Piracy has long been a scourge of gaming, affecting and frustrating both developers and players, for intertwined but different reasons. Game distributors have tried many things to combat piracy. It started with CD keys and progressed to DRM that limits the possible number of installations or requires internet access at all times. Some developers even include code that will glitch pirated games, leading to some truly hilarious resul
The second runner-up in the BAFTA nominations race is Tearaway , which is impressive considering for a game only available on a mobile platform. Released on the PlayStation Vita and developed by Media Molecule, the studio behind the LittleBigPlanet games, Tearaway is set in a paper world that definitely seemed to charm the Academy, based on the eight nominations it received in categories such as Game Innovation, Game Design and Best G
Let’s do the same thing for Heroes of the Storm. I press z to mount my horse (so I can get to my lane quickly), and now I have to worry about a stealth characters ganking me while I push my lane up to the enemy tower to try and exhaust it before the object appears. Here’s the best part: when that objective does appear I have to be ready for a team fi
The voice over narration perfectly sets up the conflict that the Horde and Alliance have remained locked in for the last ten years and by focusing on unnamed heroes, rather than icons of the Warcraft world , players are able to imagine themselves as the Orc warrior going berserk or the Dwarf hunter exploring the snowy mountains. Maybe it’s just nostalgia taking over, but we’re tempted to roll a new character every time the drums of war start beating in this trai
_ Heroes of the Storm _ , on the other hand, has a colossal _ thirteen _ maps, each meticulously balanced to give each team a fair chance at victory. Each map has its own variations in terms of size, lane separation, and jungle encampments (called mercenary camps in _ HotS _ ) that all feel very different, making each game fresh and excit
BAFTA announced the nominees today, and somewhat unsurprisingly The Last of Us is top dog once again with an impressive ten nominations. These include a Best Performer nomination apiece for Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson, as well as nominations for Artistic Achievement, Action and Adventure, Audio Achievement, Original Music, Multiplayer, Story, Game Design and – the big one – Best Game. Naughty Dog may well end up needing a wheelbarrow to carry home those golden ma
A favorite to win this year’s Phase 2 Western Clash, HeroesHearth Esports has been dominant this season as one of two undefeated teams. Additionally, they have only lost three of the 21 games they’ve played so far. The team has really made a name for themselves, even though they were drafted from the Open Division just last y
So what’s the future business model for games? It depends on the individual company and the product they’re producing. A single-player RPG seems like fixed price is the right model, but considering the popularity of online multiplayer, we’re seeing fewer and fewer of them. As time goes on, the purely single-player experience may fall by the wayside—already, we’re seeing more games implement multiplayer modes in previously single-player ga
February is a bit of a dry month when it comes to video MOBA game hero builds releases, which makes it a great time to look back on the biggest hits of 2013. It was an exciting year in gaming, not only due to the launch of two major new consoles, but also because of the high quality of storytelling and gameplay in the titles that were relea
In addition to its lore significance, the trailer is also incredibly intense and well done. It manages to pack story, action, and flash all into one package. Just like all the best Blizzard products
Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto V isn’t lagging too far behind, with a respectable nine nominations in categories including Best Game, Best British Game, Best Performer (for Steven Ogg, who voiced Trevor) and Game Innovation. Released to both critical acclaim and the usual controversy, Grand Theft Auto V was the first game in the franchise to feature three protagonists, with the player able to move between each of them at almost any t
There’s one thing I will always give _ League _ over _ HotS: _ they have a massive roster of champions. At 134 and growing, players have way more selection in _ League _ to pick a champion that best fits their playst
Each match in the regular season is the best of 5 games. Essentially, the first team to win three games wins the match. Game W-L is indicative of a team’s game record, which explains the larger numbers. G +/- is the number of wins minus the number of losses. This will produce a positive or negative number depending on the team’s Game
The HGC Western Clash is a bracketed double-elimination tournament. This allows teams that lose in the first round a second chance; this also means that there are two brackets. When a team gets eliminated from the upper bracket, they are sent down to the lower bracket. If a team loses in the lower bracket, they are eliminated. However, the team that makes its way through the lower bracket will see themselves at the Grand Fi
