Next Time, We’ll Skip July

Compared to June, July is an absolute snore-fest. Generally the news around the industry drops, where there’s no real news on games. Most news was released at E3 2012, and whatever wasn’t released at E3 is under-wraps for Gamescom 2012. July is literally the ‘piggy-in-the-middle’.

Fortunately for you, we try to keep things interesting. While we get that we don’t always succeed, we aim to bring you some sort of content — even if it’s something we made up. And with that in mind I’d like to ask you, have you seen Caveshen’s satire articles? He really tried hard this month, and some of them are a bit of a chuckle.

As for games which released, there was almost nothing. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD and Test Driver: Ferrari Legends. Boring — even from a racer’s standpoint.

On the technology front, Microsoft revealed that their Surface tablet will launch with Windows 8. If you remember, we spoke about the tablet in last month’s column. I voiced my opinions and thoughts, where Theo Lubbe had a bit of fun in the comments. As usual.

Windows 8 seems quite interesting. Although, it seems a bit different. We’re hearing rumours that it will limit what people can do, where it might limit games too. Microsoft might want money for certain things, which seems a bit unfair. I read that Gabe Newell said that if Microsoft pull a stunt with Windows 8, they’ll move platforms and try to focus on Linux or something. And for Gabe Newell to say that, it’s big. For those unsure of who he is — Gabe Newell is the boss-man of Valve, where Steam was made as successful as it is on the PC via Windows. Despite all that, the OS is expected to release in October – but I don’t think I’ll move over just yet. You?

In a change of events, Apple might actually make their mobile devices a little more connection-friendly. While Apple devices can link seamlessly with other Apple products, it was revealed that there might be a new application which can turn your iPhone into a universal remote for other devices too. But not just any universal remote. Instead, the application can sync to your PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 where the iPhone can become a remote for that device, therefore you can use your iPhone as a media center- and perhaps even a game-controller. I’m excited about this as it will eliminate the need to find the pesky console remote. Also it might be interesting to troll players playing with your phone as remote.

On the topic of technology, it seems that Electronic Arts has finally found a way to use Kinect in FIFA. The upcoming FIFA 13 title will offer players the ability to use Kinect in manager mode, where you can pretty much shout out commands and the game will do it. You can tell them to pass, or you can substitute players. If things don’t go your way, you can swear at the referee where he will change his mood and how he responds to you. In other words, he might become a little more strict when you make a mistake. It’s an interesting change and it might help manager mode a bit, but I worry about its practicality in the actual game.

While that might make you happy, July was actually a bit of a concerning month. Quite a few people passed away either due to either stupid mistakes or stupid people. The first person to pass was a Taiwanese man who played Diablo III for 40 hours straight. This isn’t the smartest thing you can do, in fact, I struggle to think why anyone would ever want to do this. His decision to keep going was fatal. I bet it was tougher than Hardcore mode, too.

Following that, a worse story was the Aurora incident leaving 12 people dead and 58 wounded. In Aurora, Colorado a man named James Holmes went to the Batman: The Dark Knight Rises premiere where he open fired his gun into the crowd. Initially people thought that he was just dressing up for the event, a cosplay type thing, however this wasn’t the case at all. He was dressed the way he was to actually kill people. Unfortunately an absolute shame these kind of people exist.

In competitive news, the London Olympics started at the end of July. So far, South Africa has won two gold medals — both for swimming. Well done to Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh — you guys did great. We’re proud — and good luck to the rest of competing. And, if you’re into the Olympics but cannot do anything athletically, why not play the game?

On the topic of competitive things, the games for ESWC was announced this month too. There’s Dota 2 and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive as well as a few other games which are generally expected.

For South Africa, MWEB has announced their first Dota 2 Cup. It features 29 teams, the most ever in South Africa for Dota 2 so far, as well as exhibition matches against top international teams. It’s a long tournament with prizes and the ability to play against full-time professionals.

And then, our podcast, of course. You should listen to this every second week.