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Really? You’ve Been Waiting for the Mac Version of Modern Warfare 2 and 3!?

aspyr logo
lego model of call of duty setPolygon’s Jenna Pitcher wrote an article on the announcement of Modern Warfare 2 and 3 for OSX. I was completely flabbergasted when I read this article. Who are the diehard Mac fans who have been waiting for this release?
I am a hardcore Mac user, but I gave up the platform to Boot Camp long ago. I know that Aspyr Media has been doing god’s work (porting games to Mac) for years now, but isn’t it a little too late? Does Aspyr recoup the cost associated with converting these games? They must or else they would have been flushed long ago.

When I contacted Aspyr Media, Sales Manager Michael Blair told me that the company housed a nimble staff of 50 Mac developers and QA staff. Just for context, Randy Pitchford, CEO of Gearbox, said in an interview with Polygon that Gearbox employs between 100 – 300 people. So, Aspyr have a pretty small staff of Mac evangelists and, since they have been in business for over ten years, they must be making enough to keep them in the Mac business.

steam plus mac
Steam + Mac = True Love

Even with Steam’s push to make games playable on many different operating systems through Steamplay Mac has not been able to branch out much. They still have Civilization and there are tons of indie games and casual games that need to be distributed on every platform imaginable to make a buck, but they have never really been able to stand up next to the PC as a gaming platform. (They might be closer to Ouya.)

aspyr logoI am glad that Aspyr Media is out there porting games to Mac. Even with the Intel chipset becoming standard in all Apple computers and Boot Camp being a completely viable option to run Windows on a Mac, can they really sustain this kind of business model?

Mr. Blair thinks that his company’s business will continue making games for the Mac platform for the foreseeable future because of the hardcore Mac community that won’t play games on a Window PC.

Mac ABSOLUTELY is a viable platform and I urge you to launch Steam again to see the myriad of AAA titles now on the Mac along with a great number of impressive indie titles.  Sure, its hard to see a future where Mac is as big a platform as the PC, but like many other Mac users, I can’t see a future of me ever using a PC.  So there will always be an opportunity for gamers like you and myself.

Modern Warfare 2 and 3 were released 3 and 5 years ago respectively for other platforms. I would assume that their release for the OSX platform would be moot at this point. But according to Mr. Blair there are a lot of Mac gamers who have been waiting with bated breath for these games to be released.

I asked Mr. Blair how many concurrent players were playing Modern Warfare 3, the newest of the two games, he wrote back saying, “Usually, there are about 6-7k concurrent players on MW3 thanks to cross-platform multiplayer with the PC.” So, even if we forget that many of those people could be PC players, that is only 6000 – 7000 people. I know that many people do not even go online with many games, but that still seems like a pretty low number.

mac xbox
“Nuh uh! _______ is way better,” said every fanboy ever.

I am truly in awe that there are developers out there porting games to the Mac platform. As a long time Mac addict, I am always excited to play games in OSX, which in my opinion, is a superior operating system to others on the market. But, in the end, I am just too avid a gamer to wait for games to be released on the Mac.

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Blog

Microsoft Finally Has a Reason to be on the Front Page Again

crossed out kinectMicrosoft came out with a bevvy of news today. Not only will they be releasing a $399 version of the Xbox One without the Kinect peripheral, but they have been restructuring their Xbox Live Gold membership program in some interesting ways.

First, Microsoft has announced that it’s “popular” Games with Gold program on the Xbox 360 will be coming to Xbox One. Microsoft, a company who loves touting it’s numbers, announced that their Games with Gold program has had “over 12 million people” download their Games for Gold games, “resulting in nearly 200 million hours of free fun playing Games with Gold titles.” I think the PR guys splooged in their pants with that sentence. 

phil spencer laughingThe blog post which probably wasn’t written or published by Microsoft’s Phil Spencer detailed that access to the “free” games would be “subscription-based,” putting Games with Gold in line with the Playstation Plus program. Basically, if you aren’t paid up on your subscription, you won’t be able to access these game anymore. 

Next, Gold members will get exclusive discounts on games through their terribly named “Deals with Gold” program. This program will give Gold members savings up to 50 – 75 percent off games. This is another program that Playstation Plus currently offers, sans the stupid name.

Finally, literally, FINALLY! Microsoft users will be able to access Netflix, HBO Go, and many other apps without having to go through the Xbox Gold pay-wall. This is great news for those Microsoft users who don’t have Gold but want access to these services gratis. This change to their Xbox service is the most insignificant (in terms of implementation), yet it is the most brain-dead in terms of customer service. Microsoft should have ended this long ago.

an xbox logo in MinecraftIt has been awhile since Microsoft has had anything interesting to say, in my book. It has been said over-and-over but they have been struggling this generation – much like Sony struggled at the beginning of the last generation. Hopefully, these changes to their business plan will help them in the coming months.

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Blog

Bioshock is gonna get done! Spoilers!

twitch.tv large logo

I am going to finish playing Bioshock today. If you have never finished this game, come watch me finish it over at twitch.tv/owr_games or just watch the video below.

Watch live video from OWR_Games on www.twitch.tv

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Blog

No Stage Show for Nintendo – Something Better!

laser eye reggie

Nintendo is forgoing an expensive stage show again at this year’s E3. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have a lot planned.

Nintendo is having “Video Armageddon”

Who knows what they will call it but they are going to have a huge Super Smash Bros. tournament in the middle of E3. This is going to be amazing and you can even be a part of it.

picture from the tournament
Video Armageddon

Some of you more ‘agressive’ fans might be asking:

Are they trying to take steam away from the convention?

I don’t think so. They are just trying to do something different. They are putting themselves out there as attendees more than anything. This gesture makes them look like they are just part of the crowd of fans that are excited to be at E3 and they are trying to spread that out to other parts of the country – just like Penny Arcade did with their their shindig PAX.

Is this going to be a success?

I think there is no possible way that this could go bad for Nintendo. They are still showing off games at the convention. They are still going to put on this huge Smash Bros. tournament that is going to be packed with people from the expo, but also people from the city of Los Angeles. Don’t forget this show is at the Nokia Theatre which is just down the block from the convention. That means that you won’t even have to attend E3 or pay the high ticket prices to go to Nintendo’s event. Will they charge? I don’t know. Also, while all of these people are cramming into the Nokia Theatre to play the game, those of you who couldn’t go to LA will be able to play the game at your local Best Buy.

All of that add up to lots of news coverage. With the local tournaments at Best Buy that could also mean local coverage for them too.

This is what Nintendo should be like all the time.

I really think that this video done by Mega 64, who are fans but they also make cool videos, and this tournament are Nintendo trying to democratize video games. Nintendo has always been a personal company. They have fallen behind because they wanted to stay personal with their console strategies, but this video and tournament are ways for them to ingratiate themselves to us once again.

kid from the wizard
California

This tournament is Nintendo trying to get back to being that company that it used to be when every kid dreamed of hitching their way across America to California and showing off their skills in some of their favorite games.

And, in the end, there would always be a brand new game that would be revealed and we would once again believe that things could be good. Companies could be good.

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An Afternoon With... Video

An Afternoon With GT 6

ghost car ad for gt 6

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Blog

What Does Watch Dogs Mean to Ubisoft?

Great White Hope

Watch Dogs gameplay trailerWith a little over a month until Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs launches for everything under the sun except the Wii U, Ubisoft has been out pimping their game on anybody who plays games. Megan Farokhmanesh had a write-up today concerning the multiplayer features of the soon to be released game.

Farokhmanesh confirmed the 8 person multiplayer, which can be turned on or off, which will allow the player to infiltrate another players world and using “encryption based PVP.” The player will impact the notoriety or fame of other player through hacking; your notoriety will go up with successful hacks and go down if you are hacked. (Could this just be a glorified Rush mode?) The Polygon video above has renewed my interest in the game.

Great White Hope From the gameplay footage that I have seen and through the information in the Farokhmanesh article and the Brian Crecente article that appeared earlier this month, I think that Ubisofts ” The Great Watch Dog Hope” looks like a mix of Naughty Dog action (Uncharted and The Last of Us came to mind when I watched the action in the video.) and, hopefully, Syndicate style cyberpunk hacking. Although, Ubisoft doesn’t want their game to end up like EA’s Syndicate sales-wise.

I am much more excited to play Watch Dogs now after seeing the Polygon video and reading the two Polygon articles, so I guess that part of their marketing worked; for me, at least. The biggest question I have though is: What does this game mean to Ubisoft?

I know that Ubisoft is a big company and it is built to take a flop. But, can it take a flop like this? In this down economy no developer can risk losing money. Will this be Ubisoft’s uDraw? 

A girl playing uDraw
uDraw kicks ass! Thanks Mom!

If Ubisoft is going out to places like Polygon right now, before the game comes out, are they really trying to be honest with the media? You can excuse me if I am skeptical that a publisher isn’t shoveling shit into my mouth and calling it chocolate. With the financial commitment that Ubisoft has put into Watch Dogs they would not shelve it at this stage of the game, but they just might get out there and try to convince the media and the public that they spent their extra time making their game into the new “be-all-end-all” of gaming.

Denis Dyack memeI bought Too Human. I bought into all of that bullshit that Denis Dyack fed to me because I wanted to believe Too Human was good. That was my fault and I have learned from my bad decisions. But, you will excuse me if I am less than convinced that Watch Dogs is going to be anything more than a GTA style action game that had serious problems with development up until a few months ago.

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Blog

Claptrap! Bang, Zoom, I’m Gonna Knock You Straight to the Moon!

 

Claptrap gonna get some DV
One of these days Claptrap!

Last week Gearbox announced that there will be an addition to the Borderlands franchise that will release before the year’s end. Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel will be released for PS3, Xbox 360, and PC.

The biggest reveal though was that the player will be able to control Claptrap, the bouncy helper-bot from the first two games, as well as controlling other new playable characters. (The last game’s decision to add all new playable characters was a point of contention for many fans.)

I was not aware of much Claptrap hate before I read the Joystiq article. Matt Armstrong, Borderlands franchise director at Gearbox, said this to Joystiq concerning players love/hate relationship with the franchise mascot:

The four playable characters in Borderlands the Pre-sequel
3 characters PLUS Claptrap…huh?!

Some people will love Claptrap. Some people will hate Claptrap, as it’s always been. We would not be surprised to see – not to get too deep into what Claptrap is or how he works – but we fully expect to see servers that are called ‘No Claptraps Allowed,’ where if you join as a Claptrap, you get kicked. We’re okay with that.

I am one of the fans who does like Claptrap. I could see how the character could become annoying after hours of play, but shouldn’t the team take that as a challenge? Shouldn’t players who hate Claptrap expect dialog and action that will change their feelings towards the mascot?

The newest addition to the series will not be developed by the Plano, Texas based Gearbox studio, but instead 2K Australia will take the reins on this project. Gearbox is working on the next generation sequel to it’s popular Brothers in Arms franchise and most likely in development on the next Borderlands game.

words on a black backgroundBut, why isn’t Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel coming to Xbox One and Playstation 4?

Armstong threw some PR spin on his response to Joystiq’s question concerning why the game is not running on “current” generation platforms (i.e. Xbox One and PS4). Armstrong and Gearbox believe the Borderlands audience is still using their Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. “The install base [on Xbox One and PS4] isn’t quite there yet,” he says. “They’re doing fantastically well, and it’s going to be great in the next couple years, but I think we’re going to go where our fans are.”

What does this say about Borderlands audience?

What does this say about the Xbox One and Playstation 4 audience?

cat meme about marketingThis kind of thing happens every generation, so there is no need to worry about your favorite franchise or your Xbox One or Playstation 4. Smaller developers tend to make a play for keeping “last” generation consoles relevant.

Even though Armstrong doesn’t want us to believe that the development of the next game in the series wasn’t driven by marketing, we all know that was – and that’s fine. They want to keep Borderlands on people’s minds until Borderlands 3 and the best way to do that is to use the current engine and hardware to put out an offshoot.

That’s okay. Actually, that’s great. But…it’s still driven by marketing.

 

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Blog

Playing Some GT6 This Afternoon

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Watch live video from OWR_Games on www.twitch.tv

Have you played GT6 yet? If you played GT5 then forget everything that you remember about that game and come check out GT6 with me.

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Blog

Costume Quest is Releasing…Whatever! I’ll Buy It!

Book promo image
Earnest Scared Stupid
Hey, Vern!

I loved Costume Quest. Everything about the game is perfect; nostalgic feelings, jokes, pacing, RPG system, length, etc. I can see myself playing through the game every Halloween; just like some might watch the Peanuts cartoon or Ernest Scared Stupid. This year, I am going to have a couple new ways to enjoy this great franchise.

Polygon reported Double Fine, the developer of the Costume Quest video game series, and Zac Gorman are working together to bring Costume Quest and it’s cute characters to the printed page alongside the release of the sequel in a new graphic novel titled Costume Quest: Invasion of the Candy Snatchers. 

 

Gorman, who’s Tumblr drew someone at Double Fine’s attention, has been posting comics, pictures, and musings on his blog, Magical Game Time, for years. I wished that I had heard about him before this announcement, but I guess it’s better late than never.

Costume Quest comic by Zac Gorman
What do the game and comic have in common? Style!

In Gorman’s interview with Comics Alliance, he revealed that instead of following the human characters who starred in the game, his first stab at a graphic novel will follow Klem, a nice Grubbin (the enemies of the first game), on his journey during that same action packed night.

I wanted to tell a story from the other side of the fence. The series pretty thoroughly examines the human side of things, so I wanted to try something different. I thought it’d be fun to see Halloween from an outsider’s perspective. Initially, I wrote this really long convoluted plot which delved a bit more into the everyday life of the Repugians [the monsters] and their relationship with Halloween but I had to condense it down into something I could finish in a realistic amount of time.

I am exited to see that Mr. Gorman created that convoluted plot which he might be able to turn into other graphic novels if this one is successful. Needless to say, I am super excited about this coming October. Hell! I might even dress up.

Book promo image

 

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xXx-Naxxramas-xXx420 joins Hearthstone

promo image for curse of naxxrama

promo image for curse of naxxramaNaxxramas? Really? Blizzard tends to get a little bit up it’s own ass when it comes to names.

Today at PAX East Blizzard announced Curse of Naxxramas: A Hearthstone Adventure, a single player Adventure Mode for Blizzard’s super popular game Hearthstone. Naxxramas sounds like a screen name one would see in Call of Duty.

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3rd Time’s a Charm

I have tried to do a few of these live steams and the live stream part of it has gone pretty well, but when I try to upload the videos there is always something wrong with the audio. Well, let’s give it another shot.

I’m trying to play through Bioshock this month, so if you would like to watch me play through the game today check out my live stream. Hopefully, the audio will be good and I will be able to upload the video onto this site for posterity.

Watch live video from OWR_Games on www.twitch.tv

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Nintendo is Tryin’ to Flip the Script

Aya Kyogoku from Nintendo
She's probably thinking about how many Bells she owes Tom Nook's shady ass!
Aya Kyogoku from Nintendo
She’s probably thinking about how many Bells she owes Tom Nook’s stingy ass!

Nintendo has been in the news a lot lately. Much of the internet would have us believe that they have been in the news for their lemming like dash towards the cliff of obscurity. Of course these kinds of headlines catch our attention and provide very “clickable” for the sites that publish many of these stories, but when one reads through the digital piles of garbage and starts to look at the real stories that are being written about Nintendo we see that Nintendo is a company that is daring to change the way that we think about video games. Yes! While continuing to make the same games over-and-over.

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I would like to play through Bioshock this month

Just like the title says, I would like to beat all of the Bioshock games this month. If you want to follow me on this journey. You can check out the twitch page @ twitch.tv/owr_games/

 

Watch live video from OWR_Games on www.twitch.tv

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Blog

Xbox One Tests the Water With a $450 Price Tag

test market meme
Xbox One Titanfall Bundle
I could see this in my house for $449

Microsoft has been struggling to find it’s position on the NPD monthly sales charts. Today Polygon reported that Best Buy and Walmart are offering the Xbox One for $449, which could help Microsoft make a play at the top spot this month. Both retailers are also offering the new Titanfall bundle for the same price; so, essentially, you are getting a copy of Titanfall and a Xbox One for $449. I have seriously thought about going to Walmart four or five times tonight.

polygon logoWalmart told Polygon that this $50 less price tag is “a limited time” offer, while Best Buy declined to comment on any specific end date for the price change. When Polygon reporter Samit Sarkar called Microsoft for comment he wrote this;

The $50 discount on the Xbox One isn’t indicative of a price cut from Microsoft, a company spokesperson told Polygon, saying, “This offer is available at Walmart and Best Buy retail stores in the U.S. for a limited time. Microsoft sets a suggested retail price, but specific pricing and offers vary by retailer.”

 

Microsoft has to give this kind of response to this news; whether they have anything to do with this or not. They want to distance themselves from this for whatever reason. The quote from Microsoft was written in such a way that it doesn’t mention “price drop” at all.

test market memeIf they would have wanted credit for this they would have made this a huge announcement at CES, but a $50 price drop isn’t big enough news for that kind of announcement. I wouldn’t doubt though that Microsoft, an American company, went to Walmart and Best Buy, two of the biggest American retail companies, and asked them to be “test markets” for a cheaper price point.

xbone price cut fanboy pic
The Fan Boy Brigade has taken to Microsoft Paint – Beware!

I really do believe that Microsoft needs to lower the price for it’s console. I am sure that they will do it, but “When?” is the the biggest question. I am sure that this “limited time” offer will give Microsoft some good data that will help them decide what to do before E3 starts.

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Podcast

OWR Games Podcast: Episode 05

leave jack tretton alone

Green OWR Games logo with black boarder around the edgeWha? What? Episode 5? Where did episode 4 go?

In short, it is lost to the aether. Once I add a donate button to the website I might be able to retrieve it from the aether, but I would need to purchase a few things before I can do that. I need…

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Sorry for the absence…

Green OWR Games logo with black boarder around the edgeHey guys! Sorry for the last two weeks absence, we have had a little bit of life get in the way recently. We are planning to do a podcast this weekend. We will be talking about Titanfall, Stick of Truth, and some of the games that we have been actually playing. Of course that means old games for Sam and I and Rodrigo will of course be playing the new hotness.

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All’s Well That Ends With Free Pokemon

Pikachu flash
Pikachu, YOU NASTY!
Pikachu flash
Pikachu, YOU NASTY!

We spoke on the second episode of the OWR Games Podcast about Nintendo’s recent financial news. On that podcast, I challenged the listeners to not take the doom-and-gloom news that most websites shove down our throats to heart when it comes to Nintendo. Once again I will show you that Nintendo knows what they are doing.

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Blog Podcast

OWR Games Podcast: Episode 03

Green OWR Games logo with black boarder around the edge

Green OWR Games logo with black boarder around the edgeThis week Paul and Rodrigo are joined by Sam Contreras to talk about some games. Rodrigo talks about his new Xbox One and having fun with the new Killer Instinct. We also reminisce about our trip to Akihabara and getting our asses kicked by effeminate Japanese Street Fighter players. Rodrigo and I talk about Spec Ops: The Line and how hard it is to not hear Nathan Drake. Once Rodrigo finishes up we hear from our longtime friend Sam.

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Podcast

OWR Games Podcast: Episode 02

Rising sun Kumamon

Green OWR Games logo with black boarder around the edgeOnce again we are join by our intrepid idiots Paul Smith (@sopachuco13) and Rodrigo Carballo (@naco402) to talk about games. Rodrigo catches us up on his progress with Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag and The Last of Us. Paul talks a bit about why Nintendo characters have no voice and Kumamon.

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Microsoft, Sony, and the Scientific Method

ps4 vs xbox one memeGamespot reported that the Playstation 4 enjoyed extremely lucrative sales in January, quoting the VP of PlayStation marketing John Koller who said, “PS4 was #1 in sales for next-gen consoles in January, nearly doubling the nearest next-gen competitor.” NPD does not post sales numbers for consoles publicly; only the publishers are privy to that information. But, it shouldn’t be too difficult to suss out the name of that mysterious company. Sony has been taking these little jabs at that company every chance they get. (It’s Microsoft.)

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