Archive for Dec, 2013

Best of 2013 Intro

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Things have certainly worked out well timing-wise, because this is my 100th blog post for 2013 alone on Vagrant Rant. Hitting that number was one of my new year’s resolutions and to actually keep one of those is huge for me personally. It was only possible thanks to an amazing week of guest posts back in April, an entire month of Zelda countdowns in September and the beginning of a games-and-movies podcast called the Mega Ultra Blast Cast with two of my closest friends, something I had been wanting to do for a very long time. So I have a lot of people to thank, not least of which is you, dear reader, for coming back to this blog and reading my posts! Now let’s do some top tens.

2013 was a truly amazing year for all types of videogames and a wonderful year for film. It was also the first full year I was listening to Korean popular music. The ten (mostly) Top 10 lists that follow reflect my personal experience with these three entertainment mediums. The make-up of the ten lists has changed somewhat, as this year I’ve swapped out three of my 2012 lists (Top 10 Songs, Top 5 Albums and Top 10 Annoying Videogame Experiences) for some different material. Otherwise things will be pretty similar. The first list will appear here in around 24 hours and let’s just say I’m getting the negative stuff out of the way first.

I hope to see you back here then! In the meantime, why not revisit the best of 2012 to remind yourself just how far you’ve come in 12 months?

The Third Option

Over the last week or so I have been working feverishly towards getting ten Best of 2013 countdowns up on the site, but before I start I just have to say something…

So the Xbox One and the PS4 are both on Australian shelves now (well, the Xbox One at least – God help you if you’re trying to find a PS4 that isn’t on preorder at the moment). That means they will be on Christmas wishlists and dare I say part of plans for the spending of excess Christmas casual earnings / Christmas gift money. They deserve to be there. They are both very impressive pieces of tech. I like both of them and have thoroughly enjoyed my time with them thus far. I eagerly await the exciting future ahead for both consoles. Games like Titanfall, Infamous: Second Son, Destiny, Watch_Dogs, The Order: 1886 and Final Fantasy XV make me feel lucky to be able to own a next-gen (now current-gen, technically) console right now, with an entertaining future secured. If you are genuinely excited for either console, all power to you – go ahead and jump in. I feel like, if I wanted to, I could leave it at that.

But I would be betraying who I was, where I’ve come from and, heck, where I am now as a gamer, if I neglected to give another mention to the Wii U, Nintendo’s now one-year-old home console. I have been playing just as much of my Wii U of late as I have my PS4/Xbox One, so I feel obliged to point out that yes, there is a third option for you this holiday season if you feel like it’s time for a new console. Here’s why you might find it a decent choice:

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Xbox One vs PS4 Impressions

Yes, I’m that guy – I had to have both.

Awww, look at them just co-existing harmoniously...

Awww, look at them just co-existing harmoniously…

The next generation of gaming is now well and truly here, with the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One joining the 3DS, PS Vita and Wii U in one big dysfunctional gaming family. At the time of writing I have had just over a week with the Playstation 4 and a fortnight with the Xbox One, meaning I am just about ready to talk about what has and hasn’t impressed me about the brand new consoles. I’ve divided things into sub-headings for easy reference. Note that most of these photos were taken very late at night with a combination of caffeine, minimal sleep and of course excitement, so they are a little on the awful side if you look at them too closely.

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Mega Ultra Blast Cast Ep.13


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A quick follow-up! Episode 13 of the Mega Ultra Blast Cast returns to the regular podcast room and focuses on the pair of brand new next-gen consoles, the Xbox One and the PS4, which hit Australian shores at the end of last month. Listen and you’ll get our in-depth impressions of the new consoles, our regular segments and three personalised lists of our top ten favourite games of the Xbox 360/Wii/PS3 generation. All this means that it’s a pretty long episode, but it has been a very long time since our last proper recording, so please bear with us.

If you feel so inclined, go for a run, take a scenic drive or just curl up on the couch and play some games while you listen to the opinions of three Sydneysiders breaching new gaming frontiers.

You can play the whole thing right off this page if that cooks your bacon:


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Or you can go to the Soundcloud site/app and listen from there:
https://soundcloud.com/mega-ultra-blast-cast/mubc-13-next-gen-a-gogo

(Follow the link and then click the download tab)

As always if you enjoy what you hear please share the cast with your friends – Cheers!