Thursday, January 31, 2013

List of games to possibly record from my new device

Here are a list of games I could record from my AverMedia Game Capture HD device:

PS3:

Army of 2
Army of 2: 40th Day
Assassin's Creed 1
Battlefield 3
Borderlands (Will probably just take video of my PC version since I'm much farther along)
Call of Duty:  Black Ops
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (On Tuesday when I get this)
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Call of Duty: World At War
Dead Island
Dragon Age Origins
Duke Nukem Forever
Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Fallout 3
Fallout New Vegas
Fight Night Round 4
Final Fantasy XIII & XIII-2 (Will not play 2 until I finish the first one, I'm almost done)
Gran Turismo 5
God of War Saga
Heavy Rain
lair
madden 07 & 10
Mafia II
Metal Gear Solid 4 (Not on PS3 and won't be on for some time)
MLB 09 The Show
Mortal Kombat
NBA 2K7
NBA Live 08
Pure
Rapala Fishing Pro Frenzy 2009
Resident Evil 5
Sniper Elite V2 (Stay tuned for some videos from it coming)
SSX
Street Fighter IV
Tekken Hybrid
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 & 09
UFC Undisputed 09
Wolfenstein

 PSN Games:

Will take a long time to list, I have more than one account on my PS3

Will update this list as I continue to find more stuff to record.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

AverMedia Game Capture HD Complete Review + Video at the end

I decided that 2 reviews was stupid, so I'm grouping them into one review.

First things first, the device rocks, totally. It does it's job well and it's really in a class of it's own.

The packaging is really well done. The outer box is visually appealing and shiny. It really ameks you stop and take a look at the device..

The inner shell is a little hard to get out, but that's a good thing. Less of a chance for the whole thing to come flying out.

The device looks really clean and simple. That's because it it, it has a USB port for either a USB HDD or a flash drive, it has a power, record button. IR  reciever for the remote, power port for the ac adapter and a set of component in and component out ports.

The cables looks really good quality, except for the ones that go from device to TV, I will be replacing them soon enough though so no worries.

The remote (like the device is simplistic) there are some things that you can do, but most of the time will be hitting record and stopping your recordings.

One of the best things that you can do for yourself, is read the manual, seriously! Before you can play a game, make sure your in real time mode by clicking the mode button on your remote. This makes no lag at all. The other mode is for every function like manu customizing, etc. RT Mode is for recording videos and snapshots only.

You can select to have one of three options High, Normal, decent quality. Even though it might be overkill I would always use HIGH quality. Seriously, trust me one this. Your gonna want the best quality you can get, and it's some really good quality.

The one big, really big point for this device is that you don't need a PC. Forget those other POS recorders, sorry but they are. All you need is a flash drive or a USB external HDD and click record. That's it, that's all you need to do to record. You don't need a PC to record, especially since some programs have glitches and are buggy and might not even work on your PC either.

You do need a PC to remove the videos from your HDD, but not to record to which helps out a lot. The device will record in AVI format, but not if the firmware is a newer one. Last year they upgraded to have the device record in .MP4 format, which is so much better than AVI.

Upgrading is easy, go to avermedia.com find your device, click on the firmware and download. place the extracted .bin files to the root of your USB flash drive (root means no folders, just go into your flash drive and copy there) go into the avermedia's settings and click on firmwar upgrade. In no time at all your on the newest version and are definetly recording in high quality .MP4 format.

The manual is extensive but really helpful Make sure you read everything before hooking up the device.

The one downside is that since this doesn't need a PC this does not come with a program to render the videos. This is very key to your whole recording/uploading process. However you can use free programs out there, but I would recommend Sony Vegas Pro. Easily the best program I've ever used.

Videos on your PC will look better starting off than on youtube since youtube downgrades all videos, unless you render them highly!

In then end, this price for this device is really worth it. I wish that youtube wasn't such a crux in this whole thing, but it's youtube what do you expect.

I give this device a 9.8 out of 10.

The only downside is that no programs comes with it. So for those of you without any programs you need to buy another part before you can upload in the highest setting you can.

Recon Drone footage from MW3 in the render settings I used then. Still trying to find the best one qith keeping quality and one that doesn't take 20 minutes to render a 1 minute file.

Make sure it's in 1080P. The lower the quality the worse it looks.

Youtube Video I Love Recon Drone

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Avermedia Game Capture HD Coming tomorrow

According  to tracking, my Avermedia Game Capture HD should be here tomorrow. Once it does I will record some videos from my theater on Modern Warfare 3 and put them on my Youtube channel.

I will have 2 reviews of the unit, the first one will be first impressions and easy to use setup, instructions (manual), etc.

The second review will be for use, how properly the unit works (recording, etc.) + Overall impressions.

Actually there will be a third review. When I can get it (Probably in 2 weeks) I will be buying a Component Video Distribution Amplifier and hooking up my Avermedia and my TV to make sure that there is no loss of quality.

So stay tuned tomorrow for the latest information on my Avermedia Game Capture HD.

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Jetpack Joyride PSN Review

Jetpack Joyride has an interesting title, you know what's in store for you, a Joyride in a Jetpack. Jetpack Joyride is a little reminescent of older game styles in that it's a 2d side view game. The object is to collect coins and Final spin coins that you fly or run by all while avoiding obstacles like laser beams, missles, etc. There are many different jetpacks that you can use (you must buy them from the coins your earned playing games) these jetpacks include but are not limited to, Machine Gun Jetpack,
Tradition Jetpack, Bubblegum Jetpack, Shark Head Jetpack, etc.

You can also update your appearance in the game with new clothes and you can buy gadgets or one time use only items to help you. 2 Gadgets can be equipped at any given time like shoes to help you jump higher, a gem that will turn random coins into gems making them worth more, turn yourself into a block of ice so when you crash you can slide out a couple of extra feet.

You can get upgrades for vehicles, yes I said vehicles. This game has 6 that you can play in while you're playing the game you will see a box and if you touch it you will hop into one of 6 vehicles. These vehicles are A Dragon, A Bird, A Teleporter, A Motorcycle, A Mech Suit, and a Gravity Suit. The best thing about these vehicles (Aside from upgrading them with magnets to have coins come to you if your close but not touching them) is that if you run into a laser beam or a missile normally your run would end (unless you get an extra run from the final spin assuming you have spin tokens) these vehicles will take the first hit for you, breaking apart and you emerge unharmed.

The music and sound effects are awesome and since you never  know what vehicle you will hop in nothing gets too stale or drawn out. The graphics are really pleasing to the eyes, bright vibrant colors that pop out at you.

To help you with getting coins, there are missions to do, like travel 300 on foot, collecting 3 spin tokens in one game, dodging a missle, etc. Each time you play there are always 3 missions, no more and no less. T=Each mission has a rating from 1-3 Stars, these start level you up and help with getting more coins. Each time you level up you get coins, and the more you level, the more coins you earn.

This game is free, and because of that there are purchases that you could make like buying more coins if you don't feel like playing. Seriously though I can earn about 5 thousand coins in almost no time, so i don't see the sense in that at all, but whatever floats your boat.

This game gets a 10 out of 10

Not a joke, I fell that this is a perfect game for these reasons:

#1a. It's free - free doesn't always mean awesome but it does when it also has this...
#1b. It's so freaking fun, it's not boring and it forces you to try to beat yourself, how far can I go? what does this cool gadget do?, etc.

#3. Asthetically and audibly this is an amazing game, like I said before the colors are spot on, nothing too overpowering and nothing fading out, and the sound both musically and effects are really cool.

I hope you all enjoy this game, now go steal a Jetpack!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Mini Review: Cogs

Cogs is a puzzle game where it takes more than just luck to complete. It takes skill, thought and luck. It's a sliding puzzle game and if your like me you are bad at those types of games. What seperates this game from others like it is that It's not just sliding pieces around to make a picture. You must slide pieces around until you can complete the machine. yes I said machine, there are cogs and pipes that supply steam and you must connect from one end to another. Still sounding somewhat easy? Well it's still not since some puzzles require you to complete both sides, front and back or all four sides like a cube.

You are scored on three things, completing the puzzle, amount of moves, and time it took to complete. The lowest score you can ever achieve is Gold for completing the puzzle. There are
4 scores for the time and moves, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and nothing.

There are also some audible puzzles where you ahve to recreate the sound that is played in the beginning by hitting a bell. These are tough, especially when you must hit them in a specific order. The puzzles are hard, but when you complete them, you feel a sense of accomplishment. The best is when you complete puzzles that are moving machines like a cart, or a rocket and you get to see if move or take off when done.

 In the end, this is a really fun game that it definitely tricky but like I said give you a great feeling or a job well
done once you beat a puzzle.

I give this game a 9.5 out of 10.

Here is a video of the game.


Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Review

Call of Duty is in the air, some people love it and to other CoD is like a disease that ravages our world. Both sides have equal rights to their claims, but for now lets start on the good.

Modern Warfare 3 is without a doubt my favorite from IW. Out of the 3, MW 1, 2, and now 3, it is the best from Infinity Ward. They brought back the Spec. Ops and added harder and just plain more fun challenges. They also introduced 2 new modes (which I will talk about later) I'm glad they kept it to the style of MW2 but made it much faster paced. The problem I had with BO (First one) is that it was slow and clunky. This really feels like MW2, only with no hackers (I have yet to run into one in 6 hours of online game time and none of my friends have either). They introduced a new method of unlocking attachments for your weapon which is a double-edge sword.On one hand the old style of get X kills gives you this is great but now that the weapon has it's own level is cool and all but I think that this will be a booster's wet dream.

One of the best Multiplayer modes to come out is called Kill Confirmed. Whenever you or anyone else dies they drop dog tags. It's your job to collect them. Yellow tags means that an enemy has died and dropped a dog tag, whereas red tags means that either you or one of your team members have died and dropped a dog tag.You can really level up a lot in this mode and this is how. Let's say that I kill Player 3 (I am player 1, you are on my team and your player 2) and I either can't get to the dog tag or I don't bother getting it and you pick it up. You will get points (XP) for collecting and "Confirming" the kill and I will get the same amount of points. So I could drop the whole team (let's say there are 5 of them and if I remember a KC tag is 50 XP) and you pick all of them up. You will get 50 XP x 5 Tags = 250 XP for both you and I.

It's a wonderful game mode and possibly one of the best I've ever played. Oh almost forgot if you die and collect your own red tag you get more XP, well actually you get a bonus. You get a denied kill bonus + a retrieve your own tag bonus.Multiplayer for the most part is not laggy or glitchy as other games were, it is however fast paced, and filled with lots of interesting things to do. I also like the new weapons and items
that you can use/equip like the EMP Grenades. They added a lot of stuff to this game to really make it fell more (at least to me) than your traditional shooter.

Remember when I said that they added 2 new modes to the Spec. Ops section? They added Survival and Chaos. Let's start off this final section with Survival Mode. Survival Mode can be played one any of the maps, Resistance, Underground, Dome, Bakara, Etc. The goal is that you have Waves of enemies (Kind of like Treyarch's Nazi Zombies) and you have to see how far you can get, how many waves can you endure, how long can you stay alive? It's really fun and challenging, but they do give you a 30 second break between each wave to get essentials like grenades, weapons, ammo, etc. I might have a video of it up tomorrow but the videos are out there now so you should look them up!

The last mode they introduced was/is Chaos. Chaos is only unlocked if you buy the 3rd Content Collection (DLC) which I did last night. I really wanted to play a few times to get the feel for it so I can create as accurate of a review of it as I can. Chaos mode differs slightly from Survival but it's the same principal, how
long can you live? how long can you keep your combo going for? can you get to the next weapon or grenade? Here are the differences between Survival Mode and Chaos Mode:

Survival Mode:                                                          Chaos Mode:

Can be played on all maps                                       First 4 Maps Only
30 Second Breaks                                                   No Breaks at all
Somewhat endless number of enemies                      ENDLESS ENEMIES
Kill to earn money to buy more weapons                 Kill to keep combo going
No Time Limit                                                        2 Minutes but combos can extend your time

That right there are the differences, they are different but kind of familiar.  You start out in chaos mode with a pistol and you must run around the map and pick up weapons (Not the weapons that the enemies drop because they don't anymore) or pick up grenades, care packages, etc. you must keep your combo going as long as you can. There are 3 ways to lose a Chaos match, Getting Killed and having no more Self revives which you start off with a few and can pick them up from care packages. The 2 minutes have expired and
you don't have a combo at all (e.g. you didn't kill anyone and the time stopped) or your past the 2 minute mark and your combo stops.

You get new perks every 10 combo, these are the order in which you get them:

Sleight of Hand, Quickdraw, Extreme Conditioning, Stalker, Steady Aim, Fast Health Regen, juiced.

Care packages can contain Sentry Guns, bonus points of 5-10k, Extra Time, Self Revives, Combo Freezer.

Chaos mode is truly endless, action packed and seriously a challenge. Especially when they drop like 3 Juggers on you. The enemies don't disappear so in the case of a Jugger. If you just run around they will come for you and they will always be there unless you take them out.

Now I know I said that both for and against the CoD franchise have their own reason to say that. I am all for CoD, but I think they they could maybe have a little bigger of a time between each game and not have one come out, then the next one the following year and etc. They market has been flooded with Modern Shooters for some time now and I think that they need to take a step back in time and maybe go back to some great WWII games. No matter what anyone says World at War without the hackers is the best Call of
Duty out there. If was the first to introduce the Nazi Zombies, and the game just sucks you in the campaign and the multiplayer was great as well. People hated WWII shooters when that came out because of the flood of them and this is what I'm feeling now with this new age of Modern Warfare.

I really like this game though, even for saturating and already flooded modern shooter environment, they added new modes and styles of gameplay that makes this different from the rest.

I give this game an 8.9 out of 10.

My really big gripe with this game is that Chaos Mode was not made for each map like survival mode was, they could have at least done a few more maps and not just have it be 4 maps only.

To view any of my videos for Call of Duty please go here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MegaHappyBiscuit

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Update involving videos

I started to record some MW3 gameplay footage and uploaded them here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/MegaHappyBiscuit

Hopefully I will be recording High Quality Gameplay in 720P or 1080i.

This is a dream of mine that hopefully should materialize into next month.

I will also be uploading gameplay for reviews for such games as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Black Ops II (This is also a hopeful purchase next month as well) Battlefield 3, Gran Turismo 5, etc.

I will be recording more for PC games as well. List of my PC games on Steam are located here:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/happybiscuit9000/

I have the means to record PC gameplay right now, but I a going to create more reviews and make videos, edit them and upload. Hopefully first PC game with good video will be up tomorrow or Tuesday!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Faerie Solitaire Review.


Faerie Solitaire is a game that I've been checking out for a few days before I got it, because it looks so fun and so unique and I thought that it would be a fun game to play. Boy I couldn't have been more right than I was because it was what I expected and more.

This is such a cool and addicting game and it is very challenging despite also be so simple. The object is to clear cards from the game but it's not as simple as other solitaire games. You can only clear a card that is either on value higher or lower than your card. AN example of this is let's say you have a 7 revealed as the top card of the cards left in the deck. You can only take from the field either a 6 or an 8. You can link together great combos if you plan carefully so start for an ace you see 4 2's and 3 3's, etc. you go ace (as starting card) 2, 3, 2, 3, etc. The more you link the better since the best thing to do is to clear the entire board. Some rounds you play have goals that you must achieve in a run of 9 games. They range from getting a 5 card combo to getting 2 perfects (clearing the field completely) to making more than $6,000 in a game.

Like I said this is a fun and addicting and simple game but sometimes the challenges can be a little tricky.

The money in this game is useful because you use the money ti buy stuff like giving you a tool where if you can't remove cards from the field, after a few times of this you can fire a "weapon" where it destroys one card and makes that your active card on the top of your deck. This tool ahs helped me more times than I know. Other tools give you more mulligans, or peek at the card from the deck (only the top card that's available to play is viewed and the rest are upside down and hidden from you) to items that make more upside down cards on the field start right side up.

The game also has eggs that you can collect. These eggs will evolve into babies and if you collect enough of certain materials you can even evolve them into their adult forms. There really is no need to do it but it does add more of a fun/cuteness feel to the game.

The story of the game is you are a young boy who tries to discover why faeries are in pain. You go from place to place working your way to the final faerie at the end of each place, trying to figure out what is going on.

The story is a little lackluster but it's still okay and doesn't hinder the game at all in my opinion.

The game is also long, I believe that there is over 40 levels to play featuring at least having to play 360 games of solitaire.

This game is long but it's by no means short.

I give this game an 8.5 out of 10. I wish that there weren't so many games that one would have to play but it's all good. I also wish (and this is where the big downside from the game comes about) that you could do something with those pets, kind of like how Insaniquarium's pets offer different things like ouble the money you earn for each game, etc.

It's a fun game to play and I hope you at least give it a shot.

Friday, January 4, 2013

Demolition Inc Review


Demolition Inc. is a strange game however it is very funny. The concept is your an alien in a spaceship where you try to make cars crash vehicles into buildings and you collect the debris which is how you gain money to complete the level. The more damage you do, the more money you get, means the more your score will be.

The way you do this is simple, you use items, like oil slicks, glue, exploding cows, etc. Like I said it's a simple idea but it's by no means simple.

Each place you go to has a challenge all of it's own. From having to collect as much as you can (which is usually everything) to doing the same thing but having to make enough money to buy an earthquake item which will level almost everything in a really huge range. Another way it's challenging is that when you start a level you only get a few items to destroy building. You have to destroy certain buildings in order to make more items drop out of them.

You start off with a few basic areas, but the more stars (the more you destroy and the more money you make you get a rating of stars) you unlock more areas. The problem with this is the fact that you are just going from one city to another rehashed city. There isn't much that differentiates one from another, so it does get fairly repetitive.

One of the coolest things with this game is that since it is 3D you can view the buildings from another angle which might show a weakness to them. Some buildings on certain levels contained exploding barrels right next to them that you might not have noticed had you not looked around the city.

The graphics look good, they don't look spectacular but that's the point. The game looks a little comical and it has that feel to it since you are an alien in a spaceship destroy buildings and collecting the debris.

The music is bad, it's nothing that stands out or anything and the sounds, while they do their job they don't really wow or amaze me.

One of the best things with this game is the way the buildings collapse, and things blow up. This simple game has some really good physics in it. I was surprised that this game could preform like that.

In the end I give this game an 7.8 out of 10.

I would have liked a few more features, or at the very least have more places and make the places at least seem more dissimilar between each other.

I would recommend this game for some fun.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Happy New Year + Borderlands Review


I hope you all had a wonderful New Year, and I hope that you continue to look towards each day as a ne beginning. Speaking of new beginning, let's begin this year with a review of Borderlands.

Borderlands Review - PC

Before I start off I would like to say that I have enjoyed Borderlands on the PS3 but I really like it on the pc more because I don't feel so squished when I play the game.

Borderlands for the most part is in my opinion one of the best games I've played in the action/RPG genre.

It has some disadvantages but these are mostly for people who like easier games and this isn't one of those games.

Borderlands is not one of those games where you can take it easy. YOU CAN AND WILL DIE more than once while playing this game.

Borderlands is a very fun and unique game with a variety of places to explore, people to meet, and things to shoot.

Weapons in the game can range from a regular generic weapon to elemental weapons like a Sniper Rifle that does 270 damage but has a fire elemental damage. Elemental weapons (depending on what your shooting at) can be more effective than a Rifle that does 360 damage because in the case of fire it can and will burn flesh targets like humans. The types of elemental weapons are as followed:

Incendiary, Shock, Explosive, and Corrosive. There are 4 Tiers to these elemental weapons. The more elemental damage it can do the better the weapon even if the damage doesn't look like it can.

A rifle with 240 damage and a base of 1 Incendiary damage is weaker than a rifle with 200 (or less damage) with a base Incendiary damage of 3 or more. This is because elements deal more damage overall, like fire burning or corrosive which can spread to more than one target.

There are many different types of weapons, like Revolvers, Repeaters, Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, Assault Rifles, etc. There are even different types of grenades that you can use like proximity mines, contact grenades that go around and when they touch an enemy it explodes, etc. My favorite mines are the Transfusion Grenades, after you throw one they explode and little white streams fly around. When they come into contact with an enemy it damages them and give you health.

To help you along with trying to survive as much as you can you can even have shields. Each shield is different, some can protect you from elemental damage like being protected from shock weapons which usually result in your shield being compromised easier than regular damage. Some shields even offer health regeneration  so as long as your not sustaining constant damage, you can regain your health back up to full.

The story of Borderlands is humans traveled to the World of Pandora. Not long after that they learned that a Vault might be on the planet. The vault is a mystery, some people believe that it exists but some are skeptical. What is know is that there are ancient text from an alien race that depicts a vault and that every 200 years the vault can be opened. That's where you come in, the game takes the place of one of 4 possible characters that you can use (Vault Hunters) that come to find the vault and reap it's benefits.

The gameplay is really well done, guns have recoil and seem more like firing a real weapon then something else. You have an easy to view HUD that displays everything you need in positions that don't get into your way. The weapons/skill tree/mission menu is really organized and simple. You can easily tell where enemies are because they all have a red health bar that displays on the screen when  you move your crosshairs onto them. Some enemies that have shields will display a blue bar above their red health bar. Spotting enemies is really simple, much easier than other games.

The sounds in the game are some of the best. From it's unmistakable song by Cage the Elephant called Ain't no rest for the wicked, to the sounds of the weapons firing to the sounds of killing enemies. Each sound is very well done, you can tell that they took the time and effort into making it sound as good as it can.

The graphics in the game are pretty good, some games are batter (Fallout 3 would be one of them) but the graphics that they have in this game fit the style of this game to a T. It has great details but some of the graphics make it feel comical as well.

The game has a comical feel to it which does lead to the overall experience of the game. Some of the characters are pretty funny and no character is funnier than the infamous CL4P-TP General Purpose Robots also know as Claptrap. He has some funny comments and even moves around and says check me out I'm dancing. For those who don't know Claptrap also means contrived but foolish talk, insincere and pretentious talk which is perfect for his character.

The game does have a co-op experience but I have yet to see ho it is. I do know that the more people in the game the more enemies and the better the loot of weapons that you can collect from killing enemies.

All in all this is a seriously addicting game that I've only recently stopped playing 4+ hours a day once Christmas came around because I had too much to do around.

I hope you give this game a try.

I give this game a 10 out of 10

This is without a doubt one of the best games I've played and I hope you at least give it a chance.