Elder Scrolls rants and raves.

     I just need to state this fact: Elder Scrolls rules! Now that I've said that, let me expound.

     I've started Oblivion. My character is doing O.K. He's a mage-thief (head of the thieves guild) and he has taken Sheogorath's place as the new Mad God. Sheogorath, BTW, is one of my favorite daedric princes. As of late, I have him exploring the Oblivion Gate just outside of Bravil.

     I have a new character for Skyrim! A mage, actually. And I'm not only surprised that he can survive with just magic, I don't even have him using weapons. Being bedridden for the past week, I've taken the time to make my mage the Archmage the College of Winterhold.

     There has been a lot of talk about an Elder Scrolls VI game. People on a gaming page were asked "Where would you want it to take place?" My answer was Valenwood. think of it: The Elder Scrolls VI: Valenwood.
     It seems that, after the frozen mountains of Skyrim, Valenwood would be a pleasant change. It has lush vegetation and great big city-trees that move. Definitely a great site to see, given the fact that the next TES game would be released on the latest generation of consoles.

     Dozing... Maybe I'll dream about the Shimmering Isles.

SimCity 2013.

     I finally got the newest version of SimCity, which was released in 2013. I've been addicted to it. Though it has some weird, glitchy shit going on with it, it's still the best version of the game so far.
     I like the fact that you can plant buildings, then grow them with additions and achievements. And would-be mayors can choose what they want their cities to specialize in. This could be mining, drilling, tourism, technology, or gambling.
     Like SimCity 4, this newest version allows you to establish multiple cities on a map. However, you aren't able to choose tiles or reshape the land. That would have been great.
     My play style is as follows: One tech city produces processors, then later computers and TVs. Another city is the center of education, which allows research for greater building upgrades. A third city would bring gambling revenue. Other cities would be bedroom communities (where workers live, and from where they commute) and industrial areas (to where residents commute).
     All in all, it's a good game. Sometimes hard to start, but still.

Art imitates art.

     My gaming and writing are feeding off of each other. I got into playing Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel. The first character I decided to play is Wilhelm, a cyborg mercenary with body modification addiction.
     Playing as Wilhelm reminded me of a character in one of my stories. He is a partially mechanical second-mate and security enforcer of a pirate ship, who is also succumbing to bod-mod addiction. But I'm careful not to make it seem like I'm plagiarizing. Being that cyborgs are prevalent in science fiction, and people in real life can be addicted to plastic surgery and piercings and tattoos, they're both common character motifs; and it's really about what the writer wants to do with those motifs.
     A neat gaming experience is playing BL2 and BL: TPS, and seeing the back stories of characters that you'll face in the sequel. In one game, I'm playing as Wilhelm as he starts to descend into his bod-mod addiction (via the Cyber Commando skill tree). In the other game, I'm playing another character who goes up against him, and he's more machine than man.
     Playing through True Vault Hunter Mode in BL2 as Zer0 (the assassin), I'm level 48 and taking the side missions area by area. I completed the Captain Scarlett DLC in TVHM, and I'm trying to decide whether or not I'm going to tackle the Caustic Caverns before doing the story mission in the Hyperion Wildlife Preserve.
     Another cool thing I did, related to Borderlands, is that I found wallpapers for my phone. I got five each for the different manufacturing corporations.
     After this episode of the Blacklist, I'm heading back to Pandora.

UPDATE:
     My Zer0 is now a level 49 True Shot. My next series of missions will take me to Thousand Cuts, the place where players meet Brick (a PC from the first game).
     I'm primarily a sniper who uses SMGs when things get up-close and personal, buy I've decided to carry one explosive assault rifle and one RPG, for when desperate times call for desperate measures. I call them my Fuck-It Gun and my Fuck-It Cannon, respectively.

Classics re-incarnated: Megaman.

(Photo credit: Primantis via Deviant Art)

     Often, while scrolling through Facebook, someone will post the question "If you could take a game and remake it with current generation graphics, what would it be?" Seeing as how Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Metroid get remade every now and then, and they end up on one company's consoles, my first choice was clear. Megaman.

     As a kid in junior high, I first got into this series, starting with Megaman 2. After that, it was always exciting to see what different robots that would come out on each successive one. But, with 8bit (and eventually 16bit) graphics, there wasn't a lot Capcom could do. In addition, many of the games had glitches (flickering sprites, etc.).

     Each game featured 8 (6 in the original) robots who took over an area of a futuristic city; the robot hero defeats each one, gaining their weapon as a reward for completing each stage. The key to victory was finding which weapon was most effective against each robot stage boss.

     The drawback was the variations on a similar theme. Similar robots took over similar areas, like the mining areas (Jewel Man, Crystal Man, etc.) or the mountains and icy places (Ice Man, Blizzard Man, etc.).

     I have a few ideas for the current generation of consoles. The obvious is there: Instead of the old-school, 2D, side-scrolling fun, take it to the high-definition, 3D world. Start with an overhead view from the back, like GTA. That would show an immediate difference between this and older incarnations.

     Next, stray from just pointing and selecting different stages for each robot-boss, have the protagonist roam through an open-world map to go on side-quests for energy tanks, weapon ammo, upgrades for Megaman's armor, as well as upgrades for the robo-dog, Rush (can't forget him!). The upgrades would be level-dependent, maybe every so often having Dr. Light contact him to tell him what's available at the lab.

     Different areas of the map would lead to stages, like the forest, marina, digsite, construction area, space, etc. Within each themed stage would be sectioned off areas that would lead to the bosses, which could be taken in any order, like going through a multi-tunneled cave that leads to various chambers.

     Instead of having a few bosses with the same weapon (Flash Man and Bright Man both having time-stoppers, for example), have the bosses of a themed area drop the same weapon, but each one has a different optional upgrade to it, which could be added or removed via the menu. But, for each upgrade you use with that weapon consumes more ammo per shot. However, each time you grab one of the themed weapons, it adds to the carrying capacity of that themed weapon's ammo. This way, players can partially complete one stage and use the new weapon to partially complete the next.

     Maybe take a cue from the Megaman X series, and not just adding Zero to the mix. Stray from the original naming formula, which was basically calling each robot ______ Man. They'd look the same, but would be called something more colorful and imaginative. And another thing that the X series did was have certain actions affect the scenery. In fact, maybe certain actions on some stages might even cause other stages and the main map change; not dramatically, but maybe add things.

     I hate to sound vain, but I think this is a good idea. Anyone know how to contact Capcom?

GTA VI?

     On a Facebook page I follow, I saw this. The commentators on the post debated whether it were real or just a rumor. One person even said that they had relatives that work for Rockstar Games, and that they weren't supposed to say anything, but confirmed it.
     The post said that GTA VI is going to take place in Magnolia City (an old nickname for Houston). And this made fans from Houston happy. "That's my hometown!" As an avid gamer, I know that news of sequels are often just rumors.
     If things go O.K., I think I will have a PS4 by this time next year. The main reasons will be because the sequels to my favorite series/franchises, like Borderlands, Hitman, and GTA, are coming out on current-gen consoles only. But, at least they should be cheaper by then.

     Now, about this setting; I have, what I think, is a better idea than just setting it in Magnolia City. If this is on the newest-gen consoles, they need to go big! I think they should keep the maps from IV and V (update them with real-life changes), but also add a few more cities, Magnolia City being one.      The main storyline should have the protagonist(s) traveling among the cities. To achieve this, drive or fly off the edge of the map of the current city. The direction would indicate the destination. From that point, the player would have two options.
     They can travel by ground. This would feature cut scenes that would fast-foward the game timeclock. The cut scenes would be interspersed with traveling by Sandy Shores-sized towns where they could play around in (maybe tiny side-quests). Time would return to normal while in these towns.

     The other option, of course, is to travel by air. On the plus side, there's a random chance to become a hero and stop an air disaster, therefore receiving a monetary reward. Disasters could include the pilot having a heart attack and the player having to take over; crashing or emergency landing would cause the plane to end up in one of the tiny towns; or disaster could be having to subdue a hijacker. But, on the down side, players have to leave their weapons behind and maybe store one pistol.
     The possibilities are endless, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens.

Crossovers: Part 1

     There's been this post circulating around Facebook, especially among gamer-geek pages. This question is "If you could combine two of your favorite games, what would you come up with?" or something like that. I have come up with a lot, and so I thought I'd write about them.

     Grand Theft Horse: Riften. Riften is a city in the province of Skyrim, capital of the Rift Hold, and home of the infamous thieves guild. Add in three characters that go from lackeys to possible kingpins within the guild, or even create a guild of their own, then you have a game filled with magically medieval mafia-style action.

     Hitman: Dark Brotherhood. In the world of Nirn (the planet that the Elder Scrolls takes place on) there exists a shadowy syndicate of assassins known as the Dark Brotherhood. Let's say that a mage was using alteration magic to create the ultimate killer. The most successful one was 47, who breaks loose and finds himself among the Dark Brotherhood. Astrid, the head of the Brotherhood, needs to be made into a Breton and sound more like Diana.

    Hitman: Vault Hunter. Let's say in the future, Agent 47 is reborn. The Interstellar Contract Agency sends him to Pandora to hunt a few vault hunters as well as the Hyperion Corporation's new leader - whoever Handsome Jack's successor would be.
     I could imagine the opening cutscene: He's staring out the window, and his thoughts are narrating what he has to do as streaking stars reflect off the window. His thoughts are interrupted by the voice of a descendant of Diana being patched through his HUD. Boom! Ass-kicking everywhere!

     Yakuza: Way of Pandora. The Tojo Clan of yakuza families is on the hunt on Pandora, and Kazuma Kiryu finds himself embroiled in it again. You can start the game as one of, maybe, four characters. If you start as Kazuma, your starting point is the floating city of Sanctuary. If you start as Goro Majima, your starting point is a mining town run by Majima Construction.

     Metroid: Pirate Warfare. Intrepid cyborg bounty hunter Samus Aran has to do battle with the space pirate aliens of the planet Zebes, but there is also a rival fleet sent from Earth - the Tojo Clan. That's all I have for that.

     Metroid: The Zebesian Vault. There was a map that was opened at the last cutscene of the final main story mission in Borderlands 2. It revealed the locations of multiple vaults throughout the galaxy.
     One of them was found on the planet Zebes, and there is a race among vault hunters - one of them being Samus - to prevent the opening of the vault by the one and only Mother Brain.

     I have a feeling that I'm going to keep coming up with more ideas. That's why this is Crossovers: Part 1.

More Skyrim news, and returning to San Andreas.

     I've really gotten into the roleplay aspect of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I have three characters that I play with right now. I like how I can explore the province of Skyrim in the mindset of each character. Like, I'm free to think to myself "Would this character help this person's situation?" and keep playing whether or not the answer is yes or no.

     My primary character is, as I've mentioned before, Sahandrian. He's a high elf illusionist/thief/assassin, and to top it all off, he's a vampire. Basically, he's a living, lethal shadow. I use him to do a lot of dungeon delving, robbing people blind, and taking out entire strongholds of enemies one by one. I like to play as him when I feel like unleashing my inner morbid asshole, and I see him as slipping from Chaotic Neutral to Neutral Evil.

     My new, rising favorite is an imperial battle-mage named Mercator. He wields a sword in one hand and destruction spells in the other. He's married to Uthgerd the Unbroken, this Amazonian butch-esque Nord woman who helps him kick ass all over the place. Dragons are becoming easier for them. He took sides in the civil war, helping keep Skyrim part of the Empire. I see him as somewhere between Lawful Neutral to Lawful Evil. I'd love to get some ebony or daedric armor on him, and master the destruction magic skill.

     I'm up in the air as to what to do with my Nord ranger, Beinir. I see him as a Chaotic Good character, as he helped the priestess of the temple of Kynareth, and freed the province of Skyrim from the Empire. Last I played him, he joined the Companions warriors guild.

    In addition to exploring the game as different characters, I've also been recommended to play The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. I'd like to, actually.

     After my third Cuba Libre, I got back into Grand Theft Auto Online. I played some missions with these somewhat sucky Brazilians that couldn't take the missions seriously, so I was carrying them on my back. Granted, they were like 7th/8th level, but still. I got to show off my sniping skills during a mission on the LS River; it helped make their invasion easier.

     I'm thinking of playing more tonight. Just a little exploration and money-making on a few missions. After battling the initial addiction of Skyrim, I somewhat miss running around in my pearlescent purple Vapid Bullet (Psst... It's a Ford GT).

     (raising a glass) Here's to ass-whooping tonight!

My name is George, and I am a Skyrim addict.

     If you're reading this title, this is where you'd talk to your screen and say "Hi, George." So, yeah, I went to a place called K&M - a used game and movie store. For $10, I picked up a copy of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. I understand the addiction and arrows to the knee now. I've been playing it in my off hours for the past month.
     What I like about it is that it combines two of my favorite things in gaming: sandbox-style play and character customization.
     What's catchy about it, and the previous Elder Scrolls games (from what I understand), is that it's not class-based. You can custom your own path of progression with skill trees and perks. But, to get an idea of what someone's character does, people usually refer to them by race (as usual) and class. I have two and a half characters. I say a half, since I didn't know how perks worked, so I restarted one after I learned.

     My first character is Sahandrian. Yes, he was named after Corellon Larethian's sword in Dungeons & Dragons lore. And yes, I know that makes me a demigod among geeks for making that reference. So, the first Sahandrian was a wood elf archmage/thief/assassin, and I didn't know how perks worked; I thought you only took perks on the ones that had numbers (like 1/5, etc.). When I learned how perks worked, and that I didn't need to progress at all in the mage school questline to learn from the illusionist at the College of Winterhold, I restarted Sahandrian. First, I mapped out his skill trees and perks, and made him a high elf. Now, at level 28, he's the leader of the Riften Thieves Guild, the leader of the Dark Brotherhood, and can cast Invisibility, though he hasn't progressed very far in the mage college questline, so he's not an archmage (he just needs illusions and some destruction). And this time, I'm having him practice alchemy and grow a garden, so he can make his own poisons. Thanks to the Hearthfire expansion, he has a house, with a greenhouse wing, and a garden. Sounds quaint... but deadly.
     I don't usually play warrior-type characters, so I thought I'd give it a try. Beinir (looked it up in a Norse naming site) is a Nord ranger. Yeah, still stealthy, but will wield a sword if needed. And he's more of a good guy, as he liberated the province of Skyrim from the Empire. I know, half the Stormcloak rebellion are xenophobic jocks, but the cause is more chaotic-good oriented, which is how I envision Beinir. I just need to figure out how to get him more gold.

     Well, I'm off to have dinner, then skulk some dwarven ruins.