Linux vs. Windows

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Jan 8, 2013

Filed under: Rants 255 comments

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This weekend I installed both Windows and Linux in some kind of dual-boot situation. So now I’ve had a chance to use the two systems side-by-side so I can make a proper apples-to-Macintosh type comparison. I’ve installed both and I’ve used both, and I’m ready to offer Linux some constructive criticism. It’s a good attempt at an operating system, but they need to make some changes if they want to beat Windows.

Linux Doesn’t Reboot Enough

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I’m not sure how they managed to mess up something as simple as rebooting. I mean, it’s just restarting the computer. It’s like a blue screen of death that skips the blue screen.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Linux vs. Windows”

 


 

Dénouement 2012: Part 3

By Shamus Posted Monday Jan 7, 2013

Filed under: Industry Events 280 comments

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Let’s put these last few whip-marks on the dead horse that was 2012 and move on. If I spend any more time looking back I’ll end up running into the stuff in front of me.

X-Com

X-Com

Just great. More brain-dead IP harvesting. Just take a random title from 20 years ago and give it to a bunch of people who have no idea what made the title special to begin with. Tell them you want “Mass Effect meets Gears of War”. Make it for consoles, then port it over to the PC six months later, tied to both Gamespy and Games for Windows LIVE. Put tits on the cover. Also, we need a main character, which should be a thirty-something white guy with short hair. You know, somebody everyone can relate to. Give the dev team a tight release schedule, and then blame pirates and the bad economy when nobody buys the damn thing.

What? They actually had a team that loved the original and understood what made it work? And they made a true gameplay sequel, even to the point of including something as exotic as turn based gameplay? It runs well on PC’s, it’s stable, and it preserves the core mechanics?

What is this mad, topsy-turvy universe I find myself in?

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Dénouement 2012: Part 3”

 


 

Fallout 3 EP3: Megatons of Fun!

By Shamus Posted Sunday Jan 6, 2013

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 133 comments


Link (YouTube)

This entire Megaton quest is Fallout 3 in a nutshell: An arbitrary moral choice that makes no sense and doesn’t advance anyone’s goals, but which makes for hilarious gameplay and spectacle.

 


 

Dénouement 2012: Part 2

By Shamus Posted Friday Jan 4, 2013

Filed under: Industry Events 257 comments

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My 2012 retrospective continues. Remember that I’m not some giant review site. This isn’t a list of “THE MOST IMPORTANT GAMES OF 2012”. This is just a list of what I played, when I had time, if I thought of it, and if I happened to own a copy.

Sleeping Dogs and Far Cry 3 won’t appear here. That’s not because they weren’t worth a mention, but because I haven’t gotten around to them yet. I’m probably missing a few other games as well.

Super Hexagon

Super Hexagon

Chris bought this game for all his friends, and then proceeded to humiliate all of us with it. He’s so far beyond the crowd in terms of ability that comparisons become difficult.

Super Hexagon is a very simple game. You’ve got a little triangle in the middle of the screen, and you can spin it around to evade incoming geometry. The control scheme is two buttons. If you touch anything at any time, the game ends. No lives. No powerups. No second chances. No strategy. It’s purely a game of reflex and pattern recognition. At the end of the game, your “score” is nothing more than how long you survived. Your first game is likely to be less than five seconds. After some diligent practice, you should be able to top twenty seconds. After that the game begins sorting people into the can and can’t lists.

I am rubbish at this game.

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Dénouement 2012: Part 2”

 


 

Fallout 3 EP2: Home Run Derby

By Shamus Posted Thursday Jan 3, 2013

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 84 comments


Link (YouTube)

In the original airing of this series, the drinking game didn’t appear until episode 17. But the series is more fun with it, so let’s retcon things and introduce the game here in episode 2. Rutskarn originally devised the drinking game, which he promised would be extremely entertaining.*

While watching Spoiler Warning, take a drink whenever…

  • Josh opens his inventory and consumes 3 or more things in the middle of combat.
  • Anyone uses the phrase “in the Original Fallout…”
  • Reginald becomes addicted to anything.
  • A new overpowered weapon or item is acquired.
  • An obvious bug or glitch is encountered.
  • All three of us are talking at the same time.
  • Josh tries ineffectually to kill bad guys with f-bombs.
  • The phrase “200 years” is spoken.
  • “STOP SHOOTING ME!”
  • Reginald dies.

It would be interesting to see a heat map of drinks per episode. My impression is that this number would gradually increase over time, spiking near the end. On the other hand, #5 is a bit of a wildcard. It’s probably low (by the standards of the game) when doing central story missions, and comes more into play when doing side missions or [especially] DLC. On the gripping hand, we had plenty of glitches here in episode 2, which is still part of the tutorial and ought to be the most polished section of the game.

* Specifically, he said, “It will be very entertaining when hundreds of viewers die of alcohol poisoning.”

 


 

Dénouement 2012: Part 1

By Shamus Posted Wednesday Jan 2, 2013

Filed under: Industry Events 153 comments

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I played a lot of games this year, but I didn’t get around to reviewing all of them. Here, at the turn of the year several days after the new year, I’ve decided to do a half-assed roundup to say all the things I should have said months ago.

I don’t know if it’s fair to say that we’ve had more false-choice this year than in years past, but we are having more conversations about what choices we valued, what makes for a meaningful choice, and which games were best or worst at offering them.

Damned if you do, Paragon points if you don’t…

The Walking Dead, Mass Effect 3, Spec Ops: The Line, and Dishonored all incited a lot of discussion about choice. I’m getting the sense that all the bitching we were doing three years ago about wanting more freedom in games has come back around. Developers have made games that turned around and said, “Okay. What do you mean by that?”

The games this year, in no particular order…

Continue reading ⟩⟩ “Dénouement 2012: Part 1”

 


 

Fallout 3 EP1: The Birth of Reginald Cuftbert

By Shamus Posted Tuesday Jan 1, 2013

Filed under: Spoiler Warning 97 comments


Link (YouTube)

It's the 1st episode. Of Spoiler Warning season 2. Playing Fallout 3. And suddenly Spoiler Warning is transformed into the show we know and tolerate today. Okay, this episode began a bit wobbly, but by the end we’d settled into the now-familiar rhythm.

I don’t know if it was Randy leaving the show, Josh taking over as player, our accumulated experience, or the addition of Rutkarn, but this show feels more like our current episodes than the ones directly preceding it.

I’m really glad to see these episodes again. Happy nuke year!