» Computer and Console Games
Friday, March 12, 2010
Accumulated things we should mention
Sleep is Death, a two-player game for PC and Mac in which one player acts like they’re playing a basic point-and-click RPG, and the other has 30 seconds per turn to arrange the world’s graphics around them to make it seem like they are. Yes, they get to prepare some of the graphics. Yes, this is as simple and completely awesome as it sounds. Stupid cheap, too.
Iconica, a gorgeous indie card game being sold on Etsy. The linked post is subtitled “Not Just Another Pretty Face,” but frankly doesn’t make much of a case for that; the game seems like it might be a little samey and tough to learn, and the world-building seems pretty generic. But oh, that design. I’m also interested in Etsy as a venue for sales of actual independent games, as opposed to just crafts based on video games.
Deathwatch, the third core Warhammer 40K roleplaying game, has been announced. I only bring it up because I keep seeing threads about it and thinking, “that’s a bit harsh, it seems like the system has plenty of support and I don’t know why anyone would think it was dyi– OH WAIT”
Thursday, February 25, 2010
PAX East on final approach, and selling out fast
One month from tomorrow, on March 26, PAX East, the second location for the Penny Arcade Expo, will hit Boston, MA full force. The new show, a spinoff of the original PAX in Seattle (dubbed “PAX Prime” by many), had already sold out of full-show passes over three weeks ago, and with only a few hundred single day passes currently left for Friday and Sunday – well, if you were on the fence about going, you’d better commit or forget. This inaugural show’s official schedule just went up yesterday, adding to the considerable excitement that resulted two weeks ago when Wil Wheaton was announced as PAX East’s keynote speaker. If you can’t make it out to Boston, OgreCave will have a representative at the show in the form of Lee Valentine, frequent Cave dweller and one of our staff writers. Actually, he’ll be there whether you attend or not, so… yeah.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
OgreCave Gaming News Update: Holy podcast! A Hero Games interview!
What’s that you say? You remember when the Ogres used to have voices, echoing from deep within the Cave in podcast form? So do we. Now that some problematic software issues seem to be resolved, we’re going to ease back into some recordings of gaming goodness, starting a new episode of the OgreCave Gaming News Update. The relaunch episode kicks things off with my interview of Hero Games’ Darren Watts, recorded at DunDraCon 34 last weekend. In the episode, we briefly discuss Champions for Hero: Sixth Edition, which Hero sold preview copies of at the show. Darren also talks about upcoming 2010 releases, including early details of his Champions Beyond project, and fields unexpected questions from a young assistant interviewer (my daughter).
Have a listen, tell us what you think, and let us know if any glitches turn up. We’ll be hard at work getting the OgreCave Audio Report back up to speed as well.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
OgreCave review – Dragon Age: Origins
For the first time, OgreCave’s review section includes a detailed look at an electronic RPG. That’s right, Dennis has provided us with his thoughts on Dragon Age: Origins, the gorgeous RPG release from BioWare for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. You’ve seen the previews and commercials – now click through and see if you need to pick up a copy for your gaming needs.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
OgreCave’s Christmas Gift Guide 2009, part 4
This is it – Christmas looms on the horizon, just one day away. But say you’ve forgotten to get a gift for someone, a fellow gamer, and there’s no time to get to the stores anymore. Fear not, for the Cave dwellers have compiled one more list of gift suggestions in our OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2009. This fourth and final list provides An Aetheric Guide for Christmas, our traditionally last-minute PDF/downloadable product list. Just read through the list, select a few pre-screened OgreCave recommendations, and download your gifts as needed. You don’t have to risk wading through last-minute shoppers – they’ll be like a pack of sugarplum-crazed elves by now.
Here’s wishing you a safe, happy holiday season, from the staff of OgreCave. Seasons greetings!
Monday, September 21, 2009
OgreCave reviews – World of Goo & Princess Bride
To start the week off right, we’ve got a pair of new reviews for you. First, Dennis has downloaded World of Goo from 2D Boy, and has some thoughts on this multi-platform sticky title. Then I’ve posted my take on The Princess Bride: Storming the Castle by Playroom Entertainment and Toy Vault. The amusing little game could’ve embraced the movie license more thoroughly, but fans may still enjoy this 2-4 player game.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
PAX 2009 – Gaming News Updates uploaded
We’ve got a trio of OgreCave Gaming News Update podcast episodes just posted from our trip up to Seattle for PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo 2009. First up, our bi-weekly update mentions a few PAX highlights (though this will be nothing compared to our upcoming PAX ‘09 Audio Report episode). Then we have an interview with Will Schoonover of Steve Jackson Games, who tells us all about the current state of things for the company, and describes the upcoming Nanuk in full detail. Finally, we had a chat with Matt Forbeck about his Guild Wars novel, all the other projects he has a hand in these days, and his thoughts on PAX, the industry, and bygone companies. Have a listen, let us know what you think, and be sure to check back for more.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Frag gets flashed
Earlier this week, Steve Jackson Games posted a Flash version of Frag for fans to amuse themselves with. It’s nearly all twitch with a little character recognition, but might be a reasonable way to pass some time at lunch, or while trapped inside by these weird thunderstorms – we never get these around here, and suddenly everyone’s driving stupidly. Best to stay off the roads, shoot a few Frag targets, and let the rain-befuddled motorists sort things out between themselves.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Champions Online offers lifetime subscriptions through August 31
Fans of Hero Games and City of Heroes, take note: there’s a bargain you may want to look into. Perhaps it’s a sign of how excited gamers are for the next Cryptic Studios MMO launch, but I’ve never heard of this sort of deal before (though admittedly, I’m not currently in the market for a new MMO addiction, so this deal may not be as unusual as it seems). Cryptic is offering lifetime subscriptions to Champions Online for $199, as well as six-month subscriptions for $59, until 11:59pm on August 31. Cryptic is throwing in access to the Star Trek Online closed beta to increase the enticement, as well as special in-game character costumes for both games, a Foxbat action figure, and extra character slots. Maybe you’re going to wait and check out Champions Online at PAX 2009 next weekend (we sure plan to), but if you’re fairly certain you plan to get your MMO supers on, this could be your time to act.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Warmachine’s next big thing is a video game version under development
Privateer Press announced at a seminar today at Gen Con that developer WhiteMoon Dreams is underway on a digital version of Warmachine for… consoles? PCs? Both? Info is coming in via Twitter and is thus a little thin on the ground. Apparently the game will be first-person strategy of a sort – you’ll be in the warcaster’s perspective, issuing orders to your ‘jacks – and that’s about all I know. Unless the game has a confirmed publisher, this might not really even be an announced product so much as a really awesome plan. But there’s a nice, shiny coming-soon page!
Friday, August 7, 2009
OgreCave is on Twitter
Feel free to come follow. In addition to convenient notices of new posts, you will receive occasional witty banter, things we don’t think are quite worth a post, and some complaining when our server is slow. OgreCave: happy to be part of the problem.
Relatedly: booths at Gen Con have Twitter accounts now. Booths.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Smith and Tinker steps to the (gold-plated) plate with Nanovor
When Jordan Weisman first announced his new company Smith and Tinker, he stated its mission as being to create toys, games, and other real-world media that leverage networks in order “to compete with the dynamic and exciting world of the internet.” Further, they foregrounded two maxims: “There is nothing on the planet more entertaining than other people; There is no one on the planet more creative than the audience.” Since then, he’s announced a new MechWarrior video game project that looks awesome, but certainly sounds more like that thing they said they were competing with… and now there’s Nanovor, a new collectible game aimed at kids.
It starts as a downloadable PC game, and then there are some gift cards that get you in-game cash; but then there’s this little hand-held mini-Gameboy thingy that plugs into a USB port on your PC, presumably downloads “cards” or what have you, and possibly plugs into other thingies to play competitively. Price tag on the device, as part of a starter kit: $60.
Okay, why? It seems like you get a decent device for the money, but every kid in the target market already has a DS. This thing isn’t visibly delivering anything it can’t do. If I’m S&T, I can certainly understand not wanting to pay Nintendo’s licensing fee, nor wanting my game’s public perception to sink into a morass of ordinary cross-media Pokemon-esques. But as a player, or the parent of one, who’s apparently going to have to pay for even more stuff on top of the $60? In This Economy™? No dice.
Maybe the free-to-start PC game will do better on its own, but irrespective of the merits of the game (which I haven’t actually played yet), I’m not seeing S&T’s alleged dream manifested in this product. Even if that dream is just “stay in the black.” And that makes me sad.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
A little 16-or-so-bit action for your table
If you poke around in the various print-and-play tags on BoardGameGeek, you can find some pretty interesting stuff. Take, for example, Skirmish Wars: Advance Tactics, a counter-based light wargame ripped, quite literally (if you decide that the digital sense of the word “rip” isn’t a metaphor anymore), from the world’s most popular turn-based wargame, Advance Wars for the Game Boy Advance. Free, illegal as hell, and full of counters that are full of numbers, this nevertheless looks polished and fun. (From my hours upon hours of AW experience, I can also tell you that most of those numbers are just there to track hit points by rotating the counter. I wonder how much of the GAH HARD reaction that people have to most wargames is due entirely to this one way to track HP.)
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Laptops? We don’t need no stinkin’ laptops
Andy Kitkowski at Story Games points out a Japanese tabletop-RPG gamebook and comprehensive play aid for the Nintendo DS. In a kinder universe than this one, we would not have to ask where the hell the iPhone app was for D&D Insider.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Random Encounter interview: Darren Watts of Hero Games
In case our recent GTS 2009 interviews weren’t enough, we’ve got another quick interview hot on their heels. This one’s in the form of our Random Encounter interviews, quick little engagements on a single subject. Whether you celebrate Cinco de Mayo or not today, OgreCave has brought you this Random Encounter with Darren Watts of Hero Games, regarding Hero’s new sourcebook Lucha Libre Hero. We even slipped in a question on Champions Online for you – you’re welcome.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Dungeon Twister headed for Xbox 360
Another Asmodée game is migrating to consoles. Hot on the heels of Jungle Speed hitting the Wii, now it looks like a version of Dungeon Twister is in the works for Xbox 360, with other consoles to follow. According to a news post on the Asmodée website, French videogame company Hydravision is hard at work on the adaptation, which is tentatively scheduled to release in Q3 2009. The Xbox version is currently planned as a “faithful adaptation of the Boardgame and will not be turned into an ‘Arcade’ version which will require high-strung reflexes to win.” However, the new version will allow both solo and online play. Sounds interesting, and a peek at the Mechanorc game piece makes it look even more interesting.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
OgreCave reviews – Blokus, Blokus World Tour
Regular OgreCave contributor Lee Valentine has provided us with his evaluations of two varieties of the abstract strategy game Blokus. First, there’s the original Blokus game, for anyone who hasn’t had a taste of it yet. Then Lee runs Blokus World Tour through the motions and reports how well the PC adaptation does at emulating the tabletop game. Hint: it couldn’t have fared that badly – the Cave dwellers listed it in last year’s OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide. Have a look, or if abstract strategy isn’t your thing, peruse our other reviews.
Monday, December 22, 2008
OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2008, part 4
Now that Christmas is just a few days away, you’re either all set for gift giving, or just about to panic. Fear not – the Cave dwellers have one more list of gift suggestions for you, and this time none of them require shipping. Therefore, we wrap up (*ahem*) our eighth annual holiday guide with An Aetheric Christmas Dozen – 12 Gifts in Electronic Formats. Pick a few, burn them to a disc, and dash away to all your last-minute holiday engagements.
And for anyone still looking for ideas (or planning to spend some gift certificates soon), don’t forget to check our other lists for 2008:
- Twelve Stocking Stuffer Games (12 Games of $25 or Less)
- Twelve Days of Roleplaying (12 RPG Gift Ideas)
- Twelve Boxes for Christmas (12 Boardgame Gift Ideas)
Merry Christmas and happy holidays from the staff of OgreCave!
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Hasbro drops Scrabulous lawsuit
‘Tis the season to resolve one’s differences, it seems. Scrabulous, an online clone of the classic word game Scrabble, was created by two brothers in India and went on to become tremendously popular on Facebook. (Why the brothers thought they had the right to do this, I have no idea.) Since this was done without Hasbro’s permission, Hasbro sued the brothers for violating Hasbro’s copyright and trademarks. The lawsuit, which demanded the removal of Scrabulous and asked for unspecified damages, was dropped early this week. Though an exact reason for the charges being dropped was not given, the brother’s company, RJ Softwares, have agreed not to use the name Scrabulous, and their new Facebook game, Wordscraper, is significantly different. Game developers, take heed: don’t infringe on a major company’s copyright and trademarks so obviously and thoroughly that they have no choice but to level both barrels of their legal team at you. Common sense, really, but apparently some guys need to be reminded.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Frag going gold in February. No disc involved
File under the Revisit and Upgrade category: Steve Jackson Games is updating one of their older titles, Frag. The updated version, Frag: Gold Edition, due out in February ‘09, will boast a two-sided solid gameboard, plastic figures instead of cardstock, dry-erasable character cards, plenty of dice, and lots of fragging, respawning and mayhem for $49.95. We jumped in on the beta of the original version way back in the day, and had some fun with this first person shooter boardgame, so this new incarnation might be worth checking out.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Voting begins in new gamebook competition
This year, the home of the free online Chronicles of Arborell gamebooks is hosting a competition to encourage new authors. All the entries are in, and readers are now encouraged to take a look and vote for their favorites. The adventures begin here. Take a look, put in your votes, and think about contributing if this rolls around again next year. I’d love to see gamebooks get their own competition as large and interesting as the computer-based Interactive Fiction Competition, which is also in the voting stage at the moment.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Penny Arcade, both rain-slick and exploring Arkham
Since the second episode of Penny Arcade: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness just became available yesterday from Hothead Games, we thought it prudent to double-check that you’ve done your research. You do recall the Penny Arcade Gabe and Tycho Investigators available for Arkham Horror at the FFG site, yes? Very good, then – you may proceed.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
WotC titles on final approach at Game Table Online
Game Table Online has continued to roll out online versions of both classic and more recent tabletop game titles since getting started in 2001. Next week, it seems they plan to roll out their version of some well-known Wizards of the Coast titles: Acquire, Axis & Allies, Guillotine, Vegas Showdown, and one of my all-time favorites, RoboRally. You can’t go far wrong with a Richard Garfield classic in your lineup. By the end of September, GTO should also have Battle for Olympus from Dr. Reiner Knizia available for online play, and a version of 1960: The Making of the President (another great game) is in the works as well. I haven’t been by Game Table Online in a while – these titles have got me thinking I should change that.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
More this just more even more in from Gen Con
A few links from Saturday’s shows.
- North Star Games has followed up their smash Wits and Wagers with Say Anything.
- Fat Dragon makes cardstock terrain, and even some out-and-out fold-up minis, on a really high level of craft.
- The Call of Duty real-time card game.
- I’m fairly certain Paul meant Batavia.
- How to Host a Dungeon sounds like a tabletop interactive version of the world-generation stuff at the start of indie PC text game Dwarf Fortress; everyone I know thinks that part of Dwarf Fortress is cool but stops playing as soon as they have to actually do anything. If HtHaD can actually make you a part of the cool stuff, that’s a recipe for success.
- I’ve been eyeing The Continuum with interest for a bit, but also with some suspicion; they have their fingers in so many pies that they smell a little bit of desperation. (Mmm, desperation pie.) But to be fair, I need to give the gameplay a look, and the another-free-booster-for-finishing-three-games thing is really smart.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Gleemax is one dead-ass brain-in-a-jar
“We’re not going to abandon the vision, but we are going to put large chunks of it on the backburner until we prove that we can succeed at the most important pieces. Those pieces are Magic Online and D&D Insider.” It’s a shame WotC doesn’t have the resources to execute on Gleemax right now, because the vision is pretty good. Someone could possibly beat them to it – maybe the BGG developers if they’re interested in developing for a more general community, but they probably aren’t, and anyway it’s unlikely that many others could get the industry behind one unified effort the way Wizards was trying to. The Gleemax forums, BTW, will be moving back to the Wizards URL they (largely) came from.
So what do y’all think – should I use some of my copious free time to hack up a social network? Or would any of you be interested in seeing some more social-ish features show up here on the Cave?
A periodic hour of awesome with editors Allan and Mike. Subscribe!
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