Category: Videogames

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Man, I’m having so much fun in Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (Mac OSX) playing as a Shadowdancer. This thief kit isn’t working properly at the moment; it’s supposed to have a lower backstab multiplier than a standard thief, but right now it doesn’t. So that means that I can (mostly) hide in the shadows, backstab for 4x damage, immediately hide again, backstab again, lather, and repeat as needed. With a poisoned weapon, my Shadowdancer is nearly unstoppable. I actually have the other five cats in my party using projectile weapons, while my Shadowdancer plays around in the shadows, inflicting massive damage and magically disappearing from site. My main character is all, “I got this. You idiots just hang out here and hurl your arrows/bullets while I do the heavy lifting.” It’s a fun bit of overpowered gaming and I’m going to spend a good chunk of the weekend backstabbing evil.

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

Los Angeles Girl Scouts Get Videogame Patch

Women in Games International (WIGI) is working with the Girl Scouts of Greater Los Angeles (GSGLA) on a videogame patch. The longterm goal is to get a nationally recognized Girls Scouts badge for videogames, under the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) umbrella. Here’s a clip from the press release:

WIGI’s patch will use Gamestar Mechanic, E-line’s development tool used for the National STEM Video Game Challenge. Their platform and curriculum for game design has already helped more than 350,000 youth. E-line will help WIGI provide a tailored STEM-aligned program to meet all of the Girl Scout patch requirements.

WIGI and GSGLA are working together to accommodate patch workshop requests and to train interactive entertainment industry professionals in the Los Angeles area to guide girls through the patch program.

Similar to the numerous videogame summer camps posted by The ESA, I love this initiative by WIGI and GSGLA. It’s a fantastic way to get young people thinking and dreaming about careers in gaming. In an industry dominated by white males, it’s especially important to get young women interested in careers in gaming. Hopefully a full-on badge will come about in the near future.

The ESA Posts Videogame Design Summer Camps

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has posted a list of “summer camps focusing on videogame design and development.” (Man, I wish these were around when I was a kid. That would have been awesome.) The organization said that the number of game design summer camps has doubled, with a number of choices available in several states. Here’s a snippet from the press release:

Parents and students interested in video game design summer camp can choose from programs offered at colleges, middle schools, and high schools in 26 states and the District of Columbia. California (26), Pennsylvania (13), Massachusetts (10), New York (9), Texas (6), and Illinois (6) are the nation’s leaders for camp programs.

Definitely check out the list if you have kids interested in game design or if your friends have kids that want to grow up to be the next Cliff Bleszinski Hideo Kojima.

While it’s great the game design is becoming more prevalent at the college level, I’m even more excited about game design programs for younger people. As with most skills, the earlier people started, the better off they’ll become. It’s awesome that these summer camps exist and I’m positive that some great videogames will be made by people that attended these programs.

For those of you that have kids or are planning to have kids, would you send your young one to videogame design summer camp?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

It looks like the only noteworthy game shipping this week is Injustice: Gods Among Us. Comic-book fanboys and fighting-game aficionados will definitely want to keep their eyes on this one. One of my videogame writer friends was raving about the game last night, saying that it’s lots of fun and comparable to the most recent Mortal Kombat game. As a mark from DC Comics (Nightwing rules!) and one of the people that actually enjoyed Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe, I’m excited for this…but really, I’m excited for any game that features Nightwing. The dude rules, like Ben Affleck in Phantoms.

Any of you picking up new games this week?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Unfortunately, that gnarly flu-like thing I had last week returned on Wednesday. Fortunately, I’m going to use that as an excuse to play more Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition (Mac OSX). I’ve finished two games (assassin, fighter-thief) and I think I’ll start two more. This time I’m going to go with a kensai, with the intent to get him to level 13 in Baldur’s Gate 2: Enhance Edition before dual-classing him into a kensai-thief. I think I’ll give the shadowdancer thief kit a shot too. I love playing as a thief and backstabbing, so this kit should be a good fit for me.

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

Coffee Talk #577: Cheating, Games, and You

As I’ve been rediscovering the joys of Baldur’s Gate, I realized something: I don’t really cheat in videogames anymore. This used to be a big — and fun — thing for me. Of course I’d play a game straight up, but I’d also play in god mode or use cheat consoles. Part of the fun I’m having with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is with my one ridiculously overpowered character (Lord Ra Ra, husband and protector of Lady Ga Ga) that gets any item he wants, all the gold he wants, and extra experience points whenever he wants them. Blasting through The Forgotten Realms with this demigod brought back a kind of fun that…more

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 beleaguered Boeing 787 being ready for FAA approval, wedding bells for Sara Gilbert and Linda Perry, or inconsiderate morons that ruin your filming sessions, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I’ve been rediscovering the joys of Baldur’s Gate, I realized something: I don’t really cheat in videogames anymore. This used to be a big — and fun — thing for me. Of course I’d play a game straight up, but I’d also play in god mode or use cheat consoles. Part of the fun I’m having with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition is with my one ridiculously overpowered character (Lord Ra Ra, husband and protector of Lady Ga Ga) that gets any item he wants, all the gold he wants, and extra experience points whenever he wants them. Blasting through The Forgotten Realms with this demigod brought back a kind of fun that I haven’t experienced in a long, long time.

One reason that I don’t really cheat in videogames anymore is that I’ve become much more of a console gamer than a PC gamer. In the late ’90s, my gaming was evenly split between consoles and PC. In addition to my Baldur’s Gate cheating, I recall that one of my favorite pastimes was blasting through Doom in god mode on my friend Wil’s PC. The hackable nature of Windows and the wondrous input device known as a keyboard made cheating on PC games much easier and more diverse than cheating on consoles. As I devoted more and more time to consoles, I simply had less opportunities to cheat.

That isn’t to say that you couldn’t cheat on console games. You certainly could (though it wasn’t nearly as fun). Devices like Game Shark made a killing by allowing console gamers to cheat. That was all well and good…until consoles became great online devices. In addition to ensuring balanced online play, achievements and trophies made it harder and less appealing to cheat. Sure, you could still do it if you really wanted to, but achievement whoring trumped the gratification of cheating. For most gamers, actually earning something is way more satisfying than just stealing it.

So yeah, here I am with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition, logging more hours on a PC game (feels weird calling an Mac game a PC game, btw) than I have in (probably) a decade. My time as Lord Ra Ra has been a blast in a way that I’d almost forgotten about.

I’d love to hear about some of your favorite cheating moments in games. What games did you enjoy cheating in? What amazing feats did you accomplish in god mode? Please regale me with your adventures in the comments section!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m done playing secret project game, so this weekend I’ll be able to devote all of my time and attention to Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for Mac OS. As I mentioned in the last Coffee Talk column, playing this game is like reuniting with an old lover. I’m having so much fun rediscovering the joys of Baldur’s Gate — the remake has been exceeding my high expectations. It’s everything I loved about the original, combined with updated graphics and several features from the sequel (class kits rule!). I’ve spent much more time with Lord Ra Ra (currently a level eight assassin) and need to give R.Pad (a prospective fighter-thief) some game time over the weekend.

On a side note, you know the nation of Amn in The Forgotten Realms? In my head, young citizens of Amn are called Amnlettes. That’s hilarious, right?!? *sigh* No one gets me….

So, what’s on your weekend playlist?

Coffee Talk #574: Where Are the Superhero Movie Games?

My friend Paul and I were talking about the large number of 2013 nerd movies that don’t have videogames attached to them (at least, that we could think of). In the past, these games were automatic. If a studio had a superhero, sci-fi, or fantasy movie set for release then there would be a game — usually not a spectacular one — released in conjunction with the movie. The game would help promote the movie and the movie would help drive game sales, at least that’s what the bean counters thought. This year there seems to be lack of videogame-movie symbiosis. Where have all the superhero games gone? Are publishers…more

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 start of the glorious MLB season, the start of what should be a painful MLB season for my beloved Yankees, or the worst team in the whole damn league (Houston Astros) kicking things off with a win, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

My friend Paul and I were talking about the large number of 2013 nerd movies that don’t have videogames attached to them (at least, that we could think of). In the past, these games were automatic. If a studio had a superhero, sci-fi, or fantasy movie set for release then there would be a game — usually not a spectacular one — released in conjunction with the movie. The game would help promote the movie and the movie would help drive game sales, at least that’s what the bean counters thought. This year there seems to be lack of videogame-movie symbiosis. Where have all the superhero games gone? Are publishers holding out for a hero?

Off the top of my head, Star Trek: Into the Darkness is the only movie that has a hot game attached to it. Where are the games for Man of Steel, Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and others?  One possibility is that movie studios and videogame publishers have learned that mediocre games have few or no symbiotic benefits. History has shown that good movies don’t need mediocre games (Thor, Iron Man) and great games don’t need the rub from movies (Batman: Arkham Asylum). Another possibility is that PC and console games are no longer the best choice for this type of outreach; it’s much cheaper and arguably more effective to promote a movie with a decent Facebook or mobile game.

Still, as a comic-book and videogame nerd, I would love to be playing console games based on this year’s nerd movies. How about you guys and gals? Do you want more videogame-movie tie-ins? What’s your take on why there seem to be less of them this year? Fire off your repulsor rays, blast your arctic breath, and sling your uru hammers in the comments section (please!).

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster Trailer

Square Enix has released the trailer for Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster. Both games will be available in a single-disc set for PlayStation 3 and available individually for PlayStation Vita. The release date is a vague “in 2013.”

I’m completely psyched for an updated version of Final Fantasy X. The game worked for me on so many levels. I loved the sphere grid system, the music was outstanding, and unlike most of my gamer friends, I found Yuna to be completely adorable. (I have a thing for women with stunted speech patterns and heterochromia iridum. Sue me.) Many longtime Square fans feel that FFX was the last great Final Fantasy game and I’m sure hundreds of thousands of them, at the very least, will snatch this remix up.

While it wasn’t nearly as good as the original, I remember having fun with Final Fantasy X-2. It was a cute “girl power” adventure that used some gameplay elements of its predecessor in a more lighthearted game. It was fun in a Final-Fantasy-meets-Spice-Girls way.

Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’re planning to pick up Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster.

Coffee Talk #573: Do Videogame Console Mascots Matter?

Today’s column has been swimming in my head for a few weeks, but really came together after having coffee with my friend Joey this morning. For decades, mascots were a huge part of marketing videogame consoles. Nintendo has Mario. Sega, when it still made hardware, had Sonic. There have been so many changes to the nature of consoles and the nature of marketing, that many people believe that mascots are irrelevant…or at least not as important as they used to be. Let’s examine the issue together in today’s Coffee Talk (which was literally inspired by a talk I had over coffee)…more

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 a wisdom tooth removed without the benefits of laughing gas, getting a wisdom tooth removed without the benefits of vicodin, or the hazards of being a pedestrian in the Philippines, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today’s column has been swimming in my head for a few weeks, but really came together after having coffee with my friend Joey this morning. For decades, mascots were a huge part of marketing videogame consoles. Nintendo has Mario. Sega, when it still made hardware, had Sonic. There have been so many changes to the nature of consoles and the nature of marketing, that many people believe that mascots are irrelevant…or at least not as important as they used to be. Let’s examine the issue together in today’s Coffee Talk (which was literally inspired by a talk I had over coffee).

When consoles were simply about games and boxes, iconic characters were hugely important in establishing a machine’s identity. With online gameplay, the emphasis on non-gaming services, and the rise of first-person perspective games, mascots aren’t as powerful as they used to be. Microsoft has Master Chief from Halo, who isn’t in the same league as Mario. Many people feel that Sony has been successful despite not having a mascot. It used to be that you played a game as a character, imagining that you were adventuring as him or her. There are many games where you are the character or you control the adventure in a way that’s far more personal than in older games.

Marketing and branding has also changed so that everything is about you. Social media — a huge part of…well, everything these days — has raised the bar of the brand of you. Some of the most wonderful changes to consoles in the last decade are related to personalization, both with the hardware and the games they run. It can be argued that videogame characters and sharing adventures with videogame characters have become less important than videogame experiences catered to you.

(On a side note, the whole “Brand Called You” thing had me thinking about this Fast Company article my Ziff-Davis friends and I were over the moon about back in 1997.)

So do you videogame console mascots still matter? I would understand arguments that they don’t mean much these days. I would even understand arguments that they don’t matter at all in 2013. Naturally, I want to hear your position on the topic. Fire away in the comments section (please!).