It’s Virtually a $75 Reality

“I shall call him Stitch Face”

Charlie Nash is back and I’m not sure if he’s better than ever with that face. The game does does look superb though. I may pre-order for the beta code but I don’t know if I’ll keep my pre-order. Especially not for $74.99.

Upcoming new releases listed at $74.99

It seemed like it was just yesterday that we saw Canadian video game prices rise from $59.99 to $69.99.

It was actually just little over a year ago.

I’m still not used to seeing $69.99 MSRP and retailers and/or publishers have already raised prices by another $5. It matches the exchange rate but it’s still an unattractive proposition and will undoubtedly affect the buying habits of most consumers. I am very curious how these price hikes have affected the new generation console adoption rates. Imagine having to pay $74.99 for The Order: 1886? Imagine paying $499.99 for a PlayStation 4?

I wouldn’t be surprised to see Sony raise the MSRP of the PlayStation 4. They did it once already.

For myself? It’ll just mean longer waiting times for games to get to my price point. On the plus side, it gives us all more reasons to delve into our backlogs.

Virtual Reality

These are the questions that I ask myself before I buy anything:

  • What are the additional costs?
  • Does it integrate well with my current flow?
  • If not, Is it worth the hassle?
  • If it’s expensive, will I be able to enjoy it for years to come?
  • How quickly will it be dated?

Most of these are giant question marks and I don’t see myself finding convincing answers for them any time soon. I hope the upcoming VR extravaganza at next week’s GDC will yield more concrete information but I’m not getting my hopes up whatsoever.

It’s difficult for me to get excited for virtual reality because it goes against the way I play games. I’m not against the idea of total immersive view of a virtual world but to me, it’s like a racing wheel, a DDR pad or a fighting stick; it’s appealing for only certain genres. I can see myself wanting to use this in a game like MechWarrior: Online but how often do I play that these days?

For now, I’m treating it like an arcade machine. I’m sure it’s amazing and fun but I don’t want to actually own one just yet.

Random Thought of the Week

If you’ve ever wondered how player ratings are calculated in sports titles, read this excellent piece by FiveThirtyEight Sports

FYI: GDC 2014 News & More

posted in: Game News 0

Announcements

  • Sony’s Virtual Reality Headset unveiled as “Project Morpheus” (via PS.Blog)
    • 1080p w/ 90 degree field of view
    • Positional and orientation tracking with help of accelerometers, gyroscopes and PlayStation Camera
    • No pricing or release plans announced
  • Some PlayStation 4 firmware 1.7 features detailed (via PS.Blog)
    • Video editor
    • Ability to export video and photos to USB
    • Option to disable HDCP for capturing game footage via HDMI
  • Sony integrating additional tools and middleware engines into the PlayStation 4 (via PS.Blog)
  • Intel Haswell-E feature 8-cores, DDR4 and X99 chipset coming 2H 2014 (via AnandTech)

Read More

Linux Gaming Inches Closer to Reality

posted in: Game News 0

linux-logoThere are games on Linux but the selection available is paltry compared to Windows. And the reasons why the selection is so limited is due to lack of middleware support and the dominance of DirectX.

Crytek have ported their CryEngine to Linux and will be demonstrating its capabilities at GDC 2014 next week. I’m curious if it will perform better than the DirectX version.

Valve is continuing their efforts to sway the masses away from Microsoft and DirectX with “ToGL“, a DirectX to OpenGL translation layer. It’s limited to DirectX 9.0c for now but it’s a start. If developers can just flip a switch and port to OpenGL with minimal effort, they would be more inclined to support Linux.

All these efforts sound good but how long would it take before we see day and date high profile releases from the likes of Activision and Electronic Arts?

FYI: GDC 12 Videos & More

Announcement

  • Virtua Fighter 5’s Akira will appear in Dead or Alive 5 (via trailer below)
  • Forza Motorsport 4 Title update coming (via Eurogamer)
  • Forza Motorsport 4 Porsche Expansion pack coming (via Jalopnik)
  • Includes 30 Porsche cars
  • No pricing or release date details yet
  • Radeon HD 7870 & Radeon HD 7850 reviews by AnandTech & TechReport
  • Media

    Assassin’s Creed III Reveal Trailer

    Read More

    1 2 3 4 6