Coffee Talk #19: I’m So Excited and I Just Can’t Hide It

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, your awesome World Series 2009 champions, this super expensive Beatles digital set, or your awesome World Series 2009 champions (again), Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Sorry for the lateness. You see, yesterday I picked up Dragon Age: Origins. As you can imagine, I was incredibly psyched to get the game. BioWare is one of my favorite developers of all time — so much so that if the company was snubbed for an award, I’d totally interrupt the winner and pull a Kanye. RPGs are my favorite genre. Fantasy settings are my favorite. This is the most excited I’ve been for a game in years.

Dragon Age Origins 3

It all goes back to Baldur’s Gate for me. I played through the game 18 times. Even though I only played through Baldur’s Gate 2 11 times, I was (clearly) hooked by BioWare’s RPG mastery. I love how the company handles role-playing, storytelling, character development, music, and more.

When it comes down to it, I don’t remember the last time I was this excited to get a game. How about you? When was the last time a new game made you go all fanboy?

Relive the Glorious 2009 World Series on PSN

Just in case you didn’t get enough of the NY Yankees’ brilliant 2009 World Series victory, you can relive the whole thing on Sony’s PlayStation Network. The company announced:

We’ve just launched MLB content — the current 2009 World Series featuring the Philadelphia Phillies vs. New York Yankees (in case you’ve missed any of the games so far), and also a section with classic games.

Yankees World Series 2009

Programming from Lucasfilm, Image Entertainment, ContentFilm International, New Video, and Image Entertainment was also announced, but that stuff isn’t nearly as important as watching the Yankees christen their new ballpark with a World Series win.

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Major Nelson Speaks on Banning Pirates From Xbox Live

Pirates

Microsoft’s Major Nelson addressed the issue of banning software pirates from Xbox Live in a recent blog post. The man also known as Larry the Marketing Guy said:

The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them. This would also be a good time to remind you that the warranty on an Xbox 360 console is not transferrable and if you purchase a used console that has been previously banned, you will not be able to connect to Xbox Live.

While I have no problem with what Microsoft is doing and I agree with most of that Larry said, it still bugs me that console games in third-world countries have Western prices. Having lived in a third-world country for most of 2006, I was surprised to see that most games cost the equivalent of $50 to $60 while people were making $150 a month. For a lot of people, piracy was the only reasonable way to go.

My little rant aside, what do you think of Microsoft banning pirates from Xbox Live?

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Gamers Defecting From Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for Sequels?

Assassins Creed 2

According to research firm OTX, a lot of gamers are planning to buy sequels (Assassin’s Creed 2 and Modern Warfare 2, in particular) on the PlayStation 3 for games that they original played on the Xbox 360. Gamasutra has reported:

New data provided to Gamasutra by OTX’s GamePlan Insights finds that many sequel-buyers might be switching platforms, defecting from Xbox 360 to PlayStation 3 for more than one major release.

“The PS3 seems poised to shift the ratio of Xbox 360 to PS3 sales for most major multi-platform releases in its favor among dual owners,” [analyst Nick] Williams tells us.

This is an interesting trend that I’ve been noticing with some friends. A lot of my gamer pals that are new to the PS3 — mostly players that purchased a PS3 Slim — are buying multiplatform games for their Sony system, simply to build up their libraries. Does this apply to any of you?

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Coffee Talk #18: Do You Believe in Miyamoto Magic?

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, if the Yankees will be Pedro’s daddy tonight, the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time movie trailer, or Josh Duhamel allegedly cheating on Fergie with an Atlanta stripper, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The other day, I wrote about the next Legend of Zelda game using Wii MotionPlus for swordplay and targeting. The reactions weren’t surprising. You’ve told me why you’re down on the Wii in the past, so I was expecting some of you to roll your eyes at the news. Yes, a lot of Wii games use motion controls in ways that are…less than entertaining, but aren’t you forgetting something in this case? Shigeru Miyamoto is working on this game!

Shigeru Miyamoto

Nintendo’s legendary game designer is responsible for some of the greatest videogame series of all time. His left pinky has more creativity in it than most game developers have in their entire body. Miyamoto has been written off as out of touch and behind the times before, but he’s always managed to come back and prove his doubters wrong.

So what’s different this time? Don’t you think Miyamoto will find a way to make Wii MotionPlus in The Legend of Zelda fun and unique? Don’t you believe in Miyamoto magic?

PSA: Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures — Free Download!

Wallace and Gromit

Here’s a nice goody for you on Wednesday — a free Wallace & Gromit game download! Amazon is offering Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Adventures: Episode 3 for $0.00. If you happen to download the game through the link in this paragraph, please keep in mind that picking up anything else (in the same browsing session) will help keep this site going.

Remastered Beatles Tracks Available Digitally for $279.99

The Beatles Store is taking pre-orders for a @279.99 USB apple containing the entire remastered works of the band. According to the site:

This unique, apple-shaped USB drive is loaded with the re-mastered audio for The Bealtes’ 14 stereo titles, as well as all of the re-mastered CDs’ visual elements, including 13 mini-documentary films about the studio albums, replicated original UK art, rare photos and expanded liner notes. A specially designed Flash interface has been installed, and the 16GB USB’s audio and visual contents will be provided in FLAC 44.1 Khz 24 bit and MP3 320 Kbps formats, fully compatible with PC and Mac.

Beatles apple

On one hand, this is a really expensive item. On the other, it’s still the frickin’ Beatles! For those of you with three hands, keep in mind that this is a pretty cool collector’s item. I’m happy that both FLAC and MP3 versions are included.

Anyone going to bite the apple bullet and pick this baby up?

Super Street Fighter IV Juri Could Have Been a Chubby Ice Skater

SFIV Juri

Super Street Fighter IV’s Juri is a sexy tae kwon do vixen, but she could have been a chubby ice skater according Capcom art director Toshiyuki Kamei. Andriasang translated the official Super Street Fighter IV blog and learned:

The character’s design originally started with orders from producer Yoshinori Ono to make a female Korean character. Not necessarily an erotic female Korean character, though. According to Kamei, taking all hair and clothing variations into account, there were originally some 400 or 500 ideas for the character. Some ideas included an old woman and an ice skater.

The character was originally cuter and chubbier. They gradually thinned her out, with Kamei admitting that they at one point went too far and had to revert a bit.

Having had numerous dating experiences with Korean women, I assure you that chubby-ice-skater Juri would have been as terrifying as sexy Juri. Check out Juri in action against T. Hawk in the video below.

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