Gaming

Bloglines purge

April 23, 2006 by Tony 1 Comment

I’ve been going through my Bloglines subscriptions and have purged it of 100+ feeds. I removed a lot of gaming blogs that were either not being regularly updated or simply didn’t have the content I was looking for. I noticed that a lot of the stuff these blogs were posting was simply regurgitated news bits that I could find elsewhere (Kotaku and Joystiq). I was looking for more from gaming blogs. These guys didn’t make the cut. It’s not that they were bad, it just wasn’t what I was looking for.

That being said, I’ve already been replenishing my feeds with new bloggers that, if you’re not reading already, I suggest you check them out. They include:

Matt Brett, who has done a little bit of everything including playing video games, of course. Really like his

Amber Night is a blogger who falls into the category of both gamer and game designer. Always a thoughtful read.

A group of guys from uber game-news site Evil Avatar have started Toy Bane, which is a great read as well.

I’ve been reading it for a while, but in case you aren’t, Michael Zenke’s MMOG Nation is a great place for MMO commentary. (That’s Zonk from Slashdot Games, but you already knew that)

I also had a hiccup with Damned Machines feed, it wasn’t getting updated and I thought they had gone AWOL. Glad to see there still blogging with their razor sharp (jaded?) wit.

There has also been a return of a couple bloggers whose return has made me happy. Both Adam LaMosca and Jeff Freeman are back in the game. Glad to have you back.

Lots of good stuff out there for your consumption.

What I’m playing

March 29, 2006 by Tony 3 Comments

I’ve been pretty busy lately and it’s been cutting into my gaming time. We traveled home to my parents house this past weekend for the buttonSon’s first birthday and we’ll be heading to the button-In-Laws this weekend. What’s a gamer to do when he’s busy and on the road? What games should he play? That’s a great question. And the Nintendo DS is a great answer.

This past weekend I had some time to play a little more Metroid Prime Hunters. I’m searching for the perfect “grip”. I am still leaning towards using the touch screen for aiming but, as just about everyone has said, it’s hard to find a comfortable grip for a long period of time. I’d also like to use the right trigger for my fire button but that isn’t possible without reversing the controls. Neither are deal breakers but are not conducive to long periods of MPH gaming (which, coupled with a lack of save points, can be a pain, as Josh noted). During one of my MPH breaks, I jumped back into Metroid Fusion, which is still a good time. I think I’m close to finally finishing it. The DS and its GBA slot is almost a perfect little machine. The DS Lite can’t arrive soon enough.

I’m also still working off my Nook Loan. Thanks to my helpful commenters, I have been regularly opening my gates and increasing the value of my turnips. I have a flea market coming up this weekend, so I’m starting to hoard the expensive fish.

When I have a few moments to game at home, I’ve been playing EVE. I’m giving each of the “professions” a try. I’ve given manufacturing a try, churning out a bunch of small projectile ammo. I was hoping for a great “crafting” experience but it was a little too hands off for my liking. It still seems like a very viable way to make ISK so I haven’t sworn it off yet, I just didn’t get the crafting feedback I had hoped for. I upgraded my Probe for a Thrasher (pictured here) which was a big upgrade, fire-power-wise (even though it looks wimpy with those little turrets). With my newfound muscle I “ganged up” with BM reader Bobster for a little pirate hunting and that was a good time. Not entirely lucrative, but we weren’t going after the big boys. We’ll be trying some low-security mining soon, so we’ll see how that goes. I’ve also been running as many missions as I can.

Since I’ll be out of town again this weekend, I’m hoping to finish up Metroid Fusion, get some more MPH time in and finally crack the seal on one of the games that interested me in the DS in the first place – Trauma Center. Can’t wait.

What about you guys? Playing anything new? Outside of GRAW and Oblivion, there doesn’t seem to be a bunch of new stuff out there. I’ve been eyeing Galactic Civilizations II but I don’t think I can take on another game right now.

Some thoughts…

March 21, 2006 by Tony 3 Comments

I know blogging has been light lately, but RL keeps getting in the way. I’d like to say gaming has kept me away but sadly that isn’t the case. Gaming has been limited to EVE lately, with an occasional Animal Crossing break.

Even with the lack of blogging, I wanted to post a few thoughts I’ve had recently:

Even with two AAA titles out in the past couple of weeks (Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Oblivion), I still find that I’m not really gravitating toward the Xbox 360. All the trimmings on the periphery (Xbox Live Arcade, Gamer Points) still intrigue me but the games don’t. I’ve never played any of the Elder Scrolls games (even though I own Morrowind) but I’ve been fascinated by the excited anticipation surrounding Oblivion. I’ll be watching Adam’s blog, since he’s in the same boat and will be playing an Elder Scrolls game for the first time. Even with all the excitement, I’m still content with the occasional Halo 2 match with friends and a little NCAA 2006. I’d also like to snag a copy of both Mercenaries and Forza since I never finished either of those. And I also have a stack of games that I’ve only played briefly that I’d like to get to. So yeah, I’m really not feeling the 360 right now.
So I’m not sure what will be the title that pushes me over the edge. Probably the next NCAA title. If not that, then certainly the next Halo.
That being said, I am currently drooling over the DS Lite. I don’t know when it hits our shores, but man I want that! It just looks sexy (something the original does not). While I’d really like to get a black Lite, I think the dark blue (Navy enamel or something) will do. I’m also pumped about Metroid Prime Hunters. If I have a chance, I’ll be picking up a copy later this evening, but you never know how that works. I was a little worried about the control scheme, but after reading Tycho’s blurb about it you can color me excited.
I’m really digging EVE-Online. So much so that I’m running a mission as I type. I never got around to Auto Assault and now I doubt I will. It’s not that I didn’t want to, but the gaming buffet is already overflowing. With Metroid and Tetris on the cusp, I just don’t need another time sink. It isn’t easy being a gamer.
I have a bunch of posts that are in various states of completion that I’d like to get to at some point. I’ve got stuff on MMOs (Sports games in particular), video game music (and other music-related stuff) and whatever else fills the empty space in my head. I’ll get around to them eventually. Right now, someone is in dire need of Antibiotics and I’ve got to deliver.

Virtual billboards

March 1, 2006 by Tony 5 Comments

So most gamers hate the idea of advertising in games. Me, I’m okay with it, if it fits into the game without me noticing. I’d be upset if I saw a Pepsi banner flying from a flagpole in Guild Wars. It doesn’t fit. If I happened to pass by one of the floating animated billboards in EVE Online sporting a Pepsi ad, I don’t think it’d bother me. Especially if the ad was done in a way to “fit” into the world of EVE. You know, a futuristic looking font spelling out “Pepsi: The choice of the Minmatar generation.” I think I’d be okay with that.

After reading this Business Week article (ignore the mostly irrelevant title), it looks like I’m not alone:

In American Wasteland, from gamemaker Activision Inc., for example, Jeep learned that all players were shown the 3-D vehicles an average of 23 times in 20 minutes. And 96% of those who recalled seeing the Jeep felt the vehicles fit well in the game. Feedback even more welcome to Jeep: 51% of American Wasteland players, including some not yet driving, said they would recommend Jeep to a friend, and 65% would consider eventually buying one.

I’m no marketer, but you don’t have to be to interpret those kind of numbers. American Wasteland needs cars in the street. There’s nothing wrong with making them realistic looking Jeeps (full disclosure – I own a Jeep and love it). In this case, it fits. The Jeep isn’t out of place.

Here’s the rub I have — if Jeep is going to pay to have its products placed in a game, that effectively increases the budget of the developer and publisher of the game. Simple mathematics would mean that the game would cost less to produce, a savings that could be passed on to the customer. They could even give us a choice – pay $39.99 for the ad-supported version of the game or $49.99 for the “pure” version. I don’t think anyone would have a problem with that. I know I wouldn’t.

Of course, this won’t happen. But I am ever the optimist.

EVE Online impressions

February 28, 2006 by Tony 33 Comments

Well, I’m currently in the middle of a mission in EVE and I’ve got a five-star gate jump to make, so now would be a good time to post some of my impressions of EVE Online.

That’s right. I’m blogging my impressions of EVE as I’m experiencing them. I’m hardcore like that. EVE is hands-off like that. (For now, I hope)

To be honest, I don’t know what to think about EVE yet. The game world is HUGE. I don’t think I’ve ever played in a game with so much real estate. I’m no astronaut, but if I was, I bet this is what space feels like. The game itself seems like it is very complex. The beginner tutorial took me about two hours to finish and I feel like I barely scratched the surface. The gameplay could probably be done without any graphics (TW2002!) but that would be a shame. The game is gorgeous.

Actual game play so far has been a mixed bag. Traveling has been boring, and there’s nothing you can do to make it any better (at least that I know of). You simply select your destination, hit auto-pilot, and you can walk away. I understand that when I start traveling in low security zones that I’ll have to be aware of my surroundings, but for now I simply chart my paths to be as safe as possible. Actual playing is a funny thing — other than the mission I’m currently doing, I’ve just been mining asteroids, which means I am not really doing anything. I warp to an asteroid belt, pick out a couple asteroids and I start mining. It takes me a few minutes to fill up my holds and then I go back to base, drop it off, rinse and repeat. The tutorial showed me how to do missions, but for I’ve mainly concentrated on mining and I’ve racked up a decent amount of ISK (EVE currency). I’ve already bought a new ship and am earning toward another one. It sounds boring, but I’m occupying myself with other things (blogging) while I’m mining. There’s a certain sense of accomplishment and enjoyment, but I can’t explain it. The buttonWife think it’s lame that I say I’m playing a game that I’m not really playing, but I’m liking it so far.

Leveling up is another interesting thing. You don’t gain experience for doing anything. You just pick a skill and you train it. Then after a certain period of time, you gain the next level in that skill. So right now, I’m training for level 4 mining. I started it Saturday night and I should finish training it tonight. Training goes on, even if you’re not playing. I like that idea. It’s the grind without the grindstone.

All that being said, there’s a huge amount I haven’t experienced, but of the little I have, I like it. I’ll keep playing, giving it a couple weeks worth of trying it out. The weird thing is, if my laptop died tomorrow, I wouldn’t have a problem with walking away from EVE. It hasn’t gripped me yet. I’m going to give it some time, but we’ll see.

It’s EVE eve!

February 23, 2006 by Tony 2 Comments

Okay, that was weak.

I’ve decided to take the EVE Online plunge this weekend. I’m going to download the client sometime tomorrow and then give the game a whirl for the two week trial. I’ve long resisted paying a monthly fee for a game (even though I did it with Neocron), but I’ve already learned to justify it, if I decide to play past the two week freebie. If I buy a game a every couple months, that’s at least fifty bucks I’m dropping on a regular basis. If EVE is as good as I think it might be, it would only be forty bucks every three months, actually saving me money because I’m not buying other games. Yeah, that’s the ticket! EVE Online is a like a computer game coupon! The buttonWife will be so happy with all the money I’ll be saving!

I’m thinking about putting the game on the laptop, since I’ve heard there can be stretches of downtime while you’re doing certain things, so I want to free up the main PC while I’m playing. Then I can work on “The Queue” while I’m playing EVE. That blows my mind, man!

So if any of you buttonMashers have any tips/comments/suggestions (like “RUN! Don’t download this game!”) let me know. If you’re looking for someone to game with, drop me a line and I’ll look you up once I get in the game. I’m looking forward to it.

Kids don’t get to watch eye gougings anymore

February 22, 2006 by Tony 5 Comments

Buttonmashing.com reader Bobster, always the helpful tipster, sent me a link to an article at Reason.com entitled Blood, Guts, and Entertainment: A sanguine take on sanguinary diversions. A great read, as most Reason articles are. The writer, Justin Pete, is reviewing the book Savage Pastimes: A Cultural History of Violent Entertainment in which the author argues, “that violent entertainment is good, indeed necessary—a way to sublimate the vestigial primal urges left over from our hunter-gatherer days” and “our popular culture may be saturated with synthetic gore, but at least we don’t spend our leisure time watching real people have their eyes put out, their limbs pulverized, their sex organs amputated and their flesh torn to pieces with red-hot pincers.” Interesting claims, to say the least. While I don’t necessarily agree that we have “primal urges” to “sublimate,” I do think exploring violence in our culture (especially in the past) is a starting point to refute the hand wringing that goes on now. It seems that a lot of people decrying violence in the media ignore history, much to their convenience.

Justin sites example after example from the book of violence in past entertainment, in order to dispel the myth that “things were so much better (simpler, purer, cleaner, take your pick) before.” The idea that movies like Natural Born Killers couldn’t have been made in 1939 (the year of The Wizard of Oz and Gone With The Wind) is simply a fallacy:

Such a simplistic worldview conveniently forgets that 1939 also brought such films as Death Rides the Range, Six-Gun Rhythm, and The Man They Could Not Hang, advertised with the tagline, “Boris Karloff dares you to see this holocaust of horror!”

But, in the end, the conclusion that violence in the media is not directly responsible for violence of the partakers is never breached in the book. It’s a shame. We’ve said it here before, but no one seems to listen. Just because we enjoy violence in our games (or movies or books) doesn’t mean we wish to participate in it. Being entertained is enough for us. But, as Justin says

… the tweaking [Schechter] delivers to the world’s Chicken Littles —those like Gov. Blagojevich, who writes on safegamesillinois.org that “when kids play, they should play like children, not like gangland assassins”—is overdue. If violent entertainment is anything, it is a mirror held up to a violent culture. Eliminating these cultural reflections won’t do anything to alter the master image.

Butt-kicking girls

February 6, 2006 by Tony 2 Comments

Saw this article about girls and video games at Utopian Hell. It’s a pretty good article, but this little bit troubles me:

That’s evidenced at GamerzNet where nearly 5-year-old Sarah Grodin and her mom, Heather, play Counter-Strike together. Across the aisle, Kathryn Grodin, Sarah’s aunt and co-owner of GamerzNet, also plays the counterterrorism game.

A five-year-old playing Counter-Strike? That doesn’t strike me as the best way to game with your kids. I mentioned early about the article that a large portion of parents that are gaming, which I think is great, but this seems a little over the top.

But it’s a good article nonetheless. Getting more people involved with gaming is always a good thing. This last little bit made me a little sad, though:

Of the nine girls gathered in a circle minutes before game play, all of them have a PlayStation system in their house. Two have an xBox and five have a Nintendo GameCube as well.

None of them had ever heard of Atari, the first console video gaming system.

That’s not right! Know your roots!

Comics and gaming

January 27, 2006 by Tony 3 Comments

Video games seem to be a popular topic in comics lately. I’m not talking about webcomics like PvP and Penny-Arcade (a couple of my faves). I’m talking about the ones in the newspaper. Bill Amend, writer of Foxtrot, gets gamers. Whether he’s joking about World of Warquest or Nice City, he does a great job goofing on video gamers without be condescending or disrespecting the medium. He is a gamer, afterall. He gets it.

In today’s Dispatch, the one-panel “Six Chix” comic about video games, another writer comes close. Kathryn LeMieux clumsily tackles the issue of whether gaming is mature or not. While I would agree that most M-rated games are anything but mature, her depiction is less than flattering.

Maybe the truth hurts?

Gaming Parents: good little citizens.

January 27, 2006 by Tony 3 Comments

It’s been passed around a lot already, but I couldn’t pass up the news story reporting that 35% of parents game. Not only can I include myself in that 35% (even though no one asked me), I loved this little tidbit:

Gamer parents are also likely to be voters, according to the study, with 73 percent of those surveyed claiming to visit the polls regularly. Perhaps unsurprisingly, 85 percent think that monitoring the appropriateness of what kids play should be the job of the parents, not the government or game publishers. Similarly, parents believe by a two-to-one margin that it isn’t the government’s job to regulate games at all.

See that? Are all parent gamers conservatives? Nope. We’re just well adjusted and we’re involved. Involved in our kids’ lives, involved in politics (some of us more than others), involved in rational thinking.

It’s something we picked up while we were gaming.

« Previous Page