All this diminished our ranks, making raiding harder.  We had been raiding Ice Crown Citadel two nights a week and we were making progress.  We had the first four bosses down pat and were making progress on the fifth.  But the loss of some of our regulars meant we can’t raid as often and when we do we aren’t as successful.  This in turn (along with other things) caused a number of members to join raiding guilds.  The end result is we don’t raid as much as a guild now.  But hey, I like the guild and I am sticking with it.  I don’t mind pugging an Ice Crown raid or two a week.  The guild will build itself up again.

A couple of our the players who have left for raiding guilds have returned.  I asked why and they explained that they just didn’t have time to raid three nights a week, three hours a night. I totally understand. My wife and agents would not be happy campers if I spent that much time a night playing WoW.  But boy I would have so doing that if WoW had been around a few decades ago (yikes) when I was in college.

I am pretty sure that if WoW was around back in my college days I would have had five or six level 80 characters, each of them geared to the hilt.  I would already be all the way through Ice Crown Citadel and I would be whining that Blizzard is too slow with new content.  I would have been a much better WoW player than I am now (I am average at best).  At least in my case I am actually glad they didn’t have WoW back then.  Playing space invaders, fooseball, dungeons and dragons and pinball was bad enough.  Back then I wouldn’t have had the maturity to walk away from the computer.  Heck, it’s hard enough now! But now I do know there is real life work to be done that must be finished first before I can reward myself with WoW.  As fun as WoW can be, it’s still not as fun as hanging out with my wife, son and friends.  Real life has to trump game life.  I see that clearly now.  Not sure younger me would have.

If WoW was around in my younger days I’m not sure I would be where I am today.  I like to think I would be, but I was a really shy guy my early years in college.  Sure, I played a lot of video games and role playing games back in the day but in doing so I was usually in a game room or a dorm room filled with people.  I actually learned to interact with people through these games.  They helped me break my shyness.  If I could have sat in my room playing with virtual friends over a computer things might have been different.  I like to think I would have at least got bored with WoW after a while and ventured out into the real world.  Would I still have played baseball and done karate?  I hope!  Hmm, would I have settled for being average at baseball and karate when I could have been great at WoW?  I guess I’ll never know.  (Though I am certain the ladies would have been more impressed by an average ball player than a great WoWer.  So yeah, I would have walked away. I think.)

The good thing: WoW wasn’t around when I was younger so the point is moot.  I was able to mentally grow and mature (mostly) to the point where I can walk away from WoW when I need to.  For those of you who may be a little younger, remember to turn off the computer and get some real life in.  The opposite sex is far more impressed by real life than WoW…I think.

As a fan of point-and-click adventures, I hold no series in higher regard than Monkey Island. The adventures of Guybrush Threepwood provided a humorous spin on the world of swashbuckling and demonstrated the potential of the fledging LucasArts studio. Even after 20 years since its original release I find myself returning to The Secret of Monkey Island, not merely as a trip down memory lane but as a reminder that 3D graphics and accurate physics modeling are no replacement for a quality story and a strong sense of humor. Recently TellTale Games, in cooperation with LucasArts, has decided to revive my childhood and release a new, five-part series titled Tales of Monkey Island for Mac, beginning with Chapter 1: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal. If you listen closely, you can actually hear my inner child cheering with excitement.

Tales of Monkey Island joins our quintessential underdog and all-round mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood on a quest to retrieve his wife Elaine from the clutches of the sinister ghost pirate Le Chuck. Unfortunately while battling for his love’s life, our hero accidentally releases a voodoo pox and finds himself ship-wrecked on an island with no sign of escape. It’s up to Guybrush to assemble a random collection of knick-knacks and oddities to use in bizarre ways in order to escape the island, find his lady-love, and stop the voodoo pox from infecting the world.

By the time the first cut-scene had ended, I was bouncing off the walls with anticipation. Though within minutes of gaining control of our hero, I found myself swearing vengeance over whoever developed the control system. Instead of the traditional point-and-click movements, the player moves Guybrush with a click-and-drag method in order to better accommodate the new 3D environments. Unfortunately the controls are finicky at best. Traveling in anything other than a straight line using the mouse felt unintuitive and quickly taxed my nerves. Even the simple task of walking down a pier, something any mighty pirate should excel at, became like a nightmarish obstacle course from a Japanese game show as I weaved through the stationary crates and characters that cluttered my path. Fortunately you can also use the arrows keys to move Guybrush about, a feature I recommend using immediately as it makes the game actually playable. Otherwise, don’t be surprised if you lack the patience to continue on with the story.

Despite the poor controls, ToMI’s gameplay was reminiscent of the Monkey Island series in its prime. Every puzzle retained that level of difficulty and lunacy that made the series unique. Would you think to roll a piece of cheese on a jail cell wall in order to revive a tiki idol? Me either, but apparently the developers did. I spent extended periods wandering about the island rubbing each item in my inventory on every object on-screen in the hopes I’ll find something of use. But that’s not to say this occurrence was commonplace. While I certainly did struggle at points to determine my next move, many puzzles were solved just by taking a step back and re-examining my inventory. Sometimes the simplest answer to a puzzle is to just think outside the box, a tactic frequently employed and brilliantly executed.

The point-and-click genre was designed at a time when developers had such limited technology available they were forced to sacrifice action in order to create the plot-driven experience they wanted. A story-rich experience is therefore at what point-and-clicks excel, and ToMI takes this a step further by integrating multiple cut-scenes into the gameplay to fully achieve the developer’s vision. After solving most puzzles or while conversing with other individuals, the game will take on a much more cinematic view and force the player to passively sit and watch the action. I’m usually weary of utilizing multiple cut-scenes since they tend to pull the player out of the gameplay, however ToMI’s scenes were short, succinct, and filled with a bit of comedy to keep the player from becoming detached. While the number of overall cut-scenes was still a bit too much for my taste, the majority of them focused on setting the scene and introduced the cast of characters. Hopefully there will be more emphasis on the gameplay in the latter chapters as the story develops.

No matter how interesting I found the plot, it’s simply not a Monkey Island game unless I’m left in stitches. Fortunately ToMI did not disappoint as the gameplay is packed full of the quirky humor that made the original games successful and harkens back to a young LucasArts. After I encountered the pirate glass blower selling glass unicorns because he’s just that comfortable with his own sexuality, I knew this game had much of the comedic charm I enjoyed in the previous titles. However the trait I respected the most in early Monkey Island games was the eclectic sense of humor with many layers that could appeal to everyone. This made the old games something I could enjoy whether I was 4 or 24 years old, instantly turning them into classics in my book. What excites me most about this new series is that I caught a potential glimmer of this same trait lying beneath the puns and pirate-y quips. I suppose only time will if was just a mirage.

Even though I’ve only played Chapter 1 and have a long way to go, this first iteration has piqued my interest in the remainder of the series, as a good opening act should. I’m intrigued to see if this game can reinvigorate what made the Monkey Island series such a delight to play.

All this talk of Monkey Island is making me want to fire up my old Amiga and play the original, four floppy disk version. Nostalgia is a powerful force; it’s even a force that can even help you win some games. TMG has a copy of all five-chapters of Tales of Monkey Island to give to a lucky fan courtesy of TellTale Games, so we are announcing the beginning of the ‘Tell Us Your Tale’ contest. All you have to do is email competition@themacgamer.com with a short story about your gaming nostalgia. We’ll read each story, and the best one will win a free copy of Tales of Monkey Island. So write and tell us about the time you beat Marathon without firing a shot or about your adventures with your Starcraft clan. Maybe your rant about the good ol’ days will finally pay off.

Today at the Game Developers Conference, Razer, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-end precision gaming and lifestyle peripherals, announced an effort to increase support for Mac users by issuing driver support for all upcoming Razer products, including the Razer StarCraft® II peripheral suite.

In April of 2008, the Razer DeathAdder™ for Mac was revealed, crafted specifically to provide Max OS X users with the same legendary ergonomic form factor and precision enjoyed by the PC gaming community. Complete with lunar white accents to accentuate the crisp, clean lines customary to Apple® products, the Razer DeathAdder for Mac is loaded with 1000Hz Ultrapolling™ technology and five independently programmable Razer Hyperesponse™ buttons.

Next we’re going to hear that EA are thinking of releasing something other than The Sims for Mac!

The biggest news for Mac gaming this year?

Valve’s announcement is making waves in Mac gaming. I can already see developers eyeing the platform like a mighty fine lady in a bar. Maybe Valve could start a new platform-agnostic games development movement? The Mac is suddenly a viable gaming platform (when the hell did that happen?), and anything is possible.

Let’s have a closer look at the details of Steam for Mac and what it could potentially mean for the future of Mac gaming.

“Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth.”

This is probably the most important part of Valve’s announcement: community. Mac gamers have long been stranded in limbo, scattered across forums, lost in clunky community apps. The ability to chat to other gamers, join their games, hunt achievements, live the endless torture of L4D match-making is something all other platforms have had for years.

To kickstart the Mac gaming community on Steam I’ve just created a Steam group for Mac gamers. Join up and we can get a decent group of Mac gamers together for things like Counter-Strike, Left4Dead2 and Team Fortress 2. Spread the word!

“Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge.”

Valve have lead the way in online game delivery and while this was expected, it’s great to see. I’ve purchased all of Valve’s games on Steam and I’m looking forward to playing them again on my Mac for not a penny more.

“We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation…”

Thank God. I was slightly concerned that Valve might have used some sort of emulation/wrapper. Emulation/wrappers never work as advertised. And while we’ve yet to see a Source game running on Mac, as I’ve said previously Valve are committed to quality, so performance should be good.

“The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360.”

The current client of Steam for Windows uses Internet Explorer for viewing the Steam store, community and webpages from within the client. It’s a bit long in the tooth and it’s always frustrated me that I couldn’t use my default browser to render pages, well, properly and quickly.

A little over a week ago Valve announced that the beta for the new Steam client was ready to be tested by the community. While I’m not sure I rate the new look, they’re now using the open-source WebKit to render webpages. Instant cross-platform, cutting edge standards support.

Treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform is a sign Valve are here to stay. Is it possible that other developers could be persuaded to develop for the Mac by the availability of Steam for the platform? This is a question I’ll be asking developers soon.

Valve announced today it will bring Steam, Valve’s gaming service, and Source, Valve’s gaming engine, to the Mac.

Steam and Valve’s library of games including Left 4 Dead 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike, Portal, and the Half-Life series will be available in April.

“As we transition from entertainment as a product to entertainment as a service, customers and developers need open, high-quality Internet clients,” said Gabe Newell, President of Valve. “The Mac is a great platform for entertainment services.”

“Our Steam partners, who are delivering over a thousand games to 25 million Steam clients, are very excited about adding support for the Mac,” said Jason Holtman, Director of Business Development at Valve. “Steamworks for the Mac supports all of the Steamworks APIs, and we have added a new feature, called Steam Play, which allows customers who purchase the product for the Mac or Windows to play on the other platform free of charge. For example, Steam Play, in combination with the Steam Cloud, allows a gamer playing on their work PC to go home and pick up playing the same game at the same point on their home Mac. We expect most developers and publishers to take advantage of Steam Play.”

“We looked at a variety of methods to get our games onto the Mac and in the end decided to go with native versions rather than emulation,” said John Cook, Director of Steam Development. “The inclusion of WebKit into Steam, and of OpenGL into Source gives us a lot of flexibility in how we move these technologies forward. We are treating the Mac as a tier-1 platform so all of our future games will release simultaneously on Windows, Mac, and the Xbox 360. Updates for the Mac will be available simultaneously with the Windows updates. Furthermore, Mac and Windows players will be part of the same multiplayer universe, sharing servers, lobbies, and so forth. We fully support a heterogeneous mix of servers and clients. The first Mac Steam client will be the new generation currently in beta testing on Windows.”

Portal 2 will be Valve’s first simultaneous release for Mac and Windows. “Checking in code produces a PC build and Mac build at the same time, automatically, so the two platforms are perfectly in lock-step,” said Josh Weier, Portal 2 Project Lead. “We’re always playing a native version on the Mac right alongside the PC. This makes it very easy for us and for anyone using Source to do game development for the Mac.

Incredible news. I’ll dissect this as soon as it’s sunk in!

Dual Stick Shooters have become a very popular game category: MiniGore, Alive Forever, Meteor Blitz, to name just a few I’ve played before Guerilla Bob. It’s crowded enough that when I heard some of the positive buzz surrounding Guerilla Bob I was intrigued.

Visually the game looks great. It’s like a Looney Tunes cartoon from the mid 90’s but with guns, cigars, and a moustache. It has some sort of storyline about who Guerilla Bob is but I really didn’t give a shit, I was ready to jump in and shoot stuff. I had high expectations.

Armed at first with just a machine gun, Guerilla Bob eventually picked up a rocket launcher and flamethrower. Pretty standard fair for any action game but if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Except that here, it broke.

From the get go you realize that your machine gun isn’t so much spewing bullets as it is spitting goo balls. It fires big balls of fire that are fairly slow and take 3-4 hits to kill a bad guy. Very anti-climactic, but I held out hope. The weapon power-ups sort of helped, instead of 3-4 shots enemies would drop in 2. Problem is that’s one too many when each shot travels at about the speed of a wiffel ball.  It’s slow by design since half the time Guerilla Bob side steps the equally slow little circles that the bad guys shoot at you.

The rocket launcher feels like a different version of the machine gun. It shoots differently (and slower) and can penetrate the sand bags some enemies stand behind. But it still feels slow and uninteresting. The only weapon that didn’t piss me off completely was the flamethrower which due to its continuous fire allowed me to get in close and score the 3-5 hits it would take to kill an enemy rather quickly.

The various power ups are equally pointless. A speed power-up allows you to run around like you just did lines of coke off a Panamanian stripper’s ass but serves little purpose since you still have to dance around an enemy to score those 3-5 hits.

The games longevity is also questionable. Although the artwork is nice it’s also extensively recycled. Every single level looked and played the same. Eventually you unlock a survival mode which for me was pointless since I was usually relieved when I was done playing.

It’s ironic that the story links in with John Gore from MiniGore since that game does just about everything right that Guerilla Bob does wrong. MiniGore is fast paced, frantic, your bullets kill quickly, and weapon upgrades are worth a damn. Guerilla Bob paints such a pretty picture but ultimately proves to be rather forgettable.

Buy MiniGore instead.

When the Guild Master quit he asked a few other higher ranked players (who happen to be tanks) if they would be interested in taking over. They responded by leaving the guild. The bottom line is we are a little low on tanks right now. Still, trying to keep the guild together we decide to do a 10 man Ice Crown Citadel run. We had to PUG a tank and two DPS. The DPS was easy. The tank not so much. I don’t know about other realms but on Rexxar tanks are in high demand. We searched for 30 minutes and found a tank. Turns out he thought we were doing another instance, so he dropped. Sigh. After waiting another 20 minutes we found another tank. This one wanted to do ICC 10! Yes, we were golden. The tank arrived in the instance. My heart fluttered, after nearly an hour of waiting this was going to happen.

The new tank looked at our other tank, our guild tank and then said, “I thought you said you were a tank?”

Our guild tank replied, “I am.”

The other tank said, “You’ve only got 27,000 hit points. Are you wearing the wrong armor?”

Our tank said, “There is more to tanking than stamina. I’ve done this before. Trust me.”

We all held our collective breath. Our tank has done this many times. He is a fine tank. We all told the PUG tank that.

Our group fell apart.

Here’s the thing, I know tanks can afford to be picky but come on, give a group a chance. I admit I don’t know a lot about tanking (my son says I am too impatient to be a tank) but I do know what works. I have seen our tank complete ICC on a number of occasions quite successfully. There is skill and timing involved, not just having the right gems to buff your stamina. If that tank had taken the group at their word and just gave us 20 minutes of his precious time to see how we did against the first boss he would have seen we weren’t making anything up. We would have downed the boss and everybody would have won. Instead the tank made nine enemies and nobody got anything down.

The moral of this story: when you are in a pickup group, remember you are human being first and player second. Give the group a chance before you bail on them.

Next week sees the start of the annual Games Developer Conference, with Valve seemingly poised to officially announce some of the best games of the last six years for the Mac.

If Portal 2 is Mac bound, I see no reason why Left4Dead 2 won’t see a release too. But how far back will Valve go, back to the ancient, but still hugely relevant Counter-Strike?

In a few short teasers Valve has made Mac gaming relevant. Just as I was thinking of getting a low-end Mac for most of my non-gaming work and save gaming for the PC, Valve has made it important to have a Mac capable of gaming. Also, considering Valve’s commitment to quality, I’m hoping that performance of their Mac ports are equal (unlikely) or at least close to that of the PC performance.

I hope to get Valve to answer some questions soon.

UPDATE: Eurogamer post that “Platforms were not mentioned” for Portal 2, then go on to say Doug Lombardi later confirmed the title for “PC and Xbox 360″. While there’s no Mac mention, I’m confident the teaser images and GameInformer article prove the title is coming to Mac OS X. As I said above, we’ll see at GDC.

Valve truly are masters of mystery.

Not only has Valve quietly, sneakily been updating Portal in preparation for something cool, they’ve all but announced Steam for Mac and looking at their wonderfully clever teaser images, also announced the Half Life series, Team Fortress 2, Portal and Left4Dead for Mac, too (if the images are representative of Mac ports and not just cool adverts)! All of Valve’s games are based on their own Source engine that’s been modified heavily over the years to accommodate newer games like Left4Dead. As a result, porting one game means it’s worthwhile porting the lot. I guess if you port the most recent Source engine, the rest of Valve’s games are just content.

This is the best news for Mac gamers, ever. I can’t think of any other announcement or release that’s had me as excited as I am now! Half Life has defined the single-player FPS genre. Left 4 Dead, while infuriating in so many ways, is a highly original multiplayer title, and one that I’ve sunk countless hours into.

I know a few developers who are going to be hugely excited about this announcement. The Mac has for a long time needed a community hub both for gamers (we’re going to see a lot more Mac gaming clans) and for developers to sell their titles.

It’s going to be an exciting couple of weeks!