My All Time Favorite Video Game Series

This is the type of thing that may change a bit with time, so I guess it would be better to call this the 2014 version of this list. Anyway, there are a ton of video game series out there that I absolutely love. Some have as few as three games (when I consider it to really be a series), and some have 20+, or even more than that. Here is my list.

Dispelling a Video Game Myth and a Bonus

There has always been one video game myth that has bugged me. As someone who does laugh at how the Call of Duty games really seem to all be the same thing over and over again, when my favorite series is given the same treatment, I will defend that game series with great confidence. The series is the Legend of Zelda, and every time I hear anyone say anything about the games being the same, the first thing that happens is that I totally lose respect for that person, the second thing is that through a civil debate (at least I keep it civil), I make sure that person realizes either how ill informed or just how unintelligent they are, and here's how (some spoilers ahead, although I'll try to make them minimal).

Mario Kart 8 Review and Rankings

On Friday after work the first thing I did was run out and get Mario Kart 8. While I knew that this wouldn't be a huge departure from the rest of the series or anything, it wouldn't be a groundbreaking game in the series or anything, but at the same time, I'd liked every Mario Kart game that I had played before, so of course I was going to like this. Also, this being another game to play on the Wii U doesn't hurt either, a system that I feel is still hurting for games. Anyway, to give you an early hint of what I thought about the game, my right thumb was sore from Saturday through Monday, and I haven't even had a chance to play it for more than 1 cup since Saturday night.

Underrated Games Among Fans of their Series

I've been playing a game lately that will appear on this list, and I've realized that there really is no reason for that game to have as many people in the fanbase for that game series to be saying some of the things that they do. So anyway, I'm going to go over a few of these games and give my reasons for why I think that the fans that say these things are either biased in some sort, or are plain flat out wrong.

Who Are The Most Intense Bands Out There?

I'll start this off with a disclaimer. I have not heard every band in the world, so this list is limited to just bands that I've heard. Anyway, I do have a solid knowledge of music that is out there, and a lot of my friends will sometime ask me who I think are the heaviest, fastest, or just the most intense bands or music acts out there. Well, I'm going to answer a lot of those questions here. My use of genres is really only to allow the reader to imagine what any bands they may not have heard yet actually sound like. It's not for me to pigeonhole a band or anything like that, because a lot of these bands cannot be really pigeonholed into a single genre.

Lesser Known Classic Albums Part 4: Miasma and the Carousel of Headless Horses - Perils

This is probably the first album in this series where there is really no debate rather this is a lesser known album or band at all. Not to say that nobody has heard of them, but if you ask 100 random people at a prog rock show, at a metal show, or at just about any other show based around a certain genre that they touch on (or at least where those fans might enjoy them), you'll find a very low number of people who have ever heard of them. If I had to really narrow them down to a single genre, I'd say that the band is progressive rock, but there are very strong avant garde and experimental elements to the band as well, just really the general base of the band is progressive rock. However, as this album proves, there is so much more to this band.

The Console Wars: What Each System Brings

We've had time now to at least let the initial shots be fired in the current generation console wars. The Wii U has been out for well over a year now, and the PS4 and XBox One have been out for a few months now. While we still have a long way to go to find out how everything turns out, I've had a chance to play around on all three (although I only own one, I've been able to find people with each one, and have played demos). On top of that, I won't be able to own each of the three, I have other interests, and money really only allows me to buy one more (already have a Wii U), and even that probably won't be until price cuts, so I have done more than my share of research so that I get the right system based on what I'm looking for. I'm going to go over each one to try to make this an easier choice for you.

Lesser Known Classic Albums Part 3: Sleep - Holy Mountain

"Black Sabbath", "Paranoid", "Master of Reality", "Volume 4", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", and "Sabotage". Those are the first six, and for a long time the only true Black Sabbath albums ever released. With all respect to Dio, Zakk Wylde was right, those were the only true Black Sabbath albums...and even then, he said it was Ozzy era, but "Technical Ecstasy" and "Never Say Die", while not as bad as some fans will make them out to be, were even really not true Sabbath albums as far as what I think of when I think of Black Sabbath. It's not just me though, there's a number of other fans of Black Sabbath that will agree with that. However, the next true Black Sabbath album came from an unlikely source. By that, I mean that it didn't come from Black Sabbath.

Lesser Known Classic Albums Part 2: Electric Wizard - Dopethrone

Like City, this is an album that, if you're a fan of the style of music, in this case doom, then you'll likely be a fan of this. If not, chances are you've never even heard of the band. In fact, I'd go as far as to guess that fewer people are familiar with Electric Wizard than are familiar with Strapping Young Lad. Either way, this is an album that took everything Electric Wizard had previously done and knocked it up into the stratosphere. It is easily in the highest echelon of doom releases. However, because doom is not very popular outside of Black Sabbath and a few others, it's an album that continues to live in obscurity.

Lesser Known Classic Albums Part 1: Strapping Young Lad - City

I could not think of a better album to start this series with. City is an album that if you ask most serious metal fans about, they'll know exactly what you're talking about, and most will immediately say that they love the album. However, unless you're asking a serious metal fan, chances are very high that they have never heard of the album. It's an album that should be right up there with the absolute classics, and to most serious metal fans, it is, but there are way too many music fans in general who still have not heard this gem.

Remakes I Would Love To See: Volume 1

Remakes are a touchy subject in media. Sometimes you have great movies that have their legacy almost ruined by remakes, and sometimes you have one that actually does the original product justice and possibly even improves on it. When doing a remake there are so many things to take into account. Obviously all of these things are rarely done to perfection, as it's more than just pointing these things out and doing them, but it's obvious when these things are taken into consideration. I might do a favorite remakes post before long, but for now, here are remakes I would love to see.

Top Ten Games of 2013

It's about time I did this. Just as the title reads, these are the top 10 games of 2013. Just remember when you read this that these are my top 10 games of 2013. My opinions will almost surely differ from yours, and to be honest, that's really a good thing. I would be more bothered if I had the exact same opinions as someone else, as it's human nature to value different things differently and whatnot. I won't lie, all of these games are going to be either multi platform games, ps3 exclusives, Wii U exclusives, PS Vita exclusives, or 3DS exclusives. I'm not a big X-Box fan, as I really don't care for first person shooters, and that's what the X-Box consoles are best known for. Also, I have not played every single game. I am living on a budget that allows me to play some games, but I can't even come close to playing every game.