Surprise Spy update!

Valve, in true creative fashion, dropped the bomb that the upcoming Sniper pack soon to be released is instead a Spy pack. Turns out the Sniper really was a Spy. With the news, we get word of two new unlockables, the Dead Ringer and the Cloak and Dagger.

With the Dead Ringer equipped, when you take a non-lethal shot, you immediately cloak for up to 8 seconds and leave a corpse behind. The amount of confusion and insanity this thing can leave is going to be nuts. Now, even when you identify and shoot at a Spy, you can't be so sure you actually killed him, leaving you even more paranoid and confused. On a server with friendly fire on, this is going to be absolute mayhem.

The Cloak and Dagger is a new cloaking device that will allow you to be cloaked indefinitely provided you aren't moving. In fact, that's the only way the device will recharge, is to stand still. It's a trade-off, but a fair one - it's a better cloaking device, but if you want it to recharge, you have to effectively take yourself out of the game for a few seconds.

And not only did Valve see fit to surprise-release a pack for my favorite class, but they also put out a new "Meet The" video, "Meet the Spy". It's hilarious, fitting, and embedded just below this sentence.



If I didn't know any better, I'd say Valve was trying to get into my pants. I can't wait for the Spy update.

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Oregon Trail, emulated (brb fording the river)

Holy crap! I was about to post something a bit more substantial, but I hit the motherload. The original Oregon Trail is out on the internets for your enjoyment - as in right now, in your browser. As anyone who grew up in the 80's can attest to, one's proximity to Oregon Trail is inversely proportional to the amount of productive work that gets done.

You can find it and all the other Apple 2e games at: http://www.virtualapple.org/

Oregon Trail:
http://www.virtualapple.org/oregontraildisk.html

Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego:
http://www.virtualapple.org/whereintheworldiscarmensandiegodisk.html

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I put on my robe and wizard hat...

So more Diablo 3 news broke over this weekend's Blizzcon. This time, around another playable class - The Wizard. I personally can't wait to one, as in most RPGs (action or otherwise) I tend to gravitate to the mage classes. Something about big flashy explosions really appeal to me, you know?

The trailer for the class is freaking awesome and totally confirms all the explosions and badassery I can expect with the Wizard when Diablo 3 comes out.

And if you haven't seen it, there is about 5 minutes of gameplay footage of the Wizard as well. Not as dramatic as the trailer, but gives you an idea of the gameplay and some more of the locales/enemies.

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Stay awhile and listen...

OH. MY. GOD. Diablo 3!

Yes. Just... yes.
For those not in the know, Blizzard is one of the leading video game companies in the industry. They have revolutionized the Real-Time Strategy genre (Warcraft series, Starcraft), have the most successful Massively Multiplayer Online game (World of Warcraft), and have set the gold standard on the Action RPG genre (Diablo series). This is not hyperbole. If you're a gamer and Blizzard speaks, you listen.

And speak they have. This past week, Blizzard was posting a cryptic image as a splash page to their website. Each day, the image revealed more (but still never enough) until this Saturday, where Blizzard spilled the beans at their invitational event they held in Paris: Diablo 3 is coming!

The Diablo games hold a very soft spot in my heart as a gamer, as I've probably spent more time pointing and clicking my way through hell and back than is probably healthy for me. Diablo 1 occupied a lot of my time in high school, whereas Diablo 2 was most of my college days. I've got a bajillion stories that I could relate and likely will as time goes on and more details about Diablo 3 are released. But for now, let's bask in the initial deets.

Though Blizzard's set a target date for "when they're done" (grr), I couldn't be any more excited about the game. Already, they have revealed that two of the playable classes are the Barbarian and a new class, Witch Doctor. Check it out for yourself at their website:

http://www.blizzard.com/diablo3/

This is something I'm keeping a close eye on and will add my reactions to it each and every time some new details are released. Right now I'm still fawning over the cinematics and gameplay videos. BRING ON THE SECRET COW LEVEL DIABLO!

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