Why is it that I embrace the advent of Mac gaming, and smile when people tell me “I’m a Mac?” The answer is simple. I’m not a slave.
Throughout my life I’ve been a die-hard PC user. My father introduced computers to our home when floppy-boot IBMs set you back $3,000 — Treasure Mountain!, Captain Comic, and Hero’s Quest were staples of my childhood. Since college, I’ve even been a PC evangelist, suggesting to friends and family that PCs offer great value compared to alternatives. Naturally, I’ve been tied intimately to the PC “ecosystem” as an avid PC gamer. I’ve custom built my last three PCs from individual components after feverish research. I’ve used Macs in the past, I’ve briefly owned an iPod, and in recent years I tend to avoid Apple products like the plague. I long ago abandoned iTunes for Winamp and Zune. Xbox 360 tends to be the preferred console of my free time. I loved Windows Vista. To any outsider I would appear to be the biggest Microsoft fanboy that ever lived (except, of course, for this guy). So why is it that I embrace the advent of Mac gaming, and smile when people tell me “I’m a Mac?” The answer is simple.
I’m not a slave.
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Okay, I don’t think I’m the only one who has dreams of going to the next Evolution Championship Series and taking down Daigo or Justin Wong to claim the number one title as my own. Fighting games have been compared to fast paced chess games with the amount of strategy required to become victorious. Ever since the golden days of arcade fighting, where Alex Valle and Mike Ross ruled the Street Fighter II scene with their impeccable skills, people have been developing new strategies to improve their game.
I’ve been playing fighting games or, to be more specific , Street Fighter games since the age of 3, where I had to stand on an overturned milk crate to reach the controls of the SF2 arcade cabinet at a local video rental store. More recently, however, interest in the genre has been revitalized with the release of Capcom’s Street Fighter 4 and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.
Check after the break for some tips on how to improve your game.
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When it comes to stereotypes, the gaming community is rife with them. Outsiders and insiders alike hear the word gamer and immediately began conjuring a largely-unwanted picture in their heads.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, in the U.S., 68 percent of all households play computer or video games
Those outside our game haven (or those secretly wishing they could aim and shoot so they don’t embarrass themselves when confronted by a 10-year-old FPS pro) may imagine us all as sun-starved, 17-year-old boys huddling in our mom’s basement, licking Cheeto-covered fingers while screaming into a headset. Or 29-year-old men—the idea is the same even if the platform is different (Think  PC vs. Console).
Even on the inside we face our own stereotypes like the all-too-often heard World of Warcraft trade chat battle over whether or not girls play WoW, or the way we justify losing to some guy who obviously has no life and has probably never had a girlfriend.
We all know the stereotypes, but who’s really behind that controller or keyboard? Did you just trash talk someone’s mom? Read on to find out.
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In the past year, the gaming world (read: the PC gaming enthusiast camp) has had a subtle war brewing. This particular conflict gets tossed under the bus for the most part given the flashier things there are to fight about, such as graphics and gameplay, but is important nonetheless, and the scenario plays out the same way in which the stewardship of treasures like national parks is easily overshadowed by marquee issues like healthcare. Today I’m talking about something of similar national importance: Multiplayer matchmaking. Amazingly, server browsers have become less polished in the past decade while things like graphics, art direction, gameplay, and story have gained significant ground.
This manifesto, as it were, is also call to arms about shitty server browsing (and related functionality) in games, which I simply can’t tolerate at this point — mostly because there are examples out there of how to do it right, in games with far, far more modest budgets.
Read on to get my pick on the worst current offenders, which server browsing tech is tops, and to see benchmarks for what’s acceptable.
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I look at the mountain, which is still doing its tricks, as you look at a still-beautiful face belonging to a person who was once your lover in another country years ago: with fond nostalgia, and recognition, but no real feeling save a secret astonishment that you are now strangers. Thanks. For the memories.
Annie Dillard, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
It looks like a 7th entry into the Call of Duty series is landing later this year. Let’s all let out a collective sigh, shall we?
Look, I understand there are certain franchises out there that have developed an annualized release schedule, but these certain franchises are sports games, and, while some gamers deride even annual sports releases, I’m pretty understanding of the rationalization for yearly Madden or NHL cycles (hint: they tend to match real life seasons).
Then there’s Activision. Specifically, there’s Bobby Kotick. More specifically, there’s Call of Duty. I’m not exactly keen on how it happened (sure, I get that CoD earns a buttload of money), but the WW2 franchise that started out with humble beginnings now fancies itself a member of the annual-release camp. I’m not exactly harshing on Call of Duty titles in general; There are some bright spots here and there in CoD, and I have a particular fondness for a certain United Offensive, but I just don’t think that with the now-bordering-on-meme-status laughability of WW2 shooter overload that we need a new Call of Duty title every year. Kotick seems to think that we do.
Click the “Read More” link below to get the rest of our take on the future of the Call of Duty franchise.
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