Raymond Padilla

Coffee Talk #334: How Have You Changed as a Gamer?

I used to play a ton of sports games. Somewhere along the line, my sports gaming tapered off. These days, it’s such a small percentage of my yearly gaming.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Yankees sucking at Fenway, my favorite American Idol 2011 contestant sleeping with Nikki Reed, or Liam Neeson getting cut from The Hangover 2, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I used to play a ton of sports games. In grade school, my friends and I devoured pretty much every NES, SNES, and Genesis sports game. My brother and I have a longtime rivalry in NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. My friend Justin and I played entire baseball seasons against each other in World Series Baseball and Frank Thomas’ Big Hurt Baseball for Saturn. Somewhere along the line, my sports gaming tapered off. These days, it’s such a tiny percentage of my yearly gaming.

So what caused such a drastic change in my gaming habits? Part of it was that I started writing about games for a living. While I enjoyed sports games, I always worked with someone that was way more into them than I was. Part of it was that as sports games became more realistic, they became less fun for me. Lastly, the vast majority of people I clicked with in the videogame journalist world were not sports gamers, so we never played together.

For some reason, this change in my gaming habits popped into my head over the weekend. I never really thought about it before. How have you changed as a gamer over the years? Are your gaming tastes the same as they were 10 or 15 years ago? Or are they drastically different? Kindly share your ch-ch-ch-changes as a gamer as you watch the David Bowie video below.

Area 5 Launches Atomix Videogame Magazine for iPad

My pals at Area 5 have launched a new iPad magazine called Atomix. I saw a bit of it during GDC 2011 and was really impressed. Of course I’m biased because they’re my friends, but they do awesome work and I expect Atomix to be very popular. If you have an iPad, I’m sure those guys would appreciate your support. It’s only 99 cents an issue. I’m going to try to buy it thrice….

iPad 2 Headed to Toys ‘R Us in May?

The war between Apple iOS devices and traditional gaming machines is heating up! According to ModMyI, Toys ‘R Us will start selling the Apple iPad 2 in May. The site received a view images from an employee training sessions and they’re all about familiarizing Toys ‘R Us reps with Apple’s latest tablet. Here’s more:

We received a tip this morning from a Toys R’ Us employee that the venerable children’s toy store will begin selling the iPad 2 next month. Although there have been rumors in the past about Toys R’ Us possibly carrying the iPad at some point in the future, this is the first we’ve heard from an actual employee that an iPad launch at the toy store is imminent.

And there’s photographic evidence to back up the claim. Obtained during an employee training session, the pic clearly illustrates the iPad 2 presented in some form of employee training and testing process — something that would naturally take place shortly before a new product launch.

While it’s easy to find iOS devices and gaming machines at Best Buy, Target, and other broad retail outlets, videogames have ruled the roost at Toys ‘R Us. Do you think Toys ‘R Us is a good fit for the iPad 2? Should Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony be worried?

Source via BoyGeniusReport

Coffee Talk #333: Describe This Sexually Charged Screenshot

RPadholic camikitten sent me this (naughty?) screenshot of Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel. Based off of the screen and the text, what do you think is happening in the game?

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, those winless Red Sox, Pia Toscano being voted off American Idol, or predicting the Barry Bonds trial, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

RPadholic camikitten sent me this screenshot of Ar tonelico Qoga: Knell of Ar Ciel. She also explained the context to me (though it’s still weird). I’m guessing that most of you aren’t familiar with the Ar tonelico series, so I wanted to have some fun with this screenshot’s earth shattering unintentional comedy.

Based off of the screen and the text, what do you think is happening in the game? Let’s try to keep it as clean as possible (please).

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

This weekend is all about iPad 2 gaming for me. I’m going to play the hell out of Civilization Revolution, Infinity Blade, and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP. That should keep me busy enough, but there’s a chance that I’ll add some Scrabble and Rage HD to the mix.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?

Check Out my Review of The 3rd Birthday (Please!)

Machinima.com has posted my review of The 3rd Birthday. As a Parasite Eve fan and a fan of developers working on this game, I was expecting greatness. Instead I got…uh…goodness. Aside from amazing graphics, there’s nothing all that special about the game and it has little to do with its predecessors. Here’s a quote from the review:

One of the biggest changes in the game is Aya Brea’s characterization. In the first Parasite Eve, she was a strong NYPD officer that kicked ass and didn’t shove sexuality down your throat. That characterization is completely out the window in The 3rd Birthday. Aya still kicks ass, but due to (convenient) amnesia doesn’t possess the strong spirit she had in the other games. Her clothing also shreds as she incurs damage, so you’ll spend a lot of time staring at her legs and ass. There’s even a shower scene that seems like it was included to titillate gamers with a glimpse of her boobs. Aya is definitely hot (uh…you know, for a videogame character, I mean), but what the hell happened to the strong warrior that captivated gamers in Parasite Eve?!?

I’m quite proud that I was able to use legs, ass, and boobs in a review.

Anyway, please check out my review if you have a moment and leave a comment at Machinima if you have two moments. Thanks!!!

Today’s Poll: Is the Motorola Xoom a Flop?

According to an investor note from Deutsche Bank, Motorola’s Google Android tablet — the Xoom — has only sold 100,000 units since its February 24 launch. Considering Motorola’s aggressive marketing campaign and the Xoom’s hype as an “iPad killer”, most people are dismissing the product as a failure. Others think the Xoom’s relatively modest numbers are inline for a product in an immature market; they believe that it was always stupid to compare the Xoom to the iPad, simply because the OS and apps aren’t ready.

What do you think? Is the Xoom a flop? Or are the estimated sales about right for a product that’s half baked?

[poll id=”110″]

Remembering Blockbuster Video

Dish Network recently picked up the scraps of Blockbuster Video in a bankruptcy auction for $230-million. It’s hard to believe that the company once sold for billions of dollars. Blockbuster used to be one of the mightiest forces in the movie industry, the company is now a cautionary tale of what happens to old media that doesn’t adapt to the new.

As I was reading this entertaining article on TechCrunch, I was linked to this excellent timeline of Blockbuster’s demise on Fast Company. It’s amazing that the company was so dismissive of Netflix and ignored obvious trends until it was too late. CEO Jim Keyes (former president of 7-Eleven) has some excellent quotes in the timeline, most of which make him seem like a moron that was better off hocking Slurpees.

I’ve always hated Blockbuster ever since it put the local mom-and-pop video-store out of business when I was in high school. Sure I gave the company lots of money over the years, but it was mostly because there weren’t many other options. While it’s sad that lots of people lost their Blockbuster jobs in recent years, I’m happy that geek Darwinism left the company to die.

Source via TechCrunch

Gran Turismo…the Clothing Line

If Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker clothes aren’t your style, then perhaps the Gran Turismo Boutique has something that’s more you. Touted as “custom made performance wear exclusively developed for Gran Turismo enthusiasts”, this clothing line is as sleek and expensive…just like the cars you see in Gran Turismo 5.

If you have a moment, check out the Gran Turismo threads. Any of you interested in picking some up?

Source via Joystiq

Coffee Talk #332: Pleasant Videogame Surprises

Today I’d like to hear about games that surprised you. I’m talking about games you didn’t expect much from, but ended up loving. As for me, I remembering buying a game because it was on sale and ended up…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the Red Sox’ awesome losing streak, your favorite Transformer, or the hottest Spice Girl, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Yesterday’s column was too much of a downer. Let’s move out of the bitter barn and play in the hay! Today I’d like to hear about games that surprised you. I’m talking about games you didn’t expect much from, but ended up loving.

As for me, Civilization Revolution for iPhone was one of the best gaming surprises I’ve had in years. I bought the game when it was on sale for $2.99 and ended up playing it for hundreds of hours. It was perfect for long flights, bus rides, killing time before a sports game starts, and avoiding work (wait, that last one is bad). I thought I’d like Civilization for iPhone, but I ended up loving it (as much as Charlie Sheen loves cocaine).

Now it’s your turn! Please share some of your best videogame surprises.