The big one is coming up, but as of late, we’ve had a terrible track record with E3 presentations. In many cases, it’s simply because the big guys have nothing close enough to release to show off, but little is more full of total crap than a company spokesman at a gaming convention. It’s not the spokesperson’s fault, of course. He or she is working with the terrible hand that’s dealt. It’s more on the shoulders of marketing, the people who often heavily influence what games are produced. Here are the words you shouldn’t be giving to your poor, unfortunate spokesman for the conference.

- Next Gen
Unless you are Epicgames discussing the Unreal 4 engine, there is no next-generation crap being released. 98% of the time, “next gen” means that you may or may not have kicked up the graphics or AI half a notch. Leave this bull kaka out.

-social media
The ability to use Facebook inside a game or a console is not a legitimate selling point. Nobody likes it when someone else tweets their game progress. All it is is an attempt for you to reach a larger audience through obnoxious exploitation of online communities. I find myself apologizing every time something from one of my games pops up on people’s Facebook feed, for the simple reason that nobody gives a crap. Shut up about Facebook.

- Netflix
I’m looking at you, Microsoft.

- DLC
It sells, but it looks terrible when you bring it up. Admitting beforehand that you’re selling people incomplete products scores you zero points on the respect scale. Take a page out of Nintendo’s book, whose policy is to never sell incomplete games in the first place.

- Motion control
It sucks. Kinect and Move, respectively, are relatively terrible for where the technology -should- be. Nintendo, again, and Razer, with their Hydra, have both done extremely good jobs of implementing motion control in a way that isn’t simply gimmicky.

Instead, here are some things you should discuss, things that will seriously boost sales and hype!

- new intellectual property
The only thing more exciting than yet another entry in a heavily milked franchise is the beginning of a new one. Hope you have something we haven’t seen before, because what you usually have is horribly predictable! Last time, Ubisoft surprised everyone with Watch Dogs, the open-world, realistic sci-fi hacking adventure – hype was through the roof. Do that.

- Innovative
Lately, big production is all about graphical realism, as if stylization hasn’t seen fantastic success in the past (See: League of Legends, Team Fortress 2, Braid). Of course, innovation doesn’t just apply to polygons, but the most exciting news is something strange, alien, and creative. Believe it or not, your formulas will eventually die out.

- Hardcore, competitive

While the former can apply to both single- and multi-player, and the latter… not so much, you are speaking to people that pay attention to conferences – people that love spending money on your stuff and playing games in the first place. These people crave a challenge, whether it be through genuinely difficult adventure or high skill-cap competition. Give everyone the anticipation of blood, sweat and tears! It’s part of what makes gamers gamers.

A sizeable chunk of ios gamers will hiss in hostility at the very mention of the evil producer that is Zynga, Dark Overlord of Farmville and Ruiner of Facebook for Everyone (that doesn’t know how to disable notifications), but this time, they published some gold! Salt Lake development pumped out yet ANOTHER runner – hold your groans, though. This one’s multiplayer. Ever wanted to compete directly with your loser friends, to prove to them your superiority in running and jumping that doesn’t actually tone your muscles? Running with Friends features asynchronous multiplayer for just such a purpose.

Naturally, and as it is a free title, Running with Friends also features a single currency that you have an opportunity to spend at every corner. In addition to buying cosmetic character skins, you can also spend gems to get up to two additional chances to run after you inevitably stumble, spin a slot machine for random point boosters at the start of the game, and to upgrade those same boosters to give a more significant effect. On the upside, I find that with careful spending and a bit of skill, I can have fun and still make a profit in gems! The game rewards you with a small amount after every round, and gauging how much you want to spend beforehand will ensure you don’t run out.

The best part about Running with Friends is easily the skill ceiling – only total ninjas will score the most points, and not because simply running the greatest distance results in victory. It doesn’t. Your score is the total of your distance covered and the “stars” you pick up, which you can earn both by physically running into them, and by performing stunts such as bounding onto bulls running alongside you or sliding through objects and slower runners. The fact is, Running with Friends presents you with so many opportunities to score some extra stars that only the most skilled and the biggest risk takers will emerge victorious. My personal favorite is the rarely occurring side alley, which you can duck into for a more difficult gauntlet of obstacles. It rewards you with a whopping thousand stars should you reach the end, and makes the competition that much more exciting.

If you’ve ever enjoyed an “infinite” iOS game, definitely pick up Running with Friends. You won’t be disappointed!

Star Fox fans of old are starving, wilting creatures, with a severe lack of good, sci-fi on-rails shooters. Arc Squadron for iOS fixes that! While it’s been around for a decent time, I feel it necessary to share the lovely barrel-rolling, boss-smashing action with my fellow retired arwing pilots.

Sporting dozens of levels and a crew of epic bosses done Star Fox style (with a series of glowing panels that shoot at you, and that you must destroy in order), Arc Squadron draws heavily from its older counterpart, but with some decent longevity. There are several different ships to buy, a horde of special weapons to equip, and upgrades for both. In addition, each level grades your performance. You receive anywhere from one to four stars based on your overall skill in a level, and you can earn two special icons, each denoting that you have either captured every score cube, or destroyed every enemy, respectively.

For $2.99, Arc Squadron is a great and lasting fix for Star Fox fans and on-rails shooter newcomers alike. Be warned, however, it’s rather difficult! Be prepared for the temptation of in-app purchases to help with the grind of currency if you’re not experienced. It’s a tad disheartening that a paid-for app would include IAPs for all but the more determined gamers, but the title remains solid overall.

ACE Team, creators of outlandish first-person brawler Zeno Clash, have finally delivered a sequel. Players of the original will be pleased to know that questions will be answered, and people that haven’t yet done so should definitely go experience the original Zeno Clash. Aside from its predecessor, of course, the real question is that of how well Zeno Clash II measures up.

The story follows our former-corwid (insane forest-dweller) Ghat and his psuedo-sister Rimat though the bizarre world of Zenozoik as they attempt to uncover the truth behind the demented patriarch responsible for their unusual upbringing and the gravelly-voiced golem, who has brought unwelcome changes to Ghat and Rimat’s society. Thankfully, an overwhelming majority of Ghat’s problems can be solved by smashing their faces in, an art in which the man is an utter specialist.

While Zeno Clash II is playable in a co-op mode (in which if one player goes down, both fail), it is readily enjoyed as a solo experience. Traversing Zenozoik is one part exploration, two parts fighting. Unlike the original, ZCII provides large, open areas instead of limited, linear paths to which you are bound. For the curious adventurer, this means a huge plethora of collectibles, secrets, pickups, and weapons. Among the various findings are also skill totems, which give you skill points to spend on better stats in combat and the ability to bring stronger allies into battle with you.

The two parts combat are where things turn from “interesting” to “fascinating.” As you may have guessed, a majority of fighting is performed with your bare hands and feet. Ghat has a huge arsenal of combos and special moves at his disposal this time around, and unless you experiment a lot or attempt to find the most efficient ways to destroy enemies, the system can be a tad confusing. To make things more complex, heavy melee weapons such as hammers and ranged weapons like shotguns and pistols get thrown into the mix, whether found in caches or held by enemies. Lastly, Ghat acquires a few special tools through his journey that have the ability to drastically alter combat.

We are beyond fascinating at this point.

While I could spend hours analyzing the four special weapons Ghat earns, the final in particular strikes me as game making/breaking. A gauntlet that glows an eerie green, the link weapon allows you to select two objects, enemies, or a mix of both. As long as the two entities are linked, each will suffer everything that happens to the first.

This opens up a lot of possibilities. Say, for instance, that you link two enemies, then kick one of them off a cliff this-is-sparta style. The linked enemy will drop dead. Say you link a powerup totem and an enemy, then use the totem as a punching bag. The linked enemy will receive equal damage and knockback from every blow. Attacks that strike multiple targets hit linked enemies/objects twice – and no enemies are immune. At the same time, it’s not overpowered. There is still plenty of challenge to be had (in the absence of cliffs).

Zeno Clash II’s only downside is its unfortunate length. I spent a great deal of time exploring and seeking out hidden rewards, and still completed the campaign in under eight hours. Fortunately, between co-op functionality, a competitive campaign leaderboard, higher difficulties and a small array of side quests, this first-person brawler presents a decent amount of replayability, especially considering its somewhat meager price tag of $20.

As the exploration of a greatly expanded Zenozoik and the unique action Zeno Clash II presents are an iconic example of the potential of developers unhindered by demanding publishers, and as much overall fun as the game presents, Zeno Clash II is a must-have for adventurers and hardcore gamers alike. Highly recommend.

League of Legends has well over a hundred different playable champions. Borderlands 2 has something to the tune of 87 bajillion guns. Warframe has a dozen warframes and weapon categories. The concept that these three games have in common is that any given character, warframe, weapon, etc. is viable to use. The dictionary has the following to say on the word viable:

“Capable of working successfully; feasible”

In other words, these are tactics that you can succeed with. However, and especially with League of Legends and its massive struggle to maintain balance across various tactics, strategies that succeed more easily or more often quickly rise to the top in any given game. This is referred to as the “meta,” which I’ve previously discussed. Now let’s face it: It is absolutely impossible for Riot, the developers behind LoL, to perfectly balance every champion and every item, no matter how hard they try. They come quite close, but there’s a reason that some champions are only picked in 1% of games whereas others can be seen as often as in every other game. Some things are simply less viable.

This is not, mind you, a critique on Riot. They’re doing a fantastic job analyzing their own game and how each change affects both high and low level play. It does, however, open up opportunities.

If you’re big into the MOBA scene, you may be familiar with the term “sleeper OP,” or “sleeper overpowered.” This refers to a character or strategy that isn’t well-known to the playerbase, but that is insanely powerful. These are often brought out by pro players; I recall Voyboy showing the world that bringing Shyvana top was actually a fantastic idea at times. Not quite overpowered, but still something incredibly effective the community hadn’t been aware of.

The point I’m getting at is that there’s actually a world of exploration to be done in any game that lets you customize – your items, your weapons, your character, whatever. Playing by the meta is generally darn effective, but it can also become horribly tedious. I encourage you to branch out and try things you’re uncomfortable with in games, especially multiplayer. If you’re playing a game where melee is difficult and challenging, try building a strategy around crushing someone with melee attacks. If you’re playing a game that is mostly fought in close quarters, try a strategy that synergizes well to give you a huge advantage at long range. Fight the meta every now and then – you won’t always succeed, but when you do, the taste of victory is addictingly sweet.

Avid internet denizens know by now that April Fool’s day is a time to surf all their favorite sites and know what not to take seriously. It’s becoming more and more commonplace for online companies to pull off everything from gags to game content expansions in order to solicit a chuckle from readers and players. Here’s a list of interesting April 1st modifications to the web!

Gmail Blue

Google Nose

League of Legends – CHEW

World of Warcraft – Crab Assistant

Starcraft II – Balance Change

Minecraft – New Release

Razer – Naga mouse update

Steelseries – Return to gaming roots

Guild Wars 2 – Super Adventure Box

The day has just begun, however, and some sites that you might have come to expect clever jokes from haven’t posted anything special… yet. Keep your eyes peeled!

The almighty trifecta of video game classes! Defense, utility, attack. Simple. Clean. Functional. Safe. Boring.

We can get into concrete design all you like, but there’s no avoiding it! Similar to the formulaic metagame of League of Legends, much of the gaming industry is afflicted with the redundant simplicity that is the Holy Trinity. Formula is fine. Doing things the same way as it’s been done is fine, to an extent. Cookie cutters are not fine. Many a time have I been excited to start up an epic RPG or try out a roguelike for a first time, only to sigh as I see what my class advancement/selection options are.

It’s not the names that are the problem, no. Granted, berserker, barbarian, paladin, templar, gladiator, leigonaire, brute, tank, warlord, etc. are all better names than the overused “warrior” aesthetic, but what of the essence of the class? If you wish to employ the Trinity in a game, it is an absolute must that each class both sounds and is exciting to play or even think about. Give it spirit!

The recently released “Banner Saga: Factions” tactical turn-based does a fantastic job of this. Each unit can advance into one of several more specialized classes, honing the role of the character in battle. For instance, the Archer can be promoted into the Skystriker, Bowmaster or Siege Archer. Practically, there is very little difference between the Bowmaster and the Skystriker – in fact, there are only two differences that affect gameplay, and one of them is almost negligible: A single stat point is allocated elsewhere. The other difference is that each of them has a unique special ability: The Skystriker can fire a volley of arrows over an area that stuns enemies entering it, whereas the Bowmaster simply has 100% accuracy at a farther range than the normal archer. While it certainly has a minor impact on gameplay, it’s not that big of a deal, right? The visuals aren’t even that different! The Skystriker wears white and blue, the Bowmaster wears gold and grey. Why, then, is this game worthy of note on the topic of giving spirit to its classes?

It’s the little block of lore text next to the portrait of each when you promote the unit. It’s brilliant. In either a quote from a figure in Banner Saga lore who represents the class or a narrative of the class in action, the little block of text breathes life into a bunch of pixels. It creates personality and tells you what to expect from your newly promoted soldier. It’s a little thing, but it makes such a difference!

You may point out that Factions is not a warrior-mage-rogue game, and you would be correct. Would it matter, however, if skystrikers and warleaders and other creative units were so commonplace in other games? Maybe the lack of creativity in the Holy Trinity is related to the lack of spirit in a game’s classes!

Mortality is an exciting concept. Perhaps not in a positive way where our earthly existence is regarded, but examine the popularity of roguelikes, especially in the past few years: Dungeons of Dredmor, FTL and Binding of Isaac have all seen fantastic popularity. Let’s face it, we as gamers adore the idea of risking everything. It’s such a wonderful challenge! You always begin with nothing to lose, and the more you succeed, the more bitter the eventual failure, or the more glorious the highly improbable victory. I can’t possibly begin to think I am the only one who enjoys randomizing my skill trees in Dungeons of Dredmor and punishing myself with the looming threat of permadeath at the same time… over the course of dozens of consecutive failures.

The big question currently tearing at my perception of online gaming is this: Why are online games so easy?

It’s a fact! You respawn. That’s the way things work. Shooters, MMOs, MOBAs. You respawn. Games such as Counter-Strike punish you with permadeath in certain game modes, specifically those that revolve around either eliminating the enemy team or either exploding/defending a couple of bomb sites. That “permadeath,” of course, only lasts for the round. Very few games provide themselves as examples of online games with permadeath – the recent Wizardry Online actually has it, and the concept just thrills me to no end. Why isn’t there more online gaming that involves this oh-so-exciting idea?

There seems to be this idea that death in video games should not punish you too much. In a MOBA such as LoL or DotA, of course, the effects of a death are catastrophic. It’s not permanent by any measure, but it does give the killing team a massive advantage in the form of time and resources. In MMORPGs, however, it’s almost always a mere inconvenience, and in shooters, a mere annoyance. You may end up losing a match because you die too much, but if you’re dying a lot, the odds are you’re not the kind of player that is more concerned with winning than with doing well or just having fun.

I’m not endorsing the idea that MMORPGs should destroy you like World of Warcraft always has – not only would you have to make the decision of suffering a huge debuff (Rez sickness) or running through the spirit world to return to your corpse, but you would ALSO have to pay a repair bill! In Guild Wars 2, there’s a repair bill for death caused only through combat, and it’s so minor that after hundreds of deaths, I can’t be buggered to give it a second thought.

You would think it obvious that in good game design, death is heavily discouraged! It’s not about incorporating annoyances. It’s not about artificial difficulty. It’s about turning death into a threat.

In order to accomplish this, these two components are necessary:

1. The player must suffer real loss. Sucking gold out of someone’s bank account isn’t the answer. It’s overdone and elicits no more than a groan or wayward comment from a player. The power of implication is underrated: If a character dies while slowed or somehow crippled, make them walk with a limp for a while and temporarily decrease their movement speed by a negligible amount. Make your game hardcore – say you lose actual items upon death. They don’t even have to be important. As far as I’m concerned, they could be vendor trash! In this generation of gaming, where we have been taught to loot, pillage and plunder to the best of our greedy ability, even taking near -worthless items away upon death would cause a player’s heart to sink. Let’s face it, the only use “greys” have right now in video games is to be SOLD!

2. The player must be offered a chance at redemption. This is absolutely key! Say you are killed in an MMO battlefield. It’s impersonal. What if you got to see a marker above the head of your killer when you revived? Say you are headshotted by someone in a shooter. Take a page out of Call of Duty’s book and make a big deal about killing that person. Reward it. Revenge! What if, upon killing you, someone gets that vendor trash right off of your corpse… and when you kill them, you get it right back?

There are all sorts of ways this effect can be accomplished, and yet, it goes horribly overlooked by a staggering majority of the online gaming world. Just don’t wonder why nobody seems to care when they die in your game… after all, it’s just a boring inconvenience!

People adore you for Shadow Refuge.

Shadow Refuge is only good if you plan on either stealthing someone else or remaining inside it until it expires to gain the longer stealth.

Scorpion Wire is one of the most fun abilities in the game, especially in PvP/WvW.

Never use Haste while you still have endurance – the ability to dodge in the moment is simply too valuable.

Using Hide in Shadows as a first line of escape in PvP/WvW is almost certainly doomed to failure. Use it in combination with CC to ensure your cast time completes.

Signet of Shadows is required for WvW.

The shortbow is only good for two things: Using Cluster Bomb (ability #2, single cast only) to finish downed enemies from a distance, and using Infiltrator’s Arrow (#5) to close distance or escape. The default amount of initiative allows two consecutive casts of Infiltrator’s, giving you reaching power similar to that of the Elementalist’s lightning rush.

Dagger Storm becomes more effective if you’re surrounded by more enemies. Use Thieves Guild against single or double targets with little exception.

Infiltrator’s Strike (Sword #2) shadowsteps you forward regardless of range unless you have no hostile target. Infiltrator’s Strike into Steal range to make use of your extremely swift closing power.

Always go for the daze after using Cloak and Dagger (Dagger #5) by autoattacking once from behind. Always.

Pistol Whip builds are fun, but boring. I don’t recommend.

Never try to use the shortbow for DPS.

Let your autoattack combos finish if practical.

Condition damage builds are for the hardcore.

Take 15 points in Acrobatics no matter what build you are using. Never forget that dodging is brief invulnerability to nearly all damage that also moves you! Take advantage of the ability to dodge more than other classes.

Heartseeker is effective, but makes you look like a tool.

Be a part of a guild and rule the nation! Band together with your allies and take control of the castle! Join an alliance and dominate the world! Gaming, especially social gaming (as would be expected) is so absolutely inundated with this message. You know why? Because you can’t take over the world alone, or with one or two or five friends. Look at any empire-building game, any MMORPG, and even some first-person shooters. “You’re not good enough, so get your friends to play so that you are stronger!”

As a to-the-bone introvert, I find this extremely disheartening. It’s not as if I lack people to play my favorite games with. On the contrary. I have several partners I love playing Guild Wars 2 with and I have a ranked 5v5 team in LoL. It’s that I don’t desire a legion of players at my command, and being part of a big, fat machine just doesn’t appeal to me. I end up just sitting back in reluctant acceptance that the world will never be mine.

Enter Firefall, the still-in-closed-beta MMOFPS that has very nearly stolen my heart. You can’t even own territories in Firefall. There is no player housing, no guild claiming of any sort, no player versus player faction warfare – the closest the game gets to any sort of official mechanic like that is the battle you fight against the NPC faction, the Chosen, as they take over watchtowers and allied settlements. Of course, you can charge in with a friend or two and take them back. Yippee.

Yet, I simply can’t keep myself off of New Eden. It’s magical in the most behind-the-scenes sense of the word.

I’ve spent my fair share of time farming experience in locations where thumpers (resource-gathering drills that attract massive hordes of enemies) aren’t under much threat. Yeah, it’s fun jetpacking around and blasting hundreds of bugs to smithereens with grenades, and it progresses me through the game faster than anything, but so what? Most of my time has been spent running off to do events on a whim, scaling the highest mountains and mesas only to deploy a glider pad and soar off, taking my locust chopper off of sweet jumps, etc. Yes, I, the paragon of productivity, am being terribly unproductive.

I can’t help but get this feeling that I am one of the most powerful forces on the planet, and one day, on a whim, it will be mine. Have you ever felt that way about a game before? I play Firefall with friends most of the time, but that feeling doesn’t leave when I play by myself. Maybe it’s the fact that I tend to be a scumball with my thumping, throwing down a thumper immediately after someone else’s takes off and therefore stealing their spot for myself. Maybe it’s the fact that I can single-handedly conquer a vicious melding tornado and the waves of bugs it launches at me. Maybe it’s the freedom and mobility my jetpack, glider pad, and motorcycle grant me. Maybe it’s all of the above. In any case, it’s emotional. I get a rush just knowing what I’m capable of, yet knowing that I cannot yet overcome all challenges. It’s awesome just racing across the landscape and seeing how far I can glide by chaining glider pads together or attempting to kill enemies by splattering them beneath my wheels. It’s wonderful seeing a watchtower currently held by the chosen, and thinking, “I can take this.”

For a game that’s still only in closed beta, I am absolutely thrilled to know that Red 5 is nowhere near ready to release Firefall yet. It’s already giving me some of the most intense gaming experiences of my life, and one day, I -will- conquer it all.