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Archive for the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Category

Outside the Box: The Cold and Resolute

Thursday, January 6th, 2011

SnOh my goodness.

Ah, the winter break is at an end, a new year has started, and it’s back to the old grind. While my friends and cohorts here at GameZombie.tv have whisked themselves away to the Consumer Electronics Show in the warm Las Vegas desert, I have been left cold and alone around the “office.” A lone Board Game Guy has no interest in h, i, or jPads nor in Razer’s new Switchblade, or at least so I am told. Never mind the fact that one can get Days of Wonder’s Small World on iPad…grumble grumble. No matter, I shall suffer on and on and on.

This is not to say that Outside the Box shall languish in the foibles of last year! Oh no. We have a great line-up of new reviews and ventures for 2011. Resolutions even.

In the up coming weeks I should be getting demo/review copies of a number of wonderful games. Games like Z-Man’s new pirate board game Merchants and Marauders as well as their hotly anticipated minis game Earth Reborn. We will be receiving several review copies from sources deep within Days of Wonder as well. So, you know, look forward to that.

Also on the horizon is the release of the next Magic expansion: Mirrodin Besieged. I might relive my experience at the Scars prerelease by going to another official event/tourney. I would like to go to more tournaments this year and report on those too. Perhaps I’ll visit the local Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, and Blood Bowl scenes. Maybe I’ll just finally see what’s up with HeroClix. Either way, be on the look out for more front-line reporting, for what that’s worth.

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Sony’s Press Conference- A Nice Move to 3D

Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

I know that I’m a bit late in posting this, but here were the highlights from the Sony event yesterday.

Sony’s press conference was outstanding and mind blowing and gave a lot to be excited about, and it involves a lot of 3D and Playstation move integration.  This comes as no surprise since move debuts September 19 in the US. The big surprise came with the fact that move will see some compatability with older titles, my favorite of which was Heavy Rain. You don’t need to worry about buying a new version of the game either. Sony is taking care of that via software update on the Playstation network.

The PSN will be seeing a new subscription service, but there are no worries because normal PSN accounts will still have all of their features. The only main difference is the premium content that will be available sooner such as certain demos, discounts, digital content, and automatic updates among a few others. That will debut later this month so be on the lookout. It’s $50 for a full year subscription and $18 for 3 months.

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Nintendo Press Conference Recap

Tuesday, June 15th, 2010

Nintendo Press Conference Recap

Unfortunately, there was no internet at the Nintendo conference, however, here’s a recap! (- Dave)
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EA Ubisoft Press Conference Recap

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Unfortunately, our computers were dead by the time we hit Ubisoft. Some really exciting recaps to go over.

Read on for the Recap! (Dave)
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EA E3 2010 Press Conference Play-By-Play Coverage

Monday, June 14th, 2010

EA E3 2010 Press Conference Play-By-Play Coverage

I’m now sitting here at the EA press conference. It’s about to start, so join me for my live-up-to-date coverage! (-Dave)
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E3 Microsoft Press Conference 2010

Monday, June 14th, 2010

Microsoft Press Conference

I’m sitting here at the Microsoft Press Conference waiting for it to start. This is going to be a point-by-point blog of the updates and information as we discover it here at E3. I’ll post all of my impressions as the conference starts and goes, and we’ll see where it takes us! (- Dave)

2010, baby

Read on for the entire story!
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Gamezombie College Gaming Tournament – Photos!

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

People listen to hear the results of the raffle

This past weekend marked the first annual Gamezombie College Gaming Tournament. There were multiple tournaments going on, many prizes, and a lot of fun to be had! The energy was high, possibly due to the Punch energy drinks provided. Either that, or because Roger, of 4Skin fame, decided to drink 7 Punch energy drinks and ran around screaming.

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Nexon Continues Virtual Goods Innovation

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

Throughout 2009, the blogosphere was abuzz about a “new” video game business model: micro-transactions. Companies like Zynga experienced exponential growth by offering free-to-play games that made money by selling users virtual goods. But as you may know, this model is not so new.

Last week at DICE, I met with a staple of the online gaming industry, Nexon. Nexon pioneered the micro-transaction model in 1999 with QuizQuiz in South Korea. The publisher quickly expanded, achieving stateside success with the North American debut of MapleStory in 2005.

I sat down for a chat with Nexon’s team and discovered that their approach to virtual goods varies significantly from game to game. In MapleStory, players often buy fashionable items to increase their social status. In Combat Arms, Nexon’s first-person shooter MMO, players are more likely to pay for guns, giving them a practical advantage over opponents. The key is that Nexon makes virtual goods an inherent part of the world for each game they build, so that they can offer each MMO for free while supporting it with those users who decide to buy the items.

According to Nexon’s CEO, Daniel Kim, anywhere from 5-25% of Nexon’s users pay for virtual goods, depending on the game. I’ve heard similar numbers in relation to IMVU and Gaia Online’s micro-transactions, although very few reveal the exact statistics about their virtual commerce. Either way, this is a viable business model that supports more and more online games, from Nexon’s MMOs to many of your favorite Facebook games. Personally, I’m very interesting to see just how big the virtual goods market will grow in the years to come.

In the meantime, Nexon has multiple new games that are debuting stateside in 2010, and we’ll get them all on video at this year’s Game Developers Conference. Stay tuned for these video interviews and more during our March coverage of GDC!

-Dmitrii

4Skin: Before the Cut Behind the Scenes Special #2

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

The following is a fan based parody, pending approval from creator David Klein.  Any all claims, opinions, or events described are not officially associated with the 4skin podcast.  Or reality. Please support the official release.

Last episode, we explored the members of 4skin; where they came from and what their job on the show is.  This week we shall go in to the world of the Skinners as they prepare for the taping.

Tuesday

9pm: John shows up at David’s apartment because he is a backwards neanderthal, and doesn’t own a phone that receives texts. So he missed the text that they weren’t meeting till 9:30.  He starts ranting about minority groups and goose stepping while David tries to come up with a topic forgetting that the podcast is supposed to be about something, and not just random noises produced by four jackasses and the occasional guest.  Peter finishes recharging his robot batteries and loads a human personality program in the hopes he can pass it off this time.  Roger wakes up, checks his text message, and then hits up his coke dealer.

9:15pm: Peter shows up believing that humans are supposed to show up to events 15 minutes early.  John is lecturing Dave’s roommate about the pixel count in the original Super Mario, and telling the chairs they aren’t doing it right… whatever that means. Dave has finally selected a topic for the night, tells John and Peter what it is, and then changes his mind but doesn’t tell anyone.  Roger has just finished robbing a liquor store and beating up a hooker.  He goes to pay his dealer.

9:20 pm: John gets pissed at the curtain for hanging there and starts blaming Jewish people.  Dave has changed topics 50 times without informing anyone.  Peter is calculating data and attempt to rewrite his personality logarithms. Roger is grabbing ice cream and trying to remember what he was supposed to be doing.

9:28 pm: David is reminded that he needs to set up a microphone in order to record a podcast. John has lost an argument with the couch and is sitting on the floor.  Peter has crashed and is rebooting.  Roger does a line in the bathroom of the icecream shop and runs over tweekin out.

9:30 pm: The team starts recording 4skin

10 pm: Dave discovers he forgot to hit record.

Come back next time for more insight into the inner workings of each caster’s mind as they make the podcast, and the resulting chaos that happens when they leave.

By: John “Not the Fascist” Quick

4skin: Before the Cut behind the scenes special

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

The following special is non-canon pending approval by creator Dave Klein.  Any and all opinions, facts, or events are not officially apart of the 4skin canon. Please support the official release.

4skin, the half hour long podcast featured on this blog, is populated by some of the most interesting members of the Gamezombie Crew.  For four episodes now, you’ve heard them curse at each other, scream racial obscenities at one another, and on occasion actually remain on topic.

But who are these enigmatic, offensive figures and where did they come from? This is 4skin Before the Cut.

Dave “the Douche Bag” Klein: Born somewhere Illinois way, Dave Klein is the host of the show because he has the apartment and the microphone.  Contrary to his title, Dave Klein is not a douche bag. He is in fact a douche nozzle.  It is a subtle definition difference, but the difference is there. Dave brought together this podcast in order to showcase his unique, Christopher Walken-esque voice.  Oh and to talk about video games.

Peter “the Newbie” Winland: Born somewhere this side of Who-Gives-A-Sh#tville, Maryland, Peter’s sole responsibility is to be the new guy.  That way he remains refreshing, inexperienced, and always wrong.  It has been posed that when he opens his mouth to speak, the ratings drop to Zero. An interesting proposal considering that websites do not have ratings, and pretty much impossible to give a rating score to a podcast.  However, Peter just wants to break out of his Business Team chains. The chains that make him a boring human being.

Roger “the Head” Lou: Born somewhere over in that huge Asian nation, Roger’s responsibility to the show is to do several lines of coke before the taping and interject with random racial comments and insults anytime anyone has a real point to make.  He is also the President the Head of the Equal Opportunity Sack Touchers Union. A responsibility he pretends not to take an interest in, but in fact enforces with fervor.

John”the Facist”Quick: Born somewhere East of Eden in a land called Germany, John’s main responsibility is to be a pedantic asshole about video games and generally try to be a Nazi about everything.  John joined up on 4skin because he is under the mistaken assumptions that 1) he is always right and 2) that anybody gives a sh#t about what he says.  He’ll try to interject with his half-assed opinion, but mostly people interrupt him so that maybe he’ll STOP TALKING!

And that is where the members of 4skin came from and what they are about.  Tune in next time for the inside scoop of what happens before the tapings.

By: John “Not the Facist” Quick