Wednesday, 31 October 2012
Dota 2 updated with new game mode "Diretide", everything you need to know.
In conjunction with Halloween, Dota 2 has for the first time released a major update not in terms of heroes but with a completely new game mode.
"Not only you will be able to play a brand new game mode inside Dota 2 but you’ll also find that the regular Dota 2 map suddenly got spookier!"Halloween is all about scares, shocks and surprises. Boo! Alright, cut the crap. The latest update will see a slightly touched up map towards the theme of the season. In other words, you'll see red water (supposedly blood?) in rivers, 'surprise' skeletons popping out of coffin boxes, and some other additional bright lights and the like.
Now you must be wondering what is Diretide all about. To cut the long story short, it's basically an event to get us fancy items, guaranteed. What you will need to do before getting the reward (sometimes a bonus egg lol!) can be divided into three stages.
First up, both teams compete to collect the most candies, yes, candies for trick or treat? Next stage, candy collecting continues but Roshan is now awaken and walah he's free from hell and will hunt down single targets individually. To escape? What cheesier way than to treat him with candies. Awww. Last stage, cute Roshan is no more but is instead now a more advanced version of an enraged beast. Also, both teams can't withstand but join forces to take it down and when its finally crumpled into hell once again, you get your rewards.
Also, if you're lucky, you may chance upon a Greevil Egg or Essence. The egg basically hatches at the end of the event (I suppose?) into a courier while the Essence are like 'steroids' for the egg. The more Essence you put into the egg, the greater chance for you to get a more unique, rare-ier courier.
You're probably already downloading the update right now so meanwhile, take a look at Diretide's cinematic introduction.
Or if you've played diretide, what are your thoughts?
Tuesday, 30 October 2012
PAX Australia 3 Day Passes 100% SOLD OUT
Wow. That was fast.
Registration and ticketing started on the 22th of October. Now 30/31st of October, just over a week, the official account @PAXAus has announced that the 3 day passes "are now completely sold out". Just imagine that.
PAX Australia will be the first time the Penny Arcade Expo sets foot out of the United States, and this very fact has reaffirmed the decision to bring one of the largest video game festivals to the land down under. And if you're somehow wondering whether I'll be there, I most certainly will to try my best covering as much as I can. Till then, remember to get your tickets fast before individual passes go off sale too!
Friday, 26 October 2012
Centaur Warrunner comes to Dota 2
I was actually pretty surprised when I realised that when Dota 2 first started, Centaur wasn't a hero option there then. Centaur to me seemed like a classic hero and a commonly-known one throughout the original Dota, so it seemed natural for the big guy to be in it. Nevertheless, here is that freaking tank (or at least used to be) as the latest addition to the Dota 2 hero lineup.
However, this may come as a surprise to you as I would say rather important changes has been made and this in particular (very obvious too) in his ultimate. Instead of Great Fortitude, it is now replaced with a new skill Stampede. This grants you and all allied player units on the map max movement speed and zero unit collision for a short duration. Any enemy units you or your allies come into collision will take some damage and get stunned, though enemies can only be affected by the stampede impact once.
For the details of the new ultimate, along with the rest of the changelog, see here.
Thursday, 25 October 2012
First Dishonored DLC 'Dunwall City Trails' announced
Bethesda Softworks has announced the availability of Dishonored's first DLC 'Dunwall City Trails'. It will feature 10 challenge maps that will "test and track your combat, stealth and mobility skills", which includes arena battles and race against the clock runs. It will also offer a fresh set of new achievements and trophies, along with the introduction of a global online leaderboard.
Also, Bethesda has also unveiled that there will be two more add-on DLCs coming in next year and each will be a more story-driven campaigns.The second add-on pack will only be released early Spring 2013, and will focus on Daud, the leader of 'The Whalers'.
*Dishonored: Dunwall City Trials releases in December for $4.99 (or 400 Microsoft Points)
Monday, 22 October 2012
PAX Australia confirmed, Melbourne Showgrounds to play host for next 2 years
Talks about the Penny Arcade Expo, aka PAX, heading to the land down under have been long speculated. But only until today was the news along with all the details confirmed. PAX if you haven't heard before, is one of the biggest video games festival originally started back in 2004 and come next year, it will make its debut showcase outside of United States.
Not only did the official PAX Australia site went live this morning with all the deets, but registrations for the 3-day event from 2013 July 19th - 21st were also immediately up and running. A one day pass will cost A$45, whereas a 3-day pass will cost A$115. Also, it is confirmed that Melbourne will play host to PAX Australia for the next two years (hopefully more) and more specifically, at the Melbourne Showgrounds.
"More details regarding the exhibitors, tournaments, concerts and special guests will be announced during the lead up to the show". Meanwhile, to get your passes and find out more about possible hotels or travel plans, visit their official site here.
Tuesday, 16 October 2012
4 Xbox 360 dashboard updates you should know
Over the course of next week starting from today, login to your Xbox Live and you might just realise a slight change. It won't be a big change, and not completely revolutionary - the user interface in its basics will stay the same, the tiles will stay, the fonts will stay; and that's good, it's Microsoft's trademark now, afterall. But just look around the screen, and take a look at your tiles and you might just find out the new updates :
Internet Explorer
This, is big. It's possibly the biggest and most important update (depending on what you use) this time around as you can now go online to the web and do whatever you do on a computer, or a tablet, or a phone. Also to note that Internet Explorer supports any HTML5 videos so it can come pretty handy, though at the same time, browsing may be difficult as typing using a console, as you know, is simply not convenient at all.Xbox Video
Check around and you will notice that you can't find Zune Video Marketplace anymore. Hence, Xbox Video is now what has replaced Zune, also still providing TV shows and movies for buying or hire. Basically, similar features, a cooler name.Recent
Also a name change, what was called 'Quick Play' previously is now 'Recent'. So the next time you want to get back to your last action, just hit the Recent view up and get the list of whatever you last accessed on your console.My Pins
If you're a windows phone user, you will already know what these "pins" are all about. Basically, it's like bookmarking, or saving your favourite movies, TV shows, games, music, videos and even now websites right onto your homescreen. So the next time you want to find that movie you watch just so many times, save the long hassle and jump right into the scene from your homescreen itself.--------
And there you go the top 4 most important updates I believe will truly make a difference (or stop confusing you). It's actually really nice that the user interface haven't changed alot, and that the tiles stay. In fact, if you've noticed, more tiles are added! That's good, because I find Microsoft's tiles unique, different, special.
Oh, there's still one yet to come. It's not in this update though, but soon, really soon.
Xbox SmartGlass
Remember a few months ago during E3 when Microsoft introduced a companion app for Xbox 360 on Windows 8 PCs, tablets and smartphones? Well, this is at the moment not ready for release yet at least until the launch of Windows 8 come October 26th. Will it be a big update then? I'm thinking so but will it be revolutionary? I doubt so. The SmartGlass will probably be something as an additional fun, something you know you get so excited about at first, but slowly get bored after a while. Well, that's just what I think.[Borderlands 2] Gaige the Mechromancer and Deathtrap, introduced.
Done trying all 4 classes of vault hunters already? Thinking of getting the Mechromancer DLC but clueless about what its all about? Here's a short but interesting introduction to Pandora's new hero (I like to call them that hehe).
Sir Hammerlock makes his appearance once again with his distinctive voice telling you what this seemingly petite-looking girl can actually do. Though small in size, her skills are not to be messed with. And judging with how DLCs often are, new classes introduced are usually equipped with much more fancy features and this is pretty much expected looking from the trailer above.
Deathtrap
This is Gaige the Mechromancer's active skill. And no, its not merely setting a trap. Instead, it's a huge ass (ok not THAT big, but bigger than Gaige) robot which wields a range of skills any robots depicted before should have. Laser beam, electric shock, replenish armor, explosions? Check, check, check and check.------------------
I haven't got the chance to try Gaige the Mechromancer out but simply looking at Deathtrap, with its little petite owner obliterating anyone and anything in their way, sends a chill down my spine. (In a good way, of course...maybe.)
Sunday, 14 October 2012
Arkane's designer has mixed feelings about Dishonored 2
So I've just started Dishonored yesterday; and I obviously haven't gotten far enough to write a review yet, not that I have the time now (just saying, but i'll try). But about all early reviews of Dishonored have been highly-positive, if not very positive sitting comfortably above the 90 mark (out of 100), and multiple commends for being top contender for 2012's Game of the Year. True enough, my own first impressions stay true.
So now that Dishonored has proven to be such a success, will there be a sequel?
Speaking to Kotaku, one of the lead designers of Arkane Studios, Harvey Smith, related that he isn't very sure about this though the team has (pretty obviously) thought about this matter before. A sequel would be great, that's obvious, but then again, wouldn't it make Dishonored even greater if it was a one-shot thing. Premium.
"Part of me would love to see future games leverage this would," Smith explained, "and part of me would love it if the vault door was just closed and that's it. This is your one view into the Empire of the Isles and into the city of Dunwall."
Personally, I find a Dishonored 2 unnecessary. Great games should stay gold, let's not start milking every single fast-selling games to a long, unending cycle of franchise (excluding Assassin's Creed of course, hehe). What's your say? Are you in it, or out of this for a sequel?
Saturday, 13 October 2012
Intel Extreme Masters to tour SITEX 2012, Singapore
Mark your dates, people. Come November 22nd till the 25th, for the first time ever, Singapore will be host to the Intel Extreme Masters competition as the second stop of the season. This will take place in conjucntion with SITEX, one of the most renowned consumer electronics trade shows in the South East Asian region.
The Intel Extreme Masters competition was introduced back in 2006, and has since offered a solid platform for a showcase of strong and highly-competitive players. So this November, expect crazy teamplays and deceptive tactics as players compete in StarCraft 2 and League of Legends, with a total of $82,000 for the top prize and a spot in the World Championships in Hanover, Germany next year.
Ok, i've got to say this, i'm pretty disappointed that there's not going to be any Dota 2 action.
"The tour has never been to Singapore before. It is a strategic goal for ESL and for Intel to bring eSports at the highest level to new territories every season in order to develop competitive gaming worldwide," said Michał Blicharz, the Director of Pro Gaming at Turtle Entertainment GmbH. "We are excited to see what kind of reception local fans will give to gaming superstars at SITEX 2012."
[Assassin's Creed 3] Tomahawks, rope darts, hidden blades, and more weapons in latest trailer
First thing that comes into mind when the Assassin's Creed franchise is mentioned would possibly be its signature hidden blade. In about all the past titles, the hidden blade has arguably played a major part in the progress of the game, and for some has been extremely pivotal.
Enter Assassin's Creed 3 where you are brought right in the middle of the American Revolution. This time around, new weapons have been introduced and in particular, the tomahawk. From the very first cover image unveiled to newly released screenshots, the tomahawk have always been clearly present and this suggests that come this Revolution, it will play a major part and this would possibly become your new favourite weapon.
But hang on, there's another. Actually, there's many more but from the trailer above, one particular weapon stood out - the rope dart. This is a fresh addition and an interesting weapon which have a fairly unique gameplay and usage. Hide above the trees. Patiently wait for your target. Here he comes. Let the rope dart go, and hook he cries to his death. Perfect.
Tuesday, 9 October 2012
[Borderlands 2] Mechromancer now playable!
If you haven't heard, there's a fifth class in Borderlands 2. Say what? Yes, you heard me right, and the little lady with that robot up there, she's the Mechromancer and yes, it's a female and not a robot you will be playing as. Well basically the Mechromancer is suppose to only make her debut when Gearbox releases the DLC and what happened was that everyone was expecting the DLC to come in not quite the time now...
But hey, surprise surprise! Ok, the media is just hyping this whole thing about this being a BIG surprise but let's just skip that part and focus on the Mechromancer. This DLC is available for all 3 platforms PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 and it is downloadable for free if you have previously pre-ordered the game. But if you haven't it's 800 MS points or $8 for PC/PS3.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
Xbox 360 price now up to A$150 cheaper in Australia
Microsoft Australia has announced that it is reducing the recommended retail price of its Xbox 360 and Kinect bundles. Taking effect from today (October 4th), the range of Xbox 360 console products will get a A$50 - A$150 slash in prices. Below are the details of the new prices:
4GB Xbox 360 - A$199 (A$50 reduction)
4GB Xbox 360 with Kinect - A$299 (A$100 reduction)
250GB Xbox 360 - A$299 (A$150 reduction)
Kinect sensor - A$149 (A$50 reduction)
Existing limited edition consoles - A$399 (A$50 reduction)
This price reduction is presently only exclusive in Australia and A$150 is a huge drop and big enough reason to really think about. This will also particularly be followed up by a few pretty standout titles in the next few months, specifically for me Halo 4, Forza Horizons and Nike + Kinect Training, as well as the Xbox Smart Glass feature introduced during this year's E3.
Source: Xbox Australia
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