Blizzard's MO, wherein I commit social seppuku

The announcement of Overwatch, Blizzard's first new IP in 17 years, confirms for me what Blizzard's design philosophy is. Blizzard does not create new genres anymore, it isn't their thing, and that's actually perfectly acceptable.

What Blizzard does now is take an existing genre and release a polished, accessible version targeted towards the middle of the casual-hardcore Gaussian. This approach popularizes their games and opens up gaming to wider audiences which I think we can agree is a good thing overall. After all, how many gamers might never have picked up a mouse and keyboard if not for a friend introducing them to WoW?

Why you should fear the word "Embargo"

A few days ago I bought Assassin's Creed: Unity just hours before it was officially released. The series is something of a guilty pleasure of mine; I've been a loyal, day-one customer since Brotherhood. I'm not going to claim that they revolutionized anything, but I enjoy the gameplay and getting to wander around historical cities feeds my inner history-nerd. Alas, I ignored the media commenting on the review "embargo" on Unity, which as I gather eventually caused Kotaku to adopt a "no embargos" policy to their reviews. I wish I hadn't ignored them.

[Hearthstone] Of missed boats and headslaps

This topic has been kicking around in the back of my mind for a while, so I thought it a fitting choice for my return to blogging.

Some days I wonder if there is someone at Wizards of the Coast or Games Workshop that is smacking their forehead when they look at the state of their industries and how they utterly missed the boat on new technology. I look at their conduct and I see companies that for the most part have clung to outdated business models as if an adherence to strict tradition will keep them afloat.