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The Elder Scrolls Online Is Out

The Elder Scrolls Online, "available now" is news to me!

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2014 at 10:54pm

Awesome, can't wait to try this out. Hopefully it goes free to play or whatever.

Oh, and you missed a post title :D

Travis Admin wrote on 04/05/2014 at 03:32am

I played in a couple of the beta events and was... not exactly impressed.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/05/2014 at 02:46pm

Travis: What was it you didn't like?

Travis Admin wrote on 04/05/2014 at 03:11pm

All the bugginess of it at least can be forgiven since it was a beta, but the combat just wasn't interesting, the voice acting (with some notable exceptions) was pretty rough...

Overall it seems like a lot of great ideas that they just didn't polish enough. Hopefully as time goes on they can fix some of it.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/05/2014 at 07:33pm

Good eye, Jon!

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Age of Mythology Extended Edition Comes To Steam in May

Hot off the re-release awesomery of Age of Empires HD, Age of Mythology Extended Edition is releasing in May. Like many gamers, I have the original and expansion and whereas it's a great game that still works for single player and LAN, online multiplayer has long since been shutdown and the games aspect ratio is 4x3. So hearing that Microsoft is going to polish up the old game, modernize it for bigger monitors and bring Steam online multiplayer, I am pretty excited.

"Use mythological creatures like Minotaurs and Cyclopes to bolster your armies' strength. Call upon the gods for assistance in flattening enemy towns with meteors or scatter opposing troops with lightning... Read All

FTL: Advanced Edition Releases Today!

FTL: Advanced Edition launched today and the lives of space fairing nerds all around the world got a little better. If you own FTL on Steam the new updates will await you when you sign in or if you want to try FTL on iPad, you can now pick it up for $10.

If you are looking for a list of changes to the game the FTL developers made a fairly complete list available. Because of the popularity of the update the FTL site is getting hammered but the link is below. So far I like that there are many more changes than they advertised. It's great to have a team under promise and over deliver!

http://www.ftlgame.com/FTLChangeLog.html

Ben Prunty has made the new FTL tracks available... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/04/2014 at 04:52am

Just died, naturally. I'm really enjoying the Advanced Edition. They've put in a lot of polish first of all. It would be a lot to try and list out, but I definitely like how when you hover your mouse over a sector it shows you the next possible jumps from there.

The new systems are interesting. I sold my med bay and bought a clone bay. I think that's going to take some getting used to, but seems pretty cool.

A lot of new quests and instances made for an entirely unique feel again :)

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/09/2014 at 07:27pm

It's been a while since I've loaded Steam, since I've been playing StarCraft II. Today, I noticed FTL has an update. I'll have to give it a try sometime. I haven't played FTL in a while.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/10/2014 at 02:27am

Yep, it's the whole "Advanced Edition" business. Speaking of...

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/10/2014 at 08:06pm

It's been a while since I've played it. I probably should give the new update a try. I'm interested in what anyone else has to say that's played the new version. What do you think? Is it better? Is it any easier? Hahaha

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/11/2014 at 01:56am

I played a few games and plan on posting a review on it in the next week or so.

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StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty Review

Azurephile gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Azurephile gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Review

Recommended

Followed by Heart of the Swarm expansion

Legacy of the Void expansion coming

Different levels of difficulty available

Achievements and rewards

$40, less than a common PS3 game

Good music, funny things units say

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty did not disappoint. I loved the visual upgrades and the story, which I thought were great, just like the original, but set four years later.

Spoiler-free story intro: Many of the original characters have returned such as Kerrigan, Raynor, Mengsk, and Zeratul. The Zerg and Protoss are still about, but you don't control those forces in very many missions. For the Protoss, you get to play some missions with... Read All

Mario Kart 8 Rides the Rainbow Road to our TVs May 30

I don't have a Wii U. We make fun of the poor Wii U a lot because of the less than stellar launch, the lack of quality third-party games, the confusing name, and so on.

But look at this trailer and tell me you don't want one!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/03/2014 at 09:33pm

This game does look like a lot of fun!

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/03/2014 at 09:34pm

Good times, and yes, I want a Wii U now. So many good memories with Mario Kart. And now Hovercrafts and Hang gliders?! I don't think I saw any new maps though, only prettied-up oldies.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2014 at 12:34am

The game looks great and i'd love to play it. When I look at all the consoles out now, it's the one i'd have the easiest time purchasing because I know i'd play it.

At some point I may very well get one too, we will see. If I did, Mario Kart 8 would be one of the things i'd buy.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/04/2014 at 01:18am

Really, it's that monstrous gamepad that keeps me away. I don't like it. Don't most games require you use it? I don't know, I think it would take a lot of getting used to.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2014 at 01:21am

I don't think they all do.

http://www.amazon.com/Nintendo-Wii-U-Pro-Controller-Black/dp/B009AFLXQQ

Now to what Wii U games support that, I don't know, but it's an official Nintendo thing and I imagine the support is pretty good.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/04/2014 at 01:30am

Wow, I didn't know the U had a decent controller. It was the big pad controller that turned me off as well. I will be interested on how this plays.

hardeyez wrote on 04/06/2014 at 12:45am

You can also just use wii controllers with Wii U games... Most of the ones I have utilize two different control schemes with or without the pad controller. Also, multiplayer games can use different controllers (i.e. one player with the pad others with wii controllers). Pikmin 3 is also awesome on the Wii U :)

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It's official: Amazon set-top box, out today, plays games

We've heard rumors for months about an Amazon set-top box or console, and recently saw some very convincing leaked images of an Amazon controller. All the rumor and speculation ends today, however, because Amazon is now shipping the Fire TV, their new set top box that will stream your media and play games.

What's more, Amazon has formed Amazon Game Studios to develop games for the device. One game, out now, is called Sev Zero and looks like a pretty good shooter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXI898kyBgM

It's pretty impressive to me that they managed to keep an entire game studio secret for long enough to pull this off.

The FireTV itself will set you back $99, and the... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/02/2014 at 09:21pm

This is huge. I would expect Apple to follow suit, probably as early as this fall. I'm really surprised (and disappointed) that Apple didn't do this first, actually. They've had everything in place for years. Now Amazon has the infrastructure, hardware, and customer base, to be one of the hottest thing in home entertainment (no pun intended). If it works. I like the idea of the mic on the remote. Looks like it has double the gpu power that the Ouya has, too. Very, very interesting.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/02/2014 at 10:05pm

Eh, I don't know how well this is going to do. It's interesting as a media device, but with more and more TV's being "smart," most of the features of the box are being built directly into TV's. And as far as games, I think the kid who gets this as a game system will feel like the kids back in the 80's who got a VTech Socrates rather than a Nintendo.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/03/2014 at 04:05am

@scrypt I agree. I expected Apple to do this first so it's cool and strange to see Amazon head in. That said, I am happy they have as this set top box is the most powerful of the bunch and I hope it sparks a "cheaper set top box spec war."

@Adym It isn't the greatest offering as far as games go right now for sure. That said, over time I imagine more developers will port games over and things should work pretty well. Amazons Android store isn't too bad and it's catalog of games is growing. It hits the right price point and has enough power to play some games. That said, this ain't gonna run BioShock Infinite.

Orionnoir wrote on 04/03/2014 at 03:18pm

Well maybe its because Apple 'sort of' did this... e.g., AppleTv + Airplay? I push whatever I am playing to it at times. Ironically just to record videos for demos... I don't really use it for anything but capturing a stream now that I think about it. I did demo a few games to my kids with it. Ok so maybe its not even remotely a single purpose console device experience. But my point is Apple might feel like they already HAVE entered the market... That is a very un-researched opinion. I do believe Apple is a horribly small company for the revenue stream they achieve. And at times it feels like they are holding this stuff together with bailing wire and duct tape. Covered in a a very pretty surface layer... but underneath there is chaos and hell chained with fury and just waiting to crack the surface and spew forth its vitriol onto the consumer or developer in some fashion if allowed.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2014 at 12:28am

Apple does have Apple TV for sure and like you say you can fling stuff from your iPad, iPhone and Mac to it. I think what we were talking about it not doing was having an app store and official controller. Right now you just get the apps it comes with, which is nice BUT no app store. So for me, it seems like Apple is right on the line of having something that could be WAY better.

On thing that keeps me away from the Apple option is I serve all my media off a NAS. Apple TV requires you fling content on it through the iPhone through AirPlay. If Apple TV had an app store I could use my NAS and uPNP.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/04/2014 at 01:15am

One thing you can do is configure something else to act as an Airplay server. It's a little cumbersome, I've never done it, so I don't know how predictable it is.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/04/2014 at 01:16am

As far as serving media, Apple TV primarily works through iTunes on a network Mac/PC. iOS apps require mirroring from an iPhone or iPad. Like you say, Jon, without access to native, downloadable apps, it is quite lacking compared to a Roku or Fire TV. That said, I love my Apple TV, and hope that, someday, Apple sees it's full potential. I hope the Fire TV will do just that. I tried Airplay once for gaming, and it's not optimal, or even playable. They have much work to do.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/04/2014 at 01:19am

Airplay is great for Apple gear and I love the idea, I just hope it becomes a more open standard so you don't need to only use Apple stuff with it.

That said, if Apple TV got the full app store treatment i'd be more down with it so I can use non-Apple internal file sharing and such. But as is, it's kind of Apple only and whereas I do use iTunes, my NAS is always on for the reason of file sharing, I don't need to have my laptop on for it to magically work, Apple just makes me have use it.

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April Fools 2014 Video Game Fake Story Roundup

Every year the Internet explodes with fake news on April Fools. Since some of the stories in gaming can be fun, I decided to catalog them here. If you have a particular story that isn't noted, hit up the comments.

Blizzard Outcasts is the new fake brawler by Blizzard. That said, fighting as Deckard Cain sounds pretty rad. http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/games/outcasts/

While not gaming related, Think Geek has a pretty fun Flux Capacitor USB car charger. http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1ba1/?srp=2

Guild Wars 2 set all the in game players heads to bobble. http://i.imgur.com/m4GmxvB.jpg

Path of Exile just went pay to win. Candy Crush players rejoice. ... Read All

Humble Bundle: PC And Android 9

"Humble Bundle: PC and Android 9 features six brilliant games ready to play on four platforms: Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Pay what you want to receive the mind-bending puzzle adventure series, Broken Sword 2, the physics-based construction puzzler, Bridge Constructor, the stylistic typographic puzzler, Type:Rider, and the visually stunning action-adventure game, Ravensword: Shadowlands. If you pay more than the average, you'll also get the award-winning tower defense game, Kingdom Rush, and the retro-style pixel-art RPG, Knights of Pen and Paper +1 Edition."

I have been waiting to nab Kingdom Rush & Knights of Pen and Paper on PC for quite some time. Now that... Read All

Final Fantasy Game Lore In a Minute

Like many of you, I grew up on the Final Fantasy games. I found this video pretty interesting as I wasn't aware how the series started. I also knew(from watching it in the theaters) that The Spirits Within wasn't great, but I didn't know that it nearly bankrupted Square!

Game Pricing in The Download Age

One of the coolest parts of being in gaming is how many awesome games we have access to. Steam, GoG, Origin, iOS and Android stores all let you buy a ton of awesome games for much less than the traditional $60 console price point. That said, many triple A games that come out sell digitally and physically for the same price. YouTube gaming sensation Boggie2988 made a video recently that caught my attention I linked above. He asks Microsoft and Sony to change the pricing model for digital content because the digital versions of games don't allow trading and loaning yet are cheaper to distribute.

This is something that's bugged me for quite a long time that doesn't stop... Read All