Steam Summer Sale!

It's that glorious time of year again.   The Steam Summer Sale is upon us.  There are amazing deals going on through July 10th.  Don't miss out on all the deals.  I've already managed to save quite a bit of cash picking up games that I've been wanting to play for the last year or two.  Even the Mann Co. Store in TF2 has had sales on their items.  Additionally, you can use tickets to unlock free swag for your games.  You earn tickets by doing different things in-game, or otherwise.  The list changes daily.  Summer is hot.  Cool of inside with an awesome new game.

Team Fortress 2 is Now Free to Play

It's been made official today.  Valve Software's smash hit, Team Fortress 2, has gone free to play.  Originally released in 2007, the game has received more than 200 updates.  The community around the game is still going strong, and this will hopefully add more players to the mix.  Something that influenced Valve's decision in all of this has been the success of the Mann Co. Store within the game.  This allows you to pay actual money for items within the game.  None of it is necessary since you can be randomly awarded the items, or even craft them yourself.  You can choose to pay if you don't have the time or the patience.

Along with the announcement of going free to play,  the Uber Update dropped.  This brought new items for the Medic, Heavy, Scout, Spy, Demo, Sniper, Soldier, and Pyro.  Some classes got more love than others (and one completely skipped.  Poor Engineer.).

I strongly encourage anyone who hasn't played TF2, to give it a shot.  All it will take now is a little patience for the download, and the creation of a free Steam account.

Zombie Week Redux: Wednesday - Plants Vs. Zombies

Many of you have probably already played Pop Cap's puzzle/defense game Plants vs. Zombies, but in case you haven't I'm here to let you know a bit more about it.  PvZ is a delightful game available for the iPhone, iPad, and PC/Mac.  The objective is to prevent the hilarious zombie horde from entering your home and eating your brains.  Your faithful friends, plants, are here to protect you.  You acquire sun power to help generate more plants to keep your home (and brains) safe.  The zombie characters are very well done, and the plants abilities and names are well thought out.  This is a game that I thought I would never enjoy, but became addicted to it like crack.  If you don't own it already, pick it up for any platform.  You do, however, get more content in the PC/Mac version of the game.  There are various mini games that you do not have access to in the iOS version.  Though no matter what you play it on, you'll have a blast.

Gears of War 3 Beta Access For Pre-Orders

For all of those who have pre-ordered Gears of War 3 at GameStop, beta access begins today.  This begins a full week after beta access was given to those who purchased Bulletstorm.  Correction.  For those who purchased Bulletstorm on the Xbox 360.  There is a webpage put together by GameStop that details all the information about the beta.

Gears of War 3 looks to be heaps of fun.  I'll have to stop by a friend's house to check out the beta, and chainsaw someone in half.

Gearbox Helps a Fan Propose

A video recently surfaced online that depicted a character from the game Borderlands, helping a fan propose to his girlfriend.  It is a minute and a half long, and is rather entertaining.  It is awesome to see a game developer do something very nice for a fan.  There are links to the video itself, and to the response from the bride to be.  Kotaku has details on the back story.  Ahh, love and video games.  Here's to Gearbox, and to the happy couple, Ben and Tora.

The Making of Portal 2. There's an App For That

Recently on the iTunes App Store for the iPad, there was an app released called "The Final Hours of Portal 2".  This app is an interactive book, if you will, for the iPad.  It provides you with back story on the developers, and the processes behind the making of Portal 2.  

You get a pretty good look into the backgrounds of the developers of Portal and Portal 2.  It also delivers a great interactive experience.  There are polls, photos, and videos.  There is so much jam-packed into this app.  Some may argue that content like this should ship with the game, but for $1.99 you won't find any complaints from this gamer.  

To pick up your own copy of this app, click here and enjoy.

Rumors of Nintendo's Next System

It appears as if our old friend, Nintendo, is trying to jump ahead of the competition.  Many online sources reference "Project Cafe" as the codename for Nintendo's next gaming system.  IGN is reporting of a new CPU that is superior to that in the Xbox 360, and a GPU superior to the PS3's.

Project Cafe, or the Wii 2 as some call it, is rumored to have two different kinds of controllers.  One of which is supposed to have a 4" touch screen display in the middle of it (other sources say up to 6.2").  The folks over at IGN have made a concept design of the controller.  The other controller is to be in the same style of the Wii.

With the hardware advances we're looking at, we should expect the console to cost somewhere in the $350 to $400 range.  Nintendo may be trying to break away from some of the pre-conceived notions that people have about them nowadays.  Most people refer to the Wii as being a casual game console.  Nintendo may be trying to win back some of the fans that left them for a more "hard core" gaming experience.

The earliest we could see Nintendo's next console could be by the end of this year.  It may be more likely that we see it sometime early in 2012.  Only time will tell.  Old-School Nintendo fanboys rejoice!

How I Fell Back In Love With PC Gaming

One night in December of 2006, I cruised around the local Best Buy with money to burn.  I was 22, had a new credit card, and was looking to put it to work.  I decided to spend $399 plus tax, on an Xbox 360.  What led me to my purchase, was a recent history of my gaming pc having problem after problem.  I was sick and tired of troubleshooting driver issues, re-installing games, and reformatting and doing a fresh install of Windows XP.  I was doing what I swore I would never do.  I was giving up my mouse and keyboard to be a console gamer.  I knew that at least with a console, I wouldn't have to worry about anything.  You put the game in the console, you play the game.  Done.  I simply wanted to spend more time playing the game than troubleshooting it.  I got my wish.  The experience was simple.

The coming months were bliss. I played hours and hours of games on my new Xbox, and I cared about my Gamerscore. It seemed that my new love affair would never end. I was playing Crackdown when disaster struck.  There was artifacting on my screen, and a loud beep came from my TVs speakers.  I then was witness to the "three red rings of death".  I was sad, yet simultaneously happy.  I was sad because my new console was broken, but happy because I knew that Microsoft would foot the bill to fix my new companion.  I filed my claim with Microsoft on the same day, and they sent me a box to send back my defective Xbox 360.  The turn around time was somewhere around two weeks, and I was back to playing all my new games.  I was back to my console gaming lifestyle.

Months later Rock Band entered my life.  My time spent playing my Xbox 360 skyrocketed.  I was obsessed with the game.  I played so much that I had made it up to playing expert drums within a few months.  If I'm not mistaken, I also did not have a girlfriend during this period of time.  It was also during this period of time that my Xbox 360 broke yet again.  I had the same speedy, and friendly service from Microsoft.  Another box.  Another two weeks.  Back in business.

This cycle would go on to repeat itself three more times.  They kept replacing it with the same generation Xbox that was known to fail.  I have had six Xbox 360s since 2006.  My last one broke a bit over a year ago, and has been broken ever since.  The last one was not the red ring issue that was covered under Microsoft's warranty.  My particular issue is that it simply will not read discs.  It tells me to place my Xbox 360 games into an Xbox 360.  It is rather infuriating.  I refuse to pay Microsoft $120+ to fix my sixth broken unit.   This was no longer the simple experience I was looking for.

What was a man to do?  I plugged in my old PC, installed Windows 7 and Steam, and caught up on some of my older games.  I came to realize that some newer games would still play fine on my aging machine.  It seemed that my whole time playing console games, PC games hadn't become that much more demanding on computers.  I was up and killing zombies with Left 4 Dead.  I was building sentries and capturing intelligence in Team Fortress 2, and questing in World of Warcraft.  I was also re-connecting with my PC gaming friends.  As time passed, I became decreasingly upset about my broken Xbox.

Since then I have added a few upgrades to my machine so that it could be my Hackint0sh/Gaming PC.  My experience has been much the same on my PC as it was on my console.  I now can just install, and play.  I don't seem to have the same issues I used to.  Maybe it is because Windows 7 isn't a steaming pile of crap.  Many games even support an Xbox 360 controller, which is great for my casual games, or for times that I want to sit back in my chair and put my feet up.  The PC gaming experience has become much more streamlined, and accessible to the average user.  PC gaming is also a cheaper hobby than its console counterpart. During my adult, console gaming years, I also began to see that you are charged for everything.  Any download content that would be free to the PC community, was between $5 and $20 for console gamers.  At the time I thought it was an ok price to pay for the simplicity of everything.  I dumped a lot of money into Rock Band DLC, and other various upgrades and expansion packs for my other games.  Now none of this was accessible. Games are also cheaper at launch for the PC/Mac platform.  There are new sales on Steam every week.  Overall it is a more wallet friendly platform.

The lure of console gaming still exists.  In fact I still want to purchase one of the new Xbox 360s so that I can play Rock Band 3.  I still have friends on Xbox Live to earn achievements with.  That day will come soon enough.  In a way I do feel fortunate that my Xbox broke when it did.  I have enjoyed a lot of games with friends and strangers that I wouldn't have had the opportunity to otherwise.  I appreciate how far PC gaming has come.  It is not dying like many claim.  It is in fact thriving, so please speak up if you are with me.  I raise my mouse and keyboard to you.

Moving Science Forward

Since the First of this month there has been a lot of a buzz within the gaming community.  Gaming websites and forums everywhere have been littered with posts, or advertisements for Portal 2.  This is a game, that for many, needs no introduction or explanation.  If you don't fall into that group, it's ok, I'll catch you up.

On April 1, 2011, The Potato Sack bundle of games went on sale on Steam (a digital method of distribution for computer games).  This began the ARG (Alternate Reality Game) that was created by Valve Software to promote the release of Portal 2. (more about the ARG here)

Now, the good stuff.  Portal 2 is a fantastic game.  The characters, environments, and dialogue are incredible.  If you enjoyed the first game, you may find yourself grinning quite a bit throughout the sequel.  For fans of the first Portal, Portal 2 does not disappoint.  The new elements added to the puzzles are a very welcome addition.  In the first game you had your portal gun to get you from point A to point B.  Now you must use your environment and Gels that are hiding deep within the Aperture Science Laboratories.  Portal 2 adds a propulsion gel, and repulsion gel.  One helps you take flight by bouncing you into the air, and the other assists you in speeding along the ground to build momentum.  The learning curve isn't too steep if you're familiar with the first game, but it might offer a bit more of a challenge to someone who is completely new to the series.

Level design in Portal 2 is done rather well.  It truly feels as if you are in an abandoned research facility.  Windows are shattered, panels are falling from the walls, and vegetation is overtaking the facility.  Computers, turrets, companion cubes, and rubble are strewn about.  There are even hidden rooms to find with cryptic writings and drawings on the walls; all of them trying to give hints as to what used to be, and what is now.  The puzzles are clever, and at times you'll think they're impossible.  You do experience a few different environments, and the pacing for the levels feels pretty good.

Dialogue in Portal 2 will keep you engaged throughout the entire single player game.  It's great to have GlaDOS back wishing death upon you, and to have Wheatley (voiced by Stephen Merchant) bumbling along, helping you through the facility.  Cave Johnson (voiced by J.K. Simmons) is the founder of Aperture Science, and you hear recordings of his voice periodically throughout the game.  He tells you about past test subjects, and the need for danger in scientific research.  "We do our science from scratch."

The gameplay of Portal 2 can be summed up into one word: Fun.  This game will definitely warrant more than one play-through.  You'll want to go back and look for things you may have missed the first time around.  There is so much to look at, that if you beat the game in less than 8 hours on your first go-around, you surely have not seen it all.  The completion time varies for lots of people, but it would be fair to say the game is between 6 and 10 hours long for the single player campaign.  Portal 2 also offers a co-op experience.  In the co-op campaign you play as either Peabody or Atlas.  You have to work with a friend to complete the puzzles.  You can't just leave it to your friend to do all the work; it actually takes real cooperation.

Portal 2 will continue to steal my time in the coming months.  Hopefully it will do the same for you.  The videos below showcase some of the game elements, and the voice actors as well.  Go play the game, or buy it.... for science of course.