Internet Findings: Critical Path
Perusing the interwebs( Once again, thank you StumbleUpon), and found this website. Critical Path, is a website dedicated to exploring the "art, philosophy, politics and psychology" of video games.They achieve this through interviews with various game designers and video game celebrities. Some notable interviews include Bioshock creator Ken Levine discussion on Skill Sets and Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima on the subject of heroes. Critical Path plans to expand it's current interview set and even takes emails from fans on what they want to see asked. Check out Critical Path here and learn a little bit more about the scholarly side of video games.
Monday, July 23, 2012
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| IM's Seed |
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| SK's MC |
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| BoxeR holding the GSTL Trophy |
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| Team FXO |
M13: My Take
After starting college I picked up Magic The Gathering quite heavily. I never played in tournaments or anything professional, but I was king of the table top in my dorm. I like to keep up with the current sets, so I'll pick a pack here and there. Occasionally I see a card like Phyrexian Obliterator or a set like Innistrad, that sparks my interests so much that commit to multiple purchases. Mostly though,. I stick with my beloved Black Vampire deck. I've been a Black player since Middle School. It was easier for me to learn than Blue, but offered all the same basic board control that Blue did. It's been hard for me to switch since then. M13, the new Magic Core Set, might have broken me. A Core Set comes out every summer and consists of all the necessarily cards that Wizards(the creators) feels the current Metagame needs. So Core Sets usually consist of reprints of basic building block cards. Occasionally the Core Set will introduce players to a card ability, like Hexproof, that will be in the upcoming Block Sets. So I disappointed when I saw how scarce Black was in this new set. Wizard's focus was obviously on the colors of Blue and White, to counteract the last block where Black was a predominant color. I was, however, very pleased to see reprints of my two favorite cards, Vampire Nighthawk and Vampire Nocturnus. Nighthawk is, in my opinion, a mainstay in almost any functioning vampire deck. The card does so much for three mana, that it's almost crazy not to run four of them. Nocturnus is a card that demands a response from your opponent, as it pumps all your Vampires up. So the two haven't been legal in Standard play in awhile, so it'll be nice to see those two at FNMs, Pro Tours and Grand Prixs. My problem with Black cards that were in M13, was that there wasn't anything amazing. Sure they printed a card called Murder, which is cool, but it's no different than any other black removal card. Even the new Liliana, seemed a shadow of her former Innistrad glory. Ultimately , if I want amazing black cards I'll be looking back at Innistrad/Dark Ascension. So, if I'm ditching black what color am I switching to?
After starting college I picked up Magic The Gathering quite heavily. I never played in tournaments or anything professional, but I was king of the table top in my dorm. I like to keep up with the current sets, so I'll pick a pack here and there. Occasionally I see a card like Phyrexian Obliterator or a set like Innistrad, that sparks my interests so much that commit to multiple purchases. Mostly though,. I stick with my beloved Black Vampire deck. I've been a Black player since Middle School. It was easier for me to learn than Blue, but offered all the same basic board control that Blue did. It's been hard for me to switch since then. M13, the new Magic Core Set, might have broken me. A Core Set comes out every summer and consists of all the necessarily cards that Wizards(the creators) feels the current Metagame needs. So Core Sets usually consist of reprints of basic building block cards. Occasionally the Core Set will introduce players to a card ability, like Hexproof, that will be in the upcoming Block Sets. So I disappointed when I saw how scarce Black was in this new set. Wizard's focus was obviously on the colors of Blue and White, to counteract the last block where Black was a predominant color. I was, however, very pleased to see reprints of my two favorite cards, Vampire Nighthawk and Vampire Nocturnus. Nighthawk is, in my opinion, a mainstay in almost any functioning vampire deck. The card does so much for three mana, that it's almost crazy not to run four of them. Nocturnus is a card that demands a response from your opponent, as it pumps all your Vampires up. So the two haven't been legal in Standard play in awhile, so it'll be nice to see those two at FNMs, Pro Tours and Grand Prixs. My problem with Black cards that were in M13, was that there wasn't anything amazing. Sure they printed a card called Murder, which is cool, but it's no different than any other black removal card. Even the new Liliana, seemed a shadow of her former Innistrad glory. Ultimately , if I want amazing black cards I'll be looking back at Innistrad/Dark Ascension. So, if I'm ditching black what color am I switching to?
His color
Oh yes, you've read that right. Three mana. I never payed attention to Ajani, because he was always a lifegain card. Lifegain was a strategy that never interested me but it wasn't aggresive. This Ajani seems so aggressive. He's two buff spells for three mana. So every turn my Steppe Lynx or whatever card is out, is getting another +1/+1 buff. My army's strength just grows while Ajani is on the table, forcing my opponent to deal with Ajani and not my army or my life points. So he either buys me time by sacrificing himself or baiting a Cancel, or, he sits on the table and buffs my army. Not to mention I can give any of my buffed creatures doublestrike and flying whenever I want. Oh, we haven't get got to his ultimate yet. So my Soul Wardens, that he's buffing all game, will love as I pop his ultimate and get 40 2/2 Cat Tokens. Then I laugh as I win with my Cat Army. I am in love with this card. These are the kinds of cards that excite me to play Magic and create new decks. Congratulations Wizards, for creating another masterpiece and keeping me on for another year.
It's time for INDIE GAME MONDAY!!!
(Or: How I Forgot to Post on Sunday....)
The game I have for you today is Outsmart!
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| Anneite at the University |
Outsmart! is an in-browser strategy game. You play as Anneite, a driven girl who happens to be married to an unmotivated man, Robme. After being told by his parents that he needs to raise 50k, it's your job as Robme's girlfriend to motivate him to make that money. Anneite has three skill levels, Charisma, Intelligence, and Lovability, that the player can raise and lower. For example, a making Robme work increase your money total but lowers his love for you. Each skill opens new activities for her to do and impact Robme's work ethic differently. The game allows for players exploit different options the three skills have to offer, giving each player the ability to tailor their experience to their own liking.The characters are charming and the art style suits the writing perfectly. Typically I'm not a fan of 8 bar soundtracks in games, but with how catchy the pop beat is, I can make an exception. I even found myself bopping my head to the beat more than once. The whole game takes about 20-45 minutes to play, depending on how quick you find your grove. The game can be found here and was created by "stellarnull" and "hipon".
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| Raising skills in Outsmart! |
Sunday, July 15, 2012
CRAZY INDIE GAME SUNDAY!
Apparently I just made a theme up for Sunday...regretting it now. Nonetheless, I have two amazing indie games to share with the world that I've dug up. The first, is a little game called Today I Die.
Today I Die, is sort of a word puzzle game but that takes the backseat as it's all about player experience. It sucks the player into the emotions of the words on screen by captivating them with witty gameplay and a fantastic soundtrack. The game was created by wizard Daniel Benmergui and can be found here. Let me know how you like it and donate to Daniel if you do.
The other game I have for you guys is a game called Passage. I don't want to ruin the game. but as the creator notes "if you don't get it at first keep playing". It's incredibly short, so if you run through it and miss the message you can play through it again a second/third time without much gripe. Please please please, if you enjoy the game at all, and have extra cash flow, donate something to Mr. Jason Rohrer. The man needs to support his family. Check it out here and let me, and Jason, know how you feel about it. (I do not own any of these games, and am posting this to spread these two geniuses work around.)
Apparently I just made a theme up for Sunday...regretting it now. Nonetheless, I have two amazing indie games to share with the world that I've dug up. The first, is a little game called Today I Die.
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| Today I Die |
Today I Die, is sort of a word puzzle game but that takes the backseat as it's all about player experience. It sucks the player into the emotions of the words on screen by captivating them with witty gameplay and a fantastic soundtrack. The game was created by wizard Daniel Benmergui and can be found here. Let me know how you like it and donate to Daniel if you do.
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| Screenshot from Passage |
The other game I have for you guys is a game called Passage. I don't want to ruin the game. but as the creator notes "if you don't get it at first keep playing". It's incredibly short, so if you run through it and miss the message you can play through it again a second/third time without much gripe. Please please please, if you enjoy the game at all, and have extra cash flow, donate something to Mr. Jason Rohrer. The man needs to support his family. Check it out here and let me, and Jason, know how you feel about it. (I do not own any of these games, and am posting this to spread these two geniuses work around.)
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Hardly is there a game that I get "fanboy"excited about. Sure, I'm excited to play the new "Call of Battlefield" but I always, in the back of my mind, find some new way to equate it another terrible game. The experience is always lost by week two, as I find plot holes or similarities between games. As you can tell, I like to ruin things for myself. Finally, though, there is a game I'm genuinely excited for. The Last of Us, is the new blockbuster game to come down the pipes from developer Naughty Dog.
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| Ellie and Joel |
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| In game shot of Boston |
I always have a hard time caring about my NPC partners. For instance, in Infamous I did not care at all for Cole's girlfriend. It's not MY girlfriend and the game did very little besides telling me I should care about her, to make me care for her. So I let her die.In The Last of Us, it looks like the bond between Ellie and Joel is central to the game. The player plays as Joel, but Ellie has just as much personality and weight on the game as the player-character. In the E3 demo, Ellie actually bails the player out of otherwise fatal situation. A functional NPC, coupled with superb writing, could breed a relationship that extends to the player. Meaning, the player wants to save Ellie and feels responsible for her. A problem I have with NPC partners in games, is that they can't die. So letting my partner run into a battle and get riddled with bullets, actually does nothing more than distract my enemies. Hopefully, there is a system, like death, that incentivizes me to care about keeping Ellie alive. I doubt that they'll have to try that hard because the character building between Ellie and Joel, will give them enough depth for players to have a strong basis for caring. Check out the new Comic Con trailer here. It builds character for both Ellie and Joel and sets the tone for the game. The Last of Us comes out sometime in 2013 on the Playstation 3. Note: I do not own any of these pictures and found them through Google Search.
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Friday, July 13, 2012
So as I was on my long hiatus, I manged to check out EVO 2012 as it's in my own backyard of Las Vegas. For those folks that don't know, the Evolution Tournament Series is the largest fighting game tournament in North America. It's the culmination of hundreds of tournaments stretched across the country, as well as the globe, and can be equated to the Super Bowl of fighting games. So every year I pack my backpack full of sandwiches and water, and prepare myself for a long day of excitement. This year I was particually excited about watching the Marvel vs Capcom 3 brackets. Yet, as I watched I noticed something that bothered me as well as the rest of the crowd. There was a player, who will remain nameless, that used a team that seemed...cheap. Spamming fireballs and assists, the player just forced his opponent to navigate a maze for 90 seconds. So his opponents were either killed by the fireballs trying to look for openings to escape, or chipped out by blocking all the fireballs. The crowd, like myself, expressed their displeasure at this by booing the player when he won. Yet, I couldn't help but think, "Why am I booing this guy?" I mean the idea of a competitive video game is to win, right? So if he's winning, then why am I upset? Could this be the video game buzz word "cheap" that I'm experiencing with all it's glorious ambiguity?
Now, I've always heard the word cheap be used in a singular all encompassing fashion in regards to video games: To express displeasure at a frustrating situation. The game presents the player with an enemy that is unbeatable and the players obviously have a negative reaction to this. Yet in the world of competitive gaming the idea of cheap changes with the game. For instance, fighting gamers embrace long stylized combos and cheer when somebody is caught in one of these loops. Yet it's the same idea as the unbeatable enemy; a situation that you can't escape from. Yet, fighting gamers would argue that the strategy of the game comes from avoiding setups that lead to these combos. So is it the transferral of responsibility to the player to avoid the situation entirely, or counter it with action of their own, that makes these combos not cheap? Then why was I booing the player at EVO? Surely his opponent had the ability to stop his fireball spamming barrage? Let's look at another game then, say Starcraft 2. In the Starcraft community they have a word for "cheap" moves: "cheese". These cheese strategies usually involves rushing your opponent early on in the game and attempting to catch them unprepared. So without proper scouting of your enemy, or the wrong starting build, a "cheese" proves lethal. Sounds like a unwinnable, and very cheap, situation to me. Yet, 3 time GSL Code S winner NesTea uses "cheese" builds all the time. It's like the Starcraft community views cheap like this: "If my opponent, who I'm assuming is at the top of his game, loses to this then he deserved to lose." So the Starcraft community has fully embraced the idea of winning by any means, and cheers the players that successfully win with these rushes. Yet, I wasn't cheering when EVO spambot won his matches.
Maybe, I was booing because of player ethics. In pro level Starcraft 2, a player will utilize a rush to deviate from his normal play and catch his opponent off guard. Sounds strategic. I think, that's where my qualm sat with that player. There was clear strategy in the engineering of his team. Yet, the strategy involved the player not playing the game but running away from his opponent. This, to me, is the same as the all famous "campers". "Campers" are players that in first person shooters, such as Call of Duty or Counterstrike, sit in one place to amass kills. There is a clear divide between a player that is strategically playing as a sniper or a "camper". Most FPSs offer players sniper perches or nests, to allow players who want to show off their digital sharpshooting, the opportunity to. On the flipside "campers", find dark corners and overlooked areas to sit and catch opponents that are running by. Again, like with the EVO player, there is strategy behind the idea but, they aren't playing the game. The strategies circumvent gameplay for wins. That to me is the definition of "cheap" in video games: A strategy or idea, that allows players free wins, exp, kills, while not performing the natural and necessary tasks of the game. Yet, this is probably all relevant to who is playing, as some players feel that "If the game allows me to do it, it's not my fault." So, I will continue to tredge through games on Insane difficulties, knowing that I'm utilizing every thing the game has to offer to complete my experience. And still get pissed when fourteen year old, who is 40 levels higher than me, shoots me in the ass in Call of Duty. Cheap.
Now, I've always heard the word cheap be used in a singular all encompassing fashion in regards to video games: To express displeasure at a frustrating situation. The game presents the player with an enemy that is unbeatable and the players obviously have a negative reaction to this. Yet in the world of competitive gaming the idea of cheap changes with the game. For instance, fighting gamers embrace long stylized combos and cheer when somebody is caught in one of these loops. Yet it's the same idea as the unbeatable enemy; a situation that you can't escape from. Yet, fighting gamers would argue that the strategy of the game comes from avoiding setups that lead to these combos. So is it the transferral of responsibility to the player to avoid the situation entirely, or counter it with action of their own, that makes these combos not cheap? Then why was I booing the player at EVO? Surely his opponent had the ability to stop his fireball spamming barrage? Let's look at another game then, say Starcraft 2. In the Starcraft community they have a word for "cheap" moves: "cheese". These cheese strategies usually involves rushing your opponent early on in the game and attempting to catch them unprepared. So without proper scouting of your enemy, or the wrong starting build, a "cheese" proves lethal. Sounds like a unwinnable, and very cheap, situation to me. Yet, 3 time GSL Code S winner NesTea uses "cheese" builds all the time. It's like the Starcraft community views cheap like this: "If my opponent, who I'm assuming is at the top of his game, loses to this then he deserved to lose." So the Starcraft community has fully embraced the idea of winning by any means, and cheers the players that successfully win with these rushes. Yet, I wasn't cheering when EVO spambot won his matches.
Maybe, I was booing because of player ethics. In pro level Starcraft 2, a player will utilize a rush to deviate from his normal play and catch his opponent off guard. Sounds strategic. I think, that's where my qualm sat with that player. There was clear strategy in the engineering of his team. Yet, the strategy involved the player not playing the game but running away from his opponent. This, to me, is the same as the all famous "campers". "Campers" are players that in first person shooters, such as Call of Duty or Counterstrike, sit in one place to amass kills. There is a clear divide between a player that is strategically playing as a sniper or a "camper". Most FPSs offer players sniper perches or nests, to allow players who want to show off their digital sharpshooting, the opportunity to. On the flipside "campers", find dark corners and overlooked areas to sit and catch opponents that are running by. Again, like with the EVO player, there is strategy behind the idea but, they aren't playing the game. The strategies circumvent gameplay for wins. That to me is the definition of "cheap" in video games: A strategy or idea, that allows players free wins, exp, kills, while not performing the natural and necessary tasks of the game. Yet, this is probably all relevant to who is playing, as some players feel that "If the game allows me to do it, it's not my fault." So, I will continue to tredge through games on Insane difficulties, knowing that I'm utilizing every thing the game has to offer to complete my experience. And still get pissed when fourteen year old, who is 40 levels higher than me, shoots me in the ass in Call of Duty. Cheap.
Friday, June 29, 2012
Well folks it's official! For the next Magic the Gathering set we will returning to the plane of Ravinca in:
The set will be released in October 2012 and contain 272 cards. It's headed by Erik Lauer and Ken Nagler. Lauer was the lead developer on the vastly successful set Innistrad and Nagler was the lead designer on the Commander decks, as well as the lead designer on the Avacyn Restored set. It only makes sense that the return to the fan popular plane be headed by two heavy hitters. Wizards also released the set symbol:
And this picture showing guild leader Niv-Mezzet standing with a blue eyed Jace:
So with very little information besides the aforementioned specs, I figured I'd at the rumor mill by making some predictions.
Prediction Number 1) I'm guess, with the trend of WOTC pushing new planeswalkers, that there will be a plainswalker for each guild.
Prediction Number 2) We'll be seeing a return of the favored Shocklands
Prediction Number 3) They will be reprinting both Niv and Jace(Hopefully we won't have another Mind Sculptor)
Prediction Number 4) This will be a flavored based block. After the success of flavor based block Innistrad, and given the rich flavor of the original set/books, it'll be a logical step.
Prediction Number 5) Jerkface Mill players( Who we still love here at FF), will get more cards to piss us off(make us happy). Hooray for another Unthinkable or Lobotomist
Weigh in with your predictions or comments below. We'll ring in with more information as it leaks.
THE ROAD TO EVO
With the impending date of July 6 for EVO, one of North America's largest fighting game tournaments, contestants are furiously trying to build points for a higher seed in the tournament. By competing in tournaments such as UFGT or the Northwestern Regionals, players that rank high accumulate points that will determine their seeding in the EVO brackets.With the prize pool set at over $100,000, EVO hopefuls are battling it out to seed high and grab a piece of that cash. Two major tournaments happened the past week and had exciting and... disappointing results.
CEO 2012- A fantastic weekend of gameplay that culminated in Justin Wong taking the Grand Finals in both MvC3 and Street Fighter 4 AE. Wong looked flawless in Street Fighter, with perfect execution of Rufus' mixups and utilizing the new buff to the maximum. It was satifsing to see, though I'm not a Wong fanboy, him smack down Chris G in the Grand Finals of Marvel vs Capcom. G's lame keep away playstyle with Morgan was no match the rush down techniques of the Virgil/Frank combo. Spooky was live streaming the event and graciously put the VODS up on SRK's website for those who missed the live stream.
UFGT8- Once again, Chris G's "amazing" playstyle was showcased here. Taking the Grand Finals, and the excitement, with his lame Morgan keep away play. His opponent, hometown boy Brightside, battled his away up through the Winner's bracket with some amazing matches in the Top 8. If at the very least this Grand Finals, showcased Brightside as an emerging player and possibly somebody to look for at EVO. In the Street Fighter Top 4....well it was boring to be honest. Team Evil Genius made amazing case for why players should remember Rufus, with both Ricky Ortiz and Justin Wong placing in the Grand Finals with the rotund fighter. The only moment of hype came from a pre-victory dance from Wolfkrone in the Top 4. Check it out in the video below.
With the impending date of July 6 for EVO, one of North America's largest fighting game tournaments, contestants are furiously trying to build points for a higher seed in the tournament. By competing in tournaments such as UFGT or the Northwestern Regionals, players that rank high accumulate points that will determine their seeding in the EVO brackets.With the prize pool set at over $100,000, EVO hopefuls are battling it out to seed high and grab a piece of that cash. Two major tournaments happened the past week and had exciting and... disappointing results.
CEO 2012- A fantastic weekend of gameplay that culminated in Justin Wong taking the Grand Finals in both MvC3 and Street Fighter 4 AE. Wong looked flawless in Street Fighter, with perfect execution of Rufus' mixups and utilizing the new buff to the maximum. It was satifsing to see, though I'm not a Wong fanboy, him smack down Chris G in the Grand Finals of Marvel vs Capcom. G's lame keep away playstyle with Morgan was no match the rush down techniques of the Virgil/Frank combo. Spooky was live streaming the event and graciously put the VODS up on SRK's website for those who missed the live stream.
UFGT8- Once again, Chris G's "amazing" playstyle was showcased here. Taking the Grand Finals, and the excitement, with his lame Morgan keep away play. His opponent, hometown boy Brightside, battled his away up through the Winner's bracket with some amazing matches in the Top 8. If at the very least this Grand Finals, showcased Brightside as an emerging player and possibly somebody to look for at EVO. In the Street Fighter Top 4....well it was boring to be honest. Team Evil Genius made amazing case for why players should remember Rufus, with both Ricky Ortiz and Justin Wong placing in the Grand Finals with the rotund fighter. The only moment of hype came from a pre-victory dance from Wolfkrone in the Top 4. Check it out in the video below.
So at hopefully at EVO we can see more hype moments like that and less of Chris G's lame playstyle. I'll be there personally, interviewing players and watching matches. So we'll have up to the minute information. And for those that have never been or watched EVO, it can be summed up with this excessiely hype moment from EVO 2004
Reading Comics: A Primer
A friend of mine once confessed that she has never read a comic. I suggested that she was missing out, but then it occurred to me that a lot of people probably don’t read comics. For one reason or another they just have never picked up a comic. They may have skimmed through the newspapers funnies, but never sat down and read an issue or graphic novel. One thing that might have kept them away, other things being equal, is that they just simply don’t know how to read a comic. Comics aren’t like typical literature, where you read the story and mentally picture what is going on. Rather, comics as sequential art provide everything that’s going on through the panels—the sound, the action, the characters, etc. So I figured I could provide some help in how to read a comic.
First, two terms: panel and gutter. The panel(s), typically just a rectangle, is where the action occurs at a time (or lapse of time). The gutter is the space dividing the panels. If I have a page with two panels, one on top and one on the bottom with the gutter dividing the two, the action in the top panel precedes the action in the bottom. Scott McCloud explained that knowing what’s going on in the gutter is the fundamental thing needed in order to understand reading comics. He says that the shit between panel to panel is like a game of peek-a-boo where you see the parent (panel one), the parent is hidden (the gutter), and the parent re-appears (panel two). Upon development we recognize that although we don’t see the parent, we still know s/he is there. Likewise, the gutter serves as a time lapse between one action and another.
A panel page (a page that consists of a minimum of two panels) reads left to right, top to down. Let’s take a look at an example (Chew no.1, pg. 7):
Here we start (1) at the top moving downward to (2) then to the right (3) and so on till (5). Lettering, thought/chat bubbles, occurs in the same way—left to right, top to bottom. Dialogue on the top or left always has priority, and because comics have to somehow give a sense of time, also come before the other dialogue. (Side note: Bubbles that seem to drift from outside the panel--like in (4)--come from outside the panel, in the same way when watching a movie and a character behind the camera is speaking.)
I hope this helps some of you, and expect more to come. Feel free to leave any questions you may have on reading comics.
-Ignipotens
First, two terms: panel and gutter. The panel(s), typically just a rectangle, is where the action occurs at a time (or lapse of time). The gutter is the space dividing the panels. If I have a page with two panels, one on top and one on the bottom with the gutter dividing the two, the action in the top panel precedes the action in the bottom. Scott McCloud explained that knowing what’s going on in the gutter is the fundamental thing needed in order to understand reading comics. He says that the shit between panel to panel is like a game of peek-a-boo where you see the parent (panel one), the parent is hidden (the gutter), and the parent re-appears (panel two). Upon development we recognize that although we don’t see the parent, we still know s/he is there. Likewise, the gutter serves as a time lapse between one action and another.
A panel page (a page that consists of a minimum of two panels) reads left to right, top to down. Let’s take a look at an example (Chew no.1, pg. 7):
Here we start (1) at the top moving downward to (2) then to the right (3) and so on till (5). Lettering, thought/chat bubbles, occurs in the same way—left to right, top to bottom. Dialogue on the top or left always has priority, and because comics have to somehow give a sense of time, also come before the other dialogue. (Side note: Bubbles that seem to drift from outside the panel--like in (4)--come from outside the panel, in the same way when watching a movie and a character behind the camera is speaking.)
I hope this helps some of you, and expect more to come. Feel free to leave any questions you may have on reading comics.
-Ignipotens
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Frank Frazetta is a name that should ring a bell in most comic book reader's head. A master in fantasy art, Frazetta is a veteran in the comic book world having been featured in the old EC comics and most recently having new writers create adaptations of his famous paintings. Another new face is taking a spin on a Frazetta classic story, "Thun'da". CBR has an exclusive interview with Robert Naption and you can view it here. If you're looking to get into Frank's career this is a good point, or start with the book "Death Dealer" which is based off of Frank's artwork.
-CCI, the fine people that run Comic Con in San Diego have released the full schedule for the convention starting on July 12. Check it out here
In my absentmindedness I forgot that yesterday was Comic Book Wednesday! So let's see what's been happening in the world of the funny books.
-Oh yes. She got her own book. Set in between Volumes 1 and 2 of Kick Ass, Mindy struggles to cope with life as a normal girl, all while dealing the bloody justice we've come to expect from her. Writer Mark Millar also said that he plans to reveal the back story of character Red Mist. The first issue hit stands yesterday, so go pick that up.
-So over the course of the week Marvel has been releasing teasers of their upcoming "This is War" storyline. Tuesday we got a picture of Cap's shield and yesterday we saw a bloodied picture of Iron Man. Today Marvel showed what they had in store for Spiderman with this picture.
No news yet at as to what this war will be about. Hopefully we'll flesh some things out in the upcoming panels this weekend and at Comic Con. From the looks of the pictures, the event might have something to do with the Punisher. The event is slated to be released in October, but hopefully we have more information before then.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Yo yo yiggity yo, nerds and nerdettes! Let's see what happened today in the world of video games!
- The video "Meet the Pyro" was officially released today, allowing players to finally get insight as to what goes on behind the mask of our beloved pyromaniac. Check it out at the link below and feel free to mosey over to the TF2 website for more details on the just released patch. Also Adult Swim has paired up with the guys at TF2 to bring us a brand new Robot Chicken Hat! Yay! The also announced a new Machinima style movie maker for TF2 but who cares about that? NEW HATS!!!
-A website known as Valvetime, posted some gorgeous pics of what could be Half Life 2: Episode 3 related concept art. Nothing official that is from Half Life 2 :Episode 3 but it doesn't hurt to dream. Check out at the link below.
http://www.valvetime.net/
-Nintendo released a trailer for their upcoming Nintendo 3DS XL.The new version of the 3DS, totes the largest screen on a Gameboy and bigger Home/Pause/Start buttons. The thing looks massively huge and massively gorgeous but one wonders: will it still fit in your pocket? Surprisingly absent is the toggle stick that was originally available as an add-on for the 3DS. I felt it would have been a nice addition to the game, so I didn't have to shell out money for a Circle Pad Pro. But I guess I did log like 500 hours on Pokemon blue with only a directional pad...so who needs toggle sticks!
UPDATE: According to Kotaku, Nintendo plans to produce another Circle Pad Pro specifically for the 3DS XL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwMvcTBZ-Wg
-Gamers everywhere are beginning to weigh in on the Mass Effect DLC. The Wednesday release was planned to give players that felt cheated by the original ending something more substantial. Personally, I felt that it was a bad case of "too little too late". I wasn't thrilled by the original ending but accepted it as the game's ending. Though I felt it was unnecessary, it was nice to see Bioware pay attention to what their fans want out of their games. If you haven't checked it out yet, pick up and weigh in at the comment section.
- Dead or Alive 5 fans rejoiced earlier this week, at the announcement of new character Rig. In an issue of Famitsu, they revealed the brand new character will be a Tae Kwon Do specialist and be voiced by Hiroki Touchi(Chris in MvC 3). Now fans can catch Rig in a new trailer from Team Ninja, alongside fan favorite characters Bass and Christie. Check it at the link below.( Thank you to SRK for this information)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0dM70dhX_U&feature=player_embedded#!
- With the imminent release of The Amazing Spiderman movie, people are gearing up for the accompanying game. I've strayed from Spiderman games, as they either never embody the web-slinging I love about the series or the have any elements of a good video game. After it's showing at E3, The Amazing Spiderman has changed my feelings. The webslinging looks seamless and entertaining. They also have added in a layer of depth by allowing players to choose targets to sling to. So now the player has more input into Spidey's actions and the webslinging feels more real. I mean, as real as webslinging can feel. The demo trailer was about 8 mins and showed all aspects related to Spiderman flying around the New York skyline. Machinima has planned to live stream interview with the cast and crew of The Amazing Spiderman. The stream goes up tomorrow at 6:15 PM (PST) and can be found on Machinima's Youtube channel.
Sources from the information above include: Joystiq, Kotaku, SRK, Machinma and Youtube
- The video "Meet the Pyro" was officially released today, allowing players to finally get insight as to what goes on behind the mask of our beloved pyromaniac. Check it out at the link below and feel free to mosey over to the TF2 website for more details on the just released patch. Also Adult Swim has paired up with the guys at TF2 to bring us a brand new Robot Chicken Hat! Yay! The also announced a new Machinima style movie maker for TF2 but who cares about that? NEW HATS!!!
-A website known as Valvetime, posted some gorgeous pics of what could be Half Life 2: Episode 3 related concept art. Nothing official that is from Half Life 2 :Episode 3 but it doesn't hurt to dream. Check out at the link below.
http://www.valvetime.net/
-Nintendo released a trailer for their upcoming Nintendo 3DS XL.The new version of the 3DS, totes the largest screen on a Gameboy and bigger Home/Pause/Start buttons. The thing looks massively huge and massively gorgeous but one wonders: will it still fit in your pocket? Surprisingly absent is the toggle stick that was originally available as an add-on for the 3DS. I felt it would have been a nice addition to the game, so I didn't have to shell out money for a Circle Pad Pro. But I guess I did log like 500 hours on Pokemon blue with only a directional pad...so who needs toggle sticks!
UPDATE: According to Kotaku, Nintendo plans to produce another Circle Pad Pro specifically for the 3DS XL.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwMvcTBZ-Wg
-Gamers everywhere are beginning to weigh in on the Mass Effect DLC. The Wednesday release was planned to give players that felt cheated by the original ending something more substantial. Personally, I felt that it was a bad case of "too little too late". I wasn't thrilled by the original ending but accepted it as the game's ending. Though I felt it was unnecessary, it was nice to see Bioware pay attention to what their fans want out of their games. If you haven't checked it out yet, pick up and weigh in at the comment section.
- Dead or Alive 5 fans rejoiced earlier this week, at the announcement of new character Rig. In an issue of Famitsu, they revealed the brand new character will be a Tae Kwon Do specialist and be voiced by Hiroki Touchi(Chris in MvC 3). Now fans can catch Rig in a new trailer from Team Ninja, alongside fan favorite characters Bass and Christie. Check it at the link below.( Thank you to SRK for this information)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0dM70dhX_U&feature=player_embedded#!
- With the imminent release of The Amazing Spiderman movie, people are gearing up for the accompanying game. I've strayed from Spiderman games, as they either never embody the web-slinging I love about the series or the have any elements of a good video game. After it's showing at E3, The Amazing Spiderman has changed my feelings. The webslinging looks seamless and entertaining. They also have added in a layer of depth by allowing players to choose targets to sling to. So now the player has more input into Spidey's actions and the webslinging feels more real. I mean, as real as webslinging can feel. The demo trailer was about 8 mins and showed all aspects related to Spiderman flying around the New York skyline. Machinima has planned to live stream interview with the cast and crew of The Amazing Spiderman. The stream goes up tomorrow at 6:15 PM (PST) and can be found on Machinima's Youtube channel.
Sources from the information above include: Joystiq, Kotaku, SRK, Machinma and Youtube
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
UPDATE: After perusing the inter-webs for a bit, I found a video posted by SkinSpotlights. This details all the moves for the new LoL character Jayce. It looks like his weapon switches between an axe and a gun, allowing him two different movesets. This could be confusing or incredibly fun, we'll see as more information comes out. Link to the video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIdUV3AH7bE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIdUV3AH7bE
Welcome to the inaugural post of Focus Fire, a place where geeks and nerds can let down their hair and squeal like schoolgirls at the exciting new information posted here everyday. Let's see what we have on the docket today:
League of Legends News: For anybody that plays LoL, they'll know that the recent patch was less then helpful. Crashing servers and three hour login times, were the direct result of unforeseen problems by Riot.
" The problems we’re experiencing are database-related – specifically, it’s a data throughput issue. Our infrastructure handles a massive volume of data and requests every day, and the backend changes in this patch introduced a new bottleneck."(LoL Forums)
Though this all sounds quite terrible, there actually was some amazing discoveries found in patch 6-8 on the PBE(Public Beta Environment). Hidden files were found that contained moves and names of unreleased champions. There were files for six champions, Seth, Xara, Diana, Dark Soverign, Hexmage, and Teek. There were also files relating to new skins for Tryndamere, Jarvan, Cassiopeia and Malphite. Exciting stuff and hopefully we hear more about those champs in the future.
Other Gaming News:
-Dreams for a FFVII remake were shattered or at least postponed. In an article by IGN, they quoted CEO Yoichi Wada saying that they wouldn't work on a remake until the current franchises surpassed the quality of the beloved original game. I guess that means Final Fantasy fans can look forward to better games in the future or we'll never see the remake we wanted. Who knows?!
- Players will finally get to meet Team Fortress 2's Pyro in a new update. This will most likely contain new weapons for all the classes. Head over to the website to partake in the Pyromania
:http://www.teamfortress.com/
-After it's fantastic showing at E3, fans will have to curb their appetite for Far Cry 3 after a recent announcement that the game will be pushed back from September 2012 to December 2012. It's a long time but the game will be well worth the wait
-The Skyrim:Dawnguard DLC was relased today. Some of the new additions include the ability to be a flying vampire lord and access the all new Dawnguard storyline. So if you need more dragon-slaying action go download that from the X-Box Marketplace or the PSN for 1600 MS points($20).
That's all I have for right now. Comments, questions and concerns in the appropriate places.
-bLank
League of Legends News: For anybody that plays LoL, they'll know that the recent patch was less then helpful. Crashing servers and three hour login times, were the direct result of unforeseen problems by Riot.
" The problems we’re experiencing are database-related – specifically, it’s a data throughput issue. Our infrastructure handles a massive volume of data and requests every day, and the backend changes in this patch introduced a new bottleneck."(LoL Forums)
Though this all sounds quite terrible, there actually was some amazing discoveries found in patch 6-8 on the PBE(Public Beta Environment). Hidden files were found that contained moves and names of unreleased champions. There were files for six champions, Seth, Xara, Diana, Dark Soverign, Hexmage, and Teek. There were also files relating to new skins for Tryndamere, Jarvan, Cassiopeia and Malphite. Exciting stuff and hopefully we hear more about those champs in the future.
Other Gaming News:
-Dreams for a FFVII remake were shattered or at least postponed. In an article by IGN, they quoted CEO Yoichi Wada saying that they wouldn't work on a remake until the current franchises surpassed the quality of the beloved original game. I guess that means Final Fantasy fans can look forward to better games in the future or we'll never see the remake we wanted. Who knows?!
- Players will finally get to meet Team Fortress 2's Pyro in a new update. This will most likely contain new weapons for all the classes. Head over to the website to partake in the Pyromania
:http://www.teamfortress.com/
-After it's fantastic showing at E3, fans will have to curb their appetite for Far Cry 3 after a recent announcement that the game will be pushed back from September 2012 to December 2012. It's a long time but the game will be well worth the wait
-The Skyrim:Dawnguard DLC was relased today. Some of the new additions include the ability to be a flying vampire lord and access the all new Dawnguard storyline. So if you need more dragon-slaying action go download that from the X-Box Marketplace or the PSN for 1600 MS points($20).
That's all I have for right now. Comments, questions and concerns in the appropriate places.
-bLank
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