So, for me my biggest 2014 release in Q1 was going to be Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. There is no hiding it, and there is no denying it in the office. I know it's not the most beloved title considering how Diablo III didn't seem to meet the expectations of the majority of those out there. As much as people wanted it to live up to the legacy of Diablo II, it did not. I think for what its worth Diablo III was a solid game, and I think Reaper of Souls will expand upon it and make it better.

Now back to Titanfall. After getting the chance to play Beta in the office today, I can safely say that the hype is real. The game gives you a good 15-20 minute tutorial (that you can skip if you want) that gives you all the basics and then some. Sure learning to walk/sprint is lame, but learning how to parkour and how to use your Titan effectively are well worth it. You can however just dive into multiplayer and learn by trial and fire. One of my biggest worries coming into the multiplayer was the creep styled ai bots, however they actually serve somewhat of a purpose and in someways are pretty satisfying to kill. They don't really hurt you that much, but in some situations can kill you. The only thing that is a little bit annoying for me in the early stages of multiplayer gameplay is my inability to distinguish a human versus an ai creep. I would assume with more time in the game you would be able to make the differentiation though. All and all it looks like a solid game, and if I do end up buying it I'll probably get it on PC and just play with a controller. I don't really want to invest into a Xbox One just for Titanfall.

Highlights of the day for me would have to be seeing Max get killed by a Titan drop, me punching a pilot in a Titan as he was jumping out of his Titan which resulted in a nice red mist on my screen, rodeo'ing Titans, plenty of gibs/giblets and plenty more wow moments. When you can tell stories, or get excited from simple moments like this you know a game is doing something right.

Check out our live stream from today with 3 hours ++ of goodness.

EyTay over and out!

GG GL HF

Reflecting on 2014 (three weeks in). Man it's been a slow month. Gaming in general in Q1 are going to be slow (time to hit the stack of shame). Heck, I was thinking oh man when is FF X Remastered coming out... oh right MARCH. When does Dark Souls II come out? Oh right March.... You get the point. Anyways, so far January's been a weird month.Torture Chamber has come to an end at least for this season. It was a good run, and I can't wait for it to come back. Although as sad as that sounds, do not fear! A bunch of new cool stuff is coming in February, so get pumped and ready for all that stuff, I know you guys will be hyped. I'm preparing my body and mind for March when Diablo III Reaper of Souls releases and I promise to attempt at least a 36 hour + marathon (or you get to watch me fall asleep). Will update you guys as things come along but stay tuned as we got a fun in-office tournament coming on Friday, March 24th. I'm still trying to flesh out the tournament brackets and format etc. My goal is to live stream it, but I have to sort out all the logistics of it so cross your fingers and follow me on the twitter @EYTAY for updates of what's going on.

GL HF

EyTay

Blizzcon 2013 has come to an end (well actually it's been 3 days now), but its time to reflect on my experience and thoughts. So first and foremost, Blizzard just knows how to make cinematics. That Heroes of the Swarm cinematic trailer made the halls go wild, myself included. Seeing Raynor, Tyrael, Nova, Diablo (Female), Kerrigan, and Arthas was pretty damn badass I have to say.

I guess next order of business would be World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor, but to me personally it was underwhelming. Hearthstone news was ok, I mean yes I'm happy its coming to android/ios but thats going to be heavily reliant on connectivity. But it will be great to play in bed I suppose (thus meaning I need to buy a tablet). All in all the opening ceremony was hype, and Blizzard does truly care about the community, and gave shout outs for their continuing support and love for not only the games but of each other.

Unfortunately for me no Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls footage during the opening ceremony, but I did watch the panel, the gameplay trailer, and played both PS4 and PC versions. First and foremost the PlayStation 4 version looks amazing and plays very fluidly. If it were not for a PC version I would definitely play on the PS4. Remote play looks interesting. We were originally told that it would not support remote play, but then yesterday during a Sony Event in NY they went back on what they had told us and said that it would support remote play. Thus meaning I may have to buy a Vita after all, nothing like being on the pooper and playing some Diablo III: Reaper of Souls. Anyways, it was fun to co-op with Peter Brown on the PS4.

The PC version looked just as good and it was a fun experience, however since we were only playing level 33 crusaders with limited skills and runes it was hard to judge how good he was going to be. He plays very much like a Paladin to be honest, and some of his skills are actually titled the same or will mirror skills you've seen in Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction. The good 'ole hammerdins of past will rejoice. If you watch the gameplay trailers you can see there is a version of a skill currently called "Justice" which with the right rune appears to spin hammers around you. In addition, he has Fist of the Heavens back. A fun iconic move where our good friend the pally would thrust his pelvis as he casted it. There is a chance I still might create a video comparing the two classes so stay tuned for that. I'm excited for Reaper of Souls and as I've told some I will do a 36+ hour live stream on release. I still haven't decided if I want to A. Roll a new Crusader and start from level 1, or B. progress with my now 60 monk to 70 to show off the new areas + bosses. I guess comment below if you have an opinion.

*PS I saw / used zeal as a stackable skill on PS4 but it was not on the PC build. On the panel however they said there is a skill slash with a "zeal rune" so we'll see.

This blog has become longer than expect, but just to quickly wrap up everything else. The Blizzard WCS Starcraft II Tournament was cool, but I really wanted Jaedong to win. 5 second places now this year I think :(. Hearthstone Innkeeper's Invitational was also fun to watch, but again I really wanted Kripparrian to win and that didn't happen either. I did not watch the WoW 3v3 Tournament, and the WoW movie is showing some promise. Blink 182 was nostalgic, but not as good as watching The Foo Fighters in 2011. All and all it was a fun trip. If you have time you should check out some of the esports coverage we did at onGamers.com

Thanks for taking the time to check this out if you did or didn't. Hope to try to get some blogs in more frequently.

EyTay

Diablo 3 yeah that game. That game that came out and for the most part only satisified people for a month or less. However, if you guys know me you know I played that game for several months and enjoyed it. I stopped playing it when I got bored (finally), then monster power came out and I played again and quit again. Then the Uber bosses and Hell Rings came out so I played again (and it was pretty fun for about 1-2 weeks), then alast I quit again. So I haven't played D3 for the past few months, but I just saw the recent patch notes for 1.07 thats coming to PTR soon and I have to say I'll probably play again.

Now you're asking why in the hell would you do that Erick? Why? Don't do it, its a trick! You know what you're probably right, but hey there's finally some form of a pvp mechanic, well sort of. Dueling will be in the game now! No, it isn't like D2 where you can go grief people and pk them (sad I know), but hey for all those that were waiting for pvp at least there's this. 4 people can enter into a zone for 1v1, ffa etc and thats going to be pretty cool for at least a few weeks. They aren't going to balance it, and yah probably some things are going to be broken to all hell but hey at least maybe you'll see some new builds/skills used that you didn't see in pve content. I literally ran the same build despite patches, just because it was what I thought was most efficient. They're of course adding more farm mechanic stuff, which I'll probably do (like a sucker) just to test it out and craft some new stuff.

Of course though this isn't for everyone and I agree it's not acceptable that pvp or a pvp mechanic took this long to even come out. They definitely didn't push a normal standard Blizzard product, the one that would be "done when it's done." However, for me these major patches will always get me coming back to play. I guess I can't help it. I had so many fun times with D2, and even D3. Major patches seems to bring everyone back too, which is also another incentive. I'll be looking to try to get a stream set up once we can either get on PTR or once the patch goes live. We can set up some sort of hour long dueling or dueling in combination with other stuff.

Your thoughts!?!

GL HF GG

-Erick

Hello!

Happy 2013 to all of you. Not sure if you've ever hit the "wall" with video games, but sometimes the magic just isn't there. The irony is this has happened to not only myself, but a few of my friends too recently. Albeit I'm not the type of gamer that plays many/multiple games, I tend to stick to a handful and just play a lot of that game. For example Diablo III, I spent so many hours playing that game. It was fun, I enjoyed it, and I made some money off of it which always helps. However, that time has passed (sigh pvp please?).

I feel like there's a void for me now. I loved D3, SC II, WoW, CoD BLOPS II, etc. The problem for me right now is I don't have a game that I feel that way about that I would just sink copious amounts of hours into. 3 months til Heart of the Swarm I guess, but nothing has me jumping on to play it the moment I get home like there used to be. This might be a personal "wall" I'm hitting, but what do you guys do to break the "wall" assuming you ever hit it to begin with.

Hope all is well and looking forward to a great 2013. You'll see more of me on the site this year hopefully :P

GL HF GG

-Erick

Hello all,

It's certainly been a while. I was chatting with a friend last night trying to help them understand the world of Starcraft 2, pro gaming, esports and such. In doing so I was trying to explain the difference between a pro gamer and any online warrior that thinks they have what it takes to compete at the highest level.

I've played games for a long time, like most of you and sometimes thinking I'm "good" at said game. When reality actually kicks in when you play someone that just dominates you, you kind of start to wonder am I really that good? Here's the question then: "How much of being good at a game is actual raw talent versus hard work?" Let's take for example a game I played a lot of with my friends through highschool, Marvel vs Capcom 3. I was definitely one of the best within our group, but when I ventured out to play in an arcade and such I just got blown up. Mind you, we have played countless hours and yes it was fun, but the competitive part in me always wants to win. Getting blown up for free is kind of demoralizing, because of all the hours spent in playing. I started to think that no matter how much you play, practice, and love a game doesn't mean you're good at it even if you want to be.

So how does talent necessarily translate in the world of gaming? I tried to think about this and the only things I could come up with were faster reaction time, some how having an uncanny ability to read another person's play, creative strategies, and I guess faster at absorbing the game. If you guys can think of more please comment below. Another game I've play a bunch is Starcraft/BW/Starcraft II. No matter how much I play I will never be as good as the pro's. Just something about my micro, macro and all that just don't translate the way it does for them. I wonder if they see and do things differently just based on the person they are. Granted I do watch a lot too to try to learn tips, tactics, etc. Even if I know what to do, I can't execute it in the same way. Could it possibly be true like in sports that theres some hidden factor even in gaming that certain people possess that others don't? Your thoughts?

Hey again everybody!

Fresh off the conclusion of the IGN Proleague 4 (Starcraft 2 / League of Legends Tournament) and I have to say it went pretty well, but more so on day 3 than the first two days. So long story short the production itself had some issues mainly in the sound department. On day 1 and 2 there were times where they would cut to commercials and you would still hear the mics and people talking, in addition to one incident where you could only hear the caster/commentator in one of your speakers instead of both. I commend David Ting (General Manager, eSports and VP of R&D at IGN) for his swift actions in replacing the sound tech there by Day 3 in which the streams went a lot more seemlessly and with very little error, if any.

Other things I want to bring up in terms of the production choices and what not was the decision to use KPOP during filler and commercial time. I think there are definitely some people that enjoyed it, however I can imagine that the mass majority didn't really care for it. I enjoy kpop, but when it got repetitive it kind of bothered me. Also, it appeared that all the League of Legends fans were subject to this too. The schedule seemed pretty rough as well with a lot of back to back games. Imagine if NesTea beat Squirtle and had to play ALive right after. He would've had to play at least 15 games in a row (more or less) to win it all or potentially more.

Now the good! It was nice to see megumixbear get a shot at hosting and interviewing. She was definitely a little nervous due to it being her first time I believe hosting in front of such a large crowd, but she did a good job. She has in game knowledge that with refinement of delivery can go a long way in the future. Good job to CatzPajamas on his success this weekend both casting and hosting. He trully has a commentators voice and it's nice to see his progression in this last year. Definitely shout outs to the rest of the hosts/translators/casters too including Anna Prosser, Rachel Seltzer, Apollo, Wolf, Doa, Khaldor, HD, PainUser, Smix, Lani, Lil' Susie, and anyone else I missed. Gratz to FnaticRC.ALive for his huge victory.

GSTL (Global Starcraft 2 Team League) a part of GOM.tv in Korea partnered with IPL for this venue. It was an amazing production minus the faulty connection problem (controversy) in the game with MKP (MarineKingPrime) and Squirtle. Crazy to see MKP win 4 games in a row (including his re-game with Squirtle) to secure the championship in season 1 of the GSTL for his team Prime.

NASL (North American Star League) makes it return this Wednesday with Season 3 promising to bring bigger and better things. $150 incentives for each match, making each match that much more important. Also, Sunday show matches that will have 2 players flown out to compete for a $2000 prize pool at the Irvine BarCraft @ AntHill Pub. This season they have added new casters (Frodan, RotterdaM and MrBitter), a Hollywood Producer, the return of the Korean players and more live content than they ever had before. This trully promises to be a much better season than ever before and I'm looking forward to it.

One week 'til MLG Spring Arena 1 (Major League Gaming) where the top 8 from MLG Columbus Winter Championships (minus NaNiwa who is attending DreamHack Stockholm) will be competing for seeding into Spring Arena 2 and also for a prize pool of over $10k. Will we see rematch three of MKP and DRG, in which DRG finally gets his revenge? Will HuK find a way to rise above all the rest of the Koreans (being the only foriegner)? I'm so pumped! I hope HuK can fight his way into at least the top 3 that would be amazing. I wouldn't mind rematch #3 either!

That's it for now. Sorry for the wall of text. I'll try to get pictures next time! eSports!!!!

GL HF GG

You can follow me at Twitter and I also stream as part of the GameSpot team at TwitchTv.

Hey there!

So recently in the last 24 hours or so it was announced that a player quite known in the Fighting Game Community has been sponsored by Brazzers, which is a Pornography Company. Now of course this has been the bud of many jokes and shots fired so to speak, but was curious how people felt about this. I for one don't really care unless it somehow hurts the Fighting Game Community. Looking back at things, even in MMA fighters are sponsored by Condom companies and such. You'll see things like "Condom Depot" on their shorts/shirts etc. So does having the words Brazzer really mean anything? I guess it really comes down to how Capcom ultimately feels about it too being associated with that type of industry.

If anything I'm happy that said player got sponsored even though it was through this type of company. Anytime theres sponsorship for a player to persue their dreams further it's hard to pass up. Just curious what the gaming community in general felt about something like this? Do you think it's wrong? If so why? Do you not care? Post away!

GL HF GG

Hey there everyone,

It's been a while. Been busy and such but here goes. I recently got back, well actually its been about more than a week now that I got back from New York helping cover the MLG Winter Arena in New York for GameSpot. I hope it went well with the GameSpot community and I hope the content we brought you either a. entertained you, b. taught you something, or c. intrigued you to want to watch more or discuss it. I hope that we continue to do coverage on other eSports activities and events and that the community enjoys it and becomes fans as well, assuming you weren't a fan already.

Recently me and another GameSpot staffer formed a Starcraft Group here on the GameSpot Unions board. It's called "GameSpotSC." Here the community within GameSpot or even anyone outside can learn more, play more, and experience more Starcraft II. We're going to try to run game nights in the future with a GameSpot staffer, both staffers, or maybe even more! So please join up and help grow a bigger eSports community/ Starcraft II community within GameSpot. We'll play various types of modes from FFA (Free-for-all), to team matches, 1v1 round robins, and maybe even some custom maps. It doesn't matter what league you're in, we just want to have fun and help each other out. In addition, we'll try to keep people up to date with the latest tournament schedules, and possibly results. So check out the Union at the link below and join up!

http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/home.php?union_id=GSSC

Thanks Guys!

GL HF

Erick

Hello Everybody (in the best Dr. Nick voice I can conjour),

So yesterday I was talking to a coworker about Diablo 3, actually it was almost more of a rant. Both of us are eagerly waiting for this game to arrive and even though we have beta for it, it's just not enough. The game was being pushed hard by Blizzard to try to be released by the end of last year. Guess what? Didn't happen. Surprised? No I wasn't surprised it didn't come out, but I held a small hope somehow they would push for holiday sales, like they did with World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.

I started thinking, man this delay is starting to make me not really want the game. I'd probably cave and end up buying it anyways cause I've been a big diablo fan and also it might be the first time I buy a collector's edition of a game, solely for the Tyreal space marine type portrait for Starcraft II. The problem is the longer it takes the more disinterested I've become. Also, just in playing the beta I'm not really impressed to be honest. I've also played the PVP arena at Blizzcon and while it was fun, it was kind of whatevers for me, but that could've just been that it wasn't my own character I guess. I want to warn a lot of people that they should probably temper their expectations for the game. Albeit Beta doesn't have all the features of the game yet, like runes and such but man the game needs to come out already.

On a side note,

Dear Torchlight 2 if there was ever a time to make some money it's now. Release it before D3 and your sales would be better than they would be if you release it around the same time or after D3. You have no place in the market if D3 is out. Just sayin.

Anyways, have game delays for other games caused you to a. not buy the game, b. become more disinterested in the game, or c. RAGE and rant about it!?!.

GG GL HF

-Taytortots