Blogomancer

So you're ready to make some steel in Soulmask. Congratulations! You've come a long way from using your Beast Bone weapons to slaughter boars, haven't you? The trouble is, steel isn't like the first alloy you make in the game -- bronze. It requires three components, and mining one of them requires you to trek up in the cold north, and even then it's a bear to find, or rather a mammoth. Fortunately, I've already danced around this bonfire, and I can tell you exactly how to get meteorite ore, the third component you will need to make steel.

Oh hello there! Welcome back to Game Geex. I know it's been a while, and you might be wondering where we've gone. Honestly, life got in the way, our interests changed, and before we knew it, a year had wooshed by.

Now the Game Geex have returned from wherever we were hiding, and we're excited to share that we're focusing on video content this time around, and more specifically on Youtube. Are you the sort who likes to consume your media in video form? Same here, so we're giving it a go with the Game Geex Youtube channel. We post a couple times a week and would love it if you joined us on this new adventure. 

A lot has changed now that it's 2021, but our love of games and our desire to celebrate the best gaming has to offer will always remain. Come join us, won't you?

So you want to get yourself some bees in Minecraft. Seems reasonable enough, but if you're like me you have no idea how to go about it. Fortunately, I've done the research so you don't have to. 

The folks over at Mojang are looking to celebrate the IRL-ness of their new mobile title, Minecraft Earth. To do so they have created a real-world play space in a London park where players can see and add to creations that are in the game.

If you haven't played Minecraft Earth, think of it as Pokemon Go, but with a building component. In this case, the Mojang devs populated the park with giant cube-shaped statues of some of the most popular mobs in the Minecraft universe. I think my favorite is the llama. Do you play Minecraft Earth? Would you go and visit a popup event like this in your area? Leave a comment and let us know.

Today Crema Games released the gameplay trailer for their adorable upcoming MMO inspired by Pokemon. Temtem is a collectible pet battling game where you catch creatures called Temtem and battle them against your friends. The esthetic is charming, the monsters are adorable, and if you're like me and want to capture all of them, click the video below.

While we don't yet know very much about the story content coming in World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth's upcoming 8.2.5 patch (not for the Data Miners' lack of trying) we do know a little about some of the new features that the patch will bring us. Blizzard has released the their official patch notes and a hand ful of feature articles to clue us in on what is to come. Along with the return of a revamped Recruit-A-Friend system and the much needed model overhaul for the Goblin and Worgen races, they have announced a feature that has been in demand for as long as I can remember: Party Sync, their implementation of teammate-based level scaling.

For those of you unfamiliar with the concept of teammate-based level scaling, it is a system put in place to allow friends to play the game with each other no matter what the difference in their character level. While several other MMOs have implemented systems like this, the strongest example that comes to mind was the Side Kick system in the now defunct City of Heroes MMO.It allowed a low level character to scale their abilities up to the general power level of their more experienced friend or vice versa, depending on who was party leader. World of Warcraft's implementation appears to only scale downwards, and will assuredly have far fewer capes involved. Even so, it will certainly be useful in welcoming back my friends that are returning for WoW Classic or grouping with my wife's newly created Allied Race characters. 

For more information, hit the links above or head over to their official post here.

When you spied the BlizzCon 2019 commemorative art they showed off this week, were you curious about a couple of the faces in the painting? I know I was. Turns out those mysterious fellows are actually well-known characters from franchises you know and love.

For the last week, I've been testing a set of gaming headphones, throwing them at all the ways I play. I had high expectations, especially considering that I already own a pair of Sennheiser's. Fortunately for me, the GSP 600 did not disappoint.

Yesterday, Blizzard's Jeremy Feasel took to Twitch to finally give us details on what we can expect from World of Warcraft's next big patch, 8.2, Rise of Azshara. Since this is the boss I've been most eagerly awaiting to face, pretty much since I first started playing the game, I watched with eyes glued and fingers flying as I drank up the deets.

Before I dive into what was announced, I'd like to just give my take on what I heard. First, these announcements were all forward-facing. There was no information on "fixes" for problems with current BoA content, no class balance changes, no "we hear you on Azerite armor," etc. This makes sense when you think on it because this patch definitely has a theme -- "we are excited to show you new things." There is a ton of new content in this patch, and just about every new area comes with either a new mechanic or a revival of a previous tried-and-true system. It feels to me that the developers are genuinely excited again, that they are enjoying their jobs again, and want to share that joy with us, in the form of Patch 8.2. 

What is next for Battle for Azeroth?  Here are my favorite items from the announcement.

Preface: This information only relates to the Early Access version of the game. Many systems and mechanics may change from now until the game’s open release, so while this information is relevant now, it may not be in the future.

So you want to be a pirate, eh? Well, before you can set sail on the high seas, there are a few things you need to deal with first, namely how to get a ship. If you’re looking for the quickest way to get your pirate one, look no further than this handy guide.

Looking for some guidance on which games to pick up during the Steam Sale? We've got you covered.

The Steam Sale runs from June 23rd until July 4th, so you have some time, but keep in mind the games featured will change every day.

Here are just a few Game Geex approved picks to add to your library:

Continuing to iterate on a franchise is never easy.  For most developers, at some point they have to look at what they've created and realize that they have reached the bottom of their pool of inspiration. Then you have a company like 2K Games, who looked at the tired formula of their Civilization games and decided now was a time not only to clean house, but to remodel the entire dwelling from the group up.

The result is Civilization 6, a game that looks like the best blend of Civilization III and Sim City, set on a colorful map and iterated using 2016 technology. This, my friends, is a beautiful game, one that marks the passage of time with shadows on the ground, that gives you a feeling of progression with the addition of districts to your cities. Where Beyond Earth feels stagnant and divorced from reality, this game looks grounded in real world history and events such as the Industrial Revolution and the Space Age. This is what I always wanted from Civilization, and it couldn't have come at a better time.

Don't believe my optimistic viewpoint of how polished and seamless this game appears to be? Watch the walkthrough below and prepare to be amazed. This ain't your grandma's Civilization, but it will be when the game launches on October 26, 2016.

Last night I got the opportunity to do something I have been waiting 10 years to do: I got to see the Warcraft movie. Like many gamers, I was trepidatious about what I was going to see when I sat down in the movie theater. So many critics, and so many fans as well have torn this movie to shreds. Therefore I had a lot of questions: Would this live up to the concentrated cool esthetic that pervades all of Blizzard's video game properties? Would I enjoy it? Were the critics right ot pan it?

Beware: While I am doing my best not to spoil the film, I will be talking about some elements of it, including settings and characters. For those who haven't seen the movie yet, this might be considered spoiler territory, so I advise caution.

First a little background: I started playing Blizzard games in 2005, with World of Warcraft being my first entry into their gaming catalog. I fell in love instantly, and there have been few games I rank higher than WoW on the gaming leaderboard of my heart. I have a rediculously long /played, and have never taken a break for longer than a few weeks from the game. In 2007 I wrote about WoW for a website known as WoW Insider, then later for several other sites as well, including this one. I've interviewed a half dozen Blizzard developers, always focusing my questions around the lore of their games. 

Those that know me know I love to write. When I was a little girl all the other kids wanted to be flashy things like doctors or astronauts, but when I raised my hand in 6th grade I wanted to be a novelist. I used to walk into my favorite bookstore and immediately draw my finger down to where I imagined my book would rest -- right after Mercedes Lackey, because in those dreams my pen name would be Amanda Mulberry rather than the unpronouncable Armenian name I had been gifted with at birth.

I wrote my first story when I was about five I think, and the bones of what would become my first novel first took shape when I was twelve. It was a princess story, because who doesn't love a good princess story? Over the years I would churn out little stories and work on that first novel, mostly pounding out pages on an electric typewriter my dad let me use.  I still have the manuscript around somewhere, along with many, many moony teenager stories about mermaids and lost loves and the undiscovered potential of regular little girls finally shining like a beacon and saving the day.

Recently I got a chance to dive head first into the Gears of War 4 beta. What I found was a fun, well balanced shooter that harkens back to the first installment in the series while still iterating on the face-paced gameplay of Gears 3.

Hit the jump to watch my impressions video and learn exactly what I thought about the graphics, the gun variety, and how good this game might turn out to be.

Most of the game recreations I've seen that depict areas within World of Warcraft have been in Minecraft, but one intrepid Blizzard fan has gone one step further. Youtuber Daniel L has taken on the laborious project of creating the entire Duskwood zone in Unreal Engine 4, and you can see his inital progress in the video below.

Some have pointed out that this sort of direct interpretation misses a lot of the charm of the original WoW, and to some extent I would agree. But I love the idea that someone would be able to load this mod and be able to walk around a photo-realistic version of Azeroth -- something I've dreamed of doing for years. This sort of work might be what eventually leads to a World of Warcraft VR edition. 

Now if only he would tackle Karazhan next. That would be EPIC. Watch the video yourself below, and let us know what you think in the comments.

Well hey there! Yeah, I still make these /Silly comics from time to time. You wouldn't think so from the lack of posting, but hey, occasional is better than never. ^_^

Today's web comic comes from a place of personal joy - Blizzard has announced that coming in the next World of Warcraft expansion, Legions, Survival specc'ed Hunters will once again get to use melee weapons! Oh, how I have missed them. I had leveled my Night Elf Hunter, Zhyn, almost entirely to lvl 70 as a twin-axe wielding, in-your-face dervish of Auto Attacks and Wing Clips, and had a hard time playing her the moment she was restricted to only ranged attacks. Soon she will be back to her old tricks (plus a few new ones!) with a spec completely focused on Melee and Pet combos. Everything will once again be right in her world.

I actually drew this comic back in November, when I was livestreaming my art sessions on Twitch, and somewhere along the line, I completely forgot to actually post it. Here it is now, enjoy it and let me know what you think!

The DOOM open beta was an amazing experience. You get to kill people, turn into demons, kill demons and execute people all at the same time! My video demonstrates my experiences in the beta as well as tips on how to play the competitive modes. I hope you enjoy my impressions on the DOOM open beta!

It's rootbeer o'clock around here, but before I head off into the sunset, I wanted to share with you a snazzy new video Blizzard dropped today showing off Tracer's powerset in Heroes of the Storm.  I have been pretty excited for Tracer to be added to the game ever since they announced it during the last BlizzCon. I was worried that her powerset would be a weird addition. After all she's coming in from an Arena FPS title -- namely Overwatch. How would she blend in with the other heroes already on the roster? 

Well I can't say much for blend, but I can say her powerset in Heroes is very similar to how she plays in Overwatch. Her first ability is Blink, which enables her to teleport up to three times -- similar to how Li Ming does. Her D key ability is Reload, which works exactly how reloading works in FPS games. It lets her lock on enemies and shoot while moving. Her W ability is a melee punch, whichI guess is good for when you want to get a little bit more damage before you reload your weapon -- because yes, she has limited ammo.  Her E ability is Recall, which allows her to back up to a previous location. Negative status effects will also be removed when she bamfs back to where she used to be.

But here is where it gets weird. Tracer gets her ultimate a level 1. You heard me. She is the only hero that gets her ultimate ability right out of the gate and then upgrades and tailors it at level 10. Her ultimate is called Pulse Bomb, and is a big AOE that must be charged up before it can be used. This is pretty on point in comparison to how Tracer plays in Overwatch. You charge up your ultimate by dealing damage to your opponent, as well as landing melee attacks.  

Trailers are arriving on the Youtubes showing us what we can expect from the upcoming Warcraft movie. We see action, we see dwarves, we see Dalaran and Stormwind and probably Ironforge. We've also seen posters and stills from the movie showing us what the characters look like. 

Watching these trailers I've been wondering what these people look like in game. Not in the game they are using as source material, mostly the RTS Warcraft II. No, I'm a WoW player, and wanted to know how this compares to the MMO I know and love. So here's a quick comparison of how the Warcraft movie cast with the WoW models.

The Coalition just released the new Gears of War 4's Tomorrow trailer and it is beautiful. Seeing Marcus and Anya move on after years of hardship is leaving me speechless. To see them years after the war, making a family and living their lives is taking me on an emotional roller coaster ride. (insert tears of joy emoji here) Just watch the trailer, I can’t say anymore.

Wondercon, a place where freaks and geeks go to enjoy and bond with people of similar interests. I usually make cosplay music videos but this time I decided to try something a little different. I decided to take a channel surfing theme and implement it into the cosplay scene. I hope you all enjoy, here is Cosplay TV Episode 1: Wondercon 2016!

The new trailer for Captain America: Civil War released with the reveal of Spiderman. Everyone has random thoughts and opinion about the new look of the web head, and it's my job to shoot down the people who think that this new suit is a bad idea. One of the key ingrediants to a super hero movie is the wardrobe. If the character fails to meet the costume needs that us nerds thrive on, the movie is probably bound to fail. What do you think of the new Spiderman?

Gameinformer has just released new screenshots of one of the most beautiful games on the market. That game of course is Gears of War 4, developed by the fantastic new company called The Coalition. When it comes to the Gears of War franchise and Unreal Engine, Epic Games didn’t hold back on graphics and quality. Judging by these screenshots and that gameplay demo at 2015 E3. The Coalition isn’t holding back either. Let’s take a look shall we?

A couple of weeks ago I was entered into the alpha test for World of Warcraft: Legion. This is the first time that I've had access to an expansion this early, so I was eager to jump in and test everything out. I started my adventures with the feature I'm most excited about: Gnome hunters.  The following are my impressions of what it's like to start a Gnome hunter from scratch as well as what the level 100 Legion questline is like.

A few caviats: First of all, this is going to be spoilery. If you don't want to know anything about Legion (then why did you click on this article?), this is not the article for you. I won't be discussing story elements, as those are pretty sacred to me as a writer, but I will be talking about general features of the hunter class as they stand in the current alpha. 

Secondly, this is all Alpha test information, so it probably (hopefully) will change before the game launches. I've encountered entire bosses in previous WoW beta tests that never made it to the live game. I can only imagine the changes will be even more drastic as we compare the alpha version to the launch version of the expansion set. If you keep that all in mind, and you're still here, then you're ready to dive into what I my impressions were playing a gnome hunter in Legion.

High Voltage Software has been teasing a big announcement, and today we got it. The VR game developer announced Dragon Front, a new CCG made exclusively to take advantage of the Occulus Rift.  They are calling it the worlds first VR collectible card game, and it sounds pretty awesome.

Details are slim, since this is a game title announcement, but the game boasts. 280 characters, 80 different encampments, and 100 spells. The game will features live online multiplayer tournament play, and because this is a VR game, you'll be able to virtually sit across the digital table from your opponent and trade smack talk as you play. Or you know, be supportive, if that's your jam.

“We’re all super avid CCG fans so developing the game has been an amazing experience. In fact, we built the game after prototyping a physical game board and cards so we could get it exactly right,” explains Eric Nofsinger, Chief Creative Officer at High Voltage Software. “It’s a true card game come-to-life all around the player, and with features both surprising and familiar, Dragon Front is a highly engaging nail-biter till the end.”

Disney released more concept art for Star Wars Land and it looks incredible. Haven’t you always wanted to live in the Star Wars universe? Haven’t you always wanted a better reason to go to Disneyland rather than to visit the same lands over and over again? Well now you can have a galactic adventure.

Interesting things are happening over at Valve. Over the last few weeks they have started to make major announcements in regards to virtual reality and how Valve will step into this new gaming realm with enthusiasm. Last week they were talking about the support Team Fortress 2 and Portal 2 would have on Virtual Reality, and giving out HTC Vives like candy to those in attendance at the Vision VR/AR Summit. This week we saw Valve pop up again at the Mobile World Congress, where they released a VR assessment tool for Steam users to see if their computers would be ready for virtual reality games when they started popping up on the Steam Store.  But as interesting as these announcements were, it was the tool itself that is garnering all the buzz. Or rather, what's hidden inside the tool. And yes, this might be spoilery for those that don't want to know anything about Valve's future projects. You have been warned.

Have you ever watched a tv show and wished you could be part of that world?  Well, if that tv show was the wildly popular anime Sword Art Online, then prepare to be super happy because this is now a thing. IBM Japan announced today a partnership with Namco Bandai to bring about a new VRMMO -- yes they've even coined the term for a new gaming genre. 

Sword Art Online The Beginning has started taking applicants for their alpha test next month. The catch is, you have to be a Tokyo resident to apply. My guess is that they want to make sure that if those 208 players get trapped in the game (which is completely going to happen) they can at least take care of them all in the same hospital while the players virtually climb the citadel to reach the boss on the 100th level so they can set themselves free from their digital prison.

The project uses a a next-generation computing system called the “Cognitive System” that supports human decision-making, as well as “SoftLayer,” IBM’s high performance cloud system that produces the ambiance of a real world.

Ever wonder what the Pokemon do when their trainers aren't around? Well you're in luck, because today Nintendo announced Pokken Tournament, an arena beat 'em up battle game featuring your favorite Pokemon companions.  Now you can pummel your fellow pocket monsters to your heart's content without that pesky trainer hanging around telling you how to move.

The game will allow you to learn the fighting styles of a variety of Pokemon and pit them against eachother in intense although probably adorable combat.  Pokken Tournament will be Amiibo compatible since it's releasing on the WiiU and 3DS, and will come with a Shadow MewTwo Amiibo card -- because, you know, regular MewTwo isn't intense enough.

While I love me some Pokemon, and this is probably the only kind of fighting game I would enjoy, it still seems weird that we encounter an entire new genre of animals and constantly just want to pit them against each other.  It's a very first world reaction to what amounts to finding cuddly aliens on our doorstep.  Granted, I might be overthinking this so early in the morning.  Anything is possible.

            This review is sponsored in part by chimichangas, mmm delicious. If you’re not a fan of spoilers, please shift your eyes the other way--you have been warned! Deadpool is a movie that does not disappoint. It caters to both male and female audiences, especially for Valentine's day weekend. You got your love and romance with a boatload of action and humor all in one movie.

            The movie is in fact an origin story of how Deadpool got his healing factor. Diagnosed with terminal cancer, Wade Wilson is given the offer to become a super hero. The organization turned out to be pure evil so you know what hits the fan. The scientists successfully trigger his mutant powers but his cancer was multiplying as fast as he could heal it, leaving him scarred. So throughout the movie his goal is to kill the person that turned him into a mutant with a face that looked “like an avocado that had sex with another avocado.”

            The movie holds up very well from beginning to end never with a dull moment. If anyone entered the theater with the preconception that Deadpool was nothing but humor, the movie proves otherwise, containing action, gore, along with the humor that we all know and love. But one of the major greatnesses about this movie is the character development and emotional moments that hit home. Wade Wilson falls in love with Vanessa; they live happily until they learn he has cancer. With Wade being bit by the cancer bug, his perception on life and Vanessa changes (cue emotional music). Personally, I only wanted to see him in the red suit.

The Captain America: Civil war Super Bowl TV Spot just released online and it looks glorious. It's a fight against truth and justice. A fight against freedom and the law. I'm pro-freedom so Captain America has my vote. Which side will you choose?

Everyone was excited for the announcement of Rash from Battletoads for the new season for Killer Instinct. Since this Rareware franchise is a Microsoft owned title, we get to have some new toys to play with. I always thought Riptor was the greatest add on. Who doesn't want to play as a dinosaur? This however, was very unexpected...

Diablo III is a great game, but when it launched, Blizzard had left out something fairly vital to it's longevity - a solid End Game. Once a player had plowed through the story mode, all that was left was plowing through the story mode again, at a higher difficulty. While this was viable back in the days of Diablo II, that was over a decade prior, and the way gamers play nowadays has changed. Thankfully, Blizzard rectified this with the release of Diablo III Seasonal Play.

Every few months, a new season starts, and players have the option of creating a Seasonal Character - a character that is cut off from the vast wealth of the rest of thier characters, and has to start off at base zero, level 1, with nothing but the virtual shirt on their back to start off with. While this may sound like a set back on paper, it opens up the ability to start the game completely fresh every few months, with a different set of Seasonal rewards to earn that will eventually trickle down to the rest of your characters after the season is over.

In order to help out others who are new to what is now my favorite way of playing Diablo III, I have written this guide. Below you will find a collection of the knowledge and tidbits I have picked up through play and from around the 'Net, collected in one convenient place.

Star Wars Battlefront was only the beginning in the next generation of Star Wars games. Some rebel scum snuck into one of EA's space station and stole the hidden plans. Basically someone leaked an image of what appears to be a countdown clock for Electronic Art's E3 2016 announcement.

People have been craving a new Republic Commando game for ages, and finally there is a light at the end of the saber. Although I am a bit skeptical about EA making the game because they are notorious about releasing limited content and making you pay for the rest. They have made pretty good single player games like Deadspace, and Crysis. So my hopes are pretty high. What do you think? Could this be the announcement of an extravagant Star Wars squad based first person shooter? What kind of content would you like to see in this game?

This week Blizzard Entertainment announced some major changes coming to their CCG, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft. There's a good amount of confusion as to what exactly is coming, so I'm here to break it all down for you and let you know what actions you should take to prepare.

I saw this little game on Facebook this morning as I was scanning my feed, only it was applied to books. I figured that since we're mostly gamers here, I'd apply it to what we love to do.  So here's the question: You are now the last video game character you played.  

Me? I think I'm Artanis from Heroes of the Storm.  At least that's better than Muradin. I'm not sure how I'd look with a beard.

Who are you?

One year ago today, I stepped onto this website to let you know that Game Geex was shutting its doors. A lot has changed in those 365 days, and we here at GGX were feeling a longing to talk about games again.  Maybe it's the knowledge that even though the content stopped, the readers didn't. In the past three months we have had an upsurge in viewership, where we thought no one would come to read what we wrote anymore since we stopped writing. We forgot the old addage "The Internet is forever" and we delighted to learn that our articles were being found online through search results and enjoyed by hundreds of people a month.

Something else happened over the last year: We discovered that we missed writing about games.  Personally I spent the last year writing novels, publishing one and working on two more.  I was busy, but somewhere in the back of my mind I was longing for the days when I could sit down and hammer out a simple blog post about video games and share what I know with readers.

What I said last year in our final (I suppose not so final anymore) post is still true: People get their gaming content differently than they used to.  But what we failed to realize is that there is a space online for more than just the big name blogs and the big name streamers. With our numbers holding steady over the last year, we realized that our content might not garner a community, but it does get readers.  And that is why any writer writes: To be read.

This morning I stumbled on a recipe video for something called dagangjeong, a korean crunchy chicken leg that looks absolutely delicious. Rather than toss it up on Pinterest, I thought I would save it here instead and then finish watching the video with you.  It's also a great test of the new embed feature from Facebook.  

To find the original video and the recipe follow the link here.  

Update:  The embed feature from Facebook did not work in the slightest.  I did some digging and found the video on Youtube on Maanchi's channel, which is embedded below. It is my guess that the Facebook post is actually just scraping Maanchi's video. Either way, it's time to talk chicken. Enjoy!

I came home from Winter break with a ton of Ruby Red grapefruit.  These little beauties came off my mother-in-law's tree down in Florida, and for a couple weeks I had a wonderfully tangy breakfast treat.  All the while I intended to make pie, but before that I had to made a curd, and this is something I've never done before.  So I researched a couple of recipes and settled on Martha Stewart's version, as it had an extra step of reducing the juice which I thought was a nice touch.  The following is not my recipe, as I've never made this before, but rather my experience making it.  If it turns out I will have a lovely jar or two of this concoction to use in pies.  If not, I will at least have a story to share.

Protip (or rather newbie tip): timing is everything on this recipe.  I made the mistake of starting a load of dishes before I started cooking, and boy was that a goof.  I ended up with a ton of used equipment, and no dishwasher to clean it with.  Next tip: make sure you prepare all your mis en place and equipment before you begin the process, and that includes having your sieve over the bowl in the ice bath all ready to go.  I am not such a good planner, so I had to do a lot of scrambling to pull out items I had forgotten, and I ended up sieving three times instead of one because of poor planning.  It would also help to have your final container, the one going in the fridge, prepped before you even start whisking.

The final product came out looser than I would have wanted.  It won't exactly set up for a pie, and this was my original plan.  So changing course, I'm using it in mini pies (vanilla wafers, curd, and whipped cream) which works out nicely as a little treat after lunch or dinner.  This still leaves me with a ton of curd to try in other recipes, which should be fun research.

When we started Game Geex in 2011, it was because we were passionate about writing great stories about games, but our stories weren't getting the front page attention they deserved when we wrote for other publications.  The drive to discuss, analyze, and critique games was overwhelming, and we hoped that we could carve our own little foothold out of the throngs of gamers out there, build a little haven where we all could talk about the games we love.

Nearly five years later, our priorities have changed.  We have never gained much of a readership, and our writers are all moving on to different projects.  I myself play games differently than I did four years ago.  I no long play to critique, I play to enjoy, and that small subset of games might be interesting to me, but it doesn't provide potential readers with to up to the minute information that the larger outlets can provide.

Game journalism has had a rough year, and even before Gamer Gate I forsaw a change in how gamers get their information about games.  We have left the era of the blog, and are entering a new era dominated by Twitch streaming and social media.  Gamers don't have time to sit and read long form writing about games anymore, and a review for the most part won't really influence whether or not they buy the game -- not nearly as much as watching their favorite streamer play it.  

Good morning Geex!  Today it's super gray outside, which makes it a perfect day to stay in and stream some Hearthstone.  I thought it might be nice to share the stream with you as I go this time, so I'm posting as I begin this morning's adventure.  I will be streaming for a couple hours, with the hopes of using that time to win the last couple games I need to earn my golden hero.  

Right now I sit at 411/500 on my Hunter, and it's been a rough going since Goblins vs. Gnomes landed on my doorstep, so this should be an interesting time.  I'd love to have company on this ride, so come cheer me on and if you have any suggestions on how I can better stone those hearths, feel free to leave comment below or on our Twitch channel. You've subscribed to our Twitch channel, right? Right?  

This afternoon I powered up the old Game Geex Twitch stream and spent some time in Warlords of Draenor.  While I mostly stream Hearthstone, I felt more like spending some time hunting mounts, and so I did.  First though, it was important that I warmed up my skills with my daily Ashran run.  The Horde never saw me comin'.

I then completed some speed runs of too many instances to count.  I believe you'll see Karazhan and Zul'Gurub in the video below, but I also went to Stratholme, Utgarde Pinnacle, Stonecore, Malygos, and Firelands before I finally called it quits.  This was a very successful day for me, because in addition to getting a good amount of gold from selling the items that dropped, I also got me a swanky new Swift Zulian Panther.  It almost makes up for never getting the tiger to drop back in the day -- almost.  Hit the jump to watch my highlight reel from the beginning of my mount run, and if you want to see more random fights through random places in WoW (including Ruby Sanctum of all places) you can catch the full video here and here.  

What would you like to see Game Geex stream in the future?  Do you need more random laddering in Hearthstone, Agrarian Skies fun in Minecraft, or maybe a playthrough of Kentuky Route Zero?  Let us know in the comments below, and make sure to subscribe to our Twitch channel for more gaming hijinks.  

Yesterday the future arrived, in the form of a Microsoft announcement of all things.  Microsoft announced the HoloLens, a computer that allows you to view and manipulate holograms in your environment.  While the tech demo started out showing how scientists at NASA will be using this to help their Mars rover projects, the most interesting part of the demonstration came when they showed us how this will help us play games in new ways.  And of course they started with Minecraft.

You'll recall that Microsoft purchased Mojang last year, probably specifically so they could apply everyone's favorite block sim to the HoloLens project.  What does this mean for gaming?  Well first of all, it means that we will have the chance to play creative mode Minecraft with the HoloLens, and most likely it will be launch software for the device.  If there ever was a shining example of how far gaming has come, of how ubiquitous it now is in the modern culture, it's Minecraft.

While specifics on now this works are limited at the moment, the message is loud and strong:  Microsoft built a computer that can help everyone do what they enjoy doing better.  This technology doesn't separate the user from their environment the way that the VR headsets to.  Because it's projecting imagery in the room around you, it is augmenting reality in a rather meaningful way.  I can see the HoloLens being a great tool for connecting people together, for allowing us to play games as a group using a shared hologram interface.  

The future is now kids.  It's a great time to be a gamer. But what do you think?  Does the world really need holographic computing, or is this just a Star Trek gimmick?  Would you buy one of these for yourself?  Are you tired of Minecraft ports, or love the idea of playing this game on as many devices as possible? Personally I can't wait for the Hearthstone HoloLens version. Leave us a comment and let us know what you think.

Gaming has been around for over 40 years now. It is a forever evolving element. It is an escape, boredom killer, and an adventure. Gaming is whatever you want it to be. For me, however, gaming is all of the above and more. Recently though my point of view has changed due to a lack of income.

These days many gamers ask "Are games too expensive?" The answer to that depends on what game you are buying via PC, or console, or even mobile now. The average game costs about 50 to 60 dollars. About 15 years ago, games were about the same price. Seeing that minimum wage has increased over the years and games are the same price, they are technically cheaper. I am a bit of a gaming addict. I scrounge up some money, buy a few League of Legends skins here and there, pay my monthly fees in Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn. No harm done, right?

For those of us who can't really afford games, companies have created free to play games. They are free to download and play, but with the catch of microtransactions. It seems fair to get a game for free then pay for just what you want and nothing else. League of Legends is a great example of a free to play game. It's completely free, unless you want skins. I’ve spent 1,040 dollars on this supposedly “free game.” Most high end games are 60 dollars and that's it. You play once, have fun, it's a done deal. Is spending that much worth it on a single game?

Blizzcon hosted many forms of art from paintings to sculptures. But some of Blizzard's greatest treasure definitely involved the giant statues they brought to the event. From Starcraft 2's Kerrigan and Raynor to Grom from World of Warcraft, every statue brought a familiar face to the event.

UPDATE: The event is over for tonight, I hope everyone enjoyed watching! We've got more No Man's Sky info to share with you later we promise.

Tonight thousands gather in Las Vegas for a unique sort of event.  Sony is celebrating the 20th anniversary of PlayStation, by hosting a two day party of sorts, an improptu gaming convention if you will.  But tonight all eyes will be on Hello Games as they present "A Night Under No Man's Sky." They've asked us not to spoil what's going down, but did want us to share this with our readers: it will be wonderful, it will be beautiful, and it will be streamed right here on Game Geex.  

No Man's Sky looks to me one of the best games coming out in the current launch cycle, and I personally can't wait to play it.  With such stunning visuals and music, I can't imagine what sort of amazing spectacle the game company has in story for those in Vegas tonight.  Luckily I don't have to, because I'm going to be watching along with the rest of you.

The livestream is embedded below, as is a video featuring Hello Games' own Sean Murray talking about what we will get to see when the event starts at 9PM PST.  If you get a chance to watch it, let us know what you think in the comments.

This just in:  Hearthstone players will be able to explode their friends and enemies with the new Goblins vs Gnomes expansion next Monday December 8, 2014.  In addition to the release date news which we had earlier today, we also got the last set of card announcements today -- namely the Legendaries.  

There are some really crazy cards coming in this expansion, and no doubt it will take the Legend players at least three days to publish the decks that will kill us all. Until then, we'll have fun building our mech, pirate, and yes, new merloc decks.

Now, please excuse me.  I have to go ladder before all these cards drop from the sky and crush my hunter deck to smithereens.  Also:  Blizzard, six new Warlock cards?  Really? Also also:  Thank you for Feign Death.  I will very much folding that into my Rattle Hunter deck as soon as I can get it to drop. I've never been so tempted to buy the 40 packs before.)  

The Mommie Gamer is a column covering topics that affect all mothers who game.  In this I intend to look at both the dark and light sides of gaming, not only from a parent's perspective, but also from a woman's. 

Cancer is one of the scariest words in the English language.  When faced with the reality behind that word, people react in a variety of ways. Some become consumed by fear, others get angry.  But one grandmother decided to fight and used the unlikliest of tools to help her cope: World of Warcraft.

The experience of cancer survivor Terry Bolt and her use of immersion in the world of Azeroth has been captured in a documentary entitled WoW Mom.  This project is the brainchild of Terry's daughter Andy Bolt, as well as the Nerdist himself, Chris Hardwick who when hearing about Terry and how she was playing WoW to cope with her diagnosis, insisted that they send Terry to BlizzCon.  Andy felt there was a story to tell here, a story other survivors needed to hear, and so filmed the experience.  Thus the film was born.

Welcome back to Game Bits, the series that has no rhyme or reason, only random bits of gaming news.  This past week was all about Warlords of Draenor in the Mandifesto household, but that didn't mean it was all smooth sailing.  Some real low pond scum sort of people decided it was fun to destroy the experiences of gamers all over the world, and I'd really like to punch them right in the nose.  Instead I'll share news from around the gaming world, and hope that they are soon brought to a fiery justice.  

This past weekend, I was able to get a taste of the Warcraft movie at BlizzCon 2014. What do I think you ask? It looks amazing. The amount of detail they have put into the moves is stunning. There was a part where they show us a glimpse of Stormwind and no joke, it came straight out of the game (no move gimmicks here!). I was told they built the set in real life to look exactly like what it does in game, and well, they weren't kidding.

Esports has gotten a lot bigger with the myriad of competitive titles available on the market. Blizzcon 2014 surprised a lot of people with the announcement of their new IP, Overwatch, an up-and-coming first-person shooter title that focuses less on twitch reaction and more on team work. The moment I saw it, I turned and thought of the eSports venues at the event--the ones for Starcraft, Hearthstone, and World of Warcraft--and immediately put "Overwatch" and "eSports" together. I've played the game and saw the mechanics for myself and in my many years of eSports experience, I don't often see games that have immediate competitive potential out of the box like this one.

Blizzard announced an exciting new IP at Blizzcon 2014 dubbed Overwatch. Over 600 Overwatch-ready PCs were ready to go for attendees to get their grubby hands. The playtest included 12 playable characters, all of which are unique and hold some backstory.

If this is still fresh news to you, we got you covered. Here is an overview of the 12 playable characters in the game. Don't worry, Blizzard already confirmed to us that there will be more by launch and possibly even beta. After all, there are still three characters on the Overwatch poster that can't be named at this time (trust us, you'll hear it here first, anyways).

Only a company like Blizzard would announce a new IP like Overwatch at their event and then have 600 computers ready for all BlizzCon attendees to play. Even with what felt like something so sudden, I honestly tried to find as many wrong things about the game as possible, mechanics aside of course, and couldn't. The game was already beautiful in it's playable alpha (beta?) stage. It was polished. And yes, I have to show it to you!

Enclosed in this article, you will find as many HD screenshots of the game and characters as we could get our grubby Geex hands on. Enjoy! Oh, and if you see any clippings, discolored trees, displaced characters... Anything! You should totally let me know.

Come join me, Kardon from Area 52, for the launch of Blizzard Entertainment's 5^th World of Warcraft expansion, Warlords of Draenor. My team and I plan to go for--no, will get--US (Darn, EU goes live before us!) server first level 100. The stream will go live on Wednesday, November 12 at 11:30 p.m on the GameGeex Twitch channel and will run till the goal is accomplished.

We have spent alot of time planning and farming up the necessary quest items prior to launch to be able to achieve our goal. In the past, I achieved level 85 server-first Warlock. My other team members have come close to this feat before, but fell short. This time, they will make it all the way, and you can watch along with us.

Check out the stream after the jump:

Things got explosive at this year's BlizzCon, when Blizzard Entertainment announced the first expansion to their collectable card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft.  Dubbed, Goblins vs Gnomes, the expansion will add 120 cards to Hearthstone's already impressive roster.  To put that in context, the first Adventure, Curse of Naxxramas added 30 cards to the original 412 card count.  But beyond the fact that we're getting a lot of cards,  the BlizzCon Hearthstone panels focused on the themes of this expansion, and it comes down to one word -- mech.

Goblins vs Gnomes adds in the mech card type to the game. Most of the cards in the expansion either fall into this new type, or have abilities that benefit mechs. Some cards that are already in the game were also labeled mechs, like the perennial favorite the Harvest Golem.  Each class will be getting their own unique mech card, allowing for mech decks to be built by any class.

In addition to mech card, the expansion adds in a new set of buff spells called Spare Parts.  These token cards are created by various mechs, and allow you to add abilities like taunt, additional damage, and even some more unusual abilities to the minions you already have on the board.  My personal favorite is Time Rewinder, which acks as a free Sap or Brewmaster and returns a minion to your hand.  Up until they announced these spare parts, I wasn't really seeing the Gnome in the Goblins vs Gnomes expansion. While Goblins are all about building huge mechs and creating explosives, Gnomes are mostly interested in tinkering with things, creating world enlargers and discombobulator rays. I am hoping that as we learn more about the expansion we'll see even more Gnome flavored wackiness. 

Roaring crowds and cheers can be heard in every section of BlizzCon 2014. This year, the event housed the World Finals for Starcraft, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone. Each had their own stage just for tournament play and the venues were incredibly well-designed. Having been to a large amount of eSports tournaments in my life, I can safely say Blizzard had the competitive vibe down.

I attended BlizzCon with the full intention of taking-in what it's like to join in on a community whose passion points lie in a specific area of the industry. In this case, that's Blizzard Entertainment and all the wonderful games they produce. But in every different Blizzard title lies a different genre and with that genre, a diverse array of fans. Sure, you'll always get the fans who enjoy all aspects of everything but regardless of your love for MMOs or distaste for RTS, Blizzard catered to all.

See here, the original headline for this article was going to be "Starcraft 2: Legacy of the Void hands-on impressions" or something similar, perhaps less wordy. That headline became something difficult to make reality because two kids (reads: teenagers) crushed my dreams in the new one race, 2v2 Archon mode match which prompted my immediate defeat, leaving me with an impression worth a couple seconds of actual gameplay. This A-tier Brood War player was no match for a duo of teens and their mass army of zerglings. Defeat. 6 Minutes. GGWP. But you know what? I think that's cool.

Tomorrow all eyes will be on the Anaheim Convention Center, as Blizzard Entertainment celebrates their games and the people who play them.  This year promises to be the biggest event ever, with five games in the spotlight, and possibly even more.  We've been talking about BlizzCon 2014 here at Game Geex, and wanted to share our impressions of the rumors, the news, the hints and the wonders that will be this weekend's convention.  Hit the jump to see what the Geex have on their minds regarding BlizzCon, and then share your speculation in the comments below.

Monolith just revealed that the expansion pack for Middle Earth: Shadows of Mordor. The DLC pack they dubbed Lord of the Hunt will have players fighting a new kind of enemy: Beastmaster Warchiefs. When I think of beastmasters, I think of people (or things) who tame animals, or better yet, ride them! Well, that's exactly what's going on here, folks.