Bargain Bin Reviews (April 15-21)

Hello and welcome again to the Bargain Bin Reviews! This is the feature where we take time finding the good games on the cheap so you don’t have to! This week we have turned our focus more on one title apiece so you could gain a bit more insight. As always feel free to pick up any of the games we talk about by clicking on the Amazon link to the right.

Steve’s Pick

Just Cause 2

The point of these Bargain Bin Reviews is to inform you, the buyer, of cheap games that are more than worth your money. They are also designed to introduce you to games that could be considered hidden gems. If you are looking for a good story then Just Cause 2 might not be for you, but if your goal is to run around an island while blowing up as much stuff as you can then you are set. Bad guy driving you crazy? Grapple him to the back of your car, and drag him around. Need to catch a ride on a helicopter? Grapple on to it and hold on. Falling from the previous helicopter? Don’t worry just grapple on to the ground. “Why does that work,” you ask? Just Cause (2).

Tanner’s Pick

Splinter Cell: Conviction

Splinter Cell's 2010 reboot is everything that I love about modern gaming. All of the important information is projected on the environment rather than cluttering up your HUD, and the game cleverly alternates between color and black-and-white to let you know when you are hidden. You can exploit the enemy AI by luring them to the last position that they saw you, and mark and execute all of the fools in a room if you're good. Besides a compelling single-player story, the game also has a separate co-op campaign as well. Nothing is more fun than setting up ambushes with your buddy or simultaneously performing silent kills to keep a low profile. This game has a ridiculous value for $20.

Matt’s Pick

Darksiders

If you want to talk about games that came in “under the radar” in 2010 Darksiders has to be towards the top of your list. Imagine for a second that I told you about a game that took the best elements from the Legend of Zelda series and the best elements from the God of War series…awesome right? That is exactly what you have with the game Darksiders as you take control of one of the four horsemen during a time of chaos. Make your way though dungeon upon dungeon, upgrade your weapons and abilities, and hack and slash your way through some rather creative enemies. With the sequel on its way Darksiders is a no-brainer to pick up for under 20 bucks. 

Kory’s Pick

House of the Dead: OVERKILL Extended Cut 

I love ridiculous games.  This one is ridiculous on a cocktail of speed and steroids.  A classic feeling light-gun game with fast action and even more over the top language (this game has literally set the record on total swearing in a single game), coupled with the option of Move capability and you've got a recipe of bargain bin gold. As the cherry that’s on top of this already delicious sundae of a game, this is the extended cut edition, meaning more guns, more levels, and even more zombies to blast! Pick this up while its on sale at Amazon!

David’s Pick

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Explore a mysterious and mind-bending mental maze armed only with an oil lamp and your lack of sanity, constantly being pulled in by the fascinating nature of the story that lies buried.  Frictional games really take the tension and dread of weapon-less survival horror to a whole new level, leaving the player with a masterfully designed soundscape and some frighteningly unlockable doors to hide behind.  Sometimes you'll want to leave and never return, but the game's world is so fascinating that you will want to keep discovering, keep playing.  If you've ever wanted to be completely sucked into an experience, if you've ever wanted to over stimulate your fight or flight response, or maybe if you've ever wanted to be strangled to death by your own fear of pixels and code, then you
owe Amnesia your time.

Juan’s Pick

Prey

Inspired by a previous article by one of +10Damages own, I had to recommend Prey. If the mind bending, fast action shooting doesn't sell you than maybe one of the best opening sequences in all of gaming will. I won't spoil it for you if you haven't played it, but it's definitely worth the 15 bucks just for the first 10 minutes of this game. Add some solid visuals, gravity defying weirdness, as well as some solid fast paced multiplayer and you will  be checking the corners and ceilings in no time.

Summer Hits: Disc-Based Edition

Ah, the summer.  The months most looked forward to by students, teachers, swimmers, beach goers, gamers...

This is normal summer gaming, right?
Oh you mean I actually should go outside?
Nahhhh.

Well, not necessarily gamers.  While it'll be nice to be able to play games with my windows open again, the summer always brings with it a drought of quality games.  What should you be waiting for anxiously?  I'm going to break it down for you, and show you just what you have to look forward to, as all hope should not be lost!


April 17th:  Witcher 2: Assassination of Kings (X360)

Oh, did I mention that the game is absolutely gorgeous? 

Finally console gamers are starting to get some love on the Witcher 2 front.  The game released on pc in May of 2011 to excellent reviews across the board, and is being ported to the Xbox360 April 17th.  With a massive story such as this based on the best selling book series of the same name, this should keep your controller hands happy for a decent chunk of this game-dry summer!

April 27th:  Prototype 2 (PS3, X360)
The first one was fun for a little while, offering grueling and violent action in a sandbox world with some very cool and creative powers.  I loved turning on the game, dropping into a random zone, and just mashing my powers against every person who crossed me.  Come April 27th, we get to do it again, but with a much bigger goal in mind: Kill Alex Mercer, the man you played as in Prototype 1.  High order.  Hopefully with some even cooler moves and a hopefully better story than the first one... we'll be able to accomplish that!

May 15th: Diablo III (PC)
To those who say that the summer gaming drought will leave you without any games, you must not have a PC.  With Diablo III coming out this summer, you won't even NEED any more games.  I partly think that the reason why it took so long for the third entry in the series to come out is because Blizzard was waiting for people to stop playing Diablo II, and it took so long that they said, "eh screw it" and finally started development on three.  With five classes, PvP added further down the line, and even an auction house to get real money for the items you find, I might be upgrading my PC before this is released.  Loot away!

From left to right, we have the Wizard, the Witch Doctor, the Demon Hunter, the Barbarian,
and my personal favorite, the Monk.

 May 15th: Max Payne 3 (PS3, X360)
Every summer there's a Rockstar game announced, my hands twitch with excitement.  Known for making blockbuster games that have a great deal of thought and effort put behind them with an excellent (if controversial) development team, Max Payne 3 should be on everyone's radar.  Granted, its the next game in a series that almost defines cult following, but the game is shaping up to what looks like an excellent product. Using the Euphoria physics engine on a Bullet-time riddled game, with solid diving and shooting mechanics, plus it looks this pretty...

Shut up and take my money!

May 22nd: Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier (PS3, X360)

How do you reinvigorate a slowing genre like the military shooter?  Simple.  Innovate in what the player has available to them.  With active camo, magnetic see-through-walls imaging, drones, target-locking bullets, sensor grenades and more, GR:FS looks to be gunning for the top shooter spot (groan).  Regardless of the bad puns, this shooter has my attention with it's focus on tech and the attention to detail the Ubisoft team has when doing their research.  We'll see if it translates well into the finished product.







June 1st: Lego Batman 2: DC Superheroes (Pretty much every system out now)
I will not hide anything:  I love the Lego games.  They are accessible enough that any little kid that I am entertaining for can play them, everyone and their mothers (literally) knows what legos are, and Batman is awesome.  How can this game be even more awesome than the first?
How about adding all of the Justice League in there?  If you were a child within the last twenty years and had legos, how crazy would you go to have lego superheroes? Yeah.  At the very least rent this game, but I see many replays ahead with each character!




June 5th: Inversion (PS3, X360)
Even I'll admit, I'm a bit skeptical about this one, as I've been dissapointed by interesting-sounding shooters before (*cough*FRACTURE*cough*), but one where gravity is a weapon?  Hiding behind cover, blasting your enemies sounding boring?  Flip the battlefield with a grenade, so you're now fighting on the side of a building. Inside?  I hope you're checking the ceiling for enemies! It sounds interesting enough for me to put this on the list.  Not convinced yet?  Check out the trailer.  Its an old look at it, but nonetheless interesting.






June 12th: Lollipop Chainsaw (PS3, X360)
Its no secret that I like Suda51.  While I talked highly about  Shadows of the Damned in a previous article, I'm hoping Lollipop Chainsaw will garner a bit more attention from fans.  With a killer soundtrack (get it? Groan again) at your back, you play a high school cheerleader named Juliet whose school has just been overrun by zombies. So using your cheerleading moves while wielding a chainsaw and throwing your decapitated boyfriend's head around sounds like the next move. Right?  ...Right?  Anyone?





June 22nd: Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor (X360)

MECH GAMES.  I wish that statement could be more exciting.  What doesn't sound awesome about a mech game?  It really hasn't been done right in a while.  I'm hoping that the new Steel Battalion changes that trend.  It does give kinect owners reason to be happy though, it's one of the few newer games that will be using the technology that everyone bought... and got bored of with.  Regardless... MECH GAME!  The video on the left shows how those Kinect controls will be implemented. With motion controls to change aspects about your tank like your speed, loading and so forth, it could offer that level of immersion that they are missing?  Lets hope!

June 26th: Darksiders II (PS3, X360)
It's Death's turn to have his time in the spotlight!  The series that focuses on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse returns to have Death exact his vengeance on those who falsely accused his brother War of starting the apocalypse early, with no mercy in sight.  Using the same tactics that they employed when making the original, Virgil studios are making this one even more brutal with death's signature scythe and resurrection moves while still retaining the over the top gore and combos of the first.  I can't wait to embody death's crazy almost faceless form this June.

June 26th: Spec Ops: The Line (PS3, X360)
Alright, yes. Its yet another shooter.  And it might be the ninth game in the rather paint-by-numbers Spec Ops series.  But here's why you should pay attention:  Its been ten years since the last game was released back in 2002. The game has a brand new story that requires no previous knowledge of the other games.  And, for the first time in the series, the game is taking place a little further into the future, in Dubai.  For those who are not geography majors, Dubai is an almost untouched location in gaming, where the rich and famous go on vacation.  The United Arab Emirates locale, in the game, has just undergone a series of natural disasters that leave the whole city, once beautiful and bountiful, a wasteland, being picked apart by scavengers stupid enough to brave the constantly collapsing wreckage. Using your environment as a weapon is key here, with sandstorms and dilapidated buildings to order your squad to kill outlaws and save a fellow commander stationed there.  Check out why I'm excited:

And you know what's even BETTER!?
Hearing about all of these games on +10 Damage Gaming!  Like our Facebook, subscribe, and leave us some comments!  What are you looking forward to this summer?

Arguments On The Side Of Gaming

"You're wasting your time."  
"Can't you put that brain to better use?"
"Why would you rather sit with a controller staring at the screen when you could (insert other activity here)"


If you are a gamer, and seeing as you are here reading this, then you probably are, then you have encountered one of the above phrases in your life.  What do you say to those?  What possible response can one come up with?  Well I've been proposed these questions many times in my life, and in defense of video games, one has to be creative in their answers.
What could possibly be learned from gaming?  Passing aside the silly answers like "blocks give out coins hurrr hurrr" there are many intellectual answers that could be given instead.




1. Action video game players are better at tracking and remembering objects
A very recent study done by Sungur and Boduroglu (2012) shows that people that play action video games at least an hour a day for three to four days a week perform better than those who do not.  While tracking colors, moving objects, and remembering placement of certain symbols, video game players outperformed non players in both speed and accuracy by a significant amount.  Of course, we gamers who play shooters don't need to be told this by those fancy psych majors, we'll take 'em on any time.  But its nice to finally get some notice of the fact.  This information could be applied to driving, law enforcement, bird watching, Where's Waldo finding, fishing, the list could go on, but I'm quickly running into more jokes than applicable situations.  Moving on!




2. "Serious video games" can be used as a therapeutic tool for many mental disorders

Just last winter, Santamaria et al. (2011) discovered by compiling other studies that using so called "serious games" can be very beneficial to mental health, even allieviating some neurological problems.  These games created in their players: "elevated self-esteem, higher self-efficacy, increased knowledge, awareness of the illness, adherence to treatment and problem solving skills, and enhanced outcome on cognitive and behavioral aspects of aggression".  Basically all good news!  The games that they use are a little more basic, but its a start.  For example, one game, called Re-Mission, features an oddly Samus-esque character fighting malignant cancer cells throughout the body.  This allows patients that are experiencing symptoms from cancer to virtually "fight" the illness that is wrecking their bodies.

Nice haircut there Sam- er I mean Roxxi.

2.5. Video games are being used to help children deal with ADHD

Careful kid! That stylish helmet is READING YOUR BRAIN!!! ACTUALLY this fits in with #2, but I thought it was so cool I needed to give it it's own heading, hence the 2.5 label.  A game called Play Attention is being used currently to help children cope with ADHD and learn how to direct their attention better.  The game itself is just your standard educational game, fun and interactive for the kiddies but a teaching tool for their little brains.  Problem is that children with ADHD normally have problems focusing.  So, a helmet was made for the kids to wear, that looks just like a bicycle helmet.  But the helmet can read brain waves, and if the child is not paying enough attention to the game, the game stops playing.  In this way, the child is being trained on how to keep their focus on something long enough to complete a task, otherwise, GAME OVER.  Very cool.  See more of the game here!

3. Gamers will have higher GPA's

As long as you don't spend more time playing video games than you spend in school, that is.  Ventura, Shute and Kim (2011) found that students that play video games an average of eleven to fifty hours during a month have significantly higher GPAs than those students that played less or not at all.  But lets be honest here, over 50 hours in a month while still attending school, those numbers are clearly lower as well.  The very same study found that people that play 7 or more different games in a year were more open-minded, and that those who played 7 or more hours a week were more conscientious in their actions (they thought more about the consequences of their actions and were more painstakingly careful).  So good news students! If your parents tell you that you can't have a system until your grades go up, show them this study and tell them that getting the system will actually help your cause! Its a win-win!

If this baby plays this between 11 and 50 hours this month,
it's GPA is going to skyrocket.  Take THAT parents!

4. Gamers live the lives that they want to live through games

Ok, so maybe this person would be
better off playing his video games.

This one might seem obvious, but lets take a look at the facts here.  Say you are a socially confused teenager.  You want to be somebody, but you aren't sure who you'd like to be.  Video games are a good way for that person to figure that out.  Multiple playthroughs of Mass Effect can give you a decent sense of morality.  The Sims may teach you more about certain careers.  Its a safe way to experiment with different options of who you may want to be as a person, without the threat of getting beat up by bullies at your school.  Przybylski (wow how do you pronounce that one), Weinstein, Murayama, Lynch, and Ryan (2012) looked at players and their characters in varying video games, and the characters that were more reflective of their player's "inner self" were more likely to be more compelling to the gamer, and more time was subsequently sunk into the game.  This is compelling evidence that the more you hide under a profile, the more likely you are to be yourself in the safe virtual world of video games.  They let you be who you really want to be.

This woman is going to be terrifying with a real baseball bat.

5. Video gaming is rehabilitating to senior citizens as well

More and more elderly homes are adopting Wii's in their locations, and for good reason.  Apparently, seniors are liking video games more and more.  All this new-fangled technology is hard to understand, but Wii-motes, which respond to simple actions, are easy.  You just move! That's it!  An unforseen side effect of these video games, however, is that the seniors are learning that even though they are older, it doesn't mean that they don't have to not do anything.  A study performed by Aarhus, Gronvall, Larsen and Wollsen (2011) proves that not only are the senior's physical fitness improving, but so is their motivation to continue moving.  This motivation decreases, however, when the video gaming stops.  As long as the game is simple enough for the seniors to understand, they'll see improvements.

6. Gaming is an industry juggernaut, grossing more in one day than an entire opening weekend blockbuster film

$169 Million dollars in a weekend?  Thats nothing to sneeze at, coming from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2.

$400 Million dollars in one day. November 8th, 2011.  Of course I'm speaking of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.  Love it or hate it, it is the perfect example of the impact video gaming can have on our economy.  And we gamers are in the center of it.  Call of Duty may be the biggest example, but its nowhere near the only one. Modern Warfare 2 (320 million), Grand Theft Auto 4 (310 million) and Halo 3 (170 million) all top that record set by HP7(2) by a sizable margin.  Its hard to argue against the industry giant.

7. Art and video games are one and the same

Taken from the Smithsonian's web page.
Yes this is a real exhibit!

When does the line get blurred between art and video games?  The age old argument of what constitutes as art has been shoved onto video game territory for years now, and one official source may have a major opinion to express.  That source?
The Smithsonian American Art Museum.

When the Smithsonian institution recognizes video games as art, when are we going to just stop this argument?  Regardless, an exhibit just opened up with games taking the center stage, celebrating everything involving the medium.  The exhibit opened on March 16.

If you are being told that our hobby is stupid and for kids, just show them how superior we gamers actually are.  With more studies being done all the time, who knows what other ways we are improving our bodies and minds with our passion?

Any other arguments you can think of?  Tell us in the comments!

Like how smart sounding we are?  Subscribe to get more of us, or even "LIKE" our Facebook page!

References

Aarhus, R., Gronvall, E., Larsen, S. B., Wollsen, S. Turning training into play: Embodied gaming, seniors, physical training and

     motivation. Gerontechnology, 10(2) p.110-120

Przybylski, A. K. Weinstein, N., Murayama, K., Lynch, M. F., Ryan, R. M. The Ideal Self at Play: The Appeal of Video Games That Let

      You Be All You Can Be. Psychological Science, 23(1) p.69-76. doi:10.1177/0956797611418676 

Santamaria, J. J., Soto, A., Fernandez-Aranda, F., Krug, I., Forcano, L., Gunnard, K., Kalapanidas, E., Lam, T., Raguin, T., Davarakis, C.,

      Menchon, J. M., Jimenez-Murcia, S. (2011). Serious games as additional psychological support. Journal of CyberTherapy and 

      Rehabilitation, 4(4) p.469-476. 

Sungur, H., Boduroglu, A. (Feb 2012). Action video game players form more detailed representation of objects. Acta Psychologica, 139(2) 

     p.327-334. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.actpsy.2011.12.002

Ventura, M., Shute, V., Kim, Y. J. Video gameplay, personality and academic performance. Computers & Education, 58(4) p.1260-1266. 

     doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2011.11.022