Video Games | Gumballs Plays Games

Streaming Xbox One to Windows 10 is awesome!

Posted on June 29, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

This weekend I finally got around to checking out the Xbox One Preview program and that means I finally got my hands on my most anticipated Xbox One feature: streaming to Windows 10.

With the new Xbox One software and Windows 10 you’ll be able to stream games to your Windows 10 PC via your in home WiFi or Ethernet. This feature introduces a plethora of exciting possibilities as all of a sudden you can access your Xbox anywhere in your house.

I’ve already found it incredibly useful to stream my Xbox One to my MacBook (running Windows 10 Preview via Boot Camp) while our living room TV is in use (i.e. Vanessa is watching Lifetime movies). It works incredibly well, with absolutely no noticeable lag (over my 5GHz WiFi) or hiccups. The best part is it doesn’t just stream the game to your PC, it streams the entire Xbox One dashboard experience. Therefore you can check in on friends, or swap between games by heading to the home screen, just as you would when playing through a TV.

You can connect your Xbox One controller to your PC and play that way, however I’ve found when doing so the home button on the controller doesn’t work (instead there’s a home button in the Xbox App UI you can use), so I’ve left my controller connected to my console and haven’t had any issues. It even reaches into the bedroom (which admittedly isn’t too far from the console) which is nice because I can plug a headset into the controller and game in bed if I want. You can also use HDMI out on your laptop or PC and play your Xbox on a different TV without having to move your console.

This weekend I was playing Tales From the Borderlands in the bedroom while Vanessa slept (headphones plugged into the controller).

The experience has been absolutely wonderful so far, but there are even more possibilities that I haven’t even tried yet. For example, you can play multiplayer where one person uses the TV and the other a laptop. Now both screens will be a mirror of each other, but you may end up with a better viewing angle using the second screen.

I’m absolutely in love with the streaming to Windows 10 feature, and I can’t wait to check out some more Xbox One / Windows 10 features!

Bethesda Publisher sale on Xbox One / Xbox 360

Posted on June 24, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Hey there, just thought I’d let you know about the Bethesda Publisher sale currently happening on the Xbox One and Xbox 360. I used it to pick up Fallout: New Vegas, Fallout 3 and all their DLC’s. Fallout 3’s DLC is on sale, but the game isn’t for some reason and is priced at $14.99. Now I know it would have been cheaper to buy the GOTY editions of both games ($14.99 / $19.99 each), however I’m not a fan of disc games. I used to own both games on disc (but not the DLC’s) years ago, so I’m glad to have digital copies now. I do have both GOTY versions on PC, but it’ll be much easier to play through them on the 360 (by easier, I mean less of a hassle I suppose).

I’m looking forward to playing through both Fallout games and finally getting around to checking out the DLC!

Considering Project CARS

Posted on June 24, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I’ve found myself more and more tempted lately to pick up Project CARS, the hyper realistic racing simulator by Slightly Mad Studios that released last month on current gen consoles and PC. I always love realistic racing games (arcade style racers just don’t do it for me) and the Forza games are some of my favorites. I enjoyed Forza 5, and probably should go back to playing it as I barely scratched the surface of that game in the first place, but I can’t help wanting to see what Project CARS brings to the table.

The game’s incredible graphics cause me to salivate, and while I’m it’s certainly not as crisp on the Xbox One I’m sure it still looks great. One thing that might frustrate me, however, is the lack of a rewind button. I used to get so angry when I’d screw up on the last corner of a tight race in the early Gran Turismo games and oftentimes would find myself tempted to smash my Playstation controller into a million pieces. The rewind feature of the Forza games made racing much more enjoyable, though I’ll admit I’ve never lost a race since I could rewind anytime I was passed (so maybe not having a rewind will make things more interesting).

Project CARS is certainly a welcome addition to the realistic racing genre, and its first sequel was just revealed this week so I’m even more tempted to get into the series early to see what all the fuss is about.

Have you played Project CARS? Do you recommend it, or should I just boot up Forza 5 again?

The dark side of Twitch: Harassing female streamers

Posted on June 20, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

This morning I hopped onto Twitch while enjoying a coffee and bagel and popped into one of the top streams this morning, which of course was a League of Legends stream. I don’t particularly find League of Legends streams interesting, but I put it on just for something in the background.

This morning I witnessed first hand one of the most horrid and disgusting aspects of the Twitch community, and the internet connected gamer community. The streamer was showing cleavage, but it wasn’t anything extreme. She just happened to be larger than average, but she wasn’t wearing anything you wouldn’t see out on the town or in the mall.

The users in the Twitch chat, however, seemed to see the fact that this woman was attracting a large audience as something to take extreme offense too. They spammed the chat with insults like “You suck at gaming, slut”, “kill yourself slut”, “you’re a whore”, “no one cares about you, only your boobs”, etc. There were also those trying to rally everyone to either spam the channel or leave the channel, because apparently the female body is just too offensive to handle while watching a video game.

Now, I know that Twitch recently adjusted its guidelines to try to prevent ‘sexually suggestive’ streams, but I don’t think this particular streamer was trying to take advantage of the system. Even if they were, the chat reaction was entirely unnecessary and completely offensive. It’s something I expect to see on 4Chan, and it’s sickening even there, but not something I ever expected to see in something more mainstream such as Twitch.

I know this stuff happens all the time on Twitch, YouTube, Tumblr and elsewhere on the internet, but this morning was the first time I watched something like this happen live. It was appalling. I tried ignoring and reporting as many users as I could for spam and harassment but for every 10 I ignored 20 took their places.

I’m not quite sure what can be done to prevent these things from happening. The internet is a place where all kinds of terrible things are said on a daily basis and people don’t realize that these blurbs of text can and often do have real world consequences for those on the receiving end. This sort of behavior needs to stop. It’s not okay. We all need to appreciate each other and respect each other, whether it’s on Xbox Live, Twitch or anywhere else. It’s the human thing to do, and we all are human even if there’s a machine in between us. Act like it.

Getting a logo Squarespace

Posted on June 17, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I’ve often heard ads for Squarespace, but never really had a reason to check them out since I’m pretty happy here with WordPress. However, I was searching around for easy ways to create a logo earlier this morning and came across Squarespace’s easy to use logo creation tool.

Within seconds I had a pretty neat logo that I could purchase for $10 (you can get a low res download with a watermark for free).

This is what I came up with:

Nothing fancy, and probably not worth the $10, however I then took it over to Zazzle and had some fun with the design:

I ended up ordering a couple of shirts and buttons just for the fun of it, and also had this QR code business cards made:

I’ll admit the business cards are kind of ugly, but I’m terribly impatient and didn’t spend much time at all creating them. Anyway, just thought I’d share my silly creations with you. If you’d like to create your own logo you should probably check out Squarespace’s simple creation tool as a good place to start.

Bethesda’s epic E3

Posted on June 15, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I just watched Bethesda’s E3 showcase from last night and I have to say I’m pretty impressed. The DOOM gameplay looked great and I’m all of a sudden excited to play it even though I’ve never been huge into the franchise. The guns, combat animations and environments just looked downright awesome and I can’t wait to shoot and chainsaw my way through that world.

The Elder Scrolls card game took me by surprise, but given the popularity of Hearthstone I can see how they’d want to try to cash in. I’m not so sure it’d be successful, as Hearthstone does what it does so well I don’t think there’s room for another fantasy card collecting game.

The Dishonored 2 trailer was pretty neat, and I especially like that they showcased the female character. I think it would have been better to make the game focus solely on the female protagonist, but giving the player the choice to play as either isn’t so bad.

The Fallout 4 coverage at the end was mindblowingly awesome! Everything they showed blew me away, and I especially like the way the game opens. Giving the option to play as either a male or female character again is pretty nice and having a voiced main character will certainly be interesting.

The mobile game seems pretty cool and I’m going to try to check it out later today. The Pip Boy companion app is also a neat idea, but the best part of the entire showcase was the November 2015 release date! Unfortunately I’ll be deployed this Fall, so I won’t be getting my hands on Fallout 4 until next summer.

Streaming Elder Scrolls Online: Day two

Posted on June 14, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

Hey there, just wanted to pop in and let you know I’m about to give Elder Scrolls Online some more time and I’ve started my Twitch stream over at Twitch.tv/jdh5153. Feel free to swing by and check it out. Hopefully ESO will start to grow on me!

Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited is a bore so far

Posted on June 13, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I participated in the beta for Elder Scrolls Online (for PC) and found it clunky and boring to play even then, yet I was still dumb enough to purchase the game shortly after it launched last year. I played it for a few days and found that my opinion hadn’t changed since the beta. It felt like it had potential, but ultimately I think the entire MMO genre is no longer enjoyable.

This week The Elder Scrolls Online launched on console, and again I had a desire to check it out. I found a copy at a Redbox (they’re finally starting to get Xbox One / PS4 games around here, though not very many) and decided to rent it, against my better judgement.

I just finished up playing through the first hour of ESO on the Xbox One, and was just as underwhelmed as I was when I first played it on PC. The opening to the game isn’t very strong at all, but I guess most MMO’s are slow to start anyway. Beyond that, I still don’t find the combat enjoyable at all, and none of the characters or the quests they’ve sent me on are interesting at all. When every single side quest in The Witcher 3 features interesting characters, environments and stories, it’s hard to play through dull MMO quests in a game like ESO.

The console version of Elder Scrolls Online doesn’t feature any sort of text chat, so instead communication is accomplished via voice. Voice chat is distance based, and players will begin to fade away as they get far enough away from you. This is certainly an interesting system, and something Destiny desperately needed (or still needs if you’re still into it). I will say the voice chat can be a little jarring, especially while wandering around in the wilderness and all of a sudden a voice cuts in. I’ve been startled by a random voice in mid conversation several times already, and I suppose it’s a nice way of making the game feel less lonely. At the same time I haven’t experienced any sort of meaningful interaction with other players, and all I’ve really done is run from quest to quest skipping through the boring conversations and dull conclusions to the quests.

In a nutshell I can say that Elder Scrolls Online is simply underwhelming. If you’re really into MMO’s then you may just be able to enjoy ESO, and it certainly plays well enough for a console MMO. I think my time will be better spent playing The Witcher and continuing my journey through Fallout: New Vegas, so I doubt I’ll play much more of Elder Scrolls Online.

Civilization: Beyond Earth / Starships bundle sale

Posted on June 11, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

I noticed yesterday that Amazon was selling a bundle that includes Civilization: Beyond Earth and Sid Meier’s Starships for $29.99, which was tempting. I had been wanting to check out Beyond Earth since its release last October, but the mixed reviews made it sound disappointing. I had also thought about buying Starships on the iPad several times, however the reviews of it also kept me from making the plunge.

I absolutely love Civ V and Revolution 2, however I don’t often find the time required to play them. I’ve put a little more than 20 hours into Civ V and probably at least 8-10 into Revolution 2, however between the two games I’ve actually only finished maybe four or five games (against AI). Combined with the fact that I’m trying to replay through the Fallout games on PC and still have Witcher 3, FIFA and Halo to occupy my time on the Xbox One, I’m not quite sure I’d be able to give Beyond Earth the time it deserves.

$30 for both games certainly seems like a steal (considering they’d total $65 together at their normal retail prices), but I don’t feel an immediate need to own Beyond Earth either.

Steam is making my decision even more difficult as it has the same bundle available for $26.99 which almost seems too good to pass up. But do I really need these games? Do you recommend checking them out?

Playing Fallout: New Vegas again

Posted on June 7, 2015 by GumballsPlaysGames

With the announcement of Fallout 4 this past week, the previous two Fallout games have been getting a lot of love again. Both Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas have seen huge jumps in sales this week, and the ultimate / game of the year editions of both are currently on sale on Steam for $11.99 each ($4.99 for the standard editions) until tomorrow morning. If you haven’t picked up either game before, now is definitely a great time to do so.

I spent a couple hours digging back into New Vegas today (probably too much time really) and it’s been a blast! I originally played both Fallout games (referring to 3 and New Vegas of course) on the 360, but now I’m playing through them on PC.

I hooked my MacBook (running Windows 10 Preview via Boot Camp) up to the TV and checked out Steam’s Big Picture mode, which I hadn’t really used before. It’s pretty cool to navigate my games on the TV using a controller and I really like the interface. It’s also nice accessing Steam menus in game by pressing the home button on the 360 controller.

I had some great fun on some missions I either breezed past or completely ignored during my initial playthrough years ago. I’ve been taking my time making sure I get the most out of New Vegas this time.

The three missions I undertook today were incredibly enjoyable, however it took forever to find the three boxes of Sugar Bombs required for the delightfully mischievous conclusion to the Come Fly With Me quest. It was entirely worth it though, as the quest now ranks as one of my all time Bethesda favorites. Not long after I embarked on That Lucky Old Sun in which you encounter the hilariously awesome “scientist” who goes by the name Fantastic.

I can’t wait to play more of New Vegas! How about you, are you going back and playing the previous games in anticipation of Fallout 4?