Blockbuster Rentals: Overpriced

What the fudge is going on with Blockbuster. I went there today to rent a Wii game and found myself paying $8 for a five, yes, FIVE day rental. Since when did Blockbuster start charging an arm and a leg to rent games? Given I haven't rented a game since the first year of release of the PS2, I guess things have changed dramatically in the rental business.

I'm guessing they're trying to keep up with sites like Gamefly, and the only way they can do it is by over charging. Wow, this may be the last time I rent a game from there.

Think about it, for the same price of renting a game for a month and a half, you can actually buy the game...

How am I supposed to do my "try before buy" approach if it costs this much. Maybe I should rely more on some of my friends to lend me their games. I'm not made of money.

In lighter news, I rented Super Paper Mario, and will have a review of it by the end of the five days. Even though no one reads my blog, at least not yet.

Game Look: Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

A Gamecube port, but more fun to play.

My Story:
I bought this game about a week ago, and it's the game that pushed me to blogging. It cost me around $52 including tax, which totally depleted my gaming fund. Best Buy gave me reward points though, which is cool, I guess.

Review:
Even though this game came out for the Gamecube, I still find it necessary to play on the Wii. The control scheme is fun, having you swing the controller to actually swing Link's sword. I find myself being laughed at by my parents and my brother when playing this game, but hey, I'm having a blast. The story is what you'd expect from a Zelda title, deep and inviting. The game is long. Extremely long. I've had the game for a week and am barely half way through it. There's a lot to explore, side quests, and fishing. Fishing with the Wii Mote is enjoyable, though it does look funny in real life.

It's the latest installment to the Zelda series, so a lot of Nintendo fan boys and gals will enjoy the game no matter what. You just have try it out for yourself to see how fun it truly is.

Most gaming sites give this a perfect 10 out of 10, but I don't. Don't get me wrong, I like the game, but it's not as addictive as previous Zelda classics like Ocarina of Time. It's fun to an extent, but I'm able to let go of the controller to rest rather than play for six hours straight like other games.

Graphics:
Being a Gamecube port, you can't really expect to see the next-gen graphics that the big 3 consoles are capable of. The shadow effects and lush atmospheres are nice, but don't play out to what I believe the Wii is capable of.

Gameplay:
Using the Wii Mote and Nunchuck is really fun. It requires you to actually move a muscle other than your thumbs to play the game! Furthermore, the idea of switching from being a human to wolf form throughout the game gives it a feeling of freshness. Fishing can have you side tracked for hours, trying to collect as many as you can. The mechanics are just innovative and fun.

My Opinion:
This game is great. If you liked previous Zelda games or adventure games in general, then this one is a keeper. If you're like me, and are unsure if it's worth the $52+ dollars, then go ahead and rent or borrow it from your friends to see if it's a game worthy of sitting in your collection.

Game Look: World of Warcraft

My Story:
I started playing World of Warcraft (WoW) my freshman year of high school. I beta tested for a couple of months and got hooked beyond belief. After playing a season of football, I did nothing with my free time but play the game. After 3 years of a love/hate relationship, I still find myself coming back to this game in time of boredom.

Review:
This game is addictive. Addictive enough that anyone who wishes to have a live should go nowhere near this game. 8 million players world wide should tell you that this game is good. Addictively good. Well, enough of that.

Huge world, inviting story line, and a deep, involved community is what this game is all about. From low level questing, to mid level PvPing ( Player vs. Player), to the massive four to six hour long boss raids, this game will have you hooked. There is a ton of things to explore, and a lot to accomplish.

The game is created by Blizzard, creators of many successful franchises, including Diablo, Diablo II, Starcraft, and the Warcraft Series, which is what WoW is based off of.

The only downside one could have with this game is the $15 a month fee, but in my opinion, it's worth it.

Graphics:
I don't have an over the top computer that could run a military database like the one my brother spent months building, but the graphics are still nice. My four year old Vaio runs the game smoothly, and the actual game servers rarely give you lag. The lush environments and harsh action is displayed beautifully in this game.

Gameplay:
Again, if you don't want to ruin your social life, do not go near this game. The gameplay mechanics are easy to learn, but hard to master. If you play on a Player vs. Player realm, you'll find yourself frustrated time and time again, yet still be enjoying the game. There is sooooo much to do, that you'll find yourself aimlessly wandering from place to place for hours.

The group aspect of the game is immense, and you'll make friends and enemies quickly. At higher levels, groups are essential for larger "Boss" battles and "Raids", which consist of anywhere from 5 to 25 players.

The Virtual to Real Revolution:
With an over the top popular online game, there comes some real money to be made. There are countless gold sellers, power levelers, and item sellers throughout the net that will sell you virtual currency for real, cold, hard cash. This sometimes make it tempting to just go out and have somebody play the game for you, and you'd pay them. Why would you though? If the game is not fun, then don't play it. I've lost many of friends to this, and hopefully you wont turn to this in times of deperation.

My Opinion:
Buy the game, it comes with a 30 day free play time, and trust me, you wont play for only those 30 days. It's so addictive, it's scary. I've recommended the game to friends that I haven't seen for more than 30 min. outside their homes because of it.

No matter what, try it, there's a 5 day trial floating around worldofwarcraft.com, and I'm sure you'll get hooked.

System Look: Wii

Nintendo's Wii is a milestone for the video game industry.

My Story:
It took me about four days of calling all local stores within a twenty-five mile radius to get this thing, so it's not exactly easy to find. I had the $250 burning a hole in my pocket, and this was the only system I was looking forward to. I finally found one at a local Gamestop during opening hours.

Review:
The system is sleek, affordable and enjoyable to the masses. It pulls in many non gamers, including my parents, aunts, uncles, six year old cousins, and guys I hardly hang out with anymore. Its innovative control scheme is fun, and at $250 (being the cheapest of the big 3 consoles out), it's worth it. I have spent countless hours playing with it, finding it hard to stay off virtual bowling with Wii Sports. It plays my old Nintendo Gamecube games, which is a nice add on. The menu system of the console itself is nice, which includes a shopping network where you can use a point system to purchase games from the Nes, Super Nes, and N64. You can also buy an internet channel used to surf the web from the comfort of your sofa. The typing system is time consuming, but easy to master.

Graphics:
The graphical prowess of the Wii has not reached its limit, as many game companies simply port existing games to it instead of building one from the ground up. At the moment, the graphics of current games are just a little above those of the old GCN, PS2, and XBox.

Game Library (as of today):
The Wii has a large number of what some may label "casual games". These are games that are easy to learn and fun to play for short durations. There is an over abundance of mini games, party games, and just plain easy games.

A game worth noting is the Nintendo Exclusive Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. It looks to be a promising game, but it is a Gamecube port, meaning the graphics are not comparable to the capacity of the Wii itself.

In the Future:
The future has a lot in store for the Wii, as shown on E3 2007. It has a lot of gaming favorites, including a new Mario, Metroid, and Super Smash Bros. game in the future. The system is promising, but "hardcore" gamers might stray away from the "childish" games as some call it.

My Opinion:
The Wii has been great. Wii sports is an enjoyable free game that will have you hooked to the system from the beginning. The only hard thing about making the purchase is finding one available near you!

Welcome!

I'm really happy to have finally have started my own blog. It will contain game reviews and my personal opinion on upcoming/existing video games. Hope you find it interesting and useful.