PC Gaming Archives - Page 27 of 93

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Yesterday I received a bit of news that changed my gaming weekend in a way I wasn’t expecting…at all. I’ll be spending a lot of hours playing a secret game…on my MacBook. I can’t say much about it yet, but I assure you that it’s super cool. It’s just surprising that the game is for Mac. That was completely unexpected. In other news, my gaming worlds are colliding thanks to Skylanders Cloud Patrol for iPad. Some of you will recall my fascination with Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures in 2011. The business is fascinating and the games are fun. I know all the code is already there, but it feels cool when my action figure shows up in my Xbox 360 game or my iPad game. In the immortal words of Queen, “It’s a kind of magic.”

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

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery Coming to Mac and PC

The excellent people at Capybara Games have announced that Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP will soon be available on Mac and PC. The game was one of my favorite iOS titles in 2011. The gameplay and graphics are old-school. The sound design and music are fantastic. The writing is cute and clever. Put it all together and Sword & Sworcery is just a completely charming experience.

The game will be available through Steam on April 16, with a Mac release before the summer solstice (June 20). I’m thrilled that S:S&S EP will be able to reach more gamers than ever! Any of you interested in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP for Mac or PC?

Coffee Talk #467: Your Favorite Game of Q1 2012

The first quarter of 2012 has ended and I wanted to hear about your favorite games of 2012. While I’ve been loving Final Fantasy Tactics on my iPad, my favorite and most surprising game of the quarter was Final Fantasy XIII-2. I enjoyed the original, flaws and all. The sequel tightens up the gameplay and story, and also adds…

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 hot crowd for Monday Night Raw in Miami, Minka Kelly’s downgrade, or the countdown to MLB opening day, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The first quarter of 2012 has ended and I wanted to hear about your favorite games of 2012. While I’ve been loving Final Fantasy Tactics on my iPad, my favorite and most surprising game of the quarter was Final Fantasy XIII-2. I enjoyed the original, flaws and all. The sequel tightens up the gameplay and story (though it’s still a bit ridiculous in that FF way), and adds several new twists. I absolutely loved the monster collecting and breeding system in FFXIII-2. In many ways, it’s the same kind of fun as Pokemon catching and training. I knew I’d enjoy XIII-2, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. Plus…Serah in a bikini!!!

Now it’s your turn. What was your favorite game of Q1 2012?

Blizzard and Mega Bloks Reveal Toy Info and Images

World of Warcraft and toys — what more do you need, really?!? Blizzard and Mega Bloks have revealed new information and teased all sorts of images on their upcoming lines of toys. Set for release this summer, the WoW Mega Bloks kick off with a sweet deathwing’s stormwind assault set, faction packs, cool vehicles, collectible mounts, and more. My early favorites include the goblin zeppelin and the lich king set, both pictured below.

When you have a chance, check out the two sites I linked to above. Any of you psyched for World of Warcraft Mega Bloks?

Coffee Talk #465: Developers on the Wrong Platforms

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 Ethiopia Worka, the prospect of Steve Nash playing for the Miami Heat, or cute desserts with a super-cute girl, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

At GDC 2012, I was pestering several people about thatgamecompany. I love those guys and want to see them do well, but I’m not convinced that PlayStation Network is the optimal platform for TGC. With a little bit of tweaking, TGC’s games would kill on iOS. I have no doubt about this. Flower, in particular, would be brilliant on the iPad, though I can easily see people digging Journey and flOw too. iOS seems perfect for thatgamecompany and I’d love to see millions of iPhone/iPad gamers loving TGC games.

With all of that in mind, at GDC I playfully teased several people at Sony for holding thatgamecompany back. I also bugged TGC’s agent from UTA, asking him, “When the hell are your clients moving to iOS?!?” (And yes, alcohol was ~~probably~~ involved in all of these conversations.) While TGC’s sales figures are closely guarded by Sony, most pundits believe them to be in the six-figure range. I’m certain that the company has a better chance of breaking one-million on iOS than it does on PSN. Hell, I’m positive that an “enhanced” version of Flower for iOS would easily eclipse the game’s sales on PSN. It just seems like TGC is on the wrong platform.

Are there any developers you feel are creating for the wrong platform? Share the companies you think of and the platforms you wish they were making games for in the comments section (please!).

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

In addition to my usual batch of iPad games, I plan on playing some Quarrel for Xbox Live this weekend. Do you know why I’m going to play Quarrel? Because it’s going to be the game for next week’s RPad.TV Invitational tournament! Quarrel Deluxe was one of my favorite iPad games in 2011. The one thing it was missing was a multiplayer mode. The Xbox Live version takes care of that and I’m hoping that several of you will play Quarrel with me next week.

How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist? Also, which day works best for some Quarrel skirmishes next week?

Sony Online Entertainment Rebrands Fan Faire as SOE Live

Sony Online Entertainment has rebranded its annual fan event; gone is the old SOE Fan Faire moniker, to make way for SOE Live! This year’s event will take place from October 18 to October 21 at Bally’s in Las Vegas. Why the name change? Here’s a clip from the press release that explains…

“The ‘SOE Live’ name change represents a deeper meaning behind our annual event,” said Laura Naviaux, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Sony Online Entertainment. “As our game portfolio continues to expand, we wanted to better represent our diverse player base and games, including the newest additions to the SOE family, with DC Universe Online, Free Realms, Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures, and the highly anticipated PlanetSide 2. Previous event attendees can rest assured that we are not removing any of our established activities in order to accommodate the new players; rather, they can expect even more to make this the ultimate SOE fan experience.”

SOE Live reflects the belief that all SOE players are part of one extended family and presents an opportunity for fans of all ages to meet the talented people behind some of the online world’s most successful games. In addition to a slew of social events, SOE will host developer panel discussions and game-themed live events, giving attendees a chance to voice their opinions of current and upcoming game content. SOE Live will also feature exclusive access to new announcements and beta programs, tournaments, premium swag and more.

That last paragraph kills me. I’m half-expecting SOE to adopt Black Eyed Peas “One Tribe” as the official song of SOE Live. One people!!!

Seriously though, I’m excited for SOE Live. It’s an event about games in Las Vegas. I’m totally down. Any of you interested in attending SOE Live?

MapleStory Players Love Obama, Worry About Unemployment

Nexon conducted an interesting poll and discovered interesting facts about the political leanings of MapleStory players. Apparently the majority of MapleStory players back President Barack Obama, are most concerned about unemployment, and classify themselves as independent. Check out this excerpt from…

Nexon conducted an interesting poll and discovered interesting facts about the political leanings of MapleStory players. Apparently the majority of MapleStory players back President Barack Obama, are most concerned about unemployment, and classify themselves as independent. Check out this excerpt from Nexon’s press release:

Favorite candidates
Forty-eight percent of the survey respondents favored Barack Obama. Twenty-one percent indicated that they did not know or favor any of the candidates, while Ron Paul was favored by 14 percent, Mitt Romney was favored by 10 percent, Rick Santorum was favored by 5 percent and 2 percent named Newt Gingrich as most favored.

Important issues
Additionally, 40 percent of those surveyed listed unemployment as the most important issue facing the United States. The gap between rich and poor was listed by 28 percent of those surveyed as most important, followed by social issues with 12 percent, with healthcare and terrorism/national security both weighing in at 10 percent.

Political identification
Players were also asked to identify their political affiliation. Fourty-nine percent of the surveyed indicated they were independent and not affiliated with any political party. Thirty-four percent identified themselves as being Democrats while 17 percent identified themselves as Republicans.

The poll was conducted from March 23 to March 26 and limited to U.S. residents only. 1,655 people were included.

I’m not going to take the results too seriously. The poll was fun and the results were interesting, but I’m hardly going to award Obama “the gamer vote.” Gamers encompass a wide range of people, spanning the full political spectrum. I suppose the one result that surprised (and disappointed) me was that MapleStory players don’t seem too concerned about healthcare reform.

Any of Nexon’s MapleStory poll results surprise you?

Coffee Talk #464: Aziz Ansari, Kickstarter, Creativity, and You

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 Situation’s prescription-drug problem, T-T-T-Tebow and the Jets, or wishing RPadholic Thundercracker a belated happy birthday, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Publishing content is getting awesomely cool. I’m sure that all of you have heard about the millions of dollars Double Fine and InXile Entertainment have raised to develop their games. Recently, Aziz Ansari has followed the steps of Louis CK and Jim Gaffigan by releasing a direct-to-Internet comedy special for $5. I love that creatives are using modern methods to find new ways to release content. This has been tried in the past (remember Public Enemy and Sellaband.com?), but new Internet services have made it more feasible.

Giving content creators more freedom is fantastic. Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying that publishers are evil. In many cases, publishers can help creators succeed by reigning them in and marketing them well. However, in some cases, publishers can get in the way and stifle creativity. I love that services like Kickstarter and the ease of selling video content on the Internet are giving creators more freedom and consumers new ways to enjoy their favorite artists. As someone that generally has problems with authority, I love that it takes power away from “The Man” (bonus!). This is, quite possibly, the start of a massive change in how content is created and consumed; it’s exciting and new (like Love Boat).

Are you as excited by modern methods of self-publishing as I am? Do you think that services like Kickstarter will lead to more self-published games and developer empowerment? Are you digging the crazy possibilities that can be had by giving creatives more freedom? Or do not care how your content as published, so long as you can get it? Kindly discuss in the comments section and let me know!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

It looks like it’s going to be another Final Fantasy weekend. I’m at the very end of both FF games I’m playing. In Final Fantasy Tactics for iPad, I’m at the point just before the last round of battles. Naturally, I’m spending my time leveling up characters, poaching for rare items, and enjoying the awesome “secret” characters (Balthier, Cloud, and Luso). Similarly, I’m at the end of Final Fantasy XIII-2, but I have no desire to end my adventure just yet. Instead, I’m wandering the lands for items to upgrade my monsters. The Pokemon-like aspect of the game is so much fun for me! Gotta catch (and upgrade) ’em all!!!

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