Video Games
The Binding of Isaac- I got this a few days before Christmas but I say it counts. The plot is that Isaac's mom has heard God, and she must kill her son in God's will (this is before the game even starts, I'm not spoiling anything,) and Isaac finds a small hatch under the rug in his room that goes into the basement. Seeing no other way out, he jumps into it. And thus the story begins. It plays kind of like the original Legend of Zelda. The each level is randomly generated so there is no real predictable way to go through. Its a lot of fun if you like your share of bloody/creepy/I'm-going-to-hell-for-finding some-of-the-items-he-found-funny style.
The game is only on computer systems and steam is where you would get said game
The makers infact, made a demo on newgrounds, so I recommend you check it out first
http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/581168
And oh God its addicting, I lost sleep on this game, and that's rare for me. I value sleep as a college student.
Kirby's Epic Yarn- I've wanted this for a while but haven't been able to get it, financially speaking, until now. There isn't too much to say, its a simple platformer that's cute and fun. Its just incredibly cute. Nothing bad, but it's somewhat repetitive but easy for someone to just pick up and play. That's all I can really say about it.
Rayman Origins- A new game when it can still be called new. That's rare for me. And its a lot of fun, its spaztic and in someways a twist on the platformer, while still staying true to the platformer. Its gorgeous, it is brilliantly drawn and the music is awesome. Only two things bother me.
1.
picture from newgameblog.comThe busty fairies, on one hand they're cute and I want a sticker of a couple of them on my laptop. On the other, super sexualized so I shouldn't like them and they have very little point in the story past 'I give you the power of...' HEART!...Wait, this isn't Captain Planet, never mind. Anyways, they're not much besides, eye candy, damsel in distress, and plot device. But dammit, they're cute.
2. You die a lot. Its not too bad, but when trying to get certain goals, it starts getting old to die and re-spawn over and over again. When doing a quick play through its not too bad though.
Non-Video Games
Lord of the Rings book collection with The Hobbit- I know, I have failed as a nerd by not reading the series earlier, its not for lack of trying, its because the copies at my house were literally falling apart. So now I'm reading them, and so far I'm liking The Hobbit, but more reading is needed for real opinion to be given.
Wonder Woman lunch box and DVD- this was not an official set but its still awesome. The lunch box is just awesome, I plan to use it in the upcoming semester for lunch. The Wonder Woman DVD that I got with it was the 2009 straight to DVD, not the old tv series. And I was pleasantly surprised with it. It was well written, it had great notes of feminism, and the voice of Wonder Woman was what I would think of her voice. Unlike DC universe, but that's for another blog post.
Only one downside I could see with it, Tara Strong's voice as Alexa was too close not only as voice similarity, but personality, as Twilight Sparkle in the recent My Little Pony series. Even for the small part it was distracting.
The Nerdist Way by Chris Hardwick- so this book mainly talks about how you can make your nerdy brain work for you. I haven't read very far in it, but it is well written and its by nerds for nerds.
So I think that's it in the way of nerdy Christmas presents. So happy new year and similar cliches.
