UPDATE: Kindle, N.O.V.A.3, and Moga Pro

Had a quick session the other day and dropped it shortly after starting. The controls were a bit sluggish. Just enough to notice but not fully enough to make the game unplayable.

Attacked from behind, character rocking, red bars, blurry vision… but I couldn’t turn quick enough to assess the threat and defend. So I died. I blame the controller and not the Fifty Year Old Gamer.

But that’s just me. Still want to keep playing, though. Game looks good, would prefer a more frequent check point. Still gonna keep playing.

More updates coming.

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Game in hand, story on screen

Handheld gaming is a wonderful industry. The hardware and software options are awesome and the extension of handhelds into the console environment may be creating the first opportunity the gaming industry has to meet the demands for the active and passive gaming experience.

To restate the problem we are solving for, AAA games like the Bioshock suite, God of War, Assassin’s Creed, Infamous and Dishonored all tout their complex story lines and character development, these stories are not told in a way as to engage the passive viewer.

Hardware Update… Kindle gaming

HP Touchpad is long gone. Not just from the tech community but from my home. Traded it for an iPod Nano. At least that we can use.

And now I have a Kindle 8.9″ HD. Super cheap and a solid all-around tablet. I’ve downloaded some games and it is fair to middling as a gaming platform so far. I use a Moga Pro (another hardware update) as the controller since I hate and also suck at using the screen controls.

GAMES:

– Dead Trigger: Love this one because the “story” is just an outline for the location. This is just a straight-forward run and gun. I love this game. And during Halloween some zombies had Jack’o’lantern heads that they threw as bombs. Crazy stuff and good for some quick gaming

– N.O.V.A. 3: This feels like a serious console experience. I bought the controller just for this game, hoping to play on my phone. But since I have a Lumia 920, the number of Moga supported games is slim and NOVA isn’t one of them. I’ve just started to dip into this game but the action, controls and story are great. Looking forward to playing more.

– Ashpalt 8: Not a big fan of driving/racing games with the exception of Wipeout for PSx. Downloaded this to test the controller. It takes up a lot of memory and updates too frequently for my taste. Plan to delete soon.

So the Kindle may be a solid gaming platform with at least two games worth returning to. The Moga Pro really gives the tablet a full gaming experience. So far I’m happy with this set up.

Can someone please send me some free time to play?

 

 

Notice to the gaming industry, here is what I need

Games position themselves as story driven entertainment. Not quite yet. The measure of this is when I can open up a game, get a few minutes past the opening cut scenes and still have my wife following along. She has more than no interest in gamig, she is openly disdainful. It wastes her time to see or hear about them (Scrabble doesn’t count).

When I find a game that is engaging to a passive viewer while the player is still active and challenged by the game play, then I will know the industry has reached the point of being story driven. Until then the gaming dominates the story. No one watches chess because they are emotionally invested in the survival of the king. A great game but no story.

Waiting….

What kind of gamer I am…

Basic profile info:

• 50+ years old
• Married
• MA (Liberal Arts)
• MBA (Finance)
• Work at one of the largest computer manufacturers in the world
• Live in California
• Two daughters

Hardware

• PS3
• PS2 (dual connected to PC monitor… easier than I thought)
• PS Vita
• HP Touchpad (yeah, right, for games?)
• Nokia Lumia 920

Finished games (both of them)

• Limbo
• Sound Shapes

See any similarities there?

Games in my play queue (I actually own them) that I wish I could get time to finish:

• Bioshock
• Fallout 3 (I’m from DC and want to see how they represented the city)
• Mirror’s Edge
• Mass Effect
• inFamous 1/2/Festival of Blood
• Uncharted 2 and Golden Abyss
• Thomas Was Alone
• Guacamelee
• Gravity Rush
• Call of Duty 4
• Ico
• Shadow of the Collossus

I really own all of these games. But at my age, with two daughters and a wife, a busy job and social life I have virtually no time to dedicate to any of these. I was lucky to finish Limbo since it’s on the PS3 so I need to monopolize the television. Sound Shapes was easier to complete since I could drag that Vita anywhere.

I’m starting this blog to document how a man in my position in life finds the time to finish games, what kinds of games he wants, what are the hardware choices, and why play games at all. I keep having this discussion with myself so I am now opening it up to you. Hope it works out for us.

Ain’t I young looking!

And so it begins…

yes, it does.