tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59583570002870202312024-03-08T15:17:13.079-05:00PC Games BeatA finger on the pulse of PC gaming - one guy's perspective on games, hardware, news, and moreMad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.comBlogger126125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-86134519095506723202012-12-20T03:46:00.002-05:002012-12-20T03:46:46.342-05:00Holiday Sale Survival Guide<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top:20px; margin-bottom:30px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin: auto;" border="0" alt="No, Steam, no!" src="http://i.imgur.com/PgKOA.png" width="400"/></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I have no idea where this originated, but it's hilariously accurate.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><p>It's not officially Christmas until I've been saddled with feelings of shame and guilt after adding a dozen games to my already gigantic backlog. Amazon, Valve - why must you tempt me so?</p><p>If you're at all concerned about being able to afford food in January, you might want to take a look at the following tips.</p><br />
<h4>1. Use resources like <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedeals" target="_blank">/r/GameDeals</a> and <a href="http://www.isthereanydeal.com" target="_blank">IsThereAnyDeal.com</a> to find the best deals.</h4><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">While Steam might be the "Granddaddy of Them All" when it comes to offering games at stupid prices during the holidays, there's a lot of other stuff going on elsewhere on the Internet. Sites like <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/b/?_encoding=UTF8&node=979455011&tag=pcgabe-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957">Amazon</a> and <a href="http://www.greenmangaming.com/?gmgr=lerijuwo" target="_blank">Green Man Gaming</a> have been offering deals on par with - and occasionally better than - those of Valve's service. Plus, with Origin and Uplay on the prowl, it's increasingly common (albeit somewhat annoying) to find games that simply aren't offered on Steam.</p><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">Bottom line - it pays to look around, and using some kind of deal aggregator makes everything super easy. Sites like the aforementioned IsThereAnyDeal.com and <a href="http://www.cheapshark.com" target="_blank">Cheapshark.com</a> can also give you an idea of the pricing trends for a given game and whether or not it's been cheaper in the past.</p><br />
<a name='more'></a><h4>2. Don't buy anything from Steam that <em>isn't</em> a "daily deal" until the last day.</h4><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">It's the first day of the sale, and holy shit, that game you've been waiting to play is 33% off!</p><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">Don't touch it. While that deal might look great now, there's a decent chance it could be 66% or 75% off some time in the near future. When in doubt, wait until the end to snatch up whatever games didn't get featured.</p><br />
<h4>3. Show some restraint.</h4><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">From a value standpoint, a $5 game that offers 5 or 10 hours of entertainment is pretty damn enticing. Hey, a 2-hour movie costs like $37 to see nowadays, right? After picking up every game under $10 that has a decent Metacritic score you'll probably realize that you have enough games in your backlog to last you until 2017. That is, if the world doesn't end on Friday...</p><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">Track your purchases and keep a running total going so that you're aware of how much you're spending. I usually try to limit myself to $50-ish, which could easily end up being half a dozen games (or more) since I'm a cheap bastard who waits to buy everything until it's in the bargain bin.</p><br />
<h4>4. Set up a wishlist with price targets.</h4><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">Make a list of games you're interested in and nail down a target price for each one. Stick to your guns and try not to go overboard. I have about 30 untouched "indie" games in my Steam library that say impulse buys are a bad idea.</p><p style="display:block; margin-left: 40px; margin-right:40px; text-align:justify;">These sales tend to repeat themselves every so often - spring sales, summer sales, fall sales, Thanksgiving sales, "hey, we want your money" sales, and so on. If you're paranoid or just like to stay organized you can set up a wishlist with target prices on <a href="http://www.isthereanydeal.com" target="_blank">IsThereAnyDeal.com</a> and get notified by email when something crosses that "too good to miss" threshold.</p><br />
<p>This stuff isn't exactly rocket science, but following these tips will help you stretch your dollar that much further. Your wallet will thank you.</p><p>Happy shopping, and Happy Holidays!</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-34611373215403862732012-12-06T22:29:00.000-05:002012-12-06T22:29:07.062-05:00Finally Took the Plunge<p>After going back and forth on a graphics card upgrade for several weeks now, I finally pulled the trigger on an <a href="http://us.ncix.com/products/?sku=67748&vpn=FX795ATDFC&manufacture=XFX&promoid=1306" target="_blank">XFX Double D HD 7950 from NCIX</a>. With a $20 referral promo code and $30 rebate I'll be getting the card for ~$258 total. Pretty excited.</p><p>The battle more or less came down to three cards in the end: the HD 7870 GHz Edition, the GTX 660 Ti, and the HD 7950. Since we're nearing the end of the current graphics card generation I was reluctant to spend money on a 7870; it's definitely an upgrade over my current 560 Ti, but chances are it won't look so hot compared to the next-gen stuff. The 660 Ti looked like a worthy competitor (plus it has 2 DVI ports) but that 192-bit memory bus still makes me a little sad. In the end, the fact that you can overclock the shit out of the 7950 (<a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/5476/amd-radeon-7950-review/17" target="_blank">on the order of 25% or so</a>) combined with the fact that it'll (hopefully) hold its value the longest out of the bunch led me to choose the 7950.</p><p>The price didn't hurt, either.</p><p>I'll be sure to post some unboxing pics and benchmarks once I get everything up and running next week. Guess I better grab some numbers from my 560 Ti so I have something to compare the new card to.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-62472367486412191362012-11-29T18:39:00.000-05:002012-11-29T18:42:20.275-05:00Humble THQ Bundle<iframe style="display:block; margin:auto; margin-top:15px;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8vX4jd3yrsM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<p>The Humble Bundle guys are at it again, this time offering the <a href="http://www.humblebundle.com" target="_blank">"Humble THQ Bundle"</a> to the masses. You can pay whatever you want (as long as it's a minimum of $1) for the following titles:</p><ul><i>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">Darksiders</li>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">Metro 2033</li>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">Red Faction Armageddon</li>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">Company of Heroes</li>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">CoH: Opposing Fronts</li>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">CoH: Tales of Valor</li>
<li style="list-style-type:none;">Saints Row The Third*</i> (* if you beat the ~$5.50 average)</li>
</ul><p>This deal is straight up ridiculous and probably has something to do with the <a href="http://www.computerandvideogames.com/377000/blog/thq-in-grave-health-can-it-survive/" target="_blank">financial dilemma</a> that the publisher finds itself in. THQ has already laid off a bunch of people and delayed a few games; the future doesn't exactly look bright at this point.</p><p>Humble Bundles traditionally offer DRM-free downloads of games on Windows, OSX, and Linux for as little as 1 cent. This time around there's a minimum of $1 and all of the games are Windows-only and tied to Steam. Several people (see: <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/11/humble-thq-bundle-threatens-to-ruin-the-brands-reputation/" target="_blank">Ars Technica</a>, <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/the-humble-thq-bundle-loses-indie-games-adds-drm-and-is-a-step-backward-for" target="_blank">The Penny Arcade Report</a>) have been making a lot of noise claiming that Humble Bundle has sold out and destroyed their reputation by partnering with a AAA publisher for this bundle. Ben Kuchera of The PA Report said that "[this] isn’t a Humble Bundle, it’s a Steam sale." This seems a little bit like grandstanding to me.</p><a name='more'></a><p>Whenever I spot a deal on <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedeals" target="_blank">/r/GameDeals</a> that <em>doesn't</em> offer Steam keys, there will inevitably be a bunch of people grumbling about this in the comments. My game library weighs in at 130-ish games right now; at this point, having random games floating around that aren't tied to Steam or Origin is more of an inconvenience than being forced to open Steam every time I want to play something. There's DRM, and then there's experience-crippling, makes-me-want-to-just-pirate-it DRM. Steam is decidedly not in the latter category, so this really shouldn't be a big deal.</p><p>Then there's the complaint about these games not being offered on multiple platforms. Kyle Orland or Ars Technica said, "[theoretically], this same pressure could have been brought to bear on THQ, requiring the publisher to work on Mac and Linux ports for its big-name games if it wanted access to the Humble Bundle name and sales platform." Theoretically, a relatively tiny website could strongarm a AAA publisher into forcing code monkeys to churn out OSX and Linux ports so that the 100 or so people who game on those platforms could reward them with ~$1000 in sales. Sounds like a fantastic proposition. Additionally, I haven't met many Linux users who don't dual-boot Windows to begin with. The whole "Steam for Linux" thing might improve the gaming landscape over there eventually, but right now it's pretty much a fact of life that you'll need to do your serious gaming in Windows (or use something like <a href="http://www.winehq.org/" target="_blank">Wine</a>).</p><p>Those heralding Humble Bundle as some sort of "champion of the little guy" should probably take a step back and look at some of the games offered in recent Humble Bundles. <i>Amnesia</i>? <i>LIMBO</i>? <i>Torchlight</i>? <i>Psychonauts</i>? These aren't exactly unknown titles struggling to find a foothold in a competitive market. These are more like "AAA Indie" games (AA games?) than anything else. <a href="http://www.indieroyale.com/" target="_blank">Indie Royale</a> seems more like the place for bundles that introduce little-known games to the public. Hell, I haven't even heard of 4 of the games in that bundle (sorry, developers).</p><p>In the end, Humble Bundles allow people to pick up games for next to nothing. It's great that they give money to charity, but let's be honest: if you really wanted to donate to Child's Play you'd do it without expecting games in return. This is all about making money, and that really doesn't bother me. The beauty of the pay-what-you-want model is that it draws in people who would never think about purchasing your product otherwise. I never end up playing half of the games that I purchase through Humble Bundles, but outside of these bundles I probably wouldn't have purchased <em>any</em> of them. My $1 or $10 or whatever is profit that these developers would have never seen otherwise.</p><p>I don't know why, but all this criticism of the Humble THQ Bundle really rubbed me the wrong way. If you're so upset, don't buy in. It's as simple as that.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-29790128023444983452012-11-28T00:55:00.002-05:002012-11-28T00:55:42.768-05:00Black Friday Postmortem<p>The dust appears to have finally settled after an extended weekend filled with gravy and impulse buying. I managed to score the following:</p><ul><li style="list-style-type: none;"><i>Knights of the Old Republic I + II</i> ($2.49 each)</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"><i>Orcs Must Die! 2 Complete</i> ($6.24)</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"><i>The Witcher Extended Edition Director's Cut</i> ($2.49)</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"><i>Civilization 5 Gods and Kings</i> ($7.49)</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"><i>L.A. Noire Complete</i> ($7.49)</li>
<li style="list-style-type: none;"><i>Sleeping Dogs</i> ($13.60)</li></ul></p><p>That's a total of $42.29 if you're keeping score at home. I'm currently playing <i>Sleeping Dogs</i> and from what I've seen so far that game is worth $42 alone. I'm pretty content with my haul, though the backlog just got that much larger.</p><p>Things were a little less exciting on the hardware side. There were some tempting SSD deals to be had - Amazon, Newegg, and TigerDirect all offered a 120GB Kingston HyperX 3K for $60 at various times throughout the weekend - but I held back hoping for a deal on an HD7950. That deal never materialized.</p><p>Instead, there were several 660 Ti's available for ~$230-260 after rebate. I'm assuming AMD has been killing it with the whole <a href="http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/never-settle-program-2012oct22.aspx" target="_blank">Never Settle Bundle</a> thing and that retailers used Black Friday to move some of their Nvidia inventory. There's <a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/09/toms-hardware-seven-geforce-gtx-660-ti.html" target="_blank">nothing wrong with the 660 Ti per se</a>, but that 192-bit memory bus still worries me. If I'm going to put down money for a new card this late into a generation I don't want to make any compromises. AMD's HD8000-series cards should be making an appearance in the next couple of months and I don't want to regret my purchase.</p><p>On the bright side, my wallet made it through the weekend without taking too much of a hit. With Steam's Holiday Sale supposedly starting <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2012/11/20/steams-autumn-sale-starts-tomorrow-winter-sale-dated-too/" target="_blank">December 20th</a>, that's probably a good thing.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-47333235926329932472012-11-21T22:03:00.001-05:002012-11-21T22:03:54.661-05:00Thanksgiving Deal Overload<p>It's been a busy week thus far - so much so that I haven't posted in a couple of days - and things are only going to get busier from here. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFtb3EtjEic" target="_blank">It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year</a> as far as PC gaming is concerned. Hopefully you and your wallet have prepared appropriately.</p><p>Deal-watching is going to be kind of a big thing for the next five weeks or so, and reddit's <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/gamedeals" target="_blank">/r/GameDeals</a> and sites like <a href="http://www.isthereanydeal.com" target="_blank">IsThereAnyDeal.com</a> and <a href="http://www.cheapshark.com" target="_blank">CheapShark.com</a> are going to be your best friend. Time to shovel another 6 or 7 games onto the backlog pile.</p><p>I've already picked up <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Sid-Meiers-Civilization-Kings-Download/dp/B008CA9XB2/?tag=pcgabe-20" target="_blank">Civilization V Gods and Kings</a> for $7.49 (Amazon), Sleeping Dogs for $13.60 (Green Man Gaming, no longer valid), and <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/32370/" target="_blank">KOTOR I</a> <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/208580/" target="_blank">and II</a> for $2.49 each (Steam). On the hardware side of things, Newegg has a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125441&cm_mmc=BlkFri2012-_-48-_-N82E16814125441-_-na&nm_mc=BlkFri2012" target="_blank">Gigabyte 660 Ti</a> for $250 after $20 rebate, with <i>Assassin's Creed III</i> and <i>Borderlands 2</i> included at no cost. There's also a <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162120" target="_blank">Galaxy 660 Ti</a> for $225 AR, sans <i>Borderlands 2</i>. I'm debating whether to jump on a card this week, pick up a cheap 128GB SSD, or just hold off on everything till the next generation.</p><p>Should be an exciting week regardless. Happy hunting.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-80690960563156455142012-11-17T00:33:00.000-05:002012-11-17T00:33:51.279-05:00Possible Deal of the Year from Amazon<iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=pcgabe-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B00A3F5S0O" style="width:120px;height:240px;float:right; margin-top:5px; margin-left:20px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><p style="text-align:justify;">Amazon is offering a pretty sick THQ bundle this weekend: six games for ten bucks, plus a $5 coupon code. Ridiculous.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Should you take advantage of this deal you'll score copies of <i>Homefront, Metro 2033, Red Faction Armageddon and Red Faction Guerrilla, STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl</i>, and <i>Warhammer 40K Space Marine</i>. To make the deal that much sweeter, Amazon includes a promo code good for $5 off of an "Editor's Choice" game during the month of January. Amazon ran a similar promotion last year and games like <i>Assassin's Creed</i> (1 and 2) and <i>The Witcher</i> were available on the cheap. Some eligible games were on sale for 5 bucks, meaning they were effectively free with a promo code.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">This deal might not last through the weekend, so act quickly if you're interested.</p><p><a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00A3F5S0O/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B00A3F5S0O&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgabe-20">Tantalizing THQ Medley [Amazon]</a></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-40565859652750349662012-11-15T22:02:00.000-05:002012-11-15T22:02:40.887-05:00Battle.net World Championship<iframe style="display:block; margin:auto; margin-top:20px; margin-bottom:5px;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/z3dUax2MUhg?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<p>Quick heads up - the <b>Battle.net World Championship</b> kicks off tomorrow in Shanghai, China, featuring both <i>World of Warcraft</i> Arena and <i>Starcraft II</i> competitions. The event will feature a "free, six-channel HD broadcast" via <a href="http://us.battle.net/bwc/en/" target="_blank">the BWC website</a>.</p><p>I'm kinda looking forward to watching this thing; other than the last GSL finals, I feel like I haven't watched a major SC2 tournament in a year. The festivities kick off tomorrow night and run from 9pm-ish Friday until 8am-ish Sunday morning. Check out the <a href="http://us.battle.net/bwc/en/schedule/" target="_blank">full schedule</a> for more details.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-46833482336467589792012-11-13T17:25:00.000-05:002012-11-13T17:28:05.302-05:00SC2: Heart of the Swarm Release, Preorder Info<img style="display: block; margin: auto; margin-top:20px;" border="0" alt="StarCraft 2 Heart of the Swarm Release Date" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-F0GtC7hJ9p4/UKLEF3bCREI/AAAAAAAAA0E/T11lLhXgOps/s800/hots.jpg" width="600" /><iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?lt1=_blank&bc1=000000&IS2=1&bg1=FFFFFF&fc1=000000&lc1=0000FF&t=pcgabe-20&o=1&p=8&l=as4&m=amazon&f=ifr&ref=ss_til&asins=B002I0KP4G" style="width:120px;height:240px;float:right;margin-left:20px;margin-bottom:20px;margin-top:30px;" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe><br />
<p style="text-align:justify;">Blizzard <a href="http://us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/press/pressreleases.html?id=7849184" target="_blank">finally announced</a> a definitive release date for <i>Heart of the Swarm</i> earlier today. The expansion pack hits on March 12, 2013 for $39.99.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">Additionally, there are Digital Deluxe and Collector's Edition versions available for $60 and $80, respectively. The Digital Deluxe version adds a handful of skins and portraits for use in SC2 along with a pet for your <i>World of Warcraft</i> characters and zerg-like wings and a banner for <i>Diablo III</i>. The Collector's Edition includes all of that stuff plus a behind-the-scenes DVD, the game's soundtrack, an art book, and a mousepad. I could <em>maybe</em> see buying these if I still played WoW or D3, but then again I'm a cheap bastard.</p><p style="text-align:justify;">The best preorder deal seems to belong to Amazon right now. While you don't get a price break, you do score access to the HotS beta. The <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B002I0KP4G/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B002I0KP4G&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgabe-20" target="_blank">game's Amazon page</a> states that they'll email you a code "within 4 business days" so that you can get your frag on early. Pretty tempting.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-88572551566888699112012-11-12T17:32:00.001-05:002012-11-12T17:34:07.720-05:00New Releases: Week of November 12th<i>Here's a look at what's new this week.</i><br />
<p><i>Call of Duty: Black Ops II</i>. That's basically all you need to know about this week. The only games brave enough to go toe-to-toe with the yearly sales juggernaut are a couple of MMOs and titles like <i>The Sims</i> and <i>LEGO Lord of the Rings</i>, which likely don't have the same playerbase as the military shooter. Your wallet shouldn't face any tough decisions this week as your stance on these franchises is probably well-established at this point.</p><br />
<a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/search/label/this%20week" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: auto; background-color: #ebebeb; border: 1px solid #333;" alt="This Week in PC Gaming" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cChdzxsU2AQ/UIT7dWCXvmI/AAAAAAAAAv4/HhEs6q_oMcE/s800/thisweek.png" /></a><br />
<p><b>Skip to:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-12th.html#COD"><i>Call of Duty: Black Ops II</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-12th.html#RIFT"><i>RIFT: Storm Legion</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-12th.html#Other">Other Noteworthy Releases</a></li>
</ul></p><a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
<a name="COD"></a><!--Black Ops II--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Call of Duty: Black Ops II</b><br />
<b>Activision, Treyarch</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, November 13th | $59.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.callofduty.com/" target="_blank">http://www.callofduty.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>Time for Activision to make another billion dollars.</p><p><i>Black Ops II</i> is Treyarch's latest addition to the <i>Call of Duty</i> franchise, as if it's possible for anyone to <em>not</em> know that at this point. That <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/29/black-ops-2s-live-action-tv-ad-is-by-guy-ritchie-stars-tony-st/" target="_blank">damn commercial</a> has been running non-stop for the past couple of weeks, and it does a good job communicating just how ridiculously over-the-top CoD games have become.</p><p>With that being said, BLOPS2 almost looks semi-interesting, even on the PC. Treyarch is clearly the main Call of Duty studio at this point after living in Infinity Ward's shadow for several years. The new game brings actual change to the stock CoD multiplayer formula that has been copy/pasted from CoD4 every year since 2007. Killstreaks are gone, create-a-class is fundamentally different, smaller multi-squad games are in, and "Prestige" mode no longer resets your progress. In addition, the game is being developed with eSports in mind and supports easy YouTube streaming on day one.</p><p>Despite all of the game's pluses, we're still not getting a <em>true</em> PC shooter. BLOPS2 uses a <a href="http://community.callofduty.com/community/call_of_duty/english/black_ops_2/blog/2012/09/28/pc-online-security-matchmaking-and-server-intel" target="_blank">hybrid matchmaking/dedicated server system</a> that apparently doesn't involve a server browser. No mods tools will be released due to "increased technical requirements, licensing restrictions, and technology dependencies," which basically means "we can't have people making content and giving it away for free when we're going to be shoving $15 map packs down your throat."</p><p>Black Ops II has the potential to be the best Call of Duty game in years, but I'm not sure it's worth the cost of admission on the PC.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/F6vOWbJ46XU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="RIFT"></a><!--Rift Storm Legion--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">RIFT: Storm Legion</b><br />
<b>Trion Worlds</b><br />
<i>Expansion pack (requires base game)</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, November 13th | $39.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.stormlegion.riftgame.com/" target="_blank">http://www.stormlegion.riftgame.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>This week marks the release of the first <i>RIFT</i> expansion. I have to hand it to Trion for keeping RIFT afloat as a subscription MMO for almost two years now. A quick look at the patch history on the game's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rift_%28video_game%29" target="_blank">Wikipedia page</a> shows that they've been rolling out significant updates every couple of months to keep players interested.</p><p><i>Storm Legion</i> seems to be pretty standard as far as expansions go: 10 more levels, two more continents to explore, new classes/dungeons/raids and all that good stuff. It certainly looks like the expansion will be worth 40 bucks for current subscribers, and those new to the game can buy the original plus the expansion for $49.99. This price crunching is similar to what Blizzard has done with <i>World of Warcraft</i> and its expansions; the base game and BC/WotLK/Cata are currently available for around 40 bucks total, with <i>Mists of Pandaria</i> another $40 on top of that. Gotta keep that buy in price low to ensure that the game remains accessible.</p><p>In my MMO experience, expansions represent a major fork in the road for subscribers: should I buy it and keep playing, or skip it and quit? There's never a lot of action to be found in older game zones, so this is more or less a required $40 update. If you're a RIFT fan, you probably don't need to be sold on this one.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/kCiI47wF3ic?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="Other"></a><hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b style="font-size: 140%;">Other Noteworthy Releases</b><br />
<ul><li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">The Sims 3: Seasons</b> (EA)<br />
Tuesday, November 13th | <b>$39.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.ea.com/the-sims-3-seasons" target="_blank">http://www.ea.com/the-sims-3-seasons</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Tropico 4: Gold Edition</b> (Kalypso Media)<br />
Tuesday, November 13th | <b>$39.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.worldoftropico.com/us/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.worldoftropico.com</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">LEGO Lord of the Rings</b> (Warner Bros.)<br />
Tuesday, November 13th | <b>$29.99</b><br />
<a href="http://thelordoftherings.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx" target="_blank">http://thelordoftherings.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Everquest II: Chains of Eternity</b> (SOE)<br />
Tuesday, November 13th | <b>$39.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.everquest2.com/expansions" target="_blank">http://www.everquest2.com/expansions</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">F1 Race Stars</b> (Codemasters)<br />
Tuesday, November 13th | <b>$44.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.f1racestars.com/en-us" target="_blank">http://www.f1racestars.com/en-us</a></p></li>
</ul><p><i>Note: this list is not comprehensive but should cover most major titles. Check back every Monday for a new list of PC releases.</i></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-70374724899862044862012-11-09T12:30:00.000-05:002012-11-09T12:30:02.014-05:00Backlog Review: Homefront<i>Like Call of Duty, but less entertaining and with more Koreans.</i><br />
<br />
<img style="display: block; margin: auto;" border="0" alt="Homefront load screen" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-4wd3bYO8Bcs/UJyyZSlwcBI/AAAAAAAAAzE/7BRDdRJfG9c/s800/hf_load.jpg" width="600" /><br />
<hr style="color: #666; background-color: #666; border: 1px solid #666; height: 2px; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 10px; width: 250px; margin-left: 0; text-align: left;"><b style="font-size: 140%; color:#666;">Homefront</b><br />
<b style="color: #666;">THQ, Kaos Studios, Digital Extremes</b><br />
<i style="color: #666;">March 15th, 2011</i><br />
<hr style="color: #666; background-color: #666; border: 1px solid #666; height: 2px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px; width: 250px; margin-left: 0; text-align: left;"></p><p>Since its release in early 2011, <i>Homefront</i> has been known as "that mediocre shooter with the really short campaign." Hearing this over and over again made me a sad panda.</p><p>The game originally piqued my interest after I saw the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQeQWWKKvq4" target="_blank">trailer depicting a "future history"</a> (albeit an unlikely one) that served as a backdrop for the title. Given that this was early 2011, with <i>Call of Duty</i> becoming stale (and alienating PC gamers) and <i>Battlefield 3</i> not yet having seen the light of day, I was ready for something new and exciting to come along. Homefront was supposed to be that breath of fresh air.</p><a name='more'></a><p>There's a reason why Homefront failed to deliver a refreshing AAA shooter experience. As fate would have it, Polygon posted <a href="http://www.polygon.com/2012/11/1/3560318/homefront-kaos-studios-thq" target="_blank">this fantastic article</a> last Thursday, the day after I finished Homefront, detailing the game's troubled and lengthy development cycle. What was supposed to be "a leader in multiplayer FPS games" turned into a disappointing CoD clone saddled with an underwhelming campaign.</p><p>I can deal with short campaigns - hell, I only paid 5 bucks and wasn't expecting much in return. While Homefront's single-player experience is indeed short, the real problem is that it's a soulless shell of a game.</p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F-2Y4tSfOzg/UJyybDaiL7I/AAAAAAAAAzc/nj4IHggiRN8/s1600/hf_stadium.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Homefront stadium" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F-2Y4tSfOzg/UJyybDaiL7I/AAAAAAAAAzc/nj4IHggiRN8/s640/hf_stadium.jpg" width="600" /></a></div><br />
<p>When I think of occupations and resistance groups I think of guerrilla-style house-to-house combat with resource-starved fighters who are forced to scavenge for supplies. Homefront is nothing like this. Instead, we're treated to a generic military shooter with gameplay ripped directly from the Call of Duty playbook. You're a super soldier who rains down hell upon the entire goddamn Korean People's Army in straight-up combat.</p><p>While the game's gunplay isn't horrendous, the AI on both sides is incredibly clunky and your progress is linear and heavily scripted. Your ragtag, ethnically-diverse band of teammates shrug off dozens of hits and keep moving like nothing has happened. You can actually shoot directly at them without consequence; the bullets go straight through. I used this "tactic" to beat one of the game's early levels by laying prone behind my teammates in the corner of a house and shooting through them.</p><p>One particularly frustrating part of the game is the AI's schizophrenic aiming ability. I played on the second-highest difficulty setting, and in general it wasn't too hard to shoot the bad guys and progress through a level. At times, though, the enemy flip flops from totally ignoring you to immediately zeroing in on your head as soon as you peek out from around a corner. Every once in a while you'll inch out from cover and die inexplicably in half of a second.</p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" alt="Homefront resistance" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-C0TLxJPxlZ8/UJyyaT7U8FI/AAAAAAAAAzU/PC03RhI1WkQ/s800/hf_rebels.jpg" width="600" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vaguely-ethnic chick, African American male, and hardass white military dude? Check. A melting pot of destruction.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<p>When it comes to Homefront's story, I can picture a meeting of the game's writers going through the campaign of CoD 4 and making a list of every scene they wanted to incorporate into their own "unique" experience. The intro sequence is a carbon copy ride through the streets in a vehicle, though this time it's a bus instead of a car. Every ubiquitous genre standard is thrown in there, from the "vehicle level" to the "stealth sniper mission." It's not any more interesting when you're on foot, either, as you face endless streams of enemy soldiers that keep respawning until you transition to the next linear section.</p><p>As if the levels themselves weren't bad enough, the game does a terrible job of connecting you to the story. Sure, there were a few dramatic moments and some scenes with shock value, but in the end the KPA is a faceless enemy pitted against a bunch of resistance soldiers who I didn't really give a shit about. There are a couple of sections that let you walk around and talk to different citizens in an effort to get you to sympathize with their situation. In reality, these sections are boring and slow and only served to artificially lengthen an already short campaign.</p><p>I can generally forgive a shitty single-player experience if an FPS game's multiplayer portion is on point. Homefront fails on both fronts: there's little to no recoil or weapon kick present and snipers dominate the battlefield. The "Battlepoint" system is the sole redeeming quality of the online experience, allowing players to accumulate points by performing helpful actions and then spend them on vehicles and weapons. Unfortunately it wasn't enough, as I didn't feel like playing more than 3 or 4 rounds on the game's lone populated server. Meh.</p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ECpMVIjsRCg/UJyybqsle4I/AAAAAAAAAzg/bwQYp3FCISI/s1600/hf_tigerdirect.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Homefront TigerDirect" width="600" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-ECpMVIjsRCg/UJyybqsle4I/AAAAAAAAAzg/bwQYp3FCISI/s640/hf_tigerdirect.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Battle of TigerDirect.com was hard fought.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
<p>In the end, Homefront strikes me as the FPS-equivalent of a <i>World of Warcraft</i> clone. Kaos and THQ obviously looked at Call of Duty, decided they wanted a piece of the action, and created a checklist of must-haves that would surely set them on the path to success. I would not describe this game as successful by a long shot. Homefront is a functional shooter that had the potential to be fantastic but ultimately fell short.</p><p>What's odd is that THQ decided not to cut and run: <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/09/20/crytek-to-develop-homefront-2/" target="_blank">Crytek is developing <i>Homefront 2</i></a>, due in 2014. Sure, the overall premise is intriguing, but are gamers really going to give the sequel a fair shot? The Metacritic "user score" of the first game <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/homefront" target="_blank">is 5.6</a>. I don't forsee too many excited fans lining up at midnight to pick this one up.</p><br />
<ul><li><b>The Good:</b> Battlepoint multiplayer system</li>
<li><b>The So-so:</b> Generic gunplay, average graphics, intriguing storyline that unfortunately falls flat</li>
<li><b>The Bad:</b> Short campaign, subpar/inconsistent AI, linear gameplay, mediocre multiplayer</li></ul><br />
<br />
<table style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 30px; border: 1px solid #333333; border-collapse: collapse; width:50%;"><!--table headings-->
<tr style="background-color: #333333; color:white; font: 120% 'Oswald',Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: normal; border: 1px solid #444444;"> <td style="padding: 5px; text-align: center;" colspan="2">Homefront</td> </tr>
<!--graphics-->
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; color:black;"> <td style="padding: 5px;"><b>Graphics and Performance</b></td> <td style="font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">1.5 <span style="font-size: 60%;">/ 2.0</span></td> </tr>
<!--story-->
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; background: #ebebeb; color:black;"> <td style="padding: 5px;"><b>Storyline and Writing</b></td> <td style="font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">1.2 <span style="font-size: 60%;">/ 2.0</span></td> </tr>
<!--gameplay-->
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; color:black;"> <td style="padding: 5px;"><b>Gameplay</b></td> <td style="font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">2.5 <span style="font-size: 60%;">/ 4.0</span></td> </tr>
<!--enjoyment-->
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; background: #ebebeb; color:black;"> <td style="padding: 5px;"><b>Enjoyment Factor</b></td> <td style="font-size: 120%; text-align: center;">1.0 <span style="font-size: 60%;">/ 2.0</span></td> </tr>
<!--total-->
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; color:black;"> <td style="padding: 5px;"><b>TOTAL</b></td> <td style="font-size: 160%; text-align: center; padding: 10px;"><b>6.4</b> <span style="font-size: 50%;">/ 10</span></td> </tr>
</table><br />
<p>On a more positive note, Homefront gets bonus points for the best goat I've seen in a first-person shooter:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center; margin-bottom: 30px;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F_DGR5WntUg/UJyyZa4EhmI/AAAAAAAAAzI/-BVhjrHLSKo/s800/hf_goat.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Homefront goat" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-F_DGR5WntUg/UJyyZa4EhmI/AAAAAAAAAzI/-BVhjrHLSKo/s800/hf_goat.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-1648812401017686032012-11-08T16:06:00.000-05:002012-11-08T16:06:49.427-05:00Indie Bundles + Free Bioshock<p>Quick note on some deals happening right now:</p><ul><li><p><a href="https://www.humblebundle.com/" target="_blank">Humble Android Bundle 4</a>: Here's yet another pay-what-you-want bundle from the Humble Bundle guys. This one includes <i>Spice, Eufloria, Waking Mars, Swords and Sworcery EP, Crayon Physics Deluxe,</i> and <i>Machinarium</i>. Despite this being an Android bundle, all games are available on Windows too (with individual Steam keys, minus Waking Mars). They usually add games to the bundle halfway through, so if you buy now you'll get those for free regardless of what you paid.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.indieroyale.com/" target="_blank">Indie Royale Harvest Bundle</a>: More indie stuff here. This one is also pay-what-you-want, but there's a minimum price involved (~$5.50 as of this post). The bundle includes <i>Mutant Mudds, Pineapple Smash Crew, Spirits, Avernum: The Great Trials Trilogy,</i> and <i>Basketbelle</i>.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.gamefly.com/Download-BioShock/150930/" target="_blank">Free Bioshock @ Gamefly</a>: To celebrate the GameFly Client leaving the beta tag behind, GameFly is giving everyone Bioshock 1 for free. A client download is required and I think you need to enter a credit card despite it costing $0.00, but hey, free is free. As far as I can tell this doesn't redeem on Steam.</p></li>
</ul>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-75267508764939503882012-11-07T17:31:00.000-05:002012-11-07T17:31:59.315-05:00Pro Tip: Trick Out Your Desktop with Rainmeter<a href="http://rainmeter.net/cms/" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 20px;" border="0" alt="Rainmeter logo" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-4mEqK0MJMDk/UJrPCjJe7RI/AAAAAAAAAx0/n6tysz8FYxM/s800/rainmeter-logo.png" /></a><br />
<p>I was introduced to <a href="http://rainmeter.net/cms/" target="_blank">Rainmeter</a> via <a href="http://lifehacker.com/5828789/how-to-create-an-attractive-customized-desktop-hud-with-rainmeter" target="_blank">this excellent Lifehacker article</a> last year. Raimeter is a powerful desktop customization tool that lets you style your desktop to your heart's content. There are hundreds of modules and themes out there for you to choose from, and best of all, everything is completely free.</p><p>Rainmeter's usefulness immediately became apparent when I made the jump to a dual-monitor setup. Each skin suite includes a selection of widgets that can range from email and RSS readers to system monitoring tools and app launchers. Personally, I find Rainmeter useful for displaying system temps and monitoring CPU and GPU usage while gaming, a task which was previously relegated to the tiny LCD screen on my old Logitech G15 keyboard.</p><a name='more'></a><p>I won't go into too much detail here; the Lifehacker article I mentioned above does an excellent job of describing the customization process. Editing individual skins and creating custom layouts can be a time-consuming process, but thankfully there are several fully-featured skin suites available that provide a cohesive look with minimal effort. The Rainmeter site offers three <a href="http://rainmeter.net/cms/Discover" target="_blank">recommended skin suites</a> that are a good place to start. You can also check out <a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/skins/sysmonitor/rainmeter/?order=9" target="_blank">deviantArt</a> and <a href="http://www.customize.org/rainmeter/skins" target="_blank">Customize.org</a> for more options.</p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LazZuy36ZQc/UJrPDO0f9pI/AAAAAAAAAx8/AADf4coHQl8/s1600/rainmeter.PNG" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="PC Games Beat custom Rainmeter setup" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-LazZuy36ZQc/UJrPDO0f9pI/AAAAAAAAAx8/AADf4coHQl8/s640/rainmeter.PNG" width="600" /></a></div><br />
<p>My second monitor is an old 17" LCD with a display resolution of 1280x1024. Since screen real estate is at a premium, my customized Rainmeter setup keeps everything organized at the top and bottom edges of the screen. The top edge of the screen displays system monitoring information (CPU and GPU temps/usage, RAM and HDD info) and a mini music player that can control iTunes. At the bottom of the screen lie a bandwidth monitor, clock, and weather display. Just about everything I could need is available at a quick glance.</p><p>I used the following skins in my layout along with some heavy editing:</p><ul><li><b><a href="http://rainmeter.net/cms/SuitesEnigma" target="_blank">Enigma</a></b>: Taskbar, Taskbar 2, Sidebar\Network-Graph</li>
<li><b><a href="http://rainmeter.net/cms/SuitesGnometer" target="_blank">Gnometer</a></b>: Weather (Forecast 3-Day)</li>
<li><b><a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/skins/sysmonitor/rainmeter/?q=simplistic+clock#/d471p83" target="_blank">Simplistic Clock</a></b>: Simplistic Clock (Light)</li>
<li><b><a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/customization/skins/sysmonitor/rainmeter/?q=encoded#/d3klh7x" target="_blank">Encoded Squares</a></b>: RAM, HDD, Music, custom CPU/GPU</li>
</ul><p>I created custom CPU and GPU blocks by using the inputs from the <a href="http://browse.deviantart.com/?qh=§ion=&global=1&q=slimmeters#/d4i5kpa" target="_blank">SlimMeters</a> and <a href="http://dcrutgers.deviantart.com/art/MSI-Afterburner-for-Gnometer-175611672" target="_blank">MSI Afterburner for Gnometer</a> skins and framing the output in the same style as the rest of the Encoded blocks. I can post the files if there's an interest.</p><p>Check out the <a href="http://lifehacker.com/rainmeter/" target="_blank">Rainmeter section of Lifehacker</a> if you need some inspiration. Don't be afraid to experiment!</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-12074103129490112662012-11-05T16:04:00.002-05:002012-11-05T16:05:05.801-05:00New Releases: Week of November 5th<i>Here's a look at what's new this week.</i><br />
<p>This week's crop of new releases is looking incredibly thin, probably due to the fact that the rest of the world will be playing <i>Halo 4</i> on Tuesday. Consequently, it might be a good opportunity to play through a couple of games from your backlog.</p><br />
<a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/search/label/this%20week" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: auto; background-color: #ebebeb; border: 1px solid #333;" alt="This Week in PC Gaming" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cChdzxsU2AQ/UIT7dWCXvmI/AAAAAAAAAv4/HhEs6q_oMcE/s800/thisweek.png" /></a><br />
<p><b>Skip to:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-5th.html#ME"><i>Mass Effect Trilogy</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-5th.html#ABSW"><i>Angry Birds Star Wars</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-5th.html#SM"><i>Sine Mora</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/11/new-releases-week-of-november-5th.html#Other">Other Noteworthy Releases</a></li>
</ul></p><a name='more'></a><br />
<a name="ME"></a><!--Mass Effect Trilogy--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Mass Effect Trilogy</b><br />
<b>EA, Bioware</b><br />
<i>Compilation</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, November 6th | $59.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.masseffect.com/about/trilogy/" target="_blank">http://www.masseffect.com/about/trilogy/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>I still haven't played through <i>Mass Effect</i> or its sequels, which probably makes me a bad person. At least I own the first two games - that's got to count for something, right?</p><p>With the <i>Mass Effect Trilogy</i>, EA is undoubtedly counting on the existence of a ton of gamers like me who haven't yet experienced the award-winning series. Seems like the perfect way to cash in on the holiday rush without doing much of anything new.</p><p>The combo pack's price might be its biggest downfall, at least as far as the PC is concerned. Both ME1 and ME2 are sale favorites that have been sold for as low as 5 bucks each, and they're often bundled together for $10. ME3 has also been getting some pretty deep discounts as of late; GamersGate <a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/weekend-deal-roundup.html" target="_blank">sold it for $12</a> during an "EA Week" promotion last month.</p><p>I have to wonder if these games will be conspicuously absent from holiday sales this year in an effort to push the Trilogy pack on people. Insert generic anti-EA circlejerk hatred here.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PfHxklxMhA4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="ABSW"></a><!--Angry Birds Star Wars--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Angry Birds Star Wars</b><br />
<b>Rovio Entertainment</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Thursday, November 8th | $4.95*</b><br />
<a href="http://www.angrybirds.com/starwars" target="_blank">http://www.angrybirds.com/starwars</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p><i>* Note: I'm just guessing on the price, but <a href="http://shop.angrybirds.com/us/games/pc-games.html" target="_blank">every other game</a> of theirs is $4.95 on the PC.</i></p><p>Speaking of cashing in on popular franchises, <i>Angry Birds Star Wars</i> hopes to bring together fans of each media Empire (see what I did there?) in an effort to save the galaxy and sell lots of merchandise.</p><p>My experience with Angry Birds is limited to <a href="http://chrome.angrybirds.com/" target="_blank">this free Chrome version</a>. They've sold, like, <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidthier/2012/05/09/angry-birds-hits-a-billion-downloads/" target="_blank">a billion copies</a> of the games, so obviously this whole slinging-birds-into-pigs thing is kind of a big deal. Evidently the merchandising side of things is booming as well, with all kinds of crap available from the <a href="http://shop.angrybirds.com/usa/" target="_blank">Angry Birds store</a>. I don't really see the draw of merch based on characters from an app, but what do I know.</p><p>Angry Birds Star Wars hits every platform imaginable on November 8th.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0Yq9idnT1OM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="SM"></a><!--Sine Mora--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Sine Mora</b><br />
<b>Microsoft Studios, Digital Reality</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Friday, November 9th | $9.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.sinemoragame.com/" target="_blank">http://www.sinemoragame.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p><i>Sine Mora</i> is a horizontal shoot-em-up "bullet hell" game that was originally released on the XBLA back in March. You play a time-traveling bison seeking revenge. I'll give you a moment to let that sink in.</p><p>I played the shit out of games like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_Striker" target="_blank"><i>Solar Striker</i></a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_Stryker" target="_blank"><i>Major Stryker</i></a> back in the day, so my interest in this game is mainly rooted in nostalgia. I'm far from a connoisseur when it comes to these type of scrolling shooters, but it seems like many recent titles play the retro card (see <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamestown:_Legend_of_the_Lost_Colony" target="_blank"><i>Jamestown</i></a>). Sine Mora bucks that trend and instead pushes out some pretty appealing visuals - not to mention the whole time-traveling bison thing.</p><p>This seems like one of those games that I might pick up on a whim during a Steam sale. GreenManGaming might convince me to buy it right now, though: they've got the game <a href="http://www.greenmangaming.com/s/us/en/pc/games/shooter/sine-mora/" target="_blank">on sale for $8.99</a> and promo code <a href="http://blog.greenmangaming.com/2012/11/25-off-just-about-everything-digital.html" target="_blank">GMG25-UAAHK-6AI9S</a> knocks off an additional 25%, bringing the total to $6.74. The XBLA version has an <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/xbox-360/sine-mora" target="_blank">83 on Metacritic</a> (Destructiod gave it a <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/review-sine-mora-224060.phtml" target="_blank">9.5/10</a>), so I'd imagine it's worth every penny.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DaO1djQMhF4?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="Other"></a><hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b style="font-size: 140%;">Other Noteworthy Releases</b><br />
<ul><li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Chaos on Deponia</b> (Daedalic Entertainment)<br />
Tuesday, November 6th | <b>$38.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.deponia.de/en/" target="_blank">http://www.deponia.de/en/</a></p></li>
</ul><br />
<p><i>Note: this list is not comprehensive but should cover most major titles. Check back every Monday for a new list of PC releases.</i></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-733507207577233802012-11-02T23:31:00.003-04:002012-11-02T23:31:56.793-04:00Weekend Deals: November 2nd<p>This weekend is a little thin on savings since the middle of the week was filled with Halloween promotions. In addition, stores are undoubtedly gearing up for mega deals later in the month and into December.</p><p>With that being said, there are still a handful of games available on the cheap:</p><ul><li><b>Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009YLKBQY/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B009YLKBQY&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgabe-20" target="_blank">Kingdoms of Amalur Complete for $11.99</a></li>
<li><b>GOG:</b> <a href="http://www.gog.com/en/promo/ea_weekend_promo_02_11_12/?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=social_media&utm_content=game_subject&utm_campaign=eamassive_promo" target="_blank">Classic EA Sale</a></li>
<li><b>Steam:</b> <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/730/?snr=1_7_suggest__13?td1" target="_blank">CS: Global Offensive Free Weekend and 33% Off</a></li>
<li><b>Steam:</b> <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sale/tomb_raider_anniversary" target="_blank">Tomb Raider 15th Anniversary Sale</a></li>
<li><b>GetGames:</b> <a href="http://getgamesgo.com/category/assassins-creed-sale" target="_blank">Assassin's Creed Sale</a></li>
</ul><p>AC3 for $38.49 is pretty tempting, but I should probably focus on playing through AC2/Brotherhood/Revelations first.</p><p>So many games; so little time - the very definition of a First World Problem.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-85239813474394942992012-10-31T17:16:00.000-04:002012-10-31T17:16:23.829-04:00Halloween PC Download Deals<p>It's Halloween, and just about every digital download service is having a sale to celebrate the occasion.</p><ul><li><a href="http://store.origin.com/store?Action=html&Env=BASE&Locale=en_US&SiteID=ea&easid=Origin_HALLOWEENBOGO_Web_Hero_BuyNow&pbPage=origin-deals" target="_blank">Origin: Buy 1 Get 1</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gog.com/en/promo/halloween_promo_31_10_12" target="_blank">GOG: 50% Off "Not Scary" Games</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamefly.com/download-games/browse/?ids=5004350,5000927,150290,5003915,155075,5003457,150450,5000315,150610,5004573,5004863,155025,151660,5004072,5003430,150760,5003522,152380&cid=hlwgf103012&stop_mobi=once#.UJGQWobSzUZ" target="_blank">GameFly: Halloween Sale</a></li>
<li><a href="http://store.steampowered.com/sale/halloweensale_2012" target="_blank">Steam: Halloween Sale</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.gamersgate.com/halloween" target="_blank">GamersGate: Halloween Sale</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.greenmangaming.com/hot-deals/?okay" target="_blank">GMG: Deals + New 25% Off Code</a></li>
</ul><p>Most of these deals are pretty unremarkable - as one reddit user <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/12a7oy/steam_halloween_sale/c6tfm5n" target="_blank">commented</a> in reference to the Steam sale, "these deals are so mediocre they're scary!" With that being said, there are a couple of hidden gems like <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/201790/?snr=1_614_615_halloweensale2012" target="_blank">Orcs Must Die 2 for $7.49</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006JA7EWW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B006JA7EWW&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgabe-20">The Darkness II for $4.99</a>.</p><p>Remember, Black Friday is just around the corner and the major holiday sales are less than 2 months away. It's not too late to pick up a second job for that extra disposable income.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-55027636093471270852012-10-30T17:54:00.000-04:002012-10-30T17:57:01.839-04:00New Releases: Week of October 29th<i>Here's a look at what's new this week.</i><br />
<p>This week's post comes a day late courtesy of the "Frankenstorm" that took a dump on the East Coast yesterday. Hopefully you've still got power, dear reader, as PC gaming tends to rely heavily on access to electricity.</p><p>While the console world is busy enjoying <i>Assassin's Creed 3</i> this week, we're stuck waiting another 3 weeks for the PC release. Thankfully we've got some other decent-looking titles to distract us until then.</p><br />
<a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/search/label/this%20week" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: auto; background-color: #ebebeb; border: 1px solid #333;" alt="This Week in PC Gaming" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cChdzxsU2AQ/UIT7dWCXvmI/AAAAAAAAAv4/HhEs6q_oMcE/s800/thisweek.png" /></a><br />
<p><b>Skip to:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-29th.html#NFS"><i>Need For Speed: Most Wanted</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-29th.html#MWO"><i>MechWarrior Online</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-29th.html#007"><i>007 Legends</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-29th.html#Other">Other Noteworthy Releases</a></li>
</ul></p><a name='more'></a><br />
<a name="NFS"></a><!--NFS Most Wanted--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Need For Speed: Most Wanted</b><br />
<b>EA, Criterion</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, October 30th | $49.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.needforspeed.com/most-wanted" target="_blank">http://www.needforspeed.com/most-wanted</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>2005 called; they want their NFS back.</p><p>Following in the footsteps of 2010's <i>Medal of Honor</i>, another EA studio has decided to release a brand new game that shamelessly steals its title from an older one. I guess remakes and reboots are all the rage in the entertainment industry right now - hell, <i>Spider-Man 3</i> came out in 2007 and Hollywood already hit the reset button with <i>The Amazing Spider-Man</i> earlier this year.</p><p>I can't complain about Criterion's choice of game; the original <i>Need For Speed: Most Wanted</i> was a solid arcade racer. This year's game retains the "Blacklist" of the 2005 title but reduces the list from 15 to 10 drivers. Aside from that, you might as well be playing a brand new entry to the NFS series, as this game is set in a different city and doesn't have a plot. I'm actually happy about the lack of plot thing because most of the time the story ended up being really, really dumb. Those live action cutscenes from some of the previous games were hilariously bad.</p><p>According to an <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/06/e3-2012-need-for-speed-most-wanted-is-burnout-paradise-2" target="_blank">IGN preview</a> from E3 2012, NFS: MW is more of a <i>Burnout Paradise 2</i> than anything else. I played the shit out of Burnout Paradise, so that's fine with me.</p><br />
<iframe style="margin: auto; display: block;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vdz58E1MWBM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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<a name="MWO"></a><!--MWO--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">MechWarrior Online Open Beta</b><br />
<b>Infinite Game Publishing, Piranha Games</b><br />
<i>Open beta</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, October 30th | FREE</b><br />
<a href="http://mwomercs.com/" target="_blank">http://mwomercs.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>While <i>MechWarrior Online</i> hasn't officially launched yet, I'm still including it in the list for this week. Let's be honest, the open beta phase of a free-to-play title is basically a soft launch anyway.</p><p>I scored an invite to MWO's closed beta a couple of weeks ago and played a handful of matches. The game has a steep learning curve and definitely isn't for the faint of heart. I posted <a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/mechwarrior-online-closed-beta-first.html" target="_blank">my initial impressions</a> a couple of weeks ago, and the PA Report published a pretty solid <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/new-to-mechwarrior-online-the-mistakes-and-avoid-and-how-to-begin" target="_blank">gameplay primer</a> for those looking to jump into the action.</p><br />
<iframe style="margin: auto; display: block;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Z6aFV1W8-jU?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="007"></a><!--007 Legends--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">007 Legends</b><br />
<b>Activision, Eurocom</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Friday, November 2nd | $49.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.007legends.com/" target="_blank">http://www.007legends.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>The only reason I'm featuring <i>007 Legends</i> this week is to tell everyone <b>not</b> to buy it. The game was released a couple of weeks ago on the PS3/X360, and to say that reviews were less than kind would be an understatement. To give you an idea of just how bad this game is, Joystiq and Polygon subtitled their reviews <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/19/007-legends-review/" target="_blank">"Live and let (this game) die"</a> and <a href="http://www.polygon.com/game/007-legends/3129" target="_blank">"Die Today,"</a> respectively. The console versions are hovering in the low 40's on Metacritic.</p><p>Use your money to go see <i>Skyfall</i> next weekend instead.</p><br />
<iframe style="margin: auto; display: block;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DyxqB9ph-1k" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<br />
<a name="Other"></a><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Other Noteworthy Releases</b><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><ul><li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Guns of Icarus Online</b> (Muse Games)<br />
Monday, October 29th | <b>$19.99</b><br />
<a href="http://gunsoficarus.com/" target="_blank">http://gunsoficarus.com/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Primal Carnage</b> (Reverb Publishing)<br />
Monday, October 29th | <b>$14.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.primalcarnage.com/website/" target="_blank">http://www.primalcarnage.com/website/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Natural Selection 2</b> (Unknown Worlds)<br />
Tuesday, October 30th | <b>$24.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.naturalselection2.com/" target="_blank">http://www.naturalselection2.com/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Painkiller: Hell & Damnation</b> (Nordic Games)<br />
Wednesday, October 31st | <b>$19.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.painkillergame.com/index.php" target="_blank">http://www.painkillergame.com/index.php</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Pid (Planet in Distress)</b> (Might and Delight)<br />
Wednesday, October 31st | <b>$9.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.pidgame.com/" target="_blank">http://www.pidgame.com/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Football Manager 2013</b> (Sega)<br />
Friday, November 2nd | <b>$39.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.footballmanager.com/" target="_blank">http://www.footballmanager.com/</a></p></li>
</ul><br />
<p><i>Note: this list is not comprehensive but should cover most major titles. Check back every Monday for a new list of PC releases.</i></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-91683195621759570122012-10-29T18:02:00.003-04:002012-10-29T18:02:50.570-04:00BBL Hurricane<p>It's been raining here all day, though somehow I still have power. I just did a speed test on <a href="http://www.speedtest.net" target="_blank">Speedtest.net</a> and managed to chart a download speed of <b>0.62 Mbps</b>. Pretty fantastic.</p><p>Needless to say I won't be posting much for the next day or so.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-71690415467550093862012-10-27T18:35:00.001-04:002012-10-27T18:35:41.342-04:00Site News and Weekend Reading: October 27th<p>My previous approach to posting interesting stuff to read each weekend was pretty inefficient. I'd chuck links that I deemed worthy of posting into a folder in Firefox and at the end of the week I'd sift through them. After organizing them by category I'd manually type up a formatted list - with or without descriptions depending on my mood. Posting lists of bare links didn't feel like quality content, and bullshitting a description of two lines for each saying "I really enjoyed this article" didn't exactly feel any better.</p><p>Time to try something a little different.</p><p>Last week I created a <a href="http://delicious.com/" target="_blank">Delicious</a> account and grabbed a Firefox addon to facilitate link grabbing. Links can be found here:</p><p style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; margin-top: 20px; margin-bottom: 30px;"><a href="http://delicious.com/maddogpcgb" target="_blank">http://delicious.com/maddogpcgb</a></p><p>I originally got the idea to pass on links from the <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/" target="_blank">Penny Arcade Report</a>'s "The Cut" section, so I'll probably integrate the link feed into the sidebar at some point. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and all that stuff.</p><p>This change helps to eliminate some filler content from the stream of posts I'll be making. My original intent was to post something daily, but I've been slowly drifting towards a 2-3 update per week schedule. Things should settle into a M/F/W-ish schedule with random posts about deals and other newsworthy happenings thrown in.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-17232869781701902712012-10-26T22:19:00.000-04:002012-10-26T22:19:19.455-04:00Spooky Sales and Savings<p>Here's a sampling of the deals available this Halloween weekend. Highlights include <a href="http://getgamesgo.com/product/super-meat-boy" target="_blank">Super Meat Boy for $3.49</a>, <a href="http://impulsedriven.com/id/collection/halloween.html" target="_blank">Metro 2033 and Dead Space/2 for 5 bucks each</a>, and <a href="http://getgamesgo.com/product/darksiders-ii" target="_blank">Darksiders II for $22.49</a>.</p><ul><li><b>GameStop:</b> <a href="http://impulsedriven.com/id/collection/halloween.html" target="_blank">Halloween Sale</a></li>
<li><b>GetGames:</b> <a href="http://getgamesgo.com/category/halloween-sale" target="_blank">Halloween Sale</a></li>
<li><b>GetGames:</b> <a href="http://getgamesgo.com/product/darksiders-ii" target="_blank">Darksiders II for $22.49</a></li>
<li><b>Steam:</b> <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/550/" target="_blank">L4D2 Free Weekend + Sale</a></li>
<li><b>Steam:</b> <a href="http://store.steampowered.com/app/22230/" target="_blank">Rock of Ages Free Weekend + Sale</a></li>
<li><b>GameFly:</b> <a href="http://www.gamefly.com/download-games/search/?kw=THQWeekend" target="_blank">THQ Weekend</a></li>
<li><b>Square Enix:</b> <a href="http://store.na.square-enix.com/store/sqenixus/en_US/home" target="_blank">Three Day Sale</a></li>
<li><b>Amazon:</b> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0083W649I/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=B0083W649I&linkCode=as2&tag=pcgabe-20">Bioshock Dual Pack for $7.49</a></li>
</ul><p>Also, you can head to <a href="http://www.stopzombiemouth.com/" target="_blank">StopZombieMouth.com</a> and pick up vouchers for free copies of <i>Plants vs. Zombies</i> to give out to trick-or-treaters (or horde for yourself). Coupons are redeemable from October 30th to November 10th.</p><p>I just hope I <a href="http://www.weather.com/news/weather-hurricanes/hurricane-sandy-winter-storm-20121025" target="_blank">still have power</a> on October 30th.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-85504695553379358702012-10-25T23:53:00.003-04:002012-10-25T23:54:20.380-04:00My Take on the "Decline" of Starcraft II<p>The sky is falling, the sky is falling!</p><br />
<img style="display: block; margin: auto;" border="0" alt="Starcraft 2 Logo" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-1rNhqRbK66Y/UIoB_et2H2I/AAAAAAAAAwQ/xa-odIvmFUo/s800/sc2_logo.jpg" width="600" /><br />
<p>What's the deal with <i>Starcraft II</i> lately?</p><p><i>League of Legends</i> is the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudiosi/2012/07/11/riot-games-league-of-legends-officially-becomes-most-played-pc-game-in-the-world/" target="_blank">most popular game in the world</a>. Korean SC2 team Slayers <a href="http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/10/18/legendary-pro-starcraft-2-team-slayers-disbanding/" target="_blank">is disbanding</a> and three of their players are switching to LoL. Event prize money is stagnant and stream viewer numbers are down. The game's popularity is even dwindling in South Korea, a Starcraft hotbed for more than 10 years; SC2 <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ko&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gametrics.com%2Frank%2FRank02.aspx" target="_blank">isn't even among the top 10</a> games played in the country's "PC bang" LAN centers.</p><p>Is SC2 on the way out, or are these just growing pains?</p><br />
<a name='more'></a><h4>My SC2 Experience</h4><p>I nabbed an SC2 beta invite from a WoW guildmate in April or May of 2010. Prior to downloading and installing the game, my only experience with Starcraft was playing a couple of customs with a friend via a <a href="https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/spawn-version" target="_blank">spawned copy</a> of the game. I had played some <i>Warcraft II</i> and <i>Warcraft III</i> in addition to custom games like DOTA and Burbenog TD but that was pretty much it.</p><p>I was hooked immediately and logged on frequently. When the beta went down for maintenance, I started watching HDStarcraft and Husky on Youtube, later graduating to Day9. While I was routinely placed in the Bronze or Silver leagues during the beta, I qualified for the Platinum league after the game's release and was promoted to Diamond midway through the first season. Most of my friends had purchased the game as well and we usually ended up queuing for 3v3 or 4v4 several nights per week.</p><p>When I wasn't playing the game I was usually watching it. I tuned into the first few seasons of the <a href="http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/GOMTV_Global_StarCraft_II_League" target="_blank">GSL</a> as much as my sleep schedule would allow; I vividly remember watching all of the pageantry of the first season and witnessing FruitDealer take home the trophy. The "foreign scene" (meaning "non-Korean" in SC's case) exploded as well, with major tournaments like Dreamhack, MLG, IPL, and NASL happening all over the globe. Gaps in tournament scheduling were filled by dozens of players streaming on Justin.tv (now Twitch.tv) and Own3D.tv.</p><p>Despite the initial pull of Starcraft II, my friends gradually drifted back to other games - HoN, BF3, WoW, or whatever was the flavor of the month at the time. Team games became less frequent and I ended up playing dozens of 1v1 ladder matches by myself. Over time my pledge to play 5 or 10 ladder games daily turned into more of a chore than anything else and I took a break myself.</p><br />
<h4>Why the Declining Interest?</h4><p><a href="http://wiki.teamliquid.net/starcraft2/Destiny" target="_blank">Destiny</a> recently posted a few things on reddit that I thought made a lot of sense:</p><ul><li><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/11m21k/starcraft_2_will_be_dead_before_legacy_of_the/" target="_blank">Starcraft 2 will be dead before Legacy of the Void if Blizzard doesn't change its course</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/Destiny/comments/122kop/whats_been_going_on_an_update/" target="_blank">"What's been going on?" - An Update</a></li>
</ul><p>Steven argues that Blizzard hasn't done nearly enough to embrace casual players of SC2. Whether you're a fan of <i>World of Warcraft</i> or not, Blizzard's casual-friendly approach to the game as of late has allowed them to maintain a healthy subscriber base entering the game's ninth year. By catering to the 95% that <em>doesn't</em> grind out 30 ladder games per day, Blizzard could reinvigorate the SC2 playerbase and draw players back to the game rather than driving them from it. In addition, despite billing Starcraft II as a AAA next-gen eSport, Blizzard has repeatedly shot themselves in the foot by focusing on things like clan support instead of chat channels, name changes, and offline LAN support for tournaments. I cry emo tears every time I see a lag screen pop up during a major event.</p><p>I agree that the current custom game implementation leaves a lot to be desired, but I also think that some of the player exodus involves SC2's steep learning curve and relatively high barrier to reentry. A lot of my friends had "ladder anxiety" that prevented them from playing 1v1. No one wants to be judged and scored competitively when they're just learning the game, and those sentiments are echoed every time someone tries to pick up the game after a hiatus.</p><p>Every time I think about "coming back" and laddering again I realize that I'm going to be absolutely horrendous. After weeks or months away from the game my APM is going to be down, I'll be fumbling over my hotkeys, I won't be familiar with any new maps, and I'll be unaware of any major shifts in the metagame. I've always been a Random player, meaning I've been forced to learn at least a rough overview of nine matchups instead of three. Knowing that I'll probably lose 15 of my first 20 games doesn't exactly get me motivated.</p><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img style="display: block; margin: auto;" border="0" alt="Starcraft 2 Match History" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-BEMVOX_ekkI/UIoB_epUJwI/AAAAAAAAAwU/SEdR989xqH8/s800/sc2_history.jpg" width="600" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">As you can see, I'm incredibly active.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<h4>#SaveHOTS</h4><p>The events of the past week or two and the general pessimism surrounding Starcraft II have spawned a movement known as <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23savehots&src=hash" target="_blank">#SaveHOTS</a>. People have been posting their comments and concerns on Twitter and making <a href="http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=376188" target="_blank">lengthy forum and blog posts</a> describing their overall frustration with the current state of the game.</p><p>So what needs to change? While it's true that gameplay seems a bit stagnant and HotS may or may not be injecting enough life into the game, intense balance and <a href="http://scdojo.tumblr.com/post/34233737871/mapping-out-the-metagame" target="_blank">metagame discussions</a> are a bit above my paygrade. I'll instead focus on things that aren't directly related to game mechanics.</p><p>As I mentioned above, both ladder anxiety and skill degradation end up killing the competitive 1v1 experience for many players. The unranked matchmaking feature that was <a href="http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/5366967/Developer_Update_with_Production_Director_Chris_Si%20gaty-5_7_2012" target="_blank">teased in a developer blog post</a> should help to address these issues, but I'd like to also see changes to the ranked side of things.</p><p>Something akin to MMR decay would be awesome. For example, after two weeks of ladder inactivity, start dropping a player's MMR by 3-5% per week until they start playing again or it reaches a floor of 40-50% of the original rating. Use this temporary MMR for the first 10-20 games or so, slowly increasing it towards the original level until a new equilibrium is reached. I hate feeling like I need to "practice" before laddering. Unranked matchmaking would be viable way to shake off some rust before jumping back in, but I'd rather keep all of my "serious" laddering in one place.</p><p>The custom game interface definitely needs an overhaul for players who don't want to ladder. Let us give lobbies custom titles again, and allow players to search through custom lobbies to find one they'd like to join. It'd be a helluva lot easier to find a practice partner if you could do something as simple as putting your league ranking in the title of a custom game. At the same time, many custom games allow players to vote on rulesets and game options at the start; it'd be much easier to assemble a group of like-minded players if you could specify the type of game you'd like to play in the title.</p><p>Above all, Heart of the Swarm needs to feel like <b>more of a social experience</b>. Destiny brought up the point that the chat interface in Brood War <a href="http://i.imgur.com/KyINg.png" target="_blank">took up "70% of the screen."</a> SC2 didn't even ship with chat channel support, and the current implementation crams everything into two tiny buttons in the corner of the screen:</p><img style="display: block; margin: auto;" border="0" alt="SC2 Social Buttons" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-vQktgSYhtaY/UIoB_GnEiQI/AAAAAAAAAwI/gbwRSu3qEqo/s800/sc2_chat.jpg"/><br />
That's actual size, 120x54 pixels, less than 1% of the available space for content in the game's UI. Individual chat channels or player-to-player messages show up as tiny dockable windows that aren't very conducive to conversations involving multiple people.<br />
<p>In many ways SC2 can be a cold and impersonal experience. In most games communication between players is limited to "glhf" and "gg," with the occasional "wow cheezing fgt" thrown in for good measure. While you can whisper other players (should they allow it) and manually enter chat channels, there's no easy way to sit back and shoot the shit with random people. I played WoW for about 5 years, and half of my play time involved me using the game as a glorified chat client. Player relationships forged in-game are a major reason why 10 million people still play WoW after 8 years. I don't know if Blizzard is worrying about the need to moderate things like user chat and game titles, but if that's the case it's a pretty shitty reason to exclude or diminish those features. Obviously SC2 isn't an MMO, but anything to help it seem less like an epic grindfest would help.</p><p>Blizzard has put forth a couple of UI previews in the last week that sort of feel like forced responses to the drama the community has stirred up lately. Last week they gave us a <a href="http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7634957/Heart_of_the_Swarm_UI_Update-10_18_2012" target="_blank">sneak peak of the UI</a> in HotS, and today we learned about an <a href="http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7681240/Heart_of_the_Swarm_Preview_Leveling-10_25_2012" target="_blank">overarching leveling and XP system</a>. While the UI seems to be moving in the right direction and the stat-whore in me is loving the built-in statistics breakdowns, I'll need to see more of the custom game interface before passing final judgement. The XP system immediately reminded me of <i>Call of Duty</i> (from the Activision side of Activision-Blizzard), and while it's not a big deal for me personally it should give people added incentive to log on. People love their levels and achievement points.</p><p>While looking through the 2012 release schedule late last year I told myself that HotS would be the only game I felt comfortable pre-ordering (<i>Brink</i> has ruined me for life). I hope I still feel the same way when Blizzard finally announces a release date.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-10175432651510235522012-10-23T23:57:00.000-04:002012-10-23T23:59:32.451-04:00AMD Vishera FX-8350 Review Roundup<i>~15% performance gains in some areas, but is it enough?</i><br />
<p>AMD hasn't exactly been killing it lately. Bulldozer was a flop, <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2012/10/18/technology/amd-job-cuts/index.html" target="_blank">shares have been declining</a>, and the company will cut <a href="http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-10-19/pair-of-analysts-cut-advanced-micro-devices-rating" target="_blank">almost 1800 jobs</a> by the end of the year. Ouch.</p><p>Intel has opened up a clear lead on the CPU front in the past few years. With Tuesday's launch of Vishera, the follow-up to Zambezi, AMD looks to close that gap. Zambezi CPUs were energy hogs with poor single-threaded performance; despite being priced the same as the i5-2500K, the FX-8150 struggled to compete with Phenom II chips in certain scenarios. AMD's strategy with Vishera, which uses 32nm Piledriver cores, is to regain lost ground in regards to performance while also changing the entry price points of their CPUs.</p><a name='more'></a><p>To learn more about the new CPUs, I checked out several reviews last night from the following sites:</p><ul><li><b>AnandTech:</b> <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested" target="_blank">The Vishera Review: AMD FX-8350, FX-8320, FX-6300 and FX-4300 Tested</a></li>
<li><b>Tom's Hardware:</b> <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-8350-vishera-review,3328.html" target="_blank">AMD FX-8350 Review: Does Piledriver Fix Bulldozer's Flaws?</a></li>
<li><b>Guru3D:</b> <a href="http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_fx_8350_processor_review,1.html" target="_blank">AMD FX 8350 processor review</a></li>
<li><b>Hardware Canucks:</b> <a href="http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/57446-fx-8350-cpu-review-amds-vishera-arrives.html" target="_blank">FX-8350 CPU Review; AMD's Vishera Arrives</a></li>
<li><b>TechPowrUp:</b> <a href="http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/FX-8350_Piledriver_Review/1.html" target="_blank">AMD FX-8350 - "Piledriver" for AMD Socket AM3+</a></li>
</ul><p>Performance gains over Zambezi (Bulldozer) generally look to be in the neighborhood of 15%. AMD's "throw a fuckton of cores at it" strategy continues to give them an edge in multi-threaded apps that can utilize their CPUs to the fullest. An unfortunate byproduct of this approach is that the single-threaded performance crown remains with Intel.</p><p>As it stands right now, gaming definitely falls closer to the single-threaded end of the spectrum. Half of the games we see nowadays are console ports that aren't exactly coded with ultimate PC performance in mind. The large majority of games today utilize 2-4 cores at the most, meaning half of the cores on an an octocore FX-8350 are going to be twiddling their thumbs while you're blowing things up. When you pit 4 Piledriver cores against the 4 cores of an i5-3570K, the Intel chip is going to win every time.</p><p>In addition, AMD still gets absolutely slaughtered in the power consumption category. While Vishera is more efficient than Bulldozer, Intel wasn't exactly sitting idle; Ivy Bridge further reduced the already low power consumption of Sandy Bridge. Take a look at this graph from AnandTech's review:</p><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/amd/Vishera/power-95w.png" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="AnandTech Vishera Power Consumption" width="600" src="http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/cpu/amd/Vishera/power-95w.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Graph of power consumption from AnandTech's review. <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/6396/the-vishera-review-amd-fx8350-fx8320-fx6300-and-fx4300-tested/6" target="_blank"><i>source</i></a></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><p>That's pretty significant, and in some cases the FX-8350 gobbles 70-80% more power than the i5-3570K. This isn't exactly unexpected since Ivy Bridge is a 22nm die shrink of Sandy Bridge, but the difference in power consumption between the different chip families is pretty immense. Depending on your usage the difference in terms of your electric bill might only be a buck or two per month, but that's going to add up over time.</p><p>While AMD might not have a processor that can stand toe-to-toe with Intel's SB-E or IB CPUs, the aggressive pricing of these new chips might at the very least put them back in the conversation. The top-end FX-8350 is supposed to be priced at $199, with the 8320, 6300, and 4300 coming in at $169, $132, and $122, respectively. Unfortunately, the 8350 is currently listed for $220 on Newegg, the same price as the i5-2500K and only $10 less than the i5-3570K. While AMD still doesn't have anything to compete with Intel in the $200+ market, the company's CPUs remain a solid option for gamers and enthusiasts on a budget.</p><p>Piledriver is what Bulldozer should have been last year. AMD is still playing a costly game of catch-up; we'll see just how far behind they really are when Intel debuts Haswell next year.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-21005717409876227072012-10-23T17:47:00.000-04:002012-10-23T17:47:42.563-04:00Deal Alert: SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 for $270 AR, Plus Free Stuff<p>This AMD <a href="http://www.amd.com/us/press-releases/Pages/never-settle-program-2012oct22.aspx" target="_blank">"Never Settle"</a> thing looks pretty tempting.</p><p>Right now, Newegg has a SAPPHIRE HD 7950 3GB card for <a href="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?SID=xx6Lnh0SEeKmEWpDFXlv0Q0PJ4_0_0_0_0&AID=10440897&PID=1225267&Item=N82E16814202006&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-cables-_-na-_-na" target="_blank">$290 with a $20 mail-in rebate</a>. $270 is already a pretty solid price for a 7950, but when you throw in <i>Far Cry 3</i>, <i>Hitman: Absolution</i>, and <i>Sleeping Dogs</i> (not to mention 20% off <i>Medal of Honor: Warfighter</i>), this deal gets straight up ridiculous.</p><p>I'm seriously thinking about trading up from my 1GB 560 Ti. Sure, we're near the end of a GPU generation, but that bundle is insane. Plus, 1GB of VRAM is starting to cramp my style a little bit, so the move to 3GB would open up some more options for the future.</p><p>Gaming at 2560x1440? Yes please.</p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-21868049665245147452012-10-22T15:39:00.000-04:002012-10-22T15:41:01.126-04:00New Releases: Week of October 22nd<i>Here's a look at what's new this week.</i><br />
<p>This week is sort of an unofficial beginning to the holiday release season. We'll see another AAA title (most of them sequels) just about every week from now until Christmas. <i>Need For Speed, Medal of Honor, Assassin's Creed, Hitman, Far Cry</i> - they're all on the way.</p><p>Better fasten your seatbelts, 'cuz it's going to be a wild ride from here on out.</p><br />
<a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/search/label/this%20week" target="_blank"><img style="display: block; margin: auto; background-color: #ebebeb; border: 1px solid #333;" alt="This Week in PC Gaming" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cChdzxsU2AQ/UIT7dWCXvmI/AAAAAAAAAv4/HhEs6q_oMcE/s800/thisweek.png" /></a><br />
<p><b>Skip to:</b><br />
<ul><li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-22nd.html#Win8"><i>Windows 8</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-22nd.html#MOH"><i>Medal of Honor: Warfighter</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-22nd.html#Giana"><i>Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams</i></a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-releases-week-of-october-22nd.html#Other">Other Noteworthy Releases</a></li>
</ul></p><a name='more'></a><br />
<a name="Win8"></a><!--Windows 8--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Windows 8</b><br />
<b>Microsoft</b><br />
<i>OS</i><br />
<b>Friday, October 26th | Price Varies</b><br />
<a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/home" target="_blank">http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/home</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p>What is arguably the most important item on this week's list isn't a game at all. Windows 8 hits shelves on Friday, and you'd better start bracing for the impact now.</p><p>I installed Windows 8 RTM several weeks ago and used it as my main OS for a week. You can find details in the following posts:</p><ul><li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/08/windows-8-and-gaming.html" target="_blank">Windows 8 and Gaming</a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/08/windows-8-rtm-day-1-installation-and.html" target="_blank">Windows 8 RTM, Day 1: Installation and Drivers</a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/08/windows-8-rtm-day-2-metro-apps-games.html" target="_blank">Windows 8 RTM, Day 2: Metro Apps, Games, and Random Stuff</a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/09/labor-day-few-quick-notes.html" target="_blank">Labor Day - A Few Quick Notes</a></li>
<li><a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/09/windows-8-rtm-final-thoughts.html" target="_blank">Windows 8 RTM: Final Thoughts</a></li>
</ul><p>Anyone who's been near a tech site in the last 6 months could tell you that Windows 8 is <a href="http://pcgamesbeat.blogspot.com/2012/08/windows-8-and-gaming.html" target="_blank">a pretty controversial subject</a>. Gabe Newell called it <a href="http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/07/26/gabe-newell-windows-8-is-a-catastrophe" target="_blank">"kind of a catastrophe,"</a> - not exactly a glowing recommendation. The desktop side of Windows 8 builds upon the immense success of Windows 7 and should immediately feel familiar, but that's not the problem. Two items in particular, the "Metro" UI (but don't call it that) and the Windows Store, seem to have everyone's collective panties in a bunch.</p><p>You won't find a Start Menu in Windows 8; in its place is a full-screen "Metro" Start Screen that is horizontally-focused and touch-friendly. While there's nothing particularly <i>wrong</i> with the new UI, it definitely feels tablet-centric. The design changes are a bold step forward for sure, but there's a strange disconnect that exists between the traditional desktop and the new non-Metro Metro UI.</p><p>The other bone of contention is the Windows Store. Many developers are worried that the store will eventually turn into an Apple-esque "walled garden," giving Microsoft the power to pick and choose what is listed and allowing them to push their own products over those of competitors. At this point these concerns are <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/windows-8-launch-time-to-nail-those-windows-store-myths-7000005158/" target="_blank">pretty much unfounded</a> as far as Windows 8 is concerned, but I think people are more worried about a closed-off Windows Store environment in Windows 9 or 10.</p><p>Microsoft will be allowing users to <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/258674/windows_8_upgrade_offer_40_even_if_upgrading_from_win_xp.html" target="_blank">upgrade to Windows 8 for $40</a> via an offer that runs from October 26th until January 31st. The low price tag definitely introduces another variable to the upgrade equation.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/i1GNDs7DCTw?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<a name="MOH"></a><!--Medal of Honor Warfighter--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Medal of Honor: Warfighter</b><br />
<b>EA, Danger Close</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, October 23rd | $59.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.medalofhonor.com/" target="_blank">http://www.medalofhonor.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p><i>Medal of Honor</i> seems to be all about authenticity these days. Both the 2010 series reboot and this week's <i>Warfighter</i> feature "tier one" operators involved in conflicts that are somewhat grounded in reality. Compare that to the <i>Call of Duty</i> series, which seems to have nukes and EMPs flying around nonstop, and you can see that EA and Danger Close are trying to approach the modern shooter genre from a different angle.</p><p>Warfighter uses the same <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostbite_%28game_engine%29" target="_blank">Frostbite 2 engine</a> as <i>Battlefield 3</i>, and comparisons between the two are going to be made frequently. While the game's visuals might look familiar, the audio might be the thing that sets it apart. MOH:WF (that's a mouthful) uses <a href="http://battlelog.medalofhonor.com/mohw/about/game/medal-of-honor-warfighter/" target="_blank">"acclaimed High Dynamic Range (HDR) audio, accurate weapon sound signatures and environmental audio effects"</a> to make the battlefield sound as real as it looks.</p><p>As you can probably tell from the last link, the new MOH will utilize the Battlelog system from BF3. People pissed and moaned about BF3 launching from a browser, but I actually kind of like the setup; I can check out stats and modify loadouts when I'm bored without launching the full game. Another new feature that looks pretty cool is a <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/11/getting-friendly-in-medal-of-honor-warfighters-multiplayer-mod/" target="_blank">forced "buddy system"</a> that pairs players up in fireteams of two. In addition to being able to see your buddy through walls, the two of you share ammo and you'll gain bonus points for completing objectives together. Whether this system will produce actual objective-focused teamwork from a random team remains to be seen, but it's an interesting approach.</p><p>The MOH 2010 reboot <a href="http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/medal-of-honor" target="_blank">wasn't exactly a hit</a>, so Danger Close is faced with an uphill battle this time around. At least they have <a href="http://finance.yahoo.com/news/ea-linkin-park-challenge-fans-130000873.html" target="_blank">Linkin Park</a> on their side.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin:auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/yxZlJBOG4CM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<a name="Giana"></a><!--TITLE--><br />
<b style="font-size: 140%;">Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams</b><br />
<b>Black Forest Games</b><br />
<i>Full release</i><br />
<b>Tuesday, October 23rd | $14.99</b><br />
<a href="http://project-giana.com/" target="_blank">http://project-giana.com/</a><br />
<hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><p><i>Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams</i> has roots that go all the way back to the Commodore 64. The original Giana Sisters game was a blatant <i>Super Mario Bros.</i> rip-off - just look at <a href="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/90/Giana_Sisters_Screenshot.png" target="_blank">this screenshot</a>. Nintendo obviously wasn't happy and threatened legal action, and the game was pulled from the shelves.</p><p>Twisted Dreams is the sequel to a Giana game from 2009 that, oddly enough considering the series' history, was released on the Nintendo DS. The current game went through both <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/project-giana/project-giana" target="_blank">Kickstarter</a> and <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92852223" target="_blank">Steam Greenlight</a> to make releasing the title a reality.</p><p>GS:TD is a platformer in which the player controls Giana, a teenage girl trapped in a dream world. Giana has both a "cute" side and a "punk" side; switching between the two changes both the game world and the abilities and Giana's disposal. Destructoid has an <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/six-reasons-to-support-the-project-giana-kickstarter-233789.phtml" target="_blank">in-depth preview</a> of the game that makes it look pretty appealing.</p><br />
<iframe style="display: block; margin: auto;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/UClNHo0Gp7Y?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<a name="Other"></a><hr style="color: #444; background-color: #444; border: 1px solid #444; height: 3px; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 20px;"><b style="font-size: 140%;">Other Noteworthy Releases</b><br />
<ul><li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Hotline Miami</b> (Devolver Digital)<br />
Tuesday, October 23rd | <b>$9.99</b><br />
<a href="http://hotlinemiami.com/" target="_blank">http://hotlinemiami.com/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Elemental: Fallen Enchantresses</b> (Stardock)<br />
Tuesday, October 23rd | <b>$39.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.elementalgame.com/fallen-enchantress" target="_blank">http://www.elementalgame.com/fallen-enchantress</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">A Game of Dwarves</b> (Paradox Interactive)<br />
Tuesday, October 23rd | <b>$9.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/a-game-of-dwarves" target="_blank">http://www.paradoxplaza.com/games/a-game-of-dwarves</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Farming Simulator 2013</b> (Focus Home Interactive)<br />
Thursday, October 23rd | <b>$29.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.farming-simulator.com/" target="_blank">http://www.farming-simulator.com/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">Lucius</b> (Lace Mamba Global)<br />
Friday, October 26th | <b>$24.99</b><br />
<a href="http://lucius.shivergames.com/" target="_blank">http://lucius.shivergames.com/</a></p></li>
<li><p><b style="font-size: 120%;">King's Bounty: Warriors of the North</b> (Katauri Interactive)<br />
Friday, October 26th | <b>$29.99</b><br />
<a href="http://www.kingsbountygame.com/" target="_blank">http://www.kingsbountygame.com/</a></p></li>
</ul><br />
<p><i>Note: this list is not comprehensive but should cover most major titles. Check back every Monday for a new list of PC releases.</i></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-41072212516364850562012-10-20T11:00:00.000-04:002012-10-20T11:00:01.971-04:00Weekend Reading: October 20th<i>Here's some stuff to keep you entertained this weekend.</i><br />
<br />
<h4>Games</h4><ul><li><b>Verge/Polygon:</b> <a href="http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/17/3493146/inside-the-composers-dead-space" target="_blank">Inside the composer's (dead) space</a></li>
<li><b>PA Report:</b> <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/2-million-in-prizes-millions-of-viewers-and-a-packed-house-the-lol-champion" target="_blank">$2 million in prizes, millions of viewers, and a packed house: the LoL Championship in pictures</a></li>
<li><b>PA Report:</b> <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/taipei-assassins-triumph-in-league-of-legends-world-finals" target="_blank">Taipei Assassins triumph in League of Legends world finals</a></li>
<li><b>reddit:</b> <a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/11m21k/starcraft_2_will_be_dead_before_legacy_of_the/" target="_blank">Starcraft 2 will be dead before Legacy of the Void if Blizzard doesn't change its course</a></li>
<li><b>Forbes:</b> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/10/18/starcraft-2-struggles-as-league-of-legends-rises/" target="_blank">Starcraft 2 Struggles as League of Legends Rises</a></li>
<li><b>Forbes:</b> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/10/19/further-thoughts-on-starcraft-2-and-league-of-legends/" target="_blank">Further Thoughts on Starcraft 2 and League of Legends</a></li>
<li><b>Verge/Polygon:</b> <a href="http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/10/16/3514432/obsidians-project-eternity-kickstarter-ends-with-record-setting-funding" target="_blank">Obsidian's 'Project Eternity' Kickstarter ends with record-setting $3.98 million in funding</a></li>
<li><b>PA Report:</b> <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/doom-3-gets-another-chance-with-new-content-that-shows-id-still-knows-how-t" target="_blank">Doom 3 gets another chance, with new content that shows id still knows how to get it done</a></li>
<li><b>RockPaperShotgun:</b> <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/16/wows-j-allen-brack-on-what-lies-beyond-pandaria/" target="_blank">WoW’s J. Allen Brack On What Lies Beyond Pandaria</a></li>
<li><b>Forbes:</b> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/10/17/borderlands-2-captain-scarlett-and-her-pirates-booty-review-part-one-dlc-done-right/" target="_blank">'Borderlands 2' Captain Scarlett And Her Pirate's Booty Review: DLC Done Right</a></li>
<li><b>PA Report:</b> <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/devs-behind-nitronic-rush-announce-a-spiritual-successor-that-challenges-ar" target="_blank">Nitronic Rush devs on racing game controls, and building an engine from scratch</a></li>
<li><b>Forbes:</b> <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkain/2012/10/18/chivalry-developer-talks-kickstarter-medieval-combat-and-more/" target="_blank">'Chivalry' Developer Talks Kickstarter, Medieval Combat, And More</a></li>
<li><b>Verge/Polygon:</b> <a href="http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/10/19/3525090/warface-preview-free-to-play-seriously" target="_blank">Crytek taking free-to-play seriously with 'Warface'</a></li>
</ul><p>More links after the jump.</p><br />
<a name='more'></a><h4>Hardware and Peripherals</h4><ul><li><b>AnandTech:</b> <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/6367/nzxt-phantom-820-everything-everything" target="_blank">NZXT Phantom 820 Case Review: Everything, Everything</a></li>
<li><b>Tom's Hardware:</b> <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Ultrabook-PC-NAND-Market-Performance,18358.html" target="_blank">Declining PC Sales Not Derailing SSD Market in 2012</a></li>
<li><b>DealNews:</b> <a href="http://dealnews.com/features/High-Capacity-SSDs-Finally-Match-the-per-GB-Prices-of-Smaller-SSDs/622014.html" target="_blank">High-Capacity SSDs Finally Match the per-GB Prices of Smaller SSDs</a></li>
<li><b>Tom's Hardware:</b> <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/fx-4170-core-i3-3220-benchmarks,3314.html" target="_blank">AMD FX-4170 Vs. Intel Core i3-3220: Which ~$125 CPU Should You Buy?</a></li>
<li><b>Tom's Hardware:</b> <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106.html" target="_blank">Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: October 2012</a></li>
<li><b>AnandTech:</b> <a href="http://www.anandtech.com/show/6372/memory-performance-16gb-ddr31333-to-ddr32400-on-ivy-bridge-igp-with-gskill" target="_blank">Memory Performance: 16GB DDR3-1333 to DDR3-2400 on Ivy Bridge IGP with G.Skill</a></li>
</ul><br />
<h4>Everything Else</h4><ul><li><b>Destructoid:</b> <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/the-wii-is-blatantly-better-than-barack-obama-237009.phtml" target="_blank">The Wii is blatantly better than Barack Obama</a></li>
<li><b>PA Report:</b> <a href="http://penny-arcade.com/report/editorial-article/roll-for-initiative-can-video-games-make-it-as-a-mainstream-spectator-sport" target="_blank">Can video games make it as a mainstream spectator sport in the US?</a></li>
<li><b>Gamespot:</b> <a href="http://www.gamespot.com/news/starcraft-ii-pro-gamer-stephano-suspended-and-fined-for-sexual-comments-6398219" target="_blank">StarCraft II pro gamer Stephano suspended and fined for sexual comments</a></li>
<li><b>Gamasutra:</b> <a href="http://gamasutra.com/view/news/179353/At_retail_the_big_games_are_still_selling_even_if_nothing_else_is.php#.UIIWVYbSzUb" target="_blank">At retail, the big games are still selling (even if nothing else is)</a></li>
<li><b>Ars Technica:</b> <a href="http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/10/why-i-pay-extra-for-business-class-broadband-at-home/" target="_blank">Why I pay extra for "business-class" broadband at home</a></li>
<li><b>Ars Technica:</b> <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/10/eidos-president-low-broadband-speeds-are-holding-the-game-industry-back/" target="_blank">Eidos president: Low broadband speeds are holding the game industry back</a></li>
<li><b>Hulu:</b> <a href="http://www.hulu.com/watch/412897" target="_blank">SNL Skit "Tech Talk: iPhone 5"</a></li>
<li><b>Destructoid:</b> <a href="http://www.destructoid.com/we-have-a-file-on-you-the-tools-tricks-of-social-games-236545.phtml" target="_blank">We have a file on you: The tools & tricks of social games</a></li>
<li><b>Verge/Polygon:</b> <a href="http://www.theverge.com/gaming/2012/10/17/3515970/nintendo-president-engineers-wii-u-gamepad-development" target="_blank">Nintendo president and engineers discuss development of Wii U GamePad</a></li>
<li><b>Ars Technica:</b> <a href="http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/10/valve-waives-100-steam-greenlight-fee-in-new-concepts-section/" target="_blank">Valve waives $100 Steam Greenlight fee in new "Concepts" section</a></li>
</ul><br />
<p><b>Have an interesting link? Share it in the comments.</b></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5958357000287020231.post-70597365376412185942012-10-19T19:01:00.000-04:002012-10-19T19:01:02.077-04:00MechWarrior Online: Closed Beta First Impressions<i>Who doesn't love gigantic vehicles and explosions?</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" alt="MechWarrior Online Logo" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-hM_D0QJdxHc/UIHG_gL586I/AAAAAAAAAvo/0QnyLRvdpvY/s800/MWO_logo.png" width="600" /></div><br />
<p>The first <i>MechWarrior</i> game was released for DOS on 1989. Set 1000 years in the future, the game allowed players to bring the ruckus via <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BattleMech" target="_blank">BattleMechs</a>, gigantic walking robot vehicles armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry.</p><p>The latest addition to the long-running series is <i>MechWarrior Online</i>, a free-to-play title in development by Piranha Games. I scored an invite to the closed beta a couple of weeks ago, installed the game, and managed to completely avoid playing it for several days. I finally got around to logging some play time earlier this week, and thus far it's definitely not terrible.</p><!--launcher--><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" alt="MechWarrior Online Launcher" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-fnsFlTRtp9M/UIEEoLMKjyI/AAAAAAAAAts/jRHSMfhVhTs/s800/mwo_launcher.jpg" width="600" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MechWarrior Online launcher window.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<a name='more'></a><h4>Under the Hood</h4><p>The hub of MechWarrior Online - MWO for the acronymically-inclined - is a windowed game launcher. The launcher allows you to browse, equip, and repair your mechs as well as chat with other players and change game settings. Clicking the "LAUNCH" button puts you into the matchmaking queue, and once a game is found the full client is launched.</p><p>At the start, MWO gives you four trial mechs to play with. They're not exactly hot rods and they can't be customized, and using trial mechs won't earn you any XP. Players can redeem in-game currency for new mechs and upgrades or they can skip the grind and purchase <a href="http://mwomercs.com/buy" target="_blank">MechWarrior Credits</a> with real money. The current most-expensive mech is 4,500 credits, roughly $18-36 depending on the chosen credit package.</p><!--customize mech--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; width: 604px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m3WnUGUXgag/UIEEovrb6HI/AAAAAAAAAt0/IQIciwLCN8M/s1600/mwo_buymech.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Purchase new mech" width="600" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-m3WnUGUXgag/UIEEovrb6HI/AAAAAAAAAt0/IQIciwLCN8M/s640/mwo_buymech.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can purchase new mechs via currency earned in game or credits bought with your hard-earned cash. The most expensive mechs cost around $20.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
<p>MWO runs on CryEngine 3 - this isn't your typical F2P title. MechWarrior Online doesn't exactly look like <i>Crysis</i> in its current state, but it looks pretty decent and is relatively demanding with the settings cranked. Being that the game is still in beta, I wouldn't be surprised if graphics quality and overall performance saw a pretty decent boost before the game hits the market.</p><br />
<table style="margin: auto; border: 1px solid #333333; border-collapse: collapse; width:90%;"><tr style="background-color: #333333; border: 1px solid #444444; text-transform: uppercase; font-weight: normal; color:white; font: 120% 'Oswald',Arial,Helvetica,Sans-serif;"> <td style="padding: 5px; text-align: center;" colspan="4">System Requirements (<a style="color: #ebebeb;" href="http://mwomercs.com/news/2012/06/287-official-developer-update" target="_blank">source</a>)</td> </tr>
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333;"> <th> </th> <th>Minimum</th> <th>Recommended</th> <th>My System</th> </tr>
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; background: #ebebeb;"> <td><b>CPU</b></td> <td>Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz<br>Athlon II X2 245e</td> <td>Core i3-2500<br>Athlon II X4 650</td> <td>4.0 GHz i5-2500K</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333;"> <td><b>GPU</b></td> <td>GeForce 8800GT<br>Radeon HD 5600/5700</td> <td>GeForce GTX 285<br>Radeon HD 5830</td> <td>1 GB 560 Ti DX11</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333; background: #ebebeb;"> <td><b>RAM</b></td> <td>4 GB</td> <td>8 GB</td> <td>8 GB</td></tr>
<tr style="border: 1px solid #333333;"> <td><b>HDD</b></td> <td>4 GB</td> <td>--</td> <td>--</td></tr>
</table><br />
<h4>WTF Am I Doing?</h4><p>MWO isn't exactly what you'd call friendly to newcomers.</p><p>I vaguely recall playing a MechWarrior game at my best friend's house some time in the mid 90s. From what I can remember, the extent of my play experience was strapping jump jets to a mech and flying around for a bit before meeting a fiery death. My first game of MWO basically entailed me running out into the open and dying in less than a minute. In the Assault gametype, which as far as I can tell is the only thing available right now, you get one and only one mech. Once you're dead, you're done.</p><p>The game's UI presents you with a lot of information, and combined with the control scheme things can be a little overwhelming at first. Each mech has a set of legs and a torso and each are controlled separately: WASD sets the throttle and turns the legs while the mouse controls the torso and arms. Vehicle control isn't too difficult, but once you throw weapons into the mix things get more interesting.</p><!--game UI--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_jC2EPeoZJw/UIEEp6rnwBI/AAAAAAAAAuM/E-8w16v2jjQ/s1600/mwo_ui.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="MechWarrior Online UI Screen" width="600" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-_jC2EPeoZJw/UIEEp6rnwBI/AAAAAAAAAuM/E-8w16v2jjQ/s640/mwo_ui.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The MechWarrior Online UI</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
<p>MWO uses a targeting system that's kinda-sorta-not-really like <i>Battlefield 3</i>. If you have an enemy in your line of sight, you'll see a triangle outline on your screen above the enemy mech's head. Mousing over the enemy and hitting "R" sets your target and enables the rest of your team to see and target that mech. Some mechs can be equipped with long-range weapons like missiles that will lock on and home in on a target, so target acquisition ends up being pretty important.</p><p>Targeting is further complicated by a dual-crosshair system that reflects different types of weapons. There's a fixed crosshair in the center of your screen that corresponds to your torso. In addition, there's a floating crosshair on top of that represents your arm weapons. There's a movement threshold involved in controlling the upper body: below the threshold you simply adjust the aim of your arm weapons; above it you actually turn the mech's upper body.</p><!--weapons loadout--><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" alt="MechWarrior Weapons Array" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0-hRzfInnLA/UIEEpyesQfI/AAAAAAAAAuI/V_uZosUsHas/s800/mwo_weapons.jpg" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can map weapons to different firing triggers via this grid.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<p>As if that wasn't enough to digest, you can customize your weapons array to your heart's content. There are six buttons that can be assigned to different weapons presets; in other words, you can bind all of your lasers to 1, long-range stuff to 2, short-range weapons to 3, missiles to 4, etc. By default, everything is bound to the first group, which is horrendously terrible - you'll end up firing short-range lasers at distant targets and homing missiles and mechs that are 10 feet away from you. Less than ideal.</p><p>The customization of these weapons isn't exactly obvious at first glance (I had to check out a YouTube video). The grid is controlled via the <b>arrow keys</b> and weapons are assigned to a firing trigger via <b>right control</b>. I can't remember the last game that wasn't a crappy Flash title that asked me to use the arrow keys for something. Thankfully, you only need to configure your weapons once per mech, and unless you want to tinker with your settings you'll never need to adjust them in combat.</p><br />
<h4>Gameplay</h4><p>There are four weight classes of BattleMech in MWO: light, medium, heavy, and assault. Lighter mechs are faster but tend to hold fewer weapons and armor, while larger mechs are slow, plodding behemoths with enough firepower to dominate the battlefield.</p><p>Once you nail down the control scheme, piloting a mech turns into a game of resource management. Every time your mech fires a weapon it generates heat; generate too much of it and you'll overheat and power down. Powering down in the middle of a duel with an enemy pilot tends to be bad.</p><!--heat warning--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" alt="MechWarrior Online Heat Warning" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bvXunJYKgs0/UIEFdFkl1KI/AAAAAAAAAus/KWeF-SFtE84/s800/mwo_heatwarn.jpg" width="500" /></div><br />
<p>The game kind of sets you up to fail in this regard. By default, every one of your weapons is bound to firing group 1. Firing everything at once produces a metric fuckton of heat, so unless you're aware of the weapons array from the start the first few games are going to be rough.</p><p>The Youtube video below does a pretty amazing job of describing the weapons systems of one of the trial mechs. The author also has a few other tutorial videos on his channel worth checking out.</p><br />
<iframe style="margin: auto; display: block;" width="600" height="338" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Eh_9Cyj31EQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
<br />
<p>Overall, MechWarrior Online tends to promote slow and methodical team-based gameplay. Since you've only got one life, running around as Mecha Rambo trying to solo the entire enemy team is generally an ill-advised approach. Most games seem to last 8 to 10 minutes from what I've seen, usually involving meticulous advances and lengthy skirmishes with the enemy.</p><p>As I mentioned earlier, as far as I can tell there is only one gametype currently available in MWO. Each team has a base that can be assaulted (hence the name "Assault") and captured by the opposition, thus ending the conflict. I've only seen one or two games (out of a dozen or so) end in this manner, and most just devolve into a "team deathmatch" style. I did run into one team that appeared to be pre-made, and they managed to rush four "light" mechs into our base and end the game in less than two minutes.</p><p>I was confused.</p><br />
<h4>Summing Things Up</h4><p>MechWarrior Online is pretty fun, but there's definitely a steep learning curve involved. That usually doesn't bode well for free-to-play titles that need to reel people in immediately and keep them interested enough for them to open up their wallets.</p><p>With that being said, the developers have already <a href="http://www.joystiq.com/2012/10/17/mechwarrior-online-made-5-million-off-founders-program/" target="_blank">reeled in $5 million</a> via an early-access Founders Program that gives players a bundle of game currency and access to exclusive mechs. It's obviously popular with longtime fans of the series.</p><!--loss screen--><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Wkvc1RKbW8E/UIEEpOhl0cI/AAAAAAAAAt8/2VeWTM6VNS8/s1600/mwo_scorescreen.jpg" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="MechWarrior Online loss screen" width="600" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-Wkvc1RKbW8E/UIEEpOhl0cI/AAAAAAAAAt8/2VeWTM6VNS8/s640/mwo_scorescreen.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Here's the match summary screen from what was my best match statistically. Pure coincidence. Ahem.</td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><br />
<p>MWO was supposed to enter an open beta phase this past week, but that plan was <a href="http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/59565-official-response-to-community-concerns-oct-122012/" target="_blank">put on hold</a> because of stability and lag issues. Add to that the fact that new players basically have zero resources (other than community member guides and videos) from which to learn the basics and things suddenly don't look too peachy. Tutorials are supposedly in the works and they're definitely needed ASAP.</p><p>An open beta for a F2P game is practically a soft launch, so they better make damn sure they're happy with the product before opening the flood gates. I've enjoyed my limited time with MechWarrior Online, but I won't be opening my wallet any time soon.</p><br />
<p><i><a href="http://mwomercs.com/forums/topic/13844-mechwarrior-online-logo/" target="_blank">Logo source</a></i></p>Mad Doghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05695059653156262896noreply@blogger.com0