Games to Revisit: A 10K Library Reflection

I have 10,000+ titles in my Game Library. That's a lot of games. Now, I have always been honest about them: I get distracted a lot thus, there are many titles that I have not played enough of to see all that they have to offer. I have always made sure that for the consoles, especially, every time I get a new game, it is routine for me to play them at least once. Things are a little harder with Personal Computer games these days because when I get them in bulk, sometimes I would miss installing and booting up a number of them. I want to be better about this of course because my games deserve better - and I do too.

The console era is pretty much over and gone but there is much to celebrate from its illustrious past.

Okay Microsoft, This I Like

Microsoft announced today during their E3 conference that the X-Box One will be receiving X-Box 360 backwards compatibility, with the amount of compatible games reaching around 100 by the time the feature is officially launched this fall. The coolest thing about this is that Microsoft is claiming that these games will run natively on the X-Box One instead running on mere software emulation and that even retail disc games will work. I really like this idea. I mean, I really like it a lot. With Sony trying to milk their loyal customers dry with the rental game service of past generation PlayStation games, Microsoft is paving a more intriguing path. They also claim that the list will continue to grow as long as the publishers of the affected games approve those games to be playable on the X-Box One. This could be tricky though so it is possible that this may turn out the same way as how the original X-Box compatibility was on the X-Box 360 - which if you remember, was severely lacking - if these game publishers get too selfish. But you know what? I have to give credit where it's due and Microsoft is doing the right thing here and technically, they are allowing full backwards compatibility but they cannot force the publishers' hands. This is an excellent feature that should continue across console generations and I am a supporter of backwards compatibility - that is why I primarily game on the Personal Computers (Steam rules all) because you know, almost all of those PC games are compatible with newer operating systems. You have won Microsoft because you even made me start thinking of getting an X-Box One - gasp! I love the idea of having another hardware that I can use for my X-Box 360 games. It would have been nicer if you just allow Windows 10 to be able to play both the X-Box 360 games and X-Box One games but you know that will never happen.

Can we speed up the release of this feature and bump up the number of games please?

ARAM Matches Help Me Exercise

I have been trying to get back into a workout routine since I stopped doing Yourself!Fitness in September of last year and I finally managed to get myself into one since Wednesday this week. I know that I have tried sticking with the treadmill several years ago but I think that I have found the formula to keep me going. While using the treadmill, I am now watching the Twitch broadcasts of League of Legends' ARAM matches on my iPad! An average ARAM match can last up to 30 minutes, which is the amount of time I am spending on the treadmill every night - that is with a day off on Saturday. Because of how involved I can get watching these matches, time would go by so fast every time I jumped on the treadmill though I would always be reminded of the physical activity involved in this whole process via the burning sensations on my thighs and that I float when I walk for the next half hour. I haven't missed a session yet so I am off to a good start! If I don't see any kind of results after two months though, I would probably be using this Kinect game that I got last Christmas:

If I can survive Yourself!Fitness, this one shouldn't be too bad.

LIVE Gold: Fake Glitter

I was on my X-Box 360 this evening to satisfy my Ginga Force cravings when I noticed that Microsoft is offering Gotham City Imposters as their featured free game for LIVE Gold members:

I guess they are not lying about offering "free" games.

I was pretty sure that the game was announced to be free to play a while back so I went to my Steam account and noticed that it was indeed free to play while it has a price tag of $14.99 on the X-Box LIVE store. Apparently it only went free to play on the Personal Computer via Steam. But if you are not already a Gold member, why would you pay a monthly subscription fee for something that is free to begin with (online multiplayer) only to receive a game that you can get on Steam for free where you don't have to pay anything to play it with others online. If I was a LIVE Gold member, I would be pretty upset with this poor free game offering. Surely there are plenty of other games they could offer the Gold members instead of a game that can be played for free somewhere else already?

Hmm... No subscription fees required.

LIVE Gold Downgrade: A New X-Box Innovation

For the first time since the introduction of the X-Box LIVE Gold membership in 2005, Microsoft has finally done something smart. Starting sometime in June, the Gold membership is no longer required for users to access a number of NON-GAMING apps like Twitch.tv and Netflix. I have been harping about this ever since I left the service many asteroids ago and it's finally happening! Will Microsoft continue to do the right thing and fatally stab Sony in their now exposed neck with a long-sword by removing LIVE Gold requirement for online multiplayer, a mode that is supposed to be free on these consoles anyway like it is on the Wii U as well as the Personal Computer, specifically, Steam, and thus leaving Sony in an awkward position? We all know Microsoft is getting desperate because they are even launching a Kinect-less X-Box One: Let's face it, the Kinect camera is so non-essential that most just use it as a cam when streaming to Twitch. So Microsoft should really consider shaking things up with something more drastic: Like the free online multiplayer! If they were to launch X-Box Forever like I suggested, they would have been dominating the industry by now...

"X-Box, record that!" He said is his favorite Kinect feature.

Well, on the PlayStation 4, all I have to do is press a button? Click here to watch the full vid.

Dark Souls II: The Intent is Darker

Remember when it was announced that the Personal Computer version of Dark Souls II was delayed by more than a month after the release of the console versions because the developer From Software claimed that they were working on optimizing the PC version? Well, we knew that they were lying then - if the PC version was out simultaneously, many would just get the superior PC version and they may potentially lose money from the more expensive to produce console versions - and now that the game is finally released on the PC, it's obvious that this game was ready for simultaneous release with the console versions last month. So yeah, the game does look significantly better than the console versions, it can run native 1080p at silky smooth 60 frames per second compared to the port of the first game without the need for mod installation, and the keyboard control options look robust, though why anyone would want to play this game with a keyboard is beyond me... But you know what? Those things would not have taken an extra month to implement. With plenty of ugly low resolution textures from what I have seen in the beginning area, I am sure that the only thing that the developer and publisher Namco Bandai Games were both doing was rolling in the dough, all naked and sweaty, from the sales of the console releases instead of doing any kind of extra finishing touch ups for this PC release. It's pretty darn disgusting. Bear in mind as you peruse the following screenshots that they were all taken with all the graphics settings maxed out:

Lovely low-res fur cape you are wearing there buddy!

Low-res texture + high resolution = an ugly mess.

You don't even have to go far when you start the game to see the laziness of this launch:

If you were really working on the game during the past month...

The game may be worthy of the hall of fame but these are the walls of shame.

Random Game Room Moment

Is there such a thing as too many cameras?

Dark Souls II: Lesson Learned?

While the PlayStation 3 and the X-Box 360 versions of Dark Souls II are getting released next week, the Steam-bound Personal Computer version is being delayed to an April 25th release date. Though I am sure that this is quite disappointing for rabid fans of the game, it looks like From Software is making sure that the PC release this time is no longer going to be a mere port of the console versions as shown on the statement released on Steam today:

It better be better on the PC. That's just the natural way of the gaming universe.

I do believe that the game is ready for PC release because the difference is really just the resolution bump and the better frame rate. We all have seen this ploy before. From Software and Namco Bandai are both new to the whole PC gaming thing and they apparently are oblivious to the fact that many developers before them have purposely released the PC version of their games at a much later date than the console releases. The reasoning behind this logic is simple: who would buy the console versions if the superior PC version is available? Only idiots would. And yes, you can play PC games on the big screen, you don't even need a Steam Machine for that. And yes, this game does feature full controller support. Those who have been craving for this sequel who happen to game on the PC may end up getting one of the console versions before eventually getting the Steam version if they are impatient and we all know that there are plenty of those people out there. This of course equals more profit for you know who.

Dark Souls II: The Power of Hype

I liked Dark Souls on the PlayStation 3. I loved it and played it even more on the Personal Computer, despite needing to use a mod to improve its graphics. From Software has always been making weird games with highly complex and challenging mechanics but by some odd chance, the Demon's Souls series got really, really popular. Popular enough that the Collector's Edition for Dark Souls II that will be available for the console versions is priced at $119.99. Yes, you got it right. One hundred and twenty freaking dollars.

Worth the price? You got to be insane if you said yes.

You can check out the picture above to see what you get with the Collector's Edition: Display box? Cloth map? Art book? A cheap figurine? These things should cost you nothing more than the overpriced $59.99 that they would like to charge for the game in the first place. Seriously, are there really crazy people out there who would pay $120 for these things? Yes, unfortunately. Why did I even bother asking that question? And why is the PC download cost $49.99? You know it's a direct console port so $39.99 would have been a fair price for this game. I will give it to Namco Bandai though, they sure know how to milk something and turn it into a highly profitable venture. It does seem like every time they do it, they keep increasing the price higher and higher. I am sure soon we will see a Collector's Edition priced at beyond the $200 range from them because well, people keep buying these extravagantly priced things.

Cheer Me Up, Video Games

I am trying my hardest to get out of the funk that I am currently in but nothing seems to be working. It's hard to even boot up a game these days and when that actually happens, I don't enjoy them as I used to. At the risk of sounding seemingly ungrateful, apparently having access to these many video games at my fingertips didn't secure a steady level of happiness in my gaming life. What is going on with me? Maybe I need to see a shrink but I am just hoping that this thing will run its course soon, without taking too much away from me. I can at least say one thing though, DanceMasters on the X-Box 360 did make me smile:

Was I just oblivious in the past? Has the ignorance been washed away?

Should Consoles Be More Colorful?

I was sitting in my Game Room watching something on my Personal Computer when I realize that I have four black consoles sitting right out in the open on top of my entertainment center. Now don't get me wrong, if I have to make a decision, I would always get the black version of a console but don't you wish sometimes that console makers go a bit bolder with their color choices? And I am not just talking about those special releases either - the crazy colors should be a standard. Enough of the safe gray, white, and black. Why did Nintendo not revisit the purple from the Nintendo GameCube? A purple Wii U would have been nice.

I have to admit, they do look quite nice together.

X-Box 360 Controller's Hidden Trick?

I only have one wireless X-Box 360 controller. Like usual however, I always make sure that I have two controllers for all the console I have, mostly as a back-up since finding a local co-op buddy is next to impossible. The second controller I have for the 360 is a wired one. I have been having a bit of a dilemma recently however with having only one wireless controller. I mostly use it for playing controller-supported Personal Computer games but I have also been revisiting my 360 quite often. Reassigning the controller between the two devices is easy enough but the annoyance comes when I forgot to reassign the controller back to the PC prior to shutting down the console so when I hit the X-Box button to play a PC game, my 360 would start up and I have to turn it off. Yes, I get annoyed by the littlest things, so much so that I was considering getting another wireless controller. I tried playing with the wired controller but since I am just so spoiled by the lack of tethering, it just felt awkward. I thought to myself, "There must be a way to turn on the controller without turning on the console, right?" So I did a little research and found out that it is indeed possible. I didn't know about this until today! By holding the start button, the controller will be turned on without having the console affected - perfect when I forgot to reassign the controller to my PC! Is this common knowledge to everyone else?

This just saved me $40, that's for sure.

Update Note: 2:00pm - Finding the instruction above was certainly thrilling but as I have just discovered  it just doesn't work. Once the 360 controller is turned on using the Start button method, it immediately reaches out to whatever device that it was registered to last and in the case of the 360 console, it would then immediately turn on the console. What a glorious lie...

Ugly Men of Gaming: Phony Playboys

Case File: 001

Name: Jansen

Origin: Lost Odyssey (X-Box 360)

The long lashes. The generous application of red lipstick. The soft scarf wrapped around the neck. Am I supposed to believe that this guy loves women, that he is a pure womanizer who is actually being pursued mercilessly by women? I know the depiction of men in Japanese role playing games are mostly dominated by girly boys but this is just plain ridiculous.

Case File: 002

Name: Dante

Origin: DmC-Devil May Cry (Personal Computer)

So, the old Dante is not realistic enough so let's completely change his look in this series revival effort. Let's make him look like he had severe brain injury since he was a little boy. Let's give him a questionable haircut. Despite looking like there is no one really home, attach that monster face to a perfect body and voila! You got yourself a creature that will send chills down your spine whenever he looks directly at you and not in that good way!

Rawr... Raptr?

While I was streaming some Rift Lite gameplay for the Personal Computer last night on my twitch.tv page - I am in the process of getting a character all the way to level 20 to prepare him for the upcoming free-to-play launch of the game - a viewer informed me that I could get the full game and its expansion, Storm Legion, by using Raptr and "playing" the game for a set number of hours. Took a lot of convincing for me to eventually take the plunge for I had never been a fan of Raptr, which is just another gameplay tracking social networking program. I just don't see the validity of what Raptr is trying to promote - it mostly celebrates gameplay hours so if you just leave a game running while you are out on a week long vacation, you'll get to the Elite spot so easily. Still, I love the idea of getting Rift and its expansion for free because having access to these will provide me a larger number of both character and bag slots when the ftp kicks in, not to mention the additional character classes. The little rewards here and there is nice too but they are nothing special... Like the two avatar t-shirts I automatically unlocked when I linked my LIVE account to Raptr. I really don't like that I can't even install the desktop application where I want it to be installed. I will definitely be uninstalling it from my PC once I am done with chasing the Rift rewards but I suppose I will just keep my profile there so that it could feed on my PlayStation 3, Steam, and X-Box 360 activities. I really don't care if it doesn't track my League of Legends hours nor any other games not associated directly with those platforms for I have Origin to do just that since I am curious sometimes about such data. If you are a Raptr user, I am interested to find more acquaintances there so feel free to send a friend invite to AlexWorth. See you there!

Loner Gamer's desktop has recently been invaded by a strange creature named "Raptr".

Update Note: 06/16/2013  - I jumped on Rift today for the first time ever since they rolled out the "free-to-play" patch and I discovered that the game is selling keys to unlock treasure chests as well as potions to release coin caps and other important gameplay functions in the cash shop. Yeah, they did a great job hiding these facts prior to the "FTP" release. I uninstalled the game immediately.

Pretty darn disgusting. Trion Worlds, you have failed!

Video Gaming is Moving Too Fast

As someone who has been gaming all of his life, I do find it strange that my feelings towards this upcoming transition from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 or whatever Microsoft may bring to the table for the X-Box - still hoping it's a Windows 8 based thing - is rather uncommon compared to a lot of other gamers. I found quite a number of acquaintances who are rather happy about getting "new consoles" while I see a such thing as another console being abandoned unnecessarily. Apparently, people are not concerned about shelling out cash for a new hardware. I don't have too much of a problem with that in particular since I do love to upgrade my Personal Computer but the difference there is that these newer consoles are not fully-backwards compatible and some will not honor that feature whatsoever. When I spend on new PC hardware, I know I am just extending the life of all the PC games I have but that is not the case when it comes to console gaming. The other thing that came to my mind today was the speed in which new games get the price slash these days, especially for the PC:

That's not too bad and it fits my budget quite well.

There are just so many interesting titles being released at all times and then not too long after their release, you see crazy price drops that make you wonder - is it really worth getting the more expensive games at launch? The ironic thing here is that I used to tell people that they shouldn't feel guilty about getting games at full price if they have the money to burn but my perspective has changed since then. Sure, it's great to support your favorite developers, there is nothing wrong with that but if we adhere to that rule, we would be buying a really small number of games a year. I do know this: I think most developers don't deserve our hard-earned cash, especially those who think that they can only make better games with better hardware... Whoever came up with that equation must have accidentally fell in the bathroom and hit his or her head on a toilet bowl. All that I know is this: if you are like me who tries to get every single game that you are interested in, there is no way that we can catch up to these new game releases. It's just impossible. It's hard to stop pursuing and I am certain that there is nothing wrong in doing so, but I think that we really have to start making some smart choices. I think that price threshold that I have set for myself was a great start and the survival guide I have published is definitely helpful. The next thing for me here is perhaps I need to set an actual number of games that I would get per month. Is that a little bit of a stretch or just a natural progression of things?

What Are You Really Buying, Exactly?

As if $99.99 isn't bad enough of a price for a Collector's Edition, today, I discovered today that Ubisoft is planning to sell the upcoming Collector's Edition of Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Blacklist for multi-platform at $169.99. This thing is bundled with a remote-controlled Paladin Aircraft that is supposedly valued at $150. So... Are you a gamer or something else? I suppose one could be both but to actually bundle a game with such a specific alternate hobby is quite a big risk, isn't it? Unless the developer knows that there are plenty, and I mean PLENTY, of crazy gamers out there who would get anything with a special label slapped on them. A lot of developers have lost sight to the one thing that really matters... The game itself. Releasing fads  - like charging extra for artbook and physical toys - and even designing around fads - like the whole big social gaming thing for the PlayStation 4 which always mandate you being online at all times, something that I thought a lot of people didn't like - instead of focusing just on creating great games that can be delivered simply via digital means.

Breaking news! Major game developer leaves gaming to become RC distributor?

X-Box LIVE: Windows 8 Messages

As we all should know very well by now, Microsoft does everything they can to coerce people into subscribing to that X-Box LIVE Gold membership by forcing that subscription for online multiplayer access and then adding things you can normally use for free on top of the subscription to make it more... attractive. Microsoft even blocks the ability to send messages to your friends when using the live.xbox.com website and the SmartGlass app on the tablets:

Why provide such a basic function to your customers for free, right?

Well, I have never tried sending messages from the Games tile available on Windows 8 until today and you know what? It looks like someone at Microsoft's Greed Department forgot to disable this feature here! You can freely send messages using this app to your X-Box LIVE friends without the need to be on LIVE Gold! How about that? I bet if those who pay for LIVE Gold know about this, they wouldn't be happy? Well, they are probably oblivious to this anyway... As a matter of fact, they are pretty oblivious to the fact that everything they paid for can be done for free on other platforms, whether those features are gaming or otherwise. Charging for LIVE Gold just cannot be justified, Microsoft. End it.

Patch it up! Patch it up!?

Cave the Best... At Teasing?

I got a new X-Box 360 game the other day and it was of course quite a rarity for me these days. I think the day when I will just induct Personal Computer games and abandon future console game purchases is inching ever closer. I surely hope that Microsoft will just beef up the Windows 8 store and make that their new plan of action when it comes to future gaming releases instead of creating yet another console. Wishful thinking, I know since Microsoft would be stupid to miss out on the free money they get from clueless people for online multiplayer on the X-Box 360 but I suppose it doesn't hurt to keep the positive thought alive.

Caution, this one may be a little extra greasy.

The new game I got is this year's "Cave the Best" re-release of Muchi Muchi Pork! & Pink Sweets, two ancient Cave shooters that were first released on the 360 in 2011. Just like any other Cave shooters out there, they are really fun. I was actually surprised to be able to order this game from Amazon.com instead of my typical specialty importers route. It's also cool that this re-release, just like the North American bestsellers, is way cheaper to buy. The whole "Cave the Best" label though does leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth because I have missed out on some of their releases due to their decision to stop producing region-free games, so to me, they are not necessarily "the best" anymore but I know they are just referring to the game being a bestseller and probably just had problems translating that intent in English. The latest Dodonpachi being released overseas next month also has the possibly of being affected by the region lock... Muchi/Pink is region-free however so get it while you still can. I am troubled though by this whole pattern of horrible box art on re-releases. If anything, they should actually make the covers look hotter to encourage people to buy them instead of stamping them with unnecessary labels and minimizing the artwork.

Elgato: PVR Like a Ninja

I have always wanted a personal video recorder for my consoles and for a long time, the good options either wanted to hijack a PCI slot in my Personal Computer or a significant amount of space on my entertainment center. Also, most of them are restricted to component cables and to think about managing those around what is already a messy situation in my Game Room because I have so many game devices hooked up to my receiver made me extremely dizzy. Then early last year, I heard about the Elgato Game Capture HD: a surprisingly small, 2.9" x 1.0" x 4.3" oh my galaxy, USB-powered device that actually takes in an HDMI cable and I was excited. I finally have the device installed in my Game Room and it is so much fun to use.

Never judge a PVR by its size.

Basically, all you have to do is connect an HDMI cable into the device and connect another from the device into your display. You also have to connect a USB cable from the device into your PC. Though the EGCHD can only record up to 1080p 30fps capture, it will pass-through 1080p 60fps without any delay! You can record 60fps at 720p. The captured video looks great and you can mess around with the options to get to a quality compromise if hard drive space is an issue for you. Since the video feed from the PlayStation 3 is HDCP-protected, you do have to connect a special D-Terminal cable between the console and the EGCHD. Don't worry though, you will still get your 1080p pass-through though I will say that the image fidelity is somewhat affected where the video looks a little softer. Now the EGCHD will work if you have everything hooked up to the receiver, except for the PS3 video as I specified before mind you. This is definitely the best way to use the EGCHD because you will still be able to enjoy all the digital sound decoding before sending the same information to the EGCHD and having it downscale the sound to stereo for capture purposes.

Can you find the Elgato Game Capture HD?

The actual capture software must be downloaded from the official website and it is easy to use and self-explanatory. The coolest thing about the software here is that it was recently updated with twitch.tv streaming up to 720p. The software can also be used as a capture camera for XSplit and even the free streaming software that I am using now called Open Broadcaster Software. Though the stream itself looks pretty darn incredible and can be done up to 5 Mbps if you have a speedy ISP, I am not able to stream at 60 frames per second neither using its own software nor through the OBS. From what I understood however, this may be addressed in a future update and that is certainly exciting news. [Update 12/21/2013 - I am now able to stream 60fps games properly as long as I set the console output to 720p. This didn't work when I wrote the review so this may have been enabled sometime between then and now.]

Oh there you are! Out of the way from everything else!

My initial interest in recording console gameplay with this device - I use Fraps and Dxtory for my PC games in case you were wondering - was to record fun gameplay from my gaming sessions but that has turned into streaming my console games on my twitch.tv channel. My consoles are probably thanking the EGCHD because I am playing them more. I have been streaming a lot of PC games just for my personal enjoyment and now, the consoles can join in on the fun. Whether you are interested in recording console gameplay or streaming it or both, the Elgato Game Capture HD should be on the top of your list because it does not rudely intrude upon your gaming space while delivering a surprisingly remarkable PVR performance.

RATING: 4 out of 5

Buying Movies on Consoles?

I received the following promotional email from dear old Microsoft the other day and thought that it was really funny that they are really trying to push people to buy digital movies for the X-Box 360. I can surely see the reason behind people buying digital movies on the PlayStation 3 because you know, you can upgrade your hard drive easily there as I myself have 1TB worth of yummy space. But if I was a digital movie buyer, I'd just stick with getting them on my Personal Computer thank you very much but on the 360? No, I don't think so. The maximum amount of HDD you can get it 250GB and unless you are not gaming on the 360, that will be filled up with gaming goodies. All this push for non-gaming media... Microsoft should really just leave the console gaming world behind and start making money where they should be making money... From the PC! When it comes to the next X-Box iteration they should just announce the gaming PC as the "X-Box Forever"... KA-CHING!

 

Bane's Mask = $3,300. Not buying digital movies on 360 = priceless.