Since it’s the start of a new year, I wanted to see if any of you have made any gaming resolutions for 2012. Are there any genres or developers you usually ignore that you want to give a shot this year? Perhaps you’ll…
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, Verve’s El Salvador La Roxanita, Lady Gaga’s New Year’s Eve performance, or Planetary Design’s awesome Airscape coffee jar, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Happy new year to you all! I’m super looking forward to 2012. Momentum is building, things are looking brighter, and I’m feeling good that this year will be better than my last two. Since it’s the start of a new year, I wanted to see if any of you have made any gaming resolutions for 2012. Are there any genres or developers you usually ignore that you want to give a shot this year? Perhaps you’ll try to be a more competitive gamer in 2012? Or maybe you won’t run away on trolleys when challenged in Mortal Kombat. Whatever the case may be, I’d love to hear about your 2012 gaming resolutions.
As for me, I’m going to make an effort to hold more RPad.tv Invitationals. Juggling and struggling with new work has caused me to totally drop the ball on these online gatherings. I miss them and I’m going to do something about it. With your help, hopefully we can make these a monthly event, at the very least.
Let’s start with this week! For old time’s sake, let’s kick off 2012 with some Uno. I can play on Wednesday or Thursday. Please let me know which day and what time works best for you. I’ll go with the majority. In the future, I want to try the PlayStation Home poker that N8R recommended. Let’s keep the RPad.tv Invitationals going!
Let’s do the game-of-the-year thing in reverse order. Usually, most outlets build up to it by going over different categories and capping things off with the game of the year. Today I want to hear about your favorite and second-favorite game of 2011. Later on…
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, being sad about the Dallas Mavericks’ crappy start, being happy about the Los Angeles Lakers’ crappy start, or if Chris Jericho is the mystery man that will appear on the first WWE Raw of 2012, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Let’s do the game-of-the-year thing in reverse order. Usually, most outlets build up to it by going over different categories and capping things off with the game of the year. Today I want to hear about your favorite and second-favorite game of 2011. Later on we’ll discuss best graphics, best sound, etc. Kindly leave a comment with your choices and explanations.
As for me, there’s a ton I didn’t play yet so I can only talk about what I enjoyed, not necessarily the best game of 2011. I definitely need to put more time into Skyrim and pick up Arkham City (PR flaks never sent me a copy). Of the games I did spend significant time with, Dragon Age II was my second-favorite. I loved the storytelling and gameplay; unlike some players, the changes in game mechanics didn’t bother me at all. And as most of you know, I’m a total BioWare homer.
The top spot has to go to Portal 2. I was pretty much floored by the game on every level. The gameplay is inventive, the storytelling is humorous and witty, the graphics are great, and the sound design is the best I’ve experienced all year. Valve completely rocked this one and Eric Wolpaw is my videogame-writing hero.
Now it’s your turn! Please leave a comment with your 2011 game of the year and the runner-up.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, or commercial holiday. I’ve heard about some of your Xmas loot, but I’d love to hear about it all! Any of you get new games? How about a new phone or tablet? Maybe you had a really vivid dream…
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 thoughts on the first day of the NBA season, the Samsung Galaxy S not getting Android 4.0, or Jorge Posada possibly going to the Tampa Bay Rays, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas, Hanukkah, or commercial holiday. I’ve heard about some of your Xmas loot, but I’d love to hear about it all! Any of you get new games? How about a new phone or tablet? Maybe you had a really vivid dream about a new MacBook Pro or iMac and one magically appeared under your Christmas tree?!? (That technique didn’t work for me, btw.) Kindly share your tech and videogame Christmas look in today’s comments section!
I’m totally marking out for WWE programming right now. This has been my favorite period of WWE television since Shawn Michaels retired. A guy that used Twitter to get over and two guys I watched with dozens of other people at Ring of Honor…
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, random people paying off random layaway accounts at K-Mart, Rudolph vs. Frosty, or Intelligentsia’s Colombia La Loma, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I’m totally marking out for WWE programming right now. This has been my favorite period of WWE television since Shawn Michaels retired. A guy that used Twitter to get over and two guys I watched with dozens of other people at Ring of Honor shows are holding championship belts. I love that three guys that work hard and genuinely connect with fans are getting pushed by WWE. While I have an aching suspicion that at least one of the three championship reigns will be short, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts. Join me as I reflect on three of the current WWE champions.
Zack Ryder United States Champion: I wrote a bit about the crazy phenomenon of Ryder a few weeks ago. As an Internet nerd, I have to give it up to a guy that used Twitter outreach and YouTube videos to connect with fans. I completely respect and admire what he did; WWE management wasn’t giving him an opportunity to shine, so he took matters into his own hands and created his own success. While I’m happy for Ryder, it’s not the same level of excitement I feel for the next two champions.
CM PUNK WWE Champion: I know that a few of you are down on Punk because of his size, but you can’t question his in-ring ability or deny the fact that he has cut the best promos in WWE all year. As you probably know, I’m partial to Ring of Honor alumni and love when those guys do well in bigger companies. Punk also gets mad bonus points for posing with some of my Pokemon dolls for a Games Radar article I did back in the day. I love that my photos of Punk and my Pokemon are on the first page of Google results when you do an image search for “CM Punk”.
Punk is just a great wrestler that has worked hard to get one of the top spots in the business. I think it’s great that he’s old school. I love that he prefers the term “pro-wrestling” over “sports entertainment”. It was nice that he wore a Randy Savage outfit and started incorporating Savage’s elbow drop shortly after Macho Man passed away. Even though I generally don’t trust people who drink, I think Punk is awesome. He’s my second-favorite straight-edge person.
Daniel Bryan World Heavyweight Champion: Before WWE re-branded him as Daniel Bryan, Bryan Danielson was one of my favorite Ring of Honor wrestlers. I believe he’s one of the top three wrestlers in WWE today. His game is just so diverse, mixing outstanding mat wrestling, high-flying moves, and modern MMA twists. Yeah, he’s still finding his way on the mic, but he’s getting a lot better (something John Morrison never did). More importantly, his wrestling is so good that fans connect with him and want to see him do well. It’s weird seeing him (fake) tan and wearing more black than red these days, but he’ll always be “The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson to me — one of the best wrestlers I’ve seen live.
I love the photo above from CM Punk’s Twitter feed. Seeing Punk and Danielson with the two major WWE straps gives me warm fuzzies. It’s great seeing two guys that are superiors wrestlers make it to the top. It’s sweet that two guys that have known each other for more than a decade and have wrestled in hundreds of high-school gyms are headlining shows that are watched by millions of people. In many ways, the photo reminds me of when Eddie Guerrero and Chris Benoit held those belts. Similar to how Punk and Danielson made their way through the indie scene together, Guerrero and Benoit went from ECW to WCW to WWE together. The two were also great wrestlers that were on the small side. When Benoit and Guerrero were celebrating with their titles at WrestleMania XX, I remember thinking, “Damn. That’s a lot of confetti,” and also, “It feels nice to see that the right guys have the belts.”
Sadly, I don’t have a ton of faith in WWE creative to leave the strap on Danielson. Hell, he only has it now because Mark Henry suffered a groin injury and they had to quickly rewrite the match. It’s too early to tell, but I fear he’ll just be a transitional champion.
I don’t know how long these three WWE Superstars will keep their championships, but it’s great to see that, once again, the right guys have won.
During a multifaceted geek chat with Nerd Friend X, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon came up. As a tech enthusiast and a gamer, I feel obligated to support the show. It helps that I actually dig Fallon’s humor and my buddy Gavin works on the show…
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 Tebowmania will die down now that the Broncos’ streak has snapped, your WWE World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan (!!!), or Rooney Mara vs. Kate Mara, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
During a multifaceted geek chat with Nerd Friend X, Late Night with Jimmy Fallon came up. As a tech enthusiast and a gamer, I feel obligated to support the show. It helps that I actually dig Fallon’s humor and my buddy Gavin works on the show. I was surprised to learn that Nerd Friend X hates the show and Fallon. It’s one thing if he doesn’t like Fallon’s humor and the show’s writing; it’s not for everyone. As a gamer and tech enthusiast, I feel that he should support it. After all, nobody else in late night features game developers and tech editors.
I love that Epic Games’ Cliff Bleszinski showed Gears of War 3 on the show. It’s awesome that Naughty Dog’s Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra dropped by to demo Uncharted 3. Microsoft got a ton of press when Microsoft’s Kudo Tsunoda showed Kinect to mainstream America on Fallon. TheVerge.com’s Joshua Topolsky (ex-Endgadget) drops by regularly to tell Jimmy and his audience about the latest and greatest in consumer electronics. Is there a late-night show that’s more nerd-friendly than Late Night with Jimmy Fallon?
Jimmy Fallon, his writers, and his producers are the future of late night…at least the future of what I want late night to be. People that grew up with games and/or obsessed with nerd toys are getting older. I love that there’s a late-night TV-show that covers my interests with respect and enthusiasm. I dream of the day Fallon gets the 11:30 slot, bringing great games and tech content to “the big show”. With your support, he’ll get there.
What do you think of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon featuring videogames and consumer electronics? If Fallon gets an 11:30 show, do you think he’ll continue bringing on game developers and tech experts as guests? Or will games and geek stuff be relegated to after midnight instead of before it?
The PlayStation Vita has been getting a lot of press on how it uses PlayStation Network accounts. Apparently it’s one PSN account per Vita. If a friend or a family member (a-huh-huh-heh-huh…member) wants to use a different PSN account…
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, Britney Spears being the first to one-million followers on Google+, the exciting potential of the Los Angeles Clippers, or the girls with the Dragonite tattoo, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
The PlayStation Vita has been getting a lot of press on how it uses PlayStation Network accounts. Apparently it’s one PSN account per Vita. If a friend or a family member (a-huh-huh-heh-huh…member) wants to use a different PSN account on your Vita then a factory reset is required. Some people feel that this isn’t a big deal at all. Others think that it’s an antiquated approach. Today I want to hear your opinion on the matter!
From the standpoint of a traditional handheld-gaming console, I can see why some people don’t care. A lot of gamers don’t share their portable consoles. Certainly I’m a selfish bastard when it comes to my DS, 3DS, and PSP — I just don’t like other people using a device that’s so personal to me. Prior to the last generation of handhelds, portable gaming was almost always a solitary activity, so one account per device will feel right to many longtime gamers.
From the standpoint of modern devices, I can see why some people think Sony is being backwards. The Vita is more than just a portable gaming system. It’s a diverse multimedia device that competes with smartphones and tablets. Since it’s supposed to be modern or cutting edge, shouldn’t it be able to easily handle multiple accounts like many of today’s multimedia devices do? Take the iPad 2 for example; it’s super easy to switch between different iTunes, Game Center, etc. accounts on the device. A factory reset in order to switch accounts on the Vita seems excessive.
There’s a lot of information stored and pulled from PSN. In some respects, I understand why a factory reset is required. In others, it just seems like not enough thought was put into account management. What do you think? How do you feel about a factory reset being required to switch PSN accounts on the PlayStation Vita?
Being the excellent gamers that you are, I’m sure most of you have imagined videogame versions of yourselves. Let’s say you were in an RPG. What would your character be like? Would you be a hero or a villain? Would you be the center of…
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, wishing for the Yankees to land Yu Darvish, David Stern turning into Vince McMahon, or WWE Kane’s new mask, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Being the excellent gamers that you are, I’m sure most of you have imagined videogame versions of yourselves. Let’s say you were in an RPG. What would your character be like? Would you be a hero or a villain? Would you be the center of attention or one of many NPCs complaining about arrow-to-the-knee injuries? Tell me all about the wonderful RPG character that is you!
As for me, I definitely wouldn’t be the leading man, but I wouldn’t be his sidekick either. I see myself as half of a duo — think Blue Beetle & Booster Gold or Scooby-Doo & Shaggy. I would have rare moments of heroism interspersed between sarcastic banter, nights of drunkenness, bouts of gluttony, get-rich-quick schemes, and lots of complaining about the rigors of the road. The game I’d be in would be a classic, old-school RPG. I’d break the fourth wall at least twice per quest. I wouldn’t be the star of the game, but I’d have show-stealing moments.
Now it’s your turn! Kindly describe your RPG character in the comments section.
Yesterday I was talking to one of my NY friends and he said something along the lines of, “Man, I’m psyched that it’s winter. Now I can just dive into my games!” The concept of being a seasonal gamer is foreign to me. I’ve been living in California for…
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, Tebow vs. Taker at WrestleMania, Lindsay Lohan’s leaked Playboy pictures, or Amir Khan getting jobbed in DC, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Yesterday I was talking to one of my NY friends and he said something along the lines of, “Man, I’m psyched that it’s winter. Now I can just dive into my games!” The concept of being a seasonal gamer is foreign to me. I’ve been living in California for most of the last 11 years and I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have four seasons of different weather. (That one year I spent in Thailand didn’t help either.) I’ve been getting paid to write about games for 15 years and it’s not like I was ever in a position to say, “Yeah, no. I’m not playing games this summer because it’s gorgeous outside.”
Thankfully I have real people like you to let me know how real people game! Do your gaming habits change with the seasons? I know that some of you have kids. Do you play games less in the summer so that you can spend more time with your children? Is winter the time to snuggle up with a good game? Or is it all about football for you? Please leave a comment and let me know if you’re a seasonal gamer.
Would you name your child after a videogame character? Maybe a game designer? How about someone from a comic book? Or just straight up naming him Casper Van Dien? I’m totally down with this. Should I be blessed with a daughter, I plan to name her…
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, where Chris Paul will be playing, why the hell its below 50 in Los Angeles, or your toothpaste of choice, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Would you name your child after a videogame character? Maybe a game designer? How about someone from a comic book? Or just straight up naming him Casper Van Dien? I’m totally down with this. Should I be blessed with a daughter, I plan to name her Tifa, after the strong-but-gentle woman from Final Fantasy VII. If I have a son, I’d like to name him Shigeru, after legendary game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Twin boys? That’s easy! They’d be Bruce Wayne and Clark Kent.
Now it’s your turn! Would you name your kids after videogame characters, comic-book heroes, or game designers? If so, what would you name your son, daughter, or twins?
Microsoft recently launched a major Xbox 360 dashboard update and I’m dying to hear your thoughts on it. Do you like the overall look and feel? What features are you digging? What features are you hating? Share your thoughts like a Care Bear…
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, awesome holiday gift guides, the steady decline of Firefox, or sports drinks reminding you of Aquaman, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Microsoft recently launched a major Xbox 360 dashboard update and I’m dying to hear your thoughts on it. Do you like the overall look and feel? What features are you digging? What features are you hating? Share your thoughts like a Care Bear and tell me everything you’re feeling about the update.
As for me, I can’t look at it as a standalone update. The design is fresher and I’m sure there are some usability enhancements, but that’s not what really interests me here. I love that Microsoft is taking a unified approach and spreading its Metro UI across different platforms. Even though I’m not a big fan of Windows Phone or Windows for PC, I love that Windows Phone 7, Xbox 360, and Windows 8 share a lot of the same design philosophy. It’s smart. It keeps things familiar. It helps create a broader ecosystem (and also makes it harder for customers to leave to competitors). It’s strange to say this, but it’s very Apple of Microsoft.
I don’t know if I’m a fan of the new dashboard, but I’m definitely a fan of the company’s unified approach. Fair play to Microsoft!
Now it’s your turn. Please let me know how you feel about the Xbox 360 Fall 2011 dashboard update.
As for me, I’m going to make an effort to hold more RPad.tv Invitationals. Juggling and struggling with new work has caused me to totally drop the ball on these online gatherings. I miss them and I’m going to do something about it. With your help, hopefully we can make these a monthly event, at the very least.
