I am Mog Anarchy, and I like to play games. Whether they are old, new, retro, modern, online, offline, console, computer, critically acclaimed or notoriously bad. Here on my blog, I rant about, review, trash talk, praise and generally talk about all of my favourite and least-favourite games. I also write my own guides on how to accomplish tricky tasks, show off my creative endeavors and challenge myself with crazy in-game tasks. I also have a bunch of gaming merchandise which I am glad to show off. So drop me a comment, I love hearing your questions, criticisms, comments and general gaming discussions. :)
Showing posts with label Pre-order. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pre-order. Show all posts

28/10/2015

Fallout 4 Beer: Thoughts of a Cynical, Teetotal Brit

If you've even remotley interested in following the news about Fallout 4 - you've no doubt seen the many special editions, limited runs of merchandise, the collector's edition strategy guides and store/site exclusive deals and bundles - personally I'm getting the PC version from Amazon, with their limited edition artbook and stuff, and the collector's edition of the survival guide.

But have you seen this?
This is Fallout beer - and as far as I know, it's exclusive to us gamers here in the UK. The beer itself is made by Carlsberg, comes in crates of 12 and you need to be over 18 in order to purchase it - 18 of course, being both our legal drinking age and the PEGI rating for Fallout 4.

But I shan't be buying it. Why? Well, there's a few reasons.

1. I don't really drink - and when I do drink, I drink peach schnapps with a mixer, or just plain fruit cider - beer is fucking awful, I would rather drink cat piss - and I could get that for free.

2. The crate retails for £30 - which is £2.50 PER BOTTLE. Beer should not be that fucking expensive. I've seen some single bottles of ciders retail for around that price - but unless we're in some skanky bar, beer shouldn't cost that much. They're also only 330ml - the same amount that's in a tin of pop - not the standard 500ml! (And again, 500ml is the same as a bottle of pop, for those who aren't metric-ally minded.)

3. Even if I was going to keep them as a collectable - how long will it be before the beer goes off? I know beer itself is fermented - but it seems more likely that the empty bottles will become collectables, rather than the full ones - and there doesn't seem to be a really limited supply - so they won't be worth much for a while anyway. Also, how am I supposed to keep them safe? Everything on my collectables shelf is at risk of being knocked off by cats - most of the things are plastic or metal, and won't break if knocked. Keeping full glass bottles safe would just be a massive pain in the arse.

4. Fallout 4 beer has NOTHING to do with Fallout. Remember the beer bottles in Fallout? They're plain brown, and most likely brewed by Wasteland survivors. There is no branded beer available in the Wasteland - so why didn't they market a product that actually IS? Nuka Cola is the obvious choice of course, but some argue that that isn't possible due to the blatant parodying of Coca-Cola - OK fine, then what about Sunset Sarsaparilla? That's a unique Fallout product. What about their brands of scotch and whiskey? They have labels. Admittedly, a bottle of scotch or whiskey would retail for far more than beer - but I still bet people would buy it.
And why does it have to be a drink? Market some Fallout snacks - fucking Sugar Bombs, Radioactive Gum Drops, Bubblegum that comes with a pirate tattoo - fuck, even some real branded food products - I'll bet Kraft would do a deal and make real Blamco Mac N Cheese, Heinz could cash in with Pork N Beans - there's so much wasted potential here. 

And let's not forget, Fallout have included a REAL WORLD product in their games before. Bawls Guarana - a real-world energy drink that comes in blue glass bottles was featured in advertising and as a pick-up item in the spin-off game Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. I bought some bottles to try just because of that game. It seems bloody standard for games nowadays to be filled with product placement - would it be too weird to have a dusty old bottle or irradiated package of a real-world product? Probably not.

16/02/2014

Petty Victories: Fable Anniversary's Coin Golf & Hero Dolls

So, I pre-ordered Fable Anniversary like last July. It was due to be released in Europe on the 7th of February - I didn't get it until the 8th. RAGE. Zavvi.co.uk - get your shit together; when I pre-ordered Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits like 5 years ago, you sent me it the day BEFORE release day! And don't get me started on Play Asia; when I pre-ordered the U.S. version of Animal Crossing: Wild World, I got it like a whole two months before it came out here in the UK!

Anyway, with frequent distractions this week (i.e. Valentine's Day weekend alone with the fiancée and a chest infection earlier in the week), I've just finished it off, my play time clocking in at around 36 hours - but I did spend a lot of time pissing about, sneaking off with people to burn/shoot/kill them so I could buy out their houses, collecting everything and completing general sidequest shite.

To anyone who is an achievement whore and wants to add Fable Anniversary to their collection of 1000Gs - go for it, it's piss easy. Fable has always been an insultingly simple game, I've completed all 3 of them without ever actually DYING - but Fable II and III both have infuriating achievements that involve trading items online with other players - The Dollcatcher from Fable II and We Need Guns, Lots Of Guns from Fable III. I have neither. In both games, these little cunts of achievements are stopping me from getting the full 100%.

Gah, and in Fable II I even have a chicken suit! I've offered hundreds of people a trade: my chicken suit for the full collection of Hero dolls, but nobody wants to know. ¬_¬

So, Fable Anniversary has two missable achievements and one that requires the use of a device that can use SmartGlass - but the rest are all very easy to get. The only one that caused me to RAGE (again) was Fable Heroes
I don't like the pub games. (Yes, I DO have the XBLA title Fable II: Pub Games, but that was purely for bonus items and easy achievements) In order to get the full set of dolls, you need to beat scores at the pub games that are run by the tossers in the taverns, A.K.A. Gamemasters. Most of them are easy and can be made even easier with the use of the Slow Time spell - but one that FUCKED ME OFF no end was this pile of shite known as fucking COIN GOLF
(Yes, I know this is a screenshot from the original non-HD version, so shut up.)
Not only is it ridiculously BORING, awkward as fuck to control and is always played in a tavern which is filled to the brim with babbling fucktards who whoop and cheer simply because you're fucking sitting there - YOU HAVE TO PLAY IT TWICE. Once in Oakvale and once in Snowspire. 

Actually, the Snowspire's version isn't anywhere near as annoying. Every time I played, I only bet one coin - I didn't want to waste my money - and it was a good way to monitor how many times I needed to actually play the fucking thing. I did Snowspire's in about 30 attempts. Oakvale's took me over 100. 

Now I don't care if you can do it - judging by the reaction on various online forums, I'm not the only one who hates this fucking shite. It seems with the "HD Update" of Fable: The Lost Chapters, all Lionhead did was make the graphics a bit shinier. It's exactly the same as the original Fable, complete with the shitty 2004 controls and the unresponsive wank from your control and camera sticks. Of course, my case wasn't helped by the fact that my controller has a sticky left stick and tends to lock in place all the time - causing the coin to shoot off the table all the time without me even touching it... 

Regardless, when I did manage to get the last doll I needed, thus one of my last achievements - I took it upon myself to celebrate this small, petty victory: