The UEFA Champions League "Round Of 16" 2013/2014 edition

   I realize I did one of these last season, and then never really kept up with it (you know, in the quarter and semi finals), but I figured I had so much fun doing it that I would try it again this season. The title says it all. Let's take a look at the match-ups of the Champions League "Round of 16".

   We'll take it by date of game, and according to UEFA's official website (uefa.com), the first pair to play is actually what they call the crowd-pleaser. Manchester City is pitted against Spanish champions Barcelona. City seem to be doing rather well in the Champions League this season, and for them that's a surprise! Despite the fact that they have the talents of Yaya Toure, Sergio Aguero, Vincent Kompany, David Silva and so many others, they've never made it past the group stage. Will they be able to face tournament veterans Barcelona, who seem to be going through a transition phase, having to play without Messi for a long period of time since who-knows-when, trying to get used to Tata Martino's more offensive style of play and making room for Neymar in the squad? Things seem to be going well for Barca in the La Liga, despite a few bumps here and there.
   Next match-up is Leverkusen vs. PSG. There's really not much to say about this one. Leverkusen made it out of Group A as second, but when put up against a strong opponent like Man. United, they were thrashed (4-2 away, 0-5 at home). On the other hand, Paris quickly made it obvious that they were going to be topping Group C, winning on matchday 1 at the "Karaiskakis" 1-4 against Olympiacos. Things did get tough for them at times, but when it really came down to it, their difference in quality made all the difference. The same will be done here as well.
   Arsenal will face a tough challenge in the current European champions. Bayern Munich seem literally unstoppable yet again this season, cruising through their Champions League group, topping the Bundesliga and making it obvious that despite the change in the locker rooms, they are favorites this year as well for pretty much every title in their reach. They confirmed it recently by winning the Inter-Continental Cup. Arsenal on the other hand, are currently first at the Premier League for but a few points and have found their new leader on the pitch in the face of Mezut Ezil. Though they have slipped up from time to time, they are in good form. This should be a very good couple of games!
   Milan will have Atletico Madrid to deal with. The "rossoneri" look to be constantly plagued by problems (their next coach will be, apparently Clarence Seedorf) and they're having yet another awful season in the Serie A. Diego Simeone's side, on the other hand is becoming the pleasant surprise of the season, topping the La Liga along with Barca and storming through the Champions League group stage. They seem to be a tough group for any opponent to beat and can be capable of many things. Despite Milan's reputation, they are not the favorites in this match up.
   Zenit plays last year's runner-ups Dortmund. A lot of people claim Zenit are even lucky to have gotten this far, and they wouldn't be wrong, considering they qualified from their group with barely 6 (!) points to show and losing their last game 4-1 to Austria in Vienna. Dortmund want to have another crack at what they lost at the final minute in last season's dramatic final against their rivals Bayern. If the Russian side are to qualify, they will need to show something completely different than what they've shown so far.
   Next match-up, Olympiacos vs Man. Utd. Despite a shakey start, the Greek side performed rather well in the group stage, considering their only loss was against PSG, and that came thanks to Cavani's last minute effort. Manchester, in their first season without Sir Alex Ferguson, seem to be having domestic issues. In the Champions League they dominated their group, with 4 wins and 2 draws. They seem to be finding their form, but even if they do, considering Olympiacos's recent performances, this will be anything but easy for them.
   In a bit of a similar (David-vs-Goliath) tie, Galatasaray welcome Chelsea. Before the draw was made, Jose Mourinho stated to the press that the most fantastic thing would be for his team to draw the Turks so that Didier Drogba could return to the "Stamford Bridge" and have his standing ovation. Not a week later, the "special one"'s wish came true. As far as the teams are concerned, Galata knocked out Juventus, so it wouldn't really be the most shocking thing if Chelsea was disqualified by them as well, since the Turks have a squad that is capable of many things. Chelsea are having their ups and downs for another season, and aren't really considered strong contenders for either the Premier League or the Champions League as things stand. Still, they are the favorites in this match up.
   In the last of the "Round-Of-16" ties, Schalke will host Real Madrid. The Ruhr-river side squad has traditionally had a strong defense, with the likes of Howedes, Uchida and Papadopoulos. But however strong a defense may be, Cristiano Ronaldo has proven that he knows the way to break them down. Considering both teams' form this season, Madrid are a clear favorite.
   And that's it! Some exciting games, others with clear favorites, and of course everyone will be waiting for the upset. Who will it be? Who will qualify to the final "8"? Who will take the trophy hame? Can Bayern be the first team ever to do the repeat? Coming 2014...     

Viva la Brasil!!

   Seasons greetings everyone (yet again)! Before the year is over, I decided it was about time I dedicated some space in this blog to some of the biggest football events of the year that's just one day ahead of us. Of course, the grandest of those events is none other than the World Cup itself. Next year the FIFA WC will be held in Brazil, from June till July. Back in November all the teams that had qualified were made known and in a grand event that was held in Salvador, the draw of the group stage was made. Let's take a closer look.

   In group A, hosts Brazil welcome Croatia, Mexico and Cameroon. Luis Felipe Scolari's side will be looking to take full advantage of the crowds cheering in their favor, and they seem to have quite the adept squad in the likes of Neymar, Daniel Alves, David Luis, Thiago Silva, and so many others. The presence of both Kaka and Ronaldinho remains a mystery. Croatia made it to the World Cup by knocking out Iceland in the European play-offs after a 2-0 victory in Zagreb. Everyone will be looking to the likes of Mandzukic and Modric for leadership in this squad. Mexico qualified from the inter-continental play-offs against New Zealand (9-3 aggregate), although no one expected them to have that much trouble. They could provide a few surprises. Cameroon are a force not to be taken lightly in African and worldwide football, with the likes of Eto'o, Song and Makoun behind their efforts.
   Group B gave us the final of the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. Spain and the Netherlands, the winner and finalist of the previous tournament, are going to play right off the bat! And although for Vicente del Bosque's side not much has changed (still the same midfield type of play, dominated by possession football with the likes of Xavi Alonso, Xavi, Fabregas, Iniesta and Busquets), for the Dutch things appear to be even better than they were back then. With a youthful side full of talent and with Luis van Gaal guiding them, they reached the World Cup before anyone else in the European zone and thrashed their opponents while playing modern football! Along with the aforementioned two in the group are Chile and Australia. Chile made it through the South American zone as third and they have made some impressive performances in recent matches, including a 0-2 victory against England in the Wembley. A team with the fire-power of striker Alexis Sanches can do damage if underestimated. Australia qualified as second behind Japan from the Asian zone. They are currently experiencing a shift in managers since Ange Postecoglou replaced Holger Osieck, and the "Socceroos" seem to be playing with a more offensive style now.
   Group C has no clear-cut favorites. Falcao's Colombia, who made it as second from the South American zone could be said that they potentially outshine their opponents at the moment, currently dominating the FIFA rankings at 4th. But who could underestimate Greece, who qualified from the play-offs of the European zone, making it look easy against Romania. Or the always ready for an upset Japan, who qualified as first from their respective group in the Asian zone. And then again, there's always Cote d'Ivoire, who possess players like Drogba and Yaya Toure who could easily make a difference against pretty much any opponent.
   Three previous World Cup winners in group D... How's that for interesting? A relatively unpredictable Uruguay (considering they made it as fifth from the South American zone and needed the inter-continental play-offs against Jordan to qualify for the World Cup, where last time they won the third place final!), is pitted against Balotelli & co.'s Italy and never-down-for-the-count England. Joining them will be Costa Rica, with nothing to lose and plenty to go for!
   The next group might seem easy, but it's anything but! Didier Deschamps' France, after that nail-bitter of a qualifier against Ukraine, are pitted against the rising power Switzerland, who have old-fox Ottmar Hitzfeld on the bench. Also in the group is the Honduras, with Wilson Palacios's striking power and Ecuador, who have United's Antonio Valencia on their wing.
   It seems a recurring coincidence that these two teams meet. Argentina and Nigeria, after U.S.A. '94 and South Africa '10, have yet again been pitted against each other. Joining them this time are first-timers Boznia-Herzegovina, who will look to leave a good impression with the likes of Dzeko, Pjanic, Ibisevic and many others in their squad, and Carlos Queiroz's Iran.
   Looks like Cristiano Ronaldo can't catch a break. After having to knock out Ibrahimovic's Sweden almost by himself (in what was admittedly the best European knock-out qualifier), he is now forced to go up against Joachim Low's Germany. And considering they were the ones that sent Sweden to the knock-out qualifiers of the European zone, taking first place of the group from early on, it seems CR7 has his work cut out for him! Also contending for a place in the last "16" will be Jurgen Klinsmann's (former main coach of Germany) U.S.A. and Mikael Essien and Kevin-Prince Boateng's Ghana. In a group full of twists, since the two Boateng brothers (Germany's Jerome and Ghana's Kevin-Prince) will be forced to play against each other just like in South Africa 4 years ago.
   In the final group of the competition, the rising stars of world football Belgium will have their metal tested against the likes of Algeria, Russia and Korea Republic. All eyes will be on Eden Hazard and the rest of his teammates since they are considered, believe it or not, World Cup favorites! Yet against Arshavin, Kerzhakov, Shirokov and the rest of Capello's men, that will remain to be seen. Korea Rep. also shouldn't be put down since they possess the likes of Son Heungmin and Koo Jacheol. Algeria qualified in style from the African zone against Burkina Faso and also demand respect and attention. Their key players are Madjid Bougherra and Sofiane Feghouli.
   So, what do you think? Anxious yet? Is your country among those participating in next year's celebration? Do you think they can get far? Will there be any upsets, or will all the favorites make it? Will Brazil reclaim their throne on home soil? All that remains to be seen... Next June, in Brazil!!!

 

2013 - The next generation

   Merry Christmas everyone! I hope all your hearts desires become true and that you and your loved ones find eternal bliss! This post is the previously mentioned gamers review for 2013. It was quite a ride, this past year, and we're here to see the biggest "shockers" of that crazy voyage.
   I think we'll begin with February 2013. Not too long before (around about January), Sony announced they would be holding a "See the Future" event for the press and a select few in New York on the 20/2. There was speculation on the forums about what would be announced, but the company itself remained tight-lipped until the very night of the event, when Mark Cerny (designer and system architect behind the machine) announced "the future" in the form of the PS4. He showed off it's capabilities, the new controller, DualShock 4, some games on it, the GAIKAI cloud gaming interface, but the one thing that was missing was the console itself. In what could only be described as a stroke of marketing genius, Sony decided not to show the world what a PS4 looks like for a few months to come, leaving everyone guessing and anticipating until E3.
   In the meantime, there was another next-gen machine in the works and it too was getting ready for it's big premiere. Microsoft had been preparing the follow-up to the XBox series of consoles and at April they sent out the invitations. The machine's official title was "XBox One". There was a whole lot of interface shown off at the event. Voice recognition functions, multiple application capabilities, live stream and live chat functions, heck they even brought on Steven Spielberg to announce that he'd be making a new show exclusively for the XBox One! The only thing that was missing, was the games themselves.
   In the months counting backwards to E3, the tension was getting high. Game developers, console developers, everyone was getting ready, saying this is going to be one to remember. And they weren't wrong either!
   Eventually, the highly-anticipated time came (June 11-13) and E3 was at last upon us. But one day before the gates at the LA Convention Center could be opened to the public, there were some press conferences to be held. And this is where the real "battle" was held. Microsoft, Ubisoft, EA and Sony (in that order) were to show what they were going to be showing off at the expo (and more), only on stage.
   The first to take the stage was Microsoft. After emphasizing so strongly on the machine's capabilities during the reveal event (and receiving a lot of criticism about it), it was about time they showed off some games. And with a strong opening line up like Metal Gear Solid V: Phantom Pain, Quantum Break, Titanfall, Destiny, Forza and Call Of Duty: Ghosts, they had the crowd in an uproar. The downside came when they announced that the XBox One needed to be online in order to play games, no game sharing was allowed between users and that the price was $499. It seemed like a tombstone was placed on the machine, since even hardcore XBoxers were giving it a serious second thought.
   After Ubisoft and EA held their respective conferences, showing off a lot of interesting current and next-gen goodies, it was time for Sony to come in. They really raised the stakes. By not only showing the world what a PS4 looks like, but announcing a series of up to 200 games being developed for the PS3(!), the further use of the PSVita through remote play (making it able to play PS4 games), and showing off future projects for the PS4 itself, that felt more like a rock concert than a press conference! But that wasn't all Sony had under their belt! They took a clean shot at Microsoft's internet policies, announcing that players are free to share games with each other, free to play online or offline and a staggering $399 pricetag on the machine itself! After all that, even people that owned XBox 360's had decided to go with the PS4 for next-gen.
   And where did Nintendo fit in all of this? You may think the Japanese company had been sitting idly by, considering they didn't even have their own conference at (what was considered by most) one of the best E3's ever, but you'd be dead wrong! Through a series of "Nintendo Direct" podcasts (a live stream through the Wii U's), they have announced and released a series of new games that take the term "platform" far beyond it's limits! Pokemon X & Y itself only sold about 3 million copies on its first weekend! And with more fun titles like Super Mario 3D World, Mario Kart 8, Donkey Kong: Tropical Freeze, The Legend Of Zelda: The Wind Maker HD and many more, the company proved that the Wii U isn't out of the competition yet! In fact, it may just be the winner, consider most of it's games are exclusives.
   After E3 came Gamescom in 21-25 August. This event was held in Koln, Germany and was the most visited gaming event of the year, and it was followed by the Tokyo Game Show, the Eurogamer expo that was held in London and Jump Festa, yet again in Tokyo.
   Around about September and before it was too late, Microsoft decided they would switch their internet policies regarding the XBox One. No longer would it be necessary for it to log on to the internet once a day in order for a user to be able to play. Nor would there be any restrictions in gaming sharing. In a way they were admitting defeat, but it was a small price to pay compared to not selling at all.
   And then November came around. On the 15/11, the PS4 was the first next-gen console to be released on the North American markets. It wasn't available for long though! With people quewing up in line from a night before just to get a good place, it was no wonder that the 1 million sales mark was broken in merely 24 hours! The same thing happened all around the world. In the UK, the PS4 became the highest selling console of all time, with over 700,000 pieces overnight!
   The XBox One released in 14 countries simultaneously on the 22/11 and also broke the 1 mil. sales in a day mark (in the U.S.), making both consoles they highest selling in history. As things stand today, the XBox One has sold around 2 million units in just those 14 countries whereas the PS4 has sold 2,1 million units world wide (excluding Asia). It will be interesting to see who comes out on top during the Christmas holidays.
   As for the games? This year featured a lot of record-breaking titles such as Grand Theft Auto V, The Last Of Us and Pokemon X&Y. But the promise of an even better gaming year comes in the likes of Watch Dogs, Infamous: Second Son, Destiny and Final Fantasy XV. There have already been some people in Sony saying that what they're getting ready for E3 2014 will be even more "epic"!
   So as this year comes to a close, we'll all have the transition to the eighth generation of gaming consoles to remember and a whole many things to look forward to. I leave you with this video of some live reactions to a couple of game announcements that were made at E3 and that were extremely highly anticipated (warning: lower the volume!). Happy New Year everyone, and let the games go on!! 

2013 - A year in review

   Considering the year is about 10 days before it's end (depending on where you live it could be 9...), I figured it was about time I summed up all the biggest events of the departing 2013. Before we all go welcoming in the next year, let's take a trip down memory lane and remember all the things that shocked us, made us laugh or disappointed us, so that we can cherish them, not only for 2014, but for many years to come.
   Since the number of events that occurred during this year were many, I figured I would take it one month at a time. As always, a year begins with January. This month brought about what could be one of the greatest discoveries of our generation, as the Curiosity Rover vehicle that was deployed by NASA to our neighboring planet, Mars, found Calcium deposits on it's surface, which could lead to further evidence that it's environment does in fact contain water! In other news, U.S. President Barrack Obama was reinstated in office at the White House and during his inauguration, gave his word that he would do his best in order for homosexuals (which he publicly called "gay") to be treated as equals in society and have the rights that other people have. In Japan, plans were made to build the world's largest wind farm next to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. In sports, Leonel Messi won his third consecutive Ballon D'or award, a feat accomplished only by the current UEFA chairman Michel Platini. Meanwhile, gold-medal cyclist and testicular cancer survivor Lance Armstrong admitted to using drug-enhancements during all his major sporting events.
   The greatest news of February were a massive storm that hit part of the U.S. and Canada, resulting in 15 deaths and more than 5,000 flight cancellations, a meteor that grazes the surface of the Earth (30 miles), fragments of which landed in Siberia and resulted in 1,200 injuries and the Pope Benedict XVIth's resignation and speech. Shocking news when it was revealed that South African runner Oscar Pistorius had killed his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. He pleaded innocent, claiming that he mistook her for an intruder. In entertainment news, Jennifer Lawrence becomes the youngest actress to win an Academy Award for her performance in "Silver Linings Playbook".
   March was marked by the election of a new Pope, Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who would henceforth be known as Pope Francis, the discovery of the Higgs-Boson (a.k.a. the "God") particle, and a $13 billion bailout for Cyprus that was decided by the EU and the IMF in common, but brought outrage to the Cypriot people. In Mexico, president Hugo Chavez dies and Nicolas Maduro is elected to take up presidency until the next election takes place.
   The tragedy of the Boston Marathon monopolized interest for most of April. Very close to the finish line, someone had placed a bomb which killed three people and a few hours later, another bomb went off at a nearby library. After a series of events, it was revealed that the ones behind the incident were Chechenyan brothers Tamerlan and Dzokhar Tsarnaev. After a shootout with the police, only the one survived and was arrested. In other news, same-sex marriage seemed to be gaining a lot of support since the number of countries that had signed the official bill for it was raised to 15 (amongst them France). In Mexico, Maduro was officially elected president after Chavez's death. And in sports, Bayern Munich conquered the Bundesliga, having six games to spare, and Manchester United are once again crowned Premier League champions.
   In May, the Syrian civil war that had been taking place leaks into Lebanon, which forces the U.S. to take action. Senator John McCain goes to Syria and speaks to the rebels, explaining to them a possible involvement of the U.S. in their affairs. To what the same-sex marriage is concerned, the issue seemed to be gathering even more support, but it makes sense that there would be people with a different opinion. Some of them made themselves heard in France. About 100,000 people gathered in front of parliament to protest the upvote, which resulted in more than 100 arrests. In sports, May was the deciding month for most championships. In Italy it was Juventus, in France it was Paris Saint-Germain, in Spain it was Barcelona. The Champions League went to Bayern Munich after a dramatic final against Bundesliga rivals Borussia Dortmund that ended 2-1, and considering Bayern had also won the Bundesliga itself and they won the German Cup a few days later, they made history by becoming the first ever German team to make a treble. In England, Manchester United coach Sir Alex Ferguson retired after 27 years at the club, saying his tearful goodbyes during his final game at the Old Trafford with a standing ovation of over 60,000 people. Former Everton manager David Moyes is hired to replace him.
   June was defined by the massive outbreaks in Egypt during president Mohammed Morsi's inauguration. More than 1 million people of all social and financial statuses took to the streets, demanding he step down. Not a day later, their request was granted and Adly Manssour was appointed interim president. In Australia, the first ever female Prime Minister Julia Gillard is forced to resign after being ousted in a labor party vote. In sports, Serena Williams and Rafa Nadal conquer the U.S. Open, the Miami Heat are crowned NBA champions after defeating the San Antonio Spurs 4-3 and LeBron James is named Player Of The Year.
   England seemed to monopolize interest during July. The main reason was that Lady Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, had a baby. This boy is to be the third in line for Great Britain's throne, after Prince Charles and Prince William. He is later named George Alexander Louis. The second reason is that Her Majesty, the Queen decided to upvote same-sex marriages in England and Wales, leading many couples to have civil or religious weddings. Other major news included the "Snowden incident" during which, an airplane that was heading from Russia to South America was denied access because it was firmly believed by the European nations that the former CIA agent that had leaked classified intel, Edward Snowden was on board. Unfortunately, the person who was on board, Bolivian politician Morales, saw this as a diplomatic furor and one day after the incident, despite France's official apology, he meets with the presidents of Argentina, Ecuador, Uruguay and Venezuela, demanding an official explanation about the course of events. In sports, Marion Bartoli and Andy Murray win in the Wimbledon Tennis Open.
   August sees the continuation of the "Snowden incident" take place, with Russia providing asylum to the refugee, rendering the U.S. unable to locate him. Meanwhile, in Syria there are reports of chemical weapon use during the civil war and Egypt police declares the country in a state of emergency, due to it's lack of manpower. In entertainment news, the 30th MTV Awards take place, and among the winners are Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars.
   In September, and after the United Nations officially confirm the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war, U.S. president Barrack Obama takes action and asks the Senate for approval in order to take military action. In Australia, Tony Abbott becomes Prime Minister after a liberal party coalition. 515 people are killed in Pakistan after a 7,7 magnitude earthquake. In sports, Rafa Nadal and Selena Williams win the 2013 U.S. Open and in entertainment, "Modern Family" and "Breaking Bad" win Prime Time Emmy Awards.
   The shutdown of the U.S. government was the headline for most of October. This occured due to a disagreement between the Republicans in the White House and the government itself, over a new health care bill. After 16 days of negotiations, the U.S. government officially begins working again on 16/10. The events of the "Snowden incident" continue to unfold, in the meantime. After yet another leak, it is revealed to the French people that during the course of one day, about 70 million of their tele-communications had been monitored in 2010. Also, another revelation that sees the light of day is that German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone had been wired since 2002 by the NSA. Both these events lead to the strain of relations between the U.S. and the two European countries. The Organization For the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons wins 2013 Nobel Peace prize, and Peter Higgs and Francois Englert win 2013 Nobel Physics prize.
   The leader of the Taliban is taken down by U.S. forces and the trial of former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi begins. And that pretty much sums up an uneventful November. In entertainment, Eminem is named Global Icon at the 2013 MTV Video Awards. He also performs at the first ever Youtube awards. At a tragic car accident, Hollywood actor and "Fast and the Furious" star Paul Walker, dies.
   In our current month, December,  the death of a person has cast it's shadow over everything. The one I am speaking of is of course South African inspirational leader, Nelson Mandela. His death is mourned by people the world over and his funeral is attended by thousands. Meanwhile, in Ukraine there are massive protests in order for the current president Viktor Yanukovich to resign and India bans same sex marriage. In sports, the World Cup 2014 group draw is made. Amongst the teams playing, special note is made on the group containing England, Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica.
   And there you have it! The year in review (or at least to what politics and sports are concerned. I'll do another "special" review for the year in gaming, considering the events that occurred in that field are so many, I need a whole different post!). The one thing that isn't in this post, and that I did notice while doing my review, was the very high number of casualties, especially in the African zone! If I am allowed one wish for this next year, it is for everyone to get along better! We all live on the same planet, there's no need to fight over it! Happy New Year everyone!!!
   
  
  
   
     

The 2nd Athens Gaming Festival

  
  This weekend was a riot for gamers not only in the UK (250k PS4's sold in 48 hours, WOW!), but here in Athens as well, since it was finally time for the 2nd Gaming Festival. People in Greece finally got a first look at a next-gen console. Sony was the only one of the major companies that actually had any next-gen action to bring to the Festival. Microsoft hasn't decided yet on a release date for this part of Europe (they say sometime in the spring) so no XBox One's were available at the show and Nintendo was mysteriously absent.
   The Festival took place from the 29th of November till the 1st of December and a lot of events were held during that time. There were, of course, the regional cosplayers (and a cosplayer show on the final evening of the festival), some major tournaments with massive awards given out (League Of Legends, FIFA 14, NBA 2K14, PES 2014 and most of the winners won PS Vita's and PS4's) and random awards given out at times during the show (at one of which, yours truly won a copy of Dead Space 3 that he now doesn't know what to do with, lol).

   A lot of games were shown off at the festival. One that actually caught my attention was PS3's "The Last Of Us". The game has been released since March yet the show-runners decided it was so important that they had to feature it again in order to remind the people who have it and to show those of us that don't, what a masterpiece it is. I actually played the opening minutes and I lost myself in it, forgetting all about the place I was in and totally focusing on the story this game has to tell.

   The XBox One may not have been present, but the 360 sure was! With games like GTAV, NBA 2K14 and Battlefield 4, the machine showed that current-gen is all but finished. I was watching a game on NBA 2K14 since one of the players had picked the team that I support and I was amazed at the visual resemblance of the players. I thought it would be something like FIFA, but it was nothing like it.

   As mentioned earlier, a lot of cosplay was going on. Resident Evil's Umbrella Corporation apparently has a Greek division and they were all but present at the festival, along with the occasional zombie. They didn't seem too mean though... Maybe they had been properly fed!

   Apart from that, there wasn't really much else going on and it seemed more like a "PS4 introduction" than a full-out expo. The console releases in 11 days and despite the financial situation, people will be lining up to buy it. After that display of dominance in the UK, it will be interesting to see how things play out in the rest of Europe. As for the festival, Greece is just now taking its first small steps into welcoming in the gaming world. There's still a lot to be expected. But as the years go on and the need to see what's new in the gaming industry rises, these events will only get bigger and bigger.

My first impressions of the PS4

   So, today was the opening day of the 2nd Athens Gaming Festival (more on that later) and of course I was anticipating this opportunity to get to see first-hand the capabilities of the next-gen consoles. Unfortunately, the only one available to us here in Greece was the PS4, since it seems that Microsoft only has it's plans for the financially stable countries. And, even though the Wii U has been available for quite a while, Nintendo in their entirety have been absent from the expo.

   But enough with that. Let's move on to more important things. Namely the PS4. The machine's size was noticeably larger than what people and gaming sites have been making it out to be. I honestly expected it to be a small device. But still it is quite compact, not to mention elegant, and the colored line in the middle that defines the situation the console is in, makes it easier to see the difference in the shades of black. I got a small chance to check out it's rear, and the outputs are quite undistinguishable. They're kind of hard to find, even though there are a lot of them. There's also the extra fact that even though it comes with UMD ports, the machine doesn't support any type of MP3, AVI, MP4, or other such format playback. Sony has responded that this may be implemented in the future, yet it remains to be seen. On the outside, definitely a step forward from the PS3!

   I checked out the DualShock 4 while I had the chance. While I will have to agree with most reviewers that the grip feels better thanks to the softer handles and the L2/R2 buttons are much better implemented, there are a few things I noticed. The touchpad is actually pressable (just like any other button, you hear a "click" when you push it downwards) and the sticks or L3/R3 buttons are now much easier to use. But the controller overall feels smaller. All previous DualShock versions (from the very first one to the Sixaxis) are average-sized. This just felt, sorta tiny. It could just be my idea though, but it felt like the space between the "triangle", "square", "X" and "O" buttons was greatly diminished.

   I probably got about one or two minutes to check the interface (since you are only allowed to play the games), but from what I saw, it's very up to date. Very fast, no lag (unlike the PS3), a lot of elegance, like a high-tech machine should be nowadays. It just felt, well, a little "Windows 8" to be honest! And from a product that's supposed to be competing with Microsoft (the creator of the Windows 8, for those of you who don't know), you really don't want that! 
   Onto the games. I got to check out all of the day 1 releases and I got to play a few as well. You would think after the PS3 and XBox 360 came out that there's only so much they can do after that, but this machine shows that we ain't seen nothin' yet! I caught myself being lost in the magnificent landscapes of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, the futuristic city of Killzone:Shadow Fall and the mind-blowing capabilities of little Knack. After waiting in line for about 20 minutes, I finally got a chance to play FIFA '14. I own it on my PS3, so I thought I'd be easily able to play it, but I was left glaring at the interactions between the players and the artificial crowds in the stands. The way this game brings football to life is astonishing!
   Overall, it's a nice machine! But, like I've said before though, there's really not much of a reason to go throwing your money away for it. Wait for the hype train to settle down, prices to drop, more enhancements (like GAIKAI and MP3 support) to be added and better games to be released. This is definitely something I would recommend every gamer should own!  
 

A big shout out to a lyrical genius!

  Ok, so considering I write mostly about games, and my previous article was about FPS, I would like to take a time-out from all that and just pay tribute to an artist that actually has a song on one of the pre-mentioned FPS's. Call Of Duty: Ghosts has a collaboration with Rap legend Eminem. If you also add the fact that he was just handed the award for MTV's Global Icon, yeah, I think I've got a couple of good excuses to write about him.
   I first came into contact with Em's music when I was in still in high-school. Immediately I began to grow attached to the raw emotion with which he would spit his lyrics! This wasn't no poppy artist that just sang the song just to get the checks every month, no. These lyrics had a deeper meaning, something ripped out of his own life that had music put into it. Something anyone could easily relate to, because life isn't always "Let me show you the shape of my heart". There are moments when you feel "Like I'm surrounded by a wall of bricks". And that is what Em has always been about!

   Revealing himself to the world back in 1997, Eminem was always keeping it real in his music. He had a problem with someone, he'd straight up let'em have it! But fame and publicity was something that a young boy from a trailer-park home in Detroit would find difficult to adjust to. And to add to all that, problems at home only made things worse. His wife Kimberly Scott decided to file for a divorce after Eminem (a.k.a. Marshall Mathers 3rd) depicted her murder in the song "Kim", but they shared custody of his daughter Hailey, who has been a constant inspiration for him.
   Eminem decided to use all these problems to his advantage and lashed out against practically everyone on his award winning track "The Way I Am" (which is also the first song of his I ever heard). The fans, his record company, his wife, his mother, other celebrities (most notably Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and, more recently, Mariah Carey) were constantly mentioned in Em's tracks. Sometimes he would add a lyric that would go like "I'm not Mr. Friendly, I can be a prick if you tempt me, my tank is on empty" just to remind us all of who he is.
 

   Against all odds, Slim Shady became a moviestar! In 2002, Em starred in the movie 8 mile, in which he pretty much played himself (a boy down on his luck that finds his way through underground rap battles). Em also released the 8 mile soundtrack that featured a number of hits, including the awe-inspiring "Till I Collapse" and the one-verse "Run Rabbit, Run".
   Marshall was enjoying success and the awards were coming in one after another, but as with everything else, thing weren't as peachy as one would think. In order to keep up with his tours and exhausting daily schedules, the rapper began to grow addicted to sleeping medication. To the point where he would sleep a couple of hours a day, wake up, gobble up 40-60 pills and go off to work again. Of course his organism wasn't able to handle this routine and eventually Eminem collapsed. That's when he decided to go to rehab. During all this time (2004-2009) Eminem was absent from the music scene, so there was a lot of speculation on whether or not he has retired.
   After a lot of hard work (both in the studio and on himself) Em came back in spectacular fashion. Releasing his sixth album "Relapse" in 2009 and his seventh, "Recovery" one year later, he showed the music industry that not only was he not done, but that they had a whole lot more of him to see! He went on to collaborate with Royce Da 5'9'' in a second Bad Meets Evil album in 2011 which featured a hit single with Bruno Mars, titled "Lighters". Slim Shady was back, better than ever!
 

   Which brings us to today. Last week he released his eighth album titled "The Marshall Mathers LP 2". As I aforementioned above, MTV just awarded him the Global Icon award and he seems to be at the top of his game, even at the age of 41. A lot of people still question him to this day, but he always knows the best way to answer to his criticizers (just listen to "Rap God" and you'll understand what I mean!).
   Sure, he's had his troubles with his family, his friends, the law, the celebrities, the government, even the damn president (wow!), but from day one, he's always been genuine. It's his own opinion that we hear in those songs. He never changed, he never gave in for anyone.  He goes by many names... Slim Shady, Ken Kaniff, Eminem. But at the end of the day, the world should give a round of applause to a man that made a name for himself for speaking his (twisted) mind. Marshall Mathers the third.

Rebirth of the FPS

   
   Welcome everyone, to what will go down in history as "the month of the next-gen consoles". As we eagerly anticipate the arrival of both the PlayStation 4 and the XBox One, we have a plethora of new games being released for current-gen consoles (for those in the dark, current-gen means both the PS3 and the XBox 360). Amongst those games, quite a few popular ones are FPS (first-person shooters).
   Firstly (but totally randomly) we have Call Of Duty: Ghosts. The tenth game in the COD franchise is available for both current and next-gen consoles as well as PCs and there's a dog called Riley in it who's become something like a mascot for the game. Its campaign mode involves a member of U.S. Special Operations personnel named Logan. The multiplayer mode has been largely expanded from the previous installment to the series since there are a number of different ways to play (Search And Rescue, Cranked, Free For All, Blitz, Team Deathmatch, etc). What's also impressive about this game is that you can play in space, though I'm not quite sure if that stage is available in multiplayer or if it's for campaign purposes only.

   Then, we have Battlefield 4. In this game, that takes place six years after the events of Battlefield 3, you control a U.S. Special Operations unit squad Sergeant (dejavu anyone?) called Daniel Recker. I must confess, the multiplayer of this particular title is rather impressive, since you can control practically any vehicle (from jeeps, to tanks, to choppers) and in some stages you can actually bring down an entire skyscraper! Whoever is on it when it comes crashing down automatically gets wiped and the entire arena changes drastically! Also, there's a lot of customization in this game. It take quite some time to make a character that you're comfortable with, since there's a wide variety of weapons and equipment available, but that just means you'll have all the more fun exploring the possibilities that are at your disposal.

   Well, after those two games that have already been released, we have Killzone: Shadow Fall, a launch title exclusive to the PS4. What's different about the Killzone saga is that it brakes away from the "U.S. soldier vs bad South American/African/Asian" motto that the rest of the FPS's seem to have going on. In this game, you see the world through the eyes of Lucas Kellan, an agent of the Interplanetary Strategic Alliance (ISA), that fights in a "cold war" between the citizens of the planet Helghan and those of planet Vekta. Killzone: Shadow Fall will be the fourth main title and six overall in the Killzone saga.

   Apart from those that are releasing (or have already released) this month though, there are future FPS that fans of the genre are really looking forward to. Two of those are new IP's. The one is called Destiny. Destiny is developed by Bungie and Activision and it enrolls a player in a story that takes place hundreds of years in the future, in which apparently the humans have left the Earth and colonized other planets in the Solar system. Until for some unknown they began to die out and the only humans left were those who chose to remain on Earth. Now aliens are threatening those few survivors and it's up to them to protect the planet. The second of these two new IPs is called Titanfall and is being developed by EA and Respawn. It won several awards at this year's E3 and the reason is apparent. Players in this game have the ability to run on walls, control mechs and all sorts of machinery and, to top it all of, they get to battle inside colossal robotic Titans whenever they please. Destiny is scheduled for release sometime next spring for next-gen consoles only, whereas Titanfall will be releasing on March 11th (NA) and March 13th (EU) for PC, XBox 360 and XBox One.
   So, there you have it! Five top-class shooter's to knock'em dead! Which one would you choose to play and why?

The position of the gaming industry in today's world and in the future.

   Hey guys! Alex here. So, the past few weeks we've had the release of several major game titles and the announcement of some new ones, but the one that has without a doubt made the biggest impact over the last month, was the release of Pokemon X and Y for the Nintendo 3DS. And that just comes to add itself to the several other major-selling titles (Grand Theft Auto V, The Last Of Us), which made literally hundreds of millions of dollars for their respective companies. And if you add the fact that the next-gen consoles have not even been released yet (which means, their game titles are also due), one cannot help but imagine how far the gaming industry has come over the years and how much further it is going to go in the years to come.
   Let's look at some numbers. Nintendo made an announcement yesterday, regarding the sales for the two first days of release of Pokemon X/Y. It sold 4 million worldwide! That means the company made about $160m just from it's opening two days (considering a copy of the game costs about $40)! As for the record-breaker, GTAV, that has landed the creator company Rockstar a mind-boggling $1 billion within two weeks. It has become the highest selling game of all time. It has already broken the records set by Minecraft and right now the only game that has sold more copies is Call Of Duty: Black Ops (at least on the XBox 360).
   People have always been excited with video games, but never like this. The previously mentioned Call Of Duty: Black Ops is a good example of how times are changing in the video game industry. Even though its predecessor Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare sold around 7 million copies (which at the time was considered extraordinary for a video game), Black Ops destroyed that record selling 5.6 million only within 24 hours!
   If you take into account that in today's world you would have to be hidden in a cave five feet below the planet's surface not to have internet access and, subsequently everyone is able to filter the products they want so that they can be able to purchase them as soon as they release, it won't be long until there is another title that ends up breaking the records that GTAV and Pokemon X/Y have set.
   So, that creates the question: how far will the gaming industry go? Well, right now I would say the gaming industry is in quite a respectable position within its field. In the entertainment industries, as a general, gaming has become not only widely popular, but financially promising as well, as the previously provided numbers state. Gamers are represented in expositions all over the world. Hollywood actors are also featured within popular games (Kiefer Sutherland). More and more people on a daily basis are spending time on a console or an android device playing games.
   Even when compared to the other industries of entertainment, it's obvious that the gaming industry is doing quite well (I repeat, without the release of the next-gen consoles). The music industry, that has been hit by piracy, continues its fall. Since people can just download music for free, artists don't make nearly as much money as they used to. For example, in 1999 the album "Millenium" from the Backstreet Boys sold around 9,4 million copies wirldwide. Last year, the top selling album was Adele's "21", with around 3,2 million. The drawback is obvious. There are still the faithful followers that buy the albums in order to support the artists, but if someone has the ease of just listening to it without having to actually go to the store and buy it or even pay for it, then that's more than likely what he will do.
   The gaming industry doesn't have that problem as of yet (at least not in such high numbers). Surely there might be some emulator here and there that helps you play old and outdated games that bring back the nostalgia of your childhood, or even some games that are on handheld devices if you cannot afford one, but for the big titles, you'll more than often have to cash in. And the strange thing is, people seem to want to do it. 
   So, obviously the gaming industry is on the rise. Sure, it's not as big as Hollywood, but with games like GTAV, The Last Of Us, Pokemon X/Y making money like crazy, it's pretty big news! And there's still a lot more to come like Watch Dogs, Batman: Arkham Origins, The Legend Of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds and Battlefield 4. And this is still the current generation. If you're not a gamer, now is the best time to become one!

A soccer fan's eternal choice... PRO or FIFA?

    Ok, so I was recently checking out some game ratings in web sites. And one I was most curious about was the soccer game match up. Pro Evolution Soccer 14 and FIFA Soccer 14. The eternal rivalry between Konami and EA. Now, both of these games present new and better qualities against their predecessors (PES 13 and FIFA 13 respectively).
   I won't be covering any of these differences in my review, for two reasons. One, because they seem too complicated and two, because I never played either PES '13 or FIFA '13. Instead, this article will be about my comparison between the two newly released titles. I downloaded and played both games today on the PS3. 

  I started with Pro Evolution Soccer 14. I was anxiously waiting for this game to download, considering this is the soccer game series I had been following since High-School (so, pretty much since release). The one thing that always bugged me about this game was the lack of official team licenses. That was an issue in this year's edition as well. You cannot expect to release a successful soccer game when you don't include in it the runner-ups of last season's UEFA Champions League (I am talking about BVB Borussia Dortmund).
   So, that sort of started me off bad, but that had always been an issue with PES and yet, it always managed to get more support than FIFA because of its gameplay. I decided to give the game a go and emphasize on that. The last PES I had played was 2012, and when I started playing '14's demo, it sort of felt even weaker than that! The crowd was like a bunch of inflatable arm-waving tube men, the players were extremely hard to control, the commentary was making it painfully obvious that you're in an artificial environment... 
   It seems everything had been taken down a notch from the last time I played a PES game! In the end, it would take me a good while to learn how to actually play this game, but it did nothing to make me invest that time in it. Disappointing, would be a proper word for this. The only truly enjoyable things about it were the official UEFA Champions League graphics and style that make it seem like you're actually watching a game on TV.

   Then I went on to FIFA, not expecting much. The thing with FIFA, back in the old days was that it was always extremely easy. That's why no one wanted to play it. Anyway, going into this demo, I noticed the menus and the graphics were very sharp and nicely shaped! It immediately drew my attention. The one thing that put me off a bit was the unnecessary complexity of the menus. But, at the end of the day, if you just want to go and play a friendly match, you can just choose that. And when you're ready to explore the rest of the choices this game has to offer you, you can. This game (or this demo, at least) was very user-friendly. Before you went into it, it asked how good you are with soccer games and how you use your controller (those who are used to playing PES use the square button for shooting and the circle button for crossing and vice-versa for FIFA players). The game actually fixes the buttons for you so that they better suit your style before you even start playing. 
   Now, while I was going around the games' sub-menus, I was kinda "forced" into this "Ultimate Team" match, so I decided to have a go at it. Even though the teams weren't of my choosing, I found myself absorbed by the game soon enough! The crowd is lively and actually reacts to whatever is going on in the pitch, the players interact with each other nicely, whether in-game or out (it's nice to see them having little chats during the half-time break) and even the replays work nicely! Commentary is top notch and the stadiums look alive. I tried to play again, this time with Barca vs AC Milan to see how it is. Barcelona's style of play actually comes out during play. The many passes, the ball possession, the pressure to the opponent... It was like being a part of a Barcelona game. 

   The decision was an easy one this year. After a long time, FIFA's back in the lead! And considering you can actually use players and teams from over 30 leagues across the world, I'd say it was about time!   

Avoiding next-gen consoles and why

   Ok, so we've pretty much analyzed all the new badass consoles being released at the end of this year. Everything has been set. The release dates, the prices, some "minor" adjustments have been made so that the consumers are satisfied (I'm looking at you, Microsoft) and the first epic titles have been announced and displayed at expos all over the world. Now let's see why the best idea would be to NOT buy one of these awesome new gaming machines -at least for the foreseeable future.
   I start off with a big argument, probably the biggest, when I say PRICE. The initial cost for the PS4 is 399$ and for the XBox1 a whopping 499$! Right... Now, let's take a quick tour down memory lane and see what the initial price of their predecessors was. To buy a PS3 at release, you would have to cough up about 600$ and an XBox 360 would sell for about 550$! Now, checking at their prices only a year later, the PS3 was worth 300$ and amazingly, so was the XBox 360. And considering what happened with that generation of consoles and the world's current financial situation, it would be best if we learned from our mistakes.
   Next in my list is a very important factor, considering you're a "hardcore" gamer. The variety of titles. Right now there are about 30+ games being developed for each of the next-gen consoles respectively and they will all be available at release. Now, there are people out there who probably don't care for any of those games. So why pay 400$ or 500$ for something you're not going to use when you can just get it later, maybe in a bundle with a game you're actually going to play for the same price? Just saying...
 

   Even if you do buy a PS4/Xbox1 now, chances are not one of your friends will be able to or want to. So you won't be able to enjoy online or multiplayer games for quite a while.
   My closing argument also stands on very solid grounds. And it's the very reason why I wrote this article. Just a few minutes a go, I read this (http://uk.ign.com/articles/2013/10/04/ps3-support-to-continue-for-at-least-next-couple-of-years?utm_campaign=fbposts&utm_source=facebook), and considering this is also the case for both great gaming companies (you'll excuse me for not including Nintendo, but they seem to have their own "one big console, one handheld console" policy, plus they appear to be targeting a different audience), there's really no reason to give up on your PS3 or XBox 360 just yet. There are still many great times to be had on both of them.
   Don't get me wrong! I am also getting ready to welcome the next generation of gaming with wide open arms. But let's just take our time saying goodbye to this one, eh?

A little cleaner, but not that much.

   For my final post today, I would like to share my thoughts on some recent political developments here in Greece. I must confess I have no idea about their impact on the European or Worldwide political scenery, but they are most important and so I felt like they should be commented on.
   A man was recently murdered in cold blood by a member of the "Golden Dawn" right wing extremist political party. Apparently from what the press are revealing it was a set-up, since the victim was at a coffee shop watching the Olympiacos-PSG soccer game when afterwards he walked outside to an ambush of 30 to 40 men awaiting his departure. And it was no accident either. The deceased was a 45 year old rap artist who had created and sung many songs against the extremists. So they had a reason to kill him. 
   The murderer confessed, and that lead to a chain of events. Most of the big heads of the "Golden Dawn" political party have been arrested and are currently on trial. From the leader Nikos Michaloliakos and his immediate associates Ilias Kasidiaris and Ilias Pappas. They were arrested at their homes, where they held guns and other weapons illegally. Those were, of course, confiscated.
   Now here's where things began to get a little too tricky for the simple-minded. The rest of the "Golden Dawn" members that were under investigation began showing up one after another at the Greek Police Headquarters in order to turn themselves in! All the while yelling and screaming at the cameras that "There's no truth in the accusations! Do not believe any of it!" (plus some curses and spitting).
   There's two things happening if someone is so willing to turn himself in so that he be put to jail. One, is that he is sure that he's right so he believes he won't be put there at all. But considering the wide array of crimes these people have (reportedly) committed, that is not the case. The other is that he knows that despite all the things he might have done, he can get away with it. Which is highly likely considering Greece's flawed judicial system.
   What of the Government? Did they just now realize how much of a threat the "Golden Dawn" is? Did it have to come to this, a person openly losing his life in front of a camera in order for them to take action? Did the current and previous governments have something to gain by simply allowing their existence (like, for example using them in order to blindside people of the fact that pensions are getting yet another drop)? Or could members of these governments have been in league with the "Golden Dawn", which could lead one to think that that's the reason why they all turned up so peacefully: simply because they know this is all been cleverly orchestrated by the government themselves?
   There's only one positive thing coming out of all this and that's the fact that people have woken up to the fact that the "Golden Dawn" is more of a criminal organization than a political party. The question is, who was that criminal organization really working for?
Oh well, at least our streets are a little safer... 

GTAV? Really..?

   Now, for this next one I be attracting a whole lot of rage if anyone is actually reading these posts or this blog altogether, but I promise I'll justify my reasoning. So just hear me out before you go biting my head off just because you saw the title.
   Recently, the company Rockstar released the highly-anticipated sequel to Grand Theft Auto IV, Grand Theft Auto V. Now this title was anticipated, but not many people knew how much. Because, contrary to the most popular game this year until that time "The Last Of Us", nobody really knew much about GTAV's capabilities and what the player could do in-game.
   Seriously, the game gives the player incredible freedom and flexibility. From taking a selfie with your cell-phone on the beach, to high-jacking the Air Force One right out of the U.S.'s military airbase, there's simply nothing you cannot do in the city of Los Santos!

   But even considering all of it's amazing capabilities, it's creators wanted to create a game that shoves our world down our throats. They have, from trailer one, shown explicit material including (but not restricted to) cursing, bribing, drug-dealing and using, abuse of women, car theft of course and an extremely high amount of violence just as extra topping.
   And, despite the wide array of selection the game gives you on freedom, it seems people seem to focus on all of the things that they cannot do in the outside world. Things like hiring a prostitute, doing her and then beating her up so that you could get your money back of her unconcious body. Funny, eh? Or going to the nearest highway, holding some poor driver at gun point, only so that you could steal his car and drive it into some fence (having run over about as many people as possible in the process because hey, it's fun!), until eventually you get "busted!" by the cops or just shot to death. Or just shooting someone in the head cause he dared to stand in the way of your selfie. Just take a before and after shot.

   All of these things are in a video game, so they're harmless, right? Well, considering this video game is inspired by the real world and everyday crime, I wouldn't consider them that harmless. And it's funny that the things players tend to do more often in this game are the things that are illegal. And it's also very funny (in a disturbing way) that this, a game where all death, stealing, drug abuse and prostitution have lost all meaning, is now the most high-selling game of all time.
   Do parents let their kids play this? Because this is still considered a video "game" and games are meant to be for children. Plus there's also the fact that no matter how hard you try to tell a child not to do something, he will still want to do it. So are the parents protecting the next generation from this sort of influence, or are they simply the receivers of role models that will lead to more school shootings?

   It's tragic to think that some people came together and thought "Hey, lets make a game about all the bad stuff in the world today!" and that game ended up selling the most everywhere. Says a lot about who we are...  

First online gaming experience.

  Happy October to all. Considering I have not written anything in this blog for quite a while, this is a good excuse to begin spamming it with articles of different variety. I have received quite a few incentives from my surroundings so I might as well make use of them. Here goes...
   The first article I would like to post has to do with my first experience inside a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game). Despite my initial hesitations, I recently purchased Square-Enix's updated version of Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. I was hesitant simply because I know what kind of player I am, and that having other people join in would only ruin my experience. I changed my mind because of the beauty of the game (both graphics and music are off the charts), the story behind it (which is always a big plus for me, especially in Final Fantasy games) and the fact that I was able to actually try the game before making any decision of buying it (since I applied for one of the beta testing stages and Square-Enix gracefully accepted my request).
   So, despite my hesitations, I purchased the game. But, the first thing I noticed was that I wasn't really all that anxious for it. Like, even now, there are games that I can't wait to get my hands on, like South Park: The Stick Of Truth or Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. But this wasn't the case with XIV: ARR. Despite all it's problems at launch (they had to delay it since they weren't expecting such an overwhelming amount of people so people couldn't log in for about two weeks), I noticed I wasn't missing it. That wasn't a good sign. 

   Eventually I signed in, restored my character from the betas (if you must know I'm a paladin/blacksmith that goes by the name of Alexander Holyknight) and I continued where I had left off. I got addicted to it, I must admit. But the repetitiveness of this game was oh, so tiresome! Every time I moved to a new location on my map I immediately knew before hand that I would have to do quests in order to gain exp (experience points). And, the more you raise your level, the more experience points you need in order to raise it again. So basically what that means is just more of those quests. Over and over again it was the same thing. Go here, do missions, go there, do missions... I would not have minded it so much, but the missions weren't really relative to what was going on with the game's story, which was all that kept me going all the way to level 50.
   And then there were the dungeons... Sometimes, during the story's progress, you would have to enter these special areas called "dungeons". The thing is, you weren't allowed to enter by yourself. You had to choose the specific dungeon you wanted to go in to from you Start menu, under the Duty Finder sub-command.  This Duty Finder would then pit you up with 3 or 7 (depending the dungeon) total strangers, and you would all have to finish the dungeon together. This was the worst part of the game for me. Not knowing who I am playing with. And, because I am new at the genre, I didn't really understand my role in the group. So it's easy to imagine what was going on. From slander to people just giving up right in the middle of the game. Trying to play with strangers ends up ruining the experience for everyone.

   Anyway, after clearing the game I felt like a big weight had been lifted off me, instead of how much fun I had or what a great story I saw (actually that's only partially true since there were some tidbits at the story's end that had me thinking that I might return to the game, but nah). I will definitely not be renewing my subscription to this tiresome game. While it was new and fresh, the game seemed like a great experience. But it got old very quickly. And it's storyline was weak. The only thing I'll keep from it was it's extraordinary scenery. So, in conclusion, they may have tried their best to save it (and considering some current numbers, they may have succeeded), but for me, 14 will always be a failed number in Final Fantasy history. On to XV!