Football Manager 2014 Review: Manage It Like Ferguson
It’s not exactly a great season to be a Manchester United fan. I know Sir Alex hand-picked David Moyes as his replacement but 8th in the table after a quarter of the season isn’t what you expect from United. Surely anyone could do better with this squad.
And that’s the premise behind Sports Interactive’s Football Manager series. Not everyone sees themself as the big hero on the pitch as you see in the FIFA series. FM is for the guy who has a couple of beers with his mates and says “I could do a better job running the team than that fool.”
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What’s Your Favourite Game of the Current Generation?
I’ve been starting work on a fairly substantial new feature series for the blog but would like some help while I’m still in the planning stages. We’re working on 7 For 7: The Seven Best Games of the Seventh-Generation.
We’re less than three weeks from the launch of the PlayStation 4 and four weeks from the launch of the Xbox One which means that the next generation of video game consoles is finally upon us. Given that the current console generation is what Wikipedia calls the seventh generation, I thought that now’s a fitting time to look back at the seven best games released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii.
I thought that I would call upon you, the reader, to help put together with your nominations for the best games of the current generation and your thoughts about your favourite games. You can leave a comment below, fire us an email to etgeekera [at] gmail.com or fill in the submission form below.
The first part of the series is targeted to go live on November 15th.
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Building (Critical) Consensus: Batman: Arkham Origins
Poor WB Games Montreal. The rookie developer probably would have been given the benefit of the doubt before launch if they had taken up any DC franchise but the Batman: Arkham franchise. Rocksteady Studios did an amazing job with the first two Arkham games so they left a tough task for the devs who followed. In this case, the act was so tough to follow that Warner Bros. didn’t just embargo the game to release date but didn’t issue review copies to some prominent reviews including Jim Sterling. That’s gotta make you feel great about it.
While the reviewers felt that Origins was a solid effort, the recurring theme in most of the reviews was that WB Montreal played it fairly safe but not doing anything particularly new with the Arkham franchise apart from adding multiplayer to the game. If you liked the last two Arkham games, chances are that you’ll like this one as well. Just don’t expect this to be anything new or the big improvement that City was over Asylum.
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Haven: Lay Me Down Review
Last week’s episode would have been a perfect point to have a mid-season hiatus. The sixth episode of the season certainly pulled a 180 on what had been going on for the early part of the fourth season. Now that this season has kicked it into high gear, has this week’s new episode kept up the momentum or is it more of the same?
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Geek Links of the Week
Wikipedia is an invaluable resource for just about everyone but would it surprise you that it’s on the decline. Upwards of one-third fewer people are updating it than six years ago. [MIT Technology Review]
Maybe I’m selling the new AMD Radeon HD R-series GPUs short. The flagship R9 290X may be a little loud but it’s certainly got amazing performance for the price. [Tom’s Hardware]
Your favourite childhood author, RL Stine, the man behind Goosebumps, did an AMA this week. He’s written an adult horror book because all his original readers have grown up. [/r/IAmA]
Zynga: The story of how one gaming company went from the penthouse to the outhouse. [Ars Technica]
And this weekend marks the StarCraft II World Championship Series Season 3 final from Toronto. Sadly, I don’t like near enough to make it to the big show so I’ll be watching it on stream. So here’s a viewer’s guide to the action. Given fellow Canuck Scarlett’s absence, I’m hoping for big runs from Polt and the Boss-Toss (MC). [Battered Joystick]
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Cook, Serve, Delicious! Review: Allez Cuisine!
It’s a little known fact that I wanted to be a chef while growing up. When the Food Network first came to Canada, they had all these shows I loved. There was Good Eats and Iron Chef and especially Emeril Live. Then Food Network Canada launched and they replaced that with the charismatic black hole that was Christine Cushing and I stopped wanting to be a chef.
So I came into Cook, Serve, Delicious! hoping for something a bit more Iron Chef rather than a casual experience. You know, more El Bulli than Taco Bell. Fortunately, despite the fact that CSD is a mobile port, it’s still a hardcore experience.
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Net Neutrality is Under Threat in the United States
I generally don’t succumb to hyperbole so believe me when I say that this could end up being the single most important story that we cover on this blog.
Currently, the internet in America is governed by the principle of net neutrality. This means that all data on the internet is treated equally and that internet service providers can’t charge for access to certain content on the internet. Now, Verizon is taking the Federal Communications Commission to court to get net neutrality abolished. If the court rules in Verizon’s favour, the results could be catastrophic.
For more about the case and what it means, we have a handy infographic for your perusal.
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Sony Blames Taxes for High Brazilian PS4 Price
There are only two things in life that are guaranteed: Death and taxes. Coincidentally, it’s taxes that may lead to the death of the PlayStation 4’s chances in the Brazilian market. Sony says that the country’s high taxes on imported electronics are the reason for their next-gen console being priced at the Brazilian equivalent of over $1,800 US dollars.
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Dark Matter Devs Were Fired Months Before Release
It’s easy to put the blame on the developers not being able to manage their money well enough to complete Dark Matter. However, recent reports indicate that blaming the folks at Interwave Studios would be a bit premature.
After the Kickstarter for Dark Matter failed, the majority of the game’s development staff were fired in July and August and the studio was left far too understaffed to actually complete the game in time for release.
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Amazon.com Increases Free Shipping Minimum to $35
Bad news for folks who like saving on shipping when buying from Amazon. For the first time in over a decade, Amazon.com has increased the minimum purchase price to qualify for their Free Super Saver Shipping on items shipped in the United States. Now, rather than getting free shipping at $25, you’ll now need to spend $35.
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