Are you trying to find your way through Starcraft 2 and hitting a few hurdles? Or are you new to the game and looking for some quick examples of what to do and when to do it? Then our FREE Starcraft II guide will get you going. Check out our quick start Tips and Tricks guide to Starcraft II absolutely FREE! We’ve been playing Starcraft 2 since the day it was released,  so we decided to jot down and research a few things that helped get us started. In this FREE guide you will learn:

Basic strategy tips

 Basic economy strategies

 Single player tips and cheats

 Multiplayer secrets

 Do’s and Don'ts

 Players checklist

 PLUS – links to the Internet’s best selling Starcraft 2 Strategy Guide with even MORE tips and tricks.

To get your FREE Starcraft 2 tips and tricks guide, simply Click HERE!

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OMG – Six more weeks until the most highly anticipated game (IMHO) hits the shelves, StarCraft II. When the original came out in 1998, it sold over 11 million copies. It came out at a bad time, the genre had been beaten to death for many years before with games like Masters of Orion and Command and Conquer. But this game offered something quite different. It had only three races and game play was superb. Add to that the voice acting talents of some Mystery Science Theater 3000 alumni and that game was ready to take off.

Now we find ourselves in 2010. To quote a famous Paul McCartney and Wings song, “You’d think that people would have had enough of silly top down viewers.” That’s what I would have thought. Being an old school gamer, I love top down view games. They’re a bit nostalgic but also familiar. The view is perfect for this and other types of games. Sometimes it’s done well and sometimes not so well (I’m talking to you, Civ 4). I’ve been playing the BETA and it seems that they focused on 3d control, not camera control. Take out the fancy camera controls and you’ve got smooth, brilliant 3d graphics that look and play great!

I’ve read on some other boards that people are complaining about he fact there are still only three races (protoss, terran, and zerg). IMHO, there should be no more than those three. Why? Well, have you ever played Warhammer 40k? There are so many army types, races, and variants that it drastically cuts into the game play time and also adds to the total confusion that could ensue when certain rules / abilities are challenged. Sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing. Any Games Workshop product is a testament to that. (Let the hate mail begin…)

The three races keeps it simple to understand and makes you a smarter player by understanding your enemy better. You’re head can be clogged with strategy and tactics rather than remembering complex and numerous one-off rules. To make up for only having three races, they have drastically expanded the types of units that each can produce, and some of the familiar units that return in StarCraft II will have new tricks up their sleeves, which will give the game its own unique flavor. In addition, Battle.net will be overhauled with some new and exciting features to enhance online play and competition, while the single-player campaign will also offer some unique aspects for players to enjoy.

StarCraft II will also be a fully featured multiplayer game, and all three races will be available for competitive play. However, the campaign expansions are race specific, so play a bit with all three races to find the one you want to advance with, then order the expansion specific to that race.

See you on BattleNet!

We released Taipan! for Windows a little over a year ago. Since then, we have received a few requests to provide people with the original BASIC source code for this game. So for those of you that want to take a trip down memory lane and see some old school BASIC programming, here is the source code for the original Taipan!

Our version of the game is based off of the same logic patterns that are contained in the original code. There was some artistic license taken and some new features added (obviously) to make the game more appealing on a Windows platform rather than just a text based game. These include sound, graphics, and quests.

I came across the code the other day while doing a server rebuild and decided to put it up as a quick link here. So for those of you nostalgia freaks that really want to see what that old BASIC code looked like, now is your chance. For you younger gamers / developers out there, take a look at the code and be amazed at how small it is. In those days, a game’s enjoyment was based on your imagination and not all of the visual and audio candy they pepper into games to make them playable. To me, games today are not as cerebral as they were in the old days, but the trade-off is that they look and sound much better.

For a lot of our customers and some of our staff, World of Warcraft (WoW) is the only MMORPG. It’s popularity launched Blizzard from a medium sized gaming company to an online powerhouse. One of our customers bought this WoW cheat code book and sent us an email regarding some of the best tips they found. In honor of our many customers who enjoy WoW, we present this small sampling of World of Warcraft Tips and Tricks.

World of Warcraft Terms & Acronyms

Add: Additional NPCs for the party to fight, usually unexpected or undesired.
AFK: Away From Keyboard
Aggro: To have aggro means that the enemy mobs are focused on the player.
AoE: Area of effect, a spell or item that deals damage to a given area.
BoE: Binds on Equip - An item that becomes soulbound when equipped.
BoU: Binds on Use - An item that becomes soulbound when used.
BoP: Binds on Pick-up - An item that becomes soulbound when picked up.
CC: Crowd Control - spell effects and abilities that limit enemies from performing actions, e.g. Mind Control, Shackle, Sap, Seduce.
DoT: Damage Over Time - spell or ability that deals damage every N seconds, e.g. Poison. 
DPS: Damage Per Second - how much damage a weapon can deal per second on average.
Kite: Kiting an enemy means to aggro the enemy and lead him away from the party, often this is done by hunters who can feign death and escape.
LFG: Looking for Group.
LFM: Looking for More.
MC: Mind Control - spell effect that takes control of an enemy
ML: Master Looter. the person that is designated to loot all items from any kills
MOB: A mob is an NPC.
MT: Main Tank. The main player responsible for keeping the aggro of the enemy away from other party members.
Mule: A player that is designated to carry BoE items until the end of a raid.
Ninja: A ninja is a player that loots an item they are not supposed to loot, many groups use ML to avoid ninjas.
OOM: Out Of Mana.
PST: Please Send Tell.
PvE: Player versus Environment.
PvP: Player versus Player.
WTB: Want to Buy.
WTS: Want to Sell.
WTT: Want to Trade.

Scholomance Hints & Tips

Killing Summoners:
Make sure you have someone in your party that can MC (Mind Control). Use MC on the summoner, and let the other enemies take it out, works extremely well when there are two enemies to attack it. For situations where there is only one other enemy, you may need to bring the summoner to the stairs to prevent it from aggro'ing the entire room.

Warlock Hints & Tips

How to Solo Elites: High level warlocks can use Curse of Doom and Fear to solo high level elites, such as the Demons in the Winterspring Gorge, or the Undead in the Eastern Plaguelands guarding the towers.

Cast Curse of Doom on the target
Cast Fear
Mana up with Dark Pact
Repeat until the target is dead. Note: to speed things up you may want to use your wand and cast Corruption and Siphon Life.

Hunter Hints & Tricks

Taming a New Pet: Use a trap to immobilize your target before you start to tame it. You can also use items such as sticky glue, nets, etc.

Miscellaneous Hints & Tips

Unlimited Storage Space
Ok, instead of buying extra space at the Vault (10 Silver), you can take advantage of the auction/mail system.

Put the item you want to store up for auction at a very high price (something no one will buy)
Set the time of the auction to 2 hours
Just wait, no one should bid on the item and it'll be stored in your mail box, accessible from anywhere.

We’ve had our Sudoku PRO software available for a couple of years now, so we felt it was time for an upgrade. The new version has more features and a significant price reduction!

You can download a FREE 3 day trial version HERE!

Or register the product for only $5.

Sudoku PRO installs on your PC and generates random puzzles with user selectable levels of difficulty (easy, medium, and hard). Since the software generates the puzzles on the fly, each puzzle is unique and different. The combinations are virtually endless! This means that Sudoku PRO will continue providing fresh, quality puzzles every time your ready to play.

Sudoku definition:

Sudoku is a logic-based number placement puzzle. The objective is to fill a 9×9 grid so that each column, each row, and each of the nine 3×3 boxes (also called blocks or regions) contains the digits from 1 to 9 only one time each. The puzzle setter provides a partially completed grid.

The modern puzzle was invented by an American architect, Howard Garns, in 1979 and published by Dell Magazines under the name “Number Place". It became popular in Japan in 1986, after it was published by Nikoli and given the name Sudoku, meaning single number. It became an international hit in 2005.

Now, SudokuPRO allows you a quick, easy to use interface to play the game the way you want. It features advanced options and games can be saved for later enjoyment. Some of the enhancements to Sudoku PRO for this release include:

Three difficulty levels Easy: Get your Sudoku feet wet Medium: More difficult Sudoku puzzles Hard: Sudoku puzzles with minimal starting numbers

Reveal Square key: Shows the value in a selected square

Ability to save and load games

Real-time checking of your progress

"Solve Game" feature so you can see the solution to the current puzzle

Print the current puzzle so you can take it with you when you go

Number Pen to place the same number in multiple squares

Start Over button allows the current puzzle to be restarted

New - Solver Mode allows you to enter an existing Sudoku and reveal the answer

New - Print Pages prints 4 puzzles on a page to take with and enjoy

 

Remember, you can play our FREE online version of Sudoku HERE!

Well, here it is, Saturday morning. I got Mystery Science Theater playing (Episode 509 “The Girl In Lover’s Lane"), which features one of my favorite character names, Big Stupid (aka Bix Dugan). Anyway, I use that time to also catch up on my favorite blogs while sipping the overpriced hot brown water they label as ‘coffee’ at QuickTrip. It was during my routine blog perusal that I caught someone describing a fellow gamer as a ‘Grognard’. Their reasoning for doing so was simply based on the fact that the person was over 40 and grumpy. I couldn’t believe this gross misrepresentation of the term and immediately went to the Internet’s most fervently accurate resource, Wikipedia. Again, I couldn’t believe what I was reading. The term to which an entire generation of gamers gave their Saturday nights defining was being besmirched and misused by the kids of today. Since I am a 40+ year old ‘semi-Grognard’ myself, I will attempt to set the record straight.

“Grognard’ is a French word meaning ‘grumbler’, or one who complains incessantly. This is not to be confused with the French term “Gronarniue’ which means “Drop your rifle and run.” The term made it’s way into the gaming world around the early 80’s, but it did not mean ‘grumbler’. After all, everyone who plays tabletop RPG’s or PC games is a grumbler. We love to bitch about anything and everything. Therefore, to call a fellow gamer a ‘grumbler’ was basically just calling them an average gamer.

The term ‘Grognard’, in proper gaming circles, refers to a person who annoyingly claims to know every rule and strategy for a given RPG, but never actually plays the game. They spend their time sitting around the table lecturing everyone else about how stupid their previous move was or how they are mismanaging their army’s resources, yet never put their grandiose knowledge to practical use.

For our gaming group, that person was Kevin. He wasn’t always that way. He played most Games Workshop and other tabletop RPG’s quite well, and for many years. But then, something snapped. He fell into a sullen world of negativity and second guessing. He would still join us for gaming night, but would just sit there like a lump lamenting the idiocy of the current player’s move. Many a times people would challenge him to actually put his reputation on the line and do battle, but he would refuse citing some fear of the government tracking how well you strategize at RPG’s and warning that a black, windowless van would swoop you up on the way home and have you organizing black-ops for the CIA.

I was just kidding about that last part, he wasn’t that nutty. I actually do miss Kevin, who moved away about 10 years ago. I think every gaming group requires a bit of a Grognard in their midst. I believe it helps the group bond and become more cohesive and dependent, while also providing the group with a reason to argue (as if we needed a reason).

I’ll have to admit that when I first saw this I thought it was incredible. It’s like the huge touch screens of Star Trek TNG. I’m an old school Dungeons and Dragons player from days of old (late 70’s, early 80’s). There are still factions that meet at community gaming centers and stores that still play the old fashioned way with miniatures, maps, paper and pencil. But will this concept change that?

Surfacescapes Demo Walkthrough from Surfacescapes on Vimeo.

The big advantage of the large surface game is that specifics, ranges, inventories, etc. can all be accessed with the touch of a finger. Pretty cool, right? Well, I would have to argue that while it may appeal to the ‘shiny object’ crowd, the old school methods will still be the dominant ones. Why? For the simple reason that having to reference the mountains of books to determine, in the most precise of detail, the effects or abilities of a class, spell, or Boss is half the fun. The research and interpretation is where the fulfillment of D&D lies… That and the imagination!

Now I’ve been tabletop RPG’ing since High School and I can tell you that some of the cerebral fulfillment of the games comes from outsmarting an opponent who doesn’t know the rules as they pertain to their situation or has misinterpreted them, which usually leads to a half hour of looking up the ruling in question and arguing with the DM to get your way. Sometimes, a slap-fight ensues. With the surface method, everything is at your fingertips. You can immediately assess the situation and have the game determine the best option.

Take for example the simple method of range determination as demonstrated in the video. Have you ever played a tabletop RPG and pre-measured a range attack? OMG – You will be banned from the store quicker than your Manna burn rate can be calculated. Not physically banned, but the shame you feel for being labeled and ignored by your fellow type A mouth breathers might as well mean exile. There are rules, protocols, and sometimes rituals that accompany these games, and there’s good reason for it. It’s the interaction with fellow carbon based life forms that makes playing D&D and every other RPG (Games Workshop, etc.) worth while.

I can see this method being useful when your playing a single player game like Diablo or the many other solo RPG’s out there. I think the surface method would be a fantastic vehicle for those types of games where the pomp and circumstance of the group environment are not required. Plus, lugging around those 18 books is the only exercise I get!

I found this article on the web and had to post it. Some of the arguments presented are laughable… Promotes gang activity? Well, it is a quest based game with parties of varying talents. Although I haven’t found a compendium for Crips, Bloods, and Aryans.

MADISON, Wis. — A man serving life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide lost his legal battle today to play Dungeons & Dragons behind bars.

Kevin T. Singer filed a federal lawsuit against officials at Wisconsin's Waupun prison, arguing that a policy banning all Dungeons & Dragons material violated his free speech and due process rights.

Prison officials instigated the Dungeons & Dragons ban among concerns that playing the game promoted gang-related activity and was a threat to security. Singer challenged the ban but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld it as a reasonable policy.

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures, often working together as a group, with the help of complicated rules.

Singer, 33, has been a devoted player of the fantasy role-playing game since he was a child, according to the court ruling. After the ban went into effect, prison officials confiscated dozens of Dungeons & Dragons books and magazines in his cell as well as a 96-page manuscript he had written detailing a potential scenario for the game that players could act out.

Prison officials enacted the ban in 2004 after an inmate sent an anonymous letter expressing concern about Singer and three other inmates forming a "gang" focused around playing the game.

Singer was told by prison officials that he could not keep the materials because Dungeons & Dragons "promotes fantasy role playing, competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling," according to the ruling. The prison later developed a more comprehensive policy against all types of fantasy games, the court said. The appeals court said the prison's policy was reasonable and did not violate Singer's rights.

"After all, punishment is a fundamental aspect of imprisonment, and prisons may choose to punish inmates by preventing them from participating in some of their favorite recreations," the court said.

Singer was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 after being found guilty of first-degree intentional homicide in the killing of his sister's boyfriend. The man was bludgeoned to death with a sledgehammer.

Department of Corrections spokesman John Dipko said the department was pleased with the decision and will continue to enforce rules that are designed to maintain a safe environment.

Singer's court-appointed attorney, W.C. Turner Herbert of North Carolina, also did not immediately return a message seeking comment.

I played the original L4D from Valve when it came out… Well, I played the demo version. The game itself was a newer twist on the FPS genre where you act as one of four survivors of a zombie apocalypse. The key is travel with your group (this is key) and get to various locations and cities without the hordes of zombies catching up with you.

The game had a good bit of depth in the area of creating different zombie classes with different skills, speeds, and God-awful ways of making you die. This kept the strategy ever changing as you and the other three players tried to formulate a winning play based on the scenario’s terrain, zombie types, and goals. Valve released the Survival Pack months later so that players got the full Versus experience as well as the now-standard timed Survival mode.

When L4D2 came out, my first thought was wow, that was fast. I said that because Valve has a propensity to take their time when it comes to sequels. I got the game and anxiously waited to see if it brought out new dimensions to the game play. It didn’t. Although it had five all new campaigns, this game was more like an aesthetic patch and enhancement of existing features than a whole new type of game. With that said, if you have L4D, keep it and wait for L4D2 to hit the bargain bin (or at least go below $30).

If you have been waiting for an excuse to try L4D2, then the MSRP is well worth the price. It will provide you with hours of single player enjoyment as you master the various levels, weapons, zombies, etc. By all means, please play the single player missions first. It’s not like CoDMW2 in that if you familiar with WWII shooters you can pretty much kick it multiplayer without much more than a couple training missions. L4D2 has five new campaigns and, compared to the first version, has enhanced settings, more modes, and more responsibilities needed to win the level.

Bottom line, if you don’t have it and are a fan of group RPG’s and zombies, by all means get the darn thing! If you have L4D, I would give a solid “M’eh” as to whether or not you should upgrade (at the current price).

I’ll save you some reading time… Heck YEAH! I wasn’t that all excited about loading this game, but now that I’ve mastered it, I’m glad I did.

About a year and a half ago I was completely absorbed in Enemy Territory. If you haven’t heard of this game, it was the multiplayer version of Castle Wolfenstein. The publisher stopped work on the multiplayer version after sales of the game showed it was less than spectacular. The developers, knowing a good thing when they write it, finished the multiplayer version, Enemy Territory, on their own and released it as a FREE game. It was one of the best multiplayer WWII shooters around and is still going strong many years after it’s release.

Before I found this game, I was addicted to Call of Duty 2. Enemy Territory took the place of that habit and along with my Clan, wreaked online havoc for a couple of years.

But then came Vista, which isn’t a bad thing. I had to upgrade to keep pace with my customers to ensure my development systems matched their production systems. Enemy Territory did NOT run on Vista, even in compatibility mode. It was a bitter pill but I drudged forward. I looked high and low for a replacement but nothing came close, not even Enemy Territory Quake Wars (a futuristic version). I tried other genres with games like Sins of a Solar Empire, but nothing gave that feeling of being immersed and involved like I had with Enemy territory.

For Christmas my family got me CoDMW2. I waited a couple of weeks to install it thinking I would just be mildly entertained and then go back to writing my own games out of boredom. But NO, the game kicked ass. Despite a clumsy and cartoony snow mobile riding level, I whipped through the single player version in mere hours. Then I jumped on multiplayer and found exactly what I was looking for. I soon rose the ranks to Master Sergeant and was gaining familiarity with the levels. The perks that are unlocked as you progress make the game so interesting that you can’t stop until you’ve unlocked that damn red dot hack!

Just a note about the levels. It’s the only thing I’m disappointed in so far. The levels (most of them) are ports of old CoD levels with modern skins! Don’t tell me their not. I’ve played enough of the original game to know a retreaded level when I see one. I’m not really complaining because it cut down on my learning curve!

Anyway, this game is definitely a replacement for my old Enemy Territory habit. It worked great on Vista and works great on Windows 7. It’s a game that you can get on and play if you’ve only got a few minutes or an entire weekend. It will be a while before you find yourself looking for a replacement to this great game.