Here’s a roundup of today’s news found elsewhere on the internet:

Star Trek Online moves into Season Two (eurogamer) - Atari and Cryptic have launched Season Two of their space MMO Star Trek Online, and cut the price of the retail game to $19.99.

Linkin Park single debuting in MOH (eurogamer) - EA has secured the worldwide debut of Linkin Park's new single "The Catalyst" for a Medal of Honor video.

 

It's not every day Blizzard release a game, so examining the nature of a Blizzard title in order to recommend it to others is a process fraught with trepidation.

We've been doing little else but playing StarCraft II since late Monday evening when, inexplicably, Battle.Net went live at least 45 minutes prior to the official midnight launch. Therefore, although you may spot a few fatigue-induced fumbles, what you're reading is the real deal - we've clocked the campaign, been thrashed online, and had a good chance to verify our findings from the extensive preview sessions Blizzard were kind enough to provide us with stretching back to BlizzCon '08.

A real-time strategy game set in a war torn universe plagued by political intrigue and beset by the constant threat of total annihilation, both StarCraft and its sequel recount the bloodied interactions of three races: the pioneering and politically corrupt human Terrans; the Protoss, an ancient and ruthlessly objective alien species; and the devouring Zerg, a xenomorphic alien swarm ruled by a single hive mind.

 

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Whether it's writing top quality reviews and previews of the latest games, producing unique and entertaining videos, covering all the top gaming news and events, or building a vibrant gaming community in our forums—everything we do, we do for the love of games!

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Voting in the People's Choice NetGuide Web Awards 2010 closes very soon (30 July). Each year, the awards recognise the top New Zealand web sites across a range of categories. We're hoping to score in the "Best Game Related Site" category again—but the winners are chosen by public votes, so we won't be able to do it without your help.

 

BioWare has detailed the next downloadable content pack for Dragon Age: Origins, first teased at Comic-Con. Entitled the Golems of Amgarrak, the DLC will be an advanced challenge for experienced players. In spite of earlier suggestions to the contrary, the DLC does have a storyline.

Speaking with website MMORPG, BioWare’s senior designer Rob Bartel says, “You have come to Orzammar at the request of Jerrik Dace. Jerrik’s brother led an expedition into the Deep Roads to find Amgarrak and the long-lost secrets of golem construction.

“The rediscovery of such a method would bring great wealth, power and prestige to House Dace but the expedition has not returned and is now feared lost.

Here’s a roundup of today’s news found elsewhere on the internet:

Blizzard "probably very arrogant" – Jagex (eurogamer) - Jagex chief Mark Gerhard believes success has brought arrogance to Blizzard.

"They've become very successful and, as a result, probably very arrogant - perhaps even over-self-assured," Gerhard said.

Gerhard believes RuneScape is second only to World of Warcraft.

Gerhard said his company was "certainly" on Blizzard's map.

"I know we are," said Gerhard with a wink. "I know they have a huge amount of respect for what Jagex does.

 

Does anyone else get suspicious when Electronic Arts releases something for free?

I have nothing really against EA, they have many creative and successful studios who have released literally several exceptional games over the years. EA are really the torque behind the game development business - they're consistently capable of driving creativity forward much like a wave battering against a beach. Every now and again they spit out a whale that needs to be removed with explosives after it starts to decay, but at least as a circling seagull you know exactly what you're getting.

But EA is a corporate. They're in the business of making money, as all corporates are. They could have chosen magazines, novels, country music or thousands of classified military reports, however it just so happens they chose to publish games. Publishing games generally involves some kind of monetary transaction - so considering Need for Speed World is free, alarm bells are ringing.

 

I knew it would come down to lore. Here goes:

Once a proud Highborne city and home to some of the most revered Elves of Kalimdor, Vashj’ir was engulfed by the Great Sea in the Sundering and thought to be lost.

The conceited elven queen Azshara, leader of the Highborne, survived the crushing depths when the Well of Eternity imploded, though her escape came at a great price as she and many of her fellow Highborne were twisted to become the grotesque Naga. Hearing the elements’ distress, the Earthen Ring has recently learned of Queen Azshara’s naga intent to sieze Vashj’ir for their own malevolent purposes.

 

Sony Online Entertainment has announced a free-to-play version of EverQuest II, called EverQuest II: Extended.

Extended will coexist with the full-subscription version of the game and will use a smaller web-based application. Players will be able to access all zones included in the subscription-based version of the game, including those of the expansion pack, Shadow Odyssey. Extended players will be able to purchase items and equipment.

The downsides: “Frequent” pop-up advertising suggesting you upgrade, limited economic capacity and more. You can find the details and differentiations between the free and subscribed models in the image attached to this article (click view full size image in the bottom right corner if you're having trouble reading it).

 

Remedy and Microsoft have released the first downloadable content pack, or “episode”, for Alan Wake.

Entitled The Signal, the DLC will set you back 560 Microsoft Points. The next DLC for Alan Wake, The Writer, has yet to be dated.

Alan Wake failed to make a significant impact at the till when it was released in May, in spite of positive reviews. You can read ours here.

Here’s a roundup of today’s news found elsewhere on the internet:

Valve mistakenly swings banhammer at MW2 players, apologizes by giving away L4D2 (vg247) - “Hello, recently, your Steam account was erroneously banned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. This was our mistake, and I apologize for any frustration or angst it may have caused you,” read a message from [Valve’s] Gabe Newell to those who were given the boot.

“We have reversed the ban, restoring your access to the game. In addition, we have given you a free copy of Left 4 Dead 2 to give as a gift on Steam, plus a free copy for yourself if you didn’t already own the game.”

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Simply count how many times a banana Primo bottle appears on the screen throughout the episode, enter your answer above and you'll be in the draw to win.