Opinions

The DLC Machine

Mike van Gelder — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:45:08 +0000

Sick of hearing me rant about downloadable content? Well then I'm afraid this article isn't for you. Yup, that's right, I fully intend going off on another long-winded rant about the mechanics and implications of pay-content that extends the existing game that you've already bought and paid for.

Today, we discuss the DLC machine: games that primarily exist as a platform for micro-transactions.

What's With This Retro Nonsense?

Mike van Gelder — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:19:30 +0000

I like polygons. Really, the more, the better. Bump-mapping, tesselation, high-definition rendering, pixel shading, shaded vertexes, you name it. Love them all. The better a game looks, well, the better.

With that in mind, I honestly can't understand the desire that some people have to revert back to the 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) era.

I Want Mass Effect 3.....NOW!

Matt Galvin — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 10:25:06 +0000

(Warning this article has spoilers about the end of Mass Effect 2)

I traveled everywhere in Mass Effect 2, mined every planet, did every side quest. I upgraded every weapon, ship part, team mate. basically I 101 percented that game, made it my bitch...I rarely do that for games and it's a testament to how good Mass Effect 2 is. Now that I've gushed all over Mass Effect 2, I want to talk about what I want fixed and or included in Mass Effect 3.

Day One DLC

Mike van Gelder — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:35:22 +0000

We've spoken about DLC before, numerous times, on these pages, but the topic keeps coming up, like a freaking game of whack-a-mole. Thus, I have no choice but to pump another quarter into the machine and raise my mighty hammer of words and soundly address the topic once more.

Ok before this overextended metaphor gets even worse, let me get back on track. DLC is good, we've covered that already. Give people the option to pay for an expansion to the game that they have paid for already and enjoyed, and you will make more money from the original product. If you don't feel like you will be getting your money's worth from the extra-content, then don't spend. It's that simple.

Or is it??

A Steamy Update

Jake Handy — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 02:35:02 +0000

This week, the popular PC digital distribution software, Steam, received a major user interface (UI) overhaul, now available in Beta form. It's clear that with this update, Valve, the managers of Steam, are trying to make Steam the best-looking digital distribution system out there.

But do they succeed?

A Gamer's Dilemma

Jake Handy — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 12:19:03 +0000

Thursday night before your final exams. You sit at home, rummaging through your books and notes; struggling to cram all the information into your mind. Suddenly, your eye catches your TV screen, and you notice the controller resting peacefully at the TV's side, begging to be fondled.

Your palms sweat. The book in your hand seems to fade away as your mind focuses in on how great of a time you could be having right now instead of studying. Your eyes shift back and forth from your books to the TV.

So what is it? Your future, or your entertainment?

How Much Does Being A PC Gamer Cost Us?

Travis Wahlstedt — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 00:38:11 +0000

Last week Mike posted a feature talking about how expensive it is to be a gamer and how it feels to be a gamer when you’re low on funds. Well I have decided to one up him with a feature about how much more expensive being a PC gamer is than a console gamer. I will compare a mid-high range PC rig to an Xbox 360 and a PS3. I will be building a PC that can look as good as a 360 and PS3, nothing super amazing but enough to hold its own.

Exclusivity

Mike van Gelder — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 19:21:57 +0000

As long as there has been competing companies with competing hardware, there will be the issues of exclusivity. In ages past, it was Sonic on the Sega and Mario on the Nintendo, and while Mario is still exclusive to Nintendo systems, Sonic is availble on a range of platforms.

Today, the problem of exclusivity applied even to cross-platform titles. Three examples off the top of my head are the Grand Theft Auto 4 expansions (Lost and the Damned and The Ballard of Gay Tony), Batman: Arkham Asylum's unique "Play as the Joker on the PS3 version" challenge maps and Tomb Raider: Underworld, which featured two exclusive DLC packs for the 360.

Streamline This!

Matt Galvin — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 04:15:23 +0000

Games and movies have been doing this a lot lately: streamlining. No More Heroes 2, Mass Effect 2 and even movies like the Star Trek reboot have done it. Streamlining elements to make it easier to understand and take in. They all took out the parts of their respected franchise that didn't work, instead of fixing them. They made things like the story and game play simple, to appeal to a mainstream audience. Let me explain what I mean by using Mass Effect 2 and Star Trek as an example.

When We Can't Indulge Our Hobby

Mike van Gelder — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:59:54 +0000

Gaming is an expensive hobby. No really, when we compare it to other hobbies out there, it's a really expensive way to spend your time. Reading, which features the same "buy a new item every so often" has no initial cost (the console), and the individual units are much cheaper. If you're into music, you just have the once-off cost of buying an instrument, and then you can learn it by yourself, or with the help of online guides.

With video games, however, there is a whole bunch of peripherals that need to be bought, as well as the initial outlay for a machine that actually plays the games. On top of that, there is the monthly cost of a new game to play.