Once again, I'm loving this resurgence of gamers who abhor intolerance (jumbo shrimp), and embrace games for the fun they are supposed to be! This is what gaming's all about - not shouting down and denigrating others, but enjoying games and building an inclusive community.
YetiInTheMist does streaming on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting at 10pm CST. The range of games varies - so it won't be more CoD swearing like a sailor for hours on end, and YetiInTheMist runs regular giveaways and contests.
Yeti will also be at the FIRST EVER TwitchCon in San Francisco at the Moscone Center on September 25th and 26th!
Want to find out the latest news and info about Yeti and the great giveaways? Follow him on Twitter and Facebook!
A lot of people have been popping up on my radar, lately, who actually play games for (spell it out with me) F-U-N! Fun! I swear, if this trend continues, I might just get back into streaming, myself.
Anyway, junnyK is a competitive/casual gamer who likes to (currently) play CS:GO, LoL, with plans to engage any other janky games that come down the line (so one can only hope that means multiplayer S.T.A.L.K.E.R.).
In all seriousness, junnyK is a damned entertaining gamer, and he moderates his channel in a way that's fun, while offering a safe place for people who...I don't know, hate racism, sexism, people bashing, and hostility in general - which is a huge plus, in my book!
junnyK has some entertaining an funny streams, and does regular Twitch giveaways - and you can find out more by keeping up with junnyK on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Steam!
The trend we've been seeing lately is for gamers to really niche down their Twitch channels. The plus side of that is that there are certain channels, and you absolutely know that they'll be playing DayZ or Minecraft 24/7. You know what you're getting, and that's great. The downside is that one can only take so much of a few dozen "ALL CoD ALL THE TIME!" before getting a bit burned out on watching people scream into a headset and swearing when they didn't get to camp the right spot on the map before they were picked off by someone who is just *that* much better. And the cycle goes on...
Enter MeowBitch.tv, where streamer Kitty_haz_Claws is playing games, Monday-Friday from 7pm - 10pm CST.
What I really like about watching Kitty_haz_Claws is that there is a variety of gaming - everything from retro emulation to indie, and even AAA games. There's variety, and that's what is compelling. I have to see what's happening because I know it will always be something different, and not "yet another arena deathmatch marathon."
Between the different games and the commentary, Kitty_haz_Claws provides a great space where people can be themselves, hang out, and enjoy watching streaming that offers an alternative to the "dedicated" bulletfests.
If you watching tactical FPS games (CoD: Advanced Warfare, Black Ops, etc.) with fast conversation between the players, check out Silvabul over on Twitch.
Silvabul is still growing an audience, which means the odds of winning a great giveaway are really good!
Show some love, win some free stuff, and check out great gameplay and conversation with Silvabul - currently streaming GTA, CoD: Advanced Warfare, and other great games. Head on over and check them out now!
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Remember, you can always find me over on Steam, during the odd hours of the morning.
With over 60 million people playing, worldwide, you could say that Summoners War is a pretty popular game. But Summoners War isn't a mobile game that has you tapping the screen mindlessly to waste time - Summoners War involves strategy, forethought, and a complete understanding of the rules.
To help you along, Twitch user (and top-rated Summoners War player) Omgbomber hosts regular sessions to give tips and strategic plans to get the most out of Summoners War.
Omgbomber streams live from 8am-8pm Central, with Friday night streaming starting at 6pm. For all other times and special events, you should head on over to Twitch and take a look at Omgbomber's schedule.
Destiny has become one of my favorite spectator sports. Personally, I'm about as proficient at the game as I am at most multiplayer games, which is to say, I'm terrible. However, if you give me a live stream of players who are not only good at the game, but who keep up funny and fast chatter, and I'll watch for hours.
Take the 86'm Clan over on isharehow. They have no problem making Destiny look easy, while cutting up on each other about who messed up worse during the game. You can catch them on their live stream from 9:30 to midnight on most nights, and you can keep up with their latest antics over on Twitter.
I love good side-scrolling RPGs - from the hectic ones where guns and enemies are flying all over the screen, to the more casual ones that let me take in the artwork and the music, with some fun mechanics thrown in.
Dragon, by Games With Dragons In, definitely falls into the latter category, and was a perfect way to wind down after a stressful week of power outages, bad weather, and deadlines.
The premise is clever enough: The King has kidnapped Dragon's girlfriend, and now Dragon must travel through the land, taking on minions of the kingdom, wizards, and other contraptions in order to save his one true love (and take the occasional smoke break). There are power-ups throughout the game to enhance your flight ability (dragons have wings) and different breath weapons (because you are a dragon, after all).
The artwork is what made me eager to play this game before it was released - it's has a very hand-crafted feel, done in the style of crayon drawings, and the corners of the screen are turned like pages in the book, as you go through the narrative (which is very entertaining, and has the ability to laugh at gaming tropes without pulling you out of the overall experience).
I love games, but I'm terrible at playing them
In short, if you loved the pacing of some of the 16-bit era platformers, with a unique aesthetic and a soundtrack that completes the gameplay and pacing perfectly, then you should get this game. The game is pretty straight forward and forgiving about letting you try to do things, and which paths to take on the screen, but for $5.99 (USD) on Steam I can't think of a better way to spend you gaming money.
Also, this is a very independent production, with a quality that surpasses a LOT of the "retro-looking, procedurally-generated" stuff we're hit with on a weekly basis. Dragon is a really fun game that doesn't try to be anything more than it presents: A fun side-scrolling RPG (Dragon has stats, and you can level up) with a fun, hand-crafted look, and plenty of places to soak in the look and sounds of the game while enjoying whatever vices you prefer while rescuing your true love from a wicked king.
Among Twitch streamers, Arathin90 is getting a huge audience - not just for showcasing great games and being entertaining as hell, but also for his amazing giveaways.
Starting tomorrow (April 17th, for those on the other side of the dateline), Arathin90 will be doing a 24 streaming extravaganza giving out one game an hour (that's 24 games total) along with Steam Cards, Smite Cards, LoL Cards, and More. You can expect to see the latest and greatest, from GTA V (PC) to Outlast, Alien Isolation, Mortal Kombat X, and tons more.
OriginalShen is, by far, one of our favorite Twitch personalities. She's a huge supporter of girl streamers, and can usually be found playing Final Fantasy XIV with the occasional round of Guild Wars 2, CS:GO, or Path of Exile, and a few others. Combining skill with a sharp sense of humor, OriginalShen is definitely engaging and fun to watch, no matter what game is being played.
Many look back at the history of console gaming, and point to the mid-90s as a pivotal point. Nintendo was toying with 3-D graphics. Sony entered the battle with the PlayStation, marking a switch from cartridge-based gaming to optical discs, and Sega - who for years was Nintendo's only real competition in the console wars after the market crash of the 1980s - released the Sega Saturn. The Saturn also ran games via optical discs, and boasted 3-D graphics, but something didn't click with audiences, despite some absolutely fantastic games.
Videogaminglounges.com - a site dedicated to bringing you the latest news on where to hang out and play new and classic games, recently posted a fantastic article about the Sega Saturn. They had the following to say:
"When it comes to original exclusive games, the Sega Saturn was a bit lacking, but still managed to produce some worthwhile hits that left a lasting impression. The first that comes to mind is Panzer Dragoon, a rail shooter where you ride on the back of a flying dragon. Theopening cinematicto this game is still one of my favorites. Another well regarded side-scrolling RPG fighter that was released for the Saturn was Guardian Heroes. The storyline in this game is altered through the players' actions and choices, leading to multiple endings and the possibility of a unique experience with each play through."
VGL has some great articles, but this one about the Sega Saturn really had the great gaming memories of my youth rushing back to me. I highly recommend you read their entire article on the Saturn, and then check out their other info. Videogaminglounges.com has some of the best articles on gaming and places to go and play games and meet friends.
If you like seeing the latest gaming titles on Twitch, as well as a chance to win awesome stuff like consoles and games, then you should check out Digital_Trauma05's channel!
From PC games to XBOX One, Digital Trauma plays not only the latest releases, but also isn't afraid to dive into his backlog. He plays games whenever he has time and likes to interact with visitors and regular followers alike.
For those who tune in to watch, Digital Trauma will be giving away SONY, XBOX, and Steam gift cards, as well as whole console packages.
Come for the contests, stay to watch entertaining gaming at its finest!
Check out WoWAssets.com for all your WOW gaming advice. Because we all need to cut some corners every once in a while. From getting gold, to tips on Warlord of Draenor, WoWAssets.com has everything you need to get an edge on the other players.
If you like watching intense online gaming, you should check out GRIDFULL over at twitch.tv. Ranging from GTA to Battlefield and League of Legends, GRIDFULL has taken his expertise to the masses, and has turned his passion into a profession.
Here he is taking on the train mission from GTA: San Andreas:
Rollers of the Realm is a new RPG by way of pinball game from Phantom Compass, and published by Atlus Games. Each party member (you collect them as you go through the storyline) has its own unique abilities (rogue, healer, knight, dog, etc.) and you can buy upgrades for them (armor, weapons, spells, etc.) as you gain gold. The layouts of the tables have optional quests, should you choose to do them) and you absolutely need to pay attention to some of the flipper setups in order to get your characters into some hard to reach places. So far it's really fun, and the trades off between keyboard and controller on the fly - which brings me to the next part: You'll want to play this with a keyboard. Things like finessing the ball (the K and S keys) and swapping characters (the space bar) are not automatically mapped to a controller (in this case, a basic X360 controller). But that little thing shouldn't deter you from picking it up. Yeah, a lot of people are probably going to nitpick on the voice acting (it's not Oscar material by any means, but it's also not venturing into Baten Kaitos or Arc Rise Fantasia territory, either), but for the concept of of an RPG played out via pinball, it's definitely worth picking up. Rollers of the Realm is available on Steam.
Lords of Xulima is a new indie game
from Numantian Games, which embraces the classic gameplay style of
Baldur's Gate, with a little bit of Wizardry-esque turn-based combat.
The premise of the game game is that you are the one chosen by the
gods to restore balance to the world.
Lords of Xulima has the isometric view
we've come to enjoy from the genre. Combat is easy to grasp, you can
harvest things for crafting, and there is an in-game journal to keep
track of your quests (and there is a LOT to do in the game).The voice acting is great, there's crafting, and you can save the game pretty much anywhere (which is great for people who have real-world responsibilities and can't devote hours upon hours to each gaming session). You also have to keep track of the food your party is carrying - which I think is a neat mechanic for games of this nature.
In the past few months alone, we've
seen fantastic RPGs like Divinity: Original Sin and Wasteland 2 hit
the market, along with revamped classics like Icewind Dale and the
Baldur's Gate franchise. In a world of first-person shooters and
sidecrollers (both of which I enjoy wholeheartedly), it's great to
see some developers keeping the classic RPG genre alive and fresh
with games like Lords of Xulima. Do yourselves a favor and check it
out today!
