Archive for the 'Games' Category

Debunking the Gnaw Fold Diablo 3 Myth

Published on January 14, 2009 in Games, Geek Fun and Random. 6 Comments

As with all these fun things, there are kernels of truth.  Diablo does tend to drop Dol runes.  "Trout" does have a root in Greek meaning "nibble" or "gnaw".

First, the hit points.  Diablo in Normal Mode of Diablo 2 has 13818 hit points (according to the useful Diablo Wiki).  So we can rule out that little piece of numerology.

Second, the error message.  We need to see a screen shot of the error before we can really be confident.  Otherwise, someone is just playing around with hex.

Third, the item.  I’ve never encountered a "Gnaw Fold" ring in my play, and I can’t see a note of it in the item lists I’ve checked.  Though I’m open to the idea, I don’t think it exists.  The solution might be to install and not update, then play through single-player in an attempt to find it. . .maybe someone else has the time.

So, with no item, we can’t test the theory and get a screenshot.  I call this a fun myth until someone can show me otherwise.

Surprise TF2 Update!

Published on December 11, 2008 in Games. 0 Comments

Bless those handsome devils at Valve!  Looks like the Demoman is nerfed a little, and spies (I hate them so much!) and engies get a little boost.  Here are the official changes (I’ve bolded the ones I found interesting):

  • The Engineer’s teleporters can now be upgraded to level three. It will recharge faster the higher level it is
  • The Engineer’s dispensers can now be upgraded to level three. It will give out metal and heal faster as it is upgraded
  • Spies will be able to recharge their cloaking ability by picking up ammo off of the ground or from health cabinets
  • Some changes to the second part of the first stage of Goldrush to give the attackers more of an advantage
  • Any weapons that fire bullets (shotguns, sniper’s machine gun, heavy’s minigun, etc.) can now break apart the Demoman’s stickybombs
  • The icon on the HUD for a person calling for Medic will now give more information to the medic (if the target is low on health, on fire, etc.)
  • Added an achievement tracker that will allow people to choose specific achievements that they are trying to get
  • There is now a custom icon for death messages when the player was killed from a critical hit
  • Added a new particle effect for when a player enters the water
  • Added smoke to the feet of a rocket jumping soldier
  • Players will now have some particles swirling around them so other players can see when they are overhealed

Kudos to the guys at Valve for sneaking a nice little update in.

Peter Venkman Is The Man…

Published on November 16, 2007 in Game Vids and Games. 0 Comments

I don’t speak Dutch so I have no idea what they’re saying in the video below, but I do know that the game footage excites me. I can honestly say that the original Ghostbusters movie was one of my favorites growing up (along with Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure and the original TMNT movie). If you understand Dutch then this video will make more sense to you, but even if you don’t, it’s pretty easy to see that this game has potential. It could just as easily be total crap, but at least it looks good at this point. You can check out the details released so far HERE.

Sorry about the stupid player and the ads. The vid loads pretty slowly, but just give it a few minutes. You’ll be glad you did.

Demo Days – CoD4

Published on October 13, 2007 in Games. 0 Comments

Tried out the Call of Duty 4 demo this morning.  My first thoughts are that it’s certainly a little more frenetic than 1 or 2, but the feel is very much the same.  Graphics are excellent, even on my rig; my video card is a 6800 Ultra, so that holds me back a little bit when I try to run at my LCD’s native 1280×1024. 

I got a chance to play with one of these, taking out some enemy armor.  The weapons selection seems very close to what’s in the current US arsenal.  The vehicles I saw were really well modeled; this is the same attention to details that we saw in the WWII games.

I can see they’re trying to give us a full-scale, near-symmetrical modern conflict.  That’s where I’m a little unsure of the realism, because we haven’t had a symmetrical war for more than fifty years, to my knowledge.  I can understand the political problems with presenting a game based on our asymmetrical fights in the Middle East, but that’s what we’re familiar with.  I see them trying to give us that as well: RPGs were flying everywhere in the demo. 

I think I can sum up the challenge this game will have.  The original CoD games put you into a historical context where you relived some of the most pivotal, defining, and heroic events in our history.  One of the best moments in any game, any platform was that final, frenetic push through the Reichstag.  The Volga crossing into Stalingrad is another.  Can CoD 4 give us moments like those in a fantasy conflict?

The Orange Box is Portal-rific!

Published on October 12, 2007 in Game Reviews and Games. 2 Comments

Being the good little Valve fanboy that I am, I went out and picked up The Orange Box at Circuit City Wed evening after work (it’s currently on sale for $37.99 btw). Although I could have pre-ordered the bundle on Steam, I generally like to wait and pick up the discs. I’m not sure why this is, but I imagine it has something to do with the need to have some sort of physical reward for my purchase. Something that can sit on my shelf and collect dust instead of just a digital representation of the money I spent (or flushed down the toilet in my wifes opinion). As a fanboy though, I purchased this bundle with high hopes, and so far, I’m gleefully delighted.

Like many of the rest of you who rushed out to buy this bundle, I’ve already beaten Portal. My initial impressions… I NEED MORE!!! This was a very refreshing romp through a world with physics and graphics that we’re all used to, but with a new twist. Source still looks gorgeous after all these years and I found myself being blown away by this new space-bending aspect they’ve introduced. Like all truly great games, this one has begun to bleed over into my reality and I’ve found myself studying any white wall I encounter to judge whether or not a portal would fit there and where I might place the other end.

In short, Portal is one of the best PC games I’ve played in a good long while. In fact, it’s good enough to have torn me away from Phantom Hourglass these last few days. The only downside to the entire experience was how short it was. The gameplay mechanics, environment and generally humorous tone were all pretty much perfect. Incorporating the Portal gun into the final sequence proved to be a bit challenging and quite rewarding when finished. I don’t want to give anything away here, but the closing credits made it all worth it as well as making me hopeful for another installment. What we really need now are some good old fashioned mod community maps.

In closing, if you currently own the Orange Box and haven’t tried Portal yet… shame on you. Get your butt home (or wherever you happen to game) and give it try right now. You won’t be disappointed.

New Contender in the Mouse Debates

Published on August 23, 2007 in Gadgets, Games and Hardware. 0 Comments

Rudeboy and I have different taste in mice, but we share one thing: a fancy mouse won’t buy you any extra frags.  Now, granted, you’re not going to get a lot of kills if you’re playing with your laptop’s trackpad or little eraser-thingy pointer.  But I’ve almost always been happy with an ancient two-button optical from Logitech (recently got a Logitech G7, which is nice, but it is overkill), and Rudeboy’s got an old Intellimouse with side buttons. Microsoft just launched a new Sidewinder, which does look sharp, but it’s going to be pricey and I have my doubts about how useful the LCD really is on a mouse. 

Still, a nerd likes to tweak, and this thing seems pretty tweakable.  Might be worth a look when the prices come down, neh?

BioShock Demo Experience

Published on August 22, 2007 in Games and Gripes. 0 Comments

Well, I cranked up the BioShock demo last night.  It played pretty well with my system, in spite of the fact that I didn’t bother trying to tweak and turn things off.  The framerate was too low, but I wanted a feel for what a DX9 card would present.  My current rig has a Core 2 Duo E6400, 2GB DDR2, and a GeForce 6800 Ultra.  It’s the graphics card holding me back, but I’m hoping Rudeboy gets his rig back up so we can see what a single core will do to this thing. 

Impressions?  The gameplay was really pretty decent.  The areas were really creepy, and it’s got style like no other game.  Story seems intriguing.  It’ll play on my rig, but I’ll have to turn off some of the cooler effects.  I zapped guys with electricity, and fried some with fire, and shot some.  Seems like lots of options for destruction.

I’d like to get a feel for how it’s running on older hardware, so if anyone’s played the demo, feel free to give a report with your specs in the comments.

Drive a Caddy in Mario Kart DS

Published on August 21, 2007 in Games and Nintendo. 0 Comments

Tired of using your lame attempt at a car badge in Mario Kart DS? Well… me too.

Good thing there’s a site like DSIcons.com to assist those of us who are less apt at creating anything other than a pixel blob in the icon editor. As the picture to the right shows, the instructions are pretty decent at helping you create that perfect car badge to help you express who you really are deep down inside.

There’s probably close to 50 free badges over at the site as well as several more packs that you can pay for (not sure why you would though with all those free ones to choose). I’ve tried a few of them out and they all look pretty decent in-game. So head on over and make everyone think that you have icon skillz.

DS Game of the Week: Mario Hoops 3 on 3

Published on August 6, 2007 in DS Game Of The Week, Game Reviews and Games. 0 Comments

Well… as I predicted, I’ve been somewhat of a failure at posting the DS game of the week on a weekly basis. But in my defense, my real job has been quite demanding the last month or so. To tell the truth, I actually have a whole list of stuff to post, I just need to find the time to actually do it. But anyway… on to this weeks DS game.

In a fit of boredom last week, I decided to try out a few DS games that I’ve had laying around for a while and have never taken the time to play. I can’t say for sure why I hadn’t tried this game until now, but I think it was mostly due to the fact that I didn’t have very high hopes. I realize that it got reviewed pretty well and I realize that most Nintendo games that revolve around first-party characters and themes are usually decent games. But every now and then, the touchscreen seems to “get in the way” a bit for me. For instance… Metroid Prime: Hunters reviewed pretty well and I know a few people who enjoy it, but I just couldn’t get into it. I’m just too much of a keyboard-mouse person when it comes to fps games I suppose. Anyway, I was a little worried that the touchscreen would just be gimmicky… boy was I wrong.

Continue reading ‘DS Game of the Week: Mario Hoops 3 on 3′

Holy Crap I Want This Game!!1!

Published on July 5, 2007 in Games. 0 Comments

Here at the ModStomp Mansion, we’re rather enamored with Guitar Hero. We pretty much play it as often as humanly possible and although we mostly suck at it, we enjoy it more than a warm milk bath. That being said, I think we’ve now found a game that will be able to dethrone Guitar Hero as our favorite… Rock Band looks friggen amazing! One of my favorite things about Guitar Hero (besides totally rockin’ out) is the multiplayer-ness of it. I especially love GH2 and the simultaneous jam factor. Rock Band takes that idea to a whole new level though and I can totally envision the “Euthanized Gerbil Tossers” (that’s one of our possible band names) making total fools of ourselves as we jam harder than a coked up metal fiend at a Gwar concert. Anyway… here’s a clip of Rock Band game play that was found in the wild. Enjoy!