Category: Videogames

Coffee Talk #185: Your Favorite News From Comic-Con 2010

I’ve been doing a piss poor job of keeping up with Comic-Con 2010 news. Part of it is because I’ve been busy with another project and part of it is because I’m jealous of all my friends at the show, causing me to ignore its existence. I’m digging that Joss Whedon will be directing The Avengers movie, but I’m dying to hear more details about Green Lantern (even though I’m convinced that his costume was inspired by a rotten piece of salmon nigiri). A bunch of my friends have been raving about the Tron Legacy trailer, while others are hyped on DC Universe Online (videos of both are below)!

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, Microsoft posting extremely impressive quarterlies, A-Rod reaching 600 home runs, or where CP3 will end up, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve been doing a piss poor job of keeping up with Comic-Con 2010 news. Part of it is because I’ve been busy with another project and part of it is because I’m jealous of all my friends at the show, causing me to ignore its existence. I’m digging that Joss Whedon will be directing The Avengers movie, but I’m dying to hear more details about Green Lantern (even though I’m convinced that his costume was inspired by a rotten piece of salmon nigiri). A bunch of my friends have been raving about the Tron Legacy trailer, while others are hyped on DC Universe Online (videos of both are below)!

What Comic-Con 2010 news has you excited? I’m going to live through you guys today and get hyped about the show through transitive properties. Ha!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

My new schedule has been pretty tiring — waking up early to write for the site, going off to super secret project for 10 hours, heading home, and trying to write for the site again. With that in mind, I’m going to be horizontal most of Friday night and all day Saturday, which means lots of Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip and Dragon Quest IX. When Sunday rolls around, I’m going to try to play some MLB 10 The Show. With Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner gone, I want to play a bunch of games as my beloved Yankees to remember “The Voice” and “The Boss”.

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

Completely Psyched for the Tactics Ogre Remake for PSP

Square Enix has officially announced that Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together is headed for the PlayStation Portable. This strategy RPG is a re-imagining of the classic Super Famicom game. The original team is getting back together for the remake, including designer Yasumi Matsuno, music composers Hitoshi Sakimoto and Masaharu Iwata, and character designer Akihiko Yoshida. You’re probably familiar with the team’s more recent games like Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story.

I’m psyched for this game for multiple reasons. I love tactical RPGs. Whether it’s FF Tactics, Disgaea, or Jeanne d’Arc, I can’t get enough grid-tacular gameplay. Secondly, I’m a mark for Matsuno, Sakimoto, and Iwata. As many of you know, FF Tactics is my all-time favorite. Matsuno’s games are awesome and I was totally bummed that things didn’t work out for him in Final Fantasy XII. I hope the kids will give him more love for Tactics Ogre. Iwata and Sakimoto are brilliant composers. The soundtrack for FF Tactics is also my all-time favorite. I completely expect these guys to create more magic with this Tactics Ogre remake.

Anyway, I’m ready for this game to rock the world! Check out some more screen shots and art. Also, let me know if you’re excited for this game. If you’re not, I might stop liking you.

Coffee Talk #184: Games That Aren’t As Good as You Thought

RPadholic Big Blak posted some interesting and uncommon thoughts on Final Fantasy VII. He loves the game, but admits that he overrated it because of nostalgia. My problem with most “FFVII apologists” is that they can’t admit that. Some games are remembered fondly simply because they were played at the right time and at the right place.

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, Amazon selling more digital books than paper books, where Shaq will play next season, or the best soy latte that you ever had, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

RPadholic Big Blak posted some interesting and uncommon thoughts on Final Fantasy VII. He loves the game, but admits that he overrated it because of nostalgia. My problem with most “FFVII apologists” is that they can’t admit that. Some games are remembered fondly simply because they were played at the right time and at the right place.

I remember opening up Joe Montana II on Christmas Eve 1991. I called up my friend Alex and he drove to my house. For one night, it was the perfect game to Alex and me. Looking through the retroscope, that game kind of sucked.

Are there any games that aren’t as good as you thought they were? Maybe there’s a game you thought was incredible, but now realize was merely good. Maybe there’s a title that you really enjoyed five years ago, but today you can’t fathom why you played so much of it. Let’s ruin some of our childhood memories and admit that some of the games we played aren’t nearly as good as we thought they were at the time.

Coffee Talk #183: Make Your Own “Dark” EA Game

EA recently announced a slew of interesting games, including Maxis’ Darkspore. While this action-RPG looks pretty cool, a lot of my journalist friends were ripping on its name. You can imagine some of the jokes, right? They came up with stuff like Dark Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Dark Hasbro Family Game Night, Dark Sims, etc.

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, Apple’s crazy strong Q3 results, Magic and Jordan calling out LeBron’s decision, or your favorite hamburger, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

EA recently announced a slew of interesting games, including Maxis’ Darkspore. While this action-RPG looks pretty cool, a lot of my journalist friends were ripping on its name. You can imagine some of the jokes, right? They came up with stuff like Dark Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Dark Hasbro Family Game Night, Dark Sims, etc.

My challenge for you today is to come up with your own “Dark” EA game. Shoot off some names and concepts in the comments section (please). I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Microsoft Announces Xbox 360 Kinect Pricing: $149.99

Microsoft has officially announced the pricing for its Kinect motion controller for Xbox 360: $149.99. The package includes Kinect Adventures. The company also announced an Xbox 360 bundle with Kinect included. Customers can pick up an Xbox 360 (slim model with 4GB storage) with Kinect and Kinect Adventures for $299.99. The console alone will cost $199.99.

Naturally, I’m dying to hear what you think of Kinect’s price. Too much? Just right?

Source

Coffee Talk #182: Your Biggest 2010 Gaming Disappointment

We’ve already discussed our favorite games from the first half of 2010. Today I want you to join me in the bitter barn so that we can talk about games that have disappointed us this year. Yeah, I usually try to keep things positive, but disappointing games are a reality. It’s like a television show once told me: “You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life.” Though in this case it would be the facts of 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, SNL’s Jason Sudeikis hooking up with women out of his league, the bizarre Pacquiao/Mayweather negotiations, or the hotness of Joss Stone, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

We’ve already discussed our favorite games from the first half of 2010. Today I want you to join me in the bitter barn so that we can talk about games that have disappointed us this year. Yeah, I usually try to keep things positive, but disappointing games are a reality. It’s like a television show once told me: “You take the good. You take the bad. You take them both and there you have the facts of life.” Though in this case it would be the facts of gaming.

Most of the games I played this year were pretty much what I expected them to be. The one game that I found disappointing was Crackdown 2. My expectations were pretty high. I enjoyed the first one and was excited for the sequel after I saw it in April. Then I started helping my friend with his review. I enjoyed the multiplayer but was very disappointed in the single-player experience. It bummed me out to the point where I haven’t been able to start playing on my Xbox 360. I’m sure I’ll get to it again one day, but for now there are better games to play.

Now it’s your turn! What 2010 games were you disappointed in?

Power Gig: Rise of the Six String Developer Diary

Seven45 Studios has released a developer diary on its upcoming game, Power Gig: Rise of the SixString. This music game uses a real guitar as its controller. Design director Jack Davis goes over the story and world in this dev diary.

With its unique controls and story mode, will Power Gig be able to take a slice of the pie that’s dominated by Guitar Hero and Rock Band? I’d love hear your thoughts on the matter.

Coffee Talk #181: Final Fantasy Fight!

Last Friday, a few of you got into the old Final Fantasy VII vs. Final Fantasy VIII argument. You’ve already shared your thoughts on your favorite Final Fantasy games, so today’s Coffee Talk is all about blasting the FF games you think are overrated while defending the honor of your champion.

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, Floyd Mayweather not signing a deal to fight Manny Pacquiao in November, the proper response to Oosthuizen, or the ridiculous phenomenon of icing (Smirnoff), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Last Friday, a few of you got into the old Final Fantasy VII vs. Final Fantasy VIII argument. You’ve already shared your thoughts on your favorite Final Fantasy games, so today’s Coffee Talk is all about blasting the FF games you think are overrated while defending the honor of your champion.

As for me, I don’t see any other choice than FFVII. While I agree that it’s the most important game in the series and quite possibly the most important RPG in videogame history, I also think it’s immensely overrated from a gameplay standpoint. Looking at it solely as game, it’s good but not great. A baby dolphin dies every time someone claims that it’s the best game in the series — that’s the punishment doled out on Earth for people being wrong.

Anyway, I’m hoping a few of you continue the Final Fantasy fight you started on Friday. Have at it!

Coffee Talk #180: Your Favorite Videogame Intros

Earlier in the week we talked about some of our favorite videogame endings. Today let’s talk about our favorite intros! There are so many games that hook you in with brilliant opening sequences, leaving you with a feeling of, “Damn I want to play this game!” It’s an awesome thing. So many gamers point to the opening of Final Fantasy VII as one of the best ever. While I agree that it’s good (though overrated like most everything else in that game), this extremely underrated Final Fantasy III is better and needs some love. Check it out:

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, Verizon selling out of the Motorola Droid X, John Daly getting his act together, or Green Lantern’s movie costume resembling salmon, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Earlier in the week we talked about some of our favorite videogame endings. Today let’s talk about our favorite intros! There are so many games that hook you in with brilliant opening sequences, leaving you with a feeling of, “Damn I want to play this game!” It’s an awesome thing. So many gamers point to the opening of Final Fantasy VII as one of the best ever. While I agree that it’s good (though overrated like most everything else in that game), this extremely underrated Final Fantasy III is better and needs some love. Check it out:

Anyway, what are some of you favorite game intros? How did they make you feel? Shout it out in the comments section (please)!