Remember the gaming industry back in 1983? Well, I don't. I can't. I was born in 1997. But I've been playing some classic games lately and reading a lot, and I'm bringing back the memories of two important events that paved the way for the gaming landscape of today.
The first was the North American video game crash, set in motion by the failures of Pac-Man and ET on the Atari 2600. The market had been flooded with low-quality shovelware, and gamers started to abandon the hobby completely. The chances of a profitable, healthy industry seemed slim. But at the same time, halfway around the world, a little Japanese company named Nintendo geared up for the release of their first console, the Famicom, which sent the video game market booming and saved our hobby from going extinct.
I have to give a personal thanks to Nintendo for being a brilliant team, and saving the video game industry back in the day. You know, a lot of people hate on the Wii because it is family-oriented and most of us are seclusive hermits who cringe at the thought of social interaction. But we don't recognise, they've always kind of been family-oriented with their systems...? Maybe we gave them crap for the Wii because we were excited for a motion sensor platform (even though we knew about the PS Move years before). But I don't think they deserve it. We owe Nintendo a huge thanks and a huge "hell yeah, Nintendo kicks ass."
Thank you, Nintendo. You saved us in the 80's, kind of like how the fictional characters you created save worlds every day. Maybe you aren't so fictional. Or maybe I'm just really corny. Thank you.
Sunday 30 June 2013
Wednesday 19 June 2013
Xbox One does a 360.
With some breaking news off Microsoft's website, the Xbox One is looking a lot less new and a lot more like the 360 with some major changes to it's performance.
The Xbox One we were all familiar with had a DRM, a built-in kinect, a region block, and it had to be online at least once every 24 hours, and you couldn't rent or sell any games. Now, Microsoft's headlines say, "we've listened to your feedback," and have changed the system almost completely. The "new" Xbox One does not have a DRM at all, it will not always have a built-in kinect, it won't have a region block, you won't have to be online every 24 hours, and you can rent, buy, trade, and sell any games you want. These are some pretty impressive improvements that may attract more attention to the Xbox One. GOOD FOR THEM, they might have just saved their asses. Still, a lot of fans have to think twice about choosing between a One or PS4.
I'm glad Xbox made these changes to their system, but I still don't really care about TV, and the only reason I'd move onto One is to play Halo 5 since it's going to be exclusive by its release year 2015. Meanwhile I feel like bringing out the PS2 so I can get back into Kingdom Hearts and God of War. And maybe even my DS to play some Animal Crossing. :3
If you guys have any thoughts or comments on this, feel free to let it out down below. I'm curious to see if this shifted anybody's minds from the PS4 back to Xbox.
The Xbox One we were all familiar with had a DRM, a built-in kinect, a region block, and it had to be online at least once every 24 hours, and you couldn't rent or sell any games. Now, Microsoft's headlines say, "we've listened to your feedback," and have changed the system almost completely. The "new" Xbox One does not have a DRM at all, it will not always have a built-in kinect, it won't have a region block, you won't have to be online every 24 hours, and you can rent, buy, trade, and sell any games you want. These are some pretty impressive improvements that may attract more attention to the Xbox One. GOOD FOR THEM, they might have just saved their asses. Still, a lot of fans have to think twice about choosing between a One or PS4.
I'm glad Xbox made these changes to their system, but I still don't really care about TV, and the only reason I'd move onto One is to play Halo 5 since it's going to be exclusive by its release year 2015. Meanwhile I feel like bringing out the PS2 so I can get back into Kingdom Hearts and God of War. And maybe even my DS to play some Animal Crossing. :3
If you guys have any thoughts or comments on this, feel free to let it out down below. I'm curious to see if this shifted anybody's minds from the PS4 back to Xbox.
Saturday 15 June 2013
The best of E3 2013.
Hey guys, sorry I haven't posted in a while, especially with E3 going on. I've just been in the process of packing, moving and unpacking all week. However, I have been watching E3 live from my new home and I have been reading interviews so I do have a lot to cover in this blog. Side note, my new home is awesome! I live in a nice two-story duplex that's about five minutes away from the beach so I have a nice view as well. And I also now live in the same city that Melonie Mac lives in so maybe I'll run into her one day....? Totally not stalking her, no.
There were a few announcements from E3 that I'd really like to cover. First off, during E3's Nintendo Analyst Briefing, Nintendo revealed their plans on expanding StreetPass Network in hopes of achieving more popularity outside of Japan. They also want to release more software that's StreetPass compatible. They say, "This will involve taking a Nintendo 3DS system in sleep mode to an access point which will them connect automatically and send StreetPass data to a server. At the same time, the Nintendo 3DS system also receives the StreetPass data of another user from the server. In this setting, data is not exchanged directly, but rather through a StreetPass relay station. Previously, it required multiple 3DS systems in Sleep Mode to be in the same location at the same time, but in this framework, you can exchange data with others by visiting the same location even at a different time, so we can certainly expect the use rate of the StreetPass feature to grow significantly." This update is supposed to be available sometime later this year.
Bethesda Softworks also released some new info on The Elder Scrolls Online, which is making the MMORPG sound more like World Of Warcraft now. They announced that once you're done with one Alliance, you can start again with the other two, but with all your content set at lvl50. They explained, "You can level all the way from 1 to 50 with your character; that's 140 to 150 hours of content. Once you get to lvl50, maybe you don't want to participate in the PvP endgame or you're not interested in group dungeons, but you really want to play more of the game. You can take the character and go back through the remaining alliances, but all of the content is scaled to lvl50; so you can start playing through another chunk of content, but everything is harder. Once you've played through all of that, you can do it again through the last alliance, but everything is even harder. We call it 50+ and 50++." I honestly can't wait to get playing this. It sounds like a lot of fun, as a lover of fantasy games and MMO's, as well as a fan of both Skyrim and WoW!
Another huge announcement that I'm hugely excited for came from the Final Fantasy panel; if you haven't heard about it yet or you've only heard it in your dreams, it's true, Kingdom Hearts III is real and it's coming. As if that wasn't groundbreaking enough, it will also be historical because not only will it be released to PS4 as expected, but the franchise will also be making its debut with Microsoft when it's also made available for the Xbox - yeah, you read all that right! Kingdom Hearts, III, and Xbox! However, the game is still so early in the process of being developed, that even the game's trailer is immature and unofficial. It is seriously too early to plan even a release year. But, the promise alone of this game is huge, and will be worth any wait.
On top of everything I've already noted so far, I'm also excited to spread the word about the new Battlefield 4. It looks awesome! There will be tons of added features of course, like the new ability to direct squad mates. You can also shut up about the "omg, the xbox one has 500gb!!! that's enough for two battlefield maps!!1!11!" jokes because they're just annoying, and Battlefield is pretty cool and you know it. Like the previous Battlefields, it's expected to have a challenging online gaming experience as well as an engaging and interesting campaign. There is no set drop date for this yet either.
And last, but sure as hell not least, its safe to start getting excited for Halo 5. We haven't heard much about the game's plot, but from the trailer that played at Microsoft's Media Briefing E3 event, it looks engaging, and a lot more heavy/dark than the previous games in the series, which is cool. 343 Industries claims it will be "better than last time," referring to their beliefs that they had learned a lot from the experience of making Halo 4. (as if they had anything to apologise for?) They also tell us to expect Halo 5 to be a "next-generation title." If you haven't seen the trailer yet, watch it. Not only because the graphics are breathtaking but you can start to get pre-conceived ideas on what the game will be about. We were last left with the death of Cortana, Master Cheif's A.I., and in the trailer we see her data-core matrix chip, now on a dog chain. What does that imply? It's drop date falls in next year.
Oh- and before I forget, another cool E3 announcement from Microsoft was for Xbox Live Gold members. If you're an Xbox Live Gold member (the 12 month plan), Microsoft is giving away free games for download up until the release of the Xbox One. One free game every month until November. And not just stupid indie games. I mean, they even mentioned Assassins Creed 2 and Halo 3, just up for free download from the Xbox Marketplace. If you've never gotten Xbox Gold before, or just thought "nah, 60$ just ain't worth it," well now, it's pretty worth it.
I plan on getting back into my routine of frequently updating as I hear more on release dates and new games and such, so keep checking back. I can hardly wait to get ahold of some of these games! Till then, I'm going to be checking out more information, doing some gaming of course and then blogging. So stay following!
Also, if you want a new way to make fun of the Xbox One, go watch the IF XBOX ONE WAS A GIRL video on YouTube, it's pretty funny.
There were a few announcements from E3 that I'd really like to cover. First off, during E3's Nintendo Analyst Briefing, Nintendo revealed their plans on expanding StreetPass Network in hopes of achieving more popularity outside of Japan. They also want to release more software that's StreetPass compatible. They say, "This will involve taking a Nintendo 3DS system in sleep mode to an access point which will them connect automatically and send StreetPass data to a server. At the same time, the Nintendo 3DS system also receives the StreetPass data of another user from the server. In this setting, data is not exchanged directly, but rather through a StreetPass relay station. Previously, it required multiple 3DS systems in Sleep Mode to be in the same location at the same time, but in this framework, you can exchange data with others by visiting the same location even at a different time, so we can certainly expect the use rate of the StreetPass feature to grow significantly." This update is supposed to be available sometime later this year.
Bethesda Softworks also released some new info on The Elder Scrolls Online, which is making the MMORPG sound more like World Of Warcraft now. They announced that once you're done with one Alliance, you can start again with the other two, but with all your content set at lvl50. They explained, "You can level all the way from 1 to 50 with your character; that's 140 to 150 hours of content. Once you get to lvl50, maybe you don't want to participate in the PvP endgame or you're not interested in group dungeons, but you really want to play more of the game. You can take the character and go back through the remaining alliances, but all of the content is scaled to lvl50; so you can start playing through another chunk of content, but everything is harder. Once you've played through all of that, you can do it again through the last alliance, but everything is even harder. We call it 50+ and 50++." I honestly can't wait to get playing this. It sounds like a lot of fun, as a lover of fantasy games and MMO's, as well as a fan of both Skyrim and WoW!
Another huge announcement that I'm hugely excited for came from the Final Fantasy panel; if you haven't heard about it yet or you've only heard it in your dreams, it's true, Kingdom Hearts III is real and it's coming. As if that wasn't groundbreaking enough, it will also be historical because not only will it be released to PS4 as expected, but the franchise will also be making its debut with Microsoft when it's also made available for the Xbox - yeah, you read all that right! Kingdom Hearts, III, and Xbox! However, the game is still so early in the process of being developed, that even the game's trailer is immature and unofficial. It is seriously too early to plan even a release year. But, the promise alone of this game is huge, and will be worth any wait.
On top of everything I've already noted so far, I'm also excited to spread the word about the new Battlefield 4. It looks awesome! There will be tons of added features of course, like the new ability to direct squad mates. You can also shut up about the "omg, the xbox one has 500gb!!! that's enough for two battlefield maps!!1!11!" jokes because they're just annoying, and Battlefield is pretty cool and you know it. Like the previous Battlefields, it's expected to have a challenging online gaming experience as well as an engaging and interesting campaign. There is no set drop date for this yet either.
And last, but sure as hell not least, its safe to start getting excited for Halo 5. We haven't heard much about the game's plot, but from the trailer that played at Microsoft's Media Briefing E3 event, it looks engaging, and a lot more heavy/dark than the previous games in the series, which is cool. 343 Industries claims it will be "better than last time," referring to their beliefs that they had learned a lot from the experience of making Halo 4. (as if they had anything to apologise for?) They also tell us to expect Halo 5 to be a "next-generation title." If you haven't seen the trailer yet, watch it. Not only because the graphics are breathtaking but you can start to get pre-conceived ideas on what the game will be about. We were last left with the death of Cortana, Master Cheif's A.I., and in the trailer we see her data-core matrix chip, now on a dog chain. What does that imply? It's drop date falls in next year.
Oh- and before I forget, another cool E3 announcement from Microsoft was for Xbox Live Gold members. If you're an Xbox Live Gold member (the 12 month plan), Microsoft is giving away free games for download up until the release of the Xbox One. One free game every month until November. And not just stupid indie games. I mean, they even mentioned Assassins Creed 2 and Halo 3, just up for free download from the Xbox Marketplace. If you've never gotten Xbox Gold before, or just thought "nah, 60$ just ain't worth it," well now, it's pretty worth it.
I plan on getting back into my routine of frequently updating as I hear more on release dates and new games and such, so keep checking back. I can hardly wait to get ahold of some of these games! Till then, I'm going to be checking out more information, doing some gaming of course and then blogging. So stay following!
Also, if you want a new way to make fun of the Xbox One, go watch the IF XBOX ONE WAS A GIRL video on YouTube, it's pretty funny.
Wednesday 5 June 2013
New Assassin's Creed books.
Just
the other day, Ubisoft had announced their new books for Assassins
Creed IV: Black Flag. The first one will be a novel based on the game;
it will be published by Ace Books and release November 26th in the US and on November 7th by
Penguin Books in the UK. The second book will be an official art book
called The Art of Assassins Creed, and will be released by Titan Books on October 28th. The
first 500 copies will come with a special slipcase including two
exclusive Assassins Creed IV concept art prints signed by the artists.
That's dope! Ubisoft claims that "highlights in the game, and in the art
book, include one of the largest never-before-experienced nautical
gameplay ever offered, with an amazing range of locations and action."
The actual game will drop on October 29th for the 360, PS3 and Wii U, with Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions to follow.
The actual game will drop on October 29th for the 360, PS3 and Wii U, with Xbox One, PS4 and PC versions to follow.
Saturday 1 June 2013
FREE online Harvard computer science course.
So! I don't know how many are you actually care about my personal life, but it would be appropriate to let all of you know that I have an interest for computer programming and science. I'm currently taking computer ROP design classes and math analysis at my school, and would like to get familiar with programs like C++ and JavaScript, as well as I'm studying trigonometry and playing around with Autodesk Maya knock-offs in my spare time. I'm making myself take the advanced courses I need to make me eligible to attend a university so that I can get my major in this field!
Well, one day on the internet I came across this open learning initiative on Harvard's website, full of informational videos on what you should know about computers if you're wanting to major in this study. It's free, and online, and taught by David Malan, a very smart (and tbh attractive, lets not forget i am a girl here) Harvard graduate who not only majored in computer science and graduated from a top university, but received his bachelors, masters, and doctorate in this field. He teaches Harvard’s introductory computer science course and holds an appointment as lecturer on computer science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The free online computer science course is an introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science. The topics they cover include algorithms and their design, implementation, and analysis; software development (abstraction, encapsulation, data structures, debugging, and testing); architecture of computers (low-level data representation and instruction processing); computer systems (programming languages, compilers, operating systems, and databases); and computers in the real world (networks, websites, security, forensics, and cryptography). "The course teaches students how to think more carefully and how to solve problems more effectively." The videos also example what Harvard's CS50 class is like, which includes hands-on training with C, PHP, as well as JavaScript. (eeep!) You can watch them off of any platform as well. The videos are offered in Quicktime, Flash, and MP3 (audio only) formats.
I've only watched the first part of the introductory lesson but I'm so excited to keep learning about it that I already had to make a blog. The video taught me about bits, binary systems, programming, algorithms, scratch, statements, Boolean expressions, conditions, loops, and variables. I also learned a whole new incredibly easy method of taking role with a group of people, using the same algorithms that are applied in technology!
These online classes are informative, interesting, understandable, clear, taught by a computer tech doctorate Harvard grad, and FREE. If you have any thoughts about majoring in computer science, CHECK OUT THIS PROGRAM!!! It's so awesome and I'm glad I was fortunate enough to discover it.
The link is right here! Click! It might be a life-changing decision! Free Online Computer Science Course
Well, one day on the internet I came across this open learning initiative on Harvard's website, full of informational videos on what you should know about computers if you're wanting to major in this study. It's free, and online, and taught by David Malan, a very smart (and tbh attractive, lets not forget i am a girl here) Harvard graduate who not only majored in computer science and graduated from a top university, but received his bachelors, masters, and doctorate in this field. He teaches Harvard’s introductory computer science course and holds an appointment as lecturer on computer science in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.
The free online computer science course is an introduction to the intellectual enterprises of computer science. The topics they cover include algorithms and their design, implementation, and analysis; software development (abstraction, encapsulation, data structures, debugging, and testing); architecture of computers (low-level data representation and instruction processing); computer systems (programming languages, compilers, operating systems, and databases); and computers in the real world (networks, websites, security, forensics, and cryptography). "The course teaches students how to think more carefully and how to solve problems more effectively." The videos also example what Harvard's CS50 class is like, which includes hands-on training with C, PHP, as well as JavaScript. (eeep!) You can watch them off of any platform as well. The videos are offered in Quicktime, Flash, and MP3 (audio only) formats.
I've only watched the first part of the introductory lesson but I'm so excited to keep learning about it that I already had to make a blog. The video taught me about bits, binary systems, programming, algorithms, scratch, statements, Boolean expressions, conditions, loops, and variables. I also learned a whole new incredibly easy method of taking role with a group of people, using the same algorithms that are applied in technology!
These online classes are informative, interesting, understandable, clear, taught by a computer tech doctorate Harvard grad, and FREE. If you have any thoughts about majoring in computer science, CHECK OUT THIS PROGRAM!!! It's so awesome and I'm glad I was fortunate enough to discover it.
The link is right here! Click! It might be a life-changing decision! Free Online Computer Science Course
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