Featured – Oddball Update

Oddball Review: Eminent Domain

February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 Chief Oddball

I’ve always been a huge fan of sci-fi, cyberpunk and space exploration themes, much more so than the traditional fantasy settings involving elves, orcs and dragons. So when it was suggested that we play Eminent Domain over lunch I was naturally very excited.

Oddball Review: Tomb Raider (2013)

March 26, 2013March 26, 2013 Chief Oddball

This Lara is different than the walking-tall, nigh-indestructible badass personified by Angelina Jolie in her film portrayals of the character. The new Lara Croft bleeds. She screams. She cries. She shakes and shivers. She limps about, clutching her wounds and recoils from physical efforts too taxing for her damaged frame to tolerate. She is far more real.

The Hunt Concludes: Charger Three Joins Our Family

February 3, 2013February 3, 2013 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

For the three days preceding January 30th, I didn't get to sleep until 2 a.m. and was barely able to concentrate on anything except Car Matters. So when that day finally dawned and I got up ready to spend the entire day car shopping, I was bound and determined to get a right proper deal for the perfect car. All I had to do was select that car. In the end, that car was Charger Three.

Tablet Wishes Fulfilled: The Samsung ATIV

December 1, 2012December 1, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

I've found the Samsung ATIV to be a perfect fit for me: part geek-engineer type with its x86 support and work-friendly environment, and part artist with its professional-grade Wacom digitizer. Although this is a strange dichotomy, I've made it work for me, and when I demanded the same of a tablet, the Samsung ATIV answered the call.

Face Value: Dead or Alive 5

October 4, 2012October 7, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

Known in some circles as the “beautiful fighter” — and not necessarily in a congratulatory sense — Dead or Alive is nonetheless my favorite fighting game series, and that status is only reinforced with the introduction of Dead or Alive 5.

Face Value: Borderlands 2

September 24, 2012October 4, 2012 Chief Oddball

Gearbox Software has outdone themselves with their first follow-up to their 2009 sleeper hit, delivering a game disguised as a non-stop carousel of every action movie trope imaginable. Combining some of the most addictive aspects of modern shooters, RPGs and dungeon crawlers (think: loot farming), Borderlands 2 offers a ridiculous amount of things to do and somehow makes them all incredibly addictive.

Introducing Oddball XI (Well, That Was Fast)

September 11, 2012September 11, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

Little more than 24 hours after initially expressing my dissatisfaction with the direction this blog’s design had taken it, I completely gut the whole thing and slap a new design on it. As I’ve grown accustomed to saying lately, “I’m probably crazy.”

Fighting Dynamics: DOA4 vs. Tekken 6

July 19, 2012September 11, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

Once in a while, I like to play a good fighting videogame. In the early ’90s when Street Fighter II was all the rage, my friend and I would battle it out on my SNES home version despite the fact that neither of us was terribly good at it.

Oddball Review: Legend of Grimrock

July 8, 2012January 23, 2013 Chief Oddball

Increasingly, indie games are becoming the jewel of the video game industry. Made by small development teams and often self-published, these games typically feature retro-style graphics and lack the massive amount of voiceover, prerendered cutscenes and other stuff that you’d expect from major publishers like EA or Ubisoft.

The Big Save

June 30, 2012June 30, 2012 Chief Oddball 2 Comments

There have been an unusual number of changes around here lately. Some of them even affect situations that have remained static for so long that I’d begun to doubt their ability to change at all. They’ve all brought with them a scent of opportunity on the wind, a feeling that now is the time to be bold and to make a grab for something that always seemed just out of reach.

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