Continuing my slow build of a powerful new PC gaming rig, this month it’s SSD time.
SSDs are still hugely expensive compared to traditional hard drives but they are at least within affordable limits, particularly when you factor in the speed benefits. Most importantly, you can finally get a decent 256GB SSD for under £100, which wasn’t possibly last year. (more…)
OK, time to get started on my new system build. As mentioned last time, I’m spreading the process out through the year so as to keep things affordable and take advantage of upcoming developments.
To kick off I’m taking a look at the computer’s power supply. I had originally intended to include a new SSD in this phase but prices seem to be falling all the time, so I’ll give that another month. (more…)
Barring some determined technical work from the likes of CD Projekt RED in The Witcher 2 and DICE’s remarkable Battlefield 3+ Frostbite engine, gaming has been in a bit of a rut for a few years now, thanks to the aging PS3 and Xbox 360 consoles holding everything back. Sure, there have been some incremental advances in Unreal games, with Arkham City looking noticeably fancier than Arkham Asylum, but we haven’t seen the seismic shifts that pushed gaming along in the 90s and 2000s.
Now, at last, the PS4 is out, unlocking a new development ceiling for cross-platform devs. This will also inevitably drive a bunch of PC gamers to upgrade their rigs to keep pace and fairly rapidly outstretch the console’s capabilities. Including myself.
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Rocksteady are making another Bats game! Set in Gotham itself! There’s a batmobile! Conroy is back! All good news. However, hidden amongst the reveal info is that Gotham has been evacuated due to the Scarecrow’s antics, which makes me sad. Gotham is only Gotham City if people live there – Read more…
A few of the thoughts prompted by playing Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: Perhaps we should have another child. Having a sibling looks lovely. This is a bit like playing Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, with the annoying combat removed and greater depth to the story. The variety Read more…
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…)
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…)
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.
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…)