Today's Specials Archives - Page 35 of 89

Coffee Talk #302: They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To

As I was mesmerized by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s promo on last night’s Raw, I was thinking, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” Whether you’re talking about WWE, games, movies, or music, this is true.

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, iPhone 5 rumors, President Obama’s plans for mini nuclear reactors, or the start of MLB spring training, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I was mesmerized by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s promo on last night’s Raw, I was thinking, “They don’t make ’em like they used to.” Whether you’re talking about WWE, games, movies, or music, this is true. In this context, I was reminded that there hasn’t been a face with extraordinary mic skills in years. On the heel side, guys like Chris Jericho and The Miz have been outstanding. On the face side there have been good talkers, but I can’t think of a truly great one.

Naturally, I started thinking about games — specifically what I miss about gaming from 10, 15, and 20 years ago. As a fan of Japanese RPGs, I’ve spent thousands of hours of my life in turn-based combat. I absolutely loved those battles. Part of it was depth that wasn’t found in other genres, but part of it was that I enjoyed spending time to think about my next several moves. Sadly, turn-based combat is considered archaic in 2011. Sure, there are some niche titles and portable games that offer this style of gameplay, but it’s never used in mainline games with big budgets. I wish that wasn’t the case.

What do you miss about gaming, music, and movies from “the good old days”? Is there anything that creators don’t make like they used to but wish they did?

EEDAR’s Jesse Divnich Talks Nintendo 3DS vs. Sony NGP

EEDAR vice president Jesse Divnich was kind enough to chat with me about the upcoming console war between the Nintendo 3DS and the Sony NGP. As the #1 analyst in the videogame business, IMHO, Jesse’s opinion is meaningful and powerful. He also answered one of RPadholic bsukenyan’s excellent questions. Naturally, I threw a playful jab a Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter…but it was all in jest. Check it out (please)!

Perrin Kaplan Talks Nintendo 3DS, Mario, and More

It was excellent catching up with Perrin Kaplan at DICE 2011. Currently the principal at Zebra Partners, Kaplan is the former vice president of Nintendo of America. She gave her thoughts on how Nintendo is doing these days, as well as the Nintendo 3DS. She also shared her favorite Mario moment and told a precious story about Shigeru Miyamoto’s first time at GDC. I also wanted to spotlight some of the cool charity work she does with Saving Great Animals. Check it out (please)!

P.S. It was actually Perrin’s birthday yesterday. I’m sure she’d appreciate any warm wishes you’d like to send her.

Coffee Talk #301: Charged and Inspired From DICE 2011

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 Cleveland Cavalier’s awesome winning streak, your favorite condiment for steak, or Manny Pacquiao’s Bieber hair, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

For the last two years, actor Jay Mohr has told the attendees of DICE, “I will never be as good at what I do as you are at making games.” You can’t help but get that feeling at DICE. It’s crazy how many talented developers attend the show. It’s impossible not to bump into someone that has helped create a beloved game or a franchise that has sold tens of millions. Being around some of the gaming industry’s top creators at DICE 2011 was inspiring and an excellent way to kick off the year.

DICE was a great reminder how incredible the gaming business is and how lucky I am to be writing verbally entertaining about it (especially after that downer of a column I wrote last week — ha!). Being surrounded by people that have entertained millions and millions of gamers was amazing. What’s even more amazing is that so many of them — Ted Price, Dr. Ray Muzyka, Dr. Greg Zeschuk, Mark Cerny, etc. — are wonderful people too. I know that what I do pales in comparison to what these guys do, but seeing these brilliant creators has me motivated to do better and be nicer.

So yeah! DICE 2011 was amazing and I hope you like the interviews N8R and I worked on. I’m feelin’ groovy and hope you are too. Thanks DICE!!!

DICE 2011 Outtakes: Jay Mohr Sings Van Halen

I was trying to interview actor Jay Mohr about hosting the 14th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards at DICE 2011…but that never really got started. He liked my microphone and thought it was cool that I also use it to belt out Journey songs in karaokoe. This led him to singing a bunch of Van Halen songs. I thought it was cool that he did one in his Christopher Walken impersonation, as per my request. I thought it was cooler that he cut off his interview with Kotaku’s Brian Crescente because he remembered what song he wanted to sing. Ha!

Check out this clip of outtake footage when you have a chance. Bonus points will be awarded if you can name the famous gaming people in the background!

Nokia CEO Blasts Company, Hints at Windows Mobile 7?

I highly recommend reading this leaked memo from Nokia CEO Stephen Elop. It’s a brutally honest critique of the company’s recent performance. Once the dominant leader in all mobile phone segments, Elop admits that Apple has captured the high end with the iPhone, Google has captured the mid range with Android, and Chinese manufacturers are cleaning up in the budget market. Here’s my favorite excerpt:

The battle of devices has now become a war of ecosystems, where ecosystems include not only the hardware and software of the device, but developers, applications, ecommerce, advertising, search, social applications, location-based services, unified communications and many other things. Our competitors aren’t taking our market share with devices; they are taking our market share with an entire ecosystem. This means we’re going to have to decide how we either build, catalyse or join an ecosystem.

The last sentence is the most fascinating. Elop is a former Microsoft executive and Nokia is set to make a major announcement this week. People have taken this “2+2” and have come to the conclusion that Nokia will license Windows Phone 7. This would be a tremendous development for Microsoft and Nokia.

Microsoft has a compelling product on its hands with WP7, but it’s way behind iOS and Android. Despite having crap software for the last three years, Nokia still makes some of the best hardware on the market. More importantly, its global reach is second to none. The partnership would give Microsoft’s WP7 efforts an enormous boost and Nokia would finally have quality software that complements its excellent hardware. Here’s another take on the matter from VentureBeat’s “Dancing” Dean Takahashi:

A Microsoft and Nokia partnership would be beneficial to both companies. Windows Phone 7 is a surprisingly strong mobile entry for Microsoft, and if paired with Nokia’s strong hardware, it would give the company some killer phones that could compete against the iPhone and Android platforms. Microsoft, meanwhile, would be able to take advantage of Nokia’s popularity in Europe and other countries to help spread the popularity of Windows Phone 7.

Although Windows Phone 7 has some really interesting features, the hardware hasn’t grabbed my eye; almost every WP7 phone has an Android equivalent. The thought of WP7 running on something similar to a Nokia N8 has the wheels in my head spinning. That would be a truly compelling combo.

A tag team of Microsoft and Nokia would shake up the mobile phone market — big time. I hope it happens simply because it would be fascinating to watch (and write about). What do you ladies and gents think of this potential pair? Is it a match made in heaven? Or is it too little too late for both?

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Coffee Talk #300: Observations From the RPad.TV Experience

Thanks for joining me for the 300th edition of Coffee Talk! I’m going to selfishly use today’s column to talk about my experiences with the site — both the good and the bad. As always, I’m going to stick to…

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, getting drunk on an airplane, Christina Aguilera flubbing vs. Whitney Houston lip syncing, or dried pineapples, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Thanks for joining me for the 300th edition of Coffee Talk! I’m going to selfishly use today’s column to talk about my experiences with the site — both the good and the bad. As always, I’m going to stick to the trusty Steve Raghunath binary system.

Good: Your support has been phenomenal — definitely beyond my expectations. I figured a few of you would come over from G4tv, but your readership and loyalty have been tremendous. When the site first launched, it was all you guys. Some of the original crew has stopped reading (or commenting anyway), but the traffic is better and more diverse than ever. You guys got it all started and kept things active with your excellent comments.

Bad: Publisher support has been poor. I was hoping for more event invites, coverage opportunities, and all that good stuff. Instead, some PR people have stopped sending me press releases and screens. Part of it is that I need to be more aggressive with PR people. Part of it is that some flaks have just completely dropped me because I no longer work for a major outlet. It’s disappointing because I need those content opportunities to keep the site growing. Creating original content from BlizzCon, DICE, GDC, etc. is just really, really expensive. Unless I get a large, random PayPal donation, I’m going to need a lot more publisher support to keep the site growing. If the support doesn’t come then I’ll really have to scale things back.

Good: I’m amazed that the site hasn’t attracted any flamers. All the comments I’ve had to delete were of the spam variety. I don’t recall having to delete any comments due to excessive profanity. I definitely haven’t had to delete any comments from readers wanting to flame it up. I’ve been super pleased with quality discussion here. Things get heated every now and then, but it’s almost always good and fun stuff.

Bad: I’m kind of disappointed that the site hasn’t attracted a flamer. For some reason, it would make me feel more “legit”. I’d also love to see how guys would respond to one.

Good: The site has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on. It’s fun mixing it up with you guys, writing the stories that I want to write, and growing something from scratch. It feels awesome when a story or video gets picked up by other sites and leads to a significant traffic spike. I feel proud when the site’s Alexa ranking goes up. When things go right, I often get the feeling of, “Yeah, I did that!” Rpad.TV is just behind Yahoo!’s Reset for my favorite work experience ever (I made a lot of money and got to travel around the world with my “best best”).

Bad: The site has also been one of the most stressful projects I’ve ever worked on. I’m pretty sure I haven’t been this poor since college. I stress out when traffic is down from the previous week (and forget that it’s way up from the year before). When the site’s Alexa ranking slides, I get sad. I sometimes have micro panic attacks, mild bouts of depression, and question whether I should be putting so much time into the site instead of looking for more freelance work. The highs are fun, but the lows can be…challenging.

Good: Ultimately, I still believe that I have a chance to create a site that can be a little bit different and offer content the way I think it should be served. It’s not there yet and it will take a lot of work, but I still believe that the site can continue to grow into something special. I’m proud of how things have progressed, but think it could be so much more. With more work and some luck (and a random donation from Bill Gate and/or Mark Zuckerberg), I think it’ll get there. I hope that all of you are still reading and posting comments when it does!

Coffee Talk #299: Memorable Deaths in Videogames

Forrest Gump’s mama told him that dying is a part of life. It’s a part of videogames too. A friend and I were talking about the classic Infocom text adventure Planetfall and how Floyd’s death was one of the most…

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, Coava’s Costa Rica Helsar, A-Rod being fed popcorn by Cameron Diaz, or your favorite fruit juice, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Forrest Gump’s mama told him that dying is a part of life. It’s a part of videogames too. Yesterday, a friend and I were talking about the classic Infocom text adventure Planetfall and how Floyd’s death was one of the most uniquely powerful moments of gaming. Naturally, we started talking about other videogame deaths. While I believe the game is overrated, I can’t deny that Aerith’s death in Final Fantasy VII was a powerful moment that touched millions of gamers.

What videogame deaths moved you? Did a character’s death ever make you cry? Anyone’s videogame death surprise you? Not to get all (digitally) morbid on you, but I think we could have a fun discussion about dying in videogames. Let’s get to it (the discussion, not the dying)!

Dragon Age II Achievements Listed!

BioWare has posted images of the achievements list for the upcoming Dragon Age II. This was probably the worst thing that could happen to me. Not only is it my most wanted game of 2011, but a bunch of my journalist friends got to see it last week and I didn’t. It’s awesome when the people handling your favorite developer ignore you. *sigh* I want to play now!!!

Anyway, check out the achievement images below and let me know if there’s anything that interests or surprises you (please).

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Coffee Talk #298: Super Bowl XLV Halftime Show & Commercials

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 food at Hooter’s, the hot waitress at Hooter’s that looked like Amy Smart, or your favorite Hooter’s sauce, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Now that Super Bowl XLV has come and gone, I wanted to discuss the most important aspects of the event: the halftime show and commercials! Most of my friends panned The Black Eyes Peas’ performance, making lots of Tron jokes, but I enjoyed it. Of course I’m biased because I want my fellow Filipino-American apl.de.ap to do well, but I genuinely liked the set. It was a nice mix of old and new hits. It was awesome that Slash emerged from hell to play “Sweet Child ‘O Mine” and that Usher descended from heaven to perform “Oh My Gosh”. I was disappointed that Justin Timberlake didn’t come out (from purgatory?) to sing the chorus to “Where is the Love?”, but overall I thought it was a fun halftime show that was visually unique.

As for the commercials, they were okay. For me, there were more misses than hits in 2011. Here are my three favorite spots. Coming in at #3 is this adorable VW Passat ad featuring an adorable baby Darth Vader.

At #2 is the Captain America commercial. I thought it was a great spot and was annoyed that my pal Cliffy B disagreed.

My favorite commercial was this House ad that parodied the classic Coca-Cola commercial starring Mean Joe Greene. I’ve included the original for reference.

Now it’s your turn! Please let me know what you thought of Super Bowl (not Superb Owl) XLV’s halftime show and share your favorite commercials.