Hello all, just wanted to give you all a quick update of sorts on what has been going on. In addition to preparing for PAX I have been doing some hardcore research on some interesting editorials that I have been working, the first one should be squarely on the state of emulation and what gaming needs to do to ensure it can coexist with it.
However one of the biggest things I have been gripping about for a while now is the streaming business of gaming. I have been experimenting possibilities of streaming games online which will allow me to go and make videos off of the interaction with people watching me succeed or fail in games. I think I have a few items up my sleeve that could make it interesting.
However I have been encountering a mired of issues in steaming a constant game. First being bandwidth, for those who do not know I have Comcast and they like to give you just enough upload before you could really do anything of major significance. Sure webcams and voice is ok, but video on the desktop hell no. In the current area that I am in the chance to pay for more uptime is not an option.
Next you have the issue of the operating system, Windows 7 and Vista change the way various devices communicate with one another, and if you are going to stream anything you need to be running windows XP. That is fine, however in order to get it working properly is another issue all together. Sure I could go and have my Windows 7 machine multi-boot to both OSes and switch back and forth between them, but that is going to require me to go and get a bunch of things that are going to cost me money in order to get it working properly. I could just get another computer that has the OS installed on it, but again costing me money.
The software to stream is fickle as well, everyone likes to go and hover around 30 fps, which is fine if you are playing games on the gameboy, nes or even the genesis. If you go any higher then that the vast majority of consoles border around 60fps and unless you like to watch some choppy game play. Now there are ways I could go and pop it to 60 fps, which require me to deal with either Windows Encoder or Flash media encoder. To describe the bane that program poses would require me to relive nightmares that I do not want to bring upon you.
I could also get one of those HD cards that can go and capture directly from the console. That would work, however you need to make sure you have the right connections to go to the card (some only have s-video while others are HDMI or composite only). Needless to say I have been giving myself a headache thinking this over and surprised that so many people take the time to go about doing this with minimum results.
So in short I got some things planned up my sleeve, streaming not so much. Maybe down the line, but for right now I will just stick with writing.
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Who's That Flying?! A PC Review
Hello one and all, after a long time away from the reviewers desk it is time for me to come and return back to the form that I call my bread and butter. Today we are going to look at a game that was recently released on PC and PSN, Who's that Flying?!
The game at its core is a shoot em up, a genre that normally sends people in a like it or hate it range. The people who enjoy it really enjoy the challenge of obtaining the highest possible score possible, trying to advance to the next stage, and becoming a master of dodging oncoming bullets. People who are not fond of the genre point to those exact things and demand something more exciting to play thinking that the formula has reached its peak long ago.
Good news everyone, this game is going to change the shoot em up genre in a good way. I am being serious.
So first let's talk about the story of the game, you are the defender of Earth and are being placed on trial for allowing doom beasts (black enemies with large teeth) to go and invade your planet. The various stages of the game is the recounting of you telling the jury of the other defenders how you were styling and profiling as you defended the earth, always acting triumphant at the end. This reverse story telling allows the game to get away with several game play tweaks that we will get into later, but what shines the most in these scenes is the comedy.
The dialog between you and the other defenders of their planets is a good banter between one another and the designs of each of them bode well and make you want to know more about them trying to uncover these unique defenders as they go and defend their planets. It does not overstate its welcome, it simply gets to the point, adds a few jokes and gets you right into the action.
Now as for the action concern it is your typical shoot em up where your goal is to destroy everything on screen, however what WTF does is change the tactics for you killing the doom beasts from wrecking your town. What this causes is the goal of each level going from surviving the hoards of enemies to holding the enemies from going behind you. The less you allow to escape your wrath the higher the medal you will receive, which can be used to unlock trophies or magazine pages.
In addition for you not dieing and allowing many mistakes to take place it also adds power-ups which you obtain by killing enemies. First you get a faster shot, then an energy beam, and finally you get a hyper beam which can literally take down all minor characters with one hit. The dynamic of chaining the powers together to maximize the use per power is not only essential for a high score but can easily get you past the tricky areas of the game. In addition to your shot you also can tear enemies apart if you get close to them and provide a small burst to other surrounding enemies or unleash a finishing move to a larger enemy after weakening them to create a medium sized explosion killing the enemies around them.
So you might be asking yourself that this is all well and good but what makes this go from a standard shoot em up to something excellent? The key is simple, chaining combos. Part of the strategy of keeping the doom beats at bay is to go and create combos by beating the enemies to earn cheers. The more the cheers come in the faster your power-ups will become available this will lead you to not randomly shoot enemies that come to you but to actually enable you to time when you enable the death of various enemies to maximize your score and prevent the stray beast from escaping your wrath.
Here is an example of this, first look at the picture above. Now in this picture you noticed that the defender is about to unleash a hyper beam to defeat the doom beast behind the two larger enemies. However notice above the one large enemy you have a choice to use a finishing move on it. If you were to go and do that it would cause an explosion that will take out some of beats behind him. If you are quick enough you can save your beam for the next wave of enemies who may or may not be clustered like that down the line.
The amount of choices being thrown at you to optimize your killing. There is no one true method to ensure beating all of the doom beasts which allows the player a certain trial and error on top of their preferred style of beating a level, meaning the player can literally beat the game in their own manner. The game play to achieve the ideal solution for each stage (defeat all the doom beast and let none escape you) brings an experience that is not memorizing patterns but stringing combinations together to react to each wave.
We have finally moved beyond the memorizing patterns and dodging bullets in the shoot em up genre and focus in on chaining various maneuvers to achieve the ultimate goal. Overall it is a breath of fresh air that is needed in the genre.
The extras this game features is fantastic, it gives you an infinite enemy mode where the goal is to survive the longest without missing 50 doom beasts and a challenge mode. These challenges range from a time attack boss rush, a no enemy shall pass run, high score challenges and a hyper speed run of a level. In short even if you are not good at shoot em ups the challenges will allow you to go toe to toe with gamers savvy of the genre.
This game cracks the traditional mode of the shooter and allows it to be accept to both hardcore fans and casual goers of the game and provides enough of story and comedy to make you want to continue on. This should be a slam dunk buy for anyone who wants a game that is going to challenge you and will make you want to go and do better to unlock the various bonuses. So until next time, keep on gaming.
The game at its core is a shoot em up, a genre that normally sends people in a like it or hate it range. The people who enjoy it really enjoy the challenge of obtaining the highest possible score possible, trying to advance to the next stage, and becoming a master of dodging oncoming bullets. People who are not fond of the genre point to those exact things and demand something more exciting to play thinking that the formula has reached its peak long ago.
Good news everyone, this game is going to change the shoot em up genre in a good way. I am being serious.
So first let's talk about the story of the game, you are the defender of Earth and are being placed on trial for allowing doom beasts (black enemies with large teeth) to go and invade your planet. The various stages of the game is the recounting of you telling the jury of the other defenders how you were styling and profiling as you defended the earth, always acting triumphant at the end. This reverse story telling allows the game to get away with several game play tweaks that we will get into later, but what shines the most in these scenes is the comedy.
The dialog between you and the other defenders of their planets is a good banter between one another and the designs of each of them bode well and make you want to know more about them trying to uncover these unique defenders as they go and defend their planets. It does not overstate its welcome, it simply gets to the point, adds a few jokes and gets you right into the action.
 |
| The more you play the more you want to get to know about each member |
In addition for you not dieing and allowing many mistakes to take place it also adds power-ups which you obtain by killing enemies. First you get a faster shot, then an energy beam, and finally you get a hyper beam which can literally take down all minor characters with one hit. The dynamic of chaining the powers together to maximize the use per power is not only essential for a high score but can easily get you past the tricky areas of the game. In addition to your shot you also can tear enemies apart if you get close to them and provide a small burst to other surrounding enemies or unleash a finishing move to a larger enemy after weakening them to create a medium sized explosion killing the enemies around them.
 |
| Hyper beam on a boss doesn't take him out right away |
So you might be asking yourself that this is all well and good but what makes this go from a standard shoot em up to something excellent? The key is simple, chaining combos. Part of the strategy of keeping the doom beats at bay is to go and create combos by beating the enemies to earn cheers. The more the cheers come in the faster your power-ups will become available this will lead you to not randomly shoot enemies that come to you but to actually enable you to time when you enable the death of various enemies to maximize your score and prevent the stray beast from escaping your wrath.
Here is an example of this, first look at the picture above. Now in this picture you noticed that the defender is about to unleash a hyper beam to defeat the doom beast behind the two larger enemies. However notice above the one large enemy you have a choice to use a finishing move on it. If you were to go and do that it would cause an explosion that will take out some of beats behind him. If you are quick enough you can save your beam for the next wave of enemies who may or may not be clustered like that down the line.
The amount of choices being thrown at you to optimize your killing. There is no one true method to ensure beating all of the doom beasts which allows the player a certain trial and error on top of their preferred style of beating a level, meaning the player can literally beat the game in their own manner. The game play to achieve the ideal solution for each stage (defeat all the doom beast and let none escape you) brings an experience that is not memorizing patterns but stringing combinations together to react to each wave.
We have finally moved beyond the memorizing patterns and dodging bullets in the shoot em up genre and focus in on chaining various maneuvers to achieve the ultimate goal. Overall it is a breath of fresh air that is needed in the genre.
The extras this game features is fantastic, it gives you an infinite enemy mode where the goal is to survive the longest without missing 50 doom beasts and a challenge mode. These challenges range from a time attack boss rush, a no enemy shall pass run, high score challenges and a hyper speed run of a level. In short even if you are not good at shoot em ups the challenges will allow you to go toe to toe with gamers savvy of the genre.
 |
| Are you up to the task to defeat every challenge? |
Thursday, February 3, 2011
I'm off to PAX East and why you should see the Keynote Speaker
Greetings on and all for this is your pal Coldguy and I would like to announce that I am going to PAX East (barring major epic fail). I wanted to let you all know that and if you are going there and see me, come over and say hi. All I ask is that you are not a stalker, and you let me know who you are so I don't get creped at you coming over to me.
Now the one thing I am look at conventions more so then anything else is the panels. Majority of people think I am nuts when it comes to this, however you are in a collective think tank beaming with potential insight that is not only free but sometimes better then the actual event as well.
I know what some are you are thinking, "I need to get to the QnA panel of this person, or attend the zombie survivalist camp, or watch people play match game with anime characters!" For that I say WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU!?!*
Conventions have panel tropes as much as anything else (see the Colossus yell, I'm on a boat, and free hugs), and knowing these things will help you decide which events you want to go to and which ones to skip. The key to get the maximum amount of fun with the smallest amount of time alloted is planning on what exactly you are doing and where you are going.
Now as of now the schedule has not been released for PAX East 2011, however rumblings of it show that it should be coming out soon. I highly suggest looking it over as soon as it comes out and research the people running the panel. If they have a good track record at other conventions (i.e. Rym and Scott from Geeknights) then those are going to be panels you want to go to.
However, one thing was released from the PAX camp and it is the keynote speaker, Jane McGonigal. When I heard this news I literally made a high pitch squee. Not only do I know she is going to do an awesome job as the keynote, but I got proof of it! Watch the video below in its entirety before continuing.
Yes, she is going to be your keynote speaker. In an age where we consider gaming a modern version of a toys, it is amazing to know that there are people out there using the gaming mechanics to solve real life problems.
We hold in this new medium that we call gaming, with all of the FPS, RTS, platformers, puzzle games, and yes even casual gaming a limitless potential to turn what we consider fun and turn it into a benefit to society.
So when PAX released its Panel schedule, give it a look over and try to find some outside of your normal convention fair and allow yourself to explore gaming in a new direction.
*Trademark Nash 2010
*Trademark Nash 2010
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Where I have been?
Hello everyone, if you are here from my gaming twitter account I want to go and thank you, if you are from my main twitter account that is awesome too, all in all I have been away and I think you guys waited long enough for an explanation.
Well for two months I went ahead and wrote for a good gaming site called Blistered Thumbs, the people there were very nice to talk to and a good spirited bunch. I was brought on as a reviewer, which was my forte that I have been doing for numerous years, and was excited to add my input into this new venture. However there was a catch, in addition to reviewing one game a week I had to write five news stories as stated in the policy set by the head of the site.
Now to be honest, I am not a news reporter, nor do I consider blogging a "profession" to report on news. My review style is neutral and I interject opinions into them. As a reporter I know that could not happen since your job is to go and report the news. However I was up to the task to go out and try to do this and do the best that I can do.
At first it was a rough start, getting help from as many people as I can, hunting down stories that were not covered on the main gaming blogs and presenting them to the audience. Several of these stories I try to have them relate to the average gamer as some where a complex subject, like Silverlight potential for a Zune/Xbox game, to things that are interesting, like an interview with someone defending video game from the naysayers.
Well it turns out I made many mistake, actually too many mistakes. I had a long checklist of things to do and over the course of time I missed some of them and would get called out for them. I also had to do my own graphic design, which I am no expert at either, and went ahead going through free programs making interesting images. In total one news story across the wire would normally take me over 7 hours to finish from soup to nuts and on top of working full time job let's just say I do not have time to add a social life as well.
After about two months of work I was told I had to take a break until February, only to be told then that I was no longer needed for the site. Although I investing much time and money into this venture as well as classes, tutors and additional resources to improve upon my weakness it was for naught. Most people will go and rage at their former employer and curse them up and down saying it is unfair, because what is better for your track record on the Internet then raging about a past job right?
That was sarcasm kids.
So instead of giving up on the dream I am going to take a new approach. Instead of working to the grind with a major site I will attempt to go and start over right here. Will everything be perfect? Most likely not, but I am going to focus on things that I do well in, and that is reviews. Sure there may be a news story here and there I will add my thoughts on, but the key focus will be simply reviews.
Now the one thing I do have going for me is my reviews I tend to keep myself out of them as much as possible giving you an opinion that in essence I will not show in writing. Yes folks, I review games like a critic would in a newspaper. In the age of "reviewers" simply telling you their opinion on a game I consider various things like the intended audience, the genre of people in the audience, and then finally pointing out the things you may or may not like.
I don't like numbers, at all. They defeat the purpose of actually reading a review, and as much as meta-critic tries to over expose this fact for gamers, the real meat of any review is the time the author takes in explaining each detail of the game and at the end letting the reader decide if they want the game or not. People are too focused on numbers that everything else is moot.
So what can you expect from me here? My honest thoughts about games, mainly on the PC, but also on other consoles as well. I am what many people a "casual gamer" or what I like to call "a guy who likes to play games but doesn't have 40 hours of free time to spend to play a game." I graduated college and work for a living in IT, picking the wrong avenue in computers, I spend so much time with making money that I want to do what I want to do and eventually attempt to go full time with this again.
So if you have manage to go and read all of this I want to go and thank you in advance, I hope to inform you, educate you, and share my thoughts with you to go and encourage a discussion with the masses. You can read my semi-random thoughts on twitter at @therealcoldguy if you like otherwise subscribe to your favorite RSS reader and I hope I can add a smile to your day when I go and finish a review.
That is all for now, it is now time for me to go to work.
Well for two months I went ahead and wrote for a good gaming site called Blistered Thumbs, the people there were very nice to talk to and a good spirited bunch. I was brought on as a reviewer, which was my forte that I have been doing for numerous years, and was excited to add my input into this new venture. However there was a catch, in addition to reviewing one game a week I had to write five news stories as stated in the policy set by the head of the site.
Now to be honest, I am not a news reporter, nor do I consider blogging a "profession" to report on news. My review style is neutral and I interject opinions into them. As a reporter I know that could not happen since your job is to go and report the news. However I was up to the task to go out and try to do this and do the best that I can do.
At first it was a rough start, getting help from as many people as I can, hunting down stories that were not covered on the main gaming blogs and presenting them to the audience. Several of these stories I try to have them relate to the average gamer as some where a complex subject, like Silverlight potential for a Zune/Xbox game, to things that are interesting, like an interview with someone defending video game from the naysayers.
Well it turns out I made many mistake, actually too many mistakes. I had a long checklist of things to do and over the course of time I missed some of them and would get called out for them. I also had to do my own graphic design, which I am no expert at either, and went ahead going through free programs making interesting images. In total one news story across the wire would normally take me over 7 hours to finish from soup to nuts and on top of working full time job let's just say I do not have time to add a social life as well.
After about two months of work I was told I had to take a break until February, only to be told then that I was no longer needed for the site. Although I investing much time and money into this venture as well as classes, tutors and additional resources to improve upon my weakness it was for naught. Most people will go and rage at their former employer and curse them up and down saying it is unfair, because what is better for your track record on the Internet then raging about a past job right?
That was sarcasm kids.
So instead of giving up on the dream I am going to take a new approach. Instead of working to the grind with a major site I will attempt to go and start over right here. Will everything be perfect? Most likely not, but I am going to focus on things that I do well in, and that is reviews. Sure there may be a news story here and there I will add my thoughts on, but the key focus will be simply reviews.
Now the one thing I do have going for me is my reviews I tend to keep myself out of them as much as possible giving you an opinion that in essence I will not show in writing. Yes folks, I review games like a critic would in a newspaper. In the age of "reviewers" simply telling you their opinion on a game I consider various things like the intended audience, the genre of people in the audience, and then finally pointing out the things you may or may not like.
I don't like numbers, at all. They defeat the purpose of actually reading a review, and as much as meta-critic tries to over expose this fact for gamers, the real meat of any review is the time the author takes in explaining each detail of the game and at the end letting the reader decide if they want the game or not. People are too focused on numbers that everything else is moot.
So what can you expect from me here? My honest thoughts about games, mainly on the PC, but also on other consoles as well. I am what many people a "casual gamer" or what I like to call "a guy who likes to play games but doesn't have 40 hours of free time to spend to play a game." I graduated college and work for a living in IT, picking the wrong avenue in computers, I spend so much time with making money that I want to do what I want to do and eventually attempt to go full time with this again.
So if you have manage to go and read all of this I want to go and thank you in advance, I hope to inform you, educate you, and share my thoughts with you to go and encourage a discussion with the masses. You can read my semi-random thoughts on twitter at @therealcoldguy if you like otherwise subscribe to your favorite RSS reader and I hope I can add a smile to your day when I go and finish a review.
That is all for now, it is now time for me to go to work.
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