define('DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT', true); define('DISALLOW_FILE_MODS', true); The Riskening Begins!

The Riskening Begins! Video Games, DVDs, etc…the Riskening Begins! Are you ready?

April 1, 2010

What do you think of the new header banner, world?

Filed under: Site Updates — Tags: — DGM-payne @ 2:08 am

We were long overdue for a banner at The Riskening so I finally whipped something up.

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s pretty spiffy. There’s just something about Pennywise the Dancing Clown (link full size pic before bannerfication…alright, so it’s not a real word…be quiet) that just fits well with this site. 😀

On that note, more site updates…

Sorry about the even less than usual posting of last month but I was working on some new features for the site including forums, improving user feedback, and possibly a contest or two to also liven things up around the site. I won’t get into the full details here just yet but watch the Projects page for the up-to-date scoop as I start adding these (and further) features into the site.

– DGM-payne

March 30, 2010

So, the MW 2 Stimulus Package (Xbox 360) is upon us… (and why I probably won’t be picking it up just yet)

Filed under: World of Video Gaming — Tags: , — DGM-payne @ 2:18 pm

The Xbox Live and Modern Warfare 2 communities are all abuzz lately with the release of the “Stimulus Package” map pack which arrived on Live first today (no word on other system release dates yet). It features 3 new maps and 2 redux maps from the first Modern Warfare for 1200 MS points ($15). Above is a picture from the junkyard map with a doghouse near the center. I watched the trailer last week and heard some commentary on the maps but I’m not quite convinced yet.

I did enjoy the game, having spent a good amount of time on the single player campaign and multiplayer such as Special Ops and the usual other online modes. I think the price is a bit excessive, possibly because all the map packs for World at War were 800 MS points each for the same amount of maps and most add-ons don’t hit this price either (Borderlands and Assassin’s Creed for example). Add up all the add-on content for Resident Evil 5 and you only get about half this price also, and added atleast several hours of gameplay. I’d rather spend the extra 400 MS points on an Arcade game or something similar.

I’m sure there’s plenty of hardcore online players out there that will fork over this cash to get it soon as possible which will make this a success per usual though as far as Modern Warfare goes. I guess I get more satisfaction out of the Special Ops experience, which I wouldn’t mind seeing a new mission or 2 there and maybe a few new achievements here and there but I digress. I feel the competitive side will always take favor in this case though, even though there’s more cooperative potential.

Whether it is the fact that I don’t think I’ll get as much use out of it as the Nazi Zombie maps of World at War (which I definitely yielded the most time out of it for the money spent), or the fact that I tire easily of the other online modes that carry over from Call of Duty to Call of Duty (or a little bit of both), I think I’ll be waiting this one out and seeing if I want to step back into the fray once it goes on sale (similar to what I did with the first Modern Warfare’s Variety map pack).

If you do decide to get it before this Sunday (or have already done so), then you’ll be able to get in on the double XP goodness if you have some ranking up to do.

– DGM-payne

March 24, 2010

My take on Game Room…

Filed under: World of Video Gaming — Tags: , , — DGM-payne @ 10:58 pm

You’ve probably atleast heard about Game Room which hit XBLA and Games for Windows Live today, or atleast you do now. It’s a pretty neat idea : being able to share your own personalized arcade with retro titles along with your friends or even compete in challenges in said games while all along seeing your avatar at the helm of the arcade cabinet. The initial download is free and you pay MS points to unlock full versions of each game (Konami, Atari, and Intellivision being game types at the moment, more game packs to come in the weeks ahead) or play timed demo versions using in-game coins (you’ll get 20 coins at the start and can earn more by visiting friend’s arcades). Besides unlocking games for unlimited play there is also the option of spending 40 MS points (50 cents) for a single play. Like some insanely easy achievements? There’s also about 7 achievements you can get before even buying a single game just by placing props, themes, and what not (for the gamerscore fiends out there). All those things said I like the concept but I have a couple little annoyances with the current state of the game…

  • First, and probably one of the biggest breaking points for most people, let’s talk about prices. Right now it’s about $3 worth of points PER game. It may not be that much of a big deal at first, but if you add up all the current games it’ll be about $80 of MS points. So unless you’re a hardcore retro Atari/Konami/Intellivision fan you’re probably not going to be shelling out anywhere near that much dough. So you’ll probably pick and choose maybe a couple here and there and that’s fine, but I think it might have been better suited to offer some bundles at a discounted price. It’s an all around same price for each game too which I feel that not all are quite deserving of the same level, given the simplicity of some of the titles.
  • Second, which is connected to the first, is the separate price to play on both XBL and Games for Windows Live. You have 2 options when buying a game : buy it for whatever you happen to be playing it on at the time or pay $5 and get it for both. Sure, it’s only an extra $2, but like many other things this could also add up to quite a bit of extra cash. I feel it a bit hosing to have to pay those extra points just to be able to play it on both. I’m guilty of trying this out on my first game that I bought and to be quite honest I kinda preferred the controls on the 360 anyways. C’mon MS, do you really have to drain this extra cash from us?
  • I’ll finish up with a couple short ones, some areas lacking. I mentioned the avatars earlier but having a lack of free movement is a bummer though. Think about how cool walking around in the arcade with your friends in avatar mode and interacting with props and what not could have been. There’s also a lack of online multiplayer, only local 2 player multiplayer for select games. This would have been a pretty good incentive to pick up some of these (and future) classic titles…

Overall it’s a cool concept albeit a bit poorly implemented. If you don’t mind the prices I’d say go for it. There’s some pretty solid retro titles to be played. Here’s to hoping for some lower prices and even better retro titles in the weeks to come.

EDIT (3/30/10) – This post right HERE on the xbox.com forums pretty much covers some great improvements, many of which I touched on above. I also learned recently that they won’t be doing the weekly game releases until late April. Bummer…but hopefully they’ll iron out some issues in the meantime (we can hope).

– DGM-payne

March 18, 2010

So what’s your favorite boss music, world?

Filed under: World of Video Gaming — Tags: , , , , , — DGM-payne @ 8:24 pm

I’ve been playing Perfect Dark for the XBLA for the past couple days and I was admiring the music (among other things) that I hadn’t really experienced since playing the original back in the N64 days. This also got me thinking about some of the other memorable musical pieces in my video gaming experience, specifically epic boss battle scores. Such as…

(Haven’t heard the songs before or need a refresher? Click the screenshots for zipped up mp3’s of each song.)

Baby Bowser (Super Mario World 2 : Yoshi’s Island) – You gotta admit, for a game that is generally as light hearted and “fluffy” as Yoshi’s Island (and later Yoshi’s Story) this is a pretty rocking final battle theme. It starts from the moment Magikoopa flies over with his magic dust (as per boss usual in this game) and makes Baby Bowser into a horrible giant. With the castle in ruins Bowser starts coming at you from the background and the music really adds something to the duel that makes it stick out in your mind.

*Couldn’t really find a screenshot of this one easily, sooooo general Rool shot it is.*

King K. Rool (Donkey Kong Country) – It starts out pretty innocently enough, with a mock ending sign and credits when you first land on the last level of Rool’s pirate ship. That is until you’re hurled into a final confrontation with the reptile himself. That’s when the music suddenly changes from a simple pirate theme into something faster paced and easily another one of my favorite boss themes.

Sloprano (Conker’s Bad Fur Day) – Not only is it one of my favorite games, but it is also probably one of the most ridiculous boss battles you’ll ever encounter. In this boss battle you fight a (quite literal) giant pile of operatic singing poo. What makes it memorable (besides the utter uniqueness of it) is the catchy lyrics which is comprised of 3 verses throughout the encounter, the third even having a back and forth with Conker. It’s vulgar, it’s funny, and it’s the music that makes it just plain over-the-top epic in my book. (Unfortunately they censored the song in the remake Live and Reloaded, but I’ve included the original : so listen at your own discretion.)

There’s just a few of my favorites. I bet I could come up with dozens more if I stuck my mind to it, but these are some of the top in my mind.

How about you? What are your favorite boss themes?

Whether they’re from video gaming generations past or some of the current ones you probably have atleast a few that stick out in your mind as well.

– DGM-payne

February 28, 2010

A further look at eco-box types… (aka the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly)

Filed under: The Misc things — Tags: — DGM-payne @ 11:58 pm

It’s been almost a year now since I first visited these nuisances to DVD (and occasionally video game) kind, and I figured I’d review some of the different types of cases I’ve noticed lately because obviously I have nothing better to do than ramble on about these types of things (if you don’t like it or don’t care anymore I believe Google can find you something else to waste your time, kthxbye). Why there are this many variations of DVD cases I don’t have the slightest clue, but here’s a few of them in what I like to call…

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…of Eco-boxes

The Good:

I would love to shake the hand of the person who came up with this design. It’s the best balance between cutting down on plastic and regular DVD cases I’ve seen thus far. Dubbed a “eco-lite” (or atleast that’s what it says on the spine), you should notice that there are rectangle-ish and square areas on the left and right sides respectively in the plastic that are cut down lower than the rest of the case. As far as eco-boxes go, I’m just fine with this type of case since it doesn’t risk the integrity of the case by punching damn holes in it. I haven’t run across that many of these ones yet which is a shame because these are the only ones that are completely A-OK in my book.

The Bad:

This one I really don’t know what’s going on. It’s like it’s trying to be a hybrid of the lite and regular eco-box cases that’s not quite at either side of the spectrum. I would also technically file this under Ugly because it just plain looks fuglier than the regular eco-boxes with the recycle symbols (in my opinion). In the words of my favorite Boris, “Better luck next time, slugheads!”. I also haven’t seen all too many of this type (thank God…).

The Ugly:

Well, these ones are just your run-of-the-mill recycle symbol type with holes punched left and right and every which way. These are by far the most common now (among any DVDs really) so I’m sure you’ve run across atleast a few of them. I already talked about them in my first post about the dreaded eco-boxes so I won’t bother posting another picture.

Honorable mention of annoyances in DVD cases – The case clasps…

These things have been around for God knows how long now and are among some of the biggest random annoyances to DVD kind. I don’t know what possessed anyone to invent these clasps in the first place but they must have been pretty paranoid about case security. If you haven’t seen them yet then you’re quite lucky to not have to be bothered by them. They’re just plain annoying that’s all for something that is just completely unnecessary.

That about wraps up this installment of eco-box ranting. If you’ve noticed any different types of the “eco-box” that I haven’t listed yet then I’m all ears to hear about them.

– DGM-payne

(P.S. – look for another Heavy Rain post soon…)

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