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Top Five Video Games For 2014!

With the new generation of consoles here, 2014 will be the year that we finally get the games we have been waiting for.  This is good for PC gamers as well, since the console ports will not look like trash.  Here are the top five video games I am looking forward to in 2014:

5: The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

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I only played the first two Witchers a little, but they always interested me.  It looks like number three will finally be the one that gets my full attention.  It features a massive world, and crazy good graphics.  This will probably be the fantasy RPG that I buy next year.

4: Destiny

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A new FPS by the people that made Halo? Yes please!  Destiny looks to combine a little of everything to make a totally new shooter experience, and I can’t wait to play it.

3: Titanfall

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I don’t play a lot of first person shooters, yet here is another one on my list.  It is being made by the people who created Call of Duty.  I am ready to see what else besides military shooters that they can make.  Plus it has giant mechs, and I love giant mechs!

2: Thief

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Formally called Thief 4, we a finally get to play as Garrett again.  Sneaking around a steam-punk based world and shooting people with trick arrows is one of the best things in video games, so a new full length game sounds wonderful!

1: The Division

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When I saw this game during the 2013 E3 coverage my jaw dropped.  A large modern open world RPG that you can play with your friends? Yes, yes, yes!  I hope that this game turns out because I am drooling right now thinking about it.

There you go, that is my list!  There are a lot of good games coming out next year, and I would love to hear what you are waiting to play.

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My Five Favorite Video Games Of 2013!

I did not play a lot of new games in 2013 since I was saving up for my Xbox One.  Maybe next year I will be able to play more (oh wait, I am having a kid so I guess not).  Of the ones I did play, here are my five favorites in reverse order:

5: The Cave

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The Cave was fairly simple, and it didn’t have the most creative puzzles ever, but it was incredibly charming.  It made me smile the whole time I played it, so for that it makes the list at number five.

4: Shadowrun Returns

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I played a lot of the pen and paper role playing game Shadowrun in 2013, so to be able to play it on the computer was great.  This crowd-funded indie’s major flaw was that it was lacking a save anywhere system, but it looks like they are going to fix that in early 2014, so it is only going to get better.

3: State of Decay

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2013 was the year that indie games really took off with them filling two of my top five slots, and State of Decay was one of the best.  It combined rouge-like gameplay with zombie survival.  Microsoft was very smart when they locked this title up for themselves for a few months.

2: Assassins Creed 4

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I have not done a proper review of this game since I just started playing it on my Xbox One, but of what I have played, I have been very happy.  I am only in the early going, but it is far more engaging than Assassin’s Creed 3, and I am guessing it has to do with having my own boat and sailing the ocean blue!

This game is awesome.  I have never felt more like a pirate in any game I have ever played.  Sid Meier’s Pirates finally has some competition!  Got a new Xbox One and need a game to play?  Look no further.

1: Peggle 2

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Oh man I love this game!  It makes me happy to play it, and in the end that is what games are supposed to do.  If you want to play a game celebrates your success as much if not more than you do, than this should be on the top of your list.

So what were your favorite games this year, or why is my list completely wrong?  Leave a comment below and let the world know.

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My Five Favorite Movies Of 2013!

2013 was a pretty good year for movies.  I enjoyed the growing trend of movies turning in to serial franchises so we can see our favorite characters year after year, and we know that the endless sequels are planned and not just an afterthought.   With that being said here are my top five films in reverse order:

5: The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

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This movie built on the wonder of the first movie, and they actually gave us a story this time around.  A lot of people didn’t like it since it was mostly fan fiction, but it was well worth the trip to the theaters.

4: The World’s End

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The World’s End did what most comedies can only dream of, and that is to be over the top funny and still tell a story worth telling.  This was the final chapter in the Cornetto Trilogy, and it definitely made me wish there were more flavors in that ice cream.

3: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

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Middle movies are supposed to be lame since they have no beginning and no end, but no one told that to the people making Catching Fire.  It was much better than the first movie, and in my opinion better than the book that spawned it.  This is the best middle movie since The Empire Strikes Back, and I can’t wait to see the next one.

2: Gravity

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This probably was the best movie of the year, but my inner thirteen-year-old made me drop it a spot.  This movie was made for theaters, and when I watched it I felt like I was on the verge of falling out of space.  High concept special effects movies like this are almost never made due to the high cost and low returns, but I am so glad that it was because it was fantastic.  I am pulling for Sandra Bullock to win the Oscar this year!

1: Pacific Rim

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I haven’t been this giddy watching a movie in the theaters since I was a kid, and that feeling is why this movie is number one on my list.  It made me gawk at the epic battles before my eyes.  It so clearly understood the type of movie that it was, and it played it up beautifully.  If you didn’t see this movie in theaters I feel bad for you.

So what were your favorite movies this year, or why is my list completely wrong?  Leave a comment below and let the world know.

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Saving Mr. Banks!

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Saving Mr. Banks is a 2013 film produced by Disney Pictures and directed by John Lee Hancock.  It seems that John Lee Hancock is the guy to get when you want to produce a sweet Bio-Pic, because Saving Mr. Banks is just as good as his previous directorial effort The Blind Side.

The story follows P.L. Travers (Emma Thompson) as she flies to Los Angeles to try and co-write a script for Mary Poppins that she can live with.  Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) has been trying to make this happen for twenty years, so he is trying his best to get the difficult woman to work with him and his crew.  While writing the script Travers flashes back to her childhood, and to the father she loved Travers Robert Goff (Colin Farrell).

Like most “based on a true story” movies, there are several differences between it and the real-life tale, but what they have presented is quite good.  It is a touching story about the influence a father can have on a child.  Even a father with some serious flaws can positively shape the lives of his kids.

Had you told me before I saw this movie, staring both Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks, the performance that would blow me away would be Colin Farrell, I wouldn’t have believed you, but it is true.  He is the standout in this film full of talented people.  His portrayal of P.L. Travers’ father is almost perfect.  It is sad and sweet, and he makes Goff someone you can root for.  Now both Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks are predictably good, great in fact as is the rest of the cast, but Farrell was incredible.

John Lee Hancock, who is known for his sports biography movies, deftly applies his skills to this story of a quarrelling writer and billionaire.  He somehow makes a film about acquiring legal creative rights both interesting and enjoyable.  True he had great actors to work with, but it was him that kept the whole movie in focus and on track.  It was perfectly edited, so that it did not feel too long or that anything was left out.

It was a good film, and one that will no doubt be in the hunt for some Oscars next year.  Of course a movie created by Disney Pictures would paint Disney as the hero of this film, but still it was fun to watch.  I also hope that after this movie Farrell starts getting some better roles because he is more than capable.

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Get In Shape With Xbox Fitness!

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I am not going to lie, I got my Xbox One so I could sit on the couch and play video games.  When I heard that it was coming with an App called Xbox Fitness that was free with Xbox Live Gold, I just thought it would be an added benefit that I would never use, but since I have decided to get in better shape, I gave it a try.  It has kicked my butt, but in the best possible way.

The App is basically a mixture of workout videos and those ever popular dancing video games, but with the new tech in the Kinect 2.0 it can truly see how well you are doing by monitoring your heart rate, and by seeing if the desired area of your body is heating up or not.  The first time you use the App you enter your age, weight, and height, that way it can tell how many calories you are burning, and then you select the workout video you want to do.

Once in the workout video the Kinect will watch and see if you are properly mimicking the trainer on screen, and if you are doing the moves with the proper vigor.  If you are, it gives you points and achievements; If you are not, it tells you to work harder, and you earn nothing.  It also displays how far through the video you are, and how much longer the current exercise will last.  Getting more points is a surprisingly good motivational tool, and even more so when they start to compare your scores with averages for people in your age and fitness levels.  I always want to get my score above average.

The biggest downside to this App is that most of the workout videos are in the same genre of exercise, and if you want something else, you will have to pay to add it to your library.  If you just want general aerobic circuit training workouts though, the free videos should have you covered.

Xbox Fitness is a good idea, and one that adds value to the purchase of an Xbox One.  Provided that you use it of course, but it is a little something extra to make the Xbox Live Gold subscription look like a better deal.  If you have an Xbox One and Live Gold, and you want something to help you get or stay in shape, Xbox Fitness is worth downloading and checking out.