The demo for Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X. (I’m sick of typing game titles with acronyms) will hit Xbox LIVE Marketplace Feb. 11.
H.A.W.X. features frenetic air battles as you take over the role of USAF pilot David Crinshaw, who has his loyalties tested when his private mercenary company attacks the United States. The full Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions hit stores March 6, followed by the PC version on the 13th.
The Paladin Tier 2 set.
Blizzard’s blue posters are at it again, and today they’ve let loose the details on the next season of arena gear for World of Warcraft.
We’re headed toward the sixth season of play, and rating requirements for the new Furious Gladiator gear are being dropped compared to S5’s Deadly. Deadly items will have their rating requirements lowered. But there’s a catch, too: You won’t be starting at 1500 rating in Season 6; you’ll be lower than that.
Here’s the list from Blizzard’s Kalgan:
| No rating requirement | Medium requirement | High requirement | |
| Hateful Gloves Hateful Legs Hateful Chest Hateful Helm Hateful Shoulders Hateful Ring Hateful Trinket |
Deadly Bracer Deadly Belt Deadly Boots Deadly Neck Deadly Ring Deadly Cape Deadly Trinket |
1300+: Deadly Relics/Idols/Librams/Totems 1350+: Deadly Gloves 1400+: Deadly Legs 1450+: Deadly Chest 1500+: Deadly Helm 1550+: Deadly Shoulders 1400+: Furious Bracer (honor) 1450+: Furious Belt (honor) 1500+: Furious Boots (honor) 1550+: Furious Neck (honor) |
1600+: Furious Gloves 1650+: Furious Ring (honor) 1700+: Furious Legs 1750+: Furious Chest 1800+: Furious Trinket (honor) 1850+: Furious Helm 1900+: Furious Cape (honor) 1950+: Furious Wands/Relics/etc 2000+: Furious Weapon 2100+: Furious Shoulders 2300+: Furious Tabard (cosmetic, no stats) |
No update on when Season 6 will start yet. The best guess is “when it’s ready.”
Remember last week when there was a post about Starcraft being taught as a class at UC Berkeley? Well last Friday was the first day of class. Curious about what they learned? Lucky for you GamePro was there and was able to get the first couple minutes on video. Check it out and see whether Starcraft 101 is a legitimate class or just a GPA booster.
A new class at UC Berkley will teach students to play StarCraft. No joke here–that’s the only real goal for teaching it.
This is a DeCal class taught on a pass/fail basis, so it’s not as off the wall as it sounds. Previous DeCal classes have included The Ethics of Star Trek, James Bond: Politics, Pop Culture, Hero, Advanced Scrabble: Strategy, Competition, and Fun and more.
Here’s the course description:
UC Berkeley students with an interest in real-time strategy games and the competitive gaming landscape are encouraged to participate in this class.
This course will go in-depth in the theory of how war is conducted within the confines of the game Starcraft. There will be lecture on various aspects of the game, from the viewpoint of pure theory to the more computational aspects of how exactly battles are conducted. Calculus and Differential Equations are highly recommended for full understanding of the course. Furthermore, the class will take the theoretical into the practical world by analyzing games and replays to reinforce decision-making skills and advanced Starcraft theory. Read more »
GGL recently got a chance to quiz Frank “Crazy Dutch Bastard” Verhage about his L4D experience while leading Church of Solo to victory in the 13 Fear is Real / Left 4 Dead competition. Frank shared some of his tactics and knowledge about the game with us, so let’s get to the interview!
GGL: How was your experience in the competition? Did you have a good time, or were there any hiccups?
Frank Verhage: Let me start off by thanking GGL for a fun competition! That’s pretty much the answer for your question as well. We really enjoyed getting to see the tactics employed by other teams.
GGL: How is Left 4 Dead in a competitive match?
Verhage: For us Left 4 Dead is never all that serious. Playing in a competitive match was a pretty big change from how we normally play. We usually only save each other if it doesn’t cost us a lot of time! It’s just letting off a bit of steam, and having a laugh. And it’s a pretty effective tactic against hunters, especially before the patch that made blocking hunters more difficult. Matches are more fun by definition. Playing an actual team, with actual tactics is a lot of fun!
GGL: Do you think it has a future as a “true” competitive game, or is it too casual?
Verhage: I can imagine Left 4 Dead sticking around as a competitive game for quite some time. Especially when you consider the fun you could have when you’re in the same room as your teammates. Knowing Valve (the creator of L4D) there are sure to be a lot of pretty heavy patches underway. Read more »
The long-awaited 3.08 patch to World of Warcraft is live as of today, introducing new items, class changes, bug fixes and more.
A high-level overview from the patch notes:
It looks like it’s time for crappy MMO developers to pay the piper. First we heard about the shutdown of Tabula Rasa in February, and now Age of Conan developer Funcom is merging servers to account for low populations across the board.
When it’s all said and done, the total number of AoC servers will sit at 18, a far cry from the original 49.
It just goes to show that most of the companies trying to get a piece of the MMO cash cow are failing miserably after the release of Wrath of the Lich King. I’m going to throw out Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning as the next victim of Blizzard’s juggernaut. Flame away.
Read: Age of Conan Losing 63% of Severs
GGL and the CW’s Fear Is Real have teamed up to bring you a Left 4 Dead team competition where you can duke it out for pride and prizes. Want to crush the Survivors? Swap over to the Infected side and hunt them down!
Players can compete on Xbox 360 or PC in 4v4 combat. The competition consists of one ladder per platform, with the top three teams on each ladder earning prizes. Here’s the prize breakdown:
First place: 4 video games per squad. Specific games TBD, but will be recently released games from GGL’s library of new games.
Second place: 2 video games per squad. Again, specific games TBD.
Third place: 1 video game per squad.
Add Left 4 Dead to your GGL collection to begin. You will be prompted to login/register when adding the game, after which you can join the ladder.
Good hunting!
On Christmas Eve, Worlds.com, a company I’ve never heard of likely because it’s never done anything worthwhile, left a steaming pile on NCsoft’s doorstep. It filed a lawsuit claiming that NCsoft infringed on an obscure patent, #7,181,690 - System and method for enabling users to interact in a virtual space, in bread-and-butter MMOs like Guild Wars and City of Heroes/Villains.
This isn’t as much a case of NCsoft infringing on proprietary technology as it is a case of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office sucking more than a $2.33 hooker by awarding such a vague patent to begin with.
After all, the kindly-worded press release in which I received this information noted that this patent, and another owned by Worlds.com (#6,219,045 - Scalable virtual world chat client-server system), could apply to all 3D worlds everywhere. Somewhere on the internet, an owl is hooting mockingly.
The explanation behind all this? Naturally, Worlds.com is hoping for an easy settlement. It has a patent but no obvious technology aside from a screenshot showing a floating IBM cube in a pixelated Second Life environment, while NCsoft has MMOs that are reasonably well-known in the west and are/were explosively popular in Asia. I can thusly sum up the challenger’s business model in four easy steps:
The Call of Duty franchise has been a staple for hardcore gamers everywhere, but despite its popularity, the Call of Duty games tend to have a relatively steep learning curve when it comes to multiplayer. That’s why GGL is releasing this Call of Duty: World at War Search & Destroy guide.
A little about me: I have been a hardcore CoD player since the first one came out way back in 2003 and play tons of shooter games. With this guide I hope to help new players get familiar with map layouts and common camping spots so that they can have an enjoyable time playing Call of Duty: World at War.
Before we can even discuss maps and tactics, I feel like I should include some information for first time CoD players. When playing online, you are rewarded for scoring multiple kills without dying. If you get three straight kills you will be rewarded with a recon plane, lasting 30 seconds, which shows enemies on your radar. After 5 straight kills you will have access to an artillery barrage. Lastly, after a seven kill streak, you can unleash a pack of dogs (which can be killed) for one minute.
On to the maps!
Airfield is a tricky map due to the amount of debris and the wide open area. It is very easy to hide and pick people off, which is why snipers love this map. In order to succeed, it is important to stay out of sight. Stick to the underground tunnels to avoid sniper fire. If you have to work you way though buildings, stay away from the windows.
Site A: When dealing with bomb site A, try and coordinate an attack with two squads. It is much easier to take if you have multiple teams, one hitting it straight on from the north and another group hitting it from the south.
More theorycrafting continued today as Blizzard released the World of Warcraft patch notes for 3.0.8 on the patch test realm. Notably, Death Knights are getting some tanking buffs, but it’s unclear if the changes will affect PVP significantly.
Additionally, subtle changes have been made to further ease leveling through 1-60, mounts are no longer racially specialized and a pack mule functioning as a mobile bank (!) will enter the game. Here’s a heavily abridged list:
General
With its constant balance changes, Valve’s Team Fortress 2 is beginning to resemble the MMOs of our time. The latest update allows any class (not just Heavies and Pyros) to shoot away the Demoman’s sticky grenades, which will disappear completely when shot.
Spies, meanwhile, can recharge their cloaks by picking up ammunition, and Engineers can now upgrade the dispenser and teleporter to level 3, decreasing their recharge time and increasing health.
Here’s the full changelog:
