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24 Feb 06
Don't forget to get your entry in for the anniversary contest. Right now we still have more prizes than entries. I know everyone puts it off until the last minute, but I don't enjoy worrying about it. Next contest I think I'll just write up a little press release and send it out to all my news contacts. It might cast the net a little large, but it's better than worrying or upsetting people. If you're not interesting in entering this time, please spread the word to people who might be. Thanks.
I know I must be old. I'm starting to get more and more nostalgic. I remember the early internet '92-'94. I was helping to test Linux back then before the kernel hit 1.0. It was amazing how helpful everyone was to everyone else. I think we were all awed by the fact that hey I was talking to someone in Australia. Of course, it was all geeks back then, but that just bonded us together even more.
The only bad thing about that time was my addiction to MUD's, multi user domains (or dungeons). It was bad for a while. Once the campus approved our telnet accounts and I could connect from my room, I spent way too much time online. That's why I don't go near MMORPG's today. It's not worth the risk. I don't have enough time as it is.
Today, the gaming, information and access is so much better. I just wish we could recapture some of that innocence, good will and community. Like I said, I'm old. Have a great weekend.
Jason
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23 Feb 06
Did you know that a bunch of people grab the feed of the News section? Neither did I. I never removed the functionality, but I didn't put up the link. It's pretty standard though. I was a little surprised looking over the traffic reports to see that. Oh well, I put the link back at the bottom of the main news page since I now realize there's a demand. Enjoy.
You may recall that I've been calling for lower pricing in gaming. I especially have been calling for it in consoles with a large installed user base. Well, someone finally listened, and it turns out to be the market leader. Yes, EA is launching their remaining current gen titles starting out at $39.99. This comes shortly after EA admitted it transitioned away from the original Playstation too soon.
The down side of lower pricing is that it could even slow the console transition. A $60 game seems more expensive when everything else is $40 or less. There has to be compelling gameplay especially with the graphical jump being less impressive initially this time.
I still think $20 is a magic price point. It's easier to take a chance at $20. If a niche game launches at $50 and doesn't quickly find a market, it will quickly fall to that point and be labeled a failure. However, if you launch at that price, you can maintain that while you find your customers.
I think Phantom Dust for the Xbox did better than expected due to it's low launch price. I've previously mentioned that Iron Phoenix for the Xbox would have done better with aggressive pricing (especially after the feature cuts). I guess it's magic time. With large installed customer bases and falling prices, we'll have to watch the sales numbers. I think it will be a good year for gamers.
We only have one game left (barring publisher surprises) to announce for the contest. I'm sure nobody has guessed it. Ok, everyone knows it's Civilization IV. I should point out this is the DVD version. I know some people are playing on older rigs and may not have a DVD drive. I don't need to say much about the game, but I will say that it's impressive that even when I'm losing I'm still having fun with Civ IV. Time's running out so get your entries in soon. The odds are still greatly in your favor.
Jason
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22 Feb 06
I've been asked why I go on about all these topics when it's unlikely that anyone is interested in all or even most of them. It's really quite simple. I believe in the concept of this site. I read the new stories posted in the forum. It warms my heart. Imagine if there were two or three a week (or even a day). Content like that would bring people to the site many times a week just to see what's happening, schedule a game or just see what people are playing.
Unfortunately, content like that doesn't just spring into creation because this site is a good idea. You need a community (yes, banging that old drum). To build a community, you need people coming to visit on a regular basis. Though I like the news section, there are dry spells and even when there's not, it's no guarantee to bring in people. However, here you never know what I might be talking about. It might even be interesting. With regular updates, hopefully people have a bit of incentive to check in. Maybe one day, I won't have to have regular updates every weekday, but until then, this page is stuck with me.
It's contest update time. Next up we have one of our contenders for Game of the Year. It's Nexus: The Jupiter Incident. It's a tactical space combat game that seemed to come out of nowhere. You have a small fleet of ships that you can customize before taking them into battle. The story is a bit cheesy at time, but since it sets up the excellent battles, you don't care.
Do we have more prizes? Yes, we do. Next up is Rome: Total War Gold Edition. As you can probably guess, this is last year's Game of the Year combined with the Barbarian Invasion expansion. I don't think I need to say more than that. You know if you're interested.
Finally, we have our game of the week. As you know I've been searching to make sure I have missed any more Space 4X games. I've found one. It's Horizon (official site) from L30 Games. You play the humans starting to find their way in the galaxy when they discover that not only are their alien races out there, but they're all more advanced than you. It might be time to make some friends before you make enemies. They're promising a large galaxy, ship design, espionage and interesting diplomacy. I believe they're aiming to ship Horizon this year.
Jason
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21 Feb 06
GalCiv II launched today. I have to say I completed the download with a minimum of trouble. The preload seemed to work well. I did have trouble starting a game. However, a quick reboot solved that problem. I didn't have a chance to do much more than kick the tires. My only concern thus far is that I'm not sure I like the planets on the map per se. It's very awkward to have a potential adversary so close to a vulnerable colony. Of course, I took the best planet, but even a poor planet can be a good invasion launching point. I foresee trouble. We'll have to wait to find out if it's fun trouble or just annoying.
If anyone has some more complete impressions, please post them in the forum. Also, if anyone is interested in starting a Talk Strategy metaverse empire, either start it up and send me the info or drop me an email, and I'll take care of it. For those that don't know, the metaverse is a sort of competitive way to play single player GalCiv II. It combines end game scores of each empire and ranks/compares them to other groups. It can be quite fun if you get into it.
I had another program today tell me my computer isn't up to snuff. I know. I'm planning on a new rig this year. The plan is still to hold out for Vista, but if there's a delay, that may change. Please let me know your thoughts on the boutique builders, building your own, current and upcoming parts (Nvidia vs ATI, Intel vs AMD, single core vs double, etc.). It's always interesting to hear other people's recommendations.
It's contest update time. We're still lacking for entries, so if you get yours in, and we don't get any more, you're guaranteed a prize. Even if we get a bunch more entries, the odds here are some of the best you'll find. The next prize we have available is the RTS Perimeter. You may recall it from around the time Ground Control 2 dropped. It had some interesting features including an emphasis on terraforming and morphing units. It also had some pretty impressive eye candy. Reviews were hot and cold mostly based on whether the review liked 'different' in their RTS. There is supposed to be an expansion pack coming soon.
Our next prize is Spellforce Platinum. It's the RTS/RPG combination game. It has a pretty hefty main campaign and comes with two full expansions. How does it play? Well, it's kind of like Diablo meets Warcraft. You have a main character with stats, skills, spells and equipment that you lead through challenges. Then, at certain points on the map, you can build up a massive magical army to take on enemies. The graphics are still drop dead gorgeous (for a strategy game), and the game lets you really enjoy them by zooming down, looking over the shoulder of your avatar leading your army into combat.
Jason
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20 Feb 06
I hate it when I have a bad run. The rest of the day seems a struggle after that. Oh well, we have to make the best of it. It's a new week and all that.
I'll only say this about Sony and the Playstation 3. Sony wants to build buzz. The haters want to kill the buzz. Everyone else wants to say something dramatic to make news to fill the void left by the official silence. Everyone should just keep their hats on until Sony makes some final hardware announcements. Oh, and let's all hope there's no repeat of the MTV debacle.
I wanted to give you demo review of the War on Terror demo. The problem is that I was having stability issues resulting in lock ups and crashes. I will say that what I did play didn't seem that compelling. Perhaps it was just the performance problem, but the controls seemed clunky. The target selection seemed poor. The AI was unimpressive, and the graphics didn't seem to match the demand being placed on the system.
What it really made me think was, this was done better in Act of War. And so it was. Unless you're really psyched for this game, I'd pass on the demo and wait for reviews. Either it's not representative of the game or the demo just doesn't like my rig. Act of War can be found pretty cheat now and has an expansion coming out soon. Plus it seems Atari needs all the help it can get.
Finally, it's time to announce some of the prizes in the Anniversary Contest. First up we have an old classic. Worried that Heroes of Might and Magic V might not turn out well? Fear not, we've got a copy of Heroes III Complete. With all the expansions and available mods, you'll be able play it until HOMM VI is out.
Next, I had been planning to have a copy of Hammer and Sickle, but the reviews panned it pretty hard. So I've fallen back to the old standard, Silent Storm Gold. Yes, the original and the expansion pack in one DVD case. It's solid tactical combat combined with beautifully destructible environments. It's as close to the thrilling combat of Xcom as anything I've experienced lately. More prizes announced tomorrow.
Jason
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