Archive for the ‘Game News’ Category:
EGM gone, but what about the subscribers?
I’m deeply hurt to see EGM go, but what’s the plan with people like me - the ones who paid for a subscription?
Nothing was mentioned in Sam Kennedy’s blog regarding how their loyal EGM subscribers were going to be taken care of in this acquisition, which I feel is a backhand to the EGM fans who supported the magazine. It seems like we’ve been completely forgotten in this matter.
Are there any other EGM subscribers concerned that we might get burnt in the deal? I sent an e-mail to EGM customer support on Wednesday asking what will become of my 13 months left on my subscription, but I haven’t received a response yet. I wonder if I ever will.
Tags: EGM gone
Windows 7 beta 1 initial impressions.
Well, I got my hands on the x86_64 build of Windows 7 beta 1 yesterday and installed it on a free partition I had left on my laptop (Dell Latitude D830).
All I can say is that I’m DEFINITELY impressed. I have been putting Windows 7 through its paces looking for a reason to rag on it, and have come up empty-handed.
The ONLY issues I have come across were with IE8 (which is buggy… surprise, surprise…). The core OS is solid, even in the beta version.
Tags: Windows 7 beta
Top 5. Advice to Insomniac For Resistance 3.
Here is the Resistance formula. Resistance: Fall of Man was the best launch title on a Sony platform, Resistance 2 kept us happy, and Resistance 3 should blow us away. Since Insomniac has 2 years (as of 1/8/09) to make Resistance 3 here are some ideas for them in a Top 10 list. Nothing story wise is in here so I will not try to make a script for them.
5. Bring back some old weapons from R:FoM. I would love to play with the XR-005 Hailstorm, the Sapper, and the Dragon again. That would increase the weapon roster largely.
4. Get some new weapons into the mix. This game should have around 16-18 weapons, and get some cool stuff in here. They should put a chainsaw in here (Its secondary fire would be the chain popping off and cutting someone in half!) and keep all the weapons from Resistance 2. Maybe even some Resistance: Retribution weapons? Oh, and make the Pheonix a weapon in both single player and online multiplayer. That would be fun in Team Deathmatch or Skirmish.
Matchmaking anyone?
Why is it that so many PC games lack matchmaking (the ability to organize a multiplayer team match through the in-game system)? Games like Halo 2 and World of Warcraft have been made extremely popular in part due to a great matchmaking system. With that in mind I am dumbfounded why other popular titles, specifically PC titles, haven’t capitalized on this feature.
Now, I find this an interesting topic because I feel strongly that there is a large portion of PC gamers who don’t even know what matchmaking is. If you don’t believe me ask around. You’ll be surprised by the number of people who respond with, “What is matchmaking?” One would think that this might be common knowledge but surprisingly it is not. I guess it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise considering there aren’t many PC titles with matchmaking. Unless you come from a console background, where matchmaking is more common, you’re unlikely to know what matchmaking is. In fact I think this is a big reason why we haven’t seen more of this feature in PC games. Frankly, if people aren’t clamoring for it developers may not see a big need to implement it in their games.
With that in mind I wanted to take a second to explain matchmaking. Keep in mind I am going to be explaining matchmaking from the Halo 2 perspective. I choose Halo 2 because it’s the game with matchmaking I have the most experience with. Essentially matchmaking is a system that conveniently allows you to find a competitive game against another person or group of persons who are similarly skilled as you. A lot of gamers who play online do this on a regular basis; after all, if you’re competitive and you play online, you’re inevitably going to want to see how you stack up against other players.
So I finally bought an episode of Qore…
Yeah, at this point I’m Killzone 2 crazy and so this month’s episode being about KZ2, and the fact that I’ve been curious as to what Qore is all prompted me to splurge and purchase an episode.
First of all the layout was just perfect. This is a Sony produced show so I would expect nothing less. I was, however, a bit disappointed that the show wasn’t shot in HD. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m certain I was watching a standard definition show. Nevertheless, I wasn’t disappointed in this area and would only like a show broadcast in HD.
The host was both articulate and charismatic. I forget her name, but I did find her charming. She asked good questions, let the person answering speak without interrupting, and…well…she’s not exactly hard on the eyes. My complaint regarding the host is that I don’t think she’s a “hardcore gamer.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure she plays games. I just don’t think she is what we would call a hardcore gamer. Why? Okay, she goes to the Keynote II arcade featuring Street Fighter everything. Now I’d seen the 1up guys visit this locale in an episode of The 1up Show so I knew what to expect but I stuck around to see a little bit more Street Fighter IV goodness. Then it happened. She said something that any hardcore gamer just can’t forgive. They sat her down in front of a Street Fighter cabinet and she stated “I don’t know what I’m doing.” What the bleep?!?! If you don’t know how to play Street Fighter something is wrong. And no I was not expecting her to get on there and start handing out lessons. I didn’t expect her to not get pwn’ed. I’m sure I’d get my you know what handed to me by some of those guys. But to say you don’t even know the controls is just straight up crazy. I then began to wonder if she even played games….or at least “hardcore games.”
Tags: episode of Qore
The Biggest Double Standard This Gen Exposed
To fully appreciate the point of this story, you’ll either have to relive the four years of nit-picking you had to endure, or jog your memory to about three years ago and remember promises that weren’t kept. The double standard I am talking about is the way Killzone is being raked over the coals for it’s trailer although it in almost every way surpassed the trailer and Halo 3 for showing an arguably equally as detailed and impressive trailer for Halo 3, but not being kept to it’s standard of quality despite being told that the quality of Halo 3 would also match it’s highest quality trailer, but Halo 3 did not nearly match it’s quality in any way.
The reason I’m saying this is the biggest double standard is because these two games are probably the two that are the most well known FPS for each respective console. Halo 3 with it’s legions of followers and console-saving reputation, and Killzone with it’s unbelievable trailer flagshipping Sony’s exclusive titles this gen.
I decided to bring up the points because I’m probably one of the few who will admit to both loving both Killzone and Halo. I’m also probably the only PS3 owner who will say Halo 1 was better than Killzone 1, so I’m not looking to knock either game or either franchise, but to again expose the bias in the corporate media. If you can’t tell, I can’t stand the corporate media’s utter lack of professionalism, but I digress.
Tags: Gen Exposed
Can we stop the discussions of future consoles and just enjoy what we have now?
Before we see any mention of the next PS console SONY will try to recuperate losses and build the PS3 install base. I highly doubt the system will be released in 2012, it’s more likely were going to hear about the plan to build a new Playstation rather then it’s release.
Lets look at the reasons gameplayer has listed to merit a PS4.
“Trophy implementation has been schizophrenic, with gamers unsure whether the titles that they buy will contain support for the addictive little blighters.” - gameplayer
Tags: game consoles
Top 5 Reasons the Games Industry Hates You and how it’s Making Them Rich (Reason #4)
Since the first living creature emerged from the sea and began living on dry land there have been PR firms backed by major corporations trying to sell them something. Anything really, a little of this, a little of that mainly; but none are more feared and therefore successful (figure that one out) than two or three, or hell even nine products all wrapped around one main theme and sprinkled with a hearty dosage of hate.
Of course it helps when said theme is a multi million dollar video game franchise and fan boys everywhere are salivating for anything with a logo slapped on it, but I digress…
Tags: Games Industry