by:
Dan -
posted:
1/5/2009
9:00 AM
Polk Audio today announced the latest addition to their SurroundBar Family, the
Polk Audio SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater (SB IHT). The SB IHT is a two-piece, affordable audio solution for those that are looking to add high-quality surround to their gaming rigs at a decent price. The unit features a main SurroundBar speaker system featuring four 2 1/2 drivers and 2 tweeters, as well as a 6 1/2 wireless (that's right, wireless) sub that uses the 2.4 GHz frequency. It is scheduled to retail starting around the second week of February at $499.95 wherever Polk products are sold.
In addition, I had a chance to chat with Polk Audio's VP of Product Line Management Mark Suskind last week to discuss the SurroundBar SDA Instant Home Theater. Mark covered several topics about the product, including why its is ideal for gamers and movie buffs alike, as well as the design and specs of the wireless sub, which is a first for any Polk SurroundBar product.
GamingNexus was also given exclusive access to the SB IHT prior to its announcement today, so look for a review of it in the very near future. In the meantime, enjoy the 35+ minute interview with Mark Suskind:
[READ MORE]
by:
Ben Berry -
posted:
1/4/2009
10:41 PM
I am an unabashed "fan" of the US Civil War. Fan is the wrong word, but I have never figured out what the right word is for being fond of a particular war. To be a fan of war in general is really just wrong, and that's not me. But I figure being interested in one war is ok. So what does that make me? A civil war afficianado? A civil war devotee? It's not so much the history of the war as much as the underlying mentality that would allow two halves of the same country to go after each other like pitbulls in Michael Vicks back yard. Anywho, back to the game I'm supposed to be talking about here.
Civil War: Secret Missions is a
History Channel game developed by
Cauldron and released by
Activision. Ok, that is WAY too much bold for one sentence. Now that I've gotten the part that studies have shown 97.24% of readers don't care about out of the way, I can get into my early impressions.
Civil War: Secret Missions is kinda like a trip to your local museum of science and industry; It's mostly about boring old stuff, but they manage to make it fun by turning it into games and experiments. In CW: SM, you play the role of a solider (for the north or south, depending on the mission), working with a small unit of AI soldiers causing mayhem behind enemy lines. The learning part of the game comes in the form of animations and text describing real Civil War battles, and the actions of the soldiers and commanders who carry out the exact raids you'll be mimicing in the game. Many of the missions revolve around technologies that were developed during the war, such as the Gattling gun, and the technologies are often required to finish the missions.
Unfortunately, that's where the wheels come off the cart a bit. Because these missions are designed to be somewhat historically based, the missions are fairly structured and have some tight limitations on where you can go. Especially in missions that occur on woodland trails it feels very much "on rails". That being said, the action in these scenes is fun. The combat feels probably somewhat like it did back then. Weapons have severe limitations and are inaccurate. The AI isn't particularly smart, and opposition actions are predictable. You can often time when the enemy will pop up next from behind an obstacle. But combat is rewarding and even fairly difficult at times, even on just a moderate difficulty.
I've only gotten through the first couple of missions, and haven't even been able to work for the eventual winning side in the conflict yet. The missions are longish, even without a failure the first one took me about half an hour. There does seem to be a lot of gameplay for the money on this title.[MORE]
by:
Randy -
posted:
1/3/2009
6:52 PM
New Year's Eve 2008. My wife Grace and I paid fellow GamingNexus writer Sean Nack and his wife Stephanie an overnight visit. We brought over Monopoly, but we weren't feeling very cutthroat. We brought over Balderdash, but weren't feeling
definitive. Nothing at the theater piqued our attention. And so my mind wandered back over the year, as minds are wont to do when another 365 days have come and gone. And I'd resolved to pay more attention to indie developers for the upcoming year, 2009--but it didn't feel like it was too early to start.
Jonathan Blow's
Braid was a game that I'd continually skipped past. My Xbox 360 red ringed a week before it hit XBLA. By the time my 360 came back,
Spore hit. Then
Warhammer Online hit. Then
Civilization IV: Colonization hit. Then
Fracture (wince). Then
Dead Space.
Fable II,
Far Cry 2,
Fallout 3,
Need For Speed Undercover (wince again),
Prince of Persia...then a revisit to
Pirates of the Burning Sea and the new-to-me
Europa Universalis III.
And through it all
Braid has been taunting me, calling me a spineless, lilly-livered coward for (predominantly) sticking with this holiday season's no-brainers. Jonathan Blow is a man that, as far as I can tell from photographs and videos, has never smiled in his life; and he wasn't smiling at me now either. So it was time to take my cowardice and crutch myself on Sean Nack and his wife. One hour before an incredibly slow-moving ball was to drop in Times Square, I convinced everyone to participate in what's been heralded in certain circles as the Most Pretentious Moment in Gaming for 2008:
Braid. Plus it's been showing up--rather conspicuously--as the media darling on more than one Top 10 of 2008 list.
All four of us took up strategic positions on the couch, and it took all four of our minds put together to make it through the infernally-puzzling
Braid. We played, we laughed, we scoffed, we scolded, we shook our heads in defeat, we threw our heads back in victory, we pumped our fists with elation then alternately wished we could punch Jonathan Blow in the face. It'd been several years since I'd been on a roller coaster ride, but traversing
Braid certainly counted. And just because we made it through doesn't mean the entire journey made complete sense.
Here's what
Braid's aftertaste was like to Sean and I--the following is copied and pasted from a back-and-forth email between the two of us--plus Sean divulges his sentiments on the endings of
Far Cry 2 and
Fallout 3 as well. We figured it was high time the discussion of
Braid be taken beyond the "It's the greatest ending ever!" platitudes.
* * * * * SPOILER ALERT * * * * *
...And if you haven't played
Braid, then none of this will make sense out of context anyway. [Continue reading "
Adventures in Braid and the overwrought metaphor."]
[READ MORE]
by:
John -
posted:
1/3/2009
8:19 AM
A few of us here at Gaming Nexus will be at CES in a week and Dan's been saying we have to go to the Microsoft keynote. Well if what
TechCrunch says is true, I'm going to skip it. The "highlights" of the keynote will be that Windows 7 will be an open beta, two already announced
Halo games coming to the 360, easier networking, and Windows Mobile gets Flash in the first quarter of this year. If again this is true, then yeah it's going to be pretty boring. I mean we already have Flash on Windows Mobile via Opera on some of the latest WinMo phones and the two
Halo games are pretty much well known in the gaming community. If you really want to you can find a leaked copy of the Windows 7 beta so the only thing we don't have any knowledge on is the easier networking which isn't that big of a deal in my opinion. Overall, sounds like something we can skip but who knows. Dan, Sean, or I might just stop by and check out the happenings before
Digital Experience.
by:
Randy -
posted:
1/2/2009
6:00 PM
As gamers we all fell for some regrettable scenario at some point in 2008. Perhaps we rooted too long for a failing developer, or we bought into the hype of yet another big-budget blockbuster, or we dismissed a worthy start-up company, or we sacrificed too many puppies on the sanguinary stone altars of Baal. We all have our faults. And despite your efforts to deify us here at GamingNexus, we're not perfect. So (should old acquaintance be forgot) we ask you, What will you never do/screw up again in 2009?
Ben Berry: I was lucky in 2008. But one thing I will do differently in 2009 is be smarter about the titles I put at the top of my list so I'm not the last one on the bus (i.e., BioShock). (Now playing: WiiPlay, WiiFit, WiiMusic, History Channel Civil War: Secret Missions, NPPL Championship Paintball 2009)
Elliot Bonnie: For some reason I always end up buying the newest edition of Madden football from EA...not this year, folks. Actually, if they put Mutant League Football on the disc I will buy it for sure. (Now playing: Left 4 Dead, FIFA Soccer 09, Midnight Club: Los Angeles)
Sean Colleli: I think I've finally learned to never trust Nintendo ever again. Big holiday plans for the core gamer? Kid Icarus? New Zelda? Yeah right. I've been telling myself "next year will be better" and "wait for E3" for what seems like four years now. They have me tempted with WiiMotionPlus and a few other tasty 2009 promises, but the thing to always remember is Nintendo's policy of wasted potential. See that Wii over there, the one you dropped $250 on? Potential, being wasted in action. (Now playing: Mushroom Men: Spore Wars, Mushroom Men: Rise of the Fungi)
Charles Husemann: I'm going to try to pay more attention to the indie scene in 2008. I completely missed World of Goo and didn't really spend enough time with Braid or PixelJunk Eden. (Now playing: Killzone 2, PixelJunk Eden)
Randy Kalista: Fully aware that I'm plagiarizing Chuck's answer above, I too will be showing smaller developers some more love this year. Sure, it's grand to be able to refer to past big-budget titles that serve as touchstones for the gaming community at large, but I'm officially suffering from triple-A fatigue. Showing the little guys some love, however, doesn't mean that I'm going to masochistically pursue things that suck, per se. But instead of Champions Online, I'll go Fallen Earth. Instead of Guitar Hero: Metallica, it'll be Scratch. Instead of Empire: Total War, it's me and King Arthur. And instead of Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard, I'll get BioShock 2. Hey, some exceptions to the rule will apply. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. (Now playing: Europa Universalis III - Complete, Braid)
Cyril Lachel: I will never get up at 5 am to go to a Nintendo Press Conference again. I know it sounds like whining, after 2008 I'm done going out of my way for Nintendo, especially when the outcome is so offensive. As much as I love E3, the truth is that it's extremely difficult to get around Los Angeles. It's true, L.A. is the worst city for driving, the highways are a mess and the street layout is completely random. So I already wasn't looking forward to driving across town to attend Nintendo's 2008 press conference (held at the beautiful Kodak Theater). To make things even worse, Nintendo decided to start their conference at 7 in the morning. That's right, 7 AM! That means that I had to get up at 5 am just to make it to the Kodak Theater on time. And to add insult to injury, Nintendo didn't announce a single thing we didn't know about. It was a completely lifeless press conference, the worst I've ever seen. I was tired, I was bitter and I was watching the least informative press conference the world has ever seen. And at that moment I realized that Nintendo didn't care what I thought. They aren't making the Wii for me. I'm no longer even in Nintendo's radar. When Animal Crossing is your "hardcore" offering, then you know something is wrong. At that moment I decided that this would be the last time I go out of my way to watch Nintendo (once again) disappoint me. Next time I'll have Nintendo disappoint me from the comfort of my hotel room! (Now playing: Fable II, Rock Band 2, Chrono Trigger, The Last Remnant)
Matt Mirkovich: What I'm not doing again? Trusting that Nintendo knows what the core gamers want. I've had it with them telling me what I want. This is worse than Sony's whole anti-2-D kick they went on a few years ago when the PS2 came around. And after last year's E3, I knew that Nintendo had lost me, and that I'd have to rely on 3rd party titles to make me happy. Love you ~ No More Heroes. (Now playing: Prince of Persia, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, DJ Max Portable - Black Square)
Nathan Murray: Something I'll never do again? How about buy a game simply because of the price. I purchased Gears of War at Wal-Mart for the deal of $29 thinking at the time it was a copy of Gears of War 2. I realized my mistake after I got home and I vowed to never again buy a game without reading the front and back cover first and not go shopping after only having 6 hours of sleep. (Now playing: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Quantum of Solace, Ninja Gaiden 2)
Sean Nack: What will I not do again? Underestimate the online experience. I've avoided it for years because, honestly, most people annoy me, and all the immaturity, idiocy, poor sportsmanship, homophobia, and even crazy-racism that I always expected to encounter are consistently in evidence, threatening to overshadow my good times. But the vindictive joy I get from hunting the most annoying people down, over and over? That about makes up for it. (Now playing: Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Braid)
Shawn Sines: What will I not do again? Believe in game makers to understand that new IPs while expensive and risky are worth the effort...look at EA already acting like Dead Space, Mirror's Edge are a mistake and Blizzard/Activision killing Brutal Legend (EA don't quit on us and we won't quit you!) and Ghostbusters (Thanks be to...and I can't believe I'm about to say this...Atari). We all know we need another 7 sequels to sports titles with marginal updates and roster revisions. (Now playing: Champions of Norrath: Return to Arms, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4, Left 4 Dead, and an exclusive shooter I can't name)
John Yan: I'll never try and play more than five titles at once again. When that crazy schedule of games came out at the end of the year I tried cramming everything at once in getting the experience. It was more stressful than fun so I'll take my time and let some titles linger on a bit for those slow times that usually come afterwards. Oh and I vow never to buy another console from Nintendo again without at least 3 games I want to play and even then they have to be some pretty damn good games that will last more than a week. I'm tired of my Wii collecting dust along with the Wii Fit and a few other things I picked up for it. Nintendo you may have the casual group in your hand but I'm not falling for it again and falling for your empty promises. (Now playing: Left 4 Dead, Gears of War 2, Team Fortress 2)
Ouch. Looks like Nintendo screwed themselves up last year. And zombies still seem to be stealing the spotlight as several of our writers are finding themselves gratefully Left 4 Dead.
by:
Randy -
posted:
12/31/2008
5:52 PM
Over at Gamers With Jobs (an intelligent and articulate group of guys, but thankfully never all-knowing), co-founder Sean "Elysium" Sands is commencing a "
Horizons Broadening Project - 2009." Once a month he'll be going out of his way to play a videogame genre that he wouldn't normally. Hey, you can't like
everything in the first place, so I certainly don't judge. Sean picked out
Birth of America II for his project in January; it's one of those games where "deep" is an obvious understatement when it comes to descriptors for the level of strategy-building involved. He'll play for a month and then do a write-up. I'm not nearly so committed, but I'll humor the idea for now.
To follow suit with the "deep" strategy genre, one that I've never dipped my toe into (sorry, Sid Meier, your games are so easy they play themselves after a while) I picked up
Europa Universalis III - Complete. The original is about a year old, but the
Complete version comes with the
In Nomine and
Napoleon's Ambition expansion packs. This game is no joke. Even the tutorials--which are so vague that they have the gall to provide "hints"--assumes I've already had four cups of coffee and roll with an IQ of 120 or greater.
Deep breath, Randy. You can do this.
I've only had time to dabble for a few moments in the full-length singleplayer campaign, so I hopped around a few times just to get a feel for my options. The results were less than flattering...
[READ MORE]