Say what you want about how good a game World of Warcraft actually is, or what its impact has been on gaming at large, positive or negative, but its durability and ability to sustain a player base that most of its competitors would kill for is astonishing. Though it has been shaken over recent months, and finally seen its numbers begin to wane, it still has five or six times the player base of most its closest domestic competitors. And now, coming up on its fourth expansion, the scope and breadth of its world are astonishing.
Mists of Pandaria, the latest expansion launching this week, has taken some possibly deserved potshots from all corners, and admittedly it does seem a somewhat less focused expansion than previous ones that had a concrete villain and theme. Pandaria instead wraps in a new race that has always seemed better aligned to April Fools jokes than actual implementation. That said, when you pull back the layers, there are a lot of new content and changes densely packed into this latest package — though, honestly, it's going to be long-time WoW players who will be most impacted.
A new class (Monk), a new race (Pandaran), new zones, new dungeons, new PvP areas, a new skill system, level and profession cap increases, new scenarios, updated legacy dungeons, and a pet battle system make out the key features list, and that's a decent enough batch of upgrades to justify an expansion. The question is whether there will be a cohesive thread that ends up pulling it all together in the way that Burning Crusade did with the adventure through the Dark Portal and the fight against Illidan, or the way Wrath of the Lich King did in the long battle to face Arthas and Frostmourne, or the way Cataclysm did with the Sundering and Deathwing. When you just look at MoP, it's easy to just see, well, pandas.
Also this week, FIFA Soccer 13 hits, marking the release of what is becoming one of EA's most powerful franchises, and perhaps second in the sports market only to Madden. Meanwhile, Little Big Planet comes to Vita owners eager for some kind of new game.
PC
- Carrier Command: Gaea Mission (download)
- Castle Crashers
- Colour Bind (download)
- Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
- FIFA Soccer 13
- Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy (download)
- The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
- World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria
Xbox 360
- Angry Birds Trilogy
- Dead or Alive 5
- FIFA Soccer 13
- Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit! (XBLA)
- Marvel vs. Capcom Origins (XBLA)
- The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
- Wipeout 3
PS3
- Angry Birds Trilogy
- Dead or Alive 5
- FIFA Soccer 13
- Final Fantasy III (PSN)
- Hell Yeah! Wrath of the Dead Rabbit! (PSN)
- Marvel vs. Capcom Origins (PSN)
- One Piece: Pirate Warriors (PSN)
- R.A.W. - Realms of Ancient War (PSN)
- The Testament of Sherlock Holmes
- Tokyo Jungle
Wii
- Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
- FIFA Soccer 13
- Wipeout 3
Vita
- FIFA Soccer 13
- LittleBigPlanet
3DS
- Angry Birds Trilogy
- Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure
- FIFA Soccer 13
- Hitori by Nikoli (eShop)
- The Denpa Men: They Came By Wave (eShop)
- Wipeout 3
PSP
- FIFA Soccer 13
DS
- Kart Krashers (DSiWare)
Comments
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After watching the Tokyo Jungle quicklook over at Giant Bomb, I don't know that I CAN'T buy it.
I'm still a bit baffled by the $30/$40 list price for Angry Birds Trilogy. Will it sell at 30x-40x its usual price?
Professionally offended. Does not understand jokes. Needs a man to explain them to me.
Isn't it more like 10 times its usual price? That's still staggering, especially considering that Angry Birds has been released on the PS3 as a Mini for $2 or $3.
Hell, the Trilogy is missing the best release since the original: Space.
How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?
MilkmanDanimal wrote:You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.
For $15 on PSN it seems like a natural, doesn't it?
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman
Pandas on my birthday! Wooooooooooo!
PS4: mzenke25
Twitter: Zonk
- Half Minute Hero: Super Mega Neo Climax Ultimate Boy (download)
That sounds incredibly ridiculous
XBL: Mister Static
PSN/Steam/BGA: MisterStatic
Fixed that for you.
FIFA Soccer 13....does this have the womens' teams yet? After seeing our ladies take gold in London for the second consecutive time, I'd really like to play some FIFA but the US team is a joke, so I have no reason to buy.
"Fairy Braincess" - - - L4D4Ever!
Keithustus on Steam, XBL, iOS GC, EA Origin, & elsewhere
How did I live before digital distribution of old, cheap games?
MilkmanDanimal wrote:You did live before digital distribution of old, cheap games. Now you just play games.
Bzzzzt, sorry. Game of the Week is XCOM demo on Steam.
Certis: Quintin is both smart and attractive.
Fedaykin98: Good lord, I wouldn't have expected brilliance like that from that nemeslut Quintin Stone!
Yonder: It's weird to say this, but Quintin Stone may be the wisest person here.
Hey, that was Sean "Elysium" Sands on there, not me. He does LOVE it when people attribute his articles to me though. Loves it.
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” ― Howard Thurman
"...EA SPORTS FIFA Soccer franchise surpassed 100 million units lifetime during the launch of FIFA Soccer 11. The best-selling sports videogame franchise in the world..." (Nov 2010)
"Since its debut in 1989, Madden NFL has over sold-in over 90 million copies to date." (Aug 2011)
Gravey, I'm never sure, on a scale of 1-10, just how serious you are when you post. – Minarchist
I suddenly realised earlier that I had absolutely no idea that Mists was out this week :O
...I think I might actually be done with WoW, finally.
On the other hand, mighty interested to see what they've done with Carrier Command. And Castle Crashers on Steam is a no brainer...might actually get around to finishing it this time.
inactive here until further notice.
Kinda intrigued about coming back to WoW, but yea, there has been no hype around this game for me as well. Just been thinking about it in the back of my mind. Now to convince the wife to spend the money.
As for this "Football" concept, I know nothing other than that game where they hit people and people scream a lot. I think they are both the same sport now that I think about it...
BattleNet: CalderheadJ#1884
Mr. Sands has an intrinsic inability to appreciate futbol. It says a lot that he's willing to recognize FIFA as being a potential equal to Madden.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
I don't play WoW but the name "Pandaria" just seems like a serious lack of creativity on the designers' part. Is the next expansion going to be Koalaopolis?
BGG: muzzynyc
The make or break for me is whether you can equip your giraffe with a top hat.
Employee with Games
The Flaming Cliffs 3 addon for DCS World is also due out this week I believe.
www.digitalcombatsimulator.com
Steam ID: http://steamcommunity.com/id/El-Prod...
Xbox Live: Producto
PSN: El_Producto75
To be fair, it did originate as an April Fool's Joke, gone horribly awry.
You bastard, Tanglebones. :)
ClockworkHouse wrote:Yay! My Sony bone is getting tangled!
thrawn82 wrote:Tanglebones is a better man than I, in tears at my desk.
Source
And that was nearly a decade ago.
Okay, then. That's awesome that they've taken an old joke and made it an actual part of the game. I am satisfied.
(And they can use Koalaopolis if they want, for free.)
BGG: muzzynyc
It's probably worth noting too that they put a Pandaren Brewmaster in the Warcraft III expansion (released a few months after that 4/1 gag) as a neutral hero you could recruit.
Woa....jealous of you PS3 types! Reminds me a bit of EVO: The Search for Eden.
"Fairy Braincess" - - - L4D4Ever!
Keithustus on Steam, XBL, iOS GC, EA Origin, & elsewhere
Happy Birthday Zenke! Here's a nice fat piece of GRIND!
Don't feel bad. I'm going back for seconds too!
Battlenet: GWJMateo#1185
Discord: Justinmwhitaker#4192
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/justinmwhitaker
I actually had to look that up, because I was sure you had to be joking. $40 for the 360 version. Cannot. Comprehend.
"I would be insulted if I could figure out exactly what it means."
--*Legion*
[obligatory]
Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure was robbed!
[/obligatory]
Steam: [GWJ]MeatMan | "Now I know where to go if I have a hankering for testicles." –Higgledy
Speaking as a European person, what do you mean "becoming"?
Edit: I need to pay more attention to names under articles.
You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.
Steam - Denikker
Whoops!
Fixed.
You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work
when you've made up your mind that you just aren't doing anything
productive for the rest of the day.
Steam - Denikker
Mists of Pandaria is the first WoW expansion that is not purchased on release at the Aristophan household. The only thing that temps me is that I have the collector's editions for all the rest of the WoW content. Mighty, mighty tempting.
Most places: Aristophan | Switch: SW-7774-7919-6764
Greco-koalas with skirts and spears sounds awesome.
Words... are a big deal.
Jill Lapore wrote:Editing is one of the great inventions of civilization.
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