Coffee Talk Archives - Page 10 of 67

Coffee Talk #578: Google Fiber Rage

I love Google Fiber…but it’s pissing me off. Last year, I wrote about Google Fiber and the dream of gigabit Internet. Seeing the service spread from Kansas City to Austin to Provo makes my heart soar and crushes it at the same time. While idiot executives at Time Warner Cable (the crap-bag company that currently provides my Internet service) claim that nobody wants gigabit Internet, anyone with common sense can see that these speeds would drastically change the types of Internet services offered and what people can do online. Those kinds of speeds are transformative and…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, Derek Jeter’s broken (again) ankle, the start of the NBA playoffs, or Jennifer Love Hewitt’s surprising second act, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

It’s not even a chicken-and-egg proposition in my mind. There are hundreds of companies in America that would enable consumers to do all kinds of interesting things online in a way that they can’t today. American ISPs are a barrier — one that will remain for the foreseeable future unless drastic changes are made. For the most part, there’s no incentive for ISPs to advance because most people are covered by monopolies or duopolies. Cable companies and telephone companies are mostly content with being nearly as fast or just a bit faster than the other guy.

Imagine how much better online video, video communications, and online gaming would be if the majority of American Internet services and consumers had access to gigabit Internet? You’d be able to stream 1080p video without buffering. You’d be able to enjoy crystal-clear full-screen video chat with friends and family on the other side of the country. Online games could include more players in a lag-free environment. Perhaps RPadholic smartguy would be able to update his PlayStation 3 in a timely fashion. Those are just some of the improvements gigabit Internet would allow for existing services. There are loads of new services that won’t work (well) with current Internet speeds, but would soar with widely available gigabit Internet.

So yeah, I’m thrilled that Google Fiber is doing well in Kansas City and will be rolled out in two additional cities in the future…but it’s also making me hate Time Warner Cable even more.

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.

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!

Coffee Talk #576: Flaccid Finishers at WrestleMania

Did you ever notice that finishing maneuvers aren’t very good at finishing during WrestleMania? For most of the WWE year, finishers mean that the match is over. Every now and then during a WWE pay-per-view event, an opponent will dramatically kick out or power out of a single finisher. At WrestleMania — especially for the last five years and arguably for the last decade — finishers go flat. There have been matches where the victor has to bust out his finishing move three times or more in order to win. In the immortal words of Hurricane Helms…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, Stevie Wonder at the Academy of Country Music Awards, Carmelo Anthony (barely) edging out Kevin Durant for the NBA scoring lead, or the Yankees not sucking on Sunday, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Looking at it from a mark’s perspective, it could be explained as WWE Superstars having an extra amount of energy and drive during the biggest show of the year. The wrestlers are amped to be at WrestleMania and display powers that they don’t have during the other 364 days of the year.

Smarts and smarks will argue that WWE writers and bookers have been relying on the create-drama-by-kicking-out-of-a-finisher gimmick way too much over the years. The Undertaker’s matches against Shawn Michaels, Triple H, and CM Punk have arguably been the worst offenders. Don’t get me wrong — they were definitely fantastic matches and his scrap with Punk was easily the best of this year’s show. However, I’ve been conditioned not to buy into the first two or three finishers used in ‘Taker’s WrestleMania matches and WrestleMania matches in general. In a ploy to create drama, the bookers and writers have made finishing moves (at least the first three or so) seem less dramatic.

Yeah, I know this is “sports entertainment” and I’m probably thinking about the issue too seriously, but that’s one of the fun parts about being a smark. Ha! What’s your take on flaccid finishers at WrestleMania? Do you have a mark theory on why they’re less effective or why WWE Superstars are impervious to them at the show? What’s your stance on the matter as a smart or a mark? Leave your answer in the comments section (please!).

Coffee Talk #575: My Return to Baldur’s Gate

On one of my trips to Asia, I was on the back of a motorcycle taxi and got caught in a big rainstorm. I asked the taxi driver to pull over and ducked into the nearest bar. To my shock, an ex-girlfriend — one that I never thought I’d see again — was in the bar, taking shelter from the storm. What followed was three excellent days between two people that knew each other intimately. In the immortal words of Journey, it was the “joy of discovering you.” That experience and that joy reminded me of my last three days with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition. It’s a game that I know intimately, having played through it 18 times, and so far…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, Robinson Cano switching agents from Scott Boras to Jay-Z, Mark Cuban saying that he’d give Brittney Griner a shot with the Mavericks, or T-Mobile’s awesome (and mentally unbalanced) CEO, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

On one of my trips to Asia, I was on the back of a motorcycle taxi and got caught in a big rainstorm. I asked the taxi driver to pull over and ducked into the nearest bar. To my shock, an ex-girlfriend — one that I never thought I’d see again — was in the bar, also taking shelter from the storm. What followed was three excellent days between two people that knew each other intimately. In the immortal words of Journey, it was “the joy of discovering you.” That experience and that joy reminded me of my last three days with Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition for Mac OS. I knew the original intimately, having played through it 18 times, and so far it has been an absolute pleasure rediscovering this brilliant game.

Right now, I have two Baldur’s Gate EE games going on. First up is R.Pad, who is currently a level four thief, but will eventually be dual-classed into a fighter-thief. I’m playing this game straight up, without any cheat codes. Then there’s Lord Ra Ra (which is what I will legally change my name to when I marry Stefani Germanotta), the level six assassin (screenshot is a day old). He gets the benefit of the cheat console — stats jacked up to god-like levels and any weapon/item I can think of. It’s fun plowing through the game and relearning the maps as Lord Ra Ra, while using that knowledge to chart an optimal course for R.Pad.

There were a lot of habits I had to relearn during my first few hours with the game. Like many videogames released in the ’90s, the difficulty can be unevenly brutal and you can really screw yourself over by not saving every few minutes. While I love the deliberate pause-and-play combat, it’s something that I haven’t experienced in years. Today’s videogames are all about keeping you in the fantasy and moving things along at a brisk pace. Battles that let you pause several times to thoughtfully plot out strategies are considered passe. While it’s atypical in 2013, I found that it’s something that I still very much love (like the way my ex uses her…never mind). In fact, aside from the (still) moronic pathfinding, I’m loving everything about Baldur’s Gate EE.

Have you ever found yourself in a similar situation? Have you ever rediscovered a game that you haven’t played for more than a decade and found it just as captivating as the first time you played it? Now please excuse me as I have to get back to my Baldur’s Gate bliss.

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.

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!).

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.

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!).

Coffee Talk #572: Do You Block Ads on Web Sites?

The ad blocking issue is coming up again. In 2010 Ars-Technica founder Ken Fisher wrote a story on why blocking ads is devastating for web sites you enjoy. Recently, Destructoid founder Niero Gonzales wrote a story and stated that almost half of the site’s readers block ads. The use of ad blockers is particularly disheartening for videogame web sites and freelance writers. From the outside, it’s easy to see the number of gaming web sites that have shut down over the last few years. From the inside…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, Mariano Rivera being a possible first-ballot hall-of-famer, the resurgent Los Angeles Lakers (see also: the choking Utah Jazz), or packing procrastination, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Today I’d love to hear about your ad-blocking habits. I’m not judging. I’m just curious. Do you always use ad blockers? Do you disable ad-blocking plug-ins on sites you like? Please take the poll below and expand on your choice in the comments section.

[poll id=”178″]

As for me, I used to use AdBlock Plus all the time, but now I rarely use ad blocking of any kind. Part of it is that advertising has generally become more sophisticated and less obnoxious. Sure, there are still some garish ads out there, but for the most part I don’t see those kinds of spots on the sites I frequent. A bigger part of it was understanding the economics of operating a content-based site, especially as a small business owner. Making money with Internet content is getting harder and harder. I’m happy to allow ads on sites that I find mildly entertaining. For those that I truly enjoy, I will actively click on ads that interest me.

Yeah, I realize that very few Internet users try to support sites this way and many aren’t even aware of how blocking ads hurts the sites they enjoy. Just thinking about the fun gaming web sites that have shut down over the years and those that are in the process of shutting down makes me wonder if they’d still be around if their readers didn’t block ads.

Coffee Talk #571: Are You Ready For the Six-Strike Rule?

Rumor has it that those evil Internet service providers will start using the Copyright Alert System six-strike anti-piracy policy today. The companies kicking it off are AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon. The six strike part of the equation is easy enough to understand; your ISP will give you six warnings about downloading or sharing copyrighted material before punishing you. The consequences vary from provider to provider. They include bandwidth throttling, cutting off access to certain web sites, and temporary suspension of service.

There are some interesting pitfalls and…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, 2013 Oscar snubs, wishing herpes on J.A. Happ for breaking Curtis Granderson’s arm, or revisiting the PlayStation 4 unveiling now that you’ve had a weekend to think it over, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

There are some interesting pitfalls and potential loopholes. How will ISPs handle offenses detected in shared environments? If you’re getting heat at home, will you be able torrent at a coffeeshop or shared office space? Will virtual private networks (VPNs) see a surge in business from downloaders that want to mask their activity? Implementing the six-strike rule is going to be a nightmare and I hope every major ISP in America suffers. Those companies deserve an expensive venture for reaping huge profits and not spending the money on infrastructure. They’re inhibiting technology and limiting consumers.

More importantly, how are you going to deal with the six-strike world? Are you going to quit torrents? Are you going to purchase a VPN subscription? Or will you throw caution to the wind and deal with the consequences as they come?

Coffee Talk #570: The Ewing Theory and Videogames

As a Bill Simmons fanboy, the “Ewing Theory” is far more relevant to my life than any scientific theory. When Simmons posted a column revisiting the Ewing Theory, I started thinking about it in videogame terms. Obviously videogames are larger team efforts than sports are, so some of the principles of the theory don’t apply, but it was a fun exercise. Over the last week, I asked a bunch of friends if they could think of any videogame franchises that improved when a “celebrity” developer moved on or left the team.

The most common answer I received was the God of War series. A lot of my friends feel…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, Shia LaBeouf getting booted off a Broadway play, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. switching from HBO to Showtime, or celebrities wearing pajama pants, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The most common answer I received was the God of War series. A lot of my friends feel that the series reached new heights after David Jaffe left the team. The answer surprised me. Part of it is because I hold Jaffe in high regard and part of it is that I believe the series simply progressed. Of course Cory Balrog and Stig Asmussen did wonderful jobs directing the next two God of War games, but I believe the series would have improved similarly with Jaffe at the wheel. (Hmmm, now I want to rewrite the song “Jesus Take the Wheel” with the lyrics “Jaffe Take the Wheel.”) While I understood their points, I don’t think it was a “Ewing Theory” situation. God of War definitely got better, but I don’t think it was because of David Jaffe taking a different role (II) or leaving the team (III).

A few people mentioned John Romero and the Quake series. I understood this argument more, but felt that the older guys I spoke with still had Daikatana on their minds. That said, Tim Willits and Graeme Devine definitely took the franchise to new heights.

Now it’s your turn! What videogame franchises can you apply the Ewing Theory to?

Coffee Talk #569: My Time at GameSpy

As I was drinking my morning coffee, I learned that Ziff Davis is in the process of shutting down 1Up, UGO, and GameSpy. This made me sad. Obviously I feel for everyone at those sites that lost their jobs, as well as the people cut from IGN, but the GameSpy closure is…personal. Although I had numerous problems with the site during my last year there, those first two years were fantastic — definitely the second-best work experience of my life. While the site never became everything it could be, it helped me improve as a profesional, become a better person, and make some great friends. Here are some random thoughts on my time at GameSpy…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, NBA trade deadline deals, Batwoman proposing to her girlfriend, or the hotness of Elisha Cuthbert, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Mark Surfas: Let’s start at the top, with the company founder and CEO. He was easily the coolest CEO I’ve ever worked for. He really cared about his company and his employees. Mark created a fun environment, but also expected results. He was very generous to his employees, providing healthy stock options (which resulted in the biggest check I’ve ever received) and medical insurance that was covered 100 percent by the company (does that happen anymore?).

My favorite thing about Mark was that he was accessible and human, despite being really sharp and very successful. One time I went to his office with a small bottle of hair gel and said, “Fix your hair Mark. It looks stupid.” The day he drove to the office in a new Hummer, I marched up to his office and said, “You know that car makes you a dick, right?” When he asked that GameSpy editors wear company polo shirts to press events, he kindly granted me an exception to wear GameSpy-branded Roots hoodies instead. Thankfully, he tolerated my behavior and seemed mildly amused by it.

I’ve told him a few times in recent years, “Thank you for everything at GameSpy, Mark. It was one of the best times of my life. I was too young and too stupid to appreciate everything you did for me.”

John Keefer: GameSpy’s managing editor was a pleasure to work for. I never had a boss that was so selfless. Keefer was all about putting his guys in a position to succeed and selling their results to upper management. At times, Keefer’s generosity was disarming and I didn’t know what to do with it. As I got to know him better, I found that it was genuine — just a remarkable and rare thing. In pro-wrestling terms, he sold for his team the way that Ric Flair and Shawn Michaels sold for their opponents. He made you look damn good.

The Fab Four: The site’s console team consisted of Christian Nutt, Ben Turner, Bryn Williams, and me. It was so much fun managing and working with those cats. We complemented each other’s skills perfectly — just four very different people that worked really well together and had lots of fun outside of the office too. I miss them all, but especially miss who and how we were from 2002-2005 (we’re all better people now, but I miss being that young and dumb). As some of you know, Christian and I ended up being roommates; I don’t see him much these days, but he’s still very dear to me. Ben and I had a little rift, but I still wish him the best. Bryn moved back to ~~Sheffield~~ Manchester and I miss him a ton. Those guys made working hard so much fun.

Ryan: Working with Ryan O’Donnell was tremendously enjoyable and I learned so much from him. He opened my eyes to the possibilities of what video content could be. He changed my perception of video and still influences a lot of the things I try to do today. It’s because of him that I pursued and created the Reset show for Yahoo! Those road trips we had — Japan, WWE events, Nintendo 3DS launch event — were awesome and he was a fantastic traveling companion. My only regret was that I didn’t pick his brain more about shooting and editing. Today I’m somewhat competent at editing and I still suck at shooting. As much as I learned from watching Ryan work, I should have learned more.

The End: Of course, all good things come to an end. Right around the two-year mark of my GameSpy stint, Mark sold the company to IGN. As I mentioned earlier, the stock options made it lucrative for me and it was a smart deal to make. The environment changed dramatically and I wasn’t experienced enough to adjust. IGN was far more business minded; at the time, I had no businesses sense whatsoever and was solely focused on creating fun content. I rolled with the changes at first, but couldn’t deal with the hits that came later. While I maintain that my stance to getting a review score changed and column pulled was correct, I acknowledge that I could have dealt with those things in a more constructive way. Instead, my last year at GameSpy wasn’t nearly as fun or productive as my first two. My heart just wasn’t into it and I failed to adapt. On the plus side, I learned to take my frustrations out on Will Tuttle by throwing things at him and saying that I was doing a Gambit impersonation.

So yeah! GameSpy is going away and will soon join Happy Puppy on the list of dead web sites I’ve put my heart into. While I’m sure memories of the web site will fade, I’ll never forget my time at GameSpy. Thanks to everyone involved with the company for an amazing ride!