Things iWant Children To Know...Part 14.5

Today, was a decent enough day. I had to work, there was an awesome snowstorm, and the verdict of the Mike Brown killer's criminal trial thingy came on tonight. Needless to say, they had a press conference for it that kept getting pushed back until later and later into the evening. We all knew what was going to happen...

Things iWant my children to know...

"We live in a world fraught with evil at every turn. America is the most diverse country in the world, but its current system of diversity was founded on hate and enslavement. As much as a tragedy as the Mike Brown case was, the premise of his death was decided during the Trayvon Martin case.  No amount of protesting will change the way or system works in America, change comes from within our community.  As much as this is a black and white thing, as brown people we glamourize the destruction of our community through action and song, as a RACE in America most of us hold little value to those of the same skin but NOT of direct kin...so, it shouldnt come as a surprise that a cop who killed a black man would get away with it, especially since there have been SEVERAL cases over the past few years which were similar in scope and had similar outcomes. 

I think what has happened to Mike Brown is terrible, but the jury decision on whether to allow or disallow a criminal trial, well its just another affirmation that we live in America...

But iDigress...iWant my children to know...

Life isnt fair, it makes no sense to be mad about it unless it motivates you to take action. Not, fight the police and loot and riot action, but action that can shape the future of your life...and your future in a positive light. " - FPP

Rip Mike Brown

"Somebody's Watching Me..." Watch Dogs review (PS4)

I really wanted to do a super in-depth review of Watchdogs, but...i feel like it wouldnt do it justice.
No...thats a lie...
I really wanted to do a super in-depth review of Watchdogs, but i keep getting sidetracked by a lot of different things...such as,

- Call Of Duty Clan Wars
- Back Spasms
- Hunger
- E3
- Alphas, Betas, and bunches of other game demos and trials...and the list goes on.

But anywho, I definitely will say its a good game and a good storyline.  For what it is, the only thing hindering it from greatness is people CONSTANTLY comparing it to GTA5, which...it was never intended to be like. I felt that my peeps at Ubisoft did a great job of steering it away from the "Rockstar Series" but since it is one of the first openworld RPGs for our next gen systems thats probably why we get those expectations.

The hacker-based campaign mode REALLY hits home as a common theme as something that is going to affect our [real] world for years to come...shoot, eBay just got hacked out last month, and people in Cali already started hacking street signs (something which u can get points for doing in-game) among other things.

Also, where GTA5 excelled OVER Watchdogs (world size and variation, and game length) Watchdogs optimized the game with more power ups and graphics (all made possible by next gen systems). The framerate on PS4 is BONKERS, and so are the load speeds. Tooling around town on a motorcycle, i never noticed any environmental objects actively loading or rendering as i travel through the game. Only thing i could complain about is that sometimes during cutscenes the contrast between peoples faces and the background was a bit unrealistic.  Only other things iDidnt like were the "digital trip" bonus levels but that dislike was totally preferential.

Driving, Mini Games (Chess, Gambling, Checkers, etc.), weapons, and everything else outside of the main campaign made roaming and exploring very fun.  You can even go sight seeing at some famous landmarks in the fair city of Chicago, which the game is based around if you didn't know already.

So, as another round of Clan Wars continues, and I move forward with downloading and playing a SLEW of Beta Games on my console(s) PS3 & PS4, I will say...

Watch Dogs is DEFINITELY worth the buy, I'm glad iPurchased it on the day it was released, it is one of very few open world games available for PS4 as of late and it looks BEAUTIFUL on ALL of the systems it was released on.  But, if you ARE a GTA fanboy, the game is still worth buying, but may be mildly disappointing if you EXPECT it to be the same sort of game as GTA, as it is totally different. Not better or worse, just different. 

Here's a little link for graphics comparison in WatchDogs...from IGN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZjfR9YrWFw

#FollowThePhantom

"Take Me Out To The Ball Game..." MLB The Show 14 (PS4) Review

Now, by no means am I a "Baseball Nut".  I can remember in the (19)90's playing in little leagues for several years as an elementary and middle school kid, and having a pretty extensive baseball card collection which I still have today, but, if someone were to ask me if I knew who the starting pitcher of the Seattle Mariners is in their next game or who has the highest batting average on the Arizona Diamondbacks this season, well...you've got me beat.

With that said, I DO, I mean I am an AVID Milwaukee Brewers fan.  Growing up in Southeast,WI AND, periodically going to games made me that way. So, at least in that aspect, my interests gave me a little bit of an incentive to pick up MLB The Show for my PS4, to...you know, test the system out.

Upon popping in the disc (yea I'm old school, I still buy the discs), I did notice, that after the initial update to the game, there is a pretty damn lengthy update "in game" to download.  I tried to do some research on this and I believe it was for rendering and uploading player models and the stadiums to the system for easy access, but who knows? I sure as hell didn't, but the hour it took to at least get playing an exhibition match was nothing compared to the extra 12-24 hours it took the "digital download pre-order" people to even get the game downloaded from Playstation Network due to...technical difficulties?...I don't even know.

Now, while I don't feel comfortable comparing the game to the PS3 version which hit stores over a month ago, I can compare it to the other sports games that I've played for PS4 since it's came out.  Honestly, between FIFA, MADDEN, NBA 2k14...The Show comes up near the top of the list.  Graphics-wise, definitely on par with how beautiful NBA 2k14 looks.  Physics and animations are life like even down to people in the crowd holding up signs and leaning over onto the infield to try and pick up a foul ground ball if it's close to the fence.  Now, that's not to say it doesn't have it's "glitches" or room for improvement though...jerseys look a little stiff (think extra starch), and there are a few, very few times where batters will be called strikes for check swings that CLEARLY don't cross the plate, but they get called on anyway.  Small things that don't take away much, if at all from the whole game experience.

The stadiums are rendered so well, I feel like I'm in the 13 year old Miller Park whenever I play home games even down to the EXTRA large jumbotron opposite home plate.


Controls are easy enough to enjoy playing for long periods of time due to the customization of them.  Example, there are 4+ different ways to control batting, several different ways to manipulate pitching, and a buffet of in-game sliders for more advanced gamers to cater and customize to their playing preferences.

I'd also love to go over the Franchise mode, but damn...there is soooooo many things with franchise mode...I don't know where to start.  I thought things we're intense in NBA 2k series Franchise Modes.  MLB The Show is another monster; managing a team is not TOO difficult, but there are many different ways to manage players, trades, and everything else...that's baseball though, the avg gamer may find franchise mode in MLB The Show overwhelming but to the Baseball Aficionado, they'll feel right at home with all of the options you have for building your team.

So, I have played this game for about 4-6 hours so far since I've had it, so as time goes on...I may add to this post but, in conclusion...MLB The Show 14 (PS4), is an AWESOME looking and playing game.  It's very leisurely, just as baseball is in real life BUT, I wouldn't say it's a must have for EVERY gamer on PS3/PS4.  I'd really only recommend it to people who have at least a slight interest in baseball, cause with any game such as Baseball and Golf, if you know nothing about it, or don't care to know or learn about it, it can get boring fairly quick.  I will say, for me it brings back memories and rekindled a love for America's Favorite Pastime that I haven't had in years, just because of the realism in the game as a whole.

PLAY BALL!!!