Random Rumors - Wii U Leak

/

The rumors have started to hit full force for the holiday gaming season. To start things off we, have a possible release date on the Nintendo Wii U along with price point before the 09/13 press event. The rumor goes that the system will launch Sunday, November 11, 2012. This would be about right for Nintendo. A weekend sale just before the full Christmas season starts.

Next in the leak was three different SKUs for the Wii U. One at $250, $300, and $350. These numbers are based on a leaked shot from YouTube user H0undd0gg. This seems to be the sketchiest part of the rumor to me, but lets work with what we have.  If you want to inspect the video it can be found here (The video has been removed).

All three systems are pretty similar in name, but lets guess what the differences could be.  I see the $250 model being the base with a system and one Wii Pad. The $300 will add a Wiimote and nunchuck (wow I have not typed that in a long time) and more onboard storage. The $350 will add a second Wii Pad. Looking forward to confirming or breaking this rumor next week.

Wii U Experience

/
Recently Proteus, Humming Bird (Proeus' brother), ZeldaQueen and I had the opportunity to visit the Wii U experience that was put on by Nintendo when it came through Denver the past weekend. So what what are impressions of the new system? It was mostly positive for use. We got to play around 5 games each (not all the same games). For the fact of linearity I an going to split this article up by game.
Read More

This Weeks Geek - A Good Idea Too Soon

/
The idea, at its core it is such a simple thing. You think of an awesome idea, something that will change how whatever you are interested in works forever. You spend a fortune getting it to work, implementing it, and marketing it. Then it fails. Something was missing from the grand scheme of things that made your plan not work as well as you would have hopped. Then a few years later the same thing is released to a changed landscape and what once failed is a staggering success. This unfortunate cycle is what I want to focus on for This Week's Geek.
Read More

Conversations with IrishPride Episode 24

/
Hello everybody and welcome to a long overdue episode of Conversations with IrishPride.  Today I am actually going to give a quick book review.  That's right, an actual real life book.  Well, technically, it was an electronic book on my Kindle app, but a book nonetheless!  Believe it or not, I do read when I get the opportunity to.  So without further ado, I give you my quick review of Ernest Cline's novel, Ready Player One.
Read More

OnLive's Changes

/

As many of you may know, I am a fan of the OnLive service. I have a number of games with them and have had an account since they launched two years ago. So you can bet that I was not too happy to hear about their difficulties as of late. On Friday their entire staff was laid off. As of that moment the future of OnLive was a mystery to all. Then Lauder Partners purchased the company and rehired half the staff. The others are going to be given options to work as consultants for the new OnLive company.  The former CEO and founder, Steve Perlman, is getting nothing from the sale of his company. He is taking full responsibility for being unable to keep his company afloat. In fact all the executives have not received any compensation for the sale and, in fact, all are taking pay cuts to rehire as much of the former staff as possible.  This is something that I can, and do, respect. They are taking the blame for bad decisions and trying to allow their employees to survive. They are not blaming bad economies or anything like that.

So that is the internal stuff, but what about us? Well, there is good news for those that have purchased games through OnLive. The new OnLive has confirmed that user purchases will still be available. As of now we don't have to worry about losing our games. OnLive will continue to be on the Ouya system. So here is hoping that things work out for them under the new company.

Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary Celebration

/

That's right; starting today Square Enix is celebrating 25 years of Final Fantasy. In its 25 years Final Fantasy has been launched over 40 titles on dozens of systems and has become a household name in the gamer community. All gamers, even if they have not played a Final Fantasy game, they know about them and the iconic music that is played when you are victorious in a battle. To start the celebration Square Enix has launched the Final Fantasy 25th Anniversary site as a main site to announce the events that will be happening through the rest of the year.

A few of these activities include an event happening at PAX Prime with the first "Experience Final Fantasy". This event will be happening Friday, August 31 from 1:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the ACT Theatre in Seattle (700 Union Street).  This is open to the general public where there will be several games setup for play. There will also be prizes such as fan favorite plushies, special 25th Anniversary poster and Xbox 360 or PS3 consoles that are themed after Final Fantasy XIII-2.  Hopefully this will be one of many events they have, which will hopefully be announced on the above website. Want more on the celebration? I think you know what to do!

 

Game Over - Darksiders

/
Darksiders 2 releases on August 14, 2012. Now I am going to bet that more than just a few of you have not played the original Darksiders yet. While I think you are all horrible people for having skipped this game, I am not without mercy. I will allow be benevolent enough to give you a quick recap of what happened in the original Darksiders so you are caught up when you purchase Darksiders 2 (you are purchasing it by the way). SPOILER ALERT!
Read More