Author Archives: Steven

Next Gen Ads: Confident and Mysterious VS Informative

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Sony’s leading the next-gen console charge with the PS4 on November 15th. Microsoft will follow with XBox One a week later, on November 22nd. Their marketing departments are, no doubt, firing on all cylinders.

PS4

XBox One

They’re both enjoyable and notably similar: a montage of high-budget, live action, game-related scenes strung together with a music track. But Microsoft’s is a much better commercial because it uses an extra 30 seconds and actually shows people using the console in new ways and shows game footage. Sony’s commercial could be for any console, any set of games, movie, or anything – it simply ends with “Greatness Awaits,” a release date and the PS4 logo. Confident, sure, but not informative at all to the average consumer.

Humble Indie Bundle 9 (Update)

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Update, September 18th

Four more games (and soundtracks!) have been added to the bundle if you beat the average ($4.67 as of this writing):

  • LIMBO (soundtrack included) [pay above average to unlock]
    Released: Aug 2, 2011 by PLAYDEAD
    Metascore: 88

  • Bastion (soundtrack included) [pay above average to unlock]
    Released: Aug 16, 2011 by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
    Metascore: 86

  • Rocketbirds: Hardboiled Chicken (soundtrack included) [pay above average to unlock]
    Released: Oct 15, 2012 by Ratloop Asia Pte Ltd
    Metascore: 74
    Mac and Linux debut!

  • A Virus Named TOM (soundtrack included) [pay above average to unlock]
    Released: Aug 1, 2012 by Misfits Attic
    Metascore: 65
    Mac and Linux debut!

You have a week left to take advantage of this bundle.

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E3 2013 Impressions and XBox 180

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First of all, there were many great looking cross-platform titles, and even cross-generation.

Metal Gear Solid 5

Battlefield 4, Dragon Age 3, Rayman Legends, The Division, Watchdogs, Destiny, Witcher 3, Dark Souls 2

I already wrote about exclusives by the first parties: Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo.

My take-away message is that XBox One will have lots of great games, but PS4 will be $100 cheaper and have a lot of its own great games Continue reading “E3 2013 Impressions and XBox 180” »

Nintendo E3 2013

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Nintendo didn’t have the standard E3 press conference, but had a pre-recorded Nintendo Direct video and game demos at the show. 3rd party support appears to be recoiling from Wii U development, but I’ll be honest, I want pretty much every Nintendo game they showcased. And while I’m being honest, full disclosure, I’m a bit of a Nintendo fanboy.

Nintendo showed all the games they said they would and had one new game reveal, but lets go through these chronologically.

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Sony E3 2013

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Sony’s conference started kind of slowly and generally had much more talking than was necessary. They finally revealed the appearance of the PlayStation 4 console, a modern looking, slanted box; not nearly as large as the XBox One and it can be placed vertically – I like it. There weren’t nearly as many games as in the Microsoft conference. A new game, The Order: 1886 was teased; a Victorian Steam-punk setting with …werewolves? Yes, please. inFAMOUS Second Son looks good and I’m sure Killzone: Shadow Fall will be a competent and pretty shooter and Knack looks decent. But nothing I saw made me think I must have “Next Gen” on day one (though that remains a strong possibility, regardless).

At one point, Sony had a bunch of indie developers each on their own piece of stage playing their game. It’s always great to see love for the little guys. The games that stood out to me were Mercenary Kings, Octodad: Dadliest Catch, Outlast, and Galak-Z. And, of course, Transistor.

Sony’s big announcement, ironically, wasn’t games or the form factor of their new system, but Continue reading “Sony E3 2013” »

Microsoft E3 2013

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Microsoft started things out exactly how they said they would: games. Lots of games for the XBox One were shown, many exclusive (thanks to deep pockets), and many look very promising. It was a really strong showing overall, but I was particularly impressed with Titanfall.

I also have a soft spot for Killer Instinct, and both Quantum Break and Project Spark look intriguing.

The XBox One will be available in November for $499. The high price point was expected as the new, more powerful Kinect is included. It would be interesting to learn if Microsoft is selling units at a loss and how much of one.

Microsoft didn’t comment further on their controversial online requirements, which makes them all the more likely to be set in stone.

Use a PS3 Controller on Linux (USB)

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With Steam recently coming to Linux, and all the great humble bundles, it’s becoming more and more important to have a good gamepad to use on your Linux PC. If you’re a console gamer, you probably already have an XBox 360 or a PS3 controller. In fact, plug in your controller via USB and it probably already works. Unfortunately, many games (Hotline Miami, Super Meat Boy, Bastion, etc.) assume you have a 360 controller and the button mappings of a PS3 dualshock controller will be horribly skewed (the PS3 select button is 360’s A button). In some games, like Cave Story+, this is not a problem because they allow custom key mappings within the program. Some correctly detect the PS3 controller. However, many games just assume a 360 controller, so it simplifies things if you make the dualshock pretend to be a 360 controller. Luckily, there’s a program that does just this: xboxdrv.

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