With all the major game systems having been out for years now and Christmas months away, consumers are seeing video game prices drop to unprecedented lows…
That’s a win for gamers who wish to round out their collections, consumers looking to score some “cool dad” points, or anybody tired of watching the Royals lose on TV.
The newest generation of systems are optimized to work on HDTVs and feature high definition graphics and rich sound. Long gone are the days of static backgrounds and 8-bit sound effects. But a good video game is not about just being visually pleasing, it has to be fun to play and replay.
The Sony PS3 is probably the best system out there in terms of game selection and performance. The console also doubles as a Blu-Ray player, and costs only about $100 more than a standard, decent blu-ray player.
Here are three games under $25 to get you started.
1) Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games, $19.99, Game of the Year edition with expansion Zombie game, $28 (all games are available at amazon.com)
Nicknamed “Grand Theft Horse,” this old-west themed game is made by the people that brought out the Grand Theft Auto series. This time you can navigate your character through an “open world” (that means you can go where you want) in the Wild West, solving quests and obtaining riches. You can decide to be good or evil, and for once being good is actually more fun (shooting damsels in distress gets old quick). Game play is tight. The controls for the horseback riding are perfect. Not overly difficult and fun to pick up and play. This game will provide even the most casual gamer with a fun experience.
It’s rated M, but it is no more violent than a movie western. One Player.
2) Killzone 3 Guerilla Games/Sony, $25.34
Sony’s proprietary first person shooter provides plenty of action and online multiplayer fun. Killzone allows the player to pick from a plethora of different weapons combinations and interact with other players in a target rich multiplayer. Even the worst player will get in a few kills with the variety of weapons at their disposal such as grenades, machine guns and sniper rifles. Unlike other first person shooters, Killzone doesn’t take forever to set up your matchups online. Due to the realistic violence, this game is probably best for ages 13 and up.
Killzone 3 is M for Mature
3) Little Big Planet 2 Sony $19.70
Remember Super Mario Brothers? Did you ever want to be able to customize your own levels and create your own characters? LBP3 is a “platformer”, which means it looks very much like video games from the past. Navigate your “sackbot” through a fantastical world filled with colorful backgrounds, ramps, chutes, and endless enemies or create your own level and upload to the Sony servers. Uploaded games are hit or miss but occasionally someone creates a real gem.
This truly is a game for all ages. Just because it is appropriate for children doesn’t mean it isn’t super creative and fun. With tandem two player mode and infinite lives, even the worst video gamer can enjoy Little Big Planet 2.
Little Big Planet is E for Everyone.
Just what America needs – more video games where violence is the dominant theme. Red Dead Redemption and Killzone 3. And we’re simply “horrified” when someone goes out and kills 12 people at a movie theater. Well, actually, we’re not because we’ve become so desensitized to acts of a violent nature anymore that we basically say as a society, “Oh, what a terrible thing,” and then go on our merry way, back to watching mindless video games where the line between fantasy and reality is hardly distinguishable. I’d rather watch paint dry than watch the Royals continue to lose, but I’d rather watch the Royals continue to lose than see any of these video games. America’s downward spiral continues unabated.
You sound like you are 80 years old. Red Dead Redemption is a western. We’ve had them since Bonanza. If you can’t distinguish fantasy from reality your spurs probably tear the seats in your Focus.
You sound like you’re 60 years old. We had Westerns long before Bonanza.
It is a video game man, get a grip.
Have to agree about RDR. I’m an old man, not a video game player. My kid (teenager) got it for Christmas 2 years ago. I was just blown away (no pun intended) watching her play it. It’s just a fascinating game even if you don’t ‘play’ it. I was so enthralled I started playing. –Well, I couldn’t actually ‘play’ it, but I did enjoy exploring the old West World. I’d just hop on a horse and take off across the prairie. The scenery is just spectacular. Just watching her play was enjoyable, like watching a western movie.
The technology of today’s video games is just mind boggling .
Isn’t it b, a, SELECT, start?
Totally.
you guys are both right.
In CONTRA, ….b a start gets you 30 lives. …b a select start gets you 99 lives.
That code is actually one that works, with a little variation on all Konami produced games and some non konami games.
Here is a list of all games that use the “konami code”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Konami_code_games
Thanks for reading the article, everyone!
The online multiplayer in red dead is the tits, that is until some 6 year old kid sitting in his adobe shack in central america starts talking smack and shooting your horse out from under you.
Damn shooting your horse is just plain mean.