Raise your hand if you’re going to BlizzCon this weekend!
Okay, I promise, this post isn’t just a way for me to brag to everyone that I snagged tickets. I mainly wanted to announce that I’ll be there, spending my time going to parties and panels, reppin’ my channel and Zaxy, and takingpart in the full Blizzard experience. I’ve been to a lot of different types of conventions but from what I’ve heard, BlizzCon is held on a sort of uber nerd pedestal as the King of all Conventions, so I am pretty pumped to be going.
I’ve been playing WoW since spring of 2010 – my main character is a Human Fire Mage and my main alt is a Draenei Restoration Shaman. My band ALL CAPS has a song called “World Of Warcraft Ruined My Life” that was released around the time I started playing last year. I like murlocs.
I’m curious if any of you will be there, or if you’ve gone before, what the best things are to check out. If you can’t go/haven’t been able to, what are some things you’d like me to check out and report on when I get back? Think of me as your BlizzCon ambassador.
Whatever happens, I just hope I find this guy:
What a freaking dream boat. I’ll see you guys when I get back! Have a great weekend.
I was shown this over the weekend, and I think the message still holds true.
I have to say, I’m actually pretty impressed that they show female gaming/programming representation in the video. But be honest: How many of you don’t even know what a “floppy” is? I feel so old.
BOOM. Not like we didn’t see this coming, but in any case you’ll be able to read all about it in the December issue of Official Xbox Magazine which hits stands October 18th. Details are scarce, but that didn’t stop Casey Hudson from teasing us via Twitter.
“Yes, co-op MP missions for #ME3. They’re real, and they’re spectacular. Rest assured it’s nothing of what you’ve feared.”
Mass Effect 3 launches in March for PC, Xbox360 and PS3.
I miss old school Resident Evil. Clunky and tank-like controls aside, those games are staples in the history of the Survival Horror genre. So naturally I (and I’m sure gamers elsewhere) have wondered: what would a modern-day Resident Evil title look like?
Now before you jump all over my digital ass and remind me of a few titles called Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, let me be ignorant and tell you that those aren’t Resident Evil titles. In my opinion, you can’t have Resident Evil without zombies. And in case you missed it, Resi 4 and Resi 5 are missing the brain-dead pusbags.
I’m talking if you took that old school Resident Evil formula we all grew up with and modernized it. The first thing to change would be the controls and the viewing angle. Let’s incorporate the third person over-the-shoulder view from the previous two Resident Evil titles. Fantastic. Now, throw me in the middle of a city/island/prison/mansion infested with zombies. Toss some puzzles, keys, emblems, herbs and a lack of ammo in the mix and we are GOLDEN. (Don’t forget the Rocket Launcher.)
Awww yeah. Is it just me, or does the thought of all that make you happy in your pants?
Well, Resident Evil producer Masachicka Kawata doesn’t think so. In an interview with Gamasutra, Kawata said “people would be really sick,” of the franchise were it to remain the same.
“I’m thinking that if we would have brought out all these Resident Evil titles, and they were all focused on survival horror, absolutely I think people would be really sick of Resident Evil. In my mind, we’ve got this online shooter game, we’ve got other things like Mercenaries that are even more action-focused, and some other games. And by going in a lot of different directions, I’m pretty confident that people are going to still be enjoying Resident Evil for a long time.”
But Mr. Kawata, I miss my zombies. I miss trekking through police stations and opening briefcases. I miss all of that, and quite frankly, I couldn’t muster through Resident Evil 5 because the series HAS strayed so far away. I understand that Resident Evil is an IP, and that there isn’t anything wrong with innovation and wanting to mix things up, but why can’t you throw some old-school fans a bone? And by bone, I don’t mean a 3DS title. *cough* Resident Evil: Revelations.
What say you, dear reader? Do you agree with the producer? Was Resident Evil growing stale? Do I need to let go?
Thank goodness this isn’t about me. “Remember that time when we were about to be killed by the boss? And Tara just left because she was frustrated and needed a break? To Tara!”
Portal’s convincing teachers that it’s an educational game by giving it away for free (until September 20th). If you haven’t played the game yet, GO! Go get it now!
…And since it’s “educational”, that means you can play it instead of doing homework. Right? Isn’t that how things work?
Since my last post on the subject, we’ve waited while the owls gathered. We’ve gone through the magical quill nonsense of staying up all night to register for the beta-testing. We’ve sat and twiddled our thumbs while we waited for our welcome emails to appear. And then, with baited breath, we finally, finally entered the site.
Though we’re still in the beta of the site right now and no official release date has been announced (just a vague and ominous promise of “October”), they’re currently letting people into the site as testers on a daily basis. And while I’ll be the first to admit that Pottermore is pretty freaking cool, it’s also been the breeding ground for a lot of serious complaining as of late. From “waaah I didn’t get my email yet” to “waaah I got sorted in the wrong house” to “waaah potions are hard to brew”, I’ve seen people run the gamut of magical belly-aching. Did you think being a wizard was going to be EASY? Did you think it was always going to be fun?
Essentially, the point of Pottermore, as I’ve since found out from playing through Chapter One, is to get to re-experience the Harry Potter books in a more interactive manner, complete with stunning illustrations approved by JKR to depict the aspects of the book that only ever existed in our minds. You get to go shopping for your school supplies, click on things in the castle to read more about them and hang out with your friends in your house common room. All in all, it’s a pretty awesome experience.
But I’m finding out why muggles never got to go Hogwarts before — they’re all a bunch of babies! Waiting to get your owl admitting you to school TAKES too long? You waited about a month, you ungrateful little skrewt! Wizard kids waited ELEVEN YEARS for theirs! You wanted Gryffindor but the hat placed you in Ravenclaw? Tough cookies! This is the magical world, folks, and maybe the hat knows you better than you know yourself. Or maybe it’s just an online reading/roly-playing experience that’s supposed to mirror the experience of Harry and the other kids, and you should be thankful you even get to play.
I think it’s great that JKR gave us something new that’s Potter-related to keep us busy. The movies could have just been the end, but she wanted to bring it back to being about the books, which I think is admirable and wonderful. And I know that for the most part, the people who got into the beta already are enjoying themselves on their Pottermore journey, but I’m personally tired of all the complaining.
Just make your potions and be quiet, you squibs. 10 points from Slytherin.
Do you remember that rumored third-person action-adventure Call of Duty title Sledgehammer was supposedly working on? It’s been confirmed the title WAS a real thing —but its since been canned. You see, the studio was offered to work on another game called Modern Warfare 3. Perhaps you’ve heard of it?
“The opportunity to work on the biggest thing in the industry with Infinity Ward, that’s demonstrated that they know how to do exceptional software, was just an opportunity we couldn’t [miss],” co-founder of Sledgehammer Michael Condrey told Gamespot.
In a separate interview with Gamerzines, founder Glen Schofield revealed that the shelved title had an atomsophere similar to Dead Space. “It had a lot of atmosphere like, I should say Dead Space a little bit because you were underground in some places. You know, war is hell, war is scary and that’s what we were trying to get across. We did a ton of research.”
Interesting.
While the idea of a third-person action-adventure Call of Duty shooter sounds rather funky, I can’t help but wonder if it’d be a nice change-up to the CoD franchise. Maybe this is just me and my casual CoD self talking, but all of these Modern Warfare/Call of Duty titles are becoming a bit dull in some respect. Yes, the pretty cinematics and explosions are eyegasm inducing, but it’s all REALLY starting to feel all the same.
I gotta admit, it is amusing to think of a Uncharted-esque Call of Duty title. With necromorphs. HA!
