Steve Anderson : End Game
Steve Anderson
The Video Store Guy
| The video game industry has gone from a mole hill to a mountain in no time flat, Chris DiMarco is your Sherpa as you endeavor to scale Mount “Everquest”

Longview IoT Boosts Energy and Wireless Efficiency

Some of the biggest challenges slowing down the adoption of IoT are security, efficient battery usage and optimized wireless communications.One company has...

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Hallmark's Simple, Inexpensive Way to Boost Customer Satisfaction

In an effort to boost margins, companies often push more users to automated solutions such as FAQs, chatbots, voice bots and anything...

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Huawei Places the World's First 5G VoNR Video Call

Huawei recently completed the world's first voice over NR (VoNR) call. The voice and video call service was made using two Huawei...

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IGEL Advances Future of Work

IGEL is a provider of a next-gen edge OS for cloud workspaces. The company’s software products include IGEL OS, IGEL UD Pocket (UDP) and Universal...

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Tata Communications and Cisco Collaborate on SD-WAN

Tata Communications and Cisco have extended their partnership to enable enterprises to transform their legacy network to a customized and secure multi-cloud...

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How to Win the 50-Year-Old China Trade War

Today and this week in-fact is historic - the left and right in the U.S. agree that we have a major trade...

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Extreme Elements Enables The Autonomous Enterprise

Extreme Networks just announced Extreme Elements which in-turn enables the autonomous network and subsequently the autonomous enterprise. In a dynamic webinar, Dan...

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Capcom Planning to Go to the Remake Well

May 19, 2015

There's little doubt--and there probably shouldn't have been much doubt to begin with-- that titles like Resident Evil HD were likely to do well in the field. The current word says that it actually did do well--very well, even--in terms of sales. But a new report out suggests that Capcom is planning to make HD remakes a bigger part of the operation than ever before, and bring out more franchise titles in HD splendor.

Capcom, during a recent Q&A session, offered up the blandly world-shattering tidbit that "HD remasters of our catalog hit titles will be one of our key business activities." Interestingly, the report went on to note that selling these titles overseas at stores was actually becoming more difficult, thanks to the declining numbers of stores on hand, as well as hits to sales area sizes. Thus Capcom turned to digital download sales, and it's been working, according to reports.

Oculus Rift's Specs Released: Don't Panic

May 18, 2015

Perhaps one of the biggest questions about the Oculus Rift now has an answer, and for a lot of people, the answer will not be a happy one. Ever since word of the device came out, there have doubtless been those who look askance at the current computer occupying a desktop and wondering, will my computer be able to handle the Oculus Rift? Now, we know...and the news isn't all that great.

The "full Rift experience", according to Oculus, will require a pretty hefty muscle machine by today's standards. Those interested will need a rig packing an NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 or equivalent, as well as an Intel i5-4590 processor, eight gigabytes of RAM, an HDMI 1.3 video output port, two USB 3.0 ports, and Windows 7 SP 1 or better.

With that announcement came plenty of heartbreak, as that sounded like a muscle machine out of reach for a great many pocketbooks.



Fallout 4 Fever Never Really Stopped

May 13, 2015

"Fallout 4". Just mentioning these words to a lot of gamers will make eyes flash with new life, and bring to mind a whole lot of exciting ideas. Some of us out there--and I count myself among them--have been awaiting this game since the final minutes of "Lonesome Road". When I watched Ulysses walk away, and went on to Hoover Dam to wrap up the game for good, all I could wonder was "when is the next one coming?" Sure, I loved "Skyrim"--most everyone did--but the wasteland was calling.

Looking for News on Nintendo's Next Console? Not Until 2016

May 12, 2015

This was news that turned out to be both surprising and not surprising within instants of each other arising. The word emerged earlier today from no less than Nintendo president Satoru Iwata that when Nintendo hit E3 this June, there would be some things it simply wasn't going to be talking about. One of these things was its move to smartphone gaming. Another was its quality of life concept.

Oculus Rift's Movie Theater Experiments

May 11, 2015

It was a safe bet that the Oculus Rift wasn't going to just be used for gaming. Even when Facebook bought it up and Mark Zuckerberg started dithering on about the "possibilities", he really wasn't saying anything that anyone who looked at this device hadn't already thought. But some new word suggests that Oculus Rift may have a plan in mind that some already expected...even if they didn't expect it quite like this.

The word is that Oculus is working on generating a virtual reality version of a movie theater, designed to be a social and multi-player experience. The idea is actually pretty impressive in retrospect; Oculus is attempting to take the "theater experience," as it's known--often cited as perhaps the only reason left to go to a movie theater in the first place aside from sheer impatience--and condense it into a virtual reality experience.

Think E-Sports Are Dead? Fifth DOTA 2 Prize Pool Says Otherwise

May 7, 2015

We haven't heard a lot out of e-sports lately, and that's kind of surprising. But a new report suggests that maybe e-sports was building up its news for an impressive release, as word about the fifth annual DOTA 2 prize pool has emerged. And the word of the day is "huge."

The newest reports suggest that the pool began with an impressive-enough $1.6 million purse, but with the TI5 Compendium sales thrown in, the amount quickly swelled to $5.5 million.

For those who don't remember from last year's analysis of the Compendium and its impact on the DOTA 2 purse, the Compendium is a kind of virtual program that offers challenges for DOTA 2 players, predictions in the style of fantasy sports leagues, and even some rewards in the game, though mostly of the cosmetic style.



Five Nights At Freddy's Four, Coming Halloween?

May 5, 2015

Vindication is a lovely thing, and considering that I saw a new installment of Five Nights at Freddy's coming back in mid-April, it's feeling like an especially lovely thing this week. And looking back on it, seeing the official announcement of "Five Nights at Freddy's: The Final Chapter" makes a particular sense for the same reasons it did back in April.

The teaser image promises that this game will be out on Halloween--10-31-15, more specifically--and features one of the automatons, most figure it's Freddy himself, tipping his hat to the viewer. But Freddy...doesn't quite look right. Looking partially skinned, with metal parts exposed, there also appear to be several toothy jaws growing out of Freddy's chest.

Augmented Reality to Make Horror Gaming More Personal

May 4, 2015

Sure, a lot of us play horror games, but horror games come with a built-in way to defuse the situation. Just look away from the screen and suddenly, perspective comes crashing in like a bolt out of the blue. But what would happen if that shot of perspective were no longer available, and whatever direction you looked in featured unimaginable horrors racing at you? That's the basic idea behind the Night Terrors project.

Currently seeking funding on IndieGoGo--and almost a third of the way funded after being up less than a week--Night Terrors offers an interesting proposition; take your own house, your own furniture, and make these things set pieces in a movie which you can view via an augmented reality headset or even just on a smartphone screen.

That Was Quick: Paid Mods on Steam Now Dead

April 28, 2015

The idea of paid mods on Steam was one that left a lot of division in its wake. While most everyone liked the thought of modders being able to take some payment for their hard work, the scheme as envisioned just didn't work out so well. Indeed, it worked out so poorly that Valve announced that paid mods on Steam were now a thing of the past, and those who already bought in will get refunds.

Valve pled a kind of ignorance in explaining why the move was shut down after just a few days, saying that "...it's clear we didn't understand exactly what we were doing." Indeed, Valve noted that it had offered several features in recent years designed to let creators get a piece of the action, but as Valve elaborated "It's obvious now that this case is different."

Valve's stated motives here appeared to be for the best, as Valve noted that it wanted more mods available in the community, and wanted such a thing to "...happen organically for any mod maker who wanted to take a shot at it." Bethesda, meanwhile, said something similar, suggesting the move was launched with "...the best intentions...", it was clear that the community wasn't happy with the move.

Indeed, the move was problematic on several fronts. Some were outright displeased with the idea of having to pay for something that was free, which is a pretty standard reaction from a certain part of the population.





Mods for Sale: Good News or Bad?

April 27, 2015

A recent move by Steam has launched a firestorm of discussion on both sides of the aisle, and gotten some to wonder, what value is there in derivative works? For Steam, the value is fairly substantial, and is set to allow mod makers to offer up their modifications for pay.  But this may well spark a firestorm of ramifications, some of which some may not have seen coming.

Right now, the idea is limited to Skyrim, as Valve and Bethesda have gotten together to authorize the concept. Essentially, the idea is to allow those who make modifications to Skyrim--which can vary from new skins for characters to new weapons to whole new levels and storylines--to offer up the fruits of their labor for cash.

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