Less Scary Blizzard News

In non-cataclysmic Blizzard news - no wait I suppose this does by definition count as cataclysmic - closed beta testing has begun for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. This is the third expansion for the insanely popular game and is expected to break more PC sales records upon its release as did the first and second expansions. Now might be a good time to work on account security before the new release swells the ranks of active users once more.

Breaking: Blizzard's Account Database Breached

If there were ever a case to be made for avoiding putting all gaming out in the cloud, this would be it. Thousands of users' Blizzard accounts have been stolen. Support lines are overloaded and they are telling users to call back at a later time while the issue is being investigated. It looks like one group of hackers is logging into multiple accounts to sell off items, delete accounts and cause other general mayhem. This could be the End of the World... of Warcraft.

Okay probably not, but it does yet again raise the question of internet security (or the seeming lack thereof). Without the use of an authenticator, even the most careful users are at risk of having their accounts hacked. We either need to develop better security measures or come up with something more interesting for hackers to do.

E3 2010 Rundown

Here's what you need to know from E3 2010.

Games to watch:

• Dead Rising 2 (XBox 360, PS3, PC)
• Rock Band 3 (XBox 360, PS3, Wii)
• Goldeneye 007 (Wii)
• Sid Meier's Civilization V (PC)
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow (XBox 360, PS3)
• Fable 3 (XBox 360, PC)
• Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii)
• Final Fantasy XIV (PS3, PC)

System announcements:

• Nintendo's 3DS is official and a slew of 3D games have been announced including titles from the Mario Kart, Zelda, Kingdom Hearts, Star Fox and Paper Mario series, among others.
• Microsoft has unveiled the newest XBox, featuring a removable 250GB hard drive, built-in wifi, and most significantly, a Kinect-ready port to allow access to Microsoft's new controller-free gaming device.

Post from Argentina

Although your NPC is on vacation in Argentina, I´ve discovered some interesting information about the relatively untapped markets in South America that I´d like to share. Gaming is not as prevalent here, and per my discussions with some locals, piracy is absolutely the norm. The two issues seem to be a lack of parity whereby South Americans generally do not have the purchasing power to even consider legitimately buying a game for USD60 and also the lack of controls and consequences in the online world. As a result, South American gamers seem to have the idea that anything found online should be free, and without any serious legal ramifications, they turn the idea into reality. I feel as though there must be some better way to approach this market. There is always a level of acceptable loss when it comes to exporting a product to other countries, and clearly prices have not come down enough to truly take advantage of the buying potential in South America.

Joe Danger: Bigger is Not Always Better

A nice little game called Joe Danger is out on the PSN. Per IGN, it's what you'd get if "Excitebike and Trials HD got together and totally did it. Their baby would be Joe Danger." With an overall rating of 9.5/10, that's a pretty awesome baby. The game itself follows a previously injured motorcycle stuntman trying to regain his moves through completing objectives like successfully performing tricks and collecting items. There is also a splitscreen mode for two-player races and a level editor (like in Excitebike). What I find most interesting about this little gem of a game is that it was developed by the 4 guys at newcomer Hello Games in less than a year. Think about it this way: we had to wait 4 years between Final Fantasy XII and XIII and the latter isn't even fun. All the pretty graphics and music and complex gameplay in the world couldn't make a game half as enjoyable as Joe Danger. This is a good lesson to keep an eye out on smaller, lesser-known developers as well as newcomers to the game.

Who Else Loved The Lost Vikings?

If, like myself, you've been waiting for a new cooperative action adventure game to come around a la Lost Vikings, there may be an answer in Q1 2011 (as long as you have an XBox 360 or a Windows PC). Kalypso Media has announced The Lost Templar, a two player co-op following a Templar and a noble heretic uncovering the mysteries of the Templar Order. While everyone loves a good medieval-themed game, what I am more interested in is the gameplay. You can play either one player with the computer controlling your second character, able to swap your active character at will, or you can play two player co-op to solve puzzles and defeat enemies with another player. The best part is that they have thrown in RPG elements wherein your two characters have different abilities and stats to level up, enriching the action/adventure experience with player-determined skill paths. This is a relatively unexplored game type and I for one am excited to see a developer take it on. Too many games lately have nickel and dimed the consumer, forcing multiplayer modes to be online only so every player has to buy a copy of the game, and I think this is deteriorating the multiplayer experience. I'll be happy to pick up a game I can start out by myself and then have a friend join in live when available. That kind of flexibility in games is hard to find.