Microsoft acquires Activision Blizzard

 

What an absolute mammoth deal. Here is a list of the major game IPs Microsoft now owns (in alphabetical order)

• Age of Empires
• Call of Duty
• Candy Crush
• Devil May Cry
• Diablo
• Dishonored
• Doom
• Fable
• Fallout
• Forza
• Gears of War
• Halo
• Hearthstone
• Microsoft Flight Simulator
• Minecraft
• Morrowind
• Oblivion
• Overwatch
• South Park the Stick of Truth
• Skyrim
• StarCraft
• Wasteland
• World of Warcraft
• Warcraft

Let me know if I missed out any notables

Link : https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/18/22889258/microsoft-activision-blizzard-xbox-acquisition-call-of-duty-overwatch 

Microsoft shooting itself in its foot ?

For sometime I have the feeling that Microsoft is shooting itself in its own foot.

My observation is not from the angle of an industry pundit but from a gamer's viewpoint.

Today, we have a lot of operating systems - Windows, Linux, AppleOS. They are quite polished and basically on par with each other. However, Microsoft Windows has the unique distinction as being the only desktop OS for which games are developed actively - and I do not mean games like Farmville, but AAA games like World of Warcraft, Need for Speed etc.

However, off late, the games on PC seem to be going down as Microsoft focuses more and more on the XBoX. For me and a lot of other gamers, this will mean that the PC as a gaming rig is loosing its significance. If I need to have a gaming console to play games, I do not need to get Windows for my PC - I would rather get a Mac or install Linux - most probably Linux for my desktop ( which is already dual boot for many years) or a macbook if I buy a laptop.

I predict that if Microsoft continues to neglect desktop gaming in favor of pushing its Xbox systems, they will be surprised to find that their desktop OS share dropping...

And if you think that I am wrong here, just compare with the OS growth for mobiles. iPhone has become such a big phenomena because its also a gaming platform. No other OS has realized this apart from Android which is trying to get more games up on its app store - as the recent Angry Birds release shows.

Stressed for Time

As people who know me know - I am crazy about 2 things in life ( apart from life and wifey :) ) - gaming and biking.

For biking I have the BikeNomads group. I am quite pleased about the group having grown so much. We had the 3rd annual meet this year in Dandeli. Check out the pics if you have not done so far. Then the assosication with Yahoo - being awarded as one of the most 'interesting' groups in the Moderators conference in Mumbai, and now the featured writeup on Y! Groups Blog. The next plans is to really work on the website and take the group to the next level - Making it easy for people to find groups to travel with. 

The 2nd obsession is not that great going. If I had gone to USofA during/just after graduation, I know I would by now be a developer in a gaming company. That did not happen. So, I spend my time playing games . Here i have done 2 things. 

- Started a google group for the players of World of Warcraft - but focusing on the Indian community. As of today 78 members. 

- Started a game blog. Well, this blog was there for sometime, but it kind of felt limited. So, I have moved it from a specific character blog - to more to do with games in general. Please visit it and leave your comments there :) . 

I really do not know how fast I will be updating the blogs - I am quite stressed for time ;-)

EvE Online - 2nd and 3rd impressions

2nd Impressions :

The 2nd impression was fraught with failure.

Last time I started off as the Minmatar race. A republic. Followed the training sessions. And then continued from where I had left off. This lead to another 'Agent' (basically the quest givers) and I had to wrap in space to another solar system. Pretty cool... until I figured out that damn ! I had to load the quest item given to me (it was a courier mission) into the ships cargo hold ... oh damn ! warp back again, and back again. nothing to do - just put the ship on Auto Pilot and do something else.

Its boring after a few times.

The next mission I got said it had to be done in 24 hrs ! huh ! A time limit ?? :(

Unfortunately that does not work for me - with erratic office schedules - there is no way I am sure whether I will be online the next day or not.

There endeth the 2nd session. Not something I wanted to play.

3rd Impression


This time I started on the Amarr Race. An Empire race with a cool looking ship. The MinMatar ships looked unfinished while these ships look good !

This time I figured out that I did not need to take up the mission if I forsee not having enough time the next day. I just don't accept it - and leave my ship docked in one of the stations. I also figured out that almost everything is menu driven (shame ! bad game design !) and that once I warp to a solarsystem where I have a quest I need to warp to the quest location in the drop down menu. phew ! Much better.

The last mission I did was about meeting a rebel ship who asked me to join his side ! nice ! :)

On the whole a nice space simulation. I am still not clear about how good a game it is though. Things are confusing at most times, and this game requires me to lvl up skills - which take days. So, the longer one is subscribed to the game, the better he can potentially become. This seems to be a money gathering option for the game studio.

next blog will do a comparison with WoW - as both games , inspite of being similar are quite different.

oh .. and yes .. I play this on Linux !

EvE Online - First Impressions

After a discussion in the office about Homeworld, World of Warcraft and then EvE-Online, I decided to try out EvE.

EvE is similar to WoW that it is an MMORPG. After that the distinction ends.

So, last night, after office, I created a trial account and logged in. I had approximately 1 hr of time before i slept, and I thought I would get some action before that. In WoW you can level up 5 levels in that much time pretty easily. Thats about some 15 quests. 

The start screen in EvE is quite daunting. While WoW provides one screen for choosing a character, EvE has multiple screens to go from one to the other. Anyways, the comparison is for a later date. 

After spending 20 mins clicking , i chose a race and other attributes. I was reading all till about 10 mins, then i got bored, and just click-click-click to the next screens. 

Then the game starts with a tutorial - played out with a sulky woman's voice. I am looking for a way to shut off that audio. 

3d space is quite difficult to navigate. But the game mechanics make it quite easy. Most of the interface is based on clicking on things either in space or in the different boxes which litter the screen. The interface is quite cluttered. 

The interface

Its also lonely. 

Usually in WoW the starting areas does have atleast a few people who are questing in the same space - but in EvE - in space, you are alone. As far as you can see you have lots of ... space !

The tutorial is long - and I have not yet finished it. Hopefully, the next few days should see me progress a bit. Right now - the game looks very complex and daunting.

Quake on the iPhone!

I want an iphone sooo badly now !

Minority Report with the Wii

Wii is the nintendo game console which is getting very popular. I wonder when it will be available in india :(

Anyways, stumbled across a video of how an ingenious person started a project to use the remote of the Wii and use it to figure out where his fingers are and use that as an interface to the computer , kinda like the way Tom Cruise uses in the film Minority Report. Check out the video.



You can check out Johnny Cheung's page at his homepage.

PS : if you are coming from the USA, can you get me the Wii ? :D

Ikariam

I just joined a free online game called Ikariam. The best thing about it ? Its web based !



...

which means - if you can browse, you can play this. I am actually logged in on linux !

Now, there are many online browser based games, and most of them follow the same philosophy - you expand your economy by gathering resources and researching technologies, build up a military and go and rule the world ! However, most of them are quite boring games - with simple html pages. Nice concept - ugly execution.

Ikariam on the other hand has finally done something about the way it looks. It shows you the world map, and you can zoom into your city wherein it shows the different city plots available to build up. Its kind of like Civilization, if you have played that game, but in a much more relaxed way - things takes minutes and hours instead of seconds to build. Check out the small tour that they have up , so you get an idea about the game.

If you have freetime, and you can access this website , create a login. My city is called Brahmapolis, and is at 21.44 loction in the Delta server map ! send me a message if you log in !

You can register for free by clicking here . Try to create account on Delta world.

Tiger Tail Studios

pst... are you free in your office time ? Do you want to quickly play a game in that browser window of yours ?

A friend of mine started a game company (based out of Hyderabad). The company is called Tiger Tail Studio. At this point they are into making casual games. You can check out their latest game called 'Catch em if you can'.

PC Gaming or XBox ?

Microsoft has gone into the console gaming market with its XBox. It is putting its muscle behind it to take on Sony Playstation and other console makers. But how does the XBox compare to the other gaming media ? Comparing with Sony Playstation is well nigh impossible as game makers dont come out with both versions. However, making a game on XBox and Windows PC is more easy - and there are quite a lot of games which are available for both the XBox and the PC.

Gamespot has a comparison of a game called Oblivion on their site. Check out the screenshots - pretty good comparison.

Conclusion - a high end PC is better than the XBox.

Advice from me - stick to a PC . You will anyways have one in your home and you can keep upgrading it to make sure that you have the best graphics around. With an XBox - you will need to keep buying the newer versions of it all the time.

My plan - upgrade my current pIV 1.5 G to a PIV 3.0G, 2GB RAM, 19"LCD monitor, Nvidia 256MB Card and let the games RIP :-)

Quake 3 on 24 monitors

So, what does a linux geek do when he wants to play ?

Set up a display with 24 monitors running off 12 linux computers so that he can play Quake 3 Life size !

Link

Ceaser IV

Woowieee !!! The next city building game in the Caesar series it going to be out ! Yes Siree, Caesar IV is being developed by Tilted Mill .

Check out the beautiful 3d screenshot below:



I guess I must be having all the city building games - Caesar 3 , Pharaoh, Emperor, Zeus, SimCity, etc.

I have not played Children of the Nile but it did not get any good reviews so I am a bit apprehensive about the upcoming Caesar 4 from the same company.

Whatever man... long time overdue... so late that I was thinking of making my own version of the game.

The goodies are :

• State of the art city-building gameplay, feedback and visuals, including:
  • More than 100 unique buildings, diagonal roads, and a set of decorative items
  • More than 30 resources for trade and other uses
  • More than 90 minutes of music from favored composer Keith Zizza
  • Advisors to help you with your goals and extensive map overlays for detailed feedback on activities and problems in the city.
  • More than 75 unique characters, who go and get what they want and interact with their environment in detail. Select them and they tell you what they think of your city.
  • Rich, 3d environment with unlimited draw distances and immersive contextual audio
• Over 100 hours of play in a variety of modes, including:
  • Career mode (campaign play) where you strive to become Caesar
  • Standalone competitive scenarios
  • Sandbox play in which you can build at your own pace
• Empire level trade and diplomacy with Roman and foreign provinces
• Combat

Yummy !

Let me see now ... World of Warcraft, Civilization 4, Age of Empires 3, F.E.A.R ... yup I have enough to keep me busy :-D

Can anyone suggest me a good PC spec ? Something like the Alienware comps ! Looking around for a goooood PC to have some fun :-)

Hindi Translation

I have been working on and off on a game called FreeLords which is a clone of the game WarLords. Over the last couple of years I have not been able to put in much work in the game - I was too busy with other things. However, I have been recently roped in to do the translation of the game interface into Hindi.

Suddenly I realize how bad my hindi is ! :(

Here's a screenshot of the work in progress






BTW, if anyone knows what the translation for tutorial is in hindi, do let me know :-D

What is a game?

Let's be blunt. Games are drugs.

A game is a pre-packaged set of stimuli and directed player responses that piggy back on existing human risk / reward systems and create a measurable psychological addiction.

After reading the above, you just gotta read this article on the Genere addict !

NeverWinter nights

I had this game - but lost the CD. so, this time , I bought it again - with its 2 expansion packs. Last time I played it safe and played as a Paladin. This time I am a sroceror ... killing vermin and demented zombies throughout the fantasy land. My avtar on the group website is ... what else , the penguin with the eye of neverwinter :-D

Shiver me Timber !

Its tough being a pirate king. That's what I have been for the last 2 days now. And its quite a chore having your island all shipshape for the pirates to share their booty with you !

DISCLAIMER : If you are the politically correct types , or dont like pirates - dont read after this point.

What am I talking about ? I bought a new computer game last weekend - which has become very addictive very fast. The game is called TROPICO 2 : Pirate Cove





I had heard about this games precursor - TROPICO, where you were a dictator who had to set up his island economy for people to spend their hard earned money . But T2 changes the premise entirely. What really caught my attention about this game was the text on the back of the box - " As a Pirate King, rule a secret pirate island fill of despicable 17th centrury Sea Dogs. Fuel your ecomomy by plundering wealthy merchant ships and taking prisoners back to the island as captive workers. ... Argh, there ain't nuttin like bein' a Pirate King!

So, I ended up being a Pirate King of an island. There are 2 types of people on my island - the captives - who do the work i tell them. And the Pirates, who get plunder for me. To keep the pirates happy, I need to have good food and grog for the pirates ... and some entertainment in the form of Gambling dens and .. uhum... a few wenches ;)!

To keep the pirates happy, and keep the captives resigned to their fate ( make them quake in fear !) is the toughest part of the game, but as a good Pirate King - its something that I do with aplomb.

So all in all, its a great game. The stuff I like about the game are :
* A lilting carribean music background. You feel like getting up and dancing.
* A pirate sidekick who helps you in figuring out what to do next with witty comments like "Can't shiver me timber - without any timber" - which tells ya that your wood supplies are quite low. You need wood for most of the building your build on the island as well as the pirate ships you would need to build.
* Chimps and cats on the island. You move your cursor over them , and you are rewarded with their thoughts . Thoughts like 'Server me human' from the cats, and 'Bananas . I need bananas' from the chimps !
* You stash your booty in - what else - a Skull cave.
* Your piratey captains become better if you gift them with stuff like peglegs or a parrot !
* and ummm.. the wenches ;)

righto now. I better get back to bettering my island economy now !

Bought 2 new games over the last weekend.

Warlords battlecry II and Lord of the Realms III.

Warlords Battlecry 2




This is a great RTS game ! The developers also have quite a sense of humor !!!
The basic premise of this game is that you need to rule over the lands of Etheria. Well, that is simple, but the problem is that there are 11 other races which are also having the same plan ... so you just naturally got to wipe them off the face of Earth .. ummm I mean Etheria !! :-D

The game starts of with you having to choose which race you want to play. Some of the races are, apart from the ever present humans, Dwarves, Elves, Dark Elves, Undead, Daemons, Feys.. I chose the Barbarian as the hero of my race - the barbarians ! After thinking some time I finally narrowed down on 'conan' as his name. The name seemed apt as clicking on the hero elicits responses like "I'll be back", "Look at my muscles" in typical Arnold drawl ! ;-)

Pretty good game and even though it is 4 years old, its good fun to play !

Lord of the Realms III
Haven't played this game too much right now. Its in 3d land.. and i am finding Warlords Battlecry a bit too interesting right now !