News

I completed the Portal 2 cooperative campaign today.
It was awesome.
But it did remove a chunk of time from when I started it to about half an hour after I should have started the wrap-up.
I blame my partner in science.

So, Blizzard have revealed a load of new stuff relating to Diablo 3 at their press event.
As aforementioned, there's lots of it, but the thing that people are talking about most is the Auction House, which will allow real-money transactions.
I'm not sure I'm in love with the idea personally, but I guess we'll see how it turns out.
You can read all about it: Here.

It's a new month.
There's not a lot profound or meaningful about that, only that when I edited the rtf of the last one to make this one, I had to change the month too.
It just reminds me that I've been doing this for over a month.

Following the recent tragedies in Norway, Coop Norway have pulled 51 video games from their shelves, along with several weapon-like toys.
Although I understand and respect them for what is essentially a compassionate gesture, I hope this doesn't serve to further solidify the sense that video games cause tragedies like that.

Being able to sic a mining laser on an asteroid, then alt-tab and write a Wrap-up is a definite bonus of EVE.
Although it's also a weakness, when you're doing the same thing in-game when you're not needing to do something else.

Alaplayer have implemented a system in Argo Online which ranks players against everyone else, based on experience points, and in terms of wins/losses.
You can take a peek at it: Here.

I got back into playing EVE Online earlier.
Less than an hour in, and like riding a bike, it all came back to me.
The confusion, and overwhelming sense that I'm making some monumental mistake at every turn, that is.

Wicked Interactive are collaborating with Alienware Arena for the beta launch of their latest game, Bounty Hound Online.
Starting tomorrow, there will be an exclusive beta key give away, and perhaps some other stuff.
You can find the official Bounty Hounds Online site: Here.
Also, you can find Alienware Arena Here.

I had been considering seeing how it felt to do the wrap-ups every couple of days (Mon/Wed/Fri), to mitigate the occasional lack of news on slow days.
This consideration coincided with an astonishing experience; falling asleep at my desk.
Thus far, my feelings on the matter are that it ruins the "daily" thing, and kind of makes me feel like a slacker. So, I'll be keeping it to daily, to save having to look up a word for "every two days" (bi-daily?).
Also, this has become a really long summary of the news

There wasn't enough news (like, any) to warrant a Wrap-up over the weekend, so any of you left in suspense over the cryptic "will it melt?" question can now have your just as vague answer; yes it did.

Eutechnyx have launched the closed beta test for Auto Club Revolution, their relatively blandly named upcoming online racing game.
The closing date for registrations for this phase of the test is the 31st July, so if you're interested, register Here.

I have 5 minutes to write this little intro, and post the wrap-up before I have to find out whether "it will melt" was as honest as "ribs grow back".
I'm thinking "more so, but not enough".

Riot Games have released details for the next champion in League of Legends; Wukon the Monkey King.
An official announcement is: Here.

Remember when I said big things were in the pipes for Central?
Well, they're still in the pipes, just the pipes are just really long.

Star Wars: The Old Republic is now available for pre-order.
The numbers are limited, and the price is higher than any other MMO I've seen, but I suppose that's to be expected with Lucasarts and Bioware in one room, and EA calling the shots.
The pre-order page is: Here.

Aeria Games have released an update for Shaiya, including new and improved items, and a new dungeon.
You can find the official page: Here.

I am in a bewilderment.
How does one report a bug in a beta, when the bug prevents the logging in that is a necessary step in the bug reporting process?

Publish 71 for Ultima Online is scheduled for worldwide release with the next morning maintenance.
It includes a new sea encounter, some balancing tweaks, and new fishing content.
The publish notes are: Here.

Perfect World have released their Chains of Kluer update for forsaken World.
It includes a level cap increase, and new content for everything from dungeons to vanity.
You can read about it: Here.

Not a lot to report, today.
More than yesterday, but still not a lot.
Migraines still suck, too.

War Inc. is now in open beta, and available on Steam and Xfire.
The official site is: Here.
Or you can get it through Steam or Xfire.

I'll start off today with a piece of news that I'm really close to:
Migraines suck.

Moving on. Some days ago I talked about Overwolf going into open beta.
As it turns out, there's a TGN branded one too (That's the TGN from TGN Stratics), which I probably should have linked to instead.
So, the download link for that one is: Here.

And either I've managed to skim over some news (which isn't outside the realms of possibility, since I did lose a pot of coffee), or that's it.
That's a little bit disappointing, really.

No weekly Review for you, this week :(
However, there are big things potentially on the horizon, so fingers crossed for as long as it's not inconvenient.

Hithere (seriously) have announced that their latest game Iron Marshal will be entering beta on the 18th July.
The official site is: Here

It's been a funny day, full of talk about Sea Monsters, Wordpress and the Policeman's Ball. Most of that is not at all relevant to anything here, but it should convey the level of "what?" I'm at today.

Overwolf is now in open Beta.
Overwolf is a program that offers the use of things like Skype and Facebook from within a game overlay.
It really does do a lot, and I've heard good things about it, so you can check it out: Here

Black Prophecy has now launched in North America.
You can do the "getting into it" thing: Here

My windows progress bars are now replaced with Nyan Cat, and now my life feels empty when I'm not copying files.

The Lineage II Player Appreciation Week is now not-over.
With an adherence to deadlines that I can really identify with, the end of the "week" has been pushed back by a week, to the 20th.
The amended announcement is: Here.

Totally missed my deadline tonight, and now the minutes are slipping by as I try and think of some way to spin that into an introduction.
Smooth, huh?

Today I learned (late) about Clap Along's Elfender, which is kind of like a Massively Multiplayer Plants vs. Zombies, which is in open beta
You, too, can lose 20-or-more minutes that you should have spent doing something like a Daily Wrap-up: Here.

I am completely at a loss for any form of glib introduction to this.
So, I guess that's that.

Pirates of the Burning Sea has a new Producer, Brian Taney, former QA/CS manager.
In his introductory announcement thing, he talks about reconciling the differences between casual and veteran players, and patch 2.7.
You can read it: Here

All new minty-fresh Daily Wrap-ups.
Now with italics!

Gamania have announced Dream Drops, which appears to be a western localisation of an MMO based on Alice in Wonderland.
With enemies like Teapot General Charlie (who is addicted to double lattes), and Clock Rabbit Charles, I'm kind of looking forward to seeing more of it.
The official site is: Here

Riot Games have released their League of Legends 1.0.0.121 update.
At the time of posting this, the servers should be down and getting the update, or already up with it.
The release notes are: Here

With a dramatic streamlining of how I do this on the horizon, I'm pretty glad this is a relatively slow news day.

Yesterday, I mentioned that Fallen Earth's expansion Alpha County had been delayed until the 7th due to technical reasons. Today is the 7th, and it happened.
You can find out more: Here

CCP have teamed up with Nexon to bring EVE Online and Dust 514 to Japan.
You can read the full release: Here

Cryptic have introduced hideouts in Champions Online, allowing you to create your very own Moonbase, Batcave, or Mother's Basement.
Find out more: Here

Team Fortress 2, released in October of 2007, is a multiplayer First-Person Shooter (FPS) created by Valve.
Just 2 short weeks ago, Team Fortress 2 made the transition to free-to-play, making this an almost ideal time to stretch the definition of Massively Multiplayer Online Game (MMOG), and take a look at it.

Between a lack of news, connection problems and a jaw that appears to want to reject its primary function, it hasn't been a very good few days for the Daily Wrap-up.
This is me getting it back on track.

Back on the 24th, I mentioned that the Playstation Network was still not online in Japan.
Now it is.

Rise of Immortals, a Multiplayer Online Battle Arean from Petroglyph, is now in open beta.
You can get in on it: Here

The Chosen, a free to play game from Snail Games, has been released.
You can find it: Here