BlizzCast – episode 1

BlizzCast – Episode one of new Blizzard Entertainment podcast series, BlizzCast is here.

    To kick off our BlizzCast series, we’ve decided to begin where every great Blizzard idea begins, at the concept level. To speak with us we have Samwise Didier, our Art Director and concept artist to many of the popular Blizzard icons you’ve grown to love such as the Pandaren, Fel Orcs, Dark Templars, Zerglings, and many more.  We’ll be chatting with Samwise on how he came up with the characters he did, as well as what it is like to work on both the Warcraft and StarCraft franchises.
Be sure to view the transcript to see all of the artwork.

Download first episode in mp3 format or read the transcript.

Starcraft boardgame

Fantasy Flight Games – In StarCraft: The Board Game, players take control of high-tech armies and battle for dominance in an ever-changing galaxy. Take command of your favorite race and set out to conquer!

Players
Two to six players each take the role of an important leader from the StarCraft universe – Jim Raynor, Arcturus Mengsk, Judicator Aldaris, Executor Tassadar, Sarah Kerrigan, or the Overmind – and take command of powerful armies. With three distinct races, each with two unique factions, each game of StarCraft: The Board Game will be different.

The Galaxy
At the beginning of the game, players assemble a galaxy of interconnected planets, each with regions containing resources such as valuable minerals, vespene gas, and conquest points. Planets are connected by both normal and z-axis navigation routes, representing the three-dimensional nature of space. By strategic placement of valuable worlds and navigation routes, players can create strongholds for themselves or connect their worlds to planets ripe for conquest.
Once the galaxy has been assembled, players place their initial bases and units and the conflict can begin!

Resources
There are three types of resources found on the planets in the StarCraft galaxy: minerals, vespene gas, and conquest points. Minerals and gas are harvested by workers and used to build units, research new technology, build new bases, and buy base upgrades. Conquest points are one way in which players win the game – having a unit or a base in the same region as a conquest point resource will add conquest points to a player’s total each turn, ultimately bringing her closer to winning.

In situations of dire need (or if a player suspects that she will lose control of a region), extra workers can be dispatched to aggressively harvest a region, depleting it. If a region is sufficiently depleted, it will become devoid of resources and cannot be used again. Only regions containing minerals and vespene gas can be depleted – conquest points are never harvested by workers.

Facion profile – The Brotherhood of Steel

Fallout 3 official site – Emil Pagliarulo, lead designer of Fallout 3 is profiling a faction, well known to anyone how ever played one of Fallout games – Brotherhood of steel.

How, exactly, does one worship technology?

Is it as simple as praying to a golden, robotic calf? Perhaps “god” is recognized as some kind of sentient artificial intelligence who demands subservience in exchange for feats and favors?

Or maybe, just maybe, the human race has already answered this question: technology is worshipped, simply and plainly, through obsession and attainment. We are a people dominated by technology, from our electrically-powered cities right down to our scientifically engineered anti-depressant medications. And every Sunday mass we miss to stay home and watch football on our HDTVs is further proof that now, more than ever, technology is the deity we hold most dear.

Now imagine all of that compulsion, all of that addiction we as an entire race share, and encapsulate it into one group of people. Imagine the obsession and fervor, the unending need for technological superiority, and the ultimate futility of such a goal.

Imagine, if you will, the Brotherhood of Steel.

In Fallout 3, the Brotherhood of Steel is one of the most important and influential factions you’ll encounter. And while it’s true they are a military organization, the Brotherhood’s values and command structure are actually more representative of a medieval knightly order. Like the Templars of old, in their own eyes, the members of the Brotherhood of Steel are pure, they are just – they are truly human in a world filled with both physical and moral corruption.

But it is the worship of technology that truly defines and drives them. For a Brotherhood of Steel Paladin, Power Armor is his plate mail, a powered Super Sledge his warhammer. A non-combatant Scribe is more scientist than scholar, utilizing computers as a monk in the Middle Ages would a quill and ink.

It’s not enough for the Brotherhood of Steel’s members to use whatever high-tech gadgetry they’ve acquired, though. The organization’s entire existence is predicated on the acquisition of technology. Whatever they’ve got is never enough. Their best equipment? It could be better. Even if this endless search for high-tech toys means keeping the good stuff out of the hands of others who could really benefit from it, well, that’s okay with the Brotherhood of Steel.

Stargate worlds MMO trailer

Duke Nukem 4 ever is HERE!!!

Believe it or not, Duke Nukem For Ever, long waited sequel of Duke Nukem 3d from 1995-1996 or whatere is here! Well, at least we got this trailer-teaser-thing. It looks promising but knowing 3d realms I’m skeptical and I’m gonna stay like that until the game actually gets a release date 🙂

Prototype

Prototype is a new game from Radial Entertainment that really caught my eye. I’m not a fan of action games but this one looks really-really good. You are playing a shapeshifter (I wanted to do something like that ever since I read Consider Phlebas) with the ability to consume human beings and turn yourself into weapons. The trick is you don’t even know who you are, what’s your name or how you got this powers…all already seen I know but still, it’s worth keeping eye onto…

GameSpot Holiday gift guide

GameSpot – GameSpot’s 2007 Holiday Gift Guide, your one-stop shopping guide to getting the best games for all the good little boys and girls on your list! For your convenience, we’ve separated the games and other products into different sections. You can find individual games for a specific video game platform by checking that platform’s section…or you can shop around for games that fit the personality of the people you’re shopping for. For more information on any game, be sure to read GameSpot’s reviews and watch our videos and screenshots to get the full scoop–it’s all one click away. We here at GameSpot wish you all a safe and happy holiday season. Now, let’s go shopping!

Valve’s watching you!

Futirismic – So I likee my video games.  A lot.  Enough that I’ve had to mail them to another country to save myself.  And I like stats.  Graphs and numbers and stuff that make pretty lines are cool.  Combining the two?  Heaven.Via the very funny gaming site Rock, Paper, Shotgun we see that Valve, creators of that wonderful trio of games in The Orange Box, have been watching you, and the stats are something fun to see.  They’ve published info for Half-Life 2: Episode 2, including completion times, hours played, how often people died, etc.  Probably the coolest feature is the ‘death map,’ a kind of infrared map showing areas where players have died.  Thought you were the only one who fell off that cliff in the very beginning?  Not according to the red dot in the picture above.

They’ve also got data on TeamFortress 2, including the tidbit that BLU have a slight edge over RED.  Privacy issues aside (I guess some people object to being watched while they pathetically die over and over in the same place…), this is an interesting method for designing games and hopefully the data will be incorporated into how to make future games more fun.

Some fun trivias…

• Ever wanted a klingon or ferengi for a girlfriend? Well, it seams you’re not alone. Trek Passions is a dating site intended for sci-fi lovers and the like. By their own words: “A 100% free SciFi personals & social networking community site for science fiction lovers, including but not limited to lovers of Star Trek* and Star Wars.”
• Want to know what the f#*ck is r2d2 saying? Or you just wanna hear how your name sounds on R2D2 (bip-bop) language? Where there is a will, there is a way. Introducing R2D2 Translator.
• How about a ride in the past? Popular sci-fi theme is now possible with Kakorama, where you can find out what happened on a day you were born. You can even choose location like Earth, Mars, space…
• If you’ve always thought your mind can do something other peoples can’t…how about putting your psychick abilities to the test and find out once and for all. Just look at the crystal ball.
• Looking for some more disturbing sounds to help you sleep? Look no further – Aliensonic.
• The last but not the least, if you’re lonely or looking for a good company, you could enter a chat with…God…at iGod. Even he has a web page.

Deus Ex III

One of the best video games of all times is back. After Deus Ex II (which sucked big time) I’m a bit skeptical about this one also but with Warren Spector out of the picture I have faith that Deus Ex III will go back to the roots and be more similar to the original game. I kind off got that faith from Eidos Montreal’s general manager Stephane D’Astous interview:

Everyone knows what worked well on the first one and what the second one tried, but now we’re five years later, even seven years later from the first Deus Ex. I think we have the possibility to have a fresh look. I think the franchise is at a turning point in its life where new blood will be good, but also respect for the history of that great franchise. With the new technology available now, we really want to give a second wind to this franchise.

Until some more information is published (or leaked) from Eidos enjoy in this short teaser…

…and GlobalNode’s (youtube user), very detail, analysis of every little thing that you see in trailer above:

Deus Ex 3 Trailer – Flashing Image Analysis

Deus Ex 3 Trailer – Fetus Analysis