Plenty of gamers are often stuck between the definitions of “casual” and “hardcore.” They care too much to be the former, and yet they don’t care enough to be the latter. If you’re one of them, and yearning for your own defining category, then worry no more. You might just be a mid-core gamer.
What does your new-found identity mean? According to 8-Bit Rocket, it means you’re the type of gamer who doesn’t want to buy a new computer every time a new game comes out. You might love MMOs, but you don’t have the time (or patience) for eight-hour quests. You might own the latest consoles, but you might not finish every single game you buy. 8-Bit Rocket also suggests that mid-core gamers are generally of the older generations, but we firmly believe that young people can be mid-core as well.
So, are you mid-core, or not? Declare yourself in the comments.
The interesting part about this latest debate is that it has become a larger discussion about what is considered cheating. Most people would probably say that cheating is breaking the rules. Paying someone else to level your character or to give you gold for RL money is currently viewed as “unfair.”
But if receiving money you didn’t earn is in-game is cheating, does that extend to farming for gold with your main to give to your alt? What about having your higher level friends run you through a loweer level dungeon quicker? Isn’t that powerleveling? What about twinking? Did your alt “earn” those items?
For many, I think the distinction is whether RL money is involved. It’s acceptable to send gold to your alt because you main earned it, but it’s not fair to buy gold because you are using your RL cash to get ahead in a game.
So if using RL resources to get ahead is cheating, what about people who are rich with time? After all, the principal mechanic for MMO progression is time spent playing the game. Aren’t people with enormous amounts of free time using their RL resources to gain an unfair advantage of those who have limited play time?
Where is the line between cheating and working within the game rules to get the most out of your game time? And how much RL can developers expect to keep out of their games in the interest of “fairness”?
It seems like Xbox 360 Fanboy is right on the cusp of the oncoming storm of great entertainment. Sure, GTAIV is great, but with E3 right around the corner, news of the next wave of 360 titles is slowly trickling in. Below you will find links to the latest on Gears of War 2, Fable 2, and Ninja Gaiden II. We also take the Bourne Conspiracy demo for a spin in a video hands-on feature that you should definitely watch. Now, if someone would just release the Ninja Gaiden II demo we’ve been waiting for, we could do a video feature on that too.
Before Electronic Arts lays down its third quarter earnings in a couple days, Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey believes it “likely” that Spore will move from the guidance EA gave of a March/April release to the second half of ‘08. This also is corroborated by reports earlier this month when Spore was announced for simultaneous release on Mac and PC.
But what’s another Sporedelay at this point? We were a bit surprised (and skeptical) when Will Wright said Spore was six months from release last October. Maybe Hickey is totally wrong and Wright will pull a six-legged exoskeletoned gelatinopod from his hat?
In our continuing effort to bring you fresh and interesting content, X3F presents Would You Rather … a weekly feature that asks you the hard questions. The point? If you had to choose one or the other, which would you go for?
Now that we got that other game out of our system, we look to the future of sandbox adventures. Two titles stick out in our minds as potential GTA-killers but we’re torn on which one to grab. Pretending you’d only get one of the following titles, would you go for the sequel to a pretty solid GTA-clone from look, feel and execution in Saints Row 2 or the sequel of a more original GTA-clone in the form of 1940s based Mafia II?
Feel free to share the reasons for your vote in the comments. We’ll share the results of the poll during the next edition of Would You Rather … which hits X3F every Wednesday.
Last weeks WUR results can be find after the jump … steal this info!
Following some early warnings about the operation, Sega has officially acknowledged the existence of espionage RPG Alpha Protocol. Obsidian Entertainment (Knights of the Old Republic II and Neverwinter Nights 2) is developing the game, which is expected to release on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC in early 2009.
Sega currently has no images of the game to share. All we know is that you play as a “young agent cast out by his government” and “Alpha Protocol embraces everything [Obsidian] enjoy[s] about making RPGs from a fresh perspective.” So, the best current guess would be … Mass Effect with spies?
MMO-Champion has just posted what appears to be the patch notes for the WoTLK Friends and Family Alpha. This is an unconfirmed leak, but everything on them would appear to check out as legitimate. They’re pretty barebones, but there’s some intriguing information to be found:
Death Knights are playable, although the starting quests and talents are not complete.
Spells and Talents past 70 are available for the Druid, Mage, Priest, Shaman, Warlock, and Warrior classes
You can head to Northrend via Menethil Harbor and Theramore for the Alliance, or Undercity and Ogrimmar for the Horde
The Howling Fjord, Borean Tundra, Grizzly Hills, and Dragonblight are the zones currently open for testing.
Utgarde Keep, Utgarde Pinnacle, The Nexus, and Drak’tharon Keep are currently available for testing.
If they already have talents for quite a few classes past 70, it would seem to suggest that they are further along on the expansion then we think. Hopefully, if these patch notes ring true, we’ll hear about those talents soon. You can read the full Patch notes behind the jump.
Wow, we thought last week was a big week for X3F. One week later and we’ve put out our first enhanced Fancast and our first video podcast (which we’re calling X3F TV, clever right?). We’ve also got yet another edition of Ask X3F in which we reveal our podcasting secrets and discuss the apparent disappearance of Xbox 360s everywhere. Of course, we’ve also got plenty of the latest Xbox 360 news and info. Peruse it all at your leisure below.
Each week, X3F showcases the best in Halo 3downloads with Community Content. To find out how to set up your Bungie.net account, click here. Submit your own ideas at: comcon [AT] xbox360fanboy [DOT] com
A few technical issues forced us to release this week’s Community Content a few days late, but we’re such big fans of this week’s map that we think it’ll be worth the wait!
This week in Community Content we bring you a new take on Rat’s Nest. A closed off interior lined with vehicles, strategic equipment placements and a single territory that gives the controlling team dibs on the lone tank makes this version of Rat’s Nest into something fierce. Made for almost any gametype, the map called Rodent’s Abode is as fun as it is dangerous. And by that we mean lots.
[iTunes] Subscribe to X3F TV directly in iTunes. [Zune] Subscribe to the X3F TV directly (Zune Marketplace link coming soon). [RSS] Add the X3F TV feed to your RSS aggregator and have the show delivered automatically. [MP4] Download the MP4 Directly.
Here are the first images of Empire Interactive’s upcoming FlatOut: Head On. The racer seems to draw some heavy inspiration from EA’s prized Burnout franchise — but is that such a bad thing? It’s been a while since we’ve seen a high octane racer on the system, so maybe this will help satiate the thirst of racing fans. Maybe.
MMO-Champion
