The agenda of Assassin's Creed 2 is an interesting one. I'm sure everyone has noted the disclaimer at the beginning, which says, ""Inspired by historical events and characters. This work of fiction was designed, developed, and produced by a multicultural team of various religious faiths and beliefs." Maybe it’s true that people of various faiths developed this game, but I doubt any of them were writers for the game.

Speaking of disclaimers, this entire blog post will contain spoilers...

Now you may think I'm here to rant and rave about the unlockable video called The Truth, which is unlocked by finding symbols carved onto famous Italian architecture and solving the puzzles (some of which required you to know Sumerian numerology!).

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Those of us reading this article are probably not unlike myself–a listener of gaming podcasts, subscriber of gaming feeds, avid player, article reader, video game junkie.  Maybe, unlike me, you have never stopped and thought how crazy our hobby is.

I’ve heard there is no one that hates their own hobby more than gamers, and I can’t disagree.  A quick look at the venom spewing on any gaming forums proves the point, coupled with the flock of paid gaming journalists that hold our precious few “dream jobs”, in which they only find new and interesting ways to slam the games we wait months to play.  No innovation?  FAIL!  New innovation that rubs us even slightly the wrong way?  FAIL!  At times, I can’t help but think there is just a bit too much—too many games coming out, too much gaming media, too many podcasts, forums and articles to keep up with, and too much of a backlog I’ll never get too, but paid good money to watch collect dust.

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Anyone who looks at my top games of all time will see Fable II sits rather prominently on that list. When I did my “30 Reviews in 30 Days,” I had mentioned I might even consider it my favorite game of all time, though it may have been supplanted by Mass Effect 2. While the game was almost unanimously praised by critics, there was one part of it many felt was a let down: the ending.

So just what was it about the ending of Fable II that left people feeling less than fulfilled? We explore that topic in this edition of “Good Grief; Bad Endings.”

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My first attempt at being the DM went very well this past wednesday. During the last event all of the characters except for Sparkles got knocked unconscious. So I connected my mini-encounter to the main story by having everyone wake up in a strange land where everything was a dusty wasteland, a blue orb replaced the moon, and a dark tower could be glimpsed toward the horizon.

Obviously this was the moon. I allowed for lower gravity. The group soon found themselves running into werewolves, which I thought appropriate for the moon... Soon enough they ran into a woman on a unicorn, who slumped to the ground. After healing her--and talking to the unicorn (named Charlie, of course)--they discovered this land was where the dreams and wishes of humankind were housed. A mysterious creature had attacked the dream guardian and ejected her from Candy Mountain (this part of the story was at the request of Heather).

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Many an Indie game developer dreams of making their own MMO to topple World of Warcraft. The new deal for Hero Engine makes this dream closer to reality...but not by much.

You need:
+) $5000 for 25 person team licenses (no singles available)
+) $1000 per year for maintenance fees (they cover server hosting)
+) Willing to give 15% of your revenue to them as royalties

This is the same engine that Bioware is using for Star Wars: The Old Republic and that Zenimax Online is using for their title.

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There is a debate raging in the gaming community right now. Everywhere you look, gamers and those who do not play are arguing over whether or not there is such a thing as gaming addiction.

The studies are inconclusive; every time you hear about a study backing the existence of video game addiction, you find numerous stories debunking it. Even gamers seem to be split on the issue; while many want to argue it does not exist, others say they have experienced symptoms similar to that of other addictions.

So in the middle of all of the turmoil, the question remains: can someone get addicted to video games?

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