celtic
Latest
Age of Empires Online ventures north with the Celts
Age of Empires Online has been bringing free-to-play RTS action to the masses since August of last year, but so far players have had access to just three civilizations: Greek, Egyptian, and Persian. All of that is about to change, though, so ready your shillelaghs as the Celts join the battle. This new civilization, which seems to draw inspiration predominantly from Irish and Scottish folklore, will bring players a variety of new units and strategies with which to drive the opposition to its knees. Whether you're wreaking havoc with the speedy Woad Raiders or sacrificing a deer with the druidic Augur, the Celts will certainly bring new twists to any playstyle. And of course, a new civilization also means new quests. The Celts' quests will have players battling it out in the frigid north, where the icy weather will slowly sap the health of any unit caught in the elements. The Celts will also introduce stealth missions, such as infiltrating an enemy fortress without waking the sleeping guards. To see the new civilization in action, just click past the cut for a bagpipe-filled teaser video, then head on over to the game's official site to get in on the action for yourself. Sláinte!
Closed beta test for Mabinogi in Europe has begun
Hey Europe! Did you guys feel left out of the fun when we talked about Mabinogi? Well worry no more, as the free-to-play multi-faceted game is coming to your shores finally! (Which is kinda funny when you think about it, as Mabinogi is a Celtic-based game and is just now getting released in Europe.) If you're looking for a beta key to jump into the test with, you can find the complete list of sites that are offering keys over on the Mabinogi EU website. To accompany the game's launch, Nexon EU is hosting the first event of the game, the Mabinogi Fan Club. The most dedicated beta testers will win this event, as those who submit the most bug reports with significance will find themselves rewarded with a three month subscription to Mabinogi's "Fantasy Life" service package. The beta testing ends on December 30th with a huge fireworks blowout, so enjoy the closed beta test while you can!
Mabinogi progresses with Generation 2: Paladin
It's been a while since we last spoke of Mabinogi, but that doesn't mean that Nexon has stopped developing it. In fact, the game's grown a bit, and offers players a new Generation (the Mabinogi equivalent of Chapters) in Paladin. The new content features a new town, Emain Macha (continuing the Celtic theme), new dungeons, new equipment and spells, and the eponymous Paladin abilities. If you have no knowledge of what Mabinogi's all about, you can check out our First Impressions piece for ideas on what to expect. Herald in the next generation with Paladin![Thanks, Robert!]
Shifting Perspectives: The human druids
Every Tuesday, Shifting Perspectives explores issues affecting druids and those who group with them, brought to you by Dan O'Halloran and David Bowers.Druids weren't always night elves and tauren, you know. Well, in World of Warcraft they were, but centuries before the first snowflakes started to form in the clouds of Blizzard's creative minds, the authentic human druids actually walked around casting regrowth, shapeshifting, and spamming moonfire.Or did they? How much of the class that we know and love in WoW is actually based on the real life druids of old? How did the word "druid" come to refer to our fantasy fighters rather than some ancient wise men in robes?
Fujitsu Siemens kits up with football club crested laptops
Custom laptop designs are a dime a dozen these days, with everything from fast car logos to glorious "Pink Feather" designs being stamped onto the back of LCDs in an attempt to draw the eyes of punters looking for a new lappie. The latest custom job on the market is Fujitsu Siemens' team of soccer themed laptops which don the colors and crests of four different UK clubs: Celtic, Aston Villa, Everton, and Tottenham Hotspur, to be precise. Under the soccer shirts, the laptops are Amilo 1536 models featuring 1280 x 800 15-inch displays powered by a 128MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 graphics adapter. Dig a little deeper and you'll find a 1.83GHz Core Duo processor, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, and a roomy 120GB 5400RPM SATA drive. Not quite striker material, we know, but the £1000 (plus three year warranty) price tag ain't too shabby considering the bundled paint job. Fujitsu Siemens is promising other clubs will join the line-up to celebrate the recent start of the Premiership season, although don't expect any teams with notable rivalries to be released at the same time. If you follow English football, you'll notice that the first four club themed laptops are a rather disparate lot: there's no Liverpool to go with Everton, no Rangers to go with Celtic, and so on. These guys obviously know how to manage their laptop teams without starting a football riot.[Via Reg Hardware]
