Friday, June 1, 2012

May Brewed - Coffees Consumed, Games Played!

Coffee Beans
     So, May marked a "return" of sorts to a more normal posting schedule here on CoffeeWithGames, since the beginning of the year! What games did I play, and coffees did I consume in May? Let's take a look!


Coffees Consumed
     May was pretty simple as for the coffees. All the blends we had were Maxwell House, which Mrs. Coffee buys quite often. First up was the Maxwell House Master Blend. It is a nice mild coffee blend, which they say is "perfect for every morning.", but I can testify it's pretty good throughout the entire day as well.
     Second, we had a big container of the Maxwell House Gourmet Roast and its flavor description says it is "Deliciously Smooth". I prefer my coffee black, and RARELY (about as rare as the Bigfoot sightings, maybe more-so) put cream and/or sugar in my coffee, but I think I have reached a point now where if a coffee is "mild", I don't notice much of a flavor difference. It's definitely not a bad thing, and perhaps it's a reflection that I'm drinking coffee to help me to stay awake, more than just to enjoy...though I do both.
    The last blend in the Coffee House for May was Maxwell House Dark Roast. Its description reads, "Rich & Full Bodied", and I do think this one has the "Dark Roast" part down very well. It's definitely noticeable as a dark roast coffee, but not so much that it tastes burnt. Being that I enjoy "strong" coffee flavors, I enjoy this blend a good deal, and have a cup of it right now, with another cup in the pot.
Can you name them all?
Games Played
     Jett Rocket - I downloaded this WiiWare demo last year, and have played through it twice now, enjoying it both times. As I was preparing the above image, our oldest Bean saw Jett Rocket and asked, "Who's that!?", which then ended up with me finding a few YouTube videos for him to watch while I was piecing it together. I haven't downloaded a WiiWare game in a long-time, but I'm hoping that Nintendo will confirm next week that all WiiWare/Virtual Console purchases already made will transfer to the Wii U, without any major issue(s). If they can finally announce that, I might just perhaps download Jett Rocket and give the full game a try. If you missed the WiiWare Wednesday post on Jett Rocket's reported game-play hours, you can read the full report HERE.
     Sanctum - Sanctum is the very first demo I downloaded after I started my Steam account. I had attempted it last year I believe, and it ran pretty rough due to my GPU at the time. In January, I upgraded my PSU and GPU, and then at the beginning of May I finally gave the Sanctum demo another try, and completed the full demo. Sanctum is a "tower defense" type game with a FPS view, and it does have weapons to shoot at the enemies (not sure how this is compared to other tower defense games). It was the first tower defense game I can recall playing, and the more time I spent in the demo, it started to remind me of chess games. It really does seem to require a good strategy to setup the defenses around the level, and try to be planning ahead for the next waves of enemies that will be coming, even though you aren't sure what those may be.
     Rayman Origins - I started playing Rayman Origins, again, from the beginning on May 18, and finished the campaign yesterday afternoon. According to the Nintendo Channel data, I put just over 27 hours into the game, in 2 weeks! Now, I do know some of that time was the game being left on, as I was going to check on the little Beans at night, and I also recorded some footage one night for the data report on the game, but I would suspect most people should get a good 20 hours out of it easily. Which makes me wonder how/why the reported game-play hours for it are barely over 10 Hours "Per person", as I showed in my "Platforming Awesomeness! Rayman Origins Hours Report" post.
     Red Steel 2 - What happens when you reserve a game with $5 down on it about a month before the game releases, but fail to purchase the game? Then skip 2+ years into the future? Well, you can't remember if the $5 credit is still on the game, if you already used it on another game, or if the wonderful corporation that is Game Stop made it magically disappear. I reported on Red Steel 2's reported game-play hours over the last 2 years in May, and the same day I left the house and decided to stop by Game Stop to see if my $5 credit was still on the game. While the credit wasn't anywhere to be found, I did end up purchasing Red Steel 2, and so far I have played it just under 30 minutes. I'm enjoying the art style, but still getting used to the controls and I'll try to share more thoughts on the game when I either finish it, or perhaps as I progress through it more.
     Rage of the Gladiator - I decided to battle the first boss in Rage of the Gladiator using the game's Wii MotionPlus control settings before I started playing Red Steel 2. While I did defeat the first boss, I failed to defeat him perfectly! One hit too many. If you haven't played Rage of the Gladiator, you can find the WiiWare demo for it on the Nintendo Shop Channel.
     PAYDAY: The Heist - What happens when you go to Game Stop, and spend cash on a game? Well, you come home and find an incredible sale on a PC game, that you can't believe! Amazon.com had PAYDAY: The Heist on sale in May for only $5! I own the PS3 version, but was curious as to how/if my PC could run the game. For $5 bucks, I figured it was worth a try, and sure enough, the game runs pretty well, and I already completed the first "heist" in the game. When I was purchasing it from Amazon.com, I didn't realize the game was actually going to run through Steam, but that's what it does. Fortunately, I already had the Steam account, so that wasn't an issue for me.

Question
     What games did you play in May, and did any coffee blends help you survive the month?
     Also, if you have any questions about the games I played in May, or the coffees I consumed, feel free to ask in the comments below or by contacting me directly.

17 comments:

  1. "What games did you play in May..."

    Hrmm... Mario Tennis Open, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Grand Theft Auto III (I dunno why but it's a favourite now) and occasionally Mario Kart 7 online.

    Let's not talk Mario Tennis Open's online though... *cough cough splutter*

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  2. I played Mario Tennis Open, Kid Icarus: Uprising, Tales of the Abyss, Rayman Advance, We Love Golf!, and I think that is it. Oh, I did some Sonic 4: Ep II with my brother, but I was just along for the ride.

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  3. I have had a very busy May! Mario Tennis Open and Colors 3D on the 3DS, Dragon's Dogma on PS3, and Pandora's Tower on Wii (played it through twice now).

    June is going to be even busier. I just got Atelier Meruru :D I LOVE MERURU.

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  4. Good to see regular posts coffee, maybe it will rub off on me. :)

    I had the usual Melitta classic, european and probably columbian blends. I also finally setup a subscription on amazon for Melitta which saves a little bit of money, but is mostly for convenience.

    As for gaming I have been getting a good bit going in 2012. Still no Wii, but alot of things are moving along and I'm aiming for July.

    The list:

    3DS:
    - The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks
    - Mario Kart 7
    - Mutant Mudds
    - Zen Pinball 3D
    - Rayman Origins Demo
    - The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
    - VVVVVV
    - Mighty Switch Force
    - Dark Void Zero

    Steam:
    - Portal 2 (user maps are very cool)

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  5. "Grand Theft Auto III..."
    Interesting. Reminds me of watching my cousin play it many years ago, like 10+.

    What console are you playing it on?

    As for Mario Tennis Open's online, does it lag a lot? Or, just not run well in general?

    Thanks for the comment!

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  6. "Oh, I did some Sonic 4: Ep II with my brother, but I was just along for the ride."
    Haha, I was actually wondering if you were going to review it yourself, as like a split review.

    As for Mario Tennis Open's online, is it hacked?! Already? *not good to hear about poor online, from a recently released Nintendo game...GET WITH IT NINTENDO!

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  7. "Pandora's Tower..."
    The game from Operation Rainfall I'm most interested in. I really hope Nintendo confirms it at E3 in some fashion, even if it's just a press release.

    Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but is Dragon's Dogma single-player only? I was skimming a game magazine, and I thought they listed it as single-player only, which I thought was interesting.

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  8. "I had the usual Melitta classic, european and probably columbian blends. I also finally setup a subscription on amazon for Melitta which saves a little bit of money, but is mostly for convenience."

    Nice! I wondered if anybody used the Amazon auto-refill services, and how well it worked. I can imagine pretty well, because Amazon seems to be a pretty well oiled corporation when dealing with orders/shipping.

    Good to hear July is in the time window for the Wii being released from its captivity, but from your 3DS list, it does appear you have remained pretty busy.
    I gotta say, Mutant Mudds is one of the first games I would probably buy for a 3DS if I get one. What do you think of it?

    As for the Steam playing, I was just on that tonight, testing PAYDAY's online out. I may end up caving in to the Humble Bundle V I first read about on Chalgyr's site, so this new PC gaming thing may continue for a while.

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  9. Both. Lag and just... crap.

    Also, I am playing GTA III like a baus (haven't said that in a while) on the PS2. Still one of the most solid pieces of hardware out there (solid meaning continued game sales and games being made for it, not solid as when people ragequit and throw it out the window)

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  10. GTAIII: That's awesome, I love that game along with Vice City. I had the original CD's from the early 2000's then got them again on Steam a few years ago along with San Andreas. Should probably play (and complete) them someday!!

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  11. So far so good on the subscription service. We received the first one last week and 2x23oz cans are set to arrive monthly. Seems real flexible as it can be modified or stopped at any time. We also looked into a few brands of tea, but it didn't seem to be worth it.

    We've been looking at many houses online and saw a number of them in person today. July/August should be feasible if we can find something. Many have a gameroom which would be cool to eventually use for, well, gaming with a big screen again.

    Yeah the 3DS has been pretty awesome for me and I'll be glad to eat crow based on my comments last year. As for Mutant Mudds I should really do a review or at least some impressions. The quick take is that it's retro platforming perfection with some cool 3D perspective twists. Sure it could probably be a bit longer and maybe include some bosses, but overall it's great. It has some great chiptune music as well.

    I'd get that bundle as it has some great games and is a solid way to build up your Steam account. I still need to play limbo now that i actually bought it in November. The sound and those spiders still make me jump when playing in the dark with a 360 controller. (*RUMBLE*)

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  12. Man - gotta say, seeing this headline on your blog just put a huge smile on my face, bud. So good to see you in action again.

    Pretty good list of games there. I concur that the controls of Red Steel 2 took a bit of getting used to, but the art style's pretty slick. I noticed in one of your other posts that Rage of the Gladiator uses the Motionplus - I recall several of your older posts on thi game, as well as videos on beating certain characters, and think it's cool that a) you are still playing it and b) gave the Motionplus a try with it.

    My coffee still came in Bigby form - usually Bigby's best blend or Michigan Cherry.

    Games? Interesting timing. It seemed like I was playing the same three or for games for months, but recently beat those and opened the floodgates a bit more now:

    PC:

    - Diablo III
    - RPG Maker VX Ace (if you can call that a game)
    - Poked at Skyrim a bit

    3DS:

    - Kid Icarus: Uprising
    - A little Zelda: Ocarina in Time

    PS3:

    - Just started L.A. Noire
    - Final Fantasy XIII-2
    - Record of Agarest War Zero
    - Outland
    - NBA Jam: On Fire Edition

    Xbox 360:

    - Mass Effect 3 (multiplayer)
    - Modern Warfare 3 (multiplayer)
    - Rage
    - Alien Homnid

    PSP & Wii: They mostly collected dust last month

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  13. "I noticed in one of your other posts that Rage of the Gladiator uses the Motionplus..."
    Yea, it adds up/down swing attacks, which is a nice addition to the left/right...again, optional, not required. I thought it was great for a WiiWare developer to add the WM+ support like they did so fast, and animations for the up/down attacks on the enemies showed they put some effort into it.

    "RPG Maker VX Ace (if you can call that a game)"
    Well, you make games with it...that can be played. So why not?!

    Kind of interesting you mentioned "NBA Jam: On Fire Edition", as I checked the Nintendo Channel for NBA Jam's game-play hours, but the game doesn't even show up. That's how TERRIBLY EA rushed the game to the Wii. If WiiWare games can get listed, but a game with NBA Jam's brand recognition isn't even available with basic info...there's not much good to say about that.

    "Wii: They mostly collected dust last month"
    Did you ever download the Rage of the Gladiator demo? If not, you could break out the duster and give it a try.

    So, in total, I counted 14 games you played in May...and I'm expecting 14 "reviews" (I'll let RPG Maker VX Ace get a "preview" of sorts) by the end of this week now. :)

    If I'm ever up in Michigan, I'm going to have to keep an eye out for the Bigby stations, and give their coffee a try.

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  14. Haha, well - RPG Maker actually did get a review while you were on hiatus. I do have a slew of reviews forthcoming though hopefully. :)

    NBA Jam on the Wii was fun, but it did feel rushed, it did not get much marketing and it was a $15-20 game within months. On the PSN I think the game's better than the Wii version, has better online and has trophies and only runs like $15 normally (and I got it discounted for like $11)

    I will admit - I have not yet for gladiator. I should too. I have 2,000 Wii points just sitting on that console unused at this point.

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  15. "has better online"
    Fixed that for ya. :)

    Well, the ROTG demo is free to try, and gives you a good idea of what to expect from the game-play.

    "Haha, well - RPG Maker actually did get a review while you were on hiatus."
    How do you review a non-game? *oh, how he changes what a game is so quickly

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  16. It was definitely a different kind of review, especially for me as I usually break down my reviews by categories, like Graphics and Music - but here you supply your own. So mostly I just talked about how the software worked, what I liked about it and how it compared to earlier iterations of RPG Maker. It also prompted me to start some of my smaller 'mini reviews' I'm sure you've seen, where I simply talk about the game, provide a few screens and give an overall score/impression without worrying quite so much about the technical breakdown I use for bigger titles like Mass Effect 3. :)

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