J presents Gears of war 3 – Fans decide story direction posted at Gamers Lounge. Pretty sure I saw this submission in a previous carnival I posted, but as this came in through the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers, I decided to give it a rerun since I’m still doing the whole transition over. The basic info? Purchase electronic product to determine the fate of a Gears of War character. Info inside.

Chris presents If Street Fights Were More Like “Final Fight”… posted at Martial Development. Basically, Chris takes a look at some of the more ridiculous aspects of the way fighting happens in Final Fight (and to be fair, many other brawlers of the  time). Most of these were simply limitations of the time the game was made, though some were also just oversights as the genre was coming into its own. An amusing read, so check it out.

dswtor presents Star Wars: The Old Republic Beta posted at dailySWTOR, saying, “We are a dedicated fan site to BioWares Star Wars: The Old Republic.” Here’s a quick blurb on some well-known info about SWTOR, as well as how to sign up for the beta test. (Can people still sign up for the beta test?)

Chris Cox presents Top 5 Most Annoying Gamer Personalities posted at Psytechology. He goes over the five gamer types he finds most annoying here. I really can’t say any of the ones listed really bother me. Ignore is easy enough for those you don’t wish to interact with. Still, I imagine this list carries some weight with people who spend a lot of time online, and either way it’s worth a read.

Michael Kotson presents How to Buy a Laptop posted at Test My Geek Stuff, saying, “An overview of the things to look for when buying a laptop.” A bunch of tips for choosing a laptop. Directed at all home users, most gamers will likely know these tips already, but if you’re new to PC gaming, this is some good starting advice. Veteran PC gamers may still find a useful tidbit or two as well, so don’t be shy in clicking on over.

Mark Graybill presents A Simple Java Video Game Kernel posted at A Beginning Programmer’s Guide to Java, saying, “A simple video game kernel in Java that new programmers can use to start writing their own video games.” This is a cool look at an aspect of video game programming, definitely of use to starting programmers, and I would say also interesting to those who are just curious about what might be going on under the hood of the games we play.

RateMeister presents [VIDEO GAME] Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 PC Review posted at RateMeister. A quick review of Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 here, the author seemed to think the game is ok, but with lots of annoying quirks. Which is too bad, since he also seems to think it will be the best PC soccer game to look forward to out of this year’s crop.

Steve presents ABC Monday Night Football posted at Every SNES Game, saying, “I play and review every SNES game ever released.” Another sports game review, and this one looks to be pretty bad (the game, that is, the review is quite funny). Anyone care to play as the “Dallas Dollar Signs”?

Robert Chapman presents Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game posted at Bob’s Blog, saying, “I started a gaming/television blog recently, and this is only my second ‘gaming’ related article. It’s on Scott Pilgrim Vs The World: The Game.”  I still need to get out and see this movie, but this is about the game review. As Robert lays it out, we may just have another good beat ‘em up game this year. And in a licensed game no less. Seems like those seem to be getting better.

Martin Watts presents The depiction of terrorism in video games: where should we tow the line? posted at The Gaming Enigma. Martin takes a look at how we view terrorism, and what role video games might play in our understanding of terrorism depending on how they handle their depictions of it. Looks most closely at Medal of Honor, as they’re the ones in the hot seat right now. Definitely a good read, and provides something to think about both in terms of gaming, and politics.

Don Salva presents Fraps & VirtualDub: How to save disk space and enjoy good quality, small file size HD video clips | The Don’s Craptastic World posted at The Don’s Crapastic World. Here’s a guide to getting a lot more out of Fraps and VirtualDub while recording your gaming, without killing your frame rate. Good info for those looking to make videos out of their gaming.

Robert Chapman presents Fallout: New Vegas posted at Bob’s Blog, saying, “This is an article about the upcoming Fallout: New Vegas.”  A quick look at some highlights of New Vegas makes this game sound like a winner. Of course, I expect nothing less from Bethesda.

Mark Graybill presents Pathfinder RPG by Paizo posted at An Infinite Number of Cats on Keyboards, saying, “A look at the Pathfinder RPG from the perspective of a GM who has in the past kept going back to OD&D from newer rule sets. This may finally be the game that displaces OD&D for me.” In here, we see that Pathfinder continues to convert gamers to it’s sleek, sleek rules design, pulling all lovers of D&D to slightly better balanced gameplay and rules that are far more intutive than old editions, while still maintaining that classic feel.

Jeremy Rooney -Detroit Performance Car Examiner presents Racer simulator combines RC cars and arcade games posted at Examiner. Ever wanted to drive an RC car? Well, you can’t, but you can get the same experience with this new arcade cabinet. Looks pretty sweet.

Robert Chapman presents Final Fantasy gearing up to go online… again posted at Bob’s Blog, saying, “This was my first post of my gaming related articles I’ve written. It’s all about Final Fantasy XIV and my thoughts on it. As well as some helpful links to other sites I found interesting related to Final Fantasy XIV.” Some thoughts on FFXIV, MMORPGs, and links to info on FFXIV. Take a look if you want to know more about Square-Enix’s new MMO.

That concludes this edition of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. Join us next month for more great gaming info. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival, to be hosted on September 30, 2010. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Welcome to the July 2010 edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. This will be the last edition of this carnival in its current incarnation. The carnival isn’t ending, but James Newton has offered to let me host the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers on a regular basis, so from next month onward, this carnival will be the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. So thank you James for letting me take over the hosting of the carnival, I’m looking forward to it. Despite the title, I will still be accepting submissions for pen and paper rpgs as well, since I do cover them along with video games. This will give us all more great articles to read and more people to see what everyone has to write. For the next few months, I’ll leave submission pages open for both carnivals and accept submissions from both while I transition over. For those who haven’t seen James’ carnival before, you can find the original carnivals at The Collected Writings of James Newton. So, with all that out of the way, here are this month’s contributions.

Daniel Ros presents Used Nintendo 64 Console posted at Hottest Video Games and Cheat Codes, saying, “Find out the latest video games reviews, information on new games, beta testing, sales on video games and more.” He also has a brief discussion on the ethics and legality of roms and emulators, keeping it short and to the point. Following that, there’s a video showing off what looks like a store demonstration console.

William Huddy presents Computer Game Violence posted at Matters For Consideration. William takes a look at violence in video games, how he thinks it may effect children, and notes that while it likely would have some negative effects, we should really consider it in it’s place compared with all sorts of other violence children are exposed to all the time that we fail to consider might also have some kind of effect on children.

dswtor presents What is Star Wars the Old Republic | dailySWTOR posted at dailySWTOR, saying, “Great detailed review on BioWares new game in development, Star Wars the Old Republic.” And here we have some information about the new Star Wars MMO from Bioware. It sounds very interesting for an MMO, and that Bioware is taking a very good direction with it. I like the sound of gameplay being more action oriented than a typical MMO, hopefully they can deliver on that.

Adam presents Blizzard, “Write for Us” Starcraft 3? WOW2? Diablo 4? posted at AirborneGamer, saying, “Blizzard’s short story contest for gamers.” Write a story set in one of Blizzard’s worlds and win cool prizes? Sounds fun to me.

One Family presents Kids Video Game Software and Consoles – An Introduction for Frugal Families posted at One Family’s Blog. Here we have a guide for parents looking into picking up video games for their kids to get started with. While there’s definitely some good info here, I would argue that most kids who enjoy gaming will know about and be very interested in the “premium” consoles, that is, those of the current generation.

J presents Gears of war 3 – Fans decide story direction posted at Gamers Lounge. Want to have a say in if a character from Gears of War lives or dies? You can, but you have to buy something to cast your vote. Details inside.

That concludes this edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. Join as next month as I take over hosting of the Carnival of Video Game Bloggers. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival, to be hosted on August 26, 2010. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Jimmy Lofton begins the carnival this month with The evolution of the DS at Phantasy Gaming. He briefly goes over the long history of the Nintendo DS and all of it’s iterations, and also has a few comments on Nintendo’s choice to release so many versions of their handheld so quickly. An interesting read, so head on over and check it out.

Eric Gargiulo comments on the current console war between the PS3 and 360 in his piece Console Wars: Playstation 3 Vs. Xbox 360 at CamelClutchBlog.com. For a piece comparing the PS3 and 360, he does have a lot to say about the Wii. Most of which I must respectfully disagree with, as I quite enjoy the Wii and the motion controlled gaming. I simply ignore shovelware and play the good games, just like I would on any console. However, after the Wii bashing, he gets into an extensive comparison between the PS3 and 360, covering a large area of console features in coming to his conclusion for his favorite for this year. Read his piece to find out which console he thinks will come out on top.

Shaun Hudley tells how all of his family enjoyed playing video games on the Wii in his post The Family Gets Together at What Nintendo Did For The Hudley’s, asking, “What can Nintendo do for your family?” Well depends on the family, but if they’re anything like Shaun’s (and many more families than traditional consoles will reach), then likely Nintendo can get that family into gaming to give them something else they can do together.

Meg details her experience playing the alpha version of Fantasy University over at Simpson’s Paradox. It sounds a lot like Kingdom of Loathing for Facebook, but with it’s own original twists that justify it being it’s own game. It also sounds like it’s not going to suffer the pitfalls most Facebook wannabe games suffer from. Indeed, from what Meg has said, FU sounds like it’s shaping up to be a real game without any spamtastic tendencies. If this turns out to be the case in the final version, Facebook games will have a lot of good lessons to learn here.

Z. W. Van Kleeck has two pieces for us today over at Hit, Crit, or Miss: Gaming Insights. First up, he tells us that there’s more to RPGs than XP and items in RPGs Are Not Just Games Where You Equip Items And Use Magic. While he makes some interesting points, I think it’s safe to call games such as Final Fantasy RPGs. This isn’t because they provide choice, but because they picked they’re genre from their source material, and the original Final Fantasy played a lot like computerized Dungeons and Dragons. Now, I would never try to argue that games such as this are an RPG in the sense World of Darkness or Dungeons and Dragons is, but terms do evolve with time, and RPG is one that now has multiple meanings. However, he makes some good points about this, and they are all worth taking into consideration when evaluating if a game is an RPG, or a true RPG. I do, however, agree with him that it’s ridiculous to call anything with some RPG elements an RPG, I just happen to think the line is a bit fuzzy.

His second piece is Used Games v.s. Pirated Games: Which Is Worse For The Developers? Now, I try to by new whenever possible, which is basically anytime the game is still available new. For five extra dollars, I can afford to support the developers of games I like and who provide a quality product. However, I also support the right of anyone to sell the physical media they purchased as well. Yeah, I know you technically license the game, but by selling the physical media, you also sell the rights to your license, so still no problem. It’s the same thing as selling off your used TV set when you don’t want it anymore. However, this is something that should always be in the back of gamers’ minds when making decisions about purchases, since supporting the developers is what will get us more games in the future. Some good points in here that should get you thinking. I still say inconvenient DRM for any reason is bad though.

That concludes this edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival, to be hosted on June 24, 2010. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Welcome to the April 2010 edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. My apologies for the late post, it’s been a busy day for me. Let’s see what’s in store for this month, shall we?

First up, we have Casey Markee with her post 15 Warning Signs You’re Addicted to World of Warcraft | Troubled Teens Wizard at Troubled Teens Wizard Blog, saying, “Who knew World of Warcraft could be so addictive? If you or your loved ones exhibit any of these 15 warnings signs seek help immediately…the life you save may be your own!” While gaming addiction is a real problem, I think it is usually overstated a bit by blogs like this. However, there are the occasional people who exhibit extreme symptoms who really do need to reevaluate things, and most of the things written in this post truly are things to worry about if you see them in yourself. Still, let’s remember this is a game, and the people who experience this kind of addiction are an extreme minority. I want to stress, most of us gamers are perfectly normal (aside from being a tad eccentric) and there’s nothing wrong with the hobby. Still, check it out, and engage in civil debate or support if you feel the need.

Mat Growcott has an Interview with Visceral Games for us at NonsenseGamer, saying, “A great interview we just managed to score with Visceral Games. It’s a fun read for any fans of Dead Space/Dante’s Inferno.” I remember the piece being a good one, but as of the time of this carnival the site is going through some reorganization and the post is unavailable. I’m placing the link here anyway so people can see it when the page goes back up.

Next, you should check out Meg’s post Passionfruit Hutong over at Simpson’s Paradox. Lucky girl got herself a chance to beta test Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box from Passionfruit Games. Since she’s been playing it for a bit, she figured it’d be good to give us a preview of what it’s like so far and where she thinks it’s going. While she can’t say too much, what she does have to say ought to get people who like this kind of game interested in giving it a whirl when it hits stores.

Finally, Natasha Rucker has kindly pointed out an issue some MMO communities suffer from in her piece I Swear I’m a Girl! at The Girlie Geek Blog. I haven’t played in the raids of any MMO, so I have no personal experience with observing this behavior (and being a guy, I also might not notice as much anyway), but my women friends who game online seem to have this issue as well. So, I find myself in agreement with Natasha, and bewildered that we can’t just treat the women who game online the same as the men. At home, we don’t have a problem with this in our local gaming circles, but it seems to be a big issue online.

That concludes this edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival, to be hosted on May 27, 2010. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Meg put in the first submission of the month with her post Silkroad Society at Simpson’s Paradox. In it, she takes a look at a problem that plagues MMO’s that I actually haven’t spent a lot of time on here: the lack of politeness in many MMO chat channels. Noting that Silkroad Online is currently attempting to combat  this problem, she goes on to examine some reasons why people act like this as well as talking about some solutions, all with their good and bad sides.

Luke Geraghty has two pieces for us today at Luke Geraghty.com. First up is 101 Classics: Diablo 2. From Luke himself, “With Diablo 3 looming on the horizon, I take a look back at its predecessor and argue that it should be heralded as a classic in the RPG genre.” This one is a slam dunk. My friends and I still play Diablo 2 to this day, Blizzard continues to run the ladders and people still flock to play, the newest balance patch was released two days ago, and the game came out nearly ten years ago. Going strong for ten years sounds like we’re headed to classic territory to me. Next he tells us what he thinks about The Future of ‘Tomb Raider’. In his own words, “‘Tomb Raider’ is a gaming megabrand with its heroine perhaps outshining the video games themselves. With the latest title ‘Underworld’ in mind, I dissect the past and present games in the series and ask: ‘What exactly lies in store for ‘Tomb Raider’?'” While I was never a fan of the series myself, I recognize it as an important series. The new action game idea does intrigue me though, and I may have to check it out.

Redmongoose would like us to see Mistwalker Releases Concept Art for New Wii RPG at Red Mongoose. I have to say, the concept art for Last Story is looking good to me. Here’s hoping it turns out to be a good game. With a name like Last Story, if it turns out to be an excellent game, we could see this become the next Final Fantasy, going on forever despite a name that implies this should be it. Doesn’t bother me, but it can be amusing when people take the name too seriously.

Douglas Byrd takes a look at the tightrope a GM walks between challenging PCs and survivability in his post DnD: Keeping the game safe, but challenging for new players at Novacorp. This is a common problem GMs face, and it’s good to have a look at ways to deal with it. He has some good suggestions for starting GMs so they can get a feel for the game, so you should check them out. Covers both combat and puzzles. I think the puzzles are something many GMs could use a lesson or reminder in. Myself included at times.

Matt Willard has Today’s Really Kick*** Moment – Excalibur Sonic at Giant Robot Invasion! Click on over for a for the video. An amusing take on Sonic and the Black Knight. Not sure how I feel about the game since I haven’t played it. I kind of like the mystical tack the series has taken, at least when the gameplay stays fun. Others, such as Matt, disagree, but still see the good that exists.

That concludes this edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival, to be hosted on April 29, 2010. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

Tony Huynh has Greatest Video Game Trailers, God of War III (3) Release date and cover for us, posted on LimitlessUnits.com. His words say it all: “A countdown to the greatest video game trailers of all time. God of War III release date and cover finalized.” Props to him for including the Gears of War trailer in his list of great trailers. I’ve never played the game, but the trailer is a great one. Of course, he picked some other good ones to include as well, so allow him to take you on a stroll down memory lane while you wait for God of War 3 to release.

Meg gives us Game Review: Funky Farm 2 which she has posted at Simpson’s Paradox. The review is full of personality, much like she says the game is, and if you’re into farm sims like Harvest Moon, you may want to check out this review to see if Funky Farm 2 might also be a good fit for you. Of course, you could also check it out just to support other bloggers who play games or if you’re in the market for something different from your usual.

Curtis has some tips in his post How to Obtain Crop Mastery in Farmville | FarmVilleTime.com at FarmVilleTime.com. As he succinctly put it, “Farmville on Facebook – Tips, Secrets, and Hints”. This is, of course, for those who like the Facebook game Farmville and are looking for some help on obtaining crop masteries. I don’t play myself, but Curtis lays out the process for those who do and are looking to figure out how it’s done.

James Feudo gives us some life advice in his piece Life Lessons From Video Games | Overnight Sensation – Public Speaking, Communication and Personal Development posted at Overnight Sensation, telling us, “If you’re looking for evidence that video games help you in the game of life, then look no further.” In this piece, he draws some parallels between life and gaming, using ideas such as playing to your strengths, obtaining power-ups, and managing your growth. It’s an interesting read and you should check it out.

Finally, because I would like to see at least one post on the topic of tabletop rpgs in the carnival, I’m leaving a link to post by yours truly. Leveling by Plot Rather Than XP, posted right here at Gaming My Way, describes some alternative methods to leveling up characters for the purposes of plot advancement instead of just handing over some experience points. While not for everyone, the ideas could certainly be useful for some styles of gaming.

That concludes this edition of the Gaming My Way Blog Carnival. You can use the carnival submission form to submit posts for next month’s carnival, to be hosted on March 25, 2010. Be sure to check out some of the posts of other submitters and perhaps leave a friendly comment or two if you like their work.

First up this month, we have Lauren Doe at Creepcolony.com with her post Starcraft – Protoss Unit Stats. Lauren tells us this is “a thorough statistic set of the Protoss units in Starcraft.” Short and sweet, this one has all the stats of the Protoss in Starcraft, in case you need to know how best to play them… or best them in battle yourself.

Our next contributor is UnitDaGamer at True Game Headz, giving us A Goodbye Letter to Gamestop, an amusing breakup between a gamer and Gamestop. He gives all his reasons why it’s better for them to break it off, and it’s quite an amusing read. It makes me wish there was a Play N Trade in my area though, as I would love to be able to pick up a few more games for my Dreamcast.

Tony Huynh has a boatload of posts for us at LimitlessUnits.com. You’ll want to check out his Mirror’s Edge Demo Review if you haven’t had a chance to play it or the fully released game yet. He then goes on to tell us about 8 of the Most Underrated or Overlooked Games of All Time. Since I’ve only played one of the games on his list, Sword of the Berserk, it’s probably safe to say he picked a good mix. I’d like to try a couple of the others though, particularly Guilty Gear XX. He then talks about Dead Space Through the Eyes of a Game Designer. Though it’s not a genre I particularly enjoy, it sounds like it could be a fun game from everything he had to say. Finally, in his post Best Games of All Time by Genre Part 1 he tells us exactly what you would think from the title.

At The Musings Beast has a few posts to share as well. First, he gives us his World of Goo Impressions. Sounds like it might be quite a fun game: physics, puzzles, and amorphous blobs seem to mix well in gaming for some reason. Then we move on to World of Warcraft, with his posts WoW Farming: Linen Cloth and WoW Head Enchantments. The former is brief post giving some tips on where to find Linen Cloth without paying the going rate at the Auction House, while the latter is a chart of many helm enchantments in the game, and where to obtain what you need to get them.

Michael has an alert for us over at Games of Our Lives: Gamestop Won’t Accept Guitar Hero: World Tour Guitar Returns (broken links removed). Speaking as someone who has had to return products occasionally when they don’t work, this is a serious problem, and if nothing has been worked out yet, then something needs to be. Makes me happy I live in Maine, where law requires both the store and manufacturer to make proper remediation, be it a refund, exchange, or other measure to resolve any issues, regardless of what any contracts or warranties say. Still, many people aren’t so lucky on that issue, and will have to work with what they have. Thanks for letting us know about this Michael.

Old Wizard graces us with more knowledge from his tower at Old-Wizard.com with his post Top 10 Ways to Know if You’re a “Hardcore Gamer.” If you’ve read Old Wizard’s work before, you know he has a style that will polarize people on the net, and this piece is no exception. Definitely worth a read though, particularly if you’re into humor based on stereotypes of our favorite hobby.

Larry Ferlazzo joins us this month from Larry Ferlazzo’s Websites of the Day for Teaching ELL, ESL, and EFL to tell us about his favorite educational games that he found this year in his post The Best Online Learning Games – 2008. He has quite a lot to say, but if you’re looking for some free online games that will teach you or your kids something while you play them, this post is the place to look as he went over his twenty favorites.

James Newton, our usual host, joins us from The Collected Writing of James Newton with his post The Sega Top 50. From the man himself: “An introduction to my life’s work – a countdown of the 50 greatest Sega games of all time!” I must admit, when I first read this, I was hoping for an immediate Top 50 list of awesome about Sega, though I admit the approach he’s taking is likely to lead to a lot more quality in his picks. This post introduces the countdown. From there, you can look through his site to see his first few choices. He’s got a good mix of Sega titles already, and I’m sure it will only get better as he continues.

Meg from Simpson’s Paradox has a review of Nancy Drew: Lights, Camera, Curses for us to peruse. She informs us that it’s a girl’s game due to having a strong female protagonist, and “that it is not pink.” I have to say, it would be nice to see developers go more in this direction when trying to market games to girls. I know there’s a lot of debate about how necessary it actually is to market to specific demographics, but for now, companies feel the need to do so, and it’s nice to see at least one doing so intelligently. So go on and check out her review, particularly if you’re considering a purchase.

Our final contributor, Patricia Turner from Online University Reviews, has some information for us about some iPhone games in her post Top 20 iPhone Games You’ve Never Heard of. While I don’t have an iPhone myself, I’m sure that having a few of these games could help keep things lively while waiting for people to show up at your meeting spot, or for any other reason you might find yourself waiting for a bit. Give it a read, especially if you’re looking to pick out a few games for your iPhone.

Whew! That was quite a bit more effort than I expected, but it was definitely worth it. That’s all the entries for this month, so I hope you enjoyed this edition of the carnival. Next month, it will be returning home to The Collected Writings of James Newton as far as I know, so be sure to check it out when it arrives next month, and be sure to submit any posts you want us all to see then at the Blog Carnival submissions page. Thanks for letting me host this month James!

If you have your own blog post you’d like to submit to this month’s Carnival of Video Game Bloggers, you can use the submission page here to do so. If that page is down, you can also email me with a link to the post you would like included, but please try to use the submission page first, as it makes it easier to get everything posted if you do. Be sure to check back on the 24th to see what people have to say about one of our favorite hobbies. I also plan to have an actual gaming update soon, in the next day or two, so check back soon for that as well.