Search the Community

E3 came and went without a swamp thread? I can't just let this year go by without long-winded commentary. Wii U Terrible name, but I'm really excited to see what Nintendo can do with an HD console - especially one that surpasses the level of games PS3 and 360 can put out. Will Sony and MS come out with even more powerful systems somewhere down the line? Probably, but I don't think Nintendo should be written off just yet. Remember the 360 was released at least a year before the other two and it did just fine; and it doesn't look like Nintendo's chinching on the hardware this time. Not many people were that blown away by the bird demo, but as a 3D modeler myself, I was extremely impressed with what they were able to achieve... I think people were put off by the visual style and didn't realize how advanced it really was. That and the lighting in the Zelda demo looks incredible, with a sort of rendered quality to it. To me it doesn't look like Nintendo will be very much behind in the competition. Don't get me wrong, I want MS and Sony to blow me away with ever more advanced games... but it doesn't look like they'll be ready any time soon, so until then my attention is going to be on what Nintendo can pull out. That and I'm a Nintendo fanboy. :V Dem HD Miyamoto games mang. As for the controller, it looks interesting, but we shall see. It essentially turns the console into a giant DS, and since I never got a DS it's sort of unfamiliar territory for me. I do like the ability to go from the TV to the controller at will. I also like the prospect of moving most of the HUD to the controller to free up screen space. Other than that I'll just have to wait and see what the developers do with it. I've heard they're probably not going to support more than one or two tablet controllers, so that cuts into a lot of local multiplayer possibilities. 3DS I've been waiting for the next iteration of the 3Ds before buying one, but after E3 the wait is that much harder. Luigi's Mansion 2, Super Mario 3DS, Star Fox 64, Paper Mario 3DS. Dem 3D Miyamoto games mang. Hopefully another 3DS will be out by the time Smash Bros 4 comes out. Battlefield 3 I've played some of the earlier Battlefield games. I have a lot of respect for the first one, but I'm really not into war shooters very much. The thing is, everything I've seen of Battlefield 3 has blown me away. Not just the graphics in itself, but the scale, the visual style, the environments, the animations, the realism, and just the overall feel of the game. Even just the way the gameplay is paced is amazing. Consider me hyped. Tomb Raider Nice "gritty origin story." I like the survival angle. I just hope they don't go overboard on the vulnerabilty like they did with Other M. Far Cry 3 Really good voice acting and animation. Some of the scenes were pretty intense. As for the gameplay, still reminds me a lot of Crysis. Rayman Origins Brings back the style of classic mid-90s 16-bit platformers like Earthworm Jim and Donkey Kong Country. That alone makes me intrigued. Need for Speed, The Run Looks pretty fancy but I have a feeling the on-foot parts won't be as good as the vehicle parts unless they do something really good with it besides just QTEs. As for everything else, I was fairly underwhelmed by the MS and Sony conferences. Vita is pretty cool but I have no interest in getting one myself. I guess we'll have to wait till next year's E3 to see what Sony and MS have in store for new consoles.

To those of you who know about it, today is the first day of Winter-een-mas, a week long holiday dedicated to gaming. If you've heard of it, and/or celebrate it, how are you celebrating it? I'll be celebrating with Mass Effect 2, after I buy it tomorrow.

Alright here it is, my first thread since unretiring: Since we have wide range of ages represented on this forum, this should be interesting. What was the first Gaming System you played on, and what was your favorite game from that system? Of course having said your initial answer, don't be afraid to discuss all an any classic gaming rigs and the classic games you grew up on. Gaming is big aspect of what makes this forum, and surely we all have fond memories of some of the games and consoles of old. I'm sure you, like me, were influenced by those games and they help mold you into the gamer you are today. So, let's share those gaming memories...

I was going to post this in the "Very Good Things" thread, but I decided that I would go all out and provide a review of the product and give it it's own spot on the forum. So a few weeks back I was lucky enough to notice an amBX Premium Kit available on Sellout Woot for about $75. For those who have never heard of amBX, it's basically a set of gaming peripherals that strive to enhance the ambient atmosphere of a video game, thus further enveloping the player in the game's world. Some videos: (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.) (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.) (This BBCode requires its accompanying plugin to work properly.) The premium kid comes with 2 lights, a 2.1 speaker system, 2 fans, and a rumble pad. In most games the fans simulate wind while running or falling, but several have other added effects, like in CoD4 when a grenade explodes you feel a blast of air depending on how close it is to you, and when a helicopter passes overhead you can feel the rush of the whirling blades. The rumble pad lies near the base of your keyboard sits beneath your wrist, much like the wrist rests (wtf are those called, anyways?) that come with many keyboards. The pads vibrate much like a console controller, providing feedback when you shoot a gun, take falling damage, etc, depending on the game, of course. And the lights are obviously an extension of the game lighting, as you can see in the videos. While they don't always match the lighting on your screen precisely (well, for some games they do, but it's not always perfect), you don't really notice the inconsistencies while you're playing. Instead, they really draw you into the game. I was very impressed with the lights, especially for games that have embedded amBX support. At first I was very skeptical. I figured that the lights would be distracting, the fans would be loud, and that the rumble pad would be a nuisance. Furthermore, I already have 5.1 surround sound on my computer, so I wasn't even planning on using the speakers. Nevertheless, I decided that I would take a risk and purchase the kit. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made. It's by no means a perfect system, but I have fallen in love with the amBX kit. The purpose of the product is to enhance the gaming environment, and it certainly does. Call of Duty 4 and other shooters have never felt more real. And it even re-sparked my interest in other games that I had stopped playing months ago. For instance, it was just so cool to be playing Oblivion and feel the rush of wind when you cast a fireball spell, and then experienced your entire room filling with a burst of white light fading into blue when you cast a healing spell. My only real complaint is that not enough games use ambx support. Thankfully just about every game can make use of the lighting, and the automatic lighting that amBX simulates is pretty accurate, but only a handful of games make use of the fans and the rumble pad. Luckily the number is steadily increasing and the community on the amBX website is pretty active, with developers constantly making updates and patches for different games to provide ambx support. They even got it to work in Windows 7 before the OS was released! If anyone is looking for a way to revitalize their gaming experience, this is definitely what did it for me. I'd be glad to answer any questions about the product, and would highly recommend it to anyone with a bit of extra pocket money. Also, out of curiosity, do any other swampies play with amBX?

I found an interesting product on Newegg the other day: a "Neural Impulse Actuator". The product is a peripheral that claims to actually read your brainwaves and facial gestures through a harness and translate the data into input, allowing you to supposedly increase reaction times. Now, I'm thinking that this is one of those "semi-functional" products that actually does what it's intended to so, but is not fully refined. Additionally, I can see this as cheating in certain games, since it does seem to provide an advantage. So, can someone give me skinny on this technology for gaming, and if it's even worth it?

Just wondering what websites or magazines or friends you all get all your gaming-related news from. Also, why do you use that source? Personally, I like GameSpy because its layout doesn't feel as bloated as some sites (like GameSpot, for example), and it has a nice weekly newsletter that lands in my inbox every week containing links to all the articles posted that week. So how 'bout you?