Lots of goodies are supposed to come my way this weekend. My copy of The ICO and Shadow of the Colossus Collection should come today. My friend from Sony is supposed to drop off Disgaea 4 on Saturday. I’m super psyched to play them both. I also have to play more Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures for Machinima.com. I’m enjoying that game way more than I thought I would…but the toys take up way too much space.
How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?
With the rumor of Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio Auditore da Firenze set for an appearance in Soulcalibur V, I was thinking about videogame crossovers and cameos. There have been so many great ones over the years! Bill Clinton in NBA Jam…
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, Hulk Hogan taking back bumps after eight back surgeries, RIM’s BlackBerry BBX OS, or the Red Sox ordering Popeye’s fried chicken during games, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
With the rumor of Assassin’s Creed’s Ezio Auditore da Firenze set for an appearance in Soulcalibur V, I was thinking about videogame crossovers and cameos. There have been so many great ones over the years! Bill Clinton in NBA Jam, Mega Man in Dead Rising, Michael Jackson in Space Channel 5, Solid Snake in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and Spider-Man in Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2 immediately come to mind. Last year I had a blast playing as a Helghast from Killzone in Hot Shots Tennis. Crossovers are cool.
The Soulcalibur series has my favorite videogame crossovers of all time. Soulcalibur II had Link from The Legend of Zelda and Todd McFarlane’s Spawn! Soulcalibur IV had Darth Vader and Yoda from Star Wars! Those inclusions caused me to mark out as a Zelda, comic book, and Star Wars fanboy. It was almost nerd overload, but I thoroughly enjoyed playing as those characters. So cool.
Now it’s your turn! What are some of your favorite videogame cameos and crossovers?
Blizzard has announced an awesome charity auction that will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. Starting October 17, 2011 gamers will get a chance to win retired World of Warcraft server blades. The server blades were done up commemorative style and signed by members of the WoW team in order to make them some of the coolest pieces of videogame-nerd art the world has ever seen. Here’s a clip from the press release:
Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. announced a series of special charity auctions featuring server-blade hardware that was originally used during the early days of the company’s award-winning massively multiplayer online role-playing game, World of Warcraft. Game enthusiasts around the world will get a unique chance to own a piece of World of Warcraft history — original HP BladeSystem servers that once housed hundreds of different realms across North America and Europe. The net proceeds from the auction will benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, one of the world’s premier centers for the research and treatment of pediatric cancer and other catastrophic childhood diseases.
In total, approximately 2,000 of the original server blades from about 500 different World of Warcraft realms will be auctioned. The server blades will each be contained in a custom windowed case featuring the World of Warcraft logo and offering a view of the computer hardware inside. They will also come with a commemorative plaque signed by the World of Warcraft team, making each one a true collector’s item.
This auction rules on so many levels. I love that Blizzard is hosting an auction for a great charity. It gives me warm fuzzies and makes me proud to be a Blizzard gamer. On a purely superficial level, I can’t get over how cool these server blades are. If I win the lottery tomorrow then I’ll bid on all of them. I will make a geek wall of awesomeness that’s full of retired WoW server blades. It’ll be awesome!
For more info on the charity auction, go here.
This weekend I’m going to mess with some Orlesians and wyverns in the Mark of the Assassin expansion pack for Dragon Age II. I played through it once to enjoy all the story elements and would like to give it another go so that I can solve all of the intricate puzzles. Aside from some annoying stealth elements, I enjoyed it…despite Felicia Day’s character. On the portable side, I’ve been enjoying Scribblenauts on my iPad 2. I love Scribblenauts. I love my iPad 2. This is an excellent combination. Yay 5th Cell!
How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?
Several Sony only services have been attacked, potentially compromising thousands of PlayStation Network and Sony Online Entertainment accounts. Sony estimates that up to 93,000 accounts have potentially been affected by the cyber attack (I wanted to use the word “cyber”. Sue me.). Here’s more from Sony Chief Information Security Office Philip Retinger:
Less than one tenth of one percent (0.1%) of our PSN, SEN and SOE audience may have been affected. There were approximately 93,000 accounts globally (PSN/SEN: approximately 60,000 accounts; SOE: approximately 33,000) where the attempts succeeded in verifying those accounts’ valid sign-in IDs and passwords, and we have temporarily locked these accounts. Only a small fraction of these 93,000 accounts showed additional activity prior to being locked. We are currently reviewing those accounts for unauthorized access, and will provide more updates as we have them. Please note, if you have a credit card associated with your account, your credit card number is not at risk. We will work with any users whom we confirm have had unauthorized purchases made to restore amounts in the PSN/SEN or SOE wallet.
The good news is that Sony picked this up early, a small percentage of accounts were affected, and credit card numbers were not at risk. That bad news is that some knob is walking around as your DC Universe Online character and tarnishing your good name. I kid, I kid.
Seriously though, head on over to the source link below if you’re worried about your account(s).
I love “new game+” modes. To me, they’re a nice reward for beating the game. I love being able to replay an RPG with all the equipment and powers I’ve earned. There’s something gratifying about going through a 40-hour RPG in 1/4 the time…
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, how to react when being told you’re overqualified, the future of standalone compact cameras, or walk-off grand-slams, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
I love “new game+” modes. To me, they’re a nice reward for beating the game. I love being able to replay an RPG with all the equipment and powers I’ve earned. There’s something gratifying about going through a 40-hour RPG in 1/4 the time thanks to the use of ridiculous weapons and crazy powers. If it were up to me, every game would have a “new game+” mode.
To my amazement, some of my friends don’t enjoy these modes. To them, there’s nothing fun about plowing through a game unchallenged. They think it’s boring and unsatisfying. Beating a game that way feels cheap and hollow to them.
What’s your stance on “new game+”? Do you enjoy it? Do you think it’s cheap? Perhaps it’s cheap and enjoyable? Leave a comment and let me know (please!).
Check out this awesome spoof video of Siri voice control for the Apple iPhone 4S. Adding GLaDOS from Portal gives the new iPhone 4S an entirely different kind of service. I want a phone with GLaDOSiri!!!
For some reason, I feel like playing Final Fantasy Tactics this weekend. I suppose the reasons are that it’s my favorite game of all time and I’m a mark for Yasumi Matsuno. Perhaps part of me is preparing for the iPad version of the game to be released, hoping that it’s much better than the iPhone version. Whatever the case, it’s going to be my PSP and me on FFT! Also, Jetpack Joyride and Civlization: Revolution are still getting daily play on my iPad 2.
How about you? What’s on your weekend playlist?
At Adobe’s MAX 2011 conference, Epic Games showed off Unreal Engine 3 running in real time inside Flash Player 11. Here are two videos of the live demonstration. The graphics look detailed and everything appears to be running at a smooth frame rate. Unreal Engine on Flash has tremendous potential and could drastically change the gaming landscape. Before I get into that, here’s a clip from Epic’s community site:
Flash Player is a key technology for gaming on social networks and the Web, and with UE3 will usher in the leap from 2D game experiences to world-class 3D gaming on the Web. Developers can now animate millions of objects with smooth 60 frames per second rendering and deliver console-quality games on Mac OS, Windows and connected televisions.
I’ve been working with people from Epic for more than a decade. It’s been interesting watching the company start out in the PC space, move into consoles, and enter mobile gaming. I’ve always been impressed with the company and several of its executives. With that in mind, this bit of news floored me. I wasn’t expecting it…and I certainly wasn’t expecting anything this good-looking.
Most of you know that Flash games are tremendously popular. Most of you also know that Flash games typically look like caveman sketches compared to the top PC and console games. Unreal Engine 3 on Flash can change all that. Can you imagine playing a Flash game that looks as good as what’s currently in your Xbox 360? In the immortal words of Brian Fellow, “That’s crazy!!!”
In addition to improving the visual quality of Flash games, Unreal Engine support for Flash gives smaller developers another avenue. Due to the huge budgets and teams required to make a big console or PC title, a lot of independent developers have been taking their talents to South Beach iOS, Android, Facebook, etc. I can see a lot of indie devs using Epic’s tools and taking Flash games to new heights. Bejeweled is great and all, but I love the idea of a full-featured action-RPG running on Flash. Half of me wants to get an office job just so I can goof off on Unreal Engine Flash games instead of working!
When you have a chance, check out the videos and let me know what you think of Unreal Engine 3 support for Adobe Flash. Do you think it’s as huge a deal as I think it is?
Today’s Coffee Talk is brought to you by RPadholic N8R. During a Google+ messenger chat he asked, “What is the most recognizable videogame sound ever?” What a fantastic question! Gameplay, graphics, music, and story are…
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 Yankees’ fate resting in the mentally deficient brain of AJ Burnett, Hank Williams, Jr. comparing President Obama to Adolf Hitler, or the awesome nerd buzz before Apple press conference, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.
Today’s Coffee Talk is brought to you by RPadholic N8R. During a Google+ messenger chat he asked, “What is the most recognizable videogame sound ever?” What a fantastic question! Gameplay, graphics, music, and story are definitely a huge part of games, but its often short sound effects that stay with us forever. Decades after I first heard them, sound effects from Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda are still stuck in my head.
If I mention the sound of Mario getting a coin or getting a power-up or getting an extra life, I’m positive that the vast majority of you know what I’m talking about. The same goes for Zelda sounds. I’m certain that most of you know the sound of Link getting a new item or unlocking a secret. At Nintendo’s E3 2011 presser, the audience totally marked out when the orchestra played Zelda sounds. Hell, the liberal use of Zelda sounds is part of why Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is so charming.
So what say you? Answer N8R’s question and name the most recognizable videogame sounds ever (please)!
