Perhaps it's cheesy to say it but I'll do it anyway. Whenever you read this I want you to do something nice for someone. I'm not asking for a weekly commitment to doing favors but I'd like you to do something genuinely nice for someone. Not just someone you know, or know of but someone that's a total stranger. It could be something as simple as buying the guy in front of you his Starbucks, or in our case his Del Taco; or you could walk an old lady across the street. Whatever you do, I don't care about your motivation and you shouldn't either. Do it just because! What I really want you to do is to trust someone and for them to trust you. If you're not comfortable helping a stranger out just yet, talk to one. Make a connection... My point really is that as American's we've lost touch with one another. Why is that we'll trust a total stranger, an anonymous one at that to cover our rear flank, to watch us while we plant the bomb, to drive our brand new shiny warthog, or to heal us in the depths of a dragon infested dungeon. It shouldn't take a zombie apocalypse for us to have each others back. After all we share one thing, something that should transcend our fears and anxieties. We need to reconnect where our parents have inspired distrust and a world in which we mind our own business. It is our business, we should know our neighbors and we should really know the people we see everyday. Go out and meet someone, help someone or just do something for someone other than yourself. Have a great weekend.
For those of you who are wondering where this came from and perhaps more importantly how it relates to this blog, here you go: Article and Video, Gamers save the world, this time for real!
Friday, March 19, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Mac Users Rejoice!
The news broke earlier this week but I've been so busy I haven't had the chance to post about it yet.
The popular software distribution system Steam is finally coming to the Mac. Of course this news comes with tons of questions and I'm sure the first one most of you are asking is of course why. Apparently Mac as gone in the past 2 years from a 10% market share to a strong 30%. Who knows what this can be accredited to but facts are facts and either way it means good things especially for those of us who now have macs.
Steam on the mac leads to many other questions that are far more pertinent. Like, "Will there be any games for it on launch day?" or "Will people actually develop games for the mac then?" The answer is yes and yes! On launch day some time in April steam will be launching with ports to Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, the complete Half-Life 2 series and several other soon to be named titles. Of course any game that already works on the mac can be brought into steam the same way you do it on the PC and all of these games will be available for purchase on launch day including Battlefield 2142. Which brings me to the next big news, Dice along with several other popular developers have already started work on a Bad Company 2 port for the mac and it's rumored that their next title Battlefield 3 will launch simultaneously on both platforms. Apparently lots of developers have expressed interest in developing for both platforms especially as it is becoming increasingly easier to do so. The best news still comes from valve who has promised simultaneous releases on all future titles starting with their next big title, Portal 2.
Many have been wondering, will I have to re-purchase my games to play them on the mac? That question is answered with another question that many have been asking as of late which is, "What the hell is the Steam Cloud really for." Countless silent updates have come to this seemingly simple feature. The Steam Cloud allows you to transfer your game profiles including keybinds and other information between computers that you use. The same idea will apply to the new mac platform. All of the games that you've purchased from valve will be available for use on the mac at no additional charge. By forging the way with this idea valve hopes that others will adopt the same system which goes by a similar name and is heralded as a feature that developed out of the Steam Cloud's interesting feature set. Many developers have in fact adopted this ideology and have begun porting some of their older games but for the most part this should be a feature that is used going forward.
I for one am very excited to hear this since I have a mac now myself. It's not that I wouldn't have played games on it, it just means I can play my favorites with very little hassle now. While 90% of the programers out there use PCs, 95% of the designers out there use Macs. The two have been interfacing in Video game studios for years now and it's about time that the other half of the office can play at home without a double investment. If you have further questions about these features feel free to check out the full article at Kotaku or the official statement from valve at Steampowered.com.
The popular software distribution system Steam is finally coming to the Mac. Of course this news comes with tons of questions and I'm sure the first one most of you are asking is of course why. Apparently Mac as gone in the past 2 years from a 10% market share to a strong 30%. Who knows what this can be accredited to but facts are facts and either way it means good things especially for those of us who now have macs.
Steam on the mac leads to many other questions that are far more pertinent. Like, "Will there be any games for it on launch day?" or "Will people actually develop games for the mac then?" The answer is yes and yes! On launch day some time in April steam will be launching with ports to Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead 2, the complete Half-Life 2 series and several other soon to be named titles. Of course any game that already works on the mac can be brought into steam the same way you do it on the PC and all of these games will be available for purchase on launch day including Battlefield 2142. Which brings me to the next big news, Dice along with several other popular developers have already started work on a Bad Company 2 port for the mac and it's rumored that their next title Battlefield 3 will launch simultaneously on both platforms. Apparently lots of developers have expressed interest in developing for both platforms especially as it is becoming increasingly easier to do so. The best news still comes from valve who has promised simultaneous releases on all future titles starting with their next big title, Portal 2.
Many have been wondering, will I have to re-purchase my games to play them on the mac? That question is answered with another question that many have been asking as of late which is, "What the hell is the Steam Cloud really for." Countless silent updates have come to this seemingly simple feature. The Steam Cloud allows you to transfer your game profiles including keybinds and other information between computers that you use. The same idea will apply to the new mac platform. All of the games that you've purchased from valve will be available for use on the mac at no additional charge. By forging the way with this idea valve hopes that others will adopt the same system which goes by a similar name and is heralded as a feature that developed out of the Steam Cloud's interesting feature set. Many developers have in fact adopted this ideology and have begun porting some of their older games but for the most part this should be a feature that is used going forward.
I for one am very excited to hear this since I have a mac now myself. It's not that I wouldn't have played games on it, it just means I can play my favorites with very little hassle now. While 90% of the programers out there use PCs, 95% of the designers out there use Macs. The two have been interfacing in Video game studios for years now and it's about time that the other half of the office can play at home without a double investment. If you have further questions about these features feel free to check out the full article at Kotaku or the official statement from valve at Steampowered.com.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Halo Reach Multiplayer Goodness
Forget the usual long intros, just watch:
Now that you've seen it, let me know what you think. Feel free to check out a higher quality one, 1080p on xbox live or check out the one on bungie.net. See something interesting, pause it, note the time and write about it below. I know some of the things in the video might be shocking but the more I think about them, they are definitely shocking good. The more I think about the new features the more I start to like them. Seems they will add just one more layer of chaos and awesome, two things that are the core of halo games. What I'm really excited to see is a feature I've been dieing to see for a long time. Covenant vs. Humans! I have wanted to see that for so long and I'm glad they'll finally include it in this one. Ok I'll stop writing so you can get back to watching it again.
Now that you've seen it, let me know what you think. Feel free to check out a higher quality one, 1080p on xbox live or check out the one on bungie.net. See something interesting, pause it, note the time and write about it below. I know some of the things in the video might be shocking but the more I think about them, they are definitely shocking good. The more I think about the new features the more I start to like them. Seems they will add just one more layer of chaos and awesome, two things that are the core of halo games. What I'm really excited to see is a feature I've been dieing to see for a long time. Covenant vs. Humans! I have wanted to see that for so long and I'm glad they'll finally include it in this one. Ok I'll stop writing so you can get back to watching it again.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Websites to follow
The internet has been known colloquially as the "web." While most of us know our way around it rather well some things don't stick to the web as well as others and fly right on by. Things that exist on the far reaches of the edge are often the best. Sometimes its hard to find what you really want and so I'm going to start a list. Here are the sites that you really should be checking out. As I think of more I'll be updating this list so feel free to shoot out a comment if you think of any I've missed.
]The Bungie Developer Blog- http://www.nobleactual.com/
This is the official Bungie Developer blog. This little gem is a good one to start off with because most people don't even know it exists. It's a great site to get insider news and personal postings from the guys inside. It's also a great way to get your voice heard since most people don't know about it yet.
Bungie.net - http://www.bungie.net/
Not a hard one to find but I would be remiss not to mention it here. Get up to date info on all bungie projects. Stop by on Fridays to read the weekly update and throughout the week to enjoy all the community stuff they blog about. There are all sorts of little gems that they throw in like anoj's Top 10 series, machinima's or the occasional montage. Don't forget that you can also check out all your halo stats which are updated within a few games if not immediately.
Halo Charts - http://www.halocharts.com/
This is an amazing website. For those of you who have used it I'm sure you agree. It offers up to date stats that can't be accessed on Bungie.net. You can compare yourself with your friends, check your stats against members in your region and more. No explanation can do this site justice. You have to just go there and check out all the stats listed there.
Gametrailers - http://www.gametrailers.com/
The title of this site says it all, well most of it. This site has up to date Trailers, Reviews and Game Videos that no one else has. What makes it great is that members can submit videos including leaked videos of games that weren't supposed to be seen yet. You can get lots of great game footage before you buy something or as a preview. If you want to get more involved they do have a video watching reward system which gives you points toward buying games and other things. All you have to do is watch movies, post and refer the site to other people. I strongly urge you to check out some of the extra videos there like the bonus round which features a developer round table among other things. It's a good way to get in touch with what the industry thinks about the games it's making.
1 Up - http://www.1up.com/
I've actually just bookmarked their news page myself but I wanted to give you the main adress because there's lots of good stuff inside. For the most part I usually just read their news feed which gives almost to the minute gaming news. I would recommend this one over Kotaku for 90% of the gamers out there because it's not as in-depth and the writers are much more friendly. While Kotaku is a great site for gaming news 1up is really for the less hardcore. They don't bore you with unnecessary details and all of their posts get right to the point. If you want to know more about why the Playstation 3 just stopped working you can get that news here as it breaks. As a side note, they also have lots of great features like the Retronaugts which explores old games.
Kotaku - http://kotaku.com/
Kotaku is the other side of the coin. If you like 1up but you want more, this is where you go. I don't usually go to Kotaku but what they say, even rumor is usually law. While they don't have as many fun features as 1up it is a great site to read up on all game related news.
]The Bungie Developer Blog- http://www.nobleactual.com/
This is the official Bungie Developer blog. This little gem is a good one to start off with because most people don't even know it exists. It's a great site to get insider news and personal postings from the guys inside. It's also a great way to get your voice heard since most people don't know about it yet.
Bungie.net - http://www.bungie.net/
Not a hard one to find but I would be remiss not to mention it here. Get up to date info on all bungie projects. Stop by on Fridays to read the weekly update and throughout the week to enjoy all the community stuff they blog about. There are all sorts of little gems that they throw in like anoj's Top 10 series, machinima's or the occasional montage. Don't forget that you can also check out all your halo stats which are updated within a few games if not immediately.
Halo Charts - http://www.halocharts.com/
This is an amazing website. For those of you who have used it I'm sure you agree. It offers up to date stats that can't be accessed on Bungie.net. You can compare yourself with your friends, check your stats against members in your region and more. No explanation can do this site justice. You have to just go there and check out all the stats listed there.
Gametrailers - http://www.gametrailers.com/
The title of this site says it all, well most of it. This site has up to date Trailers, Reviews and Game Videos that no one else has. What makes it great is that members can submit videos including leaked videos of games that weren't supposed to be seen yet. You can get lots of great game footage before you buy something or as a preview. If you want to get more involved they do have a video watching reward system which gives you points toward buying games and other things. All you have to do is watch movies, post and refer the site to other people. I strongly urge you to check out some of the extra videos there like the bonus round which features a developer round table among other things. It's a good way to get in touch with what the industry thinks about the games it's making.
1 Up - http://www.1up.com/
I've actually just bookmarked their news page myself but I wanted to give you the main adress because there's lots of good stuff inside. For the most part I usually just read their news feed which gives almost to the minute gaming news. I would recommend this one over Kotaku for 90% of the gamers out there because it's not as in-depth and the writers are much more friendly. While Kotaku is a great site for gaming news 1up is really for the less hardcore. They don't bore you with unnecessary details and all of their posts get right to the point. If you want to know more about why the Playstation 3 just stopped working you can get that news here as it breaks. As a side note, they also have lots of great features like the Retronaugts which explores old games.
Kotaku - http://kotaku.com/
Kotaku is the other side of the coin. If you like 1up but you want more, this is where you go. I don't usually go to Kotaku but what they say, even rumor is usually law. While they don't have as many fun features as 1up it is a great site to read up on all game related news.
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