Raving Rant: The Year in Review - 2014

Another year come and gone. The old saw about time flying when you’re having fun seems apropos for gamers. Especially when some of the stuff is not fun in the slightest. But it’s been interesting nonetheless. We’ve had all new heroes and villains, as well as some old familiar faces popping up, and it’s worth taking a look back to see how we got through it.

GamerGate
I’m going to get this one out of the way right now. I spoke at length on it earlier, and I’m not going to beat a dead horse, but this is probably the single biggest story of the year. I wish it wasn’t. Arguably, the shitstorm that is GamerGate is still ongoing, although it’s now down to a dull roar. A certain segment of the Internet is being incredibly shitty to a few particular women, and pretty much anybody of a certain degree of visibility who calls them out on it. I don’t agree with Anita Sarkissian’s work, I don’t agree with her positions, but I will defend her right to make them and distribute them. People are, likewise, free to disagree with her and not support her if they choose not to. But this shit has gone way too far for way too long.

Review: Diablo III: Reaper of Souls (PC)

"Ready for round 2?”

In some respects, this is the question asked by expansion packs more often than sequels, these days. Sequels usually make changes, sometimes massive ones, that make them a distinctive entity despite being part of a series.  Expansion packs generally stay within the framework of the existing title, maybe making a few tweaks here and there to compensate for the original game's shortcomings.  Of course, some games need more than just a few tweaks when putting out an expansion. Diablo III was arguably one of those games.

Two years after its release, plenty of changes have been made incrementally, but Reaper of Souls puts everything in one nice neat package for those who abandoned the game long ago.  The end result is still not the game we could have gotten, but it goes a long way towards making it playable and even enjoyable in spots.

Review: StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm (PC)

 

One thing that StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm does extremely well is present the monstrous Zerg as an undulating blanket of slimy, unspeakable nightmares. During the course of a few of the large scale battles when there were literally a hundred Zerg units crashing into enemy defenses, my skin actually crawled and I felt a flash of fight or flight. Something about the way the units are animated… it’s creepy. And when they’re all lumped together it’s close to terrifying.

Interview: Pamela Horton (Miss October 2012)

There seems to be a tendency exhibited by the hardcore gaming crowd to be immediately suspicious of any gorgeous woman -- or any woman, for that matter -- who might be into games. Is she being genuine? Or did she like Space Invaders back in the day? And her boyfriend likes Call of Duty? If anyone was going to be heaped with suspicion it would be Pamela Horton (a.k.a. Miss October 2012) who has been tagged as "Every gamer guy's dream!" The thing is, she's not pulling a fast one. She really is a gamer and there's documented proof!

What is your biggest claim to fame other than being Miss October?

I’m an artist, I love music, I love learning. There’s more than meets the eye. I’m not your average girl; I’m not materialistic in any way. I don’t know how to do my hair, I don’t know how to do my make-up. I wear jeans and a t-shirt on regular basis.

You've been touted as "Every gamer guy's dream!" So how do you answer to critics that say, “Well she’s a Playmate that must mean she’s a poser when it comes to video games. She’s not really into it. She likes to play Pac-Man and that’s about it!”

No, no! [laughs]