Category: Today’s Specials

(Not a) Review of Digital Comics for PSP

As I mentioned earlier today, digital comics are now available for the PlayStation Portable through Sony’s PlayStation Network. Comic books from 2000 AD, Ape Entertainment, Archie Comics, Dable Brothers Publishing, Disney Digicomics, IDW Publishing, Image Comics, Insomnia Publications, Marvel, Red 5 Comics, and Titan Publishing are available. Some of the issues are free, but most of them cost $1.99.

Astonishing X-Men slider

Browsing through the store is a snap. The comics are divided by publisher then title. If you can’t find the available issues you want then you’re an idiot.

I immediately went for three comic books I know and love — Astonishing X-Men #2, Marvels #1, and Marvels #2. The “Gifted” storyline in Astonishing X-Men was fantastic and Marvels was one of the best books ever.

Downloading through WiFi wasn’t the best decision I made in this process. The three issues took around 25 minutes to download. It would have been faster to download everything to my PC and transfer the books to my PSP via USB cable. Lesson learned. Now let’s get to the experience!

Continue reading “(Not a) Review of Digital Comics for PSP”

Coffee Talk #48: Favorite Games of 2009 #3 SmackDown vs. Raw 2010

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 Seattle Mariners making out like bandits in the big MLB trade, Boeing finally getting the 787 Dreamliner off the ground, or Freddie Roach calling out Roger Mayweather, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned last week, I’ll be counting down my five favorite games of 2009 in this week’s Coffee Talk columns and I’d love for you to join me! Let me know what your favorite games of the year were in the comments section. Remember, this isn’t about what games you thought were “best”. I want to know what you had the most fun with in 2009.

Smackdown vs Raw 2010 c

#3 WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 — I love videogames and I love WWE, so it’s no surprise that I love THQ’s WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 series. This year’s game was very special to me since it contained my first pieces of writing on that side of the business. The award-winning scripts of the Shawn Michaels and Mickie James storylines aside, it’s just a great game. In addition to the variety of matches and careers it offers, 2010 ups the ante on the creative side. WWE fans have been able to create wrestlers and moves in the past, but this year storylines can be created and content can be shared online. It’s cool stuff.

Sure, I joke about the game being nominated for the best videogame writing in the history of man, but I love playing it. Getting to beat up Randy Orton with dozens of WWE Superstars — whether they’re real or imagined or downloaded — never gets old.

Operation Chokehold: Nerds Will Attempt to Crash AT&T on 12/18

A group of (probably fake) engineers (that may or may not be) associated with Fake Steve Jobs plan to bring down AT&T’s mobile network on Friday, December 18. Consider this an indirect invitation to participate in mischief a warning if you’re an AT&T customer. Things might get funky if people take this mission seriously and/or it comes to life through various nerd networks. Here’s the memo:

Vader Chokehold

On Friday, December 18, at noon Pacific time, we will attempt to overwhelm the AT&T data network and bring it to its knees. The goal is to have every iPhone user (or as many as we can) turn on a data intensive app and run that app for one solid hour. Send the message to AT&T that we are sick of their substandard network and sick of their abusive comments. THe idea is we’ll create a digital flash mob. We’re calling it in Operation Chokehold. Join us and speak truth to power!

Most people are dismissing Operation Chokehold as a publicity stunt by Fake Steve Jobs, but there’s a good chance that it will take a life of its own. Fake Steve has a lot of real fans, many of whom are disgruntled AT&T customers. For its part, AT&T has acknowledged Operation Chokehold as a real threat and the company isn’t happy about it. An AT&T told Cult of Mac:

Continue reading “Operation Chokehold: Nerds Will Attempt to Crash AT&T on 12/18”

Top 10 Best Selling Games of 2009 (Minus December)

NPD Group has released the 411 on the best selling games of the year, not including December. They are:

Modern Warfare 2

  1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Xbox 360): 4,200,000
  2. Wii Fit (w/ balance board) (Wii): 3,500,000
  3. Wii Sports Resort (w/ MotionPlus) (Wii): 2,400,000
  4. Wii Mario Kart (w/ wheel) (Wii): 2,200,000
  5. Wii Play (w/ remote) (Wii): 2,100,000
  6. Halo 3: ODST (Xbox 360): 2,000,000
  7. Pokemon Platinum Version (DS): 1,900,000
  8. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (PS3): 1,900,000
  9. Madden NFL 10 (Xbox 360): 1,500,000
  10. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii): 1,400,000

As much as you guys (most of you, anyway) bag on Nintendo, those numbers are ridiculous. Any software publisher would kill for those sales figures. Even though New Super Mario Bros. hasn’t been out that long, it still managed to crack the list. As a Pokemon fan, I’m thrilled that Platinum made the list. I love showing numbers like that to idiots that say, “They still make Pokemon games?!?” You see, usually when you sell millions of something, a sequel is a pretty good idea.

Continue reading “Top 10 Best Selling Games of 2009 (Minus December)”

Coffee Talk #47: Favorite Games of 2009 #4 Street Fighter IV

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, Dennis Miller not getting over with the WWE crowd in Texas, the Google Nexus One, or the various MLB trade moves made yesterday, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned last week, I’ll be counting down my five favorite games of 2009 in this week’s Coffee Talk columns and I’d love for you to join me! Let me know what your favorite games of the year were in the comments section. Remember, this isn’t about what games you thought were “best”. I want to know what you had the most fun with in 2009.

Street Fighter IV

#4 Street Fighter IV — I lost a ton of quarters playing various versions of Street Fighter in high school and college. Like many players, I abandoned the series for modern games like Soul Calibur, Dead or Alive, and Tekken. Street Fighter IV was a triumphant return to glory for the series. The game mechanics had that classic SF feel, while the visuals were modern and fresh. The game is deep, but accessible to players of various skill levels. I remember playing the game with friends that are no longer gamers, but remember how to spam fireballs with Ken and Ryu.

SFIV is just a brilliant combination of old and new. That only downer is that the game also reminds me of my most frustrating moments as a gamer in 2009 — trying to beat Seth when my Xbox 360 would randomly generate hundreds of vertical bars! He’s a cheap bastard as it is. Trying to beat him when you can’t see the damn screen?!? Not so easy.

Coffee Talk #46: Favorite Games of 2009 #5 Pokemon Platinum

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, WWE giving Sheamus and Drew McIntyre championships, last Saturday’s fantastic day of boxing, or Accenture dropping Tiger Woods, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned last week, I’ll be counting down my five favorite games of 2009 in this week’s Coffee Talk columns and I’d love for you to join me! Let me know what your favorite games of the year were in the comments section. Remember, this isn’t about what games you thought were “best”. I want to know what you had the most fun with in 2009.

Pokemon Platinum 2

#5 Pokemon Platinum — Yes, I’m a Pokemon addict that has put more than 600 hours into Pokemon Pearl. As someone that loves breeding Pokemon for competitive battling, several of the additions in Pokemon Platinum were “must haves” for me. From move tutors that let you create more diverse combatants to challenging fight modes that test your mettle as a trainer, Pokemon Platinum has it all!

Of course Pokemon Platinum is rooted in the fantastic RPG gameplay that millions and millions of players have enjoyed for years. Weavile, I choose you!!!

EA’s Tiger Woods’ Sim Adultery 2011

With Tiger Woods’ endorsement deals in a precarious state of flux — Gatorade has already dropped a Tiger-branded beverage, while Pepsi, Gillette, Tag Heuer, and others are considering dropping the star golfer — I think EA Sports ought to be proactive and flat-out humiliate him. It would be the ultimate cash grab that would satisfy analysts and shareholders that are only interested in the company’s short-term future. Since EA has been getting dinged for taking risks and launching new IPs for the last two years, it might as well try cashing in on one of its star’s woes, right?

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10

I can see it now…Tiger Woods’ Sim Adultery 2011!!! The game would obviously star Tiger, but the tone would be similar to a Leisure Suit Larry game. To keep development costs down, it would use The Sims engine and existing art assets (mostly female character models). The goal of the game would be to sleep with as many women as possible (the 18 holes) while avoiding the media, car crashes, and hot Swedish wives. Bold players would be careless with their trysts, texting sweet little nothings to their loved ones without bothering to delete the messages. Advanced players would pay an army of minions to cover their tracks (paying for hotel rooms for afternoon delight, sending text messages on your behalf, whisking you away when your wife attacks you with a nine-iron, etc.)

EA could make this game in months and cash in on all this “Tigergate” nonsense. Maybe then it could get shortsighted analysts and shareholders off its back, allowing its developers to work on original and high-quality games.

Three Ways Microsoft Will Compete with Sony in 2010

Microsoft and Sony will be more competitive than ever in 2010 with their Xbox 360 and PlayStation consoles, respectively. With the price gap closed and exclusive games more competitive than ever, next year’s console wars will be terribly interesting to watch. Microsoft director of product management Aaron Greenberg told Gamasutra three reasons he believes his console will do better than Sony’s:

We will do three things well. One, we will continue to offer a better value on hardware pricing. We will continue to remain $100 cheaper than PS3. Two, we will have more games, more blockbuster exclusives, no matter the genre. Three, you add all of the entertainment and social network. That’s our focus, to keep adding more and more value. Consumers vote with their dollars, and so far it’s been paying off, and we feel confident about next year as well.

Xbox 360

I agree on his first point; Microsoft will continue to sell Xbox 360 Arcade systems, simply because people are attracted to the price point and don’t realize that you need to buy a bunch of other accessories to make it fully functional. For games, I haven’t seen anything that indicates that the Xbox 360 will have better exclusives. That could change at E3, of course. As for value-added features, I’m sure there are some people that will buy an Xbox 360 over a PlayStation 3 because the former’s social-networking features are marketed better, but is it really a significant number? *shrug*

I’m not going to pretend to be a highly paid analyst from Wedbush Morgan, but I will ask you to channel your inner Michael Pachter. Do you think the race between the PS3 and Xbox 360 will be close? Who will win when the dust settles?!?

Source

Coffee Talk #45: Sanbox Games vs. Carrot-and-Stick Games

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, Tiger Woods’ 18 holes (i.e. his mistresses), the return of Paulie “Little Mac” Malignaggi on Saturday, or Jerishow dropping the tag straps on Sunday, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The Grand Theft Auto series took sandbox games to new heights. It inspired dozens of copycat games and made “open world” a requirement for several years. While I appreciate the liberating feeling gamers get from sandbox games, they don’t really do much for me. It’s awesome that you get to experiment and play freely, but that’s not what I’m used to and that’s not what I want.

Grand Theft Auto Gay Tony

2D platform games and Japanese role-playing games dazzled me in my formative gaming years. I developed an attachment to that old carrot-and-stick formula. I enjoyed linearity. I enjoyed being led around by a level or narrative, getting a reward every so often. NES, SNES, and Genesis games conditioned me to love this simple formula. Even though I enjoy making choices in games like Dragon Age: Origins, ultimately I want to stick with the same carrot-and-stick formula.

I know a lot of you love open-world titles, but I also know that some of you enjoy RPGs. Do you have a preference? Do you like playing in your virtual sandbox? Or do you prefer being lead around by a carrot and stick?