Archive for the ‘Editorials and Features’ Category

U.S. NPD Hardware Sales Watch 2008 Rev. 0.4

Thursday, November 13th, 2008

Welcome to QSF5.com’s ‘U.S. NPD Hardware Sales Watch 2008′ feature. Using numbers provided by the NPD Group, this feature will provide a quick glance of the U.S. videogame hardware situation throughout the 2008 calendar year.

Which company moved the most hardware?
Is the PS3 gaining ground in the U.S.?
How many months did Nintendo top the charts?

These and many other simple questions regarding videogame hardware units sold in the U.S. will be answered via easy to read charts. No long winded writeups, just cut to the chase concise observations and charts for your viewing pleasure.

If you have questions or concerns, please check out the F.A.Q. for more info.

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Saving Canadian Gaming Dollars

Wednesday, November 5th, 2008

This year’s gaming season, like every year, is ridiculous. Multiplatform owners and multifaceted gamers like myself have it the worst. So what do you do to satiate this desire to play everything? Do you wait it out? No, that’s crazy talk.

I seek deals and I’d just like to share some tips and some other deals for the remaining holiday titles worth checking out. So let’s take a look at some of the money saving requirements you need in order to maximize your dollars.

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Exclusives Watch 2008 Rev. 0.5

Wednesday, September 10th, 2008

Welcome to the second revision of QSF5.com’s ‘Exclusives Watch 2008′.

Changes include updated listings of exclusives and dates. Also, instead of just looking at how many console platform exclusives could be found on the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii in the 2008 calendar year, we’ve added the one criteria people have been wondering about as well: the quality of these exclusives.

Who has the most quality exclusives?
Who has the least?
Is it really quality over quantity for the PS3?

A few simple questions, but not a single one has been definitively answered. It’s not 100% accurate yet, but with time and the help of keen eyed gamers out there, we’re hoping to get them all.

If you have questions or concerns, please check out the F.A.Q. for more info on why we’re doing this and exact criteria used to compile our data. And here’s a quote from our F.A.Q. of something very important:

We’re making this list out of curiosity, if fanboys/fangirls and other fanatics are going to use it in their console wars, feel free to do so. Just keep it off our site.

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Why We Love It: The Metal Gear Solid Series

Monday, June 9th, 2008

“Why we love it” is a new feature which we hope to put out when a highly anticipated sequel is about to make its debut. Think of it as an effort to elaborate upon the qualities and traits fans appreciate from the franchise. It’s not aimed at swaying naysayers, but it will acknowledge the franchises’ foibles. This is predominantly aimed at those who are curious about the hype surrounding an upcoming game and have always wondered, “Why do they love it?”.

It’s a question I was asked awhile ago, which I found incredibly hard to answer. “What do people like about the Metal Gear Solid series?” It’s a difficult game to explain. Trying to justify how 20 minutes of cutscenes and codec conversation is an enthralling experience is a tough task, but I thought it was about time I tackled it. So here’s my attempt to describe the Metal Gear Solid series and share why I (and many others) regard it as one of the best videogame franchises of all time.

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GameTrailers Oops or Bias?

Saturday, May 10th, 2008

Idiotic comparisons over GRiD by GameTrailers have resulted in flames and accusations of bias on the part of GameTrailers. Was it a simple mistake or a case of an overzealous video editor? The creator of this YouTube video claims bias.


I had no idea this has become such a big deal. At first, I just thought it was a simple mistake. Who knows. Who cares?

Maturing With GTAIV

Monday, May 5th, 2008

gta_art2.jpg

I strongly believe the release of Grand Theft Auto IV is a step forward for the video game medium. Not because of its record breaking development cost or its near flawless critical accolades, but because they are talking about it as well.

You know who they are. Your dad, your neighbour, the mainstream media anchors of the evening — they’re talking about GTAIV along with us. Not all of it is kind or correct, but they are acknowledging its presence in the entertainment world. Why is this more important than say… Halo 3’s launch? Because of the fact that not all coverage for GTAIV has been about the evils of this so called “murder simulator”. Shooting aliens is one thing, but people? This is the fourth numeric installment from a franchise rife with controversy — the material is there for the media to rip into, but they don’t.

Are people becoming more understanding? I mean, they are talking about the possibility of GTAIV rivaling summer blockbusters and breaking sales records. Or is it a sign of our beloved medium maturing?

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No To Paid Map Packs

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

The free content situaion for PC gamers is great. Maps, levels and other small content are usually given to player community for free from either the developer or the community itself. When developers give away free content, it was like they were saying “Thanks, for buying our game. Here’s another map or two to make your purchase worthwhile.” Relationships between the players and developers were formed. Developers knew that these acts of kindness will convince their players to come back to their games in the future, because they will get their’s money’s worth and probably a little more.

Unsurprisingly, console manufacturers and developers have embrassed the idea of additional downloadable content, but unlike on the PC platform, a majority of the content is being charged for. I do not expect everything to be given to the player community for free, but I do believe that there are certain pieces of content that the developers or console manufacturers should just give away. Multiplayer maps are such pieces of content.

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Is It Possible? - Intel Inside Consoles

Monday, February 11th, 2008

intelinsideps3.jpgIt’s hard to imagine Intel going out of their way to create a processor for anyone, but themselves. However, it appears that Intel is making a habit of taking custom processor orders - specifically from Apple. It started out small with a custom Dothan processor for the Apple TV and then a custom Merom processor for the recently announced MacBook Air.
 
None of these custom orders have been drastic, but they are not typical of Intel. Typically, Intel sells a platform (ie: Centrino) or a chip to its customers and then they would do their best to accomodate Intel’s products into their own. Even the original Xbox’s processor was an “off the shelf” Intel Pentium III based design. Not even the almighty Microsoft could sway Intel for a specially catered design for its first console.

But times are changing.

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My Life Without WoW: “It’s Just a Game”

Sunday, January 27th, 2008

I'll show YOU 'Just a game'!

Continued from My life Without WoW: Introduction

First of all, let me apologize in advance to most gamers out there for potentially giving your significant others (or loving mothers if you still live in the basement) some ammo against you. I just have to share this tidbit. After all, blogging is all about droning on ad nauseum about something you feel is earth shattering, but in reality is either completely obvious, or just plain irrelevant to everyone else in the world. Ain’t those intertubes grand? Well now that I’m through with WoW and have a fuckload of time on my hands, I can finally get all introspective in my own attention-whoring corner of the web…
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My Life Without WoW: Introduction

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

Just.....one more quest....

Hello, My name is Effah from Sargeras, and I’m a recovering WoWaholic.

Before I start recounting my life after Warcraft, let me explain something. I really don’t have a bad thing to say about Blizzard’s masterpeice of a game. I’m a 31-year old bastard who’s had the fortune (misfortune?) to play virtually every MMO that was available on the market over the years… Some games were prettier, sure… Some games were more intricate, ok… In my opinion, however, none of them had the right balance of elements that really kept me hooked like WoW did. Besides, it’s a common fact that the amount of potential children expelled from the bodies of teenage boys upon their first glance at a naked Night Elf female would probably overpopulate our entire solar system. Am I right? Of course I’m right. If you disagree you can write your own fucking editorial about it.

Well then, in order to make this a proper introduction let’s start from the beginning…

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