Just a heads up people: Yes I am still alive.

The Game Drone is undergoing some changes, this will likely take a fair while longer. Don’t worry, the blog will definitely return - and I intend to do so sooner rather than later. I doubt the current entries will remain intact however, but expect most of them to be rewritten and republished once the new Game Drone goes live.

See you soon!

(PS: if you’re playing Age of Conan in the European Early Access: Aeroth, lvl 21 Guardian, RP-PvP Aquilonia - hit me up and we can play together :))

Share This

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

In all my time of gaming the only gaming platform other than a PC I ever owned was a GameBoy Pocket, nearly a decade ago. That finally changed last friday as I received a package, containing my new Nintendo DS Lite. That’s right, I’ve just gained todays most popular handheld gaming device - and so far it actually seems to be pretty cool. I’ve played some Brain Training and Tetris DS against my sister with download play, but lost rather convincingly at both (hey, she’s had it for over a year!). Other than that I’ve spent just about all of my, rather limited, NDS time on Bleach: The Blade of Fates which is a cool beat ‘em up game based on the popular anime that you’ve probably heard of/seen already anyway.

After seeing screenshots and videos on various gaming sites I was a bit worried for the visual quality, but after giving a couple of NDS games a go I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. While the little handheld device certainly has it’s limitations, most of the developers seem to go for a very good stylish approach paired with smooth animations and drawn or even anime-like cutscenes, for a visual experience that’s actually not bad, not bad at all. What really caught me by surprise however was the sound. It’s surprisingly loud and there’s loads of it! It’s nothing like my old GameBoy Pocket with midi-sounds, but rather the games seem to feature full-on soundtracks and tons of voicework, especially so for Bleach.

As you might expect this means that The Game Drone will start featuring some Nintendo DS Lite action as well. PC gaming will remain my focus, as it’s still what I do and enjoy most, but you might see the occasional entry on something Nintendo sneak in between the rest. Oh yes, that picture of a DS you can see in this entry is indeed what my DS looks like. I’ve got the silver edition, which might not be as cool as cobalt-blue or Suzie’s crimson look, but has a sort of elegant style of it’s own. Although I really only got it because it was the only one available at the time…

Now where did I leave that DS?

Share This

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

This year will mark the release for many long-awaited mmorpgs, along with a couple of promising potentials scheduled for 2009. With the wide variety of mmo’s currently in development there should be something for everyone, but which is the one you’re looking forward to the most? I’ve picked twelve of the most popular ones for you to vote on, so you can select your favorite and see where it ends relative to all of the others. Will press favorite Warhammr Online take the cake, or can underdogs like Infinity and Spellborn do well too? We’ll find out in a few weeks!

As for the results of the previous poll centered around the question: “The best game of 2007 was…”.  We’ve had 17 voters, of whom 5 have chosen the excellent game Crysis as the best game released last year. Unreal Tournament 3 came in second with 3 votes, closely followed by BioShock and The Orange Box with 2 votes each. Rounding out the list of games that actually received any votes at all were Call of Duty 4, Command & Conquer 3, Sam & Max Season 1, The Witcher and World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade with 1 vote each. Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Lord of the Rings Online, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, Supreme Commander and World in Conflict received none.

That’s right, it looks like Crysis is well appreciated here. Maybe I should do a blog entry on it when I play through it again! Hopefully this year will yield a similarly impressive list of games, where even stellar games like Supreme Commander and World in Conflict don’t get any votes, because there’s just so much else out there. But at least for now, the games of 2007 will certainly do… I’ve yet to play most of the ones I’ve bought even!

Share This

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

You may have noticed that the sidebar has grown yet again, with a list of links to the VG Media Network blogs! This VG Media Network is a gathering of video-gaming bloggers who will be working together to improve the quality and popularity of their blogs - and as you may have guessed: The Game Drone just joined up! All of these blogs are related to video games some way or another and each seems to have it’s own take on the business, so you’d do well to give them all a look.

Of course I’m not going to leave it at that, so let’s take a quick look at each participant, shall we?

• Consolation Prize is a blog that covers modern day console platforms and the games that are released for them. This is all done by QuizzicalDemon, who guides you through the world of Nintendo DS’s, Xbox 360’s and PlayStation’s with his twenty-plus years of console gaming experience.
• Daniel Primed is Daniel’s blog on gaming in general. His blog offers well written entries on just about anything retro. As such you’ll be hard-pressed to find anything PC in there, but there’s plenty for console - and retro in general - fans!
• Draining Souls does not actually drain your soul - at least, I hope not. Rather, it’s a blog about draining souls… with a Warlock, in the game World of Warcraft, which I’m sure you’ve heard of by now (if not: welcome to the year 2008, I hope your extended stay in the 20th century was comfortable). Even if you’re not much of a WoW fan - like me - blogger Adrenis still provides a wealth of good reading.
• Girls Don’t Game offers the perspective of five gaming girls on the world of video games, both PC and console. You’re going to find a multitude of varying entries there, which are bound to be of interest. As you may know, I’ve already had a link up to these girls for a while - after all: it’s a blog well-worth checking out!
• Hunter’s Mark is another World of Warcraft blog which offers an amazing amount of content for Hunter players, ranging from guides to comics and whatnot else. Blogger and Night Elf Hunter Lassirra provides a steady stream of new quality content, that even non-Hunter players will appreciate.
• Press the Buttons is an all-purpose gaming blog by Mario-fan MattG, which covers just about anything gaming in pretty much every possible way.
• Tank Hard! rounds out the list of World of Warcraft blogs in the VG Media Networks, offering plenty of content for any tank currently residing in Azeroth. Want to improve your game, or just read stories about the experiences of like minded individuals? This blog has it.
• The Server is Down takes a good look at anything online gaming, which means you’ll find plenty of Massively Multiplayer Online gaming content here! If you’re looking for opinions, information or visuals on any recent MMO, chances are this blog has it.
• Write the Game covers gaming from an unusual perspective: trying to help you understand games. The process of development, the history and future of gaming are all topics you’re going to come across here. This interesting blog is hosted by K. Peney, with assistance from the occasional guest writer.

That’s the extent of the VG Media Network for now. So go on, give them a look - and see which one takes your fancy! I’m certain there will be something there for any kind of gamer!

Share This

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Yarr, it be 2008 now mateys! Another year to loot, pillage and game!

So yeah, happy new year everyone! I hope you all got to enjoy your final moments in 2007 last night, I know I did. As always, moving into yet another new year tends to make one reflect on the year past. Last year marked the start of The Game Drone on it’s new domain, along with an all new layout and new unique entries. The fresh start went together with a new posting methodology, which brought forth popular entries like 17 Tips for Beginning EVE Players. Unfortunately the posting rhythm kinda got warped after the first few weeks, so content has been pretty meager up until December.

In this new year The Game Drone will of course move forward. I’ll improve the posting rhythm by introducing more entries of the smaller variant and getting decent schedules in for recurring items like Screenshots of the Month. Meanwhile there are a couple of other ‘projects’ I’m working on, which you’ll probably start noticing somewhere in the coming months. Hopefully game developers will also prove generous and provide us with a wealth of quality games and news to talk about!

Anyway, have fun gaming for now. If you press the read the rest link you’ll find this month’s Screenshot of the Week. I hope you’ll like it.

Read the rest…

Share This

If you liked this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!