Today is the day.  Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver launch today.

The web site for HeartGold and SoulSilver has been updated with a lot of new information about the game, along with some hints of things to be revealed later.

We pre-ordered through Amazon.com, which means that a Sunday launch date guarantees that we won’t get the game for at least a day or two after launch.  Nintendo seems to be pretty strict about shipping early, since it looks like Amazon won’t even ..read the full article

I’ve been playing Star Trek Online at a rather relaxed pace so far.  It does seem to be designed to let you drop in for a quick mission or two.  But that does not mean I have not been paying attention to the game.

Still on the press release mailing list, this fell in my inbox today:

Season 1: Common Ground Fact Sheet

Our latest content update, Season 1: Common Ground, is releasing shortly. Here’s just a bit of the updates ..read the full article

Empires have risen, and now they are falling. The fifth part of our battle for Neptune’s Pride sees the final contenders struggling for ultimate victory in a long, drawn-out attrition that would tax their very souls… (PCG’s version of this diary is over here.) (more…)

Related stories: Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 4 Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 3 Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 2 Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 1

Writer: Kieron Gillen. | No comments

Post ..read the full article

Sundays are for being at the Image Booth at Seattle’s Emerald City con talking to anyone who has the misfortune to walk past about splendid comics. Do come and say Hi, if you’re around. Which means that Saturday morning is for compiling a list of fine (mostly) games related reading for your delectation while trying to avoid linking to a pop-son, before heading off for the day. And setting it to post.

US First Glory of the Raider (25) by MidwinterMidwinter (US-Ysera) was the first guild to complete Glory of the Icecrown Raider (25 player) and I totally forgot to report it. Shame on me, and congratulations to them!

Patch 3.3.3 Battlegrounds and Honor ChangesPatch 3.3.3 brings a couple of changes to the Battleground system, the new system is heavily inspired from the current random dungeon system and it should be pretty easy to understand.

Random Battleground and Call to ArmsCall to ..read the full article

Who will rule space? No Sponge, that’s for sure. But who else might take the crown? Could it be Graham’s exploding Empire? Or Jim’s embattled corner of space? Or the vast Empire of Quinns? Place your bets for part four… And maybe go sign up to Neptune’s Pride yourself. (PCG are also running a version of this diary, over yonder.) (more…)

Related stories: Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 3 Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 2 Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride ..read the full article

Filmed off a screen at GDC, sadly, but it’s accompanied by game director Dave Jones talking through the various features. He talks about the way the two factions have different abilities and aims, the way characters weapons and cars can be upgraded, how players can become “famous” within the game world, and how the ranking and matchmaking work within the game world. All interesting stuff, although it’s tough to gauge if there will be any long-term appeal in all this. ..read the full article

Yes, honour. We will rebrand the games industry with our Old World spellings! Anyway, EA’s cavernous developmental innards have spawned a trailer for Medal Of Honour. It’s one of those trailers were a dude talks huskily about war and how badass his shooty comrades are, while dudes get shot and stuff explodes on screen. There’s talk about sledgehammers and scalpels, but it seems more like you’re going to be using rifles and air-strikes. (more…)

Related stories: EA Exec Down On Consoles The EA ..read the full article

Last week, I finally got to spend a little quality time with the rarely-seen, much-delayed Mafia 2. While I was there, I made Alex Cox, one of the game’s producers, an offer he couldn’t refuse. He refused it anyway. So I decided to ask him about the game instead. Read on for the chatty chap’s thoughts on the game’s excellent music, open world versus linear and whether ‘dickcheese’ is an authentic 1950s swear word or not. (more…)

Related stories: Indecision Over Mafia-Developer ..read the full article

Saturday afternoon found Potshot and I running around with alts on Lightninghoof.

I had Grungur, my healing shaman on and he had his pally on, who was only a couple levels ahead of Grungur, and also spec’d healing.

Thinking we might get some good, fast exp, he re-spec’d to protection and we hit the dungeon finder as a healer tank pair.  We got off to a bit of a slow start… working as a team we tend not to be the “gogogo!” ..read the full article

The new cinematic trailer for Brink (via VG247) is pretty damned good. Lots of running and jumping and sliding all tries to get across the movement system that is one of the game’s core features. The character and environmental design is absolutely fantastic, too, as it should be given the studio’s astonishing pedigree. Quake Wars might not have been everyone’s cup of tea, but they’ve pretty much put together a supergroup to make Brink, and I think it’s going to ..read the full article

The sheer flood of information coming from GDC 2010 is mind-boggling, and I am sure we are all having trouble keeping up.  I know I am.  I’ve been on the fence about Star Trek Online since its release, so I’ve tuned in to any and all information on the title coming from GDC.

According to a Massively interview, virtual trekkies will be able to select a new playable race “within the year.”  Better still, the decision will apparently be up to ..read the full article

A new report from Today’s Gamers International Survey, which collects information about gamers’ online spending, reveals the spending in MMOs in the US and in some of the European countries. According to the report, Americans spent £2.5 billion (appr. $3.8 billion USD) on MMOGs in 2009.

The same report puts British spending to £195 million, well ahead of France and Germany, each with £145 million and £165 million respective.

“Free to play” versus “Pay to play”

The majority of the British MMO players ..read the full article

And the IGF winners have been announced and Monaco is the belle of this particular gaming ball, picking up two awards, including the Grand Prize. The incredibly atmospheric Limbo also picked up two awards, for Visual lookitude and technical prettiosity. The Grand Prize winner takes home $20,000 (Count ‘em) dollars, with all of the other categories bringing home $2,500. Except for the D2D one, which is 10K. A run down of all the winners follows. Well done all. And lend ..read the full article

If the internet is a space marine, then GameTrailers is surely his large, red bionic eye, which sees all, and gives a +1 bonus to hit. This week the bionic eye has seen things at GDC, including a bunch of CryEngine 3 footage, some of which could be indicative of what to expect from Crysis 2. It’s filmed off a screen, but worth taking a look at: especially the bit where a dude shoots stuff with a gun. I like ..read the full article

Recently a topic has sprung up among many healers. There are lots of blog posts popping up about it so I figured since I’ve been going on about it for a while now, I’ll add my two copper to the public domain here, but first a story.

In the days of vanilla World of Warcraft, each faction had access to 3 healing classes. Priests and druids on both sides and paladins for alliance balanced by shaman for the horde. The lines ..read the full article

The slow space war of Neptune’s Pride continues with one more player knocked from his seat in the heavens. Who will it be? And can the others agree on a permanent alliance to win the game? (PC Gamer are also running this diary over here.) (more…)

Related stories: Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 2 Pride And Falls: Neptune’s Pride Diary Part 1 Irrational Pride: Neptune’s Pride Beta Battle Klaxon: Neptune’s Pride Before A Fall

Writer: Kieron Gillen. | No comments

Post tags: Iron Helmet ..read the full article

Looks like somebody left the keys in the ignition! And just as well, because even while none of the RPS crew are around you guys still need to know about the new Deus Ex 3: Human Revolution trailer that’s being shown at GDC. The 2 minute cinematic can be found after the jump, but be warned: There’s still no footage of the game proper just yet.

(more…)

Related stories: Deux Ex 3: Yes Deus Ex 3: Only Human? An Open Conspiracy: The First DX3 ..read the full article