What a gamer does when they are broke.

There are tons of new games that come out every week in the video game industry.  But what does a gamer do during the worst financial crisis in history?  Trade stuff in OR play what they already have.  Currently, between my husband and I, we own a couple hundred games.  That is because the games were good enough that we did not want to trade them in.  So for us the answer is to play what we already have.  On top of the possible thousands of game play hours we have on disc or cartridge (or some derivative thereof) we can also play free games online.

Free games online (besides Facebook)


1. Area Games - a company that provides free games
2. G-potato - another company with free games
3. Mabinogi - a free game
4. Addicting games .com
5. Kongregate (the one by gamestop)
6. New Grounds

Other options to play a little of the new console games coming out would be to download the demos for them.  Of course with a limited hard drive space provided on both the xbox 360 and the ps3 you will find yourself deleting many of the demos to make space for new demos.

If this doesn't help a broke gamer....I don't know what will.










If you would like to help out this broke gamer (although funds received would go towards bills) feel free to donate what you can here.  Thank you very much.

At Long Last it's The Game Factor

Thank you for taking the time to enjoy our inaugural show of The Game Factor. Feel free to tell us what you think on Facebook or Twitter.  Here is the show.






Thanks for watching.

Atari Lynx

The Atari Lynx is a 16-bit handheld game console that was released by Atari Corporation in 1989. The Lynx holds the distinction of being the world's first handheld electronic game with a color LCD. The system is also notable for its forward-looking features, advanced graphics, and ambidextrous layout. The Lynx was released in 1989, the same year as Nintendo's (monochromatic) Game Boy. Thank you wikipedia.


So I have decided that from now on I will review games only from the Atari Lynx because it is amazing yumminess mixed with awesome sauce with a big ol' dash of fantastic.  And since it is made for both north and south paws I will play the "irregular" way to get a full feel of every game.  Check this link for a list of titles available.  If anything comes to mind let me know and I'll get right on to reviewing it.




I'm gonna need more batteries.

My new job, I Fight Dragons, and more

So I have been gone from the blogging scene for about a week and a half.  Why you ask?  Well in a way I have a job as a writer.  My topic is totally amazing and awesome.  Video games reviews, news, information, and things related to gaming.  If you haven't checked it out please do so here.  By all means tell me what you think.  Am I doing a good job? What are some games you would like to see reviewed?

What have I reviewed so far you might be asking.  Well:

Animal Crossing DS



New Super Mario Bros. Wii 



Lost Odyssey



Marvel Ultimate Alliance





Besides these game reviews I wrote an article about an amazing band from Chicago, I Fight Dragons.  Here is how I discovered them:

Sunday March 20 2011 around 3 pm I was on Facebook.  I like to know how friends are doing and click on links that I find interesting.  On Sunday I saw that a friend had posted Rickroll + Mario - I Fight Dragons and he said "They made the song good" so I listened out of curiosity. They are amazing.  After a few more songs that I found on youtube I decided to look them up on iTunes.  I found 2 albums on there, listened to the previews of the songs and decided to purchase "Cool is just a number".  Best $6 that I have ever spent on music in my life *I had bought an iTunes card months ago and hadn't spent it all* The album is great and if it wasn't for the fact that I only have $3.05 left in my account I would totally purchase another iTunes card to get the other album.  Anyways, I joined the Advanced Guard for I Fight Dragons (their promotional team) which is free to do by the way.  Soon I will have cards to hand out to all that want them for free songs to download from I Fight Dragons.


On a completely different note, I am hard at work looking for a steady income.  It's been interesting.  I've applied at several places around the area, and will continue to do so until I've applied everywhere.  But now I am starting to expand my job search for pretty much anywhere in North America.  Yes, I am willing to move to Canada.  Where ever I end up I will do everything in my power to continue to bring everyone great reviews, news, and information about the video game world.

Up coming review line up :

1. Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days 

2. Doom 

3. Pokemon Black/White 

4. Ace Combat 6 

5. Bayonetta 

6. Final Fantasy 12

 Check here for these reviews. 

  Here is a little hit about what is coming up in the future.  Also I am hoping that we can get our video game review show up and running soon.  I am currently writing scripts for that and hope to be able to film a few and post them up.  If anyone would like to be a part of that feel free to comment here, message me on Facebook, tweet me on twitter @placekicker82 , or send me an email. Have a great day :)

Review of the Week: Control Aliens to Survive in this 2001 title

Imagine for a moment that you are traveling through space on a vacation from everyone and everything.  Your boss isn’t yelling at you, your spouse isn’t nagging you to clean or take out trash, and your kids aren’t hounding you for internet usage or money for the mall.  That’s right you are traveling to paradise and some alone time when suddenly a comet hits your spaceship and spirals out of control.  You crash land on this lush planet only to discover that your ship is in pieces scattered throughout the land, the air is uninhabitable for you and your oxygen supply will only last 30 days.  What game is this? 



                Pikmin was released December 2, 2001 for the Nintendo GameCube.  You play as Captain Olimar.  The environment may seem intimidating and very large at first until you make your first discovery.  Olimar can control the bipedal plant like humanoid characters that he calls Pikmin.  Luckily this game will walk you through how to play in the first day (and a little bit more in the proceeding days).  This is helpful so that you know what each of the different colored Pikmin can do.  Olimar has 30 ship parts scattered about the land and only 30 days of oxygen available to him. 




                This game is a great mixture of puzzle solving, strategy, and adventure.  The world is beautiful (ground-breakingly so, at the release of the game) and the sound amazingly draws you in.  Pikmin has a great control scheme and is easy to play.  On top of the story mode there is also a nice challenge mode that unlocks once you have completed the story adding more replay-ability to this super fun game.  Pikmin is rated E for everyone and can be found at video game retailers.  9.5 out of 10 due to shortness of the game.

Hollywood needs new IPs

I am sick of all the reboots re-imaginings and remakes. It seems as though Hollywood is truly out of ideas. I have a few things list for each category.  Some of these are terrible reiterations while others are great.  In my opinion Sherlock Holmes (2009) was totally awesome.  The acting is great the effects are great the cinematography is great the sound is great....you get the point. 

Here is a list of reboots:

• Hulk *2003 and then in 2008 Incredible Hulk
• X-men *which is basically on its 3rd "reboot" within 11 years
• Tomb Raider *has just been confirmed for a reboot to the series (means no Angelina Jolie)
• Spider-man *reboots in 2012 in a theater near you
• Batman *has sort of had multiple reboots
• Superman
• Planet of the Apes *the Tim Burton version was great but there was never a sequel made for it so reboot time.  Which will basically make this one reboot number 2

The list of remakes is WAY TOO LONG but here are a few

• Clash of the Titans
• True Grit
• Parent trap *lots of versions of this
• Italian Job
• Poseidon Adventure
• War of the Worlds
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Some re-imaginings

• Sherlock Holmes
• Beastly *basically a modern day adaptation of Beauty and the Beast
• Red riding hood *There was a CG film called Hoodwinked and the new one coming soon
• Beowulf 

1. a 1999 motion picture starring Christopher Lambert, directed by Graham Baker
2. one called Beowulf and Grendel a 2005 motion picture starring Gerard Butler, directed by Sturla Gunnarsson  
3. a 2007 motion capture computer animated picture starring Ray Winstone, directed by Robert Zemeckis

Am I the only one who feels that Hollywood is out of ideas? Why are there so many reiterations of the same movies? There are tons of great ideas that Hollywood isn't buying/making. What do you think Hollywood should do? Tell me your thoughts about these movies and more reiterations.


And for fun, a series with poorly named titles:

• The Fast and the Furious (2001)
• 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
• The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
• Fast & Furious (2009)
• Fast Five (2011)

19

At 15 years old I started reading a well known Stephen King series.  The problem was I started at book number 2.  Here is how that happened.  It was my freshman year of high school at Blaine Senior High in Minnesota (go Bengals).  One of my classes was Advanced Placement English We did book reports every other week.  I read A LOT.  During one of our trips (not that it was far) to the school library a certain book caught my eye.  It was Stephen Kings The Drawing of the Three.  I didn't know anything about the series.  When I went to check the book out the librarian asked if I had read the first one.  "There is a first one?" I remember asking.  She suggested that maybe I find something else from Stephen King first before sort of diving into the story part way through.  If you have read this series you know that in no way does it follow a linear chronology but you could very easily get lost by starting at "the middle" of the story so to speak.  A small part of me wishes that I could have started with book one the first time but now that I look back I actually don't think I would have been as interested or mature enough to understand from the "beginning" of the story with "The Gunslinger".

If I had just one sentence to describe this series it might go something like this.  Roland is the last true gunslinger in a wild west post-apocalyptic inter-dimensional science fiction fantasy on a quest to reach the Dark Tower which might very well be the nexus of all time, space, thought, and existence to either defeat evil or destroy the world.  Unfortunately this would be an oversimplification.  The series is sort of mind boggling but so great it is a must read.  Many critics, fans, and scholars consider The Dark Tower series to be Stephen King's magnus opum.



What I didn't realize, though I should have, is that the graphic novel is on its seventh installment of the series.  The graphic novel has been using the back-story (found mostly in book 4) as its main source of information. Unbeknownst to me it has finally caught up with the Gunslinger, book 1 of the series.  So for me this is truly exciting as I will have come full circle by the time the graphic novel reaches the Drawing of the Three.

Stay "tuned" to this blog for more information on the series and its various forms of media in the future.  Thanks.  :)