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Showing posts with label xbox one. Show all posts
Showing posts with label xbox one. Show all posts

Saturday, January 16, 2016

Star Wars Battlefront Xbox One Review

Who here has played the new Star Wars Battlefront game yet?  For my birthday, I got a $50 gift certificate for game stop and decided to save it for when the new Star Wars battlefront game came out back in December, and used it to help buy the game.  By the way, I still remember when the original 2 Star Wars Battlefront games came out for the regular Xbox (some were playable on the 360 too via the Backwards compatibility feature) and definitely liked playing through the 2 games.


 Above is a random gameplay video from the new Star Wars battlefront game.


Dice's version of Star Wars battlefront definitely gets a huge makeover definitely has a "Call of Duty" or Battlefield style feel.  The game is primarily set in the original trillogy, though the game also has Sullust (seems to be from the expanded universe) as well as Jakku from Star Wars Force Awakens.  The game reminds me alot of Battlefield 1943 on the Xbox 360 in many ways, which was somewhat like an online only Call of Duty game where players can play as either as the Americans or Japanese (usually chosen randomly between battles), reliving various battles in the Pacific during World War with one side usually coming out on top at the end of each mission.  Star Wars Battlefront has a similar feel where you play either as the Rebel Alliance of Galactic empire, except that the game is much bigger.  While the game does have plenty of things for single players to do, such as training missions, battle matches (where gamers play for points) as well as an extensive survival mode where the player's character is stranded on a planet (like Hoth or Tatooine) and must survive many waves of imperial forces before being able to leave the plent, the game is definitely best played on the online multiplayer mode (aka Xbox Live).  In online multiplayer mode the game gets much more interesting and fun to do with many different modes to play in.  Some of the most popular modes to play in my opinion includes:

-Fighter squadron (where you pilot an Xwing, Awing, tie fighter or tie interceptor) and go up against other pilots (though some enemy ships are controlled by AI forces too).  Sometimes you can fly a millenium falcon or Boba Fett's Slave I ship, but you have to get a special power up to play as them.
- Walker Assault Mission.  These maps are often huge with players playing either as the rebel forces or imperials  The imperials launch an invasion against rebel forces, while it is up to the rebels to try and destroy the AT-AT Walkers.  Game ends when either the rebels destroy 2 AT-AT walkers or when the rebels are no longer able to call up the y wing squadron.
- Domination: the goal of the mission is for one side to control all of the major points on the map on a planet.
- Heroes vs Battle (perhaps my favorite).  In this mode, legendary heroe(Han Solo, Leia, Luke Skywalker) go up against Star Wars Villians (currently Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and Emperor Palpatine).  Each hero or villan has their own unique abilities and powers.  For example, Luke can whack people with his light saber and even has the force push availability, Darth Vader can use force choke on his enemies in additon to his usual lightsaber availabilities, and Palpatine can use his signature force lightning against opponents too).  Only 6 players can control a hero or villian at a time (3 per side) so whenever there are extra players, they play as either rebel soldiers or storm troopers tasked with providing protection for their heroes and villian coutner parts.  The game randomly chooses who play as a hero/villian or who plays as a rebel soldier / storm trooper and usually changes each round (one round you might play as say, Han Solo, another round you might control Princess Leia, and occsionally you might control a rebel soldier or storm trooper instead).  Also, if you die as a hero or villian, you automatically assume the role as a rebel or storm trooper.  I would like to see more heroes and villans added to the mix (such as Chewbacca, Kylo Ren, Darth Maul, etc) I am sure if they are added, they will come as DLC.

Things I like about Star Wars Battlefront:
- Great multiplayer mode.  Almost like a Battlefield or Call of Duty game.
- Lots of variety.
- Stunning graphics.  You definitely feel like you are in the Star Wars universe.  Each planet and map have their unique feels and looks.  Tatooine feels like the desert planet it was in the movies (even has a Sarlacc creature lurking in the sands too, if you know where to look).  Hoth is incredible too and feels like you are reliving the battle of Hoth from Empire Strikes back
- It is often fun playing as heroes or villians.  Adds some variety to the game play
- The training missions are fun too and somewhat extensive.  In one mission, you pilot an X wing and go up against tie fighters.  In another mission, you control one of the speeders on Hoth and have to try and destroy At-At or At-St walkers.  Conversely there are plenty of fun imperial missions too, such as one mission where you control either Darth Vader or Palpatine and slaughter rebel troops on Hoth or pilot speeder bikes on Endor too (btw they are easy to crash in my opinion, making the mission extra challenging).
- This game will definitely be a hit for Star Wars fans in many ways especially when being able to relive various battles and events in the Star Wars Saga as well as challenging other players too.

Negative Aspects about Star Wars Battlefront.  Sure this game might not be for everyone
- Limited Single player mode.  Personally I find that the online mode offers alot more than single player mode.  Single player will likely get old and boring after a while. Sure there are plenty of training missions you can do, survival maps to play through as well as battles to relive, but single player only offers so much for the player.  You will definitely get more out of the game with the online multiplayer mode
-   Limited number of maps and planets to play through.  The Star Wars universe is much bigger than planets like Tatooine, Hoth, Sullust, Endor, and Jakku.  I hope Dice and EA add more maps over time, such as Coruscant (wouldn't it be fun to relive the battle of Coruscant that appears at the beginnign of Revente of the Sith), Genosis, and even Naboo along with various maps and planets from the Clone Wars.  Even Force Awakens has got to give Dice some more inspiration too (such as the battle on the Star Killer Base).
- I would also like it if they added more heroes and villians to the mix too.  They should also include Kylo Ren, Chewbacca and other heroes in the mix.

Overall Grade: A-

Interested in getting Star Wars battlefront?  You can either buy it at your local retailers ro order it online at Amazon.

Other platform differences:
I remember trying the demo version of Star Wars battlefront on the PS4 at one of the Walmart stores, but I found the controls are easier to master on the Xbox one version  Other than that, I don't know too much about the other versions.  If you have the PS4 or PC version, feel free to share your experiences in the comments below.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Grand Theft Auto 5 Online: A ghost town now?

Who here has played Grand Theft Auto 5 Online on Xbox One lately?  Considering that I have already played through the storyline mode on the Xbox 360 version of GTA 5 I have decided to try and focus a bit more of my time in the online version of the Los Santos area.  My character is officially at level 14 as of today and will likely level up again in the near future as well.
Example of a ghost town.  Looks like a town, with nobody in it (maybe ghosts though, considering that some do have ghost stories).  Image source http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Bodie_CA_-_ghost_town.jpg

Introducing Uncle Steve on GTA 5 Online
Here is a picture of my GTA Online character.  I named him Uncle Steve (was trying to be creative with names)
Anyways, while playing through the online mode, I have noticed that the streets Los Santo has been rather empty lately (besides npc characters).  At onetime, GTA Online has been quite lively with lots of people online, doing missions together, organizing races, doing pvp matches, etc.  Now days, it seems to look more like a ghost town.  There are npc characters you can interact with and some missions can be doable even on single player (though some missions can be considerably more difficult to do when playing alone as opposed to teaming up with people), though the online mode is definitely funner to do when other people are online too.  By the way, some missions and mini games are unplayable or nearly impossible to complete on single player mode (especially ones requiring 2 or more players).  I remember doing this one drug deal mission gone wrong mission where you had to go to a drug deal, though the people you had to meet turn hostile and you have to steal the drugs and destroy their vans (can't remember the name of the mission right off), but that missions was nearly impossible to do in single player (even on easy mode).  Not only do you have to take on an army of gang members but you also have to destroy vans too in that mission which pretty much suicide when one attempts the mission alone.

By the way, I am disappointed and suprised to see the empty map in GTA Online, especially now they are advertising the new GTA online heist missions that people can do on GTA online now.  Obviously you can't do a heist mission if there is nobody to team up with.  I hope Rockstar will fix those issues with GTA online, otherwise GTA 5 Online could very well be dead (much like how it was on GTA 4 was when GTA 5 came out) and you might be better off just sticking to the single player mode.  I don't have any pictures of the empty map yet, but if I see an empty map again, I will share it to show what I mean.  

Is anyone else having these issues with GTA Online?  By the way, I am not sure if this is issue is just affecting the Xbox One version or if it is affecting PS4 as well, but if you play GTA online you just might find yourself in a ghost town for now.

Thursday, April 9, 2015

Lego Movie Xbox One Review

Who here likes Legos?  I remember playing through both Lego Star Wars (prequel era Star Wars) and Lego Star Wars 2 (based on the original trilogy back in the day) and thought they were pretty fun to play through.  It is Lego and Star Wars after all.  Fast forward to Christmas season of 2014, there is now a game based on the classic Lego Movie that was released earlier last year.  In case if you don't know, Lego Movie was a movie that was released back in February of 2014 and was basically about an average Joe worker, named Emmet who had been living a seemingly normal and comfortable life.  However, unbeknownst to Emmet, the world he was living in was basically a global dictatorship lead by the evil Lord Business, who was pretty much ruling the world with an iron fist and secretly wanted to "cragle" (or anhilate everyone).  One day Emmet stumbles across a prophecy that would spell the end of Lord Business' regime and soon gets caught in the middle of an ongoing conflict between Lord Business and his cronies (such as Bad Cop) and an ever growing group of rebels that want to overthrow his regime and it is up to Emet to help save the day.  I won't spoil how the movie plays out and ends (assuming some of you haven't seen the movie yet), but if you want to see the movie, you can probably buy it on Amazon or maybe even Netflix (not sure of it is on Netflix or not).  See link below for the lego movie.
Anyways, as most people might expect: several games have been released based on Lego Movie and I was able to play through the Xbox One Version of the game.  After playing through the game, in my opinion it is definitely a fun and interesting movie based game to play through.  The game starts out with the prologue, where the wizard Vitruvius and Cleopatra teams up to take on Lord Business (much like he does in the movie) which comes in the form of a boss fight and ends with Vitruvius utters his prophecy about the downfall of Lord Business' regime. Then the game shifts over to present day and in the role of Emmet and in an open world environment.  Initially the game takes place in the City of Bricksburg, but other areas open up as you play through the game, inlcuding Flatbrush gultch (which petty much as an old west style theme), Cuckoo land (basically a city in the clouds) and later the Octan tower.  There is also a bonus room (there is nothing in there at first, but comes alive after you beat the story mode) and a secret area too I believe.  In each world there are a series of levels and storyline missions to play through.  Below is a video showing the first 9 minutes of the game.



I won't spoil the rest of the game for you (of course if you do not mind spoilers, you can get a full game guide at http://www.gamefaqs.com/xbox360/722935-the-lego-movie-videogame/faqs/68687 that details the walkthrough of the entire game).  Overall, personally I thought the game was a very fun and great tie-in to the movie.  The levels and worlds feel like you are playing in an interactive version of Lego Movie, full of worlds, levels, cutscenes and voice acting that you would see in the movie.  It even has a huge boss fight at the end where Emmet and Hello Kitty team up in their final showdown against Lord Business.  I have seen some sources that seem to offer mixed reviews of the game, but I have seen movie game that are much worse than Lego Movie, but I am sure that Lego Movie will not appeal to everyone, though I am sure kids will love the game, though maybe not as much for older crowds.

Review Highlights:

Pros:
+  Plays out much like the ovie
+ Good replay value.  Like many lego based games, as you play through each storyline level, you will find that there are hidden objects and secret areas hidden throughout the levels and will definitely require revisits on Freeplay mode if you want to find them all.
+ Somewhat open worlds in Free Roam mode.  The map size is not too big, but there plenty of things you can do in each world, such as stocking up on lego pieces that can be used to buy red bricks or unlocking new characters.  Many of them even have hidden objects you can find and side missions you can do (for example, in Bricksburg one side mission has you finding cats around the city for a reg brick, and in Flatbrush Gulch there is a side mission where characters can help find and bring outlaws to justice).
+ Lots of cutscenes from the movie complete with voice acting and all from the movie.
+ Interesting characters you can play as too.  My favorites are: Batman, Superman, Bad Cop, Green Lantarn, as well as the guy that can throw dynamites at things, but there are plenty of other ones available.
+ Minigames (especially the hacker terminal games, which pretty much play out much like Pacman).

Negative aspects about the game:
- The storymode is relatively short and linear.  Though it is possible to stretch out the game to extend the gameplay
- Will probably appeal more to kids than adults.  While I thought the game was pretty fun even though I am 32 years old, I am sure the game will not appeal to everyone, though I am sure kids will love it.
-  Like many similar games, eventually, you do run out of things you can do and items to find and then  there really isn't much left to do.  Eventually you play through the storyline, complete the freeplay mode and complete all of the side missions in each world and then it is time to move on.  On the positive note, the game can be stretched out so that you don't have to do everything in one setting.
-  The game might seem to be too easy to some people.  When your character dies, he/she just respawns right by where he died and it just subtracts some of your lego money.

Overall grade in my opinon: A

Want the game, you can buy it on Amazon at:


Note that the game is also available for the PS4, 3DS, Xbox 360 and WII U as well.

Similar games:


Have you played Lego Movie?  Feel free to share your experiences with the game in the comments section below?  Feel free to like and share this post if you like it.  Your support would be most appreciated.

Monday, March 30, 2015

Commentary on the article: Cheshire, England: Schools Intend To Call The Police On Parents Who Let Kids Play Violent Video Games Pic

Here is a Big Brother is Watching you photo with Tony Blair (image source: flickr.com)
Picture of Halo 3, another video game that could be affected by the new rules

Here is an interesting and potientially controversial article I found on Inquisitr and at Infowars (http://www.infowars.com/schools-to-parents-if-you-let-your-kid-play-call-of-duty-well-call-the-cps-on-you/) worth talking about.  Apprently in England, some schools are adopting a new policy where if kids are allowed to play violent video games (such as Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto 4 / 5, Dogs of War, etc) or use social media like Facebook, schools can calls Child Protective services or even the police on their parents.  Here is the original letter posted on the info wars website:

(source: http://www.infowars.com/schools-to-parents-if-you-let-your-kid-play-call-of-duty-well-call-the-cps-on-you/)
My Commentary:

Who here have kids or even teenagers that play video games?  Talk about a Nanny State style system.  Can't you imagine this: you have a typical teenage son (say 16 or 17) and he plays Call of Duty Advanced War Fare with his buddies or maybe he does Halo Masterchief, Assassins Creed, or similar games (which I am sure many teenagers do) and should nosy school officials learn what games he is playing, they might call the cops on the parents.  Interestingly, the proposed rules would also prohibit kids from using Facebook (possibly twitter and myspace too) or apps like WhatsApp, apparently because they might encounter cyberpredators online (which is definitely an inherit risk people can take when online considering that you never know who you might meet online).  What do you all think of such policies?  Should schools or even the government be able to dictate what games kids or teens can play or wither or not if they can use social media like Facebook.  

Now, I have mixed issues when it comes to what kids can play and do.  Sure there are games that kids probably shouldn't be playing (especially games like Grand Theft Auto 5, where you pretty much control 3 different criminals in a huge open world environment that mimicks Southern California and gets into things like drugs, gangs, crime, murder, and similar elements that are likely to be offensive to some, especially kids and mothers).  On the flipside, you can get a grey area when it comes to video games and some people can handle violent video games better than others.  I remember when I was in high school, the Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation were the style and I remember playing 007 Golden Eye on the 64 on many different occasions (even bought the 64 and golden eye back during my college years) which was very similar to Call of Duty in many ways, and definiely a predecessor game that probably helped inspire games like Halo and Call of Duty (especially the multiplayer modes).  Also, back then there used to be a flight similar arcade called The Otherside (which seems to have gone out of business since then) where people can pay $20/hour and play online games, such as World War 2 dogfight games, Duke Nukem, Quake, and similar games over a huge network.  So should teenagers (let alone parents) be punished by schools or even the government for what games they play on their game systems?  Also, would be restrictions just be aimed at MA 17 games or could they be expanded to T rated games too (such as the Sims 3 or say Mortal Kombat)?  

I found the Facebook restrictions interesting too.  By the way, according to Facebook, people have to be at least 13 or older to sign up for Facebook (though back when I was in high school, facebook and myspace did not exist and I did not sign up there till when I was going to Northwest University).  Sure there can be shady people on social media sites like Facebook, Myspace, etc such as trolls, cyberbullies, scammers, and even the occasional pedophile types.  Even I sometimes get random ladies online that I don't know trying to flirt with me on MSN Instant Messenger and Facebook too sometimes and I usually ignore them since I don't really know them and want to protect myself.  Last year I won't name names, but I met a random lady from Wyoming (she contacted me first).  She was apparently in her 30s, had 2 kids and no husband (apparently he died sometime ago) and she obviously seemed to be in a hurry to get into a relationship with me.  She wanted me to drive out to Cheyanne, Wyoming at least once or twice (which is definitely at least a 2 day away from the Seattle area) and even wanted me to call her, and even meet her at a state park in Montana once,  but obviously I did not know her personally and knew better than to rush into such a relationship (after all, I did know know what her intentions were).  Even if she was legit, I knew I wasn't ready to have kids of my own, which probably would have come with the relationship with her and obviously I would not be able to support them considering that I am only working part time and living on low income.  Luckily she unfriended me and moved on before things got out of hand.  Anyways, people like her do exist on Facebook and Myspace and people have to be careful when it  comes to meeting people online.  But at the same time, Facebook (and similar social media) can be used for more productive things too, such as connecting with friends, sharing photos they take, keeping in touch with people, etc.  Blogging sites, such as Blogger can be good to have too, as it can help kids develop their writing skills, which is pretty crucial to have, especially once they go off to college as writing quality papers do become a part of the daily routine in college and papers not living up to standards usually get Ds and Fs.  

By the way, while the new rules concerning violent video games and social media mainly affects England, I am sure it is only a matter of time before American schools take up similar laws and rules (after all, America and England are similar in many ways, even when it comes to politics and schools).  Also, this is not the first time schools have tried to impose their policies and rules to students even when they were not in school.  I rmember when I was in college at Northwest University, students were not supposed to drink alcholic beverages, even when off campus, so if students went to nearby bars and pubs, they ran the risk of someone noticing them and reporting it to school authorities (which probably could lead to susepensions or even expulsions in some circumstances).

1. In Virginia Beach, Virginia, a pair of 7th graders were expelled for the "crime" of doing airsofting in their own yards, not far from the rest stop.  I don't know what all lead up to the expulsions, but the kids were playing some airsoft in their own yard (which is somewhat similar to paintball, where you you shoot small airsoft pellets at targets or sometimes even each other which is pretty harmless, though they can leave bruises and welts much like in paintball) and a neighbor complained about it and somehow the school found out about it and expelled the kids apparently for "possession, handling and use of a firearm" (apparently airsoft guns are considered fire arms as far as the school was concerned and not allowed, even at home). Not sure if the students were able to overturn their expusions or not. By the way, if me and my brothers were in that district, we probably would have been expelled too considering that we used to do mock civil war battles with cap guns in our back yards, even went paintball and laser tagging on a few occasions too.


2. In another incident a student from Louisianna was arrested because he was using an app called, "Real Strike" to "shoot" fellow students. Real Strike is an augumented reality app for the Iphone that mimicks Call of Duty in Real life settings (much like how it is with Laser tag, where people can shoot harmless "lasers" at each other). Now while "shooting" fellow students was definitely inappropriate in my opinion, having the student arrested shows how far the zero tolerance policies can go.


       (above is Real Strike in Action, it is a similared game, where app users can "shoot" things in a simulated setting, though of course nobody really gets hurt).  By the way, the Windows Phone has a similar app where you can "shoot paintballs" at "targets" (you tap the screen, the phone vibrates and a virtual paintball splatters).

3. Perhaps a more disturbing story: Student getting expelled for refusing to wear an RFID tracking chip
In this story, a girl named Angela was expelled from school because her family wanted to opt out of the RFID program apparently for both religious (apparently she thought it was the prophecized Mark of the Beast from Revelation in the Bible) and privacy reasons.  It was apparently a chip embedded in student asb cards that can track student werabouts at all times (both on campus and off campus) and apparently kids had to check in with staff members to go over the RFID data.  Apparently it was also used to reduce truancy as well. Personally I have mixed feelings about the chips.  First off personally I doubt that the chip is the "mark of the beast".  From Christian standpoint, the mark of the beast system is not supposed to be implemented until when the end time events happen, probably around the mid point of the 7 year tribulation period (just before the great tribulation that is supposed to take place during the last 3 1/2 years before Christ's return) and will be imposed by the Antichrist himself (he is a prophecised world leader that will appear, probably in Europe or the Revived Roman empire as a charismatic leader that will impose a global dictatorship on the entire world and will eventually be indwelt by Satan himself, claim to be God and demand to be worshiped, which will also lead to the imposition of the mark of the beast system).  Most likely it will likely be some sort of microchip, tattoo, or similar implant that goes on the right hand or forehead and people won't be able to buy or sell without it, with the threat of death (probably by beheading) for people who refuse it (you can read the book of Revelation in the bible for everything you need to know about the antichrist, mark of the beast, etc).  Obviously people will want to avoid the mark of the beast at all costs (even if it means martyrdom) given the eternal ramifications for people who take it.  Anyways, last I checked, t he tribulation has not begun yet and the Antichrist is not on the scene yet, so I doubt that the RFID chip is the mark of the beast.  It could be a predecesor to it for all I know, but it is not the mark of the beast (at least not the present form).  As for privacy concerns, while the school officials may have good intentions for it, such as being able to tell where students are on campus (especially in the case of emergencies or fire drills) and even help find kids who go missing (which can be useful considering some kids do get kidnapped or lost at times), the technologies can definitely get intrusive too.  I can't imagine what it would be like going to a school or college where staff members can track your every move both on and off campus (for example, I wouldn't even think about going into a bar or pub the schools I went to tracked my every move).

I am sure this list goes on, but this article definitely shows how far schools can go when it comes to imposing their policies on students on and off campus and how more authoritarian schools are becoming.  Personally, I think big brother and zero tolerance policies is a dangerous mix when it comes to people's freedoms both in England and here in the US considering that many unsuspecting students and kids can easily find themselves caught in the ever expanding system, especially when there already does seem to be school to pipeline style system in place in many places across the country and taking a big brother approach to things could definitely lead to more people falling into that system, which would be terrible for society in my opinion.  Hopefully people will work on setting up checks and balances for school systems to ensure they do not get too much power over peoples' lives and reduce unnecessary suspensions or interactions with law enforcement agencies.   I will try to keep you updated on this story as I come across more.

What do you think.  Should schools be able to dictate what games kids can play or should it be left up to their parents?  Do you have teens that play games like Call of Duty or similar games?     Feel free to leave a comment below.  For fellow Americans, what would you do if schools inacted similar parties.

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Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Rayman Legends First Impressions

About 2 days ago, I downloaded Rayman Legends for the Xbox One.  They were offering a special in the Xbox Live store (at least gold members) where you could download Rayman and several other games for free (or at least reduced prices), so I decided to try out Rayman Legends.


Above is a video, posted by pivmaster2 showing off the first 10 minutes of the game (essentially the intro and the first level).  The game is divided up into several worlds (similar to how it is in games like Donkey Kong Country, New Super Mario Bros, and Sonic Boom) full of levels you can play through, as well as at least one major boss fight per world (with the first one being a giant dragon you fight).  You start off playing as Rayman, but you can play as other characters as well.  In addition, you can also unlock Rayman Orgins levels as well as do online challenges as well.

Things I like about the game so far:

- Humorous to play through.  Very comical too
- Fun and interesting platformer game
- I also like the side kick feature in the game where on certain levels, Rayman can have a side kick come along and do things for him (such as flipping switches, helping to defeat enemies, taking care of potiential traps, etc).
- Cool boss fights.  I fought the dragon this morning and it was quite fun and divided into several parts.
- Each level does have friends that Rayman has to rescue and levels are rather huge with many things to do, areas to explore, and secret areas to find.
- Interestingly, although you can play though each world in order, it is possible to unlock stages in other worlds (such as Toad Story) early on and play through more than one world at a time.  It is also possible to unlock latter stages and even boss fights early on too.

Negative aspects:
- Cheap deaths.  Expect to die alot in the game, especially if it is your first time through.  Usually Rayman can take 2 hits (assuming he has a heart icon over his head) and then he dies, though sometimes he can get killed in one hit too. Each level is filled with obstacles, enemies, pitfalls, and other death traps, all eager to send Rayman to an early retirement.
- The game can get addicting, so you may want to pace yourself while playing through the game.

That is all for now and I will post more about Rayman Legends as I play through the game.

Want to try Rayman Legends for the Xbox One?  You can download it from the Xbox Live Store on your Xbox One.

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

Introducing my new GTA Online Character: Uncle Steve

Well, I was finally able to get my Xbox Live account working with the help of my father.  Anyways, I have started a new game and career on GTA 5 Online.  Let me introduce you to my new character, which I dubbed: Uncle Steve (was trying to be creative with names and thought that name looked cool).
Did a "selfie" of my character
Interestingly, there was nobody else online last night so I pretty much had the GTA Online mode to myself and was able to explore the map and try out the online features.  It is also worth noting that this character will replace the character I had on the Xbox 360 version of the game (even if I wanted to resume that version of the game, I traded it in at gamestop and got the Xbox One version in its place).

Stay tuned for the latest updates.

Here are some other pictures I have taken so far:

Vinewood Hills
Siberian huskies at a dog park north of Los Santos.  Yes: sibes do exist in this version of the game and can often be found at parks like this one.

Monday, February 2, 2015

Officially started my second playthrough on Grand Theft Auto 5, this time on the Xbox One

The game is on.  I already beat the main story and even got 100% completion on Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Xbox 360 and after upgrading to the Xbox One, I traded in the 360 version at Gamestop and got the Xbox One version in its place.  Just got to the point where you play as Trevor for the first time, shortly after the Jewelry store heist mission.

Things I like about the Xbox One version so far:
- better graphics
- cell phones have a new look.  By the way, I like how Trevor's phone is cracked
- New dog breeds, many of which were not seen in the 360 version.  In addition to labs and rotweilers, there are also siberian huskies, golden retrievers, saint bernards, pugs, and poodles that you might encounter as well.  There is also at least one confirmed dog park that you can take Chop to as Franklin adding more interactivity between Franklin and Chop.  By the way, Chop can attack people on command (usually if you aim at someone), though be warned, sicing Chop on random people can net you wanted stars.
- New Peyote plants.  These are hidden all across the map and whenver you come across one, you can eat the plant and it turns your guy into an animal that you can control temporarily.  Kind of funny.
- New first person shooter mode.  If you get tired of playing 3rd person shooter mode, you can always switch to first person.  Personally, I like 3rd person more, but first person can be useful to use sometimes, especially during shoot outs.
- xbox one can record random video shots as you play the game, such as doing stunts in cars, shooting things with sniper rifles, as well as getting mauled by animals (one time Michael got wasted by a siberian husky once, which was pretty funny).

Other than those, it is pretty similar to the original game in many ways, and the story line is almost identical too.  By the way, I will be starting over in the GTA Online version too, creating a new character that I dubbed as "Uncle Steve" (was trying to be creative with names).

Will post more infor about the game as I get more experience with it.

Friday, January 30, 2015

Project Spark First Impressions



I was finally able to start playing Project Spark on the Xbox One. Had some troubles playing it earlier this month due to connectivity issues on Xbox Live.  Anyways I now have played it a few times and have some first impressions of the game.  Have you ever dreamed of creating your own video game?  How about go on an epic adventure where you can choose he elements, quests, enemies you fight and even the end boss for a level?  Project Spark explores these concepts.  There is a main quest you can start, though you can also play games other players create, go on a "crossroads" adventrue where you on an Action RPG quest where you can help influence the storyline, enemies you fight, what the villages look like, what you encounter in the field, and even what people say.  In addition, if you are feeling creative and inspired, you can always create your own world and game using the elements the game offers.  Today, I even created a "cheesy" adventure game I dubbed as Squirrel Hunter, where you play as this ranger and go up against hostile and rabid squirrels, bandits, and even goblins.

Things I like so far about the game
- Open ended style game.
- It does have some educational value to it considering that the game teaches you how to create your own worlds or even modify existing ones too.  There is even an in game tutorial that teaches you the basics of creating a game
-   If you have ever thought of video game design, Project Spark can be a good way to learn without having to go to college and getting a computer science and related degrees.
- In game codes are done for you.  You con't have to know c+ or similar programming languages to create words and games.  Though it can help to have some familiarity with programming (for example, modifying the behavior, or "brain" of animals in the world, what happens if the hero dies, how to finish a level, etc).
- I also like how you can play games other players create.  Lets you see what others are making and get some inspiration for your own games.
- I also loved the crossroads adventure.  Made a few funny ones too.

Things I did not like about the game so far:
- The game requires Xbox live and valid internet connection to work properly.  If Xbox live is down or you don't have an Xbox live gold accunt, the game will not work properly.
- There do seem to be some bait and switch things going on in the game considering that you have to unlock certain elements or even accessing new levels in the main adventure and that may require you to pay money out of pocket.  I wish they made it easier to unlock things without having to spend alot of money.
- The game can be confusing at first, especially when it comes to creating levels

I will post more information about Project Spark as I get more experience in the game.

Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Interesting new addition to Grand Theft Auto 5 for the Xbox One - Peyote plants

In case if you don't know, I have traded in the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto 5 at Gamestop and got Xbox One version instead.  Sure I will have to start over in the game, but I think it is worth trying out the newer version of the game.  Xbox One version definitely has several changes, including better graphics, a new first person mode (much like how it is in games like Skyrim, where you can switch off between 3rd person and 1st person modes).   They also have new dog breeds in the game too (though Franklin's dog remains the same), including poodles, golden retrievers, pugs, saint bernards and even siberian huskies.  Aside from all of the changes, I have come across what is called, Peyote plants.  Much like the letter scraps and space ship parts, the peyote plants are scattered across all San Andreas and you have to explore to find them (though alternatively there are strategy guides online that list the map locations).
One Peyote plant turned Franklin into a coyote near Los Santos (though it can also turn you into other animals too such as a cougar).

In the middle of the great Sonora Desert (near Sandy Shores), another Peyote plant Turned Franklin into a siberian husky.  Had some fun playing as the husky as he treked across the desert and entered Sandy Shores, but he was a naughty husky (you can attack people as huskies, though it will also cause your wanted level to go up) and got put down by the cops in Sandy Shores.
The Peyote plant can be a fun new addition to the game (by the ways I don't remember seeing the peyote plants in the Xbox 360 version of GTA 5).  Whenever you eat them, your guy (such as Franklin) will have this wierd hallucination where he literally turns into a random animal that you can control and roam around the map, get into mischief, or even try to find hidden areas in the game.  The animal you turn into is randomized (even when eating the same plant more than once, which you can do by saving before eating the plant and reloading), so you never really know what you will control.  In my experience as Franklin, he has turned into a cougar near Los Santos (can't you imagine a wild cougar roaming the streets of Los Angeles in real life, an actual scenario from the "Los Angeles" in GTA 5 with the peyote plants).  I have also controlled a poodle, coyote (see picture above) and even a siberian husky once (huskies do exist in GTA 5 for Xbox one by the way, though I do not remember seeing them in the Xbox 360 version so they are new).  My favorites so far were controlling a siberian husky in the middle of the Sonora Desert (area near Sandy Shores), treking across the desert and even making it to Sandy shores, though he ended up getting "put down" by Sandy Shores police after getting into some mischief in town (such as attacking people, which you can do when controlling animals which does raise your wanted level, especially if you attack multiple people in the game).  The coyote was pretty fun to control too near Los Santos, though coyotes are weak (I though the husky had stronger attacks) and people try to kill coyotes in the game.  I also liked playing as a cougar in Los Santos, though he died after "jumping" into a pool (apparently animals can't swim in the game, so entering a pool kills your animal instantly).  The change lasts till either the animal dies or if you exit out of that mode by holding right on the dpad and when you change back sometimes you can be back at the location where the peyote plant was or other times, you can end up in a different place (such as where the animal plant dies).  Definitely a wierd and yet fun addition to the game.

By the way, there are some Youtube videos about Peyote plants.  Check them out here:
  

There are many videos like the one above.  For more peyote plant videos, look them up on Youtube.

Stay tuned for more updates on GTA 5, Xbox One.

Thursday, January 15, 2015

What worlds would you want to see in Kingdom Hearts 3 and future KH games?

Official Trailer for Kingdom Hearts 3


Hey everyone.  In this post I thought I would talk about the upcomming Kingdom Hearts 3 game that is supposed to come out later this year (which is supposed to be released to both the Xbox One and the Playstation 4).  I have recently completed a replay through Kingdom Hearts 2 (the third time I have played through the game since I got it for Christmas a few years ago) on Playstation 2.  Kingdom Hearts 3 will be the official sequel to Kingdom Hearts 2 (besides Re: coded and Dream Drop Distance) and will be the first console version of Kingdom hearts since Kingdom Hearts 2, considering that Birth By Sleep, 365/2, Coded, and Dream Drop distance were all on the handheld game systems (DS, 3DS and PSP respectively).  I think the new game is supposed to mark the return of the evil Xenohort and Ansem Seeker of Darkness (the main villian from the first game) in an addition to other familiar elements and characters.  Note that I don't really know the full story so right now, I can only speculate what the story will be about.  By the way, Kingdom Hearts 3 will assume you have played through the previous installments of the series.  In case if you are not familiar with the series, basically the series combines elements from the Final Fantasy Universe (particularly Final Fantasy 7 and 10 style games) and Disney universe and follows Sora as the primary protaganist from Destiny Islands who teams up with Goofy and Donald in his heroic quest to save the the universe from the hands of various Disney Villans (like Malificent along with others like Hades, Jafar, Oogie Boogie, Scar, Pete, and others) along the forces of darkness, called heartless and nobodies lead by various antagonists including Ansem seeker of Darkness (basically an evil counterfeit version of Ansem the Wise), Organization 13, and others.

Main Characters:

Protaganists and allies:

1. Sora -
He is the main protaganist in the series.  Sora starts out on Destiny Island along with Riku and Kairi and ends up in Tranverse town after the darkness takes the island.  Soon after, he meets up with Donald and Goofy (who become his primary side kicks) and sets out on a quest to defeat the heartless, Disney villians, and later Ansem Seeker of Darkness and eventually Organization 13.  He also searches for Kairi (Sora seems to have a crush on Kairi, which is especially evident in KH 2) and Riku after they get separated.  He is also the primary hero that stands in the way of the various villians he encounters on the different worlds he visits and often foils their plans no matter how diabolical or heinious.  Sora also becomes a thorn in the side of Organization 13 along with Pete and Malificent as he often stands in the way of their plans.

2. Donald - Sora's side kick.  He specializes in magic attacks and is great a support character too (such as healing when needed).  He also has a temper and can get into mischief sometimes too.
3. Goofey - another side kick of Sora.  He specializes in strength and melee attacks.  He is probably the wisest in the trio and often brings common sense into things.  Sometimes he is good at explaining otherwise hard to understand dialogues, such as the time in KH 2 where the trio learns about Ansem the Wise from Miki
4  Riku - Sora's friend from Destiny Island.  He acts as Sora's "elder brother" and they do tend to be rivals at times.  In the first game, he become jealous of Sora (in part due to him being the keyblade bearer) and even sides with Malificent and other villians, eventually becoming posessed by the evil Ansem seeker of Darkness, though he seems to change his ways at the end of the game, though not before getting trapped in the darkness at the end of the game.  In KH 2, he takes on the forom of Ansem Seeker of Darkness after the events of Chain of Memories and 365/2 and has a role in the game's prologue.  He also seems to make an appearance in the Land of the Dragons world during Sora's second visit to the world as a cloaked figure (though the sword the cloaked figure has definitely belonged to Riku), though he and Sora don't officially reunite till towards the end of the game.  He also helps Sora take on Xemnas during the final boss fight at the end of the game.
5. Kairi - another friend of Sora from Destiny Island and is one of the few ladies on the island.  She gets separated from Sora after the darkness over takes the island and Sora sets out looking for her.  At the end of KH 1, they get separated again and don't reunite again till the end of Kingdom Hearts 2 (after getting kidnapped and imprisoned in the World that Never Was by Organization 13).  She and Sora seem to be crushing on each other.
6. King Mickey - Mikey Mouse makes an appearance in the series as a king type figure and often helps Sora in his journeys.  He also helps Sora take on Organization 13 during Kingdom Hearts 2.
7. Hercules - from Disney's Hercules.  He is the son of Zeus and lost his immortality after Hades had him kidnapped and makes him drink a potion that strips him of his immortality (though ironically, he fails to take his superhuman strength away).  Hades hates Hercules and plots ways to kill Hercules and take him to the underworld.  He makes a powerful ally for Sora and his gang.
8. Simba from Lion King, along with Nala, Pumba, and Timba - from the Lion King.  Much like in the movie, Simba was destined to become king of the pride lands, but his evil uncle, Scar usurps the throne after murdering Simba's father and framing Simba for his death.  It is up to Sora to help Simba to challenge Scar and take his father's place as king of the Pridelands.
9. Aladdin - Based on the Aladdin trillogy, Aladdin starts out as a common thief and begger (aka street rat) in Agrabah and gets his life radically changed after meeting Genie from a lamp he gets at the cave of wonders, especially after turning Aladdin into a prince to try and win Jasmine's heart).  Sora comes and helps Aladdin foil Jafar's plans to take over Agrabah and help Malificent conquer the universe.
10. Various characters from the final fantasy series, particularly Leon, Tifa, Cloud, Yuffie, Cid, and Aerith.  Characters from some of the final Fantasy series make do make apparences in the game, often as allies.  They have a bigger role in Kingdom Hearts 2 as they work on restoring Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Garden) after the events of Kingdom Hearts 1 (being a former stronghold for Malificent).  In the Olympus Collesium, Sora does engage them in duels on various occasions (with the craziest one being when he has to take on Leon, Tifa, Cloud, and Yuffie in the Hades Cup towarrds the end of KH II).
11. Roxas - he is the nobody of Sora after he temporarily becomes a heartless towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 1 (he "sacrificed" himself to save Kairi after she gets kidnapped by a posessed Riku, who was under the influnce of the evil Ansem and tries to use a special keyblade to try and steal her heart).  Much of Roxas' story is explained in Kingdom Hearts 365/2 and he even appears in Kindom Hearts 2's prologue before the game shifts over to Sora.  He was originally a part of Organization 13 but later betrays the organization and eventually helps Sora during the course of KH 2.
12. The Beast from Beauty and the Beast -
Based on the movie, Beauty and the Beast, he was once a prince that gets turned into a beast with a temper out on a quest to find true love before time runs out and remains a Beast for life.  In Kingdom Hearts 1, he is an ally of Sora in Hollow Bastion and in KH 2 he has a much more bigger role as Sora travels to Beast's Castle and aims to foil Xaldin's plans to turn the Beast into a heartless.
13. Peter Pan -
Based on the movie Peter Pan, he is an ally of Sora (who helps Peter defeat Captain Hook during the first game) and later becomes a summonable ally in KH 2.
14. Pinnocio -
Based on the movie, Pinnocio, he is a puppet that comes to life with aspirations of becoming a true human and in Kingdom Hearts 1, he gets kidnapped by Riku (who was under the influence of Malificent and later the evil Ansem) and literally gets trapped inside Monstro the whale (who was flying in space and even swallows Sora, Goofy and Donald up when venturing around in their gummy ships), and it is up to Sora to rescue him.  He doesn't make any appearences in KH 2 as far as I can tell.
15. Jimminy Cricket.  From Pinnocio, Jimminy keeps records from Sora's journeys, including missions, people of interest, Ansem's reports, information on heartless and nobodies, as well as any side missions to complete or treasures to find.
and many other disney characters.

Antagonists:
- Ansem Seeker of Darkness.  Primary villian in the first game
- Malificent.  Evil sorceresses from Sleeping Beauty (not to be confused the Angelina Jolie version of Malificent by the way).  She wants to take over the universe and even commands her own variety of heartless.  In the first game in the series, she is really just a pawn of a much bigger plot set by Ansem Seeker of Darkness (aka Xenohort's heartless if you have played KH2).
- Hades (from Hercules).  He is the the villian from Disney's Hercules and even has his own underword.  Like Satan in being the arch nemesis of God in real life, Hades is the arch nemesis of Zeus (he is jealous of Zeus) and if you have seen Disney's Hercules, he basically wants to send Hercules to the under world and to do so, he wants to rig the gladiator style games that Hercules competes in so that Hercules inevitably loses and dies.  The only people standin in his way are Sora, Donald, Goofey, Meg and Hercules.
- Jafar.  Villian from Disney's Aladdin.  He wants to take over Agrabah and kill off Aladdin.  Interestingly, he seems to have a crush on Princess Jasmine and wants to make here his queen.
- Other disney villians, including Oogie Boogie (from Nightmare before Christmas), Queen of Hearts (from Alice in Wonderland), Captain Hook (from Peter Pan), Scar (from Lion King) and others
- Pete (the villianous version).  He is Mickey's arch nemesis (ever since Steamboat Willie) and becomes a cronie of Malificent in Kingdom Hearts 2, though perhaps not as intelligent as Malificent.
 - Organization 13.  It is a villianous organization in Kingdom Hearts 2, lead by Xemnas (created by Ansem seeker of Darkness when he became a heartless) that pretty much want to take over the universe and plunge all of the worlds into darkness.  Of course, Sora and his friends are more than happy to become a thorn in their sides.
- Riku (at least during KH 1).  In the first installment, after getting seperated from Sora, he finds himself under the influce by Malificent and becomes jealous of Sora and even helps the villians in their plans.  It is not till after he is posessed by the evil Ansem seeker of Darkness when he realizes the error of his ways.  Eventually he does get redeemed at the end of KH 2.

Other recurring characters:
- Ansem the Wise.  Not to be confused with the "Ansem" at the end of Kingdom Hearts 1.  Basically the good version of Ansem.  He was a scientist who studies hearts and helps King Mickey.  In KH 2 he aims to help reunite Roxas with Sora and later help foil the schemes of Organization 13, even sacrificing himself in the process.
- Final Fantasy characters, especially Cloud, Yuffie, Tiffa and other final fantasy 7 characters.
- Sephiroth.  He is the main villian from Final Fantasy 7 and returns as an optional boss character you can fight both in the Colliseum in Kingdom Hearts 1 and later at Radiant Garden towards the end of Kingdom Hearts 2.  He is arguably the toughest boss fight in both games given his huge health bar, dueling techniques and attacks that can easily kill Sora within a few hits (most notably the infamous "Descend Heartless Angel" attack which drains almost all of Sora's health bar when executed uninterrupted).
- Summoned characters, such as Genie from Aladdin, Mushu from Mulan and others.
- Moogles.  These are bird like creatures from the Final Fantasy series and are used to  save the game or leave worlds.  They can also synthesize materials Sora and his gang find into useful things, such as potions, power ups, and even weapons (like the Ultima weapon Sora can get).

For a full list of characters and more information about them, visit http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/List_of_Kingdom_Hearts_characters.

I won't get into all of the details about previous games in the series, for for the full story so far, you can read it at the Kingdom Hearts wikipedia at http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_(series)

Anyways, with the new game in the works, my question to you is, what worlds do you want to see featured in the new game.  Obvously more Disney shows, cartoons and movies have been made since the last game. such as Disney's Up, Malificent (basically an alternate version of Sleeping Beauty with more of an anti-hero version of Malificent, not quite as evil as the original version), Finding Nemo, newer Pirates of the Carribean movies (in KH2 they featured Barbosa as the primary villian in the Port Royale level on the game, but there was also Davy Jones, who was a bigger villain in the original 3 movie), Wreck it Ralph, and many others.  Disney has also acquired various movies from Marvel (most notably the Avengers series) and now they have acquired Star Wars too, with Star Wars Episode 7 scheduled for release towards the end of this year (2015), so there are lots of possibilities.  They can also do worlds based on the Final Fantasy series too considering that there are some recurring characters from the final fantasy series too.  Final Fantasy 7 could definitely be a good world to do in KH3 if they wanted to.

Here are the worlds I have seen so far from Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.  Note I have not played handheld sequels and prequels in the series yet so I am not familiar with the worlds in those games, though a full list of worlds that have been done so far, you can check them out on the wiki page at http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Kingdom_Hearts_(series):

Kingdom Hearts 1:
- Tarzan
- Tranverse Town (home of the 101 Dalmations by the way along with Donald and Goofey)
- Destiny Islands (appears in the game's prologue and disappears after Sora is teleported to Tranverse Town)
- Pinnocio's world (literally takes place inside Monstro the Whale, with the main boss fight taking place right in the whale's stomach)
- Halloween Town (Nightmare before Christmas version)
- Hercules
- Peter Pan (yes Hook is a boss character you fight
- Hollow Bastion (Malificent's stronghold)
- Agrabah (Aladdina)
- Atlantica (little mermaid's world)
- Alice in Wonderland
- 1000 Acre woods (yes Winnie the Pooh does make appearances in the series)

Kingdom Hearts 2:
- Returning worlds includes: Halloween Town (even has a christmas version), Hercules (even has Hades' underworld, which was not in the first game), Agrabah (the end boss is a giant genie version of Jafar), Atlantica (this time around, it mainly follows the storyline of Little Mermaid featuring Eric as Ariel's love interest), and Hollow Bastion (a completely different version of the world though)
- Pridelands from Lion King (Sora even "becomes a lion cub" in that world)
- 1980s style Tron (with Sark and the MCP as the primary villians).  By the way, events on Tron seem to have an effect on Hollow Bastion (aka Radiant Gardent too) such as the incident later in the game where the town's security system (aimed at stopping the heartless) gets corrupted and gets aimed at Sora, Donald and Goofy as well as Sark's attempt to have Sora and his friends arrested and derezzed after a mishap occured when Donald was messing around with the main computer.
- Twilight Town (replaces Tranverse town).  By the way, Xaldin from Organization 13 shows up and tries to sabatoge Beast's effort to break the spell that turned him into a beast the first place (probably in an effort to turn him into a heartless).
- Beast's Castle (based on Beauty and The beast)
- Timeless River (basically 1930's style disney, and based on Steamboat Willie).  Interestingly there are 2 Petes that make appearances (past Pete and Present Pete, with the latter serving as the primary boss for that leg in the game).
- The World that Never Was (this is where the final boss fights are too)
- Disney's Mulan (pretty much follows the storyline of Mulan, where she disguises herself as a "man" and joins the chinese army and is eventually found out by the leader of the army).  Sora actually encounters Riku for the first time here during his second visit.  He comes as one of 2 cloaked figures and was disguised as Ansem seeker of Darkness (which is the case till the end of the game).  You actually don't see Riku's face but the weapon the mysterious man belonged to Riku.  Note Xigbar (from Organization 13) also makes an appearance there too.
- Port Royale.  Based on the events of Pirates of the Carribean, Curse of the Black Pearl (the first movie in the series) with Barbosa being the main villian (along with Pete).
- 1000 acre woods (again).  This time around, Pooh has a case of amnesia and forgets everything (after an incident involving heartless stealing pages from the Adventures of the Winnie the Pooh book), including everyones' names and it is up to Sora to help him regain his memories.

So those are all of the worlds I have seen so far.  Some possible worlds I can think of in the game includes:
Note: these are some worlds that would be cool to see, but unlikely to happen (hey I have no control over what the creators do of course).

1. Pirates of the Carribean (again). 

 This time based on the 2nd and 3rd movie in the series.  Remember there were several other movies made in the franchise and more possibilities are there.  Personally, I think Davey Jones would make an awesome villian (more so than Barbosa) in the series. Of course there would have to be more ship sailings than in Kingdom Hearts 2.

2. Halloween Town (the version with Debbie Reynolds, Kimberly Brown, etc).

We have seen the Nightmare Before Christmas' version of Halloween Town in both Kingdom Hearts 1 and 2.  Since then I have seen all 4 moives in the other Halloween Town franchise and think the first 2 movies (especially the first one) would make an awesome setting for a version in Kingdom Hearts.  Sora could team up with Marnie and her siblings as they take on the evil Kalabar.  Pete or Malificent could make good allies for Kalabar too.  The world could probably follow along the timeline of the first movie.  I am not sure if the original actors or actresses would reprise their roles for the Kingdom Hearts version should that happen (especially considering that all of the actors and actresses are older and may or may not be interested in doing another Halloweentown installmend), but it would definitely cool to see.  By the way, a Kalabar and Malificent team up would be cool to see considering that they are both evil magicians.

3. Wreck It Ralph.

In case if you are not familiar with the movie, it was a filmed release about 2 years ago about this video game villian named, Ralph that wants to give up his villianous ways and sets out on humorous and daring adventure visiting other video game worlds and even ends up meddling in a racing game and taking on an evil king too.

4. Marvel Universe.
Lots of possibilities here, including Avengers, Captain America, Iron Man, Spider Man, X-men, etc. Even if Kingdom Hearts did not do a movie version of Avengers, they also have Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Avengers Assemble, and Ultimate Spiderman they can do too.  Villians could include: Doctor Doom, Loki, Red Skull, Modoc, Venom, Green Goblin, or others.  If Organization 13 wanted to get involved, they could even exploit the Civil War storyline too (trying to tear the super hero community apart by inciting them to be at each others' throats).

5. Disney's Up.


Definitely a classic.  It is about an old man and a boy scout who turns a house into a hot air balloon goes on an adventure to a foreign country (Australia?) and encounter an evil hunter.   The villian on the movie would be awesome to have in the Kingdom Hearts Series.

6. Kim Possible

Kim is basically Disney's version of James Bond.  She is a high school cheerleaderthat takes on various villians and criminals much like what you would see in say, James Bond, Austin Powers, Perfect Dark Zero (btw I wouldn't be suprised if the shows were inspired by the PDZ series given the similarities to the 2 series).  Sheego would make an awesome ally of Malificent (for example), while Drakken would make a cool ally for Pete. Organization 13 could probably shake things up in the world too.

Other worlds that might be cool includes:
1. Expanding on the 101 Dalmations
2. Worlds from Final Fantasy series (FF7 would be awesome to do considering that many of the recurring FF characters in Kingdom Hearts come from that particular game).
3. Frozen (haven't seen the movie yet though)
4. Brave
5. Shrek (the first movie would probably be best to do)
6. Hook (the sequel to Peter pan featuring Robin Williams an older Peter pan who sets out on a quest to save his kids after they are kidnapped by Hook).  Sora and his friends could try and help Peter Pan regain his memories and defeat Hook once again
7. Bringing back Twilight Town and World that never was
8. Transverse town.  It would be interesting to see how that town changes after the events of KH 1.

And many others.

Worlds I don't really care for in the new games:
- Atlantica (can get redundant after a while, unless if they do on based on Little Mermaid 2)
- Agrabah (unless they do one based on the 3rd movie)
- 100 acre woods (Winnie the Pooh can get redundant after a while)

Well, that is all for now.  I will add to this list as I can think of more.  At this point, I will turn this post over to you all.  Are there worlds you want to see in the new game?  Are there worlds you don't care to see again?  How about recurring characters?

On a side note:  What do you think about the idea of doing Star Wars as a world in Kingdom Hearts 3?  I like the idea though it seems like that could almost be its own spin off (much like Lego Star Wars) considering that the movies are 6 movies long (will be 9 movies long by the time the new trilogy is done) and there are so many storylines that the creators can based the game on as well as worlds they can explore too.  Could they follow the prequel era of Star Wars (such as the Clone Wars)?  How about the original trilogy.  Sequel trilogy?  Expanded Universe? I have no idea.




Important disclaimer: The worlds I came up are based on pure speculation from other disney shows and movies I have seen and may or may not end up in Kingdom Hearts 3 or future installments.  I don't work for Disney or the Kingdom Hearts 3 developers, so I have no idea what the final installment will look like.  Of course, I will share updates whenever I come across them.

Further reading: http://kingdomhearts.wikia.com/wiki/The_Keyhole

Want to catch up in previous games in the series?  Here is a widget from Amazon you can use to get the games you want.  Note that KH 3 will assume you have played through Kingdom Hearts 2, Re:Coded and Dream Drop Distance, so it might not hurt to get those ones if you can to see the whole story up to KH 3.

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Got an Xbox One for Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone.  I have some exciting news from my end.  I just got an Xbox One for Christmas.
Picture of the Xbox One I got this morning.

Yes, it is official.  I now have an Xbox One.  I haven't set it up yet, but will probably do that sometime this evening.  Honestly, I had no idea I was going to be getting a new game system for Christmas (it is always hit and miss when it comes to getting new consoles).  It is the first new console I got since getting the 3DS about 2 years ago.

Here is the initial lineup of games I have:
-Lego Movie Game
- Assassins Creed Unity
- Minecraft for Xbox One (by the way, I have still yet to play through the Xbox 360 version)
- Lego Marvel game (yes a lego verision of the Marvel Universe)
and several others.

Other games I am considering buying when I have the extra money:
- Grand Theft Auto 5.  Yes I do have a 360 version and even beat the game a few months ago (though still working on the online mode), but I am curious about how the Xbox One version compares with the predecessor version.
- Halo Master Chief addition
- Kinnect for Xbox One (the bundle I got does not include a Kinnect)
- and others.

By the way, are you jealous?  Why not get your own Xbox One?  You can buy them at Amazon or Walmart here: