Highly Entertaining
It’s Saturday night: do you know where your baby is? He’s not out getting shmammered with the boys, is he? If you have not experienced the meme phenomenon that is “Drunk Baby”, then let me be the first to introduce you to the myth, the man (well, little man?), the legend that is Drunk Baby.
Continue reading “A Little (Literally) Drunk Baby for Your Saturday Night”
Yusuf Mehdi, a senior vice president of the Windows giant’s Online Audience Business Group has placed Microsoft’s profitability bet, and it’s a steep one: “break-even or profitable on Day 1”. Mehdi, a 21-year veteran of Microsoft Corp. with degrees from Princeton and Washington (BA Econ + MBA, respectively), is not only a smart dude, but incredibly successful. According to his CrunchBase profile, he has led or been at the forefront at some of Microsoft’s, and even Reuters’ (his previous professional stop) biggest achievements. He’s looking to add the Xbox One to his list of professional accomplishments, and with launch day just 16 days or so away, the day of reckoning is just around the corner. So how realistic is this bet that he dropped this past Tuesday at the Citi Global Technology Conference? Would you take it? Based off his credentials alone, I think many folks would; as always however, there is more to the story line.
Continue reading “Microsoft Claims Xbox One Will Be Break-Even or Profitable on Launch”
Netflix has transformed the entire movie rental industry, putting Blockbuster out of business, along with every single “mom and pop” video rental store in the world with its online movie rental, disc-to-door and zero late fees service. This shouldn’t be breaking news to anyone; if it is, well, you’re welcome! With competition however comes, or should come more product enhancements and diversification, which is exactly what Netflix did with its more recent foray into a digital-only service, which allows its members to stream their favorite movies and television shows right to their flat screen tv’s, iPhones, and iPads without even having to get up off the couch. I’m a very happy Netflix digital subscriber, but those who join me in that subscriber group are well aware of the only true, major downside (if you can really argue one for an $8/month service) in that the movie selection is really limited. Unless you like movies like “Life After Porn Ends”, and other “they really made a documentary out of that?”-type titles, which is cool, I guess. Regardless though, you can’t beat $8 bucks a month, and there are plenty of awesome TV shows to keep you entertained before the next major movies get released on your home menu (Archer, Arrested Development, Mad Men, etc), but I digress. What you are about to encounter below is something that every Netflix fan should keep on hand, whether on hand, or hanging on your wall: it’s a “What to Watch on Netflix Flowchart”, and to call it “comprehensive” would be an understatement of epic proportions.
If you’ve never played a role playing game before, then you will likely not get the humor in this post. RPG’s over the years have enabled gamers to create their own characters, and then jump into a massive gaming experience that can span more than 100 hours of complex game play. Although each RPG allows gamers to select their character from a set selection of “classes”, some classes are more rare than others. The “Bard” in particular, is probably the rarest of them all, and in my opinion, for good reason. If you’ve never heard of bards before, much like my advice in the beginning of this post, it would probably behoove you to move on to some of our other, slightly qualified content, because this may be lost on you. Let me get to the point: why oh why would a gamer create a bard, whose primary weapon is a musical instrument, over say a warrior or a mage, who carry a sword or lethal doses of magic, respectively? Oh, what’s that you say? The bard is crucial to the team because he can boost morale? Excuse me while I step outside and attempt to recover my professionalism. If there has ever been a laughingstock class in RPG’s, it’s the bard. Sorry to all those who have posters of bards on their walls, but seriously, there can’t be many of you. So what’s this “proof” that I speak of, you ask? After all, it is the title of this post. Hit the link below, and prepare yourself for at least 10 minutes of genuine hilarity and satisfaction!
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, or more regularly known as “Zelda 64”, or to many of us as “The Greatest Game of All Time”, well, is just that – the greatest game of all time. It was arguably the first title to receive a perfect score from a major gaming institution (IGN, for example), and has been rehashed and refurbished more times than that DVD player you saw in the checkout aisle at Walgreen’s. As a huge retro gamer, and one that has strong ties to the legendary N64, Zelda 64 brings back some amazing memories. My fondest memory comes from my very first play-through after slamming it into my N64 that Christmas break, when I made my final castle run up the tower to confront Ganon; few video games have provided that much exhilaration into an ending, and in my opinion those mini boss fights along the way up are some of the best I have ever experienced in a video game. But enough of the praise; we all know it was bad ass, and really ahead of its time. What you’ll find below is an awesome piece of retro gaming wallpaper for your desktop background, and one that would fit perfectly on your computer at work if you’re brave enough to sport it. This isn’t your typical gaming montage desktop either: although extremely simplistic, it is highly creative and only something us Zelda 64 enthusiasts will really enjoy. So without further adieu, hit the link below and get ready for the memories!
Continue reading “Retro Gaming Wallpaper We Like: Link and Epona”
Wolfenstein. If you’re not old enough to remember Adolf Hitler with chain guns for hands, then you really missed out. Well, if that’s the case, you missed out on a slew of awesome gaming experiences from the 80’s. But before I get all retro on the fifty of you or so that actually read SQ on a daily basis, let’s comment on some gaming news, shall we? The New Order, the latest “Wolfenstein” installment from Bethesda Softworks was originally slated for a holiday 2013 release, but apparently it needs polish. So much polish that the development crew slid it all the way to “sometime in 2014”. Although that doesn’t sound promising, the game is not dead in the water yet. Caress that link below for a link to the news release, and of course, our Pulitzer-esque commentary.
Continue reading “Wolfenstein: The New Order Delayed to 2014”
This isn’t Sparta, it’s SQ, but 300 was such a bad ass action movie, you knew they were going to unleash a sequel to keep the green-screened cash cow going. Although the film is still about 9 months out, the first official trailer is absolutely jaw dropping: all of the violence, details, and dark, ominous tones (to quote Peter Bretter from “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”) are back, along with some new faces, to include former Casino Royale “Bond Girl” Eva Green. Also new to the green screen is a completely different battlefield: the sea. Had I realized that prior to watching the trailer, the Marine in me would have been a little discouraged, but after watching the trailer, this thing will still be epicly violent, and yes, epicly is a word in my book. 300: Rise of an Empire lands in theaters March 7th, 2014, and this is one you will not want to miss – trust me.
Is it December yet? Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues is the long-awaited and anticipated sequel to in my opinion, Will Ferrell’s best film as a leading role, and this December the entire Channel 4 news team will finally land in theaters in what will surely find epic box office success. All of your favorites are back: Steve Carell as Brick Tamland (“Brick, are you inviting me to a party in your pants?”), street reporter Brian Fantana played by Paul Rudd, Champ “Whammy” Kind, and even Miss Veronica Corningstone and the wheel-of-cheese eating, Spanish-speaking dog, Baxter. I think it’s safe to expect a truckload of big-time celebrity cameos as well, although I don’t know if anything can top the original, news team, back-alley brawl to the death; I guarantee they’ll try though! The official trailer is above, and it does not disappoint; this is Will Ferrell in his prime!
Holy pivot, Batman! In a stunning one-80 (you’re impressed, aren’t you?), Microsoft issued a mega press release through the executive fingers of Don Mattrick, President of the software giant’s interactive entertainment business, highlighting two big changes. First: that ridiculous, once every 24-hour online connectivity/piracy check is no longer in place. In fact, gamers will only need to connect to the Interweb to validate the game disc after the game is purchased; from then on out no Internet required. Second: no more fine print or confusion whether or not Xbox One games are trade-inable. In other words, and to quote Mr. Mattrick, “There will be no limitations to using and sharing games, it will work just as it does today on Xbox 360.” Touch the link below for the official press release from El Presidente, as well as for more of the juicy details.
Continue reading “Microsoft Does an Xbox One-80; Online Not Required”
All good things must come to an end. We heard it first from our parents, and we’ve likely all experienced it in one way or another through our personal and/or professional lives as we’ve grown up and experienced the real world. Although my primary professional career currently resides in the oil and gas industry, with the previous five years consisting of a four year tour in the Marine Corps, and a quick 7-month stop in wind energy manufacturing, my side business is this: the web. I started building and running websites in the mid-90’s as a freshman in high school, and have been obsessed ever since. Outside of the Marine Corps, which I absolutely loved, but voluntarily walked away from, the web is my true passion. It has never felt like work to me, and I see myself building websites and running web ventures until I’m buried six feet underground. Late last night however, I stopped in at 1Up.com, which is one of the largest video game online publications around, only to notice that no new content had been posted since March. Then I came across this bomb of a post: a “this is it/farewell to 1UP” letter from the now-former editor in chief, Jeremy Parish. Seeing this news, even four months late (the closure announcement was published in late Feb), really hit home: not because I was a fan of 1UP per say, but because as an online business owner, I experienced that exact, painful process in the Summer of 2007.
Remember this rumor? We can finally put the $70 video game chatter to rest, at least for a few years for both the PS4 and Xbox One, so go ahead and turn off the oxygen machine, and relax. Although Microsoft released the much needed good news after their recent media firestorm due to the “always online” fiasco, Sony just recently announced the news through the highly-reputable, PC Gaming-heavy website, ShackNews. Although Sony only mentions first party launch titles as part of the $60 pricing model, I would wager it is safe to expect all third party and future software to follow suit, at least for the first few years of the PS4’s existence. If you’ve been gaming enough to remember when the last price hike occurred, then high five; well, you probably just Googled it, but whatever – the last hike from $50 to $60 hit our respective wallets in the late days of the long-lasting PS2. Can we expect the same towards the end of the PS3’s existence, or will $60 hold true until next-next-gen? Hit the link below for more thoughts as well as the exact quotes from Sony’s mouth.
We, like most folks throughout the gaming world, are excited for The Last of Us. If you are new to SQ Nation, welcome; those of you who have been hanging out with us for our first few epic months in the Internet’s backwoods have likely seen the slew of trailers we’ve posted about and drooled over, and four days ago, the long-awaited “Uncharted-on-Steroids” title has finally arrived. Have we picked it up yet? No. I blame my 9-5 job, as I’m constantly traveling, but as soon as I’m back home I plan on picking myself up a copy and giving it the attention it most definitely deserves. Speaking of attention, the reviews from the major gaming media outlets have all thrown up synonymous scores, and they all rhyme with perfection: 10.
Continue reading “The Last of Us Reviews Look Good (Really Good)”