PC Gaming is Not Dead
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 23rd, 2011
This is an ad I found on the Internet. It was allegedly placed in the Wall Street Journal by Razer, the company that makes the best gaming mice in the industry. This is definitely one of the most debated topics in the world of gaming — the “death” of PC gaming. I really think it’s far from it, IMHO. But now, someone from the industry has decided to really speak up.
More than an “advocacy,” it also looks like a campaign for the Switchblade but it seems that the PC Gaming is Alive campaign may be something more than this.
Check it out: http://pcgamingisnotdead.com/
Whatever it is, the entire campaign is intriguing.
DoTA 2 soon for beta download via Steam; International DoTA tournament starts today!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at August 17th, 2011EDIT: Changed title for clarity
It’s a crazy week with the DoTA 2 International Tournament kicking off in Germany. For those who don’t know, the Philippines has team Mineski.Infinity representing us for a pot prize of USD $1 million. Their first match will be at 10:00AM GMT+2 against Team SGC of the Czech Republic. Full schedule here.
Also, DoTA 2 is now open for limited beta testing under the Steam service of Valve. You will need to express interest by logging in to the service. If you don’t have a Steam account you can sign up for one here.
Please pass the word. Our local team needs your full support. In the same way that we’ve shown support for the Azkals, the Dragon Boat team, and SMART Gilas, there’s no reason why we should not support our budding eSports DoTA team! You can watch the games live via streaming through this page.
Unboxing The Witcher II: Assassins of Kings Premium Edition
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 17th, 2011
The wait is over. I would have bought the regular “el cheapo” edition but Datablitz didn’t have it. They only had the Premium Edition on sale so what the heck.
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SKADOOSH! Kung Fu Panda 2 Viral with Jack Black
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at May 15th, 2011One of the most creative viral videos I’ve seen that partnered with YouTube. It’s quite similar to the Nintendo Wii viral campaign for Wario Land a many many months ago.
Watch and follow the instructions!
Geek Orgasm Trifecta: Sandy Bridge. Portal 2. Sixense Motion Sticks
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 25th, 2011Sandy Bridge. Portal 2. Sixense motion controllers.
Several months ago, a friend showed me some benchmark tests for the new Sandy Bridge video cards. You see, about two years ago, desktops — and even laptops would be equipped with what I would call “poor excuses” for video cards. They sucked. And this would always require card manufacturers like NVIDIA and ATI to sell you a dedicated graphics card. You could get decent ones between PHP 3,000.00 – PHP 6,000.00. Times have changed. Intel’s latest Core processors (they’re really pushing the mid-range Core i5) have video cards that outperform some of today’s current high end GPU’s. In other words, if you buy one of these processors for your new rig, you will need to buy a video card above PHP 10,000.00 else you’ll just have redundant hardware.
In the video above, we have a guy from Sixense playing Portal 2 on a dedicated Core i5 graphics chip. He’s using the new motion sense sticks (basically your PC is now a Wii) to play.
Bottomline: I can finally justify spending for a Core-based processor. It’s like I’m spending for both the processor and the video card.
Portal 2. Awesome.
When gaming respected you: a pseudo-rant
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 21st, 2011I finished Dead Space 2 on the PC a few weeks ago. I would have finished it sooner, but I was playing this in tandem with The Witcher, which is now easily in my “Games You Should Play Before You Die” list. Other games in this list include Final Fantasy VII (or III if you have the Japanese version), The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Baldur’s Gate, Deus Ex, and Chrono Trigger. I digress.
The former is sci-fi horror, the latter fantasy role playing. Both have won numerous accolades: the former for its gore (see video above) and the latter a “2007 Game of the Year” award (to be fair, The Witcher is based on a rich series of books-turned movie by Polish writer Andrzej Sapkowski).
As I browse through the catalogue of upcoming games, online reviews and YouTube walkthroughs, I can’t help but agree with a common observation from old school gamers such as myself who grew up playing text-input adventure games such as Police Quest and Zack McKraken: we’ve been dominated with too many first person shooters — dominated to such an extent that the gaming industry demands shorter developing times, thus dumbing down the total single player experience and making up for it with online multiplayer. Case in point:
In the video above, we go through the COD: Black Ops stage on HARDENED difficulty without firing a single bullet. HUGE REALIZATION: You think you’re being challenged but you’re actually in one huge cinematic. You’re being taken for a ride. The industry think you’re stupid.
In the video below, Tbiscuit demonstrates a similar rant with the single player version of Homefront.
I have nothing against the genre per se. In fact, games like Call of Duty, the ‘Battlefield’ franchise and Bulletstorm (“Dick!”) have really helped the industry further mature. OK maybe not Bulletstorm. But my point remains.
I just got my copy of Dragon Age II. Part I (Dragon Age: Origins) did really well: it brought back the roots of what made gaming respectable: an award winning story, a lot of customization, strategy. The list goes on. The game respected the player and you could really immerse yourself in what seemed like a real world. With today’s shooters, well .. it’s almost like the same thing over and over again: watch cinematic, aim down sight, kill the enemy, get hit, hide behind a box while you regenerate to full life … if you play these games, you know the drill. Dragon Age II was weighed in to be a rushed job, dumbed down, combat-centric work of art. It speaks of the industry.
Somehow I get the feeling that the mainstream gaming industry has been bitten by the sad realities of business models that rely on faster release dates, half-hearted sequels, “promo items” and “special editions” which in truth don’t add much value to gaming at all. In truth, the now big publishers may not even know what gamers really want anymore.
I don’t know. I’m probably ranting. But I do state my case that when games that aren’t like Modern Warfare are released, I take a keener interest: And yeah, Dead Space 2 — I enjoyed the gore and the horror.
Starcraft II prepaid cards are now available
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at December 29th, 2010
Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is one of the most expensive retail box games to ever be sold. It costs PHP 3,500.00 and that’s already considerable cheaper than the regional pricing in other countries. The price is a barrier for students who want to enjoy Starcraft II as a platform for the new DoTA. So Blizzard SEA has issued prepaid cards allowing you to enjoy a legit copy of SCII from your home. More info here.
3 Day Pass — PHP 50.00
7 Day Pass — PHP 100.00
30 Day Pass — PHP 350.00
You can buy these in Datablitz and in these other establishments.
Get Fabulous with DANCE FABULOUS!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 16th, 2009There’s no other way to demo this game for the N Gage than to show it. It’s basically a combination of Boogie for the Nintendo Wii and Dance Dance Revolution, all put together on your mobile phone. What makes this game challenging is that there’s no rhythm bar, unlike in the Wii’s Boogie.
There is no multiplayer component so you can’t play with friends but since you’re logged on to the N Gage Arena, you can compare top scores per region and even globally.
Universal’s Cindy Gomez (up and coming artist) is also inside the game as an avatar which you can play. Five of her songs are included as tracks but you can use any music track within your device.
The game uses an achievements-based system to unlock items so leveling up allows you to see more items and use them as apparel for your avatar.
Dance Fabulous is available on free trial for the N Gage which you can buy later on.
Sims 3 Retails in Datablitz Today!
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 2nd, 2009
This is me reading, wearing my signature pink shirt, shorts and Sanuks.
Overall a good break from pwnage in Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2. The original version of Sims 3 was released today and Datablitz had them on stock.
Although I haven’t started it yet, every account comes linked to a personal social networking page on the Sims 3 site, allowing you to showcase your screenshots and videos. You can find my social page thus far empty as, alas, there just had to be a blogging component in it and I sure would want to stay away from blogging in everything that I do!
My initial impression of the gameplay doesn’t stray from the experience of playing the first two Sims titles. This version improves on the former by bringing the whole neighborhood together (you can invite the paperboy in to chit chat for instance). Sims also have stronger bladder control and don’t find the need to go to the bathroom every 5 minutes. A welcome change!
Sims 3 is not without flaws – my initial registration that supposedly garnered USD $10.00 worth of credits to buy stuff got lost in cyberspace. I think my connection timed out when I was in the process of reclaiming my lost simolean currency so I sent a support ticket and well, let’s see what happens.
If you by chance do decide to pick this title up … well, it’s a good replacement to Restaurant City, MyBrute and Pet Society all together. The deluxe edition retails at P1350.00 in Datablitz while the limited edition goes for above P2,000.00. The box set gives you a 2GB USB drive shaped like the green diamond icon and a bunch of freebies for in-game play.
Sur! Sur!
Street Fighter IV on Steam *faints*
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at June 1st, 2009
Exclusive to the PC version of the game, three visual shaders based on the “artistic” trailers give a new look to the gameplay: Watercolor, Poster, and Sumi-E ink styles
Behold Blizzard’s Battle.net 2.0: Manage WoW and Grab Starcraft II Beta
Posted by Jayvee Fernandez at March 21st, 2009
Note: If you’re having problems logging in to the new Battle.net, I found a solution! Add a “www” to the “https://” address. Thus it will look like this:
https://www.battle.net/account/index.xml
Now, on to it!
It’s finally here! Blizzard is taking the Steam route and merging World of Warcraft accounts into Battle.net. If you aren’t familiar with the company’s free online gaming servers it’s probably because you grew up buying pirated versions of Diablo, Warcraft and Starcraft — you never got to enjoy the awesomeness that was Battle.net. It was way ahead of its time — owners of Starcraft and Warcraft II and III could compete in online ladder matches while Diablo II players could go for Hardcore mode where your toons are submitted to the virtual graveyard when you die — permanently!
So I just did what any Blizzard fan should do and merged my World of Warcraft account with the new Battle.net ID.
The biggest benefit to signing up with Battle.net is it’s beta program — this is how Blizzard will be distributing their limited beta keys for Starcraft II. The new Battle.net will also be the portal for online store purchases and account management for all their games. What are you waiting for? Create a Battle.net account now in time for Diablo III and Starcraft II!
