Thoughts on Batman Arkham Knight

I have been lost in the crime ridden streets of Gotham since I got my hands on Batman Arkham Knight just a few weeks ago. I have been soaking in every gorgeous detail and cherishing my time with some of the greatest villains ever created. Unfortunately, it wasn't much time because I finished the main story in about 3 days. Now that I have finished the game, with the exception of all Riddler activities, I figured I would share some final thoughts. So this would be a good time to mention that this post will be full of SPOILERS. Seriously, all of the SPOILERS! SPOILERS upon SPOILERS. And just in case we aren't clear...

The Batmobile

This seems to be quite the divisive topic when it comes to this game. Some people love it, some people absolutely hate it. I would say I'm somewhat in the middle. I didn't absolutely hate the batmobile, but I most certainly could have gone without it. I will say, it is extremely polished. Going in and out of battle mode was seamless and the tank drone fights were really well done. However, later battles in the game that pit you up against the Arkham Knight and his ridiculously armored tank and drill were some of the most frustrating gaming moments I have encountered in recent years. Something about him being in pursuit of the batmobile seemed to change the handling in a way that it felt like the game world was suddenly butter, and the batmobile would slide in every direction except the one you wanted it to go. Derpy camera angles and the searchlight from his drill going through the underground tunnels made things all the more difficult. So difficult and frustrating that I shamelessly changed the difficulty to "easy" for those particular battles. Maybe I just suck at this game, but I was sick of him getting in the way of finishing the main missions. I also didn't want my frustrations to taint my perception of what is a near perfect game. Which brings us to...

Glitches and Other Weirdness

This won't be a very long section considering I played this on PS4 and not on PC. During my time in Gotham I only encountered two major glitches. One near the very beginning of the game while going into the clock tower. The cut scene began but there was no audio, I tried to switch on subtitles so I could at least read the conversation happening but that caused my game to crash. I quit to the Playstation main menu but it suddenly jumped back into the frozen game and crashed the entire system. The second happened near the very end of the game. One last time for good measure, SPOILERS! I had just had the shock of a lifetime finding out that Barbara was alive. After a dramatic showdown with Batman, Gordon, Barbara, and Scarecrow I was able to rescue Oracle and bring her back to the GCPD. Only when Batman carried her in, she wasn't in his arms. I thought maybe Batman really was losing his mind and she really wasn't alive. So after an awkward scene of Batman talking to the air around him, gameplay resumed and I could finally see Barbara. Other weirdness I encountered mostly had to do with weird camera angles when trying to maneuver the batmobile and really weird combat when it came to trying to fight someone on a set of stairs. 

The Story

When I first heard that Scarecrow was to be one of the main antagonists of Arkham Knight, I was stoked. I loved his segments in Arkham Asylum, they were so well done and caught you by complete surprise. Particularly when it made you think your system had crashed. Even though his demeanor is quite a departure from Asylum, I still really enjoyed all of the bits where he actually made an appearance. Particular high points included the movie studios takeover by Harley Quinn, the eerie airship battle when suddenly all the henchmen rise like zombies, any chance you got to use those incredible dual takedowns with your sidekicks, and the ending of course. My only real complaint with the story is that I wish it was longer. But you can't fully delve into talking about the story without mentioning...

The Reveals

After the ending of Arkham City I sat in shock in a dark room with endless credits rolling by while being serenaded by the Joker and what seemed to be his last words. After that, websites everywhere went crazy about Mark Hamill saying that was his final performance as the Joker and he was retiring the voice. I believed it. I was interested to see what kind of a Joker-less Batman game they were going to bring to the table. Who could have guessed that killing off the character meant you would see them more than you ever have before. In what would be the first of many jump scares in the game, (that weren't ruined by E3 demos) you are confronted by Joker. You assume it is Scarecrow's fear toxin working its magic when you are suddenly transported to a flashback at Batman's movie studio hideout. There you discover the patients who were poisoned with the Joker's blood in Arkham City who are now transforming into him. Only there is one empty cell reserved for the dark knight himself. That's when you realize it wasn't Crane's toxin after all, he is really in our head. From then on he is the little devil on your shoulder, popping up constantly to give you his point of view on things. His transitions in and out of scenes are flawless and his commentary is absolute perfection. And I haven't even mentioned the incredible musical number...Oh, how good it was to have him back!

But that wasn't even the big reveal. Of course the big reveal was who was going to be the Arkham Knight. For a lot of people, this wasn't a huge surprise. For many people, this was a crushing disappointment. As someone with minimal knowledge of the Batman universe other than info provided by the games and quick google searches to understand things better, I knew immediately after the first trip down Joker's torture lane. Was I surprised by the Jason Todd reveal? Obviously not. Was I disappointed? No. I mean, who else could it have been? It made sense, (even though I'm still somewhat confused on where he was able to pull the funds for an army and advanced military equipment.) In fact the only thing that disappointed me about his reveal was his weak boss battle.

Of course the final reveal, that I spoiled already, was Oracle being alive and well. I mean, as well as one could be after spending some time with Scarecrow. I wasn't exactly surprised by this, but I was happy. I guess if comic books and comic book films have taught me anything, it's that no one really ever dies, (looking at you Captain America: The Winter Soldier.)

But even once you've finished the story, there are still a number of things to keep you busy in Gotham. Which brings us to...

Side Missions

Arkham City had some of the greatest side missions to grace any video game. You got to interact with the likes of Bane, Zsasz, the Mad Hatter, the ever cryptic Azrael, and more even though they weren't central to the story. Arkham Knight continues this trend and adds even more. The murder mystery and reveal of Pyg was interesting and unsettling in the best way possible. Tracking down Penguins weapons caches was a nice little treat if only to use those very well done dual takedowns with Knighwing. It was nice to see the Riddler integrated more into the story by including Catwomen. The Two-Face bank robberies were hectic fun. And the Man-Bat was a terrifying and fun surprise. It was also nice to see continuations of side missions from City, like the conclusion to all those cryptic messages from Azrael. However, some continuations were a tad disappointing. What was setting up to be one of the most interesting side missions when all communication with Lucius is lost turns out to be a continuation of what happened with that Bruce Wayne identity thief Hush from City. The start of the mission was incredible with you assuming you are in control of Bruce Wayne only to violently be told you are actually in control of the baddie. But, almost as quickly as it begins, it is over within minutes after a simple counter move. I guess I was hoping for a series of missions involving Hush after all of the set up in Arkham City. Other frustrations include the endless bombs and watch towers which just get monotonous after a while and the painful Firefly batmobile chases....Okay, maybe I just really suck at driving the batmobile. Seriously, I think I did more damage to Gotham than the criminals. It should be a pile of rubble with the amount of support pillars I demolished...but we're getting off topic now. 

Final Thoughts

Overall, it was an incredible game and was the first game that made my PS4 purchase feel worth it and has got me even more excited for what's to come. It's hard to say if it is my favorite of the series, I will have to go back and revisit Asylum and City before I can say. But it was a damn good game and I am a tad bummed I finished it so quickly. Here's to hoping the Batgirl DLC will be awesome!

Am I Falling Out of Love With Gaming?

I have been rather radio silent on the blog front for quite some time now and that's because to write a blog about video games you have to play some video games. As of now, I haven't played a game since I finished Infamous: Second Son. I haven't purchased a game since Christmas (or I guess before that because technically those were gifts.) Assassins Creed Unity sits unfinished. Far cry 4 sits unfinished. Both Destiny and Assassins Creed Black Flag remain unopened. So what happened? I used to be so excited about new game releases that it felt as if I couldn't breath from the moment I saw the reveal trailer until the day I finally held it in my hands. I would play it until I was forced to sleep, or eat, or until my Playstation's cooling fan couldn't handle it any longer. I couldn't relax until I had seen the credits roll and days at work or school were excruciatingly long because I just couldn't wait until I could get back to playing. 

The last time I felt that way about a game was all the way back in 2013. It was my first summer break in college, so naturally, and regretfully, it was spent in my hometown. I was working my full-time summer job and I was counting down the hours until I could rush home and find my pre-ordered copy of The Last of Us delivered on release day. However, being in rural Nevada, release day delivery was not guaranteed and my copy was not there. I had to sit through another long day terrified that I was going to stumble across a spoiler before I could even pop it into the PS3. Eventually I got my copy and much to the dismay of my brother and parents, I finished the game in two days. 

It's probably not the best way to play games, finishing them in a matter of days, but I just can't rest until I finish the story. Especially since we live in a world where keyboard crusaders find so much joy in spoiling everything for everyone. Of course I take my time exploring open worlds and doing side-quests, but in linear games I have to get through the story, I have to know what happens. It's like binge-watching a show on Netflix. So why am I not itching to finish Assassin's Creed Unity or Far Cry 4? 

Honestly, I don't know. Maybe because I was already starting to get fatigued by the AC series. Or maybe because Far Cry 3 was pretty fantastic and it seems like this quick sequel was just trying to cash in on that. Maybe I'm just coming up with excuses for being lazy, too lazy to even play video games. (Wow...that's bad.) Maybe this is what happens when you become an adult and your focus shifts to school and work and the only energy you have left is for watching Netflix and going down the rabbit hole of Buzzfeed and Cracked.com. Or maybe the PS4 and Xbox One era just hasn't hit its stride yet and there is literally nothing to play. I'm hoping for the latter. 

I'm starting to get that sense of excitement that accompanies a new game release. Hopefully Batman Arkham Knight can save my love for the gaming art form. As for Monday, since I have the day off, I am planning on watching every E3 livestream in the hopes that something can get me as excited as I was when I first saw The Last of Us demo, I'm 100% certain it will probably be Uncharted 4. (Then I remember I still have a year to wait and I feel as if I've been punched in the gut.) Maybe we will all be blown away by an announcement that no one will be expecting, (fingers crossed for a Red Dead Redemption follow up.) Let's hope for an amazing E3 with lot's of surprises in store that will fill this next year with nothing but anticipation. 

Always, Always, Always a Hero

Hello blogging world, it's been a while. Between school, work, sorority, and Netflix time, I haven't had a lot of time to play any video games. Well recently my work load decreased significantly and I was finally able to open up Infamous: Second Son and give it a go. As is tradition with this series, very early on you are given the choice of whether you are going to play as a "Hero" or "Villain." I chose hero. I always choose hero. And I always wonder why?

The point of video games is to give you a glorious world where you can choose to do whatever you please. These can be an escape where you can do despicable things that you otherwise couldn't do in the real world. The name of these games is Infamous, so why in every one so far have I chosen to not play infamously? This is far from the only game where I've played the good guy.

So, when did it all start? I remember very clearly when I was younger playing Grand Theft Auto: Vice City killing every pedestrian in sight, never once playing a story mission. I remember getting a little older and doing the same in Grand Theft Auto IV, but this was also when I became engaged in the characters and story. I would say it all started with a glorious little game called Red Dead Redemption.

Rockstar Games are made to be played devilishly. They give you gigantic worlds full of pedestrians
shouting nonsense that just deserve to be sucker punched. Red Dead Redemption was the perfect landscape to play this way, to be the outlaw. Yet, I couldn't bring myself to do it. I couldn't bring myself to aid the bad guys, I couldn't just ride away from outlaws about to kill innocent people, and I couldn't let some asshole get away with stealing some poor man's horse. I loved seeing my honor go up. I loved rising from "nobody" all the way to "legend." I loved hearing the pedestrians praising me and saying hello as they rode by rather than running in fear. It made you feel like a superhero.

Ever since finishing Red Dead, I've realized this style of playing has followed me in every game since. Whenever given the choice, I always try to make the "right" one. Whenever given the chance to act as a hero, I always take it. Whenever I made a mistake and accidentally killed an innocent bystander, I felt guilty. Whenever I made a dialogue choice in The Walking Dead in which Clementine "remembered" it in a bad way, that sense of shame followed me all day. But why? In the same way that playing a villain gives you a sense of satisfaction because you don't do these things in real life, the exact same thing can be said for playing the hero.

I am not the kind of person that is going to step in and stop something horrible from happening in real life. Never will you see me as headline news for doing something miraculous. I keep to myself in the real world. If someone is on the side of the road with a flat tire, I'm one of the idiots slowing down traffic to look instead of stopping to help. Partly because I know nothing of changing flat tires, but mostly because I'm just trying to get through whatever misfortune is thrown at me during an average day without getting involved in someone else's. I am the exact opposite of a superhero.

So maybe that explains it. Maybe not. Maybe I just have strong moral values that follow me even into the virtual world. Or maybe some games are just better playing the hero.

For more gaming ramblings, or just my daily misfortune follow me on Twitter: @AshtynMarlow

Returning To The Never Ending World of Assassin's Creed

Let me just begin this article saying I truly loved Assassin's Creed. AC 2 is most definitely in my top favorite games and, despite it being incredibly loathed, I quite enjoyed the world and story of AC 3. However, it was after finishing this game that I fell out of love with the series, or rather started to loath how regularly the games were coming out. It started to echo Call of Duty

Ah, Call of Duty, another franchise I used to be quite fond of. My adrenaline was pumping throughout the "All Ghillied Up" mission in Modern Warfare, I loved revisiting old characters in the over-the-top follow up Modern Warfare 2, and there were countless moments in World at War that had my heart pounding. But as the years went on and the games kept coming I realized it was pointless of me to make a 60 dollar purchase for a 4 hour story, especially because I don't play and have no interest in playing the multiplayer. If I went into my local game retailer today, I couldn't tell you which Call of Duty game came out last year and which one came out this year. That's how much I can't keep up with these releases, and sadly I'm starting to feel the same way about Assassin's Creed.

Of course this may be an unfair argument. After all, Ubisoft manages to give us an entirely new, detailed, gorgeous open world to explore every year, whereas Activision/Infinity Ward gives us a couple linear over the top set pieces to spend a few minutes per mission in. However, the more the AC series goes on, I keep finding myself less impressed by the world and characters around me and less interested in all the side-quests they have to offer.

I remember my first trip into the Animus. My first thought was; "...the f**k is an animus?" But as I started to get the hang of the tricky controls and got my first glimpses of the gorgeous cities that make up the huge and detailed world, I immediately fell in love. And though, at times, the first AC game felt like a bit of a chore to finish only to get a lackluster cliffhanger of an ending, it piqued my interest enough for me to immediately get on Amazon and have AC 2 shipped as soon as humanly possible.

Oh, AC 2...What is there to say about AC 2 that hasn't already been said millions of times? It was incredible, beautiful, and interesting. It had characters that I liked and cared about and a protagonist that I didn't mind spending endless hours with. Each city was programmed with such personality, from the petals that fluttered down from Florence rooftops to the mask wearing and fire breathing jesters throughout the streets of Venice. It was an experience. This was the game that made me fall in love with the series. And luckily, since I jumped into the series a couple years after release, I didn't have to suffer through yet another cliffhanger ending. Once again I was on the computer ordering the next installment.

Days later I was jumping into Brotherhood. And while it is not my favorite in the series, I loved all the improvements and new features added. Most of the improvements came in terms of that dreaded present day plot line. I found the modern day stuff interesting in the first game, but it was incredibly tedious, (for the love of god, just let me run back and forth to the computer and my room!) In Brotherhood, they stepped up their game. I found myself caring for the characters more, interested in seeing present day Monteriggioni, and putting my new skills to the test in modern cities. Man, it could have been great! Instead, they ended the game with a bizarre, you guessed it, cliffhanger ending and managed to take a gigantic step back when it came to the present day story in the next installment.

I had finally caught up with the series almost exactly in time for the release of Revelations. The game was good, the story was okay, the characters were interesting, and it was a nice wrap up to both Ezio and Altair's stories. However, after the improvements to the present day plot in Brotherhood, I was a little more than upset that is was reduced to...to...I'm not even sure what to compare it to, but it was bad...really bad. I wasn't blown away by the game to say the least. I was going to mention how I felt about new features it introduced, but to be honest I don't quite remember. I remember protecting assassin's dens, I found it to be almost as tedious as reading those emails in the original. Mostly, I ignored all the little side stuff. I wanted to play the story, I wanted to know what happens next. I wanted to finish what I had started. I'm beginning to think I never will.

After finishing Revelations, I was totally okay if it was going to be a couple years before I played
another AC game. Ubisoft was not okay with this logic. Exactly one year later AC 3 was released to incredibly mixed reviews. Despite how I felt about Revelations, I was still very excited about AC 3. I loved the setting they were taking it to, after learning everything about the Revolutionary war from elementary school all the way up through my first semester of college, I was incredibly excited to see how they were going to bring it to life and incorporate real events. Also this game was to give a definitive ending to that present day story that they butchered so badly in Revelations. I was pumped! After completing the game I feel conflicted. I wasn't disappointed, I wasn't in awe, and the only thing that left me with a bad taste in my mouth was the cop-out ending of the Desmond story arc. (Am I the only one that somewhat cared about the present day story? Probably.) Sure, the villain was slightly more likable than the hero, the story had some plot holes and loose ends, and the cities certainly didn't have the flair that Renaissance Italy did, (Sometimes I couldn't tell whether I was in Boston or New York unless a character mentioned it.) But it wasn't a bad game by any means, it just wasn't as good as previous entries in the series. One of the more polished and certainly most praised parts of the game was the naval combat. Ubisoft saw this praise and gave the audience seemingly what they wanted...a pirate assassin.

The day Black Flag was announced I decided I was done. A new game every year was getting to be too much, especially a new game where each one is declining in quality. I came to the conclusion that I would never finish what I started and it was time to end my time with the series. Besides, how good could a game about a pirate assassin be? Very good apparently. I've heard nothing but praise for Black Flag and feel like an idiot for calling it quits before playing it. But it isn't too late.

As you've seen, I've recently got my hands on a PS4 and with it AC Unity. I figured I would see what Ubisoft has done with a next-gen AC. I have only just started and am impressed so far. The cities are beautiful and huge, the details on the more extravagant buildings are gorgeous, and the crowded streets are impressive. As far as story and characters go, I don't have any particular interest so far. Arno certainly doesn't have the personality of Ezio or even Haytham for that matter. I started playing this game after the floods of patches swooped in to save the day, so the glitches I have encountered are far and few between. (By the way, I'm a firm believer in delaying games. I would much rather wait than play a game that is broken.) However, I feel the controls have gotten worse as far as trying to get your character to climb a certain thing or go a certain path. I have made multiple attempts to go through open doors and windows while free running only to have my character decide he would rather climb to the roof instead. I also feel a little overwhelmed by the amount of markers on my map. I appreciate side missions and other activities to distract from the main story, but damn! Also, I have yet to try to co-op missions. I'm interested to see what it's like to play cooperatively, but I can't see it running smoothly. If we are all given the same target, isn't it just going to be a race to see who can kill him first? Because I know I want to be the guy that kills the target. We shall see...Since I am nowhere near completion, I can't come to a conclusion whether it's a great, okay, or just another lackluster entry in the never ending series that is AC. Perhaps once I'm finished with the game I will write a review of sorts...no promises though.

As for my future with the series, it would appear they are going to keep making these games until they eventually don't make money and that's not something I appreciate. I suppose the same could be said for the Grand Theft Auto series, or Uncharted (Although 4 will be the last entry...sadly.) But the difference between these series is the time taken between games. GTA 5 came out 5 years after GTA 4. Uncharted 4, if released this year, will be coming out 3 years after Uncharted 3. It takes time, time to see what worked in the last game, what didn't, what to improve on and so-on. That is why each new GTA and each new Uncharted game are masterpieces. Okay, maybe masterpieces is going a tad overboard, but the games are great and the experience sticks with you long after the credits have rolled and you're dying of anticipation wondering what they will do with the next game and how long you will have to wait for it. Whereas, when information "leaks" about a new AC game, my reaction is mostly "...meh." And I'm sad that that's how I feel about a franchise I was once so deeply invested in...But, one can only play so much.

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas

I've finally joined the club of prestigious PS4 owners...but I have not joined PS Network because it's convieniently down at the moment. (Shocking) I will most likely share my thoughts as I delve deeper into the system that I can't wait to spend the next 'X' number of years with. Also look out for my opinion on the games I got to accompany this amazing gift: Far Cry 4 and I will diving back into the world of Assassin's Creed after about a two-year break...or boycott...but that's a story for another time. In the meantime have a very Merry Christmas, or a Happy Hanukkah, or just Happy Holidays! 

"The Game Encouraged Me To Do This"

So today while not paying attention in my environmental science lecture, I stumbled across an article about beloved Grand Theft Auto V being banned at Australian retailers for "encouraging players to commit sexual violence against women." I was baffled...partly because this game has been out for a year already, but mostly because never in any of the 5 Grand Theft Auto games I have played was I ever explicitly told, "Mission objective: sleep with prostitute, then brutally murder her to get your money back." The game never encourages violence on women, unless that woman happens to be in the police force, the army, or a gang that you must fight and/or defend yourself against. What a player chooses to do with the large amounts of pedestrians scattered about the world is exactly that, the players choice. Therefore, the problem does not lie with the game, it lies with the player.

It is absolutely possible to go through the entirety of GTA V without ever harming a pedestrian or soliciting a prostitute. And if only it weren't Trevor's headquarters for the latter half of the game, you would never have to enter the games strip club either. That is the beauty of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, everything you do outside of the games main missions is completely up to you. You can explore every inch of the worlds gigantic map. You can drive or fly around the world in every car, plane, or helicopter imaginable. You can explore the depths of the games oceans with a submarine and full diving gear. You can hunt wildlife in the forests below Mt. Chiliad, and then climb to the top and jump off with a parachute. You can search high and low for every little Easter egg left by the developers. You can blaze through the story and spend as much time as possible with each incredible protagonist. Or...you can go on murderous rampages gunning down civilian after civilian and pick up thousands of virtual prostitutes and then kill them to get your virtual money back. The possibilities are endless, and the number of incredible non-violent things to within the game world far outweigh the violent bad ones, yet those are the only things talked about in mainstream media.

Now I'm not condemning those who do these questionable deeds, because we all have. It's fun to see how the world reacts to your rampages, the physics when a pedestrian is punched is satisfyingly hilarious, and trying to survive a six star wanted level is probably the most challenging and one of the most fun aspects of the game. Are you forced to do these things? No. Are you encouraged to do these things? No. It's the equivalent of trying to sneak a peek at Christmas presents as a kid, it's fun but you know what you are doing is morally wrong.

The argument also put a focus on the age old argument of corrupting our youth. But, if these petitioners bothered to look at the very front cover of the game they would see the big M for mature rating. If you flip the cover over, you get to see all the reasons this game was rated mature. The reasons for GTA V are: Blood and gore, intense violence, mature humor, nudity, strong language, strong sexual content, use of drugs, and use of alcohol. If you feel your youth would be negatively influenced by anything listed in the rating, then the ultimate answer is not buying your youth the game. Why must it be banned for mature adults who want to play out the fantastically written story and perfectly polished game mechanics?

Ultimately, what most people don't seem to realize is the satire in it all. Nobody buys a GTA game
expecting to be a hero. You are an anti-hero thrown into a spoof of a real American city, surrounded
by the worst people society has to offer, and surrounded by social commentary and radio ads that draw parallels with some events in the real world. It is not a game for the easily offended.

However, if you must play a mature rated game with a sympathetic hero and strong female characters then look no further than another incredible Rockstar Game, Red Dead Redemption. It tells the story

of John Marston, who like almost every GTA character is out to turn his life around and leave the life of crime. Only difference is he's actually done it, he has a family and a ranch making an honest living when the government comes knocking. But unlike Michael in GTA V where you can tell pulling heists and other things is where he is truly happy, Marston's one a only goal throughout the whole game is his family and getting to be with them again. Along the way you meet strong female characters like Bonnie, Luisa, and Abigail. You can not sleep with prostitutes because you are a faithful married man. And what you do with pedestrians, whether it be help or harm them, has an affect on your honor and reputation. It is almost the exact opposite of everything Grand Theft Auto is about, but still just as good as their most popular franchise, if not better.

Ultimately, my point is after 16 years of GTA being an established, well-received, and widely publicized franchise, shouldn't we know what we are getting into by now. If you are offended by the content, don't play it. There is no reason to ban a huge, expansive, incredible, award winning game over something that is entirely optional to the player.

Studying My Life Away With Video Game Soundtracks!

Do you have finals coming up? Do you need to study? Do you have a focus problem listening to music with lyrics while trying studying? Do you need to drown out those bitches in the library listening to Taylor Swift without headphones? Oh...is that last one just me? Anyways, I've got the solution for you! Video game soundtracks!

They are not distracting and awe inspiring. They can range from beautifully solemn to perfectly motivational. A few of my personal favorites to study to are the Journey soundtrack by Austin Wintory, the Assassin's Creed II soundtrack by Jesper Kyd, and The Last of Us soundtrack by Gustavo Santaolalla.

Have you ever tried to perfectly match a soundtrack to whatever is going on in your life just like a movie? Oh...that's just me as well? Anyways, the Journey soundtrack goes along with studying perfectly. As soon as the first track starts you immediately feel calm. The stress fades away and you begin the long Journey through your studying. The darker tracks in the middle perfectly sum up how you feel in the middle of assignments, and then you end with the two magically inspiring tracks "Apotheosis" and "I Was Born for This." Ending your homework on those notes is almost equally as beautiful as the game itself.

What is there to say about the glorious game that is Assassin's Creed II...I would argue there is even more to say about its glorious soundtrack. With beautiful vocals and subtle electric guitar riffs, the soundtrack is what made those standout moments in the game so memorable. And listening to the soundtrack while studying makes studying just a little more bearable.

The Last of Us soundtrack perfectly encapsulates that sinking and solemn feeling that comes over us as we sit down to study for those dreaded finals. So no surprise then that the incredible score put together by Gustavo Santaolalla is an amazing soundtrack to keep you calm and get you through finals week.

And those are just a couple of my favorites that are getting me through this last stretch of the semester. Go support these amazing composers, all game soundtracks are available on iTunes....but since I know we are college students on a budget, most all are available in full on YouTube. Happy studying!

The Negative Connotations That Come With Being a "Gamer"

These images and news reports have become synonymous with video games in the last decade. When one person does a horrible deed that results in multiple lives lost, the first questions asked are never what was his state of mental wellness or how did he get his hands on these weapons of mass destruction, it is always how many video games are sitting in his home miles away? Scapegoats have been around for hundreds of years, people blame things that millions of people enjoy and that one person enjoyed and then happened to commit a crime. First it was books, movies, music, and now video games. And although millions of people game around the world, we are still stuck with this mantra of being socially awkward shut ins. In my experience, when someone finds out I love video games they are incredibly surprised, mostly because when most people think of "gamers" they picture something like this...

Ah yes, the South Park WOW guy. And while I'm sure there may be somebody out there right now baring a striking resembelence, living off pizza and Rockstar energy drinks, (or Doritos and Mt. Dew according to Microsoft) going into their 10th straight hour of ____ game, bottom line is this isn't an accurate depiction of the gaming culture anymore. Unfortunately, the only depiction the gaming industry gets in the mainstream media is mass murderers, children yelling obscenities and threats online on Call of Duty, and death threats against game developers in the recent stories of #GamerGate.

I am in a sorority, meaning that every Fall I must endure the mental and physical exhaustion that is sorority recruitment. Basically, it is 3 days of non-stop talking, or rather yelling, because when 100 women are in one room together it is physically impossible for us to talk at a normal volume. So I am in a room, yelling in some poor girls face, question after question, desperately trying to remember her name, and the conversation eventually turns into what is my major and what do I plan on doing with it. Every sorority always says, "Be yourself." For the most part, people appreciate you being honest and being yourself...for the most part. However, when I go on to tell them I'm a journalism major with plans of writing about and reviewing video games, I get a look that closely resembles this...

I then introduce her to another one of my sorority sisters and hope to god my personal hobby hasn't scared her away from the amazing group of women I call my sisters.

So how did we get to this point? Maybe it was the 80's and 90's movies and TV shows that portray us as awkward zit-faced teenagers un-ironically wearing suspenders and taped glasses. Or maybe it's the mainstream media like Fox News desperately trying to find a link between violence and video games. However, if there truly was a direct link between violence and video games the world would look a little bit like the movie The Purge, considering games sell millions of copies, particularly games like Grand Theft Auto V which has sold 32 million copies and counting. 

I hate that my personal hobby and something that I'm truly passionate about is never shown in a positive light outside of the gaming community. I hate feeling ashamed of playing video games because people then see me as "weird." I hate telling people my aspirations of working in the gaming industry and then being looked down upon in my journalism classes and asked, "Why are you even getting a degree?" 

Maybe one day video games will be looked at as an art form outside of the industry. Maybe one day the mainstream media will recognize the incredible stories, the incredible satire saturated commentary, and the incredible originality that come in games like The Last of Us, the Grand Theft Auto series, and Journey. Maybe one day video games will be recognized as equal in the ranks of movies, music, and television shows when it comes to popular culture. Maybe one day the media will stop comparing a huge community of normal people with a video game hobby to one deranged killer. And maybe one day I can tell someone my aspirations of working within the video game industry without getting a look of concern and judgement. Just maybe.

Retro Gaming Expo, Las Vegas

If only I brought more money for merch.

This past weekend I attended the Retro Gaming Expo at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. It was the
first gaming expo I had ever been to and I certainly hope it won't be the last. I saw the fliers around campus and immediately gathered some sorority sisters that I then forced to go with me, and even though my poor friends would have rather had been anywhere else, I had a blast.

Couldn't find Sonic 2, so Sonic 3 will have to do.

It was a small convention composed of small booths full of handmade merchandise, old school gaming consoles, and retro games for nearly every console ever made. The most popular were the Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis. I could have added several games to my old collection of only Sonic 2 if I knew where my old Sega Genesis was. Merchandise ranged anywhere from the hand beaded characters you see above (a hand beaded Pyramid Head that I unfortunately didn't get a picture of was the highlight,) to fan art posters, to Mario hats, and a necessity at every expo; Link's shield and sword.

Being the stereotypical broke college student, I only bought one thing at the expo...buttons...

BUTTONS!

And as pathetic as it may sound I tried to pick them so they would have sentimental value. Not only are they my first pieces of merchandise from my first convention, they all have meaning in my gaming heart. During my long Nintendo DS gaming life an embarrassingly long amount of time was spent in the world of Animal Crossing. I explored every inch of my little town, visited my friends towns who also had the game, tried to keep every animal neighbor in my town from moving, and tirelessly tried to work off the never ending debt to the bastard Tom Nook...what a dick that guy was...Anyways, when I saw the Animal Crossing character I just had to pick it. I picked Princess Peach specifically on her Mario Kart because that was another game I spent countless hours on and she was always my character of choice. The Pac-Man ghost, well who hasn't played Pac-Man. And finally the I love my Playstation 3 button because I do. It was my very first console where I played a game to completion the very first time and one day it will be a showcase at some Retro Gaming Expo and I will be telling kids my nostalgic memories of good ol' 2000's.

By far my favorite part of the expo was the game room. They had all kinds games in all kinds of consoles hooked to every kind of TV imaginable. On the outer walls there were arcade games and pinball machines ranging from South Park to even a pinball machine based on the movie "Twister." The popular games in the middle of the room were one of the many Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games, the original Donkey Kong, and Mario Kart 64. Considering the fact that Mario Kart had so many people gathered around in the hopes to play that they decided to create a tournament, I gave up and sadly walked away and then stumbled on Mortal Kombat II. I immediately grabbed the controller and threw the other into the hands of my friend who has almost zero gaming experience. I chose Scorpion and tried my best to coach my friend through it but then I realized my only coaching instructions were "just hit the buttons...button mash." It was a disaster of epic proportions as our characters swung and kicked away at mostly air, only sometimes causing damage to the other player. But I didn't care, it was the first time I had played a Mortal Kombat game in years and I had a blast, no matter how terrible I was.

All in all I had an excellent time and I will certainly be on the lookout for more gaming expos to hit the Las Vegas area. And one day, maybe very soon I will save up the money to travel to Pax Prime up in Seattle, or maybe I will just go for the big guns and hit up San Diego Comic-Con or go for the ultimate dream of going to E3. One day...I'm determined.

My Love For Video Games: A Retrospective

Hello blogging world! My name is Ashtyn, I'm a junior at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, (UNLV) a member of the sorority Alpha Xi Delta, and I spend a majority of my free time playing games on my Playstation 3. I love games, I love talking about games, I love writing about games, and one day I hope to make a career of it. This confuses most people, like my parents and peers, and in class when my professors ask what we plan to do in the journalism field, when I answer with "I want to review video games, travel to conventions, and interview game developers!" It is usually met with a look of concern and mumbling "...mmm...yes...interesting..." I am often asked how I got into video games and I've never really thought about it myself, it just kind of happened. So now it's time to take a trip down memory lane to where it all began.

Time Warp

This journey begins way back...in the early 2000's. My dad was moving from my small hometown of Tonopah, Nevada to lovely Las Vegas. In the midst of packing and unpacking a wild Sega Genesis appeared. It was my older brothers and it somehow found its way into my room with a copy of Sonic 2. Being a child of divorced parents, my time with Sonic was limited to the few times a month I got to visit. But oh, did I make that time worth it. Often times I would play the game over and over until I could see the first glimpse of the hot Las Vegas sun rising over the valley. I don't quite remember how long this went on, but eventually my dads lease ended and he once again packed up to move back to the hell hole that is Tonopah and that was the last I saw of the Sega Genesis.

Dawn of The Nintendo DS

It was early middle school and everyone on the volleyball bus had the holy grail that was Nintendo DS.  We were tending to our virtual NintenDogs, expressing our immature adolescent minds with obscene drawings on the chat, endlessly co-oping our way through Super Mario Bros., and battling it out on every level of Mario Kart. The Nintendo DS was awesome...and I might have just asked my mom to find mine and mail it to me, cause the mere thought of the fun I had with this system has me itching to play some Mario Kart DS. This was the only time in my life when I didn't get crap for my gaming habit because everyone was doing it. But like all fads, it came to an end and Nintendo DS' all across Tonopah began to collect dust. Luckily for me, this was only the beginning of something greater.

The Wonderful World of Grand Theft Auto

I was a fresh little 13 year old when I first drove through the neon drenched streets of Vice City. My best friend and I would spend hours driving, running, rampaging, cheating, running from cops, picking up the occasional prostitute, and going on murderous killing spree's. After typing that sentence I'm a little worried for my sanity, and I have to wonder if my parents really knew what they were getting into when they started fueling my gaming hobby. As you have probably realized by now, I was a bit of a late bloomer to the world of video games. I had only roamed the world of Vice City and had never touched San Andreas when Grand Theft Auto IV was announced. But, for obvious reasons, I just had to have this game. I immediately began selling the idea of buying a Playstation 3 and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV to my mom and step-dad. When they asked why on Earth this sudden obsession and what is so great about this game that I just have to have, my little 8th grade self answered, "It's great, you run around the world and kill people!" Just typing that sentence makes me question my parents sanity because that argument worked. They brought me outside like one of those kids on My Super Sweet 16 about to get a custom car revealed. Only this was better than any custom BMW embellished with nothing but diamonds. There in the backseat sat my brand new perfectly packaged PS3 and a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV. I played the game vigorously, I explored every little corner of the map, stole every car, soaked in every little detail in every little mission, and felt a little lost when those credits started to roll and I realized my time with the cold and calculating Niko Bellic and the cast of interesting characters had come to an end. The game was near perfect, though that is an unpopular opinion nowadays. Though I had played many games before that, GTA IV was the first to start my love affair with everything video games.

The Dark Days of High School

It's a universal fact that everyone hates high school, right? Wrong. In my small hometown of Tonopah with only about 2,400 people it seemed I was the only one who couldn't wait to get the hell out of there. Not too say my high school experience was awful, it was far from it. I had great friends, I was voted part of homecoming court, and classes were so easy that I stayed home and played video games for nearly 80 days out of the 180 day school year and still managed to graduate with a 4.0...let that sink in. 

In Tonopah the big thing is sports. To hear some of the people talk in town you would think we were living in Dillon, Texas from the show Friday Night Lights. If that were the case I would have enjoyed living there much more.

Seen this image around the web recently?
Yep, that's my hometown

Our high school was classified as 1A having only about 150 students in the entire school! The big thing every year was bringing home a state championship as if it was the greatest accomplishment in life and that the whole world would take notice. However, in a state with schools like Bishop Gorman and Findlay Prep recruiting and producing world class athletes, no one knows or gives a shit about this school in the middle of no where. Do I sound bitter? I suppose I am, because I was cut from the volleyball team my Senior year after having played since 6th grade.
Every weekend my friends would leave town to play various teams around the state while I sat home. This was the time I played the most games for the most hours. I may have broken world records at this point. I played to completion all 3 Uncharted games, Batman Arkham Asylum and City, Bioshock, Journey, Flower, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2, World at War, Black Ops, GTA Episodes from Liberty City, Assassin's Creed through Brotherhood, L.A. Noire, and my favorite game of all time Red Dead Redemption. I'm sure there are more but that's all that comes to mind now. These games were my escape, a virtual world to explore that was much more interesting than what was going on in my reality at the time. I had finally found something I was good at.

10 Years & Counting

So there you have it, the humble beginnings of what became an addiction. With a large and still growing library of games, free space on my PS3 slowly dwindling, struggling to find time to play between college classes, homework, and sorority functions, and patiently waiting for the funds to get a PS4, I don't see this little hobby of mine ending anytime soon. And thanks to this lovely day and age I can now document every moment of my gaming life for all the Internet to see. I hope you can bare with me through all the grammatical errors, (I'm sure there are a lot) and enjoy the journey with me. For more gaming ramblings and more of my everyday thoughts feel free to follow me on Twitter @AshtynMarlow