Category: PC Gaming

Uwe Boll Autograph Session on November 7

Uwe BollUwe Boll — the scourge of the videogame-movie universe — will be signing autographs on November 7 at Spudic’s Movie Empire. Most of you hate him or at least hate his work, but you have to admit that he’s a pretty good sport about his sucktitude. About.com noted:

If you want to meet the German madman who literally boxes his critics, flings personal insults at Michael Bay, and has made nearly 10 video game inspired flicks, he will be making a rare U.S. in-store appearance this weekend (November 7th) in Van Nuys, CA at the video store Spudic’s Movie Empire. The two hour signing will begin at 6PM, with Boll present to chat it up and sign autographs. Spudic’s Movie Empire will have Boll’s movies on hand as well as a selection of old school NES, Super NES, Sega Genesis and Sega CD games at the event for retro gaming fans.

Van Nuys isn’t that far from me, so I’m tempted to go. I’m not sure what I’d have him sign or what I’d say to him. If you could meet Uwe Boll face-to-face, what would you tell him?

Source via Kotaku

Epic Games Cliff Bleszinski Talks Digital Distribution, Used Games, Motion Controls, Hideo Kojima, and Getting Punched by RPad

Cliff BleszinskiEpic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski is one of the most prominent game developers in the business. He’s just a smart, talented, and quotable guy (though he whines like a little girl when you hit him…more on that later). Whether he’s talking about digital distribution, what games he’s been digging lately, used-game sales, or bars in San Francisco Chinatown, the man always has something interesting to say. Here’s my interview with one the main minds behind Unreal and Gears of War, the infamous Cliffy B.

Raymond Padilla: With games like Shadow Complex and systems like the Sony PSPgo, digital distribution is becoming a bigger part of the gaming business. How does digital distribution impact you as a game designer?

Cliff Bleszinski: A couple weekends ago, I was up in East Village at “Videogames New York”, a combination new/retro game store. On the front counter, they had Borderlands and in the back aisles, they had the Vectrex and Game & Watch. My feelings went from initially geeking out to immense nostalgia to overwhelming pride for how far this business has come in my lifetime alone. We go digital and that physical history starts drying up and eventually vanishes. Older games become the same as a 45 record.

Digital distribution has the potential to end the used game debate that’s currently raging across the business. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing. On one hand, I love having that pipeline into my house: Look, a new game is up on Live; download the title right to your hard drive and fire it up. At the same time, I love having games, movies, and books on my shelves at my home. It feels like an IRL representation of the facets of your personality and tastes whenever people come over to visit. The Kindle and other devices are equally fascinating. I fear not leafing through a book ever again but at the same time I cringe at the thought of having to deal with a CD and a jewel case in a world of digital music.

Finally, as far as the kinds of games I’d like to design and contribute to? Digital frees up some risk. You can make that little dream game you’ve always wanted to make and take more chances, which is incredibly appealing as a creative.

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Coffee Talk #16: Videogame Instruction Manuals and You

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 awesomeness of Brad Lidge, Crystalium being Sphere Grid 2.0, or the old rib eye vs. filet mignon debate, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Last week I came across this interesting Gamasutra article on videogame instruction manuals. It got me thinking about how my gaming habits have changed in regards to instructions. When I was younger, manuals were pretty important and often a valuable resource. Nowadays, I’m irritated if I have to open the box and pop out the manual. Heck, I haven’t even touched the manuals for the vast majority of games I’ve bought over the last three console generations.

Instruction Manual

There are two reasons why I rarely read videogame instruction manuals these days. The explosive growth of the Internet has made it so easy to find quality information on a game — info that’s almost always better than anything in the manual. More recently, in-game tutorials have gotten so good that I usually don’t need the Internet or a manual to figure things out.

As gaming moves towards digital distribution, manuals will become even less important (unless you love printing out PDFs) and eventually extinct. They’re still here today, so I want to ask for your views on instructions. Do you read them? Do you ignore them? Are they a last resort for you? Do you think in-game tutorials are the instruction manuals of today? I instruct you to leave your opinions on instructions! (Okay, I’m really just asking you and hoping you share.)

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Just because the Yankees are going to do some damage in Philadelphia this weekend doesn’t mean that I won’t have time to play games. Ha! There are three games that I’m going to play more of this weekend. The first was a total surprise — Marvel Superhero Squad for PSP. I brought it with me on my brief trip to SF and I just couldn’t put it down. A lot of it is dumb and basic, but I was enjoying the mindlessness of it all and I imagine that it would be a great game to play with my eight-year old…uhm…if I had an eight-year old, that is.

Of course I’m going to be playing more WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 — the front runner for the “best writing in a game made by man” award. I’m still playing around in dream matches and “Road to WrestleMania” mode, but I promise to eventually make some content and upload it.

Magnacarta 2

Lastly, I’m going to play some Magnacarta 2. As many of you know, I love me some Japanese RPGs. This one looks pretty traditional (totally cool with me) and the reviews haven’t been the best, but a few of my fellow RPG lovers have really enjoyed it. I want to see for myself.

As always, I want to know what you’re playing. Share your weekend playlist with the gang.

Coffee Talk #15: Frightening Games for Halloween

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 totally ruling last night, Foo Fighters playing on Facebook, or the brilliance that is beef Wellington, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

It’s Halloween tomorrow and a fantastic time to scare the crap out of yourself with a good survival-horror game. The genre has gone through a lot of changes since it was made popular by the first Silent Hill and Resident Evil games. Somewhere along the line, survival-horror titles became shooting-the-hell-out-of-everything-with-a-large-arsenal-of-automatic-weapons games. Survival? Sure (as long as you don’t run out of bullets). Horror? Not so much.

Fatal Frame

Even though the games had a few issues, the Fatal Frame series is probably my favorite line of survival-horror games. Clever use of graphics and sound created a truly creepy atmosphere. Using a magical camera as your only weapon (as ridiculous as it sounds) added a feeling of helplessness. Mixing Shinto rituals with modern occultism gave the games a sense of believable fantasy. Fatal Frame has such a unique and fantastic mood — something most recent survival-horror titles have eschewed in favor of rapid-fire action.

On the eve of Halloween, I want to know what game or games you think are scary. What titles made you turn on the lights? Do you have any favorite “oh s&*t” moments in a game that you’ll never forget? Let your fellow RPadholics know (but try not to scare anyone too badly).

Epic Games Cliff Bleszinski Thinks OnLive is the “Real Deal”

OnLive

OnLive’s streaming games service has been getting a lot of buzz since it debuted at Game Developers Conference 2009. While millions of gamers love the idea of games-on-demand, many are skeptical about cloud-based gaming. This is new, uncharted territory for gaming. With that in mind, I decided to ask the most dashing game designer east of the Mississippi a prominent game developer what he thought of OnLive. Here’s what Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski (Unreal, Gears of War) had to say:

I was skeptical about OnLive until I had a chance to be hands on with it at GDC, and it does appear to be the “real deal.” I think the PC space will benefit the most initially from this technology, however, I doubt Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo are ready to yield to an on-demand cloud console quite yet.

What do you make of his comments? Does getting praise from a respected game designer like Cliffy B change your opinion of OnLive? I want to know what you’re thinking (pure energy)!

Coffee Talk #14: Professional Gaming and You

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 totally sucking last night, Hulk Hogan signing with TNA Wrestling, or the joys of Burmese food, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Yesterday, a bunch of friends were telling me how they think professional gaming is set for a huge spike in North America. I was surprised by their position. While pro gaming has a following, I think it’s niche and I don’t see how it can achieve rapid growth in this economic climate.

Like any self-absorbed person, I started thinking about my issues with pro gaming. I just don’t find it very interesting. Watching a few people play a first-person shooter on a big screen bores me. In most cases, I rather be playing games than watching people play them.

Street Fighter IV

That said, there are a few exceptions. I love watching two highly skilled Street Fighter IV players go at it. I love watching Korean fans watch professional StarCraft players. At Korean StarCraft tournaments, the crowd is totally tuned into the game, gasps at sudden turnarounds, and goes nuts when their man wins. There are DVD box sets of tournaments and professional players have their own baseball cards. It’s a cool and unique thing.

Anyway, I want to know what you think about professional gaming. Does it interest you? Do you think it has a bright future in America? What kind of games do you like to watch in tournaments? Leave a comment and let me know (please)!

Coffee Talk #13: Should Price Be a Factor in Review Scores?

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, your pick for the World Series, D&D nerds using Google Wave, or electric scooters, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

So many of my friends in the gaming business are raving about DJ Hero. During several casual chats this week, I heard superlative after superlative thrown at the game. Most of the time, I just nodded and grinned (or in some cases did the IM equivalent of nodding and grinning). To the friends I was comfortable with — the ones close enough to engage in a healthy debate with, that is — I responded with one simple question, “Yeah, but is it worth $120?”

DJ Hero Renegade Edition

Price is a factor when you’re buying a game, but for some reviewers it’s a non-issue. Some outlets take the stance of “we judge each game on its own merits”. I don’t really buy that. I have different expectations from a full-budget $60 game than a $20 value title or a $10 download. Although some reviewers are taking DJ Hero’s price into consideration, I don’t think they’re weighing it into the equation as heavily as they ought to.

Part of the problem is that some longtime reviewers get too used to being able to play every game that’s released for free. They forget about being a kid that desperately wanted three games, but had to deliberate for days because they could only afford one. To me, a game like DJ Hero or Rock Band or Guitar Hero should be looked at differently than a $60 game because they’re frickin’ expensive.

Of course, that’s just my opinion. I want to know what you think America. Should a game’s price be considered in its review score?

Google Wave Being Used for Pen-and-Paper RPGs

Google Wave role playing

Google Wave is being positioned as a revolutionary collaborative messaging tool with the potential to change how people communicate for business. It still has a long ways to get there, but for now it’s a fantastic geek toy. In addition to being a fine tool to make hilarious YouTube videos, Google Wave is being used for pen-and-paper role-playing games. Ars Tehnica’s Jon Stokes reported:

I wasn’t the least bit surprised to quickly discover a handful of Wave-based roleplaying games already in progress, and many more in various stages of planning. In the past few days, I’ve watched games from the sideline and talked to some Game Masters and gamers—there seems to be an emerging consensus that Google Wave has as much RPG potential as any platform since the venerable and proverbial tabletop.

This is just awesome, awesome stuff. I’m pretty sure that Google didn’t have epic Dungeons & Dragons sessions in mind when it came up with the idea for Google Wave. While I still think it has great potential as a business tool, I’m loving that it’s being used for things like D&D and recreating Pulp Fiction. Whenever you get your Google Wave invite, be sure to bust out your D20!

Source

Gamers Buying Digital Add-ons, Full Games…Not so Much

Digital Distribution study

A recent study on digital distribution by Today’s Gamers produced some interesting numbers on gamers’ purchasing habits. While around 40 percent of American gamers buy levels or add-ons, only 22 percent buy full games. Here are some other tidibits found by Gamasutra:

58 percent of the U.S. population plays games on consoles, and 41 percent plays PC games; 43 percent of those console players download either levels or complete games.

But for Xbox and PlayStation 3 alone, the figures jump to 73 percent and 68 percent, respectively. The download figure for Wii users is 46 percent.

While I expected the number of people that buy full games via digital distribution to be lower, I didn’t think it would half the number of people that buy levels. A lot of you have mentioned that you still prefer having a box and physical copy, while a few of you have stated that you don’t like that you can’t resell a digital copy. I wonder what’s stopping most people.

Either way, if similar studies produce these kinds of results, it might make publishers think twice about digital distribution. Even publishers that equate it to probable death.

Source