Tag: PC Gaming

Morrigan to Return in Dragon Age II?

BioWare appeared to set up Dragon Age: Origins’ Morrigan’s final fate in the (incredibly disappointing) “Witch Hunt” DLC, but it looks like the wicked witch will be back in Dragon Age II. Lead designer Mike Laidlaw told NowGamer:

Morrigan’s story’s not over even after the Witch Hunt DLC, and although I can’t go too far into it, I can say that she’s not done with this world by any stretch of the imagination.

I’m hoping for something meaningful for Morrigan in Dragon Age II. I had tremendous expectations for “Witch Hunt” and was so let down by the storytelling. Is that redemption I sense???

Anyway, let me know what you think Morrigan will be up to in Dragon Age II.

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Coffee Talk #223: Do You Buy Complete Editions?

With Dragon Age: Origins Ultimate Editions and Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete revealed in the last week, I’ve been thinking about “collected” editions of videogames. With DLC being so new, it’s a relatively new practice to offer a disc that contains the full game and all the released online content. It’s a great value, but I don’t think I’ll ever buy one. If I’m interested in a game, I’ll snatch it up before it gets old enough to be collected. Bundling it with a bunch of DLC and other goodies isn’t enough to push me to buy a game I wasn’t sure about, no matter the value.

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 crap-ass Red Sox buying crap-ass Livepool, Intelligentsia’s Kenya Karimikui, or getting excited for an event in February 2011, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

With Dragon Age Origins: Ultimate Edition and Grand Theft Auto IV: Complete revealed in the last week, I’ve been thinking about “collected” editions of videogames. With DLC being so new, it’s a relatively new practice to offer a disc that contains the full game and all the released online content. I’m curious to see where these things go and how they’ll affect future bundles.

Complete editions are a great value, but I don’t think I’ll ever buy one. If I’m interested in a game, I’ll snatch it up before it gets old enough to be collected. Bundling games with a bunch of DLC and other goodies isn’t enough to push me to buy a game I wasn’t sure about, no matter the value. Besides, game prices almost always drop in a matter of months, so it’s not too big a deal to wait things out.

What do you think of these complete editions? Does the value appeal to you? Are there any that you plan on buying? Will this practice make you wait on buying a game?

Coffee Talk #222: Cliffy B…the Movie?!?

Lots of my friends are going nuts over The Social Network — you know, that movie about Facebook and its brilliant-but-devious co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. It’s kind of nuts that a relatively new and geeky phenomenon spawned a movie that brought together Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and Justin Timberlake. It’s also very cool. The next logical step, of course, is a movie about a videogame company. In the year 2015 I want to see:

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, Bryan Danielson busting out cattle mutilation last night, the Yankees blowing home-field advantage, or Shia LeBeouf vs. Frankie Muniz, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Lots of my friends are going nuts over The Social Network — you know, that movie about Facebook and its brilliant-but-devious co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. It’s kind of nuts that a relatively new and geeky phenomenon spawned a movie that brought together Aaron Sorkin, David Fincher, and Justin Timberlake. It’s also very cool. The next logical step, of course, is a movie about a videogame company. In the year 2015 I want to see:

Watching the Gears Go Round: The Cliff Bleszinski Story

I love Cliff. I think he’s a fun and fascinating man that would be a great subject for a motion picture. I also have lots of old (and possibly naughty) stories to sell the movie’s scriptwriters, which might be the only way I’ll ever make money in Los Angeles.

Seriously though, now that a Facebook movie is out, I want a frickin’ videogame-company movie! Today’s game is a two-parter. What publisher or developer would you want to see on the big screen? How about a specific game designer or publishing executive? Oh hell, let’s make this a three-parter! I’ll send out a special prize to the person that makes the most creative movie title starring Bobby Kotick!!!

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’m done playing Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light for review…but that doesn’t mean I’m finished with the game. I still have one more optional tower to conquer and two more jobs to unlock. I’ll try to wrap that up this weekend. I’ll also be spending lots of time with the T-Mobile G2 by HTC. Playing with a new gadget counts as “playing”, yeah?

Et vous? What’s on your weekend playlist?

GameCrush is Live: Pay Girls to Play With You Now!!!

Way back in March I wrote about GameCrush, an online service that lets male gamers pay for the privilege of playing games with women. The latest version of the service is live and…interesting. Here’s a clip from the official blog:

Want to take your game to the next level? Enter a private, video-enabled game session and you can find a PlayDate to play practically ANY multiplayer console game out there. You can play open-ended games, co-op games, and, of course, competitive games, too. Want to kick back with something more casual? GameCrush also offers web-based games at the click of a button. Private game sessions start at $.60 per minute with discounts for buying more credits at one time. Remember, buying a game session is an optional activity and not required to be part of the GameCrush community. And we only charge for the credits you buy, with no hidden costs and no recurring fees.

Have you seen any interesting pictures or profiles on the site? Any of you going to take the plunge and go on a Gamecrush date? Don’t all raise your hands at once. (I can’t actually see your hands, fyi.)

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ATVI vs. EA: Does Trash Talking Embarrass the Videogame Biz?

I don’t know about you, but I’m thoroughly entertained by the executive trash talking between Activision and Electronic Arts. Veteran game journalist Chris Morris — former CNN.com editor and current Gamasutra editor-at-large — feels that it’s bad for the gaming business, recently posting an article called “Opinion: Why Activision & EA’s Feud Embarrasses The Game Industry“. Really?!?

Apple and Google have been exchanging barbs for the last year or so. Did that embarrass the tech industry? Former Nokia exec Anssi Vanjoki equated handset makers using Google Android to a kid peeing in his pants to get temporary relief from frigid weather (I love the Finnish sense of humor, btw). Did that embarrass the mobile phone business? In both cases, I don’t think any rational person would think less of either industry and the trash talking got some attention from people that normally don’t care about either field. I believe the children are our future that EA Jeff Brown blasting ATVI Bobby Kotick had the same effect.

That’s just my opinion. What’s yours? Do you think executive trash talking is bad for the business? Do you think it’s good for it? Or are the words just meaningless?

[Confession: I was originally going to call this article “Opinion: Chris Morris is a Pussy”. That would have been way funnier, but some people would have interpreted it as disrespect. I honestly respect Morris’ opinion. I just disagree with his recent editorial. Besides, this is really about ATVI vs. EA.]

EA Vice President Rips Activision CEO Bobby Kotick

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick recently took a jab at rival Electronic Arts, accusing the company of killing the unique cultures of the development studios it acquires. EA has responded with some awesomely catty comments. VP of corporate communications Jeff Brown told Gamasutra:

Kotick’s relationship with studio talent is well documented in litigation. His company is based on three game franchises –one is a fantastic persistent world he had nothing to do with; one is in steep decline; and the third is in the process of being destroyed by Kotick’s own hubris.

Man, this is getting good. I’m hoping that the trash talking between Activision and EA will result in a dance competition or an MMA fight between company execs. The event could be held at The ESA’s Nite to Unite charity dinner. It would be the most entertaining event of the year!

What do you think of all the mud slinging between EA and Activision?

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Coffee Talk #220: Classic Gaming Conventions That Don’t Fly in 2010

As some of you know, I’ve been playing Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light to review for another site. I’m mostly enjoying the game. It’s an old-school RPG with a job system — I love both of those things. Having said that, there are several aspects of the game that are acceptable to me as a longtime RPG player, but would probably irk the hell out of newer gamers.

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 wonderful meats at M-Grill, the excellent Lodi Vineyards Rapture Cabernet P Andy shared with me, or if you’re going to see The Social Network, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As some of you know, I’ve been playing Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light to review for another site. I’m mostly enjoying the game. It’s an old-school RPG with a job system — I love both of those things. Having said that, there are several aspects of the game that are acceptable to me as a longtime RPG player, but would probably irk the hell out of newer gamers.

For example, there are several dungeons that are a cakewalk until the boss fight. If you don’t have the right armor and/or weapons equipped then the boss fights are super challenging at best and irritatingly impossible at worst. You can teleport back to the nearest village to get the right gear, but then you have to slog through the entire dungeon again. With all the hand holding and linearity in today’s games, I think a lot of players will find this unacceptable. Stuff like this was fine in 1993, but I don’t think it works in 2010.

Have you had any similar experiences recently? Are there any games you’ve played in the last year that use mechanics that should have been left in the ’90s? Have you played anything that’s crossed the line between classic and antiquated? Now’s the time to whine about old-school videogame conventions!

Coffee Talk #219: Will Games Get Cheaper (with Expensive DLC)?

THQ CEO Brian Farrell told CVG that games will likely be cheaper in the future, but with more downloadable content. He believes that the initial version of the game will cost between $29 to $39, but more and more features will be downloadable add-ons. He told CVG:

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, Lindsay Lohan heading to the slammer (again), United Nations delegates walking out on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, or Katy Perry’s boobs being too saucy for Sesame Street, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell told CVG that games will likely be cheaper in the future, but with more downloadable content. He believes that the initial version of the game will cost between $29 to $39, but more and more features will be downloadable add-ons. He told CVG:

I’m a big believer in monetising under the curve, so we capture that $29 to $39 user no matter what, and a person that wants to spend $100 on the product can do so as well. I think that’s the future of gaming — whether it’s this model or a take on the free-to-play model. It’s where our industry is going.

I’m not sure if this is where the industry is going, but I can see publishers experimenting with it in certain genres. I also see enthusiast gamers getting extremely angry about this practice…and doing nothing about it.

What do you think of this business model? Would you mind getting a stripped down version of a game for less money? Do you care that more features would have to be purchased online? Is this smart business? Or is it Kotickian?

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

I’ve beaten the main game in Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, but I haven’t saved it yet. I want to go back and beat the four optional towers. In addition to 100 floors of randomness, they’re filled with excellent treasure and new jobs. Two of the towers are down — giving me the ninja and sage jobs — and I hope to beat one more this weekend.

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