Welcoming 15 Engineers from Digg Onto The SocialCode Team
I usually write about video games since this blog more an outlet for one of my primary interests - but occasionally something else comes up that I have to write about, such as getting engaged or the exciting acquisition of Digg’s Engineering team!
I work for SocialCode and today we officially announced that we have hired 15 members of Digg’s team to join us and have them improve our social media advertising capabilities. It’s a really, really exciting move that should help us continue to expand our best-in-the-world ability to deliver an engaged, valuable community across social media spectrums.
So, welcome guys! Can’t wait to meet everyone and see what changes they bring to SocialCode!
I was literally thinking about this today. For some reason nobody understands, we have the Diablo III install files on our computers but can’t actually install and play the game until May 15. Even though the final game is downloaded to our computers. That’s crazy. I began to expect that Blizzard would surprise us all and release it early since it’s finished and on so many computers already, but nope. We have to wait so people can buy it in brick-and-mortar stores. Do people really buy PC games at stores these days?
BioShock Infinite Delayed to 2013
Hands up if you knew BioShock Infinite would be delayed to 2013? Everyone? Okay, then.
Taken from “The 10 Rules of Minecraft on Reddit. Just plain awesome and true. Good learnings here for first-time crafters.
I was happily playing my way through God of War III last night when I encountered this. Anyone who has beat God of War III knows what this is, and I’m sure a lot of people thought it was a breeze. I don’t. I hate time-based mini-games and this is the worst offender of all. It’s a Guitar Hero-esque puzzle stuck in the middle of an action game for no reason at all. I tried beating it for over 30 minutes before throwing my controller in disgust and declaring I won’t finish the game. I’m all for puzzles, but what I’m not for is for puzzles that completely deviate from the style of the game and serve no purpose but to frustrate and annoy. /Rant over.
What game is this from? :-)
Opening Scene Script for a Post-Apocalyptic Video Game
This is an opening scene script for a post-apocalyptic game idea I have. The game would be set in an open-world, lush, green United States several hundred years after a massive virus wiped out almost everyone. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
We enter on a man, biting into an apple. His feet rest on a saloon table, music plays in the background. In the corner, a young man reads a book, nursing a pint. We pan outside, there’s a hum of cicadas in the trees and we follow the road through town, passing brick blacksmiths shops, gun shops, and a general store. A horse trots by, feet clacking on cracked remains of a long-gone paved road.
As we leave town, the shops turn to houses. Clothes hang in front and back yards. Kids run down the street. A dog, lying on a front porch, looks up from his nap and then puts his head back down, bored.
We pan over a bridge that crosses a narrow river. We pass over fields, horses running around, and then the road reaches a wall. Built of stone, it rises thirty feet and as we pan up, we see it surrounds the town - several fields, several farmhouses, and the village center are contained within a diameter of roughly 1-2 miles.
“Thomasville, 3:39 PM, mid-Summer” flashes appears on the screen in white cursive lettering. We pan back in and onto a side street. We pass into a backyard and find the protagonist resting in a rocking chair with a wide cowboy hat over his eyes.
A knock on the door.
Woman: “Lucas? You there? I hear you’re the guide around here.”
A pause.
Woman: “Lucas? Lucas?”
You awake, hearing the noise coming from your front door. You walk through the house and answer the door. A young woman stands in front of you in a pair of blue jeans and a wifebeater.
Woman: “You Lucas?”
Lucas: “Maybe. Who’s asking?”
Woman: “Jenna Alcott, Mr. Lucas. I’m in need of a guide and I hear you’re the man around this town who can help me out.
Lighting a cigarette, Lucas: “I am. Where is it you need to go?
Woman: “Mr. Lucas, I just received word that my father in Springfield has just died and I need to get there in a hurry. I’m good with a gun, but I prefer to travel with a guide. There’s $200 in it for you if you’re willing to help get me there safely.”
Lucas: “$200 is a lot more than usual, Ms. Alcott. I’m not complaining, but I’m curious if you’re telling me everything. Out here, a man has to be suspicious first, if you understand what I mean.”
Woman: “I do, Mr. Lucas. I’m not asking you to do anything dangerous, but I am saying I want you to ride day and night and I don’t want to stop.”
Lucas: “When do you want to leave?”
Woman: “As soon as possible, Mr. Lucas. As soon as possible.”
Lucas: “Meet me at the gate in an hour. Bring the money - I expect it up front.”
We see the door close and Lucas leans against the door and blows out smoke from his mouth. He walks down the hall and turns a corner. He opens up a closet and pulls out a rifle, a crossbow, a sheaf of arrows, and a pistol.
Lucas (narrating): “They say the world was once a place with billions of people. They say we flew across the world in a matter of hours and that the cities had buildings thousands of feet high. The ruins lie out in the land beyond, crumbled and falling but I’ve seen ‘em with my own two eyes and I know there must be some truth to the stories. The buildings are collapsed now and the ruins are a twisted mess of metals and rock, but once upon a time, they say, this world was civilized.
“The world today ain’t civilized. In between here and the next place on the map is a wilderness of trees, mountains, creatures, and worst of all, men. And there isn’t anything nice about them. They’ll rob you blind, shoot you, stick you, and cook you on a spit. It isn’t safe to travel but someone’s got to do it.”
—-
What do you think?
This is my game of the weekend. Trying to slowly whittle down my Stack of Shame (which is awesome, by the way) before buying a new game like Max Payne 3.
What are you guys playing this weekend?
Picked up The Witcher for my MacBook Air. It actually runs on it, which is pretty awesome. Looking forward to checking it out. I’m curious about the franchise but didn’t feel compelled to throw $60 at The Witcher 2 simply because I’ve never experienced the series and I’m not sure how much I’ll like the combat and gameplay. We’ll see. Played about 2 minutes this morning after downloading overnight and it seemed pretty awesome to me.
What do you guys think of The Witcher?
And this is The Elder Scrolls Online in execution. Not exactly what I was hoping for. Why the team couldn’t make it look and feel like Skyrim is beyond me. Copying World of Warcraft is a bad strategy. Make your own style - that’s important.
