Saturday 29 December 2012

ANNOUNCEMENT: No article this week!

Sorry guys! This week I'm visiting my friend Kyle up in Hokkaido. I'll still have my regular article next Wednesday over at Non-Fiction Gaming, but I won't really have time to keep up with this week's news!

I'd like to take this time to take in some reader feedback. Are there ANY suggestions you can offer me, for both my Saturday roundup here, or my weekly article at Non-Fiction Gaming? I was possibly considering doing the news in a video format, although that may take longer and mean only one news article every two weeks instead of every week.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and I'll see you next year for another year of Steve's Game Blog!


Highlights of 2012:

Saturday 22 December 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other tidbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:
  • WarZ released on Steam this week. Don't buy it (well, you can't even if you wanted to*). WarZ, the open-world zombie MMO, is a reskin and redesign of Hammerpoint's failed War Inc. designed to ride on the coattails of hugely popular ARMA 2 mod DayZ. The game is still officially in Beta (alpha?), yet the Steam release was incredibly misleading, with the developers blatantly lying about included features. They have since updated the description after popular internet personality Total Halibut called them out on their bullshit, yet at the same time released a patch that that increased the respawn-timer from 1 hour to 4 hours and added a revive button, where you can spend 50GC (real money) to revive instantly. Stay away from this one guys, and instead keep a close eye on the impending stand-alone version of DayZ.
    *UPDATE: Valve has been listening! The game has been removed from the Steam store and Valve are offering full-refunds for anyone who submits a ticket.
    Enter the dog.
  • The second DLC pack for Sleeping Dogs, The Zodiac Tournament, will be the closest you will get to a game based on Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon. Playing homage to the Hong Kong kung fu flicks of the 60's and 70's, The Zodiac Tournament sees Wei Shen invited to an exclusive tournament on a hidden island, where he must overcome the best of the best  fighters from across Asia and emerge victorious. I really enjoyed Sleeping Dogs, and as I am an unashamed fanatic of Hong Kong cinema, I look forward to picking this one up on December 19th.
  • Indie games? Indie games. The Humble Indie Bundle is back! After a brief hiatus helping THQ try and get back on it's feet, the Humble Bundle has gone back to its roots with Humble Bundle 7. The games included are: Snapshot, The Binding of Issac (with the recently released DLC),  Closure, Shank 2, and Indie Game: The Movie. You'll also get Dungeon Defenders and Legend of Grimlock if you play more than the average price (at time of writing, $6.16). It's interesting to note that the average price is actually higher than it was for the THQ bundle, which seems to suggest that gamers value indie games higher than triple AAA titles, at least when sold as a part of a humble bundle.
  • Remember RAGE? There's some DLC for it. The Scorchers is the first DLC pack for RAGE, and it's available now across all platforms. The package adds a new clan, new weapons, new areas to be angry in, a new "Ultra-Nightmare" difficulty level and the added ability to keep playing the game, even after the story has ended. Am I the only one utterly perplexed by this? RAGE was released over a year ago, and they are only just now pumping out the DLC? Seems like a case of too-little too-late for me.
 Uhhh, Thanks id? RAGE DLC was just what I wanted for Christmas...
  • Good Old Games sells games that are both good and old. They are having a sale to 'celebrate' the Mayan Apocalypse that was supposed to happen earlier this week. You can snag up to 75% off 125+ games, including some of my personal favorites, such as Theme Hospital, Duke Nukem 3D and Sam and Max.
  • Just when I start thinking 'Hey, I haven't played Team Fortress 2 for a while,' Valve appeases my hat-simulator cravings by announcing a major update to the game. The Mecha update will add a new map to the popular Mann vs Machine horde-mode introduced a few patches ago. Players will get the fight the latest addition to the Gray Mann robot army: The Mecha-Engineer, as well as play with a bunch of new weapons and of course new hats.
    UPDATE: The update is now live! Enjoy fighting robots!
  • Valve also announced a partnership with Adult Swim this week, to bring a whole bunch of new hats and misc items to Team Fortress 2. You are now able to dress up your Heavy as Carl from Aqua Teen Hunger Force, or your Scout as a Monarch Minion from The Venture Bros. Previously, TF2 players that signed up for the Adult Swim mailing list received a robot chicken hat.
He solves practical problems.
  • The Steam winter holiday sale has begun! As expected, hundreds of games will be up to 75% off, with new daily deals every day, as well as 'flash sales' changing every few hours. There is also a selection of package deals that will be on sale the entire duration of the event. The sale will run until January 4th. Natural Selection 2 will be 40% off for the duration of the sale, which i highly, HIGHLY recommend you pick up!
  • iPad user? Interested in Tell Tale Games 'The Walking Dead'? For a limited time only, you can download it 100% free! The Walking Dead is the latest in Tell Tale's series of point-and-click adventure revivals, and is their third foray into an established popular universe, following Back to the Future and Jurrasic Park. I really enjoyed their Monkey Island and Sam and Max games, but I was less than impressed by Back to the Future. I have heard a lot of good things about The Walking Dead though, and I mean... free is free!
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article (this week, it's a rather scathing review of Castle Crashers for Steam), and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 15 December 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other tidbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:
  • Megaman returns in Street Fighter X Megaman. The new platformer will pit Megaman against 8 of Street Fighter's most iconic characters, in place of the usual robot masters. The game is being released as part of a promotion for the 25th anniversary of both Street Fighter and Megaman. Best part? It will be released as a free download for PC on December 17th!
  • Last week I showed you how to build your own steambox, but what if you don't have the technical know-how to build your own PC? Don't worry, Valve have you covered, with plans to sell their own pre-built steamboxes. Gabe Newell, managing director of Valve, tells us that "our hardware (the steambox) will be a very controlled environment," and that some people will want a "turnkey" solution for their living room.
  • Half-life 2 has been voted game of the decade at this year's VGAs. The game was praised for it's well-paced, cinematic experience that went on to influence countless other games since it's release. Personally, I'm quite happy with this decision as Half-Life 2 is one of my favourite games of all time. How about you guys? Does Half-Life 2 deserve game of the decade, or is there a more worthy contender and why? Let us know in the comments.

  • South Park: The Stick of Truth is a game that is being made. I don't really know what else to say about it. You can see a trailer for the game here (skip to the 5 minute mark). The trailer shows all story, and what I'm assuming are cutscenes? I don't really understand how the gameplay is going to work. It seems very... strange, especially considering the last south park game.
  • The first piece of DLC for Dishonored has arrived! Dunwall city trials will put your combat, stealth and mobility skills to the test as you make your way through 10 distinct maps that feature a variety of challenges. While I myself haven't played it, Dishonored was generally well-received by critics.
  • Is Valve's hit MOBA, DotA 2, coming to tablets? Android Authority seems to think that the developer is suggesting android and ipad versions of the game are being worked on.

    “We were working on getting DotA 2 running on some tablets,” he (Gabe Newell) said. “That ended up being kind of a disappointment. But the good news is that tablets are getting faster very quickly, so I think we’ll get the kind of performance we want and other game developers want in the near future.”
I feel like the tablet interface would work well with MOBAs such as DotA 2
  • Bioshock: Infinite may have been delayed a month, but that doesn't mean the hype train isn't in full motion! Check out this new trailer recently aired at the VGAs. You'll be able to fight splicers in the sky on March, 2013.
  • What is The Phantom Pain? The 'mysterious' trailer was also shown at last week's VGAs. While it is quite a clever piece of viral marketing, fans were quick to point out that it was most definitely Metal Gear Solid V. What do you guys think? Is this MGSV? Do you even want MGSV? Should I be saying MGSV or MGS5?
  • I am excited about Aliens: Colonial Marines, so I think this recent hands-on that rock-paper-shotgun had with the PC version of the game is pretty interesting. The good news is that the game seems to hold up pretty damn well, and fans of the old Aliens vs Predator PC games will find themselves right at home here - especially in the multiplayer. The one complaint that the author had was that the game felt a little bit too centred on the Marines themselves, and the Aliens in single player didn't really feel like the Aliens from the films. The game releases on February 12, 2013.
(insert quote from Aliens)
  • SimCity is edging ever so closer to it's March 5th release date, so lets have a look at an all-new gameplay video from EA. This video highlights how the new 'multi-city play' feature will work. Even Australia's Financial Review seems to be excited for SimCity, last week publishing a headline that fans might recognize from the original SimCity games
  • The Secret World has dropped it's subscription fee. As seems to be par for the course for new MMO's, the company dropped monthly fees in favour of a 'buy-to-play' model, wherein purchasing the retail client grants you full access to all of the games features. Guild Wars made this model particularly popular, proving that you don't need a monthly subscription to have a successful MMO.
  • Speaking of MMO's, game update 1.6 is live for Star Wars: The Old Republic. The patch brings six new level 50 space missions as well as the 'Hypergate' PVP scenario. Bioware's MMO recently went free-to-play, though it's obnoxious restrictions for free players caused enough backlash that they are currently revising said restrictions.
Will the Hypergate update bring players back to The Old Republic?
  • Want to cash out your TF2 hat collection but are worried about scammers? This week, the developers of the world's number one hat simulator announced the community market.The market allows you to buy and sell TF2 items for funds in your steam wallet. At the moment, it's only available for one-use consumable items (such as keys) and Valve take a small transaction fee from every trade (like Diablo III's real money auction house).

So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article (this week, it's a Borderlands 2: Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage review), and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 8 December 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other tidbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:

  • Forget about next-gen consoles that may or may not be arriving soon, build yourself a Steambox for less than $400. TheVerge teaches us how to slap together a budget PC for around $300. Couple this with the newly released 'Big Picture Mode' on Steam, which reformats Steam for use with your TV and game controller, and you've essentially got yourself a media PC that doubles as a home console. With the Steam library growing by the day, and encompassing the vast majority of major console releases, are Sony and Microsoft's console development days numbered?
  • On that, to celebrate the release of Big Picture Mode, Steam are having a sale on controller friendly games! The sale lasts until December 10th, and has some fantastic deals, such as Left 4 Dead 2 and Braid for 75% off, the newly-released-on-PC Xbox live hit Castle Crashers and various games in the Lego franchise for 66% off, and some game called Wizorb that I know nothing about but holy cow it's only 74 cents!
Steam's 'Big Picture Mode' brings your Steam library to your living room.
  • A League of Legends pro-gamer has been banned from competing in tournaments for a year. Christian Rivera, AKA 'IWillDominate' of team Dignitas was issued the ban earlier this week, for multiple counts of unsportsman-like conduct and in-game harassment. He appeared in the Tribunal, League of Legend's player-participated moderation system, a whopping 9 times and was found guilty for 8 of them. It's nice to see that Riot games don't play favourites, and with this ban issue a firm reminder that even if you are a pro-player, it's not OK to be a douchebag to other players online.
  • Pokemon Gold and Silver are often regarded as the best games in the series, and an indie developer has been hard at work recreating it in 3D in a first-person perspective. Players can tromp through grass and battle trainers solo or team up with a friend for some cooperative play via LAN - a feature Pokemon fans have long been asking for. You can download the game for free from IndieDB.
Pokemon 3D
  • Skyrim's 2nd major DLC pack, Dragonborn, released for the Xbox 360 this week. The game's plot revolves around the player, thought to be the only Dragonborn around, discovering the existence of another, older Dragonborn, who isn't too impressed that you've been going around kicking the shit out of all of the dragons. PC gamers will have to wait until 2013 to play it, and there's still no word on the PS3 release. I quite enjoyed Dawnguard, the first Skyrim DLC pack, so I'm looking forward to this one. Check out my Dawnguard summary here.
  • Bioware is looking to ease it's Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play restrictions. Last week I linked a video that detailed the insane, pointless, and downright cruel restrictions that free players had to endure. It looks like Bioware are listening to the fan outcry, and are planning on toning down a lot of the more mundane restrictions.
  • Blow the dust off your 3DS, Luigi's Mansion has an English release date! You'll be able to bust ghosts with the younger, less famous Mario brother on March, 2013. I was actually quite impressed with the 3DS when the good games started to flow in. There was a point where I was cycling through Resident Evil: Revelations, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus fairly regularly, but I feel like the console hasn't had a big-name release for too long. Luigi's Mansion could be just what it needs.
Who you gonna call?
  • Whether you agreed or disagreed with the ethics behind last week's Humble THQ Bundle, there's no arguing that it was a resounding success, with the bundle raking in over 3 million dollars. There's no breakdown of where the money went (to THQ, charities, or the humble bundle itself), but THQ have seen their share prices rise by almost 40% since the sale began. It's been so successful, in fact, that Titan Quest has been added to the bundle!
  • You'll have to wait an extra month for Bioshock: Infinite. The sequel to Irrational Games' deep-under-the-sea RPGFPS will release in March, 2013. This is the second delay for the game, which was originally slated for an October 2012 release date. The delayed was reported to be for 'extra polish and bug fixing'.
  • Lastly, what does it mean to be a PC gamer? Robert Gilbert, of Monkey Island fame, discusses this topic with rock-paper-shotgun while talking about his upcoming project The Cave, which he says was developed primarily for the PC. It's no secret that I'm a PC gamer first and foremost, so this kind of discussion greatly interests me.

    “To me, making sure that PC game felt really good and natural to play with the mouse – and not just, like, a bad console port to PC – was personally very, very important."

    If only more developers would echo Rob's statements, then we wouldn't have so many shoddy PC ports, who's poor sales are blamed on piracy rather that how terrible the porting job was.
The Cave is scheduled for a January 2013 release
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article (this week, it's a Hitman: Absolution review), and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 1 December 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other tidbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:

  • The humble... THQ bundle? The humble bundle team are taking a break from promoting great indie developers and are now using the muscle of a big name publisher to support their charity. You, as a gamer can profit from this, by picking up fantastic games from their library (including Saints row: The Third and Metro: 2033) on the cheap! However, Ben Kucheka of the Penny-Arcade report says that this might be a nefarious step backwards for the humble bundle. The tenants of the bundle have, before now, been: to support indie developers, support charity, and offer DRM free versions of games to fans. Two of those three tenants has been lost with this not-so-humble bundle.
  • Bioshock: Infinite will not have a multiplayer mode. Ken Levine confirmed this on his twitter earlier this week. Many gamers felt that Bioshock 2's multiplayer mode was both tacked on, and actively went against the feeling and atmosphere of Bioshock. It's good to hear that this time around the team will focus on what makes Bioshock so memorable - the singleplayer story.
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic recently went free-to-play. You may no doubt be wondering how the 'free-to-play' mode stacks up against the unburdened subscriber mode. YouTube user HaasGaming has a look at what restrictions free-to-play players can expect. TL;DR? You get the full 1-50 story experience, but are severely gimped on everything else, with some restrictions (such as decreased XP gain and limited use of transport options) just being downright cruel.
The original Bioshock did not have a multi-player mode
  • The 3DS may experience a price cut in the near future. Been holding off buying Nintendo latest handheld? You may want to hold on a little bit longer, as gamingbolt covers a rumor that Nintendo will soon issue a price cut, with the original system dropping to $139, and the XL, while not being reduced per se, is getting a bundle with Mario Kart 7 for $199. The price cut for the 3DS will reportedly come into effect on December 9th.
  • Baulder's Gate enhanced edition was released this week. Baulder's Gate is a western RPG standard, and the game that first put Bioware, of Mass Effect and Dragon Age fame into the spotlight. Overhaul games have been hard at work on the enhanced edition, which adds a wealth of new features and content to the original game, and runs in the latest version of Windows.
  • Square Enix's Tomb Raider reboot will have a campaign lasting 12-15 hours. This is very good news to hear, as a lot of action games these days are lucky to even break the 10 hour mark for their singleplayer campaign. The bad news? Lara will have the dreaded 'regenerative health' made popular by the Call of Duty games, and won't be able to swim at all. Swimming played a big part in previous Tomb Raider games so i'm a bit sad to see this go. Tomb Raider is scheduled for a March, 2013 release.
Will the new Tomb Raider reboot sink or swim?

  • Naysayers claim that PC gaming is dying every few years, yet indie developer Cold Beam Games certainly don't think so, as this week they announced that the PC version of their hit rhythm game Beat Hazard sold more than every other platform COMBINED. Indie developers have long applauded the Steam platform, which with the recently released greenlight makes it easier than ever for small timers to publish their breakout game.
The  Wii mini
  • Nintendo announces the Wii Mini. The first redesign for Nintendo's popular console will arrive on December 7th and retail for $99.99. The catch? The console cannot connect to the internet, nor play gamecube games. This cuts it off from the growing library of WiiWare and Virtual console games. It's also, bizzareley, exclusive to Canada, although I'm sure that exclusivity will wane in coming months.While Nintendo are no strangers to redesigns, (the DS had 3 and the 3DS has already received one) it does seem odd to release a revision of the Wii now, so soon after the launch of the WiiU. I have a feeling that many kids asking Santa Claus for 'the new Wii' are going to be in for a shock on Christmas morning.
  • Speaking of the WiiU, has it already been hacked?!?! This video demonstrates the homebrew channel, which is used to run numerous homebrew applications, including some that can by-pass region locks and other DRM enforced by Nintendo, running on the system. At this point it's more of a proof-of-concept, but it just goes to show that hackers are always one step ahead of developers.
  • Grand Theft Auto V will not be available on PC at launch, but 100,000 (and growing) fans hope to change that. There's a petition going around that implores Rockstar games to release the game for PC. While all GTA games have eventually seen a PC release, the wait is usually quite long, with the PC version of GTA IV, for example, coming out a full seven months after the console releases. Rockstar have stated that there are 'no plans' for a PC version at this time.
  • Get your fix of new Battlefield 3 content just in time for Christmas. Aftermath, the game's 4th DLC pack will release on December 18th. As well as a series of post-earthquake themed maps, new weapons and modified vehicles, the pack boasts the new 'Scavenger' gamemode.

    "Scavenger mode – an objective based conquest where players must brave the environment armed with only one sidearm, as they try to find more powerful weapons in an attempt to survive with their squad."

    It is available for $14.99 individually, or $49.99 as part of Battlefield 3: Premium, which includes all previously released DLC packs, as well as a fifth, unreleased pack. I stopped playing BF3 shortly after Back to Karkand was released, so I'm not sure how much the game has changed back then. Is it worth coming back to? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
The crossbow - one of the new weapons in Aftermath
  • To all you Zelda fanboys out there, gametrailers have done a full timeline. Be warned, the episode is 30 minutes long. I'm not the biggest Zelda fanboy (my favourite Zelda game was Spirit Tracks...) but I've enjoyed it from time to time, and you can bet your bottom dollar we'll see a new instalment of the series on the WiiU in the near future.
  • Lastly, Minecraft is being used to aid UN regeneration projects. Minecraft is indie gaming's little engine that could, proving that you don't need a big budget publisher to play with the big boys. It's influence has spread from the gaming world to the real world, as the UN are using the build-anything sandbox to model development plans for over 300 places over the world, so residents can see how the landscape will change.
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article, and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 24 November 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other tidbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:

  • How does Skyrim look with 100 graphical mods running at the same time? Amazing. Blogger 'Unreal' says he uses up to 800 mods for the game, although these screenshots were created with around 100 of those running at once. This kind of graphical fidelity comes at a price though - when the screen is filled with grass the frame rate plummets to 5 frames per second. Still, as hardware improves that number is bound to rise, and in less intensive areas of the game (such as indoors) Unreal boasts a steady 40-60 FPS. It's amazing to know that thanks to modders, PC gamers can constantly re-vitalize and customize their games.
This looks like something from 10 years in the future.
  • Borderlands 2's second major DLC pack has arrived! Mr Torgue's Campaign of Carnage has a question for you, and the question is, EXPLOSIONS? This DLC looks to include the arena mode that Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot introduced into the first Borderlands, as well as a host of new quests, weapons, locations and enemies. If you like muscle-bound shirtless men yelling things at you, check out the trailer, and if that's not enough, Mr Torgue also recently did a reddit AMA in-character. Retails for $9.99 individually or $29.99 as part of the Borderlands 2 season pass.
  • Mirrors Edge 2 is in production. Ben Cousins (no, not that one) today announced that the Stockholm developer DICE was indeed working on a sequel to the free-running action game. The first Mirrors Edge was a game that tried to break out of the tired and true FPS formula, by emphasizing evasion and speed over steam rolling through every area shooting everyone. Despite being praised by critics, it failed to meet sales expectations and fans assumed that the corporate machine would simply sweep this franchise under the rug. Good to see that this is not the case.
Agent 47 is back.
  • Hitman: Absolution was released this week. It's been getting some very mixed reviews, with PC gamer dipping as low as 66/100 and OPN going as high as 9/10. More evidence that review scores are complete and utter rubbish. If you want an actual opinion of the game that doesn't shoehorn it into a generic X out of X template, have a look at Rock-Paper-Shotgun or Total Biscuit's reviews, which talk offer different opinions on how the game succeeds or fails. It's out on Steam now, unless you happen to live in Japan (like me) in which case Eidos have a nice big cup of 'fuck you' for you,  and has told us wait patiently until January 24th.
  • Hide your wallets, the Steam Autumn sale has started! I'm not sure if it's because it detected that I was an Aussie, but calling it the Autumn sale instead of the 'fall sale' is a nice touch. The Autumn sale runs through till November 26th, with new 'daily deals' every day, as well as a plethora of 'flash sales' that are renewed every few hours. There's also a big push for indie games this time around, with many of the biggest name indie titles selling for up to 75% off for the entire duration of the sale.
  • Wonder why we see so few video games with girls as the main character? Because publishers don't support them. Ben Kuchera talks to Geoffrey Zatkin, the Chief Operating Officer of EEDAR as they pour over data and come to the conclusion that publishers, being swayed by the myth of 'public opinion', simply won't support a game with a female playing the lead.

    "Games with only female heroes are given half the marketing budget as games with male heroes. That’s an enormous handicap that cripples their ability to sell well."
  • Aliens: Colonial Marines is a game in which you are a colonial marine and you fight Aliens. Based on the popular Aliens franchise, developers Gearbox this week released a trailer featuring their co-op survival mode. Anyone familiar with the original Aliens vs Predator game (the 1999 version, not the 2010 monstrosity) will know that they did survivor/horde mode right, years before the likes of Gears of War and Left 4 Dead were even concepts, so if they just copy that mode step-for-step into this game, I'll be happy. The game releases on February 12th for pretty much every platform (including the newly released WiiU).
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article, and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 17 November 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a (bi)weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other titbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:

  • Gabe Newell confirms 'next-gen' Valve game engine is in development. Confirming rumours stemming from the discovery of 'Source 2' code found earlier this year, Gabe has announced that they have been working on the engine for quite some time, they are just waiting for the right game to roll it out with. Fingers crossed that that game starts with a 'H' and ends with a '3'.
  • Blizzard announces 'Global play' for Starcraft II. Are you a Starcraft player with friends in Europe, America, and Australia? Frustrated that you can't all get along and play together on the same servers? Well, soon you will be able to do just that! There is no solid release date for the feature as of yet, but a rep suggests that it should be out before Heart of the Swarm's early 2013 release date.
Global play will allow Starcraft II players to tear down region boundaries.
  • Blizzard also announced that Starcraft II's expansion pack, Heart of the Swarm, will release on March 12th, 2013. This post on Blizzard's Battle.net blog announces the early 2013 release date of the anticipated expansion, as well as detailing the goodies included in the collector's edition, namely, an art book, mouse pad, soundtrack and behind-the-scenes DVD as well as a scattering of in-game content for Blizzard's three big franchises. I'm a bit disappointed that there is no 'cool toy' in this collector's edition, like the Diablo Skull in the Diablo 3 collector's or the Jim Raynor dogtag in the Wings of Liberty one.
The Heart of the Swarm collectors edition. Click for full-size.
  • But, it's not all good news from Blizzard this week, as they are being sued over security issues. The heart of the suit revolves around the physical authenticators that Blizzard sells from it's online store.

    “Blizzard requires all of its customers to establish accounts with its online gaming service, Battle.net. But it fails to disclose to consumers, prior to purchase, that they’ll need additional products called authenticators to keep information stored in these accounts safe. Even though the company frequently receives complaints about accounts being hacked, it simply tells the customer to attach an authenticator to their account. Blizzard doesn’t inform people about this requirement when they purchase the game, and that amounts to a deceptive trade practice.”
Is there only room for one gaming portable in this industry?
  • Rockstar Games have released their second trailer for Grand Theft Auto V. This trailer better acquaints us with the game's three main protagonists, as well as showing off a number of the game's locales and vehicles. Studious fans have done a screenshot comparison of GTAV and it's predecessor to show us just how far it's come. I'll be honest, I wasn't too excited about this game until watching this trailer, but it's shaping up to look quite good. Let's hope it gets a simultaneous PC release..
  • Do you have a 3DS or a PSVita? If you asked this question in Japan, you might find the 3DS winning by a factor of 47-1. The original DS dominated the PSP in sales last generation, and it looks like history is set to repeat itself this time around. With the rising popularity of smartphones, the market for a dedicated handheld gaming platform appears to be shrinking. Personally, I could never use a smartphone as a gaming platform, as I prefer the tactile feedback that only a device such as the 3DS or PSVita can offer.
  • Nintendo have never been big proponents of online play, but they hope to turn this stereotype around with the WiiU. Nintendo has released a promotional video that details the console's Nintendo Network, Miiverse and Internet browser features. Nintendo's foray into online play in the last console generation was disastrous at best, with it's competitors Sony and Microsoft coming out ahead in every aspect.
  • Some owners of the PC version of Black Ops II are getting a Mass Effect 2 disk read error. It looks like EA and Activision both use the same disk manufacturer, and there was a mix-up somewhere along the production line. In a rather hilarious attempt to capitalize on their competitor's misfortune, Bioware are offering free copies of the entire Mass Effect trilogy to the first 50 people to send in a picture of them with their faulty Black Ops II disk. 
The Black Ops II error in question.
  • Direct X 11.1, the latest version of Microsoft's popular gaming API will be exclusive to Windows 8. Microsoft confirmed this fact while revealing the features of 11.1, which include the addition of native stereoscopic 3D support. While this doesn't really mean much for gamers right now, it means that there will be no future updates to Direct X on Windows 7, and eventually we will have to upgrade to Windows 8 in order to take advantage of new features.
  • Rock-paper-shotgun's John Walker takes a look at the phenomenon of video game pre-orders. Despite the fact that stores always overstock on big-name console releases, and PC release are infinitely available via Digital Distribution, pre-orders are on the rise. He argues that publishers are beckoning gamers to buy their games months in advance, tantalising them with insignificant 'pre-order' bonuses that have become standard.
  • Lastly, Russian criminals may be using Team Fortress 2's hat economy to launder money. Some internet detectives discovered a huge amount of Mann Co. Supply Crate keys being injected into the market, immediately traded for high-value hats, and then sold off for cash well bellow the hat's 'market price'.
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, my youtube channel for gaming videos, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article, and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 10 November 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a (bi)weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world.  If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other titbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:
  • More Skyrim incoming! Bethesda have released an official trailer for the new 'Dragonborn' DLC pack coming soon to Skyrim. So far, only details for the Xbox 360 version have been revealed - it will release on December 4th for 1600 Microsoft points. Going by Bethesda's previous schedule, the PC version will ship shortly afterwards, and the PS3 version will never see the light of day. I quite enjoyed Skyrim's previous DLC pack: Dawngaurd, so I'm looking forward to this one!
  • Video games should not have review scores. This is a sentiment that I, along with many other journalists share, and this pictorial representation of fans reactions to Halo 4 review scores shows just why we should not be tied to an arbitrary little number at the end of every review.
Skyrim: Dragonborn
  • Origin, EA game's answer to Steam is getting quite a sizeable update. New features include the ability to stream game's directly onto popular gaming stream service TwitchTV, as well as add non-origin games to the service (and still be able to stream them). Origin has had a very slow start when compared to the feature rich, bloated library of Steam, and this update may just be what it needs to start to chip into Steam's virtual monopoly.
  • Far Cry 3 has gone gold. It will also release on all platforms (including PC!) simultaneously, a statement that in this day and age really shouldn't be a selling point of a game. Pick it up Nov. 29th in EU, Nov. 30th in The UK, Dec. 4th in NA.
Far Cry
  • The humble bundle is back, this time for Android 4. The popular pay-what-you-want charity drive has run it's course several times already, offering up some of the best indie games out there in one of the most progressive charities I've ever seen. You can choose how much you want to pay, as well as where your money goes. Think charity is stupid? Give 100% of your money to the developers!
  • Fans of quirky wii fighter Tatsunoko vs. Capcom hoping for a western release may be right out of luck. Capcom's rights with the Tatsunoko property recently lapsed, meaning they are no longer able to sell the game, even in Japan. As of now there are no plans to renew the rights, which dashes hopes of both a western release and a sequel for the WiiU.
  • Diablo III expansion confirmed, Heart of The Swarm release date announced. Blizzard's Q3 earnings report reveals better-than-expected financial results, and announces their expansion plans for two of their franchises. No date was set for the yet unnamed Diablo III expansion, but Starcraft II's Heart of the Swarm was given a 2013 release window.
Will free-to-play save The Old Republic?
  • Star Wars: The Old Republic is going free to play on 11/15. The previously announced news that Bioware's struggling MMO would go free-to-play now has a solid release date. Free players will be able to play as any of the game's 8 classes, though some races and a decent chunk of content will be restricted. Access to PvP warzones will be limited for free players, while access to the game's raid-like operations will be completely restricted.
  • Still haven't played Bioshock? Now it's free. Gamefly are running a promotion where you can play 2k game's multiple-award-winning FPS Bioshock absolutely free. This was easily 2007's game of the year for me, and has become one of my favorite games of all time. What better way to pump yourself up for Bioshock Infinite than a play through of the game that started it all?
  • Wii's dreaded 'friend codes' are now a thing of the past, with Nintendo announcing that the WiiU will drop the lengthy codes in favor of a more practical friends system. Friend codes were annoying because they were laughably long, and required both friends to enter in a unique code for every game that they wanted to play together.
  • Lastly, Game Informer has the scoop on some brand new GTA:V details. The game will reportedly have three main protagonists that you will switch between throughout the game. You'll replay certain missions as different characters, as they will each have a unique skillset and playstyle. Los Santos will also be the biggest open world Rockstar have made, with the developer boasting that it will be "bigger than Read Dead Redemption, Grand Theft Auto IV and San Andreas combined."
GTA:V will have 3 main protagonists instead of one
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, check out my new digs over at non-fiction gaming for my regular Wednesday article, and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Saturday 3 November 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a (bi)weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world. If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other titbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:
  • Hi-speed broadband has become essential to modern gaming, and developers Eidos are accusing broadband providers of impeding the growth of video games.With the gradual shift from brick-and-motar stores to digital distribution services, as well as more and more games requiring an always-online connection to a central server, Eidos executive Ian Livingstone says that the broadband providers are holding us back.

    ''Super-fast games will drive demand for super-fast broadband, so, ISPs, please do not rest on your laurels.”

    Ian's sentiment hits particularly hard on us Aussies, who not only have to face broadband that is slower than our American brethren  but is also one of the few countries in the developed world where bandwith data caps are the standard, rather than the exception.
  • The free games included in Windows occupy a special spot in any game fanatic's heart. Desperate for entertainment at a boring office job, Grandma's house or school computer, many of us have turned to the likes of Solitaire and Minesweeper. Windows 8 will feature a completely revamped selection of it's classic Windows games, featuring a number of improvements and additions, with the most surprising of all being Minesweeper's adventure mode. Yes, you read that right.
  • An adventure mode was the one thing Minesweeper fanatics desperately needed
  • Last week, a table of Doritos shook up the world of video game journalism. I am referring  of course, to the controversy surrounding Robert Florence's Eurogamer article, questioning the standards of video game journalists. Forbes magazine has a look at the aftermath of the controversy, and what it means for video games journalists (me) and people who read video games journalism (you). Rock-Paper-Shotgun's John Walker also offers a bit of perspective on what happened, and more importantly, what we need to learn from this.
The leaked GTA V poster
  • Is Grant Theft Auto V coming in spring, 2013? A leaked poster discovered by gamingbolt seems to think that yes, it is. The poster looks real enough, and when you consider the game's development cycle, it seems like a logical conclusion to come to.
  • As last week's piece on Razer's 'mouse DRM' showed, DRM has become a major part of gamer's lives. This youtube video looks at the history of DRM for video games, from it's humble origins as a quirky way of trying to stop pirates, to it's over-development into a tool that is not only ineffective in stopping piracy, but also frequently punishes paying customers.
  • To further highlight the utter absurdity of DRM, developers of quirky indie-game Hotline Miami are actually giving customer support to pirates, posting on popular file-sharing website ThePirateBay with tips on how to fix errors that users were experiencing. Hopefully, more and more developers (and publishers) will start to realize that a pirated copy does NOT equal a lost sale, and invasive DRM is not the way to make more people buy your game.
  • Team Fortress 2, a beacon of free-content update hope in this world of paid DLC nickle-and-diming, has released it's forth annual Halloween event update. This year, the update will have you battle a ghost wizard in a specially designed King of the Hill Map and fight off a special zombie wave in Mann Vs. Machine mode, as well as unlock new achievements and items. As always, this update comes to you at the low-low cost of $0.
  • The Halo 4 hype-train is going full speed ahead. Microsoft aren't letting the seemingly devastating setback of having the entire game leaked onto torrent sites a month before it's release get to them, releasing a gameplay trailer and detailing the game's DLC season pass - a concept that is becoming increasingly popular. The game is also reportedly the most expensive game Microsoft has ever made. Get hype! 
How will Halo 4 fare without Bungie at the helm?
  • Last but certainly not least, Natural Selection 2 has been officially released! You can purchase the standard edition for $24.99 or the 'deluxe' edition for $39.99.  I've written about Natural Selection 2 before, having played the beta and been quite impressed! Check out my impressions for more info on the game
Hey guys. So last week, I told you about my new digs over at non-fiction gaming. I've decided that my weekly Wednesday articles (opinions, guides, reviews) will get published over there, BUT, the Saturday round-up will remain on my blog! The reasoning behind this is that the editing process over at NFG takes a bit longer than I expected, and I can't deliver you the 'Saturday Roundup' if it doesn't get published until Monday.

So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, and check back here every Saturday for more news!

Previous gamer news.

Wednesday 31 October 2012

ANNOUNCEMENT: Greener Pastures

Hi guys,

I started this blog mainly as a way to push myself to improve my writing, by offering up at least a single piece of content per week. I eventually expanded to two pieces per week, and I feel that my writing has vastly improved as a result. In order to further my strive to my ultimate goal, which is to have a full-time paying job in the games industry, I've taken up a volunteer position at a Melbourne based gaming blog - Non-Fiction Gaming. What does that mean for you, my beautiful, loyal friends and readers? Sadly, this blog will only be updated rarely, whenever I have personal thoughts or opinions to share that don't belong on the Non-fiction Gaming website.

I thank you all for your support. If you enjoyed reading my posts and watching my videos, please bookmark this link to view posts I make over at Non-fiction Gaming (and feel free to read the rest of their content too!). I plan to keep up my current pace of two articles per week, so be sure to check it out every Wednesday and Saturday!

Thank you all again, and I'll see you over at Non-Fiction Gaming!

-Steven 'The Taco Man' Bogos

Thanks for all your support!

Saturday 27 October 2012

NEWS: Saturday Roundup

Welcome to the Saturday Roundup, a (bi)weekly roundup of all the important news going on in the gaming world.  If you’re sick of gaming websites' content turning more and more casual, or trying to pass off a single sentence and a link to a cool picture they saw on deviant art as ‘news,’  you've come to the right place. I aim to consolidate and summarize only the stuff that’s most important to gaming enthusiasts. It’s a mix of hard news, interesting features, and other titbits that I feel like you guys would enjoy. Let’s see what’s been going on this week:


  • Does games journalism have standards? Eurogamer seems to think that no, it doesn't. Robert Florence authors a very interesting read that is outraged that more people aren't... outraged over how friendly games journo's and games PR people are, and how willing games journalists are to take 'bribes' of cash and video games.

     'PR people should be looking at games journos and thinking, "That person makes my job very challenging." Why are they all best buddies? What the hell is going on?'

    [UPDATE]: Author Robert Florence has 'stepped down' from Eurogamer shortly after posting this article.

    'I stand by every word of the original piece.'

    Here is an imgur link that contains a screengrab of the removed paragraphs. This is a very sad day for any games journalist that ever hopes to be taken seriously.
No, this man is not a Halo PR rep, he is Canadian journalist Geoff Keighley, and this image of him  shamelessly endorsing all of these products is what sparked the entire incident.
  • Linux fans rejoice, as popular PC gaming platform Steam has released it's first Linux port. Team Fortress 2 is now available for Linux. Steam hasn't been shy in showing it's support for non-windows operating systems, with SteamPlay allowing cross play between it's Windows gamers and it's growing library of Mac games.
Hitman: Absolution
  • The Elder Scrolls Online is a thing that is coming, and you should know about it. Joystiq recently got to go hands on with the MMO. Will TES: Online be a success story, or will it be the latest addition to the ever-growing MMO graveyard?
  • Hitmam: Absolution is slated for a November 20th release date, but subscribers to the Official Xbox Magazine have already been treated to the world first review. The good news is that it's quite positive, with  the review praising the game for being "slick, thrilling and well paced with jet-black humour"
  • Gaming giant Zynga, best known for Facebook sensation Farmville, recently laid off 100 employees. It seems that Zynga's shady business practices are finally catching up to them, as there have been rumors that they haven't been doing so well these days, and this lay-off could be seen as a confirmation of that.
  • SimCity, the successor to SimCity 4 (yes, we know how ridiculous that sounds) has a release date! The bad news is you'll have to wait until March 8th, 2013 to build up a sprawling metropolis and then hurl meteors at it.
  • 'Slingshot' will be the first DLC pack for Xcom: Enemy Unknown. The DLC will take players to China, where they can complete three missions and unlock a new squad-mate and weapons. Xcom received some mixed reviews, with some fans feeling that it is too far removed from the original, yet others praising it's fresh take on the series.
Slingshot's new blaster launcher
  • IGN have the scoop on a wealth of Dragon Age 3 details. The game promises to be much bigger than Origins, feature a home 'base' castle that can be customized and upgraded, and will use the Frostbite 2 engine. Opponents of Dragon Age 2 felt that it's short development cycle led to the game being rushed and broken, so it may make you a bit less skeptical to hear that Dragon Age 3 has apparently been in pre-production even longer than Origins was.
  • I know I've been big on Borderlands news as of late, but it just keeps on coming! The latest being this advertisement for an iOS Borderlands game. The ad was spotted in the Borderlands 2 digital strategy guide, and while there has been no official word from developers Gearbox, it looks like iPhone and iPad users will be able to guide Brick, Lilith, Roland or Mordecai through a series of randomized levels in their never-ending quest for loot.
Dunwall City
  • Dishonored has been out for a week and was released to generally positive reviews, so it looks like ZeniMax is wasting no time on building it's momentum  with the first DLC pack for the stealth-action shooter being announced this week. 'Dunwall City Trials' includes ten challenge maps designed to "test and track your combat, stealth and mobility skills". Dunwall City Trails will be released in December for $4.99 or 400 Microsoft Points.
  • Lastly, we've all heard of DRM for games, but how about DRM for your mouse? Users of the Razer Synapse 2.0 software are finding that the software ceases to function if you don't have an active internet connection. A quick note as this may seem a bit misleading - the actual mouse itself will still function as a mouse, but it will loose all the advanced features of the Razer software (such as increased DPI and macro buttons)
So that’s the news for this week. Be sure to subscribe to my twitter for up-to-date news and blog updates, and check back here every Wednesday and Saturday for more content!

Previous gamer news.

Wednesday 24 October 2012

IMPRESSIONS: World Of Warcraft - Mists of Pandaria (PC)


There’s a reason why World of Warcraft has managed to keep a subscriber base of around ten million users for almost a decade. There’s a reason why people forsake their families, their jobs, and in some circumstances, their bodily functions in order to play the game. There’s a reason why, amongst the corpses of countless failed MMOs, World of Warcraft still stands tall. It’s because it’s a good game. Haters gonna hate, but I think World of Warcraft may just be the best game of our generation, and one of the greatest games ever made. Actually, I should rephrase that. World of Warcraft is one of the greatest games still being made, as it’s regular free content updates and paid expansion packs demonstrate. Mists of Pandaria (MoP) is the latest paid expansion, and today I'm taking a good long look at how WoW has changed over the years.

I’d like to acknowledge that yes, I am a little late to the party. I was unavoidably busy during the first few weeks of release, and have only now been able to experience a majority of the content MoP offers. As such, I see this article as more of a promotion to those of you still on the fence about ‘coming back’ to WoW. I'm having a great time in Pandaria and I think that maybe you might too. Of course, if you are new to WoW, please read on, as Pandaria has a lot to offer to newbies as well.

Is Mists of Pandaria worth returning to Azeroth for?
First, lets get this panda thing settled. This expansion is primarily about the Panderan. Instead of the expansion’s main villain being on the box art of the game, as was the tradition for every other WoW expansion, it’s a Panderan. The Panderan race is available to both Horde and Alliance. 90% of the new quests, dungeons, and other content involve the Panderan in some way. They are THE major part of this expansion, and if you feel that kung-fu Pandas (and not pokemon battles, dancing carnival bears, steampunk goblins, Victorian werewolves, alien space goats, time-travelling dragons, and all the other wacky shit WoW has implemented over the years) have ruined the game by being ‘just silly’ and not fitting the universe, you will find nothing of value here. Close your browser, make a cup of tea, and think about rainbows or something for the next fifteen minutes.

Gone? Good. Those of you actual Warcraft fans that remain are in for a major treat with this expansion. Nothing is hugely revolutionary but all of the small changes and new additions build on what made WoW great in the first place, while working hard to eliminate all of the little quirks that people disliked about the game.

The Pandaren are a major part of this expansion.
Lets start with the first thing most returning Warcraft veterans will do upon first logging in; Level their main character to level 90. The first thing you will notice is that all of your talents are gone. MoP has brought with it a complete talent tree overhaul. Now, when choosing a specialization, you are automatically granted a suite of spells that used to be talents. The new talents themselves have then been simplified to just three choices in six tiers. What this means is that the specs themselves feel a lot more ‘specialized’ and that the actual talents come down to personal preference rather than min-maxing numbers. Many classes will also see some pretty big changes.

I main a Warlock, and they got a complete overhaul of the demonology and destruction specs, going so far as to invent a new resource for each one (demonic fury and burning embers respectively). I won’t go into any more details about class changes; just know that your class of choice will not be the same as how you left it when you stopped playing.

The new talent trees have been vastly simplified.

The journey to the level cap has never been more pleasant. In vanilla, you kind of shambled your way to sixty. Most people would run out of quests and have to resort to grinding boars for at least a few bars every level. The Burning Crusade was a disaster. Thousands of people crammed into a single zone, with quest monsters and items respawning infrequency enough to just make everything a huge clusterfuck of a mess. Wrath of the Lich King was a big step in the right direction, with TWO starting zones easing the burden. Cataclysm experimented heavily with ‘phasing’ technology, allowing players to take things at their own pace.

Mists of Pandaria
has perfected phasing and questing to the point where they don’t actually need two starting zones anymore. Every time you head back to a quest hub, you’ll get three to six quests to go out and complete, often with sensible drop and spawn rates. A particularly enjoyable change is that quest-specific monsters can be ‘tagged’ by multiple players, even if they are not in the same group or even the same faction. No more spawn-camping quest mobs.

The difference between the Pandaren and the original races is almost night and day.
It’s a lot easier on your eyes as well. Looking at the beautiful, Chinese culture-inspired locales and models of MoP will have you forget that the engine running the whole thing is from the same year people thought Doom 3’s atmospheric lighting was top shit. New animations, textures and particles will make you wonder what other tricks they can squeeze out of this aging engine. The Panderan models, for example, are so much more detailed that the models of the vanilla races that it almost looks like they are from a completely different game.

Perhaps most interesting is how alive the island of Pandaria feels. Unlike previous expansions which were plagued by death and destruction, Pandaria is all about life and energy. Memorable NPC’s such as Shen Stormstout will guide you through this beautiful land, and make a lasting impression. I get the feeling that every NPC I meet is out there living a life, and not just a big floating exclamation point. The living scenery, littered with critters, helps to create this feeling of a living continent.

The zones of Pandaria are inspired by Chinese mythology.
While the zones aren’t quite as varied as they were in Cataclysm, they are unique and well-paced enough to keep things fresh all throughout your levelling journey. But of course, we all know that the quest to max level is just the tip of the iceberg, and one of the things that has made Warcraft so great is its dedication to end game.

The good news is that there is no shortage of things to do once hitting the level cap, and the options available are sure to appease every kind of WoW player, from the weekend warriors to the hardcore raiders. The stock-standard pathway of normal dungeons -> heroic dungeons -> raid progression exists and the raiders will fit quite comfortably into it. Improvements to the dungeon finder system, and the impending release of the raid finder for MoP raids means that it’s easier than ever for more casual players, or players that prefer to play solo, to be able to experience all the content the expansion offers.

Dungeons have been pretty much perfected, with most heroic dungeons taking about 20-40 minutes and are a bit easier than the more punishing entry-level Cataclysm heroics. The addition of ‘challenge modes’ which offer extra rewards for completing dungeons within a time limit is sure to appease those who want a more challenging experience. Scholomance and Scarlet Monastery are the newest classic dungeons to receive the ‘heroic end level version’ makeover and along with a healthy serving of 7 new Pandaria dungeons, grinding heroics for gear is a quite fun and attractive option.

Scholomance is the latest classic dungeon to be revived.
Unfortunately, due to time constraints (mostly, wanting to be able to actually have free time, instead of just WoW time) I’ve made a conscious decision to NOT get into hardcore progression raiding. My friends who are raiding inform me that the current end level raids are quite well balanced.

Daily quest hubs are nothing new to WoW, but what is impressive is the sheer scope and variety of the MoP dailies. Blizzard had to remove the 25 per day maximum on daily quests; because they made so many quests that they didn’t want to force players to ‘choose’ 25 to do each day. The variety of quests means that in one day you will use goblin explosives to go fishing, tend to your own, personal farm, help giant bugs fight other giant bugs, use archaeology to discover the lore behind Pandaria, raise your very own cloud serpent mount, and protect the lands of Pandaria from aggressive Mogu forces.

As you gain reputation with the tillers, you'll unlock improvements to your farm.
I’m particularly fond of The Tillers faction, which has really taken this whole Farmville craze and run with it. You can upgrade your farm as your reputation increases, and the vegetables that you grow are very useful for high-end food buffs. Daily quests now reward Valour points, and it’s actually quite easy to hit the weekly Valour point cap just from doing your dailies! The highest reputation rewards are also on-par with some of the stuff that drops in the current raid tier, so you can quite respectably gear up your character without setting foot in a dungeon.

Then, of course, there are the Pokemon battles. Over the year, completionists such as myself have amassed a vast collection of non-combat vanity pets. Blizzard have finally given us something to do with these pets, and, of course, it's battle them like Pokemon! It works pretty much exactly how you'd expect - your pets start at level one and you can either battle wild pets or other battle pet trainers to gain experience. Just like in Pokemon, you can capture wild pets to add to your collection. Once you've trained up a team, challenge your friends to duels, or queue for a random pet battle with a member of the opposite faction. The system copies the rock-paper-scissors mechanic that made Pokemon so successful, with 10 types of pets each having their own strengths and weaknesses.

Pet battles - the latest fun distraction for bored raiders.
So now that we know what returning veterans can expect, let’s take a look at the new race and class. For convenience sake, I played them both together, and made myself a Pandaren Monk. I thought that Blizzard had completely nailed the starting experience with Goblins, as it featured a quest where I drove around town in my hot rod picking up chicks to bring back to my party.

But, they've really outdone themselves this time. The Pandaren starting zone is the Wandering Isle, an island on the back of a giant turtle. It will take you from level 1 to about level 12, and tells quite a story along the way. The Chinese kung-fu theme is very strong in the Pandaran storyline, as it has a simple community of Monks in training thrown into disarray by the sudden arrival of Horde and Alliance forces. As you try to settle their dispute, as well as restore balance to the wandering isle, you will discover the personalities and natures of both the Alliance and Horde. Ultimately, at the end of the experience, you will have to choose a side.

The Pandaren race is available to both Horde and Alliance.
As for the Monk, I only did manage to get him to about level 13, but he felt like a cross between a warrior and a rogue. He has a tank, a DPS and a healing spec, which makes him one of only three classes to be able to preform every role (the others being druids and paladins). In levelling, I mostly stuck with the DPS spec, which revolves around building up chi with basic attacks, then unleashing it to preform dazzling kung-fu moves.

I've played with some monks in end-level dungeons as both healers and tanks, and they seem to preform each role quite well, with the tanking ‘brewmaster’ spec using brews and drunken boxing remnant of Jackie Chan’s ‘drunken master’ and the ‘mistweaver’ spec using tai-chi-like healing magic. The Monk seems to fit well into the current selection of classes, and giving him the flexibility that he has means that the sudden influx of monks will filter into whatever roles are required.

The monk feels like a cross between a Rogue and a Warrior, with just a dash of Shaman.
After Catacylsm, I was ready to leave World of Warcraft for dead. I figured that the engine was so old that everything that could possibly be done had already been done. I had assumed that Mists of Pandaria would do relatively well, and would be the last expansion pack before Blizzard unveiled their new MMO, but now that I’ve actually experienced it, I’m not so sure anymore. MoP has shown me that Blizzard can still breathe life into their game after eight years, and it’s refining of content and features has made it the best expansion yet.

You can purchase Mists of Pandaria from the Blizzard store for $39.99

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