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Jul232016

Pokemon GO

Despite everything else going on in the United States (election, mass murders, etc.) and the World (lack of elections, mass murders, etc.), Pokemon Go has been one of the most prominent staples in news feeds, Facebook posts, and gossip. Whether you’re a player discussing your experience with other players or a critic, everyone wants to, or at least is talking about Pokemon as if it was 1998 again. The mobile game released on July 6th by Niantic and The Pokemon Company has led to Nintendo’s most significant stock growth in years and millions of dollars of in-app purchases.

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Jun182015

The #1 Greatest Video Game of All Time

This is it. The final entry in H&F’s Greatest Video Game of All Time series. This is big-time stuff. This is our ultimate FAVORITE game ever in the world. These games are important to us, tied to who we are, and in our hearts. We’ve finally arrived. If you missed the others on our countdown, please check them out: #25,#24,#23,#22,#21,#20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9, #8, #7, #6, #5, #4, #3, and #2. 

#1 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Kai – Morrowind – I struggled to decide which of my top 3 is my most favorite game, but in the end it had to be Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind.  No other piece of art has ever transported me to another world like Morrowind.  The art, the lore, the music, and the quests all contribute to an amazing world that you can truly get lost in.

Like most Elder Scrolls games, you start out as a prisoner, this time exiled to the island of Vvardenfell, home of the dark elves or Dunmer.  You wake up as your ship reaches the harbor, with vague memories of a strange dream.  With only a vague instruction to meet with an Imperial agent named Caius, you’re dropped off into this strange world, with the freedom to take part in any of the hundreds of stories taking place throughout the land.
 
I’m not sure what it is that makes Morrowind so much better than the other Elder Scrolls games.  Perhaps it’s the lack of guidance and hand-holding, causing the player to feel like they’re exploring a wide-open world, rather than the set of fairly linear narratives in Skyrim and Oblivion.  There are great secrets hidden within the world and the game allows the player to find them rather than leading the player to them.  Also a tremendous amount of work and care was put into the art and lore to really make the world feel real and it really shows.  The graphics don’t quite hold up anymore (at the time they were amazing), but the game is still really engrossing.  
 
If you want to see the best of what gaming has to offer, you have to try Morrowind.
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Jun142015

The Future of Dragonball Z – Resurrection of F, Super, and Beyond

Akira Toriyama has provided us with quite the roller coaster since we met Son Goku when the Dragonball manga was first released in 1984. Two animes based off the original 42 volumes, 19 feature films, countless video games, trading card games, the infamous GT, and the remake of Z known as Kai, have been the highs and lows of that thrill ride. While highlights such as the Frieza and Android saga offset the dips of GT and some questionable films, fans are here… over 20 years later, wanting more.  dbz1

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May052015

The #7 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Number 7. Hungry and Fit’s favorite number! This is a big one for the Greatest Video Game of All Time countdown.  If you missed the others on our countdown, please check them out: #25, #24,#23,#22,#21,#20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, #12, #11, #10, #9, and #8. 

#7 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Kai – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic – One of my favorite RPGs ever, KOTOR and KOTOR II are two of the finest Star Wars games.  They capture the core of Star Wars, making you feel like you’re really living in the space opera’s universe.

It’s a fairly linear RPG, with most of the exposition happening in dialogue and resolved in combat (with force powers, sabers, and blasters).  There’s also card games, pod races, and space travel.  You pick up all kinds of interesting allies along the way who serve as the party members on your adventures.
 
Perhaps the most innovative component to KOTOR is the dark side/light side aspect.  As you play, the choices you make affect your character’s force attunement, changing how people treat you and the types of force powers you can use.  I never managed to be much of a Sith, but there are real moral choices to be made.
 
If you’re looking to live in the Star Wars universe for a week, I can’t recommend anything other than KOTOR and KOTOR II.  Their graphics may not be quite up to par, but the story and characters are well-written and well-acted, so it still really holds up today.

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Apr082015

#10 Greatest Video Game of All Time

We’ve finally cracked the Top 10 of our 25 Greatest Video Games of All Time list! How exciting! This list comprises all of our favorite games from 5 different people with different backgrounds. If you are unfamiliar with this list, then check the following out:  #25, #24,#23, #22, #21, #20, #19, #18, #17, #16, #15, #14, #13, #12, and #11. Let the top ten start…now!

Kai – The Secret of Monkey Island: Monkey Island – Monkey Island is hilarious.  Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer created a world that is a parody of every pirate movie ever made.  As the best game released during the “golden age” of (now defunkt) LucasArts’ point and click adventures, Monkey Island is a perfect representation of the fun, laid back attitude of those SCUMM-based games.  

In terms of gameplay, you have a set of adjectives you can apply to the environment and anything you pick up along the way.  It’s a puzzle/exploration game that forces you to try and think logically about the world and come up with interesting solutions.  
 
It has a great theme as well, with wonderful writing and expressive 2D pixel art.  Maybe it’s because of when I played it (I was 9 or 10), but the game is iconic in a way that few games have replicated.  So many distinct images and moments stick with me from it.  Each character made an impression, despite being a collection of pixels and a few written sentences.  
 
If you’re looking to spend a week in a hilarious pirate adventure I can’t recommend Monkey Island highly enough.
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Nov032014

#17 Greatest Video Game of All Time

We are battling our way through the teens of the greatest video games of all time–according to us, of course! This has been a lengthy project brought to you by the video game brain trust. As an overview, it’s a group of five of us who put a list of our favorite 25 video games of all time. I know, pretty fun, huh? If you missed these, check them out: #25, #24, #23, #22, #21, #20 #19, and #18. Let us know what you think in the comments!

Kai – Mario Kart series–  For those who haven’t heard of Mario Kart, it’s a casual racing game with 8 iterations.  You race in a fantasy location as one of the Nintendo characters, picking up items and shooting them at fellow racers to get ahead.  It’s one of my favorite split-screen multiplayer games, easy to learn but competitive.  Each race is short, making it easy to let new people rotate in and play, so it also makes a fun party game.

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Po – Toejam & Earl 2: Panic on Funkotron- The ultimate co-op chill sesh. Couple this with gunstar heroes and you’ve got the most balanced co-op gaming session on your hands.

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Andrew – Mass Effect (Series) – [SPOILER ALERT FOR MASS EFFECT] “I’m Commander Shepard and this is my favorite entry on this list”. The game is legend. From the start of the series you have the Normandy, which is an absolute beast ship that you have to upgrade in order to make it through some suicide missions and save some of your friends lives. You have the beautiful intertwining plotlines that BioWare is fantastic at. The visuals are fantastic. Legion is fantastic. Thane is fantastic. Seth Green is fantastic. Mass Effect 3 came out the week of my birthday and my 360 had just broken so I just had to auto-buy a new one. Had to be done (like when the new Zelda and/or Metroid games come out, must auto-buy a Wii U) I romance Liara 100/100 times throughout all 3 games and am devastated every time Legion gives his life. You’ll see some BioWare games higher up on the list, Mass Effect is lower because – 1) some of the games are better 2) Mass Effect 3 had a bad ending. The lack of companion explanations killed it a lot. The fact that it was overall bad killed it a lot. 1st ending, 2nd ending…didn’t really matter, they were overall bad. 

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Fit – Call of Duty (1 and 2)– Call of Dutyyyyyyy! This is a long-time favorite. And I say 1 and 2 because I like the World War II Call of Duty, not this present day nonsense. My list is all about the memories that games bring me and Call of Duty is FULL of them. I really mean that. From pulling all nighters with my brother and friends, to pistol battles, to sniper wars, this game has provided hundreds of hours of fun and bonding time. It is such a fantastic game to play with others and have amazing fun. We would always all play in the same room and either go at each other or team up and try to beat the other team. It was always a blast. The game is a lot of fun–I was always a Kar98k gun kind of girl–a faster version of a sniper rifle. I would be patient with my prey, be silent in my positioning, and take them down! I’m a big believer in defense, so that’s what I always did in Capture the Flag games. 
 
This game gets a respectable place on my list due to its replayable-ness and being a great social game. I can’t count how many good memories I’ve had with this game.

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Hungry – The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (PS3) – Oh man. Impending RANT. This was a pure gut instinct, change my list last moment kind of decision. There were a few games that were originally listed in a worse position that will now be higher because of my general frustration with the PS3 release, so this is very subjective. Another Elder Scrolls game, which I will not name yet, will appear VERY high on my list. Having experienced years and years of Elder Scrolls, my expectations for Skyrim were through the roof. The trailers were skin tingling and bone chilling. One of my favorite series ever plus dragons? It’s like a dream for me.

Unfortunately, Bethesda and Sony decided to not play nice and the fans suffered. It started well… we were there for the midnight launch, got the game and played immediately. I bought the game November 11th, 2011 and by mid December, 2011 I had piled up 284 hours of gameplay. The two main quests were completed and nearly every side quest that didn’t have a bug that wasn’t patched had been finished. I had every home, explored every cave, had almost every skill at 100 (except Illusion and Alteration), was at a very high level, had all the shouts, etc. The game was 99% done. I really actually enjoyed it a lot aside from the few minor glitches.

And then THE EXPANSIONS DID NOT COME OUT FOR PLAYSTATION. If they never made them, Skyrim would be VERY high on this list as well. Unfortunately, I downloaded all of them when they were released for PS3 at the same time and it actually corrupted my main file to the point I couldn’t even play it after deleting the DLCs and Sony couldn’t help me fix the problem. Well, to this day, I haven’t really played Skyrim since December 2011, they haven’t fixed my problem, and I might eventually start a new file on the PC, when I get time. It was just so disappointing and the game had so much potential for me. If that whole fiasco with Sony and Bethesda only never happened and the DLC came out on time without bugs… I can only imagine how high Skyrim would be on this list. But that’s just me. Those first 284 hours were magic though, pure magic strong enough to save this game’s place on this list and I am sure I don’t need to tell you why! FUS RO DAH!

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That sums up our #17 greatest video games of all time! We hope you enjoyed reading as much as we enjoyed writing. Be sure to be on the look out for #16. We are sneaking closer to our top 10! Have a wonderful Monday and as always, stay hungry and fit!

BONUS KITTY PIC

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Sep152014

Madden 15 Review: “Madden is Madden”

Madden 15

Played on PS4

“Madden is Madden”

This is a guest post from our good friend, Nerdy Neanderthal, a nerdy fitness dude. Expect more posts from him ranging from workouts to beer discussions to nerd surges! 

Pros: 

  • It’s more Madden 
  • Defensive mini game 
  • Improved play calling 

Cons:

  • It’s more Madden
  • Near constant updates
  • Pushing the Ultimate Team
  • Microtransactions

Madden 15 hardly reinvents the wheel, but it does it give it some nice new tires and shiny rims. Madden 15 is good, but ultimately it’s mostly the same game as last year; so most people already know if they are getting this game. For those on the fence, the chances to quicker play calling, the addition of a defensive “mini game” and the increase of real world integration, might sway you.

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The only thing that matters in the equation of purchasing the newest version of a yearly franchise is: “are the changes good?” For me, the changes to Madden 15 definitively make it worth it. The worst part of Madden used to be slogging through defense until you got on offense. NOT ANY MORE! An almost “minigame” has been added this year. Hit r2 for a speed boost, move the offensive player in certain directions or try to get passed them with square or x. I now look forward to playing defensive.

The changes to the “coach’s suggestions” for plays has been revamped nicely as well. The computer gives you a couple of quick options and adjusts to your play style the more you play. On my franchise, I am an aggressive defensive play-caller and after the first game, the coach’s suggestion was almost always giving me some kind of man blitz, which I loved.

Madden deep down is just the same game every year. This engine was made for Madden 13. The connected franchise has been practically identical for years; player, coach, owner. The Madden ultimate team is a different way to build a team but filled with micro transactions. Most times I sign into the game, I have to download something, not a game breaker but it definitely gets in the way, wish it was done in the background.

Madden is Madden. The additions this year have been good but hardly game changing.

As a person who loves football, video games, and RPG elements, Madden scratches a niche-itch. So if you want to play Madden, the $60 dollar price tag is nothing because there is something for every kind of football video game fan. If you interest isn’t piqued every August as this game gets close, this year is no different.

Nerdy Neanderthal gives the game a: 7/10

Good, not Great

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Fantasy Style Draft of All the Players in the League.

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Aug182014

#21 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Finally, #21 is here! We apologize for the hiatus, we’ve been busy with the move and settling in. However, we are now back on track! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, look at this post here. Please meet our Video Game Brain Trust before you continue on. We put this together as a somewhat weekly display of what our favorite video games are. What we love about it is the variety between all of us and what we prefer. If you missed it, please see #25, #24, #23, and #22! Let’s get started.. 

#21 Best Video Games of All Time

Kai — Gunpoint – A much more recent game than those I’ve listed so far, Gunpoint is a stealth puzzle game with great atmosphere.  You play a private detective in a noire style adventure.  Although short, the story is really interesting and ties in great with the gameplay.  It doesn’t feel like you’re figuring out puzzles, it feels like you’re trying to move the plot forward.  The difficulty curve is very good, challenging but not overwhelming, unveiling various mechanics and techniques as time goes on.  My only real complaint is that the game is short and not very replayable, but definitely worth the price ($10).  If you’re looking for a game to while away a rainy day, I’d recommend Gunpoint.

Po — Super Mario 64 (N64) – Brought 3-D gaming to the mainstream. I’ll never forget the first time I walked through a door and entered a new room — it blew my mind.

Andrew — Ninja Crusaders (NES) – Really nothing much to say here other than that I spent countless hours playing this with my brother. YOU COULD TURN INTO A DRAGON. Top 5 NES Game. 
 

Alana (Fit) — Yoda Stories – For me, this is an absolute classic. It’s a LucasArts game not many know about, but it holds a very special place in my heart. Released in the 90s, this game has no ultimate goal. It’s simply a collection of various levels you have to play through. So when you start the game, you could be doing one of the various Hoth levels, Endor levels, Death Star levels, Tatooine levels, and so forth. There were tons of different “levels” aka scenarios, each one with different surroundings and plots. Sometimes you’d meet Boba Fett, sometimes Vader, sometimes the Wampa. I remember my cousins, brother and I would always crowd around the computer playing and laughing at the subtly funny LucasArts writing characters said.

You usually played as Luke Skywalker, out to save the day or escape or something of that nature. You also could gain other weapons like a lightsaber and find hidden things behind boxes. It’s really a puzzle game in order to find the objective. This game was basically just the arrow keys and that’s all it really needed. It was a blast to play any of the levels over and over. I think I will play it again today. 

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Chris — Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (PS2) – Vice City is close behind on my list of favorite GTA games. While I typically enjoy some of the earlier entries in a franchise, the expansiveness and ability to do so many ridiculous things makes San Andreas my favorite. I might have enjoyed the story in Vice City a little bit more, the game based on Los Angeles takes the cake over the game based in Miami. However, San Andreas really is one of those games that I put on that highest level of near perfection. 

Simply, the graphics, soundtrack, and controls were all top-notch at the time. The story was what you would expect from a GTA and as I mentioned before, they expanded on what the player could do a million fold. One example is the ability to get in a plane, jump out, and go skydiving. Every vehicle was an option and if you had the money, you could customize your really fast cars however you wanted. 

But this is a favorite list and not a list of the best games, so what really makes San Andreas stand so tall. Completion. This game truly had an RPG feel to it and I put in hundred of hours in order to get to a 99.9% completion rating. I never got to 100% but it always offered enough mini-games and side quests to keep my attention and that replay value in a game like this is untouchable.

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 That wraps up our picks for #21 Greatest Video Game of All Time. Stay tuned for next week’s #20 and read up on the previous ones if you haven’t already! We are having a blast doing this. I hope you’re having fun as well looking at what we have to bring to the table. And as always, stay hungry and fit!

*Question of the Day: Have you played any of these games? Do you like them?

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Jun102014

#23 Greatest Video Game of All Time

Down from #25, we are up to #23 in our Top #25 Video Games of All Time! I’m excited to reveal the variety in our video game brain trust for this week’s picks. Check out #24 if you haven’t already and brace yourself for #23! Comment below if you have something to say! 

Kai – System Shock 2 – A deeply unsettling, atmospheric FPS sci-fi horror game with RPG elements.  The story of the corrupted starship Von Braun is fantastically told through diary entries and FPS encounters.  Great voice acting makes the world of System Shock 2 really come alive, including one of the best villians in-game history: SHODAN.  The game brings all these elements together to deliver a powerful, scary experience, and paved the way for impactful storytelling in games like Half-life and Bioshock.

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Scott (Po) – Donkey Kong Country 2 – Endlessly lovable and replayable. The perfect platformer.

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Andrew – Mario Kart(SNES/N64 + forward) – (Diddy Kong Racing was excluded for this one) I am normally one of those people who harps on playing campaign and avoiding multiplayer(don’t get me wrong I play multiplayer I just love campaign first and often) but this is a pure party game. Nothing better than the thrill of firing that spikey shell and watching it pound into the first place lead (or firing three perfectly aimed green shells to dispatch 3 opponents[or getting lightning and running all over your opponents{I could probably do this for forever}]). Racing was fun but Battle Mode was the ultimate test, everyone enters with 3 balloons and only one person gets to leave.  Plenty of fun times were had but most people complained because sometimes if you got hit with 2 shells you would lose 2 balloons and sometimes you would lose 1 but that’s what happens when you race in the high stakes world of the Mushroom Kingdom. 

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Alana – SimTower – Where do you start with SimTower? A “Sim” game where you are in charge of building up a tower with commercial and residential blocks to get as many stars as you can. You get to start with floor 1 and build your way upwards and downwards. It’s a game that I’ve played and watched my brother play thousands of times. The replay value of this is off the charts. You can completely customize your “Tower” in whichever way you’d like. However, this will affect your rating, how much money you get, and how popular you become. You have to manage the economy, wait times, cockroaches, and more. Santa Clause will even stop by in the fourth quarter of the year! You could follow certain families in the building as well as restaurants or offices. The excitement of seeing your product grow is palpable as the months continue and the economy kicks off. There’s the need of juggling stress of the people in the tower. I always remember the elevator problems and needing to build more and more to keep the tenants happy. The only sad part is that I can’t get the sound to play anymore because it’s that old. I still don’t think I ever got that 5-star rating.

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 Chris – Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey Jr. (N64) – The third of four Ken Griffey Jr baseball installments for the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64, this game is my favorite sports game of all time. Although Madden 2004, NBA Live 2001, and RedCard 20-03 round out my final 4 for team sports games (Mario Tennis for individual sports games) I will spoil a part of my list and let you know that no more sports games will appear. I am so story-based that the insane number of hours logged on these and untouchable replay value are simply not enough to get a spot on the list.

Griffey, however, has a special place in my heart. He was and is my favorite baseball player of all time. This game allows you to hit a home run with him at any time after entering a short sequence of buttons. He even calls out the shot. Honestly, I didn’t play much against human opponents, but my brother and I tallied thousands of hours in the franchise mode. What made it so fun was the fantasy draft and the user’s ability to create an all-star team with ease. 
 
I would reset the draft until I got the first pick, draft Griffey, take some more favorites the next few rounds and create the best team possible. Then, I would draft closers that have high ratings in later rounds and trade them for other players that have high ratings, like Barry Bonds. (He would always go top 5.) After accumulating a dream team, it was time to PLAY BALL! Oh, and no team of time was complete without Heathcliff Slocumb.

That sums up #23 for our video game trust. Do you agree or disagree with our various views? Let us know in the comments below! And as always…stay hungry and fit!

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