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”

May 2015

You are browsing the archive for May 2015.

Could Graphical Simplicity Be the Key to VR Success?

May 27, 2015

That's a strange question to ask, I know, but it's one that's got some real weight behind it. The idea hit me after reading an article about Bill Gardner's upcoming "Perception", a title that shows us what kind of power a game can have even the graphics aren't the best.

"Perception" follows Cassie Thornton, a young lady who's lost her sight, and thus has to survive in a wholly inhospitable world as a result. Cassie's been described as "fiercely independent," so you can tell her reaction to things pretty well. But Cassie's got another problem: she's been seeing things.

New Jewelry Sparks Fallout 4 Speculation

May 26, 2015

I believe that, if I were pressed, I would have to declare the Bethesda Fallout / Elder Scrolls games to be my favorite games in existence. I love the broad adventure, the exciting storylines, the open-world nature, the sheer feeling of adventure all packaged in a first person shooter that doesn't nauseate me to play. I'm not alone in this assessment, though others may have other reasons. This much was already pretty clear, but if it weren't, a new development in the series might well be all anyone could need: speculation about the fourth game fired up anew by a piece of merchandise recently appearing in the Bethesda Store.

Fallout 4's existence had been all but confirmed in recent days with the revelation of a trailer in the works, but now some are wondering about the content of such a title with the appearance of a new pendant for sale, a sterling silver Brotherhood of Steel insignia, the gears-and-sword prominent above a laurel.

This alone would mean little, except for the timing; why bother to bring out a piece of new merchandise for a title that no one's seen anything new about in years if there weren't some kind of planned release?



Is Konami's New Gaming Push a Sign of Revived Arcades?

May 21, 2015

A strange set of events came together recently, and left me with one disquieting concept in mind. Is the arcade, long thought killed by the rise of online and home console gaming, making a return? Even two years ago it would have been unthinkable, but it may well be the case now.

The first point that prompted curiosity was that Konami had recently dropped its Silent Hills plans, and announced a new set of plans, the addition of skill-based gaming rounds to some of its slot machine lineup. A change in law in Nevada allowed for skill-based gambling to be brought into the state, where previously, only games of "pure chance" were allowed.

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.

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