Mobile Gaming Isn’t So Bad

April 29, 2016May 9, 2016admin

mobile Many believe that videogames are only for men. After all, the classic Hollywood stereotype of the gamer is a socially awkward teenage guy, right? No one but teenage guys and grown-up teenage guys could possibly enjoy a game! Well, as it turns out, 52% of gamers are women. This isn’t an exact number, of course – it tends to fluctuate between studies, but generally, the rule of thumb is that the split of males and females in gaming is roughly 50/50. But whenever a study like that is published somewhere on a gaming site, one of the first comments is always “Well, this study isn’t accurate because most women only play mobile games, and they don’t count!” And I’m just like “Really? Are you serious right now, or just spewing stuff which you’ve been told by someone years ago?” I mean, sure, back before Android and iOS were really a thing mobile games were pretty bad, for the most part. The term “shovelware” comes to mind, where 99% of all games you could get on mobile were licensed pieces of garbage. While I have fond memories of a couple of games (man, am I the only one who remembers “Deep 3D”? That game was AMAZING), most were very disappointing.

However, in the few years since then, when we transitioned to touch screens and curated marketplaces, mobile gaming has changed a ton. We no longer just have good mobile games – we have great mobile games! I sincerely advise anyone doubting the legitimacy of the mobile marketplace to browse for a bit and find a few games for their mobile device. Whether they’re paid or free to play, you’ve got tons of awesome stuff to choose from! Games like “Monument Valley” or “The Room” (not to be confused with the worst movie of all time) are some of the best puzzle games I’ve ever played! And for the last few months (starting from about October of last year) I’ve been heavily addicted to an action-RPG titled “Marvel: Future Fight”, which is basically like a sequel to the old “Marvel Ultimate Alliance” games where you make a team of Marvel characters and then go on levels and kick ass with your customized character.

And let’s not forget that both iOS and Android have plenty of remakes of classic PC and console titles. If you’ve wanted to replay “Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic”, also known as the single best “Star Wars” game ever made, the iPad version is the way to go. Old point and click adventures, such as “Syberia”, are plentiful on the app store, and you can even download the massively popular card game “Hearthstone” on any mobile device and play it there. No matter what genre of games you’re interested in, I can guarantee you that mobile gaming has something for you. Hell, even if you don’t like videogames at all and instead prefer to play casino games (slots, online roulette, that kind of thing), mobile has got you covered! The mobile landscape has changed a lot in the last couple of years, so I’d advise anyone who claims that mobile games aren’t really worthy of their title do some research. I guarantee you you’ll discover something you enjoy sooner or later!

My Rant About the Star Wars Expanded Universe

April 11, 2016admin

maullockdown I’ve been reading “Star Wars” novels for a veeeeery long time. Admittedly, most were by Timothy Zahn, and admittedly, some were better than others, but at the end, all of them, the good and the bad, have done nothing but increase my love for the “Star Wars” universe. I read about the trials Luke Skywalker had to go through in order to rebuild his Jedi Academy, about his unlikely marriage to Mara Jade and about the attack of the Yuuzhan Vong. True, I also read some ridiculous stuff such as how the Emperor transferred his consciousness into a clone body and seduced Luke to the dark side or something (I don’t know, I generally try to keep the bad stories to the back of my mind), but hey, nothing good is good all the time. Even today, I continue reading “Star Wars” books with joy.

Except there’s one problem. None of them even matter anymore.

Not too long after Disney bought Lucasfilm for $4 billion, they announced that the entire Expanded Universe – all the books, all the games, all the audioplays and comics, will no longer be considered canon within the new “Star Wars” universe. And don’t get me wrong, I understand that decision, I really do. The “Star Wars” canon is chock-full of materials, starting at millions of years before “A New Hope” and ending at hundreds of years afterwards. Disney wants to make a whole lot of movies – three more episodes and at least three side stories (the first of which, “Rogue One”, will be coming out this December). And if they want to retain the creative freedom to do things their way and still keep fans guessing and surprised, then they have no choice but to eliminate the old Expanded Universe and start fresh. I understand that, and honestly, I probably would’ve done the same.

What I don’t understand is why the entire Expanded Universe had to go. I mean, come on, the “Knights of the Old Republic” games and the “Star Wars: The Old Republic” MMO take place in the “Star Wars” universe’s distant past! Why did they have to get rid of that? Even if Disney wanted to set a movie in the time of the Old Republic (which I sincerely doubt they do), they could’ve easily done so without contradicting the games! Or what about “Star Wars: The Force Unleashed”, which was one of the biggest “Star Wars” projects ever with a book, comic and two games? Everyone liked the story (well, at least that of the first game), and elements from it have even been made canon within the new TV show “Star Wars: Rebels”, so why not just go out and make it canon? It doesn’t interfere with anything! Hell, the book I’m reading right now, “Maul: Lockdown”, takes place way before “Episode I” and features a character that is actually very prominent in the new canon, Darth Maul. Making the book canon would’ve given him some history, which he doesn’t really have at the moment.

Just because I understand this decision doesn’t mean I approve of how it’s enforced. I think that a team at Disney should’ve seriously sat down, evaluated all the major stories and, maybe with the help of the fans, cherry-picked what is canon and what isn’t. Sure, 100% of the material set after Episode VI should be removed, but there were some really awesome things from before that could’ve been salvaged. At the very least the aforementioned “Star Wars: Rebels” seems to be nodding a lot to the Expanded Universe, but nods and canon are two entirely different things.

Get the Edge at Roulette Review

April 7, 2016admin

edge As some of you may or may not know, I’m a bit of a gambler. I say “a bit” because I’m not really someone who claims to be able to beat the bank and make thousands or whatever, but I do sometimes hit up the casino (both the physical and online one) and generally tend to have a very good time. My favorite casino game of all time is roulette – I love that you can employ a strategy, but at the same time the result depends entirely on luck, which keeps things nice and fair. Still, I rarely have much of a strategy when playing – my go-to option is to bet on my lucky number, but also on a color, so that I can keep my wins more or less balanced while I wait for that lucky strike. This strategy rarely works out in my favor, though, as by the time I reach the point where my lucky number is drawn I’m pretty much back where I started.

So I began researching strategies. I read all of the best guide to live roulette I found online, but as good as they were, they weren’t enough to prepare me for the real deal. I mean, sure, they could give me general directions, but I knew I had to go all “Inception” on its backside and go deeper. So, what did I do? I turned to my old friends the books, of course! There were plenty of roulette books out there, more than enough for me to choose from, perhaps even too many. Ultimately, as you may have guessed from the title, I settled on “Get the Edge at Roulette”, which was recommended to me by several websites.

To say that the book contains all the answers would be an overstatement, because it does not, not by a long shot. It does, however, outline all of the basic things that someone who wants to be a roulette player would ever want. We’re talking do’s and don’ts, basic strategies, hints and tips, statistics, even a bit on the history of roulette which, while not always necessary, was very much interested. The book was written in a very easy to read style, allowing you to just flow through the pages without having to re-read a lot of information in order to understand it.

What I really loved about the book, though, was its sincerity. Right from the get-go it makes it very clear that this isn’t some kind of holy grail that’ll magically make you win at roulette. It explains that the casino will always have the upper hand due to the house edge, and that while you can improve your odds, all strategies will eventually fail, so you should quit while you’re ahead. I loved this kind of down to earth style and tone. At the end of the day, it’s the truth – no one book will ever make you a roulette expert… But still, I don’t plan to stop looking!