The Truth About PC Gaming

f there is one major pivot of passion, debate and fan boy exposure within the video game industry it would have to be the never ending “battle” between PC and consoles.

On and on it goes, the wheel of life spins bringing around it a perpetual cycle of name calling and arguing. There are the console lovers, claiming to be content with the added convenience and simplicity of play and management, and then there are the PC lovers, espousing the near limitless level and customization, independence and graphical power. Despite these talking points, rarely is there ever a general consensus between parties as to which is better, regardless of the specific topic or context at hand.

At least, that is until someone decides to bring out the big question: which one costs more?

Zelda as a Protagonist

 happened across an interesting article from Nintendo Enthusiast detailing a theoretical idea for a Legend of Zelda title; one where Zelda is the protagonist and player-controlled character rather than Link:

[…] Yet, for all the times Link has been called “Zelda” due to the series’ moniker, we’ve never actually played as Zelda herself. Whenever she is involved, she is the damsel in distress, hoping Link will return to save her once again. Even when she debuts a tougher exterior in The Wind Waker, she is eventually reduced to kidnap-bait anyway. And although Zelda does help Link in his final battle a number of times throughout the franchise, it is never without Link that Zelda is able to escape from the clutches of evil.

So, why are we never able to take control of Zelda – or even better, her alter ego Sheik – once Link has completed his adventure? Why have we never learned of Zelda’s whereabouts in Ocarina of Time when Link travels to the future? Is Zelda not capable of even having an entirely new adventure on her own? [….]

Call of Duty: Ghosts and The Revealing Power of Buzzwords

Now featuring a dog and superior fish AI.

ven though Call of Duty: Ghosts is going to come out on practically every available system, both current and next-gen, everyone knows that any real discussion over AI or graphical innovation is mainly going to involve Microsoft, Sony, and the PC. What is so interesting about this particular discussion, however, is that it provides yet another example of just how insecure Microsoft is about the upcoming jump from the current generation to the next generation in terms of PR and sales. Take this recent article from Eurogamer and Infinity Ward’s Executive Producer Mark Rubin talking about the differences between Call of Duty: Ghosts on this generation’s consoles and the next:

Xbox One “Changes Everything:” Yes, It Has Changed Every Thing

It feels as if we’re just going in circles…

ost everyone has heard of the old saying; “Change is the only constant,” and Microsoft seems to have embodied this notion with their upcoming console, the Xbox One. Every single policy and “innovation” Microsoft presented with the Xbox One has been changed, and now the Kinect, the supposed “holy grail of gaming” according to the company, isn’t even need anymore, though they’re still trying to shove the device down everyone’s throats, like a force suppository or something.

With all of these changes and flip-flopping of principles and policies (kind of like real politics), Microsoft are doing what they can to embrace and flow with this “new direction.” Now, because of this, we have people such as Phil Spencer via Microsoft stating things like “the Xbox One ‘changes everything.'”:

Gaming, Boys, and Education

t the very least this woman blows Anita Sarkeesian out of the water. Unlike Sarkeesian, this woman – Ali Carr-Chellman – actually uses some numbers and statistics and facts, so she has earned the right to be listened to. This is only made even more ironic considering that TEDEd have also hosted Anita Sarkeesian herself in the past. As usual, the comments on that particular video are closed, as is the usual modus operandi with anything propagated by Feminists and their like-minded ilk.

How Art, Creativity, and Innovation Detract From Productivity

The Escapist : Jimquisition : Neutered

[Author’s Note]

Here is a link to the video that sparked the idea for this article. The embedding does not seem to be working with the site very well.

sually one of the biggest challenges in learning a language (particularly a second one) is getting past all of nuances, the “little things” such as inflection, tone, formal/informal, etc. One aspect that makes English such as difficult language to learn is precisely just how vague and indirect it can be. This can be seen with the sheer amount of synonyms and word choices available. All that a writer needs is a thesaurus by their side and they can literally say the same thing over and over again in a near limitless number of different ways.

Update: The Xbox One Makes Another 180, Essentially Going in Circles

It’s difficult to keep up with someone when they’re running in circles.

n my previous post, I lamented that Microsoft and the Xbox One were still shoving the Kinect down everyone’s esophagus. Now it seems as though this will no longer be the case:

“We already knew that you could turn off the Kinect, but now Microsoft says it doesn’t have to be plugged in at all. Speaking to IGN, Microsoft’s Marc Whitten shared the news that the Xbox One will indeed work without Kinect.

‘That said, like online, the console will still function if Kinect isn’t plugged in, although you won’t be able to use any feature or experience that explicitly uses the sensor,’ he said.

Asked just how ‘off’ the Kinect can be, Whitten answered totally off.”

Playstation 4 and the PS Vita: Bundles and Options

Hopefully this becomes a thing. It would be an awesome thing indeed.

erhaps the most important thing to consumers, after convenience, is options. Even if those options are are pointless, or downright counter-intuitive, consumers want them none the less. In a world where entertainment technology is becoming increasingly homogenized, and thus the amount of choices offered is increasing everyday, a distributor merely seeming to have fewer options can be a major disadvantage. This is doubly so when done in the face of competition, and triply so if the distributor is seen as just plain not giving enough or no options at all.

This was part of the problem with the original Wii, and has been the case for the Wii-U even more. Though this consensus mostly deals with the offered software, and not so much the package itself. It does bring up some interesting questions, however.

Rumor – Amazon’s New Console: Flooding the Market

So many ways to play; a flood of gaming options.

any have speculated that this may very well be the final full-fledged console generation. With heightened production costs, supposedly “inadequate” sales numbers, and increasing competition from outside markets; i.e. smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, digital download services, and so forth, it isn’t difficult to imagine.

Case in point; consider the rumors of yet another new console being released into the market, from a recent article via joystiq:

“Online retail giant Amazon will enter the Android console market later this year, according to Game Informer sources. In a brief report, the site claims people with ‘knowledge of the in-development hardware’ said the Amazon console will have its own controller, will use Amazon’s own library of Android apps, and will ‘most likely’ be available by Black Friday.

Meanwhile, GamesBeat notes it’s ‘heard rumblings’ of the console, including one developer’s report that Amazon exhibited a version of it recently. However, GamesBeat also says a couple of sources weren’t sure if ‘Amazon was serious’ about developing it.”

Nostalgia and the Video Game Industry – Part 1: The Consumer

The amount of love I have for this game is eclipsed only by my disdain for the creator. Sort of…

[Authors Note]: I am not saying that nostalgia or games made in this style are inherently terrible or do not have a place. I myself loved Fez, and even play games like Westerado quite frequently. Every now and then I’ll also download Winkawaks and play some hardcore Marvel Superheroes VS. Street Fighter or any of the Metal Slug games. I am also of the opinion that, relative to its time, the Nintendo 64 was in many ways the best system for the awesome ratio of awesomely-good-to-bad games it had, and I was a “Genesis kid.” Criticism does not imply hatred, so please, stay calm and read on.

irst, as per usual in these kinds of articles, it seems beneficial to clear up the distinction between the definitions of the most commonly used and often abused terms when discussing an emotionally-charged subject matter: