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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There’s a new mod tool out for Battlefront: Theatre of War. The Theatre of War mod pack contains all the familiar vehicles, weapons, sites and maps as well as new content. If you haven’t tried your hand at modding yet, this massive Mod pack comes with instructions on modding basics and model and building conversion.

The Theatre of War Mod Pack is available for download in four parts;  Maps, Models, Buildings, and Manuals courtesy of File Front.

Detailed information on the Battlefront: Theatre of War Mod Pack follows the jump.

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Activision line up for E3 2009 is chock full of win. The full review has something for everyone showcasing remakes of classic games and sequels with fresh IPs for E3 return to its glory days. Speed demons can hook up with Blur and Tony Hawk: Ride to get their adrenaline rush on. Gamers will wax nostalgic over the updated re-envisioned Wolfenstein, the granddaddy of the FPS, then take a look at it’s latest progeny Call of Duty 4: Modern Combat 2.

Music fans have new bands and features to bump and grind to with Guitar Hero 5 and can explore new genres with DjHero. Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 is ready for show and sci-fi buffs can get their fill with Singularity and PROTOTYPE. I’m putting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in with sci-fi because I can’t quite make the leap to call them superheroes. Get the full list complete with details on each game after the break.
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Dungeons & Dragons is a game about fantasy characters fighting mythical creatures, overcoming great adversity and sometimes saving the world, or the kingdom, or the princess.. or themselves. What would the game be without monsters? Well a lot less interesting if you ask me, so when Wizards of the Coast released the second collection of foes for the 4th edition game I think it was easy to expect more of the same. But more of the same often means something lacks innovation, interest or excitement.

Guess what? Monster Manual 2 is more the same in many good ways.  Sure it is, at its core, just an updating of many previously published monsters. Monster tomes were of course written for previous editions, but in the case of Dungeons & Dragons there are so many iconic creatures that the first Monster Manual could not hope to contain every favorite -  just as combined Monster Manual 1 & 2 will fail to meet that goal.

The book’s cover creature, Demogorgon, follows in the wake of MM1’s Orcus and while “the big O” might have been the inspiration for the 4th Edition game (for the uninformed, 4E was called Orcus while it was undergoing internal development), Demogorgon and his crew really make this book sing as Wizards continues to flesh out the former Lords of the Nine Hells, reintroduces Cthulu Mythos Old ones and shepherds Metallic Dragons back into the official D&D rules.

It would be a simple thing to splay forth a list of all the monsters — new and old — that are included in this volume, but frankly you can find those sorts of details elsewhere. Instead I thought I’d focus on how useful the monsters included are in designing adventure scenarios. I’ve been running 4E for over a year but only now am I really preparing to run homegrown encounters.

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Courtesy of Sega Europe, a teaser trailer and hi-res screenshots of developer Rebellion’s Aliens Vs. Predator first person shooter game have been released. As the news heading suggests, these are the first public media glimpses of the game. While the press release reveals very little, we are, in fact, treated to a few morsels worthy as ‘news’.

We have confirmation that the single player will have three campaigns, each corresponding to the player’s role as the Colonial Marine, Alien, and Predator respectively. The setting and plot of the game take place on planet BG-386 where a group of mining colonists discover an ancient pyramid sealed by a mysterious race of aliens.

Being the stupidly curious type of colonists that they are, they awaken a “malevolent intelligence” that has been in dormancy for centuries. During their meddling within the pyramid, the colonists somehow trigger an alarm beacon that sends out an alert to a distant race of warriors who are “dispatched to ensure that it remains sealed at all costs”. So yeah, sounds like the plot from the movie Aliens mixed in with the first AvP movie.

Also confirmed by the press release was that three-way online multiplayer will be included.

Despite the scant info, it seems like AvP video game fans are going to get what they expect. The past AvP games followed similar suit. And given that this is the same developer who gave us those incredible experiences, I dare say a little “faith” is in order here.

Dubbed by SEGA as “the first title to be launched in SEGA’s forthcoming series of Aliens games”, AvP is scheduled for release sometime in early 2010.

You can check out a few in-game screens as well as SEGA’s AvP press release after the break.

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Along with the resurrection of the site.. we’ll be bringing back out regular editorial content as well. To kick off our first weekend back I thought I’d get The Analog Gamer back up and running quickly as well. First out of the box I wanted to take the opportunity to highlight a game I’m sure many of the mainstream RPG players have never heard of – Untold.

I’ll let the following interview with one of the game’s creators explain exactly what Untold is but lets just say this is not your normal pen and paper RPG concept. Click through to the jump to read through my interview with Brannon Hollingsworth, Untold’s co-creator and one of the talented folks from The Wandering Men Studios. You can also find out more about Untold itself on its official website.

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There’s a new game demo out for exoSyphen Studios’ Hacker Evolution: Untold. This videogame pits you against the uprising of computers for the dominance and survival of the human race. Compete against the A.I. and the forces framing you using your puzzle solving skills as a hacker.

The Hacker Evolution: Untold demo gives you free run of three levels of the game. The mod tools and skins are disabled with the demo, but will come bundled with the release version of the game. You can download the Hacker Evolution: Untold Demo courtesy of FileFront.

Video games are full of colorful characters from speedy blue hedgehogs to scientists who know their way around a rocket launcher. That doesn’t mean games are without their stereotypes though, and I’m not talking about the fact that every gritty shooter needs at least one black soldier ready to blast some hip-hop music at any given opportunity. No, I’m talking about the overweight individuals who packed on a few pounds and then decided that was reason enough to get in everyone’s way somehow. When it comes to those portly video game characters that aren’t plumbers sporting red overalls, most of them just tend to be plain old bastards. Here are six of the biggest fat bastards in gaming that I could think of.

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Elven Legacy, the sequel to Fantasy Wars, is promising to deliver a world filled with magic and a nonlinear storyline, gauged to provide many hours of gameplay for strategy fans or just fans of Fantasy Wars. Through an epic quest aimed to restore the former glory of the Elven race, the game promises both depth and scope, and from the looks of the new screens we just go in–a colorful and inspirational one at that.

In the game you an play for elves or humans in two primary campaigns or for the orcs in a wide variety of bonus missions. Using the accompanying tools players may create their own missions and campaigns and share them in multiplayer mode.

The game features a new Elven race along with new opponents; unique character talents, spells and artifacts; improved AI (one of my beefs with Fantasy Wars) additional maps for multiplayer mode, role development of characters and units, and various tactical opportunities.

Elven Legacy is expected to be released sometime in March 2009, so until then check out the very pretty screens for the game here and here. I am hoping that they fixed all the bad things about Fantasy Wars this time around, because I am really wanted to give it a try.

It is once again GameTap Thursday, and what a great week it is! Not only is a new episode of American McGee’s Grimm Volume 2 now available to play free for the first 24-hours, but subscribers can also download Gothic 3 and Kingpin. Metal Slug fans who have signed up on GameTap are in for a treat because Metal Slug X is the latest free game to be added to the growing roster (145 free games total).

Here are the details for each game added this week:

• Grimm Volume 2, Episode 14: Iron John: A strange iron man living in the forest befriends a young man hoping an act of kindness will free him from his iron curse. With Iron John’s help the boy marries the princess and lives happily ever after—well, not really because Grimm hates that sort of thing.

• Gothic 3: Piranha Bytes’ third in the series of fantasy-themed role-playing games. In this installment, The Nameless Hero arrives on a continent overrun with orcs, who have enslaved most of the humans in the area. The Gothic series thrives on choices and reputation, and this installment is no different – players can side with the orcs, save the humans, or both. Gothic 3 also boasts a beautifully-rendered open world, with lush jungles, deserts and intricately detailed icy tundras.

• Kingpin: Life of Crime: Publisher Interplay and Redneck Rampage developer Grey Matter Interactive present Kingpin: Life of Crime, a first-person shooter set in a gritty, crime-ridden city. Players enact their revenge against drug kingpin Nikko Blanco using whatever weapons are available. Gameplay includes weapon modification, interactive conversations with non-playable characters, and the ability to hire gang members to join in the fight.

• Metal Slug X: (Free to play for one week only) Morden’s Army is at it again, and only the Metal Slug team can stand in its way. But taking down Morden and his troops won’t be easy. Fortunately what the team lacks in wits, it makes up for with ordnance: they’ve got about ten zillion bullets and grenades, plus the ultra-advanced (and stylish) Metal Slug super vehicles. Released in 1999, it is something of a remixed, upgraded, “director’s cut” version of Metal Slug 2. Gentlemen, start your war.

December 11 will see the release of Grimm Volume 2, Episode 15: The Pied Piper which like all Grimm episodes, will be free to play for the first 24-hours. In it, the Piped Piper uses his siren call (or flute if you will) to lure a kingdom’s children to a watery grave. Just how much more horrible can Grimm make such a tale? Tune in next week to find out.

In the meantime, to play Metal Slug X for free or any of the other games in GameTap’s wide variety of free titles, head on over to the website and sign up. While you are there, if you decide to become a subscriber, you can sign up for that too.