– Posted on November 10, 2011Posted in: Video Games
Turns out that the Steam forums hack on Sunday was deeper than just some forum accounts. Fortunately, it looks like sensitive information like passwords and credit card information was encrypted in such a way that it most likely will not be an issue for most users. If you have a Steam account, be a little more observant on your credit card charges, but there shouldn’t be a need to act further.
Still, it goes to show that any online service company, no matter how well run, is at risk from malicious attacks. Make sure your passwords are strong.
From Gabe Newell’s letter:
We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.
We don’t have evidence of credit card misuse at this time. Nonetheless you should watch your credit card activity and statements closely.
– Posted on November 9, 2011Posted in: Video Games
Tycho from Penny Arcade on the 3DS:
I’ve suggested before that my primary metric for a portable game is how many times I run the battery down playing it, something that has happened very rarely on the 3DS, which is kind of sad actually because its battery life is comparatively small change. I’ll play something, regret the lost time, regret the lost money, and then regret purchasing the system as a kind of container for the aggregated remorse.
Could not have said it better myself. I’ve probably gotten 2 hours of game playing done on my 3DS since I’ve gotten it.
– Posted on November 8, 2011Posted in: Video Games
Last week, Sony announced a bundle for its upcoming Vita handheld console:
The U.S. bundle includes a PS Vita 3G + Wi-Fi model, a limited edition case, 4GB PS Vita Memory Card, and Little Deviants game for $349.99 (MSRP). The Canadian bundle includes a Wi-Fi model, a limited edition case, 4GB PS Vita Memory Card, and Little Deviants game for $299.99 (MSRP). Best of all, you can pick up the PS Vita First Edition Bundle on February 15, 2012, so this is your chance to play before everyone else.
Lets break this down to see if its worth it in the U.S.
PS Vita 3G system – $299.99
4 GB Vita memory card – ~$32 (The memory card price has been announced in Japan only, but we’ll assume the US price is similar. )
Little Deviants Game – $39.99
Limited edition case – $15 (unknown, but assuming it’s worth between $10-$20 MSRP)
Total: $386.98
The interesting thing about this bundle is that the added goods are actually useful. Sony’s unfortunately going with a proprietary memory card format and there’s no internal storage, so it looks like a memory card is going to have to be a “required” purchase. Assuming that, you’re basically getting Little Deviants and a case for $20, which isn’t a bad deal.
However, the biggest pause for concern with the bundle is whether or not you need the 3G model of the Vita. Though plans haven’t been announced yet, it’s not looking likely that we’ll be getting free service ala the Amazon Kindle. To add insult to injury, download sizes are limited to 20 MB, basically ensuring that game downloads are off limits. Even if the 3g plan is as low as $10 a month, is the ability to play multiplayer games on 3G worth that? I’m going to go with “No.”
Unless Sony comes up with a similar WiFi version bundle, I’d recommend passing on this. A $50 premium and potential monthly charges kill the value proposed by the bundle.
– Posted on November 2, 2011Posted in: Video Games
I drive past one of the locations shown in this trailer every day in real life and got a real kick out of recognizing it. Something about the marriage of real life and fantasy in an open world sandbox game like Grand Theft Auto is quite appealing.
Still, I kinda wish Rockstar would just use “Los Angeles” as the city name with real landmarks, rather than resorting to approximations such as “Los Santos” and “Vinewood.” I get that they’re just creating caricatures of actual cities in their GTA games, but so what? Last I checked, the First Amendment was still in effect.
– Posted on November 2, 2011Posted in: Video Games
The intro splashscreen montage really hits too close to home.
Watching the footage of actual Quake gameplay really got my adrenaline flowing again. Why can’t we get that level of thrill in modern shooter games anymore?
– Posted on October 25, 2011Posted in: Video Games
I like the dick-swinging move of Rockstar Games simply slapping a ginormous Grand Theft Auto V logo up on their website and a trailer date with no accompanying press release or media hoopla. When your franchise has sold more than 124 million copies, you make the press come to you.
“The easiest way to stop piracy is not by putting antipiracy technology to work. It’s by giving those people a service that’s better than what they’re receiving from the pirates,”
Bingo. It’s a wonder why more digital content creators haven’t figured this out yet.
– Posted on October 20, 2011Posted in: Video Games
Originally, I was going to launch into a tirade on how ridiculous it was that the only way to change your Origin (EA) ID was to download the iPhone or Android version of Scrabble and deep dive into the option menus within the app.
You read that correctly.
It took an creative thinker on Reddit with an almost encyclopedic knowledge of EA software on multiple platforms to solve a seemingly trivial problem.
Why is this so important? Well, as most of us found out last week during the Battlefield 3 beta, the game uses your Origin ID as your only unchangeable identification within the multiplayer experience. It’s fine and dandy if you picked an appropriate nom de plume to begin with. Unfortunately, if you made the same decision I did and had your real full name as your Origin ID, you probably felt out of place on the Battlefield 3 scoreboard next to folks named “n00b_K1ll3r_69” and “HOT BLOOD FART.”
Googling and forums wading at the time basically said that your only recourse was to spend 30 minutes on live chat or phone with EA customer service to maybe see what they could do.
Did Not Want.
Fortunately, someone at EA convinced someone else that resources were worth putting towards a “real” solution and as of this afternoon, you can now change your Origin ID with a simple form on origin.com.
– Posted on October 19, 2011Posted in: Video Games
On the one hand, you could take the cynical route with this because Harrison Ford is clearly being paid to do this as an advertisement ala Bill Murray in Lost In Translation, but on the other hand it’s Indiana Jones playing a game that is essentially a 15 hour long homage to his work.
I don’t know whether to be more impressed that Harrison is actually playing and progressing in a fairly “hardcore” game or that he’s making a video of someone playing a video game not look like a 7-minute long mouth breathing sequence.
I never thought there would come a day when I would prefer playing a particular game title on my phone rather than a “real” portable game console from Sony or Nintendo.
Well, that day is here.
Developer 5th Cell’s port of its “indie” Nintendo DS hit, Scribblenauts Remix is an absolute joy to play on the iPhone and iPad and is one of the few iOS releases that had me hooked enough to want to complete the game in one day.
(To be fair, I also never thought that there would come a day where there would actually be a good licensed superhero video game. What can I say? We live in magical times.)
For those who are unfamiliar with the franchise, Scribblenauts is a puzzle/platforming game based on one core mechanic — your imagination. You see, you can bring in almost any object or living thing into the game world by simply typing it into Max’s notebook. It’s a very “wow”-inducing mechanic when you experience it for the first time because we’re so used to being limited to the constraints of what game designers have set for us.
The goal in each level is for Max to obtain a Starite by following the hints on screen. The first level’s Starite is dangling on a tree that is just out of reach. There’s many ways to solve the puzzle, depending on your level of creativity. Some might opt for the straightforward solution of creating a ladder for Max to climb. Me? My first inclination was to give Max a large chainsaw to cut down the tree, letting the Starite fall down to me, because I’m a f’in boss. You could also give Max a jetpack and have him float up there to reach it as well. Or maybe you could make a giant yellow beaver to gnaw down the tree. I’m sure you get the idea by now.
The game has a portly database of over 20,000 words so chances are that the game will have a better chance of stumping you rather than the other way around. Unfortunately, this doesn’t include proper nouns or places (for obvious reasons) or vulgar terms. Believe me, I was disappointed that I could not make a flaming pile of poop, but hey, what’s that really going to help you do?
All of the levels are fairly straightforward, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. The danger with a game that provides so much freedom is in overwhelming the player with too many choices and possibilities. At no point in Scribblenauts Remix did I feel “lost.” The difficulty curve was nice and easy – almost too easy, in fact. Some of the more interesting levels have several “phases” involved, and I expected the levels to get more and more epic the further I progressed. Sadly, many levels remained very superficial in their goals. Fortunately, for those who want a more free form sandbox to play in, there’s a “Playground Mode” where you can just create objects and things and have them interact with each other.
One of the most exciting features about the game is that it supports iCloud for game saves. For people who own both an iPad and an iPhone, this feature is a godsend. I tend to play mobile games on my phone when I’m not home, but if I’m just lounging around, I’d rather use that larger screen real estate. Previously, you were essentially locked into choosing either the iPhone or iPad version to play, even if the game was a universal build. Sure, you could switch over, but you’d lose all of your gameplay progress to do so. And who would want to do that, other than shortsighted marketing folks who only look at features as checklist fodder?
There’s 50 levels included within the $4.99 universal iPhone/iPad release of Scribblenauts Remix. 40 of which are culled from the previous two Scribblenauts releases on the Nintendo DS. The remaining 10 are “exclusive” to the iOS version of the game. In full disclosure, I never finished the original game on the Nintendo DS because, quite honestly, I was annoyed by the controls in having to tap each word individually with my stylus on the onscreen keyboard. However, on iOS, inputting words is a joy because it’s a natural function of the device – just like writing a text message. A control pad isn’t necessary for this game since there’s no precision platforming to be done. Add it all up and you have a title that feels much more at home on a touch screen than on a portable game console.
Since I didn’t play the previous titles, I can’t say whether the “right” levels were picked or if the 10 new levels are worth the admission price for those who have already played the game on the DS. At $4.99, though, no one’s going to laugh at you for paying 50 cents a “new” level, especially since it’s quite apparent that 5th Cell will be adding additional level packs to the game as time goes on. For anyone who hasn’t played the DS games though, oh ho-ho are you going to have fun. Unless you don’t like words. In which case, I’ll direct you to this app instead.
The highest praise I can give to Scribblenauts Remix is that I was so enamored with the game that I wanted to not only complete the levels, but also obtain all the achievements as well. Think about it – how many games do you have on your phone? And how many do you actually want to finish, let alone get all the achievements on?
Scribblenauts Remix is available now as a universal iPhone/iPad build on the iTunes App Store.
