So, I posted that I was going to take some time off from the blog to work on my backlog and other things. First, part of the reason I needed the break has been a slight lack of spare time. The good news is I got pretty significant promotion at the software company I work for. Downside is I'm so busy lately that I work through about 90% of my lunches, which was a key time for me to do my blogging updates and stage posts for upcoming dates. So, overall it's a good thing, but it's going to cut into my time for awhile longer, I have no doubt. On top of that I've been fiddling around with a trial of RPG Maker XP. I have touched on RPG Maker programs in the past, but it's been several years. I've always enjoyed fiddling with game-making software and I love creating content. I do a lot of writing in my spare time and I run a text-based online MUD with my wife called Kingdoms of the Lost (think of it as an online game of D&D). Don't know if I'll actually 'finish' a game or purchase RMXP yet or not, but it's been soaking up some time and I'll no doubt throw up some video and/or images of what I've done later. So... about the reviews. Got quite a few coming, but I may lay off of the images/video a bit since getting all of that around does take up a bit more time, we'll see. The backlog's come along nicely. Here's the basic list of games I've beaten up on over the last few months that I plan to do some reviews of soon: - Punch Out! - Uncharted: Drake's Fortune - PSN's newer versions of Pacman and Space invaders - X-Men arcade game on PSN - Metroid: Other M - Risk: Factions - Puzzle Quest 2 - 3D dot heroes - Kingdom of Paradise - Faerie Solitaire - Marvel collectible card game for my PSP - probably others I'm not recalling off of the top of my head And I've still got several games I'm plugging through right now: - Dragon Age 2 - King's Bounty - The Legend - The Witcher - The new Castlevania game - Tiger Woods 2011 - Fallout: New Vegas List of upcoming stuff: - I have the Move I won back before Christmas, and sadly I have hardly played it, but I have some games for it I want to review such as Sports Champions, Tiger Woods 2011, Eyepet, and Singstar - I have a pre-order on the upcoming Mortal Kombat and since fighters tend to be easier to get through than RPG games, expect a review on that the weekend after it's release, like Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (and unlike Dragon Age 2) - There's some free games and content I've been seeing posted on various sites like IGN, and released through the RPG Maker community so I hope to take at least a brief look at some of these and share my thoughts - Plenty of Retro Reflections coming - I've been playing quite a few games w/ my son of late it seems like - Speaking of kids, and wives - I was thinking about getting small blurbs or reviews from them as well. Might range from a few sentences to a few paragraphs, but they all play things I don't (like Beat Sketchers for my oldest, Pokemon Black/White for my son's DS, Little Big Planet for my youngest and my wife has a slew of iPad apps and some cellphone games) - probably nothing as detailed as what I put out there for my reviews, but quick opinions and/or ratings about games we have access to that I myself haven't had much/any chance to play So nyway, that's what I have on tap going forward. I'll go ahead and toss out a review tomorrow night barring anything unexpected and just try to keep content rolling out pretty steady every few days for the next several weeks and see where it lands me. Thanks for your patience, and feedback is - as always - appreciated and keeps me invested in trying to generate this content. :)
" Speaking of kids, and wives - I was thinking about getting small blurbs or reviews from them as well. Might range from a few sentences to a few paragraphs"
ReplyDeleteI've done that a few times with my wife on past games, but not often, as I don't really do reviews...........ah, me and my reviews, or lack thereof. One day, one day...
Also...
ReplyDelete"The good news is I got pretty significant promotion at the software company I work for."
Congrats on that!
"On top of that I've been fiddling around with a trial of RPG Maker XP."
I've never messed with RPG makers, but I've heard of them.
The only program I really, really experimented with was the CryEngine included with Far Cry on the PC...I really enjoyed that engine for designing levels and just experimenting with it.
I also played around a good bit last semester with GameMaker, which is a free game development program you can download, and is pretty fun and simple to work with, at least using the book.
Sad... my original reply was *really* long but didn't post for some reason. I hate when that happens. We'll see how my 'guest reviews' got with the wife and kids, but there's definitely some games they play that I don't, and I'm hoping that maybe if I get more readers, a parent may be as interested - if not more so - in what my 9 year old daughter has to say about a game like Eye Pet, than I do even.
ReplyDeleteThanks - the promotion was almost completely out of the blue. The had me come into a conference room with my boss and his boss, and I had no idea what it was about. Exciting stuff, but it keeps me pretty busy too.
The game-making stuff: Obviously I've always had an interest. My MUD had it's 10 year anniversary last August. I've played with a lot of different kits, from the Neverwinter Nights one to actually having done a few small Gamemaker games too (I had a pacman knockoff, a side-scrolling shooter and a super, super basic strategy game).
I find I've liked the structure of the RPG Maker programs though. They make it a bit easier to tell a story, which is my main draw to RPG's in the first place, and unlike something like the Neverwinter Nights module designer, you can share it with people who don't have the software themselves.
I should have several more reviews rolling in soon - good to see you stop by!
That is a lot of games - and projects. Just make sure you keep enjoying it and that it doesn't become work instead!
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