Preview: Video Games Live

My birthday is in November. Tomorrow, February 26th, I will be celebrating my birthday. My long-awaited gift is finally here. Mollie and I will be headed to Video Games Live at the Strathmore Music Center in Bethesda. She got us tickets back in November to see this event, and I can't wait.

Video Games Live is an orchestra and choir concert featuring video game music spanning from old retro classic games to now popular next-gen games. I guess it's sort of a medley of the evolution of video game music.

I'll be back with another post to let you guys know how it went.  Meanwhile, I'll be humming the Tetris theme song in anticipation of the show.

Get the most out of your games

In the past when I've finished a game I usually put it back on the shelf just to forget about it. Before I know it, I have accumulated a collection that rivals a video game store.

Now, instead of letting the stockpile sit there and collect dust, I take a proactive approach...I sell them! I've made large portions of my purchase price back by selling my old games on eBay or Craigslist. To get the most bang for you buck, however, it's all about timing and to make the most gain from your games you must unload them at the right time. 

This is especially true for sports games because new games are released each year. A sports game from 10 years ago isn't going to make a killing now. Because athletic seasons are so long you've got a nice window to get rid of your games. In addition, if there's a big sporting event coming up and you have a game in that particular sport, try to list it. Dropping Madden right before the Super Bowl is a good move.

If you buy a game and complete it in a relatively short time and know you won't pick it up again for a while or even at all, in order make the most profit and get the most value, you want to sell it as soon as possible. Like I said, it's all about timing. The closer to the release date of the game that you sell, the more potential monetary earnings there are to be made.

Finally, do your research. Look to see how much your game is going for. You want to make the price comparable to what's out on the market. Why would a buyer choose your game if it's $10, $20 more than what's available already? Offer certain perks that would make the consumer purchase your game like free shipping or include any extras that came with the game itself.

I'm no marketing or economic buff, but this model for selling games has been working for me. If you need to make a few bucks try it out and watch the cash flow in.

Review: Stacking

A matryoshka doll, also known as a Russian nested doll or a babushka doll, is a set of dolls of decreasing sizes placed one inside the other.

-Wikipedia

After reading that definition you're ready to play video games, right? Me too.

Double Fine Productions manages to center Stacking around the most obscure but genius idea in recent memory. Pairing great visuals with simple gameplay, the game places you in a world of animated Russian nesting dolls with the central story focusing on a family of chimney sweeps. Yep, chimney sweeps. You play as the smallest doll in the family, Charlie Blackmore, and are pitted with the task of saving your loved ones from an evil industrialist known as The Baron, who's captured and forced them to work for him.

In this third-person puzzle/adventure game you are able to stack inside and unstack out of dolls. The only catch is that in order to stack into the body another doll, the doll must be one size larger than you are. Each doll has a different special ability that you must utilize to solve puzzles throughout the game. For example, early on you must stack into a doll with a key on his head to open a gate. And later, into a bird that flies so as to gain access to an open window. Finding solutions to these various challenges gets you closer to reuniting your family.

Complementing the main adventure are several added elements that add to the lasting appeal of the game. In addition to multiple solutions to each puzzle, I found myself searching for unique dolls to unlock and actually spent quite an absorbent amount of time attempting the many side quests.

Stacking goes for a cool $14.99 and is well worth it. Playing a game with the focal point based on such an uncommon idea was refreshing. I believe it's this outside-the-box concept that makes the game so appealing.

Video game artwork

About a year ago, my wife and I ventured to National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.  After checking out the restaurants and shops, we stumbled upon Art Whino, a DC-based art gallery.  From the outside it didn't look like much, but upon entering we were visually treated to some really nice pieces.  As we were leaving my eye caught the gem above entitled NEStalgia.  It's a compilation of various Nintendo video game characters as uniquely interpreted by the artist.  Not only were some of my favorite video game personalities plastered up on a canvas, but I appreciated the non-typical look of each of them.  See Mario, Donkey Kong, etc.

I'm somewhat indecisive with certain things.  If you know me you can probably attest to that. We were staying for the weekend, so I had a couple of days to ponder whether to purchase this artwork or not.  The fact that I could wait to decide didn't help.  Actually, it probably made it worse.  Investing in art can be expensive, and I was perplexed.  The day we were slated to head home (and with a little convincing from my wife) I decided it would be worth it and bought the painting.

Almost a year later, and I've finally gotten around to hanging it up.  Maybe it was laziness or just plain forgetting about it, but now that it's on display I'm really pleased with how it looks.

Listen up

Compared to typical stereo audio, gaming with surround sound makes for an entirely different experience. When that surround sound is literally pressed up against your head, it's euphoric. For Christmas I got a Turtle Beach Earforce DX 11 headset. It's a mouthful, I know, but it offers full Dolby digital surround sound. Hopefully having this noise constantly encompassing my ears won't have any long-term effects. I'm too young to be hard of hearing.

One month in, I'm very impressed with these bad boys. I have no idea how they pack the headset with so much audio goodness, but I'm not complaining. There's been numerous occasions while gaming where I've felt marginally bad for a second for using these. I can hear EVERYTHING. For instance, footsteps behind me, the direction of gunfire, every sound effect in the game. It's as if I'm somehow cheating. All right, honestly, I don't feel bad at all. It's more of a I'm-better-than-you feeling, and it's all thanks to this headset.

The DX 11's have really changed my gaming sessions for the better. Everyone needs a quality headset, so quit using that flimsy thing you got with your console and get yourself a real device. You can thank me later.

Headed to PAX East

Tickets are booked. Even though it's over a month until this thing actually takes place, I figured I'd let you share in my splendor. This will be my first game expo, and I'll be fervently waiting for March.

An old college buddy and I are traveling to Massachusetts for the semi-annual Penny Acrade Expo (PAX) held at the Boston Convention and Exposition Center. It's going to be a three day festival, March 11th-13th, where we'll take part in a keynote speech, concerts, game industry panels, exhibitor booths, parties, and game tournaments. An all inclusive weekend for all things gaming.

Mark your calendars. I'll make sure to grab some photos and let you in on what happens.