In my stumblings around the internet I found a interesting video that uses World of Warcraft to talk about climate change. A Machinima in fact, called Azeroth Global Warming Video from the That’s The Badger Blog. Interesting as well, that this was done before the World of Warcraft Cataclysm upgrade was announced, sort of a prophecy 
WOW and Climate Change
The Elder Scrolls V
Anyone who is a fan of The Elder Scrolls series of games can’t help to have noticed the speculation about the fifth game in the series that periodically erupts around the web.
Today I found some actual news on the subject on the fantastic UESPWiki , albeit over a month after it was originally posted.
Peter Hines, Vice President of Bethesda Softworks in blog post basically clarified the situation. Yes there will in all likelihood be a another game but until such time that there is something to talk about Bethesda will make no comment. Also Bethesda themselves will not be working on an Elder Scrolls MMO. He said that Bethesda do not make MMOs, but that they have another division ZeniMax Online studios who do make them. Both ZeniMax Online Studios and Bethesda Softworks are currently engaged in new projects but are not ready to talk about what they are.
Personally I have loads of hours worth of Morrowind, Oblivion and Fallout 3 still to play so I can wait a bit longer. Also I just started playing The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall which Bethesda have made available for free download. I missed it the first time around so its a real bonus for me.
New Toy – XBox 360
I tried very hard not to buy one. Mainly because I’ve been a Playstation fan since the PS1. Bought a PS2 (two actually but that is another story). Also I bought a PSP which I have found very dissapointing. When are Sony going to make a Keyboard for the PSP? In my mind the PSP had so much potential but it just hasn’t been realised. The PS3 was/is very tempting but remains out of my price range.
Also my son has a Nintendo Wii, and both he and my partner have DS’s. You can tell can’t you, that computer games are very popular in my house.
So I was determined not to have another games console. However, the more and more I went into game shops and saw the games coming out on the X Box 360 the more I wanted one. I’d recommend shopping around if you want to buy an X box 360. There are some great deals out there.
So far I haven’t bought any new games on release, my problem is basically the price, but that goes for all games really, PC and Console. The great thing about coming late to the world of the X box 360 is that there are so many great titles available and again new or second hand shopping around for X box 360 games can find you some great bargains.
One of my favorite games so far has to be Bioshock. The back-story is fantastic and the setting just beautiful, it is no wonder that talk of a film has bounced around the internet. The sequal Bioshock 2 promises to be equally good.
Another great game (or in this case 3 or 5 games depending on how you look at it) is Valve’s – The Orange Box. You get not only Half Life 2 – one of the best first person shooters, but also HL2 episode one and two, Portal – a captivating physical puzzle game and Team Fortress2 – a multiplayer team warfare game.
All in all I’m really enjoying the world of X Box 360, especially the recently added Games on Demand service which lets you download games directly on to the hard-drive, which is really convenient. In many cases there are free demos to try as well.
Wowing again.
For a very very long time I resisted World of Warcraft. I’d played the original games on the PC and really enjoyed them.
For me the first real Multiplayer game I heard of was Ultima Online. I remember being incredibly exited by the prospect. I’d played Ultima IV on the Atari ST. It was a real time sink of a game, I lost hours in the world of Britannia.
The difference graphically between the two games was incredible, I so much wanted to play UO. Sadly my budget at the time would not cope with a monthly fee paying game. However, some years after its release I found an unopened second hand copy of Ultima Online: Renaissance which included 1 month of game play. I was hooked!
I had many niggles about the game, the lack of real roleplaying was the main one, however what I did find was a thing called Ultima Online shard emulation and through that the world of Mytharria. All the fun of a MMORPG without the annoying munchkins! People really roleplayed on Mytharria. Sadly Mytharria suffered a few setbacks and closed but reappeared again using Neverwinter Nights but then the server went poof (if I remeber correctly). It is good to see that the world of Mytharria is still being looked after by a dedicated few.
So my online roleplaying needs were being met when WOW first appeared, I dabbled with Earth & Beyond and palyed GuildWars .
Then I think Blizzard did a free trial and oh dear I downloaded it. Hooked!
Wow is simply fun. There are many things “wrong” with Wow but I’ll leave them to the many detractors on the various forums. I had big hopes for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning and I do play it from time to time. My biggest criticism of WAR though is that it is too much like WOW. I was a big fan of the Warhammer wargame and roleplaying game years ago, so a MMORPG set in that world was very enticing. It just doesn’t feel right though. I’m not sure why.
Jumpgate Evolution Delayed
I’m not as disappointed about this as I thought – after all it means that the game when it is released will be better all round
Jumpgate Evolution update from NetDevil’s President Scott Brown
Jumpgate Evolution promises to fill the “Elite” shaped hole that I’ve had for many years. I think Elite was one of the first games that I really became absorbed by. Although it has to be said that the X series of games from Egosoft comes very close.
More goodies from Bethesda
Not very important news for the majority of the planets population but for us happy few who are fans of Fallout 3 Bethesda have announced that they are planning two more down-loadable content modules. Point Lookout – which is set in a new swamp area and Mothership Zeta – that has the players character being abducted by aliens.
Also good news for PS3 users is that the DLC will be available for them in the near future.
Congratulations Bethesda!
Just found out that Bethesda Game Studios/Bethesda Softworks have recently won the 2008 Game Critics Awards: Game of the Year for Fallout 3. I would rate F3 as one of the best games I’ve played and definitely the best computer RPG.
Well done Bethesda!
