Edwin and I are big fans of small, independent gaming developers and some of our favorite games are smaller titles. With that being said we also love to shop small at anywhere that has to do with gaming. We love going to used record stores around the area that have movies, games, gaming toys and pretty much anything to do with pop culture! Used gaming stores are a great place to talk to fellow gamers about the industry and pick up some old gaming memorabilia, or even old movies. Another good place to check out is any local flea market or garage sales, where sometimes you can pick up some great deals and maybe even find some rare gems. Another part of gaming that gets sometimes pushed to the side but as of lately been a major focus is indie gaming. Independent gaming is when smaller developers self-publish their titles, and it has seemingly become easier thanks to the support from platforms like Xbox, Playstation, and Steam. A cool thing that Xbox has integrated to help small developers is “Independent Developers @ Xbox (ID@Xbox).” Which is a program that helps small developers by giving them development kits to aid them in their game development. Some of our favorite indie games of late have been from the ID@Xbox, like SUPERHOT, Jackbox Party Pack 2, and Oxenfree.  So at the end of the day, keep small business in mind and support the idea of your local game store as well as the latest indie titles.
 
If you are in the Cleveland area, check out some of our favorite places to shop
 
http://theexchange.com/
 
http://www.yourbuybacks.com/
 
http://www.jamiesfleamarket.com/
 

The Gears of War 4 Beta is finally here, and lucky me got a code the morning it came out for the closed beta. The past few weeks I have been spending a lot of time on GoW Ultimate Edition (UE) to hold me over. I don't have copies of GoW 2 or 3 with me at school so I cant compare the beta to those so most of my comparisons that i do are with GoW:UE.

To start off there are three different modes available to play. Classic Team deathmatch, Co-op Team Deathmatch (Hardcore AI) and a new to GoW mode called Dodgeball. The 5 v 5 Team Deathmatches are the same from the past GoW with 15 respawns and whoever kills who first wins. The new mode, which i think is really nice, is Dodgeball in which you have 5 v 5 but if you die in order to respawn your teammates have to kill an enemy. Kind of like catching a ball in dodgeball (Hence the name).

The weapons are pretty much the same and feel the same too. A new addition to the weapons is load-out selecting in the beginning of every match. You have the option of switching out Lancer with Hammerburst and also instead of assault rifles being on the right d pad you can now switch them to the left and shotgun on the right (for whatever reason you would wanna do so.) There is only one new weapon that has been featured in the beta and its called the "Drop Shot". This weapon reminds me of the Digger in past GoW but this one basically shoots out a land mine that you control to explode on impact. The Beta does feature classic weapons like the Torque bow, longshot (with a lower amount of ammo), bulltok pistol, frag grenades, smoke grenades and the boomshot. 

​There are 3 playable maps Harbor, Dam, and Foundation (watch this video here for an in depth look at all 3). They are all really well balanced as far as reaching power weapons and equal cover between both sides. Graphically they are so-so to look at, but that is to be expected in a beta.  The gameplay in the beta can be whatever your teams or your opponents want it to be. The mechanics of the game seem a little cartoonish to me and boxy compared to me playing GoW UE.  To me the "Swarm" (Locust) are cool looking design wise but graphically it looks like they haven't fully loaded the full textures in just yet. The COG are better designed but still lack the details in the characters outfits that other GoW titles have. 

A new addition that I'm curious to see more information on is when after a match is completed you have the option to activate "Bounty Cards". These cards are XP boosters that "unlock" after a certain objective is reached, netting you bonus XP on top of what you earned already. Some of these objectives range from getting 1500 match points, winning an online match and so on. These range in XP bonus for the difficulty of the objective. There are some things that have happened to me that i think should change, like when in a shotgun battle you end up killing each other on a one shot. Or when you down each other, but at the same time getting a kill for kill isn't that bad. Just little things that changed that I am not used to. 

All together i really do dig the new Beta. Some minor flaws that they'll buff out by October without a doubt.  I'm super pumped about the final game dropping OCTOBER 11th! Until then, stay tuned for more updates right here and let us know what you thought of the beta in the comments.

Bandai-Namco has brought back some of the most famous coin-op arcade games to the current generation of consoles. Featuring Pac-Man, Mrs. Pac-Man, Galaga, and Dig-Dug, the Arcade Game Series invites Retro Gamers and fans alike to relive these classics in stunning 1080p. Each title features the original game with a decorative banner that embodies the feel of classic arcade cabinets. There are also some non-traditional settings, like round select and life amount change amongst other options. Each of these titles can be purchased for $3.99 on Xbox One, PS4, and Steam as well as a bundled 3-pack (Pac-Man, Dig-Dug, and Galaga) for $7.99. We will be reviewing each title with some short but sweet features, so stay posted for those!

ITS GETTING LIT IN THE TRAILER PARK TONIGHT
Trailer park boys season 10 out on netflix now

I'm a big fan of really dumb comedy and there is not better way to describe my made up genre than with the "Trailer Park Boys". This newest season 10 out now through Netflix is great because they have all of the past seasons to watch. This series for whom have not seen it follows around 3 best friends who live in Sunnyvale Trailer park in Nova Scotia Canada and their daily lives. They mainly do petty crimes like steal parking meters, rob grocery stores for butcher meat and steal shopping carts from stores and sell them back to them. Its honestly a really dumb and cheaply made show but i find myself crying at some of the jokes or situations that these guys find themselves in. This latest season features some drastic changes to the normal trailer park living the boys are used to. Pretty much every season is about the same the 3 guys are trying not to get kicked out of the park or owe money to the park or are trying to make some shady business deals to buy the park. All in all i really enjoy watching the show and think its hilarious, its one of my frequently recommended show to people who are looking for something new on Netflix. The first season is older now and a not as great as the others but it picks up in season two! check it out you'll probably laugh at their dumb antics

One fateful spring break just over a year ago would to us hypothesizing a concept. We loved playing games together, good or bad, and wanted to express that online some how. After streaming for the first time ever, the talks grew stronger, and thus came Player2Reviews. Other names were discussed, but this was the one that stuck. We new it would be a long and arduous road to becoming anything remotely popular and reputable in a field where so many were already established. So rightly so, we were the "Player 2's" in the field so to speak, the underdogs, the second choice in someone else's home court. After one year though, here we are, still pumping out material, making new relationships, and growing the brand. This is for all our friends and followers that helped us get here.

Check out the latest entry to the Games With Gold program, ZHEROS, a fun beat-em-up!
Free for gold members 1/16-2/15.

Finally, our newest episode of B&B has arrived. After a delay, we have settled for this video which has some audio issues during the more intense moments. We are working on making more episodes but have been trying to get better equipment before hand. Thank you all for your patience, and enjoy the new video, featuring our guest @hugostweet. If you have any suggestions for free or cheap end video editors, shoot us a comment or tweet!