My Game Center

Release Date: July 26, 2011
Publisher: Atlus
ESRB Rating: Mature

Catherine is Atlus’s first internally developed game for the current console generation. Atlus, a Japanese developer probably best known for the Shin Megami Tensei series of games, has also been making a name for itself as a publisher of quirky titles and for localizing niche imports. Catherine definitely fits in with the majority of Atlus’s catalog, as the game oozes a style and charm not commonly found in games developed stateside. Oh, and it’s completely bizarre.

Our hero is Vincent, a 32-year-old in a dead end job, who is at a turning point in his life. His long-time girlfriend Katherine is starting to drop hints about marriage. Vincent hasn’t put much thought into the future and it’s obvious that he is conflicted about the idea of settling down. The anxiety gives him a nightmare in which he’s a sheep being chased by something, and he must climb a tower or die. but when he wakes up to reports of men his age dying in their sleep, he starts to wonder about the true nature of the nightmares.

As if that wasn’t enough, the waking world is no picnic either. After a night drowning his sorrows and another round of horrifying dreams, Vincent wakes up alongside a woman 10 years his junior who is oddly enough also named Catherine. Slowly a morality play unfolds as Vincent spends his days juggling the two women and sorting out what he truly wants in his life. most of this is done at the local bar, Stray Sheep. Here Vincent will talk to his friends and fellow patrons about current events; mostly the mysterious deaths and what might be causing them. There are also a couple of diversions in the form of a jukebox loaded with tracks from other Atlus games and a surprisingly good arcade game called Rapunzel. Oh, you can also get your drink on, since for some reason the drunker you get while you’re awake, the faster you move in the dream.

No matter how you waste your time at the local bar though, Vincent inevitably ends up at home and asleep. Every night he finds himself in the nightmare realm, climbing as fast as he can and trying to outpace the monsters behind him. this is where the majority of the actual game’s play takes place and where Catherine reveals itself to be a solid and engaging puzzle-platformer. Vincent negotiates the towers that he’s forced to ascend by pulling and pushing the blocks that the tower is made of. There are several different block types, such as blocks that crumble away after being climbed on, immovable blocks and ice blocks-just to name a few, all of which will aid or impede Vincent in attaining his goal. He’s not alone in his dreams either as several talking sheep are all being put through similar trials. If you encounter them while climbing, they’re likely to get in your way or even try to knock you aside.

On the occasional resting area though, Vincent’s fellow sheep will talk to him to trade climbing techniques or to sell him items. yes, talking sheep. I did say the game was bizarre. In any case, talking sheep wouldn’t be able to keep me from the truly addictive and sometimes frustratingly challenging action found here. In fact, I’d probably still play the game if it had disembodied voices asking you personal questions and awkward text message conversations with girls. Oh wait, it does.

There’s not really much I have to say that’s negative. Catherine was released in Japan about six months ago, so this is a localization. as such, there are the occasional lines that don’t quite hit the mark, or a gag that falls flat, but for the most part the translation is solid. The controls can be a little touchy sometimes (hint: try using the D-pad instead). Catherine is definitely aimed solely at the mature gamer. It’s fraught with strong language, sexual situations, some of the methods in which Vincent can die while climbing are spectacularly violent, and it has an obviously adult storyline revolving around relationships, marriage and infidelity. If you can wrap your head around all that though, you can expect puzzle-platforming that is as challenging and fun as anything out there since the hard-to-find PlayStation gem Intelligent Qube. with three difficulty levels, about 20 hours of gameplay and half a dozen different endings, Catherine will keep you climbing for days.

Call your local Slackers location to snatch up a copy of this game It’s available for the PS3 and Xbox 360

When I left Vietnam in 1970, I left behind many memories, somebad, some good. I put the experience of Vietnam out of my mind fora very long time.

I was discriminated against while job hunting in my first fewyears back so I took my service off my resume for a while. I wentto an interview at RCA in 1972 and the interview was going well.from out of nowhere the interviewer asked me how much drugs I haddone in Vietnam. unfortunately, I took it in stride and let itpass. so I ended up staying at my job that I had returned to until1980.

But, in 1992, I was encouraged by a co-worker to start writingabout my time in Vietnam and when I eventually started writing, thememories of a very important place were resurrected. I came home toa world that was in turmoil because the war had gone on for muchtoo long. I put the experience of Vietnam out of my mind for a verylong time.

I was working for IBM at the time and we had opened an office inSai Gon (Ho Chi Mihn City). I became friendly with several of thepeople in the office since I was in daily contact with them andthey were aware that I served during the war. One of the Vietnamgirls had met an American IBMer and eventually became engaged tohim. I jokingly asked for a wedding invite and she complied. so,after several weeks of consideration and asking my daughter if shewould go to a wedding with me, I accepted. Daughter, Stacy wasthrilled to be able to visit another continent on her quest tovisit them all and she also wanted to experience the culture ofVietnam. so we made our reservations and the wheels were inmotion.

We flew from JFK airport to Hong Kong via the North Pole routeand thanks to a great ticket agent, were upgraded to Business classwhich made the 15 ½ hour flight more bearable, The flight from HongKong was relatively shorter – about 2 ½ hours.

We arrived in Sai Gon and were met by the happy couple and wereescorted to hotel. It was difficult to go through customs seeingthe uniforms that reminded me of the enemy from past times, but itwas a different time and having my daughter at my side was a greathelp in overcoming any hatred or fears. well, that is how I gotback but the real reason for my return was several days away.

While at Camp Eagle, each Sunday, someone from my company (501stSignal Battalion — 101st Airborne Division) would take laundry toa Catholic orphanage in Hue. on one of those Sundays, I was invitedto go along. that experience and the many return visits to Kim Longleft an indelible impression on me that has never disappeared. WhenI finally made contact with the orphanage in May of 2008, I knew Ihad to return and the wedding invitation was the catalyst.

We arrived in Hue via Vietnam Airlines at Phu Bai airport on aSunday evening. since it was already dark, there was nothing that Icould see during the cab ride from Phu Bai that was remotelyrecognizable. at the hotel, I could see the Citadel the ancientImperial North Vietnam Army during the war.

After a night of restful sleep, we awoke to see in the daylight,the structure now visible across the Perfume River. after breakfaston the patio, (it was 85 degrees on that January morning) we haileda cab and headed for the Citadel. It was a bit tough at first towalk the same path I did in 1970, I felt the same rush and heartpounding that I did when we landed in Saigon. but, having mydaughter with me to share that moment made it much easier to take.a lot has changed, but a lot had remained the same. Having Stacywith me to re-live this moment was pretty amazing. I wish that Icould have had both daughters with me.

So, the time had arrived and with gifts in hand, we hailed a caband were headed to Kim Long Orphanage. We once again rode acrossthe bridge and past the Citadel before arriving at 42 Kim Long. Wewere greeted by a young Vietnamese girl, dressed in black. he namewas Trang and she was the “interpreter” for the sisters. One ofthose sisters was Sister Xavier who was also a member of theorphanage staff when I left it in 1970. Sister Xavier was 91 yearsold. Although, we didn’t remember each other, it did not matter.Sister Xavier greeted us with the same cheer and smile that all ofthe nuns did during my tour.

When I showed a picture of me in 1970 at Camp Eagle, SisterXavier looked at it and uttered, “Ooh La La.” We all laughed.

We went to another room to find an assistant changing the diaperof a one year old. when the diaper was on, she handed the girl toStacy who walked the rest of the tour with her. Lin wasexpressionless, it was somewhat sad to see this beautiful child andno smile.

Sister Xavier had now joined us on the tour – laughing at eachcomment any of us would make – but as we moved on, she laggedbehind and Trang and Sister Chantal did not seem to feel obligatedto wait for her.

During the tour, we met Christian’s – the European contact forthe orphanage – sponsored Godchild who was as cute as any of theothers. We would certainly meet up with her later in the day.

We were now moving on to the newer section of the orphanage -Son Ca II. but before we left, I was about to meet two very specialpeople. on one of my visits to Kim Long in 1970, I took a randompicture of two boys playing in the garden. I had sent this pictureto Christian who shared it with Sisters Chantal and Xavier. The daybefore we arrived at Kim Long, the orphanage was celebrating its120th Anniversary. at that celebration were the two boys, now men,who were in that picture. In terms of randomness and coincidence,who could have ever imagined that after 39 years, I would bemeeting these two men? It was an awesome reunion that no one couldever realize.

Tu and Lân and I spoke for a few minutes with the help of Trang.I had my picture taken with them and then they were gone. I  laterfound out that I would meet the daughters of these two men. Theteenage girls were also students at Kim Long.

With the reunion accomplished, we were off to Son Ca II. We hadto traverse small alleys and narrow streets to get there. We passedmany small homes and businesses and out of some came youngchildren, anxious to say hello to the two Westerners passing by. Onthe way, we met a friend of Sister Chantal who was tending to hisgarden. he invited us in to show us the altars and tombs that hewas preparing for the Tet Celebration. The Vietnamese new Year wasless than a week away and the many preparations for it could bewitnessed all over the country.

The new orphanage’s entrance is about a five minute walk fromSon Ca I, the former orphanage. The new complex is actually builton the former cemetery of the orphanage. We had to get there via asmall street perpendicular to the Perfume River. We finally arrivedat Son Ca II where we saw a huge courtyard with trees andfountains. It had several buildings and was immaculately clean. Ithoused more class rooms, vegetable gardens and a kitchen and diningareas.

One of the classrooms that we visited was a special needs class.The children here had all types of disabilities. There was a22-year old Down syndrome girl who was very high functioning,another younger Down girl and a boy with Cornelius DeLangeSyndrome. There were also several others and they were all so happyto see us. We talked with them, played a little and they all wantedto sit with us. they all seemed so well adjusted and well behaved,but this had been true for all of the children we met this day. Wespent about 30 minutes with them before moving on.

We headed back to Son Ca I, it was almost time for school to letout and the transient children would be picked up by their parents.It was snack time and Sister Chantal was distributing cookies tothe children. Again, there was no chaos or ruckus of any kind aseach child received their treat.

I was pushed into taking children on a cyclo ride. This bikewith a huge seat on the front – sort of a rickshaw – held thechildren as I whisked around the courtyard a few times. It was areal treat for them.

Stacy had a little girl latched on to her – Mai Ahn who wasextremely cute. Stacy said she had a few Angelina Jolie momentsthat day and now understood why it is so difficult to leave any ofthem behind. I had my own little girl who sat with me – Christian’sGodchild, Anh Xuan. She had taken a cookie from Sister Chantal andfound me standing close by. She came over to me and took my handand led me to a place across the courtyard and sat with me. It wasas if she didn’t want to share me with anyone. She, as well asStacy’s little one, joined us that evening for the specialperformance given by the girls of Kim Long and sat on our laps allnight.

Later, the children – all the permanent residents – filed intothe dining room where they all had their assigned seats. The littleones sat on lower chairs and tables, while the older ones sat onbar height type tables and chairs. The special needs children alsojoined in. There was no chaos, no noise, no misbehavior as SisterChantal led them in prayer. they then sang a short song that we didnot recognize, in Vietnamese.

The staff, both nuns and lay people, served the children a mealof rice and shredded meat. It is amazing how much energy theseworkers have. I learned later that their day starts at 4 AM andsometimes does not end until after 10 PM. It is truly a labor oflove for all of them.

After dinner was done, the children were led back to theirrespective bedrooms to prepare for the show that some of them wouldbe performing in that evening.

We then headed back to the area that we first entered earlierthis afternoon where we met Sister Julienne Loan. Sister Juliennetook over the responsibility of the orphanage in 2007. She issupported by Sister Chantal who guides her in this tough task.Sister Julienne replaced Sister Marie Kim who is currently incharge of a school for poor children in Tuy Hoa, in the south ofVietnam. Sister Julienne repeated the thanks for the gifts we hadbrought and also for the previous donation sent in 2008.

We spoke for a long time about previous visits of the O’Neillsand others who had also given large donations to Kim Long. when Imentioned the O’Neills, she smiled.

Sister Chantal then read from a script that Christian hadprepared for her telling us that although this is the first time wemeet, we are already friends. She told us that when the goodsisters returned to Kim Long in 1991, the place was surrounded bybarbed wire and it was simply just a slum of hen houses and dirtystables. with the help of God and many others, everything and morehas been rebuilt. She spoke of the war and Sister Xavier’slongevity at Kim Long. She thanked us for the Washer and stove thefirst donation had bought and she told us that we would always havea place at Kim Long.

We then were taken to the dining room where we sat and startedwith a bit more of the home made wine and then a can of Saigon 333(ba ba ba) Beer. Sister Lihn then brought the first course of Pho(a great Vietnamese soup with vegetables and noodles). She thenbrought in a platter full of a great fried chicken (breaded withpanco) and a whole fish. everything was cooked to perfection. Thecompany and conversation was great.

After dinner we were lead to the courtyard where the childrenwere waiting. We sat in 2 padded chairs while the others all hadwooden or steel chairs. We felt like royalty.

Trang read to us, again from a script that Christian hadprepared. She addressed Stacy and me telling us what a great honorit was to have us at Kim Long and to me to return after all ofthese years. She told me that because I had sent a picture of thechurch to Christian (called Bac Ki, by the staff and children) backin May of 2008, that verified Kim Long was the orphanage I hadknown, she had renamed the church as “Bob’s Church”. She was happythat the church was the link in my return.

The church had been returned to Kim Long by the government justa few short weeks ago. Sister Chantal continued, telling us that itwill be necessary to build a wall around the church soon to bringit back to Son Ca I.

She thanked us for our previous gifts and new gifts and asked meto take thanks back to all who contributed. She felt that we wouldleave a piece of our heart in Kim Long, and I know we have. Shetold us that she and the staff would never forget us and we wouldalways remain as one of their best friends. She ended with anotherthank you and sadness that Bac Ki could not be here with us today.She invited us to come back at any time and we would always bewelcome.

Trang then introduced the first act and each subsequentperformance. There was singing and dancing and all was done ratherwell. all of the outfits worn by the children were made by theolder girls in their seamstress class. Some were very ornatelydecorated and many were silk.

Our companions for the evening were Anh Xuan and Mai Anh. Theysat with us through the entire show, holding our hands, snuggling,just sharing their love. when the show was over it was difficult tolet them go. It was difficult to say good-bye to all thechildren.

We returned to the reception room where we were given gifts bythe good sisters. two bottles of home made wine and 4 bags ofVietnamese coffee. a taxi was summoned and we were soon to end ourvisit of more than seven heart-warming hours. It all went tooquickly and it was definitely not enough to spend at this greatplace.

Sisters Julienne, Xavier and Chantal said good-bye to us in thetraditional European manner of a kiss on both cheeks. We then gotinto our taxi as Sister Chantal gave directions to the driver andwe were off.

This day was one of the most rewarding days I have ever spentanywhere. I am, and will be, eternally grateful that I had Stacythere to share it with me. It will take something great to top thisday. I don’t think that I have ever felt as good about anything Ihave ever done in a charitable way that I did today. I felt prettygood the day I first wired money to the orphanage, but it will bedifficult to top today’s experience.

I am absolutely positive that neither Stacy nor I will everforget our day at Kim Long. We rode back to the La residence justtalking about what had occurred.

It has been almost three years since that reunion and I would goback tomorrow if I could. many Vietnam Veterans will never returnto this land that took so many of our fine people from us and whosenames are emblazoned on that wall in Washington. I feel veryfortunate to have been able to return to Vietnam and experience aBuddhist Wedding, an orphanage in Hue and visiting the capital thatwas in enemy territory during the War. Ha Noi was not on myoriginal list of cities to visit but after going there and seeingthe infamous Ha Noi Hilton where John McCain and so many othersspent years in captivity, it was well worth it.

Each year, I send a donation to the orphanage aroundThanksgiving. If you are interested in donating, please contact meat . It has been a very rewarding slow year fordonations. I have sent over $1,000 easc of the last three years andwould like to reach that goal again. thanks!

This ends the series of my story but if anyone would like toread about the other parts of my visit, feel free to comment and Iwill add another section at a later date. Or you can visitback2vietnam.blogspot.com.

© 2011 phillyBurbs.com . all rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Hey,

What's the difference between Gran Turismo 5 and Gran Turismo 5 : Prologue ?

Thanks in advanced,

Adam.

Prologue, as the name suggests, is a littele taster for people whove been waiting a long time.
They give it a little bit more than a regular demo and as such charge you for it.

Mass Effect 2 consists of two disk and I have already put 30 + hours into this game. I was wondering if anyone knew how long it takes to complete the games?

It takes a long time to beat the game. For men it took 1 month, an hour 45 each day. so ya it takes a while expecially when you are playing it on insane.

It took me about 60 hours but i still havent done everything

i beat it in 26 hours but i was just really only doing missions and ignoring anomaly missions

I don’t care what you say, I think the NHL Playoffs are the best of any sport. the pressure starts high in round one and just builds from there. One only has to look at how the teams perform and statements of players to realize as much.

I am a long time hockey fan and have seen a fair bit of hockey in my time. Having said that, I cannot recall a first round of Stanley Cup playoffs that match this one. There are a bevy of seven game series and epic storylines of teams coming back from big deficits or becoming a nervous wreck as they nearly collapse.

Nothing reveals how much pressure someone or a team feels until it is off. perhaps the most glaring example of this is the Vancouver Canucks. the team was the best overall during the regular season based on points and in the view of must pundits. It was rewarded for this by being paired against the defending Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks, a team that had knocked Vancouver out of the playoffs the last two years.

All seemed well, however. Chicago was staggering coming into the playoffs and Vancouver raced out to 3-0 lead in the best of seven series. then Chicago showed the heart of a champion and thrashed Vancouver in game four to keep the series alive. then they did it again in game five. At this point, Vancouver started panicking and actually benched its star goaltender, Roberto Luongo, who is just starting a 12 year contract the benching didn’t work as Chicago won again and tied the series.

Game seven was an epic back and forth affair. Vancouver eventually won in overtime when a horrible turnover turned into the winning goal. An entire team, organization and city exhaled all at once. the pressure was so immense that players were making statements to the effect that winning the series was better than winning the gold medal in the Olympics

This is just the first round Can you imagine what is going to happen in the second round? It is going to be mayhem. Personally, I don’t think the people of Vancouver can take much more much less the players on the team.

Sports playoffs can often be a bit anti-climatic. This simply isn’t the case with hockey. if you are looking for something that will put you on the edge of your seat, I suggest you give it a try. if you have a heart condition, I suggest you don’t.

CHICAGO – 2010 U.S. Census figures released Aug. 4 showed, indirectly, that we really are everywhere in Chicago and the suburbs.

While the Census doesn’t count all LGBTs, the snapshot it provides of same-sex couples willing to ID themselves as such provides a telling look at where we live. not surprisingly, there are huge numbers along the North side lakefront, especially in Lake View, Uptown, Edgewater and Rogers Park.[media-credit name="Gabe CD" align="alignleft" width="300"][/media-credit]But the figures, and the presence of LGBT-friendly businesses in neighborhoods across the city, show that we also live and play on the South and West Sides, too. Truth is, that’s been the case for a long time. Here’s a rundown of where you can get your gay on around Chicago.

Boystown

Boystown is home to one of the biggest concentrations of LGBT bars and businesses in the world, with 20 LGBT bars, all but four on North Halsted, and plenty of shops and restaurants catering to LGBTs. There are dance clubs, piano bars, video bars, neighborhood hangouts, a country bar and cocktail lounges.

Sidetrack, 3349 N. Halsted, is the standout attraction for many; national and international surveys consistently rank it among the top two or three gay nightclubs in the world. With six bars spread throughout the club, there’s lots of room to wander around and enjoy.

Just walk up and down Halsted and windowshop until you find a crowd that suits your mood. South of Roscoe, it gets more twinkish, though not entirely; north of Roscoe, it’s a little more jeans and boots, though again not entirely, especially late. Late-night dance clubs include Circuit, Hydrate, Charlie’s and Berlin; The Closet and little Jim’s are also open late. and Steamworks, 3246 N. Halsted, one of the country’s most visited bathhouses, is always open.

Uptown/Edgewater

Uptown, and Edgewater just north of it, are actually where more of us live than anywhere else. As U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Chicago) points out, her district, which includes Uptown and Edgewater, has the highest concentration of LGBTs in the country.

While the number of nightspots doesn’t reflect that, there are some pretty cool places to go out, starting with Crew Bar & Grill, 4804 N. Broadway. You’ll find plenty of sports, a great selection of beers and really good pub food. The crowd’s relaxed and friendly, too, and if you’re in the mood for a late-night classic Chicago experience, you can step into the legendary Green Mill Lounge next door for live jazz.

Not too far away, there’s Big Chicks, 5024 N. Sheridan. The art adorning its walls is amazing and dollar burger night on Mondays, including fries and fixings, is as good a deal as you’ll find. Drop in any evening, though, and afternoons on weekends.

Up at 1137 W. Granville, check out the Granville Anvil, an old, friendly gay bar that goes back a ways. The Anvil’s been spruced up in recent years but it’s still a place to check your attitude at the door and just chill out and relax. Nearby, Gerber/Hart Library, 1127 W. Granville, is Chicago’s LGBT library and archives, with a great collection of books and periodicals and a helpful, knowledgeable staff. Learn more at gerberhart.org.

Andersonville

At one time, it looked like Andersonville might one day rival Boystown in the number of gay bars, but rapid gentrification changed that trend. still, the entertainment strip along Clark Street is pretty heavily gay, with lots of clubs, some not specifically LGBT, that draw large LGBT crowds.

Hamburger Mary’s and Mary’s Attic above it, 5400 N. Clark, are always hopping, with hot DJs in the Attic on weekends and fun nights like MaryOke! on Sundays. Across the street, @tmosphere, 5355 N. Clark, features male dancers Wed.-Sat. and some pretty good drink specials, too.

South a few blocks, you’ll find T’s Bar Restaurant, 5025 N. Clark, and Sofo, 4923 N. Clark, both friendly neighborhood-type places. and, of course, there’s Man’s Country at 5015 N. Clark, the bathhouse that’s served the men of Chicago for 38 years. In addition to the cruising, Man’s Country features male strippers Fri.-Sat. nights.

Rogers Park

There are lots of LGBTs in Rogers Park and a pretty diverse selection of LGBT nightspots, too. first, though, a community institution well worth visiting is The Leather Archives & Museum, 6418 N. Greenview, with 10,000 square feet and eight galleries dedicated to detailing the history of the leather community. go to leatherarchives.org for info and hours.

In the nighttime, especially on weekends, you’ll find big crowds at Jackhammer, 6406 N. Clark, and Touche, 6412 N. Clark. Jackhammer boasts good DJs, with dancing and plenty of room to cruise or relax. There’s a downstairs, too, for the more adventurous.

Touche is leather and men who love men in leather. Well, OK, it gets more diverse late at night, when most any guy looking for a match might show up, but you know you’re in a leather bar. The place has an above-average selection of beers by gay bar standards, too, and good bartenders.

Down the street, there’s Parlour on Clark, 6341 N. Clark, a nice club that caters to both guys and gals. Friday nights is Boy Bar, while Thursdays it’s Lipstick, a women’s dance party.

East and north, you’ll find The Glenwood, 6962 N. Glenwood, a comfy neighborhood bar that’s mixed but with lots of gay patrons.

Downtown

The Downtown gay scene isn’t what it used to be, but there are three spots worth checking out just north of the river, starting with the legendary Baton show Lounge, 432 N. Clark. It is, and has been for more than 40 years, one of the nation’s top clubs for female impersonators. Guests who’ve dropped in for its famous shows include Joan Crawford, Sammy Davis Jr., Dinah Shore, Kirk Douglas, Madonna, Tim Curry and Lauren Bacall.

Second Story Bar, 157 E. Ohio, is also one of the older gay bars in Chicago and still kind of a throwback. but the staff and crowd are friendly and fun, and the drinks are always good. Blocks away, at 440 N. State St. is the Downtown Bar & Lounge, in the space that once housed Gentry on State. It’s been remodeled, the bartenders are nice and the crowd, still gay, is a mix of young and old most nights.

Humboldt Park

This Northwest side neighborhood has its gritty edge but it’s also teeming with art, music, food and unique nightspots that may be more gay-friendly than you think, especially if it’s been a while since you’ve been there.

Archie’s, 2600 W. Iowa Ave., hosts Queer Social Club the first Wednesday each month but you’ll be welcomed any night, while the California Clipper, 1002 N. California, draws a mixed crowd most nights, more straight but with some mostly local gays who’ve moved into the neighborhood in recent years. On Friday and Saturday nights the Clipper is the hottest honky-tonk in town, with great bands, no cover and famed Purple Martins to quench your thirst.

Rootstock, 954 N. California, is a neat wine and beer bar that also features a very creative, very reasonably priced menu. The wine and beer list is topnotch.

Down the street at 2801 W. Chicago, The Continental is host to pretty much anyone, straight, gay or other, after 2 a.m. aside from the late-night cruising, there’s a nice beer selection, really good DJs and décor that could have been there 100 years ago. Thursday night is, unofficially, Bear Night at The Continental, although the crowd will still be mixed.

Pilsen

Pilsen’s gay nightlife still misses the late Mario’s, once the LGBT Mexican club to go to in Chicago, but a lot of LGBTs have moved into the neighborhood in recent years. Pilsen is full of art and artists, as well as the very LGBT-friendly National Museum of Mexican Art, 1852 W. 19th, a treasure that’s free to visit.

There are a few spots where you’ll find other LGBTs most evenings, starting with Cafe Jumping Bean, 1439 W. 18th, open until 10 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 7 p.m. Sat.-Sun.

Biblioteca Popular, 1921 S. Blue Island, hosts its share of LGBT-related events, with a spoken word program Monday nights at 8, and Efebina’s Cafe, 1640 S. Blue Island, is a lesbian-owned spot with good food and a homey atmosphere. Open till 9 p.m. Mon.-Fri. and 5 p.m. Saturdays, it also hosts a variety of events.

South Shore

Aside from hosting Windy City Black Pride every summer, South Shore is home to one of the city’s oldest LGBT bars, Jeffrey Pub, 7041 S. Jeffery Blvd., an institution in the black LBGT community. not too far away there’s also Club Escape, 1530 E. 75th St., with Ms. Ruff n Stuff’s show of Illusions on Saturday nights and a Sunday night dance party with go-go boys. and there are always $10 pitchers.

It feels like a lost art to give the player some down time in the middle of a game, but it does happen sometimes.

The “Uncharted” games, for example, are designed to not be about shooting people all the time, and that’s just nice. just nice, indeed.

But those games still encourage you to run. Early on in the first “Uncharted” game, the player, as Nathan Drake, gets to wander through an ancient temple that people haven’t visited in a long time. what happens when you push the stick forward to move? Nate starts running.

Now, yes, you can make Nate walk by only pushing the stick halfway, but that’s a good way to get thumb cramps, and so nobody does that.

And, so, by default, Nate just kind sprints through this awesome ancient temple that no one else but his friend, Sully, knows exist. It’s sad.

“Grand Theft Auto IV” had the right idea. in that game, pushing the stick all the way forward would make Niko walk, rather than run, and you’d have to press a button to make him get going at a faster speed.

That game wants you to take in the lovingly crafted recreation of new York that Rockstar had put together. it wants you to take it at a leisurely pace, and not be in such a damn hurry all the time.

It’s strange, considering all the complaining gamers do about the high price of gaming, that we so often try to rush through our games as quickly as possible. You’d think developers would, in order to make their games seem worth that high price, build games that force you to slow down and relax for a minute, if only to make them seem longer.

The “Uncharted” games have occasional moments where they force you to walk instead of run, but they’re so few and far between. maybe that makes you, the player, appreciate these moments more when they occur, like when Nate visits a Tibetan village in the mountains in “Uncharted 2.”

In a way, I can see the appeal of rushing through games, since life is precious and, oh, so short. We would rather not waste a moment longer than we need wandering around in a particular game.

But that would be a rationalization of the matter, since I don’t think anyone but maybe me actually thinks that.

The truth is that gamers are a group of anxious people.

We latch onto games because it’s sometimes difficult for other entertainment media to keep our attention.

And so the slow moments in games, when there isn’t something pressing for us to do or think about, fill us with anxiety.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t need to stop and catch our breath once in a while. n

The author of this review and the author of the Xbox 360 version review are different persons, and their views may differ. to read our Xbox 360 version review of Deus ex: Human Revolution, click here.

Many games this generation have offered a deep, choice based experience, in terms of story and/or gameplay- few like Dragon Age, Fable and Fallout come to mind. some of them have succeeded, when it comes to story, like Mass Effect, but no game this generation has really been as open ended and free flowing as Deus ex: Human Revolution. be it story, the way you play the game, or what you play in the game- it’s all up to you, without reservations. The game does throw some stuff at you that you have to play the way it wants, like stupid boss fights, but otherwise, it’s the most free-flowing game you’ll ever come across for a long time.

The year, as we all know by now, is 2027. Mankind has come a long way from where we stand now- we have developed technologies like no other, able to implant our bodies with enhancements that help us in social, physical, mental and many other activities. They’re called Augmentations. Civil strife is tearing the world apart regarding these “augs”. you are Adam Jensen, a security specialist with a new job at Sarif Industries, the leading augmentation manufacturers. at the beginning of the game, your headquarters get attacked by mercenaries, who destroy and ravage a lot of the research and kill a whole lot of people. Adam is almost killed, and brought back to life with the help of augmentations. it is not the new, augmented Adam’s job to find out who attacked you, and why.

That takes you on a long journey around the world, from Detroit to Shanghai to Montreal and other places you will never forget. Undoubtedly, the story and the narrative have to be some of the strongest assets in Deus ex: Human Revolution. The first thing you will notice about the story is just how shockingly rich and deep it is, covering subjects and field like politics, transhumance, renaissance, civil strife and so many other things- it pulls you in immediately, with a rich, alive world that feels not so distant and different from the one we live in, and keeps you hooked, throwing difficult choices, excellent plot twists and conspiracies your way all the while. The story is really awesome, worthy of a Deus ex title, and perhaps one of the best stories in any game in the last few years.

The world is rich and complex, with great attention paid to detail, and it comes to life with the glorious city hubs. People go about their businesses, talking about the political situation in the world and what’s been going on in the game world, the architecture of the buildings is exquisite, reflecting that of the present day yet still futuristic enough to fit perfectly in a sci-fi game. The streets, the winding lanes, the patrolling cops, the citizens, the gutters, the buildings, the crates and boxes all bring the city to life, making it seem very realistic, and making the game itself very atmospheric.

The story and the world are strongly supported by a great cast of characters, especially the protagonist, Adam Jensen. Jensen is the definition of badass really. His augmentations are awesome (more on these as we go on), his character model is, at the risk of sounding gay, deadly looking. His voice work is perfect, brilliantly done, and you would never have expected a character in a game to be voiced like this, really. He is an evil, good badass. It’s confusing, I know, but that’s the only way to describe it. you have to play the game to really find out. His character is a lot like Neo from The Matrix- silent, badass, slick and cool. other characters most notable, Eliza Cassan, David Sarif, Frank Pritchard, and the main baddie, Jaron Namir- are really good as well, with their distinctive personalities that you grow to love/hate/be awed of. It’s a really strong cast of characters.

Now, on to the aforementioned augmentations. They’re much like upgradations in other, conventional RPGs, really. Basically, as you gain experience points, you get 1 Praxis Point for each XP meter you fill up. you can buy an entirely new augmentation for 2 Praxis Points, and upgrade augmentations for the cost of 1 Praxis Point. you can also buy Praxis Points from clinics known as LIMB clinics (also sell ammo and weapons and other goodies). Augmentations range from social enhancers, inventory expansions and health upgrades to abilities that make us invisible, allow us to punch through walls or gain momentary X-Ray vision. The augmentations are great, giving a lot of depth to the game, and change the experience significantly.

The gameplay is basically centered around three things, as we all must know by now- combat, stealth and hacking. In terms of combat, the game’s difficulty can be really punishing. Enemies have great aim and they swarm in from all directions, flanking you or strategically attacking you. Enemy AI in terms of combat is simply great. as much as the combat is tough, it is also very rewarding, and registering each kill gives you great satisfaction. However, the shooting of the game is a bit buggy- bullets don’t always hurt enemies, even when they hit them, and just fly past them a lot of times. Enemies may not die instantly even if you shoot them in the head or shoot them a lot of times in the chest or something. this gives a very unrealistic feel to the game, and the few combat glitches mar the overall experience somewhat.

The second “pillar” of Deus ex: HR, stealth, is probably the best and the strongest. Deus ex: Human Revolution handles stealth very well, and has to be one of the best stealth games I have ever played, especially when augmentations come into play. you can use augmentations like becoming invisible to pass through laser beams or remain unnoticed by cameras or patrolling guards, mechs. you can use augmentations that soften the sound of your footsteps and sneak past an enemy when he has his back facing you. these augmentations add a great deal of advantage to the game, and make it a hell lot of fun. Even without augs, stealth is extremely entertaining, and making your way through sprawling rooms past hordes of enemies without being notices gives immense satisfaction.

However, enemy AI can be a little stupid and glitchy when it comes to stealth- for one, they never enter rooms! all you have to do if you ever alarm the guards is enter one of the smaller, branching rooms in a corridor, and all the guards will do is stand outside in front of the door, have a quick, brief look around, and go. they may have seen you entering the room, but they do not follow you inside. they think you’ve magically disappeared and start searching for you elsewhere. And if you stay hidden for five minutes, they forget all about you. Doesn’t matter if you killed another guard in front of them, or if they say you running from their bullets with their very own eyes- go five minutes without being noticed by anyone, and they forget you ever existed.

However, other than that, the enemies do make stealth very tough- not because they’re smart, but because of the way they are placed. if you exit the line of vision of one, you enter another’s, or maybe a camera’s or a mech’s. you have to stay careful all the time, stay in cover and stay hidden, and make sure you do nothing, make no sounds, to get noticed. yes, every time you make a sound- like toppling over a crate, or thudding your feet on the ground, or, of course, shoot, the enemies notice and triangulate on the source of the sound- you. if you kill guards or knock them out and leave their bodies in the open, security cameras or other guards might notice them, and that would alert them of your presence. so you have to hide the bodies too. all the little things have been taken care of that make the stealth element of the game that much more amazing. so you have to stay careful all the time.

You can take down enemies stealthily too. there are two types of takedowns- lethal and non-lethal. In a lethal takedown, you kill your enemies with the blades in your arms, and in non-lethal takedowns, you just known them out with spectacular punches. It’s all just a press of a button- hold the square button, and you perform a lethal takedown. Tap it, and you perform a non-lethal takedown. every time you do perform a takedown, the game fluidly transitions into a third person view and shows some flashy animations, and fluidly switches back to first person again.

The cover system works really well too. you hold down the action button to switch the direction of your cover, and tap it to perform flashy swat turns between cover and cover. every time you take cover or perform certain augmentations, the game switches to a third person view. The transition works really smoothly, and gives the presentation a slick and tight feeling. I initially thought it would be disorienting, but it was not, at all, rather, it was very fluid and smooth.

Hacking is a lot of fun too- I, personally, never understood how exactly it works, but it will still an enjoyable, frequent mini-game that provided a break from all the intense action. you can hack doors to enter locked rooms, disarm alarm panels, hack turrets and turn them against your enemies, hack into other people’s computers to disable security cameras and turrets or read e-mails or codes to unlock some doors. it makes you feel that much more like a secret agent badass. But be careful who you hack in front of. if unfriendlies see you hacking something, they will shoot. And shooting can kill you very easily in Deus ex: Human Revolution.

This all comes together to deliver a very expansive, choice based, free-flowing gameplay structure, couples with brilliant level design. And that’s the beauty of Human Revolution, more than anything else. it is not the story, not the characters, not the game world in DXHR that will appeal to you the most- it will be the open ended gameplay. The game lets you decide how to play- something not a lot of games can boast of these days. Do you want to sneak past the enemies via a fire escape to make it into an apartment complex they’re not letting you enter? Do you want to sneak past them taking cover of the vehicles? Do you want to find a vent somewhere around and go inside from there? or you could climb a building and jump from its rooftop onto one of the buildings into the complex. or, you could just shoot all your enemies and enter anyway. And this is just one of the scenarios, and just a few of the possibilities. The freedom in the game is incredible. It’s ineffable, really. you have to play the game to realize just how incredible it really is.

You can choose which objectives you want to complete in a mission and which ones you don’t. like in the first mission of the game, you have to secure one of the devices Sarif has developed, but you are also given the objective to save some hostages. The hostages have been wired to a bomb, which, when detonated, will release a toxic gas and kill those who inhale it. it is all up to you- if you want, you can defuse the bomb by hacking it, but that can be really dangerous. if you want, you can forget all about the hostages and just go and secure the device, to find out at the end of the level that the hostages were killed. Again, this is just one example. The choice is incredible.

Choice based progression is also present in dialogue. In some of the conversations, you are prompted to select a dialogue from an L.A. Noire-like dialogue wheel. these dialogue choices can open up many quests or other dialogue options, or alter the course of the story itself, if done properly. It’s not what you’d see in games like Mass Effect 2 or The Witcher 2, but it’s still pretty good, and seeing as Human Revolution does the gameplay part better than any of those games, its somewhat shortfall here is excusable.

It’s really disappointing, then, when the game throws stupid, ridiculous boss battles at you that you have to play through. you are not given any choice in these matters- the boss battles are forced upon you. it would have still been excusable had they been actually good boss battles, but no. They- suck. they have to be some of the worst boss battles ever, involving mindless shooting and very boring “action.” The game could have done much better without them- I wouldn’t have had a problem with playing through the game without having any boss battles.

The side quests in the game are also pretty boring, so thank god they’re just side quests, and not main story missions. But they may put off some completionists. They’re okay, by normal standards, but generally involve a lot of backtracking and combat, and are not up to the awesome quality of the main missions.

There are some other issues with Deus ex 3 as well, other than the ones already mentioned. For one, the inventory and inventory management of the game are really bad. The inventory is much like the one you see in Resident Evil 4 or 5, but nowhere near as good. you cannot even do something as simple as stacking items. I liked how the inventory had to be expanded column by column with augments, but let’s be real- who’d spend Praxis Points on increasing their inventory size when they can gain the ability to punch through walls are jump from large heights and land on their feet safely?

The game also has a lot of technical issues- lip syncing and facial animations are very jerky and unwieldy. they seem really out of place, given the high quality of the voice acting. The facial animations just don’t express the emotions in the voices of the characters properly, and the lip syncing doesn’t match up with the voice work. It’s really jarring to see such technical issues in such a high quality game. Jensen’s lip syncing and facial animations are good, though.

The game also has extremely loading times, sometimes stretching on to be as long as a minute or two, and I’m not even exaggerating. It’s really frustrating, sitting their and looking at the boring loading screen that gives us momentary entertainment with tidbits of information, but in no way reduces the frustration of the excruciatingly long loading times. Even if you install the game, loading times stretch on to 30-40 seconds, which is still very long.

The graphics of the game, too, are not very good. they would have been good for a game two or three years old, but now, they just look rough, unpolished and outdated. not that they’re ugly, no. they do the job pretty well, and in no way are they an eyesore, but they do have a lot of rough edges that Eidos could have improved on has they taken a week or so more. But the artistic design more than makes up for any technical niggles the game’s visuals might have. The game’s art style is very reminiscent of the renaissance, with great art style. The art director of the game has really done a great job- everything looks beautiful and not very far away from our own world, and you can see that 16 years into the future, you might just see these things coming to life.

Though these flaws become almost negligible, when you take into account the other awesome things present in the game. The soundtrack, most notably, is very good. it hits the right chords, with many metallic tunes that fit perfectly with the game’s cyber punk setting and at the same time, give you adrenaline rushes whenever the action kicks in. It’s a beautifully composed track, very reminiscent of Mass Effect, and you would want to get the Augmented Edition, because it comes with the soundtrack of the game.

The replay value of Deus ex: Human Revolution is also excellent. The game literally begs for multiple playthroughs, wand you strive to indulge it. You’ll want to play through the game again and again to explore the different choices, the different ways to play, the different story paths, the multiple endings. not just that- it’s a 25 hour long game, and even if you don’t come back to the game, which is highly unlikely, you’ll get your money’s worth out of it.

Deus ex: Human Revolution is just too massive a game to properly describe in a review. I could go on for a thousand words more here, and I still would have a lot to say. Trust me, there are a lot of things I haven’t even begun explaining even now, after 3,000 words. you might think I’m crazy, but once you do play this game, you’ll realize how correct I am. Deus ex: Human Revolution is hard to be described. you have to play it. It’s so awesome, you’d be doing yourself a disservice if you don’t.

This game was reviewed on the PS3.

Forza Motorsport 4 looks to be one of the biggest racing games out this year but it will be without cars from the Porsche line. EA holds the exclusive rights to the Porsche license and has agreed to allow the Forza series to use Porsche models in the past, unfortunately no agreement was reached for this title. Check out the news below.

 Forza Motorsport 4 is the next entry in the highly-popular racing game series that will once again give players the chance to enter some of the best cars in the world and race around various terrains in career modes and multiplayer modes alike. The game will be the first in the series that will feature functionality with the Xbox 360’s Kinect sensor and it will be used for various gameplay elements like audio commands and steering.

Forza Motorsport 4 will be released exclusively on the Xbox 360 console in October but will ship without models from the Porsche line of cars. EA owns the exclusive rights to Porsche models in video games and has refused to let Forza developer Turn 10 Studios use the cars. The move is a surprising one, given that EA let Turn 10 use Porsche models in Forza Motorsport 3. Turn 10 had negotiated with EA for a long time to try and get the cars to no avail. here is what Brain Ekberg, community manager, had to say on the Forza Motorsport blog to fans of the series.

> “EA couldn’t see their way towards collaborating again. We’ve asked our contacts at EA to reconsider their position frequently and regularly over the last 18 months. We also reached out to various influential people in gaming to lobby on our behalf, and on your behalf, but that was to no avail.”

Ekberg also wrote that Turn 10 had reached out to “key people in Porsche circles” and found that they had already been lobbying on their behalf but it didn’t help the end result. The Forza franchise holds the rights to the Ferrari license exclusively but Ekberg also stated that they wouldn’t refuse other companies for fear of what it would do to the overall “racing ecosystem.”

It seems that the exclusive licensing deals have made it difficult for different racing games to get a full lineup of cars for their title and these sub-licensing deals, like the ones EA and Turn 10 had made in the past, was a viable solution to the problem. It is unfortunate but not unexpected that EA would want to retain the license exclusively.

Whatever the reasoning behind it, EA will not allow Turn 10 to use Porsche models in their game so fans will have to make do with the various other models of cars that will be in the game when it is launched on October 11th in North America, October 14th in Europe and October 20th in the rest of the world.

Source: Gamesindustry.biz       

For news, reviews, previews and updates on your favorite games, follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Have something to say? Duke it out in the GamerGaia forums, leave a comment below, or connect with other gamers and let us know what you’re thinking in the My Blog section. 

Partner Website Articles:

The rules are changing and I don’t really know why. the games are quickly becoming a clerk position and I don’t know why. Seems as though they want everybody working the games to play it just like the sign says and I don’t know why. somebody please tell me soon. It doesn’t matter to me though, I just want to know.

There was a saying a long time ago that people still use today, to endure.to adapt.and this too shall pass. that saying is how I approach the ever changing carnival game regulations. Even though I have broke in working games as strong as I could, I haven’t lost a step with each regulation implemented by fair commissions and Carnival show owners alike. I do know quite a few of my peers that have been greatly affected.

In my field of study, build-up oriented games, I began working what is widely known as a collection. the collection is when you get a player to play and then pay. Basically the collection has been omitted from the regular running of all the shows that are playing the most major fairs and festivals. There have been major set backs at the choice games too.

One way of getting money then is now not allowed now because the shows are allegedly making it a better environment for the patrons of these said events. These people making these drastic rules changes have never worked the games for sure. the guy that spends the most money usually went to fair looking for the carny with the biggest bite. Those players tend to realize if they get beat for enough money they will get a prize.

I have noticed quite a few emails from people telling me I won the lottery, someone died and they want me to help them with all the money the person left and they will pay me a large sum, or someone may just want me to run great sums through my bank account for great riches in return, and other internet scams as well. They are all identity theft emails. I don’t bite at all. I even have fun with these people telling them things like my name is Gunnar Nemecek and I am from Steal, ID. get it.

One thing I have noticed is that, for the most part, these emails come directly from the United Kingdom. They have a Nigerian flavor many times, as well, but are still directly from the UK. this tells me that the UK allows this type of scam. this also tells me that they may allow these scams because the people of the UKs’ general philosophy is that if you fall for it you should learn from it. that they also feel you should be smarter and that it should teach you a lesson.

In America we don’t share that philosophy as a whole. We believe that these characters should be nipped at the bud. in return Americans are the easiest target for these internet scammers because they are so protected by all of these laws. They have become weak minded to the point that actually believe that there is no way that’s a scam because it’s against the law. They can’t get away with it. why? Because they are coddled by American law.

This brings me back to carnival games. I know a guy in Lafayette Georgia who was ripped off for all of his money, then his jewelry, and then his car in a carnival game back in the 60′s. He will tell you that this carny fleeced him good. He will also tell you how it changed his entire outlook on life. this guy now owns a store, nice home, his wifes’ successful catering business, a large bank account I am assuming, and is always sporting very expensive jewelry. this guy will tell you that if it weren’t for being ripped off he wouldn’t have what he has today.

It made him stronger and smarter and, most of all, it taught him how to approach financial matters for the rest of his life. this is a true story and the guy owns a little store heading north on 27 out of Lafayette, Georgia, on the right, if you verify the authenticity of this story. this is really what carnival games did for people when we carnies were allowed to rip off the public.

Being flim-flammed made the person smarter and way more on the guard for every venture in the future. You will even hear former customers say to each other things to the effect that that sales pitch sounds just like that carny at the fair. They may be looking at cell phone plans or car tires or really anything in every day life.

The bottom line is that it is only the small time players that actually complain about the games. Complaints are only a small factor for the rules changes though. the larger spenders don’t generally complain. Some are just too embarrassed to admit they were beaten out of that much by a carny or anybody for that matter. But for the most part, and I am speaking from a whole bunch of experience, they want to hear your lines.

If someone took a poll of all adults leading lives outside the carnival, and asked them, yes or no, do you think that carnival games are rip-offs. the general answer would definitely be yes. I would figure that nearly everyone who has ever played carnival games would say yes, maybe 99.9%. so when they play it’s kind of like those people that jump into the barrel of snakes, except now all the snakes are not poisonous. They continue to play and the people have no idea, generally, that there are all these rules changes making them less apt to get beat out of their money.

Some people argue that the rules changes were for bettering the image of carnies. that theory is flat bull. These people working the carnivals have to gain a better overall look, which is why their is a dress code. whether or not a person gets beat for large cash and jewelry has so very little impact on the overall image of carnies. the people just don’t realize, Hey I didn’t get beat for $60 in any game this year, any impact at all in the rules changes. They still call the games rip-offs.
I hopscotch from show to show almost every year. I see all types of game policies. When I first dropped in on a show called Pugh, owned by Jeff Pugh, they didn’t have any real carnies working their games. As a matter of fact their ad in a business magazine, at the time, they stated that they had the most stringent game policy in America. the show went under and the route was taken over Jeff Pughs’ brother-in-law.

Since I first walked on that midway and showed that carnies could rip off the public, while at the same time, not being a menace off the lot, they now have real carnies in most of their games. the shows’ name changed to Mid America, owned by North American Midways in care of Danny Houston, but the general game policy changed to go on ahead and get em’, just don’t get a complaint. their route continues to be one of the best in the country for the games. But they did transform from one philosophy to nearly the entire opposite philosophy, with no impact in proceeds or attendance at their fairs and festivals.