Salt City Gaming Podcast 002. The Holiday Special.

I'm a little late uploading this but we did our second podcast and it was a blast!!!

Sorry about the abrupt start I forgot to record it locally and the stream started a little late.

Some Mustang Screenshots From Need For Speed

I fired this game up again the other night and forgot just how much fun it is!

It being absolutely gorgeous doesn't hurt anything either.

H1Z1 King of the Kill

Despite owning this game for some time I just started playing.

At the time of writing this the game is still in Early Access which means it has not been officially released. AKA a buggy mess. Considering the developer and how shady I think they are I doubt this will ever see a polished release.

The crappy thing about this whole deal is that the game is incredibly fun! It makes me annoyed that Daybreak was able to strike gold with this because I don't have faith in them to follow through.

Anyway enough of that. Here are a few unimpressive kills I got the other night.

Also if you can play with a group of friends the fun factor goes up tremendously!

The First Ever Beehive Gaming Podcast!!!

Well that was awesome. I'd been talking with some friends non stop about the new Nintendo Switch and I figured we may as well do a podcast about it. Considering how well it went and how much fun we had we may do more!

Something I've been asking for!!!

Rockstar has been teasing the last few days but they finally spilled the beans.

Red Dead Redemption 2!!!

Holy crap!!! I cannot wait! The first is absolutely one of my favorite games of all time!

I want to be greedy and ask for a 2016 Holiday release but I can deal with the 2017 release.

Raspberry Pi In The House!

I've always thought the Raspberry Pi was a cool little piece of hardware but never picked one up.

Well I finally decided now was the time I needed one!

I'm hoping I can use the hardware to learn Linux because I am severely lacking in that department. At this time it is purely an emulation machine. 

Using RetroPie I was able to very easily and quickly get old nes/snes games going.

It's been a lot of fun and I think a great project for anyone that has the interest.

Tearaway PS Vita

I've been playing Tearaway whenever I bust out my Vita (which isn't often) and I have to say it is a really fun and unique game. If you have the chance you should really try it out.

Just Picked Up The New DOOM

So been quite some time since a post. Let's just ignore that ya?

During the Bethesda showcase at E3 last year they showed off the new DOOM and while it looked pretty awesome I wasn't super sold on it. I wasn't really into any of the last DOOMs other than casually playing them. Well after watching a few friends play the game I got a bit more interested in the title and the final thing that put me over the edge was it going 50% off for a weekend sale.

I wish I had picked it up sooner!

I  can't believe how incredibly awesome this game is.

The graphics are absolutely stunning, the pace is fast and relentless, and the music fits like a glove.

My only complaint is the game seems a bit shallow. Go into new room, kill monsters, get key to next room. Rinse and repeat. They have done an excellent job at keeping the environment unique each encounter though so you don't get too critical of the rinse and repeat gameplay.

I really recommend this game to anyone who was curious about it.

SSHD Swap Into PS4

So somehow I remembered that forever ago I put a 1TB SSHD into my PS3. Well the PS3 has been sitting collecting dust for quite some time so I figured I might as well take it out and put it to use in my PS4.

Having the extra storage is really nice but what I was really looking forward to was decreased load times.

I didn't do many tests and they definitely were not lab-grade accuracy but here are the results.

From completely off to on.

HDD = 38 seconds

SSHD = 23 seconds

Waking up from rest mode.

HDD = 22 seconds

SSHD = 17 seconds

Launching Dark Souls 3 (Digital version)

HDD = 18 seconds

SSHD = 18 seconds

Dark Souls 3 loading save file (Digital version)

HDD = 27 seconds

SSHD = 27 seconds

Dark Souls 3 travel from Abyss Watchers to Firelink (Digital version)

HDD = 17 seconds

SSHD 16 seconds

Launching GTA V (Physical version)

HDD = 1 minute 40 seconds

SSHD = 1 minute 37 seconds

So the results for game load times weren't as fast as I was hoping BUT the console wake times were pretty significant. Would I suggest an upgrade to an SSHD if faster load times are your goal? Probably not. If you are looking for more storage then your options are to spend around $50 for a standard 1TB disc drive or around $75 for the SSHD. I don't really think the speed difference is worth the extra $25.

When prices drop significantly on SSDs I may swap one into the PS4 but for now the benefit isn't worth the cost. Now an SSD in a desktop PC or laptop is absolutely worth it.

Ratchet and Clank Screenshots

I have to say, this game is probably going to be in my top 3 for 2016. It is absolutely gorgeous! I love all the colors!!! The gameplay is smooth as butter. The best part about this game for me though is that I've been able to play it with my son (4) and he has been playing it for the most part without any help. I love how excited he gets when you throw the disco ball out and the enemies start dancing! If you haven't yet I highly suggest you pick this game up, whether you're playing solo or with a child this game is incredible. We are very excited to see the movie!

Dark Souls 3 Screenshots

This game has been a blast and also incredibly frustrating. I love it!

Dark Souls 3 Is Freaking Hard

Finally Finished Fallout 4's Story

It only took me 5 and a half months but I did it! Much faster that beating Fallout 3.

Total hours was just over 50. Now I did really enjoy the game overall and the story was still really good but I didn't really feel like I cared about much of the main story or its characters. The real things I cared about were the side missions and interesting NPC's you met. Those were really well thought out in my opinion. Anyway I still need to finish The Witcher 3 AND The Division but... I just picked up Dark Souls 3 so I'm pretty much hosed for a bit.

The Division Quick Impressions

Considering how massive this game is and how much of a time suck it will be I thought it necessary to create a quick impressions video. So far I have been having a blast with the game and look forward to spending a lot more time. This video was created playing on PC.

Current PC specs are an i7 4770K, R9 390x, 16GB RAM.

Need For Speed Screenshots

I've been playing NFS off and on and it's a pretty fun game. The steering is pretty annoying at times, I feel like I'm fighting it a lot but there is no denying this is a pretty game!

DIAMOND BABY!!!

I have hit a major milestone for Starcraft 2! I hit Diamond 1v1 tonight and I am so freaking excited!

I've been playing Starcraft 2 since the Wings of Liberty beta but I didn't really get competitive until the beginning of Heart of the Swarm. I've been on the verge of Diamond a few times but with the release of Legacy of the Void I finally got it. I have to say Legacy of the Void is the best Starcraft yet!

Thank you Blizzard.

New Keyboard!!!

About a year ago I bought a Tt Esports Poseidon Z mechanical keyboard. It was my first ever mechanical keyboard and I have absolutely loved it. A bit ago they released a full RGB version of the same keyboard and it came today!

This is what I need to push me into Diamond on Starcraft! ;)

Don't mess with Deathclaws!!!

New GPU. About time!

Well my new card came today and I couldn't wait to hit the benchmarks!

This 390x is replacing my 270x and it is insane how much better it performs.

In the Unigine Heaven benchmark my 270x scored a 705 with an average fps of 28 while the 390x scored 1487 with an average fps of 59.

In 3DMark the results are as follows.

Fire Strike: 270x - 6368

Fire Strike: 390x - 13008

104% increase

Sky Diver: 270x - 20737

Sky Diver: 390x - 42187

103% increase

Cloud Gate: 270x - 42133

Cloud Gate: 390x - 82172

95% increase

Ice Storm: 270x - 335228

Ice Storm: 390x - 379881

11% increase

I don't know the reason for the small increase on Ice Storm but my guess is that it is such a base benchmark doesn't demand cards as much as the others so there isn't much room for improvement when you're already nearly maxing out the score. If someone has a better explanation please let me know!

One year of Sake Gaming!!!

One year ago one of my 2015 goals was to contribute to gaming in some capacity. I decided to make this blog to share screenshots, opinions, and videos.

Last year I was able to make 42 posts! Some of them better than others but all of them important to me. On my youtube channel I was able to upload 23 videos and garner just over 4600 views!

I really haven't tried to push this much because it is mostly for me but I appreciate all of the views and support everyone have given.

2015 was a great year for gaming. A few of my favorites.

Journey was a big one for me. I know it came out before but when it came to the PS4 it was the first time I got to play it and I absolutely loved it.

 Witcher 3 is so so good, I still need to finish it.

Metal Gear Solid 5 was pretty dece. I'm only finished with chapter one but that's been like 50 hours! I really like the game and always had the itch to continue playing but it just wasn't quite there.

Fallout 4 has been really good. Not mind blowing like I was hoping, a lot of recycled content (a lot) and the graphics aren't the best but it has had some incredible side missions. I really loved the silver shroud missions!

Starcraft 2 Legacy of the void! Oh man. I've never loved a game like I've loved starcraft.

And as for new gaming habits. I've never played an NBA game other than NBA jam. I've been playing a LOT of NBA 2k16 with my brother in-laws and it has been an absolute blast. That game is seriously impressive.

Also I resubbed to Final Fantasy XIV and it has been a great time.

Here is looking forward to 2016!