Topics: Smallvlle comic book, new Sherlock tv show, Journey, NAACP Image Awards, Justice League

Nerdtastic News:

• Sequel to Flower: Journey
• Ghost Rider anyone, Nicholas Cage? – if that is your real name
• Falling Skies get a Second Season
• Justice League: Doom animated movie to released this month
• Smallville comic book series
• R.L. Stine does short horror via twitter
• CBS is for reals about doing Sherlock. Jonny Lee Miller is set to star
• Breaking Bad’s Giancarlo Esposito Is Coming to Community
• Kingdom of Gods nomintated for Nebula award. So was Attack the Block!

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Online gaming has come very far in a short amount of time, but even with all the advancements that have been made, developers don’t seem to be able to handle all the traffic that these new games demand. Twisted Metal, a new game from the team at Eat Sleep Play is having a rough time right now just getting people into games. This is especially disappointing because its best feature is its multiplayer, it seems like at this point most games with multiplayer modes have issues at launch. This trend seems to be on the uptick with no end in sight.

Games that have been out for a while are still having problems. Mega franchise Modern Warfare 3 still has awful spawning logic and laggy servers. Here is an example below:

After hearing friends complain about online servers being bad on multiple games I find myself asking the question, “If you know that most games in this generation have shotty online components especially at launch, why would you purchase a game on day one?”

I am not saying that no blame falls at the feet of these companies but to a certain extent we are enabling them to do this to us. On one hand we are expecting a pristine online experience when there is no evidence for such, but on the other hand we continuously give companies money without them proving that they can provide the experience we are hoping to pay for. This has led me to change my way of thinking and how I purchase games whose main component is competitive multiplayer.  I  have decided to no longer be a first adopter. As a first adopter you are telling companies that you are a willing participant in an experiment. A experiment that will test their systems and more importantly your patience. We’ve seen games even provide multiplayer betas and still release with sub-par gaming environments.

I am deciding to remove myself from the process and I ask you to do the same, not just for yourself but for the rest of us.

We as consumers have power, we have the ability to send game developers a message by not purchasing games in the first week. That week is usually what game companies look toward as a metric for how successful a game will be. By holding out a week or two you can make your dollar mean something again. I believe some companies like Activision don’t care about their customers, we’ve seen the same rote gameplay over and over again with many of the same connection issues in the Modern Warfare series, but because of how folks have been trained they still purchase every year. I also think that sometimes things just break, mistakes are made and we should give those games (if you really like them) a chance to make things right. WB and Netherealm did right by their customers when Mortal Kombat came out with awful server problems.

My suggestion to you is to make smart purchases, wait for full reviews. Be a informed consumer and let companies know that malfunctioning  games are not worth your money. What do you think? Leave us a comment below.

The BSG talks about Mass Effect 3 demo, sexy games (not), upcoming fighting games, DLC, PS Vita and a random voice from the south.

Join Neal Carter and me, Lorraine Gore as we discuss thoughts on 2/13/12 RAW, Santino replacing Orton in the Elimination Chamber, the Tamina vs. Beth Phoenix match, Fit Finlay thinks no one can criticize the Divas, Sting is injured, Bully Ray is amazing but should be in a tag team, and the infinite reasons you should support indie feds!

Tune in for this and more! Let us know your thoughts! Please click the link and give us some feedback on what we do!

And you should especially come see my 1970′s Kung Fu movie dub impression!

Didn’t see episode 1? Well, I got it right here!

This is a continuation of a series involving my old gadgets that are still ticking. Please check out my previous post on Minidiscs.

Before I got my Gameboy via the Sunshine Sales Club in late 1989, my portable gaming needs were served by Tiger Electronics. There were enough beeps and hoops from these machines to keep me entertained. They were usually based off of full fledged arcade and NES games such as … Double Dribble.

When you turn on the game, you don’t get the “Dubble Dibble” voice from the NES version. Voices are a far cry away, as the technology behind Tiger games is even more basic than the Atari 2600 from the late 70s / early 80s (my first game system). The gaming experience consists of a screen with a few predetermined sections that light up in response to player movement on the control pad and one, huge button. The sections are pre-drawn player graphics for the offense and defense. There are only two sounds – a “tick” for moving / dribbling / shooting, and a referee type whistle for scoring.

The game is tough. The CPU will immediately steal the movie if you stay still for a second. You have to consistently move and hope that the random number generator blesses you and counts your shot as good. It makes for a intense game that surprisingly makes me feel like I’m competing in an actual sport.

IIt kept my 9 year old mind occupied. And it was fun. Definitely my favorite of my Tiger games, besting others that have log since died like Double Dragon, Karnov, and Altered Beast. Those games proved to be too ambitious for a Tiger handheld. Simple sports games work best.

And it still works! Video coming soon!

Originally posted at http://shareefjackson.com/blog/2012/2/15/yeah-they-still-work-part-2-double-dribble.html

Topics: Happy Valentine’s Day!  Google Wallet, The Grammy’s, IT Crowd, Transformers 4, Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, and what geeks would like on this day of AMOR

Nerdtastic News:

• Google Wallet Disables Prepaid Care Use
• Nicki Manaj Possessed?
• IT Crowd is not coming back for a 5th season
• Transformers 4
• Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Trailer

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Agent Jackson, JP Farifield, and BCole strip down to the bare essentials to handle relationships in and out of work. On the corporate side, Jackson decries personal space violations, JP breaks down the politics behind office spouses, and BCole wastes his Barry White on a lady that’s simply impressed by his mastering of the fine art of reading. On the geeky side, Jackson explains the nuances of having family in his beeswax about having kids, JP tumbles a dude on the bus that tries to tumble her tumblr, and BCole dates Sue Richards. An Ikea store may or may have not spontaneously combusted due to this episode. – Music: Organized Konfusion “Let’s Organize” ft. OC and Q-Tip (7:23) and “Maintain (35:15). —  Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield  – Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis) – Website: operationcubicle.net – Donate operationcubicle.net/donate – Email: operationcubicle@gmail.com

5. SEN: Although the SEN is about to go through a re-naming I don’t think it’s come anywhere close to reaching its full potential. There are still uniformity issues that make small things both unnecessarily complex and don’t promote community. With small things like a universal invite system, I understand that a lot of liberty is given to the developers in how they want to implement this but Sony should give guidelines that streamline things for the user. There are other things that I believe they should do, for example put a mic in every box. These are things that grow the community, give devs a reason to add the feature to games and keep everyone on a level playing field. Get these things right before moving on a new system.

4. Install Base: The PS3 has basically matched its competitor in terms of number of boxes in homes after being severely behind for the first couple of years. Unless Sony is going to drop the PS4 before Microsoft debuts their machine I think they need to stay put. With its focus on Kinect and more social media apps, Microsoft has shown that it is less interested in catering to its hardcore fanbase. Right now Microsoft’s first-party support is as visible as Samuel Jackson’s hairline: nowhere to be found. Sony would have the upper hand and could wait to spend that money on research and development so that when the PS4 drops it can have killer hardware packed in.

3. The Vita: I think that there were some lost opportunities to get some things right with the PSP. Sony can totally revolutionize cross-platform play and content if they focus on the interconnectivity these systems have. “Remote Play” was more gimmick than asset on the PSP. I think if they focus on some of these things now, they could have an amazing bullet point on the next PS4 box.

2. Life Cycle: Everyone right now who is clamoring for a new system needs to have a seat. Most of the time they ask for this it’s because of graphic fidelity. I really want these folks to calm down. Why, you ask? Here is your reason: EVERY system gets better graphically with age, most of the best graphical showcase games on PS2 came towards the end of its life cycle. GOW2, MGS3 and Grand Turismo are just some of the beautiful games we got toward the end of the cycle. Even after playing Uncharted 3 this year, I know that games can look better.

1. “There are no original ideas”: People have become complacent with the FPS deluge that we’ve been accustomed to but there are still awesome games coming out in this generation. Twisted Metal, Journey, Bioshock Infinite and Starhawk are on the horizon. Yes, they could have been pushed back until a new system comes out but then what would you have to play? I am as excited to see new hardware as the next person but I also want new ideas and you are going have less of a chance to produce those titles on a new system that needs to sell.

I understand that many folks are excited by new technology but sometimes the want exceeds the actual need. We still have great gaming moments coming this generation and I welcome all the goodness coming our way.

Related articles

• CES 2012: Sony says PS4 won’t be at E3 2012 (gamesradar.com)
• Sony: No PS4 reveal in 2012 (slashgear.com)

You are now introduced to The Armbar Cast! A wrestling podcast all about Professional Wrestling, which stars Neal Carter and our lovely Vulgarwoman.

Enjoy!

DeAna has been gracious enough to allow me to contribute here and i hope we can all learn from each other or at least have fun.

My introduction episode is here and it’ll give you an idea of what i plan to do with my podcast as things continue.

Glad to be here!

Topics: It’s our 50th EPISODE!!! Celebrate with us as we look back on fan favorite episodes and fan submitted questions.  We also talk about the latest episode of Glee, premiere of Smash, and The Voice.

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Originally posted at http://shareefjackson.com/blog/2012/2/6/video-yeah-they-still-work-part-1-minidisc.html

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Agent Jackson, JP Fairfield, and BCole shrink themselves into the wonderful world of mobile devices. On the corporate side, Jackson wastes his Barry White voice on yet another colleague, JP can’t understand Spanish with a side of sugar and speed, and BCole gets trolled by his VP. On the geeky side, Jackson shows love to the Snakey game on early cell phones, JP stunts on them fools with her flip phone and MIDI ringtones, BCole learns the danger of teaching your mom how to text, and everyone wonders what the hell happened to Nokia.  Music: Quasimoto “Rap Cats Pt 3″ (7:46) and “The Exclusive” ft. MED (38:25). Follow us on Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield  Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis)

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Agent Jackson, JP Fairfield, and BCole reunite to talk about taking time off. On the corporate side, Jackson gets blue balled when answering his work phone late at night, BCole explains the idiotic salary laws for analysts in Minnesota, and JP defeats all flu vaccines. On the geeky side, Jackson supports playing hooky from school, a deer saves BCole from BET Spring Break, and JP advertises her Harlem shake. Take that take that take that! Music: Dilated Peoples ”ClockWork” (8:11) and “Dilated Junkies” (39:40). Follow us on Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield ) Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis)

Dear Mr. Iwata,

I’ve been a fan of Nintendo since the first time I held an NES controller in my hands in 1987 at a friend’s house. Over the years, Nintendo has been innovative and I’ve loved their consoles and games because of it. However, somewhere in the 90s, Nintendo started making enemies in the video game industry and gamers started to side with those enemies. The N64 used cartridges and alienated Square, which caused them to take the most important JRPG since Chrono Trigger to the Sony Playstation. The Gamecube struggled because of sub par ports, and then there’s the Wii.

For all its commercial success, the Wii proved to be the butt of many a joke. Gamers literally ran from the Wii and flocked to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The console had a lot of potential, but a lack of horsepower, horrid third-party support, and a broken online structure were a recipe for disaster for the Wii. Any fly by night publisher was able to throw some garbage onto a disc and get a Nintendo Seal of Quality stamped on it. Other third parties were simply unwilling to make games that made proper use of the motion control technology that the Wii was hinged on. You continued to soldier on, though, and as head of Nintendo, Mr. Iwata, you have taken every bit of criticism on the head.

The Wii U is still a ways off, and nobody has played a game on the console yet, but it has already taken a stiff dose of criticism from gamers who have developed a deep resentment for your company. There is an ever-growing community of gamers who have grown frustrated with Nintendo, Mr. Iwata, and with good reason. Your company has for better or worse been at the forefront when it comes to innovative controllers, but the controller introduced for the Wii U has become a divisive topic that if it doesn’t work well, it will kill this console before it’s released.

Innovation is always good, but today’s gamer isn’t looking for a new way to play anything anymore, they simply want to play. They also want a robust online experience, which for whatever reason, you haven’t been able to provide to this point. To this point, online experiences on the Wii feel about as comfortable as playing a Dreamcast game online via SegaNET. Microsft got things right with Xbox Live, and Sony was able to play catch up to a point, but the experiences your consoles have provided this console generation are laughable. So, the three things that I, a gamer and long time fan of Nintendo consoles, can suggest are these: focus that innovation on the in-game content, develop a decent online structure for your next console, and go back to the days where that Seal of Quality wasn’t put on games that didn’t deserve to bear it.

At the end of the day, I can’t tell anyone how to run their business, especially if that business has existed since 1889. As a gamer, though, I am concerned about where your company is going, much in the same way I was concerned with Sega when they botched the last two consoles they released. Times have changed, Mr. Iwata, and in order for Nintendo to reclaim its seat as the company that saved the video game industry, and was its standard bearer for years, I feel that changes must be made. If they aren’t, the Wii U may possibly be Nintendo’s swan song for the video game industry.

Sincerely,

A Gamer Since 1984, and NES owner since 1988

Programmers Roger Barr, “Bane” and artist Pox came together in 2002 to make a tribute to the NES games of old. They came up with this adventure that parodies numerous classic games by mish-mashing them together with a underlying rescue story. “Aboboy” has been captured and Abobo must try and rescue him by any means necessary.

What makes this game so great is in the game’s design. You will go from a side-scrolling beat-em-up stage to a Legend of Zelda themed one. The mechanics are the same but it’s the little touches like throwing in enemies from games that have nothing to do with one another that make it special. Killing a Shyguy in a Zelda level isn’t out of the question, neither is eating the head off a little girl from River City Ransom for health. Stuff like this keeps you wondering what you will see next and keeps the anticipation level really high.

I won’t spoil some of my favorite levels because seeing it for the first time is part of the charm. I would advise folks that there are cool little things to see in all the levels, it gives this flash game a bunch of replay-ability and totally adds to the fun. There is also a bonus adventure you can download and play if you donate a little cash to the cause.

Check out Abobo’s Big Adventure over at abobosbigadventure.com or over at newgrounds.com

I’m starting a new series on some of my old gadgets that still work and are used as primary devices, standby replacements, or just once in a while reminiscing.

Background

Sony Minidisc players. Does anyone even remember them? They were quite popular in Japan but failed to make an impact in the US. The convenience of the hardware was outweighed by total misunderstanding of software and user experience.

I was introduced to the minidisc in college, before CD burners were commonplace. Even if you access to one, CD players had their typical problems of scratching and skipping. Overall, CDs lacked the durability of cassette tapes.

Hardware

The Minidsic solved this by offering a medium that was as durable as a cassette tape but offered the enough space for a few albums. In addition, the overall minidic player was smaller than a cassette tape, and this significantly smaller than a Walkman or CD player. I quickly made minidisc for my favorite artists, and loved being able to carry around 4-5 albums on a single minidisc.

Another great hardware feature was the remote that connected to the headphone wire. All the controls were available on my hand while the device was in my pocket. It even had some features that the current Apple headphones don’t have – shuffle and repeat. Using the remote, you could also access the FM radio and listen to whatever trash is spewing on the waves.

Battery life is decent – can almost get a full day off one AA battery. No plug in charging here – just bring some batteries (regular or rechargeable) and you’re good to go!

Software

Unfortunately, Sony completely screwed up the software. First of all, all songs needed to be converted to the proprietary audio format ATRAC for the device. This took forever, and could only be done on Sony’s horrible software that constantly crashed. Because of this, I didn’t freely edit my minidiscs as I originally planned. Once I made a compilation, it didn’t change.

How Is it Now?

The minidisc player has become a viable option during my iPod / iPhone time when I’ve broken or lost my apple device. When I use it, I never feel like I’m using an ancient device – it still feels good and gives decent sound quality.

Originally posted at http://shareefjackson.com/blog/2012/2/4/yeah-they-still-work-part-1-minidisc.html

Topics: Very Smart Brothas Clusterfuck, Conan O’Brien’s new show about geeky women, Kevin Smith’s new reality show “Comic Men”, Gingers,  Pinterest, our epic dislike of the Glee “Michael” episode.

Nerdtastic News:

• CBS greenlights Conan O’Brien’s new show about geeky women
• Kevin Smith’s new reality show “Comic Men”
• Why No Women in “Comic Men”?
• How Kevin Smith Said I was Perfect 
• Pinterest

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So when deciding how to approach this article, I asked myself, “What makes a good teammate?” and, “Where do I go to find like-minded gamers?” I asked friends, did a little research and even spoke with a pro-gamer acquaintance for some ideas. I’m hoping that some of my findings might help you if you are in the same rut that I’m in.

First up is GameBattles, recently snapped up by Major League Gaming. This mega leaderboard is the place that many people who are looking to find clan-based competition would go. Those wanting to go pro in a game like Call of Duty, Halo or Gears of War seem to congregate here and find people to scrimmage against or recruit. Having used GB in the past I found it a great tool if you already have a group of people you like to play with and trust them to have your back in a firefight. Leaderboards and global rank I’m sure are great at building camaraderie (if you are winning) but don’t seem to help with finding new people to play with.

Next is a site that I was exposed to by YouTube sensation WoodysGamertag. Woody has been streaming his gaming exploits for a while now but would always refer to a site called Hupitgaming. Hupit stands for Helping Unite Players Into Teams; the sole purpose of it is to get folks who have similar play styles and gaming habits to play together. It’s like Match.com for gamers with more shooting and fewer walks on the beach. When you start using the site, you put in a bunch of information about yourself and how you like to play. Your particular gaming style, platform of choice and a few other details are needed. Once you’ve finished, your Gamertag or PSN name is uploaded and if other folks have similar tastes you can send them a friend request and a message.

It’s pretty genius and the process is painless. After setting up my profile I had a couple of friend requests on both my PS3 and Xbox and the folks were pretty cool to play with but after a couple of days we stopped playing with each other. Maybe it was due to the times I was on or not on for that matter. I will say that the people I “met” were nice and didn’t have the attitude that I see with many super competitive gamers. Many people I’ve come into contact with are just rude, not only to their opponents but to their own teammates. At this stage in my life I don’t have the time or energy to deal with that, so any way I can lessen that stress is welcomed. Overall I would say that Hupit is a great site to help with finding people to play with. I will definitely try it again and update this post with some of my findings.

Lastly, I reached out to Ritchie Martinez, who you may know better by his online moniker TeRRoR. He is a pro gamer that is just coming off of a huge win at one of the country’s biggest Gears of War tournaments titled “Hypefestation”. He and his team Infinity had an awesome come-from-behind victory and showed just what great communication and team play can do when implemented correctly. After watching, I reached out to him via email and I asked him some questions pertaining to how he found his Infinity crew and if he had any tips on recruiting better teammates. He also shared some insights on playing as a pro, here is our interview below:

SP: I see from a recent interview that you did at HYPEFESTATION, that you and the rest of Infinity have been together since Gears 2 came out and you guys are still going strong. How did you meet the crew that you run with now? Online, Real life friends?

TeRRoR: To clarify we started playing together at the very end of Gears of War 2 in which we only competed on Gamebattles which was an online tournament that we ended up winning. Ribs and I met online , we tried him out a couple of days before MLG’s (Major League Gaming) roster lock and felt like we meshed extremely well.  Atmo and Flamez we also met through online. A lot of us in the community know each other from competing the last few years.

SP: As a pro player are there different things that you look for in teammates that have evolved or are different since going pro?

TeRRoR: Well I think maturity and knowing how to take positive criticism is very important in this sport. It seems as if many teams fight and argue over losing scrims and that’s definitely not the case when it comes to Infinity. I just like to play with people who enjoy perfecting a craft so that we make strategies as routine and smooth as possible. I can finally say I feel like I found the right combination in my teammates.

TeRRoR: Unfortunately we don’t have the proper funds to practice in person as much as we would like to so we just wing it on XBL.  We all try to get on around 6:30pm EST and run at least one or two practice cycles before the night’s over. My gaming schedule is pretty open for the time being but I find myself playing other games outside of Gears of War in my free gaming time.

TeRRoR: The great thing about Gears Of War is that it’s a very tactical game, you aren’t going to kill me across the map unless you have a power weapon. This means that you have to develop a plan to try and find a way to slowly pick off the opposing team one by one. As opposed to COD it seems that if I see you before you see me, the majority of the time I’ll be able to kill you. I think that is a huge difference when it comes to tactical shooters.

TeRRoR: There was no true strategy involved, Ribs and Atmo are great friends and were pretty much looking for who they might wanna play with. The team belonged to Atmo since Gears 1 and since the brand is very important to the Gears community we kept the team name. Ribs recommended me to Atmo who then agreed it might be a great fit so for a little while we were a team of 3 looking for a fourth. The best way to try people out is by trying them out in a match, in our case an online match (Gamebattles). Social media can be a great way to communicate with free agents but unless you know how someone plays I don’t think it’s a great idea to recruit through it.

TeRRoR: Well we really try not to separate ourselves from the rest of the community, but it seems as if the quality of scrims seem to change when playing against a team who isn’t pro. They don’t take it seriously, they run around doing things that shouldn’t be done, and it can just be very frustrating because then we just get less practice from it. We have been doing a better job at mixing it up to try and prepare and counter all kinds of strats thrown at us whether its a pro team or not.

TeRRoR: I’m really interested in seeing if we can possibly compete in another shooter, but I don’t see it being a main focus point at the moment being all four members need to be on the same page.

TeRRoR: I do think that more tourneys would bring more light to E-Sports but we need to push for a bigger cause. I hope that one day gaming can be taken seriously and players on pro teams are getting paid on a salary. This would help so that they can focus on just doing that instead working a 9-5 job and not having time for the passion of gaming. I just personally hope to see the E-Sports community grow as a whole. (I don’t think I’m asking for too much)

Finding other quality people can be a daunting task and we are to a certain extent far removed from the days of having folks over for gaming sessions. Some of this is due to life just being in the way, the growth of online console gaming and even the lack of split-screen has lowered the chance of having gaming friends that are worth having around even after your system is off. I hope that some of you try a couple of these options if you are looking for cool people to play with, and if you have some stories of how you met awesome people to play with please share your stories in the comments below.

Topics: SOPA, PIPA, & ACTA — The war over Net Neutrality, MegaUpload shutdown, The Arkh Project, Con or Bust, DC doing crazy ish, Google going to the dark side, Static Shock Cancellation

Nerdtastic News:

• MegaUpload Got Shut Down Before Unveiling MegaBox 
• Stop ACTA
• The Arkh Project
• Con or Bust (Helping POC travel to SFF conventions)
• Google just got evil (but De still loves them)
• DC Acting Kinda Racist…
• Static Shock Cancelled
• DC redesigns it’s logo, again after a suing “mishap”

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Topics: Betty’s White 90th birthday, Michael Fassbender being a jerkwad, The River tv show, another Paranormal Activity sequel, Awkward Black Girl Finale, SOPA Blackout

Nerdtastic News:

• Youngest female Microsoft Certified Professional dies at 16.
• From the writers of Paranormal Activity: Another PA sequel
• ABC’s new show,“The River”
• 5 Apps to help clean up your Android device
• Notification Control – launchpad to control email notifications
• Giving Siri a run for her money

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(Apologize for the audio issues, but we wanted to give you a show!) Agent Jackson and JP diversify their bonds while BCole is off to handle some business.  On the corporate side, Jackson supports good corporate citizens while JP avoids dancing for the man.  On the geeky side, Jackson explains his history as a Planeteer while JP educates on the fine art of why exposed boobs doesn’t make you a great cat burglar. Music: Binary Star “Conquistadors” and “One Many Army”. Follow us on Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield  Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis)

The first game I ever owned for the NES that I received on the Christmas of 1988 was actually the last thing my Aunt wanted to get me. She originally wanted to pick up a copy of Mike Tyson’s Punch Out, but it was sold out everywhere. As a matter of fact, the only two games available anywhere were Anticipation and Donkey Kong Jr. Math. She chose Anticipation, but in hindsight, I sometimes wished she would have gotten Donkey Kong Jr. Math mainly for the immense resale value. I proved to be a pretty good party game, but as the only person touching the NES at that point, it was only an every few week single player distraction. It still remains in my collection, neatly tucked between Kung Fu and Tetris with the rest of the Nintendo published games.

Then there was the Sony Playstation I got in 1998. Things were tight around the house at that point, and I wanted a Playstation (or PSX as they were originally known) so I cut grass around the neighborhood to raise the $150 I needed to get the console. I was able to go to the local K Mart, and someone even let me use their employee discount to save me a few bucks. Not only was I excited to get a new game console, but I was also proud that I was able to buy it with my own money. I’d love to say that I still have that Playstation, but a freak power surge in the dorm I was living in basically killed it.

Finally, there is the case of Castlevania: Lament Of Innocence for the Playstation 2. This story in some ways cut the final ties of a relationship I needed to get out of long before. When I heard about Lament Of Innocence coming to the Playstation 2, I got excited and preordered it. As it released, I grabbed a few games to trade in, including a pretty bad Harry Potter game that I purchased for the young lady I was in the process of breaking up with. She was in a particularly pissy mood on the day I came home with Lament Of Innocence, and she went on a tirade, going so far as taking a Playstation game she got me as a Valentine’s Day gift and one of my NES consoles. The even funnier part of this story is that I still have Lament Of Innocence, bought another copy of Strider 2 for much cheaper than she paid for it, and she lost the NES in Hurricane Katrina. I hate to be that guy, but karma won in that instance.

While I was cleaning that game shelf, a wave of memories peeked in, and they reminded of the attachment to the games on the shelf. Video games are typically about the experience you get in the game, but for me, they are just as much about the stories you have about standing in line to buy them, playing them in a room full of friends, and the feeling of accomplishment when you conquer them.

This past Tuesday Sony held a event in lower Manhattan to let some lucky gamers get their grubby little hands on the newest piece of Playstation hardware. After seeing the blast on the PS Blog I rushed out of work and trekked into the cold, rainy night down to the lower east side. Upon my arrival, I saw an eager line of folks, lined up almost around the block, ready and waiting to play with the PS Vita. People were pretty excited and from the conversations I overheard the buzz was strong. A couple of guys and I were chatting it up when Sid Shuman comes out with a Vita tethered to his waist, pulls out the device and all conversation stops. I consider myself a person that isn’t easily awed but seeing the brightly lit OLED screen under the backdrop of streetlights made me a believer. The 5-inch screen is gorgeous to look at, colors are super vivid and jump off the screen. All the coverage that I read prior to the event talked about how nice the details pop, and they were all totally telling the truth. Pixels seem really small and almost unnoticeable when up close. I know that once people get their hands on the system they won’t be disappointed.

It Feels Good

We all entered the store and ran through the gauntlet of people to sit at a station, to finally pick one up and play. The first thing you notice is just how light the Vita is. It feels considerably lighter than a PSP and I would say maybe a little bit lighter than an iPhone 4 sans case. I caught myself rotating the system just to see how they get all that techie goodness in there without the weight, and to be honest I’m still astounded at how they’ve done it. The analog sticks (YES! a second stick) feel great, the concave surface is smooth and doesn’t have that thumb grating mesh that the nub of the old PSP had. They are raised just enough to give you the movement you need but don’t interfere with the system’s profile. They feel like scaled down versions of Dualshock sticks which is definitely a good thing. Two slightly convex handholds are placed on the back of the device and provide a comfortable place to rest your hands. It did take a little bit of getting used to, to figure out the exact way to orient your hands when playing with both sticks–especially because I didn’t want to drop–it but after a minute or two it felt like playing any other PSP. Interacting with the front and back touch screens showed just how responsive the system was and how nice they both feel. Although very smudge-prone, they had just enough tactile feel to make you know that they serve a purpose.

Launching Pad

Vita launching well is going to be very dependent on the titles that come out when it drops on Valentine’s Day. I would say that the Vita might have one of the strongest launch lineups a handheld has ever had. Some of those games were playable at the Social Club that night and from what one of the reps said they will rotate games in and out for the six week period the club will be open. Some of the games there that night were: Hot Shots Golf, Reality Fighters, Modnation Racers, LittleBigPlanet2, Sound Shapes and Uncharted.

I believe Sony’s platform is amazing for indie developers, so I ran over to Sound Shapes by Jonathan Mak (maker of Everyday Shooter) and tried it out for a bit. Due to time constraints I jumped on a game already in progress and unfortunately didn’t get a chance to go through the tutorial, but I can say that what I did play was cute, fun, and really interesting. It seemed like they mixed a platformer with a music game. Going from screen to screen, rolling or jumping on objects and characters added new sounds and beats to the delightful soundtrack. I’m not sure what your “mission” is but I really would love some more time with that game.

Next up was Reality Fighters. After seeing the AR games that came with the 3DS, I wanted to see what Sony had up its sleeve. I picked up a copy and let it run for a bit. Again I didn’t have a chance to run through the controls but the Augmented Reality was awesome. You tell the Vita to pick a ground point and it uses the camera to project the background under your fighters. You can move the camera around the gamespace in real time to change things up as well. The game felt really responsive, it looked great and the ability to import your face into the game worked quickly and seamlessly. I was very impressed with Reality Fighters and would pick this up day one.

Modnation Racers was a great console game, but due to massive loading times didn’t live up to the hype. The Vita version seemed to have some of those same issues. I don’t know if the game was running from the HD or from the cart but the load times were way to long to be viable on a handheld. My 20-minute commute is a short one and if it takes almost a minute to get into a race then I doubt I would really be able to enjoy the game to full capacity. The game did look and sound great, the controls were spot on, but the loading times were hard to overlook.

The game that I believe most people wanted to play was Uncharted: Golden Abyss. It has been touted as the best example so far of what the Vita is capable of, and after playing it I have to say that it is one of the most visually impressive games I’ve ever seen on a handheld machine. Graphically it’s a little bit under PS3 quality, which is a remarkable statement and a testament to how far gaming development has come. Nathan looks as great on a Vita as he does on your big screen, and movement and controls are excellent and have all the small flourishes that you expect from the series. Interacting with the touch screen to initiate traversal sequences feels intuitive and worthwhile and the analog controls feel just right and make it feel like a console experience.

The Vita is a powerful machine with a lot of great software already announced. If they can back that great software with infrastructure that can handle the load, then they will have a winner on their hands. What gamers need is a way to enjoy their content in a no-muss, no-fuss way, easy secure access to the PSN store, and hopefully a consistent way to integrate some features back and forth between the portable and home systems. Again if they can make that happen, they may have the game-changing device we are all hoping for.

Sony did a great job of putting this event together and we all had an awesome time playing with the new kid on the block. I will head back down and update this post with any new games and findings that come up. The Vita seems to be heading in the right direction on all fronts and hopefully will get the attention that it deserves. I can’t wait for launch day to experience all the goodness that this little powerful machine has to offer. A quick shout out goes to Sid and my line-mates Dan and Marlon for braving the cold and being my gameplay muses. Thanks again guys, hope to see you all soon.

These guys were great!!

I finally got my hands on a 3DS this holiday season, along with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.   I’ve never played the original 1998 Nintendo 64 game because it came out right when I entered college and pretty much abandoned console gaming.

Well, after putting more than a few hours into it (just finished the Water Temple), I can say that so far it’s captured me like very games have.  The beauty of the game is in Miyamoto’s design: it’s smart enough to appeal to gamers of all ages. The orchestral music is timely, and the game is just hard enough to be satisfying.  You actually feel smart after solving the puzzles in the game. Despite all that I’ve read about the annoyance of the fairy Nani’s hints throughout the game, I never felt like I faced a puzzle and was immediately given the answer if I didn’t get it within a few minutes.

How many games do that now?  How many big budget games are smartly designed and can be played by a teenager as well as a cynical adult?

I understand that Miyamoto is a once in a generation genius, and maybe he’s the only kind of person that can create a game with such balance.  But the problem is that I don’t even see others attempting.  Either a game is so babyfied that adults won’t touch it, or it’s so adult that Congress is talking about it.

We need more games that I can play proudly near my wife and/or future kids.

Direct Download – iTunes - Twitter

JP Fairfield had to bow out of this episode, but Agent Jackson and BCole hold down this week’s topic of email and beat it to smithereens.  On the Corporate side, Jackson is disgusted by people that Reply All every damn time while BCole has a warning for those that BCC his boss.  On the geeky side, Jackson explains how the “You’ve Got Mail” voice validated his life, and BCole revelas that he’s Noreaga.  Music: Blackalicious “Reanimation” and “You Didn’t Know That Though”.  Follow us on Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield  Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis)  and email operationcubicle@gmail.com

Direct Download – iTunes - Twitter 

Agent Jackson, JP Fairfield, and BCole kick off the new year with … what pisses them off about starting a new year. On the corporate side, Jackson amazingly hates on co-workers that are nicer at the start of a year, JP actually observes work-free vacations, and BCole hates on the onboarding process everywhere.  On the geeky side, Jackson warns people about mass holiday texts, BCole has a $40 New Years experience, and JP attempts to sell us on The Vampire Diaries (Team Klaus?). Follow us on Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield  Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis)  and email operationcubicle@gmail.com

Direct Download – iTunes - Twitter 

Agent Jackson, JP Fairfield, and BCole take on the second half of the feedback show with the power of many ninjas.  Feedback topics include klepto co-workers, an update on JP’s task management schemes, Sega CD and the ESRB, why people mess up the CC line on email, keeping your funky feet covered in the office, slow jams vs salsa and mergengue, and oversharing in the office.  As usual, BCole ends the show on a downer, which is his way of wishing everyone Happy Holidays on behalf of the podcast! Follow us on Google+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield   Twitter  (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis)  and email operationcubicle@gmail.com

The gamefield will change perspective depending on what level you are on. Usually brick breaker games have the puck on the horizontal axis. Shatter plays on both, and while it takes a bit of getting used to, playing on the vertical definitely adds a nice twist. The wild card and most important tool at your disposal comes to you by the way of “shards”, small fragments that are released once you break a block. You can collect these by using the pull power to bring them to you; the trick is getting enough of the shards to fill up your “Shard Storm” meter while keeping the ball in play. If you do fill up your meter you can let go a barrage of bullets that will quickly empty a stage and rack up a bunch of points.

The power-ups come in extremely handy: they can make the ball even more controllable, add more shards to the playing field or give you a 1up. The pick-up-and-play feel makes the game challenging but not overwhelming. The pace seems just right and not super frantic. I will say with all those different dynamics going on I was most impressed with Shatter’s visual style and music. You can see that Sidhe took the time to add those small atmospheric touches that really makes this game stand out. This isn’t your run of the mill brick breaker, the geometric shapes that cover the field are all these great hues of yellows, greens and purples. They pop off the screen and make it a delight to look at and the music pulsates in these ambient techno rhythms. Bass hits seem to match the timing of ball strikes off your ship and push the action along.

Shatter has three modes to choose from: “Story Mode” which lets you go through the progress of the game’s 10 worlds with a boss battle at the end of each; “Boss Battle” which is a race to see how quickly you can beat each boss, and “Bonus Mode” which is a score- based challenge mode. Although Story Mode is the default I gravitated towards the Bonus mode because the quick pace and my OCD need to beat the scores of all my friends kept me wanting more.

All in all Shatter is a really good showcase of what can be done in the digital retail space. A full, robust, and fun game for under $10 is exactly what is needed to show that full game downloads are both reasonable and viable.

Good nerds, I know you’re all familiar with the tale of the young hero. Misunderstood/unpopular kid mysteriously gains powers and now must defeat evil/save the world because with great power comes great responsibility.  This is not what  MisFits is about.

Often described as where Heroes  meets Skins; MisFits is probably the most realistic portrayal of what would happen if young adults were suddenly gifted super powers.  They are not trying to save the world (forget the cheerleader). They’re just trying to live through their court imposed community service sentences and get on with their lives when suddenly they’re caught in a freak ice storm. Each (as well as others in the neighborhood) ends up with powers that reflect their innermost desire or personality.

Curtis , who desperately desires to fix his past mistakes, finds out he has the power to go back in time.

Alisha  prizes her ability to be attractive to men, has the power to seduce anyone she touches. However, it is far more terrifying than you’d think.

Nathan is more sensitive than he appears to be and plays the irreverent jerk. One of those incredibly charming a**holes that repulses you and pulls you in at the same time. His power is ..well, I’ll leave that a mystery.

Kelly is a vulnerable girl who grows tired of being looked down on because of her accent and class; gains the power of  telepathy allowing her to hear what others are thinking.

Simon is a shy nerd with great intelligence, but a low social IQ. Tired of being teased for his awkwardness, he gains the ability to become invisible.

MisFits is a dark comedy with complex characters who often do things that are stupid, ill-advised, or offensive (most often uttered by Nathan). It’s all the delight of being young & stupid without any of the guilt! Abandoning the hero trope allows room to explore intricate plots & pasts of each character. At one time or another each one will be  your favorite and each one you’ll dislike. It’s not always an easy show, but that’s part of its brilliance. As hilarious as some scenes are, other scenes can be equally as disturbing, uncomfortable, or have deep emotional impact.

No character is as simple as they appear. Without a great quest or destiny the focus is more on what’s important to each one as a person and this makes them feel like real people. They have family troubles (far more interesting and genuine than the Petrellis), form couples, and do battle a few people who have been overzealous with their powers–but only b/c it got in their way.

For a British show there is a peculiar lack of class differences on display. While Kelly does deal with the negative consequences of being a perceived as a chav, none of the other characters seem either disadvantaged or privileged by their class.  In fact, each seems to have an equal standard of living.

One of the things I’ve noticed in most, if not all, of the British TV I’ve been watching is the racial and ethnic diversity in the casting. Racial diversity, as well as interracial relationships, are presented as the norm and are completely unremarkable. Anyone can be a hero, anyone can be a villain, anyone is loveable. While it’s not the same with every show in this series, it’s refreshing to just feel like you’re just another person in the world.

Expand your nerdery and catch up on this award-winning show’s three seasons on Hulu! Treat yo’ self.

Topics: Angelina Jolie, Doctor Who (duh), Hip-Hop Fanfiction, Comcast, Star Trek, great big brothers, holiday break stories and banking horror stories

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• Angelina Jolie wrote/directed a movie
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• Amazing new Camera, Phone, or is it both?  – The WVIL
• Comcast rolls out live streaming… can we say LAAATTTTEEEEE!!!!!
• NNN is on Paper.li
• Brother sticks up for little brother’s video game choices
• “Shit White Girls Say to Black Girls” causing issues
• Clever Conceptual Photos

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In the British TV That PWNS series, I’ll explore the British TV that I love in hopes that you, my good nerds, will love them too. Fellow blogger NaniCoolJ has already provided great coverage about her love for Merlin & Doctor Who, so I’ll skip those.

This week I’ve chosen BBC’s (I’ll try to make the distinction as to which channel each show appears on. I’ve fallen into a bad habit of calling all British TV a “BBC Show”) supernatural drama, The Fades.

17 year old Paul (Iain De Caestecker) has been having apocalyptic dreams of a the future; a world covered in atomic ash. Soon he begins to see the fades; the spirits of the dead trapped between this world and the next. The fades are not visible to most people, but to those he can see them–Angelics–they appear just as the person was in life–but because they can’t ascend their, soul rots as their body would.

The fades are becoming restless and bitter. Tired of only being able to observe our world and unable to ascend to the next life, some have began a gruesome process that will allow them to become corporeal. This once dead army wants nothing more than to rule the world and it’s up to Paul to stop them.

In this clip the recently supernaturally gifted Paul has a vision where he finds his family dead. His sister, Anna (Skins alum Lily Loveless) sprawled in his bed. Troubled, he tells his best friend Mac (Daniel Kaluuya, another Skins alum).

This is the moment I fell in love with The Fades. Everything from Paul’s horror to Mac’s ridiculous sweater (red ponies with white spots?! WHERE DO YOU FIND THAT?), the hilarious underclassmen who tease the pair, and then quickly moving back to a serious gravity of an Angelics’ duties drew me in and kept me going.

The first season contains a typical British run of 6 episode, compared to the usual American run of 22 episodes. You’ll wish it were longer, but there’s a great advantage in the brevity–no filler episodes. Every moment is spent on furthering the plot and accounts for this break-neck speed.

Want a chance to watch The Fades? You can watch the first episode FREE on iTunes. This free download only lasts a week, so click quickly! If you miss it, don’t worry, The Fades starts on BBC America this Saturday, January 14th at 9pm EST/8pmC

I could go on at length about how this could leave a bad taste in the mouths of a lot of gamers who just purchased consoles, but it boils down to the fact that there may not be room for new consoles in the homes of the millions of gamers who have made extensive investments in the current generation of consoles. Let’s be honest, the worldwide economy is struggling, and while the gaming industry has proven to be less vulnerable to the painful hit taken by other forms of entertainment, it isn’t immune. The slow start by Nintendo’s latest handheld, the 3DS, and its subsequent price drop pretty much proves that point. The console’s original price point, coupled with a lackluster crop of launch titles pretty much cemented that families hit by the economic downtown would not pay such a large sum for a handheld.

I have been saying that the gaming industry is on precarious ground, and any step in the wrong direction can lead to a repeat of what happened in 1983. The best advice I could give to the console makers is that they probably need to clamp down on their software approval process. Put better games on the market, and gamers will buy them. Don’t rush to put out a new console every five years simply because the console has been out for 5 years. Sony was able to ride the Playstation 2 for about a decade, which hadn’t been done since the days of the Atari 2600 and the Intellivision. The immense amount of potential still left in the current generation of consoles is only held back by the potential of the developers working on the content being released for them. In short: we don’t need new consoles just yet, but seeing what they can pump out will be pretty fun.

Here is my list:

Skyrim:

This song lets you know from the moment you hit “Start” that you are ready to get yourself into something epic and massively badass. Orchestral and big, it gives the you the feeling that you are about to do battle even before you pick up your first weapon. I loved it and understand why they used it in most of the advertising that preceded its launch.

Portal 2:

Portal 2′s ending was awesome–I think the fact that I thought I was going to die by turret helped make this song so memorable. The whimsical notes along with the visuals added so much to the ending that it had to be one my favorites of the year. Who knew that being serenaded by hundreds of faceless killing machines would wind up being so endearing. Although I don’t think this or the ending credits song was as good as “Still Alive“, it left me both wanting more of the game and happy to see its creators put such nice finishing touches on what was a wonderful ride.

Infamous 2:

The Infamous series is about being a reluctant superhero, a real person put into extraordinary circumstances who has to make tough decisions about right and wrong. I think this song has elements of all these themes in it. I appreciate songs that you would want to be your “walking music” on the commute to work. Songs that would be your entrance music if you were a wrestler, or in my case an IT guy. I want this song to play when I fix your broken shortcuts or printers; I don’t want this just to play in my head, but in small speakers that I’ve strategically placed on my belt so that you know I’m awesome when I leave your cubicle. It just makes you feel like you made it through something tough and came out better on the other side. Plus violins are AWESOME!

El Shaddai:

I heard about this game from Shane Bettenhausen, a former 1up writer who then went on the work for the company who put this game out. I have massive respect for Shane and his gaming views so I rented a copy from Gamefly. I was blown away by the whole package it provided. A breathtaking graphic style, simple but engaging gameplay and really cool music. The theme above is reminiscent of the old school gaming music I loved when I grew up: airy and powerful with pulsating drums that push you on your adventure. I have to say this and the next game I list would go under my “Most slept on games of 2011.”

Shadows of the Damned:

As an older gamer, my music tastes have changed substantially during this part of my life. Shadow’s soundtrack was pretty eye-opening. The game is brash and sexy, spooky and eclectic. It mixes small tinges of mariachi and  throws downbeat atmospheric licks just for shits and giggles. It had to be my favorite gaming soundtrack just for those reasons. The tracks fit so well with the game, and that’s because Akira Yamaoaka just knows how to do gaming music. If you’ve played a Silent Hill game you know what I’m talking about. There is also an amazing song titled “Justine For All” that plays during the side-scrolling stages; it reminds me of something that would play in a demented carnival. You must check it out.

All in all I would say 2011 had some very interesting and exciting  music additions, and I am really excited to see what can be done in the next-gen music wise. The ability to not be constrained to small midi files, bleeps and crackles will only help to make our memories and gaming experiences fuller and more meaningful. It will give composers and artists the ability match the standards they want their music to reach and will hopefully give us something to tap our feet and bang our heads to while we rescue our newest prince or princess.

Thank you to all the folks that took the time to find and post such great music on Youtube. When clicking on the links give them a shout as well and say thanks.

A great example of this is the Mission Impossible series. I used to hold the first Cruise movie as the best of the series, solely because it was less of an action movie and more of a whdunit, with the appropriate amount of plot twists. I was constantly on my toes and was pleasantly surprised by the ending.

That’s great and all, but does that mean that I should enjoy it more than the recently released Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol – A movie that focused much more on explosions and native iMax imagery than any kind of amazing storytelling? Years ago I would have said yes, I enjoy cerebral movies more. But now that I’m older, bitter, and cynical, I have to buckle down and say that sometimes I just want to have a good time,

It’s the same experience with Modern Warfare – a series with a very convoluted story that takes a back seat to the action. And that’s not a bad thing. I enjoyed running through a Russian – occupied DC while helicopters are falling from the sky after a nuke detonates in the atmosphere, destroying the international space station (yes, that actually happened). Again, I play my fair share of “smart” games like Pushmo on the 3DS, but I don’t limit myself of them.

Get big and get dumb. You won’t be disappointed.

2011 was a awesome year, we started our site and gained some pretty awesome fans and followers in a very short amount of time. We wanted to thank all of you all for supporting us, commenting and providing such important feedback to our community. We want to do nothing but add great content to the site for you guys to enjoy and make 2012 just as great.

Look forward in the upcoming days and weeks for more articles to hit the site and a steadier flow of stories.

Again from the bottom of our hearts we want to thank you for everything.

We wanted to thank some people specifically for their invaluable help, positive energy and guidance:

The girls over at NerdgasmNoireNetwork. Thank you so much for letting us be a part of your amazing site.

Lorraine over at FeminineSmark. Thank you for being so positive and keeping all of us on our game.

Shawn Hill for being a great at what he does and providing a place and platform for us all to get our feet wet in the world of gaming journalism and starting Character Select. It’s been something that has helped me in so many ways, much respect sir.

The CS and BSG crew for always having something great to discuss and making gaming fun again.

N4G for providing a great place for people to get together and enjoy gaming and gaming stories.

Lastly not least all of our readers for being so awesome and keeping fires under our feet.

Much love and respect,

Kahlief and the SpawnPointBlog Crew

After playing with the game for a couple of weeks now I can say a couple of things. I appreciate the attention to detail that Take-Two places in all of its sports games. They pay attention to a painstaking amount of “little things” that many gaming companies leave on the cutting room floor. You can see it in their graphics, sound and gameplay, but when porting from a PC/Console version to a handheld device you also expect some degradation in all those things. This is the case with NBA 2k12 for mobile.

I wondered how their award winning game would translate to both a smaller screen and to the touch controls that iOS devices employ. I would say that for as much game as they put into this version it is hampered by the usual touch-control schemes that plague most action-based, touch-based games. There are two versions of control that you can use, “Classic” and “One Touch” controls.

The classic controls use a virtual stick and virtual buttons for both movement, passing and shooting. Using this option gives you the most control over your players but on a smaller device takes up way too much screen real estate to let you see what you are doing half the time. I would assume that this is lessened on the iPad or any compatible tablets, but unless you have one of those devices you are going to have a rough time playing the game with these controls. They just aren’t responsive and make you feel like the game isn’t able to keep up with what you want to do. Player movement seemed sluggish, the offenses didn’t move realistically and the ability to play on ball defense seemed to be lacking in many areas.

Your other option is actually a lot better but you then lose manual control of your players all together. The “one-touch” controls basically let the AI control all movement but lets you pass and shoot. Although this sounds terrible it actually makes the game more playable, but also takes a bunch of the fun out of the game. The ability to switch on defense goes away and the AI doesn’t move the offense intelligently, so although you can now see your players better you now have a team full of NBA zombies who can’t figure out how to move when they have the ball and don’t know how to get open for a shot. Nor can they defend in any way that makes sense or is helpful.

With all that said, I think that they do put a lot of things into the game that I didn’t expect. The presentation is still very good with very cool camera cuts and replays. Player faces are pretty true to life and they do have several play modes that include full season, playoffs (with playoff-specific commentary) and auto-updated rosters. I also think that this is a great stepping stone for what could be an amazing handheld experience but they have lots of work to do. There are overlapping audio glitches, graphical glitches and their roster updates could be more timely. I think if they get these things handled it could be awesome for next year.

What I would really love Take-Two to work on would be a PS Vita version. I think that could seriously be great — you would have the fidelity, processing power and dedicated buttons to really have the control you want from a sports game.

For those who are wondering if they should pick this up, I would say to pass on it, or at least download the lite version of the game on the iTunes store. Although there is potential there, I would suggest you keep your wallet in your pocket.

If you have any comments on the game or the article please leave comments or feedback in the section below and if you liked it, please share.

Filed under: Gaming, Technology ]]> http://nerdgasmnoire.wordpress.com/2012/01/02/theyre-playing-basketball/feed/ 0 kahjah1 20111229-124520.jpg Heat VS. Mavs 20111230-114735.jpg http://nerdgasmnoire.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/2011-in-review/ http://nerdgasmnoire.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/2011-in-review/#comments Sun, 01 Jan 2012 06:48:25 +0000 NaniCoolJ http://nerdgasmnoire.wordpress.com/?p=1652 ]]> The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 13,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 5 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

You can get War of Words for iPhone or iPad on iTunes. There is a free version and of course, a paid version.

Bombs away.

 
A cross post from Wordyless.com

Direct Download – iTunes – Podomatic – Twitter

Agent Jackson, JP Fairfield, and BCole read and respond to user feedback that you’ve so graciously sent! But first, the crew shout outs all of the countries that check out the podcast – we get love from every continent except from the haters in Antarctica. After that the crew delves into feedback topics, which include embedding audio files into Google+, why admins run the office, Windows Tab vs Alt Tab, disgusting office keyboards.  Tune in next week for the second half of the feedback episode! Follow us onGoogle+ (+Operation Cubicle, +Bryan Cole, +JP Fairfield  Twitter (@OperationCube, @Cubicle_Negro1, @Isitis) and email operationcubicle@gmail.com

If you’re anything like me, you’ve been watching the prequel video to the Dr Who Christmas Special over and over again. If you’re not like me, or wasn’t even aware that it existed here is my Christmahannukwanzaa gift to you (spoiler warning, if you haven’t seen Season 6 you may not want to look at this):

I’m growing more and more fond of Matt Smith’s Doctor by the minute. He brings this sort of bow-legged, BAMFy swag that I just can’t get enough of (and this is coming from someone who ADORES David Tennant and all of his quirk).

OH! And just in case you haven’t yet seen the trailer for the Christmas Special movie, take a look at the video below:

DO NOT FORGET to watch this tonight on BBC America at 9pm/8pm Central (Oh CST, just because it’s a show about time travel doesn’t mean you have to fight against television programming times!)

Crossposted on NerdyGirlSwag

My Xbox 360 gamerscore is 2825.  Some people might laugh at that for being low, and others may wonder how many hours I must have “wasted” to get a score that high.  Everyone has an opinion, and when you’re in the world of multiplayer gaming with people that may / may not know you personally, the score is what other people have to go off of.  People will instantly choose how to approach you based on the gamerscore.  And even within a game, people will make comments based on that score, REGARDLESS of how you’re actually playing.

My Steam achievement score is … nothing.  There is no achievement score, but there are individual achievements.  Other than that, you can view other player’s achievements per game and compare them to your own.  All of the gamerscore functionality except the score is included within the Steam platform.

By avoiding the score, people just play.  If someone is really curious they can still look into your record and make fun of you for not getting achievement x, but that takes effort.  It’s also a better outcome than judging someone off of a gamerscore that is comprised of every game that the person has played.

Drop the gamerscore, Microsoft!

Topics: Geeky Gifts, Best and worse Tablets of 2011, SOPA, season finales of Dexter and Misfits.

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First up is a game that intrigued lots of people back when it was announced in 2010 and really got a lot of buzz going after its trailer at the 2011 VGA’s. This game is Bioshock Infinite, set in the dystopian floating city of Columbia where raging factions are fighting for control. The protagonist Booker Dewitt and his newly found sidekick Elizabeth are stuck in the middle and need each other to survive. The game has a number of good things going for it, beautiful graphics, engaging fast-paced gameplay and lots of new interesting systems going on at the same time. The best thing it has is Ken Levine, he has been making thought provoking games since System Shock and with him again behind the helm of the Bioshock universe, it can mean nothing but good things for Infinite.

Next up is Ghost Recon:Future Soldier. Now I’m sure someone just looked at their screen and gave this article the side-eye. I can understand why, they had a pre-alpha showing and a Kinect demo that left a lot to be desired; BUT I can say with the latest couple of videos Ubisoft has shown they might have a really awesome tactical team-based, third-person shooter on their hands. The game seems to have all the cover-to-cover, flank your opponent gameplay plus all the tech you would want from a game based in the not-too-distant future. There was an awesome article on Popular Mechanics about some of the tech in the game. Check it out here.

A game that I think will be on people’s radars is pretty awesome because it’s both a re-imagining and a reboot of a popular decade long franchise. Tomb Raider with a totally new and updated lifelike graphic style, new gameplay elements like broken bones affecting movement and using scavenger survival tactics will hopefully take the game in a totally new direction. The one glaring issue for most after watching the trailer was all the QTE’s. Trust me, although I love Heavy Rain I hope this game is not super QTE heavy.

Grand Theft Auto V is hopefully coming out this year as well. Little is known about it besides the fact that you are goin’ back to Cali. It looks like they have made big strides using bits and pieces of the GTA IV and L.A. Noire engines. For open world gamers this might be all you need in 2012.

Last but not least is my most anticipated/wanted game. It’s something that for me and many others seemed to have come out of nowhere and has captured my imagination; this game is called Journey. From ThatGameCompany creators of Flow and Flower, this game is just honestly one of the most beautiful games I’ve ever seen. I usually don’t heap praise like that upon games unless it deserves it and this totally does. The amazing use of scale, desolateness, subtle nuanced music and minimalist gameplay elements combine to make what I hope is a huge success for those developers. I hope it’s a success because it would prove that games that don’t require you to be a guns-blazing meathead can prosper in today’s gaming market. The game drops you into a world with no direction but shows you a huge beacon in the far off distance. It uses human intuition as a gameplay mechanic to a certain extent–you see things and you go and explore them. By exploring you gain fabric to extend your scarf, the longer you’ve been playing, the longer your scarf will grow and obtaining fabric also lets you open up new areas to explore.

The scarf mechanic really becomes interesting in terms of how multiplayer works. The trick is that you can’t pick who you play with; you will always play with strangers and that is the best part. You will have to use “body language” and audible chirps to coordinate how to progress during the game. Also you can’t start a game with someone, there are no lobbies so if you come across another person you can decide to follow or go it alone. This provides the player the chance to have a totally different experience every time you play. After playing the beta earlier in the year and seeing the gorgeous vistas, this has to be at the top of my list for next year.

There are also some honorable mentions that I won’t go into detail about now but will later when more information is released. Some of them are The Last of Us, The PSVITA games Sound Scapes and The Escape Plan. These are just a taste of the games that will be or should be released this year and should provide massive amounts of gaming goodness for all of us. If there are any games that you think I might have missed or want us to cover for your list, please drop us a line or shout it out in the comments below.

I know folks are going to tell me I’m just being a surly old gamer about this, but I’m sticking to my guns. There is no reason that a $60 video game should ship to anybody unfinished, and no gamer should be dealing with a glitch that can irreparably destroy their save files for that game, or completely freeze their console, or any other manner of ridiculous activity. I can remember when console makers made it hard to push unfinished crap out on their consoles, and when developers released their games, the glitches were extremely well hidden. Now, it’s just a matter of “we’ll throw this game out there, and if enough folks complain we’ll fix it”. It’s problematic, but it seems to be working for them.

The crazy thing is that we’ve become so desensitized by the buggy nature of a lot of games now that it almost feels like it’s supposed to happen. A prime example of that is Saints Row: The Third, a game that while immensely fun, I don’t want to buy because the glitches I’ve seen in it thus far. After observing several random occurences during a friend’s online game, I noticed instances of him falling through portions of the playfield which triggered the respawn feature in the game. He also told me about an instance where a glitch pretty much cancelled a mission and negated an achievement he was trying to get. He then told me he thinks Volition kept the glitches in the game because of the tongue in cheek nature of the game. If leaving glitches that can potentially break a game in that game is a joke, it seems like a pretty bad one in my humble opinion.

It seems as with every advancement the video game industry, there seem to be more colorful glitches buried in the more advanced games. From the character creation glitches in Legends of Wrestling II to the weird body morphing glitches in Rocky on the Playstation 2, to the multiplayer save file corruption in Gears of War 3, these things aren’t limited to any one console or publisher. While they are easily fixed now, it’s not the most fair thing to accept $60+ for a game knowing that there are serious issues plaguing the game’s code. Publishers really ought to give folks the time to get these games together instead of seemingly trolling gamers who simply want good, complete games to play.

below is one of my favorite illustrations of game glitches courtesy of the good folks at Cinemassacre.com