Concern over NBA 2K9 for PC

Am I the only one worried that 2K Sports is staying so quiet about their new PC property? No screen shots, no videos, no information, and no news, period. Word has it on the official 2K Sports forums that 2K9 has issues. Big ones. So the fact that 2K isn't commenting on it's upcoming PC version can be taken as a little disturbing. It can also, however, be taken with a grain of salt. They could be trying to fix problems that are in the console versions prior to the forthcoming PC release, or they may be so absorbed in fixing said console problems (they've already released patch 1.01 for the PS3, although some people say it's biggest contribution is changing the version number from 1.00 to 1.01) that they are unable to find time to cater to the fanbase of an unreleased game. All of the above is possible. And, let's be honest - the game is supposed to be an Xbox 360 port, so we should know already what the game will look like by looking at 360 screens. They've also promised a PC demo will be in out in the days leading up to the game's release, so that is a little comforting. Let's all just take a deep breath and relax, shall we? e-AAGH.net will be reviewing this game when it comes out, I promise.

e-AAGH.net Overload!

I have to say; running e-AAGH.net can be stressful sometimes, but usually in a good way. For example, I've currently got Mario Super Sluggers for Wii as well as Soul Caliber IV and NBA Live 09 for Xbox 360 sitting in front of me to review. I'm just wrapping up the Live 09 review and that'll be up very, very soon (like within the hour), so that'll be done. Too much reviewing, not enough reviewers! Beta, where are you?? (besides Chicago)

I'm also irate with Gamestop. I pre-ordered Live 09 for the 360, and they told me it was going to be on backorder. I told them to cancel it then, and went to the store the next day and bought it off of the shelf. I then get an email saying they can't cancel it, because they already shipped the dumb thing. So, within a couple of hours (I'd paid for release-day delivery), I've got two copies of the game. I'm going to send Gamestop's copy back and get my money back. I had plans to either pick up Fable 2 or Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility to review as well, but I can't if I don't get my money back from this debacle .

In other news, to get WoW out of my staff blog, I've opened up Alazar, a dedicated WoW blog. Check it out!

NBA 2K9 for PC??

Ok, I've been duped before, but this sems legit. There are pages for the game on Gamestop and TakeTwo's store, plus if you go to the game's homepage, you'll see info there. I can't tell everyone how excited I am that 2K Sports is going to pick up where EA left off in the PC market, at least for the NBA. The biggest downer is the 'no online' policy. We'll see if that effects anything in the future. Later, all.

Death to Stitches!!

Ok, I know this may sound sad, but I had a personal triumph this morning. Stitches, the Gift from the Embalmer down in Duskwood has killed me quite a few times, including five times in one stand as he raided Darkshire. About an hour ago, I was in Duskwood again, this time to turn in the hand of Dextren Ward from the Crime and Punishment quest, when I heard this:

Beware! Beware! I threat lurks in the wild! Night Watchers, be on the alert!

Having been in Duskwood many a time, I knew what that meant: Stitches was coming. I decided, having gained over ten levels since out last encounter, I was going to take him on. I met him just past the night watch post, and a battle was joined. Even with my Witchfury blade, a Winterfall Firewater battle elixir, healing potions, and my Lay on Hands spell, I barely finished him. He was doing about the same amount of damage I was, but he had around 10,000 more HP then me. Still, I lived, he didn't, and that's all that matters. I got his femur, but I don't know WTF I'm supposed to do with it... my sword's a two-hander, and I'm not downgrading just so I can carry a bone like some caveman.

In other news, Xbox Live is down for today, as they make preparations for the New Xbox Experience, due later this year. I'm looking forward to trying it, but I still like the current dashboard, personally.

Well, I'll leave you with this pic of me standing triumphant over Stitches. I'm proud of myself, even if I did only kill a level 35 elite at level 46.

If only I had been able to get some XP out of the deal.

More WoW and Gavelier's Future

Hey everyone. I've been playing WoW allot the couple days, and I've run into a few things to yammer about. For one, Lord Captain Wyrmak is evil. Plain and simple. The dude killed me twice in the Swamp of Sorrows last night (fittingly enough it was around the Pool of Tears lol) and I'm still mad about it. Once, I had him down to under 600 HP and was this close to finishing him when I ran out of mana. With my potions already on cooldown, I was stuck. And dead. I also ran into Somnus the dragon down there, but there was no way in blue blazes I was trying to tackle him! I also died twice trying to slay Gorlash. It was a bad night for me with elite mobs. Today, however, I killed a Deepstrider Giant in Desolace with relative ease, so I feel a little better.

I've taken a liking to the SimpleMP3 and AutoBar mods lately. I use SimpleMP3 to play my game music soundtracks, and the Autobar has greatly simplified my interface. I recommend you give them a shot, if you haven't already. Also, I do NOT recommend MazzleUI. Not only is it overkill, I spent five and a half hours last night trying to configure it, and when it finally worked, I hated it. Bad Mazzlefizz!

About Gavelier and his web comic, I'll be cutting back on the updates a little, to just a few a week. The daily updates are fun, but I don't think I can keep it up. Look forward to his future exploits! Oh, and all those troubles with elite mobs above? It was Gavelier I was playing. Poor guy!

Catching up with the old Blog

Hey all. First and foremost, I wanted to re-up my last post on the old blog for those who missed it.

I've put more time into the the Public Test Realm, and I've got a few more opinions on it. For one, I'm a fan of the new Stormwind harbor, but it has some issues. For one, there's nothing to stop the Horde from sailing right in to Stormwind from Northrend. That seems like a design flaw, to me. Secondly, when you first arrive at the harbor from the city, you're faced with what looks like the way down, but no - it's a sheer drop to your death! Seriously, there needs to be a sign or something there, telling you to go around the small, almost hidden ramps to the sides. Sheesh.

Secondly, I've re-specced to retribution from holy on my paladin main on my main server, so I did the same on the PTR, to great success. I rolled through Stranglethorn Vale at level 42 (2 levels behind my real avatar), slaying anything that got in my way with no fear. I took on lvl 44-45 mobs with impunity, and only stopped when my bags filled up with loot. Myself and another lvl. 42 retribution-specced paladin tore up a whole mess of lvl 44+ mobs in an old ruin without breaking a sweat. Does this mean that retadins are overpowered? Not in my eyes. It just means that we've finally caught up to the rest of the pack. I can't handle mobs at my own level very well on my main server, but here I was able to solo higher level mobs. Not bad.

Lastly, I'm a huge fan of the graphical improvements they've made, particularly with the lighting, or more specifically, the shadows. The dappled light effect coming through the trees down in Stranglethorn is beautiful, and reminds me allot of Fable, in a good way. I'm seeing shadows of birds flying overhead, too. It's gorgeous.  I hope to see further improvements made along these lines someday in the future.

On a related note, I'm working on a webcomic in the vein of Gamespy's Flintlocke comics, called Gavelier's  World of Warcraft. Gavelier is the paladin I was talking about above, and here he goes on adventures with a couple of low-level characters. I hope everyone enjoys it. Later, all.

Anyway, as for new stuff, I've been enjoying - of all things - PopCap's addition of a Bejewled add-on for WoW. I like  how it can pop up during a flight and give you a game timed to your individual flight. For example, I flew from Stormwind to Booty Bay, and the add-on gave me a game once the flight started, and gave me until we landed to rack up as many points as possible. Very nice. It will also track your scores compared to your friends and guildmates. I'm beside myself that there's something to do during those long, boring flights besides going AFK for awhile.

In other news, I again want to point you to Beta's Blog, in case you somehow missed it. Later, all.

Welcome to the new and improved e-AAGH.net blog!

I'm hoping that this will be the last blog change I make for a while. You can also stop by Beta's blog as well. Enjoy!