Psst; Hey You...Wanna Get Laid?

Game Mechanics - 2/2

Story-line - 2/2

Graphics - 1/2

Soundtrack - 1/2

Replay Value - 0.5/2

 Total Score - 6.5/10

Well its summertime so you know what that means in video game land. Its the drought season; the time of year when their aren't really any big games scheduled for launch whether because of E3 or Steam Summer sales. Summer time between June to august is always just a time to catch up on past titles and buy old games you never got a chance to play via the ridiculously low prices of Steam Summer sales and so on. Well I fondly remember the days of Leisure Suit Larry and his ridiculous point and click adventures so I was shocked when I found out they make a remake and just had to find myself playing it. So lets see if we can't get our forty year old programmer laid in the all new Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded.

Leisure Suit Larry: Reloaded is a point-and-click adventure game released on June 27, 2013 by N-Fusion Interactive and Replay Games working with series creator Al Lowe and IP holder Codemasters. The game is available for Microsoft Windows via Steam, Mac OS X, and Linux. Android and iOS versions are still in development. It is an enhanced remake of the 1987 Sierra On-Line adventure game Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, which was itself a remake of the 1981 Softporn Adventure. Like the 1991 VGA remake of Leisure Suit Larry in the Land of the Lounge Lizards, the game employs a point-and-click interface over the original 1987 version's text parser. The game consists of a variety of puzzles, which can be solved by looking at, picking up, licking, talking to or using items on a variety of objects and people in the game. There are five buildings in the game: Lefty's Bar, a mini-mart, a love chapel, a multi-floor casino, and a disco club.

What’s Good:

Game Mechanics - Definitely an improvement over its predecessor  ease of use to appeal to whatever your preference as there are three ways of utilizing the game control scheme. Controls in general are intuitive as you can easily figure out each one without even checking out the tutorial mode.

Story-line - Sex is always and forever one of the most popular and most enjoyable topics to partake in so who wouldn't enjoy a game about getting some? As the game goes on you realize just how hard it is to not only get laid but to find true love for Larry. With many adventures and ensuing hi-jinks along the way you are certain to be entertained while playing granted you can figure out each puzzle and scenario effectively.

What’s Bad:

Soundtrack - Was neither hear or there; narration and voice overs were good but the overall ambiance of sound did nothing to really immerse you in the experience.

Graphics - Granted this is a remake and it at least meets the standard of presentation better than its predecessor  With games like The Walking Dead doing the same point and click adventure though its easy to see that more could have been done in this regard for the game.

Replay Value - Pretty much non-existent save for one or two points in the plot where if you hadn't gotten a certain item scenarios would be harder or easier to progress through.

What Should Have Been Added:

Updated graphics engine, better animation, more risque scenes, multiple outcomes instead of a linear set path to complete most objectives. I would also liked to have seen more types of mini-games instead of mostly just gambling machines and the like.

Final Thoughts:

Decent remake overall, lots of improvements considering how old the original game is but still nothing noteworthy to warrant ushering the potential of Leisure Suit Larry to make a comeback and garner a new generation of gamers. Still worth a shot if you are a fan of the series or like point and click games in general. You can also check out our little bit of play-through below to get a feel for what the game is like.

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The One?

Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the long waited day. It finally happened; Microsoft hit the stage an revealed to the world their submission into the next generation of gaming aptly titled the XBOX One. Now I know I have never been much of an advocate for XBOX related gaming since i'm a PlayStation fan-boy at heart but I figured since I did a post on the PS4 release it is only fair that I do one for this as well in the interest of video game journalism. So with that being said lets take a look at the press conference unveiling for the Xbox One.

You can skip to the 1:27:30 to watch the actual start of the press conference if you don't feel like sitting through the entire color commentary of IGN covering the event. If you haven't watched it and don't want spoilers go back up and finish. ***SPOILERS AHEAD*** don't say I didn't warn you; so without a doubt comparisons have been long awaited to be cast between the PS4 reveal press conference and this and I must say Microsoft did play for play pretty much exactly as I would have expected from them with their current marketing scheme. Minimal actual gaming with a hard focus on the interoperability of the dashboard and Kinect with a hint of sporting appeal for the mass market. One thing I will say though; they definitely got the upper hand on Sony's press conference by actually showing the console in its entirety so now the pressure seems to be on Sony to put all their cards on the table come E3. As far as an overall showing comparison wise between the two press conferences I would say Microsoft had the most to offer as far as showing what their next console actually is and what its main focus will be.

The Xbox One will feature a wide variety of features aimed at capitalizing on its name as the One piece of technology you will need to have a complete at home entertainment setup. It will be your computer to surf the internet, the console to play your games on, your cable provider to deliver you all your favorite shows and sporting events, and so much more. Hopefully you watched the video and have a firm grasp on the capabilities of this new next gen console so I wont have to go into details but here are the top 5 noteworthy points:

1. Vibration motors ("impulse triggers") in the triggers
2. The d-pad on the controller has been redefined to be much better and precise.
3. The Xbox One has a disc loader like the PS3 instead of its traditional disc tray.
4. The Xbox One has both HDMI in and out ports.
5. Xbox One utilizes blue ray technology finally so say bye bye to DVD's.

Here you see the final specs that will be available for retail in the Xbox One

Now lets take a look at the top 5 things that were not shown or not answered in this press conference:

1. Will the console be required to always be online?
2. Will gamertags and gamerscores be transferable?
3. Will the Kinect no longer be pushed as an addition to the potential gaming library or will it just be used for apps?
4. Price of the console and an actual sales date. 
5. Live Video Game Demos!!!

Numbers 1,4, and 5 are the most pertinent and pressing that have the social media world a blaze with rumors and speculation and anger. Many denizens of the online world especially took to Twitter and Tumblr and voiced their concerns as such. I'm not exactly sure if maybe people realized or knew that Microsoft had already planned on having the press conference in two parts. Part one being the unveiling primarily of the console and its hardware and part 2 being most likely about the gaming and software side of the console. So for those hungry to see that side of things you will just have to wait until E3 in 19 days. So for those that are up in arms about what they didn't see or don't like about the presentation just chill and wait for part two at E3 cause you just gotta...

With all that said and done the most important thing to take away from all of this is the final comparison that can now be made between both the latest next generation consoles. Cause we all know that the console wars are never ending so who do you think will come out on top with this upcoming generation of gaming consoles? Leave a comment with where your money will be going and why...

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What Do You Do?

Another day dawns, another thought forms. Welcome to another random Monday blog here on In The Mind Of My Mind. Can't believe its another Monday already; seems like just yesterday it was Sunday. Anywhore let get the show started; at my job they have this health and wellness program going on that sorta got me thinking about today's topic. The number one illness to fear in a corporate working environment is not the common cold, nor the chicken pox, hell its not even AID's; it's simply stress. Stress is the number one cause of illness, nervous break downs and god he knows what else that can possibly go wrong in concerns to work. So what you may ask is the answer to the dilemma of stress? Having a hobby...

Whether its qwopping, exercising, cosplaying, shopping, sex, volunteering; we all as human beings need an outlet where we can enjoy ourself. This is primarily referred to as a hobby; this is defined as an activity done regularly in one's leisure time for pleasure. Personally I blog as my hobby even though at times it feels like work but I also play video games, surf the net, read manga, watch anime and do PC repairs. Different people have different hobbies but one thing is certain; you need to have at least one so you can lead a happy and healthy life. The more the merrier so if you have a hobby don't waste it, cause even men locked up in prison make the most of their hobbies so why shouldn't you?

So whats stopping you? Share your thoughts and hobbies in the comment section below...

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Hope You Don't Get Lost...

Game Mechanics - 1/2

Storyline - 2/2

Graphics - 1/2

Soundtrack - 1/2

Replay Value - 2/2

 Total Score - 7/10

Are ya ready kids? I can't hear you? Oh who lives in a pineapple under the....wait a sec wrong intro. Hey guys welcome to another video game review here with your friendly neighborhood gamer ZALGO_COMETH. Today we are going to be looking at  the recently released game titled "The Cave". Not one of the biggest releases for January as it was pretty much overshadowed by the release of the new "DmC: Devil May Cry" as well as "Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch". I opted to review this game because I feel it deserves some spotlight time as it is definitely worth a play; even more so if you are into puzzle solving and platforming. With that being said lets take a look at "The Cave".

The Cave is a platform-adventure video game developed by Double Fine Productions and distributed by Sega in January 2013 on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Wii U consoles via their respective storefronts and on Steam for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. The game was created by Ron Gilbert, building on an idea that he has had for nearly twenty years about a cave that lures people into it to explore their darker personality traits. The game borrows concepts from his earlier 1987 game, Maniac Mansion, in which the player initially selects three different characters from a cast of seven to explore the Cave. 

What’s Good:

Storyline; The Cave's story is based on a magical talking cave with a set of labyrinthine tunnels within it. Seven characters, drawn from across time and space and harboring dark secrets, have come to the Cave, believing they can "learn something about themselves and who they might become", as stated by Gilbert. As you play through the game you can unlock bits and pieces of each characters past that help the story unfold as the characters path to self discovery takes shape. This spans many areas and scenarios that are so verse that you undoubtedly will find yourself pulled into the story as it unfolds.

Replay Value; many of the game's puzzles require the three characters to work in coordination to complete, while some puzzles are specific to the unique abilities of a character; in this manner the Cave can only be fully explored through multiple play-through. With such a diverse set of characters to choose from and each with their own special ability you are guaranteed a multitude of different play-through experiences as you go about exploring the cave.

What’s Bad:

Soundtrack; honestly didn't really care for it. Don't even really remember feeling any bit of hype or suspense from the soundtrack. Was just there as an unimportant part of the game.

Game Mechanics; don't get me wrong the game mechanics of the game itself are ok but the fact that I had no idea what each persons special ability was even after trial and error to me is a big no no. So i feel like there should have been a better introduction or explanation of each character and what they are capable of so you can better choose your party of three to suit your play-style more. I ended up just picking who I thought looked cool.

What Should Have Been Added:

Not that the game lacked polish but in this day and age I feel like it could have used better graphics to help better bring across the importance of the cave and your surroundings as a whole. Hopefully there will be DLC to include more characters and possibly varying cave locations. They also needed a dedicated button to warp off screen players together because it got really tedious and annoying having to walk everyone together at times. I figure it might have been a better idea to make the co-op play split-screen so players have a better view and control of how they interact with each other.

Final Thoughts:

Overall "The Cave" provides a decent playing experience for anyone who decides to give it a shot. If you enjoy platforming games or puzzles you will definitely enjoy "The Cave". If you are just looking for a new game to try out as well I would recommend this as well. Hopefully if they make another one in the future they pick a better release window so the game can get a fair bit of exposure and not get overshadowed by bigger AAA titles.

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