Byte Size Reviews

kryptinite: Adding to my collection, yesterday Mortal Kombat...

Sat, 05 May 2012 11:30:31 -0400

Adding to my collection, yesterday Mortal Kombat showed up. I love Mortal Kombat and my buddy Chanh drew this. Of course I had to buy it.

Title: Alien Blue for iPad - Reddit ClientDevice: iPadPrice:...

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 09:53:29 -0400

Title: Alien Blue for iPad - Reddit Client
Device: iPad
Price: $3.99

Byte Size Review: If you use Reddit a lot and own an iPad, there’s no reason why you should not have this by now. Alien Blue is such a great way to read Reddit, I no longer view the site on my computer. There are tons of settings to play with, the ability to keep your “secret” subreddits in a casual subreddit area, and it looks amazing on the new iPad. There’s also an Alien Blue app for your iPhone for free. Yes, free.

Do yourself a favor and download it already.

iTunes Link

Byte Size Reviews QH: Mass Effect 3 Galactic Readiness I like...

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 10:00:05 -0400

Byte Size Reviews QH: Mass Effect 3 Galactic Readiness

I like achievemets. I like getting them, I like seeing them, and I like hearing the sound that pops when you get one. Mass Effect 3 has an achievement, Defender, that wants players to Attain the highest level of readiness in each theater of war. While getting this achievement is possible by playing both the single and multiplayer in the game, I don’t have time to play multiplayer like I use to.

This video shows you how to get that 100% for your “Galactic Readiness” relatively easy. It does require that you own the iOS game Mass Effect: Infiltrator, but that’s about all you need. Well that and an Origin account, which is free and kind of horrible.

Also, I created this video with a combination of iMovie and Garageband on my iPad and a program called DisplayRecorder on my iPhone. DisplayRecorder is only usable on iPhones that have broken the shackles of Apple.

With funding from a Kickstarter campaign, the Jot is the first...

Sat, 24 Mar 2012 15:16:00 -0400

With funding from a Kickstarter campaign, the Jot is the first stylus I’m actually looking forward to using. It should arrive sometime next week, just in time for my boring graduate class. Review forthcoming.

Site

72pins: Grand Theft Auto 4 carts are finally here! Created by...

Fri, 23 Mar 2012 16:24:17 -0400

72pins:

Grand Theft Auto 4 carts are finally here!

Created by artist Gabriel Leoni

Photo by Chanh Tang

Available in limited numbers @72Pins

Title: League of EvilDevice: UniversalPrice: 99 cents for a...

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 22:44:03 -0400

Title: League of Evil
Device: Universal
Price: 99 cents for a limited time

Byte Size Review: It’s basically Super Meat Boy for your iPhone/iPad and it’s great.

iTunes Link

I usually forgo pre-ordering anything if I can help it but in...

Mon, 05 Mar 2012 19:45:57 -0500

I usually forgo pre-ordering anything if I can help it but in this case I could not. The picture you see was a bonus for putting down $5 bucks at Best Buy to secure my copy of Assassin’s Creed 3. The reason I jumped on this bonus is because the image is created by my favorite artist, Alex Ross.

I’m not sure if they are doing this at any other stores, nor do I care. I have mine and that’s all that matters.

Byte Size Reviews: PlayStation Vita Unboxing I caved and did...

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:52:03 -0500

Byte Size Reviews: PlayStation Vita Unboxing

I caved and did another unboxing video. I feel a little dirty now. I promise next time to use the porn music and dim the lights real low.

I made a quick video on how to get more than the initial 275 PSP...

Sun, 26 Feb 2012 10:00:06 -0500

I made a quick video on how to get more than the initial 275 PSP games onto your brand new Playstation Vita. It’s going to take a little work but I’m pretty sure I gave enough detail in the video. For games like Little Big Planet and Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters that aren’t listed, these are the steps you’ll have to take.

Although this video might be obsolete in the coming weeks, this is for those of us who are to impatient to wait.

PlayStation Vita: Physical or Digital?

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 10:00:05 -0500

With the “real” release of the PlayStation Vita upon us, I’m left with one question that has left me with sleepless nights: Do I go fully digital, fully physical, or a mixture of both? For some people, this is an easy question not worth talking about, but I decided to break it down for my own benefit.

Now we all know that Sony has seemingly lost their collective minds with the pricing of their proprietary memory cards, ranging from $20 for the 4GB card all the way up to $100 for the 32GB card. I know I’m not in the minority when I say that these prices are a little outrageous to say the least. So there’s one strike against going fully digital: memory cards are expensive. I’m fully aware that I could buy a smaller card and play the delete/re-download game with the system, but I would rather not do that. The convenience of switching games on the fly without worrying about a wireless access point is very appealing. Also, because of AT&T’s horrible data restrictions, downloading games on a 3G connection is not going to happen if your game is larger than 20MBs.

Another reason why I’m hesitant to go fully digital are sales. Steam is the pinnacle of online retailers pricing their merchandise to move. If there’s a game that you want but for which you are willing to wait, chances are that game is going to be 75% off in the future. I can’t tell you how many games I’ve purchased through Steam on sale; the number would probably make me weep. Now do I believe that Sony is going to imitate this model with their online environment? The short answer is no. The long answer would require me to do some deep analysis for you, charting the decline in price for physical copies of games versus what you can buy on the PSN. I would rather not do that math but essentially, I can buy Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker on Amazon.com for $17.53, while currently, the game is priced at $29.99 on PSN. If this changes and Sony actually adopts the Steam method of selling digital content, this argument becomes invalid, but chances of this happening are slim. While 10% off day one for Vita titles is a great start, it’s too early to tell if there will be deeper price cuts a year from now.

I’ve decided that my approach to purchasing games for the PlayStation Vita will be a combination of both formats. For those games for which I can’t wait to drive to the store and will want on my device at all times, digital it is. However, with the number of sales most brick and mortar stores have to keep customers coming in, I’d be a fool to pass up these savings. I guess for me, at the end of the day, if I have an option to buy a physical copy of something, I’m going to do so. The problem with having a digital copy of a game or game content is that I forget that they exist. There are so many Steam and Xbox Live purchases that I’ve made over the years that have gone completely untouched. I don’t have the option to give these games away because they are forever tied to my accounts unlike a physical disc. Hell, I just remembered today that I have a piece of DLC for Bioshock 2 and Borderlands that I’ve been meaning to get to. I envision the same thing happening for me with the Vita if I went fully digital. So, I won’t be doing so until they create a system that will allow me to give away my digital copies or Sony adopts the way that Steam prices their games competitively. [insert cheesy closing sentence here.]

bsawinski: THROWBACK video game art showBelle Isle Yacht...

Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:22:50 -0500

bsawinski:

THROWBACK video game art show
Belle Isle Yacht Pub
7521 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL

January 14th @ 9pm
Nostalgic video game art, something that spans generations, something everyone can relate to. Come and support independent artists in the Orlando area.

Artists:

Cade Mikaels

Ileana Rincon

Chris Saupp

Jacqueline Tombari

Paul Defrin

Jason D Ault

Chris Redmon

Alexandor Leith

Tara Renee

and many more …

Above image by Jason D Ault

VidRhythm for your iDevice This video was made with a fun app...

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 01:54:44 -0400

VidRhythm for your iDevice

This video was made with a fun app created by Harmonix called VidRhythm. Yes, that’s the same Harmonix that can probably be called the father of the music rhythm genre as we know it today. This app is not so much a game as it is an interactive toy but it’s pretty entertaining. Basically you just follow the directions, making the appropriate sounds when prompted, and watch the magic unfold. There’s 20 songs to choose from and I’m sure if the app sells well, they will add more. No need to be a musical genius, Harmonix handles all of that greatness for you. The app is $1.99 in the App Store and works on any iDevice that has a camera.

iTunes Link

Byte Size Reviews QT: New iPad Keyboard Feature If you use your...

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:00:05 -0400

Byte Size Reviews QT: New iPad Keyboard Feature

If you use your iPad as much as I do, you probably hate the on-screen keyboard as well. You can’t type like a real human being with it at all. This new feature fixes that somewhat but I’ll still probably rely on my Bluetooth keyboard for any serious typing.

Byte Size Reviews: 72pins.com Now to collect them all!

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 15:45:00 -0400

Byte Size Reviews: 72pins.com

Now to collect them all!

Tiny Wings Review

Tue, 26 Apr 2011 10:00:06 -0400

Let’s go ahead and get this out of the way first: Tiny Wings is not Angry Birds. It doesn’t look like Angry Birds, it does not play like Angry Birds, and IT IS NOT ANGRY BIRDS. Okay? Are we still cool? Good. Read on for the reviews…

So what is Tiny Wings? If you’re like me, you have noticed this game at the top of the App Store charts for quite some time. If I was forced to describe the game in one sentence, it would look a little something like this: Tiny Wings is an auto-run game that you can fly in. That’s pretty much what the game consist of more or less. You have control over, get this, a bird with tiny wings. You control this tiny winged bird, who I will now name Francis, with just a touch of the screen. Touching the screen allows Francis to start moving to the right traversing over hills on his epic journey to flight. In order to fly, you will simply lift your finger off of the screen and use the hills as ramps to get Francis in the air. Naturally, the more momentum you have, the higher Francis can get and the farther he will fly. The game is that simplistic but don’t confuse simplicity with easy. This game gets intense fast.

The game is broken up into islands in which Francis is frantically trying to get to. Each island can be considered a stage in the game. You also have a timer that is represented by a day/night cycle. You must get to the other islands quickly because night is attempting to put you to sleep. The look of the game also changes from day to day, giving you a new look for each stage thanks to the procedural generated graphics. So you can play the game on Monday and have it look completely different on Tuesday. I have no idea how many stages are in the game because I don’t have the skills to get past Island 6.

This game is only a buck in the App Store and it’s well worth the price of admission. If you have an iDevice, you will not regret spending the money on this title. This game highly addicting and you will not want to put it down.

iTunes Link

Byte Size Reviews: Vindictus Interview Here’s a video that...

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 13:30:21 -0400

Byte Size Reviews: Vindictus Interview

Here’s a video that Chanh and I shot while we were in Seattle. It’s for the upcoming game Vindictus which will be a free to play MMO. You can get a chance to play it now if you have a early access beta key, which I so happen to have a few. From what we played of the game in Seattle, it is pretty impressive but I’ll let you watch the video to determine that for yourself. This will probably be one of the only MMO games that I get into in my life time. Plus free is always an attractive price.

Vindictus Early Access Beta Did you like what you saw in that...

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 13:51:00 -0400

Vindictus Early Access Beta

Did you like what you saw in that video? Want to play something like that right now? Well today is your lucky day. I will be giving a way beta codes to play Vindictus until I run out of them. Later this month I should have an interview that was conducted with Chris G$, an Assistant Producer of Vindictus. He’s last name isn’t G$ but you’ll see more on that when the interview hits the site.

All you have to do in order to receive a beta key is:

*Reblog this post
*Follow Byte Size Reviews because that’s what Tumblr is for.
*Use the ‘Ask’ function of the site to send me your email along with your Tumblr account name so I can make sure you did the first two things.
*Then I will use a complicated algorithm to determine the receivers of these beta codes. Or I’ll just give you one.

After all that is done, you will be on your way to some hack and slash MMORPG goodness. The great thing about these beta keys is that they mutate. Basically your 1 beta key will turn into 2 beta keys that you can then use to share with your friends. The process keeps happening until everyone in the world is playing Vindictus.

Byte Size Reviews: The Incident I did a quick reviews of the...

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Byte Size Reviews: The Incident

I did a quick reviews of the game The Incident. You can purchase the game from the App Store for $1.99. It’s a universal app which means it is optimized for your iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch. Overall I wasn’t too impressed with the game. It looks awesome and has a great 8-bit art style complete with a pretty decent chiptune soundtrack. This is a case of style over substance. What you see in the video is what you get the whole time. While most iPhone games have that addictive nature, this one did not for me.

Kinect: A Flop in the Making?

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Not enough room for the Kinect

According to the official Kinect page, located here, you need at least 6 feet between you and your TV. Judging from this awesome video over at Giant Bomb, the 6 feet requirement does not seem to be the an accurate amount of space needed to actually play a game with Kinect. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Microsoft is being somewhat deceptive and careful with their wording. I can see why - if they just came out and said that this setup would require anywhere from 6-10 feet of space, I’d guess that most people would write it off in a heartbeat. I personally do not have 6 feet of extra space in the room I game in. That is the single reason I will not be buying the Kinect anytime soon, or probably ever. This is also the number one of the reason why I think the device is going to fall flat on its face. Most of the gamers I know, do not do their gaming in the living room. They either have a setup in a dorm room, bedroom, or in an office space. Parents, on the other hand, are a different story.

Judging from the marketing of the device, we all know the Kinect is being pushed hard to families. For the most part, Microsoft has the hardcore audience in their back pocket and they are setting their eyes on the Wii fan base. This is all fine and well, but I don’t think they realize why the Wii was such a huge hit. I believe it was partly because the way you interact with the Wii is pretty intuitive, which the Kinect does have going for it. The other part, which is arguably a much bigger factor, is the price point. I’m not going to get into the numbers game, but the Kinect is going to be a bigger investment than the Wii, simple as that. Price won’t be such a big factor with the hardcore audience, but Mom isn’t about to drop an extra 100 bucks so Jimmy can jump around the living room acting like a raging demon.

Wow! Look at all these awesome and exciting games!

So we have the price factor and the space requirement hindering this device from being something potentially awesome. Do you think I’m missing something else? Oh that’s right, there’s no software worth buying this thing for. Ok, I’ll give you Dance Central, that might be okay for parties. I will also admit Child of Eden looks very intriguing, but I see nothing that makes me want to move my gaming setup into the living room.

So, to keep it simple for the TLDR crowd, the Kinect is most likely never going to appeal to the hardcore audience due to the space requirements and parents will hesitate to pick it up because of the price barrier. Also, there are no software at launch that will really push the device.

The Value Proposition

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 12:00:00 -0400

Only four of these games was worth full price IMHO. Guess which ones.

More than any other group of people who consume entertainment, I believe gamers are one of the largest group that are always on the hunt for bargains. With websites like Cheap Ass Gamer and PC Game Deals, it’s even easier for us to find great games on the cheap. For some reason, most reviews leave out the value proposition all together. “Is this game worth $60?” is a question I get all the time from my peers. This crucial tidbit of information is something that needs to be addressed for all games and I intend to educate you on why.

There are only three things that will ultimately sway your decision on buying a game; how much you are looking forward to a game, what your friends think about the game, and how much it cost. If you are really excited about the next installment of Halo, then it really doesn’t matter how much it cost because chances are you have your mind set on buying it day one. If a ton of your friends are buying a game that is multiplayer heavy, you tend to forget about the price at that point and pick it up to engage in the festivities. Reviewers don’t really get the chance to give an input on these factors but price is a different story.

If you keep in mind that all reviews are someone’s opinion, then price can easily be a part of that review process. Everyone has their own price point at which they are willing to pay for certain type of games. If we have more reviewers including the value proposition in their reviews, we will get a larger opinion base to make our decision of whether the game is worth the money. If enough people are saying that a game is only worth a purchase at $30, then chances are that’s the truth. We all know there are a ton of games that we wouldn’t buy for full price but would actually consider it when the price dropped to something more reasonable.

Case in point, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand is a game that is not worth full price. It received a 71 on Metacritic and was generally poorly received by most reviewers. While this game did have its fair share of problems, this game is a great purchase at $20 or lower. Same goes for Conan. If you can find this game in a bargain bin for $10, I would highly recommend you pick it up. Playing this game at that price point, you can forgive the mechanical issues with this game and just enjoy playing it. At the end of the day, enjoyment is what matters. I know I can’t enjoy a game that I paid full price for if it’s riddled with bugs and horrible control issues.

Also, stop whining about $15 Xbox Live Arcade games. If you don’t want to pay that price, don’t play the game. It’s as simple as that.