The History Of Competitive Gaming

MLG Pro-Circuit - Columbus

How many hours of play time do you have in your favorite video game? It takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to become an expert at something. Top competitive gamers put in long practice hours, and have earned the title "pro gamer". What exactly does this title mean though, and how did it come to exist?

Mass Effect 3: Reckoning Trailer

If you were unaware, BioWare is releasing another multiplayer DLC today. The best part besides it's amazing new list of character's, and weapons, is that it's completely free!  So be sure to take advantage of that, and download it for yourself today! Here is the intense trailer that shows off some of the character's. Enjoy!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Sony PS4 Reaveal - Thoughts

As I’m sure you can see from Ryan’s post, and my quick post last night, that we here at Gaming Cuisine aren’t particularly excited with the results of Sony’s conference on the 20th when they revealed the PS4.

PlayStation 4 "Revealed"

Due to unforseen events, my thoughts on what was shown at Sony's big "reveal" will have to wait until tomorrow. 

Until next time, keep on gamin' on! 

The PS4 Announced: Am I Really the Only One Who's Disappointed Right Now?

First off don't get me wrong, the PS4, in many ways, sounds like it's going to be awesome, but I do have a few concerns after watching today's press conference.

First lets point out The Good:

It's actually more confusing if you don't just nod your head knowingly
 and actually try to figure out what it means.

Very powerful

The biggest thing I took from the press conference is the PS4 will be sporting a ton of power. The system is being powered by the 8 core, x86-64 AMD "Jaguar", and a very powerful AMD GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). To those not technically inclined just realize that's really something else for a console. Games on the system will look fantastic, and while we didn't see a ton of gameplay, mostly just screens really, the games will look mind-blowingly good. Sony did say that the GPU will be used for general computation functions as well (GPGPU usage), but for those that think this will somehow be a hindrance, just trust me that this is a good thing.

Halo 4 2v2 Flyer

I figured before we sent out flyers to the streets, we'd give you a digital taste of it! Thanks to my highly talented brother, Brian, for this beautiful design. We can't wait for it, can you?!

- Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

A Breakdown of Game Design

Image Source: Incgamers.com

Great games, some do it with great soundtracks that capture the moment of the game, others prefer visually stunning graphics,while others may use a very deep and wonderful story that takes you to a new world. But there are a very few that use all three of these elements to make a video game masterpiece.

Soundtrack/Scores

Anyone can slap on a loop of Journey’s, Don’t Stop Believing to a never ending sidescroller, but that doesn't mean that it goes well. Music in a video game is used to set the mood that the game is about like Left 4 Dead for example. If you were as bored as I was you probably checked out the commentary bits that Valve put into the game. When walking through a mission you can click on little speech bubbles that  play an audio track talking about specific elements used in development. One that stood out to me was both the music and the visual aspect, which I will get more into later. The sound of zombies around a corner has never been so vivid and crisp, and dare I say, realistic. For instance the moment you get grabbed by a Smoker, and you’re being hoisted up for your friends to scream and shoot at, a loud and alarming noise greets your ears. It really wakes you up, and gives you some shock and fear, and at the same time can really get you stressed. Whether that stress is good or bad  is  up to you.

Image Source: Compactiongames

Graphics/Visuals

While we’re on the topic of Left 4 Dead Valve, as I mentioned earlier, used some visual techniques that are rarely, if ever, implemented in games. In the popular mission “No Mercy” the four survivors have to fight their way from an abandoned building to the rooftop of a hospital in an urban environment while, of course, the creeps come out at night. While you’re running and gunning it through brain-feeders, you’re enclosed in a variety of rooms, corridors, streets, and alleyways. In my personal opinion this is one of the greatest missions I've ever endured. What the developers did,  instead of just making everything darker and  more difficult to see, they made a map that was already dark, and filled it with light at certain points (E.G. Bonfires, Cars, Street Lights, etc.) which really gave the game a “you’re in a zombie apocalypse and you might die” kind of vibe.

Gameplay/Overall feeling

Gameplay is a main component to a video game, considering that if the game feels broken, it’s most likely going to be looked down upon and obviously considered broken. A popular example would be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). If you don’t know exactly what to do, and the majority of people didn't/don’t, the game gives you the worst feeling possible, sometimes you die at random, different characters will hurt you for no reason, and it’s just a big mess. Although we don’t have that problem as much nowadays, which is great, there’s always room for improvement. 

Remember folks, keep calm and play video games!

Updated Site, and Forge Competition Reminder

Please take note that we have added a Halo 4 2v2 Forge Competition Page for your convenience. If you have no clue what I'm talking about, click on the link provided above! For those of you who have, or will  start creating a map(s) for our next Halo 4 2v2 tournament, this page was created for reference! Please don't hesitate to send us an e-mail at gamingcuisine@gmail.com if you have any questions. We are always happy to assist you, the gamer, in any way possible.

Competitors, this is a reminder that your submissions are in fact due by no later than March 1, 2013 at 12:00 PM (MST). We can't wait to see what your creative minds cooked up for this! Thanks!

-Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

GCCL's Halo 4 Tournament Time Erro

This will be quick, but I wanted to make sure that everyone is aware of the error that was on our GCCL Tournament Schedule page. Originally our page showed that the up coming Halo 4 tournament was going to be held at 2:00 PM. This isn't, and was never, the case. The actual starting time is 7:00 PM, on March 2, 2013. All of the rules and regulations are listed on that page below the listed time. If you have any questions, please let us know at gamingcuisine@gmail.com. Thank you!

- Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Valve Layoffs Won't Effect Current Projects

Image via: Extremetech.com

In a surprisingly widely discussed series of lay offs at Valve, (Half-Life, Counter-Strike, Steam), Gabe Newell has issued a statement assuring gamers that no current projects are being dropped, despite widespread rumors. I for one am highly relieved. Check out the article at Engadget for more details.

Violent Games and Violent People: Correlation or Coincidence?

I don't think the burning of the Library of Alexandria is a proper analogy
to the destruction of video games, but I'm posting it anyway.

We've all heard the arguments that violent media creates violent people, but this point has been incredibly hard to prove. And for good reason, considering that almost every study that has sought to prove or disprove a correlation between violence and aggression and media has most likely had a bias one way or the other. But even scientifically speaking there is currently no solid evidence that violence in video games or movies or other entertainment "trains killers", as the (very ill informed) former lawyer Jack Thompson so eloquently put it.

That's not really the point though, the point is that people have been blaming popular media for violent and aggressive behavior for decades, if not centuries. Fact of the matter is though that if we try and pin the blame on one source, whether it's movies, comics, video games, or even books, what we're really doing is taking away the responsibility of the actions of a few, and in a way transferring that responsibility, and our anger, to a different party. Something that I think is not only inappropriate, but also insensitive and ignorant to where the real problems may lie.

Another Unexpected Delay, GameStop Brings Up a Good Point, and At Least One Good Valentine Idea

If this isn't love, I don't know what is. 

Hey everybody, I can't get my computer running correctly, so today's post will have to wait until tomorrow. I apologize for the delay this week, but I assure you we're working on it. Expect the two articles I promised today on Wednesday, and I will hopefully have a PC running correctly ASAP. If not we'll get some sweet posts from my phone. It'll be fun. In the meantime check out the following interesting links:

GameStop says that 60% of gamers will not buy a console that prevents them from playing used games.

Y's 1&2 Chronicles on sale on Steam, to be released on Valentines Day. Great gift idea for the old school gamer in your life.

25 Studies of Video Game Violence Summarized

What you say? Monday on Tuesday again?

Not exactly rocket surgery.

Image Source

Sorry for delay folks, due to some unexpected mechanical problems (due to a very recent car accident I was in) today's article will have to wait until tomorrow. Sad day, I know. I will be posting a short review and a small article on video game violence and real world effects tomorrow. (Spoiler: not a lot of evidence that games cause violence...)

Until next time, Keep on Gaming. 

Halo 4 2v2 Tournament: Official Date Announcement

We have finally decided on a date for the Halo 4 2v2 tournament that will be held at The Gamerz Funk. The date is March 2, 2013 at 7:00 PM. For all of the details, you can check it out on our GCCL Tournament Schedule Page which can be found above, or you can read my "Halo 4 Tournament Announcement and Forge Competition" article.

For all of you that are creating a map for the competition, this means that the official date for your submissions must be on March 1, 2013 at 12:00 PM Mountain Standard Time (MST). All of the details for that are also in the article just mentioned.

Any questions? E-mail us at gamingcuisine@gmail.com. See you at the tournament!

Until next time, keep on gamin' on!

Witcher 3 Announced for 2014, and We're Not Dead Yet!

Nothing funny here, just check out GI's coverage on this one! Image Source

Thanks to Game Informer the Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has been confirmed for a 2014 release. Reportedly "30 times larger than the previous game", Witcher 3 will be coming to all next generation consoles and PC. Some are speculating this to mean that Witcher 3 will be released on the upcoming "PS4" (Orbis) and "Xbox 720" (Durango). While we here at Gaming Cuisine will hold off our own speculation as to which systems the upcoming Witcher will be released on I can assure we're all very excited by the news.

In other news we're not dead yet! We are busy working on several projects which we hope to wow you with, and due to life being generally insane for Mike and I, we've been a little spotty with updates. But rest assured we're working on not only improving that, but also on the content we're providing. We'll have some upcoming surprises, as Mike has mentioned before, and many other things to look forward to in the near future, so stay tuned! Expect more updates this week, aside from just the Monday and Thursday regulars!

Until next time, Keep on Gaming!