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Funny, But True Dark Souls 2 Review

The Dark Souls series is one of the best from this or last generation, and I don’t think anyone would be angry if went on a never ending Final Fantasy style release path with more sequels than you can possibly keep track of. Oh, but speaking of angry, yes, you will get angry playing Dark Souls 2; I’m probably the calmest, most patient person you’ll ever meet, but when you have to start all the way over from the freaking beginning after yet another stupid little mistake, controllers will break and profanities will be articulately shouted.  But the reward for success?  That’s what makes this series so legendary, and what makes the review below so hilarious for those who have endured the highs and many, many lows!

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Why Nintendo is Struggling with the Average Gamer

Tough to write about Nintendo as a thing of the past. Unfortunately, that’s just what it seems to be.

Sure, we have Zelda, and Mario and Samus, but you know what we don’t have? A console worth buying.

Maybe Nintendo got too cute. Maybe they hit exactly where they aimed. Maybe they’re simply out of touch with the modern gamer.

And in order to make a come back, offense is necessary. Where’s Nintendo’s offense? We’re wondering the same thing. Continue reading “Why Nintendo is Struggling with the Average Gamer”

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We Want a New Soulblazer

Ah junior high. And bad graphics. And short swords that were supposed to be longer but weren’t. We’re not talking Lagoon here (although that game isn’t far off – the sword in that game was shorter than a toothpick and about as strong). We’re talking about Soulblazer. Time for some retro lovin’.

Soulblazer, for SNES, was the kind of game you’d play when you told your parents you’d be home in 15 minutes. 30 minutes later, you start questioning what was worse, giving up Soulblazer at your friend’s house, or just taking a larger punishment. Normally, the punishment prevailed.

However, now that we’re older (31, but who’s counting?), we want a remake! A no-joke, fully revamped map, fun but devilishly easy combat system, and more runes to collect. And that ball of light that surrounded us? We want him to. He can always come. He brings the party. Continue reading “We Want a New Soulblazer”

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Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!

Alright, confession time. I haven’t had this big of a guilty pleasure since I downloaded Miley Cirus’ The Climb back in 2009 (Which I played over Ventrillo during WoW raid bosses to aggravate the hell out of our main healer). At leas that’s what I keep telling myself…

But Borderlands? Keep it coming! This franchise is fun, addicting, and I don’t feel guilty when I walk away from it for a month. I loved Skyrim; I will always love Skyrim. But take a a couple weeks off and I had no clue what I was doing, or who I was supposed to sacrifice someone to, or what skill I was building.

Set to debut sometime in late 2014, Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel takes place before the storyline of the original in the series, and focuses mainly on Handsome Jack and his own personal bag of problems.  Continue reading “Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!”

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Call of Duty Advanced Warfare Official Reveal Trailer

Drop what you’re doing, and tell your notional secretary to hold all your calls for the next three minutes: the official Call of Duty Advanced Warfare reveal trailer has been released, and we have the intense video for you right here at SQ!  Just look up – literally, maybe like two centimeters – and hit play.  If you hear Kevin Spacey’s voice then you did everything correctly; if not, well, I’m not sure what to tell you.  As a big Call of Duty fan – especially of the earlier Modern Warfare series – I am pumped for Advanced Warfare! As always more after the jump – enjoy the CoD reveal trailer!

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Microsoft Claims Xbox One Will Be Break-Even or Profitable on Launch

Yusuf Mehdi, a senior vice president of the Windows giant’s Online Audience Business Group has placed Microsoft’s profitability bet, and it’s a steep one: “break-even or profitable on Day 1”.  Mehdi, a 21-year veteran of Microsoft Corp. with degrees from Princeton and Washington (BA Econ + MBA, respectively), is not only a smart dude, but incredibly successful.  According to his CrunchBase profile, he has led or been at the forefront at some of Microsoft’s, and even Reuters’ (his previous professional stop) biggest achievements.  He’s looking to add the Xbox One to his list of professional accomplishments, and with launch day just 16 days or so away, the day of reckoning is just around the corner.  So how realistic is this bet that he dropped this past Tuesday at the Citi Global Technology Conference?  Would you take it?  Based off his credentials alone, I think many folks would; as always however, there is more to the story line.

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Breathe Easy: PS4 Game Pricing Announced

Remember this rumor?  We can finally put the $70 video game chatter to rest, at least for a few years for both the PS4 and Xbox One, so go ahead and turn off the oxygen machine, and relax.  Although Microsoft released the much needed good news after their recent media firestorm due to the “always online” fiasco, Sony just recently announced the news through the highly-reputable, PC Gaming-heavy website, ShackNews.  Although Sony only mentions first party launch titles as part of the $60 pricing model, I would wager it is safe to expect all third party and future software to follow suit, at least for the first few years of the PS4’s existence.  If you’ve been gaming enough to remember when the last price hike occurred, then high five; well, you probably just Googled it, but whatever – the last hike from $50 to $60 hit our respective wallets in the late days of the long-lasting PS2.  Can we expect the same towards the end of the PS3’s existence, or will $60 hold true until next-next-gen?  Hit the link below for more thoughts as well as the exact quotes from Sony’s mouth.

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Finally an End to the Rumor Mill; Meet the Xbox One

Xbox One Revealed - SlightlyQualified.com

The rumor mill hath finally ended, thankfully.  Yesterday gamers around the world were entranced as Microsoft unveiled its third Xbox console, crushing the rumor mill once and for all with the true name, Xbox One.  What happened to 720, Durango, Stingray, and Infinity?  Gone, and it goes to show us all that they were most likely all generated just to garner the classic 15 minutes of fame, or they were just completely misled by Microsoft from the beginning.  Either way it’s a sad, depressing day for those rumor makers.  But what about us gamers?  It was “Xbox Reveal Day” after all; how did the unveil go, and what can we expect this November?  Hit the link below for all the details on One!

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PS4 Launch Lineup Will Trump Previous PlayStation Launches

Superlatives are fun.  “The PS4 is going to kick ass.”  “The PS4 will be the best ever.”  “SQ is probably the best website you’ve ever seen.”  Mark Cerny, the lead architect over at Sony’s PlayStation 4 department, has resorted to that very linguistic avenue when he recently described the upcoming PS4 launch lineup.  In a recent three-page interview with GamaSutra, Mr. Cerny made this very bold, yet extremely vague launch prediction: “The launch lineup for PlayStation 4–though I unfortunately can’t give the title count–is going to be stronger than any prior PlayStation hardware.”  While pretty much every hardware maker believes this (just to keep the superlative train going), Sony is now just coming out and saying it.  While it is arguably the most vague statement of the year, it does feature two words that I think give away what he’s basing his claim on.  Hit the link below for our Slightly Qualified take.

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Rumor Mill: Next Xbox To Be Always-Online System

Folks, before you start dropping OMG bombs on your favorite forums (ours coming soon), please keep in mind that this is just a rumor.  This has not been confirmed from Microsoft, or anyone official, but then again it hasn’t been denied or proven false either.  You want my Slightly Qualified opinion?  This will never happen.  According to two supposed “sources” at Kotaku, the next Xbox gaming console (Xbox 720, or Xbox Durango are the current code names) must have an Internet connection to play games or applications.  No Internet at home?  Then no game time for you.  Again, this is just a rumor people, so put the Molotov Cocktails away.  More thoughts and info after the link.

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PS4 Praised as Perfect Gaming PC

The PC gaming community is a stubborn crowd, and I can confidently make that claim because I consider myself part of that cadre of gamers.  Although consoles have come an insanely long ways over the last two generations or so to match up with PC’s, there still is a gap in a few ways and genres; the most specific gap in my oh so slightly qualified opinion is in the RTS, or Real-Time Strategy genre.  I couldn’t even fathom trying to play Red Alert or Starcraft 2 with a controller; I have got to have a mouse and keyboard or we’re gonna have some issues.  Are we understood?  But then you’ve got extremely prominent video game industry executives that drop the line-blurring bombs like the PS4 is the “perfect gaming PC”.  Say what?  Hit the link below for all of the details.

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