Tag: PC Gaming

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, Victor Ortiz’ excellent win over Andre Berto, when CC Sabathia will get his first win, or Chris Klein confirmed for the next American Pie sequel, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

While I was listening to David Jaffe talk about Twisted Metal last week, a journalist mumbled, “Sony should just cancel this franchise.” I thought the comment was rude and inappropriate. I’m also positive that the journalist didn’t say that to Jaffe during his on-camera interview. That said, his words stuck in my head. Are there gaming franchises that should be given the Old Yeller treatment?

Personally I’m against killing any established brand — even if it has been run into the ground. One of the things I’ve learned from comic books is that the right creators can revive any franchise. Hell, Kevin Smith made Green Arrow cool — a comic book about a rich guy with an Errol Flynn fascination, bad facial hair, and no superhuman powers.

What do you think? Are there any videogame franchises that should just be killed? Any sequels that make you go, “Please! For the love of God just stop!!!”

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, getting busy signals when you’re trying to vote for Paul McDonald, Kobe Bryant’s unfortunate language, or BlackBerry PlayBook reviews, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

People in the gaming business love creative games. Titles like Flower, Limbo, Braid, Swords and Sworcery, etc. are almost universally loved by people in the gaming the business. Some feel that these games deserve every bit of praise they get. Others feel that insiders get overly enamored with games that are different, simply because they’re different.

I think both are true to a certain degree. I adore Flower for its originality and uncanny resemblance to several dreams I’ve had. I also understand that most gamers are of the balls-and-guns variety — Madden and Halo are way more important to them than some artsy game with flower petals that may or may not be the result of too many marijuana brownies. I can count on writing about a Madden game or a Halo game every year or so, but a game like Flower is more exciting to write about because it’s atypical.

Do you think the gaming business is guilty of overrating and over-hyping creative games? Or should these titles be lauded for being refreshingly different? Do you like reading about and playing unique games from indie developers? Or would you rather stick to balls and guns?

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 wrath of Xenu, your NBA playoff predictions, or your favorite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Have you ever played games at an unusual place or an odd time? I’m talking about something that others might find inappropriate. Look at the picture above, for example. Three of my friends whipped out their Nintendo DS systems during a wedding. Some people would consider that rude. (To be fair, there was no alcohol at this wedding.) We honestly didn’t think anything of it, but the picture makes it seem a bit strange.

So how about it? Ever play games at a hopping bar or during a…I don’t know…a funeral? Perhaps you’ve interrupted a job interview to make a Scrabble move on your phone. Share your unusual gaming stories today (please)!

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 sucking at Fenway, my favorite American Idol 2011 contestant sleeping with Nikki Reed, or Liam Neeson getting cut from The Hangover 2, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I used to play a ton of sports games. In grade school, my friends and I devoured pretty much every NES, SNES, and Genesis sports game. My brother and I have a longtime rivalry in NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. My friend Justin and I played entire baseball seasons against each other in World Series Baseball and Frank Thomas’ Big Hurt Baseball for Saturn. Somewhere along the line, my sports gaming tapered off. These days, it’s such a tiny percentage of my yearly gaming.

So what caused such a drastic change in my gaming habits? Part of it was that I started writing about games for a living. While I enjoyed sports games, I always worked with someone that was way more into them than I was. Part of it was that as sports games became more realistic, they became less fun for me. Lastly, the vast majority of people I clicked with in the videogame journalist world were not sports gamers, so we never played together.

For some reason, this change in my gaming habits popped into my head over the weekend. I never really thought about it before. How have you changed as a gamer over the years? Are your gaming tastes the same as they were 10 or 15 years ago? Or are they drastically different? Kindly share your ch-ch-ch-changes as a gamer as you watch the David Bowie video below.

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’ new video, compilation, or your favorite Bangle, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

I recently finished The 3rd Birthday for a Machinima review. As a big fan of the first Parasaite Eve for PlayStation, I was really looking forward to the third game starring Aya Brea. While The 3rd Birthday isn’t bad by any means, I’m terribly disappointed in the game (aside from its ridiculously beautiful graphics). On paper, it should be one of the best PlayStation games ever made. Instead, it’s “only” good.

The 3rd Birthday has an interesting history to draw from, but the game mostly ignore its two predecessors. The lead character is the same and a few minor details  from the previous games are mentioned, but that’s about it. The game was directed by Hajime Tabata (director of Crisis Core) and written by Motomu Toriyama (event director of Final Fantasy X), with art from the brilliant Tetsuya Nomura. Aside from the stellar art, the game is pretty average. How could such an excellent team produce a game that’s just decent?!?

*sigh* Today I’m looking for people to hang out in the bitter barn with me. What are some of the most disappointing videogame sequels you’ve played? Why were they so disappointing? I’ll play some music by The Smiths for this miserable edition of Coffee Talk.