Extending Beyond The Small Screen

If you are reading this, I assume that you must be a person who rather enjoys a video game. If you could not tell, I too, am one such person. For nearly two full decades, I have indulged in my favorite hobby. Sometimes, I play video games to relieve stress or escape reality for a while. But one of the best aspects of video games, especially with the current generation of consoles, is the social aspect of the medium. This is one of the major reasons I love games such as Borderlands and World of Warcraft.

However, the gaming industry extends well beyond the TV or phone/tablet/computer screen. As featured in issue 234 of GameInformer, hobby gaming is on the rise. What is "hobby gaming," you may ask. Great question!

Hobby Gaming is a term rising in popularity that is used to define a subset of table top gaming dominated by what can be called "indie" games. Such games usually take the form of a board, card, dice, miniatures form or some hybrid of any of these. Usually optimized for 3-8 players, these games focus on experimental mechanics and unique settings. Above all, though, these games are meant to be enjoyed with other real people.

Perhaps one of the most notable hobby games, and certainly one of the most popular, is Settlers ofCatan. This game places players on the shores on the newly discovered island of Catan and tasks each of them with making a stake in this frontier while competing with their frenemies for precious resources. Trading of resources and forging of alliances is not only allowed, but encouraged. Catan has gained such a loyal following that it has even been the subject of further analysis. Filmmakers, such as Jay Cheel have gone far enough as to look at how Catan can affect interpersonal relationships. Catan can be found in electronic form on iOS and XBLA, in addition to its physical board version. 

Catan is only a single example of the larger hobby games trend. A simple visit to your FLGS (Friendly Local Game Store/Shop) will reveal a bevy of unique and interesting games. Here are some of my other favorites:

Fluxx is a stand-alone card game, opposed to CCGs, or "collectible card games" such as Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh or Magic: The Gathering. Instead of buying various packs and making the best deck you can, games like Fluxx are standalone games, with optional expansions or companion sets. At its base Fluxx only has one rule: on your turn you must draw one card and play one card. As the game progresses, players will change the very rules of the game by laying down new Rule and Objective cards. As these cards are played, removed, and replaced the fabric of the game itself changes constantly to keep everyone on their toes. It is entirely possible to win simply because another player has no choice but to play a card that will make you win. Fluxx has several varieties, or "flavors" as they tend to be referenced, including but not limited to EcoFluxx, SpaceFluxx, HippieFluxx, and Monty Python Fluxx. And yes, they can be mixed and played together.

Ticket To Ride is a bit of a hard sell based on its premise: You connect cities by completing railroads, thereby earning points. The trick here, much like Catan, is in the interpersonal relationship aspect. My wife and I are nice people and tend to play "coopetitively." We will still strive for the most points, but will not go out of our way to purposefully block another player's intended route. However, in a more hardcore game, this strategy is paramount. A single move can completely ruin another player's intended path toward completion of a destination. Ticket To Ride, like Fluxx, comes is various flavors and mediums. There are Europe, Scandanavia, and Germany boards apart from the typical US board, and the game is also available in dice, iOS, and XBLA versions, if not more.


Guillotine is one of the more humorous LCGs I have played (and own). You are an executioner during the French Revolution, and take turns with other executioners over the course of three rounds called days to collect the heads of nobles and officials marked for beheading. The goofy aesthetic and bloody art style is good for a macabre chuckle, and the strategy is deceptively deep.











As macabre as Guillotine may seem, Gloom takes it to another level and turns for the downright sadistic. With art inspired by Edward Gorey, you are put in charge of the fate of a doomed family of five. Your goal is to make their lives as miserable as possible before ultimately putting them out of their misery. At the same time, opponents can block your progress by having good things happen to them and lessen your score. Largely notable for the art style and translucent cards, Gloom is definitely one of the more unique hobby games I've come across.

An example of Gloom's unique cards.

My internal film nerd/geed/dork is also in love with the B-Movie series of games from Z-MAN Games. Originally pioneered by Grave Robbers From Outer Space, each player tries to create a movie, buffing it up with strong characters and weapons, while fighting off monsters/enemies launched at them by other players. The player with the highest ranking movie by the time the Roll The Credits card is played wins. Grave Robbers plays on cliches of the horror/sci-fi genres, and other sets parody genres such as kung fu, martial arts, anime, adventure (like Indiana Jones), pirates, Westerns, fantasy, and Blacksploitation. Like Fluxx, each set can be combined and use a cumulative set of rules and special mechanics from each set.

Hopefully I have piqued your interest in this unique subset of gaming. Here are some resources you may find interesting and/or helpful:

GenCon is one of the biggest gatherings of hobby gaming enthusiasts in the US. Their official site is here. As a native Hoosier, I am ashamed to admit that I emigrated from the state before I became a big fan of hobby games.

Star Trek: TNG alum Wil Wheaton produces and stars in a YouTube series based on hobby games called TableTop wherein he gathers friends to showcase a game or three. Check it out here. (ProTip: TableTop is featured as part of Felicia Day's Geek And Sundry channel. I highly recommend subscribing.)

Classic Games I Wish I'd Played

This may seem a bit late to the party, but...

Last year was the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda!

Pretend that the "mershed perderders" are Zelda games,
since I'm the farthest thing from a Photoshop pro.

I remember my babysitter's teen son playing his Gold Cartridge, making notes, and generally getting flabbergasted searching for the next dungeon. This is, in fact, one of my earliest gaming memories. Legend of Zelda was there at the beginning, and remains as one of the finest franchises in the history of video games.

Just in case you didn't know.
(Fun fact, if you know where to look, you can get this on a  T-shirt!)

With this in mind, and having met a number of old-school gamers over the past year or so, I have recently rekindled my love of classic games. And, the more I think about it, the more I realize that I missed out on a lot of great games. While, my first taste of games were on the trusty NES, my first console was actually an Atari 2600. This was an admirable place to begin. My next console, though, was a Sega Genesis. So, I really missed the vast majority of the NES era. I got to dabble with those games here and there while visiting family or friends, but I never got much quality time with most of the games in that generation.

With the current wonders of the Intertubez and things like Nintendo's Virtual Console, I can relive a lot of these past masterpieces. It also gives me an opportunity to finally take a crack at some great titles I missed the first time around. As I said, there were plenty of these. And now, I present to you, the classic games that I have never played (with much depth) in no particular order:

Chrono Trigger
I dabbled with this game a bit on an SNES emulator back in middle or high school. I never got very far, though. What little I did play made an impression. The art style was cool, and the non-random encounters were a welcome change after having recently played FF VII. It also never hurts to throw in Akira Toriyama's art style. That dude must have serious piles of money between this, Dragon Ball, and Dragon Quest.

Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!
Another NES game I witnessed but never participated in. Perhaps I'm daunted by the legendary difficulty of the game, but I still have not even attempted to visit this one. That or I'm scared Mike will reach out of the screen and bite me.







Castlevania
As much as I love Metroid, I have not touched any Castlevania game with the intent of really playing it through. That goes for the whole franchise. I've played demos for Lords of Shadow and SotN on XBLA, but have never picked up the full games. It's a shame, since SotN seems right up my alley.




Final Fantasy I-VI
Don't know what else to say. I came into the franchise along with most of North America with FF VII, so I never played the earlier games. I know they're good and classics, and with recent remastered versions I might be able to give them a shot sometime. Hopefully there aren't any villains as terrible as Seymour in these. Gawd....Seymour.

DuckTales
Often considered a model platformer, I have yet to try this one. I hear so many great things about it, though. The music for the Moon level has recently hooked me in, and now I have to play it. As long as I can be Gizmoduck, I'm happy.



River City Ranson
Here's one that is set to make a comeback. I used to love brawlers (hell, I still do!) like Double Dragon and Battletoads. I'm still surprised I never played this one. Who doesn't love sweaty 80's dudes beating up on other sweaty 80's dudes?










Day Of The Tentacle
I love quirky games. Sometimes, I'll take a quirky game over a technically well-built game. Hell, I do that quite a lot, really.  Day Of The Tentacle, from what I've read and heard, was one of those rare games that was both. Hopefully, I can get around to giving this one a fair shake some day.







Grim Fandango
Like I said above, quirky games are great. Grim Fandango had a really cool concept I think I could really get behind when playing it. Anything involving an the supernatural world in a day-to-day way, like Beetlejuice or The Addams Family, intrigues me. I'm sure Grim Fandango would not disappoint if I gave it a shot today.







Cool Spot
I hear this was one of the most underrated platformers on Genesis. Sure, it was just 7Up propaganda, but who could resist Cool Spot? Not this guy.










Uniracers

This concept has always interested me, but I never got around to trying it. This was the era of game rentals down at your local video store, so a quick test would have been easy. But, I never had an SNES. So, it never happened. I did, however, watch the GameInformer staff revisit this one. And I have to say...it looks terrible.



Ninja Gaiden
Another classic action platformer that I never got to play. The only taste of Ninja Gaiden I ever got was of the rebooted version on XBox. If the NES games were anywhere as hectic and difficult as that one, I think I'd be for a world of hurt.






StarTropics
During the Playstation era, I knew a friend with an old NES and a copy of StarTropics. Just looking at the cartridge, I had a feeling it would be a game I'd enjoy. We never popped it in because the save game battery wasn't working. Well...at least there was a good reason.

Flashback
I had heard great things about this game at the time. It was one of those enigmas that no one seemed to be able to crack. So, I rented it once. (Pause for dramatic effect.) My eight year-old brain could not process what I was seeing. I must have played for a couple of hours, but got so lost I ragequit and never touched it again. #nerdrage







Final Fight
Another classic brawler I never touched. I played the HELL out of Streets of Rage 2, though. I sure hope playing as Mike Haggar was just as badass as he looks. Jesse Ventura would be proud.

Shadowrun (SNES)
Based on a pen-and-paper RPG which mixed high fantasy with cyberpunk culture, Shadowrun added a bit of a noir twist to the console RPG. This was a popular series when I was into Magic: The Gathering. I often saw features about it in InQuest, and it always piqued my interest. Since I had tried D&D, but it was hard to grasp at 10 or 12 years-old. That negative experience shied me away from trying the tabletop Shadowrun, but the SNES game would have been a fantastic fit for me.


Earthbound
The quirky games return! Probably one of the most unique turn-based RPGs I've heard of, I've always wanted to pick this up. Perhaps it was just how the Starman enemies reminded me of Gort from The Day The Earth Stood Still. Maybe it was the fact that it didn't look like your typical JRPG. Either way, this one still intrigues me. Too bad I suck with Ness in Super Smash Bros.




Psychonauts
Ask any game reviewer and they will tell you Psychonauts was an under-appreciated and creative platformer. This has always drawn me to it, and I did once take a crack at it. But, I was in college and didn't really have the time to devote to playing through it. I never got far enough to see any of the true craziness that I know exists later in the game, but what little I did experience was enough to warrant further playtime.






X-Com
This series is getting a couple of reboots in the next year or two. I'll be honest, despite it would be enough to revoke my nerd card, I hardly knew this game existed until about six months ago. Again, it's a shame I never learned about it sooner; it seems like a game I would absolutely fall in love with. The reboots that are incoming seem impressive as well. Perhaps they'll serve as a good introduction into the franchise.





Ristar
I first encountered Ristar on a trip to Epcot. There was an expansive "Innovation" exhibit, what included the upcoming advances in gaming. Ristar was here, among other games I would come to love (like, Sonic Spinball and Vectorman). Since then, the game has crossed my path from time to time, but I've never been able to commit to playing through it. Which is a shame, as it is expertly crafted and one of the most fun and created platformers I've ever seen.






DOOM
That's right. I have never played DOOM. So what?! You wanna fight about it?! I've seen and been around people playing it, but I've never actually taken the helm. Now, I'm an admittedly casual FPS player, so I'm not too concerned about this one. But, I feel I owe my gamer reputation a trip down this nightmarish rabbit hole.




Civilization II
I've recently taken stabs at this franchise with Civ4 and Civilization Revolution. It's definitely a great franchise, and I love how diverse and open-ended the gameplay is. Sure, it's just a shade less spreadsheet-based than EVE Online, but it's still a classic that I missed out on. Unfortunately, the graphics look little better than Bea Arthur (RIP) at this point.






Command & Conquer
From turn-based strategy to real time. To be fair, my first introduction to RTS games was Warcraft 2, followed quickly by Starcraft. Command and Conquer was completely off my radar. My buddy has the anniversary collection with nearly all of the C&C games besides C&C4, and I tried to play the first one. The graphics are so dated...it was a true slog (please refer to Civ II entry for graphical comparison). I don't know if I'll ever be able to really pick this one up again.




Baldur's Gate 1 and 2
I'm a terrible nerd. Two of the most pivotal RPGs of the PC era, and I have not played them. I once tried to play BG2 at a friend's house in middle school, and got BG1 from my college library. Unfortunately, neither attempt really went very far. I got slaughtered in BG2, and just got lost in BG1.






EverQuest
My family/household was late to the PC party, and even later to the Internet. EverQuest had already been out for some time when we got our first PC, and it just didn't strike me as something I wanted to play at the time. By the time I had any inkling of giving it a shot, it was already being challenged by Asheron's Call and Dark Age of Camelot. It's a shame I had not gotten up to speed sooner. I could have totally given my weekends life to this while in middle and high school. Perhaps it's for the best, though.





Ultima Online
Another early MMO that I was too late for. I think this one would be nigh impossible to get into now.










Zork
Again, this was a game that I was just not in the right place or the right time for. It was essentially a pre-made, solo D&D campaign with a CPU as a DM.  I honestly don't know how much of a true effort I could give this one nowadays, but I think even an attempt would allow me to truly appreciate it's value in gaming history. Or one of the biggest migraines in history.



I'm sure I could keep listing them. Hell, I already have a huge backlog of current generation games I haven't completed, so getting around to these is not likely unless current developers just stop. Seriously, guys? You're making so many good games. What are you doing? Developers...stahp.

Do you have any classics you missed out on you wish you could revisit?

A Love Letter to Mario's Extensive Legacy

I recently acquired a 3DS and a copy of Super Mario 3D Land. I have been a long time fan of Mario, so this was a no brainer for me. I picked it up expecting to have a good time. I was not disappointed, but I did find that I had a couple of complaints.

In general, 3D Land follows in the same pedigree as previous Mario games. The game is divided into eight separate worlds, made of a number of stages. Most stages have a singular theme, and many tend to revolve around a particular mechanic or power up. At the end of each stage is a flag pole, just as in Super Mario Bros. on NES. Individual worlds culminate in a boss battle in a castle or airship. These motifs harken back to classic Mario games such as Super Mario Bros. 3, Super Mario World, and Super Mario Galaxy. This melting pot of previous Mario games made the long time fanboy in me extremely satisfied.

However, one major element of Mario's storied history was not quite as well translated. The music, while not as memorable as previous Mario titles still fits. Ghost houses are atmospheric and water levels make you feel like you're floating, just as they always have. But, there is very little that you will find yourself humming when not playing. It's unfortunate for a series that has instantly recognizable music to nearly all gamers.

One of the major strengths of this Mario adventure is the variety of power ups. Your standard mushroom, power star, and fire flower fare are all here. Older Mario fans will remember the raccoon tail that granted flight in SMB3 as well as the full-body raccoon suit that allowed Mario to become a statue. While the suit returns, its function is now closer to the tail's power in SMB3, minus flight. With the tanooki suit, Mario can dispatch enemies and reveal hidden goodies with a swing of his tail, and slow his descent when falling. Other than this suit, Mario also gets to become a Boomerang Brother and throw his own boomerangs. While this is one of the less common power ups, it wallows in sheer coolness. There are also even some fake bonus blocks that end up being impromptu power ups that stack on top of whatever other power up Mario currently has. 

As great of a Mario game as this is, I do have some complaints. The first and most glaring of which is the length. As I said, there are eight worlds in all. The first seven worlds each only have 4-5 stages, including the boss stage. This was quite surprising to me, as I was used to SMB3, where each world has 7-9 stages. And, each stage itself is not really that long, nor have they ever been. 

This brevity alone would not be such a big deal to me normally. In general, I do not complain when a game is short. This can often allow for replayability. However, the game is also quite easy. Perhaps I have acquired some amazing platformed skills over the years, but that is doubtful. Suffice it to say that by the time I reached Bowser's castle in World 8, I had 114 Star Coins, and 104 lives. (Three star coins are hidden on each stage, and are used to provide access to some stages, such as Bowser's castle. That one alone takes 90 Star Coins.) As you can see, there were no shortages of extra lives and I don't feel as if I tried nearly as hard for them as I did in SMG, SMW or any SMB. Any time I lost one or two, I would get three or four back within the same level.

Which brings me to another gripe: Nintendo's continued insistence to include a hand-holding Super Easy Mode. I can forgive a walkthrough video or even a ghost to show less skilled players how to navigate particularly challenging levels. However, in 3D Land, if you fail more than a couple of times, you are given a golden tanooki suit option when you spawn. This suit combines the normal suit with a power star. The only way to die with it is to fall off a cliff. If you either choose not to take the suit, or somehow manage to fail even more, you are given the option to take a P Wing and fly to the goal directly. To some degree, these options were somewhat insulting since I had dozens of lives at my disposal. However, they are still just options and you are not obliged to use them by any means.

Even with these gripes, Super Mario 3D Land is a fantastic and really fun romp through the  Mushroom Kingdom. If you have enjoyed watching the Mario franchise over the decades, you'll love this iteration. Any fan will be able to find tidbits from and homages to most of their favorite Mario games (sans Yoshi, sadly). There are some things I'd love to see in a sequel, but this game is quite a love letter to past Mario entries. It may not stand out too much in the long run, except for the rather excellent 3D effects, but any Mario fan will appreciate this game. So, get out there and save the princess already!!!

The Pitter-Patter of Little Gamer Feet

Despite my best efforts, new updates have not been nearly as regular as hoped. Ah, the joys of working full-time, having children, AND trying to fulfill my gaming obsession ALL at the same time. Amazingly enough, I still manage to fulfill my gaming habits. Diablo 3, AC:Revelations, League of Legends, and WoW (yes, it has begun again) have all been going through my rotation lately. Regardless, here is the newest topic: raising little gamers.

As I said a while back, my recent prolonged hiatus was partially due to the birth of my second child. It has been quite an adventure to say the least. Ask any parent: each day with an infant is a new discovery. Luckily, this one is turning out to be (and I’m knocking on wood here) as easy going as her sister. Let’s hope it stays that way.

In the grander scale, though, I have had to come to terms with my gaming habits and the impact they have on my 4 year-old. As her mind and manual dexterity develop and mature, I am constantly reminded that what I play has an impact on her. This has come in many forms. Sometimes, it is just a reaction to something on screen (i.e. Ezio nearly falling off a ledge). Other times, she wants to have a controller, too, or she’ll ask to play games on my iPhone (on which she has a specific folder of apps to play with). I have also found her laying on the couch with my DS, generally without asking permission.

"Have you caught a pikachu yet?"
"Dad, get your own pokemon."

It is rather plain that she has a similar desire and/or interest in gaming to me and my wife. While she may still be a bit young to sit down and really comprehend what she is doing to the point that she could get Mario to a flagpole, I realize that this day is not too far away. Because of this, I get increasingly cautious of the types of games I play in her presence.

While there is still no concrete evidence of a link between gaming and violence, I am completely aware that the environment in which children are raised has a direct relation to how they develop. Simply put: we are a reaction to our environment, whether it be positive or negative. We either embrace our surroundings, or act against it. Such is the case with my daughter. She has already taken to waterbending in the bath, since we watch a lot of Last Airbender and Legend of Korra. Such things make it quite obvious that she is old enough to not just understand what is going on in a TV show, but to learn larger concepts. To further illustrate this point, just the other day we watched the zombie episode from Season 2 of Community. She understood that characters were exhibiting zombie-like behavior. She understood the word “zombie” itself, what that meant, and how to recognize such an entity. I had to calm her down at the end of the episode by pointing out that, while they were “zombies”, they got better.

In recent months and years, my wife and discouraged us from playing some of our more mature titles while the kids are around. Sometimes it feels she is being overly cautious (Demons's Souls, for example), but can be better to err on the side of caution. With the impending release of Borderlands 2, this is something I have been having to remind myself of. This is a game in which the main goal is wholesale slaughter and one of the playable characters flies a "double deuce" when activating his special ability.

"Okay, okay! We'll turn off friendly fire. Sheesh."

Gaming not only has an impact on her development and perception of reality, violence, and subject matter. As a gamer, each minute I spend playing a game is a minute I am not spending with her. Thus, raising children as a gamer becomes a lesson in time management. Ask any gamer parent: when you have children, your gaming takes a back seat. The lives of your children become priority, no matter how great your love of WoW, Diablo, Call of Duty, etc. But, then I hear of things like this. In some ways, these extremists want me to distance myself from gaming altogether until my children are both much older. Gaming is a very time-intensive hobby, but it is just that: a hobby. Unless your professional career and income depends on games, they need to be compartmentalized and prioritized. This can truly be a challenge.

Don't be this guy. Or, she may act out...

One of the ways I have been able to balance my gaming and parenting may be a bit surprising. Once upon a time, I was an avid Magic: The Gathering player. It was a favorite way to pass time with my brother and my friends when I was growing up. By the time my first child was born, I had already gotten out of the game and sold my entire card collection. After she was born, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night for bottle feedings quite regularly. Since I had heard many a horror story about falling asleep while holding an infant, I sought ways to keep myself awake. One of the methods I employed was Duels of the Planeswalkers. This title worked so well with my feedings for two key reasons: It engaged my mind and I could play it with one hand. The nostalgia was simply an added bonus. I also dabbled with other titles, such as Civilization Revolution, Carcassonne, Catan and others.

One of the biggest things to keep in mind, though, is to be involved. Don't turn a blind eye to what your kids play or how they are playing them. I think we can all safely assume that the fabled foul-mouthed 12 year-old on CoD is not being carefully monitored by their respective parental units.

A future greifer. Ah, they're cute when they're young.

Of course, the decisions each parent makes is entirely up to them. But, I do recommend using some modicum of caution. Learn about the ESRB rating system. It's a great tool and actually does a fairly good job at describing why a game got a specific rating. Try sharing in play with your kid(s). Co-op games are generally very easy to do this with. Sharing some Little Big Planet levels or a Halo campaign (with a teenager) can be a great bonding experience. Don't let your 8 year-old pick up The Witcher 2, though. That would probably not be a good idea.

These guys know what I'm talkin' about.

I look forward to gaming with my little girls. As long as that is what they want to do, that is. I have a feeling we'll be a gaming family for quite some time to come.

The Forces of Hell Are Taking Me Back (So I Can Kick Their Asses All Over Again)

Blizzard’s Diablo franchise has had a special place in my heart gaming personality for a long time.  My first encounter with Tristram was at a Magic: The Gathering tournament held by a friend of my brother’s. To no one’s surprise, I was outed from the tournament early on, so I decided to play some computer games.  Diablo happened to be there, and I couldn’t stop playing.  I was playing as rogue and was loving it.  My gaming chops were still rather undeveloped, so I never really got past The Butcher in my limited time with the game.

I never did get the game for my own computer.  I was in middle school and had next to no funds.  However, I did find a Playstation version, so I snatched that up.  It was similar enough to satiate my desire to slay demon spawn, but still left me wanting.

Then, my buddy Matt got Diablo II after it’s release.  It entered our weekend gaming hotseat along with Starcraft and Age of Empires 2.  Again, I never did get the game for myself, because I was terrible with money in high school.  Diablo II took what I loved of the first game, and expanded on it tenfold.  More locations, more classes, more enemies, bigger bosses, etc.  It was the first game, turned to 11.  However, I never really played it online, aside from direct IP games in college.

Today, Diablo III is just weeks away from release.  In preparation for launch, Blizzard announced a weekend stress test open to the public.  I downloaded the game that night and jumped on as soon as I could.  Then, despite some Battle.net issues, my wife also downloaded and we joined forces.  I didn’t get to spend nearly as much time with the game as I had intended, but I was blown away but what I had seen.

The moment I loaded the game, the combat felt like second nature.  The same control scheme as normal: two mouse buttons for separate attacks/abilities, click to move, etc.  Same 2.5D perspective.  However, this is actually where the bulk of the similarities end.

While the core and soul of the game have remained the same, Blizzard has made a bevy of improvements to the experience as a whole.

Combat
Fighting hellish legions and the hordes of undead, never felt so great.  Combat has much more weight to it now.  Some of the more powerful effects shake the screen a bit, which makes you feel like you are shaking this broken world.  Additionally, you are rewarded to taking risks in combat.  There are environmental hazards you can utilize to damage your enemies.  For example, if you see support beams on a wall, hit them, and massive stones will shower your foes, stunning them and dealing damage.  You also get XP bonuses for laying a smackdown on large groups of monsters.  The more you kill, the more bonus you get.  Don’t just pick off stragglers, jump into the heat and kick some ass.

Abilities
I will speak  to classes in just a moment, but the abilities available are excellent.  There are some classics that return, such as the Barbarian’s whirlwind.  However, the skill tree has been completely redone.  No longer do you get skills points that you apply to a specific skill as you see fit.  Rather, abilities are divided into 3 categories; attacks, activated abilities, and passives.  In attacks, you have a primary and secondary subset.  Primary attacks, from what I have seen, generally help you generate your main resource, which may be rage, mana, spirit, etc.  Secondary attacks use your resource for various effects.  The activated abilities are exactly as they sound.  These are like healing abilities or dashes, etc.  Likewise, passive abilities are also exactly as they sound.  From level one, you can see everything you will have available and when.  As you level up, various attacks and abilities will unlock.  At any time, you can open up your skills and switch what you want available.  But, the biggest change here, is how you use the abilities.  Your mouse buttons are reserved for your attacks.  Activated abilities are tied to the 1-4 keys, and passives are always on.  So, as Diablo I and Diablo II only allowed a total of two abilities at once, Diablo III now allows you to have nine.  Two attacks, four abilities, and up to three passives.  (By the way, if the rumors of a console version of the game are true, this new layout for abilities really lends itself to that platform.  I think I would continue to play on PC, but would still be interested to see how Blizzard would work it.)

Classes
Barbarian, Demon Hunter, Monk, Witch Doctor and Wizard.  At first glance, they don’t seem to cover much diversity.  However, many of them are amalgamations of Diablo II classes.  The Witch Doctor seems to cover most of the Necromancer ground.  The Demon Hunter combines the Assassin’s traps and devices with the Amazon’s range.  The Monk covers “white mage” duties of the Paladin, but fights more like the Assassin.  The Barbarian and Wizard are pretty much just as they have always been, though.  My only hope is that the Druid will come back in an expansion.  I think it would fit in with the new game quite well.

Story
As always, the story revolves around Diablo and his minions waging war against the mortal realm.  However, it is the delivery of the story that I like.  It his handled by voice over and text box, largely as it always has been, but you are still free to move freely.  Move too far from a speaking NPC, and you’ll miss the conversation, but the freedom is nice.  Additionally, you’ll find lore objects in the world.  When you pick these up, they will launch a bit of lore voice over, but will play regardless of how far you move.  It’s a small thing, but I liked it quite a bit.

Crafting
At one point in the beta, I completed a quest for an NPC and set up shop as a blacksmith.  He offered to salvage useful materials from items I find and create new ones.  Additionally, he could be leveled up to learn new items by paying some gold.  I was only able to scratch the surface of this system, but I like the additional options it provides.

Battle.net
Diablo I had no online component, as this was not a prevalent feature in the industry at the time.  Diablo II arrived on the coat tails of Warcraft II, which found a bit of success with the online community.  Starcraft really made Battle.net a huge success, too.  During the life of World of Warcraft, Blizzard has really expanded Battle.net and incorporated it into a universal service among all of their games.  This has also reached Diablo III.  Just like with WoW and Starcraft II, you can see what your friends are playing and invite them to come play.  This also allows for exponentially improved co-op in Diablo.  I’ve had some “pulling teeth” experiences trying to set up a private game with friends in Diablo II.  Now, I only have to send an invite, they appear in my lobby and with a click of a button, we are in a game together.  It’s a great service for Blizzard diehards.

The Little Things
- In multiplayer, each player is provided their own loot by the game.  No more arguing over who gets to pick up what.  You only see what the game has given you and nothing else.
- No more scrolls of town portal.  It’s a universal ability for everyone.  And they aren’t tied to any particular person.  Each player has their own instance of the portal, so you don’t have to wait for everyone else to go through before you do.
- Health potions are on a dedicated hotkey.
- Acheivements.  ‘Nuff said.
- Gold is picked up on contact.  No more clicking to pickup money!  Some items even allow you to gather gold from farther away.
- Health pickups.  ’Nuff said.
- Dungeons have what I call “exit stones”.  When you get deep in a dungeon, you can click on these to leave instead of having to backtrack.
- Inventory space is managed more efficiently, albeit less realistically.  Large two-handed weapons now only require two spaces in your inventory.  In fact, nearly any weapon or piece of armor is that way.

I could probably keep extolling the virtues of this game, but I’ll end up losing the plot.  For now, I’ll just leave it at this: Diablo III is looking like the best advancement of a Blizzard franchise that they have ever had (I’m not counting WC3 to WoW; that jumped genre).

Chill, I got this.

Wow. I have dropped the ball.

Seven months without an entry. That is inexcusable. In my defense, though, it has been justified. In that time, I have purchased a home, secured full-time employment, and had a new baby. Needless to say, blogging has been one of the last things on my mind.

That said, I do plan to make this quite a bit more regular. I need to sharpen these linguistic and pseudo-journalistic chops.

Okay. Enough preamble. Time for some real body.

The past several months have inundated me with gaming goodness. So much, in fact, that I am kind of drowning. Here’s an outline:

- Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

- Mass Effect 3

- Demon’s Souls

- Team ICO Collection

- Star Wars: The Old Republic

- Dota 2 beta

- Skyrim (Thanks to Wayne for this!)

- Batman: Arkham City

Just looking at the list tires me out. Here is the progress I’ve made on each so far:

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations - Not started

You know, it’s funny. I played the AC: Brotherhood multiplayer as soon as I got it. I haven’t touched this game at all yet. Mostly because I got SW:TOR, then got back into Mass Effect 2. Really looking forward to powering through the story here and getting AC3 later this year.

Mass Effect 3 - Not Started

I tried to get as much of ME2 done as I could before ME3 released. So much for that. Playing through ME2 as vanguard, and I think I’m getting close to the end finally. Been Paragon up to this point, but going to start tossing in more Renegade stuff just to mix it up. Watching my wife play ME3. We’ll see how differently our stories progress.

Demon’s Souls - Soul level 50-60ish

This is a great time waster. Luckily, I have the patience for it...mostly. Love the old-school challenge level of it. Still want to get Dark Souls. :D

Team ICO Collection - 8 colossi down; ICO untouched

Went through a period where I didn’t have an Xbox around. Went back to my PS3. This was much more kid-friendly than Demon’s Souls, and one of my favorite games of all time (SotC, that is). Still just as great as I remember. Now that I’m playing on a 42” HDTV instead of a tiny 17” CRT box, I can actually see those blasted lizards and fruit I read about back in 2006.

Star Wars: The Old Republic - Half dozen characters, Main is Jedi Seer at level 40ish

Great, great game. Love the story. Can’t lie, though. There is still a lot of work to be done to catch up to MMO standards. Update 1.2 should be making some good strides. However, probably won’t be back to this for some time. Newborns kind of make MMO gaming nigh impossible.

Dota 2 beta - played a few bot matches

Still not quite sure how I feel about this. I’ve been playing League of Legends off-and-on for about two years. However, Dota 2 looked like it had a great art style. I’ve never played DOTA proper, so the learning curve was pretty steep. The basics were the same, but there were some key differences. Such as denying. Neat strategy, but I never focused on it. In Dota 2, death costs you money, instead of just making your conqueror richer. My favorite difference though, was the environment interactivity. Some characters could walk through and hide in clumps of trees. You can even use trees for things such as healing and character abilities. It’s a small touch, but it’s nice. Since going back to LoL, though, these differences are not missed. Dota 2 will probably be the next “hardcore” MLG offering, but I’ll likely be sticking with LoL.

Skyrim (Not yet started)

When I start this, thus ending my life, I vow to do one thing in particular: save my game in two slots. I will NOT have a repeat of Oblivion where I get 25 hours in, on my way to becoming a vampire, when my save gets corrupted. Never again, Bethesda. Never again. ಠ_ಠ

Batman: Arkham City (almost 40% complete)

Amazing game. Top notch voice acting, great design, awesome combat. Not just best Batman game of all time, but definitely in the top 50 games of all time. (I say "top 50" simply because I really don’t know what my rankings would be.)

So, that’s what I’ve been up to and what I have ahead of me. Also, Diablo 3 releases in just about a month. I probably won’t get it at launch, but I have a feeling I’ll have it some time this year at least. Then, there’s Borderlands 2. And, Bioshock: Infinite. And, Assassin’s Creed 3. Oh, boy. “What an age we live in!” as they say.

For now, Gnome out.