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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Phantasy Star Online 2: Opening Cinematic
5:42 PM - - 1 Comment
If you'd like to see some running around, some determined leaping and mechanised spider-creatures being sliced at by a gigantic neon sword then I've found the perfect Christmas gift for you. Ho ho ho! You can't open it until tomorrow morning.

Topics: MMORPG, Games
Related Games: Phantasy Star Online (PC), Phantasy Star Online (Dreamcast), Phantasy Star Online 2 (PC), Phantasy Star Online: Blue Burst (PC), Phantasy Star Online Version 2 (PC), Phantasy Star Online Version 2 (Dreamcast)
Wolfenstein Night Before Christmas
4:26 PM - - 4 Comments
Here's a little festive tribute to Return to Castle Wolfenstein that I wrote many years ago.

The Night Before Christmas

'Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the castle,
All that could be heard was the sound of boobie tassels,
Silk stockings were hung on Helga with care,
In hopes that some man-meat soon would be there.

Helga laid seductively on top of her bed,
While visions of sausages danced in her head;
With Heinrich defeated and Zemph dead,
Helga decided it was time that she wed.

When down in the dungeon, there arose such a clatter,
Helga sprang from her bed wielding chicken in batter.
Down the winding stairs she flew like a flash,
Tore open her blouse and undid her sash.
She stripped off her clothes exposing a teddy,
It was apparent to all that Helga was ready.

When what to her wandering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver with a nice firm rear,
Helga knew in a moment that her man-meat was here.

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
MMO Night Before Christmas
4:18 PM - - 0 Comments
Every year I get down with some Night Before Christmas action, this particular one is from December, 2009. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

MMO Night Before Christmas



Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the land
Not a mob was stirring, at least not at hand.
The armor was hung by the war chest with care,
In hope that the weary could rest and repair.

The rogues and clerics tossed and turned in their tents,
Trying to nap after the guild's daily events.
And the alchemist making potions, and I upgrading spells,
Had just settled by the fire to whisper in tells.

When out behind our camp there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the fire to see what was the matter.
I drew my sword and quickly got dressed,
Tore open the tents and alerted the rest.

Topics: Games, MMORPG
Related Games: World of Warcraft (PC), EverQuest (PC)
Christmas Eve Steam Deals And Objectives
11:07 AM - - 6 Comments
It's Christmas Eve, does GabeN have a special Steam Deal just for you? Here are today's deals.

On top of the sales, Valve also has a contest designed to entice you to purchase additional games. Here are today’s objectives for Steam’s The Great Gift Pile Contest.

  • CrimeCraft GangWars: Snow Ballin' - Earn a total of 200 points from Snow Brawl matches. This match type can be found under the events tab in the battles menu starting from level 8
  • Hard Reset: Blizzard (Special) - Kill 50 enemies with electricity only
  • Jamestown: With Your Nose So Bright... - Complete any mission playing as the Red Charge ship.
  • Wings of Prey: It's winter! - Complete any mission on winter locations: Korsun, Stalingrad or Bulge
  • Renegade Ops: Naughty or Nice - Receive a present from Santa Claus (Coldstrike DLC required)
  • And Yet It Moves: Shown White - Ride on a severed branch in Chapter Two for about 20 meters without touching the ground.

So, does anything look good today?

Topics: Contest, Deals, steam
Good Morrow! Six Pathetic Hours & A Geocities Christmas
12:01 AM - - 18 Comments
There was a power outage on my street today, which initially lead to the lighting of candles and the reading of books but eventually graduated to a sort of nervous panic attack. What can you even do without electricity? There's nothing. People used to just go to bed when it got dark because there's NOTHING. My mind couldn't quite comprehend the problem - it kept thinking up fun alternatives to electricity that weren't really alternatives at all and were, actually, just things that I don't usually do (like watching boring television or signing onto Steam in offline mode).

I was also attempting to devise ways in which I could ensure that a piece of morning postery would find its way onto this website at a reasonable, morning-y hour if it didn't return. My laptop had been charged, but couldn't access the internet without electricity. My phone could, but was completely out of juice. So, I turned on my laptop and began siphoning whatever charge I could to my phone via a USB cable, with the hope that I'd have enough time to crippled-ly scrawl a "HELLO" to you all before the phone-juice was sapped. Fortunately, after six hours, electricity returned to my heart and electrical appliances. What sweet relief.

It's Christmas Eve. I'm sitting by a roaring fire and a snoozing dog with pine needles occasionally finding their way onto my slipper-edges. I hope you have a very pleasant few days of turning into a slightly heavier version of your former self. In celebration, here's a video that appears to be made out of an amalgamation of intense Christmas spirit and an enthusiastic Geocities page.

Topics: In Other News..., In-House
Friday, December 23, 2011
You May Be S.T.A.L.K.I.N.G. Some More Yet
10:22 PM - - 11 Comments

Today GSC tweeted a message indicating that hope may not yet be lost for fans of their S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. GSC had previously failed to find a publisher for the console version of S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, and believing a PC exclusive to not be lucrative enough, effectively shut down, leaving fans with a promise: "We will do our best to continue."

We'll see what January holds, it could be interesting given that GSC said "Ukranian law enforcement was interested in taking control of the company."

Topics: General News, Industry News
Rift Database Hacked
10:21 PM - - 6 Comments

A Rift database was apparently compromised, exposing a decent amount of personal customer information. Luckily, 'full card numbers' are not believed to have been compromised.

"The database in question contained information including user names, encrypted passwords, dates of birth, email addresses, billing addresses, and the first and last four digits and expiration dates of customer credit cards."

As is sadly becoming routine with this kind of thing, if you used your Rift password anywhere else, now would be a good time to change that, just in case.

Topics: General News, Drama
End of Nations Warfront Video Episode 4
1:12 PM - - 0 Comments
Find out what's new in the wonderful world of End of Nations, the upcoming MMORTS from Petroglyph and Trion Worlds.

Topics: Games, MMORTS
Related Games: End of Nations (PC), End of Nations (Collector's Edition) (PC)
World of Planes Screenshots & Fan-Made Video
1:04 PM - - 1 Comment
Gaijin Entertainment's World of Planes gets the new screenshot treatment and its first fan-made movie. World of Planes is a flight simulation MMO dedicated to World War II military aviation where players can take part in all of the major combat battles, fighting with real players all over the world. In addition to the media you can read the start of a new series of interviews with real pilots who participated in the game's alpha test.


Topics: Games, Simulation
Related Games: World of Planes (PC)
Street Fighter X Tekken Chick Fight Trailer
1:01 PM - - 1 Comment

Topics: Games, Consoles
Related Games: Street Fighter x Tekken (PC), Street Fighter x Tekken (PlayStation 3), Street Fighter x Tekken (Xbox 360)
Star Wars: The Old Republic Queues News & A Freeze Mob Video
12:37 PM - - 10 Comments
BioWare updates SW: ToR players on the issue of long queue times to play the game. The team says they are increasing efforts to manage the time it takes to get into Star Wars: The Old Republic. Apparently players should be seeing a significant improvement compared to last week. They are also addressing the concerns about losing your place in line if you happen to disconnect for some reason before getting into the game.

In other SW: ToR news, check out this "freeze mob" video from Time Square in NY.

Topics: Games, MMORPG
Related Games: Star Wars: The Old Republic (PC), Star Wars: The Old Republic (Collector's Edition) (PC)
Stronghold 3 Patch Includes New Maps, CTF and More
12:34 PM - - 1 Comment
Stronghold 3 has been updated, and although the patch took a little longer to make it out the door than expected, it should be worth the added wait.

New maps

Miscellaneous
Bug fixes
Balancing

 Multiplayer

Multiplayer lobby
Audio Changes
Topics: Games, Strategy
Related Games: Stronghold 3 (PC)
Good Old Games Begins A New Year's Resolutions Contest
12:08 PM - - 0 Comments
Good Old Games is hosting a New Years Resolution Contest based off of their catalogue of Ubisoft games. Presumably, the winners will get a free Ubisoft game from Good Old Game's catalogue. You may read some of the announcement below.

This time GOG.com is partnering up with the creators of Rayman, the famous Heroes of Might and Magic and the Might and Magic RPGs to bring you a new contest: Ubisoft New Years Resolutions!

Write us a New Year’s resolution as if you were a Ubisoft character, and post it in comments to this thread or the Facebook post ;) So Rayman might want to grow a joint between his hands and his torso, and Pey'j from beyond good and evil would probably want to lose some weight. You get the idea. ;)

We’re ending this contest on Tuesday 27th of December at 11:59 AM GMT ;) We will pick some of the most funny, thoughtful, or entertaining entries and call them winners shortly after the contest ends.

Happy Holidays to all!

I don't want to nitpick, but New World Computing actually created The Might and Magic series. Ubisoft just bought the rights from 3DO in 2003.

Topics: Contest
Non Steam Digital Distribution Deals For December 23rd
11:53 AM - - 9 Comments
Here are today's sale highlights from Valve’s competition.

Amazon.com is offering up to 80% Off on several Sega titles. Here are some of the highlights from the Sega deals.

But Amazon has some other deals on that page. They are selling Deus Ex Human Revolution for $9.99 and Might & Magic: Heroes VI Deluxe Edition for $19.99.

Direct2Drive is having 12 days of Christmas deals. Today’s deals are as follows.

Gamersgate currently has about 400 games on sale. They also have a Buy 4 for 3 deal. If you purchase 4 games in the same order then you'll get the cheapest one for free. Today’s Deal of the Day is Men of War: Vietnam for $8.74.

GameStop/Impulse Driven is also having a holiday sale. Their daily specials are listed below.

Good Old Games is continuing its impressive holiday sale. Just about every title they sell is half off.

Origin is also continuing with its holiday deals. They are offering the following packs and games:

Topics: Deals
Steam Holiday Sale's Day 5 Deals And Objectives
11:06 AM - - 7 Comments
The fifth day of the Steam Holiday Sale has begun. Here are today's deals.

On top of the sales, Valve also has a contest designed to entice you to purchase additional games. Will their cunning ruse work? Here are today’s objectives for Steam’s The Great Gift Pile Contest below.

By the way, a reader posted a link to this wiki about The Great Gift Pile Contest and its objectives. It looks like they’ve been correct about the objectives so far. It might be of some use to those of you interested in the contest.

I've been playing along with this game and managed to amass 8 lumps of coal. Should I craft a gift pile item with them and hope for something cool, or play things safe and save those as entries in the contest? What would you do? Do any of today's deals look good to you? I think Frozen Synapse is a steal at $3.74.

Topics: Contest, Deals, steam
Christmas Done Battlefield 3 Style
8:47 AM - - 9 Comments
Over seven thousand computer controlled Christmas lights synchronized to the Battlefield 3 theme song.

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Battlefield 3 (PC), Battlefield 3 (Xbox 360), Battlefield 3 (PlayStation 3)
Court Says Activision May Proceed With Jury Trial In Suit Against EA
8:31 AM - - 4 Comments
'Tis the season for trial by jury! Activision has announced that the Los Angeles Superior Court has given the go ahead for Activision to proceed to trial on its $400 million contract-interference suit against Electronic Arts. After hearing EA's motion, the judge in the case decided that the evidence provided by Activision supplied a basis for a jury to potentially conclude that EA had intentionally interfered with Activision's employment agreements with former Call of Duty developers, Jason West and Vince Zampella, and that EA had aided and abetted West and Zampella's breach of fiduciary duties to Activision. A related summary judgment motion put forth by West and Zampella was also denied.

In the suit Activision alleges that West and Zampella breached their contracts and duty of loyalty to Activision by conduct that was insubordinate and otherwise improper and that West and Zampella's misconduct was caused, at least in part, by EA's unlawful tampering. A jury trial in the case is scheduled to begin on May 7, 2012.

Topics: General News
First In-Game Shots For Uprising44
7:33 AM - - 0 Comments
Here's a sampling of screenshots, art work and renders from Uprising44, a bit of a genre bender with class-based squads, combined with RPG elements, while primarily being a tactical RTS. Uprising44 is based on the Warsaw Uprising of 1944, and is currently in development in Warsaw, Poland at indie development studio, DMD Enterprise. Watch for Uprising44 coming in Q2 of 2012 to the PC, Mac and 360.


You can also check out this "making of" video for an upcoming Uprising44 live-action trailer.

Topics: Games, Action
Serious Sam 3 Christmas Video
7:28 AM - - 1 Comment
It doesn't get much more festive than battling Santas. Except for maybe battling Fat Elvises (Elvii).

Topics: Games, Action
Related Games: Serious Sam 3: BFE (PC), Serious Sam 3: BFE (Xbox 360), Serious Sam 3: BFE (PlayStation 3)
The Ender Scrolls V: Minerim Trailer (I Can't Make This Up)
2:55 AM - - 6 Comments
A Youtuber called AveMagnaDude went to a lot of work to try to emulate some of the scenes in the original Skyrim trailer using Minecraft assets. As expected, the minecraft community is already helping the Minerim trailer below go viral. Here's a note from the creator:

A mash up of the two games that I love to play. The trailer was made as a way to give some lovin' to these awesome games. Made in blender in a timespan of 2 months since I got addicted to both games. XD I hope you guys enjoy!
Topics: Casual, Games, Videos, Trailer
Related Games: Minecraft (PC), Minecraft (Xbox 360)
WTF: Toads Can Play Games Too!
2:52 AM - - 13 Comments
Man, this toad (frog?) owns at whatever little smartphone game is. He's just got a little bit of an anger problem, but to be fair I get a little pissy when people try to cut me off from my games too.

Topics: Games, Videos, WTF, Funny
Blah... Tis Was The Friday Before Christmas
1:52 AM - - 33 Comments
I'm assuming Rose will give you guys a little holiday cheer tomorrow, but I figured I'd take this time to wish you all very happy holidays, and of course a very merry Christmas if you celebrate. May you all eat well, receive great gifts, and get in plenty of time with your family and friends.

For close to a decade now my family has been sticking with giving me holiday cards that occasionally have money, gift cards, or a personal check inside. It's hard to get much else for me, since I have more games, systems, etc. than I even know what to do with around this time of year. Besides, there have been bad experiences in the past, like the Christmas when I got both the Power Glove, and Fester's Quest for the NES. I had to awkwardly play with both for the rest of my winter break, pretending that I liked them just so my parents wouldn't feel like they threw their money away. But hey, it's the thought that counts, and I was lucky enough to get generous gifts like that on occasion.

Since it is technically the last weekday before Christmas how about we take a moment to give back some more to you guys and gals, aka our loyal readers. Right now I've got a mix of codes for stuff like the Fallout:New Vegas PC DLC (bundled together), Lost Planet 2, 3DMark 11 Advanced, Tropico 4, and even a Dota 2 Steam gift or two. I'll ask the others on staff if they've got goodies to give away, if so we'll add to the list. Just leave a comment for us which reveals your own most memorable gaming gift, along with the item(s) you are most interested in, and we'll do a draw on Monday (unless I can squeeze in time on Christmas)!

Topics: Games, General, In Other News..., In-House

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