Name that Game!

New to Gamedom is “Name that Game!” 

The 1^st set of clues will help you figure out the year in which the game dropped and the 2^nd set of clues will help you Name that Game!  Enjoy

• The Summer Olympics opens and eight days later the Centennial Olympic Park is bombed
• MLS “kicks off” is front of 31,683 fans, a paltry number compared to my debut.

• O.J. Simpson civil trial begins

• The New York Yankees win the World Series, the Chicago Bulls win the NBA title, and the Dallas Cowboys win the Super Bowl.

• Hulk Hogan joins the New World Order (NWO) at WCW’s Bash at the Beach 

• Independence Day is released and grosses $306 million

I sold somewhere around 23.64 million copies.

It took me two years to make it to the states after my initial debut.

Even though I come in a small package, I shocked the world with my massive popularity.

In my 17 years of existence, I’ve been flying high above New York City for 10 years giving thanks.

What game am I?

Video game couples: Valentine's Day for all

Can you feel the love tonight…something, something, something.  I don't really know the lyrics but today is Valentine's Day.  Today is a day full of love, romance, and who am I kidding…today is just another made up holiday in which Hallmark and women are the only winners!

But I'm going to put my hatred of Valentine's Day to the side and put together a list of some of my favorite video game couples.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Tidas and Yuna (FFX)

                Square has a knack for heartwarming and tragic relationships and Tidas and Yuna are definitely reppin' the latter.  Tidas was able to traverse time and space a la John Carter to find his true love.  Now unfortunately he was destined to become that world's next villain; however Yuna's love was able to keep Tidas from becoming Sin.  It didn't stop him from disappearing but hey at least he wasn't Sin incarnate.

Cloud and Tifa (FFVII)

What guy hasn't pretended to be something they're not, just to get in good with a girl?  I've been with my wife almost 10 years and I'm still pretending like I'm cool!  Sure Cloud was pretending to be Zach, but that was because of memory problems.  Nevertheless, Tifa stood by him and helped him regain his memory and helped him save the world!  Now that is a "Round the way" girl.

Dominic and Maria Santiago (GoW 2)

                As any married man will tell you…there are no limits when it comes to family.  Those limits become slightly easier to overcome when you have a chainsaw mounted to your assault rifle.  Unfortunately, their onscreen time is cut short…being that fact that Maria is captured and tortured by the Locust and Dom shoots her.  But right before he shoots her, he gets to see her one last time in her "beautiful," natural state.  Its also possible Dom was hallucinating from toxin gas in the cave.

Mario and Princess Peach

                Mario and Peach are the OG's of video game love!  I mean forget bringing chocolates; Mario's willing to eat magic mushrooms, flowers, and feathers to save his love.  As a whole fellas we can't compare to Mario, but don't be afraid to follow suit and definitely don't be afraid to eat giant mushrooms so you can "grow!"  Mario has endured many a hater trying to steal his woman; a tie wearing gorilla, a giant fire-breathing tortoise, and an evil doppelganger.  But none of his haters can hold him back!

Commander Sheppard and Ashley Williams (Mass Effect)

                Space…the final frontier!  Oops wrong sci-fi franchise.  In all seriously Commander Sheppard has kick some serious ass over and over again but he's also had his fare share of lady (alien) love.  Out of all the options, Ashley Williams provides the most earnest moments of the series.  I mean she recited William Earnest Henley's Invictus for cripes sakes.  Let's forget about Saren, the Geth, the Collectors, and even the Reapers trying to destroy everything in sight, Sheppard and Ashley eschewed Alliance protocol in order to keep their love going.

Happy Valentine's Day people!

               

               

Video games and black culture

Black History Month is in full effect and after hearing the greatness that is Dr. Cornel West, Tavis Smiley, and Common, I think it’s time to delve deeper into video games and its effect on black culture.

So the last time I purchased a game at its midnight release was NBA 2K13 in October, not realizing that Resident Evil 6 was coming out as well.

When I pull up to Gamestop I see, what seems to be an  odd group, for a 2K crowd, starting to assemble outside. This group starts to resemble the cast of Big Bang Theory, and for .1 second I start to freak out thinking I had my days mixed up, but once I opened the door I saw a more familiar sight…backwards baseball fitteds, basketball shorts, and hoodies.  Understandbly, I'm stereotyping here, but I felt this was more of a 2K crowd. 

To say it was a sight to behold seeing these two “entities” interact would be an understatement.  At first, I thought it pretty funny when they split the groups up to pick up the game, I didn't want to believe that my stereotyping was true but all of the "urban" gamers where in the 2K line and the Big Bang Theory Cast, in the Resident Evil line.

After deeper thought I realized something…most urban gamers ONLY play sports games and the occasional shooter games like Call of Duty! 

Normally, I try to stay away from bold generalizations but I realize how true it is.

Lets look at my  Xbox Live friend as a social experiment of sorts.
Last night there out of 50+ "urban gamer" friends, 35 were online
19 were playing Call of Duty and 13 were playing 2k!
1 was playing Madden
1 on Devil May Cry and the other watching Netflix

As you can see, there isn't much variety in these numbers.

Unfortunately like many aspects of “urban” life, the idea of being a gamer is limited in scope to the known versus the unknown.  It has been well documented that sports and hip-hop are the quickest way to get out of the “hood,” so latching on to games that capture that escapism is more tangible than “pretending” to save the world from a Reaper attack.

Here I am, someone who grew up somewhat ashamed to admit my love of sci-fi, anime, or comics out of fear of ostracized.  But honestly, being different is really just being open to different experiences and willing to expand your boundaries.

I know guys who play the MyCareer mode in 2K non-stop, but have only played 20 minutes of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim and immediately threw it to the side as another stupid “white person” game… I don’t even know what that means but unfortunately I’ve heard that phrase more than once! 

Off the top of my head, I’ve heard Final Fantasy, Elder Scrolls, X-Com, and even Zelda being pawned off as “white!”  What do these have in common, well they’re all based in fantasy and in simpler terms, imagination. 

So, yeah I’m challenging my people to broaden their horizons and play something not named NBA 2K something, Call of whatever, or NFL gambling 2013.  I’m not asking you to go full RPG (because everybody knows, you don’t go full RPG), but just ease into other genres and find your niche.

 Try out Deus Ex or Mass Effect if you’re feeling like a shooter…feeling like roaming aimlessly a la Grand Theft Auto give The Elder Scrolls a try.  All I asking (begging actually) is to step outside of your comfort zone and do something different, you never know what could be waiting for you!