What is Dark Souls? In sum, it is a microcosm of the human condition. Of why we love to torture ourselves. Of why we are enamored by archetypes of the starving artist or the underpaid worker. And yet we trudge along to the very end of our day and die. No, not sleep. Die — to be reborn again the very next day.
Don’t be surprised if a lot of people call in sick tomorrow. Starting 3AM, Tuesday, May 15 the servers for Diablo III are going live. Fans have been waiting a decade for the triumvirate to be completed. I still remember my days in college, cutting a few classes just to join in on the LAN sessions at the gaming cafe beside school.
For the record I didn’t buy the collector’s edition as I’ve learned the hard way that these things take up a lot of space (case in point: Warhammer Online Collector’s Ed) and despite the fact that the box comes with cool add ons to your character, the real-money auction house system will definitely spark a number of doodads that will make the Collector’s Ed exclusives cry manly tears.
On the D3 Facebook group, Joseph Datu has unboxed his PHP 11,000 Collectors Edition with the Diablo Skull + 4GB USB Soulstone. It’s huge!
D3 Collector’s Ed photo by Joseph Datu. Congratulations! If I had more space in my place, I’d definitely get this.
Instead of the retail box — Collector’s Edition counted, I really just wanted to download the game way ahead of time so it would be a breeze installing. No box. No lines. I still own the game. Not sure if this is symptoms of getting old, but at this point in my life, 10 years after Diablo II, I prefer foregoing the formalities and getting it on. Save paper.
So that’s it. Looks like a long evening. 3AM guys. See ya in New Tristam.
It was really great catching up with Erick Garayblas (@egarayblas) last week over coffee. We talked about the success of Streetfood Tycoon and how his life as a mobile game developer has evolved with the rise of the Apple App Store. We talked about a ton of things so here’s a more organized version of the interview.
** Ed’s note: Not mentioned in the written interview is how Erick was able to have his ‘kwek-kweks’ in many baskets. He noted how he’s shifted from an ad-driven business model (free to play but ad supported) which earned him a ton of money a month into in-app purchases which, although earns less, is more stable as the latter relies on Google’s Adsense platform which can be subject to a lot of technicalities.
1. How did Streetfood Tycoon come to be? What’s your thought process in designing a game?
Streetfood Tycoon came from my penchant for playing simulation and business-related games. I’m a huge fan of Lemonade Tycoon and Sim Tower. I “borrowed” a few mechanics from these two games and presented them in my own unique way w/in the game. I normally don’t follow a “thought process”, I just browse through my list of ideas (which come from dreams, reading books/comics, playing “other” games and talking to friends), try to mix them up, create a prototype and see how it goes from there. A lot of prototypes get shelved while the good ones become full blown games.
So Friendster is back from the dead and they’re here to make you play online games.
Truth is, this is old news as the pioneering social network announced their shift from social networking into social gaming as late as last year. It’s only this 2012 that they’re making a huge marketing push bringing things like the “biggest gaming event” to SM North EDSA. I have some friends from the Level-Up eGames merger who will emotionally contest this claim.
When I asked Samsung if they wanted to sponsor my anniversary, they did so without hesitation. I’d like to thank Juno and Odette for sending us a brand new SHARK SERIES notebook, the SF410. Guys, this portable is kick ass. It runs on an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and a GeForce 310M card. This isn’t just for work — IT’S A DECENT GAMING LAPTOP!
With curves.
Samsung is throwing in so many goodies into their line of portables. If you’re considering a new Windows 7 portable rig, their shark line is a must see because they’re very generous with the specs and have distinguished themselves with the curved shark fin design on the left and right sides of the notebooks.
The SF410 retails for PHP 51,900.00.
Guys do me a favor and ENTER THIS CONTEST ALREADY so that I won’t be tempted to keep it for myself.
Contest Time!!
1. By now you already know the drill. You can submit entries from now till 11:59 PM of December 11. I usually announce the winner by the evening of the next day, the 12th.
2. Since Samsung has been around since the time we were kids (and even before!), I’m reminded of a fun game we used to play. Remember how we’d turn names of countries into acronyms and use it to spell out words? For example, take the country of ITALY:
I
Trust
And
Love
You
Now it’s your turn. Let’s see how much fun we can have with Samsung! Remember, I’ll be asking help from someone from their team (with me having the final say) so please, nothing vulgar. Have fun! Be creative! Make us laugh!
S
A
M
S
U
N
G
3. Entries can be in English / Filipino / Taglish. Just like before, you can submit as many entries as you want in the comments but make sure you leave a valid email address.