Gaming News: Don Mattrick leaving Microsoft for Zynga

Wednesday's gaming news is that Don Mattrick, head of Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment division including X-Box, is leaving Microsoft to become the new CEO of Zynga. For those of you who don't know who Zynga is, Zynga is the company behind Farmville, Mafia War, and the like, so if you keep getting those annoying request for manure or what not, then now you know who to blame. Zynga's was originally doing quite well when they first started and Farmville reached its peak, but within the last year Zynga has seen their stock fall quite a  bit.

Now I don't know all of what was behind Mattrick's decision to leave Micros0ft, in fact I know next to nothing and am not interested enough to try and find out, but his timing couldn't have been worse. As it is now, it looks like he is getting out before he can be fired over the backlash the Xbox One garnered, possibly as a straw man for Microsoft.

Now, is it a good thing for him that he has become Zynga's new CEO?
Zynga has seen falling stock and people leaving their games in large numbers, forcing them to lay off workers and to close down the less popular Facebook games. Well, so far, the stocks appear to show some confidence in Mattrick's ability to bring the company back into the spotlight, since the announcement, Zynga's stock has risen a bit and looks to be the beginning for a steady climb, unless it doesn't.
We will just have to wait and see how things at Zynga are handled.


I know one thing though, I won't be clamering for the newest Farmville spin-off to be announced, and the game requests I get are going to be forgotten in my notification bar.

Thanks for reading!

Schedule change/ Wednesday News

First of all, I would like to say sorry for not posting on Monday. But, cable is back online so we are good to go. Second, I am changing Wednesdays to gaming News, at least for now.

Ok, time for todays post.

The big news in gaming today, is that Microsoft has revised its DRM policy for Xbox One.
The most important effect this will have is that you WILL NOT have to connect your Xbox to the internet to play offline games. The only time the system will need to connect will be during first time set up. This goes for games downloaded off of Xbox Live as well.
The ability to sell, trade, and share games like you would for the 360 is now back as well. So Gamestop, you have been spared.
And finally, some good news to those who like to play games that normally aren't available in their country, regions have been removed, meaning the systems can be played in all areas of the world, government allowing, and games from across the world can be played as well. I foresee some hardcore RPG fans importing some JRPGs in the future.

Now, there were some features that were dropped as well. I won't go into details but most of them revolved around the cloud and your games library. Most specifically the ability to play your games library wherever you want without needing the disc.

All in all, it is good to see Microsoft actually listening to its fans. Sony, you might actually have some competition if Microsoft can keep it together.

Here is the link to the announcement from Microsoft's head of Interactive Entertainment.

That's all for today folks, be sure to check back for Throwback Friday!

Portal 2 Review

Portal 2 is by far on of my all time favorite games.

In Portal 2 you must complete tests to survive and hopefully win your freedom from the Aperture Science facility. Using the Aperture Science Quantum Tunneling device you will solve many puzzles to free yourself and save the day.

The game is full of wonderful characters and a brilliantly written script. Like most Valve games it manages to tell a wonderful story without the use of cut scenes.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it:

Ease of Play: 8 (The game has a very simple control set and pretty much all these controls are explained throughout the game, really the only things keeping me from giving it a 10 is that there are significantly more controls in the Cooperative Testing Initiative mode and that most newer gamers have issues in FPS games.)

Graphics: 10 (Portal 2 is beautiful no matter what console it is on, though it is probably prettiest on a high end computer. If Valve ever makes a sequel I would love so much to explore more of Apertures Sub levels.)

Replay: 6 (This is really the only area where it lacks, there are no collectables and the game is very linear so no exploring. But I have beaten the game 8 times now and I am thinking that after things settle down some more I will try for times 9 and 10. The game is just fun to play.)

Family Friendliness: 7 (While not inherently violent the game has some dark tones and the environment could be scary to younger audiences, Also there are some minor swear words used later in the game, the only one I can remember and it may be the only one is "Damn".)

All in all I give it a 9.

Valve, you have once again given us a wonderful game. Please make a sequel and as always we are still waiting for HL3.

Rage Xbox360 Game Review

Rage is set in post apocalyptic America approximately 160 years in the future. The planet has been devastated by a meteor that has turned at least the U.S. into a wasteland. Your character is an Ark survivor, the Arks were essentially big bunkers where about six people per unit where frozen and all that kinda stuff.

Your character must fight for survival in the wasteland and do jobs to prove his worth and fight the authority.

I found this game to be very very fun entertaining. My only complaint is that while the game is stored on 3 disks it is surprisingly short. The main game can be beaten in under 10 hours easily and is only stored on 2 of the 3 disks. I realize that the most probable reason for the extra disks is that the game has absolutely stunning graphics which understandably take some space, however I expected a much longer campaign and more of a sandbox type experience because Bethesda(Elder Scrolls) was involved in production.

However despite the shortness of the main campaign I still greatly enjoyed the game and can see myself returning to it to beat it on as many difficulties as possible.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it:

Ease of play: 7 (The game does and acceptable job of teaching the player how to play, however I have noticed that FPS games are surprisingly difficult for some people to play. I also did not like that I couldn't bring up a help tab or something for weapons with extra controls, such as sniper zooming, later in the game.)

Graphics: 10 (This is one of the best looking games I have played.)

Replay: 6 (I don't see that much replay in the game other than people wanting to beat it on all difficulties.)

Family Friendliness: 3 (The game is one of the gorier FPS game out, being able to decapitate enemies with the shotgun and wingsticks or blow them to pieces with various weapons makes this game a no no to violence wary families. The game has fairly severe language though not by the main casts, Most cursing will be heard from enemies during firefights or in conversation. No nudity that I noticed so if that is all you are concerned with then you are clear.)

All in all I give it a 8.

I would have given it a 10 but it was just to short to for me, I feel like the end was just cut off.

Over all I would urge anyone who enjoys FPS games to pick this up if they haven't and have fun and I look forward to hopefully seeing a sequel.

...Dynamite crossbow bolts are fun by the way.

Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Xbox 360 review

I have not beaten the game yet but it appears to be a very strong contender for my favorite racing game. In this game you play as either a racer or the cops. As the racers you must win races and other challenges while trying to not get caught, While the cops try and stop you. So far I haven't played online yet. This is mainly due to me not feeling comfortable playing with people I don't know.

On a scale of 1-10 I give it:

Ease of play: 6 (Being an EA title there is almost no tutorial. Those buying the game used will have trouble starting out. Anyone who has bought any number of games used knows why. Also EA uses a system where to play online you must have a pass. If you buy the game used the only way you can play online is either purchase a pass online or be lucky enough to buy one where the previous owner had not entered their code that came with the game.)

Graphics: 9 (Very pretty graphics and realistic cars and buildings. Though you won't notice most of the scenery at 150 MPH.)

Family friendly: 8 (No cursing mixed with vehicular violence makes this game a good family game.)

Replay: 6 (Not very much replay value since there aren't collectable items in the game. The only thing you will replay for is to get all gold or just enjoy beating on easy levels.)

All in all I give it a 8.

Edit 12/30/2011 12:36 PM: Edited the ratings to fit in with the other reviews. Sorry. Under the weather right now.