It turns out EA could be working on a new next-gen, open-world Star Wars title. The company posted a job listing on their website for the positions of "Lead Combat Designer" as well as "Animation Director" with the job description: to work on a ‘major new next gen open world action game. All of this was then followed up by a tweet from an EA job recruiter stating:

Best job title EVER! Lead Combat Designer for Star Wars @EA! http://bit.ly/14CEg2Y  #job #starwars #Vancouver #ea #gaming."

I think that's good enough evidence for me. However, a lot of websites are connecting "open world" with Grand Theft Auto and while the base idea is fairly accurate, for this specific type of franchise I feel that's wrong and gives people a negative connotation on what this game could actually be. Sorry folks, I doubt we are going to be hijacking speeders any time soon. However, on the otherside of the coin, there's already The Old Republic, which is THE franchise MMO at the moment and it's a limiting factor on the idea that they could be developing another MMO-ish type of game. Good.... Not again... Ok, again, but please do it better if you will.

As I cycle through and listen to my vast collection of video game music, I can't help but look back and remember some of the older classics, to my generation at least, that I used to play. "Rainbow Road" from Mario Kart N64... Heck, even Burning Rangers from the Sega Genesis, all these songs bring me back to a time... a simpler ti-- Ok, none of that right now, but I'm sure all of you have these experiences every now and then.

Looking at some of the games being released today, maybe even an action you've done recently, do they make you remember some of your greatest video game moments? I mean, looking around at releases like the new Metal Gear Solid HD collection or even Square Enix' upcoming release of Thief 4 make me remember popping open the fresh new case to the original, non-HD version of these titles. Even as I write this post, I'm being treated to a memory of the my playthrough of Tales of Symphonia through the song "Fatalize." It's kind of refreshing actually, heh.

While we're here, why don't you comment below the game you wish you could play again as if it were new? To me, it's kind of a stretch but if I could re-live my first experiences with the Sonic Adventure games, I most certainly would.

I'm sure a lot of gamers have this issue especially those with limited time. But the question I ask to those among you in the community is how many of you are overwhelmed by the amount of video games you are currently playing? I've been in the process of playing a multitude of different games, catch-up if you will, from classics like Bioshock, original Dead Space games, and even the campaign modes of both Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty and Heart of the Swarm and then some. That may not seem like a lot, and definitely not when compared to some other people's video game queue, but on top of dungeons/raiding in FFXIV and everday live, it's intense and I don't know how some of you do it!

I guess the mindset comes from my ability, and preference even, to beat the games in one play through, all in one sitting. That's been a habit of mine for the last few years, or moreover, since the start of my gaming life so juggling many different games and not beating them immediately is heartbreaking since I want... No, I NEED to know what happens next in these great stories of heroes. But that's just me.

So this one goes out to all of you: Have you ever, or do you ever, juggle many games at once? And of course, how do you handle it? Maybe it's something you don't mind doing but I on the other hand, must know the end of tales.

Update: Eurogamer.net has published a statement from Microsoft wherein the company officially apologizes for their ad's wording and promises to correct the letter defaults. 

Original Story: In possibly the worst marketing move I've seen from Microsoft this year, Xbox One offers to help you "make your case" to that person in your life who controls the pocketbook but just doesn't "get" gaming. Their new fill-in-the-space ad lets you talk in little words and patronizing whines as you deal with your "little snag" to gaming bliss.

I could continue, but in this case a picture (after the jump) is worth about 50 words--give or take. 

SNL Korea aired a parody on Counter Strike which features two big named Starcraft 2 pros, BoxeR (now retired) and Yellow, the current coach of Xenics Storm. Goes to show how big eSports is in Korea. The parody was overly exaggerated, which is to be expected, and quite humorous. Also, since it is technically an SNL Korea parody, they say you need a full understanding of Korean culture to get all of the comedic tidbits.Still Just a little something for you to watch in your spare time!

Click the jump below to check out the video.

I have waited on the release of next-gen consoles for a long time and yet, now that it's here and my Xbox One is plugged into my TV, I haven't even figured out how to use all of its functions; it feels like I need to learn a whole new way of navigating a game console.  Microsoft developed their system with a pretty revolutionary UI , but weaving through all of the funky tiles and pages the first time around feels like a jungle. Trying to find basic things can be an absolute nightmare at times which is odd considering the One's predecessor had simple menus that even an 8-year-old could navigate through it.

Xbox Live has always been about your friends and connecting with them in whatever way possible but with Xbox One, it feels like there's a tedious process and two different loading screens just to get to your basic friends list. I also haven't figured out if Skype is required for party chat yet as I can barely find the XBL party options that I know are there because I accessed them accidentally and then lost them in the abyss a few short moments later. I'm going to stop there since I can't even begin to start talking about the desert storm that is the Live Marketplace.

So now, you need to turn to the Kinect. The problem, however, is it takes awhile to navigate through the system and find the Kinect settings. To be fair, that might only be because I messed up the initial Kinect calibration at the system set-up and had to find the option to re-calibrate. But once you get it set just right with your TV and voice, you can have the TV almost as loud as you want and it'll learn to pick-up your vocal commands without having to yell which is pretty neat.

It's definitely been awhile since we've heard news on Metal Gear Solid V: Anything but Konami has decided to deliver... in a far more blatant way. The details of MGSV: Ground Zeroes' story and plot can be openly found on their website and covers everything you need to get ready for the title. Definitely a little different from when this game was ominously first announced at VGA 2012 (I personally thinking it was some horror game). Just so we're not confused, there are going to be two seperate Metal Gear Solid V games, Ground Zeroes, which is a prequel to The Phantom Pain. This particular article is talking about Ground Zeroes because there is little to know about The Phantom Pain.

Astral Terra aims to bring vitality to your gaming in a dynamic world built uniquely at load, where every new playthrough places your first steps in unfamiliar territory. The fantasy survival RPG boasts an endless sandboxed world generated on-the-fly and completely customizable, destructible, and explorable. The fantastic creators at Tethys Interactive, an independent game studio based in Indianapolis, have loaned us a preview version of Astral Terra and I’ll be sharing it via Twitch.tv this Friday November 22 at 8:30 PM Eastern. Come chat and explore with me as I dive into Astral Terra for the first time, but remember the game is still pre-alpha testing and this preview is limited.

Check after the jump for the official trailer and feature details.

Hi everyone, here's a new little series for all you! Who wants to hear me ramble on about a game? YEAA!!! No? Awww... Oh well, it's already been done. Let's Talk! is a daily mini series where I will talk about whatever game is on topic in one take. Said game can be anything from AAA to indie and i'll try my best to provide as much honest insight as I possibly can. Hopefully, my knowledge will be enough to help you make the right decisions on your future game purchases.

This first episode of Let's Talk! feature's a game called Ryse: Son of Rome which is being developed by Crytek and headed its way to be one of Xbox One's first exclusives. I'm sure you've heard of it, I mean it's like one of the x amount of games, where x= not very many, next-gen launch titles coming out! If you want to know more about this game perhaps because you're unsure if this is the next-gen game for you or not, definitely listen in to what I have to say. Hopefully, it'll be of some use to you now and even after the game has already launched. Also, any suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated!

GDC Next and ADC 2013 was definitely far from being the biggest event of the year but it did host some hidden treasure. One of which I found incredibly amusing and that was Crooked Tree Studios' Throw Trucks with Your Mind, which is the most non-misleading title I've ever seen because it's quite literal. When you think video games and throwing things, what i typically envision is clicking the 'A' button twice but in this particular game, you actually threw things with your mind like a Jedi. Yup, it's happening and it's not too good to be true.

BlizzCon 2013 was definitely the year of the WoW.  With the new expansion Warlords of Draenor finally revealed, we have a clear, if someone surprising vision of what the next year holds for the denizens of Azeroth.  Let's take a look a what we know about this expansion, where it will take us, and what WoW will look like in the years ahead.  It should go without saying that what lies ahead is completely spoilerific, but there, I've said it anyway.

It's just one of the magical treasures you don't often stumble upon on your regular life adventures. Who knew a day at the movies can turn into having fun inside a giant ball. Yes, all because I saw this giant sphere at the corner of my eye walking around at The Gardenwalk mall near Disneyland. It was an immediate impulse for me to check it out, but who wouldn't? There I found a neat little incomplete store... center(?) called Innersphere VR -- I say incomplete because all they had was a dream and Virtusphere -- but dreams do have to start somewhere.

The goal of Innersphere VR is to bring a different type of gaming to people; PC stations with augmented reality glasses, multiplayer Virtuspheres, and unique console devices much like Xbox One's Illumiroom. It's a unique take that I totally support and would like to see get bigger. It reminds me of the days when stuff like Lasertag and Mega arcades were popular despite having available gaming consoles at home.

One of the biggest bits of news out of this year's BlizzCon is that the next World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor, will come with a long awaited and often requested character model overhaul. WoW will be turning an impressive 9 years old this month, and while the game still has a dedicated following, its original low-polygon character models are starting to show their age. This new revamp of all the player character classes (with the exclusion of the newer Goblin, Worgen, and Panderan models) will help to breathe new life into the player experience by allowing for more emotion and expressive animation. And no more blocky wedge-paddle fingers!

Check out the attached photo gallery, which contains a few pics I was able to snap during the Art & Design panel earlier today. While only a hand full of races/genders are ready to be shown, the few that they did reveal are very impressive, and make me eager to see all my characters in a fresh, high-poly and vibrantly animated way! 

It's no secret, I'm a Chrome user mainly. I wear my "G" with pride, perhaps I'm an "O.G." as the kids say from 1992. Sure I use other browsers but mainly because I need to test things. It's a rare day when I use Internet Explorer though. After watching the video below maybe I've been going about it all wrong. If only my web browsing was this cool. Of course I picture Chrome being like a Silver Surfer type animation. Though I'd like to see it as Nova still as a herald of Galaticus, by the way Galatics is Google. I just blew your mind now go watch this video that has nothing to do with that last bit.

The Geekly Discussion is a weekly round-up of staff thought pertaining to specific topics regarding video games. The following discussion is unaudited. Views expressed by each individual writer are not nessecarily that of Game Geex.

Blizzcon is coming up this weekend so I thought it would be fitting to do what everyone else does and create a speculation post on what's to come! Yea! No? Well, too late, it's already been done... This week's edition of The Geekly Discussion has the writers talking about what they expect, or hope to expect, at this year's Blizzcon. We'll also be up there covering the event on November 8th through the 9th so come back and see if anyone's dreams come true!

Remember, you can join in the discussion anytime via comments! Click the jump below to join the chat.

We are rounding the corner on the home stretch toward BlizzCon.  With only one week to go, Blizzard has gone and made a move that gives us a huge hint at what we can expect from the last World of Warcraft expansion.  Today they copyrighted the phrase "Warlords of Draenor," according to MMO Champion. This name seems a bit more relevant than "The Dark Below" which was also copyrighted this year, but either are possible.  

We know that we will be getting the last WoW expansion soon, as we have the leaked Blizzard roadmap to thank for this.  More importantly, we were given the content of this expansion back at the first Blizzcon, when Chris Metzen talked about the content of The Burning Crusade.  So let's take a look at what we know about this expansion and see if we can make some hypotheses as to what we can expect Warlords of Draenor/The Dark Below to contain.

The Geekly Discussion is a weekly round-up of staff thought pertaining to specific topics regarding video games. The following discussion is unaudited. Views expressed by each writer are not nessecarily that of Game Geex.

Hiya, Geex! Welcome to the first ever segment of The Geekly Discussion where members of the staff discuss their thoughts regarding a specific topic every week and engage in back-to-back conversation. This time around, it was our views on Fantasy Worlds vs "Real" Worlds in gaming and how they affect the characters and the audience. Fantasy can represent anything from totally fictional and unlikely while "real" world settings can range anything from past, present, or near future in terms of what we can expect to happen or have happened in actual reality.

Remember, you can join in the discussion anytime via comments! Click the jump below to join the chat.

Just in time for The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, Nintendo is putting out a "Zelda Edition" of the Nintendo 3DS XL in a beautiful gold color complete with a triforce on the exterior. Now you can hold the power of the triforce in the palm of your hands without having to gather the three pieces and make all the kids jealous, because I sure would be if I saw this thing.

This 3DS Bundle does include A Link Between Worlds and will retail for $219.99 on November 22, 2013. You know, that's the same day as Xbox One now that I think about it but guess what? The XBO doesn't have a Triforce on the exterior. Yup I said it. Shots fired?

Last time, we covered the very bursty and stationary-driven damager-dealing class, the Black Mage. Now, let's look into the highly-mobile dps'er, the Bard. Yes, I put "DPS" and "Bard" in one sentence because in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, these in-combat ministrels deal a ton of damage while providing much-needed support through song. If you're looking to dish out pain while supporting your party with mana regen and damage reduction, well this is pretty much it right here. This guide should be relevent up to this moment in time. Enjoy!

It's time for another guessing game challenge! The following image can come from any video game no matter the genre and can be any piece, clip, section of the game -- sometimes they're easy but often times they're ridiculous, hue! Just some morning fun! Think you can figure it out?

Click the jump for the awnser.

Out of all the classes in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn, the Black Mage is the one to choose if you're big on burst damage and timing. What the BLM provides that no one else does is crowd-control and from there, some of the fastest DPS in the shortest amount of time. Despite being the "blow everything up" class, this specific DPS job requires a little bit more timing and understanding of what you're fighting in order to bring it to its full effectiveness. Hopefully, you'll find this guide useful. It should contain information relevent to the game at this moment in time.

This just in:  Blizzard has decided to rename their upcoming MOBA, again.  The game we used to know as Blizzard All-Stars has gotten a nomenclature makeover, and will now be known as Heroes of the Storm.  The current name is a reference to the art team at Blizzard Entertainment, known as Sons of the Storm.  It also signals gamers that this is a MOBA.  League of Legends, Heroes of Newerth, Guardians of Middle Earth...each of these names are close enough to tell that they are games in the same genre.

Hit the jump to watch the announcement "trailer."  Yes, those are airquotes.

Here's a quick note to let you know that we've updated our Patch 5.4 Legendary Cloak guide. Click on over to see what stages two and three have in store for you.  We're updated through the end of Chapter Two, so there's at least one month of content in the guide as of right now.  

Let us know what you think of our tips for speeding up the Valor grind, and if you have any of your own.  

Square Enix has released a new gameplay trailer for their highly-anticipated title, Kingdom Hearts 3, at the D23 Expo in Japan. To think there's more announcements after the 2.5 HD ReMIX reveal!

The trailer shows a ton of action which include the newly-fashionized Sora utilizing his Keyblade in different ways from before such as shooting out homing fireballs and even transforming his weapon to do so -- I can only imagine the possibilities with this new feature. As far as characters go, we get to see familiar faces like Goofy and Donald and it has been confirmed from a seperate report by gamer.ne.jp that Riku will make a return as a key player.

I am excited for all these Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy related announcements but when I thought it all peaked, Square Enix pulls out the next HD ReMix. Kingdom Heart 2.5 HD ReMIX has been announced and it will be exclusive to the Playstation 3. Cool, another HD edition, however, this release will include games that were once exclusive to Japan: Kingdom Hearts: Final Mix and Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep Final Mix, as well as cinematics from Kingdom Hearts Re: Coded.

Razer is one of my favorite companies when it comes to peripherals. In some way, they have a product for every type of gamer and generally, you get the quality you pay for. Of course, that quality comes at a cost and everyone knows Razer gaming products are quite expensive, even at the entry level. However, in an interview with VG247, Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan says that even at the cost his products are sold at, every item the company ships is sold at a loss. While one may think this article equates to covering the peripheral company's short-comings, it turns out they actually don't care.

Guess Ubisoft had a reason for leaving the Wii U out of their Assassin's Creed 4 season passes because Blag Flag will, quite bluntly, get no DLC on the nintendo console. While that sucks, I'm not surprised,

The Wii U, at the moment, isn't doing well unless it's during the wake of a highly anticipated title; Pikmin 3, New Super Mario Bros., etc.. I think Nintendo needs to step up their game in this regard, especially since most people will be buying the Xbox/Playstation/PC version of whatever non-Nintendo title heads to the Wii. If Ubisoft doesn't feel it's worth the trouble, than something is up, especially since DLC was available for Assassin's Creed 3.

What do you guys think Nintendo needs to do to compete at the level they should be? Their handheld is fine and since the only competition in that department is the Vita and mobile devices, I think Nintendo shouldn't worried. However, their console division needs to act fast because they're struggling and  the Xbox One and Playstation 4 aren't even out yet. Perhaps they should focus on creating those wonderful and highly imaginitve video games they've always done in the past.

It's interesting. I just reported on Pokemon X & Y launching on October 12th and here I am posting about a new Pokemon game before the reckoning of that date! Gematsu recently reported on Japanese network company, NHK, doing an interview on a feature titled Professional: Shigoto no Ryuugi with Pokemon CEO, Tsunekazu Ishihara. It was there the Company President mentions a new Pokemon title involving the very well-known Pikachu as the main characer is already in the works:

“This summer, Ishihara started development on a never before seen game,” the description reads. “It’s a new game featuring the very popular character Pikachu in a bold way. There is concern, however, that if it’s bad the long loved character would lose popularity in the blink of an eye.”

-Translations by Gematsu.com

While most people don't see me as the largest Pokemon fan on the planet, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for another "Pikachu" game, if it's what I think it is at least. I was a big fan of Hey you, Pikachu! when I was younger and even carried around a tamagotchi-like device with a Pikachu on it. Here's to hoping for newer versions of both with what Nintendo has access to for technology these days.

The Old Republic is ready to put out its next expansion, Galatic Starship, and while it may or may not be too late for the grand Star Wars MMO people have originally dreamt of, I feel this add-on should give it the boost it so desperately needs. Come December 3rd for early access players or January 14th for preferred status players, SWTOR will offer 12 vs. 12 galatic, in-space PvP the Star Wars way, complete with large-scale space arenas, capital ships, and starfighters.

Out of the many franchises in all of gaming, Pokemon has got to be one of the biggest. Game after game, fans just flock over, excited for each and every single new title; man, that's passion. But with Pokemon X & Y, Nintendo has gone above and beyond, jamming all sorts of new features into the game that anyone who has played versions Red and Blue 15 years ago couldn't imagine would happen.

I'm sure every gamer has thought of this and when I mean "thought of" I generally mean "made fun of" but exactly how much is your in-game avatar carrying? Doomguy can carry 4 different weapons and ammo and most characters you'll find on a standard RPG game can carry all of their 60 some weapons, potions, and gold but what I'm sure a lot of you never really thought out the scope of what your character is handling in his pockets.

An interesting video posted by Youtuber Vsauce3 sort of sorts out what exactly you keep on your back in video games. While fictional worlds don't really have any boundaries, the calculations of how much Steve can carry around in his invnetory in Minecraft is quite insane and hurts my back just thinking about it. I'll just leave you to this morning video which can be viewed after the jump:

The Playstation 4's Dual Shock 4 controller comes packed with a handful of nifty new features but its lightbar is one of the most subtle yet interesting pieces you can add to it. Perhaps i'm just a sucker for the simple yet awesome, however we have yet to see what developers have in-store for features like this. For Transistor, Supergiant Games aims to turn that lightbar into your weapon, and no, not in some quirky, motion-controller kind of way:

I was twenty when the Pokemon craze hit North America. It started with an anime and less than 30 days later a Gameboy game. Now I wasn't really the demographic for the launch, but something about the cartoon got me. I think it was the time I spent watching it with my daughter to be honest. She was only two when I gave her the first taste of Pokemon, it's not a choice I ever regretted though. There was no gateway drug here, she didn't turn to illegal cock fighting or dog fighting. No this was pure imagination and fun.

Good Moon Day to you fellow crafters of mines and welcome to another installment of Minecraft Mondays here at Game Geex. Today I'm introducing you to the another mod, well a mod complilation, called Hexxit. The goal of this mod-pack is a focus on adventure and exploration. My main goal though, well it's Chocobo husbandry. That's right Final Fantasy fans, our favorite flightless fantasy bird mount is here.

Now the Hexxit mod-pack has a ton of features from over 60 mods. Some of these mods like Treecapitor and Backpacks I feel should be standard Minecraft features, while others add features that might over complicate and already complex game. One mod of this pack is called Tinkers' Construct which allows you to "tinker" with your tools. The tools never disappear and you can continue to modify them, repair them, and even name them. Of course we have the name tags in Minecraft vanilla now so that last part isn't a huge deal I guess. It's an interesting mod though and it gives a lot of options in crafting the weapons and tools you use.

I have never really taken sides on the DC/Marvel battle.  Part of it comes from the fact that I came late to the party, but mostly it's because that while I like a lot of the Marvel heroes, DC will always have one thing Marvel can never give me:  Catwoman.  Selina Kyle was the first comic character I loved enough to actually collect.  She got me into comics with her quick wit and luxurious style.  She taught me that a girl can be strong and be feminine at the same time.  I even named one of my cats after her.  She turned out to be the nastiest of the bunch, which in some ways makes a lot of sense.

So when I hear that Infinite Crisis will feature her as one of the playable characters, I suddenly get interested in the game.  I wasn't happy with how short her story was in Batman: Arkham City, so getting a chance to play her in a battle setting sounds like a lot of fun. Hopefully she gets some slick stealing mechanics, along with stealth on the battlefield.  It would be amazing to steal items from another player as an ultimate ability.  

Hit the jump to watch the character reveal trailer, then stop by in the comments section to let us know if this seems like a faithful portrayal of the character as you remember her.  Then if you're interested, head on over to the beta signup for Infinite Crisis.

Perhaps you were living under a rock back in 2010 when a little video called Mortal Kombat: Rebirth started sweeping the web. This short was a concept piece by director Kevin Tancharoen to bring the Mortal Kombat series into a more realistic setting. The video was generally well received and his concepts got people talking, but Warner Bros. didn't see mass market appeal they would want for a film. Instead they greenlit it as a web series.

Mortal Kombat: Legacy debuted on Machinima in 2011 giving us backgrounds for the major players in the Mortal Kombat universe. It was particularlly well done and he was able to bring back some of the cast from his concept trailer. Still the fans cried out for more, I mean this is the internet after all and no one is ever truly happy. None the less there wasn't much breath held as many a Machinima series has landed in developement purgatory with all hope lost. I'm looking at you Bite Me, where is my season three?

I have been having a horrible day, the sort of day where the "truck broke down and the dog died and the farm burnt down" -- you get the picture.  Well I suppose it was all in order to balance out the latest WildStar DevSpeak video released this afternoon from Carbine Studios.  This particular video talks about the twitch mechanics that layer WildStar with a particularly shiny version of combat.

In most MMOs you have a standard set of ways you actually interact with combat: channeled spells, combo attacks, instant abilities, and those that require a cast time.  All of these depend on what class you're playing, obviously, but there's not much variety in the actual button-mashing in the game.  I tend to liken something like healing in an MMO to playing the piano:  You tap your keys in just the right rhythm and then can sit back as beautiful music plays.

With WildStar though Carbine wanted to provide movement-based casting abilities to blend with their reactive movement abilities and combat mechanics.  This makes a great amount of sense:  We're talking about an Action MMO after all, and you can't very well plant your staff in the ground and mumble under your breath as your enemy charges, Gandalf-style.  While there is something to be said about the realism of immobile casting, I don't think it fits with the wacky esthetic of WildStar.  Hit the jump to watch the video for yourself, and let me know how many hitpoints you think that octopus has.  I am assuming a LOT.

Reviewing an MMO is a troubling experience. How could any person review a genre so massive in such a short amount of time and be as unbiased and analytical as possible? I don't know, you tell me, but as a player who stuck it through during the dastardly inferno that was the '1.0 launch,' I can say that this new XIV game is vastly improved from its vanilla counterpart.

Immediately. just by looking at the game, you can tell Square Enix was put to work and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn's UI is so much cleaner and way more customizable and with only 10 minutes of opening play time, anyone can see quests are so much easier to acquire and accomplish. The mechanics of 2.0 are at the modern standards of today's MMO world as opposed to what 1.0 used to be. Menus are just that much easier to navigate and the feel of the game is buttery smooth. See that? Two paragraphs just talking about what you can see at lv.1, tell me that's not bizarre. But now, let's get on to the meat of the review, or whatever you wish to call it, shall we?

Disclaimer: This review uses all the knowledge that I personally contain. It may not tap into the experiences of others regarding technical issues. The writer of this review has played 1.0 and re-leveled a second character to 50...twice in A Realm Reborn. This review mainly covers, to some extent, levels 1 through 50 as well as a touch of launch day endgame.

The entire technological world has been waiting to see what Valve would announce this week.  The first of the three expected announcements broke yesterday, when Valve announced they would be creating a media-centric operating system, dubbed SteamOS.  With the creation of an OS of their own, Valve is setting their sights on owning not only your PC gaming experience, but your living room play as well. SteamOS will be completely free and will run on any living room machine.  In our household we have a PC dedicated to movies and media, so this would be a great thing for the likes of me.  

Along with the announcement of the new operating system, Valve let us know that a couple new features will be coming to Steam in the future:  In-home streaming, family game sharing, family content visibility options, and music, tv and movies.  As a member of a gaming family, the idea of having to buy multiples of the same game has frustrated me for years.  I'm very happy to see Valve tackling this issue before they even announce their own console.

We have two more announcements coming from Valve, and the countdown is running down to more news tomorrow.  What will this news be, do you think?  How influential do you think the SteamOS will be on the industry at large?  Personally, I am hoping for a GladOS SteamOS teamup.  Now THAT would be amazing.

This is nothing worse for a miner than hitting lag spikes and fps lows on a older pc. It happens, not everyone who plays Minecraft can afford the latest and greatest or they've been stuck with a laptop sporting an Intel card. Whatever the case may be for those low-end rig blues there is a mod out there that aims at helping to improve your quality time spelunking those canyons. Optifine is a mod for Minecraft supporting all the way up to the recent release of 1.6.4.

This mod typically doubles FPS output and helps to cut down on lag spikes that occur. It also offers a wide array of options to tweak so you can get the most out of your Minecraft experience. From simple settings dealing with view distance and texture quality all the way to being able to turn of particle effects and change how fog and clouds work. You can take your experience down to the base level if need be, it won't be pretty but it will sure fly.

Did you stand out in the cold this morning for the iPhone 5S?  Did you?  I bet you're pretty happy with your shiny new phone, and are probably looking for the perfect way to protect your investment.  Rocketcases has you covered, literally, with a new set of retro gaming inspired cases for the iPhone 5.  They come in two flavors:  D-pad controller or Gameboy G-boy (pictured below).  

I think I prefer the G-boy version myself, but I think they are missing a prime opportunity with these things.  With microchips and lcd technology they could easier transform the case into something that plays at least one retro title.  Imagine having Plants vs Zombies 2 playing on your iPhone 5, then flipping it over for a retro, 2-color version of Tetris.  Now THAT would be amazing. 

The gaming inspired Rocketcases retail for $19.95 but you can get them for $14.95 direct from Rocketcases if you act fast. 

My original selection for today has been postponed in favor of this little gem. What happens when you gather together some of the gaming developers who brought you Mega Man? Mighty No. 9 is what happens. This little Kickstarter has been gaining steam and is looking to impress. If you ever had a craving for a new Mega Man and just felt the rehashes weren't cutting it then this might be the one for you. There is a lot of love crafted in what we've seen so far of Might No. 9 and I can't wait to get my hands on it. Check out below as 2 Player Productions has a conversation with Keiki Inafune.

It's been one week since World of Warcraft players stepped onto the Timeless Isle, eager to plunder its riches and learn its secrets.  But what if you never got around to finishing that legendary questline, and do not have a cloak yet?  It means you can't find the biggest baddy on the island, and don't have access to the newest quests in the story of a certain halfbreed prince -- and no, I don't mean that one.  

We'll you're not alone:  I, too am behind on the grind.  Now that my lack of cloak is keeping me from lore, I have been speeding along as fast as I can, and it's only fair that I share what I've discovered along the way.  What follows is a living document, meaning that as I complete the stages of the questline I will update this guide.  That also means that if you have a clever trick to share with your fellow players, be sure to let us know in the comments.  It might make it into the guide.  

It's important to note that I am going to do my best to keep this spoiler free, but as this is a lore questline, there might be points where the instructions might lead into spoilerific waters.  Hopefully I can keep the splash damage to a minimum, but I cannot guarantee your safety.  Read on at your own risk.

Blizzard has announced today that, after much internal debate among the developers, they are going to shutter the fiscal experiment commonly known as the Diablo III Real Money Auction House (RMAH). The RMAH was an experimental feature that allowed people to spend real world currency to buy digital items for their characters. Through use of the RMAH, if you found that your Barbarian's axe didn't have enough umph or your Demon Hunter's armor was lacking in a particular stat, the solution was only a search and a micro-transaction away.

This feature, however, was not universally accepted as a good thing. Many criticized it as a "pay to win" option, or as a sign of Activision-Blizzard's greed. Fortunately, use of the RMAH is and has always been entirely optional, so playing the game without plunking down extra cash beyond the original purchase price was never hampered by the system directly. But indirectly, as Blizzard has come to realize, the very philosophy of the RMAH has undermined the core game play of a Diablo game: to "kill monsters to get cool loot." And it is with this realization that they have made the decision to shut the doors on both the RMAH and the in-game gold based Auction House on March 18th, 2014.

You can read the full text and video of the announcement after the jump, or by heading to the official Diablo III Blog.

I know what you're thinking:  You really want to see some racy pictures of a console retail box right about now.  Your Monday just won't be complete unless you get the chance to see the packaging that will wrap around your next-gen console of Xboxness.  It's like your world is suddenly painted in grey instead of colors.

Luckily for you I have the cure for your boxless Monday blues:  Microsoft has revealed the retail box for their upcoming console, and we are going to share the strangely boring image after the break.  But first, I'll give you something cute to look at so you're not completely bored to tears by the actual pic.

Good Monday to you geex. Today I may be sick as a dog but I still have a few Minecraft morsels for you to snack on. A couple Mondays back I spoke of a mini-game called Survival Games. Since then I've also experienced a few more mini-games that took little to no actual modding to make them happen thanks to the advent of adventure mode. This game is truly powerful and what people can accomplish with it is just inspiring.

First let's revisit Survival Games, since its original inception there has been a major spin off that has gathered a lot of attention. You can find it for yourself on the Hypixel server. The game is called Blitz Survival Games and one of the major features it adds are classes. When you first start load into the mini game you are given a selection of classes to play. These range from Knight to Archer to even the odd Meat Master. Each class plays to it's own strengths using only in game Minecraft items. As you win rounds you attain currency which you can then use to upgrade your class of choice to attain more on your first load out. There is also the option to donate to the server to help keep it up and that will give you access to other more advanced classes and beta-classes.

Good Friday to you geex! Sorry for the delay but I've been running from a homicidal manic in a hockey mask. Honestly that wouldn't be far off from the some the people I've run into playing League of Legends in the past. Here's hoping our editor's foray into the realm of MOBA games is proving more fruitful. There is an amazing amount of character content in Riot Game's League of Legends, more than I'll find the time or money to dig into. Thanks to some fans of the game I won't have to worry about digging into Lee Sin's past. Check out the video after the jump and catch an eye full of awesome.

The internet is abuzz with hypotheses about a countdown clock that Kotaku has uncovered for something called Project Destati.  The flavor text on the site mentions Kingdom Hearts, so does this mean we're looking at a future announcement of a Kingdom Hearts game? Or is this just a fan made music project?

Destati -- meaning "Wake Up!" -- is the name of the one of the songs played throughout the Kingdom Hearts series. Looking at the wiki entry discussing Destati, we see a screenshot that looks very much like the image above the countdown clock.  The description of the screenshot says this is a "Dive into the Heart" image, and features what looks like Sora floating above a castle or cathedral.  Of course the Sora figure is missing from the countdown image, and is instead replaced by an iconic KH door.

The Project Destati Tumblr page has a larger, more detailed version of this image, and the words: "Take your time, don't be afraid, the door is still shut."  Cryptic messages are also posted on the Tumblr: " Door.  Listen Closely.  Find the Key.  Open the Door."  The Twitter messages on the Destati account lead me to believe this is an ARG of some kind, since they are quoting messages from Kingdom Hearts.

Square Enix released quite the nifty Final Fantasy XIV app I'm sure a lot of players have been waiting for. Final Fantasy XIV: Libra Eorzea is a mobile source for all of your FFXIV informational needs and I mean ALL OF THEM. And get this, it's very easy to use!

I was able to test out the app and it's brilliant. It has a database on ALL the gear, quests, NPCs, items, and Dungeons for you to browse just incase you're unsure what to do or where to find something specific. It's also very intuitive and easy to navigate -- all it takes is a simple search and even if you're not sure on the name, you can easily navigate the categories they have pre-organized for you. Once you're looking at what you wanted to find -- say it's an item -- it'll tell you the level, where it drops or where you can buy, or how to craft it.

Are you the loudest one in the room?  When your friends play games at parties, are you filled with the irrepressible urge to describe what's happening on screen?  Then you might be just what Riot Games is searching for.  

Yesterday Jatt, Rivington, Kobe, Phreak, Deman, Quickshot and Joe Miller sat down with the Reddit community for an IAMA talking all about shoutcasting for League of Legends.  The devs are actively hunting down the next voice for their games, and want any and all dynamic loudmouths to apply to the job they have posted on their website.  If you're at all interested in the job, make sure you read through the IAMA, it's pretty fascinating to learn what goes into prepping for a shoutcast, which Riot caster jumps around before  a game, who carries their team in Solo queue, and who got recognized in a Swedish airport.  Also, you'll learn what the phrase "best of phreak trolls" means.

I would really love to see a female shoutcaster on their team personally.  While eSports is very male dominated, there's absolutely no reason why a lady couldn't step up to the plate and cast matches.  It all depends on the level of talent, but here's my call out:  If you know any lady League players with an epic voice to match their elo, send them the link to the job.  Let's make this happen people!

Last Friday I stumbled on something amazing while wondering through Twitter:  Blizzard had created a short film series giving viewers a dynamic view into the lore behind Mists of Pandaria.  I realize that not everyone is on Twitter though (if you are, make sure you follow us!) so I thought I would post all the videos in one centralized place for your viewing pleasure.  

Hit the jump to watch the last emperor of Pandaria battle his own inner demons in preparation for battling the demons that were about to rain down from the sky.  It's sure to inspire you to harness your own emotional turmoil, and just in time for Patch 5.4 to launch tomorrow.

Also:  In before World of Blogcraft. 

I don't know about you but I love the sound of wind blow through the trees, birds chirping and the absence of trucks driving on the highway. The ambient sounds of nature are beautiful and amazing. They are also missing from Minecraft for the most part. Sure we'll hear a chicken call or a pig oink but there is no wind unless it rains. When I'm deep in the earth near lava I don't hear the pressure behind the rocks. I want my world to be alive, not just with animals and people but with sounds.

This first mod pack does just that, adding the beautiful ambient sounds that are missing from the game. I can't say they got everyone right but it's a nice change. Sometimes you don't notice these touches are gone till you hear them. It breathes a new life into the game that I honestly feel is needed down the road on a official level. Specially with all the biomes changes in the pipe. Take a listen to MAtmos an atmosphere generator mod and check it out for yourself.

Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn released not too long ago and already, it's getting a ton of praise. Most, if not all the errors have been resolved and everyone is enjoying themselves in the story line. The game, at the moment is far from massive but there's quite a bit for one to do as they prepare themselves for what I call "the true ARR." That's not to say what we're playing now isn't the "true" version but a lot of the current content is revamped and redone 1.0 content. Nothing truly 'new' quite yet.

Over at PAX, Naotoki Yoshida and the A Realm Reborn team made an appearance and they gave players all the answers in-terms of what's to come in the near future. I'm here to organize it all in once place for you. Brace yourselves though since half the players haven't even gotten through preliminary content and yet, there's a lot more coming, setting even a hardcore player like me way behind already.

What started off as a simple order and request from Curse Gaming turned into something quite appreciative. I placed an order for a Voyboy shirt for my friend's Birthday. It took almost five days to leave its original home where ever that may have been. For a few days now, I kept wondering why it took awhile to ship such a simple item on top of the week extra to make it to Canada where my buddy resides.

Soon enough, Tommy, who is also a fellow Rogue Knight, got his package and got more than just a shirt and the request I made. He also got an autographed picture of their whole League of Legend's team. Whether or not that's something they always do, I still think that's incredibly nice of them, and of course, an added bonus they did not have to do. I need to remember to thank them the next time I see them during my gaming convention endeavors especially since the picture went to someone who would appreciate it more than the average gamer.

I felt this was worth a write-up. Curse is a big organization so something like this is quite surprising since I order so much off the internet and this doesn't happen. Thanks again, Curse!

The Next-Gen launch dates have been declared. With Sony's PlayStation the Fourth arriving on November 15th, and MicroSoft's XBox Uno following it on the 22nd, the month of November is now officially a fanboy war zone and the line in the sand is drawn directly across our meager wallets. But setting console favoritism aside, could the average user afford to get both of these systems in such a short time span? And if so, would they truly want to with the assumed issues that often plague the launch of a fresh generation?

Lets take a few minutes to look at the facts, as well as slathering on a hefty helping of my personal opinion and a dash of hyperbole for flavor. This rambling discussion has been brewing inside my brain, and finally the overflow begins... after the jump.

The 80's is like some fond glowing memory for me, a time of nostalgia and fantastic imagination. I vaguely recall there being a video game problem in the early 80's, maybe it was due to something like the infamous game E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial. We also had our Wookies chopped in half and made into Ewoks. I'll be honest, I never cared, I loved Ewoks. Still come 1986 we got two truly awesome things. The Nintendo Entertainment System, though I wouldn't get mine for another year, and Transformers the Movie.

Many things happened for a lot us, that being my friends, when Transformers came out. Not only did it provide a wicked soundtrack and prolong our love of Rock and Roll, it also brought our favorite giant robots to the big screen. *Here's your 27 year-old spoiler alert.* Sure we teared up when Optimus Prime bought the farm and it wasn't from prostate cancer like they'd have you believe in robot chicken. No this was real drama in our cartoons, it's not something we were used to. They brought on big names to handle music and voice acting, they stepped up production, they showed us something awesome.

Today Riot Games released the latest legendary skin for League of Legends.  This time they have focused on Janna, giving her the weather girl treatment.  It's a fun skin, but not so over the top as say, Lulu's legendary.  This time around Janna's abilities all focus on meteorology, on the scene reporting, and assorted hijinks.  This skin somehow reminded me of Resident Evil, but maybe I'm just having a dark day. 

I sure wish I had the RP to pick this up.  I can't imagine how fun it must be to summon a weather report out on the battlefield, dance with your umbrella like you just don't care, and Monsoon your way to a bad hair day.  If you have the scratch, head into the Riot Store and grab this skin for 1820 RP.  Forecast calls for strong laning potential with a chance of ganks.

Update: The submission deadline has been extended until November 1, 2013 with the DC trip scheduled December 4-6, 2013. For more information and to apply, visit http://loftinnovation.org/.

Original article:

The Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Leaders on the Fast Track (LOFT) program announced last month the Video Game Innovation Fellowship, aimed at providing minority youths the opportunity to affect social change through video game development. Through partnership with the Entertainment Software Association and other organizations, LOFT’s Innovation Fellowship will award development grants to 20 minority youths (ages 16-24) whose video game concepts provide answers to the issues facing minority communities.

Happy Monday fellow crafting geex. Every little sound we hear is a musical note to the right ear, it's about imagination. One Youtuber has that in spades, Joe Penna the Mystery Guitar man. This time he brings us a little diddy�with the sounds of Minecraft. Of course it's all done with some good editing skills to set the timing instead of being staged completely in one take with some massive red stone setup. Regardless it's impressive to watch and listen to.

For reasons I shall keep to myself, I've been diving headfirst into League of Legends of late.  Now, it's not like I haven't played the game before:  In fact I was playing it before it launched, and I have to tell you it felt amazing to pwn a bunch of male gaming journalists dropping Tibbers on their unsuspecting heads in the middle of a GDC play session.  

My first experience with LoL was actually about six months older than my Annie triumph.  I have fond memories of crowding into a cubicle at Gamepro with Arturis and Riot CEO Marc Merrill, leaning eagerly over a laptop as Marc talked about this new genre they were inventing, and what the Summoner system would look like.  But the aggressive nature of the community -- or at least those I encountered -- coupled with, well life, combined to force me off the Fields of Justice for several years, enough time for my account to get wiped and my Summoner name to vanish into antiquity.

All this meant that I had to start over when I decide to head back to Valoran.  This actually turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because even though I lost all my (eight, count 'em) epic levels and all the champions (six I believe) I had unlocked, I was now able to approach the game with more gaming experience under my belt and a greater sense of purpose.  It was time to level my first Summoner, and to choose a Champion who would guide me through the first levels of the game.  As it turned out, that Champion ended up being a seldom-used starchild named Soraka.