You guys have any burning questions? About the games industry? About my current state of clothing? This is Ask Me Stuff, which does exactly what it says on the tin. Leave me a question in the comments below and I’ll endeavour to answer it before the day is out.
Ask Me Stuff
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79 responses to “Ask Me Stuff”
I had a question yesterday, but do you think I can remember it now?!
…how’re the new digs? Can you see the water, want to take some photos for us? 😀
Without trying to incite some sort of brawl, what do you think of Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw and his take on games? Ever met in person?
(In the event you don’t like him, I’d be willing to accommodate a showdown to find the best British videogame journalist currently working in Australia – we’ll promote it as the ‘Thrilla in Western Sydne-rila’… don’t worry, it’ll catch on…)
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I can’t see the water, because it’s on the other side of the building. All I can see is craploads of really big trees.
I think Yahtzee is awesome.
Might be a bit too personal but Marky Mark,
Are you a gamer or a writer first?
Would you still be a writer if the subject matter was not the gaming industry?
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Such an awesome question.
The only way I can answer it is by saying, if I didn’t write about video games I would still write and I would still be obsessed with video games. I’ve always played video games and I’ve always enjoyed writing. But like everyone I have my own personal tastes.
I would say though, that if you want to write about video games, it’s more important that you can write.
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+2 to this. Someone who can’t spell but has 100% completion trophies will never be published, I hate to say it.
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Really? I mean I’m not interested in game journalism at all as a career path but there are SOME sites that have these massive long articles with a suave opening and a nice packed up ending but the meat of the article, the important stuff is *facepalm*.
Sometimes I just ask myself if they’ve ever played a game before getting hired.
I think I would rather read a gamers thoughts then “a writer who THEN plays games” thoughts. You know what I mean?
I think that is a massive reason why the community here is so good as well, because the reader base feels like it can relate to you.
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Well at least they get the two parts I read correct.
Always just want to know if it was enjoyed or not, don’t care to hear about the story.
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Have to agree with this. I personally am kind of disappointed in a lot of game journalism as I find it not written from a gamer’s point of view. Or at least not from a more ‘hardcore’ gamer’s point of view. Too many times I have read reviews on a game I have played or own and they don’t mention some of the biggest problems with the game, or completely gloss over an innovative part of gameplay.
Thankfully I find most if not all of the stuff here on Kotaku to be good.
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I think that trying to define people as gamers or hardcore gamers is something that is passing. Anyone can review a movie and now days any one can review a game. I think it is more interesting when you start getting into critiques of games. Not everyone can be a movie critic and not everyone can be a game critic. You need to have a more in depth knowledge and perspective to do this. It comes with experience and practice just like ‘good’ journalism.
Thats my four and a half cents.
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OUCH!
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I have this love/hate thing going with good critics.
On one hand they use their brain to pick apart something and give a good analysis.
On the other, they can sometimes forget that they are talking about entertainment, and go on and on about something such as innovation.
When at the end of the day, if you were entertained, then the creator was succesful. Whether or not they innovated may not matter.
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I still haven’t bought Minecraft. But when I do, and if there’s space, I would love to hop on the server. FatShady is truly a God-King amongst men and has my eternal respect for what he does for the Kotaku community.
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Thanks. That’s nice. +1 for man love.
There’s 10 slots available and we are never all on at once so there’s always room for you.
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OH oh oh when did it go up? How do I get on?? Can send me a message through Facebook linked to this post if you want to keep the details private 😀
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Hi,
I have been thinking about this for a while and you did say that if we ever needed anything that we should ask!… so here goes.
Please feel free to say that this just can’t happen and disregard this.
A few weeks back, someone asked if Kotaku AU could host a server for minecraft. I thought this was a bad idea and do not see this as you or your companies responsibility (this is why my below question is hard to ask!!). I have therefore, with the agreement with a bunch of the team here set one up, which we will all contribute to financially. We have just used this site to find like minded people and arrange this.
One thing we have not sorted out was voice chat. There are a few ways we could do it and everyone who plays online will agree that it is an essential part of online gaming (when not with 13 yo’s) no offense to the 13 yo’s on here that hopefully are more mature than the ones i meet!
I then started thinking about the Talk amongst yourselves post. It has been getting a heap of attention lately with a large group of discussion, but really, it is type amongst yourselves. I was wondering if Kotaku could support a voice chat server (to be used with applications such as Teamspeak3) where the community could go and, for example, give trials HD tutorials, talk while playing minecraft or just generally hang out.
Perhaps I am being selfish in asking for this, and regardless of the outcome, I am investigating paying for one myself, but I thought i would throw it out there, is there any possibility of supporting this? Unlike a game server, the voice chat is far less bandwidth hungry and would have a much broader application.
There is however the risk that it gets unmanagable and unmoderated which has its own issues.
I am learning as i go here so not really sure what is involved…
Please don’t feel obligated to even take this seriously if this is something that is just outside of the scope of this site. I just wanted to throw the idea out there…
Cheers,
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I’m not sure of the logistics of this – but I’ll see if we can do something like this. Especially since you guys have done such awesome things with the Minecraft server.
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Just clearing up my personal feelings about how far Kotaku should go for us. Hope I didn’t cause offense.
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Why are PC interfaces in multi platform games overlooked??
I installed my own copy of Fallout 3 New Vegas last night to be horrified yet again by the sub par PC game interface that is plaguing many new multi platform titles. The other that I can think of that was a horrible experience was Bioshock I and II (great game, almost unbearable interface). I’ll elaborate:
1) Mouse sensitivity: In FNV there are 20 increments to the mouse sensitivity adjustment. 0 is super slow, 1 is fast, 2 is super fast. I didn’t bother trying 3 to 20 (super dooper high on caffein mouse warp speeds?). I mean not that this isn’t central to FPS experience on PC or anything. The menu mouse sensitivity is completely independent of whatever the in game setting is. What year are we living in?? this reminds me of the days when you installed the wrong mouse drivers in DOS! In Bioshock there were 3 mouse sensitivities all at the same time, one mouse speed for in game FPS, one for the menu system and one for mini games (pipe dream time game from memory). It was hair pullingly frustrating to have to adjust your mouse inputs to compensate for a stupid lack of game testing on the developers part.
2) Clunky interface for PC gamers: “E” to accept, “X” to cancel I mean WTF! Is this 1993 and I am playing Simon the sourcerer? I have a mouse right here but it does not except it as an input device just because the console’s can’t either.
3) Weapon switching: I have to go into my HUD click Weapons, then click the weapon I want to change to my meelee weapon? I mean what are the numbers on my KB for other than for changing weapons quickly in an FPS game? Oh wait, it’s because XBox and PS3 players don’t have a KB hence the developers got lazy and overlooked the fact that I have 104 other keys at my disposal.
There are plenty more “glaring gaps” in the user interface which severely detracts me from these multi platform games. Dealing with game bugs and glitches is one thing but having to put up with badly ported GUI interfaces which can simply be fixed with perhaps 1 or 2 lines of code (in the case of the mouse sensitivity issues) is just unbearable! I feel like the games have taken a backwards step or are deliberately being “held back” due to being designed for a console and being ported to PC. Or is it the case that developers are just plain lazy and spend most of their time testing on consoles without even trying it once on PC to realise, “wow, this interface is so 1993, it’s embarassing?”.
Just try this: Play Starcraft 2 then play Fallout 3 New Vegas. I know they are totally different genres but I am trying to highlight the GRAND CANYON gap these two games have in terms of user interface, yet both were release in 2010!
So what gives???
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Two basic things to make Fallout 3/New Vegas playable on PC: install DarNUI to improve he interface and disable mouse smoothing. Seriously hate that mouse smoothing.
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This is what I mean, you have to install an application to make the game playable on PC! I want my $89 back…
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I’ve just checked DarNUI and MTUI out and it’s plainly obvious that if a game recently released needs a hoard of third parties to “hack” the interface to make it even playable, then it is clearly broken to begin with.
If I were Bethesda developer in charge of controls and GUI I’d fire myself!
I’m returning this tomorrow and waiting for Dragon Age 2 or Mass Effect 3. Now there’s a company that has worked out multi platform porting that works…Coincidently IGN gave this game 9.0 out of 10 for PC! Same as Dragon Age Origins, what RUBBISH!!
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This is something that seriously bugged me about World of Warcraft. How many mods does it take to make your UI both functional -and- pretty?
Usually about 8+. Ridiculous.
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Well not quite true, it can be played without the addons. Life is just easier with them (WoW leeched one year of my life), but yeah I know what you mean. At least WoW is 3 or so years old, these games are Oct 2010!
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Lillee consider yourself lucky that you can install a patch to make a game play properly. Us console gamers don’t get the option.
(a note before someone tells me to buy a “cheap” gaming comp, IT IS NOT AN OPTION for me. I bought the 360 so I can play decent contemporary games).-
Haha well if you’re forced into the console route then you’re stuffed either way.
My view of “contemporary games” on console is now wharped. They aren’t and can’t be state of the art if they are limitted by their input hardware.
The recent “players on Modern Warefare on PC being superior to players playing on Xbox due to use of Mouse vs controller” is a clear, atomic bomb example of why console gaming is just not suitable for certain genres. RTS being the other one.
The only recent console game that I can think of that is better than any PC game I’ve played of it’s genre is Gran Turismo 5, but only because I shelled out for $600 steering wheel, and the other reason being one obsessed Japanese man.
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If only there were an official keyboard and mouse for 360…
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Dude just build a compact gaming PC. A 360 is just a packaged, unupgradable PC…
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I don’t know how…at all!
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I’ve no idea why this is the case. I’m sure they had their reasons. Probably just a by-product of developers prioritising console versions of games.
I noticed you guys haven’t had one article on the server/multiplayer issues of Test Drive Unlimited 2? Are eden games paying you to keep quiet? (just kidding haha)
But really, why no news on this news?
Hi Mark,
Why is it that FPS’s that suggest they are ‘realistic’ portray soldiers that can, laden with machine gun/rifle, sidearm, ammo and more, can jump and shoot accurately at the same time, or athletically jump, drop to the ground and score a head shot?
I have never seen war footage of soldiers duck diving and jumping around like buffoons, yet we’re supposed to believe that these ‘realistic shooters’ are the shizz?
Is anyone ever going to release a REAL real world shooter with decent graphics? (AA aside)
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That has always been my issue with FPS shooters… I really enjoyed Opeation flashpoint on PC wayy back when, and playe Dragon rising through to the end on the 360. I enjoyed both of them, and OF:DR was a pretty good game.
I am thinking of going back and trying out their hardcore mode, with no HUD, no checkpoints, not even a crosshair!!!! Limited ammo etc….
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Probably not – there’s a template and everyone is sticking to it.
I can’t wait for a war game where the consequences of violence are explored properly. Hopefully someone will have the balls to make it.
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So, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, one of the most acclaimed games from last year, will finally be released on PC next month. It’s up for preorder on Steam, it’s finally breaking free of the consoles.
But.
This is Ubisoft’s territory. And we know they like traps.
Mark, what sort of DRM will Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood on PC ship with? Will the Steam version be any different?
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It will ship with the perpetual online checking like other ubisoft games. Hold out hope a year down the track that they will at least remove the need to constantly ping an authentication server.
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MrBS,
Can you please post your sources? I have not been able to find anything which suggests that what you have said is accurate. I genuinely want to know, because I won’t put any money on the table until I do :\
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Can I please have your Ser Isac Clarke armour for Dragon Age 2?.. assuming you’re not using it.
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Dead Space?
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It came with Dead Space 2.
Also… Yay!
I pictured your statement through the lens of the “I’ll give” meme.
“I’ll give those bi****s a DLC code.
Bi****s love DLC codes”. -
Also… thanks.
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Sorry, typing FAIL
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Wasn’t it a bit weird to post these 2 stories in succession today?
16-Year-Old Confesses To Killing Mum Over PlayStation
Games Might Not Desensitise Us To Violence After All
Any news on whether we will ever see a PAL release of the Last Story?
Is this something on your radar?
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I would have said yes, considering how much Nintendo is investing in it. But you never know. Def on my radar. Hoping for the best, expecting the worst. Nintendo won’t tell us anything until the last minute.
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Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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So a couple of questions about the 3DS, which I am becoming tempted by. The only Nintendo I own now is a SNES, having sold my 64 and Wii which I only slightly regret, so I’m keen to get a bit of Nintendo action.
1. Can I buy Virtual console games and play them on a 3DS? Eg: Nes, Snes and 64 games?
2. Are any of the launch titles looking good?
3. Do you think it’s worth waiting until the available games are better?
Thanks.
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Purely your call. I think the launch line up is… okay.
I don’t think your purchases on the Wii virtual console will translate.
I’m getting one at launch, predictably. But whether or not you think it’s worth waiting is your call.
Rumour from a number of gaming forums: Activision is looking at Take-Two Interactive for a takeover.
Thoughts? Realms of possibility? Heard anything?
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I think Activision has lost their overall vision a bit. 2K seem to be doing just fine on their own. I don’t expect a takeover to occur.
Oh, I remembered one of my questions from last week when I wasn’t around:
Are we any chance of ever hearing back from Nintendo or Microsoft? 🙁
If you like, you can send me the same set of questions and I’ll answer them for you…?
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I expect to see Microsoft’s answers – but the questions are bloody irrelevant now.
Nintendo’s have fallen down the back of the couch or something…
Any idea if there will be a PSMove bundle of the following: PSMove wand-thingy + Nav controller + psEye + Sharpshooter gun + Killzone 3.
I mean – its the bare minimum for psMove sharpshooter.
I want, but to buy this individually costs over $220 – and that’s import prices.
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really? ouch!
technically its;
PSMove Starter kit ($76.74)
Navigation controller ($40.34)
PSMove Sharpshooter ($45.39)
Killzone 3 ($60.56)That’s AUD, and through Playasia. I looked at a couple of places and found items cheaper and some more expensive but it worked out around the same price. (for example, through amazon an extra 20 bucks gets you sports champions as well, but amazon don’t ship games to aus)
🙁
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Mark,
Why are you so awesome?
Seriously, the comments you write, the articles you pen, they’re significantly better than anything that comes out of Kotaku US.
What is your secret?
–Fen
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