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Reviews and commentary on video games.

Steam Link: great for console fans, but you might want to wait

Steam Link: great for console fans, but you might want to wait

Published by Adam on December 1, 2015

My early impressions of the Steam Link after three weeks playing with Valve’s PC game streaming system.

For a long time, I had this problem. Valve would announce these great deals for PC games on Steam, and naturally I wouldn’t be able to pass them up. The issue was that I was actually a console gamer, and my laptop at the time wasn’t really built for games.

So why did I buy games on Steam that I couldn’t actually play? Well, you see, I had this plan to become a PC gamer. I was living in Australia at the time, and so I told myself that when I eventually moved back to the USA, I would build a desktop computer and play all these Steam games I’d been amassing.

We made the move back to the US this summer, and moved into an apartment a little over a month ago. It was finally time–I was ready to build a gaming PC.

Or so I thought. See, I’d just purchased a fancy new TV, and now I wanted to play games on that. I reconsidered my gaming plan. Maybe I should spend less money on the PC–use that for productivity–and get a PS4 for games. But then again, what about all those Steam games?

That’s when I started thinking seriously about the Steam Link ($49.99 on Amazon). The device, released last month, hooks up to a TV and streams games from the PC to the TV over a wired or wireless home network. It was October and Steam Link wasn’t due out until early November, so I had no idea how well this would actually work in practice. But early buzz was good, and it seemed like it would satisfy my two main gaming desires–playing Steam games, but doing it on a TV.

Some of you may be asking, “Uh, why didn’t you just connect a really long HDMI cord from your desktop to the TV? Didn’t you say you’re living in an apartment?”

To which I would reply, “I have a wife.”

Trust me, the concept of Steam Link as a seamless streaming device that avoids the need for long wires is a very good thing. Anyway, it’s only $50! Get over it!

So I went ahead! With the help of a good friend who knows his stuff when it comes to computers, I built a new gaming PC and pre-ordered the Steam Link and Steam Controller (also $50 — I’ll write up some impressions of this product at a later date).

Setting up the Link

My Steam gear arrived on November 10. I was amazed by the small size of the Link. You can look up the specs on your own time, but I’ll just say it’s got everything you need and nothing you don’t. And it disappears completely into the TV stand. Given how easily that can get filled up, that’s totally fine by me.

Connecting the Link to my TV was a breeze — the thing was pulsing on my TV screen before I even realized I had turned the thing on. It also recognized my controller right away without me having to do any setup other than connecting the wireless dongle to a USB port on the Link.

The Steam Link next walked me through connecting it to my network. Valve recommends a wired connection, but supports wireless networks including the fastest available, 802.11ac (5GHz). I’m doing a mix–my PC is hardwired by ethernet to the router, but I connected the Link wirelessly on the 5GHz network.

A quick word about my PC: My graphics card is an EVGA GeForce GTX 970 with 4GB VRAM. My PC has 8GB of RAM. The processor is Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Haswell Processor. It’s not the highest spec PC you can get, but it’s pretty damn good.

Smooth video, but some audio annoyances

I put on Batman: Arkham Knight first. Maybe not a totally fair test, considering all of the issues the PC port has suffered. But the latest patch worked great for me, and it felt just like playing the old Arkham games on Xbox 360.

Next, I tried a game from last generation, Alan Wake, and encountered a major bug with Steam Link — audio crackle. In 1080p, the video ran smoothly, but the audio skipped and made crackling sounds. The next day, I tried Portal 2 and discovered the same problem. The video was running a silky 60 frames per second, but the sound kept making annoying crackling noises.

I started reading the Steam Link forums, and discovered quickly I was not the only one with the problem. A handful of users blamed some kind of interference involving wireless controllers, but most people seem to blame it on a bug related to using a wireless connection for the Link. What fixed it for everyone was downgrading the resolution to 720P.

I went back to Arkham Knight to see if I could figure out why that game wouldn’t have the same problem. Afterall, it was running in 1080p, too. As I went through the settings, I discovered the framerate had been set to 30fps. Shocked I wasn’t seeing the game in its full glory, I upped it to 60fps. As soon as I did, the audio started crackling.

Having to downgrade graphics settings for Link when they work fine on your PC is obviously not ideal. For their part, Valve has acknowledged the audio problems and appears to be working on it.

A recent update (Build 388) to the Steam Link included a “temporary” fix for the problem that seemed to resolve the problem for me in my games. According to Valve’s documentation, however, it seems that the fix merely limits the resolution on wireless networks to 1600×900. I’m still waiting for a more permanent fix that lets me play in 1080p.

Update: About a week after I wrote this article, a Steam Link update fixed most of the audio crackle issues I describe above. There are still occasional sound glitches, but these aren’t quite as distracting.

A lot of promise

It’s great to see Valve releasing a steady stream of updates to fix problems with the Link. And I should point out that the audio issue above is something you can work around. Unless your screen is massive, games still look pretty good in 1600×900 or even 720p. On the other hand, if you don’t absolutely need something like the Steam Link in your home right away, you might want to wait until all the bugs have been worked out.

Waiting will also mean you’ll have more features available. For example, you can’t today connect a USB or Bluetooth headset to the Link. It has USB jacks and Bluetooth, and the Link will recognize them. However, if you try to set it up for action via the Steam Link menu, the device will joyfully inform you that this feature is coming soon.

As an early adopter of the Steam Link, I kind of figured there’d be some kinks to be worked out going in. I mean, the thing works well enough. I’m playing games on the TV and having a lot of fun.

But I’m the kind of guy who enjoys installing updates and finding out what’s been changed for the better. A lot of people–especially console gamers–are used to their gaming systems more or less working right out of the box. They don’t want to play with settings or go to online forums to work out what’s wrong with their setup.

For those kinds of gamers, I really believe the Steam Link can still be a good option … but only in time.

The good news is that Valve seems to be working hard to make this product as perfect as it can. When I’ve had problems with other tech products in the past, I’ve looked online for answers only to discover the vendor had abandoned the product. This is not so with Valve and Steam Link.

But it still means we all have some waiting to do.

Are you using Steam LInk? What have been your impressions so far? Sound off in the comments! I’m also happy to answer questions or clarify any details about my Steam setup.

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Three clever and relaxing mobile games

Published by Adam on September 18, 2015

I don’t play a lot of mobile games, but when I do, I look for ones that get my brain working and reduce my tension level.

Since I’m writing all the time, I like to play something that lets me exercise the logic side of my brain. At the same time, if I’m riding a massively delayed train with a ton of people complaining about said delay, the last thing I need is a game that requires me to do something complicated before time runs out. I also don’t want to play a touch screen game with a complex control scheme. Touch screens in my experience are just not as responsive as a controller, so if I have to do button combos to win at a game, well … I’m probably going to turn it off in frustration halfway through level one.

Fortunately, I have come across a few winners, all of which are available on Android and iOS. These are all beautiful-looking games with simple concepts. Most importantly, they never punish you for looking up from the phone to check why everyone is yelling “Fire!”

Monument Valley

This dream-like game by developer ustwo is all about the visuals. And I don’t mean it just looks pretty, I mean the visuals play a key part of the gameplay. In Monument Valley, Players guide a princess through an isometric world by raising and turning objects in the environment to create a path. The brilliant thing is that this world functions like an Escher painting, or those impossible shapes from geometry class, so that turning a platform on the lower level sometimes connects it to a higher level.

While there are occasional crows (possible band name?) that block your path, they don’t try to kill the princess. Players simply have to find a way around them. It’s also relaxing just to look at the game and listen to the music. The guy sitting next to you might think you’re a weirdo, but hey, that’s his problem.

My one complaint is the game is fairly short and there’s no incentive to replay completed levels. There are a couple of expansions available, but they only extend the experience by a couple of hours. Regardless, this game sticks in my memory as one of my favorites, on any gaming platform, of the last few years.

Hook

This monochrome puzzle game by developer Rainbow Train proves that a strong gameplay concept is more important than fancy special effects. In Hook, Players must find a way to remove all of the parts (in this case hooks) without bumping them against each other. It’s easy at first but gets more challenging as the game progresses.

Importantly for one’s tension level, no one yells at the player to finish in a certain amount of time. Just keep at it until the puzzle is solved. The very basic graphics and light music also keep things mellow.

And no, Peter Pan is not involved.

Blip Blup

https://youtu.be/IzPTwoGsxg8

While it may not look quite as pretty as developer ustwo’s other game, Monument Valley, this puzzle game is another interesting concept that starts out simple and gets increasingly difficult as the player goes on. Blip Blup presents players with a grid that they must fill with light. When the player touches a square, light shoots out in all directions, but obstacles can stop the light from reaching every square of the grid. The idea is to cover every bit of the grid in as few moves as possible.

Like the other games in this list, there’s no time limit, and players can keep trying until they get it right. The music’s pretty relaxing, too. It also has a bit more replay value than the other games on my list because, while a given level might be passed in three moves, Blip Blup gives extra points for doing it in two.

So that’s my list! If you have any recommendations for other relaxing mobile games, please sound off in the comments. I’m eager to give it a try to calm my shattered nerves! Oh, and don’t forget to check out a game I made called Watched Sweeper. I don’t know if it’s clever or relaxing, but it is a game!

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DIY government surveillance in Watched Sweeper game

Published by Adam on September 15, 2014

sweepersplashEver wonder what it would be like to be the NSA or another government surveillance agency?

In Watched Sweeper, a new HTML5 game about surveillance, players must observe a crowd and arrest people who don’t look like true Patriots.

As that old saying goes: “Patriots are the true. Heretics are the damned.”

Once you’ve given it your all to separate the Heretics from the Patriots, you’ll want to check out my novels WE, THE WATCHED and DIVIDED WE FALL (where the above quote appears). If you submit a high score, you’ll be treated to a discount on the price of the eBook version of WE, THE WATCHED.

Screenshot from Watched Sweeper
Screenshot from Watched Sweeper

You’ll need a recent browser capable of rendering HTML5 to play. I programmed Watched Sweeper in Clickteam Fusion 2.5 and used the HTML5 exporter.

Please leave any feedback on the game in the comments below.

Click here to play. Happy watching!

Note: Sorry, high scores are currently broken.

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Dialogue Depth in Video Games

Published by Adam on August 21, 2011

Story-driven video games can be as engaging as a novel or film. But unlike those other mediums, games require some level of interaction with the player. The point of a game isn’t to watch but to participate. But achieving the right balance can be difficult.

Giving the player a choice of what to say during characters’ conversation is one of the most basic ways to involve the player. But different games handle this in different ways. A game like Final Fantasy XIII pretty much bars players from having any role in the conversation, forcing them to sit back and watch. (Arguably, even FFXIII’s gameplay forces the player to sit back and watch, but that’s for another article.)

Other games occasionally pause the conversation to give players an option of what to say. In Fallout 3, players are presented with options that are fully written sentences. In other words, you say what you see. This is an approach that has been used in countless RPGs. It’s a proven winner, but not the most interesting.  The biggest downside is that it pretty much forces players to think before every little thing they say. I hope this doesn’t sound cynical, but people don’t do that in real life.

Fallout 3: What you see is what you say

To address that weakness, Mass Effect goes for a more emotion-based approach. Like Fallout, this sci-fi RPG presents players with a choice of responses. But the replies only give a vague idea of what the protagonist will say.  If you select “You’re crazy,” Shepard (the hero) won’t say those words exactly (he has a little more tact than that), but he certainly will get the message across.

Mass Effect provides the gist of what Shepard will say

L.A. Noire takes the concept a step further, and perhaps too far.  When you are interviewing a person of interest in connection to a crime, you are always presented with the same three choices after the POI gives an answer:  You can guess he is telling the truth, you can doubt the veracity of his response, or you can accuse him of lying. This simplified approach sounds good on paper, but in practice isn’t always intuitive. What do you do, for example, when the suspect seems to be telling you only half the truth?  Sometimes selecting truth encourages the POI to tell you more.  Other people need a little threatening, and “Doubt” is the right way to get him talking.

L.A. Noire: Truth, Doubt or Lie?

Maybe it’s just because I’m a reporter, but interviewing isn’t so black and white.  When I’m talking to a source, it’s not like my only three options are to agree with her answers, tell her that I don’t believe her or outright accuse her of lying. What about asking the question again but in a different, more roundabout way? Why can’t I “doubt” an answer without accusing the person of wasting my time (a quick way to end a conversation)? Perhaps if L.A. Noire gave a little better idea of what hero cop Cole Phelps was going to say next, I might choose the right response more often. Game critic Chris Kohler seems to agree in his review for Wired.com’s Game|Life column.

If you were to ask me, the Mass Effect method to conversation is the winner. It engages players in conversation and encourages gut-level responses so that players to make choices based on their own personalities rather than what they think the game wants them to say.

Agree or disagree? Let me know what you think in the comments section!

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They Didn’t Want Their Comics Taken Away…

Published by Adam on April 29, 2010
The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu

It happens every generation: the kids pick up a new piece of pop culture and frightened parents get riled up.

Video games are the most recent target of adult ire. After several attempts to make laws banning violent games, the Supreme Court announced this month that it will take up whether states may ban  the sale of explicit games to minors. The groups that back bans argue that violent games encourage youth delinquency, increase aggression, and yes, train future killers. The other side–gamers and civil-liberties wonks, mainly–say banning games violates freedom of speech. Besides, they contend, an industry-run parental ratings system gives parents control over the games their kids play.

Interestingly, this fight has played out before. When today’s angry parents were children, they had to defend their own controversial hobby: comic books.

I recently read a great book on the subject, The Ten-Cent Plague by David Hajdu.  The author chronicles the panic that ensued in churches, local communities and the Congress… and the parallels abound. Like games, comics were blamed for acts of violence when it turned out the bully owned a few illustrated stories about criminals. The comic book industry even tried protecting itself from government intervention by establishing a “comics code.”

It seems that history is repeating itself. One can only wonder what today’s gamers won’t want their kids doing.

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