Peggle 2 Release Date

Peggle 2 will launch for the XBOX ONE on 12/9.  I am ready!

Deal Alert: Europa Universalis IV

There is a deal this weekend on Europa Universalis IV for Steam users.  The game is 50% off throughout the weekend.  Get a great deal today!

Deal Alert: Arma II

Today's daily deal on Steam is Arma II for 80% off!  Arma II is a military style shooter like Battlefield.  If you want a "realistic army game" on the cheap, here's your chance!

Deal Alert: RAGE Free to Play This Weekend

Steam users, id Software says that their shooter "RAGE" will be free to play this weekend.  If you haven't given this title a shot, now is the time to do it!  Fire up Steam and RAGE into the weekend!

Games We Hope to See on XB1!

Now that the XBOX ONE is a mere few days away, we've been thinking of what game franchises we hope to get announcements for.  Here they are.

• Borderlands
• Grand Theft Auto
• Gears of War
• Bioshock
• Mass Effect
• The Elder Scrolls VI
• Fallout
• Worms

That's a good list for a start.  If you guys can think of anything else you'd like to see, drop it in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

Worms Clan Wars Free to Play

For the next 4 days you can download and play for free Worms Clan Wars on Steam.  Have fun battling it out Worms style!

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

XBOX ONE Twitch Streaming Delayed

The Twitch.tv functionality for the XBOX ONE has been delayed until 2014.  Apparently the app isn't quite ready yet.  More on this as it develops.

XBOX ONE Screenshots!

We have the screenshots no one else has!  They are pulled straight from SmartGlass App available now on Windows Phone and Windows 8.1.  The graphics are entirely insane.  I don't think people can talk trash on XBOX ONE after they see these.

Forza 5

And here's a another.

Battlefield 4

More!

FIFA 14

And more...

NBA 2K14

Shall we continue?



Call of Duty Ghosts

And one more...

 

 

XBOX ONE Game DVR and Live Streaming

The wait for XBOX ONE is nearly over.  Today we will take a look at the game DVR and streaming features of the console.  We did an article about DVR earlier, but we've found some more info on it.

GAME DVR

It is confirmed that in order to use game DVR at all, you will have to be connected to XBOX LIVE and have an active gold subscription.  The console will continuously buffer your last 30 seconds of gameplay so that anytime you say the phrase "XBOX RECORD THAT" it will just dump that rolling set of footage to the rendering program.  But what if you want a longer video than that?

You can up the capture time to 5 minutes if you have the "Upload Studio" app snapped in.  "Snapping" an app means that you are running it at the same time as another app.  In this case, the Upload Studio will be snapped to a little slice of the screen to the right of your main app (again, in this case, the game you're playing).  Now you can capture a longer video.

LIVE STREAMING

You can live stream a game at anytime (provided you are connected to XBOX LIVE with a current gold sub) by simply saying *"XBOX STREAM MY GAME".  The Twitch.tv app will fire up and confirm with you a few settings before starting your live stream.  It is reported that some parts of some games may not allow you to stream them to keep the game spoiler free. 

When you stream, your game will display in a main window, and a picture-in-picture of you will display below with your voice enabled for commentary. 

I would like to add that I will be live streaming some Forza 5 and possibly some Ryse multiplayer and Powerstar Golf as well shortly after launch. 

Let us know what you think about DVR/Streaming features in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

*Voice command subject to variation

PS4 Blinking Blue Light of Death

So the internets are on fire with the PS4 issue "Blinking Blue Light of Death".  We found a video from a guy on youtube that explains why this is happening (not sure that this guy is qualified to diagnose the problem but he overcame the issue himself) and how to fix it.

Here's the video, follow at your own risk.  We suggest that you call Sony if you experience this problem.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6N0ktQyI4g

Are you experiencing this problem with your PS4?  Let us know in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

PS4 Problems After Launch

Apparently there are some problems with the PS4 after launch.  One is a problem with bad HDMI ports and the other is a "Blue light" or "Blue Pulse" of death.  I've heard a little about these problems and I think they are somewhat isolated.  Do some research if you are a Sony fan that hasn't bought a system yet and see if this is a huge problem or just people trying to drum up flak for the console war.

A blue light or pulse will appear when you turn the console on and turn to white if working properly.  I guess this isn't happening with some units and it pulses blue and then never turns on.  A lot of these problems have stemmed from the Taco Bell give-a-way and I could speculate that units were mishandled.  Like I said it seems like small, isolated incidents that are being blown out of proportion by trolls or fan boys or some one just trying to scare up some notoriety.  Do your research, don't just buy into the fight and remember to have fun with your consoles and games.  If your PS4 or Xbox One is faulty send it back to the company and they will get you set up, most likely.

I will say that this is why I opt out of first year consoles.  I like to wait for all the little kinks to be ironed out.  I'm sure Sony will jump in and start correcting these issues and making things good for all their fans.

Happy (console war free) Gaming my Friends!

*If anything else develops or this problem gets worse, Matt or I will bring you more news*

Indie Reveiw: One Finger Death Punch

I'm not big on indie games and I am not trying to take anything away from them with that statement. But I decided to look into some for fun last night and was in a RPG state of mind. But I saw this game called One Finger Death Punch and I was immediately reminded of those great stickman fighting videos that were popular on the web back in high school. I downloaded the trial from Xbox's indie channel and got hooked by it's simple charms and dished out the hundred pennies to finish the robust campaign.

Death Punch is very simple at its core. You don't have to navigate levels as the game requires you to use one finger to push X to punch left and B to attack right. Waves of stickmen come running at our hero and you push the two buttons in time to defeat the horde. No button mashing here, imagine Batman: Arkham City's combo system where thought out strikes win over just mashing away. Most enemies die in one hit, but multi colored enemies take more hits and with combo presses of X and B. The action is fast and the mindlessness of the game becomes rather addicting as you strive to perfect each encounter.

There's a goofy commentary running while you play and the voice sounds straight out of a 1970's kung-fu movie. The visuals are rather striking for a game spotlighting stickmen and the backgrounds are a nicely detailed throwback to the SNES era. Close ups of the carnage are sprinkled through out the fighting when you decapitate enemies or kill them in a flashy way. There is just a lot to admire as you punch your way through each stage. There's also a ton of weapons, both ranged and melee you can use to your disposal. My favorite is the laser sword stages.

I recommend everyone on Xbox and PC to at least give it a trail run. I had fun and with 250 stages there's a lengthy amount of game for a buck. I give it a 10 out of 10. (Mostly for originality and it's absurdness.)

Happy Gaming my Friends!

Free with Xbox Gold

Iron brigade is out free for Gold members this week. Kind of tower defense, kind of shoot aliens with a giant mech. Made by Double Fine, it's funny and wonky and lots of fun in small bursts. Grab it, blast monsters, earn money, buy bigger guns, blast more monsters, have fun.

Happy Gaming my Friends!

Deal Alert: Kerbal Space Program Weekend Deal

Hey guys and gals, Kerbal Space Program is currently 40% off on the Steam Store.  Deal should be going on throughout the weekend.  I cannot recommend this game highly enough!  It's a great physics based game about space travel.  The game is still early on in development and the team at Squad is always working on it.  Download this game today and start your space adventures!

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more deal alerts like this one!  Thanks for reading!

Here Comes The PS4!

The wait is almost over friends!  Playstation 4 launches in the USA tomorrow night at midnight!  There are several major gaming sites that have been live streaming PS4 games all day today, and we'll probably see the same tomorrow. 

Are you getting a PS4?  Let us know in the comments section below.  Hang in there, it's almost here!

Project Spark

Project Spark has been a title we've had our eyes on since E3 this year.  For those of you who don't know what Project Spark is, it is an "open world digital canvas that allows you to build your own worlds, games, stories and share it with the world".  Basically, Project Spark is a "game" where you can make your own games.  Your imagination is the limit as you can create your own levels, stories, voices, animations, etc. 

The Team Dakota guys have been live streaming the game for quite some time now.  Unfortunately, I never get to catch it when its live, but they have a youtube channel where they upload all their live streams so you can watch them whenever you want.

The team usually picks a different genre or idea for a game for each live stream and then executes the build of that idea on the fly with pretty clear commentary of what is happening as they put these ideas together.  From tower defense to survival horror, they have put together some really great experiences with their game.  Some of my favorite live streams are where the team combs the alpha community for user generated games and then plays them. 

There are many powerful tools at your disposal in Project Spark.  You can start by choosing the size of map you want to create in.  Then you can terraform the terrain, paint a texture on by hand, use the biome brush to generate textures and objects at the same time, or even randomly generate and populate your map in seconds.  The amount of creative flexibility is astounding.

Level customization isn't where this game ends though for that merely scratches the surface of what this game can do.  Everything in the game has a "brain" that you can customize with a visual programming code. 

Most objects come with a "default brain", meaning if you choose a goblin it will have a default "bad guy" goblin brain so that you can just drop one in and start playing and it'll act in a certain predefined way.  If that default brain just isn't doing it for you, you can keep what parts of it you like and then write in what you need, or you can clear out the whole thing and make it completely custom. 

If you spend a long time creating a custom brain, you can  also share that with the community for use in their games.  On top of that, everything you create in this game can be shared across all platforms that the game is supported on.  That means you can make something on the XBOX 360, continue to tweak it on Windows 8, and then play through the whole thing on XBOX ONE.  That is amazing!

Community members can riff off of each other as well, doing "remixes" of each others ideas.  This will be cool because if you have a great idea but maybe can't get it fully realized, another player could grab your idea and help you bring it to full realization.  Or maybe you had a great idea to start with and then another player takes it and turns it into something you could have never imagined!

There is so much potential with this game.  It really appeals to me because I am a very creative person.  I cannot wait to just spend hours and hours expressing myself creatively through this game!

If you haven't seen much about this game I have to suggest that you catch up on the hour long live streams and really get into what this is all about.  Not often does something so special come along, but this is one of those times.  Project Spark is going to be special.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

Post XBOX ONE Launch - What to Expect Here

Just wanted to let everyone know that Daryll and I will be doing some reviews on the XBOX ONE stuff after launch.  There will be a review on the console (which will include things like the controller, Kinect 2.0, etc) and we will review Ryse: Son of Rome, Forza Motorsport 5, and Powerstar Golf.

Some of these reviews could start rolling in shortly after release, while others may take a little more time. 

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for upcoming next gen gaming news and reviews.  Thanks for reading!

XBOX All in One Demo

Here is the 12 minute video showing what to expect from the XBOX ONE.  Enjoy and please post your thoughts.

XBOX ONE Entertainment Apps

Here is a list of XBOX ONE entertainment apps (video, etc) to give you something to do when you don't want to game or are waiting for a matchmaking session.

• Amazon Instant Video
• Crackle
• CWTV
• ESPN
• FOX NOW
• FXNOW
• Hulu Plus
• Machinima
• MUZU TV
• Netflix
• NFL on XBOX ONE
• Redbox Instant
• Target Ticket
• TED
• Twitch
• Univision Deportes
• Verizon FiOS TV
• VUDU

You can also Skype chat with a friend, and the XBOX ONE Skype will connect with anyone that has Skype regardless of platform (pc, iphone, etc).  Surfing the net with Internet Explorer is also an option and as far as we know you can watch most of these apps on main screen and snap other apps like IE to the right side of the screen to multitask. 

Let us know what you think about these features in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

Every XBOX ONE Launch Title

Here are all the confirmed launch titles for the XBOX ONE up to today.

• Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag
• Battlefield 4
• Call of Duty Ghosts
• Crimson Dragon
• Dead Rising 3
• FIFA 14
• Fighter Within
• Forza 5 (Standard and Limited Edition)
• Just Dance 2014
• Killer Instinct
• LEGO Marvel Superheroes
• LocoCycle
• Madden 25
• NBA 2K14
• NBA LIVE 14
• Need for Speed Rivals
• Powerstar Golf
• Ryse: Son of Rome
• Skylanders: Swap Force
• Zoo Tycoon
• Zumba Fitness: World Party

Titles in the "launch window" include:

• Kinect Sports Rivals
• Minecraft: XBOX ONE Edition
• Peggle 2
• Project Spark (Beta in Jan 2014)
• Titanfall
• Wolfenstein: The New Order

There were also some games that got delay, among them were Watchdogs and The Crew.  There are a few titles that are coming later that include; Destiny, Metal Gear Solid 5, and The Division.

Let us know what games you're looking forward to in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

Peggle 2 Delayed Until December

Peggle 2 was originally supposed to be a "day one" title for the XBOX ONE, but has since been pushed back to December.

Popcap had this to say about the delay "Peggle 2 is a 'launch timeframe' title...But [it] will not launch day-and-date with the Xbox One -- instead, it will become available a few weeks later in December".

This is a bummer, but a couple of weeks wait is manageable.  At least it didn't get pushed to spring 14.

As always, let us know what you think in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

Metal Gear Solid 5 Spring 2014

It looks like Metal Gear Solid 5 will drop on next gen consoles in the spring of 2014.  Very excited for this title.  It looked great at E3!

Phil Spencer Talks About the Future of XBOX ONE

This is just a repost of an interview from Gamespot, but is an interesting Q&A session about what we can expect from XBOX ONE over time.

Game Review: Call of Duty Ghosts

Infinity Ward dropped Call of Duty Ghosts for the PS3 and XBOX 360 this week and we got our hands on a copy for the PS3.  Lets take a look at what we thought.

My initial thought was one of excitement as I navigated the slick menus of the game.  I played about 30 minutes of the campaign and that was about enough for me.  The game looks washed out and under polished running on the PS3.  The animation was smooth enough and the gameplay felt as familiar as it has come to be from the series, but I was not blown away at all.  The space portion was really cool, but was also very short (so I hear the campaign is as well). 

What I played before I turned it off seemed to be a series of interactive cutscenes where you had to run/escape from one disaster or another.  Then I landed in a part where it was me, one other guy, and the dog Riley.  Shortly after this I had seen quite enough.

The graphics were not good, and the story jumped around too much for my tastes.  You are thrust into the story with not much introduction as to what is going on, and the whole thing feels very arbitrary. 

From a gameplay standpoint it felt pretty refined and slick.  I tried to play some multiplayer but spent about 8 minutes searching for a match with no match made.  Frustrated, I turned the game off and put it away.

I'm not much of a CoD fan, but people that love the series will no doubt love this game too.  There was nothing really jaw dropping about it, but it at least lives up to the standard that the series has set, though it does feel like they tried to make it "too epic" at least in the bits that I played.

There are better shooters out there for sure, but this one is solid.  I personally will pass on this one, but don't let one opinion sway you from at least giving it a shot.  There weren't any noticeable bugs in it and it was at least presented well.

Overall I give this game a 7/10.  I personally didn't enjoy it, but I cannot say that it isn't a well crafted game that plays good.

I'll give it a round to go when the next gen version comes out and see if it feels better.

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more game reviews and news.  Thanks for reading.

Happy Birthday Halo 4

One year ago today, Halo 4 dropped!  Happy birthday!  Can't wait for Halo on the XBOX ONE!

Call of Duty Ghosts Pulls Motion Capture Scene Straight from Modern Warfare 2

Apparently the team at Infinity Ward reused a mocap scene from near the end of CoD MW2 in the beginning of it's new game, Ghosts.  This shouldn't come as a surprise from a studio that has used the same engine in every single game this console generation.  Here is the video.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

Microsoft Giving Away XBOX ONE Consoles & Games

Microsoft is giving away XBOX ONE consoles and/or the game Killer Instinct to select longtime fans.  These gifts come in the form of email, and started today.  Check your email (and your spam folder) to see if you were a lucky recipient of such a gift!

Visit Big Ups Gaming often for more news like this!  Thanks for reading!

Big Ups Gaming Blog Fresh New Look!

We have a great new look for the blog.  Same great content.  You'll notice as we change backgrounds we'll change colors to fit with the backgrounds!

XBOX ONE Or PS4? New Poll Up!

We want to know what console you are getting!  Hit the poll on the side of the blog to let us know!  Thanks!

Opinion: Next Gen Systems Short On Storage?

Before the consoles were actually announced, my friends and I tried to guess what some of the specs were going to be.  Most importantly were "what kind of media will the games come on?" and "how much storage space will be available on the console itself?".

We all guessed that the games would be on Blu Ray, and they are.  But for internal HDD, we were guessing 1TB, 2TB, or even 5TB.  Nope.  500GB!  That isn't going to get the job done at all!

My guess is that both Sony and Microsoft got some great deals on surplus 500GB drives, so they decided to go with that.  The problem is, a Blu Ray can hold nearly 1/10 that amount of information.  So what is the point here?

Most games will require a mandatory install.  Call of Duty Ghosts is rumored to weigh in at 40GB installed.  That is 8% of the internal storage.  Battlefield 4 install is said to be double what CoD is at a whopping 80GB, or 16% of your drive!  That is nearly 1/5 of the entire drive for one game!  And that is just the mandatory, that doesn't count extra BF Premium content!  By the time you have all the maps, skins, weapons, vehicles, etc. that ship with Premium, we could be talking about 200GB!

Just to put this in perspective, a 360 game installed was at most about 4.6GB (most of the time), for a mere 1.89% of the 250GB drive (based on the 250GB model).  To keep this standard, the XBOX ONE console would have to have around a 2.75TB hard drive.  But it doesn't.

To make matters worse, both console are offering "Day One Digital", or the means to buy a game from the console's online store the very day it comes out.  Here is where things could potentially get sticky; lets say that you bought Battlefield 4 on the console day one.  Gotta have 80GB for that download.  Then you have to install it, now the original file with the install is 120GB.  Now start piling all the premium content on top of that. Wow.

How does either platform push digital with next to no storage on the device at all?  Well, all is not lost as there are some options but some of them will cost you some $$.  Microsoft has their "Cloud Storage" system (said to be free), but it is unknown at this time if there is a max limit on how much you can store there.  The PS4 HDD is removable/replaceable.  So you can just pop a larger drive in there and you're solid.  USB 3.0 flash memory is rumored to be a storage solution, though the maximum size you can use is unknown at this time.  On the XBOX ONE, you cannot remove/replace the HDD, but you can add an external USB3.0 HDD.  This feature should be enabled sometime after launch.  It will be likely that each company will ship their own branded USB 3.0 flash drive, PS4 should have a HDD available, and it would be no surprise to see an XBOX ONE branded external HDD for sale.

It's kind of annoying that the internal storage directly contradicts the idea of gaming moving towards digital.  Take away the games heading towards digital though and you are still left with 2 next gen consoles that don't have enough storage to meet the needs of even the most casual gamer.

Let us know what you think about the storage limitations of the XBOX ONE and PS4 in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news.  Thanks for reading!

XBOX ONE Resolution Issues. Are They Just Drummed Up Controversy?

There are some youtubers and other fanboys on the internet that are claiming that the XBOX ONE has resolution issues due to the ESRAM.  This has all started over the Call of Duty Ghosts statement made about the game running at 720p on the XBOX ONE VS 1080p on the PS4.

Lets be clear about something, the XBOX ONE version is running at 1080p, but the game is being upscaled to 1080p from native 720p instead of running at a native 1080p.  This is not due to the fact that the XBOX ONE is incapable of running games in native 1080p (Forza 5 runs at a blistering 60fps at 1080p), it is in fact on the end of Infinity Ward that they can't get it running in 1080p.  That isn't to say that they can't patch it in the future to run at 1080p on the XBOX ONE, it's just going to be upscaled from 720p for launch.

The Call of Duty series launches games every single year.  How long have they had the XB1 dev kit?  Did they start it on the PS4 and then port it over to the XB1?  It is more than possible that they just didn't have the time to figure it out before the launch window. 

I don't think there is a major issue here.  Forza 5 displays at 1080p, so we know that 1080p is more than possible on the XBOX ONE.  If Infinity Ward and other devs are having a hard time getting games to run at 1080p it is a problem worth looking into, but to say that it will never run games at 1080p is just a straight lie.

Lets also remember that these are launch titles.  Titles at launch for the 360 VS titles that have come out in the last 2 years on the same console look drastically different.  This is new tech that devs are still learning how to develop for.  Sure, it has similar architecture to that of a PC, but that doesn't mean it is the same as a PC.  For example, the PS4 has 8GB of GDDR5 ram VS the XBOX ONE having 8GB of DDR3 ram and 32MB of ESRAM.  Call of Duty isn't going to work the same on both consoles, period.

People are trying so hard to call the consoles limitations, expectations, etc. early so that they can say "oh yeah I called that since before it came out".  They do it so they appear to be so smart about these things, when all they are really doing it making themselves look stupid and drumming up the hate and controversy about the consoles.

In the end it is all about the games.  You won't get Halo, Titanfall, or Gears of War on the PS4, and you won't get Killzone, Little Big Planet, or Uncharted on the XBOX ONE.  Why is it such a big deal that one console has to be better than the other?  Can't we just be satisfied with the one that plays the games that WE want to play and not worry about what other people do or like?

Let us know how you feel about this in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more articles like this one.  Thanks for reading!

Games With Gold: A World of Keflings

A World of Keflings is free on XBOX LIVE for Gold Members starting today.  Download and enjoy!

PS4 Music Limitations

We've recently found out that there will be only one option for you to listen to music on your PS4.  According to IGN, the PS4 will NOT support the playback of CDs, mp3s, etc.  This means if you put your favorite music CD into the PS4, it will do nothing.  You can't rip the music to your hard drive for playback during your games either, because the PS4 does not support MP3 playback. 

You can however use the "Music Unlimited" service as a means to listen to music.  PS4 owners can buy a Music Unlimited membership for $59.99 a year, or if they have a PS+ subscription can get a discount to $41.99 a year.  So instead of having a CD rip/mp3 playback system, Sony wants you to PAY to listen to music.  On top of your PS+ account.  Pretty sweet!

Let us know how you feel about this in the comments section below.  Keep it locked to Big Ups Gaming for more info like this.

What To Expect From the XBOX ONE

We are a little less than a month away from the launch of the XBOX ONE, so lets dive in and see what this piece of hardware can do!

• Supports 8 people in party chat
• TV integration
• Wifi direct
• Dual band wireless G/N
• Skype video chat
• Snap apps to side of screen (Skype, Internet Explorer, TV, etc)
• Render HD video of last 30 seconds of gameplay and edit/share them in Upload Studio
• Better SmartGlass integration
• Live stream games via Twitch.TV
• Kinect 2.0 has 1080p camera, can track 6 people at once
• SmartMatch lets you find a game while you do something else
• Reputation system has been overhauled
• Achievements system has been updated, devs can add achievements on the fly
• New controller has at least 40 improvements over the 360 controller
• Cloud based saving/computing/etc

Those are the biggest features I could find, but the box is and will continue to do great things over the course of the console lifespan. 

Kinect 2.0

The Kinect seems to be a point on contention on the new console.  Some people believe that the NSA will spy on you in your livingroom/mancave with the device.  Others think that MS will gather data on how you respond to ads and sell that data to other companies.

The fact of the matter is that the Kinect is a powerful part of the system that is going to change the way you play games and how the games respond to you and your friends.  Playing a split screen game like Diablo 3 (not confirmed for XBOX ONE)?  You and your friend can swap controllers mid game and retain control of your characters respectively.  How is this possible?  Kinect recognizes the people in the room.

Voice commands are the thing I'm the most excited about.  I can walk into my gaming room and say "XBOX ON" and the console will fire up and be ready for me!  Switching from gaming to TV to apps is as simple as saying "XBOX WATCH TV", "XBOX SKYPE", or "XBOX PLAY GAME". 

Another great feature of the console will be making clips of awesome moments in a game.  "XBOX RECORD THAT" is all you have to say after doing something awesome!  The machine will automatically pull the last 30 seconds of gameplay and render an HD quality video in the background without impacting your gameplay session.  The unit will even pop up a notification when the video is done!

The XBOX ONE Controller

It has been said by MS that the new controller has received at least 40 design updates.  From ergonomics to force feedback, this new controller promises to be the best yet. 

They have tested the design iterations with hundreds (perhaps thousands) of core gamers to get the new controller to look, feel, and react the way that games want it to. 

New to the controller is the "Impulse Triggers" feature.  This innovation takes the core idea of rumble in the controller and puts it into the trigger for even more fine tuned feedback.  Feel the ABS during a racing game, or the shock of a trigger pull in an FPS.  It will be interesting to see how this develops over time.

A new Dpad is also among the 40 changes to the new controller.  MS claims that the Dpad is much improved over that of the XBOX 360 controller.  We'll see just how much as soon as we get our hands on it!

The "Start" and "Back" buttons have been replaced by the "Menu" and "View" buttons.  These buttons will allow different functionality depending on what is running at the time.  It is said that games will still pause like we're used to by hitting the "Menu" button.  Not too much else is known at this time about how the buttons will work, but I'm betting that the "View" button will allow for switching between games/apps, etc.

The new thumbsticks are slightly smaller and have a more "grippy" feel to them.  They are also rumored to be more fluid feeling than the XBOX 360 controllers sticks were.

The ABXY buttons have received a slight tweak, appearing to be a bit closer together.  MS promises the change is ever so slight and fully tested and approved by core gamers.

XBOX LIVE and The Cloud

The console and it's peripherals is not the only thing that is being innovated and updated.  The new XBOX LIVE promises dedicated servers (something a lot of PC games have done for a long time) to replace the outdated "client hosting" system of the original XBOX and XBOX 360.  Dedicated servers in theory will get rid of things like cheating and host advantage because the game files reside on a dev controlled server (so no one can inject their own data into a match), and no one in the match will be the "host".  The server will be the host.

MS says that they have over 300,000 servers worldwide for XBOX LIVE.  They also mention that the amount of servers they have is larger than what the entire internet was in the mid 90s. 

XBOX LIVE and the cloud will make your console gaming experience easier in ways that people will not expect.  Your profile and game saves can live on the cloud.  That means that if you sign in on a friend's console, your profile data will instantly show up and your save games will be right there for you. 

Other cloud features include "cloud computing".  A good example of this is found in Forza 5.  Sure, there will be game based AI for you to race against, but you will often find yourself racing against a friend's "Drivatar".  What exactly is a "Drivatar" you ask?  Drivatar is the cloud working in a way that is both innovative and awesome.  As you play the game, the drivatar cloud system learns how you race.  From cornering to passing, and what lines you follow, over time your drivatar will race more and more like you.

But what does that mean?

It means that your drivatar will become a racing AI.  Your drivatar will compete against your friends when you are not playing the game.  Not only that, but it will gain things for you.  If your drivatar beats your friend at a race, you will see the rewards for it.  The longer you play the game, the more like you your drivatar becomes.

MS says that the cloud will do more for the console over time.  I assume this means as they innovate and people come up with new and thoughtful ideas for using the cloud, it will become more powerful.

I'm very much looking forward to all that the XBOX ONE can do.  Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more news like this!

Big Ups Update

Due to the fact that we here at Big Ups Gaming are more knowledgeable about the Microsoft consoles than anything else, XBOX 360 and XBOX ONE are going to be our primary focus.  That isn't to say that we won't continue to post about PS3, PS4, and PC, but those platforms will not be our primary focus.

Both myself and Daryll own XBOX consoles, and play XBOX games.  Neither of us have a PS3, or are planning to get a PS4.  I have a good gaming PC, but I don't game on it that much.  Daryll does all his gaming on the XBOX console.

Since this blog has been mostly focused on the XBOX platform, we are just going to embrace that because it is what we know and play everyday.

We will continue with "Deal Alerts" for all platforms, and whenever a good news story comes up for any platform, we will cover it.  Just expect mostly XBOX news.

Thanks everyone for reading our blog, it means a lot to us.  We want to continue to break out of the snarky insult fest that gaming journalism has become and deliver you the news in the way that we do it.

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for gaming news!

The Sims 4 Touts Fall 2014 Release Date

Dev Maxis and publisher EA have announced that The Sims 4 will hit retail in the fall of 2014.  We can only hope that the release goes more smoothly than that of the SimCity reboot.

More details as it develops.

Drop us a comment and let us know if you're excited for The Sims 4.

Keep it locked on Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news!

Titanfall Release Date!

Developer Respawn Entertainment is dropping (pun totally intended) Titanfall for the XBOX ONE, XBOX 360, and PC on March 11th 2014.  Get your preorders in now because this game is shaping up to be the next juggernaut shooter series.



Titanfall coming 3.11.14 on XBOX ONE, XBOX 360, and PC

I am very excited about this!  Let us know if you are looking forward to Titanfall in the comments section below!

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news like this!

XBOX ONE Game DVR

I've had a burning question about how the game DVR works for the XBOX ONE.  While watching a Kinect tech demo, the guy that is giving the demo says that XBOX ONE is "always buffering the last 30 seconds of gameplay".  He points out if you did something awesome and want to keep it, you just say "XBOX, RECORD THAT" and the XBOX will pull out the last 30 seconds of gameplay and render an HD video in the background without affecting your gameplay.  You will get a notification once the video is ready, which you can either press the XBOX button to instantly deal with the clip, or finish your game and deal with it later.

So there ladies and gets is how game DVR is going to work on the XBOX ONE.

Let us know what you think about this in the comments section below.  Keep it locked on Big Ups Gaming for all your gaming news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDE53cZOwaU 3:10 explains DVR.

Watchdogs and The Crew Get Delayed

Developer Ubisoft has reported that both Watchdogs and The Crew are both being delayed until Q1 or Q2 2014.  That means the games could be a late as summer 2014.

Here are parts of official statements.

-Watchdogs-
"Our ambition from the start with Watch Dogs has been to deliver something that embodies what we wanted to see in the next-generation of gaming. It is with this in mind that we’ve made the tough decision to delay the release until spring 2014..."

-The Crew-
"The tough decisions we are taking today to fully realize the major potential of our new creations have an impact on our short-term performance.  We are convinced that, longer term, they will prove to be the right decisions both in terms of satisfaction for our fans and in terms of value creation for our shareholders..."

This is a giant bummer, but if it makes the games better it will be worth the wait.

Let us know what you think in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more gaming news!

Next Gen Gaming: Which Console Should You Get?

11/15 marks the release of the Sony Playstation 4, followed a week later on 11/22 by the XBOX ONE.  Gamers have a lot to be excited about with both new consoles.  The burning question is; which console should you get?  Let's explore!

What console do you have currently?  That is the question that will play the biggest role going forward into the new generation.  If you have a PS3, the logical choice would be the PS4 because that is where the exclusives are going to be.  Same for XBOX 360, it makes sense to go with the XBOX ONE.

That's not to say that there won't be some converts though.  If you don't care about exclusives on either system then there will sure be choice for you.  Keep a few things in mind when choosing though.

XBOX ONE

Playstation 4

• PS4 retails for $399 while the XBOX ONE is $499
• PSN costs $50 a year while XBOX LIVE costs $60 a year
• PS4 has exclusives like Little Big Planet, Uncharted, and Gran Turismo
• XBOX ONE has Halo, Gears of War, and Forza as some of it's exclusives
• Both are similar in power, but the edge goes to PS4
• PS4 comes out first

So with those things in mind you can make a choice for which next gen system is right for you.  Either way you go the entertainment is going to be top notch.  Since Microsoft and Sony have developed a fan base it is likely that fans will stay with what they like.  It's pointless to try to argue over what is better, they are both going to be wonderful.

Battlefield 4 Beta For BF3 Premium Members

If you are a Battlefield 3 premium member you should be able to get in the Battlefield 4 Beta starting tomorrow!  See you in the game!

Rainbow Six Vegas Free On XBOX LIVE

Rainbow Six Vegas is free now on XBOX LIVE.  Another new game for free soon!

Dead Rising 2 Free For XBOX LIVE Gold Members

As of today 8/15, Dead Rising 2 is free for gold members.  Get to downloading!

***EDIT***

The game will be available for free starting tomorrow, 8/16.  Sorry for the date mixup.

Opinion: Live Action Trailers Are a Waste

So I saw a new trailer for Theif for the XBOX ONE the other day.  I downloaded the 111MB with anticipation to see what the new game was going to look like.  Well, I didn't even get to see the gameplay because the whole thing was a stupid "live action" trailer.  Live action trailers for video games make about as much sense as a CG or cartoon trailer for a live action movie.  It just doesn't make sense and is pretty much a waste of money.

I understand trying to get some hype out about a game but the live action trailers are not the way to go.  As a developer you really aren't saying anything about your game by releasing a live action trailer.  Bungie has done some live action stuff in the past and I feel the pretty much the same more or less about their foray into it.  Now there have been some pretty cool things done by companies with live action clips that expand on the story of the game, but calling something a trailer that is live action is misleading.

A trailer is something that I expect will give me a good idea of what a game is going to be about, look like, play like, etc.  Basically a few minute snapshot of why I should buy a game.  A live action trailer just does not do that for me.  Save your money and spend it on making the game better.

Let us know your thoughts on live action trailers in the comments section below.  As always stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more opinion articles, game reviews, and other content.  Thanks for reading!

Free with Xbox Gold: Crack Down

Crack Down is now free to Xbox Gold subscribers on the Xbox 360 Market Place, so go crack down on crime already!

Happy gaming my friends!

Self Publishing Coming to Xbox One

According to a statement from the Chief Product Officer for Xbox One, the system will allow self publishing. "Our vision is that every person can be a creator." Were the words from Marc Whitten (who is the Chief Product Officer) in a post on facebook today. Sounds exciting for any one looking to create and publish their own games. Whitten and Microsoft will go into more detail about this in August at Gamescom. I will bring you more as it develops.

Happy gaming my friends!

Incoming: Summer of Arcade Xbox 360

Bust out those flippers get ready to dive into Summer of Arcade on Xbox 360 on August 7th.

Summer of Arcade should now be known to all who have enjoyed Xbox Live for the past few years. And for those of you new to Xbox 360 and Xbox Live, welcome to the premiere event of the Arcade line up of games. Most years the games have been great and buying all can hook you up with some incentives. This year you will receive a Souls Pack for Ascend: Hand of Kul for free.

There are four games included in Summer of Arcade:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows

Charlie Murder

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Flashback

Happy gaming my friends!

Free with Xbox Gold: Assassins Creed 2

Assassin's Creed 2 is now available for free if you are an Xbox 360 Gold Member. So get you some stealth kills and alternate history.

Happy gaming my friends!

Quick Review: Defense Grid

Defense grid is out now on Xbox 360 for free. This makes the game a great little title to add to your library. I downloaded it because of this reason and was delightfully surprised. I'm not huge into RTS or tower defense games but this one streamlines the experience to be a little more accessible to those who are new or not a huge fan.

The graphics are a little on the sketchy side but this game came out a few years ago, so it's not a big hang up for me. It looks good enough, but not as good as say Halo Wars for example. Everything looks well enough to not be ugly and the amount of particles, explosions, enemies and projectiles in the game is staggering. It gets busy quick with nary a hiccup to it's animations.

The real treat of the game is the simple set up of your defenses. Towers cannot be destroyed by baddies making it easy to get upgrades and keep a great tower selection in play for the duration. This may be shallow for hardcore tower defense fans, but for the vanilla crowd (like myself) this is a welcome departure from the micro-management that is expected from such games. Where the real challenge lies is the limit of towers you can construct and which are best placed to destroy the incoming hordes of aliens. Towers block other tower's line of fire so it is imperative to find the perfect setup to win out. If not, you will lose, fast.

The goal is to stop the incoming waves (anywhere from 5 to 99) of aliens from stealing all your power cores that are centrally located in predetermined spot on the battle field. Most of the squares you can set up defenses on are located on the side of the access roads your enemy will take. Sometimes you have to make paths that will make the robots take the longest route and get shredded along the way.

This is a great game for free and there is lots of fun to be had, but only in small game sessions for this gamer.

I give this game a 7.75 out of 10.

Happy gaming my friends!   

Opinion: What's the Problem With Microsoft Changing Policies?

I've been watching and reading a lot of opinions on the Microsoft policy change for Xbox One and I don't understand all the hate. "Everyone" was mad about the One and it's "DRM" and always online (AO) policies. So they changed it. It was nothing different from the PlayStation launch debacle and the hack. Stupid stuff happens and it was a pity that Sony had to deal with that stuff. And this hurt Sony and it's sales numbers reflected that.

What I don't get is why it's the new norm for consumers of the gaming biz to dictate everything publishers (Bio Ware) and console (All of them) creators have planned for games and consoles. It seemed to me (and I'm not taking anything away from the amazing PS4) that Microsoft really wanted to change the way we could game and share games and use our consoles. I do think that they should have offered a service of the machine that would not require internet connections. But that would be costly and no company in America makes a product to not make money. This is really neither here no there anymore considering it changed.

Another thing is all the people I knew who were XB fans were down with this policy. I think what happened are Sony or Nintendo fans shot a bunch of flak at Microsoft and they changed their opinion over that. I know the real reason was because of low pre-order sales but I can't help but think it was the former and not the latter. Why does a fan of a different system have an opinion on the one they weren't going to get in the first place? Why is everyone still mad if Microsoft change policy? I heard a guy on youtube call out all gamers that were okay with original Xbox One policies. He said they weren't real gamers. Whatever.

All I want to know is why everyone is still mad after they got their way?

Happy gaming my friends!

Counter Strike: Source VS Counter Strike: Global Offensive Screenshots

I recently started playing Counter Strike again.  There are 2 versions that are popular right now; Counter-Strike: Source (CSS) and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CSGO)

 

The difference in graphics is pretty astounding.  Here are some sample shots from each.

 

CSS

CSGO

 

 

CSS

 

 

CSGO

 

 

CSS

 

 

CSGO

 

 

 

 

Deal Alert: Killing Floor for $3.99 On Steam

I completely missed this game when it came out.  How did I not hear of this?  The game is amazing.  You can buy the vanilla game for a low low $3.99 on Steam right now.  The offer goes through July 11th.  Also, between now and then you can install it and play it for free, so you can even try the full game before you buy.

Final Fantasy 7 Available on Steam

I didn't know this was coming out, but there is a PC version of FFVII available on Steam for $11.99.  The game just came out on Steam today.  If you have never played FFVII or haven't played it in a long time, here is a chance for you to own one of the greatest video games of all time.

Free With Xbox Gold: Defense Grid

You can now get the arcade title Defense Grid if you have a gold subscription for free. It's a tower defense game so if you like them go ahead and download it!

Happy Gaming My Friends!

Don Mattrick To Leave Microsoft

Rumors are circulating right now that president of Microsoft's entertainment division, Don Mattrick, could be leaving the company.  The rumor has it that Mattrick is leaving to take a high ranking position over at Zynga.  There could be an official announcement as early as today.  More on this as it develops.

Shenanigans: EA Continues to Sell Broken Game for $20 on Origin

EA has abandoned the game Darkspore, which currently is unplayable due to a server error.  The company is still allowing people to purchase, for $20,  a game that they can't even play due to said error.  Don't buy Darkspore because you won't be able to play it.

We hope you like the new "Shenanigans" articles where we let you know when someone is up to no good in your neighborhood.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more info.  Thanks for reading!

Deal Alert: Free Copy of Plants VS Zombies HD for IOS

The folks at EA and IGN have partnered up to give away free copies of "Game of the Month" Plants VS Zombies HD for "a couple more days".  Get this free game for your iPad or iPhone here.

Deadpool Reveiw

Okay, so Deadpool is out and my feelings on it are mixed. It's a workable hack and slash game with nice visuals and solid voice acting. It's a little short and the difficulty ramps up to unbalanced levels later in the game that make it imperative to buy all the upgrades for weapons and the Merc with the Mouth as well.

Deadpool at it's core it a hilarious romp through the fictional island of Genosha that fans will recognize from comics. You blast and slice your way through foes with the occasional on rails shooting segments, puzzles and platforming sprinkled in. Deadpool controls well enough to solves said puzzles and I never had much trouble navigating platforming sections when I had to. Not to say there isn't some bad level design that leads to a little run around before finding the proper path. With this said the meager eight levels run long and have enough variety to keep from getting stale but not enough oomph to make it great.

The controls work well enough and I feel High Moon should have spent a little more time with combat and the flow of the players movements. Everything feels a little stiff and it lacks the polish expected in the genre. There is a hesitancy between moves and combos that leave you open for cheap shots and even cheaper deaths. This doesn't break the game though, when you take out a room of baddies without dying and pull off some sweet combos if leaves you feeling like a bad ass and ready for the next melee. Switching between weapons is done using the D-pad. Left is melee weapons, right swaps guns and down will cycle through thrown weapons. With three melee weapons, four different guns and four thrown weapons the D-pad approach only adds to the frustrations sometimes encountered with the controls. Also the environment is sometimes claustrophobic and leads to camera problems, but you can freely move the camera with the right stick so it's not too bad. The most mind boggling thing about this game is thus: Deadpool has a healing factor that allows him to live through anything. So he can be burned, bashed, zapped, powerbombed, stabbed and withstand a host of super powers during combat with out the player dying. But find yourself surrounded by four bad guys with rifles and you will be ripped to shreds in seconds. I is paramount to use your stun grenades when surrounded by these wimpy troops with just plan old guns. 

The real ticket seller for Deadpool is the humor and gory visuals we would expect from the assassin's own game. The humor runs the gauntlet from crude, satire, parody, toilet and sexual. There is something funny for everyone. The game also takes shots at other games ranging from Call of Duty to Super Mario Brothers. Deadpool breaks the fourth wall to the point that the game is being made as you play it and he "changes" things in the script if he doesn't like it. I would recommend this game to any one just for the laughs and some of the crazy antics alone, like when you get to slap Wolverine senseless over and over. I was really surprised at the usage of the F-word through out the game. It's everywhere and this title earned every bit of it's mature rating. So parents, keep in mind when considering this for your child, I was a little taken aback when a thirteen year old on my friends list was playing the game.

Deadpool by all means is not a bad game. I liked it more than X-men Origins" Wolverine, but it's combat was not as fluid as that title. If High Moon keeps it up and polishes a hopeful sequel, we could have a great Deadpool game that doesn't fall short of the bar.

I give this a 7.75 out of 10. If you are a fan of Deadpool, X-men or just Marvel in general I recommend this title. If you love hack and slash games and are not a big fan, you may feel a little let down.

Happy gaming my friends!  

World of Tanks BETA

Sign up for the World of Tanks BETA. I know I have! There is a nifty link right on the games tab of Xbox 360 so sign up and lets destroy each other. You have to wait for confirmation, I hope I get in on it.

Happy gaming my friends!

Game Review: Neverwinter MMORPG

This past week saw the official launch of the new Cryptic Studios MMORPG "Neverwinter".  As fans of Dungeons and Dragons know this game is set in the Neverwinter region of Toril.  Prefaced by RA Salvatore's 4 part book series of the same name, Neverwinter has a lot to live up to.  Lets talk!

First of all the game resides on PC and you need a fairly decent gaming rig to run it.  You can go to Perfect World's website to download the game client.  You will need to create an account first, but then you will be quickly up and running.  You must have an internet connection to play as this is an MMO akin to WoW.

The game is free to play and you can spend real money on "Zen" that you can use to buy things in the game.  You do not have to have Zen though, you can play through the game without ever spending any money.

The graphics and sound are very good for an MMO.  The music gets a little annoying but you can just turn it off in the settings.  There are a lot of really good ambient sounds to make the world come to life though!  Most NPCs have fully voiced parts, but there is a decent amount of reading to go around as well. 

When you first start the game you can pick between Human, Dwarf, Half Orc, Elf, Half Elf, Halfling, Tiefling, and there is a "coming soon" option.  You can have up to 2 characters before having to buy an extra character slot (with Zen).  You can delete characters to free up one of your 2 slots though if you want to.

Once you have settled on what race to be, you move on to class.  Great Weapon Fighter, Guardian Fighter, Trickster Rogue, Devoted Cleric, and Control Wizard are your options as of now.  My first character is a Control Wizard because casters is how I roll these days.

I'm not going to go over every single thing but each race and class has its own unique abilities.  You will choose a deity and then set the aesthetics for your character.  Doing so is fun and you can put as little or as much time into creation as you'd like.

The story is yours to unfold.  We here at Big Ups will NEVER ruin a story for you.  Neverwinter touts a pretty amazing adventure for you though.  And it doesn't end there either.  When you hit level 15 with your character you get access to "The Foundry" where you can literally create your own maps, NPCs, stories, etc.  The software suite is truly wonderful and powerful, yet easy to use.  I am getting the hang of it right now!  The adventures could be limitless with such a powerful tool.  Yesterday I played a custom adventure and I have to say that it was a lot of fun and I really like how it asks you to rate the experience when you're done.  This should help the great content to rise to the top.

The battle system is quite good.  Cryptic decided to implement a more action RPG type combat system that is less like the old "target foe, watch battle" approach that other MMOs use.  The combat is satisfying and a lot of fun.  You have 2 "at will" attacks that you can use over and over with no cooldown.  For example my control wizard has "Magic Missile" and a frost beam that do decent damage and I can use them as much as I want. 

Then as you level up you get access to some special attacks that have cooldowns to help limit their use as they are more powerful than the at will skills.  There are also what they call a "daily" skill that does MASSIVE damage when used.  Don't let the name fool you though, you can use this skill more than once a day.  There is a D20 in the center of your quickbar that fills up from engaging in combat.  Once it is full you can pop off your daily.  It doesn't really take all that long to recharge either.  Since it's not on a cooldown, you are rewarded with use of your daily by seeking out fights.

All the standard MMO fetch quests and things are here, but there are also some tutorial quests.  This is nice because you are actually rewarded with XP while you are learning the game systems.  Sometimes you must gather something, sometimes kill a number of things, etc.  The game does a great job of making these things fun though!

 

 

I've played the game for only a few days and I'm really enjoying it.  There is so much to do that I can't possibly cover it all here.  The game is free so download it and try it out!

 

Here are a list of things you can expect from the game!

 

• Daily dungeons and quests
• PVP
• Story quests
• PVE dungeons
• Raids
• Auction House
• Mounts
• Loot drops
• Lots of action
• Custom content

 

Neverwinter is a fun experience.  Get some friends into it and go on some epic adventures!  I give this game an 9/10 because it is a blast!

 

Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more game reviews.  Thanks for reading!

Ducktales Remastered Coming This Summer

I was surfing the internets today and found out that Capcom is remastering it's NES classic of Ducktales.  I was overjoyed with this news, just recently buying the first two seasons on DVD for my kids at Easter.  I remember this game fondly and it was a great platformer. I beat the games several times and it's nice to know I can again and again with updated graphics and sound.  This should be a nice blast from the past that the family can enjoy together.

This game will release this summer and sports the original cast from the show to reprise the rolls of Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie as well as others.  This game will come out for all consoles and pc. I'll keep you posted.

Happy gaming my friends!


P.S "It's Beakley time!"

This Just In: Titan Fall May See Xbox 360 Release

I heard through the grapevine that developer Respawn Entertainment will hand off Titan Fall to a different developer to bring the Mech war to the current gen Xbox 360 console. So if you are looking forward to this title and are not going to get an Xbox One right away this may be awesome for you. Way more awesome than that kidney stone I passed.

I'll bring you more as I find out more.

Happy Gaming my Friends!

Game Review: The Last of Us

So I've spent some time with The Last of Us over the last few days and here is what you should expect from this new game from developer Naughty Dog.

The graphics are really good, far above average for a current gen console.  There is much attention to detail and the way the light casts shadows is pretty good. 

The sound is also really great in this game.  There is a lot of focus on random dialogue throughout the game.  Joel labors when he climbs things, says "shit" when he bumps something or sees something he doesn't like, and there are tons of little additions here and there that make this game feel very real.

The music is average, I cannot hum even one bar now that I'm away from the game so I'd say it's pretty forgettable.  It does fit the game thematically, and is appropriately used to create mood. 

There are a few things I find weird about this game.  Some of the animations (especially walking) seem strange as I am pointing the stick in a certain direction and Joel will move in the direction without facing all the way in that direction.  There is a little animation snapping (like during a fight if you go to attack Joel will slide into the appropriate position before the animation will play) but overall its not game breaking. 

Speaking of fights, they are cinematic in delivery and really feel dynamic.  Based on where you are Joel will use the environment around him to his advantage.  He will ram his foes into walls and often times use a ledge, counter, or other object nearby to slam an enemies head into to finish them off.

Though I'm not all the way through the game, the story seems pretty ambiguous so far.  The opening of the game is pretty gripping and sets up the later bits well, but the delivery of the story leaves me wanting more at this point.

We here at Big Ups Gaming don't believe in ruining the story so most of our reviews will deal with the functions of the game rather than the story.  There is a lot of fun and tense moments to have with The Last of Us.  I find it to be a solid and entertaining game that most action adventure fans will enjoy.  I score this game an 8/10.



Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more game reviews like this.  Thanks for reading!

Opinion: Haters Gonna Hate

Has anyone noticed that the internet is pretty much funny cat pictures and a whole lot of hate?  Its just so cool to hate on everything all the time.  When it comes to video games, the hate runneth deep.  In this article we try to wrap our heads around why people feel the need to project so much hate onto games, developers and publishers, and most importantly, consoles.

To hate, or not to hate?  That is the question. 

As far as games go one need look no further than the Call of Duty vs Halo hate war.  For some reason it is not at all acceptable to like both games.  If you like Halo, you MUST hate CoD, and vice versa.  Not only though must you hate it, but you must openly express it all the time, going as far as to berate others for liking the opposite of what you like.  Nothing is off limits either when you are attacking someone else for having different taste than you do.  Slurs of all styles come out with no remorse for the person or people that don't agree with you on the subject.

Game vs game hate leads to developer vs developer hate.  It's not good enough to just not like a game, you have to hate on the developer of said game also.  You can bust out the big guns for that as well.  It doesn't matter how you get it done, you just have to make sure that people understand that YOU ARE RIGHT AND THEY ARE WRONG. 

Of course that can lead us to console vs console hate.  You can't just like what you like, you have to make sure that you tell the whole world why they are stupid because they don't share your opinion.  "PS3 is better than XBOX because the online is free", or "XBOX is better than PS3 because our network didn't get hacked twice in one year", etc.  If you like PS3 better, that is fine!  You don't have to cram it down other peoples throat because they might not agree with you.  I don't understand where this feverish devotion comes from. 

Fanboys (or "fanbois") are part of the problem.  In their eyes the product that they like can do no wrong, and anything the opposition does is never right.  Case in point; Sony fanboy defends PS4 requiring PS+ subscription even though he ragged on XBOX for years because you have to "pay to play".  Or  they say things like "oh Kinect is stupid, who wants to talk to their console", but believe you me, if the shoe was on the other foot and Sony had the "talk to your console" feature and Microsoft didn't, said fanboy would bash Microsoft into the ground and gloat about how awesome it is because you can "issue voice commands to your console".  It is pure hypocrisy.  Fanboys are bad for anything be it games, devs, or consoles. 

We did a little article yesterday about Microsoft pulling its plans to leave used games fate to the developers and to ditch the always online requirement.  In theory this should have been met with positivity, but not from the haters!  Instead of it being celebrated that Microsoft listened to its fanbase, people are saying "XBOX 180" and "oh they should have done the right thing to begin with".  Microsoft had an idea and introduced it to the public.  They had some really cool ideas like loaning digital copies of games to your friends and family, playing the games in the console with no disc required, and trying to work with devs to make sure they profit off the sales of used games.  I don't think there is anything wrong with the people that make the games wanting to see a payment for their games being resold.  That isn't what this is about though.  This move should have been embraced but it wasn't.  It was just fuel for the hater fire.

Anyhow, in the end we try to figure out how to stop the hate.  Can't we just like what we like and let others like what they do?  Are we really so childish that we have to slander each other on a daily basis over what amounts to a hobby or pastime?  If you are the kind of person who's life is consumed by video games to the point that you literally don't know what to do if you can't play a game, now would be a good time to take a long look at your priorities.  Games are fun and I play a lot of them, but they are not my life. 

In conclusion the only thing I can come up with is that there is just something about the human psyche that does not allow us to be satisfied with what we like.  We are never satisfied until we can push our beliefs on others.  If we're unable to make someone see our point and concede to it, we will push them out, chastise them, and attempt to make them feel bad about being different.  Its time to grow up people.  It's just video games.

Lets us know your thoughts in the comments section below.  Stay tuned to Big Ups Gaming for more articles like this.  Thanks for reading.