Next time your guy is playing one of the first person shooters, grab some mini Reece cups or some treat that is comparable and throw it toward him – not at him but in the general vicinity of where he might be able to catch the item and it has to be in his field of view. See how good his reflexes really are and not just in the game. This could bring some real live effects to his in-game action. Just beware since you might not know how he might react – gauge it on his normal personality to make sure he wouldn’t react angrily.

I just threw my husband two mini Reece cups while he was playing Uncharted 2 and he caught one in mid-air and the other dropped. He joked that it felt like he had grenades thrown at him.

Just a little fun!

Sometimes it takes us a whole year to play all of the games we get since we do have lives outside of gaming. Pitfall was one of those games we didn’t get to until early December 2009. As we were playing it and getting to the point of finding more idols so we could purchase more items from the shamans, we began to search online for a list of the locations of the idols to speed up the process. It wasn’t that we were unable to run around in the game and search for them, but it is just a matter of time and we didn’t want to waste it looking and looking in the game. So, on I looked online. I couldn’t find much of anything in the way of guides for Pitfall: The Big Adventure. I did find a lot of questions and answers but no true guides with people who could actually type full sentences and know how to spell.

I finally found a guide but it was under the name Pitfall: The Lost Expedition. It is one of my favorite sites for game guides: Gamespy powered by IGN. As I was looking at the pictures of the locations of the idols, I saw places and names I recognized. I then started to search for what was going on – two games with similar places, names and pictures? – there must be something odd going on.

After only a few minutes of researching, I found out that Pitfall: The Lost Expedition was released on the GameCube, PS2, Xbox, GameBoy Advance, and PC back in 2004 and has now been discontinued by the manufacturer. After the Wii came out, it was decided to re-release the same Pitfall game but under the new name Pitfall: The Big Adventure on the Wii in 2008. They changed the artwork on the box cover to make it look different but the game is the same other than it has controls that work with the motion of a Wii remote and nunchuk.

I never played the game released in 2004. The re-release has been a fun game that has its frustrating moments due to poor controls at times and a camera that has a mind of its own at the worst times. The graphics (especially) and other parts of the game make a lot more sense now that I know this game, released in 2008, was actually one released in 2004. There is a very cool bonus where you can play the original Pitfall.

So, Pitfall: The Big Adventure is Pitfall: The Lost Expedition. When you are looking for hints or where to find something for Pitfall: Big Adventure just look for Pitfall: The Lost Expedition and you will find tons of help!

1. A combo cannot kill the enemy. Even the last hit cannot kill your enemy.
2. A combo cannot be blocked by the enemy. No part of the combo can be blocked for you to succeed.
3. A combo cannot knock an enemy into a wall or off a ledge. If your combo chain is interrupted by an edge animation, it will not count.
4. After you successfully complete all 60 combos, you must kill the enemy you are currently fighting before the achievement/trophy is awarded.

Want to Know How I Figured It Out?

How do I know that there are 1,602 total combos? How do I know that 60 of them are required for the “Combo Specialist” achievement/trophy? I wrote a software program to figure it out for me!

That’s right. I could not find a definitive list anywhere on the Net. The official game guide does not even list the exact combos necessary to get the award.

You can read about the program that I wrote on CodeProject.com. If you’re just interested in the code that calculates this award, look near the end of the Contents at the beginning of the article. You can see some very cool screenshots of the application too. Hey, while you’re there, vote me a 5 if you like it!

The game was quite good.  I hope they have a 3rd one.  I have read on GameSpot that one is in talks. Other than some boss fights that are a little ridiculous and some major button mashing in certain fights, I really enjoyed it.  If you want to keep it simple and play through the story sequence and not do any extra stuff you can get away with just that; however, if you want to submerge yourself into Kingdom Hearts – minigames, gummi upgrades, and Jiminy challenges – you can do that too. It all depends on how many hours you want to play the game.

There was the time I got home at around 2:00 AM from working at my inventory job in college, only to find him playing Hexen with a friend of his via modem connection. He wasn’t doing too well that night, so I stepped in to take over. His opponent had just turned him into a chicken, so I ran to a spot I knew where I could pick-up flight via some wings. After I flew away from my poultry pursuer and scored several immediate kills, I typed in, “I bet you didn’t know chickens could fly, sucka”! My dad couldn’t stop laughing.

Other times we were up far too late playing the original Mario Kart. Work and class was usually a struggle the next morning, but it was always worth it. We eventually knew all the tracks of all the releases of Mario Kart that came out over the years.

Now, my dad has visited me and my wife a couple of times to play the latest Mario Kart Wii. He really likes that game, and who can blame him! It’s an awesome game for an awesome console. He has mentioned numerous times how badly he wants to get a Wii.

Unfortunately, he cannot see spending all that money for a gaming console. I really want to help him with this plight, so I came up with the idea to create a new website for just that purpose. MyDadNeedsAWii.com is now up and running, and accepting donations. Since it’s Father’s Day, my wife and I donated the first $20, in addition to the domain name and website design/programming. I hope he likes it!

Better still, I hope it raises enough money to get him a new Wii bundle! It would be truly awesome to play some Mario Kart Wii online with him whenever we could.

Happy Father’s Day, Dad; and all the other deserving dads out there!

Some highlights are below.

Vehicular Zombieslaughter

Driving dune buggies and hovercrafts through treacherous territory whilst avoiding death by bullets, grenades, rockets, flaming explosive barrels and deadly neck-ties is quite fun.

Skull and Crossbows

Yes, the crossbow is back and better than ever. Perhaps my favorite weapon from the original is back in HL² and it’s got a shocking surprise. The bolts that the crossbow launches toward your foes are charged. As before, a well-placed single shot should render the enemy…well, dead. I figure they added the electric punch to explain why a single shot to the arm kills. In addition to the charge, an enemy that is struck while near a wall perpendicular to the bolt’s trajectory will be stuck to the wall by the bolt. It’s very cool to witness; they just dangle on the wall where you shot them.

I shot this guy from far below the beam that he is now firmly attached to.

Wreaking Havok with Physics

The Havok^© Physics Engine makes play delightful. The added realism attributed to this physics engine is a joy to experience. There were even quite a few “puzzles” to be solved that relied on clever uses of the in-game physics. This company is now on a roll, despite the potential setbacks resulting from the HL² source code theft that included parts of Havok. In fact, Havok is now appearing in all sorts of new games and has entered into a Strategic Licensing Agreement with Sony Entertainment. I’m betting this is all related to the upcoming Playstation^© 3.

Lift without the Tuck

The Gravity Gun was something to look forward to. From the moment you play catch with “Dog” to the very end when the Gravity Gun gets a super charge, you cannot help but love to switch to this thing and just start throwing things. The coolest thing is picking up a saw blade and hurling clean through a line of zombies. Trying to make sure the blade got wedged into a wall behind them so you could reuse it was half the fun. I won’t spoil the end for those that haven’t played by letting on to it’s new “ability” at the end of the game.

This was definitely one of the more fun games I’ve played in the past few years (there have been a couple). If you don’t own a copy of Half-Life 2, go buy one; if you do own a copy, keep playing or play it again. Personally, I’m looking forward to getting my hands on the Half-Life 2: Aftermath expansion pack.