It's summer here in the northern hemisphere, which means that the PC game releases have dried up. Looking across the new release calendars, it's a wasteland until Space Siege comes out late August. So for the next two months PC gamers are looing for any fix they can get to tide them over.
Of course, that two month dry spell could well be worth it considering what's on-tap for the fall.
My question is, what's everyone playing to tide theselves over, and what are you most looking forward to this fall?
If you're a fan of Sins of a Solar Empire, you may have seen the game achievement "Space Ponies" in the achievements list. The origin of the pony is a long tale to tell. Suffice it to say, it's a joke from early in the Sins of a Solar Empire beta test that grew and took on a life of it's own, and became a bit of a forum favorite joke. Turns out that one of the guys in the Sins community makes custom embroidered hats. PoorManDSO ( www.darkstaroutpost.com ) had a few of the ha...
So yesterday I went out to my local Best Buy and picked up a copy of Mario Kart Wii for my Nintendo Wii. Like all Nintendo consoles, it seems my game library is dominated primarily by Nintendo developed titles (Zelda, Mario, Smash Brothers). So it just sort of makes sense that I'd go out and get the latest Mario Kart game.
Now, I have a confession to make. In all of the previous Nintendo consoles I've owned (NES, N64, GC, GBA, DS) I've never owned a Kart game (was there even one for the NES?). Sure I've played them from time to time at parties or at a friend's house, but I've never had enough time to really become proficient at the series.
This also means I don't come to the game with a favorite in the series to compare it to, and can't look at the game and say "Well, the driving physics aren't quite as good as they were on the N64 version, and the item management really needs to go back to the way it was in the DS title..." So I'm basically as end-user as it gets when it comes to Mario Kart Wii. So with that in mind, here are my thoughts after a few hours with the game yesterday...
It's a time-honored tradition, handed down from generation to generation. Our parents had to deal with this, as did our grandparents, and great-grandparents. The specifics change, but it's the same story time and again... ___Insert Media Here ____ is corrupting the youth of today! What do I mean by media? Well, how about tv, movies, radio, comic books, books, video games, board games, music, plays? The list could go on and on. There's always something that fo...
This is more of an informational bit than an actual article like I usually write... If you're one of the many who is still trying to get your hands on an XBox360 and have lost all hope of your preorder ever coming in, or just don't want to brave the 100+ person lines outside BestBuy at 3am in the freezing cold, there's still a chance! Through my favorite Gaming resource sites, I found my way to the XBox360 Tracker (http://www.xbox360tracker.com) which automatically checks about 70 onlin...
UPDATE: I got the game working finally. Turns out there's some odd problem with unpacking the assets file on load. This thread outlines how to fix the renderer error if you have up to date drivers and directx... http://apolyton.net/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=4090697&t=1441#post4090697 There are certain games out there that bring back a flood of memories with just the mention of their name. These games are the cornerstones of PC and video games, and anyone who considers themselves ...
The dry spell of PC game releases has finally come to an end as publishers ramp up for the holiday retail season. Gone are the months where you'd be lucky to see one decent game released, now we're getting slammed by them in waves. The first major wave of the season hit around September 20th, and for about a week we got hit with a lot of high-quality games with a lot of media buzz. Being a game addict with no serious expenses aside from rent and utilities to speak of, of course I blew a LO...
Alright, so TGN Phase 2 has gone out, we have our tokens, a list of games and more are being added as time goes on. TGN is taking shape as a viable online distribution channel for independent game developers looking to get greater exposure and maybe make a penny or two off their work. In short, it all works as intended. And it is GOOD. Well, the game purchase and distribution portion is GOOD. The web portal however has a lot of unrealized potential; in fact the whole TGN endeavor has so mu...
The other day, the New York Times ran an article ( Link ) in their technology section on the reliance of big video game publishers like Electronic Arts on video game sequels over new properties. They mainly point to the Madden football series which has been running for some 18 years now (wow… hard to believe mainstream gaming like that has been around for this long now) as the prime example of pushing out iterative titles in a franchise instead of putting out truly new titles. There’s eve...
Anyone who has played video games for any amount of time has that one instant, that one experience in a game that overshadows all others and becomes part of the driving reason they continue to play. Be it unlocking that secret level, reaching the end of a compelling story line, or finally beating that impossible boss using nothing more than a rubber band and some small rocks, most of us have experienced these moments of extreme triumph and they remind us why we love to play. These are t...
This article is in partial response to Ravenblack’s “Decline of Game Forums IMHO” (https://www.joeuser.com/index.asp?AID=71017 4/3/05). There is no question in my mind that I’m a gamer, specifically a PC gamer. I’ve played pretty much every major title released in the past 8 or so years (how long I’ve held some form of job and been able to buy games). With the growth of the Internet, that means I’ve also visited my fair share of online forums and communities devoted to games. I’ve see...
Everyone has their favorite web site for their favorite games. For me, WorldOfWar.Net and Thottbot.Com are the first sites I run to for World of Warcraft information. Neverwinter Vault over at IGN was where I always went for Neverwinter Nights stuff. Apolyton used to be my favorite place for Turn Based Strategies. All of them have their plusses and minuses, each has it's great features and not so great features. What I have to wonder though is if there is a ma...
It's been a big thing in recent years to sue game developers, publishers and retailers over the claim that their games make children violent. Doom caused the Columbine shootings... iD is the cause of all school shootings many would claim. EverQuest forced someone to committ suicide. World of Warcraft made a guild mate lose their job. Grand Theft Auto made me run people over. MARIO MADE ME HAVE AN IRRATIONAL FEAR AND HATRED FOR MUSHROOMS!!! Every time I see a mushroom now I pull out my...
If you’ve ever played an game online, be it Halo, CounterStrike, Everquest or even Chess, you’ve probably encountered a slew of people who act and talk like they’ve suffered some sort of massive head trauma and are housed in special padded cells for both their own safety and the safety of others. These not-so-rare individuals are one of a few general categories of players I’ve seen in online games. Brad has posted in the past his list of forum and blogger stereotypes, so now I present to yo...
Some time ago I wrote about the use of epic, far-reaching stories in video games to create a truely unique and lasting experience. How it is the inclusion of a good and well thought-out story that makes a game really stand out and shine. But after giving the matter some more thought I realized that I was only touching on half of the equation. A story is all well and good, but it's empty and meaningless unless it is given the proper context, a believable and interesting world for it to resi...