On a whim I downloaded it and you're right, it is a lot more fun that it sounds. And while I am quite horrible at keeping those bridges from collapsing it still is a hoot when you get it right.
True enough, but I'm not so interested in the.99 download. I prefer to own albums personally, so the $9.99-14.99 CD price is very attractive. In Americanese that's $7.25-10.86, so even with the 15% tax I have to pay that's still a hell of a deal.
Woohoo! Another game based on a movie franchise. Thank goodness, I was beginning to worry - there hadn't been a new one out on shelves in like 12 seconds.
I have a feeling this game is going to be the best, ever! Really. I swear. That's how I feel.
...what games/LAN party setups should a new, small business offer?
As a gamer-for-life kinda guy, I'd suggest throwing on some games. But then again, maybe not. How old will your users be? You could get a lot of angry parents in if you simply allow a bunch of 12 year olds to shed some virtual blood without consent.
Perhaps a class about computer/video games that explains what those pesky ratings are all about. Most parents have no idea they exist!
If pesky underage users aren't a problem, a few popular LAN type games are: Counterstrike, Warcraft 3, Battlefield 1942 (though it's made to support 32v32 player games, so make sure have you enuf PCs!), Medal of Honor: AA, Wolfenstein: ET, and Quake 3. Upcoming "must haves" are possibly Halo and Half-Life 2. And eventually Doom 3.
An excellent team based shooter that I've been playing a lot of is Battlefield 1942. While it's really nothing like the Team-Deathmatch days of Duke Nukem or anything, it's certainly a lot of fun and with the right people there's a genuine feeling comraderie and teamwork.
I have a feeling that the 4 player Doom 3 multiplayer is not going to be anything like the fast paced action of Wolfenstein: ET. If Doom 3 is about atmosphere, lurking down hallways, being scared out of your head, and since the multiplayer is limited to 4 players, I think that means it's going to be a very different experience.
And in anycase, it's all BS until you actually play the damn game!
I really enjoyed the Age of Kings series and was happy enough when AoM first came out. But let's be honest here, the two aren't very different. From the Gamespot article:
"Instead of creating another history-themed real-time strategy game, the developer opted to use a setting based on ancient mythology--a setting that allowed it to draw upon classic Greek, Egyptian, and Norse lore and bring legendary heroes and monsters to life onscreen. The game also gave players the ability to customize their strategies by choosing to worship different minor gods, which would give them different bonuses and different special abilities known as 'god powers.' "
Fine, there are god powers. Fine, the civs are more different from each other than in AoK. But get real, despite these tweaks the gameplay is the same. If you've played AoK there is ZERO learning curve going into AoM.
I didn't bother finishing the single player campaign in AoM, but played a good deal of multiplayer. My biggest gripe is that whoever has memorized the "perfect" build order for their civ and can click the fastest will win every single time. I say rename Real-Time-Strategy genre to Real-Time-Build-Order-Memorization-Plus-Hyper-Clic king-Skillz, or RTBOMPHCV. Put that acronymn in your pipe and smoke it.
... and 20 hours later you would have something that still isn't up to the standard of quality of the expansion pack. An expansion pack that includes an entire new campaign. Which you won't be able to replicate without a team of programmers and artists working for months on end.
$30... what a ripoff;)
While I don't think H-L 1 was the best game ever, a quick trip over to Gamespy tells us that there are currently 84,320 people playing Half Life, with BF1942 in second place with a paltry 8,440. Link to those live stats.
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On a whim I downloaded it and you're right, it is a lot more fun that it sounds. And while I am quite horrible at keeping those bridges from collapsing it still is a hoot when you get it right.
True enough, but I'm not so interested in the .99 download. I prefer to own albums personally, so the $9.99-14.99 CD price is very attractive. In Americanese that's $7.25-10.86, so even with the 15% tax I have to pay that's still a hell of a deal.
Found it: the Globe and Mail.
Unfortunately the EP is a dying beast, but essentially adresses that concern.
really? That sounds too good to be true. Source?
Woohoo! Another game based on a movie franchise. Thank goodness, I was beginning to worry - there hadn't been a new one out on shelves in like 12 seconds.
I have a feeling this game is going to be the best, ever! Really. I swear. That's how I feel.
...what games/LAN party setups should a new, small business offer?
As a gamer-for-life kinda guy, I'd suggest throwing on some games. But then again, maybe not. How old will your users be? You could get a lot of angry parents in if you simply allow a bunch of 12 year olds to shed some virtual blood without consent. Perhaps a class about computer/video games that explains what those pesky ratings are all about. Most parents have no idea they exist! If pesky underage users aren't a problem, a few popular LAN type games are: Counterstrike, Warcraft 3, Battlefield 1942 (though it's made to support 32v32 player games, so make sure have you enuf PCs!), Medal of Honor: AA, Wolfenstein: ET, and Quake 3. Upcoming "must haves" are possibly Halo and Half-Life 2. And eventually Doom 3.
An excellent team based shooter that I've been playing a lot of is Battlefield 1942. While it's really nothing like the Team-Deathmatch days of Duke Nukem or anything, it's certainly a lot of fun and with the right people there's a genuine feeling comraderie and teamwork.
I have a feeling that the 4 player Doom 3 multiplayer is not going to be anything like the fast paced action of Wolfenstein: ET. If Doom 3 is about atmosphere, lurking down hallways, being scared out of your head, and since the multiplayer is limited to 4 players, I think that means it's going to be a very different experience.
And in anycase, it's all BS until you actually play the damn game!
I really enjoyed the Age of Kings series and was happy enough when AoM first came out. But let's be honest here, the two aren't very different. From the Gamespot article:
c king-Skillz, or RTBOMPHCV. Put that acronymn in your pipe and smoke it.
"Instead of creating another history-themed real-time strategy game, the developer opted to use a setting based on ancient mythology--a setting that allowed it to draw upon classic Greek, Egyptian, and Norse lore and bring legendary heroes and monsters to life onscreen. The game also gave players the ability to customize their strategies by choosing to worship different minor gods, which would give them different bonuses and different special abilities known as 'god powers.' "
Fine, there are god powers. Fine, the civs are more different from each other than in AoK. But get real, despite these tweaks the gameplay is the same. If you've played AoK there is ZERO learning curve going into AoM.
I didn't bother finishing the single player campaign in AoM, but played a good deal of multiplayer. My biggest gripe is that whoever has memorized the "perfect" build order for their civ and can click the fastest will win every single time. I say rename Real-Time-Strategy genre to Real-Time-Build-Order-Memorization-Plus-Hyper-Cli
I won't be getting the expansion pack.
... and 20 hours later you would have something that still isn't up to the standard of quality of the expansion pack. An expansion pack that includes an entire new campaign. Which you won't be able to replicate without a team of programmers and artists working for months on end. $30 ... what a ripoff ;)
While I don't think H-L 1 was the best game ever, a quick trip over to Gamespy tells us that there are currently 84,320 people playing Half Life, with BF1942 in second place with a paltry 8,440. Link to those live stats.