Category: Games

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Disney Killed The Star Wars Expanded Universe, And It Is OK!

starwars-logo

When I first head that Disney was going to kill off the current Star Wars Expanded Universe, I was dumb struck.  “How dare they just toss out the stories that I love!”, I thought, but the more I think about it, the more I am okay with it.  Disney wants to make a Star Wars Universe that is cohesive and make sense, and that is a good thing.

Most of the stuff in the Expanded Universe was pretty awful anyway, and honestly a lot of it didn’t fit together, so it was broken.  Disney starting over allows them to pick and choose the good ideas out of the EU, and ignore all the garbage.  We don’t know what they are going to keep at this point, but they did give us a few examples: The Inquisitor, the Imperial Security Bureau, and Sienar Fleet Systems from the table top RPG are in the new cartoon, so you never know your favorite EU Star Wars character may still make it in.

Even if something we like doesn’t make the cut it isn’t like it is going to cease to exist.  They didn’t make EA take down Star Wars: The Old Republic, Wookieepedia is still going strong, and the books on your shelf didn’t disappear.  It just isn’t necessarily going to be treated as canon going forward.  If this was a comic book universe the fans would care less because they toss stuff out of the canon all the time.  It is just a big deal to Star Wars geeks because it has held together for as long as it has.

If the new stuff from Disney is awesome nobody will even remember that they tossed out the current Expanded Universe and started over.  They will just be enjoying the cool new stories.  As long as Disney has Chewbacca getting crushed by a Moon (best death ever) the world will keep on spinning fellow Meatbags!

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Shmee Gets A New Computer Case: The Lian-Li PC-9F!

Lian-Li PC-9F

I have been on a very slow computer rebuild train, so recently I decided to get a new case to put all my new components in.  After quite a bit of researching, I chose the Lian-Li PC-9F Black Aluminum Mid-Tower case (rolls right off the tongue).  I love Lian-Li’s simple designs and quality manufacturing, but I was worried that their cases were too far out of my budget.  Thankfully the PC-9F is under a hundred dollars at most retailers, so not super cheap, but still a third the price of their other offerings.

I was concerned that since this case is at the low end of Lian-Li’s price range that the quality wasn’t going to be as good as their more expensive models, but I was presently surprised.  The case is lightweight yet sturdy, and all the edges are rolled, so you will not be spilling a lot of blood in this case.  It also comes pre-equipped with three large fans, so unless you are running some serious hardware in this thing, your kit will stay cool.  If still want your case cooler, there is an extra port on the top that you can open up for one more fan.

Like all good cases this one is completely aluminum (with the exception of some plastic snaps), and can be put together completely without tools.  You will still want to have your screw drivers and a pair pliers handy when you build your PC.  Some areas can be hard to reach once you get your stuff in the case, and sometimes things are too hard to untighten by hand.

If you are going to build a super PC with two or more video cards, water cooling, and all sorts of extra stuff you will probably want something else because I can see this case getting a little cramped with all that extra gear in it.  Though if you are spending that kind of money on your components, you should really spend a bit more on your case.  For most gamer computer builds though, this case should be more than adequate.

I really like this case.  It has a simple clean look, and since the computer I am building isn’t anything extra special it suits my needs perfectly.  I am very happy that Lian-li built a case for the everyday computer gamer with the PC-9F, and not just the ultra high end.

 

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Wear Out Your Mouse With Torchlight 2

Torchlight2

I recently had a LAN party with a bunch of my friends, and the main game that we played was Torchlight II by Runic Games.  Now I know what you are thinking: “Didn’t Torchlight II come out two years ago?”  Well you would be right.  It did, but that is why it was the perfect game to play because it was cheap, fun, runs on just about every computer out there, and most of my friends had it anyway.

Torchlight II is pretty much a straight up Diablo clone.  If you don’t know what Diablo is you have been hiding under a rock, but I will tell you anyway.  It is an action RPG, where you click on monsters to kill them.  The monsters drop items and give you experience points, so you can arm yourself with cooler stuff and better abilities, and then click on the monsters to kill them better.

Every time I explain what a Diablo clone is, it always sounds awful, but they are quite fun and very addicting.  Torchlight II does it best to streamline the process by adding pets that will shop and carry loot for you, and a skill tree that makes sense.  But the big reason to get Torchlight II is that you can Mod it, and get Mods for it easily.

For instance we were using a Mod that allowed 25 people to play the game at the same time, we only had nine, but still that is not something Diablo lets you do.  There are all sorts of cool changes to this game that people have made.  It is almost better to play the game now then when it first came out because of all the extra cool stuff to play with.

If you want to play a fun action RPG then you probably already have Torchlight II.  If you don’t then you should have no qualms about picking it up.  It is always going on sale, so you should be able to find a copy under ten bucks, and it is well worth that meager investment.

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Shadowrun Returns with Dragonfall!

shadowrun-dragonfall

Last year Hairbrained Schemes released the Kickstarter funded game Shadowrun Returns, and I loved it!  This year they have released an expansion called Shadowrun: Dragonfall, and while it is still pretty much the same game mechanics wise, some small updates have made a world of difference.

The biggest change is the fact that you can save just about anywhere, and if you get the Dragonfall update it will allow you to save anywhere in Returns as well!  They also did a better job of introducing a cast of characters that are with you for the entire story, so it feels more like the table top version of Shadowrun that we have all come to know and love.  Also the base feels more like a base instead a random location that you show up at from time to time.

This is no small DLC mission either.  It is easily the same length, if not longer, than Shadowrun Returns, so even though $15  sounds like a lot (since I backed it on Kickstarter it was free for me “Yeah Me!), at least they are giving you a lot of content.

I was kind of bummed that I had to play as a new character, but being forced to start over has allowed me to fix my leveling mistakes from before, and play this new location differently.  Being from the Pacific Northwest I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but Germany has been more fun than Seattle.

This update makes Shadowrun Returns worth playing again, and it addresses one of the main issues that most people had with the game with the save anywhere feature.  If they really wanted to win back players they would release the save fix for free, but people at least have the option to get it if they want it.  If you are looking for a fun turn based RPG to play, Shadowrun: Dragonfall is a great option.