No too long after the release of Age of Empires II HD we are getting a new official Age of Empires II expansion called "The Forgotten." You might remember a Age of Empires II fan expansion that was released called "Forgotten Empires." Apparently the team that made that is partnering up with SkyBox Labs and Microsoft to incorporate much of that content into the new expansion.

Not only will they be adding 5 civilizations such as the Italians, Indians, Slavs, Magyars & Incas. The expansions will also include new technologies and 4 new in game campaigns as well as integrated Twitch.tv support and multi-player observer mode.

Awesome.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/221380/discussions/1/864976115141842643/

Yes, you heard correctly. Some seriously dedicated fans to the Earthbound/Mother series have taken it upon themselves to create Mother 4. Oh, and it looks awesome too.

"Mother 4 is a traditional RPG set in an idealized vintage America, following the adventures of a young boy and the leader of a biker gang, who get caught up in the whirlwind events surrounding a group calling themselves the Modern Men."

Travis, Meryl, Leo & Floyd are the new characters Mother 4 brings to the forefront and each one has a different backstory. The art style is fresh, yet very reminiscent of the Mother series. They recently launched the above linked trailer and set the release date for Winter of 2014.

Mother 4 will launch on Mac, Linux & Windows.

http://www.mother4game.com/

I read a very good article on Polygon about harassment focused at game developers. The article features a good synopsis of the topic and collects a few interviews with people that have experienced some I call, "The Internet Hate Factory."

I am glad this topic is getting broader coverage and I hope it spurns more dialog in the community and fosters some change.

http://www.polygon.com/2013/8/15/4622252/plague-of-game-dev-harassment-erodes-industry-spurs-support-groups

You should also check out the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable Ep. 2 "The Internet Hate Factory" that covers this topic, Cheerful Ghost Ghost style.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1527

Plants vz. Zombies 2 It's About Time has just dropped on iPhone and iPad today and it costs nothing. After playing a few missions I can say that it is quite a bit of fun and well worth downloading. There are a few changes to the game, but it contains the same core PvZ action I have come to love.

Since the game is a free release on iOS it has a built in store to purchase upgrades. With only a few levels under my belt I haven't had to need to purchase anything. The game contains an overworld map similarly to Candy Crush Saga and its a nice touch.

The game starts you out around the house you played the majority of the first game from. Crazy Dave shows up with a time machine and hijinks ensue. He takes you back in time in a mission to get a taco he just ate from himself to eat it again. Due to a mis-calculation you arrive in ancient Egypt and it seems to be over run with Zombies.

The start of ancient Egypt acts like a tutorial acclimating you to the new boosts and upgrades you can use on your plants. I am not sure if everything in the game can be unlocked by playing it or if you have to pay to unlock everything. I'll do a deeper review of the game later to cover all that as I play it more.

The graphics have been updated with the plants and zombie animations. It took a bit of getting used to and I think it is a pretty nice improvement. My only gripe with the first Plants VS Zombies game was that is was way too easy. I imagine they will ramp things up to encourage people to buy boosts and items so I may very well get my wish for a much more challenging game.

If you have an iPhone and some free space for a game no reason not to download it and kill some Zombies with Crazy Dave. Plus, I am dying to know if he can eat his taco again.

Hammerwatch is now available for purchase on Steam for Mac, Windows and Linux. It will do your sould well to play this amazing new Indie Gauntlet styled hack n slash.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/239070
http://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/posts/1039

A game I have been crushing on recently has just come to Steam as pre-purchase. Take a swing at this beautiful new Rogue-like from the awesome dev duo Robot Loves Kitty.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/238280
http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1215

John Carmack gives a really insightful talk on the physics of light and rendering. More wisdom from the master of Doom himself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG4QuTe8aUw

Sorry Mario Brothers is an interesting concept game where you play the Princess escaping Bowsers castle on your own. Personally I like seeing this sort of thing, she is magical and capable so why not?

http://www.thewildeternal.com/2013/07/30/sorry-mario-bros/

Blizzard just opened up its new Battle.net client into open beta for anyone to test. I tried it out on my Mac and found the download and install to be a very simple process. The Battle.net client has a slick layout and is fantastic to use. I hope over time they keep the simplicity of it all.

"The new single sign-on functionality allows players to log in once to access World of Warcraft, StarCraft II, Diablo III, and the upcoming PC and Mac versions of Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and stay logged in for up to 30 days.

Players can also install games directly through the app and, if you choose to leave the app running on your desktop, keep them up-to-date automatically even while you’re away from your computer. Please note that it’s entirely up to you whether you wish to leave the app running—you can exit it at any time, and it will automatically re-launch whenever your standard launchers would. "

If you want to read more, check out the Blizzard post:

http://us.battle.net//d3/en/blog/10626946#best

If you just want to download the new client for testing:

https://us.battle.net/account/download/index.xml?show=bnetapp

After news that Phil Fish decided to halt Fez 2 development, in a fit of angsty sorrow, I decided to play Fez for the first time. From the intro screen to the first swaths of gameplay and score, Fez is magic. So magical that if video games can be art, Fez pushes that discussion forward. How much higher praise can a game get than it gave me genuine feelings of joy and exploration?

I am not sure what I can say more about a game that was featured in Indie Game: The Movie as well as reviewed and Let's Played as much as Fez. The rotating camera gameplay coupled with gorgeous retro graphics are a delight. Each new area offers new rich visuals and the unique gameplay Phil Fish crams in each zone is incredible. And nothing beats experiencing it all for the first time.

So far, I have kept my play through spoiler and game guide free and have completed somewhere around 75% according to the game itself. I am not certain how to beat Fez, but I am sure when I come to it, i'll know. I am in no rush to beat the game but do plan on "getting gold" on each area I come to because somehow, it seems like an awesome thing to do.

Jens Matthies of Machinegames gave a pretty interesting interview at QuakeCon about the upcoming Wolfenstein: The New Order. The video showcases some of the stuff we can expect from the game. Some of the video footage shows off BJ scaling a wall to the top of a building one hand on a rope while the other is spent killin' Nazis. As BJ scales the building a plane epically crashes into it and since nothing seems to stop him, he just keeps climbing.

The video also shows off a cool new stealth takedown mechanic new to Wolfenstein. Wolfenstein: The New Order will allow both a run and gun and stealth style of gameplay.

The difficulty modes in The New Order will mirror those in Wolfenstein 3D. So get ready to select from "Can I play, Daddy?", "Don't hurt me.", "Bring 'em on!" or "I am Death incarnate!" It seems many people really enjoyed the challenging 1999 mode in BioShock Infinite so heres to hoping "I am Death incarnate!" ups the ante!

As to the million dollar question of if Hitler will make an appearance Jens noted that "Hitler is not in this game.... That's all i'll say on this topic I think." I wonder if that means there will be a sequel or DLC or Hitler's head on a robot as with Wolfenstein 3D?

I am a huge fan of Wolfenstein and can't wait for Machinegames epic take on this universe to drop in 2014. Are you interested in killing some Nazis or will you skip this one?

"In 1977 the video game market was flooded with clones of the game 'Pong.' 'Pong' released in 1972 had been such a huge hit that many other game companies had tried to produce there own versions of the game."

To celebrate today's retro Tuesday I decided to share a video about the history of Space Invaders. Space Invaders is a classic game I mostly played on the Atari 2600. It was re-imagined by the people that made it in 2006 as Space Raiders which was a pretty fun take on the formula.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Raiders_(video_game)

Hey everyone.

I recently contacted Romino Games to interview them about Awesomenauts and all manner of awesomery and they agreed to do it. If you have any questions you want to submit for the interview toss em' into this post. I am going to close submissions the evening of August 14th to ship them to Romino, so ensure you get them in before then.

Happy 'nauting!