Gaming, Technology, and Whatever

Redbox Game Rentals & Red Faction Armageddon

Jul 312011

About two weeks ago I decided to give Redbox games rental a shot, and rented a game that I felt would be good test in Red Faction Armageddon. Here’s my attempt at combining my experiences with both products with this dual mini-review.Starting with Redbox, most of you should be familiar with the Redbox kiosks and how their rental service works. The game rental service is virtually identical, with the only change being the daily price. $2 a night gets you a game rental for as long as you want. You have to return the game by 9pm the next day, […]

BF3 Alpha Invites on Origin; More EA/Steam Drama

PC Gaming 1 Response »

Jul 282011

BF3 Alpha Invites on Origin; More EA/Steam Drama

Yesterday, DICE and EA expanded their BF3 multiplayer alpha test by inviting a seemingly large size of previous BF players (DICE/EA likes to call them “veterans”). While giving explicit details about the alpha test is strictly forbidden, it’s been widely reported that if you were one of the few who did get an alpha code and invite, to participate in the test, which runs through August 1st, you are compelled to install Origin and link your EA account to the Origin store. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a publisher force a brand new download service and client on […]

Sanctum

Gaming, PC Gaming, Uncategorized No Responses »

Jul 242011

For the last few weeks we have have been slogging away at Sanctum. It is developed by Coffee Stain Studios as part of Epic’s Make Something Unreal contest. It is a first person shooter tower defense game. You can check out a trailer over at YouTube. I have been playing mostly co-op games lately and CSC added the ability to play co-op on several of the maps. First off, the game is fun. It is essentially waved based, monster attacks. You lay out a maze on the buildable spaces with empty blocks. Then you fill selected blocks up with towers of various […]

Dropbox changes terms of service.

News, Technology News No Responses »

Jul 022011

The infosec world was a buzz (or a tweeting) this morning with news that the popular file service dropbox has changed their legalese. The key paragraph that is now getting attention is as follows: We sometimes need your permission to do what you ask us to do with your stuff (for example, hosting, making public, or sharing your files). By submitting your stuff to the Services, you grant us (and those we work with to provide the Services) worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicenseable rights to use, copy, distribute, prepare derivative works (such as translations or format conversions) of, perform, or publicly display that […]

Travel Bucket List

Travel 11 Responses »

Jun 262011

I know that bucket list is an overused term these days, but I did not know what else to call it. I have been fortunate enough to be able to take decent vacations in the last 5-7 or so. My wife and I have gotten in a bit of a rut though between Walt Disney World and cruising. So, I am rethinking our vacation strategies. We have been taking approximately two moderate type vacations per year. I am thinking towards one “staycation” and one big vacation. Both my wife and I have spent some time (before we met) in Western […]

Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is now free to play

Console Gaming, Gaming, PC Gaming, Technology News No Responses »

Jun 252011

Team Fortress 2 (TF2) is now free to play

If you have been living under a rock and had not heard the news yet, TF2 is now free to play. You can download it at the TF2 website for both Macintosh and Windows. The free to play will now be supported by microtransactions within the steam store. You will be able to purchase new weapons and items. Valve also claims that they will continue to offer free items as well. Valve also seems to be taking a pragmatic approach to supporting the community: “It’s a belief of ours that in multiplayer games it’s generally true that the more people […]

Update to EA/Steam Crysis

PC Gaming No Responses »

Jun 162011

Yes, I’m a fan of bad puns, get over it. After yesterday’s news over Crysis 2 getting mysteriously pulled from Steam and then the assumed demise of future EA games on Steam, we get news that the Crysis 2 deletion was done by Valve, not EA, over Steam policies. EA was quick to direct the internet’s wrath directly on to Steam, although I don’t think it’s safe to put your Origin conspiracy hats away just yet. Here’s a quote from EA on the matter: “Steam has imposed a set of business terms for developers hoping to sell content on that […]

No BF3 on Steam worries fans as EA’s Origin looms

PC Gaming 19 Responses »

Jun 152011

No BF3 on Steam worries fans as EA's Origin looms

A couple of weeks ago, EA essentially re-branded their EA digital download store as “Origin.” Nothing exactly Earth-shattering, and it didn’t even feel it was worth discussing at any form here. Yeah, there was the bit about Star Wars The Old Republic being an Origin exclusive, but for a yet-to-be-released MMO, it didn’t really register as note-worthy. Now things are starting to get interesting. RPS posted an article alerting us that Crysis 2 has been pulled from Steam and Alice: Madness Returns is no where to be found on Steam as well. Also, interesting is that there have been zero […]

BF3 pre-order bonuses irk fans

Console Gaming, PC Gaming No Responses »

Jun 142011

Pre-order bonus are nothing new. The fact that it’s a trend that upsets many gamers doesn’t seem to be decreasing the wide-spread usage of pre-order bonuses. Many games, you’d have to buy multiple copies from both brick and mortar and online retailers to compile all the various extra weapons, levels and perks being offered, which is obviously a non-customer friendly practice. Even stranger, it’s not uncommon to see codes for bonuses sell on eBay for $10 or sometimes much, much more. Now that details of BF3’s “Physical Warfare Pack” and “Back to Karkand” have been fully explained, many gamers have […]

Final Thoughts: L.A. Noire

Console Gaming No Responses »

Jun 142011

Having finished L.A. Noire last week, I figured I’d follow up my first impressions with a few final thoughts on the game. Overall, I found the game very entertaining from start to finish although this can definitely be considered a game that is “not for everyone.” First off, it’s not an action game. Even though it’s Rockstar who brought you GTA and Red Dead Redemption, L.A. Noire is most certainly not a cops and robbers shoot ‘em up. There is a bit of shooting, and you’ll get to kill your share of bad guys, but these sequences feel more like […]

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