Resident Evil 5 Interactive

Resident Evil 5 reaches a new level of interactivity on the XBox 360 and PS3. As Chris or Sheva you attempt to save the world from the dangerous Uroboros virus.

Although a slower play style than I described in my Left 4 Dead post, RE5 still delivers zombie action. Slower, but deadly. You are in Africa. You superman search for answers about your partner and about Uroboros. You search in villages, marshlands, and underground labs. Some nice large bosses (like Irving) enter into the action. Heads explode...and then slimy tentacles pop out of the bodies.

Great Co-op
Most impressive, however, is one of my favorite things - a GREAT co-op play. You need your partner - be it online, offline, or AI. Doors require teamwork. You can save your partner from being Zombie Lunch. You can resuscitate your partner. You may quibble a bit over ammo, but you split the money and jewels equally. The game even separates you at times to progress.

Interactive Movies
You also need your partner in the movies. Yes, the interactive cutscenes require frantic smacking of the A-button, undivided attention, and frequent cussing. I couldn't help it. When I see a movie start, I immediately get up to pee and get a drink. With RE5 I got up, cussed, and ran back to the couch. Damn, dead.

Mix-It-Up Gameplay
But, oh how fun. And you don't just shoot your gun. There are a myriad of situations.You can drive the boat, or shoot. You shoot the turret gun from the back of a moving vehicle. Don't forget to hang on in the cutscenes. They mixed up the gameplay a bit which - although straying a bit from the sequence - gave it variety.



What I learned...

• If it pops out of someone, or something.... shoot it!
  
• If it glows, or bleeds... shoot it!
  
• If it attacks, or doesn't... shoot it!

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Rummy 5000: How to Play

I've focused on video games lately. So, as some commenters' requested, here is some tabletop fun. How to play my favorite card game: Rummy 5000. The next post will explain Rummies, some special situations, and my "house rules" to handle them.

You Need

• Basic 52 card deck
• 2 or more people
• pen and paper for scoring
  

Main Objective

Reach 5000 points

Before Playing

Cut the cards to see who deals first. Aces are high.

Dealing

The dealer, wild card, and amount of cards dealt changes each hand.

• Deal the first person to the left one card face up.
  
• Deal the amount of cards (face down) shown on the face up card. For cards 2-10 deal the number on the card. Deal 10 for face cards; 15 for Aces.
  
• Repeat for each person.
• After the dealer has his cards, the dealer gives himself one more card, face up.
• This face up card determines the wild card for this round.
• Set the remaining cards in a face down stack.
  
• Flip over the top card (face up) beside the stack. This begins the discard pile.
  

Each Turn

• The first person to dealer's left goes first.
• Each turn, you may either draw a card from the stack or pick up a card (or cards) from the discard pile. *You may pick up the top card from the discard pile and add it to your hand. If you pick up cards farther down the pile, you must play the first card you pick up immediately.
• Lay down your runs or sets. Runs have 3 or more cards of the same suit in consecutive order. Sets are 3 or more cards of the same number (or rank)
  
• Play on other player's runs or sets. *You play these in your area, and count them as your points.
• Discard one card to the discard pile.
  

Ending the Hand

• Play until a person is out of cards at the end of their turn. *This includes the discard phase. If a person runs out of cards, but has not discarded, the hand continues. This person is now floating.
• The first person to go out gets all the cards left in the other players' hands.
  

Scoring

Count all the cards you played during the hand. If you "went out," also count the cards given to you by other players.

• Wild card = 200pts
• Ace = 100pts
• 2-7 = 5pts
• 8-K = 10pts
  

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Printer Jam Animation

I came across this awesome video on Geeks Are Sexy. Tinspider Studio uses the music from Mistabishi to create a fabulously interesting, and entertaining animation.

The song Printer Jam explores the "noise" Sam has been exploring on his Inconsistent Beauty blog. Am I right on this Sam? Listen to the various printer sounds. They become the music. Have you heard similar music to this before? I think it's wonderfully geeky :)

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Offline Co-op not Left 4 Dead

The game Left 4 Dead is available on Xbox 360 and the PC. This game features 4 characters that shoot their way free through the "infected" zombies.

Offline Co-op
The offline co-op (or cooperative play) in this game makes it ideal for the thirtysomething gamer. Through a split-screen, you can shoot zombies with your husband, sister, or friends. Hell, it has friendly fire (you can shoot your teammates).

Although you need their help, shooting your husband by "accident" yields some sick giggles. The ultimate passive-aggressive fun. Read this Left 4 Dead co-op review for more game specifics.

The real enjoyment with offline co-op is you don't ignore the people around you. You both fight through the zombie hordes. You can set on the couch, munch, pause when you need to. And of course, the cries we all make when under attack. "Hunter has me! Help, help!" and "Sorry, that was me." This often follows your hubby shooting you in the head. *accident?*

You challenge each other. Can you get more headshots? *Yes, the heads explode. Zombie blood apparently has part napalm* Who does more damage? Who takes more damage?

Scary
And oh yes, Left 4 Dead is scary. The intro movie drops you into the horror immediately. Old Bill grumbles the great line, "Son, we just crossed the street." You're introduced to the pathetic crying of the witch, and what happens when you startle her. What does happen? Watch it below.

Left 4 Dead Intro

The whole game has the creepy feeling of a horror movie. The dark and seedy graphics transport you to an inflected world. You creep around in darkness, with only your flashlight to guide you.

Of course, more things scare. When many, many, MANY infected come running at you - adrenaline rushes through your body. If a boomer vomits on you, you shoot through the thick, putrid fog. You wildly shoot everything that moves. *sometimes this includes your teammates, as mentioned before.*

And the sound... The witch may cry, but the infected scream. The background noises feel like a haunted house. You hear the hunter, before he strangles anyone. You frantically search around for him. And the witches cries force you to turn off your flashlight and search through the dark.

Oh, the sound. It makes you want to turn off the lights.
You should.
I hear the witch's cries.

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My Gamer History

Here is a little introduction to my gamer history - from my view of being in this cult group. This post lists my video gaming levels, from Noob to Pro to Old-School. In other words... from a little girl with the Atari, to a PC hard-core gamer, and now to a casual multi-console lover: what I have played and want to play.
Noob
For me, the groups began early. I would spot my mom points in Atari. My sister and I actually wore out controllers. Mario and Tetris later ruled the scene. Then, we finished our friends in basements with the still popular franchise, Mortal Combat.


Pro
Then my husband introduced me to Blizzard (sounds of angels singing). My husband played online, but the best groups were when we had LAN (Local Area Network) parties. 6+ geeks packed up their computers. By god the monitors were heavy. Noone used a laptop to game. They didn't have the video acceleration, the fabulous speakers, or the power. We separated, a couple of people per room. Hooking up (literally wires and hubs), upgrading versions, patches, pizza, and LOTS of caffeine. Best game: Starcraft. Although we dabbled with any Real Time Strategy (RTS) we could get our hands on.

Once a month, we headed to Gammathon, the Greater Albuquerque Massively Multiplayer Alliance (GAMMA). Now extinct, we hooked our computers up with large groups of geeks in tournament competitions for prizes. RTS, First-Person Shooters (FPS), and lots of music trading. Again, pizza and soda accompaniment. We had small LANS still with our friends.

I could now afford DSL (first) and later Cable (there go those damn angels again). We turned more online: Diablo 2, random Role-Playing Games (RPGs) like Darkstone. Then the game that is TOO good: World of Warcraft (WOW).

After 2 years of hard-core gaming in WOW, my hubby and I decided we needed to focus on Real Life (RL). The game became a job. This was compounded by being officers in the guild, and I, the the main force of our guild website. We quit right as the expansion was coming out (*sniff *sniff).

Old-School
Switch to more consoles. Cheap PS2, Wii, and Xbox 360. We had always had consoles, but they were something to play when the servers were down. The online interactivities in this genre are just beginning to form communities, In My Humble Opinion (IMHO).

Now, I play Culdcept Saga with my hubby. I am an evil chickie, complete with horns, in Fable 2. I have split personalities, though. I am also so good I dawn a halo. I'm a drummer in Rock Band, of course. Spore didn't hold my interest. I rent alot, looking for that next big game to pwn. Every now and again, we have a Magic: the Gathering draft. We play the basics like Scrabble and cards, too.

Don't get me wrong. There were many MANY more games mixed in all of these levels. I didn't even touch on The Sims or Podracer. Which, hands down, was the best racing game ever. Especially at Gameworks.

Coming Soon
And there are many more on the works. I want to see if Halo Wars can keep my attention after Starcraft. Can the console really pull-off the RTS so popular in PC games? Of course, Final Fantasy XIII will have me spellbound. Starcraft 2 may get me divorced.

Let's face it - the family that kills zombies together, stays together! Left 4 Dead tops my short list of next games to rent. Resident Evil 5 is out very soon. My hubby wants to travel back to time - Street Fighter 4. Angry about the dishes? Screw couples counseling...a few punches in a fighting game really does make it all better :)

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