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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State of Decay: By Design and Implication

June 17, 2013

With E3 now quite thoroughly in the can, and a host of different topics come and gone in its wake, the post-major event letdown, for some, has started to settle in. But as for me, I can get back to a topic that I've been meaning to tackle for some time, but couldn't thanks to the array of much bigger topics to tackle.

Today, I'm going neck-deep into "State of Decay," the recently-released indie title that's been making quite a splash thanks to its unusual gameplay and its admittedly rather exciting storyline. In "State of Decay," you play a guy who's been out in the woods for the last couple of weeks with an old fishing buddy, out for the standard "get away from it all" sort of trip that many have been known to indulge in. But this particular trip involves getting away from a lot more than you might think, as you've also gotten away from the zombie apocalypse.

E3 2013: So This Was E3

June 13, 2013

With this being the last day of E3, and even on the West Coast in its declining hours, it's always a good time to take a look back and see what we learned from the big event. With new games, new hardware, and new attitudes coming into play, E3 2013 meant a lot of things to a lot of people, so here's a look at what I took away from the big show.

1. Nintendo may have a chance to catch up. While many no longer regard Big N's efforts as being part of the "console wars," Nintendo is still in the market.

E3 2013: Oculus Rift and PlayStation 4--A Future Together?

June 12, 2013

Speculation abounds in the midst of hordes of trailers and exhibitions going on out at E3, but one of the biggest speculations comes out of a combination of two key factors in gaming. Putting these two developments together may well lead to something very exciting, if it leads anywhere at all.

Basically, word came out of Sony Computer Entertainment's own Shuhei Yoshida, saying that not only has he tried out the second part of this story, but he also loves it. That thing in question is no less than the Oculus Rift, and Sony reportedly has a couple of the development kits on hand.

These two separate factors, when added together, makes the equivalent of water and cesium as far as video games go.



E3 2013: PlayStation 4 Gets Its Day In The Sun

June 11, 2013

I'll preface tonight's remarks by saying that I've been a Microsoft gamer for a long time. Microsoft introduced me to one of my favorite games of all time, "Morrowind: The Elder Scrolls 3." But now that Sony has brought out more information on the PlayStation 4, I can't help but think maybe the time has come to give Sony another shot.

I was a PlayStation 2 gamer, recently. Before that, a PlayStation gamer. I left Nintendo after the GameCube emerged, mostly because the GameCube had precious little in the way of games, as far as I was concerned, and PlayStation had a lot more to offer.

E3 2013: Xbox One Exclusives Get Announced

June 10, 2013

One of the biggest days of a big show has pretty much drawn to a close, and with several new Xbox One exclusives announced at the E3 2013 event, it looks like a good time to check out the slate and see what kind of lineup Microsoft will have on its side.

First, we have a note of vindication in the works, as one of the predictions made here came to pass. One of the big Microsoft exclusives for Xbox One is none other than "Dead Rising 3." The zombie game will be released this holiday season, so right about the same time the system itself emerges, and will offer up a very exciting new feature for Dead Rising players: no load times. Though the tone of the game looks much darker than its predecessor, the graphics are showing a lot more detail than normal and the whole thing looks very sharp overall.

But that wasn't all that Microsoft had to show off, oh no.



Microsoft Talks Used Games--Fees, Maybe

June 6, 2013

Something of good news emerged as Microsoft spilled the details on one of the biggest points of discussion surrounding the Xbox One: the issue of used games. While the news wasn't all good by any stretch, it is better news than some would have hoped for, though the used game and game rental industries may not have another generation to live after all.

Microsoft put out an update to its website that runs down the concept of game licensing. Microsoft denied that it would require any kind of fees to trade or resell games...but then followed up that good news with some bad. First, individual publishers would be allowed to charge fees if so inclined, though Microsoft would get none of that money.

Hardware: Shipbreakers Steps Up The E-Sports Market

June 5, 2013

Admittedly, right now, the PC strategy market might seem a bit on the thickly-stocked side. But there's always room for Jello, so to speak, especially when that Jello can present an interesting new idea or an old one done well. "Hardware: Shipbreakers" looks like it's ready to do one of the two, though everything that could be known about this title, as yet, is not.

While news about "Hardware: Shipbreakers" has been coming out for some time, word from GamesBeat suggests that this could be much more than another strategy game. Indeed, this new title from Blackbird Interactive has some big shoes to fill, as the company is reportedly looking to run it right alongside the likes of such major names as "StarCraft 2" and "League of Legends."

It's not that Blackbird is eager to compete with these luminaries in the field, but rather that these names have shown that the strategy gaming field can and does work, so bringing in another name to the field can offer a similar opportunity, and that there's room for more on this particular front.

"Hardware: Shipbreakers" is offering up an interesting premise to boot, as various groups are on a planet working salvage operations for what appears to be some kind of ship graveyard that's on a desert planet.





So Just How Much Will Gaming's Next Generation Cost, Anyway?

June 4, 2013

With E3 rapidly closing in on us, and a lot of answers in the making for the next generation of console gaming, there are certainly plenty of questions left to ask that will hopefully get those answers at the big event. But the biggest question left to answer is just how much those wonderful new systems will cost, and recent reports from Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter may just have the answers we all needed to hear.

Pachter, who often puts out prognostications on the subject of video games, recently released a note targeting the upcoming E3--Electronics Entertainment Expo--event, providing some predictions in advance of the big show. Pachter, backed up by analyst Nick McKay, has a handle on the pricing for the two new systems poised to hit the market. The PlayStation 4 will be the bargain system this time around, priced at $350, while the Xbox One will be the higher-priced model at $400.

The difference in pricing, Pachter and McKay suggest, is largely due to costs of components.



The Defiance TV Show / Game Link Gets New Life

June 3, 2013

Not so long ago, I tackled the world of Defiance right here, and generally, found myself happy to do so. This unusual, console-based MMO was surprisingly entertaining, and the connection to the TV series certainly didn't hurt. But now, there's a whole new level of life to the Defiance game and television connection that should prove surprisingly fun, not to mention provide some smart new ideas for other game producers.

Basically, what's happening here is that, as sometimes happens in MMORPGs, the game is introducing a new plot about a plague gone wildly out of control. Described as "hemorrhagic" in nature, it looks like something like the standard zombie plague gone plenty wrong, with loads more in the way of boils and the like.

Microsoft Poised To Put Big Investment Into Games For Xbox One

May 30, 2013

Perhaps one of the biggest concerns that has been noted around the Xbox One of late is the distressing lack of games. Indeed, the early launch topics didn't seem to have a whole lot to do with games at all, a development that had many on edge. But new reports suggest that those who thought that a note of patience was in order may be about to be vindicated.

The newest reports suggest that Microsoft is looking to lay fully $1 billion into game development, using that nine-figure wad to not only put some studios into play but also to obtain exclusives. The first year of retail alone is set to be marked by fully 15 exclusive titles, as well as eight properties that have never before been seen.

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