Thursday, May 31, 2012

Why you can be excited about E3 2012


E3 is just around the corner and judging from early leaks and scuttlebutt on the web you can expect some major announcements and first looks at new games from the big three as well as third parties. Here's a list of games and more that should be at the show in some form.



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Diablo 3: Hardcore Tips and Tricks (Part 1)

Since release of Diablo 3, I've been playing mainly in Hardcore mode (being the video game masochist that I am) .  This mode essentially means, if you die, it's game over for that character.  You keep all of your gold, artisan skills and anything in your stash, but your character becomes unplayable going forward.  Now that I'm writing this, my Hardcore character will likely die as this will inevitably jinx my Barbarian, but I'd like to share some of the strategies I've been using to stay alive in Hardcore.

Friday, May 25, 2012

I Hear a Familiar Voice


Quality voice acting is becoming increasingly relevant to gamers. Voice acting for some games, such as Portal 2, are said to be the high points of the experience. Yet voice actors in games are still relatively unknown with the exception, perhaps, of Nolan North of Uncharted fame. Claudia Black, best known for Aeryn Sun from Farscape, has had many voice acting roles in videogames over the years and has done a tremendous job in every game I've played. I've compiled a brief list of games where Claudia has lent her vocal talents. You may be surprised how often you've played a game where she voiced a character.



Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Torchlight 2 Beta Impressions

Torchlight 2 is a known quantity. Do you like Diablo (1/2)? Did you like Torchlight 1? Do you like loot? If you answered yes to any of these questions I think you'll have a wonderful time in Torchlight 2.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Diablo III: The Wizard. First Impressions.

Do you like flashy effects and seeing big numbers scroll across the screen? Well then, I have the Diablo III class for you! Diablo III's Wizard doesn't do much to further the class of magic wielders in RPGs but that does not mean the class is not fun to play.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

A Quick Journey in Elven Legacy


You'll be hard pressed to find a digital download of Elven Legacy for over 5 dollars. The game was released in 2009 and it feels as though no one cared then and no one cares now. I've played the game a few times and the one thing I can say is it's an extremely difficult game...

Blizzard begs forgiveness for shaky Diablo III Launch

In a forum post on the Diablo 3 forums, Blizzard has gone on record as admitting many players have had technical issues and the company should have prepared more than had.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Diablo III Impressions Round Up

I think I can speak for everyone here at The Gaming Nook when I say we're thoroughly enjoying our Diablo III experience with the exception of the server and DRM issues that is plaguing the game launch. We'll have some deep content regarding our thoughts on the game soon but for now feel free to check out some other's impressions of the game so far.

Digital distribution competition and it's effect on the gaming market Part 1

Ask my friends. I like deals. I'm a stickler for them. It should be no suprise that I have accounts at most of the leading Digital Distribution services available.  From the obvious Steam to Good Old Games and everything in between; I've delved into multiple services and feel as though I can finally take the time and talk about my experiences thus far.  Part 1 of this multi-part blog will do a brief synopsis of my experiences with each site.

Monday, May 14, 2012

Streamer Of The Week (5/6/12 - 5/12/12): "Paladrima"

Another week, another streamer.  This week, I've been watching a lot of Paladrima's streams which have featured him attempting a Zelda:  Ocarina of Time Glitchless Speedrun and the occasional race. This guy knows his way around Zelda:  OoT and it shows.

Friday, May 11, 2012

Diablo III is right around the Corner

Blizzard has posted a Launch Day Preparation Guide over on their Battle.net blog to help all of us be ready for the launch of Diablo III. Just a reminder that The Americas (U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, and South East Asia) servers open at: 12:01 a.m. PDT, May 15. It's important to understand what that means for your timezone so you don't lash out on forums for no reason.

In addition, if you would like a refresher on the Diablo Lore I would have to highly recommend ZealousDemon's Diablo Story series on Youtube. If you want an in depth look at Diablo III's mechanics, especially how they differ from previous games in the series, look no further than Dontinquire's amazing post on the Diablo III forums.

The writers here at The Gaming Nook are rather excited about the release of Diablo III so you can expect to see some more content concerning the game very soon.


Diablo III: Standard Edition


Death of the $60 Retail Disk



Is the $60.00 retail disk on it's way to irrelevancy? This is the question I've been pondering for some time now. There seems to be more and more titles succeeding at a variety of price points and a variety of monetization methods that perhaps with more time the $60.00 retail disk will be reserved only for flagship blockbuster titles that you see once or twice a year. Let's have a look at the trend's I've been seeing as well as what it might point to in the future.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Game Streaming: A How To Guide

If you've ever been interested in streaming and would like to know how to do so, you've come to the right place!  The guide below will provide you with the tools you need and all the steps required to get your very own stream up and running for free.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Alan Wake for 15 Bucks, You Say?

Alan Wake
The good guys at GoG.com have just released one of my personal favorite games of the generation, Alan Wake, for a mere 15.00 USD and the purchase includes all downloadable content! While we've been making attempts to not just repost news (like so many other blogs) here at The Gaming Nook I could not resist the urge to share this news with people. Alan Wake may have had, in my opinion, one of if not the best story's in games in the last 10 years.

If you have never played this gem I highly recommend you pick it up. Oh, and did I mention that you can only get it for 7 days? Head on over to GoG.com to snag it.



Monday, May 7, 2012

Jason's Thoughts on Guild Wars 2

I would like to start of by saying, as far as MMOs go my experience is almost entirely limited to World of Warcraft. I played WoW off and on (mostly on) since launch up until about a year ago.

I was only able to play the beta for about 6 or 7 hours so my experiences are somewhat limited. I started playing a Charr Warrior. I generally stick to that type of class when in most games I play. I like to play a character that can take a hit and smash whatever enemy I come across. You start the game with a sword and some basic warrior abilities. The sword combat felt fluid, each move and animation lead into the next. After completing some of the beginning quests I had enough money to upgrade to a hammer. I soon discovered changing my weapon had a major impact on the type of character I was playing. With a hammer I was now able to stun enemies and knock them back while inflicting some decent damage. Every time I hit an enemy it felt satisfying.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

Jim's Guild Wars 2 Impressions


If I had to summarize Guild Wars 2 in one word I would say it's efficient. It is a game made for people who don't necessarily have the will or consecutive hours required to deal with the traditional MMO time-sinks and tropes of the genre. Partying up, mob tagging, playing with friends, quest turn ins and finding someone of each role are not present in Arena Net's latest massively multiplayer romp .

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Streamer Of The Week (4/29 - 5/5): "Balbo"


About 4 years ago, I stumbled upon the web site for Speed Demos Archive while attempting to find gameplay footage for a game I played in the past.  What I really found was a web site holding several hundred "Speedruns" for many of my favorite games.  Megaman, Final Fantasy, even games like Resident Evil and Gears of War were in the list.  After watching a bunch of runs I was running out of new material (even though they do post 2-3 new runs every couple of weeks) and started looking for more.  That is when I discovered live streaming.

Chrono Trigger (DS) My Experience So Far

I'm crazy about any game that was made pre-year 2000 so when a remake of one of my all time favorite RPGs is re-released, I need to have it. We all know and love Chrono Trigger's story, so I'm not going to go into that. But the adjustments made to the game in terms of it's overall functionality are what make this a good buy.



Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Brian's thoughts on Guild Wars 2

At PAX East, all the writers here at the Gaming Nook attended the MMORPG.COM Panel: The Future of Online Gaming. We were all lucky enough to receive Beta invites as a result from ArenaNet. This past weekend was the first public event and I spent around 20 hours exploring Tyria.  These are my experiences...