Gaming for those who care to think.
PC
Baseball Mogul 2009 goes free…for a while
Feb 25th
Baseball Mogul is a great sim series, and while the 2009 version may not have gotten our highest marks, it remains one of the best sports sim titles you can play. Now the developer is offering free for today only, as they get ready for release of the 2010 version. Not a bad deal? I guess they could pay you to take it, but that’s just being greedy. So go get it—now!
Top ten games of 2008
Jan 9th
10) Spore
No, it did not live up to its billing. Yes, it is still an incredibly fun game. But more than being a sim game, Spore echoes many titles on this year’s top ten list by being a creation engine. Half the fun of the title can be had from creating different creatures, homes, ships, etc. through an incredibly intuitive interface. Not what you wanted from the game? Perhaps not for you, but it hardly keeps it from being a good game, or in this case one of the best of the year.
Review: Baseball Mogul 2009
May 7th
Let’s just clear the air right from the start–Baseball Mogul 2009 is not for the arcade crowd. It’s a stats-loving geek’s dream come true, but it will likely not appeal to most fans of baseball video games. That being said, those that do fall within its target demographic will find a very enjoyable game with a few unfortunate stumbles.
As noted, the Baseball Mogul series is for those who subscribe to Baseball Weekly, or are just really into fantasy baseball leagues. It’s essentially the franchise mode of any console baseball game without the excitement of occasionally stepping up to the plate. Instead, the excitement comes from a well done trade or watching a draft pick make their way from the single A ball all the way to a starting spot in the majors.
Video of the day: Return to Dark Castle trailer
Mar 24th
You may not remember Dark Castle, but it already spawned one classic sequel. Think of it as a medieval Prince of Persia, but in black and white and for the Mac. The update is nothing graphically to crow about, but then again it isn’t trying to be. It’s classic 2D gaming celebrating its 2Dness. As this pseudo-retro-revival continues, it’s interesting to see just how much life is left in the classic gaming setup. Return to Dark Castle likely won’t win any awards or set sales records, just like those games of yore. And just like them, it remembers that isn’t always the reason for making a great game.
Ever wanted a real flight simulator in your bedroom?
Mar 24th
Sure, playing Ace Combat or Microsoft Flight Simulator is fun, but does either fully capture the reality of flying a plane? Hardly. Well, that is unless you add a $17,250 hardware setup along with Microsoft’s software.
That’s exactly what HotSeat is offering with their Flight Sim Chasis. The setup includes three 22-inch LCD monitors and a beast of a computer. It’s powered by a quad core processor, 4GB of RAM and an NVIDIA 512MB graphics card. All of this to run Microsoft Flight Simulator X with the Acceleration Expansion Pack (preinstalled, naturally). More >
Microsoft Excel the next powerhouse graphics engine?
Mar 19th
This video is both remarkable and pointless. Did you know you can render 3D graphics in Microsoft Excel? Did you care? Probably not for both, but upon seeing you’ll have a hard time arguing it isn’t a little cool to make such a bland work tool actually do something fun. Now, where are the modders with the Star Fox ports to Excel?
Bionic Commando Rearmed video, price and user created content
Mar 14th
Bionic Commando is shaping up to be a very impressive remake. Now, finally, Capcom is starting to drop some details on it. The verdict? This is no quick cash grab of a remake.
First off, Bionic Commando will be priced at $10 across the PSN, Xbox Live and PC. Not a bad price at all for a completely rebuilt game. Consider that much lesser ports and casual titles have sold for $10 on Xbox Live Arcade. Capcom credits the fans for picking this price point, though one can imagine most fans suggested $5 or free. More >
Gender bending quite common in MMOs
Mar 4th
Not that there is anything wrong with it, but over half of men and nearly three quarters of women play MMOs as the opposite sex. That’s right, that cute elf warlock you’ve had your eye on the past few weeks might actually be a dude. It’s not quite The Crying Game, but more like the ending of the first Ace Ventura: Pet Detective.
The findings come from a study at Nottingham Trent University. T hey found that 54% of men liked to play as women, while 70% of women liked to play as men. Chief researcher Zaheer Hussain explains, “It seems that women gender swap for a variety of reasons, such as to avoid unsolicited male approaches on their female characters, or because they felt male characters were treated better by other males during the course of the game.” You mean, female gamers are tired of being treated poorly by male gamers? Sadly, that probably does come as a shock to many.
As for the bigger news of cyber-cross-dressing, how in the world will Halo players deal with such news? Anyone who has played that game has dealt with the rampant homophobia and racism spouted over Xbox Live. Perhaps they are simply women pretending to be ignorant 13-year-old boys? Probably not. More >
Image of the day: the wooden computer
Mar 3rd
Do you ever yearn for the simpler times? When computers weren’t made of fancy plastics and metals, but carved straight from the bark of a tree? If you do, perhaps you exist in some alternate timeline from reality. Or, you just really, really want a computer that blends in with your all mahogany study. Whichever way, you’ll love this modded computer in a polished wood case. Except, where most modders would say enough is enough, they go the extra mile and add a nice wood case for the monitor, keyboard and mouse pad. Click on the image for a full sized version.
Warcraft and The Sims dominate PC game sales
Feb 29th
NPD released the January sales chart for PC games and it was completely dominated by two franchises. Can you guess which two, without referring back to the title of this article? In case you couldn’t, the two franchises are Warcraft and The Sims.
What’s really weird is the number of older titles in each series that have shown staying power. The Warcraft III Battlechest and Sim City 4 Deluxe both charted in the top 20. While Sim City Societies or the newest The Sims 2 expansion packs would seem sure bets, these classics are showing some true longevity. Perhaps it’s a side-effect of their sequels bringing in new fans who want to explore the games’ past? More >
