So for this weekend’s edition of the Mental Break my challenge to you is to go outside and enjoy the absolutely gorgeous weather (well, for me in SC it’s quite nice). Or go pick up a good book (I’m currently reading a couple of military histories). Or go spend some quality time with the family, pets, friends, etc.

Take a minute and unplug from the ‘net and from the vast information overload we get hit with everyday. Quit texting for 24 hours.

I’m outta here!

Come back next week for some good stuff!

Psst..why are you still reading? Leave!

What a great game. Graphics are pretty slick, the gameplay is outstanding, and the characters are unique. If you have a Wii and don’t have any good Virtual Console games yet then let me suggest you pick up Punch Out! for 500 points. Well worth it.

Now to troll YouTube for videos on how to beat him…

I also upgraded the site to WP 2.5 and it’s pretty smooth so far. The only problem I’m having is the visual editor is not working correctly. I’m trying to figure out what’s up. So if any strange posting errors appear then it’s because my HTML coding skills are not up to par and I’m trying to do this by hand.

So if you decide to give it a whirl (hehe) then look me up online – Valien.

You might be thinking…what is Whirled? Well, here’s a decent discussion thread about it. I think it’s just something fairly new and creative and brings together social networking and gaming in a web 2.0 type of interface. Will it succeed? Probably so because everything I have seen Three Rings put out has been terrific (Puzzle Pirates, Bang! Howdy, GameGardens, etc)

Don’t expect Whirled to be this a WarCraft type of MMO because it’s not. Do expect it can siphon a few minutes of  your time away decorating your house though!

www.whirled.com

Jayisgames.com is one of the top resources for all news and info on the growing Casual Games market. It’s a great resource to go to in order to find out what’s hot, what’s coming, and what’s good. One of my favorite sites to read and browse. Recently they just recently announced the finalists for their 5th Casual Gameplay Design Competition. This competition is  pretty slick because a lot of new game designers and indie game companies can showcase their (hopefully) original creations and we (the masses) get to vote on them.

I’m just now starting to play a couple of the games and have already enjoyed it so far. It’s a great way to waste a few minutes here and there when you need a mental break from work.

What are you waiting for? Go play some games and vote!

Anyways COD4 is a hoot to play. On the 360 the graphics look amazing in 720p resolution. The game play is feverish, intense, and downright fun. The way they incorporated experience points and leveling up into the game is a great addition to the series. Of course, going to a modern era from their previous WWII settings is huge in itself and brings in some fresh air to the series.

I’m normally not a huge fan of FPS games on a console because I cannot use the thumb-stick controllers with great precision. I’m a mouse + keyboard player and the precision you get with a mouse and keyboard is pretty slick. But the 360 version is done pretty well and I’ve gotten used to the controls somewhat. Since I don’t have a XBox 360 (anyone want to buy one for me? ) I’m probably going to purchase it for my PC (that is when I upgrade my PC this year hopefully…)

One of the cooler things about the game are the perks and kill cam views. The perks let you do some basic customization with your character (like better penetrating ammo, stronger health, last stand, etc) and the kill cam views show how you died from the view of the guy that got you. Great for strategy planning (especially if that other guy is camping!) They just released a patch for the game recently and it brings in some more kill cam views – grenades, airstrikes, C4 and more! Check out the full details on this on Robert Bowling’s blog.

I would post my handle so you can find me online but since I don’t have the game yet, it’s hard to do that. So feel free to click an ad or two and help me fund my PC upgrade account! hehe

Have a great weekend everyone! I’ll post again on Monday – my 1st day as an IT Recruiter! Hooyaa!

There are a ton of flash-based gaming websites out there. Some are decent, some are pretty sad. Kongregate.com is one of those sites but has a little different twist to it. Not only do they have some pretty decent flash games, but they have a sweet badge system that is similar to the XBox Live Achievement system. By having it it makes you want to play more and more and more. You acquire these different badges by playing a variety of games and fulfilling different objectives in the game. For instance maybe you need to score a certain amount of points, or get to a certain level, or a combination of both for harder badges.

It’s pretty fun and a nice challenge to try to obtain the badges. They also have contest where game designers can win money by how popular their games are with the players. This is a nice incentive because it forces the developers to create good games, not just cheap rehashes of the same old thing. Players can rate the games from one to five stars and that also helps keep the good ones on top and the bad ones on the bottom (trust me, there are some pretty sad games there).

Another thing they are implementing is a web-based CCG type of game. Every couple of days they’ll debut a new card that you can get by completing a certain game requirements that they put forth. This is a lot of fun because once the CCG debuts you can use those cards you’ve won to play against other people.

I like to hit Kongregate from time to time to take that quick mental break. It’s nice to see the new games coming on board and to waste 5-10 minutes playing one (or more if you are so inclined).

Have fun this weekend no matter what you do or play! Just enjoy the time with family and friends!

For this first Mental Break post I’m going to talk about Puzzle Pirates. This is a classic MMOARRRPG (in the Piratey sense of saying it). I’ve been playing the game off and on since 2005 and have enjoyed using it as a stress relief. Throughout all this time of playing it I’ve enjoyed getting to know a good number of people around the world, especially those in my Crew and Flag. It’s also one game that my wife enjoys playing as well

Three Rings, the developer and publisher of Puzzle Pirates, incorporated a unique micro-payments transaction system a few years ago and it has taken off! So you can play the game for free 100% of the time. If you so desire to spend money on the game you can do that too. I think over the last 3 years or so of playing the game I have spent around $20.00 total. Not bad for a few hundred hours worth of entertainment.

On top of the F2P (Free To Play) model they also regularly update the content. At the moment they just finished up some nice Valentine’s Day events and are getting ready for some Easter themed events. All in all very well done.

So give it a whirl and release your inner pirate! Yarr! See you on the high seas matey!