Alice: The Madness Returns

"The time has come," Player 1 said, "to talk of many things..."

Back in 2000, the PC gaming community was blessed with the wonderful game: American McGee's Alice. Those of you who played this amazing game no doubt remember how much fun this dark twist on the original Alice in Wonderland was. It took the story on a twisted new path that ended up being pretty profound, psychologically speaking. Just a few months ago, it was announced that on June 14 of this year, well over 10 years since the release of the first game, the long anticipated sequel would be released. 

The story is said to be a continuation of Alice's struggle with her troubled psyche. Wonderland has once again been corrupted by the tragic events of her eleventh birthday that still plague her. Whether her psyche has once again manifested itself as the Red Queen for the game's antagonist is still unknown, though I have a feeling that American McGee has other things in mind. One thing that is for sure is that there will everyone's favorite emaciated cat will be making an appearance. On another note, American McGee has also promised a couple of other incentives to go out and grab the game...

Thats right! Along with a copy of the new soundtrack, everyone who buys a copy of Madness Returns (whether on the Xbox 360, PS3 or the PC) will also receive a free copy of the first game! I, for one, am stoked. Old fans of the game will be able to play through a lovely remastered edition in order to brush up on the storyline. This is also a great chance for those who are new to the series to start from the beginning, as new copies of the original game have been nearly impossible to get a hold of for a reasonable price during the last half a decade.

What do you guys think? Are you just as excited as I am? Why is a raven like a writing desk? Let me know in the comments below!

Loving Live: The Beauty of Online Gaming

The day I sold my soul.

If you're like me, you took one look at the monthly rates for Xbox live, and cried. Just kidding, I didn't really cry.  I did cringe, however. I couldn't help but feel like there were so many other things I could do with my money. Finally, about three weeks ago, upon hanging out with one of my best friends, she convinced me to at least give the thirty day free trial a go. Sure that I would find nothing really interesting in online gaming, I agreed and we set up an account.


...


I'm not sure how I ever lived without Live. Seriously! It's that extra spark that you never knew was missing from every game you play. When the solo story is won, there's always that little part of you that wishes that there was more to the game than just this. Live is the definition of more than this. It adds an extra dimension of playability to every game that's online capable. So, what exactly do you need to get the most out of your online gaming experience? Sit back and relax. I shall enlighten you.

A Gaming Party

A good group of friends is the most important part of any Live gaming you do. After all, it's no fun to just go through countless hours of Matchmaking in Reach with no one to get your back. Whether you're playing house on a sandbox server (don't judge me) or taking on bigger teams on the "serious" servers (try not to get them too mad with your flagrant griefing), a good group of people to do it with is absolutely essential.

Patience

Okay, you are going to get people better than you when you play online. Trust me. The mature thing to do is to suck it up, and go down quietly (yes, that is what she said). It is definitely not a good idea to scream profanities at them over the mic. First of all, you look like a loser, and second of all, you mad bro? Seriously. The people online are not affected by your tantrums in the slightest. If anything, they're terribly amused. The only thing you can expect to get out of screaming like a two year old, is kicked from the game.

Payment

Yes, sadly, all free trials come to an end. Now, if you really didn't enjoy yourself, feel free to cancel the renewal, and go along your merry way. I, on the other hand, will be renewing my subscription faster than you can say master card. Yes, most people use their credit cards, seeing as Microsoft has made this method easy and stress free by allowing you to do it right through your console. However, if you find that your not exactly packing plastic, feel free to run off to Target and get your hands on a prepaid card.

What do you guys think? Addicted to Online Gaming like me? Let me know!

Sign Me Up For the Next Zombie Apocalypse

BRAINS

We all recently dodged the zombie apocalypse bullet when Rapture didn't happen, but we might not be so lucky next time. So, I decided to make a list of some of the best zombie games so you can be sure that you're ready for the next undead threat.

Resident Evil Series
Not much gets better than this series. Despite the ridiculous tank controls of the first three games, this series delivers a compelling plot and unforgettable characters as you fight your way through the infected, trying to find out who is behind the most recent outbreak. If you're looking for horror, stick to the earlier games, which focus on puzzles and jump-scares rather than overwhelm you with zombies. Meanwhile, the later installments focus on over-the-shoulder slaughtering of zombie hordes as you try to prevent the newest zombie threat. These games will prepare you for the following scenarios: getting stuck in a mansion with zombies; fighting against zombified plants, dogs, people, sharks, and mutants; running through a city full of zombies; getting chased by a ridiculous mutant that is intent on killing everyone from your police division; and facing zombie outbreaks in both Spain and Africa.

Left 4 Dead 2
Okay, I will admit that I just picked up this game, but I absolutely love it. The characters are interesting, the plot is good, and there's nothing quite like facing hordes upon hordes of zombies. Seriously, the amount of zombies you go through playing just one campaign is easily in the thousands, and you always feel a sense of accomplishment when you chop down the last member of a horde with your axe, and have a few seconds to catch your breath before another swarm comes along. If you want to learn how to survive in an urban environment with some of the most insane types of zombies (witches, anyone?), then this is the game for you.

Dead Rising
Revolving around a photojournalist researching a zombie outbreak, Dead Rising is the perfect game to teach you the important skills in surviving the Mall of America with a bunch of rampaging psychopaths running around. Not only can you kill hordes of zombies in this game, but you can do it with pretty much anything you find. Gigantic plastic plant? Check. A TV set? Check. Old stand-bys like the chainsaw? Of course! There is nothing more amusing than smashing zombies' heads in with a sledgehammer in this game. While the photo element is sometimes hard to control and the AI is tedious to deal with, this game is incredibly enjoyable, especially when you learn some decapitating karate moves. It doesn't get much better than watching a zombie's head fly off after you kick them in the face.

Call of Duty Series: Nazi Zombies
Left 4 Dead is pretty much the only FPS game where I don't get incredibly motion sick while I play it. Normally, like with Call of Duty, the rapid-moving camera as I run around like a chicken with its head cut off causes me to get ill within ten minutes. However, the event of Nazi zombies has caused me to reconsider my avoidance of this genre. Not only do you get to shoot hordes of zombies with WII weapons (Player One understands how much I enjoy this time period), but they're also Nazis! I mean, it seriously doesn't get much better than this, right? So, if you ever find yourself transported back into the 1940's with zombies running around, this is the game for you.

Do you guys have any favorite Zombie games? Let me know!

Gaming Spotlight: Dynasty Warriors 7

Okay, I'm ready for my degree in Chinese History now...

Seriously. We've relived the Romance of the Three Kingdoms era of China seven times!!! As interesting as I find the early Han dynasty and it's battles and warlords, I'm ready to move on. Okay, so despite the tired story line, DW7 isn't actually that bad. In it's defense, it does cover later battles never before seen in the series, and subsequently, a new kingdom. (The fact that this kingdom begins with one of my personal favorite characters (Sima Yi) does not make me biased at all...) Also, the game had redone the storyline so that it's more plot driven as opposed to character driven. Now, this isn't to say that the characters aren't important. Rather, you are given their stories in a far more accurate manner than before. Their lives are played out as they happened historically, giving the game a much more authentic (if slightly more tragic) feel. Now, seeing as the characters are my favorite part of any DW game, in this post I'll be focusing a lot more on the changes made in that respect.

New Characters

Now, I'm always a fan of new and interesting characters in a game series. I am also a huge fan of strong female characters. Luckily for me, DW7 delivered on both accounts. There is a multitude of new characters to unlock, a good number of them girls, and all of them intriguing. The addition of these new points of view keep the game from feeling like another review of a boring history lesson and put a fresh twist on the game play.

Old Favorites

While new characters are great, theres nothing like the familiarity and nostalgia felt when one takes up an old favorite. All of the iconic characters remain, including all of my preferences (Zhou Yu, Lu Xun, and yes, Zhang He. Deal with it. He's a pretty and fabulous butterfly.) There have been some minor changes made to the characters, such as Zhou Yu using a staff rather than a sword and Zhang He wearing needle like hairpins rather than his butterfly tiara, but all changes feel surprisingly natural. If anything, the characters are improved by these tweaks. I mean, really, as much as I like him, it was getting weird watching Zhang He prance around the battlefield in high heels.

Reinvention of Old Characters

Now, as I've said, many characters have gotten new designs. This includes a lot of characters I found exceedingly dull in the last few games. Xiahou Dun comes to mind, along with Cao Pi and Sun Shang Xiang. Where as before, I'd only play with these characters if I absolutely had to, I looked forward to playing them in DW7. The new, plot driven gameplay also encouraged me to feel for these characters a lot more than I did in past installments of the series. When Sun Ce and Sun Jian died, I felt for Sun Shang Xiang and Sun Quan. When Xiahou Dun lost his eye, I felt more inspired by his BAMFy reaction. Koei did a great job of reinventing their characters in a way that made me appreciate all of them.

What do you guys think? Does Zhang He creep you out? Let me know!

What's the Fun in Blank Walls?

 Swagging Out Your Living Space

Yes, even English majors make up new words every once in a while.

 Personally, I never like to spend time in an empty room. Not only does it feel incredibly isolated and lonely, but it also just doesn't have that spark that is essential to every living space. I know that when I took down all of my decorations in my House (the Smith equivalent of a dorm) a couple of weeks ago, I didn't want to be anywhere near my room for the rest of the week. Now that I'm back for Smith for just a weekend and staying in a temporary room, I can't help but stare at the walls and ponder how I could make that room my own (especially with all of the lovely floor space that I don't usually get.)

Posters

I love posters. Besides my crippling weakness for books, posters are infamous for separating me from my money. I think the thing that I love most about posters is their great versatility. Not only do you have varying sizes, but pretty much anything can be put on a poster. From retro games to masterpieces, posters are a great way to personalize your room. In my double this past semester I had four posters up (Castle, Doctor Who, Watchmen, and an art print) and definitely would have hung up more if I had the chance (I believe there were about six hanging up in my room my first semester.) Although sometimes the posters that you have in your room can lead to trouble (just hyperventilate when you see Player One's Black Butler wall scrolls for hilarious results), for the most part a poster can lead to great conversations about shared interests that you might not have found out about any other way. (Also they just look so good on walls. I mean, it really doesn't get much better, right? ...Right?)

Shelves

As Victoria and I discussed in one of our first blog posts shelves are an essential way to show off your gaming swag. Not only can you tastefully fill up a section of your room with your books, but you can also make everyone and their goldfish jealous as they feast their eyes on your extensive gaming library. Oh yeah, that new 360 game that came out the other day? I've got it on my shelf right now, no big deal. Oh, that collector's edition copy of Resident Evil? Yeah, snagged that one on the night it came out. Shelves, like posters, are a great way to make your room unique, and they can easily advertise what you're interested in to those who are interested.

Figures

Okay, I really like action figures. Although my rather cheap tendencies mean that I don't own as many of these as I would like, figures are a great way to decorate small, empty spaces. Putting them on the top of a bookshelf, next to your cosmetics, or on your night table, figures are a small, fun way to decorate your room with the things you love.

Personal Items

I know that over the past year I've collected an amalgamation of personal notes/postcards/drawings that I proudly display over my desk. Just through hanging up things that were special to me over my working area instantly created a great atmosphere for me to concentrate. I'm not trying to say that the feng shui of my collage created enough chi for intellectual inspiration, but I do mean that with such great objects right in front of me, I was encouraged to look up an recollect for my study breaks instead of perusing Tumblr for another hour and a half. It was definitely a much better use of my time, and definitely gave my room the personality that it needed. Not only that, but it's just so much fun to collage things. If you haven't made a collage for yourself yet, you definitely need to do yourself a favor and try to make one sometime. 

Awards

Awards are a great way to show what you're interested in and the talent that you have. You've worked hard for them, and your perseverance should be rewarded by every guest coming into your room and marveling at just how awesome you are.

So what do you guys have in your rooms? Let me know!

Xbox 360, Here I Come!

So, after saving up for several months and debating for what feels like years, I finally bought my Xbox 360. As many of you know, buying new consoles is serious business. Not only are they incredibly expensive ($300 if you're lucky), but you also want to make sure that you're actually going to use the system after you've purchased it. In light of my recent expenditure, I'm going to share with you several of the factors that led to my decision.

When It's the Right Time to Buy

Do Your Homework
No, I don't mean this in the literal sense (although you should always try to do your homework (except if it's six hundred pages of reading that don't even have any relevance to the discussion because your professor just feels like being sadistic that day (but I digress.))) I simply mean that you should look into what kind of games the system has before you decide which one you want to buy. Interested in casual games? Then the Wii is the only place for you. Looking for something a little bit more hardcore? Then take a look at the selections offered by the 360 and the PS3. While both have a lot of overlapping titles, the system-exclusives can make or break a system. For instance, I love a lot of the system-exclusive titles for the 360, which largely influenced my decision (although it certainly helped that I already had a PS3 at home, so I knew that when Uncharted 3 came out, I still had a chance to play it.) Make sure that the system you want to get has your favorite game series on it, because you don't want to have to shell out another three-hundred dollars when a brand new title comes out a year down the line.

Time
Since I finally have time off from college, there is no better time to buy a new gaming system than now. With endless rainy days ahead in Massachusetts, I have nothing better to do with my days off than sit at home, make myself some tea, and play an endless amount of video games (and write this blog post.) If you're right in the middle of finals, you might want to hold off on buying your new system until you know you have enough time to devote to it. Once that system is at home, there's no way that you can resist that addictive pull of testing it out, so don't try to lie to yourself. Devote your attention to your work (even if it takes nine tries to get it all done) and when you've finally conquered it, treat yourself to your system as your reward. It's definitely worth it.

Financials
Note: it's not a good time to go out and purchase a three-hundred dollar gaming system if you only have $340 in the bank. As tempting as it is to go out and buy something when you have enough money for it, it's important to make sure that you'll have enough cash left over after your expenditure to last you until your next pay check. Now, I'm not going to lecture you about budgeting your money or anything like that; you can do whatever you want with your cash. Just don't fall prey to your overwhelming desire, and then realize two days later that you can't by your brother a birthday present because you're broke, or dangerously close to being broke. Believe me, it really sucks to find yourself in that position (thank God for inexpensive used games!)

So what goes into your decision when you decide to buy your gaming consoles? Let me know!

Gaming Spotlight: Bayonetta

She's a B- I mean, Witch...

So, I beat this game a few days ago... and am now commencing my second run through. I absolutely adore this game! It is, quite possibly, the best game I have played in a very long time. If you've played it, you know how much fun it is. If you haven't, for the love of God, why not!?

"But, Victoria," you say skeptically, "It can't be that good..."

Yes it can, dear gamer, yes it can. There are many reasons that this game is nearly impossible for me to put down. However, for the sake of time, I'll only talk about four. Listing all of them would probably take longer than it took for Player 2 to beat Nyx....

Beautiful Graphics

Okay, so you guys know that graphics usually don't matter to me. If the gameplay is good, the game could look like a glorified version of Pong and I wouldn't care. However, if the gameplay is great and the graphics are lovely too, that is a bonus! Now, it's not just the character designs that make Bayonetta wonderful, it's the environments too. The cities and landscapes in this game are gorgeous. Everything from the architecture to the lighting is just done so well. It really sets the mood perfectly for the world that the characters interact with, which is based one Dante's Divine Comedy.

Gripping Storyline

I admit, I had my doubts when I first began the game. The Dialogue was pretty bad and I began to worry that this game was nothing but an excuse to show off Bayonetta as a sex symbol with stripper moves. Luckily, I was proven way wrong. While the main character does resemble someone you'd meet at a gentleman's club (Even going so far as to exclaim, "I should be a pole dancer!"), the game is just so much more than that. It takes the age old "Light vs Dark"/"Good vs Evil" storyline and reinvents it. Trust me, by the end, you'll be rooting for the Dark Side.

Great Gameplay

Now, if you're like Player 2, you might want to take this game in small doses. Those prone to motion sickness are bound to feel a bit ill if they sit through this game for too long. However, if you're like me, and think that the more you feel off balance while your playing a game, the better it is, go for it! This game does a  great job of keeping the action lightning fast while not being frustrating or annoying. I definitely approve of any game that makes me feel like a total BAMF.

Epic Boss Battles

What's a good game without a boss battle that makes you feel as if you've resolved something. Bayonetta is perfect at this. Not only are the Bosses ridiculously large (their size progressively increases the further you get in the game) but they back up that size with larger than life battles. So many games have a habit of having large bosses that just have a lot of hit points but only one central weakness. In Bayonetta, the developers really emphasized the need to take these behemoths apart piece by piece in order to destroy them. There is nothing more satisfying than completely decimating an Angelic Being and then feeding the pieces to a bunch of ravenous demons.

Fun Friday Broadcast #1

Hey Guys! I'm about to start broadcasting for the first time! So I still haven't figured out how to get my voice into the broadcast while playing, so sorry about that. Other than that, I decided that for today's game, I'd do a challenge map on Minecraft. I figure that there are far to many vanilla Minecraft broadcasts out there, so why not go into this with a different approach? I'm not always going to play Minecraft for my Fun Fridays, but when I do, I'll attempt a different challenge/story map. For the live broadcasts, I'll provide a link at the bottom of the announcement posts. This link will be changed to the embedded recording of the broadcast once I'm done.

This all being said, I'm actually not really sure if this will work or not... This may actually fall flat on it's face, seeing as I haven't worked out all the kinks yet. I'm unsure if I'll lag, if JTV is a reliable broadcasting medium, or if something else could go wrong. You know what, though? I'll take the risk. That's what live broadcasting is all about, right?

So, without further ado, let's get this show on the road! I decided to pick a pretty straightforward challenge for right now, since I'm still figuring things out. The challenge for today is blogg123's Creeper Arena! The rules for this challenge are as follows:

• The first time that you get on the map don’t leave the arena

•  Make sure that you are on peaceful until you get into the arena! The chests could possibly get blown up!

• Once you are in the center of the arena then you can put it on any difficulty, I recommend easy because there are a lot of spawners.

• You are not allowed to disable spawners.

• The way you will be scored is by how much gunpowder you collect, and I know “What if I die?” Then you can put it on peaceful and get your things. Or you can keep it on easy and not die.

• 6. You may use anything in the chests!

Okay guys, wish me luck!


EDIT!: The Debriefing


Right... so... that was an Epic Faliure. I lagged all over the place and I'm pretty sure I  cheated at the challenge a few times. I knew this was a possibility, though. 

As it turns out, my computer does not like the universal broadcaster used by JTV and made it very apparent as I tried to navigate the Creeper Arena. You can watch this spectacular digital failure if you really want to here: http://www.justin.tv/8bitapplesandtea/b/285815895
I warn you, though, it's mostly just a bunch of pixels that move occasionally and delayed audio.


So, what does this mean for future broadcasts? Well, basically I'm going to have to find a medium that my computer doesn't hate. What may end up happening is that I'll just record my session, upload it to youtube, and post it here. Not live, I know, but with my equipment as it stands, I can't really hope for much more.


What do you guys think? Any suggestions for this conundrum? Let me know in the comments!  

Remember When You Sucked At Video Games?

Your Gaming History

Or, Remember All of Those Games You Never Got Around to Beating?

Or, When to Finally Beat a Game That You've Been Struggling Through Since You Were Six

When I came back from college, victorious over my defeat of the finals boss (which did take less time than Nyx, as Player One so kindly pointed out), one of the first things that I did was go down to my basement and look at my gaming shelf. It was only then, as I was soaking in the sheer amount of games that I could play (so many more than my mediocre binder that I was forced to use at Smith), did I realize that there were a lot of games on my shelf that I had never beaten. Not only that, but several of them were at the final boss, just waiting for me to finish it off, and I hadn't attempted it in years. Why had I left these games behind when they were so close to completion? Why hadn't I just wrecked the boss when I was six years old and actually playing the game? In order to find out the answers to these questions, I decided to take it upon myself to finally muster up enough courage to see where I was stuck on these games, and to figure out why I had never bothered to complete them in the first place. Several of the most prominent reasons were as follows:

Problem: An Incredibly Difficult Final Boss Battle
As you all have seen, I'm incredibly stubborn when it comes to boss battles, but I haven't always been like that. Before I actually cared enough about beating games, I would always get myself up to the final boss and then put the game down. "Oh, it's too hard" I'd say, along with something close to "I'll come back to it later when I know I can beat it." But I never did. It was when I turned thirteen that beating games became a requirement, not an exception. As a result, my shelf was littered with titles that I'd played through when I was a kid, but never got around to beating. Super Mario 64, Star Fox 64, Luigi's Mansion...The list seems endless.

Problem: An Almost Impossible Level (For a Nine-Year-Old, At Least)
Sometimes, I was just too young to have enough patience to get through a level. The Water Temple in Ocarina of Time, anyone? On these games, I would reach a point where, after trying something for the eighth time, I would simply give up. I did not have the sheer tenacity that I do now back then, and it just seemed so much easier to focus my attention on a game that I could actually get through as opposed to that one level that I could just not figure out. Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask...Most of the RPGs that I picked up when I was younger were discarded in this fashion.

Problem: Renting the Game
When I was a kid, I just simply couldn't afford to buy games. I had no income, a tiny allowance, and my relatives never really saw fit to give me cash. As a result many of my favorite games were rented repeatedly from Blockbuster, which meant that I would have to beat the beginning of the game time and time again, but I could never get to the ending before my parents would have to return it to the store. Paper Mario is perhaps the greatest example of this, where I got so good at the game that I could beat the first four bosses in a day without breaking a sweat, but there was never enough time for me to work my way through all of the new material and finally beat the tar out of Bowser.

Problem: Giving Up too Easily
So you got to the boss on your file and couldn't beat it, but your brother got to the boss on his file and beat it without breaking a sweat. Well, you could always just try to beat the boss for the fourteenth time, or you could always just let your brother do it for you and reap all of the benefits. Yeah, I might have done this on a few games that were seemingly impossible for me to beat when I was younger, and now that I look back on it, I can't really qualify those as beaten, now can I?

The Solution
So how do you deal with all of these unfinished games?

Well, for some games it's pretty easy to pick up where you left off. For example, in Super Mario 64, I'd completed all of the game except for the final level and the final boss. It was pretty simple for me to just pick up the controller a couple of days ago and  plug away at Bowser until I finally defeated him.

For other games, you might find it necessary to start over. In Ocarina of Time and Paper Mario, I thought it was prudent to start the games over again. Not only was I stuck in the former, but by the time I got around to playing them again, it had been about six years since I last attempted them. I'd forgotten the story of the game, and they felt lifeless when I wandered through the same tired corridors. As a result, I sucked up my pride and started over. And let me tell you, I was happy that I did. Not only did I get to experience the magic of the games again first hand, but I was also able to finally, finally understand some portions of the plot that had completely alluded me when I was a little kid.

Sometimes you need to purchase those games that bothered you so much when you were a child and prove your mettle by playing through them. Sometimes you just need to reload that file that you had your brother beat and play through the final boss one more time, just to prove that you can. And sometimes when you pick up an incomplete game you remember just how much you hated it, and why you put it aside in the first place (Sly 2, anyone?)


Needless to say, completely beating your collection of games is a serious challenge, and this is only a small step toward victory. What about you guys? Ever realize that a game you'd always thought that you'd beaten has been sitting on your shelf collecting dust for years unfinished? Tell me your stories, I'd love to hear them!

We're Back!

Did you miss us?

Hey there, long time no see! As you can see, we here at 8 Bit Apples and Tea have beaten the finals boss! I have to admit, though, it was pretty tough. I don't think anyone's ever taken so long to win a boss fight. 

...Then again, there was that one time Player 2 took on Nyx, but I digress. 

Anyway, what's important is that we're back. For this glorious return, our format will be remaining pretty much the same with the exception of Fun Fridays. With a painful 2100 miles separating us, Player 2 and I decided that joint posts would be a little bit impractical. Instead, we're going to try something completely different. Each week, we'll alternate Fun Fridays. On Player 2's Fridays, she'll be bringing you posts of a lighthearted variety, much like we did during the last season. On my Friday's, however, I'll be taking a crack at streaming some games from my PC while engaging in running commentary on them. While I'm not quite sure of the logistics yet, I think it will something like an hour of streaming on Justin.tv, and then linking the page in the blog post. In any case, we'll see how it works out when the time comes. In the mean time, I'm sure your all wondering what games I'll be streaming. Well, luckily for you, I've composed a tentative list of the games I'm planning to play:

• The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion
• Minecraft
• Portal 
• Portal 2
• Diablo 3

Yes, I realize the list is short at the moment, but I'm also open to any suggestions you guys might want to throw my way. Given that I'll only be streaming for an hour each Friday, though, I'm sure a list this length will be fine.

So, any games you guys want to see? It'd be great if you guys could watch me stumble through something brand new, so leave a comment!