Proprietor of this fine website, with interests ranging from video games to anime to amateur programming.
Two days ago I finally received my parcel containing the Moto 360, Motorola’s first Android Wear smartwatch. This is a quick first impressions post, but basically I really like it so far… and you probably shouldn’t get this. It’s definitely a first adopter product.
I am not a graphics programmer. I have only passing knowledge of the graphics pipeline and could not code a shader to save my life. But as a gamer I am fascinated by the research behind anti-aliasing techniques, and so it was with great interest I read on Neogaf about the new AA technique being used in Farcry 4, Hybrid Reconstruction Anti-Aliasing, presented at SIGGRAPH 2014. Of particular note is that this technique performs a little better on AMD’s latest graphics architecture, GCN, which is present in both current generation consoles. It suggests that, given the console focused development of most AAA game studios (and game engine studios), the next few years could see more research into graphical techniques optimised or more performant on the GCN architecture, and thus influence the direction of high-end graphics performance on the PC.
I’ve just installed a second monitor for my PC, the QNIX QX2710 LED Evolution II SE. This 2560×1440 monitor is one of those famous Korean monitors that offer a high-resolution IPS (or more accurately Samsung PLS, which is essentially the same thing) monitor for a relatively cheap price. The downside is that the panels are A- panels, so they’re defective enough to be rejected from a big brand monitor, but those defects are not major. For example, it may have up to 6 dead pixels. Luckily mine has no dead pixels, though it does have backlight bleed.
The other feature of these monitors that attracts PC gamers is that the refresh rate can potentially be overclocked up to 120Hz, with most getting at least 96Hz. This roughly means you can play games at framerates higher than 60 fps with no tearing (up to the refresh rate of the monitor). My monitor can get up to 110Hz without issue, it seems (though my frame-skipping analysis was quite rushed). With Wolfenstein and Bioshock Infinite I can play with V-sync off and get no screen tearing (which was a noticeable problem on my old monitor with V-sync off). The issue is that to achieve those refresh rates with AMD graphics cards you need to use a third-party patch for the AMD graphics drivers, and that patch disables hardware accelerated video and HDCP (necessary if you want to watch Blurays on your PC).
But otherwise it’s a fine monitor for the price I paid for it, $345 including shipping from South Korea (the price has since gone up). I purchased from AccessoriesWhole on eBay, but I hear that Dream-Seller and Greensum are also good sellers to buy from.
I’ve decided to start a new semi-regular column, which I have lovingly named Frontiersman Gamer. Here I’ll talk about games – video games, board games, card games, etc. – that will probably not be familiar to the average video gamer. In the beginning I’ll be focusing on tabletop games, and in this one I’ll be starting with the very familiar name of Richard Garfield.
It would not be a stretch to say that readers would be familiar with Magic: The Gathering, the popular collectible card game designed by Richard Garfield. Readers may also be familiar with other collectible card games (CCGs) such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokémon and Cardfight! Vanguard. The premise of these games is straightfoward – you collect cards buy purchasing multiple booster packs and preconstructed decks, you construct a deck out of your cards, and you compete with a friend in a head-to-head battle.
But there exists a plethora of other card games that do not fall within the category of collectible card game (in fact, they might be more aptly described as board games despite lacking, well, boards). One of which was designed by Richard Garfield himself many years ago. Trading random packs of cards for core sets and expansions with fixed decklists, you can often get complete game experiences out of the box without the need to invest in building a competitive deck (though drafting does go some way to solving that issue for CCGs). Sometimes they do away with the premise of players battling head-to-head entirely. Let me expose you to a series of games where the story that emerges is sometimes more enjoyable than the mechanics of the game, and where building cities can be just as fun as fighting orcs.
The Pokemon Black and White 2 website came out, and I am simply amazed at how they created it using only JavaScript. It seems only a short time ago that they were relying on Flash to make their interactive game sites.
So I decided to get a PS Vita, and it came last Friday. Mine was ordered from SuperUFO for US$254, with a 16GB memory card for US$49.95. Together in Australian dollars, that $345.20 including shipping. Pretty cheap compared to Australian prices.
Now as for why I got a PS Vita, it was essentially for one reason – Persona 4: The Golden. The fact that I could play the PSP games I already owned on PSN, and the ability to play any other future interest PS Vita games, are bonuses as far as I am concerned.
With that in mind, lets move onto my impressions!
On the whole there was disappointment at Microsoft’s conference (apart from the South Park game and segment), a better response to Sony’s conference, and great reception to the games shown at Ubisoft’s conference. That said, Ubisoft’s conference also had the worst presenters, with an awkward Tobuscus not as awesome as his literal trailers, and a woman who made references to ‘girl wood’ (as opposed to the more common term ‘lady boner’). While these two might be awesome in other places, they are not good at hosting media events. Then there’s EA. Tumbleweed would fit on that stage. Dead Space 3 was the only thing that blipped for me in that conference.
The big ones to watch so far are Watch Dogs, AC3, The Last of Us and BEYOND: Two Souls. Far Cry 3 doesn’t look to shabby either (and boobies), while Rayman Legends fulfils some inate need for good 2D platforming.
One thing to note is that this year is the year of the bow! Here’s a preliminary list of games shown so far that feature a bow:
Hooray for archaic weaponry!
Just mere days after the Indie Game Music Bundle, the 5th Humble Indie Bundle is perhaps the best bundle of them all, containing several mega-indie-hits:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwANFc7D1ac]
Plus all the soundtracks to those games, and Bastion and Superbrothers have some great soundtracks. There are still 10 days to pay for this amazing bundle, and you can donate some or all of that money to the Child’s Play charity or the EFF. So you get some awesome games and contribute to some good causes.
The Indie Game Music Bundle returns for the third time with a set of sweet soundtracks, including the wonderful soundtrack to Dustforce, Fastfall by Lifeforced, and Laura Shigihara’s great Plants vs Zombies soundtrack. Pay over $10 and you also get Alec Holowka’s (Aquaria) soundtrack to Offspring Fling, along with the soundtracks to Noitu Love and inMomentum.
