Tag: gaming

Posted on

App Review: Poker King Texas Hold ‘Em

037Are you a poker fan and just can’t get enough of the game? You should check out Poker King developed by Geax Game Inc. Poker King is one of the top rated poker games for Windows 8 phones, Android and iOS.

This app was very well designed and very easy to use. The graphics are very easy on the eyes and well polished.  Playing Poker King is very smooth and you can choose to play in Sit-N-Go, Tournament,  or browse tables to play at.

One of the nice features while searching for a table to play at is the option to choose the fast option. If you regularly play poker on your phone then you know how frustrating it can be when another player is taking his sweet time trying to figure out their next move. When you choose a table with the fast speed, you will have a shorter time to make your move thus making the game a lot faster and enabling you to play more games in a shorter period of time.

Poker King’s game features: Continue reading “App Review: Poker King Texas Hold ‘Em”

Posted on

Behind the Scenes at Loot Crate. How cool geek and gamer gear ends up on your doorstep!

It’s 11 am on a Wednesday. I’ve pulled up to a non-descript warehouse space in Pasadena, so non-descript I’m not entirely sure at first if I’m in the right place. The sign above the door is from a water treatment company. It’s not until I’ve rounded the parking lot that I see a giant black bus with “LOOTCRATE” painted on the side. Peaking inside the warehouse I see an incredible number of small black boxes stacked up, about ten feet tall, but we’ll talk about that more in a bit.

I’m here to chat with Matthew Arevalo, one of the Co-Founders of Loot Crate. Loot Crate is a subscription box service focusing on geeks and gamers. Each month, for less than $20 after shipping and handing, a small black cardboard crate is delivered to subscribers’ doors filled with various products which might appeal to the geek chic. Previous boxes have had t-shirts, candy, stickers, gaming peripherals, sunglasses, and even a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide. Matthew has invited me in to take a quick peek behind the scenes.

Continue reading “Behind the Scenes at Loot Crate. How cool geek and gamer gear ends up on your doorstep!”

Posted on

Avegant’s Glyph 3D goggles coming to Kickstarter in January!

Avegant-Glyph-BlackI’d be really happy to see more 3D headsets make their way to consumers faces next year. After playing with Oculus Rift and Sony’s 3D headset, they offer up a unique experience for watching movies and playing games. More competition in this space, especially when we can put pressure on pricing, is great.

Glyph is looking like it could be the more mobile solution for a wearable 3D display. Contrary to others making this comparison, this has nothing to do with heads up displays like Google Glass. With the eye pieces in place, immersion is the name of the game. Why the Glyph might be more portable comes down to their innovate headband design. The screens can swivel up to provide a simpler headphone mode for on the go audio. Swivel the band back down over your eyes, and it should resemble the feeling of sitting in your own private theater.

What’s interesting is watching Avegant get ahead of the social media game, announcing their Kickstarter push nearly a month before the crowd funding goes live. I like watching a company like this get a bit more aggresive in getting their message out, and Glyph looks like it could stir up a little passion in the A/V communities. The Kickstart will launch at $599 with an HDMI/MHL cable and a battery pack.

More info on Glyph: http://www.avegant.com/

Posted on

Halo: Spartan Assault released for XBox One on December 24th

halo spartan assault video game somegadgetguy screenshotOne of the best games for Windows Phone and Windows 8 is now making its way to the XBox One this Christmas Eve.

Spartan Assault is a top down arcade style dual stick shooter set in the Halo universe with all of your favorite weapons and power ups. Over 30 missions will be on tap, and 343 Industries has polished up the game to be displayed in glorious 1080p at 60fps. Console gamers will also have access to a new online co-op mode to plow through missions with their bestest pals on Live. You lucky dogs.

This new take on Halo will launch at $15, but if you’ve already purchased the game for Windows Phone or Windows 8 (or purchase it before Dec. 15) you can get it for $5. If you’ve been looking forward to Halo: Spartan Assault, you should really jump on buying it now as you can schnag it for Windows 8 and XBox for$12, instead of $15 for the XBox standalone version.

Check the teaser trailer below.

Posted on

Activision announces $1Billion opening day sales for ‘Call of Duty: Ghosts’, while we wait for Next-Gen sales numbers…

IMG_20131105_224423Great news for Activision, but potentially troubling news for Sony and Microsoft.

Activision today released sales figures topping $1 Billion for it’s opening day release of Call of Duty: Ghosts, a new series to its popular shooter franchise. This obviously points to the $800 Million opening day performance of Rockstar Game’s GTA: V, even though these two opening day “sales” figures aren’t directly comparable.

Rockstar announced sales to consumers for it’s opening day, while Activision is talking about sales to retail channels. Regardless, it’s still juggernaut sales performance considering Activision somehow manages to pop out a new installment every year.

What the entire industry now awaits are CoD sales numbers for the PS4 and XBox One. Nearing the release of these next gen consoles, Activision opted to release versions of the game compatible with Sony and Microsoft’s next systems. Those sales figures could be valuable data for gauging what early console adoption might look like, and how engaged the consumer base might be.

It must be a difficult decision for the hardcore gamers out there. Play CoD immediately or wait for next gen consoles to arrive. Activision can only hope that some of their consumer base might actually motivated to buy the game twice…

Posted on

October #LootCrate: ZOMBIES! – I’m giving away a copy of ‘The Zombie Survival Guide’!

lootcrate zombies survive october unboxing somegadgetguy (2)I’m a little late to this party, but damn I’m glad I finally arrived.

If you’re not hip to the Loot Crate, it’s a monthly subscription geek box of loot. Each month they pack a whole bunch of cool stuff into a box and ship it to your door. Each month has a theme, but the box contents are always a surprise. Could be cool comics, movies, games, shirts, pretty much anything is fair game.

lootcrate zombies survive october unboxing somegadgetguy (3)For October and Halloween, it’s not surprising that Zombie gear is shambling out of this month’s crate. Featuring a copy of The Zombie Survival Guide and a funny parody “EWOKING DEAD” t-shirt, there are also some fun buttons, a zombie hunter license, a zombie greeting card, and Loot Crate’s monthly magazine which includes an interview with Max Brooks.

You can buy individual Crates for $13.37 + $6 S&H, or subscribe for monthly drops. A three month pass drops the price a dollar per box, and a six month pass drops each box to $11.67 + S&H. Even individually, under $20 a month for fun gear is well worth the price of admission. Getting this first box got me hooked on the idea.

lootcrate zombies survive october unboxing somegadgetguy (1)But you know folks, being the zombie aficionado that I am. I already have TWO copies of ‘The Zombie Survival Guide’, so out of this crate, I’m giving away this new copy. Leave a comment on this post before midnight tonight, and I’ll pick someone at random tomorrow. This is an invaluable guide for helping you survive then next great zombie outbreak, so get commenting.

For more info on LootCrate hit up: https://www.lootcrate.com/
Plus you can see this month’s mini-movie from LootCrate announcing the zombie theme. SURVIVE!

Posted on

Disruptive Technologies Impacting the Future of Gaming | REACH 2013 #REACHGAMES

WP_20131024_001This was a really fun night. Hosted by TechZulu and Gadget Review at the shared office space Cross Campus LA in Santa Monica, a packed house sat through a stimulating panel of gaming professionals talking about the current state of gaming and what the future might hold.

Moderated by Scot Rubin (NITROPOD/SVP Digital Media Big Door/Cofounder G4TV), the panel included Josh Yguado (President SGN), Chris Hewish (Head of Interactive DreamWorks Animation), Wilson Kriegel (President/COO Paltalk /former CRO of Zynga/OMGPOP), Robin Kaminsky (CEO 1st Street Partners/Former EVP of Publishing, Executive Lead Global Gaming Activision/Blizzard).

Topics were fast and varied. From casual gaming disrupting traditional console gaming to talking about monetization and micro-transactions. I particularly enjoyed the discussion of demographics. I find the current media market is holding to age and gender groups in ways which actually work against production, advertising, and distributing content to people who might engage with it, all in the pursuit of some “target demo” which may or may not respond.

Also fascinating  was a mini-debate which took place over educational games. Info-tainment might not be particularly effective. Ms. Kaminsky dropped a bomb with “if a game is fun, it’s not going to be particularly educational. If it’s educational, it’s not going to be particularly fun”, yet the whole panel largely agreed that the gamification of certain educational arenas might garner results. The example of typing tutors was brought up, and I happen to be a pretty big fan of Typing of the Dead.

For more info on TechZulu events, check out their calendar, and you can watch the whole panel discussion from their Youtube Livestream below.

Posted on

Activision Blizzard Completes $8.2 Billion Buyback from Vivendi

logo_activision blizzardConsidering their the world’s largest video game publisher it’s almost a steal…

After purchasing back $8.2 Billion worth of shares from Vivendi, Activision Blizzard is now a properly independent company. A majority of the company is now owned by public shareholders. From CEO Bobby Kotick:

“With the completion of this transaction we open a new chapter in the history of Activision Blizzard. We expect immediate shareholder benefits in the form of earnings-per-share accretion and strategic and operational independence. Our audiences and our incredibly talented employees around the world will benefit from a focused commitment to the creation of great games. Our shareholders and debt holders will have the benefit of an energized, invested, deeply committed management team focused on generating long-term, superior returns and effectively managing our capital structure.”

After trying (and failing) again this past May to offload Activision Blizzard, it would appear Vivendi finally found the perfect buyer. It never completely made sense to me why exactly Vivendi wanted to part with a profitable business, but now investors have less potential uncertainty to worry about now that A/B is a solo venture. With Skylanders: Swapforce, COD: Ghosts, and Destiny on the horizon I think shareholders will be in for a pretty decent year.

Full PR after the jump.

Continue reading “Activision Blizzard Completes $8.2 Billion Buyback from Vivendi”

Proudly powered by WordPress