Occasionally, an MMO comes along that threatens to dethrone the reigning champ of online gaming, World of Warcraft. Aion is one of those games.

A new MMORPG by NCSoft, makers of Guild Wars, City of Heroes/Villains, and, er, LoveBeat, Aion released to much fanfare earlier this fall. Is there room for Aion in the swollen MMORPG market? Will it make room for itself by knocking WoW right off its pedestal? Does every MMORPG need to be compared to WoW? Allow us to clue you in before you start snatching up the entire Jinx! Aion t-shirt collection.



The world of Atreia has been almost literally torn apart by the Epic Cataclysm. From space, the planet looks like the discarded remains of a Galactus-sized devoured apple. Figuratively, it's already there. The two playable races have split off into rival factions, despite having a terrible enemy in common. The Elyos live in Elysea, the lower half of Atreia, where they are beautiful and bathed in light. The pale Asmodians inhabit the upper half of Atreia in darkness. I expected their positions on the planet to be reversed (the heavenly Elysium on the top, the hellish Asmodae on the bottom) and that was one thing that kept gnawing at me whenever the game made mention of it. Maybe I'm just too used to Western theological conventions, but it was one small design choice that mentally took me out of the game, briefly-especially considering how Western the light with wings/dark and hairy with claws and wings dichotomy is.



Further complicating the conflict, Aion has a third unplayable race, the Balaur. As opposed to the Elyos and Asmodians, the Balaur are pure evil. A blight upon Atreia, the Balaur were originally created by the god Aion to rule the planet's people. After they became power-obsessed, created the Empyrean Lords to protect AionAtreia from them. The Balaur were sealed in the Abyss, the unstable area between Elysea and Asmodae. As you can imagine, Atreia did not find eternal peace, and the Balaur are back with a vengeance.

Two Worlds II is officially announced for release on the Xbox 360. The much anticipated sequel to the million selling game Two Worlds will be published in the spring of 2010 by South Peak games in North America, South America, the United Kingdom and the Oceana regions and in Europe by Topware Interactive.

Two Worlds II returns players to the realms of Antaloor, the high fantasy world of mysticism and awe from the first title, released in 2007. Two Worlds II has been built from the ground up for Xbox 360 with a brand new engine and gameplay mechanics aimed at delivering both hardcore and casual gamers a refreshingly robust role-playing experience.



Rescued from prison by former enemies, the player once again assumes control of the unnamed hero, only to find the world of Antaloor has been forever changed in their absence.
Boasting a diverse, living world and a limitless open narrative, Two Worlds II could very well be the next sleeper hit of the genre. Antaloor is a mythic world of pristine savannahs and mordant swamps, celestial cities teeming with life that will rise or fall entirely depending of the player's actions, as the reign of the implacable despot Gandohar threatens to throw the world into a state of irreversible decay.

Bioware has revealed the minimum and recommended system requirements for the PC version of Mass Effect 2 along with its copy protection and DRM scheme.

Digital Rights Management (DRM) - The boxed/retail PC version of Mass Effect 2 will use only a basic disk check and it will not require online authentication. This is the same method as Dragon Age: Origins. Digital versions will use the retailers protection system.




PC MINIMUM System Requirements
OS = Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
Processor = 1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo or equivalent AMD CPU
Memory = 1 GB RAM for Windows XP / 2 GB RAM for Windows Vista and Windows 7
Hard Drive = 15 GB
DVD ROM = 1x Speed
Sound Card = DirectX 9.0c compatible
Direct X = DirectX 9.0c August 2008 (included)
Input = Keyboard / Mouse
Video Card = 256 MB (with Pixel Shader 3.0 support). Supported Chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 or greater; ATI Radeon X1600 Pro or greater. Please note that NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 8100, 8200, 8300, 8400, and 9300; ATI Radeon HD3200, and HD4350 are below minimum system requirements. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.



PC RECOMMENDED System Requirements
Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
2.6+ GHz Cure 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
2 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better recommended
100% DirectX compatible sound card and drivers
DirectX August 2008
NOTES: For the best results, make sure you have the latest drivers for your video and audio cards. Laptop or mobile versions of the above supported video cards have not had extensive testing and may have driver or other performance issues. As such, they are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2. Intel and S3 video cards are not officially supported in Mass Effect 2.

Activision’s decision not to support dedicated servers for Modern Warfare 2 has angered its fans, but it seems that this anger didn’t reflect on the game's sales.

"PC is the smallest percentage in terms of how much sold on each platform but that hardly means anything other than the PC is just the smallest market," creative strategist Bowling explained Infinity Ward’s official forums.

"All this percentage proves is that the console versions sold great, not that the PC version sold poorly, because that's actually not the case," he said. "The PC version has done tremendous in its first week, better than our previous game."

Bowling then reaffirmed that Modern Warfare 2 "has actually outsold the PC version of Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare in its first week, making it the most successful PC version."

Dell announced that its all powerful Alienware line of PC gaming systems, including the Area-51 and Aurora desktops and the M17x and M15x laptops, will now come pre-loaded with a free copy of Valve's award-winning game, Portal, powered by Steam, a leading platform for PC games with over 20 million accounts worldwide.

With Steam pre-installed on all these PCs, Alienware gamers can expect a higher level of service from their gaming experience right out of the box as existing Steam gamers may simply sign into their account to access all their purchased products. Customers new to Steam will find over 950 games at their finger tips, all supported by automatic updates, the Steam Friends Community of networking services, and more.

"With its automatic game updates, easy friend finding and the ability to play your Steam purchased games on any PC, Valve has helped simplify PC Gaming to make it more enjoyable." says Frank Azor, Senior Manager of Product Planning for Dell's Gaming Group. "It's for these reasons; we selected Steam to compliment the Alienware experience."

"Entertainment, specifically gaming, is a primary use of PCs in the home and on the road," said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. "Alienware is a household name among PC gamers who want the most out of their hardware. The combination of Alienware hardware and Steam equals a superior gaming experience."