What have I done?
Archives for 2012
Deus Ex: Human Revolutions take-down-a-thon
After months of researching and planning for my new computer build, and after the excitement of beginning the building process and software setup last month, and, just today, having finally acquired a sleek new Dell monitor and Gigabyte graphics card I’m ready to game like a baus. Therefore, it only makes sense to turn my back to the computer and reach for my PS3 controller to satisfy an itch I’ve had to begin a new Deus Ex: Human Revolution game. And this time there shall be no distance kills – no firearms at all – for I shall eliminate every immediate threat with a brutal Adam Jensen takedown. I think this mechanic is way awesome and never became boring or repetitive. Each cut scene is a brutal exhibition of nondiscrimination; Adam Jensen is no respecter of persons.  My decision may or may not have been influenced by the following video.
The shoulder tap approach is my favorite…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJc1lt50gQs
Weekend Holiday Gaming
We’re coming up on what for most people in the U.S. will be an extended Holiday weekend, a time when many will be celebrating their winter holiday of choice (for us, it’s Christmas) and exchanging gifts, visiting with family and, for us gamers, increasing the stack of games to be played in the upcoming year.
I usually use the week between Christmas and New Years to catch up on all the games I’ve started or wanted to play during the year. It’s also at this time when I think back about what games were my favorite games to play, or as we call them around here, Fun Game of the Year. So I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me to at least sample everything I know came out this year that was high quality.
So as far as stacking games, I’ll be adding a whole new console to our family’s repetoire (we’ll get to that in a later post) and adding games to my Steam library during the dreaded Steam Sale. But I’ll also be heading out of town for a while, so that will limit what I can play to portable devices and my laptop (which is anything but) portable.
When I get back, I’d like to finally wrap up Mass Effect 3 (and all its DLC), the Mr. Torgue DLC for Borderlands 2, The Walking Dead and Deus Ex. And maybe, just maybe reactivate my EVE Online account. GULP.
But for now, I’m keeping it simple over the weekend. I hope to get a little PC gaming in during the Holiday downtime including more Diablo 3 and my huge Steam library. What will you be playing?
Buttonmashing YouTube channel!
Dude, we could post individual and group ‘Let’s Play’s. Do some serious vlogging, reviews, rants, raves, tutorials. Music videos… Let’s do it!
And by ‘Let’s do it!’ I really mean for you set it up, research capture software, cameras – do all that footwork – and then tell me how to do it. kthxbye
In My Hands
Video Games and Marketing
Video game marketing and TV commercials have come a long way since I’ve been a gamer. We’ve gone from these “corny” Zelda commercials (I say “corny” lovingly, because at the time I thought they were pretty awesome) to having a “World Premier Trailer” show up during an NBA playoff game. We’ve gone
As I’ve been thinking about it, I’ve also been thinking a little about marketing these games to kids. To be fair, those Zelda commercials were targeted to kids (albeit older kids) and maybe that’s why, twenty-five years later, they appear corny to my jaded eyes. But now, during the holiday season, I have become more acutely aware of how kids are targeted from all sides with commercials and marketing geared specifically for their attention. And it works. With the date of a hot new game release approaching, you can bet that the promotional efforts for the game will seemingly become more amplified. It seems like every time you walk into electronics section at Wal-Mart and other major stores, there are employees and displays with various products to offer as a promotion resource for the latest new videogame. If I were a kid, how could I resist.
They are effective. I recently read this good article by JP Sherman at the Escapist and suggest everyone go read. What struck me the most telling was that web advertising is still the wild frontier. While there is hardly any marketing of violent video games to kid audiences, websites that kids frequent still routinely show ads for M-rated games. Even shows that cater to the younger teenagers have decreased their advertising of violent video games, which was a surprise to me.
In the end, it’s still about monitoring not only the content our kids are consuming, but what is on the periphery as well. We let our kids use sites like Kizi, which houses tons of flash-based games, but the ads are still troublesome. We still look to find ways to let them have fun online but maintain that safety net at the same time.
I’d love to hear any techniques you guys use. Or sites you have found to be mostly safe.
December Releases
December creeped up on me and before I even realized it, the first Tuesday of the month had passed and I hadn’t poste the monthly releases. And BOY what a doozy December is. Decembers in general are weak for video game releases, but this year is particularly anemic.
Week of December 4th
Far Cry 3
Week of December 11th
The Walking Dead
Week of December 4th
Marvel Avengers: Battle For Earth
Week of December 11th
007 Legends
No new Nintendo Wii releases.
No new Nintendo 3DS releases.
No new Nintendo DS releases.
Week of December 4th
Far Cry 3
Sniper Elite V2
Week of December 11th
Haunted
Week of December 4th
Far Cry 3
Week of December 11th
The Walking Dead
Week of December 25th
WRC FIA World Rally Championship
Week of December 18th
Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed
No new Sony PSP releases.
What are you picking up?
(Note: As always, all Amazon.com links have our affiliate code embedded in them. If you purchase something through our link, we get a little commission. It’s appreciated.)
In My Weekend Gaming Digital Hands
So I have been in Atlanta all week on business, working 12+ hour days and eating like a king for five straight days (oh, and a ride in the corporate jet). But long days like that on the road leave little time for my hands to touch gaming keyboards, so I’m looking forward to seeing my beautiful wife and kids again, and once they’re all comfortably tucked away in bed, getting a little “me time” with Borderlands 2 and Mr. Torgues Campaign of Carnage.
What will you be playing this weekend?
Lumia 920
So I just picked up a Lumia 920 and I am pleasantly pleased with this fine work of art.
I post this because I am going to be looking forward to playing some Windows Phone games on it. If you hear of any you would like a review of shoot me a message or comment here.
We’ve Got a Heartbeat!
It is with excitement, relief, and a slight sense of pride that this post has been composed and posted from my new computer. What was originally a collection of pieces parts in their own respective packaging is now a functional - albeit neutered (…temporarily. I shall explain.) – rig that makes me giggle just to look at. I am very grateful for the generosity of my parents for shouldering the greater burden of cost. I had originally thought Indy’s Bullet wouldn’t be built until well after the 2013 tax season. So it came as a delightful surprise when last week at Thanksgiving Pops pulled me aside saying, ‘Let’s go shopping tomorrow’. Indeed! Wandering around MicroCenter with Papa Bear and a shopping cart for close to two hours on Black Friday 2012 will forever be a fond memory. Awesome. Now, on to some pictures.
In the end, the main objective of the trip to MicroCenter was to purchase the necessary parts to get up and running. A graphics card can wait. Another hard drive can be added. RAM can easily be swapped. My dad kept me grounded in the decision-making process. Pictured here is not a barebones rig, though.  Despite the absence of a GPU, the i5 and P8Z77 are a slammin combo. It’s been close to a week now and I am continually amazed at how well this rig can pull its own weight. I may not even bother buying a separate graphics card after all. The previous sentence is a lie.
Installing the CPU was the most nerve-wrecking part. There’s a whole lotta pins that have to fit exactly into a whole lotta slots. I’ve got jittery fingers to begin with, and knowing this made me all the more nervous. One minor slip – one bent pin – and  I would have wept for a week. Seeing as how we’re now a week later and I can listen to a Paul Simon CD through headphones while a demo of Crusader Kings II downloads and updating USB 3.0 drivers all simultaneously testifies that I did not screw anything up. Awesome sauce.
Yojimboz and xJonesicusx were there, too. They did stuff.
So, funny n00b story: We learned that 2-pin molex no likey 4-pin molex the hard way. The faceplate of the MSI case HAD (note the tense usage) a separate USB charger slot. Fried that sucker like we was havin’ it for supper. We were getting all headlong and just started connecting stuff to the PSU – This 2-pin case connector just didn’t seem to want to go into the 4-pin of the PSU – maybe if we push harder… On first bootup the abundance of smoke looked pretty groovy being lit by the case’s deep blue LEDs. We tried to patch up the lead and try a different connector but yielded the same smoldering result. So now there’s an orange USB slot on the faceplate looking all eager and useful. This ultimately could have just been a problem of plug compatibly between case and PSU. We searched fervently for a provided adapter but to no avail.
Despite the folly of n00bishness, the end product didn’t turn out too shabby. I removed all four of the tool-less 3.25″ drive bays to help air flow as well as providing extra space for unused PSU cables. I intend to pick up an aftermarket CPU cooler in the future. My only concern at this point is whether or not the GPU will have sufficient length clearance – there’s a whole lot going on in that tight little area…
Here’s a closeup shot of the concerned area. I kept the SSD in one of the bays, attached some Velcro on the back of the bay, and stuck it to the bottom of the 5.25″ bay area. This way I’m only using one SATA power cable for both the optical drive and SSD. I gotta tell ya: SSD’s are great! All that initial driver updating was a breeze when the windows boot screen doesn’t even have a chance to finish its animation before the desktop loads. Golly. And my new Hearts of Iron III campaign loads in a fraction of the time compared to what I’m used to. Good times.