Tag: Videogames

Coffee Talk #470: Contributing to Kickstarter-Funded Games

Thanks to Double Fine’s wild success on Kickstarter, several developers are looking to use the service to fund and self-publish their games. A few weeks ago, we had a fun conversation about alternative publishing models and how they can boost creativity. Today I’d like to talk to you about Kickstarter-funded games. A few of you…

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, watching Coachella on YouTube, Kanye & Kim, or Mariano Rivera possibly retiring after this season, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Thanks to Double Fine’s wild success on Kickstarter, several developers are looking to use the service to fund and self-publish their games. A few weeks ago, we had a fun conversation about alternative publishing models and how they can boost creativity. Today I’d like to talk to you about Kickstarter-funded games. I know that a few of you contributed to Double Fine’s project. What would it take for you to contribute to another Kickstarter game?

Most developers that seek Kickstarter funds don’t have the reputation and sheer lovability of Double Fine (Tim Schafer is awesome and Anna Kipnis is awesome + hot). How do smaller or lesser-known developers catch your eye and open your wallet? As for me, there are several ways developers can get my money. The Banner Saga features my favorite videogame genre and talent from one of my favorite developers of all time. A lot of people are interested in Republique because they’ve heard of Ryan Payton from his days at Kojima Productions and 343 Studios; having Metal Gear Solid and Halo 4 on your resume helps, but I’m going to contribute because Ryan is cool (a technical term).

How about you? What factors would make you contribute to a Kickstarter-funded game? And when will one of you business geniuses start a modest Kickstarter pitch for my site?!? I totally suck at money stuff.

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Top secret Mac game is still getting heavy play time. That’s all I should say about that, unless I want a quick beheading by vorpal blade. Aside from that, I’m hoping to play more Quarrel  on Xbox 360 with you guys and dolls. I had fun playing with a bunch of you last night and it looks like several of you are digging the game. It’s a fun mix of wordplay, light strategy, funny sounds, and cute characters. Let’s play!

So what’s on your weekend playlist?

Coffee Talk #469: Are You Paying Attention to Gaikai?

Even though many of you aren’t sold on streaming, I recommend keeping an eye on Gaikai. The company has been making all sorts of interesting moves that make the service appealing to hardcore on casual gamers. On the enthusiast side, Gaikai keeps adding great content; recently the company announced that it’s the only…

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 surging Boston Celtics, specialty beer bars, or waiting for the new Powerfox & Ponymane video, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

Even though many of you aren’t sold on streaming, I recommend keeping an eye on Gaikai. The company has been making all sorts of interesting moves that make the service appealing to hardcore and casual gamers. On the enthusiast side, Gaikai keeps adding great content; recently the company announced that it’s the only streaming service to offer Mass Effect 3. On the casual side, the company just announced that its games will be available on Facebook. A fantastic videogame library, broad reach, and (from what I’ve seen so far) sound technology — Gaikai seems to have it all. So why aren’t you paying attention?

Part of it has to do with the newness of it all. Streaming is a new way to play games. After decades of playing games on cartridges and discs, it seems foreign. As the X-Men have shown over the years, many people fear and hate what they don’t understand (yes, I’m overstating things). Part of it has to do with some gamers (still) being (way too) attached to physical media. Collectors love hoarding boxes; streaming totally goes against that. I’m sure there are some reasons that I’m not thinking of, so I’d love to use today’s column to get your take on Gaikai.

Have you been paying attention to Gaikai? If not, check out the company site to learn more about the service and its sweet game library. What do you think? Say Gaikai was playable on one of your favorite sites (like this one!) would you use it? Scream and shout in the comments section (please)!

Final Fantasy XIII-2 DLC: Ezio, Gilgamesh, PuPu, and More

Square Enix has released a bunch of DLC for Final Fantasy XIII-2. This most anticipated of which is the $3 Ezio Auditore (Assassin’s Creed) costume for Noel Kreiss. Serah fans get a free outfit called “Style and Steel”, which was designed by Japanese pop star Yuko Oshima. The coliseum get two new combatants: Final Fantasy V Gilgamesh ($4) and Final Fantasy VIII PuPu ($2).

The new costumes are pretty sweet and I can’t wait to add the two coliseum characters to my FFXIII-2 monster arsenal. I’m such a mark for this game that I’m going to buy all of this week’s DLC, Etro be damned. Anyway, check out screens of the whole lot below.

[nggallery id=93]

This Week’s Videogame Releases (Buy Skullgirls!)

There’s sweet FA coming out this week at retail, but there’s a downloadable game that you should keep your eye on. Skullgirls hits PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this week for $15. This is a sweet 2D fighting game with a really cool art style. The voice acting was directed by Cristina Vee and the game features tracks composed by the awesome Michiru Yamane (Castlevania, Suikoden). Full disclosure: a friend of mine works for the developer and I want this game to do well. That said, I’m not being a homer about it; just look at the video below to see Skullgirls in action — it’s cool!

Coffee Talk #468: The Videogame Weapon of Your Dreams

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, American Idol being 46 percent less entertaining since Heejun Han’s elimination, missing your friends at PAX East, or this very nice web site, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

One of the many things I dig about Final Fantasy XIII-2 is Mog. He’s pretty much the best videogame weapon I’ve encountered in the last decade. His versatility is astounding! Mog can transform into a sword. He can serve as a bow. He can find inter-dimensional treasure. You can chuck him so that he can find inter-dimensional treasure in hard-to-reach places. Although he overuses the word “kupo” to a staggering degree, he’s not a bad conversationalist. I’m certain he’d be an awesome chick magnet too. Mog is a formidable weapon that’s part metal detector and part friend. How do you beat that?!?

So yeah, if I could have any videogame weapon that ever existed, it would be Mog from Final Fantasy XIII-2. How about you? What’s the videogame weapon of your dreams? Do you have visions of slicing up baddies or opening cans of soup with Master Chief’s energy sword? Would you use the Gears of War Lancer as a letter opener? How cool would it be to have the Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda? The possibilities are awesome!

If you could have one videogame weapon in the world, what would it be and why? Leave your answer in the comments section (please!).

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

Yesterday I received a bit of news that changed my gaming weekend in a way I wasn’t expecting…at all. I’ll be spending a lot of hours playing a secret game…on my MacBook. I can’t say much about it yet, but I assure you that it’s super cool. It’s just surprising that the game is for Mac. That was completely unexpected. In other news, my gaming worlds are colliding thanks to Skylanders Cloud Patrol for iPad. Some of you will recall my fascination with Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventures in 2011. The business is fascinating and the games are fun. I know all the code is already there, but it feels cool when my action figure shows up in my Xbox 360 game or my iPad game. In the immortal words of Queen, “It’s a kind of magic.”

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

Coffee Talk #467: Your Favorite Game of Q1 2012

The first quarter of 2012 has ended and I wanted to hear about your favorite games of 2012. While I’ve been loving Final Fantasy Tactics on my iPad, my favorite and most surprising game of the quarter was Final Fantasy XIII-2. I enjoyed the original, flaws and all. The sequel tightens up the gameplay and story, and also adds…

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 hot crowd for Monday Night Raw in Miami, Minka Kelly’s downgrade, or the countdown to MLB opening day, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The first quarter of 2012 has ended and I wanted to hear about your favorite games of 2012. While I’ve been loving Final Fantasy Tactics on my iPad, my favorite and most surprising game of the quarter was Final Fantasy XIII-2. I enjoyed the original, flaws and all. The sequel tightens up the gameplay and story (though it’s still a bit ridiculous in that FF way), and adds several new twists. I absolutely loved the monster collecting and breeding system in FFXIII-2. In many ways, it’s the same kind of fun as Pokemon catching and training. I knew I’d enjoy XIII-2, but I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much. Plus…Serah in a bikini!!!

Now it’s your turn. What was your favorite game of Q1 2012?

This Week’s Videogame Releases

Kinect Star Wars is out this week. More importantly (for uber-geeks anyway) the Kinect Star Wars bundle with the totally sweet R2D2 Xbox 360 is out! I so want one, but can’t afford it right now. *sniff* In other news, Devil May Cry HD Collection is set to thrill those looking for classic DMC gameplay and updated graphics. Last, but not least, is Xenoblade Chronicles for Wii.

Any of you picking up new games this week? Any of you have rich uncles that want to buy me the R2D2 Xbox 360? It makes R2D2 sounds!!!

Coffee Talk #465: Developers on the Wrong Platforms

At GDC 2012, I was pestering several people about thatgamecompany. I love those guys and want to see them do well, but I’m not convinced that PlayStation Network is the optimal platform for TGC. With a little bit of tweaking, TGC’s games would kill on the Apple iPad. I have no doubt…

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, Verve’s Ethiopia Worka, the prospect of Steve Nash playing for the Miami Heat, or cute desserts with a super-cute girl, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

At GDC 2012, I was pestering several people about thatgamecompany. I love those guys and want to see them do well, but I’m not convinced that PlayStation Network is the optimal platform for TGC. With a little bit of tweaking, TGC’s games would kill on iOS. I have no doubt about this. Flower, in particular, would be brilliant on the iPad, though I can easily see people digging Journey and flOw too. iOS seems perfect for thatgamecompany and I’d love to see millions of iPhone/iPad gamers loving TGC games.

With all of that in mind, at GDC I playfully teased several people at Sony for holding thatgamecompany back. I also bugged TGC’s agent from UTA, asking him, “When the hell are your clients moving to iOS?!?” (And yes, alcohol was probably involved in all of these conversations.) While TGC’s sales figures are closely guarded by Sony, most pundits believe them to be in the six-figure range. I’m certain that the company has a better chance of breaking one-million on iOS than it does on PSN. Hell, I’m positive that an “enhanced” version of Flower for iOS would easily eclipse the game’s sales on PSN. It just seems like TGC is on the wrong platform.

Are there any developers you feel are creating for the wrong platform? Share the companies you think of and the platforms you wish they were making games for in the comments section (please!).