Could It Be? Phone turned into Gameboy?

Yes you see it here folks, the future is coming right before our eyes, here is the Samsung GALAXY S4. Coming to T-Mobile as its first U.S. carrier on May 1st produces the unthinkable, a USB port controller turning your phone into a handheld. As you can see, it looks like a cross between a Super Nintendo and Xbox 360 controller. The Game Pad, as it is currently been called, will be compatible with the S4 and the Android 4.2.2 and all subsequent hardware and software releases with Samsung and is also compatible with 80 games at launch and comes with 8 games in a bundle. 

This controller dock can be hooked to mobile phones with displays ranging from 4 to 6.3 inches. Add that a bluetooth, and this controller dock can be hooked to your television, turning your Android into a game console. While there is no release date set yet, the controller is available for pre-order from select online merchants, along with Mobilefun for 112.99! Although I do expect a price drop once it releases. What is also surprising, is that The Game Pad has received such little fanfare, I feel that can be attributed to Samsung not advertising The Game Pad to the right demographic or advertising it enough for that matter. 

Price of Video Games Going Too Far?

According to Industry analyst Michael Pachter, PS4 and Xbox 720 games are expected to cost 70 dollars. This comes as no surprise since dating back where I can remember the PS2/Xbox generation was 50, PS3/Xbox 360 is 60 and here we are. Now with this current cycle of going up 10 dollars every generation pose a problem? At this rate when I become a well established businessman at the age of 50 with the perfect shade of gray hair, video games will cost as much as furniture! Is this a crisis for concern or is it just the natural order of video gaming?

Assassin Creed III Review

            The Kotaku developed and Ubisoft published fifth installment of Assassin Creed series takes the timeline to the American Revolution, you know something we Americans can relate to.  Desmond and the crew is back for some more time travel adventure (in a machine called the animus) while avoiding Abstergo and trying to save the world from ending at the same time.

            The main character you control inside the animus is Connor Kenway. Connor is a half Native American half British settler and uses vengeance of her dead mother and destiny by way of  Those Who Came Before (creative name by the way.)

            In the beginning of the storyline you take on his father Haytham Kenway who is the British heritance of our main character which offers a prologue of sorts. Haytham possesses all the similar traits we have came to know and love of our previous Assassins’ Ezio and Altair with the exception of being an Assassin which you come to find out further in the story. 

            What you notice when you first take over as Haytham is the amazing historical accuracy that Assassins Creed possesses.  You first set foot in an opera with a bunch of other Brits admiring the scene and drinking tea until you are put into a mission for your first assassination. This is the point of the game while although smooth you will notice your Haytham latching on objects the user will accidentally which ultimately becomes a hindrance later on into the game. 

             After the secret unveiling of the story you first start off with a young Connor and for the first time in the series, you can climb trees! So if you ever wanted to realize the inner chimpanzee, Connor is the key. The same fluidity carries over with similar mechanics carry on with tree branches with the similar hiccups of latching on and messing up your chances of a full synchronization.

            What you notice with Connor is that he is always angry all the time and you ask yourself why not? You would too if your father is your mortal enemy and your whole village is in a constant threat of getting burned down.  He is a 360 from the light hearted womanizer Ezio which me personally connected to him more as you felt our Italian hero’s pain while laughed at his jokes.

Connor in terms of personality is a bit bland and is too dead set on his task to offer much of a connection to the character. Haytham on the other hand, felt a stronger connection with his cocky yet sarcastic British gentlemen personality. Connor also comes off as a type of a hypocrite criticizing Haytham for killing so many people when Connor goes about his way killing a bunch of people himself. I guess that is the tragic flaw of our Native-British hero.

Another problem with the game is that it forces its time upon you. When a video game is taking large amounts of your time you could of spent working or developing a social life enjoyable but when ACIII forces your time to find random flying almanac sheets and battlefield ships and repetitive missions it is more like a chore than a time well spent.

But of course no matter how a game is judged during the opening and the body is always judged by its ending. And this is where my audience Assassins Creed comes up short.

While I am not going to get into exact details because that is why you play the video game, It seems the developers of Kotaku rushed this portion of the game that felt a little cliché, hurried and extremely confusing. While ACIII had its clunky moments and time wasters the ending capped it off for me from a very good video game installment (just short of great) to above average. Therefore ACII gets 7.5 random flying almanac sheets, out of 10.