http://www.npr.org/2013/05/21/185839248/loss-of-timber-payments-cuts-deep-in-oregon

I can't believe this, but apparently a woman was assault and raped by her ex-husband because the local government didn't have funding to get police coverage. 

So my thoughts on this are pretty easy - if they are announcing this far in advance pre-order DLC, why not include it in the main product?  I get incenting people to preorder, but an entire expansion pack? 

People understand how DLC and digital downloads work. Have you ever loaned a friend your DLC or your copy of Minecraft 360?  How is mentioning that even relevant?

... and when have you bought an "Install only" PC game, which chances are has a license key, and then lend it to a friend?

Install is install. The game discs are no longer a standalone product that simply proves ownership based on possession. So yeah ... Steam is the same bloody thing, except when you're done with a game, there is no way to recoup money and pass the game license on. IIRC, PS4 has yet to confirm that used games will play on the PS4. If there is something newer, then I missed it - there was a comment made earlier, but then rescinded by Sony.

I think maybe some people watched a different PS4 reveal - from some of the creepy comments re: Kinect integration, the Sony Eye may or may not also be required - Sony hasn't revealed that information yet - but it also does face recognition, etc.

The Sony PS4 reveal was unimpressive (to me, at least) and since PS3 sales (at the onset) were significantly boosted because it was the most affordable BD player at the time, I'm not understanding the backlash WRT MS going after the multimedia aspect of a product line that has always been targeting the entire entertainment experience. Yeah, more games. I get that - but from a user perspective, the interface and the benefits seem well thought out.

Conversely, their presentation was lukewarm at best, but that doesn't say anything of the product itself. I think their next task is to funnel all questions through a clear, simple and consistent message. They need to stay away from anything that smells of smoke and mirrors.

When I sign in on Steam at my friend's house I can play after the install - it doesn't require me to pay twice.  It should be tied to my account and only allow one instance at a time. 

Oh and THIS is why I don't want always-on to ever be a part of my gaming.  I only have a limited amount of time to game and it has to be on my terms or it doesn't get done on time for reviews.  Launch days like this will absolutely SimCity the whole damned thing for me.

Yep, this is gonna happen. 

Screens and videos are up!

http://gamingtrend.com/2013/05/21/quantum-break-announced-for-xbox-one/

Screens and Videos are up!

http://gamingtrend.com/2013/05/21/forza-motorsport-5-debut-trailer-and-screens/

Also in that same article, you need to activate every game over the internet before you can play it.

Here's how the system works: when you buy an Xbox One game, you'll get a unique code that you enter when you install that game. You'll have to connect to the Internet in order to authorize that code, and the code can only be used once. Once you use it, that game will then be linked to your Xbox Live account. "It sits on your harddrive and you have permission to play that game as long as you’d like," Harrison said.

Thanks for giving me permission to play a game I just purchased, Mr. Harrison! Though, if my internet is down....I guess I am SOL. Oh well....

This whole thing just sounds worse and worse.

And just like that, my Father-in-law cannot own this system.

So here is where I'm angry - Rock Band.   I and others on this forum have a plethora of Rock Band songs that we'd love to continue to play, but that's just not gonna happen without running two systems.  Similarly, anything you have on XBLA is now trash.  Those are purely digital - there is no reason they couldn't be ported.  Hell, give me an option to pay a fee to move it and I'm happy....but no.  Instead, locked out completely. 

"Premium TV Service" - this sounds like it'll be exclusive to Xbox.  I wonder if we'll this on 'regular' TV.

aha, here's the bit about the Kinect being required.

I disconnect mine because my Kinect thinks I'm talking to it all the time.  Seriously, it's the most nosy device in my home.  Talking to my wife while playing turns into fits of frustration with the Kinect. 

When that thing happened my wife and I literally turned to each other, jaws agape.   I absolutely LOVED this movie. 

http://penny-arcade.com/static/rainslick-giveaway

I had the first one come up as 'already used' but the next one worked fine.  Chop chop!

http://www.dorkly.com/comic/51872/lego-batman-origins

OMFG....this is hilarious, and totally true!

To get more than 1 weapon you have to craft a holster right? Also, the ammo for those other weapons should be pretty limited as well.

  I *think* you can carry 1 rifle, 1 melee, 1 pistol, and 1 throwable.  To carry a second of those you have to craft a second holster.  1 melee can be a bat, a stick, a pipe, etc. and they are your best friend, as are the throwables.  The ammo is very limited and honestly it's not recommended a lot of the time as it attracts a LOT of attention.

I really, really hope they fold a lot of stuff they have for Last of Us into Uncharted.

Me too.  This game has come a long way from Uncharted. 

I also really like how the gore feels reasonably horrific, and is kind of just there and not glorified with geysers of blood and slow motion headshots.

  Agreed.  It's pretty horrible, but it's the new reality for the characters.  It makes sense in context and nobody feels great about it in the game. 

Are there difficulty settings in the demo, what did you play at?

  Yea, three of them.  I always play stuff for review or preview at Normal or Medium as that's usually what's balanced for "everyone". 

I'm very much looking forward to this game.  Naughty Dog has a hit on their hands. 

Anyone from GT invited to the event?

We will be liveblogging the event with our thoughts for those who can't watch the video reveal or just want to know our musings. 

I'm still waiting on the proper 700 series to be announced.

they're coming.

I'm running a 570 on my desktop and doing ok.  I'm sure come Witcher 3 time I'll need a 7xx series card though. 

Thanks for the update on the games.  I'll probably skip M1 and just nab 2 when it hits on the cheap.   

How did THIS not make your favorites people!? 

I think at least part of the problem is that they are still very early and have yet to show any in-game footage, let alone real gameplay.  I expect once they get to that point then interest will pick up more.

http://gamingtrend.com/2013/05/20/kickstart-the-next-heavy-gear/

It shows the engine at least, which is in-game.  Which...yay, ok....destructibility.  I just want to see some actual combat. 

I'm interested in Van Helsing, believe it or not.  But I'll definitely wait for reviews.

We have one of those in the works.    Stand by....

Only thing I don't like about the GT vid is that the girl sounds like she's in her 20's and clearly isn't.

Otherwise looks great. Visceral.

Is ammo an stuff as rare as it should be. I saw you only had 3 shells in the shotgun...but then I saw you basically had an armory in your backpack when you got to the work bench...

Also, in that one QTE when the guy grabbed you, it prompted you to hit square. Did square just break the hold or did it do everything. break the hold and then hit him with the board?

Niiice!

Yea, the language is certainly a little more 'salty' than I think some folks anticipated, but it is rated M.  The arsenal in the backpack thing doesn't help as much as you might think - without that one rare piece you can't make something good with it, and you can't upgrade stuff without the bench.  You can make basic stuff like nailbombs and medkits, but there is always a tradeoff.  It feels pretty balanced.

On the QTE, you hammer square till it breaks the hold then he 'reacts' in a contextual way.  If you are near something you might smash their face into it.  It works exactly like Uncharted in that way. 

We've got a sweet new video for the co-op stuff.  Good gravy do those screenshots look amazing.  I imagine those are PC shots, but damn...

http://www.gamingtrend.com/2013/05/20/splinter-cell-blacklist-sneaks-up-on-us-with-a-co-op-trailer-and-screens/

As much as I was in the FPS's back then when this came about I didn't even bother playing through the entire Shareware version of it. The crude humor didn't work and there was nothing appealing about the mismash enviroments.

I don't recall the game getting good reviews and honestly the thing I remember most about it is the negative press with the racial slur it used. So why another company would want to dig that license up is beyond me.

Here's a few FPS licenses from that era that would probably get some interest if they made a game off it: Heretic/Hexen, Redneck Rampage, Blood, Witchaven, and hell even Corridor 7.

Damn....I'd KILL for a new Hexen.  That'd be awesome!

[Spoiler]

Spoiler for Hiden:

Let's try it out for myself. 

Seems to work fine for me.  What browser?  Try clearning cache/cookies?   

http://gamingtrend.com/2013/05/20/who-wants-some-wang-shadow-warrior-returns-this-fall/

I can't for the life of me imagine why the team wants to resurrect this title, but I'm sure glad they are.  I suspect this title might be rated M for hot and spicy racism. 

We've got our review for Resident Evil Revelations.  It covers PC, PS3, and Wii U.   

Please be awesome.

Hit the front page - I've gotten hands-on with the game again.   

(And yea, it was downloaded on my retail PS3.  Hypercompressed - a ~180mb download that took a full 30 minutes to decompress!!)

[The game is also venturing into more “RPG-like” territory without “going full out RPG”, like Skyward Sword.]

Legend of Zelda
New Legend of Zelda is said to feature a return for past races like the Gorons, Zoras plus new additional species to encounter.
The game is also venturing into more “RPG-like” territory without “going full out RPG”, like Skyward Sword.

wait, what?

I'm playing Awkward Sword and let me assure you that it's "RPG-like", and certainly NOT "full out RPG". 

I'm not sure how I feel about this; I'll have to see her new boobs before I decide.

I concur.  You know, for science.   

Oh, I'm 100000% in for this.  Loved the first movie.  Saw it in the theater and HHHHAAAAATED the English dubbing, but loved every moment of it watching it at home.   

full list is up.

[edit] LOL, Aliens: Colonial Marines for $11.99.

And somehow, still not worth it.  Trying to get to the Manhunt / Manhunt 2 bundle but I'm not finding it.   Always wanted to check those out....

Anyone seen any bugginess with Foundry dailies?  I did Tilt's first quest and it said it was eligible for the Foundry daily, but I completed it and didn't get credit for the daily.

Had the exact same thing happen to me on the same quest.  Gotta be a bug.

Trailer and high rez screens on our front page. 

As somebody who had to use a tinker-toy homemade client at work for over a year, let me assure you that Outlook and/or Exchange is a beautiful site....

"The kneebone's connected to the... something. The something's connected to the... red thing. The red thing's connected to my wrist watch... Uh oh. "

I'm making forward progress in terms of body composition but I've stalled on weight.  I've stacked on serious muscle and have good tone forming.  My blood pressure went down from borderline hypertensive to 117/97.  My muscle endurance has bumped up dramatically but I'm still sucking wind. I'm hitting martial arts regularly on Monday / Wednesday, and heavy lifting/interval training on Tuesday / Thursday.  I'm thinking I might have to take up swimming or something to try to build my cardio.   (My ankles are destroyed from my military accident, so running is pretty painful)  It's frustrating to be able to crack out 500 crunches but have trouble running around a small building without feeling like my lungs are on fire...

And to preempt the inevitable "But...but...FREE MARKET!" cry, I'll ask how you plan to comparison shop when you're on your way to the ER in an ambulance.

I don't have a problem with a highly skilled surgeon / doctor / specialist / GM, whatever making a solid wage.  I don't want the "Discount brain surgeon".  That said, looking at the surgery my wife recently underwent I'd love to see the justification of 1/3 the cost OF MY ENTIRE MORTGAGE for a 2 hour procedure.  There certainly seems to be a bit of a disconnect.   I'm so very, very thankful that I have insurance...I can't imagine how somebody who doesn't would tackle this...

Is it ethical to put your name on game reviews you didn't write?

Hey, at least your reviews still show up.   

Working on that too.      One botched move with no rollback is making for some unpeasant cleanup afterwards.

Well that's the issue then. You need more peasants.

outsourcing!

And that's what I did.  All of our game records are fixed.  next up, all game reviews.  We are in the data gathering portion and then we move to the fixing phase. 

Is it ethical to put your name on game reviews you didn't write?

Hey, at least your reviews still show up.   

Working on that too.      One botched move with no rollback is making for some unpeasant cleanup afterwards.