Xbox One: Our Review

Our Day One Edition arrived right on schedule a week ago and was easily installed in the entertainment center.  We were both impressed when the system was compatible with our audio receiver which is at least seven years old.  So, it honestly started off on a very good foot.

The system was also compatible with our cable provider, Cox.  The Xbox One now seamlessly controls the television, cable box, audio receiver, and the console.  The various remotes that used to clutter the sofa and family room tables have all been consigned to a drawer. 

The overall picture quality of our Plasma Samsung television has increased as well because the Xbox One is handling the 1080p upscale of television programs much smoother than the cable box ever did.  The shimmering has disappeared from television programs, although it does return for poorly optimized games on the One (forthcoming review of Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will discuss this). 

The biggest complaint either of us has is that the One sometimes can’t hear us  We have tall ceilings, fifteen feet plus high, in a large room with stone flooring.  Voices can easily got lost in our family room and it appears that the Kinect doesn’t quite know how to deal with large family rooms.  The voice issue is most irritating when turning on the system, after that voice commands are rarely lost in our cavernous family room.

The Kinect is vastly improved over the Xbox 360 version.  It has no trouble picking up hand motions in games like Dead Rising 3, even when comfortably lounging on the sofa in the reclining position a good ten feet plus from the television.  True, facial recognition isn’t stellar when reclining but as soon as you sit up straight the Kinect has no issues with facial recognition.  Having owned both versions of the Kinect, the new version is miles ahead of where the technology started several years ago.

The system is whisper quiet, runs cool (even in an enclosed media cabinet with other devices running), and seamlessly integrated into our lives.  It was well worth the purchase price for the endless hours of entertainment it will provide in the years to come and personally, I don’t miss chasing remotes.

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MechWarrior Online: Open Beta Delayed

This just in, Piranha has announced that the open beta for MechWarrior Online has been delayed to address concerns from the current closed beta testers.  There is no new release date for the open beta.

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MechWarrior Online: Open Beta Begins & Founder’s Ends

MechWarrior Online has announced the first day of Open Beta and the last day you can purchase a Founder’s Pack.  Open Beta begins October 16, 2012 and your last chance to purchase a Founder’s Package is midnight October 14, 2012.  This means that despite the numerous concerns closed beta users have brought up (limited maps and no tutorials for starters), Piranha  Games is going to open the game to the masses.  The claim is that closed beta testing will offer no further benefits to the game or the developers.  It will be interesting to watch how the game develops when anyone and everyone can play and comment on their experiences. 

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MechWarrior Online: Warring Perspectives

As promised, here are our two perspectives on gameplay for MechWarrior Online.

Up first, hubby’s perspective of gameplay, as interpreted by me who hears him hooting and hollering behind me.  He loves the gameplay. The game is true to previous installments of Battletech lore and does not try to reinvent the wheel. Matches are short, he reigns death from a distance (or as it’s known around here, Fed Ex’ing his damage), builds are easy to tweak and change out, and matches are usually quick to come up.  Right now, his biggest gripe has been the economy of the game, but this appears to have been fixed in recent weeks. 

My perspective is pretty close to the exact opposite.  I enjoy the quick, easy matches but unfortunately, that enjoyment is squashed by the problems I have with the game.  If you are new to Battletech games and have no concept about the lore this is not the game for you.  There isn’t even so much as an introductory video about mechs.  If you, like me, find keyboard movement cumbersome and irritating then do not play this game.  Yes it would get better with more games played but I just don’t care enough to inflict my keyboard issues on the other members on my team.  (Plus I hate being an easy kill! LOL) 

The game is still in closed beta.  There are still many ways the game can be improved to allow people unfamiliar with the genre to have a fighting chance to understand the game.  Biggest single improvement would be tutorials new players could access to help understand tactics, build options, maneuverability, and what the purpose of each type of differing mech serves.  The game is truly not user friendly to their target audience, the casual gamer with excess funds.  A free-to-play game needs to be understandable quickly and easily to players with limited time to game, the competition is simply too stiff.

Technorati Tags: MechWarrior Online,MWO

MechWarrior Online: Non-Disclosure Agreement Lifted

This morning the Non-Disclosure Agreement has been lifted for MechWarrior Online.  We were both in the closed beta, although hubby plays far more frequently than I.  Pictures and impressions to follow later today, but as a teaser, if you love blowing your opponents up in an all PVP game than look no further than MWO.

Technorati Tags: MechWarrior Online,MWO,NDA,battle mech

Gaming Lifestyle: Who We Are

My darling spouse, yeah he’ll get that, pointed out last week that the blog failed to ever do an “about us” piece and that it needed a “lifestyle” column.  Admittedly he was right, I said it in a public writing dear, and so this morning I’m going to rectify that oversight.

Who are the crazy 40-something's behind Gaming Couples?  We are Valhakar and Stitchersflock (or Val and Stitchers for short), happily married and residing in the warmth of the desert.  Unfortunately we weren’t blessed with children so that joy is missing from our gaming life.  Val works insane hours sometimes but luckily he still has time for gaming and goofing off.  I am the luckiest wife around because I’m blessed to stay home and not have to deal with the corporate grind.  We have a house full of dogs, a cat, and a Severe Macaw that keeps us on our toes constantly.  Ever tried gaming while a parrot is nibbling your earlobes?  Let’s just say it’s made for some interesting pick-up groups over the years!

Valhakar has been playing computer games for almost as long as they have been around.  His MMO adventures began in Ultima Online and carried on until Everquest was released.  He has played almost every AAA release at some point but has definite preferences.  He isn't a huge fan of Guild Wars and at this point WOW makes his skin crawl.  He was eagerly awaiting the release of The Secret World in June 2012, and was incredibly frustrated with Funcom when the game released.  Right now, Val is looking forward to the open beta of MechWarrior Online and has a WOW subscription because his wife does.  He also pops into Rift fairly regularly for PvP battles.

Stitchersflock, aka the blog’s primary author, is relatively new to computer gaming.  Valhakar had a devious plan in mind when they got married way back when and eventually his plan succeeded.  *Hey there’s a blog idea … how did the devious plan work and could it work for you?*  It backfired to some extent though, since I’ve developed a fondness (aka I actually READ quest text before running off to kill ten kobolds lol) for games with story lines.  Guild Wars was my first MMO, even though Val calls it a baby-MMO, and then I moved up to WOW.  Since then I’ve played Everquest II, Lord of the Rings Online, Age of Conan, Star Wars: The Old Republic, Aion, and several of the free to play games out there.  Like Val, I looked forward to the release of The Secret World and my disappoint was far closer to anger than any other emotion.  Currently, I’m being blown away by the Mists of Pandaria expansion in WOW and I still regularly pop-in on Rift and Everquest 2.

Time will tell if this becomes a semi-regular column but it just might.  But for this morning, I need that first cup of coffee and then I am going to go work on my Pandaran Monk! 

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MechWarrior Online

One of the very few things I truly loved, and miss, about WOW was the Alterac Valley PvP Battleground.  There is just something about that battleground I always loved once I discovered PvP.  Well, my darling hubby has convinced me to sign up for the MechWarrior Online beta because of the similarities to Alterac Valley.  Open beta begins August 7th, so I’m looking forward to see if he is right and it is truly a good, viable substitute for PvP.

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MechWarrior Online: The Four Pillars of Combat

Four Pillars of Combat

It’s not much of an understatement to say that every time the developers over at MechWarrior Online release another glimpse of the upcoming MMO my husband drools.  This release talks about the four pillars of combat and aims to make piloting your own mech a little less intimidating to newcomers.  The above video will detail the four pillars and provide some amazing game play footage.

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MechWarrior Online

Long ago, on the opposite side of the country Chromehounds launch on the XBox360 and hubby spent hours upon hours customizing his mech and playing online with friends.  We moved and within a couple of years the servers for Chromehounds had been closed.  So he has been without a decent mech game for a very long time.  Then today, his inbox delivered him the news that brought the smile from ear to ear MechWarrior Online was available for beta signups and pre-order packages.

Needless to say, he immediately opened the web and dived into the site.  He is signed up for the beta, has bought his founder’s package, and is beginning to recruit his friends.  They are planning strategies and builds.  Their joy is contagious and their happiness is infectious. 

Technorati Tags: MechWarrior Online,Chromehounds,founders package