I think we should be Exclusive

I recently read a blog post that called for the end of console exclusive games. That would be bad for the industry and so bad for us.

Console wars and the Second Podcast

If you are a gaming type person then the month of November was positively a treat. The XBOXONE and the PS4 were launched. Millions of Fans waited, paid the top dollar to play the games they already had in slightly better quality. Both will be happy with the way their own respective launches went, but there is a time coming up that both will be striving to win good old consumption…er i mean Christmas Day.

Who will win? And why?  well our views Can be heard here.

http://www.mixcloud.com/RumbleFeature/console-wars/

I am excited to own my next gen console ( eventually) and the one I am likely to get will be the PS4 I have been a sony guy since the Playstation 1 and old habits die hard.Give us your views below what console are you going to buy and why?.. Let the Christmas Console Conflict Commence

Full Steam ahead

Steam facing up to the consoles. The consoles facing steam gaming…Fight!!

Hello, hello hello one and all. I’m back. Its been a little over a month since my last post on here. various personal things have limited my ability to post things. But I am back now all guns a blazing.. pew pew. Recently (ish) Steam announced that they were going into the world of consoles..kinda… there are a lot of ish’s in this and I’m sorry(ish).

Operation SteamOS

So, the first step of the process for steam resulted in them creating there own operating system with a focus on playing games. My first point with this is the brilliant name they gave it, I would have truly liked to have been involved in that meeting. Hey bob we have this new Steam operating system what should we call it?.. Err… SteamOS?… Bob….you’re going places. Its great Idea in theory for those people who enjoy playing their games and it means that the service is dedicated, and dedicated is good. It is Linux based open sourced for personal coding, but, if it can be placed with in windows so you can effectively switch between it and good old windows then good good.

SteamBox

Realising that they have never been in the business of hardware steam have out sourced the designing of a physical little box to display the games to Nvidia, a decent move for them effectively giving someone else the cost of producing the box, with effectively free reign. It works by allowing you to stream games straight from your PC to your TV effectively turning your PC into a gaming console where ever it is in the house aslong as the wifi is strong. The design is open to Nvidia except with the control, when steam were strict with, it has no analog stick and instead deals with touch pads which I think were pretty cool.

Not as cool as me though.

Steaming ahead of the competition?

This console is looking to launch at a time when there is stiffer competition than ever. Both the PS4 and Xboxone are on the horizon and have been drumming up support for themselves respectively for months, both have long heritages in the console world and both would  be willing to spend spend spend to cut out this new competition.  Its not all doom and gloom for Steam though they do have one massive advantage over the other two companies, and that, is volume of games. During launch both the Xboxone and the PS4 will have maybe 4-5 games each and they wont be great  ( one maybe two will be) but the steam box comes with a catalogue of any and every game steam can offer, that about 3000+ titles right out of the box and steam are not exactly not known for having some awesome discount

s.

The steam console will create a whole new realm of gaming for PC gamers. PC gaming went through a bit of a down swing but things seem to be on the rise…like steam…. I am not even sorry for the terrible pun. I however will stick with my consoles.

Rumble Feature

Backwards compatibility is just plain backwards

One of the big things with the next generation of consoles is that they wont be able to play the old generation. PS3 and Xbox games become as usefull as coasters. And to that I say so? Perhaps it is a good thing, allowing for a better experience.

I want my PS3 on my PS4 and i want it now!

Backwards compatibility was a fairly simple business back in the day of the ps2. The jump between the two was quite impressive, in terms of graphical ability and processing capabilities. The ps1 as iconic as it was, was basically powered by a hamster in a wheel.. and not a health hamster at that.

Works been hard since the PS2

The PS2 on PS3 created a different problem. with better graphics on the PS3 and more processing power needed the PS2 had to basically be built with in the PS3.. meaning it was a game console and something you could use to Schwarzenegger out.

All this and just with a PS3

eventually PS3 lost this ability became slim and here we are. the PS3 payed a price for this however. Graphics were not as good as on Xbox to some people and games were quite jumpy. Despite having better graphical ability and greater processors they were split between PS2 and PS3 and that caused Sony to lose an edge. Well done Xbox well done. Also PS3 could play PS1 games.. why?…why

Even this guy doesn’t know

I like my games so nerr

Now we have the next gen on the way so why would we not focus on that? in all seriousness we are unlikely to go back and play old ps3 games a year or so in to the life of the  ps4. Versions of the best games will come out online for your enjoyment. How often did you play ps2 games on your ps3 or miss xbox games on your xbox360? if you want to play games on your old consoles, keep your old console.

Me and my Xbox have been together a long time.. i’ll never love another

By cutting this out both Microsoft and Sony have allowed for them selves to focus on moving forward and we will all benefit from it. Don’t look back, look forward. focus on great games that are coming not great games of old.

Game Graphics – Hey there good looking

Graphics and how smooth a face can look and how realistic a wall is has been a large selling point for consoles for a good while. Nintendo Boasted about how powerful the N64 was compared with the Playstation, The Xbox did the same over the Playstation 2 ( Wait a minute.. Playstation..) and now Sony believe that the PS4 will have superior graphics to its rival the Xboxone. But are graphics really so important that they should be used as a reason for us to part with our cold hard cash? or are other things more important when it comes to consoles and the games we play on them?

Graphics you so have another £320

My god, Its so real!

Graphics have been getting better for years. The smoothest faces guns, bums boobs and arms the gaming world has ever seen. The realism of the graphics allows the all important immersion of games, a sense of fear in horror games that perhaps couldn’t  be reached with a pixely face.

Graphics making CGI boobs as real as possible

But can somethings be too real? such an emphasis is placed on how things looks that detail on how it plays and the story it tells can sometimes be lost. Sometimes it is pulled off games like L.A Noire were beautiful games and told a brilliant story. Some of the best games that there have ever been came from a time when consoles only had 8 pixels to play with 8! a ridiculously small number of pixles. Ha.

What makes the one on the right ant better? Same game play… Nintendo..

If I’m honest I feel as though graphics have really got as good as they can really be. How smooth can we really make the floor the next uncharted or Halo?. Developers shouldn’t be thinking oo yay now I can finally make that big shiny building I’ve always wanted, they should be thinking wow, I have all this power muhahaa whats the best thing I can do, story I can tell, experience I can give and then, make it look nice.

Next gen…Such Power!!!

Its not the outside but the inside that counts.

An example where extra graphical oomph caused more harm than good was with Silent Hill.Silent Hill remains one of the best games ever created. It had depth of story character development, game play everything it really was a truly great game. One of the things that added to that atmosphere was the haze. The game had creepy glow of white, not allowing the player to see far into the game. This wasn’t done on purpose but because of graphical limitations, it added to the experience.

Fast forward to the Current gen remakes in HD and what we got was a similar experience but implanted in turd. it lost the haze and so some of the feel and wasn’t as good but the story was still great but no matter how hard you polish a turd, its still a turd.

So shiny you could forget it was shit.

Stories are the best part of games in my opinion. A game can make up for poor graphics by having a great story. Games like phoenix wright with low graphics are great because of  the story its immersion, with humor and challenge.

One of my favorite DS games and its a Gameboy colour port…..

If a great story can be coupled with great graphics then fantastic and we get the Skyrims of the world beautiful stories mixed with emotion and depth like a pretty woman who has a personality, rare but when they are found you fall in Love. done wrong and you end up with something pretty but lacking spark .. get both wrong  and well  you have a hideous hideous beast of a thing that nightmares are made of.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Bioshock was slated because it looked dated but it is still one of the best games of 2013 Story was great, it had a great twist the game play was fun and face paced was an excellent piece if you haven’t play it.

Focus on the story but not completely on how good it looks, We are not that shallow. make something that has the narrative of a movie, with great game-play and if possible smooth graphics.Some of the greatest games, have been low res, Hell the Wii sold million and was the weakest graphically of the 3 consoles because it has a specializations that extra something beyond. If Sony,Microsoft and the developers themselves focus on these areas, then we as fans are on to something really special.

PlayStation 4 the win?

E3 this Month reveled that Sony’s Playstation is currently bending Microsoft and the Xbox one over a small probably square chair and spanking it with a paddle. So what were for me some of the more interesting things about the PS4? well lets take a looksie shall we ? yipiee.

Cheap as the box is came in

Perhaps for a lot of people, me included the cost of the console will prove to be a huge factor. Last time Sony decided to create a console they put a price tag on it that led many to believe  that it would dispense diamonds once a game was complete. They seem to have learned from this mistake and set far more realistic price of around £350 around the same as a decent laptop so not to bad at all. Expensive but not insane.

Then the console was £500 and people will buy it…

The XboxOne however is price at around £420. This has gone on to annoy yet more people and push the balance of power over to Sony. Microsoft are targeting the people with money, who can spend money on new games( as most will have to be) and  have a great solid fast internet connection so in that respect perhaps the price tag makes sense. premium prices for what is considered to be by Microsoft to be a premium product for premium people.

Just the one console for me thanks mehehe

Microsoft have today taken a massive U-turn  and removed not only the need for an internet connection to play disc based games but also allowed people to trade in games maybe the price will also change leveling up the playing field.

Cmon cmon its not hard to learn cmon cmon its called the U turn

PlayStation Plus… you want? tough you need

Microsoft have for ages had the passes for Online play. charging people a monthly/ Yearly price in order to play games online so on so on. And for this they received a what is a great service. Sony had a similar scheme but it was only an extra if you wanted it. Games online were free FREE woo but, for that the online service was about as stable as a one legged drunk man on an old wooden walking stick.

Sony servers down again

The PS4  will therefore require the purchase of the playstation plus. Not massive not game changing but to people who are used to having a Sony play station and playing for free it may be a bit of a ball ache. but if it take the one legged drunk online of the ps3 sobers it up give it a leg and stabilizes it then I am in.

is nice

Lets talk generalities 

Looks: The PS4 looks to me like an Xboxone that was hit by strong wind and blew over. I am not sure what the big thing is with thing looking square but it looks like a slick piece of kit.

Controllers: Why a touch pad? Why? its like the useless useless six access. I am not going to move my thumb to swipe a pad. And a share button? what am i sharing ? and with who? who would want to see that?  and also who are these people watching me play games? creepy Sony creepy.

What you playing? can we watch you do it?

Processors: Glad they have gone with a third party processor. using there own made it difficult for third party makers hence the lack of elder scrolls DLC.

Over all I think the PS4 is looking good and it is still my console of choice. Looks price and the extras are making it look like a strong console The hulk of the consoles. Microsoft’s u-turn on all things that had annoyed every gamer in the world have definitely leveled the field and the war of the next gen consoles are definitely more even.

Like, share and leave some love.

Banned on Xbox live? NO GAMES FOR YOU

According to a tweet from Microsoft if you are banned from xbox live you wont be allowed to play your games… what? I have paid for a games machine and but i’m not allowed to play games… but i can watch tv and netflix…seems fair… that’s like buying a bottle of water not being able to drink the water but I am allowed to read the label. its also most as if Microsoft don’t want to sell this console

.http://appygamer.mobilesrepublic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=4&articleid=10091384

Don’t mind me, I’m just casually gaming

The term casual gamer is thrown about a lot recently. with the seemingly endless boom of games on mobile devices and of course those really annoying facebok games it seems that ‘ casual’ gamers are not going to go anytime soon. they are a group that ‘ Hardcore’ gamers hate and claim are ruining the industry. But how does one become a ‘casual’ gamer and  are they harming the industry?

Hardore? No, no I’m a casual gamer wait no Hardcore..wait no.what?

so what makes someone a casual gamer and not a casual, gamer? what I mean by that is what is the difference between someone who is classed as a casual gamer and someone that simply plays games casually?. Is someone who plays games on a mobile but all the time a hardcore gamer? but someone who plays say Call of duty some of the time casual? Its a term that kind of losses its meaning when trying to define like supercalifragilisticexpialidocious or Guestimate ( Not now or ever a word).

Poppin’s bitch. Creating words, creating flying umbrellas

Lets assume its just people that play games on mobile Devices and Facebook. Games on mobile devices can be pretty good. From adaptations of Dead space to simple games like temple run Mobile devices are fun, often cheap and can be as if not more addictive as there triple A counter parts. Just because someone doesn’t play games on a console doesn’t mean that they are not hardcore gamers.When the game-boy was released no one was accused of being a casual gamer playing pokemon or Kirby so is it the thing you are playing it on or the games themselves? is it the amount of hours you put in ? I just don’t under stand!! ahhh…fdfvdVREV REvreq v

The face of hardcore gaming? or just creepy fun?…creepy

Ahem, sorry, what if i played a console game but only on occasion am i still classed as a hardcore gamer or do games have to make up more than a certain percentage of my day.

One thing i’m pretty sure on though is the majority of people who read this can agree  that facebook games are annoying beyond belief if not only for the fact that everyone needs you to be their friend in order to plant more apples pointless uselss stupid stupid apples. But many people spend a lot of time on these games investing not only many many many many hours but also in quite a few cases money. like real cash.. like c’mon people its not real fruit.

Where the fruit Ninja when you need him

They took our Industry.

what absolute rubbish! Popycock other words like that. People who play games for whatever reason can only continue to strengthen the industry becoming a hulk with out the rage or the green, giving us a strong voice to fight back against things such as games being banned for their content or for lazy parenting or terrible games as a whole. Also with a wider range of people comes a wider varity of games. The willingness to take a risk on projects because there is a chance someone will like it.

The gaming industry with every game they release

Sure it might just be a ‘casual’ game for a mobile device but it may be one of the best games you play, which may enspire someone to create something for PC or a console. In all the terrible games can drown in a see of great games… good games..ok games

its a long, long road.

Games are not long enough. This is also the view of some people on games now. ‘ it’s too easy, it’s only 10 hours, my thumbs hurt, I’m lonely’ so many complaints. The view that they are too easy and too short is one I can understand fully and is a great annoyance of mine, especially given the costs of gaming and coming from playing the likes of another word and lion king ( stupid hairy faced bastard ) on Sega Mega drive.  Development times and costs are a factor as is the needed to be first out not only to ensure that they are the first  but to meet the demand of us gamers winging about releases

Gamers waiting for Duke Nukem. Thank god.

.

Casual gaming is part of our culture now and we should embrase it a nice warm hug for casual gaming mmm. Sure, facebook games are annoying and people are frustrating but the more people play games the better the industry. What’s more, ‘casual gamer’ has no meaning and soon with the ps4 and the Xbox one perhaps we will all become more casual and more social. And with games of decent quality being cheap on phones and great quality we can now game where ever whenever with out committing to a console. Viva the casual revolution. Not social though that can still walk off Alone into the desert.

And now the match scores. PlayStation 4 – Xbox 1

With the next generation of consoles on the horizon Sony looks set to release yet another console that millions of people will enjoy, that makes 4..4! nice round 4. 3 is no longer the magic number. Microsoft however has only really had 1 console in that same caliber the 360. The first Xbox was a huge ugly looking thing that boasted great graphics but for me entered the race to late to have an impact.

If Xbox was a person

Now we have news of the Xboxone Microsoft’s launch into erm Console? TV? skype? PC? Rock? Table? I don’t know. so, sit back, grab a cuppa and read why I think the next Xbox is going to fall harder than a fat kid with lead boots…. holding another fat kid.

Wanna borrow my game? haha only joking I own an Xbox

One of the big things with the new Xbox is the fact that people need to register their games online when they are purchased and in that way it kind of becomes attached to the owner.

These aren’t my glasses

so, if you toddle off to your friends house to shoot some nazi’s or to play some football you can,so long as you log in to your profile, but they cannot borrow your games oh no sir not with out having to again basically purchase the right to play the game. Ok I hear you cry we shouldn’t be borrowing from our friends and perhaps its a small issue but think about it on a larger scale. Lovefilm game lending is over, buying preowned games? over… game over man.

Love Film is annoying any way.. so thanks Xbox

It seems as if Microsoft are targeting only the wealthy, the people who can afford new titles when they want and laugh at those of us who sit there playing demo’s as its all we can have. It also means when you are completed with the awful game you purchased and regret it you can’t even take it back to trade in.

No internet No prob… wait no sorry problem

Another strange thing Xbox is doing is having the console online 24/7 or at the very least it has to make one connection once a day. Well great. I’m sure it won’t effect many people who will be laughing and clicking and calling your mum fat over fiber optic on release day.

but what of the people who don’t have a great internet connection? maybe it breaks regularly maybe you just don’t have it. well if that happens you can still use you Xbox, it can be used as a coffee table or a foot rest or a door stop but not a game machine no no, that’s silly talk.

Watch TV on your XBOX!… But I own a TV...

Consoles are slowly becoming more entertainment centers and less gaming machines which is great a sign of the times an evolution of greatness. However, the new Xbox seems to be promoting an awful lot of TV features, watch sport, watch TV watch SPORTS or TV or SPORTS!!! YEAH SPORTS WOO. But thing is… I already own a TV. I must other wise I’ve brought an Xbox to look at and not much else and my TV already has TV shows and sports. so that selling point suddenly become moot not so much a selling point as useless feature like nipples on men.Further more if you own a smart TV then your TV can connect to facebook, youtube and all kinds of amazing things. Then why on earth would you turn on your TV ignore the facebook section turn on your Xbox to connect to facebook. Sony no doubt will be guilty of this too but that is equally useless.

There we have it, my three reasons why I think the Xboxone is balls and why Microsoft are being slightly if not very Penis like. If only for the removal of the ability to buy preowned games despite the fact that new games will be around the £45 mark. and that if you can’t get on the internet then you console is basically just a living room feature like a really bulky plant pot that can’t hold plants. For me Sony has gained the upper hand in this early battle. But there is a lot of time left for them to not totally balls it up.

RL