Tag: PC Gaming

Coffee Talk #370: What’s the Oldest Game You Still Play?

What’s the oldest game you still play? I’m not talking about remakes or downloads of old games. I’m talking about a game that you still have the original cartridge or disc for. Do you even play old games like that?

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, Scarlett Johansson breaking up with Sean Penn, fights with CSS stylesheets, or hoping the Google Nexus Prime will be endorsed by Optimus Prime, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

What’s the oldest game you still play? I’m not talking about remakes or downloads of old games. I’m talking about a game that you still have the original cartridge or disc for. Do you even play old games like that? Or are you all current gen?

As for me, I still play Final Fantasy: Tactics Advance (2003) every few weeks or so. As many of you know, I love the FFT series and portable gaming. FFTA was pretty much made for me and I’ll be keeping my DS Lite around for years so that I can keep playing it (…or until a downloadable version is released for the 3DS).

So how about you? What’s the oldest game you still play?

Valve Updates Team Fortress 2 to a Freemium Game

In an interesting and potentially brilliant move, Valve has made the highly popular Team Fortress 2 a free-to-play game. Gamers can play for free, but can also spend money — through Steam, naturally — on premium items.

The gambit is part of a huge shift in gaming; a lot of franchises are trying to evolve from boxed goods to games-plus-services. While Valve’s strategy is quite different from what Activision plans to do with Call of Duty and what Electronic Arts has planned for Battlefield, Team Fortress 2 shifting to a freemium model is another sign that the times are changing.

What do you guys and dolls think of Team Fortress 2 becoming a free-to-play game? Are you more or less interested in the game now that it’s freemium?

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What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m super tempted to start The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D this weekend, but I should save it for an upcoming trip to Hawaii. If I can fend off temptation for another week, I’ll be spending most of this weekend playing Dungeon Siege III. As noted in my review, the game is full of flaws — especially the crap multiplayer — but I’m still having fun with the solo campaign.

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

Read My Dungeon Siege III Review (Please)!

My review of Dungeon Siege III is up at Machinima.com. Please check it out and leave a comment if you have a moment. I enjoyed the single-player mode; it’s a fun, by-the-books action-RPG similar to Baldur’s Gate: Dark Alliance. The graphics are dated, but I still enjoyed hacking, slashing, and looting. Unfortunately, the game’s multiplayer is a wreck. It uses a limited system that doesn’t allow character importing and exporting. What the hell?!?

Anyway, here’s a clip from the review:

As a single-player game, Dungeon Siege III succeeds as a fun action-RPG. It doesn’t offer anything particularly new, but gamers that enjoy hacking and looting by themselves should have fun. As a multiplayer game, Dungeon Siege III is disappointing. Its inability to import and export characters limits the amount of fun, and the likely level of enthusiasm anyone will want to commit to the mode. Obsidian Entertainment did an acceptable job at advancing the Dungeon Siege franchise, but like the company’s other sequels, it did not take the franchise to new heights.

It’s a good game, but it could have been great.

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Coffee Talk #367: Hidden Coins and Smashing Barrels

I’ve been having lots of fun playing Dungeon Siege III for the last week, but some of its old-school RPG conventions are…comical. For example, I smashed hundreds of barrels and pots looking 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, the congressional bill that looks to battle bogus 4G claims, Mark Cuban buying a baseball team, or the 2011 NBA draft, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I’ve been having lots of fun playing Dungeon Siege III for the last week, but some of its old-school RPG conventions are…comical. For example, I smashed hundreds of barrels and pots looking for treasure. Why do people leave weapons and coins in barrels? Why do heroes think it’s okay to smash every barrel they see? Are you given a license to smash every barrel you choose when you’re issued a sword and shield? Hell, at several points in the game I was thinking, “You know, if I lived in the kingdom of Ehb, I’d make barrels and pots. With all these a-hole heroes smashing them, there would always be a demand. I’d be frickin’ loaded!!!”

Then there’s the matter of monsters dropping coins. Whether it’s poisonous slug creatures or a giant spiders, all the monsters in Dungeon Siege III drop coins (and sometimes weapons). This was understandable in 1996. In 2011, it seems silly. Why are monsters carrying around loose change? Where do they put the coins? Do they hide them in their rectum or silk glands? Do monsters think they can walk up to local merchants and buy things with their gold?

In 2004, InXile made fun of several RPG conventions with the awesomely tongue-in-cheek The Bard’s Tale. Seven years later, developers are still using these design techniques. I wonder what year it will be when RPGs are free or barrel smashing and hidden coins in monsters? Will I live to see the day?

Are there any old game design techniques that irk you because they should have stopped being used a long time ago? Or are you content to smash barrels and pots in games for the rest of your life?

Tomb Raider Dives Into Lara Croft’s Past, Shows Bright Future

Although Lara Croft is the first lady of modern gaming, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted games have supplanted Tomb Raider as the best action-adventure videogame series. Square Enix has Lara set for a huge comeback by delving into her past. The upcoming Tomb Raider game stars a young Lara Croft as she embarks on her first adventure. From what I saw at E3 2011, it looks like Lara will be taken to new heights by going in a very different direction.

From the gameplay I was shown, as well as the beautiful intro movies, it’s clear that Lara has been trained but hasn’t been battle tested. She’s capable, but not yet confident. I liked seeing the vulnerable side of her character…though she did a bit too much moaning and whining when she was attacked. There were times I wasn’t sure if she was under duress or on the verge of an orgasm.

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The gameplay had plenty of exploration and puzzle solving — two hallmarks of the Tomb Raider series. Exploring the caverns and outdoor areas was lots of fun. The graphics I saw were beautiful and it was a pleasure watching someone else play the game. The early puzzles I saw played up fire and water. Lara would have to manage her torch (stop thinking about her managing your torch) and relight as necessary. The caverns were full of streams and pools, making torch management an interesting gameplay facet.

While I didn’t get to see any of Lara’s famous gunplay, I saw her engage in a number fights using her limbs, a dagger, and a bow (with arrows…duh!). The back-to-basics fighting was appropriate for the early portion of the game as she was freshly shipwrecked, but I imagine she’ll be dual-wielding pistols towards the end of her adventure.

A lot of the fight scenes implemented quick time events. The amount of them surprised me. The developers are trying to give the combat a cinematic feel while also appealing to casual gamers that are familiar with the Tomb Raider brand. It’s an interesting gambit that potentially gives the game a broader appeal and also differentiates it from a more traditional title like Uncharted.

My demo session of Tomb Raider left me wanting more. The graphics were impressive, the story was interesting, young Lara is hot, the puzzle gameplay looked like fun, and the combat was different. My chief concern at this time is the combat. It was definitely atypical, but it wasn’t as fun to watch as the other facets of gameplay. Will the fighting be fun to play? That’s what I want to know…and I’m willing to watch Lara Croft for hours in order to find out.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m almost done with my review run of Dungeon Siege III for Machinima, so I think I’ll start a new game on my personal account. If any of you want to beat up some villains and grab some treasure with me (in the game, not in real life), please let me know.

Aside from that, I expect to pick up a bunch of new games for my iPad 2. EA and Gameloft are having Father’s Day sales. A lot of great stuff will be slashed to high heaven.

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

My Personal Top 5 Games of E3 2011

Here’s a video with my top five games of E3 2011. Please check it out! Also, please keep in mind that my list was restricted to games that I officially saw. Some developer friends snuck me into demos that I wasn’t scheduled to see and I don’t want to get anyone in trouble. Having said that, there’s only one game I “unofficially” saw that would’ve cracked my personal top five.

Now that you know my top five games of E3 2011, kindly let me know your top five of the show!

Coffee Talk #364: Quick Time Events and You

I don’t know that gamers are clamoring for more quick time events, but developers are implementing them into more and more games. One explanation I heard is that developers…

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, Intelligentsia’s Honduras La Tortuga, Heat bashing taking away from Dallas’ victory, or Jeter’s interrupted march to 3,000 hits, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I was talking about the proliferation of quick time events with some industry friends. The trend is curious. I don’t know that gamers are clamoring for more quick time events, but developers are implementing them into more and more games. One explanation I heard is that developers like quick time events because they keep players engaged. During cinematic sequences, gamers interact with the scene instead of just watching it.

This doesn’t work for me for two reasons. Firstly, I’ve been conditioned to enjoy cutscenes as a reward. Cinematic sequences are a nice treat for finishing a level or a chunk of a game. Secondly, during quick time events I get so focused on the area of the screen with the button commands that I block out the rest of the graphics. For me it’s more enjoyable to sit back and watch a beautiful scene instead of pressing simple button commands to interact with it…

…but that’s just me. What about you? How do you feel about quick time events? Do you love ’em? Do you hate ’em? Or are they just kind of…there? What do you think of them being implemented into more games and more genres?

Coffee Talk #363: E3 2011 Takeaways

E3 2011 is over! Today I wanted to talk about general trends, random observations, and closing thoughts on E3 2011. Naturally, I want to hear about your thoughts on this year’s show as well. Let’s get to it!

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, seven-foot Germans crying tears of joy, taking your talents to South Beach and beating the home team, or LeBron being more Scottie Pippen than Michael Jordan, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

E3 2011 is over! It was a glorious show (as always) and my head is still overflowing with awesome games I saw last week. Tomorrow we’ll talk about the top games of the show. Today I wanted to talk about general trends, random observations, and closing thoughts on E3 2011. Naturally, I want to hear about your thoughts on this year’s show as well. Let’s get to it!

– A lot of games at E3 2011 featured quick time events. I was surprised by how many games — spanning all sorts of genres — implemented QTEs. I’ve never heard gamers crying out for more QTEs. I suppose this helps games reach more people since QTEs add a cinematic feel and simple controls.

– Microsoft and Nintendo are trading places. Microsoft emphasized the casual market with Kinect. Disneyland Adventures and Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster are not for enthusiast gamers, but I expect both to do monster numbers. Nintendo is going in a different direction with the Wii U. The company’s success with the original Wii was all about simplicity and accessibility. The Wii U controller is far more complex and geared towards a different type of customer.

– Developers have longer memories than PR people. I was able to sneak into several demos and cut quite a few lines thanks to people I’ve met before. A middling amount of PR people assisted me with this. The majority of help came from developers. It’s curious that a higher percentage of developers were more interested in me seeing their new game than PR reps. I realize that I’m one guy from a very small site and that my name isn’t as valuable as it used to be, but I still found it all…amusing. I do appreciate everyone that helped me check out games I wasn’t scheduled to see at E3 2011.

– Surprises are a thing of the past. Thanks to the aggressive nature of blogging and a tightly controlled PR cycle, there weren’t any huge game surprises at E3 2011. There were certainly a lot of great and good games, but all of them have been reported on before. For me, the only major surprise was the price of the PlayStation Vita. I only found out about that the day before it was announced, thanks to a developer friend from Japan. I expect this trend to continue in future shows. I expect that there will only be a handful of big surprises at the next few E3 events.

– Indie developers are getting more stroke. It was cool seeing Queasy Games get so much attention with Sound Shapes for Vita. The same goes for Supergiant Games with Bastion for Xbox Live Arcade. It’s brilliant that new platforms and delivery methods are making it easier for independent game developers to get some attention.

What trends did you notice from the outside looking in? I’m sure you have a cool and unique perspective on what happened at E3 2011. Please share your thoughts!