Today I'm proud to showcase an aspiring artist as well as a gamer, as well as a GIRL! This girl gamer artist showed me some of the art she did with hama beads and I was freaking floored. Look at the detail, look at how perfectly they copy the game sprites. It's like they are actual 8-bit sprites. She's contemplating selling them, so if you want to convince her to go through with it, contact her at her Tumblr email and be charming. I got the little Google+ keychain, obviously. Cool huh? Peace out till we meet again.
My computer, though a pillar of the internet community, is showing it's considerable wear recently. It's to be expected, it's been through a lot, now my charger has stopped working, and combined with my battery problems, my good friend is on his death bed. It may be time for the great one to leave the game.
I'm thinking of getting a Sony Tablet S (Product Site) to replace my computer (whose name is LaseRtRon by the way). There's a good deal at Sam's Club. Reviews make it seem solid, but if you think differently let me in the comments. I know that a Sony product can sometimes be a gamble.
One of the deciding reasons I'm looking at the Sony Tablet S is the fact that it's PlayStation Certified, currently the only tablet to be such. This ubiquitous distinction means it has the privilege of wielding the mighty PlayStation Suite on Android, an app in which you can download and play PlayStation Uno games! I would freakin' love to rock me some Final Fantasy 7 or Soul Reaver on a tablet. However, the suite is a little barren right now, observe the Wikipedia article below.
That's chump change, man, small potatoes. Although, it might be cool to play Wild Arms again, I never did finish it. I'm sure they'll add more. Considering how much people spend for nostalgia on the Nintendo Virtual Console you know they would be selling kidneys to get classics like Fear Effect or Bushido Blade, or at least I would, I've got another.
I also really like the Sony Tablet P cause it looks like a big Nintendo DS. It's a design that has made the DS super versatile while being super portable as well. Sony has, at the very least, shown it's still really great at making sexy, black bricks.
Some time ago I read an article that concerned Google and gaming. It seemed someone had found a bit of code or something (I don't know the technicals) that showed the Google TV set top box could support a controller.
There were no real mentions of this or it's intention by the Google people, but that's cool, it was clearly a potential that they wanted to give their device if they ever choose to develop it.
However, what was easily dismissed was in fact the seeds of something greater, Google was poised to enter the console war by a feint. A complete sneak attack! But who would have thought they would bring such big guns to the fight...
So OnLive and Google are coupling off to bring us a high-strung, ADD baby called Pwning. OnLive is an up-and-coming gaming-on-demand service that pumps high-def video games threw your tubes and onto your computer, your tablet, your TV, your phone, and most things with screens. What gives it this incredible power? The cloud, of cource.
OnLive plays it's catalog of games on it's own computers and sends you the action in the form of a video stream. At the same time, you're mashing the buttons on your keyboard or controller and it's sending the directions to the sprites on the web, all simultaneous and such.
At least that's how I understand it. I'm cool with the explination being magic too.
So this creative use of emerging technology means potentially anything with a moniter can play some hardcore, graphics heavy pwnage. That's a direct afront to both the Console and PC Gaming markets. No longer would man toil at lowered frame rates or being deafened by loud-ass cooling fans. The hard part would be done by the super-heroes of the internet, and we enjoy the fun.
This is just another one of those examples of how Cloud Computing is a clear alternative to pretty much everything. Crazy stuff...
So why have you never heard of OnLive? Because everyone's afraid of it. You can feel the hesitancy in the industry towards it. No one wants to play with the new kid. Critics are scrambling to dissect it and out it as a mere mortal, while the giants of the industry just ignore it and hope it goes away.
Becoming buds with Google just made sense. Like two boys on the playground, Google and OnLive are spoiling to take on the whole class.
This move gives OnLive that industry support it needs to flourish, plus Google's fat stacks won't hurt. Google benefits as well, they no longer have to tinker about with the idea of gaming while never really committing, like a woman on a diet eyeing a piece of chocolate cake she knows she wants. OnLive has a solid manager and Google has a solid fighter. It's like Rocky or something.
In many ways it's a perfect match. Google has never been a hardware company or a software company, they're an internet company, that's what they do almost flawlessly. Using their whole network as a cannon for game bombs just makes more sense than building an entire system from scratch. Pretty sneaky sis...
Another thing OnLive has lacked is decent games. It has a few gems, but no where near even the backest of back catalogs of the Gaming Giants. Google's presence and cheddar might certainly be able to sway some big titles to the service, and, dare I say... invest in making "Cloud Games".
Issues of lag have been reported in the more top-tier games, which I suppose is to be expected with this futurist space technology, and now that Google, the Imperial Space Navy of the Internet, has it's back, expect to see those problems disappear. Not to mention, the Google Fiber project, a venture into actual internet service providing, is boasting connections at 1 gigabit/second, well well well above OnLive's optimum required connection speed, we could see crazy smooth YouTube demos pretty soon. I hope you're enjoying yourselves Kansas Cities (both Missouri and Kansas).
OnLive's presence can also seriously affect the sales of the Google TV set top box. It's struggling at the moment, because it's so lacking in content, but Google's impressive app library is growing everyday, putting some cool stuff on your boob tube. With OnLive, the box ups the ante with real, hardcore gaming, not just Android casual games and Angry Birds ports.
I personally feel this is a major boon to both companies, a union that just makes sense. In a way, success is really their's to lose. I know Google fairly well, but I don't know OnLive or how they operate. If they can deliver on what they promise, they can leap out ahead of every gaming platform; console, PC, mobile, tablet, TV set top biggity boxes, etc., with Google along to help pick up the money. Good things 'a coming, people, lord willing. Peace out.
There is a world of gaming out there, a lifestyle if you will, that is easily ignored and readily dismissed. However, I assert that the internet giant known as Google can provide enough of a gaming experience to satisfy not only our urge to game, but our calling to be a gamer...
Join me as I examine what it is to be a GG, or a "Google Gamer".
There are three main mediums for enjoying Google's assortment of video games. The Android operating system on many smart phones is the most well known. From the Android Market you can gain access to some really high quality games, like those provided by our brothers at GameLoft, as well as the classic time-wasters, like Angry Birds and Words with Friends.
Next is the Chrome Web Store, available to anyone with the Google Chrome web browser installed on their computer (which honestly should be everybody). The CWS has plenty of games that get far more indepth than the ones on Android. It's the classic console vs. handheld distinction.
Lastly is Google+ Games, the social gaming app of the social networking website Google+. It's your basic Facebook-style gaming section, which just fine for a little casual gaming. I'm all about G+ these days, +1ing like it ain't no thang. Join me on G+ at my profile and get my take on the fledgling hangout.
And the best part is, most of these games are free as the breeze, always a plus for a thrift hound (or should I say, plus one?).
I'll get more in depth in the future, until then, may your quests be epic and your grinds be fruitful.
