10 Games you should not buy someone for Christmas

You ever buy someone a gift for Christmas and while they are mercilessly ravaging the gift wrap you see a feigned sense of appreciation?  They stare blankly at what lies beneath and in the same breath they turn to you and say “Thanks (insert whoever you are to that person), I love it”, but you know that’s not the case.  You ask yourself why this person could be so callous in receiving a gift—well — it’s because you bought them a shitty gift.  Everyone says it’s the thought that counts, but not if you didn’t put any thought into it.  Most sites will tell you what to buy someone, but will seldom tell you what to avoid.  So let this list be your warning for what you should be averse to this year when you are doing your holiday shopping.  You’ll be a better person for it, trust me.

Ride To Hell: Retribution (Xbox 360, PS3)

Why you shouldn’t buy it: Unsuspecting shoppers might stroll by this game and think it might be good time because it looks like the popular TV show Sons of Anarchy, but trust me when I tell you that Charlie Hunnam wouldn’t even wipe his ass with this game.  Messy controls, horrible story and abysmal voice acting firmly cement this as one of 2013’s worst titles.

Knack (PS4)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  Knack isn’t necessarily a bad game, but sporting a $60 price tag poses an issue.  It has the flair and charm reminiscent of older Sony platformers like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter, but this game is only next-gen in the graphics department and even saying that is a stretch.  With a multitude of other next-gen games that will actually make you think you own a next-gen system you’d do best to avoid Knack—at least for the time being.

NBA Live 14 (Xbox One, PS4)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  NBA 2K14.

OUYA (Android game console)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  Alright I know the list says games, but the OUYA is a device that plays games so hear me out.  The OUYA had everyone’s attention when it was first announced because it was supposed to change the landscape of living room gaming, well it didn’t.  What we have now is a device that is poorly supported and to my standards is overpriced.  This device is primarily for the gamer that needs to have every device no matter what it does making it a very niche collective of people.  If you are really clamoring to buy someone an android device get them a tablet or MADCATZ’s MOJO that supports stock android, already making it a better alternative.

The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct (Xbox 360, PS3)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  It’s no secret that The Walking Dead has transcended its cult comic book status and became an entertainment phenomenon, but with that distinction comes the poor use of creative licenses like this game.  The Walking Dead: Survival Instinct is no more than a cash grab and if you had the displeasure of playing this game you’d probably feel robbed as well.  This is a Walking Dead property in namesake alone and if you care about the future of this franchise you won’t buy this game.

Aliens: Colonial Marines (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  Aliens is no doubt one of the largest and most beloved science fiction properties out there and Colonial Marines was on pace to propel it to greater heights.  After numerous delays and studio swaps what was left was a soiled shell of a game equipped with poor controls and horrifyingly inconsistent AI.  If you want to make that Aliens’ fan in your life happy, start by not buying them this.

Fighter Within

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  Kinect 2.0 promised a lot of things for the Xbox One, one of them being a viable option for gaming.  Unfortunately for early adopters they are stuck with what is another haphazardly designed and aimless motion game—Fighter Within.  Combining awful gesture recognition with a completely pointless story you have Ubisoft’s sophomore effort missing the mark.  Kinect 2.0 is an impressive piece of tech—don’t sully your view of it or your living room for that matter with this garbage.

Star Trek (Xbox 360, PS3, PC)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  Remember when I was talking about the poor use creative licenses?  The Star Trek game that came out a month prior to Into Darkness was a disastrous lead up to the summer blockbuster.  The game was ridden with a myriad of tech issues on top of an incoherent narrative.  This is one trip on the Enterprise you should overlook.

Fast and Furious: Showdown (Xbox 360, PS3, WiiU, 3DS, PC)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  The Fast and Furious movies are the mainstream representation of the tuning sub-culture.  They have ridiculous over-the-top stories, but at each film’s core it’s about racing cars dangerously.  Showdown fails at that in every conceivable category, making it possibly of the worst racing games ever made and something that you shouldn’t even entertain as a Christmas gift, unless you are a terrible person.

Dark (Xbox 360, PC)

Why you shouldn’t buy it:  Vampires are still kind of the rage these days, but like the deluge of TV shows and Movies based on Vampires—most—not all video games don’t do them right and Dark is no exception.  Poor controls, inconsistent AI and just bland gameplay make this game garlic to the Vampire genre.   Do yourself a favor and don’t let this game suck a dime out of your wallet.

This is but a small taste of things you should avoid when doing your holiday shopping.  Be wary of bargain bins and flash deals because more often than not—it’s something shitty.  Share the list with grandma and grandpa, hell your whole family for that matter.  I’ve given you the means to at least prevent one terrible gift, but only you can prevent the rest.

Sound off in the comments with your advice to uninformed holiday shoppers or even tell me if you disagree with a selection on this list by telling me why someone should buy it.

FFXIII-2 Review

Final Fantasy XIII-2 is the newest installment of the FF franchise.  Trying to make up for the amount of complaints from the FF XIII and possibility of lacking creative ideas Square Enix attempts another console FF sequel.  The first thing that came to mind was, “Why?”  After the travesty that was FF X-2 I was very resilient to think that doing another FF sequel would be a good idea.  The feedback that I received from reviews and word of mouth put my worries at ease and also stating that the complaints I had about the first one were also changed.  Did the title live up to or exceed its predecessor?  Let’s take a look and see.

Gameplay:

The gameplay of FF 13-2 is very similar to that of FF13. The battle system is based off of 6 interchangeable class types and managing those into 6 on the fly class combos in order to heal, stagger, or devastate your opponents. If you played FF13 than you will feel right at home with the battle system. There were minor tweaks in place that now give some enemies the ability to wound your health making you unable to heal wounded damage, also some of the class abilities aren’t as vast as they were in FF13, and now your 3^rd battle partner is a monster. You now have the ability to capture, infuse, and level up monsters in the game.  While this makes it able to build the ultimate monster for each class type I would much rather have static characters that I can level up just like Noel and Serah.  Having to worry about grabbing new monsters or not knowing which ones are good to level up can be frustrating at times. Monsters can only be leveled up, depending on the class of monster, using items you can either buy or earn in battles. This can also be very frustrating as you have a limited number of items and don’t want to waste them on monsters that aren’t going to ever be as strong as the monster you are using now. The crystarium system of leveling up is back again but with a small change. In the previous title you could level up one of the 6 classes and each one had a cap and you could dump XP into any one you wanted. This time around you dump those points into each class type and get stat boosts in strength, HP, and Magic depending on which class you level. Each time you do that specific class will level up and each class caps at level 99. Each time you fill an entire crystarium field you also get a bonus which can range from boosting a class or raising your accessory limit amount. In this game you can’t just wear any accessory you want as each accessory has a number attached to it. If you don’t have a high enough number cap than a lot of accessories are dead to you and this really limits what you can wear to 1 maybe 2 accessories at best. Overall I feel gameplay took a step back from FF13

14/20

Presentation:

The game has Serah in search of her sister Lightning who she saw in a dream fighting in Valhalla in the beginning. Shortly after she is met with the last human in existence from the future, Noel as they both travel through time solving paradoxes created in the timeline in order to bring back Lightning. You travel to a great array of places scattered all throughout time as well as multiple versions of the same time but changed after fixing paradoxes.  In each time you spend anywhere from 30min to 3hrs following the trail of the next time period unlocked by gates. Since the previous title was too linear this one is too open. I quickly felt overwhelmed with the amount of stuff that I had open to me in the timeline, and had to also revisit the same places to see if I could find more fragments in each time. The storyline was sub-par at best as it unfolded with a cast of characters that never moved or inspired me. Over the 38hrs of my time with the game I found myself playing it more out of not having anything else better to play rather than wanting to know what happens next. Most of the game posed no difficulty except for the final boss that resulted in me spending another 5hrs of leveling and creating stronger monsters in order to just barely win. The ending (spoiler free) infuriated me with the direction in which it played out. Overall, I would have rather played through FF13 a 2^nd time than my one play through of FF13-2.

11/20

Visuals:

Visuals are usually a department that Square Enix does right. This title is an exception to that rule. The vast array of locations and geography always made it seem fresh. I would jump from one time period to the next and be immersed in a whole new world completely different from where I just was. However, the character models often seemed pixelated and it looks like there wasn’t a lot of effort into making this a well-polished and visually astounding title. The turnaround is that the cutscenes look as good as would be expected, but the environments, characters, and everything else outside of cutscenes looks like ass.

13/20

Sound:

The soundtrack for this game is atrocious. Most music consisted of not just music but some of them also had someone else singing in the background. I found the music to be so horrible that I would try to leave certain time periods quicker than others or play over the video game music with stuff from my computer because it just hurt my soul. I took the time to listen to what those people were actually saying I hung my head in disgust to hear that the lyrics were horribly written. Below I have linked some Youtube links to a few examples of what I mean.

10/20

Lasting Appeal:

The game has a vast amount of content with 160 fragments to collect, multiple endings, and a casino to blow all your money and time at. The only problem is that it was hard enough to stomach one full play through that I could never see myself going back to playing this title ever again.  Do yourself a favor and do not waste your money on this game.

10/20

Final Score: 58/100

I completed this game on the PS3 with a time of 38:27:20. I was able to collect 77/160 fragments in the game and was able to reach 56% trophy completion

What did you think about FFXIII-2? Post your comments in the section below and remember to follow us on http://www.facebook.com/thegamersabstract

Is digital media like a…blood substitute?

In 2009 a movie by the name of Daybreakers hit theaters and offered up a unique twist to the modern vampire tale.  A virus had spread through the world reducing the human population to almost extinct levels and vampires were the preeminent species on Earth.  While it was a tale of survival for the human race an underlying theme of commerce resonated throughout the film.  The main protagonist Edward Dalton (Ethan Hawke) was tasked with creating a blood substitute that would help sustain the vampire population in light of the dwindling human source.  Various scenes throughout the movie showcased the immense need for such a breakthrough and that this “blood substitute” would be the solution all vampires were looking for.  So you might be wondering what in the hell does this have to do with video games or digital media?  I assure you some clarity is approaching.  Nearing the film’s conclusion the main antagonist Charles Bromley (Sam Neill) said something very profound along the lines of “even though we will have a working blood substitute, there will still be customers who are willing to pay for the real thing”.  While the quote isn’t exact it is essentially implying that even though a blood substitute would be a solution for all, there would still be those not satisfied and would pay more for human blood (also implying that humans would still be hunted and farmed).  This statement is in regards to something that hopefully never happens, but runs parallel with the debate between digital and physical media and the gaming landscape at large.

Would you pay more for the real thing?

Video game companies are not that much different from the fictitious Bromley Marks corporation (albeit they don’t hunt humans, yet).  The actual form of the video game has changed drastically in recent times and with that change raises the question of how will games be delivered and consumed in the future.  They are looking at current retail establishments and seeing how they can sustain with the giant obstacle, that is used games, standing in their path.  With used games continuing to be a huge part of video game sales for retailers, publishers are scrambling to reduce and eventually eliminate that market entirely.  Online passes and day one DLC has given incentive to some, but there are still plenty who wait for a cheap used copy to surface at GameStop.  We all know video games are a business like any other form of media, but eliminating physical media entirely would ostracize from what I can only assume is still a large part of the gaming community.  As crazy as it might sound there are still people who don’t have high speed internet or live in areas where the service simply isn’t available, so an entirely digital platform would cripple their ability to purchase and enjoy new titles.

The digital option, stressing the option part

Both digital and physical media offer great benefits and drawbacks and those still warrant choice from the consumer.  This dichotomy amongst consumers usually boils down to pricing and how that pricing is structured.  The costs associated with both forms of media are apparent and consumers of each already accept these terms (knowingly or not).  If I want to pay an extra $20 for a game with a case, box art, jacket and physical disc with that new game smell I should be able to.  Conversely if someone wants to pay $20 less and get the same game, but in digital form they too are free to do such.  Choice is paramount and is something that must always exist.  If one form were to monopolize the market a great disservice would beset the gaming community.

Physical games, will they remain an option?

As a consumer driven society it is one of our many duties to keep choice alive.  Choice keeps competition healthy and also keeps companies accountable for their products’ quality (well at least some of the time).  Digital media is a solution that would satisfy some, but for those of us that prefer the real thing we understand that we will have to pay more.  I am not looking for price equality and for those who want to go digital and pay less are entitled to that discount, but for the people like me, physical media should still be an option.  I hope that the events of Daybreakers never come true, but I do hope that video game publishers understand that two communities of consumers will always exist and moving forward they need not marginalize either of them.

If any portion of this article moved you, please sound off in the comments section and let me know how you feel about this debate.  It is an important topic and it will affect all of us in one way or another.  As always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

Amazon and Best Buy Gaming DOTD 12/15

Hello everyone and welcome back to TGA for another set of gaming deals today.  We have stuff from Amazon and Best Buy on sale today and we hope you find something you were looking for.  The 19 Days of Deals from Amazon gives us EA Action Game Day (save up to 33%) and Best Buy has a few things for you as well.  We don’t want to keep you waiting any longer so here are the deals.  Happy Shopping to all.

Amazon Gaming Deals of the Day 12/15 – EA Action Game Day – link to deal

• Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC) – $45.99
• Need for Speed: The Run (PS3) – $34.99
• Need for Speed: The Run (Xbox 360) – $36.39
• Need for Speed: The Run (Wii and PC) – $29.99
• Crysis 2 (Xbox 360) – $29.99
• Crysis 2 (PS3) – $28.81
• and a few more

EA Action Game Downloads up to 40% off – link to deal

• Battlefield 3 – $45.66
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 – $9.99
• Need for Speed: The Run – $29.99
• Crysis 2 – $29.99

Best Buy Gaming Deals of the Day 12/15 – link to deal

• Nintendogs + Cats 3DS Toy Poodle and New Friends – $6.99
• Nintendogs + Cats 3DS French Bulldog and New Friends -$6.99
• Nintendogs + Cats 3DS Golden Retriever and New Friends – $6.99
• Dirt 3 (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $14.99 (currently not available for shipping, just in store pickup)

There you have it folks; your Amazon and Best Buy gaming deals of the day.  Check back soon for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

Amazon Gaming 50% off or More Sale

This is a little mid day deal treat for all of you.  I happened to come across this when I was doing some shopping of my own so I hope you enjoy.  The games and accessories being offered in this particular deal are “at least” 50% off if not more according to the prices listed on Amazon.  So I will not keep you waiting any longer and I have posted some notable merchandise from the sale.  Happy shopping everyone.

Amazon Gaming 50% off or More Sale – link to deal

*Note* some of these deals will expire and prices are subject to change, ones listed below were available and priced accordingly at the time of me viewing them

• Gears of War Triple Pack (Xbox 360) – $13.39
• Goldeneye (Wii) – $12.33
• Resident Evil 4 (Wii) – $9.96
• Brink (Xbox 360) – $9.99
• Deus Ex: Human Revolution Augmented Edition (Xbox 360) – $35.04
• Mortal Kombat (PS3) – $26.13
• Ace Combat: Assault Horizon (Xbox 360) – $28.53
• Ratchet and Clank: All 4 One (PS3) – $26.59
• Solatorobo: Red the Hunter (DS) – $17.13
• Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen (DS) – $10.96
• and many more

These deals are subject to end at any time so if you see something you are interested in don’t wait to buy it.  There are a ton more games that I didn’t list above so be sure to investigate further to see the whole selection of discounted games.  Check back soon for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

Amazon and Best Buy Gaming DOTD 12/14

A new day means new deals and we have them here for you.  We have gaming deals from Amazon and Best Buy today.  Amazon’s 19 Days of Deals continues today with Kid’s Playtime Day, so they will have various kid oriented games and accessories on sale (some notables will be posted below).  Best Buy has another set of Day only deals in Gaming and we will have them posted below.  Happy shopping everyone and hopefully you find something you were looking for.

Amazon’s Gaming Deals of the Day 12/14 – Kid’s Playtime Day – link to deal

• Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure Starter Pack (Wii) – $59.99
• Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster (Xbox 360) – $29.99
• Babysitting Mama (Wii) – $14.99
• Puss in Boots (Xbox 360) – $37.99
• and many more

Amazon Adventure Downloads for $2.49 or less (PC) – link to deal

• Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light – $1.99
• Just Cause 2 – $2.49
• Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath – $1.99
• Oddworld: Munch’s Oddysee – $.99
• Oddworld: Abe’s Exodus – $.99
• Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee – $.99

Best Buy Gaming Deals of the Day 12/14 – link to deal

*Note* some of these deals say they are not available for shipping and might require store pickup

• Def Jam Rapstar (Xbox 360) – $4.99
• Def Jam Rapstar Bundle (PS3) – $4.99
• Def Jam Rapstar Bundle (Wii) – $4.99
• Kirby’s Epic Yarn (Wii) – $7.99
• there are others on the page, but were sold out, might be restocked later if you want to check back

There you have it folks; your Amazon and Best Buy gaming deals of the day.  Check back soon for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

 

GameFly Nightly Deals 12/13

Sorry for the late posting of this; I kind of forgot about it (better late than never I say).  Anyways GameFly Nightly Deals continue tonight and are more plentiful than usual.  If you have used us for GameFly deals before you know what’s up, but if you are new to them let me give you the low down.  All games from GameFly come with new cases, manuals and online passes if required.  Also all the titles included in this deal have free shipping (which is kick ass right?).  Lastly these deals will run until tomorrow night at 5PM PST or until stock is depleted.  Every game has its own corresponding link to the GameFly store.  So Happy Shopping to all and to all a good night.

GameFly Nightly Deals 12/13

• Alice Madness Returns (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $14.99
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $12.99
• Transformers Dark of the Moon (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $12.99
• Dragon Age 2 (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $12.99
• Portal 2 (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $14.99
• L.A. Noire (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $12.99
• Operation Flashpoint: Red River (Xbox 360) – $12.99
• Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360) – $9.99
• Dungeon Siege III (Xbox 360) – $12.99
• Red Dead Redemption (Xbox 360)- $14.99
• Shadows of the Damned (Xbox 360) – $14.99
• Killzone 3 (PS3) – $14.99
• Call of Juarez: The Cartel (PS3) – $9.99
• Socom 4 U.S. Navy Seals (PS3) – $14.99

There you have it folks; your GameFly Nightly Deals.  Check back soon for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

Amazon and Best Buy Gaming DOTD 12/13

Hello everyone and welcome back for more deals.  Today we have great deals from Amazon and Best Buy, but we will start with the Amazon deals first.  The 19 Days of Deals has brought us to Assassin’s Creed Day.  So the discounted items are going to be Assassin’s Creed games and will be mentioned down below.  The Best Buy gaming deals of the day will have links provided below (not being mysterious intentionally).  Happy Shopping everyone and be sure to check these deals out if you see something you are interested in.

Amazon Gaming DOTD 12/13 – Assassin’s Creed Day – link to deal

• Assassin’s Creed Revelations (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $35.99
• Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (Xbox 360) – $19.99
• Assassin’s Creed 2 (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $14.99
• Assassin’s Creed (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $14.99

Amazon Lightening Deals are running all day as well (link is the same as above)

Best Buy Gaming DOTD 12/13 – link to deal

• Saints Row: The Third (Xbox 360, PS3 and PC) – $29.99
• Sims 3 (Nintendo 3DS) – $29.99
• Madden NFL Football (Nintendo 3DS) – $29.99
• Xbox 360 Arcade 256MB (Refurbished) – $89.99 (here is the link for this deal, different page)
• Also a huge list of games on sale from our friends over at Cheap Ass Gamer – here is the link

There you have it folks; a great set of gaming deals from Amazon and Best Buy.  Be sure to check back soon for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

GameFly Nightly Deals 12/12

The start of a new week marks the return of the GameFly Nightly Deals.  For those of you who are familiar with these deals know the “deal”, but for newcomers these deals will run until 5PM PST tomorrow or until stock is depleted.  All games from GameFly come with new cases, manuals and online passes if required.  Free shipping also accompanies these deals which is a huge plus.  Each game has its own link so if you see something you like jump on it quick.  Happy shopping to all and to all a good night.

GameFly Nightly Deals 12/12

• Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (Xbox 360) – $9.99
• Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (PS3) – $9.99
• Warriors: Legends of Troy (PS3) – $14.99
• MLB 11: The Show (PS3)   – $12.99
• MLB 2K11 (Xbox 360) – $9.99
• MLB 2K11 (PS3) – $9.99

There you have it folks; your GameFly Nightly Deals.  Check back tomorrow for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.

 

Amazon Gaming DOTD 12/12

Welcome back everyone for another day of deals on Amazon.  The 19 Days of Deals roll on and today’s theme is Call of Duty.  Doesn’t leave much to the imagination, but if you are in the market for a Call of Duty game you are most likely in luck today.  You can ride this link over to Amazon to check out the discounted merchandise.  I’ll also throw up some of the sale items to satisfy any of your curiosities.  Happy Shopping everyone.

Amazon Gaming Deals of the Day 12/12 – Call of Duty Day

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (Xbox 360,PS3 and PC) – $49.99
• Call of Duty: Black Ops (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $37.99
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360 and PS3) – $27.99
• and a few more

For a Limited Time Only – Amazon Gaming Offer

• Get an $80 credit when you purchase the Xbox 360 4GB w/Kinect bundle

There you have it folks; your Amazon Gaming Deals of the Day.  Check back often for new deals and as always you can follow us on Twitter @GamersAbstract and like us on Facebook for more content.