Smalltalk with James Robertson

Looks like BioWare is ready to wrap up the story line from DAO, and start getting ready for DAO 2 - September 7 will bring us Witch Hunt, a reunion with Morrigan:

Dubbed Witch Hunt, the content takes place nearly a year since the fall of Archdemon. Players will finally confront the sorceress Morrigan and find out her true motives. You can import your character from Origins and Awakening or create a whole new one if you so please.

I guess we'll find out what kind of entity the "ritual" with Morrigan created - assuming your character took her loophole, that is :)

Technorati Tags: dragonage, dao, bioware

How did I miss the new trailer for Dragon Age 2? March 8th can't come soon enough :)

This doesn't surprise me: no Steam for Linux, despite rumors:

Question: Final question, and one I’m sure you’re not super-keen to answer, but I promised one of our tech guys I’d ask it. What truth is there to rumours that you’re also working on a Linux version of Steam?

Doug Lombardi: There’s no Linux version that we’re working on right now.

In terms of client gaming, Windows is the 800 pound gorilla, and I think the only reason that the Mac got Steam is the dominance of Mac notebooks at the high end of the market. Desktop Linux is just a much, much smaller market, full of people who are far less likely to buy a gaming subscription.

Technorati Tags: steam, valve

The release of Steam for Mac has done something interesting - it's gotten Apple to sit up and take notice of their lagging graphics performance in the gaming arena. I just loaded the update last night, and while I can't say much about what it does yet (I haven't fired up DAO or SC2 since I grabbed the update), it's certainly making Steam users happy.

Technorati Tags: apple, graphics

My daughter just stumbled on the new DragonAge DLC - I was too busy replaying the original game to notice. Looks like I get to spend more time underground; it's all about dwarves and golems.

Technorati Tags: dragonage

ExtremeTech has a few details - there have been some changes (hexes instead of squares on the map, for instance) - but it sounds generally iterative to me. The biggest change seems to be technical - the game will require Steam, according to ExtremeTech. No Mac version yet either, we'll have to see how that shakes out...

Technorati Tags: civilization V

I finished Mass Effect 2 on "Insanity" this evening - the funny part is that the final boss battle was not the hardest part. I used the Cain to knock the Reaper larva down 25 percent, and finished it off with a combination of warp, incinerate, and the sub machine gun. Heck, even the collectors and Harbinger weren't that tough. The two missions that gave me the most trouble were Grunt's loyalty mission and the Reaper IFF mission.

Why were they the hardest ones? On the IFF mission, the stupid Husks. On Insanity, they have armor. That makes shockwave nearly useless, because you first have to pound the armor down. The only way I got through the IFF mission was by using the particle beam and warp to knock armor down, and then having Jack bounce them. Even using that tactic, it took me a few tries to really get it down.

Why Grunt's mission, you ask? A similar problem - Verrens with armor. Like Husks, they swarm, and if you can't just toss Shockwave at them, they surround you fast if you don't hit them early.

Anyway, it was cool to get the Insanity achievement at the end of that. There's a downside though; now I need a new game to occupy me :)

Technorati Tags: mass+effect, me2, xbox

I may still be obsessed with Mass Effect 2, but I've been waiting for Starcraft II for a long time

Technorati Tags: starcraft, blizzard

I started playing Mass Effect 2 on "Insanity" earlier today, and boy - it's completely unforgiving at that level. On lower levels, if you make the mistake of ducking out of cover at the wrong moment, or taking a sub-optimal party on a mission - you get away with it. On Insanity? You die, fast.

I'll say this - it's certainly a challenge this way. I have to pay much, much closer attention at all times. A moment of distraction, and bam - back to the last save point :)

Technorati Tags: mass effect, xbox

I've pretty much exhausted DragonAge and Mass Effect 2 - there's nothing I don't know anymore about either game. So - on to unplayed games. I started Dead Space awhile ago, put it down, and pretty much forgot about it. This morning I pisked it up again, and it's intense - it's an interactive "Alien" (the movie). The creatures are nasty, and you don't really start with much in the way of weapons - I just reached chapter 3, and was finally able to afford a pulse rifle. It's also a game with specific save checkpoints - you either reach them or you don't. I like the game, but I doubt I'll do more than one run through. Like shooters, it's a very linear progression game. Fun, but not the kind of game I'll go back to (like ME2 and DragonAge).

Funny side story about this game - my daughter tried it, and decided it was too intense. So her plan for the game was to have a sleepover party and play the game at 1 AM. That'll lead to a solid night's sleep :)

Technorati Tags: dead+space, xbox