Hi, my name is Shawn and I’m a recovering Magic-aholic.

Magic is like paper crack to me. I find it consumes my life when I’m playing it. It becomes my goal in life, I will forsake food, personal hygiene and even intimate relations when I’m on a bender. It’s a sad part of my life but I thought it was behind me.

Struggling through Magic addiction is a daily challenge. I fight to avoid the Magic cards at the grocery, I refused the free Magic tournaments at the local game store. I’d been clean for almost a year when it happened.

I’m ashamed to admit my weakness but here, amongst a gathering of others with my problem I feel relieved to admit it. I had a moment of weakness and I slipped up. It wasn’t with that shiny foil packaging, I wasn’t huddled in the alley behind the game store.. no, I gave in to Magic last in my home and there was no physical evidence left afterward, just a note on my bank account for the purchase of 2500 Microsoft points. ( I only needed 800, but I wanted some extras on hand to buy cards later)

There is something so insidious about the digital version. It’s too perfect a translation in fact. While currently I can’t sidle up to the counter and pay for my next fix of booster packs and I don’t have access to the thousands of cards in my physical library I have little doubt the masterminds behind my addiction already have the plan for my digital downfall in the works.

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Yesterday the internet was filled with the news China had banned gold farming. Just in case you live under a rock and don’t know what gold farming is, it’s the gathering of virtual currency in a game (usually an MMO), which is them sold to other players in exchange for real currency.

According to an article at InformationWeek, “the Chinese government has declared that virtual currency cannot be traded for real goods or services.”

Obviously, this was enormous news. Since it’s been estimated that 80-85% of the world’s gold farmers are located in China, this would have likely meant a huge drop in the amount of available virtual currency.

Unfortunately, there’s news today that the law being referenced actually does not reference gold farmers at all.

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One of the driving factors behind my early adoption of the PS3 was the fact that I could play all my PS2 games on it thanks to the Emotion Engine Chip that it had under the hood. In subsequent SKU’s, that hardware was removed, and Sony even said that they were focused on moving forward without it.

Well, that may be changing in the near future. According to Siliconera, Sony has secured a U.S. Patent for the technology that will apparently allow the Cell Processor in the PS3 to emulate the Emotion Engine of the PS2.

Couple this with the rumors of a price cut and the release of the PS3 Slim this fall, and you start to think that Sony may have a fundamental strategy shift under way.

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Have you ever really felt bad about the way you feel after playing a game you were looking forward to?

Of course you have, I think it might be one of the few constants of the gamer experience - disappointment when a game fails to live up to its potential and promise. Well, Prototype is one of those experiences for me.

It has all the ingredients of a smashing good time - a super powered hero, a sandbox city, even a conspiracy relating to the military industrial complex manipulating people for their own nefarious ends only to have it go wrong somehow.

Well, despite the mix of interesting pieces, the sum of Prototype just ends up coming out as a fairly bland experience. Maybe my expectation was improperly set by the history of the developer. These same talented folks turned out one of the best super hero games ever developed - Incredible Hulk Ultimate Destruction. That title featured a super powered hero running around in a sandbox New York city setting solving missions and running side missions just like Prototype but somehow the fun factor seemed to be higher in that title.

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There are a plethora of playable demos for gamers to try out this week including Trine, New Star Soccer 4, The Battle for Westnoth, Nancy Drew: Ransom of the Seven Ships, ArmA 2, P.U.R.E., Alien Arena 2009, Crazy Cooking and Hell Throne Lepteria as well as the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince demo featured earlier this week. There’s also a  demo out for the Axis and Allies World at War mod WW2Total.

Mac users can download The Battle for Westnoth and Warzone 2100 for Mac OS X. Linux fans haven’t been left out of the line up. You can snag the Alien Arena 2009 Linux demo.

Links and details on all demos follow the jump.

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The Sims 3 is the next generation of the original Maxis hit god game, The Sims. The game is definitely a technical evolution as I described in my impressions on Sims 3 Creation, Buy, and Build mode design mechanics, but how does it actually play after you’ve spent hours designing your Sims and their new homes.

Sims 3 breaks the sims out of the confines of their beautifully constructed prisons and allows them to freely roam the world around them. You can follow your sim to work at the theater or the military base or watch as they jog, bike, or drive to the beach for a sunny afternoon. You can walk around town collecting little treasures like unpolished gems and mystery seeds or go introduce yourself to your neighbors. Just walk up and ring the bell.
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Return to Mysterious Island 2, Anno 1404 Dawn of Discovery, All Aspect Warfare, Circuit Defenders and Superstars V8 Racing all have demos out for you to try in your summer free time. Find a comfortable spot get ready to exercise your right to try before you buy.

Return to Mysterious Island 2 puts a modern day spin on Jules Verne’s classic novel “Mysterious Island.”  Following in the footsteps of Captain Memo you’ll switch between Mina and her monkey pal Jep as you race to save all life on the island from an ecological threat. Catch the adventure in the Return to Mysterious Island 2 Playable Demo.

In case you missed the goods on the Anno 1404 Dawn of Discovery Playable Demo earlier this week, this gorgeous real time strategy demo is available tailored for the US and the UK as well as in German, and French.

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I recently had the opportunity to chat with Adam Mersky on Dungeons & Dragons Online’s shift to free-to-play. According to Adam, the decision to convert DDO is based on the trend sweeping across the globe from the East. Gamers are moving to free-to-play models with stores offering optional content through micro transactions.Turbine intends to anticipate the move with DDO rather than play catch up.

DDO is an MMO that players can get into quickly and play for hours if they have the time, but unlike Turbine’s other licensed MMO, Lord of the Rings Online, it can be enjoyed in smaller more digestible bites as well. If players only have ten or fifteen minutes, they can log on DDO and still have a good time.

Turbine is working diligently to get the new free content for DDO: Eberron Unleashed out complete with several new features which should get players into the game faster than ever before. Adam mentioned that one day you should be able to create a new character and be adventuring in two minutes. The new DDO download manager will stream content for installation and updating while you’re playing. For any of you who haven’t ever checked out the Eberron setting or want to know what’s new, take a look at the latest Analog Gamer: Robots and Airships for details on the D&D 4.0 update.

The DDO store is opening soon assuring that gamers will have their pick of any must have items. Careful consideration has gone into the offerings as far as balance. Turbine wants to make sure that the biggest wallet doesn’t equal win. You’ll be able to earn points while you play the game or purchase them.

More details on the DDO store follow the break.
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If you haven’t heard yet, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick has threatened, in a roundabout way, to drop his company’s support for PS3 if Sony doesn’t consider a price cut.

According to MCV, Kotick said in an interview,

“I’m getting concerned about Sony – the PS3 is losing a bit of momentum and they don’t make it easy for me to support the platform. It’s expensive to develop for the console, and the Wii and the Xbox are just selling better. Games generate a better return on invested capital on the Xbox than on the PlayStation.

They have to cut the price, because if they don’t, the attach rates are likely to slow. If we are being realistic, we might have to stop supporting Sony. When we look at 2010 and 2011, we might want to consider if we support the console — and the PSP too.”

That’s a big shot fired across Sony’s bow. So, will Sony take him seriously, and how will they respond?

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Remember the good old days, when you’d sit around playing SimCity? You’d build a massive, bustling city, and then you’d unleash a massive disaster, just for the joy of watching the mayhem.

Just imagine if you could get that same thrill now, but do it online with your friends. Well, now you can. FileFront has 500 beta keys to give away for CitiesXL, a new online city-building game from Monte Cristo.

CitiesXL lets you build a city, power up its economy, trade with your friends’ cities, and connect your cities into a sprawling metropolis. Slated for release December 31, 2009, CitiesXL will take place in a persistent online world that puts players in charge of their citizens’ happiness.

If you think this might be right up your alley, you can now grab your beta key by visiting the download page on FileFront. Be sure to make note of your beta key (it’ll be displayed in red at the top of the download page) before you start your download.

There are only 500 keys available, so make sure you get yours early so you don’t miss out.