Inside the thoughts of an average gamer.
Gaming Community
Gaming Podcasts
Oct 20th
Video games have changed the way we looked at entertainment. MP3 players changed the way we carried our music around with us. With the introduction of the MP3 players came podcasts; Regularly recorded shows, usually in just audio, that talk on various subjects.
I tend to load my iPod up with a ton of gaming podcasts that I’ve subscribed to. Usually I’ll take it with me to work and when things are slow or dull (or when opposing hockey players are chirping at each other between their penalty boxes) I’ll turn one on and relax while I watch pucks, press buttons, sometimes write and occasionally tell a few tense hockey players to shut the fuck up. I rarely ever listen to my podcasts at home; I almost always listen to them when I have nothing else to focus on, as I don’t wanna miss anything.
I have about four or five podcasts that I like to listen to regularly; These are my own recommendations. Hit the jump to find out who I’m listening to.
(All of the podcasts I’ve listed are available on iTunes.) More >
Tales Of Fans Speak Out
Aug 2nd
As I write this, Namco is getting absolutely GRILLED by tons of American and European fans of the series, furious with the developer’s decisions not to localize any of the Tales Of games released in Japan since the beginning of 2009.
The outcry started on Friday, when Namco America announced on its Facebook page that they had no plans to localize recent games in the series, including Tales of Vesperia on the PS3, as well as Tales of Graces, along with its PS3 port Tales of Graces f. The comment was immediately met with upset fans and long-time supporters of the series and retro-game developer, so much to the fact that people started petitioning to have both Vesperia PS3 and Graces f released in the US on playstation.blog.share.
Then again, today, Tales Union reported that another comment similar to Friday’s wall post had gone up on Namco’s facebook page, this time not only mentioning that Namco is not looking at localizing Vesperia PS3 or Graces f, but for the rest of the series as well.
The new post, which has since been removed, has been met with great hostility by the Tales of fanbase, with angry fans spamming Namco’s page, with comments varying from people trying to encourage them that they do have a fanbase on this side of the Pacific, to mimicing how various other Tales characters would do the same, to just downright berating the company’s decision to leave them out in the cold. Namco’s has been trying to delete some of the more outrageous stuff but they have not been able to keep up.
It’s really disgusting to be honest; I can’t blame the fans. Yes, sales of the series over here haven’t been great, but Namco Bandai really tried to bring up the community over here after Tales of Symphonia, which is probably my favorite RPG of all time. Seeing games like Tales of Legendia, Tales of the Abyss, and even going to Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology. After Vesperia’s release, the only game they have localized in North America and Europe would be Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World back in November 2008. The other games released since then: Innocence, Hearts, Radiant Mythology 2, Vs., Graces, and new or in-developemtn games Narikiri Dungeon X, Vesperia PS3, Graces f, and a new PS3 game that was just announced today, have not even been considered for localization out of Japan.
It’s really unfortunate that it just had to come down to this. Will Namco see what they are doing and be swayed by this? Probably not. Will it leave a sting? I think so. Boycotting them obviously won’t do anything, but it’s always been on my mind from the time that I realized that we were probably not getting Graces.
I know the community isn’t taking this lightly, and neither will I.
Update: (Aug. 3, noon PDT) This grilling is still going on. No comment from Namco on the situation. People are starting to ask fans of the series to add a #talesfanunite hashtag onto their tweet when talking about the Tales Of series.
Local Multiplayer Accomplishes Things That Can’t Be Done Online
Jul 31st
Captain Obvious title, mirite?
In this day and age, the Internet is bringing everyone together in new ways. From the days of usenet, to AOL chatrooms and IRC, followed by BBSes (now forums) we are now in an age where social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook are commonplace.
For most of the past fifteen years, PC gaming has had its place online in one way or another. At the turn of the century, that started to spread to consoles, starting with the Dreamcast and XBOX. Today, every current-gen console and handheld is online and part of its own distinct service; XBOX Live for the 360, Playstation Network for the PS3 and PSP, and Nintendo WFC for the Wii and DS. Nowadays, many console games ship with multiplayer modes that are strictly online, where in the past we would have split screen. As time wore on, the Internet has reshaped the way we play games with other people.
However, this does not mean that the days of local multiplayer are gone forever.
