han-chewie-episode-7Issue 117: Hello again! Why the Han quote from the new Star Wars trailer? Because Star Wars! The past week has been interesting in that we’ve had some surprising announcements and the launch of a new IP. Blizzard’s Heroes of the Storm officially launched this week (though I haven’t played it since early beta). Bathesda announced the next iteration of a popular title and apparently there is a video game hall of fame now. All of this before E3, which is still two weeks away. I wonder if E3 is going to have some big news.

As the weather gets nicer out you should get out there and enjoy. Save the gaming for after dark. While the daystar can burnz us, it also provides our bodies with vitamin D (which keeps you from looking pale so pale!) Granted the launching of Heroes, more Overwatch game play videos, Aion expansion, and other tantalizing news found below will test your willpower. In the meantime, KCGO!

HOTS Launches: Offers Pets & Mounts

Posted 6.2.15 – In traditional Blizzard fashion, with the launch of Heroes of the Storm, anyone playing multiple Blizzard titles can unlock additional goodies. In this particular launch, if you are playing WoW and/or Hearthstone, accomplishing certain goals in Heroes of the Storm will unlock a pet and a Heroes-themed card back. Unfortunately, the mount they talk about is only in Heroes of the Storm (which is unlocked if you have reached level 100 in WoW – *cough*lame*cough*).
Blizzard Watch post

Overwatch: Reaper Video

Posted 6.3.15 – More game play videos of various Overwatch characters have been posted, the latest one shows Reaper. I think I say this for every one of these videos so far, but I think I would enjoy playing this character as well. He looks pretty BA. Blizzard may have hit the mark with their first FPS; I am excited to try it out and I hope to get into the beta this fall (@Blizzard … *hint-hint* *nudge-nudge*).
Blizzard Watch post

Fallout 4 Announced!

Posted 6.3.15 – If you have been paying any attention to gaming news and/or social media you have undoubtedly heard that Bathesda has officially announced Fallout 4! It does come as a surprise that they made this announcement just a few days before E3. Perhaps they have something different planned or they just don’t want to have their thunder stolen by some other announcement. The link below has a trailer and various screen grabs – and it looks beautiful!
See the post on Kotaku

WoW In Hall of Fame

Posted 6.4.15 – Apparently there is an organization called The Strong that is “a US museum of play” and earlier this year they started an effort to create a Hall of Fame for video games. They have succeeded and one of the first inductees into said HoF is our beloved World of Warcraft. It was chosen because of its longevity and community. Pong and even Doom made the list, along with a few other titles from (most) of our childhoods. Follow the link to see the others.
BBC Technology News

Aion Upheaval Expansion

Posted 6.4.15 – If you didn’t already know, Aion is having another expansion called Aion Upheaval. Apparently there will be a few instances that will be removed from the game but the expansion will be free! NCSoft set the official launch date as June 17th of this year so you might want to get busy wrapping up anything you are currently working on. By the way, you need to check out the graphic on the link below, it looks pretty sweet.
Official Aion Upheaval Site
The MMO Times is a post I put together periodically of different MMO news articles that I think are interesting, fun and/or exciting. If you are interested in receiving these posts in an e-mail please click here to subscribe.