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Sure, they're technically rocky at times as surging player populations strain even the best infrastructure and world design in the business, but immersing myself in the first few weeks of a brand-new MMO is the most fun I've ever had with games. More
Immersing myself in the first few weeks of a brand-new MMO is the most fun I've ever had with games.
Having played through Irrational's latest politically charged adventure, I have some problems. Spoilers ahead, so beware. More
Having played through Irrational's latest politically charged adventure, I have some problems. Spoilers ahead, so beware.
The seminal nerdy rock band released its billionth (probably) record a few weeks ago. Now is an excellent time to revisit a group that has gotten way better since you wore out your "Birdhouse in your Soul" cassingle in 1990 (yes, for real). More
Now is an excellent time to revisit a group that has gotten way better since you wore out your "Birdhouse in your Soul" cassingle in 1990 (yes, for real).
The whole debacle with SimCity seems to get worse for EA every day. Hackers recently got the game to run perfectly well offline, which is troublesome on a level beyond the general irritation of having to needlessly suffer through server problems since the game launched. Maxis misled us, and that's a much larger problem than any connectivity issue. More
The auction houses change the way that the excitement of loot drops plays out, yes, but the fact of the matter is that Diablo III is the first Diablo game to make so much as a token effort at balancing skills, monsters, items, and classes.
Congratulations to blogger and gaming enthusiast Chris from Slacker Werks, whose review I selected as the winner of CDProjekt RED's "Become A Pro Reviewer" community contest. More
Congratulations to blogger and gaming enthusiast Chris from Slacker Werks, whose review I selected as the winner of CDProjekt RED's "Become A Pro Reviewer" community contest.
The first MOO truly is the Baldur's Gate II of strategy games. You think it isn't? Come on in and see how wrong you are.[This is the second in a series of posts informing everyone which exactly are the best games ever. Read the inaugural Baldur's Gate II entry here.]MOO vs. Civilization IVWhat's more fun: counting out worker forest-chopping turns, or deciding between research on gatling lasers or planetary shields? How about the difference between designing a space cruiser with the right balance of pulsar missiles and disruptor cannons, or picking between +10 percent healing and a 25 percent bonus to defense in forest tiles? Hint: The answer is the one that makes you feel like an awesome space dictator.Civ IV lets you customize your empire in dozens of unique little ways. That's great and all, but MOO gives you 90 percent of the effect (i.e. where your people and robots are spending their time and resources) with 10 percent of the effort. Do you really care about the type of pollution your factories are dumping into the environments of your colonies? I suppose you might, but I'm busy ordering my enormous space fleets to hustle to the other end of my empire to fend off an incoming invasion of silicon-based rock people and their Death Spores. Can't I just throw a big pile of money at my environmental protection agencies and have them deal with it? Yes, yes I can. Master of Orion's simple sliders for resource allocation give plenty of control and nuance without bogging down the player with lame, insignificant decisions.Civilization's embrace of alternative victory conditions is admirable, but it comes at a price. Make sure your people are farming enough food to let the idle rich doodle away on art so your culture grows! Don't forget to build courthouses so your minions can't siphon off huge chunks of your money with corruption in outlying provinces! Fund expensive universities so your society keeps up with worldwide research, or die ignobly!Ugh. Sometimes you just want to conquer the galaxy without holding your entire empire's hand. Nobody ever became Master of Orion by having the fanciest pants.
It's far from the first, and probably not the most purely effective Final Fantasy Tactics party setup ever. But my crew of Blade Grasping atheists is pretty close to invincible. More
It's far from the first, and probably not the most purely effective Final Fantasy Tactics party setup ever. But my crew of Blade Grasping atheists is pretty close to invincible.
How many homages to classic Atari games can you fit in a single Flash game and still have it be awesome? I believe Missilebreak Outvaders is the current record holder at three. More
How many homages to classic Atari games can you fit in a single Flash game and still have it be awesome? I believe Missilebreak Outvaders is the current record holder at three.
However brief it may have been, it was cool to see one of my idols in person. Even though he was being pushed through literal buckets of stuff to autograph on his way to do a promotional appearance at the Mall of America to launch his new Joe Mauer-branded Nike shoe on a game day, Mauer was the most polite celebrity I've had the pleasure to meet. More
Playing the heck out of Total War: Shogun 2 for the review didn't prepare me for the Tokugawa clan's unusual starting conditions. What follows is an excerpt of the shortest Total War campaign I've ever played. More
Playing the heck out of Total War: Shogun 2 for the review didn't prepare me for the Tokugawa clan's unusual starting conditions.
Would I lie to you? BioWare's 2000 magnum opus is still the best RPG of all time. I'll prove it. With science. More
Would I lie to you? BioWare's 2000 magnum opus is still the best RPG of all time. I'll prove it. With science.