Playstation Plus: Is It Worth It?

When you first buy a PS3, what are the first things that cross your mind? Why are you buying it? What features does it have? What does it DO? Well, let me tell you, between free online gameplay, probably THE BEST Bluray player on the market right now, and all of the applications and PSP compatibility and such, you think you have everything you could possibly need. You buy that PS3 and you are ready to go, but what is a game console without the games? That's where Playstation Plus comes in.

Many go on to their brand new PS3 console and see advertisements for "Playstation Plus"and ask: "Do I need that?", "Is it worth it?", and "What is that?". I'm going to give you what I think is the best answer to all 3 of those questions.

Playstation Plus is similar to Xbox Live, except that gameplay is free on PS3. So basically, you are paying $50 a year to have discounts on games, avatar/avatar items, and themes right? Well, sort of. Playstation Plus members get discounts on a lot of different things, but they also get free games. Yeah, that's right. Free games. Here's the catch: I'm not talking about just any games, I'm talking about full out popular games that you could be paying upwards of $40 at a retail store. Some currently available are Infamous 2, Just Cause 2, Saints Row 2, and others. If you noticed, that really wasn't much of a catch. The real catch is in the fine print. Supposedly, the games only work as long as you are a Playstation Plus member. Now that sounds more like Sony to me.

I hold the belief that Playstation Plus is worthwhile. I love playing Infamous 2 and Just Cause 2 by just starting up my PS3 and clicking go without having to get up and put in a disc. It's also great because you are absolutely saving money in the short term, if not the long term. just by downloading 2 or 3 of the free games, you have already saved money.

If you are a PS3 owner and want some really good games at a reasonable cost, I suggest you go purchase a Playstation Plus subscription.

Facebook and YouTube..... Yeah!

Hey guys, Marcus here.

Eh, thing is, I'm really poor right now. So, getting web hosting is really hard and since I'm cheap we're sticking to Blogspot for now. We'll be uploading our podcast to Youtube (Just type in AGWreckers into the search bar or follow this link here to get there) for the moment, so hopefully this works out well.

Ah, we're also on Facebook! Please like us at http://www.facebook.com/pages/AGWreckers/334687033290041

First Impression of "Sword Art Online"

Name of Anime: Sword Art Online

TV Series (2 seasons)

Genre: Action, Fantasy, Romance

Original Creator: Reki Kawahara

Original Presentation: Light Novel

Animation Studio: A-1 Pictures

Notable Voice Actors: Haruka Tomatsu as "Asuna", Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as "Kirito"

So, since Cory went ahead and ditched the template, and I'm not really the type to persecute, I'm just going to do the same thing and ditch the template too and leave those exact details to the podcast.

~Anime First Impression Check-List

Plot: 4/5

Characters: 4/5

Setting: 5/5

Animation and Length: 5/5

Flow: 3/3

The Pull: 2/2

Personal Opinion: 5/5

Grand Total: 27/30

July 22... What A Lovely Day To Kick Some Butt

I've never been one for templates or rules, so I'm going to do what I do best: not follow templates and break the rules.


Instead of posting a full blown review, I'm going to tell you about a game I picked up yesterday in light of a recent movie release.


Batman: Arkham Asylum is an exciting, challenging, and captivating game that will take hours upon days to complete.


I picked this game up quite a while ago, started to play it, loved it, and then got distracted by life. I started playing it again yesterday and I can't put it down. The graphics are awesome, the plot is smooth and flows nicely, the controls are easily able to be picked up on, and it is just freakin sick to play as Batman and kick some serious butt. The assortment of villans is also really cool to see, especially for Batman fans that have been following since they spoke their first words. The upgrades are really helpful too. When you receive the opportunity to get an upgrade, you really have to think strategically and choose wisely. One thing could really help you in a pinch you might be in, but something else could make the entire game run more smoothly and easily for you. 


Something else I enjoy are the Riddler challenges. There are trophies and reels and people and things hidden throughout the game that add a layer and a level of difficulty to the game. You could finish the story line, but if you havent found every one of Riddler's hidden secrets, you aren't done.


There are other modes and downloads and such, but unfortunately I have yet to explore those due to the captivating nature of the story mode.


This game is definitely worth a play through if you haven't done so already, but I won't give it a rating until I complete it (or at least get through the story mode).


Signing out for now,
TJGG

First Impression for "Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse"

Name of Anime: Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse
Type of Anime: TV Series

Genre: Action, Horror, Science Fiction
Original Creator: Hirohiko Yoshida
Original Presentation: Manga
Animation Studio: Ixtl/Satelight
Notable Voice Actors: Daisuke Ono (Yuuya Bridges), Mai Nakahara (Yui Takamura), Rie Tanaka (Sharon Imes)

So.... This one. Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is somehow, by far, one of the most enjoyable anime I've seen this season that ISN'T a slice of life or feel good anime. Which is really, REALLY sad, considering that this series was based off of a hentai game that STARTS with the main character waking up bed with an unknown girl who is apparently his betrothed out of the blue with no previous explanation. Oh, she also happens to be the sole daughter and heir to a REALLY powerful and rich company, but that's no big deal. But this isn't something that you necessarily have to remember or care about, as a visual novel that looks like this....:

Hmm, I can see the pairing combinations now....

Has now become this.

This is the view of some alien creatures eating through metal to get to the fleshy insides... Like what we do with crab.

Yeah... How, did this happen, exactly? Well, it's simple. While Muv-Luv is just your typical hentai visual novel meant to entertain the masses with simple, carnal pleasures (Because, let's face it, that's the only reason you'd get a game like this), someone out there decided that they needed to make an alternate reality that actually made SENSE. So they made another novel with the same characters and everything, but threw in an alien invasion, resulting in Muv-Luv Unlimited. Good. Great. Now that we've established that, onto the actual review.

Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is the anime adaptation of the manga that is the sequel to Muv-Luv Unlimited, meaning that it's pretty much a fresh slate since none of the main characters from the original are present as far as I can tell.

The story of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse isn't anything all that special: Aliens invade Earth and then humans develop weapons in the form of giant mechs (Of course. Anything else just isn't as... conventional.) to combat them. This is good. Overdone, but good. What I like about this series, though, is that the humans are losing, and by gods is it terrifying to watch these things in action. The aliens in question are called BETA (short for "Beings of the Extra Terrestrial origin which is Adversary of human race"... I'm just going to go on a limb here and assume that BETOWAHR is a handful to say, despite the fact that it sounds like the name of some axe in Skyrim), and they like to eat humans. Quite explicitly, actually.

Had to cut out the rest since it's not really minor-appropriate.. Anyway, Lunch!

It's all actually quite entertaining, in that sick and twisted kind of way. Like when you crush a bug and there's that satisfying CRUNCH sound, but you still get chills from it. And it's WAY better than watching harems slowly build up, as I've been doing with all the other anime coming out so far. But I'm ranting, so back to the topic at hand.

So far, it looks like the plot has shown that a special team of mech pilots is being assembled in Alaska at the world renown Yukon Base (in this world, it's a part of the Soviet Union. The Cold War was put on hold due to more pressing matters.) composed of the very best minds and hands from every country now that the BETA invasion has successfully taken over and all but eradicated human life in Europe and in Asia (including Japan, as was shown in the first two episodes.And because this is anime, once Japan is lost THEN the world starts to care.) The main protagonist is an American pilot named Yuuya Bridges, who has been sent to Yokun Base to lead this special team. The female lead from the first two episodes, Yui Takamura, is an officer stationed there after she watched her country burn to the ground in wake of the BETA attack. The anime is presenting Yuuya as an arrogant prick, who holds himself in the highest of esteem, but has the actual skill to back it up: After all, he was the test pilot for the Raptor (whatever that is.) However, he has only existed for one episode so far, so he may actually be a pretty good guy later on. Yui, on the other hand, was meticulously fleshed out for us within the first couple minutes of the show, probably so that we as an audience could truly appreciate the destruction of Japan.

Ah, right.... Spoilers.

I thought it was pretty important, that whole burning of Kyoto thing, so I put a picture right above this sentence. I'm not going to lie, though, I was really confused during the first episode's training of the new pilots, and how the schools and the society for the most part is very much like it is now. Sure, they mentioned that there was an Emperor and stuff, but I'm not buying it. There're just small, little itty bitty things that don't add up or shouldn't be there.

So, officially, these are my rankings:

Plot: 3/5

   

  I like it, I really do, but I have to acknowledge the fact that i's nothing new to me. I've seen a number of shows that have a similar premise, like Stratos 4 and Evengelion (duh), but I appreciate this show mainly because the BETA look awesome and the only major plot hole is how humanity created these mecha in 1993, but I'm sure that's ALL explained in the visual novel. The growth of Yui and her relationship with main character Yuuya also interests me, since I want to see how she's changed between the end of episode 2 and the beginning of episode 3, wherein three years have passed.

Characters: 3/5

   So, Yui is fun and all (totally a tsundere in the making), and Yuuya is your stereotypical dick (who probably has a nice guy underneath all the gruff), so that leaves the other characters... who are not all that much different from anything else. There's the hot-blooded short girl who loves to grapple and has a wild personality; there's the suave, long haired guy who's a playboy and makes advances on all the women for comical relief; There's the cool blonde who has a mysterious past (and she's european, which makes her even better) and then there're the two white haired girls, who seem to have A LOT in common with one another (and one is potentially a psychomaniac killer). There's even the crazy old engineer who helped build the damn robots. All in all, I give a three mainly because all bases were thoroughly covered, not because I'm impressed.

Setting: 3/5

   Despite being set in our own world, I was intrigued in the subtle little changes here and there, and accuracies that I noticed too. I really like how Kyoto is still the capital of Japan, since that's a fun little thing (Tokyo is still the center of commerce, though). I'm docking a point, though, based on the fact that even though this is a Japan that was apparently never taken over by America (let's face it, it's what happened), it's still VERY much like Japan today. I mean, the Japanese MILITARY students are wearing the sailor outfits that became popular solely because America had such a huge influence on the current society.

Animation and Length: 4/5

    Right. This'll be fun. Everything is really shiny (Like the suits.) I don't have a problem with this, I actually rather enjoy it, since it get's me to wondering just what exactly those suits are made of. And that they must look AWESOME in a black light. The mechs and BETA are done in full CGI, and they're done beautifully. CGI has come a long way, and sometimes it's just not worth the money that it costs to get it done: Dragonaut: The Resonance is a good example of when it's not done correctly. My only grievance with the CGI is that occasionally the characters are made to move in CGI action, which just seems... iffy. The movement of CGI is fine with the mechas, but when characters are animated using the same CGI it just looks off and bulky. I don't know if I'm the only one bothered with it, but I am. Also, a fear of mine is that recently a lot of anime that have started off interesting have veered off in totally different directions in the last couple of episodes. More on that later, though.

Continuity/Fluidity of Anime: 3/3

    It's well done, and the time skip worked out really was so far, so I'm pleased with it. The advances in the mecha can actually be seen (a.k.a., they got that much cooler looking.) and Yui seems to have grown in that time, so I'm really just waiting for the next episode to find out what's up.

Just cooler and cooler.

The Pull: 2/2

  The cover features two gorgeous women in tight suits virtually holding hands. Oh, there's also a shadowy mecha in the background. There's an alien invasion If that doesn't get male fans riled up, then I really don't know what will. And then all the male fans can talk about to the female friends they have and get them to join in on the shenanigans. So I give Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse full points here.

Personal Opinion: 4/5

   As I've said, I really like where this anime is going right now. The opening has me slightly hooked, and it's REALLY catchy. It is not, however, a really frilly, girly song. Which is thankful, since that would ruin the whole show's tone. That happened with Tactical Roar, and I can never look at that show the same again. What worries me though is that this show had a great start. And as I've learned recently,  shows that have great beginnings that don't already have established endings tend to have disgustingly open endings. When I say "open", I don't mean that the director intended to leave a question hanging in the air that stays with the audience. Oh no, what I mean is that it was blatantly obvious that the production team had no idea how to end the series. Such was the case with Guilty Crown, and most recently Aquarion: EVOL. I'm hoping this isn't the case with Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse. That being said, I actually recommend the series to anyone who want's a good mecha show, and I have high hopes for the show.

Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Animation and Length: 4/5
Continuity/Fluidity of Anime: 3/3
The Pull: 2/2
Personal Opinion: 4/5

Grand Total: 22/30

Introducing....... TJGG

Hey guys! The Jewish Gaming Guru here (or as most people know me, Cory). First thing's first: I'm Jewish. Good. Now that THAT is out of the way, a little more about me.

I am a sophomore at SUNY Potsdam and am a music and theater fanatic. I also live for video games. I first got into video games when I received a red Gameboy Pocket from my aunt for the holidays. I got a generic racing game that stayed at my side at all times. Then I got the games that would change my life forever - Pokemon Red and Blue versions. I have stuck with the Pokemon series ever since the beginning, and am eagerly awaiting the arrival of Pokemon Black 2 and White 2 in the US. I have almost every game, but am missing some of the non-main series titles. I will go into further Pokemon discussion in later posts, so no worries on that one!

Another anime series/game that I have a slight obsession with is Blue Dragon. I will be reviewing BD at some point in the near future, and it will be swell.

Anyway, on my resume of important things related to video games, I was an attendee of Games for Change, I am an Xbox Live member, COD Elite Premium subscriber, PS3 player (no PS+), avid Wii player/modder (I don't do the coding, just the modding), and I own so many consoles and games that I could open my own shop if I ever wanted to get rid of it all. 

My all time favorite games to date are: Pokemon, COD, God of War, Zuma, Bejeweled, Bioshock, and Assassin's Creed. 

To wrap up my first post, I'd just like to thank any readers we have and any future listeners we have. You are the ones that allow us to get off the ground and continue our adventure. 

Signing out for now,

TJGG (The Jewish Gaming Guru)

PS. As you can tell, I don't have one particular genre of games that I favor over others. That being said, my reviews may be based partially on request, popularity, or just whatever I feel like doing that day/feel is necessary. 

Getting started

So, we may take a little bit of time to get things up and running here on the site: after all, we're trying to review things so that we CAN get started... I know that, speaking for myself at least, the First Impression post on the anime for the Summer 2012 anime season will have to wait until at least the end of next week since I start to (openly) judge an anime after I've watched the first three episodes.... I'm sure we'll get actual reviews up in the next couple of days, for for the newer stuff, you'll just have to wait a bit (Sorry!!).....

Here's a picture of a Gyarados to help you feel better.

And a rather naughty looking Misty.

Ah, also if you're at all interested in reviewing for us, let us know by replying to our reviews as comments saying something along the lines of "Pick me!!" among our many, almost-impossible-to-count-because-there-are-so-many-of-you, fans and we'll give you a test run.

A little bit about myself...

So, Corey had the excellent idea of posting a little bit about ourselves, so this is my post about, well, me.

My name is Marcos Doherty, and I'm currently a Junior at SUNY Potsdam, located in New York State. I'm attending right along side Corey and Mike, both of whom  I am living with in the upcoming year. I'm currently studying for Biology and Theatre Majors with minors in Chemistry and Psychology with a focus on Personality. I've lived all over the place, which is how I meant Giani, who I affectionately call "Zeke". I'm currently studying on the side as an EMT, and one day hope to become a paramedic.

I've been in the anime game for almost a decade now, so I have some experience when it comes to watching and raging against anime. I've always been interested in the whole idea since I watched shows like Yu Yu Hakusho and Dragon Ball Z when I was a little kid, my first true experience that got me into this whole mess was my purchase of a volume of Magic Knight Rayearth. It was aaaaall downhill from there... And I say that with passion. I love all sorts of anime and manga, but for the sake of this brief introduction into my madness, some of my favourite anime are Aria the Animation(And Natural and Origination), Code Geass, Summer Wars, Fullmetal Alchemist and Bakemonogatari.

I play all sorts of videogames, but I tend to play more RPGs and Adventure games than FPS and the like. I am particularly fond of the Tales of games and Pokémon is still a great passion of mine. Gotta love that Skyrim, though. My brother and I play a ton of Minecraft, to the point where we won't talk to one another for hours if we accidentally screwed up the other's projects.

I THINK that's it... I don't really know what to put in this. I imagine that somebody else will probably write a more elaborate or detailed or just better post, and then I'll one up them by re-posting mine. Except it'll be better.

Hello, everyone!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the podcast.

Or rather, welcome to the blog version of the podcast. Here the four of us will be posting physical reviews, ranging from video games to anime to all sorts of things we hear while doing said things. If you have any ideas for things that we should review, don't hesitate to leave us a message and we'll be sure to take a look.

So that you can get a feel of who we are, we're a group of college students who all share a real passion for a number of things, specifically video games and anime. All of us have our own particular strengths and interests, and we'll be playing off of these when we review. Also, while we discuss our reviews and news in the podcast, we'll also have the full reviews here on our site.

We hope you enjoy the podcast! Can't wait to hear from you guys.