Mid Aged Gamer

Nvidia Shield is Real, Fallout 4, Xbox News, ExerGaming!

2013-05-18T00:55:00.004-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for 5-17-2013

This week:

The Shield is real, Fallout 4? More Xbox leaks the dumbest meme ever and more!

So, have you been "High Intensity Exer-gaming"?" The talking heads on your local news seem to think so. I guess this is what happens when your ego won't allow you to admit that nobody really cares about your opinion. Wii On Grandma!

Dumbest Meme Ever!

Admit it, even if you're a PC gamer you're at least curious about the next generation Microsoft console to do battle with the much hyped but yet to be seen PS4. With hardware closer to a PC than ever before what happens in the next 6 months will have repercussions on even the most rabid keyboard thrasher.

The latest news is that the next Xbox will have TV functionality built in. Hmmm, shades of the old WebTV box Microsoft was pushing around the time people were complaining about the loss of "program manager" in Windows 95. Come to think of it, it sounds kind of like a rerun of 1995...

Anyway along with the TV bits the user interface (UI) is apparently getting an upgrade on both the 360 and the new Xbox to have smaller tiles just like the upcoming Windows 8.1 (Blue) update coming later this year for Windows 8. Oh yeah, and the points system is being replaced with gift cards and "currency". I wonder if they'll use bitcoins...

We'll all know more next Tuesday (May 21st)

More Xbox Leaks

Remember that funny little game controller with an android phone glued to it. You know, the one that kept showing up in hotel rooms during CES like a some Vegas escort. At the time it was interesting but seemed like more of an engineering exercise than a product. Well, it's a product. Albeit one in search of a market.

The price of entry is kind of steep too. $350 on pre-order (starting May 20th). It's going to launch in June around the same time as Ouya, which will now and forever be known as "that other Android Gaming thing."

Just watch, somebody will say it. You can look forward to a 5 inch 720P touch screen, Tegra 4 CPU and a 72 Core Graphics processor. It'll also support the streaming to PC feature that figured so prominently in the CES demos. The game library is essentially what you already own so long as you have at least a 650 or better GTX GPU or 660M or better mobile GPU to hand off the rendering duties. It runs android 4.2 and has access to Google Play, TegraZone and of course PC games.

Great! but why?

The Shield drops

Rumor mill, rumor mill, rumor mill!

There may actually be a Fallout 4! Bethesda has re-released the trailer for Fallout 3 on YouTube and disabled comments. Speculation amongst the Fallout forum faithful is that Bethesda is trying to drum up hype for yet another Fallout sequel. On the other hand it could be the work of a disgruntled employee on his way out. It's not to far-fetched since it seems Bethesda might as well change their name to "Sequels R us."

Fallout3=Fallout 4?

News about Wolfenstein, EA and Star Wars, OUYA and more!

2013-05-10T01:38:00.000-07:00

The Midaged Gamer Report for 5-10-2013

This week:

A new Wolfenstein, Star Wars by EA? AMD's erupting, OUYA and Ghosts!

If you know who B.J.Blazkowicz is then you're going to want to know about this next bit of news. Wolfenstein is coming back and this time it's coming from Bethesda. It's called Wolfenstein:The New Order and is described as an action-adventure shooter. That's generally accepted as code for an FPS with lots of cut scenes.

The developer, MachineGames, is comprised largely of former Starbreeze studios alumni responsible for such games as The chronicles of Riddick, Syndicate and Payday the Heist. The game is set in 1960 against a backdrop of a world where the Nazis won the second world war. As the hero, it's your responsibility to do something about it. Unfortunately, you're going to be doing it all by yourself as MachineGames has confirmed that the game will not contain multiplayer play modes. Kind of a letdown after Enemy Territory.

Look for Wolfenstein to be released around Christmas and will be available for PC, XBox 360 and PS3. The trailer looks great but so do most Bethesda trailers. The other concern is that the studio, MachineGames, other work hasn't been exactly triple-A and there's no word on the game engine being used. Watch for further developments as it gets closer to launch.

Wofenstein:The New Order

No Multiplayer

Trailer

You're a psycho...

Or at least you could be if you play Borderlands 2 and pick up the latest DLC next week (May 14). The sixth and apparently final character class is based on the psycho NPC and goes by the name of Krieg. Just think of the fun you could have as a crazed madman charging at enemies like a crazed hyena. That's exactly what the way you'll want to play him as well since his character perks are based on his outgoing personality.

The DLC will be available May 14th for 9.99 or 800 Microsoft points. You may want to see if Steam has a deal on it as well.

BL2 Krieg

EA's got the rights to develop Star Wars games after making a deal with Disney shortly after they shut down Lucasarts video game publishing operations. EA developers Dice and Visceral will do the heavy lifting which hopefully means using the Frostbite 3.0 engine.

The danger is EA showing out great looking games with a lousy story like Battlefield 3. Good Star Wars games always have a good storyline. That's something EA doesn't have a great track record with. See Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 3 and Medal of Honor Warfighter for examples.

EA Star Wars

AMD's got plans for you Nvidia. They plan to come out swinging with an entirely new GPU family called Volcanic Islands whose members will be named after islands in the Pacific ocean. Rumored to be due out late this year which likely means Q1 2014 if history holds. It appears that the new family shares nothing with the previous Southern Islands architecture. Instead there will be separate parallel and serial processing units much like AMD's APU designs. Why the wait if the roadblocks are in place and we already know Nvidia's plans for the 700 series?

Where the Nvidia 700 series is essentially a rebranding of the existing 600 series with some tweaks, AMD's designs are completely new. It's also speculated that AMD is waiting for their 20nm process to be ready at the TSMC foundry where the chips will be made. AMD's current GPUs run hotter primarily because of the 28nm process. It's hoped that new architecture and a 20nm process can correct that. That and a driver that actually works with crossfire would be nice too. They'd better get it right if they want to avoid Volcanic Islands becoming the GPU's with the most appropriate namesake.

AMD's Volcanic Islands

In what is likely to be taken as the first indication that Intel hates PC enthusiasts as much as Sony hates second hand Playstation games... It appears (albeit unconfirmed by the company) that the top end of the next generation of Intel Core processors (Haswell) will only be available in the soldered on BGA package.

The new processors come in the form of the 4770R, 4670R and 4570R or just the "R" processors, all of them BGA only. BGA packages are primarily designed for small form factor PC's and laptops such as ultrabooks found primarily in OEM designs. Truth be told the "R" in the designation means updated onboard graphics capability supposedly 3 times better than current HD4000 designs.

Enthusiasts usually don't care about integrated graphics and there will still be LGA socketed designs including a 4770K but the top end but it's not the very top anymore. It also means that the DIY enthusiast is going to have less to choose from when they're building a system. Those who care about integrated graphics and replaceable CPU's won't get the updated graphics core (HD52xx). Instead they'll be stuck with the HD4600.

The price of processor on board designs could also drive up the price of performance oriented ultrabooks and OEM pc's which leaves little room for a discrete graphics option. That means fewer choices for everyone no matter if they're a DIY type or not.

BGA on top

If you're excited about the new Ouya console I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that the company has received an additional 15 million in funding from companies like Nvidia and venture capital firms. The bad news is that the June 4th launch has been pushed back to June 25th reportedly to more adequately meet customer demand.

The company is also gaining a new board member in the person of Bing Gordon, former EA Chief creative officer (1998-2008.) Gordon also served in other roles with EA since its 1982 founding. If you like SimCity (before the current one)Need for Speed or Madden football you can thank this guy. Long story short, he knows the gaming business and doesn't get involved with losers. That probably explains why he got out of EA when he did.

According to the USA Today, it's pretty rare for a crowd funded startup to catch the attention of venture capital firms not to mention a major player in the graphics market. It's not that surprising, however, considering the company already had 8.6 million in funding exclusively from potential customers. It's a pretty safe bet in my view. I mean, how many startups can claim a customer base before their product even launches?

OUYA updates

Are you afraid of ghosts?

Well if they take the form of another Call of Duty game then you can count on it showing up around the same time the new XBOX and PS4 launch. It's called Call of Duty: Ghosts and is set in the future but using current weaponry. Activision has turned once again to Infinity Ward for development duties after they handled the previous Modern Warfare titles. Hmm, sounds kind of like that other game that's coming out around the same time. Battle Lawn 4 or something like that.

In any case there'll be a demonstration of it at the XBOX reveal on May 21st. The game is supposed to officially launch on November 5th and will be available for PC and current and upcoming Microsoft and Sony consoles. Price is in the $60 range on pre-order, of course.

COD GHOSTS

COD GHOST official site and trailer

Monthly Gaming News Wrap up - April 2013

2013-05-03T02:56:00.002-07:00

The Midaged Gamer Monthly Wrap for 5-3-2012

Welcome the first Monthly Midaged Gamer Wrapup!

We're going to take a look back at the most interesting news from the month that's gone by and maybe even see if anything's changed since our first look.

Ouya, the android based game console, started shipping to kickstarter backers in late March and a few less than patient reviewers were already complaining about an unfinished interface and limited supply of game titles. Of course the official launch of the console isn't till June 4th so you can write off the complaints as growing pains. Hey, it's the price you pay for being an early adopter.

OUYA

The biggest news out of EA so far this year(aside from the SimCity launch failure) seems to be the massive layoffs as the company..reorganizes. In a year that's seen the CEO quit and revenues decline it seems the only answer for EA is to cut staff. I guess overcharging for mediocre games and sticking the new mantra of "micro-transactions" into almost every product they sell doesn't have anything to do with it. If they keep this up EA could become the THQ of 2013.

EA layoffs

As of this writing we've got 18 days (May 21st.) till the big XBOX event, the same old rumors are still swirling around and the only thing that's really changed is news from the enemy camp. On August 28th, gaming retailed Gamestop will exhibit the new PS4 at its Las Vegas event. If you go, you'll be able to actually try out the console. Of course nothing's free and tickets are $45 (USD).

That's a bit later than the XBOX reveal at E3 but at least you won't have to wait till November to try it out.

What we know so far about the next XBOX is this:

· It willl launch in early November
· it won't be backward compatible with the Xbox 360
· There will continue to be an Xbox 360
· It will cost $500 ($300 with a 2 year XBOX Gold subsc. @ $10/mo.)
· The new Xbox will contain an Blu-Ray drive
· It will be based on X86 architecture (PC) likely from AMD
· The operating system will be running...Windows 8 core.

In a related story a "Creative Director" at Microsoft sent the Internet into a rage when he tweeted responses to gamers' outrage at the requirement for an always-on connection. Adam Orth "Didn't see the drama" but he sure saw the door when he suddenly departed the XBOX development team about the same time Microsoft issued an apology for his comments.

Orth is OUT!

The AMD 7990 Dual GPU video card finally launched in April. Unfortunately due to driver issues it wasn't really worth the wait. A new graphics performance rating system finally put cold hard facts to the deficiencies that many have long suspected with crossfire. Then came news of a fix in the form of a prototype driver given to PCPer but the public wouldn't get to see it till June or July. That leaves consumers with a gamble. Is it worth $1000 for a 7990 if you can't use crossfire till July and is the new "Never Settle" 8 game bundle enough to make up for the wait?

$1000 for a video card that can't perform the job it was designed for is a fail in anyone who actually has to work for a living. An upgraded game bundle full of current triple-A titles is nice but if you can't take advantage of them what's the point?

AMD 7990 driver woes

April gave us a release date for the upcoming racer, Grid 2. It's due out May 28th and promises to fill the void left by the mediocre release of NFS: Most Wanted. What was surprising was a subsequent announcement concerning a change to multiplayer. Codemaster's decided to base multiplayer gameplay on a web based interface called Racenet. Similar to EA's Battlelog and Autolog the interface is designed to be more social media friendly as well as offering more game modes. Unfortunately if you do most of your racing with people in the same room you may see Racenet as more of a hindrance than a benefit. Autolog and Battlelog have done little more than annoy fans of their respective franchises, let's hope Racenet doesn't do the same.

Grid 2 multiplayer details

In what appears to be a trend in convergence, April also saw the ramp up of two video games based on popular TV and movies. Defiance and Star Trek: The Video Game both launched in April ahead of their respective releases on TV and the theater. While the jury is still out on the games the buzz for their respective franchises has been positive. That translates into a halo effect for the short term but time will tell if anyone still cares about them in 6 months.

Defiance

StarTrek: The Video Game

Let's wrap up this month's report with a new rumor about the next and last installment of Borderlands 2 DLC. Reportedly due out in June the next DLC will feature the Tiny Tina character starring in "Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep." The rumor comes from a tweet posted by Anthony Burch who is apparently the lead writer for Borderlands' developer Gearbox.

Tiny Tina's probably my favorite character in the game if for nothing else all the controversy she stirred up earlier this year. I love irreverence so if this rumor pans out I know I'll be onboard for this DLC pack.

Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep

XBOX more Windows than console

2013-04-27T15:32:00.003-07:00

Article first published as XBOX More Windows than Console on Technorati.

By now you're probably aware that May 21st is a big day for Microsoft. That's when we'll hopefully get some details about the next generation Xbox. Of course if it's anything like the PS4 announcement we'll just see a bunch of game demos.

That and at some point somebody's arms flailing about in front of a Kinect sensor.

EA, the game publishing giant, is apparently on board with the new console after two anonymous sources leaked a few tantalizing tidbits about an exclusive add-on content deal. Exactly what that means, however, is still a matter of supposition.

Until now, all we really knew from all the leaked developer kits, anonymous tips and antisocial behavior from a former creative director is that the console was going to be based on Intel X86 architecture, require an Internet connection to function and have a Blu-Ray Drive.

Which may as well be a press release for the Sony PS4.

Then on April 25th Paul Thurrott, longtime watcher of all things Microsoft, wrote an article for WindowsITPro called, "HereComes the Next Xbox"

Thurrott is a respected author, blogger and head honcho at winsupersite.com and has access to those in the know at Microsoft. Basically if Thurrott says it's real there's a 99% chance it is.

From his article we know this much about the next XBOX.

· We still don'tknow its name will be but it definitely won't be XBOX 720.
· It'll cost you $500 ($300 w/2 year XBOX Live sub. at $10/mo.)
· It won't run Xbox 360 software but the 360 will still exist.
· It's going to be running the Windows 8 Operating System

Yes, you read that right. The next XBOX will be running Windows and not Windows RT or some strange derivative. Thurrott says it will be based on Windows 8 Core which is the entry level Windows 8 operating system complete with tiles and media player and all of that.

Of course it will be heavily modified for the console but at its heart it's still Windows 8. The Modern (or Metro) tile interface would seem to lend itself to just such an application so long as the translation from touch centric to something more in line with a console could be adapted.

That's the rub. Windows 8 may be Microsoft's one user interface to rule them all but on a console, even one based on X86, you're still dealing with a limited sandbox. It has to be that way or else you're just selling a $500 PC that you can't upgrade.

Thurrott stated in his article that the "always on" Internet requirement wouldn't be as "draconian" as people think.

The question that comes to the forefront is why have it at all then? How can a console be required to always have a connection to the Internet if it isn't for DRM?

I think I've got the answer and it goes straight back to the operating system.

Remember, Thurrott said the OS was based on Windows 8 core. If that's so then it's going to be subject to the same patch cycle as any other Windows 8 deployment. Even in a sandbox, security holes, bug fixes and the like will need to be applied on a regular schedule.

Which brings up a very real concern for the platform because it's going to require Microsoft to be ever vigilant or face the potential disaster of millions of Windows 8 consoles suddenly being bricked by an unpatched vulnerability.

It's my own supposition but it's the only way I can see an "always on" requirement being less draconian.

We'll know more in a few weeks at the announcement and at this year's E3 where Microsoft is supposed to spill all the beans about the console.

I guess this is what they meant by convergence.

A real AMD 7990, next Xbox and Windows 8?

2013-04-26T04:23:00.001-07:00

The Midaged Gamer Report for 4-26-2013

This Week:

A real AMD 7990 launches but the drivers still stink, The next Xbox and Windows 8?

I'm going for quality, not quantity this week so let's see where the train goes...

Let me start by apologizing if this next part bores you but you're going to need some background to understand why the launch of the AMD 7990 is so disappointing.

Somewhere back around December 2011 we got the first hint of a dua lGPU powerhouse based on AMD's Southern Islands platform. The original launch date was supposed to be the first quarter of 2012 but that didn't happen. Four months later Nvidia beat AMD to the punch by announcing the Dual GPU 690 which had 2 of Nvidia's GK104 GPU's (the same as the GTX 680). The only response from AMD was a missed 7990 reveal at the 2012 Computex and subsequent delay moving the forecasted launch to late August of 2012.

It wasn't till October of last year that we finally saw a dual GPU product announcement bearing the 7990 moniker but it was not based on any reference design from AMD but rather something Powercolor had designed themselves. Apparently board partners had gotten tired of waiting around for something to fit into the void the 7990 was leaving.

ASUS and Powercolor didn't wait for AMD's blessing, however, with Powercolor using the 7990 label on their first dual GPU card without complaint from AMD. Powercolor's subsequent offering, the Devil 13 and Asus' Ares 2 made no mention of the 7990 on their packaging. That only fed the rumors that there would be no official AMD Dual GPU offering to compete with Nvidia's 690. That left the AMD faithful wondering if they'd have to wait till AMD's next generation for a "real" dual GPU card to battle Nvidia.

All those rumors were finally put to rest this week but is it too little too late?

AMD calls their new 7990, Malta. It's based on dual 28nm process 7970's, has 8.6 Billion transistors (2x4.3bil.), 6GB (3GBx2) or DDR5, 384bit memory bus (x2), on a single PCB design. The card takes 2 8 pin PCI-E power plugs and promises 576GB/sec memory bandwidth and 4096 Stream processors (2x2048 per GPU). Sounds good until you realize that all those (x2's) are very reliant on software to make the real magic happen.

The 7990 designation continues with the new reference design but AMD is quick to point out that this is the official 7990 where previous partner produced cards were not. That's not the whole story, however. The 7990 is basically just another dual GPU stuck on a single PCB running in crossfire. Really, there's no difference from two cross-fired 7970's aside from freeing up a slot and a couple of power plugs.

The real story, however, has nothing to do with hardware. It's the Achilles heel of AMD GPU's for the past 2 generations of their video cards. That being, the drivers. From PCPer's new performance rating system called Frame Rating we see that new hardware still can't fix flaky drivers.

The 7990 is still hampered by deficiencies in the drivers when using Crossfire even if both GPU's are on the same PCB. That means the problems with runt frames and erratic multi-GPU performance continue. AMD has tried to address the issue with not one but two beta drivers with the latest given only to PCPer appearing to help but not eliminate crossfire performance issues.

At a $1000 price point the performance deficit caused by AMD's continually sloppy driver development could push buyers straight into Nvidia's 690 and Titan GPU's. That goes double when you consider buyers have been waiting for a year for a card that is currently not a real competitor to Nvidia's high end offerings. At this point PCPer has what amounts to a prototype driver that could be the foundation to finally rid AMD of its crossfire driver curse but you won't see it till midsummer. If you can wait that long at least you can take advantage of a huge 8 game bundle AMD's offering with the 7990 including titles like Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider and Crysis 3

AMD 7990 driver woes

Ok, enough about that...

We finally have a date for the announcement of the next Xbox. Since the February announcement of the PS4 (still bummed it's not called Orbis) Xbox fans have had to listen to their Playstation buddies go on and on about the PS4. The only information an Xbox fan got came from a former Microsoft creative director's bad attitude.

That was, until this week's announcement of a special XBOX event to be broadcast live on Xbox.com, Xbox Live and Spike TV (in the U.S.) at 10AM May 21st.

Great, so the Xbox faithful finally get some credible news but wait! There's still time to spread around some unofficial rumors so here we go...

Of course the obligatory parade of Triple-A titles will be announced but new this week are some third-party affirmations about the console coming from the person of one Paul Thurrott. For the uninitiated Thurott is a well respected tech blogger and author who runs winsupersite.com as well as hosting the weekly "Windows Weekly" podcast on the TWIT network that airs every Thursday. Thurott has connections within Microsoft and has been writing about the company and its products for decades.

Oh yeah, and he's a real big Call of Duty fan. So there's that grain of salt...

I like Paul, in fact he's known to pull no punches when Microsoft does wrong and was no fan of the reign of Steven Sinofsky. Apparently the feeling was mutual as he frequently found himself snubbed by the former Microsoft exec. Why that's important will become clear in a second but first the aforementioned "salt"

Thurott is on record as saying that Windows Vista wasn't that bad of an operating system.

To which I say, you're delusional Paul. Any operating system that can turn the performance of a Core I7 into an Athlon 64 is bad. If Apple would have embraced "Hackintosh" users in 2006 I'm convinced Microsoft would've been reduced to the market share of Linux because of Vista.

So there's that but I digress...

The real news is that he's managed to confirm that the next Xbox will launch in early November, will not be backward compatible with the Xbox 360 and will cost $500. If that price is too steep you can get it for $300 if you agree to pay $10 a month (USD) over the next 2 years for an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

The new Xbox will contain an Blu-Ray drive and its operating system will be running...

Windows 8core.

Yes friends and neighbors, you can finally rest assured that Windows 8 is indeed the one platform to rule them all in the Windows world.

Windows 8 core is the most basic version of Windows and while it doesn't support virtualization it does support the tiled (Modern or Metro) interface, has a desktop and supports most of the standard Windows applications. You can bet it will be heavily modified but at its "core"(pun intended) you've got a Windows PC.

Thurott also claims that the next Xbox will indeed be required to have an active Internet connection but he qualifies that with the statement that it "isn't as Draconian as many seem to believe." Although he hasn't gone into detail on exactly what that means.

My guess (and that's all it is) is that the Windows 8 core OS that the new Xbox runs on will be subject to the same security updates and patches as any other Windows install. That means all those new Xbox owners are going to learn the phrase, "Patch Tuesday"

Windows 8 is more secure and better performing than Windows 7 but I 'm not so sure I'd want to run a console with it. It's still just a console after all.

That and I'm wondering if Microsoft thinks there's going to be a bunch of 80" touch screen TV's flooding the market or will we all be flailing our arms at a Kinect sensor to launch a game. The only other option is to navigate the "tiles" with a game controller which to be frank would profoundly "suck."

The "Always On" thing bugs me though. It's a fact of life that anyone with a PC or Tablet these days is forced to lose hours of their lives to updates. Thing is, I can still use my PC and current consoles without always having to be connected to the Internet.

May 21st will be interesting.

That's it for this week and I've gone on for almost 1500 words so you must be asleep by now.

Remember, next week is the big monthly wrap up!

I'm out.

EA's Axe a swingin', BF4 Battlelog 2.0, OUYA growing pains

2013-04-19T00:37:00.000-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for 4-19-2013

This Week:

BF4 brings Battlelog 2.0, OUYA growing pains, EA's axe keeps swinging and some other crap

It's been a slow news week which is both a good and bad thing. Good that this will be short, bad that it'll be long on editorials so hang on and let's get going!

Well it seems that with the Fall launch of Battlefield 4 will come a new Battlelog dubbed Battlelog 2.0. Dice has leaked a partial screenshot showing some of the redesign. It's supposed to be accessible via mobile, console and web browser. Supposedly you'll be able to "track your stats and interact with friends".

Sounds just like Grid 2's "Racenet" only worse.

So if Battlelog 1.0 wasn't annoying enough you can now look forward to the "mobile optimized" Battlelog 2.0. Gee, I wonder if it'll have a timeline like Facebook. Maybe we'll even be able to "Like" our battlefield buddies and exchange family photos...

Excuse me while I go throw up...

Battlelog 2.0

Joystiq did another article on the Ouya console this week and so far Richard Mitchell has a few complaints about the console. Most of them he admits can be attributed to the fact that the consoles that kickstarter backers received are very early models. The chief complaints are a rather uninspiring game library, controller issues and problems with the interface.

In Ouya's defense he does reiterate that these are very early models and firmware updates have corrected some of these issues.

Ouya may not be ready for primetime but it doesn't officially launch till June 4th either. So it's probably best to consider it a beta product. If it had all the issues the author mentioned on official launch that would be a bird of a different color.

In short, it's really just a beta device right now and feedback good or bad will ultimately make the product better. That's what Beta's are for. Imagine if you could have early access to a PS4 console. I'd be willing to bet all the same issues would show up.

OUYA

If you've been contemplating a graphics upgrade you may want to consider the Nvidia option. Starting Tuesday, Nvidia announced a new bundle to replace the Freebie Steam game bundle they were offering. Consumers who purchase a Geforce 660 or above video card will get a free copy of the game Metro: Last Light. The sequel to Metro 2033 set in post Apocalyptic Moscow from 4A studios and the now defunct THQ (rights since purchased by publisher Deep Silver) is due to launch May 14th for $49.99 but you get it free if you take advantage of Nvidia's bundle. AMD's bundle is still better but at least this time around you get a triple-A title for your trouble instead of a bunch of Steam freebies with some upgrade credits.

Metro Last Light

EA's swingin' the axe again. It seems since former CEO John Riccitiello announced his resignation last month heads have been rolling throughout the company. Last week saw 200 layoffs throughout EA's studios and this week finds the company admitting that it's undergoing a "restructuring" .

The latest high profile target was the London Playfish studio which has been reportedly "made redundant" . EA announced the closing down of all the studio's Facebook games with much of the studios creative assets split among other EA divisions. Whomever's left is at risk of being labeled "redundant" A fate that's already befallen employees at EA's Hyderbad studio in India.

After 2 years of Triple-A flops, bad launches and lackluster performance in the mobile space perhaps the biggest problem with EA is a lack of focus. Trying to be everything to everybody can only lead to being nothing to nobody.

EA layoffs

Finally,

CVG has put together a list of the 29 most promising PC games to be release in 2013. Of course Battlefield 4 is on the list but so is Dragon Age 3, Watch Dogs, Elder Scrolls online, Company of Heroes 2 and a reboot of Command and Conquer as a Free to Play game based on the Frostbite 2.0 engine. Worth a look.

29 hottest prospects of 2013

Orth is out, Grid 2 = Most Wanted? EA layoffs & more

2013-04-12T00:11:00.002-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for 4-12-2013

This Week:

Mr. "Don't see the drama" don't see a paycheck no more, Grid 2 = NFS:Most Wanted, EA layoffs and more!

Remember Adam Orth? You know that guy who last week set the console gaming world on fire with his twitter account? Well apparently he's no longer the creative director of anything having resigned his position after Friday's apology from Microsoft's Larry Hyrb of the XBOX group...

"We apologize for the inappropriate comments made by an employee on Twitter yesterday...This person is not a spokesperson for Microsoft, and his personal views do not reflect the customer centric approach we take to our products or how we would communicate directly with our loyal consumers. We are very sorry if this offended anyone, however we have not made any announcements about our product roadmap, and have no further comment on this matter."
Microsoft Apology

The commentary on various forums on the topic has ranged from "good riddance" to "I feel sorry for the guy". I don't feel sorry for him at all. An attitude like that in a retail business is poisonous. This went far beyond even the Adria Richards fiasco a few weeks back. Orth left absolutely no room for interpretation and suffered the consequences.

Orth is OUT!

More news about the upcoming Grid 2, specifically about the multiplayer modes. The upcoming game due out May 28th in the U.S and the 31st in Europe is going to offer up to 12 player online racing as well as a new "anti-griefing" system designed to match player racing styles so that you don't end up with more aggressive "paint swappers" racing against players trying to achieve a clean race. There's also integration with social and mobile apps as well as what sounds like a very "Autolog" like "Racenet" which like Battlefield 3's "Battlelog" is the only way to launch a multiplayer game. The game will feature modes like Race with the option for "Liveroutes" , Endurance, Drift, Touge, Checkpoint, Face-off, Time Attack as well as Challenge events in the form of Overtake and Power Lap.

Liveroutes is interesting because it's a race mode that tries to leverage the "open world" dynamic the whole game is based on. It basically means the track can change at certain points based on what's going on in the race. No more memorizing turn 4 or anticipating a straightaway. Sounds a bit like Need For Speed:Most Wanted but where EA failed maybe Codemasters can succeed.

I have to wonder if Codemaster's is overreaching this time though. The very EA like online interface and dizzying array of race modes could be biting off more than the developers can chew. Then again, Codemasters has had 5 years to develop it. We'll see on May 28th.

Grid2 multiplayer details

Pete Hines, PR President for Bethesda has an opinion. He thinks that people who complain about new games launching with DLC at day one don't get it .... "I don't think they quite understand the development process and the point at which you have to stop making the game and you have to finish the game." He goes on to say that DLC often happens in the middle of all of that somewhere.

More like an aborted development cycle to milk more money out of content that should have already been there. DLC is fine but launch day DLC is just another case of squeezing more money out of your customers and you know it Pete. Of course how valuable can an opinion be from anyone that heads up "PR and Marketing"

Pete says you don't get it

In case you were wondering when the next update of Intel's Thunderbolt interface was coming (and who wasn't..ha ha) Your wait will soon be over. It'll be out....soon. As in the end of the year or early 2014 depending on how fast you want to go.

At the National Association of Broadcasters convention this week Intel announced the new Falcon Ridge controller that provides 20Gbps (that's 2.5Gigabytes per second) bandwidth as well as Redwood Ridge which is a low power version of the interface offering the same 10Gbps bandwidth of current Thunderbolt controllers. Both controllers offer Displayport 1.2 compatibility by the way for improved display performance.

Redwood Ridge will launch with Haswell later this year, Falcon Ridge sometime after that. Meanwhile USB 3.0 still maxes out at 5Gbps but a new standard promises to match existing the existing 10Gbps bandwidth of Thunderbolt. It still doesn't have Displayport capability or the ability to transfer video and data over the same cable, however. What it does have is better adoption and a lower price point.

The only thing keeping Thunderbolt from supplanting USB 3.0 at this point is the high price of cables and relatively small selection of devices to connect to. It's a catch 22 situation which is why Intel is pushing the new standard to Hollywood as a replacement for the aging Firewire standard still in use today. A classic case of trying to get professionals and early adopters with deeper pockets to foot the bill for newer technology. They get the latest and greatest and after a few years we get lower prices.

Intel also discussed future plans for Thunderbolt cabling to include optical fiber instead of copper which could theoretically make bandwidth limitless but increase the cost of cables even further with the need for optical transceivers and such.

A promising interface but nothing's going to happen till the cost comes down and more devices are out there to use it.

So why should a gamer care? With Displayport capability and high bandwidth straight off the PCI-E bus the days of being limited to only what you can cram into into a laptop case are over. Imagine eventually being able to have a drop in performance "Dock" to play the latest games at the highest settings but retain the low power and portability of an ultrabook. Bandwidth is king and it'd be nice if Intel could finally get Thunderbolt into the mainstream.

Thunderbolt update

On the job front, EA has laid off a bunch of people in its Montreal studios supposedly to "sharpen their focus for new platforms and mobile." Rumor of the layoffs has been circling around since earlier this week with some reports saying most of the layoffs are in the Q&A department. Regardless, it makes no sense to be slashing staff if you're ramping up for a new platform.

If the recent launch debacle of SimCity and the complete failure of Warfighter are any indication EA may be cleaning house. Unfortunately, quality seems to be the major issue in the past few years. If the rumors are true and most of the layoffs are Q&A people then they've completely missed the mark.

Anytime I hear the words "Streamline our operations" in a company press briefing it usually means they're circling the wagons. All the more reason to make sure you're putting out a quality product instead of pumping out marginal games with huge development costs.

EA Layoffs

Finally,

If you've just been dying to do some hardcore gaming on your new 80" flatscreen but the console just wasn't cutting it, Couchmaster may put you back in the game (no pun intended). No, it's not a new gaming console, well at least not the kind you're thinking of. It's a wraparound padded desk designed to handle your PC mouse, keyboard and a few other USB accessories. To be honest it kind of looks like a craft project but at $150 U.S. it's reasonably priced for what it is.

Obviously, only single gamers need apply unless you're trying to become single again...

Couchmaster

My fish is dead

2013-04-09T12:52:00.005-07:00

No, it's not some kind of metaphor or weird urban slang I just made up (although it might be after this).

In many of my Midagedgamer Reports my little finned friend would curiously watch me as I recorded the weekly video reports.

He was an Angel Fish and while I know he had the attention span of ...well...a fish, he became a constant companion over the past few years.

I'm still convinced he watched TV as he'd always move to the corner of the tank with the best view of my plasma screen when it was on. If I were in the room he made sure he was out front and would follow my every move.

Did you ever feel like someone was watching you? Chances are in my living room you were and it was my little Angel fish.

Pets enrich our lives even if it's only in the simplest of ways. Could it be possible that I'm projecting human qualities on an animal who could only respond to the most basic of stimuli? Of course, spend enough time with anything and it's bound to happen.

Ever pat the dash of your car when arriving home after a particularly treacherous journey? How about when you slap your monitor for screwing up your last paragraph in your term paper...

They call that Anthropomorphism by the way...

Whether or not I'm projecting, the fact of the matter is I feel the loss.

I've lost my little writing companion and aquatic overseer.

I'll miss you buddy.

Always On, No Big Deal?

2013-04-05T12:54:00.000-07:00

Article first published as Always On, No Big Deal? on Technorati.

"Sorry, I don't get the drama"

That's what Microsoft Studios Creative Director, Adam Orth, says about forcing gamers to have an "always on" connection to play a game. In a tweet that left no room for ambiguity he defiantly proclaimed,

"Every device now is 'always on'. That's the world we live in. #dealwithit"

It's hard to gauge whether Orth's dismissive stance on forcing customers to keep the Microsoft umbilical cord attached is real or just a sloppy attempt at market research. The discussion did arise out of rumors that suggested the next XBOX will require persistent connectivity.

When confronted by a BioWare designer about launch day failures of SimCity and Diablo3 that were directly related to the requirement for "always on" connection, Orth's tweeted back, "electricity goes out too."

Official or not the exchange has not gained Orth nor Microsoft any friends with an almost immediate backlash against his twitter account forcing him to switch to protected status.

Whether arrogance or avarice, events like this prove where the gaming industry's focus is. Hint, it's not the customer.

Doom 4 Doomed? Black Ops DLC, Borderlands 2 Patch/DLC and More!

2013-04-05T07:20:00.000-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for April 5, 2013

This Week:

Is Doom 4 doomed?, Pretty guns in Black Ops 2, Borderlands 2 patch and more!

I really, really hope you haven't been holding your breath for the release of Doom 4. Of course if you did you expired somewhere around Quakecon 2008 anyway. Kotaku reports that after 5 years the cornerstone franchise of FPS gaming isn't getting anything new anytime soon.

The wrench in the works is a now confirmed rumor that all development for the game was basically tossed out in 2011. The stated reason was that all the work to that point basically looked like Call of Duty meets demons. In other words just another franchise FPS. ID's failed game RAGE apparently took up all of the developers attention suggesting someone took their eye off the Cacodemon. Mismanagement and attrition of key talent seems to round out the balance of the blame.

ZeniMax (parent of Id and Bethesda) has apparently just about had it with Id, making non-specific threats to get the game out "or else". This after the game was again "re-imagined" to take advantage of next generation consoles.

The real question is, does anyone really care about Doom anymore?

Doom4 or bust!

There is a new trailer for the Black Ops 2 showing the addition of micro-transactions to customize your weapons. It's already out on Xbox 360 and will show up on PS3 and PC on April 12th. I guess if they can't fix the multiplayer they can at least let you put a nice paisley print on your Mac 10.

BlackOps 2 Microtransactions

In related news the next batch of Black Ops 2 DLC is scheduled for release on April 16th for the Xbox 360 and you can get it for 1200 Microsoft points or $15 US. Yes, that means it's XBOX only folks. It's called Uprising, gives you 4 new maps and basically has you fending off, you guessed it, zombies. The twist on an otherwise tired zombie theme is that you can play as one of 4 mobsters voiced by Hollywood icons like Ray Liota, Michael Madsen, Joe Pantoliano and Chazz Palminteri.

If you don't know who they are just Google their name with the word "mafia" and your questions will be answered. Of the four additional maps one is called, "Encore" which happens to be set in a deserted music festival in London. Sounds like a Left for Dead 2 ripoff to me. I've said it before, I'm sick of zombies and making my character sound like something out of the Sopranos isn't going to make a bit of difference.

BLOPS2 DLC Uprising

Speaking of Uprising, Microsoft Studios Creative Director Adam Orth caused one when he tweeted out that he didn't think requiring an always-on connection to play a game was a big deal ...

"Sorry, I don't get the drama around having an 'always online' console,...Every device now is 'always on'. That's the world we live in. #dealwithit."

Is this guy for real? Or is this just a sneaky way to take a reading on the market for such things. There's been lots or speculation on just how connected the next Xbox will be lately and this just added fuel to the fire. Not many statements come from highly placed Microsofties without being carefully curated. That or this guy needs to get out in the real world once in awhile. Talk about living in a bubble!

Adam Orth or is that Oaf

Borderlands 2 has released its latest patch addressing a number of game bugs and enabling the "Ultimate Vault Hunter" mode. Don't expect any raise in level caps unless you purchase the "Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade( DLC) pack though, that's reserved for DLC only.

Borderlands 2 is a great game but it's wrong to tie a raise in level cap to the purchase of DLC. The only reason they can get away with it is the lack of an online multiplayer mode. Other than Duels, a higher level character playing along with you in co-op can only benefit you. Strangely, the most curious thing about the new DLC has to do with the raise in level cap.

In screenshots featuring the new DLC it shows a level 61 player going up against a level 63 opponent! Worse, it's in the early missions of the game.

One of the tweaks from the patch allows you to repeat a playthrough of the original campaign while keeping your stats and weapons. If the game progressively levels like it does your first time through you could be facing level 100+ foes that you have no hope of defeating. Where's the fun in that? Maybe they need to just get rid of level caps period.

BL2DLC level strangeness

From the official release...

Update v1.4.0 (Released 4/2/2013)

General
• Added a new playthrough called Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode, unlocked for a character once they have completed the main story missions in True Vault Hunter Mode and reached level 50!
o In this mode, you will always start in Southern Shelf at Cleaning Up the Berg and may reset your playthrough progress as often as you like without losing any items, levels, or stats. All enemies are significantly more difficult in this playthrough, but the loot quality has increased accordingly. Rumor has it there is an entirely new rarity of loot out there for high-level players.
• Added new items to the Black Market:
o One additional ammo upgrade for each ammo type, at 50 Eridium each.
o Two more backpack storage space upgrades, at 50 and 100 Eridium respectively.
o Two more bank storage space upgrades, at 50 and 100 Eridium respectively.
• Increased the maximum amount of Eridium players can hold from 99 to 500.
• Fixed a bug that was causing some users to crash on startup or when loading into a level after choosing their character.
• Fixed a bug that could cause hosts to become invulnerable if they were being revived by a client who disconnected mid-revive.
• Fixed an issue that could cause players to crash or freeze when fighting BNK-3R.
• Fixed a bug that could cause Deathtrap's Robot Rampage audio to not stop playing after killing an enemy until Deathtrap despawned.
• Fixed a bug that could stop the Gunzerker's Keep It Piping Hot skill from functioning as intended.
• Covered an area of the world near Claptrap's ship where the player could fall in and be unable to get out.
• Fixed an issue where a Siren could revive a player and make another player invulnerable under specific circumstances.
• Addressed instances of audio distortion tied to Axton's turret and kill skills.
• (Mr. Torgue DLC) Critical hits against Midgets now register properly.
• (Mr. Torgue DLC) Rat Thief enemies are no longer allowed in Pete’s Bar due to patron concerns regarding excessive theft.
• (Captain Scarlett DLC) Fixed an issue with the "Shady Dealings" challenge where a purchase could sometimes not count toward its completion.
Missions
• Fixed an issue where players could be unable to interact with the menu when a mission that granted experience but not items was completed and not handled by the player before saving and quitting.
• Fixed an issue where players could cause the round to not fail in a Slaughter mission if a surviving player disconnects while all others are out.
• (Sir Hammerlock DLC) Thermitage is now friendlier and will no longer refuse to come play with some players.
• Fixed issues with the following missions that could cause players to get stuck or not be able to complete them:
o Wildlife Preservation
o Medical Mystery
o (Captain Scarlett DLC) Let There Be Light
o (Mr. Torgue DLC) Eat Cookies and Crap Thunder
Equipment
• Fixed a bug where players were able to do far more damage than intended by exploiting a buff from the Evil Smasher.
• Clients are now able to see explosions caused by Norfleets in multiplayer.
• Fixed an issue causing Relics to sometimes not show the Favorite indicator.
• Fixed an issue that caused E-tech weapons to not be able to hit the Mechromancer's 'One Two Boom' orb.
• Seraph Gear from Captain Scarlett and Mr. Torgue DLC re-balanced to be more powerful.
• Fixed class mods that increase the skill grade of Axton's Metal Storm, Onslaught and Quick Charge skills to function as intended.
• Fixed an exploit involving Vladof rocket launchers that could result in having infinite ammo for any weapon.
• Fixed an issue where weapon cards would sometimes not display how many bullets they consumed per shot.
• Mechromancer's Prodigy class mod now correctly increases reload speed.
• Fixed an issue causing impact sounds from users with The Bee shield to not be audible on clients.
• Adjusted Mechromancer’s Sweetheart class mod to correctly increase team health.
• Assassin’s “Slayer of Terramorphous” class mod no longer includes Gunzerker skill bonus.
• (Mr. Torgue DLC) Torgue vending machines can now stock legendary weapons above level 48.
• Chere-amie sniper rifle and transfusion grenades no longer cause audio distortion.
• Assigned price to Anshin 'Evolution' shield so that players can sell it for money if desired.

You may not have noticed but the Steam Cloud service went down for a few hours this past Monday. That meant your saved games, screenshots and other Steam public shares weren't available. That annoyed me so I did a video on how to find and back up your saved games that you may find useful. Find it at the link below.

Manually backing up your Steam Saved games.

Finally...

Change is a comin' and this will be the last weekly midagegamer report video. Honestly, after a year of weekly scheduled YouTube postings rarely breaking 50 views and YouTube getting increasingly hostile over monetizing them, I think I finally got the hint.

Nobody really seems to like them no matter what's in them and they're a lot of work to put together especially when nobody's interested.

I will do a monthly gaming news wrap-up video, however, but only so long as someone wants to watch it. Of course I'll continue to post gaming how-to's and other items of interest on YouTube but only the monthly report will be on a schedule.

The weekly blog entries, on the other hand, have been steadily growing so the report will continue in a weekly print format on http://midagedgamer.blogspot.com

I'd like to say thanks to those of you who regularly viewed the weekly video reports. It's because of you that I'm even bothering with a monthly installment.

How to recover from a Steam cloud failure

2013-04-02T11:02:00.000-07:00

This is just a short video on how to recover your saved game files from Valve's Steam client. I show you the locations of the saved game folders as well as how to set up the Steam Cloud. Enjoy!

Battlefield 4, Bioshock Infinite, a new way to rate your graphics card and more!

2013-03-29T04:48:00.002-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for 3-29-2013

This Week: Battlefield 4, Bioshock Infinite, a new way to rate your graphics card and more!

The Battlefield 4 hype machine's been started with the release of a 17 minute video showing single player gameplay as well as details about platforms and special editions. The video also highlights the new Frostbite 3.0 game engine which promises a better lighting and weather system as well as new animations and of course what every father wishes for his son, "Improved,efficient destruction"

If you're dumb enough, I mean interested in pre-orders you can get a special "Premium" expansion pack and if you do it through Origin you'll get additional exclusive content from their "Digital Deluxe edition" . Release is scheduled for the fall on PC and current generation consoles. That begs the question of how console sales of the game will be affected by a refresh of both major console platforms in the same time period.

I chafe at the word "Premium" almost as badly as I do with the word "Pre-Order" Ask anyone who bought SimCity or Diablo 3 on Pre-order if they got their money's worth. Fool me once shame on you, Fool me twice EA? Don't think so. I'm happy to wait for a sale six months later or better yet just skip it altogether. In case you're still interested, pre-order price is set at 59.99 across all three platforms (Xbox, PS3 and PC) with Gamefly offering a 20%off coupon. Hmm, discounts on a pre-order this far out? I'm suspicious.

BF4info

BF4 Video

BioShock Infinite has launched and if you buy a physical copy of the game from Irrational games they'll get it to you for 1.99 shipping. Amazon's got free shipping by the way and Steam will download it to your hard drive today. If you want it it's going to set you back $60 no matter who you buy it from. So far reviews have been decent with a 94/100 reviewer score on Metacritic and an 8.9 user score although some reviewers have been a little disappointed in the pace of the game.

Bioshock Infinite metacritic

If you've always wanted to "play a movie" it seems 2013 is your year. It started with the Walking dead Game in 2012 which was designed to be a companion to the popular television series on AMC. Released by Telltale it follows an episodic formula similar to their recent "Back to the Future" series.

Now we have two new titles trying to cash in on the trend. Defiance is a game based on the upcoming television series on SyFy channel of the same name. Star Trek: The Video Game launches April 23rd just weeks ahead of StarTrek: Into Darkness set to hit theaters May 17th. While not a direct adaptation characters, voice acting and design are all consistent with the movie. Defiance will be available April 2nd at $60 and Star Trek: The Video game will set you back $50.

Defiance

Star Trek: The Video Game

If you happen to be taking in a ball game at Coca-Cola park in Allentown PA. you may want to check out the men's room. They're installing video games at the men's urinals that activate when you approach them. Don't ask about the controller. I bet they're going to sell a lot more large sodas from now on.

Gaming in the restroom

Are you one of the lucky few who already has your OUYA console? They started shipping to the kickstarter backers but the rest of us will have to wait till June 4th to pick ours up for $99. Early adopters of the Tegra 3 powered android console will find a library of 104 games so far from a deep bench of 8000 developers. The console will also run apps like XBMC and Flixster. The games are all free to try out but nothing's free forever so have some plastic money at the ready once you run into that free-to-play paywall.

OUYA shipping

I hesitated to include this last bit of news in this week's report. That's primarily due to my distaste for gaming benchmarks and the subjective analysis that comes from them. Weeks' worth of fanboy articles have been written based on nothing more than a bias toward a particular brand and 1 Frame per second.

So here comes Ryan Shrout of PCPer who's been racking his brains out trying to come up with a different way of quantifying graphics card performance. In the process it's also showed up how weak AMD's crossfire multi-card GPU performance really is. You have to give it to the guys at PCPer, AMD's been a major sponsor but that didn't stop them from calling it like they saw it. In fact it's because of that candor that I had any interest at all.

Without trying to summarize 16000 words of what Ryan's been up to I'd direct you to his article for the specifics of his new process of evaluating graphics performance. As I understand it, instead of basing ratings on data that hasn't made it to your monitor yet like FRAPS this method is based on what you actually see. It's called Frame Rating and uses an external capture card to collect the data then process it and display the results graphically on-screen without interfering with the system being tested.

For a primer on what Frame Rating is see this article.

Top 10 - Why Multiplayer gaming sucks

2013-03-28T02:21:00.001-07:00

Right up front I'll admit that I'm probably not telling you anything you don't already know. Just point your confused friends to this page when they're wondering why you're tearing up the furniture after your 150th round of Battlefield 3.

This list is ordered from what I feel is the most egregious to the annoying. Your mileage may vary. Too much of any of them puts the furniture in jeopardy.

1. Cheats - This one's easy and we've all suffered them. Aimbots, world hacks, stat boosters and the pond scum who love them. Both Battlefield and Call of Duty are rife with these self-centered morons who ruin it for the rest of us. There's just nothing like having hundreds of hours of experience in a game and getting pwned 50 times by some 12 year old with a $10 hack. You can be sure that if the developer leaves an opening someone's going to exploit it.

2. Lag - You can't help this if say you're in North America and the server's in Germany. Adding more

servers in a region can fix it but that rarely happens. Which is probably why you're crossing an ocean to play in the first place.

It can be almost imperceptible showing itself at those times when you know you should have hit what you were aiming at but didn't because it really wasn't there anymore. Other times it can be more obvious with an annoyingly slow frame rate. One of the worst cases you can suffer is the rubber banding effect. This is where your character keeps getting reset in the same spot as the server tries to compensate for excessive lag.

Online games can be sensitive to player induced lag and many have instituted a maximum ping time to the client to combat it. Most dedicated game servers will try to tune the game performance to the slowest connected client. Problem is,that can lead to the rubber banding effect so you're more likely to run into a maximum ping restriction.

3. Game Server Admins - Most online game servers are privately run with only a handful of "official"

developer controlled examples. As such you have to deal with a game environment that doesn't necessarily follow the official template. Ridiculously high ticket counts, weapon restrictions and draconian banning practices can ruin an otherwise good game.

4. Player Matching - Call of Duty and Team Fortress 2 try to do it but never do it well, Battlefield 3 doesn't even try which means you could end up like a duck in a shooting gallery if you don't check out the leader boards before you join.

You'd think player matching would be a good thing but you usually end up with a bunch of players at a much higher level than you anyway. I prefer choosing my own servers but it would be nice if games like Battlefield 3 made it easier to figure out who you're playing against before you get in a game. Something along the line of an average player level indicator or a color code in the server list would be helpful. Are you Listening EA??

5. Who you have to play with - It'd be nice if everyone followed the rules and did what they were supposed to do but they don't. Cheaters, noobs and people who just take the game too seriously can turn a game sour fast. A few here or there can be safely ignored but in numbers you may as well give up. It's why I prefer co-op.

6. Game tweaks - BF3 is the biggest offender. Every patch contains "fixes" that change multiple game elements. Weapon effectiveness , map elements or even the availability of equipment can be affected which makes every logon a roll of the dice. Hmm, maybe that's why Battlefield's developer is named "Dice." In their constant fiddling all they do is throw off the game balance and annoy players. Worse it's usually done to support new DLC even if you don't buy it.

7. " Premium" - From reducing the amount of available servers for "normal" players to special "events" that give an unfair advantage. This is the most blatant evidence of a software publisher's money machine in action. From "double experience weekends" to early access to new maps this tactic will allow you to buy your way to the top of the leader boards if you have the scratch.

8. DLC - Make no mistake, this is nothing but a money machine for the publishers. A few new maps and weapons may be nice to have but they end up skewing the whole game for everyone else. DLC or downloadable content is meant to extend the life of an old game. The more DLC available the weaker the core game is. The mark of a great game is re-playability without a bunch of tacky add-ons. If you have to keep adding content to keep things interesting you've either held something back at launch or your game is boring. 'Nuff said.

9. Huge Game updates -I realize that games have to be constantly fixed but there's no reason that a game that is 5 GB fully installed needs a 4GB patch every 3 months or EVER. Publishers like to "preload" DLC and extra features whether you buy them or not. So come patch day, everyone suffers. Expect more of this as the new PS4 plans to "pre-load" full installations to your console based on what Sony "thinks" you'd like to buy. Hope you're nowhere near your Internet Download cap!

10. Slow game joins - This could be lag but more likely it's just too much preload going on. It wouldn't be such a big deal but sometimes the delay is so bad that the game ends before you get a chance to play. You get tired of seeing "Loading" after awhile.

Some of you may think I've missed one, namely "noobs." Hey, like the say, we were all noobs once. Instead of cursing them in the chat window just point them toward the unranked servers to practice on. Otherwise let them learn the hard way...as practice targets.

From the Borderlands to the Battlefield

2013-03-23T09:13:00.000-07:00

There's two types of games I tend to play the most often and it's no surprise that one of them is a good First Person Shooter. The other is a good driving game but since there's been few really good titles and I can't afford a good control setup to adequately experience them I spend a lot of time shooting at virtual people.

I like realism but I know it's still a game and that short of a Star Trek style holodeck I can't expect too much. Still I want an interesting environment to look at and challenging opponents that have just as much chance to win as I do.

Angry Birds and The Simpsons: Tapped Out may be popular with the masses but aside from a convenient time sink they don't do much for me. They're considered "casual games" and after awhile they stop being fun and start turning into a career once you pass a certain level. That's their hook and it's something I recognize in games in general. How obvious that hook is separates a good game from an also-ran.

In the past few months I've spent a lot of time with Borderlands 2 and Battlefield 3. During that time I've been trying to identify exactly what it was that made one more engaging than the other. A good game draws you in and before you know it entire evenings have evaporated without notice.

Borderlands is like that. Both the original and the sequel have this subtle quality of being just challenging enough to keep you coming back but not so easy as to become repetitive. The story is as over the top as you can get but does a great job of setting the mood.

A hallmark of the series is the seamless gameplay experience between single player and cooperative mode. The ability to help out your friends on a particularly difficult single player mission is nothing short of brilliant. Another nice feature is how your accomplishments follow you regardless of the play mode. That's far more valuable than any badge on somebody's leaderboard.

Battlefield 3 is a whole different story. It's a game with split personalities. A single player mode that had no bearing on multiplayer and seems like it's just tacked on. I've had "epic moments" with BF3 but most of the time I'm just waiting for the ticket count to drop to zero.

It's this trait that's most like its Activision competitor, Call of Duty. You could literally spend days in the single player mode and have nothing to show for it when you were done. The gameplay is very linear much like Call of Duty but without the saving grace of a good story.

Battlefield's multiplayer was a completely different experience and the real focus of the Battlefield series since the release of Battlefield 2. And it's obvious with features, achievements and rewards only available in its online multiplayer mode. Too bad Dice couldn't get a handle on the cheats, hacks and glitches that plague the game.

I've spent over 200 hours playing BF3 and about half of that on Borderlands 2 so far. Yes I know they're vastly different games and have a different focus but the success of one shows the failure of the other. They're both FPS games and emphasize the development of your player character. Battlefield does it with rank and unlocks while Borderlands does it with level and stat boosters.

The difference is that Borderlands concentrates on the gaming experience where Battlefield concentrates on the game environment.

Nobody in their right mind would ever say that Borderlands was anything but an arcade shooter. Invisible rocks block your path, physics are a mere suggestion and controls can be vague. Battlefield, on the other hand, strives to be as realistic as possible with highly detailed scenery and physics effects. Aim and shoot and chances are you'll hit something in Borderlands, Battlefield makes you seriously consider things like bullet drop, armor and firing position if you want to hit anything smaller than the broadside of a barn.

That's ok but it's tough for developers to keep making near photo realistic environments with all their physics along for the ride. It may be great for selling DLC every 6 months but it ruins re-playability. After awhile it gets tedious when you constantly reminded that you're just in a very pretty sandbox. Play Battlefield 3 and you're guaranteed to know more about the map than your opposition. Borderlands 2 is the reverse.

I've mentioned before that Battlefield 3's multiplayer experience has been going downhill for the past year. If I buy a DLC pack it might extend my interest another month or so but ultimately I'll get burned out on it too. With cheating so rampant it's roughly a 1 in 5 chance of having a good multiplayer game in BF3. Worse, where DLC in Borderlands extends your co-op and single player game, DLC in BF3 offers nothing to its single player mode.

In short Battlefield is being supported by a regular parade of DLC and paid add-ons like the shortcut kits. Borderlands 2 has these as well but they enhance an already good gaming experience instead of trying to crutch a marginal one.

Don't get me wrong, I like Battlefield 3 when it's good. It's just that it's not good that often and the only response from EA/Dice is to buy more DLC.

I don't believe 2K/Gearbox is driven by any greater humanitarian philosophy but they have made a more playable game.

Games are about having fun regardless of the motivations of their creators are. If I'm not enjoying the experience what's the point?

I mean, why should I invest tens of hours in something that only serves to aggravate me. Battlefield does that now and the blame lies squarely in Dice's lap. They made a good looking game with great potential but never fully delivered. Adding insult to injury they relentlessly push DLC and subscriptions to the exclusion of all else.

If you're going to have multiple ways to experience a game they need to be seamless and I don't mean forcing me onto a website just to start the game. Who cares how realistic the explosions are if the game modes and thus anything I accomplish in them are completely isolated from each other?

This is the same mistake Call of Duty makes over and over again. It has a great story and good looks but the Multiplayer is stuck back in 2002 and is easily exploited by those with less than honorable intentions. In short it's not much fun for anyone but a hardcore player or a cheat.

Battlefield 3's design comes closest to Call of Duty's and makes the same mistakes with the only difference being where each game's strengths lie. Call of Duty is about the Story, Battlefield is about the environment but in the end they fail in the same way.

Borderlands 2 is like playing a character in a comic book. It's a good looking game but it's not about a game engine or realistic bullet drop. it's about having fun blasting bad guys with goofy looking weapons. All of this framed within an interesting story and a unified single and multiplayer experience.

If I buy DLC for Borderlands it's because I want more of what I already have. Which is exactly why I won't buy it for Battlefield 3. In short, I'm not satisfied with what I got from the core game so why would I throw more money at it in hopes of a better experience?

I'm hopeful that Battlefield 4 will learn from the mistakes of its predecessor but EA is all about the money machine these days. That means it will probably look great and you'll be able to count the rivets on every tank. It just won't be very interesting past that point.

Dice will continually fiddle with the physics and EA will push them to release DLC packs to keep the money machine humming along and I'll probably be writing the same article a year from now.

If you ever see an (Updated) in the title you know what happened...

IGN too close to publishers? Steam Early Access, Origin Sale and more!

2013-03-22T03:01:00.004-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for 3-22-2013

This Week:

IGN in cahoots with EA?, Steam Early Access, Origin likes you and more!

First we get movie reviews on a gaming website now it appears that gaming news icon IGN may (or may not) have exclusive access to content from the upcoming Battlefield 4. The Battlefield 4 website went live Wednesday and somebody dug into its code and found a snippet suggesting that IGN already had a promotional article written proclaiming "IGN predicting Battlefield 4 to be game of the year". A check of the site today shows no evidence of the code but the suggestion that IGN may be partnering with EA to promote the game is a natural leap. Whether or not is true is something entirely different. It does call into question how impartial a game review can really be when there's such a close relationship with a publisher. As though movie reviews weren't bad enough. By the way the BF4 website is here. If you have an Origin account and log into the website you'll earn the special "I Was There" in-game dog tag to show all your jealous friends...

IGN too friendly with pubs?

Ever wish you had a say in how your favorite game got developed? Well Valve has just launched Steam Early Access where gamers can play games that are still in development. Most of the games are of the indie variety but include titles like ARMA 3. It's an interesting opportunity born out of Valves community based Greenlight program. Smaller developers rarely have the resources to fully flesh out a game before launch so getting the fans involved could produce a better product. Hopefully the free help translates into discounts and freebies for the participants.

Playit before it's done

In case you haven't noticed, EA's Origin service is having a week long sale that ends March 26th on over 200 games. Some are up to 70% off with Crysis 3 and Dead Space 3 around $30 US and the BF3 Premium subscription now half price at $24.99. That's almost funny, now that BF4 is announced who cares about Premium anyway?

They call it an "Origin Player Appreciation Sale" I call it damage control after the SimCity debacle. Who cares, take advantage while you can.

Origin Appreciates you

Seems Battlefield 4 isn't the only game IGN has a sneak peak at. They've released a glowing review of the upcoming Bioshock:Infinite due out March 26th. Hailing this latest installment of the Bioshock universe as

"A stunning original world of retro-sci-fi technology and gorgeous scenery. A cast of fully fleshed-out, memorable characters who deliver real emotional impact."

I don't know about you but with all this gushing going on in reviews that sound like they came right out of the publisher's PR department I have to wonder how impartial IGN really is. It's not a stretch to suggest that publishers may be willing to give early access to a review site if they know they're among friends. Even flaws seem to be glossed over in favor of phrases like, "You Will Believe a City Can Fly"

Really? Even bad reviews of games like Medal of Honor:Warfighter try to soften the blow by acting apologist and highlighting irrelevant bright spots like this from IGN's review of Warfighter.

" Warfighter strives for this by giving you a genuine impression of what it’s like to live as a Tier 1 operator, the elite operatives at the center of the modernized Medal of Honor series. It’s clear from the first cutscene all the way to the end credits that developer Danger Close has the utmost respect for the extraordinary skills and bravery of these soldiers.

If Medal of Honor extended the same level of respect to its players, Warfighter might have accomplished more than its numerous significant failures and lack of player agency has allowed." from IGN's review of Warfighter

Ok, the last paragraph was somewhat useful but it's a negative review, so what's up with all this about "striving to give a genuine impression." How's that even possible in a game so flawed that even EA (the publisher) had to admit it.

I guess that's why I work for free...

IGN Reviews Bioshock Infinite

Just Talkin' - Tech Episode 3

2013-03-17T21:54:00.003-07:00

Today's installment allows you to eavesdrop on a discussion about how rampant cheating has brought down an otherwise decent game. What follows is too average players with hundreds of hours of experience discussing why the game no longer holds much interest.

A little background first:

When Battlefield 3 launched it was one of the most anticipated FPS's in recent history. Building on a rabid fan base stretching back a decade, it introduced the most realistic gaming engine (Frostbite 2.0) any FPS fan had seen to that point. It continues to be the engine for other EA titles like Medal of Honor and Need For Speed due to it's realistic physics effects and visuals.

Unfortunately along with all that progress came the hacks, exploits and the cheaters who love them. In the Year and half that's gone by EA/Dice have made only cursory overtures to deal with cheats. Instead, focusing on DLC, the Premium subscription and purchasable upgrades. Game hacks are so prevalent in Battlefield 3 that it's said an average server can expect to have at least 10% of its players engaging in some manner of cheat. Entire businesses have sprung up with their only product being game hacks for BF3 and EA/Dice have done virtually nothing to stop it.

In short EA's decided that cheats are best dealt with by the community that plays the game. Unfortunately they've given them few tools to combat the problem.

EA's sorry about SimCity, What's an OUYA? and more!

2013-03-15T03:34:00.006-07:00

The Midagedgamer report for March 15, 2013

This week:

Ea apologizes for SimCity but no refunds!, New Borderlands 2 character coming, What's an OUYA? and more!

The big news out of EA this week? If you found yourself looking at a blank dialog box instead of playing SimCity, EA's got a consolation prize for you. They're going to offer you one of their downloadable games for free. Watch your email March 18th for details on how and what you'll be getting for the frustration you suffered last week.

SimCity developer Maxis' GM Lucy Bradshaw was quoted last Friday (March 8th) as saying the reason for the outage was.."a lot more people logged on than we expected. More people played and played in ways we never saw in beta....OK, we agree that was dumb but we are committed to fixing it."

That's all very well and nice and it's refreshing to hear an EA developer admitting the inadequacies of their beta programs. But only time will tell if they've learned from their mistakes. Time will also tell if the "free game" is salve for the wound or just a burnt offering. Didn't see anything about a refund in there BTW.

The following comments come from the referenced EA article...

"Why do I want another game to play on your obviously buggy and unreliable Origin service? Giving me another game that has a good chance of not working due to your servers isn't going to make me happy. Givi ng me an offline version of SimCity will

"Maybe you should think about NOT having this stupid Always Online DRM crap? Yeah? Might solve the problem of bad design and bad decisions on your part. "

EA apologizes for SimCity

More Borderlands 2 DLC in the works and it appears we'll be getting a sixth playable character. October saw the introduction of Gaige a female cyborg mechromancer which seems like a cross between a siren and a commando. At last weekend's South by Southwest Gearbox hinted at a new character which appears to be focused on Melee combat much like Brick in the first game.

These are DLC only, however, and not available to premium subscription members which makes me wonder what the point is of having it if I have to keep buying extra stuff? I wonder if Gearbox is looking at Borderlands 2 like EA looks at Battlefield 3. You know, a money machine? If so it doesn't bode well for Borderlands 3...

Ah well, wait a year and you'll get it all for $60 on a Steam sale....

New Borderlands 2 DLC

So are you one of those people looking to break out of the shackles of traditional console gaming with their high prices, subscription models and closed ecosystems? Then OUYA may have your alternative. OUYA is an Android based gaming console that will go for around $100 when it officially launches in June. Funded by a successful Kickstarter project started by Julie Uhrman and Yves Behar back in August 2012 the project managed to attract 8.5 Million US. That was 8 times their target by the way.

The news this week was the announcement that Kickstarter backers can expect to see their new OUYA boxes show up by March 28th.

What's significant about OUYA isn't just the migration of android based games from mobile devices to your HD TV. It's the freedom afforded to developers to develop without the restrictions that come from other platforms like Xbox and Playstation. OUYA claims that, "Anyone can make a game, every OUYA console is a developer kit. No need to purchase a license or an expensive SDK.."

The platform is more of a boon for indie game developers than even Valve's Steam can offer. The question remains whether this will be the functional alternative to mainstream consoles or end up a hobbyist platform for the true believer. If it becomes the Linux equivalent to Windows in the console gaming world the result will likely be less than revolutionary.

The other issue to consider is that with a few exceptions, Android based games are made for mobile devices with 4" screens. That may not translate well to your 50" HDTV. That is, unless you're ok with the bulk of your gaming looking like something from the original Sony Playstation. Of course that can change with time but developers will need to ramp up their efforts if OUYA has any chance of being a force in the console market.

In the end if OUYA serves no other purpose than to soften the draconian licensing and development practices of the Sony and Microsoft's of the world that's a good thing.

OUYA shipping March 28th

If you've been wondering why Nvidia's been shut out of the next generation consoles your answer may finally be here. In a nutshell, Sony and Microsoft are cheap and AMD is too. Apparently Nvidia passed on the opportunity to be in the next generation of consoles because the big 2 weren't offering enough scratch for the effort.

" (They) didn't want to do the business at the price those guys were willing to pay", Tony Tomasi Nvidia SVP of content

AMD came in cheaper so they got the gig. Sony claims it wasn't about the technology just the price. That's really all there is to it.

Why Nvidia's not in your next console

I guess it had something to do with the "support offline group play" feature that got a new phone from Samsung on the gaming news radar this week. Yes the highly anticipated Samsung S4 has been officially announced. It's a phone that lets you do things by waving your fingers at it. It's set for release at the end of April. Must be a slow news week...

Samsung Galaxy S4

That's it for this week.

Nothing simulated about SimCity's launch failure

2013-03-08T21:37:00.001-07:00

This week produced not one but two major product launches with 2 huge failures. Yes I'm talking about SimCity and Tomb Raider.

Of course in the case of SimCity the memory of the nearly disastrous launch of last year's Diablo 3 came racing back to the gaming community's consciousness. And why not? The failure was almost identical and the recovery even more clumsy. As of today SimCity is still suffering the effects with EA disabling functionality such as achievements, leaderboards and region filters. Developer Maxis is racing to add servers and patch issues but still seem to be in a state of denial.

"This has been an exciting and challenging week for the team here at Maxis, the culmination of years of planning and development. We have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and enthusiasm from our fans which has made it even more upsetting for us that technical issues have become more prominent in the last 24 hours..."

Outpouring of support? Most of the forum posts I've seen aren't exactly supportive...

"How many times in the last few years have games with online features or requirements been screwed up when the servers became overloaded? You’d think that someone in the games industry would have noticed this by now.." From a comment on Forbes

"I've been trying to play for the last 4 hours and still haven't even started my first city. I have been a die hard Simcity addict for going on 18 years. Not any longer. I am fed up with it and wish I hadn't wasted £65 on it." From a comment on Techcrunch

When even Amazon has to suspend sales of your game I have to question what they mean by "years of planning and development."

What metrics did EA and Maxis use to plan for launch day? Did anyone even look at those pre-order numbers? Was nothing learned from two closed betas? Beta players reported slow load times which resulted in Maxis adding a few more servers. Even in a tightly controlled sandbox the cracks were starting to show. So I suppose two closed betas were considered an adequate load test. Apparently not when thousands stared at an empty dialog box when the game went live.

So far the biggest news to come out of this debacle is Maxis' GM Lucy Bradshaw falling on the sword via a rumored internal memo that states...

"I'd like to say that it's not fair — that the game score (from polygon.com) shouldn't be punished for a server problem, But it is fair."

"SimCity is an online game and critics and consumers have every right to expect a smooth experience from beginning to end, I and the Maxis team take full responsibility to deliver on our promise."

Couple that with EA "suspending marketing" of the game due to the continuing server issues and no matter how great the game is, the failure of the launch will forever color it.

Now, let's address the elephant in the room.

All of this trouble, all of this pain comes from one source and that lands squarely in the lap of EA. You can't even blame Maxis for this one because we all know EA's penchant for sticking always-on DRM where it doesn't belong. That's what sunk SimCity's launch period.

There is absolutely no reason that any game from any publisher should require a persistent Internet connection. At least not for a single player game.

I've said it before, the Internet is not ubiquitous when it comes to access and having to be constantly connected offers the consumer nothing. It does however offer publishers like EA the opportunity to intrude into a gaming experience they were never invited to.

Real time ads, dynamic updates and unwanted invitations to online promotions are the real focus. EA wants to turn every product it sells into a perpetual money machine but they can't do that without absolute control of the experience.

Want DLC? you're going to have to buy it from EA. Forget about community contributed maps or character tweaks.

Think about it, when's the last time you heard about a Battlefield 3 mod? Remember Battlefield 1942? That game got new life with a community supported mod called Desert Combat and spawned the fortunes of developer DICE.

The only time an online connection was required was for multiplayer gameplay. It wasn't to annoy you with popup ads for new DLC or track your every move. It was just simple connectivity to other players.

That's as it should be but it isn't anymore. It's disappointing to not be able to play a multiplayer game when servers go offline but the single player experience should NEVER be affected by it.
Take another popular franchise that EA has applied the same formula to.

Need for Speed started out as a single player game with later versions allowing multiplayer gaming via LAN connections. As time went on EA began requiring connections to their servers that forced players onto web servers even if they were playing in the same room. It's culminated in the requirement for players to log into an interface called the "Autolog" that forces you to be online even if you're playing in single player mode.
There are Need for speed titles just a few years old that are now unplayable in multiplayer because EA has shut down the servers. How far behind can single player modes be?

(By the way, if Autolog sounds familiar it's the predecessor of Battlefield 3's Battlelog. The web based interface that disables any type of gameplay unless you're logged into EA servers. )

If we're going to be required to connect to a web server even to play a game in "offline" mode then we have to trust that EA will perpetually provide access which history shows they won't. That puts your $60 to $120 (addl. DLC or Subscription cost) investment in jeopardy. It's like selling you a car but giving you keys that will only start it for five years. After that even though the car is perfectly fine it will never run again because of your now useless keys. Leaving you with nothing to show for your money.

Is that a future you're willing to accept?

SimCity & Tomb Raider launch fails, EA backpedals and more!

2013-03-08T02:46:00.001-07:00

The Midagedgamer report for 3-8-2013

This week EA CFO backpedals, Tomb Raider, SimCity =launch day fails, and more!

So it seems that last week's comment by EA CFO Blake J. Jorgensen caused an uproar loud enough to cause him to issue a "clarification." concerning micro-transactions. Jorgensen claimed he was only referring to mobile games most of which are already "Free to Play"...

"The real core of the micro transaction business is within the mobile part of our business which is the free-to-play business."

Of course in the same breath he still likes the idea of milking a franchise...

"It allows someone to take a game that maybe they played for 1,000 hours and play it for 2,000 hours...We are very conscious that we don't want to make consumers feel like they're not getting value. We want to make sure consumers are getting value."

Paying twice for a game isn't much of a value proposition to me Blake.

EA CFO clarifies micro-transactions

So Tomb Raider launched this week and if you happen to have a high performance Nvidia based gaming rig your experience probably sucked. Nvidia's on the case but blames the developer for not getting the code to them on time.

"Unfortunately, NVIDIA didn't receive final code until this past weekend which substantially decreased stability, image quality and performance over a build we were previously provided. We are working closely with Crystal Dynamics to address and resolve all game issues as quickly as possible.
"In the meantime, we would like to apologize to GeForce users that are not able to have a great experience playing Tomb Raider, as they have come to expect with all of their favorite PC games,"

At this stage in the game (pardon the pun) why are we still coding games for specific GPU's? That crap should have went by the wayside somewhere around the last sale of the 3DFX Voodoo 5 cards.
Nvidia Tomb Raider issues

While we're on the subject...SimCity launched this week or at least that's what everyone expected to happen when they logged in to their Origin client Tuesday morning (March 5). Similar to the dreaded "Error 37" suffered on Diablo 3's launch day users found themselves in endless queues just trying to launch the game. It got bad enough that Amazon actually suspended sales with a note on the games product page saying,

"Important Note on "SimCity "Many customers are having issues connecting to the "SimCity" servers. EA is actively working to resolve these issues, but at this time we do not know when the issue will be fixed. Please visit https://help.ea.com/en/simcity/simcity for more information."

The status of the game was also set to "Currently unavailable" We don't know when or if this item will be available again."

Yet another example of a promising game brought down by an unbridled profit motive. Why pay full price for a game that's so dependent on being online? Is it DRM or just a part of the EA strategy to constantly sell you something even after you bought the product.

Just as in Diablo 3 SimCity requires a constant Internet connection even for single player gameplay. Which is ridiculous for a so-called Triple-A title. Of course the tech pundits turned tech apologists acknowledging that this was indeed a problem but that this was the way things were going to be from now on and citing how "smooth" Diablo 3 runs now.

Smooth? did we forget how long it took to get the servers straightened out? or the hacking of the marketplace? I suppose that's all part of "smooth" If anything kills PC gaming it's exactly this kind of event where poor planning and unbridled greed trump common sense. Great job EA and Square Enix...

Sim City zero day fail

Amazon pulls SimCity

In PS4 news it appears that NVIDIA's PhysX and APEX technologies will be showing up in Sony's next generation console. Considering it's an AMD GPU, that proves once and for all that the much hyped physics engine is nothing more than a bit of driver code not exclusive to NVIDIA hardware.

So as you're enjoying fluttering flags and rippling waves lapping the shore of some virtual sea remember that apparently NVIDIAs done what AMD couldn't.

That's not fanboy, it's fact...

Nvidia on an AMD

Finally some commentary...

It's interesting to note that this week's launch day failures of two highly anticipated games shared a common flaw. The need to be connected to the Internet just to play a game (although Tomb Raider is somewhat less draconian in its approach.). Then we have EA's CFO looking at games as nothing more than an opportunity to nickel and dime you to death and a pattern starts to reveal itself.

It's all about creating a constant revenue stream instead of concentrating on making a quality product. Everyone's got a right to make a buck but sacrificing the core product for it is inexcusable. When you release a flawed game like Warfighter or inadequately prepare your infrastructure for a launch day that requires everyone to phone home, you're not doing your due diligence.

Worse, the tech pundits have turned tech apologists for the industry every time we have an event like this and quite simply it needs to stop. It is NOT acceptable to require an online connection to play the single player mode of ANY game. It's also NOT acceptable to require an Internet connection without first adequately preparing the back end to support it.

I mean, how could you NOT know what the load was going to be when most games have pre-orders 3 to 6 months out from launch day?

The response, "Oops! so sorry"

Not good enough guys, this isn't your first trip to the rodeo. There is no excuse but it seems everyone is making them anyway.

There's no reason to keep accepting this. Remember, you're the customer, the game industries' bread and butter and you are under no obligation to buy their wares. It seems the industry has forgotten that fact and replaced humility with arrogance.

If you want to fix it the answer is simple. If you don't want to be fleeced stop acting like a sheep. Ignore the industry apologists and the lame excuses. This is not the future and NOT the way it has to be but nothing changes until you take action. Vote with your wallet and support publishers who focus on a quality product instead of their money machine.

There's an old adage that says build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door. We need to remind the game publishers of that lesson. They need to stop focusing on revenue projections and start focusing on making a good product. Do that and the revenue will take care of itself.

Just Talkin Tech Episode 1

2013-03-01T20:01:00.001-07:00

This is the first episode of a new video series called "Just Talkin' Tech" It's nothing fancy just me and a friend of mine casually talking over tech topics. Sometimes it's about gaming, sometimes it's about IT. The first one is gaming related and I hope you enjoy the humor. IT related JTT's as I'll call them from now on will show up on my infotechasiseeit blog here...http://infotechasiseeit.blogspot.com

Nickels, Dimes and EA, Fight for your gamer rights & AMD's got perfect hair forever!

2013-03-01T04:36:00.003-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for 3-1-2013

This Week: EA wants to nickel and dime you, Stand up for your Video game rights! and perfect hair forever!

Ok, you know how much I hate the money machine that is gaming by subscription. It's not enough to overpay for a game now the EA's and Activisions of the world want to keep charging you for what you should already have. Now comes a bald faced admission from EA's CFO and Executive Vice president Blake J. Jorgensen that this is indeed the new revenue model. His quote...

“The next and much bigger piece is microtransactions within games. ... we’re building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way, either to get to a higher level to buy a new character, to buy a truck, a gun, whatever it might be, and consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of the business,”

That's nice but if the EA and Activisions of the world want to make it work then the next Battlefield or Call of Duty better start out Free to Play. Free to Play's not a bad model when its done correctly. In games like Star Trek Online I've actually bought upgrades I didn't need just to support what I felt was a great game. Free to Play and Microtransactions are synonymous what isn't is charging me an inflated price up front and expecting me to pay for the game twice.

Triple-A and Microtransactions

This isn't gaming related which is exactly the point. Checking my twitter feed found a story about the upcoming sequel to Will Ferrell's Anchorman , Anchorman 2 on IGN. Why am I getting movie news on a gaming site? It's not even a movie based on a game! Stop it!

IGN does movies

It seems there's an active gamers lobby to keep the politicians out of our chosen pastime. The Video Game Voters Network is out to stop Washington from painting video games with a broad brush. It looks to be a growing grassroots lobby backed up by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) Check them out at the link below and give yourself a voice louder than any forum post.

Video Game Voters Network

HardOCP did a review of the new 140MM Corsair Hydro H90 and H110 CPU coolers. The big difference? no frills, no blinkin' lights, no colored coolant and 140mm radiator instead of the H50/H70's 120MM size. The H90 has a singlewide (like a mobile home) 140mm radiator while the H110 has a 280mm radiator. These new coolers are single core radiators roughly half the thickness of an H70. Check them out at HardOCP

Kotaku decided to let us all know what the next Assassin's Creed game will be called and even gave a few shots of the box art. Apparently the game is called Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag. Due out, who knows, price? nothing yet. In spite of the misleading title the game will not have you running around dispatching unruly household pests armed only with a blade and can of Raid. No, it's all about pirates! Check out the link to Kotaku to keep up with the unfolding tale of AssCreed 4...

What? It's a contraction...really..

AMD is bragging about hair. Specifically Lara Croft's hair in the new Tomb Raider scheduled for release on Tuesday March 5th. Apparently TresFX is a physics implementation that makes items that are difficult to realistically render, like hair, look more natural in video games.

Which makes perfect sense since Tomb Raider only allows a third person view and all of us will naturally be looking at Lara's...hair.

TresFX

Finally, Battlefield 4 is coming out next year not late this year. EA Boss Frank Gibeau says it'll stay in a modern setting. Hmm, we've already went after the Russians, spent most of our BF time ripping up the middle east so I guess it's China's turn?

It's also being developed for next gen consoles like the PS4 and new Xbox. In other words, there's a very real possibility that Battlefield is about to enter the trap of Call of Duty's Modern Warfare series. That means It'll look good but basically be a collection of new DLC following a copycat BF3 storyline. I hope I'm wrong but I wasn't about MW3! Talk about milking a franchise!

BF4info

The future of gaming, micro-transactions

2013-02-28T14:03:00.000-07:00

Article first published as The Future of Gaming: Micro-Transactions on Technorati.

Star Trek Online, Lord of Ultima, Dungeons and Dragons online and The simpsons What's the common thread? You can play them but if you want to see the closing credits you're going to need to peel off some green.

It's become a very lucrative space with $25 million made by EA in the last quarter of 2012 just on their Simpsons mobile game alone. EA and other large publishers like Activision have been actively exploring new revenue models to offset declines in traditional boxed sales.

It's a trend that's gradually finding its way into the traditional gaming space of PC's and consoles. Subscriptions, upgrades and DLC have become more commonplace but game publishers see an opportunity to push the model even further.

The typical triple-A game title now averages $60. DLC is usually around $15 with upgrades usually a fraction of that. If you were to take advantage of all the extra content you could essentially pay for the game twice when you were done.

Of course you don't have to purchase the extra content but your experience will be diminished compared to those that do. EA's Blake J. Jorgensen thinks that's where the money is.

"The next and much bigger piece is micro transactions within games... we’re building into all of our games the ability to pay for things along the way, either to get to a higher level to buy a new character, to buy a truck, a gun, whatever... and consumers are enjoying and embracing that way of the business"

I'm not so sure consumers are "enjoying "micro-transactions as much as they're just tolerating them at this point. The model can work if your upfront investment is minimal but the future may not be so certain if we're still paying triple-A prices.

It's not unlike going to a movie, paying your $15 admission and upon arriving in the theater finding very few seats all of them occupied. You inquire of the management and find that your ticket only entitles you to see the movie not to sit down unless you pay an additional charge. Thus starts a chain of events that eventually ends in your $15 movie costing $40. That doesn't even include the popcorn!

It's not as farfetched as it seems. EA's own Battlefield 3 already employs such a model that disenfranchises those who don't purchase a "premium" subscription or additional DLC. Even franchises like Need For Speed aren't immune with Most Wanted getting paid DLC in the next few weeks.

It seems the trend of "micro-transactions" is at least a part of the immediate future. Time will tell if gamers will tolerate all the extra tolls along the way.

So long to the Battlefield

2013-02-26T03:06:00.000-07:00

That's it, I'm done...

Back in October 2011 most of the reviews of Battlefield 3 were like this...

Reviewer:

" When you are running full tilt down an alley, literally hopping over obstacles with your legs swinging, it feels so life like you say to yourself, wow, is this cool."

Me:

Bulls**t, what is this guy, 12?

I've never tripped over so many non-existent rocks or felt so out of contact with the terrain in a game since the PC version of Battlezone. Yeah, Frostbite 2 is pretty but it's not the second coming. Collision detection is about as good as Borderlands 2 and moving around the maps is only slightly better. I can't count how many times I've spent in vain trying just to run up a flight of stairs.

Reviewer:

"I have played most of the maps more than a few times, and never once did I feel like I was trapped by prone snipers."

Me:

Again, I repeat, Bulls**t. We've all had the experience of the A-hole camped out on a hill overlooking the enemy base racking up spawn kills. Or maybe it's the Jet aces who can take out opposing aircraft before they even get off the ground. Don't even get me started with the aimbot hacks.

Look, at this point the novelty has definitely worn off and all EA cares about is milking the franchise with DLC, paid perks (shortcut kits) and "Premium" memberships that keep the more frugal amongst us relegated to second class status.

What follows is my list of "I'm tired(s)"

I'm tired of being kicked off of servers because of issues outside of my control like say a version incompatibility with PUNKBUSTER. I mean c'mon, PUNKBUSTER? That creaky POS didn't work on anything but the most moronic of hacks in the 90's why do they still use it?
I'm tired of losing points, bonuses, medals and ribbons because a server hiccup drops me off a server.
I'm tired of not getting credit for a kill when I'm the only person who shot at the enemy.
I'm tired of unloading an entire clip of an assault rifle at point blank range into an enemy player and getting taken out with one shot of their pistol.
I'm tired of knife attacks being almost completely indefensible unless they come straight at you. Don't give me that crap about hearing them sneak up either, that's Bulls**t.
I'm tired of EA's insistence on using a web browser as the front end of its game.
I'm tired of having to go online just to play cooperative mode. Even Borderlands 2 has a LAN mode!
I'm tired of ever fewer servers available to non-Premium players.
I'm tired of stat lags taking up to 24 hours to resolve.
I'm tired of server lag on connections with less than a 50ms ping.
I'm tired of being bounced off of servers halfway through a game because a private server's "VIP member" joined the game.
I'm tired of issues on the tiny number of "official" EA servers (which rarely show up in browse lists) causing the rest of the servers to develop ridiculous lag times.
I'm tired of Dice's constant fiddling with game mechanics just to wrench the latest DLC into the rest of the game or satisfy a bunch of whiners.
I'm tired of surprise maintenance windows and hours long multi-gigabyte downloads to satisfy DLC that I'LL NEVER BUY!
I'm tired of half of the servers that I CAN get on being populated by hackers that EA/Dice either can't or won't address.
I'm tired of map bugs and glitches in a game that's going on 2 years old still not being addressed.
I'm tired of the auto balance system in general. I've yet to see it create an evenly matched set of teams. It's only data points are length of time on the server and how many players are on each side. If you've got 20 level 50 colonels against 30 level 20 "whatever's" who do you think is going to win? Auto balance won't help you there.
I'm tired of stupid administrative options on ranked servers that allow restrictions on weapons or have 4 figure ticket counts. Ever get bounced for using a sniper rifle? I have. How about 1500 ticket conquest maps or 2000 point death matches? Those are just endurance contests and no fun unless you like sticking pins in your eyeballs.
I'm tired of Bulls**t stats that ding me for quitting a server that I got disconnected from by no fault of my own.

Finally, I'm just sick of wasting my time and not enjoying the game anymore. It used to be out of 10 games at least half would be worth playing. Now it's less than 1. I've invested over 200 hours in Battlefield 3 and managed to make it to a 1 star colonel. All without hacks or a "Premium" membership.

That's not bad for someone without a "sh*t bucket" (Battlefield Friends reference BTW). The game is all about EA's money machine, Rambo wannabe's and hacks. It really hasn't been fun in months.

Perhaps that's the lesson of video games. After a year, regardless of DLC, most of them run their course and you're looking toward the next chapter of the story.

I play games to have fun not to stroke my ego or massage any dark sociopathic tendencies. Outside of the hacks that's all you'll find on the ranked servers now.

Which is exactly why I'm against subscription models and paid DLC. The reality is that after 6 months there's nothing new under the sun. DLC just gives you new maps that tend to fall out of favor in a few weeks. Weapon upgrades and new game modes are just variants on what's already there. You're literally beating a dead horse.

Which is why I'm done. I've officially uninstalled Battlefield 3 from all my PC's preserving only my saved games and player status for any bonuses it affords me when Battlefield 4 comes out. Which I'm sure I'll have had quite enough of about a year after ITS release as well.

So long for now, Battlefield. The first 6 months were fun...

PS4 announced, EA & Activision layoffs and more

2013-02-21T23:16:00.003-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report for February 22, 2013

This Week:

Activision and EA Layoffs, PS4 is announced, kinda and not much else.

Activision is dumping it's licensed property business and with it about 30 employees. In case you don't know, licensed properties come from other popular media like comic books and movies. Activision's stable includes James Bond, Spider-Man and Family guy. Probably not a bad move since most licensed properties usually end up being an embarrassment to the developer and the publisher. Superman anyone?

Activision is also laying off some of it's Treyarch (Black ops 2) development studio in an effort to..

"...better align our development talent against the needs of DLC development... "

In other words to keep milking franchises with more DLC instead of producing new original titles. It's all about the cash flow guys.

Activision layoffs and reduction in "licensed properties"

Not to be outdone, EA has also confirmed layoffs in its Montreal and Los Angeles Studios. Frank Gibeau said in a statement on Thurdsay...

"Thousands of our existing employees have been retrained and redeployed to work on the new platforms and initiatives. But when it is not possible to redeploy a team, we soften the tough decisions with assistance." The "assistance" comes from... "...outplacement services and severance packages to ease their transition to a new job."

Hmm, I wish someone had eased my transition...

I'm wondering how many more reports of layoffs we're going to hear about between now and the holiday season. With both major consoles moving to X86 architecture the need for programming skills on previous platforms will quickly evaporate. Methinks EA better include some free programming classes in its severance package.

EAlayoffs

Crysis 3 has officially launched. Check out Ryan Shrout's game stream video below. Warning, it was sponsored by AMD which means most of it was like sitting through an AMD infomercial. Just turn down the sound and enjoy the gameplay.

pcper crysis 3 game stream

Bioshock Infinite is finally complete. 2K's development studio Irrational Games has reported that the game has gone gold and will release on March 26th for Xbox360, PC and Playstation. Amazing how much life they can still get out of the Unreal 3 engine.

Bioshock Infinite

If you're like me and had nothing better to do then you probably caught the online stream Wednesday of the Playstation 4 announcement. From over 2 hours of coverage we've learned this much...It's officially going to be called the PS4, the controller has a touchpad and a bunch of developers are making games for it. The rest we already knew like it will be based on X86 architecture and have 8GB of DDR5 RAM hooked to an 8 core AMD processor with onboard GPU and a "massive" amount of storage.

So we pretty much learned nothing new outside of confirming information leaked months ago to all the gaming websites. We didn't see what the console will look like, what the media format will be nor what it will cost. Just that it will be out around Holiday 2013.

We've heard nothing from Microsoft about the upcoming XBOX by the way but if the rumors are anything like the PS4 rumors then it'll be pretty much the same spiel. Which begs the question. If consoles will finally be based on PC hardware then what's the point of having them? Why would I want to limit myself to a locked up ecosystem when I could do so much more on a PC? Especially when newer operating systems like Windows 8 are designed to be more interactive. Perhaps this is the ultimate irony in that PC's will finally triumph over consoles by actually "BEING" consoles!

PS4 announcement

Guess what, there's been another Origin update! Yes version 9.1.13.89 was released this week and it contained......"miscellaneous bug fixes" Get yours today! Like you had a choice...

That's it for this week.

Steam 4 Linux, Pirating the Pirate Bay & more

2013-02-15T17:11:00.002-07:00

The Midagedgamer Report 2-15-2013

This Week:

Goodbye physical media! Gamestop closing stores, the ultimate irony and more!

The Internet is the future not to mention the past and present. In fact it's all a gamer needs If you agree with Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney. Sweeney believes that the way we get our games now is inefficient. What with all that advertising, packaging and retail channel stuff. From Sweeney,

"Once you have a game, it's available pervasively online and your devices are all Internet-connected. Do you really need to run television ads to get people to find it at the top of the App Store?"

The Epic games boss claims getting rid of all that pesky marketing and physical copy stuff will allow more money to flow to development. Again from Sweeney, " I'm looking forward to our digital future. Development budgets are going to be the dominant cost in the industry."

Really Tim? Why aren't they now? Considering the even mix of physical and digital media the assertion rings hollow. If the prospect of waiting for multi-gigabyte downloads and being forced to be connected to the Internet just to play a game are attractive that rings true. Of course recent history shows that's rarely the ideal situation, Diablo 3 anyone? This is just another example of a game company trying to switch to a subscription model to milk a franchise. I don't believe for a second that going to an all digital delivery system is beneficial to development teams. More likely it's just cheap CEO's looking to pad their own fortunes.

Epic games boss says retail is inefficient

In a related story the Epic Games boss says he's "more enthusiastic now than ever" for next generation consoles. He thinks next gen consoles will reflect gaming pc's now. I guess he doesn't quite understand that next gen consoles could barely stand up to a mainstream business PC right now when it comes to gaming. Sweeney is likely more excited about the prospect of Microsoft and Sony switching to more of an online than physical media focus. Sweeney's Digital future indeed.

epic games boss enthusiastic

If you thought Aliens: Colonial Marines looked good, hold off. Seems everybody hates it, including the developer. With the project bouncing around multiple studios for the past 2 years it's no surprise the hype didn't live up to the reality. Gearbox led the way on the project but outsourced a large portion of it to Timegate who prompty decided to toss most of the work including art and design. So much for outsourcing.

Aliens Colonial marines

In Valve news a whole bunch of people got axed this week. Gabe says it's no big deal and no projects will be affected. CVG says that nobody's criticizing the company from the inside, just the outside. Which makes me want to put on my captain obvious shades.

The axe falls at Valve

GameStop did its own study and found that 60% of console players won't buy anything from Sony or Microsoft that blocks used games. Bravo gamers! It's time the big boys remembered whom is serving whom.

Gamestop says 60% of its customers won't buy MS or Sony consoles

By the way, GameStop is going to be closing 250 stores this year although they will be opening 60 to 70 new stores. It's likely a pre-emptive action to offset a potential drop in sales from next gen console hostility to used games.

Gamestop closing stores

So if you've been breathlessly awaiting Steam for Linux to exit "Beta" you can breathe now. Valve has brought the platform to official status with great fanfare. With 50 games cut up to 75% till February 21st now's the time to get in on all that OpenGL goodness. Thing is, unless somebody convinces Microsoft to make a port of DirectX to the open source community your selection of games are going to be stuck in 90's. OpenGL can do graphics but not much else.

Any serious gamer who's tried to make their game controller or sound card work on a Linux platform knows that. Windows owes its continuing existence to two factors; Business and gamers. That's because it takes a lot less fiddling to make things happen on Windows these days. The truth is that Linux on the desktop is roughly at the level of Windows 95 and in some scenarios, Windows 3.1. Gabe Newell is well aware of that so I wouldn't be surprised if he had something up his sleeve for his upcoming Steam Box.

Steam for Linux out of Beta

Speaking of Valve, there was a 110MB client update on Thursday morning. Support for Linux, of course as well as some other client tweaks.

Steam client update

The guy who took out Osama Bin Laden offered to consult on Medal of Honor: Warfighter but EA turned him down. He was told the production was "stacked with consultants" Wow, considering how bad the game was it couldn't have hurt to hire on someone who actually knew about military tactics.

Another reason Warfighter sucked

Finally,

For some, there can be no greater betrayal than violating the edict of honor among thieves. The Pirate bay is looking to sue a copycat site for copyright infringement. Talk about your pots calling kettles black! Regardless of how you view their "mission" or copyright law you can't escape the irony.