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PC

Dear Vindictus

December 29, 2010 by Tony Leave a Comment

Dear Nexon/Vindictus,

Your game looks really good. It looks really fun. I actually played it for a few minutes before it dropped me. Never mind that it took me a couple hours to get that far. It took me about twenty times to start it before it connected to your servers. I played/watched the opening which was very nicely done. I even made it to the tutorial and was a few minutes in when it crashed. I haven’t been able to get the game to start, let alone connect to your servers, since.

I’d really like to play Vindictus. Please fix your game so I can.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: MMO, PC, Vindictus

So, did you pick it up?

July 28, 2010 by Tony 7 Comments

I know we had a discussion going earlier about the pricing of Star Craft II. So did you take the plunge?

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: PC, Star Craft 2

January Releases

January 4, 2010 by Tony 6 Comments

It’s the new year and what a year it’s going to be for gaming! The excitement starts this month and hopefully the momentum carries us through the year. Let’s get to the list:

Xbox 360 banner

Week of January 4th
Bayonetta– I’m torn on Bayonetta. On one hand, it looks beautiful and wicked stylish. On the other hand, I’ve never gotten into the stylized-action-game like Devil May Cry or God of War. Maybe it’s time to try.
Darksiders– In a month loaded with triple-A titles, I’m worried I’ll never get around to playing this, but I am definitely intrigued.
Divinity II: Ego Draconis– I didn’t even know there was a Divinity I. Anyone have any info on this game?

Week of January 11th
Vancouver 2010 – The Official Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games– Gotta fit this game in somewhere I guess.
Army of Two: The 40th Day– Another one I’ll probably end up passing, but I wonder what I’ll be missing.

Week of January 18th
Dark Void

Week of January 25th
Mass Effect 2– There it is. This should do just fine to tide me over for quite some time. At least until February. I hope it doesn’t take me two years to finish this one.

Wii banner

Week of January 4th
My Fitness Coach 2 Workout and Nutrition

Week of January 11th
The Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Crazy Chicken Tales
Walk It Out
Sleepover Party– Walk It Out? Sleepover Party? Have you Wii game makers have no shame?

Week of January 18th
Fast Food Panic
Pinball Hall of Fame: The Gottlieb Collection

Week of January 25th
No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle
Tatsunoko VS Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars

Nintendo DS banner

Week of January 4th
Fast Food Panic
Learn Chess

Week of January 11th
Daniel X
Sands of Destruction

Week of January 18th
Glory of Heracles– This looks like a solid DS strategy game. Tempting…
Bejeweled Twist– Haven’t you milked us enough already, Pop Cap?
KORG DS-10 Plus

Week of January 25th
Quad Kings
Personal Fitness Women
Legend of Kay

PC banner

Week of January 4th
Divinity II: Ego Draconis

Week of January 11th
The Sims 2: Fun with Pets Collection– Looks like the Sims 2 will not die.
Insecticide
Two Worlds

Week of January 18th
Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventure
Dark Void
The Tudors

Week of January 25th
Hotel Giant 2
Mass Effect 2
Alcatraz

PS3 banner

Week of January 4th
Bayonetta– See above.
Darksiders– Ditto.

Week of January 11th
Darksiders
Army of Two: The 40th Day

Week of January 18th
Dark Void

Week of January 25th
MAG

PSP banner

Week of January 11th
Army of Two: The 40th Day

Week of January 18th
Shepherd’s Crossing
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Week of January 25th
TNA: Cross The Line
Shadow of Destiny

Not a bad way to start the year off. While I think I’ll be grabbing Mass Effect 2, I’ve got plenty to keep me busy. 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.)

Filed Under: News Tagged With: Monthly Releases, Nintendo DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, xbox 360

FGotY 2009 [PC]

January 4, 2010 by Tony 3 Comments

With the portable games behind us, here’s our list for the Fun PC Game of the Year for 2009.

Nat – I never thought I would say this again but I am in love with PC gaming. Another hallmark year with titles such as Dawn of War II, Demigod, Plants vs. Zombies, Empire: Total War, and Torchlight. Valve should be commended for the strides they’ve made in my personal PC gaming renaissance. I don’t like ties, so I need to pick a winner based on hours alone. Borderlands—even with all it’s console conventions, nit-picky faults, and connection difficulty for a co-op title—is my Fun Game of the Year. At fifty hours and counting it fed the loot whoring monster inside me. Torchlight comes in second. A close second. We’re talking a Michael Phelps victory for Borderlands.

Brock – I’ve only recently gotten back into PC gaming to any real extent but I’ll have to give Plants Vs. Zombies my pick for the most fun I’ve had with a PC game this year. I’ve played through it on two different systems, worked through it again with my son and haven’t even scratched the surface of what is available in the bonus/zen garden modes. I’d also give a huge nod to my runner-up, Machinarium, which is a fantastic point-and-click adventure game that oozes charm.

James – I actually only played the game I chose for a short while but I think it deserves to be listed here. Killing Floor is a FPS horror game. Playing this game was reminiscent of Left 4 Dead in the way you needed the help of your teammates and how much fun it was. I only played it for three days but I am considering picking this up, especially because you can get it cheap on Steam. I never thought I would be able to get along without a cross hair to shoot with, but it works!

Will – I’ve always dabbled in PC games, but I have never had a rig capable of running modern games the way they were meant to be played. This means that the majority of my PC collection is made up of older titles (just look at my list of Steam games to see what I mean). Thanks to Steam, I bought Dawn of War II, GTA IV, Borderlands and Torchlight; all of which are up for my FGotY 2009 [PC] award. I gave it to Torchlight because of the loot monger in me (the one that makes me love Borderlands so much). I haven’t put many hours into it yet, but I feel the hopeless addiction setting in. I was initially turned off by the lack of online play, but I got over myself and bought it and am now loving it. Part of me wants to buy a netbook just to see how it runs on one, and to be able to bring the loot hunting with me everywhere I go.

Tony – I, too, am having renewed interest in PC gaming, strictly on the strength of Steam. I wish it had entered in my life earlier, but it came just in time this year. I didn’t play a lot of games, but I’m also picking Torchlight as my FGotY for the PC over Plants vs. Zombies. Not only did Torchlight scratch the loot itch, it also eased me in to using Steam and getting back into the groove of using the tried-and-true keyboard/mouse combo. I still prefer the 360 controller to my mouse and keyboard, but it’s been nice to get to know an old friend.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Dawn of War II, Demigod, Killing Floor, PC, Plants vs. Zombies, Torchlight

July Releases

July 1, 2008 by Tony 1 Comment

It’s that time again. What does the month of July hold?

Xbox 360 banner
Week of July 2nd
Gears of War (2-Disc Edition) – If you happen to one of the seven people who don’t own Gears of War, here’s your chance.

Week of July 9th
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution – If you want to fry your 360 from overuse, do it in a Civilized manner.
Unreal Tournament III – Just when July was looking bad, UT3 comes along.
Beijing Olympics 2008 – I never “got” track and field games. Probably never will.
Mobile Ops One Year War for Xbox 360

Week of July 16th
NCAA Football 09 – Ugh. I have faithfully purchased EA’s NCAA since 2003. Every year I say I’m done with them, every year I pick it up anyway. Will it happen again this year?
World In Conflict
Space Chimps

Week of July 30th
Soul Calibur IV – I used to be a HUGE fighting game fan. I played a lot of the original Soul Calibur in the arcade, but haven’t played much since then. Maybe it’s time to go back to the franchise.
Spectral Force 3
Summer Athletics The Ultimate Challenge

Wii banner

Week of July 2nd
Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon – Milking the FF Franchise, one platform at a time.
Purr Pals

Week of July 9th
WonderWorld Amusement Park

Week of July 16th
Rock Band Track Pack: Vol. 1
NCAA Football 09 – EA abandoned Nintendo with the NCAA line near the end of the console cycle, so it’s nice to see NCAA back in the Nintendo library.
We Love Golf! – Golf games are right in the Wii’s wheelhouse.
Space Chimps
Ford Racing Off Road

Week of July 23th
Chess Crusade
SNK Arcade Classics Volume 1 – Haven’t we suffered enough with these Arcade Compilations? The Wii is 100% backwards compatible. Go to Gamestop and find the Gamecube versions of these compilations. Save yourself some money.
Order Up!

Week of July 30th
MLB Power Pros 2008
Sam & Max: Season One
Freddi Fish: Kelp Seed Mystery
Puzzler Collection
Summer Athletics The Ultimate Challenge
Red Star

Nintendo DS banner

Week of July 2nd
Trauma Center Under The Knife 2 – I started out really liking the first Trauma Center. Then I started hating myself for liking Trauma Center. Then I just hated Trauma Center. I’m not worthy of its hardcoreness.
Amf Bowling Pinbusters
1 Vs. 100
Ducati Moto
Journey to the Center of the Earth

Week of July 9th
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution – Seems like the DS is perfect for a Civ game. I wonder what they had to give up, game-play wise, to fit it on a DS cartridge.
Carnival Games
Pony Luv – The DS and its game titles are single-handedly wrecking the spelling skills of our poor children.

Week of July 16th
Wordmaster
Nancy Drew 2: Clue Bender Society
Space Chimps
Mister Slime

Week of July 23th
Final Fantasy IV – That’s more like it. This is probably my only must-buy this month.
Izuna 2: The Unemployed Ninja Returns – This game wins “Title of the Month.” Unemployed Ninja. Is that even possible?
Chess Crusade
Suzuki Super-Bikes II: Riding Challenge
International Track And Field

Week of July 30th
Puzzler Collection
Puchi Puchi Virus – “Puchi Puchi certainly sounds like a virus.

PC banner

Week of July 2nd
Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze
Turbo Subs
Fighter Pilot 2
Piglet’s Big Game

Week of July 9th
Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice
Devil May Cry 4
Painkiller Universe
Insecticide

Week of July 16th
Deadliest Catch: Alaskan Storm – I can’t figure this one out. How is this a game, basically a job simulator, fun? I can’t watch the show for more than five minutes.
Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel
Hot Dish – “A Spicy Time Management Cooking Adventure”. I’ll pass.
1701: Gold
Space Chimps
Let’s Ride: Riding Star
Hunting Unlimited 2009

Week of July 23th
Big City Adventure – Sydney
Slingo Quest Hawaii
Fate: Undiscovered Realms – Fate is a great game, wish I had time to play more of it.
Game of Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition
Enchanted Fairy Friends: Secret of the Fairy Queen

Week of July 30th
Flatout: Ultimate Carnage
Beijing Olympics 2008
Legend Hand of God
Outcry
Avatar the Last Air Bender: Path of Zuko
Etch a Sketch – The words, they fail me.

PS3 banner

Week of July 9th
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution
Beijing Olympics 2008
Monster Madness: Grave Danger

Week of July 16th
NCAA Football 09

Week of July 30th
Soul Calibur IV

PSP banner

Week of July 9th
Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity

Week of July 16th
NCAA Football 09
B-Boy
Ford Racing Off Road

A few solid offerings, a few venerable franchises and Final Fantasy IV.

Are you planning on picking anything up this month?

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Monthly Releases, Nintendo DS, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, xbox 360

Traveling in Everquest 2

May 31, 2007 by Tony 7 Comments

I haven’t posted a lot about Everquest 2 lately, but after reading some recent posts about how good Everquest 2 is becoming recently and all the fun other bloggers are having with the game, I have found myself playing EQ2 quite a bit lately.

I recently dinged thirty and decided it was time to find some new stomping grounds. But, since I suffer from RPG-OCD, I had to make sure I left no quest unfulfilled. I decided to take a look at my quest journal and worked on wrapping up any quests I have left over in the Commonlands. Now that I’m heading north of level 30, I figured it was time to bid farewell to the open plains of the Commonlands with one last quest clearing hurrah. The first thing I did was to get my first mount:

My new mount

I figured getting my mount would facilitate all the running around I’d need to do to wrap up my quests. For the most part, I like traveling by horse, but I do have one nagging issue — horseback combat. If I was some kind of ranger-like character, shooting my bow from horseback or if I was a caster, throwing fireballs from the saddle, I would be fine with it. But I am a bruiser, with attacks like “Flying Kick” and “Haymaker.” My hands and feet are my weapons of choice. In fact, I don’t even have a weapon equipped. So when I attack something from the horse, it looks really lame as my arms are flailing around all crazy-like. Not very cool, so I usually dismount to smack around the bad guys.

After I finished up almost all my quests in CL (EQ2i.com rocks!) I had a good session of exploring. Finding new areas, seeing new sights and uncovering the fog of war on a new map is one of my favorite things to do. I guess I’m an Explorer (actually, I’m: AESK (Achiever 60.00%, Explorer 53.33%, Killer 40.00%, Socializer 46.67%)). I had already explored most of Nektulos Forest, so I moved on to the Thundering Steppes, exploring most of that map and finding the Griffon Stations. Then I ventured to The Enchanted Land. At level 30, that area looked a bit out of my league, but I did find the next tier of harvesting nodes, so I spent some time harvesting some items so I can work on my Provisioner skills during my next crafting session. I’m pretty excited about that.

Last night, while wrapping up my last couple quests in the Fallen Gate, I decided to join a PUG and head deep into the bowels of the FG and make our way to “the Vault”. It was also an excellent time, as all the guys I grouped with were pretty cool guys and we kicked 7 different kinds of butt. It was pretty awesome. Two barbarians led the way (my bruiser and a paladin) and we pretty much tromped everything in our path. The loot wasn’t great, but since I had never been that far into that area, there was much Achievement experience to be had.

All in all, a good couple weeks of EQ2. Everquest 2 is firmly ensconced as my #1 game. I initially thought it would be a game I would play 1 or 2 times a week at most, but I don’t see myself slowing down anytime soon. I’m already making plans for my first alt!

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Everquest 2, MMORPG, PC

Get Out the Gamepads Summer’s Almost Here

May 29, 2007 by Nat 5 Comments

By way of introduction, I figured I let everyone know a little bit about myself and then we’ll get on to the good stuff. I’m a 30-year-old gamer who grew up playing Nintendo and PC games who has been married for seven years and has two boys ages 4 and 1 1/2, and you could probably say I’m a Nintendad. I work in the IT industry developing and maintiaining web sites that run on the technology that is behind this one. Sonic was cool, Punch Out should have the words “Mike” and “Tyson’s” in front of it, and Tie Fighter is the essence of a pure of computer game.

Now that that is out of the way, here’s what I’m currently playing with some quick impressions. You’ll probably be seing future posts that revolve around these games, though there are some suprises I’m not sharing right away.

  • Crackdown for Xbox 360: My Game of the Year (currently) for 2007. It’s a great game for blowing off some steam. This was the game that caused Tony and I fits (well, really it was me doing something else). It’s also the first game in which I’ve bought downloadable content, and that should say something because I think most content on Xbox Live is too pricey.
  • Pokémon Pearl for the Nintendo DS: I’ve never played a Pokémon game before. How can Nintendo put all that digital crack in an itty bitty plastic case?
  • Titan Quest for the PC: I’m a little late to the game on this title, but I never played any of the Diablo games either. I hear its supposed to be similar. For some reason I’m compelled to play…a long time. My longest play session was four hours. That cannot be good.

Now this is where you come in. Let us know what you’re playing.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: Crackdown, DS-Lite, PC, Pokemon, titan-quest, xbox 360

David vs. Goliath – Round #?

June 28, 2005 by Tony 1 Comment

This news of AMD taking Intel to court is getting lots of air-time everywhere. I’m personally an AMD guy, I’ve used them in all my PC builds (Full Disclosure: I also own AMD stock) so I’m excited and nervous about this news. Excited, because I’d love to see AMD continue to grow. It’d be great to see a Dell without an “Intel Inside” sticker on it. I’d love to see the company I have a vested interest in succeed on a larger scale. But this makes me nervous because AMD may alienate the people it wants future business from.

Nevertheless, reading some of this case does make it look like something is amiss with Intel’s “practices”:

AMD’s complaint lists examples of what it characterizes as bribes, threats or intimidation by Intel involving 12 computer makers, nine distributors and 17 retailers.

One example noted that Gateway paid a hefty price for its limited dealings with AMD, with its executives conceding that Intel “had beaten them into guacamole.”

and

In discussions about buying from AMD, “Dell executives have frankly conceded that they must financially account for Intel retribution in negotiating pricing from AMD,” the suit alleges.

This will be interesting to watch because the ramifications are huge.

One thing that should be pointed out is that this AMD/Intel bickering has been going on for a while, here in the US and overseas. Intel may already be trouble in Japan, and possibly the EU, too. The case here in the States isn’t something that just happened out of the blue.

I hope AMD has a solid, legitimate case. Crying “Intel isn’t playing fair!” because they feel they are losing ground is something I hope they’re not doing. Life, especially in a free market, isn’t fair. But, and that’s a big but, if Intel isn’t “playing fair” they should be held responsible, within the bounds of the law.

Filed Under: Gaming Tagged With: AMD, Intel, PC

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