Chris Pirillo » gamer

Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:06:07 +0000

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Ali has had Call of Duty: Black Ops in his hot little hands for a while now. He was cool enough to create a screencast for all of you so that you can check out the game before deciding to buy it. This game is the seventh installment of the Call of Duty series. COD is a first-person shooter that has been wildly popular over the years.

The last game in the series has had a lot of haters, including videos of people snapping their discs. There was a lot of high hopes for Black Ops. People wanted a lot of changes, and Ali feels that many of these have been addressed.

Some of the game features include:

Wide array of play modes including single player, local multiplayer versus and online co-op and multiplayer
Seventh installment of the Call of Duty series, based on the live fire conflicts of the Cold War era
Diverse variety of play setting ranging from urban air and ground combat in SE Asia, to snow combat in Soviet region and jungle combat
Blending of traditional COD, and new first-person character scenarios designed to both retain the essence of the COD gaming experience and ensure constantly flowing and varied action
New arsenal of weapons and vehicles tied to the Cold War era, including the SR-71 Blackbird and sited explosive-tipped crossbows

Have you gotten your hands on the game yet? What are your thoughts so far?

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Call of Duty: Black Ops Review

Halo: Reach Suffers from Disc Errors

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 08:53:24 +0000

Halo: Reach Suffers from Disc Errors

Microsoft has now confirmed that some customers are experiencing issues when attempting to play their beloved new game. According to reports, the problem mostly affects the 20GB Xbox 360 Pro, which was on the market from 2005 to 2008. Users have also reported some issues playing Halo Reach with the 120 GB Xbox 360 Elite.

Microsoft representatives have said:

We are aware of a very small number of customers reporting that their copy of Halo Reach is causing a ‘disc read’ error. Those affected should contact Microsoft customer support at 1-800-4MY-XBOX for troubleshooting assistance.

There are now 68 pages of complaints on the Bungie Forums. Many posts suggest that things such as a dirty disc could be to blame. Reasons behind the issue, though, have been vague at best. The thread has been updated to point customers to the toll-free (US only) number to receive support. Bungie released a statement recently, as well:

If you find yourself lumped in with the ‘small number’ of people who find relevance in this portion of the update, you’re probably finding that five letter moniker more than a little frustrating. We feel your pain (we want you to play Reach, too!). If you’re receiving a disc read error with Halo: Reach, or any other title for that matter, Microsoft customer support is your path to resolution.

Have you had issues playing your copy of the game? Have you contacted either Bungie or Microsoft to resolve the problem?

Halo: Reach Suffers from Disc Errors

Halo: Reach

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 14 Sep 2010 02:23:21 +0000

Halo: Reach

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Microsoft and Bungie sent me an advance copy of “Halo: Reach” to play. Given that I’m not that much of a FPS kind of geek, I thought I’d just pop in the disc and let you see what I saw – for the first time, together.

After stopping the recording, i did play it for quite a while longer – as the people in the chat room will tell you. In fact, I might still be playing it right now.

I’ve learned one thing about “Halo: Reach” so far: DON’T LET THE AI PLAYERS DRIVE.

Sadly, there is one thing missing from this game: a n00b mode. The easy mode still is too much for someone like me. I’m not a gamer, by any stretch of the imagination. The game looks and sounds great, though, and that’s all I could ask for.

Apparently, I’m a little trigger happy. I truly didn’t mean to shoot the farmer – honest!

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Halo: Reach

Web Browser Games

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 01:27:41 +0000

Web Browser Games

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I consider myself an extreme casual gamer (which is why I spent this weekend at home playing Web games instead of rubbing shoulders with stinky geeks at PAX across town). Not sure if you’d heard of these two in particular, but I’d be surprised if you had – unless you were following me on Twitter and Facebook, then you would have found out about these two and a helluva lot more long before this video was uploaded.

Scrabb.ly was created by a Seattle-area developer in less than twenty-four hours’ time. This is a very cool MMO word-game where you continue to build words on tiles.

Swarmation is another online multi-player game where each pixel is a person from somewhere in the world. The idea is to get everyone to work together to form the specified design within the time period allotted. You have to collaborate to score points.

Both of these games tie back into Node Knockout. The idea of this particular endeavor was to bring developers together to build on Node.JS to build things based on JavaScript. The list is seriously extensive if you scroll through to take a look. There are a ton of games and services.

If you have browsed the list at Node Knockout and have found something I might like that wasn’t reviewed in this video, leave me a link in the comments section. I’d hate to miss out on something else I can get addicted to.

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Web Browser Games

Do Women Game More Than Men?

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:59:28 +0000

Do Women Game More Than Men?

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It’s true: The New York Times reported on Sunday that Women are starting to outpace men in online time with social networking, instant messaging, and other communications. The most shocking one is online gaming! Will we see women take over gaming in the next few years? Lamarr chose to do his weekly video about this topic, and is curious to see what your thoughts are.

It wasn’t much of a surprise to learn that women are more social than men. Hello! We already knew this. Women spend about 1/3 of their time online socializing, while men only spend about 1/4 of their time. What’s even more interesting is that women over the age of 45 had the largest growth recorded in the areas of photo sharing, shopping online, using social networking sites and talking to others via instant messenger applications.

The shock comes in when you read on and find out that women over the age of 55 spent the most time gaming online over every other age group (and gender!) – by far. Remember that we’re not talking about playing the Xbox or PlayStation, folks. We are looking only at online gaming – and older women are way ahead of younger male and female counterparts in this area.

It’s interesting to see in the article that nearly as many women as men visit online gambling platforms. The story also claims that about half of men visit adult-themed websites – but nearly 1/3 of women do, as well! Upcoming Gnomedex speaker Violet Blue will be proud to see that.

Overall, there are more men who play games. But – women tend to spend more time playing. Do you respect women gamers, or do you feel that they cannot compete with men? Did Lamarr just light a fuse?

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Do Women Game More Than Men?

How Do You Overcome a Gaming Addiction?

Chris Pirillo — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 04:20:52 +0000

How Do You Overcome a Gaming Addiction?

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I saw a question on Lockergnome the other day where Luke admitted he has a gaming addiction. He reached out to the community for help in overcoming it. He managed to stop playing all day long, but finds himself not caring about other activities. He feels a strong pull towards his game(s), and doesn’t know how to get past that. The first thing to remember that it IS an addiction, just like with a gambler or drug addict. An addiction is in your mind, and it’s not an easy thing to overcome. It takes a lot of strength and willpower just to admit you need help in that area, and I commend Luke for reaching out for advice.

Thankfully, I was never addicted to gaming. A gaming addiction can be quite a tremendous hurdle to overcome. Telltale signs of addiction are things like not showering, not participating in other activities, forgetting your friend and family and allowing your plants to die even.

You could quit cold turkey – but that honestly isn’t recommended. It’s very difficult to do, much as it is for a smoker to do. Take your knowledge of the game(s) you understand well, and translate that into wisdom. Share it with others online. Do screencasts and videos full of tips and tricks. Use your passion in other ways that are related to the game but don’t actually involve playing it. Heck, sketch some art.

I am not a doctor or counselor. I am more of a Geek coach. I am simply trying to give some suggestions to Luke. If you have any, be sure to leave him some comments and give him the support he needs.

Remember, if you or someone you know is a gaming addict, you should seek help to overcome it if you feel you cannot do it on your own. There are many documented cases of people losing jobs, relationships and families due to becoming so addicted to a game that they forget the rest of their life. Don’t let this happen to you.

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How Do You Overcome a Gaming Addiction?

Top 5 Tips for Game Developers

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:09:18 +0000

Top 5 Tips for Game Developers

David is an active community member who goes by the handle Paru-Sama in our chat room. He is a budding game developer, and has some tips to pass along to those of you who are thinking of getting into the same field.

Play Video games. – You can’t go for a game developing career if you don’t have any idea what a game is or how the player plays it without experiencing it for your self. Game play and originality are the key factors of designing a game
Learn Scripting and Calculus. – The video game developing career involves A LOT of math along with the complications of scripting/coding. C++ is a powerful programming language, but I don’t recommend it as your first. It is very difficult to learn so I recommend learning easier programing languages that are made for beginners, such as Visual Basic.
Enroll in a Digital arts and Graphic Design or Multi Media course if you’re planning on being a Graphical Art Designer. – This is (In my opinion) the most enjoyable part of being a game developer as it employs your visual creativity and originality. 3Dmax and Maya are two of the tools used in this course. There is also a program called “zBrush” which is a 3d sculpting program. This uses your dexterity instead of your calculating abilities to build 3D models. There are also other graphical programs used in this course such as Photoshop from Adobe.
Try out open source software developing kits. – There are game developers that allow the community to twinkle with their games by giving them tools to make maps, mods or whole games . One popular game developer that does this as a strategy is Valve. If you buy a game from them, they will allow you to download the “Source SDK.” This is a software developing kit based on their game engine (called “the source engine”) which will allow you to map for a game that they already created – or make a game of your own.
Apply to be a video game beta tester. – This job is what the names says. You can get paid to play games in their early state as long as you give the developers some feedback about their games. This isn’t like you play a demo game and they pay you for it. It requires you to have a sharp eye and ears to spot some bugs and glitches. It also requires an ability to criticize the game. The feedback you give will help them improve the game’s gameplay.

If you’re a game designer, what other tips do you have for the Geeks in our community who plan to enter this field?

Top 5 Tips for Game Developers

Eyefinity is Perfect for PC Gaming

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 00:37:34 +0000

Eyefinity is Perfect for PC Gaming

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Yes, I like to drive a big truck with the pedal to the metal. Eighteen wheels will be rolling until the break of dawn. I decided to try my hands at playing the Rig’n'Roll game on my sweet ATI Eyefinity setup. Running in 5760×1080 resolution is just… beautiful. I know I use that word a lot, but it seriously applies here.

Eyefinity isn’t just a multi-monitor setup. It’s considered to be a single large surface (SLS). In order to get the full experience for this game (and others) with the Eyefinity technology, I asked Logitech to send along the G27 Racing Wheel. This has a four-speed steering wheel, and flippers that allow me to change gears. There’s up to six gear settings on the gear shift. There are other controls that can be mapped to different views, in conjunction with your Eyefinity setup.

Yes, there are three screens hooked up to this computer. However, the important thing is that the operating system sees it as ONE screen. Eyefinity won’t only work with this particular game. It can make your experience with any game about a hundred times better.

I have to thank the team at AMD for hooking me up so that I can experience the beauty that is Eyefinity in my own home. Playing the game with perfect resolution across three screens this way is unlike anything I’ve ever done before. It’s nearly impossible to translate to you via a video or text. You just have to try it for yourself.

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Eyefinity is Perfect for PC Gaming

Play With a Kinect Demo in Microsoft Stores

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 03:34:23 +0000

Play With a Kinect Demo in Microsoft Stores

The Microsoft Store announced via their Twitter account earlier today that the Kinect demo is ready to play with in their stores. Sadly, there are only four Microsoft stores in this country. If you don’t live close to one of them, you’re out of luck.

Kinect is a system that does away with controllers entirely, instead using technology to scan players, detecting motions as subtle as a smile or a frown. This is impressive, but the slight delay between movements and onscreen effect is something to be concerned about.

Are you looking forward to Kinect’s launch? Do you think this is a device that could change gaming forever?

Play With a Kinect Demo in Microsoft Stores

When Gamers Give Back, it Makes a Difference

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 07:53:27 +0000

When Gamers Give Back, it Makes a Difference

Mario Marathon is an event that takes place once a year to help raise money for Child’s Play Charity. Child’s Play is an organization that sends books, toys and supplies to young patients of hospitals worldwide. Beginning June 25th 2010 at 11:00 Eastern, you can tune in to watch the guys scramble to save countless princesses.

The goal is to raise as much money as possible throughout the event for the charity. None of the donations go through the players – it all goes directly to Child’s Play. The more money raised, the longer these guys have to play Mario. There are over 800 levels across the nine Mario games chosen for the Mario Marathon 3. Your donations determine how many of those levels the team will complete.

In Lafayette, Indiana, Brian, John and Chris take turns sleeping and playing the games throughout the weekend. They use a video capture card to show what’s on the TV game-wise, as well as a camera to view them in the living room. The live streaming event is hosted by Ustream.TV. While the event is going on, they will have several contests for the viewers to participate in for a chance at prizes. These events will be spread out during the event where you could win by tweeting, skyping in, or just being a viewer.

If you want to help out with the event, promote it as much as possible. Tweet out the information, blog about it, and get your friends interested on Facebook. The more people who know, the more viewers and possible donations Child’s Play can receive. Remember, the more you donate, the more time they spend cracking down on the controller to entertain you and give back to the community.

When gamers give back it makes a difference!

When Gamers Give Back, it Makes a Difference

Halo: Reach Beta Preview

Chris Pirillo — Wed, 19 May 2010 07:06:36 +0000

Halo: Reach Beta Preview

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Dan is a moderator in our live community chat room who goes by the name of Guru_Meditation. As an avid gamer and radio personality in the UK, I knew he was the perfect person to review the beta of Halo: Reach I received from Bungie. Judging by what you see in this video, this newest iteration of the popular game is going to fly off the shelves when it is finally released later this year.

Halo: Reach is a first-person shooter game set in the year 2552, where humanity is locked in a war with the alien Covenant. In the game, players control Noble 6, a member of an elite supersoldier squad, during a battle for the human world of Reach.

Back in Halo 3, players weilded single-use equipment powerups that gave temporary offensive (or defensive) advantages. This system has been replaced in Reach with reusable armor abilities. Those armor abilities will stay with a player until replaced by you. Amongst the new abilities, you’ll find a jetpack, active camo, sprint and armor lock. Armor lock is pretty cool: it makes you invincible in exchange for loss of mobility.

If rumors are to be believed, this will be the final version of the Halo series EVER. If this is true, Dan feels it’s a perfect way to end things… on the note of the prequel. Halo: Reach is set in a time period prior to that of the original game.

Dan says that he’s read a lot of negative commentary about this version. Apparently, there are many gamers complaining that Bungie “dumbed-down” the multi-player mode a lot in this game and removed many strategic elements to focus more on action. But if you’re a newcomer to multi-player modes, you’re able to get into the game much more quickly.

The beta was due to end Monday night. Bungie released an announcement just a couple of hours ago, though: the beta has been extended! According to Bungie’s Brian Jarrard, “Our official plans as of now are to turn off the Reach beta on Thursday, 5/20 at 10 AM PDT.”

Dan feels strongly that gaming companies should step up to the plate and offer more beta games in this manner. It not only gives them a larger audience to help them iron out the kinks prior to release… it gets people excited about the game. Dan and I both predict that Halo: Reach is going to be a huge hit. More than one million people signed up for the beta on day 1, and the game broke into the top four most-played games on Xbox Live during the first week.

Thanks, Dan, for an excellent screencast and a fun look inside Halo: Reach. How many of you are now waiting impatiently for the game to be released this fall? Will you be grabbing a copy for yourself?

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Halo: Reach Beta Preview

Super Mario Bros Crossover Will Bring You Back to the Future

Chris Pirillo — Sat, 01 May 2010 09:21:49 +0000

Super Mario Bros Crossover Will Bring You Back to the Future

I’ve said many times over the years that I’m only a casual gamer. I don’t play any of the new-fangled games that you guys seem to be addicted to. I enjoy a few hours of Tetris, sure. However, I have to admit I miss the old days. I LOVED the original games that I lost myself in for hours: Asteroid, Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong and even PitFall. These classic games are hard to beat, even with the amazing graphics we have in games today.

Thank god we now have Super Mario Brothers Crossover to keep me sane. The game is a remake of the first Mario game, but with six playable 80s-era characters. This awesome little slice of heaven mixes the classic platform levels with the variously controlled platform heroes from other franchises.

You’ll find some pretty cool characters to play around with, including Bill R from Contra (who shoots directionally) and Mega Man with his blaster. Samus from Metroid will turn into a ball and drop bombs. Mario is still starring as himself, of course. The cast is rounded out with Link and Simon Belmont from Castlevania.

I admit I’m already hooked. God only knows how long this game will be available, so I’ve been playing every chance I get. It may sound too “old school” for you based on my description. However, that’s exactly what I like about it so much. This game takes me back… while bringing me right smack into the future at the same time. Can you imagine the gaming possibilities if other games you love were to combine characters as this one has?

Super Mario Bros Crossover Will Bring You Back to the Future

Tap Tap Radiation

Chris Pirillo — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 17:44:51 +0000

Tap Tap Radiation

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Tap Tap Radiation is a free iPad app in the iTunes store. I admit to getting completely caught up in this game. It’s more fun and addictive than you might realize! I even sang along with it!

You can play along with a song already in the library, or create a whole new track of your own. You can even download about 30 free tracks in the app store, including songs by Pink and Lady GaGa!

With four difficulty levels to choose from, Tap Tap Radiation creates intense single player action for music enthusiasts and gamers of any age. At this point in time, the game is only a single-player one. However, perhaps in the future we’ll see the ability to play against others. For now, you can always grab a friend and have them help you since the iPad screen is so big!

If you know of other cool games for the iPad, let me know. I’d love to check them out and possibly review them here on my blog.

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Tap Tap Radiation

What is the Future of Arcades?

Chris Pirillo — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 05:29:17 +0000

What is the Future of Arcades?

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Arcades. That’s such a beautiful word which brings back a lot of good memories for me. I spent as much time as possible during my younger days in the local video game arcade, feeding quarters into my favorite machines. Eric called from California the other night to talk about the olden days, and to ask my thoughts on where the future of arcades in the U.S. is heading.

I know that in some countries, game arcades are still a huge deal. I honestly think it’s the social aspect that attracts people. However, I’m not sure why we aren’t as social here anymore. Have we really turned in to a country that would rather just stay inside alone, rather than have to interact with others? I hate the thought of that.

I do still love classic games. Heck, I have a video game system right in my office! I can’t begin to count up how many hours I spent shooting things in Asteroids, or trying to rescue the princess in Donkey Kong. We cannot leave out PacMan, Mario and so many other awesome games, either.

Do you still play classic arcade games? Do you GO to an arcade, or do you prefer to play games in the confinement of your home?

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What is the Future of Arcades?

Gaming Addiction Vs Gaming Obsession – Where do You Draw the Line?

Chris Pirillo — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:03:45 +0000

Gaming Addiction Vs Gaming Obsession – Where do You Draw the Line?

Last night, I published a post discussing the unfortunate death of an infant, due to its parents’ inability – or desire – to properly care for it. The reason? They were busy feeding their video game addiction. This isn’t the first case like this that I’ve come across online, and I’m afraid it won’t be the last.

During a discussion via Google Buzz about this article, Peter had some excellent insight regarding addiction to things like games vs. an obsession.

For one thing, people throw the word “addiction” around like they know what it means. If gaming kills someone, then it’s likely safe so say that they had an addiction. For the most part, however, when people are obsessed with games, they aren’t necessarily addicted. Addiction isn’t mere obsession. Addiction isn’t the mere compulsion to participate in something.

When ANYTHING reaches the level of “addiction”… then, yes, it has the capability of killing someone. Asking the question is like asking, “If someone is so obsessed with gaming that they stop eating, can it kill them?” The correct answer is, “Yes, if someone stops eating, it can eventually kill them.” It has nothing to do with the “gaming”… it has everything to do with the “not eating”. When something becomes so compulsive that you stop eating, then it is safe to say that it is an addiction.

An addiction, for the most part, is when something negatively affects your life and even when you actively weigh the pros and cons and recognize that the cons outweigh the pros and you decide you would rather no longer participate in the activity, that you find you are unable to stop and know that you need help.

Most hard-core gamers are not reaching out for help. They weigh the pros and cons and the pros win. They enjoy playing. Very few gamers would truly make the decision to continue playing if they knew, for instance, that they were seconds away from death. When someone who isn’t necessarily addicted to gaming (but is obsessed by it) ends up dying or ending up extremely ill, the problem isn’t necessarily an “addiction”… it’s a lack of responsibility.

An irresponsible person can die while doing any kind of activity. It’s the irresponsibility that kills, not the distraction. If you WANT to stop gaming, however, but find that you simply cannot pull away… THAT’S an addiction, and you should seek help.

Very sage advice in that last sentence. If you cannot pull yourself away from your game(s) to attend to your “real” life, it’s time to get some kind of help. Ask a friend, parent, teacher, pastor or any other trusted person in your life to help you, and get you pointed in the right direction.

What are your thoughts on this matter? There’s no debate that the couple in the original article had some type of problem. Let’s discuss the differences between addictions and obsessions, as well as how a person (especially teens) can tell that they may, indeed, have a problem.

Gaming Addiction Vs Gaming Obsession – Where do You Draw the Line?