I’ve seen Amazon advertise their Trade-In program a few times, and I’m trying it out!

First, I grew tired of MAG, and I’d rather play MW2 with friends, so I’m selling it to max out my value while it’s still pretty new. But feeling lazy and not wanting to bother with Ebay, I decided to check out Amazon’s trade-in program.

It’s run by a third party, but it’s super easy to do. You search for the game you want to trade-in, if they want it, it shows a price. Since I was going to send one game, I figured I’d look around and find other games I never play and see what I can get for them. Turns out I’ve got 26 games I never play…so might as well trade them in!

Once they give you a price, and a free shipping label, you have seven days to send them in. The only iffy thing I see is that if the items are damaged or not what you were supposed to send, they won’t send it back. For videogames they say:

For video games and movies, this includes the correct disc(s), manual, cover art, bundled accessories, UPC, and case.

I have all original packaging and manuals though, so I’m not worried about that.

Total I’m getting $170 for all of it. Everything from Zelda: Twilight Princess on Wii (booooring!), to Rogue Leader on the GameCube (hey, $1.75 is better than nothing!). I could probably get more on Ebay, but the hassle of running 26 auctions, many of which probably would get me nothing (seriously, who wants Rogue Leader from 2001?), and it just made more sense to get a nice chunk of change with practically zero effort.

Once I get my Amazon gift cards I’ll comment to let you know how the process went. They also take trade-ins for dvds and textbooks too.

I’ve loved videogames since I was about five. Whether it was playing my dad’s Atari, or going over to a friend’s house just to play Super Mario Bros., they’ve always brought me a lot of entertainment.

I’ve had a PS3 for about three years now, and in that time my love for games has really increased, and it blows me away how awesome current games are. Back in the day it was rare to find a game that could keep my interest until the end, but that’s common fare now.

I think a big part of this is trophy support, and having those accomplishments recognized. But I also think game developers have reached a new level of quality. Check out some videos of God of War III. It’s amazing what they can do now.

I just finished Modern Warfare 2′s single player campaign, and now I’m working on Uncharted 2. I have never played the God of War games, but I have the first two coming for PS3. They remastered them in hi-def, added trophies, and it’s only $30 on Amazon.

But there are so many great games to play. Heavy Rain looks awesome, as does God of War III. And who can forget FFXIII.

It is a great time to be a videogamer.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Back in November I started playing Modern Warfare 2 on the PS3, and since then I’ve sunk well over 3 days into the game. The multiplayer is fast and furious, and highly addictive. This is my first Call of Duty game, so I can’t say much about anything previously in the series, but it’s super polished and plays great. The customization of classes is fun and gives some variety, and the use of death and kill streaks gives the game momentum. Getting rewarded for going on a roll and being able to call in air strikes and killer helicopters can really push the outcome in your favor.

There are some negatives. Despite the different game modes, some of which include holding flags in Domination (like battlefield) or capture the flag, it all feels very much like deathmatch. My personal favorite is Domination, where your teams wins by holding flags and accruing points, but even in this mode, there is usually little communication as a team. To compound the problem, people spawn at different times and places, so organizing isn’t easily done. And because of all this, the game begins to get very repetitive.

There’s a mode called “prestige” which adds some replay value to the game. Your level in multiplayer is capped at 70, but prestige mode lets you start all over and do it again. This gains you a special emblem, and there are 10 levels of prestige. So theoretically, you can play the game through 11 times in multiplayer.

MAG

I picked up MAG a couple weeks ago because I had to check it out. This is a game promising 256 players in one battle, and everything is about communication. So in a way, it’s the opposite of what Modern Warfare 2 is.

My first impressions were not good. I think I was expecting MW2….just bigger, and that’s not what I got. The game is much slower, and it took a while for that to feel OK. It runs at a slightly lower framerate, and the controls aren’t quite as tight and quick, and for the first few hours I had some serious buyer’s remorse. But the more time I sunk into the game, the more I got used to how the game played, and now it’s great. The game is much more like a simulation, where MW2 is like an arcade game.

The best part of the game is the teamwork. You and the members on your team attack or defend certain positions from the other PMC groups you’re battling against. You can custom design your player for different purposes, like being a medic, heavy weapons, or a sniper. You earn skill points with each level that you get to spend on these different attributes. One of the best ways to level up is to research healing and resuscitation early on, because it gives you tons of experience. Once I researched this, I was able to come out number 1 or 2 on my squad with ease.

And this is one of the things that makes this game more rewarding than MW2. Healing someone on your team so they can continue to fight with you feels good. Spawning with other members of your squad at the same time and place means you march into the fight together. Your squad leader tells you were to concentrate your fight to help your team win the battle. It’s this communication and teamwork that make the game standout.

If there are any drawbacks…it would be the learning curve. MW2 you can just start playing…and you might suck at first, but that’s because you have to develop the twitch skills needed to be good. MAG on the other hand comes with very little training or info on how the game works, and that makes it feel overwhelming at first. I’ve just gotten to the level where I can be a leader in a game, but I feel vastly unprepared to lead people into battle (especially on the biggest and most complicated maps).

But this is where the MAG community comes in. There is all sorts of valuable information at the MAG forums, and people are generally good at helping you in the game. But having a mic is an absolute must! Why anyone would get this game without a mic, I don’t know. Without being able to chat with others you feel isolated. You can’t request a medic, or call out snipers, and it really takes away from the game.

Conclusion

I’ve come to the conclusion that the games are very different, and both are quite fun. I’ve gone back and forth now between the two, and they both fulfill a different need. When I want fast paced action, it’s MW2. When I want something slower paced and more “intellectual,” then it’s MAG. I know a couple guys with MW2, but no one with MAG, so I’m sure I’d enjoy MAG even more if I had friends that played it, but finding good random people to play with is still fun.

If you can only pick up one, it depends on what you’re looking for. MW2 also has a good single-player game, so that might be important to you (MAG is online only). It also depends on the type of game you want to play. I’ve never played a SOCOM game, but MAG is by the same people. I’d compare MW2 more to a quake or counter-strike style game.

Hope this helps anyone looking to pickup one game or the other.

I’m on a video game kick for sure…and the new addiction is Modern Warfare 2. Everyone was talking about it, so I had to see what the hype was about…and let me tell you, the hype is legit.

So far I’ve really only played online, but that’s the main reason I bought it. I thought Uncharted 2 online would be cool…but I’ve come to realize 3rd person multiplayer isn’t my thing. Mod Warfare 2 however, has an amazingly robust multiplayer system. Not only are there a  ton of different modes, but there are all sorts of weapons, equipment, and attachments to customize. And to keep you coming back, only a few things are unlocked at first. You have to keep leveling up to get access to better weapons. This makes it tough for people starting out, but you can still kill people as a lvl 1 player, so it’s far from frustrating.

Another cool aspect to the whole customization thing are perks and challenges. By getting a certain number of kills with a weapon you can unlock new sights for guns or maybe a silencer. Perks are attributes like unlimited sprinting, and these too can be leveled up and unlocked.

I just wish more people had PS3 so I could play with them.

…one to go! I finished Uncharted 1 yesterday. First of all…awesome game. Great story and acting, and the gameplay was great. Today I dabbled with trying to beat it on a higher difficulty for more trophies…but I decided I’d rather just play a different game to get more trophies, so Uncharted 2, here I come!

I’ve got multiplayer in Uncharted 2 to play, but the more I read about Modern Warfare 2 makes me want to play that too. There are just too many good videogames to play.

I forgot that they had enabled new updates to the PSN Portable ID in the last firmware. Actually, it took them a while to update the portable ID so it shows trophy info…but it’s finally all working! Now you can track my trophy progress on the right, and even click on it to see what games I’ve played, and how many trophies I’ve achieved!

Right now I’m working on Platinum for Uncharted, and then I’ll be moving on to Uncharted 2. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 looks pretty sweet…but I think I’ll be waiting on that for the time being. The God of War collection looks cool too.

Too many games, too little time!

I’m working on finishing up Fallout 3 (currently 40+ hours into it). It’s fun…but it gets a little repetitive after a while. The main reason I’m trying to finish it is because the best baseball game in the world comes out next week!

Mlb ’09: The Show is only on PS3, and it’s amazing. While it doesn’t come out until Tuesday, a few people already have it and you can read their impressions and see some screen shots and videos at Operation Sports.

I ordered my copy through Amazon because they had it on sale (and without tax I saved about $8 over buying it locally). I have to wait, and that’s both good and bad. Last year I spent a whole weekend looking for the game early, but this year I won’t waste my time.

This is the first version to have PS3 trophies which is really cool. Some of them are super tough and will probably take until next season to earn, like hitting 300 homeruns, or throwing a perfect game.

Another cool feature is that you can take screencaps directly from the game, and even VIDEOS of your replays that you can transfer to your computer and post online.

My daily posts on the propositions and the election must have worn me out. It’s been eight days since my last post! I probably could get away with blaming it on the baby, but I’ll give him a pass this time. I will list the contents of this post here, and it’s a doozy!

1) Baby Update
2) Picture Scanning
3) Little Big Planet
4) DVD Sales

Baby Update

The boy is 8 months old now! He was supposed to have his scheduled check-up this past week, but we ended up taking him a little early because of a weird cough. Turns out he has an ear infection! Overall we’re pretty happy it took this long for him to get his first real “illness.” According to my own mother, I had about an ear infection every month when I was a baby, and by 9 months I had tubes in my ears. Luke is doing much better than I did. We got some antibiotics, baby motrin, and saline drops, and we go back this coming week to see how he’s doing.

He was supposed to get his shots, but we’ll have to wait on that until he’s better (so maybe this week). They did weigh and measure him though, and he comes in at 29 1/4″ and 21lbs 13oz. He’s still in the 90th percentile for length, but he’s dropped down to the 80th percentile for weight. I had a feeling he was slowing down a little, but the length surprised me. He added 2″ in just over two months! He’s getting a lot more active, so I wonder how much that affects his weight, because he’s noticeably “leaner” than he used to be. We aren’t crawling yet, but we rollover and sit up like crazy. I think he would prefer to start walking first, but we’ll see what comes first. Right now he’s on the floor pulling the dog bed towards him.

And now what you really want…pictures!

Picture Scanning

Something I really enjoy is researching family history and preserving family memories. A few years back I put all our VHS home movies onto DVD (which I’m no longer happy with and want to redo), but another project I have is digitizing all of our family photos. I’ve scanned some negatives dating back to the 1930′s, but now I’m working on 35mm negatives from when I was a kid. To do that I use a special machine by Plustek called the OpticFilm 7500i SE. You load the negatives on a plastic tray, and then it scans them. I’ve upgraded to this model because it can take out dust and scratches on the negatives and give you a better scan. I finally had some prints done of my first test scans to see how they came out, and I was very pleased.

I went over to my parents and found the original prints to compare. Basically you have two options for digitizing family photos. Either you scan the negative, or you scan the original prints. The only major problem with scanning the negative is that over the last 30 or so years some of them can get scratched and deteriorate. The major drawback of scanning the original prints is that you lose a lot of detail, and 30 year old prints deteriorate also.

The top photo is a scan of the original print, and the bottom is a scan of the negative.

The color in the negative scan is slightly different, but the level of detail is just night and day. It feels like moving from regular TV to high-def! I’m about 6 months old in this picture, so you can compare me to Luke.

This print actually survived very well, but there are some from the day I was born that look terrible. Some of the paper that was used in the 70′s and 80′s turns yellow and gray and just ruins pictures. Thank goodness my parents kept all the negatives! Eventually when I’m done I can have all the photos preserved and easily shared between family members.

Little Big Planet

I’ve only posted about this game once or twice, but it’s my newest addiction. Little Big Planet is a really simple game. You can run side to side, jump, and grab on to certain materials. That’s all. There is a story mode where you can beat the game, and all the while you collect “prizes.” The really cool part though is that the prizes you collect are actually tools that allow you to make your own levels. You can makes ramps, creatures, scary pits, etc. with the in-game level maker. After you make a level, you can then let other people play your level! You can even play online with up to three other friends.

I already beat the game, but now I’m trying to beat every level without dying and collecting every single prize. I’ve published one level where you have to jump up a series of steps without dying, and so far almost 60 other people have played it. It’s a lot of fun!

DVD Sales Update

This weekend I finally sold my last DVD. Total I sold about 105 dvds, and grossed around $325-350. My original intent was to use that money to buy Blu-Rays of the movies I really like, but so far I haven’t bought any. I’ve come to realize that there are very few movies worth watching multiple times, so I’m not going to bother buying movies I don’t absolutely love.

In case you were wondering, the last DVD to sell was Die Hard 1. I sold 97 dvds in the first month, and then it took 3.5 months to sell the last 8.

Thanks for reading my gynormous post!