Tag: PC Gaming

What Are You Playing This Thanksgiving Weekend?

Thanksgiving has a special place in my heart as a long gaming weekend. I think I posted this story on G4tv — as a kid, I used to rent games the Wednesday before Thanksgiving since the local video store was closed for the holiday and I’d get a free day of rental. Ah…good times.

This weekend I really, really want to spend a chunk of time playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but I have a shoot in Chicago that will break up the time. Skyrim deserves days of uninterrupted attention. I received a code for the “Treasures of the Sun’ DLC for Dungeon Siege III. I’ll definitely be playing that. Perhaps it will make the perfect appetizer for Skyrim….

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

Coffee Talk #424: Your Black Friday Goals and Wishes

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are nearly here! The next week is going to be nuts for brick-and-mortar stores as well as online retailers. Today I wanted to see if there are any deals you’re looking for. Are you hoping to snag some great games for a…

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 awesome Dan Henderson vs. Mauricio Hua right at UFC 139, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s return to the ring, or the ESRB starting a new rating system for mobile software, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are nearly here! The next week is going to be nuts for brick-and-mortar stores as well as online retailers. Today I wanted to see if there are any deals you’re looking for. Are you hoping to snag some great games for a cheap price? Perhaps you’re in the market for a new console. Maybe you want a new phone, tablet, or other consumer electronics device? Kindly share your Black Friday/Cyber Monday goals and wishes with your fellow RPadholics.

As for me, I’m actually going to be on a Black Friday shoot in Chicago. Paying me was pretty much the only way you’d get me to a shopping mall on Black Friday. I greatly prefer online shopping. I’ll be keeping an eye out for deals of all sorts, but the only thing I’m really looking for is a soundbar. I don’t have enough room for a full 5.1 or 7.1 system. A soundbar would be a step up from my TV speakers without taking up too much space.

Now it’s your turn! Kindly share your Black Friday wish list. Are there any stores you’re going to be scoping out? Any of you going to brave the midnight opening?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I so want to be playing Skyrim this weekend, but I have a shoot in Chicago. Yes, it’s another one of those trips that has me spending more time in the air than on the ground. Good thing I enjoy flying. I’ll be counting on iOS games to entertain me in the friendly skies. The usual suspects of Civilization Revolution, Quarrel Deluxe, and Jetpack Joyride will be joined by newcomer TubeHero. It’s a cool music/rhythm game with futuristic graphics. Think of it as Guitar Hero meets Wipeout. Plus, the name totally cracks me up. I can picture Beavis and Butt-Head giggling for hours saying, “TubeHero.”

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

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

This weekend will be all about the PlayStation 3 for me. My copy of Disgaea 4 finally arrived (thanks Ted!) and I can’t wait to jump into it. I love, love, love tactical RPGs and it has been way too long since I’ve enjoyed one. That changes this weekend. Hopefully I’ll have time for The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection too. I love that a whole new generation of gamers will get to experience ICO. Hell, I’m glad I get to experience it again!

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

Razer Chimaera 5.1 Wireless Gaming Headset Review

Here’s a video review of the Razer Chimaera 5.1 wireless gaming headset. Although it can be used with any console or PC, it only allows for chat on Xbox 360. It’s a high-quality product from Razer, a company that’s known some of the best mice and keyboards for gamers…

Here’s a video review of the Razer Chimaera 5.1 wireless gaming headset. Although it can be used with any console or PC, it only allows for chat on Xbox 360. It’s another  high-quality product from Razer, a company that’s known some of the best mice and keyboards for gamers.

Here’s the Cliff Notes version:

Like

  • Super Comfortable — I wore the Chimaera for several gaming sessions of two hours or more and found it perfectly comfortable the whole time.
  • Great Sound — Although it’s not as impressive as headsets with multiple drivers, I really enjoyed the sound output. At the very least, it blows away TV speakers in terms of clarity and detail.

Didn’t Like

  • Microphone — The mic isn’t noise-cancelling, which could be a deal breaker for gamers that play in crowded living rooms, doorms, etc.
  • Possible Interference — I’m positive that interference won’t be an issue for most people, but if you live in a crowded apartment complex (like me) with lots of 5.8GHz devices fighting for signal then you’ll probably experience occasional dropouts. At home, I experienced a few dropouts but when I brought the Chimaera to my friend’s house in the suburbs I didn’t have any.

Kindly watch the review when you have a chance and let me know what you think! Is the Razer Chimaera 5.1 something you want this holiday season?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’d love to be playing games on my home consoles this weekend, but I’m flying off to Boston for a quick shoot. I’ll use the airplane time to play some Jetpack Joyride, Civilization Revolution, and Scribblenauts Remix on my iPad 2. I’ll catch up on some movies as well. You guys and dolls have any movie recommendations for me?

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

Ken Levine Talks Occupy Wall Street and BioShock Infinite

The Washington Post has a great interview with Irrational Games creative director and co-founder Ken Levine. Similarities between BioShock Infinite and the Occupy Wall Street movement are discussed. I highly recommend giving it a full read; it’s a fantastic interview with one of the sharpest minds in game development…

The Washington Post has a great interview with Irrational Games creative director and co-founder Ken Levine. Similarities between BioShock Infinite and the Occupy Wall Street movement are discussed. I highly recommend giving it a full read; it’s a fantastic interview with one of the sharpest minds in game development.

One curious aside in the interview is Levine talking about BioShock Infinite getting heat from leftists and white supremacists alike. Check it out:

The games tend to be a Rorschach for people, and I’ve heard both sides of reaction [to the demo]. I had the displeasure of going to a white supremacist site that made a point of saying this game by “the Jew” Ken Levine was about killing white people. But then I went to this leftist site that said this is about discrediting leftists movements. Games, as I said, are a Rorschach, and I don’t want to be making games that are expressing a political or philosophical view.

For some reason, in my head I hear a white supremacist calling him “the Jew Ken Levine” similar to how South Park’s Eric Cartman says “that damn Jew Kyle”. Though perhaps that’s just me….

Anyway, head on over to The Washington Post, enjoy the interview, and let me know what you think (please).

Source

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures continues to be fun for me. In my head, I know that all the characters are already in the game, but it’s fun imagining that you’re bringing action figures to life through the game’s Portal of Power (which for some reason reminds me of WWE’s Nation of Domination). I definitely want to give The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus  more time…well, the first half anyway. I really liked Shadow, but I loved ICO. Lastly, I think I’ll give X-Men: Destiny a whirl. I know that the game got bad reviews, but I’m a fan of Silicon Knights and want to check out the company’s work.

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

Coffee Talk #417: Developers Setting Their Own Game Pricing

Epic Games president Mike “Busta” Capps is wise, handsome, and charming. In a recent interview with Develop, he proposed the idea of game developers setting their own prices for games and downloadable content. Capps said…

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, Steve Jobs creating the iPad out of spite, Lindsay Lohan in Playboy, or your favorite streaming television app, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Epic Games president Mike “Busta” Capps is wise, handsome, and charming. In a recent interview with Develop, he proposed the idea of game developers setting their own prices for games and downloadable content. Capps said, “Right now we’re not even allowed to change the prices of virtual content. We’re not even allowed to set the prices. I just don’t think this protectionist approach is going to be successful in a world where the price of virtual items changes on a day-to-day basis. Double-A games will never come back unless we get rid of this notion of a game being $60 or not released. The console manufacturers need to let this happen.”

It’s an excellent idea that could be fantastic…or terrible. Certainly it’s ridiculous that some crap motion game has the same price as Gears of War 3. One argument is that price should reflect a game’s budget and/or quality. The counter to that argument is the movie business. A ticket to a small-budget indie-film costs the same as one to a mega-million Michael Bay monstrosity.

Then there’s the fact that some developers would find a way to screw up game pricing. Certainly larger companies with a lot of experience or smaller companies with savvy executives would find a way to get the most out of flexible game pricing. However, I expect there would be just as many cases of developers setting unreasonable or unrealistic prices because they’re too attached to their creations. Gaming is still a relatively young business and I think that its immaturity would show up if developers could price their on wares. Publishers are often viewed (sometimes unfairly) as an evil force in the gaming business, but the suits have their uses.

What do you think of Capps’ idea? Can you envision a world where game developers price their own software? Would you prefer flexible game pricing over a rigid system? What benefits and perils do you see with having developers price their own games?