With Friends Like These...

When I was young and had not evolved to PC games, I'd waste my days playing Goldeneye at my friends house.

There was no Counter Strike or Team Fortress 2 to make believe I was social since my computer at the time had the computing power of a soggy cheerio. It was three other friends and myself crouched next to each other swearing, punching and throwing each other while squinting at the tiny boxes that comprised our deathmatch.

Now though I'm older and have a job to afford the big boy toys like expensive hardware and hookers. I play online mutliplayer games like all the rest and enjoy them greatly, but alas something is missing; the people element. Yes you can use Vent, Teamspeak, in game VOIP or whatever to talk with your fellow players; but nothing is quite like sitting next your enemy and allies with a couple of Dr. Peppers.

So I've been yearning to regain that feeling without the hoaky online feeling. Most games today aren't well suited for the 4 person LAN party and are better off being played online with 20 or more people. What I'm looking for is an in depth and agressive cooperative play. There should be a PC game that lets me reach out and punch my dumbass teammate or bitchy enemy.

Not multiplayer deathmatch teams or that; the story campaign of say Half Life with another person fighting along side you. Solid Co-op games are rare these games for the PC market. There of course was Rainbow Six Vegas which was astounding, and Gears of War (if you can find anyone who can get the dammned thing working). I like yelling at my friends just a few feet away as we attempt to complete a mission or a campaign together. Online multiplayer is all abou the skirmish, deathmatch, battle royal which is fine; but that's over too quickly. I like to long engrossing multiplayer cooperative play of yesteryear.

Imagine if games like Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Supreme Commander and Crysis allowed for Co-op play during the single player campaign. Online Co-op play would be great, but I would greatly appreciate having a couple of high quality games that I could bring to a LAN party and NOT have to play a lame deathmatch but a long winding mutliplayer experience that you can't finish in one sitting. I would like to see the length and breadth of a single player game expanded for two-four of my closest geek friends.

The ultimate experience would be a game soley devoted to the Co-op experience which has been for sometime a lost art. We may be nerds, but we all have at least a few friends to share in the nerdom and do occasionally like the human interaction of meeting face to face. Cooperative play to me changes the way we play the game and increases the replayability. For once (and don't kill me) I envy those console gamers who play Halo Co-op; the poor lucky saps......sigh.

A Close look at Vista without drinking Haterade

Since it's suddenly cool to rip into Windows Vista; I'd thought I'd give my take on it. I've had Vista Basic for close to a month now and I've gotten the recent security and compatibility updates. After getting everything just the way I want it I have to say that's it's a Love-Hate relationship with Vista. I'll go on....

I unboxed my copy of Windows Vista with much glee and excitement (after crying about having to pay for Windows, that's another story) and read the manual. Simple enough to install, within twenty minutes my home built machine was brewing something of the Vista variety and I was pumped. I was greeted by a fresh crisp GUI that was easy to navigate. I uploaded a few programs (Avast, Spybot, VLC) to get myself started. Everything went nice and smoothly.

I ran into my first annoyance when I went to open these programs and was told that as an Administrator I needed to okay the running of said program. No biggy, I'll adjust the account settings later. I uploaded all of my music in little to no time flat.

I installed some games and for the most part they went great; DX10 really is worth it for visual intense games that support it. I did have the occasional random slowdown on some games that was only fixed by rebooting the machine. These slowdowns would even affect navigating menus! I was very annoyed.

These complaints and compliments come and go like every other budding iteration of Windows. Driver incompatibilities, new graphic support, random problems that cant reproduced and others are to be expected. My only really bug with Vista is the amount of privileges Administrator accounts are given. As an Administrator I expected to be able to do anything I wanted, not have to wait in line like everyone else. I upside though is that Vista "claims" to offer improved security. I haven't run into many problems yet but I think most of it is geared towards anti-piracy, yarrrr.

For the power users on the other hand Vista may just seem awkward and unresponsive for some things. Drivers and security problems are annoying, but nothing users can't find a way around after awhile. Given the nine months since Vista's launch these users are getting hungry for more support and are quite happy to stick with XP for now and I'd agree with that decision.
My take is all about where you and your PC are currently. I think that you should take the plunge to Vista if you

1.) Just got a new computer with the recommended requirements
2.) Really want to show off your Directx10 hardware
3.) Just upgraded your current machine to a Multi Core Processor

I would wait to upgrade to Vista and stick with XP if you...

1.) are a power user
2.) don't plan on getting or upgrading your machine for some time
3.) are not a big PC Gamer
4.) are constantly installing programs and want to make sure they are supported

For me I'm quite happy with Vista. Sure there are times when I wish I was still running XP, but there are times when I'm glad that I have Vista. I'm not WOWed by Vista, but I am definately satisfied; even a little pleased. At the end of the day it all comes down to what you want to do on your computer; and only YOU can answer that

Best Game You Never Played - Penumbra: Overture Episode 1

Adventure gaming is struggling desperately to grab the attention of the modern video game market after a supreme command in the 80s and 90s. Thankfully, developers are inventing new ways of interpreting an adventure game from its point and click roots. One of those innovations is Penumbra. Starting out as a tech demo from yet unknown Swedish developer Frictional Games, Penumbra adds a fully 3D environment as well as a chilling horror setting to really bring something new to the table.

With game play innovations like using real time physics to slowly open doors and drawers with mouse movements, to AI enemies actually thinking of how to reach you in seemingly “safe” places, Penumbra offers an experience that draws you in and scares the hell out of you at the same time.

Like with any game that tries to be unique, some would be quick to point out flaws that are really only misunderstandings. Like how your character is too helpless against the environment, making even attacking an enemy with a pick-axe very frustrating, but this was purposefully done to make you use your head and the environment to progress through the game, and tries to teach you that hiding is sometimes a better option than fighting, just like if Penumbra’s situation actually happened.

Overall this game is a bit on the short side, but at $20 retail, with an eerie horror setting, a sense of helplessness, interesting and innovative puzzles, a good use of physics, and decent graphics, all from just a handful of developers, Penumbra is a game that should be experienced by anyone willing to play something a bit different. Bring on the next two episodes!

To learn more, visit the official site at www.penumbra-overture.com

Bioshock- Get Steampunked next Monday

Steampunk has been all the rage lately, but none pull it off quite like Bioshock. Bioshock features lush visuals, unique environments, oh yea and something about revolutionary gameplay.

Taking place during the 1960's you assume the role of Jack, a man who recently survived a plane crash in the middle of the ocean. Finding a lighthouse (in the middle of the ocean), Jack takes a sub to an underwater city in hopes of salvation. HAH salvation never works, we all know that.

Arriving in the underwater city known as Rapture, Jack is met by its humble citizens who have incredible mental and physical powers. The story behind Rapture involves Sea Slugs that secrete stem cells (that's a mouthful) called ADAM. Long story short the stem cells enhance people's abilities, causes a war and now everyone has gone flipping nuts.

What sets Bioshock apart from say Pac Man, is that it allows you to kick ass your way. The steampunked weapons look cool and all, but Bioshock's awesome factor goes through the roof with the ability to customize your character using Plasmids bought spending ADAM.


My Roommate: "Wasn't this done is Deus Ex kinda??"
Me: "No"
Roommate: "No it definately was, I played it last semester"
Me: (breaks chair over roommates back)

You can spend your ADAM to upgrade one of four types of abilities; Weaponry, Engineering, Active, and Physical. Abilities range from shooting fire, telekinesis, electricity, camouflage, and loads more. Along with these abilities you can also modify your weapons to hold more ammo and different types of rounds.

Here's a full list of System Requirements for Bioshock

1 Xbox 360 or Playstation 3

or

Minimum requirements

• Processor: 1.33 GHz CPU
• Memory: 1 GB of SDRAM
• Graphics: GeForce 7xxx or Radeon X1xxx

Recommended requirements

• Processor: 2.66 GHz CPU
• Memory: 2 GB of SDRAM
• Graphics: GeForce 8800 series or Radeon X1950 series

Mac Requirements

• No way
• Leave
• You still reading
• Shoo!
• Stick Head in Bucket and pray for a port
  

The game is due out for PC August 21st, 2007 (next week!) and is expected to sell faster than even "special" hot-cakes. The game will also appear on Xbox 360 or PS3.

Im in ur gamez advertising my produk

So Capitalism is great, it keeps fresh products out on the market and allows the average man to make his own money. Okay fair is fair. But for pete's sake keep your ads out of my games! I love subliminal messaging as much as the next guy, but its hard to concentrate on my damn game when I go "is that a poster for Superbad in my game?" BLAM, I die and have to start over and swearing ensues.

No big deal, I won't make the same mistake again. I will however play another game where there's an add for some product which brings me to my point. How far does advertising have to go?

Games like Rainbow Six Vegas are still great no matter the advertisements for Axe and Superbad. I do get a slight feeling that I'm not playing a game so much as a commercial.

Games much like movies are starting to be viewed as art, and Axe Body Spray is NOT ART YOU NITWITS. Advertising in games make me feel like I'm watching TV and not immersing myself in the experience. This advertising in games is the start of an annoying trend and I for one, can do nothing about it except complain; and not buy games but that's not really an option.

Until I own all the video game companies and can keep ads out of games we're screwed.

Crysis Release Date [Official], should I learn to go without food for weeks?

Cutting straight to the chase, Crysis will be released Nov. 16th as announced by EA recently. I will repeat that, Crysis will be released Nov. 16th, begin screaming.

Yes the revolutionary game giving players unparalleled amounts of freedom, all too revealing nano-suits, and really really big aliens to kick the shit out of finally has a launch. What some are calling the next Big thing in PC gaming Crysis promises to deliver amazing visuals coupled with piss your pants worthy gameplay. And now after several delays EA (crosses its heart and hopes to die) swears that it will be released Nov. 16th.

Promising to offer an unbelievable single player experience, it is however uncertain how well multiplayer will be worth the time. With a lack of Co-op multiplayer and reported latency issues with the 32 player online deathmatches, Crysis may lose a small but still substantial amount of thunder unless these issues are resolved. Crysis will come with a Sand-box editor much like Farcry allowing players to create their own levels for multiplayer use, but that's if the multiplayer is worth anytime at all. Only time will tell.

We're up and running!

We'll it's quite a day, Devicing is now up for the masses (all 7 of you) to view. So I invite you to our first post at Devicing and to squeal with glee at our first steps into the cluttered world of technology blogging.

Here at Devicing we'll supply you with current news and trends in technology (namely all things geeky), opinions and critiques of new products and advice on purchasing. Hopefully leaving you educated and with some money left in your wallet.

Expect articles on

• PC Hardware and Software
  
• Video Game Consoles
• Bargain Hunting
• the Gaming Industry
  
• the Music Industry
  

Other people's mothers and much much more!

Devicing spawned from a couple of geeky college guys who do what geeky college guys do; play games, go on digg.com and argue too much for our own good (I'm the one kicking ass FYI). We strongly believe that we know more than the average joe does about technology and saving money so we thought we'd brag a little and thus Devicing born, where we can report and complain about technology so you don't have to.

So cheers and welcome to Devicing

-Kevin