2012 is the year I get my life back on track and a get better sense of my finanical well being. It all starts with a budget and sticking to it. Coming from a family that didn’t have much and who’s parent’s weren’t great with money well that’s rubbed off on me. I’ve spent and not cared or kept track of it. This year that’s changing, it starts with a budget and sticking to it.

This got me thinking, how much did I spend on video games in 2011? The answer is I don’t know. For 2012 I’ve implemented a bit of a modest budget of $1000.00 on video games. This isn’t limited to just games it also includes points card, hardware, Xbox Live subscriptions, iOS,etc. A thousand may sound a bit extreme to some but I strongly believe I spent more than in 2011.

I’m going to use this post and continually update it to track my spending.

January:

Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land $4.99

I’ve set out some gaming goals for 2012 that I think our realistic and achievable for myself.

The first gaming resolution I have for 2012 is to control my gaming purchases. By this I mean just because 3 or 4 new releases come out on any given Tuesday that I shouldn’t rush out and buy every single one of those games. So let’s buy a game and finish it before moving on to the next one instead of buying a game and playing a bit and putting it on the shelf and moving on to the next game. If I can achieve this I think I can reduce the number of games I have on the go, my gaming back log and most importantly allow me not rush and finish a game just to get to the next one. There are a lot of great games out there let’s enjoy them a bit more.

I’m a huge first shooter, racing and sports gamer. Plain and simple those are my bread and butter. In 2012 I’d like to expand my gaming genres and enjoy other types of games than I normally would. This year I’ve already started playing Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic and MMO developed by Bioware. I’m at level 11 as a Sith Warrior and struggling as I go. I’ve also started Skyrim. I”m only level 2 but I vow to invest more time in the coming weeks to this game. Let’s see if I can become a better RPG player in 2012.

Blog more. Very simple I want to review and write about more games here whether there on PC, console or iOS platforms. I also want to produce my own original content at least bi-weekly.

Establish or join a board game group. In 2011 I started to play board games and started to acquire a nice little collection as well. I picked up Carcassonne, Gears of War, Munchkin Quest, Munchkin Zombies, Arkham Horror, Flux and probably my favorite of Pandemic. I really need to get that expansion pack.

So that’s what I want to accomplish this year. How about you ?

My top games of 2011

1. Batman: Arkham City – Who doesn’t like Bruce Wayne. Arkham City is basically Arkham Horror but with the ability to roam the streets of Gothom and experience
the open world in your quest to find a cure and to stop The Joker and Hugo Strange. Along the way if you bought the game new or bought the DLC you’ll get to enjoy a few missions as Catwoman there fun but not necessary in order to enjoy the overall game. Rocksteady refined the fighting mechanics and brawling couldn’t be easier and more fun. The story was very well told the various sub plots always kept me wanting to play. The challenge rooms are back and been updated. How many bad guys can you kill and how well can you use stealth. The real fun happens when you start new game plus mode where you start a new game but carry over all upgrades, gadgets you earned through the first play through and face tougher enemies. Overall I had a ton of fun, didn’t experience many issue with game and enjoyed a well written extremely polished game.

2. Gears of War 3 – This was my most anticipated game of the calendar year. It’s no secret that my love for this franchise and characters is out of this world.
Considering that this was the third game in the franchise. There were a lot of questions that needed to be answered in game and Karen Travis did an
outstanding job putting the story together. We found out where Chairman Prescott went, what happened to Adam Fenix and mostly importantly in my eyes the truth
about the Locust and why the E-Day happened. There was some new weapons in this installment The One Shot and Sawed off Shotgun and the roadie run, cover mechanics
where polished. The storyline was filled with up’s and down’s and cheers of joy and tears of sorrow throughout the game. The end of Act 3 without spoiling it
was one of the sadness moment’s I’ve had in a game and generally brought a tear to my eye, well more than a tear to be honest. I felt connected and joyful that
Delta squad finished what they had set out to do 6 years ago. Horde mode was refined and had added a tower defense element to it which is an unique addition that
makes the player think about what defenses to buy and what to upgrade in order to survive against the Locust. Any Gears fan knows how bad the multiplayer
was in Gears 2. Epic couldn’t just get it right in that game. Epic set out from the beginning to ensure this didn’t happen this time and it didn’t. Gears 3 moved
from player hosted to matches to dedicated servers, no more host advantage with the shotgun!. It’s Gears competitive multiplayer without issues which really
tickles my fancy. Also a good fun edition was Beast mode which allows you to play as the Locust in Horde mode. It’s genuinely a lot of fun to tickler and run
around and cause havoc!.

3: Uncharted 3: Drakes Deception – Another 3rd game in the franchise coming out this year and having to live up to the expectation’s set up by Uncharted 2: Among
Thieves is a really tall order and Naughty Dog was up to the challenge but didn’t deliver on exceeding those expectations. I’m not saying Uncharted 3 was a bad game at all, I’m just saying it wasn’t as good as Uncharted 2. Uncharted 3 started off really slowly for me and didn’t pick up until we hit the ship yard at that point I was questioning why we were in a ship yard and the relevance of these chapters were to the story. I got really hooked into the game once we were at the airport the action picked up, I was engrossed into the story. One of my biggest complaints about this game was the shooting mechanics they were horrid!. There was a patch to address these concerns but I was already 2/3rd’s through the game and I wasn’t completely convinced the patch had made a difference. I really enjoyed how Uncharted 3 ended which was for once wasn’t a boss battle. When Alana and Drake left together holding hands in Uncharted 3 I felt satisfied. I haven’t gotten
much time to sink into Uncharted 3 multiplayer but I have dug in and finished all the co-op missions with my dysfunctional guest writer DartAlbertIII (Scott). I
hope Naughty Dog continues and supports this mode and also looks at ways to incorporate more puzzles into the mix and stay true to the Uncharted franchise.

There were many other great games in 2011 and some titles worth mentioning are Resistance 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Killzone 3, Assassins Creed: Revelations, Alice: Madness Returns, F1 2011, Saints Row 3,Kinect Sports Season 2 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

The third piece of downloadable content for Gears of War 3 is the first single player add on content available. It costs 1200 MS points or it’s free if you’ve purchased a season pass. I was able to beat the DLC in just over 2 hours.

The DLC takes place just after Emergence Day (E-Day) as Zelta squad is on a missin to evacuate the city and protect it from the Locust Kyrllstorm that is starting to blanket IIima City.. Yeah, you heard me no Delta Squad in these chapters. Zelta squad consists of Michael Barrick, Lt. Minh Young Kim, Tai Kaliso and Alicia Valera. There are no mechanics to speak of but several weapons found in Gears 3 make an appearance like the sawed off shotgun (still way over powered in my opinion). There are several cameo appearances along the way from various Gears that we’ve meet over the life of the franchise. It also reveals the story and introduction of Jace.

The interesting piece in this act is that you get to do something that you’ve never done in any other Gears game, play as the Locust. You can control and be General RAAM. There’s no dropping in cover, no roadie run and no dodging the Gears attacks. There isn’t really much of a challenge being RAAM you feel like your a god walking through the streets steam rolling people. RAAM has two attacks one with iconic knife which allows you to run at people, stab them and slightly places them into the air. The second attacks is he can fling Kryll at any target and watch them die instantly.

For you Gears multiplayer or horde players don’t worry Epic hasn’t forgotten about you. This DLC also comes with the chocolate weapon set, 250 worth of achievements, 6 new multiplayer characters including General RAAM, Theron Elite Commando, ALicia Valera, Lt. Minh Young Kim, Tai Kaliso and Michael Barrick.

If you have a seasons pass or your dying to play more Gears of War you should definitely shell out the 1200 Microsoft points and pick this up. There’s an interesting story to be told and well haven’t we all wanted to play as RAAM at some point? you can satisfy that itch once and for all.

Players will notice a quicker push to level 50, which was the maximum level in Forza 3 that’s gone now. In Forza 4 the maxiumum
level is 150 to reward those die hard Forza fan’s. As I write this I’m already in the mid 40′s and the fact that I’m now given
a choice of car’s as a reward time I level is fantastic. I really enjoy the fact that I get to choose my reward. After hitting level 50
the car rewards are gone and replaced with credit bounus’s ranging from 100k to 350k. Car manufactuer affinity rewards you to being
loyal to your favorite car manufactuer. Love Ferrari? only drive Ferrari? leveling your car manufactuering affinity gives you bounuses
like free parts, badges and titles for your player card.

You’ll notice in the early stages that the AI is quite different then in Forza 3. In Forza 3 they removed power from the
AI to make slower on easier difficulties. This isn’t the case in Forza 4 what they do is reduce there confidence when there
in corners. What this does it makes the AI brake earlier into corners which is where you as the player can out break them and
slip in front of them. The moment the AI it’s the apex in the corner they will be flat out regardless of the difficulty level.
The key to beating them on the straight’s is to block them down the straights. What I’ve found so far is that this is producing
closer, better wheel to wheel racing and I’ve actually lost a few races to the AI. This is a great improvement as generally there
really isn’t much of a contest from the AI.

The team over at Turn 10 partnered with Pirelli tires with new data which mean’s the tires in Forza 4 behave exactly as they
tests indicate on real tracks on the real cars. Hardcore racer’s will notice that car’s behave a bit different and that’s because
Turn 10 made some changes to their steering model, let’s be real not all track’s are smooth and are there some bumps along the way, so
expect to see a bit of track bumpiness as well. These changes truly impact the way the car’s handle very different from Forza 3 and
for me make it a bit harder to handle with most of the assist’s turn offed.

One of my favorite little features to Forza that is completely seperate from the overall in game experience is the ability
to navigate the menu’s using my voice and the power of Kinect. When I first discovered this I played around about 5 minutes going
Xbox, My Gargage. Simple use of Kinect but so very convienent.

Turn 10 has also gone a head to implement the ability for racers to drive with there arms. Gas and Braking are controlled by
the game for the gamer and all the racer need’s to do is steer using there arms. I’m not a huge fan of this to be honest and
this is suppose to be a sim racer and well this portion of it isn’t but I understand that it’s trying to get the family together. I
appreciate that but would rather they hadn’t.

Autovista is a new feature that integrates Kinect into the Forza experience. Imagine your own personal automotive showroom
that allows you to fully explore supercars like the Ferrari 458 Italia, Lexus LF-A, 1993 McLaren F1, 2008 Lamborghini Reventon
the 2006 Koenigsegg CCX. With Kinect this allows the player to walk around the car, open doors, sit in the car, turn the engine
on and most importantly hear what gear head Jeremy Clark has to say about these cars. This is a really cool feature but it’s not
available on all cars.

So should you buy Forza 4? that’s the question and since it’s notably the best in the franchise you should. The visual upgrade isn’t
Significant but the changes to the physicis, AI and community are sure to make this game worth your dollars.

$1.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $1.99

Racing Gear Pack (90 items)
This DLC pack adds racing gear items of famous drivers to your Gran Turismo 5.
Contains helmets and racing suits of 8 famous WRC and NASCAR drivers, 12 helmets and suits in all. In addition there is the Official Gran Turismo helmet, and new gear from Alpinestars and Simpson.

$2.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $2.99

Racing Car Pack (15 Cars)
This DLC pack adds new cars to Gran Turismo 5.
Includes the new model of the X2010 ultimate racing machine, the Red Bull X2011. There is also a lineup of specially tuned touring cars and three new racing karts. Expand your garage with these exciting new racing machines.

$7.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $7.99

Course Pack (2 Tracks, 5 layouts)
This DLC pack adds the new tracks to Gran Turismo 5.
The new Course Pack includes SPA-Francorchamps (with weather effects) and Kart Space layouts I and II (each layout supports normal and reverse).

$4.99
Release date: 10/25/2011Price: $4.99

or all for 11.99?

[Major Changes and New Features]
- Standard Cars now given simplified cockpit views
The over 800 standard cars included in the game are now given simplified cockpit views. You can change your view using the SELECT button when racing, to change your display to the exciting cockpit view.
*Unlike the cockpit view of premium cars, the simplified cockpit is shown in a dark silhouette, and the gauges used for the car will be standard in-game instruments.

- New Opening Movie
A new opening movie is now available from “Gran Turismo TV”. When you download this movie, it will replace the current opening movie. The previous version will be viewable within Gran Turismo TV.

- Addition of the weather change menu
On some tracks with weather changes, it is now possible for the user to set time and weather changes from the Quick Menu in both the Arcade Mode, and “Practice” of the GT Mode. Also, you can make more detailed time and weather changes while editing in the course maker and in the online lounge.

- Multiple car settings/save feature
We’ve added a setting sheet feature that allows you to save multiple car settings.
From the [Setting Sheet] on the lower right of the screen, you can check the current settings. You can switch between 3 settings A, B, and C, allowing you to change between your personal settings easily according to the type of race and your objectives.

- Added 11 NASCAR cars
The newest NASCAR 2011 models have been added to the car dealerships. The added cars are the following:
Toyota 2011 Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Tony Stewart #14 Office Depot CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Toyota 2011 Kyle Busch #18 M&M’SR TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Toyota 2011 Joey Logano #20 The Home Depot TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Jeff Gordon #24 Drive to End Hunger CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Juan Montoya #42 Target CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Ford 2011 AJ Allmendinger #43 Best Buy FORD FUSION ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Jimmie Johnson #48 Lowe’s CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Toyota 2011 Brian Vickers #83 Red Bull TOYOTA CAMRY ’11
Chevrolet 2011 Dale Earnhardt Jr. #88 AMP Energy/National Guard CHEVROLET IMPALA ’11
Ford 2011 Carl Edwards #99 Aflac FORD FUSION ’11

- Added the Nissan GT-R N24 Schulze Motor Sports
The Nissan GT-R N24 Schulze Motor Sports has been added to the car dealer. This is the car entered in the 2011 Nurburgring 24 hour race by Schulze Motorsports of Germany, and is the very car in which Kazunori Yamauchi drove and achieved a class victory.

- Avatar now usable in Photo Travel
An Avatar ON/OFF feature has been added to Photo Travel. Now you can photograph your avatar together with your car.
You can turn the driver avatar ON/OFF by pressing the △ button while positioning the car.

- Replay Fast Forward/Rewind
All replay videos recorded after the 2.0 update will have [Forward] [Rewind] buttons.
You can now easily search for the scene you are looking for and play back a certain section whenever you want to, adding even more fun to the photo mode.

-Improved Online Lounge
[Car Restrictions] has been added in the regulations. You can now limit participants to specific categories such as “NASCAR” and “Super GT”. Also, there are now more cars that can be used in shuffle races, and a new “Shuffle Base” setting allows you to set the performance level of cars allocated to each player.
For details, please see Top screen – [Manual] – [Online Race] – [Event Settings] and the “Regulation Settings”.

- Additional features to Remote Racing
A “Graph Display” has been added to the remote race screen in GT My Home of granturismo.com, where you can enjoy B-Spec racing. This allows you to visually see the changes in positions in each lap. A time difference display for each car in the race has also been added.

- New Photo Stage Added
The “Indy: NASCAR Pit Stop” stage has been added to photo travel. We invite you to come see and capture the energy of NASCAR’s famous pit stops.

- Addition of the Consecutive Login Bonus
When a user logs in consecutively, a bonus will now be applied to experience and race rewards.
It will increase to 110% in the 1st day, 130% in the 2nd day, 150% in the 3rd day, 170% in the 4th, to a maximum of 200% in the 5th day. This will apply to all events both online and offline, so logging in every day will make the game progress faster.

- DLC (Downloadable Content) Compatibility
A [Downloadable Content] button has been added to the lower right of the top screen. Here you can install content purchased from the PlayStation®Store.
Please refer to the product information page of gran-turismo.com for details regarding downloadable content.
*The release of the DLC is planned for 25th October, 2011.

- Official Support for the G25/G27 Racing Wheels
The Logitech G25 Racing Wheel and G27 Racing Wheel are now officially supported. You can now change button assignments for various racing controls on these wheels.

[Other Improvements]
- User interface improvement
- Quick Menu can now be accessed while the race is loading.
- It is now possible to save and resume endurance races.
- Two NASCAR cars selectable in Arcade Mode have been changed from the 2010 models to 2011 models.
- In the Arcade Settings of [Options], AI Car Characteristics settings has been added. You can now change the aggressiveness of the AI against you in Arcade races.
- Some effects of Traction Control have been adjusted. When the TCS level is set to 1, it will not come into effect as much especially in tight corners on dirt tracks.
- Surface Water and Tire Load Indicator displays have been added to the race screen. The Tire Load Indicator can be set from the Quick Options menu that is displayed during the race (when the game is paused using the START button), or the standard Options menu.
- The option to Create Thumbnails for All Cars has been added to the context menu of the Garage. This will update the thumbnails of all cars in the garage.
- Experience gained in online races have been increased by 60%, and rewards have been increased by 66%.
- You can now change the Slipstream Strength settings in the lounge.
- In the Lounge and in [Option] – [General] – [Arcade], it is now possible to turn Visible Damage ON or OFF.
- Drivetrain settings has been added to the regulation settings in the Lounge.
- A setting to prohibit “Tuning” of cars has been added to the regulations settings in the Lounge.
- Adjusted the driving speed of formula cars in banks, and auto-drive when coming onto straights.
- Added a button to [Reset Playlist to Original Settings] under the settings menus of [Menu BGM], [Race BGM] and [Slideshow BGM].
- Personal BGM can now also be set in [Slideshow BGM]
- A new brand “AMG” has been added to the MUSEUM.

[Correction of Known Issues]
- Corrected an issue where the “Torque Sensing Center Differential” installed on a Lancer Evolution X was not functioning.
- Fixed an issue where you could participate in the Intermediate/Tarmac Rally of the Gran Turismo Rally in a Ferrari F1 by using the power limiter.
- Fixed an issue where the Controller Steering Sensitivity was not applied correctly.
- Fixed an issue where there was a server connection problem in certain network environments.
- Fixed an issue where auto-drive would make braking mistakes.
- Fixed an issue where the system would misjudge whether deceleration happens in time when making pit stops in the rain.

[To Check Your Current Version]
To check the version of your software, press the “Manual” button at the bottom of the main menu screen. The version number will be located on the upper left of the index page.

If the number starts with Ver. 2.00, you are playing the latest version of the game.

If not, please press the PS button and exit the game. The game will be updated automatically when you restart it with your PS3™ system connected to the internet.

San Francisco, Calif., October 18, 2011 – Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC (SCEA) today announced on stage at the Web 2.0 Summit 2011 that the PlayStation®Vita (PS Vita) system will launch in the U.S. on
February 22, 2012. Available at major retailers for $249.99 (MSRP) for the Wi-Fi model and $299.99 (MSRP) for the 3G/Wi-Fi model, the PS Vita system will offer unparalleled interactive entertainment anytime and
anywhere. The PS Vita system will launch on February 22 in Canada for $249.99 (MSRP) for the Wi-Fi model, and Europe for €249.99 (RRP) for the Wi-Fi model and €299.99 (RRP) for the 3G/Wi-Fi model. The PS Vita system
Wi-Fi model will also launch in Latin America during the February 22 launch date.*

“PlayStation Vita will redefine traditional boundaries of gaming and blur the lines between entertainment and reality. Its launch will serve as a pivotal point in the history of portable gaming and create a new fan
base of PlayStation gamers for generations to come,” said Jack Tretton, president and chief executive officer, SCEA. “With its technological prowess and social connectivity, PlayStation Vita offers an experience beyond
anything available on the market. Features such as the dual analog sticks, dual cameras, and front and rear touch pad are all designed to deliver the unique, powerful gameplay experiences consumers have been asking for a
nd enable new ways for users to connect with the world around them.”

Leveraging PlayStation’s legacy of delivering deep and immersive gaming experiences, the PS Vita system will bring consumers new ways to play through inputs such as a stunning OLED front touch screen and rear touch pad,
dual analog sticks, motion sensors, and dual cameras. With more than 100 games currently in production from first and third party studios including “Sound Shapes™,” “wipEout® 2048,” “Resistance: Burning Skies™,” “UNCHARTED: Golden Abyss™,
” Ubisoft’s “Assassin’s Creed,” EA SPORTS ‘FIFA,’ Activision’s ‘Call of Duty®’, and many more, the PS Vita system is poised to deliver gameplay experiences unmatched by any handheld or mobile device on the market.

In addition, with both 3G and Wi-Fi support on some models, PS Vita will draw consumers deeper into the gameplay experience and enable them to connect and play with the world around them, including their friends and
other PS Vita owners through native PS Vita applications – near and Party. A variety of social networking and communications services such as Facebook, foursquare, Skype™, and Twitter will be available on the PS Vita system.

If you’re looking to show your love of Forza Motorsport 4, you’ve got plenty of ways to do so. You can preorder the game, you can check out the Forza 4 demo. You can even deck out your Xbox LIVE avatar in some cool Forza 4 gear.

All of the above are great ways to fly the Forza 4 flag. And today we’ve got one more for you: Official Forza Motorsport 4 T-Shirts! We’ve got four designs to choose from—all designed in-house and inspired by the on-track action you’ll find in Forza Motorsport 4. Check them out:

This retro-inspired design features a blue and orange vertical racing stripe and the Turn 10 logo on the sleeve. Perfect for the old-school racer.

Sideways

 

Drifers unite! The Fujimi Kaido track logo is front and center on this bold black design.

Bernese Alps

Forza Motorsport 4’s brand new Bernese Alps track is the inspiration for this shirt. This design features a track dossier on the track itself as well as a detailed map on the track itself, perfect for studying your racing line even when you aren’t in front of your Xbox 360.

Faster Than You

Forza 4 community represent! Show off your love for Forza (as well as your skill in the game) with this design that will put everyone who sees you in their place. Just don’t blame us if you get beat on the track…

You can order all these designs through our partners at Level Up Wear. Check them out!