Portal and/or Half Life Movie? Why Not!

Earlier this year, world-famous movie director Michael Bay said he may be working on a new Portal and/or Half Life movie, inspired by the popular video game sagas. Only one problem, Bay: How can you make a movie based on a video game with silent protagonists?

Let's be honest, people: This can't work. In both Portal and Half Life, the heroes are absolutely SILENT. Meaning, if Bay were to give Chell and Gordon Freeman lines or something in these possible theatrical adaptions, they would have to somehow work with the story. But as we all know, you can't make a video game movie because nobody gets a good story. Remember the Super Mario Bros. Movie from 1993? That movie was probably one of the worst movies ever made. So much of the original concepts from Nintendo's iconic plumber had literally been flushed down the toilet. Also, remember the movie Dragonball: Evolution? The horrible modern-day adaptation of the infamous Dragon Ball series that obviously got low reviews and tons of fan hate? There just can't be a GOOD video game movie.

Unless Bay were to actually make these movies based on the storyline of the games ENTIRELY and not change anything about it, (and include a LOT of cool CGI and explosions) then we've got nothing to lose. Only time will tell.

And As Always, Rage On.

Top 10 Most Annoying Video Game Characters

There are just some video game characters that we just wish were dead. Especially me because sometimes, I    love the game, I just HATE the characters. So here's my Top 10 List of the Worst Video Game Characters.

10) Wario and Waluigi- Super Mario Series:

The supposed "evil duo" of Nintendo's ever popular Mario games aren't just stupid, but are just annoying. These guys are so dumb, so ridiculous, how they are even capable enough to play Mario Party or Mario Kart just astounds me.

9) Slenderman- Slender:

The idea behind the game is perfect. Force some unlucky gamer to collect some pages spread throughout a mysterious forest where a legend-based monster lurks. But the reason that Slenderman is ranked on this list is because this guy has been in so many spin-offs and parodies, he's just not scary anymore.

8) Slime- Dragon Quest Franchise:

These little jerks are one of the first things you encounter in this infamous game franchise. Not only are this things pesky and annoying, they just have this constant stupid look on their face, even when they die.

7) Gordon Freeman- Half-Life Series:

I bet you're probably screaming at your screen, saying stuff like, "WHY IS THIS GUY ON THE LIST?!?" Well, this guy just isn't cool. So what if he's a scientist. He says absolutely NOTHING throughout both games and unless I want to find a way to win, I want to know what's on this guy's mind before I go off on a creepy adventure.

6) Toad- Super Mario Series:

There are so many Toads in the Mushroom Kingdom, it's kinda annoying. I mean, listen closely and who wouldn't be annoyed by how these little guys talk?

5) Claptrap- Borderlands Series:

It's ironic how this guy tries to help you get introduced to the controls and story throughout the game but does absolutely nothing to help you when you're up against some scary monsters. Also, he's got the most annoying robot voice, I think, in video game history. In other words... Claptrap's useless junk. Sorry man.

4) Eggplant Wizard- Kid Icarus:

Because you're definitely EVIL if you turn a kid into an eggplant.

3) Amy and Tails- Sonic the Hedgehog Series:

This two have to be the most annoying and worthless furry, animal things I've ever seen. Amy, on her unending quest to win Sonic's heart and Tails, using his super intelligence to make you feel dumber than you already do for playing these stupid games.

2) Scorpion- Mortal Kombat Series:

Once you are grabbed by Scorpion's chain, you're basically done for. He will literally strike to kill, no matter what it takes. Thus, making him not only hard to beat but annoying as well.

1) Navi- Legend of Zelda Series:

I honestly don't know what's worse: Having to listen to that idiot fairy keep saying "Hay, Hey, Hey, Hey..." like he's a record or actually being forced to cooperate with him. This fairy has caused so much rage over the years, no wonder he's one of the most hated video game characters of all time! If only Navi could just fly around and glow, that wouldn't be so bad. That mouth of his is a true issue and that's what makes him number one.

And As Always, Rage On.

Nintendo's Gone Cold... Possibly...

Over the last few years, Nintendo seems to be slowly dying out. But how? Well, for starters, there's the fact that most games that Nintendo constantly releases aren't all that original anymore. Games like Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D was just a re-release of the original game. There's also the fact that Nintendo's ideas for new consoles seem to be less and less exciting. The Nintendo DSi handheld is basically the same thing as the Nintendo DS, just with a camera and apps. Plus, the DSi and 3DS XL are probably just a way to make up for the sales of the original system. Next, a recent issue of mine, the fact that the Nintendo's 3DS has the feature to turn the 3D effect on or off just begs the question: Why can't Nintendo just release the 2D versions of their 3DS games so that way ALL DS players can play these games?! Next, almost every single one of the Mario games end up with the same result: After finally defeating King Koopa after about 30 levels of pure insanity, you brin Peach home to get nothing but a kiss on the nose and a cake. WTF. And finally, the fact that most games that Nintendo releases are mostly Mario-related is just pitiful. Especially with New Super Mario Bros. The company has basically released a new version of the SAME GAME for the last 3 YEARS! 

Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, 2011: New Super Mario Bros.

Nintendo 3DS, 2012: New Super Mario Bros. 2
Nintendo Wii U, 2013: New Super Mario Bros. U

So, in conclusion, Nintendo's ideas of good games is slowly coming to an end. What does this mean for the gaming industry exactly? We can't be sure. But with 2013 looking like the Year of the Indie Game, Nintendo's got to come out with something good and quick. AND ORIGINAL.

And As Always, Rage On.

It's Official! Battlefield 4 Is Confirmed!

One of EA's biggest selling franchises is finally going to be released for next-gen consoles! Hooray! This finally can give gamers something to look forward to! In an article from www.vg247.com,  a blog post entitled “Transition is our Friend”, EA Labels President Frank Gibeau had this to say about Battlefield 4:

“For EA’s creative teams, this transition comes as no surprise. We’ve been investing and innovating on new technology for months. Console partners who have seen our early work agree, EA’s next-gen software is nothing short of astonishing.

“At a GameStop company meeting earlier this week, we gave 500 store managers a sneak peak at Battlefield 4. The game received a huge ovation and thousands of fans reacted to a single enthusiastic Tweet by GameStop’s CEO.”

But is it possible for EA to top Battlefield 3? The 2010-2012 Era was obviously the Year of the FPS, but as the flames are dying out, what else is there to do? We've seen almost everything already, so what can EA do to spark our interests once more? Guess we got to wait till 2014 to find out.

And as always, Rage on.
 

Playstation 4: Is It Worth It?

Earlier this week, Sony FINALLY announced the long-awaited Playstation 4. According to Wkkipedia:

The PlayStation 4 will feature a semi-custom single-chip processor (APU) developed by AMD in coordination with Sony.^[13] The console's APU integrates a semi-custom AMD CPU, a semi-custom AMD GPU, as well as a GDDR5 memory controller.^[11] The technology in the PlayStation 4 will be relatively similar to the hardware found in personal computers in many respects.^[14] This familiarity should make it easier and less expensive for game studios to develop games for the PlayStation 4.

The central processing unit (CPU) will have eight x86-64 cores based on the upcoming Jaguar CPU architecture. This processor marks a change from the "powerful but difficult to develop for" Cell processor found in the PlayStation 3.

The graphics processing unit (GPU) will consist of 18 compute units based on GCN (Graphics Core Next) for a total of 1152 stream processors, resulting in a theoretical peak performance of 1.84 TFLOP/s. This computing power can be used for graphics, simulation, or a combination thereof. The GPU will also include dedicated graphics technology for seamless compression and decompression of video media. Eurogamer calls the graphics technology in the PlayStation 4 "impressive" and an improvement from the difficulties developers experienced on the PlayStation 3.

The PlayStation 4 will contain 8 GB of GDDR5 unified system memory, allowing for 176 GB/s of bandwidth. 16 times the system RAM found in the PlayStation 3, this amount of RAM is said to be welcome for developers and is expected to give the console considerable longevity. The unified memory architecture allows the CPU and GPU to access a consolidated memory, removing the requirement for separate dedicated CPU and GPU memories. The split architecture on the 

PlayStation 3 was said to have proven problematic. The RAM choices are said to have added significantly to the PlayStation 4's bill of materials.

The read-only optical drive will read Blu-ray discs at 6x (marking an upgrade from 2x speeds found on the PlayStation 3) and DVDs at 8x. Eurogamer believes that the Blu-ray drive will be dual-layer (capable of reading 50 GB discs) and not quad-layer (capable of reading 100 GB discs). A hard disk drive will be included, although Sony has not yet announced the size.

The PlayStation 4 will feature 802.11 b/g/n network connectivity as well as Ethernet. An unknown number of USB 3.0 ports will be included, as will Bluetooth 2.1. An auxiliary port will also be included for connection to the PlayStation 4 Eye. The system will come bundled with a mono headset, which can be plugged into the DualShock 4. Output options will be HDMI, analog AV-out, and optical S/PDIF audio out. The console will support 4K resolution output for photos and videos but games can not be rendered at that resolution.^[22][23] Eurogamer believes that 1080p will be the standard resolution for PlayStation 4 games.

The console will also include a secondary custom chip which will handle downloading, uploading and social features. This chip will allow the system to seamlessly download games in the background, even when the main system is powered off (standby mode).

 One problem: What does all of this mumbo-jumbo even MEAN?!?

^{And as always, Rage on.}

"The Next-GenEration?"

Ever since history somewhat-began, gamers have been always been impatient for what is going to come at them next. Whether it's the next title in a series or the next awesome DLC or even the most revolutionary console ever. Eventually, we gamers finally get the product that has caused so much insanity but then, after a few short months, sniping dudes in the face just doesn't get exciting anymore and we just shun it (much like the recent shun of the Nintendo Wii), replacing it with something else and the process repeats.

Even so, we ought to know by now that when it comes to the supposed "next-gen console," that it's just another way that companies are saying, "HEY! WE STILL ARE GOOD AT THIS KIND OF STUFF!" One example is the first version of Microsoft's XBox 360. When the much-anticipated system first hit stores, every boy and girl alike was hoping that this would change the way that they game FOREVER. It did, but with one flaw. One. The "Red Ring." The Red-Ring Epidemic was so terrible that Microsoft just HAD to re-release the console after fixing the issue. Yea, TOTALLY "Next-Gem."

2013 will be a big year for games. I mean, Grand Theft Auto 5, Crysis 3, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon, Slender: The Arrival, Gears of War: Judgement... But there's also things like the supposed releases of the Playstation 4 and the XBox 720. But one question remains. Nintendo's WiiU system is the current "next-gen" console, packing in HD gaming, the infamous GamePad, a LOT of rated T-M games on the release list... How will Sony and Microsoft compete? How can the current and  new, upcoming generation of gamers be excited enough to want to be on these new consoles? Who knows...

Rage on.