Category: PC Gaming

Coffee Talk #226: How Many Hours of Games Do You Play?

Today’s Coffee Talk is real simple — I want to know how many hours of games you play each week. Sure, there are times when gaming dominates your life, but there are also times when you have other things to attend to or other forms of entertainment you enjoy. Give it some thought, average it out, vote in the poll, and discuss your answer in the comments section (please!).

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, today’s Windows Phone 7 hardware announcements, the Yankees resting up for the ALDS, or instant replay in MLB, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today’s Coffee Talk is real simple — I want to know how many hours of games you play each week. Sure, there are times when gaming dominates your life, but there are also times when you have other things to attend to or other forms of entertainment you enjoy. Give it some thought, average it out, vote in the poll, and discuss your answer in the comments section (please!).

[poll id=”78″]

DC Universe Online Trailer Makes Me Go Fanboy

It’s a bummer that DC Universe Online has been delayed until 2011, but this trailer should make you feel a wee bit better about things. It’s fast, slick, and full of awesome DCU heroes. Check it out and let me know what you think (please). Super Buddies unite!!!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

After playing dozens of hours of Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, I need to take a break from the game. My review is done, but there are still some odds and ends I want to take care of…but that can wait for later. A bunch of my friends that can read Japanese are playing Pokemon Black/White. I’m extremely jealous and I wish I took more than a semester of Japanese in college. Hmph. I suppose playing some Pokemon SoulSilver will make me feel better. Yes, that’s what I’ll do this weekend!

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

Coffee Talk #224: Problems with Videogame Storytelling

Today’s article is brought to you by RPadholic Iceman. Yesterday he pointed me to this IGN article on Greg Kasavin’s GDC Online talk on game writing. Kasavin, a former GameSpot editor btw, brought up some interesting points on storytelling flaws gaming. Some games are paced poorly, others rely too heavily on cutscenes, some bombard you with too much information at the beginning, and others leave too much for the end.

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 winning against the Twins (again), whether Derek Jeter is washed up, or A Tribe Called Quest, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today’s article is brought to you by RPadholic Iceman. Yesterday he pointed me to this IGN article on Greg Kasavin’s GDC Online talk on game writing. Kasavin, a former GameSpot editor btw, brought up some interesting points on storytelling flaws gaming. Some games are paced poorly, others rely too heavily on cutscenes, some bombard you with too much information at the beginning, and others leave too much for the end.

The flawless writing in SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 aside — it’s so unfair to compare that game to others — I’d love hear about your problems with and preferences on storytelling in games. Do you like the Kojima-style cutscene-heavy way? Or do you think that’s too “wannabe movie maker”? Do you want to know as much as you can up front in case something comes along and you don’t finish the game? Or does front loading ruin things for you? Let’s talk it up on behalf Iceman and all the fantastic game writers in the business.

Morrigan to Return in Dragon Age II?

BioWare appeared to set up Dragon Age: Origins’ Morrigan’s final fate in the (incredibly disappointing) “Witch Hunt” DLC, but it looks like the wicked witch will be back in Dragon Age II. Lead designer Mike Laidlaw told NowGamer:

Morrigan’s story’s not over even after the Witch Hunt DLC, and although I can’t go too far into it, I can say that she’s not done with this world by any stretch of the imagination.

I’m hoping for something meaningful for Morrigan in Dragon Age II. I had tremendous expectations for “Witch Hunt” and was so let down by the storytelling. Is that redemption I sense???

Anyway, let me know what you think Morrigan will be up to in Dragon Age II.

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Coffee Talk #223: Do You Buy Complete Editions?

With Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Editions and Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete revealed in the last week, I’ve been thinking about “collected” editions of videogames. With DLC being so new, it’s a relatively new practice to offer a disc that contains the full game and all the released online content. It’s a great value, but I don’t think I’ll ever buy one. If I’m interested in a game, I’ll snatch it up before it gets old enough to be collected. Bundling it with a bunch of DLC and other goodies isn’t enough to push me to buy a game I wasn’t sure about, no matter the value.

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 crap-ass Red Sox buying crap-ass Livepool, Intelligentsia’s Kenya Karimikui, or getting excited for an event in February 2011, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition and Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete revealed in the last week, I’ve been thinking about “collected” editions of videogames. With DLC being so new, it’s a relatively new practice to offer a disc that contains the full game and all the released online content. I’m curious to see where these things go and how they’ll affect future bundles.

Complete editions are a great value, but I don’t think I’ll ever buy one. If I’m interested in a game, I’ll snatch it up before it gets old enough to be collected. Bundling games with a bunch of DLC and other goodies isn’t enough to push me to buy a game I wasn’t sure about, no matter the value. Besides, game prices almost always drop in a matter of months, so it’s not too big a deal to wait things out.

What do you think of these complete editions? Does the value appeal to you? Are there any that you plan on buying? Will this practice make you wait on buying a game?

Coffee Talk #222: Cliffy B…the Movie?!?

Lots of my friends are going nuts over The Social Network — you know, that movie about Facebook and its brilliant-but-devious co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. It’s kind of nuts that a relatively new and geeky phenomenon spawned a movie that brought together Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and Justin Timberlake. It’s also very cool. The next logical step, of course, is a movie about a videogame company. In the year 2015 I want to see:

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, Bryan Danielson busting out cattle mutilation last night, the Yankees blowing home-field advantage, or Shia LeBeouf vs. Frankie Muniz, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Lots of my friends are going nuts over The Social Network — you know, that movie about Facebook and its brilliant-but-devious co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. It’s kind of nuts that a relatively new and geeky phenomenon spawned a movie that brought together Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and Justin Timberlake. It’s also very cool. The next logical step, of course, is a movie about a videogame company. In the year 2015 I want to see:

Watching the Gears Go Round: The Cliff Bleszinski Story

I love Cliff. I think he’s a fun and fascinating man that would be a great subject for a motion picture. I also have lots of old (and possibly naughty) stories to sell the movie’s scriptwriters, which might be the only way I’ll ever make money in Los Angeles.

Seriously though, now that a Facebook movie is out, I want a frickin’ videogame-company movie! Today’s game is a two-parter. What publisher or developer would you want to see on the big screen? How about a specific game designer or publishing executive? Oh hell, let’s make this a three-parter! I’ll send out a special prize to the person that makes the most creative movie title starring Bobby Kotick!!!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m done playing Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light for review…but that doesn’t mean I’m finished with the game. I still have one more optional tower to conquer and two more jobs to unlock. I’ll try to wrap that up this weekend. I’ll also be spending lots of time with the T-Mobile G2 by HTC. Playing with a new gadget counts as “playing”, yeah?

Et vous? What’s on your weekend playlist?

GameCrush is Live: Pay Girls to Play With You Now!!!

Way back in March I wrote about GameCrush, an online service that lets male gamers pay for the privilege of playing games with women. The latest version of the service is live and…interesting. Here’s a clip from the official blog:

Want to take your game to the next level? Enter a private, video-enabled game session and you can find a PlayDate to play practically ANY multiplayer console game out there. You can play open-ended games, co-op games, and, of course, competitive games, too. Want to kick back with something more casual? GameCrush also offers web-based games at the click of a button. Private game sessions start at $.60 per minute with discounts for buying more credits at one time. Remember, buying a game session is an optional activity and not required to be part of the GameCrush community. And we only charge for the credits you buy, with no hidden costs and no recurring fees.

Have you seen any interesting pictures or profiles on the site? Any of you going to take the plunge and go on a Gamecrush date? Don’t all raise your hands at once. (I can’t actually see your hands, fyi.)

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ATVI vs. EA: Does Trash Talking Embarrass the Videogame Biz?

I don’t know about you, but I’m thoroughly entertained by the executive trash talking between Activision and Electronic Arts. Veteran game journalist Chris Morris — former CNN.com editor and current Gamasutra editor-at-large — feels that it’s bad for the gaming business, recently posting an article called “Opinion: Why Activision & EA’s Feud Embarrasses The Game Industry“. Really?!?

Apple and Google have been exchanging barbs for the last year or so. Did that embarrass the tech industry? Former Nokia exec Anssi Vanjoki equated handset makers using Google Android to a kid peeing in his pants to get temporary relief from frigid weather (I love the Finnish sense of humor, btw). Did that embarrass the mobile phone business? In both cases, I don’t think any rational person would think less of either industry and the trash talking got some attention from people that normally don’t care about either field. I believe the children are our future that EA Jeff Brown blasting ATVI Bobby Kotick had the same effect.

That’s just my opinion. What’s yours? Do you think executive trash talking is bad for the business? Do you think it’s good for it? Or are the words just meaningless?

[Confession: I was originally going to call this article “Opinion: Chris Morris is a Pussy”. That would have been way funnier, but some people would have interpreted it as disrespect. I honestly respect Morris’ opinion. I just disagree with his recent editorial. Besides, this is really about ATVI vs. EA.]