Talk Games Online

No more Gaming pic of the Week

2012-10-30T10:32:00.000-07:00

We skipped last Tuesday's Gaming pic of the Week, because of the lack of a quality picture to post. Today it's Tuesday again and I still couldn't find any. Therefore, I decided to stop the Gaming pic of the Week "section".

I'll still continue to post fun gaming pictures on an irregular basis (whenever I find some good ones), but I won't do it every Tuesday like I did before now.

Stay tuned though, as I'll soon make a quick review of the ones posted to this day, so that we can end this properly. I wish I could've continued to post them regularly, but this is something that doesn't depend on me.

In the meanwhile, have a great week and don't forget to follow iTalkGames on Twitter, as I'm planning on launching a contest once I reach 1000 followers.

Blog traffic observations

2012-10-26T14:45:00.000-07:00

I know I've posted more non-gaming blog updates lately, but I did say when I started Talk Games Online that this blog is by itself an experiment. So don't panic.

The experiment is showing more and more results to me and I managed to gather valuable data for what's to come (I can't say more about it at this time).

Speaking of which, the blog finally has enough traffic for trends to be somewhat viewable now. So I noticed an interesting fact: the weekly traffic peak is on Thursdays. And it's so obvious that it saddened me each Friday during the last few weeks when I saw the traffic dropping a bit on Fridays.

But then I set myself the right mind frame and realized that the traffic wasn't dropping on Fridays, but was simply increasing slowly until Thursdays, peaking that day, then going back to normal.

It's quite interesting to notice that traffic is lower in the weekends (after the aforementioned peak), but I guess people need more distractions during the week, maybe to get some fun or simply some reading after a hard day's work (at their job or school).

Also, sorry for not posting the Gaming pic of the Week this Tuesday. I didn't find anything worth posting, so I preferred not to, rather than posting something bad.

That being said, stay tuned for more stuff cool. Have a fantastic weekend!

Gaming pic of the Week #15 - Rockstar Logic

2012-10-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

Hello guys! As I promised last week and this Tuesday, it's time for the second Gaming pic this week, to make up for the skipped one and get back on track.

This Friday we have a little comic about Rockstar Games' logic in their products. I'd say more, but I'd rather let the comic talk by itself.

Check out the URL above for the source. Cheers!

Wisps: The Redeeming - an awesome indie game!

2012-10-18T14:11:00.000-07:00

Hey there guys, check this freaking awesome indie game out. It's called Wisps: The Redeeming and it's a top-down arcade game. You're supposedly a wisp god who controls a firefly to guide your demi-god son through a complex labyrinth of trees in the dark woods of some fantasy land.

And in these forests live many wisps, who are but lost souls. And your son gathers them all... or as many as you can direct him to before the time runs out, and then rushes to the portal which opens thanks to the wisps' redeemed souls.

Well, that's kinda what the story is. Wisps: The Redeeming is played with nothing but your mouse. It's a simple, yet cleverly designed game, which can keep you engaged for hours in your attempt to reach a high score. And if your friends have a really high score, you can't help it but try to beat them.

But don't take my word for it. Check out the gameplay trailer below, then head out to the game's homepage and play the free demo. I guarantee that you'll love it. Either way, you've got nothing to lose but some time. And if you like it, support the developer and buy the full game.

In the meanwhile, though, here's the trailer:

For more awesome game suggestions such as this one, don't forget to follow me on Twitter - I only tweet about the cooler posts here, so don't worry - I won't spam.

New gaming YouTube channel - Villain Zone

2012-10-17T08:25:00.000-07:00

Villain Zone is a brand new gaming channel on YouTube, which promises to bring original content to the table - one of a kind exclusive reviews for indie games (and not only), awesome gameplay videos and cool walkthroughs with commentaries.

Of course, the channel is new and currently doesn't have much content (or visitors and so on), but that's exactly why I'm writing about it here. You get the chance to be one of the first fans. There's one other thing that's worth noting, the channel commentaries are not in English, but the videos do come with CC (closed captions/subtitles).

So go ahead and check it out - and if you like it, subscribe. Happy gaming, everyone!

Gaming pic of the Week #14 - Video Game Platforms as Teachers

2012-10-16T00:09:00.000-07:00

After our short "vacation", we're back with the Gaming pic of the Week we should have posted last Tuesday. To try and make it up to you, we're posting it as early as we can - in fact, earlier in the day than we ever posted a picture, or an article altogether.

This Tuesday we're taking a look at what teacher each videogame platform would look like most. Today's post is brought to you via 9GAG. Enjoy!

Well I really hope you liked this post, which is a bit longer than the usual Gaming pics of the Week. As I promised, this week we'll have two of these, so we'll see you very soon!

We're back!

2012-10-14T09:12:00.000-07:00

In the past week there hasn't been much (visible) activity around here. Even the Gaming pic of the Week that you got used to seeing every Tuesday has been missing.

As I said in a previous post, I have been busy making some changes in the back-end of the blog, changes that now start to reflect in website traffic analytics.

But now we're finally back and things will be more awesome than ever. Don't worry, we'll make the time you spent waiting worth it and we won't just leave the last week be skipped. Instead, we'll post two Gaming pics of the Week the following days, one Tuesday as usually and one some couple of days later or so.

Thank you guys for understanding. Cheers!

Blog update - no poll for October & more news

2012-10-05T11:39:00.000-07:00

I made some changes under the hood of the blog in the past few days and more are to come. I also submitted the blog to various Web directories. I really hope that these changes will be reflected in the visitors rate for the following weeks.

I also believe that the poll might cause some problems between the blog and Google's crawler (the thing that jumps from link to link to search the websites), so at least for October there will be no poll.

I am going to spend some time during the following days to make more similar updates and, hopefully soon, I will unleash a big surprise upon you guys.

Thanks for your understanding!

XCOM Lead Game Designer goes Undercover

2012-10-04T07:01:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, in game development there's two main branches: developers and publishers. The publishers are those who promote and sell the games (to stores and gamers as well), while the developers are those who create the game.

Now the developers can be in turn game designers, programmers, artists and so on. Each person is good at their own task and will probably not be that good at doing another one's job. Makes sense, right?

Well, here's what happens when you ask a lead game designer to promote their own game in a store. You'd think they know the game best, so they'd know how to present the selling points best... but do they?

Below you have XCOM Lead Game Designer, Jake Solomon:

What do you think? Is he a good marketer, or should he stick to just designing the games? Leave your response in the comments section below or on Twitter.

Twitter update - we now have 500 followers!

2012-10-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

Great news everyone, we just reached 500 followers on Twitter.

I first announced our Twitter account on this blog on September 1st, so it's only been a little over a month since that time and we already have half a thousand followers. It's been a very rapid progress, things have been going better and faster than I expected.

If things keep evolving this fast, I think it's safe to say that by the beginning of November we would have exceeded the thousand Twitter followers milestone.

If you're not following us, do it now 'cause we'll all #TeamFollowBack. Ka-chow! :D

Resident Evil 6 - IGN Review [and Game Trailer]

2012-10-03T05:17:00.001-07:00

IGN editor Richard George posted a nice review of Resident Evil 6 that I though I should share with you. Check out the video review here, or read more information about the content of the review below.

The author's opinions on Resident Evil 6 are mixed. "The series has changed radically since its first installment", he says during the first few seconds of the video, "moving from sparse, core-focused game to something much bigger, much grander and much more action-packed."

But then he goes on to explain how size doesn't always matter: "Capcom really hopes that something bigger will result in something better. But unfortunately, that doesn't quite prove to be the case." While the game has some of the best scenes in the series' history, it also has some very monotonous parts, which shouldn't have been kept, Richard thinks.

And just to prove that sometimes it's good to be traditional, the puzzles in this latest installment "are a great callback to old-school Resident Evil."

Other opinions about the games are that "this is the most ambitious by far and its overall success is admirable."

Don't forget to watch the full video review (link above) if the quotes above raised your interest. Here's the bonus of this article - Resident Evil 6's official game trailer.

Gaming pic of the Week #13 - Gay Mario

2012-10-02T07:57:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the 13th edition of Gaming pic of the Week, a number that's very lucky for us. Why? Cause I say so and cause I don't believe in bad luck. :D

This Tuesday we have another cool comic with quite an interesting turn of events. Our friendly plumber Mario is even friendlier than we though. Check it out below.


- Sorry Mario, but the princess is in another castle. - No my little friend. You're the one I have been looking for.

Quite a funny comic, isn't it? I gotta say, Mario and this little mushroom do make quite a nice pair. All we have to do now is to find Luigi a girlfriend... or boyfriend?

End of September poll

2012-09-30T13:39:00.000-07:00

Another month went by and with it one more poll closed. It's time to take a look at it and see what the people decided.

September's poll title/question was "Favorite game mode?" and gave you the option to choose from four different answers, as you can see below. Let's skip the intros and see what people answered.

Single-player - 25%;
Multi-player - 50%;
Co-op - 25%;
Local Co-op - 0%.

As you can see, most people seem to prefer multi-player games, followed closely by co-ops (so still multi-player) and single-player ones. Nobody seemed to like local co-ops. I guess the time of joyfully sharing the keyboard with a friend is over.

Well, that's it for this poll. Come back soon for October's one.

Gaming pic of the Week - Review #1

2012-09-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

We've had 12 posts in the Gaming pic of the Week category so far and the 13th is approaching rapidly. So, just like we did last Tuesday with the quotes, we should review what we had so far.

I'll omit the last two and keep them for the next review, so I'll only show 10 here:

Gaming pic of the Week #01 - Play outside;
Gaming pic of the Week #02 - Call of Booty: MILF;
Gaming pic of the Week #03 - Bad Respawn;
Gaming pic of the Week #04 - House of the Undead;
Gaming pic of the Week #05 - Retro game ties;
Gaming pic of the Week #06 - Killer Gamer;
Gaming pic of the Week #07 - Battlefield 2142 Prank;
Gaming pic of the Week #08 - Gamers' mentality;
Gaming pic of the Week #09 - Game break;
Gaming pic of the Week #10 - Ninja Girls.

I've had a great time sharing awesome pics with you these past twelve weeks. Until the next review, in less than two months, we'll just have to enjoy more pictures, quotes (no, I haven't forgotten I promised to post more) and other gaming-related articles.

Cheers!

Gamer's Anthem - Fight to Win

2012-09-28T04:46:00.000-07:00

I've known this song since it came out (more than a year ago), but I never thought of posting it here until now. Fight to Win is a song by Your Favorite Martian, a band having Internet celebrity Ray William Johnson as the lead vocalist.

Fight to Win features another Internet music celebrity (rapper) DeStorm. Check out his channels if you like rap, as he's an awesome guy.

This music video gathered more than 15 million views since it's been posted and who knows how many downloads it had on iTunes (and the subsequent MP3 plays).

Check it out below:

I don't know about you, but in my opinion, this should be the anthem of gamers worldwide.

If you enjoyed this music video, don't forget to share it with your friends. Cheers!

Gaming quote of the Week - Review!

2012-09-25T07:42:00.000-07:00

I started Gaming quote of the Week in mid-July and although I stopped posting regularly in this category, I did not end it completely. Even so, let's take a look at what we had so far:

Seven cool quotes for you guys to read (or re-read if you've been with us since the beginning). I hope you enjoyed reading this section as much as I did writing it.

If you want me to keep you up to date as to when I post more quotes or other awesome articles, make sure you follow me on Twitter. Cheers!

Gaming pic of the Week #12 - Monopoly

2012-09-25T07:32:00.000-07:00

Today we have a more different image for the Gaming pic of the Week. Even though it's related to games, it's not related to what we're used to call gaming. It's about the board game Monopoly. Enjoy!

Monopoly - Destroying friendships since 1904!

I hoped you enjoyed it. Stick around for a review of the first 10 "episodes" of Gaming pic of the Week, as well as one for all the Gaming quote of the Week posts we had here so far.

Gaming pic of the Week #11 - Gamer Shame

2012-09-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

It's time for another awesome gaming pic and this time we'll keep things short. So enjoy!

This week we have a gamer wearing the shame card, or whatever you want to call it. It says "I have been playing my videogames way too much lately and ignoring my amazing girlfriend!!!!!". Poor gamer dude. We feel for you, bro!

Check out the image for source info.

Looking for content writers

2012-09-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

Talk Games Online has grown over the past few months and it now requires a more constant stream of articles in order to expand to the next level.

I am therefore looking for anyone who is interested in helping this blog and the community that surrounds it to grow. If you like to write (and are a decent English speaker) and enjoy playing video games of all sorts, then the community needs you.

Besides people who are willing to constantly write, I would also welcome any guest posts from you guys. If you have a blog, you'll get a nice link as a reward for the post. :)

Check this article out to see an example of a guest post.

If you're interested in writing for Talk Games Online, please contact me on Twitter, or leave a comment below (Twitter recommended).

Gaming quote of the Week ends now!

2012-09-13T08:19:00.000-07:00

We've been together for 7 editions of the Gaming quote of the Week sections. Today it is time to retire it. I know I got you all used that every Thursday a new quote will be posted here, but things have to change sometimes.

The good news is that I'll still post quotes here, just that they won't be on a fixed date, every week. Instead, having this new freedom, I'll be able to post even two a week if I find it to be necessary. Sometimes, such as this week, though, a quote will not be posted.

So if you want to see more epic quotes such as the ones we already had, make sure you visit this blog regularly.

Stay tuned, as I'll soon post a commemorative article resuming all the previously posted gaming quotes. Besides that, more awesome stuff are to come in the following days (including a pretty cool Gaming pic of the Week this Tuesday).

Gaming pic of the Week #10 - Girl Ninjas

2012-09-11T05:59:00.000-07:00

Finally the 10th "edition" of the Gaming pic of the Week has arrived. These past two and a half months since we started this have been really great. We enjoyed together many epic pictures and I'm sure we will in the time that follows.

But let's enjoy this week's image, which is a really nice meme. It's theme is girls vs. gamers. As you surely know (unless you lived in a cave your whole life), in this world there are straight people and there are gay people.

But there is a third category here: true gamers. They are not gay (some may be), but they're so focused on gaming that no girl matters to them. And that, my dear friends, is what this meme is all about. Check it out below!

Girl Ninjas - Silently making you sandwiches.

Well, I hope it put a big smile on your face. It sure had that effect on me. Come back next Tuesday for more epic Gaming pics of the Week.

Gaming quote of the Week #7

2012-09-06T11:31:00.000-07:00

This week we have a very popular game quote, coming from a 1988 video game. 16-bit shoot'em up game Zero Wing is remembered to this day for it's poor grammar, due to being translated to English by a person who, well, sucked at it.

The following quote from Zero Wing went viral on the Internet in the 2000s:

All your base are belong to us.

To keep the context, here is the entire dialogue containing this quote:

Captain: What happen ?
Mechanic: Somebody set up us the bomb.
Operator: We get signal.
Captain: What !
Operator: Main screen turn on.
Captain: It’s you !!
CATS: How are you gentlemen !!
CATS: All your base are belong to us.
CATS: You are on the way to destruction.
Captain: What you say !!
CATS: You have no chance to survive make your time.
CATS: Ha ha ha ha …
Operator: Captain !!
Captain: Take off every ‘ZIG’!!
Captain: You know what you doing.
Captain: Move ‘ZIG’.
Captain: For great justice.

As you can see this game was abundant in spelling errors, making many more lines worth remembering. It is sad though that few of the people who know the quote actually know where it came from.

Well, that's it for today. Come back next week for another dose of game quotations.

Epic Assassin's Creed Parkour Cosplay

2012-09-05T09:04:00.000-07:00

I've got an epic video for all cosplay lovers out there. And if you love Assassin's Creed at least 10% of how much I do, you'll have an amazing time watching it.

The video, featuring a man practicing parkour (also known as free running) dressed as the main character from one of the Assassin's Creed video games, is directed by Devin Super Tramp, the same person who directed most (if not all) of Lindsey Stirling's music videos that we featured a few months ago.

Anyway, here's the video. Enjoy it!

I hope you loved watching the video too. I sure did.

Don't forget to follow my Twitter account, where I'll let you know when I post more awesome stuff like this on the blog.

Gaming pic of the Week #9 - Game Break

2012-09-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

It's Tuesday again and after being late last week, I now wanted to post this Gaming pic of the Week just in time. Today it's all about gaming's superiority over animals.

As much as we enjoy our pets, their cuteness stands no chance against a good video game, does it? Nope, no it doesn't. So here we go:

5 hrs, 1 belly scratch... DAMN YOU WARCRAFT!!!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this Tuesday's Gaming pic of the Week. Make sure you come back next time. Meanwhile, give us a follow on Twitter or a Like on Facebook if you haven't done so already.

Cheers!

New poll for September 2012

2012-09-01T08:50:00.000-07:00

It's September, school starts, so it's time for a new poll. This time, about game (player) modes. So go ahead and check out the top of the blog's sidebar, right below where it says "Favorite game mode?".

You've got four options to choose from: single-player, multi-player, co-op and local co-op.

So share your favorite game mode with us and at the end of the month we'll see what this blog's readers prefer to play. I'm a fan of co-op games, but you are the majority, not me.

Cheers!