POSTED BY Andre Gamble on 10:07 PM under

Gaming is my passion. Since the age of four I’ve grown up knowing the joy of picking up a controller and saving the princess, or throwing a fireball. I’ve gotten to the point where I would like to share my love of gaming with others who are more like me on the outside. Of course I’m referring to people of the African American race, but all my attempts have been met with the usual taunts and ridiculing.

African American look down on “hardcore” gamers. Old ideas die slow in the African American community, so my people still think of gamers as unhealthily, lonely souls. So I don't find a lot of people to talk to about gaming around where I live. Most blacks that own a console have the same five games, and they all swear that they are amazing at it. They all think that can kick your ass no matter what you have to say. You may think my peers are bad, but my parents are even worse.My mother and grandmother think playing video games are for children. I can’t even count all the times my mother has taken away my consoles not because I may have failed a class or got in trouble somehow, but just because she thinks I play them too much. It’s really soul crushing when your parents don’t allow you to take part in the hobby you have chosen for yourself.

After realizing that no one gives a damn about gaming where I come from I’m left to talk among the few people I’ve met on the Internet who actually have some knowledge on the topic. Of course on the Internet it doesn’t matter what color skin you have as long as you’re not a total noob.

POSTED BY Andre Gamble on 6:11 PM under
Back around October of 2008, I had a chance to play the LittleBigPlanet beta. Here are my impressions from that beta. This was written on October 4, 2008.

Recently I was lucky enough to receive a LittleBigPlanet Beta key from 1up, and so far I'm very impressed. I now have a better understanding and appreciation for level design. Even with all the tools and help it’s damn hurt to create anything that works. You‘re not just going to jump in and create an awesome level. I’ve been playing for about two days and I still can’t create a working ramp.

Besides the level creation tools; the game itself is very charming and beautiful. This is the Playstation 3’s killer app. Sony needs to promote the hell out of this game. I never had so much fun just dicking around in a level creator.

When this game is released on the 21st I’ll be the first on line to pick it up.

If you want to see my level search for “Jeff Green’s evil plan”, and remember to check out dailygamesnews.com for all your gaming news updated daily.
POSTED BY Andre Gamble on 10:55 AM under
I'm starting to think there is something wrong with me. All of a sudden, I seem to not want to play online with people anymore. I do know why I feel this way. African American look down on other African Americans who game. Old ideas die slow in the African American community, so my people still think of gamers as unhealthily, lonely souls. So I don't find a lot of people to talk to about gaming around where I live. As soon as I hear another black gamer on Xbox Live you hear the same stereotypical bull, and any thoughts of having a intelligent conversion with another black gamer goes out the window.

This always makes me come to the conclusion that there are only five kinds of people on Xbox Live.
1. The Little Kids Who Sound Like Girls
We Have all played with them. They like to talk a lot. The voice sounds like they haven't hit puberty yet. Then as soon as someone says to stop talking so much, they start cursing. Hearing a little kid who sounds like a girl say motherfucker out load is the funniest thing in the world.

2. The Guys Who Take It Way Too Seriously
These guys have problems. They yell at their team in the post game lobby for not "backing them up". The he usually backs it up with "I could whip all you guys' asses." People seem to forget this is a game. It's a form of entertainment. You don't go to the movies and yell at the good guy for not shooting the bad guy in the head during the first five seconds of his monologue.

3. The Girls
There are two types of girls. The valley girls we all love to hate and the ones who mute their mics because they don't want to have a hunderds guys ask for her a/s/l.

4. Wannabe Potheads
These guys are easy to spot. They are the ones who say at a totally random time "Dude, I'm so high right now." Guess what guy...no one gives a shit.

5. Racist
These are the worst of them all. They love to spread their hate speech. Then when you try to have a reasonable conversion with them they just say "Shut up faggot."

Because of some of these people, gaming online for me has gotten boring. I just don't want to deal with it anymore. I'll stick to my single player games like Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 for now.
POSTED BY Andre Gamble on 6:00 AM under
There is a saying in video games that I completely agree with. That saying is every game is better with friends. Even the crappiest of games will have a group of friends pasting the controller around laughing, smiling and having a good time, but all of that might one day change. Thanks to online gaming.

Online gaming isn't new. There have been online gaming even before the days of first person shooters on the PC. With how easy it is to get broadband these days, gamers are online at younger ages then ever before, but is that a good thing?

It's crazy to believe that online gaming has to regulated because of idiots online who what to spread their hate speech, and who don't care who they hurt. The real thing I'm afraid of with the rise of online gaming is the death of solo and couch co-op gaming. I've started to notice that people are more willing to buy a game that has a big multiplayer mode then a 20 hour solo campaign. I personally sank more then 200 hours into Gears 1 multiplayer. Way more then I played the solo campaign, but then again I put 75 hours and counting into Fallout 3. In fact I've been playing online less and less because of the people online.

So where am I getting at; I want to say online gaming is here to say, but don't get scared solo games are here to stay. Co-op however may be on it's last legs.

The old days of four player Halo 1 matches with me and friends are over. Now the only time we get together to play couch co-op is Smash Bros. Developers have stop putting money and resources into creating split-screen games. Just think for a moment, how many games you loved playing this generation didn't have split-screen. One game that comes to mind is Call of Duty 4. That was a great game, but I just miss the days of getting a new game and playing though it with a friend.

Hopefully developers won't forget about the co-op players.
POSTED BY Andre Gamble on 6:35 PM under
Back when I was a Sega kid mostly everyone agreed video games were for kids. If you were over the age of 13 and still played games you were a hopeless nerd who lived in your parents basement. Now in 2008 gaming has gone more mainstream even if most "hardcore" gamers don't want it to.

If you read the title of my blog you might think I one those people, and I am sort of. I do want to live in a world were gaming is apart of everyday life. I want fathers to come home from work and play a quick game of COD4. I want moms in between taking the kids to soccer practice and shoe shopping to ownnoobs in Halo, but will that ever really happen?

Casual has become a new word in the gaming vocabulary. Seeing as how the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube where failures with the hardcore, Nintendo has decided to tap the casual gaming audience, and it's working. The Wii is the top selling console; the PS3, and Xbox 360 are struggling to keep up. In this lays the problem people are starting to believe that Nintendo has forgotten the hardcore. Now that Sony and Microsoft are trying to stay toe to toe with Nintendo people are also jumping to the conclusion that Sony and Microsoft are also distancing themselves from the hardcore in order to tap into the causal goldmines.

Now where does this all lead, break away controllers, Micro-Miis, Ninjabread Man 2? Dear god no, it just leads to a better gaming. Just remember next time you want to buy the next gen consoles, your mother is more likely to buy a console that can play Bejeweled 3 then Murder Simulation X.
POSTED BY Andre Gamble on 8:11 AM under
I'm a lucky guy, I've been lucky enough to own any video game console I've wanted. Even when my parents complained about my video game habits they still surprised me on birthdays and Christmas with a new video game entertainment console. Even though I've own most consoles to come out in the past 15 years, I've always have been with a Sega guy so you can guess how I felt that day Peter Moore spoke those words that will shape my whole gaming career.

The Internet has change life in a big way, no only the way we gather information, but the way we gamers argue with one another. If you ever visit a gaming forum (I suggest you don't if you never have) then you will see the the gaming culture at it's lowest point. At anytime a Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo forum war can start from the simplest post. Check out these samples for an example.

"With Resistance 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 coming out this year, it's going to be a great time to be a Playstation 3 owner."

"HA, you call that a great year!!! Microsoft will wipe the floor with Sony this year. Gears 2, Banjo, Halo Wars. You Sony fanboys don't stand a chance!!!"

"I'll let you guys fight as the Wii rules the charts for most consoles sold. Nintendo FTW!!!!"

For the young guys and gals this is normal, but for the last of the 80's babies this is something completely new. Our console wars were at the lunchroom tables. The only thing we where equip with were our favorite video game magazine. Our arguments got heated, but at the end of the day we were still friends, the Nintendo fanboys still came over to play some Genesis, and I still came over to play some SNES.

So in the end maybe this has changed for the better. Maybe having the fanboys fighting one another makes games better for everyone else. As long as the fanboys feud with each other the console makers will try to make the best console and get the hottest games for those consoles.