Do you play First Person Shooter games? Do you feel that your 7.1 speakers is not enough? Do you feel your three 32″ LED multi-monitors setup with 3D Vision is not immersive? Do you duck, evade, and (hoping that you can) jump when you play these games? Do you feel the need of having – literally – “bullets” flying by your ears as you play Battlefield 3?
Well, throw out your gaming chair and get rid of your monitors. And play in one of these bad boys, Kotaku article: FPS Simulator.
Video below.
*squeeee*… is pretty much all I can say.
If I may, I like to announce that I’m NOT a big gaming aficionados. Sure, I tried many games, enjoyed many of them, and love the idea of immersing myself in a fantasy of my choice. Imagine watching a movie you like AND you can interact in it. (Not to mention it’s $50 or so for 20-60 hours of entertainment. Much better than movies.) But I don’t spent 20+ hours a week on them, nor can I recite all the new releases for the next 8-months, nor do I sleep dreaming the perfect configuration for Diablo 3. Or at least, not anymore.
That said, there are 6 games that I can safely say define my gaming experience. 3 of them are short-lived, but extremely memorable nonetheless: Deus Ex, Duke Nukem Forever, and Splinter Cell. They are the games that are able to pull the player in and redefine the whole genre for generations. The other 3 are games that I spent months (if not years) on EACH of them, perfecting my character development, engaging the community, and competing (semi-)professionally. They redefine how I describe gaming in general and taught me many things I wouldn’t learn elsewhere. They are Star Wars Galaxies, Battlefield 2, and Lord Of The Rings Online. Now on these 3, I can safely say I’m an aficionados.
But I’ve moved on. I’ve played them to death (nearly literally) and I’ve grown out of them. I’ve enjoyed them, but unlike most dedicated gamers I met in those games, I know there’s more to life than inside Middle-Earth.
However, in one week’s time, I will be getting my gaming instinct rekindled. Battlefield 3 Beta is out. If you notice, Battlefield is the only FPS (First Person Shooter) game in the second category of games mentioned above, and it’s rarity should be noted. In this MMO-heavy (Massively Multiplayer Online) category, not many people stay on FPS games for years. With the exception of the quick-pick-up-and-play Counter-Strike, Battlefield 2 is probably the only other long-standing game. And it’s for a good reason: It has character progression, great gameplay mechanics, and large maps with various combat vehicles in it. Really, what else do you need in a good FPS game? Good story, sure. But good story doesn’t always implies re-playability values. Enjoy it once, and you’re done. But great game play with permanent progression? Formula of success.
You can always just Google Battlefield 3, but to summarize, it it an FPS team-based game where they pit 2 teams of a maximum 64-people in total in 5 different game modes on large maps that include a huge variety of vehicles. Or you can just watch the video below.
Well what are you waiting for? Go sign-up for the BETA!
BUM DUM DUM BUM DUM DUM
So I just saw the Wired article about Kinect sale is not doing so well in Japan. According to the people interviewed, many complains the Kinect uses too much room (space is a luxury for many Japanese dweller) and/or doesn’t have enough interesting games. It is known that many Japanese gamers prefer RPG or Fighting or RTS, where FPS shooters are more reserved to US and Europe. According to North-Americans who commented on the article, it’s more due to the fact Japanese are more partial to made-in-Japanese products (such as PS3), since the other motion-oriented console – Nintendo Wii – also requires room to play, and it sells just fine.
I personally think they’re both correct. Not only the having games you want to play is crucial, but the space to play them is just as important.
Well, then what about me? 
I just recently got a free Xbox-360 from a laptop purchase, and I really want to experience the Kinect gaming (I think it’s the way of the future, period.) BUT other than a one or maybe 2 titles, I’m not really interested. Plus, the way my living room is setup, there’s a big couch going sideways nearly in front of the TV.
So connecting the dots between my personal dilemma, the Wired article, and the fact Kinect add-on (and its games) are not exactly selling like hotcakes in Canada, I think it’s safe to say that many North American gamers are in the same boat as myself. Most people are not sure about the game selection, and/or constrained space in front of the TV. The one difference with Japanese gamers is people would camp outside of GameStop for days Halo and Gears of Wars, so Xbox sans Kinect is still making money.
So come on, developers, create a Kinect game that can make me go “Oh! I’m SO buying Kinect for that!”.
Star Wars kinect game, where are you?
Remember my previous post of “definitely waiting the most for BF3″? That’s because I was an avid BF2 player. Yessir, I was damn good at it. And I enjoyed it thoroughly. Best persistant FPS multiplayer of all time. The game has EVERYTHING – dedicated servers, jets, chopper, boats, tanks, buggies, huge map, 64-player rounds, and beneficial persistent progress. Love it. Can’t wait for BF3 for a graphic upgrade. Heck, they can re-release BF2 with a modified new engine and I’ll be allover it.
Well, looks like they went above and beyond on my expectation. Check out the video below.
Sure it doesn’t give out much, but heck, forget all other games. This is one game I’ll be playing for the next few years. No doubt.
As the previous post outlined, there are many good games coming out this year. One of the important one I forgot to mention is Guild Wars 2.
GW2 is the sequel of the popular Guild War MMO. It’s a massively-multiplayer online game that has serious storyline and gameplay structure, and to top it all off (since it’s an anomaly of the MMO genre) there’s no monthly fee. Yup, it’s all free.
To further reiterate the point that there’s no monthly fee, most gamers (including myself) will be mostly charmed by this single factor. Aside the obvious financial reason, the fact that there’s no monthly fee gives the freedom to the players to play whenever they wish and as long as they want. There’s no pressure on completing a certain quest now since you can do next month or next year. There’s no pressure on leveling fast since there’s no time limit for everybody, so you don’t have to rush just so you can play with your max-level friends… since they’re all taking their time any way. Sure some might argue, certain group of players are *hardcore*. They still want to level as fast as they want. Well, then I recommend looking for a different group to play! Don’t worry, with a solid game and no monthly fee, there will be a good stream of new players all the time. Look at the original Guild War!
Speaking of gameplay, I won’t explain it in detail, but check this out: http://www.guildwars2.com/en/the-game/dynamic-events/dynamic-events-overview/
In an overview, questing is no longer a block of text. Grouping is no longer calculating who gets what kill and which loot. You see and hear what’s happening, and you take action. With or without (some better with) other players. And there’s permanent consequences on the world out of the result of such events.
Those two points combined, plus a solid graphic and engaging combat, I don’t see how Guild Wars 2 can fail the MMO community’s expectation.
Epic Video below:
Here it is. 220 days since the last post, it’s finally coming back again. No more excuses, just trying to pick up where I left off.
Apparently, the main reason I brought my attention back here is that I bumped to this certain blog that I made a post about before, and the blogger is actually kind enough to leave a comment here; it’s called Jakartass - one of the best resource out there to see an insider view of Jakarta from an expat point of view!
Another note is, 2011 seems to be shaping up to be a great gaming year for the PC. Some of the best ones that have been on my radar since last year is finally coming to fruition. Among all, the one I’m waiting the most is definitely Battlefield 3. Honorable mentions are the 14-years delayed Duke Nukem Forever, highly anticipated Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, The Witcher 2, Assasin’s Creed Brotherhood, and, hopefully… Diablo 3. Yes, Blizzard is still wishing that it’ll make it this year……
That’s all for now.
Is it really that bad?
Great article in Kotaku: Video Game Piracy, Another View
It’s here! After 2 years of waiting, the sequel of the much praised RPG action game – The Witcher – is finally unveiled. It won’t come too soon, however, with developers are looking into 2011 release date.
But I’m sure it’ll be worth the wait. The original game had so much content, customization, action, and multipath storyline that it was truly a satisfying gaming experience. There are other lore-heavy RPG out there (Elder’s Scrolls, Dragon Age) but few (if any) manage to find the perfect balance of it all. The combat gameplay was superbly fluid and beautiful, while the content was rich enough (even has some slight nudity in favour of going true to the original book) to have at least 5 possible endings; add to that are the gorgeous graphic and various landscapes.
The Witcher 2, however, seems to aim even higher than that… shown in the following trailer. Enjoy!
And to think they can still top that off by adding a secret message just for the faithful fans… Kotaku Article: Secret Message - just by this reason alone I would spend the money on this game to support these great developers. Kudos to CD Projekt!
Update:
Gamespot has a slightly longer trailer and an exclusive preview found here: GameSpot Watcher2 Preview
The trailer is embedded below. (Note: The trailer is rendered with ingame engine)
Text stuff of the day (and quite a few interesting ones at that) are as follows, ladies and gentlemen…
Victorinox apparently just announced that they will be launching a hacking event of hacking their latest device… an encrypted USB key in a Victorinox army knife – the Victorinox Secure Penknife. The winner will win £100,000 if they manage to crack it, and still get a free penknife if they failed anyway. The contest, unfortunately, will be limited to 24 very lucky people, but anyone is free to apply.
The penknife itself is a mixture of the true-and-told tough (and original!) Swiss Army knife, but also embed an encrypted and secure USB drive, that will require a fingerprint scan to open – which, if you failed to provide the correct fingerprint, will automatically notify the owner by email. Which, by the way, should the owner never replies back to it, will cause the deletion of the file within the drive. Never mind the contest, tell me where can I buy that thing!
Samsung Swipe – On other news, Samsung released an update to their Swipe-system for their mobile. For the unknown, this is a program that enables you to swipe around a touchscreen to type in your cellphone. But for more clarification, please feel free to watch the video of the device breaking a new world-record in the fastest text-message typing.
Gizmodo Article: Samsung Swipe
Real Science on Mass Effect 2. Last but certainly not least. Do you play Mass Effect 2? Do you also enjoy watching Discovery channel? Ever wondered how thin it is the separation between real science and science fiction in the game?
Well, Dr. Michio Kaku – a real nerdy (hey he pulls references to Star Trek and Star Wars, ok?) physicist who are also damn good at explaining complicated things into not-so-complicated brains – took a shot at explaining all of those. This is a seriously awesome short interview video if you’re into this stuff. Myself, for example,could not pause or stop watching this video mid-way at any point (except when the other dude is talking)
Source link: Kotaku Link
First off, how a game of counter-strike in China ended up with a knife stuck up in one of the player’s head. And how he survived it as well. Ironically, he was stabbed because he was accused of cheating in the game, while how he survives the actual knife stab was also seen as cheating (death)… haha.
Full article: Kotaku News
Going across the gulf, in Japan, apparently there is a real-size (18 meters!) Gundam statue erected in Tokyo last July. And this July they’re erecting yet another one – this one with saber sword that lights up during the night – at Shizuoka. They expect the statue to generate 40 billion yen and nearly a million visitor within its first 300 days.
Well, naturally, if such statue is erected within 24-hour driving distance from where I live, I’ll be there tomorrow. No, wait. Tonight.
Next is Kane & Lynch. The infamous action game about 2 hard-hitting not-so-good guys (which I did thoroughly enjoyed in the past) are getting a silver screen treament. Best part of it? Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx. Oh yes.
And to close, Penny-Arcade released another webcomic today and it was (unsurprisingly) hilarious as usual. Plus, this one felt a bit more personal…
Click the picture to go to their site
