There's the top 10 and then there's my top 10

Top ten lists are great, I mean, look at David Letterman, the dude's made a living off them.  Everyone like's a top 10, it kinda helps us put things into perspective.  So 2008 is over, and everybodies gotta top 10 for 2008.  They all line up and put in their 2 cents, hundreds of websites, publications, bloggers, editors, and millions of Gamers, all of them have a top 10 and each of their top 10 is different from the next.  

Put it into perspective

So here's the thing, I may have just discovered Soduko or whatever it's called in 2008 or maybe Connect 4 and played it a bunch.  So does Connect 4 make my list?  How about this scenario, I found some obscure independent game made in Norway in 2008 that I think is the show, does that make the top 10?  In order to have a top 10, we gotta first lay out some ground rules.  Number one, my top 10 list will contain games played on major gaming consoles (xbox, playstation, nintendo.  Number two, I said consoles, not some handheld device like a PSP or Nintendo DS.  Number three, these games will have been available to the general public, I'm not gonna pull some game out of my a$$ that only a few played but it never got released or made it anywhere.  No diss to independant labels and stuff like that, actually, if you wanna send my something I can spin on my 360 or PC I'm game to give it a go and it may make the top 10 independant games list sometime.  So, be fair.  I'm not gonna list my top 10 NHL players of 2008 and just randomly throw some WHL dudes in there.  

The top 10 listed and in one sentence, why.  Drumbroll...

10.  Little Big Planet - Reminds me of some early Atari computer games, I think Adventure comes to mind.  Allows players creative input.

9.   Deadspace - Graphics, intuitive controls, great sound, and some scary moments,, golden.

8.  Fifa 08 - Great soccer, good online play, very nice.

7.  Burnout Paradise - Awesome addition to this franchise.

6.  Wii Sports -  A staple and great introduction to the Wii, besides Super Mario Brothers, probably the best game to actually be shipped with the console.

5.  Assassins Creed -  Can get a little repetitive, but groundbreaking gameplay, smooth, awesome graphics, epic.

4.  Left 4 Dead - Simple to the point and fun, think Galaga, Centipede, or PacMan with good graphics.  Grab your gun and start shooting.

3.  Fable 2 - A great follow up to Fable.  No dissapointments here.

2.  Gears of War 2 - There's just something about chainsawing locusts,, call me crazy.

1.  Fallout 3 - To me, this is Bioshock on crack, excellent. 

Till next time, keep your hands dry and keep those zombies in check.

Why is it important to have grip?

Well, there are a few reasons to have good grip. Some are more important than others, like for example, if you're buddy has slipped off of a building and you happen to be there to catch him on the way down, you'll want to have two important things in your favor; one would be enormous strength, two would be a dry grip.  Another reason would be that you would hate to be playing Wii at your friends house and have the controller go flying off your hand into the wall or tv set.

For example

It's afterwork, you were gonna just sit down and just play a couple casual online shooter matches with your online friend, then you guys end up getting p#wned a few games in a row.  You were just gonna play a few quick matches, and now, after getting peppered in the grill one to many times, you're temperature is rising.  You're hands are starting to heat up a bit, you perspire, or sweat.  Wait,, you got the break you've been looking for the whole night, the dude that's been chip skirtin you for a 1/2 hour and laughing at it is getting ready to run across your scope hairs, wait for it, there he goes, he saw you and broke a diagonal run top right, da&&it, your sweaty paws slipped across your controller piece and you flew the shot, embarassing and frustrating.  It doesn't end there, you had your buddies back, but the guy you missed the shot on sneaks up behind him and scrambles his brain, game over, it's too late for him, his mom turns off his Xbox, your chance for redemption lost.  

Now, do you see the importance, stop playing with sweaty paws, one tube of GhostGrip is good for 20 doses of 2-4 hours of dry game play per use.

Till next time,, keep your hands dry,, save your friends a#@

Big Act To Follow

Ok, check it out, there are peeps on the net calling Call of Duty World at War the top action game right now.  All I gotta say is, fine, I still think COD4 is better.  COD4's not new though, so maybe it's not a fair comparisson.  So let's look at what else is out there block buster wise.  I can think of a few that came out in roughly the same time frame.  Gears of War 2, Mercenaries 2, Battlefield Bad Company, and a host of other shooters.  I can say, out of what I can put in the same category of COD WAW (first person shooters), I'd have to say in all fairness, yes, it's the Top Action Game.  

What Makes it Fun

Ofcourse it's a combination of things.  It starts with the awesome COD physics and gameplay.  The graphics are awesome.  One thing I especially like is that it's got that retro feel.  The use of bright colors on things like unit badges gave it a great retro feel.  I like the era correct weaponry, but the sound effects left me wanting something a little more robust.  At times I felt like I was shooting an airsoft gun or a fully auto-matic .22.  

The Zombie Level

Beat the game and you can access a zombie gametype.  Unlocking Nazi zombies allows you to play with other people online against hordes of Nazi zombies, how cool is that?  Best weapon to use here, I'd say a pistol and you always got your trusty knife!

Get your GhostGrip ready!

You can get sweaty palms while or from doing a lot of things

Sweaty palms happen due to a lot of things.  I'm not professing to be a doctor or give medical advice, but I can say that I get sweaty palms when I play video games.  Why?  Well, because it's a competitive activity, whether your playing against the computer or someone online.  So what can we do to prevent sweaty palms while gaming? 

All kinds of advice.

Sweaty palms is a common problem among gamers.  I've seen the topic come up time and again on blogs and forums, etc...  They all have pretty much the same ole solutions, solutions which a lot of us just don't find satisfactory.  Things like, wash your hands before playing, or, wipe your hands on your shirt (or pants), or, wear socks on your hands, or, cut the finger tips off some gardening gloves, or, put chalk on your hands,,, etc...   Thing is, we want to PREVENT sweaty palms, not inconvenience ourselves or look like a tool shed.

Acceptable solutions.

So what's are the acceptable solutions.  We know stopping to wipe your hands off is interruptive to game play, and if you have to pause the game, that's just not right, and if you don't pause, you risk getting plinked in the head by a 3-round burst or getting your lid busted from a sick board check.  Is putting something between your hands and the controller the answer?  I don't think so.  Things like hand gloves and controller gloves make for a bulky feel that is unintended by the manufacturer, not only that, you run the risk of looking like a complete tool if you show up to a gaming session sporting that sorta gear.  Other stuff may work, like chalk or baby powder for example, but that's messy and can cake up and ruin your controller.  How about something that you can rub on your hands and it disappears, preventing your hands from sweating, giving you a natural and comfortable feel for the controller???  Wish you knew where you could find some stuff like that?  Try Ghostgrip.com.

Tell next time, hands dry, OUT!

Where do Wii Start? D-pad replaces Joystick.

That's funny, get it.  Well, Wii start with Nintendo, why, because of the NES.  The original NES controller was the first game controller that made a multi-button game pad make real sense.  Sure, it had the pause button, an a and b if I recall correctly, but more importantly, the joystick replacing D-pad, sweet!  The D-pad is that little plus sign looking thing on the NES controller that allowed you to controll the direction of your player by using your thumb instead of holding a joystick in your hand.  It was ingenious, because with a joystick (like the one on an Atari 2600) the player would need to use his entire left of right hand manipulating the player, which would leave very limited use of that hand for any button controll whatsoever.  Yeah, I know, the NES contoller didn't have any buttons on the D-pad side, but, it paved the way for them to exist at least.  There were some joysticks out there that had multi button capabiltiy, but the problem was, you had to stick the controller to a flat surface like a desk or something to even use them (remember the little suction cups on the bottom of the Atari 2600 joystick, who ever used those?).  

Touche, 2 joysticks replace D-pad

It's ironic that the D-pad gets replaced by two joysticks.  Difference is, they're not called joysticks anymore, they're called thumbsticks.  The thumbsticks sit on the left and right side of your modern day console controller and made they're first popular debut on the Playstation controller.  This setup, although not utilized to it's fullest on the original PS1 would lay the foundation for the integration of them into more sophisticated gameplay, and ultimately to their use in the revolutionary twin stick controlls you see on tons of todays hits.  My personal favorite, NHL 2009 by EA Sports.  But tons of games take advantage of this setup, and if you play any first person shooters, you already know what I mean.  So the PS1 controllers gotta rank up there.

Commadore 64 and early PC games joystick.

This is old school, but I'll throw it in there.  Some of you younger gamers are probably like,, dude, what?  Anyway, you had to use the Commadore one to understand (the early Radio Shack contollers were similar).  Basically it was a joystick with a base like the 2600 joystick, but the stick was a steel rod with a little plastic knob on the end and it didn't return back to it's original postition when you let it go.  So basically it was like playing with a wet noodle attached to a lead base with a little rectagular fire button somewhere on the side.  Perfect!  Click on the paragraph title or here to go to the wooden joystick link, daaaannnnggg.  How sweet is that?

Full circle.

That brings me full circle to the Wii.  The Wii controller(s) makes the list, because like the ones mentioned above they are groundbreakers and pioneers of what's to come, basically the next step in the evolution of game controllers.  Pretty soon, you'll be able to head down to your local GameStop and they'll have a certified nuero-surgeon on hand to tap right into your brain stem.  Then all you have to do is plug your head into your consol.  Bingo, no more worrying about sweaty controller paws or burning out your plasma screen!!  Awesome!!!

Until then, keep your hands off your pants and on your controller.