TDH: Portfolio » Games

Living Hyboria, Blogging the Age of Conan MMORPG

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:09:15 +0000

Age of Conan is an excellent MMORPG, I’m totally addicted, which is fun. I’m playing with a couple of friends of mine, fellow Swedes, so we figured why not blog a bit about it?

Enter Living Hyboria. For now it’s just a simple pre-release beta-thingy, but it’ll get its own design soon enough. Expect a couple of updates each week.

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Installing PlayStation3 Games Feels Weird

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 15:05:12 +0000

And it takes time as well! Seriously, 10 minutes and just 78% of Everybody’s Golf: World Tour is installed. I enjoy consoles because of their simplicity (and me getting away from the desktop), but this is ridiculous.

Oh wait, did I call it a console? Today’s consoles are computers, not counting the Wii, which is still “just” a games machine. I’m not sure I like where this is heading, but then again the Wii’s the one leading the race at the moment, so I might not be the only one?

Then again, Sony did get me to get early on both DVD and Blu-ray thanks to the PlayStation brand, so maybe they’re not so far off after all…

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Relaxing Gameplay

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 21:48:11 +0000

I’ve learned something these last two weeks, time spent resting and trying to keep up with the essentials in work and life. Being ill can hit you hard, and although I didn’t have to go to the hospital or anything, it sure can be a bit more than a nuisance nonetheless.

But I’ve learned something, and that’s good. Something to help me relax and unwind, when my mind doesn’t want to, and books won’t do it for me.

Stephen King, whose On Writing I’ve mentioned before, said that you shouldn’t have any distractions in your writing area. In fact, I’d say that software like WriteRoom and DarkRoom rely on people like you and me being too undisciplined to stay focused on our writing, rather we’re checking our e-mails, feedreaders, and watch people get hurt on YouTube. He’s right, of course, but what’s funny is that he mentions videogames as something that shouldn’t be in your study, or wherever you write.

Well, I’ve learned that I now can play videogames to both relax and unwind. It’s almost meditative, which is a true eye-opener to me.

Maybe I’m slow, but leisure gaming have been something I’ve been torn about for a long time. In 1998 I started to review games for a living, and I did that up until Spring 2007, when I sold my sites – videogame sites which I ran, edited, and ruled. It might be hard to grasp, but reviewing games is hard work. You’re constantly under pressure, especially when doing it for an online publication since being early with a review will show in your stats, and when you’re done you’ve got to move on from the game since there’s another five gathering dust on your desk.

Crazy. A crazy fun world for a kid, a games reviewer turned acknowledged games writer – but a world that was getting older each year.

So I’ve had a pretty conflicting view on games these last few years. They’re fun, but they’re also a firm reminder of work.

Learning to play videogames again feels great! It didn’t happen over night, of course, but during this time of an illness not wanting to let go, I had to do something to unwind, to stop me from feeling the pressure of things I knew I was supposed to do, but shouldn’t due to health issues.

I’d like to thank the developers of Eternal Sonata and Super Mario Galaxy. You’ve helped me relax and unwind, and you’ve returned to me that lovely state of mind where I can just turn everything off and jump into a whole different world. I’ve been doing that with books and writing for a long time, but sometimes you just need a quick fix with no need to actually perform, as in writing, or to take in techniques and that whole new language, as in reading.

Videogames are doing that for me now.

And that’s why I’m going against Stephen King on this one. Taking a 30 minute break for a few quick rounds in a game is a good thing for me.

It might be the same for you.

The cast of characters from Eternal Sonata, available on Xbox 360

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Slevel going down the drain – do you MMORPG?

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Wed, 02 May 2007 08:15:05 +0000

Well, hopefully not. Online gaming blog Slevel, which I started and Petter have managed for me, will be closed down or sold, unless some brilliant MMORPG freak shows up at my doorstep. It’s a shame, ’cause it’s a nice little blog really.

Why is it going down? Well, Petter’s new employer won’t let him blog about games for me. I think it’s pretty silly but fine, since Petter wants this new gig I’ll just settle with being happy for him. A few words in his goodbye post.

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PlayStation3 – putting women in the ceiling

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:06:18 +0000

For once I decided to show up at a gaming PR event, probably the event this year. The Swedish PlayStation3 launch party sported A and B-list celebrities, free booze, a Lebanese buffet that I never got near, way to many people and a whole bunch of PlayStation3 demo stands that wasn’t as crowded as the bar.

Oh, and a bikini model on a swing in the ceiling.

There are some photos up in this post on Kong, as well as a few from the midnight launch at a big retailer in Stockholm. Don’t try to read it unless you know Swedish, just scroll down.

All in all I had a nice evening and I got to meet up with a lot of people I haven’t seen in a while. In spite of that, I’m guessing it’ll be another year before I attend a gaming PR event again. It’s just not my cup of tea.

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Launching Slevel, more poison for WoW junkies, and more

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Sun, 14 Jan 2007 15:58:13 +0000

I’m happy to announce the launch of Slevel, a blog about massive online games. Yes, that includes the one commonly labeled with MMORPG, also known as massive multiplayer online role-playing games. And yes, that does indeed include a certain game called World of Warcraft, as well as others.

We’re starting out softly with coverage limited to a few online games, but will definitely expand when the time feels right. That could be whenever a dedicated blogger comes along, or someone in the Slevel staff gets hooked on a new game.

This is the second blog in the sub-network about computer and videogames. The first one was Live Arcade Review (launch post), and I’m expecting to announce the third one in the not so distant future. Number four is still due sometime after March.

Oh, and just so you know: Live Arcade Review is doing great so far. That’s nice. It even got dugg, at least a bit. For more on that, check out the launch post.

Visit Slevel and have a looksie, why don’t ya?

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First blog launch in 2007: Live Arcade Review

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 16:30:39 +0000

Say hello to Live Arcade Review, the first blog in the sub-network of blogs about computer and videogames mentioned earlier!

Basically it’s all about Xbox Live Arcade, with news, reviews and information. If you’re an Xbox 360 gamer you’ll want to check it out I’m sure. There’s a number of back-catalog reviews in the works, with five more already finished and geared up for publishing in the coming week. Expect on-going Live Arcade coverage.

Three more blogs are planned for this sub-network at the moment. The second launch is due very soon, with the third one not so far behind. Launch number four will have to wait until after March most likely.

Enough about that. Check out Live Arcade Review and let me know what you think!

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PTD Holiday Issue is out, exciting stuff coming in 2007

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 15:00:19 +0000

The holiday issue of PTD, the PDF magazine where yours truly is a regular contributor, is out now. It sports a cleaner look, as well as an in-depth focus on the new generation gaming systems.

There’s also a hint on one of the upcoming sites in my network, if you look closely…

Anyway, I’ll let you see for yourself. Go check it out.

PTD is evolving as well, and I’m glad to be part of it. I’d love to say more, but you’ll just have to wait and see. 2007 will be a good year for PTD, I’m sure.

Also, I would talk more about this if I felt better, but you’ll have to settle for the last page in th PDF. Think I’m coming down with something. It might be the Wii disease…

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The gaming world, solitaire style

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Fri, 20 Oct 2006 21:00:19 +0000

What is it with solitaires? I would never take out a deck of cards and lay out a game of Solitaire (you know, the traditional kind) nor would a open up the (purely fictional, unfortunately) box of Mah-Jong bricks to do a solitaire set-up there either.

No way would I play Memory with myself.

And then a game comes along for the Nintendo DS or PSP. Err, scratch that – the PSP’s lacking still. Poor Sony…

Anyway, a game comes along with a few of these solitaire games as extras. What did I get the most out of in Super Mario 64 DS? Well, I visited Luigi’s Casino of course, forgetting about the 3D platformer that reinvented a whole genre.

My latest poison is 42 All-Time Classics for the DS, known as Clubhouse Games in the States. Classic card and board games has never been as addicted, and this surely rivals Tetris DS for my online gaming time via wifi. Chess is a marvelous game and setting it up anytime I like, with live opponents, is something I truly enjoy. Sure, it hasn’t got that classic feel to it that my marble board and pieces from Morocco delivers whenever I touch it, but it’s hard to find chess players these days and even harder to get them to play me.

And when night crawls in and I feel like doing something to empty my mind before going to sleep, I lay out a digital solitaire game of Mah-Jong or traditional Solitaire with cards. I do it over and over again, in almost meditative fashion, and I wonder why I never bought those ivory bricks in Stockholm in 1997.

The whole world is a press of a button away these days, even for gamers. Graphics are stunning and I have a crisp HDTV to play around with.

And here I am, playing the classics by myself. Again and again.

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PTD #11 is out now

Thord Daniel Hedengren — Mon, 18 Sep 2006 10:38:43 +0000

The eleventh issue of PDF gaming magazine PTD is out now. I’ve been acting as production assistant this time as well, although not with as much work as last time. A lot less actually…

Anyway, two (was it, I forgot?) articles from yours truly can be found in its pages, so you should go get it right away. It’s free.

Oh, and if that doesn’t appeal to you then perhaps the upcoming PS3 giveaway will.