Twitter finds its purpose

Create an account, just for this guy.

Mastery

This is what good players teams do.

Weekly PC sales (8/16 - 8/22)

The NPD group isn't publishing retail tracking figures anymore. It's all about digital distribution these days, as more and more gamers are content to forgo DVD's and pretty plastic packaging. The lists below provide some suggestive data on the types of games that have the ability to attract new players over the long run (particularly when prices are reduced), within a community of gamers that's more discerning than your typical Halo-tard.

The listings of the unreleased Aion and Neverwinter Nights 2 tells me something else: lots of people in the MMO crowd are looking to get the hell out of Azeroth.

Steam's Top Ten (by Revenue) (8/16 - 8/22)

1. Left 4 Dead / Valve
2. Aion Collector's Edition (pre-order) / NCsoft
3. Counter-Strike: Source / Valve
4. Killing Floor / Tripwire
5. Team Fortress 2 / Valve
6. Fallout Collection (F1, F2, Fallout Tactics)
7. The Orange Box / Valve
8. Hearts Of Iron III / Paradox Interactive
9. Valve Complete Pack / Valve
10. Osmos / Hemisphere Games

Direct2Drive's Top Ten (8/16 - 8/22)

1. Champions Online (pre-order) / Cryptic
2. Fallen Earth (pre-order) / Fallen Earth, Icarus Studios
3. Aion Collector's Edition (pre-order) / NCSoft
4. Rise of Flight / neoqb
5. Civilization 4: The Complete Edition / Firaxis
6. The Sims 3 / The Sims Studio
7. Fallout 3 / Bethesda Softworks
8. Hearts of Iron III with Sprite Packs Bundle / Paradox Interactive
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare / Infinity Ward
10. Neverwinter Nights 2 Complete Bundle / Obsidian

SOURCE: Shack News

Who will rule?

From Gamasutra:

According to the latest tracking study provided to Gamasutra by OTX's GamePlan Insights, Xbox 360-exclusive Halo 3: ODST continues to lead in U.S. consumer game purchase intent ahead of the holiday season -- but the Xbox 360 SKU of Modern Warfare 2 is rapidly closing the gap, and may soon seize the top spot.

Since we last checked in with GamePlan in July for purchase, pre-order and awareness stats, both Modern Warfare 2 and Assassin's Creed 2 have made big pushes for the top of the charts.

(Full article here.) Note that although Halo 3: ODST is currently the king of the individual platform hill, Modern Warfare 2 is still expected to be the best seller on all platforms combined.

Borderlands: in-motion

Having watched this trailer a half-dozen times, I'm finally sold on the stylized look. The combat is very appealingly over-the-top, and yet it seems pretty clear that Gearbox has made an effort to blend some "serious" FPS elements into what otherwise appears to be a furious giblet pallooza. The obvious - though probably superficial - first impression suggests that the shooter parts of the game will be something of a hybrid between Team Fortress 2 and Call of Duty 4.

Remember that Borderlands is also intended to be a story-driven RPG that allows you to piece together absurd weaponry of nearly limitless variety. We haven't seen too much about that side of the game yet, so it should be interesting to see how the two ends are integrated. A good balance between them has been rather painfully rare thus far.

Video Games | Borderlands | Gameplay Montage HD

XBox 360 | Playstation 3 | Nintendo Wii

Portal: A Day in the Life of a Turret

If you haven't played Portal, this will make no sense. If you have: there is no spoon.

Monday Music IV

Deep Purple - Smoke on the Water



Tool - Sober



Van Halen - Hot for Teacher