When I was in elementary school Pokémon was my life. I remember when the first kid brought Pokémon cards into class. Everyone was amazed and I think we all went home and begged our parents to buy us some, I know I sure did! So when I walked into my classroom the next day with my new starter pack I thought I was going to be the best there ever was! But to my surprise many others had the same starter pack and the same idea. After that period of my life Pokémon has taken a backseat to many of my other gaming interests. I will pick up a new game here and there but I never invest the time and energy into making my Pokémon the best. When Pokémon Go came out it reinvigorated my interest and got me excited for the next games in the series, Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon . So if you are like me, and you grew up in the privileged generation that experienced the original 150 Pokémon, you can understand me when I say that the new generation of Pokémon absolutely suck! Ok maybe suck is too har...

This past weekend Respawn Entertainment released their “ Multiplayer Tech Test ” for Titanfall 2 . The test is open for everyone to enjoy regardless of pre-orders. It showcases some of the new features players can expect to see when the new game is finally released in October. Two new maps are playable, as well as a new game variant called “Bounty Hunt”. There have been some tweaks for gameplay classes and Titans. Respawn Entertainment stresses that the test is a “pre-alpha” model of the game, meaning that the game is still in development there are known problems so it does not reflect the final product. Overall, my time playing this weekend was enjoyable but I did make notes of certain aspects of the game that may need some heavy tweaking. The two new maps, Boomtown and Homestead were fun to play on but large in scale. Homestead is a rural sprawl with a large circular tower (perfect for snipers) front and center in the middle of the map. Boomtown has a more urban setting, allowin...

After four years of waiting and delay after delay, No Man’s Sky has finally launched. The initial release has been successful, and has not had the same server crashes that have become a signature of launch day titles. Created by Hello Games, No Man’s Sky puts you in the shoes of an explorer traveling the vastness of a seemingly endless galaxy. Throughout your journey you will need to find minerals and other items used to craft upgrades for your ship. Doing so will allow your ship to continue traveling until you reach the end game goal. But the games enjoyment lies in what you do in between reaching that goal. Discovery is the major driving force behind my enjoyment of No Man’s Sky . Finding and exploring new planets is loads of fun. You truly feel like the first person to step foot when you land your ship on an alien planet. You can also find and travel to planets that other players discovered. The developers of the game pride themselves on the fact that the game contains 18 quin...

It was recently reported that Blizzard is planning on releasing an HD version of Starcraft . Starcraft is a widely successful real time strategy game that was released in 1998 and helped make Blizzard a house hold name in the game industry. Its success spawned the sequel, Starcraft 2 in 2010. Similarly, Nintendo released an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the 3DS , and Microsoft gave the go ahead for the entire Halo series to be updated and released for the Xbox One . But why do game studios decide to re-release games from the past, instead of creating new games? One reason is that not all game sequels will be met with the same praise that their predecessors were. The Resident Evil franchise is regarded as one of the best in horror. Resident Evil 4 was nearly universally praised by reviewers and gamers alike but Resident Evil 5 and 6 were panned. They provide an example of how hard it can be for long running franchises to create fresh ideas that con...

One of my favorite games of the year is Firewatch which puts you in the role of Henry as he spends his summer in a lookout tower in a Wyoming, watching for fires. His only means of communication is a walkie talkie he uses to talk with fellow firewatcher Delilah, who is your only guide as you investigate the vast wilderness. You begin to build a relationship with her but soon events begin to unfold that bring both of you to your breaking point. Firewatch is a game that is as much about its own narrative as it is about the player’s personal experience within the game. Because of this some players have felt that the ending was bad. I do not believe they feel this way because they didn’t like the game, or because they failed to immerse themselves within the story. I believe that today’s gamers have become so focused on the “end” as the most rewarding experience that they have failed to see the “journey” through the game as the most important one. Recently in an article about the end...