyrule. You’ll meet a cast of friendly townsfolk, bizarre creatures, and even complete lunatics during your perilous journey. The story as a whole has more predictable pieces, especially towards the conclusion, but it’s a tale that’s not to be missed. It’s sweet, bitter, and satisfying from beginning to finish, as any fantasy narrative should be.

Our wonderful story is drawn vividly with colorful new visuals and redone models that look true to the gorgeous original concept at back from 1998, which couldn’t quite replicate on the Nintendo 64. They could have done a lot more with the detail of the graphics for the new technology, but for nostalgia’s sake they didn’t go down that road. Additionally, the slightly-tweaked animations are for the better, and the 3D effect renders OOT3D exponentially more engrossing than the original. There are a few notable framerate hiccups and instances where Link animates funny, and also, I wouldn’t have minded waiting a few more months for a new orchestrated soundtrack. However, none of this will detract from your enjoyment of the game for new and veteran Zelda enthusiasts.

Speaking of enjoyment, I had lots of it when playing OOT on my shiny, yet smudgy 3DS. The controls differ greatly from the N64, but don’t fret; it only takes a little bit of adjustment from the seamless controller interface and it’ll play even more smoothly than what you were used to. Remember having to pause the game, waiting for the inventory screen to load, selecting the iron boots, then resuming the game, just to sink and be able to walk on a surface underwater? That won’t bother you anymore. The new interface reserves these actions to the X and Y buttons and the touch screen, so all you need to do is press a button or tap the screen to use iron boots, quest items, and weapons like the slingshot or bow. With projectiles comes the all-new, but optional motion controls, where you move your 3DS around to look in first-person, as if to aim at something. I didn’t think I’d need this feature but after spending just a few minutes with it, I wondered how I lived without it.

As a bonus, Grezzo implemented a Boss Rush mode, allowing you relive any boss battle for the best completion time. You can face any individual boss that you’ve defeated once before, or take on all of them one-by-one in the Gauntlet mode Once your quest is completed, you unlock the Master Quest option that features trickier enemies, mirrors the world from right to left, and makes the dungeons require a lot more critical thinking than your first playthrough.

In conclusion, Ocarina of Time 3D is a must-buy for any 3DS owner, and I probably won’t go back to the original any time soon. It’s the best 3DS game out there so far, but there’s a lot more 3DS titles to come later this year and early 2012 that will blow this game out of the water.

STORY: 10/10 | PRESENTATION: 9.4/10 | GAMEPLAY: 10/10 | LONGEVITY: 9.5

VERDICT: 9.7

Skyrim Wallpapers from Screenshots that I Took myself

These are taken in 1600x900 resolution. I will upload in more resolutions (and quite possibly more wallpapers) later on.

Click here to download a .rar of everything.

 Whiterun After Several Mods
800x600
1024x768
1280x800
1280x1024
1600 x 900
1600x1200
1440x900
1680x1050
1920x1200

 Succubus in Whiterun
1600 x 900
MORE COMING SOON

Sitting in the Jarl's Throne
1600 x 900

 Beautiful Night In Windhelm
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Night Landscape
1600 x 900

WEEKLY DIGITAL SALE ALERT 5/25 - Save 50% on Tera, Spend Memorial Day in the Cloud, and a Free Weekend of Red Orchestra 2

Hello, readers! Awesome savings on great games seldom require a lengthy introduction, so I'll cut to the chase! This week's deals are not to be missed!

Metro 2033 - $5 (Original Price: $20)

OnLive

Steam (DAILY DEAL FOR MAY 24 ONLY)

Amazon

Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad Free Weekend on Steam

TERA - $25 (Original Price: $50) SATURDAY, MAY 26th ONLY

Regular Edition

Collector's Edition

Civilization V - $7.50 (Original Price: $30)

Steam (also a free weekend!)

 $12.50

 Amazon

 Gamestop

 Get Games Go

OnLive's Memorial Day Sale

Amazon's Game Downloads Mayhem Sale (until May 29th)

Stay tuned next week for more great deals! Also, share Gamer's Respite with your friends!

Judge files cease-and-desist order to ban all imports of Xbox; Microsoft responds confidently in their favor

The gaming industry has taken a lot of flak from lawyers and activists in recent years, from California's proposed warning labels, to in-game LGBT relationships, to stories of a mass murderer that just *happened* to be an avid gamer. A more recent event in this saga of mishaps could put a complete ban to Microsoft's massively-successful Xbox 360 in the United States.

The flame ignited last month, with claims of Microsoft infringing Motorola's WiFi and video codec technologies. ITC judge David Shaw is displeased, and will forbid all imports of the console's 4GB and 250GB models to the US, ergo a successful commission. Microsoft responded, pointing out the counter-productive effect the ban will inevitably have on the console market. This did not convince Shaw to hold back. That said, Microsoft officials have stated that they are confident that the case will end in their favor.

I sense a legal shitstorm, yet I am in high hopes that things don't get too messy in the end.

Happy 20th Anniversary, Wolfenstein 3D!

Hey fellas! The anniversary of one of gaming's most influential shooters has sneaked up on me! I have little time to write a giant tribute to this fantastic gem of a game, so instead, I threw together something cool (below this paragraph). Remind you of anything? Yep, I assembled a parody of the viral "Keep Calm and Carry On" phenomenon just in time as a celebration! Additionally, Wolfenstein 3D is available to play for free in your web browser, thanks to Id and BethSoft.

Happy gaming!