The Yin and Yang of Gaming

Steam Redux

Kuroshiro — Tue, 18 May 2010 23:14:00 +0000

Valve recently updated Steam and released a version for Mac OS X. What’s even better is that they treat a game license as OS independent. If you own Portal, you own Portal regardless of which platform you play it on, PC or Mac. While Mac OS isn’t my primary OS, it’s still nice to know I can kick back and play the same awesome games on that as well.

On a side note, my Steam library is up to 216 entries. Now, some of that includes things like the single player and multiplayer versions of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but hey. Steam is quite evil on the pocketbook.

An Experiment in WoW

Kuroshiro — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:40:07 +0000

So I’m trying an experiment in WoW. Gevlon started a project to form a PVP guild on one of the most unbalanced servers in the EU region, Magtheridon. The purpose of the guild originally was to get as much horde to transfer off as possible to try and rebalance the 15:1 ratio back towards the alliance, if only a bit. Once the free transfers were stopped, the ratio was down to around 8:1. That accomplished, he decided the goal was to kill horde in the world so that they’d be forced to band together and learn to fight in order to get resources, using a measure of his own devising called Gankscore. However, a flaw in the algorithm pretty much killed that, so the current plan is to deny horde access to Wintergrasp. I’m suffering from a bit of expansionitis, so I’ve managed to get ahold of an EU WoW Battlechest and started a character to join in; I started a warrior, since I’ve never really spent much time playing that class.

As of this post, I’m level 12, and have joined the guild, though I don’t show up in the list yet for some reason. I’m running 9 hours behind Magtheridon server time, so prime time there is around 10am PST. Since I normally play 11pm-2am PST, it’s early morning server time. Last night there were a grand total of 6 people on the entire server alliance side. It’s very challenging trying to establish an economic foothold here, but I’m slowly making progress. I’ve got about 30 gold so far, and I’m pinching copper wherever I can. Level-appropriate greens seem to be selling on the AH for 20g a pop, so there’s no way I’ll be outfitting myself via the AH. Presumably the bulk of my levelling will occur via the LFD tool, so I’m going to learn how to tank. Now that I’ve got talent points to spend, I’m looking for good warrior sites for some insight.

DJ Hero – The world’s most awesome rhythm game

Kuroshiro — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:16:53 +0000

“Last night a DJ saved my life…”

I’ve always loved DJing. From 1991-1997 I did a weekly techno radio show with live beatmixing. When I heard about DJ Hero, I knew I had to get it. It does not disappoint. The turntable controller is mostly well built. I’m a bit disappointed with the center notch on the crossfader. I have a tendency to overshoot when I bring both tracks back in, but that’s something I’ll get used to I’m sure. I also like that you can unlock the tracks using easier difficulty settings, then turn the heat up once they’re all available.

WoW: Warsong Gulch Hilarity

Kuroshiro — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 19:37:17 +0000

So a few days ago a Horde guildie reminded me that the S1 ring was going away today and while grinding marks and honor to pick it up, I ran a few Warsong Gulch BGs. I’ll simply state that I hate WSG and leave it at that. However, it never ceases to amaze me at the lack of situational awareness people exhibit. I managed to solo cap TWICE with no escort and no attacks. How’d I do it? By doing the one thing that people don’t expect you to do: I ran around behind the Alliance GY, dropped off the cliff as far over as possible, and sucked wall back to our ramp. There were tons of people in the middle, and any one of the Alliance could have seen me and stomped me flat. But since everyone seemed to be focused on the center, I slipped by with nary a peep.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m not a particularly good WSG player, not by a long shot. Against a competent team there’s no way I would have pulled this off once, much less twice. But when everyone starts playing grabass in the middle, it opens a lot of possibilities.

Steam

Kuroshiro — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 16:13:43 +0000

So over the years I’ve become a firm believer in Steam. I just like being able to install a small program, then walk away and everything gets downloaded. It makes things so much easier. No CD keys to remember or anything. I just picked up the Unreal Deal, even though I’ve got most of the games already (including UT3)….I think at this point I’m not going to buy anything unless it’s on Steam. It’s just too convenient.

I’ve also been playing a lot of CS:S at Seattle-DuckSoup, these guys are fun to hang out with. If you’re looking for a fairly laid back yet competitive server, there are much worse ones out there. The admins are reasonable, and a bit crazy too.

Update (05/18/2010): These guys have taken it to the next level. They’re now DuckSoup Gaming. Give them a try, as they have a CS:S server, a TF2 server, and a BFBC2 server. They’ve got a great bunch of regulars and really good attitude.

XNA Game Studio Express released

Kuroshiro — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 08:52:51 +0000

It’s out. Installed, and joined the Creator’s Club. Compiled and played a few games. This is pretty awesome stuff. I can’t wait to get on writing something, I was thinking about maybe Dice Wars.

Phantasy Star Universe beta – I don’t think I care anymore

Kuroshiro — Fri, 13 Oct 2006 00:27:08 +0000

As per Kotaku, Sega is releasing the open beta for PSO this weekend, which will end on the 18th. WTF? With XBL down on the 17th, that gives people, what, 3 days? That’s not a beta, that’s a marketing campaign. Plus they want 10 bucks a month for the retail product over and above purchase cost. Uh, no thanks. I have enough gaming services to pay for. (WoW, Eve, XBL)

Xbox Live Vision Camera is Windows Compatible

Kuroshiro — Tue, 26 Sep 2006 00:49:28 +0000

So I picked up the Xbox Live Vision Camera today, and seeing as how it’s just USB, I plugged it into my laptop to see what would happen. It works! Interestingly enough, a second USB device shows up: “Microsoft Xbox 360 Live Vision Security Method 3″. It doesn’t install any actual driver files, but it definitely recognizes it and goes through a long brouhaha getting it up and running. If you plug it in, let it connect to windows update and everything should work out eventually.

Skill-based vs. Class-based MMOs….FIGHT!

Kuroshiro — Tue, 29 Aug 2006 21:25:28 +0000

Via Lum, Ubiq talks about skill-based and class-based MMOs, and why ultimately class-based is better. I tend to agree with him. I think a purely skill-based system, such as Bethesda Softworks’ Elder Scrolls series, is perfectly fine for a single-player experience, because you can get away with the protagonist eventually becoming a minor deity in its own right. However, for the multiplayer experience, you have to constrain skills somehow, and inevitably broken combinations show up or everything is watered down for balance’s sake. Maybe it’s a personal preference, but it’s part of the reason I never got into Second Life. It’s got too much freedom, there’s no defining context at all. Creating for the sake of creating is fine and all, but give me a little push, at least. I guess I suck for not being creative enough.

Anyway, there’s nothing wrong with skill-based systems, it’s just they’re much much harder to get right, and with the popularity of World of Warcraft these days, no one can afford to get it wrong….

Not For Noobs

Kuroshiro — Wed, 23 Aug 2006 14:09:46 +0000

Well the timer ran out, and it’s a mouse. A tasty looking one at that. Enough buttony goodness for me. I am severely tempted.