I admit that Dota 2 has the benefit of an established fan base unmatched by almost any free-to-play game (League of Legends excluded). Not many games have fans who are willing to pay for something that doesn’t benefit them in any way. Taking that into account, though, there still is no good excuse for free-to-play micro-transactions that benefit the company more than the player. Honestly, the solution is just to make your game cost money. Remember that? When games cost a flat fee for the entire thing? This was a largely successful model, and the only reason I can see for the shift is pure greed, especially by a company like EA that already has boatloads of money to roll in.

When games made the leap from public arcades to private homes, multiplayer continued to be a prominent feature. In 1987, MIDI Maze for the Atari ST allowed players to play together with up to 16 people. Many NES games also incorporated multiplayer—the original Super Mario Bros . allowed players to swap between Mario and Luigi, and Ice Climber allowed simultaneous co-op.Technology advancements allowed the inclusion of split-screen modes for racing games and shooters. It didn’t stop there. As games got more complex and began incorporating online play, LAN parties and internet cafes enabled gamers to play locally with friends, minus the risks of lag and other side effe

This past week at DreamHack in Bucharest, Romania, a number of tournament organizers for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive reportedly met to come up with a response to rumors of an upcoming CS:GO super league, and the ongoing discussion is causing some drama within the MOBA Game updates‘s commun

Regardless of what the most hardcore fans thought, the Mists of Pandaria trailer became an incredibly popular TV spot in the month’s leading up to the game’s release. It featured exciting action with its three way battle, but more importantly, showcased Blizzard’s sense of humor. The trailer isn’t full of jokes at all, but a few well-placed visual gags make it impossible not to love the cinematic introduction of the universe’s new r

The world of competitive gaming known as eSports is still in its infancy and has a ton of room to grow. Its popularity is climbing every year with seemingly larger production budgets, being held in arenas that seat thousands of people. A big component in creating such an excited and dedicated environment are the casters; they not only help hype people up for the event but also inform those who are watch

For this list, we only considered trailers from World of Warcraft forward, but the best five cinematic moments from the pre- WoW days could be an entirely different list. Despite the limited technology of the time, Blizzard still managed to produce amazing cinematics for the original versions of Diablo, StarCraft , and Warcraft 1

Better graphics capabilities. There are a few big reasons for this shift to online multiplayer. The first is purely practical : as the quality of graphics and gameplay increases, more resources are required. If you’re already running a game that requires a lot of power because of technical specifications, imagine doubling, tripling, or quadrupling that for split-screen modes. That kind of local play functionality may require a downgrade in graphics—a sacrifice many gamers just aren’t willing to make for local multiplayer modes. That’s part of the reason games with simpler graphics— Super Smash Bros. , Mario Kart , or any of the numerous rhythm games—most frequently include local multiplayer. It’s less of a strain on the system, and gamers generally don’t sit down to play Mario Kart for a realistic virtual experie

Although some cinematic trailers aren’t any kind of indicator of what a game will be like, a few companies have mastered the art of using trailers to capture the tone and mood of an upcoming project. But when n the realm of CG cinematic trailers, nobody does it better than Blizza

AHIII: (laughs) It is still a mystery to me too. I started casting in January 2016. There’s a community effort called Chair League which is like Saturday night bowling. It’s for recreation; you do put a team together and there are standings but it’s for fun. They were looking for casters. I emailed the person who started it and said, “Hey, do you need another caster?” He was like, “Yeah, what experience do you have?” I had none but I just thought it would be c

I feel that way with for all four of these teams. It’ll be heartbreaking to see three teams not win but I’ll be happy to see one of them actually become heroes of the dorm. It’s very easy to find protagonists in this tournam

No list of Blizzard cinematics would be complete without mention of the original World of Warcraft reveal trailer. In many ways, this is the trailer that kicked off the modern era of Blizzard gaming. The reveal trailer takes players back to Azeroth after Warcraft 3 and offers a brand-new perspective on the Warcraft setting. Aside from Trolls, just about every race and class get some love in this trai