Archive – Page 17 – The Recycle Bin

Memorial Day Racing

I love kicking off summer with the Monaco GP, Indy 500, and 600 laps of NASCAR; all in one Sunday of back-to-back-to-back racing action. I’ll throw a Boston Butt Roast on the grill on Saturday, and grill a boatload of wings on Sunday between F1 and Indy racing action. What could be better?

How about having the Ice Man in NASCAR? If Kimi Raikkonen does in fact enter and qualify for this weekend’s Nationwide race, that will be another event to throw on the TV this weekend, in what has to be considered one of the greatest weekends in motorsports!

Technically I already kicked off summer a couple of weeks ago with a lovely trip to the Gulf Coast (Carillon Beach, FL), but we all know that summer ‘officially’ begins this weekend, with Memorial Day sitting in as the three day kicker.

I would be remiss to not thank our military, their loved ones, and of course those that have sacrificed their lives in the name of this great country.

Wishing you and yours a very safe Memorial Day weekend!

CONCACAF Denied Extra WC Slot

Started to call this one 3 is enough. I am not sure why CONCACAF seriously thought they could be granted an extra guaranteed spot in the 2014 World Cup.

FIFA’s executive committee decided Thursday that all six continental confederations will have the same number of qualifying spots for the 2014 tournament in Brazil as they did for last year’s World Cup in South Africa. But it did change the playoff system for the final berths in the 32-nation field to a draw rather than fixed pairings.

CONCACAF will still have three automatic berths and the chance to win a fourth in a playoff. Europe kept its 13 qualifying spots and Africa its five, although it does lose the host spot it had last year. South America will have four qualifying berths, the chance to win a fifth in a playoff plus Brazil as the host.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said the executive committee turned down CONCACAF’s request for a fourth guaranteed slot among the 31 available.

“It’s impossible to make always everybody happy. If we look at the sporting results of the World Cup in 2010 there was no reason to change anything,” Blatter said.

I am on the “Get Sepp Blatter out … FIFA board is corrupt … etc” bandwagon, but I agree with this decision. I would be willing to bet that even under favorable playoff circumstances, CONCACAF will not manage to land that fourth slot.

Not Alone In The Dark

Has the great question finally been answered? According to a NASA scientist, we are not alone; there is life out there, at least it fossil form via meteorite.

“Given the controversial nature of his discovery, we have invited 100 experts and have issued a general invitation to over 5,000 scientists from the scientific community to review the paper and to offer their critical analysis,” Schild wrote in an editor’s note along with the article. “No other paper in the history of science has undergone such a thorough vetting, and never before in the history of science has the scientific community been given the opportunity to critically analyze an important research paper before it is published, he wrote.”

Dr. Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the SETI Institute, said there is a lot of hesitancy to believe such proclamations. If true, the implications would be far-reaching throughout the fields of science and astronomy, the suggestions and possibilities stunning.

I just watched the Star Trek reboot on Blu-ray, which was simply stunning and amazing. So I guess I was in the mood to read about strange new life and all that jazz, but I digress. I cannot wait to read this paper and the retorts.

Catherine – Sex and Stuff

In the annuals of “hey, I was wrong” comes another classic tale of sex, money, and wired Japanese games. I thought Catherine was going to crash and burn, and after reading some initial feedback about the game – difficulty level off the charts; puzzle game not a RPG – I didn’t think this puppy would ever hit US shores.

I wonder how well Catherine will do in America. It probably comes done to keeping gameplay footage to a minimum (I mean seriously, who wants to move blocks), show as much innuendo as possible, and off course including the glory of animated T&A.

Falcons New Stadium

The Falcons are one step closer to getting a new stadium. According to the AJC, it is possible that the new outdoor stadium could open as soon as 2017.

Both parties emphasized the memorandum does not constitute a done deal, but rather allows them to begin negotiations over details of the project, including financing.

But the Falcons have made it clear that they want a new open-air stadium, rejecting alternatives such as expanding the Georgia Dome, adding a retractable roof to the facility or building a new dome with a retractable roof.

A new stadium could open as soon as 2017, officials said, and would be built on a site just over a half-mile north of the Georgia Dome

It is all fun and games until Personal Seat Licenses come into the picture. Hopefully a new stadium will not put current season ticket holders (i.e. yours truly) on the outside looking in.

I can understand why the Falcons ownership and management wants a new stadium; PSLs, improved sales, better revenue streams, etc. I would rather have a retractable roof than a 100% open air stadium. It is possible from time to time that the weather will suck, but I guess I am a softie compared to the old Fulton County Stadium days.

Final comment, I cannot believe that the stadium Authority group would leave the GA Dome up after building a new stadium. I think they should raze it to the ground, and rebuild on that location, or turn it into a massive parking garage and tailgating location.

Catherine – No US Release

When we last met, I predicted that Atlus would not localize Catherine. PlayStation LifeStyle has a post confirming this prediction. Some games are just too weird to let loose on unsuspecting US gamers.

Prediction: Atlus Will Not Localize Catherine

I just ran across this interesting article at Sankaku Complex [CONTENT WARNING]. The overall summary is a bit disappointing. Apparently Atlus made Catherine so damn difficult that many gamers are struggling to progress the game even on the easiest difficulty setting.

Making matters worse, many of the gamers watching Catherine were expecting an RPG, not a puzzle block pulling experience. I remember seeing so of the puzzle video footage, and assuming that block levels were an exercise in completing some sort of mini-game. Apparently, not so much, which once again proves that point that it is never safe to assume.

I am going to go out on a limb and predict that sales, reviews, and gamer feedback will be disappointing, and Atlus will opt not to localize Catherine for a US release.

Now Playing, Watching, and Reading

I have a smorgasbord of games in my current rotation, which is really unusually because I almost always sick to 2-3 games at the most. In no particular order:

Joe Danger – What a fun little game. It is going to be really hard for me to get 100% (from a Trophy consideration) on this one because some of the Time trials are really tough. This has to be one of the best games I have purchased from the PSN (got it when it was 50% off).

FIFA 11 – I play this one a few times a week when I want to get my soccer/football jones satisfied. I love the Virtual Pro feature.

Marvel Superhero Squad: The Infinity Gauntlet – I picked up this one to play with my 4-year old, as he is really into superheroes right now. One of our favorites is Captain America (for me) and Bucky (for my son), so it was really cool that the version of the game I purchased had a good for this DLC.

Dead Nation – Only when the kids are in bed. To be fair, I have not played it in a while, but would play it more if I could play when I was not such a sleepyhead!

Gran Turismo 5 – Need I say more? It is really the only racer I am playing right now, but at some point I have plans to jump back to a couple of forgotten titles.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene – I got this one a couple of weeks ago for the low, low price of $4.99. What a great pickup. As a fan of shooters, I have to say that this game provides a lot of nice shooter pleasure. The music mode is incredible; nothing like putting in some Cure Disintegration and just sort of zoning out.

LittleBigPlanet – Mostly the Game of the Year Edition right now, but I plan to jump right back into LBP2 Collector’s Edition soon enough. Actually waiting for a patch to make sure all my goodies from LBP1 correctly import. I wrote about my love for all things LBP a couple of weeks ago. Not sure how I made it this long without discovering the pure pleasure of LBP. Collectively, these two titles are easily in my Top 5 favorite PS3 gaming experiences (that is another article!)

PS+ Gets Some Love
I wanted to do a quick link to this article, which pretty much sums up how I feel right now about PS+. Subscribing to the PS+ service has been one of the best uses of $50 gaming bucks that I have made in the last calendar year. I am going to stack my subscripting in the new few weeks to take advantage of the continued opening gambit of 3 free months. If you have not subscribed to PS+, you should really check out the last 90 days of content and discounts, which have been incredible.

Looking Forward To …
ICO and Shadow of the Colossus HD Collection, MLB 11: The Show, the next NASCAR game, Journey, and Catherine (as of right now, Atlus has not announced a US release date).

Now Watching
Spartacus: Blood and Sand. OMG (wanted an excuse to talk like the cool kids) is this one over the top, but from a story standpoint, it is actually really good. I am just starting disk 3, so I am about 8-9 episodes in, and I have to admit that I anticipate see what happens next. Some of the characters are really fascinating; I want to see how their story lines progress and see how certain political motivations will screw over various targets.

I could do without all the meat just flapping around; I have never seen so many dongs just out in front of my face. I guess turnabout is fair play for the fairer sex, but still, I am glad that the developers toned it down a little after the first couple of episodes.

On Blu-ray some of the scenes such as “… have your way with the girl’s ass a bit while I watch …” are nice, if not a little bit excessive. I could never get my wife to watch this with me; not because of the gratuitous sex. The blood and gore is so over the top that at times I find myself turning my head or at least cringing in a “I really didn’t want to see that” sort of way.

Good stuff. Picked up the Season 1 Blu-ray in the low $30s from Amazon; hopefully the rest of the shows are equally as appealing.

Now Reading
Bloom County Volume 3. Sometimes I have to have some light reading before heading off to la-la land.

Yesterday, Reality is Broken by Jane McGonigal (I love Amazon Prime two-day shipping) showed up on my front porch. I decided to order immediately after see Ms. McGonigal on Attack of the Show earlier this week. I am looking forward to a book that actually advocates gaming. What a great tag line – Why games make us better and how they can change the world. Seriously; hope this one is as good as the tag line.

LeBron Tells Fan to F’Off

Not in so many words, but I say good for LeBron. These days it is rare for me to write about the Association, but I had to get in a couple of comments on this one.

While King James has taken a lot of heat over the last few months (see what I just did there – I am such a rocket), some of it justly deserved, I hope LeBron does not receive any sort of backlash for telling a fan to back-off.

I hate the modern day concept of fans getting to do whatever the hell they want just because they paid for a ticket. There is a time and place where fans cross the line, and of course like trying to police pornography or moral values, it’s dangerous when someone else judges the boundaries of said line.

Well, something like that, if you follow my logic. Sure, call LeBron a wanker, but don’t bring his family into it. Seems like a reasonable request to me.

2011 Braves – Poor Defense, Lack of Speed

The ajc’s Mark Bradley posted a really good summary of the current state of the 2011 Braves – 5 reasons to be concerned about your 2011 Atlanta Braves.

1. The defense could be deadly.
2. Nate McLouth is again projected as the center fielder.
3. Craig Kimbrel walks people.
4. There’s still no speed.
5. Magic might not be transferable.

I don’t disagree with any of these concerns, but obviously I think that poor defense and lack of speed will keep the Braves from being a serious Wild Card contender. I think it will be so bad that the great starting pitching will be nullified due to poor defensive play (and of course the ability for the defense to make some “just go and get it” plays behind their pitchers).

It has been a while since the Braves have had any sort of table setter up front; once again the 2011 Braves will be lacking any sort of traditional (or even non-traditional) leadoff talent.

The biggest gamble of all is the dependency on Chipper. I love the guy; one of the all-time great Braves and I certainly wish him no ill will. The front office is going all in, expecting this 38 (almost 39-year old) future first ballet Hall of Famer, to make a decent recovery.

Go Braves! Just don’t expect them to go deep into October.

Here we go again – videogames and violence, with baseless facts.

I guess it is time for me to reintroduce some of my older essays, op-eds, and opinion pieces. The subject of videogames and violence will not go away, and with developers increasingly pushing the envelope, we have Bulletstorm front and center on FoxNews.

“If a younger kid experiences Bulletstorm’s explicit language and violence, the damage could be significant,” Dr. Jerry Weichman, a clinical psychologist at the Hoag Neurosciences Institute in Southern California, told FoxNews.com.

“Violent video games like Bulletstorm have the potential to send the message that violence and insults with sexual innuendos are the way to handle disputes and problems,” Weichman said.
Carol Lieberman, a psychologist and book author, told FoxNews.com that sexual situations and acts in video games — highlighted so well in Bulletstorm — have led to real-world sexual violence.

“The increase in rapes can be attributed in large part to the playing out of [sexual] scenes in video games,” she said.

Really? Please cite some references. While some may argue that parents cannot monitor their kids 24-7, which is an entirely different post, I don’t see how “younger” kids would be able to purchase Bulletstorm, much less play the game without an assist from a parent (or adult).

I love how these “experts” come out in droves whenever a new game packed full of controversy is released, but they never cite references. For what it is worth, FoxNews did try to get some comments from the developers; however my problem with this article is that FoxNews should not blindly accept these “opinions” as facts without doing a little research first.

For all I know, I could be messed up in the head because as an impressionable youth, I got my hands on a strip poker game for the C-64. Mmmmm … that game was delicious. Ever since, I have gone through life wondering why every beautiful girl does not walk around in lingerie.

Dawgs Continue To Draw Trouble

Sheesh; WTF is wrong with this batch of Bulldogs. Once again, Washaun Ealey seemingly is in trouble, having been suspended indefinitely.

At some point, Coach Richt and UGA is going to have to figure out that they cannot continue to recruit kids that have such a poor sense of judgment, responsibility, and commitment.

Oh well, bring on the batch of new kids and see what sort of trouble they can stir up.

PSN 11 for 2011 Sale – Update

A mentioned in my comments yesterday about the 11 for 2011 Sale, I did pick up Tumble, but was on the fence with several other potential purchases. Final decisions?

Costume Quest looks like a lot of fun, but everything I have read said that it is only about 6 hours of fun. It is tempting to go after some cheap and easy Trophies, but I think I will pass for now. I bet the game is on sale again (maybe even cheaper) this October.

I also decided to hold off on Hoard for now. While the price seems to be a good deal, after doing a little research I am not sure that the game has an active online community base (probably just a dedicated few gamers). This is a classic chicken and egg situation; even if the game on sale, if no one picks it up due to a dead online community, the online community will never grow. For now I am going to take my chances that the price will drop again or Sony will offer it up as part of a Plus free game (or heavily discounted), which would in turn build up the online community (at least for a little while).

I almost held off on Space Invaders Infinity Gene; almost. The under $5 price point was too good to pass up. I missed out on the predecessor to this Space Invaders next generation reboot, so I am kind of going into this one blind, but from all the positive feedback Infinity Gene has received, I have a feeling that this one was a good buy. Besides, one can never have too many shooters!

Two solid games for under $10; color me pleased!

PSN 11 for 2011 Sale

Sony is offering a number of 50% off games on PSN this week. This is old news since it was published last Monday, but as we are heading into the last few hours of the sale, I thought I would get in a few closing comments.

Comet Crash – Sale (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Costume Quest – Sale (PS3)(now $7.49, original price $14.99)
Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue – Sale (PS3) (now $7.49, original price $14.99)
Hoard – Sale (PS3) (now $7.49, original price $14.99)
Motorstorm 3D Rfit – Sale (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Peggle – Sale (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Shatter – Sale (PS3) (now $3.99, original price $7.99)
Soldner-X-2: The Final Prototype – Sale (PS3) (now $6.49, original price $12.99)
Space Invaders Infinity Gene – Sale (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Swords and Soldiers – Sale (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Tumble – Sale (PS3) (now $4.99, original price $9.99)

Because Sony does not do a good job of offering up a quarterly upcoming PlayStation Plus publishing schedule, it is impossible to know if any of these 11 for 2011 games are going to show up as discounted or free items for Plus subscribers in the immediate future. I already have Shatter as part of my Plus subscription, and I picked up Soldner-X-2 as part of a Plus bundle discount. What about the others? Only time will tell …

Tumble
Overall this is a good sale, from a variety offered and discounted dollars standpoint. The only confirmed pickup for me is Tumble; I played the demo a while back and while I liked the game, I figured I would wait until the inevitable sale. I think Tumble at 50% off makes for a great pickup; it is interesting to see the wide range of metacritic scores.

No go …
While I may have had some interests in Deathspank: Thongs of Virtue in the future, for now I’ll pass until this one is further discounted. I am on the fence with Costume Quest, which looks like a really fun game, but once again, the price is not that appealing. “A little bit lower please …”

Right now my gaming Jones is not moving me in the direction of RTS or tower defense type games, which rules out Swords and Solders and Comet Crash respectively. Probably my loss since the price is right on each at under $5, and they both received positive feedback.

Conundrum
As mentioned earlier, I am on the fence with Costume Quest, but only because I may wait until it is under $5. The only other games on this list that I am uncertain about are Hoard, which looks like a fun concept, and the Space Invaders, but I do not really need another shooter.

Final Results
Before the weekend is out, I may end up with four games (Tumble, Costume Quest, Hoard, and Space Invaders) for $25, which is not bad for about $6 a pop. Most likely I will just end up with Tumble, but I always like a good sale, and the Trophy whore in me could use a few new diversions.

Remote Play – Great Idea, Poor Execution

PlayStation LifeStyle has a PixelJunk Shooter 2 interview with Q-Games founder, Dylan Cuthbert. Nice little interview, which is surprisingly lacking in PixelJunk Shooter 2.

First, this Remote Play quote below caught my attention.

Equally, has remote play proven popular, and what difficulties does the feature bring?

We have decided to drop remote play in Shooter 2 because of difficulties combining that with the online versus play. I’m not sure really that people use this feature much anymore but in the past it has been relatively popular.

It’s too bad that Sony never found a way to make Remote Play more acceptable with their publishing partners. Sony is equally culpable for Remote Play being discarded like a can of beans. As this post’s title suggests, Remote Play is a wonderful idea, but Sony fucked up in the delivery of the goods. Sony could have, and should have, made some of their IP such as Qore support Remote Play.

The second item in this article that caught my eye was the reference to the next PixelJunk game, Lifelike.

Was there ever any consideration for using PlayStation Move?

Not for Shooter 2 no, because it would have distanced the game-play too far away from the original game. However, PixelJunk Lifelike, a game we are developing, will be utilizing the Move!

I took a look at the video, which really did nothing to help me understand WTF the developer wanted to do with this teaser trailer. I suck at rhythm and music type games; hope that is not where this is headed. Regardless, the PixelJunk line has some interesting games, so I cannot wait to see what Q-Games come up with next.

Funny. I read the article for Pixel Junk Shooter 2 info, and referenced two other items.

Good gaming! Happy Sunday!