Blizzard is excited to be showcasing Blizzard eSports on a truly global stage this year. They are also heavily focused on getting Diablo III, Mists of Pandaria, and Heart of the Swarm into players’ hands as soon as possible. In light of their jam-packed schedule, they’ve decided to hold the next BlizzCon in 2013.

More details about the 2012 Battle.net World Championship and BlizzCon 2013, including specific dates and locations, will be coming in the months ahead.

Image obtained from http://www.swtor.com/media/wallpapers/

“In a galaxy far, far away…”

Star Wars The Old Republic is an MMORPG by BioWare and EA Games. It was released last month and within that time frame fans and MMORPG players alike flooded the servers. With that being said this is a game that Star Wars fans must play. The mechanics of this game is similar to any other large scale MMORPG such as WoW but with a twist. The game takes place at a time when the Sith has returned and begins an all-out onslaught on the Republic.

BioWare incorporated their story board interaction feature into SWTOR so now players and party members can share in the interaction with the NPCs that go with the story. Players can make decisions and earn social points as well as Light and Dark points that determine the side of the Force one is deviating to. Parties can enter each player’s story and spectate on the side as well. There are advance quests called Heroics and Flashpoints that require a certain number of players in a range of levels.

Since the story is up for discussion, there are several classes on each side that includes countless hours of game play with their own story lines. There is the Trooper class, Jedi, Smuggler, and Agent with their respective sub classes and vice versa on the other side. With each class there are different skill trees to manage that will aid in combat. There are several guides out there that can provide some insight on how to approach managing skills.

These stories take the player to different worlds such as Coruscant and Tattooine. How does a player get there? Well with their own ship of course! There are epic space battles/missions. Once a player reaches the level to progress to the next world, they will have the option of partaking in a space battle. Ships are also upgradable with purchasable or crafted components.

Speaking of crafting, there are numbers of crafts to choose from. There is scavenging, treasure hunting, cybertech, armstech, armortech, etc. Crew members that join your team during the story can be sent on these crafting assignments at a cost which they return in time either empty handed or bearing fruit. There is a simple guide out there that can provide the perfect combination for what a player wants to do. All it takes is a google search away or even a search on their forums.

Image obtained from http://www.swtor.com/media/wallpapers/

Depending on which server a player creates their character in determines the kind of game play environments. There are PvP servers and the Non PvP servers. There are PvP sessions as well as a sport game that players can compete in. There is even special gear developed for PvP. No items, currency, or experience is loss upon death in PvP or in story so one can rest easy upon defeat. Equipment does need to repair upon defeat though otherwise it can be risked destruction.

Even after beta testing and a month of release play, there are still a lot of bugs that come up during the game play hence it is expected that there will be frequent server down times for maintenance and patches. Overall I give the game a 9 out of 10.

If you are a Star Wars fan, then definitely get a copy of this game. It is in stores now and digital copies may vary in price. There is a trial fee upon purchase and subscription fee to continue playing after the trial fee expires. Fees come in packages so players can choose based on their convenience.

So what will it be, the Light or the Dark side?

Image from www.battlefield.com/battlefield3/images

For the longest time, Battlefield was a multiplayer centered game so taking on a story campaign was a bold challenge to undertake. There is an element in campaigns, especially in shooters, that instills fear in their developers and that is the story line; the most difficult aspect to create. Take Valve’s Half Life for example, great story line and top single player quality, a classic. Now for a title that had hardly ever released a campaign, gamers didn’t know what to expect.

Well no need to worry about spoilers, no specifics of the story line will be mentioned. As a huge shooter fan, I give the overall story line 7.5 out of 10. EA takes the generic heroic soldier type through a Hollywood blockbuster of conspiracy and national crisis.  Of course there is always the character that exhibits the typical bureaucratic and political constituent for that red tape feel. It is definitely worth the play for it’s a great chance to take the full advantage of what the Frostbite 2 engine is capable of.

Now let’s look at the Multiplayer aspect. As mentioned earlier, multiplayer is what Battlefield 3 is known for and it does not disappoint. With numerous vehicles to operate and different roles to contribute, squad based shooters has never been more fun. There are different types of maps, from conquest to rush and traditional death match, it literally is a battlefield.  There is plenty of player to player interaction, especially with servers up to 64 players on PC. There are also several coop missions gamers can play with a friend or others.

missions up to 2 players. Plus there is a ranking system for players to earn military ranking as they progress. As expected, the return of the achievement system with loads of weapons, medals and dog tags to choose from. I trust gamers know why these mechanics are essential to shooters so I won’t go too much into it. I give the multiplayer action a 9 out of 10 rating. My overall rating for Battlefield 3 is 8 out of 10. Battlefield 3 will always be known for their multiplayer element. As for their campaign, as in any story, there is always room for improvement. It doesn’t necessarily mean that it should in anyway effect its possibility in becoming a best seller.

Image from www.battlefield.com/battlefield3/images

To add a little more excitement, Battlefield 3 Back to Karkand was just released with Frostbite 2 revamped maps from Battlefield 2 as well as new weapons, vehicles, and achievements. For those who purchased the limited addition, this expansion is free!

If you don’t already own Battlefield 3, an awarding winning shooter of the year, in the collection of shooters, you are missing out!

Battlefield 3 is available in PC, xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It is in stores now and digital copy prices may vary.

The only thing that might take some getting use to is EA’s Origin system that is really similar to Steam. Origin is a game management system that provides multiplayer/coop game search ability. The game has come a long way since it’s release with several large patches. Overall, it is a really fun game.

Team Liquid’s Hero overpowered Sen winning the series 4-0. With an early 2 Stargate push, Hero quickly dominated the map with Phoenixes and Void Rays, slowly devastating Sen’s economy bases, and obliterating Sen’s overlords. Despite Sen’s best efforts in trying to conquer Hero’s aerial assault with spore crawlers, and queens,  Hero’s strategy, gameplay, and unit control was much more superior allowing Hero to take the win.

After the loss, Sen must face ThorZaIN to secure a third place spot worth $12,000 in prize money.

In the second semi-finals, the battle of two terran players placed people on edge as the early setups were like watching mirrors. Each were matching each other move for move anticipating each other move. However, the battle of terrans took shape quickly with ThorZaIN unleashing mass marines where as Puma sending out tank. As the battle waged on, each side was taking wins one a piece, but it was Puma’s final match against Thorzain with air superiority that cinched the match against Thorzain. With Bansheets and Vikings, Puma quickly dominated the skies suppressing Thorzain’s ability to expand as well as to suppress his ability to counter that sent Hero to the final match.

With a feeling of Deja Vu from Dreamhack, Hero and Puma will once more fight it out to the finish. Who will win? Stay tune.

Game one was a close one between Thorzain and Morrow, but game two Thorzain devastates Morrow’s economy with mass helions early in, burning drones, queens, and speedlings in their range in game two. Despite Morrow’s best effort, he was unable to develop a proper counter strategy eventually succumbing after his economy collapsed.

Morrow made a huge come back in game three defeating Thorzain soundly however, despite Morrow’s best effort, Thorzain completely dominated game four with a repeat of his mass Helion strategy. Morrow hurled everything he had from queens, speedlings and drones in a vain attempt to salvage the game, but ultimately the mass production of Helions ultimately demoralized Morrow who threw in the towel and gave Thorzain the win.

Thorzain advances to the next round playing Hero in the semi-finals.

In game two between Hero and Hasuobs, Hero caught Hausobs’s army of colossus off guard with a protoss mothership complementing his army of colossus and stalkers. With the arrival of the mothership, the audience was on edge knowing that a vortex was enroute. As the final battle pushed on, the mothership unleashed its vortex  dragging in all of Hasuobs’s army allowing Hero to clear out Hasuob’s expansion.

In game three, Hero launched into an impressive four gate build trapping Hasuobs’s army of immortals, stalkers, zealots and sentries. The consistent pressure of stalkers with blink combined with a few zealots cracked Hasuobs quickly, despite the impressive amount of immortals, and stalkers giving Hero the win.

Remember seeing that wonderful $180.00 Lenovo Notebook in your local Best Buy Circular? It was one of a handful of Best Buy doorbusters that garnered national headlines as one of the best bargains of the 2011 Christmas shopping season.

However, customers begin to cry foul when they poked inside their brand new notebook and realized that the notebook was not as advertised. To cut down on costs, Lenovo removed parts from within the system and customers were not notified until after purchasing the notebook. Presently, customers have thus far identified that one speaker is missing and one DDR3 memory slot is missing. As one customer put it, it makes you wonder what other cost saving measures were taken to achieve that $180.00 price point for Best Buy.

Both the missing speaker and DDR3 memory slot were not disclosed to buyers that it was removed to save costs during the initial point of sale and was only discovered after customers who purchased this notebook after opening the notebook to perform upgrades.

This entire debacle began with Best Buy releasing ad circulars identifying a beautiful Lenovo Notebook for the price of $180.00. Deal websites, and the Best Buy website all identified the notebook as Lenovo G575 IdeaPad Series Notebook. Even the pictures on the Best Buy website indicated it was a Lenovo G575.

Bargain hunters scoured documentation on the notebook from the official Lenovo website, and neither the Best Buy website nor official Lenovo G575 documentation indicate this iteration of the notebook was missing a speaker or DDR3 RAM slot. All documentation indicated it was a full model G575 offering less RAM, a slower CPU, and less hard disk space.

Upon receiving the notebook, customers were shocked when attempted to upgrade their Lenovo G575 and began to inquire with Lenovo on their forums.

Several customers have voiced on an eleven page thread on the Lenovo Forums that had they known it was missing a speaker and a RAM slot, they would have purchased the notebook from Fry’s, who also advertised a slightly higher model of the Lenovo Notebook for the same price that offered the AMD E350 Processor (compared to the Best Buy E300 Processor), 3GB of RAM (instead of 2GB of RAM in the Best Buy model) and a 320GB Hard Drive (compared to a 250GB Hard Drive offered by Best Buy). Of particular irony, the Fry’s model was not missing the speaker or DDR3 RAM slot.

This has infuriated several Lenovo and Best Buy customers as they felt they were mislead by Lenovo and Best Buy, with a few (including us), claiming deceptive and false advertising for the omission of key facts that would have altered the decision buying process.

The price is indeed a bargain however the above complaints have nothing to do with the pricing. It has everything to do with full disclosure. Customers had no reason to believe the notebook they were purchasing was not a stripped down version of the Lenovo G575. Details on Best Buy website pluralized speakers while indicating memory upgrading was possible up to 4GB (No where did it mention it was restricted to one DDR3 slot).

After customers confronted Lenovo on the stripped down version of the G575, a Lenovo representative originally stepped forward stating:

Sorry to hear that you seem to be missing the left speaker. This sounds like some kind of manufacturing error and we will definitely look into it. It will help us if you can each send me a private message with the model type and serial number of your systems.

This is not a case of cost cutting – it sounds like an unfortunate mistake. Lenovo depot service typically can repair a system in one to two days with an extra day for shipping to and from the depot. It should NOT take 3-4 weeks. I think that was inaccurate information provided.

Hours later, the same Lenovo representative retracted his statement stating that:

After a deeper investigation, it turns out that this is as some have suggested – that this particular G575 configuration identified by the 4383-43U model type was a specific configuration offered for the black friday promotion through Best Buy.

 This particular  model of G575 is equipped with 1 speaker, 1 memory dimm socket (ships with 2GB Installed) and has 2 USB connectors.  The systems purchased through Best Buy are not missing components and were not a manufacturing error. 

Lenovo has since gone on record saying they have updated their respective G575 product sheets to prevent any further confusion but this update may have come several days too late for customers.

Customers have since taken action into their own hands, seeking resolution from both Lenovo and Best Buy by filing complaints with the Better Business Bureau, the Federal Trade Commission, and their respective Attorney Generals. No resolution has been reached with customers yet.

We contacted both Best Buy and Lenovo for comment on this piece, but representatives from both companies were unavailable for comment.

FEATURES:

• Continues the epic story of StarCraft II from where Wings of Liberty left off
• Approximately 20 new campaign missions
• New campaign gameplay mechanics, allowing players to evolve new abilities and units for their Zerg army
• New multiplayer units and maps, expanding strategic choice and gameplay depth for each race
• Expanded features and functionality for Battle.net to improve custom-game search, and new tools for map authors to create even more epic custom games
• New pre-rendered and in-game cinematics

NEW MULTIPLAYER UNITS:

- Terran

Shredder

The Shredder is a new unit built from the Factory that allows the terran player to control the battlefield. In its mobile form, the Shredder has no attack — but when set to stationary mode, it channels area-effect damage to both the air and ground. If a friendly unit enters the range of the Shredder, the weapon shuts off.

Warhound

The Warhound is a small, walking ground mech that wields an effective anti-air weapon with splash damage, much like the Thor from Wings of Liberty. The difference is that the Warhound is smaller and much more nimble, though it gives up some range on its anti-air missiles in exchange for this mobility. The Warhound also wields a small ground attack weapon that does additional damage to mechanical units, making it particularly well suited to taking out enemy Siege Tanks — though it’s not particularly effective against non-mechanical units.

Changes to Abilities

•  Hellion has been upgraded to transform into a BattleHellion. When transformed into its new battle mode, the Hellion will gain in hit points and get a stronger flame attack that covers a short arc in front of it.
•  Ghost’s Cloak ability will no longer be a toggled effect. A one-time energy cost to activate Cloak for a specific time duration. Energy regeneration will continue while cloaked, and Ghosts can re-cloak while nuking without interrupting the call-down.
• Battlecruiser will gain a speed-boost ability called Redline Reactor which has a cooldown
• Reaper no longer has a special building attack, but instead has a passive health-regeneration that allows it to recharge hit points quickly when out of combat.

- Protoss

Tempest

The tempest is a new capital ship that deals massive area-of-effect damage to air units. It also has a standard ground attack, but its chief role is to help gain air superiority.

Oracle

The Oracle is a psionic warship, built from a Stargate, that uses several unique abilities to raid and harass the enemy. The first is Entomb, which can temporarily block mineral fields from being harvested. Another ability, Preordain, grants vision of a targeted enemy building, allowing the protoss to see which units or technologies are being researched. Rounding out its kit is Phase Shift, which phases a target building, preventing it from being attacked, using its abilities, or granting technology. Not only can structures like missile turrets be prevented from attacking, but using this ability on a zerg Spire would block the production of Mutalisks, Corruptors, and air upgrades.

Replicant

Replicants have one ability: to transform itself into any non-massive unit. They’re expensive, so cloning a Zergling would not be very cost effective, but transforming into a specialized unit like a Raven, Infestor, or Siege Tank could open up interesting strategic options for the protoss.

Changes to Abilties

• The Nexus has a new ability called Arc Shield which temporarily adds additional shield and building armor to help fend off drops by the opponent
• Mass Recall, has also been added to the nexus, which allows protoss players to teleport armies from out in the field back to the nexus. The recalled units are stunned for a few seconds when recalled.

- Zerg

Viper

The Viper is a new flying unit with three unique abilities. Blinding Cloud temporarily reduces the attack range of all ground units inside the cloud to melee range, and prevents energy-based abilities from being used. Abduct allows the Viper to physically pull a unit to the Viper’s location. Finally, the Viper has a one-time ability called Ocular Parasite, which allows it to detach its eye stalk and meld it onto any friendly, non-massive unit, turning that unit into a detector.

Swarm Host

The Swarm Host is a slow-moving ground unit that has no standard attack. When burrowed, the Swarm Host spawns a continuous stream of slow-moving melee units called Locusts that can be used to lay siege and pressure entrenched enemy positions.

Changes to Abilties

• The Corruptor’s Corruption ability has been replaced by a new ability called Siphon that allows Corruptors to target buildings and slowly damage them.
• Ultralisks have a new Burrow Charge skill that lets them dive underground and instantly surface at a target, allowing them to initiate the fight faster on a crowded battlefield.
• Banelings have evolved tunneling claws similar to the Roach, which allows them to move while burrowed
• Hydralisk has a new upgrade that allows them to move faster while not on creep.

Retired Units

As new units are added to multiplayer, some units are on the chopping block. Motherships and Carriers will both be discontinued when Heart of the Swarm of the swarm comes out. You will be still be able to Mothership and Carrier rush in Wings of Liberty if you still desire.

Release Date

No release date has been announced and in traditional Blizzard style they won’t commit to a date until Heart of the Swarm meets the expectations of its players, as well as to Blizzards own standards. It has also been announced that a beta will take place.

This year’s Design Challenge focused on designing Hollywood’s next hottest movie car. The entries ranged from vehicles acting as faithful companions to their human counterparts to strong protectors of freedom and justice.

In a city famous for its friendly people and beautiful weather, the Smart 341 Parkour helps reporter Annie Angle on the mission to write her first, potentially career-making, front page news article in a city notoriously known for a lack of parking spaces. On an early Sunday morning, an article in a newspaper catches Annie’s eyes: “Smart Granny Robots Missing!” Using her Smart 341 Parkour and its three different modes – a typical drive mode, a fly mode that allows the vehicle to hover far above the streets and a climb mode that allows the vehicle to run up the walls of skyscrapers – Annie sets off on an investigation to discover the missing link for her journalistic masterpiece. The Smart 341 Parkour design tells the story of a more optimistic view of the future.

“This year’s theme presented these designers with creative challenges like never before,” said Chuck Pelly from Design LA. “Not only were studios tasked with designing a futuristic Hollywood vehicle, but also the complex plots within which they starred. The Smart 341 Parkour captured the essence of the Design Challenge by combining innovation and functionality with an adventurous plot.”

Entries were judged by multi-discipline design professionals who selected the winner based upon how the vehicle reflects its brand attributes relative to the plot, how the vehicle relates to the brand or targeted audience, the level of imagination, the character development of the vehicle and the uniqueness of the combination of car, story and character.

The Design Challenge is a highly anticipated competition where automotive design studios from around the world battle against each other to flex their creativity. Designers enjoy participating in the challenge because it is a strong venue to showcase their talents and further explore new ideas in automotive design.

Participating design studios included:

• Honda Research and Development Americas, Inc.
• Hyundai Design North America
• Mercedes-Benz Research & Development North America, Inc.: Advanced Design Center California
• Mercedes-Benz Advanced Design Germany
• Mercedes-Benz Interior Design Studio, Germany
• Subaru Design Tokyo Studio

“There is no other vehicle like the Civic Natural Gas on American highways, and this recognition has been a long time coming for Honda,” said Ron Cogan, editor and publisher of Green Car Journal and editor of GreenCar.com.  ”The new-generation Civic Natural Gas features greater fuel efficiency, a handsome and roomier new design, and tailpipe emissions levels untouchable by any other internal combustion production vehicle.  After manufacturing this environmentally conscious model for fleets since its introduction in 1998, Honda has now made a major commitment to bring its exceptional, American-built natural gas sedan to everyday buyers, offering an all-new array of popular consumer-oriented features and availability through 200 Honda dealers in 36 states.”

Natural gas is a clean-burning, versatile fuel found in abundance in the United States, making the Civic Natural Gas a practical solution for consumers across America, and a well deserving vehicle for the 2012 Green Car of the Year award.  Boasting 38 highway MPGe, the Honda Civic Natural Gas is an Advanced Technology Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle and also features Eco Assist and a selectable ECON feature to further enhance the vehicle’s environmental efficiency.  Along with fast-fills in about five minutes at stations offering natural gas, the Civic Natural Gas can be time-filled at home overnight with an available wall-mount refueling appliance from BRC Fuel Maker.  The $26,155 Civic Natural Gas can drive approximately 240 miles on a tankful of compressed natural gas, almost two-and-a-half times the range of a typical all-electric vehicle.

“The Civic Natural Gas is not only a great vehicle, it also demonstrates Honda’s commitment to provide a variety of alternatives to gasoline,” said Michael Accavitti, vice president of marketing at American Honda Motor Co., Inc. “The Civic Natural Gas and the all-new Fit EV that we introduced yesterday at the Los Angeles Auto Show are the latest additions to a rapidly expanding family of alternative energy Honda vehicles aimed at cutting petroleum use and reducing our carbon footprint.”

The Green Car of the Year jury, comprised of six environmental and automotive experts along with Green Car Journal editors, selected the 2012 Honda Civic Natural Gas from a field of five finalists that also included the Ford Focus Electric, Mitsubishi i, Toyota Prius v and Volkswagen Passat TDI.  Green Car of the Year honors are reserved for exemplary vehicles that forward environmental performance in meaningful and quantifiable ways, with all nominees on sale by Jan. 1 of the award year.

This year’s jurors include the following leaders of the nation’s top environmental organizations: Carl Pope, chairman of the Sierra Club; Frances Beinecke, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council; Jean-Michel Cousteau, president of Ocean Futures Society, and Matt Petersen, president of Global Green USA.  Also, Jay Leno, noted auto enthusiast and host of the “Tonight Show,” as well as automotive icon Carroll Shelby join Green Car Journal editors in rounding out the 2012 jury.  Green Car Journal has been unveiling the Green Car of the Year winner at the LA Auto Show every year since it initiated the annual award in 2005.

“This year’s Green Car of the Year finalists underscore that there is no single solution to our transportation challenges,” said Cogan.  ”Virtually every automotive manufacturer is exploring green technology in several forms.  The Honda Civic Natural Gas, is a prime example of an alternative fuel that is viable, efficient and practical, making it  worthy of the 2012 Green Car of the Year award.”