Atlus to World: Persona’s Not Dead; Here’s the Games

Japanese game developer Atlus may not be the most well-known name among many circles, but there’s not one person who knows of the company who isn’t also a huge fan. For decades now Atlus has been consistently bringing out some of the finest JRPGs–and other, sometimes oddball genres–in video game history, but one could easily argue that their crowning achievement is the much-loved Persona series. In recent years production of these games was brought to an untimely halt during a severe financial crisis for Atlus and its associated company, Index Corporation, but earlier this year Sega Sammy swooped in to save the day by acquiring the companies and giving them a prominent position in Sega development. The result? We’ll finally get Persona 5, yes, but Atlus won’t be stopping there.

Custom Boot Screens on Android Tutorial

Is your Android device rooted? If so, then you’ve got access to a relatively under-publicized feature of Google’s popular OS: the boot screen animation. Contrary to what you might expect, this boot animation is extremely versatile and it’s completely safe to tinker with as well. The worst thing that can happen is you get a blank screen instead of the animation you desire, but the device will boot normally in the background all the same. And the best thing that can happen is you get a snazzy new boot screen to smile at every time you turn on your device for the day, and that’s worth the ‘risk’, right? If that sounds interesting to you, then proceed on with the tutorial below.

AndrOpen Office – Finally the Real Deal Comes to Android

As Android is based on a Linux kernel, it has long been the dream of fans of Google’s mobile OS to see desktop Linux applications running on portable devices. In the early years of Android, hardware limitations prevented this dream from becoming a practical reality, but these days things are not so difficult. Many of us regularly use tablets and smartphones with quad-core CPUs running in the 1.5GHz range, a gig or two of RAM, and a capable GPU, whether that be based on NVIDIA’s famous Tegra platform or otherwise. Android devices are becoming more and more like their bigger Linux brethren all the time, and so at last we’re beginning to see some solid ports of Linux software to Android. While many of these ports are little more than interesting experiments at this point, there is one particular project that deserves some serious attention: AndrOpen Office.

ThinkBoxly’s PC-Building Parts Guide for Gamers (2013)

While there are a variety of PC builders out there, gamers are the driving force behind a significant portion of such enthusiasts. With the Xbox One and Playstation 4 arriving commercially in only a few weeks, next-gen will soon be here in full force–effectively outdating that beastly build from five years ago. Since both new consoles are based on x86 hardware we will likely see an increase in quality PC ports of new games over the next several years, if the PC is your gaming platform of choice now is a good time to start considering your next upgrade or totally new build. Or perhaps up until now you’ve lived with prebuilt machines, and you’d like to get into PC building for the first time to get more performance out of less money. Either way, this guide is for you–not a step-by-step how-to for putting everything together, but something even more preliminary than that. Today we’re going to walk through everything you’ll need and talk recommendations to get you started.

Windows 8.1 Gave Your Start Button Back? Now Get Rid of It!

Unless you’re running a Surface RT, for which Windows 8.1 was pulled due to a bootup bug, chances are you’re either already running the hotly-anticipated update to Microsoft’s newest OS, or you’re getting ready to take the plunge. There’s a lot of great new features, and the operating system as a whole feels much more polished than the original release version of Windows 8. But at a particular point of controversy is a little icon which once again resides at the far left of the Windows taskbar. It was there from Windows 95 onward, then gone in Windows 8, and then it not-so-mysteriously reappeared in the 8.1 update. Many users rejoiced at the return of the start button, but others (myself included) found ourselves disappointed instead. Not disappointed at Microsoft–they’re just doing what they must to increase adoption of Windows 8–but disappointed at the general tech community that handled change so poorly that they voted back in a feature which was patently obsoleted a year ago.

OStober! Windows 8.1 – Two Years With the New Microsoft

October is going to be a big month for a lot of people in the tech industry. Popular Linux distribution Ubuntu has been regularly releasing updates every April and October for nearly a decade, and earlier this year Microsoft confirmed that their game-changing Windows 8 operating system would be getting its first major update in October as well. If there’s anything that gets a geek excited it’s upgrades, so this week ThinkBoxly will be featuring a special duo of posts covering both new editions of these popular operating systems. First up: Windows 8.1, releasing October 18!

Resident Evil: Revelations – Not About the Zombies (Review)

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I’m tired of zombies. The walking dead have been thoroughly exhausted from their march through seemingly every shooter game to be produced in the last decade, and then some. They aren’t scary anymore. There’s nothing new to be done with them. And no matter how many developers try, zombies just make a bad crutch to lean on when your game is need of some gravity. The fact that Plants vs Zombies exists as one of the better uses of the infected should give you an indication of just where they stand in the industry.

Resident Evil: Revelations doesn’t change that. Instead it just sidesteps the issue entirely and breathes new life into the Resident Evil series without sacrificing the core of what has kept it running for so long.

What’s Wrong With Video Games (A Ranting Response)

This week’s post is going to be a bit different than usual. A friend of mine recently pointed me to a certain video by way of Google+. In it, BlimeyCow’s Jordan Taylor rants about what’s wrong with videogames. His arguments aren’t particularly new or original, but it’s worth watching regardless. Take a look:

Tales of Xillia – “It Just Keeps Gettin’ Better!” (Review)

There’s never a guarantee that an entry in the long-running Tales series by Namco Bandai is going to make it to English-speaking areas of the world, so when one does show up on western shores people generally pay attention. While in the states the series has always played second fiddle to the quintessential JRPG franchise, Final Fantasy, Tales’ more traditional approach to the genre coupled with a unique fast-paced combat system continues to win over old and new fans alike, especially as gamers question the direction being taken by Final Fantasy developer, Square Enix.

Nintendo 3DS XL Review – This is (Finally) the Handheld to Have

While the WiiU continues to struggle to gain a user base, Nintendo’s other current generation console, the portable Nintendo 3DS, is at last gaining traction and a solid following in both eastern and western areas of the world. Even though the device has been around for a couple of years now, there are still plenty of potential customers out there who are finally finding the growing 3DS library of games enticing enough to consider a purchase. For that reason I figure is still beneficial to release a review so that interested parties who (like me) weren’t brave enough to be early adopters can get a feel for the device to see if perhaps after a couple of years it is now the right gaming device for them. Let’s get started!

What’s Going on With Technology?

Nintendo 2DS, a PS Vita TV, a handheld Android gaming console, a plastic iPhone—who would have thought gadgets like these would actually exist? While 2013 has seen some really great new tech so far, lately the phrase that keeps coming to mind is just: “Well, that’s weird.”

3D is Dead, Viva la Nintendo 2DS!

I wish the video after the jump was just an abysmally late April Fools’ joke. Sadly, it’s not. Nintendo will be releasing a Nintendo 2DS on October 12th, 2013 for $129.99. The catch for the discount (as compared to previous models of the 3DS)? You don’t get 3D (obviously), and you have to live with an ugly ‘2D’ design as opposed to the original ‘3D’ clamshell style. These kinds of oddball redesigns are usually saved for a console’s final days–something different to make old news new again and hook one last round of customers into the hardware so that they’ll invest in the software library available for it. But the Nintendo 3DS is still early in its life cycle and really only now picking up the steam of its predecessor. Why would Nintendo do this now?

Chaos Rings II - Square Enix has Still Got it (Review)

Some time ago I ran a review of the original Chaos Rings, which is now available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and PlayStation Vita. In short, I found the game to be a great example of what JRPG gaming could be on mobile devices, if still slightly lacking in some areas. If all you want to know is whether or not Chaos Rings 2 is an improvement, you can stop reading now and go buy the game: it basically corrects every problem of the original and adds a dose of its own awesomeness to boot. But if you’re still not convinced, feel free to stick around for the full review. Let’s get started!

Got Google Play Issues? Here’s Fixes and Workarounds

Android is undoubtedly a fantastic operating system, and it has graced some of the greatest mobile hardware to date. But like with everything in this world, things can go wrong on Android. And sometimes when things go wrong, they go really, really wrong.

If you haven’t noticed, Google Play has encountered something of a crisis. Apps and app updates will still download just fine, but a severe number of downloads will then fail and pull a “Package file is invalid” error.

Sony SRS-BTV5: A Tiny Speaker With Great Big Sound

Just how many different technologies can get involved with making vibrations in the air? Quite a few, according to Sony. The SRS-BTV5 is an unusual little product and one easily missed, but well worth giving a bit of attention.

In a nutshell–or should I say, eggshell–what we have here is a wireless speaker intended to give your mobile device a bit more aural oomph. How much more? Surprisingly, a lot more.

Xbox One vs. PS4 (and which you should get)

It’s been a strange thing watching over the past few months as information on the Xbox One and Playstation 4 has come to light. In the past, console hardware was always vastly different between competitors who attempted to use creative setups to get the most possible power out of lowest-possible-cost components. It would seem those days are no more, as both Microsoft and Sony revealed that their next generation consoles will run on x86-64 hardware—the same technology as desktop computers—with strikingly similar specs besides. This is why a while back I ran a post predicting that the two consoles would cancel one another out and PC gaming might again take the lead. But since then we’ve had E3 and a slew of new information what with all the Xbox One debacles that cost two Microsoft employees their jobs. But as controversial as Microsoft’s new console might be right now, it is far too early to count it out for the generation. With time, the initial Xbox One problems will likely become just a distant memory. So controversy aside, is one console better than the other, and if so, which should you preorder?

3D Printing in the Palm of Your Hand? Yes you can!

3D printing has long been the dream of…well, pretty much everyone. Who wouldn’t like to manufacture their own plastic-anything with a little creativity and a couple hours of waiting time? While initially restricted to high-profile production studios and universities because of 10-30K price tags, over the last couple of years significant efforts have been made to reduce the cost and complexity of 3D printing to bring the technology into the hands of anyone who might want it. And in the case of 3Doodler, that goal can be taken quite literally.

Remember Me – Flawed, but Still Good (Review)

There’s something in all of us that loves to root for the underdog. However, the gaming sphere is presently more critical than ever before. As a result, Capcom’s Remember Me, brand new developer Dontnod Entertainment’s brand new IP set in a dystopian Neo-Paris, was already getting panned by critics before it even launched commercially. Capcom’s reputation hasn’t exactly been doing well as of late, but does Remember Me really deserve all the negativity, or is this just a case of the underdog getting bullied by its bigger, badder competition?

Top 3 Games From the E3 ’13 Show Floor

When everyone thinks about E3, they usually think about the big press conferences and dramatic unveilings that occur on-stage. But those who attend E3 in person have a very different idea. To them, the stage shows are only a third of the experience. The rest happens while weaving through thick crowds all vying to get their hands on a controller and try out the new toys for themselves. And it’s not just Nintendo that relied solely on the show floor this year—each E3 there is a plethora of titles to check out that simply couldn’t get a mention on-stage due to time constraints. These behind-the-scenes games are no less deserving for attention, however, and therefore today we’re going to cruise through the selection and highlight 3 games that can only be seen on the show floor of E3 2013.

Who ‘Won’ E3 2013? (Is that even a question?)

Few could have foreseen the significance E3 2013 would have for the gaming industry. Nintendo already released their new hardware last year, Sony insisted that they would be the last to introduce an 8th generation console, and Microsoft declined to comment about their plans for the future entirely. Crowd favorites like Tomb Raider and Remember Me have now released commercially and will not be making a showing at the conference. What could possibly end up being so special about this E3?