General Discussion [ Page 51 ]

Happy Thanksgiving

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I want to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving(if you celebrate it) and wish you a very video game playing holiday. And, if you are lucky enough to be, what games you will be playing?

Super Turbo Turkey Puncher 3 does count!

More Information Surfaces about Steam Home Streaming

Valve keeps the firehose of rad directly aimed at all our collective faces as they drop even more details about the new Steam in Home Streaming. Serving up the details in a handy Q&A format, the company Gaben built proves that they can keep things accessible yet informative without falling back to using spreadsheets.

"Q: Is this like other game streaming services I've heard about?
A: No, you are in complete control over the hardware on both ends and the network between them. There is no data center, no subscription, and it's completely free!

Q: Can someone use my computer while I’m streaming a game from it?
A: No, your computer is dedicated to running the game and... Read All

John Carmack leaves id Software

John Carmack, co-founder of id Software, has stepped down from the company. This is presumably to focus more on his work at Oculus, where he took on the position of CTO earlier in the year.

Tim Willits at id reached out to IGN to share the news. According to him, no active projects should be affected-- Carmack has finished the work on id Tech 5 and won't be leaving anything hanging.

I was afraid this would happen at the time, but it's sad to see. Carmack is responsible for so much of the fun I've had gaming over the years. It won't be the same without him.

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/11/22/doom-creator-john-carmack-officially-leaves-id-software

Game/Show: Why Are Hard Games Better Than Easy Games?

"Are you less of a gamer if you drop the level down to easy? It just might be so. We all know that challenging games can be incredibly frustrating, so why do we put ourselves through this? Well, there is a greater satisfaction, but it goes deeper than this, hard games are makes games a unique experience unlike any other. Games that call for physical dexterity, moral deliberation, and tough problem solving is what separate out the noobs, but it's also what separates games from every previous art forms like books, theater, and the movies. So are hard games better than easy games?"

Game/Show is an awesome web video serial because it explores interesting topics in gaming... Read All

The Last Generation Is Over: Looking Back at the PS3

Now that the Playstation 4 has been released I have been grappling with the fact that my PS3 is no longer current gen. It would be a stretch to say its a retro system, but yeah, the ps3 is a last gen system now. I want to talk a bit about the PS3 and why I think it has been one of the best video game consoles i've ever owned.

Originally I picked up my PS3 to upscale DVD's, play BluRay and occasionally play games. I tried a few upscaling DVD players and nothing looked as good to me as the PS3. I realized at some point I would make the jump to BluRay and that having a system that had the ability to self update would be a good thing with the newness of the BluRay format.... Read All Now that the Playstation 4 has been released I have been grappling with the fact that my PS3 is no longer current gen. It would be a stretch to say its a retro system, but yeah, the ps3 is a last gen system now. I want to talk a bit about the PS3 and why I think it has been one of the best video game consoles i've ever owned.

Originally I picked up my PS3 to upscale DVD's, play BluRay and occasionally play games. I tried a few upscaling DVD players and nothing looked as good to me as the PS3. I realized at some point I would make the jump to BluRay and that having a system that had the ability to self update would be a good thing with the newness of the BluRay format. I got my PS3 at BestBuy as part of a bundle that contained Guitar Hero 3 and a $50 gift card. Guitar Hero was quite a bit of fun but my first game purchase I was seriously looking forward to was The Orange Box. At the time, I didn't have a great PC but wanted to jump into Half-Life 2 and the episodes. I had heard amazing things about Portal as well and The Orange Box lived up the the hype. The Orange Box on PS3 had a few glitches but overall it was a pleasant experience and a hell of a lot of fun.

Over the lifespan of the PS3 I picked up The Orange Box, Fallout 3 Game of the Year Edition, Borderlands, Wolfenstein, Civilization Revolution, RAGE, Unreal Tournament III, Street Fighter IV, Portal 2, FarCry 2, Borderlands 2 and my final PS3 purchase Doom 3: BFG Edition. I never really liked buying digital games on the PS3 as you couldn't share them and the price never seemed right. That said, I picked up Age of Booty, Zuma and Wolfenstein 3D. Whereas the games themselves are fun, one problem I have with digital PS3 game purchases is they don't carry the value over compared to other digital stores like Steam.

The game experiences I had the most fun with on the PS3 were Civilization Revolution, Fallout 3, Half-Life 2, Portal 2 & Borderlands. Civilization Revolution is a seriously under-rated game and made to work very well on consoles. It's funny as none of the games in the rest of my "most beloved PS3 games" list are exclusives or console only. I had a hard time getting games I couldn't later play on PC if I wanted.

The Playstation 3 is a great system and it still works awesomely in the original capacity I bought it, to play media. I don't play too many games with it these days as I find gaming from my Mac or PC to be superior in nearly every way that matters but when friends come over, you can't beat split-screen game play.

As I look forward to Sony's next offering I don't see myself buying one any time soon, but that could change if the Playstation 4 gets more compelling. That said, I would consider the PS3 one of the best systems i've ever owned and I hope it has a very long life under my TV.

The Ms. Male Character Phenomenon

"In this episode we examine the Ms. Male Character trope and briefly discuss a related pattern called the Smurfette Principle. We’ve defined the Ms. Male Character Trope as: The female version of an already established or default male character. Ms. Male Characters are defined primarily by their relationship to their male counterparts via visual properties, narrative connection or occasionally through promotional materials."

Anita Sarkeesian continues her tropes series this time focusing on the "Ms. Male Character" video game trope. Interesting history of some popular Ms. Male Characters as well as gender representation in games.

Resolutiongate: Xbox One games only running 720p.

Uh-oh…

Microsoft just can’t seem to catch a break. First there was its underwhelming E3 unveiling, then a massive backlash from fans over its restrictive DRM and used game policies, privacy concerns over its always-on kinect camera, and its price tag coming in $100 (in the US) higher than its rival Playstation.

Now reports are coming in from various sites indicating that some key mutli-platform titles are looking considerably worse on the Xbox. Eurogamer reports that “Our Battlefield 4 Face-Off preview reveals a 50 per cent resolution boost on PlayStation 4 with no appreciable compromise in effects or performance in single-player gameplay, while Infinity Ward's Mark... Read All

PC Gaming Master Price

One meme in gaming that makes me chuckle whenever I read it is "PC gaming master race." Beyond the fact that it is somewhat juvenile, it isn't too far from the truth. Not that consoles aren't awesome or even better than the PC in some ways(any game on the PS3 will always work on the PS3, no upgrades needed) but as PC gamers we have it pretty darn good. One area where the PC shines above and beyond our console sisters and brothers is amount of games available and price. Because the PC is an open platform and digital distribution being as popular as it is, the PC is exploding with games selling for cheap.

The Humble Store

Most of us know and love The Humble Indie Bundle... Read All

Mario and Fafa Play The Classics

In a world of the same kind of Let's Plays, wouldn't it be awesome to have puppets do it instead? Mario and Fafa, the awesome duo from Glove and Boots did an awesome two part series where they play retro games on the Wii. In part one they play Mario Brothers, the original Japaneese Mario Two(The Lost Levels in the States), Pacman, Double Dribble & Excitebike. Part two features Altered Beast, Splatterhouse, Mike Tyson's Punch Out & Ice Hockey.

The video also reminds us to wear our Wii controller strap. For safety.

Part two:

http://youtu.be/amxlexAIbhs

The Firehose: EQ Next Crafting, Ragnarok Online & Symmetrain

Sony recently released a Dev diary(video above) talking about Everquest Next and how they approach mining and crafting. EQ Next will be free to play and will be strongly influenced by Minecraft.

Ragnarok Online is a popular MMO that came out in 2003 and later on in it's life became free to play. It recently came to Steam on PC to serve your dungeon crawling needs.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/215100/

Symmetrain is an interesting new iPhone game where you tap to select the differences in the terrain as your train chugs along the tracks. It's a pretty interesting idea and seems to fill the "I want to kill a few minutes" game itch.

http://youtu.be/FUh-S8pm5jE