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It should come as no surprise that WoW would be number one in sales on the PC charts, but for one company to have five titles in the Top 10? That is a testament to the popularity of the games it creates. Blizzard is no stranger to being the dominant company in the NPD charts though, and as you can see below, the week of August 17-23 was no exception:

• 1. World of Warcraft: Battle Chest
• 2. The Sims 2: Double Deluxe
• 3. World of Warcraft
• 4. Spore Creature Creator
• 5. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade
• 6. The Diablo Battle Chest
• 7. Nancy Drew: The Phantom of Venice
• 8. Call of Duty 4
• 9. The Orange Box
• 10. The Warcraft III Battle Chest

It is also no surprise that the Spore Creature Creator is up there, nor CoD4 or even The Sims 2 for that matter. I have even stopped batting an eye at the Nancy Drew game because despite what we choose to believe, even little girls like PC games too. However, what is shocking to me is that The Orange Box is still in the Top 10 after all this time- maybe this is because of all the Team Fortress updates and the like, because I would think that Portal and Half-Life 2 would be old hat by now.

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Amazing as it may seem, Bethesda’s executive producer Todd Howard actually had to clarify that the release of Fallout 3, which takes place in a post nuclear holocaust Washington DC, isn’t any kind of political stance or statement. There’s no connection with the impending presidential election at all.

Having put that outlandish rumor to rest, Howard did have a few enlightening things to say about Fallout 3. He talked about everyone’s favorite canine companion Dogmeat and about the tongue in cheek perk upgrade system.

“I think leveling up in this game can be funny and you always get kind of cool [abilities],” Howard told me, as we discussed the franchise’s Perks system. “My current favorite one — and this was one of my favorites in the old games — it’s called Mysterious Stranger. And what that perk is is basically a mysterious person comes and helps you every once in a while. In the early games he would just pop up behind a barrel and shoot somebody. He’s a guy in a trench coat and a fedora. The way we do it in this game is: you go into VATs, and you go to shoot somebody, and if you miss for some reason and you have the perk, the mysterious stranger may show up. This guy in a trench coat just goes — BAM! — and kills somebody. And you go: ‘Where did that guy come from?’ It’s really funny.”

Howard also gives details on the game’s controls, combat and camera as well as life inside and outside the vault. He also explains more about the massively multiple endings that are generated by the game. you can get the full scoop on MTV Multiplayer.

Cryptic’s latest Champions Online Meet the Team Feature introduces gamers to Victor Wachter. As the Community Relations Manager for Champions Online, Wachter is guy who gets to plan all the events and release new assets to the forums.

Wachter worked community for Dungeons & Dragons Online and PlanetSide before joining the Champions Online team. He’s no stranger to the system and has “bought just about every fourth edition sourcebook.”

Here’s some advice from Wachter for those of you who thinks his job might be an interesting career choice:

The most important thing is to be a part of the online community. The best community managers I know got into the field after they wrote a blog, designed a great fansite, ran their own in-game events, etc. I don’t know that it helped me get the job that I have today, but I was a very active participant (flamer, even) in the newsgroups for the games I played before I got into the business. I think I took a lot away from that experience that helps me today.

Wachter will be at PAX next month showing off Champions Online and giving gamers a chance to play.

via Champions Online

Keep yourself calm until this set-list for Guitar Hero: World Tour is confirmed folks, otherwise you will blow a gasket like I did when I saw Tool on the list.

Some of the songs listed are a bit too good to be true in my humble opinion, not that they are false, but until Activision says otherwise just keep your fingers crossed.

OMG OMG OMG!! TOOL! (calm down Steffy, calm down)

Eagle Rock High School Tour:
“Dope Nose” by Weezer
“The Middle” by Jimmy Eat World
Encore: “Today” by Smashing Pumpkins (yay!)

Big City Kids Tour:
“Roland” by Interpol
“Santeria” By Sublime
Encore: “Mr. Brightside” by The Killers (hooray!)

Feelin’ Nostalgic Tour:
“Take It on the Run” by REO Speedwagon
“Hold the Line” by Toto
Encore: “Rebel Yell” by Billy Idol (this one has already been confirmed via the video)

Vixens Tour:
“Heartbreaker” by Pat Benatar (her best)
“All Around Me” by Flyleaf
Encore:”Misery Business” by Paramore

Undertow Tour: (omg omg Tool!!!!)
“Stinkfist” by Tool
“Lateralus” by Tool
“Schism” by Tool

Synchronicity Tour:
“Guitar Battle Vs. Sting” (Guitar Career Only)
Encore: “Every Breath You Take” by The Police

Fight the System Tour:
“The Kids Aren’t Alright” by The Offspring
The Good Left Undone” by Rise Agaisnt
Encore: “Bleed it Out” by Linkin Park

QQ Tour:
“Face Down” by The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
“The Kill” by 30 Seconds to Mars
Encore: “Thank You for the Venom” by My Chemical Romance

Rockin the Carnival Tour:
“Dammit” by Blink 182
“When You Heat Stops Beating” by +44

Neva’ Forget Tour:
“Jumpin Jack Flash” by The Rolling Stones
“Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Öyster Cult (any cow bell in this one?)
Encore: “Light My Fire” by The Doors (grrrr)

We Want the Funk Tour:
“Take it Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers
“Renegades of Funk” by Rage Agaisnt the Machines
Encore: “No Sleep till Brooklyn” by The Beastie Boys Feat. Kerry King (cool!)

Rockin’ the Joint Tour:
“Are You Gonna Go My Way” by Lenny Kravitz
“I Don’t wanna Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith

On Top of the World Tour:
“Man in the Box” by Alice in Chains
“Kickstart My Heart” by Mötley Crüe (kickstart… MIATA!)
Encore: “Spin the Black Circle” by Pearl Jam

G. Stinger Tour: (very awesome)
“Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana
“Car Chase City” by Tenacious D
Encore: “Everlong” by Foo Fighters

Lands End Tour:
“Animal” by Def Leppard
“Runaway” by Bon Jovi
Encore: “Paradise City” by Guns N’ Roses (yay)

Doin’ it Different Tour: (good set list)
“Song for the Dead” by Queens of the Stone Age
“Vasoline” by Stone Temple Pilots
Encore: “Assassin” by Muse

Hootin’ and Hollerin’ Tour:
“The Boys Are Back in Town” By Thin Lizzy
“Life in the Fastlane” by The Eagles
Encore:”Sweet Home Alabama” by Lynyrd Skynyrd

All Pissed Off Tour:
“Here to Stay” by KoRn
“Dragula” by Rob Zombie (oh hellz yez!!)
Encore: “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold

Here Me Roar Tour:
“10,000 Fists” by Disturbed
“Duality” by Slipknot
Encore: “Toxicity” by System of a Down

S.D.M.F. Tour:
“Guitar Battle Vs. Zakk Wylde” (Guitar Career Only)
*Encore: “Demise of Sanity” by Black Label Society

Fathers of Metal Tour:
“Don’t Talk to Strangers” by Dio
“Heaven and Hell” by Black Sabbath
Encore: “Crazy Train” by Ozzy Osbourne (can you imagine?)

Making Progress Tour:
“The Spirit of Radio” by Rush
“Comfortably Numb” by Pink Floyd
Encore: “Pull Me Under” by Dream Theatre

Eruption Tour:
“Beat it” by Micheal Jackson Feat. Eddie Van Halen
“Hot for Teacher” by Van Halen (yay)

Tooth Fang & Claw Tour:
“Guitar Battle Vs. Ted Nugent” (Guitar Career Only)
Encore: “Stranglehold” by Ted Nugent

Decades of Metal Tour
“Warriors of Time” by Black Tide
“Leather Rebel” by Judas Priest
Encore: “Hallowed be Thy Name” by Iron Maiden (hooray)

Livin’ in a Nightmare Tour:
“Angel of Death” by Slayer
“Tornado of Souls” by Megadeth
Encore: “Master of Puppets” by Metallica (master!… master!)

Legends of Rock Tour:
“Johnny B. Goode” by Chuck Berry
“The Wind Cries Mary” by Jimi Hendrix
Encore: “Purple Haze (Live)” by Jimi Hendrix

Bonus Tour:
“45? by Shinedown
“96 Quite Bitter Beings” by CKY
“Bombshell” by Powerman 5000
“Clavado en un Bar” by Maná
“Enjoy the Silence” by Lacuna Coil
“Feuer Frei” by Rammstein
“Fury of the Storm” by Dragonforce
“Never Too Late” by The Answer
“Nottingham Lace” by Buckethead
“One Armed Scissor” by At The Drive-In
“Satch Boogie” by Joe Satriani
“Schrei” by Tokio Hotel
“Soul Doubt” by NOFX

“We’re An American Band” by Grand Funk Railroad
“Guitar Battle Vs. Sting” by Sting
“Guitar Battle Vs. Ted Nugent” By Ted Nugent
“Guitar Battle Vs. Zakk Wylde” by Zakk Wylde

Sample Songs:
“Untitled Drum Sample” created by Chad Smith
“Untitled Drum Sample” created by Dave Grohl
“Untitled Drum Sample” created by Travis Barker
“Cliffs of Dover” created by Neversoft
“Misirlou” created by Neversoft
“Walk This Way” created by Neversoft
“YYZ” created by Neversoft

Thanks: GONintendo

CD Project RED has announced that The Witcher: Versus is out of open beta and ready for combat. Versus, formerly known as DuelMail, allows players to duel friends or strangers in one-on-one combat. Choose to play as a witcher, sorcerer or frightener. The winner earns experience and money to buy character and weapon upgrades.

The game comes with its own warning marking Versus as NSFW:

The Witcher: Versus should be considered a serious hazard to productivity for anyone with computer access at work, due to its “just one more fight and then I’ll quit for today” nature.

Having participated in the beta, I can say the game is a lot of fun… too much so for work. You can play The Witcher: Versus for free online.

via Press Release

Recently, Rockstar sent some interesting swag to Popular Mechanics to kick off their holiday sales push. This awesomely shocking bit of swag is none other than a tongue in cheek metal baseball bat complete with the GTA IV logo.

Popular Mechanics writes:

Because they couldn’t legally send us an Uzi thorough the mail, [Rockstar] sent us the 14th most deadly weapon in the blockbuster game’s new arsenal: a metal bat… It just arrived with a press release informing us “‘Tis the Season To Swing Big and Go GRAND,” promoting GTA IV as a perfect stocking-stuffer for the Christmas season.

But who needs the game when you’ve got the bat? In the spirit of giving, we can now give a GTA-style beat-down to random strangers on the street, just like our favorite Eastern European criminal thug, Niko Bellic. And when the cops catch us, we can say that we never would have done it were it not for the influence of violent video games. And for the first time, we’d be right!

Oh, Rockstar, you are just asking for it. As much as I enjoy your shenanigans and your games, this time, I think the backlash will be much more interesting that usual. While I am all for pushing the boundaries of what is acceptable behavior in society and what is frowned upon, this is just a little too extreme. Hilarious, but too extreme considering all the crap that our favorite numbskull JT has caused, one would think that the controversy surrounding the GTA IV release would be enough. I guess not, but more power to them. They have enough money to quell the backlash should something unsavory arise due to the baseball bat stunt.

That being said, what the hell do I have to do to get one, Rockstar?

Via: GamePolitics

Not sure why we missed this yesterday. Might possibly have had something to do with all of the MGS4 hoopla and various other misfires of the brain, but today we have the latest GameTap updates for you and while it may indeed be a day late, its no matter. Why you ask? Because Earthworm Jim is back my pretties along with Sacred Gold and for those wanting to go the chintzy route, its BurgerTime for you my friends!

• Earthworm Jim: From the minds of game developer Dave Perry and madcap cartoonist Doug TenNapel comes Earthworm Jim. Incredible animation and a wildly imaginative cast of characters makes this side-scrolling action title stand out from the rest of the pack. It doesn’t just look great, either — Earthworm Jim’s lengthy levels and sharp control ensure that you’ll be hooked the moment you pick up the controller!

• Earthworm Jim 2: The zany cartoon antics just keep on comin’ in Earthworm Jim 2, the sequel to the award-winning game by Shiny Entertainment. When Jim’s girlfriend is kidnapped by the nasty space criminal Psycrow, it’s up to the worm-turned-galactic-hero to find her. Where could she be? You’ll take a long, strange trip through the galaxy before the answer is revealed!

• Earthworm Jim 3D: Earthworm Jim. Once-humble worm made mighty thanks to the power of an atomic super suit, a really bad attitude, and a desire to fight evil. Jim has destroyed some strange enemies — but nothing’s stranger than his own mind. When a cow falls from the sky onto Jim, all his marbles get scattered. Now you must lead this slimy hero through the corridors of his mind to collect the marbles again!

• Sacred Gold: In a fantasy world crawling with monsters, unlikely heroes emerge. Whether they quest for treasure, fame or power, these individuals brave many terrors and face down thousands of foes both above the ground and below…and unlock the secrets of a deadly conspiracy to overrun the land of Ancaria with evil. For those with the strength, untold riches await, but the fight will be long and dangerous.

GameTap has released the following free games this week for those who are not golden with the site. Why is that anyway? Think of all the cool games you are missing out on like Baldur’s Gate I & II?

• BurgerTime: Evil hot dogs, pickles and eggs are loose in Peter Pepper’s kitchen, and he’s a chef with orders to fill. Stomp across buns, lettuce and patties on a quest to build the perfect burger. Keep your eyes open for yummy ice cream, coffee and French fry bonuses. Use your peppershaker to stop your enemies dead in their tracks, or smash them flat with a well-placed patty. Who knew fast food could be so dangerous?

• Flip Words 2: You’ll flip over this word puzzle! Not only are you trying to build words out of a grid, you’re also assembling a secret phrase, letter by letter, in a fashion such as to make Vanna White green with envy. Guess the phrase and you’ll score some massive points!

• Pop-A-Tronic: You’ve swirled until you collapsed… but are you ready to pop? There’s a cascade of colored machines, and it’s your job to clear them out! Match the colors before your parts bin overflows, and keep an eye out for bombs and other helpful tools in this frantic puzzler!

Those three games bring the total of freebies up to 128, so what are you waiting for? Head on over to GameTap to see what else they have in store for you.

When Mortal Kombat Vs. DC was first announced, a lot of people went, “Whoa, that’s awesome!” Then they sat down, though about it for awhile, and went, “Wait…that’s ridiculous.” But what outraged people the most was when it was revealed the developers were aiming for a “T for Teen” rating, indicating that they would be abandoning the series’ signature “Fatalities” this time around. Recently, GameTap sat down to discuss these issues and more with Ed Boon, the creator of Mortal Kombat. At one point, Boon vaguely explained how Fatalities will still have a presence in the game:

“There was never any statement on our part that fatalities will be gone or that finishing moves will be gone. We did acknowledge that we won’t be able to do the same kinds of outrageous moves, like tearing someone’s head off and the spine being attached to it. But there are a lot of assumptions that there will be no blood in the game, that there are no fatalities in the game. It’s an assumption that, because the DC characters will be in there, those features will have to be dropped. My response is that, no, we’re modifying fatalities. But I have every intention to keep finishers. You know, to let gamers do a really cool secret button combination and follow with a really outrageous finishing move to end the match. The names of these moves, and the level of violence we use, are to be determined. But it’s certainly not a feature we plan on eliminating from the series.

…I certainly can’t speak with authority as to what DC will permit. There will certainly be some limitations. But my intention is that we want to push the envelope of a T-rated game as far as we can without being an M-rated game.”

He also went on to give some hints as to how they plan to make sense of these two universes colliding. Read the full article

Ubisoft and Free Radical announced today that the fully playable demo for Haze, the new FPS set in a harsh future where war is never quite what it seems is now available for the PS3 over in the UK. North American gamers who own a PS3 will be able to get a hold of the demo tomorrow, May 8th.This playable demo gives gamers a taste of not only the single-player campaign in Haze, but also allows for up to four-player, drop-in drop-out co-op play online, via LAN or even 2 player split-screen. Read what I culled from the press release:

Take a Nectar-induced romp solo style, or with 3 of your friends in fierce co-op action through the Salva Region, a bright and high-octane environment, where explosions are huge and delightful, and deaths are fleeting and meaningless. It’s the only place on earth where you can blow a stranger’s head off with a jolly smile on your face. The green-orange vegetation teams with primary-coloured, unthreatening wildlife for the marines to trample all over. The sunshine beats down in comforting waves as you merrily murder your fellow man. This world makes you feel confident. Artificially so and like a dream.

Makes me wish even more that I owned a PS3. For more information on Haze, check out our previous posts. You can also check out some of the new screens they sent our way this morning by clicking here.
Via: Press Release

Cryptic Studios recently published a two part article on Champions Online called “Breaking the Wall”. The piece details suggestions on how to break into the games industry for those interested in game design and development. It starts with a word of caution to would be game developers:

The most important thing to realize about breaking into game design is that it is very much subject to the laws of supply and demand. There are very few game design jobs of any sort available, and there are a whole lot of people who want to be designers. And many of the people applying for the few open game design positions are not strangers to the industry, either. In addition to people in areas like QA or CSR, it is not uncommon to see programmers or artists want to switch fields… while it is not impossible to come in off the street and get a game design position, it is very, very unlikely.

With the warning out of the way the article goes on to suggest several strategies such as applying for an internship position, or hiring on as QA (Quality Assurance) or CSR (Customer Service). There is a golden nugget of advice given in this article:

Creativity is good, but it isn’t primarily about the creativity.

What will close the sale is the ability to demonstrate professionalism, practicality, understanding of the way development works and the relative costs and risks of different paths. Most importantly of all, however, is the clear ability to check your ego at the door and identify the best approach or design regardless of whether or not you were the one to think of it.

The piece cautions that those wishing to break into game design should remember that it is a job. Like most professions, the “joy” of playing games can quickly become “job” in the face of maintaining professionalism, working long hours and fulfilling responsibilities that come with the title of game designer.

While the article can seem very discouraging, the summation promises that the rewards can be astounding and the risks are worth it.

via Champions Online

For all those players out their stubbornly clinging to Windows XP, and there sure are a lot of us, Tech ARP has a tutorial on how to automatically log in. The funny part is that automatic login is a feature on virgin XP before other user logins are added.

While automatically logging in to your system is great for hermits or others who don’t worry about strangers firing up their PC; I can’t recommend it for people in an office, or those who have their computer in a common area of their home. For people who are unconcerned about the security of their systems or have no friends or relatives; you can get detailed directions on automatically logging in to XP on start up from TechARP.

Oaklawn, a thoroughbred racing track in a resort town in Arkansas (Hot Springs) has wanted casino gambling brought in to salvage some money being stolen from bordering states which have casinos at their tracks. Since this request was denied, they got a little creative and installed video game machines called Instant Racing. These pari-mutuel games are based on the out come of previous races and a win “is determined by correctly guessing the outcome of a race that is unknown to the player until after the selection is made”.

A small clip of a race is shown on the screen with wheels looking like slot machines spin. In a way it is like a multiplayer game because in Instant Racing, the players compete against each other. The first player to correctly guess the outcome of the race wins the pool - which is almost like a bunch of people sitting around and picking races at different tracks only electronically, and the first one to pick the winner gets the money, unlike convention betting where many people win by picking a winner.

Over the past two years at Oaklawn races track, $225 million was bet via the game and the money generated not only has boosted the purses the horse wins, but has also provided the funds to fix up the track and expand the grandstand. This brings more people to the track, and more horsemen from around the country which in turn helps the industry as whole out considerably.

Kentucky is also considering casinos for the state, with race tracks being able to offer another form of gambling other than watching the pretty horses run. While KY officials are leaning towards actual casinos like neighboring Indiana - if it falls through, officials at Kentucky’s two largest tracks (Keeneland and Churchill Downs) might do the same thing as Oaklawn - install video game machines. Although this course has yet to be pursued, KY tracks are keeping an eye on Arkansas’ to see if the trend continues.

John Forgy, who is an attorney for the Kentucky Horse Racing Authority is unsure as to whether such a game would be allowed under Kentucky law, but to those who oppose casinos in the state (trust me, there are TONS of them here) Instant Racing would be great way to increase the existing pari-mutuel offerings at any KY track, especially Ellis Park and Turfway which do not get the crowds that Keeneland and Churchill Downs do - nor the big name horses or races. If they were to install these games, it would generate larger purses just like at Oaklawn thus helping out the state and the men and women who make their living racing, breeding, and selling racing stock.

While it would be strange for me to walk into Keeneland and see video games to gamble on, it would be even stranger to see slot machines desecrating its hallowed halls. I mean, I love video games and I love horse racing but I would rather watch it live than play the horses through a machine - but at the same time, if I had to pick between that and a slot machine, the former would win heads over tails.

Via: The Courier Journal (Louisville, KY)

I hate to create such a cynical title to this story. A fine article by Bill Fulton, who worked on Shadowrun and is an industry veteran, entitled “Fixing Online Gaming Idiocy: A Psychological Approach,” is really a great read. But even he points to this Penny Arcade strip which I think negates the possibility of ever hoping to solve the concept of running into jackasses while playing online.

Of course, the most quotable part of his article was this: “So again, why do I care? Because the online behavior of our customers is dramatically reducing our sales, and continues to stunt the growth of our industry. Non-gamers simply don’t love games enough to put up with the crap they get online. The reason they would consider playing online is to have fun with other people — and right now, playing games online with strangers rarely delivers that for anyone outside the hardcore demographic.”

Now, I could certainly be wrong. I hope I’m wrong. But with the current structure of online gaming, where anonymity is almost always secured, there will also be the impulse to be the most rude, vile, annoying person possible.

(Yes, I appreciate the hypocrisy as I, myself, do grief people, but it’s in good fun and I know which lines shouldn’t be crossed, as well as when and where these things are appropriate. There are ethical boundaries you just don’t cross. And yes, I just referred to griefing as having an ethical aspect.)

If you have any interest at all in online gaming, I highly implore you to give Fulton’s article a read. You can find it at Gamasutra.

Earlier this month, we received a press release stating that the PC exclusive Stranger would be arriving on North American shores March 17. Ten days later, it is finally here. Not sure what the delay was, but regardless, if you were wanting to play this RTS/RPG hybrid you can now go down to the store and pick it up.

With a world populated by more than a hundred unique monster types, players can take control of three main characters and their henchmen and enjoy a single-player campaign lasting more than 30 hours, while also being able to take their game online in eight-person multiplayer matches.

For more information about Stranger, visit the official website and our previous posts.

Via: Press Release

[Note: This article was originally posted on my personal blog. Due to the popularity of it, I decided to share my story with the readers of Gaming Today. Enjoy!]

It was a pretty weird day here in Northern Jersey. There was tons of wind, but it wasn’t as cold as it normally is, at least during the day. But of course, the sun set and the wind remained, leaving it cold. Really cold.

I preordered Super Smash Bros. Brawl months in advance. Probably almost half a year or so. Saying I was excited about the upcoming release would be an immense understatement. Super Smash Bros. was a game I have always loved playing simply for the fact that you have no idea how the rounds are going to go in the game. One minute you could be beating the snot out of your opponent, and the next, he’s got a bomb or a hammer. Once either of those hits you, you’re pretty much done for.

I arrived at the local GameStop around 9:10 PM since they informed the people in the tournament that the latest we could be there was 9:30. I of course decided that I really had nothing else to do that night, so I might as well throw my hat into the tournament. The way I saw it, I was playing Smash Bros. earlier than the people online. I’d be getting a tiny crumb of that sweet sweet Smash Bros. goodness.

Read the full article

Stranger was suppose to hit shelves on March 3rd, but word coming straight from cdv this morning states that the RTS/RPG will be released on March 17th instead. To make up for it, or just for the fun of it, they sent us some new screens of the game.

In other cdv news, just in case you are interested, in the same announcement they also mentioned the following release dates for some more of their games.

• Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory (PC)- March 24
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PC, Xbox 360) - September (tba)
• Theatre of War (PC) - May 12

For more information on Stranger, check out our previous posts.

More Screens Here

If you were hoping to cackle maniacally each time your opponents fall victim to your banana peel in Mario Kart Wii (I sure was), you’ll have to do it with a lack of voice chat. New details on the game have revealed the game’s methods for allowing players to communicate with one another aren’t the most sophisticated options you can imagine.

In addition to a lack of voice chat, the game’s text chat won’t even allow you to send custom messages to your friends (no talking with strangers!). Instead, you’ll choose from a set of predefined words to converse. That’d be fine if it were an option, but as the only way to talk? Not very friendly.

And that of course means no chatting mid-game – so in no way, shape or form will you be able to grief your competition over the aforementioned banana peel. (Unless you’re willing to drop your Wiimote, pick up a phone and call your friend, in which case I’d like to shake your hand.)

Anything to keep the child predators away, I guess.

via Game|Life

I have been playing The Lord of the Rings Online: The Shadows of Angmar for a few weeks now, and I have had ample time to run across some very interesting people during my adventures in Middle-earth. While I have to say that the majority of them are great folks who go out of their way to help each other out there are some that are more vexatious than others.

I am sure there are many different forms of annoyances caused by other players that I have yet to come into contact with, but if you have played MMOs in the past or are currently grinding your way through one, you should be familiar with the simpletons of which I speak. One of whom is the QUEST STEALER

Ah yes, the exasperating Quest Stealer. He is the guy who follows you through the cave full of spiders that you are fighting your way through, clearing every biting nemesis from his path for him without any effort. He stands behind you, waiting for you to vanquish the foes, and just when it comes time to beat the quest monster – a big fat ugly spider with poison dripping from her mandibles – he suddenly rushes in like Rambo without a jockstrap and kills her. Mind you, this guy was not invited on the quest with you he is just a straggler who happens to need the same one as you and has let you do all of the work for him without you even realizing it. Then, he so graciously departs your company after committing such a foul deed, while you wait for the evil beast to respawn so you can finish your quest. Angry, shocked and ready to go PvP on his ignorant ass, you have to contend with your quest’s spider lackeys as THEY respawn. While you fight off these horrid beasts once more, suddenly out of the corner of your eye, your main goal respawns and immediately comes over and kills you where you stand. If it weren’t for the fact that it is socially unacceptable and also because of the fact that your mother would have to see your face plastered on America’s Most Wanted, you would like nothing more than to beat him to the point of paralysis with an etiquette book and your computer mouse.

Read the full article

One of the biggest patches that hit this week was the new LotRO: Shadows of Angmar Book 12, but normally when you log into the game it is an automatic update. For those you who for some reason did not get the update, the European patch was sent to FileFront this week and you can get it by clicking on the link above. Otherwise there is not much else to report in the patches department other than Stranger, Unreal Tournament 3, Combat Mission Shockforce, and FIFA 08. You can get these patches and more by visiting this link.

As far as demos are concerned, we received Fashion Boutique, Spaceforce Captains, Avernum, Light of Dreams and a few others that you can see here.

Check back with us next week and hopefully we will have some more.

EA and Image Comics have announced a new comic book series will soon be released based on the upcoming survival horror game, Dead Space. The series will run for six issues and act as a prequel to the game, telling the story of a mining colony in space that accidentally unearths an ancient evil. The comics will be written by Antony Johnston — who currently writes for Wasteland and Texas Strangers — and illustrated by Ben Templesmith — who is known mainly for his work on the 30 Days of Night series. The first issue is set to go on sale on March 3rd, but attendees at WonderCon will be able to get a limited edition of issue #1 with exclusive cover art. Also, the book’s writer and artist will both be available to sign the first issue on February 22 and 23. We’ve also got a couple pages from the comic as well as an interesting trailer that reminds me of a gory, swear-filled version of Reading Rainbow.

Normally I don’t care much about comics based on video games, especially since they usually just rehash the game’s story. But when one of the guys behind 30 Days of Night is involved, that alone can make me take notice.

Via Press Release