Category: Video Games

Mark posted his top 5 video games last week, but 2016 was a great year for video games and it was challenging for me to narrow the list down to 10 yet alone 5. There were a lot of great games from AAA studios and a lot of great games from smaller studios. There were also few games that I loved playing that didn’t make it to the list, games that people should still check out like Hitman, Dragon Quest Builders, Pokemon Sun/Moon and the Division. 2017 is looking promising as well, so fingers crossed! Check out my favorite games of 2016 below.

Usually I let my brother write all the video game posts but in this specific case I wanted to share my favorite games of last year. I went through a lot more games than usual this past year but the list below are of the ones that did it for me:

After a long hiatus Double Jump is finally back. When we launched the podcast we were following an uninspired format that was problematic for a couple of reasons. Recording once every week was an issue and so the topics we’d discuss were outdated by the time we sat down to talk about them. We took a break to figure out what direction we wanted to take the podcast in. What we decided on is to focus more on conversational topics that we think are worth discussing and that are less time sensitive.

In this weeks episode we talk about video game piracy and how it influenced our taste in video games growing up. What genre’s or what games we played that we normally would not have tried if we had to pay full price. Back in the 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s, piracy in the Middle East was the norm and it was everywhere. As kids we didn’t know any better and our parents didn’t really care, it was something we were all used too. You’d go to Rihab and the majority of the stores sold pirated games until it evolved into what it is today.

Play in browser | iTunes | Android | Download | RSS

Posted by Patrick

For the gamers who are interested in picking up the new NES Classic Edition console, I just got back from Rehab Complex and nobody has it, not even for an exorbitant price. Most of the places I asked didn’t even know what I was talking about even after showing them a picture. One shop did tell me that they might be getting it this Thursday. I gave them my number and they’re going to call me up if they do. Will keep you posted.

Yesterday I noticed Fantasy World was selling the Oculus Rift virtual reality system. I’m not sure they’re being sold anywhere else but the price at Fantasy World is a ridiculous KD399. I say ridiculous because you could order it from Amazon UK and have it shipped to you directly to Kuwait for just KD194 including customs which is half the price. Here is the Amazon [Link]

I’ve been wanting to play some of my old Game Boy Advance games recently but my Game Boy Advance SP isn’t holding a charge anymore and the backlit screen didn’t look as good as I remember it being (I have the AGS-001 version). So I was planning to order a modded GBA from eBay but figured I’d pass by Rihab and check and see what they had. Since they stopped making Game Boy Advances 10 years ago you can imagine I had difficulty finding anything at Rihab. I probably asked 20 shops if they had Game Boy Advance SP AGS-101 edition which was the last release of the SP and had a better screen then mine. Turns out that version of the SP is called “tnen light” at Rihab which translates to “two lights” and refers to the ability to select between one of two brightnesses on the device. Cute.

After all my searching I only found one brand new Game Boy SP in the whole of Rihab but it was the 001 version like mine and selling for KD20 which is actually a great deal but not what I was looking for. During my search I also found three stores that still sold Game Boy Micros which also play Game Boy Advance games. The first store had a silver model for KD50 and the limited 20th anniversary edition for KD70, similar to the prices being sold on eBay. But then I found two other stores that had pink and green european versions of the Game Boy Micro, the first store was selling them for KD25 but the second store I managed to get the guy down to KD14 per unit by agreeing to buy two. I picked up a pink unit for me (pictured on top) and a green one for my brother. The cheapest price I managed to find on eBay for a brand new Game Boy Micro was around KD70 and one guy is currently trying to sell the green Game Boy Micro for KD137 and there are 11 people watching that listing at the moment. So KD14 is an incredible deal and an easy impulse buy. If you don’t have any GBA games though you’ll have trouble finding any decent ones at Rihab, I found a bunch of shops that were selling games at KD2 a pop but they all sold the same games and none were big name titles like Metroid or Castlevania.

If you want to pick up a Game Boy Micro the place I bought mine from still had 4 units left. I don’t remember the name of the store but I drew a map of its location. Originally I had more details on the map but since there are only 4 units left I figured I’d make it just a tiny bit more challenging to find the store, kinda like a treasure hunt. Check out the map [Here]

The vlogger highlighting our local cosplay scene is Tali xoxo, a popular Canadian cosplayer who was in Kuwait for the last gaming expo. [YouTube]

Thanks alniniofanclub

Out of curiosity, are people still playing Pokemon GO?

Update: Here are the full list of rules [Link]

Thanks Bollywood Over Hollywood

No Man’s Sky is a exploration and survival game that takes place in a procedurally generated universe that features 18 quintillion planets. You have your own space ship that allows you to fly from planet to planet, galaxy to galaxy, discovering new planets, animals and plants, while trading with various different races.

The game starts off by placing you on a random planet with a broken spaceship. Your first task is to look for resources to help you repair your ship and take off from the planet. This first area serves as a light tutorial that should help you get a grip on the games loop. After you successfully take off from the first planet, the universe opens up to you and you can either choose to follow on the games set path to the center of the universe or you can choose travel to any galaxy and any planet you like as long as you have the fuel.

The problem with having procedurally generated content though is that a players experience is based off luck and chance. I’ve seen people complain that planets look the same, feel the same and there is truth in that, but my personal experience has differed. I’ve been lucky enough to discover a wide variety of planets, ranging from planets that have nearly zero life on them with intense weather to planets teeming with life. So even though I’ve seen planets that look similar, I’ve also been lucky enough to see enough variety that I’m still interested in exploring and taking screenshots of planets I like.

I have no idea who would buy this but Xcite are selling a PS4 that is half covered in gold for a whopping KD4,599. On the bright side (I guess) is that you can take it on installments for just KD293 a month over two years…

Thanks Grant

The long awaited indie game ‘No Man’s Sky’ was supposed to come out in Kuwait yesterday but got held up at customs so I only was able to get my hands on it a few moments ago. The official worldwide release date is August 9th so Kuwait wins again with another early release date. If you want a copy, I got mine for KD19 from @q8_complex

Posted by Patrick

Pokevision is a Pokemon tracker/locator for the mobile game Pokemon Go. It uses the Niantic API to grab the location of all Pokemon near your (or your selected location) and display them on the map in real-time; this means if it is displayed on the map, you can go out and catch them!

If you’re struggling trying to find a specific Pokémon then check out [Pokevision]

Kuwait is saying “no” to “Pokemon Go” in certain places. The tiny oil-rich emirate’s Interior Ministry issued a statement Friday warning users of the smash mobile phone application from taking pictures of any vital government, military or security location.

It also warned users not to pounce on Pikachus or chase Charmanders at mosques, shopping centers, malls and oil installations.

Lt. Gen. Sulaiman al-Fahad at the ministry said: “No excuses will be accepted by anyone claiming ignorance of the law.”

Though “Pokemon Go” hasn’t officially come to nations in the Persian Gulf, many have downloaded the app. Authorities in the United Arab Emirates also have warned users to be careful while chasing digital critters in the augmented reality game. [Source]

I can understand why they’re warning users not to play Pokemon in sensitive government and military locations but malls??

via Nibaq

Over Eid holiday Pokémon Go was officially released in the U.S. For the uninitiated, Pokémon Go is an augmented reality (AR) mobile game, released both on iOS and Android. The point of the game is to walk around your environment to find and catch Pokémon. When you reach level 5, you’re able to fight at Pokémon gyms that are scattered across the country. The first time you do this you get to choose the faction you want to be a part of, Team Instinct (Yellow), Team Valor (Red) or Team Mystic (Blue). Once you choose a faction and beat the gym boss, that gym belongs to your faction. The game is a massive hit in the U.S. and is about to surpass Twitter in daily active users. It seems to be encouraging adults and kids alike to go outside and walk around, and in some cases make new friends. There are a lot of great stories coming out thanks to this game.

Sadly since we are in Kuwait we can’t really go out for long walks at the moment because it’s super hot outside. But, that doesn’t mean you can’t still play it. I’ve noticed that the game works in our malls and other places we spend a lot of time in. My wife was shopping and I decided to try out the app indoors and I ended up catching Jigglypuff and a few other great Pokémon while she was doing her thing. I’ve also used the app at traffic lights but please don’t use it while you’re actually driving unless you’re on a Pokémon date. Mark had a power cut at his apartment over the weekend so he was forced to leave the house and ended up killing time by walking around his neighborhood looking for Pokémon until the power came back on. Kuwait has loads of Pokéstops and Pokémon gyms scattered throughout so we aren’t missing out on anything really.

Here are some quick tips for first time users:

– In the bottom right side of the screen you’ll find icons of Pokémon that are in your vicinity. If you click on the icon you’ll find up to 3 little footprints under each Pokémon. 3 footprints means the Pokémon is in your area, but not close to where you are, while no footprint means the Pokémon is right next to you.

– When you try to catch a Pokémon you’ll find an AR slider on the top right. Switch this off to switch off your camera, which makes catching Pokémon easier.

– As you’re trying to catch Pokémon, hold the Pokéball and twirl it on screen to add a curve to it which will give you more experience points if you’re successful at catching the Pokémon.

– If you have duplicate Pokémon, click on the ones you don’t want and transfer them over to the Professor to get items necessary to make your Pokémon stronger.

So how is the quality of the Pokémon Go app itself? Well, to be honest, average. The UI is badly designed and the game is known to crash for a few users. The “game” itself is pretty thin, besides walking around and trying to catch Pokémon, there isn’t much else to do. The only time you ever battle is when you find a gym. There is no way to interact with friends, no way to trade Pokémon and no way to challenge a friend to a battle. But ultimately, the quality of the app itself means little when the experience of using the app is making people happy. At the end of the day, Niantich can update the app some time in the future to add the features that are still missing from this game.

If you’re interested in trying out the game it’s available to download in the U.S. iOS App Store and Android devices. You won’t find it in the Kuwait store since it hasn’t officially launched worldwide.

Posted by Patrick

Back in the 90s, White Tower in Salmiya used to be similar to Rihab Complex, the whole top floor was full of video game stores but there were also a bunch of arcade shops. It was the place to go to if you wanted to play fighting games against other people but also if you wanted to play now classic games like Metal Slug. Oh the amount of money I spent on Metal Slug…

Anyway, I passed by White Tower a couple of days ago to see if anything was still open and to my surprise there was still one arcade shop still standing. It wasn’t in the best of state but they did have recent games. Some of the games they had were the following:

Street Fighter V
Street Fighter IV
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
King of Fighters (all of them)
Marvel vs Capcom

And if I understood correctly they had a bunch of NeoGeo games as well. Best part is it still costs exactly the same as it did back in the 90s to play a round, just 100fils. If you win you keep playing for free of course. If you don’t know where White Towers is, here it is on [Google Maps]