The Boschmans Account » Gaming

Good Old Games (GoG) just had another customer

alex — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:34:08 +0000

Good Old Games (or GoG as they call themselves) sells old or semi-old games over the internet, DRM-free for between 4.99 and 10.99 dollars. They come with downloadable artwork and manuals, patched to the latest version available for Windows XP and Vista. I have been following their (at first private) beta since 99 days (so my account says) and just bought my first game – Darkstar One, a spacesim.

You can download them as much as you want, install them where you want. They are yours to keep.

And for the pirates out there – why should you pirate stuff if you can pick it up legally for 10 bucks and at the same time support them so they can release more old games ?

For any old gamer, picking up games like Fallout 1 and 2, Abe’s Oddworld Oddessy, it’s mana from heaven !

Playing Mass Effect now

alex — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 12:56:42 +0000

Woooo. It’ certainly captivating, making me loose a lot of sleeping hours.

A nice engaging storyline. Lots and lots of side quests, which let you beef up your armour, weapons and technique so the main quest runs easier.Â No rush except if you want to. Save when you want, almost, except for in combat (logical).

I do have a blue light effect which bothers me from time to time, but that’s the only big complaint I have.

That and the time spent of course. I feel guilty spending all those hours enjoying myself with this game

Crackdown for the XBOX 360

alex — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 13:55:34 +0000

I’ve just finished Crackdown on the xbox 360, and I’ve been stunned by it.

The sheer joy of running faster than cars, jumping higher than small city buildings, creating extreme explosions and generally wreaking havoc on the gangs using a whole arsenal of weaponry while keeping a tongue-in-cheek approach is something worth treasuring this game for.

And this comes from somebody who does not like the Grand Theft Auto series ! Obviously, there are a lot of similarities to GTA, but for me the best thing about it was the superman feeling you get while playing. The sense of being damn near invulnerable or always getting closer to that was a real push to finish the game. The second best thing : the humor of the game, and the over-the-top melodramatic voice that accompanies you throughout the game.

Rating : recommended, even for dads !

ScummVM on the iPhone ! Yaarrrrrr Me Maties !!!

alex — Sat, 01 Dec 2007 22:32:05 +0000

At last, I just knew that somebody had to have done something about this lack of scummvm on the new platform. Even one of the original creators of Monkey Island was waiting for it…

In case you are younger than 25 or so, scummvm is a game engine emulator for the very first point-n-click adventures like ‘The Secret of Monkey Island‘ and other such ones which were hugely popular in my youth. Their 16 bit colour version would seem quaint to you now, but squashed on a small mobile phone screen this and other games are a thing of beauty you can while your time away with while travelling !

Check out the instructions on the scummvm wiki here to get some Scummy goodness on your iphone. Don’t forget to place the games on your Media space !

Assassins Creed

alex — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 23:36:51 +0000

Ouch ! The only game where I feel a twinge in my guts from my fear of heights acting up.

Very good story, so far, leaving you lots of liberties on how you want to play it through…

Fable versus Assassins Creed

alex — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 21:48:38 +0000

I had bought Fable second-hand on Ebay – the original xbox version, since I had heard a lot of things about it. So I just put in the disc to verify that it was okay, just for a few minutes, and then I would go back to playing Assassins Creed.

That was an hour and a half ago. Fable is captivating, full of plot changes and the music, aah the music is especially sublime. It really feels like you are playing a movie. A predictable one, at first, as the begin story faintly reeks of the first few minutes of Conan The Barbarian.

Even though Assassins Creed graphics are way more beautiful, Fable manages to deliver a story, and you can appreciate the care to details that has gone into this game.

I just wanted to express my experience here : that good games can have good graphics, but that it is secondary to their value as a game.