Last Saturday I attended my very second Magic the Gathering pre-release event. This time was actually a lot more fun than the last. I came in 6th overall with a record of 3-2-0 and received a foil Path to Exile card with a very nice alternate art and a booster that really didn’t have anything of value in it

I did open a Tezzerret the Seeker and a Meddling Mage so in 2 of my 6 sealed boosters so I was obviously very pleased overall!

Not to mention that I love the new expansion: Alara Reborn. Continuing with the fine tradition of posting card impression, please find following a list of cards that I was either impressed with or disappointed in from the new expansion.

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Everyone pretty much already knows that both Dee Jay and T Hawk or on the way as DLC for Street Fighter 4, but Seth Killian has hinted at 2 other characters would be added as well from Street Fighter’s other franchises. At first everyone assumed we would get some Street Fighter 3 love (God forbid) but apparently Capcom decided to make the 3D experience complete by going EX on us.

You’re seeing it here first folks, enter Skullomania! He’s definitely not my first choice to be added to the roster but he’s also not my last. At least we didn’t get some more crappy Alpha characters like Cody or R. Mika! Well enjoy folks, anyone has any ideas who the fourth character will be?

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So, after nearly a decade since the last Street Fighter and almost 2 years since it’s announcement, Street Fighter 4 has been released. Being a hardcore Street Fighter fan, I took the day off of work and bought it on day 1. So, was it worth the wait? Did it live up to all of the hype?

Honestly, I hated it for the first 1-2 hours and almost gave up on it then and there. The only thing that kept me playing was the 60$ I had just dropped on it. I was determined to find some enjoyment out of the game, and surprisingly it did grow on me. Yes, the game is fun and, yes, that’s the most important thing in a game, but what irks me is this game could have been epic! Instead, it’s a sloppy but fun fighter that is hard to take seriously. What’s so wrong with it? Read on: (more…)

Prior to becoming a game designer, I had actually not read any books on game design. I’ve been an avid gamer since the age of 5 and a web/graphic designer since highschool so it wasn’t much of a stretch, but I hadn’t had any actual formal education in the field prior to getting into the industry. It’s funny but I started reading game design books only after getting the job. So far, all of the books I’ve read on the subject have been an utter waste of time except for a Theory of Fun by Raph Koster.

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This Saturday was a first for me. A group of us from work participated in a Magic the Gathering pre-release sealed tournament. It was my very first and the experience was overall very positive. Yes, I’ve been playing Magic the Gathering on and off since 4th edition and have not gone to a pre-release before but that will change as I don’t intend to miss another if I can help it.

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Thanks to my good buddy Nicolas, I was able to play the Japan-Exclusive Tatsunoko vs Capcom on his Japanese Wii. I’m a huge fan of Capcom’s VS series and have spent endless hours on my Dreamcast playing Marvel vs Capcom 2 … in 2008 I was, however, quite pissed off when I learned that Tats vs Caps was going to have 3d characters instead of 2D sprites.

I’m a huge fan of anything 2D! In fact, 2 out of 5 of my top games of 2008 are 2D: Castle Crashers and Braid. Seeing as how there are WAY more 3D games out there than 2D, I’d say that’s a pretty big deal. Still, I was willing to give the game a shot anyway and I’m really glad I did.

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I don’t understand why I just can’t get enough of Left 4 Dead! By all rights, I should have moved on to 2 or 3 others games by now, but I have absolutely no desire to play anything else! This is totally insane! This reminds me of another zombie game I became totally obsessed with: Dead Rising.

I have completed Dead Rising no fewer than 7 times and have nabbed every achievement but 1! Well technically I did fulfill the requirements for that one achievement but it didn’t unlock for some reason

Anyway, I decided that Frank West from Dead Rising more than deserves a place on a Left 4 Dead poster if not in the game itself and so I photoshopped him in as a tribute. Enjoy

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It’s been a month and a half now of mowing down zombie after zombie in Valve’s spectacular coop extravaganza: Left 4 Dead.

I have to admit, Left 4 Dead disappointed me on day one. I beat all of the campaigns on the normal difficulty setting in 5 hours on the first day. I played them alone since my wife didn’t want to try it and I didn’t know anyone else who had it on the 360. In general, I don’t like playing online with people I don’t know so I went solo. When it was all over, I felt somewhat unsatisfied. It was short and didn’t feel very different from a regular FPS.

Then I finally convinced my wife to try Versus Mode with me online and that was the end of my social life. Now we’re both addicted and play it daily yelling at each other to get the Hunter off or freaking out at the sight of the dreaded Witch! Valve, you’ve got a winner in Left 4 Dead and I hope you don’t take too long to come out with some DLC!

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Here we are, more than 2 weeks after my initial review and I had a lot more time to find the ups and downs of this game.

In my previous posts, I said I could not find many downsides to this game. I unfortunately found several now but I also found some new good sides.

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