2010 The Year that was Part 1…

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The year 2010 is coming to a close and we have had some stellar games released this year.  I can’t really say if it was better than 2009, but it sure wasn’t worse.

January of 2010 started off with some major releases right after the holidays, which makes sense since there are a lot of gamers walking around with Christmas money and gift cards.

There is no correct way to describe Bayonetta.  The music is like no other game on the market.  The action is non stop and the combat is as intense as in any game you ever played.  I will admit, as for the story I was lost….lost lost lost as in Jack on the Island…yet I still played and continued to play because it was fun and looked cool.  It’s real cheap right now (20-30 bucks u.s.d.) and a great game to add to your collection.

Bayonetta

Darksiders made its debut in the gaming world and came with a nice mix of Zelda and God of War series.  The game had it’s moments of fun, frustration, repetition, and then became fun again for me near the end.  The art direction of the game (headed by Joe Mad ) was fantastic.  The story started off pretty good with a nice epic battle between Heaven, Hell, and Earth but the next 10 hours were kinda dry.  Mark Hamill’s character was kinda of annoying, fast forward to the last 4 hours of the game and the heat is on again.  If there was a way to keep the excitement of the first 2 hours and the last 4 hours of the game it would have scored higher for me…but overall if you got nothing on your gaming queue check it out!

Darksiders

For the full Article click here

Gears…Grind Baby Grind!

It is known by many as the game that defined the third person shooter for this generation of gamers.  There are many games that have spawned based on the cover system but none hold the popularity as the Gears of War franchise.

The first game introduced us the world of Sera.  More importantly it introduced us to the Locust.   A deadly force that has attacked mankind not from the skies, but from underneath their very feet.  The game was a smash to play through.  The cover system (new for 2006) was fun to play and battle in, the enemies were tough as nails and the experience was very memorable.  It was kinda on the short side, but the multi-player was plenty of fun.

In 2008 Gears of War 2 hit.  It was an instant classic here! Epic took all the things that were great in Gears 1 and gave it the ‘ol sequel steroid shot of bigger action, better graphics, and more game play.  The campaign made the first one look like a walk in the park.   It introduced a new enemy type to the game…a sort of flood like third army type.  The game finished with a whole lot of death on the human’s side and the Locust’s side.  The main attraction of this sequel turned out to be the Horde mode.  It was truly a “bonding” experience as players were forced to fight together or die alone.

In less than a year, Gears of War 3 will be upon us all.  Many of the core elements in the story have changed drastically from the first two titles.  The first game was COG VS Locust.  The second game was COG VS Locust as well along with “who the hell are these discolored locust” mixed in.  Both titles were heavily militarized.  In the third title the Military might of the Cog has been broken with the sinking of Jacinto.   A major new game play mode will be a new 4 player campaign mode and a new arcade mode.

The Locust Horde has seen it’s own set backs as well.  There is an emergence of the Lambent.  Imulsion is having a bad affect on the Locust introduced us to the Lambent in  the second game.  Now in the third title we get to see the evolution of these creatures.  As they attack and become more of a threat don’t think the Locust are gone forever.  Think Halo Series with the triple fighting going on between Humans,  Covenant, and the Flood.

The third title is easily going to be Microsoft’s Big hit of 2011.  It will represent 360’s first trilogy to start and finish on the system.  It will represent the the graphical and technical leaps from 2006-2011 and will represent what the 360 can do as a system.  The Gears franchise has always set the bar for what this generation of games can accomplish.  Set your calendars for Tuesday April 5, 2011, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride!

more Gears coverage here!

Halo Reach Beta the Freakin’ Remix!

Well…I want to take back some things I stated earlier in my initial Halo Reach article….

Holy Moly…I am addicted.  This is a far superior beta then I first imagined.  It has superior upgrades and to call it Halo 3 the second coming is an insult to Bungie.  I have played multiple rounds tried all the classes extensively and WOW….

Bungie has taken a lot of flack over the years about how Call of Duty and Battle Field 2 has all these online perks and levels that make it trump the Halo Series.  One thing Halo has never relied on…was the Best Software.  They always had great graphics, but not the best and that is fine.  The colors are bright and the characters are nicely polished.  Where Halo has always excelled at and infected millions of gamers is their addictive combat and game play.  The Reach Beta is the same way.  With two levels and a couple of different game modes…Reach is simply Fun as Hell.  Friday added Invasion to the mix and wow…talk about a strategy laced adventure.

You are placed with 6 friends and as the Spartans you defend and as Elites you capture.  Simple enough right…wrong! After an objective is complete more weapons and classes are unlocked.  Add in vehicles and multiple spawn points and two man/elite combat teams  you are in for a treat.  There is a feeling of bad-assery when you are charging a base with 5 other elites. Capturing the points and unlocking weapons gets your blood boiling.  Then add in your team mates yelling battle field cries in the voices as elites…the action gets out of control.

The sense of power of being an alien “invading: force and wiping out the puny Spartans…these demons… it is quite fun.

Start as the noble Spartans and there is another feeling.  You are six Spartans charged with the duty of defending your base against these…creatures.  They just want to kill, the good news is you are bred to kill.  Use tactical combat to defeat and push these foes back back back!

I believe all gamers want to feel like winners…that is why we play games.  The halo series has presented a great campaign story in which you take on the role of Master Chief (talk about wnner!) and also crafted an online system so perfect we are still playing it close to 10 years after the initial release.  4 on 4 and get to 50 kills to win.  Since Halo 1 we have played this game.  Of course they have made tweaks and additions…dual wielding, jet packs, power ups, etc….but getting to 50 kills…that is what halo multiplayer is all about!  Creating those awesome moments in gaming becomes all that more awesome when you defeating not AI but Real life opponents!

Bungie always gives you an extra treat….go to Bungie.net and any player can check out how good or bad they did in a match.  Like a member even said in the comment section on this site..Halo is one game where you can feel like a king one round and feel lose that feeling in less than a second in the next round…the joy of playing with people…there is no difficulty setting.

I don’t always win, but when I do…the feeling is good…no GREAT!

The reach beta is only here for a limited amount of time, enjoy some great hot action while you can.  Enjoy the series that made you buy an Xbox in the first place in a whole new light! If anyone is looking to get into some Reach Beta action feel free to send an invite! dreno360!

Halo Reach Beta is here!

Halo Reach Beta is here…have you played it..what are your thoughts???

For me, I think the beta is a decent beta.  It offers players a chance to get an early crack at the game to help polish it out before the final release date later this year.  I thought the graphics were ok…similar  to Halo 3 with some minor improvements, but not as good as I expected.  (I know I know it is still the beta)

Once you get over the fact that you are playing a new version of Halo 3 you will simply go out and play the game you have com to love for years. (Not bad at all if you like Halo) Their are four different classes that add a nice twist to the game play.

The Scout class has a Sprint, which finally allows for running in a Halo game.  With all the Call of Duty games having a sprint function this special class seems outdated as sprinting in a game shouldn’t be a special ability.  Of course it’s only good for a short burst and requires time to recharge, like all the other powers.

Guards have Armor Lock, which makes your guy crouch down and become invulnerable for a short time.  This is cool but be careful as it leaves you VERY vulnerable once it depletes.
The Stalker class gives you the fan-favorite Active Camouflage ability, which is good for sneaking around undetected and dealing out brutal assassinations on unaware folks.  This is by far my favorite class as active camo was something I always looked for in all the Halo multi-player games.

Airborne gives you a cool ability, a jetpack! It allows you to get an impressive amount of air and really changes the dynamics of the game.  The Spartans look like Star Wars Bounty Hunters with the jet packs and all.  If you can get the hang of them they are HIGHLY effective in getting the drop on a foe.

Basically it is more Halo 3 with extra twists!  Not bad by any means.  If you haven’t played the beta yet, you are in for a treat.  I can’t wait for the acutal game to release.  Call me crazy, but I loved the Campaign of all the Halo games.  The screens to the campaign look pretty nice and put the beta to shame a little.

Now this I can get into and sink my teeth in….

But the multi player looks promising I can’t wait for invasion!

How do you play???

The way gamers have set up their TV and game experience have changed drastically since the time I was first introduced to the world of games.  In the past, in my earliest memories I was at the mercy of my mom’s living room setup.  Gaming was secondary so my snes and genesis traveled from open tv set to tv set so much they could have been called nomads.   My brothers and I finally got our own tv and our systems were finally stationary and life was good.  

The setup was simple.  All we needed to have a great time was a power cord, an av cord, the system and some controllers. Turn the channel to 3 and Blam! Instant bliss!  As the systems advanced so did the television sets.  

Our family never had a projection TV but I heard so many problems with playing video games on them.  So  I was glad we didn’t have one as I didn’t want my mom to yell every time we paused the game for a split second. 

Now I am an adult…I have my own house and I can choose what and how my living room is set up.  Video Game systems dominate my living setup as they not only play the games, they provide Netflix intstant viewing, dvd and bluray viewing.  I have HDMI cords for all my systems (except for the Wii of course) 

As the systems became more powerful they take more effort in taking care of them as well.  They need to breath so to speak and you don’t want them to over heat.  They have Wifi built in to connect to the internet…heck even my Tv connects to the Internet via wifi.  If I could time warp back 15 years to show myself how my living room would look ( I would be 14 years old) I would drop bricks in my pants….

I invest in my gaming setup because I want a nice comfy experience.  From the Surround Sound to my video game chair with built in speakers…I love to get my GAME ON.

Here is my set up

Television : 46 inch Sony KDL W5150 

Xbox 360 

Playstation 3 

Table weight..errr I mean Nintendo Wii

JVC Turner for Surround Sound 

Post your gaming set up here! 

Gamerspot Light ~Left 4 Dead

Games are classified as great for many different reasons.  Some are good because the graphics engine used is the new industry standard (Uncharted 2) others are good because of what they do for a genre (Mass Effect 2) while some are great because they let you play with friends (Halo Series).  Left 4 Dead is a great series because it takes 2 things gamers love and combines them…co-op gameplay with Zombie killing!

Even on paper the game sounds like a recipe for for success.  The game relies heavily on cooperative action.  Let a zombie killing player get too cocky and stray from the group he will become zombie fodder for a  smoker.  The enemies of the game can attack you if they get the slip on you, and unlike most games, there is no offensive attack you can personally do to get them off you…you will need the aid of your mates.

The sequel was equally as fun with new characters and new challenges.  So what’s better than 2 awesome titles that includes 2 sets of four memorable characters?  Crafting a story that lets all the characters overlap in a story called the passing.  This will be a DLC that have the characters from the first game meet the characters from the second game…then there will be a second DLC for the first game that explains how they all meet.

Full article here.

God of War 3: Reclaiming the Title

What do I mean by reclaiming the title?  As far as action games go this game is done simply right.  From start to finish it is amazing.  The pacing is on point and the action never dulls.  By the time I finished the game I was a little saddened by the fact that there were no more astonishing boss fights ahead of me. Oh the boss fights….I refuse to play spoiler (unlike the Official Playstation MAG) those boss fights…every single one of them  will leave your jaw dropped in awe…

As scorpion would say…Get over here!

Yes, God of War 3 has reclaimed a title many games were battling over.  It had been since 2005 that God of War 2 was released.  Since that time there were many third person brawlers.  Many games have since copied the God of War formula as well, even down to the quick time events.  In 2010 alone several games were released by developers in hopes of swaying gamers from the God of War franchise.  All three titles were wisely shipped way before players had the choice of choosing God of War 3 and their new games.

Just one of many to fall by the blades of Kratos…

For the full article click here

Fan Boy’s Dream!

The first contest on this site has come and gone so let’s take a look at the results.  The title of the contest was Fanboy’s Dream.  So many gamers have gotten into heated debates (myself even at times) regarding which system is better.  Well, we took it another way and decided to create some art that depicts this epic conflict that goes back to the days of Sega Vs Nintendo.

The Fanboy’s Dream rules were simple.  Sign up an Register an account on Gamersdigart.com (this site)  illustrate a character that shows up on the Xbox line pitted in combat against a character from the Playstation brand.  Send it to us by email or post it in the Forum here. ‘Nuff Said let’s see some art.

First up: Dreno360(me)

Click here for a larger view.

Well I can’t win but wanted to do some art to promote the contest.  I mean it is a FREE game of the winner’s choice…I don’t think that happens anywhere, if so let me know! I choose Crackdown Vs Infamous.  The main agent in Crackdown vs Cole McGrath from Infamous.  Super powers vs super powers!   A gallery of my art can be found here.

Next up is : squeak117

Click here for a larger shot.

Squeak117 treated us with a Jak (from Jak and Daxter Vs The Stranger from Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath.  Both are great games for each corresponding system.  Great illustration Alex.  This is the best piece I have seen you create!  Pretty even fight here.  Both games had a huge variety of weapons to use.  Alex’s gallery can be found here.

Check this one out by: TimKelly

Click here for a larger view.

Tim gave us something to think about here.  The main protagonist from ICO vs a Locust Horde member.  Fair Fight? At first glance no…but consider Shadow of Colossus.  If that guy took down mountain sized baddies…this kid may do alright.  But I don’t the locust have any glowing weak spots so watch out youngster!  Tim’s full gallery can be found here.

And we have: Sinskin

Click here for a larger view.

The next battle is a spy vs spy tale.  Splinter Cell may have appeared on other consoles but his true home is on the Xbox.  The same thing could be said of Solid Snake.  His house resides on the PS3 for now.  Both of these characters some some great titles underneath their belt that is for sure!

Halfman halfcyborg: Lukedenby (more on this later)

Click here for a larger view.

Luke wows the crowd with the tiniest showdown! We have a Castle Crasher Knight taking on a Sack boy from Little big planet.  Expect swords, magic, large cats, costume built levels, and so much cuteness in character designs everyone is gonna explode with candy falling out of themselves.  Luke’s full gallery can be found here.

The last piece is from: Sylvok

Click here for a larger view.

James here has treated us to a cyborg showdown.  We have good ol’ Master Chief vs Grey Fox from Metal Gear Solid. Which metal man win win this battle.  Both have has excellent battles on the screen that is for sure.

Well that wraps up the entries.  The winner will be announced soon.  And remember the winner gets a FREE game of their choice.  This contest was created to inspire artist to illustrate something we normally wouldn’t see.  To push for new art to be created about a platform we all love : video games. Winners are selected not only on technique, but also creativity, composition and originality.  So basically you don’t have the be the hottest stuff to win a FREE game.  Put some thought into it as well! It goes a long way!

Also gamers check out the forum we have weekly challenges for art in there as well.  Our current weekly theme can be found here.

The next contest will be announced soon!  Thanks to all who have participated and we can’t wait to see more entries next time!

Sony…on the Ropes?

Sometimes it’s hard to believe how the once and mighty have fallen.  How a powerful system slayer of the Playstation brand, could garnish so much criticism.  Originally released in 1994 the PSX (PLAYSTATION) took the world by storm.  It offered an alternative to the cartridge based game format and showed the world SONY as a leader of new technologies.  (Sounds familiar…blu-ray) The idea of having a game console that could play music cd’s as well seems trivial by today’s standards…but it was new in 1994.

Full article here.

The Last post from the Gamer who digs art…

Yes it is true….but with the death of this blog comes life anew.  New site.  New features and more importantly new art!

The blog has been a blast…but when it’s time to move on its time…

Come visit us at Link to continue the stories and adventures of more gamers who dig art!  Thanks for all the support for those who left comments!