The artist formerly known as Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love recently appeared on The Daily Show. I’m talking about best-selling author, former WWE Superstar, and current TNA wrestler Mick Foley, of course. Check out this clip of the hardcore legend busting out his comedic chops with Jon Stewart.
| The Daily Show With Jon Stewart | Mon – Thurs 11p / 10c | |||
| Gaywatch – Peter Vadala & William Phillips | ||||
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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, California laying the smack down on electricity-guzzling televisions, sports venues fighting it out for Pacquiao/Mayweather (which hasn’t even been negotiated yet), or Mick Foley’s appearance on The Daily Show, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
In the mid to late ’90s, I played games on every platform I could. It didn’t matter if it was on a console or on a PC — I played. Somewhere along the line, I totally dropped PC gaming. I’m not even sure when it happened, but I definitely know why it happened. I used to play PC games because they offered a wide variety of experiences that was better than most things on a console. That’s just not the case anymore.
Console have gotten better and better. The original PlayStation started a tremendous wave of mainstream popularity for home systems. As more and more people started gaming in their living rooms, more and more developers followed them. Meanwhile, PC gaming has stagnated and high-end PCs still carry a premium price tag. Sure, there are a handful of games that offer an experience you can’t get on a console, but to me it’s not worth the cost of admission.
I still remember playing all sorts of cool games on a Commodore 64 with my brother. Much later, I graduated to Civilization II, Baldur’s Gate, Doom, Total Annihilation, Age of Empires, and more. Those were fun times and they’ll be remembered fondly, but I just don’t see myself being a hardcore PC gamer ever again.
How about you? If you’re a lapsed PC gamer, can you see yourself getting back into the scene? If you’ve always been a console player, do you see yourself ever getting serious about PC games?
You’d never know this from his boyish good looks, but Gas Powered Games founder Chris Taylor has been in game development for more than two decades. Starting way back in 1988, someone thought it would be funny to hire a Canadian guy to work on baseball games. Since then, Taylor has made a huge name for himself with games like Total Annihilation, Dungeon Siege, and Supreme Commander.
Chris and his team are busy working on Supreme Commander 2, but he generously gave me some time to answer a few questions. Talking about the changes he’s seen in 21 years in the business, Taylor said:
Well, our target market has changed. The whole business has opened up to include many new types of players. It used to be 18-35 yr. old males, and now the rest of the world is playing games. This is a very good thing, but it also means that we have to think differently about what gaming is. We also play online now more than ever, but not in a competitive way, it’s actually about playing together, which I think is a great change. We also play on more devices than ever, and are focusing less and less about technology whizbang, and more on the actual gameplay, characters and story. And I guess I would be insane not to mention the increase in computing power, and visuals. I started out on a TRS-80 with 128×48 pixels, that were black and white no less…
My full interview Grandmaster Sexay Chris Taylor will run on Monday. Be sure to come back and check it out!
Google is making a bold move in 2010, entering the operating system market with Chrome OS. The product is very different from Windows 7 and Mac OS — it’s much more focused and much more limited. For some users, it will work out great. For others, it might not be what you’re looking for. For consumers that are always connected to the Internet, Chrome will be a fantastic OS that will be available on a variety of inexpensive products. If you still need more info on what Chrome is, be sure to check out this article. Once you’re up to speed, here are five things you can expect from Chrome OS products.
Yesterday’s Amazon “Countdown to Black Friday” deal wasn’t worth mentioning, but today’s is much better. It’s a PlayStation 3 promotion
Remember, this offer expires at 11:59PM PST tonight (Friday).
According to PlayStation Insider, Sony is negotiating with the Mozilla Foundation to build a version of Firefox for the PlayStation 3. The site claimed:
We recently received a tip from a source very close to Sony who says that they have been in talks with Mozilla lately about possibly porting firefox over to the PS3. That said, our source made sure to point out that they were unsure if any deal had actually been reached at this point, but it is great news none the less considering the complaints Sony has been getting about the lack of reliability with their current built in PS3 web browser.
This would be a welcomed addition to the PS3. The current browser isn’t very good — it can’t even render this simple site properly — and Mozilla is the hotness. That said, I’ve never heard of the sourced site or the writer, so I’m taking the rumor with a boulder of salt. Besides, it would make more sense for Sony to build its own browser with open-source code. Whether it’s Mozilla or WebKit, it would be simple for the company.
Btw, do any of you use the PS3’s web browser?
If you haven’t seen Ric Flair’s first promo for Hulk Hogan’s Australian Hulkamania tour, go check it out. If you have seen it, prepare for part II. The Nature Boy and The Hulkster meet to try to drum up interest in the tour.
This promo made me a little sad. Although Flair can still put on a good match with a solid partner like Shawn Michaels or Kurt Angle, he can’t do much with an old, broken down, and extremely limited wrestler like Hogan. I found it amusing that Flair mentioned “the big boot”, but didn’t mention Hogan’s leg drop, which he can’t do anymore because of his hip problems. At least neither of them are as pathetic as “Nasty Boy” Brian Knobbs, who was never that good and is only on the tour because he kisses Hogan’s ass.
Congrats to Smartguy!!! He’s the latest winner in the RPad.tv chick magnet giveaway. One of the site’s best and most frequent commentators, Smartguy won with this comment. Keep an eye on your email!
Today I mailed out prizes to Hrolf and thiswillallbeburne. Iceman was kind enough to send a photo of his RPad.tv magnet. If you already have one, I’d love to post a photo, so please send ’em in. I love that Iceman is looking at my site and chicks in bikinis. Awesome.
Google has unveiled details on its upcoming Chrome operating system. This open-source, lightweight OS relies heavily on the Internet for functionality and is being designed for netbooks. Its narrow focus eliminates a lot of the headaches involved with a traditional operating system, but also limits its capabilities. A post on Google’s blog revealed:
It’s all about the web. All apps are web apps. The entire experience takes place within the browser and there are no conventional desktop applications. This means users do not have to deal with installing, managing and updating programs.
Second, because all apps live within the browser, there are significant benefits to security. Unlike traditional operating systems, Chrome OS doesn’t trust the applications you run. Each app is contained within a security sandbox making it harder for malware and viruses to infect your computer.
The concept behind Chrome OS sounds great and I could totally work with it. The bad news for Google is that there are a lot of people that can’t work with a cloud OS. The bad news for tech geeks like me is that Chrome OS won’t be out until “this time next year”.
Also, the guy narrating the video is a nob, but he’s not nearly as bad as the toolbox that Square Enix hired for its Final Fantasy XIII video. Anyway, let me know what you think of Chrome OS. Is it something you could use? Would you buy a Chrome OS netbook?
Gas Powered Games founder and lead designer Chris Taylor — the funniest man in game development — gives an excellent walkthrough of his upcoming game, Supreme Commander 2
I’ve been chatting with Chris lately and I will have a full interview with this handsome man soon. In the meantime, let me know what you think of this walkthrough video.
