Features category

Playing Nice With Stranger Danger

March 6th, 2011 by Nick

Can’t we all just get along?

That seems to be the question I ask myself every time I fire up a multiplayer game. Verbally assaulting someone over the internet has never been appealing to me.  Despite how little I understand it, there are plenty of people on the internet that will say anything just to get others worked up.

My experiences with these types of people almost always go like this. Some total ‘bro’ will usually make a comment about how my handle (cornlord) must mean that I like to “take it in the cornhole”, “shove corn cobs in random orifices”, or do something else involving corn, my ass, and Continue Reading…

Why I Can’t Wait to Play: BRINK

January 3rd, 2011 by The Saturn Valley Outcast

Why I Can't Wait to Play: Brink

Breaking news: There are a literal shit-ton of first-person shooters out there. As a self-described FPS fanboy, I have followed the genre for years. However, I have found my go-to series (Halo, Left 4 Dead, BioShock) because everything else flooding the market just feels like more of the same.

That’s why I was surprised to find myself excited about Brink, Splash Damage/Bethesda’s forthcoming title for Xbox 360, PS3 and Windows.

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Steve’s Living in the Past: Secret of Mana

October 11th, 2010 by Steve

Steve's Living in the past: Secret of Mana

In my younger days as a nerd, I hadn’t exactly determined what virtual tastes were most suited to my personal gaming palette. I enjoyed jumping on goombas and throwing boomerangs at moblins like most blossoming gamers. But unlike my electronically enthusiastic compatriots, I also had a love for pretty much every other game that ever existed. Whether I was rocking some Lee Trevino’s: Golf or Ninja Gaiden 2: The Dark Sword of Chaos, I was completely enthralled by the challenge of  perfection in fake life. Something had to change. My personal evolution toward having the best taste in video games ever needed a kick start and  was instigated by one game: Secret of Mana.

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The Burns-eye view: Use the Carrot

October 8th, 2010 by Burnsie

Burn's Eye - Use the Carrot

As gamers, we are all unified by one church: the church of the golden shinys. High scores, magic loot, unlockable extras, these are the things that speak to the gamer soul.

Game designers have understood and used the proper motivation, or carrots, to keep gamers coming back since the debut of the high score board. That next purple piece of armor keeps us raiding in World of Warcraft. That next achievement will encourage us to play a game again at a higher difficulty setting. With the proper motivation, gamers will dovote hours and even days of their lives to their favorite games.

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Baker’s Weekly “Would” – Home Automation

October 6th, 2010 by Nick

Baker's Weekly "Would" - Home Automation

Just pulled into the driveway and want your lights on inside the house? Done. Left for a business trip and forgot to turn down the thermostat? Not a problem. Sitting on your couch and realize that you’re too lazy to get up and shut off the lights so that you can lay there in your own beer soaked, potato chip littered, french onion dip infused pile of filth for the sixth night in a row? No longer an issue, my friend, because you have a light switch on your goddamn phone!

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