Blogger Orion Williams had apparently had enough of all this “Console Wars” talk, and wrote a song about it. Check it out below.
Author: Orion Williams
Project Spark Beta signups now available
Project Spark is an ambitions game creation tool that has been in the works for two years. Being a Microsoft first party title, it appears to draw comparisons to Sony’s Little Big Planet. But those familiar with Microsoft Research will instantly recognize Project Spark’s roots, Xbox Live Indie Game and PC release Kodu.
You can sign up for early access to Project Spark through the beta program at JoinProjectSpark.com
Project Spark is coming for Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Windows 8.
Watch this video of Project Spark to understand more of what it’s about.
CastleStorm Review
As a gamer, it’s nice to have developers that you can count on for creating great games and content. Quite often, developers become known for a certain game series or genre. And so it becomes easy to think of DICE as “the Battlefield guys”, or Bethesda as “the action/adventure RPG guys”. Likewise, it would have been easy to think of Zen Studios as “the pinball guys”. And sure, their most notable work, at least the most prolific, has been Pinball FX and it’s spawn. But today, Zen Studios carves a new notch into its development record with 2D physics-destruction tower defense action game (it’s hard to put this one into a specific genre) CastleStorm.
CastleStorm has several modes of play including Versus multiplayer and Co-op modes. I suggest playing through the campaign first as a sort of tutorial and to unlock other modes and features.
CastleStorm gets a Dev Diary, catapults to XBLA May 29th
CastleStorm is Zen Studios’ latest game for Xbox Live Arcade, releasing May 29th. In the meantime you can see the official Developer Diary and see the many ways your troops will perish in CastleStorm.
Special note: The video name drops Waterflame, whom created music for CastleStorm, and whom we interviewed.
Thief reboot confirmed for Xbox One
In a press release from Square Enix, Thief (formerly Thi4f, and Thief 4) has been confirmed for realease on Xbox One, Playstation 4, and Windows PC in 2014.
Pending pricing announcements from Sony and Microsoft, the title may also refer to those that lurk around corners behind Gamestop hoping to nab next-gen systems at a “discount”. Buyers, beware of water arrows fired from the shadows.
Scribblenauts meets Barenaked Ladies (Unicorns, and Llamas, and Emus. Oh my!)
Acoustic Rock cover band A Band Of Ninjas combines the forces of Video Games and Music and produced this darling visual aid to a classic Barenaked Ladies song.
Star Wars Pinball Review – Two Lightsabers Up!
Star Wars Pinball Review
I am not the Star Wars geek that many (most) of my friends are, but I do respect the characters and the franchise as a whole, plus I had the O.G. Star Wars bed sheets when I was a kid. My own kids use them now, so we are still a Star Wars family to a degree. When I first learned of the Star Wars Pinball tables, I got pretty excited. But now that the first pack of tables is here, is it worth your credits?
Should we be excited for Bungie’s Destiny?
Bungie has announced Destiny, a persistent, online, Massively Multiplayer First Person Shooter. It seems a bit early to announce a game that won’t be available for at least another 10 months and probably a year, but Bungie felt it was the right time.
I have my doubts, even this early on, about whether Destiny is something to even pay attention to at this time. I strongly feel that rather than get pulled into the hype cyclone, gamers should take a “wait and see” approach even considering a “trusted” developer like Bungie.
Presonus forces legacy users out the door? Goodbye Presonus.
In addition to occasionally writing for fizmarble.com, I play in a band. I write, record, and produce music. I depend on my various PCs for this and also among other things, an audio interface.
For years I used a Presonus Firepod (Later called the FP10) generously donated by my friend Jaret. It originally cost quite a bit (450-600 dollar range), and so I didn’t hesitate to pay the $100 repair fee when it eventually crapped out.
It took me from Windows Vista to Windows 7 and eventually Windows 8 on the same desktop PC. It worked beautifully on Windows 8 by the way, but the desktop was ~6 years old by this time, and a failing hard drive and old hardware beckoned me to upgrade to a new PC, a PC with *gasp* Windows 8.
Of course I didn’t think twice about the Presonus Firepod’s compatibility with the Windows 8 PC. After all, I had been using the Firepod on Windows 8 for several months on my older, upgraded PC. Why would the new PC behave any different?
Ahh, poor, poor ignorance. Little did I know that the “great” minds at Presonus would be so cunning, so conniving. Whereas my Firepod worked fantastically with Windows 8 when it was upgraded from Windows 7 with the Firepod driver already installed, installing the driver on a Windows 8 PC was a different story altogether. No no, poor ignorance, Presonus had behind the scenes altogether blocked their driver installer from even running on a Windows 8 PC. So, if you had the driver installed first and then upgraded to Windows 8, you’re golden. If on the other hand you ignorantly try to install the Firepod/FP10 driver on Windows 8, you will receive a popup from Presonus telling you that the driver is not supported on your Operating System.
Gee Presonus, if you wanted me gone, why didn’t you just say so? This is how you support your customers? By forcibly blocking the driver installer from working on a modern OS. This ensures that customers need to upgrade. But if you think this customer is going to upgrade to another Presonus product, you have sorely miscalculated.
Instead, a reasonably priced and very stable audio interface now sits on my desktop where once sat the Firepod/FP10. Now, an Avid Fast Track C600 processes my audio, including the recordings of Twiztid praising the demise of Presonus in a chorus unfit to print here.
If you are in the same boat, check out the Fast Track C600. Amazon has them for a pretty sweet deal (duh), and Presonus can say they have taken my last dollar. Now, let’s make some music!
[easyazon-image align=”none” asin=”B005LG0XRS” locale=”us” height=”84″ src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41G7ZMfkbpL._SL160_.jpg” width=”160″]
Update: Reader Alex has shared in the comments section a workaround to the installer issue. Follow his method if you want to keep that Presonus pumping out the jams. He writes:
1. Download the “FireBox Installer v5.13 – PC” from their website (http://www.presonus.com/support/downloads/firebox)
2. Right click on the downloaded file “PreSonus_FireBox_Installation.exe” and choose “Properties”
3. Click on “Compatibility” tab
4. Check “Run this program in compatibility mode for:” and select “Windows 7″
5. Click on “OK” and run the installer again and it should work this time and install all the drivers flawlessly
Thanks, Alex!
Star Wars Pinball is coming soon.
Zen Studios has announced Star Wars Pinball for pretty much all major digital download services.
Star Wars Pinball will include three tables including Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, Boba Fett, and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. You had me at Boba Fett.
This may be the first of multiple packs as the wording in the press release calls this “The initial three-table pack”. Star Wars Pinball is heading to a star system new you February 2013.
May the silver ball be with you!