Monthly Archives August 2012

Protomen

Posted on August 31, 2012 by Reuben Poling

There is a very easy litmus test to determine if you should give the Protomen a listen, and it is this: the words Mega Man Rock Opera. If that entire scenario just makes you wrinkle up your nose at the folly of man, well, I’m not sure how you found this website in the first place, but that’s fair enough. Not everyone likes ham with their cheese. But if you like music that reaches for the stars, succeeding wildly or failing gloriously, then the Protomen are for you. And good news – they’re going to be in Seattle tonight. Continue reading

2KGames pre PAX Party

2K Games Borderlands 2 Pre-PAX party

PAX Prime 2012 Panels of Interest and More

Posted on August 30, 2012 by Charles Spurr

I’m definitely more of one for the exposition floor than for panels. If you haven’t noticed, I play a good deal of video games, and that’s my main focus at PAX. However, I’m still going to try to attend a few panels and events.

Friday
2:00 pm – “Just One More Game…” -Science and Controversy on Internet and Gaming Addiction
Not that I have a problem of course. I only spend all of my free time playing games or writing about games. Oh, and most of the time I’m at work thinking about games. Sometimes spending that time looking at game forums. Still, I’m pretty sure I’ve got this whole thing under control.
4:30 pm – Assassin’s Creed III PAX Prime Panel
I’m not sure if you’ve heard, but people seem to like this Assassin’s Creed franchise. The trailers for this thing have been Continue reading

Reuben’s PAXtravaganza

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Reuben Poling

Friday

1 PM: Rooster Teeth in the Main Theatre
I watched the first couple seasons of Red vs. Blue in high school, and I literally developed breathing problems. My friends and I spent a good semester and a half screaming “Shotgun!” “Fuck!” (even when there was no car in sight) and sarcastically informing each other that yes, that’s right, I am a gay robot. IAnd you know what? Despite our best efforts, we couldn’t make it not funny anymore. In the intervening decade the folks from Rooster Teeth have only improved their art. I’m excited to basically just sit there and listen to them talk about whatever the hell they want.

Continue reading

Diablo III Browser: Free Profiles for Android

Posted on August 29, 2012 by Jon Spengler

Obsessing about games is so much sweeter when you’re not actually playing them. I remember middle-school daydreams about leveling my Mediator, daydreams had in lieu of doing actual school work. In 7th grade, though, we didn’t have real-ass computers in our pockets connected to a global pool of data. Thanks to smart phones we can have glittering tangible reminders of those armor points we love so much.

Diablo 3 is a nothing short of point pornography, I adore it. The only thing I was missing was the ability to stare at said points while outside of the house. Thank God Hydra Softworks came to my rescue with the free Diablo III Browser app for the Android platform. Now I can look at my own points and view my friends’ points whenever I’m dragged out of the house for “healthful activities”. Take that, fiance! Continue reading

Table-Top Panels at PAX Prime 2012

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Jon Spengler

*Image Credit: Giant Bomb‘s awesome PAX East 2012 gallery.

PAX is upon us! When I decided to move to Seattle, I had no inkling that the biggest reason I’d want to stay in the city was a (then reasonably sized) convention called PAX. If you’re the target audience for this trade convention, you probably already know what it is: the biggest convention for nerds of any type.

While table-top games have always had a strong presence, the genius cross-pollination between Penny-Arcade and Wizards of the Coast has exploded table-top gaming at the con. This year’s table-top panels scintillate with possibility, they are going to put up a good fight for my PAX-minutes this year. I went through the schedule and detailed what caught my eye. Be warned, this is a very subjective list; I left a few panels out because they seemed only tangentially related to table-top or because I found them silly. Continue reading

Mists of Pandaria – Will it bring honor to us all?

Posted on August 23, 2012 by Charles Spurr

It seems that a few million people are aware of a certain popular MMORPG getting another expansion in the near future. Yes, the World of Warcraft is getting just a little bit bigger with the addition of Mists of Pandaria. I’ve had an opportunity to play first hand in the beta and I’m bringing my thoughts and impressions to you all.

First, a little history about my exposure to WoW. I began playing WoW in the original open beta back in 2004. After launch, I was in a few guilds and did a few 40-person raids in MC, BWL, AQ, and Naxx. I went on to play in BC, WotLK, and Cata over the years and have learned numerous other acronyms for things in the game. Admittedly, I am no longer an active player because I find that end game MMO and I just don’t get along. Grinding rep for months through daily quests and downing raids over and over just isn’t my bag. Yes, I did get a Wintersaber mount and ran Strath until I got Baron Rivendare to give up his horse as well, but that was years ago. Just wanted to make that clear up front.

All of that said, Mists of Pandaria is likely to thrill any avid fan of the game. It may even bring back a few of those that have turned away from WoW.

Continue reading

Delicious Diet D&D: Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition

Posted on August 21, 2012 by Jon Spengler

After years of mooching off of my friends, I’m in the process of starting a board game collection of my own. I’ve nailed down a lot of the no-brainers: Settlers of Catan, Dominion, Jenga, Battlestar Galactica. However, there was one game that I couldn’t commit to: the dungeon crawling Descent: Journeys in the Dark. I wanted to like the game’s pile of minis and fantasy trappings more than I actually did. For all of its promise, the game was too unwieldy to reliably create fun evenings with my friends.

When I saw that Fantasy Flight Games was developing Descent: Journeys in the Dark Second Edition, I was immediately intrigued. Intimations of streamlined game play and adventures that could be completed in a single hour instead of five had me salivating. Now I have my grubby mitts on the new edition and I’m happy to say that it looks like Fantasy Flight delivered. Continue reading

Book review: Throne of the Crescent Moon

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Reuben Poling

Book cover. Seriously – go buy it.

Hello, numerous and attractive readership! I’m pleased to join Dorkadia as a contributing writer, primarily in the area of dork-specific contemporary literature – i.e., scraping the mines of the Sci-Fi/Fantasy Ghetto for gleaming mithril. I may yet dip my toes into other waters, but mostly it’s gonna be books with dragons and spaceships on the covers. I’m very excited about writing for Dorkadia, and will remain so because Charles has put a bomb in my brain and given the trigger to Megan. Enjoy!

Throne of the Crescent Moon is the debut novel from Saladin Ahmed, a Detroit-based writer with an impressive catalog of short fiction and poetry to his name. Rumor has it that it’s the first book in a trilogy, but I almost hesitate to print that for fear of being misleading; Throne is a complete story, beginning to end, with any hints of dire cliffhangery being something of a bonus; a sense that this world keeps on turning, and these people keep on doing interesting things, and if you’re very interested Mr. Ahmed might one day tell you about them. Continue reading

Darksiders II brings Death to life

Posted on August 16, 2012 by Charles Spurr

I want to live in a world where Darksiders II isn’t on my short list for video game of the year. That is surely a world residing in a plane of pure awesomeness. Darksiders II is the epitome of everything I want from a gaming experience. Seriously, this title pushes every gaming joy button I have. It’s an action / adventure game with fast paced fights filled with combos, customizable powers, crazy wall running acrobatics, old-school dungeons compete with maps and keys, and random loot color-coded by rarity. Jon has referred to it as “God of Diablovania”. If we had a rating metric here at Dorkadia, Darksiders II would get top marks. Buy it. Buy it now!

Straightforward storytelling

There isn’t much mincing of words in Darksiders II. Death, it would seem, isn’t used to being the most subtle or tactful guy. The opening cinematic catches you up with the story from the original Darksiders, explains exactly Continue reading