Confessions of a gamer

When I play games I usually have my gaming corner prepared with a lot of stuff so I can stay in games without having to back out every now and then. For example having something to drink within reach, maybe some snacks if I skip dinner, making my seat comfortable if I sit there for several hours and of course empty my bladder before I start playing. It seems silly but it sucks if you have to quit because you didn´t came prepared, especially if you found a group of people with whom you had fun playing games. Of course you can contact them but it´s not always a group of people that know eachother, sometimes they´re just random people that happen to be together in the same match. Looking at some games it kind of sucks when you end up in another lobby with people that aren´t that much fun to play with, I think you can kick yourself for leaving that other lobby just because you didn´t prepare yourself for a longer gaming session. So what do you need for a long and pleasant gaming session?...

No I´m not talking about the goddess of vengeance and no I´m not talking about the creature in Resident Evil 3 (I´ll leave that poor thing from the second Resident Evil movie out of it). I´m talking about someone that is a constant thorn in you side when you play games, the type of person that always seems to be there to ruin your fun or end your killstreak. Someone can that can turn a fun match for you into a bad match, someone that you might hate with all your heart. But it could also be a rival that you respect and that actually poses a big challenge for you to beat. I´m talking about that type of nemesis. In a lot of competitive multiplayer matches you´ll encounter someone that could be considered as you nemesis, who constantly seems to be there to shoot you in the back or waiting in ambush to take you down. But maybe this is someone that is just a little bit faster with his or her reflexes? Who really knows, most of the time you don´t know random people that join a match and if ...

You might wonder, why continue this? Well sometimes I get a little bit carried away, that´s because this is something often based on personal feelings and sometimes there is some emotion behind it. Usually my hate for campers gets the best of me and before I know it I´m typing a large section on how much they suck. Of course this is just my opinion, nothing is a fact unless it´s proven! And I don´t feel like recording my gameplay just to make a point... Anyway I wanted to talk about the diferent types of people you can meet online, you don´t always realize it but there are actually other people playing with you in an online multiplayer match. Are they kids, students, unemployed adults, loving parents or some old geezers? You never know unless you get to know someone and how well do you get to know someone with whom you play a game? Well you only get to know someone as well as he or she lets you. But I wouldn´t expect to meet your future wife in an online multiplayer match or become b...

Do you ever wonder who the other people are that you play games with in an online multiplayer? I guess when you´re focused you probably don´t care too much about it, you might even mute everyone so you can fully concentrate on the game. I guess I do that as well, because the moment I start thinking that I´m playing against other people and how lame it is that I shot someone in the back then I feel kind of bad and that messes with my performance. So I try not to think too much of them, I don´t think that´s really the idea of gaming that you play with others so you all become great friends. Sure it can happen but I seriously doubt you´re going to get along with everyone. Ranting at others, do or don´t? I think when you play a single player game or a match against bots then you´re more likely to get upset when you lose or when something goes wrong. But then you play against other people, they do something you don´t like and what do you do? Do you stay calm, do you ignore it, do you insu...

I think we´ve all played a game that wasn´t as great as you hoped it would be. worse case scenario it was a complete disaster! What do you do? Going back to shop where you bought it isn´t always an option, because these days you buy a lot online and once you´ve opened and played the game then you can´t expect them to take the game back. The same counts for any game shops in your town, sometimes you have friendly people that understand that the game just sucked or that you were unhappy with it and they give your money back or they let you pick another game. It helps if you´re a valued customer. But in most cases you don´t get your money back, which means you´re stuck with a game that makes you unhappy. Sure you could trade it in and get less money in return, but that usually doesn´t make you happy. But it´s not just games that sucked from the start, sometimes developers change things in a game and then suddenly the game isn´t as much fun as it used to be. You´ll see this a lot in popu...

I know it´s Monday, but I´m not talking about your average I hate Monday Garfield moment. I´m talking about a day where everything seems fine and yet nothing seems to go your way. No matter what it is you do or what you say it doesn´t seem to work for you. It´s probably your Friday the 13th but delayed, I guess you can´t really put a number on that day but it does come for us all sooner or later. Well that sounds a bit ominous but unfortunately from a pessimistic point of view it´s just the way it is. So what happens when you play games on a bad day? In simple words it means you´ll lose, a lot! A smart person would do something, a smart person wouldn´t stay in competitive multiplayer and keep facing the same shit. Maybe that´s why I´m not a smart person or maybe I´m just insane, because I keep doing the same thing and hoping it would lead to another outcome. Unfortunately it didn´t, I lost a lot of matches in CoD and I guess it didn´t help that I kept using the same shitty weapon. I ...

We´re slowly climbing out of the economic crisis so it´s still a good idea to spend you money wisely, which means that you don´t want to buy things you´ll regret later. As a gamer it´s important that you find the right console for yourself or if you´re a pc gamer that you find the right type of pc for yourself. But for the die hard console lovers there is always a competition with the others, some gamers are dedicated to one system while others switch or buy multiple consoles. Unfortunately we´re not all that rich that we can afford all the consoles and buy all the games, life is all about choices and as a gamer you´re not an exception. So which console is better? If I would directly answer this question then I´d get love from one group and hate from another, the truth is that both consoles are pretty good. The Playstation 4 has the best graphics in games and Xbox One has the best hardware looking at what you can do with your console. But that´s how it is now, I´m certain that both M...

I think a lot of popular online multiplayer games have cheaters in them, some of them can be subtle but others are right in your face cheating! Of course sometimes you can be mistaken, you see your perfect shot not killing your opponent and it´s not unusual to think that this person must be cheating. The best thing you can do then is track this person and shoot him or her at close range, so you know you hit them and that it should kill that character. If nothing happens then you know there is something wrong, so reporting someone like that seems only natural. But what happens then? Have you ever reported someone? When you were so certain that the person you reported was cheating. It might not suprise you but this doesn´t guarantee that the culprit is going to be removed from Xboxlive or PSN any time soon, so don´t be shocked if you can see this person again. Also let´s not forget that most of these cheaters play on a secondary account, something you can often recognize because of the...

Some time ago I talked about female gamers, but did you know that there are also transsexiual gamers? You might not always notice, but they´re out there! Still this isn´t about awareness, I´d like to talk about how some of them have a hard time playing games online because of hostile behaviour from other gamers. Apparently it´s a crime to be a transsexiual to some people and so once someone is a suspect that person becomes a target. But why? Often people that are different are the victim of being bullied, this happens at school or work but this also happens online. Even when you´re playing a game it´s not strange to be targeted by others just for being different. Sometimes this is because of race, others times it´s because of religion but in some cases also gender seems to play a role. I know that not every country is that tolerable about transsexiuals, but does that really mean that you have to put your closed minded opinion in the online gamer world? As far as I know they have ...

I´m actually curious how many people are still going to buy the Xbox One, because I don´t think that there has been a console this year that has gotten more crap thrown at it than this one. And yet here we are, only hours away from the midnight launch! It seems the console is still standing strong and hopefully it will stay this way for a long time. After all the news gamers have been hearing about how the Xbox One spies on you, isn´t as powerful as the Playstation 4 and won´t have that many launch titles it´s actually amazing that people are still standing in line right now for it. That either means that there are people being paid to do that, people that have nothing better to do or maybe there are actually Xbox One fans that don´t give a shit about everything that has been said about the Xbox One! I´d like to consider myself as one of the people that will buy the Xbox One and I don´t give a shit about anyone that thinks it´s a bad choice, last time I checked I could buy whatever c...

A lot of times when I play multiplayer games I notice how the veterans and the newbies are mixed in with eachother in lobbies, which usually means that some will suck greatly and others will get ridiculous how scores. It´s because a lot of games don´t keep these groups apart, everything is mixed into one big pile of multiplayer and that often leads to a lot of frustration for some people. Especially in big multiplayer games like Battlefield, Call of Duty and Gears of War you see all types of gamers mixed in the same matches. Most times this leads to a predictable outcome, because new players or people who are just not that good at playing games will often lose to people who play a lot or are just better at playing games. This often leads to skill and experience difference, something that should keep these two groups away from eachother. At least that´s the way I´d like to see it. As much as I like to get killstreaks and/or a high score in multiplayer, I prefer to earn it by ...

You might not expect this from someone who likes to play first person shooters and survival horror games but I actually liked playing the Sims. I guess it´s the humour with all the possibilities in the game that makes it so fun for me to play. Of course I also bought most of the add-ons, because new outfits and new locations are usually fun to check out. Especially when you got different types of sims, like a vampire and a witch. The idea of just building a house and have a family in there was already in the background by that time. It doesn´t mean that you couldn´t do that anymore, but the endless possibilities are just too much fun to ignore! I usually made a sims that was supposed to be me, I never went into too much detail because that´s just way too much work and I´m not that good when it comes to that. Usually I would stick to dark brown hair, brown eyes, slightly in shape and make him a leo. Of course in later games you could add so much more, for example your favourite food a...

Maybe it´s just me but often I see gamertags that are just weird or lame to say the least. I´m not saying that it´s easy to come up with something original but when I look at some gamertags then I just can´t help but wonder what they were thinking, probably not much at that time! But sometimes you also have some silly gamertags, names or words that just don´t make much sense and yet it does give you the idea that the person who thought of that at least has a sense of humour. Assuming that he or she didn´t take that idea from someone else! People with certain words in their gamertag are something that makes me wonder if they do that on purpose to say a little bit about themselves or if it´s just something that sounds cool. For example mad master seems like a name for someone that gets mad easily and he apparently is under the impression that he´s good in what he does. Or am I seeing too much in this? You have all types of gamertags and I seriously doubt there is always a big meaning b...

I think most people that have played a Call of Duty game know what I mean with CoD rage, because it´s something you´ll hear almost every day when you play some online multiplayer. Often it´s because someone is mad because he or she got killed, the frequent bullshit remark isn´t a stranger in these outbursts either. But what really makes people so mad about this game? A lot of people seem to think that violent games make people violent, of course this is ridiculous. Sure you can get annoyed, irritated and upset because of a game but you don´t turn violent because of a game. You´re either a violent person or you´re not, but being angry doesn´t make you violent. Let´s not forget that a lot of people talk tough online but in real life they´re cowards, especially the teenage section of CoD and other games similiar to CoD. The most rage I see in CoD games is when people die in a gun battle, get shot by a camper for the tenth time or have a terrible spawn that leads to his or her d...

It seems like a simple question, why do you play games? But there are different reasons to play games, even more than one for some people. Maybe some people don´t even need a reason, they just do things. Ok that´s something out the movie the dark knight. But seriously why do you play games? Is it for fun? Is it for fame? Is it because of your friends? Is it because of work or money? Let´s have a look and maybe you´ll find your reason to game as well! I think most of us play games for fun, you have fun when you play games and there is nothing quite like it. Some would say that you´re wasting time, but you´re just having a great time doing what you do. Of course this can be anything in a game, because eventhough you play games for fun we all have our own interest when it comes to games. Some enjoy games where you go on an adventure, while someone else enjoys the survival horror experience. It´s my main motivation to play games, sure I like to win but it´s not my main motivation to pick...

I a lot of multiplayer games you´ll hear people complain, most of the time it´s about small things like changes they made to a weapon or a certain skill. These complaints sometimes go so far that they´re making threats to some of the developers, which is of course stupid to say the least! But let´s look at the problem, the overpowered weapons and skills that make people so frantic in defending them. I think most of us who´ve played a fighter game know how much one move can dominate all other moves, in some of these games that move can give you a flawless victory and the other can do very little about it. These overpowered moves are hated by a lot of people and with a good reason, because it´s annoying that everytime you challenge someone online that you have to fight the same guy with the same move over and over again. Of course we all want to win and using something that will help you guarantee that victory seems logic, but it´s also quite lame to be this person that can only use th...

If I have to believe all the whiny Xbox One haters then they´ll leave their Xbox 360 and buy a Playstation 4. Of course this is their good right and I wouldn´t want to say anything about that, but I don´t like how they trash a console they´ve never played on and forfeit a console they´ve been playing on for years! Maybe it´s just all talk, just harsh words from fools that won´t go anywhere. But Sony has dealt a deadly blow to Microsoft with their console because it looks very good. If I wasn´t so invested in my Xbox 360 and later in the Xbox One then I´d probably buy one myself. Every time a new console comes out the old ones will slowly disappear, this is just the way things go. It´s a shame really, because personally I could´ve played some more years on my current console. But to be honest the new consoles look amazing and the graphics seem to be incredible at this point. I can´t wait to discover what that will mean for game performance and what to expect in the near future. The Pl...

Some months ago I talked about prejudice being a sin for gamers, but it´s not all bad out there! As there are sins there are also virtues, I think that determination is one of them. Have you ever been stuck in a level and had to try a lot of times to get past that point? Have you ever faced a difficult boss that just didn´t want to die? Have you ever struggled getting an achievement/trophy? Then you might have some determination, at least if you kept trying until you succeeded! Why keep pushing when it´s so much easier to give up? Maybe some people actually think that it´s easier to give up than to keep trying. But you can always give up in the end, but up to that point you can keep trying until you succeed. I think we all have our own motivation to keep trying, it´s not always a noble motivation but whatever works for you should suffice to get to the job done. For me it´s pride, this need to beat a game or get that achievement because I´d feel stupid if I couldn´t. I´m not saying th...

A lot of people put videos on youtube, some of those videos are about gaming. Not all of these videos get that much attention but there is always a fresh supply of new videos. Most of the time these are either let´s play videos or a montage of someone doing something in a game. With the heavy supply of gaming videos there isn´t enough demand to watch all of them, which sometimes means that people have funny or interesting videos that no one sees. Which is a shame, but it´s just the way things go. But if you look closely to the videos you see on youtube I can´t help but wonder if it´s a fame or shame game. Because a lot of people post videos hoping to get a lot of views because of their skills in the video or how they ridicule other people online. I like some youtubers, they make funny videos and some of them actually put a lot of work into making them. But then again the videos I watch often get more than enough attention, but what about the small fish in the big youtube ocean? Is it...

Sometimes when I play a game I can´t help but have the feeling that I just don´t belong in that game. It´s not only that I fail miserably but also the lack of fun that I have with the game, then you really get that feeling like what are you doing here? When everything you do is met with frustration and anger, then it´s better to stop playing that game. Even if you had high expectations before, sometimes it´s better to walk away sane then to go so far that you go insane with frustration. I´ve had that with GTA V so many times, the difficulties with getting online and the terrible save system have taken a toll on me. But let´s not forget the constant annoying factor of other players trying to kill you for no reason at all. I get it when you have a bounty on your head but not when you´re just trying to drive from one place to another. Personally I believe that GTA V is meant to be played with friends, random strangers are just too unstable to actually trust and work with. When ...

I know that almost every competitive type of game you´ll find campers, it´s sad but this is just the way it is. I think I´ve mentioned many times how much I despise these type of people for using such a cowardly tactic. Let me be clear about this, when I talk about a camper I mean the type of gamer that goes from the start of the map to a spot to sit still and shoot people in the back (or wherever, it doesn´t really matter). These lazy gamers ruin the fun of others, by always being this annoying factor in every game that takes the speed out of it. If you think you can run and gun then you´re mistaken, because there will always be some loser sitting in a corner shooting the living hell out of you. But this is to be expected, every time I play a first person shooter I expect there to be campers. Yesterday I was playing some cranked, a game mode in CoD Ghosts, the idea here is to kill someone and then you have a timer on you. You have then 30 seconds to make another kill or you´ll e...

If there is one thing that gets players into multiplayer then it´s double xp, people seem to go crazy for that and even do silly things as checking certain sites at a certain time to be awarded with it. Just so you get twice the amount of experience as you normally would, which is nice of course but I don´t see it as a good reason to act like a madman. On a side note, a good reason to behave like a madman is when you die just in front of the checkpoint after you tried to get there for fifty times. Right now in CoD Ghosts there is a double xp weekend, enough reason to log in and play! Or not? The problem with double xp events is that it attracts a lot of people, both the good and the bad. I´m not saying that the people you´d rather not face in games aren´t there outside the double xp event, but usually these type of events seem to attract more of the less favourable adversaries in games. The type that insults you as a way of communicating instead of actually saying what´s going on. Bu...

Have you ever tried playing a game on the highest difficulty? It´s probably not something you do from the start, well maybe some people would but I think it´s safe to say that most gamers prefer to take it easy in their first playthrough. I don´t think that there are many people out there that actually enjoy making a game more difficult for themselves, because more difficulty sometimes means less fun and more frustration. So why should you even bother playing it on professional, veteran, legendary or nightmare mode? As a kid I never enjoyed playing games on hard mode, so I didn´t even bother with very hard mode (that´s how they used to call it). I guess it had something to do with not believing in my skills, I never thought I could pull it off and so I didn´t even want to try it. In the early Nintendo and Sony days there was no such thing as an achievement or trophy, so there wasn´t really a motivation to play on that mode. Some games would offer some nice rewards as a power...

When I play games with an antagonist in it, I look at his or her performance and what motivates him or her. What type of villain is he or she, is he or she a real by the book villain or a chaotic lunatic? With so many types of villains out there it´s often a suprise what you´ll get, but in certain games you can expect a certain type of villain. In a first person shooter you won´t see any demonic women in their underwear trying to eat your soul, but I wouldn´t object to that... A villain can make or break a game? As much as you need a hero in a game (or movie for that matter), you also need a villain to even odds a bit. I mean it´s nice when for example you see Batman beating some henchmen but really you want him to fight against Joker, Bane or the Riddler. I think I´ve read somewhere that a hero becomes as good as the villains that oppose him (or her). I´m not the expert when it comes to this but I do think that there is truth in that, a hero with no villain to challeng...

I don´t think I´ve ever heard so many people speak with hate about a game they haven´t even played, but then again prejudice is one of the more popular gamer sins. Personally I don´t give a fuck about what someone else thinks, if I like a game then that´s enough for me and I hope other people feel the same way about it. Don´t let others tell you what you should and shouldn´t like, just play what you like! With that being said, let´s get busy with analyzing this game! Why should I play the campaign? A lot of players that play Call of Duty games, but also other games, don´t bother with the campaign and go straight to multiplayer or zombie mode. That´s because they´re also available from the start, well things are a bit different in CoD Ghosts! Because now you first have to complete the campaign before you can play extinction mode, this is a new mode where you face aliens and where you and up to three other players have to do missions while you survive waves of enemies. It´s ac...

The first thing I noticed when I started this is that a lot is the same in this multiplayer if I  compare it to Assassin´s Creed III. Not just the same abilities, but also characters and game modes. Personally I´m not a big fan of some of the characters that have reappeared in this multiplayer, but maybe they had enough popularity to be used again. I´m glad that they´ve also put some new characters in it, some look very interesting and wield awesome weapons. For example dual pistols and a type of baton. I guess the old elements from previous multiplayer modes make this multiplayer mode a familiar experience, but there are still new things to discover! So what´s new? Well let me start with game labs, this is where you can design your own multiplayer match. You can pick if you want to play a private or public match, you can select what type of match it´s going to be, what type of weapons you can use and what type of abilities. This allows you to create something original and maybe ...

I think people in Australia and New Zealand are already having their midnight launch but here we have to wait a little bit longer on Call of Duty Ghosts. It always suprises me that so many people go to such an event, it´s nice if you get something extra but as far as I can see it you only get to play the game a bit earlier than some other people. It´s not even unique because multiple countries have a midnight launch and there are a lot of people there, so it´s not that if you get your game there that you´re the first to play it. Of course compared to most people that want to play the game you´ll be one of the first, but is that really so important? In my Playstation years I had this friendly rivalry with other players, we usually bought the same type of games and it was often a race who played it first and who would beat the game first. I know that´s silly but we we´re teenagers and at that age you do stupid things. My main motivation was that I wanted to beat the game befor...