Added: 18.05.2015 13:00 | 14 views | 0 comments

Video games have offered us some compelling visions of the future of human habitation. Some seem idyllic, like the glistening arcologies of . Where the cost of policies and the fact that only a few policy trees were mutually exclusive often discouraged switching them mid-game, traits are meant to be managed more actively. Like policies, they will come with unique perks and benefits for your civilization, but they will also fuel different kinds of diplomatic interactions. The development team wants to extend your diplomatic dealing beyond war, peace, and trade agreements, and having complementary traits will be a big factor in determining your options with a given leader. What these traits might be, how you manage them, what kind of benefits you'll see, and how they will interact with each other all remain to be seen.

The Rising Tide will also herald the arrival of four new factions; the only leader announced thus far is Arshia Kishk, head of the Al Falah (pictured at right). As Beyond Earth's story tells it, the Middle East was mostly depopulated after The Great Mistake. In the years that followed, a tenacious group of resilient survivors held on and refused to desert their homeland. When they finally managed to fund a spaceship send forth colonists, it wasn't the cryogenic variety that most other civilizations sent. It was a generation ship, meaning that those who boarded it knew they would never see their destination, and those who touch down at the end of the journey have never set foot on a planet before. The three other factions will apparently have similarly fraught origin stories, and each one of them will bring disruptive new strategies into play.

There are a few other changes that The Rising Tide is bringing to Beyond Earth, though details on them are fairly scant at this point. In order to further enrich and incentivize the exploration processes, you will now be able to find artifacts through resource pods, expeditions, and other means. Whether it's alien in origin or a relic from Old Earth, each artifact will have its own story and its own possibilities. You could keep it as is or combine it into a set, provided you find the others needed, and the rewards might include new perks or new buildings.

Along with the new units developed to accomodate aquatic and amphibious gameplay will be new hybrid units that require a blend of different affinity levels to unlock. Spreading your affinity points around may keep you from unlocking the highest level perks and units until very late in the game, but if these new hybrids are powerful in the mid-game, perhaps it'll be a more viable strategy to play the field. And finally, two new biomes are on their way, including the primordial world pictured above. With so much volcanic activity, I asked McDonough if the environment was going to pose a threat beyond that of native aliens and miasma clouds. He said only that they are "in the process of making each biome more unique, and will share more soon."

There are certainly more questions to be resolved, but even what's been shared so far seems to portend a serious shift in the Beyond Earth landscape. In a panel during the Game Developer's Conference in San Francisco this year, McDonough and the other Co-Lead Designer, Will Miller, lamented that they hadn't been bolder in their divergence from the core Civilization formula. The oceanic gameplay of The Rising Tide holds the promise of radically changing the way Beyond Earth plays when it is released in fall of this year, and hopefully we'll get a clearer sense of how it all works in a few weeks at E3.

Added: 18.05.2015 8:16 | 3 views | 0 comments


The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth by Kabam is a mobile game available for iOS and Android devices, thats based on the popular movie series. Just in case youre wondering if this official game is free, youll be glad to know that it is. In the game youll be gathering friends to form powerful alliances and make your way to the top of the leaderboards. You can play as an Elf or a Dwarf, and join many of the characters made popular by J.R.R. Tolkien as you build your empire and dominate the realm of Middle Earth. Since this game may be, for some, just about as immersive as Tolkiens books, you can benefit by checking out the following The Hobbit: Kingdoms of Middle-Earth cheats, tips and strategies to help you rule Middle Earth.

Added: 18.05.2015 0:20 | 3 views | 0 comments


Rolling Stone has the scoop on the initial set list for Guitar Hero Live, featuring artists like The Rolling Stones, The Black Keys, Green Day and more!

Added: 17.05.2015 23:16 | 2 views | 0 comments


Great things happen when people work together and today that rings true as New Zealands premier digital media outlet Hashtag ME and the fastest growing Gaming news website ThoseGamers.com announced that they have joined forces to present the latest addition to the Hashtag ME Podcast Network: GameCast Austrailia and New Zealands Gaming Podcast.

Added: 17.05.2015 14:16 | 3 views | 0 comments


Empires Allies by Zynga is an exciting military strategy game for iOS and Android devices. In this mobile title, youll have access to the weapons of modern war as you build the most powerful army possible. You can make use of nuclear weapons, tanks, helicopters, and other modern-day means of destruction, and join alliances so that you can be sure your defenses are up to speed. At the end of the day, your goal would be to defeat the terrorist organization GRA, as well as defend yourself from rival human players. So what do you have to do in order to build that perfect army? We hope we can answer that question through our Empires Allies cheats and strategy guide.

Added: 16.05.2015 16:00 | 5 views | 0 comments


That is adorable.

Yep, that's your little pal Nanako dancing to what sounds like the Junes theme song and what I feel like might be... yeah, is that a Junes employee uniform? The last time I played Persona 4, I didn't end up going there.