Quikhax Show–Episode 6

by: QUIK

Join me on a short but fun Christmas tour of my city, Warsaw. Merry Christmas geeks and nerds!

Christmas walk around Warsaw with Quikhax =)

Galcon Fusion

Review by: QUIK

I think Galcon Fusion’s style of gameplay is best described on the Galcon wikipedia page. I’m going to quote it for you guys:
”Players start with 1-3 home planets and send off ships to conquer other planets around them. The numbers on each planet indicate how many ships it will take to conquer them. The numbers on a player's own planet indicate the amount of ships that their planet holds. Each planet a player owns produces ships for that player with more ships at a faster rate produced depending on the planet's size. Players can select what percentage of the ships to send from a planet and players can redirect ships in midair. The aim of the game is to defeat the other player(s).”

Sounds simple enough. The game feels very casual yet is very addictive to play. There are many different game modes to play on, each one holding it’s own unique type of challenges. The game costs less then 10 euros (8,99 at the time this review came out), which is not too expensive, however I would wait for a sale on Steam to pick it up. The game’s price tag can drop significantly and I’ve noticed this game often comes in indie game pack sales on Steam (which I think is how I got it myself). Last thing I wanted to mention was the game’s music which feels very retro and true to the gamestyle, the only complain I would have with it is that it feels a bit repetitive at times.

Raspberry Pi

Preview by: LADIESWEB

Ladiesweb Dec 10, 2011

What is the Raspberry Pi?
The Raspberry Pi is a full on computer that will cost you $35. No, really, it's a full computer, and it's only $35.
You won't be able to run the latest games on these computers, but that's not the point of these computers. These computers are being made by a charity out of the UK, they hope to make these computers available to schools for kids to learn on. The project went through a lot of trouble to get the cheapest parts that are still reliable, to get these prices down. They want these machines to be available to anyone who wants one because they want kids to learn how computers work.
Since these boards are affordable to most people at $35 for the most expensive model, the Raspberry Pi people hope that it will allow kids to get one of their own and get them learning how to really use computers, more than just for playing video games and going to facebook. The hope is that kids will go back to the old hacker way, not the way hacker is used today, but the way it used to be, to discover and learn how to get things to work for you.

This computer comes with many computer code compilers in it, ready to go. Also, this computer runs Linux as its Operating System. Though the hope is to get kids using these, and wanting to learn with them, the Raspberry Pi people understand that it will take some time for that to happen, instead these first boards are more for the hobbyists. The hobbyists are from people like me, who can can just about create a "Hello World!" program, to those that have big plans of intergrating these boards into devices and writing full programs for them. Both sides of the hobbyists seem just as excited about this board as the other.

I refer to this computer as a board because that's what it is, there is no case, just a naked board, the size of a credit card. It requires no cooling, and can do quite a bit. You can find videos on youtube of people running quake 3 on this thing.

The R-Pi will have two video outputs, an HDMI and a composite video output. I think having composite is a great idea because it means that televisions, televisions without HDMI that is, can be used as the monitor. These are being marketed as cheap computers, so being able to use your own TV as your monitor is a nice solution to not having to go out and buy a monitor.

The R-Pi will also have 2 USB ports, a power port, 1 audio jack, an ethernet port, and uses an SD card as storage. The USB ports are standard USB 2. Because of the power limitations, if you're planning to use a USB hub for more ports it sounds like you'll want to be sure that you're using a powered hub. The power port for the board is a 5V micro-USB. I like this because it means I can use my Kindle charger for this, and most people have this same thing from one device or another around their house these days, and even if they don't they are only a dollar or two off Amazon.

The Raspberry Pi will come in two models to begin with, Model A and Model B. Model A does not have the ethernet port, has 128MB of RAM, and has only one USB port. The model A does draw less power though, 500mA (2.5 Watt). Model B will have 256MB of RAM, and draws 700mA (3.5Watt). While Model B will cost $35, Model A will cost less, at $25.

What Linux Operating Systems will this computer run? So far the supported Operating Systems are versions of Debian, Fedora, and Arch Linux. These OSs can be downloaded and put on the SD card yourself, or if you'd rather, you'll be able to buy SD cards on the website with them already installed and ready to go once the site starts taking orders.

There is no pre-ordering for these boards. The only thing that can be bought off the site right now are little Raspberry Pi stickers to test out their online ordering system. The release date will be here soon. The hope is to have these start full production by the end of this year (2011). For the first two weeks they will only be purchasable if you also pay the price twice, for charity, after those two weeks are up, they will be the final price of $35 and $25.

Once these start being geared more toward the students, as is the plan, we will start to see booklets and tutorals put out from Raspberry Pi for these systems. As it already is, there are youtube videos given by some people that already have an early version of these from testing versions available to watch on youtube.

Quikhax Show–Episode 5

by: QUIK

Zombie Apocalypse

Review by: QUIK

I just spent my day off mostly destroying zombies in Zombie Apocalypse (360 version). What do you need to know about the plot of this game? Zombies are attacking. You get plenty of of weapons to choose from, have fun destroying them and helping survivors get away in a chopper. It’s crazy, it’s a bit addictive and just plain old fun. It’s a typical shoot ‘em up game, you shoot like crazy and never stop and hope to survive as long as you can. There are a few different stages in which you can take advantage of surrounding environment to take out more zombies and often in fun or funny ways. There are plenty of different of types of zombies to keep the game interesting and fresh for the duration of 55 days you must survive in this post-apocalyptic hell hole. Sometimes a stage will differ by being completely dark with only small area of light surrounding you and your very near environment. It’s really hard to sell this game because you can’t really make it sound like anything more then a mindless violent fun but that is the game’s strongest side! I spent most of today playing this crazy game and I can barely type this review because my hands hurt from playing! It is a very worthy purchase for 800 MS points considering how much fun you can have with this game. Oh, and the game comes in many different modes that you unlock by completeing modes and multi-player co-op which is an obvious tribute to the Left 4 Dead games. The game comes with 12 achievements (trophies for you PSN gamers) out of which I completed 8 and I’ll definitely work to complete the final four. Have fun killing those crazy zombies people/

The Adventures of Tintin: The Game

Honest review by: QUIK

Ubisoft has made a game that could be advertised as “your first platformer game”. The level designs smoothly transition between TPP levels and side-scrolling platformer gameplay as well as nicely designed vehicle missions (flying a plane, riding a motorcycle). The music and the level design is very nice, something you would definitely enjoy playing with your whole family. The only problem is – the game is far too easy and hence a bit boring at times.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a huge side-scrolling platformer fanboy. I would even go as far as to say that it is my favorite game genre of all time. When it comes to that type of game I feel like a man in the desert dying of thirst and I desperately reach out for any drop of water I can find. At first glance The Adventures of Tintin seems like a tall, icy, refreshing glass of mineral water. The first couple of levels made me think: “Yes, this is a bit easy but I’m sure it’s just a sort-of tutorial and it will become more challenging, this is what I’ve been waiting for!”. Unfortunately, it never gets more challenging and you realize you’re drinking a glass of ice water mixed with a pound of sugar. For a second you feel your thirst quenched but immediately after you finishing drinking you feel more thirsty then before.

As I have mentioned before though, I feel this is a perfect title to introduce your kids to a platformer genre of video games if they’ve never played one. It’s easy enough for them not to get frustrated and fun enough to leave them wanting more. Just make sure the next title you make them play is Donkey Kong Country.

I also was going to complain about the length of the game. After finishing the main story line I felt like it was a bit too short but then I tried the really fun co-op mode. Brand new levels with an option to play with a friend (or solo). It’s like a whole other game but with a lot more things to collect for all you completionists out there.

Do I recommend The Adventures of Tintin: The Game? Yes. If you can get it for $15 or less and if you have a kid you’ll play this game with. Definitely made me want to check out the comic book.

Quikhax Show–Episode 4

By: QUIK

Very special episode this week guys! We have a special guest interview and we’re doing a review of Star Wars: The Old Republic MMORPG coming soon. It’s a little longer then the regular episodes but I hope you’ll watch the entire thing and enjoy it none the less.

Editing new episode

by: QUIK

Editing new episode of the Quikhax Show. This is going to be a very special episode too, can you guess what it will be about?