Hardware Review - PlayStation Gold Wireless Stereo Headset

I've never owned a gaming headset before, so I don't really have anything to compare to.  I haven't even
really ever owned a very good pair of headphones, but I think that has changed.  I really like these headphones, and the way they fit on my head.  Hooking it up to your PS4 couldn't be easier, all you have to do is plug in the included USB dongle and turn them on and you're good to go.  There is a Headset Companion App and I will get to that towards the end of the review.  I took some terrible pictures of my screen, apparently you can't use the share button on that app, I guess you wouldn't really need to ever.

I think the sound is very good and I'm hearing more details in the game that I never heard before.  I played some Assassins Creed IV and Need for Speed and both sound so much better with this headset, and I have a nice stereo and surround sound speakers.  There are less distracting sounds going on when I'm wearing these headphones.  I can't hear the furnace, refrigerator, car doors closing or any other random sounds going on;  just the game.  That feature alone is great to me and I think I will continue to use this headset while gaming.  I charged them for about an hour and then gave them a go for a couple of hours.  I played the above games and watched a little bit of Veronica Mars with them and they sounded great for that as well.  Yes, I'm watching Veronica Mars; I never watched it when it was on and now we are trying to catch up just in case we want to watch the movie when it comes out.  I'm about 7 episodes deep so far and enjoying it.

I only tested the mic by sending a voice message and listening back to it.  It sounded pretty darn good to me, and without there being a boom mic, there is less to end up breaking.  They also fold up nicely for travel in the included travel pouch.

Now, more about the headphones themselves.  I think the build quality is solid. They are comfortable and sound well.  What more can you ask for?  I guess more bass, and that's where they do lack a little, but overall I still think the sound is great.  I haven't tested it with my PS3 yet, but I assume it will work as well as on the PS4.  I did however test them via the included cable and hooking them up to my iPhone.  I listened to some Eminem and Lucky Boys Confusion, my two go to music choices, and both sounded a lot better on the PlayStation Gold headset than any headphones or ear buds I currently already own.

They headphones come with a micro USB cable for charging, but I never opened that one, just used my phone's charger, and I will probably stick with that plan.  There are rocker buttons for volume, chat, sound and mute.  There is also a slider button that turns the headphones on.  Setting 1 is just the default settings and Setting 2 has more bass by default and can be customized using the Headset Companion App below:

The Headset Companion App is available in the PlayStation Store right now and it has a bunch of different presets you can chose depending on what type of game you are playing, or for watching a movie, or even for different types of music that you are listening to.  You need to connect your headset via USB to get these presets to upload though, unless you can do it wirelessly and I couldn't figure it out?  I didn't look at any of the instructions that are included with the headset.

I picked my headset up at Best Buy and it looks like Amazon is shipping them now as well, however  Amazon currently requires an extra 1-2 days to process.

Overall I'm very impressed with this headset.  $99 isn't super cheap, but for a headset that sounds good, fits nicely, has a built in mic and is actually pretty comfortable, I think it's a pretty good deal.  I will give the PlayStation Gold Wireless Stereo Headset a 9 out of 10.

Most Anticipated Games of 2014

What games are you anticipating the most this year?

I know Titanfall is on a lot of gamer's minds, since I don't currently have an Xbox One, I haven't been following it too much.  Although when I saw an Xbox One over the weekend for $479 I thought about it, I mean that's $20 off, it's a steal.  It's almost stupid not to buy it, but I talked myself out of it.  I'm trying to simplify my gaming life and for me the exclusives on PlayStation are more appealing.  The only games I will be missing are Titanfall and whatever Halo games come out.  I honestly think I'm bored with the Halo franchise and Titanfall is online only and I'm not even sure I will love it, but heck it's giant mechs, I love giant mechs.

Titanfall

So even though Titanfall is on a lot of gamer's lists, it's really not on mine at the moment.  It comes out next month.

Metal Gear Solid V is kind of a mess at this point.  There is a preview game called Ground Zeroes coming out rather quickly on March 18, 2014 for Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, and PS4.  It however is just a prologue and reported to be only two hours long.  It's $30 for Xbox One and PS4 and only $20 for Xbox 360 and PS3.  I however will get it and be happy playing some next gen Metal Gear.  Phantom Pain is the full game that will come out after this, but an official release date has not been announced.

Metal Gear Solid V:  Ground Zeroes

The two games I'm looking forward to the next couple of months are both PlayStation 4 exclusive games.  inFAMOUS:  Second Son and MLB The Show 14.

MLB The Show 14

inFAMOUS:  Second Son

From what I've seen so far, both games look amazing.  inFAMOUS:  Second Son comes out March 21, 2014.  That's really not even that far away and I can't wait to play it.  There isn't a confirmed release date for MLB The Show 14 yet, but the rumor is April 1, 2014, so hopefully that's true even though it's April Fools Day.  I can't wait to start playing some next gen baseball, and with Cabrera on the cover, it makes it even sweeter for me.  Go Tigers!!!

As I mentioned, I don't have an Xbox One, but I do however have a Wii U and I've been enjoying plenty of games on that system.  I've had every console Nintendo has ever made so I'm not about to stop playing Nintendo games now.  I'm really looking forward to Mario Kart 8.  I'm anxiously waiting to play it online and to completing all the tracks.  Even though this is the 8th iteration of Mario Kart and I've played them all, I still look forward to it, and this will be the first we all get to play it in High Definition.

Mario Kart 8

GTuck's most anticipated games of 2014:

• Mario Kart 8
• inFAMOUS: Second Son
• Metal Gear Solid V 
• MLB The Show 14  
• Destiny
• Madden
• NBA 2K
• Drive Club 
• Donkey Kong Country Returns:  Tropical Freeze.  

Let me know what you are looking forward to playing in 2014, maybe I'm missing something hot that's coming up.

Gaming and Movies Podcast: Episode 00

This is our first podcast.  We titled it 00 as it's just a practice one, we plan to be back next week with Episode 1 of the Gaming and Movies Podcast.  I apologize in advance for the poor mix, the intro and outro music is loud and the dialogue is quiet.  We will get that fixed for next week.

***Edit

I don't think that player shows up on phones.  If you want to listen to our podcast on your phone, please click on this link:  Gaming And Movies Podcast: Episode 00

iTunes

Game Review - QuizCross

GTuck -

I haven't played an iOS game in quite some time, kind of got bored with all of them.  I was talked into downloading QuizCross and it's actually a lot of fun.  I like trivia and this combines some trivia with tic tac toe, and I think that the format makes it somewhat difficult to cheat, at least on your phone, so I think it's fun to play.  It's ad supported for free or you can unlock it for $2.99 to get rid of the ads, I already did that.  I can't stand the ads and I'm ok with paying $3 for a game I enjoy.  The game is also available for Android with the same pricing structure.

The tic tac toe format allows you to steal a square if you don't lock it down by answering all 3 questions correctly.  Above I have the chance to steal from GurleeGirrl, by just answering two correctly.  I however failed.  Who knows why Daughtry wrote a particular song?  Nobody, that's who.

I like the format and the difficulty of the questions.  Good variety of History, Sports, Geography, Movies and Music and a category with them all mixed together.  I'm really enjoying the game for now, although I'm only playing my two real life friends, I haven't branched out to play any randoms or anybody else yet for that matter.  I haven't even run into a repeat question yet, which is nice.  I do however sing QuizCross will make you jump, jump in my head every time I open the game.  I will give QuizCross an 8 out of 10.

Have you tried QuizCross?  If so, what do you think of it?  Hit me up at TheGTuck if you want to play with me.

GurleeGirrl - 

I, unlike GTuck, play iOS games a lot.  Several times a day.  I do get bored with them, but there are a few that keep me interested.  When Jenny told me to download QuizCross and play with her, I didn't hesitate.  

Unfortunately, I was unaware, or was just plain being stupid, but I didn't realize there was a "timer" and while I started playing my first game, I received a phone call which drew my attention away, so I ended up losing my first try!  That really peeved me off.  So only attempt to play when you know you can give it your full attention, unless you don't mind losing.  I MIND.  

Being competitive by nature - I get really excited if I can "steal" a square away from my opponent.  Heck, most of the time I'm totally guessing, but I do get lucky.

I have to say, I absolutely love this game.  And hey, even if I absorb only 10% of the material, at least I'm learning something.  If you are looking for some competition, look me up at GurleeGirrl. 

I give QuizCross a 9 out of 10.

Movie Review - Labor Day

GTuck -

I liked this movie a lot more than I thought it would.  Sure there is a lot that may be unbelievable, but if you allow yourself to get into it it's a pretty good movie.  Another well acted, artsy romantic comedy which we both always seem to enjoy.  Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet are very good in the movie, they both pull their characters off quite well.  Even the kid is good in the movie and child actors usually annoy me, he didn't do that.  James Van Der Beek and Clark Gregg also play minor roles and are quite good when they are on the screen.  It's definitely a great date movie, and you won't be bored having to sit through it if you allow yourself to get lost in the possibly not plausible story.  I give Labor Day an 8 out of 10.

GurleeGirrl - 

First off, this movie is right up my ally as I L-O-V-E a good love story.  The story is narrated from the son's perspective, and it was well laid out.  Kate Winslet played a depressed/mentally off divorcee.  They totally frumped her out for the role, and it was believable.  Josh Brolin, who seems to be aging quite nicely, is an escaped convict (murderer), and he can play that type of character.  The two together, meshed well and created a budding, intense relationship, all played out over the course of Labor Day Weekend.  You can't help but root for this broken couple.

The son is dealing with his own issues, as well as trying to figure out if he fits in to his mom's "new life".  I don't recall seeing Gattlin Griffith (Henry) in anything else, but he was great in this movie.

The movie is very dialogue driven but isn't confusing or hard to follow.  I was never bored, an actually there is a quite a build-up to a major movie scene, which caused me to actually get nervous.

I of course shed a tear or two, but that's one of the reasons I loved this movie so much, it really moved me.

I would certainly recommend this movie to any of my romantic-at-heart people out there.  I give Labor Day an 8 out of 10.

Movie Reviews - Thanks for Sharing and Captain Phillips

GTuck - 

I didn't like Thanks for Sharing, I remember when we first saw the trailer I thought it was a movie we might like.  Strange indie romantic comedies are usually right up our alley, this one however is just not good.  None of the characters are very likable, the acting however is fine, but nothing super exciting.  Just skip this movie, or wait for it on HBO and watch it in bits and pieces if you are really bored.  I will give Thank You for Sharing a 4 out of 10.

GurleeGirrl - 

Whomever said this was the "feel good film of the year" must be crazy.  I wasn't feeling good at all through the movie.  It was just plain weird and uncomfortable to me.  There were a few funny moments - thanks to Pink, but overall, the movie was on the dark side.  Left me feeling uncomfortable.  Not a winner in my book.  I give Thank You for Sharing a 3 out of 10.  Waste of time.

GTuck - 

I didn't love Captain Phillips either, I guess it was better than Thank You for Sharing, but that isn't saying a heck of a lot.  Tom Hanks is great as Captain Phillips, but I have no idea why this is up for Best Picture.  It's boring.  I would skip this one too, unless you are a huge Tom Hanks fan, I guess it's worth a rental.  I give Captain Phillips a 6 out of 10.

GurleeGirrl - 

Can you believe I survived watching this?  I did not have high expectations, but of course with all the accolades I've heard about this movie, I decided to give it a shot.  Maybe it was well acted, but hey it's Tom Hanks - I wasn't surprised by that.  About an hour or so into the movie, I thought, yay it's over, but it wasn't.  It wasn't even 1/2 over.  So in my opinion, it was entirely too long.  Didn't need to drag the story out.  But they did.  Is this one you need to see at the theater?  NO.  I give Captain Phillips a 5 out of 10.  

Game Review - Resogun

Today I am reviewing Resogun.  Resogun is currently free with PlayStation Plus.  If you have a PS4 and PlayStation Plus you need to download this game as soon as possible while it's still free.

It's really a good looking game for an arcade shooter and comes to life on the PS4.  The game is a mix between Geometry Wars and Defender, or something along those lines.  I'm not great at making comparisons, but those two games come to mind when I play Resogun.  I love arcade games and this brings back the memories of putting quarters into a machine to just get a little bit further.  It starts off pretty easy and gets very difficult towards the end.  There are different difficulty levels, so it's enjoyable for all skill levels and ages.

The main element in Resogun is to stay alive and to save all the humans.  The humans are trapped in square cages and to free them you must shoot all the keepers before they go off the screen.  The keepers are glowing green and you must get to them quickly.  There is an audible warning when the keepers are spotted and there is an arrow that shows up off of your ship so you know which direction to go.  They can however be far away, but you can boost to the location to get there quicker.  It's really a fun game that can be very challenging and frustrating at times.  I played a lot when the PS4 first came out back in November, and I just played it a little the other day to grab these screenshots and now I want to get into it again.  I would love to be able to play through on the most difficult setting and beat the game, but I doubt I will get that good at it.  

If you have PlayStation Plus and a PS4 you need to download this game and give it a try.  If you have a PS4 and don't have PlayStation Plus, you need to get it.  The free games have been pretty great so far for PS4, plus the games for PS3 and Vita are also top notch.  I will give Resogun an 8 out of 10.