A great idea draws near! Command?

Hopefully you cast “Read On,” because it sounds like NEStalgia creator, Ben Mallahan, has made something really special. Described as “Dragon Warrior 3 meets World of Warcraft,” NEStalgia combines all the charm of 8bit RPGs with the MMO genre.

More than just a superficial hybrid, the game also brings the turn based mechanics of old school RPGs into an MMO setting. You can team up with a party of other players across one of the available small scale servers or fight each other in some PvP battles. There’s even an auction house where you can trade your epic loot between other players. (more…)

"Every goblins crazy 'bout a sharp dressed goblin."

There was a lot of hoopla this week with the release of Blizzard’s newest expansion for their massively successful MMORPG, World of Warcraft Cataclysm. This time around, it’s not just about adding new races and end-game content. Blizzard went so far as to rework the entire “old world” (the content from the base game) as well. The good news is that even if you only have the main game with no expansions you get a ton of updates.

First off, I should say that while I have spent a decent amount of time with World of Warcraft, I am not a hardcore player. I don’t know the nitty gritty of how to be awesome at fishing, for example. Heck, my highest ever character is only in the level 40 range (there are now 85 levels for those that need more context). I am what’s known as an “altaholic”. I enjoy creating new characters and trying out different race/class combinations.

But that aside, there are quite a few things in this expansion that benefit even the most casual of WoW players.

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"The Internet... The Final Frontier"

Space… how many of these beta impression posts on various gaming blogs will start out with the “…the final frontier” line? While I don’t consider myself either a Trekkie or a Trekker, I do love science fiction and have seen my fair share of Star Trek related shows, movies, and games.

The full retail version of Star Trek Online launches February 2nd. Having pre-ordered the game, I have been in the beta for the past week. The game has had several patches in the meantime and a lot of downtime. This is not intended to serve as a review of the game, but as a quick write-up of my initial impressions of the Beta and what I’m looking forward to in the full game.

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"Not Forced Perspective, She's Just That Short"

“Aion: The Tower of Eternity” is the new MMORPG from NCsoft. The initial beta for US and Europe wrapped up last Sunday and both my wife and I were able to play it (the game has been out in Korea since November).

The premise is that there was a big ancient war that tore the world apart. There is now a dark half of the planet and light half, with a strange abyss in the middle where huge battles constantly break out. To make it clearer, imagine a ball ripped in half, with the inhabitants living on the inside part of the halves. The aesthetic is very cool, as it allows you to look up to see the the other part of the world way off in the distance.

But how was the game?

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"Like Redbull, Minus the Horrible Taste"

On a very special seventeenth episode of “Barrel Roll! – A Video Game Podcast”, we see the return of our very own prodigal son, Luke. We are also once again joined by our good friend and fellow gaming enthusiast Wesley Johnson. Together we discuss the pressing issues of the day, like what video games we have all been playing over the last week.

Wesley and Luke have both been playing inFamous, the PS3 exclusive super-hero romp with crazy electrical powers. They each give their thoughts on the experience. Luke also played, and finished, the new Bionic Commando. Did it live up to it’s predecessor? You will have to listen and find out.

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The Internet is credited and accused of many things, almost all of which are true. The flow of information has become almost instantaneous among the more developed nations allowing soldiers in Iraq to talk to loved ones at home, businessmen to converse between Turkey and Hawaii, and news to be spread and accessed by millions of people before it can even be verified. For the generation that came after the Baby Boomers and who grew up with computers being fairly commonplace by the time most of them were old enough to care, the Internet has arguably done more to shape the world as they understand it than any other singular entity.

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