Gaming

MattPlays v2 - HD Gameplay Videos

I’ve wrapped up a redesign of my gameplay video site, MattPlays. On MattPlays, you will find me playing games and showing them off in a high-quality, easy-to-use manner. Next month will be the first year anniversary of the site, as I had launched it on August 31st, 2007. As of this writing, there are exactly 77 games with high-quality gameplay videos on both the PC and Xbox 360. That’s 23 shy of one hundred! I’m pretty proud of the site, and how far it has come.

My New Site - AudioSurfBoard.com

I’ve put together a new website, called AudioSurfBoard. It allows gamers playing AudioSurf to share their videos of them playing, all on one site, using any video service they like.

If you’re not familiar with AudioSurf, think of it like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but without the cheap, plasticky instruments, or the limited soundtrack, or even the expensive pricetag. AudioSurf’s track-like stages visually mimic the music the player chooses, while the player races across several lanes collecting colored blocks that appear in sync with the music.

Here’s a video of AudioSurf in action, click the image below to view it:

Bedouin Soundclash - When the Night Feels My Song

You can find a lot more videos over at AudioSurfBoard.

How to Record Xbox 360 Gameplay Videos

Recently I’ve gotten a lot of inquiries from people that visit MattPlays.com, asking how I recorded the games I’m playing on the Xbox 360. With this in mind, I thought I’d write a simple little how-to guide on how to record high-quality gameplay videos of you playing. Since it records the video to your computer’s hard drive, you can do what you want with it, upload it to a video service online, convert it to any format, burn it to a CD or DVD to share with people, etc.

For the record, this method will also work on the Sony Playstation 3. I have no idea of it’ll work on the Nintendo Wii, though. I’ll be going through this guide using the HAVA Platinum HD placeshifter device. Other methods involve the use of a capture card or external USB capture device. The benefit of a placeshifter is that it has other uses (such as watch your cable or TiVo anywhere), and it allows you to record at a higher quality, namely at a resolution of 720×480.

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My New Website - MattPlays.com

I’ve put together a new website a couple days ago, and whipped up a design for it. The site is mattplays.com. Basically I record videos of games I’m playing and put them up in high-quality, widescreen streaming Flash videos. I’ve been doing that here at goodblimey.com but figure I’d get more interest if I had a dedicated site for it. Since I play so many games, I figure it’d be neat to share what I play with everyone.

BioShock Demo Movie

The demo for Bioshock was released yesterday and it is everything a gamer could ask for in a game. It’s pretty much why I upgraded my computer recently (and to enjoy future games, as well.) The graphics are some of the best in a game, and the gameplay is unique and fun.

Click the picture below to see a video of me playing BioShock:

Click to watch video

Quake Video - Blast from the Past

Way back in the day, I got Quake 1 with my new computer, a Pentium 100, and all was good. It was the first 3D game ever, and it was very, very good. I have so many great memories of playing this game, and to this day it is still very fun to play. When I got the id Super Pack on Steam, which includes every single Quake, Doom, Heretic, and Hexen game ever made (plus every other id Software games), I took a trip down memory lane.

Here’s a video of me playing a level in the original Quake, trying to remember the secrets areas and where all the enemies are:

Tomb Raider: Anniversary Video

Welcome back, Miss Croft! After countless sequels of crappy Tomb Raiders, finally a version comes out that recaptures that magic of the first two games. This Anniversary edition reimagines the first Tomb Raider, the one I have so many fond memories of, and updates it with modern graphics, new gameplay mechanics, and a remastered soundtrack. I cannot begin to describe how happy I am that a Tomb Raider game is fun again.

With that said, I’ve recorded a video of me in action playing Tomb Raider: Anniversary. Click here to watch it.