The Midagedgamer Report for 4-19-2013
This Week:
BF4 brings Battlelog 2.0, OUYA growing pains, EA's axe keeps
swinging and some other crap
It's been a slow news week which is both a good and bad
thing. Good that this will be short, bad
that it'll be long on editorials so hang on and let's get going!
Well it seems that with the Fall launch of Battlefield 4
will come a new Battlelog dubbed Battlelog 2.0.
Dice has leaked a partial screenshot showing some of the redesign. It's supposed to be accessible via mobile,
console and web browser. Supposedly
you'll be able to "track your stats and interact with friends".
Sounds just like Grid 2's "Racenet" only worse.
Sounds just like Grid 2's "Racenet" only worse.
So if Battlelog 1.0 wasn't annoying enough you can now look forward to the "mobile optimized" Battlelog 2.0. Gee, I wonder if it'll have a timeline like Facebook. Maybe we'll even be able to "Like" our battlefield buddies and exchange family photos...
Excuse me while I go throw up...
Joystiq did another article on the Ouya console this week
and so far Richard Mitchell has a few complaints about the console. Most of them he admits can be attributed to
the fact that the consoles that kickstarter backers received are very early
models. The chief complaints are a
rather uninspiring game library, controller issues and problems with the
interface.
In Ouya's defense he does reiterate that these are very
early models and firmware updates have corrected some of these issues.
Ouya may not be ready for primetime but it doesn't
officially launch till June 4th either.
So it's probably best to consider it a beta product. If it had all the issues the author mentioned
on official launch that would be a bird of a different color.
In short, it's really just a beta device right now and
feedback good or bad will ultimately make the product better. That's what Beta's are for. Imagine if you could have early access to a
PS4 console. I'd be willing to bet all
the same issues would show up.
If you've been contemplating a graphics upgrade you may want
to consider the Nvidia option. Starting
Tuesday, Nvidia announced a new bundle to replace the Freebie Steam game bundle
they were offering. Consumers who
purchase a Geforce 660 or above video card will get a free copy of the game
Metro: Last Light. The sequel to Metro
2033 set in post Apocalyptic Moscow from 4A studios and the now defunct THQ (rights
since purchased by publisher Deep Silver) is due to launch May 14th for
$49.99 but you get it free if you take advantage of Nvidia's bundle. AMD's bundle is still better but at least
this time around you get a triple-A title for your trouble instead of a bunch
of Steam freebies with some upgrade credits.
The latest high profile target was the London Playfish
studio which has been reportedly "made redundant" . EA announced the closing down of all the
studio's Facebook games with much of the
studios creative assets split among other EA divisions. Whomever's left is at risk of being labeled
"redundant" A fate that's
already befallen employees at EA's Hyderbad studio in India.
After 2 years of Triple-A flops, bad launches and lackluster
performance in the mobile space perhaps the biggest problem with EA is a lack
of focus. Trying to be everything to
everybody can only lead to being nothing to nobody.
Finally,
CVG has put together a list of the 29 most promising PC
games to be release in 2013. Of course
Battlefield 4 is on the list but so is Dragon Age 3, Watch Dogs, Elder Scrolls
online, Company of Heroes 2 and a reboot of Command and Conquer as a Free to
Play game based on the Frostbite 2.0 engine.
Worth a look.
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