SGJ Podcast #10: Infinite Spaces and Small Worlds

It All Started Here...

It All Started Here…

No, seriously. ;) This week Jim and I sit down with Iikka Keranen and Rich Carlson of Digital Eel games (who first met while working on Daikatana, no lie), the folks who created the Infinite Space series of Starflight-like roguelikes Strange Adventures in Infinite Space and Weird Worlds: Return to Infinite Space.  They have a Kickstater underway for their third game in the series, Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars, so we thought we’d bring ‘em on and grill them with deep, probing questions about the game. Ultimately, we went all over the place, but we had a fun time, and we hope you will too.

As always, we invite you to leave your comments below and in the forums, and you can find the show notes below. Thanks as always for listening, and have an awesome day!

Continue reading “SGJ Podcast #10: Infinite Spaces and Small Worlds” »

Posted in Featured, Interviews, Podcasts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Spacey Game News and Deals 3/9-11/13: A Mish Mash of Stuff

News and Coffee

Two Things I Need a LOT of Right Now…

Hey folks, happy Monday! I hope y’all had a superb weekend! There’s a TON of stuff to get through today, so we’re not gonna dilly dally, rather we’ll just get right through it:

Now, onto deals! There are a few besides the Endless Space one above. Here goes!

Finally, in related news, a gentleman named Joseph Ybarra — who was one of the co-founders of EA and helped produce Starflight, Alien Legacy and other spacey games — has a new planet colonization game on Kickstarter called Shackleton Crater that y’all should take a gander at.

That’s it folks! Have an awesome day!

Continue reading “Spacey Game News and Deals 3/9-11/13: A Mish Mash of Stuff” »

Posted in Deals, News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

SGJ Podcast #01: Graphics vs. UI vs. Gameplay! FIGHT!

More Chit Chat

More Chit Chat

Hello, and welcome to episode 01 of the SGJ Podcast. Join Jim from the Bad Movie Podcast and me as we try to adapt something of a format in order to have some more focus and structure! ;) We talk about some news, some games we’re playing, and our topic for this week, which games that are still worth playing even though their graphics and UI are on the archaic side. We also look at the opposite side of the coin, games that have held up well over the years.

We also have an iTunes page now, as well as our RSS feed! Yay! Thank you for listening, and please find our show notes under the cut. :) Also, since I’m still pretty new to this podcasting thing (it’s old hat to Jim, thankfully), please don’t hesitate to give me constructive criticism on how I can improve my performance either in the comments below or in the forum. :) Hope the length is okay with y’all, but again, new to this stuff, still trying to be efficient. ;) Thanks again! :)

Continue reading “SGJ Podcast #01: Graphics vs. UI vs. Gameplay! FIGHT!” »

Posted in Podcasts | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 24 Comments

Why Does the Idea of Playing in Space Fascinate us So?

Galaxy-Space

I Wanna Fly Around in This!

At the very beginning of the amazing Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy book, it includes a short set of instructions on how to leave Earth. When I read that, a part of my brain wanted to follow every detail so I could leave this small, confining planet as quickly as possible.

See, I’ve wanted to leave Earth ever since I was four years old and saw the Enterprise for the first time (the “Star Trek” one, of course). It just feels so…SMALL to me. So confining. This is why, ever since then, I’ve dived into any piece of science fiction I could get my grubby paws on. It gave me a window into new worlds that I could only visit in my imagination, and one of the best windows has been video games that take place in space. While I was playing around with some space game or another the other day, I began to wonder what it was about space that was so fascinating, and why I was so very drawn to any game that took place in its vast expanses.

This is What I Came up With…

Posted in Featured, Op-Ed | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments

Spacey Gamey Newsies and Dealsies – 11/2/12

News Satellite Dish

Yeah, I Have to Get Creative with News-Related Images. :P

Hey y’all, welcome to Friday! With the weekend almost upon us, it’s time for our final round of news for the week! Let’s take a look at what’s going on, shall we? ;)

  • The big news of the day is that the Kickstarter for Strike Suit Zero has past their funding goal of $100,000!! Congrats to them! According to a Tweet from Jamin Smith, a pledge from the lead designer of Assassin’s Creed 3, Steve Masters, pushed them over the line.
  • The races page on the Drox Operative website has been updated with info for two more races in the game, the Humans and the Shadow. Also, according to a post on Soldak’s Facebook, the next patch will include bounty hunters that can hunt Operatives! Cool! Edit: The patch is out! Read about the changes here! Yay!
  • Even though we talked about the release date for Miner Wars 2081 yesterday, Rock, Paper Shotgun has a nice writeup about it.
  • Finally in the news, the Star Citizen Kickstarter has been updated with a small Q&A about the Xi’An, a recently revealed alien race in the game.

Now, in terms of sales, GOG is having a Massive EA Selection sale this weekend, which includes spacey classics such as:

Which are all just dang amazing deals. If you don’t, for some WACKY reason, already own these, this is a great time to snag some of the best space gaming ever. The final deal is over on Steam, where you can get the just-released-over-there Gemini Wars for $15.99.

Finally, in non-gaming news, there are some lovely ship designs over on the Concept Ships blog from Tom McDowell.

And that’s it for today folks. I hope y’all have a lovely weekend and get some fun spacey gaming in. :)

 

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

GOG Launches Mac Games, Interplay Bundle

GOG Goes Mac

Whole New Games for Mac! Yay!

Well GOG has certainly been busy, as they had a conference today to launch a buncha things, many of interest to space gamers. First off, they’re bringing many of their games to the Mac platform, several for the first time! In spacey game goodness, this includes:

FTL, which was already available on Mac, can now also be down for the platform through GOG if you have a copy there as well. This is AWESOME for Mac games, and I’m truly and honestly thrilled for y’all. :) I tried to run one of their games (non-spacey game, Theme Hospital) on my MacBook Pro here at work and it worked like a champ. I am VERY wary of installing Starflight, as I will get NOTHING done. ;)

Awesome Interplay Bundle

Snag This, People!

They’re also launching a deal in which you can pay what you want for various Interplay games, and for $34.99, you get 32 games, which is a freaking bargain because of course you get Freespace and Freespace 2 among other non-spacey classics. This deal runs for the next two weeks. I’d jump it but I already own pretty much every game in the catalog already. ;)

Enjoy the deals and the new games! ;)

Posted in Deals, News | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

FTL: I’ve Got You Under My Skin

FIRE!!

OH GOD!

When I wrote my preview of FTL a while back, I was pretty gushy about it (I politely ask that you read it before continuing if you’ve not already). And why not? It’s truly a fantastic game, filled with tension, intrigue, randomness, excitement and more based on an excellent design wrapped in a nearly flawless execution. That being said, since a preview is supposed to be more on the positive side of things — because the game isn’t done yet so you take that into account — there was one thing I didn’t talk about in my preview, something that’ll I hope make the choice of a Cole Porter song as a subtitle perfectly clear.

Continue reading “FTL: I’ve Got You Under My Skin” »

Posted in Featured, Reviews | Tagged , | 35 Comments

A Little List for the New Space Game Fan?

A Spacey Question

I Love These…

So over on Quarter to Three, I was asked the following question:

What are the best 5 games (IN ORDER) for PC right now that somehow involve space? There are so many I’ve lost count of my “to play” and “not to play” list. If you feel spunky go for your top 10. Pleeeeease!!!!

After a lot of thought, I came up with a list that hopefully gives a wide range of space game experiences, which is after the cut.

Continue reading “A Little List for the New Space Game Fan?” »

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 38 Comments

Spacey Snippets – 7/17/12

Hello my friends, how have you been? Me? I’ve been busy, exhausted and lacking in a bit of motivation, mostly due to the busy and exhausted bit. Dammit though, lots of news has happened, so out of my love for you guys, I need to keep y’all informed, right? :) Therefore, here’s just the TON of stuff that’s happened since the last round of snippets! Enjoy!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeew, that was a lot. :) I hope y’all feel updated now on the latest and greatest spacey news, and I hope y’all have an awesome day. :) Don’t forget to click below to see the videos I mentioned above. Thanks for reading!

Continue reading “Spacey Snippets – 7/17/12” »

Posted in News | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Miscellany: Cool Poster of Worthwhile DOS Games

List of Worthwhile DOS Games

That’s A Lotta Games…

I began my gaming career using a computer that ran on BASIC, but it was DOS which gave me most of my legendary and most treasured classic gaming experiences. Someone feels the same way, apparently, as they’ve created a massive posted of posted listing what they feel is worthwhile DOS games. Sadly I can’t find who the author is, but if anyone knows, please let me know. This list includes the classics like Wing CommanderStarflightStar Control II and many others. The image above is a shrunken image of the original, since the original was too big for WordPress.

Click Here to See the Larger Version…

Posted in Miscellaneous | Tagged , , | 8 Comments
« Older