It’s possible you haven’t heard of this video, which was released about a month ago:

http://www.vimeo.com/1211060

Matt travels around the world getting people to dance. It’s simple, it’s lovely, and it makes you forget about the fact that there are some really ugly things going on in this world (well… sadly I think the Demilitarized Zone says a lot… ). When it comes down to it, people just love to dance.

It’s also done to some very lovely music and watching it will put a smile on your face. It’s chicken soup for the heart (that sounds really cheesy, but I’m saying it anyways).

And in case you’re wondering what this has to do about gaming? Matt is a HUGE gamer. He gives us all a good name. He also reminds us all that we should get off of our couches and chairs and visit some of the places we explore in the games we play.

-Rebecca Bundy

There are certain series that I don’t mind losing sleep over in order to be one of the firsts to see it (namely, viewing 12:01 screenings): Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the most recent two Batman movies.

Before I begin, I do want to mention that the crowd I was with, while very energetic, was not the best 12:01 crowd I’ve been in. The group behind us, while nice, was drinking a LOT of alcohol that they snuck in. Ever been to a concert where you get a contact high from all of the people smoking marijuana? That’s what it smelled like, but with alcohol. It didn’t help that the guy who ended up sitting next to me reeked like he’d smoked 10 packs of cigarettes that day.

But at least people were enjoying themselves, so once I got over the whole breathing issue without getting sick, I could sit back and enjoy everything with them.

If you’ve never been to a 12:01 show, you really should try it once. People don’t passively watch the movie… they laugh, gasp, cry, and jump (when startled) all at the same time. Generally too, people are not obnoxious either… those types don’t last long, since people who’ve been waiting 3-6 hours to see a movie will very quickly grab a manager and have them removed.

As for The Dark Knight itself? The praise and wonderful reviews are right on the money. Never once did I think about how the actors were acting… I was simply watching “real” characters as their plots and twists unfolded. The entire cast was superb (thank goodness they dropped Katie Holmes like a bad habit). But great actors like Christian Bale and Michael Caine were overshadowed by Heath Ledger (Joker), Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face), and Gary Oldman (Gordon).

Both Gordon and Harvey Dent evolve as characters slowly throughout the movie, reacting and adjusting to the events as they come crashing down upon their life. Two-Face, though a bit farfetched with the damage done to his face (this is based on a comic book, after all), was leaps and bounds better looking than the “half of my face is covered in melted wax” look that’s plagued many past Two-Faces. The look also plays into the “I’m only half dead” aspect that Two-Face carries with himself in the later part of the movie. Gordon as well proves that he’s got a few aces up his sleeves, and towards the end, Gary manages to pull off the intense tension and desperation in a very real way.

What can I say about Heath Ledger’s performance? I’ve been a fan of his since his American debut (Roar), and have seen the vast majority of his films (both the incredible and terrible). I always knew he had greatness in him, but even I was amazed by the skill and art that he brought to the role. He blends a child-like insanity with the viciousness of a rabid dog and manages to dance between both sides wonderfully, and quite naturally. Physical abuse and near-death experiences are met with a laughter that’s hauntingly like the type one makes when they’re on a really fast and scary rollercoaster. But for all you know, the next moment he could turn around and snap your neck… just because he feels like it. Plus, I must say that he’s got the best magic trick I’ve ever seen anyone pull off… seeing that leaves a mark on you that carries with you through the entire movie.

This isn’t a perfect movie though. Scarecrow was really just a throwaway character, and while I know they wanted to give more time to Joker and Two-Face, I really wish they had wrapped things up better with him.

I also wish they had done more with Bruce. Sure, there’s obviously the conflict between doing what’s right and doing what you have to do to get things done, but I felt that he, and Batman, were simply reacting to the things thrown at them and that very little was accomplished as far as character development was concerned.

The truth though is that these are very minor grievances that will not keep me from seeing this absolutely incredible movie again this Saturday. It’s a joy to see the Batman movies moving forward in an intense direction.

It’s just a horrible tragedy that Heath Ledger will not be there to see it move forward.

-Rebecca Bundy, who wrote this on two hours of sleep

I've been in Age of Conan (AoC) for about a week. While that's too early (and I'm only a level 13 Herald) to comment on the big picture, i.e. everyone tells me the game comes alive after level 20, my gameplay has been enjoyable considering I rarely read forums or look for tips and just jump in and punt. The most stressful part has been technical.

I'm playing on a laptop (I play all my games on my 8 month old Toshiba X205-SLi1 with dual GeForce 8600M GT with 512MB VRAM and a Core

2 Duo T7250 Intel chip) which I would think should be able to handle this game's hardware requirements. However, I often get prompts about my plug-ins, possible corrupt files on start-up, game lag (in Tortage) and occasional crashes. It could be faults on my end, but I've been to NVidia's page and Toshiba's and loaded the latest plug-ins and done scans and never found any corrupt files. In any case, I'm hoping these teething pains will iron themselves out. Most of the time it works fine and playing solo I'm moving forward at my own speed, which I like.

I don't feel the pressure to get to the top level faster than anyone else and find the coolest gear (yet).

Eventually I'll join a guild, make a few friends and get really into the game. I purposely started on the same server as our Editor so we can play together when we're around the same level. Now, playing the Herald, a combination melee and casting character...I like it. I especially like the fighting system, better than WoW's, using special combination abilities, touching keys in combination to create a nice attack. It takes a little trial and error (and dying a few times) to find the right combinations, but it's a trip to finally get some screen splatter by doing it right. I imagine you eventually get some better personal storage (WoW's seems better right now). I constantly have to dump stuff I'd like to sell later for lack of room. For those just beginning AoC, I'd say don't buy much from the vendors in Tortage early on as you'll pick up the same item or better from a kill. I'm just taking every quest I can find and in no particular order getting 'em done. I'm looking forward to the bigger picture of what is touted as the 'real game' after level 20.

-Eric Bloom, a long time gamer and the lead vocalist of Blue Oyster Cult

Four major cities gone and four classes gone. It’s shocking news to say the least, especially since the news was dropped so suddenly. Obviously my first reaction was shock, and then a feeling of being let down. Or relieved?

On the one hand, it’s upsetting… after all of the release dates being moved back and a strangely untimely announcement of the final class, we find out that four of the classes, two of which have been around since the beginning, are gone with nothing more than a “they’ll be released at sometime in the future.”

There’s also the fact that the tanks especially are very hard to replace. Let’s face it, every class brings their own flavor to a game, but WAR still only had six who could stand up in front of a big monster and laugh as it hits them. That’s a big blow, and it puts a lot more pressure onto the four remaining tanks to pick up the slack left by the untimely departure.

Not only that, but the Empire and Dark Elves who play in their particular zones will now no longer have tanks running around to join up with, especially when they start looking towards the Public Quests. Before this announcement, I was really looking forward to playing a Warrior Priest (I love playing DPS/Healing hybrids like Monks in games). But now that there’s no tank for the Empire, I’m not so sure anymore. What am I supposed to do now, heal the Bright Wizards while they run around pulling a boss and everyone runs after it trying to DPS it down?

I was also looking forward to trying out the Knight and Blackguard. What little I had heard about them sounded like a lot of fun. But who knows now? Maybe people would’ve been happy with a class that only plays okay (gods know I’ve been playing a Rogue in WoW forever, but I still enjoy it). And quite honestly, there are always going to be changes to classes. Players always find ways to overpower certain skills, and people will complain, and then Mythic will have to find a way to balance it out a bit without destroying the skill completely. Rinse and repeat.

Finally, the news about the cities being gone is… confusing. So what now… four races won’t even have a place to call home? Or will there be cities, they just won’t be “living” cities? What about lag issues, or imbalance issues between the two sides (at least before, the side differences would be a little more spread out)? And… what about lore?

On the other side, it should mean that there won’t be any more delays for the game. Everyone can stop playing whatever they are playing “just to kill time until WAR.” And even though it won’t be a full game with such major things missing, hopefully the stuff that is there is great and solid and a lot of fun. Hopefully they show everyone that they cut these things out for a reason, and that the quality of the game will speak for itself.

And hopefully people won’t be waiting a year or two to get back what was lost.

But is having the game now, not completely the way it’s meant to be, better than waiting even longer for these things?

I’m not sure. While it’s wonderful that a company is finally being honest and open about these things, which, might I add, was done BEFORE the announcement of a more solid release date, I wonder if it would've been better to delay the game a bit more. On the other hand, no game will never be fully polished. No MMO is. There are always changes, fixes, strange bugs that pop out of nowhere, class imbalance, and so much more that if we waited until everything was perfect, we’d be waiting for a VERY long time.

For now though, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see if this decision was for the best. 

 -Rebecca Bundy