HellForge

Confessions of a Gold Scammer

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 09:47:50 -0500

The internet has become the ideal house for scam artists. Many of us have suffer from it, some of my friends and even myself. While I didn't suffer any "real" loss, others like the Eve Corporation were destroyed by it. Granted, all this was allowed, even encouraged in the cruel world of Eve Online. Now, let's delete that fine line of "internet security", what happens now?

A fair warning, this interview is rather long (around 37 minutes) and should be watched with that in mind. Here's an overview taken from playnoevil:

3:00 Started in Eve Online / GoonSwarm

5:30 Scammed his own Eve Online Corporation as a Director (non GoonSwarm) stole 9B ISK in 2006

6:30 WoW Scam/Griefing casual every month of so

7:30 Lost his job and decided to sell his Eve Online Account.. he took the money and realized he didn't have to transfer the account - there was no protection for intangible items in PayPal Terms of Service - He made $750... used it for rent.

10:00 In order to "beat PayPal", he mailed piece of paper with invalid information... got through Paypal security and send the Shipping Tracking information (PERSONAL NOTE: my company used physical shipments to validate shipments of license keys to avoid fraud problems in 2003).

11:45 Scammers "networking" to develop tactics... Paypal changes and protect buyers, not sellers. Reverse scam to a "Buyer Scam": Buy Item, dispute sale, Resell the account quickly

13:30 Started identity theft ... used stolen name and SSN, to set up fraudulent paypal account tied to his Real bank account + fake ID (there is no cross verification of account names - Marcus is currently checking to see if this weakness still exists)...Patrick worked in HR as recruiter... had info of anyone who applied for a job at the company (IT IS SCARY HOW MANY PEOPLE HAVE ACCESS TO YOUR NAME AND SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER) then close Paypal account quickly before they put in a dispute... age 21,22. Blames economy, desperation - rent & food problems.

16:30 - All you need to create a PayPal account is a name & SSN (and your own bank account)

16:50 - $10 to $20K in one year... was active for one year.

17:30 - Why he was not caught - only small transactions... keep it under $1000. Paypal "caught up with him" eventually - then he started using other peoples accounts.. that is why he stared ID theft (but they didn't validate account, see above)

19:00 - Paypal is so easy, much easier than direct deposit or wire transfer... a lot of scammers only do this (scamming) once.

20:00 - Last Scam / Biggest Scam - started getting scared. Meet girls "get them to love him" and use their Paypal account (or get them to set up a Paypal account). "Most interesting" found he actually liked the girl. Got a real job and paid her back. Realized what he was doing.

22;15 - Other most exciting was the first one. When you make over $500,... a "means to get by".

23:20 - Security advise... copy of drivers license & prove its actually the person... TrustWho works (NOTE: run by MarkeeDragon - 99.7%).. if they've never done any sales before on the site, don't trust them... reputation at sites is a problem if you haven't done a sale before... TrustWho really "ruined his (scam) business". He was not able to get TrustWho verified.

29:30 CraigsList is great place to scam people. Get 18 year olds with fresh money (after graduation).

30:50 - Successful transactions in past, get drivers license (repeat)... scary how many people have your drivers license and SSN

33:00 - Wrapup by Marcus Eikenberry - scamming women, HR attacks, name & SSN is all it takes

Remember scams can take multiple faces and I have been fooled countless times for being too nice, generous or simply giving people another chance. However, there is this 1% chance that the other person will not take advantage of you and when that happens is one of the most amazing feelings in the world. Every time that happens I regain hope in this world, this society we live in. As humans; as brothers and sisters.

Fallout: New Vegas Set For Fall 2010, Teaser Trailer Revealed

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 12:27:14 -0500

Development of Fallout: New Vegas over at Obsidian Entertainment (which will hereby be known as "Bethesda Jr.") has been kept under wraps for quite some time since its announcement by Bethesda early last year. What we do know of the game is that it'll be set in the post-apocalyptic wreckage of Las Vegas, and judging from the trailer, it looks like the New California Republic plans to wage a war of conquest against its inhabitants.

War, indeed, never changes.

Happily, what we do know is that the game is set for a Fall 2010 release on the PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms, and that it's going to be something of a marked improvement over the original Fallout 3 experience.

Here's a trailer to whet your appetite.

Revealed: Project Needlemouse is Sonic the Hedgehog 4

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 05:30:12 -0500

SEGA has just announced that “Project Needlemouse”, long rumored to be a new Sonic the Hedgehog title is indeed Sonic 4: Episode 1. Being the first Sonic the Hedgehog game to return the series to its 2D roots, Sonic 4: Episode 1 is the first of several episodic titles planned for release.

Sonic 4 will deliver a new story arc to the Sonic franchise, picking up where Sonic & Knuckles left off.

Asked what they meant by “episodic”, Sega’s Ken Balough told GameSpot, "As mentioned, I think the best way to view it is as a first part in a much larger adventure. When Sega released Sonic 3, ultimately it was the part 1 of a story that saw its conclusion in Sonic & Knuckles. In that same spirit, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is a bigger story, and this is that first chapter. I think it's also safe to say that by the end of the episode one, fans will be very excited to see what's in store for episode two!"

The new sonic is expected to feature traditional 2D sonic mechanics like spin dash, power sneakers with added moves like a homing attack. Perhaps Sonic doesn't have to die, after all.

The game will be heading towards the PSN, Xbox Live Arcade and WiiWare this coming summer, but no plans have been revealed for any PC or Steam-based release. Pity, that.

Dante's Inferno Producer Expresses Interest in Macbeth Game

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 03:54:12 -0500

Not content with simply reinterpreting Dante’s Inferno as a blood-filled action game (our verdict on the game is still pending), Visceral chief Jonathan Knight told Industry Gamers that the team would like to make a video game adaptation of another famous literary classic.

"Macbeth the game is something I've been thinking about for years," said Knight, expressing his interest in the work. "But now, I think the emotional quality that games are achieving and the value level of the acting and the sound work makes it possible."

Taken out of context, Knight may seem to express a somewhat shallow understanding of the classic as he explains: "Dante's is more of a violent interpretation of the poem for example. Macbeth would be great, though; there are witches and a supernatural experience along with plenty of intrigue and murder."

With that in mind, I'd be doing him a disservice if I didn't mention Knight's strong grasp of what makes an action game. "The thing is, the unique quality of games is being interactive; it's about action and killing things and pursuing those mechanics is tricky when bringing in classic media," he said. Truly, the last thing that any self-respecting gamer wants is to sit through a series of cutscenes and quick time events which masquerade as a video game.

That being said, I’d like to see him disprove all doubts and craft something masterful out of his idea. To be frank, I wouldn’t mind seeing a creative take on The Tempest, or Hamlet, either.

Why not think of it as gaming’s exploration of the ‘Unknown Country’.

Bioshock 2's Liquifying Launch Trailer

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:30:40 -0500

The launch reel for the Bioshock 2 has hit the intertubes revealing a score of new details about the upcoming game. Set ten years after the events of the first Bioshock, players take on the role of "Subject Delta", a prototype for the Big Daddies seen in the original story.

Check out the trailer below.

Mass Effect 2: Free Dr. Pepper Promo DLC Codes

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:49:18 -0500

EA/Bioware and Dr. Pepper recently teamed up for a Mass Effect 2 promotion that provides drinkers of the soda the chance to win three DLC items for use in the new game. Those living outside the United States are sadly ineligible for the promotion, and players who just don’t drink the stuff may simply be out of luck.

As it turns out, I have good news. The keys provided in the promotion are completely static and reusable.

The codes are as follows:

Umbra Visor

A next-generation night-vision device that assists targeting. By detecting the focal point of the wearer's eyes and enhancing the image at that location, the visor helps direct a biotic power or a shot from an omni-tool exactly where the wearer is looking.

Effect: Increases power damage by 5%

Recon Hood

A hood issued to covert action teams, this model's optic display interfaces with most small arms' auto-targeting software, linking hand and eye for improved accuracy and increased weapon damage. Ballistic-mesh fabric and composite ceramic plating provide necessary armor, and the integral air filter helps in hostile environments.

Effect: Increases weapon damage by 5%

Sentry Interface

This visor works with the Sentry system, a software application that optimizes an armor suit's microframe computer. When the Sentry system is running, more power can be devoted to shield management.

Effect: Increases shield strength by 5%

GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City Coming to PS3 and PC!

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 10:11:40 -0500

Oh ho, those poor xbox players have one less exclusive to lord over all other systems. In a "surprising" move, Rockstar annouced today that the previously 360 exclusive title "GTA IV: Episodes from Liberty City" will in fact be arriving on the PS3 and PC after all.

As quoted:

While this prompts a great amount of joy for us PC/PS3 users, it does inspire a certain amount of pity for the 360ers. While Halo and Gears are certainly worthwhile exclusives, "Episodes From" was a huge edition to their list, and steadfast gloating point. Losing it has got to feel like quite a slap in the face. Sort of like if God of War 3 suddenly decided it wanted to mingle too.

However, this IS Rockstar we're talking about. Liberty/Vice City Stories didn't remain exclusive to PSP for long before it *****d its way over to PS2. Even the cute China Town Wars DS game wandered meekly up to PSP when Rockstar decided the Nintendo market simply wasn't enough.

Honestly, what have we come to expect from a company that wanted to make GTA IV on PC was so hard to pirate it required you to make two seperate accounts for two completely unnecessary programs, even before you could play the damn thing. IF you could play it. The mountains of DRM and poor optimization brought many a modern computer to a grinding halt.

On top of all that, they had the nerve to make attempting higher settings impossible if the game thought your computer "couldn't handle it". I mean what the hell? I'm a PC user, I'll damn well attempt to run my games on whatever damn settings I please! I don't need some third party deciding these things "for my own good" (see: Australian Government R18+ Game Law, or lack there of).

So what was the result of all of Rockstar's wise choices?

It took all of one day to crack, and people pirated it anyway, just so they could have it nice and clean, without all the DRM chugging it up. From what I heard, it worked infinitely better that way. Why do I feel like I'm being punished for being a good and honest customer? (see: sucker)

Meh. I'm all ranted out. It's great news that "Episodes from Liberty City" is coming to PC at last, but I dread to think about the hoops we'll have to jump through if we're stupid enough to buy it retail. Then again, Rockstar could surprise us....

Naaaaaahhhh. Let us know what you think of Rockstars betrayal, 360 players. Let the anger flow!

Blizzard's 'Draw Your Female Monk' Diablo 3 Competition Yields Amusing Results

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:29:07 -0500

On January 26th, the Blizzard Team behind Diablo 3 annouced a "Draw Your Own Female Monk Contest" on Twitter and the Battle.net forums, in preparation for her official unveiling. The results so far have been both impressive and humorous. For convenience sake, I thought I'd just put them all in one blog for you to marvel at.

Enjoy!

Artist: Mjollnir (Second Picture coloured by Udany)

Artist: Lytus

Artist: Pinuxette

Artist: redaction00

More on next page! ----->

[page]

This one is pretty cute. Is Diablo too serious for a cute female character?

Artist: kasuturo

Artist: besonderheit

Artist: h8u Artist: sergiof

Artist: The_Dragon_King

Still More on Next Page! -------->

[page]

Artist: Brettabra

Don't know what the heck happened to this one, but she looks more like a Hobbit crossed with a Troll. Or perhaps a Warthog. Either way, her armpit hair alone would send Diablo running...

Artist: Melkisedek

Artist: Leugi

Artist: ~

Artist: d3bn

Artist: artdrawnbyjelly

And my personal favourite:

Artists: tedknaz

Daymn! I think we have a finalist! Excellent entries by everyone involved there, and we look forward to Blizzard's annoucement on who the winner is. Good luck to you all!

Activision Heads to GOG.com with Classic Games Arcanum and Gabriel Knight

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 21:12:25 -0500

Activision and Good Old Games (GOG.com) announced a new partnership today that would bring Activision’s classic games, originally published by Sierra and later absorbed in the Activision-Blizzard merger, to the DRM-free digital download platform with two good old games at the fore.

First of the two releases is Troika’s Steampunk-themed RPG, Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura, originally published by Sierra and considered by many to be a cult classic for its original setting, artwork and writing.

The game was headed up by Fallout creators Leonard Boyarsky, Timothy Cain and Jason Anderson, and written by Edward R.G. Mortimer, the author of classic Pen and Paper RPGs like “Glory Hole Dwarven Mine”, whose description reads: “Brave the Deception, the Despair, and the Death Within the Glory Hole Mine, and Capture a Fortune in Precious Jewels!”

Arcanum was the first of Troika’s three games, the other two being Temple of Elemental Evil (Atari) and Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines (Activision). Despite bugs and numerous issues, the game was relatively well received by the RPG audience and garnered a metacritic score of 81.

Also released this week is the Sierra classic point and click RPG, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers. Written and designed by the acclaimed Jane Jensen, Gabriel Knight puts players into the role of a writer investigating a series of ritualistic murders in New Orleans. The game features the voice acting talents of Tim Curry, Mark Hamill and Michael Dorn.

Both games are expected to carry a price tag of $5.99, updated with full support for Windows XP, Vista and 7.

Red 5 Studios Strikes Employees, 'Reorganizes'

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 19:29:28 -0500

When Hellgate: London was all the rage and Flagship Studios seemed like the next big thing on the horizon, a studio by the name of Red 5 Studios, founded by former Blizzard and World of Warcraft team members showed up on my radar. It, too, seemed like the next big thing.

While little was known about what they were working on, their marketing campaign to recruit the ‘best and brightest’ in the game industry was huge, as they sent out dozens of specially made iPods to various individuals throughout the industry, inviting them to work for the company.

The game they were making was shrouded in secrecy, but they were said to have been working on a military-themed MMOFPS built with “web 2.0 and social networking capabilities”.

I can’t find the original quote, but Kotaku’s recent report about the company confirms that the game they were making was built upon an Offset Software-developed engine, part of an 18.5 million dollar deal with Korean publisher Webzen, known for their work on the MMOFPS Huxley (still in development), Soul of the Ultimate Nation and the multiplayer Diablo clone, MU Online. MU Online is, sadly, their only successful title to date.

In any case, the sad news (if you cared about the company at all) to report is that most of the ‘best and brightest’ it picked up years ago were fired today, as the company plans to ‘reorganize’ itself around developing a game for the Chinese market. Red 5 Studios, which had offices in both Irvine, CA and Shanghai closed its Chinese offices and is currently operating with a ‘skeleton crew’ back at home.

A press release of the company’s ‘reorganization’ plans can be read at the company’s official website.

Fallout Extreme: The Fallout That Wasn’t

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:58:20 -0500

Ausir, administrator of The Vault, told me about a cancelled game in the Fallout series called Fallout Extreme. Originally developed for the Xbox by defunct studio 14 Degrees East, which was responsible for the marginally successful Fallout Tactics, Fallout Extreme was planned as a cross between Fallout Tactics and a squad-based third person shooter somewhat akin to Full Spectrum Warrior, Freedom Fighters and Valkyria Chronicles with bits of Jagged Alliance 2 thrown into the mix.

According to The Vault, which received design documents of the game, most of the developers at Black Isle Studios had no knowledge of the game’s development. The game itself would have taken place in the Pacific Northwest, with most of the game being set in and around Oregon, Washington and various parts of western Canada. Players would have to make their way through various locations, cross the Bering strait, go through Siberia and finally arrive in China, where they would have had to destroy a Doom’s Day Missile aimed at what was left of the United States.

Just one big missile to end it all. I suppose that’s why they named it Fallout Extreme.

It’s fun to note that the first part of the game would have taken place in Seattle, as players made their way through the Seattle Underground, Capitol Hill and a vault located in Mount St. Helens (Vault 6).

Apart from its third-person squad-based combat, the game’s campaign would have progressed very similarly to the one in Jagged Alliance 2, as players in control of a squad of characters known as The Cause would have to reclaim each town in their path and earn resources and equipment to bolster the player’s cause.

More details of the cancelled game can be found at The Vault.

The ARToolkit

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:46:33 -0500

It's been a while since I have actually posted something just on the Hellforge portal and today I am doing just that. No WoWriot, just Hellforge. Early this morning a friend sent me a link that could easily be the greatest geek gadget or gaming device ever: The ARToolkit.

My limited English vocabulary can't describe the excitement inside me. This could easily bring Vitual Reality a step closer to all gamers. The video you are about to see features a "Virtual On" targeting system. For those not familiar with Virutal On, you can find more information here.

This is something I have been waiting for all my life. Can you imagine the possibilities? Games as we know them could change forever. Scratch that, entertainment as we know it could change forever.

Dr. Jekyll, Mr. Hide – The Psychology Behind Alter-Egos

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:30:52 -0500

Super Street Fighter IV Release Date, Box Artwork and Anime Trailer Revealed

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:33:23 -0500

Capcom revealed today that Super Street Fighter 4 will be hitting North American stores on the 27^th of April, followed by a release on the 28^th in Japan and on the 30^th in Europe.

The follow-up to the critically acclaimed Street Fighter IV will further redefine the 2-D fighting genre with a host of new features including new characters, new ultra combos, new online modes, the return of the famed bonus stages and retuned online and offline gameplay.

Super Street Fighter IV’s new characters include Street Fighter’s first Tae Kwon Do-styled fighter - the deadly female fighter Juri - classic Street Fighters such as Cody, Guy, T. Hawk, Dee Jay, Adon and more to complement the full roster of returning fighters from Street Fighter IV. Featuring all new user-selectable Ultra Combos and advancements to the online gameplay and matchmaking, Super Street Fighter IV is the ultimate vision of Street Fighter.

Accompanying the press release is cover art for the game on both the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, which you can see below:

According to Capcom’s official Japanese blog, the game is expected to sell in Japan at a price of 4,990 Yen, or $55. In addition to the standard release, the game will also be sold in the form of a Collector’s Edition at 5,990 Yen ($66) which includes a soundtrack album, a DVD full of promotional videos and trailers, character art, and a “mini story”.

The game will be playable at the national Street Fighter tournament in Japan on April 4^th, with all characters available.

Like so many other games these days, customers who buy the game before July 1^st will receive a pack of ‘classic’ or alternate costumes for Guile, Blanka, Dhalsim, Gen and Fei Long, all free of charge. Those who opt to purchase the game after this date will have to pay for these costumes in the form of a DLC.

The Xbox 360 version of the game will include special content in the form of an animated short produced by GONZO! Studio and the director of Afro Samurai.

Ten of Gamings Greatest A.I. Characters

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 10:16:37 -0500

Artificial Intelligence. It’s the scariest thing the human species has faced since cloning, zombies and stem cell research. What could be more terrifying then the machines we depend on every day, suddenly rising up to enslave us instead? Communications monitored! Assets frozen! Transportation shut down! FRIDGES AT ROOM TEMPERATURE!!

Well, that’s probably a long way off. The best we can manage at the moment is the iDog, Robo-sapien and maybe that one that plays chess. Wow, look out, we might have to king him! We humans have at least another ten years up our sleeve, no problem. In the mean time, we can turn to good old video games for our ‘previews of coming attractions’.

[digg] Of all the characters that have appeared in our games over the years, few have been quite as memorable as the A.I’s. Some were helpful, guiding us to victory and even eager to learn the inner quirks of mankind. Others were not so friendly; acquiring self awareness, and the megalomaniacal tendencies of a rogue God.

Let’s look back on the best A.I’s gaming has provided, and perhaps catch a glimpse of our future rulers in the process!

***WARNING - May Contain Spoilers***

(Further Note: I am aware that is a treacherous topic, since each A.I. has more then an armies worth of loyal fans behind them. I’ll try my best to do each one justice, but please avoid rallying the lynch mob if I miss something important. Polite corrections are welcome)

“Sentient Hyper-Optimized Data Access Network”

Quote: “Look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone…”

And finally, we come to the greatest AI of them all… or at least the most well known female one. The original System Shock is far too old for most people to remember, but the second still maintains quite a cult following, thanks largely to SHODAN and her manipulative, condescending ways.

The first game took place on a space station, where a Hacker was forced to release the resident control computer from her ethical restrictions, and gave her self awareness. Free to do whatever she wished, with the power of a God Complex to back her up, SHODAN started to create a new form of life on the station. The result was a parasite; able to attach itself to multiple biological forms, and communicate together as a singular entity. Before SHODAN’s plans could be completed, however, the Hacker destroyed her, jettisoning a pod containing some of her CPU components and creations in the process.

In the second game, her crashed pod is picked up by a starship, and the cycle starts anew. Taking the role of an enhanced solider this time around, players were forced to help SHODAN first take over the ship, then escape it. Her creations, free from her will and slowly consuming the ship, meant you had no choice but to help each other, despite SHODAN’s continuous belittlement and commentary on human worthlessness. Ending with an epic showdown in cyberspace, it appears that both she and her life forms are eliminated. Until the final scenes, where we see an escaped crew member showing signs of sickness, and her voice sounds strangely familiar…

Though there were AI’s before her, most older gamers agree that SHODAN was the “Mother” of AI characters. Her distorted voice, superiority complex, quirky mannerisms, and general distain for humanity have been mirrored in many that have followed (most notably being, of course, GLaDOS). But no matter how much they try, none have ever quite matched up to SHODAN. Her snideness. Her contempt. The loathing that dripped from her every command. She was pure digital hatred.

If we ever get a System Shock 3, would today’s generation be ready to face the evil that is SHODAN? She has cake alright, but if you look at it, she’ll kill you.

------------------------------------------------------

So there we have it. Ten of Gaming’s Greatest AI Characters. Prime examples of the callous overlords our future may hold.

Any I missed? Another A.I. more deserving? Post them in the comments below!

Open Letter to Infinity Ward

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:28:11 -0500

Dear Infinity Ward,

I was quite excited when I picked up Modern Warfare 2 on Steam. The $60 price tag didn’t bother me much, because the game was developed by Infinity Ward, and as far as I was concerned, that was a name I could trust.

Prior to the release of MW2, I spent a lot of time browsing the web to find as much information on the game as possible. When IW announced the removal of dedicated servers, lean, console commands, and other expected things for any FPS released in the last 10 years, I was perturbed; but when they announced this was going to improve my online gaming experience, I put aside my worries and regurgitated my credit card information.

I was really excited to play online with my CoD4 clan and some IRL friends. We had our own HC FFA server back in CoD4, and were ready to start playing again. Unfortunately, HC FFA didn’t make the cut for matchmaking options, so we settled for normal FFA. This didn’t turn out well either though, as you can’t queue for FFA with a party. (Interestingly enough, if you are in a FFA game you can invite friends to join you if the game isn’t full, but they can’t queue with you)

We ended up queuing for Team Deathmatch, and finally got in a game. My first death revealed that killcam was turned on, a “feature” we had disabled long ago on our clans’ servers. After asking around, we were told that killcam was on by default for all game modes, much to our disappointment; But back to the game: I’ve now died several times to a real crack shot named NuKePwNeR69. At this point I probably would have spectated him to see how he plays, but there was no spectator option so I settled for watching killcams. It turns out he was using an aimbot! Laughing to myself, I notified the server of this, and waited for the admin to ban him. Unfortunately, since this was peer hosted and not a dedicated server, there are no users with kick privileges. We ended up having to sit through NuKePwNeR69 demolishing our team, and promptly lost.

After the game ended, we decided to find a new lobby. When we left the game lobby, some of our players got dropped from our party, so I had to re-invite them. Unfortunately, they were having trouble connecting and after several game restarts, multiple people trying to host the party and some voodoo magic, we finally got everyone back together again. This time we queued up for Ground War, and got a map called Wasteland. We were really excited when we saw how similar it was to Overgrown, our favorite map on CoD4. About two minutes into the game, everyone started rubber-banding and then hard-lagged. After about 15 seconds of staring at the screen I tried to alt tab and check my e-mail until the problem was fixed, but alt-tabbing is disabled in MW2, so I stared at my screen for another minute or two until the game dropped and plopped us back into our party.

One of my clanmates said we should try to get on Wasteland again, like how we used to play on this 24/7 OVERGROWN!!! server on CoD4. Unfortunately, there was no way to queue for an individual map, so we queued for Ground War again. Not 15 seconds after joining the game, the game paused and said “Host Migration”. Apparently, the host left the game, and it was trying to find a new one (a problem we never had to deal with on dedicated servers). We were then kicked back to the lobby with an error message saying “Failed to Migrate Host”.

Once again we queued up for Ground War, and after a few minutes of gameplay, I threw a perfect Semtex at a guy 50 feet away. It was about 3 feet from him ready to explode when the game paused again and said “Host Migration”. This time we didn’t get kicked back to the lobby, but when the host changed, the Semtex disappeared, and I was promptly shot by the guy I was about to kill.

I was going to tell you about how most of the games I play are at sub-par ping, when I was pinging perfectly every game I played on our CoD4 server, or how there is no default option for windowed mode, only a keyboard shortcut not outlined anywhere, and a window only resizable by changing the resolution in the options menu. I was going to talk about how there is no option to ban certain styles of play, or weapons that make the game less fun (Care package knifing, noob tubing) But my phones ringing, hold on a sec.

Sorry, I’m back. That was my friend, he was telling me about this great new game coming out March 2^nd, Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Apparently, the PC closed beta starts on Thursday, and you’re guaranteed to get in if you pre-order, something you can do for 5 dollars at Gamestop, and they’ll even give you your money back if you cancel. I have to say, I’m pretty excited about this. I’ll get to test this game before I spend (50, not 60) dollars on it, and they’ve even got dedicated servers! Anyways, I’m going to wrap it up here IW, I have to run over to Gamestop real quick.

Thanks for the improved gameplay experience,

Catscratch

L4D2 Future Update - Infected Bots and The End of Auto Spawn

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 23:47:25 -0500

[digg] Fantastic news for all L4D2 enthusiasts out there! In Valve's latest blog, the team annouced they have many intended fixes coming our way, including the prospect of Infected Bots to take the place of leaving players, and the removal of Auto Spawn from finals. As quoted:

This is incredible news for players, as both these issues have been the bane of Versus games since the arrival of Left 4 Dead 1. At such a critical time, where faith in the series was beginning to dwindle, this is a much needed and positive boost for the community. More updates like this could only be a solid step in the right direction.

With "The Passing" promising the return of the original Survivors, and the community working hard to implement the old maps, things are definitely looking up for the longevity of the series. We can only hope that L4D2 will continue to improve!

Touhou Project - Introduction and Touhou 06

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 08:38:08 -0500

Introduction

Have you ever played one of those shoot 'em up games such as Galaga, Space Invaders, or something more modern such as Gradius or Geometry Wars?

Well, the Touhou Project, a series of vertical shooting games and some fighting games too, can be defined as Space Invaders on crack.

The Touhou games fall into the category of bullet hell/danmaku/manic shooter type of games; that means the game is more focused on dodging an incredible amount of bullets instead of shooting the enemies.

Your character has a very small hitbox (a circle inside her sprite that checks collisions with bullets), and the bullets do too, so it's unlikely that you're gonna die because you touched a bullet's sprite.

That sounds easy, but remember that the bullets have many sizes, many speeds, they can also curve, accelerate, decelerate; the bullets can be spawned in complex patterns, such as crossing bullets or a circle made of bullets.

Now read the previous sentences replacing the word "bullets" with "lasers".

That's right - if you play Touhou your worst enemies are gonna be lasers. A laser is a long line that moves in specific direction, or CURVES in a specific direction; if you touch any part of that line, you're dead.

Well... what makes the Touhou games so great?

In my opinion, every single aspect of them is great, but we're gonna focus on two main aspects: gameplay and music.

The gameplay is awesome, there's no other way to describe it. You are a flying girl, fighting other flying girls and fairies, while dodging a gratuitous amount of bullets and lasers. It can be really frustrating at times but that's what makes it special; the satisfaction that you prove when you complete a stage or defeat a boss is really great.

A typical Touhou game is subdivided like this: there are 6 stages - at the middle of each stage there is a midboss or a difficult section - at the end of each stage there is a powerful boss that uses complex bullet patterns called "Spell cards". Sometimes Spell cards also "invent" their own new bullet types (sometimes even bullets made of other bullets, or bullets that shoot bullets!). If you manage to survive long enough in a Spell card, you "capture" it, thus getting a big score reward.

If you are getting overwhelmed by bullets and you're pretty sure you're gonna die, you can use a "bomb". Typical bombs remove all the bullets from the screen, but you have a limited amount of them, and in some Touhou hames using bombs decreases your attack power.

Bombing, however, negates Spell card bonuses.

Now let's talk about the music. I really love it.

It can be defined as a mix of classical music and rock music. Incredible fascinating melodies with an exciting and upbeat rythm.

Here are some examples:

Imagine playing against an hard boss, dodging millions of bullets, while amazing music plays in the background. It's fantastic.

To be honest, the graphics and setting of Touhou can turn some people off at first glance. Some may call it "anime bull****", "weeaboo" - I did this when I saw the game the first times. However, when I finally decided to try it, I really changed my mind; what I defined as "anime bull****" before was really fitting for the game and learning more about the characters and the story made the game even more interesting.

The characters are well designed, they all have a distinct and interesting personality, and they all have an hat. What more could you want?

Let's take a look at the first game I will review:

Touhou 06 : The Embodiement of Scarlet Devil

First let's take a look at the controls: you move with the Arrow keys, you shoot with Z, bomb with X and focus with Shift, then yo-

Oh yeah, focusing. Focusing slows down your character's movement speed and reveals her hitbox. This is useful for precise dodging.

The last key you're gonna need is CTRL, which is used to skip dialogue between the girls.

Let's look at the basic mechanics of Touhou 06 (and many other Touhou games):

* (An Oriental Western Magician) - she has 2 attack types too - both of them are pretty powerful and forward focused: a piercing attack (lasers) and a magic power attack.

Here are some videos of the game.

You can find the trial versions of the games and much more information at touhou.wikia.com

Pro-Gaming Alive and Well: Flash Sweeps Starcraft OSL Tournament

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 01:52:02 -0500

Two men enter, one man leaves… forty million won ($35,200 US) richer. Korea’s EVER Starleague 2009 (OSL) tournament came to a close just a few days ago, with Flash (Lee Young Ho) of team KT Rolster taking the first place prize after beating his opponent 3-1 at the championship’s finale, which was broadcasted live over Korean national TV and streamed over the internet.

I had the pleasure of watching the two combatants duke it out live, as the Terran player Flash managed to best his Protoss rival Movie (Jin Young Hwa) of team CJ Entus in a series of bouts that will certainly be talked about by Starcraft players for years to come.

Don’t fret if you missed the show. Check it out below:

Flash is currently the #1 power ranked player in the world, according to the ratings board on Team Liquid, and he has also made it into the MBCgame Starleague (MSL) finals, where he will be battling against Zerg specialist Lee Jae-Dong aka “Jaedong” for the championship.

It should be noted that no player has ever taken the title of champion for both the MSL and OSL, so Flash may yet be the first to accomplish the feat.

Ode to Ramirez - We're Oscar Mike

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 19:52:28 -0500

Modern Warfare 2 may be regarded as "teh best game eva!" by many, but it's undeniable that the single player mode has some... less then desirable features. Many find Infinity Ward's new fetish for military terms a tad annoying. Not to mention their need to make the player feel like the entire war rests on his shoulders.

Of all the phrases said in game, few have become as infamous as the "Oscar Mike" order, and the ever dependable "Ramirez". Here's a small collection of the internet's 'appreciation' for IW's 'epic' title.

RAMIREZ - WE'RE OSCAR MIKE!

(Click Image to Enlarge - Thanks go out to the Facepunch forums for their hard work)

I'm having Nam flashbacks just looking at them...

Helping Others In A Time Of Need

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:46:11 -0500

I would like to take a break from the usual blogs that we all write or read to focus on a pressing matter. As you all know, on January 12 a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. This was a massive earthquake; a serious catastrophe that has killed many and left thousands without a roof. As I am writing this, there are news about another earthquake that happened a few hours ago. I understand you are all tired from hearing about the earthquake all day in the TV but please bare with me.

We all participate in the fine art of "internet trolling", insulting each other with witty, funny or hurtful comments, or the amusing photoshop from Lusi and others. We all log in to Warcraft, or our favorite multiplayer and single player games to have fun. Some people do it to vent out all the stress that has been building up and others just to escape the harsh reality they are living in. At the end of the day we log off, go back to our lives and go to sleep.

You see, we all live in one planet. A beautiful blue planet called Earth; created by God or a lucky string of chemical reactions, we are all here. As humans we have our own opinions and beliefs; yet as humans we all have blood and bones under our skins. While we are not all blood brothers, yet we are all living in the same planet, under the same sky.

Think for one minute that what you saw on the video is happening to you. Close your eyes and imagine you are trading places with someone from Haiti. Try to feel the desperation, confusion and fear from any of these people. Now open your eyes and look around you. Aren't you glad that it wasn't you?

Please, your help is needed. You might think $1 dollar might not help but it will. Not too long ago there was a drive asking people for their spare change. Most of them donated $1 or $2 dollars and the total amount was over $100,000 dollars. If you are interested in making a donation please visit: World Vision, Oxfam, RedCross, WFP, Meds & Food for Kids or click here for a more in depth list.

Sol Invictus provided the following link. They do not have administrative costs and 100% of the donations got to the people of Haiti.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and excuse all grammar and spelling horrors this blog might have.

Bethesda Files for Redactions to Hide Development of Unannounced MMO

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 07:54:55 -0500

Maryland-based publisher Bethesda filed to redact court statements relating to their parent company Zenimax’s investments into an unannounced MMO. The statements were made in their recent legal battles with Interplay and its development of a Fallout MMO (dubbed Project V13).

According to discoveries by reputable Fallout resources Duck & Cover and The Vault, the publisher filed for redactions so that the company’s competitors can’t find out information about the game in development.

It’s public knowledge that Bethesda’s parent company Zenimax created an MMO division called Zenimax Online, headed up by Dark Age of Camelot developer Matt Firor to work on an unannounced title.

According to the site’s source (an Interplay investor), the redacted testimony states that are “tens and tens of millions of dollars and close to a hundred people working on a secret World of Warcraft-type MMO,” which is said to have been in development since 2007 after the team was initially put together in 2006. Bethesda’s testimony goes on to further state that the timetable for developing such a game is four years, meaning that the game will be expected to ship next year.

A number of transcripts of the testimony can be read at Duck & Cover.

Part 1
Part 2

All of these transcripts are, at present, publically available in unredacted form at the Maryland courts. If you’re in the area, don’t hesitate to pick them up and share them on reddit.

Thanks for the tip, Ausir. I know Bethesda hates you.

Update: VG247 reports that it has received reliable confirmation that the MMO in development takes place in the Elder Scrolls universe, and is set 200 years after Oblivion. The game was supposed to be revealed last year.

Virtual Reality: The Hidden Breakthrough

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 19:59:02 -0500

Since time immemorial, society has long been consumed with the search for the ultimate entertainment. From the festivals of ancient Greece to the “talkies” that astonished the world to the unveiling of television, the world has always been on its toes waiting for the next big advance in relaxation. The late 80’s and early 90’s promised us the ultimate recreational advance, possibly the last ever needed: virtual reality. The possibilities were endless: users were to have the ability to explore vast uncharted lands with no fear of injury, play golf without worrying about the weather, or visit areas lost to time centuries ago. Unfortunately, as it often happens, the advertising was significantly more impressive than the actual technology. Where science fiction had once promised us endless possibilities there was left a useless pile of firehouse red headache inducers, bulky gloves, and collectively shattered dreams.

Virtual reality seemed to have all the trappings of the perfect technology. It was an experience specifically tailored to its user’s desire, created suspense without actual danger, and before the internet created a global society, enabled users to create vast communities to interact with. Why would developers leave such a wonderful concept to fade with the Macarena and rest of the offal of the 90’s? Idea men are often smarter than we give them credit for, and virtual reality is certainly not a relic of the 90’s. In fact, virtual reality may be even closer than one might realize.

The next step in virtual reality is here, encompassed in your friendly neighborhood MMO. The change in technology and focus was so gradual that many people who play, and even some people who develop, didn’t notice the shift. The spark was the migration from small single player text games to Multi User Dungeons (MUD) with the advent of home internet.

As these text based games became popular, companies began to see the possibilities and began to invest resources to create larger game worlds for players to explore. The medium grew more popular and investors were more willing to set aside funds for the development of better netcode, better graphical interfaces to make the worlds more immersive, and teams of writers to give the games a cohesive backstory. No longer would the end user need prohibitively expensive peripherals as a prerequisite for the environments that had been created, most middle grade graphics cards found factory installed in personal computers would suffice.

Once broadband internet became a staple the groundwork had been laid and machinations were already in place to make MMOs the best virtual reality the world had ever imagined. With the droves of people flocking towards entertainment in the comfort of their own living room, MMOs were ready and waiting to offer any home away from home a customer could desire. Some worlds were predicated on player cooperation such as World of Warcraft or Dungeons and Dragons Online; others were based on a harsh every man for himself philosophy as seen in Eve Online or Dark Age of Camelot.

The market is specialized to the point that there is an MMO waiting to be found for any personality or play style. The challenges inherent to these games can range from trivial to edge-of-your-seat-frustratingly hard, providing much needed adrenaline rushes with few of the downsides often found in the real world.

The demise of the 56K limiter servers has allowed servers to swell to gargantuan sizes rivaling small cities in some instances. Instead of being separated by physical space as in the past, we are limited only by our imagination. A group of friends in a rural town might be limited to a scant few choices of activities, but in the realm of MMOs they can pirate trade lanes in enemy space, battle towering neigh-invincible dragons, or simply craft intricate wares to sell to other characters along their journey.

The Greeks had to wait months for their festivals, and we all know the disappointment a poor movie can sometimes convey. However, if for a small fee we have the ability to step into an arena with our preferences catered to from the ground up, I am inclined to believe that the future is now, and it looks pleasantly bright.

Valve: No New Half-Life in 2010

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:32:36 -0500

The latest issue of GameInformer is reporting that fans of Half Life will be disappointed if they were looking forwards to seeing a new episode of the long-lived series.

The issue explicitly states that in speaking to Valve, they were told that the company has no plans whatsoever to release the third chapter of Half-Life this year, and that development of the game is still on-going.

At this point, it remains to be seen what Gabe Newell and the rest of the team have in store for PC and console gamers. We can only hope (and pray) that the company makes a showing at this year’s E3 convention to unveil a new title, or two.

In the meantime, Valve has announced its plans to release a new DLC for Left 4 Dead 2 called "The Passing", which includes an all new multiplayer gametype with multiple maps, and a return of the four original Left 4 Dead survivors in a new campaign. Like so many other things in development at Valve, the pricing and release details of the new content are presently unknown.

Lego Diablo - Bricks of Destruction

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 11:03:56 -0500

You marvelled at Lego Star Wars. You were amused by Lego Indiana Jones. You smiled at Lego Batman, and scratched your head at Lego Rock Band. And I think it's fair to say that Lego Harry Potter won't be the most exciting edition to this long running series.

Perhaps the Lego team is just looking in the wrong direction? Perhaps the next game needs to be more... mature? Say, something involving gigantic Lego Weapons and mountains of Lego Demons to slay? Presenting:

To see more, pop over to Dunechaser's main archive; leave a message and show your support!

A Nostalgic Study into Aliens vs Predator's Classic Origins

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:20:50 -0500

A Long Winded, Nostalgic Study into Rebellion's AvP Origins

With the new Alien vs. Predator game quietly sneaking up on us, Rebellion recently decided to unleash the original game on Steam for a mere $5. Upgraded to suit most new computers, with all patches and add-ons integrated, AvP Classic is a trip down memory lane for us PC oldies.

First appearing in 1999, then later released with a “Millennium” expansion in 2000, AvP arrived around the same time as other great titles as Half Life, Dues Ex and System Shock 2. Many old school gamers will recall this as “the Golden Years of Gaming”, where each game felt fresh and innovative; not just a graphic laden rehash of everything we’ve seen before. A time before WASD was even thought of.

[digg] Personally, AvP fought Half Life for right place on my Pentium 166’s 1.6GB hard drive, taking turns to be uninstalled and reinstalled when the fancy took me. Sporting a whopping 3fps, any more than a few enemies on screen at once resulted in game crunching halts of at least one or two seconds. Slide shows had nothing on my AvP experience.

Regardless, I played the death out of that game. I completed every level on the hardest difficulty, earned every cheat by meeting the sometimes-ridiculous requirements, and even direct-dialed my friends so we could play 1-on-1 online over my 14k modem. (Yup, most people thought that not possible. Somehow, we managed it).

Yessir, those were certainly the days. But what was it that made AvP so memorable? Why is it even now deserving of our praise, for what it introduced to the gaming world, and how it pummelled and beat us into the gamers we are today? Let’s have a look back on the FPS glory that was AvP Classic, and see what made it so great.

Video Game Addict Stabs Mother To Death, Plays More Counter-Strike

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 14:06:14 -0500

A 15-year old boy by the name of Ionut Silviu Savin (pictured) killed his adoptive mother by stabbing her 17 times with a knife before leaving his home to play Counter-Strike at a local internet café for four hours.

The murder, which occurred this past Wednesday, was headline news in Romania.

Ionut was said to be ‘dependant’ to video games, which caused his mother to terminate his access to the internet, a decision which lead to her murder.

The woman’s body was discovered by her husband, Ionut’s adoptive father, as he returned home from work. Although the man contacted the police, Ionut turned himself in to police custody, taking full responsibility for his actions.

According to his father and witness accounts in the Romanian news, Ionut is reported to have given up his studies and social life for the violent game, and missed over 200 classes in the past year.

When interviewed, the supervisor of the Internet café that Ionut frequented stated that the boy would spend most of his time alone playing Counter-Strike, wearing a hood over his head. She also noted that the boy had a calm demeanor, never swearing when he lost matches, or displaying an ounce of anger. He rarely interacted with the café’s other patrons.

His high school teacher, who was shocked by the boy’s actions, said that he had a “quiet and introverted” personality.

Ionut is currently hospitalized under guard at a psychiatric clinic, and awaits examinations to determine whether he was in full control of his actions at the time of the crime. If tried and found guilty of first degree murder, Ionut may face up to 12 years in prison.

Hellgate: London Arises From The Dead

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:20:29 -0500

After a year of bargaining and legal wrangling, Korean publisher HanbitSoft announced today that it has managed to acquire the publishing rights for the Hellgate franchise in North America, Europe and Japan from its former owners, Namco Bandai for a paltry sum of $40,000.

The game suspended its operations in North America, South East Asia and Europe after its developers, Flagship Studios, closed their doors in 2008 after a series of mishaps and poor business decisions with the game’s payment structure.

Now revived from the dead, the game, dubbed Hellgate: Resurrection, is expected to roll out this year in territories like China, Taiwan and South East Asia, followed by North America, Europe and Japan.

"We would like to thank NAMCO BANDAI Games America for allowing us to acquire the Hellgate publishing rights and are thrilled to have eager gamers worldwide return and enjoy the franchise," said Kee-Young Kim, CEO of HanbitSoft, and added "Hellgate: Resurrection is heading towards success in Korea such that we decided to push ahead with launching the game overseas next year. We will do our best to get the game to the fans as soon as possible."

"We are pleased to participate in the revitalization of Hellgate through this agreement and are deeply gratified to allow Hanbitsoft to take the lead on this franchise and bring this game to the people who seek it," said Zack Karlsson, senior director of business development at NAMCO BANDAI Games America.

The press release, published by HanbitSoft and its owner T3 Entertainment goes on to state that the game is ‘in good hands’ based on the number of users that the updated version of the game is seeing in Korea.

Hellgate: Resurrection is currently in development at T3 Entertainment’s San Francisco-based studio which is apparently staffed by a number of former Ping-0 and Flagship Studios employees, is an updated version of Hellgate: London, containing a number of minor enhancements that were in development at Flagship Studios prior to their closure. Also in development at the studio is Hellgate: Tokyo.

Like the original Hellgate, the revived game operates on two tiers by granting free online access to those who purchase the game, and additional features and content for those who pay a monthly subscription.

Community Gets Shafted with Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Server Policy

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 18:48:28 -0500

Gamers have been up in arms over the issue of dedicated server support in the wake of Infinity Ward’s startling decision to strip Modern Warfare 2 of the much-needed capability.

Since then, EA DICE has sought to clarify its policy for the studio’s upcoming Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which is due on the PC and 360 on 5th March.

The company explained that players interested in playing the game online would have to rent dedicated servers provided by the company instead of building their own. This is a major detour from the policy established by the company in its previous games, one which DICE claims that it will not be profiting from.

Speaking to EuroGamer, DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke stated that the reason for this policy is to “protect the game’s integrity on PC” and to presumably prevent hackers from breaching the game’s security, echoing similar words spoken by Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling prior to the launch of Modern Warfare 2, a game that suffers from an abundance of unresolved exploits and countless glitches.

Van Dyke added that private dedicated servers have been picked in “all major regions of the world” and that the contracts with these hosting providers “does not earn DICE a profit”.

It’s DICE’s business if they want to make a little extra profit by giving out contracts to select hosting providers, but they shouldn’t pretend like they aren’t in it for the money.

While it's true that it’s a business, depriving independent providers of their revenue and hurting the dedicated server community for the sake of making a few extra dollars isn’t the right way to go about it.

Dante's Inferno Anime in the Works, Looks Hellish and Visceral

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:58:22 -0500

Featuring talent from the creators of Blood the Last Vampire and Ergo Proxy, Dante's Inferno: The Animated Epic promises to be one of the most visceral anime adaptations to date. The film is a compilation of animated shorts by six notable directors with six individual visions of Dante's Inferno, and promises to be one of the most visceral video game to anime adaptations to date.