I wrote a post a few months back theorising a little about SteamOS and how it’s bad news for Microsoft – if Valve get a number of plates all spinning in unison. A big part of SteamOS’ initial appeal will come from Steam’s new streaming ability, which is now in beta and works across Mac, Windows, Linux and SteamOS itself. I’ve been fiddling with it on a couple of Windows machines and it’s quite the remarkable thing. (more…)
If you’re here for info on installing Cyanogenmod on your S3 and just want to get to it, skip down the page a bit. First a bit of self-indulgent history, blogger-style:
Back at the start of 2013 my S3 phone started freezing randomly. My phone carrier, O2, refused to help me so I had to research the issue myself, a process which worked. I chronicled the mess in a blog post, including full instructions in case anybody else had the problem. You can find the blog post here.
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There’s a surprising number of games around now in which you take on the role of a parent, one way or another – including literally. Whether it’s directly protecting a child in The Walking Dead and The Last of Us or delicately balancing your ethics against the welfare of your family in Papers, Please, there’s an increasingly common thread of adult responsibility that I don’t recall encountering previously. (more…)
Russell Brand has inspired more heated political debate in the last couple of weeks than I’ve seen for quite some time. Since the Coalition took power there’s been a permanent underbubbling of discontent, but it’s always been mixes with a Read more…
For a while now I’ve been tempted to write a fictional blog post purporting to have been written in 2050-or-thereabouts, essentially along the lines of “Hey, anybody remember Microsoft?” The company that for most of my lifetime has just been there has, in the last 5 years, suddenly become rather wobbly – despite still seeming quite healthy in financial terms.
The announcement of Valve’s SteamOS and associated gubbins added a whole new element to Microsoft’s woes. Now, a lot of this is working on the assumption that SteamOS, the Steam Controller and Steam Machines will be actually good. If they’re not, then the debate is a bit moot.
Let’s take a quick look at some of the key market areas where Microsoft have historically ruled.
The metaphorical sequence of events: Person A does something pretty naughty to Person B, without Person B even knowing. You know, like pinning a note to his back that says “KICK ME”. Person C finds out about it and tells Read more…
Ah, mobile gaming. So, so bad.
At least, that’s been my experience of it for the most part. Even the potentially good games are crippled by terrible UI, the touch screen being woefully inadequate for so many genres. Worst of all are those games which put pretend keys or controllers on the screen, the developers seemingly oblivious that you’re then going to be covering half the screen with your thumbs.
I’d bumped into a few notable exceptions over the years – World of Goo translates wonderfully to touch, Broken Sword is quite fun, Need For speed: Most Wanted was surprisingly entertaining.
Recently, though, I discovered The Room (more…)
There’s a bit of a problem with discourse about the internet and how it fits into modern life. Whether the specific topic is about bullying, political activism, marketing or anything else, you’ll continually hear pundits referring to two particular universes: Read more…
Everybody was very, very excited about Gone Home. Being a little pre-occupied with an 8 month old, the game had slipped below my radar prior to release but, upon seeing frenzied exclamations from trusted friends, I decided to take a look.
It has so far left me a little conflicted. (more…)