"GRAND THEFT AUTO SAN ANDREAS!"

On my quest to find a video game that peaked my interest I decided to take up my old “Grand Theft Auto, San Andreas"  video game, pop it into my play station 2 and make some observations about my game of choice.   For those of you who are unfamiliar about this game, it is about a man called Carl Johnson (CJ) who escaped from the pressures of life in Los Santos, San Andreas... a city tearing itself apart with gang trouble, drugs and corruption. Where film stars and millionaires do their best to avoid the dealers and gang bangers.

Now, it's the early 90s and Carl's got to go home because his mother was murdered, his family has fallen apart and his childhood friends are all heading towards disaster.

On his return to the neighborhood, a couple of corrupt cops frame him for homicide. CJ is forced on a journey that takes him across the entire state of San Andreas, to save his family and to take control of the streets.

I chose this game because of my very adventurous and outgoing personality and found it of course without reason of a doubt to be very interesting and although the game is one of a violent nature, I was intrigued by the adrenalin pumping through my blood while completing adventurous tasks and escaping the crooked cops.  

The game is a two and/or one player game that encourages socialization among peers and family members.  The core gameplay consists of elements of a third-person shooter and a driving game, affording the player a large, open world environment in which to move around. 

On foot, the player's character is capable of walking, eating, running, sprinting, swimming, climbing and jumping as well as using weapons and various forms of hand to hand combat. Players can drive a variety of vehicles, including automobiles, buses, semis, boats, fixed wing aircraft, helicopters, trains, tanks, motorcycles and bikes. You can even change car colors and add spoilers and other accessories to it. They may also import vehicles rather than steal them; players can also go shopping with the avatar and choose from a wide variety of available clothing and weapons. Cool right? The character even puts on weight when he over eats and can even run the risk of getting a heart attack and when he exercises, the pudgy character loses weight and becomes muscular pretty much like real life, won’t you say? You can use crazy things like the jetpack and parachute. 

 It’s such an interesting game and although it was introduced since 2004, it is still a very fun game for the adventurous mind and although the missions seem endless I enjoyed it! After all no one wants a video game they can beat in a week? No?

So how does this tie in to social networking? A video game is an avenue of social networking it encourages the development of social learning skills, including empathy, friendliness, teamwork, and much more.   

UNO

My first encounter with the game Uno was back in Primary school where the game was religiously played for hours at a time in the weeks that followed the completion of my Common Entrance exam. Those were indeed GOOD times!

Created in 1971 by Merle Robbins, a Hungarian barber, the card decks were developed in Robbins’ kitchen and sold out of his barber shop. As fortune would have it he spent eight thousand dollars ($8,000.00) to create five thousand decks and eventually sold the rights to the game, ten years later, for fifty thousand dollars ($50,000.00) --- in addition to royalties of ten cents per each copy sold --- to International Games. The game has since been acquired and is now produced by Mattel who has sold over one hundred and fifty-one million copies worldwide!

A standard one hundred and eight card-Uno pack comprises colourful cards --- numbered zero to nine --- and a number of “special” cards which include “Skip”, “Reverse”, “Draw two”, “Draw four” and “Wild” cards. The rules of the game are very simple http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno_(card_game)  with the desired end being that you discard all of your cards before your opponent(s). Should you remain with one card in your hand (of course on your way to an almost foolproof victory) you have to shout “Uno!”

Today, even though the card game is thriving with many versions available --- inclusive of Disney Pixar Cars Uno, Spongebob Uno and Disney Princess Uno --- the game has become a much sought after one on popular social networking site Facebook. Of course, one of the two or three versions available on Facebook is not content with simply allowing you to play with people you already know, but gives you the opportunity to be “matched” with three other players from anywhere in the world who share your taste for this classical game. For the game to be hosted in an online environment such as that of Facebook some of the rules have changed. For example, each player has a ten-second window in which they can play a card and when this period elapses with no activity from the player an extra card is added to that player’s “hand”. Also, unlike the Uno Boost version --- also available on Facebook --- players are not allowed to “pile up” Draw twos or Draw fours on other players. 

All in all, Uno makes for an interesting family game when played in its original card-game form. It is a great way to teach younger children numbers and colours in a fun, family environment. On Facebook, it serves as an amazing way to spend what may have started out as a few extra minutes to kill battling randomly selected persons from across the globe to become, at least for that game session, the all time supreme UNO King/Queen.

This video demonstrates how to play uno.

Recovering Farmville Addict

For anyone who has a Facebook profile Farmville is a game that you must have come across at some time.

Farmville which was developed by Zynga in 2009 and is a farm simulation game where players undertake the various a roles of a farmer.

I like some 'addicts' was introduce to Farmville through a friend who sent me a link on Facebook. At first I was resistant, but when it became popular I tried it just to be part of my crowd of friends who were playing. I found myself constantly looking for an excuse to log into my Facebook account just so that I can either water my plants or tend to my animals.

My journey to soberity has been a very long and challenging one since the internet has become an integral part of life today, but everyday I try my best to resist the urge to "water" my garden and it is working because I have not been on farmville for over a year now.

PES 2013 was well worth the wait

I finally got my hands on a copy of PES (Pro Evolution Soccer) 2013 to continue my quest on "becoming a legend". For the past for years I have been playing this game and in particular the game mode "Become a Legend".

For those of you reading this blog that have not played the game here is some brief info on the game :

"Pro Evolution Soccer (officially abbreviated as PES and known as World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan and South Korea) is a series of football video games developed and published by Konami. The series has been produced under the guidance of Shingo "Seabass" Takatsuka.
Every year, the game is released around late September and/or early October with two different titles: World Soccer: Winning Eleven in Japan, and Pro Evolution Soccer in other countries. The Japanese version is a localized version that features local leagues. In 2007, the franchise began to use the name "Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer" for the American market, which was later changed to "Pro Evolution Soccer" in 2008, dropping the "Winning Eleven" moniker entirely for that region.
Partially as a result of EA Sports' affinity to purchasing exclusive rights for their FIFA series, the games have historically lacked the sheer volume of licenses present in EA's offerings, with the most notable absences being the Premier League and Bundesliga. As such, team jerseys, names, and players may be inaccurate.
Currently, Portuguese player Cristiano Ronaldo the face of the franchise, appearing on front cover of every game being released in the series and in promotional campaigns and advertisements in the media.
As of December 2011, the Pro Evolution Soccer franchise has been localized into 19 languages and available in 62 countries. The series has sold more than 75.43 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best selling videos games in history."

I am not a football fan, however I like this game because it makes me feel as if can become the  next Messi or Ronaldo.

For most person who play this mode their aim is a to play for a Barcelona FC or Spain who are some of the top teams in the world at this point in time, but  my goal was to play for Liverpool and "represent" Trinidad and Tobago. However Trinidad and Tobago is not one of the national teams available which in my opinion was the only bad part in my playing experience.

PES 2013 did not disappoint me as the graphics was even better than the previous installment  which I also played on my Playstation 2. Also game play is a bit more easier and the players look more realistic  which will help in making you feel as if you are actually playing the game

To anyone reading this post I encourage you to purchase PES 2013 because it is money well spent.