13 Things That All Gamers Lie About

We all suspect gamers lie, but we might not be sure how often. You’ll know the gamer in your life is lying when they…

1) Brag about having a high K/D ratio

For FPS and MOBA players, K/D ratio stands for kill death ratio, calculated by taking the number of kills divided by number of deaths in one match. The higher the number, the more ‘pro’ you are for having survived so well, while racking up your kill count.

Pretty much every gamer is guilty of this because we never want to be seen as weak in other games. K/D is our badge of pride and we tend to pad it up quite a bit to not look bad in front of other gamers. If there isn’t a way to check, who’s to prove what you’ve said was a lie?

2) Blame lag for bad performance

So you missed one..ok, two…alright sheesh, five shots at point blank range as the enemy rushed to the objective and killed you right after your miserable attempts? You could take the blame but who would do that? Blame lag and divert the attention away from your crappy aiming ability.

*Original gif was featured in 5 Things Only Southeast Asian Gamers Will Understand

3) Accuse a higher skilled opponent of cheating

When beaten by a higher skilled opponent, many gamers will accuse them of cheating or hacking. Being steamrolled by the opposing team? Or is a particular player so darn accurate that he keeps killing you? Could it be luck, could it be skill? Nah, let’s not ponder too much about it and take the easy route – just accuse them of hacking!

4) State “This game is too easy”

I’m not talking regular bosses in games that you’ve selected to challenge on its hardest difficulty. I’m talking about that particular friend who talks about Dark Souls, Bloodborne and Nioh. When you ask for advice on how to get past a certain level that’s holding you back from all your glory, he scoffs at you for failing and claims that the game is too easy.

Maybe it’s time to ask him to prove his claims, perhaps he will use the lie about how his saved file got lost? Or that the game was patched to become more difficult?

5) Claim “I’m not good at the game”

I don’t know why they do this, is it to troll or is it a humble gesture? Some say they do this to lower your guard so that you’ll think they are just like any casual player. With your guard down, they do a 180 on you and probably end up with the highest K/D ratio in the game. Argh, LIAR!

6) Boast “I can beat anyone at <insert multiplayer game>”

Everyone has that friend who tries to intimidate other gamers by saying they can challenge anyone and win. Don’t be surprised, they are usually an emotional wreck in game and easy to beat. They’re all bark, no bite.

7) Pretend their younger siblings are playing but have unplugged their controllers

As gamers, we’ll do anything to keep our gaming peace undisturbed. Even when our younger siblings beg for a chance to play the game, we agree to it but unplug their controllers so that they feel a part of the game but won’t ruin it. You can even keep the pretense up by praising them for good performance and giving them credit for the high score you achieved.

8) Assert that they knowing someone whose uncle’s cousin’s brother works at Blizzard, Ubisoft, Nintendo… you get the picture.

You’re out with your gaming friends and discussing the latest news about a game you’ve all been playing. Suddenly one of your friends mentions that he indirectly knows someone working on the title and becomes the popular kid. Whether he actually is and his ‘inside’ news is accurate, you’ll never really know.

9) Brag about how much they love the game but have barely played it

So your friends are all talking about this game that you too remember buying but don’t want to feel left out. You join in the conversation and nod your head, gradually you start raving about it and making up all kinds of tales about your greatest adventure in it. Only to get called out a few days later when they check your account and see you’ve only put an hour into the game.

10) Proclaim how much they hate the game, when really they have over 100 hours of playtime

The hilarious part about this is that you see it happening in a lot of Steam game reviews. There’ll be that person who says this game should be thrown under a bus and rolled on a thousand times. That people should die when they utter the title of the game. This same person also has over 100 hours of playtime in the game. Yeah, you hate it so much you AFK-ed in it, amiright?

11) Boast about unlocking out of this world secrets or just plain spread rumors

Because you want to be the coolest kid at the playground, you come up with elaborate tales about how you completed a difficult feat that unlocked you a golden aura around your character, or had llamas spewing rainbows from their butts. Or you just spread rumors like the infamous one in Pokemon Go where players thought they could reclaim missed Poke Balls by tapping quickly on it as it rolled away.

12) Tell themselves they will turn off the game after this quest/mission

Sometimes you sink so hard into a game that you forget the time and where you are. It’s like you’ve been sucked into a different dimension, where every move matters. Should you make a bad decision, you will just respawn, a consequence not even close to how harsh reality is. This blissful feeling however, is short-lived as you’ll have to take care of responsibilities. You keep telling yourself that you’ll shut down the game after completing the mission, which leads to another and another till you’ve realize you haven’t slept all night and you badly need to pee.

13) Delude themselves into thinking they’ll playing an MMO casually

We’ve all approached a new MMO with the mindset that we’ll play a few hours to get a feel of the game and step out, never to see the MMO again. WRONG.You soon find yourself sinking hours into it to grind for the better loot. Don’t kid yourselves, getting into MMOs is seriously addictive. To think otherwise is to believe that cats only have a passing interest in catnip. They don’t, they are full-blown addicted to the stuff..

Source for images: Giphy, Imgur

8 Reasons Why You Should Not Mix Drinking And Gaming

Games, News / Misc

Drinking and gaming, two of the most wonderful things that go together, ask any gamer above the drinking age and they will agree heartily. But over imbibing can lead to terrible and hilarious consequences. Here are 8 reasons why you shouldn’t do it:

1. Character creation

When under the influence, your artistic skills can become a little wonky. Something that you might have thought of as the next Mona Lisa could very well turn out to be a disfigured or flawed version of someone you dislike at school, in the workplace or even in the neighbourhood.

Careful, you might just be playing as your nemesis!

2. Creating your in-game name

When you play games that evoke heavy emotions, it’s going to be tough to maintain and feel the impact of the moment with a name like “Glitterfart” or “Fluffenstein”.

3. You might get really good at certain games you couldn’t beat when sober

Imbibe over your average amount and you might find yourself flying through difficult levels that you couldn’t beat previously. Looking at you Super Meat Boy and Binding of Isaac!

I can attest to this when I play Heroes of the Storm. When I’m sober, my win rate is perhaps 50-50 because I tend to overthink and play cautiously. But after 2+ pints of beer, I throw my gaming caution to the wind and pull some bold moves that shock even me till this day.

4. Liquids and your hardware don’t mix

Another thing people forget is that the technology that supports your gaming lifestyle does not come cheap. It’s all fun and games till someone throws up on your equipment like your headset, mousepad…and even your keyboard, and that sir, is a very difficult piece of equipment to clean. More gaming less drinking please.

5. Multiplayer

For the love of god, if you’re going to drink, inflict the harm purely on your liver and not your teammates’ ranks! You see, when you’re totally ‘pissed’ and try your hand at rank games, you’ll perform poorly, feeding the enemy. On top of that you’ll cause a lot of heartbreak to your teammates when you lose the game, resulting in everyone’s ranks dropping.

6. Saving over a saved game

Now this may not be so common these days but it still happens. Especially in open world, RPG and decision making games where hours upon hours of progress was poured into it, only to be wiped out by one silly night of heavy drinking. When you next launch the game hoping to continue from your dedicated progress, your save slot is either empty or replaced by a level one character. Let the mourning begin!

7. You’ll get a hangover

On top of the 6 terrible things that I’ve covered above, nothing could be worse than waking up with your head aching so hard it feels like it’s about to explode. Drink wisely people!

8. Drunk shopping

Ok, so maybe you realize that you’re too wasted to attempt anything that requires hand-eye co-ordination. Instead, you browse your steam library …and what’s that, the store tab? Click.

Things pass in a blur and you wake up the next day with your email bombarded with receipts thanking you for your steam purchases. Uh-oh.

The best case scenario is that you’ve bought everything from this list of our Top 10 games for 2016 or a whole bunch from 2017. Although not such a bad thing, it is financially, an unwise move.

The worst case scenario is you buy tons of full priced copies of Bad Rats, The Graveyard, Dinner Date, Airport Simulator 2014, Secret of the Magic Crystals, and I’m sure there’s a lot more to be listed, but you get the idea.

Lucky for you, Steam has a refund policy but the paperwork is going to be a pain in the a**.

9 Beautiful Time Lapses You Have To Watch

Games, News / Misc

Sometimes we’re so focused on completing missions and side quests that we often forget to stop and smell the flowers. Slow it down, take a look around and appreciate the immense amount of detail these game designers and animators have poured sweat and tears into. Enjoy 9 of the most beautiful time lapses in games now :

Grand Theft Auto V – by MkElite

Stop getting ‘wasted’ and watch this almost realistic time lapse of various locations in GTA V.

The Witcher 3 (Blood and Wine)– by Kobo Klips

If you’ve ever seen footage or trailers of Witcher 3’s gameplay, you’d know Geralt lives in a extremely gorgeous world. The above time lapse is from the game’s second DLC “Blood and Wine” set in the region of Toussaint.

Fallout 4 – by The Mavrick

There’s definitely nothing in this time lapse that resembles ‘post-apocalyptic’ in Fallout 4. The environments are gorgeous even though the music is a tad bit melodramatic. It pulls together nicely and gives you a sense of gloominess at the thought of the world coming to an end.

Dark Souls 3 – by EK2

Another somber but alluring time lapse is Dark Souls 3, a game notorious for its masochistic play style where players die countless number of times, sometimes for no reason at all!

Tom Clancy’s The Division™ – BY MaxMRM GAMEPLAY

Watch the day turn into night in this hypnotizing time lapse of Manhattan in Tom Clancy’s The Division™.

Horizon Zero Dawn – by IGN

Launching on PS4 this February 28 is the much anticipated open world action RPG Horizon Zero Dawn. Here’s a stunning time lapse to show you how the day and night cycle looks in 1080 definition. You can learn more about the beasts and world map here.

Dying Light – by 8-BIT BASTARD

Daylight is a precious commodity in this game, where the infected are weak but ever increasing. You parkour building to building to save survivors and scavenge for resources to defend yourself before darkness set in. Once night falls, the tables are turned, the infected become stronger and you become their prey. But hey, let’s not be pessimistic and watch this magnificent time lapse of Dying Light!

No Man’s Sky – by Vicious Studios

No Man’s Sky may have had a rough start but this time lapse shows that there’s nothing wrong about its art direction.

Destiny – by niitq

Watch the day go by in Destiny’s barren and toxic wasteland of Old Russia.

10 Outrageous Costumes In Video Games

Games, News / Misc

You can expect ridiculous things to happen in games, people falling off cliffs to their deaths, parachuting straight into a rock and shooting guns that make people dance. But what you’re not prepared for are the outrageous costumes in games.

Here are 10 of the most outrageous costumes in games that I came across:

1. Steep – The Giraffe costume

Wheee!

Steep is an open world game where you can ski, fly in a wingsuit, snowboard and paraglide across the epic mountains of the Alps and Alaska as a… Giraffe. There are other mainstream looking costumes to equip but this has got to be the funniest! I especially love its crazy eyes and the fact that it squeaks like a toy when it hits a tree or any other object.

2. Saints Row 4 – The toilet bowl costume

In Saints Row 4, you play the president of the United States fighting off an alien invasion while running the notoriously powerful street gang, 3rd Street Saints. There are tons of ridiculous outfits to choose from, or you could just head out as a toilet!

Prance around as a sparkling white toilet till you murder something!

Mix and match your outfits in game and come up with all sorts of hilarious creations like this one:

Team up with a friend to showcase your wild side.

3. Resident Evil Revelations –Chris Redfield’s sexy sailor costume

Two sexy sailor Chris…es are better than one!

Adding comic relief to the horror game, Resident Evil Revelations, is Chris Redfield’s smoking hot sailor outfit. To unlock the outfit, players need to buy the rocket-launcher in the Raid mode shop and do 100,000 worth of damage to an enemy. They can then proceed to flaunt it in all different modes in game.

4. Ninja Gaiden – Rachel’s dominatrix costume

Too risky for action.

Speaking about smoking hot outfits, Rachel from Ninja Gaiden struts around in a questionable dominatrix outfit while somersaulting off walls, doing double flips and fighting the badies. All while trying to keep everything together.

5. Heroes of the Storm – Star Princess costume

My eyess, it burnss!

I’m not sure which direction Blizzard was taking Li Ming in this costume. For a wizard who unleashes devastating spells with the arcane forces of the universe , the star princess outfit is a joke. It makes Li Ming look like she works for a low budget circus trying to pull off a space theme but failing miserably. Blizzard, please, stop.

6. Dead Rising 4 – The Shark costume

Chomp the zombies…or not.

If Frank West ever gets tired of playing dress up as a pirate, wrestler or leprechaun, he can simply swap to his trusty shark outfit and chomp all the zombies away!

7. Resident Evil 6 – Sherry’s school uniform costume

You sassy gurrlll.

The lady is no longer a child, she can fend for herself and doesn’t need to be wearing the skimpiest school uniform in the entire world to kick some baddies ass. However, if you still want a piece of the sass she brings in it, complete any stage by playing as Sherry and finish it with an A or S rank.

8. Nioh – White Tiger

One terrifying cat.

While technically not an ‘outfit’, we thought White Tiger was worth including. It looks like a mutated mangled cat. With a torch in one eye and the ability to fly (Gah, I’m thinking of flying cockroaches), it is truly one ugly cat worthy of nightmares. If I was ever considering getting a cat, I’m thinking twice about it now.

9. Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – Anna’s squid costume

Calamari kick incoming!

You will not be able to look at calamari the same way again after watching Anna Williams fight in a squid outfit. The tentacle flailing outfit is a collaboration between the manga industry and team Tekken to design stylish bonus costumes for the game. I wouldn’t label it stylish but it sure is whacky.

10. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood – Ezio’s Radien costume

As a tribute to the Metal Gear series, players can unlock Cyborg ninja character, Raiden for Ezio in Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. Players unlock the outfit by finishing all training sessions in the Animus Virtual Training Program with at least a Bronze Medal. I’ll admit it’s a pretty cool look for Ezio because he retains his facial features in it but an odd look to spot in the 16th century. Wrong era, buddy.

Source for Images: GIFY

8 Valentine’s Day Gifts For Your Dearest Gamer

Games, News / Misc

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner and while some have prepared lavish shows of affection and gifts, others might be quite puzzled about what to get their significant other (SO). The confusion intensifies when your SO is an avid gamer and your experience in gaming is just limited to Pokemon Go.

But fret not my lost friend, I’m here to make sure that your romantic gesture doesn’t disappoint. Every item I’ve picked out is priced below S$200 to cater to just about everyone. Without further ado, here’s my list of 8 gifts you can get to impress your gamer guy or girl:

Steelseries M500 Gaming Keyboard (SGD$189)

Backlit and beautiful.

While most keyboards these days strive to pack as many flashy features into their products as possible, the Steelseries M500 is a dependable full size keyboard with minimalistic design, offering good performance. Gamers who shy away from colorful backlit and clicker-ty keys (Cherry MX red keys used here!) will certainly enjoy the stealthiness of the keyboard as well as how it looks and plays in the battlefield.

Kingston’s HyperX Cloud Revolver Gaming Headset (SGD$169)

Sounds and feels sexy.

Offering studio grade sound stage and a durable steel frame, these headphones are so comfortable they will please any gamer who enjoys gaming for long hours.

Razer DeathAdder Chroma Gaming Mouse (SGD$119)

Looking sharp!

This mouse is great for gamers who want their peripherals to look swag while performing at top tier. Players can customize how the mouse glows and enjoy an improved 10,000 DPI sensor vs its previous 6,400.

Owndays PC Glasses (SGD$60)

All the better to see you with.

Gaming for long hours can put a huge strain on the eyes and could lead to poor eyesight. Help your gaming love to protect their eyes with a pair of Owndays PC glasses! There are prescription lenses available, you can customize your spectacles and pick them up within the hour.

50 Overwatch Loot Boxes (Approximately SGD$60)

Overwatch scored 2016’s game of the year and is loved by many gamers worldwide because of its addictive gameplay and interesting lore behind many of its characters. The one thing every player vies for besides ‘Player of the game’ is its exclusive skins which are acquired through opening loot boxes. Buy your gamer 50 loot boxes and watch them grin from ear to ear! Want to get a feel for what you’re buying? Watch Gab & Gerry from Reboot Reload open 100 Overwatch loot boxes.

15 Hearthstone Card Packs (Approximately SGD$30)

So shiny.

In Hearthstone, your cards are your ammunition. The more powerful cards you secure, the better you’ll fare when going up against opponents with limited resources. So help put a smile on your card collecting lover’s face when you gift them 15 card packs!

Garena Shells (SGD$15, $30 or $90)

Credit credit credit credit!

Or you could get some credits for your gamer if he/she plays League of Legends, Fifa Online 3 or Point Blank so they can buy more in-game items to enhance their playing experience!