Review – SteelSeries Diablo III Gaming Mouse

A mouse is a mouse is a mouse. They are all basically the same other than the physical shape and the number of buttons they have. It is just a basic piece of hardware that we all use in our day to day lives. I agree with my fellow Golgotron writer Mr. Pharisee’s assessment that a standard mouse “…serves all my functions, gaming and non-gaming alike, just fine”. Also, like Mr. Pharisee, I found out how wrong I was when I wrapped my right hand around the SteelSeries Diablo III mouse. A simple mouse, for a simple (to control) game, the SteelSeries Diablo III mouse will show you what you have been missing with the standard mouse that has been included with every PC you have ever bought.

Continue reading…

CES 2012: Hands on with Microsoft’s Flight

It’s been quite a while since Microsoft gave us a new Flight Simulator game.  Those original titles were famous as the most realistic flying experience you could have without dropping by an airfield.  As legend goes, many real-life pilots used the games as “at-home practice.” Microsoft’s new free-to-play title, Flight, is the next step for the series.  It’s trying to find the common ground between hardcore sim-freaks and the casual enthusiast.

Continue reading…

CES 2012: Microsoft Announces Kinect for Windows

At CES 2012, Microsoft finally announced that it was bringing the Kinect to Windows. The Xbox 360 version of the Kinect has reportedly shipped over 18 million units to date. That’s not surprising. The silent-but-massive casual player fanbase is absolutely in love with the device.

What makes the creation of a Windows-centric device interesting is how much attention Microsoft is paying to the ever-growing Kinect modding community.  These dedicated fans have been hard at work, tweaking the existing Kinect hardware to function far beyond its official capabilities. Modders have found ways to use it to play non-supported titles, such as Skyrim. Fashion designers have used it as part of their shows. Microsoft even has a campaign that shows the Kinect helping stroke and brain injury patients in rehabilitation centers. Basically, modders have made the Xbox 360’s Kinect a far more functional device.

Continue reading…

Review – Minecraft

The long anticipated game from Mojang has finally released. Minecraft is a survival creation game in which the end goal isn’t always quite the same for everyone. If you had asked me a year ago if I wanted to play a game where the majority of it involved digging in a hole, I would have avoided you because surely you’re diseased. Before I start gushing into how much this game has changed my perspectives, let’s dig into what makes Minecraft such a spectacular success.

Continue reading…

Review – Steel Series Sensei Mouse

Up until a week ago I was content with living my life with tiny little netbook mice. “I won’t need another mouse,” I told myself. “This mouse serves all my functions, gaming and non-gaming alike, just fine.” What an ignorant creature I once was. Once I got my hands on the SteelSeries Sensei Mouse my entire outlook changed. Now I can’t think of doing anything on my PC without this mouse by my side.

Continue reading…

Indie Review – Sequence

Sequence is an interesting game. It is the first outing for indie video game developer; Iridium Studious. In fact, the original release was not on any major service, but just on X-Box Live Indie games. This service is home to games generally made by extremely small groups, with minimal budget, and often just for practice. In addition, it is a combination of a rhythm based game and an RPG. With such an interesting marriage of genres, it begs the question; can a game with such a clash of styles be worth playing?

Continue reading…

Indie Review – Avadon: The Black Fortress

Third-Person Isometric RPGs have been around for a long time. Some of the most famous are Baldur’s Gate, Planescape Torment, and the well-loved Fallout series. They’ve fallen to the wayside lately however, replaced with different styles. Even Fallout 3 now uses the same first-person system as Morrowind. Independent games have been taking up the slack, especially Spiderweb software, which has two series of games, concentrating on scripting with incredibly detailed character customization. Will their newest game; Avadon, be as good as Avernum and Geneforge?

Continue reading…