GeekwithEnvy

Gaming

Playstation 4 Will Stick To Blu-Ray

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Blu-ray_Logo

As the popularity of digital downloads has increased over the years many of us were wondering if the next-gen consoles will focus less on actual discs. We keep seeing more and more content available for download and some games aren’t even shipping manuals anymore, instead they are available in a digital format.

However, the Playstation 4 will still rely on Blu-Ray as it primary game delivery medium. In a recent interview with IGN, Sony’s Jim Ryan mentions this about the format.

Clearly, and this applies not just to games but to pretty much every form of entertainment, there is a trend to increased digital consumption, and that is happening now on PS3 and will continue and will probably accelerate on PS4, but the primary delivery mechanism for the big games on the PS4 platform will continue to be Blu-Ray discs, for the foreseeable future.

I’m not surprised by this at all and actually I’m quite thrilled to hear that they are sticking with Blu-Ray. First of all, our broadband still lacks the bandwidth that’s necessary to make digital downloads attractive. With some games possibly being as large as 40 gigabytes and up, something Jim Ryan says he’s encouraging developers to do, there’s no way you can download that in a reasonable amount of time. The Blu-Ray disc is still reaching it’s peak potential and has plenty of years ahead of it.

I’m still quite fond of having the case and actual game disc. I never feel like I should have to pay full price for a digital download, it feels like I’m not getting the whole game. It’s a strange thought to imagine that one day we may not be using discs at all. Let’s not forget to mention that if we go all digital that will also be the death of the used game business.

At least for now we will be living in a hybrid world of both digital and physical content for not just our games, but movies and music as well. One thing I am wondering about now is whether or not Microsoft will be using Blu-Ray or some other type of proprietary media.

 

Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Now Available for OS X

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BGEnchancedSS2

Yes! OS X users can now download and run Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition without any special software. The game is now available to download for Mac OS X 10.6.8 or higher from Beamdog. 

The Original Baldur’s Gate is an awesome RPG that has been around for over ten years. Eventually the original game gained some enhancements that helped it fit a little better on a widescreen monitor along with adding new content like “The Black Pits” and adding new characters like Dorn Il-Khan, and Rasaad yn Bashir. The enhancements don’t end there either, they went on to add over 400 improvements to the original game. If you love classic RPG’s and have OS X, then this is a must buy, plus the game is only $19.99

 

 

Playstation 4 Details and Quick Thoughts

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Dual Shock 4 Controller
Dual Shock 4 for the Sony Playstation 4

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying, “leave them wanting more” but the Playstation 4 announcement from Sony was lacking pretty much everything. Fortunately, we did get a little bit of information about the new console. So here is a quick breakdown of what we learned about the Playstation 4.

-The Playstation 4 is designed like a gaming PC and will feature a custom x86 CPU, custom PC graphics hardware that utilizes GDDR 5 (very fast memory), 8GB of Unified Memory, and of course a hard drive. All of these hardware choices were made in order to make it as developer friendly as possible, unlike the PS3 which is notoriously difficult to program for.

PS4GraphicsDemo
A rendering showing off the graphics capabilities of the Playstation 4.

-The new console will allow you to pause and instantly resume gameplay without having to wait for the console to boot up. It will go directly where you left off, much like sleep mode for your computer. This is a great feature and I can’t wait to see it in action.

-The new PS4 Controller has a touch pad and offers up a share button that quickly uploads your best or worst gameplay moments to social media. The new controller does feature a 3.5 mm headphone jack which confirms earlier rumors. There is an additional stereo camera system that will work with the Dual Shock 4 for added interaction with your favorite games; it reminds me of a larger version of the Wii(U) sensor bar. The top of the Dual Shock 4 has a light on top of it which looks similar to the  PS Move controller, this is what the camera system uses to track the controllers motion.

-The PS4 will be coming “Holiday 2013”

Unfortunately, that’s about all we know for right now and we never actually got to see the console it self. I don’t want to completely trash the new console and I know it hasn’t even been released yet, but I have to admit that I’m not blown away with the PS4. It feels a lot like a PS3.5 and not a PS4. The hardware is solid and it looks like it’s going to be the most powerful console this generation but it’s still missing that “WOW” factor. We will just have to wait for more details from Sony.

 

 

StarCraft Universe an Incredibly Awesome Mod

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StarCraft Universe is now available to play! SC Universe has come along way and it’s looking pretty awesome. This Mod originally got a lot of attention from Blizzard due to it’s initial name, “World of StarCraft”. The name upset the folks over at Blizzard quite a bit. Ryan Winzell, who created the Mod, was originally thought to have created the Mod using methods other than the tool set offered by Blizzard Entertainment, and Blizz was looking to throw down the iron hammer on the project. Eventually, things were straightened out and it was found that the Mod was legit. Finally, it was allowed to exist but with a name change.

It looks like a ton of effort went into this project and I can’t wait to see it grow into something even better. It’s not often that you fool a large gaming company into thinking you’ve made your own full fledged version of their game.

You can get all of the mod details including screenshots and videos at their official mod site.

Diablo III Patch 1.0.7

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diablo screenshot 1

Well, patch time is upon us yet again and this time Diablo III is getting all of the attention. Blizzard has made patch 1.0.7 live and with it comes some nice features.

The Jeweler and Blacksmith will now possess new recipes which will be account bound and have an iLevel of 63.  A new tier of account-bound gems of has also been added to the game, Marquise. For Players who are looking to fight each other, you will now be able to do just that in a new zone called, “The Scorched Chapel.”  Players can duel with up to four players in a “free-for-all” fighting environment. This addition also comes along with a brand new PvP chat channel, so you can brag about how awesome you are.

As always the patch also contains various tweaks and bug fixes, which you can read a complete list of on Blizzard’s official Diablo III community site.

Here are a few of the major bug fixes introduced in this patch:

  • Fixed an issue where new Hardcore characters were not labeled as Hardcore on the Main Menu
  • Fixed an error that could occur when closing the World of Warcraft client while the Diablo III client was still running
  • Players will now be properly removed from both the party and the game session whenever a Vote Kick has passed
  • Players will no longer be disconnected from the game whenever vote kicked during a boss encounter
  • Legendary items now have a new mini-map icon
  • This icon should now persist properly and be shown on the mini-map so long as the player is in the same zone as the dropped item
  • Rare Sand Dwellers will now spawn in The Forgotten Ruins
  • Champion Plague Swarms will now spawn in Cryder’s Outpost
  • Champion Fallen Cur will now spawn in The Storm Halls
  • Goldskin will no longer proc when attacking monsters that drop no loot
  • Plans: Staff of Herding can now be dropped on the ground, or sold to a vendor for 0 gold
  • All Staves of Herding can now be sold to a vendor for 0 gold