Blogs - ashley_au

Valve have rounded out their week long announcements with the Steam Controller.

The announcements began with SteamOS, a dedicated Linux based platform currently under development. The OS will be made available freely for system builders and individuals, and will also be used to power announcement number two.

The Steam Machine is Valve's most serious attempt at gaining a competitive foot in the lounge room. While not only offering this plug-and-play solution, Valve explains it will be working closely with OEMs to delivery a variety of hardware options. The press release explains "...Entertainment is not a one-size-fits-all world. We want you to be able to choose the hardware that makes sense for you, so we are working with multiple partners to bring a variety of Steam gaming machines to market during 2014, all of them running SteamOS..."

SteamOS and forthcoming iterations of Steam on the desktop will include media streaming, for local and web streaming services. Family sharing allowing you to share games with others whilst tracking individual progress and achievements. Granular content management will also permit control over what Steam titles are visible to other member of the household.

Open distribution of the SteamOS allows ordinary end users to also build their own hardware. System requirements have not yet been announced however it's fair to assume some basic prerequisites; HDMI, Ethernet and/or Wi-Fi, USB controller and local storage.

Valve also announced they would be making available 300 beta consoles to lucky folk whom have registered in the beta program. The number of active participants has been steadily growing with more than 150k registered eligible users.

Cognition: An Erica Reed Thriller arrived on Steam on September 20th, and to celebrate launch is 25% off.

Seriously moody story telling in a point-and-click adventure format. I've heard Cognition compared favourably to the classic Gabriel Knight. I was lucky enough to get hold of Episode One and Two via bundles at greatly reduced prices. A really deserving recipient to Steam Greenlight as I truly would like to see this game get a larger audience. The game aesthetic combines the hand drawn look of other classic adventure games, with a cell shaded look similar to The Walking Dead games.

As an interesting footnote, the Desura price is significantly less than that on Steam. In fact launch discount removed the difference is US$20 greater on Steam making the Desura option much more attractive!

I wanted to give a shout out to my current favourite work in progress, RIOT.

It's a riot 'simulator' but rather than offer my own description (which would be pointless given my absence of hands on) I can best quote the developers. "...We have noticed that there is some confusion going around the gameplay of RIOT, so we should address it. RIOT is, first of all, a simulator. It tries to realistically portray the behavior of rioters and policemen during several real riots, which have actually happened in Greece, Italy, Turkey, Egypt, and Spain.Second of all, RIOT is made of two game genres. If the player chooses to play as the rioters, he will find a game that is strategic, but it is mostly about fast-pace reactions to the situations happening all around him. What I mean by that is that there will be very little time for planning, and it will mostly be about responding.
This is does not mean that the strategic component is cut out, but just that the response time will have be short. This section of the game will be about controlling a chaotic (but not random) mass of people.The second genre belongs to the policemen. When played through this faction, the game becomes more similar to a strategy game.

It is more organized, orders are sent through an actual “button-y” user interface (instead of the gestures used for the rioter), and the game is more focused on planning rather than fast response. Both component are still present, but the policemen faction is more organized and logical.
The game is still in development howver the (small) team remains dedicated to the product. A beta is expected in November, however the game has already been Greenlit on Steam.

Take a look at the project and see if it's worth your $10 contribution.

Have to confess that I've always been a bit of a Neo Geo fanboy.

I read during the week the a new King of Fighters would be appearing on Steam. King of Fighters was in many circles the poorer, third place 2D fighter behind Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat. I played heaps of KOF, from '94 to '99 but kind of drifted away thereafter. I use my GP2X these days if I feel like some KOF and generally play '99 almost exclusively.

I'm really curious to give the latest version a play but am a little weary of the US$29.99 price. I've had a really good run of late with some impulse purchases (Rayman Legends, Gunpoint and Sonic All Stars Racing) which were all price reduced. So do I take a chance or wait (and hope) there will be a demo, so I can at least try the gameplay before I buy?

I was looking at Rogue Legacy today, as it's part of the current Weekend Deal on Steam.

Highly praised for it's design and originality, but I just really dig the idea of a procedurally generated adventure. Rogue Legacy is a genealogical RPG with a twist of Ghosts and Goblins.

Each time you die, your are succeeded by your child (that's the genealogical RPG mechanic). What makes this really interesting is that every child is unique. One child might be colorblind, or another might have tourettes; even hypergonadism gets a mention. It was tourettes that got my attention.

Like Ghosts and Goblins, this game is hard. Fortunately, every time you die all the gold you've collected can be used to upgrade you manor, giving your next child an inheritance and thus another (better) chance at defeating evil.

Take a look at the official trailer here. I'd really love to hear from others whom are actually playing. Think I'll have to grab it while it's 40% off.