What is this section you ask?

Well, this is my personal gameplay section.  My area for "blogging".  This is where I'll just post my random thoughts on games I'm playing, which toothpaste I used today, complain about the price of food, tackle age old questions like "What is the meaning of life?" etc. etc. etc...  That kinda boring, dumb stuff.

I figured, heck, everyone else is doing it I might as well join in on the Bloggosphere (sounds more like an amusement park ride that everyone has already puked in!  -  Actually, that's probably the best description of blogging that I've ever read even though I thought it up myself).

Keep watching for more of my inquisitive thoughts and perspectives on life, video games, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I've been playing Grand Theft Auto IV for since it came out now and I have been enjoying it but, is it really worthy of all of those unbelievably high ratings?  I admit, the game plays great as a sand-box open world (city), with a decent story, a plethora of missions, mini-games, item hunts, open-ended gameplay, and a multiplayer mode that can be fun if not taken too seriously.

The game is, however, far from perfect.  Technically speaking GTA IV does all the right things that it did in previous GTA games only better.  The graphics are better, the sound is definitely better (San Andreas SFX were extremely disappointing), a sizeable soundtrack with something for everyone (as always), the game play mechanics are familiar but more refined and slightly more intuitive as well.

The problem is GTA IV suffers from some annoying glitches.  In story mode it's still easy to get stuck or hung up in or on walls although nowhere near as bad as it was in previous GTA titles.  A huge selling point of GTA IV is the ability to play a Multiplayer Mode online.  Unfortunately the online multiplayer mode is broken.  There were numerous times where I'd join a game and lose connection from the host and then host a game and would lose connection while hosting.  I have also started up games in Party Mode where you can invite numerous friends into the room to run around liberty city just for fun, unfortunately even this mode could become annoying as some players would lose connection and be sent back into the main game.  That's another problem, if you do lose connection to a game (even if you're hosting) you get booted back to the story mode of the game and have to restart a fresh online game while waiting for everything to load up yet again.  This is annoying because there is a bug that can sometimes prevent you from re-joining a room that you were just in even when their are still available slots.   It becomes like one big frustrating game of phone tag while you're trying to get back into a game with friends.  When the multiplayer mode is running smoothly it can be fun but the game modes shouldn't be taken seriously since they are mostly party-mode style mini-games.  There is a Deathmatch and TeamDeathmatch mode but those modes are laughable compared to other popular multplayer games with Deathmatch modes.  The great online modes are the ones that involve you or your team trying to race or complete missions while competing and preventing other teams from doing the same.  This stuff is only great when you and your friends aren't losing connection from each other which happens far too frequently to be more enjoyable than frustrating.  Some of the online modes aren't explained though and it would've been nice if they had included info on each of these game modes in the manual.  A lot of new players will find themselves scratching their heads the first few times they play some of these modes.  On top of these hinderences, the interface used to join and create online games was put together sloppily.  It was a great idea (having to use the cellphone to start a multiplayer game - almost like calling friends over to come and play), but it doesn't work well in practice.  I found myself entering and exiting games just as much as losing my connection from them.


These problems are enough to admit that some of GTA IV is still broken.  Perhaps the guys at Rockstar will release a patch in the near future to fix these big problems in the Multiplayer mode.   The story mode can still be a lot of fun although if you've played other GTA games you kind of know what to expect.  While I think the game is great fun for those who don't take games too seriously, I wouldn't have given the game a perfect rating or a 10 out of 10.  Without all of the hype, GTA IV does please gamers who enjoy this type of game with it's engrossing single player story mode.  At the same time, even though there are some interesting multiplayer modes available, the experience isn't always enjoyable and can quickly become frustrating when trying to join or host a game.

Great game, but far from perfect I'd say.

Pass the Beta please...

Why is it that more and more mainstream games are being released before they are actually finished?  I've been more and more disappointed by recent mainstream console games (the past couple of years actually) because it seems that the developers have this thing against beta testing their games before releasing them to the public.  I've stumbled across more bugs and glitches in these big-name games within the past 2 years than ever before.  The problem is people keep buying these games.  It's ridiculous, dishing out money for these games expecting to play a game and enjoy it without encountering any bugs or technical issues.  We've been told that these games can and will be updated and patched to fix existing issues.  The problem is, if an issue exists then why was the game released?  Why are we paying $50 - $60 dollars per game only to help participate in extra beta testing and receive nothing in return for our work, when in fact this is only supposed to be play, because we paid full price for a peice of software expecting a fully functioning work of interactive entertainment.  Worst of all is if you have a problem with the software and need to get in touch with tech support you're likely to receive some automated answering service or messaging system.  Either gamers are dumb for standing for this bullshit, or game developers and publishers are taking out their sexual frustration on the rest of us...  I think it's a bit of both.  I guess this is just one more reason to appreciate the work that indie developers do because even if you find a problem with their game they are usually more than willing to help and want nothing more than for their creations to work well and be an enjoyable experience (sometimes making an honest buck in the process).

Note to self:

Windows Vista Hates you!

The Xbox 360 makes a better toaster oven than it does a video game console.

The Canadian Dollar is almost as valuable as the US Dollar...  unfortunately that`s a bad thing if you live in Canada.

Inflation is a bitch.

Indie Games keep getting better and better even during tough times!

Conclusion:  One out of five isn`t bad.