An Assessment Of Piracy And DRM Through The Use Of Pornography.

I know you’re here for the porn. But now that I have you I’m going to present one idea about piracy first. Misleading you with promises of sexy fap-time and then forcing you to listen to my nonsense. In the real world it’s lying. On the internet, it’s good advertising.

Recently there have been a few cases of games releasing only to have launch day DRM problems. I’m not going to name names, that’s childish. Very childish. Not as childish as Diablo III though, he’s the mostest childishest. Since presumably 300% of my readers will be playing Diablo while half-reading this, ignore the next paragraph if you are familiar with Diablo’s first time jitters. No wait, actually don’t skip it. To make it fun, I’m going to hide one misspelled word in the next paragraph. See if you can find it.

Diablo 3 released after 500 years of waiting and everyone was so excited that special medication was bundled with the game for people who have erections the entire time they play. Release time came… and went. One of the most controversial exclusions from the game is an offline mode. It is all online, all the time. Even StarCraft 2 came with an offline mode, sure it limited you severely but at least it was still there in case a squirrel decided to mate with your local internet exchange creating an explosion in both the exchange and the squirrel’s pants. It was a token gesture on Blizzard’s part but at least it existed. Not the case with Diablo 3, if you ever want to play you better be running a stable and fairly quick internet line. On release day, servers crashed, the infamous Error 37 got shown, tables were flipped, forums exploded with creative exaggerations of suffering and generally we showed the world why gaming is still occasionally mocked as an immature hobby.

Are you still looking for the misspelled word? It isn’t there. I lied. It feels shitty right, to be lied to so blatantly and obviously to make you read more of my article. You feel used, like just a piece of meat. Congratulations, you now feel like every hot girl after a one-night-stand. Looking back, all the signs were there. All the clues look like pimples on the tip of your nose they’re so obvious. You swear, like we all have, that we won’t be taken in again.

This is before we’ve even gotten to playing the game, we are already annoyed and frustrated. Not a mindset most developers are aiming at. Gaming is about fun, and always will be. The primary directive of any developer, general as it may sound, is to make its customers happy. In some way.

If there is some kind of dissatisfaction stemming from the purchase of a game, we won’t buy it. That’s what five years of Economics education has taught me. The same thing a five-year old understands intuitively.

This brings me to my epiphany. Piracy happens when developers go against the force of demand. Demand is simple; we want the best product for the lowest price. In a DRM-free world, piracy offers the same product but for free. The cost is that it is illegal and wrong. Companies believe appealing to consumers to “do the right thing” or to understand that what they’re doing is functionally no different from stealing is the way to curb piracy.

No. There are underlying issues here. The first problem is the idea that piracy can be stamped out. There will always be pirates. Many people claim they would NEVER buy the game if they didn’t pirate it. This is largely crap. Most would eventually buy it. However, there are a select few, a tiny subsection of this group who actually mean it. If they have to pay, they won’t play. Companies are infuriated by this. This is where the growing up needs to happen.

Companies have tantrums. Executives watch with bulging eyes and slobbering terror as their game is taken and all they see with their greedy, beady, little pig-eyes is lost profit. The sooner they understand that this group, the small group of what I have affectionately called fish, are not customers. They will never be. They are denizens of the pirate sea. They do not exist on dry land. All that they can be used for is free marketing, a loyal fanbase and some modding. That’s it.

Then we move onto the second issue. Looking back at the idea of demand, people can only be swayed away from piracy if in their minds, the product they are pirating is the SAME product as the legitimate version.

Piracy happens because this isn’t the case. Do you want the best experience of Mass Effect 3? Pirate it. No Origin service to worry about. All the pre-order content and Collector’s Edition exclusives are included and it never needs the internet to authenticate. It is a superior product. I have the Collector’s Edition staring down at me from my shelf, yet I’ve cracked my game. This is ludicrous. Buying a game is already scary, it’s a lot of money. It doesn’t help if developers keep locking their beautiful, virgin creations behind a chastity belt. Especially when the internet is still 90% free porn.

It is a hard enough sell to ask consumers to pay for something they can get for free without leaving their homes. It is near impossible to tell people to do the same thing, but for a worse product. This will never change.

When I buy a game and watch as the great pirates of yonder ocean have a better experience than me, it can only mean I regret my purchase. When companies realise that locking away game content behind DRM only makes piracy an easier choice for most, we might see some progress. Otherwise companies can continue to scream at the heavens, never understanding why good, honest people elect to follow the laws of demand.

I lied about the pornography, you should have guessed this by now. I know you feel betrayed and hurt. If this were the real world not only would we not be friends but you wouldn’t even say excuse me if you farted in front of me. In fact you might designate my personal living space and breathing air as the perfect place to fire your bum-cannon.

It’s okay. Be angry with me for lying about using porn, but that doesn’t give you the right to steal the porn I AM actually selling to you for a small additional fee.

I’ve treated you badly today. I know this. Come back in two weeks anyway.

I’ve been feeling nostalgic of late. Maybe it’s the cold, wet weather of contemplation or perhaps it’s the long lonely, music filled bus rides of late or perhaps it’s my impending 21^st birthday but for some reason I find myself being all wistful about my past. Suddenly everything reminds me of something else. The cold misty rain and my near constant listening to music have given things a vaguely ethereal quality.

Some people might say I’m too young to be nostalgic. Go out, get drunk, mack a girl, fight a douche, live a little. To those people I say this:

People were never so rude back in my day.

My weirdness aside, this recent plunge into the nostalgic got me thinking about the times I used to share a room with my younger brother. Close as we are, we discussed every possible topic imaginable – well beyond our given bed time, beyond our needed bedtime and once beyond possible bed time.

Naturally gaming was a dominant topic of this chubby-cheeked, red-faced, enthusiastic, prepubescent, escapade of psychological gold. I remember early 2008 most clearly.

Riding on the back of a ridiculous 2007, we seemed to discuss Modern Warfare most frequently. Thinking back now I still believe it was the herald of the singleplayer, linear, explosion-filled jizzfest that ultimately moulded the styles and expectations of most modern greats.

It was the first time, for me anyway, that I truly felt at the center of a massive adventure; non-stop, larger than life, beyond gargantuan action. What’s more it introduced us to near perfect pacing. Just enough quiet and calm to make the climax that much more poignant. For every epic battle, every explosion, there was a moment of calm awe, a chance for us to marvel – something later games have lost. Even watching the electrical tower fall into the ravine after blowing it up – it was actually a calm moment. There was no chase, no screaming, just the falling of a tower. Or even the harrowing but action-free opening. It gave me chills.

Then of course we have the ghillie suit mission that basically became the yard stick by which all stealth sections in action games are measured. Then finally the infamous nuclear blast, a moment I will never forget. An experience once again made frighteningly epic by our struggle to stop its launch, by our calm moment of defeat watching the missile climb slowly into the sky and then our eventual horror at being inside the head of a dying man.

I have made no secret of my status as a singeplayer gamer – I know that the COD series is mostly multiplayer based but what I’m speaking of here is what makes people love the game. Balance is an issue, sure, but more than balance is the feel of the game – one of the biggest factors in Modern Warfare’s monstrous success – its right there in the name. Modern Warfare was the first Call of Duty to leave the past behind and bring us to the present. There was something exciting about it, something magical about using modern weaponry, using the very best technology. It made it real and dangerous.

For a very long time, Infinity Ward, the makers of the Modern Warfare series, were the premium developers. Treyarch and their games were the filler between Infinity Ward games. Then Modern Warfare 2 came out and what we got was, to quote a magnificent writer, the conspiracy ravings of a homeless man wearing a tinfoil hat who blinks his eyes independently. It was bad. Plain and simple.

So we turned our gaze to Treyarch, albeit a skeptical, reluctant and disapproving gaze. We got Black Ops, my favourite Call of Duty since the original Modern Warfare. Not perfect by any means but still one hell of a good time. Sure it was still a little too focused on wars no one cares about anymore (especially outside of the US) and yes it did stick uncomfortably close to an almost stereotypical “twist ending” type of story but it sucked me in and I had a good time.

Then there was Modern Warfare 3, set to take back the throne of COD. The almighty, beer soaked, 11-year-old boy populated land of almighty “noobs”, “fags” and people who exclusively sleep with each other’s mothers….

…..aaaaannnnnndddddd no. It didn’t. Modern Warfare 3 was better than its predecessor but actually worse than Black Ops.

This brings me to today, and Black Ops 2 – the stage is set and the audience primed. Infinity Ward have all but disbanded, the head honchos moving off into the sunset amidst legal battles with parent publisher Activision Hitler (creative license may have been employed with publisher names, maybe) leaving Treyarch with one shot, one opportunity, they better not blow it, they need to own it, the moment, this opportunity comes once in a lifetime…

What made Modern Warfare so compelling was its freshness, in a franchise as stale as COD, freshness was like, well, a breath of fresh air. Ba Dum Tss.

That was 5 years ago, 5 games ago, 5 horse beatings ago – they now have the chance to do something COD needs: something new.

If Treyarch play their cards right, they could make me and a whole host of bored, jaded COD players care again. The ball is in your court, call has been made, will you answer?

My new column, NOW WITH WORDS!

Immersion is an odd thing. Developers toss and overwork the word as if each use directly correlates to another sold copy of their game.

As a child I believed it. As an angsty teen everything was a lie. Now as an adult, the world is the appropriate shade of murky grey. Some things are lies and other things are near truths.

What amazes me is that there seems to be almost no correlation between what marketing teams say and what the game actually is. I know that there is some logic behind this, no marketing douche is going to admit the faults of the crap he’s peddling, I understand that, respect it even. Marketing departments and companies make their living finding the best in what they sell. At least that’s the most romantic way I can think to put it. They emphasize the good and hide the bad. Welcome to the real world.

What I don’t understand is when they just lie. I get that exaggeration plays a part in any bit of advertising; it’s understood by all and accepted as fair play. When we pick up a product and its features are a little less shiny than the Stepford-esque zombies flogging it would have you believe, we aren’t too surprised. At least we shouldn’t be.

The idea, I’ve always assumed, is to take a nugget of truth and to expand and embellish it. What I don’t understand is when a company prances the marketing dance, but without even that nugget of truth to hang its web of silky fabrications on.

It seems to me that marketers would be better suited emphasizing and selling the good aspects of a product rather than trying to make it compete in categories where it is obviously and laughably inferior.

Let’s take one of the most stalwart buzz words of our time: immersion.

The routine is always the same;

“We’re cranking up the immersion.”

“We have many immersive elements.”

“Immersion is a key feature\priority\design philosophy\aspect of our game.”

Not every game can be and have everything and I don’t understand why marketing monsters try to make us believe otherwise. Does it actually work?

Does this actually convince anyone? Is my understanding of the collective minimum intellect of our fair ape-race so off base that this is actually an effective way to part man from his money? I have gotten to the point where I barely even hear this kind of drivel. I base my purchasing decisions entirely on gameplay footage, trailers, and hard facts about features.

Don’t misunderstand, if a company tells me they’re going for immersion by creating or using a core, large new feature – awesome. Show me some gameplay and I might be convinced. When I hear that a game now comes with “amazing, cutting-edge, artistically beautiful graphics to help immerse players” all I think is are there so few actually impressive features with your game that this is what you have to resort to?

To the ladies out there, if a man approached you and said he had an impressive two hands with a matching pair of feet would you be impressed or would you wonder what the hell was wrong with his brain?

The sad part is that I know where this trend of over marketing comes from – the blinding harsh reality of game development. We might expect a series of impressive, standard features to accompany any game and for the AAA titles out there, they generally do. For the smaller companies, the indie darlings and the garage start-ups out there, this makes breaking into the industry all the more difficult.

For the penniless developer, every single little feature represents a good portion of their budget and considerably more risk than even an entire game for a huge publisher. This makes it very tempting to suddenly start advertising every little thing they’ve ever done.

All I can say is that I hope they don’t. Even when they mean well, they just come across as tacky. Maintain some dignity and make it look easy. I understand struggling and fighting to be one of the big boys. We’ve all had that feeling. Some people out there seem to make it look so easy, seem so effortless, and they have so much.

Even when you’re a part of the group, one of the blokes, and happily one of the cool kids, there is always going to be that insecurity. What if I’m not good enough?

This extended high school metaphor is no different for game developers, big and small. Games are immensely difficult, expensive and time consuming to make. It requires a level of passion, dedication and sheer balls than most things to go out there and create an experience for the entire, nasty world to judge.

You know what? Have faith. Nothing makes a game look cooler than when its developers clearly love and are genuinely proud of it. You want a great marketing campaign? Give me a 5 minute video with random artist drone #47 and show me the level of passion and care that has gone into making a weapon look cool, or a character animate properly, or a shoe lace flutter just right.

You want to make me appreciate your game? Show me what goes into it and then show me the best of its features. Shame creates shame, when a gamer smells a cover up, we become like blood hounds. The same is true for love.

Show me the love and I’ll show you the money.

Love it or hate it, Mass Effect 3 has come. My personal feelings for the final chapter in Shepard’s tale will be discussed at some point after I finish the game – university can be quite demanding apparently. I feel quite angry that Van Wilder lied to me as a child. I expected my time at university to be spent with the triple B of awesome: Babes, Booze, and Bros.

Also Tara Reid. She was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen and my tiny 10 year old brain didn’t know what to do with those feelings except to try and one day go to university and live in a whirlwind of vodka soaked women and good mates.

Then I got to university. There’s a lot more icky learning than you would think. I wanted to sue Van Wilder at first but sadly one of my courses is a Law course which taught me, with callous, brutal efficiency just how powerless we all are.

I have looked forward to playing Mass Effect 3 for along time now. A very, embarrassingly long time and here I find myself not having the time necessary to devote to it.

This got me thinking, with time becoming increasingly strained by “real world” problems; and with games becoming longer and longer – I’m looking at you Kingdoms of Amalur, you bloated, unwieldy behemoth – what will I actually have the time to play?

Naturally I started mentally making a list of the games that, like Mass Effect 3, I will make sure to find the time to play – even if I have to wait for an ebb in the sea of work I find myself drowning in.

My brother, taking a quick break from one of his girlfriends to refill the cocaine dispenser, suggested I write what I think into my article. Then with a resigned sigh my 17-year-old brother returned to the super model triplets waiting for him in his room.

My brother is basically Van Wilder.

It’s fun to watch.

As it turns out, my brothers prophecy is coming true.

 
A Disclaimer On The Choices

I am a singleplayer gamer. I’m not going to bash multiplayer, we occasionally go out for drinks and we have a good time when we do, but we don’t have the same circle of friends. The picks are chosen for their singleplayer offerings only.

The games will also be multi-platform. I like to ignore exclusives most of the time. They are a factor when you buy your console but for the rest of us – multi-platform titles are the bread and butter we live on.

Some hard cuts had to be made. These are my top 5, some or all of your top 5 will not be on the list – casualties of war. Sad casualties of war.

Assassin’s Creed 3

I don’t know why but I’m excited for the final Assassin’s Creed.

I shouldn’t be – Ubisoft have tried really hard to destroy the love I had for the franchise. They milked the premise, added layers and layers of fluff and mercilessly dragged out every piece of exposition possible. Knowing them, Assassin’s Creed 3 will probably be the first in a trilogy.

I will hate them for every moment I play the game. I shouldn’t give the faintest flying ffffffudge about this game, but make no mistake, I will play it.

Love conquers all.

I want to sneak through the snowy settlements. Assassinate the Red Coats, who are really the British but everyone seems to gloss over this slightly uncomfortable fact, I want to sneak into the colonies and truly help bring the current world power to independence.

It sounds like an adventure I want to have.

The ball is in your court Ubisoft – give me a reason to love you again.

Far Cry 3

I loved Far Cry 2. As a South African, it was eerily enjoyable to run around in a landscape full of the noises and sight I remember from my childhood. The music, the aesthetic and even the gun-play were all top notch.

Did it have problems? Large, bucktoothed, inbred, dumb-as-a-plank problems? You betcha sweet behind it did. It was so close to true greatness, and yet so far.

Games are personal and long. Little annoyances and minor gripes become infested thorns in our sides by the end. There is no give, no leeway and no sympathy.

In many ways we are a cruel and unforgiving people.

Yet in others we are a wonderfully simple group.

Give us stability, give us freedom, give us beauty, and give us fun, and we will be happy.

Borderlands 2

I never expected to play Borderlands. Review scores were good but not great. From everything I’d read, it seemed like it was a little grindy and repetitive for my liking.

Then I played it.

There was something magical about Borderlands. I don’t know if it was the humour,the music or just the style of it but somewhere in the great sea of binary that make up its code, the captured something special. The artstyle left me filled with wonder. The humour kept me grinning and the zany guns kept me entertained. I never even played it co-op until a second playthrough.

It seems odd to put a primarily co-op game on this list but I truly enjoyed my time with Borderlands, alone as I was.

Gearbox seem to be fixing every problem I had with the original – injecting more animated and lifelike characters, making a more involved, deeper story – the future looks bright.

Of course my expectations are higher now as well but the sequel looks to better is predecessor in every way and I can’t wait.

Risen 2

Not many people played Risen. I can’t blame them. That game is hardcore.

It demands you pay attention and work for your reward. It’s not necessarily a bad attitude, some might even argue that modern games need a little more of this, but it does mean the audience for the game shrinks down.

It’s a real shame because Risen is one of the most carefully crafted, authentic, and magically atmospheric games I have ever played. Like Borderlands, there was something magical in what this game ended up being. The NPC interactions and dialogue were so uncharacteristically human that the characters came to life.

Little squabbles and minor conflicts felt that much more poignant because of the extensiveness of the world and it’s characters.

Now steps in Risen 2, a game set to polish up the original’s overly sharp corners while still maintaining the engrossing, deep world that marks the Risen franchise as something truly special.

Also it’s pirate themed. How many good pirate RPGs have you played recently?

This one is already coming out in April for the PC which makes the potential it brings all the more enticing.

BioShock: Infinite

I know that harping on about BioShock: Infinite is nothing new, I know that at this point every man, woman, child and animal with opposing thumbs is excited for this game.

I am too.

I play games for their worlds, their stories and characters, that feeling of awesome accomplishment and sense of wonder that comes from being a hero in a magical land. Delving down into the scariest corners of my mind, making me care, making me angry, making me think. These are all the things I love about gaming. Unlike any other medium, games let you actually be a part something bigger, something greater than the world we’re in or the problems we typically face.

Games aren’t supposed to take you away from the “real world” they’re supposed to make you excited to be alive.

BioShock gave us a world and opened our minds.

BioShock Infinite looks to do the same, it is rich and mysterious, full of wonder, unanswered questions and answers to questions we didn’t know we had.

It is a world, an idea, a universe all its own. I look forward to untangling its secrets.

With a few days before release, here are the 5 games Mass effect 3 needs to beat to be the very best. Like no one ever was.

Mass Effect 3 is only days away and after last week’s paranoid but probably realistic rant we take a look at the 5 games that currently sit at the top of the pile.

Each game on this list is an excellent nugget of gaming fun and should be tapped at your earliest convenience, and you should call the next morning as well.

They are not perfect though. All great games will have many facets of brilliance but here we’re looking at each game for a particular feature or two. Something that game did better than any other that has come before.

In the bar of Action RPGs these guys have a reserved table at the back and the cutest waitress gets assigned to them. No one looks them directly in the eye.

5. Kingdoms of Amalur – Having It All

In case you haven’t heard, you should play this game.

Probably the first RPG to have truly engaging, fluid and tactical combat. Kingdoms of Amalur manages to be both visceral while not sacrificing any of the RPG in-depth goodness we love.

This game is new, and the guys over at Bioware couldn’t have learnt from it during the development of Mass Effect 3 but it is still a worthwhile example of a game doing it all.

It may lack a little polish here and there but they nail the important stuff.

They managed to create a huge varied game world with more content than some MMOs all while having combat that is actually satisfying.

Mass Effect 1 had the world and variety, Mass Effect 2 had the combat but they lost a lot of the exploration, freedom and RPG elements I loved.

I hope Mass Effect 3 does it all.

4. Mass Effect 1 – Completeness

It is no small thing to be the final chapter in a trilogy as outstanding as Mass Effects.

These games, for all my nit-picks and griping, are still among my favourites ever played. They represent a beautiful mix of story, characterisation, sci-fi awesome, and true emotional engagement wrapped in a chocolate shell of power riddled third person shooting.

I get excited just remembering them, not just in my pants but emotionally as well.

I enjoy exploring every aspect of the world, its inhabitants and the characters I’ve come to love.

This is why the game needs to be complete. Fully complete.

The original Mass Effect had this down. There were problems, sure, but it still had a completeness about it that I really did miss in its sequel.

Stories were started and finished, new characters were fleshed out, and game mechanics were really stretched into a wide variety of environments and situations.

Come to Mass Effect 2 and we have much improved combat but at the expense of a large number of elements from the first game.

Vehicles were DLC. The tie in with the beginning of Mass Effect 3 was DLC. One of the few unique missions in the game, Kasumi’s loyalty mission, was DLC. Even the resolution of the Shadow Broker’s story (something I was very excited for from Mass Effect 1) was DLC.

This is nonsense. DLC is supposed to expand a games world. Let you explore characters and new lands. DLC should flesh out and dig into the world. It should expand sideways and not forwards, if that makes any sense.

The original Mass Effect did this well, there was very little DLC because the game was so complete already. In Mass Effect 2 they got this wrong.

DLC should be big and expansive. It should provide opportunities to explore and give you insight into the world and its background.

DLC should die and we should get back the expansion.

It is the correct mind-set to have. A game should be complete; any extra content released should be complete as well.

Luckily this is the end of the series, there is nowhere to hide – hopefully.

3. Bastion – Story Telling & Tone

If experience has taught me anything it is that popular opinion can be wildly different to my own.

I loved Bastion. Its art style, graphics, music and gameplay were outstanding. I would have been satisfied with that.

Bastion wasn’t out to satisfy me, no sir. Bastion was out to blow my mind.

Bastion’s story, and its unique way of telling it is among the best I have experienced to date.

Every piece of art, music and gameplay is in service to its beautiful world and the story it is telling.

The story is unique and personal while we still fight for larger answers and to save the world. The characters have their own motivations and personalities and most importantly – the tone is perfect.

Tone is still my biggest worry with Mass Effect 3. The original had you doing a variety of things ranging from light-hearted, to heart-warming, to dark and sinister and then ending with some serious determination and hope.

Mass Effect 2 had not much light-hearted. I know it’s a serious world and the threats we face are serious. The characters are all determined and serious (flirtatious does not count as light hearted). Everything is serious. Seriously serious.

I understand the desire to inject meaning and gravity into a situation but humour is one of those magical human qualities that differentiates us from the animals. Adding some lighter interactions would not make me care less.

The exact opposite in fact – I would care more. It would highlight the significance of my battle and make me truly care about what I’m fighting for.

Make me angry and I will fight. Make me happy and I will fight to the death.

2. Skyrim – Exploration

Many people will argue that Skyrim and the Mass Effect trilogy are too different to be compared. They fundamentally have different design philosophies and cater to different crowds.

They would be right.

I don’t want Skyrim in my Mass Effect, I have Skyrim if I want some Skyrim.

What I do want, however, is the freedom and most importantly exploration that Skyrim gives you.

Running around in a country sized piece of land is filled with more wonder and moments of discovery and exploration that jetting around an entire galaxy of planets in a space ship.

That is male-cow faeces is what that is.

When the original Mass Effect came out, at least it tried to give planetary exploration with the Mako. Most people were happy to see it go for the sequel but I was sad to see them give us nothing in return (the planetary scanning crap doesn’t count).

Instead of fighting to give me the sense of exploration I craved they just gave up.

I want to explore the galaxy.

1. The Witcher 2 – Maturity

The Witcher 2 has ruined me for other games.

Before I was happy with characterisation that didn’t feel quite real; I could tolerate simplistic story and 1-dimentional character motivation; I could understand my choice having only cosmetic effects; I could even understand a lack of environmental beauty – not anymore.

The Witcher 2 changed how I see RPGs and their potential. There were certainly clunky parts to the game but most of it is so far above the bar set by the rest of the industry that it makes me wonder if I can feel anything but disappointment at the rest of the genre.

I will love Mass Effect 3, I can say that with near certainty, but at the back of my mind there will always be this niggling little feeling that the characterisation, the motivations of the characters, the black and white decision making, the poor morality system (even with its new overhaul), all of it is going to feel like so much fast food.

Delicious and a treat, but ultimately unsatisfying and unhealthy.

With time comes maturity, The Witcher 2 is a truly mature game. Not gratuitous or overtly sexualised, just mature, in the truest sense of the word.

I have spoken at length about my feelings on the Witcher 2. At present, it is only available on pc which means most people haven’t played it.

It’s a shame, a real shame.

It is getting an Xbox release in April and I predict now, for all the world to see, that when you compare Mass Effect 3 to The Witcher 2, people will be hard pressed to tell me which is better.

Final Thoughts

I have been a fan of the Mass Effect series since it released. I hold it close and dear to my heart.

I am excited beyond what is probably healthy for the final chapter of the epic tale.

I am not the boy I was when the first game released, I have played a lot and done a lot, I have changed.

In fear I worry that I have left Bioware behind.

In faith remember how much love I have for the series and blindly hope for the best.

The harder we love, the more viciously we hate. I love hard.

Mass Effect 3 is only two weeks away. Fourteen days. 1 209 600 agonising seconds.

I wish I could freeze myself and wake up when my delivery arrives.

I can’t.

So I’m left to wonder, ponder, brood and endlessly, mind-numbingly ruminate on all the promises Mass Effect 3 may fulfil; and what hellish shower of fiery pain I will rain down upon BioWare should they disappoint me.

It all comes down to this. There can be no cliff-hanger, no threads un-tied, no mystery left unsolved, no arc left un-arced.

It is terrifying. In the unknown there is hope. In reality there is both disappointment and only the possibility of fulfillment.

We risk unhappiness for the chance of satisfaction.

At this moment, before we cross from the threshold of hope into the starkness of reality, here are 5 things Mass Effect 3 must do so that I don’t firebomb BioWare’s head office.

Read quickly, the end approaches.

5. Creating And Solving Problems Within The Same Game

This is the quintessential problem I had with Mass Effect 2. The clean slate. The fresh start. It was a slap to me and my Mass Effect 1 hours of playtime.

It seems like every time a sequel to a story driven game is released, some marketing donkey is up and braying about how newcomers to the series are welcome and catered for.

When a guy says accessible my Spidey-sense tingles. It is simple, unarguable logic – if I spent thirty hours getting to know a world, its characters and their motivations along with the subtle web of relationships that go with it then any subsequent story cannot be accessible to a new player.

If it is, why the hell did I waste thirty hours of my life? What I mean by this is that by assuming I’ve played previous games developers would be free to create truly deep content. The stuff gaming nirvana is made of.

Instead, what most games do is what I’ve said in the title: they create new, never before heard of, referenced or even hinted at issues and then they solve those problems and call it progress.

It is not progress, it is a detour. Not a very good detour at that, it’s a circle.

What Mass Effect 2 did was to lightly coat all the new problems with undertones of Reapery goodness, ending with a little bit of real progress and then called it a game.

Enough.

Release the previous games for free, or at least cheap and then make a sequel that assumes I’m not a cross-eyed chipmunk.

Why not make a game aimed at the fans, you know, the diehard people who make your lives and jobs possible.

I want real, genuine progress in Mass Effect 3.

Give me progress or give me death. BioWare’s death.

4. Don’t Make Shepard A Bland, Crew Cut Vanilla American Boy

Shepard is a character. To me, Shepard is a handsome man of goodness. He is the last thing of sanity in a world gone mad.

He defends the weak by being strong.

Your Shepard may be different. That’s the beauty.

Nothing will pull me out of my state of immersion than with Shepard behaving like an all-America boy.

Already we started to get that football playing jock in Mass Effect 2, and it stank. There was little emotion, no worry or sadness. There was maybe one line of dialogue, at the end of the game shortly before I had my way with Miranda, where Shepard shows a hint of humanity.

A part where he lies awake at night wondering if he’s worthy of the universes trust.

I don’t want him to become a whiny bitch but at the same time I’d like a bit more reaction to the atrocities around him. When people died he shrugged it off, always in control, calming other people down.

I’d like to see him lose it. Lose his temper.

Over-react. Better yet, show me something besides anger and determination.

That’s what is human, what is relatable.

I don’t only need grizzled manliness, I want to see some humanity.

You want me to worry about the Reapers? To truly wonder if we can win the war?

Show me Shepard doing it. Show me Shepard breaking down in a moment of privacy. Show me a crew member, a friend consoling him.

Then I’ll care.

I’ll care plenty.

3. Do Not Substitute Climatic Story Moments With Climactic Battles

Clearly BioWare are trying to make an action game. It’s not a bad thing. Imagine the nailbiting satisfying action of something like Gears of War combined with the depth and RPG awesome of Mass Effect 1 and 2.

That’s the goal in Mass Effect 3. Quite clearly, that is the goal. It’s a good goal, an admirable one.

But do not forget what makes Mass Effect special: the world, the story and characters, the final frontier – aliens and a society not our own; the jaw dropping magnificence of new worlds, new planets and species, new technology.

Give me a mission with no combat. Give me a stealth mission and give me resolution of story.

I don’t want to fight eleven Reapers, I want to find out how they were made, what drives them, who are the Protheans?

Answering these question will be as, if not more compelling than any huge climactic battle and I just hope BioWare understands this.

Battle is not the only way to make me feel awesome.

Let me meet the families of my crew. Let me see Garrus fall in love.

Let me be a wingman for Wrex or Grunt as they court a sexy Krogan.

These will make me shake my head in wonder. The battles are important, but no less than this.

2. Tone. Stop Making Me Re-Live Angsty Puberty

What makes Sci-Fi special? Why is the lure of space, of worlds unknown so inviting?

The wonder of it. The sheer unbridled unknown is inviting because it holds possibilities.

Somewhere along the way everything became serious political upheaval. The end of the world.

Bummer.

The climax is always going to be less mysterious and less about wonder than what came before. We understand the world and the cause now let’s fight. Understandable in a sense but that’s not why I’m here.

The fight for survival is a primal thing. It’s why we do amazing things when our existence is threatened. To those who even played Mass Effect 1 will remember that survival, a place in the universe is why we’re here fighting.

Sci-Fi is about the beauty of exploration, the thrill of the unexplored and discovery. The alien, life and otherwise.

I want that quiet wonder, those moments of exquisite, lonely quiet that makes the battles all the more empowering. Perspective can be powerful. It’s why we all go quiet when we stand next to huge statues or see pictures of the sun compared to Earth.

I want that calm and that wonderment so that my fight and my struggle are all the more poignant.

Give me that magic that makes me want to explore the heavens and unearth its secrets.

1. Do Not Make Earth The Focus Of The War

Earth is not my home. Not in the world of Mass Effect. To Shepard, the closest thing he has to a home is the Normandy, his family is his crew.

Earth is supposed to be an idea, a small important symbol of hope and home. We’re struggling for a place in the universe, a way for humanity to become a part of a greater civilisation and society.

Watching Earth get destroyed, watching cities and countries not my own at war is nothing new. It is nothing special and it is nothing meaningful.

Blow up the Citadel. The place I spent hours exploring and the people I spent hours getting to know. Destroy even one wing of the Citadel, then I’ll feel something.

All too quickly, Sci-Fi series and writers return to Earth as the obvious soft spot. The thing we all want to defend, whose destruction has the most impact.

I don’t give a tinkers cuss about Earth and it’s sweaty apelike inhabitants. We’ve never explored or even visited Earth. It should remain an important symbol.

Now I know that exactly 119% of BioWares sales are in America. I know that to anyone living in North America the destruction of America is the greatest tragedy ever. It’s not a bad thing, I wish I had more patriotism and more pride but I don’t. I’m proud, sure but watching another country get destroyed, fighting levels in foreign cities is not immersive to me.

Fighting on other worlds, defending human and alien alike, that is immersive.

If we got to watch the Earth get destroyed in the first few minutes of the game, then we’d have something.

Take away our home and force us to defend the Citadel because it’s all we have left.

Now we’re talking about compelling narrative.

I’ve come to care about the alien races. I enjoy the idea of a mixed society, where all races must learn to live together.

That is why the Citadel is so important. It represents just that. I want to defend that more than our little blue marble.

I just hope that BioWare understand how powerful they are. In only a few hours of playtimes, spread over a few years I already care more about their world than my own.

It sounds odd to say but it’s the truth. The destruction of Earth is too ridiculous; it’s too foreign and crazy an idea for me to ever accept it fully.

If the war is kept firmly lodged in the ethos and world of Mass Effect I will be happy, if it all comes down to Earth I will feel nothing.

The Conclusion

I love the Mass Effect franchise. It is a space opera. I saw its inception and I’ve watched it grow into the thing it is today.

The world of Mass Effect is a far bigger place than only three games can hold, and we know there will be more.

But as the end of the trilogy, I hope BioWare do us proud. I’d like to believe. I want to believe that things will be okay.

A diamond in the rough. Because the Aladdin in us never dies.

Have you played my favourite game? Do you agree with my choice of console? Masterchief or Kratos?

No?!

Death to you, your parents, your unborn children and any person who has willingly, unwillingly or unwittingly helped you.

Also I’ll pee on your lawn and shave my initials onto your dog.

Intolerance.

We all know it, we all understand it and hate it. We all propagate it, in some way or another.

We’re all small blonde girls on the inside. That Powerpuff looking thing we call confidence is really quite fragile and the result is that we crave validation.

Every time we meet a like-minded individual, who loves what we love, Bubbles gets a little stronger. When we fight intolerance, ignorance or just plain cruelty, it gets a little smaller.

Where is this hippie speech leading?

To a single quote:

A wise man can learn more from a fool than a fool from a wise man.

Life is almost never black and white. Right and wrong are ideas taught to us as children, when we knew nothing. At this stage we were barely better than retarded and the natural inclination to dichotomise makes us accept this idea unquestioningly.

Stop it. Just stop it.

Of course there are some clear evils and some clear goods in this world but they are far rarer than we think. Almost everything is a matter of perspective.

The above quote is a very powerful idea. The stupid, close-minded, prejudiced morons of this world cannot broaden their horizons; they cannot accept new ideas or fathom other perspectives.

The best of us can and do just that. Every scientist, artist and business man will tell you that failure is as valuable as success. Not to the person failing obviously, but as a broader concept.

We immediately dismiss most things. We live in an age of information downpour; so much, all the time, on every topic. Brain explode. Given this society, dismissive behaviour is understandable, a natural development and almost unavoidable. That doesn’t make it right.

Sometimes it’s worth looking at the average and the bad to find some insight into the good. If we learn from the past we can improve our futures.

That’s what we’re doing here today. As a follow up to last week’s 5 Terrible Features In Great Games here are 5 great features in average or unpopular games.

Some of these games are good. Others are not. All of them have some excellence brought down by bits of mediocrity.

We can still learn from them, because we are wise men.
 

5. Alice Madness Returns – Imagination

The game was solid but repetitive. The structure workmanlike and the platforming never made it past “quite fun”. Even the combat was only good up for a couple of hours before it got boring.

I only noticed all of this after 6 \ 7 hours of play time. I am a nitpicky, anal gamer. Little things bug the hell out of me if they’re not done at least adequately.

Not all of these relatively glaring flaws were noticeable because of the sheer amount of imagination in the game’s setting, world, style and characters.

When I look at Skyrim, a small part of me dies at the blandness of the world. Where is the colour? The life? The imagination?

We could all learn a bit from Alice.

4. Alpha Protocol – Dialogue Structure

Mass Effect popularised the dialogue wheel. Letting us the know the gist of what was going to be said without actually ruining the dialogue Shepard will say a nanosecond later.

This worked well and many games copied it, some well others not.

Meet Alpha Protocol; a largely broken game from Sega that failed spectacularly. Yet I remember it. I remember some missions with the same fondness that I remember some of the best gaming moments.

In Alpha Protocol the dialogue sequences and discussions were turned into a whole game in itself. Just by adding a timer to the dialogue I was forced to make decisions on the fly – making the whole experience far more intense and rewarding. It also flowed a lot better.

Then, there was their whole character system where certain characters responded to certain behaviour well and other behaviour poorly. The implementation was sometimes lacking and clunky but when it worked, damn it felt cool to say things and manipulate characters.

Alpha Protocol made me excited for dialogue and non-combat scenarios in a way few other games have. There are entire missions in Alpha Protocol that are primarily about a stake out or recognisance. They were the most compelling missions, and that is saying something.

If you’re in a gaming noir mood, grab a copy of the game. It will cost you like a buck at this point and if you view the exercise as a case study, you’ll have a good time.

3. Zeno Clash – World Building

At a guess, most people will not have played this game.

I played it when it released and it haunts me still.

What can only be described as a first person, melee brawler running on Valve’s Source engine, this game is something ridiculously unique. The weirdness and imagination of the world will hit you immediately. This is a game that shows us its world without shame.

If you can accept its premise and its eeriness, there is a warm, interesting and fully realised world beneath the relatively short game. The society has its own sects and the interactions between characters are weirdly real for such a fantastical game.

The characters behave like their world is the only one there is. Their way is the only logical one. They take for granted you understand political and personal motivations that web the story while still explaining them so you’re never lost.

With more environment variation than most triple A games the whole art style was a contender for the imagination award as well.

What set Zeno Clash apart was just how well realised the world was. By the end of the game, the world had carved its own niche in my mind.

It’s a magnificent place to inhabit if you can appreciate the weirdness.

Full of mystery and questions, itching to explore more and to experience everything, please dear lord let there be a sequel soon.

May you find what you are looking for.

The above line is an old Chinese curse. The disparity between Western and Eastern culture is never more evident than in their way of insulting each other.

Our insults start with something like “your momma so fat…” Eastern insults start more along the lines of “venerable sir, may I have a moment of your time?”

This barbaric line might then be followed with “may you find what you are looking for”. If you are a douche you might interpret anything anybody says ever as an insult. In which case you’d throw your arms back and scream “Come at me bro!” while arching your shoulders and trying not to pee yourself.

If you were more reasonable you’d probably think it’s a sweet thing to say. Yes, I do hope I find what I’m looking for. You have yourself a nice day mister Miyagi (or Jackie Chan depending on your specific level of Asian racism).

In reality, the man has indeed insulted you so I guess the douche was actually more accurate this time. Then again, the douche challenged his own reflection to come at him, and lost.

It is an amazing piece of philosophical manoeuvring to think that actually finding what you want would be a bad thing. Yet it’s true. Not always, and certainly not with the small material things. My life is indeed better with that cool shirt or those kickass speakers but it becomes easier to understand when you think about it more abstractly.

If I actually achieved world dominance I’d be happy for a while, sure, but what happens after I finish recreating gladiatorial battles and making it illegal to say “mine”?

I’d be empty. Without purpose. As much as I want many things, I want them more as ideas.

The funny thing is that this should never stop us from trying to achieve success. Anything artistic, gaming included, is the ultimate frontier. With unlimited time and money we could still never achieve perfection.

Perfection doesn’t exist. It’s a good thing. It leaves us free to try as hard as we can. Knowing failure is certain means you don’t have to worry about it.

We can objectively assess any product, great or small, good or bad and assess it without emotion getting in the way. Nothing is perfect. So criticism is always allowed.

This is possibly the greatest modern societal achievement. We’ve maybe lost some of the sacredness that used to pervade society, but we’ve gained openness, humbleness in our artists and the expectation that we must always strive to improve ourselves and what we do.

Fair trade.

These are five games which were great in many ways. Not so much in others. Gaming is collaborative. The nature of this means that we can get the excellent mixed in with the average. More so than in other mediums we can forgive some areas to experience transcendence in others.

These games pushed the limit.

They’re not bad, they just did a bad thing.

We love them but we want to change them.

5. Story In Modern Warfare 2 and 3

Some will say story is not the point. Some will say that the multiplayer is all that matters. Some should crawl back into their mother’s wombs and un-conceive themselves.

There are many great things about the Modern Warfare series. The original Modern Warfare is, was and will always be a turning point for the Call of Duty series and the gaming industry as a whole.

That does not excuse the level of nonsense in the following two games.

At the top of the drawing boards, written in huge neon letters with its own back generator should be coherency. A story is worthless if it’s not easy to follow, at least on its most fundamental level.

Boring, lacklustre, incomprehensible – the story managed to be all of these things. We just needed a bad guy and a reason to chase; maybe some nice subplots or side characters.

What we got was the conspiracy ravings of a homeless man wearing a tinfoil hat who blinks his eyes independently.

4. Everything New in Assassin’s Creed Revelations

…except the story.

I loved the original Assassin’s Creed. Warts and all. Then the sequel came along and tightened all the soft bits and accentuated the pretty bits. I loved it too.

Then we had Brotherhood. More great story but ultimately a lot of fluff. There was still enough new, interesting content to warrant the purchase, but it was a weary purchase and I found myself often thinking “Yeah, there really is a lot of stuff here. It was worth buying”. I shouldn’t be having those thoughts.

The quality and quantity of what is added to a series to warrant a full price tag should be self-evident. It shouldn’t keep crossing my mind.

Then we have Revelations. The storyline was great and added a lot more. Given that Ubisoft have said that Assassin’s Creed 3 will feature a new protagonist, this is the final game in the Assassin’s Creed 2 trilogy. I know. It makes no sense.

Apart from the story and character, every new feature actually detracted from the core experience. A good core experience, which should be obvious – it’s untouched since Assassin’s Creed 2. The hook blade is a fun gimmick but everything else is just so much salad obscuring the steak underneath.

There was a time when a hook blade would have been cheap DLC. Now it’s a core feature on a sequel. Who cares about bombs? You have a gun, throwing knives, smoke bombs, poison blades, a cross bow, a sword, a smaller sword, two hidden blades and an army of other similarly equipped lackeys at your disposal, who gives a tinker’s cuss about bombs.

This is a stealth based assassination game. BOMBS?

Assassin’s Creed 3 better blow my hair into a Super Saiyan.

3. Kratos’ Character Arc in God Of War 3

Did the graphics melt my face?

Into a puddle.

Did the epicness divert blood flow from my brain?

Pants tighteningly so.

Then what the hell happened to Kratos? He went from lovable badass who is filled with pain we understand to just being a douche. He was like an angsty petulant child who happens to be able to smash things.

It’s not often that I see things that really capture my feelings completely. These guys did. Watch what they have to say and you’ll understand fully why I actually wish God of War 3 had been cancelled.

2. Lip Syncing in Kingodms of Amalur

This is more of a gripe than anything else but seriously; it’s like watching a fish talk while sounds come from somewhere.

The rest of the games is really very good and the writing is even excellent as is the voice acting, which is why this is such a shame.

I’m not sure if this is the kind of thing that can be patched but I just wonder how this got past the QA team. It feels like the first thing you’d jot down when you pick up the game to test it.

The funny thing is that it gets less noticeable since you end up reading the dialogue subtitles most of the time. There is no way to turn them off and it’s really hard to ignore onscreen text.

Maybe they did that on purpose…

1. Combat in Skyrim Just So Poor

This follows directly from playing Kingdoms of Amalur. I haven’t finished Skyrim, I don’t think it’s possible to finish Skyrim but net result is that both games are sitting on my hard drive.

Picking up Skyrim, the awesomeness of the world and storyline is evident. Distracting even.

It took me several hours of playing Skyrim (as a mage\one handed weapons guy) before I paused the game and realised the combat was just not fun.

There is no feedback, enemies barely react and I don’t feel smart, powerful or skilled.

It fails in every category of RPG gameplay.

Given what else is on display I forgave the combat as a necessary evil to get a world as big and alive as Skyrims.

Then I played Kingdoms of Amalur. Lip syncing problems aside, the world is big, beautiful and alive. There is more location variety than in Skyrim. A lot of the locations are just more epic in scope than Skyrims and there is actually colour and vibrancy to the world.

The side quests are more interesting and the storyline is more unique. All this and I haven’t even mentioned the combat.

From within the first couple of hours I was already spoilt for choice, felt awesomely powerful while still needing to fight hard to survive. I also felt tactically in control.

Dodging around attacks, firing spells, secondary weapons, and swinging a huge fiery hammer I felt great.

I tried to play Skyrim again. I don’t think I can.

Fan favourites that no one will remember when something better comes alo…ooohh look! Something shiny.

We have all started to use the word memorable to mean fun or enjoyable. I’ve been slapped by a woman before and it was neither fun nor enjoyable but it was pretty memorable.

This is the distinction I’m making. Memorable does not mean good or fun, it doesn’t even mean intense or shocking. It’s far more personal than that. What is memorable to one person might be completely forgettable to another.

What we find memorable is what touches us. Something about the world, story or gameplay somehow becomes linked with powerful emotion. Certain songs remind me of ex-girlfriends, some books are so vivid in my memory I still can’t believe they aren’t real, and some games I will remember forever.

Bioshock, Call of Duty 4, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood. The first is a masterpiece, the second is arguable the first game to ever seriously grab you by the scrotum and pull you on a wild globe-trotting adventure so spectacular you’re left almost feeling sexually satisfied, but what about the third? Releasing to positive but not spectacular reviews, why do I lump that piece of coal in with those other gems? It’s personal. The game lets you choose which of the two brothers to play as and their interactions and dynamic were so similar to my own relationship with my brother that I genuinely loved the characters. I will remember them forever and I cannot defend the game as anything more than good. Memorable is personal.

Last week I wrote an article on 5 Games We’ll Remember In 20 Years. Those were the select few games from the last year or so that gave experiences that lead to a profound feeling of inner growth. They all had those “OMG!!” moments but what made them special was what you got left with afterwards.

The games on this list are the one night stands. Fun, special, one hell of a good time, and they make you smile when you think about them but I won’t remember them when their sequels release or bigger things come along.

I’m not speaking about recollection. Any normal person who has their morning coffee without whisky and leaves cocaine on toast only for special occasions will hopefully be able to recollect most of the good games they’ve played. They should even have some fond memories and when the ice caps melt, our grandchildren are plentiful and Half Life 3 is a folk legend, we should still be able to do a healthy bit of reminiscing while sitting in a nuclear-powered rocking chair, but they won’t make us fall silent. In our private moments we won’t suddenly remember them and get a warm sensation in our bellies.

5 games from the last 24 months that took the world by storm but that I won’t remember come the sunshine. These games burn bright and fiercely but when I put the down the controller, once the initial awe and excitement has died down, I’m left satisfied but I’m not in love.
 
 

5. Call of Duty. Anything After 4.

This may seem obvious but it’s being said anyway. This is the epitome of what I’m talking about here. Fun, well made and maybe even awe-inspiring, until the sequel comes along. These games are fast food, cheap wine and the easy, drunk chick at the party.

There’s fun to be had and lots of it too, but these game won’t stick with me. I barely understand their stories and the action starts to meld together into one big ‘splosion of Scottish, bearded, magnificent mustached, action.

I’ll probably continue to play them every year. The same way I’ll watch the new Transformers movies.

Pretty things and things that go boom.

Not everything has to be profound and that’s completely fine.

I love Blue Mountain State – who doesn’t?
 
 

4. Batman: Arkham City

Yes, I know – this was an outstanding game. Certainly the best Batman experience you can have short of actually eating gravel and becoming Batman.

Fluid, well designed combat, fun gadgets and even a memorable story.

Nothing new enough.

After Arkham Asylum swept me off my feet Arkham City was going to have to work really hard to impress me. It did to an extent but the problems start right at the conceptual level.

Arkham Asylum but bigger and more open world. If the game wasn’t so big and fleshed out this could have passed for an expansion.

As it stands, I remember the feeling I got when I first ran around feeling like Batman – in Arkham Asylum. Now I have a lot of fun but this just feels like an expanded game without any serious innovation or hooks to make me remember Arkham City over Asylum.

Rocksteady are talented developers and I’m excited for whatever they do next.

I’ll remember the first time I silently took out a room of thugs using my bad-assery. It was in Arkham Asylum.
 
 

3. Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

I know I’m not alone here. In fact my distinguished colleague wrote an entire article on why the Assassin’s Creed franchise has become that weird slightly over 40 woman at the teenage party.

In fact I’m going to quote him directly and link to his article because there is nothing left to say that he hasn’t already said.

Firstly, and amongst the biggest issues with the game, is that it showed me how exhausted the gameplay was. With barely anything worth writing home about added to the game, and an identical formula to its predecessors, Revelations couldn’t bring back the excitement of past games. Variety was a lot less, and things like the renovating system and slow pace often made playing it a serious chore. The game relied heavily on its previous successes, and failed to really build from its predecessors in any significant way.

Azhar’s Full Article. Go read it and then send a letter to Ubisoft.
 
 
Find the next two entries on the following page.

Grotesque Tactics 2: Dungeons & Donuts is a satirical turn-based RPG from developer Headup Games. The game parodies the RPG genre with all its frills and steel plated armour. Any game is fair play from the popular Pokemon series to the Baldur’s Gate series, to the Diablo series, to nearly every conceivable dungeon crawler that has sufficient tropes on display.

The story follows that the game’s fantasy world is in grave danger and it is up to the main protagonist Drake, who suffers from hero’s amnesia, to form a guild and take on enemy forces. He meets a range of characters along his journey beginning with the introduction of the Holy Avatar guild led by the charismatic Holy Avatar, and followed by his dedicated maidens. From then on, you begin to explore the vast network of dungeons and meet new party members along the way.

Gameplay in Grotesque Tactics 2 is very basic and derivative of the genre. The battle system can be likened to games in the Might & Magic series, King’s Bounty series interspersed with dungeon crawling elements. Essentially, you move your characters along a grid-like system of spaces, like a chessboard, and can choose to attack enemies with magic or physical attacks. As such, characters in your party can travel along a select number of spaces. From there, you can initiate either an attack with a character, or even assume a defensive postion if your reach is limited.

Depending on where you position party members within the grid the amount of damage you inflict is relative. So if you attack an enemy from behind, such as a Blob or goblin, damage inflicted will be relatively higher than if you attacked from the front. Characters have both a normal attack available and a special attack which costs mana, and upgrading your talent trees becomes useful in powering up attacks. The same can be said of spells and magic in general. Critically, you have to be careful with the choices and decisions you make because if your strategy is at all faulty you’ll suffer against higher level monsters and enemies. Picking roles for your characters such as a designated attacker, healer and defender are all an essential part of how you define a good party in Grotesque Tactics 2. Yet, this type of battle system has been done to death and Grotesque Tactics 2 does nothing new with combat. It ends up feeling like a rehash of a rehash and after a while the game becomes boring, and repetitive.

Aesthetically, the game’s visuals are somewhat dated and feel lack lustre when compared to other Indie RPGs on the market. The game does indeed have a definitive visual style which is appropriate for the humorous undertone present in the game. But a limited number of stock animations in character models tarnish the overall package.

In terms of sound design, the game has a forgettable soundtrack. However, excellent voice acting especially within the main cast of characters brings to life the somewhat likable characters and doesn’t dull the total experience.

Subsequently, this doesn’t save Grotesque Tactics 2 from being an average RPG title which whilst funny in parts isn’t fully realised. The game at times feels directionless and doesn’t have enough depth. I understand it’s not a serious title. Nevertheless, for the price I was expecting a funnier game. Sadly it doesn’t fit the bill.

It’s recently been Kinect’s birthday, and because it usually goes that we benefit from other big companies’ parties, Microsoft is celebrating this with some announcements for PC gamers.

Starting with Kinect for Windows, the official and commercial development tool kit is scheduled to be released in early 2012.

Microsoft has also announced the release of the SDK 2, for all those who have already been playing around with Kinect on PC. According to MS, it’s been more than a few.

“Currently, we have more than 200 companies taking part in our pilot program,” said Craig Eisler, general manager of Kinect for Windows.

“They are telling us how Kinect for Windows will help them transform their products, their processes, their brands, and their businesses. Putting the power of Kinect + Windows into the hands of business leaders and technical visionaries will give them the tools they need to develop novel solutions for everything from training employees to visualizing data, from configuring a car to managing an assembly line.”

Eisler claims that the newest software upgrade will do its duty in improving Kinect’s motion-tracking abilities, “including faster skeletal tracking, better accuracy rate when it comes to skeletal tracking and joint recognition, and the ability to plug and unplug your Kinect without losing work/productivity”.

If you’re interested to know more, you can go all clicky on the link below, or you can download the new SDK here.

Valve Boss Gabe Newell spoke up for PC gaming and its patrons in the latest issue of PC Gamer UK saying that gaming PC’s are “great value for money” and allow gamers to “have the one they like”.

But wait, there’s more:

“People like their PCs. There are huge numbers of them and each person gets to have the one that they like rather than the one that someone else has defined for them.

“There were 350 million PCs sold last year so the economies of scale are tremendous so you get great value for money.”

In the same interview Newell claimed that Steam isn’t in the gaming industry for money, telling the mag he simply enjoys working with ‘good people’.

“For me, it’s always been about opportunities to work with people I really like and respect. And to build stuff. In that sense, as Valve has been more successful, it’s brought in an even more talented and stronger group of people for all of us.”

I think it’s pretty clear that PC gamers still matter to Valve and in an industry where the cultivated benchmark is to ostracise PC gamers and throw them half-assed ports, it’s good to know that people like those at Valve and Volition Inc, who value PC gaming and put effort into it, still exist.

Proun is a Dutch made indie game unlike anything you’ve seen or played before. It is free. It is fun. There is no good reason why you should not give it a try.

eGamer Rating

Addictive: Not really, unless you’re the obsessive type.

Worth The Time: Of course. Go and download it now.

Things Loved: The art style. The music. The fun.

Things Hated: There are only four tracks available, and an extra one if you decide to pay something for the game.

Reasons To Buy/Not Buy: There is no reason you should not download this game as soon as possible. Do you not like fun?

Conclusion: Proun is an excursion into the abstract world of geometry and reaction times. Play it if you like pretty visuals, play it if you like indie developers, play it you like fun. Just go play it already.

Title: Proun
Genre: Racer/Acid trip at a Picasso exhibition to the smooth sounds of Saint Germain.
Developer: Joost Van Dongen
Publisher: Independant
Players: 1-4 (split screen)
Platforms: PC (Windows XP, Vista and 7)
Reviewed On: PC (Windows 7)

3... 2... 1... go!

A game recently came to my attention called Proun. It is made by a Dutch indie developer called Joost Van Dongen. Being the hip guy that he is, Joost decided to make his game completely free. That’s right folks, completely free. Joost has however provided the option to give him any money you feel he deserves for making this cool game. I say it’s a cool game because that’s exactly what it is. This game couldn’t be any cooler if it had those thick, black framed glasses all the snazzy teens are wearing these days.

Proun is made of one part Picasso, one part velvety-smooth jazz and one part Star Wars Pod-Racer. I can’t remember a time when I enjoyed not blinking at my computer screen for an hour so much. Proun is a racing game that pits you, the illustrious white-ball, against the devilish red-ball and the green, blue and yellow ones (damn you red-ball). You see the white-ball speeding along a tube that runs along various geometric and abstractly shaped obstacles. The goal of course: to avoid those obstacles and achieve and awesome time. But to simply call Proun a racer would be, I think, an injustice. Proun is not only genre defying it is genre defining. Proun is a pixel administered acid trip.

Picasso's "Nude and Still Life". Yeah, I don't see it either.

You need to press only a few keys in Proun. Press enter on the executable to run the game. Press enter again to start a new game. Press the up arrow key to get the ball rolling and press the left and right arrow key to dodge stuff. Proun even recognized my USB corded PS3 controller without a hitch. Although it did need re-mapping as the default gamepad setup just doesn’t make any sense. It’s still very simple and easy to get into. That being said it doesn’t offer much in the long run. It’s great to challenge your friends and see how they match up with your times. So in this respect it is good for a bit of light hearted competition. You can also go head to head with up to three other people on one computer as Proun support up to 4-player split screen. When you play solo your score is uploaded onto the Proun leader-boards so you can see just how crazy and obsessive some people are, I’m not jealous and bitter I promise. Okay maybe just a little.

There are also two (at the time of writing) user-made tracks available from the website to download for free. So you can expect Proun to only get better the more people get interested in it. Van Dongen has made a very user friendly product and the user-made tracks are a breeze to install. Proun also has very modest system requirements. Whilst there are no official specs listed on the site, Proun only requires a DirectX 9 capable card. So none of that fancy hardware tesselation and newfangled Ubersampling. On my mid-to-high end machine Proun ran at a constant 60 frames per second (at which it is limited) at full HD resolution with 8 x antialiasing.

Zoom!

If you’re still reading this conclusion that means I have either yet to sway you about this how spectacularly cool this game, you are at school/work and will have to wait until you get home (my deepest sympathies) or you just like reading game reviews. Proun is a classy game made a classy developer and there is no reason you should not be playing this game very soon. Who knows maybe your name will up on those leader boards in the neat future. If you are still in the mood for some reading have a look at eGamer’s very own Adam’s recent column on indie games and why they matter.

Trippy

In case you missed the link to Proun’s website click me!

In a world where most developer’s are saying that PC gaming is dead and doing everything they possibly can to combat piracy, the developers of saints Row 3 are welcoming it and making the PC versions of their games awesome.

Volition, the studio behind Saints Row: The Third and Red Faction: Armageddon is still intent on making great games for PC without worrying about the piracy that plagues the platform.

“I don’t think [piracy] is something at the forefront for us,” Volition studio manager Eric Barker tells Eurogamer. “First and foremost, we want to make sure we’re making a game people would want to pirate.”

What of the general claims that PC gaming is dying? “We definitely believe PC games are great and if they’re done right and done well by a studio, they’re phenomenal.”

Barker also hailed the upcoming Red Faction game as ”beautiful” on PC.

My new role model; this man is a genius, a beacon of common sense in an industry filled with Bush-mentality.

The Crytek boss is back praising the PC. Cevat Yerli said this time round that Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 developers are holding back on game quality for the PC. Yerli firmly believes that PC is a generation ahead of consoles.

Yerli admits that his own studio, Crytek, is being limited by Sony and Microsoft and that’s why they are developing games with mediocrity for the PC.

“As long as the current console generation exists and as long as we keep pushing the PC as well, the more difficult it will be to really get the benefit of both,” said Yerli.

“PC is easily a generation ahead right now. With 360 and PS3, we believe the quality of the games beyond Crysis 2 and other CryEngine developments will be pretty much limited to what their creative expressions is, what the content is. You won’t be able to squeeze more juice from these rocks.”

According to Yerli, games which do not reach full potential on PC can be blamed on consoles.

“I generally think it’s still developers’ mentality [that is to blame],” he said. “A lot nowadays don’t consider PC a big issue any more; their [sales] expectations are nowhere near what they are for the console versions. Until the PC market creates comparable revenues, companies are not going to spend enough on the PC SKU of a game.”

Earlier this year Yerli said that PC games will soon be king as they will be available for free with players having to buy in-game features and extras. Essentially, monetizing of PC games will change completely and the market will once again be popular.

Obviously PC vs Console is a hot topic, and there are loads of reads as to why PC is being neglected. For one, people wouldn’t like to upgrade all the time to play new games – a problem which many have whenever something impressive is released. This problem doesn’t concern consoles.

To be honest, PC technology surpasses that of console however it’s pointless to upgrade because nothing needs so much power.

Is it fair for PC to suffer?

According to a deleted blog by Microsoft employees, the next operating system could launch in 2012. The Windows 8 release was leaked by the Netherlands team who posted something about the system on an unofficial windows site.

The site read: “It will take about two years before Windows 8 [is] on the market.”

Microsoft has taken action against the site and it no longer exists, probably for legitimate reasons.

But despite the lack of blog-post, Windows recently announced that Windows Marketplace will launch once again with support for Games. The system is expected on the 15th of November where it will be offer new titles, as well as Xbox and Windows Live support. There will even be a place for Microsoft Points and credit card transactions.

According to Kevin Unangst, Microsoft’s senior global director of PC and mobile gaming, “With Games for Windows Marketplace, we set out to create a digital store built for PC gamers end-to-end,”

“And by integrating with our existing Xbox Live and Windows Live services, we’ve made it easier than ever for millions of gamers to see for themselves how easy buying PC games can be.”

Basically, Windows Marketplace will be the software giant’s take on Steam, and Apple’s Application store. And we’ll probably find this integrated into the upcoming Operating System.

Peter Orullian, Group product manager at Microsoft, said that Games for Windows Marketplace might feature more games. Reason being, Apple is planning to launch their own Mac-based Application Store which could possibly compete with Windows.

Alongside the games, Microsoft will offer a rating system, other pre-order incentives and a Deal of the Week idea similar to the one found on the Xbox 360 marketplace.

“Today you go on, and we have a website that talks about games, then we have a client,” said Orullian.

“Feedback we heard is that’s not always the easiest experience, so we’re bringing the transaction component right to the web. The client will still exist, but it’ll exist to manage really really large files that aren’t maybe so easily managed through the web, and it’ll be your transaction history; so if you need to re-download a game, you can go and do that.”

“But it’s not going to be necessary to go and look at and buy games.”

There’s more over at Joystiq.

Dell has used rAge 2010 to announce the Alienware product launch in South Africa. The range which will go on sale nationwide includes the Alienware M11x, the Alienware M15x and the Alienware M17x.

According to Gavin Slevin, Dell South Africa and developing countries retail manager, “The South African gaming community is ready for newer and greater things, and we at Dell have heeded this call. The product range promises to enthrall its users as it sets a new benchmark for combining out-of-this-world performance with award-winning industrial design. With Alienware, customers will be able to experience the most innovative and immersive gaming experience ever.”

Basically, Alienware PC’s are hardcore gaming machines kitted out for maximum Frames Per Second and best possible graphics.

Pricing starts at R15,999 for the Alienware M11x laptop, R21,999 for the Alienware M15x laptop and R32,499 for the Alienware M17x laptop.

Alienware M11x Key Specifications:

• Intel Core i5-520UM Processor(1.06GHz, 800 MHz, 3 MB)
• Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit)
• 11.6” Widescreen HD (1366 x 768) WLED with TrueLife
• 4096MB (2 x 2048) 800MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
• 500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) Hard Drive
• 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT 335M Graphics Card
• South Africa Dell Bluetooth 370 Card
• Intel Wireless 802.11a/g/n 3×3 LAN Card
• Alienhead 3D Avatar
• 3 Year, Next Business Day On-site Warranty

Alienware M15x Key Specifications:

• Intel Core i7-720QM Processor (1.6GHZ, 6MB) Mobile CPU
• Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 Bit)
• 15.6” Wide Full HD (1920 x 1080) WLED Display
• 8192MB (2 x 4096) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
• 500GB Serial ATA (7200RPM) Hard Drive
• Slot Load DVD+/-RW
• 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 Graphics Card
• South Africa Dell Bluetooth 370 Card
• Intel Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n 3×3 LAN Card
• Alienhead 3D Avatar
• 3 Year, Next Business Day On-site Warranty

Alienware M17x key specifications

• Intel Core i7-740QM Processor (1.73 GHz)
• Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64 Bit)
• 17” Wide UXGA (1920 x 1200) Beyond HD Display
• 8192MB (2 x 4096) 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel Memory
• 1TB (2 x 500GB) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 Stripe (7200RPM) Dual HDD
• Slot Load Blu-Ray ROM Combo Drive
• Dual CrossFire 1GB ATI GDDR5 Mobility Radeon Graphics Card
• South Africa Dell Bluetooth 370 Card
• Intel Wireless 802.11a/b/g/n 3×3 LAN Card
• Alienhead 3D Avatar
• 3 Year, Next Business Day On-site Warranty

Alienware systems are, and always have been, the benchmark for PC gaming performance,” added Slevin. “Through the Alienware brand, Dell is committed to offering gamers the richest possible PC gaming experience with the latest technology and coolest designs.”

If you have a hatred for ownership of large amounts of money, love spending or simply enjoy being able to brag more than you can breathe, Origin has the perfect beast for you.

Their Big O Gaming PC goes so overboard that it even contains a water cooled Xbox360 console inside the chassis – and that’s just the beginning. You know that when an entry level build sets you back $7669 (R55,983), it’s definitely time to start screaming.

The entry level Big O Gaming PC features:

• An overclocked 4GHz Intel Core i7 930 CPU
• Dual GTX 480 graphics cards
• 6GBs of RAM
• Dual 50GB SSD drives
• A 2TB storage drive
• A Blu-ray burner
• A Creative Fatal1ty sound card

Now let’s blow your mind. If the entry level isn’t enough for you, The Big O Gaming PC from Origin has a “high-end” alternative, which features:

• Dual Intel Xeon X5680 CPUs overclocked to 4.3GHz
• An EVGA SR2 motherboard
• Liquid cooling throughout
• Quad SLI EVGA GTX 480 graphics cards
• 12GBs of RAM
• Four 50GB SSD drives
• Two 2TB storage drives
• A built in Blue-ray burner
• A built in 8 channel HD audio sound card.

Guess what that costs you? If you guessed $16,999 (R124,092), then you’d have been correct. If you didn’t, then clearly you aren’t psychic or didn’t read the header properly.

Origin is only available in the USA unfortunately, but if you have enough money to even consider buying this, then I’m sure you have enough to not care where in the world you’ll have to go or import it from to get it.

For those who do not know Starcraft 2 has been going around like wild fire. Being a new game and with everyone’s interest in it companies are stepping forward to sponsor it. With the local Starcraft 2 scene having a shot at competing internationally due to the new network’s framework we are producing skilled players who can probably face off against European players and who knows maybe come out on top.

All this aside, to honour the launch of Starcraft 2 Megarom in association with ASUS and Do Gaming are hosting an exhibition tournament this Saturday (tomorrow) in Johannesburg at the Sound Room in Kyalami. To just show the scope of things first prize gets a G60 laptop (yes, the same one we reviewed) and R3000 not mentioning the Razer goodie bag and SC2 CE. The total prizes are as follows:

1st Prize
G60Jx Gaming Laptop
Starcraft 2 Limited Edition Game
Razer Gaming Bundle
R3000 Cash Prize

2nd Prize
ASUS Geforce ENGTX 470 Graphics Card
Starcraft 2 Game
Razer Gaming Bundle
R2000 Cash Prize

3rd Prize
ASUS ATI EAH 5850 Graphics Card
Starcraft 2 Game
Razer Gaming Bundle
R1000 Cash Prize

Being an exhibition it is by invitation that players were selected. The original line-up featured Dreamer, Shase, Angry African, McNoob, Alcardu, Kreefler,Rubilac and Jaxx but due to unforeseen circumstances Jaxx could not make it and as such Azul another local player will take his place. The original 8 were picked according to their seeding in South African rankings and as such are the 8 best in South Africa, for more info on the players and the seeding you can head over to 4pooled where you can find bio’s on the players and info on tournaments not forgetting replays of local players.

At the exhibition we have been promised to have a Starcraft 1 section for old players to go and get nostalgic and screens setup around the venue through which players can view the games and listen to shout casting which will be provided by Shadowthief and ZeeOne 2 locals who are actively involved in the Starcraft 2 scene.

If you can’t make it to the event have no fear as we will have all the information and hopefully a ton of pictures loaded onto the site for you to enjoy. Just a caution for those that did not get an invite please sign up at Do Gaming for your invite or as I am led to believe you might be stuck outside the venue.

That’s according to Voodoo PC founder, Rahul Sood, who claims that Microsoft has in fact explored the possibility of constructing a cross-platform network that would allow PC and Xbox gamers to go up against each other but preliminary tests found that “console players got destroyed every time”.

Sood stated in an interview that  the accuracy and speed offered by a mouse and keyboard, especially the kind of lightning fast response times and pin-point accuracy you get from gaming mouses is just too much for console controller to compete with.
The playing field was so unfair that “it would be embarrassing to the Xbox team in general had Microsoft launched this initiative,” he said.

Of course, this makes perfect sense but it was a good idea. Maybe handicaps could be introduced and console gamers get +10 added to their handicap by default just to level the playing field.

[Source: CVG]

Yes, gamers will now be able to play without even lifting a finger. Jedi Mind, the company that gave us the Jedi Mouse, now has a new application for wireless headsets. Jedi Mouse allowed users to move the cursor by simply projecting their thoughts through a wireless headset that reads brainwaves and transmits them as electrical signals to a USB receiver, not unlike an EEG machine. Now they’ve come out with Master Mind which makes even greater use of wireless headsets by allowing us to play games with little more than the power of the mind.

It can interpret commands such as move forward, move backward, punch, kick, shoot etc.
“Existing PC games such as World of Warcraft and Call of Duty can now be played with the power of your mind, rather than using the traditional computer keyboard and mouse,” the company stated. “Master Mind allows the user to control the characters in these games to move forward, back, punch, kick, shoot and any other movement available in the game, simply by thinking the command associated with the desired action.”

The company has even been so bold as to claim that its software can match the capabilities of any traditional peripheral. It’s all very bold but oh so promising and fantastic. Imagine – gaming at the speed of thought.

Don’t expect mind-control gaming to be cheap though. While no price has yet been given for Master Mind, Jedi Mouse cost around R800 so you can expect the bigger and better Master Mind to cost well over R1000. That’s besides the required wireless headset. The recommended Epoc Headset from Emotiv will set you back around R2500. Certainly not cheap but just think about what you’d be getting for that money…

Just in case you were wondering, this is what the all-important headset looks like.

[Source: GameSpy]

A few weeks back we received Rapier Gaming accessories for review. This included the Rapier V2, a headset with vibration and a precision pad. In other words, a mouse, a mouse pad and a headset.

In our first-look I detailed the accessories and what they do. In this piece we’ll talk about how they work in various games.

Over the past three to four weeks I’ve been playing with the gear. I’ve tried, tested and compared the products against my very own.

The Games:

• QuakeLive
• StarCraft II Beta
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
• DotA

The setup I used was:

Mouse – Full weight set-up. On Rapier Gaming pad with DPI set to the lowest.
Headset – Vibration off sound hovering between off and half-way
Gaming Pad

Quake Live

I found that the movement of the mouse on the special pad helped tremendously in the fast paced games, like Quake Live. Even with in-game sensitivity very low and the mouse DPI very low, you’d be able to swing around without much effort. Helpful in Quake Live when playing against many players in Death Match.

One on One Instagib – one shot one kill – it was smooth. I usually take a while to get used to equipment other than my own, however with this setup I barely missed my target. A few more hours of play would rectify my aim.

Overall it’s safe to say that the fast paced mouse really helped with quick play, but then again – not every game is fast paced.

The headset in Quake Live was helpful. Remember I said that it was deafeningly loud? Well — it was useful. A few characters in the game have funny footstep sounds and this wasn’t a problem as my volume was set to infinity plus one.

StarCraft II Beta

How does Rapier work in a real-time-strategy game? If I had to sum this up in one word it would be: fair. While it might not be top of the range gear, it was once again smooth. I found a few problems where I kept miss clicking or moving too fast. I had to remove almost all in-game sensitivity as the mouse and pad consortium was just too quick.

The headset was helpful, but I found that it was better in First Person Shooter games.

For strategy, I wouldn’t recommend the setup I had. It was too quick and I did not feel in control.

Another problem I found was that without the microphone working I could not use the voice-functionality in-game.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

CoD: MW2 is big — in the console world. A few PC gamers are addicted to CoD Modern Warfare 2, however CoD 4 is bigger. It’s a good game to test with, because it’s relatively new.

Once again, I found Rapier Gaming Gear worked really well — in FPS. At first I had to get used to the pace of the game, but thereafter I was doing better than previous efforts with my original setup.

The headset without a working microphone was, once again, a shame. Also, the loud sound soon became intrusive once explosions destroyed faces and helicopters flew overhead. I’m not sure why but I used less sound for some reason. Perhaps more concentration went to aiming?

DotA

Another strategy game, DotA. Unlike StarCraft II there isn’t too much macro. In StarCraft I negated fast moving mouse with macro. I used the keyboard for building, which helped – a lot. Keyboard macro is a big part of StarCraft and I found that the fast-paced mouse did not bother me too much.

DotA on the other hand, completely different. You have one guy to move, and there isn’t much macro. I found that I constantly miss-clicked units and creep. It was a losing battle. To avoid sharing horrible words with my team — because I was playing so badly — I quickly changed back to my old mouse and pad. It helped.

Now, I have nothing against the mouse and pad at all. In fact, I really liked it – but it wasn’t for DotA. While you might think that it should be the same as FPS games, it’s not. There are subtle differences which made this annoying. Not taking anything away from the mouse – I found it too quick.

Once again the headset became intrusive in battle. However, I found it useful to hear units in the bush killing creep. The loud sound was a beneficial, to a point.

Final Verdict

This is the first time I’ve heard of Rapier. I found it to be good. It’s not the top of the range, but it’s not the worst either. I’m quite a fan-boy, however being open minded with tests I found that beginners would definitely benefit from the gear.

While professional, or more regular top-level players, would prefer something more branded — a novice player would learn a lot from mouse-key customization and DPI settings.

I used the pad with and without the prescribed mouse. Others found that the pad was really good and smooth for all mice. I found that it worked best with the Rapier mouse. I used my mouse on the pad and it was slightly too quick.

Only thing I worried about was the material of the pad. It seemed to be plastic-ish. At first I curious whether my mouse-feet would be damaged on the pad. And, they weren’t damaged — which is obvious as Verbatim wouldn’t release a product that deteriorates your gear. Would they?

Underneath the pad it was not sticky, but somehow it stuck to the desk like magic.

Verbatim’s Rapier headset – it’s too loud and the microphone didn’t work on any of my computers. I’m not sure why – and it’s a shame. Despite the lack of support, it really helped in games where I needed to pay attention. For music they weren’t the best, but in-game they were really helpful.

Back in the day when I went through headsets almost weekly I would have bought the Rapier headset. If it was out.. But it wasn’t.

I’d rate Rapier Gaming Gear for beginners — it is better than most gear which hold a similar price tag. All-in-all, it shouldn’t break your budget.

The Rapier V2 mouse costs about R331
Rapier Precision Gaming Pad about R83
Rapier USB Gaming Headset with Vibration about R600

Unfortunately I would have liked to see the headset in action but without a working microphone it seemed difficult to score it correctly. I tried the headset on both XP and Windows 7 and I found error. It might have been me, I’m not sure.

While reading other reviews I found that many rated the headset really well, but I struggle to do this because it did not work correctly.

Finally: If you’re interested in competitive gaming and you’ve never done this before — Rapier would be a good start.

Full image gallery here.

Just Cause 2 developer, Avalanche Studios, claims that DRM systems such as the one currently implemented by Ubisoft are actually punishing those few people who pay money for their PC games.

Many gamers already despise Ubisoft’s DRM system because of the simple fact that they couldn’t play their game due to Ubisoft’s server being down. They paid money for the game, they did not pirate the game and yet they are still punished.

Avalanche boss, Cristofer Sundberg, claims that DRM-type systems are signs of a ‘scared market’ and represent the kind of paranoia that could break the industry. You don’t want the select few customers that you still have to be pissed off enough with PC to leave it for a console.

“Games have become a luxurious form of entertainment and piracy has scared the market to start implementing ridiculous DRM solutions that only limits the consumers that actually PAY for their games, not stopping the pirates,” he told CVG.

As PC sales constantly dropping, they are a small group of very dedicated PC players who deserves a game designed for them and I strongly believe that PC games and console games are two completely different games.

If we constantly keep on delivering console ports and not games design for the PC player, the PC market will suffer from bad sales, piracy and bad DRM solutions. I strongly believe that most PC players are online players and online games are so much easier to design that we both protect the developer against piracy – and the consumer against a limited game experience.

I wish that future PC projects are treated just the same way as we would treat Wii, PSP or DS – they are treated as separate projects in order to deliver a different but equally entertaining experience to all players.”

So, I suppose this means that publishers are actually driving their valued customers towards the sweet simplicity of piracy? Who would have though it?

[Source: CVG]

Calling all Mac fanboys: Steam is now ready and available for download.

Alongside the release is a truly mammoth list of games with valve planning to add to the list every Wednesday for the next few weeks. Every game available this week also comes with SteamPlay which means that once you buy it, it will run on any Steam-supported platform.

There are currently 63 games available on the Mac version of Steam, including Portal which is free to everybody. Here’s the full list:

TriJinx: A Kristine Kross Mystery
World of Goo
Zuma Deluxe
Sid Meier’s Civilization IV
And Yet It Moves
Braid
Escape Rosecliff Island
Civilization IV: Warlords
Civilization IV: Beyond the Sword
Sid Meier’s Civilization: Colonization
Sid Meier’s Civilization: The Complete Edition
BRAINPIPE: A Plunge to Unhumanity
Diaper Dash®
Machinarium
Football Manager 2010
Bob Came in Pieces
KrissX
Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse
Galcon Fusion
Quantz
Torchlight
Toki Tori
Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal
Parking Dash
The Nightshift Code
Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar’s Eye
Mahjong Roadshow
Hotel Dash Suite Success
DinerTown Detective Agency
Fitness Dash
Gemini Lost
Atlantis Sky Patrol
Fairway Solitaire
Professor Fizzwizzle and the Molten Mystery
Unwell Mel
My Tribe
Tales of Monkey Island Complete Pack
Osmos
Wandering Willows
Wedding Dash 2: Rings Around the World
Zenerchi
Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child
Diner Dash: Hometown Hero
Cooking Dash
Chocolatier: Decadence by Design
LUXOR: Mah Jong
The Dig
LOOM
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis
City of Heroes: Architect Edition
Peggle Nights
Luxor
Luxor 3
Portal
Peggle Deluxe
Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
Bookworm Deluxe
Chuzzle Deluxe

Can’t wait to see what they release in the coming weeks but it should certainly be interesting.

Ettienne believes that if it’s stock, it ain’t good enough. His desire and passion has made him one of the best modders in South Africa. His full name is Ettienne “Daejavoo” Venter and he is 23 years old. Hailing from Pretoria in Gauteng.

Behind every great person is a story, and here we’ll delve into his life. A persons passion is like dry wood, just waiting for the right spark. This was the case with Ettienne, reading one article in a UK magazine called custom PC. The article revolved around a mod called the Orac. The Orac mod, at the time, was one of the best. After seeing the Orac article, a quick spark lit Etienne’s passion and so began the desire.

His 1st mod is simply stunning and one of the best in the local scene. Termed Project Epiphany, a design which used a simple clear case. Etienne modified every aspect of it, resulting in one simply stunning case. But being his first case it was the hardest. Going in with no tool, no experience, no knowledge and no materials did not make it any easier for him.

Ettienne’s path of modification was extended after an accident which grounded him to his bed.

Once into the scene he was completed immersed. He began working on modding everything from notebooks to keyboards. Of his many mods, one included a notebook with a touch screen.

One of the greatest perks for this job would be sponsors. Sponsors send you all the tools and materials you need. If you have to ever cough up a little money, it’s just lunch.

Modding is not the be all and end all for Ettienne, he is interested in skateboarding, and  solving Rubik’s cubes. A simple deduction: Ettienne likes a challenge.

He has had his work featured in PC Format, and more, but more interesting he is currently working on a mod for NAG magazine. The requirements will see him build a specially modded case to be given away, alongside the dream machine, at this year’s rAge.

DaeJaVoo hopes to see the local scene grow due to the easy access to materials of plexi and aluminium, where services like CNC work and laser cutting are not too hard to find. The local scene was very active a few years ago but sadly it dropped, he hopes to see it re-grow as he was also one of the people who went silent for a period.

Ubisoft’s DRM System whereby you have to have a constant connection to the internet when playing their games has come under a lot of scrutiny as of late. Thus far it has only been used on Assassins Creed 2 but with Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands coming up and Splinter Cell: Conviction imminent, it has become a cause for concern once more.

A couple of months ago, the DRM servers crashed and as a result, nobody could play Assassins Creed 2 on their PC’s. Soon after it was all fixed and everybody could go back to their hidden-blade fueled fun. Ubisoft even gave everybody a proverbial lollipop in the form of free DLC stuff.

The whole point of the DRM system is to combat piracy but what’s the point if people don’t want to buy your games because they’re worried that defective servers may prevent them from being able to play. So now Ubisoft have pledged that will work to make the system better. They are trying to improve the way in which it works as well as the big issue of server reliability.

We’ll just have to wait and see whether they can actually make this system work. It would be much better than some developer’s ethos of just not having their games on PC to prevent piracy.

In South Korea Starcraft is a way of life and one of the most followed sports. Players are paid to play the game for example Jang “Moon” Jae Ho. Since the sport is played professionally and broadcast on national television and it is so widely followed there was bound to be something bad happening sometime. And it has come out that there has been a betting scandal going on. The competition has drawn a crowd of people who are illegally gambling on the sport. This may not be bad but it seems top level players are involved in this scam.

The police are investigating the accusations wherein top ranking players and famous players are accused of throwing matches and leaking team replays. Teams that are involved are trying to oust the players involved and more serious offenders to retire.

Follow it on Liquid

The BanMan, a South African, has setup a local South African website for Starcraft 2 players to use. The website is rumored to be possibly setting up a league for local Starcraft 2 players. More importantly this website allows players to upload replays giving other local players a chance to learn and see other talent. It also provides a platform to organize tournaments for local players who want to play against each other even though there will be leagues and similar things run by Blizzard.

So once you get an invite head on over to Starcraft2ZA and register – or you can just go there now, register and see what is going down there.

If you do not remember back in December we did a review on Zombie Driver and we loved it. Now take a second to ponder over this, a game that costs 10$ (about R74) gets DLC. How much would this DLC be sold at? Well EXOR studios have announced that they are releasing a DLC pack and to add to the joy they are having the game on the sale on Steam, Gamersgate and a few other gaming portals at half price including the DLC into the deal. So for a total of $5 (R37) you are going to get the game + DLC. This is a discount if I ever saw one and you cannot complain about bandwidth problems seeing as the Bandwidth wars are ongoing and Bandwidth is pretty cheap.

The world was pretty much made for right handed people. It’s obvious. Many things were created to make like easier for left-handed people, and this is because of the constant challenge to work-or-live in a right-handed world.

Following this, Razer has decided to enter into a niche market — gaming mice for left handed people.

I didn’t really know that people played games with their left hand, and I can vouch for this. I’m left handed however I use my right hand on the mouse. Editors Note: For the record, I still aim better than Slobber who is a true right-handed person. I’ve proved this in QuakeLive.

So — for those of you that do use your left hand on the mouse, Razer has created an ergonomic mouse just for you. It’s called the DeathAdder Left Hand Edition.

I’ve only come across one person who ever used the mouse with their left hand, by the way.

Any other lefties use funky styles?

With the New Year being ushered in slowly, but surely, we are seeing the slow-release of Direct X 11. It is time to revise the budget PC we built last time. The PC will still last, so do not fear if you bought those parts. This time round, I thought that we could build a DX11 PC.

CPU and Motherboard

The brains and brawn of any PC — if you get really bad parts, then you are doomed forever (or at least till the next upgrade). Nowadays DDR2 is still cheaper but since we are going for something a bit better, that can last you a bit longer.

For this PC we will be going with DDR3. So, now comes the part where we pick our brain (in real life you can’t do this), and so begins the battle of ages. Do we go AMD or Intel?

Thing is we are looking for something which has a high enough processing power, yet does not break the budget. I have come across the AMD AM3 Phenom II x2 545 3 GHz which, although dual core, is highly suited for this work. Dual core vs. Quad core is another battle.

The motherboard is the skeleton which will hold everything together. Always remember that spending a bit here for reliance is always better since you can always slot a new CPU in later on. I always find a reliable brand and something that supports what you envision your PC to hold inside it. In our case we want something that holds an AM3 CPU slot and support for DDR3 memory. Also you can keep in mind that you may want to get some nice trinkets in but nothing that will raise the price astronomically. I have been directed to the ASUS M4A785TD-M Evo.

What would draw me to this motherboard? Well obviously it supports all our products and more importantly, it has room for upgrading. Furthermore it has a built in HD 4200 which is pretty neat even, though we are getting an external card. The eSata ports do not hurt and it just looks so pretty.

RAM and Storage

First we deal with the easy bit, the hard drive. I would recommend if you have the cash to get a 1TB but if you are cash strapped then you can go with a 500GB.

The real focus in this section is actually the RAM. DDR2 is cheaper obviously which would make things more budget but less a beast. Well going with DDR2 we can get more memory which is nice but not really helping seeing as around 2 or 4 gigs is more than enough for gaming.

GPU

Since this is our beast for gaming we only want one thing, and that is — kick-ass power. In this area I honestly feel ATI’s new 5000 series is the ultimate in the gaming genre. With our budget in mind I have opted to use a 5ATI 5770 which is a monster in its own right. If done right you can OverClock this baby to beat a 4890. Since we are on a budget do not expect to game on extremely high resolutions as this is where the 5770 lacks the bandwidth. It has 128 bit which really sucks but it holds its own till around 600 pixels which is pretty intense.

Last bits and pieces

For the final pieces of this PC, the PSU is a Coolermaster 650W which has enough power to power up our little beast. Obviously for the case we are not going anything to fancy so we will go with the same on as we went last time. The last elements I hope you kept the following elements from your old pc: your keyboard, your mouse, your screen and most importantly your OS.

It would be really nice if you got your hands on a copy of Windows 7 as it is highly optimized for Direct X 11. If you go with XP, you will not benefit as much. Vista sucks, by the way.

Finally, I put our little beast into this neat looking Huntkey. It is cheap, but looks nice. Also, it is not like we need a case with a PSU, seeing as we are getting a separate PSU which really powers this thing.

Parts

COOLERMASTER REAL POWER PRO 650W PSU – R1, 164.00

Club 3D ATI HD 5770 – R1, 550.00

Kingston HyperX DDR3 (2 x 1GB) – R819.00

Huntkey H402 – R221.96

AMD Phenom II x2 545 – R955.00

ASUS M4A785TD-M Evo – R1219.00

Samsung DVD Writer – R211.20

Western Digital Caviar Green 500GB – R580.92

Total amount spent (Exc shipping) – R6721.08

I’ve been waiting to hear when this would happen and it looks like, as of today, there will be no more waiting on my part. It seems that Microsoft’s newest operating system, Windows 7, has already overtaken Windows Vista as hardcore PC users’ preferred operating system. A very large 28.53% of Steam users report that Windows 7 is their current operating system, while former Vista users make up 27.91% of Windows 7′s userbase. The remainder are still using Windows XP, our old favourite. Taking into account that Windows Vista was released in January 2007, and Windows 7 was released in October 2009, it’s pretty evident that Windows 7 has overtaken its predecessor in record time – among hardcore PC users of course.

Steam Hardware Survey: January 2010 [Valve, via Ars Technica]
[Source: Kotaku]

Microsoft has announced that they will release their new SideWinder X4 gaming keyboard to the South African market. The keyboard is said to be one of the first to boast anti-ghosting technology.

According to the company “the Applied Sciences Group, an interdisciplinary research and development team that works across the Microsoft Entertainment & Devices Division doing applied research for Microsoft Hardware, Microsoft Surface and Xbox 360, developed the anti-ghosting technology with gamers in mind.”

What is anti-ghosting technology?

Well, the new hardware will allow you to press up to twenty six keys at once.

“We’re always looking for new and novel ways to enhance people’s interactions with their PCs,” said Steven Bathiche, research manager of the Applied Sciences Group at Microsoft. “We know that ghosting can be a problem for gamers, so we wanted to develop a way to eliminate this issue and improve the overall gaming experience, and we’ve succeeded with the new anti-ghosting technology in the SideWinder X4 Keyboard.”

The keyboard will be available during March for a price of R800.

Now this is a gaming keyboard, we’ll leave the Arc for the typists.

*Note: Image above is the SideWinder X6

Microsoft South Africa has announced that the new Arc will find its way to our local market. The keyboard will be curved, and it will offer smooth, crisp typing.

“The design tenets that we looked to for the Arc Keyboard were simplicity and crisp softness, creating an aesthetic for this product that is casual and sophisticated at the same time,” said Monique Chatterjee, industrial designer for Microsoft Hardware. “We drew our design inspiration directly from the places where we envision this product will be used so it perfectly blends with existing home accessories.”

The price is set at R800, but do you think this would be a good investment for gaming?

The Sims 3.

Yeah, apparently the world is filled with little girls and emo boys who seem to be oversensitive as EA Games has announced that The Sims 3 is now the biggest-selling PC game in the world.

That’s right, the game where you build houses and control people is the biggest PC game. In the world.

The company has calculated that this is the sixth time in 10 years that a Sims title is the world’s top selling PC game.

These are EA’s claims that are backed up by sales figures, which they have paid quite a lot of money to get their hands on.

Rebellion has revealed the computer specifications needed for their up and coming Aliens Vs Predator game. The game will release on the 19th of February on Xbox, PS3 and PC. The PC specs are pretty reasonable, even if you aren’t a gamer.

If you’ve upgraded your PC like once every two years or so, you should be able to play with the recommended requirements.

Have a look-see.

Minimum Requirements

• Windows 7/ XP/Vista
• 1 GB System RAM (XP)/ 2 GB System RAM (Vista)
• 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4/Athlon 64 3000+ or equivalent processor
• DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 128 MB RAM (NVIDIA 6600 or better, ATI X1600 or better)

Recommended Requirements

• Windows 7/ XP/Vista
• Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 or equivalent processor
• 2 GB System RAM
• DirectX 9.0c compliant video card with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA 8800 series, ATI HD2900 PRO or better)

Loads of Professional gamers ask me to give them a few options for gaming key sets, or gaming pads. Some gamers only play one game professionally, so they would like to have a controller that will help them play their game better. Namely, a custom board.

The Zboard allows for custom key sets and this will benefit the following games:

• CounterStrike
• Battle Field 2142
• GuildWars Faction or GuildWars
• The lord of the rings ; Battle for Middle Earth
• Age Of Empire 3
• Call Of Duty 2
• Battle Field 2
• Ever Quest 2
• Doom 3
• Medal Of Honor: Pacific Assault

How it works: You get the Zboard keyboard base and then just place the key set wherever you want on the base. This is not as expensive as you think. A key set will go for between R150 and R200 per set. These boards make the game a lot easier to control and they enable you to use all the functions which you don’t normally use in game. Extra functions might improve your performance. I have searched every where for a DOTA controller and so far, I have found nothing.

Lastly you get the Belkin gaming key pad. This would be the controller with the weird layout. It is suitable for FPS games. The one example I would like to discuss is the Belkin N52TE gaming keypad which is designed by razor. This piece of hardware is really not cheap but is surely worth the bucks, last price I checked you can get one of these for round about R1200.

It has an adjustable soft-touch wrist pad and you can easily toggle between 3 keymap states. You get a programmable 8-way thumb pad with removable joystick and 15 fully programmable keys. In my opinion I think this would be a good weapon in your FPS controller arsenal.

I asked the nice people at Asus if they will send me some hardware to test, and bench, for the eGamer website. A month later Mr. Gabriel Malan from Asus gave me a whole PC use at my disposal. The games that I played included Left for Dead 2, Call Of Duty 4, Batman Arkham Asylum, Call of Juarez bound in blood and Demigod. I used 3D Mark Vantage set on performance to bench the machine.

The Hardware and OS Used:

Motherboard: Asus P7P55 deluxe

Information from Asus

This motherboard supports the latest Intel® Lynnfield processors in LGA1156 package which has memory and PCI Express controller integrated to support 2-channel (4 DIMMs) DDR3 memory and 16 PCI Express 2.0 lanes providing great graphics performance. Intel® Lynnfield processor is one of the most powerful and energy efficient CPU in the world.

It also has Quad-GPU SLI and Quad-GPU CrossFireX Support.

The P7P55D Deluxe brings you the multi-GPU choice of either SLI™ or CrossFireX. The motherboard features the most powerful Intel P55 platform to optimize PCIe allocation in multiple GPU configurations.

Expect a brand-new gaming style you’ve never experienced before.

The Intel® P55 Express Chipset is the latest one-chipset design to support latest 1156 socket Intel® Core™ i7/Core™ i5 Processors. Intel® P55 providing improved performance by utilizing serial point-to-point links, allowing increased bandwidth and stability.

This motherboard has too many functions to mention. Feel free to go read more about it on http://za.asus.com

Processor: Intel Core i5 750 2.67 GHz

Information from Intel

Maximize speed for demanding applications with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, which accelerates processor clock speed up to 20% to match your workload. So you’ll move faster when multitasking and get more accomplished in less time.

With the Intel® Core™ i5 processor, you can multitask up to 28% faster, so you can do more things at once and be more productive than ever.

Unleash an amazing digital media experience with up to 37% faster conversion of video for web upload, up to 15% faster photo editing and up to 17 % faster conversion of CD music tracks to MP3.

Get a 32% improvement in artificial intelligence for game characters and realistic physics for game worlds.

This isn’t the best CPU on the market, but it’s really worth the cash for a mid-range gaming machine.

Power supply: Corsair 750 watt

Information from Corsair

The Corsair TX power supplies are engineered using advanced technology and components typically found with high performance power supplies. With design features such as a dedicated, single +12V rail offer the maximum compatibility with the latest system components.

Your browser may not support display of this image. Energy efficient circuitry capable of delivering greater than 80% efficiency ratings across 20%, 50%, and 100% load conditions make the TX family of PSUs ideal for the value/quality conscious enthusiast.

With a large 140mm (120mm on TX650W) diameter temperature-controlled fan that is ultra quiet, yet still more than sufficient to cool the internals of the system, reliability and stability are no longer worries for the gamer, overclocker or enthusiast and high-end system builder.

This PSU has enough plugs to run two machines. It’s really quiet and it stays cool.

Graphics Card: Asus Nvidia Geforce ENGTX 275

Information from Asus

Graphics Engine NVIDIA GeForce GTX 275
Bus Standard PCI Express 2.0 Video MemoryDDR3 896MB

Engine Clock 633 MHz

Shader Clock 1404 MHz

Memory Clock 2.268 GHz ( 1.134 GHz DDR3 )
Memory Interface 448-bit CRT Max

Resolution 2048 x 1536

DVI Max Resolution 2560 x 1600

D-Sub Output Yes x 1 (via DVI to D-Sub adaptor x 1 )
DVI Output Yes x 2 (DVI-I)
HDMI Output Yes x 1 (via DVI to HDMI adaptor x 1 )
HDTV Output (YPbPr)Yes HDCP Support Yes TV Output Yes (YPbPr to S-Video and Composite) Adapter/Cable Bundled 1 x DVI to D-Sub adaptor
1 x DVI to HDMI adaptor
1 x HDTV-out cable
1 x Power cable
1 x S/PDIF cable
Software Bundled ASUS Utilities & Driver
The card size is 4.376 inches x 10.5 inches

This is a good card, but I’m not too sure about the South African availability. This card is not on the Asus SA website anymore. It’s an awesome card that never ever gives up.

Memory: Standard Corsair 2 gig DDR 3 1333

This was one of the big set backs in this computer. It was just normal standard desktop ram. For a bit more cash you can get some low latency gaming ram with heat sinks. This will be the only thing that I will change on this setup.

Operating system: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

In my opinion this is the most stable, reliable and user friendly OS to date. Loads of people are still stuck on XP. But there is no way that you would get the performance out of this machine with any other OS. Well done to MS for this brilliant System they made for us.

Hard Disk Drive: Seagate Barracuda 250 gig S-ATA

One thing that we do not realize is how your hard drive affects your computers performance. Not so much with games, but it plays a huge role in overall performance. If you are looking to build up a PC with better performance, set up a raid system and just feel the difference. If you have the money for a SCSI setup just go for it.

3D Mark Vantage Score

I used this bench mark on performance settings just to give you an idea of what this machine can do.

3D Mark score: P13618

GPU Score: 11085

CPU Score: 43272

I did not use manual over clocking at all, only auto settings. The CPU I did not touch, this was just on standard clock speed. And I must say it did fine, but it should do allot better when over clocked.

Remember, these parts are available at PCProShop! Contact me by email (below) for more information on obtaining hardware.

It’s January competition time! This month our prize is one again sponsored by BuyComputers.co.za

BuyComputers have sponsored a Seagate 500GB SATA2 7200.12 HDD with 16mb cache. The competition is free for everyone to enter, and we only require that you answer a nybble of a question to qualify.

For those unsure about the prize, it will work with your computer — duh!

Anyway, to enter the competition we require that you read and understand our Competition Terms & Conditions before entering. By entering you have agreed to our terms & conditions.

The competition closes on the 26th of January, 2010.

So, BuyComputers.co.za wants to know:

How much is half a Byte / or what is half a byte called? Either answer will be good! (Google is your friend )

* Leave my photoshop skills alone, I know the image is bad!

The competition closes on the 26th of January, 2010.

For those who like to customise everything from their consoles to their watch straps, you will be pleased to know that EA games have signed multi-year licence agreements with three electronic accessory manufacturers. The accessories are EA SPORTS-branded and available for consoles, mobile platforms and even PC. This will also include EA SPORTS Active’s line of “interactive fitness products” which more than likely means the Wii but could also include Xbox since Project Natal is out soon.

Sakar International will produce Wii and Nintendo DS accessories such as a “Nintendo DSi(TM) Football Kit” consisting of a game case, earphones, skin and stylus with football-like textures and materials. As well as other football products such as sports-themed MP3 players, digital cameras and computer keyboards and mouse pads with graphics resembling a football field.

Accessories 4 Technology's Wii Fit gear -Expect football themes-

Sunflex Europe has started production on more than 20 products and Accessories 4 Technology will produce for all platforms including iPod. Vice President of Brand Marketing at EA SPORTS, Glenn Chin said the partnerships will “improve our consumers’ experience and deepen their connection to the fabric of sport”. So if replacing your controllers with sports themed branded ones will connect you to your sport game of choice then you can expect the first batch of products to be released around autumn this year.

[s:EA Games]

So for all those that use Steam now is the time to go wild and for those that do not have it now is the time to get it. They are holding their annual Steam Holidays special. We had couple of steamy specials awhile back but this takes the cake. With specials of upto 80% off on selected titles you would be literally mad not to get some games from Steam. Here are some specials:

• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl – $1.99[R15.00] (Regularly priced $19.99[R150.00])
• GTA IV – $7.49 [R56.25](Regularly priced $29.99[R220.00])
• Mirror’s Edge – $4.99 [R38.00](Regularly priced $19.99[R150.00])
• Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising – $19.99[R150.00] (Regularly priced $39.99[R300.00])
• Torchlight – $9.99 [R75.00](Regularly priced $19.99[R150.00])
• Far Cry 2: Fortune’s Edition – $9.99[R75.00] (Regularly priced $19.99[R150.00])

These are just some of the crazy specials going down. If you don’t want to download it you can still get the game files off a friend. Head on over to the Steam Store and get yourself some of these titles. NOW, as all these specials end 3rd January 2010. N.B The sqaure brackets are local estimate costing at roughly $1=R7.50.

As SMM comes to a close and the Alienware 30-day Tourney taking over, another tournament fell over the month of November –

THE OC DOTA TOURNEY OF COURSE!

Garena was unfortunately down during this time period, but the following replay has been released!

THE GAME

dedA vs JJ – Replay

Game Length: 57:08

The Sentinel – dedA (1st Pick)

The bans:

The picks & lanes:

• DedA.( •)<*(Top) [POTM]
• DedA.BurNing~(Top) [SVEN]
• DedA~CryT_T.(Top) [VS]
• DedA.YMT(Mid) [WL]
• DedA.longdd(Bot) [QOP]

The Scourge – JJ

The bans:

The picks & lanes:

• <JJ>6iS</JJ>(Top) [BM]
• <JJ>Freez</JJ>(Mid) [LICH]
• <JJ>Aion</JJ>(Bot) [CM]
• <JJ>PLEASE</JJ>(Bot) [SF]
• <JJ>nrg</JJ>(Jungle) [ENIGMA]

THE SQUEEZE:

The reasons to watch this replay are simple, this is an exciting game which is a lot of fun to watch but for those of you who want a more detailed explanation keep reading otherwise just download and DISCUSS?

1. Banning pipe (The captains of both teams before the match came to the decision to ban pipe) to make the game more exciting.
2. Scourge going for a level 1 roshan strategy with overpowering AOE, whilst dedA looking to dominate in lanes from the get go with trilane top and strong solo’s mid and bot.
3. AOE watch the ulti’s and spells go BOOM!
4. Roshan level 1, wanna see kills before the creeps are out? THEN THIS REPLAY IS FOR YOU!
5. Tri-lane top, watch 6is soak up the pressure of 3 heroes on 1.
6. 8min mark, watch how Saidin literally raze his way out of a tight gank.
7. 32min, wanna see a double triple kill? 2 heroes left? wtf?
8. Did I mention ULTI’S GO OFF = BOOM!
9. DISCUSS ALREADY

DOWNLOAD, WATCH & NOW DISCUSS

The Saboteur is working towards a nifty little way to extinguish piracy. The creators are encouraging players to actually buy the game as the box contains a code which enables console-users to download some more content.

Of course this shifty little trick only works for console users, as the PC world is far superior with their knowledge about sharing expensive games. *Glances at BitTorrent*

While this piracy-fighting-attempt might be a good idea, it also works as a “get it now, save $3 later” trick. The DLC will cost a wallet busting R24 if you aren’t sharp on the release scene with your credit card.

The content contains “The Midnight Show” and it will unlock a secret V.I.P room underneath the games’ cabaret.

Expect nudity, err — boobs, and some other things that we aren’t too interested in, like a shiny car.

Oh, the review will be up soon, stay tuned.

We now go into week 3 of the Intel iGame Call of Duty 4 League and things seem to be heating up in the pro bracket. With only one week left of games, teams will be fighting to make the final placings into the next round of the league.

Group 1

¬ Brazen (4points)
¬ UbS.En (2points)
¬ EVO (2points)
¬ dS.eQ (0points)

It seems Brazen have had quite an easy time, taking two easy wins against dS.eQ and EVO. If UbS.EN wants to make it through to the next round they are going to have an uphill battle and will either have to pull off a win against Brazen or hope that EVO doesn’t win against dS.eQ – if there is a three way between EVO, dS.eQ and UbS.EN one team will go through on points difference.

Group 2

¬ UbS.GT (2points)
¬ sG.Evoke (4points)
¬ Element T1 (0points)
¬ Bestiality (2points)

With Bestiality taking on Element T1 who have shown promise but not put up much of a fight, we will most likely see sG.Evoke and Beastiality move through to the next round. UbS.GT have an outside chance of making it though but they will have to play out of their skins against the group leaders or hope that Element T1 can somehow pull off a win against the strong Bestiality team.

Group 3

¬ miNt Gaming (4points)
¬ Pantheon (2points)
¬ UbS.ZK (2points)
¬ ATF.T (0points)

Our boys in Green have almost guaranteed their spot in the next round. If Pantheon manages to beat miNt, and UbS.ZK beat ATF.T by a long enough margin we could just see the miNt Gaming team be knocked out. But judging by their strong performance against both UbS.ZK and ATF.T the teams that are most likely to progress are miNt Gaming and Pantheon Gaming.

Group 4

¬ A*P (2points)
¬ ATF.A (2points)
¬ Prodigy (4points)
¬ Pandemonium (0points)

In a tight match against Prodigy, only marginally losing out to them 11-13 on mp_backlot – A*P are in a good postition to move through to the next round with Prodigy.

In all four groups, we could see some upsets occurring in this last week. It will all come down to who wants it more, some teams still with a fighting spirit wanting to take home a podium place, whilst others still fatigued from the past season. Teams who are most likely to move through to the next round are:

• Brazen
• EVO
• sG.Evoke
• Bestiality
• miNt Gaming
• Pantheon Gaming
• A*P
• Prodigy

*Please note these views reflect the personal opinion of the writer and in no way express the views of the eGamer. All games, Points and match-ups are taken directly from the iGame Forums.

We’re once again faced with financial issues in this time of year. With so many new games coming out, we sometimes forget about awesome old games that we could add to our collections plus enjoy with hours of game play.

While the gaming clouds are about to break, you should get prepared for the latest and greatest available.

First up, with the release of the new Splinter Cell: Convictions coming soon, we have the Splinter Cell 3 in 1. You can take the time to play and catch up on the story (not really a requirement for the new game) but nevertheless feels nice to know that you are clued up.
Take2, Leno and Crown

This was inevitable: With Bioshock 2 coming in Q1 2010, you need to go do yourself a favour and get this game. It will keep you engaged throughout time, and then leave you with a thoroughly satisfying feeling.
Take2, ZAPS and Leno

Pickup Assassin’s Creed 1 in an attempt to get some background information before AC2. Remember, Assassin Creed 2 is being released this month, and you’ll want to be informed with everything happening.
Take2, Leno and Zaps

Last but, not least:  Prince of Persia. With the movie coming to your screen soon (either Q4 2009/Q1 2010) you would need this for two reasons, (1) to have it in your collection — duh, and (2) to see what the movie is all about!
Take2

RTS fans: Here are 2 very awesome specials for you. The first is the Command and Conquer series –  a deluxe edition is always well worth it.
Take2

The second one is Warcraft 3 and The Frozen Throne. This special is specifically here for all those Twilight players who don’t know where to get the original game.
Warcraft 3 — Take2
The Frozen Throne — Take2

Some side specials you might want to get your hands on.  Kalahari is offering 24hr delivery on these products plus they are on special, saving you between R70-R100+. The first one is Saints row 2 and the second is Legendary.
Saints Row 2 — Kalahari.net
Legendary — Kalahari.net