As some of you know already The Hardcore Gamers Union writes and reviews Games, Gear, Consoles, older games, and Anything else revolving games themselves.
This month the magazine is featuring an informational update for MK Vs. DCU. Also in this issue we're Featuring an interview with me and Hans Lo (Senior Producer from MK Vs. DCU) Hope you all enjoy it :D
View article here http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/read_article.php?topic_id=26606480&union_id=16720
To see other areas of the Magazine click on the "Home" Tab and you'll see other peoples reviews and updates. The greatest thing about The Hardcore Gamers Union is that we write reviews and release reviews written by the people. If you would like to participate and submit your reviews sign up and Message Enigmanic or myself and we'll be sure and put them up there for you :D If you would like to appear in this months issue Make sure you get it in before September is over :D (You must be a member of the HGU to submit your contributions into the magazine, after submission if it's near the first of the month you will have to wait untill a later date when we have more than one or two reviews ready to publish. your reviews may contain no profanity, vulgarity, nudity, or "disturbing" images of any nature. This magazine is E for everyone)

TwilighT~
Thanks for reading :D
Also I hope you all like my new banner, Made by Jewls555 From the Signature and Tag Making Team. Check them out :D http://www.gamespot.com/pages/unions/forums/show_topics.php?board_id=909183247&union_id=13361

Welcome to another Blog of mine
But who cares lol, not many people read my blog anyway... Yet
Someday I shall take over the world. Anyway I'd like to Thank the Signature and tag making team for making me a Sweeeeet sig, I love it, Daf did it for me, brilliant.
Also I'm going to try and make this a Monday thing, Every Monday Check for a new blog of mine.


Anyway, Since we're on Gamespot, Today I find it fitting to talk about games, and Violence in games. Personally I'm very tired of people bad talking violence in video games. Annoying really, ok ok, so Postal went to the edge, and a little bit farther, for the time, and what happened the first postal was banned in the U.S. or did I hear incorrectly. Please correct me if I'm wrong I hate being mis-informed. So all of the political bastards think we should get rid of Violence in Video games... What for? So we can take the violence we experience into the streets? Do most of us not take out our rage on games, instead of other people? Do the political people honestly think we're that suggestible. The entire United States, of all of the millions that play games, are all morons. Is that what they think? It must be right? I wonder how many of these political persons are gamers themselves? Probably not many, too many of them are uptight, Us as gamers are a little more laid back, in my opinion. I certainly am, It's probably because the stress of everyday life all gets washed away when I may carelessly Rip someone's spleen out of them with my bare hands in games such as Mortal Kombat, a great seller and always instant ****c. Wonder why? Or maybe I enjoy shooting the hell out of people, seeing the blood fly, possibly imagining it's my boss or some other **** I'd just like to blow in half at close range with an SPAS. Of course that's honestly the only way I'll be a surgeon, lol. Maybe someone could tell me some other games that are great to get my anger out on, I really like games where you're a basic God, and hordes of enemies come running at you but are swept aside by your powers, strength, and overall skill. Problem is a lot of games like that aren't bloody enough for me lol, and also There should be Fatalities in games like: Dynasty Warriors, Ninety Nine Nights. Both fun games just not enough real death, it seems too fake. I just played a game, Army of 2, Which I will be reviewing next Monday, and will be posted here in my blog; Anyway It was pretty fun. Mostly because you get to work as a team with a friend, or someone random and work as two very skilled private military agents, just tearing through people. Fun stuff check it out. Anyway I'll end on this note, Tomorrow I'm going to work in the morning, And when I get home will probably Kill the hell out of something for an hour or so; That way I can go to work on Tuesday. I would like to hear the rest of you post something on here, I want my blog to be chatty, with peoples Ideals and opinions, that way we can all learn from each other, and our experiences. Anyway I'd like someone to post about the reason they love Violent video games. Thanks.


~H@RDCORE G@MERS UNION~

The Overrated and Under-appreciated

As always there are many games, just simply judged incorrectly. Sometimes game's take longer to "Jump into the action" than that of others. A lot like books people think that all games should bring what they represent by the cover, most do, however if this game doesn't immediately let you start pummeling your opponents they're often brushed off into the "Play as last resort" pile. Some time's you have to get past the first few missions, or areas, depending on what you're playing, remember the first levels are often meant to teach aspects of the game and not show them off.

This is all in my own opinion of course which we're all entitled to as, I'm sure a lot of this will make people angry. I would like to start by saying which game "In my opinion" is the most overrated of all time.

Let the mother bashing flow...

Honestly, it was a good game, not the best game of all time like I've so often heard, but good, decent even. In an article with Bungie before the release of Halo3 they had said that Halo2 was a mistake, they had messed up badly and for halo3 they wanted to shoot more towards the general idea of Halo1 the game that started it all. Sure Halo has a great online multiplayer, if you play on xbox live, the game can be a lot of fun, but what was so great about the single player? The storyline in 1 and 2 was almost exactly the same, not many new adversaries and the difficulty wasn't any more extreme than that of Halo1. Lets talk about the graphics area, I myself wasn't impressed with the graphics, more less in the cut-scenes area. Try comparing them to that of Final Fantasy. Impressive? I don't think so, and lets compare the gameplay to something like Unreal, or Quake even. Sure dual wielding is cool, but why do you need 2 guns? Is the gameplay of halo so slow that you need 2 guns for the bullets to seem to fly as fast, seriously did they turn down the velocity that much? How about when you're running, there's no sprint so escaping a fight if need be is among one of the most difficult things about the game. In Unreal you carry 1 gun with 2 functions so whilst holding this single gun we can do twice as much at double the speed. Cool huh? In Quake the speed of your character and enemies is like the, matched to halo, it's like the tortoise and the hare, with the outcome we all know would have REALLY happened.

How often is it that we overrate games, and brush off ones that don't start that quickly, another overrated game is Guitar Hero, or Rockband, virtually the same anyway.

How long do you want to look at that? Since that's pretty much all you see during the game, for the entire time you'll be playing it. At least Rock Band provides us with some aesthetics. If you're good you get to mash the same 5 buttons, and if not maybe 4 or even 3, but hey look on the bright side you get to "Whammy". On top of having a cool plastic fake guitar, you're a real rocker now, you can jam, and your buddies will be impressed. Plus playing this is just the cool thing to do.

Lets go to one of the good, and very under-appreciated games, that just came out.



Come on, what's so bad about it? I'll tell you, it takes more than half an hour to really, really start, before it's more like Mercs 1 than that of some lame wannabe. Pandemic did a pretty good job I'd say, after those first 30 minutes or so you can do virtually whatever, fly helicopters, call air-strikes, steal vehicles. This game isn't meant to be Grand Theft Auto. Let's look at the good, Storyline is nice, at least we're not just working for cash this time, we have a personal agenda. Graphics are nice, has it's ups, and downs but for the most part it's clean and clear. Movement is a little glitch but you get used to it, it's not a big change from most Third person's. As always we like to blow things up, and if you want to blow something up, this is certainly the game to do it in. What's your pleasure sir? Maybe you who've been critics to this game should play it past the tutorial section of the game, and receive your first Real contract.

Let's under-appreciate one more, it's only fair.

At least of this one I hope people agree, Why do I hear so many bad things about such a good game? What's wrong with it? Few graphical glitches, a lot of opponents, fun online, and using the unreal 3 engine gives it a great dark Erie, type of play the environmental textures are outstanding, and the general aspect of the game is beautiful, the story line is good, and Gears 2 has a very promising story as well, since they've hired a novel writer for it. However I don't think they need to throw a love story in there, I don't believe this is meant to appeal to chicks, I just want to chainsaw people. What other game can you do that in, Doom aside? So is there really anything that wrong with this game?

Anyway, I'm sure that Under-appreciating, and overrating will go on for centuries, since game ratings are base on opinions by each player, it can never be an actually guide to go by. So your best bet is to play the game, and decide for yourself.

I will probably remember this date for a long time, The date when blizzard introducing new games is all that gamespot is covering. Diablo 3, Starcraft 2 Hands on, and New characters from Wrath of the lich king. What's next? Warcraft IV Blizzard is taking over, having gone from rags to riches per say in the gaming industry, and now becoming one of the largest out there. Also being my favorite gaming company, over the next weeks I will be covering many articles about these new upcoming games.

PC Action Magazine Teases DiabloFans.com Jun 05, 2008 - 1:23 PM - by Medievaldragon After I reported Diablo 3 rumors interpreted by fans of Diablofans Forums based on a snippet posted at the PC Action Magazine website, the PC Action folks are now linking to DiabloFans.com and teasing the heck out without confirming or denying.

This is a translation from german submited by Calyx and ov3erlord:

Quote: PC Action: For long time the rumor kitchen has simmered. There have been indications again and again, that in the next weeks or months, the successor to the brillant diablo 2 should be announced. Several Internet portals, such as Diablofans.com and n4g.com, report over alleged references to a Diablo 3-announcement at a Gaming site by the name of pcactio..., oh, f*ck! Those are we!

But something is missing here...

So they say, that the 11x11 Pixel Picture from yesterday would be an impression from the Diablo-Follow-Up. The Problem : We are not allowed to say something about it. Not deny, nor say that the rumors are true, or even say anything. Hmm, how many more days are there to our next issue?

What do you think? what can it be? -- View the Source. Their new article offers what can be interpreted as hints: One is a link to a YouTube video showing a real life soccer game. The YouTube video is titled: Ring of Fire. The second clue is an image of Wolfgang Petry (a German singer). To non-German folks this means really ... NADA (nothing).

Our DiabloFans.com folks however started connecting the puzzle pieces -- that is kinda a stretch about a stretch, but here we go:

According to niceguyeddie the soccer game video titled Ring of Fire, might refer to Diablo's ring of fire when you fight him. (Watch the YouTube video referenced by PC Action)

According to Gromir, on the other hand, the Wolfgang Petry image refers to a karaoke song which lyrics say: ""Wahn - sinn. Warum schickst du mich in die ..." The second part to the lyric which is not included in the image is: " HÖLLE HÖLLE HÖLLE!"

In English: "Insa - nity. Why do you sent me to... HELL, HELL, HELL!"




As reported this morning on the previous news, PC Action replied my email:

Quote: PC Action: Unfortunately we are not allowed to talk about any details at the moment concerning this game

-- Lukasz Ciszewski The bad news? The next PC Action issue comes out on June 19 (according to Gromir). It is hard to think they would talk about Diablo 3, before the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals (June 29) ... and that is IF there is going to really be a game announcement ... and IF it is a Diablo game.

Ahh ... don't we hate and love and HATE teasers? Damn you, PC Action!

Note: Take in mind, PC Action might be teasing and messing (kidding) with Diablo fans, and that the game they refer to might be something entirely different from another company. Just a possibility.

UPDATE June 6: PC Action added a new small image showing fire. The image file is titled pic_d3_2.jpg --- These guys really want the teasing ball rolling. Either this game is Doom 4, Diablo 3, or a Hellgate: London expansion. There are other games recently announced such as Duke Nukem Forever (PC Action is currently showing screenshots of that game on another article today).

June 5, 2008
BlizzCast Episode 3 Now Available
Episode 3 of BlizzCast takes us deeper into the development of both StarCraft II and Wrath of the Lich King. We start out interviewing Dustin Browder, Lead Designer of StarCraft II, in our 'Zerg Evolution into StarCraft II' interview. Next, we interview Lead Designer of World of Warcraft, Jeff Kaplan, about dungeon and raid design for both World of Warcraft and its upcoming expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Following, we bring on Joeyray Hall, Manager of Video Production, to chat with us about the magic that goes into the development of Machinima for World of Warcraft. Listen to the show now, or check out the transcript to see all the featured artwork

Taken From DiabloFans.com

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Update: All available tickets for the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational are now sold out! Taking place over Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th of June at the Porte de Versailles Convention Centre in Paris, France, the 2008 Worldwide Invitational looks set to be another exciting Blizzard Entertainment gaming event. Be sure to check the 2008 Worldwide Invitational website often for updates on the panels, showcased content, and other news on what to expect, as well as live coverage during the event!

----------------------------------------------------

Blizzard Entertainment is selling new tickets for the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals (Paris, France). This is a great opportunity to meet the developers, participate in contests, and get your paws on the juicy swag with a beta code:

We have big news for everyone looking forward to the 2008 Blizzard Entertainment Worldwide Invitational in June. Additional tickets are going on sale, attendees will be able to enjoy two live concerts during the closing ceremony and a renowned comic book artist will be on hand to sign his work. Read on:

- Additional ticket sales for the Blizzard Worldwide Invitational will begin tomorrow, Thursday, May 29th, at 6:00 AM Pacific Time. If you haven't yet purchased tickets for the event, follow the "Ticket Sales" link on the official Worldwide Invitational website. There will only be a limited number of additional tickets available, so don't delay in buying yours if you plan to attend.

- The renowned video game music orchestra, Video Games Live, and Blizzard Entertainment's own in-house band, Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain, have announced that they'll be performing live on stage during the closing ceremony on Sunday, June 29th. Read our full press release for more information.

- For those following the World of Warcraft comic series, designer and artist Ludovic Lullabi will be present for signings at the booth of the French World of Warcraft comic publisher, Soleil.

This year's Blizzard Worldwide Invitational will be held here in Europe, at the Porte de Versailles Exposition Centre in Paris, France, on the 28th and 29th of June. Both days of the event will feature a variety of activities including hands-on play with the latest versions of Blizzard Entertainment games, developer discussions and presentations, competitive and casual tournaments, contests, and more.

Tickets are priced at 70 € / £55 for the two-day event and can be purchased by credit or debit card. The Blizzard Worldwide Invitational is open to attendees of ages 4 years and above. Please note that any attendee of 16 years or below must be accompanied by a consenting parent, guardian or responsible adult of 18 years or above to attend.

Don't miss your chance to experience two days of Blizzard-themed fun in one of Europe's greatest cities! 22 Replies | 1,423 Views PC Gamer July 2008 Edition Hints Diablo 3?May 20, 2008 - 8:51 PM - by Medievaldragon I contacted PC Gamer the same day the rumor started circulating on our forum with a scan image of the latest PC Gamer, and got reply today, May 22, in the afternoon:

"Sorry to get your hopes up, but we can officially deny that Diablo is on our cover next month. We're announcing something big and exciting and exclusive (actually, there are two big exciting exclusive announcements in this issue!), and we had to go a long way to get it, but it's not from Blizzard." said Dan Stapleton (PC Gamer Magazine, Senior Associate Editor).

Original Story: Another fan-fueled Diablo Rumor Mill has propelled out in full swing after PC Gamer's July 2008 Edition wrapped up with the following text:

"NEXT MONTH
Have you ever had a secret that you're just dying to blurt out, but you can't for another month, and the stress of holding it in makes you want to do the pee-pee dance? That's what the PC Gamer staff is doing right now, because the August issue will be chock-full of exclusives, including a top-secret cover story so huge we had to go to [CENSORED] to get it. Just 30 days more ..."

Here are a few thoughts to ponder on this brainstorming puzzle PC Gamer unleashed:

- PC Gamer was probably among the Gaming press Magazines who visited Blizzard Entertainment early on May, a few weeks ago.

- If you remember, PC Gamer knew about the Starcraft II announcement last May 2007. Blizzard Entertainment made the announcement at the Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals (WWI) at Seoul, South Korea.

- PC Gamer can't talk about it for the next 30 days ... the 2008 Blizzard Worldwide Invitationals at Paris, France takes place on June 28-29.

- June 29 is the date Diablo II shipped on USA (2000) and the same date the expansion Lord of Destruction shipped on Europe a year later (2001).

- Notice how PC Gamer replaces a swearing with [CENSORED]? Could this be a clue as to what the game they refer to? Because CENSORED really sounds like HELL ... as in ... Diablo?

UPDATE (5-21): Shacknews got response from Blizzard Entertainment.

UPDATE (5-22 6am EST): I just approached one of my friendly journalist collegue contacts: Leord, from WorldofWar.net, to ask if PCGamer journalists were seen at the Blizzard headquarters early May 2008. The answer was: Twice. Cheers.

UPDATE (5-22 10am): Jeff Green is a well-recognized PC gaming editor-in-chief and journalist at 1UP.com -- Jeff Green's reaction to the PCGamer Mysterious Exclusive:

"As a former magazine editor, I'd say Diablo 3 makes sense. That's my guess. Blizzard has the big Paris event coming up with a big game announcement. We've already been assuming over here that PCG would have the cover for this---because, well, who else would at this point? So I was waiting to see a Coming Next Month from them written exactly like this. Gotta be D3." -- Source: Neogaf

Share your thoughts at the Diablofans.com Forums. (former Diablo3.com)

Thanks, dunhac82 and Super.Fresh

Simple this time round'

Starcraft 2: Release date - 12/03/08 (Hell it's about time)

Taken from Blizzard.com

BLIZZCON™ 2008 ANNOUNCED

Blizzard Entertainment® gaming convention returns to Anaheim Convention Center October 10-11

IRVINE, Calif. - May 12, 2008 - - Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. today announced plans for its third BlizzConTM gaming convention, to be held at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, California on October 10 and 11. BlizzCon is a celebration of the global player communities surrounding Blizzard Entertainment®'s Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® franchises. In response to the demand to accommodate more attendees, this year's event has expanded from two convention halls to three.

"Whenever we've been able to meet and interact with Blizzard gamers from around the world, it's been a great experience for us," stated Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We're looking forward to seeing even more of our players at this year's BlizzCon and delivering another entertaining and informative event for them."

BlizzCon will offer a wide variety of activities to help all attendees get the most out of the two-day event. In addition to serving as a gathering place for the different Blizzard Entertainment gaming communities, attendees will be able to enjoy:

• Hands-on play time with upcoming Blizzard Entertainment releases
• Discussion panels with Blizzard Entertainment developers
• Competitive and casual tournaments for players to showcase their talents
• Areas and activities devoted to licensed products such as the World of Warcraft® Trading Card Game
• Costume, machinima, and character sound-alike contests with great prizes
• Commemorative merchandise based on the Blizzard Entertainment franchises
• A silent auction
• More exciting activities to be announced

Tickets for BlizzCon will go on sale in the next few weeks at a price of $100 USD per person. As the event draws closer, further details will be announced on the official BlizzCon website: http://www.blizzcon.com/.

About Blizzard Entertainment, Inc.
Best known for blockbuster hits including World of Warcraft® and the Warcraft®, StarCraft®, and Diablo® series, Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. (http://www.blizzard.com/), a division of Vivendi Games, is a premier developer and publisher of entertainment software renowned for creating some of the industry's most critically acclaimed games. Blizzard's track record includes ten #1-selling games and multiple Game of the Year awards. The company's online-gaming service, Battle.net®, is one of the largest in the world, with millions of active users.

Taken from www.DiabloFans.com

Apr 30, 2008 - 8:26 PM - by mockery

Ahoy there, fellow Diablo fans!

Well, there's no point in beating around the bush any longer, so let's get right down to it. A few months ago we were contacted by Blizzard in regards to the Diablo3.com domain name. While they appreciate all the work that's been put into running this big Diablo fan community over the years, they still want the domain name. Hmm, I wonder why? Now before you get all up in arms about it, allow me to explain a few things.

First off, this fan site isn't going anywhere, it's just getting a new name: Diablofans.com! Blizzard is actually being really cool about it, giving us all the time we need to make it a smooth transition before we hand the old domain over to them. So be sure to update all of your bookmarks and point 'em to diablofans.com instead. Your user accounts will all still be perfectly functional and, along with this new site name, we'll soon have a big site redesign up and running as well. A new name, a new look. Huzzah!

Secondly, while Blizzard is indeed acquiring the diablo3.com domain name, they told me that this shouldn't be considered an announcement for the Diablo 3 game we've been waiting for all these years. They acquire new domains all the time. While this is true, I personally can't help but think that this is a confirmation of sorts that they're working on the next Diablo game. Sure, they can claim it's because they want to protect their intellectual properties 'n what have you, but I can't imagine they would all of a sudden be so interested in the diablo3.com domain if they weren't working on a new Diablo 3 game behind the scenes.

On a final note, I want to thank all of you guys who've made this community so strong over the years. It's only going to get better around here and I hope you'll all stick with us. One of the nice things about this whole name-change ordeal is that Blizzard really appreciates the fact that we're a dedicated fan site and we'll be working with them much more closely in the future to bring you the latest Diablo game news.

It's funny, I've had so many offers over the years from people who wanted to pay a lot o' cash for the diablo3.com domain name and I wasn't even willing to consider then. I set out to have a great Diablo fan site because I simply loved the Diablo series. Fortunately, with the help of some great people on the staff and fans like you, we accomplished just that. But when Blizzard came around asking for the domain, I was excited about it both as a Diablo fan and for their recognition of all the work we've put into the site. Fortunately for us, the diablofans.com domain name was available and it fit perfectly in line with the intentions of this site, so I registered it and here we are. Diablo3.com will still be active for a few more months so everybody can have a chance to get used to the new Diablofans.com domain. After that, it will simply point to the Blizzard.com homepage... at least until they're ready to use it for something more worthwhile. One of the nice things about the new diablofans.com domain is that it's all-encompassing. Instead of the site just being for people waiting on Diablo 3, it can serve as the main hub for *all* current and future Diablo games. Isn't it nice to know you'll always have a place online you can call home? Hey, even Diablo's demon minions need a place to hang their hats too.

Alright, that's all the news for now. I'm sure all of this news is gonna get the Diablo 3 rumor mill running like a mad banshee... so have fun discussing the announcement with your fellow Diablo fans!

update: Some gaming news sites are reporting that Blizzard "purchased" the diablo3.com domain from me. This is not the case. As I stated in the above post, if it was my intention to make a profit off of the domain, I could've sold it years ago, but I didn't. When Blizzard spoke to me about their interest in the domain, I was happy to give it to them since they had no problems with us moving the site to diablofans.com and will now be working more closely with us in the future. So yeah, I just wanted to clear that up... there is no monetary exchange taking place, I'm simply giving Blizzard the diablo3 domain.